I’m no real estate expert and I’m no financial expert. We keep hearing that if a foreclosure happens next door to a house where its owners have been “playing by the rules” and paying their bills, that it affects the value of all those homes in the neighborhood, whether they are doing the right thing or not.
I know that’s the way the system has always worked, the market decides. But isn’t the market people? Isn’t someone responsible for making that assessment? People make these decisions and the phrase “market” is just a cover for that and has always been.
So, if people make these decisions and assessments, can’t we attack that problem? Isn’t it conceivable (at least as concept) to say, we screwed the pooch on this housing thing looking for ways to create something out of something less? While we’re looking for ways to help out, can’t we restructure the way we perceive the value decline (or add) in this crisis? Isn’t the assessment game a part of the problem?
I’m sure there are real answers to the questions here, and I’m sure there are fake answers as well. (I define fake as in how we faked our way into this whole thing in the first place.)
Isn’t it time to take the mask off the market? In the little theatre in my mind we’d all better off if we stopped saying “let the market decide” and start identifying who the players are.
Again, I’m no expert here, I’m just asking.
