Comments | _earthshine_: Strategic Defaults

_earthshine_

Strategic Defaults

Jan 09, 2010 10:31

Thanks to netmouse for the link to a recent NYT article on the simple justification for homeowner foreclosure.

This issue is of course very timely because of the recent real estate collapse which has left huge numbers of people burdened by hopelessly undervalued mortgages. It is made much more poignant, however, by the fact that the collapse was largely ( Read more... )

netmouse, .tpc_blog, .sec_public, new york times, .tpc_sociopolitical, real estate, news, business

Comments 4

macmog January 10 2010, 06:42:36 UTC

Welcome to the new economic system of multinational corporatism. The rich get richer and the rest of us get crushed, or at least we get endless credit card and bank account offers and those asinine credit report ads. Remember, your worth as a human being directly correlates with your credit score ( ... )

_earthshine_ January 10 2010, 16:27:00 UTC

Many employers make you sign a non-compete agreement when you start, stating that you can't take a job with a company in a related field within a certain radius of time and space (60 miles and two years in this case).

You're kidding! I've heard of non-competes that state that you can't start a competing business -- i.e. walk off with your former employer's expertise, suppliers and clients -- but not even take a job with a pre-existing competitor? That's insane.

What's funny is how the companies -- who have the advantage of resources and position -- are formalizing these things that just used to be called things like "trust", "fairness" and "good business". As an example, i promised myself that i would never own a recording studio that could compete with my former employer -- because there's trust there, and i care about those people, and even on a professional level i care about my relationship with them. There are always people who don't play nice and take advantage of those who do -- and we used to view them as "bad business ( ... )

jesus_jeff January 15 2010, 00:17:46 UTC

Renting means instability, which adds another layer of uncertainty and fear. Who would want to regress to a mode of living better suited to the young and the poor?

Tell that to the Germans.

The percentage of Germans owning their homes is surprisingly low compared with elsewhere. At about 42 percent, [...]

http://www.howtogermany.com/pages/housebuying.html

_earthshine_ January 15 2010, 02:06:45 UTC

Do not get me started.

Let's just say i won't be making any "real estate investments" anytime soon.