Bush's bailing out of the irresponsible Options

[Hartmann]

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/busi...mortgage06.html

Of course this still has to go through Congress where it will get a bunch of crap amended to it and blah, blah, blah.

It is not the government's job to intervene on the free market. If people are irresponsible then there is no reason to change the market to cater to them, hurting others who were prepared.

[impala454]

Oh please... I didn't say or even imply that flipping was a bad thing, nor is making a quick buck. But you can't really expect me to believe that you and your dad were sitting around one day and thought to yourselves "hmm lets go flip a house so we can create jobs and help others!"

Buy within your means, below even, and you'll be fine.

This is the whole friggin problem. First time home buyers don't have a clue what is within their means. They have to rely on the lender to tell them. That same lender who says, "sure you can get a $200,000 at 5% for 30 years and your payment will only be $1,500!" (and then in the fine print it says there's the possibility that it could increase).

[Hartmann]

Oh please... I didn't say or even imply that flipping was a bad thing, nor is making a quick buck. But you can't really expect me to believe that you and your dad were sitting around one day and thought to yourselves "hmm lets go flip a house so we can create jobs and help others!"

Actually, no it wasn't. My first thought was "quick buck" (my dad has been into real estate his whole life). Then we discovered that we could sell the homes at a decent value, add some nice touches, and make a little money. Then we found that there were people who were deserving of the homes and we helped them get the house funded and worked with them on the price so that they could afford it.

My dad and I do this quietly and for a reason. We are not just helping the economy, it's more than that. We're helping people who want to own a home and have a job but can't afford anything super nice or amazing. They want to put their kids in good schools or anything like that, we make sure they get with people to understand the taxes associated with a home and the financial risk.

This is the whole friggin problem. First time home buyers don't have a clue what is within their means. They have to rely on the lender to tell them. That same lender who says, "sure you can get a $200,000 at 5% for 30 years and your payment will only be $1,500!" (and then in the fine print it says there's the possibility that it could increase).

You said it better than I could. If first time home buyers don't know their means, they don't need to buy a home. They don't have to rely on a lender, that's a straight up lie. If people took the time, researched, talked with a financial advisor, etc. they would be much more aware of what is possible. But that's not how folks operate; Instead they decide they "need" a home and that they can just pop in and get one.