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howarg01's comments:

on Foreclosing in Oregon

The statement that 25-year homeowners are less vulnerable to foreclosure is accurate as such homeowners would most likely have much more equity.  That is, of course, if they did not use their home as a cash register by refinancing over and over to take cash out.  Many of those that miss-used their home equity took out that money to buy toys and pay-off credit card debt.

posted 2 years, 10 months ago
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on The Meaning of Jefferson High

My 2 older children went to Jeff in the mid-1980s and it was a nightmare dealing with the bad influences they were exposed to.  Interaction with other students whose parents did not care, or were openly opposed to school ("hey, I never finished HS and I'm doing all right; so why do you need to go the school" - spoke by an unemployed father surviving on his wife's income).  Other students encouraged my children to skip class, not do homework, talk back to teacher, etc, etc.  When I discussed the situation with school administration their response was "we have kids who skip for weeks and don't have time to deal with your child skipping a day or two".  These 2 kids are now adults, never went on to any post-HS schooling, have menial jobs and no real future.  My older two attended Benson; both are college grads, one with a masters and one now in a PhD program.  I sincerely don't care what excuse Jeff supporters have to say, my opinion is the sooner you close down that loser of school, the better for every student in the Jeff area.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Jobs and Identity

A lot of people would be happy not to work; but most of us have no choice.  Sounds tough being born with a silver spoon.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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on Getting Back to Work: Entrepreneurs

Gereng, you have a pretty simplistic understanding of what it takes to start a business, especially your take on borrowing money.  Ya, just drop off the business plan and pick up the money on your way back?!  Few banks even lend money for start-ups, you need collateral, you need experience in the industry, you need projections that make sense and the ability to explain how you arrived at the projections, and you need to sell, sell, sell your business plan to the banker.  I've been employed in commercial banking for over 30 years and have been able to obtain approval on maybe 8 - 10 startups.  Even with a SBA loan guarantee, banks are reluctant.  Why? Because of the high failure rate. There are resources for those wishing to start their own business - SCORE, Small Business Resource Center at PCC, OAME - but a person has a steep learning curve to convince a bank to lend funds for a startup.  Some of other the other issues you mention, such as tax and government licensing can also be difficult, and if you make a mistake in regards to them (especially taxes) you can find yourself in a very bad situation very quickly.  Starting a business is not for the faint of heart.

posted 2 years, 11 months ago
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