Why now is not a good time to own a house

To ever say "it is not a good time to own a house" is very questionable statement. The statement in this case is just a very generalized hook to get you thinking, and it probably is not true for many homeowners. A matter of fact, only a few home owners would say this is true, but don't chalk our landlord as one of them. If you haven't read the previous post (look down) then you wouldn't know our landlord was having problems. He is having problems with loosing money on his rental unit. Now when he tries to get an increase in rent, the tenant has lots of power, especially one who has a good credit score and the ability to buy a cheap house in a depressed market. Or we can go to one of the many vacant houses for rent on the market.

On a quick related note, I was talking with a source (who asked to be unidentified) who is starting to see an interesting phenomenon around the East Valley. Many people with good credit but owing more than there house is worth are buying in this depressed market and then filing bankruptcy. The expensive house falls into foreclosure while they keep the newer house with the cheaper payments and there is nothing the banks or credit card companies can do. Smart??? I guess.... Dis-honest??? definitely!! You do have to live in the house for seven years, and if you are late on any payments you have no recourse as the bank with attack you for all you are worth. But it is happening.

Ummm we are going to raise your rent..

Last Monday Michaela called me up at work telling me that our landlord just called, and said his ARM loan was increased and he would be raising our rent. "He said what" was my first reaction, quickly followed by "We just signed a contract in January, there must be something wrong". So, when I got home sure enough he wanted to raise the rate. Now, most people would have gone to there landlord demanding that they have a contract, and they could take legal action on this. Michaela and I had another plan. We called up the landlord telling him a rent increase was out of the question, and we would start looking for a new house immediately and hoped to get out by April/May. Well, that changed his tune and he was telling us we were still under contract. Sheesh.........