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Surviving the Aftermath of a Bad Mortgage: A Cautionary Tale of Buying Black in America.
How a lack of accountability in real estate nearly ruined my family, but we survived.
We are sold the notion homeownership is the pinnacle of the American Dream. But what happens if that dream is nothing more than a nightmare disguised as a mortgage?
As we near what seems to be another housing collapse, many people are uncertain about what 2023 and beyond will hold as it relates to homeownership. Then some believe that what we are seeing is not a crash but a correction, and therefore, we need not worry about a crisis.
No matter what perspective you take, in either scenario — crash, correction, or a hot market like 2020–2021 — overall, the real estate industry and all aspects of it can be grimy and harmful for borrowers, especially first-time home buyers and especially for Black people.
Our savings were depleted, and we found ourselves staring down what felt like insurmountable debt and our family — homeless, living in hotels. My wife and I shuffled our then toddler-aged children to different family and friend’s homes for several weeks while we waited for the contractor to finish the rehabilitation.
