Hey steemians!
I wanted to bring up a topic that I am currently dealing with at the moment. I believe it plays a big roll in cryptocurrencies.
As most of us know or should know, our banks own us. No I'm not a conspiracy theorist even though I do follow some interesting thoughts/ideas. But let's all be real, when was the last time you went to a bank & were able to successfully transfer an amount of money that you didn't have to jump through hoops for. Wait! You had to do what just to get YOUR OWN MONEY?
Oh, I forgot the preface.
I'm trying to buy this foreclosed home that is own by Freddie Mac. The pure idea of that just makes me want to run! But...because I have the knowledge in the area & realize some other things, nothing is going to stop me from buying this property. For the recored, it's a run down, messy & what most people would consider, a tear down or not even bother with kind of property.
I for one, am not scared of labor (it means I'm going to have to work & sweat to get this place how I want it). I can also see past the negatives because unlike most people, seeing or hearing negativity, encourages me to try to figure out how to turn that into positive.
Anyway...There's a point when buying a home that you need to put down earnest money. Earnest money is money that you "back your words" with. You say you'll buy the property & bullshit the seller, then back out, they get your earnest money. I think it's a good concept because there's a lot of flakes in society these days. On top of that, if someone says they'll put down $500 in earnest money, that may not be take seriously as would $1k or more, it all depends on the price of the home. Some people can flake for $500, others can't or don't want to.
I committed to this property for $1000 earnest. This means, if I decide for whatever reason (not within the contract) I don't want the place & back out, the seller, gets the $1000. I'm serious about this place so I'm willing to put this down. There are of course other things out of my control that could make it where I cannot get the property. If this happens, I still get my money back since I'm aware of the risks & also, fully intend to buy the property.
Ok, so moving on from that lingo & explanation.
During all the paperwork & bs, the sellers (aka, U.S. government) requested that I send the money to them instead of keeping it within my agents hands (which is normal for some home buying). I saw this in the contract & thought, "oh, ok, no big deal. I have that in the bank".
Next thing I know, I get a text from my realtor explaining that they wanted a cashiers check, shipped fedex, asap....ON A SATURDAY! Not to mention, there's a 3 hour time difference between myself & them & I'm the one hours behind. I got this info, literally, minutes from the "standard" end of day.
On top of this, I bank online. I think a lot of us do but I really bank online. I don't have a branch. The banks I work with give good interest rates, refund all ATM fees, I deposit online or with my phone. I have no need for a branch until now. I needed a cashiers check. I did buy a car (on loan) so in a disturbing way, thankfully, I had a credit union I could go to.
For anyone that read my fireworks post, I don't live near "society". It's not like I can just jump in the car & run to the bank. Well, yeah I can but it will take me at least 3 hrs. round trip. No shittin' ya! I love where I live & normally, I can deal with the commute since I plan it on a once a month type of basis.
Needless to say, I communicated with the realtor & we ended up clearing with the seller to get the check to them on the following Monday. So, Monday rolls around & I mention to the realtor that I don't bank at a location (I already mentioned this prior). I did mention that I had a credit union with my car so I can withdraw from my online only bank & deposit at the credit union for a check. The wonderful part is...as I'm at the ATM, literally 30 minutes from their "end of day", my PIN doesn't work at all.
I called my online bank & explained. Needless to say I spent about 30 mins. on automated bs. After minutes of stress & anger, I was told that my ATM card was deactivated automatically because I didn't activate it in time. Ok, my bad! But...why would a bank allow their customer to activate & assign a PIN to a card that never worked in the first place? WTF? Yes, I agree I should have activated it but with technology these days, they seriously can't say "I'm sorry, you've waited past the x-days to activate your card, please contact your bank for a new card".? I guess that's too much to ask.
Moving on.
I relay my issues with my realtor, definitely expressing the issue that I can't take money out of my bank (which is controlled by the government [central bank not in the US even though they play it off that way]) & give it RIGHT BACK TO THEM! I was pissed. I have all my money in 3 different banks & not 1 can help me. WTF!!!!!!
So, the next day I hear back & a wire transfer is fine. Great! That would've been best to begin with. After waiting a full day for the info, I call my bank, give them all the info for the transfer & get it done. But....the bank CANNOT give me a confirmation number that I actually requested this & it was on its way. Are you FU($1ng kidding me! I just transferred $1000 to Freddie Mac but my government insured bank can't give me a confirmation number. That I did so. Are you telling me that in the entire U.S. banking system, you guys (banks) can't let each other know in some form that a transaction is being processed?
Anyway, the following day after the transfer I get a texted from the realtor telling me that the sellers will cancel the sale without more proof that I sent the money. And again, I was notified 15 minutes before their "end of day". I ended up sending a screen shot of my bank account & also called my bank to finally get the confirmation number. My bank even was confused that the sellers (Freddie Mac) couldn't see the transaction. Come to find out, the entire banking system (that's my opinion but there were other people that had financial transactions that didn't clear as they should) had a freeze or flaw in their system. No ones transactions for that day cleared in a timely fashion (when I say no one, it's a bit of a stretch but yeah, I wasn't the only one.)
Long story longer ... :(
I ended up going back to my credit union & getting a cashiers check for another $1k & shipped it right away since they claimed they would void the sale at the end of the day without further proof. I sent a photo & tracking for the check & went home & drank myself stupid.
Ok, so I didn't really drink that much but I did have a few drinks to calm my nerves. Did I mention I don't live anywhere!? Yep, this adds stress to all of this. I have resources & friends but I'm the guy that will pitch a tent for months before I ask to couch surf.
The next day I get an email stating that they received the wire like I promised them. The following day after that, I get another email stating they got my check. HA! Shit, why can't people be honest anymore. I was honest the whole time but no one believed me! I do get why no one trust anyone, I don't really trust a lot of people myself but still.
So here we are at the end of my long rant about banks. I am still pursuing the property & plan to post about it if/when I know it's going to pull through for me.
But what's the whole point of this.....
I spent over $65 on "transaction fees" and "shipping" to send $2k. This doesn't include gas, time & stress. You really can't put a price tag on time & stress. It also took over 4 days between both transactions. This all happened because of banks... & the U.S. government.
I get that sometimes we have no control over things & I am also the one that chose to pursue a house that's owned by Freddie Mac but let's be real, who would ever do a real estate transaction without a bank? No one!
But, if more people knew about cryptocurrency & actually believed in it, there would be so much time, money & paperwork saved. At this point I think it's too "new" or "foreign" for most people to believe or trust in it. On top of that, most people think it's illegal. This is probably to do with negative news about SilkRoad & other markets.
The sellers could've had their money in hours if not minutes with a confirmation that it was sent within minutes if I was able to send them cryptocurrency for my earnest. And...it would've costed me under $1!
Unfortunately, cryptocurrency is like the internet when it first came out so no one believes in it & everyone thinks it's shady or will fail. I'm fine with those people, let history repeat itself in another form & they can once again, miss the train.
On a side note, I have noticed a lot of ICOs for real estate out there. It's a matter of time & we'll either see it succeed or not.