Amidst all the wailing and gnashing of teeth I have a feeling that some forum members made a profit in the boom, either from property or other financial dealings. Since everyone is anonymous on here no harm will be done in discussing profitable and positive outcomes.

I inherited some property about 10 years ago and sold out last year...hence realising a substantial amount of cash. My main interest is in share dealing which I have pursued over many years and this has also been profitable.

I agree with the general principles being discussed on this forum, namely the real possibility of a severe and prolonged downturn which is the reason I have liquidated all my holdings into cash deposits. Incidentally, the interest earned on substantial cash holdings is not an unpleasant experience!

Technically, the 5k deposit I had in 2000 has become 100k equite today, although I expect a big chunk of that to get blown away in the next few years..

I bought a house in 1994 which has gone up in value by 500% - which is no help at all of course unless I sell up and move into something cheaper, which I don't want to do.

In terms of real profit, I've done very well in commercial property funds and, mostly by luck rather than judgement, sold all my holdings earlier this year at the peak.

At one level removed, I work for a bank that's done very well in the credit markets over the last decade and have been paid very well as a result. Having said that, without the financial services boom, it's quite possible I'd have been better off in relative terms since, for example, I'd maybe have been able to afford a bigger house closer to where I work without needing an enormous pay rise.

Dancer7

Its not just profiting from the BOOM Its profitting from the Depression that can really make the difference . If you bought your house mid recession 1994-1995 By now your property would have increased in value by 500%. The worst situation possible is watching all the properties at bargain prices and you cant afford one because your out of a job , or the banks wont lend you any money. Anyhow i scraped by last time. When prices dropped all of my mates bought properties at the lowest possible prices. Set everybody up for life. I bought my house . had a large deposit (no job) just lied to the bank, who cares as long as i was going to pay them back. I got a 10 year mortgage paid it off in 5 years.
After experiencing the last recession it has prepared me for what is to come. One of the differences is the fact that we have all the warnings this time via information from the internet. And of course i have fully prepared myself. The truth is nobody on this earth actually knows exactly what is going to happen people can only speculate.

I did profit from the boom, mainly due to advise from this site. I am also now looking forward to profiting from the bust. This site has taught me that there is always a profit to be made boom or bust.

I have several BTLs (bought sufficiently far back, and rented for that much that we are STILL making money month-on-month). None of this business of buying new-build "luxury flats" and having to subsidise the mortgage because the rent won't cover it!

We have sold a few of these back in the summer, cashing in nicely.

Not sure what to do with the money - its currently mainly on deposit with a nice, safe little bank that just does traditional private banking - none of their customers could be described as in any way "sub prime".

What worries me is the potential for runaway inflation, or some sort of sterling crisis. Wondering if I should open a Swiss francs account or something?

Sums involved on deposit are around £0.5M.

Or we could use some of the dosh to de-gear ourselves and pay off most of the remaining debt.