You Really Got a Hold on Me

The housing market, once again, is making headlines. Well, if you don't count the State of the Union Address, which I don't. Here are some recent news blurbs concerning the State of the Housing Market, which will continue to effect us all. Much more than some lame duck.

"Make housing part of stimulus, NAR Says...The federal economic stimulus package under discussion by President Bush and Congress should loosen constraints on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to help make homeownership more widely available to households, NAR says. "Any stimulus package must address housing issues and increase the conforming loan limits for these two government-sponsored enterprises," says NAR President Dick Gaylord. NAR has been calling on Congress and the administration to increase the loan limits for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac from the ceiling of $417,000 to $625,000. Doing so would reduce the supply of homes on the market by more than a month, strengthen home prices by 2-3 percentage points, and increase economic activity by $42 billion, NAR estimates. Foreclosures could also be reduced by 140,000 to 210,000 and result in an additional 348,000 home sales. )"- The Ohio Association of Realtors.

http://news.moneycentral.msn.com/provider/providerarticle.aspx?feed=OBR&date=20080129&id=8105059

Above is a link to the news about CountryWide, the well known controversial mortgage lender. As you may know, it was purchased by Bank of America. For good or evil? You decide.

'“It looks to me as though maybe we haven't reached the complete bottom yet, but we're in the bottoming phase right now,” he said.
But the latest data don’t help forecasters much. Since July, the median price of existing homes has trended lower, but it ticked up slightly in December. And while sales volume began perking up in late 2006, a 0.8 percent drop in last month has some analysts rethinking the notion that the market had bottomed out.
“I still think there's further downside risk,” said Richard Berner, chief U.S. economist at Morgan Stanley. “And the reason is that it has become a buyer’s market with the imbalance between supply and demand both for new and existing homes out there.”
The supply of unsold homes — which soared to more than seven months worth of inventory for single-family homes from four months at the start of 2005 — has come down a bit. But it’s not clear whether the market is getting back on its feet or sellers have decided to pull their homes off the market and try again when the market improves.'- By John W. Schoen Senior Producer MSNBC updated 6:34 p.m. ET, Thurs., Jan. 25, 2007.

More gloom and doom? Well, we need to be realistic. The single largest contributing factor in the housing slump is the simple principle of supply and demand. Of course, why there is more supply than demand is a bit more complicated. Foreclosures and the threat of foreclosure, due to greedy lenders and a false sense of security amongst them, has contributed greatly to the glut on the market.

The Fed recently lowered interest rates by 3/4% and it is rumored that there may soon be another 1/2% decrease. What does that mean to mortgage rates? Diddly. That lowered rate affects what one bank lends to another, sometimes to increase their on-hand reserves which is mandated by the Fed. Sound like a game of round robin. Yep.

So, if you have bad credit or no money to spend, the interest rate means nothing to you.

But hang in there, folks. If you are in trouble with your credit card company, you can call them and negotiate a different interest rate or payment. The same goes for your mortgage lender. Call them. I can't reiterate that enough. If this whole mess is going to turn around, we have to take advantage of all resources. Every little bit helps. Don't wait for the ones with all the power and money to come knocking on your door to help you. They are only worried about themselves. YOU have to take charge, be brave and take charge.

Knowledge is power. Al Gore invented the internet for a reason.

Cry Baby Cry

http://www.housingmarketfacts.com/

Still on the fence about buying a home? Do you even have a fence? Chances are, if you are a renter, you not only don't have a fence but you don't have a yard.

This website gives some factoids about the benefits of owning a home. One is that, chances are, a home will be your biggest investment and asset. And, for this reason, it is an endeavor not to be taken lightly. Be prepared, if you purchase a home, that you nurture it, love it and make it your own.

That got a bit mushy, but when something becomes personal to you, you are more likely to fight for it.

The above website will address the wherefores and how-to's. Part of my job is to help you find a home, not just a house.

I think I'm gonna cry......

Power to the People

http://www.realtor.org/subprime_lending.nsf/Pages/mort_cancellation

This link could save your life, certainly your home. This info is from the NAR, National Association of Realtors. You may have seen ads on TV about this organization. It is a very prestigious organization and insures (in theory) the professionalism of real estate agents. A "realtor" is not the same as a "real estate agent". In order to be a "realtor" you must be a member of the NAR. That is why you see Realtor(r) as a registered trademark. I am a Realtor(r).

Why am I telling you this? Because the above link is real, no pun intended. It is not rumor, it is not spin. So take this info as gospel. If you are behind in your mortgage payments, there is something you can do. The worst thing you can do is nothing. Make a copy of this article and take it to your lender. I'm not saying that your mortgage will go away. But you may be able to catch up or at the very least you may have time to sell before you are foreclosed upon. Foreclosure, as well as bankruptcy, will ruin your credit for a loooonnnngggg time. Especially since the banks are tightening their belts.

So good luck. Take the bull by the horns and do whatever it takes to not let this recession (yes recession) take you down with it.

The deck is stacked against the dwindling middle class. But when the powers that be start feeling the hurt in their pockets, it is time to take advantage of the situation.

Power to the people!

Yesterday

Well, it looks like we'll finally get that piece of crap closed. When you are working with foreclosed properties, you are at the mercy of the whims of the bank. They like to drag their feet, but when they want something, they want it now. My client has bought many homes in this neighborhood. It doesn't look like a bad neighborhood, just a bit run down. However, I did read in the local paper yesterday that someone on that street had been brandishing a gun. Whenever I show my client "homes" in that area he always jokingly but seriously tells me I should stay in the car. But being the curious person that I am, I just plow right into these infested abandoned places just to see what I can see.

Usually all I see is crap. But there is that old house part of me that likes to visualize what this pile of planks and falling plaster used to look like. I like to think about what the neighborhood used to look like, who built the home and who wanted to live in it so bad that first day they opened the door. Reality then sets in and I see bathrooms that have had leaky pipes for who knows how long; rotted walls, stained floors, sagging ceilings. I see the remnants of past owners attempts to "update" the house, then, when the job became too big to handle, it was cast aside. I see bits of original woodwork that has been eaten by termites then "repaired" with something Lowes had thrown in the dumpster behind the store. I see missing foundations, broken windows, worn shingles. It's a shame, really. These older neighborhoods used to be the backbone of Wilmington. But as new was built, old became, not "cheap and cheerful" but just cheap.

In the defense of the city of Wilmington, several years ago they actually put money into these older neighborhoods. Some areas of the city had no curbs, crumbling streets and decaying yards. The city came in and gave these areas a face lift with new streets and plumbing. Yes plumbing! Not too long ago some parts of Wilmington had virtually nothing. And as the city took more pride in their town, so did the residents. Now you can find some really cute little places in the most unusual places. Like my house. I live in one of those old neighborhoods and things have been looking up these last couple years.

But things are not so good in other places. Better, but not quite there. Do I have the answer? Nah, I guess not. I wish I did. But as one realtor told me years ago, while I was shopping for a "fixer upper" for myself, "For every dirty little house, there's a dirty little buyer."

I never quite knew what to do with that one.

We Can Work it Out

Yesterday, I went on an excursion to look at a piece of crap with a repeat client of mine. And yes, it was a piece of crap. I knew it, he knew it, everybody knew it. But my guy buys lots of pieces of crap, presumably so that someday he will have a whole heaping, steaming pile of crap. Okay, he actually fixes them up and rents them.

My car was being used by my significant other to engage in Christmas shopping. (I had to let him use it or I wouldn't get a Christmas present.) So in order for me to show this property, I had to let my client be the chauffeur. This has happened before, with another client, when my foot was broken. I am not ashamed to admit this, although I should be.

Anyway, my "limo" was a construction van full of 5 gallon buckets, tools, drop clothes and many unidentifiable filthy objects, aka ufo's. My client had to open the heavy sliding door for me, then I, quite ungracefully, hoisted my office clothes clad body unceremoniously into the debris strewn interior. We proceeded to our destination, me in the back, way in the back, of this disastrously decorated vehicle as my client peered confidently through the grease smudged windshield.

Upon arrival, I again hoisted myself up and attempted to gingerly step from the van while visions of another broken ankle danced in my head. As we approached the front door, I realized with horror that I had failed to bring the lock box code with me. Of course, I first blamed my client for misplacing it swearing that I had handed him my papers.

So I called the office, hoping that someone could locate the missing papers amongst the other piles of papers on my desk. No luck. So then I attempted to call the listing agent whose cell phone number, luckily, was on the For Sale sign. No luck. Then I called the listing agent's office but was greeted by an answering machine. By now, I was looking quite the fool. Okay, I was looking quite the fool long before that. So I then called the listing agent's team leader because, luckily, he had an easy cell number to remember. I actually reached a human being this time but no, he did not know the lock box combination but promised to make a couple phone calls to find out for me. By the time I got off the phone with him I had a text message from the listing agent with the combo. Yeah! But then I had to call the team leader and tell him that I indeed had the code, was in the house and sorry to have troubled you. Sigh. Red faced and with egg on it too.

Long story short, my guy put an offer in on the piece of crap which was totally overpriced considering the ceiling was caving in, there was little or no foundation on one side of the house, and the bathroom looked like someone had been hosing it down on a regular basis, but not in an effort to sanitize it. Overpriced because the bank who owned the property had the audacity to put a price tag on it at all.

So I am now waiting to hear if the bank will take our offer. I sure hope so. I can't imagine anyone else being brave enough to tackle this "house". I hope for my client's sake and for mine and my broker's sake who, as I informed him this morning, stand to each earn $250.

Not a bad return for all my hard and competent work.

A Taste of Honey

Another year is drawing to a close. Things are winding down here at Bennett Realty. Everyone, clients and agents both, is readying themselves for the BIG DAY. Of course, some people are celebrating 8 big days. However you spend your holidays, it should be our priority and is our obligation to help those who are not as fortunate as ourselves.

Maybe your year wasn't as fulfilling as you had hoped. Maybe the stocking hung on your mantle is not as full as you had hoped. Maybe you had health issues, or maybe this has just been a sucky year. I always hate the old saw, "When things go bad, remember there is someone out there who has it worse." This is supposed to make you feel better? For one thing, when YOU feel bad, you really don't give a rat's patoot how anyone else is feeling. And for another thing, the idea that there are people who are poorer, sicker, more unhappy is nothing to feel thankful for.

The unfortunate thing about donating to food pantries, clothing drives, or the Salvation Army is the fact that we need these institutions at all. So many people don't make a living wage or work two jobs or have an absent spouse when there are children to feed. These are not the exceptions; the numbers are rising.

For example, in the Wilmington News Journal, a local columnist Bill Horne, a professor of economics at Southern State Community College recently submitted an editorial entitled "Everything going up but wages". In this article he sites the November issue of Farm World. In essence, for the last 22 years, the cost of a Thanksgiving turkey dinner has either increased at the rate of inflation or actually dropped in cost from one year to the next. This year, however, the cost of that same turkey dinner went up 11%. Also, our energy costs have climbed from 26% of our income to 47% of a workers income. Mr. Horne also speaks of the American worker's share of total income (as opposed to management, independently wealthy, business owners, etc, I assume). The first year that a 'total share of income' stat was taken was in 1929 as we were going into the Great Depression. In 2006, the American worker received the smallest share of the nation's wealth since the Depression. Depressing, huh.

So, I hope that you can see what is wrong with the big picture. We make less, our expenses are more. In this nation of wealth, the majority of Americans are missing their portion of the turkey dinner. But at the same time, they are helping those who are missing even more of the turkey dinner. Should we help others? Absolutely! Should we have to help others? Absolutely not!

Merry Christmas, Happy Hanuka, Good Festivus, Happy New Year to all!

Run For Your Life

Well, it sure has been nice working here at Bennett Realty. I do wonder, as I have mentioned previously, why I am able to keep this job that I love. My latest endeavor is to humiliate most of the realtors in my office. I purchased a new super duper camera recently. I took it to work to play with and started taking pictures of everyone. Well, with a 10x optical zoom and 8 megapixels, you can get up close and personal with your subject without physically getting in their face. Of course, people were getting a wee bit irritated because I was clicking away at them, although without a flash. It is amazing how you can actually capture the essence of someone after they start getting a bit p.o'd.

After I had harrassed my fellow realtors sufficiently, I down loaded my photos to the computer and tweaked and cropped them to my satisfaction. As a sidebar, I highly recommend the Fuji FinePix camera. Please, please, please don't let anyone talk you into a Kodak Easyshare. There is nothing "easy" about "sharing" photos when it comes to that camera or the software that comes with it. (I have lost count how many times I've been asked to help people "get those pictures off" their camera.) For one thing, you have to download your photos using the software that comes with the camera. You don't even need special software to download photos from any camera. Just plug in the USB cable and a window pops up and either a "wizard" opens or a dialog box that will walk you through it. However, the Fuji FinePix has very nice software that doesn't supercede the computer's own system. It is user friendly and has great editing capabilities. It's not Photoshop but it is the closest thing to having a dark room in your basement that I have found. Especially when used in conjuction with my new SLR style S800. With the manual as well as automatic settings, I can do anything for real estate or for personal use.

Which brings me back to harassing my fellow beings. After I assembled all of my loverly black and white photos, I ordered a calendar online using said photos and put silly captions underneath. I will then give it as a present to the broker and his wife, my supervisor.

So, it's been nice talking to you............