The Argument For Home Ownership Is Far Less Compelling
The Manchester Journal reports from Vermont. “The real estate market has seen a decline in the number of sales nationwide and Manchester is no exception to the rule. Building contractor Peter Keelan said the market is slower than it has been in previous years. Keelan said this is because many of the second homebuyers, who are mainly from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, often have difficulty selling their primary homes.”
“‘Next year will be the interesting year, but the bottom line is that the real estate market needs to be corrected. It’s too overpriced and it needs to be corrected,’ he said.”
The Telegram from Massachusetts. “Through August, lenders have filed 2,673 foreclosure petitions on residential properties in Central Massachusetts. It’s more than double the 1,064 foreclosure petitions filed during the same period in 2005, according to a Telegram & Gazette analysis.”
“Worcester is trying to fight the potential foreclosure blight in the city, which has seen foreclosure petitions more than triple to nearly 700 through August of this year, by keeping an eye on foreclosure notices as they’re filed, said Dennis E. Hennessy, director of Neighborhood and Housing Development.”
“The foreclosure process typically takes about six months to complete after the petition is filed, usually in the Land Court in Boston. Although an auction is scheduled at the end of the process, the lender typically takes ownership of the property, said Alan Pasnik, a data analyst for The Warren Group.”
“‘It’s a bad outcome because there’s no guarantee the current owner is not going to trash the place or if he’s even going to move out,’ Mr. Pasnik said. ‘There are so many foreclosures happening now, there are huge inventories of 3,000 or 4,000 homes being held by lenders.’”
The Boston Globe from Massachusetts. “Barbara Pennucci’s landlady had an interesting proposition: If she decided to sell, the landlady asked, might Pennucci be interested in buying the two-bedroom Medford town house she has been renting since April?”
“A few years ago, the ever-rising real estate market might have pushed the 49-year-old single mother to act quickly to buy.”
“Back then, the popular wisdom was that buying trumped renting, providing a way to benefit from any appreciation in the housing market. But in today’s world of foreclosures and falling property values, the argument for home ownership is far less compelling.”
“The Tufts University Web designer wasn’t new to home ownership. In fact, she had purchased a condo in Malden back in 2001, buying the apartment she was renting when that owner put the unit on the market. ‘I did it once, and I felt like I did everything wrong,’ she said, explaining she’d felt pressured to buy by the red-hot real estate market. She ended up selling the condo to help pay the bills after she lost her high-tech job when the technology sector tanked.”
“Newton-based financial adviser Michael Broad walked Pennucci through a series of calculations, starting with the cost of home ownership. Since the landlady neither set a price nor provided information about condo association fees, cost of purchase calculations had to be based on estimates.”
“Given the current $1,200 monthly rent, which Pennucci said accurately reflected the Medford rental market, ownership would increase monthly housing expenses 45 percent, costing an additional $538 a month. ‘No matter how wonderful owning the place might be, right now renting is the better deal,’ Broad said.”
The Boston Globe from Massachusetts. “A number of major Boston condo projects are going rental as developers face the daunting task of selling new units in a market mired in a downturn. At least three major condo projects have rolled out for-rent signs, and other developers, stuck with unsold units in a tough market, are likely to follow suit, industry experts say.”
“The conversions are expected to add several hundred rental units to a Boston market that, until recently, suffered a decades-long drought in new rental construction.”
“‘It is easier to rent something now than to sell something,’ said Michael Carucci, CEO of ERA Boston Real Estate Group.”
“One of the most notable conversions is Charlestown’s Mezzo Design Lofts, whose backers include former Lakers great Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson’s Canyon-Johnson Fund. Johnson flew into town in September to pull the wraps off the $54 million project, which was to feature 156 loft-style units. Prices ranged from $330,000 to nearly $600,000.”
“But a soft real estate market and a credit crunch forced project executives to rethink the format. Still, the project’s target market remains the same - young Gen X and Gen Y professionals looking to buy for the first time, said Jim Goldenberg, one of the project’s backers.”
“‘When the credit market gets tough and the housing market gets soft, they choose to rent rather than buy,’ Goldenberg said.”
The Times Union from New York. “George and Rebecca Weiss were thrilled to be buying their dream home. ‘This house offered everything — and then some,’ Rebecca recalled as she described the spacious white four-bedroom Colonial.”
“Ultimately, it wasn’t to be. With the contents of their Clifton Park apartment packed up and their three children anticipating their first night in their new house, the deal fell apart at the closing table when mortgage terms they originally agreed to appeared far different.”
“Now, as the scope of the national subprime mortgage debacle grows and home foreclosures in the Capital Region climb, the Weisses realize they narrowly escaped financial disaster.”
“The documents they confronted when they arrived for the closing on Jan. 3 surprised them. Their mortgage loan would have an adjustable rate instead of fixed. The initial interest rate was about 3 points higher than they had expected, and the listed fees were higher than they had understood they would be.”
“The 30-year mortgage included monthly payments on principal and interest of $1,767.37 the first two years, climbing to $2,377.48 for another half year, before rising to $2,387.81. The final monthly payment, however, would be a doozy: $229,955.67, nearly as much as the $246,081.29 they were to be financing.”
“In all, the Weisses would have paid $1,072,226.92 over 30 years for their Colonial, not including property and school taxes. Still, the Weisses say, they might have signed on if last-minute problems with the bank involved hadn’t scuttled their purchase.”
“The prospect of losing the house at that point — when it seemed so close to being theirs — seemed almost unbearable. ‘Going to the closing and having the keys in your hand and losing the house, it was very tough on both of us,’ said George.”
“Just over a year after their offer on the house in Brunswick was accepted, the Weisses have moved on. They purchased a spacious five-bedroom house in Lansingburgh. Real estate records show a sale price of $139,200.”
“They say they’re very happy with their new place and have begun to view the loss of the Brunswick house with relief.”
“‘I think that having the experience of now actually making a mortgage payment has made us realize that had we closed that day, we likely would have been in trouble from the first month,’ George said.”
The Cay Compass on New York. “Susan and John Harriman normally spend about $500 on holiday gifts. But this season, the couple has a wrenching choice to make: celebrate Christmas or keep their home out of foreclosure. ‘We’re just sending out Christmas cards, with us standing in front of the house – the house that cost us,’ says Ms. Harriman.”
“With all their might, the couple is trying to hold on to their modest 1,100–square–foot ranch house in Central Islip, N.Y. In the six and half years since they bought their home on Long Island, Susan and John have watched their monthly mortgage payments skyrocket 66 percent to $2,454 due to home–equity loans for repairs, delinquent fees, and an adjustable–rate mortgage that has risen twice in the past six months.”
“‘I think people pay less a month on mansions in the Hamptons than we do,’ Ms. Harriman says with a bitter laugh.”
“Ms. Harriman, who revels in decorating for the holidays, has three inflatable lawn ornaments, but will put up only one this year, a Charlie Brown Christmas globe, to save on the electric bill.”
“For the same reason, she won’t string multicolored lights on the outside of her house, nor put up the tiny white lights along the interior hallways. In their place, she will plant some cardboard candy canes along the front walk. To save money on the Christmas dinner, she’ll serve turkey or lasagna, but not both.”
“‘Everything is being halved,’ she says.”
The Staten Island Advance from New York. “Attorney Steve Soren was set to start a foreclosure auction in Supreme Court one morning recently, but he needed bidders.”
“Soren, the court-appointed referee for the public sale of a house at 237 Clove Rd., stood alone in a hallway alcove on the bottom floor of Supreme Court. When an out-of-breath bank representative showed up shortly after the scheduled sale start time, the auction could finally begin.”
“But in the absence of other buyers, the sale was merely perfunctory. The only bid came from Downey Savings, which already held the bad debt on the property. The starting bid, also known as the upset price, was $296,406.”
“‘Going once, going twice, sold to the bank,’ Soren, a real estate attorney, told an imaginary audience.”
“Motivated investors who might be able to turn over properties more quickly than banks are not coming out for foreclosures forged by the subprime lending crisis here. ‘It’s usually troublesome because now you have this property and there is no equity in it. Now what’s going to happen with it?’ said Jessica Davies, publisher of Profiles Publications Inc.”
“‘The smart investors look at everything before they make a decision. If these investors didn’t show up to bid on these three properties, there was for a reason it,’ she added.”
“John Brancato, a specialist with U.S. Loss Mitigation Services, rarely sees investors at sales he attends these days. ‘For the last six months, I can count on my hand how many times a property has sold to an investor,’ he said.”
“His company recently had an investor willing to buy a house before the expensive foreclosure auction could begin, but because the sale could not be completed until just a few days after the scheduled auction, the bank declined.”
“‘I think it’s a poor business decision,’ he said of the banks’ inability to prevent more foreclosures. ‘In this market, (banks) have not been bloodied enough, yet.’”
The New York Post. “If you build it they will come - at least that’s how it used to be in the residential New York real estate market. Developers that once had lines out their sales door are pursuing foreigners by attending property shows around the world, setting up private presentations for buyers in their offices, and including amenities that are specific for the international audience.”
“‘New York purchasers are starting to dry up, so you always go to where the money is,’ said Luigi Rosabianca, a real estate-lawyer, who just returned from Ireland. ‘No one was doing it about a year ago, but now it is the thing to do.’”
The Tribune Review from Pennsylvania. “Don’t mention a real estate bust in Lawrenceville. People probably won’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Frank Novak, a retired truck driver who reared six children in his brick, three-story rowhouse on Main Street, said he can hardly believe his next-door neighbors have listed their place, almost identical to his from the sidewalk, for $189,900.”
“‘These prices are terrible now. They’re ridiculous, the way they’re going up,’ said Novak.”
“Median prices fell last year in almost half of the 223 municipalities and Pittsburgh wards the Trib analyzed, compared to prices declining in one-third of those places in each of the previous two years.”
“In 48 areas, median prices are lower than they were three years ago. ‘Houses are still selling, but they’re taking longer,’ said Georgie Smigel, a Coldwell Banker agent whose territory includes the North Hills and Butler County.”
“‘There haven’t been booms and busts in Pittsburgh in the way there have been in Florida, California and New England,’ said Andrew Leventis, senior economist for the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight.”
“‘To the extent that you may have a lower appreciation rate than other places in Pennsylvania, that may not necessarily be a bad thing. It’s certainly not a bad thing for people who are looking to buy a house over the next year or two,’ Leventis said.”
““With all their might, the couple is trying to hold on to their modest 1,100–square–foot ranch house in Central Islip, N.Y. In the six and half years since they bought their home on Long Island, Susan and John have watched their monthly mortgage payments skyrocket 66 percent to $2,454 due to home–equity loans for repairs, delinquent fees, and an adjustable–rate mortgage that has risen twice in the past six months.””
They’ve owned for six and a half years and they are underwater? They must have been hitting the HELOC ATM machine hard!!!
Talk about your cement life rafts . . .
If properly engineered cement life rafts work great. ASCE even has a cement canoe contest every year. Just thought you should know.
But I get your point.
It’s all in displacement. At least thats my understanding.
“Dis place ment a lot more to us six-and-a-half years ago than it duz today…..”
“Dis place ment. . . ” !!!!!
OMG ROFLMAO!
I think they might be better off with a REAL cement life raft than the metaphorical one they’re clinging too, then!
It just amazes me that if they were talking about struggling with “all their might” to hang on to a car they couldn’t afford, or boat, they would be openly treated as crazy people. Instead, we’re supposed to applaud their “sacrifice,” for throwing good money after bad. And the brainwashing continues. . .
Central Islip is one of the softest markets price wise on Long Island right now. From a high in the mid-300s to low-400s, today’s MLS shows 113 listings under $300K, five are 200K or less. This is out of 475 listings.
Historical pricing in this area is $110-135K for these size ranches, going back ten years.
No offense to anybody on the blog who might live in Central Islip….but it is not the most desirable place to live either.
“watched their monthly mortgage payments skyrocket 66 percent to $2,454 due to home–equity loans for repairs”
I think we should bail them out, we wouldn’t want to see them ‘on the street’ (aka ‘renting’), now would we?
I wonder if granite counter tops are considered a ‘repair’.
I wonder if a plasma TV is considered a repair?
Make the world a better place,
Punch a Realtor in the face!
Wilson
Actually, they did HELOC but partly cause of wife’s illness. I read the full article in WSJ. These are not your typical spendthift FBs. They hit a rocky patch. Have tighten their belts. Husband got second job. They seem fairly responsible and want to meet their obligations. Might do ok. I wish them nothing but good luck.
Yet Another $uccessful Condominium to Apartment Conversion…
More figure “skating”
The next “skater” up, is going to attempt a triple $alchow, with a lutz
“A number of major Boston condo projects are going rental as developers face the daunting task of selling new units in a market mired in a downturn. At least three major condo projects have rolled out for-rent signs, and other developers, stuck with unsold units in a tough market, are likely to follow suit, industry experts say.”
And those developers likely paid big premiums for the chance to convert those apartments (at least they did in my area)….Add to that the very expensive conversion costs and you end up with a very expensive rental…..NO WAY can the income offset the carry on these units….Someone is getting their butt handed to them….
“‘The smart investors look at everything before they make a decision. If these investors didn’t show up to bid on these three properties, there was for a reason it,’ she added.”
This statement mirrored my experiences. I have been involved in RE investments for almost 20 years. Most of my properties have been bought as rentals only. I had to stop everything when the bubble started for the simple reason that the math made no sense anymore.
Later, I noticed that apartment buildings were being converted into condos to get the cash out. Like I said, the numbers didn’t work anymore.
I have very patiently been waiting since 1999 for all this mania to blow over. I am still hoping that by the end of 2008 we will be wringing out the last of the speculators and I might get back in at the correct prices.
I have seen a few properties in the Maryland area which are headed in the “right” direction. (Down) The trajectory of the prices still point toward the end of 2008 but we will see!
Hear hear!
I still get a chuckle about how they are called “income” properties.
Recently I’ve seen a few 4 unit buildings that could cover the mortgage and taxes, assuming you get it with a lowball offer. That’s a drastic improvement to 2 years ago, when rent would barely cover interest after 20% down.
Just adding my two cents:
My family has been in the multifamily apartment business for over 30 years and we currently have 3 properties in the Mid-Wilshire area in Los Angeles. The smallest building just west of Western - 30 units - currently carries a commercial mortgage balance of a little more than $600K. Given the number of sharp minds on this blog, you can quickly guess that the monthly mortgage is very manageable and gives us a lot of flexibility in the way we manage our properties. Before this housing imbroglio reached absurd heights, I have noticed people purchasing buildings around this area for ridiculous sums and I have no idea how they are cash flow positive. They have no choice but to charge as high a rent as they can for these maintenance-laden buildings and there is no way they could compete with any landlord who has the ability to undercut the prevailing rents in the area. That new building on CALPERS and MTA funds on Vermont/Wilshire is charging ridiculous rents for this building, if I recall correctly, something like $1,600 per month. As much as we like this area, and how kind this area has been to us, we are honest enough to acknowledge that it’s still pretty much a “hood” (albeit a hood with great ethnic food). With the seventh cow about to be eaten by those emaciated cows, one must wonder how many in the country have the stores of grain to withstand the long, lean times to come.
A real benefit to renters, is the idea of being able to rent brand new condos…
I did this in L.A. in 91-93, when the developer gave up and turned to leasing.
My last brand new building, i’ve lived in.
“Now, as the scope of the national subprime mortgage debacle grows and home foreclosures in the Capital Region climb, the Weisses realize they narrowly escaped financial disaster.”
There’s room on the tv for a “Financial Survivor” reality show, surely?
Stick em’ in Gary, Indiana with bad debt and dodgy employment skills, a 04′ Ford Expedition and $40.00 in mad money, and no credit cards.
If you read the article you see this is an instance of the buyer’s attorney doing their job, and stopping the closing due to cash-back shenanigans and the loan officer saying to just change the HUD-1 statement.
Perhaps the US Congress should JUST BACK OFF and have the REIC hire the MOB to handle all of delinquent and bad mortgage DEBTS.
Oooops…They ARE the MOB.???..SORRY…My BAD !
OT, but market seems to have no problem with all the bad news coming out today about the housing market. Nice morning rally. Truly deranged.
But, consumer confidence is at a low, Citi had to give away the farm to get cash to survive for another quarter, Countrywide has been borrowing too heavily from one bank and got caught, holiday sales got off to a slow start, news is out that real estate will drop $1.5 trillion just next year, everyone is accepting that foreclosures will be through the roof for the foreseeable future, Freddie and Fannie are insolvant,
With all that good news, OF COURSE stocks are up 2%.
Think the Fed let the bankers in on the plans for another rate cut or 5? $200 oil, here we come!
Yeah ??????
And ?????
WTF ???? Did you expect to live there for FREE ???
Didn’t you consider the flexibility of your finances before you bought ???
Did you feel “entitled” to live in a house that you could never afford by conservative means ????
What did you expect ????
..
The recurring theme in so many of these newspaper articles is the sense of entitlement that owners have. It’s truly mind boggling and, quite frankly, a very unsettling feature of our society.
Its our MEDIA
Our societal pressures.
Even pastors of mega churches have mercedes, harleys 2-3 houses, perhaps one or two in Maui…etc. So, with TV and pastors having Diamonds the size of golf balls …
what do you expect.
Americans are very self indulgent since the 80s,reagan years..New china, friends in High places for politicians etc..
The media baby.
To be fair, I know more than a few clergy folk who have very modest incomes. Of course they don’t have a ministry named after them, nor do they run a megachurch nor a “prosperity gospel” church.
The MEDIA, the same ones who created this….have to have someone to blame society. But, will they ever blame themselves? fat chance.
Where to we get to blaming the media? Every form of entertainment is voluntary. Blame the media because people have no critical thinking skills, are too lazy to research, are willing to spend beyond their means, are willing to lie and cheat to get what they want? How is that the media’s fault?
“Ms. Harriman, who revels in decorating for the holidays, has three inflatable lawn ornaments, but will put up only one this year, a Charlie Brown Christmas globe, to save on the electric bill.”
It MUST come as an AWFUL SHOCK to FBs like Harriman’s that MOST poor, shut out, RENTERS can AFFORD to put up and TURN ON at least ONE long set of low wattage, cheap, Chinese made Christmas TWINKLE LIGHTS for a few nights before THEIR CHRISTMAS.
Renters UNITE, Flip on that Switch and Light Up Christmas for the HomeSlaves this year:) Ho, ho. ho
Hehehe… well put, mikey.
This claim seems absurd. How much juice does a lawn ornament really use? 60 watts? That would take about 10 cents to have it on for 16 hours.
I shall purchase and deploy an electric baby Jesus to show my holiday spirit!
You guys missed the big question - who would want one of those stupid monstrosities on their front lawn? What is with all the plastic crap decorations? What happened to lights and fresh greens (or in hot places faux greens)? I love out here in the desert the folks that put the lights that are supposed to look like icicles (yeah - maybe while on acid) on their roofs. I guess that’s better than the lighted plastic cactus or palm trees.
Ok everyone in the room repeat after me…
“Buying a home is not a emotional commitment..it is a financial one.”
Ok say it again..louder please..like you mean it!!!
“Keelan said this is because many of the second homebuyers, who are mainly from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, often have difficulty selling their primary homes.”
More vindication as I’ve said for years on this blog, what has happened to my home state is absolutely disgusting. These asshats created the very thing they tried to escape from. Crammed highways, people living on top of each other like pigs, spiraling taxes and a character that doesn’t resemble VT at all. Now add to that an 300% increase in heating costs. I stand by my word that better than 50% of these pukes will leave within 5 years with empty pockets.
“Keelan said this is because many of the second homebuyers, who are mainly from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, often have difficulty selling their primary homes.”
This makes absolutely no sense. If they are *second* home-buyers, then they would not be selling their primary (first) homes. Probably what’s really happening is that they’re having trouble getting big enough HELOCs on their primary homes to finance the purchases of these second homes.
It’s a renters market! I love the $1200/month I save each month by not having a house.
Imagine how good I feel about the 2-3K I save every month by renting.
It is most definately a renters market, down here in FL, a house can be rented for 30-50% of the carrying costs. The home I rent costs me just a bit more then the HOA+Taxes+Insurance.. Forget the 500K morgage.
Not to mention homes are losing $10,000 in ‘value’ every month! That makes the $3k I’m saving while renting seem small.
Everything I’m reading is pointing to a tightening of the mortgage market (larger down payments). Cool! Less competition. Maybe people will only buy what they can afford. Naaa…
Got popcorn?
Neil
$10K a month ‘evaporation rate’ is about right for the SE SF Bay area cities like Fremont, Milpitas here.
Twas the house that stole xmas…
“Susan and John Harriman normally spend about $500 on holiday gifts. But this season, the couple has a wrenching choice to make: celebrate Christmas or keep their home out of foreclosure. ‘We’re just sending out Christmas cards, with us standing in front of the house – the house that cost us,’ says Ms. Harriman.”
T’were the FBs who were too lazy and/or stupid to understand the tersm of their mortgage.
“‘I think people pay less a month on mansions in the Hamptons than we do,’ Ms. Harriman says with a bitter laugh.”
Ahahahaha! Good one, FB! Oh wait, I’m laughing at you, not with you. Dumbass.
They are paying in the $2400 range per month….hardly what a mortgage on a Hamptons mansion would be even 10 years ago. Maybe the property taxes on a Hamptons mansion…actually those would be more too.
“Susan and John Harriman normally spend about $500 on holiday gifts. But this season, the couple has a wrenching choice to make: celebrate Christmas or keep their home out of foreclosure.
Wrenching choice? WTF? Lets see, blow money we don’t have on things we can’t afford to give to people that don’t care, and have more junk than they can store. Yea that’s a wrenching choice alright. However they’ll more than likely end up getting foreclosed on anyway.
What is sad is that $500 is going to make or break the situation…
Given the current $1,200 monthly rent, which Pennucci said accurately reflected the Medford rental market, ownership would increase monthly housing expenses 45 percent, costing an additional $538 a month.
And I believe this tells us that prices need to drop by 32% to put owning at break-even with renting.
Ouch.
No, it’s more. Rents will soon fall, IMO:
‘The conversions are expected to add several hundred rental units to a Boston market that, until recently, suffered a decades-long drought in new rental construction.’
I don’t doubt it. Even so, I’m amazed that the Globe came so close to quantifying the insanity. They’ve run some seriously deluded RE pieces in the past, as regular readers here have noticed.
Rents in the Sacramento area are rising as people lose their homes. my BIL wants us to all start buying foreclosed condos as there are some very sweet units available at 25% off but I’m holding off on that for another six months.
That will likely change as the inventory of houses swells and more FB’s turn to renting to save themselves. Landlords I know are facing dropping property values AND rents. The normal “rents rise as home ownership drops” scenario works in normal markets. The number of homes being lost now and in the future will be anything but normal.
And 25% off at this point is no deal at all IMHO. If he’s so hot to trot let the BIL buy a couple on his own and see if they cash flow.
Not only will the supply of rentals increase but the demand should decrease as economic conditions force people to double-up in their dwellings.
Rents will likely fall 20%-30% in overbuilt markets, particularly in less desirable locations. Between the speculators leaving and just the overshoot, rents will fall. Prices will fall till it’s cheaper to buy than to rent. There really is nothing to stop the decline now till then. There won’t be enough knife catchers to stop the fall in prices….and by 2009, the 2007 knife catchers will know they are bleeding to death.
No, it’s more. Rents will soon fall, IMO:
Ben: In the November issue of Fortune or Forbes, there is a very good article on the housing bubble and details regarding home prices and retal prices. In the bubble states, home prices are so out of wack in comparision to rental costs. The study was done by Shiller and it clearly shows that home prices will continue to decline for the next 5 years.
Slightly OT:
New rental concept for Colorado — home manager. $2000/month for a $1.35M house, but you vacate when it sells (right…).
My wife says it’s not a home, it’s a Black Angus Restaurant, so I guess that’s a no.
http://boulder.craigslist.org/apa/483903590.html
The Cay Compass on New York. “Susan and John Harriman normally spend about $500 on holiday gifts. But this season, the couple has a wrenching choice to make: celebrate Christmas or keep their home out of foreclosure. ‘We’re just sending out Christmas cards, with us standing in front of the house – the house that cost us,’ says Ms. Harriman.”
Wow…A thoughtful RE “Come to Jesus Moment “for Susan and John Harriman. “Do we have a Big Christmas Bash or continue our LIVES as Homeless Bag People under the Brooklyn Bridge with the Rats and the Trolls …Hummmm ..Those TOUGH Holiday Decisions Susan.
Sheesh
Most of the States CLOSED their INSANE ASYLUMS and the FEDERAL Government ALLOWS NAR to run the US Government Domestic Economy..hummm
This sort of makes sense in a perverse Sort of Way ????
“Ms. Harriman, who revels in decorating for the holidays, has three inflatable lawn ornaments, but will put up only one this year, a Charlie Brown Christmas globe, to save on the electric bill.”
The silver lining to the housing bubble, 2 less inflatable lawn ornaments to be forced upon humanity.
Curse you though, Charlie Brown!
And 2/3 the electrical output than before. There’s my silver lining. Finally turned the heat on. Kicks on at 64. New roomie gets cold. Pays half of everything though.
MrBubble
PS: Where’s that short squeeze/bounce? I left a lot of money (for me) on the table with SRS and SKF.
LOL…
“The documents they confronted when they arrived for the closing on Jan. 3 surprised them. Their mortgage loan would have an adjustable rate instead of fixed. The initial interest rate was about 3 points higher than they had expected, and the listed fees were higher than they had understood they would be….The prospect of losing the house at that point — when it seemed so close to being theirs — seemed almost unbearable. ‘Going to the closing and having the keys in your hand and losing the house, it was very tough on both of us,’ said George.”
There has been a lot of talk about personal responsibility on this blog. But tell me, how is this not fraud on the part of the lender or broker? Perhaps the buyer should be willing to walk away. But perhaps the lender should be sued big time if he does, for opportunties to seek other housing foregone, time and effort.
If nothing else, the government should send every person a plainly worded letter telling them that real estate and mortgage brokers are out to cheat them.
I think you pretty much summed up the level that the letter would have to be. I suggest the following change:
Dear Citizen:
Real Estate and Mortgage brokers ARE out to CHEAT YOU.
Don’t forget to send in your taxes on a timely basis this year!
Merry Christmas,
Uncle Sam
It really is the responsibility of the buyers to read everything OR to have a lawyer read it for them. But many people would rather save the pittance a lawyer would charge for this service, and are incapable of reading anything more complicated than the Sunday comics. I know this from experience. I was a practicing lawyer in the 80s and have been a college professor ever since, and I have found that at least 75% of my college students and law students simply cannot read and follow simple instructions. After a few years of teaching I started having the class read the instructions out loud as a group before beginning an exam and still at least half would fail to follow the instructions. The scary part is that I’ve been teaching law students for the last six years and they’re not much better than the undergraduates I had before. So, as much as we want to blame the buyers for not reading the documents, it really wouldn’t matter if they did read them. Most of them still wouldn’t understand them, wouldn’t care that they didn’t understand them, and wouldn’t ask any questions. And I’m not even sure I would trust most lawyers unless they were real estate specialists with at least a few years of experience.
I read every freaking word of everything before I sign, no matter how many sighs or rolled eyes I get from clerks and secretaries. No one wants to take the time to read anymore. And when they do read, they don’t comprehend.
The really scary part is that when I talk with my professors from college, they say the same thing about my generation. Each generation seems to get a little worse. At this rate it’s just a matter of time before we’re completely illiterate!
So, it sounds like certain elements in the industry have built their business model around this.
So why are legal documents worded in such a manner as to completely obscure the real meaning of the intended outcome of the consequence of the material facts of the matter of the agreement at hand? And what’s up with all that ipso facto posto holo in the heado latin crap?
Granted, most fixed rate mortgage documents are pretty clear, but I’ve read summaries of the wording of the Option ARM loans and you need to set up a spreadsheet and then do What IF analysis on LIBOR rates to fully comprehend the potential outcomes.
Here’s my rule of thumb, though. If I don’t understand it I won’t sign it. I’m an engineer, so I figure if it’s worded in a manner that I can’t understand then the bastard who wrote it is a cheat.
Granted, most fixed rate mortgage documents are pretty clear, but I’ve read summaries of the wording of the Option ARM loans and you need to set up a spreadsheet and then do What IF analysis on LIBOR rates to fully comprehend the potential outcomes
Well, duh, Option ARM is a sophisticated instrument for a sophisticated user. Can’t use calculator or Excel? Get a bloody fixed rate mortgage.
Climber:
One of the weird things that I’ve noticed with law students is that they come in expecting to have write incomprehensibly in order to get good grades. I spend a lot of time trying to convince them to “write like a human being” but they think it has to be complex and difficult to understand to be any good. It doesn’t help that so many form books and litigation guides are written in archaic language. Even the ones who try to follow my motto (”direct, clear, simple, and modest”) eventually fall victim to the horrible form books.
You hit the nail on the head. I too have come to realize that very few people have adequate reading comprehension to get by in everyday life. From the Auto mechanic who is unable to read a simply worded service bulletin about a simple fix to a common failure on my ABS, to the real estate attorney who charged me $3500 to review a contract for an industrial building and missed the part about the $20k progress payments being released from escrow at the builders sole discretion. I was foolish to trust either one of them.
The easy fix is to make the closing documents 2-3 pages long like they were 30 years ago. This will never happen though because it would keep mortgage brokers/banks from being able to easily screw people and would eliminate the need for a lawyer on 98% of all real estate transactions.
Instead, under the current system, they just bury you under a pile of papers. If it ever got to the point where many buyers actually read before they signed, they’d just add more pages to the stack. There’s a legal name for this that I can’t remember - it’s a strategy in court battles during disclosure where they just xerrox 1,000s and 1,000s of pages of garbage and say good luck finding the one page of important information.
“Perhaps the buyer should be willing to walk away.”
Any buyer not willing to walk away from a financial hosing is a screwed buyer.
This buyer allowed his emotions to rule in the place of his common sense. Now he is paying the price of his emotional decision.
I read the whole article. But there are a couple telling segments:
George vividly recalls the moment when he realized their hearts were set. It came when Rebecca looked up at the staircase and told him she envisioned their daughter descending in her wedding dress.
Oh puleez.
They figured their budget would be tight for a while, but they would refinance within a couple of years and could make it work.
If I had nickel every time I’ve read that…
They wanted this house and they did not want to hear ‘no’ as an answer,” said Schneibel. “So many people bent over backwards and did everything they possibly could to try to get this house for Rebecca.
The financing was indeed very complex. It doesn’t feel so much like predatory lending to an innocent. More like everybody stretched a little too far just for some Kodak moment for the daughter’s wedding.
Those fancy houses and daughter’s big weddings will KILL ya …everytime
“So many people bent over backwards…”
And now they’re getting bent forward…
I don’t get this - every time we closed we got faxed to us several days before the proposed settlement documents. Many times we required corrections. We were also in constant contact with loan broker and had email trail of questions and answers. I think there has to be some active participation on the part of the borrower.
“Susan and John have watched their monthly mortgage payments skyrocket 66 percent to $2,454 due to home–equity loans for repairs, delinquent fees, and an adjustable–rate mortgage that has risen twice in the past six months.”
I’m sorry, but this is precisely why banks used to be strict about debt to income ratio and at least 6 months cash reserves in the bank. As every home owner knows, it’s NOT just the mortgage payment…repairs, maintenance, all the utilities, insurance, taxes, it all adds up.
“The documents they confronted when they arrived for the closing on Jan. 3 surprised them. Their mortgage loan would have an adjustable rate instead of fixed. The initial interest rate was about 3 points higher than they had expected, and the listed fees were higher than they had understood they would be.”
Isn’t this illegal? I wonder what the HUD-1 said?
If someone tried to do this to me I would pursue every angle of legal redress available.
The moral of the story is to get, in writing, the terms of the loan before closing. Even mainstream banks will screw people like that, never mind brokers.
There should also be a contingency in every purchase offer that lays out financing terms - the interest rate, whether fixed or adjustable, and the duration of the loan.
If the mortgage market decides it can’t meet those terms, you still get your earnest money back.
“The moral of the story is to get, in writing, the terms of the loan before closing. Even mainstream banks will screw people like that, never mind brokers.”
Amen. Too much trust, abused. Real estate is a sea of sharks.
Good luck. the banks are not releasing the terms of the note in advance. I once say a 1.3 million commercial transaction where the note was not released to be buyer’s attorney until 4:50 on a Friday afternoon, with a closing scheduled on Monday at 8:00 am. That turned out to be a very interesting, and very long, closing process.
Find a different bank.
A day in the life of halfway measures at best, could be anywhere in our country…
“For the same reason, she won’t string multicolored lights on the outside of her house, nor put up the tiny white lights along the interior hallways. In their place, she will plant some cardboard candy canes along the front walk. To save money on the Christmas dinner, she’ll serve turkey or lasagna, but not both.”
“‘Everything is being halved,’ she says.”
Frank Novak, a retired truck driver who reared six children in his brick.
She’s the one, the only one, built like a amazon
we karaoke’d that the other night. And Rick James’ Superfreak.
If anybody wanted to blackmail me they could use that tape.
(Temptations sing along with me…)
I know this thought always brings up a lot of anger and frustration, but this is just MY personal opinion.
Many of my friends who jumped the gun against my warnings (2004-2006) did so because one of the spouses wanted to “find roots” and “get grounded.” My spouse usually heard the other side from the very spouse who wanted “roots”: “We’re going to retire on the equity.”
So the one spouse hears nothing but “I need roots,” etc, but the real reason was greed.
FWIW, some of the spouses who wanted roots were men, so it’s not a sexist statement. Personally, I like not having roots (and I’ve owned property since the age of 18) since I like to travel and go where work and pleasure takes me, but I also have pets, so the ownership always worked out well for me.
I sympathize with wanting to have roots. Owning changes one’s perspective, and owners are more likely to make friends with their neighbors and participate in community organizations.
Until one is planning to settle for the long run, however, there is no point in putting down roots. Also, small metros are not the place to do so unless one is self-employed, because a job change might require a move. Finally, in a housing bubble the smart thing is to wait. The timing is unfortuante, but buying at an irrational peak is worse.
Homeowners always like to believe that they’re more involved in community organizations etc. than tenants. Unfortunately that’s only true in studies sponsored by the real estate industry. Tenants tend not to participate in NIMBY organizations, but are more likely to participate in other kinds of community groups, political organizations etc. than homeowners. One need only look at tenant-dominated cities–San Francisco and New York, for instance–which have very active community organizations.
What is very likely, though, is that tenants in homeowner-dominated communities just don’t bother with NIMBY and related groups. Just today I had an official from a county government entity call and ask why I wanted a manual on water-wise gardening if I was neither a landscaper nor a homeowner. (Gee, I’m a resident. It’s free to residents. I don’t just order a bunch of stuff to get mail. Send the thing to me.)
Yes, some spouses who itched to buy a home were men. I think women do this out of nesting instinct, and with the men I’ve heard about, its’ the status thing of being a homeowner, of having a big show-off house that is nicer than others. I have noticed that there used to be sexist posts almost every day knocking women for pressuring for homes (as if men never wanted to buy homes and are all ruled by their wives). But now it seems like those comments have really dried up and I hardly ever read this on the HBB anymore.
I think Suzanne and that pathetic couple really captured the moment forever memorializing the pathology of the housing bubble. I remember the first time I saw the commercial and I didn’t know wether to shit or go blind… It just makes me want to vomit when I imagine the spineless slob give into that bitch of bitches.
Classy.
Yup, the “Suzanne researched it” commercial and the “feed the squirrels” story. I must say the actress playing the wife in that Century 21 commercial was very talented.
A couple months back someone posted a link to a clip of Dr. Laura taking a woman to the woodshed for forcing her husband to buy a house and getting the family in trouble.
I have noticed that there used to be sexist posts almost every day knocking women for pressuring for homes (as if men never wanted to buy homes and are all ruled by their wives).
Not necessarily sexist…when I worked in the REIC marketing new construction, the sales managers would come armed with focus group and survey data indicating around 85% of home-buying decisions are driven by the female half of the couple.
This was for new construction, and the figure never dropped below 80%.
Wait…was it Suzanne doing that research?
IIRC, Suzanne was the realtor in the TV commercial. Execs much higher up on the food chain made decisions as to what outfit would be contracted to do market research.
When airtime was bought for TV spots, the commercials were focus grouped to make sure they activated their target audience. I’m going to guess the same process took place with Century 21’s infamous Suzanne researched this you intractable dolt of a husband commercial.
I know, I was making a joke which was meant to subtly imply that I didn’t put a lot of stock in what the REIC marketing researchers might determine…never mind /Emily Littella
I don’t doubt that there are wives who pushed to buy a house…just a bit skeptical of the wholesale stereotype. I have a couple of overleveraged male relatives who are definitely in a competition as to who has the bigger house while the wives nervously intone for financial responsibility.
I think we can all agree that it is better to have a spouse that is financially responsible, or failing that, one that doesn’t unilaterally make decisions for the family.
“85% of home-buying decisions are driven by the female half of the couple”
Maybe……but when it comes to dealing with me, the realtors and bankers have always wished that anyone else was driving the decisionmaking. Scary dealing with a woman with degrees in economics, administration and law who, due to having the old New England WASP-Mayflower family background, has raise ‘being cheap’ to an art form. Car dealers hate me too when I look at them and say ‘you want how much for something that will only rust apart and break down? I’m driving it to the grocery store, not putting it in a museum collection. Where are the used cars that are priced for less than the amount which they will depreciate over the next few years?”
And my mother was even scary for realtors and bankers and sales people to deal with - I’m a wimp compared to her.
Hey Ann Scott
I know what you mean. Here in CNY where you’re supposed to kill your competition w/materialistic superiority, I love saying I’m New England cheap!
I had a car dealer slamming things in his office after I didn’t accept rustcoating. Perhaps I skinned things a little too tight for him? Heh Heh Heh! He never saw it coming since most locals think woman are still supposed to be watching the kids and cooking dinner. Hubby just looked on silently enjoying it all. Easy pickings with guys that expect you to be stupid and not into more than a “pretty color” for your vehicle.
‘I have noticed that there used to be sexist posts almost every day knocking women for pressuring for homes (as if men never wanted to buy homes and are all ruled by their wives). But now it seems like those comments have really dried up…’
And about damn time, too. I know lots and lots of men who have absolutely no shortage of silliness in the ‘I want stupid stuff and will go in debt for it’ department.
So When a woman wanted to buy a home it’s because of her nesting instinct, but when a man had the same desire he was a status seeking show off! maybe the sexist is in the mirror.
All I said was that was what I observed. I didn’t claim that my observation should be extrapolated to all homebuyers.
I am all for laying down roots if the house prices were reasonable (
Neil,
Absolutely. I have no problems w/ that. Obviously you’ll want to t-r-a-v-e-l a little to find out just where that might be? To me, more than just being “reasonably priced” the home has got to be within the realm of that which can be paid off!
Even if they cut the price of mansions in Rancho Palos Verdes in HALF it’s STILL more than “I” could be expected to put enough down to pay off on 15 yr. loan. As this thing unravels my wife and I are on constant watch for “post bubble” construction between 125-175k. An amount where two good years means no more mortgage.
RE: some of the spouses who wanted roots were men
Guess you’re not tuned in to the feminist FM dial.
Didn’t you know? For the last 3 years MSM writer’s have been smugly crowing about how single and divorced women have biggest purchaser segment of single family residences since 2002, being so much more financially astute than their dithering male S/O’s.
All they had to do was dump Hubs which really became feasible on that six-figure real estate job.
Hey…this is gonna be forever and forever (snicker)
May they all enjoy their dead elephants.
‘There haven’t been booms and busts in Pittsburgh in the way there have been in Florida, California and New England,’
On the surface this logic seems unquestionable, so much so the NAR has co-opted and bastardized it for their own use. YET…I would make the counter-argument that the Rust Belt areas will wind up paying heavily for the sins and excesses of the coasts before this is through. Like it our not, they cannot exist in a vacuum and the over correction we anticipate may be short and sharp in some locales, but for these areas it is likely to be a long drawn out affair that will continue the drain of jobs and population begun decades ago. Time will tell, but for those believing “isolationism” is possible nowadays - it is important to remember what they say about chosing to dance with 800 lb. gorillas (globailzation)…the gorilla decides when you stop.
The Rust Belt areas will pay in their own way because they ARM’d themselves to the teeth and HELOC’d their way to gadget heaven just like the rest of the country. The dollar amounts were just smaller, but the results will be the same.
Another poster (GPBlank perhaps?) has made the point that the Midwest/rust belt in fact experienced a bubble, but that it played out differently from other areas since prices remained steady or increased slightly when instead they should have dropped substantially over the last five or six years. Anectdotally this seems to be the case since demographic shifts and job losses caused by the erosion (near disappearance would be a more accurate term) of the manufacturing activity that has kept many midwestern cities going for over a century would be expected to have caused prices to fall much earlier.
Perhaps Chicago and some university towns may to some extent be relatively cushioned against this, but not by enough to prevent any decline. They’ll just feel the effect less than Flint or Ft. Wayne.
a raise comrade ?
said Dennis E. Hennessy, director of Neighborhood and Housing Development.”
Experts say their story illustrates how easy it is for home buyers to wind up over their heads in debt. The Weisses say they hope their experience will serve as a cautionary tale for others.
Nice to hope, but I doubt that the sheeple will learn or remember when the next housing bubble in the year 2021 (that is the year I am retiring) starts. They have been brainwashed into getting trapped in a ‘dream house’.
The arguement for homeownership was far less compelling 2 and 3 years ago as well. It’s amazing how behind the times the reporters are…
Duh… me thinks me can rent for 30% of owning so owning is bad. (true story for waterfront on intracoastal across from beach in St. Pete Beach area including taxes and insurance)
RE: “One of the most notable conversions is Charlestown’s Mezzo Design Lofts, whose backers include former Lakers great Earvin ‘Magic’ Johnson’s Canyon-Johnson Fund. Johnson flew into town in September to pull the wraps off the $54 million project, which was to feature 156 loft-style units. Prices ranged from $330,000 to nearly $600,000.”
Charlestown…auto break-in capital of New England.
Even the old-time Celtics know that (snicker)
237 Clove Rd. “The only bid came from Downey Savings, which already held the bad debt on the property. The starting bid, also known as the upset price, was $296,406.”
Zillow says:
Sale History & Tax Info Sale History
09/20/1995: $75,000
No other sale data is available
Must have been HELOC:ed?
It’s market value is nearly $350K according to the city. (For tax purposes, of course, it is worth $11K).
“But in the absence of other buyers, the sale was merely perfunctory. The only bid came from Downey Savings, which already held the bad debt on the property. The starting bid, also known as the upset price, was $296,406.”
“‘Going once, going twice, sold to the bank,’ Soren, a real estate attorney, told an imaginary audience.”
Irony is so cheap, nowadays.
Downey Savings, seeing nobody at the auction, bid the loan amount?
They may have given up the right to go after the foreclosed owner for a deficiency… as there is now a rebuttable presumption that the bank did not lose money when it repossessed the house.
I guess being able to mark to a fictional market is worth more than preserving rights to collect money.
Correct. The loan was paid in full when the lender bid the amount owed. Now the lender has title to the property - for what that is worth.
That is standard practice.
Field of American Dreams
“If you build it they will come - at least that’s how it used to be in the residential New York real estate market. Developers that once had lines out their sales door are pursuing foreigners by attending property shows around the world, setting up private presentations for buyers in their offices, and including amenities that are specific for the international audience.”
“‘It’s a bad outcome because there’s no guarantee the current owner is not going to trash the place or if he’s even going to move out,’ Mr. Pasnik said. ‘There are so many foreclosures happening now, there are huge inventories of 3,000 or 4,000 homes being held by lenders.’”
I thought that enforcing the law was part of the legitimate function of government. Isn’t trashing the house vandalism? Don’t they have any way to evict non paying squatters? Of course, the local cops are probably busy, they always are
Oh no climber, you see things are different now. It is not politically correct to punish vandals and theives, as long as they are “disenfranchised”. You see, they are entitled.
At my company, my yard gets broken into and materials stolen every week. If I report, the police stop by, eventually, and fill out a report. If the bums are caught, they are out the next day.
On the other hand, my wife, after 20 years with zero traffic violations, turned left through a red light at an intersection that only stays green long enough for one car,(she was the second) and gets popped by a cop hiding in the frigging bushes all day to bust criminals like my wife that get sick of sitting in line all morning.
The ticket cost almost $400. Why don’t they hide in the bushes and catch the theives that hit my business every week. Because they don’t have money to pay a fine of course.
Hey man…. watchya storing in your yard?
Just raw meterials. Aluminum and steel. They even shut off my water and cut out the copper pipe and backflow device.
Mmmmmm…….I smell scrap.
Me and Blano will be there tonite. lmao.
oh and it’s safer to pop your wife witha fine — she probably isn’t packing heat. Bad guys shoot back and stuff. So it’s safer and more profitable for cops to catch good guys. What a country huh?
Oh yeah, one of my favorite topics. The revenue generation by local govt through the use of police officers (strongarm).
I would not have much of a problem with this except that, given all the traffic laws, I would venture a guess that a full 50% of the population on the road at any ONE time is voilating some traffic law. Because of the overwhelming mass of laws, getting a traffic ticket today comes down to a game a chance; where you can only moderately influence the outcome. In fact, the only reason that you can influence the outcome at all is because there are people violating the law WORSE then you are, and therefore they only skim the worst offenders.
If they wanted to stop traffic infractions, computers can nicely solve this problem. Put out electronic sensors and just mail the tickets out the violators. Going 66 on I95, here’s your ticket in the mail (just like you get currently for running a toll).
However, there is NO way that they will actually do this because the uproar would be deafining. Instead, they use this as a revenue generating mechanism, something that is just not at all what was intended by the people when they put these laws into effect.
All (and I mean ALL) the revenue from tickets should go to some area that has NO poltical support. I suggest that ALL the money from tickets go to build more nuclear weapons for our silos. That way the ONLY incentive for a cop to write a ticket is to PUNISH the offender, not to get a new bulletproof vest or a Hummer cruiser.
The LAW should NEVER be used as a revenue generating device. As we all see everyday, this is an extremly slippery slope; give someone the power to “tax” and the power to “spend” the money earned by this tax, and you will have an awful problem (which, IMHO, we do).
The ONLY incentive for writing tickets/jail/etc should be to protect the public and punish the offender. Putting finacial incentives in for ticket writing is just WRONG.
/Rant Off.
In virginia they have actually imposed a TAX on breaking traffic laws on top of the fine. The TAX for going 15mph over is almost $1000 and the judge has NO discretion. Oh, and it only applies to VA residents, out of stater’s get away with just the fine.
WTF? That tops the “surcharge” you have to pay if your income tax payment at the end of the year is too large.
Nice rant (
“I suggest that ALL the money from tickets go to build more nuclear weapons for our silos. ”
We can dream……
And thank god we still have the courts.
I got ticketed at Santa Monica for a missing month sticker when parking in a mall (the year sticker has been renewed for a year). Go figure how our heros are using their productive time.
And when I disputed the ticket, unfortunately there is no court and the police department handle their own disputes. Guess what, instead of handling the dispute, they asked me to bring correction to a police station and PAY a police to confirm that the sticker is put on. It’s like “you are not happy? well take this!”.
One can’t help to be sympathy of those rioters.
“At my company, my yard gets broken into and materials stolen every week. If I report, the police stop by, eventually, and fill out a report.”
If your yard is getting broken into every week on a routine basis, what does that tell you about your yard? It would appear that it is cheaper to lose materials on a weekly basis versus harden your yard.
“If the bums are caught, they are out the next day.”
That is not the fault of the police, but *your elected* legislators and judges. Talk to them, write them, whatever and tell them what you want. Or vote them out.
I have an alarm system, motion sensors in the yard and cameras. Also, locked chain link with razor wire.
They just cut a hole in the fence, walk in, wave to the camera, and pick up enough material to get a bottle of booze.
Sounds like a job for a hungry pit bull or two.
I’m a Rottweiler man myself.
I’ve thought of that, but worry that an employee might come in early and accidently open the back door to the shop and let Fido in where he don’t belong.
Joe,
I would go with Rottweilers myself as well. They are loyal to their owner’s but seriously unfriendly to outsiders breaking in on their turf. And do get two–ups the menace factor exponentially. And tell you employees if they value their azz to not let Fido and Fifi in the back. Secruity companies often rent out trained dogs for shorter durations…check your phone book or google it. I have dogs, lab mixes who are pretty friendly, but cops have told me thieves don’t like dogs (plural–that’’s important) because they’re unpredictable, unlike human victims. Most thieves will look for easier targets. Do check your liability insurance though–some states reward thieves injured while committing crimes.
Get a Kuvasz - get 2 Kuvasz and let them wander around the place at night if the property is fenced. Great dogs, loving loyal, friendly to stangers to whom they are introduced and absolutely terrifying to prowlers and anything they consider no to have been given permission to be on their land. They are an ancient herd guarding breed capable of taking out a wolf or mountain lion but who will not desert their charge (or home territory) to chase after a threat once it decides that leaving is safer.
“With all their might, the couple is trying to hold on to their modest 1,100–square–foot ranch house … ”
WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT??! Oh lordy, I just had flashbacks to those old inspirational WWII pre-movie newsreels that showed the heroic endeavors of the common man waging the good fight . . . WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT !!
That article made me laugh so hard with the over-the-top melodramatic writing, obviously trying hard to paint a picture of the poor heroic struggling homeowner fighting the evil bank . . . WITH ALL THEIR MIGHT!
Oh laws yes, M-O-O-N spells ” hyperbole ” for a certain reporter.
The “evil” bank that expects to get their money paid back.. So sick of this image portrayed in the media. Now, I am not defending the actions of banks during this run-up, it was really, really supid what they did. However, they do have a right to expect payment on the loan, and if the payment is not made, to take the asset and sell it to satisfy the note.
Sorry, I just don’t see that as “evil”. That’s like being annoyed at Macy’s because they expect me to pay for the items I have selected. I can be mad that they are overpriced (and therefore shop somewhere else), but to be mad because they expect payment (and won’t let me leave the store without paying)?? That’s just the way that capatilism works. Welcome to the 17th century.
If it takes all your might you’re probably doing it wrong.
The last time I used “all my might” I ruptured a disc. My surgeon wasn’t very sympathetic. His advise for the future was “don’t do stupid things”.
The new scapegoat, those pesky 2nd-home buyers who can’t sell their primariy residence. What a maroon, and the journalist didn’t even pick up on it. ROTFLMAO
Or maybe they both think that 2nd buyers are just buying their 2nd home after selling their 1st?
Keelan said this is because many of the second homebuyers, who are mainly from New York, Connecticut and New Jersey, often have difficulty selling their primary homes.”
Renting! I rent and my apartment management’s ridiculous rules are making me think about buying my own place. There about 35% of apartments are alloted to low income dwellers, and belv me, the rest of the renters who pay normal rental rates are treated the same.
The parking allotment is so bad that we need to walk quarter mile to get to the car.
I am talkin about $1400/m for 1 b/r in El Lay.
I dont put all the blame on homeowners, when the quality of some rentals is POS.
There are good and bad property managers. Find a good one. Or buy and lose money for the next 5 years. Whatever you want to do.
No. I am not buying atleast until 2010. I am a staunch follower of HBB.
Its rentals like these push people to make foolish financial decisions.
Well, you’re in LA silly. Run, don’t walk, away from that hellhole.
just speakin’ as an escapee myself.
Thinking.
Love the weather and cosmopolitan environment, has been in small town cold weather for too long.
It is so good to see the sun every morning w/o wrapping myself under tons of clothes, shovel the snow in drive way or scratch the car for 15 minutes before I leave for work.
Any other place like this in country which is not in desert?
Well, maybe from 2010-2015, I maybe able to buy a decent place for decent price and invest in RE if possible when everyone is investing/speculating in stock market.
Stocks always go up, apple is $1000 and goog $2000… Jim Kramer yelling on top of his lungs with his saliva all over the big screen HDTVs (close up)….
I feel old !! Just came from our credit union & was discussing mortgage rates ‘n what not with a young looking Mick Hucknell/Simply Red lookin loan officer. When I commented on the resemblence, he had no idea whom I was referring to, and wrote down the name to research later. I even mentioned his big hit ” Holding Back The Tears ” but still no clue …. I refrained from trying to sing a few bars as my spouse was embarrassed enough.
Ouch
(on a side note said loan officer (very polite guy, good SOH) was quoting closing info from a rate sheet, when I pointed out he was using the second column of figures titled ” 2nd Mortgage/Refi ” , instead of the 1st column listed ” Original/1st Mortg”. We both laughed about the error, no hard feelings and I understood completely when he apologized as no one had ever used the first column. wow . . . just wow!)