HP'er comment of the year - "I think there is more to life than having more and better "stuff" than other people"

I couldn't have said it better myself...

This whole thing is just really sad to me.

Some of the people here have legitimate things to say, otehrs are just insulting one another and bragging about their "success". What is our definition of success? Does it just have to do with the bottom line?

Yes, money is important, but what about family, friends, travel, having time to enjoy life? I know I sound totally corny to many of you, but I think there is more to life than having more and better "stuff" than other people.

Why are we so concerned with not just keeping up with the Jonses but showing them up? It's just STUFF - who cares?

We lost our home in a fire less than a year ago, and let me tell you, it really doesn't matter. It really is just stuff. We got ourselves and the kids and even our pets out and that's all that matters.

I just think that we've been brainwashed into thinking that all of these material possessions are so important, and they're really not. If we could learn that what we already have is just fine, that we don't need to constantly upgrade to something "better" - TV, house, car, spouse - we'd probably be a lot happier.

If we can get over this need for THINGS to define us and provide status, maybe we can be a lot more free to spend time with people we care about and enjoy life. It will be over one day and you can't take your stuff with you.

-Anon HP'er, May 22, 2008

Matching up the Seven Deadly Sins and the Late Great Housing Bubble

Lust (MTV Cribs, Housing Ladder, Flip This House)

Gluttony (McMansions, Angelo Mozilo, Hummers)

Greed (Option-ARM, no-down mortgages, Greg Swann talking about how rich he was going to get)

Sloth (Casey Serin, mortgage brokers, realtors, flippers)

Anger (Wives angrily bullying their husbands (or visa versa) into stupid housing decisions, Suzanne researched it, realtors striking out at the bubble bloggers and media)

Envy (Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, poor people buying rich people houses)

Pride (talking about your house, how much it appreciated, and you possessions everywhere you went)

A HousingPANIC Rant: America and the world, do you see now how evil the housing bubble was?

Most people think the housing crash is a terrible thing.

Yes, for many individuals, it was, and it is. They've lost (or are losing) the house in which they live. But it is not their house, it is the bank's (or the CDO investor's), and they're losing it because they couldn't afford it.

For others, they're losing their "equity", which they had used to fund extravagant lifestyles, out of control consumerism, or even basic things like college tuition and living expenses. But again, the "equity" wasn't theirs, it wasn't real, it was debt masquerading as wealth, and people should NEVER have counted on it and borrowed against it.

And for the millions of REIC - the realtors, title agents, builders, mortgage brokers, bankers and the rest, they're losing their jobs, their livelihoods, and their beloved commissions. But they were part of the bubble, they aided and abetted, they spun and deceived, many broke laws and enabled mortgage fraud, and many knew what they were doing was wrong, oh so wrong. So good riddance.

And yes, many innocents are being hurt along the way. Home Depot clerks. REIC back office support. Tradesmen and women. Homeowners who didn't gambler, and just wanted a home. Kids. The elderly. This is the most disheartening damage caused by the crash.

In the end, I hope America and the world sees that the Great Worldwide Housing Bubble and its corrupted commission-focused enablers were evil. The damage and harm caused by this financial mania will be felt for years and years to come. Lives will be destroyed. Families will be torn apart. Companies will go under. Our currency will be destroyed. Economies will be devastated.

Was it worth it? Hell no. Hell no. It never should have happened, and it shouldn't happen again.

But good things will come of this. Kids growing up in America today will know that they can (hopefully) go to school, get a job, and buy a house that they can afford one day, with a 30-year fixed loan, and a decent down payment. Housing will be a reward for hard work, not an entitlement for gamblers, fraudsters and the lazy.

Generations will remember this crash, and know that a house is a home, not a lottery ticket, that realtors and mortgage brokers are paid to lie, and that real estate prices CAN and DO come down, and to invest accordingly. And I hope to see educators across the land focus more on financial literacy and economics, without doubt some of the most important learning to be had, yet barely offered in American schools today.

The housing bubble was evil. The crash is not - it's just the end of the housing bubble.

And now it's time to return to economic and housing sanity.