Let's Talk foreclosures People & the empty homes they govern

It used to be illegal in Colorado for a bank to have more than one branch, but the citizens voted down that rule. Time to go back to the days when out of state banks didn't rule our finances? Hard to become a powerful lobby with only one branch bank.

And anyone else like me who use a local mortgage company and a local credit union?

Something to think about. The bank takes your house and sells it for less than half aand helps drive the values down. You loose, the bank whines to congress about looseing money from the sell of your house, congress bails them out. Again you loose,sounds like a pretty sure way of driving Americans out of their homes and into goverment run houseing.

Bankers control the country and the world, read the book Creature from Jekyll Island.

Any group can start a bank - or credit union - done routinely.

Barter is also a good way to exchange value between citizens (big market in USA).

Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If you are going to make, (for most people) the biggest purchase in your life, you should be fully aware of your current and projected financial position, the terms of any loan you sign, and develop and adhere to a budget.

If you can't afford it, don't buy it. If you don't understand it, don't sign it. This is indicative of a major problem in our society - It's ALWAYS someone else's fault.

Barter is still taxable, however, it is viable, as long as you set a rate for your skills/goods that is consistent and realistic.

Tell you what, Del. I'll support your rec district when you get them to turn the numbers around - that 300k+ for facilities, and that 86k for administration. Until then, I see it as a lining of the pockets of very few people.

You are also an exception when it comes to home buying - there was a time when the push was on by everyone- realtors, banks, mortgage companies, builders on spec - to get people in to homes for as little money as possible. And the buying public was spectaularly un and under educated on home buying. This is the third house we've owned, and I know we were very lucky in getting ethical realtors who were willing to educate up about home buying. And we learned more with each purchase, to the point of doing it without a mortgage this time. That was serendipity, but it was also fortuitous, because at least we will have a home, regardless of whatever else happens to the economy.

But you are right - it is time to move forward rather than whining - even if that forward movement means readopting practices of the past.

Interesting article I read earlier - http://www.yesmagazine.org/blogs/david- ... ddle-class

The problem with projected financial situation is that there was really no way for the average guy to predict the bank's actions, to predict that their jobs would suddenly be gone, or their pay cut. Lots of people did do the best they could - didn't buy out of their current budget range, took the fixed loan, etc - and still got screwed by factors well out of their control.

It's like asking someone to personally predict the likelyhood they will have a debilitating illness or accident in their future - there truly is no way to know.

OmniScience wrote: Whatever happened to personal responsibility? If you are going to make, (for most people) the biggest purchase in your life, you should be fully aware of your current and projected financial position, the terms of any loan you sign, and develop and adhere to a budget.

If you can't afford it, don't buy it. If you don't understand it, don't sign it. This is indicative of a major problem in our society - It's ALWAYS someone else's fault.

And people were given bad advice, like "buy the biggest house you can afford". "Your house will be the best investment you make."

Everyone here does know that a house is not an investment.

Just for the record, I'm not talking about people who lost their jobs, or were confronted with a serious illness - nobody has a crystal ball. I'm talking about the "keep up with the Joneses" folks who usually have way too much credit card debt and no restraint when it comes to financial responsibility. And there are a lot of them out there.

I don't buy that 'bad advice' garbage. If you are going to make the biggest purchase of your life shouldn't you take the time to study the market and evaluate your financial situation to make the best decision? That's what I did. It's just common sense. I could have purchased a house that was 90-100k more than the one I bought, but I didn't.

There's no excuse for educated, successful people to blame banks and realtors for their poor judgement.