Comments on: WaMu may have to sell branches to stay afloat

By: David Weldon

David Weldon — Mon, 15 Sep 2008 09:49:43 +0000

As a Real Estate agent, working daily to try and sell REO's – I offer the following…BANKS and the “servicing” companies they have hired are making it much worse than it would be, they are taking huge losses that could be avoided, primarily by trying to sell real estate without listening to real estate professionals. The “bankers” think they know more about selling real estate….obviously they didn't even know enough about making loans, now they are wrecking the real estate business, by getting more involved than they would have to.

By: JD

JD — Sun, 14 Sep 2008 23:48:38 +0000

It was a little discomforting seeing a 5.00% 13-month deposit being offered for the last week…doesn't take a smart one to figure that out…I see a large bank taking over that doesn't have a large presence in the west…Chase maybe?

By: morganb

morganb — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:02:14 +0000

I'm sure the meetings will go late in to the night and through the weekend. These businesses deserve to fail. Bear Stearns got lucky by being the first one. The rest won't be so lucky.

By: morganb

morganb — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 03:01:13 +0000

I agree Fielding – they are the poster-child for poor risk management. Period.

By: Ann

Ann — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 00:09:10 +0000

According to WSJ the secret talks have begun..no suprise there..with FED, FDIC and key wall street executives..sure the topic will be 1)WAMU and 2)Leman…love to be that fly on the way!

By: Mike Sweeney

Mike Sweeney — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 18:07:34 +0000

The combination of option arms and their massive expanison of retail branches is finally catching up to them.

By: Fielding Mellish

Fielding Mellish — Fri, 12 Sep 2008 14:15:10 +0000

Sorry to all of the innocent employees, but WaMu deserves anything that befalls them for having been the big promoter of Option ARMs, which, whatever their supposed merits, were, in most cases, sold to borrowers by glossing over the way they worked. Borrowers would ask about rate caps & be answered with payment caps. Borrowers who knew enough to ask about the current index value were answered with a lagging index (making it look better than it really was in a rising rate environment). The product was so open to being sold deceptively that it's hard to imagine it wasn't crafted for that very purpose. Greed brought them down. Good riddance.