Should the government encourage home ownership? - Page 4

DivineComedy · 09-28-08, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeeJayH

er, rent a house?

If I want to be a nomad I will buy a tent, and live in the woods, moving from campsite to campsite every couple of weeks. Like the lily white couple out at Elijah Clark State Park were during Jimmy Cotter Pin's administration, to save money for a down payment on a house. Why would I want to contribute to someone else's equity and not my own?

Gabby · 09-28-08, 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DeeJayH

if you have a mortgage, what equity do you have?
unless you purchased many many years ago
most people i know are upside down due to the market decline, which is nationwide, for the most part, to some degree.
maybe you were not cut in half like myself, but banks are also undercutting appraisals, under the cover of the home being 'in a declining market,' which takes a good 10% or so off the actual market value, obviously affecting the 'equity' you could draw on

not to mention so many people are now in trouble because they used their equity as a credit card to ride out those tough times, that took longer to ride out than expected

I didn't buy on the high side of a fake bubble. We saved for years, made a massive downpayment and bought a home cheap, in need of updating, which we have done a lot of ourselves - things that get you good return on your money in terms of resale. So as values have gone down, my home's market value right now is well above what I paid, due to improvements, and that plus my sizable down payment leaves me a good chunk of change in equity.
We haven't touched our equity. I've seen people do that too. I've seen them do it for a trip to Disney.

I won't touch mine unless my life depends on it or something catastrophic happens. But suffice it to say my savings that turned into a down payment + money spent on improvements haven't been lost in all this housing bubble stuff. As it sits right now my money has given me a good return should I need to cash in.

earthworm · 09-29-08, 10:28 PM

Ideally, government should stick with governing and leave the promotions to the family or private business...
I do not think government should even lift a finger to promote anything. We have churches, family, regular business, that is enough..
Our governments (local, state, federal), must be trimmed down - this is the only way to lower taxes..

buttonpsi · 09-30-08, 04:04 AM

The Government shouldn't encourage anything so private...

If you want the "invisible hand" down your pants so be it...

I don't agree...

Edit: BTW, I think this question ultimately leads to eminent domain...

I can't even explain my ultimate disdain for this policy.

Also BTw : "invisible hand" was sarcasm.

Cephus · 09-30-08, 10:36 AM

Should they encourage home ownership in general? Certainly, that supports stability and community building. Unfortunately, they've been supporting serial home ownership, not buying a home and staying in it, but moving every year or two to keep stimulating the economy, plus encouraging people who cannot afford to own a home to buy one anyhow and then default on the mortgage.

Trinity · 09-30-08, 11:02 AM

I came into this discussion late.

I know it is a mess in the US encouraging home ownership. Many advocate that was what got the home owners in the mess in the 1st place... encouraging them to own homes they can ill afford and letting them go into foreclosures.

In Singapore, we manage to do it with np. 80% of all Singaporeans own homes. The gov builds homes and sells them to u. 1st time homebuyers r given a $100K subsidy off the price of the home (compared to the resale property market). U get a home loan from the Housing branch of the gov. They have loans as cheap as 3% and lasting 30 yrs even for the ones with low salaries so that everyone can afford a home. The only catch is u need to pay 40% upfront in cash 1st.

This method seems to work. I don't see any foreclosures at all.

Ofc the plus side is u make at least a $100-200K profit on the home u buy in roughly no time at all cos of the high property prices in Singapore

faminedynasty · 10-01-08, 05:10 AM

I rent an apartment in the center of the city and I love it. Maybe if I have 5 kids I'd need a bigger house, but I don't at this point. Ownership has its perks. You can knock down the walls, even the ones that are weight bearing walls, and if you survive the collapse of your ceiling, no one is mad at you but you yourself.
But I think to a good extent the desire to own a house is overrated in the hearts and minds of a lot of people. So in 30 years you'll own it. And if you're lucky you'll live a few years longer than that. I'm feeling Buddhist tonight. Death is certain. The time of death is uncertain. At the time of death only the spirit is of relevance.

dragonslayer · 10-01-08, 07:02 AM

NO, the government should not get involved in this issue.