Let’s review: I refused to get a mortgage I couldn’t afford. I didn’t get a balloon mortgage. I didn’t buy my condo until I was sure of two things: That my contracting job would be a full-time staff position, and that my debt was paid down considerably before I bought it.
There is also the fact that when I set foot into a Ryan Homes office on July 3, 2007, I was given the hard-sale pitch, told I could effectively buy a condo with little or no money down, and that my debt wouldn’t be a problem, because a quick credit check showed that I could afford one up to, oh, $400,000. And if I acted now, they’d throw in several thousand dollars off the price. But I’d have to act soon, because the townhouses were going fast!
I walked out of that office without signing through sheer strength of will, knowing that I was being sold a load of goods and that I didn’t have to sign anything without thinking it over at length. I waited a year before buying my condo, paying down significant chunks of my debt in the meantime. When I finally did get a mortgage, I took advantage of the $7,500 home buying loan, which is a loan that I am paying back to the government each year on my 1040. A few months after I bought my condo, that loan became a credit.
Now the government is trying to work the housing market by making banks give money to people whose houses are underwater and who can’t make the mortgage payments. The article does not say whether it covers people who bought houses they could not afford with ARMs that they hoped would never take effect because they were trying to flip the house for a profit. It doesn’t say whether it covers people who didn’t care that they were buying a house they couldn’t afford, because they were betting on being able to get a better job, or something. All it says is that the big five banks are going to help homeowners who are about to be foreclosed on for whatever reason.
And you and I will ultimately be footing the bill for this.
My condo is currently underwater. It’s lost around 15% of its value, I think. I’m a little afraid to compare the current assessment with the original assessment. But I refinanced my mortgage last year and always had one that I could afford. I’ll never be a moocher. I’m just a stupid working stiff who thinks part of being a grownup is being responsible for your own actions, and waiting until you can afford the house that you bought. Go figure.
So are they going to also come up with relief for parents paying excessive college tuition for their kids because the government keeps tossing cheap loans at students who want to spend five years taking junk degrees because they’re too busy partying to study?
Oh wait – Obama’s already proposed one to let students not need to earn much if anything to clear their debt, and at the same time let tuitions rise even higher for those not on all of these redistribution programs.
That’s the main focus of this administration, after all. Take from those struggling to make a living and give to those who can’t be bothered.
Actually, his main focus is to destroy all the people who might attempt to resist being made slaves to his bosses (He probably is not the actual boss, just the figurehead). Joseph refused to allow the Egyptians to sell themselves as slaves to Pharaoh and insisted that they keep 80% of the income. Obama is trying to force the people into a situation whre they will make the same offer so that he can be “gracious” and accept it.
It is the same way that Pharaoh managed to enslave the Children of Israel in the first place.
My son will be starting college this fall-probably Texas Tech-and I will also be going back to school at the same university. I’ll be paying for my one or two classes a term out-of-pocket. My grandmother left my son a ‘college’ fund’ but most of it’s in stocks…bought the year I was born. The capital gains BS on that account should be…fun when we have to deal with taxes. Because he lives with his dad in Illinois he’s trying to get $1000 worth of ‘in house’ scholarships which will qualify him for in-state tuition. His dad will be taking out a small loan, if he lives with us he’ll save on room/board…and he WILL be expected to pay us a little rent each month AND have a part time job. He’s also thinking of joining Army ROTC. He has been informed that his parents and step-parents are not willing to go into debt for his future. That’s part of being a grown-up. You live within your means and take responsibility for your actions. My son will NOT be a burden on a society that owes him NOTHING!