About 17 years sooner than expected...

I vaguely remember a quote from years ago to the effect that the more stuff
you own that you don't actually need/use, the more you have to worry about.

 

Heh, good point and well made

The property price crash is not really affecting me that much, my house
is still the same house I bought in 1991, and is still worth more than
I paid for it. It's somewhere to live, it's value is not really that
important to me at the moment.

However, we are currently trying to sell a property [1] in
Buckinghamshire for a fairly reasonable sum (hopefully), so from that
point of view the house price crash may turn out to be a bit of an arse
ache.

[1] Run down old pile in a third of an acre, so not the easiest of
places to move on even in a buoyant market.

--
Dan L

Too much time to think, too little to do.


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Yeah, that and you don't have a fucking girlfriend! ;-)

 

True but I have a (bloody expensive) bf. Just as well he can support
his own shopping habit.

And I've just returned from 2 weeks in PC's favourite place, Hong Kong.

 

Well, yes, eat out; there's a lot to see if you just like looking at
stuff; the harbour can be viewed from a platform near the top of the
peak tram, which itself has turned into a tourist attraction with
queues to get on at the bottom. It wasn't when I lived there. Near the
top there's a famous (apparently, I've seen it but haven't ben inside)
restaraunt from the colonial days. There's also a footpath/road that
runs a few miles all the way round Victoria Peak, which has excellent
views over the harbour.

I don't know if any of the more traditional villages survive (or the
slightly less traditional shanty towns, for that matter). Lantau
Island has hills, mountain fog, monasteries and the Giant Buddha if
you like doing the touristy thing again.

The traditional sampans & fishing junks seem to have disappeared.

Kowloon itself is a fairly hectic high-rise city; Victoria (across the
Star Ferry) is slightly nicer.

If wandering round taking in the sights isn't so much your thing then
I'm sure there's loads of nightlife, but it's really not my area so I
can't comment.

Of course, for the discerning tourist there's also a block of flats on
Conduit Road where I lived a few years as a child. Oddly, there's no
plaque.

 

tell me more

offlist if you want

 

I was being slightly facetious (imagine!).

What I meant was - if the housing crash got so bad that your house was
worth -£10, then you'd be in negative equity, even tho you owed
nothing on it.

 

Same here. Out of all the cities/territories in the world, HK has always
been my favourite place. I would love to go back there sometime.

I know the estate I lived on, is still there (as I see it in google earth)
but the surrounding camps have gone and I think (google earth images aren't
that detailed or precise) the regimental badges on the hills.

Well worth doing. In summer, there are some excellent bathing/diving/etc
spots on those islands.

I know what you mean. Even though it's been over 20 years since I lived
there, I still remember the place, as clear as day.

 

In communiqué <1ipom3l.dvvasu10jzp1tN%>,

The same for us on the main pile. The 'chateau' was cash. Seeing as
SWMBO's last surviving aunt recently popping her clogs in Belfast
resulted in a surprising but welcome letter from a solicitor, we will be
considering wiping the slate clear.
--
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| Pete Fisher at Home: |
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| Gilera GFR * 2 Moto Morini 2C/375 Morini 350 "Forgotten Error" |
+----------------------------------------------------------------+

 

These are my thoughts also. I'm dead happy here, but Laura says she
wants somewhere bigger in the next 5 years. I told her to FRO...

We bought in June last year, and the house was undersold by a not
insubstantial amount. We've done some modernising and completely
redecorated it so hopefully the value will have some way to fall
before we hit negative equity.

It's also very nice that we both work in non 'recession risk'
industries - state education and the railway...

 

*Look at shoes*

Ahem...

 

Dunno. Never had a mortgage. Always paid cash. That's probably
my less-than-privileged upbringing...

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GSX600F, RG250WD "You Porsche. Me pass!" DoD #484 JKLO#003, 005
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KotPT -- "for stupidity above and beyond the call of duty".

 

I could do that on what I originally paid for this place (£30k)

might struggle with current house prices

 

I'm just waiting to see how low they go. Between the price drops and my
recent job change it might be possible again

 

heh.

"The sort of chap who had to buy his own furniture"

 

Jammy sod, I'll be working all but Xmas day.

Mind you, the parents are still having nothing to do with me; I just had
to amuse myself when he went for a meal with them... HK$2 for a tram
ride though?!?

 

It was my first time there and I loved it. I was lucky to have the
benefit of a former resident to show me round but it's a fascinating
place.

As Paul says, fantastic, cheap food (memorable was a Vietnamese in
Central which worked out at just over £15 for 2 of us) and the sights.
We did most of the tourist stuff but did visit New Territories (where
The Boy's parents are from) and got a bus cross country there which I
enjoyed immensely.

We're likely to be going back in 2009 or 10 at least as I now have HK$85
(about £8) on my newly gained Octopus to use.

 

See, this I don't quite understand.

For several years down here, rental prices have been roughly equivalent
(at worst) to an interest-only mortgage, and that's ignoring sundry
costs like buildings insurance, stamp duty and conveyancing. I did some
rough sums a couple of years back and even then the break-even point
for buying rather than renting was 5-10 years.

If you weren't planning to make money on it, why buy?

 

Must have been a sign of the times and attitudes - when I first
married in 1982 it was considered perfectly normal, or in fact pretty
much essential, that one would get a mortgage for 90+% of the house
price. How else was one to find a home?

What a strange expression. Never heard it before, and I really
couldn't work out what it meant until I googled a bit and saw some
quotes.

Obviously means I'm in that camp too, although TBF we've recently
acquired some stuff from J's parents' house, given that they've
downsized a bit.
--
_______
..'_/_|_\_'. Ace (b.rogers at ifrance.com)
\`\ | /`/
`\\ | //' BOTAFOT#3, SbS#2, UKRMMA#13, DFV#8, SKA#2, IBB#10
`\|/`
`

 

Because we were in a first floor flat and knew we wanted to start the
family. So a move to a house of equivalent value (which means 2
bedroom) for about 4 years meant we could start the family in a more
family-friendly property.

Plan was for salary to increase a tab over the 4 years, plus gain a
little bit of equity in the house and then move to something with 4
bedrooms that we'll stay in for 10-15 years at least.

So far it's working out ok even with the lowering of the market,
because although mine has lost a little (about 10 grand plus a spend
on it of 10 grand) the ones we're looking at have lost a lot. Like
50-75k.