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It's really unfortunate when people from older generations fall on hard times because they don't have the same recovery time younger people do. What I can only think of as corporate greed and malfeasance has harmed far too many.
Poor Craving. Didn't we all think we knew everything when we were 16 years old? We knew more than our parents, we knew how the world turned, we knew it all. Then as time went on, we found out that we didn't know sh*t. Give Craving time. He appears to be a slow learner.
Poor Craving. Didn't we all think we knew everything when we were 16 years old? We knew more than our parents, we knew how the world turned, we knew it all. Then as time went on, we found out that we didn't know sh*t. Give Craving time. He appears to be a slow learner.
Funny! I think like me yet we own a home with a "gentle," easily sustainable VA mortgage and our payments, including taxes and insurance, are less than the rent we were paying five years ago for a third of the square footage and no property. With two guaranteed government pensions and two Social Security incomes I certainly don't see us as being at risk.
By the way, what crashed the economy was not boomers, despite your generation's tendency to blame all your short-comings on them. It was unscrupulous lenders giving unsupportable loans to irresponsible, financially ignorant people, most of whom weren't boomers, nor were most of the lenders' representatives.
Try again! Oops! Guessing that you're in your 30s you clearly know it all, as most your age believe they do. I find you all funny.
We actually NEVER own the home if one can't pay the taxes, there's that thing called property tax. Many people lose everything they put equity into, because of unpaid taxes.
Taxes can be a killer. Thankfully, our annual property tax bill for a home on the shore of a large lake is about 12% one month's worth of our income. I don't really see us as being at risk. But of course, being boomers it must be just dumb luck, not smarts and experience.
Well then even smarter since obviously our brains deteriorate with age.
In my experience raising five children to adulthood, all five of whom are quite successful, the first brain cell children are born with doesn't usually begin to divide and multiply until they're at least 25. Isn't it amazing how much wiser than their parents some become by 26, especially if Mommy and Daddy are still supporting them in any way.
Alas, obviously my 67 years have just been wasted!
Where did I say the boomers "overloaded the system"?
I didn't mean to imply you said this.......It was just added in
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I doubt people bought homes with the intent of not paying them off. The qualifications to obtain a mortgage were lowered because "someone" thought it was unfair to deny people with low incomes the opportunity to purchase a home. That "someone" set them up for a fall. Once getting possession they found themselves in over their head because as an owner there are ongoing expenses to maintain a home as well as higher utility bills as well as property taxes. The thousands of homes that fell into foreclosure were not due to people deliberately not paying their mortgage - most were due to people losing their jobs.
I live in a tourist town people were buying second homes during a 3 yr boom the valley went crazy with people wanting to be here. We're in our 2 year of high foreclosures, those of us wanting to sell have to ride out this foreclosure mess, that's if it ever ends. Or we can bring our homes done to dirt prices in just order to sell. I feel personal responsibility comes into play people should have known if they could afford the house if times went tough. Just because one qualifies for the loan they're the ones that should know if they can make the payment.
I agree with what you said about maintaining a home it can be expensive and a lot of work
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Its unfortunate but using cash works against people. Corporations thrive on the interest accrued through the use of credit cards.
I agree, I did address this above. Cash credit can also be bad credit, who would think that.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
3,997 posts, read 4,140,525 times
Reputation: 2677
Quote:
Originally Posted by CravingMountains
I doubt it. I don't take risks. To get a rude awakening like you speak of you need to take risks.
My awakening came early in my adulthood when the economy tanked. It gave me a very clear mind set of what to do right and what to do wrong in our new post recession world.
Sounds to me like you took quite a risk. You hate boomers but you moved to Tampa/St. Pete to go to college (USF, UT, Eckerd?) That's like saying you hate politics and moving to DC. Or saying you hate snow but moving to Minneapolis. You moved into an area that is predominately senior driven. And now your not happy... but you never make mistakes, right?
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Originally Posted by CravingMountains
I tried to move away after graduating but the lovely economy that boomers have left our generation made job hunting elsewhere kind of impossible.
That sure is funny... my son and DIL have secured jobs 1000 miles away from their school.. and one hasn't even got the degree yet... Just another excuse to put the blame somewhere else.
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Note, equity is NOT value. Equity is perceived value. It isn't real.
That's good to know... I'll remember that when I sell my next house and turn a profit on it just as I did on the other two... Do you know what "sweat equity" is? Nah... I didn't think so.
I didn't mean to imply you said this.......It was just added in
I live in a tourist town people were buying second homes during a 3 yr boom the valley went crazy with people wanting to be here. We're in our 2 year of high foreclosures, those of us wanting to sell have to ride out this foreclosure mess, that's if it ever ends. Or we can bring our homes done to dirt prices in just order to sell. I feel personal responsibility comes into play people should have known if they could afford the house if times went tough. Just because one qualifies for the loan they're the ones that should know if they can make the payment.
I agree with what you said about maintaining a home it can be expensive and a lot of work
I agree, I did address this above. Cash credit can also be bad credit, who would think that.
I didn't mean to imply you said this
First home buyers are on a big learning curve and many don't do their homework or have people who can advise them. Banks made it easier for people who would not have qualified 10 years ago to get a loan and the banks are going to sell them a bill of goods. All the good points about owning and if the buyer doesn't ask questions, the bankers aren't going to volunteer any information that a new buyer should be aware of that could impact them. Going from rent - a one off every month - to a mortgage, plus, plus, plus, can be a rude awakening and people can find themselves worse off before they bought, especially if they sunk their savings into the purchase.
I agree with personal responsibility - and throw in some wisdom. When people were losing jobs by the numbers, advice was being given that people should accrue six months of savings to carry them over in the event they lost their job because that could be how long it would take for them to find another job. Unfortunately for many that six months turned into a year and for many it became years.
People don't think about "what if's" or prepare for "what if's", especially purchasing a home with the way the economy has been for years. People who are very secure financially and purchased a home as an investment (somewhere to park money and get the tax benefits) can afford to wait it out, and they are not the majority. Investment companies bought homes in foreclosures by the hundreds and are sitting on them, in the meantime they are using them as rentals. Foreigners bought using cash. Although it will probably be quite some time before things turn around (being the optimist here) the investment companies will make a killing.
Location: Just transplanted to FL from the N GA mountains
3,997 posts, read 4,140,525 times
Reputation: 2677
Quote:
Originally Posted by softblueyz
First home buyers are on a big learning curve and many don't do their homework or have people who can advise them. Banks made it easier for people who would not have qualified 10 years ago to get a loan and the banks are going to sell them a bill of goods. All the good points about owning and if the buyer doesn't ask questions, the bankers aren't going to volunteer any information that a new buyer should be aware of that could impact them. Going from rent - a one off every month - to a mortgage, plus, plus, plus, can be a rude awakening and people can find themselves worse off before they bought, especially if they sunk their savings into the purchase.
I agree with personal responsibility - and throw in some wisdom. When people were losing jobs by the numbers, advice was being given that people should accrue six months of savings to carry them over in the event they lost their job because that could be how long it would take for them to find another job. Unfortunately for many that six months turned into a year and for many it became years.
People don't think about "what if's" or prepare for "what if's", especially purchasing a home with the way the economy has been for years. People who are very secure financially and purchased a home as an investment (somewhere to park money and get the tax benefits) can afford to wait it out, and they are not the majority. Investment companies bought homes in foreclosures by the hundreds and are sitting on them, in the meantime they are using them as rentals. Foreigners bought using cash. Although it will probably be quite some time before things turn around (being the optimist here) the investment companies will make a killing.
The biggest thing about buying a home. You need to buy it as a home. Period. As a place to live. Yes.. we outgrow them, we have job transfer's, but first and foremost a home should be bought as a home. Too many people thought they would jump on the real estate bandwagon (yes.. some boomers... some not). Leave that to the speculators. Personally, I could care less that they lost their money. They too were a big part of the reason that prices were too high to begin with. I worked in Mortgage Lending for 20 years.. thankfully getting out before the bust, and selling our home before the bust as well. A lot of us saw this coming. You can not blame one single entity for the bust. But if blame must be passed on.. we need to blame the banks, the realtors, the appraisers, the speculator's.. and finally the people themselves, because a great number of them did put themselves in a position to get burned... It was like the perfect storm.. all the different factors coming together at the same time. And... honestly... I don't think it's over quite yet...
The biggest thing about buying a home. You need to buy it as a home. Period. As a place to live. Yes.. we outgrow them, we have job transfer's, but first and foremost a home should be bought as a home. Too many people thought they would jump on the real estate bandwagon (yes.. some boomers... some not). Leave that to the speculators. Personally, I could care less that they lost their money. They too were a big part of the reason that prices were too high to begin with. I worked in Mortgage Lending for 20 years.. thankfully getting out before the bust, and selling our home before the bust as well. A lot of us saw this coming. You can not blame one single entity for the bust. But if blame must be passed on.. we need to blame the banks, the realtors, the appraisers, the speculator's.. and finally the people themselves, because a great number of them did put themselves in a position to get burned... It was like the perfect storm.. all the different factors coming together at the same time. And... honestly... I don't think it's over quite yet...
Exactly right. We bought a home, not an investment. Fortuitously, we bought at the near bottom of the bursting bubble and paid significantly less than the original asking price and a subsequent asking price. Even then, when the bubble did finally bottom out we were slightly under water but now our heads are comfortably above the high tide line which is continuing to rise and carry us up with it. It also helps that we have a 2.25% mortgage. Dumb luck or good planning? Honestly I think it's a combination of the two with planning getting more credit than luck. Knowing what we could comfortably afford on our retirement incomes and not taking advantage of qualifying for much more just because we could gives us a great financial cushion and peace of mind. Our house meets our needs and above all else is home to us. Ideally we'll remain right where we are until we assume room temperature.
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And now your not happy... but you never make mistakes, right? 
