Oro Gets FHA Approval
Everybody wants in on this FHA thing! And who can blame ’em: It’s a heck of a lot easier to sell condos when you only need to require buyers to put down 3.5% of the purchase price. Already this week, we’ve had news of The Edge getting approved by the FHA and The Toren getting…
Everybody wants in on this FHA thing! And who can blame ’em: It’s a heck of a lot easier to sell condos when you only need to require buyers to put down 3.5% of the purchase price. Already this week, we’ve had news of The Edge getting approved by the FHA and The Toren getting in its application. Then yesterday the flacks for The Oro sent out a press release heralding the Downtown Brooklyn tower’s admission to the club. With buildings going into foreclosure recently, buyers are reluctant to commit, said Robert Scaglion, Senior Managing Director of Residential Marketing for Rose Associates. The FHA approval is very reassuring to the marketplace. Well, to buyers at least. The rest of us haven’t forgotten the downside to low down payments and easy money.
Oro Now Approved to Throw Money at Buyers [Curbed]
The Toren Holds First Closing, Wants in on FHA Program [Brownstoner]
The Edge Gets FHA Approval [Brownstoner]
hi joegowanus. i guess my point is that if you can afford your monthly mortgage, then it shouldn’t matter if you’re underwater. the problem is that these people bought more house than they could afford, and a lot of these people just kept refinancing their way into the boom or used a low-down payment program to buy more house than you can afford. the one thing that i like about the property that i bought my mom is that they require owners to put down 20% of the purchase price (or for investors to put down 25%). it establishes that people can afford to live there, and it’s nice to see that they haven’t had any foreclosures. last thing i need is for my mom to get booted out on the street in her retirement years. i guess that means i am not a big fan of exotic mortgages either.
“Disney World season tickets.”
That sounds worse than having an underwater home.
But joe, that 100% uptick is possible. Whether or not it’s probable, I won’t guess as I’m no finance/real estate expert. We could look at the difference in prices right here in Brooklyn…things that were relatively cheap in say 1999-2000 were suddenly being sold for tons more in 2006-2007. But I say again, if you initially viewed your home as nothing more than a physical structure you liked in a neighborhood in which you wanted to live, none of this would mean too much.
snappy,
it’s all circumstantial, obviously. If I bought a house for 1.6 million and comps are now selling at 1.4, I wouldn’t walk. But, there are a ton of people in other parts of the country who bought at 400,000 and comps are now coming in at 200,000. In that case it’s a no brainer IMO. Unless of course you think that uptick is going to take you up 100% by the time you’re gonna move.
Oh, and the folks who made $8300 per month and spent $4800 of it on a house were just greedy tools who were bad at math. That type of spending on a home should never happen even in a great housing market.
But Joe, answer this for me: Let’s say we are looking at a family who is $200k underwater. They can *afford* their mortgage, but are just upset that they currently owe more than it’s worth. The kids are still school aged and they have no intention of moving anywhere like out of state or something. Why walk away from that mortgage? I mean, unless you have an ARM that is adjusting on you and making the payments unaffordable based on your income, why not just ride out the storm. The market will surely have another uptick (when that will occur is up for debate) so why not just keep paying for the house and know that at some point, it’s value will once again increase? Home values naturally go up and down. Why is everyone in such a tizzy over a lower valuation these days? Well, unless you are a flipper or other investor who looked at a home as a stock market alternative (I still say that a home is not an investment…it’s nothing more than a physical structure you like in a neighborhood you wish to live in).
maybe they publish these articles bc the wsj is against the govt, er I mean, the fha program?
Probably FHA Snappy. haha.
In all seriousness though, I think it’s still worth it to walk away even if you tarnish your credit score and are unable to buy for 5 years or more. Your obligation is to yourself and your family first. Sometimes walking away is the best thing to do, obviously.
eff disneyland though. they should save their money.
bitter owners.