I picture an ending where the devil is a banker…and Chase executives are his customers

Partially in response to several who have contacted me about the site or my whereabouts: recently I have had to attend to some severe problems, including the death of a dear cousin.  Toni was very close to me and my family.  She lost a short but valiant battle with pancreatic cancer, and was a leader in life and in the dignified way that she faced her own death. 

In life, she helped people instead of harming them, and as compared to where I think the executives running Chase will end up (I picture an ending where the devil is a banker…and Chase executives are his customers), I’m confident that Toni is in a far better place.  I will miss her, as will thousands of others whom she has touched in her life and career as a teacher.  Although she and I have for the most part taught at different levels, she has been an inspiration.  

Looming on the horizon, I have been busy taking “two steps backward,” all because my house in TN has not sold.  It’s a long story to be made short:

Contract on home last summer fell through (end of July, 2008);

Thought/hoped a new one might arise by October;

Nevertheless, new job started in NC (5 days after contract fell through);

Leased a condo in NC (big enough to accommodate my family, given the “what if” scenario that it might be needed);

Brought half our stuff to NC, especially “conveniences” such as the kids’ beds and our washer and dryer; August: realtors leave lights on, doors unlocked, so we determine that wife and kids stay must close to home in TN, essentially “camping out” with kids on air mattresses, and not much other furniture;

From our perspective, a very dissatisfactory real estate agent relationship with the next agent “up to bat” (November, 2008 – January, 2009) begins and ends;

Wife had major surgery in February (6 to 8 week recovery – meanwhile, I am in NC and she is in TN – left primarily in the care of children, all still “camping out”; she could not drive or leave during the recovery, either);

Placed for sale sign direct from owner (after now having had 3 realtors) in yard as of Easter at a “rock bottom price” with no add-ons such as agent fees or buyer’s closing costs (please, no time for answering troubleshooting comments – not wanting to come across as a know-it-all, but we do understand staging, comparables, appraisals, condition, pricing – an extremely similar home two doors down built by same builder with the same materials and features, except we have numerous upgrades, is over $40k more and we are thousands of dollars under market with a home in immaculate condition);

Buyer’s agents now sell against us as they want their commission and have done a great job creating the myth that their services are free* to buyers;

Now anticipating another year like the past one, moving stuff back to TN (I am looking into other possibilities for my own accommodations, such as faculty housing – dorm-like);

We will put the house back together, as we can’t win a fixed race - signing with another realtor as soon as the house is put back together;

If I do not take steps to avoid “paying double” for housing next year as we have been doing, there will be trouble on the horizon;

Ever vigilant against the likes of credit card companies, I am a responsible borrower, and I will pay my bills regardless of the hardships (Obviously, if I am incapacitated or dead they would have to settle with my estate – but then, what would happen to their empire of economic slavery?   Best to keep us all alive with slow, non-lethal torture techniques.)

I thought that the above review deserved special mention of the fact that I purposely do not allow the spell-checker to capitalize the word “realtor” (especially when under our present scenario, most buyer’s agents we’ve encountered are so unethical they want to keep a discussion about their 3% commission hush-hush, and make sure that they corner my wife or me to ask if we’ll pay, out of ear-shot from their “client”; hint to “clients”: these unethical individuals are working for their 3% commission, not to protect your interests).

Secondly, since the above basically chronicles the past year of our family’s life, separated from one another by virtue of real estate hell, knowing my wife needed surgery – soon - even back in December, you might now have a better picture as to why I felt so cornered by Chase’s actions that I became aggressive with the ChangeInTerms.com site at that time.  Chase did steal Christmas.  But, in its almighty, high-flying, political palm-greasing, “wisdom,” it picked the wrong guy in the wrong place in life at the wrong time.  And, as it has turned out, my suffering and that of my family is nothing special – most American families, sans the intellectual, political, and economic elite, have been hurting as well.  But a “kick ‘em while they’re down” philosophy can sometimes backfire, Chase.

* Supposedly “free,” when in fact, sellers set prices high enough so as to be able to cover the total 6% commission (half for the seller’s agent and half for the buyer’s agent) - so actually, buyers do pay – duh!  Want “free” closing costs?  Where do you think sellers come up with this “free” money?  Duh!, again -  it’s built into the selling price of the house.  You’d think that people who have seen a “buy one get one free” grocery ad (in which the first item is usually twice the going rate) would understand that nothing is really “free.”  I predict that with little appreciation on the horizon (or continued falling prices) realtors and financing charges will be the biggest costs in many real estate transactions for a long time to come.  Oh, and by the way, don’t expect your local newspaper to run any exposé articles on the shenanigans of the real estate industry any time soon (realtors tend to spend a lot of money on newspaper advertising).  In good times and bad, realtors skim the cream off the top of any transaction - buyers and sellers may win or lose, but realtors own the game.