This article, from GetRichSlowly.org does a great job at demonstrating how the current economy is affecting the average person. Drama in Real Life: Foreclosure! By: J.D. Roth of GetRichSlowly.org Most of the time, the talk about the housing bubble and the credit crisis and the faltering U.S. economy seem rather abstract to me, as if people were discussing a problem in Canada or Mexico. Or Norway. I've spent the past four years focused on my own financial situation, ignoring the outside world. The national economy often seems remote from my own personal economy. But there are millions of average people who have been affected by this country's fiscal woes. My little brother, Tony, is one of those average people. He's in dire financial straits. In 2004, Tony bought a house in Portland for $415,000. In 2006, he got a new job in central Oregon, so he moved his family to Bend. He put the Portland house on the market. He intended to rent a place in Bend until his existing home sold, but they he found a house he liked. He applied for a loan and was approved. He bought the house. The house in Portland never sold. For the past two years, Tony has been making $5200 in mortgage payments every month. Or, lately, not making the payments. He ran out of money long ago. Tony agreed to let me interview him yesterday in order to share his story with other GRS readers. Note: Tony knows he made some poor choices, and he blames himself for his current p ...
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