Are We Ready to Tell the Truth?

I've been in the home mortgage business for more than twenty years. What started out as a part-time endeavour became a full-time second career when the technology and telecom recession (or the dot-com bust) hit in 2000. Seems funny that this is also when the neocons with "W" at the front, took control of our country.

For most of my mortgage career, I helped prospective home buyers get their first or move-up home. I counselled my clients on how to get the best rates, the lowest costs, and how to get mortgages that would be in their best, long-term financial interests.

When the rates started going down, I helped my customers get lower rates on their fixed term mortgages, helping them reduce their expenses and even pay off their mortgages sooner.

Along the way, we got the now infamous sub-prime boom where lenders went crazy lowering lending standards so that almost anyone with a social security number (and even many without) could get a huge loan with virtually no documentation other than their signature.

For me, this seemed absolutely crazy, and I refused to jump into the game.

To me, it seemed that the entirety of the housing boom became nothing but a collection of related industries, all built on lies.

Borrowers lied about their income and assets to qualify for loans they can’t pay on houses they can’t afford.

Appraisers lied about what a home is worth to facilitate the writing of loans by mortgage brokers that look better to the lenders backing them than they actually are.

The lenders then lied to the marketplace when they bundle these bogus loans up and sell them as solid, asset-backed investments.

And now, courtesy of "W" (Thankfully, he will be gone by January), and the now Democratic Congress, we the taxpayers are now quickly becoming the bag holders.

Now, we are still in a state of denial. The cheerleaders of Wall Street keep screaming the worst is over. Yet, the average, hard working family has next to a zero chance of being able to buy a distressed home without having a nice pile of cash. (Sorry, he new housing bill is not going to fix this mess as lenders still don't trust borrowers.)

There are solutions. Watch for my message to the candiates and the parties.

The Best Money Guy