And my point about "knowing what’s going on" in regards to the crisis (bad choice of words, I realize) wasn’t to vault onto a high horse, only to show that I do understand financial matters pretty well and am not a completely ignorant fool. Just a snarky one.

And, I might add, get off your high horse about how you "know what’s going on" in the mortgage crisis. Real estate broker though you may be, it ain’t much of a title. My point was that even economists don’t understand the market standards that brought us here–yet you have just one question for these "faceless, foreclosed souls": how did they get so greedy? it presupposes that greedy lendees are the cause of this mess! That is so freaking ignorant.

Now, my above remarks are mainly from our last outing. In a few neighborhoods where the list pricing was about $600K. These are decidedly not "poor people" but middle-class areas. I know a few friends who admittedly bought more than they could afford and have had to take in boarders in order to meet their new financial obligations. I *do* feel bad that people are suffering here – and regardless of the time of market, this was the year we’d be looking for a home, crisis or no.

My observations come more than simply from "failing to mop the floor." We’re talking, in no particular order:

*Holes in wall (not nail holes – fist holes or larger)
*Fridges with spoiled food to the point of creating new life forms
*Torn and shredded wallpaper, with dents and cuts in the drywall underneath
*Gouges in hardwood floors
*Hundreds of burn holes in carpeting
*Unknown substances smeared into carpeting
*Broken windows and seals
*Ripped out plumbing
*Deadbolt locks on interior doors – and no key to open room
*Untold piles of trash shoved into the foundation spaces
*Burnt wiring
*Open wires in the ceiling
*Chewed crown molding (from pets, I hope)

And a few other things I won’t gross you out with.

A house for sale that needs some paint and a little cleaning isn’t a big deal to me. It’s expected. But look at that above list – would YOU buy a home with any or all of those present? Call me a prick, but I won’t.

Again, I reiterate – these are $600K+ homes. Even at the height of the housing "boom", the "poor people" couldn’t afford these places.

And yes, some fault lies with the Realtor listing the house. But that whole "Sold As-Is" clause is pretty much widely used these days.

The bottom line is, I’m not looking for "snapping up a house on the cheap." I’m looking for a home for my family because we *have to*, and I’m going to pass on property that makes me want to retch in the weeds after touring it. Is it too much to ask for some common decency in this process?

I don’t mean that people with low-incomes don’t understand the loans they signed on to, but the fact is that economists are still trying to figure out the market that created this mess. Don’t saddle the foreclosed-upon with your complaints at this point, just when YOU, lucky dog, can snap up a house on the cheap.