I went to a benefit last night for Habitat For Humanity on Bainbridge Island. The star attraction was a friend who is a real estate agent. She does a stand-up comedy routine ALL about real estate and all the trials and tribulations involved in that business. I have to admit, being a real estate agents for over 10 years, some of it was pretty damn funny. If you are in any business your have some pretty funny stories regarding the ins-and-outs of whatever it is that you are doing. Real estate is a special animal. I met some of the best friends I have ever made when I sold them a house. I also completely HATED the business...especially other real estate agents. They were some of the WORST people I have ever met. The most morally bankrupt, souless, altogether AWFUL people I've met in my life have been real estate agents. I can literally count on my hands the admirable folks I met that were part of the biz. Bridget is one of those agents. She's one of the good ones.
To continue my personal rant on real estate, I have to say that being in the business during the decline of the mortgage industry, I saw the criminal acts that were occuring to help drive our economy into the ditch. Homebuyers who didn't have to qualify based on their income to buy a home. They couldn't afford a home--you wouldn't loan these people money to buy a scooter, let alone a house! Yet people looked the other way, and they got their loans--and homes they couldn't afford which they later defaulted on. The real estate industry WAS responsible for part of what happened. You could see what was happening--if someone couldn't afford a home and you helped them buy it, YOU are complicit...bottom line. Just because you CAN doesn't mean you SHOULD. I had one mortgage broker that I used in the day, and I was completely aware of what my clients were capable of buying. I NEVER had anyone buy a home that couldn't afford it. No "interest only" crap in my book...I smelled a rat on that business. I just felt that it was important to maintain that kind of standard for myself. It was the right way to do things. I would also have the mortgage broker sit down with the client in the early days of looking for a home. She would explain to them EXACTLY what their loan would entail, what the terms were and how much they could comfortably qualify for. This put us on the right track in the pursuit of their home, and not have them looking at homes they couldn't afford.
As for the other agents, I just never fit in. I never wanted to. I completely hated these people. Not my tribe. Many of them would stab you in the back to get one step in front of you. I was always the person to try and help the new agents get on their feet, or if someone was having a problem, I would do what I could to help them. I love the people I sold houses to--they are still some of the best people I know. The other agents--many of which I saw last night...auuugh! Glad not to work with you anymore.
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