Extensive Real Estate Coverage from the APP
The Asbury Park Press has an extensive real estate section today.
My favorite story in today’s APP is the one about the 24 year old who bought a townhouse in Brick but needs his girlfriend and roommate to help pay his mortgage and taxes. The guy is a perfect example of someone who absolutely does not need to own real estate and who never should have received a loan, or loans in this case, to begin with.
“Michael Knapp was eager to be the first person in his family to buy a home, but first he had to make a few concessions.
He settled for a townhouse, because he couldn't find a single-family home for less than $200,000 that didn't require a complete overhaul. He extended part of his mortgage from 30 years to 40 years. He needed roommates to help pay the mortgage, and so recruited his girlfriend, Trish Maas, and his friend, Jason Reineke, to join him.”
Full article…
The redbankgreen blog is has some commentary as well.
My favorite story in today’s APP is the one about the 24 year old who bought a townhouse in Brick but needs his girlfriend and roommate to help pay his mortgage and taxes. The guy is a perfect example of someone who absolutely does not need to own real estate and who never should have received a loan, or loans in this case, to begin with.
“Michael Knapp was eager to be the first person in his family to buy a home, but first he had to make a few concessions.
He settled for a townhouse, because he couldn't find a single-family home for less than $200,000 that didn't require a complete overhaul. He extended part of his mortgage from 30 years to 40 years. He needed roommates to help pay the mortgage, and so recruited his girlfriend, Trish Maas, and his friend, Jason Reineke, to join him.”
Full article…
The redbankgreen blog is has some commentary as well.
posted by Little_Silvered at 6:23 PM
12 Comments:
This buyer was obviously not qualified to buy- shame on the lender and re agent but even more shame on the buyer himself for being so anxious and gullible. Obviously, if he needs roommates to pay his mortgage he is not ready to own a home. Townhouses and condos lose the most value in a market downturn like the one we are beginning to experience -anyone remember the late 80's/early '90's? I can't believe, even now, that people are buying and taking out these toxic loans-and I also can't believe the lenders are still getting away with this. The outcome of all this is bound to be disastrous.
This article makes it sound like prices will continue to rise and first time buyers will be forever priced out. This is exactly what the real estate agents and bankers want people to believe. Unfortunately, people like this 24 year old are still being fooled. HELLO!! This article fails to mention all the adjustable loans which will be resetting within the next two years and the fact that speculators/flippers who drove this market up in the past two years are no longer buying. To say that the market has stabilized and not acknowledge a possible price correction (which seems to be inevitable) is irresponsible journalism in my opinion.
"...irresponsible journalism in my opinion."
Agree - prices are slowly dropping, but there is no mention of that anywhere - where does the cover-up end?
Could it be that the APP doesn't want to offend the real estate industry and potentially lose lots of advertising $$$$$? Hmmmmm.
LOL, wait until his "girlfriend" bails on him, then he's, as they say, hosed.
he only makes 60k a year? i am finding it tough to afford a home and i make 250k a year....and doctors only make 80k? thats a doctor i wouldnt want to see...
I love this quote from the article:
"The hope is that prices will rise, interest rates will remain reasonable and Knapp can refinance under more favorable conditions"
This is a very unlikely scenario given the state of the current market. Why would someone take such a financial risk? If someone has no money to put down and does not qualify for a conventional fixed rate mortgage - they should not qualify to buy a house-plain and simple. I can't believe these lenders - now offering 40 year loans-they must be really getting desperate.
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Please don't cut and paste entire articles.
Here is a link to a story about yesterday's floods in Ocean County.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060916/NEWS/609160408
Back to Mr. Knapp.
You can almost hear the country music lyrics in the background while reading this story.
♫My roomate took my girlfriend and now I got no house.♫
How about the people from Lacey in the other article who reduced their asking price from $404,900 to $399,900 to make it more attractive to buyers. WOW!!! I bet the buyers are pouring in now. Lacey, isn't that where the nuclear power plant is located?
A very astute revision, most buyers look in a range of X to y in increments of 25 or 50 thousand dollars. This puts their listing in a larger amount of searches.
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