Online, on TV or in print it’s all conflicting and contrary: escalating foreclosures, rate of unemployment is up, hard to get a loan on one side; home prices stabilizing, unemployment rate is unchanged, lowest interest rates in decades; just to mention a few. Information and misinformation is going out every day from so many different directions;however, the single most important item to a sure recovery is consumer’s confidence. Until that gets to a higher level we will continue to hang around the very bottom.
Impossible for us to control what is happening on the large economic scale, be aware of it and push for what is best for our industry via NAR, IAR and RPAC through voting/online especially
when asked. On a local scale we have everything we need to succeed and make a change for the
better: us the Realtors, our expertise, knowledge and the complete trust of our clients.
Currently it seems that the banks are doing their best to kill the deals by not making the loans we
need them to close on; their explanation to it all is that more care is necessary in assessing the
borrower’s other compensating factors within their full financial picture. Let’s face it: we do not
need a repeat in the future, near or far, of the past “no doc loans.”
As Realtors we need to explain and bring this message to our clients, let them know in advance
what to expect from their final lender along with requirements and the needed higher credit score
for the lowest possible interest rates. It’s part of our job to educate the consumer, to show them
multiple solutions whenever possible for them to choose from and start rebuilding a strong
confidence level one-by-one. Real estate did it in past recessions and will do it again this time.
A great blog. I agree.