My job is to watch dreams die (2011) • Hacker News Board

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#141

Post by ThunderSizzle » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 12:13 PM UTC

throwaway2037 wrote: post #119

ThunderSizzle wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its an interesting tale, because we might be in a very similar bubble. Or not. It's hard to tell, because the dollar has been so devalued, while housing is over-inflated, and money is expensive. It's a cruel joke when money is worthless and expensive at the same time.

> because the dollar has been so devalued Can you explain? The USD vs EUR FX rate has barely changed in 10 years. If you believe the US dollar has been "so devalued", then you must believe the same for Euro.

I dont really need to, because it was clearly obvious during the pandemic response of the massive inflation that occurred, but the dollar is the base currency of the world outside of China/Russia's sphere. As you observed, the Euro is pegged to the dollar right now.

How has assets done compared to the Euro? How has house prices? Housing, land, stock indexes, and even consumables like tools, groceries are all doubled their 2021 prices.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#142

Post by badpun » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 12:37 PM UTC

throwaway2037 wrote: post #112

alphager wrote: post #32

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In Germany, the process to evict may start after three months of unpaid rent. The eviction process itself takes about two years.

Real question: Do landlords resort to "hired help" to encourage non-paying tenants to leave more quickly? Two years sounds crazy. Many people who only own a second home for rent might go bankrupt without rent to pay the loan.

In Poland, they sometimes do. For example, they rent the property to another person (they claim that it’s legal), who is a goon. The goon moves in with the original renter, and makes his life hell. Other paths are to disconnect electricity from the property, by cancelling the contract with electric provider. However, some people are ok with living without power, if the apartment is free. Next steps are - disconnecting water and/or heating, although these are less legal than disconnecting power.

There also was a tragic case of an older lady who resisted being evicted from a building in Warsaw bought by a new owner, who in turn kidnapped her, drove to city outskirts and burned her alive to get rid of her.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#143

Post by immibis » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 1:21 PM UTC

hunter-gatherer wrote: post #33

I've had a handful of lemons thrown at me during my life. One of the most impactful ones as far as I can tell is that through a weird chain of coincidences I ended up first in line to purchase a foreclosed home. From what I understood, the couple was going through a nasty divorce and couldn't agree on who would get the house and ultimately didn't pay anything for a while, so I picked it up for 80k, which back then wa…

It's amazing what we as a society could accomplish if the government stopped blackmailing us with homelessness for profit.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#144

Post by immibis » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 1:28 PM UTC

naming_the_user wrote: post #54

ToucanLoucan wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> For a guy like the one in the post to show up, you probably would have had to completely ignore probably a dozen of these documents for at least 6 months, not paying your mortgage all along. I find it interesting that in all of these discussions it's treated as known that the person at hand is ignoring the notices and just pretending they aren't in danger of losing their home, just like in issues of evictions for r…

I think it's a bit less dramatic than that really - most people accept that the world we live in has both rights and responsibilities. One of those responsibilities is that by paying for the loans you take out, in exchange you get to keep the things that you've bought using them, permanently once you've paid it off. I might, one day, be unable to pay my mortgage. That's a risk I'm taking. People tend to get super emo…

Another thing to accept about the world is that "just business" kills millions of people every year, and maybe we should stop accepting it as an excuse.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#145

Post by nunez » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 1:33 PM UTC

Man, Reddit used to be amazing before it got TikTok-ified. Super high quality content (like this); a lot of which was real. Why can't we have nice things?

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#146

Post by nothercastle » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 1:34 PM UTC

This reads like way before 2011. Just the mention of phone books puts the time frame into the late 90s early 2000s. I haven’t seen a phone book for at least 20 years.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#147

Post by LUmBULtERA » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 1:35 PM UTC

throwaway2037 wrote: post #119

ThunderSizzle wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Its an interesting tale, because we might be in a very similar bubble. Or not. It's hard to tell, because the dollar has been so devalued, while housing is over-inflated, and money is expensive. It's a cruel joke when money is worthless and expensive at the same time.

> because the dollar has been so devalued Can you explain? The USD vs EUR FX rate has barely changed in 10 years. If you believe the US dollar has been "so devalued", then you must believe the same for Euro.

Most nations had inflation -- so "devalued" is not in relation to other currencies but in what the monetary unit can purchase.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#148

Post by 39896880 » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 1:48 PM UTC

Enginerrrd wrote: post #51

bombcar wrote: post #12

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why the "if you have a loan you're just renting from the bank" people aren't right - sure, in a way it's true but there really IS a legal difference, and it DOES come into play when things go south.

Yeah and it goes both ways. When someone gets hurt in your front yard or something you're the one that's liable, not the bank.

Unless they are a trespasser. Generally, you owe no duty of care to trespassers other than to avoid intentionally harming them, unless it’s a kid and you have a pool.

Homeowner’s insurance covers it.

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#149

Post by nunez » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 1:50 PM UTC

hunter-gatherer wrote: post #33

I've had a handful of lemons thrown at me during my life. One of the most impactful ones as far as I can tell is that through a weird chain of coincidences I ended up first in line to purchase a foreclosed home. From what I understood, the couple was going through a nasty divorce and couldn't agree on who would get the house and ultimately didn't pay anything for a while, so I picked it up for 80k, which back then wa…

Damn.

if the house was in good condition and an area that you wanted to live in, then consider yourself insanely blessed!

Re: My job is to watch dreams die (2011)

#150

Post by nunez » Fri, Sep 06, 2024, 2:21 PM UTC

sandspar wrote: post #19

I've seen a few sides of money. Raised upper class, lost it all and became underclass, then made it back. I'm always amazed at how limited rich people's worldview is. The average software developer, coastal liberal etc. They've never felt terror, the visceral feeling of being terrified. They've never been predated upon. They've never been used and discarded. The underclass lives with this stuff every day, 24/7, and r…

Rich people discussing how the poors are lazy failures while getting their food/drinks from a server who's working their second or third job during working hours; a meme as old as time.