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Channel 4 Dispatches 5.11.07


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HOLA446

Dear oh dear. I've suffered enough minutes of this by and large poor assessment of the "suffering" of first-time-buyers already to see it is not going to address anything new, revealing, relevant or insightful. We have the usual parade of paranoid FTB's in London who never stop to think why they are subject to "record prices" and a "market in turmoil". And this is the hyperbolic flavour of this programme, whose sub-theme is "time is of the essence" (Repeat ad infinitum). We have are a parade of trendy but dense 30-somethings whose mantra is "time is running out" and "if I wait one day longer I will be shut out". etc.; etc.; etc.

And then we are treated to sick making platitudes from sellers: "it's like losing a child" (a reference to flogging her dingy little house for an outrageous sum by a Rosie Millard behave-a-like).

What none of these people ever STOP to think is that if they just REFUSED to play the game, the price of their seedy little purchase in London would magically reduce. They are ALL being conned, cajoled, press-ganged, scammed, duped and tortured into buying what they could rent for almost half the price. The more of them that get duped the more the prices will rise. Even if this programme had mentioned this fact it might have saved itself.

But this programme broadly fails because it presents a yesterday paradigm, with only fleeting observations of current market realities. Though it does mention the concept of "waiting", one "expert" recommends six months! And then we have a gormless couple who have a baby on the way who cannot under any circumstances wait. Did they investigate renting for a fraction of the mortgage they have been conned into getting? No. Were they given insights into alternatives? No. They just trotted out the mantra.

This representation of property is in its own time warp. Its producers must know that the writing was on the wall even during its making. Instead of fully updating its content to match current circumstances, it tries to persuade us to keep the stable shut after the horse has bolted. This is typical of low brow "property insight" programmes. It serves a mind-numbingly naive audience and it does so in a mind-numbing way. Far from alerting us to the truth, it merely perpetuates the myth of shortage and persuades us way after the party is over that BTL's are making cash.

Only ONE "expert" actually declared: "Don't buy....rent until prices come down". That is the lone voice amongst a sea of platitudes. This OBSESSION that "ownership" somehow gives you some mythical kudos over renting (in a falling market) is well past its sell by date. As is another repeated mantra of the (sorry) extremely stupid potential buyers, who, despite the obvious hitting them in the face, STILL hold on to what they have been told by VI's for the last decade...."we just want to get on to the ladder". No perception whatever that the ladder could become a snake.

The one thing this programme did do reasonably well was to explode the ridiculous myth that shared ownership is in any way an advantage. It rightly criticised this avenue, though in my view it was not nearly hard hitting enough. Shared ownership is not just lacking in practicality, it is an utter con job by councils in league with devleopers.

VP

Edited by VacantPossession
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This is a better show than the BBC effort ...........by far!

That was 50 times better. If I wasn't so lazy, I'd write to the BBC and ask why 'The truth about property' only slighty hinted that now might not be a good time to buy. And was more geared to, 'oohh first time buyers have it bad' and this is a social problem.

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Again, the dramatic effects of mass immigration on the market where not raised at all. Especially in light of the 3m extra homes target by 2015- not enough to cover even a few years of population growth. So most of the program was based on nonsense.

I liked the professor From Brighton who pointed out the real inflation and declining living stadards from the pure price effect though.

Edited by brainclamp
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I take my hat off to the young couple that have purchased a renovators delight.

I appear to have been doing things wrong all these years, you are not supposed to use a steam machine to remove wallpaper you use a 20lb club hammer and a four inch bolster :lol:

lol, i guess they might beable to get more sq foot per room.

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shame he felt the need to water down his prediction to 25% (or did i mishear?)

The public would see anything more as a wild statement and ignore it such is the trancelike state of those that can see no further than the end of their nose.

If the public smell 25% falls they will run to the edge of the cliff like lemmings to the slaughter, the rest will soon follow in a second wave pushing to 35% maybe more.

Edited by laurejon
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I agree with all that you say here.

They did make a mention of the current credit turmoil - but it was brief and followed by the euphoria of a young couple beating the odds to make a purchase at auction.

Personally, I thought that the program spent too much time with the FTBs it was following and did not explore all the social and financial implications of the current situation deeply enough.....but maybe its because I'm an HPCer. I guess that some of this would be eye-opening to most viewers over on ITV...but dispatches - I'm not so sure

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I so dearly wish FP hadn't used the phrase "4 to 6 years" - now getting such substantial ear bashing grief from the wife...love her to bits but she's not the patient type

MUHAHAHAHAHAHAHA

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I thought the whole show was one sided.

I don’t think the stressed the financial crisis and its implications

I fear allot of idiots watching will have only heard the fact they might not be able to own a home in their life time and continue to panic buy.

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