Mortgage foreclosures at 30-year high !

Lansing State Journal ^ | 11/30/2002 | Christine MacDonald

[spunkets]

"Humm there's that word again it seems to be everywhere. "

Someone used that word at the Thanksgiving dinner table. Then I got yelled at for bringing up "the govm't" again. So, I told them, "I didn't bring it up you did. Where do you think taxes come from, the mail?" The democrats even started to say they had nothing to do with the govm't, it took them about 20secs to shut up on their own.

[spunkets]

"no one ever yet forced a customer to borrow too much money."

The govm't does. Retired people that don't have enough to pay property taxes have to borrow, or lose what they rent from the govm't. WI is generous, they offer 18% interest to retired folks in the jam of not having enough cash to stay in their house.

[Texas Eagle]

In my county,most of property tax is supposed to be going to public schools. Yet the schools look more like prisons than learning institutions.

And I'll bet your prisons look more like learning institutions than prisons.

Thought we were supposed to get what we paid for.

Silly goose.

[lonestar]

To keep more people in their homes, the county treasurer proposes raising the income level at which homeowners can become exempt from paying property taxes.

SAY WHAT?!!!

[ShayAllen]

I don't see the problem. These people aren't paying their property taxes. The homes should be foreclosed on.

I cannot wait until you need some help in your life, "Texas Eagle". Hopefully, for your sake, the ones you beg for help will have a little more sympathy than you do.

[org.whodat]

First off this is all wrong, do you know anywhere that a tax payment isn't paid monthly with your house payment, so the lender can pay them when due. The same goes for insurance. The days of Jimmie carter and 24% interest. Gave the highest rate of foreclosures in the last 30 years.

[Texas Eagle]

I cannot wait until you need some help in your life, "Texas Eagle". Hopefully, for your sake, the ones you beg for help will have a little more sympathy than you do.

How do you know these people need help? Maybe they are just shirking their responsibilities as taxpayers. Besides, I allowed for the possibility that some (certainly not most) of these people have justifiable explanations for not being able to pay their property taxes. But it seems to me that if they can't afford to pay what they owe, they are being done a favor by having their property taken from them. They obviously can't afford to live where they live. Knowing people they way I do, most people don't do certain things until they absolutely have to. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Sometimes life is tough. Luckily tough times can make us tougher if we don't wallow in self-pity.

[Texas Eagle]

To keep more people in their homes, the county treasurer proposes raising the income level at which homeowners can become exempt from paying property taxes.

SAY WHAT?!!!

Let me 'splain it to ya. The county treasurer needs to be re-elected from time to time, see? And the more people who owe their livelihood to the county treasurer, the more votes he is guaranteed. Now, to many, this would seem like a form of bribery, but to others it's known as "compassion". When, in reality, it's simply Liberalism.

[OldBlondBabe]

"Take a two-income family making $100,000 a year for example. Instead of settling for the affordable 3-bedroom ranch house that would allow them to still make payments if one of them were to lose their jobs, they go for the much more expensive 4-bedroom colonial. Then when he or she gets laid off, they are thrown into a serious financial crisis."

Add to that the new furnishings and landscaping all charged to the credit card....

[coloradan]

Then I got yelled at for bringing up "the govm't" again. So, I told them, "I didn't bring it up you did. Where do you think taxes come from, the mail?" The democrats even started to say they had nothing to do with the govm't, it took them about 20secs to shut up on their own.

LOL!!

[SCHROLL]

What? Bad news and Willie Green didn't post it? The End is near!

[Texas Eagle]

While the banks lose on lower interest rates, it is also true that property values are rising.

I don't know that banks are losing money on lower interest rates. The way I understand these things, the banks get the money from the Federal Reserve at something like 1.25% and loan it at anywhere from 5 to 7%. That sounds like a pretty good return on investment.

Now, the part about making a killing on a foreclosure I can see. I would love nothing better than to recieve money for something for a few years and then end up owning it and re-selling it.

I still think it comes down to people not spending their money wisely and getting caught short when the tax bill comes due.

[Cobra64]

Yes. I'm 52, and hope to be totally debt free with a net worth of 2 mill living on Lake James, NC. The wife and I have saved and struggled for 31 years. We maxed 401Ks and IRAs every year. Kids today can't save a dime. I refer to them as "The Instant Gratification MTV-Rapper-Generation>" When I labelled my kids in that regard, they tried to sting me that I built a race car (Shelby Cobra). They don't understand that the car is paid for, and that I built that race car. Kids today seem to be sooooo lazy.

[LenS]

Huh? Most mortgages are set up so that the mortgage company pays the property taxes out of the escrow account. And that's usually only once a year. So the mortgagee's monthly payment includes property taxes on top of insurance, interest and principal.

[SamAdams76]

The key to building wealth, as I'm sure you are aware having done it yourself, is to live below your means. Even working class people can retire as millionaires if they can live frugally. So many people in my generation cannot do that. They must have the latest and greatest, even if it means mortgaging their homes to the hilt and running up credit cards. I am very fortunate that I learned at a relatively early age to save and invest. The only drawback is that some of my free-spending relatives are going to be expecting me to bail them out.

[Nubbin]

Re Lonestars comment. Read the article again:

"To keep more people in their homes, the county treasurer proposes raising the income level at which homeowners can become exempt from paying property taxes..."

[Democrap]

The democrats even started to say they had nothing to do with the govm't, it took them about 20secs to shut up on their own.

LOL

[Texas Eagle]

Re Lonestars comment. Read the article again: "To keep more people in their homes, the county treasurer proposes raising the income level at which homeowners can become exempt from paying property taxes..."

Okay, I read the article again (and again and again) and my point still stands. If you raise the income level at which people become exempt from paying property taxes, you are going to increase the number of people who are beholden to you. I know that I will vote for the guy who comes up with a way for me to not pay taxes.

[FITZ]

I don't see the problem. These people aren't paying their property taxes. The homes should be foreclosed on.

That's only true if property taxes were going sky high like they are here. Someone could afford a house quite easily but with property taxes going up $200-300 a year or more, they could within a couple years not afford it. Especially in an area like the one I'm in where wages are dropping quite fast.