As I continue to hit my head against the wall, the wall now known as banks, it's good to see it's not just me! Another blogger tells a story of the frustration out there.

And, in a related development, apparently an asset manager for a major bank was on a news program this week saying that the banks are deliberately slowing things down. This gentleman said that the purpose of doing this was to spread out the losses over time so that their numbers don't look as bad.

Well, it's the first rational explanation I've heard for the banks behavior. But I'd argue that it's only rational on its surfact. As soon as you begin to think about this a little more deeply you have to question that strategy.

Pricing will not, can not, recover until the foreclosure and short sale inventory gets cleared out. The longer that takes, the more prices fall. So, the properties that the bank moves to the back of their list will simply be worth a whole lot less, thus increasing their losses. Yes, they may be more spread out, but if the bottom line impact is worse, what have they gained?

Clearly I don't think like a banker!

It feels like we're all moving in slow motion these days in the real estate industry. Or maybe we're just wading through deep mud that's slowing us all down!

Or choose your own mental image here.

And, there's one segment of the real estate industry that's almost single handedly responsible for the slow down...lending institutions.

With foreclosure sales making up 2/3 of Culpeper sales last month and 1/2 of those in Fauquier, a lending institution is actually the seller in most of the sales happening these days. If you add in short sales, where the lender has to approve any deal you're definitely dealing with the vast majority of transactions.

Lenders are moving very slowly on these things. On one foreclosure sale I'm working on right now it took my buyer clients about three weeks to even get a response to their offer. And there are enough stories around this to fill up a blog!

But lenders aren't the only ones slowing up the process. Listing agents who handle foreclosures are typically specialists in this area. Foreclosures are about all they do. Lenders typically offer less compensation on each individual deal in exchange for providing large volumes of transactions. And, so you get agents who are completely overwhelmed by the number of listings they have, but can't afford or won't pay to get help.

I heard one story last week about a buyer's agent bypassing the listing agent when he wasn't getting anywhere and asking the settlement company to talk to the lender directly to get things done. A week after settlement had taken place the listing agent still claimed to be unable to get an answer from the bank on outstanding issues! (This agent was completely unaware the deal had already settled!) More likely the agent wasn't even trying to get an answer as the issue had fallen through the cracks.

Documenting everything I do, every conversation I have, every fax or e-mail I send and who I talk to have become even more important than usual.

If you're trying to buy in the midst of all this, be aware that you will need a lot of patience. You may very well get a good deal buying a foreclosure or short sale. But it may require that you have the ability to wait several months to get the deal closed and get into your new house. Keep that in mind as you search for your next home.

Me? I'm getting just a little tired of slogging through all this mud. But like everything else, it's cyclical and this too shall pass!

My first post now that I'm back from vacation and I thought I'd let someone else do most of the writing.

Besides, this story is just too good (and, unfortunately too typical) not so share with you!

Lenders still don't get it!

And, why do they keep proclaiming publicly what a good job they're now doing of helping consumers work these things out?!

Hogwash!

Let's face it, the MLS is not always the buyers' friend. On short sales and foreclosures especially, but even on a substantial number of other listings, there are often no photos. Sometimes there will be one or you'll get the property with photos of only the exterior and the land.

That's a shame in many ways. Buyers want to see photos. With gas prices what they are, it's very helpful to be able to screen properties without having to drive to every one.

It's also a shame for the sellers, in all honesty. Buyers in most cases will simply bypass listings without photos. Photos of a place that doesn't look all that great are still almost always better than none. That's because buyers will usually assume even worse things in their imaginations if there are no photos. And, if what they'll see when they get there is likely to cause them not to buy it, why not eliminate them up front. Do you really want people tromping through your home who won't be interested in buying it?

So, a local real estate broker, Frank Borges Llosa, has taken matters into his own hands. There's a new MLS, that looks at the world from the buyer's point of view. The idea is to ask agents to photograph and comment on vacant homes. These comments and photos will be added to the MLS data that's already available.

It's a terrific idea and I've already begun contributing. I'll be selecting homes to work on based on several criteria. First, I'm interested in the property! Secondly, input from clients, customers and blog readers that they'd like me to check out a specific property. And, third, I'll start closer to home and work my way outwards. That means I'll start with listings in Culpeper, Fauquier and Rappahannock counties.

Let me know if you've got a property you'd like me to take a look at! And, continue to watch http://www.FranklyMLS.com for more updates.

OK, I'm annoyed.

Here's my problem. The data on the listings for short sales and bank foreclosures is so often wrong or just missing!

I understand completely that agents are generally making less money on these listings. And, it makes sense that you're not going to spend a lot of money advertising them. But surely some sense of professional pride should demand that you do a complete job of putting the basic listing information in the MLS.

I showed a condo in Culpeper that was listed as "Fee Simple" for form of ownership.

For those of you who don't know, basically condo ownership means that you own from the interior paint, inwards. So, you don't own the walls, roof, yard, etc. That's a big difference from a property where you have maintenance responsibilities for all of the above. It's a pretty big listing mistake.

Now, I'm annoyed because I looked stupid. I searched for condos in that community that were for sale and missed this one because it wasn't listed as a condo. I'm partially mad at myself for not thinking to broaden the search criteria under the assumption it had been listed incorrectly.

And, I hate, hate, hate looking stupid. I really hate being wrong!

There! I feel better now!

Time to take a closer look at one of those really hard hit Culpeper subdivisions, Lakeview.

Construction in Lakeview started about six years ago and is just about finishing now. In this market that pretty much guarantees that anyone who about in the first few years has seen the value of their homes decline substantially.

The completed subdivision is supposed to have approximately 600 homes, a combination of single family homes and townhomes.

There are currently 45 homes listed for sale in Lakeview. Of those 9 are new construction. Thirty three of those homes are vacant. 17 are foreclosures. 7 have been disclosed as short sales. Although disclosing this in the listing is a requirement, it doesn't always happen. So there may be additional short sales that aren't clearly flagged.

The cheapest townhouse here is $188,500. The cheapest detached home is $216,000. The most expensive townhouse is $239,000. The most expensive detached home is $399,000.

The good news is that 34 homes sold in this community in the last year. So things are selling. The bad news is probably best shown in the most recent sale, one that closed just this week.

A brick detached home with a side-loading two car garage, 3 bedrooms, 2.5 baths and a full, unfinished basement sold for a net of $222,450.

Considering that there are townhouses listed for considerably more than that at the moment, prices still have a ways to fall here. Even the nicest homes in this subdivision will have trouble commanding prices close to $400,000 given these kind of comparables in the neighborhood. And, if you should get lucky enough to get that kind of offer, I wouldn't count on getting an appraisal that comes in at or above purchase price.

Culpeper remains one of the hardest hit areas, even more so in newer subdivisions such as Lakeview. But if you're bargain hunting, this is a promising place to look!

There are reports surfacing up and down the east coast of copper thefts in empty houses. Generally these are the homes that are foreclosures or short sales, or sometimes even relocations, where the owners are long gone and the home has sat vacant for an extended period of time.

The price of copper is sky high and so opportunistic thieves are going in and taking copper pipes out of the walls, copper parts from HVAC systems and any other copper or possible copper in the house. The thieves are worried about being fast, not neat, and beyond the cost of replacing what they've stolen is the cost of repairing the other damage they've done.

If you own a home that's vacant, it would be a good idea to make arrangements with a neighbor or your real estate agent to keep an eye on the place. Lights on timers isn't a bad idea.

If you're buying a home that's been vacant for awhile, don't underestimate the importance of that final walk through. Make sure you look at everything closely and test all systems to make sure they're still in working order. If you're buying a home that's sold in "as is" condition, meaning you're stuck if the home is vandalized, think carefully about what you might need to do to protect yourself. This is a good time to have a discussion with your real estate agent. If you don't fully understand the contract provisions relating to the condition of the home, now's the time to get a fuller understanding of that information.

2008 is likely to continue to provide lots of empty homes for thieves to target. Real estate agents are going to have to start thinking about how to protect their clients, both buyers and sellers, and the properties involved in the transaction.

I've heard a lot of talk amongst real estate agents lately, both online and in person, about short sales. And, the gist of the conversation is that they are horrendous and no real estate agent in their right mind would do them.

While I certainly understand the sentiment, I am disturbed by the remarks.

First of all, let's be clear that real estate agents are running a business. And, if the business does not make a profit it soon goes out of business. So, it's not reasonable to expect real estate agents to take on listings that will not pay them but will result in increased costs.

There are a number of reasons why it's risky to list a property where the owner owes the bank more than the property is worth. First of all, you sign a listing agreement with the owners. And, in that agreement, they agree to your fee. But the lender must agree to any contract and they have a history of voiding the listing agreement you signed with the owners and telling you what your fee will be. (By the way, it's always lower.) At that point you've already done a tremendous amount of work and it makes no sense to walk away, even if it turns out that what the bank pays you is a pittance. Something is better than nothing.

And, you'll work much harder for that reduced commission. Dealing with the bureaucracy at most lending institutions is a real pain. And, often you're dealing with both a first and a second mortgage.

The other big problem is that most short sales never happen. In most cases, especially in this kind of market, the property goes into foreclosure a couple of months later. Since lenders already have established relationships with real estate agents, you then lose the listing altogether.

All that being said, there are families who need help keeping their homes from going into foreclosure. We are uniquely positioned to perform that service. And, there are, of course, big hearted people who willingly take these risks and help these homeowners. I'd just like to see more of them.

It's interesting that attorneys don't refuse to take on bankruptcy cases our of fear of not getting paid. They get their fee up front or they don't take the case. Maybe that's what needs to happen here. Or maybe there's a retainer so the agent knows there will at least be some pay for their trouble.

I think the industry has an obligation to figure this out. I think it's in our self-interest to show we're willing to go out of our way to help. It certainly can't hurt the overall reputation of our profession!

Let's face it, things are not looking rosy in the real estate industry at the moment. If you're selling I'm not telling you anything you didn't already know! The August numbers showing another jump in inventory only reinforce the story.

There is no one place to point the finger of blame on how we got here. And, in the end, does it matter right now? It's time to figure out how to fix this mess!

While there have been lots of ideas floating around in the political realm and in the economic world of the Fed, I'd like to talk a little about what real estate agents can do to help.

I see plenty of seminars for first time home buyers, working on educating them and helping them buy their first house. There's nothing wrong with that, but I think a bigger area of need right now is education for the homeowner in trouble.

I'd like to see us offering classes, in partnership with mortgage companies and settlement companies, walking homeowners who have already missed payments or those with mortgages about to adjust, through their options. The vast majority of homeowners don't understand all the options available to them and the pluses and minuses associated with each one. We need to talk about short sales, deed in lieu of foreclosure and foreclosure.  People need to know what to expect with each step of the process.

We are in a unique position to help here. I realize that this is a for profit business. And I know this sounds like a seminar that's unlikely to produce much in the way of income. But I think we'd do our profession a service. I also think you'd build long-term income potential by helping people in a tight spot. Most of those people will eventually buy another house. If you're there when they need you, many of them will remember that.

When times are tough we can show our character and step up and do the right thing. It's good for everyone! And it can't hurt the reputation of real estate agents either!