Being sued by Citi Financial

[debtmonster]

Let me see if I understand what you are saying - that, when YOU get ready to sell your house, car, paint, steel - whatever - you want the government to tell YOU what you can sell it for?

Yeah, right. - jb

OH, and a house that sold for $20,000.00 30 years ago and goes up at 10% a year would now sell for what???

I know it's not going to happen, but yes, that's basically in a nutshell what I wish the gov't would have done long ago. People should have a RIGHT to own a home. It should not be a luxury. People should not be forced to live in tiny apartments without tax-write off's just because they can't afford a home.

I believe that a house should be a dwelling and not a cash register for people to get rich on.

I think that somebody born 30 years from now should have the exact opportunity to buy the same home somebody 30 years ago did. People need to stop being penalized all because of the time they were born. That just isn't fair.

If the house goes up 10x, then fine. Then the wages also need to go up 10x to compensate. Everything should be relative and the problem is that it's not.

People who made $3.50/hr. years back should be entitled to make $35/hr. today.

I know reality says the opposite, that's why I wish the gov't would have come in and enforced what I said. I'd be a lot happier today being able to buy the old house that I grew up in for $25k today. I saw the $20k house my father paid for sell for $350k. That's totally ABSURD! And the house now is a complete DUMP!!!

[jeb]

They should have limits. I don't agree with the house should sell for what people are willing to pay. That causes INFLATION and I cannot stand inflation.

Houses should not be able to go up more than 5 to 10%.

Let me see if I understand what you are saying - that, when YOU get ready to sell your house, car, paint, steel - whatever - you want the government to tell YOU what you can sell it for?

Yeah, right. - jb

OH, and a house that sold for $20,000.00 30 years ago and goes up at 10% a year would now sell for what???

[debtmonster]

Now this is funny since the price of anything is what an able and willing buyer will pay for it.

If you want a house to still sell for 20 grand like it did 30 years ago, are you willing to make a salary of 8000. a year like those people did?

Or as a politician, might you want to have goods stay the same price and just have salaries rise? If you can accomplish that, we all would vote for you.

I know many people that did it while making $20k-25k back then. Funny thing is, the jobs back then pay about the same now. Cost of living went up and wages didn't. All people making $25k back then should be making $150-200k now just to have the same standard of living.

What a scam on the American public.

[Willy13]

Now this is funny since the price of anything is what an able and willing buyer will pay for it.

If you want a house to still sell for 20 grand like it did 30 years ago, are you willing to make a salary of 8000. a year like those people did?

Or as a politician, might you want to have goods stay the same price and just have salaries rise? If you can accomplish that, we all would vote for you.

The problem is the overlall price of housing in relation to income. It was fairly consistant until around 2000 and then everything went crazy. Basically people were trying to get rich playing the market and in the end we got one big mess. The same nonsense happened with oil last summer.

[Willy13]

The bad thing about driving up house values is the collateral damage when those values translate into higher property taxes. Thank goodness my state has a circuit breaker credit system for those taxes if your income is low. Unfortunately many areas do not have that. In those areas people are literally forced out of their homes that they may have had for generations. Silicon Valley was notorious for this I believe.

[fltoo]

Now this is funny since the price of anything is what an able and willing buyer will pay for it.

If you want a house to still sell for 20 grand like it did 30 years ago, are you willing to make a salary of 8000. a year like those people did?

Or as a politician, might you want to have goods stay the same price and just have salaries rise? If you can accomplish that, we all would vote for you.

[debtmonster]

A house should cost what someone is willing to pay for it.

But some people are just DUMB and can't help it. So all of those people made the rest of us suffer by driving up the prices of homes to the point where nobody can afford them.

They should have limits. I don't agree with the house should sell for what people are willing to pay. That causes INFLATION and I cannot stand inflation.

Houses should not be able to go up more than 5 to 10%. What's happening is that people are being penalized for the time they are being born. People born now are not able to afford the same opportunities that their parents and grandparents had. Why should somebody suffer just because of the time they were born? They had no control over that. Why should they pay the consequences of having to buy the same house for $300k that was $20k 20-30 years ago? That isn't right.

I believe in FAIRNESS TO ALL. I'd be one hell of a politician.

[jeb]

A house should cost the retail price of materials plus labor to build it and not a penny more. Land is what tends to become very overpriced. $100 grand and acre like in my area is rediculous.

A house should cost what someone is willing to pay for it.

And that is what caused the problem - shortly after Bush came in he stated that "everyone should own their own home", and that started the spiral that put us where we are today. Turned the lender loose, they made loans to people that should not have been in the market, more buyers and prices go out of sight.

Now, less buyers, more on the market and prices drop like a rock. THAT is now the market works if left alone - up, down, up, down, up, down - big swings back and forth. And the people with money make more money - both as it goes up and as it goes down - and the people on the bottom get killed.

With a little oversite, things can be what we had for years in this country - a REASONABLE, STEADY GROWTH. - jb

[debtmonster]

Thats more like it. Of course now I'm pissed off because I really feel our utilities are ripping us off now.

That's what I've been saying all along.

For the life of me, I don't understand why so many people pay those outrageous amounts and just sit back and take it. I would be FURIOUS if I had to pay the same payment on my utilities that I could lease a nice Hummer H2 or BMW 6-seris with.

For $500-600/mo., I'd be calling a contractor and have all of the walls on the outer perimeter of the house ripped off and have all new insulation installed and then I'd do the same with the attic. I would make my house like a thermos if I lived way up north. I've seen some of those old houses made of all thin wood and crap. I wouldn't put up with that.

[Willy13]

My mistake... I thought "housing" was $689/mo. I was on the phone and had somebody talking to me while I was in the middle of reading and replying to that message.

Most people I know pay $120-300/mo. for their electric in Miami. All my life, most of my electric bills have been $80-150/mo. all year round.

Thats more like it. Of course now I'm pissed off because I really feel our utilities are ripping us off now.

[debtmonster]

My mistake... I thought "housing" was $689/mo. I was on the phone and had somebody talking to me while I was in the middle of reading and replying to that message.

Most people I know pay $120-300/mo. for their electric in Miami. All my life, most of my electric bills have been $80-150/mo. all year round.

[mkuki]

... I don't know where people are getting the money. Not everyone can be a drug dealer.

This line made my day...LOL!

[Willy13]

$689 is cheap. Most people I know pay $1200-2500/mo. Why can't South Florida have the same prices of homes as you guys have? It's not like $90k jobs are all over to justify the high costs. I don't know where people are getting the money. Not everyone can be a drug dealer.

$1200-$2500 a month for Electric! That is unreal. I'm guessing South Florida means lots of AC and Pool filters but even with that it's hard to comprehend. You must have really high electric rates. Our rates are around 13 cents per kwh total.

[debtmonster]

$689 is cheap. Most people I know pay $1200-2500/mo. Why can't South Florida have the same prices of homes as you guys have? It's not like $90k jobs are all over to justify the high costs. I don't know where people are getting the money. Not everyone can be a drug dealer.

[Willy13]

You're learning!

Now I am just trying to figure out what causes people to complain that they are broke and not lift a finger to save money. It's like people just love being masochists and do self-inflicting pain on themselves.

Yeah I wonder that also sometimes. Here is what we do. Fridge and Freezer are in the coldest rooms in the house. Hot water heater is on a timer and runs once per day. Laundry is dried on a clothes line most of the time. Heat is all Wood Stove. Cooking is Woodstove, Small Gas stove, toaster oven and microwave. The electric range rarely gets used. All light bulbs are flourescent. Most electronics are energy star. In the summer we suck cold air from the basment through the house and only use AC when absolutely necessary. Our total Electric averages around $180 a month. According to our electric company web site, the average houshold in our area is $689 a month. I'm still looking for ways to save. I'll only be happy when our electric bill is $0