He brought me to this whole frugality thing. His writing is practical. Even non-native English speakers like I am can understand the messages he conveys.
Horton et al. in the American Journal of Nutrition
"Results of this study demonstrate that diet composition can
have important effects on energy expenditure and body energy
storage when subjects are in positive energy balance. Greater
than 75% of the excess energy consumed by our subjects was
stored in the body, not expended, regardless of the composition
of the excess. Other recent overfeeding studies have reached
the same conclusion (9-11). However, our results demonstrate
that excess carbohydrate affects energy and nutrient balances
differently than does excess fat. We found that for equivalent
amounts of excess energy, fat leads to more body fat accumu-
lation than does carbohydrate."
From yet another source. By the way I saw no sources posted by "Guest"
Lately I got this junk mail message from River City Mortgage, with being unemployed, I have zero interest in changing my loans.
So i called them up and asked them politely, to remove me from their list, but instead demanded i come down there fill out a loan, and then they'd remove me from their list...
If the salesperson has no power to remove me from a list, say so, and i'll end call...But why be so rude as to push sales, when i said i am definitely not interested, never will be interested...
About 10 minutes later, i was called back, and then they asked me to still come down for a loan, and i told them wasn't interested, and then he asked for my name and said i'd be remvoed, but lol, he never asked me for my mailing address, but if i am removed that's fine.
Are there any other ways to be globally removed from FHA offers?
In my old neighborhood, back when it was really booming, some folks did similar (this is a simplified description): Developer wanted their house, they wanted to stay in the neighborhood, so 1) Developer purchased new home, 2) Sold new home to Homeowner, and 3) Purchased Homeowner's old home. There no incentive from the homeowner's point of view in doing a trade, versus a sale -- unless the home has appreciated more than 250k / 500k, individuals sell their principal residences without federal tax -- but the developer in these instances could sometimes qualify for preferential federal tax treatment, or do a second deal with someone else who could (as a 1031 exchange).
steve -- fwiw, I bought my first home on an FHA loan, and they required a bunch of minor repairs the seller didn't want to fool with making. I really wanted the house, and it came through inspection beautifully IMO for its age, so I did the repairs myself. I felt there was little risk to me, since I had a contract, and the items FHA tagged were not very expensive and were things I could do myself. For example, the repairs were painting over lead paint on exterior windows, and putting a piece of plywood over the opening to the attic, to close it off. I ended up closing on the house on time, and had no regrets.
With a contract and adequate inspection report in hand, I would not hesitate to do my own repairs again, in order to get into a program like FHA.
I don't think you're dumb at all for thinking this, I think it's a great idea! Seriously, I have never thought about this before...what a new, fresh idea!
The people down the street from me just did this a few weeks ago in Nashville. The people had their home listed, but were having trouble selling it. The builder let them "trade up". The same day the original for sale sign was taken down, the builder came and put up their for sale sign.
Yes, the current situation sucks for everyone. However, what bothers me the most is that the most irresponsible have been let off the hook first, forcing the less irresponsible to fend for as long as they can, and now the responsible people are the ones who are really being screwed. We are rewarding bad behavior and punishing good behavior.
Actually have done this. It was actually with the realtor who had built a house as a spec house. It had been on the market for over a year. We bought their more expensive house and they bought ours and resold it. They got out of a big mortgage and into a smaller one in the meantime. Worked out very well for us.
Man...tough choice for a money blog freak like me.
J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy is always throwing down the funny with the money
Josh Smith at WalletPop is killing it with the insights on absolutely current events
Jason at Frugal Dad blows the house down with wisdom and deep money thoughts far beyond his years.
Trent Hamm at the Simple Dollar is...well...Trent Hamm at the Simple Dollar.
Flexo at Consumerism Commentary beats everyone at being able to turn from high level down to nitty-gritty on a dime.
Remember the "Save Karyn" blog? She actually got people to send her money to help her pay off her CC debt! So I have to pick her for her pure resourcefulness even if it was an unorthodox way to go about digging out of debt and many don't agree with her method. I only wish I'd thought of it first when I had CC debt! :P
Spot-on, Adam. In a nutshell: When in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging (and with credit card interest rates, the hole will keep digging itself to a lesser degree unless you're careful). If your hole is into five digits, it might be worth your while to try to negotiate your principal down with your credit card company, if that's where most of your debt is. Credit card debt settlement can help prevent a Chapter Seven filing. It helped my folks.
An easy chowder recipe is leftover diced ham, 1 can regular corn, 1 can creamed corn, and diced potatoes. Throw it in a crockpot in the morning with a bay leaf and lots of freshly ground pepper. (We make a vegetarian version of this with a meat analog.)
Quick back-of-the-napkin calculations on kbb.com: looks like Trade in Value is between 50% and 70% of the Retail value (I know cars have a private party value, but houses don't). So, in addition to what others have said, here is the problem with this plan: when someone opts to trade in their car for 50-70% of what its worth, they're losing anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000 for the sake of convenience. If they were to do this same thing with their HOUSE, they would lose $50,000 to $500,000+ for the sake of convenience. You have to be REALLY desperate for a fancy new house to sign up for that deal! And 50% to 70% is a more realistic figure to make the deal profitable for the builder, once you factor in transaction and carrying costs.
The thing you have to remember is that this is merely a board game, and although you might learn a few things from it, it really doesn't instill any great habits from playing it. It might improve your math or problem solving, but to make you a better investor or entrepreneur I find very unlikely.
I played the PC version, and I did have fun with the game, but I got over it quickly after beating it once, and it was really nothing new compared to his book 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' mainly because I played it right after I read the book.
That and as it is being a game, it is too complex to be enjoyable. Games are suppose to be entertaining, and if they teach, then they do so without you knowing. I believe there is a lot more value in Monopoly because it teaches you to work with the amount of my money you have, and to make wise investments. And even has the chances that an unexpected expense occurs.
I believe you're better picking up Monopoly for the PC, that way you can play against the computer and really work your brain. As for Cashflow, I wouldn't recommend it, I'd rather buy a Digital Camera and capture memories.
This is how we got into our current home in June 2007. That was just at the beginning of the current crisis, but our builder is still doing this for new owners today.
Here's how it worked: he purchased our (fairly cheap) bungalow in an iffy neighborhood for our full asking price. In turn, we bought a nice, just-finished home, also at full asking price. He flipped our old house pretty quickly; I think the new owners turned it into a rental.
We're pretty happy with the results and, based on the builder still using this model, I think it's worked pretty well for him, too.
Flip it in a few weeks? What kind of housing market do you live in? I'd like to move there. Houses sit on the market for months to years, not a few weeks.
The home builder definitely wouldn't be able to quickly move a home unless it was discounted significantly. Buying something for 90-95% of the market value is only 5-10% off full price. Thats close to realtor commission and holding costs. You'd have to have much more significant discount to make a flip practical and discounting it that much makes it a bad deal for the home owner.
Plus the home builders probably just don't want to be in that business nor take the risks of holding homes.
He brought me to this whole frugality thing. His writing is practical. Even non-native English speakers like I am can understand the messages he conveys.
Horton et al. in the American Journal of Nutrition
"Results of this study demonstrate that diet composition can
have important effects on energy expenditure and body energy
storage when subjects are in positive energy balance. Greater
than 75% of the excess energy consumed by our subjects was
stored in the body, not expended, regardless of the composition
of the excess. Other recent overfeeding studies have reached
the same conclusion (9-11). However, our results demonstrate
that excess carbohydrate affects energy and nutrient balances
differently than does excess fat. We found that for equivalent
amounts of excess energy, fat leads to more body fat accumu-
lation than does carbohydrate."
From yet another source. By the way I saw no sources posted by "Guest"
Primitive man died long before heart disease would have killed him, but you glossed over that.
Lately I got this junk mail message from River City Mortgage, with being unemployed, I have zero interest in changing my loans.
So i called them up and asked them politely, to remove me from their list, but instead demanded i come down there fill out a loan, and then they'd remove me from their list...
If the salesperson has no power to remove me from a list, say so, and i'll end call...But why be so rude as to push sales, when i said i am definitely not interested, never will be interested...
About 10 minutes later, i was called back, and then they asked me to still come down for a loan, and i told them wasn't interested, and then he asked for my name and said i'd be remvoed, but lol, he never asked me for my mailing address, but if i am removed that's fine.
Are there any other ways to be globally removed from FHA offers?
In my old neighborhood, back when it was really booming, some folks did similar (this is a simplified description): Developer wanted their house, they wanted to stay in the neighborhood, so 1) Developer purchased new home, 2) Sold new home to Homeowner, and 3) Purchased Homeowner's old home. There no incentive from the homeowner's point of view in doing a trade, versus a sale -- unless the home has appreciated more than 250k / 500k, individuals sell their principal residences without federal tax -- but the developer in these instances could sometimes qualify for preferential federal tax treatment, or do a second deal with someone else who could (as a 1031 exchange).
steve -- fwiw, I bought my first home on an FHA loan, and they required a bunch of minor repairs the seller didn't want to fool with making. I really wanted the house, and it came through inspection beautifully IMO for its age, so I did the repairs myself. I felt there was little risk to me, since I had a contract, and the items FHA tagged were not very expensive and were things I could do myself. For example, the repairs were painting over lead paint on exterior windows, and putting a piece of plywood over the opening to the attic, to close it off. I ended up closing on the house on time, and had no regrets.
With a contract and adequate inspection report in hand, I would not hesitate to do my own repairs again, in order to get into a program like FHA.
I don't think you're dumb at all for thinking this, I think it's a great idea! Seriously, I have never thought about this before...what a new, fresh idea!
The people down the street from me just did this a few weeks ago in Nashville. The people had their home listed, but were having trouble selling it. The builder let them "trade up". The same day the original for sale sign was taken down, the builder came and put up their for sale sign.
Yes, the current situation sucks for everyone. However, what bothers me the most is that the most irresponsible have been let off the hook first, forcing the less irresponsible to fend for as long as they can, and now the responsible people are the ones who are really being screwed. We are rewarding bad behavior and punishing good behavior.
My freezer does that, too! I try to use foods within a month or so.
http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FactSheets/Focus_On_Freezing/index.asp#18
I love this site for ways to safely freeze & thaw foods. For eggs, they recommend thawing in the refrigerator.
Actually have done this. It was actually with the realtor who had built a house as a spec house. It had been on the market for over a year. We bought their more expensive house and they bought ours and resold it. They got out of a big mortgage and into a smaller one in the meantime. Worked out very well for us.
Nah, what you really wanted was some cool air! :)
Man...tough choice for a money blog freak like me.
J. Money at Budgets Are Sexy is always throwing down the funny with the money
Josh Smith at WalletPop is killing it with the insights on absolutely current events
Jason at Frugal Dad blows the house down with wisdom and deep money thoughts far beyond his years.
Trent Hamm at the Simple Dollar is...well...Trent Hamm at the Simple Dollar.
Flexo at Consumerism Commentary beats everyone at being able to turn from high level down to nitty-gritty on a dime.
Meh...I can't choose.
Remember the "Save Karyn" blog? She actually got people to send her money to help her pay off her CC debt! So I have to pick her for her pure resourcefulness even if it was an unorthodox way to go about digging out of debt and many don't agree with her method. I only wish I'd thought of it first when I had CC debt! :P
Spot-on, Adam. In a nutshell: When in a hole, the first thing to do is to stop digging (and with credit card interest rates, the hole will keep digging itself to a lesser degree unless you're careful). If your hole is into five digits, it might be worth your while to try to negotiate your principal down with your credit card company, if that's where most of your debt is. Credit card debt settlement can help prevent a Chapter Seven filing. It helped my folks.
An easy chowder recipe is leftover diced ham, 1 can regular corn, 1 can creamed corn, and diced potatoes. Throw it in a crockpot in the morning with a bay leaf and lots of freshly ground pepper. (We make a vegetarian version of this with a meat analog.)
Arkansas :)
Quick back-of-the-napkin calculations on kbb.com: looks like Trade in Value is between 50% and 70% of the Retail value (I know cars have a private party value, but houses don't). So, in addition to what others have said, here is the problem with this plan: when someone opts to trade in their car for 50-70% of what its worth, they're losing anywhere from $1,000 to $15,000 for the sake of convenience. If they were to do this same thing with their HOUSE, they would lose $50,000 to $500,000+ for the sake of convenience. You have to be REALLY desperate for a fancy new house to sign up for that deal! And 50% to 70% is a more realistic figure to make the deal profitable for the builder, once you factor in transaction and carrying costs.
you live in Colorado! That's cool.
The thing you have to remember is that this is merely a board game, and although you might learn a few things from it, it really doesn't instill any great habits from playing it. It might improve your math or problem solving, but to make you a better investor or entrepreneur I find very unlikely.
I played the PC version, and I did have fun with the game, but I got over it quickly after beating it once, and it was really nothing new compared to his book 'Rich Dad, Poor Dad' mainly because I played it right after I read the book.
That and as it is being a game, it is too complex to be enjoyable. Games are suppose to be entertaining, and if they teach, then they do so without you knowing. I believe there is a lot more value in Monopoly because it teaches you to work with the amount of my money you have, and to make wise investments. And even has the chances that an unexpected expense occurs.
I believe you're better picking up Monopoly for the PC, that way you can play against the computer and really work your brain. As for Cashflow, I wouldn't recommend it, I'd rather buy a Digital Camera and capture memories.
This is how we got into our current home in June 2007. That was just at the beginning of the current crisis, but our builder is still doing this for new owners today.
Here's how it worked: he purchased our (fairly cheap) bungalow in an iffy neighborhood for our full asking price. In turn, we bought a nice, just-finished home, also at full asking price. He flipped our old house pretty quickly; I think the new owners turned it into a rental.
We're pretty happy with the results and, based on the builder still using this model, I think it's worked pretty well for him, too.
I would have to say my favorite personal finance blogger is Trent Hamm at Simple Dollar. He is wise beyond his years.
Flip it in a few weeks? What kind of housing market do you live in? I'd like to move there. Houses sit on the market for months to years, not a few weeks.
The home builder definitely wouldn't be able to quickly move a home unless it was discounted significantly. Buying something for 90-95% of the market value is only 5-10% off full price. Thats close to realtor commission and holding costs. You'd have to have much more significant discount to make a flip practical and discounting it that much makes it a bad deal for the home owner.
Plus the home builders probably just don't want to be in that business nor take the risks of holding homes.