The Off Topic Topic

[katmai]

45 years ago today. 

[derspiess]

[11B4V]

45 years ago today. 

I thought black history month was in Feb?

[fhdz]

I'm pretty much resigned to never owning a home unless I'm the last heir standing when my parents die.

Here's a secret.

If you have to take out a loan to buy something, you don't really own it. I mean, sure - you have the title and the deed and so on. But it isn't *really* yours - not in the sense of "I give you this currency/item/whatever and you give me this thing, and we take our respective stuff away and neither of us holds claim to the other person's stuff anymore". And not only is it not really yours, you owe far more on it than your offer would indicate, thanks to the magic of interest.

Keep renting and squirrel away money until you can buy something with cash. Tell the vipers at the bank to fuck themselves. That's my angry, bitter advice for the evening.

SFG has clients who do this, typically Latinos who work their asses off and save, over a number of years, let's say $80-100K. Then when they shop for houses, they shop for houses which are...wait for it...$80-100K. If a Latino landscaper knows mortgage interest is a sucker's game, surely we all can learn such a valuable lesson.

I love my house. I really do. But if I had it to do over again I'd never have bought it. The mortgage has caused me so much stress over the last year thanks to a number of things that it's been more headache than heartwarming. And home repairs are fun, too, but you know what else they are? Fucking expensive. I prefer to get paid to do them than to have to pay to do them.

[Ideologue]

I guess it depends which is greater, the rent you're paying during the ten years it would take to save $80k or the interest you pay over twenty years, as to which course actually makes more financial sense.

P.S.: "saving money" is not a "secret."  It's just very difficult to do, particularly eighty grand worth of it (and I'm not sure you know how much houses cost, I can pretty much guarantee you no basically acceptable house, i.e. at least equal to an apartment in a decent neighborhood, even in Columbia, would cost only eighty thousand dollars.)  Also, your acquaintances don't have student loans, are probably tax cheats, likely stack themselves like cordwood at night, and come from a culture where that kind of abject poverty is socially acceptable.

[fhdz]

I guess it depends which is greater, the rent you're paying during the ten years it would take to save $80k or the interest you pay over twenty years, as to which course actually makes more financial sense.

P.S.: "saving money" is not a "secret."  It's just very difficult to do--and your acquaintances don't have student loans, are probably tax cheats, likely stack themselves like cordwood at night, and come from a culture where that kind of abject poverty is socially acceptable.

They aren't tax cheats. Don't be an asshole. They also don't "stack themselves like cordwood". They make do with what they have and they work hard for it.  Racist shit.

My point is that until the moment you have your mortgage paid off you are essentially renting with interest.

[Phillip V]

Interest is fine as long as it is at or below inflation rate.

[fhdz]

and I'm not sure you know how much houses cost

My girlfriend is a mortgage broker. I'm pretty sure I know what her clients pay for houses when she, you know, tells me what they pay for houses.

MY house didn't cost $80K, nor do any of the houses in my neighborhood. A lot of her clients wouldn't be able to afford a house in my neighborhood.

But guess what - after I lost my job, I can't afford a house in my neighborhood either

[Ideologue]

I guess it depends which is greater, the rent you're paying during the ten years it would take to save $80k or the interest you pay over twenty years, as to which course actually makes more financial sense.

P.S.: "saving money" is not a "secret."  It's just very difficult to do--and your acquaintances don't have student loans, are probably tax cheats, likely stack themselves like cordwood at night, and come from a culture where that kind of abject poverty is socially acceptable.

They aren't tax cheats. Don't be an asshole.

Oh, and they're probably on Medicaid.

My point is that until the moment you have your mortgage paid off you are essentially renting with interest.

No, I get it.  And it's highly questionable if the math even works, let alone if the privations would be worth owning a (shitty) home well past the peak of my health and sexual attractiveness.

Which is another point which seems tangential but is serious--it's generally a lot easier to afford a home with a dual income, and it's usually a lot easier in my culture to secure a dual income if you're not living in impoverished circumstances.  I mean, you're from my culture, tell me I'm off-base.  I'm not even saying that's a good thing, just that it is a thing.  Look at the shit I got for not owning a lot of furniture.

[Ideologue]

and I'm not sure you know how much houses cost

My girlfriend is a mortgage broker. I'm pretty sure I know what her clients pay for houses when she, you know, tells me what they pay for houses.

MY house didn't cost $80K, nor do any of the houses in my neighborhood. A lot of her clients wouldn't be able to afford a house in my neighborhood.

But guess what - after I lost my job, I can't afford a house in my neighborhood either

Nope.  It didn't.  And you've got a girlfriend and you've produced offspring and stuff.  QUOD ERAT DEMONSTRANDUM.

[Habbaku]

I'm not sure you know how much houses cost, I can pretty much guarantee you no basically acceptable house, i.e. at least equal to an apartment in a decent neighborhood, even in Columbia, would cost only eighty thousand dollars

  You are clueless.

[Ideologue]

I'm not sure you know how much houses cost, I can pretty much guarantee you no basically acceptable house, i.e. at least equal to an apartment in a decent neighborhood, even in Columbia, would cost only eighty thousand dollars

  You are clueless.

OK, I might concede this point.  There has got to be something terribly wrong with some of these houses.

[fhdz]

No, I get it.  And it's highly questionable if the math even works, let alone if the privations would be worth owning a (shitty) home well past the peak of my health and sexual attractiveness.

The nicer the house/neighborhood, the less the math works.

Which is another point which seems tangential but is serious--it's generally a lot easier to afford a home with a dual income, and it's usually a lot easier in my culture to secure a dual income if you're not living in impoverished circumstances.  I mean, you're from my culture, tell me I'm off-base.  I'm not even saying that's a good thing, just that it is a thing.  Look at the shit I got for not owning a lot of furniture.

No, that is absolutely true.

[fhdz]

Nope.  It didn't.

What didn't what?

And you've got a girlfriend and you've produced offspring and stuff.  QUOD ERAT DEMONSTRANDUM.

At this point, all things being equal, I'd like to keep the offspring and negotiate on the house and girlfriend. Imagine me saying that in a W.C. Fields voice, or possibly Groucho Marx.

[fhdz]

I'm not sure you know how much houses cost, I can pretty much guarantee you no basically acceptable house, i.e. at least equal to an apartment in a decent neighborhood, even in Columbia, would cost only eighty thousand dollars

  You are clueless.

OK, I might concede this point.  There has got to be something terribly wrong with some of these houses.

Manufactured homes kind of in the boonies around here can be $70-100. Tiny houses - again, not downtown or anywhere close to downtown - can be reasonable too. There are lots of tiny houses here; Portland city blocks are smaller than the average city block in most states. The jump from 2 to 3 bedrooms - and obviously the proximity to the center of town - tends to be the two biggest hits.