Buzz comments, ideas and questions. Opportunity never knocks; it is within you. Denis Waitley, American motivational speaker Why Wall Street? rushed to get a loan because rates were low and the economy was thriving. Prices were rising, as they always had in real estate, so it seemed like a good bet. Then the feds got scared about in ation and raised the rates every month for about a year and a half until the real estate market screeched to a halt. Then politicians started scapegoating lenders, using a few examples of borrowers swindled by mortgage hucksters (a story as old as time). The banks became the bad guys for lending money, especially when Wall Street speculators wanted the casino to make good on their lost bets. So, what L oans are upside down because the real estate market tanked, not the other way around. Let s say a house was listed for $250,000 in 2005. Lots of borrowers did banks do? They stopped lending. This is what caused the real estate market to melt down, evaporating the equity in which loans were based, and turning homes and mortgages from the safest investment in the world to toxic waste. So, that $250,000 house is now worth $100,000, and the homeowner/borrower is begging the bank to take it back. Home equity is the main form of household wealth, so America is now poorer, thus spending less, while burdened by higher housing and gas costs, with little disposable income. By bailing out the reckless Wall Street speculators, we only subsidize and encourage more of the same harmful speculation, which we should try to tax or discourage. We need to bail out the middle class and restore con dence in the American home as the greatest and best investment on earth. Fred Schuler Certi ed Appraiser Satellite Beach Land Institute Spotlighted The Florida Chapter of the R Land Institute (RLI) thanks FAR leadership for their continued support. At the recent National Association of R (NAR) meetings, our national leadership honored the Florida Chapter as the Outstanding RLI Chapter in the nation. A large part of this was due to the number of Accredited Land Consultant (ALC) designations awarded in the past year to Florida RLI members. This is due in no small part to support from FAR and The Greater Tampa Association of R (GTAR). While in Orlando, we honored our outgoing president Danny Smith ALC, CCIM of ExIT Vision Realty in Wildwood with our Florida Land Realtor of the Year Award. Danny did a great job of expanding the education pro- gram and o ering of courses and left of ce with a very strong budget surplus. Bill Eshenbaugh, ALC, CCIM Emeritus Director, Florida RLI Eshenbaugh Land Company, Tampa Losing Faith in Hope I saw the article on oridarealtors.org about the Hope for Homeowners program. Not all banks and lenders are cooperating in this program. My husband and I put a substantial amount down (or so we thought) in 2005 when we bought the home we re currently trying to save. Since we both work on commission, we took out an equity line of credit to sustain us until we could make a go of our new profession. We put our home on the market to avoid losing it. We contacted the bank [that holds our mortgage] when the Hope for Homeowners program came out, hoping we could get assistance that way, but they don t participate in that program. So, when you say people aren t responding to the program, it may be that they are but their lenders aren t. Vicki Shedd ERA, Key 1 Realty Inc. Homosassa OppOrtunIty KnOcKS From working with veterans to marketing to rst-time homebuyers, there are ways to take back the market. What are you doing to turn your business around? E-mail the editors at FLRealtor@far.org. SuBMIt LEttErS to Editor at FLRealtor@far.org, mail to P.O. Box 725025, Orlando FL 32872-5025, or fax to (407) 438-1411. Letters are edited for space and clarity. Publication of a letter does not constitute an endorsement of the writer s views. 6 FLORIDA REALTOR February 2009