Last night I attended a multi-school choir performance at McQueen High School. A woman sat down behind the man next to me, and the conversation went something like this:
Woman: Hi, I haven’t seen you for a while. I hear you’re moving.
Man: Yeah, my house is in foreclosure.
Woman: That’s terrible.
Man: What can I do? A $2000 payment, and I’m just one person. I don’t have a college education. I got that job driving a bus. It’s hard. But you gotta do what you gotta to do and make the best of it. At least the apartments are paid for, so I can move there. I’m luckier than most.
Woman: What about so-and-so?
Man: They’re losing their house too. It’s terrible. I stopped making payments in June.
Woman: Didn’t you just move there, that’s awful. Wow, nine months.
Man: Yeah, it’s hard. Thank godness for so-and-so, I don’t know what I’d do without them. But, what can you do?
This was a nice guy, well dressed, with a friendly smile, just like any other Nevadan you’d see on the street. A single parent, he was there to see his child perform. He seemed to be hanging out in his house, ready to go as soon as someone shows up to kick him out, staying as long as possible to conserve capital. The bus job was a stopgap, something he had to take because his real career, whatever it was, had clearly evaporated.
The show went on, and the kids were spectacular. Westergard, Rollan Melton, Sarah Winnemucca, Billinghurst and McQueen all participated, and the McQueen Jazz Choir was absolutely outstanding… it was like listening to Manhattan Transfer.
I wonder, how many of these kids will kicked out of their homes this year?
Reno Ignoramus
How does a guy who drives a bus end up with a $2000 a month mortgage payment? I wonder what this man’s loan application said? Could this be one of those bus drivers claiming to make $10,500 a month who got a nice wink and a nod from the mortgage broker?
That didn’t really happen here in Reno did it? I thought it was different here.
SmartMoney
I don’t see what the big deal is. The USA is built on capitalism, after all. This man took a risk, and lost. Life goes on, end of story. I took a risk when I sold my house in October 2005. I said it would go down in value, everyone else around me said it was a big mistake to sell. Capitalism at its finest.
doofus
“At least the apartments are paid for, so I can move there. I’m luckier than most.”
So Joe Bus Driver owns multiple rental units outright, and won’t dip into the equity to stave off foreclosure on his +/- $400K home in 89523? I wonder what sort of jazz choir Hug has? Bad dad! If I were him, I would be bowing towards Carson City and thanking the Legislature for non-recourse loans. If I were his lender, he could expect a visit from Guido the Killer Pimp for a little financial tough love.
Not to trivialize Diane’s intended point, a lot of kids are going to be put through the wringer based on their parents’ financial decisions. Based on the reported January 200 foreclosures at 2.4 occupants per household, thats 480 people and probably 150 kids or more out of houses and into alternate living situations for the month, and probably into new schools.
RenoWannabe
What was this fellow thinking? A bus driver? Come on, give me a break. He could no more afford that house than he could afford to fly to the moon.
Sorry about his kid but I remember moving in my junior year of high school because my Dad had lost his business but it wasn’t the end of the world.
Pull up your socks and get on with it.
SkrapGuy
Maybe this guy took a risk. Maybe he didn’t. If this guy was one of the multitude who got a nothing down loan, what was his risk? What kind of a risk is it when you are playing with somebody’s else’s money?
And he has been living rent/mortgage free for 9 months. Quite the system we have going here.
Jonathan Bunn
i just worked with a family needing a rental that were friends with my broker who were being kicked out of their home. there is no question that some people made financial mistakes. it still doesn’t change the fact that there will now be a large group of kids who will grow remembering when their parents lost their home because they couldn’t make the payments. it reminds me of my grandparents talking about the depression.
Bob
… how about using common sense and buying things you can afford, and if not, saving for it!
Reno Realty Blog: Reno Real Estate, Market & Trends, Nevada » Scorched Earth
[…] can respond to the more social aspects, like in Diane’s A Conversation Overheard post. It’s sad and we all now know people in this situation now, but it’s a […]