For whatever reason, I decided to google "no doc home loan".

I knew what was coming. It wasn't "fun", but did offer some hindsight. I did NOT see a bank ad seeking, "pulse only"- rather, nicely written explanations of available loan instruments, with one sentence including, "no income verification for those that cannot properly document income"- dated late 2006.

Having been in a new home arena in 2006-2007, I missed the pulse party, because my customer profile paid cash for retirement condos in NY- never did see an over-55 get a loan (their properties were going wild in the beginning)...

It's got to be a crazy ride for real estate agents that began their careers in such an environment- how on earth is a "new" (2004 and newer) person supposed to have a really good feel for right/wrong when so much was force fed as "acceptable practice" when determining exactly who COULD buy a home?

On the OTHER side of such an odd entry into the market, it would seem that it's time for the NAR and local chapters to initiate, for the uninitiated, the RIGHT* way to conduct a real estate transaction- without a major injection of education for the less seasoned (and not neccessarily unethical by nature) the industry could lose good people unable to figure out this "new" (old) market.

I'm talking less about force-feeding transaction ethics than I am about really familiarizing agents with loan programs that will achieve closings in a market that demands far more than a "pulse".

A good real estate agent having entered the market at a heady time must understand, as we crash land, that unqualified buyers submitting offers (and potentially frustrating a frustrated seller, in addition to the potential of GOOD buyers on the same property) will result in more chaos...and we've all had enough chaos.

BUYERS NEED TO BE AT THE BRINK OF FULL APPROVAL BEFORE SUBMITTING OFFERS.

Take your time, as a real estate agent, gathering what works within your own level of competence- take all the time that you need to establish that what you "have" is, indeed, a buyer for a seller. 

*Right is subjective- whatever the climate dictates is not "wrong", if legal. Ethical is a different cat, where common sense is considered a paramount element.