Jv you're lucky

I have had to do 2 evictions in the last 6 years. The first one was the hardest, and the 2nd one, I just got a lawyer to do it. Both were costly, and took six months to evict.

NYC judges don't like to evict tenants quickly, because here in New York City, by law the city must take care of the homeless. Needless to say the longer they keep a non paying tenant on your property, the cheaper it is for the city. Welcome to the People's Republic of New York City .

I still like landlording, but as I have mentioned before, next time I'll do it only in Landlord friendly areas. Places where tenants get evicted in 30 days or less.

Oh man that sounds rough. Nothing like on the job training in rentals :)). The last people left cockroaches, bed bugs, etc. Disgusting. I have all good tenants at the present .... while I am knocking on wood.

The wife and I are finishing up our new house now. It will have 850 sqft of living space. (We have a 9 year old daughter, so there will be 3 of us). We have done 90% of the work ourselves. Had a little help with framing and paid to have the drywall done, everything else we have done with our own hands. Not the first time we have done this.

We moved out of 2300 sqft, and are living in our motorhome while we build. We have built as energy efficient as possible, so our utility bills will be very low. Our land is in a agricultural tax deferred program, so taxes will also be very low. I am trying to get our monthly expenses down to about 1/4 of what they were in our previous home, and it looks like it will work.

I have owned my own business for 25 years and have made a comfortable living. However, I am getting to the point that the diminishing returns from the business may no longer make it worthwhile to continue in the not so distant future.

We should be moving into the new place in the next 2-3 weeks, and I am really looking forward to it. Living simply can be its own reward!

Good for you, Lodgerhead. Starve the beast!

A friend sold his house in Chicago in 2006,moved 80miles away to a town of about 15k population.

He bought a big mobile home in town for 15k. The home is on a city lot Not in a trailer park. The town outlawed trailers about 20 years ago but the his was grandfathered in.

Nice trailer with brick houses on either side. His mom lives with him so he gets the tax deduction for seniors.

Last years tax bill was $56. I didn't mistype,56 bucks a year.

He paid 15k cash for the unit and the yard has trees and fence just like a regular house. he could only get a job out there making 30k a year but he still has plenty of money left over at the end of the week so he likes to BBQ steaks alot.

Trailers in town on their own land have been outlawed mostly (towns don't like $56 a year tax bills) but you can find them. Just don't get a trailer in a mobile home park cause they charge rent.

A couple he knows in town sold their house for 130k. It was paid off but the wife hated the 3k tax bill.

They bought a mobile,same deal on a private lot not in a park. They remodeled the whole thing,fancy fixtures in the bathroom,kitchen,carpet etc. Had the driveway repaved,new garage. They probably have 50k in it. He just retired from a 50k job and she is still working as a mail carrier.

Not all people who live in trailers are trash,they just don't like property taxes.

I'm the only man in my family who isn't a union construction worker. All of us pretty much built our homes. I'm the exception, I bought mine... but brought family with me when I viewed homes. Realtor didn't know what to think but I managed to get a really good deal.

If you're 28 and you got a place to live now, time is on your side. Not only do I believe the market will continue to go down, but you can wait to find the right house at the right price. It's a buyer's market, but as a young single man with a steady job you're in the best possible position.

Not much has changed in the last year. Prices in my area have gotten a little cheaper, but not as much as I anticipated. I've been hunting homepath.com all summer and fall and I think I am ready to make the jump. Only I'll get a mortgage instead of using all the funds I've saved. I'll probably do 20% down to avoid PMI, but save the rest for a rainy-day. My job is pretty stable so I'm not too worried about that. I've done the math around here and it is more expensive to rent versus buying at ~$100k. I would like to pay the house off early, but if things get worse, cash would be better to have on hand. I am going in knowing the house's value could go down, but what's a 10% or even 20% haircut on a ~100k purchase price? Most likely less than rent in that same period of time.

Things could get worse, but I feel it's in the Government's (USA, EU) best interested to just keep on kicking the can until they can't. And I don't know when that will be. I also think everyone will be worse off, not just one group of people. This most likely means inflation, with mortgages rates as low as they are, I don't think I would be missing out by waiting, but why not take advantage now. I'm sick of apartment life.

I've said it once and I'll say it again:

GET OUT OF ALL DEBT and
DO NOT TAKE ON ANY NEW DEBT

I'm lucky in that I bought a condo in foreclosure for < $40k cash (previously sold for > $155k) and have NO debt whatsoever so this is easy for me to say.

Controller:

We are headed for a deflationary depression.

Wait until we are in the middle to latter stages of the collapse and then walk into that now $100k house and say you will buy it for $10k - $20k cash. Continue to save you money for now.
Move to a different apt if you do not like the one your in.

All debt is pure evil (IMO) .

Just so people do not think I am an old fogy I am 38.

Controller, I know exactly how you feel. I've been waiting for the correction to accelerate in my area and it just isn't happening. Apparently still too many people with more money than brains, and too many banks willing to lend stupid money.

I'm tired of living in this townhouse I'm in. I occasionally look at a property or two, but I don't even bother making the offers I think I could get away with because they're still too high. Peak prices in this area were around 2006 to 2007 and the listing prices are still close to that level, in some cases higher (these people are out of their minds I think).

It does sound like your area is better than mine though, in terms of price. If I could buy a decent house for 100k here I'd do it tomorrow with cash. It would take about twice that right now, and there's no way that price will hold when reality of the situation finally hits this area so I don't know if I can justify buying at that level. Avg household income here is only in the low 40k range.

It's true that asset prices will fall further, and they will be a shadow of what they are today in the Blue cities/towns that are today flush with Obamabucks. Many areas have already had housing prices collapse. If you don't live in one of those, you're living in the land of the massive O Bubble.

But I don't think the debt demon will have much bite during or after a collapse. Who's is going to collect on credit card debt in that scenario? No one. Will a government that demands those young people with massive student loans pay them back get any traction post-collapse? No.

A reset will reset the debt levels of citizens. And we WILL be citizens again, not just 'consumers'.

Sean, I would agree with you, getting educated by Prechter in Conquer the Crash that I read in 2007. However where is the deflation? There was a brief period of it in 2008 and at the beginning of 2009, but since this the fed has opened the spigots with fresh money and prevented deflation. Think about it, with deflation EVERYONE would be worse off. They will try and have been trying to prevent it at all costs. I not saying it can't happen, but in my mind they will try anything to keep the status quo going (i.e.inflation). So then if it does happen, owning a house will be the last of my worries. Maybe I'm a starred-eye optimistic, but our problems are everyone's problems. A world war wouldn't solve the debt problems that face us.

In my area (Charlotte, NC) housing prices never really exploded, but did go up in value like the rest of the country. However they haven't collapsed either. The median price is still north of $150k here. My price range is well below that. When I make offers, I base my decision on late 90s sales prices. Some are that cheap, others aren't anywhere close. I've discovered there are deals out there, but you have to jump on them. Also there is the Good Neighbor Next Door program from HUD that will give you 50% off if you live there for 3 years. Girlfriend is a teacher so I going to try and get one of those, but it just might not work as there aren't many listings. Also I'd rather be in the suburbs in a house with *some* land than in a condo or apartment complex with no land. I can always plant crops and it might be easier to find some forest and hunt.

Quote:

with deflation EVERYONE would be worse off

this is the myth the fed wants you to believe.

Everyone would be better off. They could actually afford to buy a house with cash.

KD has written quite a bit on this.

To answer the title of the thread:

Just use obama's stash.

Quote:

with deflation EVERYONE would be worse off

Quote:

Everyone would be better off. (with deflation)

Ok guys I have to disagree.

No, everybody would not be worse or better off.

For those people (even the TPTB) that have NO debt and ample cash (and ample income too) they would be MUCH better off as they would be able to buy MORE stuff with fewer dollars.

Now for those people with debt a deflationary depression is like a milstone around your neck especially if you lose your income stream (whatever that is). That debt becomes harder and harder to service.

The 1%, actually the tenth of one percent, of the upper income/weatlh people in the western world would love to see deflation. They would be able to buy stuff for pennies on the dollar and they would also be able to own more houses and land and thus get a lot more power with deflation as the peons (you and me) lose their jobs and cannot keep the house, etc. The same could be said of anyone with a good cash cushion but if you depend on job and that jobs goes away you are screwed too.

An inflationary or hyper-inflationary depression makes the banks/bankers/TPTB get paid back in a worth less and less dollar thus hurting if not destroying them too.

Quote:

They could actually afford to buy a house with cash.

IF they have the cash.

I told people at work that I paid cash for my place and they all said, "**** I wish I had $40k cash sitting around". And these are all people near or very near retirement!

I suspect J6P has very little if any cash cushion and is more than likely in debt or even drowning in it.
For example:

Quote:

#11 Back in 1980, less than 30% of all jobs in the United States were low income jobs. Today, more than 40% of all jobs in the United States are low income jobs.

#14 The Federal Reserve recently announced that the total net worth of U.S. households declined by 4.1 percent in the 3rd quarter of 2011 alone.

#15 According to a recent study conducted by the BlackRock Investment Institute, the ratio of household debt to personal income in the United States is now 154 percent.

#43 A staggering 48.5% of all Americans live in a household that receives some form of government benefits. Back in 1983, that number was below 30 percent.

#13 One recent survey found that one out of every three Americans would not be able to make a mortgage or rent payment next month if they suddenly lost their current job.

Quote:

where is the deflation?

Housing.

Here in Phoenix the condo market is like (I would say "looks like" but that is not a strong enough word!) Dresden the morning after allied bombers killed 100,000 people.

In my development some units sold at auction for > 85% below what the previous owner paid.

Controller, IF you can get a <4.0% mortgage and keep your job (you will only know that when the depression is over) or have some sort of other income stream then I guess you could consider it but only if you can keep your job. And like I said that is impossible to know until and if you lose it.

I hope NC is a non-recourse state.

In severe deflation everyone in debt files bk.

Remember that some rich bastard funded that debt. you bk he loses 100%

Sean, you are correct - not 'everyone' wins with deflation, companies that made poor decisions in their lending will likely go out of business. People who worked for such companies will have to find new jobs, or perhaps, start a business that does things right. People who lived extravagant lives based on ridiculous assumed future earnings (easy credit and extreme leverage) will likely see a reduced standard of living.

but in the long run, even those who feel the pain from the clearing of debt will benefit from an environment that encourages capital formation, competition, and innovation.

Genesis wrote..

Remember that some rich bastard funded that debt. you bk he loses 100%

Under fractional reserve banking, is it correct to assume that rich bastard only loses $1 for every $10 that go in default?

Etz - I'm sure you know leverage works the opposite way :)

Actually, no, the rich bastard might in fact lose $10 for every $1 you avoid in BK.

As 86 noted leverage cuts both ways.

What then is the disadvantage of a schmoe playing the game the way it's been played?

For instance, I have a mortgage I can't get out of, some student loan debt.
I have, at most, 40k liquid and great credit. I could pay down 30% or so of my debt.

Or, I could put a downpayment on a little farmette, living a little beyond my means like everyone else. If the can is somehow kicked down the road for another 30 years I'm fine.

If the Greater Depression hits, and nobody can satisfy their debts, then I squat on my farmette.

It seems like this is a better option than using my nut to pay down a third of my debt and still getting ****ed in 2012.

Quote:

As 86 noted leverage cuts both ways

.

Good point.