BHShaman: WayToBlue: godofusa.com
What a $100k house may look like:


$108k when I bought it at the height of the bubble.
Houses were selling in 1 day. We stopped on a Friday 2 hours after the sign was put out and signed a promisary.

3Br, 2 F-Bath, Full basement, 4 car garage (2 in-line each bay), and 2acres of land. I live 10 minutes from my State Capital.

Very nice!

Yeah that's nice for $108k

TheGreatGazoo:

/If you have to finance it (other than a house), you can't afford it.

Don't know too many people that can buy a car or go to college without financing.

Reading most of these comments, the implicit argument is "I deserve a line of credit with a low interest rate."

No, you don't. No one owes you a line of credit. This isn't oil. Or electric. Or water. Or sewage. You don't need a credit card to function. It is neither a basic necessity (like water) or a necessity of modern life (like sewage, electric, or oil). It is a luxury that people have become so dependent on to that they can't imagine life without it, but it is still a *luxury*. Living within your means isn't a punishment. It's what you should be doing in the first place. With the exception of medical bills (and a few other cases I can't think of at the present moment), it is YOUR fault you are in debt. It is YOUR fault you eat out too much. It is YOUR fault you have a 42" TV. It is not the credit card companies' fault.

Sorry, but it's the truth. As others have said, if the CC companies jack up your rates, and you don't like it, cancel the card. The rate will remain the same. And then you can *gasp* pay off your card. The credit card companies can't "force" you to pay 30% interest when you agreed to 5% interest.

As for regulation, I do agree with regulation that forces credit card companies to be more obvious in their conditions and statements. But this is not going to magically make the credit market better.

I find it ironic that the government, of all things, is trying to clamp down on credit card companies - they are running the biggest debt to GDP ratio in the history of the US. If the government was treated like any other citizen or company and tried to apply for a loan from a bank, they would get denied EVERYWHERE.

Congress is trying to put a cap on interest rate hikes - who's going to put a cap on government spending?

Deftoons: I find it ironic that the government, of all things, is trying to clamp down on credit card companies - they are running the biggest debt to GDP ratio in the history of the US. If the government was treated like any other citizen or company and tried to apply for a loan from a bank, they would get denied EVERYWHERE.

Congress is trying to put a cap on interest rate hikes - who's going to put a cap on government spending?

But we must repair the infrastructure!!!!11

godofusa.com: But we must repair the infrastructure!!!!11

How is blowing money on AIG and GM spending money on infastructure?

darkscout: WayToBlue: Where do you live that $100k (or $125k) will buy you any kind of a house?

Where do you live that you can't?

$125k 3 years ago got me 1700 sq. ft. 3 bedrooms, 1.5 baths and a large yard (or so it feels when I have to mow). 2 car garage and a kitchen with all the appliances.

I also live 4 miles from a fortune 50 company where I earn my living.
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I saw in classifieds a 1056 sq ft house with 3 bedrooms, 2 baths for $96k.

I live in Los Angeles, where $500,000 will get you a semi-habitable shack.

Of course, that's the price I pay for not living in Peoria.

Silly_Sot: Does anyone really believe that Congress did not know that this would happen? Why do you think the delay was written into the law in the first place?

Could they get any more obvious about not having your best interests at heart? Why the fark would they put a delay into it, other than to let their rich CC chums hike the rates before the bill came into effect?

kenposan: Don't know too many people that can buy a car or go to college without financing.

True. I also don't know many people who don't regret taking those loans out, including myself. I would have been better off moving to a larger metro area and going to work for a company with a tuition reimbursement plan after high school instead of borrowing to pay for the last year and a half of college. And if I hadn't built up credit card and student loan debt at a young age I could likely have saved enough to pay cash for a usable clunker after a few months and a new or not too used car after a few years.