I think I have officially figured out why the last couple of weeks have been a little slower than normal. Since the olympics are taking place on the other side of the planet, that means the TV programming times are the problem. Is it me or do you feel somewhat unpatriotic if you try to sleep when we are about to win another gold medal? Or if you want to see the fastest human on the planet show us why we should have claimed Jamaica as a territory when we had the chance hundreds of years ago. I am not sure what real world equivelant 8 women in a long boat rowing backwards in a straight line in glass like calm water has, but dog gone it we would be the best at it. We even almost won a fencing gold, (yes the fact the France won the gold in any combat related event all be it a skinny wire coat hanger sized wand ,that's not a sword, is yet another sign of the impending apocolypse. Yes its a fact we can't hang with flipping 14 year old Chinese, sorry they are really 16 according to the Communist Chinese Government Issued Passport (riiigghhttt), or compete when the US landing with an ever so slight hop is deducted worse that a straight Chinese fall and out of bounds landing, but since when is the silver a bad thing? I would be happy with a tin foil medal. But what has this all to do with the slow real estate market lately? We are all on a tired Olympic Hangover. As anyone with the black bags under their eyes at work what they did last night at 1 am they would say I tried to go to sleep but couldnt turn the TV off. So I propose that next time in London we either do one of two things. Since we will have a leap year to justify the adjustment, move our clockes 5 hours or so to match London time, or we threaten them to start another Tea Party if they do not consider us poor Americans and our sleep patterns when scheduling the start times of the events we want to watch. Put the French Fencing team and Water Polo on at 1 am, give us our flipping, running, swimming, and dunking at prime time. (That being said when does the basketball and baseball teams play, I have not seen one game yet, if it were not for 22.5 hours of SportsCenter I would have no clue what is going on, but thats another rant.)Us real estate professionals need to make a living you know....we cant do it when we are all asleep. That being said Starbuck should be making a killing, wonder how their stock is doing?.... www.NeighborhoodBluegrass.com

Call me crazy, but am I the only one who sees this $7500 "Tax Credit" as simply a political sham? During an election year none-the-less. It it in theory good, yes, but I put it in quotations because its not a credit at all! Its really a 15 year interest free loan, that has to be paid back if the home is sold before its paid off. So is it just me or did this miss the mark for the intended beneficiary of the plan? Why because the average first time buyer only stays in the home for about 4 years, so that means only $2000 of the $7500 (assuming they got it all and paid back the suggested $500 per year) that leaves the seller with essentially a $5500 pre-payment pentalty when they sell. So goodbye appreciation equity. This will force many to stay in the home longer, which will result in less inventory = higher prices and less affordability for new first time buyers. Call me crazy because everyone in the business is trumpeting the benefits of it, there are TV ads, newspaper ads, etc. An yes it is a good thing for some people. But once again our great lawmakers have created a short term band-aid type solution to a larger scale problem. Why? Because its election year baby and thats all they care about....thats my take what is yours. www.NeighborhoodBluegrass.com

 

Weather Conspiracy

I have stumbled upon a serious and troubling conspiracy recently. It reaches the highest levels of media and consumer goods corporate titans. It has the power to reach all of us, and we hear it everyday and don't even question it or its legitimacy. It's the Weather conspiracy, more specifically the weathermen conspiracy. It works like this. Every year around December it starts and it gradually gets worse the rest of the winter, with noticeable spikes around Christmas time every year. As far as I can tell here is how it starts, one of the "titans" makes a shady backroom deal with the local weathermen, maybe at the annual weathermen holiday party or something, that profits are going to be on the low side of expectations this year, and they need to find some way to boost sales for the end of the year results, and a plan to jump start sales for the next year. So they agree to a profit sharing inducement deal that will benefit both sides. All the weathermen have to do is make sure that about every week or two, particularly around Christmas and the weekends in the winter, simply mention or hint at the chance that there may be a chance for snow or wintery weather in their 7 day long range forecast. Now they always add a disclaimer that the system is a long way out still and a lot can change depending on the actual track of the system. All this is really is a way to cover them selves, as no one holds a weatherman to his long term predictions. Then the real plan jumps into action. Unsuspecting viewers, race to the grocery stores and discount stores to grab all of the bread, milk, sidewalk salt, show shovels, kerosene, and batteries they can., just in case that 2" of snow shuts down all civilization for the next week. This phenomenon is more noticeable and effective the further south you go. I have noticed in the north it is geared more to the projected hike of heating oil costs due to a colder than normal winter, and out west it is more geared towards extreme weather conditions like floods and fire conditions being perfect. So call me crazy if you want but the next time you see a long range forecast between December 1^st and March 31^st that mentions a chance for any of the above events, keep track and see if it comes to fruition. Also watch the crowd race to the stores to spend money to prepare for the impending disaster.

You maybe wondering where in the world this came from, or how on earth does it relate to the real estate business. But then next time this scenario plays out, see how many call you get to show or list property. Then compare that to normal and I think you will see the effect on real estate also. What do you all think.....by the way as I write this it IS snowing or icing in KY and my phone has not rang all day....so maybe they are due one every now and then.

Ty B

Man if I hear one more article or broadcast about the market being so bad I may just scream. Has it slowed?Sure. Is it tough out there? Sure. But is the market bad? Not really. Are there markets out there that are woese than others? duh. But every market is different, what is happening in Lexington, KY is not the same as Las Vegas. In fact what is happening in one neighborhood in Lexington is totally different than all the rest. The real estate market can not be grouped into a broad generalization. If someone is thinking of buying a home now is the best time in a long time to do so. Why wait until the prices start to rise again? Why wait until rates go up? In fact if anyone is smart enough to predict when the prices will be at thier lowest, or highest do you think they would be on TV? or writing in the paper? Hell no they would be on the beach or swimming in their pool of money like Uncle Scrooge McDuck. Bottom line to me is (and I am putting my money where my mouth is as I am buying as many investment properties as I can right now) over the last 100 or so years what type of investment has been across the board the best, most safe, and easiest to use leverage to purchase? How many pieces of property went to zero value when the "bubble" popped? Answer virtually zero. How many internet stocks and Enron type stock investments went to zero in the early 2000's? A bunch. Not saying thats the only way to invest or that it is something that everyone should go out and buy 10 homes. But with as much existing inventory, and vacant new construction homes that area available, when has there been a better opportunity to buy than right now. This is my take, what do you think? Let me know.....  Ty