by Douglas Samuelson

Created on: April 21, 2008

We are in the midst of a housing crisis in our country that has already created havoc in the financial world and if home foreclosures continue at the present rate, the U.S. economy is in danger of collapse. The number of home foreclosures has nearly reached an all time high. This has created a "glut" of of homes on the market and has consequently reduced the value of most other people's homes across the nation.

This situation did not occur overnight. It began with the inception of interest only loans, adjustable rate mortgages, and zero down payments. Offering home loans to people with bad or no credit is not the answer to the problem. To do this would only postpone the inevitable. We must let the system "wash" itself. To relax the loan qualification requirements in order to get the bad loans off the books of the lenders is the same thing that started the problem in the first place.

Some people place the blame for this crisis on predatory lenders. Granted, those lenders played a big part, but most of the people who signed their names on the "dotted line" are just as guilty. There are exceptions such as sickness and loss of employment but in a normal economy, attrition will take care of the problem. However, we are no longer experiencing a normal economy.

Our country is in for some tough times. We are not only experiencing the housing crisis, we are faced with rising gas prices, the cost war in Iraq, rising unemployment, and the high cost of medical care just to name a few of the critical issues. Can our country survive all of this? I have no doubt in my mind. The American people will always find a way.

It is my opinion that a home is a place to live, not an investment that will increase in value to the point that it will provide money for retirement. The only way that a home should increase in value is to make improvements or additions. Any other increase in value is called inflation, and the only ways to benefit from inflation are to move into a lower priced home or to die. I will concede one point. In the case of real estate investors, profit can and should be made from rental.

It is disturbing and sad, but I think that there will be a new class of homeless people in our country. Decent people with good jobs who have experienced foreclosure will find it difficult to obtain housing. Obviously, purchasing another home will be out of the question in most cases, unless the person can come up with a significant amount of cash, such as a loan from a relative to purchase

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