Dec 19th 2008 01:25 pm Welcome cringely.com readers!
You found me.
This is my mortgage blog. I’ve been working on it quietly for three months now. It represents the unhealthy fascination I have for home ownership and my deterination to keep my house, which you can see here.
I know enough to feel very strongly that the mortgage business is a mess and needs reform. But the way we do reform in this cutlure is by asking generally the same people to simply behave better. That doesn’t work. People don’t change. It takes citizen involvement to make change really happen. But you need the right kind of citizens — citizens like me, frankly. I’m curious, skeptical, and talk out of turn. And I tell you I am determined to make some waves.
Look around please and let me know what you think of the place.
Posted by cringely / Mortgage Horror Stories
Dave Smith on 19 Dec 2008 at 2:38 pm #
See now, Bob you can’t go showing us pictures of your gorgeous house and talk about how you’re trying to keep it. Now we’re going to look for ways to thwart your efforts so we can buy your house through a foreclosure sale.
Beautiful house! Did it come with CAT5 cabling throughout?
-Dave
RR Anderson on 19 Dec 2008 at 3:01 pm #
Hey, I don’t have time to read another blog. More AUDIO pocasts from you would be the best thing ever. If you’re worried about bandwidth, use archive.org to store the files.
Good luck bob!
Steve Stone on 19 Dec 2008 at 3:35 pm #
Next spring my mortgage will be paid off after 20 years. What is different about me
then people facing foreclosure? I lived within my means… even was able to pay for college for my one kid. I run cars till they drop.. usually 15 - 20 years, only one middle class income coming in.. and got lucky a few times with health care costs and mundane long term middle class non union employment. There are 3 foreclosures on my block in this exurban NYC metro area. All three have alot in common. Bought the place within the past 7 years, people who overextended themselves. Based on the poor maintenance of their home exteriors don’t have a clue, or funds for maintaining a home, and don’t care to learn, or push a mower around the yard. People who would be better off from the start in an apartment or condo but had the opportunity to sign on the dotted line.
Bob on 19 Dec 2008 at 3:44 pm #
Bob, may be a typo in your post, “determination”, I think is what you meant
Gregg M. on 19 Dec 2008 at 3:54 pm #
Excellent, another blog! Two cringely’s are better than one I say
I don’t mind if you happen to do an audio podcast, but if you do, please keep your blog.. unlike the previous commenter, I can read a lot faster than I can listen, and I prefer to read anyway.
Albert Whittlesey on 19 Dec 2008 at 4:04 pm #
Bob,
I forgot to thank you for all the fun and out-of-the-box thought-provoking PBS columns. Actually, what you did for me was to glue a lot of diverse material from your head and other sources together and provided a viewing window into things I might not have thought of myself. And they were about subjects of interest to me.
With regard to your mortgage problem as written, I suspect we may have a lot of dealers in second mortgages come out of the woodwork to make the larger loan packages match the higher house prices. At the very worst, if you are willing, you can be the second mortgage holder. If this idea works for you when you sell, I will be satisfied with a modest 10% idea-finder fee.
Thanks.
Albert
Fred E. on 19 Dec 2008 at 4:32 pm #
Very cool house! You have managed to exchange earthquake country for hurricane country. Maybe we Californians have an intrinsic need to live on the edge?
All the best -Fe
Jeff Cahill on 19 Dec 2008 at 4:50 pm #
So THIS is what you left PBS for?!?! Is THIS what you are going to be doing?!?! Bob, I’m sorry man, but your columns of tech punditry is what I read you for. Mortgage punditry? Frankly I am pissed off enough about this mortgage crap and talk about how to bail out people that made bad decisions and are getting foreclosed on. What about those of us that made good decisions? Borrowed what we could afford at reasonable fixed rates. What are we gonna get other than screwed? If this is your new gig, good luck with it, it’s not my thing.
Typo Police on 19 Dec 2008 at 6:19 pm #
> reform in this cutlure
Oops.
Lou Mayta on 20 Dec 2008 at 12:23 am #
Bob
Maybe your the man to take up this charge:
Why in the heck is America sitting back so placid and LETTING the banks who recieved bailout money not do what they are supposed to do with the money (lend it)?
If the banks aren’t cooperating, WHY DOESN’T CONGRESS JUST TAKE IT BACK FROM THEM?
Why are we Americans so stinking resigned to being screwed over one more time by Wall Street and the Federal government?
Can you get one of your rich friends to take out a full page ad in the NY Times demanding the American people stand up to these banks profiting from the Paulson dole-out, and demand the government just take back the money?
In fact, it would be turn-about is fair play: give them easy money, like they gave us easy credit, let them buy stuff they couldn’t otherwise afford (like BofA uying that Chinese bank) then yank the capital back away from them. Then we can stand over them and watch them writher and flail, just like they’re watching us now trying to refinance their silly loans they gave us and now took back.
Just my idea.
ECF on 20 Dec 2008 at 8:27 am #
@Lou Mayta:
Hear, hear! Best idea I heard in a long time!
Hahaha! and good luck trying it!
Mike Laird on 21 Dec 2008 at 5:12 pm #
Your technology articles are interesting because you have unusual information sources, and make interesting analyzes of this information. You need the same recipe for a mortgage blog. I don’t think anecdotes and first person stories will cut it. Sorry, for the frank comment. Calculated Risk has been a very influential site commenting on the emerging, and now full blown mortgage crisis over the past 2 years because of in-depth analysis of financial data and government documents, and some humorous commentary about events and viewpoints. Much of this was done by Tanta (Doris Dungey), a former mortgage professional, It will be interesting to see if the Calculated Risk site can maintain its edge in this area after Tanta’s recent death. Bottom line: you need something more than I see here currently. Your personal mortgage situation and stories about Tennessee farmers don’t cut it. The mortgage crisis will get worse and last for at least 2 more years (easy to see if you’ve analyzed the numbers), so I hope you can bring refreshing insight to this problem.
Conrad T. Pino on 22 Dec 2008 at 2:20 am #
Bob!
That is a gorgeous money pit!! Let’s see some inside shots please!
Conrad
Jonathan Harley on 23 Dec 2008 at 12:50 am #
Hey Bob,
I work at Bank of America, Mortgage, Home Equity and Insurance (nee Countrywide). Lucky me, my only mortgage is just up the road from you in Columbia, SC where I have a good tenant helping defray the cost.
When I joined Countrywide in 2007, I had to relocate to the greater Los Angeles area. It might turn out to be the best time to be looking for real estate in Southern California — except for the jumbo issue. Heck, some condos here are over the limit — Still!
I’m going to add a plus one to the restarting of the audio version of your blog. The roll to work in Calabasas won’t be the same on that one day a week.
Best of luck - Jon
Mofo on 23 Dec 2008 at 2:36 pm #
Bob
Looking forward to your wacky take on the mortgage industry….make it fun, readable and take no prisoners! I expect nothing less.
Mofo
KomaGawa on 26 Dec 2008 at 1:22 am #
Bob, As I mentioned before I used to teach in Ridgeville and commute from Folly Beach, that was long before you arrived. I am wondering if you can tell me the neighborhood, is it North Charleston?
Reginald W on 26 Dec 2008 at 3:04 pm #
For anyone wanting to read from the beginning of something, how come your blog makes you go to the NEXT page to get to previous content and PREVIOUS page to get to newer content?
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For someone talking about how the lending crisis is backwards, your blog is backwards, so does that mean reading it is right or wrong?
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Just curious on these things.
.
Perhaps change the wording to indicate that NEXT PAGE is OLDER CONTENT and PREVIOUS PAGE is NEWER CONTENT. Solves it real easily.
.
Been reading Cringely’s stuff from way back in the printed Infoworld back page and if I remember correctly, MacWeek too, but my memory is going and I tossed those old magazines ages ago into the recycle bin so I can’t reference them. Good information, good insight that is not always correct, but it lets one make up their own mind on things.
Colin on 27 Dec 2008 at 5:52 pm #
@Reginald: Pretty much all blogs work that way, I would just get used to it.