Boston

[Sherry H.]

Who is responisble, and when are they going to be held accountable...The banks jut seem to be rewarded for their actions, so it Couldnt be them.. I have put nearly $20,000 into my home since purchasing it...all that equitity gone......where? I am not in forclosure , nore have I been late in my payments.   What are the ramifacations of me abondoning this beautiful home that I have worked so hard to aquire, and now is worth next to nothing.  Yes I have modified my home....since it is upside down...$ 78. is all they took off my payments....$78.  My lawer has told me that Loomis Fargo never modifies their loans...so I should be greatful that I got that.... My modifaction has incentives like paying $1,000 a year twords my principal...been wo years and not one red cent has the treasurery dept. put twords thier promise.  I am so discussed with this whole situation....WHAT IS HAPPENING TO THE american dream

[Matt Keebler]

Welcome to the ZipRealty community!  Thank you for posting in the forums.

I will contact one of the local agents to see if they are able to answer this question for you.

Matt Keebler

Client Care Specialist

ZipRealty, Inc

1.800.CALL.ZIP

team@ziprealty.com

[Matt Keebler]

Welcome to the ZipRealty community!  Thank you for posting in the forums.

I will contact one of the local agents to see if they are able to answer this question for you.

Matt Keebler

Client Care Specialist

ZipRealty, Inc

1.800.CALL.ZIP

team@ziprealty.com

[Matt Keebler]

Welcome to the ZipRealty community!  Thank you for posting in the forums.

I will contact one of the local agents to see if they are able to answer this question for you.

Matt Keebler

Client Care Specialist

ZipRealty, Inc

1.800.CALL.ZIP

team@ziprealty.com

[Matt Keebler]

Welcome to the ZipRealty community!  Thank you for posting in the forums.

I will contact one of the local agents to see if they are able to answer this question for you.

Matt Keebler

Client Care Specialist

ZipRealty, Inc

1.800.CALL.ZIP

team@ziprealty.com

[02155]

i bought a house almost two yrs ago for 300K. I put down 20% which is what banks like. so now my house is worth 255K and i am almost upside down in less than two years with 20% down WTF!!!! what's the point of buying a home if it loses value quicker than homes did in the 80"s and 90's. the best advice i can give u is pay it off as fast as you can so you dont pay as much intrest. I too did reno's to my house i had gas conversion, doors replaced, trees cut down, stone wall put up. these things all add up.

[Brad Snyder]

HI Lima_Sherry,

I'm in the same boat but i bought my house back in 2004 and am now 65% below where i purchased it, i can't qualify for any modification program, only about a dozen homes in my subdivision of 120 homes have not gone through a Short Sale or Foreclosure so i do feel the same pain but on a slightly higher percentage underwater but to answer your question, in my opinion and this is just my opinion, EVERYONE is at fault, there is no one single party that caused this and not one single party that can fix this. Everyone has fault and there is no government program that can fix this. It is similar to several market crashes but just on a larger scale and spread out making it much larger but the fundamentals are still the same as other market crashes. It will fix itself over time but in the short term for us to start to see stability what we need as a community is for those than can afford to keep and maintain their homes to stop walking away from them, as long as people keep walking then we will keep falling. The owners that have a hardship like loss of job, or medical issues, etc.. should still try to work out a solution with their bank either Short Sale, deed inlieu, loan modification, etc... but it is hard for the banks to determine who needs the help and who doesn't with so many filing for the help which has also made the banks more skeptical when reviewing the files making the timelines on Short Sales and modifications take longer than they should.

As neighbors we need to look out for our communties, when you see a neighbor stealing the kitchen cabinets, granite, sinks, toilets, tubs and light fixtures that were part of the home when they bought it (if it was in their mortgage they do not own those items) , what that does is force the bank to sell that home at a steep discount which in turn does affect the neighborhood home values, and as tax payers that foot the bill for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac at the moment a lot of those losses are direct tax payer losses so double on the problem, neighborhood value lost and tax money lost to those institutions. When owners take a baseball bat to the inside of their home it hurts all of us even though they are just trying to take their anger out on the bank, they are not hurting the bank that owns their mortgage, they are hurting their neighbors.

So basically all we can do is look out for our neighborhoods, hope that owners that can afford their home stop walking away, and ride out the storm. Again this is just my opinion, i know a lot of people have other views and i totally respect that but i am also in the same boat on the values.

[DaveinSouthie]

When you put money in the stock market do you expect a guarantee it's worth more in 3 years?

Who's "fault" is it? It's everyone who believed that there was no possibility real estate values would drop. Markets ebb and flow, there is no surefire investment.

I just bought a house, I hope for both you and me that the market turns around quick!

[Nancy D'Alessandro]

Well, Lima_Sherry, it seems that the American Dream is currently experiencing a Nightmare, however.... if you like your home enough, I say, "ride out the storm", as eventually, property values will go up again. Perhaps slowly, but surely they will eventually increase in value one day. Many feel that home prices will never reach the peak that they saw in 2005-2006, so if you bought your home during those years, you may never see the price you paid. However, if you like your home and your neighborhood, and you can afford your payments, many would say to hang in there, and enjoy the tax-advantages of owning a home (as long as we don't lose that benefit one day), and remain in the house you call your home. If your house is merely an "investment", then you could opt to "Short Sale" it... but if your house is truly "Home" for you, then I say, hang in there. The American Dream will be back. :-)

[02155]

no, i dont play the stock market i have my retirment money in a fixed rate bc that's just it the stock market is like going to the casino whos to say when you get ready to retire that the market will be good at that time.  if you start a 401k or 403B early enough in your life you dont have to take high risks but financial advisors like to come up with these portfolios adjusted for your age bc business is about making money for the company and not for us. I have extremely rich relatives and they are rich not by investing there money in stock market it was real estate they were just fortunate to buy it before the ridiculous housing inflation.

What upsets me is that I never seen homes go down in value like they are now. ppl who bought homes in the 80's and 90's triple deckers for 40k are not worried nor do they care they have long payed off their homes and they have rental incomes on 1000.00 and up on their apts.

[02155]

hope lima_sherry werent priced out of their neighborhoods and forced to buy elsewhere bc that's what happened to me..it's either buy property elsewhere or pay uncle sam at the end of the year. i guess i should be thankful i can pay my mortgage.

[ZeroCarb]

     Wow...u guys r scarin' me...am currently looking for a house...would hate to get into a place and then see the value drop substantially ...is it really a good time to buy??...

[Brad Snyder]

I think it's a great time to buy, if i was in position to buy another house right now i certainly would and not just saying that because it's how i make a living. The interest rates are at historic lows which is huge. 10 years ago we were looking at rates in the 7% range, 20 years ago rates in the double digits, humongous opportunity to get a great rate, and the prices of the homes are selling for less than what it costs to build them in a lot of cases here in Vegas. In some locations in town the prices have actually gone up in the past 12 months, not many but some. Overall the main thing is if you can buy in this market and you have a long timeframe then i think it is a good time. IF you are thinking of buying for only a couple of years then moving maybe it's not the right thing to do since prices certainly can go down more but consider that if you buy now at these interest rates, have a longer time horizon then you probably are going to be paying less to own then to rent. The reason there are so many investors in Vegas right now is because they are making money off of people who can not buy homes. No gaurantee on prices but if the prices drop another 10% but the interest rates rise by 1% then not really going to save a lot of money on the payments, but it certainly is dissapointing to buy and then watch the value drop but nobody is going to be able to time the exact bottom, by the time it turns the rates won't be this low, and the tough competition we already have here will be worse for the available homes. So my best advice is if you can afford to buy and you are buying to live and enjoy the home and not just think about the market then it probably is a good time for you. Don't keep looking at the values after you purchase, just enjoy your home.