Mortgage Advice

[Moss]

I managed to nail down a 3.4% 5 year fixed rate just before the shit show kicked off. Feel really sorry for people who have maxed out on mortgages - who effectively  had no choice but todo so  as house prices are so artificially inflated.

I expect house prices to drop significantly which can only be a good thing for a sustainable country. Our society is fucked due to house prices and public sector workers not being able to afford to live in cities, and maybe this will help in the long term. 

[Moss]

Exactly that and also remember paying 14.5% interest rate in the early 90's and working seven days a week.

Did you live in a fucking shoe box as well 

[Nemo]

In the early 90s, the average house cost around 3x the average earnings. Now it's about 7x across the country, rising to 11x in London. So the interest rate you're remembering paying was on less than half the total borrowing. It was also a national catastrophe.

I don't know, I try not to bite on here, but LL, I just... wish you weren't quite so unpleasant all the time for no reason.

[Bedford Red]

I'm very grateful i fixed at the start of the year at 2.24% with Lloyds until April 2027, so i have some breathing space until then, and hopefully things will be more settled come that time.

[Legends-Lounge]

Did you live in a fucking shoe box as well 

Probably, we all did when we started our journey into homeownership.

[Legends-Lounge]

I managed to nail down a 3.4% 5 year fixed rate just before the shit show kicked off. Feel really sorry for people who have maxed out on mortgages - who effectively  had no choice but todo so  as house prices are so artificially inflated.

I expect house prices to drop significantly which can only be a good thing for a sustainable country. Our society is fucked due to house prices and public sector workers not being able to afford to live in cities, and maybe this will help in the long term. 

Stop whinging about public sector workers. That is all we non government paid workers ever hear about. NHS this, council workers that. Fucking sick to death of it. Millions more pay for them and don’t get a fucking sniff of a mention. We’re all important in the grand scheme of society. My eldest couldn’t afford to work in London after graduating and spending three years fighting a tide of expense until he saw sense and came back to Swindon. Earning slightly less but significantly better off.

[Posh Red]

In the early 90s, the average house cost around 3x the average earnings. Now it's about 7x across the country, rising to 11x in London. So the interest rate you're remembering paying was on less than half the total borrowing. It was also a national catastrophe.

I don't know, I try not to bite on here, but LL, I just... wish you weren't quite so unpleasant all the time for no reason.

You could argue that the massive house prices we now have, in part, been driven by the really low interest rates we’ve had for years now. If people couldn’t afford to borrow so much then houses wouldn’t sell for so much.

My son is 26 and is just about to buy his first house, which is about 4x as much as we paid for our first house in 1988, however his salary is about 4x what mine was then.  The main difference is that he has to come up with a massive deposit to do so, whereas we got a near 100% mortgage.

[Moss]

Stop whinging about public sector workers. That is all we non government paid workers ever hear about. NHS this, council workers that. Fucking sick to death of it. Millions more pay for them and don’t get a fucking sniff of a mention. We’re all important in the grand scheme of society. My eldest couldn’t afford to work in London after graduating and spending three years fighting a tide of expense until he saw sense and came back to Swindon. Earning slightly less but significantly better off.

I hope you remember that when you are lying in your own filth waiting for a care worker to turn up - what an odious cunt you are.

[Abrahammer]

Didn’t know LL had kids, should have mentioned it before

Stop whinging about public sector workers. That is all we non government paid workers ever hear about.

Maybe you should listen to their legitimate concerns then?

Public sector workers are clearly underpaid. As Moss said, one day you might need them more than you realise now.

Oh and you have kids, we get it

[Batch]

LL is right.

Everyone loves the jeopardy in seeing if a 999 call ambulance will be a single or double digit hours wait.

The issue is of course funding and the wind down of services over the last decade or so. The workers work hard in the front line.
 
Wages are part of that. Pay people too little and they'll take the advice "to stop whining and get a better job".

In general I don't mind paying more to get more if I'm able to do so. But these are extraordinary times with energy, inflation and interest rates . Even the middle are getting squeezed.

[Posh Red]

Stop whinging about public sector workers. That is all we non government paid workers ever hear about. NHS this, council workers that. Fucking sick to death of it. Millions more pay for them and don’t get a fucking sniff of a mention. We’re all important in the grand scheme of society. My eldest couldn’t afford to work in London after graduating and spending three years fighting a tide of expense until he saw sense and came back to Swindon. Earning slightly less but significantly better off.

Trying to work out if you are a troll or a fucking idiot

[4D]

Average pay for public sector workers is 12% higher than the private sector, according to this......

https://commonslibrary.parliament.uk/research-briefings/cbp-8037/

[Bob's Orange]

Some really interesting replies! Many thanks to those that provided really useful information, has definitely given food for thought. 

[The Artist Formerly Known as Audrey]

I’m definitely going to rent when we move back.

Wait for the crash and then buy.

I know it’s shit for millions but for a handful it’s actually going our way for once.

[4D]

Except you will be hit with high rent costs and no equity.