laughing_goat Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 I found this in my local paper and noticed a link to another website dedicated to questioning the sanity of current house price levels. appologies if anyone has seen this before. Links are below; http://www.stalbansobserver.co.uk/search/d...oung_to_buy.php http://www.housepricecontrol.org.uk/ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenOut Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Hey Goat, I live just down the road in Watford, and things are crazy here too, my colleague is buying in St Albans soon, regularly blasts me when he see's me surfing this website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing_goat Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 Yes, I know many people who have bought in St Albans over the years. However, very few at the moment. I topics tend to be around buying BTLs in the North of England. About 1/3 of my colleges have dangerous levels of debt, some are throwing money after a 3 legged horse in the BTL market. One college bought a house in Manchester (went straight in with an offer of the asking price even though the place had been on the market for months) and has since rented it at a loss, he has to subsidise the rent by about £200 per month to pay the mortgage. He is convinced that this will all work out when he comes to sell. Occasionally, I ask him things like, "are you keeping a record of your investment?". He always answers yes but in truth he doesn't think about interest payments, maintainance, cost of travel to collect the rent (london to Manchester once a month), and so on. I've given up now, he'll just have to learn the hard way. I have another college who had managed to work out he could make £2,000,000 by renting out his old flat. Hmm, I thought, £2,000,000, even I might get a BTL if that's the dosh you can make renting out a 2 bed ex-council flat. But sure as eggs is eggs (and I could definately smell something rotten in his calculations), he forgot to consider that he would need to pay a mortgage. I asked him to work out what the interest on that mortage would be over the 25yr term but as yet I haven't had a reply. The thing is that these people can afford to be stupid with their money at the moment (hence why HP's have continued to rise rather than fall). The only things that will make then struggle (or possible just think!) is either an IR rise or the loss of a job. I think the later is unlikely but the former is already in full swing. The guy with the BTL in Manchester has seen the amount he subsidises the rent rise from £50 to around £200 per months due in part to rate rises. I don't want to see these guys loose the shirts off their backs but I certainly am not going to be too sympathetic if they do. This is the problem when the lazy want to invest, none of the people I know have done any research into the housing market or any other forms of investment. On a slightly different note, my brother (who lives in North Wales) has just STRed. He and his Girlfriend wanted to move in together but his place was too small and they couldn't afford anything bigger so they have sold his place and are renting a two bed house for about half what it costs to buy (one of my colleges is probably subsidising the rent - teehee!). He probably won't join this forum (it's not his thing to be honest). But hey, he used to be stupid with money, now he's looking quite sensible. LG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCS15 Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 I don't want to see these guys loose the shirts off their backs If they don't then it'll be you that ends up paying for them. Honestly, if they make a mint it'll be at someone elses expense Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
laughing_goat Posted April 28, 2007 Author Share Posted April 28, 2007 If they don't then it'll be you that ends up paying for them. Honestly, if they make a mint it'll be at someone elses expense Absolutely, I couldn't agree more. My sentiment was more personal though. Both colleges I mentioned are married with kids. However, their carelessness will almost certainly loose them the money they put into their BTLs but I don't think they will loose their family homes. If I'm honest with myself, I wouldn't be upset to see them learn about investments the hard way. There are a couple of people at work who's debt levels are so high that they would, without a doubt, loose their shirts if economic conditions were not so much in their favour. I think this is the issue, there are may people, as old as 35yrs, with the potential for huge borrowings and buying power, who have never gone through a ressesion as an adult, have always known low IR's and easy borrowing. Most of them have little if any idea about finance and often rely on the parents (yes even at 35yrs) to help them pay debts. LG Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ʎqɐqɹǝʞɐɥs Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 I found this in my local paper and noticed a link to another website dedicated to questioning the sanity of current house price levels. appologies if anyone has seen this before.Links are below; http://www.stalbansobserver.co.uk/search/d...oung_to_buy.php http://www.housepricecontrol.org.uk/ The young don't deserve to live in St Albans. It should be for the exclusivity of Boomers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bear call spread Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Most of them have little if any idea about finance and often rely on the parents (yes even at 35yrs) to help them pay debts.LG Disgusting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GCS15 Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 who have never gone through a ressesion as an adult, have always known low IR's and easy borrowing. Most of them have little if any idea about finance and often rely on the parents (yes even at 35yrs) to help them pay debts.LG I don't think you can refer to them as being adults if they have to have their parents take care of their debts or am I being harsh (well Maybe it's my good friend Jack Daniels who is being harsh ) But fair dinkum, 35 and running to mommy and daddy (I stopped doing that at 28 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HPC Convert Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 I found this in my local paper and noticed a link to another website dedicated to questioning the sanity of current house price levels. appologies if anyone has seen this before.Links are below; http://www.stalbansobserver.co.uk/search/d...oung_to_buy.php http://www.housepricecontrol.org.uk/ This is porn for the good folk of st albans to titter over while sat in their big houses.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry AKA Pod Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 I was under the impression the "young" couldn't afford to live anywhere. What's special about St Albans? Is it a complete dump, thus you would expect the young to be able to buy there? Never been. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FrozenOut Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Maybe you should take a little trip to St Albans, it simply doesn't have any bad parts - and it's a city! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Garry AKA Pod Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Maybe you should take a little trip to St Albans, it simply doesn't have any bad parts - and it's a city! So why the surprise that the young can't afford to live here then? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 The young can't afford to live in many places St Albans is just one of them. When I say afford I mean no more than 4 times your gross income, on a repayment mortgage. There are many ways invented in recent years to enable you to borrow large amounts of money to buy the home of your dreams, but beware that dream could turn into a nightmare. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Monopoly Posted April 28, 2007 Share Posted April 28, 2007 Not just for the young...before we decided to move to Germany we were looking into buying in St Albans or Harpenden...impossible..and we have a big deposit and earn a far over average income...all you get under 350k are 3 bed semi ex council houses..but both towns are very nice.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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