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Old 10-05-2014, 09:27 AM   #141
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How about shirtless with a six-pack...
How about a somewhat tubby guy with his own home brewing system?
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Old 10-05-2014, 09:33 AM   #142
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Maybe it's a home equity loan? Somewhere it is mentioned that this couple had a second home, I believe--maybe a heloc financed that?
IMHO, the 'house' craze of the past few decades has been a financial disaster for many people, both young and old.

When I was in my 20's and 30's I was told to buy the most expensive house I could get with the largest mortgage I could get. And, that actually worked for about a decade. IF.......... You didn't count the increased cost of living required by having a big house in an expensive neighborhood - higher taxes, higher heating costs, higher maintenance costs, higher repair costs, higher furnishing costs, etc.... etc.... etc....

Thankfully, I bought less expensive housing in nice but not luxury neighborhoods. So, now I can join this elite group here pontificating on what other people are doing wrong.
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Old 10-05-2014, 10:47 AM   #143
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Oooh, and I thought I was the only one with this disorder! I hate committing to watching a movie, unless it is a really short one.
Me too. Most mainstream western films have 3 acts, so I watch one act at a time, sometimes spread over 3 days unless it is compelling enough to override the disorder.
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Old 10-05-2014, 12:17 PM   #144
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IMHO, the 'house' craze of the past few decades has been a financial disaster for many people, both young and old.

When I was in my 20's and 30's I was told to buy the most expensive house I could get with the largest mortgage I could get. And, that actually worked for about a decade. IF.......... You didn't count the increased cost of living required by having a big house in an expensive neighborhood - higher taxes, higher heating costs, higher maintenance costs, higher repair costs, higher furnishing costs, etc.... etc.... etc....

Thankfully, I bought less expensive housing in nice but not luxury neighborhoods. So, now I can join this elite group here pontificating on what other people are doing wrong.
I remember looking at new houses roughly about 8 years ago during the housing bubble and there was this feeling that home prices would continue to climb and if you didn't buy right then you would miss out. Bubble effect.

Moving forward I don't think we will see another housing bubble for a long time.
The Millennial and GenY crowd are not going to support a REAL housing recovery and definitely not cause a another housing bubble for a long time.

Student loan debt and low wage jobs for college grads will make it tough for new home and existing home sales to gain traction.

I can see how this older couple got sucked into buying their dream house during the bubble. The big mistake is the 64 year old corporate gypsy thinking he can work forever and keep landing a new gig.
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Old 10-06-2014, 11:49 AM   #145
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I remember looking at new houses roughly about 8 years ago during the housing bubble and there was this feeling that home prices would continue to climb and if you didn't buy right then you would miss out. Bubble effect.

Moving forward I don't think we will see another housing bubble for a long time. The Millennial and GenY crowd are not going to support a REAL housing recovery and definitely not cause a another housing bubble for a long time.

Student loan debt and low wage jobs for college grads will make it tough for new home and existing home sales to gain traction.

I can see how this older couple got sucked into buying their dream house during the bubble. The big mistake is the 64 year old corporate gypsy thinking he can work forever and keep landing a new gig.
Yep, I remember a few years back, one of my co-workers telling another co-worker "Hey, wanna double your money in five years? Buy a condo in my neighborhood!" This was probably around 2006, maybe early 2007. She was basing this on the fact that her condo HAD doubled in value over the past five years, and was probably worth about $250K at the time. However, what she was failing to see was that just about EVERYBODY's property had doubled around here, in that timeframe. And that didn't mean it would continue.

I don't think she really thought it through...doubling it again would take it to $500K! I don't know how she thought that the market would sustain that kind of growth. FWIW, I just checked the local listings, and there are similar condos in her neighborhood for sale now for around $185-200K.

As a rough comparison, I had a condo about 4-5 miles away from her community, in an older neighborhood. I bought it in 1994 for $84K, sold it in 2004 for $185K. It was re-sold in early 2007, at the peak of the market, for $245K. I don't know what a similar unit would sell for now, but two of them sold earlier this year, for around $160K apiece. One was distressed, on the market for awhile, and I think the new owner was going to get hit with back condo fees. I don't know why the other sold so cheaply though, as it was remodeled and looked really nice. I do know the association is going downhill, though.

Another note of interest...when I bought my condo, in 1994, it really was a starter home. I was only 24, only out of college a bit over a year, and had only had a full time job about 10 months. I was also pulling a part time job, and between the two, made around $26-27K a year I guess. Well, by 2004, when it sold for $185K, the guy who bought it was in his early 30's, worked at a bank I think, in a pretty good job, and made about $50K per year. I don't consider that your typical starter home buyer demographic. Yet, he could barely afford it. Where I had to buy it with 5% down and cover all the closing costs on my $84K condo, this guy did a 90% first mortgage, 10% second mortgage, AND asked for $3000 in closing help! I agreed to that (would have just rolled it into the loan, so it would've been $188K instead of $185K), but the bank wouldn't approve it, so he had to cough up the closing costs, at least. So, that's a sign right there that the market was changing, and trouble was brewing...

And, I agree with you; I don't think we'll see another housing bubble for awhile. As you said, the Millenial/Gen-Y crowd isn't going to be able to afford to buy big houses, and keep moving every few years. The Baby Boomers are retiring, so I'd guess a lot of them are selling and down-sizing. Or staying put. But I doubt they're going to fuel a buying frenzy anytime soon. And same with my crowd, Gen-X. Many of the people I know around my age are renting, and even taking on house mates. Heck, I have two house mates, myself!
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Old 10-06-2014, 12:02 PM   #146
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I remember looking at new houses roughly about 8 years ago during the housing bubble and there was this feeling that home prices would continue to climb and if you didn't buy right then you would miss out. Bubble effect.

Moving forward I don't think we will see another housing bubble for a long time.
The Millennial and GenY crowd are not going to support a REAL housing recovery and definitely not cause a another housing bubble for a long time.

Student loan debt and low wage jobs for college grads will make it tough for new home and existing home sales to gain traction.

I can see how this older couple got sucked into buying their dream house during the bubble. The big mistake is the 64 year old corporate gypsy thinking he can work forever and keep landing a new gig.
Let me reinforce the memory issue. I lived in Houston in the early 80s and saw the great crash there were the price of my house fell (assessed value) by 50%. After that I knew that anyone who said housing prices could never go down was wrong. Of course that was a localized effect, but if they can go down in one location, why not many? In one sense it is interesting that the runup happened just as the folks who were kids in the 1930s (or older then) were leaving the scene in big numbers, taking their institutional memories with them.
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Old 10-06-2014, 12:11 PM   #147
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Let me reinforce the memory issue. I lived in Houston in the early 80s and saw the great crash there were the price of my house fell (assessed value) by 50%. After that I knew that anyone who said housing prices could never go down was wrong. Of course that was a localized effect, but if they can go down in one location, why not many? In one sense it is interesting that the runup happened just as the folks who were kids in the 1930s (or older then) were leaving the scene in big numbers, taking their institutional memories with them.
I have some friends that used to have a nice condo out in Garden Grove, CA, in the early 90's. I think it cost around $100-120K initially. He worked for McDonnell-Douglas, making a good salary, and I forget what she did. Anyway, he got laid off, local market tanked, and his condo fell so far in value that he did a "deed in lieu of foreclosure", and got out of it, moved back to Maryland. At the bottom, I think his condo was worth around $30,000.
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Old 12-11-2014, 05:45 PM   #148
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May I then recommend "Outlander," on Starz, and the follow up photo recaps provided by fans??

Shirtless hunky man, one-hour episodes to alleviate MADD, and plenty of comedy in the fans' captions of photos and in the Outmander blog. 😀
This post requires an internet link to said blog!!!
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Old 12-11-2014, 06:37 PM   #149
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Okay, I watched it and now have just one question.

How do I get those 80 minutes back?
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Documentary "Broken Eggs"
Old 12-11-2014, 06:52 PM   #150
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Documentary "Broken Eggs"

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Okay, I watched it and now have just one question.

How do I get those 80 minutes back?
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Old 12-11-2014, 06:55 PM   #151
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So.... you watched it twice? Or some scenes 4-5 times?! ;-)

Like Scotch, "Outlander" is probably an acquired taste.

Lots of women, "eight to eighty, blind, crippled, or crazy," (as FIL says), love it, and many of their men are donning the kilt, buying Scotch whisky for their wives, and rrrrrrrreapin' the rrrrrrrrewards thereof.

It's quite funny, the things I hear tell of.

Audrey, I'll hunt out a few of the funnier links to the best blogs if you're really interested. The blogs and memes are really the best, for me!
I think the post above was about the broken eggs program?

Yes, definitely PM me some links please!
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Old 12-11-2014, 06:59 PM   #152
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Yes, the Broken Eggs piece.


Sent from my iPad using Early Retirement Forum
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Old 05-19-2016, 07:52 AM   #153
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May I then recommend "Outlander," on Starz, and the follow up photo recaps provided by fans??

Shirtless hunky man, one-hour episodes to alleviate MADD, and plenty of comedy in the fans' captions of photos and in the Outmander blog. ��
OK - finally got Starz running on Apple TV and we are really enjoying this series. It's a beautiful production with fabulous acting, really enjoying the period stuff. Top notch (above and beyond the eye candy)

Also watching Da Vinci's Demons and Black Sails. Those are so slap-dash and silly compared (but I'll still watch because the settings and historical contexts are too compelling).

Love stuff set in the Renaissance and Baroque periods.
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Old 05-19-2016, 08:24 AM   #154
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I broke down and entered some random email address to watch. Here is the house -

17 Benthill Ct, Lafayette, CA 94549 - Zillow

Two couples we know that ERed sold their paid off houses in the Bay Area and moved somewhere less expensive. These guys pretty much did it backwards - waited until thy were retirement age then took out a big mortgage to upsize (3300 sq feet) to an affluent suburb of one of the most expensive cities in the U.S.

This house even has a guest house. They could have moved to that and rented out the main house. Or rented out both the house and guest house and they could have rented a studio apartment out in Oakley. The whole story was a bit bizarre.
The house is 6800 sqft from the link. Did I read it right? I have not had coffee yet.
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Old 05-19-2016, 08:28 AM   #155
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I have some friends that used to have a nice condo out in Garden Grove, CA, in the early 90's. I think it cost around $100-120K initially. He worked for McDonnell-Douglas, making a good salary, and I forget what she did. Anyway, he got laid off, local market tanked, and his condo fell so far in value that he did a "deed in lieu of foreclosure", and got out of it, moved back to Maryland. At the bottom, I think his condo was worth around $30,000.
It never went down that much. I bought at the absolute peak, 1989 and it went down at most 15%. Mine was in Laguna Niguel. But I doubt Garden Grove went down that much.
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Old 05-19-2016, 08:30 AM   #156
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Let me reinforce the memory issue. I lived in Houston in the early 80s and saw the great crash there were the price of my house fell (assessed value) by 50%. After that I knew that anyone who said housing prices could never go down was wrong. Of course that was a localized effect, but if they can go down in one location, why not many? In one sense it is interesting that the runup happened just as the folks who were kids in the 1930s (or older then) were leaving the scene in big numbers, taking their institutional memories with them.
My daughter's best friend from Texas, her parents never ever bought another house since experienced the crash, they did lose big after the crash. They were renting the whole 25 years they lived in the Bay Area.
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Old 05-19-2016, 03:25 PM   #157
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Why am I reading an 18 momth old thread?
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Old 05-19-2016, 03:41 PM   #158
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Why am I reading an 18 momth old thread?
A better question might be "Why are you posting about reading an 18 month old thread?"

But to answer your question - the thread got refreshed when Aubrey came back with an update about the Outlander series... then other folks posted. It happens regularly.
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Old 05-19-2016, 03:57 PM   #159
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Why am I reading an 18 momth old thread?
Because it took another 16 months for Starz to become available on Apple TV and another month for me to finally start watching Outlander.

Threads deviate, you know.

I take no responsibility for other posters belatedly picking up on the original topic....
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Old 05-19-2016, 08:26 PM   #160
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I've only seen a brief portion of the trailer so far.

It doesn't bode well for the film that one expert describes Social Security as bankrupt.

Bankruptcy refers to being able to legally refuse to pay debt, not to being out of money. And the term is off base on both counts regarding SS.

The SS trust fund is being gradually depleted, but SS tax continues to be collected on present and newly entering members of the work force. Some pessimistic assessments stated that if no changes were made (a big predicate), benefits might have to cut by 25%. That is likely the worst case scenario.

However, the pressure to make adjustments will grow since any shortfall will negatively affect not only the current recipients but all those within 15-20 years of retirement. This situation will create a substantial constituency in support of bolstering the SS system.

I intent to watch the film but hope the remainder of the film provides a little more support any predictions of future financial doom and gloom.
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