cadoggy

Over Half a Million Strategic Defaulters in 2008

I applaud strategic defaulters - although I prefer the term ruthless defaulter. When done correctly it's one of the most savvy financial moves a person can make. In fact, your credit score ought to go up just for having the common sense to do it.

And regarding the idea of requiring 20% to 30% down on every purchase... that's just not going to happen. Let's see what happens to house prices if this were put into law! Besides, in this Great Recession even the people who did put 20% down are now under water.

Government Determined to Force Homes on Unwilling Owners

In non-recourse states like California it's more like "Sacrifice a fingernail, save a life."


On Sep 16 11:00 AM Graham and Dodd Investor wrote:

> "Sacrifice a limb, save a life." A tough choice but a correct one.

Shadow Inventory: Conspiracy Theory or Real?

If you live in a non-recourse state like California and the same bank holds both notes then you can walk away and not have to pay the bank a dime (or the IRS).

Your only other option is to come up with cash at the closing table and basically pay someone to buy your house. And by the way, when you add in all the closing costs you're not looking at $7k but probably more like $22k.

Clunkers and Home Buyer Tax Credit: All the Same Thing

What AMK1100 said is not true either. This is truly a tax credit which does not need to be repaid.

The 3 years refers to the fact that you must own it as your primary residence for 3 years or else face giving it back to the IRS.

The original bill in congress had it as a back end loan but later changed it to a credit.


On Aug 27 03:55 PM AMK1100 wrote:

> The $8,000 tax credit really isn't a credit at all - It's a loan
> disguised as a credit. You get an $8,000 tax credit this year to
> be repaid within 3 years.

Clunkers and Home Buyer Tax Credit: All the Same Thing

I believe the author is mistaken when he says the $8,000 can be used as a down payment for FHA loans. HUD originally said yes but then a week later said no.

I sold a home last month and told the buyer to use the $8,000 as a down payment. The bank said no. FHA 3.5% down payment must come from the borrower or close family member.

July New Home Sales Are Up - Break Out the Bubbly

Is there some way to stop iamned from posting spam on each article every day?

Clusterstock Can't Shake Bearish Housing Outlook

What is the purpose of [sic] as stated above:

"... who saw their [sic] house price..."

The spelling of 'their' is correct so why add [sic]? Sorry to nit-pick but it's hard to take authors seriously when they don't know basic grammar and falsely correct others'.

Housing: Strong Recovery Ahead

The author's main problem is that he's treating the real estate market like it's the stock market. The ordinary fundamentals like months of supply or YoY sales gains don't tell the whole story because the entire industry has just experienced a paradigm shift vis-a-vis tighter lending standards and a beaten up borrower pool.

The real estate market is a large ship that takes a long time to turn around. Looking forward we see positive signs but you need a large telescope to see that far ahead.

Housing Crisis Deepens - Prime Borrowers' Roll Is Over

How much would you pay to avoid a 'social stigma'? If it were a few hundred bucks maybe people would pay it. But paying $100,000 or more to avoid social stigma is the worst idea I've ever heard. Talk about buying something you can't afford.

People should walk away if they're so far under water. You can get an FHA loan only 3 years later with a good interest rate. Renting is the way to go for the next 3 years anyway!

Mortgage Modifications: Homes Saved or Incomes Destroyed?

Agreed. My eyes glazed over more than once.

U.S. Homeowners Underwater

I think the commonly used definition of underwater is too optimistic. Most people describe it as having a loan balance greater than the fair market value of the home.

When you factor in the absurd costs of selling a home and then presumably buying another one to live in, a homeowner can easily eat up 10% of the current home's value.

Even before the bubble I've argued that the real estate industry is overpaid as a whole. Forbes Magazine listed Real Estate Agent as the top paying job not requiring a college diploma! We need to reform this in order to improve the mobility of the American workforce.

What Causes Foreclosures?

One important factor I haven't seen mentioned in the blogosphere is that the government is now encouraging people to walk away from their homes by the end of the year.

The Mortgage Debt Relief Act temporarily excludes foreclosed mortgage debt from taxes through 2012. So any homeowner who's on the fence about walking away has a strong incentive to get the job done before this lucrative tax relief goes away.

What Causes Foreclosures?

Barbara, negative equity is both a long term and a short term problem. The median length of a mortgage in America was 7.5 years before this debacle started. If you're even slightly underwater then you don't need to be an expert to realize you'll still be underwater 7.5 years from now.

The ding to your credit will evaporate decades before your home is back to $0 equity again.

Some Odd Stats in Pending Home Sales

The banks are the ones to blame here for 90% of the crisis. Sure Realtors and stoopid home buyers played a hand. But the banks created the products, marketed them ruthlessly, and did the underwriting.

And I'm convinced the banks knew that it would all end some day soon. Maybe they didn't foresee the magnitude of it. But their attitude was "let's get as much as we can as long as we can and deal with the consequences later."

They should be jailed.

California and Florida Housing Outlook: More Hope for Recovery in 2010

I'm also someone who played by the rules and now I'm getting screwed for it. All the bank and government plans out there are targeted at people on the edge of foreclosure: aka, people who should not have owned in the first place.

My home is worth 55% of what I paid for it and not a single homeowner relief plan would give me $1.00.