Smiles Among Slump

The hand-wringing and wailing in “Dealing With the Downturn” (Dec. 2), makes me smile. Finally, justice for the greedy.

My spouse and I, in our early 30s, bring home about $50,000 a year before taxes. Yet we can’t even dream about owning a home.

Perhaps we could qualify for a loan, but we have no money for even a 10% down payment. We don’t have rich relatives who could give or even loan us that money. At our current level of savings ability, it would take us 15 years to build up enough for a down payment, and by then the currently exorbitant prices will only be worse.

But instead of whining about our straits, I’d rather gloat over justice for the true villains in the “slump.” Greedy homeowners, you’re the ones twisting the knife into young adults like us, stuck throwing money away on rentals (which also are overpriced.

Greedy real-estate agents--you overdressed folks laughing all the way to the bank in your sun-roofed Mercedes with multiple cellulars. How obscene that you’ve been reaping tens of thousands of dollars per house for some paper work and phone calls.

Even if the $300,000 home up the street crashed to half-price, my spouse and I couldn’t afford it right now. Experts say even a 25% price drop would come only with economic catastrophe. But perhaps you homeowners, real estate agents and others who have profited from a commodity almost as fundamental as food will take a lesson from this. And reread the lines in the Times articles that mentioned crowds swarming to affordable properties. No shortage of buyers--just of fair prices.

T.J. RICHARDS

San Diego