Gold Jumps $40 Today,...Stock Market Loses A Year's Worth Of Earnings Today.

[JC5123]

We were in debt up to our #@@'s just a few years back.  But we sold off a lot of the high dollar toys, along with the biggest mistake we ever made in all our lives / the source of 70% of our total debt and spending.  Yep, the house.  Anyone who thinks they "own" a house is simply a fool to the media.  Miss a single tax payment, see how long you "own" that house.  Local government wants your land?  "Imminent domain", out the door you go!  Upkeep, taxs, repair expenses, it goes on and on and on.  "Own" a house  .  

Our total outlay of cash now.  Rent, elec., phone, internet/cable, car expenses (insurance, tags).  We have cash in the bank, a grand total of $240 in credit card debt (you have to use the card to maintain your credit rating), own our car, and have a third scooter on the way as I type this.  With the money we got from selling off all our old stuff we moved here and bought everything in our home new in the last two years.  

I'm 41 and partially retired.  My dad worked till he was 67 because...  You guessed it, paying on their house.

Yeah, I was dumb enough to buy a house.  Actually, talked into it by my retarded @$$ father in law!    And got buried in debt just like him and the rest of the country.  After a trip overseas we saw just how STUPID americans are!  Saw the way we were living for what it was, and got out of it!  Anyone can do it.  It's called living within your means.

Lots of people growl about our country needing to learn how to do it.  How can you say they're fools if you can't do it in your own home?

The delivery guy who dropped off our last scooter a few days ago said.  "You've got money, why don't you get a big'ol Harley or something?!?"  All I could think was "Typical american".  

I served my country, and I'll start capitalizing the name of it again when I don't have to be ashamed of it.  



And yeah, I thank God for what he's given me several times a day!

I am confused. How is owning your home, even if you have a REASONABLE mortgage stupid? I can understand if you get sucked in with a predatory lender and talked into a mortgage that you couldn't afford. But paying a mortgage on a modest house with payments that you can afford is never a stupid investment. Especially if you consider that (in my area at least) a crappy 2 bedroom apt. costs more to rent than my mortgage. And I live in a pretty nice house.

Also consider this. (a better example) A house on the next street from me is being rented by 3 of my friends. They pay $1900 per month in rent. (combined)  For basically the same house that I have a $1000 a month mortgage on. Plus I have the benefit of owning a little bit more every time I make a payment. So at the end of the day, who is better off?  Best part, there will come a day in about 12 more years that I won't have a mortgage, but they will still have that rent, and dollars to doughnuts it will have gone up by then...

[1911 Junkie]

What BM is saying is that he was a dumb f#@k and spent too much on a house.  By his reasoning everyone is a dumb f#@k and makes the same mistakes as him.

Owning or renting is money out the door. So what, I have to pay property taxes. Guess what, so do renters, it's just added in. Oh, you don't have to spend money on upkeep? It's part of your rent moron.

[JC5123]

The only advantage that I see to renting is that someone else is responsible for fixing stuff. However, that can really bite you in the a$$ when they take forever to fix it.

[tombogan03884]

What BM doesn't get is that his parents did own a home that they bought for say $25,000 and could turn around and sell 20 or 30 years later for 100 to 200 thousand.
All that expense and labor he's bitching about was money in the bank for them.
He talks about "eminent domain". It doesn't happen to most people and he is in no better shape if his landlord decides to sell or loses it to the same thing.
In fact, he's much worse off because he is paying as much or more than a mortgage with nothing to show for it except a bunch of rent receipts.

So he is an example of the trend, he can not do as well as his parents did.

[Badgersmilk]

Whatever you gotta tell yourselves.   

Just be careful about the pot calling the kettle black when you line up to cry about government being in debt.   

[Sponsor]

[tombogan03884]

Whatever you gotta tell yourselves.   

Just be careful about the pot calling the kettle black when you line up to cry about government being in debt.   

[david86440]

OK, so do I have the best of both worlds or the worse?

I own a home and I rent.

[twyacht]

I purchased my first house in 1993, as a newlywed at 24,...small new "starter home",..for $78,500 at 8.25% (great rate back than). Sold it in 1996 for $125,000 walked away with more than a 20% down payment, on a slightly larger home, and flipped it for a tidy profit, even with an amicable divorce thrown in the mix.

Rented for a while, and remarried. Bought and sold houses together, (during the good times),...and walked away with enough to keep the 20% down, (no PMI), and low interest rates.

UNTIL, 2008. We scrambled to sell at the beginning of the real estate death spiral, and only came out "slightly" ahead. Thanks to record low interest rates, and good financial planning, saving, etc,....We bought a nice home here in S. Florida with a 4.75% fixed rate and a very reasonable mortgage payment lower than comparable rent in Coral Springs.

If I can just hopefully "ride" this BS out, I am optimistic (still?),...that Post BHO,...we will truly recover, and I can sell again for a profit.

Thankfully, I am not upside-down. Than I move to Texas, and have a rifle range in my back yard,....

Point being, Home ownership is IMHO, something I can truly say is worth it. Nice escrow check in December, tax deductions, and no landlord,....Sure me and the bank own it,...but I consider it leverage, in my favor, until I can finally pay cash for a house, (and range)....

Just my .02 cents.

Nothing wrong with renting/leasing, but tangible assets, including a finite resource like property, can help.

"You Need Me On That Wall!"......

[Badgersmilk]

If you really gotta know...  My household income the year my parents retired was just a smidge over three times as much.  My mortgage was just under half my monthly take home...  Soooo, where does that leave your theory's?  Anything else?

If you believe "owning" a home is best...  Great.  All depends how much you prioritize your finances.  YET, you tell me.  If you miss a payment on something, and it is then taken from you by either the IRS or mortgage company, was it ever really "yours"?  

My father inlaw will argue that rent is 100% throwing money away all day long!  I've got enough to retire on in the bank right now.  He's almost 70 and in debt up to his @$$, owes money on everything he "owns".  Yeah, he's the smart one.  

Keep on dreamin the dream america.  

[kmitch200]

My father inlaw will argue that rent is 100% throwing money away all day long!

On that point he is right. You just need to buy a house that is within your means.
Someone buys a house and after the mortgage term they own it. You pay rent for the same amount of time and you own what?

All you did was make their mortgage payment (and their taxes) for them.