MetaFilter posts tagged with housing and mortgage

Homeowners! You Have Nothing to Lose But Your Mortgages!

jonp72 — Mon, 30 Nov 2009 18:05:20 -0800

The Moral Dimensions of Ditching a Mortgage: University of Arizona law professor Brent T. White has written a provocative new paper (pdf) that urges homeowners with "underwater" mortgages" to walk away by strategically defaulting on their mortgage debts. White argues that most "underwater" homeowners don't default on their mortgages, because "social control agents," ranging from the housing industry to President Obama, enforce an "asymmetry of norms" that makes it immoral if an individual homeowner walks away from a debt, but allows banks to walk away from debt with impunity. Meanwhile, other economic research appears to confirm White's argument that main barriers to homeowners engaging in "strategic default" are moral and social, not economic and legal.

Blow-by-blow of Wachovia's Demise

SeizeTheDay — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 12:48:14 -0800

A blow-by-blow analysis of Wachovia's demise, as told by the bank's local paper, The Charlotte Observer.

Tanta Vive!

mullacc — Mon, 01 Dec 2008 15:12:53 -0800

The Compleat ÜberNerd: a fascinating series of blog entries detailing the nitty-gritty behind the mortgage industry by Calculated Risk's "Tanta." If you're curious about automated underwriting systems or the ins and outs of mortgage servicing or if you just enjoy some Mortgage Pig Excel art, Tanta was the blogger for you. Tanta, otherwise known as Doris Dungey, passed away on Sunday morning (NYT obit, CR obit).

The Giant Pool of Money

empath — Sun, 11 May 2008 22:20:37 -0800

The Giant Pool of Money. This American Life teams up with NPR News to explain the Housing Crisis. (I know everybody here already knows about TAL, but this is an exceptionally well done episode, and worth checking out even if you don't get the podcast.)

Value-added housing costs

Blazecock Pileon — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 11:04:16 -0800

How far away from work do you live? How much of your pay gets used up to get you to and from work, get you around town, and pay for where you live? As gas and food prices continue to rise, "affordability" has become a more critical notion for everyday Americans. The Center for Neighborhood Technology developed their Housing + Transportation Affordability Index, which aims to help better inform renters and owners about the relationship of transportation options to where one lives.

Housing Crisis: 1 in 33 Face Foreclosure Within 2 Years

jacobw — Thu, 17 Apr 2008 11:30:35 -0800

Will States Respond to the Foreclosure Crisis? Their headline is that 1 in 33 homeowners are projected to face foreclosure in the next two years. But I found the stat that neighboring homes will lose $356 billion in value a rather staggering number to swallow for those not facing the threat of foreclosure.

Subprime Artistry

afx114 — Sun, 17 Feb 2008 11:00:14 -0800

The Subprime Primer. [via] An entertaining, lo-fi, comic-book style explanation of the complex Subprime Mortgage mess.

DOOOOOM! Oh wait, Nevermind. We're fine. You're still doomed though.

Lord_Pall — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 23:42:40 -0800

Some see an economic apocalypse. Others see an err.. economic apocalypse. But have no fear! A solution is at hand. Step 1 : Print up a lot of money. Auction it. Step 2: Take whatever people have lying around for collateral. Step 3. Make sure not to mention of what happens if you default. Make it anonymous. Tada! The banks are saved! Note - Not an economist but I found all of these to be interesting. Feel free to tear it apart and explain how this is misinterpreted.

So, it wasn't the Happiest Town on Earth?

amberglow — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 16:54:55 -0800

Remember the Town Disney Built? -- 50% of the homes in Celebration, Florida are up for sale. A failure of corporate-owned and -planned Community™? or just a fallout of the bursting of the housing bubble? And whither New Urbanism? Celebration's Front Porch (home page) a neo-traditional architectural view: The Celebration Controversies

A world of Casey Serins

Asparagirl — Wed, 11 Jul 2007 17:13:46 -0800

What's the link between:
1) the quickly-growing number of American homeowners becoming unable to pay their mortgages after their ARM's reset (a trend nicknamed "ARMageddon" -- applicable in the UK too), which is translating into soaring foreclosure rates, and in turn forcing at least 60 US semi-shady mortgage brokers to go belly-up in the past year (i.e. the "subprime meltdown"), and...
2) the recent implosion and impending financial bailout -- which may become the biggest since the Long Term Capital Management fiasco of 1998 -- of two Bear Stearns hedge funds which dealt in mortgage securities? [more inside]