OT: Had an offer accepted.

Tee hee. Glad to see prices are coming down to more reasonable levels. Hope it goes well for you.

So do I. She is being generally civil and helpful, but she really wants=20 me out and the house to herself. And I don't blame her.

--=20 Carl Robson Get cashback on your purchases Topcashback

Looks like a better prospect to me than the last one in many ways.

Hope it all goes through and smoothly.

So do I, I'm going to use the solicitor that the boss uses, he reckons=20 on a cash deal he can exchange normally in 1 week, and as quick as a=20 mortgage company can do on a mortgage deal.

--=20 Carl Robson Get cashback on your purchases Topcashback

Looks nice!

And loads of old cars on that front garden. ;-)

Jesus. That looks like an astonishing deal.

I just had a look at the area where I used to live on rightmove. Prices seem to have dropped by perhaps 10k at the most. Cheapest habitable house on there is an ex council property, about 2 miles from the shops and pubs, and it's £167k!

Heh. Estate agents love wide angle lenses. Looks like a better proposition than the last place. Even looks like it has been professionally cleaned, which is good.

Fingers crossed it all goes well. I'd be dubious about using a solicitor who makes a big deal about getting things done quickly - the only way to turn something around in a week is not to bother with the searches, which you can do if you don't have a mortgage and are completely insane, but no solicitor worth his salt would suggest it.

Been to see the mortgage people today to process that. Instructing solicitor tomorrow.

Bit better nick.

To move in, just needs the meters changing from card/key to standard and the upstairs carpets replaced. They have been pretty dog battered too.

Room for two normal size. They made good use of the magic estate agents lens that makes everything look twice as big as it is.

That's the beauty of buying in a recesssion, and buying a repo. It had=20 been on the books for several months at =A370k because the last lender=20 wants their money back, and the last owner doesn't have it.

And because a lot of the woodwork is dog chewed, and the few carpets are=20 rank with dog smell, and there are no appliances left at all, nobody=20 would touch it when there were loads of =A370k houses in better nick=20 without the hassles that a repo can bring. Then they dropped it down to=20 my range right before Xmas when no-one buys unless they can help it.

--=20 Carl Robson Get cashback on your purchases Topcashback

A repo needs to be done in a maximum 28 days for a mortgage deal, and 21 days for cash.

A lot of repo selling financiers are asking 21 for mortgage and 14 for cash these days because they need the funds in. If you can't proceed they won't consider your offer, and from mortgage in principle to completed application that can take 2 weeks especially at this time of year.

I've seen a few really decent bargains (by the standards of prices around this way) come and go. One was a flat up the road - new build in mid 2007, sold for £250k - first floor, at the back of the building, so not overlooking the main road, really decent spec everything, en-suite to master and a bloody good size in general. Went at auction in Feb/March this year for £137k, with a wrecked kitchen and both bathrooms (either a dodgy tenant or owner occupiers who thought "f*ck it" when reposession was definitely on the cards). Had a "to let" sign outside for ages (£995/month), with obviously no takers, then "for sale or to let" with a price tag of £225k, then more recently with a different agent for £215k (and asking £850pcm for rent), now no signs outside - not even something saying it's been sold or let. Methinks the landlord's being a tad greedy - could have flogged it for just under £175k and probably made a tidy £20-25k profit in a month or two had they not been so optimistic/greedy. I'm sure it'll sell one day at £215k, mind.....

Or here. Are Perth prices even more mental now the price of gold's even higher?

I'm seriously considering moving to somewhere where semi-decent houses can be had for under 60 grand. Does sound bloody tempting.

They're usually cheap for a reason. Like crappy area or no work.

Well as we established Warrington's a crappy area but it's a realistic commute to Manchester and Liverpool so there's work to be had.

I now have an image from Flight of the Conchords of a load of Australians taking the mick out of NZ's mineral exports.

Kind of. We just bought a house for 80k less than it sold for 2 years ago. But you are still talking Aus$500k being the entry price for something half liveable in a half decent area.

Fraser