Posted by DD/OR on 9/15/08 9:47pm
Msg #264314

I remember the good old days when....

I remember the good old days when Title companys paid you at closing and paid much more than signing services. Not any more. They are as bad as some signing services. Title co. don't pay what they used to. They shop around just like SS. And they also take much longer to pay than they used to. I used to be thrilled when a Title Co. called me. Not now. D.D.

Reply by Susan Fischer on 9/15/08 10:53pm
Msg #264315

Deregulation led to this mess. *Everyone* is cutting costs.

*Wages* have fallen everywhere except the Top, who want the Republicans to keep taxes low for them.

Republican ticket: If you make more than $250K a year? Tax breaks. Paid for by new taxes on employer paid benefits to the middle class. The lower class, the minimum wage earners, of course, don't have benefits to tax, and won't be .

Meanwhile, essential services cut everywhere, and excalating food, housing. fuel costs are being suffered by millions of Americans. And it looks like a hard winter this year.

TCs, SSs, NSAs - we all have mouths to feed; cars that need fuel; homes that need heating; and kids that need schooling. Everyone needs healthcare. And we all need jobs to be productive. We all need bridges, roads, ferries, communication services, police and fire protection, a Justice System, and all the other elements of a successful society.

"The Good Old Days" were a set up for this fall. This is Republican 'leadership.'

The last 7 years have brought this day. Republicans should be careful what they wish for.

Reply by desktopfull on 9/15/08 11:47pm
Msg #264318

I believe your response really belongs in the "Just Politics

section. But if you really want to know what started this mess here you go (however, the Bush admin did nothing to stop it after they got in office mainly because of the economic downturn immediately following the 9/11/01 attack):

http://www.city-journal.org/html/10_1_the_trillion_dollar.html

Reply by Les_CO on 9/16/08 10:48am
Msg #264345

Re: Deregulation led to this mess. *Everyone* is cutting costs.

When you can take a $100,000 asset, and borrow $3 million against it without the ability to repay the loan. You will eventually get in trouble. Republicial or Democrat. The villian here is called greed with leverage.

Reply by LynnNC on 9/16/08 3:32pm
Msg #264388

Susan - What is your source of information...

...for ***If you make more than $250K a year? Tax breaks. Paid for by new taxes on employer paid benefits to the middle class***?

Reply by Susan Fischer on 9/16/08 6:04pm
Msg #264405

Republican platform for healthcare - taxing benefits

workers receive from employers as income.

So, as I understand the platform, wage earners will get a tax credit ($5K) for insurance premiums paid, (avg. cost per year of $12K), and tax the value of your employer-paid benefits, increasing your gross income.

Reply by Julie/MI on 9/16/08 7:24am
Msg #264323

It's really time to look for other opportunities....in other fields....I mourned the loss of having so many closings that I didn't have time to depost my checks. I mourned the loss of 9+ closings a day. Making sometimes a thousand or almost two in a day!!!!!

Having been in the title related fields since 1983, deep down I knew the carpet would get pulled out from under me, I don't blame anyone, maybe Greenspan for lower rates too low and people using their equity to payoff credit card debt. Did I think the values would plummet as much as they did? No, but I know I saw the homes in my neighborhood go up $100,000 practically overnight and I'm no economist, but appraisals seemed to be artifically inflated, but none of us were complaining then.


Gas was $1.20 a gallon when I started mobile closings in 2001. Paper and toner were much cheaper. NNA wasn't involved yet, so the good old days were grand. On a positive note, NNA should have decreased revenue.....I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Yes title companies are lowballling although I still see $450 closing fees on the Hud.

I don't rely on any government leader to keep me self employed.


On the bright side, I don't have to pay quarterly taxes anymore

Reply by 101livescan on 9/16/08 10:01am
Msg #264338

Definitely a time to remember, when signing 16 loans a day was average. Well, those days are over. With belt tightening by most lenders, let's see who survives this Lehman Bros. debacle, loans will be more and more difficult to get. The title companies are hurting. When they were making money hand over fist, they were enjoying profits like never before, now they are laying their best people off, not enough revenue. Not enough deals. There will only be a handful of title companies remaining when we're at the end of this dark tunnel. I think we'll see a lot of signing services drop off the radar screen. You can only cut the pie into so many slices. Title companies are trying to survive too.

Reply by MistarellaFL on 9/16/08 10:17am
Msg #264340

You can only cut the pie into so many slices.

That's a good analogy, Cheryl.