I’m ecstatic about this market. I have been lurking on this forum for a month or so and finally signed up today so I can respond to this thread. I am one of those people that are ecstatic at the housing slump and hope it continues to a reasonable level. I moved my family to Phoenix, Arizona a few years ago out of desperation because I couldn’t afford the San Diego median home price at the time of a whopping $580k, and this median includes the crap out of the slums which I won’t live in.
Although my job did not work out in Phoenix, I ended up moving back to San Diego 2 years ago for a job offer I received that got me by with some promise for future success. Well the job is nothing but excellent and now the housing slump just made my return to California that much more desirable and I will now be able to get my family of 4 out of this freaking 2 small bedroom condo of 800sf paying the owners mortgage for them plus some.
While I lived in Phoenix, I went to school and got my Realtor license and sold one house and rented one in a 4 month period. All of my savings were depleted and so I had to move back to San Diego and I am glad I did because the market took this huge dive right after that. However, the one house I did sell in Phoenix was a prime example of why we are here in this turmoil. This was a hispanic family of 4 that could barely afford a house payment but they went forward with it on an ARM and the lender jacked up their rate just before closing giving them about an additional $400 a month increase on their house payment then they were initially told by their broker. They did it anyways and I am sure they are not in that house any longer today.
So why am I happy about the current housing market? Well first, because I will be able to afford one at a reasonable price which otherwise I would have never been able to. Second, the people who don’t work hard to clean up their credit and be responsible citizens of this society and pay their bills deserve to be in the situation they were/are in now. You don’t get a nice house just because you want it, you get it because you worked for it. Third, lenders are the third worst thing on my list after car salesmen and attorneys. They will do anything and everything to suck money out of you undeservingly. So between the greed of undeserving homeowners to the greed of banks, the people who work hard to get ahead in life will benefit from this turmoil in todays market and I applaud all those of us who waited to do this responsibly.
