Help Needed - Newspaper Article

[hedgefunded]

To cut a long story short I write to the Somerset County Gazette quite a bit. My letters are fairly witty/stupid but they usually print them. (They only refuse when I get a little too rude).

They started a new feature a couple of weeks back, allowing contributors around 200 words to have a good old rant about something. They phoned me to ask if I'd write the first one, and I duly did so. I had a go at Facebook and Farmers' Markets (Rightly so, I hate both in equal measure).

Anyway, nobody else has contributed and they're happy for me to have another go, but this time I want to get serious. My 200 words will be about the madness of an economy reliant on HPI.

Now with the population of Somerset being none too bright, I want to get my points across in a simple way, and with such a small amount of words it won't be easy. What should I hammer home? The unfairness of the wealth transfer from young to old? The evil that is BTL? The blatant use of property porn by media types with an agenda?....The raping of savers via QE? The list goes on and obviously it's way too long.

So, all opinions would be gratefully received. Perhaps I go big on Liar Loans? Maybe have a good old go at private landlords? I'll post up my efforts for criticism and suggestions, and edit/revise accordingly.

As I'm near certain this piece will get printed in a paper that covers all of Somerset, I reckon it's my duty to do my best, and that involves words from the wise on here.

Thanks in advance.

[rantnrave]

I can edit the content down to 200 words (I edit reports down in word length almost every day at work)... Aim for 300 and then give me a shout!

[Fully Detached]

The problem with HPI is that the majority of people have either done very nicely out of it, or been completely rogered by it. So you'll either be preaching to the converted or wasting your breath talking to a brick wall.

If it was me, I'd probably do something on the madness of debt, because a few simple facts make it incontravertible (sorry, I can't be bothered to look up how to spell that!). Then you can slip in a few references to HPI along the way without it being the obvious target of your article.

I had some serious fun recently by pointing out to people that they have generously contributed to the butt ******ing that their children and grand children are going to suffer over the next few decades. The result was akin to the 5 stages of bereavement, and you could see it sinking in with more than a few of them. But they were easy to lead to that conclusion because I was starting with undeniable facts.

[KingBingo]

Now with the population of Somerset being none too bright, I want to get my points across in a simple way, and with such a small amount of words it won't be easy.

Compare what the average somersetian earned 15 years ago, and what a somerset house cost.

Compare that to what they earn today and how much a house cost.

[BlinkTooFast]

Compare what the average somersetian earned 15 years ago, and what a somerset house cost.

Compare that to what they earn today and how much a house cost.

And make the same comparisons with silver/gold and houses 15 years ago and now.

And then point out that fiat is worthless. Or maybe save that for next week's instalment.

[Redcellar]

I would comment on how pricces are 5-8x 'average' income and is unsustainable. FTBers aka the young locked out of a market that needs them and therefore the whole house of cards is to come tumbling down. Bit about the youth asked to pay high house prices, increased pension contributions, and increasing stundent loans all at the same time when youth unemployment is one in five. How can high house prices be sustained?

[XswampyX]

You could stick something like this in. The old farts will love it!

If you think you have done well out of your house increasing in value..... think again.

Before you move into a care home, you'll have a financial assessment with your local council. The council will look at your income and capital and decide how much you may have to pay towards your care home fees. Your capital might include:

Savings

Investments

Property you might own (like your home or holiday home, for example)

Capital and the value of your home.

If you live in England and have over £23,000 in capital you'll be assessed as being able to meet the full cost of your care.

When your children decide to buy a house they are ultimately paying for the owners care (your care). The government have driven the price of housing up, through lax lending criteria and restrictive planning laws to make your children pay for your care.

The only people who have done well out of this are the government. Again!

[rantnrave]

Ask people if they don't like the cost of filling their car up. Next ask them if they consider that the house prices during NuLabour's years in power were a good thing or not. Then, kindly point out that the former is currently a direct consequence of keeping the latter...

[(Blizzard)]

Personally, I'd focus on two things:

1. When the price of essentials falls, it is a good thing (petrol, food). Houses are no different.

2. Where all the extra money actually comes from when houses increase in value, and in particular, how this money is diverted from creating jobs and starting families.

[right_freds_dead]

somerset ? house values ?

your wasting your time.

let them learn the hard way, and besides. its too late to save anyway.

[SarahBell]

Are you getting paid?

The dichotomy of people wanting their kids to live near them but not wanting more houses built.

I'd go QE at the moment though.

[noddage]

Start with a sharp, clear focus: The madness of Phil and Kirsty returning to our screens and acting like it's 2003. As you gently mock this pair, you can casually draw in some of the serious issues. It could make for a highly amusing piece, with some hard edges.

[Bloo Loo]

I would ask the following question having made a case as follows.

Earlier this year, our and Euro banks PASSED regulatory STRESS tests.

While this was going on, Greece was bailed out, Spain and Ireland had plans in place, Portugal itself was made safe.

We were assured all was saved.

The FSA has made no moves to sanction banks who stepped out of line, they must therefore be entirely happy with the situation the banks find themselves in.

We were told that the Government insistence that banks HELP small business were going to plan and x billions had been made available.

The BoE in its projection charts say inflation will be at target 2% in 2 years.

The above 4 statements show that all is just tickatyboo in the world of stats and Politicians.

However, yesterday, The BoE announced that things are so bad, that banks are running out of money....hence and £50bn in QE over the next 6 months.

question....which one of the four statements above was a lie?

At least one of them MUST be otherwise we wouldnt be issuing more QE.

[Democorruptcy]

Use figures to show it's banks that profit not people.

1997 average house £60k, interest on 25 year mortgage £55k. House now £160k interest is £147k. Extra £92k interest per £100k HPI. Boom created deliberately by banks allowing liar loans and joint income mortgages, second income is now a banker's bonus.

If you buy at £100k sell at £150k it's not 50% profit, it's 50% extra debt on the next one because that has increased from £160k to £240k. The funding gap is £90k (240-150) not £60k (160-100). Debt is not wealth it's slavery.

The credit expansion required to create HPI has resulted in inflation so when you downsize the leftover cash buys so much less there is no point in it. People would be better off refusing to borrow more, paying less for a house, working less hours or maybe using just a single income. HPI = worse quality if life so bankers make more money from us.

[tomandlu]

There are two points about HPC that anyone ought to be able to understand with a little prodding.

• High house prices add to the cost of living, making it hard to be competitive
  
• High house prices make moving to a larger house more expensive
  

As others have said, compare rising house prices to any other necessity, and the idea of celebrating them seems absurd.

[The Spaniard]

Why do we, as a supposedly sovereign people, not provide ourselves with an adequate, persistently circulating, debt-free money supply?

Why must we borrow into existence, at interest from commercial banks, almost all of our means of exchange?

Physical cash excepted, why are banks the only financial agents able to access directly our publicly issued (base) money?

Why must the rest of us use only the banks' ephemeral promises to conduct our business?

Rent-a-currency, who needs it?

[Byron]

The skill of writing a good newspaper article is to piss off a good proportion of the readership and yet keep the majority on side. If you can get a good row going with angry letters to the editor denouncing you, then circulation might rise.

Remember above all else,

The fuction of a reporter is not to tell the news, it's to sell newspapers.

[LC1]

I'll post up my efforts for criticism and suggestions, and edit/revise accordingly.

Some great ideas here - I'd love to read the result, but I wonder if posting drafts here might be a risk - unlikely, but if they discovered it had already been 'published' would they print it in the paper? Do local rags check this kind of thing?

Good luck!

[NEO72]

Ah, so its you (yep I'm a welly local)! Think your letters are the only ones I bother reading - surprised they gave you free reign with the comments

Start with a sharp, clear focus: The madness of Phil and Kirsty returning to our screens and acting like it's 2003. As you gently mock this pair, you can casually draw in some of the serious issues. It could make for a highly amusing piece, with some hard edges.

I like this - bit of humour would take the edge off it and make it more likely to be published imo.

There are two points about HPC that anyone ought to be able to understand with a little prodding.

• High house prices add to the cost of living, making it hard to be competitive
  
• High house prices make moving to a larger house more expensive
  

As others have said, compare rising house prices to any other necessity, and the idea of celebrating them seems absurd.

Yes, keep the points concise and easy to digest.

Also, I wouldn't particularly pursue the fairness angle - most who have benefitted from HPI ignore this ("I know it's sooo terrible...but what can you do. Righty, must go, or I'll be late for my saga cruise").

I would use the opportunity to drop a few hints to undermine sentiment too e.g. "even if a buyer for some reason thought a quarter of a miliion pounds for the shoebox you're selling was a fair price, the near collapse of the entire financial system in 2007 and subsequent house price falls seem to have put banks off lending 8x salaries with a £50 deposit".

I'll keep an eye out for it.

[Gigantic Purple Slug]

urhuh oorah. urrr. urrr. urr. cyda.

urrr. ooorah. urr.

[Freeholder]

Use an old tabloid standby and tell them to THINK OF THE CHILDREN. Thats a good lead into the serious matter of how people are priced out unless they were lucky enough to buy a house before the boom which leads you on nicely to BTL.

[timebandit]

Does the local paper rely on advertising from the local estate agents?

You could always try the power of the buyer, no need to listen the allure of the EA spin.

Today a buyer can within a couple of clicks, find the realistic price of a property (fallen,sold or calculate the real value).

[eric pebble]

To cut a long story short I write to the Somerset County Gazette quite a bit. ..//..

es on and obviously it's way too long.

So, all opinions would be gratefully received. Perhaps I go big on Liar Loans? Maybe have a good old go at private landlords? I'll post up my efforts for criticism and suggestions, and edit/revise accordingly.

As I'm near certain this piece will get printed in a paper that covers all of Somerset, I reckon it's my duty to do my best, and that involves words from the wise on here.

Thanks in advance.

OK: LIAR LOANS:

They fuelled the hpi like rocket fuel. Once Person X had gone to village/street/town X with a LIAR LOAN & "bought" his/her property --- EVERYONE ELSE HAD TO MATCH THE ARTIFICIALLY/FRAUDULENTLY HIKED "PRICE" SET BY PERSON X WITH HIS/HER LIAR LOANS.

It was like a toxic cancer. It spread VERY quickly from street to street, village to village, town to town [etc.] all over the UK:

LOADS of people jumped onto the bandwagon/Pyramid Scam whilst the music played.

The music's stopped playing: We're living with the DIRE consequences.

----------------------------------------------------------

Another way to look at it:

Divide the "average" [or even under-"average" house prices] by 3: It comes to AT LEAST £70k in most of southern UK: Does everyone earn £70k pa???

Go figure.......

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Edit: Look at ALL the links below in my signature hedgefunded: It is the Biggest Elephant Mammoth in the Room; EVER.

Edited October 7, 2011 by eric pebble

[ccc]

Use figures to show it's banks that profit not people.

1997 average house £60k, interest on 25 year mortgage £55k. House now £160k interest is £147k. Extra £92k interest per £100k HPI. Boom created deliberately by banks allowing liar loans and joint income mortgages, second income is now a banker's bonus.

If you buy at £100k sell at £150k it's not 50% profit, it's 50% extra debt on the next one because that has increased from £160k to £240k. The funding gap is £90k (240-150) not £60k (160-100). Debt is not wealth it's slavery.

The credit expansion required to create HPI has resulted in inflation so when you downsize the leftover cash buys so much less there is no point in it. People would be better off refusing to borrow more, paying less for a house, working less hours or maybe using just a single income. HPI = worse quality if life so bankers make more money from us.

Something like this. Explain that for most people - 'profit' on a house is just more debt on the next - with interest added.

[tinker]

I always find it amusing that according to planners and politicians we need have 'affordable housing' yet this means that a few homes on a new estate are subsidised by the tax-payer or neighbours or reliant on the financial ignorance of the would be FTB who seem happy to buy into shared equity like the siren call to the rocks. What would people rather spend their money on: mortgage interest or themselves their family.

It is absurd that in every MSN piece about the state of the housing market and getting lending going again, no one ever says that perhaps house prices are too high. The comparison of the price of an average property now and say 10 and 20 years ago, and how has that happened credit... and what is a consequence of this credit bubble - fraud and economic collapse.

The mindset of the noughties simply has to change, for some that will mean pain.