rowerwet wrote:the area my house is in has many houses for sale, I just got lucky, the woman buying it grew up two houses over and has family just down the road, otherwise I don't think she would be buying mine. The only houses moving in my area are the foreclosed/short-sales, unless you're in the large land/super nice house market.
I don't put much stock in the investors, they also keep buying stock and ignoring the big issues facing our economy. The fact that we have about as much debt as our yearly gross domestic product (the amount of money our whole economy is worth), the average citizen has seen a 40% drop in their total worth, total un/under-employment is still in the high teens (not the monkeyed with number that only counts those who can collect unemployment checks, and sometimes skips reporting certain states). If our credit is downgraded this year as most expect our national debt credit amount goes up from 1% and the amount of the US taxes just going to paying the interest is high. There is no way to escape the spiral at this point, just look at all the yelling and screaming about a 3% cut to spending. considering we are borrowing 40% of the money we spend each year we are doomed, maybe not this year though, so the investors keep shuffling the titanic deck chairs a little longer.
You've got to remember wild investors, aided by insane government/banking regulations, ran up the housing bubble that caused the last big crash. (and many more before that) Just 'cause they have or can borrow money doesn't mean they know anything! Plenty of them lost their shirt and credit last time (stupidly bailed out by the tax payers in many cases) "A fool and his money are soon parted", unfortunately, now they just run to DC (bigger collection of fools) and get out of the problem...
The only thing I've ever gotten from the "bailout/stimulus" programs is some cheap parts for my van. Someone "cash for clunkers" a van just like mine. I got the ABS unit and some upholstery that I needed for a good price. The only folks that benefit, IMHO, from the government bailouts are the ones that have spent money they don't have (just like our legislators are doing).
A house is not an investment that you cash in on. You don't refinance for a new car, vacation, or whatever. You shop and find a house that you can afford and make the payments as agreed. Eventually you'll own the house. If you pull out your equity, you are gambling and the "house" usually win's not the gambler. $hit sometimes happens and one can't make the payments as agreed. That's just the way life works sometimes. You gotta "deal with it", pull yourself up by your bootstraps, and start over. When I once was unemployed, we rented out our house and rented at townhome for less. The only difference my being unemployed meant, because of our austerity measures, was how much we put into our savings account each month. Granted we were lucky and my wife worked.
Things will eventually get better but they will get better sooner for those that go with the flow, adapt to the new realities, and evolve with the times.
More "World According to Gus".
Gus
The opinions in this post are my own. My comments are directed to those that might like an alternative approach to those already espoused.There is the right way,the wrong way,the USMC way, your way, my way, and the highway.
"I'm impatient with stupidity. My people have learned to live without it." Klaatu-"The Day the Earth Stood Still"
"You can't handle the truth!"-Jack Nicholson "A Few Good Men"
"Some people spend an entire lifetime wondering if they made a difference in the world. The Marines don't have that problem"-Ronald Reagan