Str's. How are they feeling these days.

Wookster

mr.broderick wrote: »

i am an idiot like that sometimes.

Sometimes? hmmmmmm

silvercar

mr.broderick wrote: »

Back in January 2007 we moved into rented accommodation after selling our house to move into rented. We put 80k in the bank and i think we were earning £400 a month if i remember correctly on the savings. The rent was £600 so we were basically contributing £200 to the rent. We decided to buy again later that year and got a good price on a house. A house has just completed a few houses down from us and it has sold for £9,000 less than what we paid for this, to be honest we pinched this house so houses must have dropped a good 20k. Anyway, i currently have 26k ish in savings earning me around £60 a month. Did we do the right thing buying again? Our 2 year fixed with abbey is up septemberish, we are currently on a 5.49% deal, think we will just let it go svr, the current rate is 4.69 i think. I definitely feel for savers and str's at the moment.

We sold then bought in summer 2006. We toyed with the idea of STR but rejected it, mainly because the sort of house we wanted, in the location we wanted to be in, don't come up very often.

Our mortgage rate is a lifetime tracker, now 1.75%. So the mortgage is cheaper than a rental would have been.

Part of the funding for the purchase came from liquidating PEPs, and ISAs that we had accumulated over the years. I don't know the exact percentage drop that the big funds (jupiter, fidelity etc) have made since 2006 but it was definitely the right time to exit. I would hazard a guess that the drop in investment funds has been greater than the drop in the house prices over the same time period.

mr.broderick

silvercar wrote: »

We sold then bought in summer 2006. We toyed with the idea of STR but rejected it, mainly because the sort of house we wanted, in the location we wanted to be in, don't come up very often.

Our mortgage rate is a lifetime tracker, now 1.75%. So the mortgage is cheaper than a rental would have been.

Part of the funding for the purchase came from liquidating PEPs, and ISAs that we had accumulated over the years. I don't know the exact percentage drop that the big funds (jupiter, fidelity etc) have made since 2006 but it was definitely the right time to exit. I would hazard a guess that the drop in investment funds has been greater than the drop in the house prices over the same time period.

Yeah i am suffering from fixed rate syndrome at the moment.
My mortgage would be peanuts at 1.75%

Cleaver

PasturesNew wrote: »

When I sold and banked my cash, I didn't know when I'd buy again, I still don't, so the money can't really be put into longer-term accounts/products, it is in every day accounts.

When I banked, the interest was enough to pay a small rent, basic bills, frugal food and have a bit left over for the odd thing here or there. With that as a backdrop, it meant anything else I earnt on top was nice, but if push came to shove, the interest would sustain me.

I never needed to touch the savings or the interest. The income I have managed to generate was healthy at first and rose - to a peak last June. Then it fell away to a super-low in December. I was using this money to live on, with the interest income being Plan B if needed.

Come December, my income was just enough to pay the basic rent and basic bills, on paper that meant taking from my savings to eat. Luckily there's been a small bounce in income in Jan/Feb, but in the meantime my interest has slumped to such a low that it wouldn't even cover my tiny rent if I needed it to.

If my onilne earnings suddenly went to £0, I'd not have a Plan B and would immediately be into having to use my savings to live on.

Looking forward - and job opportunities, I am getting some random calls from agencies, all of which are telling me about clients who are THINKING of replacing sick people with a temp. Only they never actually happen. So all these smaller employers are thinking about taking people on, but don't. And people are thinking of staying on the sick and going back to work.

I am not actively seeking work since 2 weeks ago. I am hoping something "just happens", a random phone call from nowhere that will solve things by offering me a job.

I currently have three employers that might be using me at a fair rate to cover sick leave in the near future ... but they're all thinking about it. I have never had such enquiry calls from an agency before and I asked if it was normal for them - and they said no, it's not. All these people asking them to find out if anybody could do the jobs, while they think about it.

I love the way you never jump straight on the defensive PN and actually consider the question and answer very honestly. Hats off to you.

Cleaver

ad9898 wrote: »

:rotfl:it's funny you should say that DD, I'm over in Ireland, working at the min, came over on the ferry, and started chatting to this woman, she was very nice, gave me her phone number and she lives near me, so a date might be on the cards.......

Did she have a labrador with a yellow jacket alongside her?

(joke © of Les Dawnson, circa 1961)

mr.broderick

Cleaver wrote: »

I love the way you never jump straight on the defensive PN and actually consider the question and answer very honestly. Hats off to you.

It is a great quality, i sometimes post exasperating threads just to test the temperament of the members, it is very revealing.

PasturesNew

Cleaver wrote: »

I love the way you never jump straight on the defensive PN and actually consider the question and answer very honestly. Hats off to you.

Oh, I don't do defensive. I answer the question as I see the question.

Defensive is dangerous ... bigger boys answer back and then you have to scuttle off and hide.

mr.broderick

Cleaver wrote: »

Did she have a labrador with a yellow jacket alongside her?

(joke © of Les Dawnson, circa 1961)

Ps i think gemsy 62 may fancy you cleaver....

PasturesNew

mr.broderick wrote: »

i sometimes post exasperating threads just to test the temperament of the members, it is very revealing.

That's very very mean you know.

mr.broderick

PasturesNew wrote: »

That's very very mean you know.

I know it is, but i would never be mean to you. You are my favourite.