The Federal Reserve will be making their move today - My question to the Rainers - What do you think they will do?  I have my own opinion - you can read it here but I want to hear from others in the industry.  Will Ben Bernanke knock one out of the park or will he just ground out to first?  

A couple of articles about the damage of foreclosures.  It is an awful thing for one to loose their home.  We all sympathize and I am sure it is tough to truly understand unless you have walked a mile in their shoes.  

I wrote a couple of articles about how those same foreclosures can really damage everyone around them.

First - this is how a foreclosures can hurt a resort area and their rental market.  

Second - this is how a foreclosure can hurt all of the neighbors.  

I have a lot of buyers interested in picking up "great deals" - those foreclosures that are selling for pennies on the dollar.  I have not seen that in our local area.  

Did I mention they were free?

The Outer Banks Association of Realtors Technology Committee met this week and it was suggested we put together our list of free technology tools.  It was actually pretty tough only picking 10 - I cheated - the beauty of having your own blog.  Here is my list - I would like to hear some feedback from fellow rainers.  Please include your favorite program in the comments.  

 

Probably not - not even sure if they still have the short buses.  It has been a long time since I was in school.  But if you come to the Outer Banks - there is a short bus you will definitely want to ride.  Actually it is like a mashup between a short bus and a monster truck.  They will give eco tours in the 4WD areas up north.  You can find more details and links to their site here.

A Federal Judge in Elizabeth City got fed up with dealing with rowdy drivers on the Cape Hatteras National Seashore - so he condemned driving on the beach.  The national park service is not really accepting the Judges word as the gospel so they are still allowing motorist to cruise (except for turtle nesting areas and piping plover nesting areas).  You can read all of the juicy details and even link to a local message board to see what others have to say.

I am scared to make a prediction so I will just report the facts.  The mortgage bond has improved today - remember when the bond goes up, rates go down (green is good).  Retail sales numbers are due on Friday - lets hope inflation stays in check.  Ben Bernanke stated again today the the fed is watching core inflation (which excludes energy and food) as the measure on how the fed will react towards inflation.  

O.K. 

All of you weekend warriors.  How you you clean your grill?  Are you even supposed to clean your grill?  The folks at Lifehacker have an easy tip on how to easily clean your grill with aluminum foil.   This is the MacGyver tip of the week.  Happy clean grilling for everyone over the weekend.    

Firefox 3 is now in beta testing.  For those that haven't tried firefox for your internet browsing - you should.  Firefox revolutionized the browser world and it continues to evolve as the premier program for surfing the internet.  Tabbed browsing is something to behold.  I currently have 8 tabs open (six every time I fire up firefox).  Tabs allow you to flip back and forth between programs you use frequently.  This would allow Realtors to have the MLS in one tab, AR in another and their email client in a third.  

What browser do you currently use?   

Today at 8:30 ET the payroll numbers will be released.  Estimates are that 125,000 to 128,000 new jobs will be reported.  Some are estimating the numbers will come in around 140,000 which would have a negative impact on rates.  ADP reported higher than expected numbers but their private estimates are not always a good predictor for the  Jobs numbers.  We will know in just 90 minutes.  

The folks over at WellcomeMat created a graph on housing prices in a very creative way.  The ups and downs are shown as a roller coaster ride.  The prices are shown from 1890 through 2007.  While I really appreciate their creativity - the visual is pretty scary.  While I am not afraid of heights, my first impression was that we are going to have a fast ride down.  Check it out and see if the visual gives you the same impression.