Yes, the Mortgage Meltdown IS your Problem
April 26th, 2008 | by Tom Harper |Sure it’s fun to sit there all smug and superior and think “why didn’t that stupid shit read the fine print?” or “I’m not gonna bail out some greedy irresponsible $#!%&*$#& who bought a house he couldn’t afford.”
The foreclosure tsunami has been wrecking neighborhoods all across the country. And it isn’t just happening in “bad” neighborhoods. Mass foreclosures are having a domino effect in middle class and upscale neighborhoods as well.
Abandoned houses are a target for vandalism. In some cases thieves are stealing all the copper wiring, copper plumbing fixtures and aluminum siding from empty houses.
These empty buildings are also a magnet for prostitution, drug dealing and gang activities. Even without these new additions to the neighborhood, your own property values will go into freefall if there are too many foreclosures nearby. You weren’t thinking of selling were you?
According to one calculation, every 1% increase in foreclosures will produce a 2.23% increase in violent crime. (The linked article has a .pdf link giving the details.)
According to this report, about three percent of all homeowners will enter the foreclosure process by the end of 2009. And forty-three percent of all homeowners will feel the ripple effect of these foreclosures.
A favorite conservative mantra is “a rising tide lifts all boats.” And now we’re seeing the flip side of this.
It comes down to a matter of priorities. If you’re gung ho about property values AND you go ballistic at the thought of somebody getting “something for nothing,” you have a choice to make. You could let the foreclosure crisis ruin your own life, just so you can keep thinking “Yeah, that serves those lazy bastards right. That’ll fix ‘em!” Or you could have that rising tide lift (or at least maintain) your own property values, even if it means fuming and pulling your hair out because somewhere, some lazy worthless parasite is getting a handout.
There’ve been a lot of anecdotes about neighbors ganging up on one homeowner who doesn’t mow his lawn or has a disabled vehicle parked out front. “He’s bringing down property values!” With cognitive dissonance being such a popular affliction, there are probably millions of homeowners who are simultaneously 1) going apeshit because somebody down the street has a car up on blocks; and 2) thinking to themselves “Mortgage crisis? Not my problem.”
8 Responses to “Yes, the Mortgage Meltdown IS your Problem”
By rube cretin on Apr 26, 2008 | Reply
cognitive dissonance- not in my neighborhood. My wife says the neighbors may be concerned that i have now expanded by kitchen garden into the front yard and even park my “chicken tractor” there during the day to harvest the maturing rice grass, which is two feet high. But they tolerate me because they enjoy the free salads and information they get about how to grow food, which is an evolving subject these days. bet it comes to your neighborhood soon.
By steve on Apr 26, 2008 | Reply
Remind me to not send a letter down the street to the house with the 4 foot lawn and wasted shrubbery… Of course… she yelled at me for driving one of the Porsches too fast!! So I have reason!
By rube cretin on Apr 26, 2008 | Reply
I love porsches. had one go down one of the manhole covers i removed just last week. taught the bastard not to drive fast around my chickens.
By Jersey McJones on Apr 26, 2008 | Reply
Hey Tom, ya’ know, I’d bet that pretty much everybody, or at least a majority, has felt the impact of the “Mortgage Meltdown.” Even if it doesn’t directly affect any one person, I would think almost everyone knows of its consequences.
You guys - all you BIO!’ers, should put up an anecdote regatrding the mortgage meltdown. Just anecdotes, phrased so as to protect the names, an so forth. Look, I have no horror story, or am under any immediate duress, but all of my future plans, and the plans of my immediate, extended, and married family are now all faced with a whole new set of choices regarding how to plan for their, and our, futures. I’m sure you all have stories to share. A set of run-on paragraphs from each of you would make the point. And Steve and Craig and Lisa and any and all cons should share them too, if they have the gonzos.
But this really matters. A lot of people aren’t getting this. I regularly blog with conservatives (because I love debate above all things) and those guys know just how bad this is. They put a smiley face on it, yeah, but they know. We’re in trouble and this issue - the Real Estate Crash is the ice berg hitting the ship. Not the ice berg lurking, or wandering, or avoidably floating around. This berg has struck the fore. It’s too late. Once the ship starts taking water the rate at which it recedes increases exponentially - you sink slowly for a little bit, and then you suddenly sink fast.
The sinking is coming soon. I hate to say it. It won’t have much impact on me. I always find a way. It’s my country I worry about.
JMJ
By Lisa on Apr 28, 2008 | Reply
3 Words Jersey:
Community Reinvestment Act
By Gorbe on Apr 28, 2008 | Reply
It is intellectually healthy to be suspicious of politicians bailing out constituents for any reason; doubly-so in an election year.
True, as a one-year homeowner, I don’t want foreclosures to “run their course.” At the same time, I don’t want lazy borrowers to be rewarded for their sloth and ignorance.
So, what I want to hear from politicians promising to save people from their own stupidity is assurances that it isn’t going to happen again. Alternatively, I would accept a reward for being a smart borrower. Otherwise, next time maybe I won’t be such a responsible borrower if the only people being helped are the irresponsible ones.
By rube cretin on Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
gorbe,
Purchased during the past year. Lazy borrowers? Smart borrower? Sloth and ignorance? Accept a reward for being a smart borrower? Cognitive dissonance?
By Gorbe on Apr 29, 2008 | Reply
Politicians, ever engaged in chasing votes instead of solving problems, are only sowing the ground for more future irresponsible behavior.
In their simplistic, gloss-over, sound-bite solutions politicians offer irresponsible band-aids that incentivize discourage-able behavior and dis-incentivize encourage-able behavior. Perhaps that’s a function of our modern, simplistic, shallow culture. If so, we’re in for more of the same in the future; and certainly so if we have politicians who offer remedial/feel-good remedies instead of tackling issues head-on to get to the core.