We have all had enough time to be able to look back and really start to see what has gotten our country in the condition it is now. Greed, poor decisions, over spending on every ones part, heads in the sand mentality etc. etc. etc.

There is a scientific principle that has held true that for every action there is an opposite and equal reaction. If that is true....................

We need to start to think and dwell in that reaction. We can and we are capable of evolving and changing to meet the needs of today. Even in the way we conduct our real estate  business. I suggest thinking outside the box on an everyday basis. The ideas may not come immediately, but they will come if this is where we put our energy. I see too many people, to include me, dwelling on what has gotten us to this point. The reality is that it was so huge, so incorrect, so devastating, that most of us are still in shock mode thinking "how the heck did all this transpire and where the heck did I fit into all this mess? It is a good thing to take a personal inventory and own what you need to own so that you can grow as a person --- I want to offer this to you---

Lets start to think of all the ways we can positively, equally react to the actions and reality of today.

I live in the Hudson Valley of upstate New York. Our area is starting to get very involved in the "Green" movement. Many companies are springing up here and I see many groups, think tanks evolving in our area. A Realtor that I know has just ventured out with a former client to open a "Green" home energy company to meet the needs of local home owners. He was open to grow and saw the opportunity in the new products and saw its relativity to our environment, our economy etc. and I am sure he could perceive his way of not only contributing to this world but adding a way for him to support his family. Another avenue of income. So in my opinion he evolved into someone who now is reacting to what has happened in a totally positive way.

WHAT CAN WE DO???

It is time to put our thinking caps on! Join or form think tanks, get involved in our community like we never have before. Think out of the box, in the box, around the box, in the vicinity of the box.  Think, think, think.  Then do, Look for the opportunity, it is there, it just might be in a form we don't yet realize.

THE ACTION HAS HAPPENED ALREADY-WE ARE IN THE REACTION PHASE!

Don't dwell in the past, the past is like a canceled check, don't fret about tomorrow, tomorrow is only a promissory note, stay in today, today is cash on hand, today is all we have, what can I do today to make this a positive reaction day!

This great quote was, of course penned by Zig Zigler, I read him years ago and loved what he had to say.  I think this saying is very profound.  Short and to the point.  I am sure you have listened to someone either trying to sell you something or convince to join some group, etc. etc..  I could listen and not be moved UNTIL i saw that component-----caring----.  Once I saw how much they cared I could become more interested.

I think if you come from a place of caring, of thinking of the other person, of wanting to listen to what they have to say, you, yourself will be heard.

Applying this to our business is of the upmost importance.  I believe human beings are hungering for this.  Our world has become a self centered me world with less and less caring about our fellow human beings. 

So here is to caring and letting them know that you do! 

I live in Ulster County in the hudson Valley section of upstate New York. I wanted to talk about a Not for profit organization  in my neighborhood that is making a Diference in our area.  This company helps first time home buyers, they help people into section eight housing, they council home owners that are facing foreclosure and help clients hold unto their homes and make their mortgage payments. They have also taken old dilapitated buildings and restored them and added to the beauty of the area.  I have a good friend who is a Vietnam vet who bought a home about six years ago.  Due to being exposed to agent orange he recently has gotten so ill he will have to go on kidney dialysis weekly and so has had to move closer to a VA hospital and his home was in jeopardy of foreclosing.  This company not only counseled him and talked with the banks representatives but got him a lawyer PRO BONO who is helping him affect a short sale.  This is just one of three situations  that I know of recently that RUPCO has been involved in that has affected a positive result.  I can only imagine the many others.

What I really like about this organization is that they do not look for the lime light.  They humbly go about their business doing great things for their community and the people in that community.  I just wanted to take some time and put to pen my deep appreciation for this organization and the people that are a part of it.

MY HAT IS OFF TO YOU RUPCO.  I am glad you are in my neighborhood.

When a house sells there are many many people who benefit from the sale of that house. From the

Realtor and the bank and the respective attorneys to the electric company, gas company, grocery stores

who are now supplying the food to the new homeowner to the insurance company who has written the policy

for that home. I could go on and on but I think you understand what I am trying to convey. So this integral

piece to the puzzle of our economy must be in place in order for the cycle to move. I was very glad and

relieved to hear that our government has not only extended but has also expanded the tax credit to

people who have owned their homes for at least five years as this helps the home owner who has owned a

first home to put it up for sale and then buy up to his next house therefore allowing a new home buyer to

buy his house and he will move on to buy another home. /This will feed a lot of people. We are all

connected and affected by what we do. If everyone could just really get that and do the next right things,

well

could you imagine?

I hate to remember last November but I do remember last November.  I was scared, worried, and completely quiet in the way of customers or clients.  All the financial woes were rearing their ugly heads and nobody was certain where the economy or our country was going----

Today I feel hopeful and grateful that I made it through the year.  My company has been very supportive of us through this period of time and has been constantly giving us food for thought to help our business.  I am happy to say that I am getting new people from my web site, my companies web site and my warm market.  This time of the year when it usually starts to slow down, it is not so slow I think in part to the extended and expanded first time home buyers credit.

It definitely is different.  I have observed , as in life, that the people who were able to adapt have done ok and the people who were unable or unwilling to adapt are gone.

The lesson in the experience for me has been "when you get lemons make lemonade".  "When you are not sure how to make lemonade, refer to the directions"

I am very grateful this year to also be a member of Active Rain.  I must say that a large part of my encouragement came from posts I have read that inspired me or comforted me or challenged me.  Thank you Active Rain family for all your support

just saw a listing on our MLS with a cap rate of 8%. Now I am sure that pretty much everyone that might

be reading this blog knows what they are getting for their money in cd's and t bonds etc. So why is this

listing still on the market? If the owner is correct and this is truly giving a cap rate of 8% where are the

 investors. The thing with real estate is, everyone needs to live somewhere just like everyone produces

garbage and everyone leaves this earth at sometime. That is why those respective businesses are usually

good to get into. So why has this listing, in a great location not sold. You tell me!

It's funny that several years ago when the feeding frenzy on real estate was with us and the prices were rising and rising you couldn't stop someone from buying real estate, fighting in bidding wars and now with prices down, rates at historical lows and a great $8,000 tax credit being given, people are sitting on the fence wondering what to do.

Donald Trump said it on TV the other night.  This is the best time to buy real estate!  So what is everyone across our country experiencing?  What price point is selling?  What great tools are agents using in behalf of their clients.  What is your experience with short sales and foreclosures.  I would like to know. 

Sharing is everything.

Finally someone talking about a four percent mortgage rate

http://www.foxbusiness.com/video-search/m/21829995/4-5-mortgages-a-possibility.htm

This is a link from Fox Business News.

We need to get everyone included in this. Refinancing, new homes, homes in trouble. If we want to get a real stimulus going we need to do just what they are talking about in this video.

We, as Realtors, need to talk about this to everyone we can talk to. The gentleman in this video , a banker is talking about how the banks are at capacity in the filings of refinancing. Sooooo maybe you will need to hire some more people to fill the need to respond to all these refinancings and new home purchases with a mortgage rate of 4%. Imagine giving jobs to people to help people move money. What a concept.

What do you think?

A couple of days ago I copied an articfle which I thought was not only interesting but positive for our industry.  Now I see this article which I have copied also which leads me to this question:

JUST WHO CAN WE BELIEVE WHEN IT COMES TO STATISTICS?

The existing home sales data which was released to the market earlier was a "half empty, half full" set of data. The market seemed to take it as just full and left the empty part behind.

Home resale rates rose 5.1% in February to an annual rate of 4.72 million, according to the National Association of Realtors. In the same breath, the organization said 45% of the activity was foreclosures or short sales.  Because of the huge discount that most buyers get when they buy homes in foreclosure, the average price of a house fell 15.5% to $165,400.

The increase in the rate of home sales was viewed by many as the beginning of a bottom in the housing market. The slide of nearly three years has been blamed for a great deal of the collapse in the banking and credit systems.
But the rise in sales does not represent a bottom at all. It is more likely that any movement of buyers into the market will cause desperate sellers to offer homes at lower and lower prices rather than hold onto houses that they cannot afford and may not make money on even if they could hold them for another decade.

Most data that the government and national business associations will put out over the next several quarters is likely to appear two-edged, at least at first. Housing prices cannot go to zero, so, at some point, the rate at which home values are dropping will slow. Resale rates may go up, but buying homes which have been in foreclosure for months is an incorporeal piece of information. If buyers start to purchase homes on the normal economic basis of being a transaction between private buyer and private seller then the market will have something to celebrate.

The rise in the dual nature of data is where the analyst's ability to forecast gets more difficult. When unemployment, consumer confidence, GDP, manufacturing, and capital expenditures are all falling simultaneously, it is hard to find optimists, but they will grab even the slightest bit of ambiguous information and claim that the recovery is underway.

In the next quarter, the rate at which people are losing their jobs may slow, but average wages will probably drop sharply at the same time. The effect of fewer people losing jobs while those who are working make less is no clear sign that the economic world is getting better. GDP numbers which are significantly influenced by dangerous trends in inventories like the Q4 2008 figure defy clear interpretation.

Recently analysts covering the manufacturing sector said that so many factories are shut here and overseas that the businesses are eating through inventories. That is being interpreted as good news because once inventories move close to zero, factories will have to increase production to replace them. That analysis glosses over two possibilities. The first is that the economy is bad enough that inventories may not drop at expected rates. Low demand may cause them to decrease much more slowly. That could push back a renewal of manufacturing activity for months. It is also possible that some factories will simply be out of business and the sources of goods for replacing dwindling inventories will have gone away. The normal supply chain in some industries may be severely disrupted in a way that will take several quarters to repair. Retooling or replacing factories is unlikely to be a quick process.

From the middle of last year until a month or so ago, the interpretation of almost all economic information was negative because the data was unidirectional. That is changing. There are sign posts which point in two directions. It is likely that neither road sign is entirely right. In many cases both are wrong and making predictions about how the recession is going actually becomes more difficult and not less.

As per Ken Sweet of Fox News on Monday March 23, 2009:

The number of existing homes sold in February unexpectedly rose last month, an industry trade organization said Monday, as distressed home sales continued to remain the dominant force in the nation's impaired housing market.

According to the National Association of Realtors, the number of homes sold rose 5.1% to a seasonally-adjusted rate of 4.72 million units in February up from 4.49 million annualized units.

The jump in sales was much better than what economists had predicted, who were expecting existing home sales to fall to 4.45 million units. The data helped boost stocks broadly, pushing the Dow Jones Industrial Average up nearly 300 points.

While the increased sale of homes is a welcome sign to Wall Street -- as many believe that the housing will eventually lead the nation's economy out of this recession -- the bulk of February's sales were distressed purchases. The average price for a home sold was $165,400, down 15.5% from a year ago.

"Because entry level buyers are shopping for bargains, distressed sales accounted for 40% to 45% of the transactions in February," said NAR's chief economist Lawrence Yun in a statement.

As it has been for the past couple months, existing home sales were stronger in the West than the rest of the nation -- primarily in the struggling housing market of California. Existing home sales in the region were up 2.6% from a month ago to 1.2 million annualized units, and are up 30.4% from a year ago.

In the Northeast, sales rose 15.6% to an annualized rate of 740,000 units and are down 14.9% from a year ago. In the Midwest, sales were basically flat -- up 1% -- to 1.04 million units.

In the struggling Southern market, existing home sales rose 6.1% to an annualized rate of 1.74 million units, according to the trade organization.

I read posts of Realtors in  California and several feel that their market is bottoming out.  We are usually about three months behind California as per my oberservations so can that mean that we are bottoming out and on our way to leveling off?

What do you think?  This weekend our office's phone was busy and we had walk ins.  A great sign.