I’m wearing army boots. To find out why, read on. I kind of like my new high speed Internet. It changes everything. For instance, as long as I don’t get too fussy, I could live anywhere I want. Today I spot-checked places that will give me a mobile home for free providing I keep up the lot rent. Based on what I pay now, I could live in almost any city in Colorado, Washington, Oregon, Idaho, or Montana. Then I quit looking since those are the only places I’d care to live.
Take a peek at this acre on the island of Hawaii. It’s serviced and only $8,000. Same climate as here, I’ve lived in both places. Then there’s Idaho. Too bad one needs a winter vehicle to live there because the bargains make my eyes water. Anyhow, I’m comfy here and just looking.There is even an estate in my old stomping grounds [for sale]. It says if I buy the 3 acres of land near Everett (for $24,000) they’ll give me the recently-inspected two-bedroom house for free. I know that area and I’m tempted. Meanwhile, houses in Point Roberts, Washington, are asking millions of dollars. That’s because the owners are Canadians and the recession has not hit there yet. The average household income in Canada is $25,363, still $6,000 less than in America. The writing is on the foreclosed wall.
Then I drive past the old place here and see the “For Rent” sign still stuck in the window. What are those crazy people up to? Are they trying to rent it from 3,000 miles away or paying local help? Either way, they are losing their shirts. I have no idea how they are scrounging the money, but I do so hope it is Patsie paying the tab. So she can put her money where my foot is.
Advice: Sure, it will mean admitting you are wrong (and stupid, and conniving, and liars), but dammit sell the place, you fools! I’ll give you $3,000 for it right now, time-limited offer. What? Well, because nobody else has any money and banks don’t mortgage mobile homes. The last time the place had value was when I was in charge. But we all know having your name on the bill of sale makes you better and smarter than me, so much so that your verbal contracts are worth about the same as your handshake.
Later. The gang has suggested a nickname for Patsie. They offer that she be known as “Tycoon Patsie”, long-distance real estate wizard and forked-tongue princess of Florida property law. I feel that needlessly exposes her horrible example to the children, so I won’t use it in writing.
The cruise ship gang showed up tonight for bingo, making it a resounding success. Small crowds, big prizes, it keeps them happy. I forgot it was Memorial Day weekend. On top of that, I got a couple callouts thanks to problems from the new Xfinity service. It isn’t exactly compatible with the Google chrome browser, which tries to install itself when you aren’t looking. I suspect Google is becoming the next 800 lb gorilla using that rotten Hewlett-Packard tactic.
Florida now leads the nation in foreclosures, hundreds of thousands of them. That eliminates any chance of it being only a handful of irresponsible types and shows that the recession is biting deep into the middle-class whose entire equity was placed in their houses. I draw that conclusion because the family house is usually the last of all assets to go. One statistic not published is the average age and income of the borrower, but I’ll bet you it is not primarily seniors losing at this stage.
One positive outcome of all this is that possibly credit checks will become less ubiquitous, but don’t hold your breath. Credit checks are now done for job applications, apartment rentals, hospital admittance, and now a secondary industry is arising from information garnered by these credit checks. For instance, the brand of car you drive, easily discovered on your credit record, can determine how much you pay for utility deposits. Didn’t know that, did you?
And don’t go thinking all you have to do is avoid credit. Having no credit score has become equivalent to a bad score (a course I predicted in 1991). Losing your house is one thing, the fact that you will have to lose your lifestyle and attitude to start over is another thing because most people just can’t do it. I assure you, living without credit is not, as many assume, just a matter of paying cash for everything. It takes years to learn the ropes even amongst those of us equipped to learn ropes.
If asked to nail down the single most difficult part of living without credit, I would say it is developing a sense of the payoff times on larger purchases. There is a lot more to it than buying the biggest box of detergent on sale. One must consider value in a different way that is hard to define. You may actually choose an item of less value because it is easy to replace. You reject anything high maintenance. You learn that self-reliance is not determined by how much money you can get.
Did you know I do not have a perfect credit score? Top of the FICO (Fair, Isaac & Co.) scale is 850. Since I’ve never missed a payment in my life and was only late a few times in my twenties, I should have 850. But I don’t. You have to be actually making payments and I don’t possess a credit card. Length of credit history is also required. One must have 40 years of perfect payment history to get that score and I’m not old enough.
Nobody knows how many (or how few) people have a score of 850. My guess is around 24,000 in America. Oh, and asking for your credit score can cost you a point each time. It is their property, not yours.
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