9/15/2010

Home Sweet Home

The MBA reports seem at the opposite end of the trenches. Time magazine runs a cover story that implies homeownership is dead. The stock market limps despite minor hopeful perks upward of retail sales. Come on Americans get up an hour earlier and put a smile on your face.




I have little or no faith in ratings. Do you think Moody’s or Dunn and Bradstreet know the soul of local area? Pockets of markets in good locations have recovered. Owning a home in a great location more desired and cherished than ever. More all cash transactions are turning at the steps of the Orange County Superior Court, as well in San Francisco, and most coastal California communities. Even Riverside is seeing sales activity and multiple offers.

The stragglers are condominiums, that is sometimes a lifestyle not like homeownership –more community living and apartment in the core nature. Condos are doing worse in South Florida, Nevada, and other cities where jobless numbers are underreported. Condos may never come back in places where work is scarce and it take two jobs to survive. The City of Detroit allowed many square blocks to burn to the ground without the resources to stop the fire. OR was it a less organized method of containing services to blocks that can survive as in the triage Harlem planned by red lining blocks and moving inhabitants to center green streets? That kind of courageous planning saved Harlem and allowed many beautiful brownstones to retain community and be safe and wonderful places for families to live.



Homeownership is not something of the past. Perhaps we plan and redefine what it means to be a neighbor. We look at the concept that owning a big house in a location as a young couple may not make great sense because you might need to be mobile and move for a better job. Homeownership that is conservative and makes sense will be a part of the American recovery. Many a time I am counterintuitive, and this can serve you well. In the upcoming Thanksgiving and holiday season things slow down because everyone hunkers down. It’s time to go scout out the home you want and buy it.



So get up a little earlier, say hello to your neighbors and keep your attitude to the grindstone. We are digging out of this together.