Laurie Thompson admits she needed to sell her townhouse in Smithville, Ont., fast.

The pandemic had done a number on her finances — the bar where she worked had shut down, twice — and rising interest rates meant her monthly mortgage payments of $2,000 were going to almost double last January. Thompson was facing foreclosure.

“I was desperate,” she told Go Public.

Thompson had seen street signs and posters in her neighbourhood — companies offering to pay quick cash for houses. She’d even received what appeared to be a hand-written flyer in the mail, advertising a hassle-free cash sale — no renovating, open houses, or Realtor commissions.

She hit the internet and found a company with positive reviews and attractive promises called Honest Home Buyers Incorporated (HHBI), based in nearby Hamilton.

      • dnick@lemmy.world
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        8 months ago

        Well, to be fair, they mostly just made an ass out of him…on your side it just resulted in wasting time trying to figure out what he was talking about. If you had repeated his assumption it would have put you in the same spot.

        I think the correct phrase is when you assume it makes you an ass. Not quite as clever, but more accurate.

        • girlfreddy@lemmy.worldOP
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          8 months ago

          I think the correct phrase is when you assume it makes you an ass.

          It’s an old-timer’s play on the spelling … ass-u-me.

          But you’re right. If I would have believed it, then I would have been an ass as well.

    • dnick@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      That’s a big assumption there, and I think people are going to find out just exactly how hard it is to compare renting to owning after this ridiculous bubble again. Renting isn’t any more expensive than owning, you just don’t end up with equity….which sounds like a horrible trade off in view of the crazy bonus homeowners found in this market where the equity jumped ridiculously upwards. But all these guys have the chance to see their investment turn upside down and the equity will look more like a noose than a pile of cash.