[zzz]

Ren, earnings wise, are you the “average” middle class? First off I believe there is a lot of debate on exactly what earnings range defines the middle class. If the general range is between 30k-100k, an “average” middle class household who are somewhere in the 40k-50k range is definitely going to feel the hurt of an extra $400 per month. Higher gas prices don’t just add to driving costs, they translate to higher costs in food and clothing and just about anything you buy.

[zzz]

Ren, earnings wise, are you the “average” middle class? First off I believe there is a lot of debate on exactly what earnings range defines the middle class. If the general range is between 30k-100k, an “average” middle class household who are somewhere in the 40k-50k range is definitely going to feel the hurt of an extra $400 per month. Higher gas prices don’t just add to driving costs, they translate to higher costs in food and clothing and just about anything you buy.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

I would highly recommend anyone wanting to buy downtown as their primary residence rent first and determine if its the right lifestyle. There are also so many different dynamics within downtown. South of Broadway the neighborhoods are: Marina, Gaslamp, Ballpark and East Village. Columbia, Little Italy, Cortez Hill are a different dynamic. Each pocket offers something different, so you really have to get a feel for the various parts of downtown before buying.

The older marina district between G and Harbor – in my opinion have the nicest buildings – Renaissance, Pinnacle, Cityfront Terrace, Meridian, Horizons, City Walk, and Harbor Club although I think that is technically Gaslamp. Its perhaps easier to get in and out of that area as well with the proximity to Harbor Drive, PCH, and getting to the 5. If you have the budget, this is where I’d highly recommend you focus your search.

There are very few condo buildings in the Gaslamp itself compared to the other areas. Its also quite loud given many of the buildings are surrounded by restaurants and bars.

I believe the Ballpark district has a lot of potential, but is still defining itself as a neighborhood with restaurants, bars, amenities coming in within walking distance. A few years ago that area was just as shady as the East Village, but its getting better. Although there are still a number of “cheap” run down motels with questionable characters and sanity.

Beyond those areas, I’d have to say the buildings going up on the “periphery” where are isolated and less desirable. One of pros I would assume of being in urban living is being able to walk to amenities without feeling unsafe. Such buildings as Smart Corner, Palermo, Union Square, and the one on 11th right before the 163 are examples of questionable safety given the people lurking there.

The things to consider downtown – traffic traffic traffic. There are huge conferences at the Convention Center, Padres season, weekend bar & club scene, day trippers coming of the cruise ships, business travelers, etc.

There is a lack of grocery stores unless you want to shop at ghetto Ralph’s or Albertsons which is very nice inside but has lots of homeless people peeing on the sidewalk – and even if you point that out to a cop, they don’t stop the behavior. And yes of course the homeless.

Many of the restaurants do cater to tourism so there are far fewer good ones suprisingly given the density of restaurants.

The trolley and train noise. If you live anywhere close to either, the odds are you are going to hear the trains honking very loudly at all hours including 3am if you leave your windows open.

Within a specific building, how many are “young” renters that party and can be disrespectful towards other tenants or trash the building? How many foreclosures and defaults? I would also strongly question the quality of the construction of buildings that were “thrown” up during the run up. There are a few buildings I know of that have construction defect issues. Is the parking for the building mixed use? Meaning for owners and public in nature? I don’t know too many buildings as such but I believe there are a few.

Trojan – I think if you’re looking at the retirement option and proximity to a flight out of town, you might want to consider Point Loma, Mission Hills/Hillcrest, Bankers Hill ( east of the flight path). I think it will also have an older crowd that won’t be partying so much! Should you want to hit a ballgame or night out, a very convenient cab ride downtown.

[zzz]

It sounds like if your brother is scraping to get by, its only going to get worse once his principal kicks in (assuming it hasn’t) or rates go up on an ARM?

Here’s a piece on it from Mr Mortgage: http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.com/2008/05/21/mr-mortgage-short-refinances-gaining-popularity/

I have no personal experience in this so the suggestions I’m putting forth are based on what various mortgage and loan related folks have said. From what I understand, you have 1 shot at this. You need to be current on your mortgage with a loan mod verus a short sale. You have to prove financial hardship, but also prove that you have the income (steady paying job) in order to pay for the new mortgage once it gets written down. I believe there are a number of brokers /services who “specialize” in these negotiations. How you figured out which ones are better than others, I have no idea. There are also HUD approved counselors that will do the same thing for FREE. The problem is not all of them do this, so your brother should look on the HUD site for ones in the LA area and start calling. They all offer varying degrees of services.

He should start evaluating his finances. When you’re trying to do a short sale or short refi, you’re doing the opposite in terms of painting a financial picture from when you were qualifying for a loan. Which is to say you need to pencil out your monthly / annualized expenditures (gas, food, utilities, cleaning supplies, healthcare, car payment, car maintenance, phone, student loans, etc) and show that you WILL have a difficult time paying your mortgage at some point and this will inevitably lead to default. Putting things down in your budget like vacations isn’t probably going to be viewed as necessary, so I think your brother should take care to properly budget and forecast what he’ll be spending. The banks like to see that you have some money left over to save after you satisfy all of your necessities plus paying your mortgage, insurance, property taxes. This cushion will be there for you in emergencies. Your car breaking down or someone getting sick should not put you into default. Gas prices and food prices increasing shouldn’t bring you to the brink of not being able to make your mortgage payment. I believe the banks want to see some existing debt and not too much in the way of savings.

I think the likelihood of your brother achieving a successful negotiation depends highly on who’s doing it and how its being “sold”- I wouldn’t advise doing it himself – and also who owns the first and second loans. He should get his loan docs together.

That’s all I know, hope this helps

[zzz]

It sounds like if your brother is scraping to get by, its only going to get worse once his principal kicks in (assuming it hasn’t) or rates go up on an ARM?

Here’s a piece on it from Mr Mortgage: http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.com/2008/05/21/mr-mortgage-short-refinances-gaining-popularity/

I have no personal experience in this so the suggestions I’m putting forth are based on what various mortgage and loan related folks have said. From what I understand, you have 1 shot at this. You need to be current on your mortgage with a loan mod verus a short sale. You have to prove financial hardship, but also prove that you have the income (steady paying job) in order to pay for the new mortgage once it gets written down. I believe there are a number of brokers /services who “specialize” in these negotiations. How you figured out which ones are better than others, I have no idea. There are also HUD approved counselors that will do the same thing for FREE. The problem is not all of them do this, so your brother should look on the HUD site for ones in the LA area and start calling. They all offer varying degrees of services.

He should start evaluating his finances. When you’re trying to do a short sale or short refi, you’re doing the opposite in terms of painting a financial picture from when you were qualifying for a loan. Which is to say you need to pencil out your monthly / annualized expenditures (gas, food, utilities, cleaning supplies, healthcare, car payment, car maintenance, phone, student loans, etc) and show that you WILL have a difficult time paying your mortgage at some point and this will inevitably lead to default. Putting things down in your budget like vacations isn’t probably going to be viewed as necessary, so I think your brother should take care to properly budget and forecast what he’ll be spending. The banks like to see that you have some money left over to save after you satisfy all of your necessities plus paying your mortgage, insurance, property taxes. This cushion will be there for you in emergencies. Your car breaking down or someone getting sick should not put you into default. Gas prices and food prices increasing shouldn’t bring you to the brink of not being able to make your mortgage payment. I believe the banks want to see some existing debt and not too much in the way of savings.

I think the likelihood of your brother achieving a successful negotiation depends highly on who’s doing it and how its being “sold”- I wouldn’t advise doing it himself – and also who owns the first and second loans. He should get his loan docs together.

That’s all I know, hope this helps

[zzz]

It sounds like if your brother is scraping to get by, its only going to get worse once his principal kicks in (assuming it hasn’t) or rates go up on an ARM?

Here’s a piece on it from Mr Mortgage: http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.com/2008/05/21/mr-mortgage-short-refinances-gaining-popularity/

I have no personal experience in this so the suggestions I’m putting forth are based on what various mortgage and loan related folks have said. From what I understand, you have 1 shot at this. You need to be current on your mortgage with a loan mod verus a short sale. You have to prove financial hardship, but also prove that you have the income (steady paying job) in order to pay for the new mortgage once it gets written down. I believe there are a number of brokers /services who “specialize” in these negotiations. How you figured out which ones are better than others, I have no idea. There are also HUD approved counselors that will do the same thing for FREE. The problem is not all of them do this, so your brother should look on the HUD site for ones in the LA area and start calling. They all offer varying degrees of services.

He should start evaluating his finances. When you’re trying to do a short sale or short refi, you’re doing the opposite in terms of painting a financial picture from when you were qualifying for a loan. Which is to say you need to pencil out your monthly / annualized expenditures (gas, food, utilities, cleaning supplies, healthcare, car payment, car maintenance, phone, student loans, etc) and show that you WILL have a difficult time paying your mortgage at some point and this will inevitably lead to default. Putting things down in your budget like vacations isn’t probably going to be viewed as necessary, so I think your brother should take care to properly budget and forecast what he’ll be spending. The banks like to see that you have some money left over to save after you satisfy all of your necessities plus paying your mortgage, insurance, property taxes. This cushion will be there for you in emergencies. Your car breaking down or someone getting sick should not put you into default. Gas prices and food prices increasing shouldn’t bring you to the brink of not being able to make your mortgage payment. I believe the banks want to see some existing debt and not too much in the way of savings.

I think the likelihood of your brother achieving a successful negotiation depends highly on who’s doing it and how its being “sold”- I wouldn’t advise doing it himself – and also who owns the first and second loans. He should get his loan docs together.

That’s all I know, hope this helps

[zzz]

It sounds like if your brother is scraping to get by, its only going to get worse once his principal kicks in (assuming it hasn’t) or rates go up on an ARM?

Here’s a piece on it from Mr Mortgage: http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.com/2008/05/21/mr-mortgage-short-refinances-gaining-popularity/

I have no personal experience in this so the suggestions I’m putting forth are based on what various mortgage and loan related folks have said. From what I understand, you have 1 shot at this. You need to be current on your mortgage with a loan mod verus a short sale. You have to prove financial hardship, but also prove that you have the income (steady paying job) in order to pay for the new mortgage once it gets written down. I believe there are a number of brokers /services who “specialize” in these negotiations. How you figured out which ones are better than others, I have no idea. There are also HUD approved counselors that will do the same thing for FREE. The problem is not all of them do this, so your brother should look on the HUD site for ones in the LA area and start calling. They all offer varying degrees of services.

He should start evaluating his finances. When you’re trying to do a short sale or short refi, you’re doing the opposite in terms of painting a financial picture from when you were qualifying for a loan. Which is to say you need to pencil out your monthly / annualized expenditures (gas, food, utilities, cleaning supplies, healthcare, car payment, car maintenance, phone, student loans, etc) and show that you WILL have a difficult time paying your mortgage at some point and this will inevitably lead to default. Putting things down in your budget like vacations isn’t probably going to be viewed as necessary, so I think your brother should take care to properly budget and forecast what he’ll be spending. The banks like to see that you have some money left over to save after you satisfy all of your necessities plus paying your mortgage, insurance, property taxes. This cushion will be there for you in emergencies. Your car breaking down or someone getting sick should not put you into default. Gas prices and food prices increasing shouldn’t bring you to the brink of not being able to make your mortgage payment. I believe the banks want to see some existing debt and not too much in the way of savings.

I think the likelihood of your brother achieving a successful negotiation depends highly on who’s doing it and how its being “sold”- I wouldn’t advise doing it himself – and also who owns the first and second loans. He should get his loan docs together.

That’s all I know, hope this helps

[zzz]

It sounds like if your brother is scraping to get by, its only going to get worse once his principal kicks in (assuming it hasn’t) or rates go up on an ARM?

Here’s a piece on it from Mr Mortgage: http://mrmortgage.ml-implode.com/2008/05/21/mr-mortgage-short-refinances-gaining-popularity/

I have no personal experience in this so the suggestions I’m putting forth are based on what various mortgage and loan related folks have said. From what I understand, you have 1 shot at this. You need to be current on your mortgage with a loan mod verus a short sale. You have to prove financial hardship, but also prove that you have the income (steady paying job) in order to pay for the new mortgage once it gets written down. I believe there are a number of brokers /services who “specialize” in these negotiations. How you figured out which ones are better than others, I have no idea. There are also HUD approved counselors that will do the same thing for FREE. The problem is not all of them do this, so your brother should look on the HUD site for ones in the LA area and start calling. They all offer varying degrees of services.

He should start evaluating his finances. When you’re trying to do a short sale or short refi, you’re doing the opposite in terms of painting a financial picture from when you were qualifying for a loan. Which is to say you need to pencil out your monthly / annualized expenditures (gas, food, utilities, cleaning supplies, healthcare, car payment, car maintenance, phone, student loans, etc) and show that you WILL have a difficult time paying your mortgage at some point and this will inevitably lead to default. Putting things down in your budget like vacations isn’t probably going to be viewed as necessary, so I think your brother should take care to properly budget and forecast what he’ll be spending. The banks like to see that you have some money left over to save after you satisfy all of your necessities plus paying your mortgage, insurance, property taxes. This cushion will be there for you in emergencies. Your car breaking down or someone getting sick should not put you into default. Gas prices and food prices increasing shouldn’t bring you to the brink of not being able to make your mortgage payment. I believe the banks want to see some existing debt and not too much in the way of savings.

I think the likelihood of your brother achieving a successful negotiation depends highly on who’s doing it and how its being “sold”- I wouldn’t advise doing it himself – and also who owns the first and second loans. He should get his loan docs together.

That’s all I know, hope this helps

[zzz]

Raybyrnes- I agree that W2 employees get “punished” versus self employed. W2’s have no where to “hide” their income and take home much less than the self employed does. I guess you get rewarded for taking risks to start your own business and potentially employing others.

So to throw a wrench into this debate, why should single, houseless people who don’t tax the world’s resources with children and work for the “man” be punished for their choices?

IF you are single, you are childless and do not own a home because sadly you do make 250k but have always lives in cities that precluded you from owning real estate, then you get the heck taxed out of you. Your accountant tells you can only avoid AMT by making 3x what you are making or figuring out how to not be a W2 employee – you cannot take more deductions because of AMT. What puts you into AMT? Its not capital gains, its taking state tax as a deduction along with standard deductions that makes the % you’re deducting rather high.

Should you be a FB and bought a condo during the boom because you were technically able to although imprudent just so you can take another write off?

To agree with those that say don’t complain about those who have it better, I’ve known this for some time, but I’ve realized the only way to get ahead is to be self employed. You could probably make half of what you do as an employee, but taking advantage of EVERY tax loophole/break that you can find for a self employed!

[zzz]

Raybyrnes- I agree that W2 employees get “punished” versus self employed. W2’s have no where to “hide” their income and take home much less than the self employed does. I guess you get rewarded for taking risks to start your own business and potentially employing others.

So to throw a wrench into this debate, why should single, houseless people who don’t tax the world’s resources with children and work for the “man” be punished for their choices?

IF you are single, you are childless and do not own a home because sadly you do make 250k but have always lives in cities that precluded you from owning real estate, then you get the heck taxed out of you. Your accountant tells you can only avoid AMT by making 3x what you are making or figuring out how to not be a W2 employee – you cannot take more deductions because of AMT. What puts you into AMT? Its not capital gains, its taking state tax as a deduction along with standard deductions that makes the % you’re deducting rather high.

Should you be a FB and bought a condo during the boom because you were technically able to although imprudent just so you can take another write off?

To agree with those that say don’t complain about those who have it better, I’ve known this for some time, but I’ve realized the only way to get ahead is to be self employed. You could probably make half of what you do as an employee, but taking advantage of EVERY tax loophole/break that you can find for a self employed!

[zzz]

Raybyrnes- I agree that W2 employees get “punished” versus self employed. W2’s have no where to “hide” their income and take home much less than the self employed does. I guess you get rewarded for taking risks to start your own business and potentially employing others.

So to throw a wrench into this debate, why should single, houseless people who don’t tax the world’s resources with children and work for the “man” be punished for their choices?

IF you are single, you are childless and do not own a home because sadly you do make 250k but have always lives in cities that precluded you from owning real estate, then you get the heck taxed out of you. Your accountant tells you can only avoid AMT by making 3x what you are making or figuring out how to not be a W2 employee – you cannot take more deductions because of AMT. What puts you into AMT? Its not capital gains, its taking state tax as a deduction along with standard deductions that makes the % you’re deducting rather high.

Should you be a FB and bought a condo during the boom because you were technically able to although imprudent just so you can take another write off?

To agree with those that say don’t complain about those who have it better, I’ve known this for some time, but I’ve realized the only way to get ahead is to be self employed. You could probably make half of what you do as an employee, but taking advantage of EVERY tax loophole/break that you can find for a self employed!

[Author]

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