Comments | slamlander: The freefalling buck, where will it land?

slamlander

The freefalling buck, where will it land?

Jun 06, 2011 05:41

Against the Swiss Franc, the US Dollar is now down to 83.4 centimes and dropping fast. This follows closely on news of the double-dip in the housing market and it is a not an inconsequential corollary.
The reason that it is called Real Estate is because land is the only real value. Given a sufficient a amount, you don’t need anything else because ( Read more... )

us, econ

Comments 4

dulcimeoww June 6 2011, 12:34:13 UTC

We've been very careful to keep funds unmingled, and assets as well, aside from working out of our home. Basically, the business owns very little except rights to manufacture and distribute products based on Poe's work, and those are actually rented and will dissolve in the event of bankruptcy. Okay, technically it also owns all the physical books and t-shirts and the like... just not the important things like the physical artwork or the files or the copyrights. The business is more likely to go under than we are, I work very hard to live within our means. In contrast, the business is taking on tens of thousands of dollars of risk this year, and it scares the shit out of me.

However, we also finally got that mortgage renegotiation about a year ago, and it made a WORLD of difference. We can mostly afford our house now, which is good, because when Poe's dad died we acquired a second one to pay taxes on until we can reasonably afford to sell it. Thank god and Charlie's avowed hatred of debt that it wasn't mortgaged!

slamlander June 6 2011, 16:53:15 UTC

That hatred of debt is where everyone should be and isn't :( Good for you then! :) But tell me, did they actually drop the total home value in the process or did they merely stretch the mortgage out a different way? After the TARP, they should have matched the mortgage value to the actual current value of the home.

Unfortunately, it looks as if housing prices will continue to drop even below your current amount.

Yes, the corporate veil works both ways. If the corporation gets into trouble, the implosion on that side shouldn't effect your personal liabilities. However, remember that I am not a lawyer and you should always consult a lawyer when these matters become relevent for you. ;)

dulcimeoww June 6 2011, 20:03:20 UTC

They did stretch the mortgage out... about half of it is sitting to one side, accumulating no interest, but waiting to be paid none the less. We weren't in a position to negotiate at the time, and were just grateful to get 2% interest and payments we could afford.

slamlander June 7 2011, 13:34:15 UTC

Bummer. The only good negotiating position on these things is to be completely paid up and having your lawyer threaten them with a bankruptcy if they don't change the loan value. Even that isn't that strong of a position because it isn't a legally bound one. Their counter would simply be to accept the losses and move on, unless there were a host of others in the same boat. That bit takes a certain amount of drive and political will, in the getting folks together in a unified front sense. It isn't easy. In fact, damned near impossible for most folks ( ... )