Of course we can still look at people who did that, but many times — like the Mountain House, CA case — they were looking for any house in a “storm” of obscenely high housing prices. Most people only buy a house once or twice in their lifetimes, so they can’t be considered experts on home price trends or mortgage choices. The actual housing experts were all riding a job/commission boom themselves and were in no position to counsel anyone “maybe you should rent for a while”.

There was actually a billboard in my city that read roughly “FACT: Housing prices appreciate an average of X% annually. Your house is your safest investment. Call your Realtor today.” It only came down a few months ago. (That may yet be true in the long run, but it certainly was silly to have that sign up while prices are tumbling and people are making short sales.) The professionals in the industry bear the majority of the responsibility for pushing the housing bubble.

I had a friend in the legal business and she often prepared closings. The interesting thing about closings is that there are a bunch of people there, but there is rarely someone managing the entire process on behalf of the buyer. There are people there to do their ONE PART of the process. But the buyer is ultimately on their own. It might make sense to organize things better from now on so that the buyers are getting better advice about what they’re getting into.

All that said, I think HOPE NOW is a thin safety net that isn’t spread nearly far enough. It’s not necessarily a good thing for someone underwater to stretch their mortgage, because now not only is the house expensive, the financing is more expensive in the long run, and they’ll build equity more slowly. It’s better than foreclosure, though. I think it’s possible it will tide people over the next few years of stagnant housing prices, and maybe they can sell or refinance in a better and saner market. In the short term, though, it’s definitely necessary, unless you really think empty homes across the country owned by nearly-insolvent banks is a great idea.

So to infuriate you more Jenna, the taxes you have paid while renting are going to someone who lived foolishly and got a No Doc, Interest Only loan while you penny pinched and used your brain before writing another big check.

With Paulson continually changing the rules in mid-game like he did today, I’m not exactly sure how the TARP will be administered.

Though that wasn’t *quite* what I intended to say with the article, so maybe I just did a bad job of it.

These, bailouts, they pose both a moral, and political delimma for me.

On the moral side, I am feeling very hypocritical and two-faced when I say that all of these bailouts are a bad idea. Even though I have repaired my financial situation and found stability, I cannot forget that in a way, it is thanks to the government.

I used our laws to declare bankruptcy and give myself a fresh start. It was my family’s bailout. Yes, we have handled things very well since that time – that is due to our hard work. But I would not be here today if I had not received help.
So who am I to say that no one else should get help because they mismanaged things?

On the political side, I grew up among staunchly middle class, conservative family. They believed that anyone who is a democrat is both 1) poor and 2) looking for a handout. (I do not agree with those statements by the way, it’s just what my family did their best to teach me). So in a way it is very entertaining for me now to watch wealthy, conservative people run to the government looking for a handout in times of trouble. Guess that theory was wrong, eh?

It’s a mixed issue, and mainly I just wanted your opinion – all that read this – what do you think? At what point should these handouts stop? re they good for our country, or bad for it? What will happen as a result?

Please if you do nothing else protect your family and not with the help of the government, they will NOT be our support forever. The well will dry up.