What was that fantastic story about George Best with the hooker?

To be fair to the late great man, I don't recall that the woman in question was ever described as a hooker.

So what is it that drives someone living in a lovely family villa to end up having the bank sell their house? Interest rates? Bad financial planning? Too many lattes?

You job disappears.

Perhaps you were the manager of the F&P factory. Or you had a nice career at TVNZ. Mortgage…

Some of them look like investment properties that are probably being given up because of an increase in interest rates and/or a lack of tenants. (There's an Mt Eden village art deco flat. It looks nice in the photos, but…

I'd say that's the beginning of the end.

fast cars and fast women

Same as George Best. He claims to have wasted the rest.

What was that fantastic story about George Best with the hooker? and pile of money on a bedroom he was in and the question "where did it all go wrong?".

I think I kind…

With a house, you can just wait until the price…

i still want to "write a letter" about subsidisation of housing thru taxation tho.

makes me a little annoyed.

fast cars and fast women

Same as George Best. He claims to have wasted the rest.

loss-attributing qualified companies (LAQC's) are the third(?) largest number of company in nzl by type.

and, they're nothing more than a vehicle for negative gearing of investment properties

Unless, of course, you happen to…

Aside from those with lumps of capital, the sort of product you are advocating are only really…

"Buy land AJ, cos god ain't making any more of it".

.... well unless we all bugger off to live on that new planet they've found.

There may be exceptions, but I very much doubt their capital was raised through working at $12/hour while paying rent/buying…

However, I do think that the "average punter" in their mid-20s now faces a very different situation to the "average punter" in their 40s-60s now did when they were…

And then there's that Palm Oil!
Sorry James I had to do it, I'm a bad machine and I lived through The Crash.

Again, it's a counter argument to the idea that housing is the only source of leverage. Also, FWIW, in the case of warrants, your exposure is very…

I really do not believe that anyone is going to be lending sizeable amounts money for securities to twenty-somethings with pre-existing minimal net worths and salaries well below the $70-$90k numbers you are throwing around

Sure. But that has always been true of 20-somethings. People in their 20s never have…

As if any more…

You're right about the margin calls, but that assumes you've drawn all the credit you can.…

Sheesh does anybody here own a house?

Er... I'd tell my story but I fear with my real name here Alan Bollard might hunt me down personally.

But left to my own devices there is a very good chance I'd still be living in the very first house I bought…

Metro March 1991 Peter Ellison:

"More people own their own homes these days than they did in the "good old days".

Yamis, thanks so much for that quote. That was very interesting!

My parents had to jump through hoops to get housing loans in the '70s and '80s, sourcing loans…

The interesting factor in Auckland is apartments. I visited someone in a city apartment last weekend and standing on his balcony brought home to me how many people, including families, are already living apartment lives. But how many people buy apartments to live in themselves?

we're living in an apartment,…

Metro March 1991 Peter Ellison:

"More people own their own homes these days than they…

I've lost count of the number of times I've been told over the last 3 or 4 years that "the bubble is going to burst" – this could mean that it's never going to happen, or that we're about due...

I should fess up here and note that I nearly…

PS Have kids. You'll get accomodation supplement and the working for families package. I suggest 12 kids give or…

Che: I kind of assume it was linked off a blog, so I'm reasonably confident they were public. My…

Market value shot up in the next few years and, even though…

I have 2,500 in an ASB managed retirement investment fund
...
So far ASB has made me about 40 dollars in nearly a year.

Oh dear.

My ordinary ASB savings account, which has never topped $2500, earned me about $70 in interest last year.

the problem is subsidies...

where did you see those figures james? are they public, or, otherwise

I've seen some graphs lately, with number of investment properties owned in different income…

but, what irks me is the $12k per annum mr. x is making back off the tax payer. it's that very money that is, imho, driving up housing.

and not because the occasional investor is doing…

$500,000 Purchase Price…

I don't know how to do clever investment. I haven't a clue. I tried a super fund once, and…

At current prices, I would imagine the only reason most people buy investment properties is related to depreciation, and its flow-on taxation benefits.

loss-attributing qualified companies (LAQC's) are the third(?) largest number of company in nzl by type.

and, they're nothing more than a vehicle for negative gearing of investment…

Property is the only leveraged investment an average person can make (ok, there are managed investments that use leverage to boost yield, but they haven't worked well).

ASB will lend you up to 70% of the value of quite a range of shares. The rates are a little less favourable…

As someone who rents two houses from the bank, one for personal enjoyment, the other for profit, the single biggest difference between the two is DEPRECIATION.

(Incidentally, I…

Um, yes, you're an investor, and boy, that's lousy performance (see my remarks on managed funds above).

It's all in the leverage. You could have made that in other investments,if you were prepared to borrow to the extent that you have against your house. (Also, is 45000 your deposit + all your payments? Your deposit + all payments is the appropriate base figure).

I'll have to ponder…

Does that make me an investor?

Very nice of the govermment to match my 3% input each pay :)

So far ASB has made me about 40 dollars in nearly a year. Thanks…

I assume turning 45,000 into close to 150,000 in 3 years is not all that easy

.

It's all in the leverage. You could have made that in other investments,if you were prepared to borrow to the extent that you have against your house. (Also, is 45000 your deposit + all…

But if you buy existing shares in an existing business, you're doing nothing but gambling.

A contemptuous half-truth, I think. My shares are small ownership stakes in a productive enterprise, whose earnings I likewise own and enjoy in the form of dividends, and retained earnings that increase the value of…

One thing I love about owning is being able to do whatever we want with the place. We've added a deck and I've planted about 250 plants…

Here's a few things to consider, Yamis.

1. Your profit is unrealised. You can only see that return on your investment if you sell the house, or borrow against it. When you say "at worst it will stall for a bit", that's glossing over the reality of being unable to…

A better public housing programme could help adjust the market.

Yes – but can you imagine property investors (including the large number of MPs who own investment properties) taking that lying down. Or will we see an advertising campaign saying "the government wants to devalue your biggest asset"?

We could sell tomorrow and…

dammit. stephen got there first.

i was going to say to yamis, don't count your chickens.

plus, you're not including the cost of serving the mortgage, including rates.

most $200k houses will cost over $200k in interest over the lifetime of the mortgage. what most people don't do is subtract…

Buying each others' houses has been a poor substitute for real economic enterprise.

Except that investing in the sharemarket isn't "real economic enterprise", any more than buying a house is. It's speculation. And the reason so many rich shareholders and brokers are pushing it is in the hope of creating…

By the time I retire and have no income, I would have inherited my share of my parents' properties

I've thought this too, but then I think my parents are planning on eventually selling their properties to live off in their retirement, so perhaps all I'll inherit is…

What saddens me is when I look around Freemans BAy and see all that wonderful council housing and state housing that used to be here and is now in the hands of private…

i was going to say to yamis, don't count your chickens.

plus, you're not including the cost of serving the mortgage, including rates.

most $200k houses will cost over $200k in interest over the lifetime of the mortgage. what most people don't do is subtract…

1. Your profit is unrealised. You can only see that return on your investment if you sell the house, or borrow against it. When you say "at worst it will stall for a bit", that's glossing over the reality of being unable to…

I do. 30 years old, married, baby. bought 3 years ago for 205,000 in a mediocre west Auckland suburb.. Now worth over 300,000. My mortgage repayments are about what we would be paying in rent for the same house. The only extra costs…

i take all the money i would have to pay on a mortgage to live here,…

Beats living like a student just to fit…

Then it doubled in value in 2 years, and hey presto! Revolving mortgage = pretend rich = lattes everyday.

I don't know what anyone should take from this.

But this means that I can live within walking distance of work (healthy, yes) and I can also – gasp – buy one or two lattes a day.

I have a nice amount in my…

My rent is…

This is just jealousy from old, overweight boomers who have lost their looks. Deep down…