Finding Hidden Buyers - 09/29/08 05:05 PM
While most Realtors® are aware of creative ways to reach potential buyers, it sometimes helps to review the options. And for those homeowners who choose to “go it alone,” the following may be helpful.
1. Tell all your friends, relatives, and business associates about your plans to sell. They may know of someone moving into the area.
2. Use the Internet. There are numerous web sites that will list home for little or no charge. Use several sites. For those that allow pictures, submit the best and most flattering you can take. Marketing a home without the help of the Internet … (4 comments)

Buy? Sell? Run? What's the Answer? - 09/29/08 01:29 PM
The House rejects the bailout bill. The bill would have shored up banking and financial institutions, but provided little additional relief to homeowners. Under the proposal, the Treasury Department would begin buying troubled mortgage related securities from banks and other financial institutions. Wall Street would be saved from more embarrassment. Other beneficiaries would be those businesses and individuals seeking to borrow money.
 
What the bill didn’t do is correct the fundamental problems that began this crisis. Houses will continue to decline in value. Homeowners who have lost their homes or those facing foreclosure will see little or no benefit, and … (2 comments)

Political Games - 09/27/08 04:38 PM
(I tried positng this earlier, but had problems. Forgive me if it shows up twice)
Washington is still playing politics, and this time our very financial future depends upon their actions. Lawmakers are doing more political posturing than making constructive progress towards rescuing the financial markets. I’m not being pessimistic;
 
I’m being realistic when I say disaster is near. The market for short term paper has virtually come to a halt, and businesses can't find sources for needed capital. Banks are struggling to remain solvent. Consumers are beginning to panic—not unlike 1929—and are withdrawing record amounts of money from banks. … (1 comments)

Is the USA Still #1? - 09/27/08 11:15 AM
When I read the current news, watch TV and review some of the blogs posted I'm concerned about our ability to solve the serious problems our country faces.  The current financial crisis, oil prices, and the collapse of the housing market are the beginning signs of the decline of the United States as the preeminent world power. The shift has begun, and while we probably will not see another superpower such as the USA in the years to come; what we will see is the rise of several countries to prominence in different areas.
 
The growth of China cannot be … (15 comments)

It's All Relative - 09/26/08 06:50 PM
This morning I received a call from a friend in Florida. “I just need someone to tell me it will be alright,” he said. “Cheer me up.” I tried to tell him that everything will work out, but I know he’s on the brink of losing his home. I hope things will work out for him.
 
But I reminded him that there’s always someone whose situation is dramatically worse than ours, regardless of how bad things may seem. It’s always relative.
 
This afternoon I called to check on a friend who recently discovered he has cancer. His wife … (6 comments)

Complaining About the Bailout - 09/25/08 02:35 PM
We can complain that the bailout is bad or believe that it is the only way for our economy to recover, but that’s only wasting saliva. The fact is: the government will pass a bailout bill in the next couple of days. We don’t have to agree and we don’t have to like it. They’re not asking for our opinion.
 
What we can do is to do the best job we can do to conduct our personal business with as much integrity and common sense as possible, and we must send those to Washington that will protect the resources of … (4 comments)

A Paradigm Shift - 09/24/08 07:00 PM
There’s nothing typical about the current housing market, but these are not typical times. Home prices are falling. Foreclosures are at all time highs. Financial markets are collapsing. How will those of us in the construction and real estate business survive?
 
It’s simple. We can no longer conduct business as usual. Techniques and methods that worked three years ago won’t cut it today. Although it may sound trite, what we’re experiencing is a paradigm shift—a shift of monumental proportions.
 
When the Swiss watchmakers were first shown the quartz watch at a watchmaker’s exposition in 1962, they all looked … (3 comments)

Recession? Depression? What the Heck is This Anyway? - 09/23/08 02:43 PM
Many are looking at our current financial crisis and asking if we are not already in or are heading into a depression, and the so-called experts all have an answer. The problem is, they don’t agree. It’s easy to find some of the financial or political pundits who will tell us that, for all practical purposes, our country has already slipped into a depression; and for the average person it’s difficult to understand just what that means. If we look only to the factors by which we measure the economy, we’re not even in a recession, but our rational mind tells … (1 comments)

What Homeowners can Expect from the Financial Crisis - 09/22/08 09:50 PM
As the government struggles to bring stability to the financial markets, homeowners are wondering what the effect will be upon them. Those who are near foreclosure want to know if they will be allowed to remain in their homes, and those who need to sell their home are concerned about the downward spiral in home prices. The bottom line is: the recent crisis will touch everyone.
 
In the short term, government intervention will seem to have a positive effect. The long-term outlook, however, is much more unsure. Initially, home prices will see little impact from the influx of federal funds; … (6 comments)

 

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