Founded 1983: Liberal Mindset; Conservative Morality

August 26, 2026

Nobody Knocks in Dallas

Texas wrote the fastest foreclosure clock in America. State law requires a letter giving the borrower twenty days to cure the default, then twenty-one days of posted notice, and on the first Tuesday of the month the house goes to auction at the courthouse door. Federal servicing rules add a floor of 120 days of delinquency before the first legal step, so call it five months from the first missed payment to the crier calling for bids. Five months. Across the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex this year, households have sailed past five months, past twelve, past fourteen, and the crier stays home. The reports are accurate in their bones: thousands of families are living in houses they stopped paying for, the lender mails a brochure about options, and nobody knocks.

Continue reading → Nobody Knocks in Dallas

July 8, 2013December 9, 2013

The Misery and Heartbreak of Trying to Buy an FHA-Approved Condo in New York City and Jersey City

Over the past couple of weeks, Janna and I were given a hardcore beatdown in the housing market as we tried to figure out how, when, and where to finally buy our first home in Jersey City or New York City. We quickly found that an FHA loan — a Federally-sponsored mortgage program where you only have to put down 3.5% of the purchase price instead of the standard 20% — is but a dip in the yonder horizon: A great idea in theory, but an impossible dream in reality.

The 2008 housing crash ruined everything for the first-time home buyer. Nobody trusts anybody now. Everybody’s playing an angle. Everyone wants a quick and fast and dirty deal and nobody wants to deal with the red tape the FHA loans now require.

As one of Janna’s Black co-workers told her, “An FHA mortgage means to sellers and brokers that you’re Black and can’t afford a real down payment. They don’t want to deal with that. Try again later when you have more cash for 20% down.”