Some of you are vultures

thegibdog

carolt wrote: »

Shame we don't live a 3 party state - I'd vote for Vince Cable - the only leading politician who appears to know his !!!! from his elbow - but sadly he won't get in.

Revolution anyone?

Carol, do you realise it's that very opinion which keeps us from being a "3 party state"? In the same way that every single person who bought a house during the boom is partly responsible for the bust, everybody who thought "I'll vote Labour because the Lib Dems will never get in" is partly responsible for the mess the government has made of this country.

Old_Slaphead

I'll be voting for Vince.....first time I'll be voting for LibDems.

There's only him and Ken Clarke who talk any sense.

As for Mrs Balls, Ali Eyebrows et all - grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr



And I'll joint the Revolution.

tesuhoha

greenwheels007 wrote: »

I can undersatnd that people who have been waiting to buy for years and at last may be able to afford to do so may be a little excited at the prospect.
And you have already said that your husband did earn good wages, so he was as you say making money on the back of the housing boom.
Just ask him one question..
Is he aware of tradespeople, when the going was good, being asked to quote for a small job. They pick a crazy price and know that they have more work if they don't get the job. If the cuctomer says yes then they are quids in.
I know an electrician and a builder who have done this. They didn;t need the work so just came up with a crazy price and some people took it, others didn't.

I think you've twisted my words here. He was not making money on the back of the housing boom, he was doing his job, he didn't earn mega bucks, certainly not the £70k+ that some have mentioned, and he worked very hard for his money without any holiday pay, sick pay, or pension. The people I'm talking about that made money on the back of the housing boom are the property investors who bought and sold houses for profit, making hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I suppose there must have been tradespeople quoting silly prices but my OH wasn't one of them because TBH he doesn't like private work in people's houses, he prefers to work mainly on empty new builds because he can just get on with the work without any complications. I'm not talking about money here.

Let me ask you this, if he earned so much money at plumbing what are we doing in a grotty three bedroomed house that we can't afford to do up with a ten year old car sitting outside with 90,000 on the clock (so that I can get to work) and an eight year old van with 120,000 on the clock, with barely the money for the mortgage in the bank and no money for the van insurance, no holiday whatsoever for the last 6 years, no going out, no new clothes for the same amount of time, a £1,000 tax bill in the drawer that I am saving up to pay, no Christmas presents for anyone, no food in the cupboards, the heating turned off, the clothes drying on the cold radiators because I can't afford to buy a tumble dryer, the washing machine on the blink and the grass outside uncut because I haven't got a lawnmower and my husband talking about having to work till he's 70 because he doesn't have a pension?

tesuhoha

greenwheels007 wrote: »

So maybe we can draw this jolly exciting thread to a close?

Vultures or squirrels are hoping that the house prices return to an affordable level.
House owners are hoping they are not going to slip below the amount of their mortgage.
We all hope that the new year is going to see a prompt recovery in all other areas of finance and that unemployment is low.

We can all agree on that much surely....it's just the detail and our personal perspectives that differ.

What do you think my definition of a vulture is? Because I have tried to explain it but by what you say, you and many others still continue to misunderstand (whether deliberately or not) what I was trying to say.

There has been so much fuss I have just read my first post again to see if I have actually accused people of being vultures for buying repossessions but no I have not. I am talking entirely about people's attitudes, not their actions. I am talking about the gloating. I know this because I posted it after reading many of these comments and feeling that not much has been spoken about the human misery behind these repossessions and to spare a thought for this.

Please do not ask me again if I think you are a vulture for buying a repossession because I do not and that was not the intention of the post. So close the thread now by all means.

tesuhoha

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

Probably me being thick, but is he a plumber or a gas engineer? Or both?

Where in the SE are you based?

A plumber and a gas engineer are both basically the same thing. They just have to be Corgi Registered and to have completed all the gas elements to legally work in those areas. North Kent.

matbe

mustrum_ridcully wrote: »

My bolding.

Now you show your true colours, calling renters losers. That is an attitude typical of those who helped stoke this unsustainable boom. As vulture-like as it might sound these "losers" could well be tomorrows "winners".

Oh do you complain about petrol prices going down? That effects the bloke who runs the small petrol station trying to compete with tesco and sainsbury's. Do you complain when food prices fall? That effects the farmer who can often struggle to make ends meet.

Human beings, we are often total and utter hypocrites...

Did you not read the entire post? I stated that I bought in 1992 how did this stoke the unsustainable boom?

How does this make me a hypocrite?

Are you a bit thick?

ess0two

@Tesuhoha delete post 443,you've said too much and may well regret the replies to that post.
Its dog eat dog at the moment,just keep soldiering on.

neverdespairgirl

tesuhoha wrote: »

A plumber and a gas engineer are both basically the same thing. They just have to be Corgi Registered and to have completed all the gas elements to legally work in those areas. North Kent.

I suppose all that Ebsfleet / Thames Gateway stuff is in your neck of the woods, and is having an impact?

The bit of Kent I know well is further south, between Maidstone and Ashford.

matbe

tesuhoha wrote: »

I think you've twisted my words here. He was not making money on the back of the housing boom, he was doing his job, he didn't earn mega bucks, certainly not the £70k+ that some have mentioned, and he worked very hard for his money without any holiday pay, sick pay, or pension. The people I'm talking about that made money on the back of the housing boom are the property investors who bought and sold houses for profit, making hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I suppose there must have been tradespeople quoting silly prices but my OH wasn't one of them because TBH he doesn't like private work in people's houses, he prefers to work mainly on empty new builds because he can just get on with the work without any complications. I'm not talking about money here.

Let me ask you this, if he earned so much money at plumbing what are we doing in a grotty three bedroomed house that we can't afford to do up with a ten year old car sitting outside with 90,000 on the clock (so that I can get to work) and an eight year old van with 120,000 on the clock, with barely the money for the mortgage in the bank and no money for the van insurance, no holiday whatsoever for the last 6 years, no going out, no new clothes for the same amount of time, a £1,000 tax bill in the drawer that I am saving up to pay, no Christmas presents for anyone, no food in the cupboards, the heating turned off, the clothes drying on the cold radiators because I can't afford to buy a tumble dryer, the washing machine on the blink and the grass outside uncut because I haven't got a lawnmower and my husband talking about having to work till he's 70 because he doesn't have a pension?

I would like to say i agreed with your original post 100%

I am very sorry you are in a bad position financially but even with work as quiet as it is at present (I am a self employed spark and know exactly what it is like) I think your husband needs to speak with someone about pricing and business because you should not be in this position.
most plumbers I know are still making a decent living.

There is a lady who posts on the small business forum and her husband is a plumber she talks a lot of sense.

Hope things get better for you soon

harryhound

tesuhoha wrote: »

I think you've twisted my words here. He was not making money on the back of the housing boom, he was doing his job, he didn't earn mega bucks, certainly not the £70k+ that some have mentioned, and he worked very hard for his money without any holiday pay, sick pay, or pension. The people I'm talking about that made money on the back of the housing boom are the property investors who bought and sold houses for profit, making hundreds of thousands of pounds.

I suppose there must have been tradespeople quoting silly prices but my OH wasn't one of them because TBH he doesn't like private work in people's houses, he prefers to work mainly on empty new builds because he can just get on with the work without any complications. I'm not talking about money here.

Let me ask you this, if he earned so much money at plumbing what are we doing in a grotty three bedroomed house that we can't afford to do up with a ten year old car sitting outside with 90,000 on the clock (so that I can get to work) and an eight year old van with 120,000 on the clock, with barely the money for the mortgage in the bank and no money for the van insurance, no holiday whatsoever for the last 6 years, no going out, no new clothes for the same amount of time, a £1,000 tax bill in the drawer that I am saving up to pay, no Christmas presents for anyone, no food in the cupboards, the heating turned off, the clothes drying on the cold radiators because I can't afford to buy a tumble dryer, the washing machine on the blink and the grass outside uncut because I haven't got a lawnmower and my husband talking about having to work till he's 70 because he doesn't have a pension?

I think this is the polite foreign word you were looking for (just add an "r" to turn it into English pronunciation):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schadenfreude#Similar_terms_in_other_languages
Yes I am a vulture:
Vultures do not kill anything, they just drift around looking for something that is already dead and the swoop in for a free lunch. I bet they salivate a bit when they see an animal in its death throes. Especially when they have been starving while all the fat bovines were chomping on the lush green grass. It is economic winter now, "all the grass is brown and the sky is grey....."

I really sympathise with your situation, but the invisible hand of world economics is hovering over us all - someone in China would be happy to do your hubby's job for 50 GBP a month. I notice that the Africans are complaining that when the Chinese sign a deal with an African "leader", they bring their own work hard working craftsmen with them, rather than employ the somewhat "happy go lucky" locals.

So your husband is a quiet artisan - not really a wheeler dealer?
What skills do you have to offer?

While on the topic of "vultures" can I recommend you all to the annual "blog" or "ramblings" of Mr Perloff, you have to dodge past the bean counter stuff to get to the interesting commentary.
In a very minor way, I have met and had dealings with this guy. He is a short and bubbly former estate agent of migrant stock.,
(I think I can say that without being sued for libel;) 'cos we are all related to "only a small group; possibly 150 people [who] crossed the Red Sea")
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mitochondrial_Eve

[Perhaps one of our experts can comment on the interest rate swaps - 'cos I don't understand them any more than Mr Perloff does]

I'm sure Mr Perloff is a man of integrity, as I shook hands with him, I felt absolutely no need to count my rings.

http://www.panthersecurities.co.uk
http://panthersecurities.co.uk/fck_upload/file/accounts/Panther%20Int2008.pdf