Thank God for dogs. A gift of sanity and perspective.

Thank God for dogs. After  a day of witnessing the continued effects of the money crisis, it is good to come home to 2 beings that are just happy to have food, shelter and close proximity to me.

 They have very low expectations, their dreams of housing magnificence and keeping up in social standing with the dogs next door is nonexistent. If they lost it all, the only thing they would care about is being able to continue to hang out with us....their human family.
How refreshing.

We showed 2 short sale properties in Western Loudoun County VA yesterday. One was purchased at the height of the market for 1.1 million and was for sale at $625k and had been for some time. It was vacant with the scattered debris of a family leaving and starting over. Sheriff's department lien notices lay on the counter as is often the case when financial loss comes visiting.

The other had sold for 1.3 million and was now for sale at $725k with a nice family packing up for a new life of lowered expectations...not a happy vibe.

We do like finding great REO and short sale opportunities for our client's but we never forget the human cost associated with these current bargains.....showing  short sales with the selling family home while folks walk through picking over the carcass of their misfortune always affects me.

My guess is that Realtors own more dogs per capita than any other profession....we need 'em.