Home > Blogs > Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED > Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

"They Bought More Than They Could Afford"-- OH SURE . . . BLAME THE HOME OWNER

By Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

Industry Observer with RETIRED / State License is Inactive Inactive License Oregon

July 12, 2010 05:31 PM

An interesting read this afternoon: A post about an agent who does not sugar coat, gloss over, but knows the facts and is direct with her local market (which has lost 30% of value, overall.)

In a comment I read: " . . . there are no short sales [in a particular area] because people do not buy more than they can afford . . ."

Shhhhh . . . I have a little secret. Promise not to tell??

MOST PEOPLE BOUGHT WITHIN THEIR BUDGET!

MOST PEOPLE DID NOT BUY MORE THAN THEY COULD AFFORD!

Through no fault of their own . . . they might have got STUCK with a home that they paid for FAIR & SQUARE, that WAS within their means, and now . . .

The cavaliar mention that "there are no short sales" here because people didn't buy more than they could afford . .. all I can say is . . . JUST WAIT!

It's called "trickle down property loss" (I made that up). It will affect your neighborhood, if it hasn't hit already!

Just wait. And it the meantime . . . STOP IT!!

STOP BLAMING PEOPLE THAT 'BOUGHT MORE THAN THEY COULD AFFORD' --because in reality, they did not.

I contend, and believe, the MAJORITY of people bought fair and square -- which is why their loans were manipulated. The subprime stinker dog loans were slipped in and repackaged -- with the MARJORITY of good loans, from good buyers.

Hmmm . . . one Bad Apple ACTUALLY does spoil the whole bunch!

WHO THE HELL KNEW THAT THE HOUSING MARKET WAS GOING TO GET SUCKED INTO THE BLACK HOLE created by the Banksers? Who KNEW THE VORTEX OF A FALTERING FINANCIAL FIASCO (I like alliteratives) would suck in homeowners??

STOP BLAMING PEOPLE who, last time I checked, BOUGHT A HOUSE THROUGH THE USE OF A REALTOR®

Did any of you say to your clients: "Hmmmm . . . I think you're buying more house than you can afford" two years ago?

Re-Blog

Featured

Comments(189)

Comment

Show All Comments

Sort:

Anonymous

bob

Did any of you ever in your careers say to any of your clients, "now may not be a good time to buy?" If not, you should probably accept some of the blame.

Jul 13, 2010 05:36 AM

#176

Anonymous

Steve

Another reason we are seeing so many Foreclosures is that the Loan Modification or Refi application process is not working! I have personally gone through a loan modification application, Making Homes Affordable, with a past client and it is a nightmare!

They filled out the entire loan mod application on the internet, and when they did the electronic signature, it came up as an error and said "she did not qualify for a modification". She tried calling the phone number on the info screen and after 30 days has not receive a response from them and her application is coming up as expired.

I am seeing that the majority of people seeking help to stay in their homes are getting the "run around" and don't make the help they need before it is to late ....

Maybe we as Real Estate agents should look into all the ways to help our clients find a solution to what may be a temporary setback.

Jul 13, 2010 06:09 AM

#177

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

@bob -- oh sure. We could predict what Wall St. was doing. Could you? Read my comment #166. You figure out how Wall St. manipulates each and every mortgage. Then get back to me.

Jul 13, 2010 06:36 AM

Flemington, NJ

Where was everyone during the boom noting the impending meltdown and housing bubble? http://activerain.com/blogsview/42987/subprime-meltdown-

Jul 13, 2010 07:17 AM

Evelyn Johnston

Friends & Neighbors Real Estate - Elkhart, IN

The People You Know, Like and Trust!

And who do you think wrote the loan program saying whom they will or will not approve? Who said, sure, we will look at stated income,..

Jul 13, 2010 08:53 AM

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

@ Ave in Florida . . . #146 -- my name isn't Karla. Hmmmm . . . and I'm sure when buyers came into your Buyers Broker in Florida you told them NO!! Because from reading your comment you seem to be blaming your buyers who wanted a bigger property. I'm sure you never sold a property to a client that wanted the bigger kitchen, the bigger family room and retained your BUYERS BROKER in FLORIDA for representation on that purchase. If you did sell them a property, and on now on my blog bitching about your buyers -- SHAME ON YOU!! The word hyypocrite comes to mind.

Jul 13, 2010 10:05 AM

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

@#151 the Staging "Diva" Debra Gould . . .

Okay!!! YOU'RE CRAZY!

Hey GENUISES -- Those that want to BLAME THE HOME OWNER / THE BORROWER . . . decipher this: A number of other variations are possible (fixed-for-fixed rate swap), although far less common. Mostly tweaks are made to ensure that a bond is hedged "perfectly", so that all the interest payments received are exactly offset by the swap. This can lead to swaps where principal is paid on one or more legs, rather than just interest (for example to hedge a coupon strip), or where the balance of the swap is automatically adjusted to match that of a prepaying bond (such as RMBS Residential mortgage-back security).

But, hey, it was the greedy home buyers. Those bastards! The bought a home on the open market, and the minute the ink dried the mortgage morphed into an "investment vehicle" . . . churned up into the ABOVE . . . until the banksters broke the bank.

But, hey. Those homeowners. YUP, they did it to themselves. They MASSED together and did this collective HUMP to themselves. HA HA HA HA HA

Now, go move another couch and chair around the living room . . . looks tacky!

Jul 13, 2010 10:15 AM

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

@#99 Tiffany

Well, you missed your opporunity of a LIFETIME!! WOW -- you knew "IT" was coming . . . but you didn't do anything about "IT"??

You didn't write what "IT" was going to do to the market? To homeowners? If you did, please link.

You knew that "IT" was going to hit the fan, and you didn't write exposés??? You didn't warn people about HOW "IT" WAS GOING TO HAPPEN?

Because saying you knew "IT" was going to happen, but not defining what the word "IT" stands for . . . what "IT"??? The crash? The meltdown? And then be specific with "IT" . . . no one likes generalizations.

A good reporter covers the basics: Who, What, Why, When, How, Where.

And let's be candid here and realistic. Unless you were working those BIG BUCK back room deals on Wall Street . . . You actually had no clue what "it" was. Do you know how derivatives work? How about naked short selling? How about stock puts?

Do you know what a hedge fund is? Do you know what institutional lending is? Do you know what a Soverign Debt is? Do you know what a mortgage backed security is? Ever hear of a default credit swap?

Because those are among the true "ITS" that caused this financial crisis.

Talk is cheap Tiffany. I was interviewed by a "Time" correspondent who was doing a story on the "Bubble" several years ago -- and remember boys and girls, it was a "bubble" -- NO ONE EVEN CALLED IT A MELTDOWN -- until it happened. The "Time" reporter asked me what was going to cause the bubble to break. I told him "The lenders." And I'm a very smart person. When he asked HOW were they going to burst the bubble . . . I couldn't expound further. Because I didn't know.

And you didn't either Tiffany. We all knew about "IT" -- any idiot with a TV could have repeated the talking heads on the nightly news. They didn't explain HOW the "bubble" was going to be pricked either.

The one fact that no lay-person could predict . . . was this: where the PIN was going to come from to prick that "bubble"?

But now we know: The pricks are all from Wall St.

And you "knew" all that? Because when you write I knew "IT" coming --you knew how mortgages would be bundled and pimped out?!? You knew about the March 2008 and Sept. 2008 manipulation on Wall St. that killed Bear Stearns and Lehman Bros. You knew AIG was going to post the biggest loss EVER of a corporation in 4th quarter 2008? Etc., etc.

As I said, you missed your calling. Because if you could have documented, and 'pin pointed' just how this was going to take place, you'd be making quite a bit of money as a financial forecaster/analyst.

Jul 13, 2010 10:27 AM

Anonymous

Bob

Why was my previous post deleted? I think it was #182.

All I did was respond to Carla. I guess points that don't say, "yes, you are right" get deleted. Pretty lame.

Ok, I'll join in, real estate agents are great. You are always correct. You deserve no blame for anything. Is that the correct way to follow this herd?

Jul 13, 2010 11:21 AM

#188

Anonymous

2Good

You're famous

http://patrick.net/forum/?p=457116

Jul 13, 2010 11:25 AM

#189

Eve Alexander

Buyers Broker of Florida - Tampa, FL

Exclusively Representing ONLY Tampa Home Buyers

Hi again Carla or Karla,

You bet I sold the "not big enough" buyers a house and I would do it again. My job as an EBA (exclusive buyers agent) is to get them them the best buy for the money, help them sort out their best options, negotiate in their best interest and then let them make their own decision.

I am not their financial advisor.

Eve or Ave or Eva in Orlando post #146

Jul 13, 2010 12:11 PM

Anonymous

Art Martin

Now we have Carla the Wall Street Insider. You can really quote facts. Did your inside knowledge save you from IT I knew what IT was in 2006 becauase I had insider knowlwdge. I saw it coming and i jumped ship in 2007 and sold every at the open as they say in the stock market when you know it is going to crash. I told all my friends to do the same but most did not listen and they lost everything. Same thing happened in he 1987 Crash and the 200 crash. Do we ever listen?

I dom't own any real estate now. every thing is in tangible assets that are appreciateing niot crashing. If you knew what IT was you could change your horses on the run and nor lose a step. Successful investors have to ride the path that is going up not down. I am renting now waiting for the bottom. It may be a few years but i can wait and put my money in tax liens, gold and silver.. Tax liens pay a guarnteed 15% to 40% on your invested funds.

The law of attrraction works in both directions. Thae advantage of people and someone will com along and advantqge of you buyers broker of Florida. It is called Karma

Bob I commented on your post and it was it was posted but was deleted too. Maybe the powers that be do not want to hear the truth or tske responsibility that they are part of the problem.

Art martin mailforart@gmail,com

Foreclosure Solutions

Jul 13, 2010 01:25 PM

#192

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

Hey Art . . . What did you have for dinner tonight? Double scotches??

By the way, who really gives a SHIT about what you did? Seriously! This post wasn't written to have readers marvel at your amazing ability to dribble. Probably all over yourself right about now.

If this post could talk -- there would be a resounding WHO CARES after reading your, seemingly, soused tale.

NO ONE CARES ABOUT YOUR LIFE SAGA, Art. I hate to break it to you. But really no one cares about what you did in 2007.

This post was about home owners who are struggling now, and it's not a sounding board for people to deride the majority of home owners and base their self-worth on the misery of others.

But, go ahead and pat yourself on the back -- while others are going through foreclosures, dealing with stalled short sales, etc

You had "insider" knowledge, and you only saved your own ass?!? Gee, what a nice fellow. If you were really smart you wouldn't have pulled out so soon -- but, I guess you finish early, hey Art?

Yeah, and Wall St. is holding it's bated breath -- waiting for you and your money. All the vasts amounts you're amassing right now in your apartment. Wall St. CAN NOT WAIT until YOU -- ART MARTIN -- "DECIDE" to start investing again. Oh happy day when that occurs.

BTW are you drinking alcohol while commenting? The spelling errors are ATROCIOUS. Much of what you write makes no sense and is self-absorbant {sip, sip} Alcoholics do that a lot. They get really liquored up and then they spew. Just sayin'

Jul 13, 2010 02:40 PM

Manny Gonzalez

Negotiable Realty LLC - Chicago, IL

Please, no more Art!!!!

Jul 13, 2010 04:11 PM

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

Hi Manny -- I AGREE! NO MORE ART! That guy is annoying. Like a pesky little gnat.

Jul 13, 2010 05:34 PM

Jay Schmidt

Lake San Marcos, CA

Thanks for defending the little guy Carla, and telling it like it is. You've given us some good information here and I appreciate that.

As someone who has worked in lending for over 20 years, I know that when we made these loans to people, we did it in good faith. They were short term solutions and the plan was to refi them into a permanent loan after a couple years. The lower rate going in would be a real benefit to them and after that period we would put them in a permanent solution.

This happens in the commercial world all the time. Most loans are 3-5 years and that's a hard deadline. This is the reason so many commercial properties are going to short sale nowadays. The financing sources just aren't there today.

Little did we know back then that the wolves on Wall St. were about to demolish our financial system with their toxic derivative investments. (Credit default swaps) If our govt was doing their job back then, those investment instruments would have been deemed illegal because of the inherent risk.

But that's what ya get when ya elect a cowboy from Connecticut who believes the 'free market' will police itself.

As far as Art's knowledge of the markets impending crash, I don't know what's worse, betting against the market with credit default swaps, or selling an investment you know is about to go off a cliff to an unsuspecting buyer for top dollar.

Jul 14, 2010 01:39 PM

JL Boney, III

Coldwell Banker - Columbia, SC

Columbia, SC Real Estate

Wow, this thing really sparked a lot of conversation didn't it my friend? There are far too many people who are hurting today through no fault of their own for sure.

Jul 14, 2010 02:08 PM

Kari Battaglia

Veterans Realty Inc - Venice, FL

Who You Work With Matters!

What a great post and lots of interesting comments. Who to blame, there are bad apples in every bunch. I am just concerned about helping the homeowner get out of this mess.

Jul 17, 2010 01:53 AM

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

RETIRED / State License is Inactive - Portland, OR

Hi Jay -- thanks for the comment, and interetesting points to ponder in closing. What's worse? The price tag was always going to be paid by the US taxpayers -- that they knew! My latest slogan: "Too big to fail, too big to jail . . . too big to bail!"

Hi JL . . . There's a lot of Americans who have been dealt a bad hand by the Card Sharks!

Hi Kari -- ABSOLUTELY!! Concern for helping the homeonwer is paramount!! Good point!

Jul 17, 2010 06:29 AM

Tatyana Sturm

Exit Realty DTC - Aurora, CO

Denver Realtor, GRI, Denver/ Aurora CO Relocation

I can definitely tell you that home buyers are way more cautious and buying below, sometimes way below what they are approved for than 3 to 5 years ago. I think buyers are more conservative now because of what is going on in the housing market.

Jul 20, 2010 12:21 PM

Older Post

Newer Post

Comments(189)

Carla Muss-Jacobs, RETIRED

Recent Posts