On this beautiful fall day I have a hard time following the national media and their insistence that Judgment Day is at hand. The sky is clear, the sun is shining, and anyone with good credit and a little money can still get a home loan. Credit lines tighter, no doubt, but we are finally seeing a return to real world, brick-and-mortar lending. The formula for brick-and-mortar lending is pretty simple:
Good payment history (decent credit) + money down (3.5% FHA, 5% conventional) = HOMEOWNERSHIP.
Who is to blame for this mess?? Everyone, from Republicans to Democrats to Wall Street to Main Street. Washington passed the laws, banks gave out the money, and we took it. We were qualified for enormous loans and jumped at them, our only limits being the ridiculous. When we couldn't afford our dream homes, we got adjustable rate loans, not thinking about how we were going to pay for them in 5 years. We even lied on our stated income loan applications, saying we made twice as much money as we actually did.
What America needs is common sense, and neither political party has a lick of it. We as citizens must take responsibility for our own situations. Just because we qualify for that $400,000 house doesn't mean we need to take it!! We've been drunk on borrowed money and now the bar is closed. Let's take two Tylenol of responsibility and face the hangover.
This is truly the financial challenge of our generation. Baby boomers and Gen X'ers have seen nothing like this, but we will get through it. We will persevere and be better from it.
Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls;
the most massive characters are seared with scars.
Edwin H. Chapin
Market volume, predictably, has fallen a bit. Property value throughout Dallas count has dropped approximately 2.5%, but keep in mind the mind boggling number of foreclosures and short-sales in our market. Normal houses are doing just fine; people are still looking for homes that are nice and well priced.
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