I’m listening to the Ronn Owens program on the radio and he has a guest on who is an expert on the real estate market. I feel like I’m listening to the same type of programs I heard about the stock markets during the dot com boom. It’s scary. I don’t believe all the hype anymore. Who is buying all these houses when unemployment is so high in the area? Did people not learn anything from the tech boom and bust? Do people believe all the hype about anything anymore, especially when it comes to the stock market and the real estate market? I can remember those pundits on CNBC saying how the Nasdaq was going to go higher, how the tech stocks and specifically the dot come stocks were the stocks of the future. Where are those pundits and those tech and dot com stocksn now.

People are putting their houses on the market because they’ve lost their jobs and they probably can’t make their mortgage payment. There are so many rental signs in the city right now, even in my neighborhood where I haven't seen For Rent signs in about 4 years. If people can't rent, how are they going to buy? And I don't think the people who have vacated their apartments, are buying real estate. At least not from the people loading their stuff into Uhauls that clog the city streets every weeeknd. Where are these people going? Don't the real estate agents and journalists see these for rents signs and the uhauls too? Don't they read the headlines in the paper or the news websites?

Why do people ignore reality and simple common sense when it comes to money? Is it greed? It’s like maybe just the thought of having all that money puts a spell on you and all your good common sense and your ability to see reality goes out the window. I think the real estate industry is pushing the hype about the market because they make tons of money when houses here sell for big prices. They have no vested interest in seeing home prices drop. They don't care if a homebuyer gets negative amortization on their home loan when the real estate market tanks. They've already made their commission. I'm sure the Wall Street pundits and the CEOs of all those failed companies had these same thoughts. Why should they care? They've got their bonuses, their stock options which they sold while the company stock was high.

I don’t get it. But then again, I haven’t lost any money in stock market since 1998 and my 401(k) and IRA are fine. Now as for the rest of my accounts, that’s another story. I have that annoying knack of walking into a store and only liking the most expensive item in the store. Where I got this skill from is unknown to me, but it’s wrecking havoc with the amounts in my checking account and my credit cards, not to mention my savings.