Banks To Pay For Foreclosure Abuses – Importance of Housing

Ten banks have been ordered to pay 8.5 billion dollars to victims of rushed foreclosures with faulty paperwork from 2009 and 2010.  Since this blog started after the worst of the housing crisis, I wanted to touch on it a bit. The reason we got into this crisis to begin with was that mortgage lenders were handing out loans like they were candy, many with non-fixed interest rates which increased each year.  Many of these loans were given to people with poor credit or in circumspect financial situations.

But housing is an absolutely critical topic for BlackNEKs trying to raise a successful family. Where you have your family determines the schools your kids will attend, the friends they will have, and the activities conducted by other adults living in that area. When you move into a highly populated area, such as a large apartment complex or urban community, you are basically gambling with your family’s future. Your hope is that all the families near you are doing a good job of raising their kids and are engaged in positive activities. Even if this was the case for 80% of your neighbors, that 20% will inevitably hurt the quality of life for your family through juvenile delinquency, crime, and blight. Keep in mind that for a dense neighborhood, the poorly raised kid will have frequent interaction with your kid, and this will be either as a bully or a negative role model. Also, as BlackNEKs work towards self-sufficiency and wise use of money, the superficial values of urban life won’t be of any help to your kids. For these reasons, it is of course ideal to raise your family in a low density area such as in suburbs or the country. I think this is so important that if you find yourself living in an urban area, it might be advised to save to move to a better location before starting a family. Once you have lost your kid to the pull of the street life, it is hard to bring them back.

Obviously, there are many factors people consider when deciding where to live and raise a family, such as available transportation to jobs, closeness to relatives, and housing affordability. And though we all want to live some place nicer, we do have to remember to avoid the pulls and snares of loans which seem too good to be true. Better to live humbly within your means than go into major debt. But as best as you can, the BlackNEK should get the best housing in the lowest population density that they can afford which is still near jobs and educational opportunities.