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How can people be so greedy?
Comments
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baileysbattlebus wrote: »It was never easy to afford your first home, my OH and I married in 1975 and rented until 1982, most people rented first. When we bought our first home for 23.5k, a 3 bed terraced, we were both 28 and we had 3 children under 3, so there was no question of me going out to work.baileysbattlebus wrote: »So don't say it was easy years ago, it wasn't, it was bloody hard. I think one big difference now is that people wan't everything "NOW", they want the house, the lifestyle, the car etc.
To give you a counter-example, my sister and her husband bought their first house - a three-bedroom end of terrace - in the mid-90s for £50k. They were earning a joint income of £30k (incidentally, my sister had a degree, her husband did not). So they had to borrow less than twice their salary. Today, my OH and I earn a joint income of £50k, both with good first degrees from Cambridge, we have a solid deposit, and we might just be able to afford to buy a *one-bedroom flat* (not just in the area we want to live in, but in any area that is close enough to commute to our respective jobs). We'd have to borrow more than twice our joint salaries to do so. Incidentally, we save over 1/3 of our salaries each month, we don't waste money on going out, clothing, cars or any other luxuries - we live sensibly and are working towards our goal of saving a deposit for a house together.
And as the OP pointed out, you cannot compare high interest rates back then with lower rates now, because 5% on, say, £150,000 is much, much more than 13% on £23,000.0 -
with young people having less disposable incomes due to sky high housing costs these same "older" generation want us to pay their pensions out of whats left and to do this we are now going to have to work longer in our lives than they did.
But BB, you dont! ......So there's no need to worry about it. You just go back to bashing the older generation, who you conveniently lump together as though we are 'all the same.' They used to say that about black people when I was a lad. It was called (racial) prejudice.
As I said earlier, I think young people today, well, most of them, work hard through school and uni. The current housing scene is tough, but every generation has had its wars to fight and I thank God my kids didn't grow up in the 40s or 50s.0 -
Broken_hearted wrote: »I don't see how the older generation has screwed over the younger one, I for one am not old but would expect market value for my house.If I'm lucky enough to own a 2nd, 3rd or even 10th house that will be because I've worked to buy them.
In most cases it isn't. I would say that the majority of people nowadays who own lots of houses own them because they've borrowed the money to buy them, in the buy-to-let mortgage boom. That in turn has forced up prices, meaning you can release equity from the first house to pay the deposit on the second, etc etc.
There's nothing hard about gambling with borrowed money - obviously it works if everyone's doing it and buying up a finite resource, it's a self-fulfilling prophecy. You don't want to be last in the queue to get back out if that particular bubble bursts, though.
In my experience other people who own more than one house have generally inherited one. I can't offhand think of anyone who has bought a second house for cash (except possibly a hoiliday home abroad).Hurrah, now I have more thankings than postings, cheers everyone!0 -
I love all these 'holier than thou' responses. Life IS tougher for youngsters these days and there has been a massive transfer of wealth to older people (and I write as an 'older person').
I went to university in the 1970's all free and paid for and we got unemployment benefit in the vacations if we didn't take a job!
In the late 1970's my graduate friends and I mostly got good jobs (not so many graduates about then) and bought houses. Interests rates were high, but so was inflation. So the mortgage debt shrank fairly quickly and a lot of the costs of the house were paid for by the rest of society. And then there was MIRAS (anyone remember that?)
This wasn't enough though. So we voted in governments that cut income tax and sold shares cheaply in the 'privatisations'. Remember Sid? I found him and made a fair bit - not to mention Amersham International, BT et al.
I look at my son now, who is about to go to university. He has similar interests that I had at his age and he's at least as bright and hard working as I was. But things are so much tougher, more competitive, and the older generation expects these kids to pay for their pension and save toward their OWN pensions.0 -
What is so wrong with leveraging yourself to buy property to rent out?
It seems to me that most people in this thread are just bitter that they have missed the buy-to-let boat?0 -
What is so wrong with leveraging yourself to buy property to rent out?
Nothing in particular - it redistributed supply and demand in such a way that it makes it harder for people to buy (but, in theory, cheaper for people to rent). However in Britain most people want to buy.
What I complained about was people calling it hard work. There is nothing hard about gambling with borrowed money, especially not when government and monetary policy, and the media, conspire to make your bet a sure thing.It seems to me that most people in this thread are just bitter that they have missed the buy-to-let boat?
Who wouldn't be upset to discover that there has been a massive distribution of free money in which they were unable to participate? I was at University when it started, and by the time I had successfully got anything like a proper job house prices had already doubled in the preceding six years.
QED - older people have benefited from it, whereas younger people have lost out. Which was the point of the thread.Hurrah, now I have more thankings than postings, cheers everyone!0 -
What is so wrong with leveraging yourself to buy property to rent out?
It seems to me that most people in this thread are just bitter that they have missed the buy-to-let boat?
Erm, I'm certainly not. I own several houses outright. When the time is right I'll be selling them and moving abroad to let you lot get on with it. I'm trying desperately hard to convince my kids to think of a future abroad too.0 -
i think it's fair to say that times have changed and that property prices make it difficult for anyone to get onto the property ladder. Saying that it has never been easy, My DH and I purchased our first house 11 years ago I was fresh out of college at 18 earning £600 a month he was a newly qualified chef earning the same. It was a huge struggle but we brought a 2 bed end of terrace for £45,000 on a 100% mortgage costing us about £500 a month. Since then we have had 3 children, I have spent 7 years out of work looking after them and my husbands wages have increased to over £3,000 a month so we manage now (have traded up to a 3 bed semi in meantime) but I would never say it was easy. Just to make the point that things change,wages increase, interest rate decrease house prices go up, all in all financially we are the same place month to month.
We have now decided to sell our house take the £100,000 equity and rent for a couple of years to see if we can get more for our money then. i do not see this as greedy we have worked hard for the money, both house we have had we have renovated (this one was unliveable for a start), we've struggled with mortgage repayments. Owning your house is not all its cracked up to be and I can quite see us deciding to stay in renting with a more comfortable lifestyle .0 -
How many times do you hear 'I worked hard, therefore I'm entitled' in this forum? It's almost an excuse to fu*k over today's youngsters. Pathetic.
Most people today work very hard, but circumstances and luck have created this housing 'apartheid', not one's effort and commitment.
Youngsters get criticised for a supposed sense of entitlement for material goods, yet the older generation have a sense of entitlement which is bordering on sinister - hoarding property and maintaining high prices.Hi, we’ve had to remove your signature. If you’re not sure why please read the forum rules or email the forum team if you’re still unsure - MSE ForumTeam0 -
Turnbull2000 wrote: »How many times do you hear 'I worked hard, therefore I'm entitled' in this forum? It's almost an excuse to fu*k over today's youngsters. Pathetic.
Most people today work very hard, but circumstances and luck have created this housing 'apartheid', not one's effort and commitment.
I have to agree!
The uk is full of people who expect and do not want to contribute to the current society.
As you know they are called Chavs, or in terms more will understand 'the retired middle class'.0
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