It's MERS Stupid!!!

The MERS controversy is at the core of the foreclosure mess and it's getting nearly zero coverage. Why? Because it's very complicated and can't be explained in two or three minute news bites. There are two articles on John Mauldin's blog that everyone should not just read but STUDY.  The url's are posted here.
The first is:
http://www.johnmauldin.com/frontlinethoughts/the-subprime-debacle-act-2-mwo101510
And the second is:  
http://www.johnmauldin.com/frontlinethoughts/the-subprime-debacle-act-2-part-2-mwo102310

READ AND BE INFORMED!

Options Jazz Quartet

You gotta hear this...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4i0nHaBz8F4

Don't Wait Any Longer!

I'm going to do my part to help the economy. Interest rates are going to go up, they have to. Property values are in the dirt. Though they are expected to decline a bit further rising interest rates will offset that. SO, if you know anyone who would like to buy a house anywhere in the country they should do it now. I'm not pitching for your business - I'm pitching for the US economy. Lock in a low mortgage now before inflation grabs a foothold. It's going to happen, it has to. What goes up must come down, and VICE VERSA. (Just my opinion, folks.)

Interest Rates Ticking Up

At the beginning of the month one of my clients, a first-time home-buyer, settled on their dream home with a 4.875% fixed rate mortgage. They're a conservative and careful couple with their finances so they bought a home they could easily afford on one income. They just missed locking in 4.75% by about a week. Of course they're a very happy couple even with the 1/8th increase. Just think - less than 5% for the 30 year duration of the loan makes it much more likely they'll be able to pay off their mortgage early. From a life planning perspective they're in really good shape. In 15 years or so they will be putting kids in college, probably will still have some of that mortgage to pay, but the payment will feel like much less to them as prices around them increase over time. But by the time they're making their last tuition payment they'll probably be close to making their last mortgage payment and then they can start putting all their new-found money towards retirement planning. If they control themselves, between 20 and 25 years from now they will be completely out of debt and socking away serious cash. I look for them to retire early and enjoy many years of retirement feeling young and in good health, enjoying their grandchildren, traveling, living a very comfortable life.

The point of all this? I fear so many are going to miss out on such good fortune because they're waiting for home values to fall further only to have the savings wiped out in higher interest rates. Are higher interest rates coming? Oh - most assuredly! As the saying goes, what goes up must come down and conversely, what goes down MUST also go up!

See the Washington Post article here:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2011/02/04/AR2011020402806.html

Real Estate Still In Decline?!

There were rumors going around that the real estate market had hit bottom, that this was it, we're now going to finally start an ascent.  My own business is doing a bit better than this time last year, but that is due to a few investor and commercial clients.  The residential market is, sorry to report, not yet on the bottom.  See the following links for more details:
http://www.housingwire.com/2011/02/22/spcase-shiller-u-s-home-prices-fall-2-4
http://www.housingwire.com/2011/01/25/8-cities-reach-new-lows-in-home-prices-spcase-shiller

Day One - The World Begins

So this is my year to get truly wired - as in on the web. I'm already "wired" from lack of sleep, multiple teenagers in my house, unpaid bills, the economy, the government,...shall I continue? No, I mean I'm about to weave an elegant electronic web of all my stuff. My business is going to have tentacles reaching into every corner of the Delaware real estate market, my music is going to find jazz aficionados anywhere in the world, my documents and photos are going on the cloud never to be lost to crashing hard drives again, I'm going to CONNECT baby and I, yes I, will find Ethernet nirvana! And this humble blog will be ground zero of my Ethernet empire.