Surreal Estate Part Two

I'm definitely going to lose my deposit. It's a crushing blow to an otherwise crappy year. The contigency contract was written in such a way that I had no wiggle room.
I either had to go ahead with a crappy loan and a house that was too expensive for me, and lose it when I couldn't get refinanced, or back out and lose $15,000.

Please learn from my mistakes. Here's some advice.

Don't trust anyone in real estate.
Not your agent, not your loan broker - no one. Everyone has a vested interest. In fact, it's an industry that's riddled with conflict of interest. The agent doesn't want you to buy a house you can afford because it affects their commission. Same thing with your loan broker.

Check out this link: http://www.hughchou.org/calc/howmuch.cgi
This will help you figure out how much of a house and mortgage you can really handle.

The days of interest-only, no documentation loans are over boys and girls.
What kills me is that I had documentation. I have a good job, a good salary and I had the downpayment and I still got screwed. Partly because I didn't do the due diligence. I trusted people to do that for me. I will never enter into another real estate deal unless I have an real estate attorney look over everything first.

Be smarter than me...and watch your back.