http://www.nctimes.com/articles/2009/01/24/business/z9bb1f6a96248e42c8825754600698e2a.txt With home prices down 50 percent in some North County areas, many residents face a difficult choice: Stop paying the mortgage and rent for less, or stick out history's toughest housing market and pay a mortgage that equals hundreds of thousands of dollars more than the value of the house. Other than walking away from the home and letting it go into foreclosure, a third option for homeowners has been a short sale, where the bank agrees to sell the property for less than the mortgage amount. This will be a very interesting topic. I am not saying that I agree about going straight to foreclosure, but I can see how this could be a growing thought for more and more, because the Mortgage companies are really not going out of there way to help people here. Sometimes they are being down right heartless, and not understanding at all. I enjoyed the article, and thought it was enlightening.
I saw an interesting comparison made between our situation today and the Great Depression of the 30's. Forclosures then, like today were very common, and one way homeowners were recieving help, was by having a group of people in the neigborhood buy the properties from the banks at a reduced rate and do a "lease to own" option back to the origional homeowner, thereby keeping them from getting kicked out onto the street and paying less to live in their homes. This only works when there is a group of investors willing to take the risk, but the upside is great. Neigborhoods are saved from becoming ghost towns, people aren't forced onto the street and they are given an opportunity to make "things right" by continuing to pay their home loans at a price more reflective of their actual value, and the money is going back to the people of the community and not the banks. I don't know, just a though, but this is something that I think could have a benefit for some people today.
It is a good option if you have friends or family that can help each other out. Right now we need to help each other out in any way we possibly can to get through this.
