What a joke of a time that was. Just think, the supposedly “most advanced” society in world history (cough, cough, ack, gasp, gag, barf, hurl, slit-my-writs, blow-my-head-off-with-1-10#-block-of-C4), thought it could become perpetually wealthy simply by living in homes.

Even better? We think taking on more debt will solve the problem and that nobody has to take the loss. Good Lord Almighty, we are a stupid people.

Our grandchildren will curse us.

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I am in the UK and we are currently going through an economic recession like most of the western world. I have already lost my permanent job, and I am in and out of temporary work at the moment. My wife’s job is potentially on the line because her employer is going through a “re-structuring” process. And guess what! We have just bought a new, bigger house.

So we have gone from a small house that we owned completely with no mortgage, to a bigger house with a fairly substantial mortgage with unreliable income! All because she wanted a bigger house and could not wait any longer.

Will we keep it? Who knows! Time will tell!

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on September 4th, 2007 at 7:10 am

women are not only irrational, they are down right stupid and have no control of their emotions. Ony a MADMAN would marry in the USA today.

**********************************

feminist hater you sound like a pissed off realtor that lost a deal because of a smart woman, or a man that simple cant get a woman because you are too stupid and have nothing to offer an woman on earth let alone the USA.

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http://img509.imageshack.us/img509/926/suzanneku8.jpg

I guess I didn’t do things well; no McMansion for me.

My wife and I are in our late 60′s and just yesterday we were discussing how things have changed in 40 years.

The first home loan we had required a 20% down payment. We scrimped and saved for it but it became a reality in 5 years.

Our lending institution wouldn’t allow us to obtain a mortgage for more then 3 years my take home pay. Since my wife didn’t work (she didn’t have a car as she stayed home with the children she loved) we felt it a huge step to go for a $36,000 mortgage. It’s a nice house, in a pretty nice neighborhood and though the mortgage was 30 years after 10 the payments seemed like peanuts. We never sweated making a house payment as it was small enough to be made with a proceeds of a part time job if required.

We paid the house off when I was in my early 50′s. Life has been good. My adivce is to think simple. Examine each thing and determine if you really need it or not.

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Thanks for posting. I just want to point out that in keeping with the spirit of free speech, 99.99% of the comments posted to Seattle Bubble are unedited by me, the editor of the site. All comments are owned by their respective authors, and definitely do not necessarily represent the official views of this blog of any of its primary contributors.

That being said, I agree with your comment. The blatant anti-woman comments are over the top and unnecessary. I didn’t post this as a diatribe against women, but against the general psychology of the bubble that has gotten people into trouble like this.

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By the way, both my husband and I made the decision to rent.

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They bought more home than they could afford, she (Ryan) admits that she was the driver. She should go back to work and put the kids in care of a helpful relative or friend and accept that life will be different so they can stay current with the mortgage or at least improve their finances. Read Dave Ramsey’s books. It can be done. This couple can sell things; they can realistically price the house to sell to someone else.

Men: stop choosing women based solely on their looks. Choose a partner based on how she handles money and debt she’s in BEFORE you get serious (like within the first month of the relationship).

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As for the added stress and broken Marriages , Hear is some thing to think about for the scum bag Realtor and loan officer who pushed some couple in to an over priced home.

As the loan reset and drive people in to the ground over a long time, some women just may turn away from this now unhappy marriage. After some time there will be some guys who has lost every thing over a year or two , his wife now takes off, the DA is now on his case for child support. And the house is now gone taken by the bank. I would bet that for some reason he just may not being doing that great of a job at work and is now fired.

What is a guy to do?? I sure a few will pick up a bottle of booze and just might think back for where this mess all started. He may come to the realization that there is nothing els to losses since it has all been sucked out of him by a bunch Vampires And shoot them right in the face right in there office.

Think about it.

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A lot of people these days are so brainwashed that they feel like they should be entitled to everything and they have to keep up with the Joneses.

They’ll spend themselves into oblivion in order to keep up with the Joneses. Meanwhile, the Smith’s who live at or below their means, spend money smartly, and appear to be average, probably have a bank account that would make their heads spin.

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…buy the ho…

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on August 26th, 2007 at 9:35 am

This is a little overly cynical, but I have to bring up the possibility going to look at a ‘distressed sale’ house and leaving not only with a great deal on a house, but also hot date with the flipper’s ‘distressed’ ex-spouse?

OK, that’s a little much.

Awesome. It could be a new show on HGTV. How about they call it “Sell My House and Spouse” They can make upgrades to both properties to hook the buyer.

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http://thecrashof2007.blogspot.com/

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“But Dr. Laura, isn’t that attitude what got us into trouble in the first place?”

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OK, that’s a little much.

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Bunch of sad individuals basking in other peoples’ misery…”

Right, so it was ok when owners were gaining hundreds of thousands of dollars for doing practically nothing and then looking down on the lowly non-owners. Now the tide has turned. What goes around comes around. Ever heard of karma?

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Unsympathetic,

I apply that same standard to the men I date.

Financial ignorance has nothing to do with gender.

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That also applies to those couples and singles of more modest/median incomes and first time buyers, who thought about a condo, but could never catch up. The REIC declaring condos “the new starter homes,” was a deliberate psych ploy, and the contribution to rising prices should not be discounted.

The ability to run the basic financial numbers and accepting them, and allowing for contingencies, vs. the wishfull thinking that “it will work out eventually,” has been many a person’s financial downfall.

Their are calculated risks, and there is denial of reality.

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The only sad part of this is that the guy in this story will suffer twice – once because he wasn’t being supportive of her desires, and the second time because it’s obviously his fault alone that the house was foreclosed on.

This is what happens when you don’t include “good with money” in deciding to upgrade the girl from dating to marrying status.

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Actually I am quite happy, not sad. I am happy that a home will again be a place to hang one’s hat, raise one’s family, and serve as a solid financial anchor. (not a lottery ticket)

What is sad is the stupidity that has transpired in the last 5 years. I don’t feel sorry for those who lose their shirts in Las Vegas, nor do I feel sorry for those whose greed led them to purchase far more home than they could afford. Last I checked, one had to be an ADULT and of SOUND MIND in order to enter into a legal agreement.

If you want sad, this world has plenty of examples of people getting victimized through no action of their own.

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No, this is watching people take huge risks and getting upset at the predictable consequences.

Surely you had a buddy in highschool that was always looking for a thrill. In my case, it was a friend that liked to jump off high structures. When he inevitably screwed up a stunt and ended up with multiple compound fractures I could empathize with the pain of all those broken bones. But he, and everyone else knew that what he was doing was likely to have catastrophic consequences at some point.

What this couple did is no different. Instead of a physical risk, the one they took was financial and emotional.

Sure, it’s unfortunate that their marriage is falling apart, but this is an easily forseeable consequence of the decisions they made.

Let’s not forget that this couple did get the benefit of living in their dream house for 2 full years – meanwhile, some other couple that was determined to live within their means didn’t get this opportunity.

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I’ve sent that to housingpanic.com as well as thehousingbubbleblog.com.

Awesome post and sweet vindication for those of us who have been watching this for many years.

Syn

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The nesting instinct is real, just as the urge to “own” some property is. They are essentially one and the same. Successful RE/mortgage sharks have learned how to lever that impulse into a “buy at all costs” behavior.

Whatsit2ya:
That’s why they call it an economy. One person makes an idiotic decision, resulting in having to sell underwater during a later correction. The one who buys after the decline is not malicious. It just means he understood math better than the first chump. It’s not cruelty, it’s reality. (However, I’d reserve my most pure contempt for flippers and RE agents, rather than the ignorant schmoes they targeted)

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What is it to you? Not raking in the easy 6% any more, parasitic real-wh*re?

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Schadenfreude….. pure, crips, Schadenfreude.

Economic Darwinism at its finest

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I’m not the techno geek type with encryption of the encryption to use today’s high speed internet (its all wireless and full of security holes, even DSL) somewhat safely.

I’m in to security only, so use a dial up wire to my phone, but you can’t read my computer from blocks [or even miles] away because its signal is wireless.

I don’t even use blackberries for the same reason and God Forbid you get on to one of those WIFI sites where possibly the guy in the back room server is getting all your passwords and credit card numbers….

I do use CDs for downloading fast inside my computer, they’re safe.

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