Life isn’t perfect and it’s definitely not fair. But that doesn’t mean that we all can’t wish for things to be different.

Obviously, a majority of people in the industry wish things could be a little bit different right now. It seems like people focus more on the bad instead of the good – tight credit, uneducated and unprofessional agents, accurate appraisal challenges and discrimination in the industry are just a few things we need to “fix” that we touch on in this issue.

But too often, everyone seems to focus on the negative. What about the positive side to today’s industry now? Yes, there is a positive side. For example, it’s a buyer’s market, as one of our cover models, Tamara O’Connor points out on page 14. Business is still good for a lot of agents; buyers need agents more than ever right now when it comes to knowledge about the market and to help them find a house right now, while affordability is high.

Tight credit, while a huge issue, is not all bad, Ernie Losch, a mortgage loan officer with Fifth Third, insists in our cover story. “In reality, credit guidelines are still very reasonable,” he says. “Conventional, FHA and VA loans are still obtainable.” Curious about this? Read what he has to say on page 16.

Other issues are a bit more complex and require a bit more to help solve – moving REO inventory, discrimination within the industry and giving Realtors a more expansive, useful education, for example – but hopefully, if everyone pitches in to do their part and help, we can be closer to overcome these issues. Yes, even big issues like moving foreclosures off the market. There may not be agreement about how and when, but there is agreement that it will happen in the next few years.

Do you agree with the proposed solutions to the industry’s biggest issues in our cover story? Would you have suggested a different solution? Email me your comments: editor@chicago.staging312.com.