Are prices like this everywhere?

   / Are prices like this everywhere? #201  
   / Are prices like this everywhere? #202  
Received my first Heating Oil fill up for Winter... $4.45 per gallon!!! Unleaded gasoline was $5.72 per gallon! Going to be a long, dark and cold winter. At least the pantry and freezers are full.
 
   / Are prices like this everywhere? #203  
Adjustable rate mortgages (ARM's) will be the death of anyone today that buys a new home or a pre owned one. Between that and credit card debt (not being able to pay the balance monthly and incurring interest charges will literally eat up people's liquid income.

Everything is just peachy according the media though.
ARM loans do have limited usefulness in a few instances. A lot has to do with the timing for increases, the borrower's age, and the direction of the market.

Real example. When we bought our first house, we were 25 and got a 5/1 ARM that fit our situation. We knew that we were unlikely to live in that house more than 5 years and we also knew that our credit and income were both likely to improve during those 5 years. The rate for the '5' was much lower at the time than a conventional 30 year mortgage. Worst case we could refinance before the 5 years were up and get an even better rate.

We were in the house about 3 years, so the variable part never kicked in, but we paid less interest during those years than with a conventional. Like many things, knowledge of how things work improves your chances of leveraging things to your advantage. That's true with money or tractors.
 
   / Are prices like this everywhere? #204  
Received my first Heating Oil fill up for Winter... $4.45 per gallon!!! Unleaded gasoline was $5.72 per gallon! Going to be a long, dark and cold winter. At least the pantry and freezers are full.
Ouch... I pre bought propane and have 6 ton of wood pellets in the barn plus another 6 ton of corn. Not gonna be a long cold winter here, gonna be a long warm one.
 
   / Are prices like this everywhere? #205  
The auto repair shops around here are charging 100 bucks an hour and more.
Do the math.

Plumbers are $140!
 
   / Are prices like this everywhere? #206  
Passed the same Chevron this evening and premium now over $7

Chevron also closed the same of its 95 acre SF Bay Area world headquarters… beautiful campus in every way and modern up to date.

Decision was made to relocate to Texas as have many other top Bay Atea firms…
 
   / Are prices like this everywhere? #207  
Passed the same Chevron this evening and premium now over $7

Chevron also closed the same of its 95 acre SF Bay Area world headquarters… beautiful campus in every way and modern up to date.

Decision was made to relocate to Texas as have many other top Bay Area firms…
Tribute, still has to get paid though......

(I glommed through a fairly large document a while ago from the Cato institute, concerning the economics and tax policies of Ancient Rome. Calling the parallels to today eerie is an understatement - meaning in general, not just Cali specific.....).

Cali is not a small economy (haven't looked at #'s lately, but probably not dissimilar to Canada's), but still, the exodus of notable companies generates a hit on multiple levels. Corporate taxes tend to be low, but the lion's share of the tax revenue attaches to the jobs in-State, and the subsequent spending (buying $7/gal gas....) of those same employees, some/many of whom would be highly-paid.

Speaking from a Canadian perspective, those shortfalls will be compensated for..... as the only thing a gubmint has to be slightly competent at is generating tax revenue.....

Hidden or multi-tiered taxes (whether you deal with them directly as a consumer, or have them passed through (another deliberate layer of obfuscation) by the business you deal with) all feed into price increases, along with direct material and labour-cost inputs.

TCO is an old Intel acronym.... Total Cost of Ownership, but it does apply to Residency...... when an individual or corporation repeatedly runs the #'s, and always comes up with Not Worth It, then change usually follows....

The labour-cost and Availability component is a good example..... unless you like living outdoors/in a cardboard box, who wants to live in a high-cost environment while making low wages.......

Rgds, D.
 
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   / Are prices like this everywhere? #209  
Are there companies still pushing variable rate mortgages???
There are plenty giving low down payment, interest only variable loans.
This is what killed the housing market last time. Only a few states like Florida and NY got them banned, but even there you can get one as a second mortgage.
See what happens when a $3000/m mortgage turns into a $6000+ mortgage at the 5 year mark
 
   / Are prices like this everywhere? #210  
There are plenty giving low down payment, interest only variable loans.
This is what killed the housing market last time. Only a few states like Florida and NY got them banned, but even there you can get one as a second mortgage.
See what happens when a $3000/m mortgage turns into a $6000+ mortgage at the 5 year mark
It really depends on the purpose of the mortgage. I refinanced last year and got a 2.75% mortgage. Maximum adjustment in 5 years is an additional 3%. But I don’t care because I will retire in the next 4 years and pay off the mortgage in full before it adjusts.
 
 
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