Currency dilemma

 Yes that is what we are doing but they did encourage us. 

       I remember on TV a couple of year's ago there was older people wearing that on their teashirts.

      No Jan fed up with the currency dilemma.   What will be will be is my motto what can we do about it, it's not as if we can 

     change what is happening, if we could that would be different kettle of fish.

     Pat   

I think we can all agree that times are hard.  Pound crashing, no interest on savings, food prices going up (Just think of poor Victoria Beckham, her food bills are nearly a pound a week now!) but I am glad to hear a lot of posters are determined to make the most of it.  Homes are homes, houses are investments.  I realise that the place in Spain where I am going to retire to has now cost me more than it's worth but it is going to be my home, so what the heck?

Let's put a good spin on this, if at all possible, and look at some quotable quotes from the good internet:

Dreams come true if you survive the hard times

People need hard times to develop psychic muscles (No, I don't know what that means either)

Be thankful for the hard times in your life, they make the good times seem more enjoyable.

Rich people always talk about hard times

And finally, one from me, times may be hard but just remember, George Bush is going soon and Gordon Brown won't be far behind.  And if that doesn't put a smile on your face you're not worth saving!!!

Nice one bobaol.........................what was that about 'nil desperandum'?? 

I LOVE my HOME and my LIFE in SPAIN.

Well, you lot just said it all!  And more!

That's the way to go - and Trolls be damned!

And I agree with you, Pat - who cares about the currency dilemma.

Way to go!

I keep myself aware and upto date with the financial situation - but accept that I can do nothing about it . It just means I don't get any unexpected shocks.

As for the currency problem.....! Who knows!   Headline news is that sterling has dropped like a stone against the dollar - but it has been overvalued for the last 2 years !!!!

My gut instinct/intuition/guess is that once the BOE have cut interest rates as much as they can, the exchange rate with the euro will stabalise ,and then improve. A lot of the sterling's fall is due to speculation that base rate will reach 0%. If it does reach that low - it won't be a shock as the market has been anticipating it.

So - methinks this is as bad as it is going to get....

JO

Just checked the Euribor rate for my mortgagae calculations and it looks as though it has droppped 2.5 points since October which coincided with Sterling's decline...surely then we cannot hope for a £ revival as interest rates have fallen anyway in Europe.

There is a minor recovery of Sterling at the moment. Last Friday it was 1.02 now it's 1.09 -long may it continue

I've got a feeling that the problem with EU Gas supplies from Russia 'may' force a price hike in Gas supply charges in the EU and thus may have some bearing on the weakening of the Euro against the Dollar, Pound and Yen, as has been evident over the last few days.

LONDON, Jan 6 (Reuters) - Sterling extended gains versus a broadly weak euro on Tuesday, moving further away from parity with the single currency, but was pinned down against the dollar as dismal data underlined the UK's economic vulnerability. The euro's losses mounted, after it suffered a record one-day loss against the pound on Monday, on speculation the European Central Bank would be forced to cut rates deeper and perhaps sooner than expected as regional price pressures ease.

The single currency's losses also took the euro to three-week lows against the dollar, while it sank sharply versus the yen.

"With the situation in Europe deteriorating quite rapidly it leaves the euro quite vulnerable," said Ian Stannard, senior currency strategist at BNP Paribas in London.

The European Central Bank meets next week to decide on interest rates, with markets largely pricing in a chance of rates being cut 50 basis points to 2 percent.

Hmm!

Just wanted to post this for Norman

I seem to remember saying that once it was realised what state the EU economies are really in that the Euro would weaken, and I also speculated that it would happen within the 1st quarter of 2009.

Dear All,

thank you for all the sensible comment - as to all the silliness, well that is all the usual "shoot the messenger" nonsense.

why sunshine should produce such unpleasant people is unfortunate.

why Justin gives so much licence to their bad behaviour is something of a mystery too?

I can of course ignore most of it but thought I ought to comment on the risk consultant's contribution.

In regard to property statistically if you hold onto a property long enough you will not lose out financially overall.

Yes you will..............hold onto to it long enough and you will die and have nothing...............

No point in making a will then!

So to follow the dream I had to save up a 50% deposit and buy with a short term high interest bank loan.

So did we all in the UK to get our first homes, but with a sensible 25 year mortgage.............

Not true you did not put down a 50% commercial loan deposit on a domestic mortgage!

The current position in Spain is quite different however, there is little letting income, many overheads, expensive mortgages, generally poor construction giving maintenance costs etc.

Same as in the UK me thinks......................

Rubbish you are not thinking at all!

When one considers long term lets with rentals far below 70% mortgage costs then the cash flow situation is a total disaster and of course no Maggie

Same as the UK again, but thank god - no Maggie - else it would be worse!

More rubbish you are not thinking again and Maggie did provide landlord protection making property investment a reasonable risk!

Resales are nil or extremely rare, making property almost worthless.

So? If you are not in it for profit, why complain? The property you own is worth how much you love it............only paper money....

 Even more rubbish yet again, property investment is of course for income, as is consultancy and holiday lets!

Sorry EOS peeps, been reading this for ages and just HAD to respond...............

My kindest regards, as always................

???????????????
 

Given this scenario, just how exactly does the unfortunate property investor "hang on" as advised.

Best advice please.

Tough mate! You invested, you took the risk, obviously you were not as clever as you thought at the time. I think the wording is "speculate to accumulate" you obviously did  NOT do the speculating bit!

If you cannot read properly are you sure you are qualified to be a consultant????

The off-plan scam was a fraud, the property failed survey and I did not invest!

As far as I can tell from the information given, the only property investor actually commenting was Technoape who bought two properties on mortgage, one to live in and one as an investment.

Best Regards

Norman
 

This message was last edited by normansands on 1/6/2009.

Crikey.....................another nice, kind posting!!

The Troll's back!!

Hi

i agree with what you are saying, 'make the best of it ' and all that, but i hope people don't blame the credit crunch/currency on Spains problems. There is a demo on the ninth of this month, to protest against the dreadful Spanish lack of regulation and justice as reported on many threads.  I really hope everyone who reads this forum, as well as many others will attend, or at least join the petitions being raised.

We know about the positive parts of living in Spain, and i realise if you are happy with your lot, then all the bad press/comments about Spain must get on youe wick, but i do feel there's a bit of 'stick your head in the sand' or 'it's not in my back yard so i don't care' attitude sometimes on this site. The ruination of the coastline, the unfinished horrible overbuilds, the scams, the lies......all part of what is wrong.

For everyones sake, i really feel it's up to us all to do our  bit to help force change in the system, and bring justice and common sense where there is still far to often, none!

Back on topic with this thread.

DOUBLE FIGURES

The ex-rate just hit 1.10 to the pound.

I can fully understand why those who have bought and 'been through the mill' of the Spanish legal system  tend to look on the ;greenhorns' who complain about the lies deception and general arseing about that you have to accept to be admitted to the 'ex pats' club, as whingers but the sad reality is that in the 21st Century no western nation should allow the level of corruption and routine embezzelment that unlucky brits have to hurdle to buy a usuallly small and not well built piece of concrete jungle in the sun. Contarcts are binding agreements except in Spain when they are left to the the interpretation of Builders and a legal system bui;t to protect local interests against 'aliens'.

I live in Scotland, its wet its cold, its violent at times, its expensive....sorry was but looking better by the day against euroland. The NHS is ....free, systems are there to help anyone with needs and lastly it has laws to protect consumers rather than to shaft them. I was a spanish fan and hopeful homeowner now I am a much poorer and far more wary individual who would be loathe to have any more dealings with the country, Turkey seems much better. Honest and upfront buying is easy transparent and bereft of those slimy creeps who infest the atlas range (not necessarily in morocco).

Daved and Annette

Hi All, the Exchange Rate today at First Choice shops was 1,10€ to the £1, commission free.

If you look at the Money Shop and Cheque Centres they tend to offer a slightly better tourist rate than the travel agents and banks.  Today they were offering1.11 to the £

Linda