You're absolutely right. I was poor as shit growing up. None of this kids having cell phones and xboxes shit makes sense to me. Fucking credit. Jeez. Yeah it's gonna be ugly when these kids start growing up and taking the reigns in society.
That reminded me of this one guy in my home town. He's in his mid 30's has three kids whom he does not support or help raise, by the same girl whom he never married or even had a steady relationship with (of course they are supported by the Gummint-consequently to his credit at least the kids are by the same girl). His job is delivering Hostess cupcakes and stuff to gas stations making probably minimum wage or +1-2 (max)... He lives with his parents, and has a Trans Am he bought new a while back and buys a new car for his collection each year or so (does not trade in)...and he runs around dating high school girls. These are the same types of people we are bailing out. This is the epitome of a subprime borrower. Totally irresponsible with money. These aren't good people who fell on tough times..99% of these people are total scum parasites and yet, we are being called on to give them even more.
Well, you can always vote with your feet: http://www.amazon.com/Flight-Creati...d_bbs_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1196977790&sr=8-2
:eek: Wow. Is his Name Bill Gates? If not, who the f- was stupid enough to give him all that money???
OptionsPoet said "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." :eek: Wow. Is his name Bill Gates? If not, who the f- was stupid enough to give him all that money???
Let's not gloss over two main categories and the roles they played in all of this: 1) the speculators that bought on the greater fool theory 2) the educated, middle to upper income crowd that wanted to own McMansions at any cost to keep up with the Joneses, and trade up every 12-18 months because hey, real estate only goes up in price They are the real drivers of the bubble. Just because its labeled sub-prime doesn't mean the people are poor. I distinctly remember three events occurring as we neared the peak of the real estate market. One was a real estate investment course I saw on buying and selling pre-built condos, came about soon after we saw the nightly news with people lined up in the streets of Florida, Nevada, Arizona etc. in a bidding frenzy for condo developments. Second was the endless introduction of new tv shows about real estate, like "Flip This House". Third was the constant barrage of magazine covers highlighting the raging real estate bull. The top came soon after the cover (it was Money or Kiplingers I believe) with a woman judge who had GIVEN UP her position, and moved to Las Vegas to make real estate speculation her full-time occupation. Hope she cashed out at the top. The right to speculate and make a fortune is a wonderful thing. But that right comes with the understanding that you could lose it all in the process just as easily. No risk, no reward. Let's just hope they don't shut down the game altogether.
Sounds a bit like Thomas Peterfly, who is building four mansions, one for himself and three for his kids.
This is not hard to imagine guys. No need to mention bill gates. This is your avg Joe. Your co-worker. Your neighbor. You get 4 mortages all at 1%-3% ARMS. Say you have a decent job (decent does not mean great). The mortgage on a regular 30 yr term loan is equivalent to 2 of these 2%'ers. On a $400K 30 yr loan @ 7% you are paying about $2700 On a $400K 3/1 Arm @ 2% you are paying about $1400 All this means is that the guy had the equivalent of 2 regular mortgages and was barely getting by. If he was "sophistocated" enough to purchase 2 homes as investment vehicles (his childhood home is an investment IMO), then he should be bright enough to know that nothing in life is guaranteed. 10 yrs ago the banks would have raped him. He would have to let go of 3 homes and have his mom live with him. More respectable than the bullshit that is happening now IMO. This guy will now continue to live the standard of living for 5 yrs until the govt bails him out again. 1.2 million people in the same boat. and by my guess, that's a conservative estimate.
Isnt the bail out supposed to be only for owner occupiers. So the other three mortgage will reset? Although if his mortgages are with seperate banks he could probably get away with lieing that he occupied each house himself..