HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the Day

May 20, 2008

HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the Day

What was the stupidest thing you saw a friend, co-worker or family member do during the housing bubble?

97 comments:

Anonymous said...: I laugh now at all of the Nouveau Riche $100K multi-millionaires. You know, the guys that had the Ferraris, Lamborghinis and Porches parked in their inland suburbia 4 bedroom homes, the bleach blonde trophy wife and the boat in the driveway thinking they were high rolling with their HELOC ATM cards!!

Hahahaha!!; May 20, 2008 7:44 AM
Anonymous said...: My brother bought a house for 300k. It's now worth 200k and falling.; May 20, 2008 8:12 AM
Anonymous said...: 31,072 scientists have signed the global warming petition

http://www.petitionproject.org/index.html; May 20, 2008 8:20 AM
Anonymous said...: The most stupid thing that I have ever seen is how the buying public believed the silly lies and myths chanted by the housing cheerleaders and commissioned sales people,and of course the advertisers.

I think its pretty stupid to buy a house you can't afford . The fact that the lenders would allow this sort of speculation in real estate and would actually fund it is the most crazy thing that I have ever seen .; May 20, 2008 8:43 AM
Anonymous said...: I bought my house for $299K. I sold it for $526K 4 years later. Stupidest thing I did was not sell it at the peak when I could have sold for $600K.

Oh well. I'm still happy the housing bubble happened and I was part of it. Now I watch with glee as it crashes to the ground and wait patiently, with $250K in the bank to do it all over again.

And to anon #1, I was/am one of those nouveau riche. I drive a Porsche (and if you know anything about cars you'd know that a Porsche and Ferrari/Lambo are in different leagues money wise), own a boat, have a 5 bedroom house (rental) in the 'burbs and have a blonde (natural not bleach) wife.

I have all that without ever having used a heloc or any other loan. I personally laugh at most HPers who are angry and lash out at anyone with a modicum of success, assuming everyone with a boat or sports car must be in debt up to their eyeballs. Not so.; May 20, 2008 12:11 PM
Anonymous said...: That's like asking me to point out the smelliest turd in the outhouse.; May 20, 2008 12:18 PM
Anonymous said...: Option neg-am loans with a 40 year term. With a second mortgage to make the "down payment". Issued to a house cleaner on a 500k property.; May 20, 2008 12:22 PM
Anonymous said...: Dumbest thing I saw 1st hand was a good friend and co-worker went from making ~60K/ yr. to about 300K / yr. in the course of just a few years. His lifestyle ratcheted up so quickly, and he extrapolated that the trajectory would continue forever. He went from having a very reasonable mid-class lifestyle to thinking and acting like he was some kind of celebrity.

In pretty short order he leased his and her Mercedes. Then in 2005 sold his $600K house for $1.1M, and bought for $2.3M (taking $100K in cash-out to re-decorate). While he was making great money, he had to go with the riskiest loan / piggy-back loan possible, and (my favorite part) completely drain his 401K and kids' college funds!

I moved away for work, but I stay in contact. He seems to be doing OK. I just wonder if he's buckling under the strain of that massive debt. I know he's trying to pull back somewhat. He withdrew one kid from private school, and traded the Mercedes in for an Acura, but I think he's just a few bad months away from total disaster.; May 20, 2008 1:26 PM
Anonymous said...: REFI out of a FIXED rate mortgage that was affordable and stable and into a variable (with low teaser)so her could reduce his mortgage and buy a car.

Now, he has neither.; May 20, 2008 1:33 PM
Anonymous said...: A friend of mine was actually able to sell their home last fall after more than a year on the market . . . then turned around and bought a "cheaper" house in the same area instead of renting as I suggested. That "cheaper" house is now worth about $50,000 less than what they paid for it.; May 20, 2008 1:46 PM
Anonymous said...: Try to convience me that voting for Obama is somehow going to stop all the fraud and stop a MASSIVE government bailout...; May 20, 2008 2:15 PM
Anonymous said...: Ex-friends bought a McMansion in 2003.

They started making a shed for the pool stuff but it turned into a washroom and a wetbar. The just had to have a better shed than their neighbors!

Then they had to make a mezzanine in the garage to store the pool stuff.

They tiles floor and walls of the garage so they could wash their Porsche Cayenne in winter (as if you'd want water in your garage when it's minus 20 degrees celsius).

Anyway, they did not keep the Cayenne very long when they realized how much changing the tires cost.

Next thing I know is that they installed a skating rink in the basement (the acrylic stuff that you can vacuum).; May 20, 2008 2:36 PM
Anonymous said...: TRUST A COUNTRYWIDE MORTGAGE BROKER...

THEY'VE NOW LOST $1.4 MILLION DOLLARS IN REAL ESTATE TO FORECLOSURE AND THE BROKER MADE TENS OF THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS...

DOPES!; May 20, 2008 2:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey keith: Senator estimates 1.4 quadrillion dollar loss!!!

check out today's patrick.net articles!!!!; May 20, 2008 2:56 PM
Anonymous said...: Elected Bushco - Cheneyburton.

Instead of electing to a second term, those two should have been indicted, prosected as war criminals and general felons and jailed along with forfeiture of their stolen assets.

It is not too late to impeach these bastards.

Do It Now; May 20, 2008 3:01 PM
Anonymous said...: I saw a bubble blogger call Barack Obama a transformational leader.

From David Brooks recent article:

>Barack Obama talks about taking on the special interests. This farm bill would have been a perfect opportunity to do so. But Obama supported the bill.; May 20, 2008 3:21 PM
Anonymous said...: That the dems were not able to find anyone that could be the idiot we have in the white house. Twice! Once with an unpopular war going on!

Idiots.; May 20, 2008 3:28 PM
Mammoth said...: “What was the stupidest thing you saw a friend, co-worker or family member do during the housing bubble?”
----------------------------------
Stupidity in process:

A young colleague of mine is dead-set on buying a condo, with her boyfriend, in Bellevue. No amount of logic against making such a mistake can sway her; they are dead set on making the worst financial decisions of their lives.

I threw at her the following:

- The rental house that I sold last October has dropped $2,000/month. Do you want to buy something that will depreciate in value like that?

- What if you and your boyfriend break up–how will the two of you manage to sell the condo if that happenes?

- You can continue to live in your apartment (instead of buying one, because that is all a condo really is) and save hundreds of dollars per month.

- Do not rush into buying right now. Just have some patience, sit back, save, and figure out what makes the best sense for the two of you.

All of the above warnings will likely be to no avail. As we say here in ‘Boeing Country:’

“Controlled flight into terrain”
-Mammoth; May 20, 2008 3:37 PM
Anonymous said...: 1) I rented a huge house for $3200 two years ago. The house was on the market for $900,000. It still is a fixer-upper and still is on the market!

2) I laugh at all the people living in the $600K ranches on 40x100 lots with a big screen TV in the tiny living room and Porshe Cayenne or Infiniti FX parked in the narrow driveway.

3) I am still baffled by the stupidity of the Long Island sheeple, which still are in the denial phase! In communities with median family incomes of $80K, there are homes that go for $600-$800K!

4) I laugh at couples with six-figure incomes who get in debt just to look rich. Hint: if you want to look rich, save for your kids' education and your healthcare and stop trying to keep up with the Joneses.; May 20, 2008 3:41 PM
Anonymous said...: Lord help my family but they think Charlottesville is special and different and somehow in a place with a median income of 60k a year the median house should be 500k.; May 20, 2008 3:41 PM
David said...: My friend bought a condo for about 5.5 times income. A few months after moving in he bought the condo feeds were raised 50% after some crime (drugs) problems in the building.

A few months later he told me he didn't have enough money for a specail dinner meal that he wanted ($18).; May 20, 2008 3:46 PM
Roscoe said...: I've lost track of how many of my friends and co-workers here in Tampa are 50-100k underwater on homes they bought in the last five years. In every single case, the wife was itching for the house and found a "Suzanne" to help kick hubby in the nuts until he caved.

And the house was always just the beginning. Next came decorating and furnishing ...; May 20, 2008 3:49 PM
bearmaster said...: What on earth is that ugly thing squatting behind Ivana? A giant thermos ?

The stupidest thing I've seen in people is the sense of desperation they worked themselves up into when they saw the housing market zoom up and up. When you start feeling like you're going to miss your chance and the train is taking off without you, then that's really when you should wave bye-bye to everyone on the train then pack your things and flee in the opposite direction. I suppose that's counterintuitive, but I think it's true.; May 20, 2008 4:00 PM
Anonymous said...: Good friend got married on 2001. He and his wife diligently saved their money and "bought" a condo that they could afford in early 2004.

However, they HELOCed the condo, milking it of all its imaginary equity in order to put in another bathroom and do various other home improvements.

Now they are going through a divorce and can't sell the condo. The wife is being a stupid b*tc# and won't agree to lower the price, so they continue to carry the cost.

I don't know how much they paid, or how much they took out in loans, but I suspect they're under water on it now.; May 20, 2008 4:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Friend of mine bought an investment condo that he can't unload. He's lost $100K easy and losing more every day. Not sure what his income is, but I'm guessing around $400K a year. So he's not too worried about the loss.

Aside from that I can't say I know anyone who got burned by real estate. Everyone I know well either bought and sold at the right time or bought early enough in the bubble that worst they've done or will do is break even.; May 20, 2008 4:28 PM
Anonymous said...: I have all that without ever having used a heloc or any other loan. I personally laugh at most HPers who are angry and lash out at anyone with a modicum of success, assuming everyone with a boat or sports car must be in debt up to their eyeballs. Not so.

______

Quite true. The majority of the crowd here is intensely jealous of successful people.; May 20, 2008 4:29 PM
Devestment said...: It was me. I did the stupidest thing by arguing with lunatics that claimed housing never goes down.; May 20, 2008 4:44 PM
Anonymous said...: to Eric (this is nothing personal
Eric, just you have a great example).

The house was NEVER worth $300,000 by classical evaluation. That was just what people were willing to pay above a reasonable value, like paying full value or more for the latest xbox at Xmas. They buyers weren't stopping to think they'd pay close to 3 times for that extra 100,000 by the time they were through with 30 years of payments.
Except they weren't really planning to make 30 years worth of payments. Maybe 2 or 3 years worth of payments, by which time the value would have gone up because 'housing never goes down'...If they had questioned that myth, maybe they would have questioned the "need" to buy the first Xbox or it's equivalent and waited until the prices went down the next year
(for the kid's birthday), thereby
lessening the chance of raising another generation which feels it has to have what it wants, even if it doesn't make sense for the well being of the family. Of course maybe that expensive Xbox purchase, and the expensive house purchase is to make up for not having a real, complete family, or to insure the dream that there will be a family, complete with perfect house. We are so off track...

It's clear that this is just going to end up in one huge, ugly, inexplicable mess, with everything affecting everything..How will we ever find a track to get back on..
GAAAGGGG.. But when anyone has raised a question about any of this mania, they have literally been shouted down. WE CAN HAVE WHAT WE WANT, IF WE ARE WILLING TO PAY THE PRICE....but what if we are looking at the wrong tag...

I feel sorry for people who got carried away. I've done it. I remember when I was a young bride and wanted a sewing machine. I called a salesman and they brought a simple sewing machine to the house, $200 dollars and $15 dollars a month. But my husband and I were students, with a new baby and every penny counted. So I said no. He walked to the door with the machine, and said something I cannot for the life of me recall, and the next thing I knew, we were signing the paper. I do not know what made me change my mind. Maybe it was my husband who changed his mind. It was like being hypnotized, and I am not easily swayed. I learned to be brusque, even rude from that encounter. It was our money that paid for that, our food money...our stupidity. We paid for our mistake and I have no pity whatsoever on salespeople at all.
I worked in retail for a few years and I never pushed sales on people.
You can guess why I was not a roaring success. I always told people they could have a nice result with any budget and I let them tell me..

Grandma pkk; May 20, 2008 4:52 PM
Anonymous said...: grandma again--

To anonymous, who is successful..
I don't thing HP'ers are lashing out at success; I think they are lashing out at pretend success based on debt, yet acting with arrogance because one has the appearance of success.

And there is the question of how one makes money; aside from your house resale, I have no idea what you do/did, and do not feel it is my concern..

I do feel concern that so many in this country have a stand-off attitude towards informing themselves about how things really work, how to assess value, adding up final costs. There is a lot of
I'm ignorant and I'm proud, or
worse, I don't think I'm capable of understanding things. I think the reason I make a point of trying to understand as much as I can, is I had parents who talked about the whys and wherefores and a Dad who insisted I would understand and I would have the courage to stand apart from the crowd, whether I liked it or not. You'd be surprised how that serves you in life.Once you've given your first dozen blunt no's, it gets easy.; May 20, 2008 4:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Dumbest thing I did was allow myself to be brow-beaten by my wife and Suzanne into buying a $600,000 house that's now worth $450,000 and dropping like a rock.

I do love that garage though. Those rafters look like they'll be able to hold a good 275 pounds.

Tom; May 20, 2008 5:24 PM
Anonymous said...: HAH! I've got you all beat! My neighbor quit her job last month - TO BECOME A REALTOR!!!

Going to be fun watching this one crash and burn...; May 20, 2008 5:29 PM
Mammoth said...: Another great post from PKK Grandma.

"I worked in retail for a few years and I never pushed sales on people."
---------------------------
If you have a decent product to sell, then there is no need to push your customers to buy it.

I have a small plant nursery business on the side, and can not grow as many tomato starts as my customers would like to have.

The reason? They are grown organically, look twice as good as the tomato plants for sale in the shops, cost less, and always produce a good crop.

A good product that has value will sell itself every time!
-Mammoth; May 20, 2008 5:50 PM
Anonymous said...: .

31,072 scientists have signed the global warming petition......

...but they became futile in their speculations, and their foolish heart was darkened.
Professing to be wise, they became fools,
and exchanged the glory of the incorruptible God for an image in the form of corruptible man...

Romans 1:21

nuf said!; May 20, 2008 5:56 PM
Anonymous said...: I'd have to say the stupidest thing I saw someone do belongs to the husband of a friend. He set up a real estate Ponzi scheme and made money by basically bankrupting one LLC after another. At one point he was worth over $100 million on paper. Now he's awaiting sentencing for racketeering and fraud. It doesn't look like he'll do any time, though. Maybe an ankle monitor. At the worst, a minimum-security facility.

Rumor has it his business partner divorced his wife so they could hide everything with her for 10-20 years. But that's hearsay. Interesting idea, though.; May 20, 2008 6:11 PM
Anonymous said...: Grandma pkk:

"...said something I cannot for the life of me recall, and the next thing I knew, we were signing the paper. I do not know what made me change my mind. Maybe it was my husband who changed his mind. It was like being hypnotized, and I am not easily swayed."

Um, obviously you are easily swayed...; May 20, 2008 6:15 PM
Anonymous said...: Buy a new house for $450,000 in Beaumont, CA.; May 20, 2008 6:19 PM
Anonymous said...: In early 2005 I remember a couple of co workers taking a trip from San diego to Pheonix to buy a home. I asked them why would you buy a home in Phoenix instead of here (San Diego) The response was they were going to buy a place in Phoenix and sell it in a couple years and use that to buy a home here in SD. That was the first of mayn signs that followed that had me question the sanity of the masses regarding Real Estate.; May 20, 2008 6:27 PM
Anonymous said...: 31,072 scientists have signed the global warming petition

http://www.petitionproject.org/index.html

The same American and European scientists who cannot develop an alternative source of energy, while Brazilian cars have been running on sugar cane since the 70s? Moreover, India is about to launch cars that run on compressed air.

Hoooweee, we're all saved now with the brilliant scientists who just waste time signing petitions and never invent anything useful. The same scientists who have been announcing the cure of cancer for the last 60 years.; May 20, 2008 6:34 PM
Anonymous said...: And to anon #1, I was/am one of those nouveau riche. I drive a Porsche (and if you know anything about cars you'd know that a Porsche and Ferrari/Lambo are in different leagues money wise), own a boat, have a 5 bedroom house (rental) in the 'burbs and have a blonde (natural not bleach) wife.

So are you saying that you're a "millionaire" who loves to live large but could only afford a $250k home? Plus you think that a $200k max profit (after fees, commission, etc) in the home sale made your "fortune" so much larger to be able to afford a $80,000 Porsche?
Got it.; May 20, 2008 6:56 PM
Anonymous said...: Keith,

check this out in today's AZ Republic.
ASU housing "guru" and REIC shill Jay Butler caught in major flaw analysis of inflating Phoenix homes sales "recovery":

"""Valley home-sales reports are at odds
Trustee-sales figures skew real-estate picture

J. Craig Anderson - May. 20, 2008 12:00 AM
The Arizona Republic

One sign of the Valley's troubled housing market is the growing incidence of lenders assuming ownership of homes.

Ironically, the increasing number of those transactions has led to a false perception that the real-estate market may be showing signs of recovery.

The confusion stems from a report on April home sales by Jay Butler, director of real-estate studies at Arizona State University's Morrison School of Management and Agribusiness.

Butler compiles a report each month on home-resale transactions in Maricopa County.

The report said home resales were up 15 percent compared with the same month in 2007, the first year-over-year increase since July 2005.

That conflicts with a report released Monday by the Arizona Regional Multiple Listing Service indicating a 12 percent decrease in home sales in the same period.

The reason is Butler's report does not differentiate between "trustee sales," in which banks take over properties from borrowers in default, and routine home resales.

More than one-third of the sales reported by Butler for April, or 2,025 of the 5,585 total, were trustee sales.

When real-estate consultant Scott Smith saw Butler's latest report, Smith said he knew something was wrong with the numbers. Smith, who owns a real-estate services firm and tracks area home sales "on a daily basis," said Butler's April sales figures were simply too high.

"After checking the data several times . . . there is no doubt that Mr. Butler made a big mistake," Smith said.

Smith's opinion was based on information from the multiple-listing service, which records every home sale involving a professional real-estate agent.

Usually, monthly home-sales figures from the multiple-listing service run higher than those reported by Butler.

Unlike Butler, the listing service includes new-home sales, some pending-sale transactions and sales in certain areas of Pinal County.

But since January, Butler has been painting the rosier picture, reporting higher sales figures than the listing service for each of the year's first three months.

Butler said he agrees that trustee sales should not be lumped in with routine resales and would be reported separately from now on.

The market has changed so rapidly, he said, that the methodology he once relied on for accurate sales data suddenly has become obsolete.

Until recently, Butler said, trustee sales represented a very small portion of overall sales activity and often involved an actual sale, such as at a foreclosure auction, which is why he has always included them.

But as the foreclosure rate began to climb in late 2007, more and more cases involved lenders simply assuming ownership of the home, still considered a trustee sale and still included in Butler's reports.

On Monday, ARMLS reported 4,874 home sales in April. Butler's revised figure would be 3,565 sales, he said.""""; May 20, 2008 6:57 PM
DreadlocCowgirl said...: I was too busy working and I totally missed out. I could have pulled out equity to get "pergraniteel"! I am still stuck with $100K equity, laminate counters, carpet & linoleum floors. I'm pissed!; May 20, 2008 6:57 PM
Anonymous said...: So you have only 200K in the bank and have a depreciating asset that cost half that amount? A depreciating asset that...performance wise...would get its ass handed to it by any of the new rally inspired cars at a 1/3 the price. I have 800k in the bank and drive a crx that would give your porsche a run for its money but noone resents me. Noone resents me because I am not an asshole.; May 20, 2008 7:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Quite true. The majority of the crowd here is intensely jealous of successful people.

Yes, you're so right. Real success comes from a HELOC or a Neg-AM loan and we're all insanely jealous that we didn't have one.; May 20, 2008 7:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Some time in 2006 shortly after I got out of college and got married my sister showed me a house that was well above what my husband and I had calculated we could afford with a traditional mortgage. She insisted that we ought to buy it and that we could in fact afford it because ... it had a basement apartment.

She would hear nothing of the thought that we would be on the fast track to foreclosure if we went a few months with out a tenant. We didn't buy.

At the same time she was trying to convince her husband to buy a condo in Florida. The talk of a FL Condo has stopped and I'm afraid to ask what the end result was.

But I know she bought a condo in 2004 with proceeds from a house she owned from 2001-2003. The condo has an interest only loan. The rent she collects doesn't cover all the expenses. She calls the monthly bleed an "investment." It's a pretty big monthly 'investment.' She quit talking about it a while ago.; May 20, 2008 7:14 PM
Refuse to buy overpriced said...: Stupidest thing I saw anyone do during this entire mess?

I know of one guy, someone who understood housing and finance, who endorsed Obama for President and called on voters to reject all Congressional incumbants, apparently including Republican Senators who bravely opposed the Schumer/Dodd/Frank bailout.

President Obama + 60 Democratic Senators = bailout for reckless buyers, lenders and investors, as well as amnesty for illegal immigrants. Say goodbye to the American middle class.; May 20, 2008 7:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Bought 2 new vehicles with new loan.
Remodeled the townhouse (spent 28K).
Purchased big screen TV, computers, furniture etc...

ARM reset Jan 2008.

He is over 80K upside down.
Never paid more than the minimum.
Can't pay the new payments.
Can't refinance again.
Behind on Car payments.
Can't sell townhouse.
5 Foreclosures on his block.

Work ethic went to hell.
Looking for another job or second job.
Wife looking for another job.

Asks for money from friends to pay for gas.

Getting on my nerves.; May 20, 2008 7:44 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonydouche sed:
"Hoooweee, we're all saved now with the brilliant scientists who just waste time signing petitions and never invent anything useful. The same scientists who have been announcing the cure of cancer for the last 60 years."

Yep. Keep marginalizing science - the one thing that has kept this country alive along with losers like yerself. Once the sheep start dissing science (thanks to asinine movies like Expelled), it won't be long before the US is a 3rd world nation. After that, you can enjoy the dieoff - oh wait... you will be one of the ones IN the dieoff. I guess I'll get to watch you die - from Europe.; May 20, 2008 8:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Anon May 20, 2008 4:29 PM:

I have a feeling we have a very different definition of success.; May 20, 2008 8:58 PM
Anonymous said...: Keith, can we get an update on David Crisp?; May 20, 2008 8:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Just saw more evidence that Americans are screwed:

http://www.cnn.com/2008/LIVING/wayoflife/05/20/geo.metro/index.html

Flipping 12yr-old Suzuki?! How greedy, dumb and stupid are people nowadays anyway?; May 20, 2008 9:03 PM
Anonymous said...: It's really sad (scary) how hard this housing catastrophy is going to hit the folks who really got rapped into it, and the ones (with higher incomes) who can still afford to keep paying the outrageous mortgage expenses are frustrated in that they'll be stuck along time in a place they really hoped would only be a temporary stay in many cases - meanwhile, the house they're paying expenses on is continuing to lose value at an exponential rate.

However, the continuing collapse in housing will be nothing in comparison with rising unemployment, lower salaries, rising utility and food expenses - and let's not forget "Global Warming".

It's no laughing matter that's for sure.; May 20, 2008 9:28 PM
Deucebag said...: Buddy bought a home and rental property in South Florida in 2003/2004 after being nagged by his wife. Couldn't rent the thing, 401K is now gone, house is worth 80K less, filed for bankruptcy and is soon to be divorced because she wants more out of life.; May 20, 2008 9:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Buy 9 houses in 2005 in Arizona, Nevada and Texas with nothing down on neg am loans, because she was going to flip them and make a quick buck.

Her husband was against it but gave in.

They're still married and holding on to these money pits.

Total bonehead move.; May 20, 2008 9:50 PM
Anonymous said...: And to anon #1, I was/am one of those nouveau riche. I drive a Porsche (and if you know anything about cars you'd know that a Porsche and Ferrari/Lambo are in different leagues money wise), own a boat, have a 5 bedroom house (rental) in the 'burbs and have a blonde (natural not bleach) wife.

So are you saying that you're a "millionaire" who loves to live large but could only afford a $250k home? Plus you think that a $200k max profit (after fees, commission, etc) in the home sale made your "fortune" so much larger to be able to afford a $80,000 Porsche?
Got it.

May 20, 2008 6:56 PM

==============================
No you moron. My point was just the opposite actually. It doesn't take a lot to own a boat and a nice car. My boat cost me $45K. My Porsche about $60K. Both with cash. You don't need to make 7 figures to afford that. Just need to make decent money and be prudent with it.

I also never said I made a fortune off my house. I said I made out quite well. If you think $200K tax free profit is no big deal, OK. I think it's pretty damn good considering my initial investment was $30K (10% down). Maybe in your world a 666% ROI is small. In mine, it's big.

And finally a $299K - not $250K, read the post - was all I needed. Back then $299K was quite a lot of money for a house in that area. Are you suggesting I should spend $1M on a house just because I can even if I only need a house worth 1/3 as much? Spend for the sake of spending just so I can show off. In other words you are castigating me for not doing what you castigate others for doing. In other words you are one dumb asshole.; May 20, 2008 9:52 PM
ForWhomTheTollBuilds said...: "31,072 scientists have signed the global warming petition"

When did science become a matter of popular opinion? Could a bigger petition signed by SUV drivers overrule this one?; May 20, 2008 10:01 PM
Anonymous said...: "I personally laugh at most HPers who are angry and lash out at anyone with a modicum of success, "

You're a complete fucking idiot.; May 20, 2008 10:12 PM
Anonymous said...: "I personally laugh at most HPers who are angry and lash out at anyone with a modicum of success."

HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!!!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!!!

HE SAID "MODICUM" OF SUCCESS!!!!!!!

HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHA

EVEN DOUCHEBAGS GET LUCKY EVERY ONCE IN A WHILE!

HAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHAHAHHAHA

THAT WAS CLASSIC!

DOPE!; May 20, 2008 10:17 PM
Paul E. Math said...: Anon, May 20, 2008 12:11 PM, you have $250k in the bank 'to do it all over again'. And what exactly would 'it' be that you're going to do all over again? You don't really think that when real estate hits bottom it's going to bounch right back and appreciate at double-digits, do you?

Perhaps that is what you believe. Based on the definition of success you express in your post you appear to be an intellectual lightweight at best. Good luck to you, luck is your only hope of experiencing any kind of success.; May 20, 2008 10:22 PM
Anonymous said...: My friend and his partner paid over $900K for a house less than 2 years ago east bay SF. Adjustable mortgage. Combined income I would guesstimate not more than $120K per year. House has tanked. You do the math.; May 20, 2008 10:30 PM
Anonymous said...: Ivana looks like she's hoovered a lot of poles in her day. If u know what I mean.; May 20, 2008 10:35 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous 8:20 am

regarding the global warming petition: I have a very strong feeling that those scientists are way smarter than you are.; May 20, 2008 10:47 PM
Anonymous said...: Down the street here in HB Ca.,
two police officers bought into a house a few years back - before it REALLY got bad.

However, now they're trying to sell the blazer and boat, along with putting the house up for sale.

I'm not sure people really realize the gravity of the situation, but when public service employees start feeling the pinch, you know the private sector is really, really hurting - the very sector that supplements their living standards.

The fact that we're just getting started with this mess is a sure sign of how much worse things will get before things even have a chance of getting better.; May 20, 2008 10:49 PM
Anonymous said...: Hoooweee, we're all saved now with the brilliant scientists who just waste time signing petitions and never invent anything useful. The same scientists who have been announcing the cure of cancer for the last 60 years.

-----------------

You are a total idiot . . . Stop being jealous of people who are smart. Actually, I apologize for insulting you, you probably can't help your low level of intelligence. It's just that people who are so proud and arrogant of their own stupidity drive me up the WALL. Go back to kissing your "I love Bush" poster and leave the rest of us alone.; May 20, 2008 11:02 PM
Anonymous said...: Stupidest thing I've seen during this housing debacle - ME

I sold my house in 2005, moved all retirement to treasuries and cash in 11/2006.

Shorted this pig market from Jan to last week. Was up big now down just as big.

Welcome to the Bear Market Rally (may be rolling over now, but I'm out); May 20, 2008 11:05 PM
Anonymous said...: I am beginning to have doubts about by faith in this movement. The dumbest thing I have yet to see anyone do is me NOT buying the house at the end of my street...two years ago. I sold a place in 2005 outside DC at a huge profit, but my hopes of seeing a serious decline before I roll that back into something are diminishing. I have been a long time convert to the cause, but as someone living in Downtown DC, I have yet to see prices come down on condos, houses, or co-ops unless they are in the sketchiest ‘hoods I never would have considered anyway. I will admit that things have slowed, but sometimes wonder if rising gas prices will cushion or stop any serious drop where I am. Yes Manassas and Hagerstown are going to collapse, but I have yet to see the truly respectable, truly urban neighborhoods do it, or hear a convincing argument that they will.; May 20, 2008 11:16 PM
Anonymous said...: OMFG - Just when you think the US Government can't get any stupider or more incompetent or insane:

House passes bill to sue OPEC over oil prices

It's not OPECs fault you dummies!!! It's YOUR fault for all of YOUR reckless spending on welfare, wars, bailouts and economic stimulus efforts. IT'S INFLATION STUUUUUUPID!!!!

Can you say UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES???

OPEC is simply going to retaliate and make life for the USA a whole lot more uncomfortable. Like removing pegs from the dollar, oil bourse and the USA will lose it's golden goose as reserve currency of the globe.

Man, I've heard some dumb and desperate shit over the last year but this has got to top the list!!; May 21, 2008 12:14 AM
Anonymous said...: "So you have only 200K in the bank and have a depreciating asset that cost half that amount? A depreciating asset that...performance wise...would get its ass handed to it by any of the new rally inspired cars at a 1/3 the price. I have 800k in the bank and drive a crx that would give your porsche a run for its money but noone resents me. Noone resents me because I am not an asshole."

You sir are EXACTLY what the problem is in this country and WHY these bubbles keep steamrolling through the economy. This attitude of "I am better than you because my (insert penis compensating thing here) is better or bigger or faster than yours. You ARE an asshole, because people like you continue to foster these ideas.

My answer (as I am sure I speak for many here is)

1. I Don't give a rats ass that you have 800K in the bank. I would bet that 800K will soon be 0 as a fool and their money are soon parted - and the foolishness is pretty thick here.

2. That CRX that would give his Porsche a run is STILL driven by a vein IDIOT, and will crash and KILL someone just as easily as his Porsche will.

3. Noone with half the IQ of the common housecat would resent someone with an ego like yours simply because they could not get close enough to even notice - as your head would take up most of the operating space of a large warehouse.

Let me guess - you have a big screen TV that cost well over $4000.00 so you can get hookups for devices you have never heard of just so you can say to your neighbor that you can hook up a link to NASA and see the earth in real time from the space station. Performance is far better than my 35 inch TV, and you are clearly superior to me because of that fact. If I have to explain what the space station is, then, well the problem is more acute than I thought.

This recession will serve one good purpose if nothing else - it will weed out all of the idiots and vein type A morons like yourself that have been polluting this country for years from any leadership positions - starting from the Whitehouse down.. It happened in the eighties (remember the pulled up collars and alligator logo shirts) Those so-called Wall Street warriors were soon in unemployment lines.; May 21, 2008 12:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Actually; I think everyone driving a little wanna-be Ricer (HONDA) is an asshole. So your blanket statement of no-one hating you just got shot to shit.

My guess is you have never owned a Porsche, STI, EVO, so, you; making claims about how everyone resents someone who bought one seem baseless;obviously you resent the person that likes driving them. Daddy or Mommy issues maybe?

If you have so much money; go take a test drive in one of them. Hell...buy a used one for 20k...Seriously...it won't kill you. Plus, you'll see a major difference from driving your CRX.

Different strokes for different folks...So sorry that some people like driving/doing different things with their cars...Sheesh.; May 21, 2008 12:34 AM
Anonymous said...: Anon said...
Successful people...

Is this the latest euphemism for "Bullshitter"?; May 21, 2008 12:36 AM
Anonymous said...: The fact that the lenders would allow this sort of speculation in real estate and would actually fund it is the most crazy thing that I have ever seen .

They knew that Barney Frank and Chris Dodd were their lapdogs and the taxpayers would monetize all the bad debt off their balance sheets.; May 21, 2008 12:42 AM
Anonymous said...: Another distinguished member of the Jewish community:

SFBJ -- Two days after planning to throw a wedding ceremony bash at Donald Trump's Mar-a-Lago Club, businessman Michael Meisner filed a personal Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Meisner's Phoenix Diversified Investment, a commodities investment firm in Boca Raton, was pushed into an involuntary Chapter 7 bankruptcy two weeks ago after investors learned it was insolvent and owed at least $30 million to more than 100 investors, according to allegations in lawsuits.

His daughter, Brooke, was scheduled to have a wedding ceremony Saturday amid concerns that Phoenix investment funds may have been used to fund the events, according to at least one civil suit. In an April letter, which was attached to two civil complaints, Meisner said he would stop using investor money on his personal lifestyle.

Through Phoenix, Meisner took unsecured loans from individuals and promised of 3 percent returns per month, according to multiple court complaints.

The bankruptcy mailing list for creditors also includes Trump Group's Boca Ocean Development in Aventura; May 21, 2008 2:34 AM
Anonymous said...: I guess I'll get to watch you die - from Europe.

Hey European socialist slackers, could you guys invent something revolutionary for a change? We, Americans, are tired of carrying your lazy arses around.

BTW, we're still waiting for royalty payments on revolutionary
American inventions you're using for free or make a living with it, such as: Internet, Laser, Fiber Optics, Cell Phone, Router, WiFi, Microchips, Blogs, Instant Messenger, Mouse, Keyboard, Microwave Oven, DJ profession, Personal Trainer profession, Electronic Music, Rock, Blues, Jazz, RFID, Barcode, MBA, PhD, LED, Nylon, Velcro, GPS, Paintbox, CGI, CD-ROM, etc, etc, etc.

Could you Europeans quit winning and start mailing checks to all of us, American taxpayers, who have been footing the bill for all the inventions you use in a daily basis free of charge? Don't you worry about the bill for saving your arses from becoming Nazi or Commi b!tches for life, just payment for the inventions will do.

Yours truly,

The American Taxpayers and American Scientists; May 21, 2008 3:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Spend for the sake of spending just so I can show off. In other words you are castigating me for not doing what you castigate others for doing. In other words you are one dumb asshole.

No no, my brother is the dumb a$$hole, I'm the douchebag. So it's the blond free on weekends to check my oceanfront pad or what? Is she hot? I don't do chubby chicks.; May 21, 2008 3:08 AM
Anonymous said...: " Anonymous said...

And to anon #1, I was/am one of those nouveau riche. I drive a Porsche (and if you know anything about cars you'd know that a Porsche and Ferrari/Lambo are in different leagues money wise), own a boat, have a 5 bedroom house (rental) in the 'burbs and have a blonde (natural not bleach) wife."
--------------------

My clinical experience tells me that nouveau riche suffers from compulsive bragging. He was probably not allowed to when he was a child.; May 21, 2008 3:16 AM
Anonymous said...: Actually, there's nothing much scientific about 30k scholars signing a piece of scroll. Science is about scientific methods: falsifiable theories about observables. There's nothing falsifiable about the global warming theory; you can't go in, remove humanity, and see if the temperature drops, all else being equal :-) Thousands of scholars with too much time on their hands and their sinecure pensions from the government on the line have been signing all sorts of scrolls long before rigorous scientific methods were born and practiced. Science is not about consensus; science is about veracity and provability. On most big hisotrical scientific debates that became so popular as to invovle the lay population, the minority scientific opinion of the time usually proved correct: e.g. Kopernicus, Darwin, etc..; May 21, 2008 5:09 AM
Anonymous said...: This is all true if you doubt me I'll give you the address of my former home .

This 20 something guy who bought my house in Oceanside, CA 2005 for 3 times what i paid for it in 1999 putting almost 300K of profits in my bank account. This was a 1400 sq ft mid 80's stucco house in a HOA subdivision in Oceanside, Ca 92057. He even paid 10K over my asking price to cover his closing costs which I refused to pay because I was doubting the deal going through..
He used creative financing to get a 495K loan with 0 down. This young man who's occupation was construction during the day and a printshop apprentice at night, he was just married with a newborn infant she was pregnent when they first looked at the house and they were hispanic and drove a newer big black chevy stepside pickup with chrome very large rims. This guy was dressed very GQ probably from ROSS but he was trying to look like a player and had spikey overly moussed hair too. There realtor a young like 23 yo attractive thin with nice boobs latino gal drove up in a C class benz a new one and was dressed very sexy and wore alot of jewlry and makeup like right outta HGTV. The realty she was with was called "Mi Banco" they got the loan.

They went into default 5 months later with 21K added added onto the loan in unpaid interest. I found it on a foreclosure website. The lender took it back and It is now vacant and for sale by lender. The same time I found it on foreclosure website I noticed another house in a neighboring zipcode 92054 i think anyways this one had a selling price of 580K and it showed he had purchased it 3 months after he bought mine and it was not in default but it showed it for sale for the same price he bought it for duh! and to contact this guy (Same guy his name was there) the seller. Well of course i checked back a couple months later and sure enough that one was in default with outstanding unpaid interest added on showing about 16K more then selling price.

CAN YOU SAY OPTION ARM OR PICK A PAYMENT LIAR LOANS!!!!!

Honestly at the time I was in escrow June 2005 I was crosing my fingers that this kid didnt cath wind of HousingPanic and back out because in june 2005 i was seeing inventory and fewer sales by a big jump and knowing nieghbors that were not getting offers too and lowering there prices. I did have a hot tub in the backyard nice wood flooring a small kitchen but I did put the granite and the stainless steel appliances back in 2003 because I refi to a super low fixed rate and took that damn HELOC that WAMU pushed me to take. And some of my friends had granite and steel and I thought it was cool too.Luckily I only spent about 20K on the house tops so I walked still with over 250K after the sale. true story THANKS KEITH AND HOUSING PANIC FOR EDUCATING ME BACK WHEN BLOG STARTED!! MY LIFE IS SO STRESS FREE; May 21, 2008 7:50 AM
Anonymous said...: "I have 800k in the bank and drive a crx that would give your porsche a run for its money but noone resents me."

A CRX? So you are 17 then.; May 21, 2008 12:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Oh and if you have $800K in the bank earning 2% interest you are the biggest dumb fuck ever.; May 21, 2008 12:36 PM
Anonymous said...: Quote:
And to anon #1, I was/am one of those nouveau riche. I drive a Porsche (and if you know anything about cars you'd know that a Porsche and Ferrari/Lambo are in different leagues money wise), own a boat, have a 5 bedroom house (rental) in the 'burbs and have a blonde (natural not bleach) wife.------------------------------------

I still cherish succes, but, have you taken account on how much value has the dollar lost in the last years? I must say, it made my shopping at amazon.com much more easier. To calculate how much I will in pay Euros, I just slash 50% off the dollar price.
Im no expert but, i kinda laugh at people when they say they bought the house for x, payed the mortgage for 5 or 6 years and sold it for x+y.
They never do the math. They think that by buying for 100,000 and selling for 130,000, they made a 30,000 profit. They dont consider the costs of buying and selling (taxes, registry, etc.), interest paid, mortgage costs, condominium, property tax and inflation.
Its scary.

And th most stupid thing I saw was a bank lending a friend of mine who got a mortgage for 40 years with monthly payments of about 80% of his disposable income...

PJ; May 21, 2008 1:21 PM
Anonymous said...: I know an couple in their 50s who bought a second house in the DC ex-burbs in March. They told me they needed to buy 5 bedroom 4,000 sq ft house "for the resale value." The sucker they bought it from lost $125K on it in less than a year. Today their neighbor is asking 15K less for an identical house. There are also two identical foreclosures down the street...; May 21, 2008 1:40 PM
Unknown said...: My stupidest decision was to to buy my Miami condo in July of 2006 using money I made from the sale of my first house (another condo) that was owned between 2003-2006. I basically just moved money from one house to another. But it was the peak of the market and I'm an idiot for doing it. Well now I've got it up for sale, and if I lower the price enough I might get lucky and sell it and break even, housing-wise, between 03' and today. Goodbye $80k.; May 21, 2008 4:14 PM
Anonymous said...: This could be stupid or brilliant, your call;

Buddy (48) at work's wife filed for divorce, took him to the cleaners, with alimony (california law)and got the house as part of the deal. His two kids were over 18 and oout of the house, so no Child support.

He never pays her a cent in alimony, quits his job, and gets a job with in Iraq with a European based civil engineering company, big bucks. Meets, dates and gets married in Praugue to a hot younger (34) Czech civil engineer (something they both have in common, actually better than e-harmoney, two nerds, cept ones hot!) and when he has applied for Czech passport. Plans to totally blow off the US and return to Praugue after they make their nest egg rebuilding Iraq.

Ex wife's lawyers can't touch him for alimoney, house in LA County now REO since ex can't extort any alimony, and his kids traveled to Paruage for the wedding and loved it.

Negative, he is legally in deep shit in the states. Postive, he currently does not plan to, until, as he e-mailed me, his ex is dead or the statute of limitations.

Guess he thinks way out of the box.; May 21, 2008 4:34 PM
Anonymous said...: BTW, we're still waiting for royalty payments on

I have no idea what you're talking about - but the CD was first developed by Philips - a Dutch company.

And lets not forget that the whole electrical distribution system (into which you plug in your high tech toys) was developed by Tesla.

Aspririn was developed by BASF - Bayer Analin und Soda Fabrik - a German company. Which also developed most of the dyes used in fabrics - probably everything you wear is dyed with a chemical first invented at BASF.

What drivel - why don't you get an education before you start blathering garbage that doesn't make sense.; May 21, 2008 4:51 PM
Anonymous said...: "...when public service employees start feeling the pinch, you know the private sector is really, really hurting..."

Why? Are public sector employees somehow unable to fuck up, or are they denied liar's loans or something? I don't agree with your logic.; May 21, 2008 5:27 PM
Anonymous said...: So many great fictitious stories here; May 21, 2008 6:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Aspririn was developed by BASF - Bayer Analin und Soda Fabrik - a German company. Which also developed most of the dyes used in fabrics - probably everything you wear is dyed with a chemical first invented at BASF.

Ladies & gentlemen, we Americans gave the Europeans really revolutionary inventions such as Internet, Broadband, GPS, Laser, LED, RFID, Cell Phone, Software, Fiber Optics, Barcode, Air Conditioner, Polio Vaccine, Oral Contraceptive, Human Grown Stem Cells, Cervical Cancer Vaccine, etc, etc, etc...even toilette paper and zipper we invented.

And what the Europeans have to offer? Aspirin.

So Europeans, if you listen to music invented by Americans (i.e., Electronic, Rock, Blues, Jazz, Hip-Hop, Soul, R&B, Disco, etc) or if you use a PC, Internet, Broadband, Cell Phone, Mouse, Keyboard, Zipper, Air Conditioner, and toilette paper in a daily basis, OR INVENT ANYTHING ELSE THAT DEPENDS ON OUR INVENTIONS (i.e., software and Internet), you should be sending a royalty check and hot Scandinavian girls to all Americans. We're tired of carrying your lazy a$$es around.

The checks for saving your arses from Nazies and Commies aren't needed. Consider that a gift.

PS: Your German Aspirin sux. Tylenol FTW.; May 21, 2008 8:43 PM
Anonymous said...: I have no idea what you're talking about - but the CD was first developed by Philips - a Dutch company.

Nice try but you're wrong (stick with your insignificant Aspirin):

The digital compact disc, now commonplace in stereos and computers, was invented in the late 1960s by James T. Russell.

Russell was born in Bremerton, Washington in 1931. At age six, he invented a remote-control battleship, with a storage chamber for his lunch. Russell went on to earn a BA in Physics from Reed College in Portland in 1953. Afterward, he went to work as a Physicist in General Electric's nearby labs in Richland, Washington.

Russell envisioned a system that would record and replay sounds without physical contact between its parts; and he saw that the best way to achieve such a system was to use light. Russell was familiar with digital data recording, in punch card or magnetic tape form. He saw that if he could represent the the binary 0 and 1 with dark and light, a device could read sounds or indeed any information at all without ever wearing out. If he could make the binary code compact enough, Russell saw that he could store not only symphonies, but entire encyclopedias on a small piece of film.

Battelle let Russell pursue the project, and after years of work, Russell succeeded in inventing the first digital-to-optical recording and playback system (patented in 1970). He had found a way to record onto a photosensitive platter in tiny "bits" of light and dark, each one micron in diameter; a laser read the binary patterns, and a computer converted the data into an electronic signal --- which it was then comparatively simple to convert into an audible or visible transmission.

This was the first compact disc. Although Russell had once envisioned 3x5-inch stereo records that would fit in a shirt pocket and a video record that would be about the size of a punch card, the final product imitated the phonographic disc which had been its inspiration. Through the 1970s, Russell continued to refine the CD-ROM, adapting it to any form of data. Like many ideas far ahead of their time, the CD-ROM found few interested investors at first; but eventually, Sony and other audio companies realized the implications and purchased licenses.; May 21, 2008 8:54 PM
Anonymous said...: "I have no idea what you're talking about - but the CD was first developed by Philips - a Dutch company."

Let us not forget that the vast majority of Americans were produced by Europeans.

What's really funny about this guy is first he carries on about how useless scientists are, and then attempts to take credit for their discoveries.

Unfortunately there are millions like him out there.; May 21, 2008 8:56 PM
Anonymous said...: "Ex wife's lawyers can't touch him for alimoney, house in LA County now REO since ex can't extort any alimony, and his kids traveled to Paruage for the wedding and loved it."

This guy sounds like he could be a hero to many male homedebtors. Make a made for TV movie out of this and put it on Spike.; May 21, 2008 9:47 PM
Anonymous said...: "BTW, we're still waiting for royalty payments on

I have no idea what you're talking about - but the CD was first developed by Philips - a Dutch company.

And lets not forget that the whole electrical distribution system (into which you plug in your high tech toys) was developed by Tesla.

Aspririn was developed by BASF - Bayer Analin und Soda Fabrik - a German company. Which also developed most of the dyes used in fabrics - probably everything you wear is dyed with a chemical first invented at BASF.

What drivel - why don't you get an education before you start blathering garbage that doesn't make sense."

This is a perfect example of why America is in the mess it is in. Stupid Americans uneducated belief that they are still great and the world cares what they think. We are American, we rule! Bull, at one point in time America was the promise land - now it is a debt laden, obese, lazy, uneducated nation that puts it's future in the hands of leaders that cannot even intelligently spell or speak, and the ones that are steal every last penny and ship it overseas. They pay their sports stars more than their scientists. They vote more regularly on American Idol than their own leaders. The health care is great for 1% of the population (if you are lucky). If America keeps on the path it is going it will also be bankrupt (most likely already is)and a third world country, owned by Asia and the Middle East. Get a clue Americans!!!! BTW, please don't give me the usual "If you don't like it, then leave argument" as I don't live in the states.; May 21, 2008 11:43 PM
Anonymous said...: "Quite true. The majority of the crowd here is intensely jealous of successful people."

Not universally true.
I don't demean people who start a company, with all of the associated risks, build it, employ hundreds or thousands (in THIS country) and pay themselves well.

Housing bubbleheads who expected to make tens or hundreds of thousands while sitting on their a$$ is another story.; May 22, 2008 12:43 AM
Anonymous said...: Think of all of the thousands of excited couples that dry humped in front of their realtors, out of sheer joy at their new home purchase.

How many of those bunnies are now getting a divorce?

What a disaster.; May 22, 2008 3:03 AM
Anonymous said...: Let us not forget that the vast majority of Americans were produced by Europeans.

So by that reasoning, let's not forget that Europeans were produced by Homo Erectus.

Do you now know who invented the CD-ROM? Glad to help; send the checks and the Scandinavian girls.; May 22, 2008 4:33 AM
Anonymous said...: To the Honda CRX guy:

Do you know what HONDA stands for?

Hold
On
Not
Done
Accelerating...

LOL

-BC; May 22, 2008 5:29 AM
Anonymous said...: I e-mailed my Buddy who works in Iraq and married the hot Czech nerd. He informs me that his kids tell him that his ex is serious with another stupid guy and is discussing marriage. Guess since the ex -wife (alimony vampire) can't get any money from him now that he is ex-pat, she needs another "husband" to pick up the bills.

Meantime he travels on his new Czech passport, and has no plans to return to the US until the ex is dead or remarried.

I post this to make a point, perhaps its hard to patch togther, but, follow me if this makes any sense. Perhaps the housing issue is as much an issue of bribing the typical mercenary American Wife as it is bad loans and greedy brokers.; May 22, 2008 3:35 PM
Anonymous said...: This whole thing is just really sad to me. Some of the people here have legitimate things to say, otehrs are just insulting one another and bragging about their "success". What is our definition of success? Does it just have to do with the bottom line? Yes, money is important, but what about family, friends, travel, having time to enjoy life? I know I sound totally corny to many of you, but I think there is more to life than having more and better "stuff" than other people. Why are we so concerned with not just keeping up with the Jonses but showing them up? It's just STUFF - who cares? We lost our home in a fire less than a year ago, and let me tell you, it really doesn't matter. It really is just stuff. We got ourselves and the kids and even our pets out and that's all that matters. I just think that we've been brainwashed into thinking that all of these material possessions are so important, and they're really not. If we could learn that what we already have is just fine, that we don't need to constantly upgrade to something "better" - TV, house, car, spouse - we'd probably be a lot happier. If we can get over this need for THINGS to define us and provide status, maybe we can be a lot more free to spend time with people we care about and enjoy life. It will be over one day and you can't take your stuff with you.; May 22, 2008 5:14 PM
Anonymous said...: BTW, please don't give me the usual "If you don't like it, then leave argument" as I don't live in the states.

Just send our damn royalty checks and the hot Scandinavian girls, and STFU.; May 22, 2008 7:19 PM

HousingPANIC - The Housing Bubble Blog with an Attitude Problem, 2005 - 2008

May 20, 2008

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