[Rick Lee]

I made a career switch in July to return to the mortgage biz and work for one of my best friends. Things started out pretty well and my first commission check was much more than I ever made in a month at my previous job. Now the subprime wholesale world has been rocked to its foundations and things are sucking very badly. A lot of our competitors have closed up shop and my company has just done away with our flagship products and raised our already high prices. They laid off a lot of inside folks and more is coming next week. I figure they won't touch sales folks like me, but things are getting so tough that many of us will have to quit. Well, at least those who weren't making huge money for the last few years and can't make it another 6 mos. without a paycheck.

Today I had lunch with my old boss, who is really trying to get me to come back. The old company was bought out by our only competition, so now they're pretty much a monopoly with a huge company to support them. Everyone there is making a lot more money now and he said I could even work from home. This is very tempting.

Anway, who else out there in the mortgage biz is having a tough couple of months? I know this time of year is bad even in a good market. But it seems extra super bad now. Correct?