A debt perspective

[oil pan 4]

Debt is bad, don't sugar coat it.
Unless your house is paid for (like mine) you miss several payments and that house you pumped untold thousands upon thousands of dollars is gone and you are left with a U-Haul full of stuff.
Mortgage means something to the effect of "life time debt".

See if you a 30 year mortgage is worth it do the math. Chances are at loan maturity even with 6% interest over 30 years you are paying for the sale price twice, if you don't ever refinance.
Plus an extra $100 for the national flood insurance scam if you live in a declared flood zone.
Then you sell it you might break even. If you cash out the government takes half of any amount you don't put it into another house with in I believe 3 to 6 months.
The current system is not designed for the benefit the debt holder in any way.
The only entities benefiting are the government and the banks.

[Vman455]

Originally Posted by Frank Lee

My neocon friend sent me this:


I replied:


Get used to it already.

Originally Posted by Old Tele man

...and ROME failed too.

Before you go ascribing too much wisdom to the Romans: Cicero never said any such thing. The quote is adapted from a 1965 historical novel depicting a fictional account of the life of Cicero, called A Pillar of Iron--and was first attributed to the real Cicero on the floor of the House of Representatives in 1968.

[Frank Lee]

Fact-checking a neo-con is a full-time job. I normally do but this one got by.

[freebeard]

If you cash out the government takes half of any amount you don't put it into another house with in I believe 3 to 6 months.

[oil pan 4]

The national flood insurance scam, paying the sale price at least twice over (unless you put down a big down payment which virtually no one does these days) and if you miss several payments and the house is gone still stands.
If you have a mortgage the bank is likely going to make more off you than you ever will make off the house.

That is good to know that I can cash out our current place and not hand half of it over.

[freebeard]

Interesting: Alloidal title was available to homeowners in Nevada from 199 to 2005:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Allodial_title#Nevada

[ME_Andy]

From my perspective, debt for a home makes a lot of sense. Even if you buy a house when you're poor (like we did), the monthly payment will be just a bit more than renting. Give it a few years and soon 50% or so of your payment is building equity. At that point it's kind of like your monthly housing costs have been halved. Rent a room in that house and you're golden.

There are other times when debt makes sense. Like a cash-back credit card that you pay off monthly. And... I guess can't think of anymore.

[gone-ot]

...AND the home-loan intere$t is IRS tax deductible, which rent isn't (wink,wink)!

[Frank Lee]

Really?

https://www.google.com/search?q=mn+r...hrome&ie=UTF-8

[Fat Charlie]

Originally Posted by oil pan 4

Debt is bad, don't sugar coat it.
Unless your house is paid for (like mine) you miss several payments and that house you pumped untold thousands upon thousands of dollars is gone and you are left with a U-Haul full of stuff.

If you miss several rent payments, you're out on the street. If your landlord decides to cash out or otherwise do something different, you're out on the street. If your landlord decides to not keep up on maintenance, you'd be better off heading out to the street.

Restructuring your payment to a mortgage and calling it "debt" doesn't make things worse for you- it's actually the opposite. Yes, you're paying the bank way more than the house's purchase price over 30 years, but what do you have to your name after 30 years of renting besides a shoe box full of receipts? You've paid way more than that box full of paper is worth, too, but no one seems to notice that. Why? Because having somewhere to live is an expense. If you have tons of capital you can sink it into a house to avoid the appearance of an expense, but you're missing out on what that same money would have made sitting in stocks. Paying your housing expenses with money you already have doesn't mean you're smarter than people with mortgages, it just means you started out with more money than them and can afford to hide your housing expenses with money you already have.