Posted on 03/09/2012 11:05:29 AM PST by VU4G10
Rick Santorum built his presidential candidacy on the premise that he is very different than wealthy, establishment front-runner Mitt Romney, that he is someone who has faced the plights of the average American. Among the hardships Santorum claims to share is an underwater mortgage, the kind that's forcing millions from their homes.
"The value of my house is a fraction of what it was when I bought it," the former U.S. senator from Pennsylvania recently told Michigan supporters.
But the Republican presidential contender's housing situation is quite unlike the one so many other Americans actually face, according to experts and documents obtained by The Washington Examiner.
Santorum bought his $2 million, five-acre home in the tony Washington suburb of Great Falls, Va., in August 2007 through a trust in a deal aided by a high-profile tax lawyer who serves as an officer for one of the largest homebuilders in the country.
(Excerpt) Read more at campaign2012.washingtonexaminer.com ...
So what. I don’t care.
The Republican establishment media is in fine form today. Any hit pieces on Gingrich out there? Probably not, just a temporary ceasefire for a bit. Wonder why?
I don’t care that he has a 2 million dollar house either.
What I care about is that he lied in Michigan, talking about how the value has gone down, when the value of everything inside the greater Washington area is the only damned place in the country it has NOT gone down - and this is more indication that RS is simply an out of touch creature of Washington.
That’s what I care about.
If he did it legally and above board, it’s not an issue.
Yes, I would include getting a good deal through connections as above board. None of us here would do it differently.
Me either.
when i got my divorce, my mortgage was underwater by about 30%. i didn’t whine, holler or demand that someone else pay it for me. I made extra payments and paid it off in seven years completely.
I also did a complete remodel of the interior, a little bit at a time.
Wonder why these sudden pieces on Santorum? And why on FR?
His statement makes me doubt his fiscal sensibility. You don’t buy high - ever.
That’s not true. We live inside the beltway and our home value has gone down. We are not underwater because we have owned the house for 22 years. Before the crash the homes in my neighborhood were being sold 20% higher than they are know.
So?
Many FReepers own $2 million dollar properties.
Sounds like class envy to me.
Is this the house he was living in when he lied about his residence to get the PA on-line home-schooling program? He claimed he and his family resided in a house in the district - where he had once lived when he was first married 20 years ago but not since then - so that his kids could get free tuition as residents.
Then he let the State of PA pay the $50,000 fine imposed by the school district when his fraud was discovered. Saving to buy the $2 million dollar house for himself, I guess.
Any wonder why people think Santorum is dishonest?
You do when you need a house to accommodate a very large family, and you need to buy in Northern Virginia.
From the story about Santorum:
“That’s somebody not wanting to be transparent,” said Gant Redmon, a real estate lawyer in Northern Virginia.”
Sounds like the Santorum we all know.
I don’t want a house on Creamcup Lane.
A Ranch called “Bell E Acres” off of Ramsey Canyon Road would suit me fine.
Creamcup Lane?
Hit piece, eh?
so, does that take Obama’s Chicago mansion off the table??
Not everybody on FR likes Santorum, some for good reason like his legislative record and some for minor reasons, like he’s not Newt.
If there are real concerns about him, and there are, those issues should be brought forth. Let everybody get a good picture as to whom he is.
The fact that he has a nice house is not important, to me at least. But the fact that he may be spinning falsehoods, to gain support would be.
He doesn’t need to lie, if his positions are substantive. He just needs to give us conservative solutions to the problems facing the nation.
Nobody cares how much it’s worth. He shouldn’t whine about it and pretend he’s one step away from foreclosure, though.
What need? And, no, large families do not require a lot of space.
Me neither. I’ve got a home in Glory Land that outshines the sun. Way beyond the blue! Amen.
In Northern Virginia a $2 million home (tax assessed) is not an “estate”, it's an upper middle class colonial. More like what we call a “tract mansion”
Just take a drive around Leesburg, Oakton etc
For a former Senator and attorney who works inside the Beltway, this is actually a rather modest home
I like the quote from the guy (democrat operative) who tries to make it sound like Santorum was trying to hide something because after he left the Senate, he got a job and stayed in DC and bought a bigger house in the suburbs
SAY WHAT?
oooh, “lack of transparency” there, eh folks?
Oooh and Santorum refinanced his house as interst rates dropped but he still has..... equity
His mortgage is not underwater! He won't get foreclosed...
more reason for hate and envy, eh folks
In Northern Virginia a $2 million home (tax assessed) is not an “estate”, it's an upper middle class colonial. More like what we call a “tract mansion”
Just take a drive around Leesburg, Oakton, Great Falls, Fairfax etc
For a former Senator and attorney who works inside the Beltway, this is actually a rather modest home
I like the quote from the guy (democrat operative) who tries to make it sound like Santorum was trying to hide something because after he left the Senate, he got a job and stayed in DC and bought a bigger house in the suburbs
SAY WHAT?
oooh, “lack of transparency” there, eh folks?
Oooh and Santorum refinanced his house as interest rates dropped but he still has..... equity
His mortgage is not underwater! He won't get foreclosed...
more reason for hate and envy, eh folks
That is one beautiful house!
That said, if you just lost your job, would you be able to purchase a 2 million dollar home?
That depends on how much you like your kids.
A 2 million dollar mansion in Northern Virginia will get you a modest home especially with 7 kids which means 4-5 bedrooms. But here we go again bashing success.
“That depends on how much you like your kids.”
LOL! I must like mine a lot!
Read the article,
home values HAVE GONE DOWN
He is just not underwater, now there’s a reason to hate him
2007 was boom times in NoVa, people love to talk about real estate around here and used to count their equity as it climbed month by month
I lived here in the early 90’s when the Beltway market crashed and some folks got a reality check, I guess some thing just repeat themselves
Oh, no the man owns a house, if his is worth that, newts is about 10 million.
I disagree, found it to be an interesting story.
Learned that he bought this DC area home after loosing his Pennsylvania reelection bid. If he is from Pennsylvania, why did he move to Virginia when he lost his job in the DC area?
There’s no hate and envy here, just curious why people like you want to suppress information?
What a hit piece. Nothing illegal, nothing immoral. Just a class warfare- hit piece.
My sister lives in the area too, and her home is down in value as well.
I don’t care as long as he got it legally. I inherited land and sold it to build one of my houses. My business totally, but I guess some envious liberal could still whine about it.
I have no problem with success. I have a problem with:
1. People who take out mortgages they can’t afford when times are tough
2. People who buy at the top of the market and complain when the market goes down - as if they have a right for the market to always go up
3. People who think a $2,000,000 house is an “Average Joe” house
Let's talk about those black folks who own that moving company. You know, the ones who haven't paid a dime on their mansion for five years but are still living there. How does this narrative fit into Bell's critical race theory?
This looks like a direct lie.
He did not say it is underwater.
He said a fraction of what he paid.
WTF? Let’s leave the lies to the Leftists - shall we?
Got something to say - say it.
Maybe Santorum shouldn’t try to make a sob story out of his success... Kind of like Romney’s “I know what it is like to be unemployed.”
“Many Freepers own $2 million dollar properties.”
Says who?
And where’s my $2 million dollar property?
Because I sure as heck don’t have one.
By the way, which candidate do you like, because you hate Gingrich and you hate Santorum.
that whole issue was a democrat hit job
Imagine a Senator from PA, and a PA resident by legal definition, not being to enroll his kids in an online PA charter school at a fraction of what it would have cost the school district to educate his 7 kids if he left his family in PA while he served in the Senate.
He did not LIE about his residence. Democrat operatives picked up on the technicality that he didn’t “live” there, but it was his PA residence while serving in the Senate and living in Virginia
Rick was Palinized by democrat operatives on this
For those that might be having a problem with this, it’s not necessarily about the house.
It’s about the possibility that he’s creating a credibility problem in his quest to become the nominee. Do you really think that the Dems are not recording his statements and fact-checking everything he’s saying?
If he’s a credible candidate, he doesn’t need to spin. He, and his advisers, should be able to create a viable product without spin if he’s really a solid candidate.
Yes, I said the exact same thing when Newt was promising 2 buck a gallon gas. Substantial candidates don’t need to spin.
It would be lovely to homeschool according to the laws of one’s “official state of residence” - but it doesn’t work that way. Kids are to be educated where they reside at the time or according to the laws of the state in which they currently reside.
In DC area, a two million dollar house isn’t necessarily a mansion. It might be a nice house, but it probably wouldn’t qualify as something to be envious about.
But that’s not the issue we should be concerned about.
There is an alternate universe that somehow thinks that Santorum is not conservative. Out in the real world, you could ask a thousand non-political types: Is Santorum a Conservative? Is Gingrich a Conservative? Is Romney a moderate? and the answers would be yes to all.
It’s all picking nits.
Yes, if you got another job
And if you were a former US Senator and an attorney and got another job working inside the beltway as a rainmaker on K street
And maybe if you had savings and equity from selling another property you owned for a long time
So are we envious or jealous or what?
He did not pay $2 million, that is the current tax assessment
At about the same time a relative of mine bought a typical suburban 4 bedroom colonial in Mclean of 1/4 acre lot.
$600K. Gee now he’s a millionaire too
In your argument, no serving member of Congress is s resident of the state he represents
I do not know the tax code and how it treats the families of those who temporarily locate to DC while serving in Congress. I do know that Santorum paid PA state taxes and maintained an abode in PA and was for all tax purposes, a PA resident.
“working inside the beltway as a rainmaker on K street”
Is that being a lobbyist?
I love Michelle Bachman, and hope she gets to run again in 2016.
I think she was treated very unfairly, both by the press and by her own party.
I don’t think this great nation will ever have a woman president. That is sad.
Who do you support for THIS election?
“If he was from PA why did he move to Virgina after he lost his Senate reelction bid?”
Oh I dont know, maybe he wanted to hide the fact that he got a new job in Virgina and his fmaily decided to relocate permanently and stay here.
How nefarious. I am grateful that someone exposed this underhanded lack of transparency. How dare a former Senator decide to... get a job in DC and move here.
D.OH.
Do you even know how stupid that question sounds?
No, I didn’t think so.
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