Si1

whoops - you betray a basic misunderstanding, imputed rent is implicit in valuation of home ownership, like a dividend is in share ownership, so is not something that needs to be carried across to compare share profits against home-owning, as dividends are an implicit driver of valuation in both cases ergo - in the long run - shares absoultely give the same return as home ownership including savings on rental

really? explain in more detail please... really? explain in more detail please...

you missed out option 4 - hold shares for the long term and don't bother buying a house for the forseeable tying yourself to the 'must save for a house' mentaility narrows your options in a very negative way

LOL nice post

we no longer have Printy Printy! we have, instead: Vincey Vincey! ok I know it's not funny but I'm waiting for my rice to steam

unbelievable - lottery win

BoA appears to have nowhere left to turn so has to foreclose to get back some of its assets I wonder which bank(s) or building soc(s) in the UK are almost in a similar situation, and when the same thing will start happening here...

thanks

you are a true and honest man, good post, warmed my heart

how long did it take to get like this? my guess is it crept in gradually since 1996? true? however, the new universal credit to replace the current system, with an intended marginal rate of 40% ish, comes in for new claimants in 2013, and existing claimants get phased over over 4 years or so

career/salary progression hasn't been an option in many areas of work in this country for the last decade, but fair point for it's good intention

thanks for your response - so how come Rightmove lists 2 bed flats at 800 pcm - are they in absolute hell hole areas then? what detail makes them impractical in reality?

you should check out what the building societies are getting up to - 100% mortgages, expanding into BTL, these guys are not too big to fail, but they are just big enough to be stupid

that's perfectly secure, given these i really can't do much apart from pay money into the account

I can answer my own question - if i want to live somewhere nice, nice house but not too big, in Leeds i am paying 550+ pcm doubloe that and it becomes 1100+ pcm in London, probably more for truly comparable space, if being crude, and that is starting to cost some...

this always surprises me - as an ignorant northerner - I can seem to find 2 bed flats in parts of london for well less than 1k pcm eg http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/find.html?locationIdentifier=REGION^92825&insId=2&sortByPriceDescending=false&minBedrooms=2&maxBedrooms=2&includeLetAgreed=true&_includeLetAgreed=on what is wrong with these? you would probably rent for half the price in comparable areas in Leeds, ie I assume rough areas but this does not seem to be a barrier to me taking work in London, I suspect i would compromise on space but maybe in such a large built up area you NEED to pay extra for space? thoughts???

I agree with your central point - and we have a h3ll of a long way to go down, may take a generation

as long as mortgage rates are below inflation this is fine - and they are if you have 50% equity, which these people probably do

my sense is that there are bragging rights to this - I see it from people exchanging silly money and going on about it on HPC - they tend to be in the property-moneyed generations, and get a thrill about it, not realising they are practicing awful capital asset allocation

bit of a killer post would be interesting to see a response!

it re-begs the question, completely non-rhetorically this time - who has 300k in Carlisle? Preston and Manchester, yes, I can see the wealth. but Carlisle?

I suppose the thing is I don't feel it is that socially beneficial, not in a big way, I have got a lot from doing the odd bit of good myself, I like helping people to help themselves, as most sensible people would, and if they make something of that then so be it

jeez. any further raise to you will just puff up your ego, heh, your beautiful wife, your charity work. wow.

I've done voluntary telephone work in the past for a counselling organisation, i also help run a voluntary walking group that concentrates on public transport walks so people without cars can enjoy the countryside oh sorry, that can't be possible because I post on HPC and I'm right wing, dear me how will I live?

maybe I'm just cleverer than you and my time is for free, heh as opposed to certain lefties (tho not all) who do everything they can do to make everyone else poor