Talk about egg on my face!
Last week, I misread a news release from FHA and the OFHEO which arrived in my in-box the same day. Being the news hound that I am --I contacted several other Brokers and Loan Officers who all agreed this was stunning news. The implications of lowered loan limits in our area was serious. While FHA limits have been lowered in our area, I had confused this with the Conventional Fannie/Freddie limits for 2009.
Surprisingly, not one person corrected me. By my confusing myself first, I further took the incredible stupid initiative to publish this on Active Rain and email my Real Estate partners. YIKES!
According to my listing on the Active Rain Mortgage Blog, some 224 Active Rainers did read that blog, and five commented. I was just so sure of the information. In my defense, which is pretty thin, it seems that I had two charts open at once in my browser. Not to make excuses. Bad information is after all...BAD INFORMATION. To the folks I mislead --that chart I published was actually the FHA Loan limits. NOT Conventional. Naturally the raised limits in counties like King, Snohomish and Pierce (around Seattle) are great news for borrowers in those areas. I have corrected my blog to read "FHA 2009 Limits". I just sent out an apology and retraction to my local Realtor network. I just hope I haven't lost any respect among you.
I am particularly humbled by spreading wrong bad news and contributing to fear and panic! After all, it seems we get bad news in our world every day lately. That said, it is very hard to explain how downgrading our FHA limit is serving consumers. I asked one local retail banker about it (she didn't correct me either) and her reaction was: "Well it is probably a good thing to help force home prices down". I failed to see her point: maybe that idea would be good for consumers but certainly not for sellers and banks holding those higher priced loans. Buyers who don't qualify for FHA limits might be be forced to private investors...and there we go again. Certainly we will all be adjusting our sights with this in mind.
This lesson in humility for me demonstrates the cost of being a little too reactive. I am very relieved that I realized the mistake and have the opportunity to correct myself. Have others had this experience here? Either other mortgage professionals are very polite or no one else was affected by my misreporting.
A thousand apologies are in order. Thanks for your understanding. And here's to GOOD NEWS --wherever we find it!
I am Guilty of Fearmongering!
Via Susan Templeton:
1 comment • Chris Farkas • November 27 2008 08:31PMComments
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Chris,
It is amazing how easy it is to make an error. I had years in journalism and still, sometimes, realize I had some fact out of place. The thing is, in the old days, only pros could get their material before the masses -- tv, radio, newspaper, etc. Now, we all can and the new blogger is in the steep learning curve. Whenever anything weird or bad happens to me, in my field, I always try to make something good come from it. What I do is take steps to make sure that I never fall into that one again. That makes me feel better and helps longterm. I look forward to working with you sometime in the field here in Bellingham.