I just read an article about a suburb of Cleveland OH that has become a ghost town due to all the evictions etcetera in the area.

The fact is that people that couldn't afford houses bought houses. Sometimes they lied about jobs or income, sometimes lenders didn't check or didn't care if the borrowers could afford to make payments. In many cases people got variable rate mortgages and got in trouble when (surprise, surprise) the rates went up. Lenders are businesses. Their job is to make money off borrowers. If they can loan, foreclose, evict and resell at a profit that's their right. I hope that their shareholders are cool with that plan (when it works). The problem now is that the lenders can't resell the foreclosures and aren't making any money. They're now rethinking their lending practices aren't they.

Unfortunately, any borrowers that might have been in the market for a house can't meet criteria now to buy those houses.

You know who the big winners are right now? Rental companies. Apartment rentals must be going through the roof.

There's enough blame to go around. There is no one responsible party. Everyone was out to screw whoever they could to get the best deal right away.

And one other thing . . the government has no place trying to fix what is really just a huge market adjustment. Too bad it's an election year and it's good "business" to get involved and screw up those of us who were responsible about borrowing responsibly. Because, in the end, it's those of us the made good choices that are paying for the idiots who were unprepared for change

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on Jan 31, 2008
Sorry, I just had to add in my lefty, liberal point of view.

I have no sympathy for the mortgage companies, that's all.


Me neither, but it's equally hard for me to feel sympathetic towards people who sign contracts that they can't fulfill. It's one thing to want to own a home, it's another thing entirely to want to own a freakin' McMansion to show up your neighbors and co-workers.
on Jan 31, 2008
I know I'm crazy and in a minority . . but I think it's crazy to get more than you can afford.  It's not rocket science.
So many people thought they were getting a great deal with low APRs and everyone buying homes.  Well gues what . . they lost.

You want to get a good deal?
Live on less than you make.  Don't get the biggest house you are approved to buy.  Buy a house that costs no more than 25% of your monthly take home.  Do without the huge TV until you can pay for it.  Stuff like that.
on Jan 31, 2008
I know I'm crazy and in a minority . . but I think it's crazy to get more than you can afford.


Seems most of us older folks, and our parents are just as crazy and in the minority as well.
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