Posted on 08/27/2007 4:06:37 AM PDT by Notary Sojac
I know people are going to hate me for saying this, but I'm not sorry that foreclosures nearly doubled last month and are increasing every day.
I'm not sorry that real-estate prices are creeping down by the glut of desperate "for sale" signs all over Southern California.
I'm not sorry that all those developers building lofts downtown and in Hollywood and North Hollywood with no parking might have to eat their investment when they find they can't get half a mil for the 400-square-foot corner of a former sweatshop.
I'm not sorry that people who kept taking the "free" home-equity money from the banks beyond all reason are now finding out how not free that money was.
I'm certainly not sorry that the huckster mortgage companies and banks that thought it was a good idea to make subprime loans to people with bad credit ratings are now taking a bath. I only wish it involved some sort of public humiliation involving glue, sand and glittery body paint.
I'm not even sorry that people will lose their homes and be forced to give up the Hummer they bought with a home-equity loan, and move into a one-bedroom apartment in Panorama City or, worse, in with the in-laws in Porter Ranch because suddenly their adjustable home rates adjusted higher than they can pay and they can't unload their McMansions for $1.3 million, as was the plan, despite the newly installed horizon pool and cork flooring.
I tell people I am sorry, but I'm really not. I am, in fact, gleeful.
And I'm not the only one.
Most everyone who is not employed by a mortgage company or is not a real-estate agent or is not trying to sell a house or can't pay the mortgage anymore feels the same. We are secretly dancing little happy jigs because it seems that the insanity is about to, finally, end and the snake-oil hucksters will fold up their tents, take their sleazy subprime offers and slink out of town.
Then maybe life can slowly come back to normal, and regular people with regular incomes can buy regular houses again without agreeing to loans so abusive they ought to be handed out of the back of gangster bars. We don't even care that it means our own property values will drop, if it means we might avoid another block of luxury lofts.
It's a relief, too, because we all knew this was coming, just like you know the Poppin' Fresh dough carton is going to make that loud noise when you pull the tab, and you can't really relax until it comes. Even people like me with math anxiety could work out that at some point the hot real-estate market, built in part on risky loan deals, was someday going to reach critical mass and start to crumble.
Well, here we are, and it's beautiful. And that's why I must implore all the well-meaning politicians proposing bailout measures (You know who you are, Richard Alarcon and Hillary Clinton) to just go away and work on curing cancer, or something that will actually help humanity, not enable it to continue on its financially irresponsible path.
Homeowner bailouts, as warm and loving as they seem, are, in fact, bailouts for mortgage companies, and they don't deserve it. But bailouts play well on the news, and everyone from L.A.'s Alarcon to state legislators to U.S. senators are proposing deals to help people continue to pay their mortgages.
Sure, some poor grandmas and inner-city families will get to keep their homes, at least until the next rate shift on their interest-only loans, but at what price? Is it helping people to keep them tied to abusive mortgages that only help the abusers profit? (C'mon, Hillary, it's the other guys who are supposed to be helping big business exploit consumers.)
To Clinton's credit, she's also proposing penalties on mortgage companies, though it's hard to see the sense of punishing with one hand and rewarding with the other. Better to support restructuring of the loan industry and government-sponsored mass refinancing for at-risk homeowners.
It's hard for Democrats not to rush to the aid of the victimized homeowners. It's a good instinct, but sometimes it's in everyone's interest to step aside and let faulty systems fall apart. This is one of those times when we ought to let it burn. I'll bring the marshmallows.
When I built my home, the builder was encouraging me to get a NO Principle loan, on a 5-7 year balloon.
I refused, got a 30 year fixed with 20% down at 5.15%, and am happier than a clam....
Not sure what you think the White House did other than say some things about homeownership in some speeches. Can you enlighten me?
Ditto that.
Of course I did. I also saved money and put it in a bank for others to borrow instead of living up to and beyond my income and then expect others to bail me out for my poor money-handling decisions.
I also paid taxes on the interest earned. Will I get a tax refund if my interest drops? Don’t think so.
My opinion:
Scenerio 1: Republican Elected POTUS: The recession begins in 4th quarter of 2008 and lasts seven quarters to 2010. Expect an economy of the late 1970’s to 1981.
Scenerio 2: Democratic Elected POTUS: The recession begins in 4th quarter of 2008. A chemical or dirty bomb attack on NYC or other major metro occurs accelerates the recession and collapses the entire economy. Martial law is declared. If no other major geopolitical events unfold, the economy will re-emerge and become strong again in 2013.
I didn’t have a choice about paying into SS & Medicare. However I did pay into the system since 1955 (on SS) and if I had that money now plus accrued interest I wouldn’t care about the SS. If you’re trying to make me feel guilty for benefitting from a government program I had no hand in creating, it’s not going to work.
Nor am I going to feel sorry for people who have a champagne taste and a beer budget and who are now in over their heads.
However you are right that all of us take the good with the bad and we’ll all suffer together if the economy takes a big enough hit.
It’s a good thing I’m an expert at belt-tightening - something a lot of younger people don’t even have a passing acquaintance with.
Then the Y2K bug hits (belatedly) killing the remaining three people alive.
And then it starts getting ROUGH!
We are in complete agreement and no, I do not want you to feel sorry you are getting benefits out of a system you paid into, you also appeared to have understood my analogy. Take care and good speaking.
Ok buddy. Keep your money in the housing market. Hire lots of employees now if you are a business owner. Just keep that positive attitude up and ignore the risks! Just please don’t come and apply for a financial position with my company. We tend to acknowledge fiscal statements/indicators and also tend to acknowledge that we are told a nuclear 911 is a WHEN and not IF.
Really? Ever heard of PMI? You know, that insurance these people are forced to pay on behalf of the lender.
Especially about the death rays.
I mean, really, there's just no point. Let's us all commit suicide now, because IT'S GONNA BE AWFUL AND LIFE SUCKS AND EVERYTHINGS GONNA CRASH AND BURN AND
Then you went on to talk about a recession starting in 2008 and lasting 7 quarters, you know, like the economy of the late 1970's to 1981?
RECESSIONS SINCE 1900 Dates # MONTHS Sept. 1902-Aug. 1904 23 May 1907-June 1908 13 Jan 1910-Jan 1912 24 Jan. 1913-Dec. 1914 23 Aug. 1918-March 1919 7 Jan. 1920-July 1921 18 May 1923-July 1924 14 Oct 1926-Nov. 1927 13 Aug. 1929-March 1933 43 May 1937-June 1938 13 Feb. 1945-Oct. 1945 8 Nov. 1948-Oct. 1949 11 July 1953-May 1954 10 Aug. 1957-April 1958 8 April 1960-Feb. 1961 10 Dec. 1969-Nov. 1970 11 Nov. 1973-March 1975 16 Jan. 1980-July 1980 6 July 1981-Nov. 1982 6 July 1990-March 1991 8 March 2001-Nov. 2001 8Oh my. There was no recession in the late 1970's. And there were only 4 quarters of a recession in the 1980-1982 time frame.
Gee, for such financial geniuses like your company houses, y'think you could've gotten those little facts right.
17 Rate hikes in a row isn’t enough for you? If we drop it down 3-4 its still equiv of 12 rate hikes in just 2 years which is a strong run up by any stretch. Besides, you can probably lock in interest rates for 2 years and by that time rates will probably be climbing again.
Sure, there were multiple rate hikes over a period of years BUT that was just climbing back to where they had been previously.
In 2000 I was getting 7% interest on my CD’s from a local bank. By 2003, rates had dropped down to less than 4% on a 60 month term. Now they are barely past 5.25 in a lot of places so I don’t consider all the rate hikes any big deal. At one point, my elderly mother was only getting 2.5% on her CDs because she couldn’t put them in for long terms. When you’re 86 you don’t tie your money up for 5 years, you know.
Well, that’s OK. I know all us oldsters are just supposed to die and get out of the way, right?
You might be surprised at the number of people who do think the whole system should be abolished right now. Or maybe you wouldn’t.
You take care also.
Even the elderly should have a diversified portfolio. Rates go up and rates go down. Stocks go up & stocks go down. You choose to take a lower average rate of return for basically guaranteed returns. To me being able to see a guaranteed rate of return on a CD at 7%+ with basically no risk is laughable. The ‘oldsters’ as you want to call yourself already get the most of out tax dollars from any gruop. I’m paying for your SS and I have zero chance in hell at my age (26) of ever seeing any money I’m putting in. My aunts, uncles & grand parents over 65 have 40%-50% in stocks still and as such have continued to be able to live well in their adult life. The few who went entirely into CDs/Money markets are the ones struggling. Interest rates aren’t set for the ‘oldfolks’ regardless of whether you want them to be. They are set to help the overall economy and keep inflation down. I expect interest rates to drop to 4.5% and then go back to 6% within a couple years.
I’m not struggling. I’ve been very prudent and saved over the years. As for you paying for my SS, let’s just say that I prefer to think my own son is paying for mine and when I die, he will inherit what I’ve so carefully saved so he won’t really be “out” anything.
I’ve never played the stock market. It’s a fools game.
I definately am of the same mindset. I feel our generation will reclaim our country and fix the damage the 1960’s ‘feel good do it’ politicians have created but unfortunately, I believe it will be our enemies that have to jam a poker in our *ss to finally wake up and that is such a shame.
I’m not optimistic. This country is so fractured socially I don’t know what it will take to bring it together. Perhaps it can’t be brought together no matter what. Even the next attack may not do it. Everybody is too busy playing “gotcha”.
Geee I am off by a quarter. Didn’t feel a need to chart it out, I was alive during this period. You have an emotional maturity issue, stating death rays and aliens. These I am not afraid of because surely a more advanced culture would have very little if nothing to do with this planet.
People like you were surely part of the Clinton era mindset that did not believe we had credible threats from Islam. They can attack us with a dirty bombs RIGHT NOW if they choose. The fact is, they fear our retalition under Bush but they surely do not fear the Clinton’s retaliation if she is elected. There was practically no retaliation from Bill Clinton for the first Trade Tower bombing, the USS Cole, the Kenya embassy bombings and on and on. So perhaps I guess I have a fear of whom will be elected POTUS because our adversaries view weak US leadership as a chance to exploit and attack. Throughout history this has always been the case on a global scale. Our country is not infallible, it requires constant dilligence and paying attention. I have not built a nuclear bunker but I surely will pay attention to geopolitics as a risk factor for business.
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