Credit crunch: priorities, people!
I rolled my eyes at a piece in the Daily Mail at the weekend. The headline: Heartbreak Home: One woman’s blow by blow account of what it’s like trying to sell a house in the credit crunch.
This is how it begins:
It was reported yesterday that house prices are falling at their fastest rate since the 1990s property crash. There are already a million unsold homes in Britain - with a tale of misery behind each one. Here, Femail charts the agonising diary of one family’s attempts to sell up. Karen Green from Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwickshire, is a 38-year-old widow with four children. She works full-time as a dental receptionist. Her children are Michael, 18, Nicky, 16, Charlotte, 13, and Sophie, eight. Her three youngest children attend a private day school.
This lady’s “tale of misery” revolves around her decision to sell her large £575,000 home in Worcestershire and buy a £400,000 home, so that she can pay off debts and spend the surplus capital on her children’s school fees. The value of her home drops to £470,000 as the months pass, and the tale ends with her buyer pulling out at the last minute.
I know I should feel sorry for her – her husband died eight years ago and she is struggling to support her young family – but I can’t help thinking that her priorities are bonkers. (more…)
