Posted by Susy Thielen on November 22nd, 2011 — in Housing News, Monadnock Region Coalition
You are invited to join us on Friday, December 2nd from 7:00 to 9:00 AM for Heading for Home’s 6th Annual Business Leaders Breakfast as we explore the the critical role housing plays in our region’s economic recovery.
The event will include:
- Report of findings and “next steps” from the region-wide Housing Summit held on June 1, 2011
- Presentation Topic: “The Current Housing Environment-what’s changed and where are we going.”
- Featured speaker: Dennis Delay, Economist with the New Hampshire Center for Public Policy Studies and the New England Economic Partnership. a non-profit organization dedicated to providing objective economic analyses and forecasts
- Full, delicious breakfast.
The $10 registration fee covers the cost of breakfast
CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
For questions about the event, contact Susy Thielen at <susyt@headingforhome.org> or 352-1449.
This event is made possible through the sponsorship of Savings Bank of Walpole and Hampshire First Bank, both local New Hampshire Banks.
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Posted by Susy Thielen on November 4th, 2011 — in Housing News
by Preeti Vissa
A big part of the American dream is in serious danger — danger fueled by misinformation campaigns that may well lead to terrible policies.
For a long time, owning your own home has been a key part of that dream: One little corner of the world that’s yours, a shelter that not only protects your family from the wind and rain, but also from financial storms. That little bundle of equity can make emergencies manageable and a graceful retirement feasible. And there is plenty of evidence that homeownership helps build stable communities.
But that dream is under attack. More and more media voices have joined a chorus saying that “homeownership isn’t for everyone,” not-too-subtly implying that it’s time to keep the riffraff out. They’ve falsely blamed the subprime mortgage meltdown and resulting recession on efforts to help ordinary, hard-working Americans become homeowners. That chorus grew louder in September 2008, when Fox News host Neil Cavuto infamously blamed the housing collapse on “lending to minorities and risky folks,” and has continued ever since.
In fact, research has shown that the problem is not and never was responsible efforts to expand homeownership, such as the federal Community Reinvestment Act. The problem was toxic, trick mortgages peddled by firms that preyed on the unsophisticated. These loans were filled with booby-traps like low teaser rates with payments that skyrocketed a few years later, negative amortization (meaning that the low early payments actually caused the loan principal and total debt to increase), high upfront fees and prepayment penalties. Read the rest of this page »
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