[spdrun]

Bearishgurl: I’d argue that the welfare reforms of 1996 did more harm than good, and actually risked trapping more people in poverty.

Take the case of someone with kids who wants to leave work to go to school full time. Between that and kids, they’d have a “full time job” on their hands.

The reform of 1996 limits their assistance to two years without a job, and places a lifetime limit of five years on total assistance. Barely enough time to get bachelor’s degree.

So more people who want to better themselves either end up sleeping four hours a night (more risk of health issues and dropping out) or end up up to their nipples in debt. Or they just skip the education and survive as best they can.

In the guise of taking “welfare queens” off the rolls, it essentially made having a family (especially as a single parent, even if not by choice) an educational dead end.

[spdrun]

FlyerInHI: I think that some is. But one of the criticisms of Obamacare was that it made Medicaid 100% income-based. Leading to absurd cases like the guy with a $5 million dollar house who was between businesses (new one was yet to show profit) being sent a Medicaid card.

[spdrun]

At $60k/yr for a couple years, it’s easier to floof your income enough to qualify for a loan on a condo. After one buys, then your suggestion might make sense.

[spdrun]

True. BTW, not being judgmental, but you have to take it into account that not everyone wants to be on WIC or Medicaid.

[spdrun]

Not everyone wants to be dependent on the government.

[spdrun]

Then again, SoCal real estate has gone up a lot more than other places since 2009. So it stands to reason that a rise in rates that will happen eventually will work like this. *SQUEEEEE* *CRASH* *gurgle*

Hopefully, one of the few good things about both GOP houses will be that they’ll put the screws on the balls of Obama’s pet stooge Mel Watt and the FHFA lorded over by him, so that the extent of credit offered to losers will not be allowed to increase dramatically.

[spdrun]

That’s just because the credit spigot has been relaxed again and people can lease again.

Or rather, since they can no longer make subprime home loans, they’ve moved on to newer and better products, like auto loans 🙂

[spdrun]

If you have inspections and title search done, why do you need to have an agent with a fiduciary duty to you? Closing on a property isn’t rocket science.

[spdrun]

Lighten up kids, or get a room, or something.

[spdrun]

Why use any agent at all? If it’s listed, you’re interested, the selling agent has a phone #. Pick up the phone, call it, and see the property. A few lazy selling agents will piss, whinge, and moan about showing a property to someone without a broker, only then do you need to give them a broker’s name.

Bonus for the selling agent: they get to keep their entire commission, not split it with a buyer’s agent. Though I’d assume that you could have a bit of wiggle room in negotiating that to lower the price.

[spdrun]

Thus far, our hypothetical savers are bringing their free Craigslist furniture home on the bus and apparently don’t even do laundry.

I think a car was mentioned at $300/mo. Insurance (liability-only) = $50/mo. Rego/smog = $20/mo. Repairs/oil changes = $100/mo. Gas = $100/mo. Misc = $30/mo. So $300/mo for a paid-off car is more than generous.

[spdrun]

Oh geesh.. That’s like say, don’t buy a an Apple product because it’s assembled by Foxconn.

Or for that matter, don’t buy anything electronics because it contributes to the People’s Republic of China.

I haven’t bought any new electronics for personal use for years, with the possible exception of an SSD module for my laptop. There’s so much used junk floating on C’list and Fleabay around at 25-50% of new cost that what’s the point?

And it doesn’t sadden me in the least that I’m doing my small part to slow down Chinese economic growth.

Hm, 5 lbs of oranges I could deal with. TSOR says the average orange weighs 200g or ~0.4 lb. That’s 12 or 13 oranges, approximately. They last at least a week, if one eats on per day and splits the haul with a family member, friend, or neighbor, it’s totally doable!

[spdrun]

Why would they need to take a loan for $2950/mo? They should be paying under $2000/mo for mortgage/maint/re taxes and can afford to, even in the current market.

BTW – furniture can be picked up for nearly free on Craigslist and in thrift shops. Other than mattresses, it’s silly to buy new. Same goes for TVs. I can grab a 32″ LCD for under $100 on my local CL any day of the week, and it’ll still be 1.5x bigger than the 19″ screens we watched growing up.

The crapola people throw out is also amazing. My desk chair broke last week. I picked up an old wooden banker’s chair that someone had left out in the street for the garbagemen to pick up. Needed an arm reglued, but if I re-finish it, it might go for $150+ on EBay, though I’m planning to keep it for personal use.

Same goes for a stereo amp someone threw out that just had a blown fuse. I won’t go as extreme as freegans as far as dumpster-diving or eating castaway food, but old furniture and electronics are fair game!

[spdrun]

I’d call it the “populated coastal tax” — I don’t see SD housing as much more expensive than say suburban NYC, DC, or Boston, especially when low property taxes and low utilities (cheap HVAC costs) are factored in.

It’s not unknown to pay $1000/mo tax and $600/mo heating costs on a $500,000 house in the Northeast.

[spdrun]

Sounds about right, though I’d add a few things:
(1) School supplies/trips/etc
(2) Internet (really needed in 2014)
(3) Entertainment/trips, even if local
(4) Unexpected doctor’s visits, checkups, etc
(5) State income tax

I’d add $1000/mo to the $2950 number, honestly

Assuming they have savings, they’d have $1950/mo to pay for condo expenses once they buy a condo. So they can likely swing a $250k condo.

$250 tax + $15 insurance + $1100 mortgage + $300? maint = $1665/mo.

[Author]

Posts