Reply #3: I'd have voted 'no' as well...

[Earth_First]

Look.

We just purchased a house less than a year ago. Before we even began looking. We began reading. We read late into the night on the subjects relating to purchasing a home. We looked into all the programs the bank(s) offered. Their terms, their interest rates, and amortization tables.

When it came down to qualification, they offered us WAAAAY more than we were willing to borrow.

We ended up doing the responsible thing, the way our parents purchased when they bought their first home: they purchased within their means. Instead of purchasing a $175,000 house with 3 acres, we ended up buying a 'starter home' for $77,000 in a location that is semi-rural, yet only 15 minutes from BOTH of our employers. We also put down 10% on the value of the home which lessened the total amount of our loan.

I think that the mortgage crisis goes well beyond greedy lenders and uneducated consumers; however it has everything to do with where we've come as a society: we're all looking for instant gratification. Most don't want to have the 'starter home' that their parents began with. Most want the flashy sub-division "look what I've achieved" home and mortgaged themselves to the hill to afford it.

It's a 50/50 street here that needs to play itself out.

If I sound like a draconian thug for my views based on the foolishness of those who borrowed more than they could leverage, I'm sorry we'll just have to agree to disagree.