How can people be so greedy?

chappers

Benefits_Blagger wrote: »

i have a lot of sympathy and much in common with the OP. one of the big problems with higher education now is that there is simply to many people going to university now that most degrees are worthless and the only reward for doing them is a load of debt.

my degree has never helped me get a "better" job and with house prices being so high there is no chance of me ever owning my property, so i have decided to throw in the towel and now live on benefits, ive done this for 7 years now.

the situation for young graduates now is abysmal, the country and the older generation has screwed us, i have no shame in screwing them back.

Now whilst I have nothing but contempt for your attitude, unless you have good reason not to work, and in which case I apologise, you are correct in your assesment of the way further education seems to be going. Degrees geared towards letting anyone pass, in ridiculously obscure subjects or combinations of several subjects giving no substance to the final product.

moomin_white wrote:

and should i reasonably be expected to stretch myself to the limit for a small flat(and not even a good area) while IRs are low and risk getting repossesed if IRs even go up by 1%?

No you shouldn't but niether should you think it your divine right to be able to buy a house. I'm sorry but there will always be people who can afford to buy and people who can't , no matter what the state of the housing market.
Keep at it you are doing the right thing. you have a deposit, the market is slowing and hopefully with another boost in income you ,ight find yourself in a better position. Be thankful you have the financial security of a decent wedge of cash. If I were in your position now, knowing what I do I wonder if I would put myself through the scrimping and scraping I did when I first bought my house.Looking back I think I did the right thing, but who knows.

Davesnave

my degree has never helped me get a "better" job and with house prices being so high there is no chance of me ever owning my property, so i have decided to throw in the towel and now live on benefits, ive done this for 7 years now.

Too tired even to use the shift key by the looks of it!

You need to get out more. Try Africa.

neas

neas wrote: »

the student loan doesnt help... and i went through when tuitions fees were 1k a year.

The increase in starting salary negates this but still with a student loan and high mortgage... with bank of mum and dad loan.... means more and more 'kids' have to rely on bank of mum and dad for deposits for a house. This to me is broken.

.

Stevie1 wrote: »

It's not about who got it right and who got it wrong, it's about unrealistic expectations and not taking responsibility for your own actions.

Sorry i should have been more clear. This wasnt a whine at my student loans... Im on about 4-5k more a year than if I hadn't got my degree (of which i worked part time at B+Q for 4 years through it 16 hours a week to reduce my debts). So my loan is negated by my degree. It shaves about 1k off my income salary but my income salary is 4-5k average higher than what i'd be on if id gone down a shelf stacker route.

My general gripe was at the way the housing market has expanded above inflation the past 10 years or so. My mum and dads house used to be worth 46k 10 years ago now its woth 145k. So while i was working to get a higher education in electronic engineering the houses were moving further and further away from me. Yet my parents and their friends were hailing how good this was... for them.

I guess they didnt think about how their children would get into massive debt because of the house prices rising way to fast.

neas

Stevie1 wrote: »

It's not about who got it right and who got it wrong, it's about unrealistic expectations and not taking responsibility for your own actions.

As im from yorkshire theres a saying "you dont get owt for nowt". Pretty true i guess.

You cant blame people for being bitter if first time buyer houses are worth 7-8x their gross salaries. When their parents were 3-4x.

So its my responsibility to pay 2x the amount for a house my parents did because of their generations greed in 'investing' ?.

Lotus-eater

clutton wrote: »

i think that the withdrawal of student grants, and substituting them for loans, was the most iniquitous move the labour govt ever made - i had a fabulous free education - why shouldn't this generation have the same ?

Martin said this on the radio yesterday, if grants went back to their 1979 rates then income tax (basic income tax) would have to go up by 7 pence in the pound. Want to pay that?

I feel for the OP, I didn't go to uni, I was in school before the "everyone can go to uni" thing came along, but I did buy a house at the right time and that allowed me to have a settled life and happily start a family. Having a house gives me stability that I would really really miss if I had to rent, even just having the garden how I want makes a big difference to me.
I'm not just saying this, but my life would honestly have been completely different had I not been able to buy when I did. Thats not saying I wouldn't have survived, of course I would.

neas

PBA wrote: »

Personally I think university is overrated. Only the few who get good degrees and get accepted onto the graduate schemes of big companies get the benefit, the others just end up going for the same jobs 18 year old school leavers are going for on the same money.

Exactly.... Im one of the fortunate ones to actually have been on a graduate scheme.... Some of my friends have debts and then start a shelf stacker job for 13-16k!... not even enough to start reducing their 20k (rising at 4%) loan down.

And in my situation i cant even afford a house... this was exactly what I explained to the lady trying to sell her 2 bedroom house for 160k to first time buyers... it just aint gonna happen unless the person/people buying it are really overstretching themselves and dont want a family.

neas

lady_noluck wrote: »

I'd like to have a little rant now. Why, at 24 years old do you think you HAVE to own a house? You chose to go to Uni, you chose to get into debt. I didn't have that choice because I was forced to work at 16 or I would have been sleeping on the streets. So I worked, saved up a deposit and bought a shared ownership place at 18. (With a wage of £7300 per annum!!) I'm now 28 and own 2 houses, one of which I rent out. Does that make me greedy? No, it means I made a decisions to put my living arrangements before my education. For that, yes I am on the property ladder but I am also stuck in a mind numbingly dull job just so I can pay my morgage each month with no prospect of getting very high up the "career ladder" due to my lack of education! And now, because of having a morgage, I can't afford to go to Uni so i'm stuck in cr*ppy jobs that blind monkeys could do.

You on the other hand, may be renting a property but you have the opportunity to go into better paid jobs (my salary is £17,100 and has been for 4 years unlike your £22k) and once you have a decent salary you can get a decent morgage. I also have £10k worth of debts but due to morgages and salary it's getting paid off very slowly.

It seems quite simple to me. "Youth" today have a choice. Career ladder or property ladder. You can't have both and i'm sick of reading about "youths" who think it's their right to. I'm bitter about not having the chance to go to Uni and get some qualifications I could use but that's the hand that was dealt to me.
Quit moaning and be grateful you've got your health.

Im a newbie but i have to disagree with this vehemetly (sp?). I mean yes you had to work your !!! off at 16... to get on the property ladder.

But just fast forward your position at 16... to now. Your 16 you earn 13k a year... you wouldnt even be able to afford the mortgage on a property... you'd be worse off than me. But because the house prices werent as inflated as they are now you could afford to stretch yourself and get on the ladder... Someone in your situation now has no possible solution, even worse than mine and will be probably in council housing subsidised by the rest of society instead of encouraged by reasonable house prices to get on the ladder.

Badger_Lady

I have to say, I want to feel some solidarity with the OP, but it does just sound like a whinge - "But it's not fai-ai-air!"

I've just turned 25, earn £32k and have a mortgage on a 3-bed house that I bought for £145k and is currently valued at £150k.

As a MSE, I find it quite easy to afford the £720 a month repayments and have the flexibility to bring in lodgers if necessary too. In fact, my lifestyle now is the most comfortable it's ever been - a (second hand) sports car, one cushty 9-5 job, eat fresh healthy food and go out socialising whenever I fancy it.

And, as some others have pointed out, that's without a partner to share the costs.

Economies and markets change - don't compare yourself to previous generations (Monty Python sketch warning), just make the best of your situation. If I can do it, you can .

neas

Idiophreak wrote: »

The long and the short of it is, take it from us, it isn't *easy* for graduates these days...it's not the end of the world if we can't buy a house in our first year out of uni, it's not a disaster if we can't afford our BMW in year two, of course it's not...but it's not easy. And if someone wants to let off steam about it on a forum, I say go them.

Exactly!. With my partner we could stretch ourselves to get a house we have 10k deposit or so but, I'd like to start a family soon Im 25 shes 28... in this generation starting a family seems to have been pushed to the right by 10 years or so. I want to be young when my children are growing up so i can play football with them... not when i am 50!.

Lotus-eater

Benefits_Blagger wrote: »

i have a lot of sympathy and much in common with the OP. one of the big problems with higher education now is that there is simply to many people going to university now that most degrees are worthless and the only reward for doing them is a load of debt.

my degree has never helped me get a "better" job and with house prices being so high there is no chance of me ever owning my property, so i have decided to throw in the towel and now live on benefits, ive done this for 7 years now.

the situation for young graduates now is abysmal, the country and the older generation has screwed us, i have no shame in screwing them back.

Aha the disabled guy who can't and now it seems won't work is back, you're also screwing the OP as well of course.