Home, sweet, home.

I just read an online article about another "ABC Home Makeover" family who is facing foreclosure. I want to say it's the 3rd article I've read in recent months about Home Makeover recipients at risk of losing their homes. Two of these cases (including the one I just read) note that the family chose to take out a large home equity loan against the house and now they're behind on their payment since the ARM has reset. That is unfortunate, and I do feel bad for people facing the stress of losing their home. However, I also feel like people need to be responsible. Not only do the people from this show get a brand new beautiful custom home, it's mortgage free. I think that taking out a loan against a gift like this is really stupid, and frankly, it's also greedy.

I've struggled a lot with my feelings about the recent gov't bailouts, and the plans being created to help people keep their homes. I want to see people succeed, but I also have a hard time reconciling my own situation with those of people in a tough situation because I feel like ultimately there needs to be some level of personal responsibility and accountability.

When Mr.P and I bought our house, we ended up buying a smaller house then we would have liked. We chose our house based off the neighborhood we wanted to live in, and we made sure to find a house that was well within our financial means (it's scary to think how much our mortgage guy was willing to finance us for!) We pay our mortgage on time, and since we did not max ourselves out with a larger/more expensive house, we're able to enjoy a comfortable lifestyle. We chose a 30 year fixed payment mortgage, though the interest rates on those ARM mortgages was enticing since they offered intro rates quite lower than our 30 year fixed rate. We felt the responsible thing to do was to go with the 30 year fixed, even if it meant paying a higher interest rate.

When I hear stories of people who are in over their heads having bought a house much more expensive than they could realistically afford, or their ARM has now reset, or they didn't fully understand the paperwork they signed getting into their mortgage, or they've taken out a loan against their property and now can't afford to repay that loan....it all makes me head spin. I also feel a little angry because I am responsible, and now I feel like all the people who aren't responsible are messing up the economy and housing market for the rest of us. Why should one person get a bail out (of taxpayer dollars), while I'm over here paying my mortgage on time?