Dear folks who wish you owned your own home

[Larry Gude]

What are you talking about? I own the place I am currently renting!

I'm just going to be a nice guy and donate it back to them when I don't need it anymore

My bad; margin of error 3%+/-

 

[Tilted]

In addition to that, I just read a piece somewhere that did a survey suggesting that the majority of renters still do not own their home. Margin of error was, if I recall, about 0%.

You can't trust surveys. I'd prefer to see a few extensive, unbiased studies on the matter before I express agreement with the notion.

 

[TurboK9]

Prices are low and you're STUPID if you don't buy now. Why the hell would you wait until the market picks up and homes cost more?

You wouldn't. Unless you're stupid.

There's a 5 BR, 3 BA right up the street from me that is a creampuff - great condition, hardwood floors, brick fireplace, family room, nice lot, fabulous neighborhood (if I do say so myself) for only $299,900. Mortgage payment of $1600 a month.

There's another one in Excuse the Eff Out of Me Society Hill in Ltown for $229,900, 3 BR, 2BA - $1200 a mo.

A big fat ol' house, 4 and 3, in Great Mills, for $1350 a mo.

And you'll OWN it!

You are TOTALLY not going to get that kind of deal a year from now.

Buy low. Sell high. Duh.

Prices are low so NOW is the time to buy.

If you have decent credit and can actually afford to buy a home, NOW IS THE TIME!

Don't be stupid and let this buyer's market opportunity pass you by.

So STOP that renting!!! Renting is for losers! The American dream is to OWN a home, not friggin rent one.

And NOW is the time.

So you were chugging away away Florida, about 2 years ago, had $30 K in the bank, married cuple bringing down well over 6 figures together, when WHAM suddenly you are both laid off. No warning. 4 months you both search for work, taking home $550 a week in unemployment between the two of you. Savings are slowly drying up. Wow a job offer in MN that is offering the larger income partner a little more than they were making in FL. Pack everything up, spend 3K more in savings for the move, find a place to move the family into... Savings are a little over half gone... work for 2 months and the new employer crashes too. Damned economy! 4 more months go by, savings are gone now, all sorts of sacrifices being made to pay bills that were established on a six figure combined income, now it's the equivalent of $20K.

Hey is that the repo guy? Ooops there goes the new truck you bought before the first layoff...

Month later you find work again. Whooopy! 3 months later bloop 'nuther layoff. WTF.

Ready to just say F it and resign yourself to living on gas station wages, a job offer in MD. Beg, borrow, everything but steal to get out there. Wow. That was close... almost a year, and no layoff... for you, but half the company was. You know you are lucky to be pulling 2/3 time and salary. So you are thankful just for the job.

Oh nope, it all just happened because you're stupid! I had forgotten! Must have bad credit because you made an idiotic decision on a home purchase! Yeah, that's it!!!

Ya know what? Me and a few million other Americans would like to say

I'm just saying! Not all of us in this position are here because of bad decisions. Hell I was renting when the s**t hit the fan, too!

 

[jetmonkey]

So you were chugging away away Florida, about 2 years ago, had $30 K in the bank, married cuple bringing down well over 6 figures together, when WHAM suddenly you are both laid off. No warning. 4 months you both search for work, taking home $550 a week in unemployment between the two of you. Savings are slowly drying up. Wow a job offer in MN that is offering the larger income partner a little more than they were making in FL. Pack everything up, spend 3K more in savings for the move, find a place to move the family into... Savings are a little over half gone... work for 2 months and the new employer crashes too. Damned economy! 4 more months go by, savings are gone now, all sorts of sacrifices being made to pay bills that were established on a six figure combined income, now it's the equivalent of $20K.

Hey is that the repo guy? Ooops there goes the new truck you bought before the first layoff...

Month later you find work again. Whooopy! 3 months later bloop 'nuther layoff. WTF.

Ready to just say F it and resign yourself to living on gas station wages, a job offer in MD. Beg, borrow, everything but steal to get out there. Wow. That was close... almost a year, and no layoff... for you, but half the company was. You know you are lucky to be pulling 2/3 time and salary. So you are thankful just for the job.

Oh nope, it all just happened because you're stupid! I had forgotten! Must have bad credit because you made an idiotic decision on a home purchase! Yeah, that's it!!!

Ya know what? Me and a few million other Americans would like to say

I'm just saying! Not all of us in this position are here because of bad decisions. Hell I was renting when the s**t hit the fan, too!

Whut industry are you in

 

[TurboK9]

Whut industry are you in

Better question now would be which one am I not in, haha!

Seriously though... CAD drafting and design, 3d (solidworks, Catia, Inventor, etc). Down in FL I was working w/ the screen room and pool enclosure companies doing design work for several. When the housing market tanked there, so did many of those companies. Eventually found a position w/ Boston Scientific in MN, that went well for a couple months, tempt to hire, but just before I was to be hired on BSCI instituted a hiring freeze. Ooopsy, they couldn't even renew contracts. Then a contract position with GEA Niro designing industrial food proceess equipment including ethanol process components. That tanked.

Moved to MD and to design and prototyping for refridgerated commercial equipment, salad bars, dairy and deli cases, that sort of thing. Wound up taking over IT too for them, that's the only reason I get enough time in to make it worth while. Company has been struggling since November.

Ironic thing is within weeks of moving here BSCI released the freeze and offered me a permanent position, but I was completely tapped from the last move. Hehe! Eh.

It's been a hell of a couple years, but we're comfy w/ a roof, food, transportation, so you be thankful for it and drive on .

 

[somdrenter]

1.5 million homes in foreclosure in '09

Homeowners fell behind on mortgage payments in record numbers during the first six months of 2009. The future doesn't look much better.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- The foreclosure plague is not going away -- it's only getting worse.

A record 1.53 million properties were in the foreclosure process -- default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions -- during the first six months of 2009. That was 9% more than the previous six months and 15% more than the same period of 2008, according to a report released Thursday by RealtyTrac.

There were a total of 1.91 million filings resulting in 1 out of every 84 U.S. properties receiving at least one filing in the first half of the year. Banks repossessed 386,800 properties

First half foreclosures break records - Jul. 16, 2009

 

[jetmonkey]

So what happens to the US financial system and life as we know it now that people have realized there is no penalty for walking away from their debt?

 

[somdrenter]

So what happens to the US financial system and life as we know it now that people have realized there is no penalty for walking away from their debt?

Here's my situation. My ex and I have a home in both our names. When we separated last year we agreed that he could keep the house. He was supposed to refinance and have it in his name only. Obviously, he didn't do it. Bacause of his addictions, he no longer has a job and as a result can't make the mortgage payments. So I am going to get my credit all shot to hell because of him.

I am going thru this too (foreclosure possibly) and I have researched a lot of this. I have been trying to short sell my home since the end of May after being turned down for a loan modification because Wells "investors did not feel it was in their best interest". (Wells Fargo received $25 billion in TARP money!).

Unfortunately, I have about 2 1/2 weeks left to accomplish this or I will be foreclosed on. All advice given so far is good. Just remember to not go down without a fight.

Here is another question.

I have some friends that might end up getting their house foreclosed. The house is solely in his name. would it effect his wife's credit and would she be able to buy a smaller cheeper house solely in her name once they are out from under the other one?

:shrug:

 

[Crewdawg141]

:shrug:

After looking at the majority of this entire thread, the better question is can a person practice Living WITH-IN Their Means? To own a home or property is a good thing if you can afford all of the expenses that are involved in ownership. If your paychecks are not enough to fully afford the lifestyle that you are comfortable with and a mortgage along with all of the bills a home brings then No - DO NOT BUY.

Do not be pressured by any family, friends, or the Realtor commercials that say NOW, Is The Time To Buy. If you can not financially swing it do not risk it. I work as a Realtor and I enjoy the business, but I am not afraid to tell a client - NO, Now is not your time. The lenders are making things harder for everyone, good credit and bad credit alike. Save as much as you can to afford the 10-20% down payment, drive your old car for a little longer than planned, don't go on lavish vacations and save another 5-10% beyond the down payment for any new emergency bill like the furnace dying on a cold winter day.

 

[smilin]

After looking at the majority of this entire thread, the better question is can a person practice Living WITH-IN Their Means? To own a home or property is a good thing if you can afford all of the expenses that are involved in ownership. If your paychecks are not enough to fully afford the lifestyle that you are comfortable with and a mortgage along with all of the bills a home brings then No - DO NOT BUY.

Do not be pressured by any family, friends, or the Realtor commercials that say NOW, Is The Time To Buy. If you can not financially swing it do not risk it. I work as a Realtor and I enjoy the business, but I am not afraid to tell a client - NO, Now is not your time. The lenders are making things harder for everyone, good credit and bad credit alike. Save as much as you can to afford the 10-20% down payment, drive your old car for a little longer than planned, don't go on lavish vacations and save another 5-10% beyond the down payment for any new emergency bill like the furnace dying on a cold winter day.

Thank you

 

[somdrenter]

Half of mortgage borrowers will be 'underwater'

An estimated 25 million borrowers will owe more than their house is worth by 2011.

NEW YORK (CNNMoney.com) -- Nearly half the nation's mortgage borrowers will soon owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth, according to a new report.

A Deutsche Bank analysis of the battered housing and mortgage markets estimated that 25 million borrowers, representing 48% of all Americans with mortgage loans, will plunge underwater before home prices are expected to stabilize in the beginning of 2011.

"If our home-price forecast is correct, roughly one in two mortgage borrowers and one in three homeowners will owe more than their home is worth," said Karen Weaver, one of the researchers who authored the report. "That's a dramatic shift from the past several decades when housing was the foundation of middle class wealth."

Underwater world - Aug. 6, 2009

 

[jetmonkey]

So what. Just stop paying your mortgage :shrug:

 

[somdrenter]

So what. Just stop paying your mortgage :shrug:

I’m not advocating it, but some would say……

People say, "I bought my house for $500,000, it's worth $250,000, there are 10 available for sale in my neighborhood. It makes no economic sense to spend the rest of my life trying to pay off a $500,000 debt when there's no reasonable likelihood to expect this house to go back up to $500,000."

This might sound extreme, but we have borrowers who bought a $500,000 home in California at the peak of the market on $50,000 of income. So for them to devote their gross income for the next 10 years solely to paying off [their] mortgage doesn't make any sense.

Interview with Deutsche Bank about 'underwater' mortgages - Aug. 12, 2009

All in all, a pretty good article. A few years too late (not that it would have helped).

 

[Beta84]

What part of your scenario has anything to do with the Current housing market? The scenario you describe can happen to anyone living outside of their means. That is the real story of the Housing Market.

How many people bought into homes they couldnt afford and threw caution to the wind just to keep with the Joneses?

Reading comprehension is your friend.

The story was about someone who was living within their means who lost their job and ran out of money. The housing market started with some people living outside of their means (the subprime mortgages, basically), but the stuff that's been happening more recently is primarily due to the job market taking a turn for the worst, which has put people out of jobs that had been living within their means.

Everyone thinking about buying a home is skeptical right now because they can't be 100% confident (in most cases) that they'll have a job a month or two. Do you buy a home, lose your job, and get foreclosed once the savings dry up? Or do you continue renting, making it easy to downsize should something bad happen? The way things are going, it's tough to say that buying a home is the right decision. Just ask a bunch of the people who were foreclosed on recently.

 

[somdrenter]

Home foreclosures set another record in July

NEW YORK (Reuters) - U.S. home loans failed at a record pace in July despite ongoing federal and state programs to avoid foreclosures, which have severely strained housing and the economy.

Foreclosure activity jumped 7 percent in July from June and 32 percent from a year earlier as one in every 355 households with a loan got a foreclosure filing, RealtyTrac said on Thursday.

Filings -- including notices of default, auction and bank repossession -- have escalated with unemployment.

Home foreclosures set another record in July | Special Coverage | Reuters

 

[TurboK9]

What part of your scenario has anything to do with the Current housing market? The scenario you describe can happen to anyone living outside of their means. That is the real story of the Housing Market.

How many people bought into homes they couldnt afford and threw caution to the wind just to keep with the Joneses?

The point was that you didn't have to be living beyond your means to get into trouble, and just because you got into trouble did not mean you were 'competing with the Joneses'. Some people simply got f'ed by job losses in the current economic climate.

What does it have to do with the housing market?

Actually, everything. First the market began to crash down in FL when the market topped out for the investors and they began to run out of buyers. Sales dried up and thousands of brand new homes were sitting un sold and developers started to close their doors, costing thousands of construction workers their jobs.

People who bought at the early stages of the bubble on sub prime loans began to find out exactly what adjustable rate means, and suddenly their credit was trashed. Banks started to loose money, peoples credit became damaged, this means less consumers as we are a credit based economy...

The entire economic debacle we are now facing is the result of extending too much credit too fast and too freely. Houses are mostly purchased on credit. Nobody buys, nobody builds, many loose jobs, less consumers, it chain reacts and ripples across our checkbooks and those of our employers.

It all ties together.

 

[somdrenter]

Bank of America:

• Foreclosure sales have been abnormally low since we learned of the pending implementation of the administration’s Making Home Affordable program. From that point, we delayed the initiation of foreclosure proceedings and sales for customers that may eligible for a loan modification under MHA. As a result of this policy, our foreclosure sales in recent months have been as little as half the normal pace we experienced before.

• Until a foreclosure is completed, Bank of America continues to exhaust every possible option to qualify customers for modification or other solutions.

• Now that Making Home Affordable programs are operational, we do project an increase in foreclosures as we exhaust every available option to qualify customers for modifications and other solutions.

• While we have very strong loan modification programs now available, unfortunately, these foreclosure projections reflect the increasing number of customers who will not qualify for loan modification because they have suffered major life events servicers can’t solve...primarily unemployment and underemployment.

• We do not hold foreclosed properties off the market. The vast majority of mortgages serviced by Bank of America are owned by third-party investors. We have an obligation to them to prepare foreclosed properties for market and sell them as efficiently as possible.

What Banks Are Really Doing With Foreclosures - Realty Check with Diana Olick - CNBC.com

 

[smilin]

Believe a bank? Sure why not, Santa's right around the corner too.
Wonder of anyone has done a study on whether or not people who have stopped paying their loans are able to stay in their homes longer now than historicaly.
It IS cheaper to let people stay in their homes than letting it sit abandoned until the loan holder gets around to fixing it and putting it on the market.

 

[Chasey_Lane]

Wonder of anyone has done a study on whether or not people who have stopped paying their loans are able to stay in their homes longer now than historicaly.

I know someone who has been in foreclosure since January. They are still in their home. Know someone else who has been in foreclosure since the summer of last year. Still in the house.

 

[smilin]

I know someone who has been in foreclosure since January. They are still in their home. Know someone else who has been in foreclosure since the summer of last year. Still in the house.

I have never seen as many people in homes slated for foreclosure. I'm not talking of short sales, but who outright haven't made a payment for months.
I personaly believe the banks have such a backlog that someone came up with the idea to let the owners stay until the banks could turn them over quickly.
As a side benefit, having someone living there will at the very least keep the house in better shape than sitting vacant.