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Who got builders into the fix they’re in?
Saturday, Sept. 5, 2009 | 2:01 a.m.
Regarding the Las Vegas Sun’s Aug. 29 article headlined “Homebuilders seek a little help from their government”:
When I moved to Las Vegas just over five years ago, I waited in line overnight for the privilege of buying a house for $10,000 more than it was priced a few weeks earlier — and at least $80,000 more than its price a year earlier.
This stunning price increase wasn’t caused by rising costs — or the price of land, which had been acquired years earlier at a bargain rate. It was a result of homebuilders’ greed. They charged as much as the market would bear solely because they could.
It’s the fault of the homebuilders — aided and abetted by undiscerning mortgage lenders — that Las Vegas leads the nation in “underwater” mortgages (homes worth less than what’s owed).
I don’t mean to minimize the importance of the home building industry to Las Vegas’ economy. And I certainly have respect for many of the contractors who construct quality homes in a sometimes harsh climate.
But pity the poor homebuilders? Puhleeeeze.
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You still have a place to live and if you stay there a while, the value will go up. You will not be hurt. The flippers are the ones who got hurt real bad and I hope the banks are able to go after them for the total amount of the loan they had if they cannot recover the amount at a forclosure sale.
hey paul...
bravo...
it is absolutely pathetic that builders are asking for handouts...
these companies are owned by few very very wealthy shareholders...
they do not need any help...
they need to reach into their own damn pockets and fix themselves!!!
The real estate market must also assume some blame along with the lenders. Lenders were on an all out spree to get loans for all these overpriced homes. Realtors kept guaranteeing potential homeowners that their investments were safe--nothing safer than Real Estate, afterall.
Agents got greedy trying to up their commissions by selling more and more expensive houses and qualifying potential homeowners for ever higher amounts and telling them that they should buy all that they qualify for--that was just plain wrong!
Lots of builders were also victims as were the purchaser of these homes--the ones that EVERYONE told them that they qualified for and that they would easily be able to refi when the balloon came due--they knew they were lying then!
Stop blaming the victims and concentrate on making sure that we never get back to that place again. Regulate these predators out of the market and make room for those who can provide the service that should always have been expected.
You can't blame the builders! The entire economy was running around these predatory lenders who were benefiting most tremendously from every increase in value that the Realtors could get them. Appraisers were brought into the mix and they all slept together!
Birdie... you have completely fallen off your perch and have no idea what you are talking about.
My husband hasn't worked in 18 months...18 MONTHS... think about that number. He wasn't a wealthy builder, but he was a construction manager with 30 years under his belt and college education.
There has been little to no noise about the hardships faced by the EMPLOYEES of all these construction firms who are no longer able to get a job ANYWHERE in the US...believe me we have tried.
If we hadn't been the Conservatives that we are we would have lost our home long ago instead of just depleted our savings. Not many family's can take the hit we did and survive on one income after being used to two for many, many years. Not to mention the toll on our son with out of state tuition no longer affordable forcing us to bring our son home... How fair was that?
So before you criticize anyone in the building industry.... remember there was a lot more at stake than just a few "greedy builders and unscrupulous lenders." There were stupid buyers who felt entitled to overextend and then cried foul when the market turned.
Your home is an investment which by the very nature of that word means that you could get lucky...or not. But, to walk away or to expect others to bail you out when you made a bad decision or the market turned is a little ridiculous (because on the flip side...do you give your profits back to the bank?). And this is coming from a family who left CA in 1993 under the exact same circumstances, but chose to pay on a home for four years that we no longer owned. No foreclosure, no short pay...we paid off the difference between the sales price and our note. It wasn't the banks fault, and not ours either, but it was our responsibility.
I call it taking the high road...you probably call it stupid.
hey biasedthinker...
look at the large national builders...
look at the shareholders of those companies...
there is a tremendous concentration of wealth in a few shareholders...
these are very very wealthy people...
they have the resources to fix their balance sheets...
they need to do it themselves...
they made fortunes during the boom...
their pockets are deep...
recapitalize the damn companies themselves...
on a personal note biasedthinker...
me thinks you have been brainwashed by cluster fox...
me thinks you are being played by the truly wealthy among us...
there is only one statistic you need to know...
the top 1% among us own as much wealth as the bottom 90%...
sit down today and think about that...
that is the stat that crystalized my views...
problem is...
too many retarded republicans have been brainwashed by cluster fox...
they are zombies fighting for thus who have the most...
it is a total and complete joke...
stop getting played...
you would be far far better served as a proud liberal democrat!!!
When h*ll freezes my feathered friend...