Sep 27 2008
Another One Bites the Dust
Another bank is under. Living in Las Vegas, the results of the banking/mortgage crisis are everywhere. There are lots of homes for sale and not enough buyers. A lot of these homes are foreclosures. When Mister and I were looking to buy a home, we looked at some foreclosures but ended up buying new. We figured that the lower price on a foreclosure wasn’t low enough to make up for all the repairs we’d have to do. A lot of the homes were nowhere near move-in ready. We have a newly built home, and while there is some work we want to do to make it ours, everything’s in good working order and we didn’t have to fix anything to move in. As time goes on and the economic situation in this country plays out, Mister and I are more and more convinced that we bought at just the right time.
We were able to get down payment assistance from the Nehemiah program, which is a federally funded down payment program. We didn’t even know about it, but the seller’s agent told us about it and it was a great thing for us. Sadly, it will cease to exist at the end of this month. That I don’t understand - there are thousands upon thousands of houses sitting vacant, and the federal goverment is taking away the tools to help people become homeowners. While sale prices have dropped a bit in our community, we’re still happy with our purchase. We couldn’t have timed it better.
Back to the banking. I used to have my accounts with WaMu. I was planning on changing after Mister and I got married, and started hearing about all the losses that WaMu was posting. Mister banks with a much higher rated bank - one that’s more stable because it’s more conservative in its lending. I closed all my old accounts about a month ago. Due to FDIC insurance, I wouldn’t have had anything to worry about, but the involuntary changeover of all sorts of things - direct debits, direct deposits, getting new bankcards and checks, etc - is a huge hassle. It’s one thing when, like me, you choose to change banks for other reasons, but despite the “seamless” transition that the FDIC mandates, these people will still be inconvenienced in some way.
As everyone is reading in the news, this isn’t over. I could go on and on about it, but I’d only be another voice in the sea of people who have something to say about it. I’ve only written about it as it applies to my life. Mister and I have secure jobs, a home that we didn’t pay too much for, and we’re happy. No matter what happens, we still have each other, and that’s all that matters to me.
I assume it affects pretty much everybody in the USA. Which is very sad because the people didn’t do anything. Greed and more greed led to that situation…
I’m sure Canada will be affected in some way for now — touching wood - it’s okay.
What a grown up! Unlike some people I know that wouldn’t understand what this was all about in the first place. Ah, the complete lack of awareness when the brain is blonde. FYI: We had our last mortgage at WAMU which we wanted this time but it got sold to a better bank. Phew!
Zhu, I agree - too much greed and not enough regulation got us here. No matter what the government does with this bailout they’re trying to pass, it still won’t help the average American who can’t make the mortgage payment.
Mommy, you have known for a long time that I read lots of stuff besides Cosmo magazine. And your mortgage would have been fine even if it was still with WaMu; you’d just get notice to send it to Chase instead, just like you got notice when your mortgage got sold.
Just an FYI, Nehemiah is a seller funded down payment program. It is not a federal program.
Thanks for the clarification, Jeff. With the (what seemed like) thousands of pages of documents that we signed, those sort of details got lost in the shuffle. What mattered most to us is that the final price was right and the terms of our mortgage were favorable.
Kelly and I were shocked to see so many closed businesses as we drove around and did our morning errands. I estimate that 25% of the stores in strip malls are empty, I see them and just shake my head as we drive by. Rite Aid is gone completely and today we saw that the huge Sports Authority store isn’t open any more. Mervyn’s is selling everything off the floor at 75% off though I am not sure if it’s just that location or the entire chain. I’m guessing that WalMart will come out ahead because even a little bit of savings makes a lot of difference to a lot of people.
Some of the closings are regional - Rite Aid is still going strong in the northeast, and Linens N Things is leaving 2 stores here in Vegas. But it is sad that as the economy claims more businesses, we are left with fewer and fewer options, especially here in Vegas where there are few, if any, independent sellers. We’re at the mercy of the big chains here.