My feeling is that until the unemployment starts declining, we won’t see a whole lot changing any time soon.  This went too deep to readjust it self in a timely manner.  People still have to get back to work and be able to pay their bills first before the housing market will significantly change. 

We still have a ways to go however, it does a body good to know that it’s officially over. 

Any thoughts?

After you read the above article, send me your thoughts. 

It seems that yet another large institution was caught doing re-modifications and messed things up again.  Why can’t they just work to get people back on track so we can move on?  Damage is done so let’s look ahead and get out of this mess.

Why must they try to get every penny they can at the expense of homeowners which will never give the institution what they thought they were going to get in the first place?  Make sense?

1. RETURN PHONE CALLS. The No. 1 complaint from all sides of any type of business is when a professional does not return a call promptly. This bad habit occurs in all industries. The difference between success and failure often comes from the sense of urgency to follow up and return calls promptly.

2. MAKE YOUR EXPECTATIONS KNOWN. As a professional, you must communicate expectations. This is true whether you are establishing a relationship with a client on your first meeting or providing marketing literature to promote a product or service to prospective clients. In establishing expectations, you define the rules of engagement. Most important, you start to build a solid foundation of trust. The most well defined service plan or best designed product never will have success without proper expectations stated and defined.

3. UPDATE EVERYONE. The fastest way professionals can fail is to avoid giving updates or keeping in communication with all parties involved. Communicate frequently so the feeling of abandonment does not develop.

4. UNDERSTAND THE IMPORTANCE OF ETHICS. Despite the books, manuscripts and courses dedicated to this topic, many professionals either ignore ethics’ importance or consider it just one more thing they have to do because it’s a requirement for employment.

5. LISTEN. Early in my career, I heard a line that didn’t make sense at the time – “When the creator of the heaven and Earth made man, he gave him two ears and one mouth”. Now, I know it means we should listen more and speak less. Give your clients your undivided attention.

6. ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY. This is a giant one. Instead of pointing the finger of blame, accept that mistakes are made and that is how we learn in the long run. Blaming others is never a way to win and only serves to hurt others.

7. REMEMBER THE GOLDEN RULE. Understand that clients are people and just like you, they have feelings, emotions and perhaps individual anxieties or nuances. That is why the wisdom of the ages dictates that time after time, “Do unto others as you would want others to do unto you”. By treating your clients with respect, you will reap untold success in your career. By helping others, it comes back to you two-fold. Your clients will keep you in mind for being so considerate.

My feeling is that there is no one entity to blame.  Even though everyone of my clients are OK and doing well with their current mortgage that I carefully put them in and made sure it was financially sound for them,  everyone has to be responsible for his/her own actions.  Have I turned down loans that I knew weren’t right.  Yes I did.  Was it easy?  No.  Some lenders, some brokers, and even some individuals, who used their home as a bank, need to take responsibility for their own actions. 

Should some of these loans been originated?  No.   Should some of the loans that were originated been approved?  No.

Lenders have the final say as to whether that loan is approved or not. 

Pointing the finger at everyone else just doesn’t work in my book. 

We are going back to originating loans like we did back in the early 90’s.  Good times and good loans.

I welcome your thoughts on this.