Sunday 9 March 2008

Redrow's Re:assure House Price Promise

The advert in my local 'PropertyMart' for Redrow's 'Re:assure House Price Promise' contains these gems:

1. "If a customer comes to sell their Redrow Property [within three years] and gets less than they paid, we will refund the difference up to 10% of the purchase price paid..."

2. "... our re:assure package includes measures to help people sell their current property at the best possible price; we may also take the property in part exchange, enabling them to make a quick and easy move with no fear of the chain collapsing."

3. "For those worrying about finding the money to pay the mortgage every month we may be able to provide a substantial subsidy for the first year or two; while those struggling to raise a 5% deposit, stamp duty or legal fees up-front, may prefer us to pay one or more of these instead".

In entirely unrelated news, new build flats in Manchester are selling for barely half their original price; the number of first-time buyers hits a 27-year low and major UK banks announce that they will increase mortgage rates by 0.3% on the same day that the bank of England leaves its base rate unchanged.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Much as I agree that the housing market is a bubble about to burst (indeed it has a slow leak already), you seem to take such glee in the situation. Any reason other than schadenfreude?

Mark Wadsworth said...

I flogged off my investment properties far too early, but managed to sell-to-rent last month. So this is not just Schadenfreude, it is naked self-interest (and politically, these crashes illustrate need for Land Value Tax to keep land values low and stable in future).

Anonymous said...

I'd like a crash, please, big enough so that the bastards don't cover the field behind us with bloody houses.

Mark Wadsworth said...

D, the rate of house building has already slowed enormously, you are probably safe for another ten years or so.

Anonymous said...

Good: that should give me time to go out and bury some "German" bombs and perhaps a few radioactive bits and pieces..

Mark Wadsworth said...

Roman artefacts are usually an absolute show stopper, altho' I'm not sure where you can buy those.