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Washington Mutual Seized! Federal Regualtors Takeover WAMU! LARGEST US BANK FAILURE!BREAKING NEWS!!

By Jim Crawford

Real Estate Agent with Long & Foster 0225078705

September 25, 2008 02:26 PM

BREAKING NEWS!*

I was just checking the evening's business news on line and I read that Washington Mutual the nations largest savings bank was seized by Federal Regulators this evening. As I write this Blog the story has just broke in the last 45 minutes. J.P. Morgan Chase has agreed to buy their assets! It is the biggest bank failure in US History! The office of Thrift Supervision - OTS announced WAMU was seized because it had insufficient liquidity and was in an unsound condition. Washington Mutual was one of the nations largest lenders in Options ARMS!

BREAKING STORIES ON WASHINGTON MUTUAL.

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Scott Hoen

Carson City, NV

Carson City Clerk Recorder / Public Administrator

One more down -- maybe new ownership will be more conservative with the resources they are responsible for

Sep 25, 2008 06:05 PM

Lenn Harley

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Homes and Real Estate - Leesburg, VA

Real Estate Broker - Virginia & Maryland

And the beat goes on.

WAMU tired to sell itself last week and no one wanted to buy. Looks like Chase is in a race with BofA for who can buy more of these "assets".

Sep 25, 2008 10:41 PM

Charlottesville Solutions

Charlottesville Solutions - Charlottesville, VA

Sometimes I think this is better to let the market work out these issues vs the govt using 700billion of taxpayers dollars...

Your friend in Charlottesville!

Sep 25, 2008 11:45 PM

Paul McFadden

Responsive Pest Control - Seattle, WA

Pest Control, Seattle, WA.

Jim: I think this is good news. If Wa. Mu. had failed without a takeover that would have been worse. All this bailout stuff is helping to relieve my anxiety (and should everyone else's) a bit. If we have a run on banks and panic in the streets this would be bad. So far the powers that be have recognized how dire the situation is and attempted to head this off. Time will tell if the measures are effective. In the mean time, we all have work to do! Have a great day.

Paul

Sep 26, 2008 01:54 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Scott Hoen, ePro, MBA (eMarketing Services) Lets hope so.

Sep 26, 2008 01:55 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Lenn Harley, Homefinders.com, MD & VA Real Estate It gets scary when this happens. The writing was on the walls. I closed our account there a little over a month ago.

Sep 26, 2008 01:58 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Charles McDonald / Your Trusted Broker for Charlottesville Real Estate (RE/MAX Assured Properties) I agree, there was some government involvement in the sale even though it does not appear in the press. I agree with you, this was the better way.

Sep 26, 2008 02:00 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Paul McFadden (Exact Financial Group) I agree. This was the best possible scenario for WAMU.

Sep 26, 2008 02:02 AM

Anonymous

Another one bites the dust.

Which big bank will fall next? Should start a poll.

And yes, more big ones will fail. It's inevitable.

Sep 26, 2008 02:45 AM

#35

Rick Fitzgerald

AAM Capital - Chattanooga, TN

The MultiFamily Expert

Well our record stood for some time as the biggest bank failure for First Republic Bank. Indy and WaMu are now historical statistics. Sad...........

Sep 26, 2008 03:02 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Rick Fitzgerald -The Multi Family Expert (AAM Capital) What is scary is the size of the banks.

Sep 26, 2008 03:13 AM

Glenn S. Phillips

Lake Homes Realty - Birmingham, AL

CEO, Lake Homes Realty / LakeHomes.com

Jim,

Our experience dealing with WaMu as we worked to coordinate transactions (Contract-to-Close services) was that they were very, very difficult to work with, had unusual but rigid processes that just caused more work for everyone (including them) and were indifferent to the problems they caused.

These are the types of businesses that do not deserve to survive. The unfortunate part is the timing and how that impacts all of us and the market perception.

But... purging of the weak is a normal part of the economic cycle and upon recover, we will all be glad that many bad and difficult companies are not part of our daily business lives.

Sep 26, 2008 03:32 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Glenn Phillips (Management, Coach, Speaker) (RealSource) I totally agreed. The prespective on this failure of the largest bank in America would have been different if they enforeced FDIC rules. The reason they didn't is that the FDIC has limited funds, and there are many other banks to think of. The Government could not let WAMU fail and insure the accounts. It could not be done. That is the scarier portion of the story.

Sep 26, 2008 03:37 AM

Anonymous

Jennifer

WaMu, as others, overvalued properties just to write loans such as Home Equity Lines of Credit. Now these homeowners who were told their property was worth x dollars are troubled with properties they cannot sell due to this overvaluing. What happens to these people and their loans?

There is no doubt banks were greedy and wrote loans.

There are honest people out there who can pay their loans back, but who were duped into a false value of their property. Now - they are screwed!

Sep 26, 2008 03:49 AM

#40

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Jennifer It is extremely sad. When I was growing up credit was not a good thing. Cash is what people used, and they were conservative, frugal, and saved. They purchased what they could afford. When they purchased something it was after a long deliberation. Purchases were never impulsive. Persons would not think of going out and buying a BMW, take a cruise, of buy a home they could not afford to repay. They also factored in income. How would a sickness, or a layoff come into play with repaying the debt? Times are different today, and many that did not treat credit as if it was cash. They will pay a massive price for that mistake.

Credit represents cash... your cash and mine. If we treat them both the same - things will be OK.

Sep 26, 2008 04:03 AM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

I WILL DELETE POSTS THAT NAME BANKS THEY THINK WILL FAIL!

I will not start a run on any bank. I've just deleted 2 replies here. Persons must think before posting, you could be also be sued for liable, and in many states to do so about banks is against the law.

Sep 26, 2008 07:40 AM

Anonymous

"I WILL DELETE POSTS THAT NAME BANKS THEY THINK WILL FAIL!

Get real!

Sep 26, 2008 12:37 PM

#45

Rick Fitzgerald

AAM Capital - Chattanooga, TN

The MultiFamily Expert

Jim's right in being sensitive to naming banks. Although these banks are named by a number of "wanna be the first" writers, it's no fun being a part of one failing. Whether you work there or bank there, a bank in your community failing is a huge community disaster. Been there and done that. Amazing how little it takes to start a rumor. And Jim's blog can be picked up easily on the internet.

Sep 28, 2008 03:26 PM

Jim Crawford

Long & Foster - Fredericksburg, VA

Jim Crawford Broker Associate Fredericksburg VA

Rick Fitzgerald -The Multi Family Expert (AAM Capital) Thanks Rick. Most persons to not know it but it is also illegal in many states to name a bank that may fail. We live in very trying times. So many persons I know have been calling, and they are all very afraid. May God protect all and give us comfort.

Sep 28, 2008 04:01 PM

Anonymous

Jim,

It is not illegal to name a bank that may fail. There is an entire watch list of banks that may fail. And it is not rumor when these banks show toxic debt on their balance sheets. It is all public information.

Oct 05, 2008 09:16 AM

#48

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