Dreams of houses

I had a vivid dream that one of my friends was going to lose his house. Then I woke up and realized it could be a premonition. He really could lose his house. In fact, there's a number of my friends who could easily fit that scenario. One of my friends is paying more for his mortgage than my monthly income. No idea how he does it. The guy's a self employed artist with health issues.

As for myself . .. well, it could only take a few bad breaks for me to be in the same boat. Right now, I can afford my mortgage. Banks were begging to loan me money and I resisted. Sure, the hundreds of thousands they wanted to give me was tempting, but I saw there was no way to pay it all back. So my mortgage isn't bad, but taxes are killing me. In fact, I'm a bit late with them.

I don't have to too look too far down the road to see people who were caught up in the easy money craziness. The bank just took over the cottage four down from me. The guy three down had tried a quick flip. He bought the property, cleaned it up, and put it back on the market. Then prices took a drop. For now, he's staying in the place and has fallen in love with the area. Good thing, as he won't be selling at his asking price in the near future. The place on the other side of mine came down in price over 40%. Still no offers. The place across the road from him is no longer on the market. They could not get their price.

This is for property on a nice little lake. The market goes well beyond the local area. People from the big cities hundreds of miles away own property here as vacation homes. Looks like they aren't buying either.

On the surface, in day to day life, everyone appears to be fine. Maybe in private, some close friends may hint at difficulties. Then one night a moving truck drives up and they are gone. I'm sure behind closed doors, there are some serious discussions. Perhaps some yelling and throwing of dishes too. For many, that stage passes. There's a kind of fatalism that descends over people. If things break well for them, they keep their house. If not . . . they shrug their shoulders and move on. Many no longer put much passion into the result, one way or the other. They are resigned. Losing one's home has lost much of its stigma. It's happened to enough people that it's become normal.

Interesting times.

-Sixbears