Not sure if anyone has ever asked - just curious and feel others might also be curious.
If question has been raised previously; sorry but I missed it including truthful responses.
Curious to learn how many people now who are Home Owners and only because they received a Home from deceased Parent or Parents or close Relatives " AND " how many were never Home owners before the Free Homes were received? ..
I can bet there are those who not only received Homes and paid for Mortgage Free but also received Land, Stocks and possible Cash from Estates.
I wonder how many of these people are ones who are the most negative against persons in Foreclosure and why is that? ..
Got no gifts......first homes owned were mobile homes. Progressed from 8 X 30 up to double wide.....Lived in half dozen, and paid off all. on enlisted Navy pay....Owned and lived in 3 houses, including the one currently occupied....Never a default, each one refinanced at least once and all paid off in total........
I am an average person, and I never had trouble reading and understanding the sales contracts and mortgage agreements I signed
Personal disasters, illness, job loss, etc can and do cause foreclosures, and for those poor souls I sympathize....
However, the recent huge surge in recent foreclosures were caused by greed and stupidity in the buyers and greed and dishonesty in the sellers, for those clowns I don't give a whit if they sink in over their heads, and I really resent using any public funds to bail them out... I don't hate anyone, I just don't care about them
I've never been fortunate enough to inherit any windfalls during my life so I worked hard to purchase and pay for the homes I've owned.
Like B-Guru, I sympathize with those who through unexpected circumstances are in the process of foreclosure (i.e. lost job, health related issues, etc).
For those who over extended themselves and/or poorly managed their money, they gambled and lost.
Nothing given, all was earned. My first house, 44 years ago, was an unfinished shell. But, it was affordable. Fifteen years of work, 12 years making payments and building, I was able to sell it for enough to pay cash for this house. That's the way it sits today, free and clear and I intend to keep it that way. Of late, many have been using their homes as some sort of ATM machine, borrowing against their equity, digging themselves deeper into debt. Some had no choice, equity means nothing to someone with cancer. For them I grieve, but for those who, with reckless abandonment, borrowed to live beyond their means, I have no sympathy.
No free ride for me either. However, I do know some of the people who have really been thrashing those in mortgage trouble did inherit homes, or money, or married into it. Their view is quite different in some cases.
I also hear a lot about how 'luck' has nothing to do with success. Bull-hockey. Hard work does not guarantee success although laziness generally does guarantee failure.
Raised 2 kids on enlisted Navy pay. Worked hard, saved, did without, survived job losses and other personal/health issues. Never missed a payment, never inherited a cent or a cup of dirt, paid off our home in less than 15 years. We never borrowed against it or anything else. We have just lived on the money we could make. I have absolutely no sympathy for those who want to be bailed out of their bad financial choices.
Hmmm... I do have sympathy, and a lot of it for people who are faced with losing their homes. The world is a different place than it was back when we started out and the American dream of owning your own home was made possible to many people over the past five years. Property values had been going up steadily for years and there was no reason to think that would not continue. Many people were assured that they would have no problems selling those homes and making enough money for a really nice down-payment on the next.
Even five years ago when I sold a place in WA, I sold it for 48% more than I paid for it after having only owned it for four years, and without putting a penny into it. The home before that was a fixer-upper, and I sold it for about 40% more than I had into it after five years. The one before that was a fixer-upper also, and I sold it for more than double what I had into it after only five years. I don't see that happening much now. As a matter of fact, the average time for a home to be on the market in this area is 14 months, and many homes are foreclosed long before they can sell.
It must be devastating to have finally gotten that dream of home ownership only to lose it and probably a lot along the way.
just getting out of the house and finding a place to rent has been a major challange for my kids. They all have room mates. They will need to rise a couple of levels before they can actually purchase a place.
Like most of the others here who have answered i bought, sold, payed off and turned over enough properties to be able to cash out this place in '99...Since then it has appreciated in value almosr 400%... It has lost a bit of its value in recent months, but honestly, i don't think our economy here has tanked as bad as other parts of the country... Now that i'm retiring i'm shopping for a reverse mortage so i can take advantage of my equity to supplement my SS... The way the question is worded i doubt you will hear much from folks who were gifted or inherited..
