This is why the financial sector is crashing

I think this story is so funny. It's totally emblematic of the entire failure of the mortgage and banking sector.

Neil and I put an offer in on the aforementioned Saint Albans house. It's owned by Countrywide right now, so one of their requirements was that we get a Countrywide pre-approval letter to accompany our offer.

I called Countrywide this morning and obtained a pre-approval letter for the highest amount we'd be willing to pay for the house. My friend Sue, who is also acting as our real estate agent on this deal, said it would be fine to do it that way. After all, that's not saying that's what we want to spend on the house, just what we can spend. She turned in all of our paperwork to Countrywide's agent.

And then he called her back.

Apparently, the representative at Countrywide said he wouldn't even look at our offer unless the pre-approval letter was for the exact same amount as the offer. Even though the pre-approval was for more than our offer, that wasn't OK with him. So I called the loan officer with Countrywide, explained the deal, had a good laugh with her, and sent them the letter with the lower amount.

Now, if this is how banks are operating, it's no wonder they're all going under. This was a perfect example of the complete loss of common sense in business. In place of common sense, they're more concerned with some imaginary game of...what's that card game where you have to match up the items that are turned upside down? Whatever that's called. It almost sounds like something a crazy OCD person would do. "No, I can't even step out the door unless my underwear and my bra are in matching colors!"

The even more ridiculous part is that if we go back and forth on negotiations, we may be required to submit pre-approval letters for higher amounts each time we go along. This is why banks should not be in real estate. They suck at it.

Oh, and despite my having a real estate license, this is why I hire Sue to do my deals. This kind of idiocy would cause me great distress. Plus, who wants to work with the public? Yuck.