Tough Times: 'Housing Crisis’ And ‘Economy’ Aren’t Just Words Political Candidates/Government Throw Around

Last year at this time my dad and I started talking about how housing prices were down and I should think about buying a house. It was time. I had worked hard to rebuild my credit after a divorce and bankruptcy. I had no debt. And I finally had enough saved for a down payment. Almost every house I looked at was vacant and either a foreclosure or a short sale, victims of the housing crisis and the sub prime mortgage mess.

After a couple months of looking I found a cute 1948 house that had been upgraded in the Oleander area of Bakersfield. It was my dream home. It was also a short sale, which I soon learned as a first time home buyer was a very long process. A short sale also meant I was negotiating with a bank and banks don’t negotiate like homeowners. The seller’s bank and I finally came to an agreement only to have the appraisal come in lower than the agreed upon purchase price due to the continuing downward spiraling housing market.

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