30-40 Million People in America Could Be Evicted

[4hfarms]

I have no sympathy for the people that don't help themselves. One must be hungry to survive! I was born into a single parent home with too many mouths to feed. Moved out after school. Worked restaraunt jobs, for food and pay. Joined the Army for a decade. As recent as 15 years ago we lived in low income section 8. Just tired of being poor. Wife and I sat down and agreed this is not for us. Lead a beans and rice type of life for years. We now own a few farms.
One of the best investments was our first house we bought in 2005 while working low pay security jobs. All our friends went out to eat every night, drove new cars, partied all the time, vacations or even weekend in hotels on the beach. We put up with a bunch of teasing for years.... until they were forclosed on.
We sold our first home a couple years later for 70k more than purchase. We bought an auction home for $14k then We bought land and rented out pasture. When that was paid off we did it again. Rented out the mobile home and land, bought another when it was paid off. Have to admit we were lucky/unlucky when we were hit by a tornado last march and the insurance paid. We rebuilt on our farmland. We now live on a little over 100ac. We don't buy anything unless we have cash to pay for it. It takes discipline. We go without a lot of stuff, for sure.

No reason that one has to live day to day unless you are trying to accomplish something as we did. If you are unhappy, CHANGE IT! No one can make you better but you. Nothing happens immediately or over night. Took me 15 years, and the struggle is real, but I couldn't be happier.

 

[Beefeater]

Too much / too nice of a house is a different story. Reality is good chunk of U. S. couldn't tell you what an IRA is, let alone differences between that and a Roth IRA or other investment vehicles. So I'll stick with my view that generally a house a the best investment for the general populous even with taxes, insurance and the like. Kinda like a forced savings account. It puts a roof over your head, offers ability to improve value in most cases over time, offers more stability than relying on a rental, isn't likely to be squandered on a whim, and so on. Even after paying the bank rent over 15-30 years and paying taxes a family should have an asset if halfway maintained. That being said I never lived in the first house I ever bought. Rented it out, paying my rent and putting a couple dollars in my pocket along the way. Admittedly my views can be a little different than some...

 

[Brute 23]

Too much / too nice of a house is a different story. Reality is good chunk of U. S. couldn't tell you what an IRA is, let alone differences between that and a Roth IRA or other investment vehicles. So I'll stick with my view that generally a house a the best investment for the general populous even with taxes, insurance and the like. Kinda like a forced savings account. It puts a roof over your head, offers ability to improve value in most cases over time, offers more stability than relying on a rental, isn't likely to be squandered on a whim, and so on. Even after paying the bank rent over 15-30 years and paying taxes a family should have an asset if halfway maintained. That being said I never lived in the first house I ever bought. Rented it out, paying my rent and putting a couple dollars in my pocket along the way. Admittedly my views can be a little different than some...

Assets dont pay bills. I hear that from people all the time that about their house is an asset but then that have no money in their retirement or even bank account in a lot of cases. What good is an asset that you cant liquidate with out putting your family on the street?

Even supposed good things like assets can be a bad thing when it's not part of a balanced plan.

 

[G2-]

Absolutely depends on what business you're in. I see businesses going under and I mean a lot of them. I'm not sure how ya'll would consider losing everything because of the shutdowns some kind of failure to manage money.

 

[SmokinM]

Absolutely depends on what business you're in. I see businesses going under and I mean a lot of them. I'm not sure how ya'll would consider losing everything because of the shutdowns some kind of failure to manage money.

The "cure" will be far worse than the disease. Some of those businesses are legitimate collateral damage. A lot are poorly managed ventures that were on the way down before it hit or could have easily survived by having paid down debt/saved in the boom before it. Really shrewd but unethical business people will take this opportunity to walk on their investors with an excuse to use in the future with other investors. Happens all the time in economic downturns. A lot that survive are reinventing and adapting.

Meanwhile federal and state govt. continue to prove how non essential they are as they continue to be closed or function at a ludicrously low percentage. To bad their paychecks won't reflect it.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Okay, it's Friday I'll bite. Tell me why buying your own home is not a good investment. Aside from those who buy more house than they can truly afford I would argue a good home is the single best investment the typical American can make.

Ya, there are the carrying costs. The bigger issue is that home appreciation is very variable. Some areas and times are great, some are not.

According to the assessor, homes in my area have been going up about 4% per year. Then subtract some of the carrying costs. Pretty easy to beat that return.

 

[ismith]

Get out of the dollar, buy cattle if you can, gold, silver or bitcoin if you can't.

 

[Lee VanRoss]

Not sure about bitcoin. Gold and silver , some Grass before cattle. If I have grass I can get cattle.
Cattle without grass ? Not so much...................................

 

[Dave]

I bought a house on 8 acres in 1979 for $42,500. Had it paid off about 6 years later. I did that by working hard and paying extra. I sold that place in 2017 for $355,000. With taxes, insurance, and up keep was it the best investment? I don't know. But I do know that the places I rented between 1969 and 1979 never gave me a dime back. My house payment when I bought that house were just slightly more than rent was at that time. Now I did pay in extra to get it paid off but after that the taxes and insurance were a whole lot less than rent would have cost. And that was for over 30 years.
I buy vehicles new, maintain them well, and drive them until the wheels fall off. Right now there is a plain Jane 2008 Kia parked in the garage. It has 266,000+ miles on it. Regular oil changes, timing belts, tires, shocks, and brakes are the only things I have done to it. It cost me $10,000 to buy new. When I bought it I figured the high gas mileage would save me enough that it was free at 100,000 miles compared to driving the pickup. Most of the driving that we do does not require a 4 wheel drive pickup which cost a lot more to buy and operate.

 

[Little Joe]

The "cure" will be far worse than the disease. Some of those businesses are legitimate collateral damage. A lot are poorly managed ventures that were on the way down before it hit or could have easily survived by having paid down debt/saved in the boom before it. Really shrewd but unethical business people will take this opportunity to walk on their investors with an excuse to use in the future with other investors. Happens all the time in economic downturns. A lot that survive are reinventing and adapting.

Meanwhile federal and state govt. continue to prove how non essential they are as they continue to be closed or function at a ludicrously low percentage. To bad their paychecks won't reflect it.

One of the problems I see with a lot of small business owners is the first thing they want to buy are new vehicles, and I don't mean the work truck models with vinyl seats I mean the king ranch edition. They'll claim "it's a good tax write off" well it is but you have to be making a ton of money for that kind of write off to work out and besides they'd been better off investing that money back in something that would grow the business or make it more efficient and profitable instead of a new vehicle. I see the same thing with some young guys trying to raise cattle or farm, got 20 cows, a new diesel truck, a new gooseneck trailer, new cab tractor and don't know why they can't make a profit.

 

[TCRanch]

Figure the cost of mortgages, insurance ,upkeep and you never own it.

What if you own your home - no mortgage?

 

[Brute 23]

What if you own your home - no mortgage?

Still a poor investment but you probably wont be a foreclosed on.

Its priorities. You shouldn't be buying things that might make you 1 or 2%, or even cost you, over the the next 30 years when you dont have other cash, assets, or investments working for you.

The majority of these people have the vast majority of their net worth in their home which is bad news. That's the good ones. The avg ones offset in equity in their home with student loans, vehicles, etc so they are still behind the curve.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Done any reading on The Great Reset? It's a far fetched conspiracy theory, or is it?

Biden's platform is several steps in that direction. I think USDA will shift direction and CRP acres will take a leap. I think we will be selling "smart farming" carbon credits to hit the climate change goals.

Then there is the universal basic wage stuff. How long do you have to be on extended unemployment plus per person stimulus credits before it is permanent?

 

[Dave]

Still a poor investment but you probably wont be a foreclosed on.

Its priorities. You shouldn't be buying things that might make you 1 or 2%, or even cost you, over the the next 30 years when you dont have other cash, assets, or investments working for you.

The majority of these people have the vast majority of their net worth in their home which is bad news. That's the good ones. The avg ones offset in equity in their home with student loans, vehicles, etc so they are still behind the curve.

I think that you are just looking at one side of the coin. The payment on the house I bought in 1979 was $335 a month. At that time I could rent an equal place for around $300 a month. Ten years later the rent would have been around $500 a month. 37 years later when I sold the place it would have easily rented for $1,500 a month. How much would it have cost me to rent all those years that is 100% out going dollars with zero return. Did I get 100% of the money the house cost me back with decent % on investment? I have no idea. But over that same time frame had I rented at an average of $500 a month I would have paid out $222,000 in rent. And I am certain of two facts. The cost of the house, taxes, insurance, and up keep was not that much. And the average rent cost over that time period would most likely have been well over $500.

 

[Stocker Steve]

Rent is very expensive in many areas. One effect of this is we have a lot of single mothers moving into our area, because we have a Walmart yet the rent is lower than in the big cities. This has a huge ripple effect. Crime is up, school discipline is down, and our HS football and track teams are above average.

I think the whole work from home thing will make home ownership more attractive - - you will use it more and have to move less often for work.

 

[simme]

When you rent, you get a place to live. A roof over your head. You may have renters insurance if you choose. You will need to pay that rent every month until you die or move in with friends or relatives. You will need to pay even if you are retired with no income. Monthly rent gets the roof over your head with no residual value. Miss your payments and you are evicted.
If you own, you pay the down payment, monthly payments until the mortgage is paid, property taxes, insurance, maintenance, etc. Whatever that adds up to each month, subtract the price of rent and renters insurance and that amount is how much home ownership is costing you. When the mortgage is paid, the monthly cost is much less. With rent, the price goes up every year.
When you get old with no income, you could get one of those reverse mortgages if you are a home owner. You could sell the house and become a renter.
Similar issue with vehicles. You could lease or rent a car. You could buy a car that you can afford. Generally believe that owning a car is lower cost long term than renting or leasing.

 

[Brute 23]

I think that you are just looking at one side of the coin. The payment on the house I bought in 1979 was $335 a month. At that time I could rent an equal place for around $300 a month. Ten years later the rent would have been around $500 a month. 37 years later when I sold the place it would have easily rented for $1,500 a month. How much would it have cost me to rent all those years that is 100% out going dollars with zero return. Did I get 100% of the money the house cost me back with decent % on investment? I have no idea. But over that same time frame had I rented at an average of $500 a month I would have paid out $222,000 in rent. And I am certain of two facts. The cost of the house, taxes, insurance, and up keep was not that much. And the average rent cost over that time period would most likely have been well over $500.

Your not the same as the people in the article for multiple reasons. One, it was obviously was with in your price range. Two, this is not 1979. On and on.

I bought my house around 10 years ago and it has doubled in value. Seems like a great deal but it was pure luck I got it right before a jump. Every year i hold it diminishes the return. I wish it never changed because now I just pay more in taxes on some thing I have no intention of selling. It sleeps the exact same at both values.

Not saying no one should buy a house. Just saying a lot of the people have no financial plan and bite off more than they can chew, too soon.

 

[Chapin81]

To buy a house where I live it will cost you a million dollars cash.. what's everyone paying around the states?? Please share. If you negotiate maybe you will get you a lower price, the house would be 20x40 and possibly siding, no brick and ontop of that another 150k-200k to renovate before you move in because it's falling apart. The lot itself at best you will get 21x70. Do I own ?? No.. I live in a 2 family home I live on the first floor parents live on the 2nd and I pay them $1500(going rate is around $1900)a month in rent not including my utilities, gas, electric, cable internet which is bundled. My parents mortgage is 3,300 a month not including utilities. Luckily they only have 4 years left.

 

[D2Cat]

Many home buyers forget when the water heater gives up the ghost, they are now the landlord and get to fix it. Probably why that Reader's Digest big yellow book on home repairs was such a good seller years ago! Now days, call to get it fixed and put the charge on a card.

 

[Atimm693]

To buy a house where I live it will cost you a million dollars cash.. what's everyone paying around the states?? Please share. If you negotiate maybe you will get you a lower price, the house would be 20x40 and possibly siding, no brick and ontop of that another 150k-200k to renovate before you move in because it's falling apart. The lot itself at best you will get 21x70. Do I own ?? No.. I live in a 2 family home I live on the first floor parents live on the 2nd and I pay them $1500(going rate is around $1900)a month in rent not including my utilities, gas, electric, cable internet which is bundled. My parents mortgage is 3,300 a month not including utilities. Luckily they only have 4 years left.

60-100k for a basic small family home. Minimum wage is $8.60, and that's what the vast majority of small town places pay. The closer you get to a big city, the more prices go up, as do wages. Seems cheap, but MO is not even in the top 10 cheapest states to live in when income is considered.

And even with all that's going on, seems like all the current administration cares about is the election that they are convinced was rigged. Pretty well shows where their priorities are.

A lot of old guys made a killing selling properties they bought in the 80s for 4 or 5 times what they paid, then wonder why us young guys aren't buying.