Si se puede!

I was watching a show last night about 'house flippers'. With the housing crash, seems like a tough way to make a living and the flipper acknowledged that, at the outset. I like the nuts and bolts of these shows or, rather, the sawing and painting of these shows but, the financing is what gets me. It was the financing that got us. The axiom used to be that you can't go wrong with real estate. People just had to go and disprove that.

Republicans will tell you that 'people buying homes they couldn't afford' caused the crash. Well, there's a bit of truth in that. However, I don't think there's a single documented case of a young couple holding a gun to a lenders head, forcing him to sell them a McMansion at gunpoint. Nor is there a case of a lender doing such to a young couple. The truth is always somewhere between the extremes.

It wasn't until the boys came home from WWII that the suburbs and home ownership became a reality for average American workers. Think George Bailey in 'It's A Wonderful Life' enabling the citizens of Bedford Falls to escape the slums of Pottersville. A tradesman or a salesman could build/buy a home for his family. It was easy enough to achieve this new American dream. Back then, all you had to do was have a down-payment and qualify for a mortgage. Yeah, you actually had to qualify back then! Idiots then put cash money- like 20% down too! Just a few years ago the mantra was 'NO MONEY DOWN!' Or, a measly $500. The idea was to put down as little as possible because you were gonna flip the house in a year or two (even if it required no rehabbing) because home values were going nowhere but UP!

Well, OK, you know what happened. Millions of foreclosures happened because it turned out there was a limit to UP after all. Who knew? Not the gun-toting couples or the equally armed lenders, that's for sure.

A friend mentioned the other day that, in her estimation, we would now be seeing a return to the blended family living arrangements of the earlier 20th century. Grandparents, children and grandchildren sharing a home. Perhaps an uncle there too. Now, as then, this would be a necessity of finances, lack thereof. This wasn't a bad thing in her mind. It would bring families closer together, in a good way.

I agree. It might be a pleasant byproduct of the recession for a lot of people. For some, it could be hell too but, that is life. Above all though, it looks like it will be a necessity. Whereas a few years ago home ownership was too easy, it had to get harder. Add to that the fact that home prices haven't come down as far as they should and millions of jobs have been lost- well, welcome back Potter.

Several years ago, I returned from a work-related road trip to Alabama to find a bunch of new cars in my apartment complex. Roughly a dozen Mexicans had moved into a two-bedroom unit by me. That explained the mariachi music from the parking lot that had woken me up that first night back. Though armed and kinda dangerous, I've stayed out of jail my entire life (so far...) by not going off cocked and loaded as any idiot in the threads most certainly would. Instead, the next morning I had words with the first Mexican I saw. Firm, pleasant words. I told him this would NOT be tolerated. I told him this in Spanish because he at first denied speaking English.

I think it turned out I had been addressing the coyote who rented the apartment but didn't live there. When I complained to the landlords management, she told me that just one amigo lived there. I explained to her that, that was how they worked it. One guy rents from her and he collects rent from several other guys. That unit rented for $600 a month at the time. He was probably getting more than twice that from his amigos. A busboy or landscaper can easily afford $100 a month if he doesn't mind sleeping on a mattress and sharing a bathroom with a dozen other amigos. Hay carumba- who wouldn't?!

That is how they lived. It's typical and has been this way for years. While I was at work one day, the police came and got a bunch of them out, mattresses included. No doubt they went elsewhere in town or came back later. After that first night they actually got quiet and maintained a low profile. Except for the extra cars in an already limited lot, they weren't any further problem. It was hard to keep a head count but a more manageable six or so amigos seemed to be occupying the two bedrooms.

Now, I'm not saying we should all live like Mexicans. Nor is it my intent to demean Mexicans. I've worked amongst them for decades and realized long ago that, if the circumstances were reversed and Mexico were the land of opportunity, we would be going there to work. The answer- again- lies between the extremes.

As our glorious job creators continue to create jobs overseas and home prices stagnate at long ago inflated prices rather than falling to realistic levels, life gets that much more expensive and complicated for the lucky-to-be-working folks. Many are already combining out of necessity. Maybe a few have staved off foreclosure with a relative moving in or kept a child's family from being homeless. It isn't going to get better anytime soon and it most likely will never be as it was in the 50's/60's, again. We'll just have to make do as our great and grandparents did, back in the day and hope to one day get The American Dream back within reach.