I know the end must be near when I disagree with Rush and Hannity.
I’m not a total cool-aid drinker (as the left calls people who listen to Rush and Hannity) but when I read both sides of the story on any given issue I tend to agree with Rush and Hannity and think the evidence on this or that issue tends to weigh on their side on of most issues in my opinion.
BUT, they are totally wrong about the Housing Bubble. Both were blaming the media for the doom and gloom on housing and touting today’s housing report. I listen to them both every day and while I know there is an election coming up and they are on the Republican side of the aisle I think they really need to personally check out the Housing Bubble blogs, here, here and here. Seriously.
This is not personal to me. I can’t afford to buy in the D.C. area even if prices drop 50%. Sooner or later I’m going to have to move and I’m getting additional education (PMP) to boost my earning potential wherever I go so don’t think I’m rooting for people to lose their equity, I’m not. Everyone else in my family are current homeowners, I don’t want to see them lose their equity. I just see a train wreck coming and don’t want any CSGs out there to buy when the market may crash.
Specifically check out the following posts. The first relates to the housing reports of today. The numbers may not be as rosy as the initial sound-bite indicated.
Also go here (credit to Housing Panic.)
And the mother-load of all bomb-shells, go read this site. This is the site of a former mortgage broker (WARNING bad language here) who posts less frequently now that he has found a new line of work. When you see what’s been going on it gels with what I experienced personally. The most important thing about this site is to note the math. He does a really good job of that and pointing out the cost of borrowing in the short and long term in various loan products. It’s very enlightening.
One of the things Rush and Hannity always tout is that people should think for themselves. Please do so CSGs. I’m not saying at all that they are trying to mislead anyone, I suspect that they have not dug into the issue. They need to do so. The confluence of factors that have an impact on this market is jaw-dropping. Go read for yourself and form your own opinion but I know I’m convinced.
I must also point out one other thing. Hannity chewed a guy out on the phone for saying that he made 50k and his wife 30k. The guy said that they could not afford a home and they were having a hard time getting by. Sean shot back with, in essence, ‘get a second job’. For the first time since I have been listenening to him I thought, WHAT A JERK.
Here is why. He talked about firefighters and cops taking those jobs knowing they would settle for less. He states that they adjust their lives accordingly and don’t pile on debt for things they can’t afford.
Sean could be an older brother to me. I think very fondly of him because we have similar roots and background. The problem with housing is that in the last three years, in order to afford escalating out of control prices, the firefighter, cop and teacher have to resort to risky loan products and are convinced to do so because the mantra was, “real estate never goes down.”
Everyone wants to own a home.
The other mantra of the last 4 years was, “Buy now before you are priced out.” The ordinary Joe and Jane of course want to provide a roof and yard for their family so who wouldn’t react to those mantra?
The problem is that when you stretch your financial situation in response to such mantra you may end up in the hole if the real estate cycle doesn’t continue as promised. Fiscal conservatives tout that you should be financially prudent. How is the current housing market (considering it applies to all firefighters, cops and teachers because you need them in every locale) financially prudent?
I guess my question to Rush and Hannity would be: how does this make fiscal conservative sense for the firefighter, teacher or cop? Please explain it to me like I don’t know anything because I can’t make sense of it when considering the prudent, financial decisions a fiscal conservative is supposed to make. Especially if I’m a firefighter, teacher or cop trying to support a family. You tell me.
CSGs read those blogs for a while and draw your own conclusions. You have to read them over a period of time to get the full picture.
My goal on this blog is to give some useful advice to CSGs. Hope this helps.
(I’m sure I’m going to get hammered on email because of this.)
CSG
