Other things being equal, many of us prefer to get life, and possibly also disability insurance, related to paying a mortgage off on our own as a separate contract. The mortgage insurance's beneficiary is the bank, not the mortgage holder, who, though paying the premium, has no flexibility in case of need. The amount of coverage decreases over the years, as it covers only the portion of the mortgage remaining unpaid, while usually for a similar cost (sometimes lower), a mortgagee can get regular term life insurance for the full amount originally owing on the mortgage ... and it usually stays at that level throughout, if they so choose. Premium rate may increase at the end of the agreed term, if it is shorter than the years that the mortgage is to run. If premium rates are comparable, if the mortgagee dies the amount of benefit making up the difference between the original amount owing and the amount remaining owing at the time (which they would likely pay to the bank to retire the mortgage) would be really helpful to the survivors. It's wise to carry disability insurance, as well, as there's a far greater possibility of long-term disability (about 4 times) than of death during one's years of employment ... lacking employment income, how does one pay mortgage should s/he become disabled? Lacking a will ... no problem ... as long as the owner of the family's assets ... remains alive. Suppose someone were to come to your house tomorrow and, reading from a clipboard, ask you what your family owns, then say that this and that was to be done with each of the various pArts of it. As you listened, you'd likely object strongly, sputteringly saying, "But ... but ... we don't want our things and money to be dealt with that way!!". That person would just be telling you what your state's rules are, that would come into effect ... ... if the owner of the assets dies without a will!! So - get the will in place ... before you die. Can't do it after!! ole joyful P.S. Confession time. I'm close to 80 ... and I don't got one, either. Stupid. My kids'd get the stuff ... but they'd get a lot less, after all of those admin. costs. And they'd get the stuff later. And the charities'd get ... nothing! o j

Mary...Interesting question. I think the MSM tends to latch onto the simplistic and finds explanations that sound good in a 30 second sound bite - hence "buyer paralysis", "stubborn sellers", "bargain hunting buyers", "greedy sellers", "frozen credit markets" etc Human behavior tends to so much more complicated. So where are the buyers? Hiding in foxholes? Maybe. I think all the reasons you listed above are reasonable. Price inflation, local economic conditions (I'm thinking Ohio and Michigan), negative herd mentality, buyer fatigue, a historically high rate of home ownership, tightened credit, higher interest rates - all factors which contribute to a dearth of buyers out there. Every sidelined buyer has their own story. I have mine. You have yours. Our personal equations are composed of many factors. My primary reasons for not buying are price, an inability to commit to owning more than 5 years, and an emotion aka stubborness. I'll be darned if I'm going to fund someone else's retirement by handing them a 500% profit on their home. But, I also think we underestimate how much of this housing boom was fueled by buyers believing that housing was a "can't miss" investing opportunity. The NAR estimates that by 2005, 40% of all home sales were purchased as second/vacation/investment properties. That's huge and it spells mania. Many "specuvestors" bought mulitple properties using exotic financing. Now, many of them are sellers. In 2006, 36% of all home sales fell into this category. I'm not sure that there are many people left who still believe that now is the time to invest in real estate. This country has just been through a housing mania of historic proportions. A lot of people made money and a lot of people are going to lose their shirts. The WSJ article that try99 links to in the "More on Foreclosures" thread is fascinating. Maybe, the only buyers left are the ones with great credit, healthy downpayments, and skeptical outlooks.

More complete info... "Beazer suspends dividend, cuts jobs; no relief for Hovnanian 12:13 PM EST November 6, 2007 BOSTON (MarketWatch) -- Beazer Homes USA Inc., the home builder that has been rocked by an investigation into its mortgage-origination business in addition to the housing pullback, has suspended its quarterly dividend in an effort to firm up its capital position. Meanwhile, Hovnanian Enterprises Inc. said early Tuesday that net contracts in the company's fourth quarter ended Oct. 31 dropped 10% from a year earlier, saying its October sales pace in most markets "significantly deteriorated" in relation to recent months. Atlanta-based Beazer , which has indicated it will need to restate previous financial results due to an internal probe of its lending and other practices, said late Monday that it's eliminating the 10-cent-a-share dividend, a move designed to save about $16 million annually. The step by Beazer's board was "prudent in light of the continued deterioration of the housing market," the company said. Last month, the builder said it found evidence that workers in its mortgage business violated Housing and Urban Development regulations. Its probe also uncovered evidence of other accounting irregularities that will lead to expected restatements, Beazer said. See previous story. On Tuesday, Beazer said it was unable to report its fourth-quarter and fiscal 2007 results but was providing preliminary, unaudited data. It has negotiated waivers of default from its lenders due to its failure to report financial results on time. For the quarter ended Sept. 30, Beazer said home orders fell 53% from a year earlier, to 973 units. The cancellation rate was an "unusually high" 68%, which the company blamed on tightening in the mortgage markets during August and September. Shoring up its financial position, Beazer said its cash balance at the end of the latest quarter was $459.5 million, up from $128.8 million the previous quarter. It has repaid roughly $75 million in secured debt, pledged $107 million to collateralize its outstanding letters of credit, and paid a consent fee to holders of its senior notes and senior convertible notes and related expenses totaling $21 million. The company also said it continues to scale back its land position in response to lower prices and sales activity in the U.S. housing market. For the latest quarter, it forecast $230 million of charges related to inventory impairments and the abandonment of options on real estate. Beazer's also examining the recoverability of its goodwill, which could lead to additional impairment charges. Pink slips galore "The housing industry continues to face the most difficult business conditions in over a decade," said Chief Executive Ian McCarthy in a statement. Beazer said it let go about 650 workers, or 25% of its staff, during October. "With recent industry data suggesting that market conditions may deteriorate further before a recovery is underway, we need to adapt and further align our cost structure and investment levels to expected lower volumes," McCarthy said. "While these decisions are not taken lightly, they are necessary in order to maintain our sound financial position." Heading into Tuesday's session, Beazer's shares were off about 79% so far this year, falling more than a home-builder sector battered by plunging home sales and fallout from the subprime-mortgage mess. The stock was off 0.8% to $9.44 in late-morning trades. CtW Investment Group, a Washington, D.C.-based firm that works with labor unions on shareholder issues, on Tuesday called on Beazer's board to remove McCarthy, the CEO, and name an independent board chair. "As the recent CEO terminations at Merrill Lynch and Citigroup make clear, shareholders expect swift board responses to failed leadership in the wake of a mortgage meltdown that has wrought havoc on the financial service and homebuilder industries," the group said in a statement. "Against this backdrop, it is disturbing that the Beazer board has yet to remove Mr. McCarthy, who is responsible for the most stunning leadership failure in the entire home-building industry." CtW said McCarthy "allowed Beazer to violate federal law, improperly account for land development costs and sale-leaseback transactions, and provide undisclosed loans to executives." Meanwhile, the company's compliance problems "have provoked a crisis of confidence that has driven its stock down 80% so far this year and led to cancellations of 68% last quarter." Hovnanian's deliveries down, cancellations up Another large builder, Hovnanian, said it delivered 19% fewer homes during the October quarter compared to the year-earlier period. Red Bank, N.J.-based Hovnanian's cancellation rate rose quarter-over-quarter to 40% of gross contracts, up from 35%. "The primary reason for the increase in the company's cancellation rate is the tightening of mortgage underwriting standards, which has lead to some customers canceling their contracts due to an inability to obtain mortgage loans," the company said. Hovnanian is scheduled to release full fourth-quarter results on Dec. 18. In September, Hovnanian ran a national weekend sales campaign called "Deal of the Century" that featured deep price discounts and concessions. Banc of America Securities analyst Daniel Oppenheim said sales "likely fizzled" after Hovnanian attempted to pull away the incentives from the promotion. "We expect that Hovnanian will reintroduce discounts similar or greater than before in order to maintain sales and generate positive cash, since competitors who matched its temporary promotions actually set new market prices," he wrote in a research note. Hovnanian shares were off 2.8% at last check." Guess they shot themselves in the foot with the sales promotions, huh? /tricia

It costs a lot of energy to raise a bushel of corn. Not so smart to then process it - more energy required - into fuel for autos, homes. Not so bad for farmers, as it may raise the prices of corn, wheat, etc. But we need to use those foodstuffs as food. Trouble is - millions over the face of the earth are hungry. But they don't have money - so, sorry, they don't eat. The market rules, remember? Takes care of all of the issues. We could reduce the impact of HIV in Africa - or malaria, for that matter, which kills large numbers annually, mostly kids. But many of them have almost nil money, so the drug cos. have little incentive, spend little time or assets on developing medicines for them. For the price of a bomber or two, or a few missiles, we could develop clean and abundant water supplies for everyone ... but as it is, many rural Afican women have to walk several kilometres to collect dirty/polluted water for their familiy's use ... when their work could be more productively used, elsewhere. It seems to me that helping people find some hope for them, remaining where they are, holds a greater possibility of reducing the numbers of people willing to become suicide bombers than does building walls, searching people massively at airports and huge other security measures - at huge cost, and of limited efficacy. ole joyful