Chuck, within three blocks of my house are six houses which have been
purchased
by Mexican families, extended families! In each yard and driveway are from
six
to nine automobiles and/or pickups. The house next to me sold for $549,000
last
month. With four or five family groups (or singles) putting their incomes
(welfare checks?) toward the mortgage, they can qualify for a loan.

I don't need sorrow.

You should thank your lucky stars you've got some industrious new Hispanic
neighbors.

When I was in the used car business, I always did a certain amount of "buy
here, pay here" transactions. I took a chance on a few hundred BHPH people over
the years, and probably half of them bit me in the butt as a result. I've
chased cars in the middle of the night, hired OOS repo companies, and I
narrowly escaped with my life on one memorable repo.

I did this kind of business because the other half of the BHPH customers, (the
ones that didn't wind up getting impounded outside a Jr. High School with a
trunk load
of dope......yeah, really) used the opportunity to make something out of their
lives. Put a guy in a reaonably reliable old beater, and he can get to work 5-6
days a week. A struggling single mom can get the
kids into after school activities if they don't have to ride the school
bus....etc.

I had a number of customers eventually "graduate" to a point where their credit
allowed them to get a loan from a real bank, instead of Foolish Gould's High
Risk
Portfolio. At least one family qualified for a home mortgage, and they took the
time to drop by the lot and thank me for giving them a chance to start their
credit when nobody else would touch them.

I only mention this because, even though I
am absolutely against racial stereotyping, my Hispanic customers were the least
hassle of anybody. (Worst? Young single white men.)

If your new neighbors are anything at all like the Hispanics I have met over
the years, they are one of the few immigrant groups who aspire to the
"traditional" American dream. They want to assimilate and be American. Yes, the
first generation will speak Spanish, but they will take pride in how well their
kids speak English.

Most of the Hispanics I have dealt with over the years are willing to work hard
and earn their keep. They take pride in providing for their families and paying
bills on time. (It's a sort of "macho" thing, in a way). We white folks, (I am
presuming, based on previous comments you have made that you are white), tend
to look at people who immigrated here from Europe and say "Look, there goes a
good American!" In another generation, some of the "best" Americans will be
from Asia and Latin America. Count on it. Many of the folks from those cultural
backgrounds are just plain willing to outwork and outsave the rest of us.

And lastly, see if you can figure out who is making mortgage loans for 1/2
million dollar homes to welfare recipients. I seriously doubt that any of your
local banks are doing that. (Bank loans are subject to regulatory
audit....nobody is going to approve making a RE loan to a loosely assembled
group of welfare recipients). If you *should* find a local bank making half
million dollar mortgage loans to people on welfare, either borrow as much as
you can as fast as you can from them or get every last dime of your money
transferred somewhere else. :-)