entrepreneur I
haps a more realistic percentage is between 60 and 70 percent.” And while MacLeod is a firm believer in private sector initiative (“I was a big fan of Reagan”) he believes that a return to healthy and sane housing markets depends mightily upon government backing, support and leadership. “No one wants the taxpayer to be left holding the bag, but the size of the housing market is so big that it requires some kind of government involvement. And if we do make changes in the way the government participates in residential financing, we must decide how to handle the transition.” Housing finance and mortgage crises come in cycles, and MacLeod said the current unsavory situation “will sort itself out. Credit standards are stricter, but “don’t ask, don’t tell mortgage loans” are long gone, he said. “But, I’d hate to see us go too far on credit restrictions,” he added. “I think the pendulum has swung too far, and mortgage loans are too difficult to make. Lenders lend; that’s what we do. We need to find equilibrium. When we put people in their own homes, we must help them stay in their homes; losing a home is as devastating as a loss in the family or a divorce.” Despite the housing markets’ and financial collapses’ shattering effects on the country’s confidence, MacLeod remains optimistic: He sees the pain local families and single people — many who are first-time homeowners — are going through and tries to look at the positive angles. “You must consider that though your home’s value has gone down, maybe from $200,000 to $120,000, you still are getting the utility value out of it. You still live there. And its value will return.” M
“I think the pendulum has swung too far, and mortgage loans are too difficult to make. Lenders lend; that’s what we do. We need to find equilibrium.”
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