Some Reactions

Whether you watch current events with fear or amusement depends on your politics and the state of your bank account I guess, but in this charged campaign environment we're all a little like Alice in Wonderland where nothing is exactly as it seems. The politicians talk to us as if we're all gullible and simple twits, and since we put them in office with regularity, perhaps they're right. The State Of The Union message tells us that the government is going to hand out some money to save us from our reckless spending habits, which should solve the housing problem pretty well, and other than that, things are going along pretty well apparently. At least from Presidential perspective. We see that the Kennedys have not endorsed the Clintons. These two families, paragons of virtue both, simply don't like each other, and with so much in common you would expect them to be more supportive. One family acquired it's wealth from bootlegging during prohibition and the most vocal of the group is a drunk who ran and hid while his girl of the moment slowly drowned while trapped in his car. The other is a consummate liar who perjured himself in court and lied to us and investigators about his affairs, and horror of horrors, he was messing around on company time. Power does strange things to people. Remember Gary Hart? He was going to be a candidate for president and had a woman problem. Essentially he told the press to catch him if they could. So they did. There were some really great pictures of him with his sweetie on his lap sitting on a boat. Great enough that he decided he didn't want to be president after all. Don't know what his wife did to him. It's amazing really that people we wouldn't allow in our living room, and surely wouldn't want hanging around our kids,we put into positions of considerable influence. Speaks to our resilience I suppose that we survive these disastrous decisions, but future generations are really going to have a tough time bailing out.
News on the mortgage front has the FBI descending on several lenders to investigate their behaviour. It would be easier to hear them approaching and closing the barn door if it weren't for the deafening sound of the horses hooves disappearing in the distance. If you do happen to hear the barn door closing, I'll bet you anything you won't hear any jail cells slamming on the likes of the Countrywide crowd and their ilk. It really is an election year, and appearances are very important to politicians. Looking like you're doing something is just as good as doing something, except for those of us with real jobs.
For the stuff I should be talking about, mortgages and real estate, our local market is in pretty good shape. Interest rates are quite low, buying interest is picking up and with a ton of mortgage programs to pick from we can place almost anyone in a home. The capacity to pay is the major criterion. We're a certified CalPERS lender, so for those members there are some significant mortgage advantages we can bring you, and for everyone else the opportunities are also out there. The Chico housing market is reasonably active, the Orland market is not. Nothing meaningful in this, it's just the current state of affairs. We're still excited in our offices, maybe because we're a segment of the gullible twit group, but real estate and real estate mortgages are fun and helping people with them is exciting.
If I've offended any politicians with this blog; good. For everyone else,
as usual,
thanks for visiting.

New Year, New Beginning?

We don't think so. Just exactly where we are in the process of settling down to "normal" in the real estate business is uncertain, but for sure we're a long way from the end. Inventories of new and existing homes are too high, prices are too high, demand is not high and pending sales are off a substantial percentage. The stock market is uncertain and for the first five days of the new year the Dow Industrials have seen losses not seen since 1978, read that as in 30 years. All of that being said, what does it matter? Houses as an investment vehicle ceased to be viable some months ago, so there are probably very few people basing their decisions to sell or buy a home on economic events, which brings us a little closer to the real world of making decisions based on personal circumstances. Job changes, promotions, transfers, growing or shrinking family, etc. If a move into another home makes sense, or an entry into homeownership makes sense. Do it. If a job transfer mandates selling, do it. Interest rates are spectacularly good, well under 6% on fixed 30 year loans today, and mortgage money is available to qualified borrowers. Even commercial loans are carrying attractive rates.
The news about increasing numbers of foreclosures is not a myth, but it is also not the result of predatory lending practices. So far the problem stems from the unrealistic behavior of borrowers buying more home than they could afford with the expectation rising values would bail them out. Well the rising stopped, the payments are due, and they exceed the capacity to pay. Sort of like buying stock on margin at the peak. If there are no reserves, there is a serious problem. Soon the resetting mortgages will begin to have an impact on foreclosures, but these will happen for the same reason as above, unrealistic expectations and bad judgment. The ramifications for real estate prices in general will be to further depress prices to some degree. How much? Who Knows? Depends on the community, since all real estate tends to be local. But so what? If you're living in your home and have no personal reason for selling, don't. List it at a fair price if there is some reason for selling and move on. If there are good personal reasons for buying and it makes financial sense. Do it. Making buying or selling decisions in response to a perception of market forces is speculating, and if that's your purpose you may have to wait for the next cruise liner to pull into the dock. The last ship already left.
On a business note, we have tried very hard to make our web site resource rich, so if you're a serious buyer or seller it should be helpful. If you're simply curious it should be entertaining. Properties for sale, valuation data bases, mortgage information, free credit reports are all available, and if it's still lacking what you need, call. Our listings are now on every major real estate web site in the country, and if you're trying to sell your property on your own, call us and we'll give you a position on our site free, no obligation. One way or the other we're going to twist the tail on this tiger and make 2008 a good real estate year. We hope you'll join us. Watch for our billboards. Behind Carls Jr. at East and Esplanade this month.
As usual,
thanks for visiting.