Watching The Real Estate Revolution is Like Watching Grass Grow

… watching real estate vc vultures fight over scraps is where the action reallyis, oh, and let’s not forget the subprime mini-series. 

In my opinion it all started with HGTV, TLC, and others that brought about shows like Property Ladder and others where do it yourselfers get themselves into knots over whether they’ll actually make out like bandits.  Interestingly, they do sometimes succeed and other times,great tv is made when they fail miserably. But if you think back even further, late at night you see the idiots telling folks to send them $200 bucks and they’ll teach them how to buy and sell real estate and make millions by tomorrow morning- I’ve never met anyone who would admit to ever buying one of those kits which tells me that more often than not, folks either fail to follow through, or they realize it’s more of a pain in the rear than the lamer on tv made it out to be.

What I see in the subprime market is going to make even better tv if you ask me- Will there be a show called Short Sale? With the finger pointing getting under way, they should follow that show up with one called Get A Rope.  Today, I saw that Hillary pointed at the brokers and bankers, and the pundits on Fox basically split hairs over whether it was the broker/bankers fault – or hey, maybe its the eager beaver buyer who dove in head first into the deep end with only his head as a floating device (heads don’t really float).  Will anyone remember to point back at the VC vultures? Probably not.  They’ll continue to cash in while others drown on a new show called “Suckers.”

If you think this subprime drama is bad- if you think market prices slidding backwards in many states is bad- just you wait, it will only get worse.  As more and more vc vultures preach the do-it-yourself way, more and more fingers will be pointing in more than five different directions when they’re in the foreclosure line. 

I met a guy today who is a do-it-yourselfer who is trying to dump three properties.  His quote still rings in my head nine hours later- “they make this stuff look so easy on tv”. 

Well, duh. There really isn’t such thing as the overnight millionaire in real estate- it’s a long haul proposition.  As folks see values slide, they’ll panic.  The perception will be (in their minds) that their home isn’t worth the mortgage payment, and they’ll drown rather than remembering that real estate is worth what someone will pay for it- you were dumb enough to buy it, eventually someone else will be too; it might just take a few years or ten.

It’s all great tv and I’m going to keep tuning in. Soon, the blame will be on Iraq and everyone will finally be able to breathe a sigh of relief.

When looking to place blame for your failures, one must look no further than your own reflection.  You knew better- nothing in this world is free, easy, or without risk.  You who chose to do it alone can face the burden alone- not bailing you out is not mean, it’s tough love.  Realtors eventually will take the heat on all of the problems in the industry right along side the mortgage industry, but you can’t forget the idiots who say a rebate is better than equity rather than creating a solution that is forward thinking for a buyer.  There is nothing wrong with subprime lending, but there is something wrong with those who believe that they know it all and who cares about caution- research that I say.  Give transparency to the fact that it’s not that you didn’t want a realtor, it had more to do with you not wanting anyone from stopping you from doing what you damn well pleased without the all of the facts.  The fact is you can do it alone, you can buy and sell without anyone to help you, but remember what I said- the blame falls on you and only you.

When an agent speaks of risk it is never just about our employment from minute to minute, it’s also about the clients who put their lives in our hands, their trust in our word- once someone said to me screw ethics, what in the hell do ethics have to do with real estate- well the answer my friend is ask the guy who let a lender talk him into a junk loan, ask the single mom who bought a home and thought a ten grand rebate was better than ten grand in equity when she can’t make her mortgage payment or sell her home because shes upside down- just so you could make a lousy buck off of a payment and rebate buyer. 

Why am I really ranting?  Because over the past two weeks I have received tons of emails from folks trying to sell me short sale leads- are you kidding me?  The vultures circle over head posing as a service to the misfortunate while behind their back you say to me you want 25%?  I’m about fed up with posers and techs playing real estate pros.  Websites that offer a turnaround lead sale rather than a true service make me sick.  Realtors aren’t the middle men, the dot com posers are and cast members are figuring it out, one by one- in a show called Foreclosure Line…