It was 98 degrees and muggy that afternoon. I arrived at the home a little early. The owners, a young couple with two children under three years old. Well the littlest one was a baby still on a bottle. The couple had awakened the baby from a sound sleep to pack him into a car seat. The little girl was groggy and grouchy, as little girls get to be when it is hot and muggy and she didn’t want to pile into the family van. She had a cherubic face and beautiful shiny ebony hair with bangs. I stopped them all and said, “you don’t have to leave.”

 I am the Realtor who had an appointment to show their lovely home to prospective purchasers. This was the home that they had lived in for two years, making payments and enjoying the feeling of ownership, appreciating the clean new neighborhood.

 I decided not to force them out into the nasty weather. “It will be fine, I assured them.” My couple won’t mind at all you being here. I just couldn’t make them more miserable. During the showing of their home, I had the opportunity to visit with the Sellers. I felt sad for them although they assured me that they had a place to move to.

 The delightful couple I had been working with that day are in a position to purchase a home. They are the lucky ones; although having so many to choose from can also be a problem. The market is flooded with available homes.

 I have been on an emotional roller coaster for weeks myself. The previous day I interviewed and counseled with two ladies in selling dilemmas. The first lovely lady was referred to me. She has a small home that she had purchased, as an investment, two years earlier. It was presently rented. However, the mortgage had escalated at the same time she lost her job. Her situation included a mother in an extended care facility and a grown daughter who lived at home. The daughter was a special needs young adult. An attorney had advised her to sell the little home in “short sale”. She would, of course, lose a considerable amount of money and her future income plan. Her particular line of work was sketchy, to say the least. Before I departed, I left her with some options. None of my answers was a real solution. We will try to find a buyer for her. It will probably take months.

 My second visit was to a couple who had recently refinanced to makes repairs on their large pool home. They had lived there a long time. They had retired from their own business, the gentleman had also suffered a heart attack. He was coping, however he was not one hundred percent and feeling ineffective. In this household was also grandmother, and all of her belongings and a sister, (grown and with special needs). A wonderful family in a large house with lots of furniture. We discussed rental and moving logistics. I will do my best to satisfy their needs too.

 My telephone calls that week, consisted of a lady in Ohio who has been waiting seven months for a response to a “short sale” on her Florida home. The lender is now

requesting an update on her financials, tax returns, social security, etc. because they, the lender, has taken so long in negotiation! The Buyers are getting antsy too. She, the Seller, is in Ohio because her mother is ill.

 Second telephone call was from me to another Seller who also needs to bring her financial information current. Her home is recently under contract after being on the market for two years. She does have a new job and has shed an old husband. However, she is so far behind in payments it is an impossible situation for her to keep her home.

 Also we have a buyer who would like an answer on her offer to purchase that home.

 Another young couple ,with whom I am working, has made an offer on a “short sale” home. The pool is black. The screen door is missing around the pool in which pollywogs have taken residence. That particular home shows signs of a loving family life shattered.

 Are you still with me?

 In order to place a “short sale” into the system for a lending institution the Realtor, (me) is required to procure a statement from the Seller giving permission for me to negotiate for them. The bank, or institution, will then order another Broker’s opinion of the property. The contract needs to be signed by the seller and then forwarded to the mortgage holder. The two, four, or six month process begins again.

 Today, I was informed by e mail that the transaction in which I forwarded sixteen pages of information and a contract, had been sold to another lender. The entire process must begin again. The new lender or service company, by the way, is one that has already been charged by the government for illegal Real Estate procedures. That happened two years ago!

 You might have noticed that in all of these six months, I have not had one closing. Today a Realtor does three times as much work on each transaction and receives less pay, if any.

No where in my thirty plus years of Real Estate did I sign a masochistic clause. So, I start each day hoping to be able to ease the pain for a Seller lost in the shuffle of trying to keep their head above water or a Buyer lost in the maze of paperwork and pre qualifying.

 I keep praying that a bank or mortgage company will realize that these are REAL PEOPLE.

AKA Dodd and Frank, or is it Frank & Dodd? These are the two Congressman who created the most recent (within 10 years or so) guidelines for the housing market woes.

Today they want to blame the mess on the banking systems. Isn’t that very much like blaming the police for enforcing the laws?

 It was and is these two entities Federal National Mortgage Association and Federal Home Loan Mortgage Corporation who encouraged banks and other lenders to create the loans in the first place. These government run organizations set up programs for people without a source of income to borrow from the banks to purchase homes. To this day the loans allowing buyers with not enough money to close on a mortgage and receive a credit from the seller of the property in question are government sanctioned.

 As foreclosures flood the marketplace, buyers are encouraged to submit low offers leaving seller (home owners) upside down on their original loans. Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac (Frank & Dodd) were queried a few years ago about accepting under prime mortgage rates. These two learned men stated that they “didn’t know” what the market rate was? Someone signed the mortgage and promissory note! If you have ever had a closing on a piece of property in the past ten years you must affirm and execute a myriad of paperwork for the government. One or more of these forms states the actual amount of interest and the terms of payment. By the way has Chris Dodd ever corrected the terms on his mansion in Ireland for which he received a sweetened mortgage from Countrywide, (now Bank of America)?

 USDA is a current government created mortgage for people with no money. You do need good credit and a source of income to qualify. Then the seller of the property will be able to GIVE YOU up to 3% of your closing costs. In reality this type of transaction reduces the price of the property by that 3%, or it is added to the final sales price. Now, which of those choices is fair…to whom? Please notice that I said government created. Fannie Mae and/or Freddie Mac have the forms necessary to approve this type of transaction.

 Recently these two organizations have gone into receivership by the U.S. Treasury. That will certainly clear up the mess, won’t it?