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This poll is a pretty good example of people not taking responsibility for their own actions. People voluntarily go to realtors to help them buy a house. People voluntarily get mortgages of which an appraisal is needed. Those are both two things people have 100% control of themselves.
Neither, it's not the realtor or appraisers to determine the financial part. The banks, irresponsible people and the government that pushed the banks to put more people into home ownership at that time. The realtors should guide you in the physical efforts to buy, not a financial effort.
When my parents' generation, and their parents before them, bought houses, their mindsets were completely different than even today's buyers. I know it's hard to imagine, but there was a time when people took out a home loan and gave more consideration to the matter than whether or not they could simply make the monthly payment. These people understood the weight of the money they were borrowing and asked themselves if their home could be paid off before retirement on just one breadwinner's pay. This mindset kept the market in check and affordability levels realistic.
That mindset is long gone and has been replaced with one in which the now de facto double-breadwinners-per-household standard is concerned with simply being able to make the monthly payment on a *GASP* 30 year mortgage - a loan that will amass hundreds of thousands of dollars in interest charges over its term. How many of these "homeowners" will have paid off their home and own it come retirement? Was that thought even a consideration?
If more Americans were smarter, and had adopted the lessons and mindsets of the past, the market would have been self-regulated by common sense no matter what idiotic product the banks and loan officers dangled in front of buyers. In my mind, the buyers who fell for this nonsense ultimately bear the responsibility for this mess, much the same way as credit card spenders are responsible for their own self debt.
It may sound cold, but this is precisely why I oppose any and all government aid in the markets. So everybody should be able to buy a house, and the government will guarantee the loans? The prices skyrocket. We're seeing the same thing with student loans - government guarantees the loan, so universities simply hike the tuition. It's all the result of well intentioned cluelessness.
Buyers, sellers, realtors, appraisers, banks, etc. That is the beauty of this housing bubble, there is no single person to blame, because everyone did it together.
Of course I am biased but I got in after the run up. Realtors don't make the market, buyers and sellers do. It takes two willing parties. Realtors just take the information after the fact and the trend and make a prediction on where the next buyer and seller will fall. Appraisers, on the other hand, are responsible for helping lenders determine if the risk they are taking makes sense. If the lenders look the other way while the appraisers give them what they want to see, how is that the Realtors' fault? In my book, the Realtors have to fall in somewhere at the bottom of the list but, again, I see it from the inside and I'm not taking into account the relatively few weasels that really were doing something wrong.
But don't Realtors always tell potential buyers that "right now is the best time to buy house" regardless of market conditions, interest rates etc. etc. ? I don't think an appraiser would ever said that to buyer.
But don't Realtors always tell potential buyers that "right now is the best time to buy house" regardless of market conditions, interest rates etc. etc. ? I don't think an appraiser would ever said that to buyer.
Do people actually go to a realtor and ask them if they should buy a house? I know when I contact a realtor it is because I have already made that decision.
Honestly, anyone going to someone who makes money off of the sale of something (be it houses/cars/televisions) and is relying on them to tell them if they should buy or not is pretty stupid.
But don't Realtors always tell potential buyers that "right now is the best time to buy house" regardless of market conditions, interest rates etc. etc. ? I don't think an appraiser would ever said that to buyer.
You talk about "Realtors" as if we are some sort of monolithic block. Realtors are members of an association which, in most cases, is a requirement for access to the MLS, an indispensible tool. So, no, an agent would probably never tell a buyer that "right now is the best time to buy" because what does "best" mean and what if it's not? Most of us are not in this for a quick buck (that's actually laughable in itself) so earning a reputation for being a liar is not a good business plan. Now, if you ask me if it is a good time to buy right now in my area, I'd tell you that inventory is low, demand is high and prices haven't really started to rise in a significant way. Interest rates are low so, yes, if you stay within your means, it probably is a good time to buy BUT I have no crystal ball and anything can happen. The decision is yours. It's called truth.
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