First of all I want to say that I do realize that there are many families that are really in financial trouble right now through no fault of their own.  I do realize that many people have lost jobs, lost alot of money in the stock market, and have lost houses. Thid post is not meant to minimize their family's troubles.  

It always seems however that the press makes everything sound much gloomier then it is.  Take for instance their assault on the real estate market about 2 years ago.  The market was about ready to take its normal corrention and the press started yelling "The bubble is gonna burst".  Right before that however, they were telling everyone to "Buy that home" (No matter what the costs since there were bidding wars) Then after the market started going downhill, they tell everyone not to buy unless the can pay 50 cents on the dollar.  Guess what?  I do not know too many sellers who will accept 50 percent of the true market value of their home. Besides, now is a great time to buy a house.  There are numerous homes to chose from, the interest rates and prices are lower than they have been for a long time.

Recently, the gas prices went through the roof.  That hurt people more than anything else.  With the price of gas rising, it bumped up heating costs, food, materials and just about everyhting else.  Now the prices are back to being reasonable.

I could not help but notice however, that people were definitley shopping in Bucks County PA.  I know that there were lots of sales even before Christmas in the stores which allowed the shoppers to get alot of deals.  But due to my computer crashing, I have also been spending some time in Best Buy lately.  The press said that electronics were down 27 percent, however there is hardly a computer left in the stores. They sold them all.  There are no nintendo wii game consoles available. My daughter had a very hard time finding a wii fit game.  I saw people buying cameras, tvs, and many other electronics. Where are they down 27%?

I prefer my outlook than theirs.  I think 2009 is gonna be a great year!  I am one of the people that have recently stated "I am not taking PART IN THE RECESSION!" Please join me.  If you are an agent -Make 2009 a year to remember.  Work the business and help put some families into their new homes.  If you are a consumer-  If you are thinking about buying a home, stop listening to the negativity.  Do your homework, make sure you pay a good price and can afford the live there.