03/28/11
...."What is it about a Man who chases after that which he can never hope to catch, whilst fleeing from that from which he can never hope to escape"...C.B.
Although I have become rather isolative of late, I still manage to get glimpses of the world, even though it may be as looking through a telescope from the wrong end.
What little I do know alarms, and frightens me, stacking hopeless chaos upon chaos. How long can this charade continue ?
After Blake:
Every night and every morn, some to misery
are born.
Every morn and every night, some are born to
sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight; some are born
to endless night.
It truly hurts my heart that every day, families--no longer able to pay outlandish mortgage payments--are putting the house keys under the front mat, and are simply walking away from their homes, leaving all hopes of a comfortable life behind them, to have the now empty homes vandalized, and the remains left to be foreclosed on by the their banks ( which are already more than top-heavy with unsellable foreclosures ), adding incalculable monies to the national debt.
These families are the 'new nomads', with no where to go, renting when they can, or, living with relatives when they can't.
There is no use in apportioning blame; in truth, everyone is to blame: couples that--two or so years ago--saw the real estate market soaring to unbelievable and unsustainable heights; and sought to buy homes, and 'flip' them, hoping to make sums of money; frankly, they should have known--at least by historic example--that reckless spirals cannot long continue; eventually, the 'bubble' breaks, and those spirals plummet to become troughs, until, the market eventually rights itself.
The banks and mortgage lenders made it easy for those couples to buy properties quite beyond their means, with easy interest rates, and little, or nothing required as a down payment.
Even couples who intended to keep their homes, bought homes that were priced beyond their means; they wanted the 'American Dream', but they wanted more than they could possibly hope to pay for.
Suddenly, a fifty-thousand dollar house was not enough ( even if $50,000.00 homes were advertised for sale).
They wanted it now, thereby skipping the example of their mothers and fathers, their grandparents, even, whose willingness to wait, and to 'settle' for more modest accommodations, required savings, first, and a commitment to stay the course for standard thirty-year mortgages, until, at last, the home of their dreams was eventually had, debt free.
Frankly, everybody was greedy.
Two years ago--or so--an acquaintance of mine, decided he had to have a home for himself, his girlfriend, and their two-year-old daughter.
And though the real estate market was in a frenzy, and natural caution should have urged him to wait, he purchased a modest two bedroom, one bath, home with garage, that was built some twenty-five years before--probably at a cost of no more than $32,000.00--for the incredible sum of $102,000.00.
His thirty year mortgage payments cost him about $1,000.00 a month.
He cannot possibly hope to sell it anywhere near that price, and so, he is trapped.
When he says the $1,000.00 payments each month are literally,"...breaking his back", I can readily understand why; he's hoping to refinance the loan with his bank, who--frankly--are not interested in doing so. Why ? Because he intends to live there, his bank is making an obscene amount of profit, which they use to help offset their other losses through foreclosure.
The house is rather plain, in fair condition ( rare for its age ), and quite adequate to provide shelter for he and his family.
But for $102,000.00 ?
As the real estate market further declines, he helplessly watches every penny of 'sweat equity', and costs of maintenance and improvements vaporise before his very eyes.
And, what if--in three to five years--the house needs a new roof ?
He is now piling debt upon debt to just remain in place.
And this is not an isolated phenomenon.
He was both incautious and ill-timed. A more politic course of action would, perhaps, have been to rent for two or three years, whilst saving money for a more substantial down payment.
With $20,000.00 to $30,000.00 saved up, he probablyy could have taken advantage of the rogue 'buyer's market' that exists today, and maybe then, have secured an $100,000.00 home at less interest, and less monthly payments.
Part Two to follow.
...."What is it about a Man who chases after that which he can never hope to catch, whilst fleeing from that from which he can never hope to escape"...C.B.
Although I have become rather isolative of late, I still manage to get glimpses of the world, even though it may be as looking through a telescope from the wrong end.
What little I do know alarms, and frightens me, stacking hopeless chaos upon chaos. How long can this charade continue ?
After Blake:
Every night and every morn, some to misery
are born.
Every morn and every night, some are born to
sweet delight.
Some are born to sweet delight; some are born
to endless night.
It truly hurts my heart that every day, families--no longer able to pay outlandish mortgage payments--are putting the house keys under the front mat, and are simply walking away from their homes, leaving all hopes of a comfortable life behind them, to have the now empty homes vandalized, and the remains left to be foreclosed on by the their banks ( which are already more than top-heavy with unsellable foreclosures ), adding incalculable monies to the national debt.
These families are the 'new nomads', with no where to go, renting when they can, or, living with relatives when they can't.
There is no use in apportioning blame; in truth, everyone is to blame: couples that--two or so years ago--saw the real estate market soaring to unbelievable and unsustainable heights; and sought to buy homes, and 'flip' them, hoping to make sums of money; frankly, they should have known--at least by historic example--that reckless spirals cannot long continue; eventually, the 'bubble' breaks, and those spirals plummet to become troughs, until, the market eventually rights itself.
The banks and mortgage lenders made it easy for those couples to buy properties quite beyond their means, with easy interest rates, and little, or nothing required as a down payment.
Even couples who intended to keep their homes, bought homes that were priced beyond their means; they wanted the 'American Dream', but they wanted more than they could possibly hope to pay for.
Suddenly, a fifty-thousand dollar house was not enough ( even if $50,000.00 homes were advertised for sale).
They wanted it now, thereby skipping the example of their mothers and fathers, their grandparents, even, whose willingness to wait, and to 'settle' for more modest accommodations, required savings, first, and a commitment to stay the course for standard thirty-year mortgages, until, at last, the home of their dreams was eventually had, debt free.
Frankly, everybody was greedy.
Two years ago--or so--an acquaintance of mine, decided he had to have a home for himself, his girlfriend, and their two-year-old daughter.
And though the real estate market was in a frenzy, and natural caution should have urged him to wait, he purchased a modest two bedroom, one bath, home with garage, that was built some twenty-five years before--probably at a cost of no more than $32,000.00--for the incredible sum of $102,000.00.
His thirty year mortgage payments cost him about $1,000.00 a month.
He cannot possibly hope to sell it anywhere near that price, and so, he is trapped.
When he says the $1,000.00 payments each month are literally,"...breaking his back", I can readily understand why; he's hoping to refinance the loan with his bank, who--frankly--are not interested in doing so. Why ? Because he intends to live there, his bank is making an obscene amount of profit, which they use to help offset their other losses through foreclosure.
The house is rather plain, in fair condition ( rare for its age ), and quite adequate to provide shelter for he and his family.
But for $102,000.00 ?
As the real estate market further declines, he helplessly watches every penny of 'sweat equity', and costs of maintenance and improvements vaporise before his very eyes.
And, what if--in three to five years--the house needs a new roof ?
He is now piling debt upon debt to just remain in place.
And this is not an isolated phenomenon.
He was both incautious and ill-timed. A more politic course of action would, perhaps, have been to rent for two or three years, whilst saving money for a more substantial down payment.
With $20,000.00 to $30,000.00 saved up, he probablyy could have taken advantage of the rogue 'buyer's market' that exists today, and maybe then, have secured an $100,000.00 home at less interest, and less monthly payments.
Part Two to follow.
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