Geezer, I've got two friends who are real estate agents, but one resigned about 6 weeks ago. It's amazing to hear how frank and honest he is about the state of the property market AFTER he quit.
When he was still an agent, I would quite often ask him his opinion on the state of the property market from his perspective, and I would always get the usual sugar coater one-liners. Even as a friend in an off-the-record casual conversation - he was still very guarded with his honest opinion. I can only put it down to the brain-washed conditioning that they are subjected to, and thus naturally try to pass onto others.
But since he quit he's let it all spill out, and it's very refreshing to hear him tell all. He has some of the most bearish views on property of anyone I know. And you should hear about some of the outrageous tricks they use throughout the sales process, but that's for another day.
As for your comment about the Government potentially supporting the smug property investors who chose to put themselves in too much debt in their quest for riches - well, as a taxpayer, would you support this?
Would you physically take money out of your own wallet and hand it over to someone who was trying to make money for themselves and only themselves, but failed? These investors failed because they were intellectually incapable of predicting what could happen to the property market. They are to blame for their mistakes and no one should come to their aid.
These people certainly wouldn't give you any money if you were caught in a pickle, so why should we look after them now? Let them suffer hard. They made bad decisions - they have to pay. Kids got no food on the table - too bad. At least they will learn never to speculate on residential property like their clever parents did.
