"25 BILLION Dollar Housing Handout?"

$25,000,000,000 Handout

As I was paying my mortgage online this week...
for the house I bought in 2006... which now has a market value of about 50% less than I paid for it... while my income as a Real Estate Broker has been significantly eroded...

I heard a news report in the background that My Uncle Sam in Washington, was going to help folks out with a $25,000,000,000
(yes, those nine zeros take us into the Billions) handout, to help rub salve on the pain and suffering of those aggrieved by the crumby housing market.  See, what we're gonna do, is give $2,000 to those who lost a home (especially if a robot signed the foreclosure papers)... and subsidize others in a bad situation to re-finance!  And the neat thing about it is that those of us who have been hammered hard, albeit "2 strokes shy of dead," will pay for it!  How cool is that!

But, wait, who says they have been hurt more than me... or that maybe I dug deeper to avoid a foreclosure, or at least a "short sale" attempt?  You see the reason I'm not quite upside down - yet -
is because I put a huge chunk of what I used to have into my down payment... and now it's all gone!

I sit back and am truly mystified by this government intervention.  Don't they get that this will only slow down the rebound of the housing market, by messing with the market dynamic?  If someone has missed 4 or 5 mortgage payments and the government says, "Here's a no-cost re-finance for you."  What are the chances that that person will default again within a year?  Hint:  80%!  The truth is that reducing a payment by $100-$200/month is not enough for someone in a real financial jam.  So, the result is an 80% chance of another foreclosure, just delayed for a year, keeping the bottom from being cleaned out.


The crux of the problem is the 450,000 Florida homes in bank “shadow inventory” - those homes in the bank’s control, but not yet for sale.  That’s nearly double the second place State of California, with “only” 225,000!  At normal absorption rates, that’s an additional 2.5 years of distressed property, clogging the system here in Florida.  A look at the Flagler County Realtor Multiple Listing System (MLS) shows that 60% of single family home closings in the past 6.5 months in Palm Coast are already distressed sales (split almost 50/50 between foreclosures and “short sales.”)  It’s hard to watch Palm Coast friends and neighbors go through this, yet the primary action in First Aid is to “stop the bleeding.”  This new government intervention will only prolong the agony.

Why won't the government simply let the market find it's own equilibrium, without intervention?
Hmmm, you don't think that politics and winning votes in the next election has anything to do with it, do you?  Nah, how silly of me to think that way!

The Federal Budget Fix - So Obvious!

The Budget Fix!

(by Frank Zedar on Sunday, July 24, 2011 at 1:06pm)

The Fix: 

Cut the banks a sweet deal, so they can hoard cash and not lend it to small businesses, who then cannot hire because they cannot expand. Then levy from those who have it and distribute it to those who don't and then when they spend it, tax it again. Then give that to the banks again in the form of incentives, so they can flood the market with shadow inventory foreclosures and stifle the new growth the government said we had going. Then apologize to the fat cats for messing with them and ask for campaign contributions, so all the awesome politicians can get re-elected... and bend over, so they can do it to us again! Perfect!

Mafia Wars in Palm Coast, Florida?

Facebook is one of those social phenomena that has come out of nowhere and exploded all over our lives.  Overnight, it's made sites like Classmates.com obsolete.  Why pay for "Gold" status to find an old flame from high school or college, when there is now probably a Fan Page for your class and/or school anyway... for free?!

Dear Lord, I hope they aren't teasing us and stringing us along... like those ads:  "Buy this amazing house full of furniture for ONLY $10,000 - a $30,000 value - and make no payments until 2011!!!"  Oh, man, by 2011 the cat has barfed on the couch - a lot - and you've discovered that vinyl sticks to your skin in the summer.  Then the payments kick in.  And so does reality.

They better not do that with Facebook.  It would be like the school yard pusher giving the kids free Chronic for a month.  Then when they come for more... there's now a fee involved! 

I've got hundreds of Facebook friends in Palm Coast, FL and all over Flagler County.  Many of them are in serious trouble.  I have a cop friend who is deeply involved in Mafia wars!  I'm sure that's a conflict of interest, right? Many others do really important things and they have GOT to be retired or independently wealthy, because it seems that's ALL they do!  They adopt baby seals in a fantasy aquarium, fry too many fajitas in a fantasy kitchen, and fertilize crops out in Farmville (which I think is west of Bunnell, near the Volusia County line, off Route 11)

They keep track of MY astrology sign for me, send me hugs and cocktails and glasses of wine.  They tell me when they are having coffee, leaving the office, going to the store, and what they had for supper.  I sure hope we don't start sharing trips to the bathroom - with or without the sports page.  Anyway, you get my drift.  I'm heading home now to fix Maritssa supper in Cafe World.  i Heart you all!

"Unbiased News? What's That?"

Maybe I was too young and naive... and not cynical enough, but I always thought that news should be delivered the way Edward R. Murrow and Walter Cronkite did it. If you're not in your 50's yet, you're asking, "Who?" Just like the other day, when I was showing my son and his 21 year old girlfriend some old photos. I said, "This is me in Viet Nam at the Bob Hope Christmas Show at Chu Lai in 1968." I knew for sure I was "an older gentleman," when she said, "Who is Bob Hope?"

Back in high school (1959-1963), we were taught that "journalists" operated from a strong code of ethics. If not fully disclosed as "an opinion piece," all reporting was to be "fair and unbiased." We certainly have been whistling and skipping away from that quaint notion for some time now, haven't we? That sort of thing went bye-bye when the guy stopped coming out of the gas station to ask, "Fill er' up? Let me clean that windshield, check your oil, top off your washer fluid, and put air in your tires... OK, sir?"

What we have now causes me to scratch my head and wonder... Like the pictures above, we've got MSNBC way over on THE LEFT. You gotta' love Keith Olbermann and Campbell Brown. The Obama "love fest" is out of control. Way over on THE RIGHT, we get to watch Sean Hannity, the inimitable Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Laura Ingraham, Shepard Smith, and Bill O'Reilly's "Factor." They make it sound like the Revolution should start tomorrow. CNN claims middle ground, yet it's simply not so. Wolf Blitzer and Lou Dobbs and the gang are very "Links um die Ecke." Most network news, including CBS and ABC has a strong liberal bias. That is a factual statement. Some claim that because of the public funding the NPRs and PBSs of the world "have to be" unbiased. Please... No way... Left and Left, again!

For my disclosure statement, I'm a conservative political being. BUT... FOX News often makes my skin crawl. Here's my problem: I support about 80% of the message, but only about 20% of the delivery. So much anger! And all contrived! You know why this is, don't you? No matter where we stand politically, we can't change the fact that TV/Radio/News Paper/On Line "News" isn't really news. It's pure and simple "Entertainment."

So where does that leave us if we want some decent news? Try C-SPAN; it's boring, but it's pretty straightforward. For a view of "us" from "them," try BBC, or the perspective of the wonderful folks at Aljazerra. In the meantime, I'll be pining for the days of Murrow and Cronkite.

"The Future of Cars"

In the 50s'... I can remember the "Gas Wars" in my little hometown in Upstate New York.

There would be three gas stations in a row, let's say an Esso, a Sinclair, and an Atlantic ("Atlantic keeps your car on the go - for business or pleasure - in any kind of weather - Atlantic keeps your car on the go..."). But I digress. The first would advertise "26 cents a gallon"... the second would be "25 cents" and the next "24 cents." For this, they all ran out to the car - washed your windows, checked your oil and tires and coolant - and pumped your gas. I wonder if they do that today in China? They would see-saw and my father loved it. I don't know what kind of mileage our 1952 Hudson Wasp got, but it was a tank.

Much later, my high school years of 1959-1963, would let us cruise a Friday night date for $2 bucks in the tank. That was my hourly wage at Mr. Wallace's drug store. It's funny, because if a kid makes $8 bucks an hour today, that still is enough for gas on Friday night. The new Chevy Impala then was about $2,500, today it's $25,000.

Our problem, as Americans, is that we are voracious consumers. After WWII, Europe went for small cars, small apartments, and scooters. We morphed into 59' Caddy's, Hummers, McMansions, and Harleys. Not to mention Big Macs, Mega Big Gulps, Biggie Fries, and "All you can eat buffets." Well, we're paying the piper today.

There was a great story on cable last night about the 2009 Tokyo Auto Show. The cars were absolutely gorgeous. Beautiful to look at - cheap to buy - and seriously economical to operate. But guess what? Nearly none of them are produced for the US market? Why? BECAUSE WE NEED HUMMERS, DARN IT! WE MUST HAVE 4X4 DRIVE. WE MUST BE READY FOR.... WHATEVER!!!

"Long Live Tommy Bahama"

"The Author and Bella" (on the occasion of her 3rd Birthday)

Ok, I'm using purple colored font, because this is a commentary on fashion. As I was reading the Accent section of today's News-Journal, I learned, at least from Nada Manley's point of view, that my sense of style was passe'. She was schooling me on the "Four Corners of a Well-Stocked Wardrobe"... Shorts - Jeans - T-shirts - Collared Casual Shirts. Now, I'm neither old-fashioned, nor prone to jump on trends, yet by her assessment, I'm not doing well.

At 62, I've lived through some pretty radical eras in men's fashion. To wit: Junior high in the late 50's was "pink tab-collar shirt, charcoal pants, skinny silver belt, tan buck shoes and a flat-top haircut ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flattop )." Things got whacky with the "hippie" influence of "long hair, beards, army jackets, tie-dye, etc." in the late 60's, through much of the 70's. Then came "Saturday Night Fever" and the disco revolution. Tight polyester pants and shirts with wide collars and contrast stitching. High heeled boots, leisure suits ( http://www.bookrags.com/research/1970s-fashion-bbbb-04/leisure-suit-bbbb-04.html ), and pork chop sideburns. I, thank God, was spared much of this because of my active duty status with the US Army. Alas, the Generals in charge were unmoved by the fashion gods.

Then we hit the 90's and one of the most glorious fashion statements of all time - "The Mullet"... ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mullet_(haircut). And, no, I never had one. Never had a pony-tail either. This was my plight: I spent twenty years in the Army - the twenty best "hair follicle potency" years of my life. By the time I became an official civilian, things were "a little thin" on top. My options, therefore, were somewhat limited. No way was I going for one of those "50-ish Hollywood Producer Stubby Pony Tail" jobs either.

Now, here we are in 2007. I think I'm safe in saying that there is no current fashion trend that crosses lines. Younger guys seem to be most influenced by the hip-hop scene. But am I alone in thinking that "baggy pants, exposed skivvies, LA Lakers shirt, hat on backwards, and lots of bling" is getting... like really old? The only hair style that seems to keep hanging around is the one that looks sort of like "1/2 cup Super Mega Spike gel - mix with egg beater - let dry"... like the guy on "Extreme Makeover - Home Edition." And I suppose, here in Florida, we need to pay homage to "NASCAR Chic" (lots of camo, Junior #8 Budweiser T-shirt, cowboy boots, "The 24 Car Sucks" baseball hat)... and "Biker Chic" (Black sleeveless Bike Week shirt, lots of tats, black jeans, black HD boots, black bandanna, black vest).

Well, I just like my Tommy Bahamas... ( http://www.tommybahama.com/index.jsp ), as you can see in the above photo of me and my granddaughter. Give me them... and my generously fitted T-shirts, faded jeans, khaki pants, and outdoor style cargo shorts - All from L.L.Bean, The Territory Ahead, Cabela's, etc. - And all out of date, according to the "Style Squared" article. Oh, well. Tough cookies. Fashion is for girls, anyway.