GREED HAS SENT the housing market into a turmoil and almost everyone has been affected one way or another. Obviously, those hit the hardest are the ones who overextended themselves with big sub-prime loans, buying homes they couldn’t afford in the first place. Their psychology was that the price of homes would keep going up and up and up. It looked like a great way to live more luxuriously and make money at the same time.Others have been hurt differently. And there even are some who admit they actually have been helped. Some homeowners in the East County offered their individual tales about what the drop in home values has meant to them, personally.

Brentwood’s Rochelle Henson sold her home just one month ago. “I had to let it go for 30 percent below what we thought we could get,” she said. “Now we’re building a new home and building costs are going up, rather than down. We were hit in two ways. In addition to losing money on the sale, we’ve had to cut back on some things we had planned.”

Carole Kelley of Brentwood said she had been thinking of moving to Phoenix. “My house here had been worth $400,000 and now it’s worth only about $325,000 and still dropping,” she said. “I can buy a home in Phoenix cheaper than one here. But I was hoping the profit from the sale would help pay off some of my bills.”

Brentwood’s Alec Wilson was about to put his home on the market when prices started falling. “The value has dropped so much that I’m not going to do it,” he said.

“There are so many homes on the market now and I don’t see the situation improving for at least a year. It looks bad for a lot of people. Fortunately, for me, it isn’t urgent for me to sell.”

“I see the crisis continuing for another year,” agreed Oakley’s Gilbert Barbour. “I’m worried about it but I’m not immediately affected. I’m 74 years old and after I pass, my kids may be hurt by the drop in my home’s value. But we all should accept that homes have been terribly overpriced. I bought eight years ago for $200,000 and the value went up to $630,000. Prices have to drop a lot more before I’m a loser.”

Antioch’s Tom Tolen said, “I just bought my home last week. It helped me a lot to be patient. I paid $100,000 less than the original asking price. It’s a buyer’s market now. On one Antioch street where I looked every third home was for sale.”

Juan Rodriguez is a Brentwood native son. “I blame greed. The only people really hurt are those who tried to live beyond their means,” he said. “I’m a frugal homeowner. I bought a used car instead of a Hummer. I see the current situation being good for the middle class because lots of nice homes now are coming on the market reasonably priced.”.

William Hildebrand of Antioch also said he isn’t affected. “In the nine years I’ve owned my home it’s tripled in value. Now it’s gone down a bit. It may be a good thing by helping the lower- and middle-price market. People are being forced out of their high-priced homes and looking at scaling back. That helps in selling homes that are lower-priced.”

“I feel sorry that so many people are being hurt,” said Georgie Impastato of Antioch. “But, it shouldn’t be a surprise to them. The housing market is acting naturally, simply correcting itself. I personally am not affected. I bought my home 30 years ago.”

“I got a dividend from the drop in home prices,” laughed Cindy Hoke of Brentwood. “I received notification that the taxes on my home are being lowered because of the drop in its value. It came as a total surprise and it really helps me,” she said.

Source:

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