The New York Times online published an article this week that brought to light how corrupt bankers who led to the Great Depression went to jail and were looked down upon by society, but today, the big bankers, such as Sandy Weill of Citigroup, are praised for changing their minds about big banks being a good idea, even though they created the monster responsible for the disaster. The author of the article has a great point and it made me think: if big banks are not being blamed for or looked down upon for the market collapse and fall in the housing market, which has unfairly, been blamed for the big banks’ errors? What I came up with was a small list of people, the most innocent of whom are, at least in my area, Grand Rapids Realtors. What has suffered the most? Grand Rapids homes for sale. These homes sit vacant and/or vandalized because of the fallout the big banks have caused. Grand Rapids Realtors, as well as realtors around the country, are not to blame for the downfall of the housing market.
Why do people blame the realtors? I believe it is due to those realtors who inappropriately tried, and succeeded to get people into homes they could not afford. However, ultimately it was the bank that approved the loans, not the realtors. The New York Times stated, “As every frustrated American knows, no major banking executive has gone to prison or has been fined any significant amount in the aftermath of the financial crisis” and what most find astonishing “is that Wall Street bankers seem not to have paid any social cost either. They remain top Wall Street executives, or even serve as regulators. The nation’s prominent op-ed pages, talk shows and conferences seek their opinions. If you are rich, you must be intelligent. Your views must be worthwhile, never mind the track record.” Yet the public by and large still blames the realtors and their so-called personal agendas.
If you know any Grand Rapids Realtors, you know that they are kind, hard-working individuals who genuinely seek to create a perfect match for people and homes. I say this from experience and also as a person who has been affected by the drastic decline in home values. Grand Rapids homes for sale have so much beauty and potential. Don’t pass up the opportunity to buy a home in Grand Rapids due to wrongly placed blame.
http://johnpostma.com/ has expert team of Grand Rapids realtors offering excellent real estate services for buying new home.
