Rich Cotton Realtor® Cecil County MD Waterfront Specialist

Yes, it has been passed by the House, Senate, and just signed by the President. The NAR backed it and many Realtors favor it....I do not. The housing tax credit reminds me of the rebates that car dealers used to sell cars. Look what that did for Detroit. When a market is in a slump that is ok. Let it rebound on its own. The tax credit is NOT stimulating the economy or helping the market rebound. It certainly is not stemming the number of foreclosures. Isn't that what we were really trying to do in the beginning of the real estate calamity? Help people KEEP their homes. I believe we have lost sight of our initial objective. Washington cannot fix this problem by throwing money at it. They need to make sure people who want to buy houses have access to a good mortgage and not intimidated by the process.

I checked into AR today and read Darrin Freidmans post about a deskless office. I had a similar idea back in January and our build out is almost complete. We should be totally done by end of October. I must say it was quite a challenge to fit everything into less the 1,800 square feet.

My vision was also like a Starbucks entry, casual swivel bucket seating around a modern glass coffee table, coffee bar directly across with a 47" flat screen for TV, Music or viewing properties. To the left is an Internet bar (half moon with modern chrome hydraulic seating). It will have 3 computers (IMACS when compatible with our industry software) for browsing/work/surfing. Finally a reception desk with a wall waterfall behind.

The work area lies behind a beautiful Frank Loyd Wright type door wtith opaque glass. Management has three private offices. The agents "hotel" at three semi private work areas and we have a large room for Team conferences. We have a small kitchen for the agents/entertaining. Last but not least two intimate rooms for meeting with clients.

Can't wait to put it into play!

I see it time and again. The day of closing or 24 hours prior to there is a glitch. Why wait until a day or less before closing to do your work??? People with truck loads of furniture, children in tow and even the family pet with no where to go. It is disgraceful how the system treats people as numbers or objects, not human beings with needs and feelings. "I'm sorry for the delay" is not good enough. If we as Realtors have to take fair housing and ethics training every several years how about the mortgage professionals having a training on empathy and communication. Does anyone else suffer through this process?

Today's Real Estate market certainly is challenging for the Seller, Buyer and Real Estate agent. The lenders seem to be a major bottleneck in my local area. We had four closing scheduled for my office yesterday and only two closed. Why did two or 50% fail to close. Mortgage Brokers!!!!!!!! They didn't have this...they didn't have that! Why wait to less than 24 hrs before closing to check a file. Up until the last day everything was on track.....until.

The mortgage process has gotten a lot worse than it was before and not because of tighter guidelines. It is because of sloppy work. What does the mortgage industry have to gain by alienated everyone in the process? I have been in this business 20+ years and have seen the mortgage process go from ok to deplorable. Am I the only one experiencing this?