posted
That's what my husband always says when he sees those shows. I sure wouldn't want that BALL and CHAIN around MY neck!!
but if you make big bucks .. I guess it's tempting to do so.
What kills me is when they buy a 1,000 sq ft home for $300,000. They need to move to TX or MO where you get your money's worth!!
But then again... it's all about the cost of living.
-------------------- --Lymetutu-- Opinions, not medical advice! Posts: 96239 | From Texas | Registered: Feb 2001
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map1131
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2022
posted
Some people are wealthy. But are they really? Todays sermon was about just that. It's hard for a rich person unless they are the type that have learned to give as well as receive.
Not just give to the church, but give to those less fortunate than themselves. I don't envy those with lots of money.
I have a wealthy b-i-l. You would never know he is wealthy to meet him. He's just your everyday Joe and I love him. He would do anything in the world for those he loves.
He wasn't handed the money. He didn't go beyond HS or get him a big fancy degree. He worked his tail off for a company for years. They talked him into going into mgmt and he did.
He gained the confidence in himself to know he could go out on his own and start his own company. He worked very hard and moved his family around the US with wife and 2 and then 3 young children.
His business had struggled the last few years as many have. He thought he was going out of business last year and laid off his sister, his brother and friends that had worked for him for years.
He had to do it. That broke his heart because he knew these people depended on him to support their own.
Things have been looking up but he still has to do the grunt work instead of out bidding and finding work for the company.
When the big guys pulled in their reinson spending the little companies got killed.
We have a friend that has his own heating and air conditioning business that had to lay off his son in law. People were making due with their old furnances and AC.
Builders quit building new homes and so there goes the little guy again. This friend made the mistake of taking a hefty sum of his business profits and putting it in to remodeling his modest home before things went south.
He was petrified and in great stress of losing everything he worked all these years for. Now he must pay the bills on repairs to old furnances and old ACs.
His only other employee has been laid off more than worked for the last 2-3 yrs. Our friend is most happy that his long time employee and friend is a great handyman and people are remodeling what they already have and not going out and spending wasteful money like buying some home that they really can't afford.
When I watch House Hunter now I wonder sometimes how many folks have had to sell and lose big bucks to get out from under that monster home?
How many of them are part of the foreclosure figures so high in every state.
Pam
-------------------- "Never, never, never, never, never give up" Winston Churchill Posts: 6495 | From Louisville, Ky | Registered: Jan 2002
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quote:Originally posted by randibear: i just watched property virgins where this single woman bought a house for 279,000!!!
i've seen other shows there these newlyweds buy a half million dollar home or something.
are these people crazy, stupid or both? wait till they add taxes, maintenance, etc.
i bet these are the houses that have gone back.
i swear, some of them are dumper than stumps and so are the realtors!!!
no wonder our economy is tanking.
LOL Randi..
I agree.. I watch that show sometimes, and yes, many of the buyers (and realtors) seem like idiots. I wish that my husband and I had the $$ to buy a house.. We were about to do so before the economy got REALLY bad. I'm glad we didn't buy, because a short time later I got sick! We wouldn't have been able to afford the mortgage along with treatment, lack of work, etc. so I'm really glad we didn't buy!
-------------------- "The simple things can get you through the hardest times." Posts: 628 | From Connecticut | Registered: Sep 2010
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merrygirl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 12041
posted
I really dont know how anyone does it.
Posts: 3905 | From USA | Registered: May 2007
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posted
Those are the kind of shows where I find myself yelling at the tv! "300 grand and it has linoleum tile and ONE BATHROOM? NO WAY!" And how come they only have three choices of which house to buy? I'd want to look at about three HUNDRED houses before I settled on one, but I take comparison shopping to a whole new level sometimes, lol!
I think, like someone else said, that when you're young and you think you're making "big bucks", the illusion is that you CAN afford it. Then, several years down the road and several kids and medical bills, credit card bills, etc, and suddenly that $2,500 per month mortgage doesn't seem so reasonable anymore.
The way I see it, unless you're making multiple millions per year, you're just as poor as the rest of us. You're just poor in a bigger house with nicer stuff.
Posts: 156 | From Virginia | Registered: May 2011
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kidsgotlyme
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 23691
posted
Sometimes I get a little irritated at living in a small house, and then I watch shows like this. I realize that I am not so bad off.
I am happy that we have chosen to live under our means instead of over our means. It's been the difference between being able to afford medical treatment vs. not having the money because we bought some dumb old house that we couldn't afford.
I wonder about these people. What the heck are they thinking? I also always wonder how much money they actually make per year.
-------------------- symptoms since 1993 that I can remember. 9/2018 diagnosed with Borellia, Babesia Duncani, and Bartonella Hensalae thru DNA Connections. Posts: 1470 | From Tennessee | Registered: Dec 2009
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kam
Honored Contributor (10K+ posts)
Member # 3410
posted
Just responding to the subject line as not able to read what others posted right now.
When I first purchased my home on the Central Coast in CA, I wondered how people afforded the multi million dollar homes in the area.
I recall thinking I would like to knock on their doors and ask. No. I would never do that.
I can't answer for all of the home owners but only for the ones I became friends with...
One friend had a comfortable 3 bedroom two bath home in the area that she had owned for years.
She married and between her new spouse and her, they sold their homes and purchased one of the multi million dollar homes.
He was a VP for a utility company at the time. She also worked for the utility company and made good money.
they ended up owning two homes as he had a job transfer so they went back and forth. Don't know what her other home was like but do know it was in the high rent neighborhood in the BAy area.
Another aquaintance...actually two of them I met...had parents who helped them purchase their multi million dollar homes.
When I walked into these homes I asked how they were able to keep them so clean and organized.
Many hours. Many hours.
Another was able to get hers by starting out small and continuing to sell and move up.
Another had a friend who was part of the construction crew so got a very good price while the homes were being built.
Others were from the LA area and purchased the homes when housing was still very reasonable in the area after selling their not so reasonable pieces of real estate in the LA area.
A few of them had lower house payments than I had on my medium income home even though they lived in a multi million dollar home.
It was due to starting out small and selling and investing up each time.
One couple were social workers so I know their income was not enough to walk up a purchase the home they were living in.
They had help from parents who invested in the home too.
HIndsight...would be that I had not sold the homes and 5 acres I had and kept them.
Hindsight would be not to get sick too!
Posts: 15927 | From Became too sick to work or do household chores in 2001. | Registered: Dec 2002
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penguingirl
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 28688
posted
I live in a really small condo - but bought it for an investment purpose down the road. And not cheap because of the location but it is in a prime hot location.
I guess the perks of living in a small space is less cleaning! And less shopping because you will have no place to put anything! So maybe in the long run it will even out, that is what I keep telling myself.
-------------------- Posts: 1204 | From USA | Registered: Oct 2010
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posted
Someone has to own the business that employs other people and gives them jobs. The owners usually work 7 days a week not 9-5 Monday thru Friday. I'm talking about small business and not a public traded company with shareholders.
These people work hard to make sure that others have jobs and earn a paycheck to pay their bills and have health insurance, vacations and holiday pay.
Yes, there is advantages to having your own business, a bigger better paycheck but a lot of responsibility to keep the business earning to keep the employees working.
There is no " ball and chain" around the neck if the person is responsible with their money.
Yes, those people are giving all the time. It's tough on the family, the business comes first, always since the owner feels responsible for so many. There are both sides to a story.
Posts: 671 | From Fort Myers, Florida | Registered: Jun 2009
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jackie51
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 14233
posted
$279,000 doesn't buy a nice townhouse where I live. A new single family dwelling costs about $650 to $700. A home in a more established neighborhood runs from $400 to however much you'd like to spend. $400 is for sure a fixer upper and would sell in a day or two. They were all just $700 a few years ago.
Everything is so expensive here it's like play money. We're not even in the city either but one of the more affluent counties of the country.
We couldn't be in a nicer community though, people wise. Everybody volunteers somewhere, it's amazing. Anybody sick or pregnant, there is a meal list, chore list, kid watch, you get it. It's amazing.
When I had my last kid, I had folks bringing me dinner I didn't even know. I just had a friend who had a full masectomy who didn't tell anyone because she didn't want all the attention. A previous surgery's outpouring was too overwhelming for her. Can you imagine?
Posts: 1374 | From Crazy Town | Registered: Dec 2007
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philly78
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 31069
posted
Most of these people can't afford it. They are house poor or living off of credit.
I live in a town home. It is our first home and we live comfortably. When I applied for a loan, I got approved for MUCH more than I knew we could afford. Many of my family friends tried to talk us into going the single family route and spending like $400,000 on a home. No thank you!
And I am so glad I didn't. Meanwhile, I have friends and coworkers who are struggling to make it b/c they went in over their heads. I know people who make less money than my hubby and I and have a mortgage payment twice as high as ours. Sorry...but I don't care how good you are with money, there is NO WAY they are staying ahead. It just isn't possible.
-------------------- When faced with pain you have two choices....either quit and accept the circumstances, OR make the decision to fight with all the resources you have at your disposal. Posts: 1000 | From PA | Registered: Mar 2011
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