A local realtor told me she was SHOCKED to find out how many people are living in mansions without paying on them for over a year.

It would definitely force the market to market, but if these things start hitting the market at the rate the loans are actually going bad, it would crash the market beyond the 30% it’s already dropped

There were too many McCastles built here on spec. I have believed for a while that the banks aren’t foreclosing because there are too many $1,000,000+ homes in trouble. I think they’re trying to control the supply flow to prevent a feedback loop on dropping mansion prices.

Saks is doing well here. Think of all the goodies you can still afford when you’re not paying $20,000 a month on a mortgage. New Lexus SUV, honey?

There were the Roaring Twenties and then there were the Naughties which we are still in to as overtime or is that extend and pretend.

History rhymes. Recall the grandiose robber-baron mansions of the early 20th century. In the aftermath of the first Great Depression (hereafter to be renamed the mini-GD), many porticoed, colonnaded, over-fenestrated mammoths in leafy urbs like Grand Rapids, MI, were hacked into online payday loans in IA six or eight tenements. Soon, in the torrid, post peak-oil Sunbelt, many of today’s scorched, exurban McCastles are sure to be stripped and abandoned while others are hacked into McNuggets.

But I think it’s a combination of the banks’ inability to manage their loans and the notes thereunder, courts overwhelmed with cases and a savvier homeowner with more lawyers than ever

I agree with the extend and pretend explanation. The past couple of years has been one giant and multi-headed attempt at reflating old or new bubbles. This would allow the banksters and insiders to sell their newly re-inflated assets and continue to collect salaries and bonuses for as long as possible. There is no one in charge that has the incentive to prick the new bubble. That would leave them ‘out-of-charge’. Regulators, banksters, politicians, etc. all want to keep the top spinning. it’s going to be one helluva hangover.

We live in one of the cheaper homes in a very wealthy neighborhood and we’re behind, ohhh, I guess it’s almost 3 years now. Our mortgage was/is about $4,500/month. We’ve fought tooth and nail every month and the tide is finally swinging in our favor. We knew the loan we signed was f’d up when we signed it; they added a point, they didn’t properly disburse funds after closing, the originator went out of business within months and the new note-holder GMAC railroaded us into a “loan modification” after we defaulted in 2007…that didn’t modify anything, but tacked on another $40,000 to our loan. (i’m skipping a lot of details of course.)

With our 3rd (and recently adding a 4th lawyer of counsel), currently in Chapter 13, we’ve uncovered a panoply of fraud, malfeasance and mock documentation. It ain’t over yet and I don’t know if we’re going to be able to settle. But we’re going to push for everything we can b/c we have been through absolute hell. This is no picnic and not for the faint of heart. It might seem like we coasted, but it’s almost destroyed our marriage and our lives.

As for wealthier people being more savvy and hiring better lawyers, maybe. But there’s a woman down in FL who is 25 years behind on her mortgage and she represents herself (look it up in WSJ about 2 weeks ago). It has as much to do w/how much fight you have in you and doing what you believe is right, than the money. But if we win something, the money will be a bonus. As it stands, my son graduates high school in 2012 and we can drag this out until then and walk away from the house. Bye bye GMAC. Let the wealthy neighbors deal with it.