11/16/2011
A letter promoting out project.
"Good Morning Megan,
I am writing this in response to your letter promoting “The
Employment Revitalization Program”. This endeavor is one of
many that need to be pushed forward with the current politicians
that can vote and move our economy forward to bring prosperity
back to the average citizen, so everyone can live the American
Dream. I do support such initiatives. Being employed in the Building Materials Industry for 35 years
and growing up in Florida with my family building homes, I have been fortunate enough to witness what construction has historically did and will do for the over health of the American Economy. We have lost that economic engine because of the housing industry issues. It can be fixed quickly, but the
lending institutions will have to pay the price! The lending
industry, allowed this to happen by offering over the last 20+
years loans on homes of up to and over a 100%. Back before
bank deregulation, a person wanting to build needed a 15 to 20
percent down stroke to buy a home. Fast –forward, this practice
of 100+ percent loans made the prices on homes to grow so over valued and continued to climb though 2006 with investors over building at these inflated values, it had to crash! The average
person, working, could get this unrealistic loan and buy this
over inflated valued home and life seemed good. Then we
crashed, and the reality of what the average worker person
could own was not what the value of the homes was at. Today, the value of homes is at what they should be, maybe slightly under- valued, but affordable. NOW, the lending institutions want the
down stroke and a absolute proof that the borrower can afford
the home. What a revelation! By the way, my dad went from
building homes to doing loan inspections for and independent
bank in the 80’s and called the downturn, not by date, but that
it had to happen, 10 years ago. It didn’t make common sense to
him back then. The bottom line is ALL loans are going to have to be modified to current homes values! The average person will stay in their home
because they now have a reason to want to. Any homes that are on
the market will continue to be bought up by the ever growing up-
start family’s and people that have money to invest (There is
still a lot of money out there) and most importantly, the
construction industry will start to accelerate the economic
engine that has always been the driving force to our economy.
I’m sorry, but the politician’s are going to have to step up and
demand that the Lending Institutions that allowed this to
escalate to where we are, suck it up! Some banks may not make
it! It is the fix that can get us moving the quickest.
My opinion, but backed by peers that agree. Thank you for
being an active voice and let us know where we can fit in.
Mike Bowman
Tibbetts Lumber Co., LLC