Pretty standard destruction when the finances go bad.

[quote=spdrun]If the dude had put the equity into rental property instead of outdoor water features and BBQs, he wouldn’t be where he is now… A lot of East European folk with his background (with his job, he was obviously handy) did that and are doing pretty well with it.

And funny that him being a “wonderful provider” (13:25) was more important to chubby wifey than him being a good person. Bet she was clamoring for upgrades and toys for the kids more than anyone else when times were good.

Doesn’t seem to be much love from her end, just guilt.[/quote]

You’re accusing her of being uncaring but can see no farther than her weight – interesting. She must have loved him at some point- she was a beautiful flight attendant and he was a high school drop out – if she were marrying for money she could have done better. In any event – here is the house:

http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2-Elm-Pl-Rancho-Santa-Margarita-CA-92688/25606849_zpid/

If they hadn’t siphoned equity out they would have had something like $400,000 in equity now, rather than living in a one bedroom apartment.

It’s not just Temecula… I’ve seen it all over San Diego….

Lesson for all of us – home equity can come and go with the market, don’t pull cash out to buy toys and expand your lifestyle.

Yes, if they hadn’t spent part, not all, I thought I heard the bank was eating like $90K on the short sale, which means they had something like $650K financed. That’s on a home valued at one point at $1.1M, and pretty consistently two year plus run at million+.

His situation was pretty simple, he worked in a industry that vaporized. Vaporized basically overnight and stayed vaporized for 3+ years.

You can talk trash about buying investment properties, but frankly, you’re talking out of your *ss. As inexperienced landlords, there wasn’t anything they were buying around here, or phoenix, or any other market at that time. And I know plenty of people that did just that, in Phoenix, Vegas, Detroit, etc, all lost their backside.

The only thing they could have done was not tap basically $800K in equity. And most of you are already on record for how stupid you think that is when ‘investment’ properties are around.

In the end, the problem they had was very simple, he lost a job, in an industry that he had 20 years of experience in and wasn’t hiring anyone for 3+ years.

So yea, the world falls apart on you, you don’t have a job, you’re burning up your savings, and the house you’ve raised your family in for the last 11 years, has lost $500K of equity and you’ve only got a $100K of equity left.

You’ve got omnipotent hindsight balls, I’m sure you’d pull the trigger and sell, knowing without a job you can’t find a rental, can’t get another loan for a new place and ‘give it away’.

The denial is strong in this thread with the posters.

nsr: Wait … why couldn’t I find a rental without a job, assuming I were paying cash up front for a year (which the $100k equity you clain would allow for)? There’s a non-zero number of landlords who’d go for a deal like that.

Minimize expenses, everyone goes to public school, deal with it. Or rent the house, pull as much out as possible, hope it covers its expenses, and pray for the best.

But anyway, if he hadn’t milked it in the early 2000s, he wouldn’t have been where he was to begin with.

I disagree, very few in that industry (physical construction part, small scale) have advance degrees. It’s pretty typical.

And frankly, it doesn’t matter if you have a degree or not, 20 years in an industry, you’re marked. A complete start-over is possible, but it’s a big uphill battle. Everybody will look at you like you’re going to hop ship as soon as your ‘industry’ turns-around.

Keep planning well, the desolation train is coming for many on this board, programmers, software engineers, medical people, your good job days are numbered.

They had until about 2008 to get out with money, a little money, that $100K equity turns into $50K cash in pocket after commission and tough post bubble sales cycle.

You going to rent to a family with $50K in the bank, no jobs and two kids, a credit score that’s already getting beaten because of the house payments? Are you going to take 60% of that last next egg and give it to some schmucky landlord for a place to live for year when the news has been running stories about renters getting caught in the landlord’s foreclosure? It might be a non-zero number, but I suspect the number of landlords that won’t take that deal is much larger. Needle in a haystack solutions are really viable solutions, they’re flukes.

They spent pretty wildly, but be honest, being in a home you bought for $321K and is being beaten on by agents to sell for a million plus is going to leave you feeling pretty flush.

[quote=no_such_reality]Yes, if they hadn’t spent part, not all, I thought I heard the bank was eating like $90K on the short sale, which means they had something like $650K financed. That’s on a home valued at one point at $1.1M, and pretty consistently two year plus run at million+.

His situation was pretty simple, he worked in a industry that vaporized. Vaporized basically overnight and stayed vaporized for 3+ years.

You can talk trash about buying investment properties, but frankly, you’re talking out of your *ss. As inexperienced landlords, there wasn’t anything they were buying around here, or phoenix, or any other market at that time. And I know plenty of people that did just that, in Phoenix, Vegas, Detroit, etc, all lost their backside.

The only thing they could have done was not tap basically $800K in equity. And most of you are already on record for how stupid you think that is when ‘investment’ properties are around.

In the end, the problem they had was very simple, he lost a job, in an industry that he had 20 years of experience in and wasn’t hiring anyone for 3+ years.

So yea, the world falls apart on you, you don’t have a job, you’re burning up your savings, and the house you’ve raised your family in for the last 11 years, has lost $500K of equity and you’ve only got a $100K of equity left.

You’ve got omnipotent hindsight balls, I’m sure you’d pull the trigger and sell, knowing without a job you can’t find a rental, can’t get another loan for a new place and ‘give it away’.

The denial is strong in this thread with the posters.[/quote]

My solution is simple…. I don’t plan on living past 55-60….It simplifies a lot of things…. My 401k becomes my kid’s inheritance, and my kid’s college is paid by the 529plan… Life insurance makes up a little more, and the remaining money should be able to pay off all homes free and clear…..And there’s plenty of extra-curricular activities I have that I know could guarantee with 99.9% accuracy that that will happen 🙂