to think taking about how much you've "made" from your property is vulgar and rude

[brt100]

Firstly you haven't made anything unless you move and secondly this money isn't magiced out of thin air - people below the chain have to pay for it by working longer,having 35 year mortgages and having less of a life while they pay it back.

Also its really inconsiderate braging in front of people that cant afford to buy!

I think it was ghandi that said there is no greater evil than money earnt without work

Rant over, just had a friend round and I'm still fuming. Its bad enough at dinners

'Call my agent to have a chat to make sure I won't be over capitalising'
'being a home owner is hard work'

Ye Gads. OP, you really are beating your head against a brick wall.

YANBU. That kind of thing would result in serious side-eye from me.

personally I would not call an estate agent for advice on anything. they are a salesperson (with sales targets and incentives) not an advisor representing your best interests!

i agree with the general sentiment of being aware of changes in the housing market though!

The person who says their house is their retirement policy. Where do you plan to live once you sold it. The rising house market only benefits those with more than one house and those who gain when someone dies. Anyone who owns more than one house has greedy stolen a family house from the market. I rent and until the houses, flat prices level will continue to do so. For those saying houses always rise. I was talking to my uncle and he lived in London in the 1980s where a lot of people lost a lot of money. There are signs in the London market at the moment that we might be on the edge of a down world spiral and Today the Bank of England is talking about putting the interest rate up. Estate agents are in the business of selling and will always talk up the market. Other factors like the availability of mortgages to wages and how many people need flats and houses in the given area. It's going to be an interesting year for the housing market. I know loads of people stuck in flats they can't sell as they can't afford to move to next level and loads like me who can't even think about it.

Charity girl, I'm happy for you that your life is easy, however mine is not, and for many people, myself included, being a home owner has taken decades of hard work, time and financial commitment and anxiety. I have rented in the past, that was far far easier, but I have chosen to work hard to be a home owner instead, to benefit my family. It certainly isn't the easy option.

Personally i ve seen the bragging and the BIG fall because i come from Spain and my dh from Cyprus so we spend time in those two countries. People who few years ago were talking like OPs friend now have their electricity cut and visit food banks to eat. It is better not to talk much because you dont know what is around the corner. Especially if you dont have the money in your hands. Rightmove and Zoopla might say that your house gone up but unless you have the actual money inyour hands you havent 'make' anything.

I agree, OP - I think shelter is a basic human need, not something to make money from. I disagree with second homes, landlordism, and property 'investment' for that reason. But then I am an old leftie!

Buying a house is a gamble., some times it pays off and you can make thousands. Some time you can loose thousands.

I think the only time anyone can brag about making money, is if they brought a house that was falling apart and then turned it in a fictional home them selves using the minimal of trade people.

I don't see it as a problem. They've worked for it in the mortgage they've paid and deposit they've put down. It would be a bit like berating someone who's bought an antique vase and sold it on a few years later at a profit

And this is with having a note slapped on my car last week by my neighbours openly condemning me because I rent!

AEI maybe you were lucky and had good experiences with renting? And maybe -like me- you didnt have dcs when renting? That makes big difference imo.
It is not a competition, housing is hard wether you own or you rent. There are different pluses in each situation but personally i think that renting is harder.

Well I have a property that I rent out which is going to be for my pension. Let's face it, I'm not going to get anything from the government so I have had to do something else. I am not greedy and I am not stealing a property from another family - what a ludicous idea. The property is mortgaged, I am a decent LL and I know that the rent money will give me an income when I retire.

Betty you have stolen a property as you have removed from the market a house or flat that someone could have bought and lived in and be involved in the community. By becomming a buy to let landlord you have increased the price of the property in your area as you choose to to live in it so it artificially increasing the prices. However dont worry everyone is doing it so it's ok. I don't think you ever see it my way so we agree to disagree. I rent and am very active in the community as i work for the nhs with a lot of patients who can't leave their house. For example I was mending my car outside my flat yesterday and the wife of a patient stopped and talked to me for 30 mins re her concerns. I'm not saying someone who rents isn't as involved in the community but owning your houses ties you to the community. However in the near future I will have to leave london as are a lot of people. The house prices beginning the main reason. I won't tell you about the second homes in my mils village that are left empty most of the time making the school and shop in that village hard to run. (Coming off my shoe box now) x

Not live in it rather than live in it. Sorry Betty just enjoying this discussion. There is mummblings in government (ant excuse re tax) about taxing people who own more than be property. Dh and myself have said that if we ever had the extra money we wouldn't buy an extra house to rent out as we view it as morally wrong. (Thrown down another glove and waits for response and climbs back on shoe box as really doesn't want to start cleaning rented toilet yet and preferring this entertainment )

Well in all fairness I think stolen is a bit strong. My FIL (a builder) bought the the property to refurb many years ago, then my BIL and his family lived in it (unrefurned) whilst he built himself a new house, and then DH and me bought the property off them and DH refurbed it. I then bought DH out so he could buy the property that we live in now.

If in years to come and anything happens to DH and I (doubtful but you never know) then I have somewhere to go which I think is a good thing as I hate being dependent on anyone. If nothing goes tits up then it's my pension and also my DS will benefit in years to come.

So, if looking out for my financial security, stabiity and DS's future is morally wrong then I am happy to be guilty as charged.

No need for aplogies, I like a nice debate as long as it stays nice :)

I know Betty there not enough nice discussions in the world. My uncle has been known to start a discussion and mid discussion support the other view. Really throws people but makes you think about someone else's view point. Thinks back to those days at uni when debate was all the rage. (Completely goes off topic).

Nope and especially not on the net - people get all brave behind their screens.

Still, always good to hear other points of view even if you don't agree with them.

BTL is a curse on society, but you can't blame the BTLers, blame the government for not taxing them enough.

BTL income is taxable same as any other uk income.

Not sure I'd class it as vulgar and rude but just a bit boring.

I had dinner at my friends house last year after her and her DH got married, 2 other couples we there who had also recently got married and all three just happened to have their wedding photos with them. I think at one point my eyes started to bleed from the sheer tedium of it all. I would liken the house price conversation to that.

and here's my 10p worth... I bought a wreck house 8 months ago at auction and since then have spent every spare minute and penny on it. Literally blood sweat and tears, it's going to take about 5 years before it's going to be finished and every couple of weeks something else will break or fall off a wall or the electrics will blow again and I cry and swear and go on to rightmove looking at new builds. but I bought it to live in it and when I looked round it before bidding, it was filthy, stinky, falling apart but I loved it and when it's done I'm going to have the most beautiful house to live in, beyond my wildest dreams and budget (I keep telling myself as I quietly sob and rock backwards and forwards next to the latest damp patch).

That said, if I want to start a family it's not going to be big enough and the increase in house prices is very worrying. Accoriding to zoopla (not accurate I know but an indication) my house has gone up 7 percent from the auction price but so has any house that I might want to move to and 7 percent of a 200k house is more than 7percent of my 140k house making moving the the next house seem as unattainable as buying in the first place. any value I do add from making all the improvements are only going to go towards bridging the gap of the rise in house prices meaning that if they continue to rise I can afford less than I would have done had they stayed the same or even dropped. If that makes sense.

but my hypothetical future kids can sleep in boxes in the living room of my beautiful house right? they don't need bedrooms?

Why on earth is this making you so angry?

Because you can't buy? Because you're poor and other people shouldn't be better off?

They're home owners - not criminals!. It's not a money laundering enterprise.

Chill out ffs.

"BTL income is taxable same as any other uk income."

No it isn't. My income from my employment is taxed at source, and it's very difficult to claim deductions for expenses. BTL income is taxed only if you declare it, which many don't, and then there are lots of deductions you can claim.

It might be taxable in roughly the same way as say a business selling crap on ebay, but at least the ebay business is providing a useful service, and doesn't reduce the supply of homes to people who actually give a shit about the future of their area and aren't going to move on in six months.

Anyone who calls an estate agent around when not planning to sell, and then tells others about it, unprompted, is a cunt.

Quite simple really.

I sometimes mention that we bought our house for relatively little money. That is because I am embarrassed by people's assumption that we are rich because we have a (currently) valuable house. It didn't occur to me that this would sound like bragging; I mean it to be self deprecating (ie "there's no way we could afford to buy this house today: we just happened to buy at a lucky moment").