Despite glimmers of hope, the real estate market is still very much in distress. The combination of falling home prices and rising unemployment is creating stress for many homeowners who reached to buy a home when prices were high. Those who have heard the messages of "hope" and reached out to their lenders are in many cases left frustrated and disappointed. Restructuring a loan or negotiating a short sale is a complex, time consuming process. Banks and loan servicers are overwhelmed with the numbers of distressed borrowers. Reaching someone on the phone can be a struggle and keeping good records is important since many borrowers won't talk to the same person twice.
In many cases there is more than one institution with a stake in the loan. In some cases, banks are trying to make sure that their investors aren't getting ripped off from someone who has the means to pay. But with no standard for short sales, it's easy to accuse the banks of dragging their feet in the hopes the problems will go away.
In most cases sellers have no leverage in the deal and are at the mercy of the bank. It seems more than coincidental that the bank was able to reach a deal with the Burgess family after I started making inquiries. Consumer advocates say giving bankruptcy courts the power to renegotiate home loans would give borrowers the leverage they need to avoid foreclosure. That was part of the President's original mortgage modification plan, but fierce opposition by the financial services industry kept the proposal from passing.
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Dear Stephanie,
I watch NBR whenever I can. This letter sums up my feelings.
A Letter to the United States Congress
Dear Sir or Madam,
We the people, of the United States of America, are disheartened, extremely unhappy and profoundly concerned with the current course of actions, legislation and corruption in Washington DC. You are threatening the very greatness of America.
Below is a brief summary of why, we the people, have joined forces (Democrats, Republicans, Libertarians and Independents) and have committed to removing some 90% of our federally "elected" representatives in the 2010 election cycle.
You MUST vote NO on the Cap and Trade Bill. No exceptions. This is the most damaging legislation in the history of our nation and is truly the beginnings of full socialism in America. It does little except generate new revenue for the federal government. A NEW form of taxation. We hope you realize that ANY Congressman/woman voting for this bill will not get re-elected in 2010. This includes those who have already voted “yes” in the House of Reps. We will work diligently against anyone else who votes “yes” on this bill to make sure they are not re-elected. Open your eyes. Read the bill.
DO NOT confirm Judge Sotomayor. She may have the very best education that America has to offer, but in practice her rulings are overturned or reversed MORE than 60% of the time by the Supreme Court. Americans know, that it is not where you get your education, it’s what you do with it in the real world that matters. Supreme Court Judges are to uphold the Constitution without prejudice, whether they like the decision or not. Based purely on Judge Sotomayor’s decisions and public statements, she obviously has a chip on her shoulder and can not, without prejudice, rule constitutionally accurate a majority of the time.
DO NOT allow Senator Barney Frank’s new bill to see the light of day. It’s bad enough that you passed TARP. But money already paid back, including interest, was to be returned to the general fund to pay down the national deficit. It was written in the bill. Now he’s written a bill to divert these funds to his housing project. This is deliberate and absolute thievery. Disgraceful.
SCRAP nationalized health care. You have failed miserably with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid already. What makes you think you can run a national health care system any better? As of now, no one is denied heath care if they need it. We are speaking from experience. We know Americans with no insurance or savings who received the very best in medical care and they paid it back just as quickly as they could. If this bill passes, no one will get the help they need, when they need it most.
Answer these for us:
1. Why is ACORN involved with the census? Why are they asking so many irrelevant “personal” questions on this census poll? This is an invasion of our privacy.
2. Why are you continuing to let OPEC control our energy? Formulate a policy that is committed to energy independence. The Southwest should have a 95% tax credit or outright funding for solar panels on every home. The Midwest should be blanketed with wind turbines. The Northeast should be plumbed for natural gas, not imported heating oil. Drill in Alaska and offshore, create clean coal and add nuclear power. These should not be government mandates. They should be government incentives. Fund private enterprise to develop it. Millions of sustainable jobs can be created.
3. Why are you allowing our infrastructure to crumble? Once these go, so goes America. Our great economy relies on this foundation as it's building block. Poor infrastructure, poor economy. This will create millions of more jobs.
4. Why are the American people not being told both sides of the global warming debate?
5. Why haven't we heard anything more on the Nancy Pelosi and the CIA incident? She needs to be held accountable for her words, censured and removed from her position as House Majority Leader.
6. Why are we now owners in GM and Chrysler?
7. Why are you voting on bills that you have not even read? This is unforgivable and reason enough for removal from office.
8. Why are tax evaders confirmed or allowed to remain in public office?
9. Why are the labor unions and companies like GE running our country?
10. Why has the President not provided his birth certificate?
11. Why are you allowing the President to disgrace us and damage our reputation in the world? (ie, apologizing about America’s way of life and bowing to an Arab potentate!)
12. Why are you allowing the President to flip on his campaign promises with no repercussions? ie, lobbyist, Miranda rights to terrorists, promoting tax hikes (hidden in legislation), no transparency and not to mention the fly over debacle. He tells us to tighten our belt and he flies his entourage to NYC for a night out. If he is not a hypocrite, then he is an out-right liar.
13. Why haven’t you stopped earmarks?
14. (2009 Stimulus Bill) Why are you using our money to pay for a golf course, study bird and rat habitats, research turtle DNA, etc? This is not stimulus. We were told that the “stimulus bill” (rushed through Congress) was TIMELY and TARGETED. It’s been neither. New jobs and shovel ready projects have not materialized. You missed. But again, you didn’t read the bill before you passed it. That must be why it contained 9,000 earmarks for non-stimulus state pet projects?
15. Why did Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac get a pass? People should be fired and the whole institution reviewed. Our current recession is primarily due to their poor performance, ill fated judgments and executed incentives which were induced and promoted by Congress. This has nearly ruined every home owner in America. Again, another government run agency that has failed us immensely and carried with it grave consequences.
16. Why can't you control spending? We are a nation in serious debt. In these economic times you should scrap all underperforming and wasteful programs and place absolutely all non-critical and non-essential spending projects on hold and unfunded, until we are back in the black. You have put us in an extremely vulnerable and weakened state. We are Americans. We do not want to be owned by another nation. PERIOD.
17. Why haven't you completed securing our southern border?
18. Why is the Federal Government growing when the founding fathers wanted a minimal federal government? Power is to remain with the States and with the people.
19. Why are the appointed Czars not accountable to the American people? Or even you?
So where’s your outrage? Make a name for yourself. Your rants within the halls of Congress fall mostly on deaf ears. Use your bully pulpit to speak to the American people and inform them about the abusive and probable criminal activities being conducted by elected officials. Reagan did it.
Point your finger. Show us that you have the fortitude and courage to do what’s right. Be the representative of the people and for the people. Speak up and represent the majority, not the few money laundering rich and powerful in and around the beltway.
There is a reason why our current Congress has the lowest approval rating in American history. We no longer trust you with anything. You do more damage then you repair.
Don’t think we don’t know what’s going on. We the people, are fuming mad about everything that has happened of late. We have gathered and we are informed. The Tea Party movement is growing, notwithstanding the quiet (and left-leaning media). But most importantly, you need to remember that “we” are your employer.
We elected you to Congress to represent us and you are not living up to your end of the bargain. We've seen and heard enough double talk, lies and corruption. You continue to make back room deals with your colleagues, deep pocket contributors and unscrupulous lobbyist. With so many conflicts of interest in DC, we can not determine who is running this country. So we think it’s best to get rid of all of you and start fresh. It’s easy for us. We will just change our vote to someone who cares. And there are a lot of us.
We are watching, we are listening and we are voting.
We hired you . . . and we will fire you.
Entrepreneurs and individuals make this country strong. We require equal “opportunity”, NOT equal everything. Stop with the programs that give everything away to others who are given the same opportunities but would rather take a hand out.
Americans must be personally responsible for their own fortunes and failures. From failure comes great successes and success is something you “should not” legislate. From great successes, comes the ability to improve the quality of life for all Americans and for all people around the world. Destroy that and everyone loses.
There is more, but you get our point. Do what’s right for America. If you haven’t the guts to represent us and correct the course we are currently on, then may you have a happy life in another career.
Sincerely,
We the People of the United States of America
July 4th, 2009 (Independence Day)
I'm afraid it's going to be a long time before we see any material appreciation in house values. Two things happened in housing: First, because of the abundance of cheap mortgage money, home prices artificially escalated in a very short period of time by as much as 100%. If housing prices have since decreased by 40%, the values are pretty close to where they would have been without the artificial run-up. Housing has in effect gone through its own market "correction." And second, builders got greedy as well and over-built.
So now when the economy turns around there will be a huge inventory available at these corrected prices. New home construction will have to keep pace with the market so cheaper houses will be built. They'll be able to build cheaper houses because land values will be cheaper. Everything in housing will drop to a new baseline.