Submitted by YOUR NEW REALITY

In the fallout from the fantastical conjob that convinced poor people to buy homes they simply could not afford, when prices were peaking, first you lose your house, then you lose everything in it :

The foreclosure crisis is hitting yet another American locale: the self-storage center.

As they lose their homes, people are turning to these humble cinderblock and sheet-metal boxes to store their stuff. But some people cannot keep up with their storage bills any better than they could handle their mortgage payments, and storage companies are auctioning off their property for a pittance.

A cottage industry has developed to profit from these lost and abandoned items.In three brisk days, Mr. Snyder held auctions at 23 U-Store-It facilities. At the first site, in Gurnee north of the city, he raised the door on an indoor unit, revealing what was essentially a one-room apartment…The contents sold for $675.

The next warehouse, in Waukegan, brought a unit full of — depending on how you look at it — cherished household possessions or somebody’s trash. Boyd bought the bulging plastic bags for all of $6.

For some units, $6 is too much. “A dollar bill, first dollar bill takes it,” Mr. Snyder implored in front of one unit. “Come on, this is everything they own!” To no avail.

What’s left of the dream – the dream they crammed into minds through political speeches, through ceaseless advertising, through dozens of ‘lifestyle’ shows telling you you’re nothing if you don’t own your own home, through all the newspaper and evening news shows hyping the ‘property boom’, and how you had to get in quick or miss out forever – are tatters almost worthless.

Well, maybe worth one dollar.

Visit 1800blogger to see all of our industry leading blogs.

Rating 3.00 out of 5
[?]