[UCGal]

I’m not going to address the specific nits mentioned here – but bring up some hoops a friend is going through.

She and her husband are buying a bank owned home in Simi. Ironically, they’d made an offer when it was pre-forclosure for a lot more than the current agreed upon price. Previous idiots rejected it and got foreclosed on.

They have done everything right. Spent far less then their income to save a large downpayment. Doing so meant living in a very small rental for years. They each have 1 credit card, that they pay off in full each month. They were easily pre-approved, at a decent rate, for the price.

The selling bank first tried to insist they finance through them at a less favorable rate. They successfully rejected that.

Their escrow was going forward when the *selling* bank said they didn’t have *enough* credit. Insisted they get more credit cards. WTF? (They have credit scores in the high 700’s!) Mind you the lender is fine with their credit and they’re the one loaning the money. The *selling* bank also said that their frugal rent of the past 5 years was too low compared to their mortgage payment and suggested they would have payment shock. Their realtor has worked overtime explaining that they were saving the difference – and that was the source of their downpayment.

These are people who lived below their means to save a downpayment. Paid their credit cards on time, in full. Did everything right. Their lender is thrilled with them. The selling bank is being ridiculous.

It’s like the selling bank doesn’t want to sell. Escrow has been pushed back while this is resolved. It’s a nightmare.

[UCGal]

I’m not going to address the specific nits mentioned here – but bring up some hoops a friend is going through.

She and her husband are buying a bank owned home in Simi. Ironically, they’d made an offer when it was pre-forclosure for a lot more than the current agreed upon price. Previous idiots rejected it and got foreclosed on.

They have done everything right. Spent far less then their income to save a large downpayment. Doing so meant living in a very small rental for years. They each have 1 credit card, that they pay off in full each month. They were easily pre-approved, at a decent rate, for the price.

The selling bank first tried to insist they finance through them at a less favorable rate. They successfully rejected that.

Their escrow was going forward when the *selling* bank said they didn’t have *enough* credit. Insisted they get more credit cards. WTF? (They have credit scores in the high 700’s!) Mind you the lender is fine with their credit and they’re the one loaning the money. The *selling* bank also said that their frugal rent of the past 5 years was too low compared to their mortgage payment and suggested they would have payment shock. Their realtor has worked overtime explaining that they were saving the difference – and that was the source of their downpayment.

These are people who lived below their means to save a downpayment. Paid their credit cards on time, in full. Did everything right. Their lender is thrilled with them. The selling bank is being ridiculous.

It’s like the selling bank doesn’t want to sell. Escrow has been pushed back while this is resolved. It’s a nightmare.

[UCGal]

I’m not going to address the specific nits mentioned here – but bring up some hoops a friend is going through.

She and her husband are buying a bank owned home in Simi. Ironically, they’d made an offer when it was pre-forclosure for a lot more than the current agreed upon price. Previous idiots rejected it and got foreclosed on.

They have done everything right. Spent far less then their income to save a large downpayment. Doing so meant living in a very small rental for years. They each have 1 credit card, that they pay off in full each month. They were easily pre-approved, at a decent rate, for the price.

The selling bank first tried to insist they finance through them at a less favorable rate. They successfully rejected that.

Their escrow was going forward when the *selling* bank said they didn’t have *enough* credit. Insisted they get more credit cards. WTF? (They have credit scores in the high 700’s!) Mind you the lender is fine with their credit and they’re the one loaning the money. The *selling* bank also said that their frugal rent of the past 5 years was too low compared to their mortgage payment and suggested they would have payment shock. Their realtor has worked overtime explaining that they were saving the difference – and that was the source of their downpayment.

These are people who lived below their means to save a downpayment. Paid their credit cards on time, in full. Did everything right. Their lender is thrilled with them. The selling bank is being ridiculous.

It’s like the selling bank doesn’t want to sell. Escrow has been pushed back while this is resolved. It’s a nightmare.

[UCGal]

I have Kaiser. It is as good as any HMO I’ve had. All HMO’s (and a lot of PPO’s) require you use a network doctor to get full benefits… the difference is Kaiser is closed network – so the network doctor is an employee of Kaiser.

I saw them waste no expense on my mom’s multiple cancer surgeries and chemo. She had excellent care.

Same with my dad.

My younger son was born at Zion – I loved the midwife pre-natal care and midwife delivery.

If you don’t like your primary, it’s easy to change them. I happen to like my primary.

My kid’s pediatrician is great. I’ve grilled her about what it’s like to work for Kaiser, she likes it because she gets hands on clinical plus gets to work on her specialty – neo natal… they set up her schedule to allow both. And her hours are much more regular than elsewhere.

I also like that they don’t have blanket, one size fits none, policies about what surgeries are covered, etc… I was/am considering a surgery that is a bit more radical than guidelines, do to a familial cancer risk. I was told that as long as my doctor agreed, it would be covered. (They cover a similar surgery, for non-cancer related reasons, without problem – that was my basis for for discussion with the surgeon.)

But – You will not get private rooms, or high end treatment like you might at other hospitals. The recovery rooms for OB sucked and I was glad to go home in less than 24 hours after my son was born. The care was good -but having my roommate’s loved ones chatting and visiting 24/7 made recovery less than fun and I was happy to go home.

[UCGal]

I have Kaiser. It is as good as any HMO I’ve had. All HMO’s (and a lot of PPO’s) require you use a network doctor to get full benefits… the difference is Kaiser is closed network – so the network doctor is an employee of Kaiser.

I saw them waste no expense on my mom’s multiple cancer surgeries and chemo. She had excellent care.

Same with my dad.

My younger son was born at Zion – I loved the midwife pre-natal care and midwife delivery.

If you don’t like your primary, it’s easy to change them. I happen to like my primary.

My kid’s pediatrician is great. I’ve grilled her about what it’s like to work for Kaiser, she likes it because she gets hands on clinical plus gets to work on her specialty – neo natal… they set up her schedule to allow both. And her hours are much more regular than elsewhere.

I also like that they don’t have blanket, one size fits none, policies about what surgeries are covered, etc… I was/am considering a surgery that is a bit more radical than guidelines, do to a familial cancer risk. I was told that as long as my doctor agreed, it would be covered. (They cover a similar surgery, for non-cancer related reasons, without problem – that was my basis for for discussion with the surgeon.)

But – You will not get private rooms, or high end treatment like you might at other hospitals. The recovery rooms for OB sucked and I was glad to go home in less than 24 hours after my son was born. The care was good -but having my roommate’s loved ones chatting and visiting 24/7 made recovery less than fun and I was happy to go home.

[UCGal]

I have Kaiser. It is as good as any HMO I’ve had. All HMO’s (and a lot of PPO’s) require you use a network doctor to get full benefits… the difference is Kaiser is closed network – so the network doctor is an employee of Kaiser.

I saw them waste no expense on my mom’s multiple cancer surgeries and chemo. She had excellent care.

Same with my dad.

My younger son was born at Zion – I loved the midwife pre-natal care and midwife delivery.

If you don’t like your primary, it’s easy to change them. I happen to like my primary.

My kid’s pediatrician is great. I’ve grilled her about what it’s like to work for Kaiser, she likes it because she gets hands on clinical plus gets to work on her specialty – neo natal… they set up her schedule to allow both. And her hours are much more regular than elsewhere.

I also like that they don’t have blanket, one size fits none, policies about what surgeries are covered, etc… I was/am considering a surgery that is a bit more radical than guidelines, do to a familial cancer risk. I was told that as long as my doctor agreed, it would be covered. (They cover a similar surgery, for non-cancer related reasons, without problem – that was my basis for for discussion with the surgeon.)

But – You will not get private rooms, or high end treatment like you might at other hospitals. The recovery rooms for OB sucked and I was glad to go home in less than 24 hours after my son was born. The care was good -but having my roommate’s loved ones chatting and visiting 24/7 made recovery less than fun and I was happy to go home.

[UCGal]

I have Kaiser. It is as good as any HMO I’ve had. All HMO’s (and a lot of PPO’s) require you use a network doctor to get full benefits… the difference is Kaiser is closed network – so the network doctor is an employee of Kaiser.

I saw them waste no expense on my mom’s multiple cancer surgeries and chemo. She had excellent care.

Same with my dad.

My younger son was born at Zion – I loved the midwife pre-natal care and midwife delivery.

If you don’t like your primary, it’s easy to change them. I happen to like my primary.

My kid’s pediatrician is great. I’ve grilled her about what it’s like to work for Kaiser, she likes it because she gets hands on clinical plus gets to work on her specialty – neo natal… they set up her schedule to allow both. And her hours are much more regular than elsewhere.

I also like that they don’t have blanket, one size fits none, policies about what surgeries are covered, etc… I was/am considering a surgery that is a bit more radical than guidelines, do to a familial cancer risk. I was told that as long as my doctor agreed, it would be covered. (They cover a similar surgery, for non-cancer related reasons, without problem – that was my basis for for discussion with the surgeon.)

But – You will not get private rooms, or high end treatment like you might at other hospitals. The recovery rooms for OB sucked and I was glad to go home in less than 24 hours after my son was born. The care was good -but having my roommate’s loved ones chatting and visiting 24/7 made recovery less than fun and I was happy to go home.

[UCGal]

I have Kaiser. It is as good as any HMO I’ve had. All HMO’s (and a lot of PPO’s) require you use a network doctor to get full benefits… the difference is Kaiser is closed network – so the network doctor is an employee of Kaiser.

I saw them waste no expense on my mom’s multiple cancer surgeries and chemo. She had excellent care.

Same with my dad.

My younger son was born at Zion – I loved the midwife pre-natal care and midwife delivery.

If you don’t like your primary, it’s easy to change them. I happen to like my primary.

My kid’s pediatrician is great. I’ve grilled her about what it’s like to work for Kaiser, she likes it because she gets hands on clinical plus gets to work on her specialty – neo natal… they set up her schedule to allow both. And her hours are much more regular than elsewhere.

I also like that they don’t have blanket, one size fits none, policies about what surgeries are covered, etc… I was/am considering a surgery that is a bit more radical than guidelines, do to a familial cancer risk. I was told that as long as my doctor agreed, it would be covered. (They cover a similar surgery, for non-cancer related reasons, without problem – that was my basis for for discussion with the surgeon.)

But – You will not get private rooms, or high end treatment like you might at other hospitals. The recovery rooms for OB sucked and I was glad to go home in less than 24 hours after my son was born. The care was good -but having my roommate’s loved ones chatting and visiting 24/7 made recovery less than fun and I was happy to go home.

[UCGal]

It’s nice to say that you can change jobs to get the increase… not so much in engineering or the building trades right now… there are job losses at the moment.

My husband is an architect… the firm he works for put everyone on a part time schedule hoping to keep the doors open till commercial real estate starts picking up again. They’re eking by with hospital work and tenant fit outs. But it’s a tight market right now.

I’m an engineer – most of the big employers are either laying off or holding steady.

My husband got a 3% raise in order to keep him from quitting. (He’s needed on some projects). I got a 2% raise. Wholesale inflation was 11% – so we’re not keeping up.

Resumes are out there – but it’s not exactly a good market for changing jobs unless you’re willing to change careers.

[UCGal]

It’s nice to say that you can change jobs to get the increase… not so much in engineering or the building trades right now… there are job losses at the moment.

My husband is an architect… the firm he works for put everyone on a part time schedule hoping to keep the doors open till commercial real estate starts picking up again. They’re eking by with hospital work and tenant fit outs. But it’s a tight market right now.

I’m an engineer – most of the big employers are either laying off or holding steady.

My husband got a 3% raise in order to keep him from quitting. (He’s needed on some projects). I got a 2% raise. Wholesale inflation was 11% – so we’re not keeping up.

Resumes are out there – but it’s not exactly a good market for changing jobs unless you’re willing to change careers.

[UCGal]

It’s nice to say that you can change jobs to get the increase… not so much in engineering or the building trades right now… there are job losses at the moment.

My husband is an architect… the firm he works for put everyone on a part time schedule hoping to keep the doors open till commercial real estate starts picking up again. They’re eking by with hospital work and tenant fit outs. But it’s a tight market right now.

I’m an engineer – most of the big employers are either laying off or holding steady.

My husband got a 3% raise in order to keep him from quitting. (He’s needed on some projects). I got a 2% raise. Wholesale inflation was 11% – so we’re not keeping up.

Resumes are out there – but it’s not exactly a good market for changing jobs unless you’re willing to change careers.

[UCGal]

It’s nice to say that you can change jobs to get the increase… not so much in engineering or the building trades right now… there are job losses at the moment.

My husband is an architect… the firm he works for put everyone on a part time schedule hoping to keep the doors open till commercial real estate starts picking up again. They’re eking by with hospital work and tenant fit outs. But it’s a tight market right now.

I’m an engineer – most of the big employers are either laying off or holding steady.

My husband got a 3% raise in order to keep him from quitting. (He’s needed on some projects). I got a 2% raise. Wholesale inflation was 11% – so we’re not keeping up.

Resumes are out there – but it’s not exactly a good market for changing jobs unless you’re willing to change careers.

[UCGal]

It’s nice to say that you can change jobs to get the increase… not so much in engineering or the building trades right now… there are job losses at the moment.

My husband is an architect… the firm he works for put everyone on a part time schedule hoping to keep the doors open till commercial real estate starts picking up again. They’re eking by with hospital work and tenant fit outs. But it’s a tight market right now.

I’m an engineer – most of the big employers are either laying off or holding steady.

My husband got a 3% raise in order to keep him from quitting. (He’s needed on some projects). I got a 2% raise. Wholesale inflation was 11% – so we’re not keeping up.

Resumes are out there – but it’s not exactly a good market for changing jobs unless you’re willing to change careers.

[UCGal]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]peterb: I mentioned something similar to this on another thread when I said I thought we’d see a return to 1930s style WPA-type projects (i.e. infrastructure related goverment spending on a very large scale).

The US infrastructure is in a dire state, and it will probably take massive amounts of government spending (a la what occurred during FDR’s reconstruction programs, WWII, or the Japanese government programs of the 1990s) to turn things around.[/quote]

At least we’d see some tangible improvement to our infrastructure for the money spent… unlike the direct handouts along the lines of the Bear Stearns/JP Morgan deal. I’d rather see any “economic stimulus package” result in new roads and bridges and the jobs that would create. I’d rather see a WPA project than the ridiculous stimulus checks or a gas tax holiday.

[UCGal]

[quote=Allan from Fallbrook]peterb: I mentioned something similar to this on another thread when I said I thought we’d see a return to 1930s style WPA-type projects (i.e. infrastructure related goverment spending on a very large scale).

The US infrastructure is in a dire state, and it will probably take massive amounts of government spending (a la what occurred during FDR’s reconstruction programs, WWII, or the Japanese government programs of the 1990s) to turn things around.[/quote]

At least we’d see some tangible improvement to our infrastructure for the money spent… unlike the direct handouts along the lines of the Bear Stearns/JP Morgan deal. I’d rather see any “economic stimulus package” result in new roads and bridges and the jobs that would create. I’d rather see a WPA project than the ridiculous stimulus checks or a gas tax holiday.

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