Topic   essay evaluation

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Segment the essay – what information does it give – how is the info
arranged and presented?

-what part has value

-what part was not well discussed

-what part could have been better stated

-what part did you respond to favorably

-what part did you disagree with

-to whom would you recommend reading the essay and why

-what are the strengths and weaknesses of the author, and why – talk
back to the author

State your criteria for making your judgments, whether they be
objective or purely personal opinion and taste

Love isn’t all that’s keeping family together today. The bruising
housing market is, too.

Last year, Kanessa Tixe’s dad had just finished building a
three-family house when he lost his superintendent job in February. He
wasn’t sure how to make the $5,000-a-month mortgage on the new house
in Queens, N.Y.

So Tixe and her siblings decided to help out in an unusual way: They
moved in. In December, her father moved into the first floor; her
stepsister and husband moved into the second floor; and her
stepbrother and Tixe took the third floor. The entire family has
become roommates, banding together to pay rent and help their dad with
the mortgage until he finds long-term tenants.

“We’re still living there now. Times are rough,” says Tixe, 26, a
publicist. “It’s been very beneficial that we’re all together. My
stepbrother and I have a wonderful relationship now. We eat together
for dinner, and I’ve become closer to my dad, too. This is an
important time for family to help, the way the housing market is
going. Our story is a testament to how families should come together
to help with a mortgage.”

The weak economy — which has brought surging foreclosures, sinking
property values, vanishing home equity and mounting job losses — is
playing a major role in family dynamics, pulling relatives under the
same roof to pool their resources and aid relatives who’ve lost their
homes.

Siblings are moving in with one another to help pay the mortgage.
Adult children who’ve lost homes to foreclosure are moving back home
with Mom and Dad. Even spouses in the throes of divorce are putting
off separating, living together in awkward cold wars because they
can’t sell their houses.

That’s in large part because those losing homes often have nowhere
else to go. Many live paycheck to paycheck: Nearly 61% of local and
state homeless coalitions are seeing an increase in homelessness since
the foreclosure crisis began in 2007, according to an April 2008 study
by the National Coalition for the Homeless. Only 5% said they hadn’t
seen an increase. The survey found that more than 76% of homeowners
and renters who must move because of foreclosures are staying with
family and friends.

Many are affected. Foreclosure filings surpassed 3 million in 2008,
according to a recent report by RealtyTrac. The report also shows that
one in 54 homes received at least one foreclosure filing during the
year.

“If you have someone you love, and they’re in need, and they come to
you and say, ‘Can I stay with you awhile?” — of course, you’ll say,
‘Yes.’ But there are risks,” says Debra Yergen, author of Creating Job
Security Resource Guide. “Maybe they have pets, maybe they go out to
eat, and that causes friction. There are all kinds of family dynamics.
That’s not to say it’s not worth it, but you have to think it through
so that no one feels taken advantage of.”

All ages losing homes

More families are living with relatives, based on the most recent
statistics available. Nearly 3.5 million brothers or sisters are
living in a sibling’s house, according to 2007 Census Data, up from 3
million in 2000. And 3.6 million parents live with their adult
children, up from 2.3 million. About 6.7 million householders live
with other relatives, such as aunts or cousins, compared with 4.8
million in 2000. That year, the housing market was beginning its boom
stretch, which lasted until late 2005
Some demographic groups are feeling the effects more than others,
including younger first-time home buyers who purchased during the
housing boom and older Americans hit by job losses and foreclosures
who have less time to recover their financial footing. For example:

•Seniors. Older Americans who are losing their homes often lack the
financial resources to buy another property. At the same time, adult
children who had been helping pay for assisted living or other living
arrangements for elderly parents are opting to bring their parents
into their own homes because they can no longer afford the costs.

“With the financial crunch, many adult children caregivers are having
to bring Mom and Dad into their own home instead of the many other
options,” says Barbara McVicker, author of Stuck in the Middle: Shared
Stories and Tips for Caregiving Your Elderly Parents. “Money is
driving most of the decisions.”

Homeowners 50 and older have been significantly affected by the
mortgage crisis, according to a 2008 analysis by the AARP. More than
684,000 homeowners 50 and over were delinquent, were in foreclosure,
or lost their homes during the six months ended December 2007.

And some family members say they’re living with a senior parent
because they can’t afford a home on their own.

•Young adults. Younger buyers made up a large share of those who
bought property during the housing boom. About 40% of home buyers in
2004-05 were first-time buyers, according to the National Association
of Realtors.

These buyers are also most likely now to owe more on their homes than
they are worth, according to a Moody’s Economy.com report on so-called
underwater mortgages. Because they are unable to sell their homes,
many are trapped in mortgages they can’t afford — either because of
adjustable-rate mortgages resetting to higher payments or because of
recent job losses. So when foreclosures loom, these younger buyers
can’t just sell to get out of a bind. Instead, a larger number are
going through the foreclosure and then moving back in with their
parents.

“Many first-time home buyers bought homes they really couldn’t afford
using some of the riskier loan products (adjustable-rate loans with
low teaser rates and 100% financing),” says Rick Sharga, senior vice
president of RealtyTrac, in an e-mail. “These homes … were still very
much overpriced, and the combination of increased mortgage payments
and depreciating home values has hit this group of buyers
exceptionally hard.”

And it’s not just twentysomethings anymore: Even middle-age people are
moving back in with their parents after a foreclosure.

Colt Phipps, 40, of Scottsdale, Ariz., worked in the mortgage industry
until his business failed because of the housing crisis. His home,
which was worth nearly $1 million, was foreclosed upon. So Phipps and
his fiancée moved in with his parents, going from their
5,000-square-foot house to a 1,400-square-foot house. He also brought
his two Shar-Pei dogs along and does what he can to pay rent to help
his parents with the mortgage. He is still looking for work, and his
fiancée, formerly a loan processor, is now working at Home Depot.

“It’s actually brought us closer together,” Phipps says. “It’s close
quarters, but we have weekly meetings to discuss things like budget.
We help out with what we can. You learn about what’s important, what’s
really valuable. Things are not real value. It’s family and the people
you’re around.”
•Divorcing couples. While hard times can often strain marriages, the
housing downturn may be curbing divorces. The American Academy of
Matrimonial Lawyers also says it’s seeing divorce rates fall.

Overall, 37% of members said they see a decrease in divorce cases,
according to a November report. Members responded that they typically
see a drop in the number of divorce cases during national economic
downturns, while only 19% cited an increase during these challenging
times.

That’s partly because couples used to be able to divorce and easily
sell their homes. But with home sales so anemic, couples are
reluctantly staying together until the housing market turns around.

“It takes months and months to sell a home. … They can’t afford
another residence,” says Michael Gora, a divorce lawyer in Boca Raton,
Fla. “I’ve had consultations where people even back off of divorce
because they realize the desperate financial straits they’re in.”

The housing market is drawing some families together, but challenges
include lifestyle differences, generational differences, depression,
money squabbles and other issues when relatives huddle together for
economic relief, says Nicholas Aretakis, a career coach and author of
No More Ramen: The 20-Something’s Real World Survival Guide.

Moving in with relatives can be “demoralizing, humbling, dehumanizing
— but a lot of people don’t have a lot of choice,” Aretakis says.

“You lose that sense of independence, privacy and self-esteem,” he
says. “You lose somewhat of your identity.”

FULL HOUSE? Has the recession affected the number of heads in your
household? Who’s moved/moving in to help pool resources?

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