Great Reading: 34 % of homeowners are clueless about their mortgage

[SD Transplant]

I remember a month ago I’ve asked a good friend of mine what type of loan he used when he purchased a new condo in RP last year. The answer shook me because it was “I don’t have a clue”……Well, as suprised as I was by his answer, along with other investments “he thinks” he’s made throughout the last 2-3 years, I see he is not alone.

This article from Bankrate.com found on Yahoo Finance sais it all. A bunch of so called “investors/flippers” or just plain ignorant folks will wake up one day and won’t know what hit them.

34% of homeowners are clueless about their mortgage

Enjoy the charts and stats. I find them interesting and leds one to believe how many of the so called “Economists” (with or without a stake in the RE industry are ignoring still those signs).

[Cow_tipping]

You know, I think this whole BS about non financially savvy borrowers are the only ones going to default … is total BS. I have excellent credit, and I can read and read fine print and make sense of it all … even when the crooked realtor is trying to distract me … and I am acutely aware of how worthless my 720+ credit is. Ok fine not worthless … but I never plan to get a car loan, never plan to get any more credit cards, in fact I only use the 1 or 2 where I have incentives, and if I go under on my house for say 100,000 I will never buy another for 10+ years and I will have no problem walking away … especially if I feel its going to go down even more. Heck, with my life the way it is, 10K loss is enough for me to take my credit and run.
Cool.
Cow_tipping.

[blahblahblah]

Hahahaha that’s great. More proof that the RE bears are going to be vindicated once this is all over. Of course many of us will probably be unemployed and wandering the streets of downtown San Diego after this Frankenstein economy completely implodes. Perhaps we can take comfort in the fact that we knew housing prices weren’t supported by fundamentals as we shiver beneath our blankets on the corner of Broadway and 9th.

[SHILOH]

It’s scary to think that Americans could be as “clueless” as this article implies. It begs the question as to whether they are literate. Very very sad commentary.

What’s even more frightening is all the talk about authorities (those who spend our tax dollars) stepping in to bail out the “victims”. Coddling the masses until we are a nation of numbskulls. Who cares if we cannot read?

[lindismith]

that is amazing! 34%!

I wonder how the survey was done?

How can someone not know what kind of mortgage they have? Talk about irresponsible!

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

that is amazing! 34%!

I wonder how the survey was done?

How can someone not know what kind of mortgage they have? Talk about irresponsible!

Although I believe that the general public is too financially naive, 34% seems a bit high.

Perhaps the survey is biased towards those who are naive enough to respond to surveys with questions about their personal finances. Personally, if someone calls or mails me a survey with these types of questions I don’t respond, because I assume that they are either trying to sell me something or are trying to get personal info for nefarious purposes.

Does anyone here respond to surveys asking probing questions about your personal finances ? If so, please post how much money is in your bank account(s) ? Just so we can verify the accuracy please provide a routing number(s), account number(s), name of bank(s), your mothers’ maiden name, the last 4 digits of your SSN, you first and last name and date of birth, and the name of a pet when you were a child.
🙂

[(former)FormerSanDiegan]

By the way, per the article it was a random-digit-dialed phone poll …

“This national random-digit-dialed phone study of 1,004 adults 18 or older was conducted for Bankrate by GfK Roper Public Affairs & Media. The surveys were conducted from March 17 through March 18, 2007. The sample was weighted by demographic factors including age, gender, race, education and census region to ensure reliable and accurate representation of adults in U.S. households. Results based on the entire sample of 1,004 adults are projectable to the entire adult population in the United States, with a sampling error of plus or minus 3 percentage points.”

Again how many financially savvy people answer random telephone polls ? How many were sober on Saint Patrick’s Day weekend ?

I suppose if the headline had read “34% of homeowners who answer random phone polls over Saint Patrick’s Day weekend are clueless about their mortgage” it would carry less punch.

[lindismith]

LOL!

I’m in marketing, so I know how the question is phrased is really important. It just seems so bizarre that a third of respondants couldn’t answer it. It’s the biggest purchase of most peoples’ lives, yet they don’t know the fundamentals?

[cr]

I was talking to friend of mine last night who bought in 2002. He said his broker called him a fool for not taking an ARM.

He opted for a 20-year fixed, despite the criticism.

I’m still amazed at how foolish people on both sides of the mortgage have been. With brokers like that, you can see how even somewhat informed people could make a bad choice.

This housing crash is going to tarnish the idea of ARMs and Interest only loans for years to come.

[Author]

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