credit | Building of the Beast

How Much of the $700 Billion Bailout is YOUR Fault?

Friday, September 26th, 2008

Ah, I remember it well. It was September of 2004 and my wife and I were about to make an offer on our first home. I remember our real estate agent advising us, “Just pay whatever the seller is asking or someone else will come in and offer more.”

To which I replied, “This isn’t right. Real estate is over-valued and somebody has to hold the line! I need you to negotiate tougher”.

But she said with confidence, “It doesn’t matter what you pay. It’s just going to keep going up. Real estate never goes down”.

And then she uttered this vintage 2004 line (and I’m not making this up), “In fact, the more you pay the better for you, because you’ll make that much more from the appreciation.” Classic!