Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Maybe, just maybe, property is overvalued there...
That is certainly true, and I actually very much agree -- but at the same time, the people who are working there still need a place to live, as well...
The Recession taught me that the basic morality that I always believed--or at least hoped--existed in this country is gone.
People that I knew--church-going, supposedly ethical--saw no problem with buying houses they knew they couldn't pay for and then playing the victim card and living in the house without making payments for years--and then complaining at what "the bank" did to their credit rating.
Another person did a cash-out refinance 7 or 8 times and then told me she was walking away from the interest-only loan because it was "their fault for giving me the loans when they knew the value was going to drop".
No integrity. No sense of personal responsibility. Now I wonder if anybody is left with integrity.
IMHO, the worst part is that all those folks who kept up with their payments haven't got any help with the govt.
The great recession is a good example of a liberal feeding frenzy with no moderation of spending. This creates lots of debt, inflation and a bubble. Everyone should have a safe, clean and peaceful home. It does not have to be large.
Living within your means modestly and responsibly and not depending on the Fed to manage to economy correctly are two invaluable lessons. Home ownership is only going to be more difficult in the coming years unless you have a substantial inheritance or work for the govt.
1) Don't ever let your mortgage payment exceed the amount of rent you can collect if you need to rent your house out.
2) Construction is extremely feast or famine so don't ever ever ever spend thousands of dollars majoring in Civil Engineering, Architecture or Land Surveying.
3) Companies don't give a rats a$$ about you so do your job well and be thorough but don't let your job cut into time spent enjoying hobbies or time spent with family and friends.
5) In addition to retirement, it's a good idea to have at least $10,000 grand in your bank account in case you get laid off.
Hmm…
1. I don't control the rent/mortgage ratio. Renting is for people who don't intend to stay in one place. I'll buy, thank you. If you have enough savings, you should be able to pay your mortgage while you look for a job or try to sell the house.
2. We nevertheless need civil engineers, architects, and surveyors. People who go into those fields should expect variable incomes.
ABB - Always be Buying as in stocks. October 2008 to October 2014 was the greatest buying opportunity of a lifetime. Anyhow who maxed out 401k those six years did great.
My lesson learned: Real estate in good neighborhoods can depreciate sharply for a variety of reasons. I don't expect to recover my real estate losses in my lifetime and my purchases were far from speculative.
What do you think the main cause of the "Great Recession"(oxymoron) was also what is/are the lessons you learned from it? Have you recovered?
Work for Goldman Sachs. Make connections in the government. Get high on OPM (other people's money) and bet it on derivatives based on derivatives (CDOs based on MBSes) or derivatives based on NOTHING (synthetic CDOs.) Lever your business to the max, then beg the government to save you. Don't act like a grateful beggar either, tell the world you are doing God's work. In short, give a perfect demo of how good old regulatory capture really works.
Rant over, I will be courteous and answer the questions you actually asked.
The cause - overleverage. By homeowners (0 down on $800K home with $80K income, etc). By banks - relaxed standards for loans and reserves. But most of all by investments banks, hedge funds and the betting ^W finance industry - AIG in particular.
My lessons - America is corrupt as Hell at the top. Personally - don't pay more than a reasonable price for any asset, no matter what the market is doing. On the plus side, don't panic when there is blood on the street. (I didn't foresee Nov 2008 lows but I clearly saw that Mar 2009 sell-off was way overdone. Went and bought Berkshire B's at $43-ish (after split). If I was smarter I'd have bought SPY!)
Have I recovered - yes. Lost my job, got a new one. Lost over half of house value, now no longer underwater thanks to a refinance, prepayments, and overall recovery of house values. Lost half of my 401K/IRA - just temporary. It was mostly in large-cap value stocks, so didn't lose as much and didn't recover as much as SPY. But overall way up in the positive compared to 2006 pre-crash value.
Great Depression - 1930's
Great Recession - 2008-14(ish)
You're the first person to use the term Great Depressions. Everyone else is obviously talking about modern times.
As for the topic, I graduated in 2007, the only effect the Great Recession had on me was it gave my company an excuse to have a salary freeze.
I fought them back by quitting and getting a new job and a 25-30% raise.
The Great Recession taught me "Screw loyalty, they only way you get a raise is by quitting."
And it's been the best career advice every.
This.
And I'm still fighting. The Recession has made me even more of a hustler than I already was. It made my career begin and evolve on a much slower scale than it should have, given my drive and education. I have been affected by three layoffs in under two years and was unemployed or employed at minimum wage and in internships for over a year following a Master's degree. Brutal, but I'm not giving up. A lot of people my age with Bachelor's degrees have, and that is just sad.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
