7 Ways for Obama to Save the Housing Market

AMERICA IS NOW BLEEDING SOS SAVE OUR HOMES

the seven plans are good to review but they do not make sense.

put yourself on my shoe ,i am about to loose everything.spoke to my creditors several times and was all refused because i do not qualify.how can a computor decide whether i qualify when i was independant owned business doing well and suddenly lost most customers bwecause they all went out of business or relocated.have lots of debts and paid more than 260000 in all interest only for 5yrs to the creditors and the silly thing is i still owe the same amount 520000usd.the rates suddenly adjusted which i never read

my fault.to help me now

who can help the only thing to help

1 freeze all interest for 5yrs

2change the interest to 2% to meet our pockets

3let us pay on all the capital

that way the banks will get back what they lent

instead they are all going down they have to borrow deeper to sustain and still want all the assets which will cost more to foreclose plus to renovate

people are homeless and moving out of state

the carribbean is no longer heading for usa but for other islands the pakistanis are no longer heading for usa they are all going dubai

the chinese are going south america and panama for investing

the mexicans are the poor still heading for the usa who are jobless

where will they stand

the creditors will have cash back the people will save their homes and the population will have an incentive to find work to maintain there homes that will be worth it as the capital will decrease .the unions should not have there way because there are millions out there needing a job and outsourcing will decline.give free healthcare like canada and england it is a necessity not a luxury .cut the costs for unecessary spending power .save the homes save the homes do not take them away.

and in 5 yrs the values will rise again .the debts will decrease

the people will owe less and they will be able to spend in a balanced formula.screen the new investors with all documents that can be verified . i would have never ventured into business if i had known but in life when you want to own things you borrow to buy and this is not a crime.it is just unfortunate that even the lenders never saw it coming.

it would be a disaster to borrow more money to bale who the banks.you will be inviting the exact situation to accur. To be able to keep you borrow and who will bale this one out .certainly the world is in recession and each needs help.

digging a hole to full a hole is not very intelligent , but then again america was once the greatest country and now it has lost its golden touch

wake up smell the coffeE people and see who needs the help.the home owners that are not being helped.what happened to the money given to boa.i called them i pleaded o begged i wrote ahardship letter but sadly enough .I am still hoping for the best.if i cant have a stressed free life in this one maybe i will in the next.

SANDY of FL @ Feb 02, 2009 21:58:43 PM

Yipee Ki- yeah- at least they are talking

YES- Take all the good points and COMBINE TO A Great plan that helps EVERY Single Homeowner -(of over 2 yrs ) Even those who are NOT ! 60-90 days behind- BECAUSE EVERYONE HAS HAD A SEVERE HURT ON THERE HOME VALUE- I work in a Real Est. Office , have for 8 yrs.. people are sitting on there hands - scared to buy - others want to sell but lost too much in Value- others sell because they just want out ( short sale) almost all communites have been affected - is there any that haven't been ? maybe Martha's Vineyard- well we live in a nice sub. area in N. Scottsdale, did a Re-fi 2 yrs ago - right before Indy Mac tanked and left 100K in equity /Value - now the Value is gone and after a recent hospital emg.(husband surgery) & 30 day of lost work( husband )& cash out savings- 401k for mortgage because of lost wages- asked Indy Mac for 30 day ext. they basically laughed(Said we could fig or REFI_and said it had to be 3 mons.of non pay)( my husband is Self Empl. so now - made every payment on time every month -yet is not eligble to refinance - under new "rules" Can't qualify for the house we have lived in for 7 years ? how bad does that stink ? So what do we do ? Can't sell our home - its a minus 0 equity - we don't want miss a pymt.& haven't but it caused UNECESSARY STRESS ...AS THEY COULD have given but wo Extension and allowed us to _recop- on Income- and not drain all our savings- i hope they COMBINE ALL THE GOOD IDEAS AND ALLOW ANYONE WITH A MORTGAGE OF 3 YRS OR MORE SHOULD BE OFFERED UNCONDITIONALLY A INTEREST RATE OF 4.5 TO 5.5 (ON FIRST & SECONDS) INDY MAC - AND COUTRYWIDE AND OTHERS SHOULD SEND A INVITATION TO ALL CUSTOMERS OFFERING A SIMPLIFIED SHORT FORM OFFERING RATE CHANGE AND JUST A VERIFICATION THAT WORK AND SITUALTION IS SAME - AND REWRITE OR AMMEND THE LOAN - WITH A 30to 60 DAY REPREVE TO EACH HOMEOWNER - IF THEY DID THIS- EACH OWNER - COULD HAVE A "CATCH-UP " WHICH EVERYONE-- would love- to replenish there savings , allow for a little weekend vaaction- and take the immense stress out of thee life- would it not be nice to not live in fear - of house values going down farther- and not being able to visit there out of state children and grandkids- its so VERY frustrating - and next are the Credit Card companies uping the rates - there has to be a CAP- period- anything over 12% is sick-and making americans sicker- everyone needs a B-R-E-A- K - NOT A SHOT IN THE FOOT - For yers Lenders Ad's to take 2nd- mortgage- use your Credit - have fun - on Vacation -& now W/NO missed payments - Creditors raising there rates- have we not been beat up enough ? If they are smart enough to" Revise" the Loans for everyone - esp. offering to help GOOD Customers- i mean do they not Forsee the problems that this has caused for every single Homeowner ? The banks should jump at the Chance to Reward the Homeowners Current with there loans- with a reduced rate and thank you - TO INSURE THEM TO BE ABLE TO STAY IN THERE HOME - it would help immensely

janet of AZ @ Jan 22, 2009 15:10:33 PM

Help those who are not behind...yet

There is a large core of home owners who are being neglected. The hard working lower-middle class conservatives that have lived within their means and are still managing to pay their bills. WE need/deserve relief BEFORE we fall behind. All these bailouts for banks and renegotiations for consumers that are already behind because they bought a house they couldn't afford with a preditary loan is probably throwing good money after bad. My home value has plumeted and I no longer have enough equity to refinance at the decent rates that are now available.

Myself and many others are proven "good risks" that should be nurtured like the fragile crop we are by the banks and government. Instead, we're being bled dry to cover all the folks who have fallen behind due to poor judgement (including the banks). We need interest cuts on OUR mortgages and consumer loans so we can continue to carry this country as we have done so many years

Chris Petty of GA @ Jan 04, 2009 11:19:29 AM

too create things out of"nothing"

i think u.s. government might destine some land near the sities as constuccion ground if there is a state property -and to create infrastructure by government money-paying this money to privite firms after some competicion -for to get reasonable low cost structures-later to offer it for house buildings and all the money recolected to be used as to support housing of poor families-part of their monthly paying back to the financial institucions,and also to support good students frough u.s.universities-mostly engineers and doctors/future/-that will create some hopes and real opportunities

mitko mondeshki of AK @ Dec 06, 2008 16:16:23 PM

Loss jobs

Thanks to former President Clinton, many high paying blue collar jobs have left this country. Most of us blue collar workers can not afford college, and even if we could get finacial aid for school, we can't afford to take time off from work to go to class. Most home schools programs are not accredited so they are a waste of time and money. This leaves the blue collar worker taking a lower paying job than the one they had when they signed that mortgage agreement.

Then there is minimum wage not being raised to an amount that matches the current cost of living. In NC some government officials have made the statement that we have gained more jobs than we have lost. This is true, but the jobs gained do not match the pay scale of the jobs lost. I am sorry but hotel and restaurant jobs don't pay $10 an hour and up. Most restaurants don't even pay minimum wage, they are allowed to let tips paid by customers to make up the differance(even 5star restaurants, that make millions every year). Not that minimum wage is enough to live on in the 21st century. We all know that minimum wage is at least 50% lower than it should be.

Any of you rich people that don't agree, please feel free to try to live on minimum wage for one month. I double dog dare you!!! I bet you don't make it a week before you give up.

That fact is the poor have no recourse to health insurance, fairhousing, reliable cars, higher eduction, etc...

And until we do, the economy will continue to fall. Because as the majority of the population, we are also the majority of spenders. As long as we can not afford to spend, big business will continue to lose money. Because they continue to put high price tags on everything. So only the rich can afford to buy.

If all the blue collar works of the USA would all call in sick or take vacation days, on the same week (say Feb 1st-7th 2009) as a protest against this unfair economic system that holds us down, maybe the rich and the poloticians will wise up.

Think about it, seven days of all blue collar workers staying home. The rich man would have to sweat for himself for a change. Think about the billions of dollars that HollyWood lost because of the writers strike. This would be the best wake-up call ever trust me.

They couldn't fire everyone and if they did, when they hired your replacement that person would have been one of the workers that stayed home too. Also jobs availible would go up, because all employers would be hiring across the country.

angela sachs of NC @ Dec 03, 2008 12:52:06 PM

Money makes the world go round!

For years the government officials have given themselves at least a 3% raise every year, however at the same time they voted no the increasing the minimum wage. They said," we need the raise, the cost of living is going up". Well, guess what, the minimum wage effects the poor and the poor makeup the majority of people in the USA. The cost of living hints the poor the hardest. You give yourself a raise, but you say no to giving the poor a raise then you wonder why the economy is in trouble.

The majority of the people are now at such low incomes they can not afford to buy anything that isn't a need. Which means no care free spending; which means the economy drops.

This is why we can't afford homes, health insurance, or life insurance. This is why most people only have liability insurance on their cars. Also over the past 10 years there have been alot of unfair lending practices and illegal mortgages. Which has caused alot of foreclosures and bankruptcies.

Many lenders have and still base the borrowers affordability at 1/4th their monthly gross income, for a monthly house payment. It should be based on the borrowers net income. Why?, Because your gross income is not 100% spendible income. You have Fed, state taxes, SSI tax, medicare tax, coming out of that check before you ever see it. Some people also have insurance, child support, and other deductions coming out. This money isn't spendible and therefore should not be considered usable to repay any loan. It should not be considered as income at all on any application for finacial loans, aid, investiments, or anything. BECAUSE IT IS NOT SPENDIBLE INCOME.

When we got our first home loan we were told buy the bank and the real estate agent that we could afford 1/4th gross income. We believed them, after all they are the money experts. They lied, one of our lenders set the value of our home at $150,000.00, so they could loan us $20,000.00. What they did was illegal, our home was only valued at $75,000.00 buy the county tax office and we already owed $80,000.00. This lender should have said no to our loan application. We ended up with a bankruptcy and did not have to pay one penny on the $20,000 above what we had already paid them. And infact because of their unfair loan the bankruptcy judge made them pay back some of the money to our other lenders.

To better prepare future generations the government needs to require from 9th through 12th grade a class for understanding credit, loans, your credit report, interest rates, and household budgeting.

Our loan was VA approved, the VA should have looked at our income and said no. For that matter they should have told us that we could have gotten a real house for less money. Instead, they let us sign a contract on a moblehome land package deal,for $700.00 a month at 7.5% fixed 30yr mortgage. I hold the VA,FED GOV, REagent,and the bank responsible for our loss.

We poor are the leggs this country stands on, when we fall,the whole country falls.

angela sachs of NC @ Dec 03, 2008 12:09:51 PM

It's the foreclosures stupid... its the foreclosures

Chairman Bair advised congress over 18 months ago that they key to

Addressing the root cause of this economic crisis was mortgage modification… instead it “bought off” on the (failed) Bernanke-Paulson concept of attempting bail out (their friends) on Wall Street and the banks…

Levee’s fail from their base upward… not from the top down… throw all of the rocks in the world (money) on top (Wall Street and the banks) of the levee… but fail to address the erosion at its base (real estate) and the levee will fail…

What is required is a two phase approach to provide long stabilization of the real estate market. First, in order to remove the fear that has a grip on the economy, an immediate halt to the foreclosures must be accomplished. The lenders merely need to modify all ARM and Interim ARM loans with less than 3 years remaining before the next adjustment into a 4% fixed rate loan and a 50 amortization… at the current balance due… this will halt the rate of defaults and foreclosures; thereby calming the markets and stabilizing real estate values; and the real estate tax revenue that the counties rely on… It will also allow the breathing space we require to implement the long term

second part of this plan.

For the second phase, we ought to fund $250 Billion into the FHA to be used in the form of Mortgage Assistance Grants. Revisit the stabilized loans and where appropriate and feasible the lender, at no cost to the borrower, would refinance the existing loan into the maximum amount that both the borrower and property would qualify. The remainder would be funded in the form of a Mortgage Assistance Grant by the FHA.

The grant would carry conditions. 1) It would be tax free to the homeowner, 2) require that there be no reduction in the real estate tax rate, and, 3) restrict the profit from any subsequent sale to the FHA actuarial rate, limited to 20%, net of cost of sales and any improvements made after the date of the grant. By restricting increases in prices and profits this plan will serve to create a huge pool of affordable housing. The grant would also carry a condition on the participating bank, that it makes these funds available to the credit markets.

In this manner “we the people” would accomplish what Chairman Bernanke and Secretary Paulson to wish to do… infuse additional capital into the banks… but in the form of true mortgage relief, more along the lines of Chairman Bair’s recommendation.

A new concept… “we the people” actually get something for our money! Not only that, once “Bob and Betty” know that they will still have a garage next week, may actually go out and buy a new car… or a new wide screen TV for the wall that they will still own… consumers would again do what the economy requires… start consuming again!

It’s the foreclosures stupid… it’s the foreclosures…

Stan Brody of CA @ Nov 30, 2008 22:07:20 PM

Free Markets will EVENTUALLY fix this

Now I dread the interim suffering, but isn't it the basis of our economy. I know many will suffer and I hope someone who understands this better than us can help cushion the blow for the victim's of predatory lenders. However, many are to blame for buying beyond their means. I have friends making $50,000/year who kept trading up and up and found themselves in $1,000,000 homes they could barely afford to maintain. What did they think would happen after the 3-5 years ARM teaser was expiring? How many properties in the booming markets of FL, CA, Las Vegas etc, cashed out equity to acquire additional investment properties.

Previous generations never extended themselves as bad as this. It sucks, and I am lucky that when I thought to buy, I heard a few people say the prices won't fall this time. Alarms went off and I knew those were the first warning signs. I have one credit card that is only used for business travel and is reimbursed from my employer. All of my own purchasing is via Check card so I don't go into debt. (I do owe 6 figures in student loans, but I plan to buy in a few years my first house and only one that I can put 30% or more down and pick one that doesn't cost me more than a weeks pay. AM I wrong to thin we shouldn't be spending every penny we make. Especially with no hope for a Social Security that will be able to support me when I retire at 85. If it seems to good, it probably is.

My point is, when did we stop taking responsibility for our own actions? Whether it is the mortgage/financial crisis or blaming society for our violent children or McDonald's for making our coffee to hot?

Common Sense of FL @ Nov 29, 2008 08:57:18 AM