The Real Estate Market: an international woe
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Somehow you just don’t feel so alone in the world when you stop and realize that the United States isn’t the only nation with crappy real estate problems. We have a glut of properties on the market here in the U.S. due to plummeting home prices. The market is re-adjusting itself after a massive mushroom of falsely inflating pricing. We bought our last home at the height of the real estate bubble and now that we need to sell, we will not even be able to ask close to what we paid. And, there are unreasonable taxes and skyrocketing home owner’s insurances rates to consider.
Alas, over in the U.K. there are woes in the real estate market as well. Their housing market is also oversaturated, with the buy-to-let market seeing the biggest glut. Part of this is due to the fact that so many sellers put their proprieties on the market this summer to try and beat the June 1 HIPs deadline.
Currently, it still stands to see if HIPs (Home Information Packs) will be introduced at all. The packs would include title deeds, copies of planning approvals, local searches, guarantees for any work done and an energy performance certificate. They were going to be required for all homes sold after June 1 and cost sellers between 300 and 500.
Oddly, delays in the process have caused a situation where HIPs are now only required for homes with 4 or more bedrooms. There has been a trend in property owners listing 4-bedroom homes as 3-bedrooms plus stuffy, to avoid the fee. Silly, since a fee of 500 is far less than the additional income a 4th bedroom could potentially bring.
Seems to me that even if HIPs are a bane for sellers, they are a boon for buyers. The additional information required in the packets protects the buyer in many ways, much like an inspection does here in the U.S.
Real estate market woes: they seem to be universal. Perhaps going back to a time where we all lived in caves and log dwellings wouldn’t be so bad.
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