I watched the “House of Cards”, a documentary about the most recent housing bubble and real estate finance crisis this past week for a class. I thought it supplemented Chapter 6: Real Estate Markets written by Dianz & Hansz very well. I can certainly identified with the consumers who have cashed out the money to remodel, make purchases, or enjoy the extra gain that is realized from the rising housing market.
In my case, grief-stricken from my late husband’s death in 2005, I made some poor financial decision and judgment because I lost my main source of income. I needed to pull some money out to survive and take care of my four children. I was not working at the time. I was on a work-injury disability, and I was not getting any disability income. Being on my own in Fresno with no family nearby except for my children did not help either. I was naïve to believe that the interest-only mortgage would help me to stabilize my finance. I don’t know how I had qualified for the loan with no job except that the loan officer probably had done a “LIAR loan” in which she indicated that I was self-employed. I believe that I did not fully understand the ramifications of the loan or the dire consequences of my action.
My late husband did not leave any life insurance to cover the debt and bills that were coming. I was selling off truck that I couldn’t continue to pay to lighten my expenses. I sold off things I did not need to get some money. The money I took out was invested but it turned out to be one of the Ponzi’s schemes and I lost all that money. We were living off of whatever savings I had saved. I went back to school with some assistance from the government to get my Bachelor. I vowed to get back to work as soon as I am able to and resolved to get past all these financial difficulties.
Fast forward to five years later, I am working full time and going to school fulltime to get my MBA. I still have the loan that was originated during that fateful finance crisis. My mortgage is still upside down since the housing market is depressed. I am unable to refinance or modify my loan because of bad credits and many delinquent bills. However, I am optimistic in the American dream of homeownership and that it will eventually right itself up after the market had shaken out all the bad debts and get to the equilibrium point.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2008, the homeownership rate had increased from 64% in 1994 to 66.8% in 1999. In my personal opinion, the homeownership rate will be decreasing to the equilibrium point where it had stayed pretty much constant which is around 64%. I feel this downswing housing fluctuation is a case of those homeowners who can hang on long enough for the upswing pendulum to swing back.
In my case, grief-stricken from my late husband’s death in 2005, I made some poor financial decision and judgment because I lost my main source of income. I needed to pull some money out to survive and take care of my four children. I was not working at the time. I was on a work-injury disability, and I was not getting any disability income. Being on my own in Fresno with no family nearby except for my children did not help either. I was naïve to believe that the interest-only mortgage would help me to stabilize my finance. I don’t know how I had qualified for the loan with no job except that the loan officer probably had done a “LIAR loan” in which she indicated that I was self-employed. I believe that I did not fully understand the ramifications of the loan or the dire consequences of my action.
My late husband did not leave any life insurance to cover the debt and bills that were coming. I was selling off truck that I couldn’t continue to pay to lighten my expenses. I sold off things I did not need to get some money. The money I took out was invested but it turned out to be one of the Ponzi’s schemes and I lost all that money. We were living off of whatever savings I had saved. I went back to school with some assistance from the government to get my Bachelor. I vowed to get back to work as soon as I am able to and resolved to get past all these financial difficulties.
Fast forward to five years later, I am working full time and going to school fulltime to get my MBA. I still have the loan that was originated during that fateful finance crisis. My mortgage is still upside down since the housing market is depressed. I am unable to refinance or modify my loan because of bad credits and many delinquent bills. However, I am optimistic in the American dream of homeownership and that it will eventually right itself up after the market had shaken out all the bad debts and get to the equilibrium point.
According to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2008, the homeownership rate had increased from 64% in 1994 to 66.8% in 1999. In my personal opinion, the homeownership rate will be decreasing to the equilibrium point where it had stayed pretty much constant which is around 64%. I feel this downswing housing fluctuation is a case of those homeowners who can hang on long enough for the upswing pendulum to swing back.
