The real estate agents and the real estate appraisers assisted this foreclosure crisis with inflating the value of property to get in on the sale. The real estate agents having little training in many cases and in their blind quest to get rich, real estate agents would push buyers into property they couldn't afford, by assuring them, the buyer must be able to afford it because Look!!! You "qualified for" the loan "they wouldn't give you a loan if they didn't believe in you. We now know this is not true. But real estate agents are also keeping their commission right now.

Real estate agents also helped drive prices up. For example, in 2003, I told an agent that I wanted to make an offer on a house and I wanted to bid under the asking price. You'd have thought I'd just asked the agent to give me a ride to Mars! The agent replied, "People offer more than the asking price to make sure they get the property." But it's not true, it's a bargaining process and if you have an agent that won't write a lower bid, get another agent because the agent's biggest concern is not if you are paying more for a house than it's worth, their biggest concern was the commission. Appraisers in the rush to keep real estate brokers and mortgage companies happy (and themselves in jobs) made sure the appraisal value would come in at the required asking price. The bank took the appraisal and the homeowner has a house. Look at that chain of events; does it leave more than a little room for over inflation of prices? Do you think any of these professionals are going to hand back their fees for the rampant mishandling of home buyers' lives?

The United States government inadvertently started the foreclosure crisis way back in 2003 when Federal Reserve Bank dropped the interest rates to its lowest in four years in an attempt to slow down a potential recession. The mortgage companies swung into high gear handing out mortgages, biggest requirement to see if you qualified was by having a pulse. The mortgage companies started issuing Adjustable Rate Mortgage (ARM) to virtually anyone, and issued with with a promise that the market will still be strong when the ARM comes due, property values would increase, and the buyer would be earning more as time went on. The issuing of mortgages with glee and total abandon for consequences lead up to the foreclosure crisis starting in 2006 and beyond.

Now the Big Boys of mortgage companies are crying to the government for help due to the reckless handling by mortgage companies of buyer's credit and the funny part is the government is listening to them. But the government is not listening to the homeowners who are fighting to stay above the surface and stop the potential foreclosure looming over their heads. The government has offered some minuscule relief for certain homeowners, but the ones that will qualify is about a 1/3 of those homeowners facing foreclosure. And the relief is very temporary, measured in weeks or months. We have a long way to go before the end of this foreclosure crisis; I'm curious how the great foreclosure crisis of 2008 will lead us. Will the government need to step in to regulate the mortgage industry more stringently? Will the government help the homeowners keep their homes? Time will tell.

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