'My old house,' a poem

Another landmark first for the L.A. Land blog: an e-mail from a reader, reproduced in the form of free verse:

"I bought my house
in 1997
for $162,000,
sold it
for $630,000
in 2005.

"The owner then put
$780,000 in loans
on it
and made
no payments.
It sold last month
for
$530,000."

Thoughts? Comments? E-mail story tips to peter.viles@latimes.com

Comments

[JK]

A house for $162,000? *Sigh* Remembering those days with fondness.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

It has no rhyme nor rhythm, but here it goes:

I worked hard
And I saved
Made the Frenchies sell me Louisiana

I worked harder
And saved even more
Picked up from Nicky a bargain in Alaska

Now I spend
more than I make
And the Saudis make me sell New York

I am stimulated more
ever deeper in debt
And will pay the Chinese with California

[mike]

every year my employer raises our labor rate so that my income escalates according to the economy. perhaps some people on this blog should stop depending on hourly wages (which employers are no longer raising annually) and start looking for employment where you need to kill yourself to sell as i do. of course ulcers,diarreah and several other unpleasentries come with a high stress job. but prices are not going to drop in line with wages at least not in L.A. you can no longer trust corporations and medium sized companies to provide you with adequate income for owning a house FACE UP TO IT . go get a hard job. don't see your kids, buy some preperation H !!!!!!!!!

[Tombstone Realty]

Real Estate Haiku:

I had a fixed rate,
But then I overleveraged.
Now I'm in deep sh**

No money down loan!
Now they've come for my firstborn
Wife is *really* mad.

Went to Home Depot
Spent my equity on tile
Bank can't have it back

[Anony]

So what does the new stimulus bill mean for conforming loans? What should we expect in the coming months from the lenders?

[Cal]

Senate passed the stimulus bill, realtors got their precious conforming limit increase.

No excuses for 2008 to suck now, they got what they wanted.. right?

Oh wait, people still have to afford what they are buying, oops, small flaw in that plan.

[MyLessThanPrimeBeef]

2008 will be known by our descendents as the Year of the Titan Arum - the biggest and stinkiest flower known to man.

Apparently, our generation knows more than all that have lived before because we are the smartest and the greatest, and if you don't believe me, just ask the young kids today, they know everything. Anyway, apparently, we have discovered that there are 13 signs in the Chinese Zodiac, the newest being the afore-mentioned Titan Arum. Too bad the Chinese themselves don't know and have never known this little nugget of wisdom before.

[Michael Snyder]

I woke up one morning
Had my head in the sky
I woke up one morning
And the man said "buy"
Now I can't sleep
I just lay here and moan
That damn ARM loan
Just ate up my home
I got the floatin' rate blues
Just can't keep the wolves at bay
Think I'll just mail the keys back
And moan my blues away

Sorry, I just have no self control...