I’m busy househunting and its pretty traumatic dealing with estate agents; actually it’s probably more traumatic for them as I have long passed the stage where I care a damn about what people think of me and I tend to be rude if not downright aggressive with service providers who annoy me. They seem more interested in selling me mortgages than finding me a house. I have now registered with about half the estate agents in town and it has become quite a boring ritual: I sit down and explain what I am looking for and his eyes glaze over as he waits impatiently for me to finish so that he can go into his spiel about what he can do for me mortgage-wise. Look, I say, I am registered with every estate agent in town and I have to go through this performance every time. My mortgage is sorted. Just find me a house ok!
The other thing is that they don’t listen to a word you say. I make it quite clear what I am looking for – a 2 or three bed house in need of serious decoration. I am after a bargain and I would rather do any work myself than pay extra for someone else’s shoddy work and crappy taste. So I got sent out last week to look at two houses that were both tiny and completely redecorated. Which was a complete waste of my time.
I have however seen a couple that I do like but I want to see a bit more of the market before I commit.
The interesting thing is that I have seen a couple of lenders and they seem quite enthusiastic about offering me silly amounts of money. Still from my point of view, the worse the housing market gets, the better it is for me. Part of the reason I sold last year was because I thought it was going down the pan so I got out in time. Now it is seriously sucking I stand a better chance of getting a bargain. Actually my landlord wants to sell me the flat I am in but he is asking a ridiculous price. He doesn’t know (unless he reads this blog) that I know how much he paid for it and when. He paid too much then and he wants too much now. I quite like living in a rented flat – its so cheap and so little hassle but it is now time to move on.
But I do get cross at the way the media gets hysterical about the housing market and the way the government is in an outright panic. Alastair Darling met with mortgage lenders last week to “see what could be done to help homeowners”. Why do homeowners suddenly need help? The crisis is about cash flow in the banking system reducing the amount available to lend. Why is the media and govt so relentlessly sensitive to the needs of mortgage holders rather than tenants and people trying to get on the housing ladder? In one broadcast last week on the BBC the newsreader read two items successively which talked about inflation being low (which is a good thing) and property prices not increasing (which is a bad thing). Hello! Property prices increasing IS inflation. In fact the housing market has been hyperinflationary for years and the government should not be meddling and should allow the market to stabilise to its own level. If that means house prices correcting to a lower level then so be it. Such are markets.
I think that banks are actually exploiting the panic to secure backings and undertakings from the government that no profit making private enterprise should be entitled to.
I had written a whole lot more including some pictures but this infernal website just trashed the lot and I can’t be arsed to rewrite it. I will come back later in the week cos I am going to watch some telly now. I was out and about in London last night – honestly it gets more heaving everytime I go – and I am feeling a little tired for some reason?!
