Posted on 09/26/2010 7:41:50 AM PDT by Oldeconomybuyer
Millions of middle-income home- owners are struggling to pay down bloated, underwater mortgages while wealthier Americans are simply mailing in the keys to the mansion and calling it a day.
It's time for average Americans to start seeing their mortgage papers for what they are: records of financial transactions, not moral documents.
In a free-market society, an individual homeowner is not responsible for the strength of the nation's housing market. If anything, walkers may stimulate the economy, by spending a portion of the money they were sending to the banks each month.
Take a look at your finances and decide for yourself whether homeownership makes sense. A better decision for the future of your family may be to rent, pay off your credit cards, and put the savings in a college fund for your children or grandchildren.
Walk away from your house if it will be better for you to rent. And remember, walking away now doesn't mean that homeownership may not work for you later.
(Excerpt) Read more at mercurynews.com ...
I agree...
Actually, I think the point she is making is that the wealthy are the one mose often doing this, and that she thinks the middle class should be doing it more.
OMG, you don’t understand that the Stupid Investor owes the bank $300k. The bank should be pursuing a deficiency judgment. If the Stupid Investor is insolvent, that would be a waste of money but if he is not, then it should be pursued.
Your first post to me was snarky and it in fact was condescending, something to the effect of “did you notice that foreclosures are at an all time high”. My response was similar, then you went postal. I am not arrogant, and only condescending to those who are not too bright, but want to argue their unsupported assertions anyway.
The banks set the interest rates for the loan and use the value of the home as collateral, which is why it is appraised. And as you know, on a thirty year loan most of your initial payments are interest rather than principle and you pay much more over the length of the loan in interest than the actual amount of the loan.
You are responsible for what you signed and so is the bank. You know the conditions of the loan and the penalties should you fail to meet those conditions. The bank can take possession of the house if you don't pay your mortgage payments.
LOL. Now you are changing your story. Go back under your rock. I don’t have time for dim bulbs.
Here’s a hint: the ideal tenant is one who always pays 15 days late, including the late fee, and renews his or her lease year after year, including an increase, because they feel they are beating the system. I’ve had several of them, and as a landlord, you gotta’ love em.
One of many counter-intuitive things the books don’t tell you.
Want another?
Check the tenant’s reference with the landlord *previous* to the current landlord.
And guess which one didn't live up to the agreement that he signed?!
The idiot took the gamble with someone elses money that he borrowed and promised to pay back. Just because he lost doesn't mean that he still doesn't owe the money to the bank.
If he walks away then he is a crook in my opinion.
He still owes the money and what he has left isn't worth the balance of the mortgage. His decision was to borrow money and gamble with it. He lost.
“Are you going to stiff your friend?”
Totally different... If I hadn’t paid my friend yet, and he charged me interest on the balance to cover his risk of the deal falling through, then I would return the gold to him and cancel the deal. On the other hand if I had given him 10% down, I would expect him to keep the 10%. What we are talking about is a contract - and a contract is only valid if fair to both parties.I’m paying him to assume a risk (with the interest payment). I’m not being paid to take a risk.
If they aren't breaking the law, they aren't a cheat. Cheating means breaking the rules. The rules are called laws. No law-breaking, no cheating.
Deadbeat? If someone is acting in their own best interests, within the law, pragmatically and rationally, I don't call that a deadbeat. I call it sensible.
All that said, I just refi-ed my mortgage from a 20yr at 6% to a 10 year at 4%. Haven't touched the equity, which is over 80K. But if my back was up against the wall, lame name-calling wouldn't stop me from acting in my own best interests. Banks don't loan money out of the kindness of their hearts. It's business.
Bottom line: Don't be a sucker.
Nope, not "stupid," just morally diseased filth.
You should be glad your insurance company isn't allowed to see contracts the way you do. You'd be F*ed in at least one orifice by now.
The idiot took the gamble with someone elses money that he borrowed and promised to pay back. Just because he lost doesn't mean that he still doesn't owe the money to the bank.
You jest I am sure. If he walks away, then he doesn't owe any money to the bank. The bank keeps the house, which was the collateral for the loan. The terms and conditions in the loan agreement obtain. It is pretty simple. The same holds true if someone doesn't pay his car loan. The car is repossessed. The former owner is not expected to pay the remainder of the loan and lose the car to boot.
I thought you said you purchased property before. Take a look at the mortage agreement you signed.
And what do you do with the millions of people who have had to foreclose on their houses? Put them into debtor prison?
If he walks away then he is a crook in my opinion.
You are entitled to your opinion, just not your own facts.
Why would you pay for credit cards if you won’t pay your mortgage?
“You should be glad your insurance company isn’t allowed to see contracts the way you do.”
They are, they just have to file for bankruptcy - Just like the individual.
You have to remember who she writes for - and that her 'groupthink bunch' hates the middle class. Her advice is designed to inflict class envy - it's not designed to help anyone...
She's probably a radical leftists who's never owned a home and hates the middle class. Destroying the banking system for someone like her, would be a turn-on - - the politics of resentment... usually against "mommy and daddy" who put her through college...
I do agree with you and I do know of a situation where things fell apart beyond the individual's control and they lost their house.
But then I think about what my husband and I did. We researched the area for years before we even decided to move here and buy property. We were well aware that the market was falling. Although we planned on staying here long-term, we set ourselves up in case we had to move. We bought *much* less house than we were qualified for. We got a 15 year fixed rather than a 30 year or an ARM. We've made extra payments. We paid off our other outstanding debt just in case things went wrong.
Now we're in a situation where we've just found out that we *will* be moving in less than two years. As things stand, we'll be able to sell the house for much less than we bought it for - if we have to. By having no other debt, we'll be able to continue to pay the mortgage for years while living in apartments if the house fails to sell.
For some reason, people don't *think* about getting a mortgage anymore. They don't seriously weigh the issues that could come up. They don't ask themselves, "What if we have to move and the house doesn't sell??" "What if I loose my job?" "What if an emergency comes up and I need extra cash?" No. The average person believes that things will always continue as they are today.
When I look at the sacrifices my family has made to behave with financial maturity, it's harder for me to feel sympathetic. I don't blame the "predatory lenders". I blame the suckers who couldn't take an hour to research the loan implications on their own. I blame the government that made it inviting for the banks to take risks on people who obviously couldn't afford it. I blame the people who bought the most expensive house that the bank would allow, leaving themselves house-poor with no wiggle room.
Yes, crap happens and sometimes it really is nobody's fault. But most people who are in foreclosure could've avoided it at many points along the way. There is a reason foreclosures are at a record level. Banks and individuals have never behaved this way en masse before.
LOL...thanks for not answering any of my questions or pointing out any actual logical flaws. LET THEM EAT CAKE! People like you must get along with people like Obama VERY well.
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