Mrs Bear

A very old friend of Mr Bear's was actually unaware for four whole days that she'd died at all. And he wasn't living on Mars - it was Oxford. What a triumph over the power of the media - until he told us some time later I wouldn't have thought it possible.

Esp. in London there are plenty of people who like blinged-up interiors. When we lived in the Gulf the style was commonly known as 'Louis Faroukh'

Edited to say, sorry, mis-sent.

To be fair that's all happened before, though. My sister married late 60s and bought first house, 3 bed semi, for about £3,500. A few yrs later my husband bought his first one-bed flat for £10K. Also, just one yr after we bought our 4 bed house (in 70s) a neighbour bought a 3 bed similar for around 25% more. (I think it still rankles!) One thing I am not doing as a result of HPI is spending the kids' inheritance. The way things are going they're going to need it.

I used to wonder what on earth it would take to jolt people out of the 'must have it now' mindset, mass of cc debt, people apparently seeing absolutely nothing wrong with it since everyone else was doing the same - (inc. several of daughters' contemporaries - one still owes £30K on ccs) At the same time I used to wonder what on earth it would take to stop house prices zooming into the stratosphere. Guess it was always going to take something drastic. Never thought it would all happen so quickly, though.

Yes indeed! Haven't been for 18 months but due a visit soon - it'll take an awful lot to stop us going back. When we first went in l980 we fell in love with it and used to worry every time that it would have been spoilt. However apart from all the building we noticed no great turn for the worse last time - at least no more than anywhere else - and at least they haven't started building hideous high-rises on the West Coast. Fingers crossed they'll keep the 3 storey limit, otherwise it's had it. Sea can't cope with the outfall as it is - back in 80s Mr Bear was exploring a West Coast sewage-treatment scheme, but they never did it and the reef is suffering badly as a consequence - we noticed some appalling beach erosion last time. The other thing I hope to God they never do is allow hotels/villa owners to make their beaches private - so far you can't do this though some (non-Bajan) politician tried to ban locals from tourist beaches back in the 80s. People were furious - as I recall there was a brilliant cropover calypso about it, which ultimately brought down the government. (Pity we can't do the same in UK )

I have viewed a few flats where tenants were still living - I got the impression that it was usual to offer reduced rent for this. Would certainly not think they can demand it as of right, though of course they will try it on if they think they can get away with it. As someone else has mentioned, you are legally entitled to 'quiet enjoyment' - which most certainly does not include people barging in at a moment's notice. If you do agree to this it is surely only fair to ask for a rent reduction - and plenty of notice.

Can't help wondering whether you're talking about Barbados. Have been wondering what would happen to it if a 2nd recession hits hard. We started going in early 80s and well remember being the only guests in a West Coast hotel which had just re-opened for the summer. Another hotel in the (then) small chain only had 3 guests at the time and they were sent down to ours for dinner to save opening their kitchen. There were 6 of us, so I guess it made sense. Manager of ours offered us (only half joking) our beachfront rooms for $2 a night each if we took them for a year! Of course this was all some years before certain West Coast hotels were tarted up out of all recognition and prices zoomed up accordingly - I could have cried when they ripped out the beautiful beachfront terrace at Colony Club. (In fact I think I did...) Still have ancient video of The Tamarind Seed, where I can still see it in all its glory. Also remember the Sandy Lane doing incredibly cheap deals since hardly anyone was going - seems like a joke now. Recently a number of smaller West Coast hotels, eg Coconut Creek, have been turned into condos on the back of the housing boom, particularly dating from the Cricket World Cup. Can't help thinking they may end up like ghost towns. Colleague on first visit recently stayed at the still very reasonable Sandridge and absolutely loved it - only to find that it's being flogged off for yet more condos. So many Bajans will lose their jobs - it's a crying shame. Edited for clarity.

And they're ex-Foxtons EAs, too! From the Sunday Times property section: http://property.timesonline.co.uk/tol/life...icle4219844.ece Their company is called 'Property Stress Relief'. Best laugh I've had all morning.

Don't forget, not everybody goes through a mortuary (I take it you're referring to hospital/police mortuaries.) My father didn't (died at home at 72 of natural causes, went straight to funeral parlour). My father in law didn't either- died in nursing home at 87 of equally natural causes, also went straight to FP. Post-mortems not needed for either of these, of course. (This is getting depressing, must get out in the nice cheerful sun)

Agree absolutely on conventional pensions - so many people have come to mistrust them. Never mind Gordon's raids, look at the likes of eg Equitable Life -my own brother was a loser there. OTOH property is a tangible asset - very different from shares which can plummet overnight, and whatever else happens people will always need somewhere to live. As for the sort of people who were suckered in by eg Inside Track, I guess the salespeople employed all sorts of tactics to counter absolutely any/all possible doubts, and very likely some clever psychological techniques as well. A few months ago I was tempted to attend one of their 'seminars', just to see what sort of people turned up and what sort of sales tactics they used. Only I didn't go in the end since I had better ways of wasting my time (like lying on the sofa reading a book).

The OP invested in ONE flat, for heaven's sake. One x one-bed flat. If you call that greed, we'll have to agree to differ. And I'm not remotely surprised the knife-wielder is an HPC-er - there are quite a few Schadenfreude junkies on here.

I would guess not, alas. Have seen so many stories of supposedly reasonably intelligent people (ex teachers etc) who bought through the likes of Inside Track, having done absolutely no research on local prices or rent levels, and who never even visited the area, let alone the actual properties. Can therefore imagine the effect of these loathsome sharks' sales pitches on punters who are on the thick side to start with, and financially naive to boot.

Why on earth not? An auction sale is still a sale, and involves the transfer of title.

Isn't this roughly equivalent to what they spend on all those quangos of unelected cronies who are paid huge sums to sit around pontificating?

I guess she left out the 'we' after 'investors', that's all. And she could have started with, 'In hindsight...' I notice the usual crop of charitable replies on MSE - e. g "This is I am afraid what happens when you are greedy." What sort of person sticks the knife in like this? And so hypocritically says, '...I am afraid...' when so obviously enjoying another fat helping of Schadenfreude pudding.

Why do they bother with these tiddly little reductions? There's a house I've been watching in Dorset - it was under offer for ages, now back for sale at 3% less. Presumably gazundered. In the same small and usually sought-after area there are several properties still for sale at exactly the same price they were on for last August. At least one is a probate sale (either that or owner's gone into a home) and the place needs a stack of work, no heating etc. - just can't understand why they don't take a big drop and get shot. We had to do it with my mother's house recently to help pay her eye-watering home fees - what's the point of leaving a place empty, especially over winter? And esp. when it's got no heating and starts to smell damp and musty.

Poor kids - no, I mean it. Fancy having to keep a shiny new, new-build all clean and tidy (or M&D would have a fit when they visit), instead of living in a nice messy dump which gets hoovered once a term if it's lucky. Squalor is all part of the student experience IMO. They shouldn't have to worry about keeping their parents' investment perfect. I know a couple who bought a smart new place for their daughter - in her first year, FGS, instead of letting her live in hall with everybody else. Not surprisingly, she dropped out.

Ditto - many thanks.

Not quite so lovely for all those people who are going to lose their jobs. Takes the edge off it for me, uber-bear though I am.

FTBs with any sense will still be waiting and saving to get an even better bargain later. Also, IMO, you really do need to know what you're doing to buy at auction - fraught with pitfalls where you could end up with a major expensive headache. Many FTBs are in any case pretty clueless when looking for first properties - all too easily swayed by quickly-tarted-up appearances (obligatory half dozen cushions on the bed/'stylish' dishes of pebbles, etc.) and just don't notice that e.g. there's nowhere to put anything.

Not sure that's true. For a start, time differences in many parts of the world makes this impractical. Also, anyone trying to build business relationships with people from a different culture needs to spend time on it. The 'bang, bang, let's just get on with this' attitude simply doesn't work in many cultures. You have to observe the niceties in a gentler fashion or they think you're just plain rude. In some situations more leisurely face-to-face contact is essential.

Very funny map of Greater London on the Berkeley Homes website. Two Islingtons, one in SE London. Anyone daft enough to buy one of the flats would do well to check that they haven't stuck in an extra kitchen where the bathroom's supposed to be.

Does depend somewhat on who, when and where you're talking about. My daughter just had a lovely week in Rhodes for £200, inc. flights and good basic S/C accomm. However, she's single and able to go away out of high season. Exactly the same holiday for one adult in August is £375. Multiply by 2, add 2 kids at not much % off - a slightly different proposition for hard-pressed families, particularly now. OTOH it's still possible to rent a seaside property for a family of 4 in eg Devon or Cornwall for a high season week for around £650, with no airport hassle to contend with. If you're talking hotels, of course, that's different.