Posted on: 30th Jun, 2008 09:44 am
I wanted to pass along a mailing I made available to all of my local real estate agent contacts. We are in a difficult marketplace, but that doesn't mean we cannot be optimistic about our business. Not everything is doom and gloom. I hope to give some comfort to those in the business, and also to those who come to our forum seeking aid and good counsel. Enjoy!
"Summer is upon us, and oh by the way, the sun still comes out every day.
We've made it through almost half of 2008. The Connecticut market has suffered just as we've seen across the country, though there are clearly pockets which have not been affected.
Interest rates remain low, and this week we saw some improvement! How long? Surely, we cannot tell any longer. We used to think we could predict interest rates (for a minute or two, anyway), but there is so much turmoil in the financial markets that's not even a remote possibility.
I read a most interesting article a little more than a week ago concerning the US economy, and how perception is often not the reality. Neil Irwin, of the Washington Post, was the author, and the gist of his message is that things are not as bad as they seem, despite our personal concerns.
Mr. Irwin noted that consumer confidence is at the lowest level in almost 30 years and that only 12 per cent of Americans believe that the economy is in good shape. He notes, however, that our economy is doing better than in the most recent previous recessions, in 1990 and 2001. As evidence, he pointed out that we still have a relatively low unemployment rate, gross domestic product continues to rise and employers haven’t cut jobs appreciably.
In 1980, our economy suffered a jobless rate of 7.5 per cent and inflation of 14.4 per cent. The current figures are 5.5 per cent and 4.2 per cent. Unfortunately, consumer confidence is a major driving factor in the economy, and the concern is that the rampant pessimism might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Locally, we've been hit with a substantial amount of foreclosures, and the assistance packages that have been promulgated by state and federal government agencies have been less successful than we might have expected in providing help to troubled homeowners. Another result of the "mortgage crisis" is the preponderance of short sales.
We've all also been disappointed at the major cutbacks in the mortgage markets, with products disappearing, pricing add-ons that adversely affect almost every borrower and underwriting standards that we'd virtually forgotten about in the past several years.
Let's refuse to give in to the temptation to allow our setbacks and frustrations to consume us. As noted above, the sun still comes out every day, and there is a world of potential at our disposal. If we don't make the best of it, it will get the best of us."
"Summer is upon us, and oh by the way, the sun still comes out every day.
We've made it through almost half of 2008. The Connecticut market has suffered just as we've seen across the country, though there are clearly pockets which have not been affected.
Interest rates remain low, and this week we saw some improvement! How long? Surely, we cannot tell any longer. We used to think we could predict interest rates (for a minute or two, anyway), but there is so much turmoil in the financial markets that's not even a remote possibility.
I read a most interesting article a little more than a week ago concerning the US economy, and how perception is often not the reality. Neil Irwin, of the Washington Post, was the author, and the gist of his message is that things are not as bad as they seem, despite our personal concerns.
Mr. Irwin noted that consumer confidence is at the lowest level in almost 30 years and that only 12 per cent of Americans believe that the economy is in good shape. He notes, however, that our economy is doing better than in the most recent previous recessions, in 1990 and 2001. As evidence, he pointed out that we still have a relatively low unemployment rate, gross domestic product continues to rise and employers haven’t cut jobs appreciably.
In 1980, our economy suffered a jobless rate of 7.5 per cent and inflation of 14.4 per cent. The current figures are 5.5 per cent and 4.2 per cent. Unfortunately, consumer confidence is a major driving factor in the economy, and the concern is that the rampant pessimism might become a self-fulfilling prophecy.
Locally, we've been hit with a substantial amount of foreclosures, and the assistance packages that have been promulgated by state and federal government agencies have been less successful than we might have expected in providing help to troubled homeowners. Another result of the "mortgage crisis" is the preponderance of short sales.
We've all also been disappointed at the major cutbacks in the mortgage markets, with products disappearing, pricing add-ons that adversely affect almost every borrower and underwriting standards that we'd virtually forgotten about in the past several years.
Let's refuse to give in to the temptation to allow our setbacks and frustrations to consume us. As noted above, the sun still comes out every day, and there is a world of potential at our disposal. If we don't make the best of it, it will get the best of us."
Thanks George
I like the optimism. This has been one of the busies times in my career. Why? I think because when everyone else was wallowing in their self pity I took it upon myself to work harder. I dusted off the FHA loan and have been swamped helping people all over the country. Had I taken a doom and gloom mentality this would have been a terrible time but the business and buyers are out there.
B
I like the optimism. This has been one of the busies times in my career. Why? I think because when everyone else was wallowing in their self pity I took it upon myself to work harder. I dusted off the FHA loan and have been swamped helping people all over the country. Had I taken a doom and gloom mentality this would have been a terrible time but the business and buyers are out there.
B
Great thoughts George…both the industry and consumers need to be optimistic at this hour when things aren't going the way most people want it to move. But yes, as the statistics show, things aren't too dull and we can still move on but a positive attitude is what we all need. If one option doesn't work, we need to try out something else…but with wise thinking and not simply choosing an option.
Yes, there are foreclosures, short sales and changing lending criteria, inflationary pressures and the Fed moves to combat inflation… in the midst of all these we need to keep trying to get the best and learn from our mistakes so that future holds better things for us.
Regards,
Jessica
Yes, there are foreclosures, short sales and changing lending criteria, inflationary pressures and the Fed moves to combat inflation… in the midst of all these we need to keep trying to get the best and learn from our mistakes so that future holds better things for us.
Regards,
Jessica
