St Louis Real Estate

I Remember Back In 86! 

When I first got into the mortgage business back in 86', mortgage banking was a somewhat unheard of profession.  If I told somebody at a cocktail party what I did, they got a blank look on their face and said, "Huh?" or maybe, "Oh, so you work for a bank?" or something to that effect.

Now, if I tell somebody that I'm a mortgage banker they say, "Oh yeah, my cousin Guido, who just got out of prison, does that!"

Another fact is that when I first got into the business there were maybe 300 to 400 places where you could apply for a 30 year fixed rate mortgage here in St. Louis.  Now, I wouldn't doubt that there are 3000 - 4000 places where you can make an application.  There are even car dealerships that are advertising, "We sold you your car, now let us finance your home!"

So, what's happened?  Well, one we were in a boom market for so long and the barrier's to entry into the market were actually very slight.  (They let me in! ;-) So, there was no wonder that every Tom,Dick and Harry gravitated towards mortgage banking or brokerage as the next hot thing!  For a long time it was.

The end result of this growth was that people who didn't know what the hell they were doing were now in the business.  I always get a kick out of somebody who got into the mortgage business less than 10 years ago talking about how business used to be in the old days!  Old days?  They hadn't experienced the Old Days!  Try making a living selling mortgages when interest rates were at 13 percent!  

And not only that, the real estate market was a lot smaller then too.  One thing that I don't think that people think about is that the real estate market has been in a boom time for a long time too.  How many of us truly know what an "average" market is?

The combined effect of the market slowing and rates going up is having it's effect.  A good number of posts on here have talked about the demise of the sub prime lenders.  My personal opinion is that there are still too many prime lenders and that the shake out hasn't come anywhere close to being done. 

Personally, I miss the good old days.  I can't wait for the market to adjust and for the number of lenders out there to get back to a more reasonable number.  I do feel for the folks who are going to lose their jobs, but I'm sure that there is a "next hot thing" going on out there that they can now gravitate towards.  As for you and me, let's get back to business!

R.B. "Bob" Mitchell

ValueList Real Estate Services, Inc.