I have absolutely no sympathy with the vast majority of home owners who are about to be foreclosed on.

They chose to buy the home and they wanted new and shiny everything and wall to wall. they signed the contracts too.

I live in a home that cost me one years salary and for the first three months I had to almost rebuild the place. I now have all new everything and wall to wall, but I own it outright, I saved up and paid cash, I got dirty doing the re modeling and decorating.

I live within my means and do not even own a credit card, so come on America, stop complaining and whining about the mess you all got yourselves into.

I listened to my Parents as a kid and I went without until I could afford to pay for it. So start teaching your kids that they cannot have everythin they want when they want it and you will be helping them not to make the same mistakes you did..

Other than utilities and insurance, the rest of my income is my own. Heck, I even paid cash for my car. admitedly it is not a shiny new one from the showroom, but it is eight years old and serviced regularly.

So while you are impressing your friends with your latest shiny vehicle on a monthly lease and complaining about losing the roof over your heads just stop and re think your situation.

Perhaps say goodbye to the shiny new car and buy something a lot cheaper for cash, and then the money you were using for the lease or payments you can put towards paying off the capital on your mortgage, and one last thing for you to think about, Perhaps once a week stop eating out and buying coffee on the way to work, buy a jar of instant and leave it in your office.

So good luck with your re think!.

Duane, that's a nice little story, but this article isn't about someone being foreclosed upon or who spends beyond his means, this is about the rest of us that are being affected by this housing mess.  Those of us that put our 20% down, that got a 30 year fixed morgage, but because housing values have fallen, find ourselves upside down on our mortgage.  

Next time before you start your rant, read the article first.

Duane- Your remarks are right on the money, I also did the same.

I agree with d...this mess affects everyone...even people who did their homework and were prudent with their home financing. This mess is going to be felt by all and for years to come, in lower property values, tighter credit standards (even for those with good credit-although I don't disagree with that), obviously those struggling for whatever reason to make their payments (don't forget the loss of jobs that this caused). The hard part is finding a doable and viable solution to begin to heal the wounds that have been felt by all.

I bought my house nine and a half years ago with 250 dollars down and used my VA loan benefit.  3 to 1 buy down and I got almost 300 back at closing.  It is only a 1250 sq ft home but I live alone and I have a huge fenced in back yard....Final price was 83,500 I think.  So after 3 years my interest rate topped out at 6.75%.  Even if I may be a little upside down due to the fallout of the market, it doesn't bother me because I don't plan on going any where.  I moved so much when I was younger I think I got burned out on it.

My house was one of the first built in this neighborhood so I got to see all the others get built.  A lot of people got in these houses just as easy as I did but there has been a big turnover because they couldn't make the payments.  I was seeing that even 7 years ago.  The bad part is a lot of them have been sold to people who are using them for rental property so that hasn't helped the property values either.

I bought my house nine and a half years ago with 250 dollars down and used my VA loan benefit.  3 to 1 buy down and I got almost 300 back at closing.  It is only a 1250 sq ft home but I live alone and I have a huge fenced in back yard....Final price was 83,500 I think.  So after 3 years my interest rate topped out at 6.75%.  Even if I may be a little upside down due to the fallout of the market, it doesn't bother me because I don't plan on going any where.  I moved so much when I was younger I think I got burned out on it.

My house was one of the first built in this neighborhood so I got to see all the others get built.  A lot of people got in these houses just as easy as I did but there has been a big turnover because they couldn't make the payments.  I was seeing that even 7 years ago.  The bad part is a lot of them have been sold to people who are using them for rental property so that hasn't helped the property values either.

Thank you very much for the mention!  --Mighty Bargain Hunter

I see all your points and I'm happy for you and your wise choices, but lets be fair and realize some people just had really good timing in the market.  I dont think its as black and white as many think.  Your forgetting the economy is craping out and food and fuel cost are up at least 50% as well.   I too have no simpathy for those bad decisions makers, like people who bought at the right time and used all there equity to by their Lexus or remodel with stainless steel appliances.  However, some, like my wife and I are struggling to just get by and didnt buy that Lexus, upgrade their kitchen or go on spending sprees.  Some of us waited, saved, and just kept seeing the houseing market get higher and unatainable and just wanted to get into the market - so we jumped into the market.  We are in our mid 30s and live in the Wash D.C. metro area, have a small two bedroom 2 bath 1500 sq/ft townhome (no yard) that we bought for 430K Jan. 2005 - and this is a starter home in this area.  My 2nd mortgage is more than most peoples homes in this country.  If you dont believe me look up 22033 zip code.  We had no money down and the only loan we could get was an interest only 5 year ARM for our 1st.  Our loan is due to change in another year and will increase 2.25% raising to $3,200/month.  My credit score is 780 my wife is 740 and neither one of us has credit card debt or have even been 30 days past due.  Yes we saved, it went to our closing cost were almost 10K!  The little furniture we have is used our bed was given to us by my parents (pretty sad I think) and you are talking about two people that worked fulltime while earning a bachelors degree and have a combined $400/month student loans. We have been sharing a used car for 4 years and using public transportation at a cost of $300/mth.  Now add in groceries $500+, gasoline $100+, misc exp $150, HOA $75, daycare $1,300, utilities $300...starting to see where I'm coming from?  What do you think I should do?  Should I move into a studio appartment for $1500 a month in this area?  Should I move even further out of the city?  We already spend almost 3 hours each communiting to the city/day.  Just like what this article is saying, I can't sell the house without taking a 70K loss (realitor fees included) since its worth $380K now.  I can't refinance because the house valued is less than the mortgage we owe on...seriously what should I do?  I have a year before it hits the fan?

I am in the same boat as the reader who sent in his story.

I did well on my first house purchase and sale during the boom, then went and bought another home as prices were on the decline (last spring).   I thought that was a good time to buy, and I had been renting for two years since my last home sold so I was itchy to settle into ownership again and get the tax break which is so helpful for a single making over $100,000.  Did everything right,  FHA loan with 15 percent down, fixed rate on a fixer with potential.  I thought I would be here for a few years, but met the man of my dreams who has been planning on moving to another part of the country.   Well, we are stuck here, and the only upside is that our relationship is probably stronger for this tribulation.  

My boyfriend and I are stuck here (in Florida, one of the worst markets) pending the upswing of the market.  

What about those who are upside down and want to divorce? You can't refi out or sell, and if the ex doesn't make the payments you are still on the hook for them. Can you reorg in chapter 13 and have a judge make the person living in the home solely responsible for the payments? In this case the person keeping the home should also be entitled to a buyout because of the negative equity he /she is assuming, am I correct?