Do you think OC caused the world economic meltdown? (Fresno: real estate market, foreclosed)

[AustinGuy]

Pretty much the worst of the worst mortgage lending companies were based out of the OC, so the OP may have a point.

[ocexpo]

If you look at places like Fresno, Bakersfield, etc. where a heavily latino population started buying new houses in these subdivisions, those markets have fared much worse than ours. I mean, in Modesto, for example, the average house price in one subdivision in 2005 (when it was new) was $821,000, the avg income was $75k, and 85% of the buyers were latino. Today, the most expensive home in that Modesto subdivision is listed for $405,000.

I am an architect for a low income housing corp. In 2005, we saw all these people who were going from subsidised housing to buying $600K detached homes. It was a disaster waiting to happen. I knew none of these people would actually make it, most of them lived on welfare and were gardeners/maids/low-skill government employees, etc.

[cabolissa]

I think the CA homeowners who experienced record property value inflation who then pulled out every penny is a big part of it. Also, the people who shouldn't have qualified for a home, but did. But none of this would have happened if the LENDERS didn't lend the money in the first place!!!!!! Don't forget, mortgage companies and brokers were making a mint doing it.

Who's to say that Texans/Coloradans/Minnesotans wouldn't have done the same thing if their home values rose to the same degree? People are greedy, period. The people in CA just had the opportunity unlike most of the other states.

The problem is at looking at your home as an investment, an asset. It's simply a place to live. Investment property is that which generates income. If you borrow against your home, you're going to lose it once you hit a rough patch. God knows most of us don't have a year's worth of expenses saved in the bank. It's playing with fire.

[matzoman]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

Pretty much the worst of the worst mortgage lending companies were based out of the OC, so the OP may have a point.

Thank you, I dont just make these things up!

[EscapeCalifornia]

Originally Posted by cabolissa

The problem is at looking at your home as an investment, an asset. It's simply a place to live. Investment property is that which generates income. If you borrow against your home, you're going to lose it once you hit a rough patch. God knows most of us don't have a year's worth of expenses saved in the bank. It's playing with fire.

That's a huge part of the problem. People acted as if their equity was free money. Hey, I've got $200,000 in equity in my house! I'll just take out $50k to redo the kitchen and maybe another $75k to buy a BMW. Its free money!

[58robbo]

Originally Posted by buckeyenative01

Greed and keeping up with the jonses is everywhere. For as many people in the midwest who watched in disbelief as the economy tanked, there were just as many in California doing the same thing. Some of us are/were going to be screwed by this no matter how hard we tried to live within our means.

All anyone can do is thank their lucky stars unemployment/foreclosures/bankruptcy hasn't happened to them...yet. We haven't begun to see the worst of this.

and who provided the cash for us to keep up with the joneses? ....X......

who provided liquidity to .....X....... to loan to us?

[MisterDuke]

Originally Posted by AustinGuy

Pretty much the worst of the worst mortgage lending companies were based out of the OC, so the OP may have a point.

And Christopher Cox came from OC too. He was a longtime OC congressman before Bush tapped him to spearhead deregulation at the SEC. He made sure they looked the other way.

[buckeyenative01]

Originally Posted by 58robbo

and who provided the cash for us to keep up with the joneses? ....X......

who provided liquidity to .....X....... to loan to us?

Okay, but who couldn't control their spending and bought houses on "liar" loans? We are as much to blame for this as the banks.

[FresnoFacts]

Originally Posted by 58robbo

and who provided the cash for us to keep up with the joneses? ....X......

who provided liquidity to .....X....... to loan to us?

Its called personal responsibility and saying no.

I've been offered lots of things over the years that were not right for me (or were illegal).

Those type of people didn't care what happened to me, they just wanted to get what they wanted.

It is the same concept as to why we teach children about "Stranger Danger" even if that candy or kitten looks attractive.

No matter how attractive someone else makes something bad look, people have to say no.

[EscapeCalifornia]

As I've said before, there's plenty of blame to go around. Blame the Al Sharpton crowd for pushing banks to give mortgages to people who didn't qualify. Blame the banks for making the loans. Blame the government and insurance companies for insuring the loans. Blame the real estate agents and loan brokers to doing "whatever it takes" to get the deal done, regardless of the buyer's ability to actually afford the property. Blame the appraisers to being "flexible". Blame the buyers for taking on debts they couldn't repay in a million years.