Bruce Banner

It was the life insurance salesman wot done it. He got us the multiple we needed through his contacts at the building society. As it turned out I paid off the mortgage in under fifteen years and pocketed the proceeds of the endowment, good job too as if it had gone to full term the endowment policy would have been worthless.

Yes, I checked with the wife who remembers these things, it was 1976, we had a good deposit though.

I started my own business soon after we bought, so yes.

We managed to get 2.5 times joint income by having an endowment mortgage and luckily we were able to cash it in before it became worthless.

When we bought our house in the mid 70s we needed two incomes to get the mortgage, as did most people. After a year or two the wife commenced sprogging duties, as did most, and never returned to work. Some things never change.

In my case, as a potential cash buyer, the £65K I've paid out so far in rent has been more than covered by the £125K (after tax) I've received in bank interest on the money that would have been tied up in the house had I bought it instead of renting. As an added bonus, I could buy the house today for some £50K less than it would have cost me when I first moved in.

That's the way I see it. That particular billboard seemed to be advertising a complete new development. There are many billboards offering apartments saying 'good investment' .

I haven't viewed a house since 2005 and have just renewed my rental contract for another year. That will be seven years in the same rented house.

Driving between Gib and Marbella yesterday I saw a huge sign by the road advertising apartments which said something about 10% deposit, buy directly from the bank.

How about when they changed Oxo 'cubes' from a cube to an X shape thus removing perhaps 30% of the product.

I find that very encouraging, a sure sign that the bubble is reaching it's final stage, desperately sucking in new investment from afar.

Why is the tenant a mug? I don't consider myself a mug for paying less in rent than the opportunity cost of capital that would be otherwise tied up in an illiquid, depreciating asset. Many buy to lets are "bought" with interest only mortgages, at the end of which the full purchase price is due, even if it's more than the current value of the depreciating asset.

From the publicity given to a single death in another country I knew "they" were up to something. All civilised countries to follow suit .

Yup .

Meanwhile, in the real world, my rent has only increased by 2.5% over the six years I've been renting my current house, which is worth some 15% less than when I first moved in . Also, I have received considerably more interest on the money that I would have had tied up in the house (had I bought it rather than rented), than I have paid out in rent.

It would take a lot of rental income to offset a capital loss of £50,000. I expect prices to fall 30% to 40% over the next few years, possibly more for flats.

Good products will always sell.

Perhaps they are expecting any offers to be at least 20% below asking price. The easy answer is to offer 2007 price less 30% to 40% or wait a few years to achieve the same result.

Perhaps it would be fair to ask that those in charge of media content should disclose the sources of their investment income.

It just reinforces what I have said many times on this forum, you never really own a house.

If you need to ask you're most likely middle class. Understanding "class" is like choosing a good piece of meat, you either can or you can't.

In the current economic climate, when the government shuts 'duck', I jump, because it pays to do the opposite to what they want.

No! Biflation!