> Let me jump in here. You know I've been arguing
> against John a good deal on
> this subject, but let me now look at things from another
> perspective, since
> I think that the sub-prime mess is not just about
> deregulation....that other
> fundamental problems are involved.
> I'm not sure when you bought your house, but I
> originally bought mine late
> in '92, and was able to obtain a beautiful 3000 sq. ft.
> house in a desirable
> neighborhood with a mortgage payment of about $850/month.
> I followed the
> market, including refinancing, and was always able to
> borrow 80% of
> appraised value for <7% interest. The terms were always
> 30 year, with no
> balloon payment. I did take a variable rate on my last
> loan, but that was
> because I knew I would be selling the house by now. This
> was all in the Houston area.
> To my surprise, a couple of years ago my daughter was able,
> in mid-Virginia,
> able to obtain a 5% down loan for an interest rate that
> was, IIRC, in the
> 6%-7% range, fixed with no balloon payments (I asked before
> she took the loan).
> So, I'd be interested in exploring why our experience
> has been different
> from yours. I have some possible candidates, but I think
> this exploration
> would reveal some of the contributing problems to the
> present housing situation.
> Finally, now that we are renting, we are paying for 1300
> sq. ft. less than
> the mortgage our buyers are paying for 3000 sq. ft. It
> doesn't make
> financial sense to rent here if you plan on staying put.
> Dan M.
hi dan, thanks for the insights. i just responded to bruce's informative
post, but can add here that when i bought my house in santa monica, i agreed to
the terms and accepted the house as is. my realtor was trying to get me to
drop out, but my girl friend, at the time, found out, through her connections,
that two other people had made a higher offers AFTER mine had been accepted,
and the seller's agent wanted a bidding war.
when i put the house back on the market, the original agent, tried to tell
everyone coming to the open house that the house was not worth what i was
asking. she was wrong...
jon
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