Bad News Everywhere, But I Feel Lucky...

[ember]

Foreclosures, a massive gov't bailout, rising unemployment, rising gas prices, retirees losing their savings...bad news everywhere. And yet, I feel lucky. I am middle-aged but tech savy (at least a little bit) and making a decent living (knock-on-wood) via the web and Adsense (and a few other endeavors). I see people losing their jobs and having no idea what to do. I can always publish more websites and generate some income. Yes, online advertising may take a hit as the economy teeters, but I still feel lucky being able to do what I do, and yes, I owe a lot to Google.

Just my thoughts.

[KlingWRAP]

Thanks for your thoughts.

You may feel lucky but looking at the state of the world based on websites, adsense and google performance is not realsitic.

Understand that reality goes way beyond the circus called the Internet and if you don't know how to hunt for food you may find yourself in severe trouble.

Many people feel lucky within the litle bubble they have created...but remember that we all rely on other people to carry on...so if the bottom drops?

[rj87uk]

ember, I feel the same way.

The bad news for everyone is even helping me as house prices are dropping like never before, I am a first time buyer. It is harder to borrow money now but I have been saving up for a long time and 5 more months of house prices falling I will have enough to get my own house!

[sorry for everyone else who have houses and the price of them is going down...]

[dcheney]

rj87uk:

I'm in the same boat - planning on buying in Q1 - things are looking mighty fine from my perspective.

[Old_Honky]

[sorry for everyone else who have houses and the price of them is going down...]

For those of us with a house and a mortgage the fact that our house value may decrease is a big irrelevance. As long as we keep paying the mortgage, even if we are in negative equity, then there is nothing to worry about. Unless I sell it the value of my house doesn't affect my life very much at all. One thing is certain while there is still a housing shortage in the UK, house values will eventually go back up.

[edited by: Old_Honky at 1:10 pm (utc) on Sep. 24, 2008]

[engine]

>Unless I sell it the value of my house doesn't affect my life very much at all.

Correct! And if your are selling to buy another house, the prospective house would have reduced in price.

The key thing to remember is that the house is your home, above all other views of it.

ember, good for you! Keep up the good work.

[HelenDev]

@ rj87uk and dcheney, good luck with the house buying. We have just bought a house, after waiting and saving for years finally reasonable properties came into our price range and we decided to go for it.

There are lots of people out there (especially on house price forums, don't go there!) with negative views about buying at the moment, but I don't think people can really predict exactly what is going to happen and when.

If we had bought a year or so ago when everyone was saying we absolutely must, we would have paid considerably more for the same place (it was later reduced), so I'm sure this is not the worst time to buy, no matter what people say.

As you said engine, a house should be for living in and people could wait the rest of their lives for the 'correct' time to buy, and our generation know all about that! The supposed 'boom' years have actually been pretty bad for a lot of people, we can only wait and see what the 'bust' brings...

[wyweb]

I'm with you ember. I feel fortunate as well. My e-commerce sites are recession proof. Or so it seems. I've seen a slight downturn in sales lately but it's not enough to make me nervous. Adsense earnings have picked up which compensates nicely for the falling sales. I've lost some traffic due to my inattentiveness but I think that will come back. If it doesn't.. well, I live a very simple life and can do without the extra money.

Foreclosures, a massive gov't bailout, rising unemployment, rising gas prices, retirees losing their savings...bad news everywhere...

You got that right. It's downright depressing if you pay too much attention to it. My whole philosopy for the last 10 years or so has been to stay liquid.... stay fluid. Be able to move at a moments notice. Adapt, adjust.. conform to changing times. I haven't had to do any of that. I keep waiting for these massive upheavals to rock my little world but they never get here. They never happen. I'm not about to lower my guard but I also think it might be time to let this rampant paranoia take a rest.

My expectations aren't that great to begin with. I never planned to get rich doing this. All I wanted was a roof over my head and the freedom from having somebody tell me what to do every time I turned around and I've accomplished that. My boss is me and my roof is paid for and yeah, I feel pretty dang fortunate...

[rj87uk]

Thanks HelenDev! I have my eye on three houses I would love and if they get sold then I have a very good idea about prices and the type of house I want I feel thats half the battle when searching, knowledge is key (content is king?).

Very true wyweb, I think there will be many business owners from WebmasterWorld that will feel the same. I am at a very crucial point in my business as I am expanding however I feel that can only help me in the long run. I do feel sorry for others as I can tell very easily that this credit crunch is hitting everyone not just from the news but people struggling to pay for heating and even bread and milk. One thing I can say is everyone will be in shock after this winter as the prices of heating will give a lot of families a really hard time to get by.

[lgn1]

I have always considered my house as a place of shelter, not an ATM machine.

I can't believe the visonary's at a certain unnamed company with the words "die" and "tech" in it, couldn't see a problem with lending at 125% equity.

The current crisis is probabaly the greatest act of collective stupidity since the dutch tulip bulb craze.

[wyweb]

The current crisis is probabaly the greatest act of collective stupidity since the dutch tulip bulb craze.

Thank you.