Opinion Kamala Harris: $25,000 down Payment Assistance

[Zebra Cheeks]

Hi,

I’m not a regular War Room poster, but I discussed this with some folks the other day and want to dig into it more.

I went through the process of becoming a home owner in a time where I was struggling to afford to do so. Since then, I’ve been very fortunate in life but I want to flag a few concerns I have regarding this down payment assistance now that I’ve had a chance to sit with it.

1. Down Payments aren’t just a barrier to overcome, it’s also a defense mechanism against bad investments: What I mean by this is that when I first became a home owner I thought the difficult part was getting the down payment together. I was young and ignorant. I did not have the cash reserves to handle many of the things that came after. Within 3 years our water heater failed and flooded the basement, a leak formed in my roof resulting in a complete replacement. And we had several more minor needs along the way such as a fridge or dishwasher failing. Part of gathering the down payment is demonstrating a level of cash so that you’re demonstrating how capable you are as a buyer. If you cannot meet those requirements, while it may be upsetting or unfair, skipping that requirement is a dangerous path to bad investments. Many might make good on the opportunity, but I’ve no doubt the number of bad loans afforded with this down payment assistance is likely higher than that of a standard loan, or, our already available options such as a USDA loan.

2. Who’s paying for this? And why is it a benefit to the general public, not just the direct beneficiaries of the assistance? - Handing out $25,000 is a huge deal. It’s tax funded, and many of us who were taxed on income who worked for our own homes are indirectly paying for this. The problem with an issue like this is Harris’ solution doesn’t solve the root cause of the problem, it’s just a temporary bandaid that will benefit however many people receive it. But if you don’t fix the supply chain and inventory issues that are being exacerbated by massive increases in Us population, then all your doing by giving specific people a credit is creating more demand on the market, increasing home prices, and making it more difficult for future home buyers and those who will not qualify to enter the market. If there’s a set number of homes available for each year, and you give 1,000,000 low income families $25,000, how are the non receivers ever supposed to overcome that barrier? It sounds great on paper but in real life it feels like it makes a bad situation worse.

3. She’s not focusing on the real issue: We have homelessness, and people who are squatting in even some rural areas as well as cities. We have a lack of homes. We need the government to give tax credits and incentives to those building homes, not the buyers. Build government funded low income, high volume housing. Make low income housing affordable by providing MORE HOMES. It’s very simple, and yet, she’d rather waive a $25,000 bribe in front of our faces for a vote, than actually fix the problem. I believe she accused Donald Trump of “running on a problem instead of fixing it”, the irony is not lost on me.

Interest on additional thoughts and feelings here. It feels like to me these “opportunity economy” tax plans are more about getting people to vote for her as opposed to solving an issue. Similar to the student loan issues, they’d rather waive immediate gratification in our face as opposed to assisting where their help is needed.

 

[badascan]

As long as us tax payers can keep working to pay for the monthly payments these illegals and whomever gets free shit can't make themselves...

No, it won't work and it's a terrible idea...

 

[ColemanwastheGOAT]

3. She’s not focusing on the real issue: We have homelessness, and people who are squatting in even some rural areas as well as cities. We have a lack of homes. We need the government to give tax credits and incentives to those building homes, not the buyers. Build government funded low income, high volume housing. Make low income housing affordable by providing MORE HOMES. It’s very simple, and yet, she’d rather waive a $25,000 bribe in front of our faces for a vote, than actually fix the problem. I believe she accused Donald Trump of “running on a problem instead of fixing it”, the irony is not lost on me.

With all due respect, you're not focusing in the real issue either.

You aren't helping homeless drug addicts by providing them with houses to rip the copper pipes out of and destroy.

These people need mental institutions.

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

With all due respect, you're not focusing in the real issue either.

You aren't helping homeless drug addicts by providing them with houses to rip the copper pipes out of and destroy.

These people need mental institutions.

That’s valid and not unreasonable.

Isn’t it like 60-70% of homeless are affected by addiction or mental illness?

 

[oski]

Hi,
Turns out her dad pushed communist economics and it seems as the apple doesn't fall far.

Pro Tip: Communist economics have murdered tens of millions, mostly through starvation.

 

[nostradumbass]

Giving mortgages to people who can't afford them worked out great in 2008.

Sellers will just increase the price accordingly and we'll get a bunch of foreclosures a couple years later so blackrock can get them on sale.

 

[ColemanwastheGOAT]

That’s valid and not unreasonable.

Isn’t it like 60-70% of homeless are affected by addiction or mental illness?

That's where it gets murky. I've had this argument on here before. The lefties lie and try to say it's like 2% because they're lumping in working healthy people who just choose to live in a camper because rents are too high.



Also loads of young people live like that by choice in stealth campers etc and they aren't bothering anyone.



The problem is the ones shitting all over the streets and pushing commuters in front of trains.

 

[Renard]

You're assuming politics is about actually helping people instead of a theatre play to keep the rubes distracted + divided while the elites keep plundering and doing as they please. Even within the narrative I wouldn't assume anything a politician says will concretize. Chances are it will be like Biden's student debt relief plan: 1. Promise something you have no intention of doing so that it gets lots of airtime and attention, 2. Craft the bill in such a way that it will be overturned, 3. "Shucks, I really tried I promise!" Because of the continued influence effect, average people who aren't very informed about politics actually believe it passed. In the event it does pass, #1 could be the meta plan as well, get people folding on their mortgages to extract more wealth out of them. This whole thing is a big game to them and it's crazy how naïve people are, taking everything at face value.

 

[Mr Holmes]

I would rather see them working on increasing the supply of houses to drive prices down. This will most likely lead to prices going up.

 

[RoastBeast]

They're just buying people's votes. I don't see the point in even hashing out something as ridiculous as this. They don't care about whether it's good for the nation or not. They care about staying in power.

 

[Deleted member 585708]

When the Conservative government provided assistance, you still ended up paying 5 % of the mortgage as a deposit.

That kinda proved you could afford it, it just meant you got the deposit together quicker, which is a good thing.

It should certainly be tied to affordability checks.

 

[Islam Imamate]

Hi,

I’m not a regular War Room poster, but I discussed this with some folks the other day and want to dig into it more.

I went through the process of becoming a home owner in a time where I was struggling to afford to do so. Since then, I’ve been very fortunate in life but I want to flag a few concerns I have regarding this down payment assistance now that I’ve had a chance to sit with it.

1. Down Payments aren’t just a barrier to overcome, it’s also a defense mechanism against bad investments: What I mean by this is that when I first became a home owner I thought the difficult part was getting the down payment together. I was young and ignorant. I did not have the cash reserves to handle many of the things that came after. Within 3 years our water heater failed and flooded the basement, a leak formed in my roof resulting in a complete replacement. And we had several more minor needs along the way such as a fridge or dishwasher failing. Part of gathering the down payment is demonstrating a level of cash so that you’re demonstrating how capable you are as a buyer. If you cannot meet those requirements, while it may be upsetting or unfair, skipping that requirement is a dangerous path to bad investments. Many might make good on the opportunity, but I’ve no doubt the number of bad loans afforded with this down payment assistance is likely higher than that of a standard loan, or, our already available options such as a USDA loan.

2. Who’s paying for this? And why is it a benefit to the general public, not just the direct beneficiaries of the assistance? - Handing out $25,000 is a huge deal. It’s tax funded, and many of us who were taxed on income who worked for our own homes are indirectly paying for this. The problem with an issue like this is Harris’ solution doesn’t solve the root cause of the problem, it’s just a temporary bandaid that will benefit however many people receive it. But if you don’t fix the supply chain and inventory issues that are being exacerbated by massive increases in Us population, then all your doing by giving specific people a credit is creating more demand on the market, increasing home prices, and making it more difficult for future home buyers and those who will not qualify to enter the market. If there’s a set number of homes available for each year, and you give 1,000,000 low income families $25,000, how are the non receivers ever supposed to overcome that barrier? It sounds great on paper but in real life it feels like it makes a bad situation worse.

3. She’s not focusing on the real issue: We have homelessness, and people who are squatting in even some rural areas as well as cities. We have a lack of homes. We need the government to give tax credits and incentives to those building homes, not the buyers. Build government funded low income, high volume housing. Make low income housing affordable by providing MORE HOMES. It’s very simple, and yet, she’d rather waive a $25,000 bribe in front of our faces for a vote, than actually fix the problem. I believe she accused Donald Trump of “running on a problem instead of fixing it”, the irony is not lost on me.

Interest on additional thoughts and feelings here. It feels like to me these “opportunity economy” tax plans are more about getting people to vote for her as opposed to solving an issue. Similar to the student loan issues, they’d rather waive immediate gratification in our face as opposed to assisting where their help is needed.

I'm not a fan of it because subsidizing demand in a high demand, low supply market will only make homes less affordable. That said she does want to increase supply so that could offset the negative impact of the subsidy.

On public housing I am generally against it. In theory it can work as we see in Vienna where they have enough high quality public housing to keep prices low. That said I don't think that practically possible here for a few reasons. One is that its a huge expense which requires lots of public funding and you can only have that if there is robust support for the program among the people which we don't have.

But further progressives imagine public housing to be for the low income which sounds nice in theory but in practice creates slums. For public housing to work like it does in Vienna it has to attract the middle and upper middle class because its of high quality but unless its the cheapest garbage possible progressives will complain that its not affordable enough.

That’s valid and not unreasonable.

Isn’t it like 60-70% of homeless are affected by addiction or mental illness?

Its hard to say in part because homelessness and mental illness feed into each other. People tend to imagine that a drug addict becomes homeless but sometimes its the other way around and the person becomes homeless first and then turns to drugs.

The other thing is drug addiction is considered a mental illness so an alcoholic bum is considered mentally ill but that doesn't mean he can't function outside a mental institution.

Another factor that people miss is that there are gradations of homeless. The worst are the ones getting high in tent encampments but there are many homeless who have some support network and who couch surf or live out of their car with the help of friends and family. In Cali they might even have jobs but still remain unable to afford housing.

 

[jrams]

2. Who’s paying for this? And why is it a benefit to the general public, not just the direct beneficiaries of the assistance? - Handing out $25,000 is a huge deal. It’s tax funded, and many of us who were taxed on income who worked for our own homes are indirectly paying for this. The problem with an issue like this is Harris’ solution doesn’t solve the root cause of the problem, it’s just a temporary bandaid that will benefit however many people receive it. But if you don’t fix the supply chain and inventory issues that are being exacerbated by massive increases in Us population, then all your doing by giving specific people a credit is creating more demand on the market, increasing home prices, and making it more difficult for future home buyers and those who will not qualify to enter the market. If there’s a set number of homes available for each year, and you give 1,000,000 low income families $25,000, how are the non receivers ever supposed to overcome that barrier? It sounds great on paper but in real life it feels like it makes a bad situation worse.

It's likely a tax credit for most people, not just handing out the cash directly, and they are trying to finagle a way to give grants to black people while not making it explicitly racial. She's always talked about bridging the racial gap in home ownership.

"The Biden-Harris administration proposed providing $25,000 in downpayment assistance for 400,000 first-generation home buyers -- or homebuyers whose parents don’t own a home -- and a $10,000 tax credit for first-time home buyers. This plan will significantly simplify and expand the reach of down-payment assistance, allowing over 1 million first time-buyers per year – including first-generation home buyers – to get the funds they need to buy a house when they are ready to buy it," the Harris campaign said.​

Harris to propose up to $25K in down-payment support for 1st-time homebuyers

It's part of her economic agenda she will unveil Friday, her campaign says.

abcnews.go.com

Whole thing sounds similar to the goals of the sub-prime crisis of the last 2000s.

 

[Aegon Spengler]

Honestly with the way the American debt is, if not for the politics of the whole thing, they should be cutting spending and raising taxes to pay off the debt.

Use legislation to fight predatory corporate price gouging and the huge private equity firms that want to buy everyone’s house, cut military spending and pay down the debt at least a little bit

 

[emefer]

When the Conservative government provided assistance, you still ended up paying 5 % of the mortgage as a deposit.

That kinda proved you could afford it, it just meant you got the deposit together quicker, which is a good thing.

It should certainly be tied to affordability checks.

I believe in order to qualify, a person has to have a 2 year history of paying rent with no missed payments.
I would also assume that the mortgage company will only approve a loan that they could afford.

 

[emefer]

I'm not a fan of it because subsidizing demand in a high demand, low supply market will only make homes less affordable. That said she does want to increase supply so that could offset the negative impact of the subsidy.

On public housing I am generally against it. In theory it can work as we see in Vienna where they have enough high quality public housing to keep prices low. That said I don't think that practically possible here for a few reasons. One is that its a huge expense which requires lots of public funding and you can only have that if there is robust support for the program among the people which we don't have.

But further progressives imagine public housing to be for the low income which sounds nice in theory but in practice creates slums. For public housing to work like it does in Vienna it has to attract the middle and upper middle class because its of high quality but unless its the cheapest garbage possible progressives will complain that its not affordable enough.

Its hard to say in part because homelessness and mental illness feed into each other. People tend to imagine that a drug addict becomes homeless but sometimes its the other way around and the person becomes homeless first and then turns to drugs.

The other thing is drug addiction is considered a mental illness so an alcoholic bum is considered mentally ill but that doesn't mean he can't function outside a mental institution.

Another factor that people miss is that there are gradations of homeless. The worst are the ones getting high in tent encampments but there are many homeless who have some support network and who couch surf or live out of their car with the help of friends and family. In Cali they might even have jobs but still remain unable to afford housing.

You may find this interesting. A little history of public housing in America with a touch of crt

 

[cottagecheesefan]

Will just drive up the prices of houses by $25k, if not more as there will be further reduced inventory

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

I believe in order to qualify, a person has to have a 2 year history of paying rent with no missed payments.
I would also assume that the mortgage company will only approve a loan that they could afford.

That’s a horrible take. I can get qualified for a 1.5 million dollar house. I would drown in debt rapidly if I purchased the same.

Just cause you can get approved does NOT mean you can afford it.

 

[emefer]

I can get qualified for a 1.5 million dollar house.

I call bs

 

[Zebra Cheeks]

I call bs

Why would I lie about that?

I don’t have any motivation to do so.

If you want 5 acres of land and a 4 bed 2 bath in many areas you’re looking at 600k-1 million or more.