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TROUBLE ROLLS DOWN HILL FROM THE TOP

By
Real Estate Agent with Rosen&Company West

Who can we really blame about the housing crisis?  I work as a Realtor in the Las Vegas Market and I don't see the end of depreciation in sight just yet.  Some people say property values could drop another twenty-percent before it's all said and done.  My home was once worth $500,000 on paper is now worth about $225,000 and if it goes down another twenty-percent it will be worth $180,000.  I have a note on my place for over $380,000.  What do I do?  Right now I feel like giving the keys to the bank and going out and renting a house the same size as mine for half the price.  I could get an investor or a builder to do a lease-option with me for up to two years - so I could hedge my bets and wait to see how the market goes.  Meanwhile what do I do with my current home?  Should I short-sell it - or should I talk to the bank and try and convince them to do a Loan Modification.  I do Loan Modifications and Short-Sales for home-owners all the time, but I am having a hard time taking the bulls by the horn and doing something proactive with my own home.  The note on my property has been sold to an investor group.  I wonder what they bought the note for.  Maybe they paid $180,000 or less.  Should I keep on paying them principal and interest on $380,000 - sounds like the honorable thing to do, doesn't it?  After all I am an American, and as an American we are supposed to do the right thing? 

One of my favorite lines in the movie Forrest Gump is when Bubbah is dying and asks Forrest, "Forrest, why did this have to happen?"  You can only imagine what Bubbah was feeling.  Why did this housing thing have to happen and who can we blame?  Let's start by blaming those monsters in Washington.  What about the Clinton Administration?  Wasn't he they guy who changed the capital gains tax laws on Real Estate?  He came up with the idea when he was campaigning against Bob Dole.  Dole was proposing this broad-based tax cut and Clinton needed something to counter it with so he figured changing the rules on capital gains on Real Estate to no taxes for a gain of $250,000 for a single person and $500,000 for a married couple.  At the time the NASDAQ was not doing so good and he was looking to stimulate the stock market with something to soften the dot com bust so why not Real Estate.  This legislation  helped get things rolling down hill from the top for sure.  But there was lots of legislation on housing going back to Lyndon Baines Johnson and the changes he made in Fair Lending Practices to minorities.  Who did he think he was letting people acquire government backed FHA loans with hardly any money down?  Bad things happen when you help the underprivileged find a better life.  And Jimmy Carter, didn't he do some funny stuff with the Prime Rate Adjustment and then Reagan and then Bush.  They all had there hands in this mess we are looking at now.  All of this horrible stuff we keep hearing about, like loan fraud- cash back at closing schemes - phony builder incentives, oh it just goes on and on.  The greed and the thievery that happened in this town is enough to make you sick.  But these con-artists and booster, they weren't the people that got this thing started - they were just the flies that hovered over this big pile of dung we continue to call a Real Estate Market.  Always remember trouble rolls down hill from the top, so all of this had to happen at the top otherwise it wouldn't make sense.  What we need to do is find a patsy to blame.  There has to be something or somebody that we can concentrate all our hate and frustration on for letting the Real Estate Market go up in smoke like it did.  How about the greedy investors who bought up all the new construction and just dumped them when the bottom fell out? Why don't we just single them out and call it a day?  Who's to say they weren't at the top when this all happened.  It could of been anybody so why should the investors be let off the hook so easily.  I say we get some dogs and torches and go after those people and give them what they deserve, like a good lynching or burn them at the stake.  We haven't had a public execution in awhile.  I think it would be good thing.  All the major Networks could cover it.  It would be all over My-Space and You Tube in a matter of minutes.  CNN would run it at least a hundred and fifty million times and Nancy Grace would stick her face in the camera and tell us the same old stale details for years to come. 

Seriously, all this conspiracy stuff gives me a headache.  Who really cares who started all of this?  The things I find interesting are the con-artists and the boosters who got in on the game once it got rolling.  Some of them made a killing and kept the money.  Some of them made a killing and blew the money and are now in prison or living in their car.  It was like Oceans Eleven out there.  It took a crew of people to take down the banks for big money.  This interests me.  I saw it first hand in real time when it was happening and I knew many of the players.  

Since we are in a knowledge based business I feel compelled to share this information with you.  It is up to you and your conscience whether or not to persue any of things once you finish my article.   So, let's get down to business.  Most of the fraud that I am referring to hinges on and begins with finding the crooked Appraiser.  This is primary.  You must find a corrupt appraiser first before you can get things to roll down hill and make some real trouble.  Wait a minute, I'm wrong.  You need more than one corrupt Appraiser because none of them stay out of jail long enough to do more than a couple of deals -so it is better to have a whole stable of corrupt Appraisers at you disposal- that is if you are going to do proper bank fraud.  And you have to have the right attitude about the whole thing.  Your not hurting the Banks, they have plenty of money.  You're Robin Hood, stealing from the rich and giving to the poor. By helping yourself you are helping others.  That's the point of all of it.  To help people. You must keep this mantra in the forefront of your mind at all times.  You must continually remind and teach it to others. 

After the Appraisers are round up it is time to find a Sleazy Attorney.  It is preferable to find an attorney who has been corrupt for years- has been thrown out of several firms for immoral practices - and is drinking and gambling heavily, and needs to keep on feeding a dirty habit and multiple addictions.  He or she is the profile that you should be looking for. The Sleazy Attorney is instrumental in drawing up documents that are filled with smoke and mirrors and have the overwhelming capacity to confuse the lender.  Before you bring the Sleazy Attorney on board always get a sampling of phony documentation they have in their resume or portfollio.  I would always advise hiring a seasoned Sleaze Ball Attorney and never go with someone fresh out of law school.  Although they may think they are up to the task they just don't have the experience or the cynicism to do the job the way it is supposed to be done.  Next thing your are going to need to fill out your ensemble is a computer Geek that knows how to phony up all kinds of false documents.  Although Geeks are not to be trusted they rarely speak in public - as their communications are normally limited to text messaging and emails.  Face to Face encounter is not the Geeks forte, which can lend itself as an asset to your organization.  

Once you have the Appraiser, the Lawyer and the Geek in place the rest is easy. You need a couple of greedy Realtors who don't mind crossing the line.  I would say in the town of Las Vegas this would be as easy to find as a tight Slot Machine on the Strip.  Then you need a Lender/Broker who knows how to make everybody look like a millionaire on paper.  Although these Lenders are becoming more and more of a rare commodity you should still be able to track one down from the old days.  If you are having trouble finding one I would suggest contacting either the County or State Correction System.  I am sure they will be able to direct you to someone in Human Resources who can make a recommendation.  Lastly you need the Title People.  They are very important - because at the end of a transaction, all of the dirty things you and your team did that should be disclosed to the lender, must to be shoved neatly under the carpet and hidden by your last line of defense, usually the Title Girl who you take out for drinks, at the Title Company.  As your business grows it may be advisable to start your own Title Company - it just makes things so much easier.  

That's all for now.  Next time I will talk about Staw Buyers and Shell Corporations.  

I am sure most all of you seasoned Brokers and Realtors know about this stuff, so I figured why not give the rookies and the newbies a little education.  Please keep an eye out for my new CE class.  I'm sure the division will approve my lesson plans in a heart beat once I submit it to them.   

 

 

Comments (2)

Renée Donohue~Home Photography
Savvy Home Pix - Allegan, MI
Western Michigan Real Estate Photographer

I find it amusing the straw buyers are creeping out of the woodwork again.  THIS IS A GREAT SYNOPSIS OF THE HELL WE ARE GOING THROUGH!  Thanks for putting this together.  This won't stop until people are wearing stripes.

Mar 25, 2009 04:52 PM
Robin Basichis
Rosen&Company West - Las Vegas, NV

Thank you for the comment Renee. Your are right - things will not get better until people doing these things are ejected from the game.  I will be writing a lot more on this subject and although I put a humorous spin on things I hope people don't take it the wrong way and think I am condoning any of this stuff. It is just more therapeutic to laugh then to cry.  Again, thank you for reading my article and stay in touch - Rob Basichis  - Loan Modification Specialist

Mar 26, 2009 05:16 AM