Wenceslao Fernandez Jr

Incredible. Although there are a lot of vacant homes abandoned by their previous owners or where tenants have been displaced from homes now in REO portfolios, rental prices have in fact remained steady or increased. The only instances where I see lower prices is when desperate sellers paying now unafordable mortgages are trying to cut their losses by renting and generating an offseting income stream, leaving them with a smaller out of pocket expense. Unfortunately, these are often the same homeowners who at some point may decide not to continue making payments and end up in foreclosure, causing their tenant to be evicted. I've even heard a story of a tenant who caught on with what the seller was doing and stopped paying rent. The seller did not evict them because they were about to loose the house anyway and so, the tenant was able to live there for free while saving to make a smarter (and maybe more expensive) move somewhere else. A very dangerous playing field for all involved. www.MiamiRealEstateKing.com Certified Distressed Property Expert Miami-Dade County, Florida.

Great article, great response. All valid points that lead to one answer for the consumer...educate yourself and take responsibility for your choices. When the government is done thinking things through, I hope all parties to a transaction will be required some accountability, including the consumer. Although there are in fact bad apples in EVERY industry (including government), the fact of the matter is that the majority are trying to do at least a decent job, while many others are trying to do the best job they know how. Some of those in the latter group, make mistakes like anyone else, but intentional misrepresentations should be punished. And if the consumer was in on it, they should join their partners in crime when it comes time to pay up. An informed consumer with a little common sense who checks and compares notes before making a decision is less likely to be taken by a bad apple than one who merely signs the dotter line just cuz they told him/her to do so. Let's make this world a better place together and help recover from this financial crisis ASAP and hope to never return to this again by taking responsibility and being accountable for our decisions. www.MiamiRealEstateKing.com Distressed Property Sales Specialist and Second/Vacation/Condo-Hotel/Fractional Sales & Mortgage Consultant in Miami-Dade County, Florida. Where foreign and out-of-state buyers take advantage of the hottest real estate prices among most major cities around the planet, enjoying low interest rates and the most favorable exchange rates ever. Invest today!

For those who may not know, Realogy is the parent company of Century 21, ERA, Coldwell Banker, and Sotheby's International Realty. You can find more about them at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Realogy. Yet, not all companies are doing this bad when by contrast, the company I am associated with has grown to 659 offices or market centers and over 79,000 agents as reported in a recent internal article published on February, 2008. Obviously, I am proud to be part of a winning team. For more information visit: http://www.kw.com/kw/newsroom.html MiamiRealEstateKing.com Distressed Property Sales Second/Vacation/Condo-Hotel/Fractional Sales & Mortgages