- It’s not a house it’s a home.
- Buy now or you’ll be priced out forever.
- Renting is just throwing your money away.
- You have to live somewhere.
- They’re not making any more of it.
- Real estate never goes down.
- You’re just kidding yourself if you’re waiting for prices to fall.
- Never a better time to buy! [either during a decline or boom]
- I think you have a deep-seated fear of commitment.
- Never try to time the market (when it’s falling).
- It’s different this time.
- _(insert location)_ is so desirable, people will want to live here no matter how expensive it gets.
- Boomers/immigrants/rich people will keep prices permanently high.
- Prices have achieved a permanently high plateau/new paradigm/soft landing.
- _(insert location)_ is land-locked.
- If you’re waiting for the perfect time to buy, you’ll be waiting forever.
- You can’t lose in real estate – it’s a no-brainer.
- Real estate’s seasonal; after _(insert holiday)_ things will return to normal.
- The last housing drop was caused by _(insert unique, non-repeatable event: 9-11, collapse of Soviet Union, earthquake, hurricane, etc.)_; it’ll NEVER happen again.
- STOP LOW-BALLING! STOP!! I REALLY MEAN IT!!!
* * *
Oh, yeah. And take a stand on the bail-out proposals and get vocal about it. Get loud. Get mean. Go find your rep's contact info here, then write to them...and to Dodd and Clinton too. Democracy still works. We voted out the GOP because we were pissed off and we can nip this oh-I-am-such-a-victim bail-out crap in the bud too. Stop talking about personal responsibility and start taking it. Don't like this blog's letter? Well, Patrick.net has one too for your consideration.
6 comments:
Marinite..
Of course, the thing I despise of the most is not so much all the BS statements that have come out of and rolled along with this massive bubble, but the utter contempt and complete sense of entitlement the RE industry (brokers, realtors, lenders, bankers, appraisers etc) have taken about this whole damn mess. Like they've drunk the juice and are now forever insulated from reality or us common folk.
Most of this does not necessarily show up in one statement or another. Rather it's in the whole damn “smugness package” that I abhor. It's their smirks, their posture, their walk, their lies, their over-inflated sense of importance in this world that bugs the crap out of me. Oh, fricken please! “You hock houses for god sakes!”… “You ain’t flying to the moon, curing cancer, saving lives or teaching children how to read and write.” Imagine if our teachers acted the way they do? We’d chew them up and spit them out, but with these knuckleheads, we have to sit and swallow it because they know what’s best for us and our future. Oh, fricken please!
Okay, I feel better.
Oh yes, I do own a small home (rental) in another state, but this whole damn bubble has done nothing for me or my kids future, but make it much, much more complicated. In the end, some owners and developers and a bunch of big bankers will be the only winners of this mess. Everyone else will have given their pint of blood or two (or more) and end up losing their jobs, their house, or, worse, their confidence and mental health. That’s why I’d like to see Sir Allen and his Fed buddies go down in smoke; a bunch of shit-birds.
As a point of clarity, the term "going down in smoke" means to be held accountable for helping create this mess. I don't know that that would look like really, other than I'd like to see them all fired, fined and then sign a statement of apology to their fellow countryman for screwing up royally along with a promise to help re-right this country's ship in the future. Now, wouldn't that be a breath of fresh air.
Of course, I'd like to ensure the history books are properly recorded as to what really happened here and why.
"pride of ownership" is the one that pisses me off the most.
I, lowly renter that I am, obviously have no pride.
Be sure to read "Sweeping mortgage bailout unlikely" from today's LA Times front page.
From the LA Times article that westside provided:
"One problem with even suggesting a broad-based rescue plan for homeowners who are underwater is that any bailout of borrowers also would be viewed as a bailout of their lenders — potentially including some lenders that allegedly preyed on home buyers during the housing boom."
Well, that's one problem.
Another issue is that many subprime "victims" are high income earners. They are not victims at all - but instead simply gamblers.
Unfortunately for them, just like tech stock investors in 2000, they took a chance.
And lost.
Further, if I read correctly just yesterday (I'm not sure I can believe it - I'll look for the source), 91% of subprime loans in recent years were refis.
And so, if that's true, or even if it's not (what if it's 85%, or what if of those refis, a good proportion were those who came out of less exotic loans), I wonder if a government program should be designed to "bail out" that kind of economic behavior?
I would think not.
Westside, your article suggestion gets you a mention in the new anti-bailout blog, Not One Cent (click my name/profile for details if you want to participate).
Thank you.
J
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