eirias: (Default)
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People who've talked to me about the economic crisis have probably heard my take on home-buyers who bit off more house than they could chew. To wit: Think of your high school class; try to imagine how many of them understood compound interest at the time; recall how many years have passed since the tenth grade. Morally you can say whatever high-minded things you like about signing a contract and responsibility and blah blah blah, but on a practical level, expecting the median American to understand home financing to the point of being able to think critically about loan offers is just a losing proposition. If you don't want people to leave the thinking to the experts, you're gonna have to ditch the ideal of homeownership for the common man.

So: I think my attitude is about as sympathetic to the mortgage-screwed as you can get. And even still, there are people out there, apparently, who make me wonder: What on earth were you thinking?

(no subject)

Date: 2009-05-16 01:19 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thekat03.livejournal.com
see, with an income like his, he could have gotten a nice $100-$150K loan with a fixed rate, been able to afford it and the other expenses for himself and his new family, and not have wandered into massive credit debt territory. then, if his wife gets a job, they have play money for christmas and so on. much more sensible, i think.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-05-16 11:59 am (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eirias.livejournal.com
Sure, if he wants to commute to DC from West Virginia ;).

Seriously, I do think part of his problem is his choice of where to live and work. Affordable housing around here isn't actually around here.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-05-16 12:28 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] thekat03.livejournal.com
maybe he could have found a condemned postage stamp sized property and fixed it up!

ok, maybe not, but he should have done at least the basic math to realize how much he could afford and still have money to feed/clothe 3 dependents.

i can't help but wonder what his wife was doing out west when she was a stay-at-home mom with 2 kids... who paid for her expenses out there, before she moved to DC? being a stay-at-home mom is a full time job, but it sure doesn't pay well, unless you can sign up for a $4000/month in alimony and child support, and the guy actually pays up.

(no subject)

Date: 2009-05-16 07:14 pm (UTC)
From: [identity profile] eirias.livejournal.com
Oh, of course he should've done the basic math, especially since he clearly had the wherewithal to do so. I just wanted to point out that your easy and obvious solution doesn't actually apply around here. It could be that that's why he got so screwed -- that an honest appraisal of the situation would have told him he could not afford to own any property anywhere within 30 miles (at a guess), and that was too inconvenient to believe.

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