Huggy Bear

Quite ironic really - Al Qaeda blow up the twin towers because they think we are decadent. The upshot is we become even more decadent (at least in the short term). Not sure if 911 really made a big difference though. I think we were heading for a recession anyway, so the BOE would probably have followed the same path. The only real linkage is that our IRs seemed quite high relative to the rest of the world - so they looked justified. Either way, I'm not getting too het up about house prices. Taxes and unemployment are increasing, multinationals are heading offshore, pensions are heading for meltdown and oil is becoming more scarce in the longer term. With this backdrop, I reckon Houses will be worth f*ck all in about 30 years time - so why worry about it

Will have to think about that... Anyway, must go to bed....

It won't but I can't see a better alternative.

Am not sure about foreign markets but this just seems like a shameless attempt to appeal to people who currently have properties but who currently can't afford trade up (i.e. the tory core vote). I'm not sure if this policy has anything to do with FTBs. Stamp duty is pretty incedental to the price of an FTB property but the net result will be an increase of 4X the difference of the saving on house prices. I can't work out whether the Tories are trying to lose the election or whether they are genuinely out of touch? I'd almost decided to voty Conservative. This announcement pretty much means that I will not vote.

"Good luck Kirsty and if theyre anything like the first lot tell them to p!ss off!"! Telling your customers to "p*ss off"? - Am sure this is how Tesco became so successful!

Yep - am off to the pub to spend some of the money I have saved by staying out of the market

Should have taken the original offer - no spend and a lot more money Hahaha

Why is the agent wasting her time with these guys? She knows it won't sell for the price.

Something to bear in mind with partnerships is that you would become liable for all the debts run up by any of the partners. It's not just your debts and there's unlimited liabiliy.. If a partner does something you don't know about, then it all goes wrong, all partners are equally liable. If you have more money than them, you would be responsible for their debts, too - irrespective of whether you even knew they had been taken out. You have to have 110% trust to even think about running a partnership scheme...

Plus the tax I'm sure you paid on the profit

I agree about our generation being spoilt and it's quite sad how many areas like this have been allowed to decline. I'm not sure if the prefab construction is a problem in itself (It's probably as solid as a newbuild!). I think the biggest problem is that many of the original families have moved out as the drugs culture has taken over, whhich leaves the question why borrow so much (relatively) today to live in an area with so many problems? It makes no sense.

I have to drive through this estate occasionally. The agent has done very well to get such a flattering picture of this genuinely upgraded property Is this really the kind of cr*p that somebody on a 20K+ salary can expect to live in? I would want to be paid danger money to live here rather than pay a small fortune!

Just saw a re-run and the best part was the Sky presenter saying "Prices are predicted to come down by 20% - but don't worry there's not going to be a crash!" Think I'm going to have to check my definition of the "c" word!

Word from the streets says -13.33% Don't tell anyone

Only Me, I agree. Manipulating your way out of recession with policies / decisions that encourage the current level of MEW can only store up serious long-term issues for the majority.

I'd be surprised if the BOE know what day of the week it is with constantly changing measures and targets. An article in today's FT says that Eurostat (the EU stats agency) are recommending that property values should be included in the inflation baskets of all major European economies from 2006. If I was a cynic, I would say that property has been removed from the boom years and put back in for the crash - ensuring lowest rates at all times. If central govts are serious about moderating property markets, IRs could set alongside an associated Mortgage tax to specifically control property markets. I guess perpetual manipulation of the stats is less controversial

I wouldn't want to condone this activity but I'm sure I'm not the only one who has lied to a car dealer about the trade in value offered elsewhere for the existing motor. Surely, the auction house is doing the same thing - just on a bigger scale. Morally wrong or not, if you buy at an auction, you can't change the rules. The answer must be to do your homework, undertsand the rules of the game, and not get sucked in by sh*tty practices.

Something like "100 worst power tool accidents" would be more fun

I'm gonna commission a TV show called "when conversions went wrong". Must have loadsa scope

"... here in London it has bombed. Its a buyers market so expect some shi%*y viewers who have no decency. We had plenty." I think these views are typical of most UK vendors. They think the estate agents are not trying and are switching EAs rather than addressing the real issue. I am wondering how long this denial can last and whether they will abandon their plans rather than drop price? The naivety of these guys is making me think that potential house buyers should be made to do a couple of evening classes in basic economics (or pass an exam for their own protection) as an extension of the new mortgage requlation.

It was the Abbey - and that was before their creatives smoked a ton of dope and lost the plot!

Maybe you should spend some of your money on English lessons?

It was a t elling quote from Beeney about it being worth 10K less next year. Shows what she really thinks is going to happen. Anyway, how can you spend 80K renovating a house? You could build a whole one for less than that if you own the land

I was nearly an example of somebody doing this before I decided to sell up. If you take out an offset mortgage and trust yourself not to spend your equity, you can effectively have a section of your mortgage liquid as you are not paying mortgage interest or receiving savings interest on the offset amount. IMHO it would have given a much more reliable source of income than an expensive redundancy policy that would probably let me down in my hour of need. I think the problem with this thinking is that most people in the UK will lose their discipline over this money when they "need" a new car / yacht etc and will ultimately waste it on cr*p.

Think you're talking about Sarah Beeney on property ladder. Despite being a property millionaire, they didn't take her advice, did a complete bodge and got lucky cos the market rose (like all the others on the show). SB's advice was pretty realistic, given that the show must have been filmed a few months back - Can't wait to see this programme in a declining market Anyway, I wonder if she has any bouncy castles for sale!