Comments on: Housing and real estate news is normally reported too positively http://www.bloggernews.net/19326 High-quality English language analysis and editorial writing on the news. Fri, 09 Jan 2009 09:17:40 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.3 By: SCH http://www.bloggernews.net/19326#comment-73601 SCH Sun, 12 Aug 2007 15:27:24 +0000 http://www.bloggernews.net/19326#comment-73601 I agree that the govt and industry created this mess; it was packaged as the near-irresistible "American dream of homeownership," and it's turned out to be a nightmare for families in shoddily constructed new homes, and/or in risky loans that are now turning into foreclosures. Everyone in the industry from appraisers to real estate agents, builders, title companies, etc, was involved in this scam! (And quite a few wannabe investors too!) While some of the buyers (who were buying a place to live not flip) were ignorant or foolish, too, there is no doubt in my mind that the INDUSTRY and GOVT knew was fully aware of the disaster they were creating. People should go to jail for this but I won't hold my breath waiting to see any of the real perpetrators get what they deserve. What's really sad is that some consumers were truly defrauded. They had loan doc's forged, etc, and some of the accusations that builders and lenders did this hold a lot of water. I do believe some so-called "trusted" companies did this. I just hope we see them do jail time for it. The industry and govt are NOT trustworthy to decide how much a house is worth or how much buyers can afford. Home buyers are the only one in the deal whose best interest isn't being served...everyone else is just wanting the deal to close, period. Oh, one exception is if the buyer had his or her own home inspector, not one the agent or someone recommended. I agree that the govt and industry created this mess; it was packaged as the near-irresistible “American dream of homeownership,” and it’s turned out to be a nightmare for families in shoddily constructed new homes, and/or in risky loans that are now turning into foreclosures. Everyone in the industry from appraisers to real estate agents, builders, title companies, etc, was involved in this scam! (And quite a few wannabe investors too!)

While some of the buyers (who were buying a place to live not flip) were ignorant or foolish, too, there is no doubt in my mind that the INDUSTRY and GOVT knew was fully aware of the disaster they were creating. People should go to jail for this but I won’t hold my breath waiting to see any of the real perpetrators get what they deserve.

What’s really sad is that some consumers were truly defrauded. They had loan doc’s forged, etc, and some of the accusations that builders and lenders did this hold a lot of water. I do believe some so-called “trusted” companies did this. I just hope we see them do jail time for it. The industry and govt are NOT trustworthy to decide how much a house is worth or how much buyers can afford. Home buyers are the only one in the deal whose best interest isn’t being served…everyone else is just wanting the deal to close, period. Oh, one exception is if the buyer had his or her own home inspector, not one the agent or someone recommended.

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