The Fed is doing "Great" so far. Now it should insist on systems that will force us to learn the big lesson

The new system of check and balance should include the following "critical" and "essential" components:
1. Corporations should only be allowed to grow bigger if in the past they have clearly shown such great moral responsibility to the public. Examples of immoral performances are: Paying inordinate sums of money to officers and employees; a pattern of lying or concealing things from the public no matter how seemingly insignificant these things are; their record of hiring and firing quality and " moral "employees and contractors; etc.
2. The key officers of the company should voluntarily and consistently display to the public the full extent of their personal finances and those of their families that have any form of business or dealings with the company. An ideal executive would be someone who completely renounces any more additional wealth to what he already got.
3. Publicly listed companies should require key executives to subscribe to an oath that states their priority of allegiance: first, to the public; second, to their creditors; third, to their stockholders; and fourth, to their employees.

The Subprime Scare and the Subprime Alibi

Just like the 9-11 tragedy that terrorized us into invading Iraq, the subprime "scare" got us believing that our financial existence now depends on the investment companies that are bankrupt or going bankrupt. And the velocity and extent to which this scare is building up is turning more each day into reality. I tend to believe that even if all of the subprime mortgages would end up into foreclosure, this thing should not be happening. In reality, most of the mortgages that are in foreclosure now are NOT sub-prime mortgages, but mortgages by people who had very good credit that enabled them to borrow more money to buy several houses on speculation. In other words, some people have invented this "scare".
The billions of dollars of junk and garbage are in the investment companies that are holding raw or repackaged mortgages and in some banks who lent to off-balance sheet companies created by the same banks. The people who invented these junk investments are supposeded to be astute and sophisticated investors in the eyes of the law and they knew that this was coming but their greed got the better part of them. All of these sophisticated and highly-knowledgeable investors are using the subprime scare as an alibi to continue on with their "raid" and this time they have targetted the biggie - the Federal Reserve.
Folks, EVERY penny at the Federal Reserve is our BLOOD, SWEAT AND TEARS. SHOULD WE ALLOW THIS ANY LONGER?

Our Mortgage Co. Never Did a Single Subprime Mortgage

My son Patrick was in charge of originating mortgages. When the 100% financing program came out, he wasn't really for it from the first time. He thought that someone who wants to take on a bigger responsibility of owning a home should have had the earlier responsibility of saving for a reasonable downpayment that will enable them to afford the resulting monthly payments.
When lenders started lending to subprime borrowers (even up to 100% of the homevalue) he became even more against it to the point of quitting the business. I am just glad that he followed his gut-feelings about all of these, because if not, our conscience would now be bothering us.
The business world needs a lot to learn about the direct link between morality and success.
"There are millions of people who are successful as millionaires but sadly, there are so few millionaires who are successful in what they have been meant to be ".

The business of Selling Real Estate

Most real estate agents think that just because the market is bad, their business also has to become bad. It is really HOW you work any particular market, whether good or bad. In fact, our experience in the company is that we thrive when the market is bad. Why, because we see our success as being able to help more people with their concerns and problems and in this troublesome market a lot of people really need help. This has been exacerbated by the lesser number of practising agents (to date, 50% of total licensed agents have quit or got part time jobs somewhere). Our training is continueing and varies from one defined market to another. In what a particular agent perceive as bad for her, we try to perk her up with higher commission share, etc.
This market that is revealing itself today is an entirely different one, and requires strategies that are completely new. The best attitude to adopt today is " I am being challenged ".

Bergen Real Estate (Good or Bad News)

Comparing 2006 with 2005, number of homes sold decreased by 18%; average selling prices decreased by only 4%; and there are now approximately 6-months inventory compared to 3-months inventory year before.
Sellers are advised to have a completely different set of strategies to sell their homes in a timely manner and buyers are advised to buy now because it is not going to be better for them.

Let Your Home Find You

In my 25 years of helping people find their homes, I noticed the first time I meet them that they really don't know what they want in a home even if they appear to know what they want. They even insist that they only want to see a split-level layout and end up buying a ranch (one level). At first, they would insist to pay off their future homes' mortgage in 15 years only to end up with a 30-year mortgage. This attitude is even more pronounced now with homebuyers' access to the internet and having so much knowledge, sometimes they deliberately avoid interviewing with a real estate agent. For them, I always pray that they get to the closing table happy with no problems.
I bet any homebuyer today that after they move in to their new home, I know so much more about what they like, need, and want in a home than they do. No wonder, most of my customers in the past end up becoming part of my huge "family " and circle of friends. Through us agents, we make it possible for a home out there to find a particular buyer like you. With me, it's as if you have seen 25,000 houses already and made it possible to identify that one particular home for you.