this post was submitted on 20 Oct 2023
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Hear about how much debt everyone in the US has all the time, curious about some of your stories!

My bad debt is 10k left on a school loan from a for profit school that is now out of business.

Only other debt is house.

So how are you all doing with debt management?

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[–] foggy 64 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (6 children)

Fuckin debt free 😎

Own my car 😎

College educated 😎

Gainfully employed 😎

Making more than the average household in my state, solo 😎

So is my gf 😎

Still cannot afford a house 😒

[–] [email protected] 21 points 1 year ago (2 children)

Same, but without the SO to help.

New head canon, this is a government conspiracy to push polygamy. I will need at least two wives and three husbands to afford a house.

[–] captainlezbian 3 points 1 year ago

Jokes on them my girlfriend’s a stay at home mom, polyamory ain’t doing shit for our financials

[–] Death_Equity 1 points 1 year ago

You need to maximize your financial potential. Get 5 husbands, why assume that 25% lower income per wife?

[–] ericbomb 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] foggy 11 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (1 children)

I looked at a 400k home that literally had standing water in the basement at the time of the showing.

That would cost me and my gf a solid ~4k/month for 30 years with a 20% down payment.

Bank profits over $1M

[–] ericbomb 11 points 1 year ago

If it's not murder house in middle of nowhere, it's out of budget.

Like tiny homes are becoming a thing... but like smallest legal home lots are 250k in most cities. Feels like middle of nowhere is only place to be.

[–] Meltrax 5 points 1 year ago (1 children)

I'm in the exact same boat, to the letter. It's been great watching interest rates and inflation eliminate 60% of my home buying power in the last year.

[–] foggy 8 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago) (2 children)

You know what's neat?

In 2008 the economy tanked because the banks had made a habit of cough approving mortgages that they knew people couldn't afford in the long run. Then they auctioned off those subprime mortgages to smaller banks, and played hot potato until oopsie, economic depression.

If we're in this boat, who the fuck is buying a home, who approved their loan, and how the fuck is 2008 not right around the corner again?

Good thing we bailed them out.

[–] Dkarma 7 points 1 year ago (1 children)

There's no subprime market ready to collapse. This isn't a housing bubble. The increase in prices is partially demand and partially inflationary imo.

Interest rates will keep prices level but we aren't going to see a crash cuz all those companies are cash flush after the ppp fraud and rental Rates skyrocketing. The only houses on the market are ppl who have to sell or ppl who died.

No one wants to jump out of a 3.2% mtg and into an 8% one

[–] foggy 4 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

I think the interest rate has a lot to do with the declining value of commercial real estate. I think the banks are trying to cover losses. Small businesses going fully remote makes it difficult to sling commercial real estate at the old rates.

I think this is also behind the odd fetish of returning to the office we read so much about.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Thankfully, we are not at risk of another 2008 housing crash at this time - or at least not for the same reason.

The extremely (almost irresponsibly) abridged version of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis is that banks were giving out loans to people who could not afford to pay them.

The similarly simplified version of what's going on today is that people cannot afford to take a mortgage and aren't getting them. Back in the bad old days loan officers would have given out the mortgages anyway to boost their numbers and the bank would have bundled that loan with others to hide it and started the game of hot potato. That isn't what's happening today.

That's not to say a market crash the size of the '08/'09 crash won't happen, or won't happen soon, or won't be caused by the housing market. It's just that the circumstances that triggered the 2008 crash aren't present today.

[–] foggy 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

The extremely (almost irresponsibly) abridged version of the 2008 subprime mortgage crisis is that banks were giving out loans to people who could not afford to pay them.

This is the comparison I'm drawing, because it's what is happening again.

A 200K home mortgage isnroughly 2000/mo. It's not doable for median income, and the .median house price is like 380k right now. The math doesn't check out.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Yes. Today you'll hear people online talking about how mortgages are unaffordable. If they somehow decided to apply anyway the bank would reject them.

The difference between now and the years leading up to the 2008 crash is that loan officers would have given people those mortgages despite the payments not being doable as you said.

A lot of banks were offering variable rate mortgages that had lower interest for the first few years of the loan and advertised this lower monthly payments. This would get applicants in the door. When they asked about the later interest increases (that would bump the monthly payments higher than they'd be able to afford) they were assured that they'd be able to refinance their debt.

This and other shady sales practices are not happening today largely because federal regulations and oversight placed after the fact.

The TL;DR is that the math on mortgages doesn't check out for a lot of people. In the early 2000s banks were more than happy to give you a mortgage anyway. That simply isn't happening right now.

[–] foggy 0 points 1 year ago (1 children)

That simply isn't happening right now

It is, though. People are buying homes who cannot afford them all over the US right now. It's not as though home buying has ceased with the interest rates.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Can you provide a reputable source that large numbers of people are taking mortgages they're likely to default on?

I have not heard any reporting saying that is happening. I do, however have a family member who works in banking and interfaces with federal regulators that enforce the laws passed to prevent future subprime mortgage crises.

[–] foggy -1 points 1 year ago* (last edited 1 year ago)

No. My source is basic arithmetic. The math just simply doesn't check out. Banking isn't rocket science.

A 200K home mortgage is roughly 2000/mo mortgage. It's not doable for median household income if about 75k, or about $4200/month after taxes, while grocery prices inflate over 10% year in end, and the median house price is like 380k right now. The math doesn't check out.

At this point I'm repeating myself.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 1 year ago (1 children)
[–] foggy 11 points 1 year ago

The American Dream is dead.

The American Caste System is based on land ownership.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 1 year ago (1 children)

Lol looking at some of the debt ledgers in here, I bet you "can"

[–] foggy 3 points 1 year ago

Oh, I "can". I just know that $4000/mo is not what we can "afford". We'd sooner squeeze into her apartment for $1000/mo and not be responsible for anything.

I mentioned in this thread somewhere that I believe we're in for another 2008 collapse. If I cannot afford a mortgage who the fuck is signing those papers? Same uneducated buyers and predatory lenders as in 2003-2008. I predict a collapse starting this time next year based on I'm high and I just woke up.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 year ago