by Scott Pape |May 7th 2010
Just last week I drove through America’s Deep South in a gas-guzzling Pontiac. Let me tell you – the Global Financial Crisis is alive and well. Everything is bigger is Texas, including the For Sale signs.
At LA Airport waiting for my flight home, I watched as the RBA increased interest rates, again. Touching down in Melbourne, I was greeted with a screaming front page: ‘ON THE BRINK, Rates pain may force 90,000 out of their homes’.
Financial researchers Fujitsu (not the air-con people) have just released a report claiming that mortgage stress is now affecting nearly 40 per cent of the 270,000 people who entered the property market since June 2008. And they’re warning of more pain to come.
What a difference a year makes.
Around this time last year, federal and state governments were giving buyers up to $32,000 in grants, and lenders were willing to fund (over) 90 per cent of the purchase price.
Anyone who’s read my column knows I’ve been sniffing this for a while and believed it would end up stinking.
But instead of just relying on my nose, in May 2009 I talked to some real people – a young couple, a single guy and a single girl – who were thinking of entering the property market. I asked them two tough questions: ‘What if you lose your job?’ and ‘What if interest rates rise 2 per cent?’
Well, since then they’ve all become proud homeowners. This week I touched base to see how they’re faring.
THE COUPLE
Reuben and Aimee were the poster kids of the government property propaganda campaign. They stared down a bank willing to lend them double what they were comfortable with, and instead bought a sensible three-bedroom home for $269,000.
Since I last spoke to them they’ve become proud parents to baby boy Levi (
that’s what happens in the suburbs).
Yet they told me they’re not worried about rising interest rates, principally because they didn’t overextend themselves. They’d already asked themselves my ‘what if’ questions.
And with Aimee returning to work two days a week, they’ll find themselves in an even more financially sound position.
THE SINGLE GUY
When I first met 25-year-old office worker Daniel, he explained he was using the government grants to start his property portfolio.
He’d been to a seminar and had bought into an outer suburban land development that he believed would grow $25,000 to $30,000 a year – profits he planned to plough into buying more homes.
With a poor credit history and little savings, Daniel chose to borrow over 95 per cent of the purchase price. When asked what would happen if interest rates rose by 2 per cent, he’d replied, ‘I’d have to borrow from a family member’.
This week Daniel was not available for comment.
THE SINGLE GIRL
Elisha is an office worker from Frankston who, like Daniel, used the grant to kick off her property portfolio.
She ended up buying a one-bedroom flat for $179,000, which she lived in for the required six months and has recently started renting out.
Elisha told me that she receives about a $1,000 a month rent, which almost covers her variable home loan repayment. All up, she’s out of pocket about $1,500 a year for the place – but she tells me that in the last year the value of her place has increased by a whopping $30,000.
Elisha said to me on the phone this week, ‘When we first spoke, you asked me what would happen if I lost my job. I thought about it and made sure I had enough savings to tide me over on the off chance it would happen. Then a couple of weeks ago I was made redundant!’
With good planning, Elisha was prepared for this eventuality, and will no doubt get back on her feet. Barefoot says, ‘When the going gets tough, the tough wash dishes.’
HOW TO BEAT THE REPO MAN
I’ll follow these three new homeowners throughout the year and beyond as interest rates (probably) continue to rise. Let’s hope none of them become part of the front page statistics – the 90,000 people at risk of losing their homes.
Martin North, author of the Fujitsu report, was quoted as saying: ‘People who get in mortgage stress end up selling up. It’s horribly predictable.’
But it doesn’t have to be. If you’re finding it tough to make your mortgage repayments, here’s what you should do.
Take control. Now.
The truth is, if you can’t afford your home, the bank doesn’t want it either. For the bank, repossessing a home is costly and may lead to them booking a loss. Keep that in mind while you look for a way to dig yourself out of trouble.
Before any action can be taken by your lender to sell your property, you’ll be sent a default notice, which gives you 30 days to come up with the missed payments.
At this stage you should (urgently) book in and see a not-for-profit financial counsellor, who will take you through your options to avoid a mortgagee sale.
And you have plenty of options.
You may be able to defer your payments for a set period (which you’re entitled to do under the Consumer Credit Code). Otherwise you may negotiate to modify your loan, such as paying interest only for a set period, extending the term, or capitalising your missed payments onto the end of the loan. In exceptional circumstances you may also be able to access your superannuation benefits.
The most important thing is to take charge of the situation and work through the process with a professional who has your best interests at heart. Quickly.
Tread your own path!
Question: Who is to blame for the fact that 90,000 people could soon lose their home? Do they only have themselves to blame – or did the government and the bankers play a part?
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62 comments
I think the blame has to be shared; the government for their ridiculous handouts, the banks for taking advantage of the situation, but also the borrowners who were silly enough not to see through the scheme and have overextended themselves.
I don't think the answer is as straight forward as that. Did the governments handouts over stimulate the econonmy? Probably. Were the “emergency” interest rates too low. Yes, but who knew. Generally mortgage serviceability is calculated on interest rates that are higher than the advertised rate to try to make sure that the applicant can afford it. Irresponsible lenders must shoulder some of the blame, but here is no excuse for people's ignorance of the consequences of interest rate hikes
We all like to blame someone else for our misfortune, and we all absolutly love to winge about the banks with their mega bonuses and record profits. The fact is not one person was made to buy a house, there was no gun to there head by Mr Westpac saying sign here or else.
Ultimatly we are all responsible for our own spending habbits and that includes investments. We all want to live free and easy lifestyles and most of us believe that building wealth through property is a great way to do it. The thing is timing (and other factors) is crutial in the whole business, and when the Govt is throughing money around it can seem very enticing. We all don't go out and have babies because the Govt is giving a $5000 baby bonus out there. My hat goes off to anyone who is willing to go out and buy a house, just look at it sensibly, its a bloody big commitment. And our own finances are our own responsibility.
Unfortunately, the irresponsible govt, dangled a carrot and people ate it. Some of those people were smart enough to see the looming train wreck and planned ahead (well done to them!) others…..well they're the ones that are selling their newly owned home and hopefully coming out with a little bit more knowledge and maybe a small amount of cash. The govt. is first and foremost to blame (for coming up with the carrot to dangle), then the Banks, who just wanted to line their pockets (no surprises there) and third, the borrowers who entered into this disaster with little or no savings and no financial knowledge to be able to deal with an unstable economy and a growing risk of losing their jobs. Hopefully most people will have learned a lesson from this, and go back to the good ways of saving for a deposit for a home, saving for “security blanket” and not giving into temptation at a carrot being dangled! I think the govt. should introduce a 'learning how to deal with finances' into school programs!
Question: Who is to blame for the fact that 90,000 people could soon lose their home? Do they only have themselves to blame – or did the government and the bankers play a part?
I believe that everyone should take responsibility for their own financial situation (either positive or negative).
Realistically neither the banks nor the Govt “forced” these people into loans that they could not really afford. Certainly they made it easier for these people to make the mistakes but you don't sue a car manufacturer when someone misuses the car and has an accident.
Unfortunately all are to blame
1. People should budget and live within their means.
2. Banks should only loan people what they can afford.
3. Gov't throwing money into the arena only inflates prices
eg…insulation programme and school upgrades !
the goverment bent to bulilders and real estate people back when gst was introduced bringing in the first home owners grant fueling a boom of people who should never consider buying a home and then future goverment increased it fueling a bigger boom with the banks eager to cash in with low deposit loans
Ultimately they bent over to voters who like to feel rich!
Do you think the Fujitsu research is overblown? Anyone care to wager how many people will lose their homes in the next 12 months?
Personal responsibility is a rarity in this country – especially in an election year.
Yes, that's something that I am very, very passionate about.
That's why the couple I interviewed impressed me so much – they understood that they couldn't have it all, and that there were sacrifices that needed to be made.
….or the mortgage broker.
It will be interesting to track Harvey Norman's share price going forward.
What about the fact that many people could use their $32,000 to increase their LVR?
They live in Geelong.
They live in Geelong.
Until people take personal responsibility for their own (actions) finances, they will be constantly blaming others for their “misfortune” when in reality there are options available to them to improve the situation.
As you suggested above:- Before you go into arrears you could negotiate with the lender to capitalize the interest, go interest only for a few repayments or even a few other options (rent out a room to help cover the short-fall?)
Hey that's a really good (and really obvious) suggestion – renting out a room is logical – maybe that's why so few people do it?
I agree. I said as much to the housing Minister.
How long will that last when interest rates climb?
I think we're all responsible for our own actions however the govt, media and banks do have a lot to answer for.
I was looking at buying at the start of the year as all who had a voice would tell me to “buy now before it's too late” but then I started doing some research. Some quotes that stood out to me where “History always repeats itself” and “Record high prices and record low interest rates are just not sustainable”.
So whilst the bank was willing to give me more money than I could ever pay back, I would now be in trouble if I had made that move. The recent interest rate rises would have added more than $700 to my repayments – not $50 like the media reports – who buys a house in the metro areas for $300K? Further more, who has the money to buy a house for $1m but only borrow $300K as a first home buyer?
Seriously, the individuals are to blame but with all the hype, support and incentives, it's damn hard to not want to grab the opportunity with both hands. I'm just glad I didn't…
On the other side of the coin there appears to be a great oppurtunity looming for those who have prepared themselves and not over committed with what looks like a flood of homes coming onto the market with many home owners desperate to sell.
I dont mean to sound like its taking advantage of people in trouble but at the end of the day if rates continue rising these properties will come onto the market anyway, and with so many desperate sellers and poperties available prices should fall as competition for fewer and fewer buyers increases. There is always an oppurtunity when the masses are screaming doom an gloom
I think we need to look at educating in school about money and the options we have. I come across kids and they have no understanding of a credit card or a mobile phone contract. It is a “I want it now, no matter the cost, so long as it is the latest or the biggest”. 20 years ago, you didn't you didn't have the amount of free credit or extra monthly bills, mobile, Foxtel, internet etc.
I am a single 46 year old female, I don't earn a big wage. When I got my loan I decided that I would only borrow enough so that the repayments where the same as my rent at the time. Now my repayments are well under what people are paying in rent. I have a single garage, 3 bedroom and 1 bathroom house, not the McMansion.
The banks will lend you the world, they will say of course you can borrow 700k, realistically look at borrowing 350k and the if they throw the wonderful credit card with the 10 or 20k limit, half it as well. Dont' fall into the trap that everyone else does. Work out what the most you are willing to repay and then look at a loan that the repayments are 10-15% less. This will keep you one step ahead of everyone else, it may take a little longer as you may has to save a little more, but you are going to be able to have a life. Manage the money or have if manage your lifestyle.
I believe they only have themselves to blame. It was only sensible when all the papers are declaring that interest rates are at emergency lows that they will rise and will probably rise fairly fast to return to the “normal” level. That's why I bought a place for under $200,000, so even if interest rates hit the 1980's teen levels, I can still meet my legal obligation.
One thing I likes about the article that discussed the 90,000 strugglers is the photo of the young couple had a bigger flat screen TV than anyone I know and couldnt help thinking that maybe it was their other spending habits that had put them in trouble. This thought was quickly followed by “well if they sell that TV they would get at least six months of the current rise instantly covered”
I think that is the other area where many of the “strugglers” have come unstuck, they shouldnt have used those nice “Interest Free” loans to furnish their places with brand new stuff. For generations your first home has been furnished with the cast offs of family and this has contributed to people being able to pay their mortgage.
Geelong = 50 minute train ride from Melbourne CBD. Closer than most Melbourne suburbs but most people discount it because its another city.
You can find similar places in the towns north and south of Sydney…
Btw, ex-Geelong girl
There's been a bunch of comments putting the “blame” squarely on the people who have overextended themselves and I couldn't agree more.
What options for the 90k? Simple… sell up and buy something you can afford. Or if you can't afford to buy, rent! And if someone blabbers on about not being able to find a house in their price range, suck it up and downsize or better yet move further out than the suburb (or surrounding suburbs) from which you grew up. Don't like the commute, tough, get used to it.
Live within your means.
It's true – and the quality of life in a regional city has it's advantages too.
Well said!
I saw that as well! It was subtle, but I wonder who else noticed?
Just interesting to gauge people's perceptions. I'm an entrepreneur who believes in personal responsibility – but I am in the minority!
I think kids are taught (or starting to) mobile phone contracts etc. Yet what isn't taught is the behavioral traits that ensure sound money management – these, not just the ability to read a contract, are what really makes the difference to long-term financial success.
I agree. I've said that for years.
You can partially negative gear your property, although you would need to talk to an accountant to see whether the tax savings would be worth it. Most people I know just take cash. The smart one's put it straight off their mortgage.
I have found that the mainstream media like talking about property prices – both good (they're going up!) and bad (they're going to crash!), because inherently that's what we're all interested in…it sells newspapers. However, the banks, politicians, and various bottom feeders along the chain hate the thought of housing prices going down – and therefore don't give it much oxygen. Look at the reaction to the report from the IMF director last week who said property was 50% overvalued.
I agree it is the buyers responsibility to do their home work and buy what they can afford. However when it comes to escaping the repo man, why not change the loan to interest only and rent the place out. They could then move back in with mum and dad or into some other cheaper rental situation and ride the storm out.
So long as the bank will allow it – it always pays to read the fine print.
The government did not screw anyone. I used government bonuses to refurbish my unit. How people spend their funds is their choice and their responsibility. That's a big problem today, many people to not want to take responsibility for their own actions.
Yes noticed the TV strategically placed so boomers can say “in their day they ate baked beans everyday and work 25 hours a day for their house. Young people these days…”
Check this out – the same couple from a year before http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/news/indepth/i... saying how wonderful the FHBG was and claiming she doesn't even have a job
and guess who she works for
http://www.starrpartnerscampbelltown.com.au/Rea...
btw Scott today was the first time I'd watched your show – a lot of common sense and sound advice. Will watch again
Caveat Emptor.
Australia has sunk mega dollars into housing. 'Australians' believe that housing is a safe 'bet' and that the value of property always goes up.
This is because their are sophisticated networks in play with vested interests in keeping 'Australians' buying property to keep the growth going in prices and selective use of statistics what do you know about the difference between Mean and Median?
An analysis of past performance in Australia shows we have had 3 real property crashes in Australia.
We are not immune or special, Australia will have a property market correction – unless the Australian housing model is totally revolutionary and has created sustainable exponential growth in value… ask a mathematician how likely that is.
Moreover, our funding for these mortgages has been raised from overseas merchant banks and national wealth funds and our Australian dollar. We also spend over 60 cents for every dollar we earn around a $1.60 per dollar – we are still gorging on debt.
Don't believe me? Have a look at Australia's national savings rate. It turned for the better in 2008 but we are lousy savers. Why does that matter? Well if you want a loan you got to a … yep a bank. The bank loans out your money, and they charge enough interest to pay the saver a return and themselves a profit or margin. It is also the cheapest form of funding for Australian banks – that is why we have had a huge price war in online savings accounts.
Point being, because we do not have enough savings we have to go overseas to keep our spending going (by the way all that government spending is based on loans from overseas as well!).
So, what if our dollar goes down (higher costs of borrowings increased payments overseas as the cost of money goes up for instance.) That could be a problem… try and think why!
Also, we have been on a massive property splurge more and more of our cash/investments/speculation funds have been poured into housing.
Now here is the real worry and have a think about this, if house prices are not rising what does a house produce?
Answer, it produces debt, you have to pay the mortgage (if you have one), rates, up-keep on the house, service costs of the house etc. And you have all of your 'wealth' locked into the house.
So, if you buy a house to get a return it has to go up. Period.
While we have housing going up it is a giant party… this is referred to as 'Mania' in the bubble lingo by economists. Reason being, it is mania as everyone 'knows' how to make money – buy property right?! Well if everyone 'knows' then we can all be rich right? Wrong, that is called a Ponzi scheme. Look it up and it will start to make sense.
My real concern here is that with all of the money we have been encouraged by John Howard and Kevin Rudd to funnel into housing that we have deprived Australia of money to invest in things that produce – that make money.
Like small business, medium business, bigger business. Our economy needs to make stuff to make money, building houses only gives a small percentage of Australians work… (don't give me that BS about the velocity of money either!) it is not sustainable and not a way to build a balanced economy. We are now looking at Generation debt for both X, Y and 'god' help the Alpha's.
And I guess this is my point, for most people buying a house is one of the biggest investment decisions they will make. So you should remember the 3 R's Research, Research, Research. Simple and buyer beware… no one else cares about you but you, not the Bank, not the Government, nor your Accountant and Property Developers or the Media.
So, Caveat Emptor at the top end of the property bubble is what one should be thinking.
Good luck!
Im certainly no expert, but with a Fiat currency, which in its nearly 3000 year history has never worked, and a monetary system where money is created as debt I think the whole system is headed for a much bigger crash than the one we recently witnessed therefore I suspect that anyone who buys a home should at least consider the possibility of losing it in the not too distant future, but as I said Im no expert
word
on the baby comment.. people did go out and have babies for that cash grab, and openly admitted taking this avenue… people are uneducated/careless… I read a quote once and i think it will apply for many a time to come:
If you think education is expensive, try ignorance
The government would never want to introduce such an education program in schools as they like everyone to be struggling to pay off a mortgage for 30 years so they can remain a slave to their jobs and be good little taxpayers feeding government coffers for the next 40 years! They don't even teach kids basic budgeting skills, any business acumen or show them the benefits of saving. I personally find the whole education system very frustrating and thank my lucky stars that someone introduced me to the Rich Dad Poor Dad book series while I was relatively young.
I borrowed for my first home in 1980 when interest rates were 11% and they went up and up from there. I still paid off that home in just a few years (I know, I know, I wasn't saddled with HECS fees too) because I ran an old bomb, ate packed lunches, went Op Shopping for clothes and to Garage Sales and the Second Hand columns for furniture. I didn't buy $4 coffees twice a day either and have never racked up big mobile phone costs. Sounds bleak? No, it was fun and 30 years on, I own my very nice home outright, have investment properties, a tidy sum in Super and work part-time. 90,000 first home buyers might have been a bit silly and believed the government, media and banking hype but now they need to show a bit of maturity and decide how much they want to hang onto their homes and what they are prepared to do to make it happen. Short term pain for long term gain!
I'm talking about 18 year olds going from open home to open home with their parents as it was the parents that thought the grant was too good an opportunity to pass up! It's not as straight forward as taking responsibility for your own actions. The government handed this out as one of their strategies to keep the economy afloat and created people who never thought it possible to buy or build their first home to do it as the grant was enough for a deposit. Where the problem lies is that there was a reason why they could never afford a home to begin with.
You're right – it won't last long at all! In fact it'll be interesting to see the effect the last interest rate rise has on the market – investors are likely to be going back under their rock until the mortgagee for sale signs come up!
Is that a bad thing? If it puts them below the threshold for Lenders Mortgage Insurance then that's a good thing. LMI is a scam. It's the only insurance that I know where you pay the premiums to insure someone elses risk andwhere the insurer will still chase you for the debt if you default and sell your house to boot.
Well spotted. I don't have a big screen TV – hell I don't even have a set top box! There are too many other interesting things to be doing than sitting in front of the tube.
Name 5
Agreed!
When we bought our place in 1999, we worked out what we could comfortably repay on hubby's income if rates went up to 10%. At the time, rates were 7.5%, they've gone down and come back up since then, hubby has been retrenched twice, and we have never been anywhere near losing our house. Who are these idiots who squawk because they thought interest rates would never go up and they'd never be out of work?
But I doubt we'll see a huge number of foreclosures. The house-worship in Australia means that a lot more people will eat Vegemite sangers for tea, and maybe they won't be quite so pretentious for a while. That's all.
Ah, the lovely old blame game. I have many opinions, but all I can say for certain are my own circumstances.
My husband and I are in our 30s, with decent paying stable jobs. We've been saving up towards a deposit for our first home, as we are sick to death of landlords telling us when to clean our oven, or selling our home from under us (yes these both have happened mutiple times!)
However, we are risk-averse: so it was nothing but frustrating to know that we would “miss out” on the federal boosts/state bonuses (ending last year/this June – thanks Brumby!). But we were well aware that it would be an uncomfortable and possibly distasterous risk for us to move in on the housing market sooner than the end of this year. Basically, while we could have taken advantage as did these 90,000 of “free cash” offered in a short period of time, we decided in the medium term this would, in fact, not be an advantage. The only people this would have truly been an advantage for are those who were on the brink of having enough of a deposit already.
On a side-, but related point, a big disincentive for us (in terms of considering whether we can, in fact, buy a house) is the beloved stamp duty. I would much rather forgo the FHOG, which I believe inflates house prices, and get rid of (or even just discount!) the $10,000+ stamp duty for first home owners (VIC: the highest in the nation). We could move interstate, where most stamp duties for first home owners are $0-200, but our support network and our jobs are in Victoria. Risk our jobs for a house? No.
So while we spend many months saving extra money to cover the stamp duty, we watch houses currently within our price range disappear into higher brackets over time, knowing that we are also watching 'assistance' in FHOG & other bonuses etc disappear. Being sensible, responsible buyers makes us feel like we are being shafted, while the irresponsible are rewarded with extra cash.
Walking, reading, discussing, cooking, snuggling.
I bought my first property in June last year at 24 – not to take advantage of any government bonuses, but because an apartment that I really liked came up in the area I wanted to live in at a price I could afford… Yes I had assistance from my parents – both knowledge & financial as they have a property portfolio… I also rented it out for the first 8mths… This helped me get used to having a mortgage whilst paying down other debts & curbing my natural spender ways… I furnished a 2 bedder for less than $1k with creative ideas, op shopping & ebay & am very proud of my home… The interest rates are not my favourite & they aren't really effecting me yet – just taking a little of my extra spending money… As a single woman paying of this apartment, it's been challenging & I haven't been able to do all the things my friends have done [gone overseas, large savings accounts, etc] but I am very happy with my success to date… I have a roomie who pays rent fortnightly which helps me with the beloved strata levies…
I don't think my generation really grasps the concept of being successful without having 'stuff' everywhere… I much prefer diligently paying off my property to having designer everything – not that it wouldn't be nice, but because of where my priorities lay… Sure it was nice to have the bank give me $500k to spend, but not taking it all was one of my best choices…
In 1980 the average house price was about 3x average wage, now it is about 7x. You had it easy even with high interest rates.
Have to disagree Manlander. The benefits of Home ownership. No constant moving. Once debt is paid off you have much more finacial freedom.This should done as soon as possible to reduce overall interest paid. Also your home should not be looked at as money in the bank,but a roof over your head. Unless you plan on buying more dwelling's for the purpose of investment, then it becomes different, but try not to risk your private dwelling, keep it safe and hold onto it. As far as employment goes, the longer you have been employed by the same company the better the payoff, if a redundancy occurs. As long as you can find another job sooner than the redundancy can reduce the mortgage. I must admit with more people staying single longer or forever, is much harder on one salary to buy that dream home. But as a single person I did,I took that redundancy (16ys) worked hard to pay down the loan in seven years by renting it out living as cheaply as possible. But I did buy in 2001 when prices were a little lower, but a $205K loan on a $48k income was still a challenge, yet having $75k deposit and a good mortgage broker helped secure a loan. Now, like Scott preachers. I'm going somewhere warm for three months to escape the winter. And remember, it all comes down to… supply and demand.
Good luck to all and go for your dream
“With a poor credit history and little savings, Daniel chose to borrow over 95 per cent of the purchase price.” Really, by May 2009 it was not possible to borrow 95% with a poor credit history. Does this guy actually exist?
Purchasers need to take responsibility for their actions; first be prepared to live within your means; do not over extend youself financially; do not shoot for the top; be prepared to start out small; consolidate and then move up to the next level; ensure you have at least 20% of your own funds to purchase a property
The term “mortgage stress” is a bit misleading in my opinion. What is it really measuring? When my husband and I decided to move into his investment property we were paying more than 50% of our income into the mortgage to meet minimum repayments. Most journalists call mortgage stress 35% of income going to mortgage – so we were well and truly in “stress” by their definition. Yet we never had to miss a payment – in fact we paid extra because we had it spare. So how useful is this definition? On a small income, 20% on housing may be too much, on a larger income I could handle a much higher percentage – as shown by being able to live comfortably on 50%, on a really big income I could conceivably pay 80% onto mortgage and still be able to pay living expenses. It's not the percentage left over that is important, but the actual amount. Wouldn't it make more sense to say that mortgage stress is when your income after mortgage payments is below the poverty line for your income unit excluding housing?
Im a single mother with 3 children the youngest still at home for me the govt grant has been a godsend. I bought my 2 bedroom unit in a beach side suburb just over a year ago for 272k i had saved just over 25k while raising my children on my own with little to know financial help from there father. I have always worked full time and at times worked second jobs, cleaning or whatever was available to save and to pay for extras for the kids. I rented the property out for the first 6 months and since then have payed off close to 40k. I have had a wonderful time making a home for myself and my children as we have always rented, everything always felt so temporary until now. So we paint and build, polish and decorate and plan………….life is wonderful as long as you save and live within your means.
Here Here mate, just look at Japan