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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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As I chose the same namesake on the Housing Bubble Blog by Ben Jones, it is Ben and his blog that hasn't \"pulled any punches\" these past years as the enormous train wreck that is the housing bubble has upended the American, and by extension, the global economy.

Exotic mortgages, derivatives, realtards, homebuilders, and people like Casey Serin have all combined to make the situation one gigantic clusterfuck train wreck.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@holytrainwreck: You forgot one group - homebuyers who overpaid and bought houses they can't afford. It's easy to blame others, but this is a problem that is just as much our fault as it is the moneylenders.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@harvey_birdman: True enough. Now these overextended people are underwater on their homes. And the groups like the lenders, appraisers, and realturds enabled them. One sick system.

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H3ion

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Let's face it, the economy stinks and is likely to continue to stink for some time. Unemployment is running around 17.5% and so many jobs have been shipped overseas that it is not reasonable to expect the rate to drop much in the short term. The banks don't want foreclosed real estate (REO in banker's talk). Foreclosed real estate reduces all property values in the neighborhood, attracts vandals, squatters and who knows what else, and helps no one. If the real estate lending industry would use some imagination, they could wind up in a win-win situation. For example, if a loan is in default 90 days, that means it isn't going to get paid anytime soon. Instead of putting people on the street, why not put the loan on hiatus and work out a rental arrangement with the homeowner. That way, the homeowner stays in the property, the bank gets something in the form of rent, and the loan stays frozen until the homeowner gets a job. I'm sure others can come up with comparable or better ideas but isn't it worthwhile to try something a bit different?

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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I say forgive 25% of all mortgage debt. People need more $$$ to spend on the other stuff that runs the economy. It's extreme, but it would work.

5 replies

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Pihir

November 23, 2009 5:32 PM

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@TecmoTech: Those people wouldn't learn their lession, and would borrow again.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@TecmoTech: People need to buy only what they can afford, and pay a sufficient down payment so as to have \"skin in the game\". And after purchase, continue to live within their means.

As a result, home prices won't be or need to be artificially inflated by loose lending or tax credit scams, which only kick the can down the road and pull future demand into the present.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@TecmoTech: Forgive it how? The only way to do so is to continue printing money at a dangerous level. Our money is already being inflated to epic proportions, why do you want to devalue the dollar so?

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Munchie

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@harvey_birdman: The US government wats the dollar inflated to epic levels to reduce the foreign debt. So all in all this plan should be appealing as a bail out option.

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shepd

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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All that would do is inflate house prices by 25% temporarily while the \"haves\" move into other homes and the \"have-nots\" wait 5 more years for their wages to inflate to the point they can buy their first house.

The best way to fix the situation is to put the brakes on idiotic mortgages (They still exist, Canada, for example, allows mortgage terms so long the average new home buyer will be retired before they have their house paid off) and allow people who abused their houses as magical money printing self-filling piggy banks to bankrupt themselves as the economy would have if they had invested that poorly in anything else.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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It just shows how overpriced that housing prices got . Even with good credit at the time of purchase I think too many house buyers were simply over paying . That over paying could've been used on down payments or another couple years of payments .

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xkaluv

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Seems that if we had applied bail out money to these people's mortgages then that precentage would be much lower and the banks investments in these loans would have been protected. But we choose to give the money to the banks, which solved nothing.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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@xkaluv: Either way would have solved nothing. We are helping one group at the expense of our currency's value.

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November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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So let me get this straight. people want to be safe and in a good neighborhood so they go house hunting. Realetard shows them a house that fits this description but its quoted 3-5 times what its worth. House after house its the same thing and the person starts to think they will never get a place to call home. Then Mr. Realetard says i can get you a loan.... What in gods name makes you think these people arent going to try and seize this day. How can you blame them?

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zzxx

November 23, 2009 5:31 PM

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Even though I still have my day job I am losing my house. Let them have it. Let them pay the property tax and mortgage. Let them spend hour after hour cutting the lawn and gardening.

I can get an adequate condo rental for 1/5 of my mortgage payment. That means I have way less pressure in keeping my higher paying job. I have freedom. I have time. No responsibilities.

BTW, I didn't make 9 payments now and a used to get a few collection calls and nothing more. Nobody knows who owns my mortgage.

Also, I think that the are not in a hurry to foreclose because just like I cant sell my house neither can they. They are thinking to just let me stay there a while and come for the house when things get better.

In the meantime I am paying down my credit cards and banking as much money as I can.

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November 25, 2009 10:04 PM

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The economy is in a mess. People are doing anything they can to make ends meet. I recently decided to try dental tourism in Mexico. I found that by going to a Mexico dentist in Tijuana, I could save thousands of dollars. I hope the economy starts picking up soon, but at least I know where to go for dental care. I will continue to go to my Mexico dentist in Tijuana, even after things pick up. I've gotten spoiled by the savings!

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