If you think of your house as a place you live and not as an investment there is no “crisis.”
The “crisis” resulted from people buying more house than they could afford and then hoping to flip it — and left holding the bag when the flip would result in a loss.
Unemployment is still around 10% so that means employment is around 90% so the “unemployed through no fault of their own” meme is generally inaccurate and, more importantly, innaplicable.
There was a tragic incident in Durham, North Carolina yesterday. A father snapped and killed his four year old son and attempted to kill his other two children who managed to escape. He then attempted suicide. As it turns out, the father fell apart after several years of financial problems related to their 3500 square foot home in a plantation community. The mixed race couple by all appearances were very devoted, friendly, and participated in community activities. The father was an unemployed EMT and the mother sold Avon products. He was apparently distraught after finally realizing he was going to lose the home. They did not belong in that house. I think part of the problem is HGTV which promotes luxurious offerings like granite countertops and stainless appliances and a bathroom for every bedroom. These young people need to be taught about starter homes or rentals. Thank you Barney Frank for making banks give loans to people who cant afford them!
No crisis here. I bought my home about 20 years ago with a 15 year mortgage, which I paid off in about 11 years. I know what I paid for it but have no idea what its market value is today nor do I care, it's my home, not an investment..
My home is owned by my wife, me and the tax assessor.
And as for this, from the article:
secure shelter for the children, along with access to a good free education.
What a ridiculous statement, about 90% of my real estate taxes pay for that "free" education.
That is so true. I couldn’t believe when I heard in 1967my neighbor talk about selling the house that they had just bought a couple of weeks before. The house was built 6 month after ours. As a matter of fact, when we moved into ours there was just an empty lot with some trees on it.
Right. I hear you. Unemployment is our fault. Gee thanks.
I can’t hire myself, can I? Where on earth do you work that you can make such statements?
Generally true, with one caveat:
If you DO become unemployed, and are offered a job outside of commuting distance to your home, and cannot sell it because you're too far upside down, it is a detriment to your ability to take that opportunity. Or say the neighborhood ghettofies (very common thanks to liberalism) and you can't escape to a safer place. That's just a couple examples but there are situations where a person thinking only of a place to live could still have problems due to this.