So far, I quite like this recession...

[TimberWolf]

Anyone wanting to move up the property ladder is better off with falling house prices. E.g. if you had a house worth 100K, which is now worth 50K, the 200K house you wanted, is now only worth 100K. So you'll save 50K. Boomed.

[d000hg]

Anyone wanting to move up the property ladder is better off with falling house prices. E.g. if you had a house worth 100K, which is now worth 50K, the 200K house you wanted, is now only worth 100K. So you'll save 50K. Boomed.

Indeed. Those in crazy-priced inner-city apartments may lose more in value than my house cost me to start with

[Turion]

- It was only worth £70K when we bought it
- No stocks or pension to worry about
- Not on the bench
- Prospect of work already
- Wife not bothered about being well off

Someone sounds a bit bitter...

£70k and you still need a mortgage . You need to upskill my man and a bit of bench time can do wonders for that. It worked wonders for me during my 6 months out in the 2002-2003 downturn. Learnt SAP and tripled my previous rate. My other half also left, but that was good as I've got a new one now.

No, I'm not bitter. I've got lucrative euro based projects lined up for next year and my house was bought with cash (more Euro's). In the last year relative to the £ it's up 20%.

[AtW]

No, I'm not bitter. I've got lucrative euro based projects lined up for next year and my house was bought with cash (more Euro's). In the last year relative to the £ it's up 20%.

That's fair, good, non-speculative profits that are to be encouraged - it's exporting too that helps UK balance of payments, well done chap.

[Turion]

Anyone wanting to move up the property ladder is better off with falling house prices. E.g. if you had a house worth 100K, which is now worth 50K, the 200K house you wanted, is now only worth 100K. So you'll save 50K. Boomed.

D000hg has a £70k house. That's surely the bottom rung. He has no choice. The only way is up. (If he can get a mortgage)

[AtW]

D000hg has a £70k house.

He could have bought it 10 years ago when prices were sensible. I think it was about the average house (outside London) price back then.

[Platypus]

Not it isn't. YOU might only be losing money if the value sinks below what you paid (and then you sell it), but the house loses value whatever the state of your personal finances !

Loses Value?

You mean reverts back to the price it should have been before the bubble?

[d000hg]

D000hg has a £70k house. That's surely the bottom rung. He has no choice. The only way is up. (If he can get a mortgage)

Trust me, £70 was not the bottom rung. It's a 4-bedroom semi-detached with front+back garden. In a cheap area but not the cheapest, a friend bought one similar for closer to £50k elsewhere, and we saw several 2-3 bed houses for £50k or less.

This was in 2005.

[AtW]

This was in 2005.

Did you buy it in Baghdad?

[d000hg]

£70k and you still need a mortgage . You need to upskill my man

Not been contracting long enough to have a massive pile of money to pay it off. But at £200/month, hardly worth it... it also means I don't need huge savings if I end on the bench. We're still living a relatively frugal lifestyle, would just have to stop going to restaurants as much and probably £100-125/day could sustain us both.