Recent content by way.tidy

Be careful about building refurbishment costs into the negotiation unless work is genuinely needed. Normal preparation between tenants and damage are different issues. Record the townhouse’s current condition now, and keep any eventual deposit discussion separate from the rent review.

I’m also curious about the inspection findings. Did anything emerge that changed your reserve calculation without being serious enough to reopen the offer? That grey area seems harder than either a clean inspection or an obvious deal-breaker.

Also run the townhouse with no assumed appreciation for extra space, and the apartment with no premium for being serviced. Removing those narratives makes the comparison depend on documented cash flow and actual utility.

I wouldn’t apply one expected discount across that whole range. Vacancy can make a transaction easier, but it doesn’t establish value. I’d start with recent completed sales for genuinely comparable condos, then separate vacant units by condition. A dated vacant unit and a turnkey vacant unit may...

It is tempting to read 88 days as a sign that warehouse sellers will negotiate, but I am not convinced the listing age tells enough on its own. In Dubai, stock between AED 2,980,000 and AED 4,470,000 seems to behave very differently depending on the industrial area, condition and whether vacant...

I partly disagree with Omar on reserves being mainly about a future cost. Some buyers may move on before trying to quantify it, especially where there are several comparable listings. That makes a weak reserve position a liquidity issue for the seller, even if no buyer ever states a specific...

Were the duplicate entries from the same advertiser, or did different advertisers appear to be offering the same unit? That distinction matters. Reposts by one advertiser suggest weak housekeeping; multiple advertisers may make it difficult to identify who can actually progress the transaction...

What exactly would the field record: the rate quoted to a particular buyer, the general rate mentioned in a report, or whether a loan is fixed or variable? It also needs a date. Otherwise two Johannesburg threads may look comparable in search while referring to different periods or borrower...

I’d also question the property-tax explanation. It may be a field in the listing data rather than the real reason a property became an outlier. Check whether those same buildings are older, need work, have unusual occupancy arrangements or were simply priced too high at launch.

I’d compare total cash out over the 10 years: deposit, fees, monthly payments and the balance still outstanding at year ten. APR can help, but it may not reflect your actual holding period or a planned early exit. Run the same loan amount and term for every quote; otherwise a lower headline rate...

For seasonality, comparing January with the immediately preceding month is weak. The better test is the same point across several prior seasonal cycles, using the same definitions. Even then, changes in the kinds of homes sold must be controlled.

One gap I’ve noticed: listing age may be misleading if homes are withdrawn and relisted. How are people distinguishing genuinely new stock from recycled listings? I’d also be interested in whether price cuts tend to happen before serious viewings, or only once a financed buyer gets far enough to...

If I mistake stale stock for a bargain, I could end up paying for a problem that other buyers have already spotted. My Dubai notes cover mainly villas asking between AED 2,819,000 and AED 4,228,000, with a typical advertised age of 68 days. I first assumed maintenance and condition explained...

A matched-property table would help: first asking price, latest asking price, completion price, first-listing date, condition, broad area and property type. Keep withdrawn listings in a separate column rather than silently losing them. That would expose whether the apparent shift comes from...