Penny Drop

Stop spouting shite. What a load of crap - we could all be dead in 10, 20 or 30 years - and who the hell can plan anything that far ahead?....Most people cant even see two years ahead...Look at how gobsmacked the whole world was about the financial crisis and housing crash - from 2007 - 2009 the whole financial scene changed - and that was bloody obvious to anyone with a third of a brain... By all means think a year or two ahead but 10, 20, 30 years...even the Communists only dreamt up five year plans. The only real certainty all of us have is the here and now anyway - all the rest is just apple pie in the sky.

Honestly not sure SA is better than UK...OK, the weather maybe, but the crime and pockets of poverty and deprivation - which encourage the crime, especially the rape statistics (and even with babies involved) - would seriously make me think twice...

UK = where it's at, family, non extreme weather, culture, sense of humour, media, arts, diversity, central location and for most of us it's home... UK = great sense of humour, yes, agreed but necessary to cope with the following without going insane: great democracy (unelected PM refusing to step down) fantastic weather and very efficient weather forecasters (c/f Heatwave BBQ Summer becomes disastrous washout) culture (Jack Tweed, Girls Aloud) food (except for Indian, Thai, Japanese, Chinese and every other nationality of food) ...Q. Are there any British restaurants anywhere else in the whole (afternoon tea shops and pubs dont count)? greedy bankers parking (especially in London) bus lanes and speed cameras average speed checks on motorways healthcare PC (no more conkers in schools) The list could go on.... I think the honest situation in the UK is that it has become over-governed, too many laws, rules and regulations, stifling the country and people - and no one knows how to reverse the madness. I left the UK and am always horrified when I return about how restrictive it is and how you have to pay for everything...parking and driving restrictions have especially gone totally mad... In France, you can park for free at train stations to take the train and there are always places. A monthly train pass from France to Geneva, a 50 minute journey, costs Euros 79 for the month, unlimited travel...When you need to see a doctor you see one the same day. There is not a single comparison where UK manages better - except for the sense of humour.

Offer 40% less than the asking price. Anything more than this and you will be in serious negative equity. Are you really sure you want to live in Canning Town far away from all shops etc? Why not Stratford or Leytonstone where there is more life...?

Nice, sexist pig comments - great. Good to see how evolved you are - prats. Oh and while we are at it, "Are you both well hung?"...your brains seem to be in your trousers anyway. Looking forward to the indignant backlash...

Since when is Stratford a high crime area - you need to go South of the river for the serious crime...? It isnt Harlem or Brixton - in all the years I lived there I never once even saw an incident let alone lived in fear of it...you have to be careful everywhere in London and Stratford is no worse than other areas. Actually, there is less pretention, so you are possibly safer. Walthamstow and Leytonstone are far rougher.

Looks very nice but who today has 1.8 million pounds to spend? I'd expect a palace and servants for that - or at least a castle with a moat.

I bought in St Ratford in 1997 and was always amazed how close it is to the City - door to door in 20 minutes - that is quality of life and it has great public and road transport links. It is a surprisingly family minded area - albeit a melting pot -which is great and always interesting. Slowly over the years, the shopping and restaurant and entertainment facilities have improved. It is a much better part of London than some of the more traditionally "desirable" areas...the East End is authentic and has no pretentions. It has become a bit too expensive though of late. I bought the 3 bed terraced in a central nice road for 69k and sold in 07 for 307.5k - knew things had gone mad and I could buy back the same house in a few years for a third or so less (at least). Real value is somewhere between these two figures but I generally agree with Whizzer about the area.

Geneva, Switzerland housing laws have prevented a BTL bubble. Only Swiss nationals or Permit B holders (foreigners with a job which makes them almost Swiss) can buy property in Geneva. Capital gains on a property are taxed at 50% - and only decline to zero over 25 years - even on your main home. All capital gains reported must be justified by works or improvements carried out out on the property, with recepits etc. So you cannot buy a wreck, do it up and sell it on at a quick profit, even if it is your main residence and only home, without giving the tax man a huge share of any gain... Taxation on rental income: Secondly, all rental income on property is taxed at the rate of 48%. No quick buck to be made from rentals without sharing a huge chunk with the tax man. Plus the law is strongly biased towards the security of tenure of tenants - and there is an organisation whose role is to protect and enforce the rights of tenants. Also, a tenant can turn around within one month of renting a property and contest that the rent is too high - and they will likely win if the rent is too high or has been increased arbitrarily without any justification due to renovations or repairs etc.. All of this means, there is no BTL property bubble and hordes of BTL'ers in Switzerland.

If deflation and wage stagnation (God forbid, wage decreases) become a serious problem then this will make the relative size of debt seem bigger (especially the mortgage)...

Offer more, string them along and then back out. Then get some friends to do the same. Then again. Greedy people deserve to be wound up a bit.

If you write yourself a bogus cheque (from a different account) - apparently it shows on your statement or account for a limited time before it bounces. Some lunatic who had pretended to all his family that he had won millions on the lottery did this - and showed them his bank statement (as, funnily enough they didnt believe him). He kept up the charade for a few more weeks, buying houses, cars etc - all using his dodgy bank statement as proof. I always thought this was a crazy story, but it was a documentary on the BBC - perhaps banks have now closed this loop hole...

Minus -17.9% and counting.... Although who judges the winner - depending on who is deciding statistics, they vary by up to 100%...daily mail says house prices have only dropped by 9% this year...total bollxcks if I may say so...?

Mortgage of 50% of value (being conservative, not 2007 prices).

Being honest to anyone who has a BTL (or many) about the negative equity they are sitting on will not win you any friends (and may well lose you some)... One of my friends with ten BTLs is so proud - it is impossible to broach the subject of how much negative equity she is sitting on - and according to her, it has just shifted from a sellers market to a buyers market and is a good time to buy but no cause for concern...just a little temporary blip in the otherwise unstoppable march upwards of property prices.

I am starting to think that I have a great bunch of friends. Or rather it is clear that I dont choose my friends for their astuteness in property market matters... Another friend bought a 50% share of a house in Balham (as part of a keyworker scheme) in 2006. She then got married and moved in with her husband who had a much nicer flat elsewhere. They renovated her flat ready to rent out but found they couldnt as renting was not allowed under the terms of the house share agreement. So they decided to buy out the other 50% share, funnily enough, over the Summer of 2007 - and the worst part is that the valuers didnt just value the property as it originally was, but they beefed up the value taking account the renovations my friend had paid for that had added value to their 50% share... I dont dare ask but it isnt so much "if" but "how much" negative equity they have... Ah well...again, as long as they can keep up payments, they will be Ok in the long term.

I dont think it is so much being delusional as being optimistic and hopeful... I personally think that house prices will finish at about half of the 2007 level - 50% off - and only then will houses be back into the realms of being affordable. I think that anyone with one or, particularly, several BTLS with little equity and IO mortgages hanging over them, probably just doesnt want to imagine that prices could actually be decimated, leaving them carrying (hundreds of) thousands of punds of negative equity. But in the longterm, if mortgages are paid and house prices creep up again over the next decade (or two) aided by inflation, anyone owning several properties will retire rich.

She is a good friend but all my warnings of an imminent HPC fell on totally deaf ears. She is clearly in denial, so now I just say nothing. But as I dont lie in the UK any more, I have no idea if what she says is true. As long as she can pay the mortgages - which she says are getting cheaper - she will be fine.

I dont know the Brockley SE4 area well at all. A friend has several BTL properties in the area though - all with IO mortgages and bought in the last two years or so - some at the height in Summer of 2007. But she maintains that the area is crashproof due to new tube (extension of East London Line)...is this true? Does anyone know what is going on this area? Plus close-by Forest Hill and East Dulwich etc - all look pretty overpriced to me and very close to recent spate of stabbings?

I think the bubble burst in August 07. Such a relief to have just sold my house in July 07 as a contract race to three mad-keen (mad) buyers who thought they were chasing a bargain as I set the price 10k below what others were asking for similar properties (at a time when asking prices were achievable)...My house remains the most expensive house sold in the street and it is likely to be a good few years before prices hit those crazy levels again. I am almost sorry that the guy who won the contract race was actually a nice man who bought the house as a home - the other two were investors (who have probably gone bust anyway given their poor investment judgments)...

It sold because it was a Tracy Emmin (sp?) artwork - and not just one room but a whole house of shite. Shocking pictures - makes you wonder just how bad the houses without pictures on show must be. That or the estate agent has managed to hold on to their sense of humour or had a nervous breakdown. Whatever the reason, very funny post, thanks.

Last post 4 November if you visit his page - so it seems that he is alive and kicking...For once I would think it a shame if this particular estate agent disappeared and went out of business.

Since when do you give money to profligate companies who have pissed away millions paying bonuses to unworthy greedy scumbags....? Even worse now the taxpayer is supposed to pay for the bonuses of the aforementioned greedy scumbags....while the rest of Joe Public works for a living and struggles along. It is an outrage. This isnt capitalisnm, its a conspiracy. Now, not only the banks are going bankrupt but they are going to take the whole country with them... If a business isn't viable it should fail. By all means governments may step in to guarantee to return savers all their deposits but dont prop up failing businesses and mortgage the whole country for decades to come... I'd be tempted to refuse to pay taxes if that is the best way the Government can come up with spending them.

Leeches: there are hundreds of websites for comparison of mortgages for those unsure of what is out there. Many brokers directed unwitting clients to shite mortgage products to benefit from the fat commissions...regardless of a client's real needs or ability to actual pay in the longterm. In an ideal world a broker would provide the best independent advice and look out for a client's needs - this is not the case most of the time - otherwise we wouldnt be in the mess we are currently in.

If i were GB I would: Ban interest only mortgages - all loans should be repaid along the way ...not only when the asset is sold. Many of the poor sods who have interest only mortgages (to be able to afford making the payments and who were counting on the value of their home only ever going up) are now in deep doggy doo-doo. Turn off this supply of money - if people cant afford to pay interest and repay the loan, then they shouldnt borrow. Return to affordable multiples of salary, say 4 times at the most and demand deposits upward of 20%. Dont accept any self-cert mortgages and if people cant prove employment or future earnings, use bank statements to verify their income. Remove mortgage brokers - who are milking both the customers and banks...