not only that, our income potential is unclear. we expect to have a substantial income (some of it
might be in cash, do we need to tell the IRS about that?) for a few years, after that ... we're not so sure ... oh. did we mention we have 8 children?
the budget board would have a big time with that!
add in the elements of "i have'nt worked in my field for several years because childcare costs are prohibitative, and my husband's employment history is spotty at best with a termination and several job changes and quits because i've needed him to help me with the kids at home since IT'S IMPOSSIBLE FOR ONE PERSON TO TAKE CARE OF THESE KIDS ALL BY THEMSELF
, and since he does'nt have a degree in his field and has been out of it for an extended period he's not exactly marketable..."
the house purchase has made me think for quite a while that the financial situation kate is presenting is not as it seems. she contends that if the show stops the income stops, but i suspect that as an enticement to continue the show-especialy with a contract provision that prohibits the party from engaging in other forms of financial gain (without employer approval), that even if the show no longer films the gosselins have a guaranteed salary for the life of the initial contract and potentialy through the period in which tlc has the option to utilize them. it might read that the payments stop if the gosselin family chooses to exercise the supposed 'end the show the kids want to stop' option or the show has to be cancelled because of a wrong doing on the gosselin's part-but tlc is'nt saying that's why they are ceasing filming-they continue to contend that it's a hiatus for the good of the family
in which case kate could easily argue the payments should continue (and would'nt tlc look the bad guy if they've been publicly saying 'poor kate, poor kids-we love and support this family and want to help them...' then they use a morals contract clause on 'evil jon' to stop payments to kate/kids whove done nothing to breech it.
it would make sense-when they signed their last contract the show was still extreemly popular, j&k could have easily solicited other networks to pick up the show (or a facsimilie of it under another title) if the contract tlc was offering was'nt lucrative.
so it would be in tlc's best interest to continue the show no matter what a train wreck it becomes because they would have to continue paying for it-so they might as well milk it for all it's worth.
imho it's either this kind of situation that garnered the gosselins (with all the issues that have been posted re. financial ability/history/existing home obligation) the ability to swing that loan OR tlc is some kind of silent co-signer or guarantor to the loan.
they bought that place AFTER the housing market crashed and lending practices started tightening up. they had to provide something that showed they could pay that mortgage/property taxes/insurance, and their existing mortgage along with the basic costs of living for at minimum the 15 years of the life of that loan (the days of lenders figuring they can repo, resell and recoup were already gone by then-esp. with million plus dollar properties). the gosselins claim their monthly expenses are $15,000-and that does'nt take into consideration what they don't have to pay for because tlc covers it. i don't know about anyone else, but when we purchased homes there were formulas that the lender used to figure out the minimum expense we would have for certain things-proving to them in our case that it was less or covered by an employer did'nt fly, they had to use the formulary in the event we lost that benefit or our cost rose to the minimum norm (i went round and round with a lender on this to show we were well below their 'norm' for a family our size but they still had to use the formulary minimum amount). so figure $15,000 minimum per month in expenses times 12 months in a year equals $180,000. i highly doubt any reputable lender looking at their income preceding the show, with a contract that only pays IF the episodes anticipated are filmed, with no guarantee of continued income if the show ends would fathom extending credit to a couple whose pre celeb marketable skills as an rn and a lower level computer tech could in no way provide for that (and that's even if both worked which would change the formulary to have to take childcare for 8
into consideration).
kate whines that if she 'has to' she'll work at macdonalds to support the kids-sorry but if your only source of income has TRULY been cut off, if your ex has robbed the bank account such that you have less than 10% of what you need to pay THIS month's bills (and while you're hoping a judge will order him to put it back you can't be guaranteed he even has anymore or you'll be seeing it anytime soon) you are'nt zipping across the country to whine about it, and you're not putting all your eggs in one basket hoping to get your 'dream job'- you're actualy putting in applications and interviewing at macdonalds or any other place that in this economy is actualy hiring.
I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that the shorter loan term indicates that someone (Jon or/and Kate or their financial planner) realized that much of their income is in the immediate future, making it paid off while they still had money coming in. Smart move, I think.
In fact, I think it was a better episode for both of them.
