It seems the fox has been in the real estate house for a long time.
Now, after all the damage in real estate we are looking at bailing the fox out.
While on the hens are suffering, lost their hen house, the fox get a nice retirement check with a bonus and the rest of them are still out there targeting the hens.
Just a little memory of mine back in the day when reading children's books and yet oh so true today.
I've read blogs where agents feel sorry for the banks and make excuses for their delays in replying to offers on homes for sale.
Sorry, I don't feel sorry for the banks. I don't feel sorry for wall-street and I don't feel sorry for the CEO's who made a killing on this disaster we have in the economy.
With banks holding back foreclosures from hitting the market hoping for values to go up, this only proves even more so that they don't have a clue. Prices are not going to go up...h e l l o!
Let me ask you something...if you were suddenly made the CEO of an automotive supply company and you knew nothing about automotive supplies, would you thrust yourself into pretending that you have the knowledge to run your new company or would you hire the best there is in the business to run your company that knows about automotive supplies?
The banks know nothing about real estate and how to sell houses. Yet, they have thrust themselves into assuming that they do and they are making a mess of it by:
Not responding to offers
Not renegotiating loans
Distributing REO properties to agents in such numbers that they can't handle them properly
Opening up escrow out of State
Not responding in a timely manner on offers
Holding back foreclosures
Plus a whole lot more
Do you think the banks should hire real estate brokers to handle these REO's and get them moved quickly and take them out of the hands of the banks? Do you think the government should be listening to top financial authority figures in each of the colleges and those who are held in high esteem?
Or do you think the banks are doing a great job and Congress knows everything about how to solve the economic issues that we have today?
We talk about how the American public is in debt and yet we have a President who gave money back to the public in hopes that they would go out and spend. What kind of message are we constantly giving?
What are your thoughts on the bailout and do you think it will indeed solve the problems? Do you think we are in this for a decade or do you see a fast recovery?
Brian Brady, referenced the video below which I thought I would share with you. It indicates how back in 2004 Congress was aware of the Freddie and Fannie Mae disaster. Regulations was called for and was simply ignored. It's worth the watch and to remember when those politicians come up for vote, that you remember how your money was handled. I realize that at this point blaming will not solve the problem that we are currently in but it is important to be aware if you aren't already. Thanks Brian, for the link.
Although it is time to get past the name blame but be cognizant of who some of the players were, I personally would like to know what this bailout language says...wouldn't you? Do you care what your Representatives are voting on? Leadership (using the term loosely), needs to address the American public in my opinion, and spell out exactly what is in this bailout besides just the dollar amount, in my opinion.
42 Comments on The Fox Has Been in the Hen House and Still Is
SEP
28
2008
GENA, We have a transaction right now that was supposed to close on the 12th. We can't get an answer from the bank as to where the deed is. Now if our client was late he would have to pay $100 a day but they can be as late as they want. In the meantime our client is almost homeless and his lock on his lender papers are only good until Tuesday. What a mess and the bank DOES NOT CARE!! Okay I'm done. Thanks for letting me vent!
Marchel, this goes on daily. I'm continually appalled at how stupid the banks are. They have willing and able home buyers and yet they treat them like dirt. This is not the way to sell houses. If we had an agent treat any home buyer or seller like the banks have during this whole mess, they would be asked t leave.
I would like to ask the banks to leave!
You can vent anytime, Marchel. I completely understand.
The bailout is a scam. This problem started by a federal law, requiring banks to lend to people with less than acceptable credit and income, in 1977. The federal government increased the stakes in 1995 by foisting more bad lending practices on banks.
Bush and Mc Cain tried to warn us of this crisis, years ago. Today, we're trying to cover up the scam perpetuated on poor people. Carter, ACORN, and Clinton should be held responsible for wiping out the middle class.
Guess I have mixed feelings about the bail out. Bottom line, I think we're all (taxpayers) getting hosed. As for them know what they're doing...that's a whole different thing, I'd say they're pretty much CLUELESS.
Great post. I have two transactions right now with bank owned properties. It is an absolute nightmare. I can't get them to respond nor can I get basic information from them in order to proceed with the transaction. I DO NOT feel sorry for the banks at all and feel they are only making things worse.
Gena, this is a great analogy. No, I don't think the bail out will help long term. It is being given to the wrong people. What a joke, the legislatures have lost their minds, except for a very few you understand free markets. They work and you are rewarded, they are intervened in and we take one more step towards socialism with more gov't intervention.
Gena, good points in your post, my same questions.. why would you let the very banks you just "BAILED OUT" sell your assets? Now those home loans belong to the gov't not the bank. Don't they? We read daily of snafu's like Marchels and yet the CONGRESS doesn't seem to GET IT.
Gena - The ones that really drive me nuts are the short sales. If you are in a declining market with values dropping monthly does it not make sense to try to get that off your books as soon as possible?
Excellent post. I think you drive the point home. This is not just a short term thing, and like anything else it will take time to rebound. The fact that lending institutions are holding on to homes that need to be sold really makes no sense at all.
I do think that familes that were devastated by what took place in the last two years, now, and for sometime yet, could use a helping hand if the proper circumstances should allow such.
Gena - I'm with you on this - I think the banks have created this giant mess and they need professional help to get out of it. Time for them to get their heads out of their butts and recognize that they do not know anything about real estate.
I guess the issue is simple, there are no better resources to use. We know the government is probably the worst manager. Never the less there a few choices to put it all back together.
Brian, I totally agree that this is a scam...not sure I go along with Bush being the knight on a white horse, though. It seems interesting that we just continue to bailout those that were at the top of this scam and yet we leave the victims to fend for themselves.
Lynda, although I agree that they are clueless, they still are calling the shots. Not sure I want anyone trying to decipher this mess that caused the mess in the first place. It's amazing to me that Bush hasn't called in every single solitary financial wizard out there from the colleges, those who have written books and those with historical experience rather than relying on his little advisor's, those that caused this problem from wall-street and congress. Not so sure I want them making decisions about this mess.
Cherimie, that seems to be the name of the game. And those that feel sorry for the banks and say they don't have enough people taking care of the transactions...I say boohoo...no feeling sorry here, either. They have a choice and they have made a very bad choice and still even through all of this have not learned by their mistakes.
I have the same sort of thing going on right now, with 3 separate deals and it's very frustrating to see such incompetence. And it just keeps right on going. My guess is that the banks will screw themselves royally. The home buyers will lose interest, not be as plentiful and the banks will be sitting on tons of property while paying city and county fines due to break-ins and abandonment.
Missy, my sentiments exactly. And who says we bail out those who made a killing on taking from others with no regard as to how this would play out. If our foreign market system depends so highly on all this, why in the world was there never any regulation?
Gail, "congress doesn't seem to get it"... and yet within just a couple of days congress was to act on a bailout with full understanding of a complex finance system. What effects this country and the nation with no regard to including those that have a much better understanding and who focus their knowledge on finances to ever be included for talks and explanations to congress before voting...back to running an automotive company on my own with no experience or experienced people helping!
Bill, well it makes sense to those of us who understand and deal with real estate on a daily basis but for some damn reason, unbeknownzed to me, the banks continue to not have a clue. I really don't get it. I understand fully when there is a 1st and a 2nd and there is no money for the 2nd but hell, how long have we been doing this ... all banks should have a clue by now that they need to get these properties moving and off the books. The longer they hold on to them, the more they go in the hole. I do get a little railed up when talking about this. sorry.
Judy, I couldn't have said it better. Love it! "Banks, get your hands out of your butts, admit that you don't know what you are doing."
Richard, without even bringing in specialized "government" financial wizards to help analysis this thing I'm not sure that we can sit back and assume that there are no other choices. There may be no other choice but as we all know, even if there is no other choice, the plan and the structure if not thought out with exceptional minds at work, may too fail. So, I personally, would like to see some esteemed financial colleagues having their minds picked and sharing with government (who doesn't have a clue) what should be done now and how a step by step program.
I think they need to hire local brokers to approve "short sales" if we could get this approved in sold in less then 45 day the market would make a big shift.
If the FEDS are giving money to banks only after the loan goes into foreclosure what is the motivation for lenders to work short sales. ?
Eric, absolutely especially since they don't seem to get the fact that they would get more money accepting short sales in the long run. Not real bright, I must say.
Gena: Last week, Aurora foreclosed on two of our listings even though we had solid offers in on both. Tragically, the offers were far greater than the foreclosed price. The insanity baffles me.
Roberta, there is case after case of this and it does boggle ones mind. It seems that it is a case of either just plain stupidity or not knowing what the right hand is doing. All of this is so rudimentary and to see how the banks are botching things up, blows me away.
Try understanding why the bank wouldn't accept a short sale on investment property and went through paying for keys on a duplex to sell it in foreclosure for less....
Who is running this mess? Obviously, no one with half a brain!
Well, it looks like the bailout bill was shot down by the House. We have a nation that is sending the WRONG message...spend spend spend without consequences. Truth is--there are ALWAYS consequences. If you can't afford it, don't buy it.
There are a lot of unethical things in the real estate world...but I won't get on my soapbox now. :)
The bailout was not passed. I have mixed feelings - as I do on most issues - but the stronger part of me does not want the bailout. I think the people who created the mess should be the ones to clean it up.
I watched 60 minutes last night and heard the CEO emails snickering about how they would be somewhere retired, living a life of wealth and luxury when all of this was going to happen. Why is it that they expect the american taxpayer to clean this up???
Bailout the people who caused this disaster? Not a snowballs chance in.... well, you get the idea. The idea of ponying up $700 billion to put at the complete control of Paulson is simply insane. Buying worthless securities is insane. We need to do something, I'll admit, but this plan is certainly not it.
Sonja, there are a tremendous amount of unethical people everywhere and lately in the past few years we have seen CEO's and companies bailed out and given million dollar bonuses for their unethical practices. Yes, we too have unethical people in real estate you simply think of the dollar amount rather than the client's best interest. And we all get to pay for them. They are probably the same people who think the rules apply to everyone else and not them. You know, I'm sure you've seen them on the highway, in the stores maybe even in your own family. These people were never taught responsibility nor consequences.
Emily, I am so glad I missed 60 minutes. I don't think I would have been able to stomach it. With no bailout there will more than likely be more unemployment and more companies go down the drain as well as the general public unable to obtain loans. I too feel both ways but realize that this has a direct impact on not only us but the rest of the nation, as well.
When the government knew that extreme consequences and impact this could have here and abroad and still not have any safeguards in place, simply put magnifies our own governments failure to regulate what should have been safeguarded. Just another show of lack of knowledge, concern and or responsibility.
Jesse, I hope that the government calls in true professionals with finance backgrounds to put their heads together and come up with a solution that is viable to all concerned. This shouldn't in my opinion just be left up to the house of representatives to pull hats out of the air and call it a day.
I think that this deserves some careful thinking, scrutinizing and planning.
Of course, the Realtor world would say that they are the only ones that can sell real estate but it seems that they can't do a better job than "banks" Remember, there are plenty of homes that are sitting, and all have a Realtor sign. The bail out is bad, period. But Realtors still refuse to accept the "possibility" that they were part of the problem. Instead of complaining, stop taking the listings. Period. Instead of making low ball offers, demand the more compensation for the problems you face. Then you have a reason to stop shouting. The way I see it, we are our own worse enemy.
I'm glad the bail out failed to pass. How could this bunch of idiots congresspeople figure out a solution to this tangledmess in a few days that has taken years to build?
What say you to a write in candidate for president? The candidates we have can't seem to forge a plan that will work for their constituents so we need someone else to step up. Any takers?
Terry from Home Realty Group, I don't know why you feel you can't sell homes but I know that I certainly can and have been working diligently giving these banks excellent valued offers. So, I would say, I totally disagree with your comment with one exception...there are crummy agents just as there are crummy lenders and crummy people in general but I don't group myself with them.
I think we have a lot of dedicated Realtors who work their ass off and put the client's interest in front of their own.
The people that cheat here in AR for points are the same ones out in the real world that cheat the clients.
Judy, you are about as wound up as I am about all this. I agree that time needs to be given to make sure that all different aspects and points are addressed before anyone votes on this bailout and more than anything I would like each of those voting to sit in and have experienced financial experts that are NOT in the government and NOT part of the raping of this nation explain all the in's and out's of whatever they end up voting for.
Gena, My experience with REO's is they hire an outside company to manage their REO assets which means they get paid to stall. It's not the bank itself being stupid...they like someone to blame. Your thoughts?
This want fix it either. We want to blame the president but unless we live in a dictatorship one person does not run this country. Congress is the ones to blame and only them. They relaxed the laws, they turned the other way as we were getting riped off. Whether Dem or GOP we are in serious trouble and they, your rep or mine doen't care They just want what they can steal and we, like sheep just get led to slaughter. Every american should be screaming and hollering till they hear what we think. In other words, fix it now or resign or be impeached. When a congressman gets caught with 100,000 in his refridgerator and gets reelected, that is a real problem. Both sides have been caught and tey get to resign and collect a pension come folks. We are better than this. Bring on the Revolution!!
Gena, You sound upset, but I'm not sure you know who you are upset with.
You want to punish the banks but I think they have been adequately punished already.
You call it a "bailout" bill but it is really a "rescue" bill for all of us. More foreclosures is not the answer. Less foreclosures is the answer. This rescue plan would make the banks "pay" for this by only giving them 50 cents on the dollar that they loaned. Isn't that punishment enough?
Now, none of us have any credit availibility. GM and Ford can't sell cars without credit. The economy will tank. You are punishing us, not them.
Let's demand that our representatives pass this bill before it is too late.
Susan, asset managers represent the "bank" therefore when I speak about the banks I am referring to the idiots that they hire just as much as I am referring to that actual bank. It is obvious that they are not efficient at what they have been hire to do by the banks therefore, the banks need to get the clue, realize they have made yet another mistake and clean it up by actually hiring a team of real estate professionals to work on their behalf and get these babies sold. At some point someone needs to stand up, take responsibility and act in the best interest of all this mess. Right now, we really don't have that.
The bailout plan needs to pass to get credit moving again like Bill said. But, it needs to be handled by a group that does not get any of it and with lots of regulation and oversight instead of no oversight like has been happening. There are also other ways to approach this rather than just throwing more money at a problem. There is a mark to market rule that could be changed to free up the market at least for a short while. check out www.DaveRamsey.com and listen to his ideas. They are better than what we've been hearing. Don't panic, but do talk to your elected officials. They need to hear from you.
Charles, there is plenty of blame to go around and plenty of people who made a killing on the backs of a lot of very unfortunate souls. Now, we need to come up with a plan out of this mess. I don't believe there is an easy, painless plan. I think we will feel the reverberation from all this for a decade but nonetheless, a carefully well thought-out plan needs to be analyzed and true knowledgeable professionals in finance need to be gathered and their brains picked...not the Washington crowd.
Bill, when CEOs retire with grace and a million dollar bonuses and are asked for their expert opinion on all this you're right I am damn mad! This whole mess will be something that we will live with in my humble opinion for the next decade. There is no easy fix. I just want all to sit down with experts and hash this out so that we don't jump and make another bad mistake without thinking this whole mess through. And having congress and Bush and his cronies figure it out does not exactly make me feel real confident or secure. And it shouldn't make any of you feel secure either...in my humble opinion.
Ricki, that's what I am talking about...talk about it, ask people who are experts. Not politicians and see what needs to be done what kind of things need to be done 1st, 2nd and 3rd so we don't make another mistake that will cost the American tax payer even more money.
I will go over and read the link you have provided.
Bush is no hero but he isn't the villian on this one, Gena. ACORN, and the politicians on the GSE gravy-train need to be held accountable for this meltdown. Just to show I"m bi-partisan in my disgust, does anyone notice Roy Blunt's name on that list? He's the cjief Republican "negotiator" on this scam.
Brian, there are so many that jumped on that gravy-train. Even though at this point we need to get past the pointing and do something about this it is still important to know WHO benefited from Freddie and Fannie Mae so I am proving the info from your link.
Everyone needs to take a good look and see WHO and how MUCH they benefited from this mess.
All Recipients of Fannie Mae and Freddie MacCampaign Contributions, 1989-2008
Gena, you have nailed this and thank you for posting the numbers above. This mess may turn out worse than the S&L Crisis (I was a genius and started in real estate back then) and I just hope something can be done to begin a recovery soon. Frankly I do not trust the foxes who got us in this mess and then show up at the last minute with a 3 page "plan" and a 700Billion number that they admit was basically pulled out of a hat!
Russell,
In my opinion, I really believe that the American public should be given the opportunity to know just what is in this 3 page plan before any vote is taken. It's our money and I for one don't much like the idea that foxes are left controlling my money.
I realize that we need to do something but let's know what is on the table.
Thanks for weighing in. This is an important issue and the more information we are given, the better informed we are.
I give my home buyers and home sellers full disclosure and I would appreciate it if the government would do the same.
I wanted to post that list of compromised politicians but didn't because it was your post. Frankly, anyone who accepted over $10K (it was a ten year period) should be thrown out. I"m so glad you posted this.
Russell, my sentiments exactly. There are way too many foxes involved and a 3 page or 20 page document doesn't impress me. Although I realize that we need to have a plan, it must be the best plan and time spent with experts to develop a plan that would not put the burden on the American tax payer. This is a disaster and has been for quite some time. It would appear that both parties are to blame and CEO's became rich on our backs. It's time that those same CEO's take some of the burden and a firewall be put up to protect all of us. Regulation and monitoring those sharks needs to be set in stone so that we can recover.
Tonight, I heard from an expert that the way to handle this is for the government to step in and stop the foreclosures and stop the bleeding. The housing market must recover before the economy will ever recover. This bailout without addressing the housing market will do nothing to help alleviate the foreclosures and it will continue to bleed if not addressed.
I am by no means an expert but as we all know this is the worst that anyone has ever seen and it deserves the time and effort put into these documents.
Brian, you never need my permission to post on my articles. I think we have known one another long enough that it would merely be understood.
There are many on both sides of Congress that should be replaced. Transparency is needed and I was glad that you pointed it out. I have no trouble with honesty.
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It seems the fox has been in the real estate house for a long time.
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GENA, We have a transaction right now that was supposed to close on the 12th. We can't get an answer from the bank as to where the deed is. Now if our client was late he would have to pay $100 a day but they can be as late as they want. In the meantime our client is almost homeless and his lock on his lender papers are only good until Tuesday. What a mess and the bank DOES NOT CARE!! Okay I'm done. Thanks for letting me vent!