Comments on: Option ARM’s Resetting: Is This Final Straw?

By: Spiritwealth

Spiritwealth — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 04:10:41 +0000

I'm like you, I can't believe how bad things are getting but it's reality and facts, not fear mongering. Those home owners are due to default. There is one potential silver lining: The $15,000 credit which might push qualified buyers into the market. God, I hope so.

By: Benjamin

Benjamin — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 04:07:29 +0000

That is a very good point, Prof Bornstein. No one has really brought up the fact that the housing crisis is continuing to worsen. The media admits it's bad, but as you pointed, it looks like its about to get A LOT worse! For the self employed, it is still their responsibility to know whether they can afford a house or not. And it was also their choice to sign the Option ARMS and Interest-Only mortgages. Especially being a business owner, they should have ran the numbers on their personal finances to see whether they could afford it or not.

Losing a job is different from losing your home. With a job, as an employee, you have very little, if no control whatsoever. As a home owner, you should know the consequences if you cannot afford the payment. I understand that homeowners need help, but if the government gives money to poor money managers, they should also give money to good money managers. Someone who has bought a house they could afford and has not defaulted on their mortgage should be rewarded just as much.

By: ProfSamuelDBornstein

ProfSamuelDBornstein — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 21:55:03 +0000

RE: Small Business, The Housing Market, Foreclosures, and Job Loss:
Many fail to realize that there are millions of self-employed smaller businesses that are holding these “toxic” mortgages that are going to reset in 2009 through 2012. These borrowers are Prime and Near-Prime borrowers who hold ALT-A, Option ARMs, Interest-Only mortgages. There are $1 Trillion ALT-As, and $500-600 Billion Option ARMs.

Not only will these small business owners lose their homes, but there will be the resulting JOB LOSSES on their business failure. Although President Obama is stressing the need to create 3 million new jobs, we must understand that “JOB RETENTION IS AS IMPORTANT AS JOB CREATION”.

I authored a survey which was conducted by the National Association for the Self-Employed (NASE) to its national membership. The NASE survey is at http://advocacy.nase.org/research.asp
See the NASE News for the Survey on Toxic Mortgages. Please read my Commentary.