Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Tuesday 8-19

I had the chance to play golf the past two days on one of those "residential" golf courses with the big houses down each of the fairways. A number of them had "For Sale" signs in the yards--even though the development is just a few years old. While others in my group marveled at the size and amenities of each house I kept asking "Who is going to be the next buyer of that house?" And everyone agreed it wouldn't be any of us.

Some of the group is upside down on their current home and wouldn't even be able to get enough to pay the mortgage off if they sold right now. Others admitted they couldn't afford to pay the rising electricity, heating and property tax bills for homes that big. And others like myself see absolutely no need for house with that much space, toys and expense.

But I wonder whose buying a lot of the stuff that we have accumulated over the last few decades. Heading up north you see a lot of boats and cottages for sale. I'm sure the people trying to sell still owe on them and can't afford the payments anymore--so sitting on those items really isn't an option. And what about all of the full-size SUVs that no one wants anymore due to higher gas prices? If you--the person paying three or four-hundred dollars a month on the loan payments--can't afford the gas, how can someone who can't afford gas or the payments buy it?

So I hope mister "house on the golf course" enjoys watching me slice a few into his backyard. I'm guessing he won't be seeing any other return on his investment anytime soon.

4 comments:

  1. The travesty of all of this is that now the government is stepping in and bailing these people out. Furthermore, if you're a first time home buyer, you get a $7500 tax break on your income tax next year.

    What about those of us who go to work every day, pay our credit card bills in full every month, and aren't in debt for anything other than our own homes? We have chosen to live responsibly, and now we watch as those who have made poor choices get bailed out by the government.

    Is this the 'conservatism' of George W Bush that is so often preached about?

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  2. This "conservatism" is actually the liberal congress that passes this useless B.S. It's a bunch of liberals that are looking to bail out losers that don't/can't spend their money responsibly.

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  3. Is that why W is so much in favor of this? Cause of his liberalism?

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  4. We unfortunately live in a economy that is utterly dependent on people buying more stuff than they really need to keep growing. If everyone based purchases more on needs than wants, the economy would collapse. It's the fact that there are a lot of foolish hyper-materialistic hedonists out there that allows us to live the loife we enjoy. If everyone was as sensibly as me, we'd be in trouble.

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