patrick.net

However, rental homes are less expensive than owned homes in general, as a result, you may have been underestimating rent.

Use higher rent and you may not require 4.3% appreciation to break even.

Sounds reasonable, but reliable past rental statistics for ANY area are extremely hard to come by (the Sunnyvale stat came from the 2000 census). I have no idea where you'd find any "ownership-equivalent" median rent statistics, unless you had access to proprietary industry data.

Crap, I'm really off today --posted the wrong #$^&@ link!

Here ya' go:
http://realtytimes.com/rtmcrcond/Virginia~Fairfax_County~monikakumar

There are times when I am ashamed to be a REALTOR…reading ignorant crap like that spewn by idiot agents is one of those times.

Do not be ashamed. I have realtor friends and they are decent people too.

I no longer blame people for their apparent optimism.

But if it takes you 30 years to *never* to pay off your place, we’re talking Middle Ages level poverty.

Theoretically, I/O loans take longer to pay off than the half-life of plutonium.

Also, with the negative amortization loans I keep hearing about, how long do they let people keep paying the minimum amount?

I think Option ARM recasts every 5 years or 125% of value whichever comes first. Do not take my work fot it.

Anyway, I am still amazed at the complexity of Option ARM and the fact that it is actually available to consumers.

"In the third quarter 73 percent of refinanced loans resulted in cash out and the recent fourth quarter, figures are the highest since the third quarter of 2000 and, in fact, are near the highest this century"

Hah! 3Q 2000? Can you say: "Margin call?!?"

New thread: No Bubble, My Bad :-(