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Need Some Advice On My First Property
sandid3
Posted: 29 November 2013 10:05:29(UTC)
#23

Joined: 18/02/2013(UTC)
Posts: 651

ArcticPanda, will you have a vote in next year’s Scottish independence referendum? My view is that, in spite of all the London propaganda, there’s a real chance of a Yes vote. Certainly, I would vote for independence if I could.

If Scotland does vote for independence I think Scotland will see the biggest economic boom in living memory – bigger than the ‘60s. It will be a fantastic time to stay and ride the growth – jobs, property, shares, whatever.

If there isn’t a Yes vote then there are better opportunities elsewhere (not London!) At that point you will need a way to safely store your wealth. Personally, I think it’s very risky to concentrate your wealth in a few flats. There are all kinds of political, economic, fiscal, market and personal risks in that kind of concentration into a potentially illiquid market – especially if you may not be around to sort things out.
There are funds and insurance company bonds that you can use to have a property exposure as part of a general investment portfolio, if you wish.

At this point, most people would probably say you should talk to a trustworthy Independent Financial Advisor. But if anyone on this website knows of one they will almost certainly be keeping the information to themselves.
ArcticPanda
Posted: 29 November 2013 15:33:06(UTC)
#24

Joined: 27/11/2013(UTC)
Posts: 9

I don't know where you're getting that opinion from, because as someone who lives in Scotland...literally nobody wants Scottish Independance. Only the people who are "for" it, have been fed bull**** propaganda by the SNP, or they're just hung up on the fact they hate the English.

Under the circumstances it does happen though, I'd assume housing prices would go down, as I'd imagine a lot of people would move out of Scotland. I know my family for one are planning to move to England if independance does go ahead.

ANYWAY! Let's not get into politics haha
DGL
Posted: 29 November 2013 15:44:55(UTC)
#27

Joined: 27/03/2012(UTC)
Posts: 116

One of major distortions of 'buy to let' market is that landlords can layoff interest payments on mortgage against income before taxation ....wouldn't be surprised to see this allowance disappear soon ( in UK) (''''helping the hard-working first time buyers blah blah''')
and what would a new Scottish Govt do to help the housing shortage ?
steven woodford
Posted: 29 November 2013 17:40:23(UTC)
#25

Joined: 20/01/2012(UTC)
Posts: 89

ArcticPanda;21869 wrote:
as someone who lives in Scotland...literally nobody wants Scottish Independance...........I know my family for one are planning to move to England if independance does go ahead.


Interesting to hear that! Off topic, but do you mind me asking if your family are Scottish, or just currently living in Scotland?
ArcticPanda
Posted: 29 November 2013 18:28:26(UTC)
#26

Joined: 27/11/2013(UTC)
Posts: 9

steven woodford;21871 wrote:
ArcticPanda;21869 wrote:
as someone who lives in Scotland...literally nobody wants Scottish Independance...........I know my family for one are planning to move to England if independance does go ahead.


Interesting to hear that! Off topic, but do you mind me asking if your family are Scottish, or just currently living in Scotland?


My family isn't Scottish, but not English either.

It's a general consensus in my area, and Edinburgh, that not many people want independence . VERY few in fact
sandid3
Posted: 30 November 2013 09:32:53(UTC)
#28

Joined: 18/02/2013(UTC)
Posts: 651

Unfortunately politics can’t be separated from economics; any change in policies produces winners and losers that affect the economy as a whole. That’s particularly true for the property sector which is acutely sensitive to employment levels and interest rates.

Apart from the independence decision, we’ve seen Mark Carney’s intervention this week:
http://www.telegraph.co....-out-big-mortgages.html
It makes no sense to ignore these factors when considering a potentially illiquid investment such as buy-to-let. On the whole, the inevitability of higher interest rates and the continuation of high unemployment (unless there’s a change of government) seem to make property a high-risk bet - at least, starting from here.

As for Scotland’s future; we’ve seen many opinion polls that make a Yes vote look unlikely (although still with a lot of undecided voters). On the other hand, the US presidential election had opinion polls showing the result ‘too close to call’ right up to the vote; but Obama still won by a landslide.

Although I’m not a Scot and live in Australia, I did grow up in the North of England and my political views nicely coincide with this article in the Guardian today:
http://www.theguardian.c...derate-social-democracy

However I am a retired geophysicist and I did work on North Sea oil exploration data throughout the ‘70s, ‘80s and ‘90s. I have no doubt whatsoever that there is tremendous potential still for Scottish waters. It’s not just the royalties that matter but the jobs. The growth in exploration and development that will come after independence will feed through into science, engineering, computing, programming, finance, transport, travel, education, medicine, infrastructure, logistics, etc.

I’m sure there are some crusty, rightwing old farts that will want to head for the nearest tax haven after independence but the growth opportunities will bring young people flooding in.

One of the good things about living in Australia is that I now know what a growing, resources-based economy looks like. It’s fairer and more optimistic.

Britain should decide whether it wants to remain an 80% service sector economy based on taking in each other’s paperwork; plus entertainment and advertising – not to mention London’s dominance: essentially based on money laundering (allegedly), tax avoidance (allegedly) and white-collar fraud (allegedly). The alternative is a true, regionally independent federal system for rUK and a balanced economy and society.
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