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Take a Stab at 2009

By
Real Estate Agent with O'Donnell Properties

Who knows what 2009 will bring? I challenge you all to take a stab of what you can do to strengthen our country? There is frustration and it is growing.  Here is how I read this: I saw this coming three years ago and only by the good fortune of my son who had his ear to the heart of this bubble. He was a mortgage banker then and kept trying to tell all of us, while I was bringing in the constant bucks.  

With that said, what do we do, who do we blame and what can we expect?  The only good thing is that the bubble did burst and now change has to happen and we are all being forced into change. The government is trying to limit pain, by injecting bailouts and still protecting the major players. Seriously and realistically, we need to have pain inflicted so we can have change. The band aid effect on a deep wound is not going to work...we are all going to have to become creative and resourceful until the market corrects itself. We are going to have be witnesses to a downturn in our economy, We will have to watch on the sidelines as businesses close down and our quality of life is going to suffer.  Only then, will we see some stabilization and allow the market to reposition itself- that can take years. There is also an immediate imperative to restore some faith that society can survive the dreadful threats it now faces.

Am I scared? You bet, but that is where your faith comes into play. I'm not talking about the faith in our policy makers who got us into this mess and who we are expecting to get us out of this - this is absurd! I don't believe they have any great hunch of how to strategically manuever our way out of this deep black hole. Young adults under 30 do not remember a recession, people in their forties slight remember and if you are in your fifties you remember the "poor Great Depression stories" from your parents and grandparents.  You could think I am being too much of a pessimistic, but what if it is true? That is why it is so important to become involved in your local and state government. Become involved and ask the questions so you don't sit around asking how did this happen and why this and why that.

What am I going to do? Utilize my god given skills and be extremely conscientious of every dollar I spend. i am going to think long and hard about every client I represent.  All of this is a process and it will take time for the progress.

To hold out for disclosures will be like holding your breath. From a biblical sense, all of this is supposed to happen, but do not let it shake your faith.  You know what you are made of and now you have to prove it.  I know the distractions are many, but I believe it is time to take a journey in the unknown  if you want the unusual, you have to do what's never been done. I believe, sometimes God takes people  and things away from you so you can see things clearer.

I also believe there are more people like us than like them. That is where I am putting my strength- on the people who show gratitude and appreciation. And there are many!!  This country was built from nothing and we can all build it up again. What a lesson we will have to pass on to our children: the privilege of displaying perseverance despite the state of our economy. Through our failures, whether we fess up to it or not, we had warnings we just chose to ignore. Even though we did not have a physical hand in creating the problems we are facing, we do live in a free market capitalism and freedom of speech.  Why did I ignore my son's warnings?  Could it be we were all living beyond our means? There were plenty of signs and many who knew of what was coming down the pipeline.

 

Comments (1)

Jeff Belonger
Social Media - Infinity Home Mortgage Company, Inc - Cherry Hill, NJ
The FHA Expert - FHA Loans - FHA mortgages - USDA loans - VA Loans

Camille.... your son and I must have been on the same page 3 years ago. I was saying the same things even back then. AM I fearful, yes... but I have told a few people this. If more than real estate and mortgages fail, most of us will have failed. Not trying to sound negative... but my point... it might be so bad to where we would all need to huddle up, 20 in a house, to survive. That wouldn't bother me as much, because we all would be in it together.

Overall, how I can help... to educate as much as possible... to be a straight shooter... and to tell reality and not to comfort with hopes and dreams.  And as you stated, we need to stop the bailouts, the band aid effect won't work....  excellent statement, which I have used and stated many times.

jeff belonger

Jan 15, 2009 02:44 PM