Silicon Investor (SI) -- The First Internet Community

STOCKTALK

We've detected that you're using an ad content blocking browser plug-in or feature. Ads provide a critical source of revenue to the continued operation of Silicon Investor. We ask that you disable ad blocking while on Silicon Investor in the best interests of our community. If you are not using an ad blocker but are still receiving this message, make sure your browser's tracking protection is set to the 'standard' level.

Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Les H who wrote (15290)	11/30/2003 2:32:45 PM
From: biometricgngboy	Respond to of 306849

OPINION November 30, 2003 Cost of land in county is ?sheer insanity? By GREG LATHROP It is a sad commentary on the county that is Santa Cruz when a native ? one who has called this county home from Day One ? can?t afford to buy a home here. When my parents sold their home ? three bedrooms, two baths and a two-car garage on a quarter-acre lot in a cul-de-sac ? in 1970, they did so for $27,500. And that?s only because nobody would pay the asking price of $29,000. It is sheer insanity what has happened to the cost of land in this area. Any Realtor will confirm that no piece of dirt is worth the $500,000 that my parents could?ve gotten for it today. Sadly, it seems the only people who can afford those prices today at the likes of doctors, lawyers and dentists. All the rest of us must beg, borrow or steal. A teacher taught me a long time ago that as you go through life you should always give something back to your community. I have. I am a teacher. And in my part time, I officiate youth sports. As for my wife, she works with seniors. Yet, what has that gotten us? Well, besides the self-satisfaction that comes from knowing you?re doing something to help someone else, not much. We tried to buy an affordable-income home in a new subdivision in the South County but were rejected because we were told we don?t make enough money. Just how sad is it when you don?t even qualify to buy a Measure J home? The last time we checked, the most we would qualify for on a 30-year fixed loan was $225,000; the starting price of most low income homes in the county is in the high $200,000s. I?ve heard it said that if teachers were paid what they are worth, we could all afford to buy a home in this county. But what is one of the first things the state legislators do when they have to balance the budget? Yep, cut education. Apparently, their role models were not teachers. It is interesting that when students fill out papers for scholarships and things of the like, one of the pieces of information they?re asked to provide has to do with community service. Yet, on what loan application for a mortgage is there a space to list your community service? Exactly. Wouldn?t it be nice if community service did have something to do with securing a loan, or if the county in which you spent your whole life and are a native would have a program that would aid you in buying a home so that you could spend the rest of your life in the area that you live and love? Apparently, what was once the American Dream is now no more than the American Pipe Dream. Greg Lathrop is a resident of Santa Cruz and a teacher at Good Shepherd School. santacruzsentinel.com

To: Les H who wrote (15290)	11/30/2003 2:34:42 PM
From: Elroy Jetson	Respond to of 306849

That article fits with what I see. "Warren's theory is this: Most two-income families are struggling to make ends meet because they are house-poor. It's a logical consequence of the large mortgages families have taken out to buy homes near good schools. These stretched households are coping by using credit to finance ordinary purchases, not just luxuries. Warren has no trouble explaining rising levels of consumer debt. "It's a sign of the extraordinary pressure middle-class families are under. There's no place to run, no place to hide when they get hit even with a cutback in hours, let alone a job loss," she said. "It's not about people deciding to celebrate at the malls following a job loss. It's about people using short-term, high-interest debt to manage the mortgage payment, utilities and food at the same time." There's no question that credit cards have become part of the American way of life. The 1990s have been called a decade of unprecedented prosperity. It was also the decade of plastic: Credit-card debt tripled to $692 billion from $238 billion, according to Demos, a nonprofit research group in New York. For an average family, that translated into a debt load of $4,126 in 2001, up from $2,697 in 1989, a 53 percent increase. But the biggest increase fell on those least able to pay. Among families with incomes under $10,000, credit-card debt rose 184 percent. Then the recession of 2001 hit, followed by 9-11 and nearly unprecedented layoffs in industries ranging from travel to manufacturing to investment. Warren doesn't mince words when she explains how rising consumer debt levels will play out. "It means bankruptcies will continue to rise, home foreclosures will continue to go up. The signs of economic distress are everywhere around us. It breaks my heart and makes me furious." Supporting that view is data showing personal bankruptcy filings rose almost 8 percent to a record 1.6 million in the 12 months ended Sept. 30."

To: Les H who wrote (15290)	11/30/2003 10:13:33 PM
From: John Chen	Respond to of 306849

Les,re:"rise in debt". No problem. Under 'useless US currency policy' being carried out by the administration/AG, what you owe is nothing when the US currency is useless anyway. Afterall, nobody can stop a credit bubble until it burst (not really a surprise, it's just the way how bubble works). AG has been doing magic to blow a stealth bubble, but eventually it will show up in your face, suddenly, as GDP.