Property prices discussion with friend

[Feelingawkwarddd]

Chatting to a friend the other day, both in our late 20s. They live in a flat owned by parents so assume don't pay rent (relevant) - I pay rent and have since 18.

I stupidly mentioned, in numbers, that I had offered x on a house but it had gone for 50k more than asking which was just mad: we were talking about house prices and when they would drop. Friend and I both lucky to have good salaries but the asking price of the house was far above our salary - i have a very good deposit from parents (equiv to value of SE property) which I am beyond grateful for.

Friend obviously asked how I was getting a mortgage for that amount and i immediately regretted stating figures - gave them the name of some banks then vaguely/briefly explained that my parents had a rental property which they would be trying to sell in order to help, but kept things vague.

I try never to talk about money and am annoyed at myself for slipping up!! It never makes things better and just causes resentment (I know people who are very much more well off than me and the opposite, and it just doesnt make things better)

Can anyone advise how I should handle this next time/whether I really f'd it up?

Number 1 don’t assume that just because a flat is owned by parents that your friend doesn’t pay rent. Just keep things vague and in future try not to mention numbers if it makes you uncomfortable - I’m not sure what you think you have messed up, it doesn’t sound like you said anything wrong to me.

My good friends and I (also late 20s) always talk figures. It's never caused a problem. I know exactly how much most friends have received as deposits from parents, who does live rent free etc etc. It means we can swap strategies for investments/student loans/house negotiations/pension plans. It also means we don't have to try and omit information when chatting which tbh sounds tiring and stressful. I care about financial stability and giving my family a good life, as do most people, and my friends wouldn't be able to support me through stressful times in my life if they didn't know what was stressing me out (e.g. Buying a second home or getting another dog or paying down my student loan...)

You can be assured that if you had bought the house anyone that wanted to know would look up exactly what you paid. House prices are not private. By talking about it you simply aired what would be known. I’d not worry.

That's so true @Bugaboob - when we bought our last house, a friend slightly weirded me out by complimenting how nice our new front door was - she had never visited - but she'd looked up the house on somewhere like Zoopla and found the old listing!

@Dinosauraddict our new neighbour helpfully analysed what we had paid compared to everyone else on the street

People are very interested in comparing themselves to others.