I got an email from somebody that was mad at me.

I have a new book out, "Who Says You Can't Buy a Home!" The reader essentially said that it was probably better not to buy my book, but to save the money instead to pay on a mortgage.

The complaint was that I didn't address "high cost" areas in the country, where home prices are much higher than they are where I live, in Austin, TX. "People who live in Boston or San Francisco don't have the benefits of home ownership because home prices are so high ... and in fact we can't buy a home!" he railed.

Apparently the reader bought my book for some secret on how to buy an expensive home without having to pay the mortgage on it. "How can I afford to buy in San Francisco!" he said.

I dunno. Make more money. Move. Win the Lotto. But instantly I got a sneaky feeling that somehow some people are left with the impression that they deserve to own that expensive home. Or that someone is being discriminated against because he can't afford to own where he lives.

How's a lender supposed to respond to something like that? "Okay, buddy ... I feel your pain. Here's a nice house in Danville that we foreclosed on. You can have it for free. Don't pay us back. We're sorry that homes are so expensive. Really."

There's no "bankers secret" on how to own a home one simply can't afford. Sure, one could probably complete a "No Income Verifier" loan and get approved and move in but pretty soon, say after 90 days or so, the lender will want to know why they haven't been paid back. Then you're right back where you started only now your credit sucks.

The reader did make a good point, what do people do when the area they live in is too expensive? Does anyone want to help me out with this one? Anyone? Should the government step in and have taxpayers help out with his house payment because he chooses to live "high cost?"

Should the government pay for a college degree in rocket science so he can get a better job? Maybe an online dating service could find someone who makes a lot of money and get them hooked up.

I didn't respond to the guy. Emails like that can get sorta "stalkey" and I'd be arguing with this person for years. But what are people supposed to do in such instances?

Me for instance. I can pay my bills, thank you. But I wouldn't be living as large on my income if I lived in Del Mar, CA, instead of Austin. Far from it. I wouldn't be able to keep two kids in braces, pay for summer camp for three of them and raise a family in the same fashion if I took my same income and lived in downtown Manhattan. Like I'd do that, but you get the point.

If someone complains to me, or anyone else, that home prices are too high, then I'm sorry. Home prices are too high because a whole lot of other people have decided that's how high they're going to be because they bought them.

I don't mean to sound too harsh here, and maybe I am. But I just don't know how to respond to that very well. It's the local markets that determine home prices through a free and open bidding process. I have nothing to do with it.

Published: July 28, 2006

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, a veteran Mortgage Banker, successful Real Estate Consultant and author of Your Guide to VA Loans, Mortgages 101: Quick Answers to Over 250 Critical Questions About Your Home Loan, Who Says You Can't Buy a Home!, and Mortgage Confidential: What You Need to Know That Your Lender Won't Tell You, is a former columnist and Contributing Editor with San Diego-based Mortgage Originator Magazine. Reed is President of CD Reed Mortgage Bankers, Austin, TX and is a Past President of the Austin Mortgage Bankers Association.