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America's Road To Serfdom: 51% Of Renters Are Over-40 Years Old
Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog,
Today’s story from the Associated Press perfectly illustrates how millions of Americans were reduced to neo-feudal serfs by the financial crisis, and how those who ruined the economy profited handsomely from the process.
While popular perception holds that debt-ridden, broke millennials are the ones driving the rental market, the truth is far more nuanced. As the AP reports:
WASHINGTON (AP) — The majority of U.S. renters are now older than 40, a fundamental shift over the past decade that reflects the lasting damage of the housing crash and an aging population.
This finding in a report released Wednesday by Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies overturns the assumption that the rental boom is only the result of twenty-somethings flocking to hip urban centers. Single-family houses are a growing share of rentals. And affordability problems are mounting as rents rise faster than wages, while apartment construction increasingly targets tenants with six-figure incomes.
Nearly 51 percent of renters have celebrated their 40th birthday, according to the report’s analysis of Census Bureau data. That amounts to 22.4 million households.
A decade ago when the housing bubble peaked in 2005, 47 percent of renters — or 16.4 million households — were older than 40. Their share was 43 percent in 1995.
The increase in older renters corresponds with a surge in foreclosures after the housing bubble popped. Since the 2008 financial triggered by the housing bust, there have been roughly 6 million completed foreclosures, according to CoreLogic, a property data firm.
Many of these are former owners transitioned to renting.
Rents increased 7 percent between 2001 and 2014 after adjusting for inflation, while incomes fell 9 percent, the report said.
The result is that a larger number of Americans must devote more than 30 percent of their income to rent, a level that the government considers to be financially burdensome. Over the past decade, that number has jumped from 14.8 million to 21.3 million, or 49 percent of all renters.
The worst part about all this, is that a small segment of the population made a fortune off the crash and subsequent rental rebound. These people were some of the same Wall Street players who the U.S. taxpayer was forced to bail out with the ruse of “saving Main Street.” One of these individuals is an ex-Goldman Sachs banker named Donald Mullen, who also happens to be a huge Hillary Clinton donor. Here’s what we learned from last weeks’ post, Ex-Goldman Banker Who Profited from Housing Crash and Subsequent Bailout Donates $100k to Hillary SuperPAC:
Mullen, while a Goldman Sachs employee, pioneered the trades that allowed the mega-bank to profit from the collapse of the housing market. Mullen’s team utilized financial instruments called collateralized debt obligations to essentially bet against subprime mortgages.
In 2012, Mullen left Goldman Sachs to do the opposite of what he did in 2007: He started a hedge fund whose purpose was to buy up foreclosed homes and rent them out. New York magazine’s Kevin Roose described the career change this way: “A guy whose most famous trade was a successful bet on the full-scale implosion of the housing market is now swooping in to pick up the pieces on the other end.”
Mullen gave $100,000 to Priorities USA Action on June 30. According to Federal Election Commission data, this is the largest single contribution he has made to any soft money organization in his giving history. (In total, he has given $220,000 to soft money groups and $529,621 in individual contributions).
This guy literally profited from people losing their homes, then profited on the other side from the government bailout by buying these same homes from the victims who lost them. This is precisely how Wall Street makes money.
And this is the man who made it all possible:

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I am just grateful that we can, at this time, have three articles about guns, beer, and gold across the top of Zero Hedge. That is a fairly good response to serfdom.
Thanks, Tyler, and thank God for the First Amendment.
serfdom , sounds nice man ! ocean waves, beer, bikinis . . . btw, is there a serfdom czar yet ?
Informative. I've got to raise my rents. Thanks Tyler!
And a security detail. But you will have that extra rent $$ to pay them.
50+% of marriages end in divorce.
Over half of those divorces (probably much closer to 90-100%) impose financial burdens on the father, while leaving kids and house at least temporarily to the mother.
Hence, there's a shit-ton of over-40, and 1-lost-job-away-from-going-postal fathers who are renting while paying for the housing/food/dating of their ex-wives.
He did not provide for me like he promised he would...................
Thank a progressive for this mess, don't forget that Republicans and Democrats can both be progressives.
No, thank the idiotic society that has been bred from complacency and coddling.
They get what they deserve.
Pay your rent bitches!
Why buy an over priced debt/tax trap, when you can rent one from sombody else?
Because HO's are normally in it for the long haul, you buy a house and hope to out live the mortgage.. I bought my house in 2000, and bit the bullet for 15 yrs.. Now I am mortgage free.. I still have property tax and Insurance, But for the most part owning far outweighs renting.. I always have the option to rent it, or sell it.. unlike renting. As a renter, You have the option of either making your house payments, or making somebody elses house payments when you rent...But either way, you are making them.
That giant sucking sound, affirmative action, immigrants.
Obamacare, taxes, and of course, currency devaluation.
Don't well all rent from the Lord who owns proper title?
Oh wait, those are not rents, merely property taxes.
Got it!
pods
And that same lord will soon want all the children for the upcoming war, especially since everyone is seemingly tapped out from healthcare. Something MUST be paid to said lord always... and when there is no money it must be paid in kind; that is to say humankind. Get those injuries documented as to avoid the first round of draft since the FSA will not be eligible for any type of activity even shuffling papers!
Anyone else giving a Chipotle debit card as a gift for Christmas?
I've had enough of bank runs. I don't need real ones.
You mean this isn't real? I was so counting on this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bg98BvqUvCc
@Pods, I think this book will be right up your ally. This is a link to the PDF of it.
http://www.tuks.nl/pdf/Reference_Material/Pied-Pipers-of-Babylon-Verl-K-...
mommy's already postal
Alex on life.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sBi4-L7mX_8
Good Shit.
"And a security detail. But you will have that extra rent $$ to pay them."
Exactly. Good advice all around here! Thanks JRobby!
Until they turn on you too............................
Ahhh... So they are much like wives.
I think weed is a better response to serfdom than beer. Alcohol kills brain cells, weed actually may promote neurogenesis.
Herb keeps the birds off the antenna. It keeps your frequency clear.
It will be over 60% within 2 years
Bold prediction that I think will come true.
Seems that the slide is beginning to accelerate now.
I'm baking adobe bricks in my oven right now.
Nah, real estate bubble is ready to pop across the board. The question is will you have money to purchase any when it does.
I earn a pile and since divorcing have chosen to rent. Living in Vancouver only a clown would buy in this inflated market.
As a result, I find renting to be more cost effective, no depreciating asset, no repairs for mechanical and appliances and the freedom to take off without trying to flog an overpriced home.
It was Bill Bonner who said a house is not an asset, it is shelter that's it, that's all.
Renting is far perferable to mortgage + maintenance + condo board assessments...etc.
And homeownership also has lots of variable costs.
No thx, renting is just fine with me.
No doubt, all depends on what kind of deal you get on the house. I've owned and rented, mostly rented, sold a couple homes at the perfect time because I got a divorce from my whore ex wife. The only thing she brought to the table was being a ho which meant me filing for divorce and selling out at the right time. Cha ching! And she got next to nothing cuz she was a ho. I think that's where Santa got HO HO HO from. She was probably banging santa too.
Do you think your X wife might have been a ho?
Do you have pictures or a business card? Lots of guys on this board could use her help.
I'd be a bit careful about disparaging the ex wife.
Remember, you chose her.
pods
Nope, I fucked up, made a huge mistake, I was a fucking idiot. No need to be careful.
Sometimes renting the cow is better than owning it.
This is coming from a guy married to a Russian
Definitely, second time was the charm for me. Learned from my mistakes, honed my mate selection skills, and found a terrific woman/wife I plan to spend the rest of my life with.
How long did it take you to find her after? Did you look or you just found her, If i may ask.
same here, except first wife was OK person, just totally incompatible... and no kids thank God.
Double dog dare you to check out a youtuber, ALex on Life.
nearly spit water all over the screen! Water is better than coffee to clean up. Note to self: maybe you need to keep away from ZH until coffee time is done for the day...gotta pay for the healthcare of everyone but myself these days not a replacement screen, can't be rayciss.
pods doesn't think he can be lied to and betrayed.
But oh, yes you can be and your 'choice' has little to do with it.
All this is very amusing to me. I've been married 52 years, and I can say this: There is no happiness in life greater than mutual satisfaction in marriage.
"Remember, you chose her."
Dude you just outed yourself as a virgin, women pretend to be extactly what they think you want until this have the ball sack firmly in the vice grips. Then and only then do you find out who she really is.
I am a man: and your AAPL profits - been a great call, despite all the ribbing here (including me) ... props
Thanks Squid, I'm in agreement with most everything on ZH, so it's fun to go against the grain on something.
Entitled ho's, divorces and apartment rentals....yea a logical trilogy.
+1 it doesn't matter how you do it. if you can put any kind of roof over your head these days you are doing well.
That's one of the reasons I'm not all bent out of shape by grown-up kids living with their parents nowadays. I've never tried homelessness, but I imagine it sucks ass. As long as the kids kick in something for the costs and don't annoy the hell out of the parents, it's not a bad deal for all involved. Multiple generations living under one roof is completely normal in many parts of the world, and it's economically beneficial, but the US has an unhealthy obsession with wanting kids to leave the nest and get into debt as soon as possible.
I used to want my kids to move on once they turned 18. However, now I think the primary concern should be making sure they aren't buried in debt by the time they're 30.
That's actually a great idea...buy a large home, or a couple of smaller homes next to each other, and create a compound. With several wage-earners, you'd be more insulated from any one of them losing a job.
The modern world has separated us into tiny units that are easier to fleece. Time to start organizing into larger units, family-based, that stand together.
And just think of the optics of challenging an assessment when you show up with 20 or 30 of your relatives to demand an adjustment. Now imagine a couple of compound-owners doing the same thing...
That's a lot different from one poor slob standing there, hat in hand, hoping for a little break. Time to take a page from TPTB, and use a little 'collectivism' to your advantage.
Works great until someone wants to cash in their share.
Or do imagine that all your offspring's spouses will be content to just pay you and pay you and pay you while your equity rises and rises?
Divorce rate of 60+% still applies.
fk that. I used to feel the same way.
as a renter your rights are garbage and you have little to no control over the cost. Sure a mortgage blows, but when its paid off, its yours.
For me, I dont want a big ass house, but rather focus on the land with easements and start with the smallest scale house possible to reduce the debt and pay it off fast.
WW3 or the next bust will probably happen before I can achieve it so it may not matter anyway.
Cuts both ways. If the property or neighborhood goes to shit, Im out without paying 6% to some bimbo.
If the job market moves, so can I (see: Houston)
Protip: Your house is never yours. So long as it can be taxed to hell, immiment domained or condemned, forget that.
You are one of those guys that prob does not understand good debt from bad debt.
Here is a riddle for you: How much do you borrow at 0% (or negative) interest?
Karlus, whats the answer to your riddle? I'm curious.
you make good points. Im just arguing because I want to own. Im tired of putting so much of my income into something just to stay in month to month. I want to be working towards something. What would an example of good debt vs bad debt be? A car loan at a high interest rate on an object that rapidly depreciates I would assume is an example of bad debt. Buying something you dont need with a credit card and only making the miniumum payment at the end of the cycle would also be bad debt. What would good debt be?
My mortgage + taxes+ insurance is still considerably cheaper than what I would pay to rent a similar property in my area. Having a well and septic system means no water/sewer bill. It was a fixer upper when I bought it, so now if I decide I want to bail, I might even get to walk away with a little $$. It would be nice to be able to actually own it outright some day. Sigh.
It's not considerably cheaper, but my home is on par with payments, utilities are slightly higher now that I have to pay for water and garbage, but nothing extreme.
It all depends on your local marker honestly. I'm in a rural area, found a decent home well below market value and jumped at it. Paid $25k less than the neighbors, home was built around the same time, though theirs is stick built while ours is brick, and early 20th century construction, so its got good bones, on a half acre lot in a town of just over 1k in population.
If you want to own, then own, just do your homework...
been renting a fairly new 3000 sq ft house for 1900 a month, when something breaks I get it fixed and take it out of my rent payment... so I'm a serf I guess lol
lawl my tiny apartment is sooooo much more expensive than that. I think Im beating you at the serf contest. In other words, losing.
Show me a single piece of real estate in the USSA that isn't rented.
This is close... http://www.libertyforlife.com/law/law-allodial_title.htm ...but is really just prepayment of rent using an annuity.
That is very cool - thanks HH. I knew about allodial title, but not that Nevada had at least tried to address the issue. There is a parenthetical that they may have eliminated the process.
Ad valorem taxes are even more arbitrary, pernicious, and liberty-destroying than the kind levied on income by Woodrow Wilson's IRS/Fed cabal.
Whenever I hear somebody mention "tax base" in the context of a town or suburb it makes me want to puke. Brainwashed sharecropper serfs.
Are you talking only residential? Or including commercial/retail?
You pay Property taxes? your renting, you OWN nothing.
Taxes are fallacy because landlords include those in any rent… along with their maintenance and insurance burden.
Fuck! Are cardboard boxes getting more expensive?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WhEq3_vh9sU
There is no such thing as home ownership. The mortgage may be gone but try paying off your property tax.
Miffed
Poperty taxes will rise based on phony assessed values to pay the too high salaries of GOVT "administrators" and an attempt to pay pension and benefits shortfalls that can not be kept up with in this sector of the ponzi scheme.
still preferable to rent.
vq, I would advise you not to go down to your municipal or county offices and talk to any of these six figure wonders. Your preference may change.
Mine have actually gone down the past few years due to the economy.
Having a house is nice since mosrt of the kids are home and those that are out of the house can use it as a base. Time to close up ranks soon and stay local perhaps.
I used to think that until lately I started to ask around and realized that while some properties are assessed at way above market value, others (at least here) are assessed way below. And there seems to be no rhyme or reason to the percentage of the assessed value that the final bill comes in at. I have come to the conclusion that they just pull a number out of their ass down at city hall, and your tax bill just depends on the mood of the guy in the assessor's office when they get to your propoerty. Luckily mine is (currently) a bit below average.
It's a lot like traffic tickets...most just shut up and pay. They claim it isn't worth it to challenge, despite the fact that, like traffic tickets, the system DEPENDS on most people just taking it.
Funny thing though...when you speak up and challenge them, they almost always either back off completely, or you get a serious 'adjustment' in your favor.
It IS worth it! Take a fucking day off work and go down there and be heard!
You triggered an old memory. A nearby town was on a barrier island - just one single lane road (each direction) going down the coast. The road was painted with a single solid yellow line - no passing. One afternoon my wife and I took a break from work and went for a ride 'along the beach'. There was a car in front of us (obviously toursits). At one point that car pulled off the road and since the shoulder was as wide as a bike lane, I had to cross the solid yellow line to pass that car. Within a minute I was surrounded by two police vehicles - lights a-flashing. He wrote me a ticket - I went to court (he didn't). The courtroom had perhaps 100 or so ticket recipients. The judge said - got a lot of people here today - no time to hear all your stories - I'm going to call your name - you tell me if you want to plead guilty, not guilty or no contest. If you plead not guilty you will need to go to trial at the county courthouse - it will cost you a lot of money just to get that opportunity - in addition to what you might be fined. If you plead no-contest - I will adjudicate and you will only need to pay this court (don't remember but let's say $150).
Unfortunately I've never been blessed with a judge so stupid...
Other than the 'going to trial' bit, what he said is total bullshit...but I'll bet nearly everyone bought it...*sigh*
If you could get a statement like that recorded, it would be well worth the attorney fees to ramp up the challenge significantly.
Yes - we owned a home in the US (with no mortgage). Our property taxes were about $13K. Electric was about $400/month (with A/C). Maybe water was another $100/month. Since we owned we didn't have home ins. but between wind/flood/home that would have been about another $5K/year (with deductibles). Auto ins was maybe $2-3k/year. Health ins was running maybe $1500/month.
Things can get a lot cheaper when you live outside the US. We are now paying a fraction of those costs.
Its all about you, we are so happy you are happy elsewhere. Now we will go back and hang on our hooks awaiting your next tidbit of personal, all about me information...
Hey - not trying to upset you. Just sharing our experience. Don't want to be unpatriotic - but sometimes things are portrayed incorrectly. I can't write about you - I can only write about us.
Sjipper,
You are overlooking the trend he states - he is not bragging in anyway - so go fuck yourself. You can live somewhere else for a fraction of the cost here. Alot of retirees will go offshore. Lot of amercians are like financial sieves - he had no mprtgage and did not go into taxes and fees. When you cut it to the basics, you can live very well aon very little, but noy where you are viewed as a milk cow.
If you're paying those numbers, you should move to a more affordable town/state. Those numbers in every case are between 200% and 500% of what I currently pay.
But we lived in paradise ! Sure we could have cut our expenses probably in half simply by moving across state. But - fortunately we were able to both have 30+ years of decent paying employment where we were. We would have not made nearly as much across state.
And you have to have homeowner's insurance as well. If you are "lucky" and your property soars in value the increase in taxes and insurance costs is substantial entry on the downside.
You are still a serf even if you supposedly own your property. You will continue being a serf until the organized criminals in government loses their power to seize your property for sale at auction to their cronies because of an unpaid $50 property tax.
id like to see a graph showing the "levels of serfdom" over the years since 1776. I assume there have been ups and downs.
They had to change the scale of the graph in 1913. And again in 1965. And again in 1973. And again in 2001. Then in 2008.
You can pay rent or pay to rent "money" that the mortgage lender created out of thin air.
culture.
broken families and what not. it's hard to own a home when family is broken would be my guess.
The FED really knows how to put the suck in "success"
Must you insert photographs of that smug, arrogant, evil parasite. Bernanke? He belongs in an open air cage so that the American People can give him the full measure of their contempt.
go long...Landlords
apparently.....
Revolution, NOW. What are we waiting for? For it to magically get better all by itself?
I wonder how much the divorce rate correlates to this.
Eventually when I get truly sick of my oversized yard, renting will be the solution. For the cost of my homeowners insurance, windstorm insurance, flood insurance and property taxes, I could be living the life of Riley in a luxury waterfront rental with 24/7 doorpeople and security without the worries of maintaining anything. Then there will be the yearly costs which I'll be able to blow on other things: the 30K in landscape maintenance, the 5-8 year painting job, the gutter cleaning every month, the water service, the constant need for handymen to fix something else that has broken which takes more than one person to fix, the constant appliance replacement, the pool maintenance and leak repair every 5-8 years, the constant cost of "updating" to keep up "with trends in the market" which you need to make if you actually want to sell your place one day for real money, pressure cleaning costs for structures and drives, dock maintenance, security, etc (.... and those are just off the top of my head - there's always another $500-$1000 flying out the door for something which seemed minor). It's nice to be able to close the door behind you and have very few worries or expenses beyond rent.
Anyone owning a home with this list of expenses is an idiot. Outside of insurances (wind??) for fire and flood it seems the rest is nearly idiotic. 30K for landscape maintenance? If someone did that with a mortgage on top they deserve to be taken by the banks because everyone else in their life is surely taking them for a ride too.
It is prudent to note that if you have a mortgage you DON'T invest in markets...you get at least 5% return by paying off mortgage and closer to 50% or more over the life of the loan. Who teaches people math...oh wait. And people cry about their 401k losing 100grand and loss of their home at the same time. ONLY in the USA... oh wait (again).
I have a luxury "farm" on a shitload of acreage. Mowing isn't all you need done, my friend. BTW, now everyone is relying on a 401K to retire. Some of us retired at 35 which for me was 18 years ago, but thanks for exercising your inferiority complex online. It's been fun, asshole.
PS Windstorm is mandatory in Florida. Maybe you Europeans should get over your selves.
Sorry - correction - windstorm is mandatory in Florida *if you have a mortgage*.
Happy holidays 1
I have to admit that I don't understand the appeal of a luxury farm on a large acreage. Why not a simple trailer or similar structure on a large acreage? The expenses you are decribing do sound insane. If you had a small place that was easy to take care of, then you wouldn't have to look forward to living in a condo someday. Well, I suppose you have an economic rationale for this, but what it is isn't clear from what you've written.
So renting is by definition always serfdom??
And how does that compare to having to do mortgage payments each month?
It's actually the same thing, always has been. The only difference has been in the perception of the so-called 'owners'. As long as they thought they were in the game, they played willingly.
It looks like more and more are seeing the light, either by choice or after getting screwed.
And with such a crappy job market, people are no longer tied to a place the way they were. Why stay in an expensive area if you have no job there? It is much easier to pick up and relocate these days. If you're going to work for 15 dollars an hour, you are better off doing that in a cheaper place.
My old home, Long Island, NY, has gone full retard on property taxes. They have priced out just about everyone except a few Wall Streeters, and the Hamptons crowd. As wealthy as those folks ARE, there aren't enough of them to keep paying for the huge county governments in Nassau and Suffolk. And they are rich enough to leave whenever they choose...and many ARE choosing. Many of the "nice areas" are becoming little islands surrounded by growing slums. A lot of Rockville Center is boarded up, vacant stores, etc...Many we know are asking themselves what they are paying for (a friend in Garden City pays 52,000 per year...52 THOUSAND DOLLARS for property tax! Where we are, we pay 3.) and they have the money to answer that question themselves by leaving.
Perceptions have been the only thing holding this up. And perceptions are changing rapidly.
I'm one of them.
But you have to play a good hand of poker. The Establishment is also playing their hand at the table.
Answer? Buy some good productive land where you can grow food. Doesn't have to be a lot - you can be very self-sufficient with one or two acres. Simplify your lifestyle - get a simple house that you own outright. Or build a small cabin. It's not much, not a lot of frills - but it's yours!! No banks, no realtors, no fees. Convert your money into hard assets.
Make it work.
EVERYONE is very very busy trying desperately to sell "premium"-priced products to the rich...problem is, there aren't enough of them...
I choose serfdom by renting long ago. Never owned a ladder, don't want a ladder. Co workers Bitch all day about school property taxes along with house repairs,maintenance. I traveled, threw a light switch and rolled along. And I'll die with nothing as I came in with nothing. Realtors are a phony shallow bunch along with bankers.
Yeah, you think realtors don`t enjoy their 6 and half percent cut of a 400000$ dollar sale to some sucker?....A 26000 dollar commision for putting a sign on the lawn, posting an internet ad, and letting schmucks go in the door and look around.......
So-called 'home ownership' has definitely been a boon to property tax collectors. But here's the thing...it only works when people play along with the whole idea. As long as you can get folks to believe they actually have a stake in the game, you can raise those taxes.
Now what happens when more and more of the property is being held, not by private individuals, but by larger businesses? THEY won't be so easy to keep taxing, they are businesses, and can and will walk away from bad investments in a way that the "owners" would not. Then who pays the tax on that property?
A lot of municipalities are going to be stuck with non-performing properties. Many will be tied up in legal issues, and can't be easily unwound, or even rented.
No one paying the taxes...no one living on the property...how ever will they pay all their govt. worker's pensions? Forget the pensions...how will they keep up with current salaries?
The death of home ownership will be the death of local governments. The big companies now "investing" in those homes will NOT be paying the taxes the 'owners' once did, period. A lot of school districts are going to be crying real tears in a few years. It's a lot easier to push around individual families (who have kids in that school) than it is to take on a large non-resident investor who has more pull, and can afford to walk away and leave you holding the empty bag when you overreach.
Pink slips are coming...and they won't be private sector this time around.
I hope pink slips are coming for the public. It is the largest drain of wealth with nearly ZERO return for the money. They are bloated useless eaters, especially the admin.'s. When i worked for a state entity i had my weekly work done by tuesday afternoon and had little else to do the rest of the week. And i was in a busy position compared to most others!
Hey, I`ve said for long time now, That those that happen to still be looking for a new mortgage, better see if the locality is broke, and will be raising real estate taxes to the moon for years to come......Because, the idea of a 30 year "fixed" rate on a mortgage is a myth....The ever increasing taxes will mean ever increasing mortgage payments until its no longer afforable......
Can I still get a Detroit house for a buck?
Many folks walked away from a house not because they could not make the payments but because the house had lost so much value they were deeply underwater.
In the process they lost their good credit, now with prices coming back they are realizing they made a mistake and are stuck renting.
The crisis in housing was self inflicted by the buyers. Who in their right mind pays half a million dollars for a three bedroom 1700 sq. foot house? Add to that, being this is America, everyone wanted a 4000 sq. foot house to impress their childhood peers and their family. Throw in the two cars that must be less than three years old at all times and also must have certain badges of honor...
Prudence would have saved many from their demise and the banks wrath, but everything must meet instant gratification rules...and the banks were there to uphold that gratification(at severe costs to those later refusing their participation) for anyone who chose that path. Outside of cartoons, i never saw images of banksters holding guns to people's heads forcing them to buy a certain house. Yes, i do hate banksters, but they cannot hold all the blame here...unless you are a socialist of course. And if you are a socialist, shame on you for being aspirational...you should know better and live in a cardboard box.
It's always bankers. I didn't see poor people holding guns to bankers' heads and demanding big loans.
The photo of BerYankeeHisWankee smugly offering the bird pretty much sums it up...
I have a co-worker who is very well off. He owns many properties (single, multi-family) - he calls his properties "mailbox money" (when he retires next year at 55 he looks forward to visiting the mailbox for his rental checks).
I asked him, what happens if the checks stop clearing... He smirked and said "yeah right" (kinda just like Bernanke)....
Oh well, maybe this scheme can go on in perpetuity.../
As a UK landlord I think I know where he is comming from.
Rents will not change here unless there is a major population change. The only way things can go bad is:
a) Major SHTF type stuff, but then we are aall in it so no problem.
b) 5,000,000 people die off through flu or SHTF type stuff, but then we are aall in it so no problem.
If interest rates rise, so does the rent, if taxes rise, so does the rent. I do not quite see how people here think renting is different, surely the same taxes have to be paid regardless of who actually lives there?
I have no pension to speak of, got shat on 1998-2002, so my pension money goes to property (as well as repeated boating accident stuff, just can get over that bad run of luck)
If anyone wants to chuck other scenarios my way ...?
We are near the rent cycle top based upon all the comments hw owning a home sucks. Wait for prices to come down, which they will, buy a 4-plex or 4-plex, rent three, live for free and get depreciation write-off. If you don't like prop management higher a property manager. Over time, rent increases will provide CF as you pay down principal too. Yes, it may take 30 years, but in the end you own it - and also, if you wanna bug out, you rent your unit and let the tenants pay the property off. lot better than SFR, though if you have a typical Merikan wife, she will whine about the tanants and then her friends say you are cheap.
We fight each other, blacks vs whites, muslims vs christians, while the real power controlling the west sits back and laughs while the "beasts and cattle" die.
Who is that power? The zionist, talmudian jews, obviously. We do their dirty work as they consolidate their wealth and power. Until we not only ban zionism and steal back all our wealth, these scum will bring death to the world.
If you don't own a house at 40, and it really doesn't matter what job you have, even a high paying management position.
IF you don't own your house at 40, your retirement WILL be hell.
At 40, you should have nearly downpayed a house.
Remember all those new cars you bought? Most of them where turned into soda cans by now.
And then you have the media giving you a choice of Hillary, or Jeb, or Rubio, or Bernie, as the only qualified, experienced politician crooks that can save you......LMAO!........
The doom and gloom statements are WRONG.
It is possible for Americans to still escape the system. You just have to realize - the only person who can "get you free" is YOU. All the standard formulas for "financial freedom" are just an excuse for the System to vacuum up your savings and assets.
It is still possible to buy cheap land in America. You don't need a lot of land. Since the good land is taken, this means that you will need to put up with hellish winters, or hellish summers. Take your pick. It is possible to buy a cheap trailer, put it on that land, and then build your own cabin or small home. Use the free time to build your own small house, with your energy and your initiative. There is a lot of technology now that allows you to have a simple lifestyle, and still have water, electricty and communications. Minimum fees ... some fees, but not excessive. This is all do-able. You decide.
Anybody who remains connected to the system is gonna' be tied to an endless amount of grief, money-grabbing, lies and excuses. America became a giant Service Sector economy. That whole paradigm is now crashing. The country cannot get on its feet again until we start generating new ideas and new manufacturing. That is NOT gonna' happen with the current economic system that gives massive (cheap) loans to gamblers (traders) who throw it into a casino. And that's all that the global markets are any more ... a CASINO.
get peace of mind. Separate yourself from the system. Let other people die from stress.
Why do not all of the taxes and insurances apply to your new cabin?
Surely if avoiding taxes were merely a case of self build, everyone would do it?
You can't avoid paying all taxes. I realize that some people try to get "off the grid" because they want to rebel against taxation. That is not what I am advocating. You will need to pay taxes to the IRS, and also some local taxes where you live. You probably can't avoid this unless you are willing to live in the Yukon or Patagonia :-)
But there is a big difference between local comunities. A lot of people are getting "run over" by local governments who are demanding outrageous fees and property taxes. You have to really ask - WHAT EXACTLY are these local towns using the taxes for? And if you dig deep, it's to cover their own *ss for financial screw-ups, failing pension schemes, and outrageous real estate deals (bilking taxpayer money). If they were using the money wisely to cover basic essentials for people, like roads and essential services, that would be OK. But then the taxes would not be high.
I am suggesting that people rebel against outrageous forms of taxation. But do it legally - do your research and check the local taxes in the place where you want to live. Shop around. Not every small community is a fiefdom. You have the freedom to choose whether you want to live beside the "Sheriff of Nottingham" (robber barron in Robin Hood story), or not.
"You have the freedom to choose whether you want to live beside the "Sheriff of Nottingham...""
Yep.
That's why I sold my farm and bought a sailboat.
Who is John Galt?
The trick for a serf "owning" assets is to make them look worthless while you get get good clandestine use out of them. It is your duty as a free minded citizen to make massa pay more to collect his pittance from you than he actually collects. Eventually all massa's asset values collapse because an asset only has value because people want to use it to better themself, not massa. Communism always implodes cause nobody wants assets to use to produce anything since its just for useless slave work anyway. They can't seem to get the damn communism to align with self intetested human nature but I'm sure their Rhodes scholars are working on it.
I have 50 year old tenants who spend everything they make on beer, pot, and smokes. Any unusual expense requires a visit to payday loan inc. The tenants absolutely HATE me because I am the property owner. Guess I made thier poor choices for them.
You are holding them back from their dreams of becoming gypsy drifters, evict.
maybe renting won't be so bad when living in public housing in Trump City....everything will be gold and mirrors. /S
Just look at the Social Security crowd around you.
Which blue hairs are bitching about owning a home outright Vs those who praise getting lucky in the rental market.
So what? Just drift. I couldn't wait to get rid of the debt incurring house and property that my Mom left me when she died. You don't need that shit because you are stuck there. Not that this was a brilliant move but I have two cars, a van, a 4x4 truck, three motorcycles and a moped. You can't stop me from moving around if I want to. I fucked up though because think about all of that shit and how much it takes to maintain it all. I am damned good at wrenching on vehicles but even for me it is tough and I have the tools to do it. The expenses add up and I just dropped another $100 on a new battery for my best car yesterday. I don't care how good I am with a wrench you can't avoid those costs. I can't make a battery. Come on.
My idea was that if one vehicle failed there would always be another one to fall back on and that has been the case. I will have to say that insurance is expensive if you want to have what I have. God damned right that I can roll no matter what but that comes at a cost. But the cars can move and houses can't. You don't just pick up a house and move it. I had to pay insurance on that too. I was not living there. I should be damned near retired by now but forget that...I had to take care of my Mom as she went downhill. I blew a lot of cash on her. Shit happens and maybe you don't get everything you want in life.
I don't really give a flying fuck what anyone thinks of me. I know I did the right thing and at the end of my days I will know that I did the right thing. Yes, I have some pretty cool shit but maybe I have too much cool shit. I have a nice Russian wife and two nice children. Did I deserve them? Maybe. Let's be honest amongst friends here. Money is not going to buy you what you think it can. You do not not need a god damned building to prove that you are a decent human being. I have some money left and I only want to be left alone. In turn, I will leave everyone else alone if they do the same.
Always remain free to move.
Well drifting is great for single guys trying to get laid but it isn't great for building a community with good schools and low crime. The idea is that owning a home somehow makes people more responsible and hard working but I think it's probably more like responsible hardworking people who generally buy homes. Unfortunately there are less and less of these type of people in our society.
My advice was for young folks. I have acquired too many things that I probably didn't need and now it is hard to move. I do not regret the wife and children though.
" but I think it's probably more like responsible hardworking people who generally buy homes."
You are kidding right?
Gee, I remember all the bailouts & assistance to 'homeowners' not very many yrs ago.
And as for the 'responsible hardworking people' part, nobody asks to get laidoff and be unemployed for months & months. I've been laid off multiple times & watched many other IT folks get replaced by H1-B's.
I think we need to insist that companies be as good of a corporate citizen as they want their temps, oops I mean their employees to be.
When 'leadership' screws the pooch it should be the 'leadership' that pays the price, not the temps, oops I mean the employees.
Billionaires with mortgages for tax purposes were able to save tens of thousands of dollars a month after they refinanced to the Fed’s Ultra Low Rates. God Bless the Fed!
I let me lease expire and my landlord put me on month to month...hasn't raised my rent in 4 years. I'm socking away and stacking as much as I can. Buying a house is like buying a boat, sounds great until you realize how much goddamn work it is and how much little you truly get out of owning it.
But with a boat, you can move it to a new marina when the govt decides to Section-8 carpet bomb your once ok neighbourhood.
That's why theres something called "jewish lightning".
"But with a boat, you can move it to a new marina ..."
Or to a new country.
One of the many reasons as to why I happily refer to myself as a 'boat bum'.
Even if you "own" your house outright you still pay a lower rate of rent, its called property tax. Serfs are not allowed to own assets, only rent them.
You also pay a tax called interest.
bizactly...stop paying monthly/yearly tithe to the King and watch how long you keep that house that is "yours"
I own an old house with a well, septic, and a small allocation of water rights. No monthly bill for water, no monthly bill for sewer, and extra water creates a huge reduction for food.
Now for the tax situation I took a page from the Greeks. When Greece was occupied by the Turkish, it was not uncommon for the Turks to simply come into nice homes and loot whatever they wanted. The Greeks improvised by allowing the outside of their homes to look "poor" while hiding their wealth and lifestyle on the inside. This mentality is a part of why they don't pay their taxes... Which I applaud so long as you dont try to take everyone elses tax money.
The tax acessor comes by and looks at my home and sees a 1930's house that is 1930's stlye, and keeps my tax bill low. My neighbor renovates the outside of his old house, and his property tax bill doubles.
Yet when you come inside my house is much nicer.
Sometimes preceptions can be illusions...
The great challenge for Americans is to SIMPLIFY their lifestyle.
We cannot reduce costs and live without debt - unless we simplify.
BUT there are very powerful forces in this country that DON'T want you to simplify. It's not in the interest of the Banks to lower the cost of housing. That will only reduce the interest money that they are earning.
It's not in the interest of the Federal Government to cut Defense, or to increase Corporate taxes. That only decreases 'pork barrel' projects (that go hand in hand with hefty under-the-counter $$ contributions), or it goes against the people who are throwing big money into plates at Convention dinners.
And it's not in the interest of local cities to cut their tax revenues, because these robber-barrons are usually making a killing through local real estate deals and shopping mall projects. Your property taxes are indirectly financing their business schemes. Where do you think they are building all of the new roads and electrical power lines?
You have to CUT YOURSELF loose from all of these people. Or they will bleed you dry. It's a fight to "Go Simple".
I've discovered that women hate "simple". Where men tend to try and minimize complication, women attempt to maximize it.
Not all women, I assure you.
AGREE with you. Lots of women hate "simple" because they believe it means more manual work for them, and also because women are often "creatures of comfort". But the truth is - FINANCIAL STRESS is going to kill a huge number of marriages and relationships in America during the next 10 years. The System is eating people alive ... robbing them of MONEY and TIME. So many requirements that suck down your time, so many hidden costs .. you can't get ahead. So if couples try to "man up", basically it just means that they spend all of their time working. And there is no time left for the relationship. People are gonna' have to Simplify. More guys get the picture. But a lot of women don't like it ... there are a lot of divorces coming because of this.
Calling all US citizens to visit Melbourne Australia and see the insane prices for home ownership.....
They have just recently discovered most of the CBD apartments are vacant.....sitting there with no one in them......
most likely owned by Chinese investors.....
The real estate industry keeps telling everyone there is a massive shortage of homes.......
wait, I thought the ZH position was that owning a home was stupid and that renting was THE ABSOLUTE BEST financial plan in the world.
I know 'times is tuff' but in my small southern city I am selling a family home in an Ok neighborhood (not great) at great loss. its a little bit of a fixer upper but definitely livable. I'm selling to an investor thats going put some money in and flip it. I would have rather, and for the same super low price, sold it to someone willing to live in it. 3-bedroom, full basement, large screen-in back porch.
I feel there are some serious bargains in housing out there. Rates are still pretty low. Many people are desperate to sell. For 2 - 3 times what many pay for their 'smart' phone monthly they could be in a house. Along these lines I think people need to rethink how they run their lives. Many are too busy staying hip with near worthless recurring monthly charges to rethink and work their way into a secure life situation.
I think times are not so tough yet that people are knocked in the head to realize what is necessary to build, or rebuild, their lives. Too many still live in the fantasy of the past.
I used to be a home owner, like most of America, back then. Now I pay over 2 grand per month to rent and my landlord is a fucking church, the Seventh Day Adventist Church. I hear they own a lot of apt. complexes around San Diego. TPTB r robnume!!
Ban hedge funds from owning single family housing.
I can miss a rent payment or two and my Mom still won't kick me out of the basement. Try that with a house.
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