I’ve been feeling nervous this week. I’m normally not the nervous type, but the need for a bailout and the house shutting the bailout bill down on Monday, had me on edge. The uncertainty and panic in the markets were bad enough, but the big worry was what was going to happen next? I spoke with a banker friend and he said they hadn’t cut back on their lending, but he was feeling uneasy, too. I called a couple I’ve been working with who were all set to make an offer on a home, and they said they’d changed their minds. With the economy as uncertain as it was, they felt safer on the sidelines.
Over the last week I’ve spent more time online, reading financial and economics blogs and trying to get an idea of what this bailout would mean to the economy, and the mortgage and housing market. The concensus was that no one really knows. Some thought this would make things worse, others thought this would be the spark needed to get the credit markets moving again. Either way, unemployment is rising so it will take a while before we get through this.
Besides spending more time online, worrying, I had more conversations with coworkers who were also worried. It’s nicer if you can worry in a group. It feels better than worrying alone and the conversation helps you pass the time. With all my time spent talking with coworkers and reading about what might or might not happen, I wasn’t getting as much done as I normally do. I also wasn’t making as many follow up calls because it was clear to me that if I was nervous, everyone was nervous, and so it wasn’t worth the effort.
But not everyone got the message. I was still getting calls and emails from prospects looking for a refinance or a mortgage pre-approval. In fact, I had about the same new prospects and as many new meetings as I have been averaging over the last month. Talking with a prospective first time home buyer today, he said he had been thinking about buying this Spring, but with home prices down like they are, he doesn’t see the sense in waiting.
I’m still not sure how all of this is going to turn out, but I’m going to try my best to relax and take it as it comes. There is not much I can do to change the over all economy, but there will still be people who want to buy new homes and home owners who want better terms on their mortgages. If I don’t sabotage myself with worry, I know that I will get my share.
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