But Obama said....

[SG15Z]

You mean people still make sound finical decisions? Wow.

Hey what's that suppose to mean?!

[Geek King]

You mean people still make sound finical decisions? Wow.

Yup. And this financial decision maker is looking to take advantage of those that didn't and get his first house. Keeping my credit report in good order is finally paying off.

[protege]

Problem is, that many of those foreclosed properties have problems. That is, if you buy one, *you* become liable for any and all back taxes. Also, those houses are usually sold "as-is," with very little room for negotiating. Sure, you might get a deal, but you also might inherit the previous homeowner's problems.

For example, there was a house 2 doors up from my parents. Previous owner had simply let it fall apart, and was apparently using it to store junk. Back yard had waist-high grass and was also filled with junk. The gutters were falling off, the siding was falling off, etc. Oh, and you think Pennsylvania's roads are bad? The driveway was about a thousand times worse!

Still, someone bought it a few years ago. I don't know what they paid, but even at a discount...it was still too much. The new owners had to sink a *fortune* into getting that dump up to code.

They didn't live there too long. Within a year, the bank had foreclosed on the house. Why? Well, the kid had every expensive toy you could think of. There were multiple expensive vehicles--trucks, cars, a jet ski, etc. Seems that because of all that expensive crap, plus the husband losing his job...soon meant that they not only had to sell all that crap, but the bank seized the house...and sold it last year (at a *huge* discount, when you consider all the work that had been done) to someone else. The house is still a dump, but at least it's getting fixed up now.

These kind of people I have *no* sympathy for. I can understand if you buy a place, and lose a job, run up healthcare bills etc. Shit happens, there's nobody's fault for that. I absolutely can't stand people who cause their own problems, and then bitch about the consequences.

With all that said, I'm sure that the sort of calls the OP gets are only going to increase in number, and yes, the EW-ness will get worse. It sucks, but that's the truth

[RecoveringKinkoid]

So yeah.. Dunno what he expected calling the HARDSHIP DEPARTMENT when he didn't have a friggin hardship >_<

Oh, make no mistake, this guy has a hardship. It's not a financial one, but it's a hardship, all right.

[Geek King]

Problem is, that many of those foreclosed properties have problems. That is, if you buy one, *you* become liable for any and all back taxes. Also, those houses are usually sold "as-is," with very little room for negotiating. Sure, you might get a deal, but you also might inherit the previous homeowner's problems.

That's why you always do your homework. The tax problem only is an issue if you buy at the wrong time during the process--a very long explanation which I will not go into here. Maintenance is an issue, of course, but that is why you have the property inspected. Frankly, I plan to work with a buyer's agent. It will cost a little more, but ultimately will save me money and work in the long run. I'm starting my search for a good one this week, and I'll be hitting up a couple of friends who work in the real estate industry for suggestions.

Hell, I study up before commiting to a $50-$60 video game. Not doing some serious research before buying a house would be nuts! N-V-T-S!

[GuardingYourLife]

I agree with QASlave. It sucks for you to have to deal with these people, because obviously you can't just change the way things are, and they don't get that "no means no" but all the people who realized it was a BAD idea to buy a bunch of stuff they couldn't really afford are now just a little bitter.
For me, credit is used when I'm buying something expensive enough that carrying the cash around in my pocket would be stupid, not when there's something I can't really afford but I just waaaaaant it sooooo much...

[ditchdj]

(BTW I have 4 years left on a 15yr. mortage that I got back in 2002 at the unbeliveable rate of 4.185% fixed.)

Heh. We just got pre-approved for a mortgage and the rate fixed was 6.7%.

Problem is, that many of those foreclosed properties have problems. That is, if you buy one, *you* become liable for any and all back taxes. Also, those houses are usually sold "as-is," with very little room for negotiating. Sure, you might get a deal, but you also might inherit the previous homeowner's problems.

I notice that. Around here if you wanna buy a house for 70 thousand most of the homes are basically filthy, trashed, condemned shitholes not even fit for a farm animal to live in. It's sad.

The one we're looking at we just stumbled upon that is owned by an old couple. It's in really good shape but it smells like stale smoke. That I can work with.