Re: Looking for advice
 

Lets clear up a few things shall we.... Champ!
1. I am not your champ.
2. I think you mean nothing to do with it.
3. I don't think abusing people saying their opinions are sucked from their thumbs will win you many votes.

As for your ( opinion) As I said earlier one cannot compare apples with pears. Tokyo has a completely different population in terms of background shall we say and they are perhaps more disciplined than the British citizens that live in London . Oh! I have some hard Data for you! You love that! Lol! Did you know that for the first time 50% of the population of London were born overseas?
Go on look it up! Lol! When you do tell us what percentage of Tokyo residents were born overseas. You see Champ it makes a big difference depending origins.

Also.... I bet Tokyo does not have such an amazing social welfare system in place to help people settle in after the perilous journey across the channel.

As I said apples and pears. Now I don't want to be rude but unless you have any new Data we should all be made aware of can we end this nonsense? Champ

Re: Looking for advice
 

I agree and it's pointless to compare. He wrote: "Yet the place is spotless, crazily functional and superbly efficient. Population density is not an issue" It's not as if Tokyo or specifically Japan is free from problems either. Terrible air pollution, overcrowding is a serious issue in Tokyo, otherwise they wouldn't have train pushers. Look at Fukushima and they dump contaminated water back into the sea. I don't want to start another climate change thread, it shows why we're heading in the wrong direction though. I'm no fan of cities anyway, but London is nearly 2000 years old and Sydney not even 250 years old.

Re: Looking for advice
 

I would not vote for Amazula as an MP. He would take a serious pay cut and contribute way less to the Australian tax coffers. :thumbsup:

Re: Looking for advice
 

Can I play? I have lived in both on multiple stints, clock up more than 2 decades in both. I am the expert on the London vs Sydney thing. :thumbup:. What do you want to know?

Re: Looking for advice
 

I have €150K to spend. I'm looking for a detached property, not big with maybe 2 bedrooms and garden which can be on the smaller side (500m2) for retirement.
Would it be better to look in London or Sydney? I'm also an EU citizen and no longer a spring chicken, so can't be bothered with a lot of paperwork and hate too much traffic and don't need public transport.
I do love a good Pretzel now and then, have heard that both London and Sydney offer them. Where do you think price/quality is better?
Since I already live on an island, I sometimes have enough of it and would like to take my car to mainland to experience something different (language etc.). Would you recommend London or Sydney for that?
I forgot to mention the cats, so it needs to be an area where they have a lot of freedom and friendly neighbours please.

Re: Looking for advice
 

If you don't like traffic then neither will suit I am afraid. I have a detached home in Sydney but the detached thing would be no go in London for a similarly located dwelling. However detached is not all it's cracked up to be. There's more walls to paint and gutters to clean. You might have to expand that budget a little. Cats and traffic can be an issue.

Re: Looking for advice
 

Just outside the London boroughs either Essex or Kent its possible to find a property within the range for a 1 bed property I think 2 beds may be achievable depending how the housing market reacts to inflation and rising interest rates though there is no correlation between rate rises and property value depreciation in the uk.
( I am sure Champ may correct me with some hard data though ).
If over aged 60 and in some cases 50 there are some decent retirement properties to be had.

I am pretty old so I remember the days of over 14% interest in fact my first property was £28,750 in 1982 I borrowed £27,000 my monthly costs for that loan were £150.00 per month! I sold that property two years later for £48,000 value now around £240,000.

I was listening with interest a recent news article about people cribbing about 3% interest and blaming banks and economists for giving out forecasts of lower rates I was thinking surely these people are told at the outset that ...
A. Property values may rise and fall
B. That interests rates are the same as there are so many factors at play that are entirely unpredictable.

Given the situation in Australia ..... I would not be surprised if future government legislation puts in place hurdles to make the housing market less attractive as an investment tool i.e. second home ownership taxes and penalties for unoccupied property and maybe C.G.T. Penalties.

Sorry I digressed a little. Going back to your question it is a fairly tight budget for London suburbs at the moment but who knows! Apart from transportation costs outer London boroughs on the fringe are a little less stressful to live in. Good luck !

Re: Looking for advice
 

What situation is that? Both side of politics and their politicians are massive property investors. There is no way in the world a government or opposition would make changes here because they would penalise themselves. At a stretch, you might see a 10th investment incur some type of penalty.

Re: Looking for advice
 

I used to live in Kent and moved to Ireland just after the Celtic Tiger crash. Even though prices have increased over time here and the market has gone crazy, the house I have now is worth around €300K.
For £263K I probably wouldn't get anything similar in Kent these days and glad to be in the EU if I'm honest. The mortgage is fixed anyway and we have a small place in Spain, so earning € is another advantage and we know what we get and know what we pay. No doubt Sydney can offer a great lifestyle, but unless you come from a similar high cost city and bring plenty of cash, it's either a drop in living standards or you need an extremely well paid job (as a newcomer today). So for me personally it's either La Selva and Connacht. All I know is that it's worth nothing if people tell you how rich and wealthy a country is. All it really means is that those who are already wealthy don't want to share their wealth with others;). Maybe the UK isn't always bad and Australia isn't always that amazing and one thing is clear that humans have messed up a lot of the planet. In Europe deforestation has already happened and in Australia it's happening at an alarming rate right now.

Re: Looking for advice
 

What situation is that? You ask... Ok I will tell you the situation... Mostly baby boomers like myself have been extremely fortunate regarding property purchases and many myself included have used property investment as a tool to get more wealth. The prices are so high now it is almost impossible for young people to get on the ladder especially with rising interest rates.

There is hardly any availability of rentals that are affordable.

That is the situation. Also Mr Beoz are you insinuating that politicians are corrupt enough to put their own needs above the needs of the many?

Re: Looking for advice
 

Well said ! Since I have returned here I have been bored enough some days to watch the news... I don't know that make about deforestation but one thing puzzles me immensely.

Australia wants to go carbon neutral so the politicians say so how does this work? It is completely ironic. Make people recycle and penalise companies in Australia for the carbon output but at the same time export shed loads of coal to China and Gas to other countries that won't limit their carbon footprint.

Re: Looking for advice
 

Ha ha ha. And you like all baby boomers are never going to give the wealth you have gained back to the general population so spare me the "I think of others before myself nonsense".

Pollies are the same. They are working politicians with investment properties to gain wealth.

Sadly for us we pay those running our countries like mid tier management so we get crap politicians trying to gain extra wealth through investment properties. If they had half a brain about wealth they would own their house and invest elsewhere, but sadly we pay them shit and have to vote in those who have the financial brain of a flee.

Re: Looking for advice
 

Well not the general population no but of course to my children yes I did.

I was of course kidding about politicians Ha ha! Actually looking at what former U.K. Prime ministers have achieved it is quite staggering.

Re: Looking for advice
 

I would much rather an over achieving Prime Minister than an under achiever. Under achievement breeds terrible things for a country.

When it comes to property kids will be fine. Like my baby booming parents did, if people want to buy houses they need to buy in areas they can afford. And if you want your kids living in the same street as you, well like it always has, chances are you street has become popular, and costs more than your kids can afford. It's the way it has always been. BTW these interest rates you talk about are nothing compared to some of the rates of the past. And they bring property prices down, so again, the kids will be fine.

Re: Looking for advice
 

Your input appears to go off at tangents. Whats the Prime minister ...... Over achiever, under achiever got to do with anything I have said? Enlighten me please. Tony Blair was he an achiever?He certainly was from making money!

When it comes to property kids will be fine you said. What Rubbish ! Some will but most won't be.

The next part of your message needs deciphering Lol! Someone save me! Ha ha!

And then you blast off without a shred of Knowledge on interest rates. I will put you right.... I we'll remember 14% interest rates you don't judging by your comments.

Facts... There is NO correlation between interest rate rises and house prices.

The interest rate hike is at this moment unknown! Only a fool would say people will be alright. Look at liz truss and her recent policy ! The £ is ridiculously low the worst it has been for
37 years! The u.k. is finished as far as wealth goes in ( My opinion) Zero resources, its been selling the silver for decades! All the decent worthwhile businesses have been sold to foreign investors as has lots of the best real estate. They can't even run the Dartford tunnel! That was sold to the French! (ridiculous!) Thats earned the French shed loads as has EDF. Most water companies are owned by other countries. All of our Chocolate companies sold to America years ago. Rang rover, jaguar Aston Martin. Even Mg owned by China. The list goes on anyway basically the U.K Has been living off the silver and has a ridiculous social welfare system.
They keep blaming migrants for coming.... I don't in fact I would come if I were a migrant Its the system that's to blame anyway I digressed but the crux of the matter is.... Interest rate rises .... It ain't over yet! Its anybodies guess where it might go.

THE END. (I hope)