BF2S Forums The Housing War

caveat emptor

how did u lose over 200k in value of your home

SEREMAKER wrote:

how did u lose over 200k in value of your home

I bought in August of 2006. We had been looking for almost a year and at different areas. We qualified for much more but I wanted to be frugal.

Six months later the bottom fell out of the market. 3.5 years later the value has dropped about 60% from the peak.

It wasn't an investment, it was a home. The basic numbers no longer make sense. There is no good reason to make 4k a month payments when the house across the street could be rented for $1600.00. The values will not be coming back, unless the fraud and selling to illegal aliens continues. The houses lost so much because there was rampant fraud and over-valuation. The appraiser, the city property tax collectors, the home inspectors and the real estate agents all were making money hand over fist. I agreed to buy for one reason; that at the rate things were going then by 2012 a cracker box house would be worth a million bucks.

I called it then, but gave in to peer pressure.

JohnG@lt wrote:

King_County_Downy wrote:

SEREMAKER wrote:

- I had a question that pertained to the OP

Sorry, sparked a flame war. We're starting over here.

My post about Vegas wasn't a flame, it was valid

G@lt wrote:

You bought a house as an investment, it was a bad investment and now you won't stop crying about it. It's like going to Vegas, losing all your money and then whining and saying how unfair the casino was and how they should give you back your money.

JG, until you have the sense to remove that ridiculous list from your sig I'd appreciate it if you just refrain from commenting in my threads.

You, just like certain others, are incapable of posting with out there being some personal attack type commentary.

G@lt wrote:

You bought a house as an investment, it was a bad investment and now you won't stop crying about it. It's like going to Vegas, losing all your money and then whining and saying how unfair the casino was and how they should give you back your money.

Millions of people bought houses and had hundreds of thousands of dollars essentially stolen from them when the bottom fell out. You could comment on the fact that around 30% of Americans are facing an incoming crisis that stemmed from the fraud that was going on, or an even larger number have lost or will lose their homes, but you have to direct snotty comments directly towards me. That is the kind of shit that makes this site a cesspool.


I'm not saying I should get my money back, per se. I am saying why wouldn't I if I can? So, unless you are prepared to discuss the larger issue just buzz off and leave me alone. Not interested in your personally directed comments.

Here's the flip side to this. One of my best friend's grandma owned a bank. She's old as shit so just had 51% of the stocks, no longer ran the bank.

The government came in and took control of the bank. Her stocks, as well as all other investors stocks are now gone. Dissapeared into thin air. They had no say in the matter, just gone. Their family lost millions.

ATG wrote:

G@lt wrote:

You bought a house as an investment, it was a bad investment and now you won't stop crying about it. It's like going to Vegas, losing all your money and then whining and saying how unfair the casino was and how they should give you back your money.

Millions of people bought houses and had hundreds of thousands of dollars essentially stolen from them when the bottom fell out. You could comment on the fact that around 30% of Americans are facing an incoming crisis that stemmed from the fraud that was going on, or an even larger number have lost or will lose their homes, but you have to direct snotty comments directly towards me. That is the kind of shit that makes this site a cesspool.


I'm not saying I should get my money back, per se. I am saying why wouldn't I if I can? So, unless you are prepared to discuss the larger issue just buzz off and leave me alone. Not interested in your personally directed comments.

There was no fraud. No one put a gun to your head and told you to buy a home during a housing BOOM. Boom means there will be a bust coming at some point.

It's not like the banks were building and selling homes themselves. Since you're all now defaulting on your homes, should the banks be able to go after the money the sellers made? Of course not. Just sit there and sulk about how the big meanie bank loan officer forced you to take out a loan to buy something you had no interest in buying. You signed a contract to buy an overpriced house. Suck it up.

Phrozenbot wrote:

Indeed, homes don't make good investments.

Since 3 years ago. But before that, a home/land was the most solid investment a person could make.

Phrozenbot wrote:

SEREMAKER wrote:

Phrozenbot wrote:

Indeed, homes don't make good investments.

that would depend on the area market


purchased mine Nov '08 - $132,000


just refinced June '10 - apprasied home at $235,000 -- took a lower interest rate with $15,000 cash settlement

If you bought a home at a low point, to which market value is now rising, I wouldn't necessarily argue with you. The fact though is that upkeep for your home far outweighs any gains in value, most of the time. If your home actually took care of itself and grew without maintenance, maybe.

Where did you read this? I made this same argument months ago on here

short of having diamonds or gold, everything has to be maintained in way or another ..... from yourself to your car to your business to your home

No fraud?

Then why have over a thousand people been busted for mortgage fraud, just in the last month.

google california clown house.

you think I just manufacture this stuff?


Education on the subject  is key to competent debate, a notion lost to the majority  here.

JohnG@lt wrote:

SEREMAKER wrote:

short of having diamonds or gold, everything has to be maintained in way or another ..... from yourself to your car to your business to your home

The argument is that home ownership is essentially a trap. Over the course of mortgage you pay for the house twice in interest alone, add maintenance on top of that, property taxes, school taxes, tens of thousands for renovations etc. But the big argument against home ownership is that it limits your future earnings potential. It's nice to have stability but it's a lot easier to pack up and move to a newer, higher paying job, when you don't have to worry about putting your home on the market and selling it.

Unless you own a business that is geographically tied to a certain area, there is really no logical reason to own a home. We've been propagandized to our entire life that "American Dream = Homeownership" and it's really difficult for most people to see past that. For the vast, vast majority of people in this country, renting is the correct choice.

I'm not one to have someone profit off my residents at an establishment.

JohnG@lt wrote:

If you meant 'residence' (I'm not picking on your spelling), then the town you live in is profiting off of you via taxation, the bank is profiting off of the interest you pay, and you would have to see the price of your house double over the life of the mortgage to see a single penny in profit.

It's better to rent an older home (one where the mortgage payments are low and thus the rent is low as well), invest the difference between the rent and what a mortgage would be, and you'll make far more than you would via simple homeownership in the same time frame.

I think some would be willing to pay for a home in order to not have a landlord decide to not renew the lease, etc...  And I don't know about your area, but around here, all the cheap rentals are just that--cheap.  Landlords tend to take shortcuts, and if I wanted to raise a family I can see why I might want to own the house and be able to make modifications.

I see the benefits of renting--I rent for those reasons--but there are very valid reasons for buying.

JohnG@lt wrote:

SEREMAKER wrote:

JohnG@lt wrote:

The argument is that home ownership is essentially a trap. Over the course of mortgage you pay for the house twice in interest alone, add maintenance on top of that, property taxes, school taxes, tens of thousands for renovations etc. But the big argument against home ownership is that it limits your future earnings potential. It's nice to have stability but it's a lot easier to pack up and move to a newer, higher paying job, when you don't have to worry about putting your home on the market and selling it.

Unless you own a business that is geographically tied to a certain area, there is really no logical reason to own a home. We've been propagandized to our entire life that "American Dream = Homeownership" and it's really difficult for most people to see past that. For the vast, vast majority of people in this country, renting is the correct choice.

I'm not one to have someone profit off my residents at an establishment.

If you meant 'residence' (I'm not picking on your spelling), then the town you live in is profiting off of you via taxation, the bank is profiting off of the interest you pay, and you would have to see the price of your house double over the life of the mortgage to see a single penny in profit.

It's better to rent an older home (one where the mortgage payments are low and thus the rent is low as well), invest the difference between the rent and what a mortgage would be, and you'll make far more than you would via simple homeownership in the same time frame.

the debate is way to general, while home ownership vs renting is to specfic to certain areas

while in some areas and if the indiviual is always on the move then renting would be the right idea

and for others ownership is much better .... taxes ( while some states do not do property taxes ) do go to good things like schools in such but the same can be said for a vehicle tax on a vehicle that has been paid off for several years ... and if someone is wise with their mortaguage they can see a 30 year loan turn into a 18 - 20 year loan