[lbo-talk] definitive evidence on the housing bubble

[Jordan Hayes]

> "If I had any equity left in my house, I probably would, too," said
> Shamia Lewis, 26, who works at Innovative Mortgage Solutions in
> Center City. She and her husband paid for their $8,686 Super Bowl
> package the old-fashioned way: by dipping into their bank account.

Stupid is as stupid does: if you have a home equity line of credit AND
a savings account with a non-trivial amount of money it in, you're
really an idiot.  An HELC in some sense IS a 'savings account' and your
cash earning you 1% in a bank could/should be 'earning' you whatever
your interest rate is on the HELC.  $10,000 at 4% means it's costing
her $400/yr to "have a savings account" ... well, not anymore.

But: what do you expect from football fans?

More seriously, if they didn't have an HELC (or savings) they'd just 
pay for this with a credt card.  Which is better?  I'd argue that it's 
better to put a stupid purchase on an HELC than a credit card.  If 
you're going to use credit, you might as well do it in a way that is 
cheaper.

/jordan