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Apache is functioning normally

When I bought a home three years ago, the economic climate was different from today. Back then, a house would could be listed on Friday and a contract signed by Monday. It was easy to get a loan (too easy, in fact) and you could make every mistake in the book and still find yourself a home.

Despite the market differences, sound financial planning and a handful of smart moves will ensure that you won’t regret grabbing your piece of the American dream. This post isn’t going to go over the merits of buying versus renting or how you should pick a real estate agent. Instead, I’ll focus on the things you should do to prepare yourself before applying for a loan and then buying a home.

Don’t borrow money
Your home will likely be the single largest debt you will take on and represents the greatest risk in the eyes of potential lenders. With lending rules tightening, it’s becoming more and more important that you make yourself look as safe as possible. Safe means as little debt as possible and as little access to credit as possible.

Don’t apply for any new credit cards. They could be offering some hot credit card offers of a hundred bucks to make one purchase or 0% balance transfer, but you must avoid it at all costs. That hundred dollars will cost you thousands, if not tens of thousands, over the life of your loan. Don’t buy a car. Don’t take advantage of 12-month 0% financing “same as cash” offers at Best Buy to get that new flatscreen HDTV you’ve been thinking of.

Don’t make any drastic changes
Don’t shuffle your funds around, don’t change your bank, and most of all don’t change your job. This won’t necessarily affect your credit score (some banks will do a hard credit check, which negatively affects your score) but it will give the lender headaches when they try to decipher all the moves you’ve made.

Making large transfers will bring up questions of fund origins. Is this really your money or did you receive it as a gift? Why are you opening up new accounts and shifting your money when you expect to spend it soon? Such moves will result in more questions for you to answer, which takes energy and will prolong the review process. It’s not necessarily bad — just a pain.

The only exception to the “not necessarily bad” is the part about changing jobs. Lenders like stability; stability equals low risk. If you’ve been working with a company for thirty years (or even five), chances are you’re going to work there for a while. If you’ve been working with a company for three months, there’s no saying how long you will work there. Maybe you have a falling out and are fired, maybe you can’t hold a job, maybe you’re perfectly fine and will have a successful career there. All those maybes make lenders nervous. Avoid changes if you can.

Play house
There are two crucial steps to “playing house” (financially). First, you need to correctly estimate your monthly payment. Remember that your monthly payment will include the mortgage, taxes, and homeowners insurance. You will also probably want to add a buffer for maintenance and repairs, as you likely will have both. In three years, my wife and I have spent at least $10,000 in repairs and improvements (windows, roof, carpeting).

Another bit of information to research is how the recent federal housing rescue bill or how local first time home-buyer assistance programs may apply to you. The federal housing rescue bill offers a 15-year zero interest $7500 loan in the form of a tax credit to new home buyers. In Maryland, first time home buyers get one half of the transfer tax waived, which can be up to 0.75% the sale price of the home. Both of those will play crucial roles in how you calculate your monthly payment.

The second step is actually playing by budgeting for the mortgage. If you are currently renting, deduct rent from your monthly mortgage payment, and transfer those funds to an account that offers high interest savings. A great place to put those funds is in a fund you designate for your downpayment. As the months pass, you will get a feel for how much you can comfortably afford rather than simply guessing.

This also serves another purpose: it will keep you within your house budget. The Realtor will likely want to show you homes that are outside of your price range. It’s always good to see what is a little above and a little below your range just to see what the difference in value is. By playing house, you have a more accurate feeling of how differences in the monthly payment will affect your lifestyle because you’ve lived it.

Sell or donate your junk
Two things will happen when you buy your house:

  • You will be short on cash.
  • You will have to move.

By selling some of your junk now, you get a little extra cash, which will likely go towards all the little things involved with a home, and you have less stuff to move. Your wallet will thank you for the former and your friends — whom you will have bribed with pizza and beer to help you move — will thank you for the latter.

Sell or donate anything and everything you honestly can’t see yourself ever using on your new home. Good stuff to purge includes:

  • Old furniture
  • Books (do you really need to keep your college textbooks?)
  • Old clothes
  • Electronics equipment
  • Decorations and wall coverings

This will require a bit of intestinal fortitude and an honest assessment of your belongings. It’s difficult to sell or give away things with emotional value. That couch you’ve had since college or that poster you hauled all the way from home — they have emotional value. If you can think of a great place in your new home for it, keep it; if you really can’t (where will a ratty old couch go?), give it a new home.

Donation is a great solution if you’re on a time crunch because organizations like Goodwill or the Salvation Army will happily come and haul away your gently used items absolutely free (and you get a bigger tax deduction).

I hope this list of ideas has been helpful, these were some of the tricks I used when my wife and I bought our first home three years ago. Since then, it’s been a wonderful ride. Home ownership truly has been all it’s cracked up to be. You might be buying a house, but it truly becomes your home.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

The government is back in business and mortgage rates are moving a littler lower today. We’re about to get three straight days with important economic reports out, though, which could put some upward pressure on rates. If you’re considering locking in a rate on a purchase or refinance, we think you should take advantage of today’s low rates and act now. Read on for more details.

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Market Outlook 1.22.18 from Total Mortgage on Vimeo.

Where are mortgage rates going?            

Rates move lower

President Trump signed a bill yesterday which put temporary funding into effect for the government through February 8th.

Click here to get today’s latest mortgage rates (Jul. 24, 2023).

We saw all of the major U.S. stock indexes bump higher after the news broke around midday, but the decision didn’t have much of an immediate effect on the bond and mortgage markets.

However, today we’re seeing Treasury yields move lower, with the yield on the 10-year Treasury note (the best market indicator of where mortgage rates are going) down about 2.5 basis points.

Mortgage rates typically move in the same direction as the 10-year yield, so we’re looking at some downward pressure on rates today.

Looking ahead to the rest of the week, we have several economic reports out every day that could influence the direction of rates.

The two most notable events, however, are the Durable Goods report and the first estimate for fourth quarter GDP, both scheduled to be released early Friday morning.

If we get some strong readings in those reports, we could definitely see mortgage rates move higher as we head into the weekend.

Rate/Float Recommendation      

Lock now while rates are low

Mortgage rates are still at very low levels on a historical perspective. However, current mortgage rates are expected to rise over the long-term, so we do firmly believe that it’s in the best interest for most borrowers to lock in a rate sooner rather than later.

Click here to head to our Mortgage Builder and figure out how much you could save.    

Today’s economic data:                  

Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index 

The Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index hit a 14 for January. That’s outside of the lower end of the consensus range.

Fedspeak  

Chicago Fed President Charles Evans will speak at 6:30pm.

Get the GreenLight and close in 21 days*      

Notable events this week:               

Monday: 

  • Chicago Fed National Activity Index

Tuesday:    

  • Richmond Fed Manufacturing Index
  • Fedspeak

Wednesday:      

  • FHFA House Price Index
  • PMI Composite Flash
  • Existing Home Sales
  • EIA Petroleum Status Report

Thursday:        

  • International Trade in Goods
  • Jobless Claims
  • New Home Sales
  • Kansas City Fed Manufacturing Index

Friday:       

  • Durable Goods Orders
  • GDP

*Terms and conditions apply.

Carter Wessman

Carter Wessman is originally from the charming town of Norfolk, Massachusetts. When he isn’t busy writing about mortgage related topics, you can find him playing table tennis, or jamming on his bass guitar.

Source: totalmortgage.com

Apache is functioning normally

Almost everyone has said it or heard it: Existing Home Sales are in the toilet because there’s no inventory and there’s no inventory because no one wants to give up their 3% mortgage when rates are 7%.  

“There are simply not enough homes for sale,” according to NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun. “The market can easily absorb a doubling of inventory.”

To be sure, more inventory would be a good thing in almost every regard.  A doubling of inventory would likely keep prices in check or push them slightly lower, but it might not conjure up as much buying demand as you might assume.  Two separate stats in today’s Existing Home Sales data illustrate the point.  The first is for inventory in terms of UNITS.

This chart makes it seem as if inventory is in line with all time lows and not building as quickly as it normally does at this time of year.  But the takeaway changes a bit when we look at inventory in terms of “months of supply.”

Since it’s not incredibly easy to quickly glean the takeaway from the two charts above, here you go: in terms of units, inventory is nowhere near mid-2020 levels while “months of supply” is well above.  Let’s zoom in:

All that to say: inventory alone is only part of the problem.  There’s also definitely a demand problem in the housing market, likely due to rates, program availability, and other lesser factors.  After all, sales aren’t doing great since attempting to bounce at the beginning of the year.

This is about as low as Existing Sales have been since the mid 90s, with a brief exception for the housing/mortgage meltdown.

Other highlights from today’s data:

  • Median price: $410,200
    • 2nd highest June on record 
    • June 2022 was $413,800
  • Time on market
    • up to 18 days from 14 days in June 2022
  • First time buyers
    • no major changes
    • 27%, down from 28% last month 
  • All cash buyers
    • no major changes
    • up to 26% from 25% last month

Source: mortgagenewsdaily.com

Apache is functioning normally

A family living in Sunset Heights, close to the center of Houston, Texas, is parting with their home for just $1.

But in order to get your hands on the 1,056 square foot, 2-bedroom, 1-bath property, you need to write an essay and submit a $150 entry fee.

So in total, you’re looking at $151 if your essay is selected and the $1 purchase contract is written up.

The house is located at 213 E. 23rd Street, Houston, TX 77008. Per Zillow, it was actually sold on September 30, 2013, and currently has a Zestimate of $339,299.

So the owner would only need about 2,267 entries to get that value. By the way, the home was sold for just $281,000 less than two years ago.

About the Home

The home was built in 1920 and sits on a 5,300 square foot lot across from “the adorable Halbert Park.” I can’t vouch for its adorability seeing that I’ve never been to Houston.

However, it does have a WalkScore of 78, meaning you should be able to get to trendy shops and restaurants without the need for four wheels.

And the owner renovated the bathroom in 2014, adding new tile, a sink, and some plumbing work. Old carpets were also removed to reveal the original hardwood underneath.

The kitchen received some upgrades in 2013 and washer/dryer connections were also added for convenience.

Why They’re Doing It?

If you’re wondering why the owner, Michael Wachs, is selling his home for just a buck, he explains on his website that “we have made home ownership in an expensive and competitive market more affordable.”

But he stresses that he’s not rich, and that the $150 entry fees should be enough to cover the mortgage he has on the home.

Wachs apparently got inspiration from a similar sale in Maine, and figured this would be a good way for a person to acquire a home without a pricey mortgage.

In order to make an offer, you must complete a 200-word essay explaining why you would like to purchase the home and submit a non-refundable $150 offer fee. I’m assuming a heartwarming narrative will work wonders here.

Essays should not contain identifying information so they can be read and judged anonymously.

Assuming your essay is chosen, a contract will be written up for $1 to purchase the home. The buyer will be responsible for all taxes, including real estate transfer taxes, property taxes, and all fees, including lawyer’s fees.

Also keep in mind that a free and clear home still comes with costs such as taxes, insurance, and ongoing maintenance.

The home is being sold as-is and no repairs will be made by the seller.

And here’s the kicker folks – the seller is a Realtor! So that might explain why he’s selling his home this way. Call it “free” marketing and lots of buzz and perhaps even a higher-than-expected sales price.

Offers are being accepted until June 13th if you’re interested.

Source: thetruthaboutmortgage.com

Apache is functioning normally

Avoid applying for new credit before shopping for your mortgage, so you can maintain the best possible credit score.

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Mortgage rates today are far from the historic lows that new homebuyers were able to score through 2020 and 2021. You can find competitive mortgage rates around 6% to 7% APR on average today, depending on the loan term. 

But that doesn’t mean you’re out of luck if you’re shopping for a home in 2023. Even small differences in your mortgage interest rate can save you money over the lifetime of your loan. By taking the following steps to prepare a solid loan application and score the best possible rate you can, you’ll reap the benefits for years to come.

Like federal interest rates, there’s a chance mortgage rates could continue rising this year. Don’t wait to start comparing the best mortgage rates you can qualify for now.

3 ways to get the best mortgage rates

Here are three things you can do now to make sure you get a great mortgage rate.

Boost your credit score

The information you include on your loan application can make a huge difference in the loan terms you qualify for. 

“Your credit score is still going to be the biggest factor in determining if you will get the best rate,” says Colin Zizzi, CFP, founder of Zizzi Investments.

Before you apply for a mortgage, check both your credit score (which you can often find online from your bank or credit card company) and your credit report. You can access your full credit report for free from each of the three major credit bureaus. 

Comb through the reports for any errors that could be hurting your credit score. If it’s still not where you’d like it to be, start taking steps now to improve it — like reducing your overall debt balance and paying all your bills in full and on time. Also, remember to avoid applying for any new credit or loans before taking out a mortgage. The hard credit check could temporarily bring down your credit score and keep you from getting a top rate.

Explore the best mortgage rates available today that you may be eligible for now.

Consider different loan details

If you’re flexible on the details of your mortgage loan, you may be rewarded with the potential to get a lower interest rate.

For one, your loan term is a big factor to consider. Many lenders offer slightly lower rates on shorter 15-year mortgages than on 30-year mortgages. In fact, the average mortgage rate for a 15-year mortgage as of July 10 is more than half a percentage point lower than what’s offered for a 30-year mortgage, according to data from Bankrate. While a 15-year mortgage may carry higher monthly payments, you could pay less over the lifetime of the loan.

Another type to consider is an adjustable-rate mortgage or ARM. This type of mortgage generally starts with a lower rate that adjusts (up to a cap) over time. Certain types of homebuyers may also qualify for government-backed loans, which tend to offer among the lowest possible rates. However, these loans may have strict specifications that you’ll need to meet before you can qualify.

Shop around and compare

If you’re quoted an unfavorable loan rate from one lender, there’s no reason to settle for it — at least not without comparing what else you may qualify for. Plus, the earlier you get started, the better off you may be.

“As always, shop around with different banks and brokers, and do this well before starting to look at houses,” says Quinn Arnold, CFP, co-founder of Arnold and Mote Wealth Management.

Once you’ve settled on the best type of mortgage loan for you, start getting preapprovals and loan estimates from different lenders. It helps to do this after you’ve settled on your preferred term and loan type, so you can make a consistent comparison across different lenders. When you shop around for your mortgage within a 45-day window all the different credit checks that lenders make are also recorded as a single inquiry on your credit report, according to the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Compare the top mortgage rates you may be eligible for today here.

The bottom line

Today’s mortgage rates are higher across the board than they once were. But taking steps to make sure you apply with the best possible credit score, researching the type of mortgage that best fits your needs and comparing multiple lenders can help you get a solid mortgage even in today’s higher rate environment. 

With mortgage interest rates consistently rising, timing is also important. Locking in a great mortgage rate sooner rather than later can help you ensure you get the rates you’re pre-approved for before they increase again. Start your search by exploring today’s best rates here!

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Source: cbsnews.com

Apache is functioning normally

7 min

Mortgage rates topped 7 percent this week, the highest level in 20 years — and the latest sign that the Federal Reserve’s aggressive moves to slow the broader economy are hitting the housing market hard already.

The average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage, the most popular home-loan product, reached 7.08 percent, according to data released Thursday by Freddie Mac. The last time mortgage rates climbed so high was April 2002, and they are slated to keep climbing as the Fed moves swiftly to tame a red-hot housing market, a key step in lowering rent costs and ultimately quelling inflation in the broader economy.

The central bank doesn’t directly set mortgage costs, but changes in its policy rate — known as the federal funds rate — ripple through the economy and influence all kinds of lending. Since March, the Fed has raised rates five times, bringing its benchmark rate from near zero to between 3 percent and 3.25 percent. The central bank is expected to raise rates by another 0.75 percentage points next week.

Calculate how much more mortgages will cost as interest rates rise

Those moves have already triggered major consequences for the housing market, and the spike in mortgage rates has prompted some broader concerns that the Fed is pumping the brakes on the economy with far too much force.

“People can say, ‘Well, you know, a percent [added] on the mortgage rate is still low.’ But we’ve had several percents on the mortgage rate in a short period of time,” said Diane Swonk, chief economist at KPMG. “The rapid pace at which they’re raising rates are, in and of themselves, destabilizing.”

Post reporters Damian Paletta and Rachel Siegel explain how economic downturns begin. (Video: Hope Davison, Drea Cornejo/The Washington Post, Photo: Michael S. Williamson/The Washington Post)

The average mortgage rate has gone up dizzyingly fast. A year ago, it was 3.09 percent; even as late as March, the average rate for a 30-year fixed mortgage was below 4 percent. The increase from 3.22 percent in January to 7.08 percent now, a jump of 3.86 percentage points, is the steepest increase rates have gone through in a year. The previous record was 3.59 percentage points in 1981.

Prices rose again in September, ensuring more interest rate hikes

For much of the pandemic, low rates meant aspiring home buyers flooded into the market, competed for the few homes available and sent prices soaring. But now, wary of shelling out hundreds of dollars more per month on a mortgage, buyers are bowing out, boosting the supply of available homes and helping prices go down overall. This year, when rates were below 4 percent, a family earning the median household income of $71,000 could afford a $448,700 home with a 20 percent down payment. This week, with rates around 7 percent, they could only afford a $339,200 home, according to Realtor.com.

Home prices are falling at a record pace. The Case-Shiller home price index released earlier this week showed prices were 13 percent higher in August than they were a year ago, down from 15.6 percent higher the previous month. The 2.6 percentage point difference between those two months is the largest decline in the history of the index, which debuted in 1987.

Zillow on Wednesday announced it had laid off 300 workers across several departments, including home loans and closing services, though the company said it is not under a hiring freeze.

Demand for mortgages has also plummeted as quickly as rates have spiked. Total application volume is at its lowest level since 1997, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Refinances are down 86 percent from where they were a year ago, and mortgage lenders nationwide, including at major banks, have let employees go as the market slows. And rising rates have boosted interest in adjustable-rate mortgages. The ARM share of applications was at 12.7 percent.

Home builders are also being pinched. Overall housing starts fell 8.1 percent to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 1.44 million units in September, according to a report earlier this month from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and the U.S. Census Bureau. So far this year, single-family starts are down 5.6 percent compared to this point last year.

Builder confidence also fell for the 10th month in a row in October, dropping to its lowest level since 2012, excluding the two-month period in spring 2020 as the pandemic began. It is half the level it was six months ago.

“This will be the first year since 2011 to see a decline for single-family starts,” Robert Dietz, National Association of Home Builders chief economist, said in a statement. “And given expectations for ongoing elevated interest rates due to actions by the Federal Reserve, 2023 is forecast to see additional single-family building declines as the housing contraction continues.”

Still, the Fed’s tools are limited, and officials routinely point to the housing market as one of the clearest signs that their rate hikes are having the intended effect.

“We are starting to see some adjustment to excess demand in interest-sensitive sectors like housing,” Fed Governor Christopher Waller said in a speech this month. “But more needs to be done to bring inflation down meaningfully and persistently.”

When or how the Fed’s rate hikes rates will overtake inflation elsewhere in the economy is not yet clear. Rate hikes are designed to snuff out demand, but they do nothing to fix supply-side issues, like shortages of oil and gas, affordable apartments or chips for new cars. Overall, consumer prices remain stubbornly high, rising 8.2 percent in September, compared with the year before.

Rent costs also are up 7.2 percent in the past year, and rents rose 0.8 percent from August to September. Goldman Sachs has forecast that overall shelter inflation will peak at 7.5 percent next spring before slowly decelerating to just under 6 percent at the end of 2023. That has major implications for Fed policy, since housing costs makes up a huge portion of the basket of goods used to measure inflation in the economy.

As the Fed fights inflation, worries rise that it’s overcorrecting

But the slowing housing market may also be finally cooling rental prices, too. National rent growth sank to its lowest annual pace (7.8 percent) since June 2021, according to Realtor.com. The U.S. median rental price recorded its second month-over-month decline in eight months in September.

The rise in mortgage rates is slowing down the market even in places where it was red-hot during the pandemic. Through 2020 and 2021, sales prices exploded in the Hudson Valley, as transplants from New York City and elsewhere clamored for the few homes available. But as mortgage rates soar now, the number of homes available has more than doubled in the last three months, jumping from around 150 units to about 380, said Ryan Basten, an associate broker at Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices Nutshell Realty.

That’s an encouraging sign that the market is returning to some version of normal. But Basten said there’s plenty of uncertainty about the future. He ticked through the recent jumps in mortgage rates: 5 percent “wasn’t too bad,” he said, and 6 percent was “workable.” But with the Fed poised to hike rates two more times before the end of the year, Basten said he and others in the industry are left “wondering if there is going to be a real downturn in the market.”

“We can only deal with what we’re dealing with now. I can’t see that mortgage rates are going to go to 10 [percent]. If they did, then that would feel like a recession,” Basten said. “Eight [percent] feels bad. Ten percent would be like, ‘Wow, where we do go from here?’ ”

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Source: washingtonpost.com

Apache is functioning normally

“History doesn’t repeat itself, but It often rhymes.” – Mark Twain. Although Twain was not a forefather, he knew a thing or two. Our country recently celebrated 247 years since we declared our independence from England by blasting off fireworks, chugging beer and grilling American hamburgers and hot dogs. I’d like to take a moment to analyze what business and sales professionals can learn from this historic time period. 

In school, we learned that our Nation was founded in 1776 when a group of men (aka a Congress) who drafted, voted on and signed the Declaration of Independence. We were even taught that it was Thomas Jefferson, our third president, who penned those famous words. 

What you might not have comprehended is that this did not happen overnight. Like many great businesses, it took our forefathers much time, many compromises, multiple decisions made that did not go as planned and unwavering grit to build what they built.

We learn from our forefathers that success is a process. Follow along and let me explain:

Our fight to become our own nation started way before 1776. The Boston Tea Party, widely regarded as the colonies’ biggest official revolt against England’s ruling was in 1773. 

The lesson learned here is that when pain becomes great enough, change is desired. Take action. Even if that action is just the beginning to something unknown.

The first time the colonies came together to discuss their shared concerns of how they were being ruled by King George III was in 1774. We know of this as the First Continental Congress. What you might not remember is that not all 13 colonies were represented. Georgia could not be bothered. The delegates, most strangers who did not have much in common, met for six weeks. They shared their concerns, negotiated and compromised a solution, and then collectively notified the King of their displeasure. Their plea failed. 

The takeaways from this experience for business professionals are many. Understand that not all team members will be on board at first. That is okay. Give them time. Not all ideas succeed. This is normal. Don’t give up. And finally, allow enough time for collaborate meetings. Greatness is not knocked out in an hour or two. 

With the results of the decisions made at the First Continental Congress backfiring (literally), a Second Continental Congress convened back in 1775 reminding us today that if at first you don’t succeed, try and try again. It took until June 1776 before a resolution for independence was suggested. On July 2 (yes, the second and not the fourth) the Second Continental Congress voted to adopt the resolution. However, not all members could agree on the actual wording of the document. It took two extra days to make everyone happy. This is why we celebrate July 4 and not July 2. On July 4, 1776 the Declaration of Independence is signed. 

By example, our forefathers teach us the power of persistence and the art of compromise.

As they say, “the rest is history”. We go to war with England. The newly formed United States were not favored to win. The war lasts seven long years. Without the help from the French (as well as a couple other nations who don’t get mentioned enough in textbooks), the chance of gaining independence is non-existent. The Constitution is draft. The Bill of Rights are adopted. George Washington is named President. Yet…what about the timeline?

The war ended in 1783. The Constitution was not ratified until 1788. George Washington was elected President in 1789. The Bill of Rights (you know the words that give us things like “freedom of speech” and “right to bear arms”) were ratified in 1791. And lastly, it was not until 1797 that President Washington did what was at the time unthinkable; he peacefully transferred power to another leader without war and without the successor being family. More impressive is when in 1801 John Adams transfers this power to Thomas Jefferson as where Washington and Adams were friends, Adams and Jefferson were not.

What makes our great country what it is today is that it is forever growing and evolving. The same applies to business success. Remember you won’t have all the answers. Not every decision works out as intended. It is a process. Things take time. You will not be able to do it alone. The minute you think you have it all figured out, you’ll realize you still have much left to accomplish.  

Afterall, our forefather’s started down their path for success in 1773 by recognizing a desire for change. It was not until 1801 that the majority of the pieces to their masterpiece were in place. It still takes this young nation six decades before slavery is abolished (Amendment 13) and over a century before women can legally vote (Amendment 19). 

Be the American Dream. Live the American Dream. Promote the American Dream. Just make sure you understand what that means if you care to learn from those who laid the foundation for our great nation. 

Dustin Owen, CMB, is vice president – Eastern Division Sales for Waterstone Mortgage in Florida.

Source: housingwire.com

Apache is functioning normally

The practical side of me loves wedding registries, and the values-driven side of me has grown to loathe them as brides and grooms seem ever bossier. Registries are nothing new, of course. We registered for gifts in 1973, and as a result received two lovely sets of china and ten place-settings of silver. Beyond that, it was open season: we received all sorts of gifts we had not designated. Most we used, a few we actively hated, and many we came to appreciate and even love over time. (Regifting hadn’t been “invented” back then.). From the point of view of the brides and grooms, wedding registries have many upsides. But let’s look at it from the perspective of the gift-giver.

Pros and Cons

The pros of a gift registry are:

  • Efficiency. You can order the gift and you’re done. The store ships it and you don’t have to wrap it, schlep it, or even buy a card.
  • The couple picks what they want, and you know your gift is to their taste, which is especially helpful if you hate shopping or don’t know the couple well enough to key in to their life style. Easy. Done.

From my point of view, the negative list is more extensive:

  • It’s impersonal. No way to write a note to go with your gift, except electronically.
  • The choices are not prioritized. Recently, after scrolling through scores of chosen items, I finally decided to just purchase a gift certificate from the registry and let the couple decide. Wrapping and shipping would have been an extra $20, which seems mostly wasted.
  • The options are overly directed. The attitude expressed, even if it’s not intentional, is DON’T EVEN THINK ABOUT GIVING US SOMETHING NOT ON OUR LIST! I find it arrogant that young couples think they know more about what they will need over a lifetime than people who have actually lived a generation or two longer. This is often the case because the couple is using a store registry, which is a fixed template without options to comment or personalize any aspect of the choices. They come off sounding very dictatorial.
  • I don’t like being limited to chain stores and/or mass produced items. Some of my favorite wedding gifts are pottery and other handmade crafts, which cannot be purchased from a registry. It’s also nice to give a family heirloom or something more personal.
  • I still might very well decide to give them a place setting of something they’ve chosen, or whatever, but as a sport PSAWSWLD [J.D.’s note: Yeah, I had to click that link, too.], I could probably find it cheaper elsewhere online, and/or perhaps using Amazon Prime’s free shipping, thereby giving them a more valuable gift.
  • I am often turned off by the actual items chosen since they are way pricier and extravagant than anything I have ever owned. (And I’ve lived a perfectly abundant life!) I like to feel simpatico with the gift I’m giving, since it’s an expression of my values.
  • I dislike not knowing whether our gift arrived, since brides and grooms (or bride + bride and groom + groom) are often really terrible about writing thank-yous. My preference is to bring the gift with me to the wedding, if I am attending. Not an option with a registry — the whole point is to ship the gift directly to the couple. They haven’t added return receipts for the giver, so far as I know, so if you never receive an acknowledgment, you don’t know if it’s just another inconsiderate bride and groom screwing up, or if your gift didn’t arrive, and they think you are a creep.
  • The old-fashioned side of me feels uncomfortable with the couple knowing precisely, down to the dime, what I spent on their gift. It feels so calculated. I mean, why don’t they just send a bill?!

Other Options

A few brides and grooms I know have worked to transcend the tax-assessment feel of store registries. While they feel obliged to include conventional stores on their wedding sites (because that’s what lots of their guests do prefer), they expand their suggestions, including favorite charities and causes. One couple said they would love gift certificates to local bookstores and garden shops and described their garden, giving their guests a sense of their values and passions. A few years ago we gave a giant composter to this couple, since they had included it on a wishlist, and it really spoke to me; I totally enjoyed sending it to them. The fancy china comes out maybe once a year, but that composter is used every day!

Another way some couples counteract the gimmes is to ask for non-material gifts. Recently all the invitees to a wedding we attended were asked by the bride’s friend to submit a favorite recipe, which they made into a cookbook for the bride and groom. Another woman I know did something similar for her future daughter-in-law, collecting recipes from all the immediate family, including copies of recipes written by grandmothers no longer alive. (She made copies for all the contributors, and I’m sure they are treasured!)

A nice custom in the Jewish community is to send close friends and family fabric squares to decorate, which are then sent back and stitched together to create the wedding canopy. None of these touches are instead of a material gift, but they serve to make guests feel like they are more than ATMs.

Some couples create an online donation registry in lieu of gifts, but the site notifies the couple of the amount of each contribution, something which makes some people (like me, for example!) uncomfortable. I recently received a link to New American Dream’s registry where the celebrants (brides and grooms, new parents, etc) can set up a registry asking for whatever they like, mixing purchased and guest-created items. Their sample asks for recipes, food for potluck weddings, advice, and fair-traded household things. Very nice idea for a small, simple event, but for a conventional, fancy wedding, I think it would freak people out. (It would be a nice additional alternative to a conventional registry, though; a couple could do both, and explain their thinking on their wedding website, the new de rigeur system for communicating wedding plans.)

And what about the most obvious wedding gift? Cold cash, of course. It’s nice to receive, but I can tell you, 33 years later, it’s the beautiful, thoughtful items which I enjoy, the cash long ago having been plowed into aggregate savings. Many of the brides and grooms I know are mature and earn more than I do, so in those cases money feels like a weird gift. (If the couple is a pair of starving students, money is still a great idea, perhaps along with a smaller material item.)

Let’s hear what you all think about wedding registries, pro or con, and from both givers and receivers’ points of view. Are they a necessary evil, a godsend, or something in between?

Teutsch previously told GRS readers about the pros and cons of working at home and discussed how to get a grip on consumerism.

Source: getrichslowly.org

Apache is functioning normally

As with many things in life these days, it all started with an episode of the Peter Attia podcast.

In this edition, our nation’s most Badass Doctor was interviewing a guest I initially dismissed as not overly applicable to my own lifestyle. A young,excessively handsome dude who happened to be a writer with a new book out. But the headline of the episode was just intriguing enough to get me to click.

“The Comfort Crisis”

Wow, what an amazing turn of phrase, and what a concise summary of the core of this whole Mustachianism thing I’ve been trying to express for the past dozen years. 

While the news headlines cry constantly about our nationwide personal debt crisis or health crisis or any other number of things that suggest that life is so hard these days, I have always seen the opposite: on average, we Americans seem to have a problem of ridiculous overindulgence and easiness in our lives, and our main problem is not recognizing it, and the damage it does to us. 

So of course I had to click, and then listen to the whole two hour episode, and then buy the book, and then spend the past month reading and digesting it in small, meaningful chunks like the modern-day chunk of scripture-like wisdom that it is. And wow, am I glad I did so.

The author is Michael Easter, a former writer for Men’s Health magazine was also once catastrophically addicted to alcohol – and descended from a long family line of ancestors with the same affliction. 

He was lucky to catch himself from that fall in time to save his own life, and that story alone makes the book worth reading as someone who has stood by helplessly as loved ones battled with addiction. But I think his history with overindulgence in the hollow comforts of alcohol also gives him an edge on writing about the battle between comfort and hardship on the bigger stage of life in general.

So what is The Comfort Crisis about, and how can it make all of our lives better?

The best part about this book is just what a damned good writer this Easter guy is. Like many of the most fun popular science books*, it follows a split narrative which jumps back and forth to interweave the story of an insanely difficult caribou hunting trip he joined in a remote pocket of Alaska, with the appropriate bits of science, psychology and cultural commentary that help us explain and learn from each chapter of the epic shit he had just endured. This allows us to process and apply the lessons in our own lives.

For example, have you ever wondered why the type of bored, rich suburbanites who populate the board of your local Homeowner Association and whine about unacceptably tall weeds or unauthorized skateboarding on Nextdoor are so insufferable?

Why can’t they do something better with their time?

It turns out that there’s a scientific explanation for these unfortunate people, along with most of our other problems:

The tendency of humans to always scan our environment for problems, regardless of how safe and perfect that environment is.

The book cited a study in which researchers told people to look for danger, in an environment which gradually became safer and safer:

“When they ran out of stuff to find they would start looking for a wider range of stuff, even if this was not conscious or intentional, because their job was to look for threats.” 

“With that in mind, Levari recently conducted a series of studies to find out if the human brain searches for problems even when problems become infrequent or don’t exist.“

“As we experience fewer problems, we don’t become more satisfied. We just lower our threshold for what we consider a problem.“

In other words, even when our lives are virtually problem free, instead of appreciating our good fortune we just start making up shit that we can complain about instead. 

And then our politicians cock their greasy, finely-tuned ears in our direction and make up policies to appease our mostly-insubstantial concerns. And they invent their own trivial “wedge” issues to get us to all bicker about our different cultures and religions, suddenly caring about things that would not have even been problems if nobody told us they were. 

And there’s America’s weakness in a nutshell, and meanwhile our strength comes entirely from the times we choose not to waste our time stooping to this level.

Meanwhile, the opposite effect holds true: people who survive in rougher environments than us end up more resilient and less prone to complaining.

In a series of recent interviews, Ukrainian people living in the war zones of their occupied country were asked “is it safe to live where you live?” and a strangely high percentage still said “Yes” – not all that different from the responses of US residents when asked the same question about their own cities.

This adaptation principle also explains why some first generation immigrants tend to build businesses and wealth while their own offspring in second and third generations are more likely to become complacent and spend it down. As an immigrant myself, I can see why this is: conditions were just slightly more harsh and less comfortable and wealthy where I grew up, so I adapted to those conditions as “normal” which made the United States seem posh and easy by comparison. Which made it easier to spend less money and accumulate more.

Tree Therapy

The trap of pointless worry is just one of the many revelations of The Comfort Crisis. It also gives insightful explanations for why spending time in Nature boosts our mental and physical health, while cubicles and car driving grind us down. 

There’s something in our biological wiring that responds instantly and powerfully to everything natural, in ways that you can’t get anywhere else.

Even placing a single plant into a hospital room will measurably improve the recovery of almost all patients from almost all ailments. So can you imagine the power of the medicine you are inhaling if you step into a real, living forest? And what if you spent several hours there, or even several days?

Later, we get lessons on our human adaptation towards the ratio of effort to reward:

It’s proven the harder you work for something, the happier you’ll be about it,”

And our bizarre natural aversion to physical exertion:

A figure that shows just how predisposed humans are to default to comfort:

2 (two).

That’s the percent of people who take the stairs when they also have the option to take an escalator.

Which is remarkable, given the absolutely insane cost this tendency imposes upon us.

Moving your body, even a bit, has enormous benefits – again to almost all people towards reducing the probability and severity of almost all diseases. So can you imagine the benefit of moving your body for several hours per day in a natural environment, and including heavy load bearing and bits of extreme exertion?

These things are not speculative pieces of alternative medicine. They are known, easily and reproducibly tested, and proven to be the most effective things we can possibly do with our time.

So why, the actual fuck, are people still sitting inside, watching Netflix, driving to work, and then driving to the doctor’s office to get deeper and deeper analysis of a neverending series of exotic and mysterious and unsolvable problems with their physical and mental health?

We should at least start with the stuff we know is essential – maximum outdoor time every day, heavy exertion including with weights, minimal time spent sitting and driving, and minimum junk food, sugar, and alcohol. You definitely don’t have to be perfect, but just understand that these are the big levers for physical and mental health.

Only then, once you reach these minimum basic things for human survival, should you expect that more exotic and niche medicines and treatments are the only course of action. 

By all means, follow your doctor’s orders and don’t just dump all of your medications down the sink because of this MMM rant. But at the same time, realize that the stuff that is hard and uncomfortable is very likely to be the stuff that improves your life the most. 

It’s all the stuff that Mr. Money Mustache has been telling you since 2012, but with more detail and less distraction. This book is a concentrated packet of advice for solid living.

Real Life Inspiration from the Good Book

In a happy coincidence, I happened to be in the middle of some hard stuff** of my own as I worked my way through The Comfort Crisis and I found the perspective quite useful and transformative to apply hot off the press. 

Working with a friend to build a cabin.

Normally somewhat of a homebody, I had embarked on a solo journey for some Carpentourism deep in the mountains of Southwestern Colorado. I had my whole life shrunk down into the new Model Y including food, bed, and the necessary tools and materials to tackle a pretty long laundry list of tasks on two different construction projects (fixing up a mini-resort property in Salida, and starting construction on a small cabin in Durango)

The trip immediately took a turn towards the dramatic as I climbed into the mountains and drove straight into the most torrential rainstorm I have ever seen, then accidentally broke a traffic law in a remote mountain town right in front of both of the local police officers ($115 fine and two points off my license), then five minutes after that had a small pebble hit my brand-new windshield which instantly spread into a crack that spans the whole thing, all before finally limping into Salida to unpack and get started on the work.

“Big deal”, I can already hear you saying, “Retired man experiences two minor incidents while taking a vacation in his luxury car.” 

And you’re right, and that is exactly my point.

My life is so stable and comfortable that even these two miniature challenges threw me off balance, and I arrived in a slightly bummed and stressed-out state. But I still knew that in the bigger picture, they are good for me if I accept them as I accept them as the lessons they are rather than choosing to continue to worry about them.

As the trip went on, more things happened, almost as if The Comfort Crisis book were trying to prove a point. I drove three hours deeper into the mountains and up the steep dirt road to arrive at my second friend’s piece of land – a plot of forest in the mountains just outside of Durango.

Pollen

My work days in that high desert environment in the peak of summer were hot and physically demanding. It was hard to keep my tools, and my food supply in the cooler, and myself protected from the scorching sun (and a strange neverending blizzard of tree pollen) while still getting the job done. There was no indoor plumbing and we had to be very careful with our limited water supply. And then at the end of each day I had to reshuffle everything and set my car back up as a bedroom and crawl in for the night. Alone and far from home.

But instead of feeling depressed as I experienced this constant hardship, the opposite thing was happening: I felt more alive and more badass with each passing day. I got better at being a feral forest man.

One day, my co-builder and I decided to take the afternoon off and head to the wild, remote Lemon Reservoir for some paddleboarding. We didn’t bring our phones or any other conveniences or amenities – just two boards and the minimal clothing required for swimming. And we headed out into a stiff headwind and little whitecap waves, laughing at the freedom of the experience.

Lemon Reservoir

It was hard, and slightly scary, as we got further and further from the shore. Progress was slow even with serious paddling, and we didn’t have any particular plan beyond the spirit of “let’s GO!” 

But again Michael Easter was there whispering in my ear, saying,

 “Is this difficult, Mustache? GOOOOoood! Then you’d better keep going!”

So we did. And we got way out into that lake, to a point where the water was shielded from the wind by the mountains on the other side. And it was awesome. 

We cruised over to the shore to explore a particularly scenic meadow, coated with the softest green mossy grass and exuberantly colored wildflowers, and set at an impossibly steep angle. And damn I wished that I could have taken pictures, but in a strange way this forced me to burn that spot more thoroughly into my memories using my own senses instead.

Then we headed back out into the center of the lake, set down the paddles, and just laid down on our boards to let the wind and the waves take us back towards the far end of the lake where we had started. And what a strange, serene feeling it was, floating on just a tube of air over two hundred feet of cold blue water, feeling like a jungle man with no cares and no plans and no material possessions. It could have been scary, but instead it was one of the best and most relaxed moments of my life.

Eventually, this week of forest living and exertion had to come to an end so I could get back to my own town to be a Dad again. But it ended with a final reminder of the principles of the Comfort Crisis – after so many days relatively extreme work and a relatively sparse food supply, I had grown used to a healthy background hunger. Which is yet another thing that we are meant to experience as humans – being satisfied and free from hunger all the time is neither normal nor healthy.

But when my hosts took me out on the town for a final night thank you dinner at the Mexican restaurant, the immense Burrito platter I consumed turned out to be the most delicious meal of my life.

The most delicious meal ever (and the most Immense – hand for scale)

Purposeful Hardship vs. Purposeful Spending

There has been a lot of talk directed at the FIRE community recently about how bad we are at spending our money, and how we all need to loosen up. And there’s a small amount of truth to it, as my local friends Carl and Mindy recently admitted during a grilling on the Ramit Sethi podcast.

But we also need to keep this whole idea of excessive comfort in mind, and the damage it does to the natural human condition. 

It’s great to spend money on adventures and improving yourself, being generous to others, and making the world a better place. 

But it’s also way too easy to fool yourself into thinking you “want” things that just make your life easier and easier. 

So your job is to catch yourself before this happens, and learn to keep things challenging, even as you upgrade the rest of your life experience.

In other words: buy yourself better tools, not softer chairs.

—-

* Another great book that follows this style is Wired for Love by neruroscientist Stephanie Cacioppo – highly recommended for reading in parallel with a lover, whether new or old.

** not actually hard by reasonable human standards, but it seemed hard by my comfort addicted first world standards

Source: mrmoneymustache.com