ED house prices: sanity check please

[fazer71]

*Bob* Wrote:

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> The myth of the ?70k plumber lives on..

You need to watch more telly Pimlico plumbers have a few who earn well over ?100k

[Polmoche]

Can we just agree that 90K is NOT an average salary????

And to add...a secretary salary of 15K? Is that wifey then earning the secretary salary? What is this the 70's?

[MrBen]

?70k plumbers? Easily if they want it.

Moaning cabbies who bang on about gentrification get me more. I know several black cab drivers who make a relatively easy ?50- 70k a year depending on hours. Factor in it's a cash business, the fact they all seem to have a safe at home and two sets of books and on a net basis it's closer to equivalent of a fully taxed ?100k PAYE wage.

The myth is that London is a two tiered teachers/public sector vs bankers world. Averages are massively misleading.

[MrBen]

Ted. Claw hammer please...

[dulwichgirl2]

Maybe you were adding in a bonus? Fair enough but the banks wont lend against a bonus to the same extent and thu certainly won't lend 3.5 times against joint salaries.

Anyone who chooses this moment to gear up is a bit mad I think, despite the inflation argument and the low interest rates.

[dulwichgirl2]

Four pounds, terrifying when you put it like that, I agree.

[*Bob*]

You can't walk down the street these days without tripping of one of those ?70k plumbers. Everywhere, they are.

[fazer71]

Polmoche Wrote:

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> Can we just agree that 90K is NOT an average

> salary????

Apparently It's an average city salary.

>

> And to add...a secretary salary of 15K? Is that

> wifey then earning the secretary salary? What is

> this the 70's?

The Mrs could be the city trader and Mr working as a shop assistant in O2.

Who gives monkeys....

In reality they probably both earn between ?35k and ?65k which gives plenty of dosh for the mortgage.

It all depends if they want a holiday every couple of month?s dinner in a restaurant every Friday and Saturday night a new car every three years. etc etc etc

Thing is some want all the toys and the nice house in the nice area when they can only afford some of the toys and a shitty little house next on the A20.

In my experience it?s Girlfriends who cause the price increases if I listened to mine I?d be in a million pound flat off the Kings Rd.

[dulwichgirl2]

Anothe issue is paying the mg when you have children and one party stops paid work.

[simonethebeaver]

I think it's sad that only such high earners can buy here now.

[fazer71]

Family planning might be able to help with that problem.

[LondonMix]

simonethebeaver Wrote:

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> We as a couple earn a very decent wage for

> non-city types. We first bought over ten years ago

> and had nine times our original deposit as equity.

> We couldn't afford a 600k house without a mortgage

> that would terrify us. We also have childcare

> commitments that aren't much smaller than our

> mortgage. I'd say anyone taking on these vast

> mortgages would be an idiot. It would be nice to

> think that non-idiots could buy houses.

You don't have to be an idiot to afford a house of 600k. You need a joint income of circa 150-175k and a 25% deposit through having saved up and / or having created equity in your first home (flat) through mortgage repayments. That's the profile of who is buying family homes in ED. On that joint income, you can save that much fairly easily-- I know quite a few people who have managed that without help from their parents or massive increases in the value of their flats. Don't assume people are over mortgaging themselves because for a mortgage above a certain size the deposit requirement is very high (20% min in most cases) and interest only mortgages are no longer available. Just accept that people who earn more live here now...

[AD]

Can I just point out I read the 90k including was the average in the City i.e Square mile of Financial district.

When I read this my jaw did drop as of the people I know who work in the city their average is a lot less than that but despite the economic times there are still a lot of people who work in hedge funds, commodity traders, oil traders ect .... who get still paid vast sickening bonuses. They are big outlyers in the stats but do put the average up a hell of a lot hence the 90k.

Houses in ED do price out any couples on less than min 150k joint income, but like people say when you have kids and wages are less then it could be tough and I know I don't want to be a slave to the mortgage and have the odd holiday.

Maybe the only way I will afford a house is if I move to Darlington, Carlisle, Doncaster ........ or anywhere a long way from London.

[LondonMix]

A narrower and narrower group of people will be able to move into the area the higher prices go which in my opinion will make ED a less interesting place but that's the clear downside of gentrification. The truth is, that narrowing has already been going on for years... There are still parts of South London that are as affordable as ED was 10 years ago before the schools improved and the place smartened up. You just have to be a brave first mover...

[scotslass]

Move 3 miles up the road (Forest Hill) save ?90k, more floor space, massive garden - we are out of ED and all the yummy families and scooters that little Jonny drives straight into your shins, goodbye

[????]

yeah, close the door on your way out.

[simonethebeaver]

Lovely, Fazer.

[motorbird83]

A mortgage of 1,750 a month sounds tight on take home pay post tax of circa 8k a month? Why?

[willma]

LondonMix Wrote:

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> A narrower and narrower group of people will be

> able to move into the area the higher prices go

> which in my opinion will make ED a less

> interesting place but that's the clear downside of

> gentrification. The truth is, that narrowing has

> already been going on for years... There are

> still parts of South London that are as affordable

> as ED was 10 years ago before the schools improved

> and the place smartened up. You just have to be a

> brave first mover...

I sold my flat in ED recently and decided to buy a house in Penge. A bit of a risk and not as nice as ED but it was the only area that was affordable for me to buy a house. Who knows though, perhaps it will be a desirable place to live one day.

[fazer71]

Compared to north london (hampstead garden suburbs)ED has a lot of tired looking property when I looked north of the river the majority of houses have been refurbished to a high standard in ED a lot is still shabby and needs updating or it's had a cheapo update which needs ripping out and redoing a lot of lived in pretty looking but under the surface a load of problems will cost a small fortune to fix in years to come. Maybe it's because the higher price per sqft make it worth spending more north or higher expectations what I did notice is there's a large difference in the price per sq ft over there for good quality.

I've been frustrated with what I've seen so far even the house I was gazumped on was in need of lots of work.

Very frustrating having just gone through lots of agro and lots of money on my flat I'd rather just move into something which doesn't need any/much work I've been looking for 18 months and getting really p'd off now.. The agents are just idiots and keep sending me rubbish and when they do get what is worth looking at I find out it's gone under offer before I've had a chance to see it bleeding idiots!

Wouldn't be so tough but the GF is in hampstead and no help maybe I need a professional finder anyone know of one in the area?

[dulwichgirl2]

Fazer, tha is indeed very frustrating. Interesting what you say. It indicates one should get totally wreck as at least it is clear(!).

Here was a thread about a chap moving somewhere and asking for advice. HE had used a prof finder. Otherwise google it. There is defo a woman doing this area.

Business idea for someone?!

[Penguin68]

It would be worthwhile reading this thread in conjunction with that on the Iceland/ M&S debate - what posters here are saying is that the demographic in ED is changing - driven by amongst other things the costs of moving here. Hence, perhaps, the apparent fact that Iceland isn't prepared to die in a ditch to retain their Lordship lane store - as the incumbent they had the best opportunity of working with the ground-landlord - but they have chosen not to make that investment. Clearly M&S felt that investing in ED-ers made more sense for them.

[fazer71]

dulwichgirl2

Problem is the prices for wrecks are not low enough and half-cocked liveable houses are not cheap either.

It would be easy to spend a couple of hundred thousand pounds that's about ?120 a sqft to add and extension loft conversion and complete update etc. Tough the nightmare of dealing with builders and having to pay the mortgage for two properties over the 12 months it would take to get it all done would be a nightmare.

I'd happily pay extra to avoid all the agro and just move my furniture in and paint a few walls.

I looked at the new houses on Fenwick Road but I couldn't live there, if they were off LL would be a different story.

I think I'll end up with a wreck and the builders driving me into an early grave.

Maybe it's not a finder I need but a good honest reasonable priced builder.

I've only ever come across incompetent and greedy as in ?14k for a bathroom.

[Jeremy]

The Fenwick Road houses have the same problem as the ones on Barry Rd - plenty of bedrooms and bathrooms, but not enough living space. At least the Barry Rd ones were realistically priced though.

[Carrie]

There is a local property finder - www.donkey-work.com.