House Party

I've been searching for good property investments and I would love to find a bargain, or at least a good deal. I'm using Rightmove to search for properties, this way I can have a scan through hundreds of properties, before selecting ones which might be ok which I can focus more on. It's been fruitless and eye-opening at the same time, as I'm learning more about the mentality of homeowners in the current market, and also about the tricks that estate agents are using. Here's 3 property examples I dealt with recently:

1. One 3 bedroom house was £215k. I called the estate agents to test if the vendors would go down to £190k. I was told that they are holding out for full asking price and have recently rejected an offer of £210k! That seems ridiculously petty to me, but shows just how determined people are to stick to their guns.
2. A 3 bedroom house in a good location in London for £150k: this property seemed too good to be true. I phoned the estate agents who told me the house had already been sold, and anyway it now needed substantial repairs as it used to be an illegal drugs factory! He said hundreds of people had phoned up about the house. He then offered to sell me lower spec properties, and surprisingly offered to arrange my mortgage for me as well! I can just use moneysupermarket.com for that, so obviously I wouldn't need a mortgage from his company. In the UK there is no formal qualification for estate agents, anyone can do it, so I'm not simply going to let him take care of my finances by letting him do me a mortgage deal! Anyway, a month later I checked Rightmove and the property is still being advertised for sale! That makes me think the property is probably a fake listing by the agent to generate business, and maybe this is common practice amongst most estate agents.
   
3. A converted house which had been split into two 1 bedroom flats for £200k. I phoned up to be told that only cash buyers could purchase this property. The reason? The owner had turned the property into 2 flats without planning permission, and now no bank will lend on it. This shows why its important to prepare and plan properly before undertaking any endeavour. In the book The Richest Man in Babylon, it says "better a little caution, than a great regret", as the seller of that house is now finding out!
   

The housing market is showing me that house prices are still too high, compared to the ability of the average person to afford one. At the moment, I'm finding virtually no good property investments whatsoever. Lots of homeowners/landlords have simply withdrawn their homes from the market, stubbornly refusing to sell at a loss, holding out for better times. Any property that seems too good to be true, always is, and is either a fake listing by an estate agent which seems to keep being advertised no matter what, or needs seriously expensive building or legal work done for it. This shows how hard it is to make money, and that people generally don't throw their money away by needlessly giving out substantial discounts. Anyone who says making money is quick and easy, is a liar. There are no get rich quick schemes. I'll now be focusing more on auction properties, to see if local councils who have less interest in profit, are offering better property deals.

The housing market is no fun right now, so when I saw a cheap secondhand computer game Monopoly Party, for £5, I purchased it so I could have a good time with property without overpaying for the privilege.