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A scary number… 36,000 calls x (lets be conservative)$250,000 (per home) = $9,000,000,000.00

And these are only the folks calling the hotline!

So who is assed out of all this money? Is it the Chinese investors?

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Bush is an idiot but that aside I don’t see how his plan will change anything that is already in motion in this market.
Sure a few more people might be able to hang on to the homes they reside in a little longer but all of the “investors” who have racked up 2, 3 or even more homes will be losing those just the same as they were going to anyway.
Also, lending guidelines are still being tightened so average Joe’s won’t be able to get into anything more than 300k if even that pretty soon. I honestly don’t see any reason to panic about prices. I think the average home owner/buyer is now very aware of the danger of buying a home out of their price range especially after this news.

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I saw it and like others have posted already it is an eye opener. I have had several bad experiences with HMO’s myself so I have no love for what they are all about and I’m ready to do what ever I can to help change the current system. This is an issue that can benefit all Americans so don’t be a tool and buy into the “left wing” “right wing” propaganda.

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I saw it and like others have posted already it is an eye opener. I have had several bad experiences with HMO’s myself so I have no love for what they are all about and I’m ready to do what ever I can to help change the current system. This is an issue that can benefit all Americans so don’t be a tool and buy into the “left wing” “right wing” propaganda.

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DCarlso1, I think your really missing the point of this site. You should go back and read the write ups and graph’s that Rich has put together over the years. While most people were taking out risky illegal loans to buy property they could never in their lifetime afford and patting themselves on the backs while telling each other they are about to become the next millionaire Rich was building an argument that something was seriously wrong with it all. Turns out he was 100% correct and he probably saved a lot of people from buying at the wrong time and getting themselves into major trouble. So really this web site is helping people. Do you see a problem with that?

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This bubble brought us the failed Fashion Walk in Mission Valley. What a great concept right? er… right?

This is a topic I tried to start maybe six months ago but it didn’t really take off at that time. As damaging as I think this run-up has been I can also see where it has been really healthy for certain neighborhoods as far as fixing up crapy areas but then again they may go to crap again when its all over. We’ll just have to see.

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I think at this point if the government wants to get involved they could make the lender re-negotiate the terms of the loan and offer them a 30 year fixed rate at the going interest rate
from the time the loan was originated. 4.5% or whatever.

This is more than fair but my guess is that they would still not be able to afford the mcmansion they overpaid for and will be assed out.

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Maybe a handful of borrowers truly didn’t understand what they were getting into but the majority of borrowers had a good idea that this was not your usual type of financing and that there could be a risk. Most people that took these loans were told that when the introductory period was up they could just refinance and keep doing so until they finally unload the home onto some other sucker. I know this to be a fact because I argued with a few workmates about this and they were so certain that housing will always go up so they would be fine.
I just can’t bring myself to feel sorry for any of them.
I keep imagining how every time someone I know bought one of these over priced homes and acted as though they were brilliant investors. Now that the poop has hit the fan they want to cry foul and say they were duped… please.

Buyers face it, your investing strategy was not brilliant and now you have to pony up so deal with it.

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This is crazy but it doesn’t look half as bad as some of the condo conversions I have seen in areas like El Cajon where you see rows and rows of Realtor signs in front of apartment buildings, so many in fact they start to block each other out because they have ran out of space to put them up.

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well… liberals know they will be in office come 08 and will have to clean up this enormous pile of steamy crap left behind. Cant really blame them for thinking ahead.

For the record I don’t support any grants and to be honest I don’t think it would/could happen anyway.

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cooprider14, to answer your original post its really up to you and how driven you are. There are agents that will prosper in an up or down market because they love what they do and are completely devoted to it. That’s the beauty of something like RE because your success is entirely up to you. Don’t get me wrong though its not easy and starting brand new in this market makes it even that much harder but if you think you have what it takes then give it a shot.
Work close with your broker and seasoned agents and learn everything you can. Even if you never do a single transaction you can at least save some money when you finally buy your own home. I do RE part time mainly for friends and family. Its not my main source of income but I’m glad I went out and got licensed. Just do what feels right for you.

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I’m starting to wonder what all the hype is about also. For sure its nice living in SD but its not so nice as to justify the cost of living here I’m not really into the beach but I do love the weather. I have also lived on both coasts and in the southwest and all have good and bad areas to live.
After eight years of living in SD I think I’m ready to take the next job offer and head out to Charlotte NC where my dollars will go much further. As a matter of fact a I write this my next door neighbor is loading a moving van and moving to Florida.

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This is an interesting topic. I know this all too well having come from a lower middle class home and growing up in a small
southwest town. My family made average wages and we were not poor but because of my parents very bad spending habits and bad business decisions we never seemed to have quite enough to get by and have the nicer things my friends always had. After growing up and leaving that town I had the opportunity to meet very successful people (some were girlfriends) who showed me how to make my money work for me. I am also very driven, since I never had money growing up I am now very careful how I spend and I think out large purchases well before pulling the trigger. Even to this day when I try and help my Mother with money I just don’t think she will ever understand it or just chooses not to.
I have been saying for years that money management should be taught in school, if you don’t learn these skills at home then you have to learn them somewhere. This is why rich families stay rich and poor families usually stay poor.

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CT, I can see your point but I think there are too many other factors in play. Many people have bought 2nd and 3rd homes and intended to flip them or rent them out but the market changed and now many of these people will lose these homes do to mortgages resetting, rent wont cover the costs of owning these homes and they will end up back on the market as a repo.
Also, rents and home prices are already sky high at a time when average families are struggling just to put gas in their cars so I don’t see how rents and home prices can go up any more than they are now any time soon.
Most of the excess we see is from all the easy equity pulled out of real estate. Most people in SD don’t make the kind of money that could sustain these lifestyles and home prices.
Most people I talk to don’t even seem concerned about how they will pay all that money they borrowed back. Its just not real to them… yet.

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PC, something about being an accessory to a crime may have helped her shy away from that one. At any rate, a few weeks later some other dummy stepped up and gave her full asking price with a beautiful 100% interest only loan.

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