“Ohio hadn’t gone through the same real estate boom as the Sun Belt, but the vultures had circled the carcasses of dying industrial towns––Dayton, Toledo, Mansfield, Youngstown, Akron––peddling home equity loans and refinancing. All the garbage that blew up in people’s faces the same way subprime mortgages had. A fleet of nouveau riche snake oil salesmen scoured the state, moving from minority hoods where widowed, churchgoing black ladies on fixed incomes made for easy marks to the white working-class enclaves and then the first-ring suburbs. The foreclosures began to crop up and then turn into fields of fast-moving weeds, reducing whole neighborhoods to abandoned husks or drug pens. Ameriquest, Countrywide, CitiFinancial––all those devious motherfuckers watching the state’s job losses, plant closings, its struggles, its heartache, and figuring out a way to make a buck on people’s desperation. Every city or town in the state had big gangrenous swaths that looked like New Canaan, the same cancer-patient-looking strip mall geography with brightly lit outposts hawking variations on usurious consumer credit. Those entrepreneurs saw the state breaking down like Bill’s truck, and they moved in, looking to sell the last working parts for scrap.” UsuryIndustrialismLoansEconomic DepressionHome EquityMortgagesSubprime Mortgage CrisisForeclosuresConsumer CreditSurburbs Book:Ohio Source: Ohio
“A decline in the national housing price level would need to be substantial to trigger a significant rise in foreclosures, because the vast majority of homeowners have built up substantial equity in their homes despite large mortgage-market financed withdrawals of home equity in recent years.” NeedsYearsHomeLevelsBuiltMajoritySignificantDespiteDeclineEquityHousingTriggersMortgageWithdrawalHomeownersForeclosureHome Equity Author:Alan Greenspan
“A consolidation makes sense only if you can lower your overall interest rate. Many people consolidate by taking out a home equity line loan or home equity line of credit (HELOC), refinancing a mortgage, or taking out a personal loan. They then use this cheaper debt to pay off more expensive debt, most frequently credit card loans, but also auto loans, private student loans, or other debt.” PeopleIfsUseHomeInterestLinesPayStudentsRateCreditDebtCardsMake SenseExpensiveEquityLoanMortgageCheaperCredit CardInterest RateStudent LoanConsolidationHome Equity Author:Jean Chatzky
“You also need to understand that when you consolidate credit card debt into mortgage debt - like a home equity loan or a HELOC [ home equity line of credit ] - you're taking an unsecured debt and turning it into a secured debt.” NeedsHomeLinesCreditDebtCardsEquityLoanMortgageCredit CardSecuredCredit Card DebtHome Equity Author:Jean Chatzky
“Even in the days of the tightest credit in 2008, HELOCs [ home equity line of credit ] and home equity loans were being made.” MadeHomeLinesCreditEquityLoanHome Equity Author:Jean Chatzky
“Even though some down payments are borrowed, it would take a large, and historically most unusual, fall in home prices to wipe out a significant part of home equity. Many of those who purchased their residence more than a year ago have equity buffers in their homes adequate to withstand any price decline other than a very deep one.” YearsHomeFallYears AgoSignificantUnusualDeclineEquityAdequatePaymentWipeBorrowedVery DeepResidenceHome Equity Author:Alan Greenspan