Letters to the editor

Flop houses

Sweat equity: What we do after fevered speculation

Editor, The Times:

Yes indeed, houses are for living in, not speculating on [ "Now's not the time to be flip about housing," Times, Lance Dickie editorial column, May 2]. We watch HGTV and I alternate between being frightened and grossed out by the coldly shining smiles of the speculation-minded homeowners in shows like "My House is Worth What?"

I am not capable of forgetting the earlier part of my life when my paycheck barely kept me in rent money every month, and am likewise not capable of mentally de-linking "house flipping" with the very real housing inflation that it creates and flippers' very real responsibility for some amount of homelessness.

Mr. Dickie, in our house-envying, property-rights-worshipping society, it isn't PC to realize or acknowledge this, but house flipping is a very real act of social and economic violence — economic mugging, if you will, of those in the middle and low end of the housing market. The profits of purely speculative land and housing transactions should be taxed at a high enough rate to end the practice.

We as a society need to face facts and realize that our system of perhaps excessive property rights (in the area of selling at whatever price the market will bear) is doing some genuine and tangible harm, and dare to discuss direct solutions — such as limits on the value and selling price of real property, and punitive taxation on house flippers.

— David Feldman, Vancouver, Wash.

Public enemy

Lance Dickie provided some worthwhile insights regarding the current "mortgage meltdown." Nevertheless, at the risk of sounding callous, I have little sympathy for either the majority of the lenders or borrowers who are now facing the consequences. More to the point, it's galling that they are now looking to the government, as usual, to indemnify them, and save them from their own folly.

This entire fiasco could be seen coming years ago by anyone with a modicum of common sense. But, as usual, the greater burden will fall on those of us who live prudently and within our means, as we will be the ones footing the bill. As Willie Sutton said about why he robbed banks": Because that's where the money is." So now the government will go "where the money is," which is those of us who made sacrifices, lived conservatively and responsibly, and avoided huge debt.

Most of us born into the Depression, and growing up during World War II, learned some valuable life lessons that are largely lacking in today's society. We learned early on that "you can't have it all at once." We also learned that credit, like fire, is a good servant, but a poor master. Abuse or disregard either, and you are destined for big problems.

I have yet to hear anyone define the difference between a home-equity loan (HEL) and a second mortgage, except that the former sounds more palatable than the latter. It astounds me that so many people blithely used adjustable-rate mortgages (ARMs) without asking about, or even considering, the potential impact on future payments. Worse yet is that brokers and lenders were complicit in ignoring the due diligence required to assure that prospective buyers could actually qualify for the loans they were seeking.

Not to be overlooked is that it is now evident that a great many borrowers actually lied about their financial status in order to get the loans they wanted. The availability of "easy money" made it far too easy to bid up the prices on houses. That, in turn, was instrumental in driving the phenomenal increase in home prices, which created artificial equity values, which allowed even bigger HELs! It seems to me that a similar scenario played out around 1929.

Perhaps it's going to take another Great Depression for our present generation to learn some of those valuable life lessons that are so firmly implanted in mine. Ultimately, it might just be the best thing that ever happens to them.

— Lee Fowble, Edmonds

A more tenable position

Lance Dickie's house-flipping column underscores the need for a greater range of rental-housing options in Seattle.

Rental housing serves people in many phases of life — ranging from students to recent graduates to young families to grandparents. The fastest-growing segment of the rental-housing market is households earning $50,000 or more.

The goal to increase the supply of rental housing should be for all income levels and not just for very-low-income individuals and families. Teachers, firefighters and police officers all deserve an affordable and convenient place to live.

With an additional 1.7 million people coming to the Puget Sound region by 2040, it is essential that the supply of rental housing be sufficient to meet demand. The Rental Housing Association views this as an important opportunity to balance housing policies between homeownership and more rental-housing choices.

The 4,381 members of the Rental Housing Association want to ensure that rental housing in the Puget Sound region is an attractive option to people no matter their phase in life.

— Julie Johnson, president, Rental Housing Association of Puget Sound, Seattle

Eviction notice

Pack up and get out

"Congress finally OKs Wild Sky Wilderness" [Local News, April 29] states that there will be no motors, fewer roads in this area, and that some existing areas will be closed. So who gets to use parts of this wonderful area? Hikers.

How many of us are extreme hikers? How many of us are hikers of any distance? How many of us can hike at all? Oh, yegods, can you imagine families trying to cart children through an area with no way to get to a mild place to picnic? Can families picnic at all? What happened to being able to camp?

Isn't Wild Sky going to be a national forest/park? The plan is being sent to President Bush to sign, so it has to be.

We camp along National Forest Service dirt roads — many people and families do. We pack it in and pack it out. But I'm disabled and unable to hike into an area to get to pack it in and pack it out. I'm also excluded from this area.

I feel as though I am — and many others are being — snubbed and deliberately excluded from what is going to be a national wilderness area, by the uppity few who will get to use it.

— Pamela Buxton, Seattle

Our new address

One imperial drive

Has anyone noticed? George Bush and his underlings, along with everyone at "fair and balanced" FOX News, keep referring to Myanmar as "Burma" ["Aid slowly trickles into ravaged Myanmar," News, May 7].

What's the point?

Maybe Myanmar should refer to America as "the Colonies" ... ?

Man, it really is time for a change.

— Jim Innes, Mercer Island