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Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

wsj.com

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Re: Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

#31

Post by lotsofpulp »

TerrifiedMouse wrote: post #25
BLKNSLVR wrote: post #21

Interesting anecdotal examples of these people wilfully sacrificing longer term goals for short term satisfaction. It feels like a semi-predictable outburst of the-need-for-joy following the dour years of Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions and general down-sentiment; a society-wide emotional pressure relief valve. I can't see it playing out as any kind of long-term pattern because it's unsustainable, but having…

> It feels like a semi-predictable outburst of the-need-for-joy following the dour years of Covid lockdowns and travel restrictions and general down-sentiment; a society-wide emotional pressure relief valve. According to the article, it seem more like the onset of a doomer mentality. Why save for a tomorrow that you might not live to see? What if all your sacrifice and planning is for naught? Better to experience lif…

> According to the article, it seem more like the onset of a doomer mentality.

>Why save for a tomorrow that you might not live to see?

Wanting to set a floor for quality of life for your children?

Re: Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

#32

Post by agentofoblivion »

lotsofpulp wrote: post #27
MuffinFlavored wrote: post #4

I had an interesting thought. I was in the market to buy a house during like... 2019-2021. What "was supposed to be" say... a $450k 3/2 house became $540k during "the COVID pandemic housing gold rush" when rates were 3.25% with everybody bored, willing to have a bidding war (low supply, high demand... how all of these families were able to afford what felt like $200k inflated prices, I guess because of the "funny mon…

> Unrelated but Zillow says at 7.5% interest rates that house is now $750k+, weird... makes no sense... counter-intuitive, except for how tight the supply/demand situation must be) I highly doubt this estimate is true, outside of very specific locales. Always ignore Zillow/Redfin estimates, and just look at comparable sales in the recent past.

If your algorithm worked better, don’t you think that would be the algorithm? You think those models don’t consider recent sales?

Re: Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

#33

Post by basementcat »

woodruffw wrote: post #13
basementcat wrote: post #10

Earlier quoted context omitted.

IANREE (I Am Not a Real Estate Expert) so please take the following with a grain of salt. If you want to buy a house and believe you can afford one (even at an "inflated" price) along with the cost of maintenance, property taxes, assessments, etc. then go ahead and do it. Best case scenario, real estate values continue to rise and you’re glad you made the move. Worst case, there’s a 2008-style crash and you and milli…

> Worst case, there’s a 2008-style crash and you and millions of other voters get government bailouts. I don't think individual mortgage holders, as a class, got government bailouts during the GFC. The closest thing I can think of is the Troubled Asset Relief Program which, to my understanding, largely benefited the banks themselves (by allowing them to offload toxic assets). Am I missing something?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Home_Affordable_Refinance_Pr... https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Making_Home_Affordable

Re: Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

#34

Post by doubleg72 »

agentofoblivion wrote: post #32
lotsofpulp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unrelated but Zillow says at 7.5% interest rates that house is now $750k+, weird... makes no sense... counter-intuitive, except for how tight the supply/demand situation must be) I highly doubt this estimate is true, outside of very specific locales. Always ignore Zillow/Redfin estimates, and just look at comparable sales in the recent past.

If your algorithm worked better, don’t you think that would be the algorithm? You think those models don’t consider recent sales?

Apparently not in my area

Re: Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

#36

Post by willis936 »

agentofoblivion wrote: post #32
lotsofpulp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unrelated but Zillow says at 7.5% interest rates that house is now $750k+, weird... makes no sense... counter-intuitive, except for how tight the supply/demand situation must be) I highly doubt this estimate is true, outside of very specific locales. Always ignore Zillow/Redfin estimates, and just look at comparable sales in the recent past.

If your algorithm worked better, don’t you think that would be the algorithm? You think those models don’t consider recent sales?

Are you suggesting that the publicly traded, profit maximizing Zillow would suggest prices that are good for buyers rather than use their position in the market to control the price?

Re: Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

#37

Post by [deleted] »

agentofoblivion wrote: post #32
lotsofpulp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unrelated but Zillow says at 7.5% interest rates that house is now $750k+, weird... makes no sense... counter-intuitive, except for how tight the supply/demand situation must be) I highly doubt this estimate is true, outside of very specific locales. Always ignore Zillow/Redfin estimates, and just look at comparable sales in the recent past.

If your algorithm worked better, don’t you think that would be the algorithm? You think those models don’t consider recent sales?

[deleted]

Re: Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

#38

Post by lotsofpulp »

agentofoblivion wrote: post #32
lotsofpulp wrote: post #27

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Unrelated but Zillow says at 7.5% interest rates that house is now $750k+, weird... makes no sense... counter-intuitive, except for how tight the supply/demand situation must be) I highly doubt this estimate is true, outside of very specific locales. Always ignore Zillow/Redfin estimates, and just look at comparable sales in the recent past.

If your algorithm worked better, don’t you think that would be the algorithm? You think those models don’t consider recent sales?

Zillow is a biased party, being a business that earns its income from home sales. They very well could publicize different figures than what they really think, although I think it is more likely that they simply do not have the ability to predict prices any better than most others.

Which is why they lost a ton of money in their home buying/selling division and shut it down.

Re: Americans Are Still Spending Like There’s No Tomorrow

#39

Post by jimt1234 »

ruined wrote: post #16

there is no tomorrow

I had a roommate back in the 90s that spent and managed his money like a drunk sailor. Dude had tons of debt. He didn't seem to care, though. He was happy as could be, while I was stressing to pay off college loans and save every nickel I earned. I discussed his situation with him once, thinking he was just too stupid to understand. He told me his philosophy was to get what you wanted when you can because "tomorrow is not guaranteed". I still thought he was living irresponsibly, so I pressed further. Then he got really serious, told me that his older brother was his hero growing up; he was a super nice guy that everyone loved and knew he was going places in life. His brother got killed by a drunk driver on prom night (the driver's prom). I sorta understood after that.
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