Author Topic: FranLab is getting evicted  (Read 251185 times)

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Offline cdev

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #325 on: November 01, 2018, 07:32:52 pm »
rsjsouza, what do you mean, how much do you pay, and what do you mean by 'maintenance'?

Do you live in a place where they force you to pay for landscaping?

This reminds me of something..

Poor and working people 'who are given opportunities' to rent 'below market rate housing' in newly constructed  environments of all kinds in the US, rarely manage to hold on to these 'homes' for long.

(builders had or sometimes have agree to build in some low cost housing when they are displacing lots of non-wealthy people)

So suppose a displaced family, after waiting years on a waiting list, is given the opportunity to rent in their old neighborhood in SF, NYC, Philly or wherever, at way below market rate in one of these new buildings, maybe they build in a separate entrance for them in back.

Anyway, its been found that they rarely last long in these situations because various other costs and fees just add up to often make the situation totally unworkable for them, and they lose these supposedly affordable homes.  This is because those fees, unlike their rents, are not specifically supposed to be affordable.

A similar situation applies to health insurance where oftentimes, costs passed on in toto to supposedly insured people which are not covered materialize and those fees can be totally unexpected and astronomical.

For example, $70,000 unexpected fees arriving after a spine operation because a surgeons regular anesthesiologists canceled and rather than put off the operation they used an out of network one. This stuff, which is called 'drive by doctoring' happens all the time.

The message is, stay away from using your insurance if you are poor, or we'll make you pay a high price.

« Last Edit: November 01, 2018, 08:37:30 pm by cdev »
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Offline cdev

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #326 on: November 01, 2018, 07:52:22 pm »
In my opinion, there is a lot of truth to the opinions expressed by poor people everywhere these days, including the working class people who many try to frame as 'rednecks' (an interesting term that in the distant past referred to trade unionists !) who say that the system has been turned into one that no longer represents them. I have rarely seen those people be bigots, more often than not they see more in common with other people in their economic condition and its not based on race.


 More often than not, these days the gatekeepers to access to the media fall over backwards to find some excuse, any excuse to trivialize and dismiss their staements or arguments, nomatter who they come from.

Around the world these excuses vary quite a bit but the aggressive way they are squelched and intelligent conversation prevented is common to all of them.

They try to fit them into a number of constructed frames which have been stripped of essential contextual information in order to hide the truth in them.

"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline NivagSwerdna

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #327 on: November 01, 2018, 07:59:31 pm »
Nivag Swerdna, what do you mean by 'maintenance'?
Did I say that?
 

Offline rsjsouza

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #328 on: November 01, 2018, 08:04:43 pm »
Nivag Swerdna, what do you mean by 'maintenance'?
Did I say that?
I think it was directed to me. I repeated myself while writing my post  :palm:

What I meant to say is:
"At any rate, owning a place also adds a lot of costs - at least where I live, owning a properly in a residential area costs a lot more than renting mostly due to taxes and maintenance."
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Offline station240

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #329 on: November 01, 2018, 08:43:52 pm »
It's not just property flippers Fran has had trouble with.
University asked her to help clear out a lab, after answering everyone questions about what things were and leaving, the students and staff promptly cleared everything out including most of what she put aside to collect.
No doubt it's all been listed for sale on ebay, by people who barely know what it is.



Yes I hate ebay flippers too, if you have no clue what something is don't buy it to sell at a profit!
Not to mention all the stuff they bin as it's not 'worth' their time to sell it, or they think no one would want it.
 

Offline thm_w

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #330 on: November 01, 2018, 10:02:59 pm »
It's not just property flippers Fran has had trouble with.
University asked her to help clear out a lab, after answering everyone questions about what things were and leaving, the students and staff promptly cleared everything out including most of what she put aside to collect.
No doubt it's all been listed for sale on ebay, by people who barely know what it is.

If its a university then good chance its gone into electronics recycling/garbage, same as would be done at most companies. I wouldn't assume malicious intent yet.
If you take extra effort to sell it, profit goes to the company. So it means more work for you for zero benefit.

Lesson learned: don't put things aside to collect, take them at the time they are offered.
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Offline cdev

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #331 on: November 01, 2018, 10:12:19 pm »
She probably had to get a friend with a car to help. Poof, equipment gone.
"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline EEVblog

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #332 on: November 01, 2018, 10:30:37 pm »
This is crazy, she needs to GTFO

 

Offline cdev

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #333 on: November 01, 2018, 10:59:32 pm »
She needs to get out. She only has one life, one set of lungs.

She should *shed stuff and not acquire any new stuff*.


« Last Edit: November 02, 2018, 01:25:50 am by cdev »
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Offline coppercone2

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #334 on: November 02, 2018, 01:12:56 am »
i think she can race the local youth on quads or motorcycles to make some money like in the fast and the furious according to my research about that city
 

Offline james_s

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #335 on: November 02, 2018, 06:18:23 am »
At any rate, owning a place also carries a lot in maintenance - at least where I live, owning a properly in a residential area costs a lot more than renting mostly due to taxes and maintenance.

In the short term yes, in the long term that doesn't add up. If it were cheaper to rent than own, nobody would be a landlord.

I remember ~15 years ago people told me I was nuts to buy a house because renting was cheaper. Well at the time renting was cheaper but today a house like mine rents for a few hundred a month more than the payments on my current 15 year mortgage. In about 6 years my house will be paid off, I'll own it free and clear, and my monthly payment will drop to just tax and maintenance. If I were renting there would be no light at the end of the tunnel, I'd have to keep renting forever and when I become too old to work and/or rents increase to a point I'd be forced to move elsewhere. This way if I decide to move some day, I'll have a very valuable asset I can sell, I'll very likely get back everything I paid into it and then some. I've encountered quite a few people who seem not to grasp that renting does not save you from paying property taxes and maintenance, you're just paying someone elses property taxes and maintenance and it's rolled into the rent, and when you move out you get nothing, all that money has been paid into someone elses equity.
 

Offline MrMobodies

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #336 on: November 02, 2018, 06:58:34 am »
I see more money is being poured into the GoFundMe campaign.
If it gets any better hopefully she can buy a property.
Not including those who donated using Paypal.
 

Offline cdev

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #337 on: November 02, 2018, 05:54:53 pm »
There are a lot of other factors that determine the value of property. One of them is the proximity to employment. The value of a place to live is determined by both the value to people of living near family and friends, as well as work. Weather, and cultural life and especially, the intangible but very important things like government and level of integrity or corruption matter a great deal. All the other stuff in the world matters little if a country is not safe too. There is a huge benefit to being in an environment where people trust one another because they are in fact, trustworthy. Property may be grossly overvalued if it is in a place where the people in charge are not in fact trustworthy, while people think they are.

There is also a phenomenon, similar to the not invented here phenomenon, or familiarity breeds contempt, which leads many people to tend to want to invest elsewhere, oftentimes its not necessarily because of common sense, its just based on perceptions which may be wrong.


At any rate, owning a place also carries a lot in maintenance - at least where I live, owning a properly in a residential area costs a lot more than renting mostly due to taxes and maintenance.

In the short term yes, in the long term that doesn't add up. If it were cheaper to rent than own, nobody would be a landlord.

I remember ~15 years ago people told me I was nuts to buy a house because renting was cheaper. Well at the time renting was cheaper but today a house like mine rents for a few hundred a month more than the payments on my current 15 year mortgage. In about 6 years my house will be paid off, I'll own it free and clear, and my monthly payment will drop to just tax and maintenance. If I were renting there would be no light at the end of the tunnel, I'd have to keep renting forever and when I become too old to work and/or rents increase to a point I'd be forced to move elsewhere. This way if I decide to move some day, I'll have a very valuable asset I can sell, I'll very likely get back everything I paid into it and then some. I've encountered quite a few people who seem not to grasp that renting does not save you from paying property taxes and maintenance, you're just paying someone elses property taxes and maintenance and it's rolled into the rent, and when you move out you get nothing, all that money has been paid into someone elses equity.
"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline MrMobodies

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #338 on: November 02, 2018, 06:12:41 pm »
Recently in England many are trapped in what they call "Fleeceholds" sold under fancy names such as "Virtual Freeholds" which they are often misconstrued as "Virtually it is a freehold" nonsense and it has gotten so bad they recently banned new homes without including the land it is sold on. I read the investments firms the land is sold charge £108 for queries like to find out how much it is to buy the freehold, over £600 for a pet license and over £120 to put up picture or a blind on ground clauses and after consent for building works they want four figure sums if they went ahead.
 

Offline IanMacdonald

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #339 on: November 02, 2018, 06:28:22 pm »
In Scotland,  leasehold is largely a thing of the past, with a previous government having ruled that leaseholder could buy-out their feu by putting down a sum which would return a given amount in interest.

Most blocks of flats here are jointly owned by the residents.  :-+

Of course you can still rent office space or the like, as a tenant.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2018, 06:30:03 pm by IanMacdonald »
 

Offline rsjsouza

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #340 on: November 02, 2018, 09:08:35 pm »
At any rate, owning a place also carries a lot in maintenance - at least where I live, owning a properly in a residential area costs a lot more than renting mostly due to taxes and maintenance.

In the short term yes, in the long term that doesn't add up. If it were cheaper to rent than own, nobody would be a landlord.
Your commentary is sensible and, historically speaking, property ownership tends to have an ever increasing but very long term significant return on investment.

However, such skewed economy that turns property into pure investments (flippers, empty houses, etc.) increases the risk of such long term financial commitment and makes people pause before hedging their savings on this - mortgage and taxes can be an unsustainable part of the income of young people and families, not to mention gentrification (the subject du jour). This is specially true after entire families have been burned by the 2008 crisis, where financially independent younger generations are moving this down on their list priorities (a while ago I read this in a few references around). Another thing that contributes to this is the immense college debt.

With a heated economy, the allure of the financial market flips the equation towards having the down payment money invested in finance products and recovering their rental expenses through it - in other words, you build your equity not in a house but in cashflow. In the long run it tends to pay off or at least get close enough, but obviously this always depends on your own financial skills or advice.

As anecdotal evidence, twelve years ago a very financially savvy friend used to have three properties for rental in two states and was considering adding a one more to his portfolio. Fast forward to today, all his money is on the finance market. Another friend living in California went upside down on his house and ten years later he has yet to recover from that loss.

In another country and era (2002), I paid for my apartment in full with my savings and lived on it for a few years. Economy tanked, my job moved to another the country and I got almost no return in selling it (strenuous consequences, but still a fact of life). My parents have about four properties (apart from their own) and the return is about 0.5~1% a year when comparing to the total value of the properties - that on a country with an economy that pays 6~7%/yr interest in a conservative investment.

To me this is quite similar to the folks that challenge the cost of higher education: with the amount of money saved, one could potentially invest it now and gain in the long run, but that takes discipline and skills. Not everybody will be successful. 

All that said, I still own a house and bleed every year we make a comparison with rental - financially it is a disaster, but there are many other practical/psychological factors involved, especially when you have kids.
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Oh, the "whys" of the datasheets... The information is there not to be an axiomatic truth, but instead each speck of data must be slowly inhaled while carefully performing a deep search inside oneself to find the true metaphysical sense...
 

Offline cdev

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #341 on: November 02, 2018, 09:20:53 pm »
Was that before or after January 1, 1995?

In Scotland,  leasehold is largely a thing of the past, with a previous government having ruled that leaseholder could buy-out their feu by putting down a sum which would return a given amount in interest.

Most blocks of flats here are jointly owned by the residents.  :-+

Of course you can still rent office space or the like, as a tenant.
"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 

Offline james_s

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #342 on: November 02, 2018, 09:55:38 pm »
All that said, I still own a house and bleed every year we make a comparison with rental - financially it is a disaster, but there are many other practical/psychological factors involved, especially when you have kids.

Would it still be a disaster though if you look 10, 20 or even 30 years into the future? I don't know how old you are, but let's say you decide to retire and downsize, move into a rented apartment or assisted living home. If you own your house, in the case of most people it would be paid off by then and will have appreciated substantially. I know people sometimes get underwater with houses but I've never met someone who has owned the same house for 20+ years and is still underwater. Anyway if you own, you have a valuable asset you can sell or rent out to someone else, whereas if you had rented all that time you'd have nothing. Someone else would have that valuable asset you helped pay for.
 

Offline cdev

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #343 on: November 02, 2018, 11:47:09 pm »
No investment is risk free.
« Last Edit: November 02, 2018, 11:55:27 pm by cdev »
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Offline james_s

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #344 on: November 03, 2018, 06:25:38 pm »
No but some are much safer than others, and if you never take any risk at all you will never have any reward either. If you make investments, there is a risk you will lose. If you don't invest in anything, you *will* lose.
 

Offline cdev

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #345 on: November 03, 2018, 07:18:24 pm »
Have you seen the figures on student debt?
The level of student debt is insane.

At least one's house is something you can use. This is why real estate is called real.

But, good luck making enough money, the jobs and housing situation for young people is really horrible.
It was bad when I was their age but its ten times worse now.

So the advice to people to 'invest' seems *sigh* like a cop out. 

Many Americans don't even have the money to buy basics, let alone invest.

A huge chunk of people are living paycheck to paycheck.
They are working two or more jobs and just barely keeping a roof over their heads.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 07:28:27 pm by cdev »
"What the large print giveth, the small print taketh away."
 
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Offline maginnovision

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #346 on: November 03, 2018, 07:29:45 pm »
I'm young and I have a house, 3 cars, 2 kids a motorcycle. You know what I did with my student debt? I paid it off and didn't get a degree in gender studies. Young people have problems but a lot of them are THEIR problems. Not the worlds. I don't know why you keep leaving 3 messages for every single 1 but it's pretty excessive.
 

Offline MrMobodies

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #347 on: November 03, 2018, 07:37:14 pm »
Many Americans don't even have the money to buy basics, let alone invest.

A huge chunk of people are living paycheck to paycheck.
They are working two or more jobs and just barely keeping a roof over their heads.

I saw a documentary a couple of months ago and I cannot remember the name of it but they showed people in California living in caravans and lorries all parked up on the roads in some areas because the landlords raised the rent so much and some of them had respectful jobs. One of them lived in a car and worked for Google.
A place was opened for them to go toilet, wash and shower.

They said they find that they are able to save something that way even though it still won't be enough to afford a house there but it is better than loosing all the money to the  landlords or blood sucking vampires.
« Last Edit: November 03, 2018, 07:39:21 pm by MrMobodies »
 

Offline james_s

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #348 on: November 03, 2018, 09:19:53 pm »
I'm not saying there aren't problems, or that wage inequality is not an issue, or that living in some areas is even viable for most people, but that doesn't change the fact that for virtually anywhere, renting is much more expensive in the long run and property is generally speaking a very sound, conservative investment. When looking at time periods in the 20-30 year range I think one would be hard pressed to find an instance where property value had not increased.

A long time ago I set a goal for myself to buy a house by the time I was 25 and I just barely squeaked by and accomplished that. Things were very tight for a while, I borrowed $5k from my mom which was the most she could afford to loan me, I packed a lunch every day instead of eating in the cafeteria at work for a couple years. I had to get one of those scary adjustable rate mortgages and a separate equity loan and after signing the papers I had a whole $52 left to my name. I immediately rented out a room to somebody and had at least one roommate for the first 7 years I was in the place. As soon as I could afford it I started paying extra principal each month and when interest rates bottomed out I refinanced to a 15 year mortgage which again was cutting things a bit close. I've never bought a new car, I rarely eat out, instead of buying things like a new TV I've always gotten broken ones for free and fixed them myself. For about 10 years I didn't have much extra money but now things are starting to change. The amount I still owe is less than $100k which is a nice psychologically pleasing threshold. My house is worth well over twice what I paid for it, I can see the light at the end of the tunnel and I'll be paid off and own my home free and clear by my mid 40s. That is something I greatly look forward to, it will be a big weight off my shoulders and I cannot imagine the feeling of gloom I would have knowing that instead of relief I could look forward to a lifetime of paying more and more money into something that would never be mine. Even if my salary never increases beyond what I make today, I'll be doing just fine. Without a mortgage to pay each month I could even get by on minimum wage if I had to.
 
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Offline MrMobodies

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Re: FranLab is getting evicted
« Reply #349 on: November 03, 2018, 10:01:50 pm »
In Fran's latest video no packages will be opened unless confirmation is received first of what it is.

Fran mentions about an incidence with the post recently in the news but that has been going on for years.
Why now and not before?

I think it might have something to do with the landlord or building company.

It is not like Fran insulted some some religion of have extremist views and I see nothing political in the videos.
 


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