Rocky Road; I prefer the ice cream

What an absurd market we are in. There is no other way to explain the process of funding a loan and closing escrow than a drive down a rocky road, absolutely pitted with potholes. Okay, so that's a horrible analogy, but you see where I'm getting at.

It is unfortunate for so many families to be loosing their homes; but with this downward market headed at full speed, it presents many opportunities for those who never would have dreamed of home ownership 3 years ago. Although I am not one of the veterans who experienced the real estate plummet in the 90's; I have heard plenty. Everyone "knew" this was inevitable, the bubble always bursts yet no one was prepared.

I thoroughly enjoy my job, I like what I do for the most part and the money isn't half bad. It is gratifying to get people into homes, trying to solve problems along the way and making the numbers jive, if you will. It can be high stress because no transaction is smooth, nor do they ever seem to go the way they are supposed to. Deadlines are crucial and can be deal breaking. It is amazing how my every thought and effort will go into these files and our borrower's financial lives. No more than a week goes by before I have completely purged every piece of information in my brain to make way for new files and their information.

So while half the country is loosing their homes, the other half can buy them up for cheap...no big deal right? In theory it sounds like it could work, but it's nothing more than a false theory of mine. Just 2 Years ago I was qualifying borrowers to buy $400-500,000 homes without as much as batting a lash, but now trying to get borrowrs into homes for a mere $150,000 is like trying to prove UFOs exist.

If you look hard enough, you can find at least one reason why to decline every borrower. These lenders have completely forgotten that they want to lend borrower's money anymore, and it is absolutely frustrating. I have never dealt with so many problems in my life that these lenders are creating. 30 day escrows don't exist anymore, because it takes 2 weeks for the lenders to review the files, another 2 weeks for them to decide there is one solitary piece of evidence why they shouldn't lend their money to a borrower, another 2 weeks of us jumping over hurdles to prove why they should, only to have a 50% chance of getting lucky...or wasting the last 45 days.

I'm passionate about my job because I'm good at it. I'm not cocky, I'm confident. I have worked with and learned from some of the best and most seasoned loan officers, underwriters, and the like in my short 5 year career. But even now, we all question our sanity, because I'm almost possible, we have none left at this point.

So when it comes down to rocky road...I'd rather eat the ice cream than drive down that road to real esate hell.