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I am considering purchasing solar panels for the house I bought in December. There are two main reasons I'm looking at this: 1. I want to save money or at least hedge my bets against the energy market. I'm in San Diego and sun is plentiful. 2. I pay PMI. I actually have almost enough money in the bank to get my LTV to 22% to apply out of PMI but due to some family health conditions I want to make sure I keep extra money in the bank in case medical bills go nuts. My understanding is that in California there is some law where the assessed value of your home is increased by whatever solar equipment is installed, but that the resident doesn't have to pay property tax on the increased assessment. Theoretically this increase to assessed value would help me get closer to 22% (unless I'm missing something). I have a proposal from a reputable local installer for a 16-panel system for around $29k ($20,500 after the federal tax credit). Problem is, that the only finance program they offer is a lease - or I can pay for the whole thing up front (no thanks). I was curious to see if anyone knew of loan programs targeting solar panel installations or what my options were for home improvement loans.
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May 4, 2012 04:34
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Not sure I would really want an iPhone/Android app for my home security system. That means it has one of those low-powered Wi-Fi or Bluetooth (?) sensors. Very easy to hack. Give me a laptop and 5 minutes and I'm sure I can trigger enough false alarms to your monitoring company so they start ignoring me when I really break in. All your house is belong to me.
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Jun 20, 2012 01:05
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I just bought my house in December. It's a jumbo with some PMI (mainly just because I want to keep reserves) and my current rate is 4.375%. All my friends keep insisting that it's easy to re-fi for 30 years and 3.75% right now but I'm not seeing those rates when I shop. My credit is above 750 and my debt:income ratio is fine even with the mortgage. Is the discrepancy because I'm a jumbo and my friends are hobos living in yurts with tiny mortgages?
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Jul 27, 2012 18:41
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Locking on my re-fi today. Rates are lowest they've been in 5 days and no guarantee that Jackson Hole is going to change things. I originally bought for 612k in 12/2011 at 4.325%. I only put 15% down because I wanted to keep some reserves (family member with cancer and medicare is sketchy). Family member has since passed and I need to dump the $340/month in PMI. I hope my appraisal comes in higher (as is, I need to feed around $20k to get to 80% LTV. Each .125% is going to take me around 52 months to recoup (before factoring in tax credit for prepaid interest - more like 38 months when you factor in taxes) so I think I'm going to buy it all the way down to 3.625% Anyone else been waiting for the right time to lock? Even if today isn't rock bottom it seems to be a decent enough dip to take the plunge. Also, does anyone here have a solid understanding of why the 1/8 point to drop me from 4.125 to 4 is so much more expensive than the 3/8 between 4 and 3.625? I think it probably has to do with the fact that it's prepaid interest and a tax deduction but I'm not sure.
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Aug 28, 2012 19:24
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Interesting - thanks. I really like/trust my mortgage broker but it's good to have better color on how he's getting paid. It's interesting to me that moving from 4.125 to 4 actually costs me so much more ($3500) than dropping from 4-3.875, 3.875-3.75, and 3.75-3.625 which all cost me between $1800-$2000 per hop. My "base" is 4% with a $380 credit if that makes any difference. Each "hop" results in the same reduction in monthly p&i of about $35 but for some reason the first hop is way more expensive. The rusty math geek in my head tells me I should either take the $3800 loan credit and run with 4.125 or go full bore and buy it all the way down to take the prepaid tax credit. It feels like I'm missing a crucial piece of logic though.
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Aug 28, 2012 20:16
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Yep - that's the big reason I'm doing this now (also the rates are nice). Even if I don't get the "best" rate I can get out of PMI without waiting for January. There's some rule that I can't get out of PMI until I've paid 12 months worth - I'd have to pay down to 80% LTV in January and then apply to have PMI removed. This way I can just re-fi with 80% LTV from the beginning and dump PMI right away. Just the PMI savings over the last 4 months of 2012 will account for about 1/3 of my closing costs.
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Aug 28, 2012 21:11
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gtkor posted:Are you sure this isn't a prepayment penalty they are going to make you pay the prorated PMI off of? Not 100% sure but that would definitely throw a small wrench in things (and make my blood boil). So many unscrupulous loopholes in this business. I'll find out - thanks for the tip.
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Aug 29, 2012 17:15
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BlueArmyMan posted:Blugh...regardless, any advice is a help; we're first time buyers, and were told the process is long, but didn't yet realize what that really meant. If you're getting antsy you could always jump the gun and raise the offer to your "best and final offer" to see if they accept. Seems to me that if they are waiting a week or more to counteroffer you based on what their bank tells them, that its unlikely they have multiple offers. That would mean they don't have a strong bargaining position. I don't know if this is good advice or not - a lot depends on your situation and the market, but you should know that the buyer definitely has the ability to influence the seller in this way. Aren't blind negotiations fun?
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Sep 14, 2012 17:26
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Sometimes I pay a fee to make an online payment with USBank. Probably what that is (?)
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Sep 17, 2012 01:19
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I hate banks. I hate lenders. I hate FICO. I recently locked (45-day) into a re-fi about 40 days ago for a house I bought last December. About 30 days into the process (last Tuesday) my mortgage wholesaler calls me to tell me that because there is a dispute on my credit report they cannot fund my loan. Evidently it's either a new rule or a rule that's been in place but hasn't been enforced until recently. No problem. I'm the one who placed the dispute. I will simply call the lender and ask them to remove the dispute and then provide a letter to that effect. Sounds simple, right? Now this is a dispute I made in good conscience. I had a retail loan (furniture financing) open from 2005-2007. Always paid on time and the account was paid in full. In 2009 (21 months AFTER the account was paid in full) the lender reported 4 delinquencies on the account including one 60-day. So I disputed it, naively believing that there must be some law actually requiring a lender to process my dispute. Now it is 2012 and not only was nothing ever done in regards to the dispute but all account details have been permanently removed from the lender's computer systems. The loan originated from HSBC but this portion of business has since been purchased by Capital One (I pity the fool who borrows from these clowns). 4 hours on the phone later I get confirmation from someone that they "found" a fax number I can send my request to. So I did, explicitly requesting that they send me an electronic copy because of the urgency of my request. No answer. I faxed the same request Wednesday, Thursday and Friday and finally called Friday and spoke to another nice woman who told me it was "impossible to speak to anyone in that department" but the good news was they finally mailed out my letter that morning. This was a week ago and I've still received no letter. I have no recourse and my mortgage wholesaler has told me there's less than a 10% chance we'll be able to meet the funding date - and that's if the letter is delivered today. He also says something is happening on October 12 that's big within the mortgage industry, indicating that rates will probably rise substantially. Additionally, the lender is requiring 5/8 of a point to extend the lock which I will not pay because gently caress those assholes. I trust my agent but he's told me a couple of things that I don't understand. He said that either me or him are on the hook for defaulting (?) on the lock to the tune of around $2,700. He's my friend and it's theoretically my fault the lock won't be satisfied but there's no way I'm paying that. Also - the thing about October 12. Does anybody know what that is and if it's real? Anyone have advice? The best thing about this process WAS that during the process my house appraised for $642k (30k more than I bought it for) so without putting another dime into principal I was standing to eliminate PMI. Between that and the rate change (3.625% down from 4.125% - and don't tell me I can get 3% because non-conforming loans don't really go as low as you think) I was looking at almost $600 less per month. With a kid on the way I would really like to lower my mortgage now. Should I just ditch this loan and try and re-lock before the 10 yr treasury rate shoots through the roof (it's already up .15 this week).
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Oct 5, 2012 20:10
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He's my friend because we became friends when I bought the house (he was my real estate agent and handled brokering the loan). He just did a great job and was very patient with us - I'm probably his friend mainly because he helped me get a great price on an awesome house. I think he may be on the hook for some fee with the lender if we break the lock and he's indicated that he would cover that - so that part isn't a huge concern, although I really would feel like a heel if I cause him to take a hit. It would be really nice if I had the ability to remove the dispute myself.
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Oct 5, 2012 22:39
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Guacala posted:We've done much remodeling as of late - we bought an 'estate' home last year and have been saving for update work. We just had our bathroom finished, just needs some plumbing and shower door installed. Looks good. Can't you get some stone sealant for the travertine? A quick search brought up this (vague instructions but at least it indicates that sealing travertine for shower use is a real thing): http://www.ehow.com/how_6540524_seal-travertine-showers.html
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Oct 10, 2012 00:12
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Dr. Kyle Farnsworth posted:When I want to annoy my west coast friends I post local real estate ads like "How much did you pay for your house? Because here's the literal mansion you could get for that here." (I live in Austin and while the market is rising, it's still miles below California). It's sure annoying but to be fair, I'd rather pay $650k for a 2300 SF house on a 10k SF lot in San Diego than $300k for a 3400 SF house on 2 acres in Texas. Southern California isn't perfect by any stretch but there's no humidity, no bugs, no snow and other than LA traffic isn't bad. When I moved here 11 years ago I couldn't believe the pieces of poo poo that were selling for $300k. Now those pieces of poo poo seem like a bargain. If I couldn't afford the house I'm in now I wouldn't have bought anything - there just isn't any value in a house under $500k here. The toughest part about living in SoCal is that in most states I could afford for my wife to be a stay at home mother. In San Diego I need her income to help pay the mortgage. Not to be smug but I think I bought at the right time (December 2012). I just got an appraisal to do a re-fi and it appraised $30k higher than the purchase price. I feel really lucky - I have a lot of friends who are under water and dealing with 8% loans with no hope of ever re-financing. I've already made a handful of bucks and am getting ready to re-finance at 3.5%. Timing is everything. Slappy Pappy fucked around with this message at 01:00 on Oct 24, 2012 |
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Oct 24, 2012 00:56
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Leperflesh posted:Please share the plans for your time machine! Oh poo poo I am not good at calendars. 2011
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Oct 24, 2012 01:27
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She may not be a jerk (especially if she's in Hawaii - those people are nice to a fault). Why not just tell her enough is enough and you're going to get a quote from a contractor to remove the stuff and send her the bill. Maybe she'll just pay.
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Nov 1, 2012 18:25
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FCKGW posted:Just did a refi and my total monthly payment went up. Apparently Wells Fargo had me underpaying my escrow by about $150/mo for the past year and this is the "corrected" price. My agent told me this actually happens a lot due to lenders miscalculating taxes. The good news is that either 1) you actually were underpaying before meaning you would have owed money for unpaid taxes each year; or 2) if your current payment is wrong, they should correct it after tax season. Either way, you'll get any overpayment back.
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Nov 8, 2012 18:10
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If you don't want to commit to staying in your city, absolutely 100% do not buy. You will regret it. You think you're doing well financially now and you are. If you decide to buy a house now and sell within the next 3-5 years there's a very good chance your money will all go away and you'll have to start over. Even if the market is stable, the cost to transition from one house to another is pretty substantial (assume 6-8% of the sale price). Tell your parents that although they're technically right about your rent not going into equity, your main priority right now is risk aversion. Sure, the value of your money is not being maximized but the tradeoff is by continuing to rent there is 0% chance you'll financial troubles in the coming years. If you buy, you will suddenly become keenly aware of the fact that you cannot afford to lose your job. You will start watching the housing market with dread in your heart. And most importantly, you will be stuck paying for, and living in a home selected by a 22 year old without enough perspective to make this choice wisely. I'm sure you're mature for your age but I remember the places I chose to live when I was 22. I couldn't live that way now.
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Nov 12, 2012 18:15
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Advent Horizon posted:We happened to be in the same building as our Realtor's office last night and noticed she was in, so we stopped by to say hello. Congrats! Welcome to our neurotic club. Now...try not to worry about the market. It only matters when you sell or re-fi or if it tanks so much the bank decides to foreclose on you. I hope your new appraisal comes in where you think it will because if so, that's equity! Time for paperwork. I hope you like signing your full name including spelling out your middle name 1,000 times. Edit: Oh yeah and now that you've bought - DO NEVER SELL!
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Nov 15, 2012 01:33
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JimTheSarcastic posted:What? First of all, how would the bank foreclose if you're making payments? Second, why would the bank foreclose if you're making payments, and the house is worth way less? Did I misunderstand you? I researched it and you're right. My father told me he had a business property that was foreclosed on in the early 90's even though he was current on payments. Had to do with the value of the property going too far below the loan principal. Either laws have changed, there are different rules for homes vs. business or he's full of poo poo. My money is on #3.
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Nov 15, 2012 18:17
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My wife and I got our first mortgage while we were in the process of getting married. As a part of that process, she moved $80,000 from her own account into a joint account right before we tried to buy a house. I assumed that would be great and that I could use the money in a joint account for my down payment. I was only partially right and I was denied credit for this particular house. The banks ask for statements for your cash accounts for a reason. They're looking for exactly this type of thing and from their point of view, it makes sense. Is it really sensible to lend someone $600,000 based on the fact that they had $80,000 moved into their joint account yesterday? I've been told the best way around this is to get the money from your dad and "season" it. Let it sit in one of your accounts for at least 2-3 months OR have your dad move it into a joint account and let it sit for 2-3 months. Once the money is seasoned I'm pretty sure the bank will treat it like it's yours. If it's a joint account they'll require a letter (possibly notarized) from your dad stating that you have access to 100% of that money. Slappy Pappy fucked around with this message at 21:29 on Nov 19, 2012 |
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Nov 19, 2012 21:21
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My dad was a builder and I'm sympathetic with your builder (everyone makes mistakes) but I have to agree with the "talk to a lawyer" approach. This is a HUGE mistake. If nothing else you need to understand what your rights are. Being a nice guy could end up costing you a ton of money and it's just not worth it. I'm not for being litigious and if you can work out an amicable solution for both then go for it. Just don't give in without understanding your rights.
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Nov 20, 2012 19:28
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Ever.
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Nov 20, 2012 20:24
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Kali11324 posted:Any advice on homeowners insurance? We have had Travelers forever, we have never had a claim but they are not renewing us because suddenly we live in a "high brush fire risk area". We live in the suburbs in San Diego. I have never had to actually shop around for insurance before since our agent took care of it when we bought the house. I bought my house in the suburbs of San Diego (Park Village Estates in PQ) and had a really tough time getting homeowner's insurance for the same reason. My agent said of 23 different underwriters/providers he contacted the only one he could get was through Chubb. So now I have the Chubb Masterpiece coverage. I haven't made any claims but they have their own fleet of fire trucks so that's pretty cool. My premium is about 50% more than it would have been without the brush fire risk. Chubb  
Slappy Pappy fucked around with this message at 23:19 on Nov 20, 2012 |
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Nov 20, 2012 23:15
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MC Fruit Stripe posted:Covering all my angles here - what if I just keep the thing? Buy the house, live here a few years, then move and rent it out. What if I just do that? I can't get past the fact that you know you don't want to live in Orange County long-term. If you buy this house you might not have any choice. Real Estate is not liquid. There is no guarantee you will be able to sell this house ever - especially since you're considering going in with nothing down (no equity). There's a very good chance you'll decide to leave OC, put your house on the market and not be able to sell it for what you want. Since you'll have no equity it will actually cost you a lot of money to sell it. If you don't have that money, you'll be stuck in OC. That idea about renting it out is just awful. You'd have to rent it for $3,500 a month to break even because rent income is taxable income. Plus, your debt:income ratio with a current mortgage will preclude you from buying a home in a place you actually want to live. If I were you, I'd continue saving money hand over fist until you find a home you can commit to. There are some lessons in life you have to learn yourself. Don't let this be one of them. Man, I think about some of the real estate purchases I almost made when I was younger. I am so thankful I waited until I was truly settled down. Good luck with whatever you decide. I know you think $7,200 a month is a lot of money. It's not. $450,000 is a lot of money - enough that it could loving ruin your life.
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Nov 26, 2012 06:40
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Fruitstripe lives in OC. Childcare will be expensive. I'm in San Diego and my wife is with child. San Diego is probably comparable to OC. We are researching childcare now. The inexpensive choice is going to be $300/week. Inexpensive means dropping baby off at a baby farm with 15 other babies who will all get sick every day and make the world a worse place because all the children and parents will always be sick. The choice we're going with is in-home nanny care and it's going to cost us about $450/week. Do never make babby
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Nov 28, 2012 20:35
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SlapActionJackson posted:Is that a formal, on-the-books arrangement? It will be because we need to use Dependentcare FSA to shelter the first $5k from taxes (that number really should be a lot higher). We're still trying to find our nanny but I'm confident we can get one for $10/hour. We are going through care.com to find candidates. That's for live-out. You could also go through an au-pair service but at this point I'm not sure if we're willing to commit to a Live-In nanny That could save us a couple of thousand per year. We have the room for it but I don't know if it's a good idea to have a hot young foreign girl living in our home - presumably dressed in a sexy maid uniform.
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Nov 29, 2012 01:53
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MC Fruit Stripe posted:Yeah no offense but don't call day care a disease factory* and then talk to me about someone willing to work for $10/h as though you're flying in tutors from around the world. That's not the point at all. Certainly not what I meant. I don't know where you got that. My point was just that all the options are expensive in So Cal, no matter what you choose. There's nothing wrong with daycare in the slightest. The ONLY reason I'm choosing nanny is because I get sick every time I'm around one of my nephews and I'm over it. Baby won't be born until February so things could change. I'll move the baby to daycare in a couple of years. Don't get bent out of shape. I'm trying to give you advice - you don't have to take it. You did come here asking for advice in the first place. You're getting mad just because I'm not going to validate your stupid plan to buy a house in a place you're pretty sure you don't want to live so you can maybe consider raising a family in it. It's your money and your future. Do what you want. I was just trying to save you the horrible anguish of debilitating debt. It's really horrible and I hope it doesn't happen to you.
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Nov 29, 2012 06:59
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caiman posted:How strict are most banks on the rule that the down payment on a house (on a conventional loan) cannot come from a gift? Will I have to account for every deposit made into my savings account, or what? Every bank could be different. Advice I was given by my mortgage broker was to let funds "season" in my accounts for at least 60-90 days. When the bank asks for your statements, ideally those "gift" deposits won't show so they won't question the origin. I doubt this applies to all scenarios.
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Dec 12, 2012 22:34
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Other lame things I never thought I would care about until I owned a house: -A good ladder -A good rake (I don't know why but I happily raked all loving day when I got this. I hate raking) -Pushbroom
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Dec 17, 2012 19:38
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Baronjutter posted:Unless you're living in a rural or depressed area, or make like 150k a year, when is a condo ever not the only option for a working class person??? It's discouraging and depressing but lots of hard working Americans can't afford to own homes. Lots of people who can afford to own homes do so and regret it. At least with renting you don't carry the risk that comes with owning.
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Jan 3, 2013 23:03
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A lot of advice being given in this thread is just to prevent people from making life-altering (ruinous) mistakes. That's not to say that some of us haven't thrown caution to the wind and come out unscathed. It's possible. Some of us have dodged bullets. Some of us haven't. Most of us have learned from our mistakes though and that "wisdom" is what we intend to pass on. This might be the most unnecessary "advice" in the world, but if you're looking for the hobbit hole that might or might not exist get really familiar with the market in your area. Sites like Redfin, Zillow and Trulia allow you to window shop to your heart's content. There are bargains out there and sometimes you'll find a diamond in the rough. I had a lot of preconceived notions about what I wanted to buy, where I wanted to buy it, my timelines and how much I could afford. Through the process of religiously checking Redfin every single day, visiting open houses and setting up appointments with my real estate agent for 6 months I actually learned that my requirements changed based on what I learned about the housing market in San Diego. I know what it feels like to have your heart set on buying and if you educate yourself, take your time and are willing to be brutally honest with yourself I'm betting you can find a home you'll love at a price you can afford. It's so hard not to be emotional about the process but if you can maintain a practical outlook you should give it a shot. When I compare the house I ended up buying with my original requirements when I started, I ended up spending $65,000 more than my original budget to live in a neighborhood 10 miles further outside of the city than I wanted to live. And not only am I ok with it - I'm ecstatic because through the process of looking for a home I learned what my priorities really are and I ended up purchasing the right house. I'd say start shopping and as long as you're honest with yourself about what you can afford, what's important to you and what you can live without you'll probably be OK. Even if you don't, shopping for houses can be fun. I'll echo the sentiment about the proper order of things though. Buying a house and getting married both complicate each other. It is hard to make marriages work. It is hard to buy a home. I'm not trying to be cynical but 50% of all marriages end in divorces (I've had one) and sometimes they end really quickly and without warning. You don't want to get stuck holding the bag with a mortgage and no spouse/second income to help pay for it. That home the two of you love can quickly turn into a morbid, horrible reminder of a failed marriage and ever mounting, colossally crippling debt. Likewise you may not want to get stuck a home purchase that leaves you underwater that could ruin what would otherwise have been a healthy marriage. Tread lightly.
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Jan 4, 2013 01:06
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I'm not an HO insurance expert at all but this is how my insurance agent described earthquake insurance to me and how he ultimately convinced me not to bother. He said my house has $250,000 coverage limit for damage from earthquakes (this is just a part of the Chubb Masterpiece policy - not with extra earthquake insurance added). My home is valued at around $650k so obviously I panicked a little. The house is not a huge building - just under 2200 sf. Approximately half of the value is in the land and half is in the building structure. By his logic, even if the home were completely destroyed (which tends to not actually happen much in earthquakes unless you are very close to a fault) I could build a pretty drat nice dwelling for $250k. I would say a lot depends on how close to a fault you actually are - but he did make a good point. Even if your house is completely destroyed, do you think the land value would be completely lost too? For that reason, earthquake insurance may not really be necessary for a lot of us. Interestingly enough, where I live Chubb was the only insurance carrier who would cover me becuse we are in a high risk fire zone. Chubb has their own fleet of firetrucks and supposedly they zip around burning neighborhoods putting out their own house fires first. So I got that going for me.
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Jan 6, 2013 00:09
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lord1234 posted:Interesting. Having a parent who is a realtor, I can tell you the avg commission for agents is between 2 and 2.5%(per agent). Thus we need to find 2-2.5% to pay the agent. Also, there are typically two agents (buyer's agent and seller's agent). Each of them gets that commission - in SoCal it's typically 2.5%-3% each so that's a total of 5-6%, not 2.5-3%.
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Jan 9, 2013 21:38
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Leperflesh posted:I've always been told that (in CA) it's a fixed 6%, not a variable percentage. If one party chooses to forgo an agent, the other party's agent gets the whole bag, there's no money back. Perhaps I was misinformed. You're probably right. I only bought a house once and was trying to repeat what I thought my agent told me. Your explanation makese a lot more sense. My agent was pissed that the selling agent was only offering 2.5% for the buying agent and was going to keep 3.5% for himself.
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Jan 9, 2013 22:04
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Editing out my mistake. Don't buy points to try and reduce your tax base: http://www.ehow.com/how_2243719_deduct-points-mortgage-taxes.html Slappy Pappy fucked around with this message at 01:48 on Jan 19, 2013 |
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Jan 18, 2013 22:51
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SlapActionJackson posted:You must amortize points over the life of the loan. Buying points isn't going to change your taxable income much at all in any give year. D'oh you're right. I didn't realize that. Looks like only the points you pay when you buy are fully deductible the same year. Well, snot. Thanks for pointing it out - I probably would have figured that out when I got my tax docs.
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Jan 19, 2013 01:47
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Welcome to America, the land of entitlement. Meanwhile your hoarding, freeloading roommate was still probably complaining about the leaky faucets and parking situation.
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Jan 22, 2013 22:17
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Orange_Lazarus posted:
Here's the derail you were looking for. Nice job figuring out a way to spin your political and social opinions into the discussions - and you started it with a complete non-sequitur by trying to liken Republican voters with a welcher. Do you really think Republicans are the ones who favor people like the wife's aunt who is (legally or not) planning on cheating the bank? Hell no. There are plenty of aspects of the Republican agenda that may be disagreeable to you and many others but you are completely missing the boat how Republicans feel about accountability. 49% of Americans (Republicans) are completely disgusted by the type of self-entitlement and lack of accountability in this country and that's why they voted against the overwhelming influx of government programs that give tax money away to people who don't contribute to the greater good. In fact, maybe the idea that purposefully defaulting on a loan you can afford to repay is just plain dishonest isn't a political issue at all. On a purely ethical scale, strategic default is quite obviously not the right thing to do. Just because the republican candidate used tax loopholes you don't find acceptable doesn't mean his situation is similar to someone who doesn't make payments on their mortgage just because they can get away with it. A good question is - why in the gently caress is strategic default legal? The "not my problem" treatment of mortgage loans is the single biggest reason this country is going to poo poo.
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Jan 23, 2013 19:11
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Orange_Lazarus posted:Strategic defaults are legal because it should discourage banks from predatory lending. Right. Because 51% of this country believes its citizens are lemmings - incapable of independent thought and reasoning and need to be protected from their bad decisions by their big brother. It's completely unreasonable for a poor citizen to actually have to read and understand how a loan works to accept funding for their $500,000 property. Banks are obviously the bad guys here because they lend money to people who otherwise would be unable to afford to buy homes. They are so evil they EVEN MAKE MONEY FROM IT! I know what you're saying is accurate but it's a completely unAmerican idea. Seriously - what the gently caress is wrong with the world. Predatory lending is a term made up by people trying to further their socialist political agenda. "Don't worry about the banks or any of your other fiduciary responsibilities. Your government will protect you from your own incompetence." The poster's wife's aunt is a perfect example of how the idea of predatory lending has caused problems. There's no proof or mention of the bank doing anything wrong. Yet the borrower is still protected under a rule that was only intended to protect victims. She is no victim. She's a thief.
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Jan 23, 2013 19:47
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| # ¿ May 13, 2024 22:23 |
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For my part, I appreciate the feedback. I sometimes overlook the fact that the banks have recourse inasmuch as they own the house when loans are defaulted. However, I do strongly feel that many American borrowers are smart enough to recognize how the laws that protect them can be abused to either default or sell short out of perfectly good and fair loans and that it's a problem. All the market risk is now passed on to the bank. Sometimes it's a fine line to draw between righteousness and fraud. Many Americans just don't care about that fine line - they're selfish and feel entitled to poo poo all over the same bank who lent them the money to help fulfill the dream of home ownership. That's what I don't like about the system. Someone I am very close to went to a short sale seminar to learn how to get out of a home she no longer wanted. She squatted and didn't make payments for 18 months and was able to use the situation to force the bank into a short sale (I don't know the details). Not only did she get out of a bad loan (not bad because the conditions were fair - bad because she made a bad purchase decision and was upside-down) but she ended up with those 18 mortgage payments ($50k) in her savings account after it was all said and done. This is someone I respect very much who feels she is very responsible but when she told me about this I was appalled. She kept $50k she owed to the bank just because she felt she deserved a mulligan. I recognize that the banks include this type of shenanigans in the cost of doing business and that they evaluate this kind of risk when they lend money. But that cost gets passed on to the rest of us who are responsible borrowers - or more likely they mean that other less qualified but solid, honest people may not be able to get their loan next time because the banks are slowly losing trust in us as borrowers. I admit to being a little high and mighty about all this because after my first marriage ended I got stuck with over $70k in credit card debt that quickly ballooned to over a 30% APR plus a few other debt surprises left to me by my beloved ex-wife. I could have gone a different route and chosen any number of debt relief options but I manned up and paid my debt - in all it cost me over $150k. I had to close my retirement account (substantial penalty) and live like a pauper for 4 years to pay it off but I did it. In hindsight it would have been better for me financially and better for my credit if I'd given up and let the vultures pick at scraps but I paid it off myself. I'm proud of that because I know I can take care of myself and I don't need the government or anyone else to bail me out or protect me from myself. It's funny how little credit companies care about this. All they see is someone who was consistently 60 or 90 days late while climbing out of debt - they don't consider whether I was truly accountable for my debts and because of FICO for a long time I looked worse to them than someone who filed for bankruptcy. Weird - I should be bitter toward the lending community for not giving me credit for repaying my debt. But instead I learned that I made a mistake getting all that credit in the first place (or co-signing for my ex-wife's credit) and I had no one to blame but myself. So when I consider situations like this I empathize with the borrower. What would I do? I'd re-pay my damned loan and I think other people should, too.
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Jan 23, 2013 21:33
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