Mortgage Meltdown

[Purp]

Description: When the housing market is in free fall, is there still an opportunity to make money? Of course! Buy properties, hold them, and sell for profit. Cuidado, my friend - this market is, um, volatile.
Instructions: Mouse to play
Category: Strategy
Good luck

http://www.addictinggames.com/mortgagemeltdown.html

Please use spoilers to give hints. [ SPOILER="Name of Spoiler"]...Enter Text Here...[/SPOILER]

[M.Norwood in LA]

command windows froze 2x

I played the first game with no problems and played two more times trying to actively buy and sell more homes. During both of those games the rent window popped up when I was financing a new property and they both froze. I had to end the games.

In general, this is a more detailed game than Mansion Impossible, but it has more potential than it offers at the moment. For instance -

If a home is a duplex or a 20 story apartment building, why is there only 1 renter?

More detailed graphics would be nice - if I spend money to renovate the lawn or add a pool, it would be nice to see the upgrade.

Rather than having all of the homes appear and disappear after a few moments on the market, maybe have some neighborhoods already established (with grocery stores, schools, parks, police/fire stations, etc.) and other neighborhoods under development where you have options on what you're building and the amenities. That would make the game strategy more complex.

City hall - they randomly increase property taxes by 25%. How about some elections with upsides and downsides attached to whomever wins, eg one candidate promises a balanced budget and cuts back on police force when elected and then crime goes up and property values fall. Another candidate promises better schools and taxes increase but home values rise because it becomes a more desirable location for families with children. Or maybe a candidate promises better schools but school standards fall anyway and you can choose to spend money on a recall election. Or whatever.

Are any of the offers (I'll buy your home for $xxx,xxxx right now; refinance now for $xxxx) legitimate or are they all scams? The only ones I accepted were scams so I stopped accepting any of them. Also, when those windows pop up you can't see the details on the home they're discussing. How do you know if you want to accept their offer if you can't see the property's current value or your investment?

Selling a home - why can't the buyers make counter-offers or why can't you adjust the price you're offering? It's an all or nothing scenario right now.

Judging by some of the comments/actions that happen during the game, the developers don't support the Obama administration's economic policies or the stimulus package, and this game was created to mock their efforts.

Setting aside those politics, this can still be a better game! Fixing the window freezing is a must. Other changes might save this from being a pure vanity project.

[NannaJoy]

tutorial wasn't hmmm... helpful? Seems like lots of choices but a lot of clicking and what is going on while you make choices? Don't think I'll try this one.

[ClimbingZeWalls]

NannaJoy, anytime you click on the house and pull up the menu, the game pauses. In fact, that is the ONLY way I know of to pause the game whatsoever. Which is nice, because it goes fast! Fun, quick game to master in a few minutes. Thanks for posting Purp!