Vince Reed recounts how he rapidly built a small real-estate company (at one point ~30 loan officers) and then lost it during the 2008 recession. He describes the sudden market downturn—stock market collapse, banks stopping lending, widespread layoffs—and his emotional response as he closed the business.
I go off. And within like literally seven months of being in the real estate industry, I now have my own little company and, you know, 30 at one point, up to 30 loan officers and things are rolling. And then it happens. The recession hits. And I don't know if those of you can remember this time, but it just was like overnight, even though we had heard the rumors, very similar to how it is today. People, they get used to the good times and they can't believe when the bad times hit. Well, the bad times hit pretty bad. I mean, I think the stock market at one point got to like 6,000 points. Banks stopped lending. Everybody was laid off. And I mean, it was crazy. I had to close down. And I remember being the last one in the office, literally breaking down cubicles trying to figure out what the heck am I going to do.
