I think you'll find it's called stereotyping. It's a form of racism.[/quote] [/quote]

I think you'll find it's call stereotyping. It's a form of racism.

Thanks for the advice, but really my point was that tradies are notoriously unreliable. As far as my attitude goes, I take people as I find them.

I reckon if you left a message with 10 tradies, randomly picked from the Yellow Pages, to call back to quote for a project (for example fitting a new bathroom suite you are supplying), of the 10 you’d get at least 3 or 4 not bothering to call you back,. Of the remaining 6 or7,  two or 3 would commit to getting around to quoting, promise to call back but would not, despite repeated reminders.

Of the 3 or 4 that are left you’d probably get a sensible quote out of one or two. And of course there will always be the one or two that take you for a mug and try and rip you off with an exorbitant quote. 

That’s not picking figures out of the air, that’s based upon regular experiences. There are good tradies, but even the good ones pick and chose and can lack basic customer relationship skills.

I’ve got a list of tradies that have let me down (one who even ran away from a job after the first ½ a day because it was all a bit too hard for him). When there is a recession and these guys are desperate for work, I’ll include one or two of them in my list to quote for work. Of course they won’t get it, but I may as well waste their time the same way they wasted mine.

They say “It’s hard to find a good trades person” – now how you think that maxim came about? Is it because there are loads of you doing a great job?  Phooey!

And BTW, plumbing is not rocket science. The only reason many people do not tackle it themselves is because it’s illegal.

 Be aware of the negatives but work towards the positives.

Well the opposite could be said for you. Do you sit at home scouring the doom and gloom web sites afraid to leave home becouse the sky is going to fall. You may think some people are overly positive but it might be you being overly negitive.As far as tony robinson goes, i would never go to that crap. I dont need someone to tell me to be positive.Positive thinking is a way of life. You keep on being negative if you want. I know how i would rather live my life.The people on this forum can often be split into the negative and positive, The doom and gloom and the optimistic. Regardless of who has the most success. Why be a negative person. They normally lead a lesser life regardless of ther financial position.

It's not that I'm particularly negative, I think I'm pretty balanced. In fact if you go back to the original post I made that started this “negative” aspect of this thread off, I was speculating on a bear market and promoting caution. I did qualify this by stating that I could be wrong. The response was a patronising, evangelistic outburst from Dreaming. 

  You make a great deal of assumptions about the nature of the people that make these posts. I suspect that it’s due to a myopic view about the world where the only valid thoughts are positive, where even the remotest opportunities to preach and scoff are sought. To me that’s negative.

I have spent a whole lot off time reading investment books and watching property investment DVD's lately to learn how these people succeeded in becoming financially independant. The one thing all these people have in common is they are positive people, they walk the talk. If you want to be succesful in any chosen field in life surround yourself and learn from positive people. If you listen to negative, pessamistic people guess what that's what you become. Stay focused, educate yourself always continue to learn and surround yourself with inspiring people and you have more chance of getting it right than hanging around doomdayers. An most of all if you want success you have to step out of your comfort zone and have ago. 

 I just find these kinds of responses so hackneyed, unoriginal and not particularly insightful.  In fact having an overly positive attitude and being happy all the time is a mental condition, much the same as someone who is depressed and down all the time. The only difference is that the former condition is regarded by society as being agreeable and therefore it is not considered to be a problem. Nevertheless, overly positive and happy people are just as mental (you know the kind, the ones who just have to be smiley all the time and always see the positive in everything, and have to spread the word – you know the kind, the kind you want to just smack in the face sometimes). 

Interestingly studies have shown that overly positive people are unable to properly assess risk because they have a tendency to only consider the benefits and overlook the negatives.

  Can you imagine how World War II would have proceeded if such people were heading up the Brits.  

“I say, those Germans are looking a little bit aggressive “.  

“Well, they’re just being negative. I say ignore them.  How about a cup of tea” 

Further, overly positive and smiley people have been shown to be less able to cope with disappointment or failure.  In one study they likened these people with religious zealots, suggesting it was much like any other kind of blind fundamentalism, often coupled with a need to evangelise.

  Property investing, like any other investment type, is about risk taking. Sound investing is about understanding risk. And sometimes the sky does fall in and if you do not consider the downside then you're a fool.  Anyway, there are a number of financial instruments that make money out of being bearish.