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Gallery of Unlikely Bubble Victims


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2007 Mar 29, 8:28am   16,629 views  220 comments

by HARM   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

typical media bubble 'victim'

One of the more interesting side-effects of the housing bubble's collapse is its ability to produce victims from some rather unexpected places. For example: Lennar Corporation, one of the nation's largest home builders which profited handsomely during the run-up (and has been accused by some of substandard workmanship), has just officially been granted victim status from the media:

One by one, some of the nation's largest home-builders have seen quarterly earnings get crushed by the slump in the housing market. Lennar Corp. became the latest victim Tuesday, with a 73 percent plunge in first-quarter earnings and predictions that it is going to fall short of 2007 earnings goals. Since the start of February, home-builders KB Homes, Hovanian Enterprises Inc. and Toll Brothers Inc. all reported falling profits. Stuart Miller, Lennar's president and chief executive, said a lack of demand for the winter-spring buying season, new problems with subprime lenders and higher-than-desired land costs hurt profits.

Apparently, the recent sub-prime credit crunch has also produced quite a few human victims among those who can no longer borrow beyond their means indefinitely and add to their already crushing debt loads:

“A first-time home buyer with an annual income of about $36,000 and almost no savings, Mr. Fields did not qualify for a prime loan for the $315,000 house. So his half brother arranged a 15-year mortgage from WMC Mortgage Company, a subprime division of General Electric, and another from the Option One Mortgage Company, the subprime group of H & R Block.”

“The $2,312 monthly payments were much more than he could afford, but Mr. Fields said his brother assured him that they could find tenants. They did, but then lost them. Last July, without the rental income, his brother, who was managing the property, stopped paying the lenders. Mr. Fields now owes almost $30,000 in delinquent payments and has fallen out with his half brother.”

“‘It’s just sad,’ said Mr. Fields. ‘I can’t even borrow money.’”

And the damage is not just limited to uneducated, Joe 6-pack types with limited means and bad credit. Look what just happened to a PhD with a good job:

“Unlike many borrowers who took out subprime loans, Andy Sobel had good credit, a decent job and modest savings, but he needed to stretch to buy a home in the white-hot San Diego housing market in 2004.”

“Three years later, Sobel has lost his home and his savings, and he faces a big tax bill as a consequence of a failed subprime mortgage held by Countrywide Financial Corp. he says he should never have been written.”

...“‘You never think that this could happen to you. You feel like an idiot,’ said Sobel, who has a doctorate in education. ‘You fall down and they stab you.’”

If these people can become media "victims" of the housing bubble, who's next? Some possibilities:

Alan Greenspan:
"I was forced to lower rates to 1% to moderate the tech bubble recession, and to make the economy look good, so incumbents could get reelected. Those big, mean politicians were really pressuring me! How was I supposed to know it would spawn an even bigger bubble in real estate?? I'm just a powerless (former) central bankster!"

David Lereah:
"I didn't want to keep fanning the flames with outrageous lies and baseless industry propaganda, but I had to feed my family. The NAR kept on blackmailing me with my enormous salary and benefits. What was I supposed to do --quit and become a regular working-stiff like all you low-rent schmucks out there?"

Gary Watts:
"If I didn't come right out and say '15% was in the bag' for 2006, they would have hurt my family. I practically choked on those words, but it was either say it or 'lights out' for little Billy and Janie. I had to choose between my family or my integrity --what would anyone have done in my situation?"

Casey Serin:
"How could I say 'no' to such sweet deals, when everything I learned from those R.K./Robert G. Allen books and seminars was screaming 'Yes, yes, yes!' Besides, Galina was really pressuring me to 'get a house'. How was I suppoosed to know she meant only one? Besides, all those sellers really tricked me --they used my Macaroni Grill & Jamba Juice addiction to talk me into those illegal cash-back deals. They preyed on my fears of being a Looser and took full advantage of me. I feel so... violated."

Discuss, enjoy...
HARM

#housing

« First        Comments 200 - 220 of 220        Search these comments

200   Michael Holliday   2007 Apr 1, 5:00am  

SFBubbleBuyer Says:

Well….

Guess what… I finally buckled. My wife finally talked me into bidding on this house and she really wanted it, so we bid 10% over. Just found our offer was accepted. New home, here we come!
_____

Good luck!

_____

Jimbo Says:

...I lived in the student Co-Ops when I was a student at Berkeley and I think every single person that went through there tried some sort of “hard” drug at one point or another.

The vast majority of us have gone on to be successful doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, city planners, teachers and NON-PROFIT ACTIVISTS.
_____

WTF?

You mean some liberal "legalize Marijuana now," so-called-peace-activist social anarchist now has the moral and intellectual equivalence of an honorable doctor, lawyer and engineer?

M. Holliday: "Pardon me, sir. What is it that you do for a living?"

Person #1: "I'm a writer..."

M. Holliday: "Yes, I see! In other words you're unemployed right now."

M. Holliday: "And what is it that you do?"

Person #2: "Oh, I'm a professional peace activist. And I don't believe in big, organized religion; I'm spiritual."

M. Holliday: "Oh, you're a professional anti-war rabble rouser, pro-abortionist with no morality. But you believe in big sister Hillary Clinton."

Go figure!

201   Jimbo   2007 Apr 1, 5:09am  

Sure, society needs its professional agitators just as much as any other function. The Right has its think tanks, the Left its non-profits and universities. People like Mission Housing do the world a lot of good. This is how a healthy democracy functions.

I am curious Mr. Holliday, what do you do for a living? You have the marks of "professional shit stirrer" written all over you.

202   Peter P   2007 Apr 1, 5:23am  

But no welfare or aide or free lunch to druggies or thier born-hooked kids.

Bap33, I think welfare itself is worse than drugs. True, there should be welfare for productive members of the society who are down pathologically unlucky, but in general welfare should be as restricted as dangerous drugs.

On second thought denying welfare to druggies is a good start nonetheless. :)

203   Peter P   2007 Apr 1, 5:36am  

Admission to a brand-name college is viewed by many parents, and their children, as holding the best promise of professional success and economic well-being in an increasingly competitive world.

Again, success is about bypassing competitors, not winning competitions.

Competitive employees are excellent corporate servants though.

1- The majority of the “good school districts worshippers” will end up in The hopeless rat race (that is based on the wrong assumption that getting into a selective college do enhance one’s future lifetime income….)

I agree.

204   Brand165   2007 Apr 1, 5:38am  

Rats, allah beat me to calling April Fool's on SFBB. :)

205   Peter P   2007 Apr 1, 5:40am  

You mean some liberal “legalize Marijuana now,” so-called-peace-activist social anarchist now has the moral and intellectual equivalence of an honorable doctor, lawyer and engineer?

Mike, I would support the decriminalization of Marijuana, although I would never go near any drug.

I am a libertarian, which is not the same as an anarchist. I gave up hope on peace already and now I see warfare as a necessarily process.

I am a crappy engineer though.

206   Brand165   2007 Apr 1, 5:42am  

FAB says: [My friend in favor of legalization] points out that some heroin and meth users are able to lead otherwise perfectly normal lives and that it should be sold and taxed like anything else.

There is a subset of stimulant users that are actually self-medicating for various neurochemical issues (these tend to be the same folks who are addicted to nicotene and caffeine). And I agree that there is a certain part of the population that doesn't get unbreakable addictions to drugs. But in college I knew a few people who really wanted to quit and couldn't. Legalize hardcore drugs and you will just increase the number of true addicts.

Jimbo: Have you actually been to Amsterdam? Which cities?

207   Jimbo   2007 Apr 1, 5:43am  

Good prank SFBubblebuyer. Feel for it hook, line and stinker.

208   Jimbo   2007 Apr 1, 5:45am  

Brand,

Yes, I have been to The Netherlands a number of times. I have been to Amsterdam like five times, Rotterdam, The Hague and a couple of small agricultural villages that I cannot remember the name of. I really like the Dutch and think they have a pretty neat society going there.

209   Peter P   2007 Apr 1, 5:46am  

New thread: April is the clueless month

210   Michael Holliday   2007 Apr 1, 6:23am  

theotherside Says:

Admission to a brand-name college is viewed by many parents, and their children, as holding the best promise of professional success and economic well-being in an increasingly competitive world.

Peter P. Replies:

Again, success is about bypassing competitors, not winning competitions.

COMPETETIVE EMPLOYEES ARE EXCELLENT CORPORATE SERVANTS THOUGH.
_____

Yes! Very astute observation.

They are born and bred to be servants of the globalist grand design

211   Randy H   2007 Apr 1, 6:39am  

I'm just happy to see tOs get suckered by an April Fools joke. Joke's on you.

212   FormerAptBroker   2007 Apr 1, 8:01am  

Someone Said:

> I think it would be a good exercise for the libertarians to
> build a ‘utopia’ community where all drugs are legal and
> freely available. I’d love to watch that lesson learned.

Then Jimbo Says:

> Isn’t that pretty close to what The Netherlands is today?
> They seem to be doing fine, quite a bit better in many
> ways than the US, in fact.

The Netherlands is mostly white and has lots of drugs, but not a lot of problems. Grateful Dead shows were mostly white and had a lot of drugs, but not a lot of problems.

West Oakland and Hunters Point are mostly black and have a lot of drugs and have a lot of problems. The only politically correct thing we can blame is the drugs.

String Cheese Incident and Fish fans and UHS kids in Presidio Heights use more drugs per person than the gang members in West Oakland and Hunters Point, but don’t shoot each other as much…

213   FormerAptBroker   2007 Apr 1, 8:05am  

Brand Says:

> FAB says: [My friend in favor of legalization] points out that
> some heroin and meth users are able to lead otherwise
> perfectly normal lives and that it should be sold and taxed
> like anything else.

I didn’t say this, since I have heard of functioning heroin users I have never heard of anyone who has going for a long time using meth without crashing hard. Meth is evil stuff that will melt your brain and turn an otherwise normal person in to a suicidal maniac (as a landlord and property manager I’ve had way more contact with meth users then I would have liked to have)…

214   Brand165   2007 Apr 1, 9:04am  

Oops, sorry. I checked the posts and I was quoting Jon. Sorry, FAB.

215   astrid   2007 Apr 1, 12:17pm  

Jon and Brand,

I'm not advocating drug usage, just arguing that over twenty years into a failed policy of drug criminalization has done very little good and an awful lot of harm by making narcotic distribution into a highly profitable business.

Anybody in this country who wants drugs can get it already. If seeing what drug does to a person doesn't discourage them, the vague chance of getting arrested for usage will not change their minds.

SFBB,

LOL! That's an ugly house.

216   Michael Holliday   2007 Apr 1, 3:11pm  

Jimbo Says:

I am curious Mr. Holliday, what do you do for a living? You have the marks of “professional shit stirrer” written all over you.
_____

Good observation. I'm on break from doing a conservative talk show on an AM station in Arizona, for recreation.

I'm employed at a defense contractor as a Project Analyst.

I'm not pointing my finger saying, "I'm better than you, I'm gainfully employed, etc."

I'm not like that. I'm just highlighting some left-wing stereotypes that happen to be true.

217   Jimbo   2007 Apr 1, 4:31pm  

Fair enough. Project analyst at a defence contractor seems like pretty real world work to me, but what do I know? I mostly have worked at startups.

218   Michael Holliday   2007 Apr 1, 11:50pm  

Jimbo:

I think the point is to put your views out there and let the chips fall where they may. I'm not the smartest or most educated guy on this site and I don't pretend to be better than anyone else.

I merely post my views, then walk the gauntlet of public perception.

219   Michael Holliday   2007 Apr 2, 12:01am  

Homeowners on the brink: Subprime borrowers face foreclosure, ruin
By Eve Mitchell

MEDIANEWS STAFF

Last year, James and Barbara Morgan refinanced their mortgage into a subprime loan in hopes of lowering their house payments. Now the couple worry that the high-risk loan could force them to sell the East Oakland home they have lived in for more than 30 years.

First-time homeowner Carmen Rodriguez likes everything about the three-bedroom house in San Pablo she bought in September and shares with her brother. Except for the loan.

Rodriguez, SPEAKING THROUGH A SPANISH TRANSLATOR, said the payments on her loan, which has an interest rate that changes every month, have increased by a third, rising $500 to $2,000 a month.

"I am very frustrated. I am very upset," said Rodriguez, a 44-year-old CANDY PACKER whose monthly take-home pay is about $1,700. "I have not been able to pay other bills."
_____

See, this is the insanity that I'm talking about.

A million angry ideas are flowing, like a river of sewage, through my mind right now, but, mercifully I'm at a loss for words to describe them...

However, three letters do stand out: WTF?

220   salk   2007 Apr 2, 9:12am  

I dont use drugs and am an atheist. But the two things the US needs is religion and a drug free society. Without these two, we are toast.

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