President Bush has dropped his threat to veto the massive Housing Rescue Plan, and it will likely be passed into law in the coming days. As a result, many financially irresponsible homeowners will be given more affordable mortgages and will not learn the lessons that will make the immediate and long-term future of our housing market more solid.
That’s not all. The government will provide what amounts to a massive bail out for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Even worse, the government will have the option of directly acquiring billions of dollars in stock in those companies. My friend, that smacks of socialism.
There’s more to it. If you’re tempted to think this is a wonderful effort by the government, I encourage you to think about the ramifications past the immediate time:
- Irresponsible home owners will be left with the impression that the government can and should bail them out of bad situations, making future bad decisions more likely and contributing to a long-term instability in the housing market
- Executives at Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and everyone else watching will see that the government is inclined to fund the “rescue” of large enterprises, causing future business leaders to expect the government to intervene upon massive failure. This will doubtlessly cause businesses to behave more carelessly in the future.
- The government will have established a model that allows them to take ownership in private companies. This is a very, very, very bad precedent.
This is a sad day for the real estate market. President Bush should be ashamed. Nancy Pelosi should be ashamed. Harry Reid should be ashamed.
As always, your comments are welcomed here at FreeRealEstateTraining.com!
Bryan,
You are taking s simplistic and short-sighted point of view. First noone is getting away scott free. Both will take substantial losses, which they will learn from. Letting all those banks fail and letting all the homeowners go into foreclosure will have a much more negative effect on the country than letting them survive with substantial losses…… which this bill is designed to do.
I always enjoy your essays even when I may disagree with a point or two here and there. Thanks so much for giving us a voice of reason. It’s so nice to read without knowing in your heart that the “pitch” will come soon.
Bryan,
I couldn’t agree more. It is a sad, sad situation this country is getting itself into. Your comments above are accurate and well stated.
I couldn’t be more disappointed in Bush for not having the guts to stand up to this issue and explain the economics and consequences to the American public, who either don’t care or don’t want to listen to the reality of these actions.
With a deep love for this country and today a sad American,
Lyn Weight
I couldn’t agree more. This is NOT going to make our economy healthier. It’s going to make us more dependent (in many ways) on Uncle (Father? Mother?) Sam.
I can’t say I’m surprised though. Bush is probably willing to do just about anything to try and improve his legacy before leaving office. Now he can always point back to this. :-/
…jp
I couldn’t agree more. Can’t believe we’re watching this happen before our very eyes.
All great societies come to and end or move toward socialism type of of governments … I just didn’t know it’d happen this soon.
We’re better be prepared for the worst is yet to come. Sorry, but especially if Obama becomes president. His views are Socialist, through and through.
America … land of the partial free and home of the dependent.
This is just another in a long line of stupid deads by the Dems to get “public opinion” on their side!! It will have dire consequences in the long run and most people won’t see them for years. One big one is to hurt the dollar even further.
This all started with FDR and social security, GIANT mistake!
So I could not agree more with you Bryon, a huge hidden mistake on everyone’s part.
Chris
Bryan,
As usual, you got straight to the point. I completely agree with your argument. The government should not step in as that doesn’t allow the free market to be free. A guiding hand always has an effect and as past interventions have shown, not in a good way. Not ignoring the government intervention there’s another key element to this. Fannie and Freddie get more backing from the Fed; where does everyone think this money comes from? It’s either from your taxes that should be going to something actually wanted or add to the national debt. It looks as though it’ll be the latter. I could go on for awhile about the Fed and it’s decisions in the last few decades. If I’m not correct, the bill still has the provisions ( $4 billion or something like that ) for those facing foreclosure. Where’s the provision for the folks that make their payments on time? That’s it for now.
Bryan is absolutely right on this one. Privatizing profits and socializing losses is economic suicide. San Diego is going even farther with this absurdity by declaring a “foreclosure sanctuary” and suing to stop foreclosures. If you think getting a mortgage is difficult now, just wait until the socialists outlaw foreclosures. Who would lend money to buy a home without any kind of security to recover that money in the event of default? (And please don’t even THINK about having the tax payers guarantee home loans without collateral.)
The socialists are coming because the conservatives lost their sight. If you have to pay capital gains taxes, then do it before the next president is sworn in. Congress loves to pass retroactive tax laws.
Something else that a lot of people aren’t talking about is that this “bail out money” doesn’t come from Uncle Sam, because Uncle Sam doesn’t have any money of its own. That money comes from you and me, the american taxpayers. So, those of us who have made good financial choices are stuck (together with those who have made bad choices) bailing out (through our taxes) both the individuals and companies who have made bad decision. I’m sorry, but I don’t think I should have to pay for other peoples’ bad choices…
Hey wake up republicans. Bush has been screwing the company (country) for eight years. Why do you think he would do anything smarter, better, wiser, now?
Why don’t you just vote for McCain who will plunge us into a deeper depression, continue the bogus war while our future (soldiers) die for nothing losing their right to life, while continuing to give tax breaks to corrupt men and women and corporations while lining their own pockets? That way he can continue to f*^+ up the economy like your beloved Bush has done and continues to do.
Just accept the fact that the heady days of greedy real estate investment is over; well, you could take advantage of all those homeowners you despise and call irresponsible, screw them over while making a tidy profit for yourselves. Will that make you feel better?
It’s interesting that you’ve managed to take a post that was completely impartial to the political characters involved and made it into a partisan attack. You’re welcomed to amend your comments by saying something specific rather than the vague and foolish comments you’ve made here. I’ll warn you in advance: I’ll almost certainly publish whatever you write. But I’ll also respond. So make sure you’re right on your facts if you want this to plunge into political discourse. Because I will not tolerate foolish commentary like what you’ve stated above. — Bryan Ellis
Should I be ANGRY or Jealous?…..
I can’t get this help because I haven’t defaulted.
I’ve spent 2 years without income and have racked up $55k in personal credit fighting to improve my home to sellable & pay my adjustable mortgage payments on a Rehab-gone-bad.
My last bit of good credit is about to be lost if I don’t sell my house. But others who have decided NOT to make their payments may get bailed out with a work-out. And the banks are getting rewarded for offering these tempting loans.
I’m at fault for taking the adjustable, but I’ve PAID my bills (so far). I pay now, I’ll pay later for my governments “rescue” of the “lesser” responsible.
That’s a very astute analysis. This type of legislation actually encourages default. It’s 100% ridiculous. — Bryan Ellis
Another reason to be sad today:
The lack of intellectual capacity, analysis skills and common sense by too many Americans. Again, Bryan, thank you.
p.s. This is Lyn – my post above was referenceing Jonsey…just wanted to be clear.
I also agree. This is definitely not teaching the vast majority how to make responsible decisions. I do have a question. I believe I read somewhere that this bill would include funds for local governments to buy up foreclosed properties and fix them up in order to resell them. Has anyone heard of this?
Second what Lyn said.
People that work out short sales and REO’s are doing everyone a big favor. For those that don’t understand this then some classes in Economics and real estate investing need to be on the top of the list.
Every person with a properly excuted Short Sale has been saved from having a giant hit put on their credit rating. Every REO bought involves nearly a 1 million dollar liquidty swing per hundred thousand for the banks. If this isn’t a valuable service to the people, companies and country then I don’t know what is!
If people like an out of control, socialist system then go to England or France, maybe try Spain. If you want to get a renter out of your house sit back and wait after a year, maybe two you might be able to get them out. Oh, no rent in the mean time.
My friends in France feel the country is lost. In ten years many think it will be an Islamic state by then. Now before you blow a gasket I don’t have problem with this on a religious basis, the problem stems from the very high unemployment, lack of work for many of these people and the very high, although quite, political unrest. These are the seeds of big problems for France. It would take to long here to explain all of the reasons for this, so I won’t.
As for England, try to buy a house. Prices there make our most expensive real estate look like a “Blue Light Special” at K-Mart.
When you buy a home you can’t do anything without permits, including paint, it has to be approved by the government. Now don’t be in a hurry as it will take anything from 1 to 3 years and even then may be turned down without explanation. Think it is fun to be a home owner there?
Many of my friends want to move here, because it so much less restrictive. If it wasn’t for the quotas they would.
So before we turn the country over to the socialist maybe we should look at what is really going on around the world. Not to many people are trying to move to England, France, India, Russia, Saudia Arabia if that doesn’t tell you something then what rock are you hiding under?
While I don’t always agree with Bryon, I sure do on this one.
Chris
Once again you are one of those selfish people who only care about oneselve until they find themselves in a predicament with no where to turn and need government help. Of course there are people that take advantage of situations but the majority of these people did not intend to get themselves into this. HAVE SOME COMPASSION FOR A CHANGE!!!!!
Having experienced foreclosure myself, I know first hand the pain it can cause. I also know what it’s like to fight my way back and make things right. And I’ve learned the lessons resulting from the pain I endured. I would never have learned those lessons if the government bailed me out. I reject your premise that compassion is at issue. In fact, your definition is entirely wrong. Take the old adage “Give a man a fish, feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish, feed him for a lifetime.” Your view of compassion is giving out fish for a day of eating. Mine is teaching one to fish for a lifetime of eating. Which is genuine compassion? But still, compassion has nothing to do with it, and there’s absolutely nothing in the U.S. Constitution which makes the difficulties of the housing market the business of the United States government. — Bryan Ellis
byran
you must be joking, I know and the smart people of the united states know that the reason that we are in this situation is not because the people of america got greedy, it’s because people like the big wigs and the greedy banks allowed this to happen, they knew these people couldn’t afford these loans in the 1st place when they gave it to them, and for you to say what you said tells all the readers about what side you are on also, so i would say if we didn’t have government intervention in some things then i would be very scared to see what really would happen to our world at large. So please tell the real story and don’t keep blaming the government everytime some big corporate wig steals money or does something that hurts the United states economy, there are alot of greedy people out there and i’m not saying that some people didn’t get in over there heads but who gave them the loan in the 1st place, you really need to look at that, because that will tell you the real story, and also you need to make a comment on chris blog i think he is also being a little political don’t you think, oh yea i see this may be one sided huh!! And you should be ashamed also of not viewing on this blog about how bad the banks did also as they ripped of people just to make a commission. FOOD for thought
Ben, thanks for your comments. I’ll happily respond and defend my positions, but I’m afraid all you’ve communicated here is that you dislike and distrust corporations. Fine, so be it. But do you have any actual reasons to support your opinions? I wasn’t able to decipher any specifics in your comment. If you’d like to try again, I’ll be happy to reply. — Bryan Ellis
Bryan-
This goes beyond sad-it’s actually frightening. No where in the US Constitution is this allowed. And the fact that you’ve pointed out just how deeply government will now get involved in private business is nothing short of Orwellian:big-brother government controlling way too much. This is the sure road to socialism and eventually communism. You mention Harry Reid and Nancy Pelosi: what do you expect from the extreme left, i.e., the democrat party. This is masturbation material for them; they LOVE this sort of thing because it further increases the size of almighty government, and the dems are all about big government power. And the president? The real shame is on him for “reaching across the isle” and further alienating conservative Americans with this unconstitutional nonsense. During an election year. Whaddya expect? I am watching my country go far to the left. Much farther and we’ll maybe go over that edge of no return.
We have run over to people in other countries and helped out people when they are displaced in masses and I am not talking about Iraq. We, the tax payers are paying out for this and any bail-outs so reducing taxes becomes more and more of a pipe-dream (have they ever really been reduced?) with the additional choice to spend, and current unused programs sit and are not ended holding money there. It would be great if as a country we could be less dependent on the goverment and everyone could solve their own financial distress. However having said this …
To just leave the largely financially uneducated people in our country to be displaced in the numbers they are due to foreclosures without some help is not a great choice either. There is no ideal fix but waiting for the free market to take over is too little too late for many responsible homeowners who found themselves in unemployment or with medical issues. We are “handicapped” by the hope of an American Dream. Cut out the television marketing that everyone needs(!) this and that and the other consumer good, and that if we should be fearful if we don’t have this or that …
You have stated some things that will be true in our future, but unless everyone (not just investors) buying and selling distressed properties knows how to and does work out short-sales, and individuals as well as banks ask what the current market for any given home for sale (despite their losses), and/or all banks take reduced payments for modifications (and future promissory notes for arrearages) for delinquent mortgages for people in owner-occupied homes who want to stay there, we can expect some more time in this dip.
Yes Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae are their own – non-personal entity and I am always distressed when the government bails out entities – including Northwestern Airlines and TCF Bank (80s). However if this particular action in this particular housing market helps the distressed people we live with daily, I say it is generally a good thing. Even with the anticipated “help” I suspect the suicide rate will go up along with the gas prices, and food prices. God Bless America for that American Dream investors themselves have the vision to get a hold of.
There’s millions of buyers that could afford the low rates offered when they purchased their homes. When a buyer enters into a loan office, they put their trust in the loan officer. They believe that “in good faith” the lender will place them in the correct loan that they can afford.
Millions were/are firt-time home buyers. They made their payments on time and were NOT irresponsible. The fault lies first with the professional business lenders who set the “traps” with adjustable rates, smiled and told the buyers they could handle the loans they were receiving.
We all think and believe that the loan industry regulates their loans based on economic wisdom, moving statistics and act “in good faith”. Apparently not. According to http://www.ourtownamerica.com, “Did You Know: 1 in 5 people move every year! That’s 20% of the United States population.
Other interesting facts:
43 million Americans move each year.
50% of all moves take place between Memorial and Labor Days.
11 – the number of times an average American moves during their lifetime.
Homebuyers re-invest up to 40% of equity gain. (National Association of Realtors)
2 Years: The time it takes a mover to “feel” settled.
6 Months: the average time necessary to become familiar with the surroundings”
Based on these statistics alone, I believe that a 7 or 10 ARM would have served our American citizens quite well.
The problem began with the lending industry not acting “in good faith” for the good of the people…first-time home buyers. I’m a Realtor and have spent hours trying to understand all the complexities of a loan and they are numerous. The average American has the intelligence of an eighth grader.
If this bill is passed, it may be serving those who have not yet defaulted, but it is wholly unfair to all the people who weren’t given a chance to utilize it beforehand.
The lenders robbed American home buyers of their down payments, their monthly payments, their good credit. The American people, first-time home buyers, believed that the lending institutions were acting “in good faith” for the betterment of their families and their nation. After all, the lenders are the “money experts”, right?!?
Please refrain from calling ALL people who have been unable to meet their adjustables irresponsible. The lending institutions directed, wrote, sold and kept the American peoples’ money. Now there are lawsuits hitting the lenders and rightfully so. The loan officers were paid bonuses to push the ARM loans with ill regard to the experience of the firt-time homebuyers.
You’re certainly right. Not everybody who is in default today is there due to irresponsibility. But to blame this whole problem on those “big bad lenders” who misled everyone is an endorsement of irresponsibility. Who in their right mind would actually base the single biggest financial transaction of their lives on the advice of a salesperson who is not an impartial advisor? That’s what you’re suggesting is at fault here, and that’s ludicrous. — Bryan Ellis
Bryan
No it’s not that i dislike corporations, Is that all i hear from you is that the government is bad, and that all people that got themselves in this need to just deal with it, if that is how you believe, that is just plan un fair because there are victims out there that got loans from these banks and wasn’t told what they were getting into, and if you think for one minute that all these people should have known better then i think that you are not in touch with reality. These loan officers, title companies, escrow companies and realtors have a Fiduciary responsibility to make sure they go over the paper work with you when you buy a house, and i have been to alot of closings and what they do is say sign here sign here as they give you a mountain of paper work to sign and the buyer of the property trust the realtor and title experts that they are telling them the truth as they sign especially someone that never purchased a home before, look at the news as you may there are banks that are going under, plus there are people going to jail because of this, so we can’t just blame the government or the people that got those loans either, i think if we stop think it is a demo or republican thing then i think we would be much better off. People are so about what they are going to get and i don’t want them to get this, we need to focus on being a giver not a receiver, there are to many people out there today worried about someone taking what they got and really they own nothing and when they did they will have nothing to take with them. We need to learn how to share more and help our fella brother instead of complaining about someone crossing the border, afraid that they will take something that is not yours, I tell you what go to the grave yard and see what they own.
I’m sorry Ben, but again your premise is entirely false. Fairness has nothing to do with this. And frankly, if it did, it would mean that a person who can’t pay their mortgage would be foreclosed. But that’s not what’s going to happen is it? How is that “fair” to everyone who has complied with their obligations? It’s not. Having said that, “fairness” still isn’t the issue. The real issue is that the government has no mandate or legal authority to do this. And even if it did, the “Housing Rescue Plan” transcends “compassion” into genuine foolishness. — Bryan Ellis
Funny thing happened on my way to work. I have been to quiet a few real estate guru seminars, actually the same one over and over because they talk to fast so it takes time to get all they are teaching. I asked two of the instructors why they took the time to train us if they were already millionaires. I perposed to them that they came to teach in Phoenix after they bought all the prime under valued property. Now after numerous real estate seminars they sent thousands of hopefuls out into the city to start scooping up property. The buzz got out and the investors from California and Nevada came rushing in to see what all the buzz was. People were having bidding wars on the front lawns. Bankers and sub-prime lenders were throwing contracts out there. The slime balls were doing contracts to anyone who asked because all they were going to was bundle them and sell and cash in while they could. Normal families saw the values of their homes go up, not taking caution of the reprocussions, refinanced their homes to buy new cars ect. And, boom, they woke up wishing they never did do it. Theres alot to blame, but a bail out is all wrong, that bill has PORK all over it!!!!
Did anybody put a gun to these home buyers head and say sign here and here? I think not! Why don’t all of you who disagree with Bryan send your wallets to Bryan and I and we will call it even. Is anybody willing to do that? Can anybody do simple math anymore? Does common sense even play a role with these people? Do some homework before you take the test people. There seems to be a never ending supply of people who will put their hands over their eyes and then claim they can’t see.
To Everyone that thinks the government ever gets it right,
The New Deal, has turned into the Old Dread. How solvent has Social Security ever been, Never!! If you don’t believe that then take a course in Macro-economics. It will be a real eye opener for those who have never taken a course before.
The National Highway system, it was built and then largely abandoned by the Feds. All they are interested in doing is building new roads not maintaining what we have. If you want a Light rail system they come in with billions, yes billions of dollars. Look at how many people it can every serve, what a joke they are. Becareful of the bridge you are crossing, it may fall down! No money for maintaince or repair. So raise gas taxes they say but the taxes don’t go to roads, they are used for a new bike lane not to service the people paying the taxes. How much in road taxes have I ever paid riding my bike, None.
It just goes on and on, show me a government program that really works well and I will agree that the Feds know what they are doing.
I won’t be having to agree any time soon, like never.
Hell, Clinton raped the military and the CIA then used that to show a balanced budget. What did we get for it? 9-11
For Bryan to say this is one more insanely foolish idea is just not strong enough. It will end up being criminal!!
Chris
Bryan
Got to tell you, you have some good info. on this site, but i think with this topic you are uninformed, and not only that the government has done some bad things but they also have done some good things, you need to look back in history and see if there is anything you can find that the government has done that has helped people, and i’m not saying they are perfect, but we still need them whether you see that or not. And it seems to me when some one dis agrees with you, i feel that you feel that you already know everything so why even try to explain anything to you because you have all the answers and everybody else is wrong, let me guess was that fair and balanced?
I’m not sure what you mean by the “fair and balanced” comment. Care to elaborate?
i don’t think the people on this blog that are saying that you are wrong as much as they are saying that it is more to it than just the homeowners making a bad choice be it that it may people out there that did make bad choices, but there are a lot of them that went in with good intention but got taken advantage of and you must have enough understanding to know that.
I’m not concerned about people thinking I’m wrong, and I welcome people to post here who disagree with me. That’s what makes it interesting! I don’t deny that some people were probably taken advantage of in the mortgage crisis. The good news is that there are already laws on the books for this type of thing, and the people who took advantage of others should be prosecuted as criminals and the companies they work for should be slapped with punitive fines. That’s a role that government should definitely serve: To enforce the laws already in place.
One thing i’m sure not to many people read there rider on there loan doc. and most people have no idea what that is i know i talk to people in NOD everyday, and if you read some of those riders you realize that no one in there right mine if they really knew would ever sign a loan that said that the loan can go up to 14-15% in 2 years with no pay off all due and payable interest only, now come on bryan let’s be real, and alot of these loan officers were pushing loans on to people and not explaining to the people right just to get there bonus and that is a fact.
There again Ben – this represents misrepresentation and is likely criminal. The government should prosecute these people as criminals and should probably extract restitution from the associated mortgage brokers. But that doesn’t mean it makes sense to bail out people who are facing foreclosure. There’s still an element of personal responsibility that seems to completely escape you. A person can not be forced to sign a mortgage loan. Therefore, the responsibility is ultimately with each person.
read this, this is real stuff TUCSON- Defunct mortgage lender First Magnus Financial Corp. broke a federal law by providing incentive payments to mortgage brokers, according to a report.
The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s report issued July 14 said Tucson-based First Magnus violated the Real Estate Settlement Procedures Act by providing volume-based incentives for Federal Housing Administration-insured loans.
HUD found that First Magnus paid $58,571 in incentives from Jan. 1, 2003 to Dec. 31, 2005 to seven brokers for the origination of 169 FHA-insured mortgages totaling more than $24 million. First Magnus collapsed and filed for bankruptcy during the credit crunch last August. It is currently being liquidated.
Company executives have founded a new company, Stonewater Mortgage Corp., that is operating out of First Magnus’ old headquarters in Tucson. So belive me when i said the loan officers had a good reason to close those loans buy any means that they could, like i said you write some good info. but on this one you need to do more Research on this one but on the rest of the stuff keep up the good work.
Thanks for your kind words. Ben, I really think you and I agree but we may be using different language. Here’s where I think we certainly agree: There were probably some people who were taken advantage of by unscrupulous mortgage lenders, and the victims of these lenders deserve restitution. I think where we disagree is the path to take in order to make that happen. I believe that unscrupulous mortgage brokers and loan officers should be prosecuted for the crimes they have committed, and that the companies these people work for bear partial responsibility for the problematic financial situations now experienced by the victimized borrowers. That’s reasonable and rational. But it’s neither reasonable nor rational to transfer liability for correcting this problem from unscrupulous lenders to the government. Because the government doesn’t have it’s own money – that money is mine and yours. So to make the government pay for the failures of others means that you and I are paying for it. And that’s a really, really bad thing when nobody is forced to “face the music” that they should. — Bryan Ellis
Look…I don’t know if this a good thing or not…either do you.
Please stop blaming the Dems for this. There is plenty of blame to go around and around and around. We need to work together as a nation to solve the many problems we face….agreed? Please stop the name calling.
To whom are you addressing these comments? If to me, it might be wise to re-read my comments, which excoriated the President and the leader of both houses of Congress. At no time did I mention any political party. But I disagree with the premise that one can’t know whether the Housing Rescue Plan is a good thing: It encourages government dependence, and discourages financial responsibility, both at the personal and corporate levels. So to my way of thinking, it’s bad. Thanks for your comments! — Bryan Ellis
Is it any real surprise that they did that – sad to say no.
All of you have a point to make including Bryan but this revolutionary behavior doesn’t solve the problems that haunt our country as a whole. It is our duty as professional investors to solve problems and the true investor will solve a problem then put it into action.
I can easily right a book about my responses to your blogs and the factual why’s to them but it still wouldn’t solve any problems with our real estate market.
All of you have a responsibility to find and implement a solution to one of the many problems in our real estate market for which will produce a positive response to our economic recovery and growth from it.
And don’t give me the excuse that it is just you. The people that changed history are the ones that believed in themselves to do so.
You replied to my opinion above “Who in their right mind would actually base the single biggest financial transaction of their lives on the advice of a salesperson who is not an impartial advisor? That’s what you’re suggesting is at fault here, and that’s ludicrous. — Bryan Ellis”
Every person who is a inexperienced, first time home buyer bases their decisions upon the comments and directions and encouragement of a professional loan officer.
Unfortunately for your argument, this really proves nothing. The fact that there may be a common behavior among people who are totally inexperienced in a matter does not make that common behavior wise.
Also, I believe you meant to say above “a salesperson who is an impartial advisor”…delete the “not”.
To the contrary – that’s exactly what I meant to say. Mortgage brokers are not impartial and give advice based on their own best interest. Therefore, one would have to be of questionable mind to base their financial decisions on the advice of someone with a clear agenda (and thus, not impartial).
My comments are not ludicrous; your ego is. I agree with Brian’s comment above “And it seems to me when some one disagrees with you, i feel that you feel that you already know everything so why even try to explain anything to you because you have all the answers and everybody else is wrong, let me guess was that fair and balanced?” You’re asking us to share our opinions but when we do, you blast us apart instead of respecting our right to voice our opinion.
Toni – on the contrary, I publish the comments that are made here so that everyone can see them. That’s concrete evidence of respecting your opinion. My concern is that too many people tend to base their opinions on feelings rather than reason. That’s why inane ramblings about “fairness” and the like are met with dismissive language. I like lively debate, but debate requires facts. Let’s have some facts and we can all learn more and better together. — Bryan Ellis
Jeff B’s comments above: Bravo, Jeff!
You go Bryan! Your response to “Jonesy” above was just as I would have put it. This person obviously isn’t aware that it was a democratic majority in congress that proposed this bill in the first place. Agreed, Bush made a bad decision by not vetoing it, but it wasn’t his brain child. This is largely a bi-partisan mistake, but it originated with the dems in congress. But despite who is to blame, it is, or soon will be the burden of the American taxpayers.
I’m not really interested in making this discussion become a “Republican versus Democrat” debate. Really all I want is for people to think about the deeper issues involved and conduct their businesses accordingly. In this case, very bad legislation was created as a reaction to the fact that there’s an economic strain in an election year. But this legislation has the potential to weight down the housing market for years to come, long after the election cycle is over. It’s deplorable. — Bryan Ellis
I think that the goverment should work with Investors to help clean up the mess. I don’t see how they can step In and give people the help with out us. I think that setting all these forclosure laws for Maryland helped in any way. It created a realtors market instead of Investors market here. now everything is just sitting on the market not going anywhere. How does this help the banks now own the properties. Instead of us being able to step in now we are considered consultants and cannot buy if you are a consultant. if the goverment steps in I guess this was a waste of time for all who were involved. Many of the people here could have been saved by Investors granted some unscrupulous people are out there but for the most part we could have helped them keep the properties. I would like to talk about how this whole process helps the Investor and what stratagies are next to use when the goverment steps in and cleans it all up……..
trish
Republicans = Democrats – Both parties, in end help the big companies for what ever their reasoning. Bring on Ron Paul, and everyone should write a letter to their congressperson.
I heartily disagree with the notion that Republicans and Democrats are the same, and I think Ron Paul is a well-educated idiot. But since this isn’t a political blog, we’ll leave it at that.
Okay enough politics. Lets focus because we are here to discuss real estate. In these times I have two options: purchase that California REO fixer upper that will break even in a revitalizing neighborhood going for a good long term investment? Or purchase cheaper homes that make cash now? I know its the eternal struggle, cash now (cash flow) vs cash later (capitol gains). How does the current and projected continually declining economy affect your decisions? Why?
In general the safest bet is to go with cash flowing properties. It’s really quite a good time to be a landlord, as the rash of foreclosures has put a large number of new renters on the market. — Bryan Ellis