Foreclosure/housing poll

[Pale Blue Dot]

Poll question: Foreclosure/housing poll

I know that this will be unscientific, but I want to get a sense of where we are in terms of our houses. National foreclosure rates are increasing dramatically. How many of us is it effecting?

Please be honest, and please keep this kicked. Thanks!

[ixion]

1. need to add a 'I rent' category...

because I made a conscious decision NOT to buy a house during the 'boom' period, and continue renting until prices corrected.

[Pale Blue Dot]

4. I intentionally wanted to restrict this poll to homeowners.

Although I think that yours is not an uncommon position.

[El Pinko]

10. I'm a renter with no intention of buying within the next couple years, too...

nt

[xchrom]

2. ok -- i'm doing fine -- BUT -- i want to sell

my house here and move to durham.

but the economy is so slow that -- i don't feel comfortable with putting my house on the market.

i want to get on with the next part of my life so bad i can taste it.

[lonestarnot]

3. When bread and milk have increased 5X, no one is doing fine. They are just kidding themselves.

[Pale Blue Dot]

5. In my area (CT), foreclosures are up, but we haven't yet seen major inflation.

Food prices are creeping up, but it's not at 5X. It's not even 2X, yet.

[lonestarnot]

6. Hold on to your shorts, it's coming.

[NutmegYankee]

26. Agree.

I'd peg it at 1.3-1.5X.

[reformedrethug]

25. ummmm, where has the prices of bread and/or milk

jumped 5X??

Yes it has gone up but I think your exaggerating just a bit here.

[janetblond]

7. The next people to be hit will be ...

Homeowners who think "they're doing fine" ..
Wait till they get their real estate tax bill...
The value of their home has dropped 15%, but their RE taxes have gone UP 20%.

[mvccd1000]

11. Don't see how that will hurt...

... the value of my home has nothing to do with whether I can pay my tax bill, and even if they do go up 20%, another $150-200 a year isn't going to break me.

[reformedrethug]

27. exactly

thats what escrow accounts are for, its part of the monthly payment which eliminates the lump sum payment at the end of the year.

[HelenWheels]

17. They (we) have already been hit we're just in shock

and we're all living in some sort of denial. I have more credit card debt then I've ever had before. Nothing close to maxed-out but more than the zero balance I normally carry. With energy and health related costs rising unchecked for 7 years we have all been sliding back-wards unless you are the "have mores" that bush loves.

[seriousstan]

24. I simply contest the property value. That is easy enough, I already have succeeded once.

If the value of your property goes down, you contest your tax appraisal.

I take it you don't own property.

[RB TexLa]

28. And people wonder why Assessors races are the best funded local races

I gave to 6 candidates for Tax Assessor this year four in Louisiana and two in Texas.

[demnan]

8. I'm glad I refinanced to a fixed rate mortgage

when I did. I'm also glad I bought the smallest condo on the market. Things are tight but ok. D.C. area prices were through the roof. Now you can't give them away. However, things will right themselves. These crazy ARMS and lnterest only mortgages are more to blame even than the inflated prices.

[UALRBSofL]

9. I'm managing ok but

My partner and I have had a pretty tight budget the past two years. Had I not gotten sick and disabled we would be fine. I got West Nile Virus almost 2 years ago, almost died. That cut our income way back because I was a traveling nurse and got sick while on the job. We've managed but I was approved for disability a week ago. Things should get better pretty soon. As far as the housing market, I'm really worried about that. Here in Florida it's one of the hardest hit states. We may be moving and if so, we'll wind up giving our home away for practically nothing. Were waiting to see what happens in the next couple months before we know if we need to sell our house. In a way I guess it will be good and bad having to sell our house. Anyway, I guess if we have to sell our house it will be good even though we'll take a loss from the improvements we made on it.

[mvccd1000]

12. I'm glad I didn't (yet).

My payment just dropped $200 a month, starting March 1st.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

13. Doing fine right now but that could change Monday

as the business where I work is rather shaky financially. I owe less than a thousand dollars on my house and land--had it free and clear but took out a loan five years ago to pay off credit cards. Glad now that I did.

[w8liftinglady]

14. actually,it was 2 years ago-to be honest.

[ileus]

15. I just paid my house payment and bought 600 bucks worth of jeep stuff.

Man it's nice to have secure jobs for the wife and I, and low overhead.

[kedrys]

16. The foreclosure sale is on April 1

and we're getting out of the country before then. The mortgage company is trying its best to suck us back in, but the neighborhood had turned into a war zone, the house next door was just auctioned off - twice - for half what it's worth, and the s.o. HAD to stay unemployed so our Chapter 7 bankruptcy would go through. Even if we had $$, we wouldn't stay. :(

[Pale Blue Dot]

18. Kick nt

[supernova]

19. House is paid for

and the taxes are paid up.

So far, so good.

*knock wood*

[Quantess]

20. Looking good!

Those are sweet words "the house is paid for". My boyfriend had enough money to buy his house %100 down. In today's economy, that is like being on top of the world.

[Edweird]

21. Losing the house, and NOT because I "bought more house than I could afford"

as some assholes like to think.
When the wife and I bought our modest house at approx. half of its market value, we could easily afford it.
We went into business for ourselves as General Contractors and put EVERYTHING we had into our business.
Needless to say, we zigged when we should have zagged, and everything collapsed.
Including our marriage.
Everything imaginable has gone wrong, including me breaking a clavicle in a motorcycle wreck, without insurance.
I am employed, but things are shaky everywhere and I'm preparing myself for the worst case scenario.

[Pale Blue Dot]

22. One more kick for the nighttime crowd. nt

[GOPisEvil]

23. I voted "I'm doing fine", but it's because I planned for when times might be tough.

I was approved for a $130k loan. I bought a house that cost $95k. I figured there might come a time when I might be making less money. Sure enough, a couple years after I bought my house, I left one job for another that paid about $10k per year less. I was able to keep up with my house payments just fine. Also, I got a 30 year fixed-rate mortgage instead of some gimicky variable. So, I think I will weather this just fine. It doesn't hurt that the housing market hasn't completely tanked here in Austin, so my house is still worth more than I paid for it.