[Hodapp]

Gee. No money down.

I am in the apartment business. My wife and I borrowed against everything we had to buy a 56 unit complex in Anderson, Indiana. We had to come up with almost 30% to get our loan. Since we took over, six factories here have closed and jobs sent overseas or to old Mehico. The Feds take 30% of my income, and the County raised my property taxes from $44,000 to $66,000 - effectively taxing me out of business. Government takes my tax money, but gives eleven year tax abatements to a developer who is building two apartment complexes to compete with me. The county and HUD take my tax money and gives $484 a month to my competition for every welfare family they let in. The state takes my tax money to form a lending department to make it simpler for non-working people with terrible credit to buy their first house instead of renting from me. Meanwhile, the Fed keeps interest rates artificially low so more cheap, worthless homes can get built for these people who have no business going into that much debt. In our state, both bankruptcies and home foreclosures are higher than anywhere in the country, because of this madness of income redistribution that city, state and federal government engages in. There's no shame anymore, no repercussions for going broke and stiffing your creditors, because there will always be a government safety net to let deadbeats turn right around and do the same thing all over again.

Government taxation is forcing me to sell my business in just two years, and with these current conditions, I'll be lucky to find a buyer. I have tried for two years to stay off of the government teat, to not apply for programs and handouts, to do things the right way and make it on my own. But the explosion of government programs and entitlements and vouchers and tax abatements and every other kind of scheme designed to let an ever-expanding class of mooch gulp down my tax money has finally killed me.

So now Bush's HUD is going to get a bigger budget to give away essentially free mortgages to these deadbeats. Explain to me again why I should vote for this guy. Gee, maybe he can come up with a federal program to pay me to vote for him. Republican, indeed.

[yonif]

bump

[thefactor]

i'm no businessman, but if what you are saying is true, than applying for gov't "handouts" as you call them wouldn't be living of the gov't teat. it would be you getting some of your money back that they have taken. i would call it playing by their rules.

[FITZ]

Keep your apartments, a lot of these people will be back after they don't make a few payments and get foreclosed on those houses. Lucky for them, they won't need to worry about losing a large down-payment. Walking away from the mortgage should be much easier.

[spodefly]

BUMP!

[verity]

Your ox was gored!

[taxed2death]

You've got it all wrong....you should buy 3 and 4 family houses....slap a coat of paint on them....bribe the section 8 inspector with $100.00 so he "passes" inspection, rent them out to single moms with three to 4 kids....so they get 600.00 per kid, per month and the Gub-mint picks up the housing tab too. All you do is sit by the mailbox and collect $2000.00 to $2800.00 for each 3 or 4 family house. You too, can be a government subsidized "slum lord"...It's domne every day around these parts!!! You can't beat those Gub-mint checks!!!

[exit82]

Thanks for sharing your story. I hope you find a buyer and don't lose your shirt.

HUD is another agency that accomplishes nothing. I've dealt with these arrogant asses on a few occassions--if they had to live in reality like the rest of us do, they'd be out on the street in a heartbeat.

[Thinkin' Gal]

But the explosion of government programs and entitlements and vouchers and tax abatements and every other kind of scheme designed to let an ever-expanding class of mooch gulp down my tax money has finally killed me.

You refuse to submit to the government beast, so it by nature, is compelled to trample you under foot... but probably not before it diagnoses your uncooperative rebellious nature as a mental illness.

Have a nice day.