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I reckon this thread is pointing towards the Arms with regards wages and prices!
 
I charge what I class to be an acceptable hourly wage. A customer recently said they'd be happy to pay me whatever I charge them as they trust me, that felt good. Another customer recently was not happy to accept my quote as they said they could get it much cheaper.

I think we place too much emphasis on what price we charge. I think price is just one factor in whether we get work or not. Also, if your rate is too low that can actually put people off as they (to a degree) equate quality/experience with price.

If you do a good job you can charge more.
If you are polite, friendly you can charge more.
If you are professional and genuinely trustworthy you can charge more.
Plus I think you need to be consistent with all of the above, not just do them at the beginning and think you have the customer for life.

I suppose if you enjoy your job you'll automatically do all of the above, so basically all we have to do is 'be happy' ..problem solved :)
 
...When I joined the housing market, my studio flat cost about 4 x salary, the same flat now would be around £250K according to rightmove ...... and I don't see many people earning £60K plus in their early twenties
Yeah... but it's far cheaper these days to buy... we had almost 10% interest costs back then ! And you needed at least 10% deposit compared to 5% minimums these days... and no 'help to buy' schemes...
 
Yeah... but it's far cheaper these days to buy... we had almost 10% interest costs back then ! And you needed at least 10% deposit compared to 5% minimums these days... and no 'help to buy' schemes...

Still don’t agree with you ....10% of £100k is less than 20% of £200k and the killer these days will be when interest rates start going up from historic lows

It’s all about disposable incomes AND if you start off in a small property with 2 incomes and no kids, what happens when you have 2 kids and 1 income?

Low interest rates mean little or no pay rises, so the ratio of mortgage to income hardly moves .... whereas back in the 80’s a few payrises meant your ratio of income to mortgage moved a lot.....
 
Not sure I agree with that. As usual location matters and here (in Surrey) a 1 bed flat would be around £200K, so this has a huge impact on people wanting to buy as they need £30K to £40K deposit ........ so even if they cut out holidays, cars, nights out, new trainers and phones, they still have a lot of saving to do ....

When I joined the housing market, my studio flat cost about 4 x salary, the same flat now would be around £250K according to rightmove ...... and I don't see many people earning £60K plus in their early twenties
I agree with that. I saved thousands for a deposit on a house. Worked loads of hours, weekends etc, then before I bought a house I got testicular cancer and had to have 12 months off. So I had to live on all the money I saved. So now I’m still renting. It’s been a long road back to work and I’m still not right even two years later. Chemo messes you up for life. But I’m still here. I couldn’t put myself through that agin working all those hours and not having holidays. I wouldn’t be able to keep up the pace now. I’m shattered these days after a 45 hour week. I’m just glad to be alive. If I end up buying a house one day then happy days, if I don’t then it is what it is. My health is more important to me. And I don’t even know if I will make it to 65 without being morbid lol. So I’m not worrying about what happens when I get there financially. People worry about the future to much and forget to actually live. I think if your gona buy a house you need to save up while you still live with parents. And this is not taught to us at school like it should be.
 
Yeah... but it's far cheaper these days to buy... we had almost 10% interest costs back then ! And you needed at least 10% deposit compared to 5% minimums these days... and no 'help to buy' schemes...

Help to buy is a con, me on a wage in London back in 1985 bought a 4 bed semi for £48k on a sparks wages that same house in now worth £1.2M if I could earn £300k per year as a sparks I may consider taking a wage cut to do something that I enjoy............
 
Yeah... but it's far cheaper these days to buy... we had almost 10% interest costs back then ! And you needed at least 10% deposit compared to 5% minimums these days... and no 'help to buy' schemes...
Wages back then were more realistic in relation to house prices than now.
Help to buy is a con, me on a wage in London back in 1985 bought a 4 bed semi for £48k on a sparks wages that same house in now worth £1.2M if I could earn £300k per year as a sparks I may consider taking a wage cut to do something that I enjoy............
i agree. Help to buy is just another form of debt. And the houses they offer on help to buy are normally £200,000 plus. If you need to resort to help to buy then not in a position to buy a 200k house. In Germany 90% rent. It’s not the done thing to buy. I think it’s too far beyond a lot of people’s reaches these days. People just aren’t earning enough money to afford to buy because wages haven’t caught up
 
Wages back then were more realistic in relation to house prices than now.

i agree. Help to buy is just another form of debt. And the houses they offer on help to buy are normally £200,000 plus. If you need to resort to help to buy then not in a position to buy a 200k house. In Germany 90% rent. It’s not the done thing to buy. I think it’s too far beyond a lot of people’s reaches these days. People just aren’t earning enough money to afford to buy because wages haven’t caught up
The ones in power and I mean the real ones in power just want us all in perpetual debt, from student loans through to mortgages and PCP loans as its a control mechanism and then when you die you get arse raped for inheritance tax where that money could really help your children/grandchildren get a foot on the ladder.

The working classes or what's left of them don't have time to demonstrate/riot like they did in the past its all the Liberal rich elite that can afford to do that nowadays the scum on lifetime benefits don't want to rock the boat as they have it far too good nicking tools from vans, shop lifting and smoking weed.........
 
It's certainly harder to get on the property ladder now than 25 years ago... but nowhere near as hard as the media like to make it out to be.

There was a thing on the radio about it a few months back... youngsters calling in to say how they had done it... it was amusing because the show obviously wanted to make the point about how difficult it was... but many callers said they'd just had to save up really hard and work long hours to do it. That's exactly how it was when I first bought... having 2 jobs, not going out, not going on holidays etc. etc...
It can be done when still at home with parents. But once you have a mrs and a kid it’s 10 times harder
 
It can be done when still at home with parents. But once you have a mrs and a kid it’s 10 times harder
Its a lot easier to be honest as you'd rather be at work then dealing with a couple of screaming kids and an un hinged missus, "anyone for OT", hand straight up.........
 
Its a lot easier to be honest as you'd rather be at work then dealing with a couple of screaming kids and an un hinged missus, "anyone for OT", hand straight up.........
My mrs wouldn’t have that. They always say you ain’t a sparky until you have had a divorce
 
My mrs wouldn’t have that. They always say you ain’t a sparky until you have had a divorce
Lol stuck on a building site with a loads of blokes doubt it happens, working in IT in an office full of fit hotties leads to temptation.
 
I'm off to view a house in half an hour. It is up for offers over £160k. It last sold in 1998 for £27k :D

The larger Victorian houses in the area have seen a rise in the same time frame from about £80k to £250-300k

Bananas.
I bought my first house for £29k back in 1995. I spent £15k doing it up plus the usual maintenance costs until I sold it in 2004 for £180k. Ive noticed its now up for sale advertised at £369k!

Back in the late 90's I tried desperately to convince my wife that we should invest money in property. I had the means and skills to do them up and we had no children so no other commitments. She already hated the fact that I was self-employed always wanted me to get a "proper" job. We ended up splitting up over our differences and I ended up broke in the process.

Hindsight eh? Now I've got the financial means to invest, I haven't got the time and property is far too expensive with profit margins to be gained smaller than ever.
 
I bought my first house for £29k back in 1995. I spent £15k doing it up plus the usual maintenance costs until I sold it in 2004 for £180k. Ive noticed its now up for sale advertised at £369k!

Back in the late 90's I tried desperately to convince my wife that we should invest money in property. I had the means and skills to do them up and we had no children so no other commitments. She already hated the fact that I was self-employed always wanted me to get a "proper" job. We ended up splitting up over our differences and I ended up broke in the process.

Hindsight eh? Now I've got the financial means to invest, I haven't got the time and property is far too expensive with profit margins to be gained smaller than ever.
Big mistake, if you believe in something then follow it thorough and don't rely on others, you had doubts that was your mistake.
 

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