Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
Wexford, PA. This town is about 20 miles from where I grew up. Its a nice area, too. How much you wanna bet that this couple has an ARM?
Housing slump hits
- Thread starter Gato_Solo
- Start date
SouthernN'Proud
Southern Discomfort
1. Can such terms even be legal?
2. This isn't a disorder, it's merely a symptom. We have been reaching and grabbing with both fists for generations now. We see what our 60-year old parents have after a life spent on hard work and saving, and we want it now...at 33...without the sacrifice. So we go out and lease a new SUV to drive on our paved suburban streets, and then the latest little sporty sedan thing (to ease our conscience over the SUV), mortgage ourselves eyeball deep just so we can live in Hot Shit Estates (always failing to realize that 7 years ago that dumpy little neighborhood a few miles away was THE place to be once upon a time too...), buy all the toys and gadgets and gizmos we see, then wonder why we feel lousy. Pots and pans just won't DO anymore...it just HAS to be Pampered Chef. The grocery store? Oh please...Williams & Sonoma! Some day the party ends, and then comes that hangover...
Simply live simply folks. A few toys and perks are fine, but we don't need everything we see. To hell with the Jonses, let 'em go.
2. This isn't a disorder, it's merely a symptom. We have been reaching and grabbing with both fists for generations now. We see what our 60-year old parents have after a life spent on hard work and saving, and we want it now...at 33...without the sacrifice. So we go out and lease a new SUV to drive on our paved suburban streets, and then the latest little sporty sedan thing (to ease our conscience over the SUV), mortgage ourselves eyeball deep just so we can live in Hot Shit Estates (always failing to realize that 7 years ago that dumpy little neighborhood a few miles away was THE place to be once upon a time too...), buy all the toys and gadgets and gizmos we see, then wonder why we feel lousy. Pots and pans just won't DO anymore...it just HAS to be Pampered Chef. The grocery store? Oh please...Williams & Sonoma! Some day the party ends, and then comes that hangover...
Simply live simply folks. A few toys and perks are fine, but we don't need everything we see. To hell with the Jonses, let 'em go.
2minkey
bootlicker
yer absolutely correct.
Damned straight.
Gato_Solo
Out-freaking-standing OTC member
Reminds me of a song by the Temptations (Who wants to be like the Joneses)...and another one by the O'Jays(For the Love of Money). The youngin's won't know what I'm talking about, and some of us more mature didn't pay much mind to those hits, but to each his own...
chcr
Too cute for words
Both good ones although I like "For the Love of Money" better myself. As our friends from France would say, "Plus ça change, plus c'est la même chose."
Yeah, but he has more fun. Everybody dies, toys or no.
greenfreak
New Member
FTR, Pampered Chef sucks and W&S doesn't sell groceries.
I post on a local message board and one day, a woman posts a thread in a panic. She was furious at her husband for filling up the tank in their SUV. Why? Because it cost so much money, she then had to take cash advances from her credit card in order to go to closing on thier new house.
I'm sorry, what? You have absolutely nothing left and you are buying a $500k house? What happens if the roof leaks? The cesspool overflows? A tree falls on your house? The washing machine conks out?
I was floored by that. It was just the bad example I needed to be extremely cautious about our mortgage choice and home choice. We bought waaaay below our budget and chose to put less money down and more money into the bank. Good thing too, because we had to replace the cesspool only two months in.
We have a plan for the future, a car and school loan that will be paid off in less than 2 years, are able to save money every month and not freak out about getting an oil delivery and what that means to our wallets.
Most importantly, we treated this process as seriously as one should because this is the biggest and most important purchase we will ever make in our lives. I know many many other people who did not, got stars in their eyes and are now paying for it. They may lose their homes.
I feel sorry for them, but not that sorry. This is what you get, and I don't want to be responsible for your debt. Because I did the RIGHT thing and shouldn't have to pay for your mistakes. You reap what you sow, and if you're not smart about this stuff, it's going to bite you in the ass.
Inkara1
Well-Known Member
As I mentioned at Cat's board, I'm currently searching for a new place because the bank is about to foreclose the duplex I live in away from my landlord. I haven't heard anything form any banks yet but I don't want to wait until I do hear from the bank and find no housing available that I can afford.
A.B.Normal
New Member
yeah sounds like there are some real horror stories happening to tenants.
http://ca.reuters.com/article/oddlyEnoughNews/idCAN2427682920080214?sp=true
Inkara1
Well-Known Member
The place had a stable owner when I moved in... who sold it to the current guy about six months later. The place sold for $429,000... and the rental market dictates that you can't collect enough rent from the two units combined to cover the payments on a $429,000 mortgage.
greenfreak
New Member
I have a friend looking for houses in Cali, specifically in LA where she works but she is having a really hard time. I never knew that California was worse than NY in pricing.
Are there any assistance programs by you? We went to one here and although we qualified for a mortgage that was not open to the general public, it wasn't worth it for us in the end. But it was good in that it taught us exactly what we could afford and what the real cost of ownership is. Most mortgage companies will approve you for tens of thousands more than you can reasonably afford.
I just found out this morning that although I'm escrowing taxes, my mortgage company never paid them. My town is assuring me that it will not become my responsibility but there is already an assessed 2% penalty which will go to 3% if they don't pay in 7 days.
Now I have to call the mortgage company and raise hell.
Are there any assistance programs by you? We went to one here and although we qualified for a mortgage that was not open to the general public, it wasn't worth it for us in the end. But it was good in that it taught us exactly what we could afford and what the real cost of ownership is. Most mortgage companies will approve you for tens of thousands more than you can reasonably afford.
I just found out this morning that although I'm escrowing taxes, my mortgage company never paid them. My town is assuring me that it will not become my responsibility but there is already an assessed 2% penalty which will go to 3% if they don't pay in 7 days.
Now I have to call the mortgage company and raise hell.
Not yet. The socialists haven't taken over the greens quite yet.
Inkara1
Well-Known Member
Possibly, but there's not a single house in the county for sale that I can afford the payments on, let alone property taxes. The closest to affordable to me are in a senior-only community. I looked at 40-year loans online and they don't drop payments by very much, certainly not enough to buy.
greenfreak
New Member
How much is your rent, if you don't mind me asking?
Inkara1
Well-Known Member
$850... seems to be about $100 below market value judging from comparable rentals lately. I found a quick and dirty loan amortizer online and found that the people in the back unit would need to be paying more than $2,200 a month for the combined rents to cover the mortgage payments on the place since it sold for $429,000 and I'm sure he didn't have much of a down payment.