[Diego Mamani]

No questions are silly. If an answer is on the primer, then a referral to it would be appreciated. What is really silly is not asking questions, or flaming those who do (after all, if you don’t like a question, you could always ignore it.)

Interest rates are not set by any bank, they are set by the market. It’s like asking, why doesn’t Safeway lower it prices? That way the poor would be able to afford food and no one would hungry, right?

ARMs “don’t have to” reset to higher rates. Rates could go up or down, as determined by the market. The market is comprised of hundred of thousands, if not millions of funding agencies, banks, consumers, foreign central banks, corporations large and small, etc.

In many countries, like the UK, etc., ARMs are more prevalent than fixed-rate loans. There’s nothing inherently wrong with ARMs, contrary to popular belief in today’s post boom environment. Fixed rates offer the convenience of fixed payments for the life of the loan, but we consumers pay dearly for that. Moreover, non-exotic ARMs have plenty of safeguards: a fixed rate period, a cap of how high rates can go for the life of the loan, a cap of how high any annual increase can be, and no pre-payment penalties.

Unfortunately, during the recent credit orgy (2001-2006) such safeguards were eliminated, especially in subprime loans.

[Diego Mamani]

No questions are silly. If an answer is on the primer, then a referral to it would be appreciated. What is really silly is not asking questions, or flaming those who do (after all, if you don’t like a question, you could always ignore it.)

Interest rates are not set by any bank, they are set by the market. It’s like asking, why doesn’t Safeway lower it prices? That way the poor would be able to afford food and no one would hungry, right?

ARMs “don’t have to” reset to higher rates. Rates could go up or down, as determined by the market. The market is comprised of hundred of thousands, if not millions of funding agencies, banks, consumers, foreign central banks, corporations large and small, etc.

In many countries, like the UK, etc., ARMs are more prevalent than fixed-rate loans. There’s nothing inherently wrong with ARMs, contrary to popular belief in today’s post boom environment. Fixed rates offer the convenience of fixed payments for the life of the loan, but we consumers pay dearly for that. Moreover, non-exotic ARMs have plenty of safeguards: a fixed rate period, a cap of how high rates can go for the life of the loan, a cap of how high any annual increase can be, and no pre-payment penalties.

Unfortunately, during the recent credit orgy (2001-2006) such safeguards were eliminated, especially in subprime loans.

[Diego Mamani]

No questions are silly. If an answer is on the primer, then a referral to it would be appreciated. What is really silly is not asking questions, or flaming those who do (after all, if you don’t like a question, you could always ignore it.)

Interest rates are not set by any bank, they are set by the market. It’s like asking, why doesn’t Safeway lower it prices? That way the poor would be able to afford food and no one would hungry, right?

ARMs “don’t have to” reset to higher rates. Rates could go up or down, as determined by the market. The market is comprised of hundred of thousands, if not millions of funding agencies, banks, consumers, foreign central banks, corporations large and small, etc.

In many countries, like the UK, etc., ARMs are more prevalent than fixed-rate loans. There’s nothing inherently wrong with ARMs, contrary to popular belief in today’s post boom environment. Fixed rates offer the convenience of fixed payments for the life of the loan, but we consumers pay dearly for that. Moreover, non-exotic ARMs have plenty of safeguards: a fixed rate period, a cap of how high rates can go for the life of the loan, a cap of how high any annual increase can be, and no pre-payment penalties.

Unfortunately, during the recent credit orgy (2001-2006) such safeguards were eliminated, especially in subprime loans.

[Diego Mamani]

The Fed is the Central Bank in the US. It goes by other names in other countries. And yes, they deserve a spanking for flooding the system with liquidity. The dollar will continue to lose so much value (against the Euro, gold, oil, land, etc.) that us Piggingtonians will wish we had bought real estate instead of being stuck with worthless greenbacks!

 

 

[Diego Mamani]

The Fed is the Central Bank in the US. It goes by other names in other countries. And yes, they deserve a spanking for flooding the system with liquidity. The dollar will continue to lose so much value (against the Euro, gold, oil, land, etc.) that us Piggingtonians will wish we had bought real estate instead of being stuck with worthless greenbacks!

 

 

[Diego Mamani]

The Fed is the Central Bank in the US. It goes by other names in other countries. And yes, they deserve a spanking for flooding the system with liquidity. The dollar will continue to lose so much value (against the Euro, gold, oil, land, etc.) that us Piggingtonians will wish we had bought real estate instead of being stuck with worthless greenbacks!

 

 

[Diego Mamani]

A few days ago MSN published a bearish article titled “reasons why buying a house is not that great,” or “myths about buying a house.” What I think happened is that the RE industry called to complain and demanded that a more bullish article be published for balance, and then MSN complied. I’ve seen this happen a few times at MSN: a bearish article on RE, followed by a bullish one a few days later.

[Diego Mamani]

Property tax and HOA alone could easily exceed $700 a month, and that’s before homeowner insurance. The mortgage pmt could be $2500 or so. That’s a lot of money to throw down the drain, especially on a depreciating asset. Perhaps you can rent a similar 2/2 unit for $2k a month and see if you really like the downtown condo lifestyle?

[Diego Mamani]

Good points, Former SD. I wasn’t really looking forward to the underwear and lingerie sting operation, although I am a big fan of youtube.com!

[Diego Mamani]

May be the OP forgot to close italics < / i >?

[Diego Mamani]

Update.
I’m so embarrased… I forgot to mention that when I left home (a few minutes after the landlord had driven away from the house) I noticed a brand new mailbox. I thought “maybe he came to replace the mailbox, and then decided to snoop around the house, or maybe use the bathroom.” He may have even rang the bell, but since I’m hard of hearing I may not have heard it when taking a shower. In any case, nothing justifies his entering the house (whether he’s incontinent or not!).

The event took place on a Monday. That evening, when commenting all this with my wife, she said that maybe I had left the door unlocked. Impossible, I said, as I’m obsessive-compulsive about locking doors and windows. Then we remembered that my brother-in-law had visited us the day before (Sunday) and that he had let himself out of the house. I’m not 100% certain that my BIL left the door unlocked, but is a real possibility.

So…

(1) My bro-in-law visit could explain the unlocked doors (he’s not very bright… I was working on another room when he left, and my wife didn’t walk him to the door because she had to take a phone call).

(2) The shiny new mailbox explains what the landlord was doing outside the house on Monday.

But something fishy still remains to be explained: when I left the house at noon that day, the new mailbox was not firmly fastened, as if the landlord (or whoever intalled it) didn’t quite finish and had to leave in a hurry. However, when I came back home that night, the mailbox was firmly fastened and all the screws looked tight.

[Diego Mamani]

If housing is soo bad, and umemployment is so bad, and your neighbors are closing shop or losing their jobs left and right, would you have the stomach to make a big purchase at that time?

Remember that it is best to buy when there’s blood on the streets, even if it’s your own blood. People who bought houses in the mid 1990s made small fortunes, enough to retire early if they sold at the peak. But many didn’t want to buy in the mid 90s: the herd mentality dictated that real estate was a lousy investment.

I agree with you that timing the bottom is nearly impossible. However, when I think that there’s enough blood on the streets and that RE is discredited enough, then I might buy again.

[Diego Mamani]

After the incident I re-locked the front door, and then left the house (I had many errands to take care of). I realize know that I should have called the police right away to file a report. The report would serve to document the trespassing incident.

A formal letter sent by certified mail quoting the relevant California Civil Code section, and including the text Perry suggests should be enough to convey the seriousness of the situation.

[Diego Mamani]

Thank you for all the advice. I think I will write a friendly letter and send it by certified mail. I may call as well, and give the guy a chance to explain. Many posters mentioned judges and courts, but I think it would be difficult to quantify any damages (loss of privacy?) that may justify a suit.

The door was unlocked when I checked, there’s no doubt about that. We always lock it, and we get in and out through the garage most of the time.

Thanks again!

[Diego Mamani]

Foresale_2007, such political party does exist: The Libertarian Party.

Republicrats (or is it Demoblicans?), as you noticed, are interested in big government: tax-and-spend or borrow-and-spend, to further their ideological agenda, be it war, welfare (corporate or the usual kind), and countless “programs” to save us idiot citizens from ourselves.

[Author]

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