Could the Sub-Prime Loan Problem Help Youngstown?

[Leah]

Many homes purchased in Youngstown in recent years may also fall victim to the sub-prime lending mess.  Some homes have been sold far above market value.  I'm beginning to see that this mortgate problem will hurt the city even more than expected.  The net result will be many more vacant houses.

You're exactly right.  I used to be a mortgage loan officer, specializing in sub-prime, mainly refinances.  I got into that field after a lot of the damage was already done, and just couldn't help a lot of people because they had already gotten loans from less than ethical lenders and were stuck in pretty bad situations.  Youngstown is hit especially hard by this because many loan programs that could actually help homeowners have minimum loan amounts of 50k.  There are a ton of houses in Youngstown that can be bought for less than that, but no one can get the loans to buy them, or with the tightening of lender guidelines, the people who currently own then and have adjustable rate mortgages can't refinance into more sensible loans because the rules have changed.

I could go on forever about the mortgage crisis and what a mess it is, but won't.

I do want to add another point, though.  The sub-prime mortgage crisis has also cost a lot of people who work in the real estate industry their jobs.  Realtors and loan officers tend to work on commission only, if they don't close a deal, they don't get paid.  This isn't good for our economy.  I worked for a title company after leaving my job as a loan officer.  I recently lost my job at the title company because business was slow and they could no longer afford me.  I'm sure I wasn't the first in the area and won't be the last. 

Lots of people losing jobs or facing dramatic loss of income does not help the situation any.

[jay]

Many homes purchased in Youngstown in recent years may also fall victim to the sub-prime lending mess.  Some homes have been sold far above market value.  I'm beginning to see that this mortgate problem will hurt the city even more than expected.  The net result will be many more vacant houses.

[northside lurker]

You can bet your bottom dollar as others have said that there is no way that you can convince young families to move into the city until you've gotten rid of the crime problem completely and have so upgraded our school system that we see it praised in the national news.

Unfortunately, I think this is very true.  Most people have such a poor image of Youngstown, that the only way to break that image is to greatly surpass normal.  We'll need to have the lowest crime rate in the nation, and have some of the best schools in the nation.  Only then, will the people with the poor image of Youngstown acknowledge that Youngstown is just OK.

As for the schools, yes, they stink.  I own a home in Youngstown.  We bought it before our oldest son was school age.  My son attended a private kindergarden where he had the luxury of a small class size with lots of individual attention.  This was necessary because, though he was very advanced academically, he was quite behind socially.  We gave Youngstown schools a chance for first grade.  It was horrible.  My son's grammar actually became worse and he'd come home with stories of who's parents were in jail, etc.  His teacher was very quick to label him ADHD because he was bored in class and talked out frequently.  I met with his teacher, guidance counselor and the school's family readiness expert.  The guidance staff was wonderful and spent a lot of time with me working on a plan to help my son both in school and at home.  But, that's where it ended.  His teacher was not very interested in any type of plan of action and just seemed to want to complain about how difficult my child made her job.  The guidance staff recogized how advanced my son was academically, but could not offer him a more challenging curriculum.  There are no gifted classes until 4th grade.  There was talk of letting him go to a second grade classroom for reading (an area he is particularly skilled in), but his teacher vetoed that idea.

Unfortunately, the problems you speak of aren't isolated to the Youngstown schools.  I've heard similar stories from other public school districts in Ohio.  I think it's more of a problem with specific teachers, than entire school districts.

[shantrivialand]

It's the truth.  Noone wants to move INTO Youngstown. I am honestly afraid of Youngstown. I actually fear for my safety if I am in Youngstown.  I would never ever consider sending my kid to Youngstown schools. 

Noone wants to address the issue of race, but I think you must when talking about Youngstown.
I am not racist at all, but if you are black please answer me this.  Why is there so much crime/homicides/drugs in areas with large populations of blacks?  If you are black you have to realize that the surrounding areas that are mostly white neighborhoods have a significantly lower crime rate than what Youngstown does.  Do you think the problem is lack of education? Lack of equal jobs for minorities?  I am not meaning to disrespect anyone with this post, but as a white, I am curious to what a blacks take on the specific issues I stated above are.

[connie254]

Although I don't have the loan problem, the move I made out of Youngstown and into Boardman was because of the crime, schools and the attitude of the lowlifes living around me. Three of the houses that were on my block had people who actually worked, one had retirees.  The rest were bumming off the government, with the attitude that the government owes it to them, for what I'm not sure. Most of them owned cars, far better than what I can afford. It is so quiet in our new neighborhood, no earth shattering  boomboxes, yelling and barking dogs, gunfire, etc. An occassional siren from the firetrucks coming from the fire station nearby.
The Youngstown schools failed my son miserably.  He's autistic and had two  wonderful teachers but the other two acted like babysitters. I remember walking into WestSide Elementary to meet the teacher for his IEP and seeing four to eight children that sat in the principal's office asleep. I blame the parents more than the teachers-they were probably staying up all night at home. I've heard nothing but praises for his new school and it's MH program.
I really liked my old house but couldn't stand to live in the city any more.

[Leah]

I don't think the sub-prime mortgage crunch will influence suburbanites to move to the city.

If these people are facing foreclosure, chances are, they will not be able to qualify for a loan to buy a new home.  So, unless they are able to pay cash for a home in Youngstown, they will be forced to rent.  If these people have to rent, they will probably just rent in the suburbs.

As for the schools, yes, they stink.  I own a home in Youngstown.  We bought it before our oldest son was school age.  My son attended a private kindergarden where he had the luxury of a small class size with lots of individual attention.  This was necessary because, though he was very advanced academically, he was quite behind socially.  We gave Youngstown schools a chance for first grade.  It was horrible.  My son's grammar actually became worse and he'd come home with stories of who's parents were in jail, etc.  His teacher was very quick to label him ADHD because he was bored in class and talked out frequently.  I met with his teacher, guidance counselor and the school's family readiness expert.  The guidance staff was wonderful and spent a lot of time with me working on a plan to help my son both in school and at home.  But, that's where it ended.  His teacher was not very interested in any type of plan of action and just seemed to want to complain about how difficult my child made her job.  The guidance staff recogized how advanced my son was academically, but could not offer him a more challenging curriculum.  There are no gifted classes until 4th grade.  There was talk of letting him go to a second grade classroom for reading (an area he is particularly skilled in), but his teacher vetoed that idea.

I was fortunate enough to get generous financial aid from a wonderful private school in the area for 2nd grade.  I saw such dramatic improvements in my son's mental state after he left Youngstown schools.  He is now learning Spanish and German and facing a more challenging curriculum and getting better grades on top of it. 

It makes me very sad and angry that our Youngstown students are getting cheated out of a good education.  I'm sorry that every kid doesn't have the opportunity to go to a school as wonderful as the one my son is now attending.  If it wasn't for the financial aid and help from family members my son would not have the opportunity that he does. 

[Towntalk]

My friends opted to move out of the city to Boardman (1) because of the terrorable schools here, (2) because of the crime in Youngstown. They lived in a better area of the city, were professionals and owned a historical mansion most of you are familiar with.

Their children not only got a better education, but all are college graduates and one works as a software artist for a software company out of Atlanta, one works for the Post Office, One is a School Teacher in the Cleveland area, and the other owns a thriving business.

You can bet your bottom dollar as others have said that there is no way that you can convince young families to move into the city until you've gotten rid of the crime problem completely and have so upgraded our school system that we see it praised in the national news.

It really angers me that our board of education knows what the problems are with the system but refuse to make any sustained effort to improve it. They have all sorts of excuses, and not one of them are valid, aand building new buildings isn't going to solve the problem.

One of the major problems is disipline ... a second is the teaching staff.

A teacher in the system called one of the talk shows and said that the system is having a hard time getting young inovative teachers to teach in the system, and are being forced to hire older teachers that are past it.

As to the crime problem, I doubt if anyone can solve that problem until it gets so out of control that the State is forced to step in, and I don't see that happening any time soon.

[jay]

I agree that the school system issue is a BIG problem for a family with young children.  Just this past week I heard two conversations of parents with children. 

The one family has a two year old and a new born.  Their plan is to move out of Youngstown to a better school system when the oldest child is of school age.

The second family stayed in Youngstown but opted to send their daughter to a neighboring school system which has open enrollment.

The Youngstown School System and its request for an additional 9.5 mill levy will be discussed later today in a new message thread.

[Mary]

The only problem with this scenario is that you are assuming that the other factors are weak. People choose not to live in the city because they are afraid of crime, because of the school systems etc. Say a family of 3 has lost their house in boardman. They have one child that has to go to school somewhere. If they are faced with the choice of living in a city that is crime ridden or living in an apartment in boardman rather then a house in Youngstown i think Youngstown would lose.

[jay]

I don't feel it is a matter of living in Youngstown as a last resort.  We all know that the city has many social problems.  A house in the city will cost far less to purchase than a comparable house in the suburbs.  Stressing the affordability of housing could be a way of slowing our population decline.

[northside lurker]

Many suburban residents chose to buy there because they didn't want to live in the city in the first place.  If they felt as though their only option was to buy a house in the city, it seems likely their attitude would only worsen.

[jay]

The problem of sub-prime mortgage defaults has been in the news recently.  Could this problem actually help Younstown?  What if an individual took out a loan on an expensive suburban home and could no longer afford to make the rising loan payments.  Faced with forclosure,  where would the individual move next?  Youngstown has many nice affordable homes on the market today.  Could we offer our existing housing stock as a possible solution for those who are losing their suburban homes?