Programs to prevent foreclosure don't guarantee success

I wonder if these folks will save this article for the scrapbook? Did you ever think to buy a house you could afford? And this one looks to be new. But who knew housing would never ever slow down?

Oh, boo hoo hoo. Another couple that needed a big house with a pool to feel good about themselves. My house doesn't have a pool and is only 1700SF, but I OWN it, have a good job thanks to college I worked my way through and have $$$ in the bank.

I wonder how understanding he was to his contracts if they didn't pay him ??????????

NOBAMA wrote:

I wonder if these folks will save this article for the scrapbook? Did you ever think to buy a house you could afford? And this one looks to be new. But who knew housing would never ever slow down?

Anyone that would take a minute to see what was happening. When you have an average house going for $300,000+ and the average family income for the area is $35,000 you have a problem. Do the math..........

NOBAMA wrote:

I wonder if these folks will save this article for the scrapbook? Did you ever think to buy a house you could afford? And this one looks to be new. But who knew housing would never ever slow down?

http://www.epodunk.com/cgi-bin/genInfo.php...

$39290 median income in Clermont

How much house can you afford

http://cgi.money.cnn.com/tools/houseafford/ho...

At income of $39,290 6%$5000 to put down,$300 in other bills, 2000 in taxes and 480 in hoi

you can afford a whopping $127,997 house if you are aggressive,$117,075 if not.

Easy, isnt it?

Pool, pavers, screen.....they should have used that $$$$ to purchase cars without making payments. Only put in a pool when you don't have a car payment. If they lived by rules like that they wouldn't be in this mess.

I only empathize with families that hit hard times with an unexpected illness but if you have a pool in your backyard and you are not making your car payment, your problem is money management and greed and the bank shouldn't be bailing you out...pay the debt you create.

Buy cars with cash wrote:

Pool, pavers, screen.....they should have used that $$$$ to purchase cars without making payments. Only put in a pool when you don't have a car payment. If they lived by rules like that they wouldn't be in this mess.
I only empathize with families that hit hard times with an unexpected illness but if you have a pool in your backyard and you are not making your car payment, your problem is money management and greed and the bank shouldn't be bailing you out...pay the debt you create.

I agree but that said, the worst mortgage lender I have ever dealt with is Countrywide and the worst Bank I have ever dealt with is BOA. since BOA bought Countrywide, it looks like a logical marriage of two customer un-friendly companies. So it goes...

Unfortunately, this is another example of how families lose their cars and home because they live beyond their means. We just have to have those new cars, new furniture, computers and the games that go with them, expensive vacations, and Lord knows what else to impress our neighbors and feed our igos. We've all done it at one time or another but at what price financially? Now the government, no, the taxpayers, is going to bail out three to four hundred thousand homeowners who had no business buying a home becuase they had no credit or enough income to make the monthly payments on the home let alone their new cars! The government should not bail them out. Where is the personal responsibility and accountability here? Buying a home is the one purchase where this should apply in spades. Quit trying to live beyond your income and now that you've bought that home home in Clermont and work in Orlando; is the drive worth it? We're going to see a new paradigm where people will move back to smaller communities and live where they work. They will also quit charging or borrowing for everything and start saving for those things they want. It's called discipline and sacrifice something this country is sorely lacking. Get ready, it's going to be quite a ride into this new world.

Why do these people and everyone else feel that the banks should be OK with people not paying their mortgage payments? If you don't pay, you lose, simple as that.

This country is like a snowball heading for hell. We've got all of these people who think they should be given everything that haven't earned and feel they are owed every bit of it. What's worse is that we've got a presidential candidate that buys into this line of thinking as well. The future does not look good.

What ever happend to PERSONAL RESPONSABILITY???????? I'm sure no one held a gun to this, or anyone is this situation's, head and forced them to sign anything!

these people make bad judgements

exmple- they agreed to be the poster child for this article on greed

I cannot believe the comments I read above. It sounds like these people had a legitimate business which went belly up due to the economy. Just because they have a pool in their backyard does not mean they are rich. Plenty of people in Apopka have pools (for example - my neighbor next door) and their house is worth like $250k.

I feel for these people especially since my husband and I are in a similar boat. We had a business that went belly up (real estate virtual tours) and now have monetary problems. By no means, did we live outside of our means (unless you consider 1 movie a month as a date) and we have 2 four year old cars (one which we paid off and one we have payments.)
You people need to wake up, get off your preaching towers and actually see that this can happen to anyone. Here we are, my husband just started a $10.00/hour job and I am still looking (I have tried all the theme parks but with a college degree, they will not hire me for $7.50/hour - they turn me down. My professional life before our business consisted of selling timeshare but in today's economy, no one is buying. My point is that what happenned to these people could easily happen to you, no matter what your current status is. Try having more compassion and stop being so darn judgemental and we might become a better society where people actually gave a darn about others and we not so selfish.

My husband and I went through this process for 6 long months, but our experience was so different. Washington Mutuals Homeowner preservation team assigned us a wonderful gal and she worked with us and helped us to finally maintain our home. It sounds to me that this "Hope Now" is not the avenue to go for "any" homeowner.
Go directly through your lender ask for every available program...there is always something they can do (lenders don't want to foreclose just as much as we the homeowners want to keep our homes because of the market's absolute instability).
You have time, this is a long process because Florida is a Judicial state (meaning until you have a sale date in court, you can fight to save your home).
Our process started at the end of October and in April we had solidified everything with WaMu (they locked us into a fixed rate and we began making payments in June).
Have faith and work with your lender directly not another organization...Good Luck and God Bless..

My folks taught me. Only buy what you can afford. Pay cash when you can. Don't overspend. Etc They grew up in the depression. Avoid credit if you cant pay it off at the end of the billing cycle. Now if Mom and Dad in the story what to keep their home. Bust you rump and get out there and WORK. Know the difference between Greed and what you Need. Sorry folks, the worst is yet to come!

Am I supposed to feel sorry for this family since they have 2 cute kids? Is that the point of the picture? Well my family grew up in a very conservative home (not new and no pool) and never got any kind of government assistance. If you can't afford the home then you shouldn't buy it.

chuck wrote:

these people make bad judgements
exmple- they agreed to be the poster child for this article on greed

lol. Yeah how embarassing. I hope they got paid for it at least.

I went thru the same runaround - lost my job of 15 years due to "downsizing".... when we finally had the court date with the judge, it was nothing like I had imagined, it was me, the judge and the lenders attorney in a conference room. I explained all the steps that I had taken to rectify the situation, the attorney for the lender was DEFINATLY not on the lenders side (he basically looked embarrassed) and the judge ordered them to issue me a workout plan. BTW, the car that I own is a 92 van that is paid off, my furnitur is 10 years old, and I am CERTAINLY frugal, virtually 90% of America is 2-4 months from being homeless, so all you narcacists above need to wake up.

I want to slap all of you that think these people bought over their heads. Didn't you read their story???

They had a successful business and they knew exactly what they could afford.

The economy hurt them, not the way they do their finances. Business dropped, so their income dropped. Now you want to judge them? Give me a break.

If you work hard, then you deserve nice things.

For those of you who sit there and cry that you only have a small house with a small mortgage, well good for you. But, there are a lot of other people out there who think outside the box, take more risks, and really live their lives. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but it certainly beats your situation where you will be sitting at 80 years old wondering what you did with your life and did you enjoy working 8am-5pm for someone else making them money..wow, you really made something of yourself!

See, you don't like being made fun of so why belittle those who are daring enough to take a few risks in life?

So, big deal if their house is in foreclosure. They could hire an attorney for $500/month and stay in their house for quite a few years longer until they get their feet planted again. Or even if they lost their house, these are the type of people who will figure out a way to move forward and get their life back on track in no time.

Stop being so judgemental. These people had the guts to share their story so others can learn from it.

If you have ever spoken with a millionaire, he/she will tell you that it took a few "hard times" before they got their first million.

I admire these people for their ambition!

My Treat wrote:

I want to slap all of you that think these people bought over their heads. Didn't you read their story???
They had a successful business and they knew exactly what they could afford.
The economy hurt them, not the way they do their finances. Business dropped, so their income dropped. Now you want to judge them? Give me a break.
If you work hard, then you deserve nice things.
For those of you who sit there and cry that you only have a small house with a small mortgage, well good for you. But, there are a lot of other people out there who think outside the box, take more risks, and really live their lives. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't but it certainly beats your situation where you will be sitting at 80 years old wondering what you did with your life and did you enjoy working 8am-5pm for someone else making them money..wow, you really made something of yourself!
See, you don't like being made fun of so why belittle those who are daring enough to take a few risks in life?
So, big deal if their house is in foreclosure. They could hire an attorney for $500/month and stay in their house for quite a few years longer until they get their feet planted again. Or even if they lost their house, these are the type of people who will figure out a way to move forward and get their life back on track in no time.
Stop being so judgemental. These people had the guts to share their story so others can learn from it.
If you have ever spoken with a millionaire, he/she will tell you that it took a few "hard times" before they got their first million.
I admire these people for their ambition!

This guy is out there ah? You don't gamble with your family's security idiot! Ft. Myers ah? The leading county for foreclosures in the state (Lee). Outside the box? Maybe with ideas and dreams NOT your HOME fool!

with all these responsible people living here I am surprised there are any foreclosures. These are probably the same people who bought their houses ten to fifteen years ago before the prices were sky high. Easy to judge someone else's situation but until you walk in their shoes--better not to. Those condescending naysayers with money in the bank may be the next to hit the pavement. Money runs out, jobs are lost and at the end the only ones who never lose are the ones at the very top.

If I suddenly could not afford my house and car, I would sell them.