The House and Senate just passed the 300 Billion Dollar Assistance Bill that will help current homeowners facing foreclosure if they meet certain criteria. Did this Assistance bill come in to little to late? What about Victims of foreclosure already that would have been able to meet the criteria but lost their homes already? Who is to take responsibility for this Foreclosure Mess?
They're rewarding bad decisions and punishing the people who did NOT contribute to the demise of the real estate market by taking away the Down Payment Assistance programs. And, who's going to pay for it? WE ARE -the TAX PAYERS! So, not only am I making my mortgage payment on a house I overpaid for and I'm losing the value of my property, but now I have to pay to bail out my neighbor? At the risk of sounding like Denise Richard's potty mouth, ARE YOU %@!*%$@! KIDDING ME???!!!
So, you're saying that this is the American Dream? Julie Smith bought a house at $600,000 and is making her payments on time every month and can afford her home because she put 20% cash down. Julie's next door neighbor squeaked into their home with no money down and now they can't afford their monthly payments...along with 3 other neighbors. So, the four neighbors get bailed out and the values of the homes in the neighborhood have gone down. Meanwhile, the one homeowner who got into her home legitimately (Ms Smith) is still making payments on a $480,000 loan when her neighbors who live in the same floorplan are making payments on a $250,000 or so loan ?
What happened to the principle we're taught to raise our children with: Reward good behavior, don't bribe the kid with candy for not repeating bad behavior? Isn't that what we're doing? There are consequences for our actions. If certain people are given a "get out of jail free" card, then ALL of us who purchased a home in 2005 should get that same card.
What they should be doing is keeping the DPA programs. They're punishing the WRONG people! The ones who are keeping our economy going are now being swiped of the opportunity if they don't have $10,000, $20,000 or more sitting in a bank account.
The question SHOULD be: Why are they taking away a program that allows people who are well qualified with lengthy job history, good credit scores, and good income-to-debt ratios but don't have a huge chunk of cash sitting in their bank- from buying the surplus of homes that are sitting on the market for sale? There is a big market of first time home buyers, people who are recovering from life changes such as divorce, and multi-cultural US citizens who are buying the inventory. A large percentage of this group does not have enough cash to cover the entire down payment and closing costs.
The question SHOULD be: Why weren't the appropriate lending guidelines in place to qualify these buyers who are defaulting? If these guidelines are now in place, then why not let the people who do qualify get down payment assistance from the seller who is willing and able to offer it?
We should be focused on that point, not bailing out the people who caused this mess. I was raised with the principle that there are consequences for our actions, whether good or bad.
Instead, go to GetDownPayment.com and click TAKE ACTION NOW to submit a plea to your congressperson to keep the DPA and the American Dream alive.
Otherwise, who will buy the homes on the market? Investors and people with $20,000 sitting in a bank account? If you're a seller, that certainly LIMITS your buyer pool! Not to mention...the investor will severely low ball the offer price as much as $100,000 below asking price (after all, that's what makes it an INVESTMENT, right?!).
If you're thinking of buying real estate, you better start saving...for the next 2-5 yrs or so! And, then, you'll most likely have missed the BEST buying opportunity in real estate in YOUR lifetime.
They're adding to the decline of the economy and real estate market by PROHIBITING buyers who are ready, willing and able to purchase a home from doing so if they don't have $10,000-30,000 or more sitting in a bank account.
I, personally, am helping several buyers who are well-qualified to get into a home, using this program because they simply don't have the cash sitting in a bank account for the full down payment. Don't get me wrong -it takes a huge amount of effort on my part to find the right home that will appraise at the purchase price and has a seller willing to contribute up to 6% (or more) of the sales price to the buyer's down payment and closing costs, BUT I'm doing it and it's selling homes. I'm willing to earn my paycheck ....and see the happiness of someone who's getting the keys to their very first home...and it's not at an inflated purchase price!
"...I'm just saying..."
Kelli Grant, Residential Realtor TRYING to help dreams come true
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