Originally Posted by RichRed
Warren Buffett, "get scared when everyone is greedy, get greedy when everyone is scared."
Warren Buffett, "get scared when everyone is greedy, get greedy when everyone is scared."
The wild speculation that was going on the past few years made it really tough for those of us who were just looking for a house (home).
I bought my house in early 2005, KNOWING I was overpaying. It was either an expensive house or NO house. Wife, kids and pets want a place that is THEIRS. There was no waiting option (and heck...we'd still be waiting).
I had enough foresight to get a good fixed rate mortgage, and hedge the price indirectly (short on Long Bond futures and selected homebuilders), so the hit has not been that bad. Plus there are the homeowners tax incentives.
But I work this stuff for a living, you can't expect everyone out there to have that kind of financial acumen.
Moreover, while there was greed, there was a LOT of misinformation and deception going on. Mortgage Brokers doing bait and switches right before closing, just as an example.
While the guys in the show got their house for free, and lost it stupidly, I can't help thinking of a lot of good folks who are losing theirs. I can't write them all off as greedy.
To top it all off, another group of good folks are losing or going to lose their jobs as this mess plays out while possibly oblivious to the whole thing.
Sorry for the rant, mods...if it's too political, remember I can't vote (yet).
Last edited by oneupper; 07-29-2008 at 06:41 PM.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."
http://dalmady.blogspot.com
In other words, Moneyball.
Yep. Bought our current home in 2004 taking advantage of a foreclosed property that wasn't beat to death.Moreover, while there was greed, there was a LOT of misinformation and deception going on. Mortgage Brokers doing bait and switches right before closing, just as an example.
Two days before closing the broker say the rate will be almost 2 points higher. She thought she had us over a barrel because the implied pressure of "losing our dream home". Simply told her to give us the old rate or we would walk.
To cover myself on the back-end (and give the broker some incentive), I tracked down her boss in Columbus and let him know of my displeasure.
About two hours later I got a tearfull call from the broker saying we had our old rate.
Funny thing is, even though the broker tried to pull a fast one, at no point was their a gun to my head to sign a deal I (a) didn't understand or (b) couldn't afford. The word "no" can be so powerfull.
There are a good number of people in prison for their activities in subprime lending. I hope you understand that they aren't there for trying to give a higher rate a few days before the closing. The mortgage bubble was littered with fraud. Trust me on this. I saw a heck of a lot of it in my previous job.
How do we know he's not Mel Torme?
Maybe this might be the beginning of being able to pull down the facade that is Extreme Makeover Home Edition.
How about instead of giving one family a $500-750k custom mansion loaded to the gills with top of the line perks they spread that money around communities a little more. But that doesn't make quite as good a show.
As an extra note of bitterness, my three year old home was built by a builder who's been on the show 3 times. I'm reminded of that because it's everywhere, on their literature, on their website, on their letters...and so on.
On the show - the builder is treated with god like reverence because they took time out to build one house. Yet I live in a community riddled with problems due to that same builders malfeasance. Their flippant attitude towards the issues my neighbors face simply adds gasoline to the fire (the actual fires of which there have been several).
But hey - they did get good pub from ABC - so they have that going for them. Which is nice.
Last edited by jmcclain19; 08-01-2008 at 05:28 AM.
Yeah. They should put on a worse TV show, get cancelled, then no one gets anything. That would be much better.:
Reading comprehension is not just an ability, it's a choice
Impossible
Yes. For the most part, it's all on an equal plane of bad.Impossible
How do we know he's not Mel Torme?
Financially, it's a game show. The difference is that the network gets to pick the winner and said winner is usually picked for being a huge loser (for whatever reason, many times not their own fault).
I'm surprised there aren't more of these cases.
"A person is smart. People are dumb, panicky, dangerous animals and you know it."
http://dalmady.blogspot.com
Obviously there was fraud and bad business decisions being made left and right.
Just seems that people are more willing to blame the "big bad evil corporations" and completley absolve the people who made horrifically bad decisions.
There is blame on both sides of the so called "mortgage crisis".
That's nearly impossible to blow. What am I missing here? If the family stayed at the Ritz Carlton every night for the last 3 years, it would barely by 500K.
Baseball is like church. Many attend, few understand
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