Yeah, I don't suppose it had anything to do with the damn home equity loan or anything.
I don't think pointing at the size of the family is necessarily fair; most of the Extreme Home Makeover families are that size because they take in a lot of foster children and give them a better life, and that's not something to be derided. It's not property taxes, because the show gives them that.
I expect for at least some of the families, the operating costs of a house full of electronic gimcrackery probably do it. The heat, power and water costs alone are probably more than the mortgage.
In the sea of reality TV shows I don’t really watch, I don’t mind Extreme Makeover Home Edition because it seems to be about more than just the shallow lives of pretty people.
With that said, the problems people face after this show is a good example of why a hand-up is far better than a hand-out; and why wealth distribution doesn’t (necessarily) make people’s lives any better. While there are (probably) exceptions, most of the people on that show who end up keeping their house after 5 years without building up debt would probably have found a way to get by and improve their life if the show didn’t come along. Generally speaking, people with good life and wealth management skills tend to have planned for the worst and (while they may still struggle for a little while when something bad happens) in the long run they can’t be kept down; and people will poor life and wealth management skills can be given the world on a platter and still find a way to piss it away.
Raising 8 kids while attempting to work as a chiropractor would definitely need some domestic help.
But there appears to be some poor financial decision making.
I couldn't find anything aboout whether the wife's death left them with a ton of medical bills, but one of the accounts implied that it was an progressive illness.
I did a bit more digging in the linked news stories. The timeline is that Mrs. Wofford died in 2000, EM:HE gave them a new house in 2004, and in 2007 they were "hit by the mortgage crisis".
Now, EM:HE gives you the house free and clear and the property taxes for 25 years, so the only possible way they could be facing foreclosure right now is if they took out a ARM on the new house (they're getting screwed because their mortgage rate adjusted).
So my final answer is "took out a stupid ARM loan on a house that was bigger than they could afford if it hadn't been given to them for free".
How about it, Cap? Do I win an Aspiring Junior Deputy Economist No-Prize?
Correct Mr. Ream. I will also go with the 8 kids thing which is an indication of stupidity that would result in they taking a HELOC out that they couldn't afford.
I suspect that you spy the fact that it is a single earner supporting eight kids. Why did the mother (apparently) not have life insurance?
ReplyDeleteYeah, I don't suppose it had anything to do with the damn home equity loan or anything.
ReplyDeleteI don't think pointing at the size of the family is necessarily fair; most of the Extreme Home Makeover families are that size because they take in a lot of foster children and give them a better life, and that's not something to be derided. It's not property taxes, because the show gives them that.
I expect for at least some of the families, the operating costs of a house full of electronic gimcrackery probably do it. The heat, power and water costs alone are probably more than the mortgage.
In the sea of reality TV shows I don’t really watch, I don’t mind Extreme Makeover Home Edition because it seems to be about more than just the shallow lives of pretty people.
ReplyDeleteWith that said, the problems people face after this show is a good example of why a hand-up is far better than a hand-out; and why wealth distribution doesn’t (necessarily) make people’s lives any better. While there are (probably) exceptions, most of the people on that show who end up keeping their house after 5 years without building up debt would probably have found a way to get by and improve their life if the show didn’t come along. Generally speaking, people with good life and wealth management skills tend to have planned for the worst and (while they may still struggle for a little while when something bad happens) in the long run they can’t be kept down; and people will poor life and wealth management skills can be given the world on a platter and still find a way to piss it away.
You mean the fact the family has 8 kids?
ReplyDeleteThe article says he's a doctor, but a doctor of what?
ReplyDeleteRaising 8 kids while attempting to work as a chiropractor would definitely need some domestic help.
ReplyDeleteBut there appears to be some poor financial decision making.
I couldn't find anything aboout whether the wife's death left them with a ton of medical bills, but one of the accounts implied that it was an progressive illness.
I did a bit more digging in the linked news stories. The timeline is that Mrs. Wofford died in 2000, EM:HE gave them a new house in 2004, and in 2007 they were "hit by the mortgage crisis".
ReplyDeleteNow, EM:HE gives you the house free and clear and the property taxes for 25 years, so the only possible way they could be facing foreclosure right now is if they took out a ARM on the new house (they're getting screwed because their mortgage rate adjusted).
So my final answer is "took out a stupid ARM loan on a house that was bigger than they could afford if it hadn't been given to them for free".
How about it, Cap? Do I win an Aspiring Junior Deputy Economist No-Prize?
Correct Mr. Ream. I will also go with the 8 kids thing which is an indication of stupidity that would result in they taking a HELOC out that they couldn't afford.
ReplyDelete