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What happens to our homes?

18K views 37 replies 28 participants last post by  Survivalguy72 
#1 ·
I think it is pretty evident that our economy is going to collapse real soon, my question is, what about our houses? I have a mortgage like most, if the dollar collapses are the banks going to just kick everyone out of there homes? That would suck considering I have a years supply of food and water and a *#@t load of other preps in place. I live in a small Tennessee county and expected to weather the storm hunkered down at home, but I don't own it, JP Morgan Chase does, if they fail and collapse who owns my home?
 
#2 ·
I make my mortgage payments come hell or high water (and then some -- those principal only payments are sure cutting into what I owe). As long as they get my money they are not gonna come get my house. I'm more concerned about the tax and insurance money that goes into escrow every month. I had all kinds of hell getting the mortgage company to pay the homeowner's insurance this year (with the money they had in escrow, mind you ...). All the while the mortgage company kept sending me notices that if I let my homeowner's insurance expire they would pick up insurance on my home and bill me for it ... sheesh ...

Yeah, several really nasty phone calls and 3 certified mail, return receipt requested letters later we got it all worked out. lol
 
#3 ·
Depends on the level of the collapse. If it was "total" there would be no JP Morgan, Well Fargo etc left to file the papers for a foreclosure in a non-existent court system. Look at the current mess they having trying to foreclose homes. You could always write them a check and put in in the mail knowing it won't be delivered. My biggest concern in terms of home ownership would be with a gradual collapse that hit one region at a time. This would leave the banks and courts intact but me high and dry.
 
#4 ·
I have also been thinking about this idea for awhile now. How many homes can the banks handle at any one time..who then pays to heat the northern homes and who pays any insurance on the home???
I would think less than 1% Americans own their homes. So if we are forced out of our homes and on the streets I would think there would not be enough officials to keep all of the squatters out of the closed homes....That's just my thoughts of course..I am not really sure what is going to happen but this idea keeps me up at night. Can anyone out there help with this question?
 
#5 ·
This is one reason among many that holding some amount of PMs makes sense. Suppose the dollar collapses, and the price of silver goes to $100 or $300 per ounce.

If you have 100 ounces, suddenly you have $30,000 "dollars." Any hard assets you have which shoot up in price due to hyperinflation can be traded for dollars with which to pay off your house.

FWIW, a lot of people today have decided that they can't pay their mortgage, or if they are upside down on their house, are choosing not to pay (I have some difficulty with that) and staying in the home until they are foreclosed upon.

It's taking a long time for those foreclosures to come to completion.

The point is that just because the dollar collapses, doesn't mean you suddenly don't have a home to live in. If there's any rule of law at all, you still will be obligated legally to honor your mortgage. So long as you can continue to pay in "dollars" I don't see that there's much to worry about.
 
#19 ·
...Suppose the dollar collapses, and the price of silver goes to $100 or $300 per ounce....

Ahh, Just like Goose3 said - don't forget, the mortgage on your home is listed in $ US Dollars $. :thumb:



As hyperinflation hits, the cost to repay that debt falls rapidly because the dollar loses value against the home as a fixed asset.

The mortgage doesn't change. It is fixed as a contractual obligation in dollars.

So long as you are a skilled worker, your wages should be out-pacing inflation, even in this economic market, and even in a global economic collapse. Individuals that will be harder hit in the upcoming years are those that do not have a mortgage contract and rent. Those costs will skyrocket with inflation.

Look at precious metals and the stock market, neither have changed since the collapse...
ohhhh you say, "but look, they are 30% higher than they were"

... nope. :D:
The value has not changed a single penny :eek:

Begin to think of the world in terms of ratios between non-fixed cost commodities :thumb:

The stock market is up compared to 2008? Nope :xeye:
The value of gold is up compared to 2008? Nope :xeye:

Look at other goods along with PMs and WallStreet - food vs. stocks; gold vs. fuel... The purchasing power of the US Dollar has fallen by about 30%.

That is all we have seen, folks.
That's all we have seen.

But my mortgage stayed the same while my pay went up.

Did it go up enough to cover the loss of purchasing power of non-fixed cost commodities, which is at about 29% inflation over the last year, no.

But against my fixed mortgage it did :thumb:
 
#6 ·
Of course paying off your debt is the best solution, but truth is most people will be caught in the same situation you are. They will still have significant debt outstanding when a further financial crisis hits.

As long as you can keep your job and paying your debts, you will benefit from the inflation and continued low interest rates.

If a further collapse is stretched over many months, even years, you may get caught in the middle. Here having some silver or even gold will allow you to make some payments and keep your home. I expect the financial crisis to stretch over at least a decade.

If we see a sudden crisis where everything falls apart within days, there will be no bankers, no courts, perhaps even no sheriff to force a sale. I don't expect the latter myself.
 
#12 · (Edited)
I originally began prepping due to peak oil. Our energy future is dim. Just to put some data to it, examine this table produced by the Energy Information Agency. Look at domestic production since 1970, Alaskan production since 1988, and total production all during that time.

http://www.eia.gov/emeu/aer/pdf/pages/sec5_5.pdf

That's one reason why people think the economy will crash--an energy shortage which will create chaos. Oil is in *everything* we do.


A second reason is the decline in the US dollar. The Federal Reserve is creating money out of thin air (fiat currency, i.e., backed by nothing), and the more dollars created, the greater the inflation.

Coupled with the gargantuan, huge, immense, titanic, pick-your-adjective size of the US deficit and total debt, there's no way to get out of this without trying to inflate the debt away. Inflation makes the dollar worth less, which means people want more dollars for what they sell you. Prices rise.

There are a ton of reasons why people think we're likely to have our economy tank. Debt, inflation, oil, an incomplete end to the housing crisis--pick your poison.


Here's a terrific piece that I think captures a lot of the concern, as well as the strategic response of individuals to what's coming:

How to Bet Like John Paulson

BTW, I teach in the renewable energy field, I had my students read the Paulson article and they were asked, on their most recent exam, this question: "According to Paulson, what is the one plausible route out of our appalling situation and why?"

You might wonder why in a renewable energy class we'd be reading this; the answer is that the value of the dollar greatly influences the price of oil, which relates to the economics of renewables.
 
#14 ·
TPTB want/need complete collapse, this is what will happen at the time of their choosing and exactly the way they want the shoe to drop (war, famine, hyperinflation, disease, etc.). The only way they can truly disarm the population is through disease and famine or some contrived emergency, giving up all our liberties for what little bread crumbs and safe haven they have to give us. Millions will throw down their weapons and get in line rather that see themselves or their family members suffer. We are truley F**ked.
 
#17 ·
Ok some truth on this matter. My cousin Linda is one of the top people in a local Credit Union. I have my mortgage there and I just came out and asked her. NOTHING will change. You borrowed it in Dollars you will pay it back in dollars or what ever the currency is. If the money becomes worthless so does your loan. I owe 130,000.00 on my loan. Her advice is not to worry about your loan as it was issued in dollars. If I have 130,000 dollars and its worth 1.30 it makes no difference. That is the amount of the loan. No one going to throw anyone out of their homes unless you dont pay your payments. Kingfish
 
#18 ·
During the last depression the banks took the houses over and made a profit off of them or did a break even. This is a booming time for ppl like Trump and Buffet because they can buy things realllllllllly cheap and sell them later when things get better at a great profit. The people who are evicted usually ended up with mommy and daddy or a flop house. The pretty wives usually left the poor husbands for richer men. So save your money and you to could have the hot wife you always wanted but couldnt afford.
 
#23 ·
My house is through Chase also. I've had experience with other banks before and I have to say that if you are going to owe money, Chase is the most likely to listen to what you have to say. Bank of American is by far the worse followed by Wells Fargo, they are faster to foreclose. I've been paying extra every month, using every single penny I can save somewhere else. My budget would make people cry, but my house is the most important thing for me. I don't even buy a cheap burger. My one and only luxury is the internet because I have a very reduced rate for life due to agreeing to test DSL for my phone company when it first came out. Most of my income goes to paying the house. It's sad that it's come to where you can no longer trust banks.
 
#26 ·
My wife and I worry about the same thing.....only our sitution is different,Possibly worse.
We owe 25 years on our mortgage...I'm 60 she's 76(but dont look it!!:D:)
I'm on total disability through the Veterans Administration and Social Security,I'm also a retired Correctional officer....I have 3 checks coming in per month....My wife has 2...Soc.Sec. and her pension from the court house after 21 years there.

I'd go back to work tommorrow if I were physically able to(severe cervical and upper back issues)

We re-financed back in late 2005....Hell man,everyone I knew was doing the same thing to take advantage of 4-4 1/2% interest rates....the economy seemed just fine at the time!!

If there is a severe economic collapse....soc.sec. the VA, my state pension from when I worked in the prison system....All of this may go up in smoke!
I certainly wouldnt be alone.

There are litterally millions of people nationwide that live on fixed incomes that have Indebtedness to the extant that I have as well as the poster that started this thread.............................I can only hope to god that if there is an economic collapse(I dont see how it can be avoided) that some type of currency will initiated that will provide for some degree of similarity that the VA. does and Soc.sec
Would anyone care to comment on this?
 
#31 ·
We took a bit of money we had in investments and paid off the house this year. But, we still worry our house will be stolen from us - especially if we can't pay the taxes on it. Our taxes are pretty low right now but you can bet your boots that if everyone was defaulting on mortgages and therefore on taxes too, the county government would still not learn their lesson and stop their outrageous spending but would just raise the taxes sky high on the rest of us. :( Or our property could just be commandeered, taken from us .. by some government agency .. just because. I do not trust any of that not to happen. My goodness .. just the thought of the 'what if's' is enough to make anyone paranoid. lol

I hope none of the above happens to any of us!
 
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