the pit and the pendulum

for those of you reading this that remember the mortgage industry and real estate in 2005-2007 you may understand the title of this post a little better, for those who don't: A bunch of really "smart" politicians decided that home ownership should increase- never mind that the US had one of the highest home ownership rates in the world, so programs such as no DOCS were created along with lower guidelines and standards - the No DOC was my personal favorite - you tell us what you earn and we'll trust you and loan you money... fast forward 2008 to present a "few" loans went into foreclosure - and despite being on tape and youtube and a myriad of other places that proved our fearless leaders did this they cried out " we need to regulate" so along comes Dodd/Frank and other helpful programs. so we went from a system where an appraisal cost $350 to a system with a middle man - this kept the bad lenders and Realtors from influencing appraisers cost went for the home buyer up to $700 on average. and now instead of being able to use local appraisers who know the market and the schools and such some appraisal desk in the Midwest would assign an appraiser to a house in york county with an appraiser from 2 counties away. imaging the concept of government adding a layer and cost to the home buying process- which I hear over and over again the real estate market is essential to the country's health? so now we went form if you had a pulse you got a mortgage to - hey your grandma spent too much money ad banks that are afraid and appraisers - not all but a lot- who have been beaten into submission and when an appraiser does find value then an underwriter pops up and says "I'm not sure I like these comps" - long story short the pendulum has swung and its not helping us get out of the pit.