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Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

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Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#441

Post by stevenhuang »

techsupporter wrote: post #426
Msw242 wrote: post #417

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Why do you think that person wasn't an adult?

Because it is very odd framing, to say the least, to refer to someone in a professional context as a "girl."

I didn't read it that way. Is HN a professional context?

In this casual retelling I read it as a neutral noun describing gender.

Substitute the equivalent here with 'guy' and we wouldn't be having this discussion.

Thinking harder, I guess 'gal' would have been more appropriate. But in any case I feel this reveals more about the reader and their proclivity to engage in 'culture-war topics' than anything substantial.

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#442

Post by kelnos »

charcircuit wrote: post #437
woeirua wrote: post #410

I won't feel one ounce of pity for the "investors" who lose their shirts when this bubble finally pops. We should regulate investors almost entirely out of housing. Yes, there is still a need for people with lots of capital to go in and repair dilapidated homes. But we don't need people hoarding homes and renting them out as AirBnbs.

>we don't need people hoarding homes If you made a good enough offer you could buy it from them. Investors aren't trying to hoard. They want to make a return on their investment.

You're just trying to soften the words here; the result is the same. Higher-income people buy properties that lower-income people would love to own, and then end up paying rent instead. Often to someone else, because many of these homes end up only available as short-term rentals.

"Return on investment" shouldn't be more important than housing people affordably.

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#443

Post by bogomipz »

DamnYuppie wrote: post #425
woeirua wrote: post #410

I won't feel one ounce of pity for the "investors" who lose their shirts when this bubble finally pops. We should regulate investors almost entirely out of housing. Yes, there is still a need for people with lots of capital to go in and repair dilapidated homes. But we don't need people hoarding homes and renting them out as AirBnbs.

I have seen AirBnB referenced many times in these comments as having something to do with the increase in home prices. From what I can find there are 660,000 AirBnB hosts in the US; this was found under the Airbnb Statistics by Region section from here https://www.stratosjets.com/blog/airbnb-statistics/ seems to also be found here https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/airbnb-statistics . Most likely both of those…

Looking at your link which by the way is from a company that rents jets, I see that the source of the 660K statistic is actually from a site called hostsorter.com

The site hostsorter.com uses a citation from muchneeded.com[2].

When looking at the muchneeded.com link I see: "11. There are 660,000 listings in the United States."

However he citation for the above statistic is a site called pulse.ng[3].

When I get to the pulse.ng site I finally see the root source of the 660K figure you quoted. I also see that not only is the article from 5 years ago(2017) but there is no citation given at all for the statistic that is regurgitated from the previously 3 links.

[1] https://hostsorter.com/airbnb-statistics/

[2] https://muchneeded.com/Airbnb-statistics/

[3] https://www.pulse.ng/bi/tech/tech-airbnb-now-has-more-listin...

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#444

Post by kelnos »

stevenhuang wrote: post #441
techsupporter wrote: post #426

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Because it is very odd framing, to say the least, to refer to someone in a professional context as a "girl."

I didn't read it that way. Is HN a professional context? In this casual retelling I read it as a neutral noun describing gender. Substitute the equivalent here with 'guy' and we wouldn't be having this discussion. Thinking harder, I guess 'gal' would have been more appropriate. But in any case I feel this reveals more about the reader and their proclivity to engage in 'culture-war topics' than anything substantial.

> Is HN a professional context?

I think the parent was referring to "financial agent" being a professional context, not HN.

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#445

Post by darrenf »

throwaheyy wrote: post #418
darrenf wrote: post #346

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the UK. AFAIK we don't have any ongoing property taxes to pay, at least not if I have bought the freehold. Leaseholders may have to pay ground rent, but that's often a peppercorn and anything above that is being legislated into oblivion this year[0]. Regardless, ownership is a useful legal construct the benefits of which seem to outweigh those of being a tenant. [0] https://landlordknowledge.co.uk/ground-rents…

Do you pay council rates? That’s what are called property taxes in the USA.

Ah yes, there’s council tax - but tenants pay that too, so it’s not a difference between the scenarios. Also I wouldn’t want or expect to stop contributing to local services just because I don’t have a mortgage!

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#446

Post by kelnos »

ak217 wrote: post #412
pc86 wrote: post #408

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Who the hell is buying 10Y mortgages?

Feel free to add an extra percentage point for a 10Y/30Y swap. One interesting hypothesis is that the focus on fixed-rate 30Y mortgages is fundamentally destabilizing for the US and world economy, because the stability and optionality of 30Y mortgages is paid for by added volatility of the 10Y debt market through those same swaps. Per this theory, US 30Y fixed-rate mortgages are effectively subsidized by the rest of…

Seems like most folks can barely avoid the monthly payment on a 30Y fixed; wouldn't 10Y being the norm just cause a lot of people to be unable to buy at all?

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#447

Post by jjav »

IMSAI8080 wrote: post #432
jjav wrote: post #419

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Well it's an unknowable gamble. You might also be locking in an excessively high rate. The flexible approach of continuously re-mortgaging would have been the better strategy for the last 10 years with interest rates that went down. There is no gamble, that's why it is almost a free lunch. If rates keep going down as last ~10 years, you're never locked in, you keep refinancing to a lower and lower rate. If rates go…

I didn't correctly read your comment sorry. I don't know about the US system, but here the fixes normally do have a lock-in typically on a ratchet system where they are expensive to exit in the early part of the loan and cheaper later. For example one I just checked charges you 5% of the loan to exit any time in the first 5 years and then 3% to exit any time in the next 5 years. There is also a significant discrepanc…

I see, interesting! Agreed, on such a system it becomes more of a gamble to pick what might be best long term.

In the USA there is no penalty to pay off a loan and refinance (there might be exceptions but never seen one) so you can do it at any time as frequently as you like and keep ratcheting the rates down.

There's also not such a huge difference. Looking at zillow today, 30-year fixed shows 4.95% and a 7-year adjustable at 4.81%

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#448

Post by woeirua »

charcircuit wrote: post #437
woeirua wrote: post #410

I won't feel one ounce of pity for the "investors" who lose their shirts when this bubble finally pops. We should regulate investors almost entirely out of housing. Yes, there is still a need for people with lots of capital to go in and repair dilapidated homes. But we don't need people hoarding homes and renting them out as AirBnbs.

>we don't need people hoarding homes If you made a good enough offer you could buy it from them. Investors aren't trying to hoard. They want to make a return on their investment.

How many homes do you need to actually live? Most likely, the answer is one.

Are homes for living in, or for making money? That's the fundamental question we need to resolve. Because if its the former, then we are doing an abysmal job at satisfying that need. If its the latter, then we're doing a bang up job.

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#449

Post by llanowarelves »

1270018080 wrote: post #423
woeirua wrote: post #410

I won't feel one ounce of pity for the "investors" who lose their shirts when this bubble finally pops. We should regulate investors almost entirely out of housing. Yes, there is still a need for people with lots of capital to go in and repair dilapidated homes. But we don't need people hoarding homes and renting them out as AirBnbs.

Is it a bubble? Where is the irrational exuberance? Lots of people need homes, there aren't enough, prices go up. And investors hoarding equity by forcing people to rent have a captive audience. Both of those aren't really tulip/crypto hysteria. It's just a shitty situation. I would love to see investors get burned too, but I don't think there's anything to pop. We're just a decade behind Canada.

People are FOMO'ing into buying sight-unseen houses the same day they get listed because they think it will continue doing 20-30% year-over-year with no significant pullback in the near future. Or same FOMO on the interest (mortgage) rate.

That's not healthy

Re: Rocket Mortgage to trim 8% of workforce as home-loan market shrinks

#450

Post by saiya-jin »

DamnYuppie wrote: post #425
woeirua wrote: post #410

I won't feel one ounce of pity for the "investors" who lose their shirts when this bubble finally pops. We should regulate investors almost entirely out of housing. Yes, there is still a need for people with lots of capital to go in and repair dilapidated homes. But we don't need people hoarding homes and renting them out as AirBnbs.

I have seen AirBnB referenced many times in these comments as having something to do with the increase in home prices. From what I can find there are 660,000 AirBnB hosts in the US; this was found under the Airbnb Statistics by Region section from here https://www.stratosjets.com/blog/airbnb-statistics/ seems to also be found here https://ipropertymanagement.com/research/airbnb-statistics . Most likely both of those…

Airbnb is Hacker News' McDonald - an easy target to attack and complain about, kind of symbol of lost 'right for one's house' which never really was but definitely will not be.

I prefer having discussion about the underlying issues causing these emotions though, they keep being mentioned here all the time but I guess its easier to just bash the messenger rather than fight government and selfishness/greed in general population.

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