McCain's houses
McCain has more houses than I realized, but I'm not surprised. Many wealthy people have multiple homes as investments, particularly in the 21st century. Mortgage gaming is one of the ways, perfectly legal, we got into our latest financial slide. I think he and Cindy only use three, and the others are rented or used by family. And who knows what their pre-nup said; perhaps she and not he is the owner, and that's why he waffled? She's the rich one. Seven. Hmmm. That's how many siblings Obama has. And one is living in dire poverty, according to news stories. Maybe to tap this down, McCain could offer Obama's youngest brother, George Hussein Onyango Obama, a place to live.However, considering the shady deal Obama had to get his primary residence in Illinois, I was really surprised his supporters jumped on this (I suspect a planted question). Real estate is not an issue he wants people to talk about.
Perhaps it's not common, but since owning a second home (since 1988) I've met a number of very ordinary Americans who own three or four homes. In fact, until July we owned three, one used by our son but now he owns it. My parents owned two homes; both my maternal and paternal grandparents owned two homes; my husband's parents owned two homes. My friend Helen has one in Hilliard, Lakeside and Orlando; Angela has one in Hudson, Lakeside and Bradenton; Mrs. Lowe, our former neighbor, had four, Ashland, OH, a farm in Ohio, Lakeside and Florida; Vinita has homes in Akron, Lakeside and PA. Elizabeth has homes in Lancaster, Lakeside and another Chautauqua community. There are families here at Lakeside who may own 4 or 5 homes here, saving them I think for the grandchildren, renting them in the meantime. I know a number of people who own their adult children's homes in order to protect and provide for their grandchildren. Real estate is an investment. Just ask Tony Rezko.
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3 comments:
I think it was much easier for people McCain's age and younger to have gotten into real estate back when property was cheaper and a more promising investment.
Prices have gone up on land and homes everywhere so that families Obama's age and younger view multiple homes as something only for the wealthy. Young families these days struggle to keep the one home they have if they were "lucky" enough to buy a house back when they could take out more money then they could afford.
I think this is almost more of a generational thing than a socio-economic thing. It was very different 20 years ago. (Or I perceive them to be so).
Yes, it may be generational. Younger people are more likely to invest in the stock market than my generation was. I don't think "struggle" is the issue. I see many young families with money and expensive homes, but they accumulate things--toys like boats, cars, etc. instead of property. All while paying off college loans at very low interest rates.
Agreed. It's different priorities. And different investing. And lets face it-- people don't save the way they used to, putting homes out of reach b/c of buying toys instead of saving up for that house.
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