[spdrun]

The Stay Puffed marshmallow man would kick Gojira’s ass. That is all 🙂

[spdrun]

If you’re really making $500k/yr, you’re probably bringing home $300k/yr after taxes. That makes you able to afford at least one $100k down payment on a property per annum, say at 50% down. If each one makes $10k/yr, you’ll have a $100k/yr income in ten years. At that point you’d be using it to increase the pace of buying or start slowing down and stepping off the treadmill.

I bet’cha that your friends who got their extra fingers burnt weren’t putting 50% down 🙂

Have to say that’s one advantage of East Coast. Not having to keep up appearances as much. I grew up in a small city in NJ that was a mixed bag but had quite a lot of wealthy people living there. Went to public school with kids whose parents were bringing home several mil per year, yet still lived in the same house that was in the family for 100 years and drove 15 year old cars.

Excess income was either invested, saved for kids’ college, or used for travel to some very interesting places.

[spdrun]

Don’t be so sure. We have a lot of generally smart people, a huge influx of talented immigrants, media/arts/design, architecture/engineering/construction industry, multiple well-known universities, a growing technology/internet industry downtown, one of the more important ports on the East Coast, biotech and pharma (typically outside the city in NJ, but some companies actually moved back into NY), etc. It’s a far more diverse economy than you’d think, just like San Diego isn’t just squids, sand, and Seaworld 🙂

The decay of the 70s was actually nationwide, but even then NY didn’t have the demographic problems of Detroit (didn’t lose anywhere near 60% of its population).

[spdrun]

By that definition, isn’t 99.9% of employed America “working stiffs?” Of course if you’re really making $500k/yr, why aren’t you buying a well-managed condo per year, renting it out for $10k/yr or so profit, so as to have a Plan B if TSHTF as far as your job or company?

If the people who spent their time “prepping” and collecting arms spent half their time preparing financially for independence, I bet they’d be a lot happier.

[spdrun]

Not every state has something like Prop 13… in a lot of places, taxes did NOT drop significantly because of lower home values, and valuations are sometimes not even based on purchase price.

(NYC does it by equivalent rent, I believe, some NJ towns use a similar formula to come up with an artificial number based on land area, sq ft, and amenities — i.e. one bath is worth x dollars — which is then multiplied by a millage multiplier.)

Really, the inflexible system in CA is CA’s own fault, though I’m reaping the benefits so I shouldn’t whinge about it.

[spdrun]

What do you consider “working stiff” income? Keep in mind that a $1MM house financed at 90% will cost $60k/yr in taxes and mortgage payments alone, not accounting for HOA fees, Mello-Roos, improvements, maintenance.

At $5-6k/mo, you can rent something pretty damn nice for half the price.

[spdrun]

General deflation is bad. Deflation in sectors that were artificially inflated can be a positive thing, despite the mewling of the muppets who bought homes they couldn’t afford in the 2000s bubble and are now under water.

[spdrun]

^^^

Question is: are they old-money working-class professionals, where the homes have been in the family free and clear for 50 years?

[spdrun]

Could re-filing the lien repeatedly be considered abuse of process, malicious prosecution, or simply harassment?

[spdrun]

Judge Judy and friends are not courts in the normal sense of the words — they’re mediators which look like courts; both parties have to agree in writing to such a thing.

Not sure what CA law on trial by jury is in civil cases, but you may well be entitled to a jury trial if you so request.

I’d seriously research whether those asshats have any history of this type of bad behavior; it might help your case and establish cause for a future malicious prosecution suit or harassment charges.

This kind of crap needs to be nipped in the bud.

[spdrun]

Fortunately, the markets don’t always follow the whim of the banksters; in fact, loose policy has been shown to actually increase volatility and the risk of a crash. Tell you what a 50% crash would do — make me throw a big damn party — biggest buying opportunity ever if “blood runneth in the streets” once again.

[spdrun]

If you’re getting the loan from the bank, they do NOT need to pull your credit. Unless you’re literally paying cash, not cashier’s check or wire transfer, they do NOT need your SSN for reporting. If they ask for your SSN, tell them to go f**k themselves.

(And personally, I’d just buy used off Craigslist — to hell with dealers and the slime who work there, warranty or no.)

[spdrun]

That was also his choice — I think he was in it more for enjoyment than for money.

Work isn’t “work” in my book if it’s done for reasons other than necessity.

[spdrun]

(1) NYC is a bastion of good PEOPLE in many ways, nothing to do with good governance. Add to this that 40 or more per cent of the population is foreign-born, and it makes it an interesting and in many ways pleasant place to live.
(2) I exaggerate a bit, haven’t given anyone a nosebleed yet, but I’d really be pretty damn pissy if I had to deal with nonsense 50 hours a week, two weeks off per year, with nothing to show for it.
(3) Not really content, but I have family and friends here, so plan to spend at least some time i the Northeast for the forseeable future. If I had no connections, I would probably be in France or further East for keeps right now. Legally as a citizen of an EU country who speaks multiple languages, work permit or starting a business wouldn’t be a problem.
(4) Said Edison: “Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.”
Retorted Tesla: “If Edison had a needle to find in a haystack, he would proceed at once with the diligence of the bee to examine straw after straw until he found the object of his search. I was a sorry witness of such doings, knowing that a little theory and calculation would have saved him ninety percent of his labor.”

People who brag about working 50-60 hours a week non-stop may be seen as hard-working by the majority of the public. Unless they’re engaged in cutting-edge research, I just see them as sad cases… not worth bragging about. Work for the sake of work isn’t an end in itself.

[spdrun]

If one bribes them to remove the lien, what makes you think that they won’t be coming back for more anyway (since they’ll see their victim as an easy mark)? If the lien wasn’t justified and I had proof, I’d take the scammers to court to obtain a restraining order prohibiting them from my property and forbidding any contact or legal harassment. I’d also sue them for my time, my court costs, and my aggravation.

I suggest that you look at court records to see if those clowns have had any legal action against them for such behavior. If they have, then it might be very easy to win a case against them — why would you bother perpetuating a scam and feeding scammers?

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