patrick.net

lol @ "sky high interest rate of 8.2%". It was more than twice that in the early 1980's.

Old people had it good back then.

How does one become "disabled" from technical writing? You mean he can't think, read and type anymore?

Maybe he was just defeated by his entitlement mentality that backfired and made him totally uncooperative. That sounds more like a California tale.

Tax sales also don't care what they get for the property as long as the debt is paid.

However, the knee-jerk sympathy reflex in the article assumes that the highest THEORETICAL value for the property applies to determine "equity". The house could be a wreck from lack of maintenance.

Call JD Wentworth.

"It's my MONEY and I want it NOW!"

Ceffer says

How does one become "disabled" from technical writing? You mean he can't think, read and type anymore?

A bong hit of the right stuff ought to do it.

robertoaribas says

ok, there is a penalty in life for being a complete idiot.

SELL the home, and pay off the mortgage, keeping your equity. If you absolutely refuse to face reality, you lose...

I agree. This guy had plenty of time to sell and get the equity out of his house. It's his failure to face reality that lead to his losing all his equity.

I'm no expert, but he looks OK in the photos, he's standing without assistance and has enough mental sense to fight his foreclosure for two years. I too am baffled how he is considered disabled.

One last point, If his parents purchased the house in 1962, with a 30 year mortgage, that gives you house paid off in 1992. I'm wagering SOMEONE cashed out a lot of money on the house. A half million dollars pretty big line of credit.

That's a sad story, but it's sad because the guy was so stubborn. He could have netted enough to be comfortable for awhile; now he has nothing. I think most of us would like to live in a million dollar house, but most of us don't get to. Join the club.

another one of those articles.

robertoaribas says

ok, there is a penalty in life for being a complete idiot.

SELL the home, and pay off the mortgage, keeping your equity. If you absolutely refuse to face reality, you lose...

It is a sad story. It is so sad that many people in this country lost a fundamental survive skill: personal-responsibility. Personal-responsibility is the foundation of freedom and dignity.

Homeboy says

I think most of us would like to live in a million dollar house, but most of us don't get to.

This guy was living in a $300k house (that would cost $75k in most of the rest of the country) that is on a $700k piece of land (that would cost $50k in most of the rest of the country). The *ONLY* thing of value here is the location in San Fran and his inherited Prop 13 tax perks. My part of Sunnyvale is littered with Eichler houses. While they are interesting and (somewhat) functional, they are very much *NOT* luxury homes... leaky flat roofs, poured concrete floors (with inaccessible and broken radiant heating system embedded in the concrete), no insulation anywhere, etc. With no attic or crawlspace, running wires for such modern conveniences as grounded electricity, telephones, ethernet, and cable tv is quite a challenge too.

In some areas of Palo Alto, owners have the added "benefits" of being part of an Eichler historical area, so the best you can hope for is that a house fire burns the place to the ground so you will be allowed to build something better.

BobMSN says

It is so sad that many people in this country lost a fundamental survive skill: personal-responsibility.

That's why we have public assistance. In order to keep people with obviously flawed genes from dying out. After all how else are we going to make the rest of us look smarter without someone else stupider to point at. :)

I looked up the address, 25 Cameo Way, San Francisco, I looked at it on Google maps and all i can say is that is just about the ugliest house I ever saw. It looks more like a garage than a house. One story, 1 car garage with a door. No curb appeal at all. He certainly didn't pull a half million dollars in equity to make improvements to his house.

SunnyvaleCA says

This guy was living in a $300k house (that would cost $75k in most of the rest of the country) that is on a $700k piece of land

I think your being over generous here i wouldn't pay 300k or 75k for that piece of Shit of a house. ,

SunnyvaleCA says

so the best you can hope for is that a house fire burns the place to the ground so you will be allowed to build something better.

Fire Hell, I think the whole neighborhood should be burnt down and rebuilt. The many of the other houses aren't much better.