Why now so hard to get that 1st rung on the propery ladder compared to years gone by?

lisyloo

What's on your wish list, miss smarty pants?

Social justice (I mean not subsidising scroungers but also supporting the vulnerable in society and not over rewarding fat cats).
An end to world poverty, torture, hunger and war.
an end to spending on bad things like arms and spending it on good things like education and medication.
Much more work/life balance.
Much better regard for the environment.

How am I going to acheive it - well I'm almost certainly not because like most people I have to pay the bills.
I do my bit for charity though and try to behave with a social conscience.

I have consider doing voluntary work overseas to make a real meaningful contribution but for the usual reasons (I have to pay the bills) I cannot see myself doing it until at least the mortgage is paid off (which is something I am actively doing something about).
I am actively reducing my debt as fast as possible so in future I will have more choice about what I do and not just be a wage slave.
Hopefully that will include some "good works" but like most people I am currently just paying the bills.

I am happy to answer your question but I am not one of the people complaining that "it's not fair".
I count my blessings that however unfair it seems on a global scale everyone here is INCREDIBLY lucky to have enough to eat.
If you are worried about getting on the ladder then you are indeed highly privileged as there are about 8 billion people in the world wondering where their next meal is coming from.
It's not meant to sound pious or condescending but I do think people should count their blessing.

F_T_Buyer

PoorDave wrote:

Two questions: How much do you know about economics, and what other investments do you look at on here or elsewhere?

I have a economics degree, and more importantly I keep up to date with such reports, e.g. ONS and BoE releases (Yes, I do read them, and not the articles that are based on the reports).

Investments? My investments fall into two categories, cash and investments. Cash, is ISAs and regular savings (halifax @ 7%, Barclays 10%). All additional cash over and above this (i.e. the majority) goes into commodities and equities (some through part of my ISA), although i'm heavy on cash at present due to rising world interest rates. I'm watching to see how things pan out.

Jim_B_3

lisyloo wrote:

It's not meant to sound pious or condescending but I do think people should count their blessing.

It does sound uninformed, and quite cliched. There are about six and a half billion people in the world - getting facts like this wrong undermine your credibility.

"Arms are bad", "work/life balance"... tired cliches. "Counting our blessings" is a way to make us feel grateful (ha!) for our lot in life. They're not blessings, they're what everyone is entitled to!

Power to the People!

Iso

The idealism is all well and good but you're in the wrong place!

This is supposed to be about house prices and why it's so hard to buy your first place.

Prices have escalated because, as someone has already said, there are endless property programmes on TV. These show idiots (on the whole) who buy a property, "do it up" (usually bodges it) and, because the market has gone up during their labours, just about break even (before legal fees, estate agents costs, interest - sometimes on credit cards - etc). If any of these plonkers had been "property developers" in the 1980s when prices were static and interest rates were at least double what they are today they wouldn't stand a chance.

Second home owners and BTL merchants don't help either.

PoorDave

Iso wrote:

The idealism is all well and good but you're in the wrong place!

This is supposed to be about house prices and why it's so hard to buy your first place.

Prices have escalated because, as someone has already said, there are endless property programmes on TV. These show idiots (on the whole) who buy a property, "do it up" (usually bodges it) and, because the market has gone up during their labours, just about break even (before legal fees, estate agents costs, interest - sometimes on credit cards - etc). If any of these plonkers had been "property developers" in the 1980s when prices were static and interest rates were at least double what they are today they wouldn't stand a chance.

Second home owners and BTL merchants don't help either.

How do you justify the fact that the market goes up while they do it? How can the "idiots" doing this be causing the market rise that happens while they're doing it?

PoorDave

F_T_Buyer wrote:

I have a economics degree, and more importantly I keep up to date with such reports, e.g. ONS and BoE releases (Yes, I do read them, and not the articles that are based on the reports).

Investments? My investments fall into two categories, cash and investments. Cash, is ISAs and regular savings (halifax @ 7%, Barclays 10%). All additional cash over and above this (i.e. the majority) goes into commodities and equities (some through part of my ISA), although i'm heavy on cash at present due to rising world interest rates. I'm watching to see how things pan out.

Now i'm concerned - if someone with an economics degree is wary about property purchasing, what chance do the rest of us have?! Maybe knowing more about the "facts" makes you more cautious, whereas the rest of us plough into things without such knowledge!

Don't forget Alliance & Leicester 10% and lloyds 8%! Through MSE i think i ended up with all my cash and savings in the best rate accounts, so that's helped. I have also been doing some stoozing (borrowing @ 0% interest on credit cards and saving the money at 5%+) too, after reading the boards on here about that. Hopefully making more cash for a bigger deposit when we move house (again) to be nearer my new job.

How do you select which "commodities and equities" you invest in?

A friend of mine says wine investing is the "next big thing". He reckons he's making 15%p.a. on his investments there, but it's all expensive stuff (not Blue Nun or Lambrusco!) at £2k a case.

FaTB

I think the answer is quite simply, CHEAP MONEY has created a speculative boom.

Nothing has changed that much in this country to suddenly make property worth so much more, even taking recent immigration into account.

When the cheap money dries up, ie. IR's start rising, then things will come back into line, either by prices dropping as they did in the 90's or by stagnation in the market, and wages catching up eventually.

Dan29

Iso wrote:

The idealism is all well and good but you're in the wrong place!

This is supposed to be about house prices and why it's so hard to buy your first place.

Prices have escalated because, as someone has already said, there are endless property programmes on TV. These show idiots (on the whole) who buy a property, "do it up" (usually bodges it) and, because the market has gone up during their labours, just about break even (before legal fees, estate agents costs, interest - sometimes on credit cards - etc). If any of these plonkers had been "property developers" in the 1980s when prices were static and interest rates were at least double what they are today they wouldn't stand a chance.

Second home owners and BTL merchants don't help either.

So tv programmes and buy to let are the reasons for current house prices?

Seems a bit difficult to believe somehow, but even if it were true, surely it's better to do something about your own situation if you're unhappy about it, rather than worrying about who (else) is to blame?

Jim_B_3

It's a boom, chaps. People buy because they believe it'll go up in price. It goes up in price because people believe it will. The cheap credit has fanned the flames, and sooner or later it'll turn around.

Dan29

Yep, the "value" is what someone is willing to pay. I've never heard anyone refer to their home as an investment though - surely people buy because they need to live somewhere and don't want to rent?