what have i missed?

#21

and the problem is , that everyone will end up paying for this mess.
everyone.
the on coming mortgage crisis will completely flatten people financially.
complete and utter wipe out.
its inevitable.
why do people continue to work there socks off ( a couple i know work 2 jobs each , and they have 2 kids ) to stay afloat - since it is inevitable that they will go under.
i say have a look around and see whats the best way out of this for you and your family.
its easy for me to suggest following my route and leave the country but if you have a homebird for a better half you might not be able to. if you have kids its harder again. but if these are not a problem then why swim against the tide for 3 or 4 years when you are going to be washed away anyhow?

a single friend of mine has 30 - 40 k in the bank.
but he has a 400k mortgage.
he is working simply to pay off the mortgage.
any interest rate hikes and his goose is cooked.
in 3 or 4 years he will no longer have that 30 - 40k , but he will still have the neq-eq.
my advice is live it up now - you are going to be broke in 4 years anyway.
spend that 30k on yourself , dont give it to the bank.
however i do know that many people do not like to leave the country for whatever reason.
i say to them - give it 4 months , go to a warm country where accomodation , beer and food is cheap.
see how you like it.
im kinda lucky to have someone with me but i do see many people travelling solo and they get on fine.

#22

That be dangerous, dangerous talk. :open_mouth:

#23

You’re forgetting, we are different.
It will all come good in the end !

#24
#25

i presume you are talking about the part about my single friend?
in my opinion he is crackers. he works 6 days a week sometimes and is eating into his savings every month to stay afloat. in 4 years he wont have that nest egg.
what a life to have. people dont realise you can live elsewhere , completely chill out for the duration.
seriously. im meeting him on saturday. i can show him some video and photos that might change his mind.
i think some people are still blind to numbers. 40k is a lot of money. its a shed load of money. it really is. if you can live somewhere cheap then you can live like a king with that amount of money.
giving it to the banks is just silly.
he should do what people are saying ireland should do - default sooner rather than later.
at least he will have his chunk of change.
if i was him i would hit the road - rent out the gaff - live it up for 4 to 5 years.
see what happens with the inevitable tsunami thats approaching fast.
havent 100% thought out his escape route but from a mental health point of he really should make a change.
having that weighing on your mind for 3/4 years , followed by 2/3 years of wondering when you are going to get thrown out of your house , followed by 3/4 years trying to build yourself back up.
10 year sentence if you ask me.

Life is for living 8)

#26

Yes, Ireland is a frigging disaster but in recent history it always has been more or less. And to be honest, while there certainly may be “better” countries to live in, I find it hard to think of any country that doesn’t have internal or external problems – either discreetly swept under the carpet or plainly visible as a big steaming pile of shite in the corner of the sitting room. In my own opinion the next 50 years will see the unravelling of the living standards we have become accustomed to in the west and of western capitalism as we know it. It’s not going to really matter where you live.

#27

i 100% agree with you on the “better” countries thing.
ireland is not actually that bad a place, even with our climate , our poor transport , health , education.
but we are miles better than some of the places i have lived.
its easier to ignore the real problems of some countries when you are only living there for 6 months or a year.
if you are going to settle permanently then you may get worked up over the debt etc but if you are just passing through you tend to overlook things like that.

i can see a complete overhaul of the way things are done in ireland.
why would anyone who has say 200 or 300 k neg eq waste their time working , paying tax and giving the remainder to the banks, especially when you are still going to end up broke anyway.
why do a 5 year sentence like that?
once this becomes clear to people what will happen then? surely working on the black , getting enough to survive on will be the order of the day.

#28

I had assumed initially that your period of free living was courtesy of Her Majesty’s Pleasure for some nefarious tax dealings.

Now you’ve given me an image of some hippy bum in Koh Samui selling weed to his hostel buddies.

What have you done with the real 2Gaffs?

#29

:laughing: no , i havent been to the big house yet. but will keep you posted.

as for Koh Samui we did pop in for a while but a bit too hectic for me at this stage.
SE asia is an example of somewhere you can go live very very well with a relaxed life style.

it really is better than working in a cubicle or scraping for money to meet your mortgage.
strongly suggest trying it for say 6 months.

#30

As a matter of interest 2gaffs - do you still have mortgages or are you living off the rental income?

#31

Yeah when you say “live for free”. Are you an inherited property, absentee landlord guy?

#32

Facinating thread

“My, you folk were up late posting on the pin!
I was in my leaba and just joined in.”

Watched the boom and am watching the bust from (not very) afar. Was horrified and embarassed by the CT - the profilgate spending, the vulgarity, the Vegas-style lifestyles, the Galway tent, the 5-bathroom Dallasesque mansions, the eyewatering amounts of sheckels (some) people seemed to be earning, the excessive expenses etc…while at the same time being struck as I sat on the bus from Dublin airport to town that Drumcondra still looked (still looks) like a suburb in a developing world country.

Agree with 2gaffs re SE Asia, but no really a runner for anyone with kids - and what would you do about the mortgage repayments?

#33

Did any of your friends benefit from your sage financial advice in the past (solicited or unsolicited?).

#34

Yes i am a landlord i make a few hundred a month off the gaffs.
No inheritance unfortunately :frowning:

This does not cover my total expenses per year - so i was wrong to say “live for free”.
Live for very little would be truer.

I still have a room in gaff1 for myself, so anytime we pop back for a few weeks or a month I do have my own space , so I dont need to be asking my parents for anything. I dont need to be bumming a sofa off my friends.

mairz - I do agree that travelling with kids is difficult , I havent done it myself , but there are plenty of people doing it.

Puck , yes some listened to my advice , some didnt.
Believe it or not I had strongly advised against buying for a number of my friends over the years.

My advice to my friend now is to not continue eating into your savings.
It would be quit your job ( your working to pay mortgage ) - go on the dole.
Rent out your rooms in your gaff.
Go global.
In 3/4 years you come back - you will be in no worse a situation than now.

#35

Hi 2gaffs, welcome back - what kind of a position would someone be in in 3/4 years if they did the above? Because I can’t see it being improved on by leaving the country and not paying the mortgage.

#36

Sorry , I left that bit out.
If he goes on the dole and reorganises his mortgage.
It is possible to go on an “interest only” package , or reduced payments.
Banks are very flexible as they know it can be a case of getting a little , or getting nothing.
Once something like this is agreed , when he comes back in 3/4 years the only difference is that he will not have paid off some of the principle off.
So what? Who knows what the situation will be like here in 3/4 years.
My take on this whole thing is that its too turbulent to continue working and throwing your money at the banks to pay off a loan on a house that could well be worth less and less each year.
If you need to dip into savings to keep things going ,then the situation is not right for you.
There has to be a better way for you personally.

#37

Ah - I thought you were saying just up and leave! I can see the point. A couple I know actually did something on these lines, they were paying 1200pm between the 2nd car and creche fees so she quit her job. They did out a budget plan where they could live (as opposed to exist) and are now on IO for 12 months. His job is looking rocky and I would say they will be gone within 6 months. Just on a quality of life issue - they are much happier.

#38

no , there is 2 4gaffs in my life. i hang with a funny crowd :laughing:
the 4g in the original post is still afloat.
4g the 2nd is completely and utterly wiped out, he’s not formally bankrupt just yet, but there is no way out for him.
If he won a million euro in the lotto he would still be in massive trouble. Thats how bad it is.
Personally I think both will hit the rocks at some stage, but what would I know :angry:

#39

As I understand it you cant do “jingle mail” over here. To do that here would be playing into the banks hands.
I would not recommend that in any way shape or form.
Best idea ( IMO ) is to pay as little as possible on the mortgage, see what happens in the next few years.
How sick would you be if you paid off 30k more that you have to on your mortgage and in 2014 there is some nama/bailout for mortgage holders?
Not saying that will happen, but something is going to give.

I would suggest anyone with mortgage difficulties has a long look at themselves.
There is a better way.

#40

No - no jingle mail here. But yes I agree, there will have to be something done and people are slowly realising that - in my friends case they actually reached that conclusion. They were under so much stress trying to service a mortgage with less and less money in their pockets. The last straw for them was when their mortgage had to be renewed at a higher cost after 3 years.
As there are really only 1,2,3,5 and in fewer cases 10 year mortgages here, it’s like a bad cycle and at some stage every buyer in the last 10 years unless they have fixed for 10 and over are going to be in for a shock every couple of years.