moon Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 I remember when I bought my house in 1992 ( the only one I've ever owned) that it was almost impossible to raise the deposit. I could write a book on the things I did to get that money, but I'd get arrested. House values now must be four times what they were in '92, mine is anyway. Now I don't give a toss how high prices get, the higher the better as far as I'm concerned 'cause I'm already secure, but I do feel for those that are trying to make a start today. The average price is now around 175K.http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3542152.stmIf it were within my power I would introduce a levy on house sales, not a large one, but something reflecting the profit made by the seller, calculated by the rise in value since it was bought and deducting the amount spent on it since. This levy would go into a national fund from which first-time buyers could borrow their deposits at extremely low rates of interest, just enough profit to enable the fund to be administered. The benefit to existing owners would be that such a scheme might prevent the crash we saw in the late eighties. Good for our consciences, too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 Nice idea, but it'll never happen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted August 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 It might, under an eDemocracy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 The housing market is just ridiculous these days. I got on the so-called "housing ladder" in 1964 with a house costing £3,000 (ish). It was expensive in those days but I could afford it. I've moved a few times since but always kept well withing the limit of prices that I could reasonably pay the mortgage on. My present house which I've lived in since 1983 cost, then, £74,000. A couple of months ago paid off the mortgage and had it valued. Its current value is well over £1,500,000. To be perfectly frank, it is just not worth that amount. OK, it's a nice house and has all I want in it but it's not enormous (five bedrooms, two bathrooms) and I can't see how that huge amount of money is justified.In this area, three room, one bedroom flats are going at £100,000 which is above the limit for many first time buyers. Again, how can that be justified? It is all due to a totally artificial ruse on the part of estate agents to line their pockets by pushing up prices to the limits people can afford and, not being satisfied with that, pushing over the top merely to be able to live in a lifestyle completely unjustified by their qualifications and education. Remember that estate agents, despite the demeanour they convey, are not required to have any qualifications at all. Anyone can stick a sign above their door saying "Estate Agent" and wait for the money to roll in. You don't have to sell many £1M houses to gain a very comfortable lifestyle on the commission from the sale. If you don't believe that, find out where estate agent live and have a look at the property. Have a look at the car(s) they drive as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 It is all due to a totally artificial ruse on the part of estate agents to line their pockets by pushing up prices to the limits people can afford and, not being satisfied with that, pushing over the top merely to be ablThis is not the whole picture. There are greedy bank/building societies in cahouts with them and "egging them on". In addition there is the question of what are the banks "lending"? The answer is they are "lending" something they do not have. They are pretending only to lend money that they have "on deposit", whereas in fact they can, and do, and are permitted by law to lend ten times the amount on deposit (it may even be more these days). So in fact they creating a situation where the housing market (and the entire ecomomy for that matter) could implode.An interesting concept', which was tried a few times and succeeded admirably between the wars, is Social Credit. No, nothing to do with socialism, nor borrowing, but a scheme devised by a Major C H Douglas and the thing that turned Alberta round from a "third world" state to the envy of the rest of Canada.http://pages.globetrotter.net/social_credi...credit-ring.htmhttp://www.socialcredit.com/ http://www.douglassocialcredit.com/ http://www.ucalgary.ca/applied_history/tut...cialcredit.html Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir T Fireball Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 We in this country are pre-programmed to buy our homes. We are very unusual in that aspect compared to the rest of the world. When taking into account other sociological influences on the young of today (and tomorrow) I can see this 'drive' to own our homes falling away and the rental trend taking off big time. Young folk are getting married later in life, have jobs that mean they are working from a different city every other month and commit a huge portion of their incomes in persuit of leisure associated products and activities rather than their 'castle'. I sell more apartments these days to young folk who are buying pureley for investment. They rent their new acquisition out whilst themselves living in rented accommodation. I see the UK becoming more and more like the US, France etc over the coming years.The above scenarios mainly pertain to the affluent South East, but your idea seems to have merit with regards those poor yokels that breed like rabbits and have 10 children by the time they are 25 :P I personally started to save from a very young age for my deposit and managed to put down about 35% on my 1st home. It was a lifestyle choice and one in which I made some sacrifices (less nights out) in favour of being able to buy my 1st home. Prices aside, the young people of this generation need to learn the value of money - as a father of 2 teenagers, I have ample experience of their disregard for it and am well aware that I am in no small part to blame :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 There are greedy bank/building societies in cahouts with them and "egging them on".All creatures from the same dung heap. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir T Fireball Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 It is all due to a totally artificial ruse on the part of estate agents to line their pockets by pushing up prices to the limits people can affordRidiculous slur. When you come to sell your house are you gonna tell the dreaded agent it's not worth £1.5 million, put it on at £900,000 instead? I don't think so :DIf a property isn't worth its price tag it wouldn't sell and the price would have to be adjusted. Market forces always prevail. If an agent is guilty of anything it is getting you to sell through them by giving you an inflated valuation, only to suggest dropping it due to a slow market a few weeks after getting your signature on a contract. Not that I would do anything like that :whistling: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir T Fireball Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 There are greedy bank/building societies in cahouts with them and "egging them on".All creatures from the same dung heap. I do not consider myself as a creature from a dung heap and think anyone who states me as being so an ignorant old fart! B) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted August 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 The above scenarios mainly pertain to the affluent South East, but your idea seems to have merit with regards those poor yokels that breed like rabbits and have 10 children by the time they are 25Spoken like a true Conservataurus Rex. :D No amount of skimping on 'nights out' is going to net today's youngsters the necessary 10% required to own their own roof. Bear in mind also that Prescott has in mind to take advantage of the situation to create a myriad of identical hutches across your green and pleasant land. These future ghettoes could be avoided if youngsters were helped on to the ladder to the existing housing stock. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 I have no intention of selling my house. The only reason I had it valued is because, somehow, a local estate agency somehow found out that my mortgage had ended and offered me a free valuation. I am now being badgered with leaflets and offers to sell my house and relocate me to all sorts of places - and not only that one agency.My mortgage was with my bank so I am still curious as to how an estate agency discovered that I no longer had a mortgage. The knowledge was between me, my bank and the life insurance company - supposedly confidential.Regarding the integrity of estate agents, it is well established that they are, in the main unqualified and "in it for the money". If they're not in it for the money, they are some of the very, very few workers anywhere that do their job out of love for their fellow man. Their bona fides have been the subject of scrutiny by a number of investigators, including television programmes.Regarding me being an ignorant old fart, that epithet is nothing new for me :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
expertec Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 It might, under an eDemocracy.Not that again :rolleyes: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir T Fireball Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 I have no intention of selling my house. I would safely assume you have sold in the past and were at that time only too pleased with every penny you got for your home. Same trough, different pigs?Regarding the integrity of estate agents, it is well established that they are, in the main unqualified and "in it for the money". If they're not in it for the money, they are some of the very, very few workers anywhere that do their job out of love for their fellow man. Their bona fides have been the subject of scrutiny by a number of investigators, including television programmes.As have virtually every trade; plumbers, electricians etc... There are also programmes like Fools and horses & One foot in the grave, both portraying the elderly in a negative, streotypical light. Grandad, Uncle Albert and Victor Meldrew are not typical of their generation anymore than the few scoundrels shown on the types of programme you mention. 70's tv's racist bent when casting black men is also to be accepted as accurate just because it was on tv? How about Dickens version of the Jew in his novels. Read by millions so to be accepted as a true representation? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 I would safely assume you have sold in the past and were at that time only too pleased with every penny you got for your home.Yes but then I could afford that prices asked. It would be impossible for me to have bought the property on the salary that I retired on, even if I was working in the same position for the next however many years of a mortgage.Regarding Victor Meldrew, many people have drawn the same comparison but he and the others you quote are supposed to be fictional. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 Regarding the integrity of estate agents, it is well established that they are, in the main unqualified and "in it for the money".I would be rather interested to know the justification for charging on a percentage basis for handling property when the amount of work done is the same in all cases, except where brochures etc are prepared, for which the client pays separately, along with advertising costs. Surely there can be only one reason for this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir T Fireball Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 The more expensive the property, the more work required to sell it - finding a buyer etc...edit: sorry for my part in taking this off topic, but I resent being called a dung dweller because of my job. There are plenty of other 'genuine' reasons to call me one though :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 The more expensive the property, the more work required to sell it - finding a buyer etc.That is absolute and utter nonsense, and you must know it. Estate agents do not go round "finding a buyer". They wait until one walks through the door in answer to the adverts that the vendor is paying for. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir T Fireball Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 You clearly know little or nothing about the estate ageny business :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catgate Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 You clearly know little or nothing about the estate ageny business I must admit that I have never had experience of working within the business, although I have dealt with them. Generally speaking their main use is as a clearing house for advert. Additionally one of my brothers-in-law was, before he made his millions and retired, one of the largest property developers in the North Yorkshire. My other brother-in-law was a big builder and my wife used to be secretary to a solicitor who specialised in conveyancing. Many's the tale I've heard.edited spelling Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andsome Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 I'm keeping out of this one, I have VERY strong views Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moon Posted August 9, 2004 Author Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 I'm just trying to help first time buyers, not pillory estate agents. If you want to pillory somebody, try opticians- £100+ quid for two bits of glass and three bits of wire. Compare that to a motherboard and then tell me that opticians ain't thieving rear orifices. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sir T Fireball Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 my wife used to be secretary to a solicitor who specialised in conveyancing. Many's the tale I've heard. Me too :rolleyes: They're a bunch of swine them solicitors. :P :lol: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
artist Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 I'm just trying to help first time buyers, not pillory estate agents. If you want to pillory somebody, try opticians- £100+ quid for two bits of glass and three bits of wire. Compare that to a motherboard and then tell me that opticians ain't thieving rear orifices.Yep! Down with opticians! :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Besty Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 How the hell am I or any kid nowadays gonna be able to buy a house in about 6-7 yrs time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pwp Posted August 9, 2004 Report Share Posted August 9, 2004 employers are to blame as they languish in there mill and a half houses and begrudge their employees the wages to house themselves. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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