Few people have commented on how large a role greed has played in the real estate market in the last couple of years. First, it drove prices sky high, even in places known for their "affordability." Owners viewed selling their homes as the equivalent to winning the lottery.

Realtors jumped on board, too. Starry-eyed folks lined up to get licenses as though their certificates were plated with real gold. Can't leave out the mortgage brokers. Regardless of how well they're doing, as soon as a deal closes, their income is zero again. The hunt for someone to buy a house or refinance starts all over again. We've already talked about how investors and stock jocks jumped into the muck.

Each player in the drama was counting on a big markup. (Were there no money in it, homebuyers would have no one to walk them through the process.) Greed all along the way.

Teresa Boardman pointed out how far off center that can take one. Teresa is considered the real estate blogging queen and was honored as one of the top 12 women real estate bloggers for 2007. I love it when they talk about the numbers, such as credit history, what you need to know about mortgage lenders, and so on, as Teresa does.

But it was her blog on Jillian Lehn that really intrigued me. Jillian was a title company executive–the person who helps all the parties close the deal. The impartial party. Jill helped some buyers and sellers and Realtors cut deals in which the buyer walked away with cash in the pocket.

That's not a problem unless the lender doesn't know the buyer is taking $60,000 to buy an RV that will immediately depreciate in value while the lender thinks the entire loan is going into the "real" estate which will, presumably, appreciate.