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The real culprits of this mess are we-the-people. We voted gutless politicians into office who failed to step in and put a stop to the craziness, and we did NOTHING to oust them from office. Let us stop looking for scapegoats, and realize that our own smugness and unwillingness to take action and make some waves contributed far more to the mess than HGTV. Wake up folks and look in the mirror!
Last edited by CosmicWizard; 01-05-2009 at 09:50 AM..
Watching house flippers is like going to NASCAR. All I really want to see is a good wreck.
Kirsten Kemp's show Property Ladder was awesome. She followed fools who had no clue and often lost it all on a greedy hopeless flip. Talk about Entertainment!!!!
Imagine "My house is worth what" taking people who bought in 2005 and showing their appraised value in 2009. Again, NOW I am entertained :0
I literally had to stop watching HGTV along with all the other shows like House Hunters because I was getting depressed by how much it would cost to even buy a home in my area. HGTV was a reminder of what I could never have. I would wonder what these young people were doing that I wasn't where they could afford these homes. Crazy stuff. Whenever I flip past the station I still feel a little ill.
I have similar feelings when I watch the Barrett-Jackson car auction every year. After a couple of hours I realize just how poor I am in the grand scheme of things.
I wonder when everyone will stop finding something or someone to blame and look at themselves in the mirror. Personal responsibility or lack thereof is what is at the root of this --- HGTV just marketed using the weakness of people to spend what they didn't have.
i love watching shows like house hunters (domestic & international--when they're not buying vacation homes) & my first home. i do remember cringing when i'd see the mortgage terms of some, ahem, most of the folks on MFH. i'm curious to see where they folks are now. i wish they would do some type of follow up.
i actually appreciated the episode of MFH where they showed the lady who was let go from her job just as she was nearing her closing. because she couldn't get another job in time, she couldn't buy her house.
i'm new to the real estate thing... i really have no clue but i am addicted to all of those hgtv shows.
kinda off topic, and correct me if i am wrong, but i was thinking the other night, if i paid $600 a month on a house for 30 years (like i am paying in rent for my apartment) that would add up to $216k... and of course, that is not adding in the interest rate of course (for a house). but if i was to get a $216k house with an average interest rate, why the hell would i be paying around $1200 (double) monthly for 30 years?!?!? does this have something to do with compounded interest? that is ridiculous.
but if i was to get a $216k house with an average interest rate, why the hell would i be paying around $1200 (double) monthly for 30 years?!?!? does this have something to do with compounded interest? that is ridiculous.
The interest is not compounded as you are paying down the loan each month, you are paying almost double because the loan is so long. For the first 10 years or so of the loan the majority of your payment goes to interest. For example, the first year of a 30 year mortgage (at 6%), your payment of $1,200 would be composed of around $200 principle (the amount you are paying off) and $1000 interest.
Personally, I think 30 year mortgages are a scam. I much prefer 15-year mortgages. For $200k, it would be $1650 (at 5.7%, 15-years are usually .30~.40% less rate wise). Of your $1650 payment, $700 or so is principle the first year. For an additional $450/month you cut the life of your loan in half.
I always laugh on "My House is Worth What?" when the realtor tells people their house is worth a bazillion dollars and they jump up and down and hug each other, and the realtor says "congratulations." For what?! You can put ANY number on a house, but you have to have someone PAY that amount for there to be congratulations.
And I agree about these buyers. Just last night there was a show with a young couple, with one baby and another on the way and their "budget" was $300,000. Where does a young couple with two small kids (read: daycare) find the money to buy a $300,000 house??? They had lived with her mother and saved a down payment, but still, what is it these people do for a living that can support a $300,000 house? I'm always dumbfounded by people's "budget."
It's TV. Entertainment with a little infotainment thrown in. It doesn't program people to go out and behave like greedy idiots. The shows reflect the times they were produced in. If loans were easy to get and appraisers priced high on the shows, it's because that's the way it was in real life.
Resorting to blaming a TV show-- or astoundingly, an entire network-- for individual lapses in judgment or personal failures is like saying you're fat because restaurants exist. When people watched Batman, did they go buy capes and jump off the roof? Then why watch HGTV and go buy a house?
Its not that odd that a young couple could afford a $300k house. If both have high skill jobs that bring in $60k+ each, then a $300k house is totally affordable.
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