thunderbird900

Hypocrisy rules OK??? I hope you lot who agree with gazundering don't make any more posts criticising crap estate agents or greedy landlords. You are as bad as the rest of them.

Trev is absolutely right. These disgraceful ads should be banned. I saw one on TV today. Small print flashed across the screen that the arrangement fee was 4% of the loan/mortgage amount borrowed. 4%!!! This is pure greed. Absolutley disgraceful. Not only does the company charge 4%, they also make get a procuration fee of at least 1% of the loan from the lender. This procuration fee of 1% is normally paid by companies like The Kensington or GMAC for sub prime lending. Of course they say to the mug borrower, just slap on the fee to the amount borrowed, that way you do not have to find it up front. Most probably the smiley happy company has also advised them to tie up all their non secured debt into the new mortgage which of course then becomes a secured debt on their property. On top of that they most probably slip into the conversation. what about the new car or holiday you promised yourself. Now is the time to do it. These parasite companies should be banned. The fact that this is taking place today in 2005 is incredible. With all the new regulatory rules from the FSA and the Equitable life scandal still in the headlines this Govt should hang it's head in shame. For all the glowing epitaphs for the DJ John Peel everyone seemed to forget he quite happily did the voice over for Equitable pensions, when the company had already gone tits up a few years ago. Another pig with it's nose in the trough. Just like Vorderman and Smillie, PTL, Pass the Loot. Arseholes, the lot of them.

Definitely NO! We all get indignant on this site about BTL's and estate agents. So where are the morals when the ball is in our court? Lets drop into the gutter with all the people we condemn. There is nothing wrong in dropping the price if a chain develops and before a survey is done. Once the property price is agreed and the solicitor starts work, that is when there should be a legally binding agreement. For the life of me I cannot understand why this cannot be made law. Yes, I have been the victim of gazundering... and that was two years ago in a rising market! Work that one out.

Just watched the ITV london News at lunchtime. Miles Shipside from Rightmove gave all the right answers when asked about London house prices. "Sellers should be more realistic in their pricing" "The Spring bounce never happened" " First time buyers can not get on the ladder" " Prices are too high" and "The raising of the stamp duty limit was irrelevant with regards to London". Could not believe my ears. Deep joy! I will watch London Tonight at 6pm and see whether this is repeated, as they normally have a property slot with Doris Allsop.

Interesting post ZZQ. As it dates from September 2004 the comments are even more relevant

Dares, your post reflects exactly what I am thinking! The silence about house prices from the media is deafening. Strange that Brown claims credit for low inflation and interest rates yet does not include house prices in the inflation figure. Also, he let the BOE free to set the interest rate so why does this pig ugly fat lying Chancellor claim credit for someting that is out of his control. When will the media put forward someone with half a brain cell to question Pinky and Perky thoroughly. So far all Blair drones on about is opportunity for all fairness etc. He has turned rhetoric and cliches into an art form. Actually listen to this con man and after ten minutes you have'nt got a clue what he is blabbering on about. When Margaret Thatcher was PM I disagreed strongly with her policies, yet I still looked on her as the Prime Minister. When I listen to Blair all I see is a con man, a spiv, a full blown confidence trickster.

Karma, Karma, Karma chameleon-Boy George in the 80's. Never did understand what that pretentious idiot was singing about. A bit like the Karma on that expat site. What a load of nonsense!

As ever the attention is in the detail. Just like one of Gordon Lying Brown's budgets there is usually one boring line in the middle of a whole presentation that proves to be the most important. In this case it was the mention of buyers who borrowed the maximum 95 % loan to value. With house prices falling lenders might look a bit more closely if a borrower wants to switch lenders. I do not think it is a problem right now, but give it a few more months and that forgotten word, negative equity, will come back into common use. That is when the lenders will have the borrower over a barrel, and will not be so flexible with the deals on offer.

That article was one of the best pieces of balanced accurate journalism I have read with regards to the housing market. When the US is criticised quite rightly for it's solution to every financial crisis by just printing more money, I remember visiting New York nine years ago. There was a static illuminated board with the US national debt beaming brightly over Times Square. The figures were increasing by the second. Reminded me of the fruit machines in Las Vegas. Quite surreal.

London Tonight could have been the BBC in disguise. Usual nonsense that prices are not dropping as fast as now as in the previous months, and that recovery was on the way, zzzzzz. Reminds me of an old joke. Man jumps off the Empire State Building. As he drops down past the 50th floor he shouts out "So far, so good".

Dames, the stamp duty allowance up to £120,000 will not make a scrap of difference to any property South of Watford. Before you Northern lot start ranting I use that term loosely! Very few DECENT First time buyers properties anywhere sell around £120k. When it comes to Gordon lying Brown and his deceitful budgets the attention is in the detail. Far from giving every pensioner £200 council tax rebate it now turns out that at least half a million pensioners will NOT be able to claim this money. When will someone, anyone, in the Press, TV or Radio tackle this compulsive liar and tell the British public the truth. I consider Brown a smug, arrogant and disgraceful public servant. The sooner he and the rest of the Scottish mafia running our country pxxxxs off back to Scotland. When I say our country I mean England. If that upsets anyone, hard luck. Just keep repeating £440 million for the Scots to build their own Parliament building. How many English MP's will be sitting there dictating Scottish affairs.

There is a funeral directors in Burnt Oak, N/W London called Sidney Hurry!

I regard Tony Blair as a con man. A confidence trickster of the worst order. At the time, based on the evidence presented, I believed completely that it was correct to invade Iraq. I could not understand all the protestors etc saying "Not in my name". Now I now better. Remember when Blair stepped off the plane after learning of the suicide of David Kelly. That was the real Blair. Not a man who felt guilt, but a con man who truly believed he had been rumbled. Then the gloves came off, that hideous ex alcoholic Campbell got his teeth in the BBC and we know the result. Everything about Blair, his cronies and New Labour I despise. From the lies of Blair, the misleading finances of Brown to the sycophants who trail in their wake. I will vote Tory at the next election for all the wrong reasons except for one. To consign New Labour and their lying liars to the history books.

Buffer, there is an indexation allowance that can be set against the capital gains tax charge. This is best worked out by an accountant. Also, he should seek advice on the capital he has spent on the property. From mortgage costs, to insurance and maintenance. Whatever he does, I recommend he receives advice from a specialist accountant. It will definitely be worth it.

The Don. You say your son will be able to borrow 5 times income without a deposit. Sorry mate, but that is NOT possible. I am a mortgage adviser and use the Trigold sourcing system. There is NO lender out there that will lend on 100% deposit with those income multiples. Also, any adviser would be be for the high jump having arranged this mortgage after completing a comprehensive fact find. Not the Bank of Toytown per chance?

Mortgage regulation was brought in 1st November 2004. This effectively stopped self cert being abused. Nowadays, any mortgage adviser going down the self cert route for an employed person has to have a very good reason for doing so. The 3.5 income multiple is a long standing set standard that is used to gauge affordability for any buyer. This protects both the buyer and lender. Lenders do not want to be left with loads of properties on their books if the borrower defaults. They are there to lend money, not become estate agents when house prices go down. Besides, a lot of lenders impose a mortgage guarantee premium on borrowings over 85%. This insurance protects the lender, NOT the borrower, as lots of people with negative equity found out in the last crash.

Pert, as in young lady with uplifting chest?

Dear Mr Monkey What exactly are you cooking??? Tbird

I was in Borehamwood, Herts today. Had a look in three estate agents windows. Usual overpriced rubbish on display. Had a good look inside. You've guessed it, not one customer. Smiley EA in suit was looking to see if I would come in when I burst out laughing. 4 bed semi on at £405,000. Just a normal 1930's semi with a loft extension. Shook my head in disbelief, and watched crestfallen EA smile disappear. I really think the Crash is happening right now. Someone made a good posting the other day likening it to Wacky Racers. This is with the car stuck in the air above the canyon, for a split second before reality dawns and it drops down out of sight. With the BBC and Renault announcing large redundancies the writing is on the wall. The good times are over. Even London Tonight has quietly dropped their regular housing price propaganda from the Monday night programme. Even the bullish newspapers are starting to report with a bit more honesty. The drip drip effect is now really starting to take hold. Yehaaa

Natasha Kaplinsky = Lollipop Girl.... Head on a stick. A Very strange looking woman

At the risk of hearing "Bah Humbug" don't you think the Red Nose day has run it's course? With charity appeals every other week from the Tsunami to Famine relief in Ethiopia, Sudan etc. I think the great British public will soon be suffering from charity fatigue. To put it into context. Someone on the radio a few days ago mentioned that the total Red Nose contributions from start till now only amounted to half the cost of the Dome at Greenwich. Perhaps we would should put more effort at stopping the Government being so wasteful with public money so it could be used elsewhere much more effectively. Don't even mention the Scottish Govt. building at £440 million, ten times over budget!

Fred, that could be our next entry into the Eurovision song contest! When those little girls sang "Gwocer Jack, Gwocer Jack, Get off your back, Come into town, Don't let us down, Oh No No" Whatever did they mean??? I bet Jonathan King was involved somewhere in the lyrics!

Mark, I disagree with a some of your statements. You base your car statistics on each car driving down a road with a safety gap of two seconds! Are you stark raving mad? A car driver travelling at a modest 50 -60 mph would need at least ten seconds or more to react and then to bring a vehicle to an absolute full stop. With regards to speed cameras I hate the bloody things. They are nothing to do with road safety and everything to do with raising revenue. However... when they are used on the M4 near Heathrow to regulate traffic flow to a set speed as against just to nick speeding drivers they do actually work. One thing that is rarely mentioned with regards to the cost of car v rail is the expense of policing and dealing with road accidents and fatalities. The gulf is enormous. Rail is a million times safer, everyone knows that. A rail accident is always news because it is quite a rare event and is therefore more newsworthy. Just think if 20 passengers a week were dying in train crashes... Ridiculous!

Go down the message board till you reach Kezz. Unbelievable! He states that he is a mortgage broker. He then gives out his phone number so silly punter can ring him to find out who lends most money against salary. Good job the new mortgage regs came in last year! Before giving out any advice a mortgage broker has to complete a long fact find and at the end give BEST ADVICE. I've a good mind to report him to the authorities. Better still, look up his phone number and wind him up!

Amazing how these posts change into another discussion! I was in John Lewis and remarked to an assistant how poor the plasma TV pictures appeared. He said that it must be because of the communual aerial. I then pointed out the crystal clear picture on the smaller CRT conventional TV's. He smiled and admitted defeat. I also would query the 100hz ficker free television. The picture always appears pixillated and not at all sharp. Same thing when wide screen came along. As soon as a fast moving picture was on screen, such as a tennis or football match, the screen seemed to be playing catchup. Takes me back to my old stereo cassette deck days and the Dolby noise reduction system. As soon as you switched it on the Dolby seemed to simply filter out any treble which would then deaden the sound. The number of times I went down Tottenham Court Road and tried to argue the point. Idiot experts made me out to be tone deaf. Anyone remember Laskys?