Home Mortgage Help, or Interference ??
Is there room for government home mortgage help, or is that just interference? I don't really Know !!
Short term fixes in all areas of my life, have been just that. Short term.
Yes ! I want to sell houses ! Yes! I want first time home buyers to have an opportunity to buy a home. Yes ! I believe in down payment assistance ! ( parents can loan money to the kids if the parents can afford it, and the kids can pay it back)
I guess that's why the request today to write my congressman and pressure him to apply a quick fix to one area of the home mortgage crisis has left me confused. DOWN PAYMENT ASSISTANCE !!!
Heres the letter I got. Notice it is encouraging lending mortgage money in a way that history shows will yield foreclosures at 3 times the ordinary rate.
The FHA, who lost $4.6 billion last year, may be losing their ability to accept down-payment assistance program money. Nearly 79,000 people last year took advantage of them, where nonprofit groups provide buyers with money for down payments and home sellers then reimburse the organizations and pay an administrative fee. The FHA said seller-funded down payments present the single biggest challenge to its solvency. Borrowers who take part in these arrangements go to foreclosure at nearly three times the rate of borrowers who put their own money down, according to the agency. The Senate version of the housing bill would have banned them but the House version would not. At this point a compromise bill has backed the Senate's version on this, which also is supported by the Bush administration.
What to do? I'm in the business of selling houses and offering Real Estate advise. Homes for sale that wont, don't do a thing for me. homes that sell and home buyers that can buy do.
I want to be a "team player" and I want everyone to have a shot at the American Dream of home ownership.
But I dont want our government making poor business decisions based on my advise or my approval.
I'm not going to send it in today, but am willing to listen.
Let me know where you think I'm wrong.
Just tell me if this is Home Mortgage Help or Interference.