3 ms·

they paid 90k. this was not a middle class family haha.

maxerickson 9y ago
Lots of people that never earn more than $50,000 a year have hundreds of thousands of dollars of investable assets. That's arguably the bottom of the middle class...
- derefr 9y ago
  They're petite bourgeoisie, sure, but that doesn't translate to lower-middle in America; America's middle-class is defined more by its culture of striving than its success. People in the US who have any investible assets are almost always considered "upper class"—at least by people who don't, which includes most of the people attempting to project the image of being middle-class.
  - maxerickson 9y ago
    Sure, people that call themselves middle class aren't necessarily using some degree of financial security as a measure. That doesn't mean that there is no argument to be made about financial security being a defining aspect of middle classiness.
bluGill 9y ago
Any middle class family can get raise 90k. Most owe more than that on their house. If they are financially careful and have lived in their house for a few years they probably can do a cash-our refinance and get 90k to spend on this. Also as a business venture it isn't high risk so there is a good chance their banker was happy to give them the loan on their person credit for 20k down - their yearly bonus might be that much. Again, this requires financial responsibility to pull off, many middle class are not responsible enough, but some are and that is enough. Of course we don't know (or at least I don't - I didn't read the article) the background of the owners. They might well be rich.
- randyrand 9y ago
  >Any middle class family can get raise 90k. This was not a group of middle class people coming together. This was a single couple, spending their own money. I agree with you that some middle class people could raise 90k if they needed to. Maybe to pay health care expenses for a loved-one. They would not be spending it buying private roads.
  - kbenson 9y ago
    > They would not be spending it buying private roads. Why not? They are able to raise far more than that on business ventures as long as they have a business plan that's approved by the bank. Additionally, people buy houses to flip them on credit all the time as well. If you have private investors backing you, this would be an easy sell. That's much easier than you might think as a middle class person, there's an entire section of the real estate industry devoted to private money loans for slightly riskier investments than banks will fund, but at different interest rates. Contractors and investors use them all the time for short term investments (such as building our a lot for 2-4 homes, or some property flips that a bank isn't willing to fund, but a private investor that has worked with the person on multiple loans over a decade has no problem with).
    - ryandrake 9y ago
      I didn't see where in the article it says they raised or borrowed $90K for the purchase. Since it was an auction, I would assume they paid in cash. Middle class people typically don't have $90K in cash sitting around burning a hole in their pocket.
      - bluGill 9y ago
        Middle class people who go to those auctions already have a bank approval. They don't have the cash, but the bank has agreed to fund the loan. Farmers buy land on auction all the time. It is very common for the auctioneer to have a local banker at the auction site so that someone who wants to bid can get approved for a loan right before bidding. The banker knows how much he will give a loan for (based on an appraisal he has done on the land), and the minimum down payment. This amount is different for different farmers (a farmer who does best practices can get much more profit for acre and thus is worth giving a larger loan to - bankers know who these farmers are)

Lots of people that never earn more than $50,000 a year have hundreds of thousands of dollars of investable assets. That's arguably the bottom of the middle class...

derefr 9y ago
They're petite bourgeoisie, sure, but that doesn't translate to lower-middle in America; America's middle-class is defined more by its culture of striving than its success. People in the US who have any investible assets are almost always considered "upper class"—at least by people who don't, which includes most of the people attempting to project the image of being middle-class.
- maxerickson 9y ago
  Sure, people that call themselves middle class aren't necessarily using some degree of financial security as a measure. That doesn't mean that there is no argument to be made about financial security being a defining aspect of middle classiness.

bluGill 9y ago

Any middle class family can get raise 90k. Most owe more than that on their house. If they are financially careful and have lived in their house for a few years they probably can do a cash-our refinance and get 90k to spend on this. Also as a business venture it isn't high risk so there is a good chance their banker was happy to give them the loan on their person credit for 20k down - their yearly bonus might be that much. Again, this requires financial responsibility to pull off, many middle class are not responsible enough, but some are and that is enough. Of course we don't know (or at least I don't - I didn't read the article) the background of the owners. They might well be rich.

randyrand 9y ago
>Any middle class family can get raise 90k. This was not a group of middle class people coming together. This was a single couple, spending their own money. I agree with you that some middle class people could raise 90k if they needed to. Maybe to pay health care expenses for a loved-one. They would not be spending it buying private roads.
- kbenson 9y ago
  > They would not be spending it buying private roads. Why not? They are able to raise far more than that on business ventures as long as they have a business plan that's approved by the bank. Additionally, people buy houses to flip them on credit all the time as well. If you have private investors backing you, this would be an easy sell. That's much easier than you might think as a middle class person, there's an entire section of the real estate industry devoted to private money loans for slightly riskier investments than banks will fund, but at different interest rates. Contractors and investors use them all the time for short term investments (such as building our a lot for 2-4 homes, or some property flips that a bank isn't willing to fund, but a private investor that has worked with the person on multiple loans over a decade has no problem with).
  - ryandrake 9y ago
    I didn't see where in the article it says they raised or borrowed $90K for the purchase. Since it was an auction, I would assume they paid in cash. Middle class people typically don't have $90K in cash sitting around burning a hole in their pocket.
    - bluGill 9y ago
      Middle class people who go to those auctions already have a bank approval. They don't have the cash, but the bank has agreed to fund the loan. Farmers buy land on auction all the time. It is very common for the auctioneer to have a local banker at the auction site so that someone who wants to bid can get approved for a loan right before bidding. The banker knows how much he will give a loan for (based on an appraisal he has done on the land), and the minimum down payment. This amount is different for different farmers (a farmer who does best practices can get much more profit for acre and thus is worth giving a larger loan to - bankers know who these farmers are)