Govt & the Housing Bubble - Agree/Disagree

[porsche060]

Government's view of the economy could be summed up in a few short phrases: If it moves, tax it. If it keeps moving, regulate it. And if it stops moving, subsidize it.

Housing market did great, let give property tax increases. Things getting bad because of shady practices, lets regulate it. And now people can't pay.. time to subsidize the schmucks who are getting foreclose on..

[porsche060]

Schmuck #1
Some schmuck gets a mortgage with no income! Don't you think she should of known there might have been an issue. NO BAILOUT OF OUR TAX MONEY FOR IRRESPONSIBLE PEOPLE. Victim my ass
http://www.nydailynews.com/money/200...ers_mortg.html

The growing wave of foreclosures casting a shadow over the nation's economy just crashed over 63-year-old Eva Murphy of Queens.

The former airport worker says she became a homeowner after a representative of a company called 2000 Homes showed up on her doorstep in December 2005.

The sales rep told her she could afford to buy a house even though she had bad credit and lived on an amalgam of government subsidies.

The 2000 Homes sales rep promised Murphy a house with a mortgage she could afford. She says he suggested a two-family home on Roscoe St. in Jamaica, Queens, for $430,000.

After the closing, she discovered the price was actually $538,000.

Murphy says she was told monthly payments would be about $2,000. S
he later learned they would be $3,990.

She also learned that even though she has no full-time job, her mortgage application listed her as a $9,000-a-month "marketing manager" for a company owned by her loan officer's husband.

Ten months ago, her house ended up in foreclosure.

[creggur]

While I don't believe the govt. should subsidize those who were silly enough to get a half million dollar mortgage with no income, there should be some recourse against those predatory companies that preyed on the uneducated...

When my wife and I bought our first house we were in our early 20's. While the decision was ultimately ours, we were told we could afford way more house than we should have been buying. Fortunately for us it was a fixed mortgage, and although the first couple of years were very, very, tough, we made it through. If you've never owned a home before you don't realize all of the little expenses that come along with it that add up pretty quick. We learned our lesson, but if we had been in an adjustable rate that shot up on us we would have been in trouble pretty quick.

Unfortunately, or maybe it is a good thing, a lot of the loan companies that were using these predatory practices by selling people a bill of goods, that only wanted to own their own home, are now headed out of business. It is leaving a lot of people suffering under foreclosure, and losing their "American dream" of home ownership. I guess I empathize with them a little bit because I know how it feels to be sold something that isn't everything it seems to be.....I dunno....Kind of torn on this one...

[Queen]

Finances are incredibly confusing, the reason I go to a doctor, dentist, financial planner, mechanic...is because that is their area of expertise, not mine. People who say "stupid people should have known better" need to consider this, just because you know about a topic doesn't mean everyone does.

I think the predatory lenders should be hung out to dry, even the borderline ones. I think the homeowners who were duped by predatory lenders should be offered a shot at a fixed rate that they can manage OR be allowed to hand the house over to the predators and walk away without yet another hit to their credit status.

All that being said...the greedy folks who got normal (non-predatory) loans and waaaaaay overextended themselves, live off of credit cards, and generally show poor skills at managing their money...tough, live and learn.

[creggur]

Originally Posted by Queen

Finances are incredibly confusing, the reason I go to a doctor, dentist, financial planner, mechanic...is because that is their area of expertise, not mine. People who say "stupid people should have known better" need to consider this, just because you know about a topic doesn't mean everyone does.

I agree 100%, this is exactly what happened to me. Not making excuses, it was just a matter of lacking experience in dealing with these kinds of things..

I think the predatory lenders should be hung out to dry, even the borderline ones. I think the homeowners who were duped by predatory lenders should be offered a shot at a fixed rate that they can manage OR be allowed to hand the house over to the predators and walk away without yet another hit to their credit status.

Agree again, the problem is a lot of the predator lendors are going out of business at blazing speeds. Bankruptcy protects them, but leaves their victims holding the bag.....

All that being said...the greedy folks who got normal (non-predatory) loans and waaaaaay overextended themselves, live off of credit cards, and generally show poor skills at managing their money...tough, live and learn.

Wow 3 in a row!!!

[Queen]

Originally Posted by creggur

Agree again, the problem is a lot of the predator lendors are going out of business at blazing speeds. Bankruptcy protects them, but leaves their victims holding the bag...

That would be where any sort of govt. "bailout" would come in...no freebies, just a chance to retain your home if you're willing to work hard and make it happen.

[greyzen]

yeah one of the major problems I've seen in America in general is the overall belief that if you want it hard enough, you'll get it.

I have known way to many corporate slaves who make 80,000 a year and live in 400 - 500k homes and drive brand new BMW/Benz's.

They can survive, until one or both of them lose their jobs or have medical emergency than they just max their credit cards more.

[Queen]

Originally Posted by greyzen

yeah one of the major problems I've seen in America in general is the overall belief that if you want it hard enough, you'll get it.

I have known way to many corporate slaves who make 80,000 a year and live in 400 - 500k homes and drive brand new BMW/Benz's.

They can survive, until one or both of them lose their jobs or have medical emergency than they just max their credit cards more.

It's weird how the lenders set up this contingency, I have an excellent credit rating and very little debt...so they keep raising my limits. I could finance a house on my credit cards and have enough left over to park a BMW in the driveway...it makes no sense.

[creggur]

Originally Posted by greyzen

yeah one of the major problems I've seen in America in general is the overall belief that if you want it hard enough, you'll get it.

This is a problem??? I think this is the greatest thing about America..In our society if you are willing to work hard enough and provide goods and services that are in demand you can have pretty much anything you want..How this is viewed as a "major problem" is beyond me. Our capitalist system has provided more prosperity and opportunity than any other society at any time in human history...

I have known way to many corporate slaves who make 80,000 a year and live in 400 - 500k homes and drive brand new BMW/Benz's.
They can survive, until one or both of them lose their jobs or have medical emergency than they just max their credit cards more.

Corporate slaves?? So someone willing to work hard to provide for their family is a corporate slave??? Now if they try to swing half million dollar homes and $150,000 in cars on $80,000 a year or even $160,000 that's just poor judgment and living way beyond their means.....

[Queen]

Originally Posted by creggur

This is a problem??? I think this is the greatest thing about America..In our society if you are willing to work hard enough ...

I think the fundamental difference is illustrated above..."wanting" something and "working" for something is where the disconnect happens. Ad campaigns tell people they DESERVE all the best stuff, predatory lenders help people get it...no one seems to remember the "work for it" part.