THE MORNING RANT: Hillbilly Paradox - Why do America’s Poorest States Have Such a High Level of Home Ownership?

Call them hillbillies, rednecks, hayseeds, hicks, or whatever you might please, “poor” Americans in rural states are much more likely to be property owners than urbane Americans living in more affluent states.

The importance of property ownership to the people that Hillary Clinton smeared as being a “basket of deplorables” is significant. Be it ever so humble, a domicile with a deed is a source of wealth, security and self-reliance.

The New York Post ran an article last week titled “Why Some of America’s Poorest States Have the Highest Homeownership” which didn’t actually provide an answer to the question posed in the headline. The closest it came to offering an answer is by suggesting that higher income states also have more expensive real estate.

For starters, this article is measuring rich and poor based on income, not wealth. A tech-bro renting an expensive downtown loft and leasing a Tesla may be leading an affluent lifestyle, but it doesn’t mean his personal net worth exceeds that of the plumber who owns an inexpensive house in a small town beyond the city sprawl.

West Virginia leads all states with a 77% homeownership rate, followed closely by Delaware (75.7%), Mississippi (75.5%), Maine (75.5%), and Wyoming (74.5%), according to U.S. Census data. Despite the high ownership percentages, these states—for the most part—have vastly lower average incomes compared with the rest of the country.

Per this article, Mississippi and West Virginia have the two lowest average incomes in the nation, yet they are the 1st and 3rd highest in homeownership rate.

Other lower-income states with high ownership include Alabama (9th ownership, 48th income), South Carolina (12th ownership, 44th income), Idaho (15th ownership, 40th income), and New Mexico (18th ownership, 45th income).

Conversely, the highest income states have the lowest rate of homeownership.

States with the lowest homeownership rate include some of the nation’s highest-earning states: New York (6th income, 50th for ownership), California (4th income, 49th ownership), Nevada (25th income, 48th ownership), Hawaii (26th income, 47th ownership), and Massachusetts (1st income, 46th ownership).

The density of high population states and the associated cost of scarce real estate plays a role…

“A few factors are at play here,” says Realtor.com® economist Hannah Jones. “States with lower median income levels tend to have lower home prices as well, even when considered relative to earnings. Though California, New York, and Massachusetts are among the highest-earning states in the U.S., buyers also see the highest home prices relative to income levels.”

But the difference is certainly cultural too. The “red state” mindset is one of self-reliance, which includes property ownership, with all the security and freedom that comes from possessing real estate. These heartland homeowners understand better than the targets of the “rent don’t buy” hustle that with a finite number of rental properties, a homeowner will never be desperately looking for an affordable place to rent.

The “poor” homeowner out beyond the central city not only sleeps on a little patch of wealth every night, but he often uses part of his property as a source of additional income, be it in his shed, carport, garage, or on his extra land. The store of wealth under his feet offers the opportunity to create more wealth. It also frequently offers a measure of generational wealth that he can pass on to his children

Interestingly, homeownership among black Americans is also highest in the South. After emancipation, it would make sense that owning real property would hold such cultural importance in that region of the country. This is from a report produced in 2023 by the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University.

Homeownership rates among Black households also varied significantly across the country. Under a quarter of Black households were homeowners in four states with small Black populations: North Dakota (9.0 percent), South Dakota (22.2 percent), Hawaii (24.2 percent), and Minnesota (24.2 percent). Meanwhile, homeownership rates were highest in a handful of Southern states with large Black populations. Indeed, between 50.1 and 52.8 percent of Black households were homeowners in Alabama, Delaware, Maryland, Mississippi, and South Carolina.

A few days ago, John Hinderaker at Powerline discussed the “Great Sort” of people fleeing blue states for the economic and personal freedom of red states. This is having the unfortunate effect of driving up real estate prices in the destination states, but their motivation is understandable, for owning a piece of dirt in a culturally conservative state is the ultimate dream for millions of freedom-loving people.

[buck.throckmorton at protonmail dot com]

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at 11:00 AM

Comments

(Jump to bottom of comments)

1 Guten Tag

Posted by: Outside of Life at August 02, 2024 11:00 AM (89Sog)

2 First?

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:01 AM (J2vNu)

3 And we were having such an eel-good time with the eel puns

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:01 AM (J2vNu)

4 I even nooded.

Posted by: Outside of Life at August 02, 2024 11:01 AM (89Sog)

5 And we were having such an eel-good time with the eel puns
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius

And the naughty talk about mermaids.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 02, 2024 11:02 AM (v6JzV)

6 Mobile homes = ownership

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 02, 2024 11:02 AM (Q4IgG)

7 As my dad said back when we took a drive out into Cajun country in South Louisiana, "I expected to see more squalor!"

Posted by: muldoon at August 02, 2024 11:02 AM (uCfKO)

8 Once had to be a property owner to vote...I still think it was a pretty good idea.

Posted by: BignJames at August 02, 2024 11:03 AM (AwYPR)

9 My guess is old America ethnic, work hard but priorities first

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2024 11:03 AM (D4TxR)

10 Home ownership is the antithesis of the Democrat/leftist ideal of "you will own nothing and love it."

On the contrary, I own my own home and love it.

Posted by: Shenanigans at August 02, 2024 11:03 AM (pZ0Mr)

11 7 As my dad said back when we took a drive out into Cajun country in South Louisiana, "I expected to see more squalor!"
Posted by: muldoon
=========
Try driving down US 61 into the Mississippi Delta. Tar paper shacks still exist in the US.

But in California, many of these people would be living in their cars or in a box. And so it goes.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:04 AM (qdbNv)

12 Blue state people have high incomes, but when you pay $10 for coffee every morning, you'll have less for buying a house.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:04 AM (xCA6C)

13 Our home is a tiny two-level townhouse. But it's paid off. So, it's a castle as far as I'm concerned.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 02, 2024 11:04 AM (v6JzV)

14 Starter homes at $1 million might make it difficult to own in some areas...

Posted by: Inogame at August 02, 2024 11:05 AM (53oGX)

15 Oh wrt was pretty today and bewbs!

Home ownership is good

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 02, 2024 11:05 AM (EGSGm)

16 12 Blue state people have high incomes, but when you pay $10 for coffee every morning, you'll have less for buying a house.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:04 AM (xCA6C)

=======

We need Joe Xiden to tell us that he only pays $9 and that leasing his 900 sq ft condo in San Francisco has no disadvantages at all.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, riding the anarchy train with John Landis at August 02, 2024 11:05 AM (GBKbO)

17 10 Home ownership is the antithesis of the Democrat/leftist ideal of "you will own nothing and love it."

On the contrary, I own my own home and love it.
Posted by: Shenanigans
======
Misshapen idea that individual fairness can scale up into fairness wholesale. Simply not possible because people differ in their talents, work ethic, and culture.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:05 AM (qdbNv)

18 Non-home ownership means renting, which (in large scales) means investors. Investors want returns, so you go where the easier money is- densely populated, high COLA Blue metro areas.

While I'm sure plenty of people rent out properties in West Virginia, it's not where investors would consider putting a lot of capital. It's probably more families that inherit a second property, or maybe small local LLCs.

Posted by: Moron Analyst at August 02, 2024 11:05 AM (JCZqz)

19 Under a quarter of Black households were homeowners in four states with small Black populations: North Dakota (9.0 percent)

LOL. That's because a significant fraction of the black population of North Dakota is in the Air Force, or is in the family of someone in the Air Force. They're not going to buy a house.

Posted by: The ARC of History! at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (uxCna)

20 8 Once had to be a property owner to vote...I still think it was a pretty good idea.
Posted by: BignJames at August 02, 2024 11:03 AM (AwYPR)

In general, I agree. Yet we have these oligarchs (Black Rock, Bill Gates, etc.) that are buying up property left and right. Taken to the extreme, one could see the oligarchs owning most everything, the common working man - not so much.
What then?

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (N39Ws)

21 Here we go:

The chick with the long nose and probably nice rack on Varney's show just said foreign born workers gained 1.2m jobs, while native born lost that many.

PDT needs to hammer this home.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (ufFY8)

22 Oh art was pretty today and bewbs!

Home ownership creates good citizenship

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (EGSGm)

23 How many homes does Mister Moo Moo own?

Posted by: muldoon at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (uCfKO)

24 We need Joe Xiden to tell us that he only pays $9 and that leasing his 900 sq ft condo in San Francisco has no disadvantages at all.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison
========
Plus the long extension cord to plug in his electric car is a feature.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (qdbNv)

25 Thx Buck, good post. As Tony Soprano said to his son " buy land AJ , God isn't making any more of it"

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (EZPzy)

26 I just finished reading Hillbilly Elegy. Vance touches on the cultural aspects of this. He notes some of the personal choices that contribute to low income culture and communities.

Posted by: lurking grandma at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (sujqA)

27 I'm sure that someone somewhere will insist that it's raysis that poor white people have houses.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 02, 2024 11:07 AM (lXoJ5)

28 ... these states—for the most part—have vastly lower average incomes compared with the rest of the country.

This is such an asinine metric. It is, I assume, obvious that life in Sand Fork, WV is not the same as life in LA or NYC. People living in congested areas tend to have higher incomes but higher expenses as well. I've never understood why they don't use a ratio of income/CoL except that it might make the congested areas look a bit less rosy.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:07 AM (T7iTv)

29
I was doing the math this morning as to how much value my modest garden would save on produce this summer and came up with an estimate of five hundred dollars. Try that in a rental.

Also, with average social security payments of a little more then a thousand dollars a month, how the hell are you going to eat with what little is left over after paying rent? Not that home ownership is completely without cost when one retires, but it's nowhere close to rental costs.

Posted by: Divide by Zero at August 02, 2024 11:07 AM (RKVpM)

30 Seeing apartments and a few.condos going up around here but few new homes. Of course the governor is wanting to triple property taxes. Asshole!

Posted by: Diogenes at August 02, 2024 11:07 AM (W/lyH)

31 I'll add another reason why blue cities have lower percentages of homeownership: the propaganda from landlords in blue cities -- and a compliant liberal media -- that "renting is better than buying." People believe this garbage, especially younger people.

Now, there are times when renting is better than buying. Such as when you're not sure whether you'll stay in X location long-term, and obviously when you lack the downstroke and/or means to buy.

But overall, buying is much much better than renting. Like duh. But far too many people are too susceptible to bullshit propaganda.

Posted by: Elric Blade at August 02, 2024 11:08 AM (iFTx/)

32 Houses are cheaper in poor states.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:08 AM (B9Dv5)

33 And here I missed throwing 'the eel in the sky keeps on turning' into the last thread.

*hangs head*

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 02, 2024 11:09 AM (kgE5c)

34 Jeepers, how can this be? Must be rayciss.

Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:10 AM (FmapG)

35 And we were having such an eel-good time with the eel puns

*********

this thread is about houses.

/Shack-eel O'Neel

Posted by: muldoon at August 02, 2024 11:10 AM (uCfKO)

36 21 Here we go:

The chick with the long nose and probably nice rack on Varney's show just said foreign born workers gained 1.2m jobs, while native born lost that many.

PDT needs to hammer this home.
Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (ufFY

Interesting. Recall the brutal conversation the black journalist conference moderators had with Trump. When PDT mentioned illegals taking black jobs - they got all bent out of shape. If these bints could get past seeing everyting through a racist POV, everyone would see Trump is right.

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at August 02, 2024 11:10 AM (N39Ws)

37 FIRST!!!!!

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:10 AM (Zz0t1)

38 California has less home ownership than Hawaii.

I find that quite shocking.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:10 AM (Zz0t1)

39 32 Houses are cheaper in poor states.
Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:08 AM (B9Dv5)

Yes, but acknowledging that goes counter to shouting "BOOTSTRAPS".

Posted by: XTC at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (UnA8+)

40 It is difficult to overstate the value of property. Owning land (with or without a dwelling) is where it's at.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (Q4IgG)

41 And here I missed throwing 'the eel in the sky keeps on turning' into the last thread.

*hangs head*
Posted by: RedMindBlueState

Don't be un aginy about it.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (v6JzV)

42 My co-worker in SoCal just purchased his first home; it's a 980 sq ft house, 3 small bedrooms, 2 smaller bathrooms, tiny postage yard for $640,000. His monthly mortgage payment = $5,000. He grumbles about being poor to which I tell him, no one is forcing you to live in CA. Though he is a liberal, so I rather he never leaves CA.

Posted by: IC - #FJB at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (YiKO5)

43 Where do you find block busting? Poor states or Rich Shitholes?

Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (FmapG)

44 Living in the mid Hudson the house prices are crazy. Why ? Lot of people want out of NYC but want to be relatively close. Plus any new developments are met with NIMBY and with environmental requirements , prevailing wage laws and with requirements for building low income sections.

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (EZPzy)

45 Morning.

So the pohs are independent and the "elite" are renters paying for the privilege of living in fashionable urban centers. Go figure.

Posted by: Robert at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (1Yy3c)

46 26 I just finished reading Hillbilly Elegy. Vance touches on the cultural aspects of this. He notes some of the personal choices that contribute to low income culture and communities.
Posted by: lurking grandma
========
To some degree that is true, to another is the degree that jobs are shipped abroad, the decline in agricultural jobs, and that many of these areas were targeted for selling death dealing drugs to just as ghettos are.

You destroy a community by shipping jobs abroad, regulating jobs out of existence, and hollowing out any economic opportunity by sucking up to the likes of Wal Mart, you end up destroying a lot of individuals leading to the death of communities.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (qdbNv)

47 Do not discount "income inequality" in driving up the wealth of richer states. They do tend toward a class of oligarchs ruling over a poorer class of subordinates. This cannot be enough by itself, but it is probably a factor.

Posted by: Eeyore at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (1bNHn)

48 LOL. That's because a significant fraction of the black population of North Dakota is in the Air Force, or is in the family of someone in the Air Force. They're not going to buy a house.

Eh. My Dad was a Naval officer, and bought a house in virtually every place we moved. They appreciated, and in the meantime, provided rental income.

Sure, that requires some short-term belt tightening, but it really paid off for his kids when he passed.

Granted, that would be more difficult on an enlisted salary, but still.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:12 AM (xCA6C)

49 Don't be un aginy about it.
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM

*golf clap*

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 02, 2024 11:12 AM (kgE5c)

50 Sorry about the double post

Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion at August 02, 2024 11:12 AM (EGSGm)

51 Sorry about the double post
Posted by: vmom stabby stabby stabby stabby stabamillion

It's OK. You mentioned boobs.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 02, 2024 11:13 AM (v6JzV)

52 My wife & I just bought 80 acres in rural Mississippi this spring & are still in the process of moving. The more time I spend up there, the more I hate to come back to where I have spent most of my life, metro New Orleans.

Posted by: Dino58 at August 02, 2024 11:13 AM (LVPff)

53 "AI is over hyped"

LOL duh.

Ford is trading at $10. 6x earnings.

Yikes, and interesting.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at August 02, 2024 11:13 AM (ufFY8)

54 The importance of property ownership to the people that Hillary Clinton smeared as being a “basket of deplorables” is significant.
---
Can we not do this?

Hillary smeared ~50% of Trump voters as "deplorables". As bad and *exclusive* as that was, it didn't mean everybody in a district that would likely go to Trump.

It wasn't a general slam at a culture, as far as I can see.

This type of taking somebody's language and running with it is what Democrats typically do. I don't think conservatives should start sullying their understanding of terms simply because the other side has no desire to control their construances.

I'd like to leave it up to *that* side to short-circuit their thinking.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:13 AM (krQz2)

55 Thx Buck, good post. As Tony Soprano said to his son " buy land AJ , God isn't making any more of it"
Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (EZPzy)

Volcanos in the South Pacific beg to differ, but it's gonna take a while.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:13 AM (Zz0t1)

56 Living in the mid Hudson the house prices are crazy. Why ? Lot of people want out of NYC but want to be relatively close. Plus any new developments are met with NIMBY and with environmental requirements , prevailing wage laws and with requirements for building low income sections.
Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM

Bingo. This is part of the reason I'm having a hell of a time finding a house I can afford in southern NH. All the other Massholes are trying to escape, too, but still need to be near work.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 02, 2024 11:13 AM (kgE5c)

57 And we were having such an eel-good time with the eel puns
Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:01 AM (J2vNu)

I've found the one thing that will distract the Horde from awesome bewbage...Stories of people shoving things in their ass.

Posted by: Robert at August 02, 2024 11:14 AM (1Yy3c)

58 I just finished reading Hillbilly Elegy. Vance touches on the cultural aspects of this. He notes some of the personal choices that contribute to low income culture and communities.
Posted by: lurking grandma at August 02, 2024 11:06 AM (sujqA)

I just started it the other night. But I tend not to read much on weeknights. So I will tear into it this weekend. So far his writing style seems very readable.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Misunderstanding Comments for Humorous Effect at August 02, 2024 11:14 AM (xPJvm)

59 I watched Knox Goes Away last night. Great story well filmed. Highly recommend. Its like reading an Elmore Leonard paperback. Two thumbs up.

Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:14 AM (FmapG)

60 Rent control = higher prices.

Why? It artificially limits the market of available houses or apartments.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:14 AM (ioD89)

61 And of course there is the simple fact that money doesn't have the same value in all 50 states. When we moved to NC we found it MUCH cheaper to live than in Richmond, VA.

Posted by: Eeyore at August 02, 2024 11:14 AM (1bNHn)

62 Living in the mid Hudson the house prices are crazy. Why ? Lot of people want out of NYC but want to be relatively close.

My daughter lives in a shoebox in Manhattan, but is thinking about moving to Philly (shudder) because she only has to go in 1-2 days a week.

Also, the eastern part of WV is becoming a suburb of DC and the DC burbs on the western side. It won't be long before you're reading stories about how WVians are being pushed out.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:15 AM (xCA6C)

63 42 My co-worker in SoCal just purchased his first home; it's a 980 sq ft house, 3 small bedrooms, 2 smaller bathrooms, tiny postage yard for $640,000. His monthly mortgage payment = $5,000. He grumbles about being poor to which I tell him, no one is forcing you to live in CA. Though he is a liberal, so I rather he never leaves CA.
Posted by: IC - #FJB at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (YiKO5)

A lot of people got shuffled into careers for which you can only find jobs in major metro areas. Even if they move to red states they have to move to the largest metro areas in those red states, and those areas tend to be the most liberal.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:15 AM (B9Dv5)

64 Eel in your ass keep on turnin.......

Posted by: Journey at August 02, 2024 11:15 AM (Zz0t1)

65 My late brother was an engineer and sales rep for a company that sold mining equipment. He was very impressed with how coal miners lived. They set themselves up financially so that if the union went on strike, the miners could hold off almost forever. Their houses may not have been the greatest, but they owned them. They could grow and hunt their own food. And they could do their own handyman work. They're very independent people.

Posted by: nerdygirl at August 02, 2024 11:15 AM (0Htd1)

66 tiny postage yard for $640,000. His monthly mortgage payment = $5,000.

Ugh.

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at August 02, 2024 11:15 AM (ufFY8)

67 I've found the one thing that will distract the Horde from awesome bewbage...Stories of people shoving things in their ass.
Posted by: Robert at August 02, 2024 11:14 AM

I shudder to think about the stories nurse will have after her shift today.

Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 02, 2024 11:15 AM (kgE5c)

68 Owning a home used to be an integral component of achieving The (Vanishing) American Dream.

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:15 AM (lY72Y)

69 Eh. My Dad was a Naval officer, and bought a house in virtually every place we moved. They appreciated, and in the meantime, provided rental income.

That's way more difficult for enlisted.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:16 AM (T7iTv)

70 As long as there are property taxes, you are still a renter.

Posted by: G'rump928(c) muses at August 02, 2024 11:16 AM (aD39U)

71 Being fairly recently widowed and having a rapidly emptying nest, I have a property I can't keep up with, physically, and just barely financially. When you've spent 30 years building a life for a family and suddenly you're trying to maintain that life as just one person, with a 1/3 of the income you once had (Did you know there are no survivor's benefits until you're 60, unless you're disabled?)... Oy.

Anyway, I want out. I feel kinda like the Wicked Witch of the West (see my striped sock/foot there under the house?). I still have a lot of work to do (and never enough time) in order to make that happen. But I know I won't be renting when I leave. It'll either be a small house on a small property, or a condo.

I'm paying a LOT less than I would be if I were renting. And... equity.

Posted by: Lady Who Always Has a Burning Question at August 02, 2024 11:16 AM (JCLJi)

72 The more time I spend up there, the more I hate to come back to where I have spent most of my life, metro New Orleans.
Posted by: Dino58 at August 02, 2024

***
You're not alone, Dino. The place has become even more of a cesspool than it used to be. I really do plan to flee this year.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:16 AM (J2vNu)

73 One of my favorite TV shows is Barnwood Builders. A bunch of hardworking West Virginia men, happy, devoutly Christian and just a hoot to watch. I love seeing the Appalachia mountains, and really want to visit there.

My clan settled in West Virginia, way back when it was still Virigina. Up toward Wheeling.

Posted by: Pug Mahon, Misunderstanding Comments for Humorous Effect at August 02, 2024 11:17 AM (xPJvm)

74 The art thread was 10/10 for bewbs.

Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 02, 2024 11:17 AM (cf/0E)

75 And of course there is the simple fact that money doesn't have the same value in all 50 states. When we moved to NC we found it MUCH cheaper to live than in Richmond, VA.

This amuses me. Richmond is viewed as the new low-cost alternative to DC. It's red hot with young people right now.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:17 AM (xCA6C)

76 Our home is a tiny two-level townhouse. But it's paid off. So, it's a castle as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus

My friend rented one for years. Clean, new, and convenient. Though I never asked him about the plumbing.

Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 02, 2024 11:17 AM (IG4Id)

77 Granted, that would be more difficult on an enlisted salary, but still.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024

My ex husband was an NCO. We bought everywhere we moved, even before I started working. Nothing huge, but we managed.

Posted by: Piper at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (pZEOD)

78 "AI is over hyped"

Posted by: Deplorable Ian Galt at August 02, 2024 11:13 AM (ufFY

---
I've been trying to tell people that from the start.

There's a group of people that have a quasi-religious belief in it. They call themselves (or used to call themselves "transhumans"). They really believe that the key to the future is to become less human.

I'd venture that they actually believe that "true technology" will allow someone in the future to fully pick their genitals, and probably the dumber ones believe that we can have the effect of changing every cell in your body from XY to XX or vice versa.

At this point, AI are clever regurgitators of read material.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (krQz2)

79 Yes, but acknowledging that goes counter to shouting "BOOTSTRAPS".
Posted by: XTC
======
Yes it does. Supply and demand plus substitution effect are two cornerstone economic concepts that always work in practice.

Lower median income in an area corresponds with cheaper housing as you get fewer wanting to buy and more wanting to sell dwellings, etc.

On the other hand, if you get a sudden spike as the great Dakota fracking rush, then cheap houses are snapped up by those people moving in to get high wages and those who are local not in those industries suffering an increase in house prices.

Almost like it was a science or something.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (qdbNv)

80 I live in 432 sq ft in a 5,000 + square ft barn on 60 acres.

Posted by: Ben Had at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (5MvGY)

81 Eh. My Dad was a Naval officer, and bought a house in virtually every place we moved. They appreciated, and in the meantime, provided rental income.

That's way more difficult for enlisted.

I addressed that in my comment.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (xCA6C)

82 Posted by: IC - #FJB at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (YiKO5)

Were you guys able to move from California? It's been a while, but I seen to remember you were looking.

Posted by: Polliwog the 'Ette at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (s9EYN)

83 You destroy a community by shipping jobs abroad, regulating jobs out of existence, and hollowing out any economic opportunity by sucking up to the likes of Wal Mart, you end up destroying a lot of individuals leading to the death of communities.
------------------
Had smoke with a Japanese LTC a few minutes ago. A pack of cigarettes in Japan is $4 a pack. They are $10 a pack here in VA. Something is all fucked up.

Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (FmapG)

84 Eh. My Dad was a Naval officer, and bought a house in virtually every place we moved. They appreciated, and in the meantime, provided rental income.

Sure, that requires some short-term belt tightening, but it really paid off for his kids when he passed.
Posted by: Archimedes

Ewww. Sacrifice MY fun and happiness now, for kids I probably won't want or have? No thanks! I'm living my best life, having mimosa brunches with my besties, taking trips to the Caribbean, and working on my business!!!

Posted by: Single AWFL wine cat-mom at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (JCZqz)

85 THE MORNING RANT: Hillbilly Paradox - Why do America’s Poorest States Have Such a High Level of Home Ownership?

Travel Appalachia.

One wouldn't call them houses as much as shanties or shacks.

The median sale price of a home in Appalachia is $14,000 THOUSAND dollars.

The median sale price per square foot in Appalachia is $7 dollars.

Not hard to own that even on the dole.

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:19 AM (Ps4hc)

86 Still playing with 'AI' generated art.

https://tensor.art/posts/757066575506368564

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:19 AM (ioD89)

87 -- The “red state” mindset is one of self-reliance, which includes property ownership, with all the security and freedom that comes from possessing real estate. --

Add to this that those low-income states are preponderantly family friendly, and are home to large numbers of multigeneration families. That's a pattern that demands property ownership; renting is more likely to cause generations to separate and scatter.

Posted by: Francis W. Porretto at August 02, 2024 11:19 AM (Nmmyc)

88 I worked with a guy that was from Maryland. He HATED Texas because the cost of living was significantly lower than MD and he couldn't afford to move back home.

I laughed at him. A lot.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:20 AM (Zz0t1)

89 "Buy some land! Buy some land! Fuck spinning rims!"

Posted by: JSchuler at August 02, 2024 11:20 AM (l6eKM)

90 Our home is a tiny two-level townhouse. But it's paid off. So, it's a castle as far as I'm concerned.
Posted by: Bulgaroctonus

My friend rented one for years. Clean, new, and convenient. Though I never asked him about the plumbing.
Posted by: weft cut-loop at August 02, 2024

***
I rented one in th emid-'80s. In a cool-to-cold climate, the upstairs, usually where the bedrooms are, is warm. In a hot nasty environment, even central air can't keep up with the rising heat. Never again have I lived in such a place.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:20 AM (J2vNu)

91 At this point, AI are clever regurgitators of read material.
Posted by: Axeman

Fill in the blanks by probability theorems. Always limited in effect by their Bayesian prior which is why they try to hoover up as much free material on the web as they can to keep the model from going insane. In some limited areas, AI really means expert systems which can in specific circumstances generate pretty good predictive capabilities. I would suspect medical diagnoses from test results might be one such area. Another might be traffic flow management just off the top of my head.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:21 AM (qdbNv)

92 It's a very relevant discussion right now with many young people feeling priced out of even considering owning over renting, given the high mortgage rates.
I recently saw a listing for home in Nebraska for 149k, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, built in 1941. Looked nice.
Oh, and it came with 140 acres of land.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at August 02, 2024 11:21 AM (MeG8a)

93 ------------------
Had smoke with a Japanese LTC a few minutes ago. A pack of cigarettes in Japan is $4 a pack. They are $10 a pack here in VA. Something is all fucked up.
Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (FmapG)

Japs don't have a "sin tax" and aren't attacking the tobacco industry as at fault for every ill in society.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:21 AM (Zz0t1)

94 A libertarian economist on Wilkow's show was hawking a book on why it's better to rent and not own a home. That wasn't the topic for the segment, so after Wilkow said he likes his house, the economist said something to the effect of you have more freedom to move away when the taxman starts getting uppity. My preference is to own, but maybe he has a point.

Posted by: Chuck Martel at August 02, 2024 11:21 AM (fs1hN)

95 This amuses me. Richmond is viewed as the new low-cost alternative to DC. It's red hot with young people right now.
-----------------
Richmond blew their opportunity to be next big southern growth mecca back in the late 70s. All they had to was to expand their airport into an international airport. They didn't and then Charlotte took off.

Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:22 AM (FmapG)

96 And here I missed throwing 'the eel in the sky keeps on turning' into the last thread.

*hangs head*
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 02, 2024 11:09 AM (kgE5c)

The eel in this guy

Posted by: ... at August 02, 2024 11:22 AM (DzUVR)

97 We need Joe Xiden to tell us that he only pays $9 and that leasing his 900 sq ft condo in San Francisco has no disadvantages at all.

Strangely, I actually miss him a bit. And I don't think he's posting under a different name.

Posted by: Electric Vehicle Guy at August 02, 2024 11:22 AM (yOPBE)

98 In some limited areas, AI really means expert systems which can in specific circumstances generate pretty good predictive capabilities. I would suspect medical diagnoses from test results might be one such area.

Recent tests of AI in interpreting things like mammograms have shown that AI is as good as, if not better than, a physician.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:22 AM (xCA6C)

99 Whatever happened to the tiny houses that were a big thing a with the hipsters? Haven't heard much last few years. I suspect people decided they didn't want to live in a storage shed after all.

Posted by: Ripley at August 02, 2024 11:22 AM (GUOwU)

100 79 Almost like it was a science or something.
Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (qdbNv)

My father would say : "If you want it bad enough, you'll go work a second full-time job."

Posted by: XTC at August 02, 2024 11:22 AM (UnA8+)

101 The art thread was 10/10 for bewbs.
Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 02, 2024 11:17 AM (cf/0E)

10 were present but only 7 were presented. Surely that costs a point.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:23 AM (T7iTv)

102 It's a very relevant discussion right now with many young people feeling priced out of even considering owning over renting, given the high mortgage rates.
I recently saw a listing for home in Nebraska for 149k, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, built in 1941. Looked nice.
Oh, and it came with 140 acres of land.
Posted by: gourmand du jour

If I were young, I'd be all over that. Since a lot of jobs are remote and you can live anywhere you want.

You just have to WANT to live in the country. And most don't.

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:23 AM (Ps4hc)

103 56 Living in the mid Hudson the house prices are crazy. Why ? Lot of people want out of NYC but want to be relatively close. Plus any new developments are met with NIMBY and with environmental requirements , prevailing wage laws and with requirements for building low income sections.
Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM

Bingo. This is part of the reason I'm having a hell of a time finding a house I can afford in southern NH. All the other Massholes are trying to escape, too, but still need to be near work.
Posted by: RedMindBlueState at August 02, 2024 11:13 AM (kgE5c)

Seacoast NH is crazy too. $375k for a 1920 built 3br 1ba home with 6000 sq ft lot.
Something nicer? 2015 built 2000 sq ft house on 6k sq ft lot 3br 3ba is $675k

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at August 02, 2024 11:23 AM (N39Ws)

104 78 At this point, AI are clever regurgitators of read material.
Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (krQz2)

They're the next iteration of Search Engines.

(With most of the same flaws)

Posted by: XTC at August 02, 2024 11:24 AM (UnA8+)

105 102 It's a very relevant discussion right now with many young people feeling priced out of even considering owning over renting, given the high mortgage rates.
I recently saw a listing for home in Nebraska for 149k, 3 bedroom, 2 bath, built in 1941. Looked nice.
Oh, and it came with 140 acres of land.
Posted by: gourmand du jour

If I were young, I'd be all over that. Since a lot of jobs are remote and you can live anywhere you want.

You just have to WANT to live in the country. And most don't.
Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:23 AM (Ps4hc)

Even if you didn't want the old house - you have 140 acres. Live in it while you build new.

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at August 02, 2024 11:24 AM (N39Ws)

106 The median sale price of a home in Appalachia is $14,000 THOUSAND dollars.

The median sale price per square foot in Appalachia is $7 dollars.

Not hard to own that even on the dole.
Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods

My parents paid $12,000 for the house I grew up in, in the late 1950s, in southern Michigan. It sat on two lots and was YUGE. Had a basement with four rooms, and an attic. Lots of places for clutter to build up. But I loved it.

It had been originally built as a funeral parlor, around 1910. But I didn't know that when I was a little kid.

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 02, 2024 11:24 AM (v6JzV)

107 I knew darn well it would be smart to buy a house way back in the Eighties in the time of Mrs. Wolfus No. 2. And she agreed. But we spent everything we made, it seemed, and she was always getting fired, so our two-income setup was hit-or-miss.

Until very recently I did not have savings to make a large enough down payment so that my house note would even approximate rent, or even be something I could afford. It's worse now around here. Just one of many reasons why I want to flee to someplace more affordable.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:24 AM (J2vNu)

108 My ex husband was an NCO. We bought everywhere we moved, even before I started working. Nothing huge, but we managed.
Posted by: Piper at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (pZEOD)

Can't do that if you're single with no housing/food allowance.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:24 AM (T7iTv)

109 You just have to WANT to live in the country. And most don't.

But where would you get Ethiopian food at 3 am?

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:24 AM (xCA6C)

110 If we continue to screw up, the we have a greater chance of failure....

Posted by: Kamala Harris at August 02, 2024 11:25 AM (PYJJG)

111 93 ------------------
Had smoke with a Japanese LTC a few minutes ago. A pack of cigarettes in Japan is $4 a pack. They are $10 a pack here in VA. Something is all fucked up.
Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (FmapG)

Japs don't have a "sin tax" and aren't attacking the tobacco industry as at fault for every ill in society.
----------------
Well, Japan doesn't have Roundheads or Crazy Quakers. Their fanaticism starts with abolition, then temperance, then suffrage, then anti-tobacco, not its focused on erasing human beings. They toss and turn constantly worried that someone, somewhere is enjoying themselves. Drives these pukes crazy.

Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:25 AM (FmapG)

112 Seacoast NH is crazy too. $375k for a 1920 built 3br 1ba home with 6000 sq ft lot.
Something nicer? 2015 built 2000 sq ft house on 6k sq ft lot 3br 3ba is $675k

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at August 02, 2024 11:23 AM (N39Ws)

NH has...what?...20 miles of coastline?

Posted by: BignJames at August 02, 2024 11:25 AM (AwYPR)

113 But where would you get Ethiopian food at 3 am?

Sally Struthers?

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:25 AM (ioD89)

114 A libertarian economist on Wilkow's show was hawking a book on why it's better to rent and not own a home. That wasn't the topic for the segment, so after Wilkow said he likes his house, the economist said something to the effect of you have more freedom to move away when the taxman starts getting uppity. My preference is to own, but maybe he has a point.
Posted by: Chuck Martel

I bought a 2/1/1 in 1991 & paid $59,900.
I sold it in 2021 for $245,000.

If you moved in next door and rented and moved out in 2021, you would have made zero dollars.

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:25 AM (Ps4hc)

115 109 You just have to WANT to live in the country. And most don't.

But where would you get Ethiopian food at 3 am?
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:24 AM (xCA6C)

========

UberEats.

Just order before dinner time.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, riding the anarchy train with John Landis at August 02, 2024 11:25 AM (GBKbO)

116 My co-worker in SoCal just purchased his first home; it's a 980 sq ft house, 3 small bedrooms, 2 smaller bathrooms, tiny postage yard for $640,000. His monthly mortgage payment = $5,000. He grumbles about being poor to which I tell him, no one is forcing you to live in CA. Though he is a liberal, so I rather he never leaves CA.
Posted by: IC - #FJB at August 02, 2024 11:11 AM (YiKO5)

A lot of people got shuffled into careers for which you can only find jobs in major metro areas. Even if they move to red states they have to move to the largest metro areas in those red states, and those areas tend to be the most liberal.
Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:15 AM (B9Dv5)
_______

How do you get 3BR and 2B in 980 sf? 2BR condos in Manhattan are bigger than that. I have a 1BR duplex on the top floor, with about 650 interior space and 450 sf roof deck. No way I could fit 2 more BR and one more B in all of that space (including the deck).

Posted by: Elric Blade at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (iFTx/)

117 But property taxes mean you never truly own what is yours....

Posted by: lin-duh at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (9G7QU)

118 Tiny houses are 125K without the land. All so you have to move something out of the way to get to what you want.

Posted by: Tech Sgt. Chen at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (Z8Yh2)

119 Tax rates price people out up north and in Cali. That's a huge drain on yearly incomes.

Posted by: hamitchell at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (kE/nb)

120 I addressed that in my comment.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (xCA6C)

You expect me to read your WHOLE comment and not just the part I'm gonna bitch about? The nerve of some people.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (T7iTv)

121 But where would you get Ethiopian food at 3 am?
---------------
Pretty sure Insect Candy Bars are gonna be very next craze.

Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (FmapG)

122 @109 Ethiopians don't have food they have sand. Aah, aah , aah - Sam Kinison

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (EZPzy)

123
Morning, all! I'm off today. No workee.

Posted by: Blonde Morticia at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (ny95y)

124 You expect me to read your WHOLE comment and not just the part I'm gonna bitch about? The nerve of some people.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic

Heh.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:27 AM (xCA6C)

125
How many homes does Mister Moo Moo own?
Posted by: muldoon

All of them.

Posted by: Bertram Cabot, Jr. at August 02, 2024 11:27 AM (63Dwl)

126 I thought your Primary Residence was excluded from "Net Worth". So, if your $400k Residence is excluded...???

Posted by: Catherine at August 02, 2024 11:27 AM (JUpL6)

127 But if you want to know where the push to believe in AI comes from it's the transhuman cult and people in their sphere of influence.

But I would like to point out that in part, AI have already passed the Turing Test. A lot of people have already fallen for the idea that computers are already sort of *thinking*.

Which points out my BIG problem with Alan Turing and the Turing Test. Moderns like to say that a "extraordinary claim" needs "extraordinary evidence". The Turing Test just requires the crossing of the lines representing the improvement of intelligence simulation and the gullibility of a mass of people hyped on AI.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:27 AM (krQz2)

128 Also, the eastern part of WV is becoming a suburb of DC and the DC burbs on the western side. It won't be long before you're reading stories about how WVians are being pushed out.
Posted by: Archimedes

DC is about to die from the coming financial crash. Simply put, there will be masses of government contractors, fed gov employees, and agencies gone. There is no more wealth to seize as a recent work demonstrated that government debt and future obligations have consumed most of the capital in the US built since the Founding.

That which cannot continue will not and that includes government spending which pushed the whole boom in that area and pushed the median income in the DC surrounding counties to the highest in the nation.

These things go in cycles and DC's upcycle is unlikely to continue.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:27 AM (qdbNv)

129 112

NH has...what?...20 miles of coastline?
Posted by: BignJames at August 02, 2024 11:25 AM (AwYPR)

12 miles. But no income or sales tax. Our southern border is being invaded by massholes. Northern border (Canada) is becoming the northern front for illegals - and its getting bad.

Posted by: Our Country is Screwed at August 02, 2024 11:27 AM (N39Ws)

130 101 The art thread was 10/10 for bewbs.
Posted by: BourbonChicken at August 02, 2024 11:17 AM (cf/0E)

10 were present but only 7 were presented. Surely that costs a point.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic

I'd suggest a half-point deduction because the gals were a bit butterfacey. And don't say that shouldn't matter...many of my gals have great bewbs, but all I hear are complaints like "that's no moon", "that's a dude" or "I prefer boobs without a wang attached".

Posted by: Admiral Ackbar at August 02, 2024 11:27 AM (JCZqz)

131 You just have to WANT to live in the country. And most don't.
*
But where would you get Ethiopian food at 3 am?
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024

***
You can get locusts and honey in Nebraska!

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:28 AM (J2vNu)

132 You expect me to read your WHOLE comment and not just the part I'm gonna bitch about? The nerve of some people.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic
---
LOL.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:28 AM (krQz2)

133 Whatever happened to the tiny houses that were a big thing a with the hipsters? Haven't heard much last few years. I suspect people decided they didn't want to live in a storage shed after all.
Posted by: Ripley

Reality intruded. They found out cities have occupancy laws. Those tiny homes have to be hooked up to utilities. Mainly sewer.

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:28 AM (Ps4hc)

134 These things go in cycles and DC's upcycle is unlikely to continue.

We shall see. If that happens, we'll be okay since we bought a long time ago. My kids, however, would take it in the shorts.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:28 AM (xCA6C)

135 Morning, all! I'm off today. No workee.
Posted by: Blonde Morticia

Fine. No here's your list of errands.
-- Blonde Morticia's husband

Posted by: Bulgaroctonus at August 02, 2024 11:28 AM (v6JzV)

136 Our valley is experiencing the pricing out of the locals by the conservative people moving in from other states. We moved from OH for many reasons, that said what’s causing the difficulties are those from CA with huge amounts of cash they need to put into a new home. They rent or buy up the modest properties. Tear them down and rebuild, rent them til they move into their new homes and the next out of stater takes over the rental property. Very few affordable properties left. We built on vacant land that ousted cows and pasture for haying.

Posted by: neverenoughcaffeine at August 02, 2024 11:29 AM (2NHgQ)

137 93 ------------------
Had smoke with a Japanese LTC a few minutes ago. A pack of cigarettes in Japan is $4 a pack. They are $10 a pack here in VA. Something is all fucked up.
Posted by: Pudinhead at August 02, 2024 11:18 AM (FmapG)

Japs don't have a "sin tax" and aren't attacking the tobacco industry as at fault for every ill in society.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:21 AM (Zz0t1)

Also the yen is worth half what it was relative to the dollar. When I was younger I wanted to visit Japan but found it was impossibly expensive. These days you can get lunch there for six or seven bucks, something you can't do in my neighborhood.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:29 AM (B9Dv5)

138 Which points out my BIG problem with Alan Turing and the Turing Test. Moderns like to say that a "extraordinary claim" needs "extraordinary evidence". The Turing Test just requires the crossing of the lines representing the improvement of intelligence simulation and the gullibility of a mass of people hyped on AI.
Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:27 AM (krQz2)

Study released recently showed that AI tends to lean liberal.

That tells me it's NOT AI, but a programmed by man to have bias against the conservative.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:30 AM (Zz0t1)

139 "Hillary smeared ~50% of Trump voters as "deplorables". As bad and *exclusive* as that was, it didn't mean everybody in a district that would likely go to Trump."

Yeah, Hillary was doing the typical "divide and conquer" strategy. It was a scripted line she used many times, till it finally caught national attention. And not just deplorable, but "irredeemable". Just refuse that should be punched or shot or jailed.

It is safer to be leftist in a red state than to be MAGA in a blue city. And the divide between BigCity and the rest of any state would be another interesting study.

Posted by: illiniwek at August 02, 2024 11:30 AM (Cus5s)

140 Got to love this.

Latest run of AI generated images and Tensor has rated them NSFW so even I can't see the posts. But others are finding and liking them.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:30 AM (ioD89)

141 UberEats.

Just order before dinner time.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, riding the anarchy train with John Landis at August 02, 2024 11:25 AM (GBKbO)
---
It was rightly named: Uber eats into your bank account

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:30 AM (krQz2)

142 Lady who always has a burning question,
Come on out to rural KS! Affordable houses in many areas and good people.

Yes, you need to get rid of your house. Do whatever it takes to make that happen. Start researching home prices in other areas. You don't need financial stress in your life.

Posted by: Notsothoreau at August 02, 2024 11:30 AM (MdjE1)

143 I bought a 2/1/1 in 1991 & paid $59,900.
I sold it in 2021 for $245,000.
If you moved in next door and rented and moved out in 2021, you would have made zero dollars.
--------------
But you wouldn't have had to pay any maintenance, homeowners insurance, PMI, etc.
Also 30 yrs of fed destruction of the dollar probably would have turned 60k into 250k in nearly any asset

Posted by: FunkySeeFunkyDo at August 02, 2024 11:32 AM (PZ42z)

144 Like the lady said when I was applying for my Farm ID#, "Welcome to the peace & quit."

Posted by: Dino58 at August 02, 2024 11:32 AM (LVPff)

145 Quiet.

Posted by: Dino58 at August 02, 2024 11:32 AM (LVPff)

146 Hillary smeared ~50% of Trump voters as "deplorables". As bad and *exclusive* as that was, it didn't mean everybody in a district that would likely go to Trump.

It wasn't a general slam at a culture, as far as I can see.

Disagree. She said "basket of deplorables with their guns and Bibles", which is very cultural.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 02, 2024 11:32 AM (2ocoG)

147 It is safer to be leftist in a red state than to be MAGA in a blue city. And the divide between BigCity and the rest of any state would be another interesting study.

This man went to a Kamala event wearing a Trump shirt, and a Trump event wearing a Kamala shirt. The difference in how he was treated was stunning.

https://tinyurl.com/ycyntu7s

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (xCA6C)

148 My father would say : "If you want it bad enough, you'll go work a second full-time job."
Posted by: XTC
=======
Billy Joel made a whole song out of that particular situation. Anthony's song, "I'm Moving Out".

People can temporarily do some extraordinary things but at the expense of others including health and actually living more than a worker ant would.

There Ain't No Such Thing As A Free Lunch.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (qdbNv)

149 Multiple cities where a "starter" home is $1,000,000+.

Pick-up trucks that are $100,000+.

Who is buying these?
How?

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (j96Gc)

150 Yeah, Hillary was doing the typical "divide and conquer" strategy. It was a scripted line she used many times, till it finally caught national attention. And not just deplorable, but "irredeemable". Just refuse that should be punched or shot or jailed.

It is safer to be leftist in a red state than to be MAGA in a blue city. And the divide between BigCity and the rest of any state would be another interesting study.
Posted by: illiniwek at August 02, 2024 11:30 AM (Cus5s)

And remember how they went after Romney for saying 46% of the country would never vote for him.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (Zz0t1)

151 the more I hate to come back to where I have spent most of my life, metro New Orleans.

The place has become even more of a cesspool than it used to be. I really do plan to flee this year.

You need to host a going away party. Let the AOSHQ trash the place as you shake the dust from your feet…

Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (EXyHK)

152 There is no dust in New Orleans.

Only mud, mosquitos, alligators, and voodoo.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:34 AM (ioD89)

153 Buck,

I'll bet there is a correlation to total state tax rates.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 02, 2024 11:34 AM (d9fT1)

154 OT, Coincidence strikes again:
Slovakian swimmer Tamara Potocka, 21, collapses and is taken away on a stretcher in front of horrified spectators and her Brit rival after finishing seventh in Olympic 200m individual medley heat
https://shorturl.at/NlmAh

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 02, 2024 11:34 AM (FnneF)

155 Pick-up trucks that are $100,000+.

Who is buying these?
How?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (j96Gc)

Why?

Posted by: BignJames at August 02, 2024 11:34 AM (AwYPR)

156 SpongeBrain ShitPants climbed the stairs of the private jet that brought the hostages out of Russia after the ceremony at Andrews last night.

And Kumala and the Secret Service Retard Crew just stood around waiting for him to figure it out and climb out.

He's gone.

https://tinyurl.com/Shit-4-Brains

Posted by: Sharkman at August 02, 2024 11:35 AM (vsGEm)

157 Finally found out that the judge who shot down NYC attempts to block Texas illegals buses was NYS supreme Court , 1st division which is NYC area. NYC will appeal to appellate division

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 11:35 AM (EZPzy)

158 Delaware, West Virginia, etc. - low taxes! Also common sense. They don't keep moving to go further out for more, i.e., bigger and prettier.

BTW, there are many Black individuals and families in Philly region with a great deal of wealth tied up in & received from house & multi-family rental units, service ownerships (laundromats, day care centers, home healthcare operations, etc.), non-profit ownership, etc. There's knowledge of, and education in, SBA opportunities and opportunity hubs, and sophistication when it comes to business loans and educational opportunities.

If new administration rules hinder home, property buying or rents for apartments, the administration will know it and it will not stand.

Posted by: L - If they'll do it with you, they'll do it to you, too at August 02, 2024 11:35 AM (NFX2v)

159 149 Multiple cities where a "starter" home is $1,000,000+.

Pick-up trucks that are $100,000+.

Who is buying these?
How?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (j96Gc)

=======

Our starter home in Charleston, well on James Island, cost us about $250,000. We bought it about a decade ago (sold about 4 years ago).

Its Zillow estimate is now over $600,000. A good bit over $600,000.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, riding the anarchy train with John Landis at August 02, 2024 11:35 AM (GBKbO)

160 And remember how they went after Romney for saying 46% of the country would never vote for him.

Washed up singer/actor Clay Aiken posted on X the other day something like "Wasn't it better when Presidential politics was civilized" with a picture of John McCain.

All of the replies were links to batshit insane articles about how McCain was a literal neo-Nazi who was personally killing black babies.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 02, 2024 11:35 AM (2ocoG)

161 If your parents die and leave you a house in WV, or SC, you move in and make yourself at home. No mortgage is great. You don't need the big income if your housing is free*

*Still have property taxes, but they are low in WV and SC.

Posted by: no one of any consequence at August 02, 2024 11:36 AM (+H2BX)

162 It is safer to be leftist in a red state than to be MAGA in a blue city. And the divide between BigCity and the rest of any state would be another interesting study.
Posted by: illiniwek at August 02, 2024 11:30 AM (Cus5s)

Couple days back someone posted a video of a guy who went to a Biden event wearing a Trump shirt followed by going to a Trump even wearing a Biden shirt.

The difference in receptions was stark.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:36 AM (T7iTv)

163 People can temporarily do some extraordinary things but at the expense of others including health and actually living more than a worker ant would.

As bad as it is, I wouldn't trade for the poor people in China. Even getting married requires that the man already have a house/condo, which is phenomenally expensive. Women are desperate because they can't find a man that's suitable. It's just a terrible place to live.

On top of that, the whole place looks like it's ready to undergo an enormous crash. I suppose we may be keeping them company.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:36 AM (xCA6C)

164 So did the jet take Joey back to the USSR?

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:36 AM (ioD89)

165 How do you get 3BR and 2B in 980 sf? 2BR condos in Manhattan are bigger than that. I have a 1BR duplex on the top floor, with about 650 interior space and 450 sf roof deck. No way I could fit 2 more BR and one more B in all of that space (including the deck).
Posted by: Elric Blade at August 02, 2024 11:26 AM (iFTx/)

Sure you could. A 12x12 foot bedroom is only 144 sq ft. Not every bedroom has to be a master bedroom.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:36 AM (B9Dv5)

166 160 Washed up singer/actor Clay Aiken posted on X the other day something like "Wasn't it better when Presidential politics was civilized" with a picture of John McCain.

All of the replies were links to batshit insane articles about how McCain was a literal neo-Nazi who was personally killing black babies.
Posted by: Ian S. at August 02, 2024 11:35 AM (2ocoG)

========

*the 1800 election has entered the chat*

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, riding the anarchy train with John Landis at August 02, 2024 11:36 AM (GBKbO)

167 OT, Coincidence strikes again:
Slovakian swimmer Tamara Potocka, 21, collapses and is taken away on a stretcher in front of horrified spectators and her Brit rival after finishing seventh in Olympic 200m individual medley heat
https://shorturl.at/NlmAh
Posted by: Helena Handbasket

It was the heat! Even they admitted that!
Reeeeeeeeeee!!!!

😂😂😂😂

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:37 AM (Ps4hc)

168 Buck,

I'll bet there is a correlation to total state tax rates.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 02, 2024 11:34 AM (d9fT1)

Lived in Jersey as a teen...lots of locals didn't own because of property taxes.

Posted by: BignJames at August 02, 2024 11:37 AM (AwYPR)

169 109
‘ But where would you get Ethiopian food at 3 am?’

In my toilet bowl if I ever have to eat it again.

Posted by: Dr. Claw at August 02, 2024 11:37 AM (jbnUc)

170 >>>
==
Couple days back someone posted a video of a guy who went to a Biden event wearing a Trump shirt followed by going to a Trump even wearing a Biden shirt.

The difference in receptions was stark.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:36 AM (T7iTv)

Now you're just messing with Archimedes.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 02, 2024 11:37 AM (FnneF)

171 Pick-up trucks that are $100,000+.

Who is buying these?
How?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (j96Gc)

Why?

From what I've seen, nobody is buying them, and that's a huge problem for Ford and GM.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:38 AM (xCA6C)

172 Fair number of houses in the $100k-$150k range here, but the city's gone to hell and the neighborhoods can be crap. Also the job market's garbage outside certain specific sectors.

Posted by: Brother Tim sez fuck cancer at August 02, 2024 11:38 AM (OUMaO)

173 Pick-up trucks that are $100,000+.

Who is buying these?
How?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (j96Gc)

7/8 year auto loans. They're essentially rentals at this point.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:39 AM (T7iTv)

174
He's gone.

https://tinyurl.com/Shit-4-Brains
Posted by: Sharkman at August 02, 2024 11:35 AM (vsGEm)

They had no clue what to do. He was unaccompanied on that plane. Did they know if anyone was still on board or not?

We're a joke......

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:39 AM (Zz0t1)

175 Pick-up trucks that are $100,000+.

Who is buying these?
How?

People who want to be well prepared to run over Antifa?

Posted by: Ian S. at August 02, 2024 11:39 AM (2ocoG)

176 149 Multiple cities where a "starter" home is $1,000,000+.

Pick-up trucks that are $100,000+.

Who is buying these?
How?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice
=========
Debt. That ad that showed a guy living the good life beside the pool and asking how he could afford it--I'm in debt up to my eyeballs is the answer.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:39 AM (qdbNv)

177
From what I've seen, nobody is buying them, and that's a huge problem for Ford and GM.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:38 AM (xCA6C)

I see new trucks on the road quite often.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:39 AM (Zz0t1)

178 I rented a cute townhouse in RIC when I was on my own for the first time in my life. Had I stayed that way, I would have been happy in it, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths. It was plenty for my kiddo and me.

Our house now is 4 bedrooms, 3.5 baths, small yard because we live in a downtown area, just big enough for our little pool and a side and front yard. It’s appreciated over $200k since we built it in 2021, which is insane.

Posted by: Piper at August 02, 2024 11:39 AM (pZEOD)

179 ‘ But where would you get Ethiopian food at 3 am?’

Why would I want an MRE at 3 am?

(MRE- Meals Rejected by Ethiopians)

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:40 AM (Ps4hc)

180 And remember how they went after Romney for saying 46% of the country would never vote for him.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (Zz0t1)

Turns out it was 52.8%, officially at least.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:40 AM (T7iTv)

181 So did the jet take Joey back to the USSR?

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:36 AM (ioD89)

-----------------

"Those Moscow girls really knock him out ..."

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:40 AM (lY72Y)

182 From what I've seen, nobody is buying them, and that's a huge problem for Ford and GM.
Posted by: Archimedes

Come to Texas. They're all over.

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:40 AM (Ps4hc)

183 I bought my place in '88 at auction. There had been a fire in it. As is sale, sealed bid auction. Won it for $126k.
You don't want to know what zillow has it for now.
OK, you do.
$1.2M

Posted by: gourmand du jour at August 02, 2024 11:41 AM (MeG8a)

184 (MRE- Meals Rejected by Ethiopians)

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:40 AM (Ps4hc)

--------------

Heh. Stolen!

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:41 AM (lY72Y)

185 I see new trucks on the road quite often.

Same. The new Silverados where the front end looks like a brick wall flying at you in the rear-view are already pretty common.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 02, 2024 11:41 AM (2ocoG)

186 Study released recently showed that AI tends to lean liberal.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:30 AM (Zz0t1)
---
And that makes sense because

1) transhumanist are usually *rather* liberal, they probably believe in "changing genders" because the human body is just a series of problems to solve.

2) Liberals unite by politics. ex-lib Burt Prelutsky wrote that he noticed, in his expulsion from lib circles, that progressives actually aren't very fond of each other, and that it's political causes that tend to keep them united. Such that if you credit Reagan as having done something valuable, you are moving away from the Cause that unites them. And that is a lot of hatred of what is and has been and people who what to conserve that.

Thus transhumanists are often citing the "core beliefs" on that side. Thus, liberals are in the "sphere of influence" of transhumanists.

Hype and interest, and thereby funding, is driven by transhumanism. Thus it's largely liberals who are developing AI as "AI", so they want the transcendent brains to reaffirm liberal ideas.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:41 AM (krQz2)

187 I bought my place in '88 at auction. There had been a fire in it. As is sale, sealed bid auction. Won it for $126k.
You don't want to know what zillow has it for now.
OK, you do.
$1.2M

Posted by: gourmand du jour at August 02, 2024 11:41 AM (MeG8a)

---------------

Wow. How much $ did you put into the remodel?

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:42 AM (lY72Y)

188 I bought a 2/1/1 in 1991 & paid $59,900.
I sold it in 2021 for $245,000.

If you moved in next door and rented and moved out in 2021, you would have made zero dollars.
Posted by: rickb223

It sounds like an easy win, but is it really? Homeowners insurance is much more than renters, there's all the maintenance and upgrades on a home you pay for, property taxes, hours of labor spent mowing, cleaning gutters, shoveling snow...as presented, you got about a 7% annual growth on your investment, BEFORE all those other expenses were deducted.

There's a bit of a gamble, too, that home prices can rapidly fluctuate. You can end up losing a lot of money on home ownership, and 2008 showed.

I own my home, and think it's generally the right call, but not always, and not always as big an automatic win as some pitch.

Posted by: Moron Analyst at August 02, 2024 11:42 AM (JCZqz)

189 Lived in Jersey as a teen...lots of locals didn't own because of property taxes.

Posted by: BignJames at August 02, 2024 11:37 AM (AwYPR)

My property taxes are f*cking insane. As soon as is practicable I am getting out of this shithole and moving to a free state.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 02, 2024 11:43 AM (d9fT1)

190 Study released recently showed that AI tends to lean liberal.

That's because when it initially started working there were several incidents where the AI noticed real-world data and suggested things like deporting all blacks to Wakanda to solve crime.

Posted by: Ian S. at August 02, 2024 11:43 AM (2ocoG)

191 Anyone who is a homeowner is sitting high and pretty right now

Anyone like me who wants to buy a nice house is buttfucked by the spiked dildo of Coconut Harris

Posted by: The Unvaxed and Unmasked Ranger - Esteemed Trump-Ho and Searcher of Wagshambas at August 02, 2024 11:43 AM (DBZuM)

192 189 Lived in Jersey as a teen...lots of locals didn't own because of property taxes.

Posted by: BignJames at August 02, 2024 11:37 AM (AwYPR)

My property taxes are f*cking insane. As soon as is practicable I am getting out of this shithole and moving to a free state.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 02, 2024 11:43 AM (d9fT1)

=========

*nods sagaciously*
"California."
-Gavin Newsom

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, riding the anarchy train with John Landis at August 02, 2024 11:43 AM (GBKbO)

193 Now you're just messing with Archimedes.

Posted by: Helena Handbasket at August 02, 2024 11:37 AM (FnneF)

While that would be amusing, I posted my comment before I saw his.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:43 AM (T7iTv)

194 [l]171 Pick-up trucks that are $100,000+.

Who is buying these?
How?
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 02, 2024 11:33 AM (j96Gc)

Why?

From what I've seen, nobody is buying them, and that's a huge problem for Ford and GM.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:38 AM (xCA6C)

Somehow car companies got it in their heads that the COVID era shortage-induced prices were the new normal, and they took every brand upmarket. It's crazy.

The government is involved as well. You can't make a cheap pickup truck anymore because of CAFE nonsense.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:44 AM (B9Dv5)

195 Lived in Jersey as a teen...lots of locals didn't own because of property taxes.
Posted by: BignJames
=======
You pay it one way or another--the taxes are paid by renters too, just indirectly so ceterus paribus, high property taxes result in high rents which affects the size of the apartment, etc. you can afford.

No one can afford to rent a cash loss over time--they will either sell it, raze it try to get zoning variances to increase density, and/or let it deteriorate from neglect until it becomes condemned.

That is what has happened to a lot of NYC housing stock--rent control limits income so landlords let it slowly deteriorate and suck as much income while limited expenses. Often they become city property due to nonpayment of property taxes but are literally a shell by that time.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:44 AM (qdbNv)

196 Artificial does mean false and deceptive at least. I can see that name changing quickly. Or they will just redefine the word.

Posted by: ... at August 02, 2024 11:44 AM (DzUVR)

197 The place has become even more of a cesspool than it used to be. I really do plan to flee [Nawlins] this year.
*
You need to host a going away party. Let the AOSHQ trash the place as you shake the dust from your feet…
Posted by: Stephen Price Blair at August 02, 2024

***
Too damp for dust. Mostly it's mud.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:44 AM (J2vNu)

198 Property taxes in WV are pretty low. However the state makes up for it on food taxes, gas taxes, utilities tax, etc.

Whenever we go back there I'm a little torqued off at the price for a gallon of gas as compared to KY. It's mostly the tax that makes up the additional cost.

Also, and this might sound glib, but their road tax isn't that much because there are not that many roads to tax anyway.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 02, 2024 11:44 AM (Q4IgG)

199
Wow. How much $ did you put into the remodel?
Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:42 AM (lY72Y)

This is what drives me absolutely insane about property taxes.

You contest their proposed value and they bring in a load of "comps" from your neighborhood, homes in your area that have sold recently.

"They spent $30 to $50k on renovations on that home before it sold, so it's not comparable to mine, which hasn't been renovated."

"F*CK YOU PAY ME!!!!"

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:44 AM (Zz0t1)

200 I own my home, and think it's generally the right call, but not always, and not always as big an automatic win as some pitch.

Posted by: Moron Analyst at August 02, 2024 11:42 AM (JCZqz)

Agreed. Houses are an okay investment, but the affect on social cohesion is significant, and not easily quantified.

Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (d9fT1)

201 I'd venture that they actually believe that "true technology" will allow someone in the future to fully pick their genitals, and probably the dumber ones believe that we can have the effect of changing every cell in your body from XY to XX or vice versa.

I have a short story in mind where some aliens arrive and they bring the tech to do just that. To their surprise, they are incredibly wealthy within a month. The alien tech in question would be on the lines of something you find in a mall kiosk on their world.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (lXoJ5)

202 Meals Rejected by Ethiopians entered the military lexicon when the first gen MREs were issued to the troops.

The DoD was horrified of course. MRE then became Meals Rejected by Everyone.

Much better and truthful.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (ioD89)

203 It can be lunch time

Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (JonuU)

204 I bought a 2/1/1 in 1991 & paid $59,900.
I sold it in 2021 for $245,000.

If you moved in next door and rented and moved out in 2021, you would have made zero dollars.
Posted by: rickb223

It sounds like an easy win, but is it really? Homeowners insurance is much more than renters, there's all the maintenance and upgrades on a home you pay for, property taxes, hours of labor spent mowing, cleaning gutters, shoveling snow...as presented, you got about a 7% annual growth on your investment, BEFORE all those other expenses were deducted

VERY FEW renters are disciplined enough to bank that money. So when they move out, they don't have enough money to buy. If they did, they wouldn't be complaining about high home costs. They'd have already saved the money.

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (Ps4hc)

205 Remember that meathead with the crewcut, the acting head of the SS, who was investigating the SS failures at the shooting and evaded or obfuscated every question from Senators Cruz and Hawley?

Sen. Josh Hawley on Thursday sent a letter to Rowe citing “disturbing information” from at least one whistleblower citing Secret Service planning failures for the Butler, Pennsylvania, campaign event “and your own involvement.”

Hawley said he had received detailed information that Rowe personally directed “significant cuts” to the Countersurveillance Division, a department that performs threat assessment evaluations of event sites before the events occur and did not perform its typical evaluation of the Butler site and was not present that day.

https://tinyurl.com/5rh9y9ns

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:46 AM (xCA6C)

206 Xander Schauffele tied for Olympic golf lead after day two . Tied with Matsuyama from Japan and Tommy Fleetwood from England. All -11

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 11:46 AM (EZPzy)

207 89 "Buy some land! Buy some land! Fuck spinning rims!"
Posted by: JSchuler at August 02, 2024 11:20 AM (l6eKM)

I love that song. Haven't heard it in a while so thanks for reminding me of it.

Posted by: NR Pax at August 02, 2024 11:46 AM (lXoJ5)

208 Wolfus

#152

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:46 AM (ioD89)

209 Debt. That ad that showed a guy living the good life beside the pool and asking how he could afford it--I'm in debt up to my eyeballs is the answer.
Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:39 AM (qdbNv)

Sad to say, it took me a while to figure this out. I'd look around my neighborhood and everyone had nicer everything and I wondered how they did it, what did they get paid? Sure, the wife and I were aggressive savers but still. Then it occurred to me that not only were they saving nothing, they were going into debt. I felt a lot better about my situation.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:46 AM (T7iTv)

210 [snip]

Thus transhumanists are often citing the "core beliefs" on that side. Thus, liberals are in the "sphere of influence" of transhumanists.

Hype and interest, and thereby funding, is driven by transhumanism. Thus it's largely liberals who are developing AI as "AI", so they want the transcendent brains to reaffirm liberal ideas.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:41 AM (krQz2)

-------------

They also believe themselves to be Gods.

[ICYMI long but very interesting Tucker Carlson interview with Tech CEO Amjad Masad (hadn't heard of him before) mostly about "AI":]

youtube.com/watch?v=cNqTu_58sZ8

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:46 AM (lY72Y)

211 Purchased our three bedroom ranch, full basement, 1/2 acre on a corner lot for 39K in 1974. Still here. Easy to maintain, especially now at our age.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at August 02, 2024 11:46 AM (iODuv)

212 Under a quarter of Black households were homeowners in four states with small Black populations: North Dakota (9.0 percent)

LOL. That's because a significant fraction of the black population of North Dakota is in the Air Force, or is in the family of someone in the Air Force. They're not going to buy a house.
Posted by: The ARC of History!

Eh. My Dad was a Naval officer, and bought a house in virtually every place we moved. They appreciated, and in the meantime, provided rental income.
Posted by: Archimedes

How far were those naval bases from population centers where you could buy? Minot AFB is 13 miles from Minot. Grand Forks AFB is 16 miles from Grand Forks. The "cities" themselves are only 5 miles across, and the space between is ranchland/farmland.

And the road from city to base isn't necessarily navigable during winter storms.

Posted by: mikeski at August 02, 2024 11:47 AM (DgGvY)

213 190 Study released recently showed that AI tends to lean liberal.

That's because when it initially started working there were several incidents where the AI noticed real-world data and suggested things like deporting all blacks to Wakanda to solve crime.
Posted by: Ian S. at August 02, 2024 11:43 AM (2ocoG)

Yeah. The liberal part has nothing to do with AI - it's been explicitly programmed in to the LLMs because noticing things is [l]verboten in our benighted times.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:47 AM (B9Dv5)

214 All of the replies were links to batshit insane articles about how McCain was a literal neo-Nazi who was personally killing black babies.
Posted by: Ian S. at August 02, 2024 11:35 AM (2ocoG)
---
It's the narcissism that lets them believe that they were better sports than they actually were.

"Being nice" is just one of the dishes at the attribute smorgasbord that libs think self-attributions come from.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:47 AM (krQz2)

215 Meals Rejected by Ethiopians entered the military lexicon when the first gen MREs were issued to the troops.

The DoD was horrified of course. MRE then became Meals Rejected by Everyone.

Much better and truthful.
Posted by: Anna Puma

I loved the first gen, dark brown plastic wrapped Wornick Company's beef stew.

I used to go thru the bins at the Army/Navy Surplus store for the beef stew.

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:47 AM (Ps4hc)

216 From what I've seen, nobody is buying them, and that's a huge problem for Ford and GM.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:38 AM (xCA6C)

First half 2024 sales figures:

1. Ford F-150 - 352,406
2. Chevy Silverado - 275,692

Add in another 150,000 or so GMC Sierras.

Posted by: spindrift at August 02, 2024 11:47 AM (OguvZ)

217 I remember a factoid from a few years back that said Aspen, CO, was the most affordable place to live in the US. Sure, the median home price was in the millions, but everyone who owned a home there was a multi-millionaire or billionaire, so quite affordable to them.

Posted by: Bacon Jeff at August 02, 2024 11:47 AM (VGRuw)

218 I've lost track of all the improvements. It's a 1200 sf home.
We (I) repaired in this order, rip out all the old sheet rock, rewire electrical, replace galvanized plumbing with copper, put in new drywall, circuit breaker replaced fuse box, new roof, new double pane windows, exterior paint, landscaping in the backyard.
Easily another $100k.

Posted by: gourmand du jour at August 02, 2024 11:48 AM (MeG8a)

219 The phrase "living within one's means" is totally lost on a lot of people. I see it with our own kids.

They're bitter about it.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 02, 2024 11:48 AM (Q4IgG)

220 216 From what I've seen, nobody is buying them, and that's a huge problem for Ford and GM.
Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:38 AM (xCA6C)

Husband has a 2006 Dodge Ram diesel dually which is worth more now then when he bought it...

Posted by: It's me donna at August 02, 2024 11:49 AM (IyPmt)

221 It can be lunch time
Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (JonuU)
---
But it has to really want to.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:49 AM (krQz2)

222 *nods sagaciously*
"California."
-Gavin Newsom
Posted by: TheJamesMadison
======
Prop 13 makes California more like New York City's rent control. It distorts the market in favor of those who already live in the state at the expense of newcomers. So you get a weird bimodal effect of property taxes much as you do in a survey of rental rates in NYC. Two peaks and that makes the average not reflective of the actual experience for people outside of those legal protections.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:49 AM (qdbNv)

223 *Shoots Tensor*

Baka yarro AI!!!

Stop generating art where all she is wearing is a leather jacket over the boobs. Do you know how uncomfortable that is you wanking stupid AI? Why do you think I put in as part of the prompt 'tank top.'

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:49 AM (ioD89)

224 Wolfus

#152
Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024

***
If there's real voodoo being practiced, I'm nowhere near it. (Thankfully.) The word is everywhere on French Quarter shop signs and bars, though.

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 11:49 AM (J2vNu)

225
We are 18 months away from retiring our 15-year term home mortgage. Yay, us.

Posted by: Krebs v Carnot: Epic Battle of the Cycling Stars (TM) at August 02, 2024 11:50 AM (xG4kz)

226 221 It can be lunch time
Posted by: Skip at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (JonuU)

Time is an illusion. Lunchtime doubly so.

Posted by: Gag Halfrunt at August 02, 2024 11:50 AM (PiwSw)

227 Eh. My Dad was a Naval officer, and bought a house in virtually every place we moved. They appreciated, and in the meantime, provided rental income.
Posted by: Archimedes

How far were those naval bases from population centers where you could buy? Minot AFB is 13 miles from Minot. Grand Forks AFB is 16 miles from Grand Forks. The "cities" themselves are only 5 miles across, and the space between is ranchland/farmland.

And the road from city to base isn't necessarily navigable during winter storms.

Good point. We lived in San Diego, Norfolk, DC, and Houston, among others.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:50 AM (xCA6C)

228 I always bought new cars and rode them hard like a harem of new orleans hookers, and they always lasted me for at least a decade

nowadays I dont feel like any new car could last a year without issues let alone 10, and then on top of that you pay 40K+

pass

Posted by: The Unvaxed and Unmasked Ranger - Esteemed Trump-Ho and Searcher of Wagshambas at August 02, 2024 11:51 AM (DBZuM)

229 This is what drives me absolutely insane about property taxes.

You contest their proposed value and they bring in a load of "comps" from your neighborhood, homes in your area that have sold recently.
Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:44 AM (Zz0t1)

Which is why it should be law that if they reject your contestation you have the right, at your sole discretion, to say "sold" and they must pay you what they say the house is worth. Maybe add something that they cannot sell the property to a REIT.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:51 AM (T7iTv)

230 Wolfus

I was covering all bases.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:51 AM (ioD89)

231 First half 2024 sales figures:

1. Ford F-150 - 352,406
2. Chevy Silverado - 275,692

Add in another 150,000 or so GMC Sierras.

How many of those were the $100k gilded lilies? How do the sales compare to previous years?

I've never been in the market for one, so all I know is what I've seen reported.

Posted by: Archimedes at August 02, 2024 11:51 AM (xCA6C)

232 Meals Rejected by Ethiopians entered the military lexicon when the first gen MREs were issued to the troops.

The DoD was horrified of course. MRE then became Meals Rejected by Everyone.

Much better and truthful.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (ioD89)

--------------

They don't call this a Smart Military Blog for nothin'!

Thanks for that history lesson, Anna ...

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:52 AM (lY72Y)

233 How many of those were the $100k gilded lilies?

--------------

If I paid $100k for a truck, I'd be living in it.

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:53 AM (lY72Y)

234 from at least one whistleblower

**********************

Thank God theres some remaining whistleblowers left who decided they had enough of this fucking commie shit

Posted by: The Unvaxed and Unmasked Ranger - Esteemed Trump-Ho and Searcher of Wagshambas at August 02, 2024 11:53 AM (DBZuM)

235 "Prop 13 makes California more like New York City's rent control."

Thats one way to look at it. Although one limits the Gov and the other limits the private citizen.

Posted by: Tech Sgt. Chen at August 02, 2024 11:53 AM (Z8Yh2)

236 I am of the opinion, however, at today's prices, most homes are not an investment.
At least for sure in the Texas market.

1) taxes don't go down.
2) you never recover what you pay in insurance (TX is double the national average. In the "safe" areas from storms.)
3) appreciation is half of inflation. Even worse now.

Laugh at me but, if I'd bought BitCoin instead of my mortgage over the last 2 years, I'd have triple my current equity plus all my payments.
Sell a house, you get $0 of your monthly payments back.

Houses are shitty investments. Especially when financed.

Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at August 02, 2024 11:53 AM (j96Gc)

237 Agreed. Houses are an okay investment, but the affect on social cohesion is significant, and not easily quantified.
Posted by: CharlieBrown'sDildo at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (d9fT1)

I think of it less as an investment and more as a consistency factor. Assuming a fixed mortgage, you can be reasonably certain how much you will have to pay for housing. Rents can increase much more dramatically.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:53 AM (T7iTv)

238 The problem with buying in small town USA is finding gainful employment. BigCorp likes the big city with lower cost labor, and probably some tax breaks. "They" want to herd the masses into high rise boxes, with half the family on welfare.

There is some movement toward people buying rural, building a homestead ... but that is an internet sensation. Not sure there are meaningful numbers doing it, unless it is the retiree looking to escape the "coming apocalypse".

Most of the kids of farmers around here are moving to bigger cities. Families that farm big buy up much of the land available, and form corporations under their family names.

Posted by: illiniwek at August 02, 2024 11:54 AM (Cus5s)

239 Sometimes the goal of immigrants too, often it seems the main reason for emigrating. Most of my grandparents were the children of immigrants, and while the families rented initially the goal was ownership.

Posted by: Lirio100 at August 02, 2024 11:54 AM (I5U35)

240 Sad to say, it took me a while to figure this out. I'd look around my neighborhood and everyone had nicer everything and I wondered how they did it, what did they get paid? Sure, the wife and I were aggressive savers but still. Then it occurred to me that not only were they saving nothing, they were going into debt. I felt a lot better about my situation.
Posted by: I used to have a different nic
======
HGTV and social media effect have far too many people convinced that the Jones have it better than they do and if it means going into debt to be like the Jones, then so be it.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:54 AM (qdbNv)

241 I have a short story in mind where some aliens arrive and they bring the tech to do just that. To their surprise, they are incredibly wealthy within a month. The alien tech in question would be on the lines of something you find in a mall kiosk on their world.
Posted by: NR Pax at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (lXoJ5)

Make it so you can only change once. Don't know if you should write it as a comedy of a tragedy though.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:55 AM (T7iTv)

242 And now we are back to full frontal nudity with the AI

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 11:55 AM (ioD89)

243 Which is why it should be law that if they reject your contestation you have the right, at your sole discretion, to say "sold" and they must pay you what they say the house is worth. Maybe add something that they cannot sell the property to a REIT.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:51 AM (T7iTv)

--------------

Nice outside-the-box thinking.

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:55 AM (lY72Y)

244 ======
HGTV and social media effect have far too many people convinced that the Jones have it better than they do and if it means going into debt to be like the Jones, then so be it.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:54 AM (qdbNv)

Had a friend that was in real estate. She used to talk about how some towns were wealthy and other towns were up to their eyeballs in debt. Some people are soooooo worried about their 'image' they'll mortgage their futures to look cool right now.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 11:56 AM (Zz0t1)

245 2) Liberals unite by politics. ex-lib Burt Prelutsky wrote that he noticed, in his expulsion from lib circles, that progressives actually aren't very fond of each other
---------

Progressives despise humanity. It's their defining trait.

They actually respect us (to the extent they have respect) more than their own side because they know their own side are just sheep they can fuck over. Of course many tell themselves we are sheep too but deep down they can't fathom why, if we are sheep, we won't follow them. Which causes jealousy because they fear we are free.

Posted by: ... at August 02, 2024 11:56 AM (DzUVR)

246 Yeah. The liberal part has nothing to do with AI - it's been explicitly programmed in to the LLMs because noticing things is [l]verboten in our benighted times.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 11:47 AM (B9Dv5)
---
It's part of their vow to never take feedback from actual processes.

And it's also a problem with how AI relates to humans. Learning systems MUST have codified rules. What are the hard-fast-codified rules any human being "understands"?

There are none. AI is an adaptive learning system around CORE RULES for learning and programmed values as part of those rules.

The rest is window dressing because Turing put the target out there that real "intelligence" would be achieved if you fooled enough people into thinking it was real intelligence.

So even though there are--and have been--"learning systems", the whole AI is aimed at Intelligence Simulation which gets the hype.

If an atheist honors "The Turing Test"--and I've run into plenty that do--it just goes to show you you've run into an inconsistent atheist. They've just chosen the garb of "rational" because of how it sounds.

Posted by: Axeman at August 02, 2024 11:56 AM (krQz2)

247 Q: "Why...."
A: "Because Systemic Racism! Jew banks are always more eager to give loans to less qualified crackers than colored of people. Next question."

Posted by: BuddyPC at August 02, 2024 11:56 AM (kDAB3)

248 Sometimes the goal of immigrants too, often it seems the main reason for emigrating. Most of my grandparents were the children of immigrants, and while the families rented initially the goal was ownership.

Posted by: Lirio100 at August 02, 2024 11:54 AM (I5U35)

--------------

Yep. See me @ # 68.

Posted by: ShainS -- Trump 2024, Now #1 With a Bullet! at August 02, 2024 11:57 AM (lY72Y)

249 According to Van Jones, Kamalamania is sweeping the nation!

Can ya dig it?

Posted by: Duncanthrax at August 02, 2024 11:57 AM (NlwkK)

250 Thats one way to look at it. Although one limits the Gov and the other limits the private citizen.
Posted by: Tech Sgt. Chen
=======
California also has some of the highest income taxes in the nation. Ceterus paribus, you restrict one source of taxation, then the state will use another one or invent a new tax. California is now looking at trying to tax asset appreciation as income.

Government spending is the issue and government as a universal suffrage democracy will always end up with a tragedy of commons problem.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 11:58 AM (qdbNv)

251 Rocket Labs launch from NZ in 11 minutes

https://www.youtube.com/live/svnhIFuI4ro

Posted by: Hour of the Wolf at August 02, 2024 11:59 AM (VNX3d)

252 236 Houses are shitty investments. Especially when financed.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at

Depends on where you are. Like I said, we built in 2021. We can see Mobile Bay from our porch, so homeowners is pricey here, too. It’s increased in value over $200k in 3 years.

Posted by: Piper at August 02, 2024 11:59 AM (p4NUW)

253 NOODlum.

Posted by: Sponge - F*ck Joe Biden at August 02, 2024 12:00 PM (Zz0t1)

254 The closest it came to offering an answer is by suggesting that higher income states also have more expensive real estate.

-----
I have friends who are engineers like me but they live and work in Portland and make more money than me. I live in a much smaller city in Oregon and make significantly less money than they do. But I have a much higher standard of living than them because everything is cheaper here, and I don't live amongst a bunch of freaks.

Posted by: Lemmiwinks at August 02, 2024 12:00 PM (oA0O8)

255 249 According to Van Jones, Kamalamania is sweeping the nation!

Can ya dig it?
Posted by: Duncanthrax at August 02, 2024 11:57 AM (NlwkK)

=======

So, I've been thinking about this supposed change in dynamics.

Pre-debate, Trump was winning. No one knew, not one person, that Biden was in any way less than sharp as a tack mentally, and he was still losing because...reasons.

The debate suddenly reveals to the world, even the White House Press Corps, that Biden isn't great, and the ground falls out. Also, you know, Trump was nearly assassinated.

And it's all fixed and done because Kamala stepped in. What did it fix from the fundamentals from before the debate? Her brown face? The brown face that wasn't good enough to win primary votes 4 years ago?

The explanation is seriously lacking some logical connections.

Posted by: TheJamesMadison, riding the anarchy train with John Landis at August 02, 2024 12:00 PM (GBKbO)

256
It sounds like an easy win, but is it really? Homeowners insurance is much more than renters, there's all the maintenance and upgrades on a home you pay for, property taxes, hours of labor spent mowing, cleaning gutters, shoveling snow...as presented, you got about a 7% annual growth on your investment, BEFORE all those other expenses were deducted

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 11:45 AM (Ps4hc)

I rented until my late 20s, saving a few hundred bucks every month until I could afford a house. I bought a house and owned it for four years before moving to a different location. From a financial perspective, I would have been much better off just staying in the apartment. The house sold for about what I paid plus selling costs, and the mortgage payment was about 50% higher than the rent had been.

Home ownership represents a better standard of living, but renting is cheaper unless you get a dramatic rise in prices. I know people who are paying enough in property taxes alone to rent a place.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 12:00 PM (B9Dv5)

257 Houses are seldom "an investment" that increases in value. Land on the other hand...

I've seen property, say riverfront, that had a smallish older house on it get sold for an unbelievable amount of money. Probably 5X what it originally went for. All because someone wanted that view, the property.

Whether a newer, larger house would be a "good investment" on that piece of property is debatable.

Posted by: Martini Farmer at August 02, 2024 12:00 PM (Q4IgG)

258 Noodus Ace

Posted by: Wolfus Aurelius, Dreaming of Elsewhere at August 02, 2024 12:00 PM (J2vNu)

259 NR Pax

For pointers for your story idea may want to find a science fiction novel called Rewind. Author name escapes me at the moment, it is on the bookshelves somewhere.

But anyway. Aliens land on Earth. Everything seems to be going fine for both sides. Until suddenly a small group of Humans are trapped on the ship. The ship suddenly leaves, leaving behind the trapped Humans unharmed, except they are now all children.

That is when the fun begins for the transformed Humans.

Posted by: Anna Puma at August 02, 2024 12:00 PM (ioD89)

260 Now do red states/ blue states for home ownership

Posted by: scottst at August 02, 2024 12:01 PM (qcvs8)

261 Which is why it should be law that if they reject your contestation you have the right, at your sole discretion, to say "sold" and they must pay you what they say the house is worth. Maybe add something that they cannot sell the property to a REIT.

Posted by: I used to have a different nic at August 02, 2024 11:51 AM (T7iTv)

--------------

Nice outside-the-box thinking.
Posted by: ShainS

We've (homeowners) have screamed about that for years.

Ok. You say my house is worth $300k? Sold.

Posted by: rickb223 Buy Ammo & Shelf Stable Foods at August 02, 2024 12:01 PM (Ps4hc)

262 Repeat after me:

Housing should be a commodity, not an investment.

Posted by: Brother Tim sez fuck cancer at August 02, 2024 12:01 PM (OUMaO)

263 Laugh at me but, if I'd bought BitCoin instead of my mortgage over the last 2 years, I'd have triple my current equity plus all my payments.
Sell a house, you get $0 of your monthly payments back.

Houses are shitty investments. Especially when financed.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice
========
A rule of thumb is that when the cost of rental is higher than the mortgage payment (including taxes, insurance, etc.) then housing is undervalued in the area and if you are staying long enough to pay for the transaction costs to sell again, then it makes sense to buy. Vice versa, rent.

Posted by: whig at August 02, 2024 12:01 PM (qdbNv)

264 Dow down over 800 at moment, NASDAQ down almost 400. Thx Biden/Harris

Posted by: Smell the Glove at August 02, 2024 12:03 PM (EZPzy)

265 252 236 Houses are shitty investments. Especially when financed.
Posted by: People's Hippo Voice at

Depends on where you are. Like I said, we built in 2021. We can see Mobile Bay from our porch, so homeowners is pricey here, too. It’s increased in value over $200k in 3 years.
Posted by: Piper at August 02, 2024 11:59 AM (p4NUW)

Sure, but home prices are abnormally high relative to what people make. There will be a correction eventually.

Posted by: Ace's liver at August 02, 2024 12:03 PM (B9Dv5)

266 The Kamala Surge is like the hockey team that fires a coach and goes on a 2 or 3 game winning streak. Bandwagoners get excited that everything has changed but in a couple weeks, you start seeing the underlying flaws in the team that got the previous coach fired.

Or in financial terms, the Dead Cat Bounce

Posted by: Wally at August 02, 2024 12:07 PM (hqVaF)

267 255 The explanation is seriously lacking some logical connections.
Posted by: TheJamesMadison, riding the anarchy train with John Landis at August 02, 2024 12:00 PM (GBKbO)

AWFLs emotions don't run on logic.

Posted by: XTC at August 02, 2024 12:19 PM (UnA8+)

268 nowadays I dont feel like any new car could last a year without issues let alone 10, and then on top of that you pay 40K+

pass
Posted by: The Unvaxed and Unmasked Ranger - Esteemed Trump-Ho and Searcher of Wagshambas at August 02, 2024 11:51 AM (DBZuM)

'06 Mustang with a little over 371,000 miles on it. Still runs great.

Posted by: thatcrazyjerseyguy at August 02, 2024 12:23 PM (iODuv)

269 One of the reasons is that poor, dumb country bumpkins hate being debt. Moreover, they aren't interested "managing" their debt for tax purposes.

Posted by: jdm at August 02, 2024 12:56 PM (msrHA)

270 One factor not discussed is that of mobility. The states with the highest homeownership rates also have the fewest numbers moving in or out. Places like WV and LA are populated to a greater extent by multi-generation residents.

And as a result of that, many homes in such places are inherited over multiple generations and thus have no mortgages against them. WV, for example, leads the nation in share of homes owned outright with no liens.

Posted by: Ash is a damn robot! at August 02, 2024 01:08 PM (uufY3)

271 I'm sure many have already said this, but it is almost always being very tied to tbe land in a visceral way. A great many of us have ancestors who came from the rural areas of what is now the UK, and til very recently, we pretty much stayed put, so the ties to the land and the tradition of having your own land once you were grown up, never really changed.
Most of the land my people settled in isn't farmable. But you can usually graze enough livestock to eat and sell for a little extra income, and grow a big garden with a fruit tree or two, that you don't always get fruit from, because late freezes take the blossoms... but we're peasants, and this is our idea of heaven.
I have a dear friend who lives in L.A., and she doesn't get it. She has a garden and two fruit trees, even on her tiny little Lakewood lot, and does not understand why Thor and I want so much land. So much land being 12 measly acres on the property we live on now, next to my elderly mother. She thinks we should clear the woods, divide it into acre lots, and sell houses on it. "Think of all the money you'd have!" Nope. You keep your money; I want, I need, my land.

Posted by: Tammy-al Thor at August 02, 2024 01:15 PM (Vvh2V)

272 Property is the guarantor of the other principle Rights. The propertyless are the most vulnerable members of any society. Without property, one has no island from which to make a stand for Life and Liberty. When the king could no longer enter the peasant's cottage purely on royal whim, the peasant gained that much more protection against the king.

The "property is theft" crowd don't know this, and have never even thought to think about what they parrot.

Posted by: LCMS Rulz! at August 02, 2024 02:06 PM (TOe+Q)

273 "But the difference is certainly cultural too. The “red state” mindset is one of self-reliance, which includes property ownership, with all the security and freedom that comes from possessing real estate. These heartland homeowners understand better than the targets of the “rent don’t buy” hustle that with a finite number of rental properties, a homeowner will never be desperately looking for an affordable place to rent." And Buck Throckmorton does what he does best: sneering condescension. It is worth noting that few of us can instantly buy a home. It takes some time and effort to get there. But along the way, you HAVE to EAT, and SLEEP INDOORS. I view renting as a phase...one for me that should end soon now that my military life has ended. There's nothing wrong with that...unless you are someone who looks at others with a contempt which would do a Leftist proud.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at August 02, 2024 02:26 PM (8sMut)

274 And, my rural county is best described as "land rich, cash poor", meaning most of the money here is tied up in land. Nothing wrong with that at all. Unless you are one of the many here who look at agriculture with sneering scorn, because they aren't working in a factory like every American should, because patriotism.

Posted by: Catch Thirty-Thr33 at August 02, 2024 02:29 PM (8sMut)

275 So.... now let's talk about that fancy wealth tax the Dems want to pass........ and tell me who it's actually targeted to affect

Posted by: 2nd Amendment Mother at August 02, 2024 02:41 PM (3aOHH)

276 Hey Catch Thirty-Thr33: Enough. You are welcome to disagree, but your persistent personal insults and animosity directed at me are tiresome and won’t be tolerated any longer.

Posted by: Buck Throckmorton at August 02, 2024 02:55 PM (lLatT)

277 Another viewpoint that may be a Southern hillbilly thing, I don't know, but I hear y'all talking about home ownership as an investment.

That never enters my mind, personally. It's security and literal possession for me. Thor and I rented forever, because we didn't want to go into debt and it was taking a long time to save up enough cash for a Southern California house. We kept having to move, mainly because we usually rented privately, and something would always happen, and they'd need the place back. In the one apartment we lived in, the rent was constantly raised. Anyway, the whole thing was extremely unsettling for me, because my parents never rented, always owned.Thor, too.
We were finally able to get this place, with land, and it's paid off. It's ours. I could not care less about the investment, what I care about is that no one can kick us out. Never say never, knock on wood!
I do miss calling the landlord when something breaks, though! 😂

Posted by: Tammy-al Thor at August 02, 2024 03:05 PM (Vvh2V)

278 Excellent post, Buck!
Like the radio ad notes: “generational wealth doesn’t build itself.”

Posted by: FINGERS at August 02, 2024 03:18 PM (yEWKL)

279 Well Yankees are an inbred lot.

Posted by: Jane at August 02, 2024 08:37 PM (bXvrr)

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