Arizona Housing Bust Article (Phoenix, Maricopa: condo, loan, houses)

[azjack]

Impressive article on the Arizona housing bust, with focus on Maricopa, AZ.

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/06/re...nted=1&_r=1&hp

[altus2006]

Thanks for the article. It is very informative.

altus2006

[61scout80]

that article is crap.
1st Bad journalism, the writer can't figure out maricopa is 16 miles south of phoenix?
2nd people who make poor decisions based on bad advice will in the end lose out. Sucks for them, but not everyone can be a winner.
I also don't feel bad for people that pull out all this invisible equity on a home with loan terms they know they can't afford.
3rd, if these people can't afford to pay for their housing why are they sitting at a restaurant and SMOKING! cigarettes are expensive! it just further proves these people have made poor financial choices and need to learn somehow. EVEN LOSING THEIR HOUSE CAN'T TEACH THEM TO BE RESPONSIBLE WITH THEIR MONEY!

get rich quick schemes never work, and the realtor that was closing on all those houses every month should consider a study in economics.

Investing is not a sure fire way to make money. Also, when you are buying a product with at least a 300% mark up, and the company you are buying from is completing more every day you should expect supply to outpace demand at some point. It did, and those who made poor choices now have to face them. Hopefully they will learn to make better choices in the future.

[ibarrio]

Really? Maricopa is only 16 miles from Phoenix...seems much longer when I have driven out there

[blueeyz911]

Originally Posted by 61scout80

that article is crap.
1st Bad journalism, the writer can't figure out maricopa is 16 miles south of phoenix?
2nd people who make poor decisions based on bad advice will in the end lose out. Sucks for them, but not everyone can be a winner.
I also don't feel bad for people that pull out all this invisible equity on a home with loan terms they know they can't afford.
3rd, if these people can't afford to pay for their housing why are they sitting at a restaurant and SMOKING! cigarettes are expensive! it just further proves these people have made poor financial choices and need to learn somehow. EVEN LOSING THEIR HOUSE CAN'T TEACH THEM TO BE RESPONSIBLE WITH THEIR MONEY!

get rich quick schemes never work, and the realtor that was closing on all those houses every month should consider a study in economics.

Investing is not a sure fire way to make money. Also, when you are buying a product with at least a 300% mark up, and the company you are buying from is completing more every day you should expect supply to outpace demand at some point. It did, and those who made poor choices now have to face them. Hopefully they will learn to make better choices in the future.

LMAO! I feel the same way. Stupidity annoys me. Maricopa is actually about 35 miles south of downtown Phoenix. One of the main reasons I will not move there.

[61scout80]

Originally Posted by ibarrio

Really? Maricopa is only 16 miles from Phoenix...seems much longer when I have driven out there

I work on the chandler, phoenix, gila river reservation border, where the 202 and 10 meet. my commute is about 20 minutes, 17 miles. It all depends on where in phoenix your talking about, the city is huge. It may be close to 40 miles from the city limits on the north side of phoenix to maricopa...

and yes, that ride seams to take forever. The lack of anything will do that to you. BUT my boss, who commutes from northern phoenix has a 40 minute longer commute than me, even with me living "in the middle of no where". go figure


edit: google thinks my commute is 16 miles

from:I-10 E @33.304707, -111.972357 to:S Maricopa Rd @33.265466, -111.973454 to:33.083775,-112.038231 - Google Maps

[Beena]

Wow. That was a really sad article. Can he at least take some condolence that someone made a commission off of his sale?

[azjack]

Again, I believe that it is one of the best on the ground articles on this subject that I have read.

You do not have to be sympathetic to those who lost the house gambling game to find their stories enlightening. And frankly, I also find the idea of a writer for the New York Times hanging out at a Fry's in Maricopa to be thoroughly amusing.

And cigarette smoking is really not the primary (or secondary) subject.

[nitram]

LOL. This sounds like a made for TV movie. MapQuest sez from central Phoenix to central Maricopa is 34.73 miles. From So. border to No. border it's about 17 miles.

[hts]

Good article. Interesting to note that the poor guy loved Anthem (I'm not sure I've ever met anyone who visited it and didn't), but couldn't afford it. Anthem isn't for everyone.