US real estate crisis, how does it affect Polish-Americans

I wonder about your thoughts on the current real estate crisis, how does it effect traditional Polish neighborhoods, Polish Banks and other businesses etc.

I know a lot of "old" Polish neighborhoods were located in the blue-collar sections of towns, and I think they are especially badly hit by the crisis. I hear of people dumping their houses, simply walking away from them.

What do you do when the value of your house goes down by 25, 50, or even 75%? Wait it out? Dump the house? Or use it us a golden opportunity for an investment and buy, buy, buy?

The recession in bouncing back up. Of course it will be a while before Europe catches on.
If u got money, u can buy stuff. If u don't need to sell your house, don't. If u do, then sell it.

?

The recession won't be over until there are jobs. I am very worried.

Its getting slowly better but it will probably take another year

I am starting to see a pick up here as well. More jobs on the job boards, more jobs to come, when you talk to people in your network. I am very worried that many of the jobs that have been lost may never come back. The government talks about retraining for the new economy, but try to retrain an 50 year old auto worker to work in a high tech industry. Not many will make the transition. That leaves a lot of folks working at Home Depot, Wal-Mart etc... So much for the good old days.

Well, the same as everybody else, of course. If the property value of your home has gone down significantly then you obviously wouldn't sell if you don't need to. If you have lost your job, that's a different story. The number of foreclosures, short sales and bankrupcies are still on the rise, and the job market in many states doesn't look too good either.


You mean the recession is almost over? Dream on! Next market to crash will be the real estate market for commercial properties. Let's see how the greedy banks will shoulder that.

Quote Krysia please...

Has the peak of the NINJA Mortgage defaults occurred yet?

The other thing is, with the US Economy dependant on consumers, and so many of those consumers have lost their employment, it will take a while for the consumers to open the pocket books again. Everybody seems to be hell bent on debt reduction, not consumption.

ShawnH

Sorry, done.

Well I was pretty broke before the recession. Ironically, all my partying and blowing every cent I made on booze , women , travelling was prudent as I would have lost it anyway via my 401k.

Hey we are talking about the Good Ole' USA here, consumption is THE way of life here, Besides, we tend to have short memory too. I'm sorry what were we talking about? I forgot.

This is about right.. You'll see decent hiring summer in 11' or there about. We need to pay off the Chinks and we'll be back in business for the most part. In the end, this whole thing will probably be a good thing. (starts dodging eggs, tomatoes.. )

I have a feeling it will take Europe a little while longer to recover though

Ive been seeing more jobs in the paper, Im sure for every job there must be a 100 or more people applying for it?


lol

To a degree yes. It would suck to be a college grad right now with 80k of debt but if you've got a little experience it's not too bad. I do contract office stuff a little light accounting etc. it's starting to pick up a little. Got my whiskey and rent. Chick below me cranks her heat up and heats up my pad too. No worries.

It sucks but when firms layoff they then they can grow and hire more in the good times. In Europe you lay a guy off they might send the employer's a.ss to jail. True story.

the rule is "got friends? got job"... like everywhere...

Gee thanks for the good news krysia, I must be blind.

I'm not so sure. At the moment there are heaps of smaller banks going belly up on the west coast.

Its who you know, that helps for sure:)

Alot of ppl get laid off, then thier job goes to the bosses friends son who lost his job..etc

Construction seems to be picking up in my area:)

The property values in many parts of Southern California, have been sinking with a heavy anchor. I don't plan on selling my house in the near future. I think I'll hold on to my little love shack for now.

I have one of them also..lol
She always is blasting her music, I wouldnt mind if it wasnt the same song all the time.


I wish they would do that to some of these union BA`s

They said on the radio, places to apply for a job are AFLAC and Autozone. AFLAC is hiring salespeople. Autozone are hiring associates and store managers. Info can be found at their websites.

Either Small or big banks which were relying mostly on landing to stay in business are indeed in trouble and are being taken over by the feds or received TARP bailout money to be allowed to keep their doors open. It happened in the 80's already, when most saving and loans banks collapsed. Banks which were always strict are fine and profiting as some scared consumers and businesses are flocking in, escaping from other, unfortunate banks.

I don't know of many polish people loosing homes. A lot of them bought homes with a decent pay down, good 'ol conventional, 30 year fixed mortgage. My condo dipped about 15-20%, but I have it for a while already and got a manageable amount of mortgage left. I'm fine. All my home owner friends are fine. Unfortunately, people with zero down payment or buying a bigger house they could afford are suffering. If they still have a job and even though their mortgage is higher than the house is worth, some choose to stay. However, if you lose a job with this type of debt, it's better to walk away and many do.

It seems like a lot of people wait for some kind on encouragement to go out and spend more.There are plenty of bargains out there, but the fear of loosing a job and not being able to pay keeps people away from the stores and the housing market.

Hey, now the world knows. You gotta keep the American people somewhat secure in their jobs, we love to go out and shop..and shop..and shop more.. everybody would benefit if we started to buy again. No? :)

Property values went down all along the west coast from Seattle to San Diego. Worst hit were the folks in metro Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, AFAIK - losing between 20% and 50% over the last two years. I'm not astonished that (given the current unemployment on the west coast) there are so many bankrupcies, foreclosures and short sales.


Yup, I'll do the same. Well, unless I come across an opportunity (= a bigger and newer home) that is too good to pass, that is... :)

This is exactly what we decided to do. We moved from a house that was 1200 ft2 (~130 m2) into a newer house, 2300 ft2 (~250 m2) in a better neighborhood.

Right now, if you hunt around, you can find some dirt cheap prices, too good to pass.

For now I am not selling my old house though. Instead we decided to rent it out. I think I want to wait and see what happens in a couple of years, I may sell it then.

Congrats! Must be a good feeling.


Yeah, I know. The main reason that holds us back is that we live in a really nice and safe neighborhood already. Great school district, great neighbors, and our house is 1900sqft - what more can you ask for? When you move to a different place you never know where you end up, that's the problem.


Prices might bounce back, but I don't expect them to reach 2007 levels within the next 5 to 8 years.

True, true, prices of homes in Los Angeles 2years ago fetched $600,000 now difficult to find a buyer at half the price... like in Japan I don't think the real estate market will recover in the US for a long time...