Re: OT: AARP

I agree that it is the American Dream. Unfortunately, there are some folks who can't afford that dream. Although I understand the reasoning, I do thing it's a bad idea to buy a house with a mortgage so large it causes hardship and can't be paid easily if one were to be come ill or unemployed. When my son saved enough for a down payment, he bought a very modest house that he could afford and still be able to buy groceries and whatever else he felt a strong desire for. When I got laid off at the hospital, the first thing he said to me is, "Mom, it isn't about not having enough money, it's about priorities." He was right.

jmorngstar@xxxxxxx wrote:
Phyllis Nilsson wrote:

I totally agree with you. I know housing prices are growing by leaps
and bounds, but if young people would save money for a bigger down
payment, their mortgages would be much smaller. Every city I'm
acquainted with has more than one kind of housing, so the job market
would be immaterial if one's job was within driving distance. Save
housing? Any place one lives can prove unsafe. Obviously no one wants
to live in the worst part of town, but if they can't afford the best
without going into unfathomable debt, they need to review what is
available that they can afford.



But Phyllis, here is a Catch-22. It is the American Dream to own a
house. Everyone's parents wants to see them buying a house instead of
throwing money away on rent. You have heard the platitudes. You have
probably said them yourself.

Coming up, I was always told (in a family who made their money buying
and selling houses and property), get the biggest mortgage that you can
afford and keep it financed to the hilt. Make your money work for you.
There are tax advantages to having big mortgages and putting your
otherwise-what-would-have-been-paid-in-tax-money other places that work
for you.

It is only when you get to a certain stage, that you think about paying
off your house, because "if you own it they can't take it away from
you."

I don't get these no-down mortgages and mortgages where you end up
owning more the first-five years than if you hadn't financed ones. But
no matter what a mortgage is, it is never ever a bad idea to buy a
house.

Janice

.

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