Here’s a little tidbit you might find interesting. Fully 30% of all appraisals I complete return a lower value opinion than as envisioned by the borrowers. Would you care to guess how often it prevents them from completing their transaction? I’ll give you a hint, it’s nowhere close to 30%. Many people will do whatever they have to do in order to close their sales, even in the face of a preponderance of information to the contrary. They’ll come up with extra cash to bridge the gap, they’ll shop lenders for more permissive financing terms, they’ll shop for appraisers until they find one who will rubber stamp the deal, and in general they’ll go to whatever lengths they deem necessary to achieve their goals regardless of how many times they hear the word “no”.

If you’re saying the people should be better informed before they make these decisions, I agree. If you’re saying people should heed the advice provided to them by the professionals, I agree. The question here is whether it is incumbent on the government or the different professions to embark on such an educational endeavor, and if they did would any of the information atually sink in. Heck – people play the lottery even though they know their chances of winning are small, what makes you think they’d allow professional counsel to override their own hunches and the advice of their buddies? It just wouldn’t happen, and no amount of “it SHOULD be” is going to change that.