Immigration

[Neil]

Good bait is a must.

[Bobbie En Tejas]

That's only a hook.. The escapee from the open can of worms is the bait.

[Bobbie En Tejas]

Hypothetical question:

If you were to sell your house, would you go for the best offer and help promote immigration and possibly kill the community, or would you refuse and sell at a price your neighbor can afford?

[Annie]

Tough one!

It is the American way to get the most for your buck. It is almost a certainty that if your neighbor cannot afford your house, then your neighbor should not be living in your neighborhood. Also, if you sell your house at a higher price, your neighbor should be happy, because it brings their property value/sell prices up and when they in turn decide to "sell their house for the best price," they will also get a good price!

P.S.:
If you look at the prices of real estate here in Hawa'ii, then you will see what "mentality" I am talking about. Here the price of single family homes are over 300K.

[Surfbored]

Annie, you have missed the point entirely ... this thread was never about America ...any of it.

It's about Scotland (and also I noticed on the news the North of England, Lake District etc).

Let me subtly rephrase Bobbie's question.

People have sly digs at English people in particular coming up here and retiring/buying holiday homes.

The moral dilema is ... do you sell your house to them for top dollar (and sell your soul to the devil imho)...or do you sell it to a local for less than that, thus keeping the community and local identity alive.

Communities are losing all that these days. Locals are being priced out of the housing market.

[Bobbie En Tejas]

Tough one!

It is the American way to get the most for your buck. It is almost a certainty that if your neighbor cannot afford your house, then your neighbor should not be living in your neighborhood. Also, if you sell your house at a higher price, your neighbor should be happy, because it brings their property value/sell prices up and when they in turn decide to "sell their house for the best price," they will also get a good price!

P.S.:
If you look at the prices of real estate here in Hawa'ii, then you will see what "mentality" I am talking about. Here the price of single family homes are over 300K.

Not sure getting the most for the buck is just the American way.. maybe "the people" way. I've seen tribes around the world dicker over the price of a bride by how many shells or cows they should have to pay. But the question wasn't about America. Its not about a society. Its about individuals. If you owned a house in Campbeltown, given the question, what would you do?

(Btw, Annie, the price of many single family houses in Kintyre that I've seen for sale aren't far from the $300K price. £150K is pretty close to $300K these days.)

What would you do, surfbored?

[Surfbored]

I wouldn't sell in the 1st place, prolly never be able to afford another one the way the housing market is going

But its a great dilemma Bobbie, wish I'd thought of it.

The powers that be sold a lot/most of their public sector housing stock during the Thatcher years, now it's a problem.

Campbeltown has suffered from a depressed housing market for years, so property in the town would be a relative steal.

There's always going to be a brain drain from rural areas, more people leaving the area due to lack of affordable housing would be terrible.


Anyway, lets see what other people would do ...very interested ..........................

[mary,queen of everything]

seen it before when greed takes over, a community is fractured. When you feel like an interloper in your own town because of the people that move to the area and buy out everything hoping to make a quick pound or two. Its sad when a young family cant afford to buy a home because of speculation.

[Jeanette]

The seller may have the interests of the town at heart when he sells the property but the end result may not turn out that way. A buyer may tell you that he is interested in starting up a business in the area and that his hobbies are gardening and wildlife. They may also say they are moving to the area because they are tired of city life and want to become involved in the community.

We take folk very much on trust here but it could turn out very disappointing when the incomers are only looking for a retreat on the occasional weekend and have very little input in sustaining our way of life. . It would be even more disappointing to find out that they are not in the least interested in wildlife or gardening and only want to act out the "kenya Syndrome" and the way of life that attracted them in the first place is the first thing on their hit list.

jeanette

[Pete Reek]

The seller has only one interest at heart, and that is getting shot of what they are selling at the best price they can get. Unless of course he/she is minted and can make decisions not centred around finance like most mortals have to do. I can honestly say that I have never yet met anyone that would take a price cut when selling their home so that a local could buy it cheaper. I might also add that I don't ever expect to either.
If we decide to move to another location for whatever reason, we would want the locals to welcome us into their community without condemning us for having offered the best price we could for our new home.
Do all those former Campbeltown residents that post on here get treated unfairly in the areas they have chosen to live?
Maybe it's just Campbeltown that has such high expectations on the qualities required for residency.
Who among us can say that everything they do is acceptable to all others?

[daftdog]

Hypothetical question:

If you were to sell your house, would you go for the best offer and help promote immigration and possibly kill the community, or would you refuse and sell at a price your neighbor can afford?

You should go for your best offer, as you can be sure the neighbour would take the best offer for the very same house you sold them for the "discounted affordable price".


What is it with folk down there?? If you decide to go and live in any one of the European Union member countries, you can. You would be buying a house in local comunities and taking a job as well.. would you not do this if it upset the very same communities?? i think not..

Its time to wake up and see what is happening everywhere else in europe. Its a free for all. If i had a business and was employing staff, i would employ the most suitable applicants.. not locals... the most suitable applicants. This way i can be sure my business would have a better chance of surviving, as sentiment has no place in business.. The same goes for selling the house, the car, the business or the wife... you want the best price possible.. (£1.50 for the wife...lol.)

ok i'll give you a tenner to take her off ma hands..lol.

[Ninja Mania]

So you expect to get double what the wife's worth D/D, now who is being greedy ?

[Surfbored]

Sadly it's affecting a lot of scenic areas in Scotland, North of England & Wales, so it isn't a problem exclusive to Campbeltown. (although obviously as this is a Campbeltown board that is the focus here). It's been on the news quite a lot recently, with laws being proposed in some areas of England and counter-suits claiming breach of human rights.

Also it's economic migrancy in reverse. Holiday/retiring to areas that are not only desirable but are extremely cost effective, but not really to work.

It is also opening up areas completely to market forces, which all things being equal (wages etc) is fine. But in reality this isn't the case. The best macro example I can think of this is the Berlin wall coming down.

And most of all ...it's a belter of a dilemma.

[mary,queen of everything]

I agree surbored, here we have a big tourist area about 15 miles away. the place has gone condo insane. beautiful natural area surrounded by massive structures. I would hope that the planning commissions that you have in place there would be wary of such structures. ( wish we had them here).
On the other hand, retiring to a quiet area also helps upgrade services and increase the tax base.
Last time I was home I was walking on a local beach and was approached by a person who told me that this was a private area and I was not allowed to be there!
This was not a locall who would know me or my family. I smiled politely( hard for me to do) and continued my meander down the beach.

[Malky]

On the other hand, retiring to a quiet area also helps upgrade services and increase the tax base.

One of the problems facing Argyll soon, will be the number of elderly/retired people in the area who will require medical help as they age. It is all very well retiring to a nice remote area like this when you are fairly fit and active, but if you lose mobility it could easily turn into a nightmare. There is already a strain on the NHS community services in the country areas and it can only get worse. Public transport is practically non-existent so if you are unable to drive it would become a very isolated existence.

Malky