House Prices continue trend of stability.

John_M_Business

Tenerife???!! Oh dear, you've shattered my illusions, Eurows. I was almost taken in by it. I mean, if that's a measure of 'success' - then give me a property any day.

But yes, you are also right that there are some dumb people in the BTL marketplace... but, again, as I get bored of saying - individual stories / experiences are not evidence of anything.

It's rather like this story:
Three professors on a train up to St Andrews pass a field of sheep. All the sheep are white, except one, a black one.
The geography professor chirps up:
"There are black sheep in Scotland!!"

The physics professor feels urged to correct:
"There is at least one black sheep in Scotland"

The maths professor, ashamed at the looseness of the previous statements, interjects:
"There exists in Scotland a sheep, one half of which is black"

meanmachine_2

Surely bragging about how you can take holidays and buy those oversized tractors (how i hate those road cloggers!!!) is just as objectionable as bragging about how much "profit" someone has made on their property, no?

I think both is to be avoided.

I haven't had a holiday in years, as I'm saving a deposit (yawn), and drive a crappy old Ford.

I'm hardly king of the road, but at least my car never gets nicked, or broken into, and nor is it a b*gger to park.

Or am I now bragging about my apparent poverty?

Anyone who saw me chugging along the road would think I was a !!!!!!. I quite like that, as I know I'm probably considerably better off than them - despite not having a partly-paid "asset" in the form of a house.

Pal

I am renting, having sold my property in December. The equity is now in the bank earning me interest each month.

The rent I pay to live in my house is enough to pay my landlords mortgage (repayment + interest), as his mortgage is lower than the current value of the property.

However the rent is about £100 a month lower than an interest only mortgage if I had bought the same property at the time I moved. A repayment mortgage would be around £700 a month more than I pay in rent at the moment.

As a result, I am around £100 (interest saving) plus £500 (interest on equity) better off each month than I would have been had I bought the house I currently live in (and I could have afforded to do so). I could have bought the identical house next door in fact.

I have no maintainance costs and can just phone my landlord to get my home fixed. Even without the equity in the bank I would be better off financially renting. My landlord gains a paid off property in the long run. It is a win/win situation for us both.

My only two downside risks are
- that he might decide to kick me out at some point in the future.
- that house prices might rise in the next few years before I decide to buy again. (Unlikely in my opinion so it is risk I am willing to take).

While I appreciate that ownership is desireable in the long term, I think that some people on this board who slag off renting need to look at the current numbers. In many cases renting these days makes financial sense. There was even an article about this a few weeks ago in the Sunday Times.

And the people who constantly harp on about rent being "wasted money" need to seriously look at the "interest accrued" figures on their next mortgage statement.

nelly_2

Woby_Tide wrote:

crikey the discussion really is struggling, a nelly "I can afford holidays" reprise in the housing boards for the first time since August and some people affording new cars, what is the world coming too

it's like a Harry Enfield sketch

Its cos its boring the hell out of everyone.

lush_walrus

eurows wrote:

Congratulations. I have just bought a new freelander. CASH. All my mates with mortgages are watching their pennies (and their house prices go down).


He drive an Astra van. I have just bought a new Freelander.

I go to Tenerife for xmas. He cannot afford to go to Blackpool.

Wow, you lucky lucky thing, brought a car that will devalue at the drop of a hat, and a luxury trip to a volvanic island!!!!


Oh to be you!

Pal

"Volvanic"?

Made from Volvos?

ManAtHome

meanmachine wrote:

Or am I now bragging about my apparent poverty?

Yep - dead trendy being Working Class, you're obviously working on the invite to No 10 for Bolly and chips.

meanmachine_2

ManAtHome wrote:

Yep - dead trendy being Working Class, you're obviously working on the invite to No 10 for Bolly and chips.

Designer milk stout and caviar covered twiglets are more my thing, me ole china, what what!

MiserlyMartin

meanmachine wrote:

I haven't had a holiday in years, as I'm saving a deposit (yawn), and drive a crappy old Ford. Anyone who saw me chugging along the road would think I was a !!!!!!.

I doubt they would think you are a !!!!!!. You would need a shiney new 4X4 for that. Round here they all drive Mitshibishi Shoguns, brand new ones. No doubt paid for by the benefits they are creaming off whilst doing peoples driveways.

MiserlyMartin

Bestthingsinlifearefree wrote:

It looks like in 2005 / 2006 the dream "soft landing" in house prices actually happened / is happening.

I doubt we will have a soft landing. In my area according to hometrack, prices have fallen by 1.7% in September. Hometrack are traditionally bullish. I think they are trying to inject a bounce into the market so that people will think 'oooh, prices are down £5K, what a bargain', to revive the market.

But my prediction is that prices will continue to fall well into next year. With the economy coming off the rails and the prospect of interest rates held or even raised due to inflationary pressures, I doubt we are going to see any improvement in prices for years. I'd say they either reduce by 20-30% over the next 5 years, or they stay more or less stable for about 10 years until inflation erodes the price until its caught up with the long term trend.

Meanwhile I watch my house proceeds earn interest, laugh at Gordon Brown trying to explain his way out of 'his no more boom and bust' speech and eating humble pie, laugh at you bulls, rent and save up a bigger deposit.