Comments on: Man in the Mirror

By: Bob

Bob — Thu, 09 Oct 2008 01:52:44 +0000

I have killed more than a few deals and still killing some now. When I work with a buyer, I tell them I need them to be brutally honest with me. I let them know that I look at every possible deal from the perspective of 3 years out. That means that if they buy and 3 years later call me to sell the house, they won’t hear then what they didn’t hear before they bought the house about why it could be a tough sell.

That has been modified a bit for this market. I tell them to go out 5 years. Start with the 5-6% + it will cost them to sell. Now assume that we see a conservative 10% drop over the next 2 years. They need to see 15% appreciation somewhere in there just to break even.

I sleep fine at night. I just don’t sell a lot of buyers right now.

By: Missy Caulk

Missy Caulk — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:43:22 +0000

Heck Rich, my husband says I’m asleep 2 sec when I log off the computer, so no problem sleeping here. B U T…………
We had 2 clients that we felt and told they should not purchase, both went and got their own lenders, our’s could not get either qualified.

So they found these “internet lenders”.

One couple is doing well, been in their home for 2 years, One lost the house in foreclosure within the year. That really, really bothers me. Our advice was to wait a year, save some money, get credit score up. Nope they were bound and determined to buy THAT house. Should I have insisted my buyer agent drop them, I don’t know, but it bugs me.

By: Mark Eibner

Mark Eibner — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:16:55 +0000

we're at it again Man in the Mirror: Come comment on this article- you need to get out .. http://tinyurl.com/4e749v

By: sheilabragg

sheilabragg — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 19:01:50 +0000

Man in the Mirror: Come comment on this article- you need to get out of the feed reader anyhow, you\'.. http://tinyurl.com/4e749v

By: Brian Block

Brian Block — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:53:54 +0000

Rich, you got me thinking about my transactions in the past few years and I’d have to say that upon reflection, I know that I’m able to sleep well at night. I never twisted anyone’s arm or helped to push anyone into a home that I knew they couldn’t afford. Everyone needs to take a little time for self-reflection.

While I’m younger than you, I don’t like seeing more and more grays falling to the floor everytime I visit the barbershop.

By: Ruthmarie Hicks

Ruthmarie Hicks — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 17:07:31 +0000

At the end of the day, I always tried to do the right thing. Sometimes you can’t stop people from doing something foolish. But a few times I turned people away. In one memorable case I simply told a couple that “they were stretching too far.” I know they resented the comment, but I felt I had to say something. The were looking upon the purchase as if it was rent and wanted to put virtually no money down and were seeking fancy loans with negative amortization etc. After trying to get them to trim their needs vs. wants down to an affordable list of “needs” I realized that they were just going to stretch for everything they could get. Credit was still easy, but I let them go because it was a disaster waiting to happen.

By: Mike Mueller

Mike Mueller — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:27:19 +0000

“except for the grey”?

I like the grey. I think you look good with a “touch of grey”.

Seriously, I’ve looked back as well. I can honestly say I can sleep well with the loans I’ve done.

Maybe I’m a bit skewed. I had a Payment Option Arm factory, sharing the same floor in our office building for years. No loan officers, just direct mailers by the millions “Payments as low as 1%! and autodialers going non stop.

By: Danilo Bogdanovic

Danilo Bogdanovic — Wed, 08 Oct 2008 15:15:34 +0000

There are agents and LO’s out there that can’t say the same. Wonder how they sleep at night…