How We Got Here: It's Housing, Stupid

by Chris Isidore
Thursday, September 18, 2008
CNN/Money.com

The Wall Street crisis has been caused by plunging housing prices. So despite the billions of dollars being thrown at the problem, experts say more trouble lies ahead. The nation's financial system is in the midst of a massive shakeup and many on Wall Street and in Washington are pointing fingers and looking for someone to blame. But in the end, it all comes back to one issue - housing. Read the rest of the story...

Richard's commentary...

This story does not mention the huge greed factor nor the lack of government regulation of the financial institutions making these risky "bets" on the housing market. Many mortgages only required a "breathing person". "Yes I work a minimum wage job but I am telling you that my income is $200,000 a year", and that is almost what many of the lenders wrote down. Because the home was collateral for the loan...no worries...we will just take it back on foreclosure and sell it to someone else for a profit....because home prices will ALWAYS GO UP.

What nonsense!!! Real Estate is and always will be cyclical with ups and downs with the overall trend upward. Now there is a large downturn in home values and the financial institutions that bet wrong are going down the tubes.

A little common sense here from common people. Would you just give a property as valuable as your home to someone who told you he made a lot of money but did not show you with proof and with none of his/her cash in the deal? Would you sell your car to someone you did not know who just told you he would pay you but offered no proof that he/she could and drove off into the sunset with you holding a worthless piece of paper? Of course not. Then why did the financial institutions do that? And who is accountable for it?

When Franklin Roosevelt was President during the Great Depression of 1929-1941, Financial Institutions were divided up into commercial banks, savings and loans, insurance, stocks & bonds, real estate....distinctly separate and not allowed to compete in each other's business. Banks could not sell life insurance, Stock Brokers could not have checking accounts and other bank functions...you get the idea.

Then in the 1980's and continuing to now, deregulation was the mantra. Get the government out of business and let the market take care of itself. Now all Financial Institutions seem to be intertwined and offering the same services chasing the same consumer/investor dollar. Now greed and the need to have ever increasing unrealistic profits to push up their share prices on Wall St.

Well, the market has spoken. Many of the very wealthy and influential that were involved in causing this fiasco escaped without loss before the big melt down and may actually be receiving Gov't handouts as well. We the average taxpayer are going to pay for many years for this in many ways.

What to do now??

Get out there and buy your home or investment property now before the coming credit crunch knocks you out of the market with higher interest rates and much tougher qualifying standards. Rates are low, prices are affordable, there is a great selection of terrific deals, and it is still easier to get a good fixed rate FHA loan.

Get moving before you miss out...It's a Buyer's Market now!! The sellers are the ones crying that the market is bad. Think about it....act on it!!

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