Ground Zero for the Mortgage Meltdown -- Part I

Florida, along with California, Nevada, and Arizona, have been the hardest hit states in this current Mortgage CRISIS. As someone who has been hunting for a reasonably priced home since the end of 2006, and someone who knows people who purchased properties during the past four years, I'd have to say I have tons of first-hand knowledge and experience when it comes to what went wrong. So, here goes. I will present this in bullet-point format, over the course of several posts:


- Trying to buy a home in 2005:
-- At the beginning of 2005, our rent in South Florida was $925 at the time for a 2/2 apartment, with a view of a lake. Two minute drive from work.
-- Buying a home seemed like the thing to do.
-- I knew a married couple from Venezuela that owned several homes in Weston, and had just put a $500 downpayment to build a home in Cape Coral, Florida. They seemed like real estate moguls to me.  They knew the SYSTEM, and were playing it for all it was worth.
-- My wife and I went to a credit union and sat down with a female Jamaican Mortgage Processor. She gave us the bad news: "Our debt to equity ratio is too high." It was above 28%.
-- My wife (who is Haitian-American) and I (Brazilian-American) felt like we were being discriminated against, to be honest. The Venezuelan couple earned less money than us ... how was it possible they could qualify for multiple mortgages, and we couldn't qualify for a simple FHA loan?  Weren't there programs for first-time home-buyers like us?