With the recent snow in the Northeast it’s hard to imagine that spring is really just around the corner- less than three weeks away.  Now I’m not thinking of the birds and plants and so forth but those people that have heard all the bad things in the economy and maybe they’ll just come out and buy a new home.  With the recent $ 8,000 tax credit - a real credit not one you have to pay back, and great prices the opportunity is fantastic.  We have Home Shows the next three weekends and with some good weather and maybe even some fair economic news we’ll see some buyers.  People who have some type of stable employment and reasonable credit and downpayment will find this is a time they can find housing at a more affordable price than possible in years past.  We’re not talking just a few dollars but thousands of dollars in savings that are out there right now.  Happy Homebuying!1

In looking at the economy and housing we see all the negative things shown and say - woe is me.  Actually, there are more postive things happening that the press wants us to know.  Even in a recent article in my local newspaper it talked about the job losses, etc. and then at the end of the article did say during that timeframe (of the job losses) the local economy saw an increase in local job growth.  We don’t really know where those gains were because the media doesn’t want us to know.  Good news rarely sells any media whether it’s papers, internet advertising, or other media. 

Analyzing the housing industry there is such a slowdown in the large housing states of California, Florida and Texas that they make any slight gains in other areas look like overall losses.  Is it bad- yes it is bad - but is it as bad as the media reports- probably not.  We do face tough times in today’s market but there are bright spots.  We must work to clean up the credit crisis and get money back into the economy.  Yesterday in a meeting with a financial advisor it was stated that around 40 percent of monies available are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see what will happen and where to put it.  We need to get consumer confidence back so that 40 percent can go to work and earn some money and buy American products.  Housing is a commodity that will survive as people will need homes but we will probably not see the excesses that we have seem in the past.  Looking forward to your thoughts as we proceed thru the next weeks and months.