Pickerington Area Taxpayers Alliance

Realtor continued


What we are faced with today is a lot of home owners living in a house they can?’t afford and in some cases willing to walk away from and leave the mortgage insurance cover the losses on the value of the house and that in turn is causing all of our property values to sink. This loss of property value will cause a loss in school income based on their 4.5 inside millage. I believe you will probably see more foreclosures coming and it will take years for the community to recover from the homes dumped on us by the builders in the last five years. I believe the former members of our city council also took the bait hook line and sinker and allowed so many of these lots to be approved a few years ago that builders are frantically trying to cover their investments on the infrastructures of these developments.

I will tell you that the schools district added to the growth by their basketball teams and their bands marching in the Rose Parade and Macy?’s Parade. That kind of national exposure is duly noted by buyers moving to the area and if you check it out you will see many Realtors with the band?’s picture marching in one of these parades hanging in their office as a selling point.

I will tell you if I would have had the Taj Mahal to drive my clients by before I returned my R.E. licenses I will tell you that it would have been a huge selling point.

Where all of this starts to fall apart is in the loan qualifying process. Depending on the type of loan and how much you are able to put down depends on what you can qualify for based on your income. In a normally market and without the no down payment program I would say at least half of the home buyers over the last five years would not have qualified for their home loans when I started as a Realtor. Many of those that did slip under the radar of the loan underwriter are hurting today. When they applied they only needed to show that their mortgage payment would only take up 26% of their monthly pay checks. Then came the interest rate increase, killing the ARM that fed it. Then came the taxes for the full value of their new home. Seeing that they were drowning in debt they tried to sell only to find themselves even further in the hole because they will ruin their credit and not have anything to show for their years of payments and no equity.

Of course then we have the semi-annual school levy.

Until the builders burn off all of these approved lots and they get out of town and quit preying on the citizens of Pickerington we will all suffer.




By YEA NAR

Point Taken


OK ?– UNCLE.

In going back and rereading my posting I agree it sounded a little whiny. I should have read it before posting. I am sure I am being a realtor?’s worst nightmare looking at houses around here having lived here before. NO MARONDA, no this, no that. Bottom line is that this decision I have to make requires care and being educated and with that comes stress. Also probably some separation anxiety from the family.

I am not looking for a utopia but am looking to make the best decision. I had thought this area was a slam dunk because of the track I heard it was on after the 03 elections but with what I read on this site and others as well as perusing the archives in the online media, living here is no slam dunk. I have to wonder why so many people are moving here. If they are learning the same things I am then there must be some other catch I am missing.

I still have 4 weeks to make a decision and I am not going to Dublin or New Albany or any of that. I do think it?’s time to travel out Baltimore way though. Last I was here I thought this area was the best place to be in spite of the little idiosyncrasies we had. The little cracks the community had are now chasms; North vs. South; City vs. Township; School Board vs. Voters. If no one is willing to work together for more than sound bytes in the press then you don?’t need me. While I wouldn?’t have met the residency requirements to run for office next election I was planning to stick my neck out there perhaps on a board or commission to try to be part of the solution and not just a complainer. I suggest you think about stepping up yourself.

Thank for the reality check Anonymous. Maybe it is time to move on again.




By Maverick

Blame BUSH?

Why blame Bush?

Hold the idiot lenders accountable.

The responsibility and accountablity will eventually catch up to the idiots that loaned the money they knew COULD NOT BE PAID BACK!

By Dominion

Blame

I don't think the a previous poster was blaming Bush for the situation. I believe that they were using W as a metaphor for the federal government.

A portion of those ''bad'' loans are backed by the fed. (that is you and me) It is a lot easier to make a questionable loan with money that is backed by others.

I believe that there was a series of articles about this recently in the Dispatch. Look at their archive section.

All in all, we will all suffer with lower property values and larger deficits.

By Huh?