I thought all the internet babble provided by pseudo-experts about the mortgage business had basically disappeared. You know back in the day, back in the “BUBBLE” day, when the entire planet seemed to provide yet another internet expert on mortgage financing? I figured that these people all went the way of the Dodo bird, that is, i.e., became EXTINCT when the meltdown brought the entire planet back to reality.
I was wrong.
Hey, what do I know? I’ve been busy these past few years helping people sort through the mess and get mortgage loans to achieve their goals of homeownership. It’s been danged hard work and I have NOT been on the ‘net the way I used to be, back in the DAY. Back in the “BUBBLE” day.
So I see this link from my pal Gary to some website where an interview is under way with some latest and greatest internet expert named “Interfluidity.” Fifteen minutes, pal, that’s all yer gonna get. Because you don’t know what you’re talking about. My comment for the site, quoted below, is currently in moderation and we’ll see if it actually gets published. Point is, what the heck is this guy tawwking about? This “leverage” thing and all this high-falutin’ talk of economic theories and statistics and analyses.
OUT OF TOUCH with the real world where I live and work. Out of touch with the true economic analysis that I have personally witnessed for the past 20 years: can I afford the mortgage payment? DUH! That’s the extent of the “analysis” I have heard from my first time buyer clients since 1989. It’s a tradition that continues to this day. “Trevor, what’s my payment going to be?” That’s what folks want to know. What do they care about the government allegedly over-subsidizing the mortgage industry?
Here’re my comments for that site; lessee if they publish them. Hmm…
“First, what the heck makes this character ANY kind of expert on mortgages, housing and PLAIN vanilla (not “vanilla”) mortgage loans (NOT “contracts!”)???
Second, has this person ever, actually, maybe, possibly, coulda-sorta SPOKEN to a real live homebuyer/homeowner? Because, if he had, he’d realize the true dynamic of the homeownership experience has nothing to do with the economic drivel he espouses. People have families and they just want to own something that is their own “piece of the rock.” I know because I’ve been speaking to these folks in plain English (and Spanish) for the past twenty years helping them achieve that goal.
Third, since you weren’t actually THERE, let me help you to understand Bubble Era Mentality: EVERYONE WAS CRAZY. I sat with homebuyers trying to tell them their $40,000 per year salaries could not support a $975,000 house. I listened to Sub-Prime account executives telling me on the phone to commit fraud to get my clients to qualify (I don’t do Fraud and I don’t make up fancy job titles with exotic income to qualify people for mortgage loans. Never have. Never will.) I was flamed constantly on the internet for hewing to a strict 30year Fixed Rate, buy-what-you-can-afford line. I watched as the media and internet bozos like Mr. Interfluidity told everyone to BUY NOW, BUY More, Be Happy. I was there, and your analysis doesn’t even come close to catching one whit of the trend of those “bubble days.”
Guys, do us professionals who are still standing and who didn’t create this mess a favor: stop talking such nonsense. There’s folks out there who just want to own their own home. It’s not complicated, it’s really very simple.
“Leverage?” I’ve been sitting with first time buyers for 20 years. Not ONE person has EVER used the word “leverage” in a sentence with me. Cut it out.
”
P.S.: PHIL, you wanted me to get back to blogging, right?!?
Hope that helps!
Comments are wide-open. Fire away. I’m moderating them, of course, to prevent Ye Olde Spamology, but those legitimate comments will be published. Unless you make fun of my old hometown, Woodside.