What is Digg?224 Comments
- willsani, on 02/03/2009, -1/+51Many more to come!
- SheilaNoya, on 02/03/2009, -8/+57That's odd... earlier last year Bush was bragging about the "ownership society" he created.
Now it sounds more like a society of bankruptcies, foreclosures and shattered dreams.
So when was the last time we saw massive foreclosures and bank failures? Oh yeah, it was when Bush's father was in office! - badfish0116, on 02/03/2009, -6/+51Well obviously the only plan of action to take is to give the biggest banks in the world hundreds of billions of dollars! Hurray for CHANGE!!
- Dumbledorito, on 02/03/2009, -0/+41No problem. We just bundle the houses into... um... "Uninhabited Financial Interest Acquisitions." And then... we offer them as investment "products!" Yeah, that's it! I mean, nobody needs to KNOW what they're investing in; that's the American Way, right?
So, who wants in on these UFIAs? - Rivfader, on 02/03/2009, -3/+41People are losing their jobs or getting their hours cut and not being able to pay for their mortagages. We have 3 adults in my household all 3 of us pitch in we are hanging by a thread. My mother lost her job due to employee cuts and had to find a new one she was out for 5 months last year of work, now has a job but gets paid half as much as she used to. My Dad works for Fed Ex and they put him down to part time. I am an IT worker and I am now part time too because our business slow right now. Things are getting a little better but we were very close to losing our house at one point. Lucky for craigslist I was able to sell a bunch of crap in the garage.
Two years ago I was able to have enough money around to put in savings now I don;'t have anything, all my paychecks are used just to get by. Same with my girlfriend, we would love to move out on our own but her family is having it rough too and we both couldn't afford it right now. - Habemus, on 02/03/2009, -2/+39When a $28,000 a year gardener is offered a loan on a $600,000 home -- that's how it happened. Multiply that over the country, rinse, lather, and repeat.
- heyitsguay, on 02/03/2009, -0/+34Looking at this situation objectively, it is probably a good thing in the long term. Our economy was clearly growing unsustainably backed by money that wasn't there and this market contraction should eventually correct it. That isn't to say that it's not a horrible situation for the people bearing the brunt of it, and i'm sure looking at it in the abstract is little relief, but it should calm everyone who seems to think the sky is falling.
- inactive, on 02/03/2009, -1/+34Bush was talking about his dream of an "OWN-er-ship" society. Meaning, "you're on your OWN."
- trollick, on 02/03/2009, -1/+34Hopefully, if this continues, housing prices sooner or later will return to some reasonably affordable levels. Because right now still only ten richest kings of Europe can afford to buy a house where I live.
- ousthouse, on 02/03/2009, -1/+32Houses are getting cheaper. This is a good thing. If the government doesn't mess around with the market, the people who had homes foreclosed on will eventually be able to find cheaper homes which will cost closer to what they should cost.
- abrasion, on 02/03/2009, -0/+26Congratulations America, you can comfortably house ALL OF AUSTRALIA with your spare houses - wow.
- Haoie, on 02/03/2009, -2/+2619 million.
It boggles the mind how this happened. - Akairenn, on 02/03/2009, -0/+23It seems like half the town I live in is up for sale with a great number of foreclosed homes thrown into that mix.
I'm thus saving up money so I can buy half the city, a monocle and a tophat, and live my dream of being a 1920's villain. - inactive, on 02/03/2009, -1/+22Then you have the gardener, who is only making $28,000, but thinks he can handle those kind of payments. Everyone forgets that part of the problem.
Not saying that the people pushing the loans weren't more at fault, just pointing out that a lot of people took on more debt than they could handle, and they really should have been smarter than that. - minoss, on 02/03/2009, -0/+20Great for those looking to buy a house. About time these over inflated prices crashed.
- dougs55, on 02/03/2009, -0/+19Wouldn't work, the commuting distance would be too great. :P
- m3arvk, on 02/04/2009, -0/+18In the wealthiest country in the world - where homelessness and unemployment are real issues - we have _millions_ of empty homes just sitting there all the while the banking establishment is the one getting the handouts. ***** rich, isn't it?
- Billions, on 02/03/2009, -0/+18Can anyone say 'CRACKHOUSE INFLUX'?
- inactive, on 02/03/2009, -1/+19There are places where no homes should exist, yet savvy developers built thousands of homes there. Some areas of north las vegas, riverside county, and the outskirts of phoenix are great examples of this. These homes should be swallowed up by the desert from which they sprang.
- chuckDontSurf, on 02/03/2009, -0/+17Put me down for $100k!! I only have $10k in cash, but I'm pretty sure I can leverage the rest.
- inactive, on 02/03/2009, -1/+18hang in there, bud
crazy times... - chuckDontSurf, on 02/03/2009, -0/+16*Falls over in shock after reading rational, well-reasoned post on digg*
- santiago1, on 02/03/2009, -0/+16 I see this all around my neighborhood (central California)! Almost 50% of the houses in the area are vacant. It's a strange and eerie sight.
- oboshoe, on 02/03/2009, -0/+16who can afford crack?
At this rate, even the crack dealers will be looking for a bailout. - Bloodwine, on 02/03/2009, -1/+16How many of those are 15-year or 30-year fixed APR loans? That's all I care about. Most of the people getting ARM or Interest-only were living on borrowed time, so it is no surprise they ended up losing their homes.
- Bloodwine, on 02/03/2009, -1/+16I'll trade you all four railroads for Park Place.
- ousthouse, on 02/03/2009, -1/+15People losing jobs is a bad thing. Homes being foreclosed on is a bad thing.
Moving away from 30+ year mortgages with insane interest rates for 1000 sqft homes that cost half a million dollars? Great thing. - DirtyVicar, on 02/03/2009, -0/+14What amazes me is in a lot of cities people still pay "ten richest kings" prices.
- chase32, on 02/04/2009, -2/+16What pathouston22 is trying to say is that Carter and Clinton were somehow responsible for the subprime lending mess because they made it illegal to discriminate against minorities when lending. It is a discredited neocon talking point because the loans that fall under CRA were a very small percentage of overall loans and also because that class of loan didnt show any higher than normal default rates.
The loans that mainly went bust were not because of the CRA, they were the untraditional liars loans, interest only loans, etc designed to get people into houses they couldn't afford. - Wargala, on 02/03/2009, -1/+14People got greedy in their lending. Stupid people bought houses they couldn't afford.
For those of you who don't know, take your yearly gross income, multiply by 3, and that's a rough estimate of what you can afford for a home.
If you can't afford a home on a 30 year fixed mortgage, you can't afford the home. - diggduggDOOM, on 02/03/2009, -0/+13load from a save
- inactive, on 02/03/2009, -1/+14I really don't see a problem. If all these houses are vacant, and you've lost your house, just break into one of the empty ones.
- tekgnos, on 02/03/2009, -1/+14Good thing we bailed out the banks so they don't have to sell these houses at market prices and can continue to believe in fantasies, like someone will pay 500K for a crappy house in Los Angeles.
- Tyrghast, on 02/03/2009, -1/+13I know that many people overextended themselves when buying houses far above their income, but that doesn't excuse the lending agencies from not having a soul. It's never made sense to take things or add extra charges on top of interest when it comes to credit: it doesn't help the situation to take people's *****, it makes it harder for them to pay back anything in the first place.
- oboshoe, on 02/03/2009, -1/+13When housing prices increase 20+% a year and income increases 5% a year at some point bad things happen. Its simple economic law.
Nobody complained as long as they could take their 20% "profit" per year our as a heloc.
We all know this. But its funny how easy it is to forget simple math when things are booming and everybody pretends it will continue forever and that it will be the other guy that is left holding the bag.
Buckle up. nobody has the power to make this better. - robbob, on 02/03/2009, -6/+18Screw those people who bought beyond their means. Let them all live together in a cardboard box.
- krekc, on 02/03/2009, -3/+14Without any oversight. And people including a ***** ton of digg users complained about the auto makers. Keep giving the banks money.
- dougs55, on 02/03/2009, -0/+11If you want to see some interesting data check out trulia and zillow. In my area I've been watching condos that sold for $330,000 a few years ago resold for $175,000 last November and on the market now for $125,000. I also saw a 40 acre parcel just south of here that sold for $530,000 last October now on the market for $99,000.
- bradleyland, on 02/03/2009, -2/+12"Ownership society". What a ***** joke. Tell me this Mr. Bush: what is the difference between a 40 year loan note and renting? You don't "own" anything under our now failing craze of home buying. Rather than renting from a local owner, you're renting from the bank.
- nutmac, on 02/03/2009, -6/+16Obama will fix everything. At least, so I heard on digg few months ago.
- inactive, on 02/03/2009, -3/+12Turn down your crisis meter. Rental prices are down too. Most of these people couldn't afford a home anyway.
- Bloodwine, on 02/03/2009, -0/+9True. I just don't agree that the majority of foreclosures are due to people losing their jobs. I know there probably is a significant amount of foreclosures due to that, but I think the majority of foreclosures are due to ARM's and Interest-Only loans.
- chuckDontSurf, on 02/03/2009, -0/+9@TheBuzzKiller: "Too bad there aren't houses that cheap anymore *where I live*!" Fixed.
If you're in an area that's that expensive, I expect you'll see prices dropping to more reasonable levels in the next few years. - TheBuzzKiller, on 02/03/2009, -1/+9Too bad there aren't houses that cheap anymore! I can't even get a tiny little condo for less than $300K, which is substantially above what your formula says I can afford. I guess I'll keep renting.
- inactive, on 02/04/2009, -1/+9I certianly am no bleeding heart or anything, but wouldn't it make sense to let the current homeowners continue to live there, paying whatever they can or some fair but cheap monthly rent, while the houses were waiting to be auctioned? That way the banks get SOMETHING during these months, and the homeowners don't have to shoved out as quickly. Maybe set it up that they have to be out within 2 weeks of the expected auction date or something.
- sgvprelude, on 02/03/2009, -1/+9Agreed. But I think its also a problem with people losing their jobs and not being able to pay mortgage whether its a fixed, ARM, Interests only, or whatever.
- UbIwerks, on 02/04/2009, -0/+8WOOOSH!
- Barackalypse, on 02/03/2009, -0/+8So where did all these people end up? Or was the speculation so out of control they really built tens of millions of houses that weren't actually needed?
- faithforever, on 02/04/2009, -0/+7The problem is far more complex than banks renegotiating terms of the loans. In many cases, the "bank" that the home owner deals with doesn't own their loan. It was sold and is only being serviced by the bank, who's essentially a collection's agency. These high-risk loans were packaged up and sold (mainly to overseas investors) with certain terms, and misrepresented as being less risky than they were. So they're on the hook. Two years ago, if someone got behind on their high rate subprime ARM, they would sell their house and the bank makes their money back no problem. Unfortunately, the loan industry didn't ever think the bubble would burst. Banks now see foreclosure and letting houses sit on the market until prices start going up as a better way to recover their money than trying to renegotiating terms, especially since in most cases, working out payment plans with home owners doesn't work. After a few months, they're behind again. I worked at a subprime lender a few years ago in college. Even then it didn't work.
- Sheepsterbaby, on 02/04/2009, -0/+7Nevermind I'm retarded.
Forgive me. -
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