Some Foreclosure Buyers Feel Guilty
Foreclosure guilt is affecting some people who can afford to buy low-cost properties even though friends and family haven’t been so lucky.
As Anya Sanko who bought a foreclosure in Las Vegas says, there's a hard-to-shake worry that "you're capitalizing off of somebody else's misfortune."
Some people dismiss this as unwarranted drama, but Santa Fe psychologist Sylvia Lafair thinks that “there is a guilt of survivorship that is real.”
Lafair has provided counseling for real estate practitioners who say clients express this concern.
Lafair recommends that people ease their pain by doing something kind for those less fortunate. “My recommendation is that when you're moving, take (your) old stuff and say, 'Do I really need this?' and give it to a shelter or the Salvation Army. One way to balance the guilt is to do something to be gracious," she says.
Source: USA Today, Steve Friess (08/27/2009)
http://www.realtor.org/rmodaily.nsf/pages/News2009082804
IMHO: Anyone with a heart and soul would have a feeling for another human being, a family who have suffered or are suffering from the loss of their homes and and part of their livelihood.
As an agent who is very busy and who is showing these REO and Short Sale properties to clients over and over again in this last year; I have an overwhelming and mixed emotion regarding the whole situation.
Everytime I show a home to my client, I usually feel so sad that a family used to live there and called it their home. One can not try to NOT to feel it.
However I am also doing my job for my client by trying to find the best home with the best price and the best location for them. If that home is the one they like then I will help them attain it.
Not to be selfish but I justified my feeling by telling myself and a few of my good clients (who are now my friends) that no mattter how sad I am for the past owners, now I am bringing a new family and a new joy and happiness to the home.
Peace & Love to all.
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