Pmax2020

If you’re in the 40% income tax bracket then it’s madness not channelling a little extra into your workplace pension, if you are allowed to do so. Particularly as you get older and access to that pot of money it’s on the horizon.

Who would you prefer was in Downing Street? Its frightening the amount of people brainwashed into believing things would be worse under Labour…

We all know you don’t believe that. People are irrefutably worse off these days. Public services a shadow of what they once were. Empty high streets. Many towns overrun with immigrants that add nothing economically. Folk can’t get a doctors or dentist appointment, and the waiting lists are appalling. You will continue to attempt to troll, but back in the real world everyone else on these boards recognises the UK has regressed. A mother at our kids school very recently passed away after a catalogue of NHS errors that failed to spot something that should’ve been treated years ago. The government still blaming covid and labour for strikes…

You’re not going to believe this, but I’ve come up with a percentage based on my experience of speaking to people. I did not ask 50,000,000 brits for their latest view on the matter. Sorry for the confusion.

90% would vote remain but the majority of brexiteers, including those on these boards, will lie and stick to their guns. Brexit has been a disaster.

Totally off topic but I just watched as a print on eBay, listed as being a ‘fake/copy’ in the title (!!!), and with a description saying it was bought from Etsy as a copy of a ‘James McQueen’ print, just sold for £320!!!! Literally a fake print you can still buy from Etsy for £25… and a bidding war ensued until it sold for £320 🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️🤦‍♂️ Who are these stupid morons?!?! They are among us.

“It’s worth what someone is willing to pay…” The dumbest phrase in all eternity. Property prices are skewed heavily by morons what don’t know the value of money. Sure there’s a shortage of homes, but people can and should just move elsewhere for work if they are faced with prices like this…

Post of the year so far.

I was smacked occasionally when I was younger, and to the ripe old age of 7 or 8 if I recall correctly. It’s despicable really. Inexcusable. Inhuman. Unethical. Completely unnecessary. My parents, like many, were just ignorant and I hold no grudges for it. My biggest regret, something I haven’t told anyone about because I feel a lot of shame for it, is really raising my voice with them. When one of my kids was a crying baby that just wouldn’t sleep, I can recall driving about the streets at 3am in effort to aid them falling asleep, before screaming at the top of my voice in my car for them to stop crying and go to sleep. Lots of expletives aimed at a 12 month old. Total breakdown. Something I regret and will never forget. Those that have kids and experience the mental pressure and pain that can come when babies are unhappy and won’t sleep for months on end… it’s so debilitating…

Wholly true of a large portion of the lower end of the market in Scotland. To this day, every single monthly release of property prices flags up dozens of examples of small flats and houses selling for exactly the same price as 2007, often less money. A flat I had a rejected bid of 68k on in 2007 just sold for 66k in January. It was the Krusty and Phil factor back then that saw the prices of crap property balloon as everyone clambered to get on the market. Ex-local authority terraced houses near me, nice areas, 99% pensioners, little to no discernible crime, used to be 85/90k in 2007. Today, done up one’s max out at 115/120k. You know, in spite of the wages of younger people and those in low skilled work having doubled. Im not saying bigger family homes are particularly affordable, but in terms of getting your foot on the ladder, it’s considerably easier in Scotland nowadays.

Someone’s yet to address the main point I’ve raised. In 2007, the cheapest properties in Scotland were 60-70k. In what could be described as frankly dangerous areas, they were still at least 40k. As a multiple of minimum wage and hundreds of thousands of entry level jobs - including working n call centre, production lines, retail etc, this was 6 or 7x income. In 2024, minimum wage is now 24k but the lower end of the market has barely risen 5-10% over the last 17 years.

Source: Buying in Scotland in 2007 on an entry level wage with my Mrs. Compared with looking at prices in 2024 with my daughter in mind. Like for like properties have halved in price in real terms. In 2007 many people on full time wages categorically could not afford to buy anything. That is unequivocally not the case now for the vast majority of the UK. I remember viewing a 1 bed flat in 2007 that was riddled with damp and the living room ceiling was on the floor. It was ‘offers over’ 58k which was a “come get me price”…. it still ended up selling for 65 ish which I couldn’t afford working full time for a decent company. Today, the apprentices at my work get 24k and there are comparable flats for 60-70k!! 2.5x income versus 6x. Sure, we’re not talking about 3 bed family homes, which should be more affordable. But in terms of getting on the property ladder, it’s way easier today for young people. Infinitely easier for parents to help their kids too.

This forum paints houses as being wholly unaffordable for the majority of people. Which isn’t true.

You could leave school, work in Tesco for 3 years till you’re on the 24k minimum wage for a 21 year old - and guess what - you could easily afford to buy a small flat / house in 95% of UK towns!! Someone just mentioned Dunfermline which I know relatively well. There are many houses/flats within 5 miles of there, for approx 3.5x minimum wage. It was infinitely harder for young people in 2006/2007.

Show me an example near you that disproves this? In 2007 we bought a total garbage flat for 4x our combined income. My kids could get something better on a single income today...

Perhaps this is a Scottish thing, but nothing will convince me houses are more expensive for younger people today, than in 2007. In 2006 I got my first job earning a pathetic but not uncommon £10,000. It was an entry level job in a reputable company. A year later I was in a whopping £12,000. My wife to be was on similar. (We both had just graduated, don’t ask). The crappest flats in my town at that time were £65,000 - 70,000. So 6 or 7x income for me and many others. Today, minimum wage for 21 year olds equates to £24,000. In fact, work in Aldi / Tesco and The exact same flats in my town are now less than 3x income. Perfectly acceptable ex-local authority 2/3 bed terraced houses 4-5x income.

Unfortunately prices seem to be holding in Scotland due to low supply. Good houses in good postcodes, as well as older period proprieties are selling as well as ever. I see a distinct lull in detached houses in estates with 100s of properties. There are significantly more of those being listed with a 2 or 3 at the beginning of the asking price, compared with 3s and 4s last year. The issue we have is wages continue to grow and mortgage rates will drop later this year. I expect deals to fall below 4% soon as we move away from the almost market-wide 5% level.

It’s been mentioned many times but “Unexpectedly back on the market” is my all time favourite. When folk get dumped by their partner or sacked at work they don’t frame it as “unexpectedly back on the market”?!

I suspect the weather is the stumbling block, not the otherwise extortionate prices. I looked at something for the Easter school hols. I could go abroad somewhere cheap and cheerful, for guaranteed sun. Family of 4 to the Canary Islands for a week for as little as £1800 all inclusive. A UK staycation would cost more when you factor in all the activities you’d have to do to keep the kids entertained in the pouring rain… Sadly I realised I’d lost my passport!!! Brilliant £40-50 quid fee I thought. Nope, £82.50 these days.. sigh.. Heading to Mallorca in a couple of months though so better get it replaced 😎

5% or 90% LTV wouldn’t matter if some what a mortgage agreement in place or wasn’t in a chain. They could buy / complete on a purchase within a couple of weeks.

‘Cash buyer’ doesn’t literally mean someone who is purchasing a house wholly with cash. The vast majority of cash buyers need a mortgage for a proportion of the purchase, but the point is they either do not have a home to sell, or they have provisions to buy regardless of selling.

I’ve made pretty detailed spreadsheets working out mortgage costs and as you say, considerably more expensive today. My situation right now, and while maintaining at least 70% LTV if I move, possibly sub 60%… Existing mortgage of 90k @ 3.09% Proposed extra 100-150k @ 4.89% £1200-1300 per month 2-3 years ago that would’ve looked like… Existing mortgage of 90k @ 1.44% Proposed extra 100-150k @ 1.44% £800-900 per month!? ie. Could’ve probably borrowed 50k extra and still been better off!!

I just bid almost 15% over the asking on a place that closed this week and I STILL wasn’t even close according to my solicitor. Theres so few properties on right now I reckon prices are sticking. I think also there’s a strong expectation that rates will fall soon. And they will.

I’ve been on this forum for 4 years but have wanted there to be a tangible fall in prices for a lot longer. The daft people that paid 350-450k for a new build on the outskirts of a bang average town in Scotland should be worried. They are in bubble estates! They’d of known that because the houses they bought were only selling for 200-300k 5/6 years ago. Those people should be concerned but the majority of transactions I’ve seen in Scotland, even with this recent boom, they are reasonable and often justifiable when compared to wages. My mortgage rate doubled in 2022, meaning the payment was £520 instead of a projected £400. Mortgages and their rates are not a big concern to folk who weren’t dafties when they bought their houses. Even if they bought more recently.

It’s the polar opposite of an emotional call - it’s 15 years of staring at monthly sold price data. Religiously. The 2008 crash in Scotland was catastrophic for particular types of properties at the lower end of the market, as well as the yuppy ‘executive’ newer build estates. Yes all properties essentially took a dip, but I’ve watched as it’s taken those full 15 years for cheap 80k flats to get back to that figure from 50-60k, and for those 2006 450k houses to get back to those values too. I’m of the opinion that, sadly, a large proportion of home owners in the UK won years ago. They’ve got 100k of equity, 250k, god even 500k of collateral, purely as a result of HPI. These unearned but unequivocally riches aren’t going anywhere unfortunately. They feed back into the more desirable homes on the market. The more prestigious streets and post codes. Sure, we may well see a 5-10% fall in some parts of Scotland. The south of England could fall markedly. Generally though, there are still large parts of the UK where house prices are very affordable.