tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post7625662458167766714..comments2023-10-21T09:09:21.612-05:00Comments on Northern Misfit: CHECK, PLEASE...Avindairhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13025041690296714527noreply@blogger.comBlogger12125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-76588678915651517692007-12-03T16:49:00.000-06:002007-12-03T16:49:00.000-06:00Trees, You've probably got something there. Very s...Trees, <BR/><BR/>You've probably got something there. Very similar to the problems they had earlier this year with people stealing the copper pipes out of vacant houses and construction sites with the high price of copper. <BR/><BR/>Unfortunately, they don't know you don't have a lot of jewelry until they've broken in and done their damage. :-/<BR/><BR/>Bugger.GeekGoddesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11430787932114937222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-58127177391625323112007-12-02T13:36:00.000-06:002007-12-02T13:36:00.000-06:00About the crime thing:I think that the price of go...About the crime thing:<BR/><BR/>I think that the price of gold going up, and the sudden demand for "gold scrap" might be driving some of the more home-invasion-y crime.<BR/><BR/>Used to be, stolen jewlelry was practically worthless. Not so anymore.<BR/><BR/>Lucky for us, I don't have a lot of jewelry.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-51388733976805229692007-12-01T07:04:00.000-06:002007-12-01T07:04:00.000-06:00Valid points, all, dracut. Worthy of a rant! Thank...Valid points, all, dracut. Worthy of a rant! Thanks for that point of view.GeekGoddesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11430787932114937222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-72680756915334503952007-11-30T14:37:00.000-06:002007-11-30T14:37:00.000-06:00We license people to drive with the hope that they...We license people to drive with the hope that they will have learned enough to be responsible. I wouldn't mind seeing a requirement to take a short course and pass an exam on personal finance/mortgages etc in order to qualify for certain types of mortgages, first time buyers etc.<BR/><BR/>I've repeatedly read (elsewhere) that "ARMs are bad". They certainly can put people into bad financial positions if they plan poorly or their situation changes. But our last house was on an ARM, we liked it that way, and it worked out just as we were expecting (hold for a few years, fix-up, sell, and move on).<BR/><BR/>I get really steamed when people complain about the tools in the box when no one had bothered to ask if the user has even read the manual...<BR/><BR/>That's not to say that people who didn't read the manual weren't coached to make bad decisions for bad reasons. The problem is how or should you even regulate the presentation of financing and housing options to people. As a critical consumer of professional advice, I'd say no. I don't want my choices limited to the lowest common demoninator.<BR/><BR/>End of rant.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-21926356579667699752007-11-30T11:43:00.000-06:002007-11-30T11:43:00.000-06:00"People need to grow a backbone and take some pers..."People need to grow a backbone and take some personal responsibilty."<BR/><BR/>I agree 100%. Unfortunately, "Personal responsibility" has become a dirty word in the American lexicon over the past 10-15 years. <BR/><BR/>Don't get me on THAT rant right now! I'd be typing all afternoon!GeekGoddesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11430787932114937222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-61057137100383670382007-11-30T10:59:00.000-06:002007-11-30T10:59:00.000-06:00Realtors are only enabled by the overspending, mus...Realtors are only enabled by the overspending, must have it now, McMansion desiring population with no discipline for savings.<BR/><BR/>I bet the vast majority of the people wanted or ever demanded to look at houses outside of their means and wouldn't settle for anything less. We're in our current house because the previous owners were almost a forclosure statistic. I also suspsect the people who purchased our old house will be looking at that possibility in a year. They had to have a large, newly renovated house. Period. And when they didn't have ANY downpayment, begged the realtor to find a program for them.<BR/><BR/>So they'll get just what they demanded, even if it's not what they intended.<BR/><BR/>People need to grow a backbone and take some personal responsibilty.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-52193802001898625032007-11-30T09:39:00.000-06:002007-11-30T09:39:00.000-06:00Oh, the stories we could tell, 'rie...Oh, the stories we could tell, 'rie...Avindairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13025041690296714527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-54168184777452033552007-11-30T07:57:00.000-06:002007-11-30T07:57:00.000-06:00That greedy whore of a realtor!That greedy whore of a realtor!Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-62922261215151713222007-11-29T11:20:00.000-06:002007-11-29T11:20:00.000-06:00This, of course, would be the same Realtor that so...This, of course, would be the same Realtor that sold us our house.Avindairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13025041690296714527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-6054839305834400482007-11-29T11:09:00.000-06:002007-11-29T11:09:00.000-06:00"greedy whore of a realtor"Seen too many of those...."greedy whore of a realtor"<BR/><BR/>Seen too many of those. <BR/><BR/>I've only met one realtor who told me that she'd turned clients away who wouldn't listen to her. They wanted to take out two mortgages or do an ARM loan to keep up with the Joneses. She refused to be the one to put them into that kind of debt. One realtor. <BR/><BR/>My only hope now is that all of those realtors, realty companies, lending officers, etc. that filled their pockets with their astounding lack of business ethics, will find themselves out on the street. <BR/><BR/>In the words of one realtor we knew, while trying to convince a potential buyer to take the plunge into a mortgage they really couldn't afford, "Well, if the economy tanks then we'll all be warming our hands together over a fire barrel in the street anyway." I shit you not.GeekGoddesshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11430787932114937222noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-32854306868357648532007-11-29T10:45:00.000-06:002007-11-29T10:45:00.000-06:00She sounds like the Realtor who sold our townhome ...She sounds like the Realtor who sold our townhome and got us into our current house. <BR/><BR/>Now don't get me wrong; I love my home. At nearly 2,000 square feet, it's a really comfortable size for a family of four. Sure, it's off of a major thoroughfare, but it even looks like the freaking Brady House. (If you've seen any of the "Cassie Banning" movies, you saw the outside, and what the inside used to look like.)<BR/><BR/>Pity it's been a maintenance nightmare since day one.<BR/><BR/>See, when we bought our first townhome, our Realtor then (one of the two good ones I referenced) got us an outstanding home inspector. He went top-to-bottom on the place, and left us with an owner's manual -- no kidding -- for our place. Gave us rough calculations of what the place should cost us in maintenance per year, and offered his services should we need help.<BR/><BR/>By contrast, the Party Realtor who got us into this home hired a guy who looked like he was eighteen, had a fondness for dressing like a male stripper, and answered every question starting with the words, "Uh, yeah...huh?" Then, when he would walk away the Realtor would point at his ass and say "Doesn't he have a fancy style?"<BR/><BR/>No shit.<BR/><BR/>I could forgive this nonsense if the guy was competent. He wasn't. He was dead wrong about everything he inspected. <I>Everything</I>.<BR/><BR/>I don't regret buying the place. My kids have made life-long friends. We have GREAT neighbors. We're close to both the kid's schools, to medical and dental clinics, to shopping, you name it. It's our <I>home</I> now. <BR/><BR/>None of this is thanks to the Realtor. All she cared about was closing the deal, no matter what it took.<BR/><BR/>Fortunately, that woman is no longer a Realtor. The market tanking cost her that job. <BR/><BR/>Good riddance.<BR/><BR/>Honestly, though, it's too easy to blame just her for what we went through. She was only one of what we <I>know</I> were many Realtors of her ilk. These were people who would brag about working fifteen hours per week so they could party all the time on someone else's life's savings and future debt. She was a product of a business culture that knew better, but didn't care.<BR/><BR/>That's why I'm so hard-assed about wanting the requirements to become a Realtor raised. We're not talking about selling used cars here. We're talking about life-long investments. Why in the hell should we not, as consumers, <I>demand</I> a higher standard?<BR/><BR/>It's about frigging time that we stand up, en masse, and collectively cry "I'm tired of this shit. Give me competence or bugger off."Avindairhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13025041690296714527noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8818695.post-80339320975967310812007-11-29T08:32:00.000-06:002007-11-29T08:32:00.000-06:00A very truthful, yet utterly, utterly depressing a...A very truthful, yet utterly, utterly depressing answer to so many questions. It's very hard for me to type right now because I slit my wrists and I'm applying pressure to the cuts, while at the same time, trying to keep blood off the keyboard. <BR/><BR/>No, you're exactly right. Especially about the housing market. It's sucking the country into an abysmal recession. The foreclosure rate is staggering, and in many cases, we have greedy realtors to blame.<BR/><BR/>In 1999, when I bought my house (a 1-br condo), I wasn't even making half of what I make now. I was paying $700/month for rent and that was tough. I wasn't looking to increase that figure with a mortgage so I wanted to stay in the $85,000 price range. <BR/><BR/>My idiot realtor, in all her infinite wisdom, was trying to push me into a larger place, with the rationalization that the extra $150/month I would pay on the mortgage could come from spending less money on clothes, eating out 3 fewer times a month, seeing 6 fewer movies a month, buying generic brands instead of namebrands. <BR/><BR/>I told her that I didn't do any of that stuff anyway because I coudln't afford to. She paused, whipped out her stupid calculator and tried to sell me on getting an ARM. <BR/><BR/>She said, "See? It's doable. Your monthly payment is only going to be $400/month!!"<BR/><BR/>Yeah, it is. For the first month, bitch!! Then it will steadily go up $50/month until I'm paying $2,000/month!!"<BR/><BR/>But she wanted me to buy the bigger place because her commission would be bigger. She didn't care, or listen, that when I said I wanted a place in the $85,000 price range, I fucking meant it!<BR/><BR/>Anyway, I fired her ass and bought a place for $85,000. I got a fixed rate, and an affordable mortgage, with no thanks to that whore! <BR/><BR/>But everytime I open the paper or listen to the news, I see what might have been for me if I had been swayed by a greedy whore of a realtor.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com