Friday Time Out

[jiltedjen]

this forum made me keep the chances of a HPC very Cristal clear in my mind.

it prevented me from over leveraging, when I bought in 2018, and ensured I bought with a large deposit (fully expecting to end up in some negative equity)

it re-enforced my views on bitcoin, which combined with a big deposit and frugal lifestyle, cleared my mortgage. Due to this forum in about a decade I have gone from a standing start of graduating indebted student, to debt free and mortgage free. Which is good in itself, but given the current back-drop the ‘it will never happen HPC’ is unfolding right in front of us I’m pretty chuffed! This forum was actually right! 

it’s exposed me to plenty on concepts. and it’s the only place you can scream at the moon all you like like a crazy person, mostly without being shot down/banned/cancelled.

not sure if anyone owes as much to HPC as I do, or maybe my wife who doesn’t get the nutter rants as it goes in here instead. 

Who was that poster who used to post “liar loans!” I’m bold red text all the time? And then I think from back in the day a crazy person oracle I think the name was.

 

Edited September 22, 2023 by jiltedjen

[Innkeeper]

29 minutes ago, jiltedjen said:

 

Who was that poster who used to post “liar loans!” I’m bold red text all the time? And then I think from back in the day a crazy person oracle I think the name was.

 

Eric Pebble!

I don’t post much but have followed HPC for years.  Even if I block or get bored with someone I usually ‘let them back’ as I find I’m still interested in what they have to say even if it drives me nuts..

The poster that sticks in the mind was Venger.   Vast posts of intricate dialogue about ‘renter savers’ and ‘pushing back’. Not sure I understood most of them 😳

Edited September 22, 2023 by Innkeeper

[Unmoderated]

3 hours ago, Stewy said:

How many HPCs have you seen in that decade?

😗

You attention to detail is lacking.

In 'well over a decade' I've seen one. 

Perhaps you'll tell me what you do for a living and how many HPCs I've predicted in the mean time?

Why are you on here? Did Tossbods kick you out?

 

[MARTINX9]

7 hours ago, msi said:

At the risk of starting a mutual back slapping fest. Same you you.  Nearly everyone here, including those I cross swords with, add to the forum and the plurality of views here.  That is something to be proud of.

 

Obviously the usual loon squad can **** themselves, but no forum is perfect

 

 

[Money Frugality]

How wholesome, here’s me thinking we were just a bunch of overly opinionated financial weirdos. 
 

But true, this is the only place to discuss actual UK monetary policy, politics and the markets all in one place with based viewpoints. 
 

It was the Retirement Investing Today guy who gave such transparency on his FIRE journey that helped a lot for me.
 

Doubt I’d be as financially educated without everyone’s views on this forum. Been here since I graduated  

Edited September 23, 2023 by Money Frugality

[canbuywontbuy]

I prefer what I would deem "independent" forums like this (as opposed to Facebook/Reddit that are heavily censored/policed heavy-handedly).  A lot of disagreement here, which is good! Compare that to the echo chambers going on in the main subs of reddit - it's full-on nauseating. It's like opinions there are...being inbred in some sick way.

[Society of fools]

The reason this place feels like a comfortable space for many of us is that the uniformity of values is remarkable. 

The most obvious point that sticks out to me is the fact that hardly anybody here is oblivious to having huge debt.

The number of times on this forum that you hear the phrase " I couldn't sleep if I had £X + amount of debt" is incalculable.  

Point is , the majority of people in society don't have the slightest problem with having eye watering amounts of debt on their personal balance sheet, and that is what sets this group apart. (And makes us utterly irrelevant and invisible to politicians and policymakers)

 

[captainb]

1 hour ago, Society of fools said:

The reason this place feels like a comfortable space for many of us is that the uniformity of values is remarkable. 

The most obvious point that sticks out to me is the fact that hardly anybody here is oblivious to having huge debt.

The number of times on this forum that you hear the phrase " I couldn't sleep if I had £X + amount of debt" is incalculable.  

Point is , the majority of people in society don't have the slightest problem with having eye watering amounts of debt on their personal balance sheet, and that is what sets this group apart. (And makes us utterly irrelevant and invisible to politicians and policymakers)

 

I think it's deeper than that and more that's a symptom of extreme (compared to the general population) risk adversion in many.

It's not the general risk that after buying shares in say Barclays they could go down ... it's the one in 30 year risk they could COLLAPSE etc etc 

For example, hypothetically if prices fell 30% by Jan next year on a rebalancing to new normal mortgages at say 5% would many people here actually take the plunge and buy? I'm not convinced. 

Which is fine, ok, etc etc but the reason why as you say no popular party will take the viewpoint on.

Edited September 23, 2023 by captainb

[Bob8]

12 hours ago, 70PC said:

Things were more random comments and jokes early on. I miss that. I moved to a forum on 'Money Savings Expert'. That was a free for all and fun until po faced Martin Lewis shut it down.  

There was a lighter tone in here until about 2010. At that time there had been a crash and there was a divide between the slightly more left wing people who did not expect much more (i.e. because they will ensure that rich people stay rich), and a true believer right wing who thought it would be free houses for them by 2012 and were very serious about it. 

That is my very crude memory anyway.

[Bob8]

10 hours ago, jiltedjen said:

this forum made me keep the chances of a HPC very Cristal clear in my mind.

it prevented me from over leveraging, when I bought in 2018, and ensured I bought with a large deposit (fully expecting to end up in some negative equity)

it re-enforced my views on bitcoin, which combined with a big deposit and frugal lifestyle, cleared my mortgage. Due to this forum in about a decade I have gone from a standing start of graduating indebted student, to debt free and mortgage free. Which is good in itself, but given the current back-drop the ‘it will never happen HPC’ is unfolding right in front of us I’m pretty chuffed! This forum was actually right! 

it’s exposed me to plenty on concepts. and it’s the only place you can scream at the moon all you like like a crazy person, mostly without being shot down/banned/cancelled.

not sure if anyone owes as much to HPC as I do, or maybe my wife who doesn’t get the nutter rants as it goes in here instead. 

Who was that poster who used to post “liar loans!” I’m bold red text all the time? And then I think from back in the day a crazy person oracle I think the name was.

 

Back in the mid-2000's, when I was first on here, the argument that high housing cost was a bad thing was still far from widely accepted. It was seen as not understanding economic (oddly, that low wages were a bad things was seen as more complex). 

[Society of fools]

2 hours ago, captainb said:

think it's deeper than that and more that's a symptom of extreme (compared to the general population) risk adversion in many.

It's not the general risk that after buying shares in say Barclays they could go down ... it's the one in 30 year risk they could COLLAPSE etc etc 

If it’s risk aversion, I think it would be only with respect to investment in property, and most particularly what is perceived to be over-priced property in markets such as the UK, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, California and suchlike. 
 

Self-evidently, there are plenty of posters on HPC who do not have the slightest problem investing large amounts of savings in equities, in crypto, in gold, and even in real estate if it is in a market, such as say, Turkey, Cyprus, or the GCC, where price multiples for high quality new build real estate is minimal. 
 

The mental disconnect is there. 
 

I always have my sister in law as a perfect example. She regards investing in the Australian share market with horror ( “ you can lose everything”), but having more than $1.2 million AUD in mortgage debt for a nondescript Sydney house in a dreary unremarkable suburb, conversely, doesn’t bother her in the slightest. “ Aussie housing only ever goes up, you simply cannot lose with that kind of investment. I wish they’d let me borrow more”. 
 

She would clearly regard the denizens of HPC as outright wackos. 

[Society of fools]

2 hours ago, captainb said:

For example, hypothetically if prices fell 30% by Jan next year on a rebalancing to new normal mortgages at say 5% would many people here actually take the plunge and buy? I'm not convinced. 

I would buy. I even have the price level clearly in mind. I can see several properties in the UK presently on offer for £500 K. 
 

If I can buy one of them for £375 K I will buy. It’s a sum I have in a term deposit right now. 
 

I like buying cheap assets even if there’s a risk.

I bought Rolls Royce shares 18 months or so ago when they were £0.67. They’re more than £2 now. I wouldn’t have bought them at £2 though. 

[fellow]

3 hours ago, Society of fools said:

The reason this place feels like a comfortable space for many of us is that the uniformity of values is remarkable. 

The most obvious point that sticks out to me is the fact that hardly anybody here is oblivious to having huge debt.

The number of times on this forum that you hear the phrase " I couldn't sleep if I had £X + amount of debt" is incalculable.  

Point is , the majority of people in society don't have the slightest problem with having eye watering amounts of debt on their personal balance sheet, and that is what sets this group apart. (And makes us utterly irrelevant and invisible to politicians and policymakers)

 

Good point. It's not really possible to have a coherent viewpoint on the economy, or even politics, without taking a hard look at your own finances first.

[captainb]

20 minutes ago, Society of fools said:

I would buy. I even have the price level clearly in mind. I can see several properties in the UK presently on offer for £500 K. 
 

If I can buy one of them for £375 K I will buy. It’s a sum I have in a term deposit right now. 
 

I like buying cheap assets even if there’s a risk.

I bought Rolls Royce shares 18 months or so ago when they were £0.67. They’re more than £2 now. I wouldn’t have bought them at £2 though. 

Fair enough! I'm also waiting for a rebalance to trade up also but if prices don't rebalance next year will just do it anyway, gain of larger place etc more than for me anyway outweighs risk of the debt.

Best share advice I was given was "don't fall in love with the share" i.e. trade in and out based on logic rather than long term hold. Which works for me as I'm not w buffet but can trade on events.