... most second-home owners seeing this piece might not interpret it as an attack on them (though they should!). They will see themselves as the innocent victims in the system and in general won't recognise that they *might* be responsible (never mind actually accepting responsibility!). As a result this may just be seen as rubbing peoples' noses in it (renters versus owners?) - probably not helping your cause.

To be honest I am not sure how this message could be achieved without some explanatory text although I guess it depends on who you want to aim at. As per the above I suggest second home owners, rather than home owners in general - unless you want to critique the idea of home-ownership in general (and there you are picking a fight with far more people and I'd not advise it). If you were to go down the former route, perhaps the text "second home owners" in the title text might help.

Lastly - minor point - I'd recommend that the 'falling value' line not obscure the text and the file be offered as a vector graphic/PDF if possible. When reprinted, this will improve the quality of reproduction.

I think the poster refers to people like this:

From property chatter in local SE1 London forum:
 http://www.london-se1.co.uk/forum/read/1/65458/page=48

The development they are talking about is this one - Strata Tower, a building that's bring luxury flats to the lovely poverty-stricken Elephant & Castle area of South London:
 http://www.elephantandcastle.org.uk/buildingsunderdevelopment

SANDYSHAW:
Just recently joined this forum. I can see that the development is coming up very nicely.

The one thing that keeps me awake at night is when it is time to complete, what if the bank values the property lower than what we bought it at? As a hypothetical example, for a flat for £400,000 what if the bank values it at £320,000 and requires a 25% deposit. Will I have to pay £40,000 for the de-valuation in prices plus an additional 25% of £320,000 i.e. £80,000. This is a total of £120,000 on top of the original £40,000 deposit I have already paid.

URBANITE:
sandieshaw that's exactly how it will work and although a few have suggested "maybe" valutaions will be tweaked i honestly can't see this....banks and building societies will be looking for valuations that reduce their risk (i.e. as low as possible) and valuers will be wary of being sued for overvaluing property if it continues to go "wrong". For those of you who are still ignoring this maybe its time for a reality check.

SANDYSHAW:
Reality Check? Nightmare is more like it!!! Who has another £120,000-£160,000 lying around in cash? What does one do in this situation? Either the bank values it at the original value, in which case the rest is manageable or else there is no option but to forgo? The developer may come after me but I certainly don't have that kind of money to pump into this property. If I did I would have bought in Mayfair.


Not so well off now, are they?