Did I happen to mention...

It seems as if many people have responded to my call to get back into the real estate market. I have been blessed with several clients in the past few months. I truly appreciate the requests for buyers and sellers guides. The information is free and part of the service I offer to any interested person.

There is so much in the local and national news about real estate, I thought I should take a break and comment on all of it

The stock market is in a free fall after reports of sub-prime lenders going belly up. This is an interesting situation. I don't know where to begin with a comment. Did those that invested in the "blood sucking", "immoral" leeches on the bottom of the mortgage industry really think that their investments were sound? Did those that propped up the sub-prime thieves think that the cash cow would be offering milk forever? If those holding stock in companies that have been bilking the weakest and most vulnerable among us find that they are going to lose a lot of their money, so what!

Let's take time to call a spade a spade. A sub-prime lender has a customer base of people that either can not document their income, have credit problems and can not qualify for the most lenient FHA loan, or use english as a second language and do not know any better. Our housing market is not built on the shoulders nor the integrity of sub-prime lenders. It will be a cold day in hell when I start to feel sorry for people that were getting rich off of the surplus profits sub-prime lenders provided them. The only difference between those that mug the weakest in our society and the sub-prime lenders is the sub-prime lenders are not armed with a weapon. Sub-prime lenders are armed with a more devasting tool. They use the promise of a better tomorrow, the promise of owning a home and hidden in the small print is a price no one can pay. My advice is invest in those that invest in your community and let sub-prime lenders and those that support them rot.

Our economy is strong. Our housing market is strong. The trickle down effect of the sub-prime collapse will smooth out. The agents that have referred people to them will be easily identified. They will be selling snake oil on the street corner. It is a pity that we have outlawed "tarring and feathering". Any one that has abused a position of trust in order to achieve personal gain has no right to hold the position any longer and does not deserve a second chance. Real estate agents that "have been in bed" with sub-prime lenders are the pedophiles of our profession. They can not be cured and should be banished.

On a brighter note, my friend Glen finally has a home of his own. It is a long story that I related here moments ago. My little finger hit the tab button and erased the entire post. I only had the energy and time to re-type the rant against sub-prime lenders. Maybe another day....