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Have trouble with sympathy here either. That's a little less than 3 years of missed payments. They just ignored it. $2200 might require selling a few items in the house to cover, but is doable. Better than having your home auctioned off.
Hopefully, this new economic climate will make people better disciplined in the future. However, I fear that its going to go back to business as usual for most people when we have the next boom.
I have to pay HOA fees that are outrageous on a property in a resort area. They can put a lien on my home in a heartbeat and WOULD. At the time I bought the property (15 years ago) the fees were very reasonable (less than 25% what they are now) but the company that owned the resort was sold and in the last six years, my fees have skyrocketed = and I also have to pay assessment fees every quarter. They just tagged on an additional assessment for road improvement, on top of the $1000 annually for spraying trees.
I have only one choice: sell the property. I either pay it or I could lose my whole investment.
So I have problems having much sympathy. My fees are higher per quarter than these folks have per annum. You know how I handle it? I know that I will have to pay that $$ every quarter, so I BUDGET every month. At $795/year . . . that would take $66.25/mo. I can figure out how to get an extra $70/mo into my household, even if it means cleaning someone else's house once a month or cutting off Time Warner Cable.
This country is in a mess b/c people have acted like they are exempt from the responsibilities they signed up for. HOA fees are clearly spelled out upfront and reminder letters are sent, as well.
Buy property you can afford and budget!!! If you lose your job, you have to do whatever is necessary to get you thru/ the tough times. That may include selling your property and living in a one-bedroom apartment (yes, even with kids). You do what you have to do to meet your obligations and be a responsible person. You pay the people and entities you are supposed to pay. This attitude I have seen of "well, I will just walk away" or "make an exception for me" is insulting to the rest of us who have spent our entire lives doing what we are supposed to do.
I have to pay HOA fees that are outrageous on a property in a resort area. They can put a lien on my home in a heartbeat and WOULD. At the time I bought the property (15 years ago) the fees were very reasonable (less than 25% what they are now) but the company that owned the resort was sold and in the last six years, my fees have skyrocketed = and I also have to pay assessment fees every quarter. They just tagged on an additional assessment for road improvement, on top of the $1000 annually for spraying trees.
I have only one choice: sell the property. I either pay it or I could lose my whole investment.
So I have problems having much sympathy. My fees are higher per quarter than these folks have per annum. You know how I handle it? I know that I will have to pay that $$ every quarter, so I BUDGET every month. At $795/year . . . that would take $66.25/mo. I can figure out how to get an extra $70/mo into my household, even if it means cleaning someone else's house once a month or cutting off Time Warner Cable.
This country is in a mess b/c people have acted like they are exempt from the responsibilities they signed up for. HOA fees are clearly spelled out upfront and reminder letters are sent, as well.
Buy property you can afford and budget!!! If you lose your job, you have to do whatever is necessary to get you thru/ the tough times. That may include selling your property and living in a one-bedroom apartment (yes, even with kids). You do what you have to do to meet your obligations and be a responsible person. You pay the people and entities you are supposed to pay. This attitude I have seen of "well, I will just walk away" or "make an exception for me" is insulting to the rest of us who have spent our entire lives doing what we are supposed to do.
You know that is easy enough to say, but many banks specifically catered to people with "less than perfect credit". It's easy to pass judgement, but when a buyer is assured they'll be able to refi their mortgage, and they cant, what are they to do? I would be willing to bet a months pay that when these young people bought, the broker told them that with a 2 yr on time payment history they could refi with no problem. I would further bet that their mortgage is probably nearly 100% LTV. That being said, there are NO products available right now that would help them refi without significant upfront cash.
Instead of anger and apathy with these kids, where is the anger and apathy for the banks? Aren't they just as responsible for letting them get the loans in the first place? As a banker, how do you sleep at night, charging someone 13% interest? The banks are at least equally as guilty as the consumers for all of this financial mess we're in now!
For the others who lack sympathy- how do you know they have cable? How do you know they have cell phones? Is the real solution to this for them to lose their house over $2200??? The artcicle states they're still current on their mortgage(s), inspite of a 50% increase. If it were food or HOA dues for me, you can damn sure bet my kids would be fed!
i'm just not understand how their 2 yr arm (i'm assuming its a 2 year since they've been in the house that long) went from 9% to 13.6%...
wonder who they financed with anyway. don't you have to have pretty shady credit to get a 9% rate on an arm?
so how could they afford a $300k home with poor credit, two kids (at the time) and "lesser" jobs....
You know that is easy enough to say, but many banks specifically catered to people with "less than perfect credit". It's easy to pass judgement, but when a buyer is assured they'll be able to refi their mortgage, and they cant, what are they to do? I would be willing to bet a months pay that when these young people bought, the broker told them that with a 2 yr on time payment history they could refi with no problem. I would further bet that their mortgage is probably nearly 100% LTV. That being said, there are NO products available right now that would help them refi without significant upfront cash.
Instead of anger and apathy with these kids, where is the anger and apathy for the banks? Aren't they just as responsible for letting them get the loans in the first place? As a banker, how do you sleep at night, charging someone 13% interest? The banks are at least equally as guilty as the consumers for all of this financial mess we're in now!
For the others who lack sympathy- how do you know they have cable? How do you know they have cell phones? Is the real solution to this for them to lose their house over $2200??? The artcicle states they're still current on their mortgage(s), inspite of a 50% increase. If it were food or HOA dues for me, you can damn sure bet my kids would be fed!
Look at the picture carefully. Look at the clothes. I doubt that they're shopping at Good Will. It's a large house. Did they really need one that size if they couldn't afford it. Where was the common sense on their part? You never use 100% of your budget to live. It should be around 50% to 70% max. Where was their emergency fund? What was their financial backup plan. These are all financial mistakes that too many people make and then turn around and ask for sympathy.
It's unfortunate that people don't know how to manage money. Perhaps, it might be in the best interest of the banks and mortgage lenders to educate people with low credit scores before lending them money.
All I know is that sympathy is not going to solve any of their problems. What if we all feel sorry for them send them the $2200 and even pay their HOA dues for the next couple of years. I can guarantee that they will be in this mess again because they will have learned nothing.
Instead of anger and apathy with these kids, where is the anger and apathy for the banks? Aren't they just as responsible for letting them get the loans in the first place? As a banker, how do you sleep at night, charging someone 13% interest? The banks are at least equally as guilty as the consumers for all of this financial mess we're in now!
Absolutely not! No one MADE them get that mortgage, no one FORCED them to buy a home they couldn't afford!!
I don't care what their mortgage broker told them, a broker told us we could afford a LOT more of a mortgage than we got. We looked at what WE could pay, and we took into account all scenarios.
It's one word - two letters and only one syllable: NO. We used that word every single time someone offered us home equity lines or refinancing. It's pretty easy.
That is so sad. One more reason not to live in a HOA. (the mortgage issue is something else entirely)
Its not the HOA's fault totally. And don't throw the baby out w/the bathwater....our HOA is very good IMO and we do receive many benefits from living w/one.
If you READ the covenant like you should, you know that if your dues are late, the HOA can put a lien on your home.
If their side is true, the HOA could be a little more flexible in terms of working out a payment plan possibly....
I would be willing to bet a months pay that when these young people bought, the broker told them that with a 2 yr on time payment history they could refi with no problem.
I learned early on in life not to trust people who make money off of you spending money. The more you spend, the more they make. That's like being shocked that the car you bought from the used car lot wasn't just "driven on Sundays by a little old lady who only went to church".
Do these same people believe the infomercials and snake oil salesmen? If so I have some magic beans I'll sell them.
I also think the banks should crumble because of this. They took the gamble with these loans and they deserve to lose the farm because of it.
I learned early on in life not to trust people who make money off of you spending money. The more you spend, the more they make. That's like being shocked that the car you bought from the used car lot wasn't just "driven on Sundays by a little old lady who only went to church".
Do these same people believe the infomercials and snake oil salesmen? If so I have some magic beans I'll sell them.
I also think the banks should crumble because of this. They took the gamble with these loans and they deserve to lose the farm because of it.
Absolutely not! No one MADE them get that mortgage, no one FORCED them to buy a home they couldn't afford!!
I don't care what their mortgage broker told them, a broker told us we could afford a LOT more of a mortgage than we got. We looked at what WE could pay, and we took into account all scenarios.
It's one word - two letters and only one syllable: NO. We used that word every single time someone offered us home equity lines or refinancing. It's pretty easy.
Seriously, good for you. But, you know, when people go to a broker they expect that the broker is looking out for their best interest. It's the brokers job to educate the consumer. It's not the brokers job to put the consumer in to a loan with crappy terms just because it means more to their bottom line- yet all too often that happened. The banks created these products to sell houses. The convinced people they could afford things they couldnt. As far as Im concerned, they gave away the keys! Banks were giving 300k loans on STATED incomes. Now that the chickens are coming home to roost, we're going to bail out the freaking banks and leave the homeowners who tried to do right hung out to dry.
The banks have an obligation to protect themselves and their customers. Many, many banks failed to do this. If they hadn't been so greedy, they wouldnt have sold products that people ultimately couldnt afford. Conversely, there are people who used those same crappy products the way they were designed, and got trapped when the industry imploded.
So, cast your stones, all of you that have never made financial mistakes. But truth be told, there are probably far more people with some "bumps" than there are with none!
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