We say “A!” you say “Byss!” — A! — Byss! A! Byss!
Vice President-Elect Joe Biden said the U.S. economy is in danger of “absolutely tanking” and will need a second stimulus package in the $600-billion to $700-billion range.
“The economy is in much worse shape than we thought it was in,” Biden told me during an exclusive interview — his first since becoming vice president-elect– to air this Sunday on “This Week with George Stephanopoulos.”
“There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That’s the only short run,” Biden told me.
I’m not an economist and I know there are some dark clouds, but there are some real opportunities. The house I just closed on … I just now refi’d at 5.5 and will probably get a 30 yr. fixed at or near 4.5% before it’s all over. When inflation hits, which it will with all the money the government is printing — I’ll be getting free money as salaries rise many will be paying 2008/09 house payments on inflated salaries. Buy Buy Buy if you can.
Print
Digg
StumbleUpon
del.icio.us
Facebook
Yahoo! Buzz
Twitter
Google Bookmarks
Google Buzz
LinkedIn
MSN Reporter
MySpace
Orkut
Ping.fm
Reddit
RSS
Slashdot
Technorati
Tumblr
Webnews.de
We are going to refinance this place we just bought and we should be sitting pretty before we move. Hence we won’t be hurting as bad as we thought. Sooooooooo…………
No one ever said Joe Biden knew what he was talking about.
We closed on 4 October at 6%. We’re already getting ready to refinance at 4.625%. We can recover the costs in 17 months. Not too shabby.
Steph… are houses picking back up in FLA? Here in CA they’re starting to get a little steam.
Same here. We stole the house last December when things were already starting to tank, and have already refied once. Probably going in for another, like you guys.
If your Mr. Potter or George Bailey in this economy, you’re going to do quite well.
I hope things pick up soon. I still have to sell the other house….
Not that we have seen here. THe lady next door has had her abode (300 square feet more than we do and a cooler pool) for sale for a year on and off. She got an offer for 270K and said no. She wants 290 or more. I say she was stupid.
However if we can refinance and take our payments down to under 2K then we should be OK to go. We won’t lose money.
Problem with our area is the foreclosures. I swear people just got up and abandoned houses. 16 thousand homes in foreclosure…that is the problem.
Stephanie,
You’re in Florida, right? It will come back. I don’t know when, but it will. We left Florida in a mini-recession (the post 9/11 tourism drop and dot-com bubble bust) and I wanted to keep our house there and rent it out. I had a tennant lined-up too, but Mrs. Firefly was scared about owning two homes. We sold it and made an O.K. profit (we had bought in at a real low), but I still thought we should have kept it.
In less than 18 months our exact home was selling for almost $200k more than what we sold it for.
And yes, I do occassionally remind Mrs. Firefly.
If you do have to move if there is anyway you can hang on and find some renters it might be worth your while. Mrs. Firefly and I will likely buy something in Florida in ’09. We like New Smyrna Beach and St. Augustine. I’m starting to look at foreclosures in those areas.
As the saying goes, “They ain’t building any more ocean.” Florida and California will always have their ups and downs but in the long run they’ll always come back.
I’m in Fort Pierce, FL and bought a house here, back in August. I bought it for about a third of what it’s worth. Not that I bought it to flip it, but I plan on moving back to MA within five years, and if the market is booming again, I can make anywhere from three to four times more than I paid. I’m only a mile from the beaches, too.
Here’s a tip: Check out 55+ communities in FL. There are practically new homes in these places going for $30-$60K. They have a 20% anti-discrimination clause that says they have to sell homes in their communities to people younger than 55 (at least 35 years old, I think), so that 20% of their residents are below that age. Most of them don’t do this, or even let you know about it, because they don’t want younger people moving in. But with the economy the way it is, these communities can’t sell houses and are relaxing even the 20% rule.
The downside is: No children. Maybe if it’s a seasonal home that you use a couple of weeks at a time during the year, they may allow couples with children to buy. And most don’t allow you to rent out your house, or those that do will screen who you can or can’t rent to.
Well with the military there will always be renters. Hubby just is paranoid about money. I am not too worried.
BTW did anyone see that Biden is getting crap from PETA for buying a pure bred German Shepherd from a breeder instead of adopting? The only time I will ever defend this bozo is now. We bought Buford from a breeder. I couldn’t be happier. His bad habits come from my lack of training not some strangers abuses.