I found this picture in the Occupy Miami Facebook page:
Let’s assume for the sake of the argument that she is from somewhere in South Florida. If the numbers that she is displaying seem unreal, they are not. But she is not being candid about it, allow me to explain.
About a decade or so ago when my wife and i decided it was time to buy a house, we did what we were supposed to do: Check our finances, check our incomes, credit reports, figure out taxes and ask for a pre-approved fixed rate loan before we went house hunting. The bank approved $120,000 and we had some more saved so we were aiming for a house in the $100 to $110 region. We bumped into a little 3 bedroom/ 2 bathroom house with a lake as backyard in the neighborhood of $120K and we both fell in love with it. Even though other equally designed houses in the same neighborhood were cheaper, the lakefront added a generous chunk to the selling price The wife once again went over the math and said we could do it if we tightened our belts some. We took the plunge and became (with the bank) homeowners.
Then came the housing market craze. Prices started to go up and up and up and people like the dumb ass in the picture got greedy. A dirty little secret about the Miami Housing Boom and Collapse is that the majority of home buyers were not looking for a home but an investment. The smart ones got in early kept the property for a couple of months and then dumped it to the next greedy asshole with the same greedy dream. The other lot wanted a house, but in reality could not afford one but since they were giving away goverment-backed loans like it was candy, they went in anyway thinking that at worst they could sell the house and make a small profit. Everybody was betting that the price hike would never end and they felt secure on taking very stupid chances. At the height of the madness, we had realtors dropping by every week making offers in cash for our house. The last firm offer I had before I got tired and posted a warning sign at the door was for $285,000! In less than ten years, my house went up in price a whooping $160,000. I am not an economic genius by any stretch of the imagination but I knew something had to give and it did
Now I am surrounded by idiots like the one above that gambled on perpetual prosperity and lost. And yes, her house now is valued at $91K because that is what the actual market dictates due to the glut of available houses in the area and lack of buyers. That she bought into an exaggerated and greedy price trying to make her own little greedy profit and now is paying for it is not of my concern.
Checking the county property records, our house value lost a grand total of only $18 with the housing market collapse. It had gone way up in the past and came down with the rest but I think we can take the hit of a box of WallyWorld 9mm in 10 years.
We planned, we were frugal, we did not get greedy, we lived within our means and killed all possible luxuries in order to afford this house. They were greedy, dumb and unprepared. They bitch that greedy banks should have not been bailed out and I agree, but by the same arcade token, nobody should bail their sorry greedy asses either.
And this is my backyard and the reason we paid that bit extra. The way I see it, I am saving a crapload in booze, vacations and antidepressants. The pic was from an old meme titled “where do you blog?” The laptop is showing ForScore IDPA software (I was doing the scores for that day’s match), and wanted to do some bullet casting after.
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