Happy Endings
La la la la la! Three weeks on from our emotional house move and home life has improved heaps.
The house itself seems to have accepted me and is now allowing me unimpeded access as opposed to its previous No Entry stance.
Inside, the box-to-floor-space ratio has decreased massively, so much so that we’ve even had some complimentary comments about our now-visible floorboards.
It’s taken us this long to unpack because – for the first time in about five years – we’re actually sorting through all of our boxes rather than just shoving them, contents intact, into any old place that’s big enough.
The amount of downsizing we’ve done is unbelievable; several local charity shops are bursting at the seams as are the nearest recycling bins.
But it’s been worth all the effort, as it really is a lovely house, and well on the way to becoming our new home sweet home.
However, this doesn’t mean that we’ve mentally discarded our former adored abode which we both still miss immensely.
So, imagine how chuffed we were to hear from our old landlords – who we’ve never met – earlier in the week, inviting us round for a glass of wine once they’ve settled back in. How sweet is that?
Just need to make sure I keep my emotions under control when we go and not create a scene or scare them off. Otherwise we’ll never get re-invited and I’ll be back to staring wistfully at the house from a (safe) distance…
How Much Is Your Parking Space Worth?
The folks over at Park Let have just emailed us a link to a new tool on their website. Type in a postcode and it will calculate how much you could make per month renting out your parking space.
Apparently, I’d be able to make between £87-106 per month. Or at least I would be if I had a parking space to rent out!
Still, it’s a clever little gizmo and worth checking out at Park Let Rental Price Guide.
House Prices To Fall By 70 Per Cent Peak-To-Trough?
Oh lordy, it’s all beginning to sound a bit medieval. Numis Securities, a City investment bank, have been making like Nostradamus as far as the housing market goes.
Lo, they say unto us, a veritable plague cometh and there will be much wailing, gnashing of teeth, and a really big fire sale in the buy-to-let sector.
The country could go bankrupt too. And the moon will fall into the sun and create a world of perpetual darkness.
The Daily Mail and The Telegraph, to cite just two, are loving this, and report breathlessly that “house prices could slump by another 55 per cent. The Numis report predicts that price falls will accelerate in coming months as amateur buy-to-let investors begin to ‘panic sell’ their portfolios.”
Now leaving aside the fact that City investment banks haven’t exactly covered themselves in glory recently, the source of this prediction begs a few questions.
Numis produce market reports for various sectors of the economy, and this melodramatic forecast comes from their Financials Team – who have, shall we say, a vested interest in promoting equities and the stock market.
Numis, interestingly, also have a Building & Property Team. So what do they think? I called Chris Millington, from this division, and he said:
“Our central projection is 30 per cent peak-to-trough. The market has actually improved recently, housebuilders have had a good start to the year and activity is on the rise. The downturn is past its middle point. Things are looking a lot more interesting.”
I know who I think is right on this one. I leave you to draw your own conclusions.
In the meantime, let’s all hope that the Finance and Property teams over at Numis don’t get stuck in a lift together or it could all kick off.
How To Catch Mice With Peanut Butter
We’re big fans of Video Jug here at Winging It. And we also like glove puppets.
So we really loved this video.
Check it out … it’s guaranteed to put a smile on your face!
Graph of the Week: Enquiries Still Rising
The latest survey from The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) reveals that there are plenty of hungry buyers out there circling the market, but very few are actually taking a bite.
But with prices still falling, and rates low it’s surely only a matter of time before all that interest translates into sales. Isn’t it? Your views, please on when the stand-off will end.
FindaProperty.com Rental Index on Cantos
If you’ve seen the new FindaProperty.com Rental Index, but haven’t had the time to skim through its unique overview of the UK lettings market, then you can now watch our Head of Research, Andrew Smith, talking to Cantos about the Index and giving you all the juicy bits:
Marsh & Parsons Vlogging
Thanks to Jess over at Primelocation’s blog for alerting us to the fact that London agent Marsh & Parsons have started vlogging (video blogging).
Here’s their first from MD Peter Rollings – they’re keen to have feedback, so let them know what you think.
I’ve spoken to Peter many times in the past and he really is hugely knowledgeable about London’s micro markets and their various property types, so I’d suggest something along those lines – he told us all sorts of interesting things last year about garden squares.
