Michelin, Gallaghers etc - lots of bad economic news!

motorguy

x12yhp wrote: »

My biggest beef is that the majority continue to view a house as an investment and not somewhere to live.

+1

Thats why i dont understand the obsession with "oh i must have clear signs that i'm absolutely buying a house at the total bottom of the market and cast iron guarantees that prices are going to rise".

Its a home not an investment. Live in it and enjoy it. Dont obsess on what its worth.

saverbuyer

[QUOTE=x12yhp;69557484
Admittedly the corporation tax will help us massively[/QUOTE]

Is it actually going to help massively though?
I'm an exporter. Healthy turnover, good profit. Will it make a massive difference? Not at all. But it will be nice.


I'm making 400k now and pay 80k in CT.


In 2018 I'll have 50kto pay. I'll save 30k.


What will I do with that money? Prob put it in the director pension or go on holiday. But it's not a massive amount of money considering I'll have 350k anyway.

saverbuyer

motorguy wrote: »

+1

Thats why i dont understand the obsession with "oh i must have clear signs that i'm absolutely buying a house at the total bottom of the market and cast iron guarantees that prices are going to rise".

Its a home not an investment. Live in it and enjoy it. Dont obsess on what its worth.

My god Paul.


You've changed your tune.

motorguy

saverbuyer wrote: »

My god Paul.


You've changed your tune.

No - that has always been my view.

I've consistently said its a bad idea to mix your home with an expectation of it being an investment. Yes, its nice if it is - but as has been said, unless its value outstrips the type of house you're planning on going to, theres no advantage anyway.

Likewise i would rather be going in to my retirement years owning a house than having to rent.

joefizz

waltsalt wrote: »

A lot of these maintenance costs are only incurred through choice. You may not get these done in a rented house so shouldn't really consider them here if you want to compare apples with apples. If the rented house is still functional then the landlord isn't really going to care if the kitchen or bathroom is less fashionable than it used to be.

I think that was my point. Higher hidden costs associated with home ownership vs renting.
Your point about apples with apples is more for owning vs buy to let rather than renting, renting is a fixed cost regardless of decor (if as a tenant you want to change the decor you ask the landlord or move).
My point being that no-one really buys a single house over 20 years and just sits in it (as would be the case with renting). Hence the 'hidden' costs that Paul doesnt factor in. Of course his circumstance is different to mine with moving in a smaller time period between two houses but there you have to figure in fees, moving costs, remortgage (larger smaller and run on costs) etc.

saverbuyer

motorguy wrote: »

No - that has always been my view.

I've consistently said its a bad idea to mix your home with an expectation of it being an investment. Yes, its nice if it is - but as has been said, unless its value outstrips the type of house you're planning on going to, theres no advantage anyway.

Likewise i would rather be going in to my retirement years owning a house than having to rent.

I could rent my house for about £900 cheaper a month than an interest only mortgage.


I think I'd be happy enough with half a mill at retirement.

motorguy

saverbuyer wrote: »

I could rent my house for about £900 cheaper a month than an interest only mortgage.


I think I'd be happy enough with half a mill at retirement.

If thats your view, why didnt you?

saverbuyer

motorguy wrote: »

If thats your view, why didnt you?

Honestly. Pressure from the OH. Which I completely understand. Renting isn't for everyone but I think more could be done by the assembly to move us towards a more tenant friendly European model and property taxed more effectively.


Also (as you'll know) in business, it helps to have a house you "own".

Mistral001

x12yhp wrote: »

As for the topic - yes, there is a lot of bad news. I am an NI based manufacturer and I can tell you that there are loads of factors making life hard. Admittedly the corporation tax will help us massively but simple things, like insurance, are a nightmare. If we hadn't shopped around, we could have spent 20% of our profit on insurances. I have been shouting about this for a while but, at a time where we are trying to grow things like manufacturing, the insurance sector is busily undermining it.

Michelin has not mentioned the cost of insurance as one of the factors in their close down. Although many large factories will pay annual premiums measured in the £millions.

Because of the amount of business an insurer will be getting from a large factory often the insurer can get actively involved in the running to the plant to reduce risks. For example, often some of these large factories will build their buildings to international insurance standards rather than just the minimum standard required by law locally. Those insurance standards will require extra fire protection etc. Sometimes it is a trade-off between the cost of building their buildings to these higher standards which attract lower premiums and just building to local standards which attract normal premiums.

One other factor is the price of insurance premium tax, which I believe is going to rise.


Note there are insurances that you must have by law such as employee liability insurance and lenders and granting authorities will insist on some others as well, but perhaps there are some insurances that insurance salesmen say that you should have when in fact it might be more worthwhile to just reduce your risk.

motorguy

saverbuyer wrote: »

Honestly. Pressure from the OH. Which I completely understand. Renting isn't for everyone but I think more could be done by the assembly to move us towards a more tenant friendly European model and property taxed more effectively.


Also (as you'll know) in business, it helps to have a house you "own".

Yes, i take your point(s)

The bigger the house the cheaper the rent, relatively speaking.

Thus whilst you might make a considerable saving renting instead of buying because of the size of the property, someone renting a semi at say £600 a month would be paying around £600 a month for a mortgage to buy it.