I will make this as brief as possible. Back in the day,my day.Many years ago. As a First time buyer went looking around, found a house that needed a little work then spent a few years slowly doing it up.Family came,happy days. Prices reasonable,usually a few houses around that suited the first time buyer on a low wage. Now i have talked to a few Landlords in the last few years. Worked for a few but never really enjoyed the work.Not like working for owners. Sometimes more dough but not the same. Not the people but the thought that many of these properties should be bought by young couples who have connections to the area. Old fashioned i suppose. Anyway said one day,"Hey Mr Landlord how many properties have you got." "Only one hundred going to buy another one next week".3 bedrooms needs a little work 50 k. Well i knew the house and area and thought,i am older now by the way so no interest myself,should be a first time local buyer who buys that then left it. Talked to another and gleaned a little info of a group who have 400 plus houses,estate agents and friends. So buying properties rapidly doing up and renting out. You could ask the question,cough,connections but will refrain. Now you first time possible buyers out there maybe i do not know really,if this is repeated town by town,city by city are losing out in my view. You possibly get a mortgage arranged to be wiped out by the instant buying power and connections through friends. Convinced myself that communities are being altered to much.A mix fair enough but it seems some towns are becoming rent only towns. What is the situation in your area for first time buyers.What chance have you got.Are you being beaten back by entrepreneurs who are grabbing houses before you get a look in. Any experiences. Hope this thread makes a little sense,if not ignore it. Not the first time i have opened a thread for it to sink faster than the Titanic did. Good luck anyway,first time buyers i wish you well. The end till the next strange thought that enters my head. Please feel free to say what you feel.

Let us imagine.I hear many things. In my day,when you bought a house you did it up over time and that was that. Looked for a cheap house perhaps a little run down and bought it. Then spent many years saving a little and spending on your home. But i hear whispers,ok cannot be proved and i have not the time to delve to deep. Many landlords may have contacts and when a cheap house comes up puff,it is bought as quick as that. The first time buyers have no chance.Does this happen,perhaps you can tell me. I am not in a big town but i spoke to one landlord who had one hundred properties. And another who together with a few others connected to estate agents had 400 properties. Rents for some of these properties make me laugh,and because these are so high i have heard some landlords get ripped off,take anybody who says they will pay the rent. Instead of lowering it a touch and getting decent tenants. When finally many weeks later and the house is wrecked,just brush it off. Has many properties so perhaps expected. And if what i have heard is true,word gets passed round and the same happens again. And one is doing this over and over again.Now this part i can not understand at all. Maybe he is just stupid. So many will hopefully read between the lines of this short thread and say what you think of modern day living. And first time buyers and landlords in general.And tenants and rents that many must find it is hard to pay. And if first time buyers who deserve their chance in their local towns and cities are losing out through underhand practices this should be sorted by some sort of law,or changes to how houses are sold.Do you think this is reasonable. What can be done. Something seems to be building. Do you know strange things that are going on in your town,city. I will be very interested on what you will say i hope of your experiences in your place you call home. If renting for six months perhaps.You never know. Some places i believe in France have 10 year leases.At least you would feel secure. And am i imaging how run down the outside of many tenanted properties are. Inside maybe ok,or maybe not. But outsides that many you see are clearly not maintained. Not the gardens the properties themselves. Do councils have to check these out when let. Have a team to check this ,the property is in fair shape for letting out. Independant people.And teams. Things need improving. But that is my view,and expect some reaction. I feel some thumping at the door. Come on in and introduce yourself.

This week, Glasgow councillors are expected to agree to a new partnership with Glasgow Credit Union. The two year pilot Partnership Mortgage Guarantee Scheme will provide house hunters who can afford to pay a mortgage but cannot raise the necessary deposit. At present, lenders are demanding deposits of between 5% and 25%, which for many people on low incomes is impossible to raise. Glasgow Credit Union will allocate up to £4million in mortgage funding over the period. The council will act as a guarantor for the loan over a maximum five year period, up to a maximum of 20% of the original mortgage amount in the first year, reducing to 10% by year five. READ MORE HERE: http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/13584721.Deposit_scheme_boost_for_first_time_buyers/

The home page of auction website MadBid makes a series of stunning claims. One bidder snapped up a Fiat 500 for just £193. Another grabbed “a week in the sun” for a mere £3.28. A third is about to take delivery of a brand-new Mini One for the staggeringly low price of £6.83. But a Guardian Money investigation suggests that successful buyers can actually end up paying twice the price for goods available on conventional retail sites, while the far more numerous unsuccessful bidders face losing £28 or more each. We also found evidence to suggest that the company, ultimately based in the Channel Islands, is making extraordinary profits – potentially up to £14,000 on the sale of an Apple MacBook in one of its penny auctions. We also found pricing irregularities across the website, with “sold prices” incorrectly stated across its many international versions. http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/may/15/madbid-discount-auction-website-most-complained-company

The home page of auction website MadBid makes a series of stunning claims. One bidder snapped up a Fiat 500 for just £193. Another grabbed “a week in the sun” for a mere £3.28. A third is about to take delivery of a brand-new Mini One for the staggeringly low price of £6.83. But a Guardian Money investigation suggests that successful buyers can actually end up paying twice the price for goods available on conventional retail sites, while the far more numerous unsuccessful bidders face losing £28 or more each. We also found evidence to suggest that the company, ultimately based in the Channel Islands, is making extraordinary profits – potentially up to £14,000 on the sale of an Apple MacBook in one of its penny auctions. We also found pricing irregularities across the website, with “sold prices” incorrectly stated across its many international versions. http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/may/15/madbid-discount-auction-website-most-complained-company

Hi, I just need some advice on this one. I was selling some car parts on eBay back at the start of Feb and a buyer contacts me after leaving a best offer asking if i would deliver to Australia. I said i would only deliver to the uk. The buyer then says could i deliver to his cousin in London who will send it onto him in Aus (Yes, [problem] goes through my mind) But i checked feedback etc reply with yes, as long as it is a confirmed uk address with eBay and PayPal which it was. Both addresses were London, although the PayPal payment name was different to the eBay PayPal listed ones. I send the parcel at the start of Feb, via MyHermes insured and signed for (big mistake using them) Buyer contacts me 2 months later start of April to say the parcel has not arrived at his cousins. I check the tracking and it stops tracking at the MyHermes Hub, so i live chat with them and as it is over 28 days since i dropped the parcel off they wont help and i am not able to claim the paid for insurance for the missing parcel. I tell them i have only just been notified by the buyer that it has not been received, they basically say there is nothing they can do. I then ask the buyer why he has left it two months to tell me the parcel has not arrived and he says his cousin was unexpectedly called away from home and only just told him... So i have followed all eBay and PayPals rules and it looks like i have now lost over £175 with no fault of my own. A tracking number was supplied and entered into eBays system the day i dropped the parcel off. Tracking is partly listed on the MyHermes website last seen at the Hub, but no 'delivered' or 'signed for' So is there anything i can do? Or is it likely i will have to lose the item and £175 and still pay eBay PayPal fees and courier costs? MyHermes wont even get anyone to check in the Hub or let the buyer go to their local Hub to enquire where it is, due to security reasons. Here are the tracking details. Check out the date of the last known whereabouts... The day before it was at the hub??? Parcel collected 03/02/2015 12:51 Dropped off at the ParcelShop 03/02/2015 15:37 Received at the sender's local depot On its way to the courier 04/02/2015 07:43 Sorted at national hub 03/02/2015 15:37 Received at recipient's local depot Unfortunately i did not insure it for the items full value Signature and compensation: Up to £50 compensation, Signature Required. Customer service reply was: : I have checked the system and can see that the tracking is not been updated since 4/2/15.Unfortunately due to the time lapsed, we are unable to investigate your query. Please be advised that any query does need to be addressed to us within 28 days from the last point of tracking. This also excludes you from being entitled to any compensation. So as they did not actually deliver my parcel can i file a small claims court for the following? Delivery cost £8.28 Lost parcel compensation £175 small claims costs £30? Anything else to add? when i refund the buyer, who would i file a small claims court .gov to? Do i send a recorded delivery letter demanding compensation within 7 days or further action will be taken? Do i need a statement of non delivery from the buyer?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-29241563 EBay has been compromised so that people who clicked on some of its links were automatically diverted to a site designed to steal their credentials. The spoof site had been set up to look like the online marketplace's welcome page. The US firm was alerted to the hack on Wednesday night but removed the listings only after a follow-up call from the BBC more than 12 hours later. One security expert said he was surprised by the length of time taken.

Hi just a little advice please, we are currently in the middle of selling our house which we had valued at 140, 000 from when it went on we had a viewer every week we dropped the price to 135000 as we wanted a quick sale after finding our dream home. We currently have a buyer who knocked us down to 130000 and also asked us to pay half their stamp duty which we agreed to as we didn't want to loose the buyer or our dream home. They have now had a home buyers survey done which has told them that our house needs a new front door and frame ?? Guttering needs replacing and our conservatory needs replacing or knocking down. The buyer has been to see the house twice before they offered and I do agree the guttering needs replacing and also the conservatory ( wooden frame single payne ) Needs the frames and roof replacing and this is clearly visible. But considering I have already been knocked down over 5000 and I cannot go any lower as we would not be able to purchase the house we want. Does this make me sound unreasonable not budging on price as my thinking is the buyer seen the house twice before offering and haggled us down quite some.