Buying a house

[wallyman]

Anyone with an informed opinion on the current state of the northern ireland property market?

thinking of buying first home in the new year, though if now is not the right time i will rent for a year or two.

[under the bar]

The right time to buy is when no-one else is i.e. now.  If you wait for signs of a recovery then you will be competing with other bidders.   Look at as many as you can and compare the asking prices against similar properties on propertynews.com to make sure the vendor is being realistic.

Select the ones you'd buy if the price was right and make an offer of 20% below asking price.  You may get someone who will bite.

If you are a cash buyer you're negotiating position is many times stronger as an Estate Agent will be unwilling to try and convince a vendor to accept a low offer when the purchase is still subject to the purchaser getting finance.

The other option is a property auction where you can pick up a bargain due to distressed sales.  You'll need to be mortgage approved before you go though and be prepared to put down a deposit.   

[dillinger]

Anyone with an informed opinion on the current state of the northern ireland property market?

thinking of buying first home in the new year, though if now is not the right time i will rent for a year or two.

Buying 1st house soon, well 1st with new wife. Still falling i think, though near bottom now. This may have been said before, ask the agent what bids have been offered/ turned down.I have asked that on the houses i have viewed and been told. Agents want them sold to get their whack, they will tell you.

[under the bar]

Another question - with regard to making offers on new builds, say as part of a development, is there still the same room to negotiate / is it normal practice to haggle, or are the prices generally regarded as 'fixed' moreso than for single property sales?[/quote

Of course there is room to haggle.  It's an 'asking price' not a 'fixed price'.  Developers have bills to pay just like any other businessmen and will certainly do a deal expecially if you have a big deposit and therefore not dependent on the bank agreeing that the house is worth the agreed price.

[Goats Do Shave]

Thought i'd give this thread a bump to see if there are any new opinion  / stories out there.

I still haven't purchased, still looking. Hasn't been the flood of for sale properties I was expecting in the new year (In the areas I'm looking at any way!)

[venter]

Also thinking of buying but read an interesting article advocating renting..its food for thought

http://www.irishhometruths.com/node/284

[orangeman]

NI house market 'shows recovery' 

The average price was £161,429 in the fourth quarter of 2009 
The latest survey of house prices in Northern Ireland has suggested the market showed modest signs of recovery in the last three months of 2009.

The report, by the University of Ulster and the Bank of Ireland, put the overall average price of a house in Northern Ireland at £161,429.

It also showed the number of transactions was at its highest level for the past two years.

The report's authors said the survey indicated an improving housing market.

It also said the rate of house price decline had dropped from 35% at the start of 2009 to just below 7%.

"Although overall average prices are still down, the rate of price decline has slowed significantly, with prospects for a modest increase in price levels during 2010," the report said.

The report said price statistics were based on a sample of 1,050 transactions in the fourth quarter of last year.

Although transaction levels are about half of what would be expected under normal conditions, the report said there had been a significant increase in the number of sales from recent surveys and suggested a recovery in the market could be under way.

Economist Alan Bridle, head of economics and research at Bank of Ireland in Northern Ireland, said: "The real mark of recovery in our housing market will be a pick-up in the number of transactions. This survey sounds an encouraging note.

'More affordable'

"Steady progress in activity levels may be the most likely and desirable scenario for this year but in my view we should not expect much of a re-bound in average prices and there is still a risk of them slipping further."


The survey indicated improving levels of affordability
The survey again showed property was becoming more affordable, with 57% of all properties selling at or below £150,000.

Mr Bridle added that first-time buyers, although having to find higher deposits, now had lower debt-servicing costs. He said interest payments as a percentage of income were now back at "pre-boom" levels of around 14%.

The Housing Executive's Head of Research, Joe Frey, said the increase in the level of transactions was to be welcomed as an indication that the housing market is returning to more normal conditions.
"However, we foresee continuing difficulties both for first-time buyers and for households looking for a social dwelling," he added.

The survey also confirmed the problems of getting the resale market fully functioning, with newly-built houses at 32% of the total, taking a disproportionately large percentage of the sales.

Click here for a regional breakdown of house price figures contained in the latest report, which covers sales between October and December.

[Canalman]

Bit of advice imo lads

1 Do NOT buy an apt ....... tomorrow's (if not today's )slums
2 Try to buy a house (estate type anyway) built at the latest in the mid 80s. New houses built in the "boom" not up to scratch
3 Get a 4 bedroomed house if at all possible. Will imo hold value a tad better than the standard "3 bedroom....... incl a boxroom" of which there are plenty. Even in recession there will be people doing well hoping to upsize.
4 Trust your own instinct and don't listen to the hired guns masquerading as economic experts on the tv/radio.

Good Luck.

[thebigfella]

Bit of advice imo lads

1 Do NOT buy an apt ....... tomorrow's (if not today's )slums
2 Try to buy a house (estate type anyway) built at the latest in the mid 80s. New houses built in the "boom" not up to scratch
3 Get a 4 bedroomed house if at all possible. Will imo hold value a tad better than the standard "3 bedroom....... incl a boxroom" of which there are plenty. Even in recession there will be people doing well hoping to upsize.
4 Trust your own instinct and don't listen to the hired guns masquerading as economic experts on the tv/radio.

Good Luck.

As opposed to a people on a GAA message forum masquerading as economic experts 

[muppet]

Bit of advice imo lads

1 Do NOT buy an apt ....... tomorrow's (if not today's )slums
2 Try to buy a house (estate type anyway) built at the latest in the mid 80s. New houses built in the "boom" not up to scratch
3 Get a 4 bedroomed house if at all possible. Will imo hold value a tad better than the standard "3 bedroom....... incl a boxroom" of which there are plenty. Even in recession there will be people doing well hoping to upsize.
4 Trust your own instinct and don't listen to the hired guns masquerading as economic experts on the tv/radio.

Good Luck.

Also never buy the biggest/most expensive house in the area, ideally buy the opposite.
Not sure about a 1980s house, if you do make sure it has been modernised unless you are handy around the house and like mountains of work.

If you are buying in north Dublin check it out for pyrite. And get the solicitor to make sure you are covered (i.e. builder/seller is responsible for repairs/costs) in the event of pyrite being discovered later.

[FermGael]

I have completed post Christmas.
It has probably taken me over 2 years to buy.
Thank god i went travelling instead of buying a house.
I have been an avid watcher using a wee tool call property bee that shows you changes in the asking prices of property.
Works with property news.

I have been as cheeky as possible with all my offers and finally one was accepted.
Do not be afraid of cheeky offers. Its a buyers market
Estate agents are not to be trusted.
I found myself, on at least one occasion, bidding against myself.
Ask them to see a log book if there are other bidders and watch the jaw drop.

That last survey still has very low volumes of sales
I think that the property that i have bought will still fall in value but its in a good area and i am happy to LIVE there.
Massive cuts are coming when the next government hits and NI will be hit bad because of its huge public sector.
We are on governement life support and it will be withdrawn after next election

[Minder]

Agree with Muppet, especially the "experts". Most of them have a vested interest to some degree. When an estate agent is on the tv talking about house prices, market climate etc, change the channel.

[Tony Baloney]

Bit of advice imo lads

1 Do NOT buy an apt ....... tomorrow's (if not today's )slums
2 Try to buy a house (estate type anyway) built at the latest in the mid 80s. New houses built in the "boom" not up to scratch
3 Get a 4 bedroomed house if at all possible. Will imo hold value a tad better than the standard "3 bedroom....... incl a boxroom" of which there are plenty. Even in recession there will be people doing well hoping to upsize.
4 Trust your own instinct and don't listen to the hired guns masquerading as economic experts on the tv/radio.

Good Luck.

Also never buy the biggest/most expensive house in the area, ideally buy the opposite.
Not sure about a 1980s house, if you do make sure it has been modernised unless you are handy around the house and like mountains of work.

If you are buying in north Dublin check it out for pyrite. And get the solicitor to make sure you are covered (i.e. builder/seller is responsible for repairs/costs) in the event of pyrite being discovered later.

What's the story with pyrite?

[muppet]

Bit of advice imo lads

1 Do NOT buy an apt ....... tomorrow's (if not today's )slums
2 Try to buy a house (estate type anyway) built at the latest in the mid 80s. New houses built in the "boom" not up to scratch
3 Get a 4 bedroomed house if at all possible. Will imo hold value a tad better than the standard "3 bedroom....... incl a boxroom" of which there are plenty. Even in recession there will be people doing well hoping to upsize.
4 Trust your own instinct and don't listen to the hired guns masquerading as economic experts on the tv/radio.

Good Luck.

Also never buy the biggest/most expensive house in the area, ideally buy the opposite.
Not sure about a 1980s house, if you do make sure it has been modernised unless you are handy around the house and like mountains of work.

If you are buying in north Dublin check it out for pyrite. And get the solicitor to make sure you are covered (i.e. builder/seller is responsible for repairs/costs) in the event of pyrite being discovered later.

What's the story with pyrite?

Lots of houses/apartments built in the last decade used aggregate from a quarry in North Dublin that was found to contain pyrite. I think it absorbs and loses water meaning it expands and contracts making your foundations move and can cause massive structural damage. It can be repaired but it means boring into the foundations and takes about 3 months and a lot of money.

One of my problems with NAMA is that it will buy empty houses with pyrite problems that will either
a) cost a fortune to fix
or
b) fall down.

But they will never be worth what the taxpayer pays for them.

[Billys Boots]

Do you know which quarry that was, Elmo?