"Home ownership harder to attain, retain in Levittown".

[Mjeacoma]

FTA

"A real estate agent in October told Reid the house was then worth $250,000. Experts say the value has since sunk further."

FINALLY! A real estate broker who tells the truth! haha Too bad they didn't post the brokers' name since the more I meet with brokers the less I trust them....

[llama8]

The article is showcasing Levittown as the first American suburb to reflect the housing market crisis on LI. My only gripe with articles like this is that people tend to not read into the story and lable Levittown as forclosure heaven and not see the big picture as it is a symbol for LI itself and that it is not just Levittown. Forclosures are happening all over LI. Stories like this can give a bad rap to a good town. When actually looking at the stats in the article, the forclosure numbers in Levittown are actually not that high compared to way it is being portrayed.


The article:
"Levittown symbolizes New York and Long Island as a whole. We're the white-collar worker, the blue-collar worker and everybody in between," said Ann Torcivia, who heads Friends Travel in Levittown and is president of the community's Chamber of Commerce. "If we're hurting, that means the rest of the Island is in bad shape. Newsday chose Levittown to see how the community is faring in the recession because of its historic status as the region's first suburb but also because of the community's long-standing role as a place where first-time home buyers have put down roots."


Whenever there is an issue on LI, articles always put Levittown in the forefront whether it is positive or negative (ie: immigration, going green and energy efficient, housing crisis). I guess I didn't realize that people really are interested with the iconic place where the American suburban dream started.

Also, the forclosures listed in the article were mostly for people who had 100% financing or 95% financing. I can't believe banks actually gave those mortgages out!!! Of course they forclosed. I'm still a bit bitter about the bank bailout. Banks got greedy and now everyone suffers and then they get bailed out. I put 80% down on my Levitt home in 2006 and I watch my finances and have outstanding credit and I can't do an addition on my home without refinancing because banks got rid of home equity loans. I also can't move (even though I love it here) because I would take a huge loss. I refuse to use up my cash savings to double dormer when there is no guarentee I'll make it back, so I will wait it out. It just bothers me that I follow the rules with millions of other people, and we all got penalized. Luckily I have a 30 year fixed mortgage at a great interest rate and I am sure this problem will eventually blow over. Hopefully it won't take too long.

Sorry, I just needed to vent a bit.