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bearishgurl
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]BTW in case you want to challenge my assumptions. My insurance has gone up about $150/year in 13 years and my HOA has increased by $15/month over those same 13 years.[/quote]
No, I’m good with your “assumptions” …. all except the potential “$4000 rent.” It’s not like “Nirvana” is equivalent to Del Mar or LJ or anything like that.
Am I correct in that you are presupposing rents will skyrocket because of all the shenanigans currently successfully executed by “strategic defaulters” such as the subject of this thread??
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]Sure I’ll answer. I went back to grad school in the 90’s so thats where the student loans came from. There wasnt much and I could have paid them off but the rates on home equity loans were too attractive to do so….[/quote]
Understand.
I know we’re in the middle of a “recession” and all but, I just have to ask, “Why are you working as a PT “Realtor” when you have a “graduate degree.”
Are there no jobs avail in your field? You can tell me to MYOB but I was just wondering …
Participant[quote=Jacarandoso]BG, When the assessor “voluntarily” lowered your taxes, was it the result of an application? Did they just lower the assessment without you asking? I should have done something sooner, but mine is now 100k-150K too high.[/quote]
Yes, Russell, in ’07 and ’08, it was by application. In August of ’08 (on the eve of the ’07 hg), I stipulated to an agreement to drop the hg. By the time of my ’08 application, they didn’t have the resources to go to hg, due to sheer volume of applications so I called my local appraiser at what was the (now closed) South County Assessor Branch Office and we agreed to sold comps over the phone (I myself am a former “county bureaucrat”). When that assessment was processed (in writing) to what we agreed on, I withdrew my appeal. In ’09, the assessor voluntarily lowered my taxes a little more. In ’10, “Prop 8” kicked in and they lowered them drastically across the board.
see: http://boe.ca.gov/proptaxes/faqs/caproptaxprop.htm#4
My new tax bill for F/Y 11/12 is about 27% lower than my ’08/09 tax bill (rec’d Sept ’07).
I would recommend you appeal NOW, as the deadline for appeal for the 11/12 FY is 11/30/11.
Participant[quote=sdrealtor][quote=bearishgurl][quote=sdrealtor]Dont you pay taxes, insurance and maintenance on top of P&I like the rest of us? One question, if you had invested your 30% down and not spent money on strategic improvements would you be in a better financial position today?[/quote]
First, you answer my last question then I’ll answer this one ;=][/quote]
Obviously didnt read my answers to your last question that were already posted prior to your last winky dink post. You dont have to answer any way. Its your business and I dont really care to know the answers. They were simply rhetorical questions.[/quote]
I just saw this and the reason I didn’t answer is because I was away …
Participant[quote=sdrealtor][quote=bearishgurl][quote=sdrealtor]LOL I was only kidding. You dont have to explain your actions to anyone not the least of which is me.[/quote]
Does this mean you’re not going to tell us about your (cash-out?) refi(s)??[/quote]
Sure I took some money out to do some improvements when we bought the property. I used some to invest in properties which I already sold for substantial profits and one I still own which is very profitable as a rental. I invested in a business that was very successful and was subsequently sold. I consolidated about $30K in student debts also. I have never had less than 30% equity in my home. I’ve been paying down the HELOC (even though my rate is around 4% and will stay there for a very long time because its prime minus 1%-its sitting at its low end cap)rapidly out of income because I dont want to cash out long term investments to do so. I could rent out my house easily because of my neighborhood for a very nice profit each month too.
Once the HELOC is paid off my loan to value will be under 30%. My life doesnt suck.[/quote]
If you say MYOB, fine … but I just have a couple more questions here. You state you “consolidated” your $30K of student loans. I can’t remember how old you are but seem to think you might be too old to still be carrying “student-loan” debt. Do you mean you used your HELOC to pay off your student-loan debt? Not clear on this. Secondly, how much will your house rent for on the open market? In your case, with a 1st TD + HELOC + taxes + ins + MR? + HOA?, it doesn’t seem plausible to me that you would have a positive cash flow if you rented out your principal residence.
ParticipantOkay, I see sdr answered my question. In ’09 and ’10, my taxes were voluntarily lowered by the assessor beyond what I would have appealed them down to (for the time being). I had appealed in ’07 and ’08 and got the assessment adjusted downwards. I’m now happy with the current assessment (product of 4 consecutive downward adjustments).
The subject of this thread could have done the same thing (if the NV County Assessors are voluntarily adjusting property assessments). I don’t know the laws there.
My insurance is $985 annually for a $366K “replacement value” policy. I believe this is more than adequate to rebuild in the event of a total loss, such as fire.
I don’t think I would have made any money had I added my downpayment $ to my retirement accounts. After all the “gyrations” in recent years, they were underperforming when I went all cash in August of this year. As a matter of fact, a few of them were within “hundreds” of when I bought them in the nineties. I know others who have experienced the same. I don’t have the stomach for it, nor do I have the expertise to “pick” correctly and timely.
I would rather have a postive cash-flow rental in a ‘hood I was familar with than sink “retirement” $$ in the “stock market abyss.”
The “strategic improvements” I made were to replace broken appls and install new flooring, landscaping and sprinkler system (which I bartered for labor). The cash layout was minimal (a few thousand for mat’ls).
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]Dont you pay taxes, insurance and maintenance on top of P&I like the rest of us? One question, if you had invested your 30% down and not spent money on strategic improvements would you be in a better financial position today?[/quote]
First, you answer my last question then I’ll answer this one ;=]
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]LOL I was only kidding. You dont have to explain your actions to anyone not the least of which is me.[/quote]
Does this mean you’re not going to tell us about your (cash-out?) refi(s)??
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]At some point you bought into the same herd mentality as the author of the article.[/quote]
Was there a (RE) “herd mentality” prevalent 10-11 years ago? Am I missing something here??
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]Why couldnt you have rented?
We want to hear the precise reason why you purchased and your exact thought process every step of the way when you took out new loans. You have no problem digging into others reasons and situations in excruciating detail so please do the same or stop asking others to do so…[/quote]
For the record, I took out ONE purchase-money loan and I still have it. Why am I NOT underwater now? I’m one of those few (…drumroll…) who put an excess of 30% down, I’ve made a few strategic improvements along the way and my home is NOT the same age as the rest of my ‘hood. It was gutted and rebuilt about 19 years ago and was designed by a local architect.
With a few more minor repairs, I believe I will be able to recover my downpayment + a co-broke fee (and if I’m lucky, perhaps more) in a few years. If not, I’ll rent it.
Renting at the time would have cost me at least $1500 mo for the 3 bdrms I needed and I also had pets.
I have much more square footage and a large yard for $1200 mo P&I.
How about YOU, sdr? How many times have YOU refied “cash out?” And why aren’t YOU renting??
Participant[quote=sdrealtor] . . . Pretty certain this describes you. You are selling your book here. You have to ask yourself what part you played in buying where you did. Have you never thought of your home as your retirement nest egg and counted on some level of appreciation? . . .[/quote]
I can’t go into the precise reasons here as to why I purchased where I did but, suffice to say, I had no choice in the matter at the time if I wanted to continue to raise my children. My particular area did not get nearly as hard hit as the newer (MR/HOA) areas of Chula Vista. And no . . . I never even considered that my home would be my “retirement nest egg.” I considered it to be a more than adequate home to raise my kids in. And when the last one is gone, I will be gone. End of story.
Are you suggesting I write a book? Who do you think would buy it??
ParticipantI just looked at the photos of the (interactive) link again. The spouse is fit and attractive. Here are some GREAT legitimate ways she could have made $35-$75K annually (on graveyard shift while “financial-mgr spouse” slept with kids.)
Roving change attendant
Chip cage attendant
Cigarette/Cigar vendor
cocktail waitress (dinner/showroom/casino floor)
Craps dealer (12-16 wk training)
Roulette spinner
Front desk clerk
Concierge
Wedding chapel attendant/witness (pt time)
etc….She could have obtained full health benefits for her family (for a min 32-35 hr workweek and biweekly deduction) and opportunities for advancement in these jobs, as well. A handful of these casinos even had defined benefit plans in the ’90’s (not sure about now).
Then they could take turns taking the kids to school so mom could sleep during the day.
If I was in her place and going to lose my 3500+ sf home for my 4 kids, I’d be out there looking for way to make $$ . . . but that’s just me.
Participant[quote=sdrealtor]I think its a very good article. He’s not looking for sympathy, he’s just telling his story. It shows less sophisticated distressed homeowners that they are not alone. That people of all education and income levels fell prey to the same thing. Its a story about risk taking and herd mentalities which are endemic in our society. Its not about fingerpointing anymore. Its about cleaning up the mess and we still have much work ahead of us.[/quote]
It IS a good article and I understand all this. I’d like to see the mess cleaned up, too. And I think short-sale is a fair option for those who fell prey to the “herd mentality” and purchased at the height of the “bubble” (2004 thru 2006) and never took cash out.
However, I feel SS should not be approved for those “strategic defaulters” and others who took “cash out,” ESP >$100K! It’s a “slap in the face” to those “pre-bubble” homeowners who kept their heads down and elected not to join the party.
Not only do I feel these people could have afforded the home and would have been able to keep it or sell it at break-even and thereby keep their “perfect” credit intact had they not taken “cash out,” I feel they got off way too easy (150 pt+ “ding” to their FICO score??) and don’t even have to pay income taxes on their “phantom $200K+ income.” It’s sickening to the rest of us.
I also think that a lot of young couples today buy properties where their back-end ratios are under 38% or so (lender approved) but that they probably can’t realistically afford. This purchase decision is (reluctantly?) agreed upon to please only ONE of the parties (often the non-working spouse) but ends up being a financial disaster for the entire family. I don’t think young spouses who choose not to work these days can afford to be too picky about houses and/or areas unless the working spouse is making bank (=>$200K annually) AND they have saved at least 20% down OR either or both of them have access to substantial and continuing passive income (trust funds, dividends, royalties, inheritances, etc).
Prior to this “millenium bubble,” one didn’t see young couples with children take out HUGE mortgages en masse like we see today. By and large, they bought what they could afford.
I have TWO friends that have owned rental homes in LV for many years (’70’s, ’80’s). And NO, they haven’t taken “cash out” but are DEVASTATED as to how the current RE sales market there has affected their own values. This young one-income couple with 4 young children to feed, clothe and care for is a shining representative of all those “homeowners” (using that term loosely here) who were able “work the system” for their own financial benefit and thus were part of the problem of why the LV market tanked into a depression in recent years.
Based upon this writer’s story, I believe that if SS had not been an option for them, they would have just hung in there, rented it out, or, as a last resort, let the property go into foreclosure. They didn’t really need to move. Since he was self-employed, he could easily figure out a way to claim a “hardship” on paper. In other words, they decided to default solely to get a SS approval.
Again, THIS is the fundamental problem that I have with a “cash-out” strategic-defaulter short sale.
ParticipantHere’s another link as to the Richards’ details:
http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/11/09/your-money/20111109_CARL.html?ref=business
They appear to be young and all their children are under the age of 12. The wife claims they had a lot of good memories in the house. A b-day party photo is shown (to elicit sympathy?)
The link addresses the fact that they sold $200K short, but does NOT address what they did with the money. The Richards are “philosophical” in the end and state that they don’t blame the “mean banks.”
Why should they? They got $200K of “free money” and the debt “pardoned.”
I feel if he makes $$ off his book explaining how “dumb” they were, he should have had to use it to pay off their “short,” (or in the least, their income taxes stemming from the short).
Alas, our lofty GOV now has it set up where they won’t have to.
This is fundamentally where I have a problem with short sales.
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