When the housing market comes back...

[Dreamer Tatum]

When the housing market comes back, should beneficiaries of government programs to
keep them in their homes be allowed to do cash-out refinances and/or otherwise
substantially profit from an improved market?

[EFerrari]

1. No, only the bankster vultures should be able to profit from all this misery.

[JuniperLea]

3. As was intended!

:thumbsup:

[Bluebear]

2. Yes, just as GM, Goldman Sachs et al have been allowed to profit from the improved market.

[maxsolomon]

4. no, because other subsidized homeownership programs limit this, too

a share of that profit goes to the taxpayer or the non-profit (i.e. Habitat 4 Humanity).

anyway, this is a moot point. it's not "when", it's "if". the housing market isn't "coming back" anytime soon.

[MindandSoul]

5. I would say yes. . .within limits! No more of those huge second amount of money

taking out of one's home to go on vacation. . .I believe no one should be able to refinance for more than 75% of the then current home value!

[sandnsea]

6. How would they be profiting?

Even with government programs, most people are still underwater. The only benefit they're getting is a lower mortgage payment, either through a reduced interest rate or another interest only loan.

[Warpy]

7. You're probably looking at 20 years down the road

and if it comes back at all, a lot of the exurbs are going to have to be bulldozed to create demand in the suburbs. Cities will always be attractive, so they'll rebound first.

It's a pretty bleak prospect at this point. If somebody who benefited from a program and stays in their house for 20 years makes a profit in 2030, I say great. The program worked.

It's just not going to happen quickly enough for anyone to resent it.