Housing Boom's Collateral Damage

It is safe to say, two years ago, the interest rates were low and anybody could get a mortgage. Mortgage brokers were falling over themselves to get the deal done.

Others were using the equity in their house like an ATM card. It was nuts.

I had one employee who was so anxious to get a house because he had to have one. He did not anticipate, the furnace breaking and the need for little things like furniture. He never sat down and crunched the numbers. He simply could not afford the house he bought. Once the electric bill showed up, he realized that he could heat or cool his home. He graduated with honors from Franklin and Marshall.

I have another employee who habitually runs up his credit cards then pays them off with a home equity loan. He will be dead before he pays off the loan.

As the interest rates creep up, so do the foreclosures.

Maybe some people should scale down the size of their home or simply wait.