Well, the Matrix Zeppelin needed repairs, but the turmoil in the credit markets made it difficult to get a loan to make the repairs. But with the stimulus plan rebate check on its way, I decided to put the repairs on my credit card. Here’s a selection of recent comments on Matrix, whose readers cut to the chase:

* Eliminate AMC’s and their high pressure tactics. They muck up the works mostly, get the instructions wrong, order 1004’s for condo units, forget to give you a unit number, or sales contract, contact phone numbers, etc etc.

* Who has been a lender for 15 years is just a straight out liar. Terry comments that he or she has not yet to find an appraiser who will fix value. That means that he or she has tried, therefore the problem does exist. I believe Terry is just mad because now he or she will not be able to control a appraiser or appraisal value on a property. I have had on numerous occasions mortgage people call to see if I would push value. I never did and never will.

* I’ve been a table funding correspondent lender for 15 years and I’ve yet to find an appraiser who will “fix” value for me. Your premise that mortgage brokers are pushing appraisers to set value, in my opinion, means the appraiser is the one to blame, not the mortgage broker. Certainly, there are “crooks” in every aspect of every business. Maybe you should get rid of them and not penalize those that have never had an issue following the lending guidelines.

* Unless there is a minimum appraisal fee then I see more problems coming from this then good. How is the government going to order an appraisal? What would be different from whats going on with AMC’s now? They are the worst of the worst in terms of pressure and poor training. Somebody better clarify this quick because there is no such thing as a disinterested business

* When we start to see lots of job listings for asset managers and work-out professionals on monster.com et al we’ll know this thing is getting understood and we’re there. Until then we hang in

* There’s been a paradigm shift in cliches…

* the banks lent 100%+ on the appraised value of the home without looking at ANY supporting documentation. The model is flawed because it does not account for greed and dishonesty.

* As a buyer, I’d rather deal with higher interest rates and less innovative financial products along with a lower house price. My property taxes will be lower, and I can always refinance if interest rates drop in the future.

* What’s the point if they’re just going to default a few years later due to ARM resets? Note that I’m not even talking about the abuse from liar loans. If the conforming limits varied by region years ago, I would not have a problem with that. However, introducing this right now (and temporarily at that) will have the effect of prolonging the housing crisis more than necessary.

* Jon Stewart summed up the “too little too late” observation on the Daily Show last night with the following (paraphrased) quip: “Look, we know your house is in foreclosure … and you lost your job … and you don’t have health coverage. But listen, here’s $400. Take your family out to dinner at a nice restaurant and try to forget we destroyed your economy.”

* This video makes it seem like all the people who got mortgages needed to refinance or had rate adjustments. While in fact most people never needed to refinance nor did they have rate adjustments. Additionally, of those people that needed to get out of their sub-prime mortgages, a large portion were able to sell their property, which appreciated enough to yield them a hefty profit.