• Scientist

  • Beer Drinker

  • Advocate for distributed / user-supported communities and media

I wish that I was skinnier but I love beverages.

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  • 24 Comments
Joined 1 year ago
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Cake day: June 10th, 2023

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  • I’m sorry to be pedantic but this is a pet peeve of mine. If you bought a house you would not have any mortgage payment. You (and everyone else usually) are talking about financing a house.

    Maybe I’m the crazy one but when I buy something I like to look at the total amount that I’m paying for it.
    If I wanted a house listed for $300,000 5-years ago and I wanted to finance it, the rate might have been 3% so the total amount I would be paying would be $455,332.36 over 30yrs. Therefore I would only finance if I thought ~$450,000 was a fair price. If I thought the house was only worth $300,000 then I would need to pay in cash.

    Today rates are at 7% so a house listed at $300,000 actually costs $718,526.69 when financed. Do I think the houses I see listed for $300,000 are worth over $700,000? No. Do I have more than $300,000 needed to afford to pay in cash? Also no. Therefore, I’m not buying.
    *These calculations are ignoring the down payment but the principle is still valid.









  • I’m not saying mortgages should completely go away. I’m sure a mortgage is the right decision for many people’s situations. It’s just the way that people talk about buying a house, a mortgage seems to be assumed. If it wasn’t just assumed then maybe people would put more thought into whether they want to save for a larger down payment (or the full price) or whether they want to pay $750,000 for a $400,000 house.
    I don’t know, maybe people see these numbers and think its a great deal. All I see is a bank making a huge amount of money from me that I would rather keep for myself. Also, if people stopped stretching their budget to the absolute limit with financing nonsense (3% down, variable rate loans, rate buydowns), in aggregate there would be less demand for houses at these high prices and sellers would have to start accepting lower offers.




  • Could you please elaborate on the claim that loans are essentially required for modern life in the US? You might be able to make the argument for a mortgage but even that is not absolutely required. Possibly student loans could be seen as required but those are largely government subsidized/administered and typically given out to younger people who haven’t yet gone through a bankruptcy.







  • Is the purpose of these subsidies to maintain oil and gas infrastructure so that the military can also use it?

    If the infrastructure is necessary for defense but not necessary for civilian use then it sounds like it should be paid for via tax, be maintained by the government, and counted as defense spending.

    This would increase the military’s fuel cost (to the true cost) and higher gas prices brought about by ending the subsidies would incentivize lower carbon transportation methods for civilians.