ack! hateful.

I know that TMZ likes to think that they're funny, but I think that it is really tasteless to say that a suicide victim who hanged himself was "on the ropes" after a messy divorce.

Lately, I've been reading the Irvine Housing Blog to catch up on what's what in the housing bubble burst. Today's entry directly addresses what y'all are talking about:

This situation is the result of declining home prices; the declining home prices are a direct result of the unsustainable price levels created during the bubble rally; the unsustainable price levels were created by widespread use of 100% financing and the elimination of lending standards

Yesterday's entry follows a foreclosed home that is truly a "WTF were these people thinking of?" situation:

Today’s sellers owe more than $1,214,500 on a house they purchased in 1981 for $265,000.

Can you believe that? After 27 years of ownership, they should have almost completely paid off a 30-year fixed rate mortgage and be looking forward to having a $1,000,000 for their retirement. Instead, they have nothing, nada, zero. They have refinanced themselves into oblivion; either that, or they are have exercised their mortgage “put” option.

Today’s sellers first step to the Dark Side came in 2002 when they refinanced for $450,000. Apparently, the lure of free money was too much for them so they refinanced again in 2006 for $1,175,000. Finally, their journey to the Dark Side was complete in 2007 when they took out an Option ARM for $1,000,000 and a stand-alone second for $214,500.

Even if these sellers get their sales price (this is borderline WTF,) they get $1,221,060 after a 6% commission. Anyone want to guess what the outstanding loan balances total up to? It sure looks like they will sell for a $1,000,000 gain, and they will not get a penny at the closing table. Amazing.

I feel confident in saying that guy is a dick.

And that he likely behaved dickishly (we can debate whether his failings were moral failings) in that file.

I fucking hate everyone.

That is all.

And while I was writing my last post, I saw something Typo Boy wrote that deserves comment. There's a problem with blaming government agencies/deregulation -- a lot of agencies supervise ("regulate" is a dirty word around what call themselves "supervisory agencies" -- not to defend or criticize, just that it is) lenders.

If you have a problem with your mortgage, who can you contact at the government? At the Federal level, it could be any one of at least six agencies. Your State government might have authority. Or it might not. Or it might be the government of another State.

And lenders do play off one agency against another. Some will switch from one agency to another for any of a number of reasons.

t stands next to Jesse

t but not too close

Given that I have so little understanding of it all, this may be callous...but seriously, if you're poor and have a rocky employment history, you know you can't afford a half million dollar home. Sure, I'll leave a bit of room for being told that you absolutely can and desperately wanting a piece of the pie.

I'm wondering where the sense of personal responsibility is in this.

No down payment 2% for six months and then we can raise it to whatever surprise amount we like? It even sounds like a carrot on a stick, or a pile of magic beans.

I would LOVE to own a home. Sadly, I'll likely never afford one on my one salary with my level of credit card debt. Maybe it's just hitting close to my heart.

I'm not even talking about all this larger bullshit! I'm only talking about my local bullshit.

Stabby.

::stands next to Allyson::

Ugh, Sophia! I hate it when things like that happen.

We're just starting to poke our nose into the housing market, because if the inheritance I've talked about in Bitches comes through, we will probably be in a good position to buy when our current lease is up. (Still nothing certain, though. Have I ever mentioned how much I hate uncertainty? Because I hate it A LOT right now.) The housing market hasn't collapsed in Seattle the way it has in so many other places, but we're still thinking our financial difficulties of the last 7 years or so making us unable to buy before may turn out to be a blessing in disguise, because there suddenly are quite a few decent houses in our price range on the market. Though it looks like we may have to make a trade-off between "wonderful house" and "wonderful neighborhood."

It just feels like a perfect storm of economic badness between the real estate bubble bursting and gas prices/general inflation. They're really feeling the bust where my mom lives because on top of everything else, living in the country 30 miles from Birmingham is no longer looking like such a wonderful idea, when most of your commute is the stop-and-go gas-guzzling nightmare of US 280.