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Real estate market bust 'everyone's fault'
As the Fairfax County real estate market continues to tremble, many shocked homeowners are looking to place the blame.
One real estate agent knows exactly where to point.
"It is everyone's fault that we let this happen," said Casey Margenau, a Vienna-based RE/MAX real estate agent.
Homeowners who overextended themselves and didn't fully understand what they were signing now have their hands tied. Homeowners aren't the only ones to blame, Margenau said. Ethical issues "started at the top and worked [their] way down. Greed was at every level."
Margenau faults real estate agents who had profit shares with title and mortgage companies in controlled business arrangements.
"It's kind of like a monopoly," he said. "But it's vertically integrated."
Many homeowners signed mortgage agreements that were designed to fail because they were sold "on the premise that real estate property value would continue to increase," which is not the case as home appraisals continue to fall, Margenau said.
Margenau attended a foreclosure auction a few weeks ago, where a majority of the 450 homes offered were sold. He said that is a sign the market is absorbing its high amount of inventory.
Auctioned houses will pay off because purchasers are buying them under the premise that they are "a long-term investment," he said, rather than a get-rich quick deal.
"In any economic downturn, there is an opportunity for smart people," Margenau said.
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