Funniest thing in ages

[tikay]

Do you recall when Barlow Clowes (I think it was he) was offering 20% Interest on Deposits, at a time when Bank Interest was 10%? (or whatever).

I was just amazed, half the population invested, they were genuinely shocked when the thing went belly up, & then thry expected the Government to compensate them.

Hey guys, I got  brand new BMW for sale, £2,000, any offers?

[kinboshi]

Hey guys, I got  brand new BMW for sale, £2,000, any offers?

I'll pay the full asking price.

I'm sending you a cheque for £5,000 though, to cover shipping as well. So if you could send me a cheque to cover the difference....

[AndrewT]

Do you recall when Barlow Clowes (I think it was he) was offering 20% Interest on Deposits, at a time when Bank Interest was 10%? (or whatever).

I was just amazed, half the population invested, they were genuinely shocked when the thing went belly up, & then thry expected the Government to compensate them.

Hey guys, I got  brand new BMW for sale, £2,000, any offers?

The thing is Tikay, that our whole financial system is based on this kind of thing. The housing market and the stock market are two places where money just seems to come out of nowhere. People buy houses and shares and then sit back and do nothing, watching their money grow. Where does all this money come from? What happens if it stops coming one day?

Who wants to buy some tulips?

[boldie]

Do you recall when Barlow Clowes (I think it was he) was offering 20% Interest on Deposits, at a time when Bank Interest was 10%? (or whatever).

I was just amazed, half the population invested, they were genuinely shocked when the thing went belly up, & then thry expected the Government to compensate them.

Hey guys, I got  brand new BMW for sale, £2,000, any offers?

The thing is Tikay, that our whole financial system is based on this kind of thing. The housing market and the stock market are two places where money just seems to come out of nowhere. People buy houses and shares and then sit back and do nothing, watching their money grow. Where does all this money come from? What happens if it stops coming one day?

Who wants to buy some tulips?

IT will stop one day..and that's recession time and, although hard on some if not most people, all who have been clever can make a killing at that time.
everyone who borrows 5x their income to get a mortgage will lose their house with the next 5 years IMO. And then the housing market will also collapse (if not completely atleast by 40-50 % in my opinion)
 People should know this but they always assume they'll be fine.
I will save up money now to buy houses in  5 or ten years time...I can't wait for everyone who wants to keep up with the Jones's to get their comeuppance.

[pswnio]

but on betfair you can only risk what you have in your account!!!!

with the software dutching, this has not been the case. Someone who had £100 in their account has now got a 33k liability!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

EXACTLY!! They knew they were scamming from the start. How can you stick more then 500£ in if you don't have it in your account? But they thought "No that'll be allright cus I can't lose"
they all just got greedy and got done for it.

Gotta disagree. I've read all the posts on this subject and am amazed at the complete lack of any sense whatsoever. I honestly don't think they were scamming; they just thought there was a gap and closed it.

I don't have a great deal of sympathy for them; anyone who plays a Get Rich Quick scheme is asking for trouble. But I don't think there was malice in what they did, just a lot of barefaced stupidity and lack of thought.

[Wardonkey]

These people were undoubtedly greedy fools, but Betfair messed up too.

It will cost Betfair because they will have to pay out the winners, to safeguard their reputation, and they have no chance of recovering all the money from the losers.

Betfair failed in their duty of care and may well have option but to write off all the losses.

[kinboshi]

Do you recall when Barlow Clowes (I think it was he) was offering 20% Interest on Deposits, at a time when Bank Interest was 10%? (or whatever).

I was just amazed, half the population invested, they were genuinely shocked when the thing went belly up, & then thry expected the Government to compensate them.

Hey guys, I got  brand new BMW for sale, £2,000, any offers?

The thing is Tikay, that our whole financial system is based on this kind of thing. The housing market and the stock market are two places where money just seems to come out of nowhere. People buy houses and shares and then sit back and do nothing, watching their money grow. Where does all this money come from? What happens if it stops coming one day?

Who wants to buy some tulips?

IT will stop one day..and that's recession time and, although hard on some if not most people, all who have been clever can make a killing at that time.
everyone who borrows 5x their income to get a mortgage will lose their house with the next 5 years IMO. And then the housing market will also collapse (if not completely atleast by 40-50 % in my opinion)
 People should know this but they always assume they'll be fine.
I will save up money now to buy houses in  5 or ten years time...I can't wait for everyone who wants to keep up with the Jones's to get their comeuppance.

Or want a decent house for them and their family to live in?

[AndrewT]

I will save up money now to buy houses in  5 or ten years time...I can't wait for everyone who wants to keep up with the Jones's to get their comeuppance.

Or want a decent house for them and their family to live in?

Rent?

[boldie]

Do you recall when Barlow Clowes (I think it was he) was offering 20% Interest on Deposits, at a time when Bank Interest was 10%? (or whatever).

I was just amazed, half the population invested, they were genuinely shocked when the thing went belly up, & then thry expected the Government to compensate them.

Hey guys, I got  brand new BMW for sale, £2,000, any offers?

The thing is Tikay, that our whole financial system is based on this kind of thing. The housing market and the stock market are two places where money just seems to come out of nowhere. People buy houses and shares and then sit back and do nothing, watching their money grow. Where does all this money come from? What happens if it stops coming one day?

Who wants to buy some tulips?

IT will stop one day..and that's recession time and, although hard on some if not most people, all who have been clever can make a killing at that time.
everyone who borrows 5x their income to get a mortgage will lose their house with the next 5 years IMO. And then the housing market will also collapse (if not completely atleast by 40-50 % in my opinion)
 People should know this but they always assume they'll be fine.
I will save up money now to buy houses in  5 or ten years time...I can't wait for everyone who wants to keep up with the Jones's to get their comeuppance.

Or want a decent house for them and their family to live in?

My friend, most people I know who are buying at 5x their annual income do not need to buy those houses. they can buy a cheaper house but it's just "not as nice" or (and I've heard this from one of the Mrs' friends) "My brother just bought a new one in the same area and I really want one to"

Those people deserve what they will get.

Nobody needs to spend 5x their annual income on a mortgage..there's nothing wrong with renting. I have done this for years..living in a shitty flat simply because I couldn't afford to buy anything, or rent anything decent.
I still know quite a few people who would rather do this then get into debt for amounts they know they'll have a tough time paying back and I have a lot more respect for them then I do for the first mentioned group.

It seems to be acceptable these days to borrow tremendous amounts of money to get something you don't truly need, anyone who subscribes to that philosophy will get done in a few years time. It is not nice but that really is the way it is.
There is nothing wrong with not buying a nice house but renting some crappy thing because that's all you can afford...that after all is the way things used to be for decades, only in the last ten years does everyone think they should be able to have everything someone else has and that simply is not the case.

[tikay]

Do you recall when Barlow Clowes (I think it was he) was offering 20% Interest on Deposits, at a time when Bank Interest was 10%? (or whatever).

I was just amazed, half the population invested, they were genuinely shocked when the thing went belly up, & then thry expected the Government to compensate them.

Hey guys, I got  brand new BMW for sale, £2,000, any offers?

The thing is Tikay, that our whole financial system is based on this kind of thing. The housing market and the stock market are two places where money just seems to come out of nowhere. People buy houses and shares and then sit back and do nothing, watching their money grow. Where does all this money come from? What happens if it stops coming one day?

Who wants to buy some tulips?

When the music stops - it ALWAYS does, it's cyclical - it's called "a correction". Snakes & ladders. My share portfolio went from £62,000 to £27,000 almost overnight in October 1987, but I was fortunate in that I could hang in there & wait for the recovery. Fortunately, it only took 16 years......

Guaranteed profit? No such thing, if it goes up, it can go down. And always does. If one is happy to take the profit, one has to accept the losses as well.

[Bongo]

I think my favourite post has to be one where the guy offers sympathy, but has his signature attached to his post which says something like:

"In the spirit of gloating take a look at my avatar which is the guy I bought with my matched betting profits".

[kinboshi]

Do you recall when Barlow Clowes (I think it was he) was offering 20% Interest on Deposits, at a time when Bank Interest was 10%? (or whatever).

I was just amazed, half the population invested, they were genuinely shocked when the thing went belly up, & then thry expected the Government to compensate them.

Hey guys, I got  brand new BMW for sale, £2,000, any offers?

The thing is Tikay, that our whole financial system is based on this kind of thing. The housing market and the stock market are two places where money just seems to come out of nowhere. People buy houses and shares and then sit back and do nothing, watching their money grow. Where does all this money come from? What happens if it stops coming one day?

Who wants to buy some tulips?

IT will stop one day..and that's recession time and, although hard on some if not most people, all who have been clever can make a killing at that time.
everyone who borrows 5x their income to get a mortgage will lose their house with the next 5 years IMO. And then the housing market will also collapse (if not completely atleast by 40-50 % in my opinion)
 People should know this but they always assume they'll be fine.
I will save up money now to buy houses in  5 or ten years time...I can't wait for everyone who wants to keep up with the Jones's to get their comeuppance.

Or want a decent house for them and their family to live in?

My friend, most people I know who are buying at 5x their annual income do not need to buy those houses. they can buy a cheaper house but it's just "not as nice" or (and I've heard this from one of the Mrs' friends) "My brother just bought a new one in the same area and I really want one to"

Those people deserve what they will get.

Nobody needs to spend 5x their annual income on a mortgage..there's nothing wrong with renting. I have done this for years..living in a shitty flat simply because I couldn't afford to buy anything, or rent anything decent.
I still know quite a few people who would rather do this then get into debt for amounts they know they'll have a tough time paying back and I have a lot more respect for them then I do for the first mentioned group.

It seems to be acceptable these days to borrow tremendous amounts of money to get something you don't truly need, anyone who subscribes to that philosophy will get done in a few years time. It is not nice but that really is the way it is.
There is nothing wrong with not buying a nice house but renting some crappy thing because that's all you can afford...that after all is the way things used to be for decades, only in the last ten years does everyone think they should be able to have everything someone else has and that simply is not the case.

I agree that some people overstretch themselves to buy a house.  They don't take into account how much it will cost them to pay their mortgage should the interest rate go up to 10 or 15%. 

It's like playing outside your bankroll.

A collapse in the housing market wouldn't be a bad thing for me.  It would mean that the cost difference between what I'm in now, and a bigger house (for when we have a family, etc.) is smaller and more realistic.  We bought in a cheaper area in order to buy a house within our means.

I've re-read your original post, and can see that your point was aimed at those who over-stretch themselves.  So we're actually in agreement...

[pswnio]

My friend, most people I know who are buying at 5x their annual income do not need to buy those houses. they can buy a cheaper house but it's just "not as nice" or (and I've heard this from one of the Mrs' friends) "My brother just bought a new one in the same area and I really want one to"

Those people deserve what they will get.

Nobody needs to spend 5x their annual income on a mortgage..there's nothing wrong with renting. I have done this for years..living in a shitty flat simply because I couldn't afford to buy anything, or rent anything decent.
I still know quite a few people who would rather do this then get into debt for amounts they know they'll have a tough time paying back and I have a lot more respect for them then I do for the first mentioned group.

It seems to be acceptable these days to borrow tremendous amounts of money to get something you don't truly need, anyone who subscribes to that philosophy will get done in a few years time. It is not nice but that really is the way it is.
There is nothing wrong with not buying a nice house but renting some crappy thing because that's all you can afford...that after all is the way things used to be for decades, only in the last ten years does everyone think they should be able to have everything someone else has and that simply is not the case.

You're absolutely right. There's nothing wrong with renting. I don't understand this country's obsession with owner occupation.

HOWEVER - I don't think the bottom is coming out of the housing market any time soon. No signs of any imminent collapse, interest rates are being carefully controlled.

[tikay]

A collapse in the housing market wouldn't be a bad thing for me.  It would mean that the cost difference between what I'm in now, and a bigger house (for when we have a family, etc.) is smaller and more realistic.  We bought in a cheaper area in order to buy a house within our means.

Now thats a great angle! By the way, I met Mrs Kinboshi at the weekend - what a lovely lady she is. Don''t know what she sees in him though.

[AndrewT]

A collapse in the housing market wouldn't be a bad thing for me.  It would mean that the cost difference between what I'm in now, and a bigger house (for when we have a family, etc.) is smaller and more realistic.  We bought in a cheaper area in order to buy a house within our means.

Now thats a great angle! By the way, I met Mrs Kinboshi at the weekend - what a lovely lady she is. Don''t know what she sees in him though.

I remember reading something somewhere which took this example to its extreme and theorised the situation where, overnight, every house's value dropped by a factor of 1000.

Yes, your £200,000 house is now worth only £200, but in order to buy that mansion which was yesterday £1,000,000, today you only have to find another £800.

I can't remember what the point of the example was though, which isn't very helpful.