Cannibalism, Big Boats and Expensive Divorces
They say that cannibalism isn't so bad once you get past the idea that you are eating your fellow man.
As the participants in the real estate services industry (and there are millions, including Realtors (r), Banks, Mortgage Companies, Title Companies, Appraisers, Lawyers, Developers, Builders, et al.) slowly drift off to sleep as our collective life boat drifts aimless at sea, the opportunists among us see meals in the weak and powerless.
Once inconsequential community lenders look like dynamos as they cruise tortoise-like by the flaming wrecks of the high flying national lenders. The full time professional loan officers who were in the mortgage business, say, before 1995, are still making a living, a basic, fair living. Meanwhile, their Johnny come lately stall mates at many a Massachusetts Mortgage Company are hurriedly looking for ways to unload expensive homes, boats and spouses - all the trappings of the greed-fed frenzy that has been the real estate market of the past 10+ years. This repeats itself in the real estate brokerages, those now echo-chamber like cube farms - no longer filled with divorcees, moonlightling firemen and under-employed second cousins.
From those of us that were in the real estate business the last time it was this bad to those that will tell this story to the next generation - it can only get better. I hope.
