Man on the Street: Mortgage Crisis Hitting Close to Home?

That guy Kyle is an a$$ he threatened me and my son at the park. I hope he loses his house!

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:14 AM

Brownstoner: Why did you go to Park Slope?

-sg

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:19 AM

Agreed. Pretty pointless to ask 3 renters (and 2 possible homeowners) in Park Slope about the mortgage crisis. It would be more appropriate to stand outside an open house in Park Slope on Sunday to ask questions of buyers, people who are actively looking to buy and are shopping for mortgages.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:29 AM

anyone else think this looks like the Onion?

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:30 AM

Nobody Steve knows can afford a house... but he probably pays $2,000 for his one bedroom in Williamsburg. Hmm.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:37 AM

steve looks kinda cute.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:39 AM

I talked to someone needing to move from a rental, and looking at buying vs. renting. A big change from the "mortgage crisis" is that a jumbo loan (>417k) which used to be a fraction over a conforming loan is now about 2 percentage points higher, making buying more prohibitively expensive. It's illogical that lenders would make jumbos so much more expensive. If you borrow 500k to buy a million dollar house, you're a much better risk for the lender at 50% LTV than someone stretching to borrow 400k on a 500k place. Previously lenders didn't bother concerning themselves with, or appropriately pricing risk ... Subprime buyers should get an option ARM with no money down. And why not? prices just keep going up so nobody defaults. That got us into the current mess so the pendulum has swung & there's too much risk aversion.

Oh, and to guest 11:14 AM -
Kyle and I are going to kick you and your son's asses.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:44 AM

That's right, 11:37. Which, as long as we're indulging in conjecture about someone we know only one thing (his statement above) about, is why he can never save enough for a down payment that is sufficiently large that he can carry the mortgage on his salary.

Sure, he probably could afford a co-op in Bay Ridge, but as a lifestyle choice he didn't move to New York City to live in Bay Ridge. I'm with crouchback....

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:46 AM

park slope is not a good place for this interview

try "fringe" hoods

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 11:52 AM

11:52 -- I dunno, having "Gimme your f*cking wallet" as the response for 4 out of 5 questions would get boring.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 12:01 PM

this is useless

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 12:05 PM

How did Kyle threaten you?

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 12:11 PM

Wrong location and prolly wrong time on the subject. Clinton Hill would've been more convincing though.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 12:37 PM

11:46

You are assuming he moved to NYC (like you maybe?) as opposed to being from here.

I am a twenty-something owner who probably makes less money than all of those interviewed... my point is that instead of complaining about not being able to buy... maybe certain folks (not all, some) should stop paying ridiculous rents in overpriced neighborhoods. Some people genuinely cant afford to buy because of salary. Others cant afford to buy because they dump all their money on rent, eating out, skinny jeans, and itunes.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 12:50 PM

you must also remember some people don't want to buy.... and some people are just not up for it...there are alot of perks to not owning ... like calling the landlord and getting everything fixed for you.... house/apartment maintenance is not for everyone.
Plus you can really say that money spent on rent is anywhere near what you would need to pay for a comparable apartment in mortgage.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 1:19 PM

I pay less to own my studio in Park Slope than I could ever find renting one.

And I bought recently.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 1:26 PM

"That guy Kyle is an a$$ he threatened me and my son at the park. I hope he loses his house!"

If you're a woman, I'm sorry to hear about your ordeal.

If you're a dude, you should have punched him in the mouth... (chump)

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 1:30 PM

I am purchasing a Co-op in Clinton Hill. Ive been doing the process for about 5 months now. Last month I was all set to close but things started to crumble....specifically my mortgage. I had a 6.5% rate through Greenpoint Mortgage, unfortunately they went bankrupt and refused to fulfill my loan.
Thats just a quick summary of what happened....
In the end it worked out, I havent closed yet, but I have a new mortgage for the same rate and less closing fees. I should be closing any day now, fingers crossed.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 1:38 PM

not a very impressive cross-section here

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 2:01 PM

I don't normally agree with The What but Mr. B if you live in Clinton Hills why did you go to Park Slope for that survey?

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 3:36 PM

This is a bit off topic, but just noticed the irony...Saw a great period movie from 1970, the Landlord, last week at Film Forum. It stars Beau Bridges as a wealthy scion who buys a brownstone in Park Slope, looking to get rid of the tenants and renovate.

Had NO CLUE that PS was, as his parents called it, "a colored neighborhood."

In the movie, race adventures ensue. Not on DVD yet, so I guess most have never heard of it.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 3:54 PM

Hey, 3:54, I've heard of it and better yet seen it. That movie sucked as bad then as it does now, 37 years later. 11:14, stop cursing Kyle out on the Internet, man up and DO something about him. You're going to take crap off that guy?? He seriously doesn't look very tough.

Posted by: guest at September 28, 2007 4:04 PM