Recent posts

#1

Off-Topic / Re: Mortgage Payments should b...

Last post by Max Rockatansky - Today at 10:51:37 AM

That's what my brother did in Indianapolis.  I kept calling him a slim lord for years after he sold.  Can't deny the fact that he made some money off of, even though it was a questionable act.

#2

Mid-Atlantic / Re: West Virginia Turnpike

Last post by ibthebigd - Today at 10:50:59 AM

Indiana selling off the Indiana Turnpike

SM-G996U

#3

Pacific Southwest / Re: 380 is unconstructed from ...

Last post by gonealookin - Today at 10:42:55 AM

My thought was, why doesn't Nevada change the numbering of its I-580 to "I-380"?  That way, the connection would logically be to I-380 near SFO Airport, which would require California to construct that long-awaited "Southern Crossing" bridge across the Bay!   

(NOBODY at Tahoe wants to make it easier for even more visitors to pile into this over-taxed area by upgrading US 50 through the Sierra.  Yeah, it's also more difficult for me to get to Sacramento, but we have all the visitation we can handle.)

#4

Off-Topic / Re: Mortgage Payments should b...

Last post by jeffandnicole - Today at 10:38:56 AM

So, how do you view mortgage in general? Right now, it's a loan with certain financial terms - interest rate, payoff period etc. Real estate component is just backing the loan for bank's "peace of mind". Risks of property ownership are still on a borrower, abet insurance is required.
You propose to tie in real estate much deeper into the equation. Can you describe full legal framework? What are the right of the bank in this scheme?

It would turn mortgages into a more equity-like product, the value of them would rise and fall with the value of the underlying asset.

If a borrower defaults, then the bank forecloses, sells the house and makes a profit or loss equal to their share of the equity. 

A mortagage should not be an "equity like product." A house should be. A mortage is just a loan.

Any financial advisor will tell you that you need to have a diverse portfolio. Having hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in a single asset is not a diverse portfolio.

To diverse the portfolio, someone can buy more housing in areas of increasing crime and decay. The more boarded up housing, squatters and drug dens, the better.

#5

Pacific Southwest / Re: 580 is unconstructed from ...

Last post by Max Rockatansky - Today at 10:32:31 AM

I-70 being rejected over Minaret Summit, Sonora Pass and Echo Summit not enough to tell you that it ain't happening?  There is a less of need for a full limited access highway in South Lake Tahoe now than there was circa 1965-1973.

#6

Mid-South / Re: Laredo: bids opened for SH...

Last post by Bobby5280 - Today at 10:21:18 AM

$100 million plus? For a pair of frontage road streets that run 6 or 7 miles? Jeez.

That project might help move traffic more efficiently between the growing Travel Centers of America complex on I-35 and the Columbia-Camino border crossing. But it won't solve the giant crush of truck traffic present on Mines Road. The zone from I-69W up to Millenium Park is really bad. They're going to have to look at building an elevated freeway through there and doing other at-grade freeway upgrades the rest of the way up to the Columbia-Camino crossing.

I doubt this new pair of frontage roads would be related to I-2. Or I-27. I-2 would ultimately end in Laredo at an interchange with I-69W. An eventual I-27 extension down to Laredo would more likely follow US-277 from Eagle Pass to Carrizo Springs and then to I-35. Although the route length would be shorter, it seems less likely I-27 would follow FM-1021 and Mines Road down to Laredo.

#7

Traffic Control / Re: 1-2-3 Route number Additio...

Last post by hotdogPi - Today at 10:17:36 AM

1476 = NB 740 + NB 735 + NB 1 by Jim.  August 9, 2014.

#8

Weather / Re: What's your weather curren...

Last post by gonealookin - Today at 10:11:53 AM

A bit of bonus winter in May, in the forest adjacent to my neighborhood.  It's 24°F at sunrise with a forecast high of 39°F, so in spite of the high sun angle much of that should hang around for a couple days.



Across the lake, Palisades Tahoe, the former "Squaw Valley" ski area, looks like they got a nice dumping.  They are hoping to stay open on some limited basis through Memorial Day so this will help.

https://twitter.com/TahoeWeather/status/1787105045328367828

#9

Mid-Atlantic / Re: West Virginia Turnpike

Last post by seicer - Today at 10:09:31 AM

I would argue that many interstates in the Northeast that still remain four lanes should be six lanes based on traffic volumes, level of service, and terrain. The difference is that West Virginia is finally fulfilling its widening aspirations through the Roads to Prosperity bond program. There are a lot of things I can fault Governor Justice over, but taking the gamble on a $2.8 billion program for deferred roadway widening, bridge replacements, and new construction has been a popular move.

I am struggling to find an example of another state that has done that in recent memory.

#10

Off-Topic / Re: Mortgage Payments should b...

Last post by SEWIGuy - Today at 09:57:20 AM

So, how do you view mortgage in general? Right now, it's a loan with certain financial terms - interest rate, payoff period etc. Real estate component is just backing the loan for bank's "peace of mind". Risks of property ownership are still on a borrower, abet insurance is required.
You propose to tie in real estate much deeper into the equation. Can you describe full legal framework? What are the right of the bank in this scheme?

It would turn mortgages into a more equity-like product, the value of them would rise and fall with the value of the underlying asset.

If a borrower defaults, then the bank forecloses, sells the house and makes a profit or loss equal to their share of the equity. 

A mortagage should not be an "equity like product." A house should be. A mortage is just a loan.

Any financial advisor will tell you that you need to have a diverse portfolio. Having hundreds of thousands of dollars tied up in a single asset is not a diverse portfolio.

But you are suggesting that it would be better to create more uncertainty around that asset because you don't know what it will ultimately cost you. You are suggesting that people should commit to paying for an asset for as much as 30 years without any knowledge of the true cost of that asset when you make that commitment.  No financial advisor would think that is a good idea.

And you are also overlooking the fact that part of why you take out a mortgage is because you are paying for a place to live.

This is just a really bad and impractical idea.

I linked to a study showing that this kind of mortgage would *halve* the number of foreclosures.

Right. Because it would reduce the number of people who would apply or would qualify for a mortgage.

Furthermore I think reducing foreclosures, which aren't much of a problem, shouldn't be the ultimate goal of our mortgage policy.