April 14, 2008

HousingPANIC Quote of the Day

"In a world of "ownership" without equity, the difference between ownership and rental is not obvious."

- Christopher Caldwell, Financial Times, "The lazy, crazy middle class" - April 2008

18 comments:

Anonymous said...

You can paint your walls!

Anonymous said...

"In a world of "ownership" without equity, the difference between ownership and rental is not obvious."

Now that's really CRAP! There's a huge difference. And the difference is that homedebtors are paying much more than what renters would pay for the same house.

The other major difference, especially in this f*cked up market, is that homedebtors, while paying more, risk losing big bucks if they want to get out of their trap.
Think about it!

Anonymous said...

My niece who won't call me, because I thought it was foolish to buy a house, bought one this week. She was renting for 1k a month is Santa Rosa, Ca and now I did a little internet research and now she'll be paying 2600-3100 a month. What gives with this whole ownership thing, she could not save any money at 1k. Lots of americans are the same way paying way way too much for a home and can't save any money for life and retirement. Live within your means, it not that hard to do!!

Anonymous said...

Scottsdale

J at IHB and HFF said...

The Painter said...
"You can paint your walls!"

The Million-Dollar Paint Job:

http://tinyurl.com/43odso

Anonymous said...

People between the age of 25-35 often say- My mom and dad purchased their house for $40,000 and now it is worth $325,000. At that rate of appreciation if I buy that same house at 325,000 it will be worth over 1 million by the time I am my parents age. Boooooyaaahh baby.Lets buy a vacation home to double the pay out -booooyaaaahh-ring the cash register -Brilliant!

Anonymous said...

YOU HAVE TO PAINT THE WALLS CAUSE THERE'S NO ONE ELSE TO DO IT!!!

PICK A PAYMENT!!!

PICK A COLOR!!!

PICK A DAY TO SEND THE KEYS BACK!!!

JINGLE MAIL!!!

SPECIAL DELIVERY FOR ORANGE MAN!!!

DOPES!!!

Mammoth said...

Here is one noticable difference between being a homeowner (with or without equity):

This past weekend, I cleaned the roof and replaced a toilet valve, the weekend before I spread bark mulch, and the weekend before that, I cleaned the carpets with a Rug Doctor machine.

The renters win on this thread.

Anonymous said...

-Begin Urgent Public Service Message-

Attention ALL potential homebuyers that absolutely must purchase a home and cannot wait for the 50% off sales next year:

1. Find the house you want using web resources.

2. Do not contact any real estate agents regarding the property.

3. Contact the owners directly and have them show you the property. If the home meets your needs, urge the owners to dump their real estate agent and lower the price by the sales commission amount.

-Return to Housing Crash Programming-

Anonymous said...

The incredible shrinking city

Youngstown, Ohio, has long been on the decline and now is being hit by the foreclosure crisis. Its answer: Razing abandoned buildings and tearing up streets.

YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CNNMoney.com) -- Youngstown, Ohio, has seen its population shrink by more than half over the past 40 years, leaving behind huge swaths of empty homes, streets and neighborhoods.

Now, in a radical move, the city - which has suffered since the steel industry left town and jobs dried up - is bulldozing abandoned buildings, tearing up blighted streets and converting entire blocks into open green spaces. More than 1,000 structures have been demolished so far.

Under the initiative, dubbed Plan 2010, city officials are also monitoring thinly-populated blocks. When only one or two occupied homes remain, the city offers incentives - up to $50,000 in grants - for those home owners to move, so that the entire area can be razed. The city will save by cutting back on services like garbage pick-ups and street lighting in deserted areas.


http://tinyurl.com/3zhqwx

Frank R said...

Mortgage = renting from a bank

Mortgage = bank owns your house

Mortgage = you are NOT an "owner"

Anonymous said...

This past weekend, I cleaned the roof and replaced a toilet valve

I actually enjoy doing handyman chores. Many people don't realize that calling the landlord all the time to fix crap at their rentals will raise their rents accordingly. Don't think for a second that landlords aren't writing down all the expenses in order to recoup the loss with rent increases.

Plus, I refuse to call one of those high school-dropout contractors who charge $300 to change a toilet valve. I doesn't matter if it's a rental or not. What those people think they are, graduates from Harvard? People got to stop allowing those illiterate immigrants to rip everyone off by pulling prices out of their arses.

There's nothing those high school dropouts do that you can't do yourselves. From installing wood floors to replacing sink faucets or doing pest control, you can do cheaply and better. Get a book, research the Internets; It requires a little elbow grease but you won't die.

Oh and don't come with the excuse that your time is so valuable that it makes more sense to call someone else to do household chores. What do you really do with your extra time, play Wii or surf the net? Unless you're Bill Gates, that argument is hogwash.

Do you know how long it takes to replace a toilet valve? 1/2 hr max. Replace a sink faucet is a 1 hr job. Exterminate ants is a 5 min job. Some people rather pay big bucks to join the gym than workout cutting grass or cleaning the pool themselves. What's the difference?

Frank R said...

"I actually enjoy doing handyman chores."

I hate them but my neighbors subscribe to a home warranty that's reasonable and every time something breaks someone comes out to fix it. It's like having a landlord on call and it's what I plan to do when I buy next year.

"Oh and don't come with the excuse that your time is so valuable that it makes more sense to call someone else to do household chores."

It's about choosing your quality of life. I'd rather be out hiking the beautiful trails near my house than fixing crap indoors. If you enjoy it, fine, but most normal people don't.

"Some people rather pay big bucks to join the gym than workout cutting grass or cleaning the pool themselves."

I'd rather work out at the gym than fix sh*t around the house. Look, we get it, you enjoy housework, but please, you're not morally superior to anyone because you do it all yourself.

Anonymous said...

Some people rather pay big bucks to join the gym than workout cutting grass or cleaning the pool themselves. What's the difference?

Chicks. There's usually hotties bouncing up and down on the treadmill at gyms. That's why you go there.

Lost Cause said...

People pay a huge premium for a good school district too. They could easily send the brat to boarding school or Harvard for the same money.

Anonymous said...

Youngstown, Ohio, has long been on the decline and now is being hit by the foreclosure crisis. Its answer: Razing abandoned buildings and tearing up streets.

Camden, NJ tried that for a while. It didn't work out too well for them. Place is still a craphole, now with less places for "civilians" to dodge the gunfire, and less places for prospective businesses to occupy.

Anonymous said...

I have a thought. Home equity was just announced at 49% nationwide and dropping. No wonder with home prices dropping and the plethora of ads I see on TV for seniors to draw down equity in their house using reverse mortgages.

Since everyone now wants to maximize their leverage I see no reason for the drop in equity to reverse. Plus the government doesn't want you to pay down debt because that would just slow down GDP growth.

So my question is this. What happens when home equity for the nation goes to 0%. Now it won't go to an actual 0% but around there??

So what does that mean?????

BTW, MAMMOTH while u "cleaned the carpets with a Rug Doctor machine." , I slept in Saturday AM and flew to a concert 500 miles away Saturday night. Heck, between the flight, car, hotel and concert ticket it only cost me about 5 days of the money I save by renting and not owning an equivalent place in SoCal.

SUCKS TO OWN!!

Mammoth said...

Good one Anon 9:18 AM!

Hope it was a great concert.

But keep your eyes peeled, because on another thread I will express some of the benefits of owning.

But the renters won on this thread.

Cheers,
Mammoth