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The Big Housing Gamble
Posted 18-04-2008 at 08:57 AM by lcys2460
Well blog, its been a while again, only cos I’m fed up with more griping about the house! So what do I have to add to my blog, well more stuff about the house of course!!!!
It’s about the house but it’s also me and the OH. We seem to have differing views on the path we take to get to Aus.
Whereas, I believe we should reduce the house price to try and sell he’s keener to say no, lets wait for the market to pick up and sell it for the original marketed price we we’re given last year.
I have to ask myself: does anyone know with any certainty that the market will improve in the next 6 or 8 months, or the market will continue to decline gradually and take years to recover? Some talk of a big crash like the 90’s and some predict that we won’t see the boom in prices like we have done over recent years.
So to me, to try and second guess and make a decision, is essentially a gamble. And trust me, I am no gambler.
I’m trying to weigh up all the options. For me, I’d rather take what I can now (which has to be tempered with reason, as I’m not going to sell for less than I bought it for!) than risk holding out and finding out in 3 years time I’m in exactly the same situation, or worse the house declines further in price. Yes ok, everyone says its what 4/5 years after validating your visa but again it’s the gamble, what if it does take that long recover, or the prices just don’t increase again. That means all that money, hard work, effort, filling in forms and worrying, and meds etc, all for nothing – we could lose our visa!
I talk of gambling, or not in my case! But there is also the … are you ruled by your head or your heart? We made a decision to go, we spent a lot of time and effort (well I did anyway!) filling in forms, gathering information, getting things copied, certified, re-reading the rules and the forms to make sure it was all correct, not to mention the worry about meds, whether it actually arrived cos it takes ages for them to acknowledge and of course the whole cost.
In all of that, for me, there is a process you go through when leaving the UK and starting a new life the other side of the world, it makes you think, act differently. Your not buying things like you did before, because you question whether a. you can take it with you or b. you will need it when you get there and all tempered with the desire to save as much as possible along the way.
With friends and family, you have the …. this is the last time, we’ll do this, see that. The things I really wanted to do before I went, I made a list and I’ve done them.
But its not just that, it’s the whole living in limbo, I can’t say I feel settled because at the back of my mind I’m always thinking, if we find the buyer tomorrow, then its all change, we can countdown to going. I feel like I’m living in a permanent 3 months window and can’t look/plan beyond it.
I’m sure a lot of it is that old age being in control, you make a decision, you’ve done something about it and hey…… suddenly again you can’t control whats happening cos of the housing market at the moment!
I made a decision to live somewhere else and I want to be there.
It’s about the house but it’s also me and the OH. We seem to have differing views on the path we take to get to Aus.
Whereas, I believe we should reduce the house price to try and sell he’s keener to say no, lets wait for the market to pick up and sell it for the original marketed price we we’re given last year.
I have to ask myself: does anyone know with any certainty that the market will improve in the next 6 or 8 months, or the market will continue to decline gradually and take years to recover? Some talk of a big crash like the 90’s and some predict that we won’t see the boom in prices like we have done over recent years.
So to me, to try and second guess and make a decision, is essentially a gamble. And trust me, I am no gambler.
I’m trying to weigh up all the options. For me, I’d rather take what I can now (which has to be tempered with reason, as I’m not going to sell for less than I bought it for!) than risk holding out and finding out in 3 years time I’m in exactly the same situation, or worse the house declines further in price. Yes ok, everyone says its what 4/5 years after validating your visa but again it’s the gamble, what if it does take that long recover, or the prices just don’t increase again. That means all that money, hard work, effort, filling in forms and worrying, and meds etc, all for nothing – we could lose our visa!
I talk of gambling, or not in my case! But there is also the … are you ruled by your head or your heart? We made a decision to go, we spent a lot of time and effort (well I did anyway!) filling in forms, gathering information, getting things copied, certified, re-reading the rules and the forms to make sure it was all correct, not to mention the worry about meds, whether it actually arrived cos it takes ages for them to acknowledge and of course the whole cost.
In all of that, for me, there is a process you go through when leaving the UK and starting a new life the other side of the world, it makes you think, act differently. Your not buying things like you did before, because you question whether a. you can take it with you or b. you will need it when you get there and all tempered with the desire to save as much as possible along the way.
With friends and family, you have the …. this is the last time, we’ll do this, see that. The things I really wanted to do before I went, I made a list and I’ve done them.
But its not just that, it’s the whole living in limbo, I can’t say I feel settled because at the back of my mind I’m always thinking, if we find the buyer tomorrow, then its all change, we can countdown to going. I feel like I’m living in a permanent 3 months window and can’t look/plan beyond it.
I’m sure a lot of it is that old age being in control, you make a decision, you’ve done something about it and hey…… suddenly again you can’t control whats happening cos of the housing market at the moment!
I made a decision to live somewhere else and I want to be there.
Total Comments 4
Comments
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Lynda, we have lots in common lol.
I too have stopped buying "housy" things and place question marks against events further away then three months. In fact, last year my daughter came home with a letter about a school camping trip in May this year. "Sorry love" we said "We won't be here then". Oh gawd, if only!!!! I've had to go and see the school and plead for a place. Luckily, we got one but its made me realise that we can't put our lives on hold and we have to live as normal. (Well, as normal as we can do). Is this torture ever going to end?????? Keep posting your thoughts Lynda cos to be honest, it keeps me sane knowing we are not alone. T xx |
 
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It has to be said there is strange comfort in knowing your not alone! Nice to know my ramblings are helping!!!
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Third time lucky!I take great comfort in knowing that there are others out there going through the same housing nightmare as us. We put our house on the market before Xmas after receiving our Visa's. In hindsight I wish we had taken our chance and done it before getting the visa's. Needless to say we are still in the UK and now on our third (potential) sale. We are expecting a call any day re the survey (hopefully next week)
One lesson we have learned is DONT TELL ANYONE (Estate Agent & buyers)YOUR PLANS. Both of our previous sales fell through days before exchange when the jokers wanted us to drop the price- first time by 30K and second time by 20k!  We refused and asked for the house to go straight back on the market  . Luckily on both occasions we accepted a new offer within 2 days. This fact tells us that the house is priced correctly and is desirable (we already knew that). BUt these people have tried to take advantage of our situation by leaving it to the last minute to drop their little bombshells. They obviously thought we would have no choice but to give in to their insulting offers. Hopefully our gamble will pay off with our third buyer. We did consider at one point, negotiating and coming to some middle ground. My OH was more willing to do this- I just felt ripped off. We did discuss the possibilty of just accepting it- cutting our losses, taking the money and getting the hell out of here. But i am a principled person and cannot give in to these types. I was more annoyed by the fact we had wasted sooooo much time on these wasters. One thing we did do after the first and second survey, we found out what was on it. There were a few minor things (no nasty surprises). Since then we have replace and repaired anything we can and so hopefully this will help this third sale through to completion. We have to validate our Visa's by 13th June 08 and as you can see we are cutting it fine. But we are sticking to our guns and hope to be in Oz end of May - ever the optomist. If this sale falls through we will be stuffed. We need the equity to take with us, to start our new life. We cannot afford to leave th UK and leave the house unsold. We don't want to rent it out because nobody will look after it and tidy it for viewing the way we do. More importantly, financially it would hold up all our plans for OZ. Our view at this stage is, we need to move on and make some very wise financial decisions at the other end to compensate for what is going on here. We need this sale to go through and to some extent it is worth taking some money off if neccessary. If we can live with the price cut we will if we can't we won't. Good luck to all of you in the same boat and just remember- it will be worth it in the end.  Debi |
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hi
we had all those feelings too, the sea wall at selsey fell apart and houses were hard to sell near the sea wall, but, we did sell and every thing came good !!!! stay strong jonroz |
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Recent Blog Entries by lcys2460
- On A Working Holiday (09-10-2008)
- Living Life - Yes Really! (22-08-2008)
- Validating Visa (25-06-2008)
- Feeling Resigned (02-05-2008)
- The Big Housing Gamble (18-04-2008)
