Sundays Episode of Sixtey Minutes - RV-Dreams Community Forum

2fortheroad · RV-Dreams Family Member

Sundays Episode of Sixtey Minutes

faerie · RV-Dreams Family Member

i dont think people want to. but for example, i have owned my house for 10 years, planning on fulltiming in another 5 when my youngest goes to college. my house is worth half of what i owe on it. and i didnt buy at the boom peak. there is no way the economy is going to revive to the point that i will be able to sell it for even what i owe on it. i dont have to make a decision for 5 years but it is a scary prospect

Gary · RV-Dreams Family Member

This has been going on since the housing bubble burst.

DagoRanch · RV-Dreams Family Member

Gary wrote:

This has been going on since the housing bubble burst.

It's actually been going on for decades, really. Certain parts of the country (Southern California) have had wild boom and bust cycles for about 50 years now. This is nothing new to them. Neither is the wild "creative" financing that happens in the preceeding 2 years before the bust.

The only difference with this boom-bust cycle, is that it afffected far more people nationwide. Some states worse than others. I can go on and on how this all got started, but I'll keep it short and sweet.

GREED!!

The equalizer in these cycles is TIME. As long as you have time to wait out 10 years, one is usually ok, but if something... anything comes along that forces you to move... well, that's when you start weighing your options, and if the bank doesn't want to entertain a short sale, you're walking away. The only thing that get's trashed is your credit rating in most cases*.

*Depending on your state laws regarding homesteading exemptions on primary residences and personal liability on secured debt.

The Bear II · RV-Dreams Family Member

I remember a real estate broker telling us he could get us into any house we wanted by using creative financing. One scheme he described used 4 different type of loans to come up with the purchase price and required no down payment.

This was back in 1976...so I'm guessing folks who elected to do this type of creative financing would also be the ones who would at some point walk away from the mortgage.

Hamshog · RV-Dreams Family Member

As far as a downturn goes, I don't think there has been one like this for over 40 years. The trend in So. Cal for dumping homes is continuing. It's not over yet. Too many people got into homes for little or nothing down, with minimum income levels.

Don't know the truth in other areas, but here in So. Cal, building has almost come to a stop. Contractors of all trades have never seen it slow down like it is. Never!! This is having it's ripple effect through out all business. No money, no buy stuff...

The boom/bust cycles have been around 8 to 10 years but usally only a 4 to 5 year recovery period. This one may last much longer and not regain the value it was at for many years... I hope I'm wrong....

Regards, Howard

bjoyce · RV-Dreams Family Member

What is sad to me is we know of people who got off the road because they saw housing prices going up forever and wanted to buy before they could not afford a house again. I am sure they are hurting today and would have been better off staying fulltimers.

We were visiting my mother during 60 minutes, a good thing to be doing on Mother's Day. Once the segment on housing was over she said, "I bet you are glad you sold your house!". A small victory since my mother thinks we are a bit nuts to be fulltimers.

tntlowrider · RV-Dreams Family Member

All the more reason I am selling now. Will keep my rental property. The good news is I am not taking a beating on the house sale and thankful for what I have.