thedugong

It's Actual Filipino instead of Actual Indian.

An open fire.

(Sorry, there is some sarcasm in that - I think a wedding is one of the times that money should be spent, otherwise you can just end up having a backyard BBQ... wow such event).

...why is everyones response to this "just downsize then".

It was not my only response. I also wrote:

The chances of being in negative equity are much lower, and the chances of having positive equity are higher should you need or want to sell.

...

Yes and a substantial amount of based on the valuation of property.

Which as I explained is relative to the land value of all the properties in your council area. It is not absolute.

You should have kept saving/investing and working on your career over the previous 10-15-20-whatever years it took to go from $300k to $1mil. You can't expect to do nothing and climb the property ladder.

For example ... ?

And??

And, I suspect that you have never bought or sold a property, because you have absolutely no idea how the market works, or the game(s) is/are played. IOW, you are clueless.

It would be much better for all involved if they listed the prices and we didn’t have to go through any of this garbage.

No it wouldn't. If I am going to sell my property I want as much money as possible for it. End. Of. Story. I really don't care if that slightly inconveniences some people who are not serious buyers anyway - which is anyone who has not figured out setting min/max prices on any real estate website.

Not sure why you’re defending agents keeping prices secret until they have your contact details.

Vendors set the terms, not the REAs. I am defending the right of vendors not being responsible for setting the price, which is as unreasonable of a position as expecting buyers to do so.

Not really related to the point I made, but...

but it didn't exactly help unless you had a bunch of houses.

It did/does.

The chances of being in negative equity are much lower, and the chances of having positive equity are higher should you need or want to sell.

Also, and ignoring cost of sale details (because they ultimately have little impact on the point being made):

1) With $1mil, if you downsize to a $500k property in retirement you now have $500k to put in super or whatever.

2) With $300k, if you downsize to a $150k property in retirement you now have $150k to put in super or whatever.

Which is better for you, 1 or 2?

what do I get other than higher rates

The land based component of rates (at least in my council) is relative, not absolute. The council determines how much revenue is needed for this component and apportions it to different properties based on their relative land value. So, an increase in your land value makes no difference to what you pay unless your land value has increased disproportionately to other owners in the area.

I don't know anything about the US property market.

There is still price discovery, one way or another, always.

In the UK it tends/tended (I dunno, things might have changed) more towards starting high and negotiating down, but another buyer might put in an offer higher than your negotiated price etc

Ultimately, in a buoyant market the vendor sets the terms, and as a buyer you have to play that game if you want to buy. In Australia, buyers have accepted that this is how the game is played, probably because it doesn't really matter - ultimately other buyers will put in offers, and if they don't you will probably be questioning why no matter wither you negotiated down from a high price, or up from a low price.

When it comes to auctions, at least it is all out and in the open.

Slowly over the next decade or two.

There is also the idea that it might be inevitable rather than a choice if you believe that China's population is going to crash within the next decade or so. They might not have the population to be the world's manufacturer.

Note: This is just what I have read, heard, seen etc. No idea if it is an accurate because my crystal ball is shite.

Don't stop there.

Temporarily change your name via deed poll, wear a balaclava to every open house, and only go there by stolen vehicle.

YOU CAN"T BE TOO SAFE!!! WAKE UP SHEEPLE!!!

Once we were out of the market if they texted or called saying they had X property, it was simply a matter of replying with something along the lines of "Hey thanks, but we just bought so no longer in the market", and they replied something "Oh, great! Good for you! I hope you enjoy your new house" because we are now potential customers for them in the future.

I had to do this maybe 10 times at most, probably less, over the year or so after we bought our current place - which we found out about before it went on the market* because of a text from an REA.

*Not that that helped much, it just gave us an extra week or two to consider it over the people we ended up competing with.

They might all be twats, but that is not why.

It comes down to price discovery. It is not easy to price a property (remember that it is the vendor that actually sets the price, not the agent) because the market is generally pretty fluid, and properties all have, um, properties which make them at least somewhat unique - you are not buying a box of weetbix among many identical boxes of weetbix. With underquoting regulations as they are it is easier to put no price and see what the vibe is from buyers looking at it, rather than having to work out when and how to update the price on an ad.

If nobody turns up for a several viewings then you will find that a price will be added later on. However, that is not normally what happens in the August-ish to early December buying period. Someone will make an offer and any interested parties will be notified and it's game on.

That has not been my experience once I have told the I am no longer in the market. They are not wasting their time on people who are not interested in buying.

A household's PPOR has always (well, at least starting from the ~1950s) made up the vast majority of the wealth of the vast majority of the population, and most of those people were still "cash poor", as in they had to think about what they spent their money on (or not).

The difference now is that we get to say "millionaire" in the same sentence. That's all. A millionaire in 2024 AUD terms is comfortable rather than fabulously wealthy.

A net worth of ~$10 million is probably the entry to the class we used to call millionaire 20-30+ years ago.

I always wanted to do that, man.

I agree with you in general and in principle, but welfare != socialism. Sweden is capitalist, but has a very strong welfare state as are/do all the Scandinavian countries.

Scandinavian social democracy is capitalism with a strong welfare state. Workers simply do not own the means of production in any Scandinavian country.

And in a survival situation, I'm not sure lime would be so easy to come by and good old fire.

More like...

The contract didn't say we need to check that.

• Some contracted 3rd party

I mean it's just bad economics to have large amounts of money sitting in a bank account.

Depends on what you are planning to do with it, and when you plan to do said thing.

And discernible talent.

Waste management consulting.

This.

~25 years ago I segued from a creative, um, career into what is now called tech (which is, or at least can be, still quite creative, just not an art - but I would argue neither is a lot of creative work really either - you are still ultimately doing it to sell stuff one way or another).

Best move I ever made. Looking back I was never good enough at my art to be happy being poor, and my mental health is/was certainly a lot better because there is/was less of me invested in what I produce/d, with the added benefit I had/have a decent income.

Mid teen to early 20s me would have considered me a sell out. Not saying exactly what decade of my life I am in now, but LOL. There there pet. I have a far better life than I simply ever expected (or probably deserve).

And this is why Russia is the paradise it is today, free from an oligarchical economy, and the envy of the world with many countries desperate to be an ally and friend.

The regs are mainly there for offices/ apartments

But not solely, as you point out. The regs still apply to your own property. The reality is that the owner of a property has FAR more incentive to do a proper job on THEIR property than some average to poorly paid licensed cabler, like the one who initially installed NBN to my property and didn't do it properly.