Curious about something

Oh, thanks Dave, this is the exact drivel, er, informative posting I've been waiting for. Nice of your neighbors to notify you every time they refinanced for equity so you'd know where their money came from. And of course, you were there when the "repo-man" showed up, AND when their foreclosure notice came! Lucky you! It must be awesome to be that kind of neighbor, that everyone loves so much they share every economic detail with.....

Actually Doc, I have seen quite a few repo incidents here in the last year. Some of them were quite a scene. It's free entertainment.

As far as foreclosures, that's public data. I know about most of them because I keep an eye on that kind of stuff for investment purposes. Even the deeds, mortgages, and refi papers are public domain here. So are bankruptcies. I have a PACER account for looking at those.

And in many cases, like the condos, the bank notices on the doors pretty much told the story.

This isn't drivel whatsoever. For me, this isn't a hobby or busybody matter. I'm an investor. I try to be a smart one. When I look around my neighborhood and see all the empty properties that I know went back to the bank through foreclosure or DIL, I'm feeling pretty smart lately.

It's envy, and reverse snobbery, as some have said.

My kids often want to know how come some folks seem to have pots of money and we're always struggling. Now I might note here, "struggling" is relative. We are quite comfy and though we do have debt, it's not crippling. I explain that it's usually a matter of what choices you make in life. We could have more money & stuff if I worked full time; most of their friends have both parents working. DH and I could've chosen different careers, of course, even that's not a guarantee.

I also point out that there are things money doesn't buy - happiness, class, good manners, good health, etc. All of which I believe we have in abundance. Everyone knows a rich person who is terribly unhappy in his or her life, right? It's usually the one who goes around bragging about how rich he is and how unfortunate you are not to be rich like him.

People just have a need to believe that there is some kind of justice, either in this world or beyond.

Oh, and it doesn't take a genius to figure out how a couple managed to buy a 600k home when 1 works as a UPS driver and the other works for McDonalds. Sure, they could have been astute investors, trust fund babies or something like that, which I would always take into consideration before passing any kind of judgement. But those people wouldn't let their credit get trashed over foreclosures and repo so the end results negate that possibility.

No, instead, they bought a 600k home no money down, paid interest only on a 2-5 year ARM, and when the appraisal went up to 800-900k, they pulled all of that equity out through a HELOC and filled up their driveway.

Then last year RE prices dropped 30% and possibly their ARM reset and now they found themselves unable to pay a 4000 mortgage, when before they only paid 1000. And those HELOCs don't pay themselves either.

Then one by one the toys disappear. Then the bank forecloses. Then the house sits empty since then because nobody is buying.

So in most cases it's quite obvious. At least in my neighborhood.

A lot of time on your hands, Dave? When do you homestead??? All that observing the neighbors must be a full time job. Don't patronize me with your explanations either.

Yep, that's the way it is in my neck of the woods.

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What do you do for a living Doc? Investing IS a full time job for me.

You seem to have a lack of understanding about the situation I'm describing here. You also seem kind of bitter over all of this? Care to explain yourself?

And what's with the "when do you homestead" comment?

I see you have 1600+ posts here Doc in a years time. See how many I have since 2002?

When do YOU homestead? LOL.

Dave and Doc, cool it. You two are going to get an otherwise useful, interesting thread shut down if you don't stop your sniping.

I agree, but I wasn't sniping anyone. I just posted my local experience. After that, I was just responding to Docs personal attack.

Dave didnt do anything that needs cooling. When I saw the first post in this thread I could see where it was headed...

In our small area, it isn't too hard to know what someone's income is, and yes, we all know what someone paid for something because bragging rights come with screaming good bargains. We know they paid full price if they shut up and don't disclose. That's our local culture.

The one family I know who buys everything with incredible debt whine and cry to me all the time how they can't afford child care or do anything fun because of their debt, but they are quick to brag how much they paid (more is better)for all their new toys they don't have time to enjoy. I know their income because they are civil servants and I know their job class and security clearances. No, I don't understand why a couple with one child and a combined monthly income of $7,000 cannot afford childcare, but can afford a new BMW.

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Please wait until you see a man at his worst before you give him your heart, because once you do it will affect your judgment.

And I also don't appreciate some *new* member here personally attacking me. If Doc was here since the beginning like I have been, he'd know my story and how far I've come during this time and how hard I've worked. And also how much of a "homesteader" approach I've taken to everything I do. That's something I'm quite proud of and I don't appreciate being personally attacked by some *new*(lol) person here just because I post my well-informed observations of my local neighborhood. Especially when I was just giving an answer to the question said *new* person(with lots of free non-homesteading time to post here) asked.

People with lots of money (like me) usually employ professionals with training to manage their money. I use a lively woman with years of experience at Morgan Stanley. She's excellent. I know how to do it, but it doesn't interest me, as it doesn't interest me to point out the obvious flaws in your logic. I homestead in the hours you must be spying on your neighbors. Shrug. Point out the personal attack? It was an "observation", dude. No bitterness here. This post took less than a minute. Do the math.

And I just love when HST posters pull out the BIG guns - "I've been here since (fill in the blank)!!!!".

Yawn.

yeah, like edayna said!

Actually, I am fairly well acquainted with a number of folks finances because they TELL me! Usually, they are saying how they wish they could work part-time like I do and wanting to know how I do it....and yes, they are up to their eyeballs in debt. Doc, I think you are actually a minority in having your home paid for and being debt free while raising 3 teens. Heck, I still have a mortgage, and I am a minority in only having that much debt. I'm sure in some cases, folks will say "they must be up to their eyeballs in debt" and have no idea if that is really the case, maybe say it out of envy. Not in all cases, though. I have a modest home by US standards, but compared to most of the world, I live in a mansion. I have no desire to take on a larger house, and not just from the standpoint of money. I don't want the extra upkeep of a larger home. I have a nice vehicle, not new, but looks nearly so, and I have farm trucks for the heavy work. All of them are paid for, and yes, I got a great deal on all 3 vehicles. In fact, 3 years after buying the SUV, the Kelly book on it is still as much as I paid for it (which was below blue book then). I have all I need, and much of what I want, and I am content. I also don't care whether anyone thinks I am up to MY eyeballs in debt to have what I have. I guess my question is, why does it seem to bother you so much what other people think? Water off a duck's back, DocM. Let it go.

It doesn't "bother" me. It was a question about responses among HST. And it's been answered. People don't know what their neighbors are doing, they're making wild assumptions based on - whatever.

I'm done, but you all can continue the silliness.

It's a logical assumption to reason that 99% of single home foreclosures happened because people were in debt over their heads. The other 1% were just willing to trash their credit so they wouldn't end up in inevitable debt.

Doc, no offense but it doesn't seem like you were looking for opinions. You seem to only want agreement with your own.

It's pretty lame to claim flaws in my logic but fail to point out any of them... And there's no assumptions when I can pull up the mortgage history on a property and then go look at their bankruptcy filing, complete with a list of all the creditors they stiff. Not much left to assume there.

Regardless, I have to go to do some homesteading stuff. I can only spend so much time responding to clown comments.

BTW, Dave, DocM is a woman. She can be a bit contentious at times (just stating the facts, Doc, don't jump all over me ), so take it with a grain of salt, and let's not get into a "spitting" match.

Ok. I'm sorry I assumed Doc was male. Not sure why I had that idea.

See y'all later.