Times are present so we can remember them and maybe even learn from them.  When there is no longer time, well, that's another discussion in of itself.

While I don't mean to be the master of the obvious over here, being in the lending industry isn't easy these days.  The irony of all that, at least from my vantage point, is that I didn't make a significant mint when times were easy.  But I'm still around.  I'm either stubborn or stupid, perhaps both.  Or maybe, just maybe, I belong here.

One client reminded me of that.

I no longer have their email on record, but when the appraisal of the house they were going to buy for $180,000 came in $50,000 less, I was introduced to an unique point of view:

And I'm paraphrasing, " Hoopla aside, I just want to buy a house to call my home."

I was sitting back and thinking about these things and I read what he wrote to me.  That sentence spoke volumes.

Are we making this shit more complicated than it really has to be?  Are we telling everybody else that declining markets, negative equity, stricter credit guidelines, and an influx of new business without the ability to service that very business are the wave of the present and the always near future?  There are a few success stories along the way, but I'm not going to sit here being idle when a guy with a 780 credit score, plenty of money, can document his income, is a US citizen, and has watched at least one episode of "All in The Family", has the least bit of trouble buying a house.

The talk of the day in the lending industry hasn't been common sense, but a gut reaction to the age of absolute greed.  Unfortunately for me, I missed that part.  I could of had a deck, new roof, siding that would make the ass that is my neighbor jealous, and a bit of coin socked away just in case I encountered a near third degree burn on my right foot.  It's funny how life works.  It's even funnier how we work.

Let me try to end this with a bit of knowledge you may not find (or have being admitted) anywhere else.  Us Loan Officers only get paid when we close loans.  Sure, folks want loans cheap, at the lowest interest rate, with no points or fees... and I shop at Dollar General sometimes as well.  Cheap lasagne burns quite well.   But, my guess is that people don't give a damn of how we are paid... they just want to buy a house.  They want to buy a structure they can call home.  My plea is one that probably will fall on deaf ears, though those ears will go cauliflower before I'm done with them.  If you want to fix the housing industry, listen to the folks who want to buy that house.  Listen to the folks who are actually practicing the trade.

I won't get too political about this, but come here... closer.  Let me whisper in your ear. 

If you want to solve anything dealing with the Real Estate Industry, it's not a bad thing to actually consult the members in the field.

We can tell you that the guy above, with that credit score and monies, is a player.  But he doesn't want to be a player, he just wants to buy a home.

I guess he wants a place to live and call his own, interesting concept.