Home buying now going to court
I'm of two minds about the home buying process. It is in large part controlled by the MLS because if your home isn't in there, it's much more difficult to sell it. That being said, I'm not real fond of the 3% rule because on the typical home price in my area, that's an extra $18K the seller has to fork out for the privilege of selling the home.
Your thoughts?
Your thoughts?
Part of the problem with the cost of housing is the same as the cost of higher education. Tax deductible financing is a tax break for bankers that drives the cost of housing higher and higher.
Part of the problem is that government involvement by creating building codes tremendously increases the risk of using any building method that isn't already "approved" and makes getting financing for improved construction methods virtually impossible. No builder wants to take the risk, so housing hasn't had any meaningful improvement in decades. Sure there are some slight changes, but most are basically ways to lower cost for the builder and do not improve the structure or the cost of ownership. Super insulation (available in other methods of construction for decades without increased cost of construction) would cut the cost of ownership dramatically and lower the US trade deficit, too.
The only things that make home ownership appear to be a good idea economically are inflation and deductibility of interest and real estate taxes.
Since "real estate" laws and banker financing were widely accepted the property isn't even really owned "private" property.
I agree that the fees charged for selling houses is exorbitant, too.