MrBen

My woman shunned the haggis on Saturday night as she said its full of offal. But she'll happily eat sausages or hot dogs which are all a lot worse in the mystery ingredients department. As for Maccas I like a quarter pounder with cheese once or twice a year. But immediately after I get a weird high and feel unclean inside. A bit like the MSG buzz after a Mr Lius

Ah feck it. Get the tunes on quids!

Lowlander Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > > Oil? With the Saudis going the way they are and > demand down, watch it go towards $25 a barrel. > Surely you mean olive oil? Sounds like your confident. So time to take a short position with your 100k then?

DaveR Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > It should be said that none of this is surprising > or even novel; the only thing that's new is the > number and diverse nature of people now sitting on > an asset valuable enough to make it worth > leveraging. I'm not saying it is. Leveraged debt, leveraged assets...not new. What is new is just how low these rates are. They are unprecedented.....even a year ago everybody was predicting the opposite. > "diverse nature of people now sitting on an asset valuable enough to make it worth leveraging." True. But how many of them actually do? And bizarrely millions moan about their bills but can't be bothered to move off their standard mortgage deal. If your future is uncertain and you're risk averse...this is an opportunity to lock into a long term fix rate at a great deal....and to use the amount you save to over pay. If you have some confidence about your future and appetite for risk...think about how you can use these rates to do something...whether it's cash to start a business, put on a new extension or get a decent car for much cheaper than a car loan

What needs to happen for them to win the league and is it still possible?

If you'd taken out ?100k from your mortgage and bought a certain model of 1980's Ferrari a few years back. You would have almost doubled your money.

Of course. They all do. The Chelsea's 2 year 1.64% fixed rate, with a ?345 product fee is another example. If you want to draw equity and use it as leverage to invest in something else...it's got to be one of the cheapest loans you're ever going to get. "Would you like to borrow ?100k for 2 years? I'll charge you 1.64% interest is that ok?" "Yes please". You could stick that in a boring unit trust and make money on it. And pay the principle back. Or buy some oil. Or Euros. Whatever's looking good. If you can handle the down side and uncertainty of rates in year 2,3 or 5...and you think your property will hold its value there or there abouts (+/- 10%) it's a no brainer.

HSBC...and a two grand booking fee. Still works out though....if you have 60% LTV you get a pretty wide choice... http://www.theguardian.com/money/2014/oct/20/hsbc-lowest-ever-mortgage-catch Otta - dont worry. I'm 99% certain you'll get better than 5.5% in a years time.

It also indicates just how imbalanced the economy currently is.

...at the moment. It's almost free money for a few years. My fixed rate is up and thought that was decent at 2.3% but now I'm getting quoted as low as 0.99 variable. Remortgaging before the election if you can makes a lot of sense. Using cheap debt sensibly can also make a lot of sense....especially if you think you're income might rise over the next ten years.

Arf! Back to cereal cafe in my onesie it is....

Louisa...are you in the commercial property game?

I wrote to the freeholder of The Patch offering to buy the building.....I'm still waiting for an answer...

StraferJack. You'll wind up Rosie if you're not careful.

For a day the world just stopped. And everyone had the day off and was out in the snow. Not sure it will happen again now the council has got its shit together.

Burns Night ticks all the boxes for hipster appropriation. Heritage, quirky and always slightly off the mainstream....unless you're Scottish of course. If you're a hipster such traditions are so important but need to be celebrated with suitable irony. Until it goes back our fashion again. There is a man with a huge beard somewhere in Hackney Wick no doubt plotting a Haggis Cafe.

"Where's your Haggis?" I asked my butcher. "Sold out already" he said "...it's because of these hipsters".

Robert Poste's Child Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > There was also a running snowball battle involving > hordes of people in Dulwich Park, rather like a > medieval football match. That Monday in 2009 was pretty magical. The snow came from out of nowhere and took everyone by surprise as nobody had seen any for years.Buses couldn't get over Denmark Hill and all trains were cancelled so nobody could get to work...pretty special when you think about it. I was in Dulwich Park for that snowball fight and then the pub. But after the council got their act together and the other snow days since haven't had that impact.

On the subject of costing the economy...my conscience is clear. On the subject of snow skiving. I'm guilty.

steveo Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Victus & Bibo! > > That's the new sign in the old Moulin restaurant > at the Plough. Stall holders turn restaurateurs. once again...looks like they've used the Hipster Name Generator Seabag found: http://www.hipsterbusiness.name/

I watch Mad Men and think - wouldn't it be great to go back to that time....where nobody knew where you were or could track you down...when information and intelligence was only got from gossip in bars. And you spent the afternoon at the office smoking and knocking back Manhattans. Is hyperconnectivity a curse?

Jeremy Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > Not everyone has a work blackberry, or remote > access to work email. > > Good for them, tbh... Good for them perhaps. But genuinely - who are these people? They must be dinosaurs or cake decorators.

Lowlander Wrote: ------------------------------------------------------- > "limited" means I'm at a conference/training/all > day meeting, so I won't get back to you > immediately > > "No access" means that - I'm on holiday thanks, > work phone is switched off (or work email disabled > on personal phone). If you're luck I'll check it > a few days before I go back into the office. > > If it's really urgent? Call me! So "no access" is a semantic. And its a relic from 10 years ago plus when people's only access to email was a laptop/desktop pc. Just say you're on holiday and not returning until X or do as Otta suggests in plain English. I'll calm down now....

Hi Georgia, What is your budget? Big difference between a simple terraced build and the 40k guys and something bigger....?

.....limited access to emails. Is something I see every day on auto replies. And it's bollocks. Unless your sailing to St Kilda or hiking round the remote alps everyone now has a smartphone,tablet,laptop. You're reading your email! Why not just be honest and say you're on holiday and don't want to be interrupted? Or not say it at all? We're stil adapting to the new world it seems....