Ever so slowly the real estate is starting to move upward. Politics will play a hand which will delay the acceleration of price movement but eventually the market will march to its own music.  This upward movement is not only occurring in  Ventura County but is taking place throughout the United States. For investors I am still recommending Oklahoma (Oklahoma City and Enid); Texas and I still recommend that one keeps an eye on Michigan.  I will go into more detail for investment properties in... Read Full Story

My musing for the week. You thought you were safe.  Those with high credit scores may be in for a shock….someone can steal your identity.  The following article is worth the reading.  If you do not protect yourself no one else will.   http://articles.moneycentral.msn.com/Banking/YourCreditRating/High-credit-scores-Be-careful.aspx    U.S. Postal System: RIP Posted Jun 15 2009, 06:05 AM by Douglas McIntyre.  http://blogs.moneycentral.msn.com/topstocks/?fpn=u%20s%20postal%20system%20... Read Full Story

Every once in awhile it is time to get some perspective.  This photo from MSN puts things into some context. There are bigger things for us to see, investigate and challenge.  Life here on Earth is great; out there who knows!  But we will go and find out.  Why?  We are humans and it is in our bones (oops! our DNA) to face up to challenges. My musing for the week.  Lao-tzu who lived 2,500 years ago wrote “Every human being’s essential nature is perfect and faultless, but after year... Read Full Story

My musing for the past several weeks. California voters (small number) decided enough was enough.  Politicians on the other hand have concluded that voters don’t know what they want so “enough is enough” probably won’t fly.  The next step is to replace the politicians.  We did that by replacing Gov. Davis a number of years ago basically because of increased DMV fees.  Well guess what….we not only have increased DMV fees but a lot of other fees.  We also have to... Read Full Story

On this Mothers Day it appears that real estate is a good topic to talk about since the indicators now have been accepted by the media.  Good press from news outlets is also creating positive vibes for the market. To be sure the politicians will play the game but when push comes to shove they had little to do with the change in direction.  The market would be doing the same with or without them.  One should be concern that the politicians will once again stick their nose into the system and s... Read Full Story

Swine flu.  There was talk that we should close the border because of this flu.  Why can’t the border be closed to stop illegals entering the country or to stop drugs or arms.  I wonder if our political people are talking with a fork tongue? Bully Pulpit.  It is interesting reading to see the steps being taken in schools to minimize bullying amongst students.  Various penalties are imposed including dismissal.  When the bullying occurs from the White House what are the penalties bei... Read Full Story

The real estate market is just meandering; setting its base for the next cycle upward. Much has been written over the last week of mortgage help.  It appears that banks are just starting to get into the mortgage business however it appears that only 1 in 11 will be able to get help. That means the other 10 people will probably go into foreclosure. So be ready for another round of foreclosures will be coming to fruition in the next several weeks. The financial sector is still trying to find it... Read Full Story

Home Valuation Code of Conduct: Action Needed!   Our friends in Congress are at it again. Background: 1) The HVCC negatively affects consumers and the already fragile economy. As it stands today, the HVCC will take effect on May 1, 2009, and this rule states that GSEs will no longer purchase loans from lenders “accepting appraisal reports completed by an appraiser selected, retained, or compensated in any manner by any third party.” It overwhelmingly impacts small lending... Read Full Story

Mother Nature and I have had some disagreements over the last several months and things have sorted themselves out.  Now Mother Nature tells me (as she did before)what to do and now I do it.  Strange how that works out. Surprisingly dispite the down time nothing has changed.  Things may have gotten worse. Caps.  I loved hearing about this while sick.  Cap CEO pay.  That’s great except it did not go far enough.  I would add to the cap list: All federal government workers should be capped... Read Full Story

Based on data provided by the Federal Housing Finance Agency the last quarter of 2008 and addressed in http://www.venturacountyretalk.com/2008/11/26/its-not-pretty-picture-review-of-the-national-real-estate-market/ was a disaster for the real estate market. As shown in the graph below very few places in the United States was spared by the real estate down turn. Comparing the National real estate market to the 4th quarter, 2007 it quite evident which areas have been hit the hardest and those ... Read Full Story