The Recession may be over (post #326)- part X

[spainlinx0]

I stopped into Wachovia just a few days ago. They offered me a 5% interest rate with only 3.5% down up to $265,000. Probably won't get me much here in New Jersey, but I'm getting tired of paying rent, so I'll see what that can get me a little further south in the state.

[Tracer Bullet]

Originally Posted by kvrdave

Most FHA are still 3% down and those are going through just fine. Easier than the 20% down conventional loans, actually. First time I have see that.

I wouldn't buy anything without at least 10%.

[kvrdave]

I worry more about the debt to income ratio than I do about how much I put down. Also about how good a deal is relatively.

[rw2516]

Originally Posted by kvrdave

Wow. How long have you owned it? I would suspect quite awhile.

10 years. I put 25% down. I've seen older houses, 1920-30s, worth maybe $50,000 tops, rent for 500 or more /month. I use to rent an old house worth in the 40K range for 350 per month. That was cheap. With 20% down mortagage would have been somewhere around 160-175?/month.

[spainlinx0]

50k for a house? Do you live in 1747?

[Tracer Bullet]

Originally Posted by spainlinx0

50k for a house? Do you live in 1747?

I'd say Detroit, but that doesn't exactly work as I believe $50K in Detroit will buy you GM Headquarters.

[rw2516]

Originally Posted by spainlinx0

50k for a house? Do you live in 1747?

Kansas City.

[Jason]

Originally Posted by spainlinx0

50k for a house? Do you live in 1747?

welcome to flyover country.

[classicman2]

Consumer prices dipped unexpectedly in March, leaving inflation over the past year falling at the fastest clip in more than a half-century. The recession is expected to keep a lid on inflation as widespread layoffs dampen wage pressures and weak demand keeps companies from raising prices.

[Tracer Bullet]

Originally Posted by classicman2

Consumer prices dipped unexpectedly in March, leaving inflation over the past year falling at the fastest clip in more than a half-century. The recession is expected to keep a lid on inflation as widespread layoffs dampen wage pressures and weak demand keeps companies from raising prices.

Not a good sign.

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by spainlinx0

I stopped into Wachovia just a few days ago. They offered me a 5% interest rate with only 3.5% down up to $265,000. Probably won't get me much here in New Jersey, but I'm getting tired of paying rent, so I'll see what that can get me a little further south in the state.

check the banks' websites for foreclosure listings. some of the asking prices are 50% off a few years ago compared to zillow. and there will be more foreclosures this year and next. few weeks ago i read that some people are low balling the already low asking prices and getting 50% of those in some cases

my wife and i are split for buying a larger NYC coop next year or a house. just because the foreclosure prices are so cheap that you can get a house for the price of an apartment.

[al_bundy]

Originally Posted by Tracer Bullet

I wouldn't buy anything without at least 10%.

FHA the PMI is built into the loan and i don't think you can cancel it since it's a slightly higher rate

[kvrdave]

Originally Posted by classicman2

Consumer prices dipped unexpectedly in March, leaving inflation over the past year falling at the fastest clip in more than a half-century. The recession is expected to keep a lid on inflation as widespread layoffs dampen wage pressures and weak demand keeps companies from raising prices.

I saw that. Pretty worrisome. The administration (hell, the US) can't have deflation happen, which gives them reason to pump more money into the system. But you put those both in the pot to boil for awhile and you have a recipe for an explosion.

[spainlinx0]

Originally Posted by al_bundy

check the banks' websites for foreclosure listings. some of the asking prices are 50% off a few years ago compared to zillow. and there will be more foreclosures this year and next. few weeks ago i read that some people are low balling the already low asking prices and getting 50% of those in some cases

my wife and i are split for buying a larger NYC coop next year or a house. just because the foreclosure prices are so cheap that you can get a house for the price of an apartment.

Have any recommendations for some decent areas where I can pick up a bargain, or at least some sites to look at? I have to admit that I haven't really done any research on this, and have no experience with real estate or buying or anything like that. I'm basically clueless.

[al_bundy]

go to each bank's website and it's usually in the contact us link

http://my.countrywide.com/contactus.aspx

countrywide has the REO link there. my wife was told it's also on the MLS, but it might not say foreclosure in the listing. call the banks too, my wife did and got a lot of info like that. including the bit about not paying $20 a month for access to a website.

the good school towns are the best no matter where you look

[classicman2]

The number of people receiving jobless benefits exceeded 6 million for the first time, the government reported Thursday, and housing construction unexpectedly plunged to its second-lowest level on record — fresh evidence that the recession is far from over.

[kvrdave]

We'll just have the government hire more people. Recession solved.

[classicman2]

Still, economists found some silver linings. For the second straight week the number of people filing new benefits claims dropped more than expected, and single-family home construction, while depressed, appears to be leveling off.

[wendersfan]

Originally Posted by kvrdave

We'll just have the government hire more people. Recession solved.

I know you're being more than a little facetious, but there is a massive body of literature that states that's just what tends to happen in advanced democracies - the government reacts to, and insulates the public from, adverse economic conditions, especially those caused by globalization, by increasing its size.

Originally Posted by David Cameron

In spite of the traditional legitimacy accorded the market mechanism of the private sector in advanced capitalist nations, governments in those nations have become more influential as providers of social services and income supplements, producers of goods, managers of the economy, and investors of capital. And in order to finance these various activities the revenues of public authorities have increased dramatically-to a point where they are now equivalent to one-third to one-half of a nation's economic product.

This growth in governmental activity in advanced capitalist society is examined by considering the causes, and some of the consequences, of the expansion of the public economy-defined, following Schumpeter's discussion of the "tax state," in terms of the extractive role of government. The primary concern of this article is to discover why some nations have experienced a far greater rate of increase in recent years and, as a result, have a much larger public economy than other nations. Five types of explanation are elaborated to account for the growth of the scope of governmental activity: (1) the level and rate of growth in the economic product; (2) the degree to which the fiscal structure of a nation relies on indirect, or "invisible," taxes; (3) politics-in particular the partisan composition of government and the frequency of electoral competition; (4) the institutional structure of government; and (5) the degree of exposure of the economy to the international marketplace. The article evaluates the five explanations with data for 18 nations, and concludes by discussing some implications of the analysis.

Cameron, David R. (1978). "The Expansion of the Public Economy: A Comparative Analysis," American Political Science Review, 72, 1243-1261.

Originally Posted by Dani Rodrik

There exists a positive correlation between an economy’s exposure to international trade and the size of its government. The correlation
holds for most measures of government spending, in low- as well as high-income samples, and is robust to the inclusion of a wide range of controls. One explanation is that government spending plays a risk-reducing role in economies exposed to a significant amount of external risk. The paper provides a range of evidence consistent with this hypothesis. In particular, the relationship between openness and government size is strongest when terms-oftrade risk is highest.

Rodrik, Dani (1998). "Why Do More Open Economies Have Bigger Governments?" Journal of Political Economy, 106, 997-1032.

[Dr Mabuse]

"Advanced democracies" = socialist countries.

Yeah let's be socialists!!!

It's advanced! Which sounds somehow better than what we are now and everybody likes to advance right?

[wendersfan]

Originally Posted by Dr Mabuse

"Advanced democracies" = socialist countries.

No.

[CRM114]

Originally Posted by Dr Mabuse

"Advanced democracies" = socialist countries.

Yeah let's be socialists!!!

It's advanced! Which sounds somehow better than what we are now and everybody likes to advance right?

Well half the country chooses to "advance" at least.

[VinVega]

Originally Posted by wendersfan

I know you're being more than a little facetious, but there is a massive body of literature that states that's just what tends to happen in advanced democracies - the government reacts to, and insulates the public from, adverse economic conditions, especially those caused by globalization, by increasing its size.

Please stop posting this crap. It screws with my worldview of things.

[wendersfan]

Originally Posted by VinVega

Please stop posting this crap. It screws with my worldview of things.

I'll get with the program, boss.

[JasonF]

Originally Posted by wendersfan

I know you're being more than a little facetious, but there is a massive body of literature

Not interested.