Come On, Realtors, Show Some Class

Thankfully none of this is going on in the DFW area where realtors have class. However, in other parts of the country, there are real estate firms that love the fact that people are losing their homes.

Foreclosed homes are "the only game in town," says Larry Salas of All-Star Realty Sales in Miami (from Yahoo article). With all due respect Mr. Salas, this isn’t a game. Good people have lost their homes. The Yahoo article goes on to say that Mr. Salas has never seen such a weak market in more than 30 years as a real-estate agent, and that suits his firm perfectly.

This is great! Maybe more and more people will lose their homes, Mr. Salas. It is such a great game to play (not in the article).

I have no problem with the real estate community taking advantage of this opportunity. Although the downside is that it does help the lenders who helped create the problem (I personally think that they should take the majority of the brunt of this problem – of course, along with the politicians that allowed it to happen), we do need help in getting this problem of inventory cleared up.

I have a problem with realtors who show no class in the face of those who have lost their homes.

Take Joseph Luliucci as a good example. He is a Las Vegas realtor who takes potential prospective buyers on his “Foreclosure Bus Tour” complete with signage on the bus. He drives these buyers through the neighborhoods of homes that went into foreclosure.

The potential buyers show up and are given a “repo” express name tag.

Well Mr. Luliucci that is pretty clever. You are profiting from the despair of America. I appreciate that you are providing a service and have no problem with the process or that you are getting paid to do so. I just have a problem with how you are going about it.

That Foreclosure Bus Tour idea is great idea, Mr. Luliucci. As you put that marketing message together, just think of the humiliation of the people who went through the process. Just think of the people who were legitimately lied to in the mortgage process and lost their homes. You are driving people through the real estate graveyards of America. I love to look at homes. At the same time, I am saddened when I see a home that the bank now owns.

Just think, with the large percentages of people who have lost their homes in America, you offer the opportunity for them to re-live their experience every time they see your bus.

Maybe that is one of the problems in America. We have lost our sense of integrity. Integrity should have started in Washington.

Look at former Housing Secretary Alphonso Jackson. He should be the poster boy for this problem. He was one that encouraged the type of activity that has driven and is going to drive many into foreclosure. I bring this up only because it is a preview to my next blog. It just baffles me that no one in a leadership position could see this coming. If it is my job to monitor and regulate the housing industry, I would know the situation inside and out. If anyone did, they would see this train wreck coming.

Apparently, Mr. Jackson did not have a clue. He is one of many nightmares that President Bush selected to run lead positions in this country.
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