American Dream has become an American Nightmare

It is the American dream to become a home owner in the United States and there is no doubt that during the real estate boom, Hispanics benefited from the growth in home equity and the out of control programs that were available under Subprime loans.

Lots of Hispanics were bought into the easy buying pitch that lenders and brokers gave buyers during the boom years. Add to this the language barrier and you have low income families getting into houses that in reality they were not prepare to buy (afford). I’m not blaming it all in the unscrupulous sales agents and loan brokers but they were a huge part of the current problems.

Now, as the presidential elections approaches, I believe, for the Hispanic voters, the housing crisis is a bigger issue than immigration. There is hope that the government may bring aid to those in need, but there is a huge apposition from those who feel that the government should not have to bail out those buyers.

Bottom line, we have a huge problem. Just in the area where I live, 37% are Hispanics and reports shows that 1 out of 4 houses are in foreclosure or heading towards foreclosure. And we have not even talk about those buyers that are able to make the payment but why should they? You have a family with a $320,000 loan balance and the next door neighbor’s house just sold for $125,000 and you have brand new homes down the street, almost double the size selling for under $300K. This is real and this is happening in my neighborhood, where most of us are Hispanics.

I guess it’s a waiting game now, let’s just hold on tight because it is far from over.



Luis V
Palmdale, CA

Introduction---Is it just another blog?

Welcome to Latinos in the USA. So you want to know what this is all about, right? Well, as you probably already know I am a Latino en Los Estados Unidos living a normal life in Sunny So Cal.

What do you say we get to know each other a little bit. The name is as common as tortillas and frijoles, Luis. I immigrated, ( I wonder if that translates to: "Me crucé por el cerro y después en una cajuela de un carro") Oh well, like I was saying, I was only 12 at that time. I was only doing what my parents asked me to do. If there are any youth out there, Please, never question your parents!

I am now 28 years old, married with two beautiful kids (Boy and Girl). You know what? Let me go back a little bit here, I haven't told where I was born. OK, I was born in East L....oh no, that's a movie. I am from "La tierra de Lagos y Volcanes", Masaya, Nicaragua. Yes sir...Not many of us out here on the west coast. But, I do have my brothers from Mexico, El Salvador, Guatemala and many more.

So back to what you can expect here. I am going to be writing about the things that we deal with here in the states as immigrants. Things like daily living, immigration, our countries, our people, our youth and anything that I can get my eyes on that is worth writing about.

I will update the site every week with new content so be sure to bookmark it and check us out frequently. This is a new and exciting journey for me as I share with all you my passion and time.

All right, that's it for now...Come back soon and I thank you very much for the opportunity.



Luis