The govt is going to side with the majority, which are the financially irresponsible. 15 yrs ago, these losers would have been the minority and would get everything that's coming to them. How times have changed. Unfortunately, we are never going back. You can see this in how today's youth are raised. Doesn't matter what background you are from anymore. Every kid has a cell phone, XBox, etc. Rich or poor...don't matter. The parents buy them whatever they want through the magic of credit. Here's a sobering idea - these are the kids that will be determining our future.
Amazing. I'm so mad after reading all of this. (Not the I wasn't before!) You create a system where the borrower has nothing to lose, ie no down payment. And the originator has nothing to lose because they are just going to sell the loan. Nobody has anything on the line, just a lot to gain.
Speaking of rewarding incompetence, anyone recall who was in charge of National Security on 9/11/01? (Hint: She is now Secretary of State.)
You got it. Take the HB's for example. They build this glut of homes and put them out in the market. Every HB has a title company, a mortgage company, an appraiser, etc. as part of their ops. They all work in combination to make sure that home sells and closes. That same mortgage, regardless of how that mortgage was approved, is then part of a bulk sale. It's no longer the HB's problem. The financial institutions...same story. They buy these loans cheap knowing exactly what they are holding. So much like the irresponsible Joe, the HB's and Financial's were irresponsible in their financial matters. They put themselves in this situation. And the govt is getting them out. Makes you want to rethink the whole notion of how trading losses and carry-forwards are treated. IMO, we're victims over here.
Heh - our folks said that about us once upon a time. I think this is more of a non-event than we think.
One more thing, listened to a piece on NPR the other day. Had this guy crying about how he was gonna be put out on the street because of the crisis. He had bought: - personal home - home for the mom - home from his childhood - investment home All with ARM's Yet it's not his fault. Right.
Well. I hope I'm wrong. Just don't see it though. Every kid I come across talks big about living the dream (nice house, cars, etc) but tell 'em to read a book and they look at you like you insulted their mother.
Sorry - what I meant by a non-event was the bailout plan. I think that those kids will be getting a very healthy dose of reality over the next few years. Unfortunately, so will the rest of us. Been nice while its lasted though. (wish I had gone more to europe in retrospect) I can't believe that sloth and posturing will finally win out over hard work and thrift.
I know i guy who never got passed high school, can barely read. He delivers sandwiches for a living. Anyway back in 2002 he bought a house for 130K GBP, (260USD). His salary was like 18K a year (including overtime) That house was worth 60K in 1996 and is now worth 220K. I ask him back in 2002: what are you going to do if interest rates go up. His reply was that too many people have big debts and therefore the government wont increase rates too much as it would hurt too many people and the economy. Six months ago he extracted 30K of equity to extend his house. He was right. I doubt rates will ever go up enough to hurt him.