(post by Dee) A comment from Robby clearly was due in part to misunderstanding of BT’s post from the other day about Banks Bringing Market Down. We obviously welcome all comments, but wanted to clarify this…

Here is what Robby wrote: “sounds like a paranoid and jilted broker complaining about a deal that didn’t go through because he believed his own lie about the property being worth 850k when the market is tanking. Its in the appraisers best interest to make the deal match the appraisal and force the deal to go through so everyone can continue with their business. so the lender can loan the money and so the borrower can own the house.”

Maybe this post requires explanation. Buyer and seller sentiment in the market is that banks fucked up, and now they are punishing buyers and sellers by making funding so hard and so slow, many deals fall through. When a good broker says “it’s worth X” it usually is. No broker has interest in trying to take an overpriced listing. Commission difference between 700K and 750K is tiny. Easier sell is in everybody’s interest. But fiduciary duty the Realtor is to the client, and when comparative values and income potential point to a price of $850 in an area where sales are still strong, there is no way or reason to price it below. We’re not in a business of overpricing. That’s a job of “for-sale-by-owners”, speculators and banks, not reputable brokers.

Banks are in business to make good loans, not make thousands of bad loans and then panic, freak out, STOP making all loans altogether, while waiting for bailout money! So, that was the point of BT’s post… frustration with how things turned out.