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You add some excellent background and context. I was reading the article screaming "it's so much more complicated than this". > Incidentally I'm probably selli

You add some excellent background and context. I was reading the article screaming "it's so much more complicated than this". > Incidentally I'm probably selling my house an hour from Dublin a bike ride from the train with gigabit fibre on 3.5 acres soon if anyone's interested. I'm curious how much you're listing it above your purchase price. Show me a vendor who doesn't succumb to estate agents whispering in their ear about what you can get for it or a belief they _have_ to participate in 'supply and demand' and I'll eat my hat. (Yes, I'm just as guilty of this)

CalRobert 4y ago
How would I not participate in supply and demand? I'll sell to the highest bidder, whatever that is. Though I suspect I'll take a loss when all is said and done. I was stupid enough to buy a protected structure and thanks to heritage's intransigence I now have a thatched cottage (recently rethatched!) with a beautiful 120 sqm extension with huge windows, high ceilings, engineered wood floors, heat pumps, insulated foundation.... and no insurance. Because of the thatched bit...
- thaumasiotes 4y ago
  I thought there was an imitation thatch people could use? Looks like thatch (for "protected structure" purposes); doesn't rot?
  - CalRobert 4y ago
    Removing or replacing the existing thatch with anything but the same material (oaten straw) is highly illegal and could land me in jail. Of course, heritage's stubbornness is also why my own county lost 40% of thatched buildings in the last 20 years and will probably lose them all in the next 20. In some cases buildings are worth literally less than nothing (the land would be worth more without them) because heritage is naive enough to think some rich eccentric wants to plow millions of Euro in to fixing some dump in the middle of nowhere. I mean, 150,000 for this building is a joke - https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/1081285/historic-mill-in-offaly-comes-on-the-market-for-attractive-price.html https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/1081285/historic-mill... The land would be worth more if the building were demolished (and it had planning permission to build homes). But heritage officers won't allow that, so nature will demolish slowly (and make the town ever uglier in the process) and THEN in 30 years or so it will finally be demolished.
    - karp773 4y ago
      Heritage thatch?! Unbelievable! Ireland could easily be Singapore of Europe, especially after Brexit.
      - CalRobert 4y ago
        ? Ireland remains in the EU. And it's common to have stricter rules for historical buildings (fair enough, my cottage is over 200 years old) but normally it comes with provisions for supporting maintenance, insurance, etc. Ireland just half-asses it.
- switch007 4y ago
  Yeah that was an awkward phrasing on my part. What I mean is that vendors/landlords can decide to sell/rent for less than the maximum being offered and collectively cool the market themselves, theoretically. However it requires extreme coordination because if the vendor of my next property is trying to achieve maximum gains then it would be a financial double whammy for me if I take less than the maximum being offered. The point is that by accepting the absolute maximum I can get for my property, I am playing a part in raising property prices, whatever the reason. You said “I will sell”. It’s an active choice, not a law of nature. You make a decision. We all do
  - CalRobert 4y ago
    Sure, but I'm not a charity and I need to move somewhere else so I'm going to sell it to whoever is willing to pay me the most. My personal choices will not effect the systemic change needed.
  - ramblerman 4y ago
    If you want to fix this think about modifying incentives that pull the levers of supply/demand. Asking a random person on the internet to not do what is in their best interest because ... "utopia" is really naive, and quite absurd tbh.
    - switch007 4y ago
      Greed is a difficult thing to modify I wasn’t meaning to single out the OP. Just including them in “we” and trying to point out that everyone plays a part Do you have a more coherent and substantial reply or are you just looking to call me absurd?
      - ramblerman 4y ago
        Greed is hardwired into the human condition and I think it would be absurd to try and persuade people into transactions that would not be in their best interest and think you can have success. Especially where it is akin to a prisoner's dillema and a few bad actors can take advantage of your good intentions. My point was if you really care about this issue you need to think about incentives and/or government regulation as a solution - not preaching.

CalRobert 4y ago

How would I not participate in supply and demand? I'll sell to the highest bidder, whatever that is. Though I suspect I'll take a loss when all is said and done. I was stupid enough to buy a protected structure and thanks to heritage's intransigence I now have a thatched cottage (recently rethatched!) with a beautiful 120 sqm extension with huge windows, high ceilings, engineered wood floors, heat pumps, insulated foundation.... and no insurance. Because of the thatched bit...

thaumasiotes 4y ago
I thought there was an imitation thatch people could use? Looks like thatch (for "protected structure" purposes); doesn't rot?
- CalRobert 4y ago
  Removing or replacing the existing thatch with anything but the same material (oaten straw) is highly illegal and could land me in jail. Of course, heritage's stubbornness is also why my own county lost 40% of thatched buildings in the last 20 years and will probably lose them all in the next 20. In some cases buildings are worth literally less than nothing (the land would be worth more without them) because heritage is naive enough to think some rich eccentric wants to plow millions of Euro in to fixing some dump in the middle of nowhere. I mean, 150,000 for this building is a joke - https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/1081285/historic-mill-in-offaly-comes-on-the-market-for-attractive-price.html https://www.offalyexpress.ie/news/home/1081285/historic-mill... The land would be worth more if the building were demolished (and it had planning permission to build homes). But heritage officers won't allow that, so nature will demolish slowly (and make the town ever uglier in the process) and THEN in 30 years or so it will finally be demolished.
  - karp773 4y ago
    Heritage thatch?! Unbelievable! Ireland could easily be Singapore of Europe, especially after Brexit.
    - CalRobert 4y ago
      ? Ireland remains in the EU. And it's common to have stricter rules for historical buildings (fair enough, my cottage is over 200 years old) but normally it comes with provisions for supporting maintenance, insurance, etc. Ireland just half-asses it.
switch007 4y ago
Yeah that was an awkward phrasing on my part. What I mean is that vendors/landlords can decide to sell/rent for less than the maximum being offered and collectively cool the market themselves, theoretically. However it requires extreme coordination because if the vendor of my next property is trying to achieve maximum gains then it would be a financial double whammy for me if I take less than the maximum being offered. The point is that by accepting the absolute maximum I can get for my property, I am playing a part in raising property prices, whatever the reason. You said “I will sell”. It’s an active choice, not a law of nature. You make a decision. We all do
- CalRobert 4y ago
  Sure, but I'm not a charity and I need to move somewhere else so I'm going to sell it to whoever is willing to pay me the most. My personal choices will not effect the systemic change needed.
- ramblerman 4y ago
  If you want to fix this think about modifying incentives that pull the levers of supply/demand. Asking a random person on the internet to not do what is in their best interest because ... "utopia" is really naive, and quite absurd tbh.
  - switch007 4y ago
    Greed is a difficult thing to modify I wasn’t meaning to single out the OP. Just including them in “we” and trying to point out that everyone plays a part Do you have a more coherent and substantial reply or are you just looking to call me absurd?
    - ramblerman 4y ago
      Greed is hardwired into the human condition and I think it would be absurd to try and persuade people into transactions that would not be in their best interest and think you can have success. Especially where it is akin to a prisoner's dillema and a few bad actors can take advantage of your good intentions. My point was if you really care about this issue you need to think about incentives and/or government regulation as a solution - not preaching.