Medal of Honor investigation launched.

[retdetsgt]

We all saw a preview of what's to come.

I remember being in the car with my wife when I first heard the about 'interest only" home loans. People were buying houses they couldn't afford by not paying on the principal and assuming the market would go up. I distinctly remember turning to her and telling her that we're screwed. If they're doing that, this whole thing is going to blow up. That was another gimmick like the old balloon payment loans. I should have sold my house then.

[1depd]

I sold my last house just after those interest only loans started making it big. I walked out with $80k profit. I had to invest about $20k into the property since it had been a rental, but I bought it for a $50k discount. Two houses on the same street sold for $180k within a month of when I purchased mine. The final numbers were, I bought for $130k, invested about $20k in improvements, and sold for $230k just over 3 years later. I made almost as much on an annual basis from this house as I did at my job.

I would have rented a new place if it hadn't been for my puppy. Nobody, in a decent neighborhood, would rent to us with a Rottie. I had to buy and now am stuck in a declining neighborhood in an upside down mortgage. Sometimes I really hate my luck.

[retdetsgt]

I'm fortunate. I could pay off my house, but it would take all my savings and I'm too leery to do that. I like have some money in the bank if I need it. Besides I have a low interest loan so the payments aren't bad at all. Oregon has a veteran's home loan program that gives you less than market interest.

I really went to a lot of work to find this place because I knew I'd be here for a while. I researched the town which is about an hour from Portland and bought a lot here to build the house on. It's a fairly new neighborhood consisting of all custom homes, a big developer wasn't involved. Which is all good because it's worth about 75K less than it was three or four years ago. IF I could sell it, I would still get more than I built for it for, but not a lot. But I have no reason to so it's okay for now.