My buddy John, a fireboat captain, drives a circa 1984 pos white Ford Bronco - a lot like OJ’s - but John could certainly drive a shiny new SUV if he chose. I say more power to him.

At first I was confused about your ‘don’t be mad’ comment but then I realized you were refering to the ‘dinosaur fuel’ aspect of your new trucks. At least I think that’s what you’re referring to. Regardless, I hope they run forever.

As far as paying down your mortgage balances, that’s what mortgages are for - to be utilized as an amortized means to grow equity over time. Traditionally home mortgages were not intended as ’short-term’ financing instruments. That said, loan products like 5/1 Treasury ARM’s and COFI ARM’s have always had their place in the mortgage world. They were mostly reserved for those borrowers who understood how and why to use them. Short-term instruments were never intended as a means to rent your home from a bank.

I say good job for sucking it up and paying down those loans. And send your friends to my RebelDiesel.com site…

Brett

I don’t know. I’ll have to check. Unfamiliar email addresses will sometimes default into my spam folder.

I put my extra money into paying off mortgage’s early..I took 15 year loans and paid them off in 7-8 years..put the rest of the money into stock that has gone up 100 fold..

My lil brother turns 30 in August..he has 2 more years to pay off his houses..

Brett, don’t be mad but I bought a new 4 runner and just got a Tacoma truck..I need 4 wheel drive living in Lake Tahoe..

Time to replace them when Toyota offers every car in hybred in 2010 or 2011..

Did you get my email before you left for vacation?

Jim

You mentioned you have rental property in Taxes, would you mind saying what market?

I looked around in San Antonio and surroundings, before the Toyota plant came online, and decided I’d rather to stay closer to home (SoCal).

Good idea getting ouf of the So Cal market and sitting it out for a bit. And yes, the market will definitely cool. I think right now the ‘greater fool’ theory is in full force - meaning those people buying right now are the ‘greater fool’ in a chain of prior fools.

Thanks for the explanation. Does the two acre rule apply in oahu also or is it limited to Maui. I have family in Oahu and was hoping to return to islands when I get older. I’ve sold my home recently and I’m holding cash for at least another year…maybe the socal market will cool by then.

Right now it seems the market is still very hot (south bay areas..hermosa, manhattan beach…)

What type of tax incentives are there for 2 acres> lots?

Capitalizing on the credit unwinding takes patience. Fewer and fewer people will qualify for mortgage product over the next two to three years due to tightening lending standards vis-a-vis underwriting and product availability. That, coupled with increased foreclosure properties hitting the market (and the time lag it takes for those price corrections to fully absorb into regional housing prices) AND the desperation selling that will inevitably kick-in as people see the opportunity to get out of an overpriced home and into a more affordable one with lower property taxes and debt service will all combine to drive prices down to the levels that I’ve been anticipating and will materialize by 2009 - give or take.

The bottom will come when REO (Real Estate Owned) property inventories held by lenders/trustees evaporate down to more normal levels. It takes time for these companies to liquidate foreclosures. Think about a New Century. They don’t even have the staff to handle their own REO sales. It hit so fast and so quick they have to farm it out to real estate agents who handle REO sales. Same with trustees or investors who take properties back. No one was prepared to handle the onslaught of foreclosures. Back in the S&L days the OTC (Office of Thrift Supervision) had to form the RTC (Resolution Trust Corporation) to ‘resolve’ the foreclosure inventory glut caused by the ‘unwinding’ of the S&L industry. I worked for World Savings at the time - who was a very conservative lender and relatively unaffected by the crisis but still had REO properties to liquidate which I personally dealt with inside the REO department. History is an unbelievable teacher.

Save your pennies. Wait until there’s blood in the streets - then buy up as many positive cash flow rentals as you can… Or get into REO sales right now.

FYI - if your intent in sending the link is to suggest this is somehow indicative of all New Century employees - think again. The majority of people there lived within the boundaries of acceptable behavior. It’s always a few bad apples who ruin the whole bunch. So don’t be so quick to crucify people - especially when you weren’t there.

I have a feeling, I will be contacting you in a few years for a mortgage

In retrospect, who should have these guys trusted? Is there anybody on their side? Or is it all just greed meets greed?

Thank you for sharing.

My sentiments exactly.