Man on the Street: Mortgage Crisis Hitting Close to Home?
We buttonholed a few folks this week on the streets of Park Slope and asked whether they knew anyone who’d been affected by the mortgage crisis. While no one reported trouble close to home, plenty thought it might be looming just ’round the corner… I don’t know anybody who’s been affected, but I’ll probably see…
We buttonholed a few folks this week on the streets of Park Slope and asked whether they knew anyone who’d been affected by the mortgage crisis. While no one reported trouble close to home, plenty thought it might be looming just ’round the corner…
I don’t know anybody who’s been affected, but I’ll probably see some in the coming months. Houses around here are so expensive that I don’t know how you can buy without a heavy mortgage.
Kyle; lives in Park Slope.
Not really, but I know mostly young people who’ve recently bought and people who’ve owned their houses for many years. I assume I’ll start seeing more people affected by it. Part of it might be, though, that it’s not something that people readily talk about.
Julia; lives in Fort Greene.
No. I certainly can’t imagine anyone I know having trouble with a mortgage, because I don’t know anyone in New York who can afford a mortgage–let alone be in trouble for it.
Steve; lives in Williamsburg.
No. I don’t really know anything about it.
Tiffany; lives in Park Slope.
No. I think I’ll probably see more, though. The market is obviously changing.
Abby; lives in Park Slope.
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.
Wrong location and prolly wrong time on the subject. Clinton Hill would’ve been more convincing though.
How did Kyle threaten you?
this is useless
11:52 — I dunno, having “Gimme your f*cking wallet” as the response for 4 out of 5 questions would get boring.
Hey, let’s give Mr. B. credit for trying. I like the idea of a “man [or woman] in the street” interview. It brings the blog to the nabe, and the nabe to the blog.
park slope is not a good place for this interview
try “fringe” hoods
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….
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.