The Aberdeen House Prices & Rents thread

Graham_Devon

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Well Graham I was paying around £1.40 for fuel a few years ago and now I'm consistently paying just over £1.

Well Hamish, I was talking about Energy Companies.

That's what I stated "energy companies", funnily enough.

wotsthat

Graham_Devon wrote: »

The problem here is that you appear to be stating "maybe X will happen, it's possible that Y might happen, and Z could potentially happen".

Others are stating what IS happening and it's happening right now (hence the stockmarket currently).

I'm not sure what your point is. I'm talking about what's happening now. I'm currently (or at least my employer is) saving c£1000 year on providing fuel for my car. Delivery costs per pallet have fallen, shipping costs have fallen etc. etc. Some of those savings will (no maybes) find their way in price reductions for the consumer, some will go into margin and some will end up in my pocket (already has).

Graham_Devon wrote: »

As for savings being passed on, there was a big bit in the news yesterday that energy companies are failing to pass on the savings. So again, the evidence suggests that all these "maybes" you keep referring to to argue against reality, are not materialising.

With your past history of starting multiple threads about the impact of increasing fuel prices it's simply not credible to take the stance you've hardly noticed the difference when they've fallen so dramatically.

I don't care about the big bit in the news. If people are concerned they aren't getting a good enough deal they should move - it takes 10 minutes and usually comes with a golden hello if done via a cashback site. I move every time the current deal finishes and did so a month or so back - knocked £288 off my annual spend.

Crashy_Time

wotsthat wrote: »

Yes but you have form in mistakenly thinking that everyone's life is like yours.

Your rent hasn't gone up since you were a lad = nobody else's has either.

You don't have a petrol tank to fill = neither does anyone else.

Maybe your bus fare will get a bit cheaper.

Employer pays all the bus fares, so even more money (if you include the rent savings) to throw into tracker funds as the global economy goes to hell in a Ponzi scheme........:rotfl: Thing is my lifestyle is making me happy (laughing at you and the other clowns on here is a bonus) but yourself and quite a few others on here come across as sad, bitter, even quite sick individuals. Why is that?

wotsthat

Crashy_Time wrote: »

Employer pays all the bus fares, so even more money (if you include the rent savings) to throw into tracker funds as the global economy goes to hell in a Ponzi scheme........:rotfl: Thing is my lifestyle is making me happy (laughing at you and the other clowns on here is a bonus) but yourself and quite a few others on here come across as sad, bitter, even quite sick individuals. Why is that?

I'm as happy as Larry with my lifestyle too - thanks for the tip about sounding sad and bitter - I'll work on that.

I think we're both quite similar in that we both have much higher savings rates than the average person. We've gone about it in slightly different ways though - you went cheap, if you don't mind me saying, and rented somewhere in a not so nice part of town where many places are boarded up. Having a less nice place than you'd buy is actually quite a large investment when you consider how long you've rented for although I understand you don't attach much value to this utility.

I went for value and invested in a nice house in a reasonable area and I'm paying substantially less than renting a house which would be suitable for my family - that's all being invested. Of course, my savings rate will increase even further when the mortgage is paid off. Also, it's nice to know I don't need to waste headspace thinking about whether to buy a house or rent forever.

I'm quite enjoying lower stock prices too but it's a bit of a surprise to hear about your stock market investments. If you think the global economy is going to hell in a Ponzi scheme why are you tracking it all the way there?

westernpromise

wotsthat wrote: »

Also, it's nice to know I don't need to waste headspace thinking about whether to buy a house or rent forever.

Yep. Having an enormous debt hanging over your head, in the shape of all the rent you'll pay for the rest of your life until you buy and that meanwhile buys you nothing, is an uncomfortable place to be.

Crashy_Time

westernpromise wrote: »

Yep. Having an enormous debt hanging over your head, in the shape of all the rent you'll pay for the rest of your life until you buy and that meanwhile buys you nothing, is an uncomfortable place to be.

Not quite as uncomfortable as living under the weight of multiple highly leveraged BTL`s though.

fun4everyone

Graham_Devon wrote: »

As for savings being passed on, there was a big bit in the news yesterday that energy companies are failing to pass on the savings.

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Well Graham I was paying around £1.40 for fuel a few years ago and now I'm consistently paying just over £1.

I agree that petrol/diesel prices have been significantly slashed since this downturn started (which is of course a good thing) - but I feel that's different from the "energy companies"

http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/bills/article-3280673/Wholesale-energy-costs-plunge-five-year-low-no-sign-falling-bills-households-winter-beckons.html

Those guys have not passed on the significant falls in supply cost for them, which is outrageous.

Against that of course you have to offset falling tax revenue to the government, which is not particularly material to the UK, but would be huge for Scotland had it gone independent.

All the "yes" voters are now getting a wake up call to what would have happened had we become independent and relied on their north sea revenue predictions. Very glad Scotland voted no both then and even more now.

In other news, more relevant to this thread, council tax potentially being raised? Surely that would be terrible at the moment for an Aberdeen with a population that is being financially crippled.

https://www.eveningexpress.co.uk/fp/news/local/council-tax-freeze-may-be-cancelled-to-save-services1/
Our council always seems to make the most ridiculous decisions, anyone remember the union gardens fiasco?

HAMISH_MCTAVISH

fun4everyone wrote: »

All the "yes" voters are now getting a wake up call to what would have happened had we become independent and relied on their north sea revenue predictions. Very glad Scotland voted no both then and even more now.

Agreed.

In other news, more relevant to this thread, council tax potentially being raised?

Surely that would be terrible at the moment for an Aberdeen with a population that is being financially crippled.

Our council always seems to make the most ridiculous decisions, anyone remember the union gardens fiasco?

Don't think anyone can accuse Aberdeen council of being competent.

But to correct your statement, only a very small subset of the population is being "financially crippled"... The oil industry so far has only lost about 10% of it's workforce and most of them do not even live in the area.

For the vast majority of the half a million people in Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire who do not work in O&G, the effects, so far anyway, are small and manageable.

Crashy_Time

HAMISH_MCTAVISH wrote: »

Agreed.



Don't think anyone can accuse Aberdeen council of being competent.

But to correct your statement, only a very small subset of the population is being "financially crippled"... The oil industry so far has only lost about 10% of it's workforce and most of them do not even live in the area.

For the vast majority of the half a million people in Aberdeen/Aberdeenshire who do not work in O&G, the effects, so far anyway, are small and manageable.

Their house is getting cheaper, no biggie really, I agree.

Crashy_Time

http://www.citylets.co.uk/research/reports/pdf/Citylets-Quarterly-report-q4-15.pdf?ref=reports


Rent getting cheaper as well it seems.