Can people who bought 400K homes be called "poor"?

[Emancipation 2]

We make around 100K a year between us - and we can't afford a mortgage on half of that...

If your credit is good, a 100K income can easily get you a 250K+ mortgage.

the trick is to FIND a house for $250K in our area

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

We make around 100K a year between us - and we can't afford a mortgage on half of that...

If your credit is good, a 100K income can easily get you a 250K+ mortgage.

Credit is the problem at the moment - mine is good, but hers is $hitty.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

We make around 100K a year between us - and we can't afford a mortgage on half of that...

If your credit is good, a 100K income can easily get you a 250K+ mortgage.

the trick is to FIND a house for $250K in our area

You can, if you don't mind wearing a bullet proof vest when you leave home and returning in an armored vehicle....

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

We make around 100K a year between us - and we can't afford a mortgage on half of that...

If your credit is good, a 100K income can easily get you a 250K+ mortgage.

the trick is to FIND a house for $250K in our area

You can, if you don't mind wearing a bullet proof vest when you leave home and returning in an armored vehicle....

That's certainly true around here...

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

#6, did I tell you I saw a guy get tackled by the cops a few days ago! Very cool, just like in the TV show COPS except it was IRL!

[Emancipation 2]

We make around 100K a year between us - and we can't afford a mortgage on half of that...

If your credit is good, a 100K income can easily get you a 250K+ mortgage.

the trick is to FIND a house for $250K in our area

You can, if you don't mind wearing a bullet proof vest when you leave home and returning in an armored vehicle....

That's certainly true around here...

Yep.. same here.. Like I said.. nice 2 family home in our neighborhood is 400K

We pay 1.00 a sq ft to rent (which is HIGHLY undervalued for our neighborhood). Our rent is going to skyrocket when we get new owners.. so out of our apt. we go.. probably will have to settle for a more "transitional" neighborhood.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

#6, did I tell you I saw a guy get tackled by the cops a few days ago! Very cool, just like in the TV show COPS except it was IRL!

The closest thing to that was in NYC last year where I saw a man and a woman getting out of a car near the Port Authority and I saw the woman shoving one of those extendable batons up her coat sleeve. I figured they were undercover cops or something...

Only arrests I see are of vagrants and homeless people. One woman in LA last year racially abused an MTA transit cop on the metro-rail. 10 minutes later 3 squad cars turned up to take her away - leaving her shoes and cigarettes abandoned by the ticket machines...

[ginger1981 0]

I think a lot of people got ajustable rate mortgages (3/5/7 year ARMS) and had no idea what they were getting themselves into. The rate would have been fixed at a very low rate for the 3/5/7 years, but would have been variable to the market once that time was up. They could have refinanced and locked in at a conventional rate, but like I said...I just think a lot of people had no idea what they got themselves into.

I strongly believe that in order to apply for a mortgage in this country, you must have taken a home ownership course. This country wouldn't likely be in the pot o' sh*t it is now if more people were educated.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Especially after the variable rate mortgage fiasco... As soon as the economy hits the skids, so do you...

[chri'stina 190]

I watch all those home improvement and buying shows on cable. The one that always fascinates me the most is the one where they compare properties of the same value in 3 very different US cities. $400,000 to me in the midwest is nearly a mansion. $400,000 to someone buying Chicago, NY, etc. will result in a teeny tiny apartment. Just as the salaries vary. Lower income and median housing prices are relative depending on where you live.

Sure, I'd not make the argument I'm making if this article was set in SoCal or something. I live in Jersey, I know Jersey. If you can afford to make payments (even at a low teaser rate) on a 400K home and pay Jersey City real estate taxes, you're not poor. You're likely not rich, but you're definitely not poor.

And yet, the pandering politician at the end of the original article refers to these people as 'poor'. That pisses me off. We have actual, real poor people around here. These guys aren't it.

I do think banks gave higher amounts in the approval letters than people could afford. But still it would be a lack of financial education if someone said "ok I'll buy that expensive of a house" without looking at their finances to know if they could actually afford that highest end of the approval or looking into all the interest fluctuating ####### if they didn't have a fixed rate. We were approved for at least $60K more than we wanted to afford, in our area 60K is a lot more since our house was $134K. We knew it'd be extra tight if we went that high so there was no way we were going to get ourselves into that. We looked for the lowest possible. Unfortunately a lot of people let the bank tell them what they could afford and went for houses above their means. No, I wouldn't call people those people poor. It is unfortunate though.

[Trumplestiltskin 5,791]

Given the current credit problems I heard that lenders aren't relying solely on credit scores to determine what they will loan you, but actually on what you can afford to repay.

[akdiver 3]

We make around 100K a year between us - and we can't afford a mortgage on half of that...

If your credit is good, a 100K income can easily get you a 250K+ mortgage.

Yes, that doesn't mean they can AFFORD one. That's the problem people have - they don't understand the difference between what they CAN buy and what they can AFFORD to buy.

[GaryC 7]

If I tried to buy a 400K house then I would be poor.

[w¡n9Nµ7 §£@¥€r 123]

We make around 100K a year between us - and we can't afford a mortgage on half of that...

If your credit is good, a 100K income can easily get you a 250K+ mortgage.

Yes, that doesn't mean they can AFFORD one. That's the problem people have - they don't understand the difference between what they CAN buy and what they can AFFORD to buy.

Can't afford a 250K mortgage on a 100K income? I suppose that depends on what other debts you have. I can tell you I'd be able to make those payments on 100K. I've made them on less

[Kevin and 10]

I think a lot of people got ajustable rate mortgages (3/5/7 year ARMS) and had no idea what they were getting themselves into. The rate would have been fixed at a very low rate for the 3/5/7 years, but would have been variable to the market once that time was up. They could have refinanced and locked in at a conventional rate, but like I said...I just think a lot of people had no idea what they got themselves into.

I strongly believe that in order to apply for a mortgage in this country, you must have taken a home ownership course. This country wouldn't likely be in the pot o' sh*t it is now if more people were educated.

My bank required me to take a homeownership course before I got my mortgage. One of the first things we were told was, "It isn't wise to ARM loan."