TTQ B4U

CNN Money promoting cars as something people should put their money towards. Irony at it's finest.

I was at OSU in 1989. It's amazing how different this whole area is.

:lolguy::lolguy:

Families can but there are two types Ch7 and Ch13 depending on the families income level. I would be willing to bet the family in the article wouldn't qualify for a Ch7 and IMO should eat the $200k they are trying to brush off.

Good read. IMO thought the couple in Arizona featured in it were fools for trying to balance two mortgages. No way in hell even years ago would I ever chance moving into a new home without having sold the old one. They should eat the $200k difference just for being stupid. Their $200 > Brian's $30k though. IMO they should have been forced into a chapter 11 and carried the negative equity over with them and had the court restructure their budget. Hell if anything the banks should extend the term of their mortgage to allow them to carry it. So they end up with a 50yr note; let their estate, insurance and surviving kin complete it if they die early. However, while they are alive, they should eat it, not the rest of us. People like them fuck the rest of the world and get away with it. Companies that assist in these strategic plays should also be killed with fire. They are just sleezy scum that stick it to the rest of the world and make a buck of doing so.

going to be used for fish?

^^ this is good stuff. My kids still don't realize it's cereal as we give it to them as snacks where most eat coookies. It's not perfect, but better than Oreos.

Don't look at it that way man. It's simply not true. 25yr old Brian bought a house. That's a big move for someone 25. You had the means and made that happen. That's huge. Look at the world today and think about how difficult it is for so many 25 year olds to do that. Think about what it's going to be like for our kids to do that. Also, think about where you'd be today if you didn't and just simply rented until this year. 7yrs or 72 months of what, rent? gone! You have kids right? No way you'd be in anything less than a $800-900/mo rental forgoing all the tax benefits, etc....All said you'd have tossed away over $85k in money. Far cry from the $30k you "feel" is your negative today. I say feel, because you're basing your position on the market today which feels like it sucks. However it's only a reality if you're forced to sell at a loss or choose to do so. Otherwise, you're really in no different of a position with yourself than you were 3-4 years ago. Does that make sense? Also, having a bigger, nicer fancy home isn't all that. Really, look at what a home does and the value derived from it. We could easily afford to plop another $1,500-$2,500 per month on a house and live large. It would be great, beautiful, etc...but in the end, I'd have more taxes, more outgo in upkeep and a mortgage for how many years? No thanks. I'd rather invest the money and put some of it to better use. Think about of all that money if you took $500mo and put it towards family vacations and invested the rest. I know this, my kids have 4-6 very nice vacations per year to talk about and remember and enjoy, we have no issues buying toys we want and our future income is pretty much set. Not to mention if either of us incurs a situation where we can't work due to sickness, we're fine. Seriously, while tempting, after the initial 5 minutes of thinking about it, I wouldn't trade all that for a 4,000sq ft. house in Dublin. No way. People can justify their large home as an investment all they want. Even at today's low interest rates, 30yrs from now, you'd still likely be way better off to have invested the difference between a smaller home and the large home in other ways. Just use my friend I mentioned earlier. $900mo more than us over 12 years, plus a nice patio and fence and in that short time he basically pissed away $150k more than us and now lives in an even bigger home, with a higher mortgage than before and is strapped to a 30yr note at age 39. No thanks; I'm 42 and we own our humble little home now. I think you did fine and would love to see someone show me otherwise.

The real question is does anyone call anymore? Damn, I just wish more people picked up the phone.

Fuck all of you for talking sweets like this as I struggle through eating 200x better than ever before. G'Damn I want a PBJ and Hot Chocolate !!

If you are seriously considering this, call my wife and then post back when you're done with your initial meeting. Seriously. Granted she makes her living off Bankruptcies and Divorces (lots go hand in hand) as the stress is huge and doesn't end when you file. Also, if you think it's a four year process before all is good, you will be surprised. In the end, you'd be better off figuring out how you can net a job that pays you and extra $7k year which after taxes, etc...will ease the burden of your budget now.

Cool. Thanks. I'll take the part of sounding like your dad as a compliment too since I put it out there as being the old guy of the group first.

Do you not see it as a good thing? My wife and I are not alone. There are a lot of others that live well below their means. We however, make up a very small percentage of Americans it seems. I grew up in that type of household and gotta say the things I remember are this: My parents always paid in cash and we never were not able to buy something or do anything. Mom barely ever worked other than to keep busy and what not. Dad wasn't a high paid businessman, but was a smart investor that worked hard. My parents have been very well off for many years and retired in their 50's with me still in college they paid for. I want that a more. I was a little kid when I heard my dad talk about "it's not how much you make, it's about how much you save and invest" The reality is this, we rarely spend or have spent any of my wife's income. Everyone out there can save the same as we do but either choose not to or chose not to and put themselves in a position where now they can't. My mantra as the father of the group (yes I am one of the older guys here) is to do just that. Live on one income and don't just save but invest the other. Do that and call me on your 23 anniversary. Yeah, my wife and I are approaching 23....Wholly shit! BTW, she grew up in Caldwell, father worked in Cambridge. Small world.

I'm with you in terms of accountability, but in the end, the lenders did contribute to the market value of homes by floating "everyone gets done loans" thus increasing demand for new builds and existing. They controlled both the supply of customers willing to buy if they could and made that fake dream their reality. They also, by doing that and other things, drove the prices and values upwards. So true, while they didn't force anyone to make a decision, they absolutely controlled the variables those people saw when signing. They made the American Dream appear to be real and the pipe dream of upwardly rising values just as real looking. Both of which were bullshit and many of those out there wouldn't ever have been able to see that. They made poor decisions on misinformation controlled and manipulated by the banking system and lenders.

Gotcha. So you're about $30 under and in payment terms perhaps $400 below market. All said, you're feeling as if you're overpaying for what you have and against the market you might be (today) that however could change in 10yrs and even if not, in 10yrs, you'll be past the halfway point of your note so equity might not even come into play. The only time any of this is going to really matter is when it's time to sell. Buy a new car and you're upside down for 42-48 months, but you still enjoy it the same and continue making payments. All in all, better than a Chpt 7 or 11 on the books. Keep in mind that could happen again to either one of you too. Not a great feeling I know. I got let go in Aug 2008. Sucked big time. Landed just the same quickly but still, the only thing holding my sanity was our financial position. Not so for many. Thus to Ben's point, it's a great time to buy, but it's also the shittiest economy in how long? Risky that's for sure. Not sure I'd want to buy another house and have another mortgage. Clarity....okay, so I follow what they did and it sounds like you may be pursuing how to remedy the "oops" thing? Either way now, you're sucking it up and paying more than you were to account for the hiccup in life that came along more than once. I'd work on pounding them until they address the insurance thing as that sounds like what's contributed to this matter significantly. IDK....you asked for opinions, so I'm giving mine. You've heard the saying that " it's cheaper to keep her " and that may also hold true for your situation if you can afford it. Looking at all this along with your interest in a new car/toy.....again, IDK, it's your call. I'm way more for being one to live below the means and get free of debt quickly vs making new debt.

I hear ya. Save the basement for the girlfriend that is tied up.

I know man, I feel it too. Believe me, I struggle with the wife to hold ourselves back on things. Right now it's hard not to drop a ton into some upgrades and improvements. I'm like Clay (and I feel I can say this about him) that I hate spending money (on certain things), those being ones that include high dollar commitments like mortgages. I have a few years on you and gotta say I can't see me working forever.

so what's market value of your home now? not the auditors value, but real market value?

Mother no, but we have two kids and tons of stuff. To me it was far cheaper to add the lower level and make it nice. Ours is a full basement so it added another 960sq. ft $11k + $6k in AV fun stuff and it was a far better for us. We even dropped $50mo on storage unit for a couple years. Still cheaper than bigger mortgage. Hey look, it wasn't directed at you, but in general just my opinion of which you know I have one. Call me biased because of our position and what my wife does for a living. She sees clients all day long and has for years who are owned by their home and possessions with nearly nothing saved for retirement. Again, not directed at you just a general statement. We just are doing all we can to stick to our plan to have $XXX in savings and investments to allow for $20-30 years of living after we achieve our plan to both stop working in our 50's. I'll skimp all day to make that happen and ever quarter we meet with our guy to find out what if anything we need to adjust to make that our reality. Back on point for Brian, I'd still stick it out and make the most of it so that when you do find it time to move on, you have equity and good credit.

Eat that shit and you sure won't be shaped like that box misleads you to believe though. Sounds tasty nonetheless, but I can't for several months. I've lost nearly 10lbs and several inches on my way to skinny me again.

I just skimmed this thread, but FWIW, unless you're in some financial straights of some sort, I'd stick it out and figure out a way to pay it off sooner so that you're not paying all that interest. I've seen comments in here that the bank didn't cause all this, when in fact the banks did. The entire housing crisis and bubble of false values and ease of attaining the American Dream, that was fake all along is the cause of the banks. That said, the market is correcting itself. That is the owners that bought too much are paying the price and the value of homes is going back to what they should have been. We lucked out and bought fairly low and at the same time bought other properties low. Rolling the dice and investing is something we would have cashed in big on if we were able to do it even just 5yrs earlier, but at least we were able to pay ours off and even when we had a mortgage, weren't owned by it. Maybe it's just me, but I'd never want to have a mortgage of $1,800-$3,000 per month. Especially for 30yrs. That's an insane amount of interest and sure as hell don't want to be 65 and still have a mortgage. Our goal all along was buy smaller, invest the extra money we have, pay off the home and live cash rich. Thus the only bills we have now are utilities and tuition. I wouldn't trade that for a huge home even 10 years ago. The freedom is well worth it. To give you an idea, friends of ours with a similar size new home they bought the same time we did paid over $900mo more than us just to live there. They put all kinds of upgrades in where ours already had them thanks to the previous owner. Adding it all up, my friend paid over $150k more over 12 yrs than we did. That difference is why we paid ours off in less than 15yrs. Cliffs: stick it out and if you need some assistance due to being a spot....PM me....Tamie might be able to meet and discuss things. Tim

Unless they put a new focus system on the MKII hang onto what you have. If they bump it's fps they must have that planned but we'll see. Just my Lincolns worth. 36MP doesn't impress me much. I rarely shoot the MKII at a full 21mp now as it is unless it's going to call for a huge print.

Need vids. Sound is like sex baby.

Try a washing machine next time. You'll get more hits :gabe:

Built like a tank. Wonder what brand it was