A risk too far?

[MSG]

Thought this was a VW California site…….not money saving expert!

 

[Velma's Dad]

Thought this was a VW California site…….not money saving expert!

Maybe you could take your snarky posts there then. Or do you have anything useful to contribute here, on the topic the OP has started and quite a few regular forum users have found interesting enough to respond to?

 

[MSG]

Maybe you could take your snarky posts there then. Or do you have anything useful to contribute here, on the topic the OP has started and quite a few regular forum users have found interesting enough to respond to?

Perhaps I should ask Martin Lewis what he thinks of the colour of my California on his website - I’m sure he’ll think that’s the right place to discuss it!

 

[DrewVW]

Perhaps I should ask Martin Lewis what he thinks of the colour of my California on his website - I’m sure he’ll think that’s the right place to discuss it!

I think that's a good idea.

 

[WelshGas]

Perhaps I should ask Martin Lewis what he thinks of the colour of my California on his website - I’m sure he’ll think that’s the right place to discuss it!

I think that's a good idea.

I think the hint is in the title of this Forum Section " General Chit Chat".
Specsavers have got some good deals on.

I'm sure if Martin Lewis has a Forum section entitled "General Chit Chat" he would be more than happy to discuss the colour of your California.

 

[Wesel]

Maybe you could take your snarky posts there then. Or do you have anything useful to contribute here, on the topic the OP has started and quite a few regular forum users have found interesting enough to respond to?

Why be so aggressive with a new member, who is only at his second post and who thinks he have found a forum about California?

 

[Velma's Dad]

Why be so aggressive with a new member, who is only at his second post and who thinks he have found a forum about California?

I don't think my response was aggressive. When I join a new 'club' I am inclined to find ways to contribute positively to the discourse, rather than start out (as my first-ever post actually) by criticising the choices the existing members have made about what they want to talk about. The bulk of threads on the forum are about VW Californias and using them. This thread on the other hand was from the start about a "general chit-chat" topic and those sorts of discussions have always been accepted, and actively participated in, by many of the forum membership. People who only want to read threads about technical matters are perfectly able to do just that, without posting sarcastic comments elsewhere.

 

[Auberg-ine]

I feel a Groucho Marx quote bubbling up here...
Just a side remark: on my very first question here on the forum I got a quite blunt response from a moderator (who seems no longer around?). But then again, it just made me stronger ;-)

But to stick to the original real estate subject:
Fact: as a self-employed I have to take care of my own retirement funding.
One of my plans: when I was looking to get a Cali I had the idea to buy different small left-over snippets of land with (or to put) small countryside sheds on them, well integrated into the environment and with a view, and have the Auberg-ine as a service plug-in (bed-kitchen-fridge-shower). The usage of the land I would offer for free to a local eco-farmer who could use a part of the shed, and who would keep an eye on it in return. Since I don't like campings, it seemed a nice combination of supporting small scale sustainable agriculture, avoiding the risk that police chased me in the middle of the night from a nice spot, have a veggie garden without the maintenance effort, and have something to live my 'quatro stagione' retirement dream, as far as possible from the nursing home.
In the meantime I got me a boat, which already fills the 'estate' season. Beside the retirement base that I built in Spain some 15 years ago (for autunno and primavera), and the house near Brussels (for l'inverno/the kid) I am still looking for this kind of shed to rest my horse between the different destinations, somewhere in the middle of France.
All this I see very modest, back to basics, and with the outermost respect for the local integration.
Till they bring on the rollator....

 

[AlisonF]

As an aside to those who were unhappy with this thread - if you click on the thread title you have the option to ‘ignore thread’.
And if people wish to ignore the whole ‘general chit chat’ forum then, click on it and select ‘ignore forum’.
Works for all threads and forums folders.

 

[Velma's Dad]

I feel a Groucho Marx quote bubbling up here...
Just a side remark: my very first question here on the forum I got a quite blunt response from a moderator (who seems no longer around here?). But then again, it just made me stronger ;-)

But to stick to the original real estate subject:
Fact: as a self-employed I have to take care of my own retirement funding.
One of my plans: when I was looking to get a Cali I had the idea to buy different small left-over snippets of land with (or to put) small countryside sheds on them, well integrated into the environment and with a view, and have the Auberg-ine as a service plug-in (bed-kitchen-fridge-shower). The usage of the land I would offer for free to a local small-scale eco-farmer who could use a part of the shed, and who would keep an eye on it in return. Since I don't like campings, it seemed a nice combination of supporting small scale sustainable agriculture, avoiding the risk that police chased me in the middle of the night from a nice spot, have a veggie garden without the maintenance effort, and have something to live my 'quatro stagione' retirement dream, as far as possible from the nursing home.
In the meantime I got me a boat, which already fills the 'estate' season. Beside the retirement 'base' that I built in Spain some 15 years ago (for autunno and primavera), and the house near Brussels (for l'inverno/the kid) I am still looking for this kind of shed to rest my horse between the different destinations, somewhere in the middle of France.
All this I see very modest, back to basics, and with the outermost respect for the local integration.
Till they bring on the rollator....

I am in awe. Your life strategy is clearly as well thought-through as your van interior.

 

[Wesel]

As an aside to those who were unhappy with this thread - if you click on the thread title you have the option to ‘ignore thread’.
And if people wish to ignore the whole ‘general chit chat’ forum then, click on it and select ‘ignore forum’.
Works for all threads and forums folders.

It is not because we do not share an opinion that we must shut up and go away. As much as the OP has the right to express its opinion on various subjects, those who do not agree have the right to express it.
Otherwise it is no longer a forum.
The only obligation is to be polite and not to attack others. This is as true for those who agree as for others.

 

[Velma's Dad]

I never thought a thread about mortgages would get so contentious.

 

[westfalia]

It is not because we do not share an opinion that we must shut up and go away. As much as the OP has the right to express its opinion on various subjects, those who do not agree have the right to express it.
Otherwise it is no longer a forum.
The only obligation is to be polite and not to attack others. This is as true for those who agree as for others.

That's a good point.

 

[Amarillo]

That's a good point.

I think we should also consider the possibility that a first time poster, joining a conversation in the off-topic chat section, expressing a view that off-topic chat is outrageous, has some sort of malintent. Or, perhaps, a sock puppet of a regular poster, also with malintent.

 

[larrylamb]

Thought this was a VW California site…….not money saving expert!

Welcome to the forum.

 

[Wesel]

I think we should also consider the possibility that a first time poster, joining a conversation in the off-topic chat section, expressing a view that off-topic chat is outrageous, has some sort of malintent. Or, perhaps, a sock puppet of a regular poster, also with malintent.

When someone click on "what's new", as many do, he do not look in which section we arrive. It doesn't matter whether it's chit chat or whatever. So there is no express will to get there. You may need to realize that your words may shock some people, and not qualify those who challenge you in this way.

 

[westfalia]

I think we should also consider the possibility that a first time poster, joining a conversation in the off-topic chat section, expressing a view that off-topic chat is outrageous, has some sort of malintent. Or, perhaps, a sock puppet of a regular poster, also with malintent.

Also a valid point.

 

[soulstyledevon]

Well they do say, too much Monosodium Glutamate is bad for you...

 

[larrylamb]

When someone click on "what's new", as many do, he do not look in which section we arrive. It doesn't matter whether it's chit chat or whatever.

It tells you which section it is in straight away in the "what's new" or "recent posts", you don't have to seek it.

 

[westfalia]

I think we should also consider the possibility that a first time poster, joining a conversation in the off-topic chat section, expressing a view that off-topic chat is outrageous, has some sort of malintent. Or, perhaps, a sock puppet of a regular poster, also with malintent.

If a moderators advice is to - ignore a thread - if you
don't like the tone.
Why do we have so many locked ones.

 

[clarinetbcn]

If a moderators advice is to - ignore a thread - if you
don't like the tone.
Why do we have so many locked ones.

Because some people who could choose to ignore a post or thread instead choose to post personal insults or insist on taking the thread off topic. It's a form of exhibitionism, which has to be stopped by moderators.

 

[Amarillo]

When someone click on "what's new", as many do, he do not look in which section we arrive. It doesn't matter whether it's chit chat or whatever. So there is no express will to get there. You may need to realize that your words may shock some people, and not qualify those who challenge you in this way.

Hanlon's razor springs to mind.

Yes- it might just be a newbie expressing a strong opinion on postiquette.

 

[andyinluton]

It would be interesting to look back on this thread in a few years to see how right or wrong the advice was.

Similar topics have been discussed at length in the past & in 2018 Amarillo was one of those stating that property always appreciated and Californias depreciated. This year London property has depreciated and Californias have appreciated.

Seems to me that selling a couple of Buy- to Lets and putting the equity into a fleet of Californias would have given a far better return for the money.

There are uncertain times ahead, when all the furlough payments stop & costs go up there are going to be a lot of people in financial trouble, there could well be a huge property crash, not a problem if you bought your house to live in not as an investment.

Amarillo - I would suggest you need to set yourself up now with a means to buy the property you want, so that you are in a position to move the instant you have to. Ditch the BTLs & turn them into cash in the bank ready, or remortgage them now, so that you don't have to wait for a sale before you can proceed.

 

[Amarillo]

Similar topics have been discussed at length in the past & in 2018 Amarillo was one of those stating that property always appreciated and Californias depreciated. This year London property has depreciated and Californias have appreciated.

I'm not sure I have quite said that: and I have certainly never believed that property always appreciates. But it is certainly right that I have never seen Californias as an appreciating asset.

Flats in SE London have stagnated over the past five years: this is the value appreciation estimate by Zoopla on one of my rental flats.
Over 1 Year - up 0.12%
Over 2 Years - up 1.94%
Over 3 Years - up 0.37%
Over 4 Years - down 1.02%
Over 5 Years - up 0.32%

Fortunately I bought 8 years ago: up 62% (Purchase price / current Zoopla estimate).

The picture for houses is little better, with our home appreciating by a Zoopla estimate of 8.13% over 5 years, but at least that is more or less in line with inflation.

Liquidating and stashing the cash in the bank at ~0.1% is not a sensible option. Liquidating and stashing in equities is possible but too risky over the short term. Staying put and keeping the ~5% gross rental yield using current value estimate; (or ~8% yield on purchase price); (or ~13% yield on purchase equity taking mortgage interest payments into account), is the most sensible option.

If I were to make a prediction it would be this. SE London house prices to continue to stagnate. The mini property boom outside London will end once the stamp duty holiday comes to an end and fall slightly over a number of years.

 

[Velma's Dad]

Fortunately I bought 8 years ago: up 62% (Purchase price / current Zoopla estimate).

I generally find it useful to look at real rather than nominal returns, ie after inflation, which was about 24% over the past eight years. But still that would be a real capital appreciation return of about 4% per year.

That of course also reinforces your point about holding cash, which actually has a negative real return at the moment and that's not looking likely to change very soon.

In my view, predicting short term (ie up to three year) returns for any asset class is crystal ball gazing. But long term returns histories on the other hand are a very good guide. Over the past 50 years the real return premium for "risky" assets such as listed equities, over that for cash, has been about 4 per cent.

Over the past 35 years total returns from UK rental housing have been remarkably close to total returns from global equities (in sterling), and with significantly less volatility. So it has been a very good asset class to be in provided you don't need immediate liquidity and are rich enough to be able to hold several properties and so achieve some diversification. It has been skewed somewhat by the over-performance of London property during the period though, but even for rest-of-UK the typical returns have been attractive and will probably remain so - which is bad news for people without access to capital for a house to live in.