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Sunday, September 16, 2012

Do you really own it?



Back when I decided to build a dome to live in, I received a lot of negative comments. One of the big things people gave me crap about was resale value. Frankly, I really didn’t care about resale value. The house was for my family, not for some potential owner down the road.

Turns out banks are interested in resale value and don’t like to loan on nontraditional housing. That had to be worked around. By selling my old house, I made enough profit to build the shell, divide up some rooms, and do some wiring. Once the place was actually in existence, it wasn’t a problem to get a loan to finish the job. Now that tax assessors have put a number on the value of the place, it’s pretty much treated like any other house.

I never worried about the resale value of vehicles. Even back when I borrowed money to buy cars, resale was never a concern. All my cars were modified to fit my needs -not some plain vanilla basic generic needs. Besides, I don’t trade in cars. By the time I’m done with a vehicle, it’s ready for the scrap yard.

A lot of people talk about cool and interesting things they’d like to do, but then rarely depart from the norm. I hear about the dream houses or cottages they’d want to build, or some radical modification they’d love to try. Of course, few banks would lend money to build such a house, so they’d have get creative on the financing side. In the end, they pretty much do what everyone else does. If they feel really radical, they might paint their front door red. In a pinch they could repaint it for resale.

The US is supposed to be a nation of individuals. Sure we are -within a certain narrow range. It got me thinking. If we don’t act like we own our stuff enough to modify it, do we feel the same way about owning ourselves? After all, we are our own do it yourself projects, responsible for the way we turn out.

-Sixbears



14 comments:

  1. Had my second pick-up ('79 GMC)for 28 years. Bought it new and put a flat bed on it and worked it hard. Bought my last pickup (2007 Toyota Tundra Crew Max) new, but put a toneau cover on the bed, since it will never be worked like the old one. It will probably out-last me and get to be an embarrassment to my neighborhood like my old one was.

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    1. When people ask me how long I'd like to keep a vehicle, I say "Just until the end of the petroleum age."

      28 years is a good long service time.

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  2. I won't "own" my house until its paid for. I do own my van and will drive it until it can't be driven any more.

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    1. Those of us who drive vehicles for years and years certainly don't stimulate the economy much -but it certainly helps our economy.

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  3. I don't owe anyone anything so you might think I own my stuff. If that is the case why do I have to pay taxes on my stuff, or have a license on my vehicles? Do we ever really own anything except our thoughts and sometimes I don't think all of us own those. Very good post, Sisbears.

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    1. Thanks Dizzy. Just trying to think a bit ouside the box, as usual.

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  4. City building codes do away with most individualism, though every now and then a piratical soul finds a loophole. And then there are some like me who just ignored the rules and built what I wanted (my old shop). "The system" punishes people who color outside the lines, and it's very few who dare. Sadly...

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    1. I was never very good at the coloring within in the lines thing.

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  5. There is an old saying..."rules are there to be broken!"

    This applies mainly to HOA rules and the entities that control the permits!

    Good post!

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    1. I'd never live under HOA rules. It would get ugly fast.

      Rules . . . think of them more as suggestions.

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  6. Ever wonder why we don't own anything? The way I see it,it all starts when kids start going to school. "We" don't do this...or "We" don't do that. Our kids are being literally brainwashed! Then most folks today buy into this crap about "You need this." Yeah, right...What ever happened to the idea that people should think for themselves? Oh..ok...yeah....we as a society have been turned into sheeple...the damm goobermint can't have thinking people...to dangerous you know....

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    1. School is where it really gets drilled into us. Used to fight with the school system all the time. First when I went there, then later with my kids.

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  7. Like Dizzy said, even if you have a paid for home and vehicles you never really own them. Try not paying your real estate taxes! They will confiscate your home and sell it for taxes. Don't buy license plates and you can't drive the vehicle. Don't have car insurance and you're a criminal.

    It's getting real hard to draw outside the lines today!

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    1. We should at least push the edges as far as they'll go. Just because we can't do everything doesn't me we should do nothing.

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