New Maxwell book: Debt-free homes!

[Jana814]

If John needs a house maybe he can take over Joseph's unless Joseph gets out wife hunting again.

Don't think that will happen. I think John would want how own house.

[anjulibai]

Didn't Steve and/or Terri start using Joe's house as an office?

Yes, they are. I wonder if they pay him rent. Probably not.

When the posted the request for stories, someone asked in the comments asked how one could become a lawyer, doctor or engineer and still be debt-free.

The only answer was "I think you will like the book".

I might break down and buy this one, because I'd love to hear the answer.

[twin2]

Yes, they are. I wonder if they pay him rent. Probably not.

When the posted the request for stories, someone asked in the comments asked how one could become a lawyer, doctor or engineer and still be debt-free.

The only answer was "I think you will like the book".

I might break down and buy this one, because I'd love to hear the answer.

Maybe we will get lucky and they will do another giveaway......

[anjulibai]

Maybe we will get lucky and they will do another giveaway......

OOOOOH!

[Black Aliss]

I'll admit to being surprised that they are airing this one again. Haven't they done the preparing sons/debt-free living thing to death? I was so sure that their next book/webinar series would a workout program, maybe "Getting Fit For The Second Coming", or "Christ on a Cross-fit".

[OkToBeTakei]

About three and a half years, $80k @$2k a month.

Written like that you would wonder why every parent does not do this for their child/children. I mean after bankrolling their lives for 18 years and in my case University education which does not cost the earth. Why is everybody not doing it?

It is just not that simple.

[gardenvarietycitizen]

I'll admit to being surprised that they are airing this one again. Haven't they done the preparing sons/debt-free living thing to death? I was so sure that their next book/webinar series would a workout program, maybe "Getting Fit For The Second Coming", or "Christ on a Cross-fit".

Heh. I am reminded of a really WTF radio show I heard on shortwave while camping in the UP a few years ago. It was some serious militia Christian type thing, and the host was going on and on and ON about how you need to be physically fit so you can fight the coming holy wars and whatever else. Armageddon is coming, folks, so you should get out of your easy chair and start walking, just a half mile a day at first, but start building up that endurance! Because God's Army!

...personally I am VERY into the idea of "start where you are, therapy exercise" but the rationale was quite out there!

[gustava]

Wonder how much they're ripping off and riffing off of Dave Ramsey?

[Seven Severn]

I wonder how honest Stevie is with the IRS. When their income is largely made up of book sales, $10 here and $20 there, does it truly all get reported to the IRS? Hmmmm..... I'll bet not. Stevie probably thinks he's above the IRS.

And it's not just book sales - don't forget the "love offerings" that he willingly accepts at conferences. I wonder if they receive donations outside of their conferences? Do they receive checks in the mail like people send money to Benny Hinn?

[DGayle]

I suspect a lot of people are going to buy this thing and find out that it doesn't quite work for them, because they're not already living the Maxwell style. For a lot of people, it's not a choice between "buy a house outright" and "not put any money toward housing" because a roof over your head is one thing you actually NEED, so if you're on your own for real, you gotta rent somewhere anyhow.

I have to wonder if the Maxwells ever take out debt for their business? It sounds like maybe they don't, if they're the hard-core type of debt-free evangelists. But most normal people consider that there is such a thing as good, responsible debt, particularly for business. Invest in capital that will bring in money to pay for itself in a short time, is great, but that means you're in debt (aaaaahhh!) for that short time.

If my family had no rent or utilities to pay, we could buy a house outright in our area in about 4 years. But because we've done debt-free from the start, we are bad credit risks, and so have to put down 20%, which we can't afford to do with how much our rent is. Around here, it's skewed so that rent is about 50% more than a mortgage with all insurance factored in, yet mortgages are notoriously hard to get and our government programs are for teachers, cops, and others in the public sector.

What gets to be about the fundies is how many of the first wave had debt before becoming hardcore, used that to build wealth, and now think they're the perfect people to tell others how to live debt-free and buy homes outright. That's the job of someone like my and my husband, both who have never had a credit card, buy our vehicles in full in cash, and don't even have an emergency line of credit to fall on. I don't like people telling us we're doing it wrong because we'll need a mortgage to buy a home when those people looking down at us very likely had debt at one point, or come from wealthy families. The Duggars get to me the most. JB had businesses and a lot of debt, and now he, Mullet, and the kids, are living off the fruits of those early debts and think they are above those with debt or who will get it.

[Seven Severn]

John will also not be buying a home until one opens up within a 1 mi. radius of Maxhell.....

Just looking on Zillow, there's an $88,000, 1200sqft., 3-bed, 2.5 bath foreclosure just around the block to the north. There's also a vacant lot for $14,000 just two blocks away to the south. Surely if a son can afford to buy he could also afford to build. Something to think about...

[anjulibai]

Zillow says there are two houses there, one ~$100k, and one nearly $350k. I'm guessing they bought the house cheap and then did a big expansion of it. It was originally 3 bed, 1 bath, ~1000 sqft, and now it's 4 bed, 4 bath, ~4500 sqft. It's significantly more expensive than any other house in the area.

[ljohnson2006]

Why don't they write a book about being productive adults? Oh, wait, because none of them are.

[Coconut Flan]

How do you that there are two houses there? There must be something I'm not finding. Thanks.

[Justme]

I'm thinking S&T use Joe's house for an "office" because of the insurance. Insurance companies generally don't like to insure houses that sit vacant for long periods of time. The odds are much greater of a break in, pipe burst, etc.

Could you just imagine the horror on their faces if squatters turned it into a den of sex and/or drugs! :pink-shock:

[Handmaiden of Dog]

I wonder if they are going to be clear about who their intended audience is or if they are going to trick desperate people into buying their book? Their practical advice is going to be only a few paragraphs so I am assuming it is going to be more inspirational-- stories that they gleaned from their fans and Biblical passages. Aside from a few parents of teenage boys and maybe a few young men who can't figure this out for themselves this book is really going to be useless for most people. But if they title it, "Buying a home debt free" they might get other people to buy it thinking they will learn some secret trick for snapping up foreclosures or something.

By the way my husband bought this house when he was 21 as a foreclosure. It was cheaper than renting an apartment. His friend had done it first and inspired him. Mr. Handmaiden didn't need a book to explain it to him and 20 years later the house is paid for. Not a debt-free story, I realize, but I've always been very proud of him for being so responsible at such an early age.

[DGayle]

I wonder if they are going to be clear about who their intended audience is or if they are going to trick desperate people into buying their book? Their practical advice is going to be only a few paragraphs so I am assuming it is going to be more inspirational-- stories that they gleaned from their fans and Biblical passages. Aside from a few parents of teenage boys and maybe a few young men who can't figure this out for themselves this book is really going to be useless for most people. But if they title it, "Buying a home debt free" they might get other people to buy it thinking they will learn some secret trick for snapping up foreclosures or something.

I have a comment waiting moderation.

Level with us, please. Who will this book most benefit? Will it be mostly for young men who still live at home and have no or little rent? A single older mother with a couple teenagers and child support coming in? A husband and wife who have some kids and rent to pay? Not every family situation will benefit from the one method you've got, so please be honest and tell us what we need to be working with already to have benefit.

If I buy this book and find out it's for young men living at home and not a family with rent to pay, I would be pissed off and feel like they ripped me off my selling me a book that I couldn't know was for a family situation I can't have. Surely they want to be honest. I thought there was a rolling-eyes smilie, but don't see it, so imagine one here.

[Milly-Molly-Mandy]

Hmm I wonder how my 35 year old husband could have bought a home debt free after 8 years of university? Instead he owes $300,000 on a $600,00 apartment.

Oh wait, he shouldn't have wasted his time at uni, becoming a lawyer and earning $200,000+ per year (& going up every year). Silly me, he would have been better off staying at home and getting a job without qualifications & still be earning $30,000 a year.

Something for him to think about.

I'll buy your book Steve!!!! It's the only way for a young man to be successful.

[kpmom]

I have a comment waiting moderation.

I'm sure Steve will be happy to post your comment with just the most minor editing...

Level with us, please. Who wWill this book most benefit? Will it be mostly for young men? who still live at home and have no or little rent? A single older mother? with a couple tTeenagers and child^ren support coming in? A husband and wife who have some kids and rent to pay? Not eEvery family situation will benefit from the one method you've got, so pleasebe honest and tell us what we need to be working with already to have benefitthis book. Where do I send the check?

[super skeptic]

I bought my (granted, small) 3bd/2ba house for 70K in Texas. It needed some superficial work, but nothing major. I am paying half the amount for my mortgage than I would pay renting even a small apartment.

I agree that this is only possible in certain areas or states. No one living in a major metro area would be able to pull this off.

[lizziesmom]

In an economically depressed market like Detroit there are lots of bargains to be had and buying debt free might be feasible. However, no fundie would choose Detroit as a place to live. Too evil and worldly.

[anjulibai]

Well, I'm disappointed.

Sarah said to watch for Monday's post about a young man that wasn't a Maxwell who had bought a house debt-free. Then there'd be a book coming.

Instead, we get them shilling for the Duggars.

Lying is a sin, Maxwells.

[julie paradox]

If my family had no rent or utilities to pay, we could buy a house outright in our area in about 4 years. But because we've done debt-free from the start, we are bad credit risks, and so have to put down 20%, which we can't afford to do with how much our rent is.

Have you considered using a credit card which you pay off every month?

I know some people won't take a credit card because it's so easy to overspend, but it sounds as if you have budgeting pretty much covered. If you could get a credit card that would be a plus on your history (it's the sole reason my sister got one).

(Of course, this is assuming you have interest-free periods on cards in the states. If not, ignore me.)

We use a card issued by the supermarket closest to us, and so get loyalty points on all our spending. Yesterday we had a meal out paid for by the points, and our summer holiday will use up the rest of them.

[Georgiana]

What I want to know is how to buy your SECOND house debt free! You know, now that you have a wife and 10 kids to support, and since you lack an education, your ability to move up in income is probably limited.

Because so far, all I've seen on that is "make illegal additions to the house" or "get someone to give it to us".

[Maggie Mae]

I think my biggest "beef" with this line of thinking is that the Maxwell Family appear to be incapable of considering that people have different life experiences. Not everyone is given the opportunity to turn 18 with enough money to buy a house. Some people turn 18 and are shown the door, regardless if they have enough for first & last months rent. What do you do in that situation? You take out a credit card at 20% interest and use the credit for cash line to scrape together enough money to live on. Some of us went to college, but because of how the system is set up, can't get financial aid because our parents, who have no interest in financial help, make too much money. Yes, there are ways around that. No, not every financial aid officer shares that or make it accessible. Some of us go into debt because our boss changes the job description after a few months to require a personal vehicle. Is it legal? Not exactly. But who to complain to? Obviously, someone could "just get another job." What about kids whose parents take out cards in their name, leaving 18 year old Johnny with crippling debt? These things happen. And yet, he's supposed to be working and saving to do the godly thing and buy a house debt free? Some of us got into our dream living situation in our late 20s and it was simply a rental without roommates. That's more normal these days, the dream of roommate free living. If I were to save up for a house debt free, I'd be saving for a long time and I wouldn't enjoy my life at all. *pauses for math*

With the bare minimum of payments - rent + student loans + insurance + gas + groceries, it will take me 83 years to save up to buy a house in my neighborhood in cash. That's not counting the fact that if I need a new car (I will) and without my gym/spa membership which I am hesitant to give up, and no new clothes, electronics, netflix, and downgrading my phone. If I moved back in with my parents, 4,000 miles away, I wouldn't make as much money, but if I managed to downgrade to a Planet Fitness membership, only drive their car, eat their food, never go out or buy new clothes or spend money on race fees or sporting equipment, I might be able to buy a house in their area in a couple of years, provided that Detroit doesn't change for the better. However, what is the point of living if you don't enjoy it?