The Sad story of Joe

Let me tell you about Joe. I won’t give out his last name. A few years ago he decided to invest in a home for his young family. He scraped together all his savings and any other money he could scrounge up in order to make a down payment. He managed to purchase a nice home in a good neighborhood with good schools. He planed to live there many years, raise his kids, live the American dream.

His problems started with the issue of home maintenance. He was warned when he bought that he needed to have the place checked for termites every 3 to 5 years, but all that cost money, so he ignored it. When the house needed painting, he didn’t have time to do it himself, and the cost of a contractor was more than he wanted to pay. As a result, the paint peeled, and eventually dry rot got into the wood siding.

Then there were the cracks in the foundation, which he figured were no big deal, as most of the foundation looked pretty good. Then when the roof leaked\ and he was told it needed replacement, he tried to patch it himself, but unfortunately, water leaked into the attic.

To make a long story mercifully short, within a few years the deferred maintenance became such a huge issue that it would have cost a small fortune to fix the growing problems. It fact, the house was in such bad shape that it was unsafe and unhealthy, and Joe was forced to sell for half what he paid. I hear the new owners leveled the place and rebuilt.

Now Joe and his family live in a two bedroom apartment that rents for $300 more than his old mortgage payment.

Now, substitute “State of California” for “Joe.”