I'm Sick Of This Middle-Class Bullcrap - This Isn't Freedom.

a few pics appropriate for this thread come to mind

 

"It's not a rat race, it's a human race and a big disgrace"

I think that's from a song of Prince Far I (edit: and a reference to Bob Marley's song Rat race of course )

 

The UK is the place for making money on property - provided you have a bundle to invest in the first place. In London we have a situation where wealthy Chinese, Russians and Arabs buy up loads of the high class houses, thus pushing the whole housing market up, esp in London. A lot of places are simply left empty. They never intend to live there, only the land on which the houses are built is a long term investment for these folks, whom I characterize as parasites.

The reason for my hostility is that whilst it may benefit investors, it prices ordinary people out of the housing market, once again, esp in London.Many people in their 30's with good jobs still live with mum and dad as a result.
Also, the income generated by house price rises adds nothing to Britain's GDP. So it also distorts the whole economy. House price inflation is way above the general quoted inflation rate (that's a statistic that is so worked up as to be meaningless BTW).

Should the bubble burst, as it surely must one day, financial carnage on a big scale will ensue, as a lot of people are going to be stuck with negative equity. A re-run of 2007 -08 when house repossessions went through the ceiling, or maybe worse still.

 

yah, because pretty much everyone who would have been middle class before trickle down trickled down all over the place, are one.

it is good, the more people figure out that what anyone has or doesn't have is just a convenience or in convenience for them, and doesn't say a damd thing about them.
because while some things can maybe still be earned, more has to do with things that have little or nothing to do with themselves.
of course, this is because of the kind of culture we create statistically all of us together
and when you have a culture of fanatacism and inconsiderateness, this is the kind of condition that creates.

people who think as long as they can get for themselves they're ok, its really not, its really screwing themselves,
because this is the kind of situation that creates.

this and failing infrastructure and turning wilderness into instant suburban slums.

 

Unfortunately, their unwillingness to rent the properties out drives up market prices even further.

 

These tend to be top end of the market properties that are snapped up by foreign investors, in the highest cost parts of London. House prices (and all prices) in London are higher than the rest of the UK anyway.

There's also a booming rentier class emerging though over the last few years. People buy a property on a mortgage and rent out above the repayment rate.

Recently, an ex council flat (ie social housing provided at a cheap rent by the local authority, later sold onto tennats) sold in London for 1.2 million. The owners paid 130,000 for the property in 1990. Not a bad return...for them, but bad news for someone wanting to live and work at anything but a very high salary job in the city.

http://www.theguardian.com/money/2015/aug/13/ex-council-flat-in-central-london-sold-for-record-12m

 

middle class is classless when compared to upper

grace can find purchase on a head of a pin/pen

 

I was going to suggest that you could sell the house and live in an apartment. But you might not like it all that well. I have an apartment, and I spend all my time outside of it. Most of the time I'm over at my parents using the internet.

 

In the US, if you absolutely must invest in real estate for profit, vacation and retirement properties are where the money is. Warm weather destinations.

Like VG said, there are simpler ways to make money from money. Stocks and mutual funds require no physical maintenance. Mutual funds can't spill red wine on your carpet.

Upper middle is a good compromise. You don't have to sell your soul to Satan to get there. You just have to be very good at something that people will pay for.

A recent survey showed that self-reported quality of life doesn't increase beyond $70k per year income. I totally believe that.

 

I'm a bit of a workaholic, in the same mindset as you, OP. I feel like if I work hard now, it will pay off in the future, and it already has. Although I'm not in a rush to buy a home or have the newest or the best of anything. I'm a minimalist, don't try to "keep up" with anyone. I'm working a high skill job I really enjoy, try to throw money at any debt I have incurred, and focus on things I like to do in the meantime. There is a certain freedom to being lower class, though. You don't have as much to lose, less things you've invested in, less responsibility. There is something to be said for not having a house,children, debts...

One thing I have noticed--most people are pretty bad with money, even if they think they are smart with it. That's a big deal.

 

It blows my mind that they can allow themselves to buy such expensive properties and afford to not rent them out. This means that they are either paying them cash, or that they make so much money elsewhere that they can just drop several million and be too impacted by it... like how the hell can you have THAT much money?

I'm way too loud to live in an apartment, and I have a big dog

That's fair. I guess alot of this has to do with the fact that I've been working crazy hard and sacrifice everything for so long and haven't started seeing any of the benefits yet. Maybe in a year or two I'll be saying it was all worth it, maybe I'll be bankrupt and wish I had never done it. Either way, I'm in too deep to back out now, so I just gotta finish this and then make decisions...

 

I never did make middle class....


Actually, never even came close.

 

Hmmm, i bet thats a bunch of BS as well. What are council rates, strata fees in London? Same Same, returns wouldn't be anywhere near where you think they are.

As for cashed up chinese especially buying, not even renting, thats about jumping a sinking shop, stick it anywhere stable before the yuan dives even more.

China is going through what it is now becuase some got rich too quickly and no one spent enough on building up the rest of the population

 

I'm not sure how not liking the choices you've made (either in terms of career or the house that you've bought) implies that you didn't make them freely.

 

Russian oligarchs, Chinese business people (China has an enormous amount of corruption and a large portion of their GDP is stolen every year), oil rich Arabs etc. All these people have obscene amounts of cash or other liquid assets.

 

I like to spend extra money on travel and other fun / educational experiences. It's easy to cut back when you need to, and you get to keep the memories and pics.

 

And good old fashioned criminals

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/london-property-boom-built-on-dirty-money-10083527.html

That page is slow to load, but here's the general picture

 

I thought that too but hey, if I can do it! It all depends on the exact situation (apartment, neighbours). I'm a loud neighbour, I like music but never use headphones. I have a big dog too (german shepherd) but he lives at my parents house in the countryside

Well, not by default at least. But I can see how that can be the case.

 

OK - Council tax (ie rates) in Covent Garden where the property is, charged in 2015 at £461 per month on a flat of that size. £5,532 a year. (but less actually, as council tax has gone up considerably over 25 years).

Do the calculations and you see quite a handsome profit has been made.

 

Fuck me, thats almost AUD $12000 a year on rates, I though Sydney was bullshit

Still with the example you gave, a flat brought in 1990 and sold 25 years later for 1.2 million. The same original amount 130,000 put into something that compounds at 10% a year would be 1.4 million the same time frame

And that something wouldnt cost you those extraordinary council rates for starters

Yes factor in everything and yes, they may have been up to 1/2 million better off not buying the flat and putting in in the right managed fund