Real Estate Done Right

Scott Brown - American Idol Comes to Politics

Barney Griggs — 2010-01-28T01:19:00Z

I have to tell you, faithful readers, I am already tired to death of hearing about Scott Brown and he's not even been seated yet. The apparent lord and savior of the oh so tired Republican Party is the newly anointed knight in shining armor who should be able to fix everything that is wrong with the good ol' USA by applying good conservative philosophy, bringing back traditional values (whatever those are) and a melange of all of the other weary, jingoistic, crapola being screeched by Glenn Beck, Limbaugh and the other fools of talk radio.

But-- this time its different. This guy isn't a bad suit wearing, touched up gray coiffed, double talking, back-biting, cigar chomping, bug eyed, jowl shaking, red-faced conservative grieving the loss of "family values" (whatever those are). No, no, no, no. He's an urbane, flannel shirt wearing, pickup driving, God fearing, family man who does his daughter's laundry from time to time and also, in his spare time, poses nude for the odd national magazine (no, not the National Enquirer). Plus he has chutzpa - Hell, he's not even seated and is already wanting to make a meeting with President Obama, presumably to set him straight on a few things by bringing his vast national political experience to bear on the key issues of our times.

But I digress. The point is that this is a brand new Republican, a sophomore in the Sarah Palin High School of populist theory. The Democrats are now operating in total fear of Scotty! But it is not Mr. Brown that we should all be afraid of. The really scary thing is the phenomenon that helped bring him to office. I'll call it the American Idol Electoral Process. It goes like this:

Let's not worry about what our leaders know. Let's pick the prettiest one and the one who wears a costume that is more familiar to us working stiffs, and also is maybe the best dancer or dress designer or cake baker or top chef. Next we should simply forget about actual elections and have a panel of D-list pseudo-celebrities vet the candidates and then we all call a 900 number as many times as we can afford to vote our favorite into office.

Barney's Top 5 2010 Real Estate Predictions

Barney Griggs — 2010-01-11T12:43:00Z

It's a new year and we are getting ready to celebrate the "new normal" in real estate, which is something pretty different than the "old normal" from the recent past. It is this concept that guides my 2010 predictions, so get ready!

1. Housing will become a commodity again rather than an investment. This means that buying and owning a house will be more about having a place to live rather than purchasing a March pork belly contract. This also means that housing prices will stabilize and pick up modest gains in accordance with the condition of the economy at large.

2. Unemployment will continue to be the real estate market's biggest enemy. Until folks get back to work at a livable wage, prices and activity will hover around the "new normal".

3. At the point where buyers realize that there may be no life-changing short-term appreciation in their housing purchase, the rental market will begin to improve as folks reassess the future risks and rewards of home-ownership.

4. At some point the government will institutionalize additional tax credits or other incentives to encourage new construction (probably in building new or refurbishing rental units) finally realizing that housing construction is one of the major keys to the unemployment problem.

5. Banks, mortgage companies, and investment bankers will continue their shenanigans as if there had never been any financial crisis. Now that they know they can gamble on all the long shots without real risk and then use their losses to get government bailouts larded by ever increasing and ever more creative ways to separate consumers from their money, those behaviors will become their "new normal" unless regulators step in, which is unlikely since they have already demonstrated no ability to regulate anything (as in having the foxes guard the hen-house).

Pretty bleak, huh? Not really! Once current conditions have been accepted as normal, buyers and sellers will stop waiting around for the market to "come back" and begin to deal with their situations in the light of reality rather than fantasy. That will be the beginning of the next "new normal".

Full Body Scanners? - Why Bother?

Barney Griggs — 2009-12-31T03:39:00Z

Here we are at the end of another year and yet another s***head from Al Quaeda is trying to blow himself up, not with a bomb in his shoe, but this time with a bomb in his underwear. So what can we glean from this?

This guy, an obvious loser, even failed at his suicide attempt and lived through it. I guess he should be glad he didn't succeed a little better and blow off his wiener. (I'm stifling a giggle, sorry!)
Our government's mammoth security net so far has only been able to find Janet Napolitano and she was nailed in the CNN green room by Dick Cheney who was so enraged that the Director actually slipped in a puddle of slobber that had dropped from his jiggling jowls.
So now that this Nigerian malefactor has been captured, quite by accident apparently (a savvy passenger noticed him setting his drawers on fire), amid much finger-pointing, back-biting, political grandstanding, nay-saying, back-pedaling, posturing, explaining, excusing, and threatening, the best solution any of the experts can come up with is full body scans of every single airline passenger.

I guess my thought is that it would be a lot easier, less expensive, and certainly more interesting if all passengers simply were required to fly naked. While radical in its inception, I think this is a concept that might have some legs.

Blogger Off for the Holidays

Barney Griggs — 2009-12-15T02:06:00Z

Hi Folks -

Just a note to let you all know that I will be taking a break until the first of the New Year. After that, we get into predictions, projections, recaps and more.

Happy Holidays to All!

The Social Cost of Unemployment

Barney Griggs — 2009-12-01T02:19:00Z

I have already written about how unemployment trickles down to an already destroyed real estate market and prevents a real recovery. But what I didn't talk about is the social cost of pervasive and extended unemployment. When we talk about the practical side of folks losing their jobs we focus on well, the practical.

People who become unemployed and particularly those that stay that way for a while suffer:

Loss of income.
Loss of income leads to declining credit scores and loss of health insurance.
Declining credit scores lead to lower credit lines, higher rates and higher minimum payments.
No income plus higher rates and payments leads to even worse cash flow.
All of the above contribute to loss of savings for emergencies, education, and retirement.
Tapping savings to pay ordinary living expenses and credit card debt can lead to foreclosure.
Foreclosure leads to no place to live and that coupled with bad credit and no cash leads to difficulty even renting a home.

This pattern is by no means exhaustive and doesn't apply directly in every case, but every American that has ever been unemployed knows that all of the above can all happen in less than a year and leave lasting effects that take years and years to overcome and that's just the practical side.

While all of the practical stuff is going on, let's think about how it feels and what that means.

Loss of employment and income leads to loss of self-esteem and loss of confidence.
Worry and stress from financial problems leads to health problems, lack of sleep, alcoholism and drug use.
Financial stress can lead to marital stress which can manifest itself in divorce, domestic violence and poverty.
Children living in these circumstances lose ground in school and can suffer social stigma through no fault of their own.

And on and on and on. The long and the short of it is that President Obama and our do-nothing Congress should pay attention to the timing of their next moves. I know young men who are joining the Army because its the only way they can survive financially in the current environment. I suggest that there would be a civilian equivalent to military service not unlike the CCC or the WPA from the Great Depression days. I don't think the answer is maintaining what amounts to an economic military draft tp provide fodder for the seemingly endless slog in Afghanistan. Maybe we could spend that money training and employing citizens to upgrade and replace our failing infrastructure, or be retrained with pay for a new job without having to be shot at while they do it..

Do we need a health care overhaul? - YES! Do we need tort reform? - YES! Do we need stimulus for new home buyers? YES! But we need for people to be gainfully employed before any of the rest of it really matters. Even though Mr. Obama must be really frustrated with having to clean up eight years of ill-advised foreign wars, bankers run amok, and general financial idiocy of the first order. Sadly though, that is now Job 1. We have to delay the other stuff and get folks working again and pretty soon.

Extended Tax Credit Info

Barney Griggs — 2009-11-13T01:53:00Z

Hi Folks - As you have probably heard by now, the former 1rst Time Buyer Tax Credit Program has now been extended and expanded to other buyers as well as first-timers and the time limit extended. Courtesy of RE/MAX New England, of which I am a member, just click the link below for the latest low-down on the program. It's another great opportunity to buy a home and save a bundle on your taxes at the same time! Don't fool around - Start looking for that perfect property right now while the prices are still low!

Tax Credit Information

Housing Depends Upon Jobs First!

Barney Griggs — 2009-10-25T21:12:00Z

In all of the palaver over the potential extension of the first time home buyer's tax credit program, the cash for clunkers program, and so on, the one thing that does not seem to be getting any attention is the fact that unemployment is still climbing and climbing. The talking heads on TV and elsewhere are making much of the status of the housing market and whether it has "hit bottom" or whether it's "rebounding".

I'm afraid the sad fact that we are about to discover is that, as soon as the tax credit for first time buyers ends on November 30, and probably even before, housing sales are going to drop to seasonally adjusted lows. This time of the year, sales usually drop off anyway as the holiday season approaches, but without some artificial stimulus and unemployment still climbing, sales are going to fall flat.

Anyone who is not independently wealthy has to, at least, pause and ask themselves if they are confident enough in their source of income, read job, to sign a 30 year mortgage and buy property. Not to mention that, without employment, nobody will be able to come up with a down-payment. Tightening credit requirements and credit card companies lowering limits, screwing up even good customers FICO scores, make it not really matter anymore if rates are low. Rates can be zero and if nobody can qualify for a mortgage because they don't have a job, or they do have a job and their credit scores have been artificially lowered, or they don't have an adequate down-payment, then the real estate market is not going to "rebound".

Let's face it folks.... A lot of people are scared out there and maybe they should be.

Extremely (Shameful) Home Makeover

Barney Griggs — 2009-09-27T18:14:00Z

Hi again faithful followers - It's been a long time since I have had a chance to jot down some thoughts and observations. The real estate market has been very active and I have been super busy with rental turnover and assisting buyers and sellers in purchasing, in many cases, their first home. But with all of the hoopla over the arrival of the cast and crew from Extreme Home Makeover here in the Upper Valley, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to share my thoughts (which I expect will be unpopular) about this show and its "mission".

While, on the face of it, helping others to do anything in a selfless manner without hope or expectation of reward is a noble goal, the sad truth about this show ( and the word "show" must certainly be emphasized) is that it has none of the characteristics of genuine charity and is a shameful imitation of the true spirit of offering oneself to provide assistance to those in need.

The very idea of parading the misery of others and particularly their children in front of their neighbors and a national television audience to promote products and self-aggrandizing TV personalities is just plain wrong and, in my opinion, anyone who participates in such a charade is simply in it for their own purposes, which have nothing to do with charity, or, more likely, have been deluded by the media hype to believe that they are performing an actual charitable act, rather than participating in a massive ad campaign strapped to the backs of an unsuspecting and usually desperate family in dire personal and financial straits.

So, there you have it - for my part - Ty and company can stay home and leave the Upper Valley, which has a long and distinguished reputation for taking of those who are in need, to offer sustenance and assistance to the less fortunate. If you're with me, turn off your TV when this sad chapter is aired and volunteer your time and resources to any of the fine local organizations like COVER, the Listen Center, SEVCA, any of the local food shelves, or many others that I have failed to mention. Volunteer to visit the home-bound, deliver meals for Meals on Wheels, serve dinner or help clean up at a homeless shelter, be an official at the Special Olympics or, as a minimum, mow your elderly neighbor's lawn or clear their walk. Offer to drive someone to a doctor's appointment, visit a person who is lonely or just give them a call; but do something, anything other than support this disgraceful and exploitative Hollywood display by watching and wasting your time and spirit.

Things are Looking UP!

Barney Griggs — 2009-08-21T21:35:00Z

I just read the below in CNNMoney.com. It underscores what is being reported locally and is worth reading as a cheery contrast to the last year of gloom and doom. Once again, I expect this trend to continue as first timers start flooding the market to take advantage of the First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit of up to $8000. The program ends on November 30, 2009.

Existing homes selling fast - record fast

The volume of home re-sales has been on the upswing for four consecutive months.

NEWYORK(CNNMoney.com) -- Sales of existing homes rose in July for the fourth consecutive month, lending support to economists who argue a recovery isnear.

Sales of previously owned single-family homes were up 7.2% compared with June and 5% from July 2008, The National Association of Realtors (NAR) reported Friday. The monthly gain was the largest onrecord for existing-home sales, which NAR has tracked since1999.

"The housing market has decisively turned for the better,"said Lawrence Yun, NAR's chief economist. "A combination of first-timebuyers taking advantage of the housing stimulus tax credit and greatly improved affordability conditions are contributing to higher sales."

July home sales hit an annualized rate of 5.24 million properties, marking the first breach of the 5 million annualized rate mark since last September, when they hit 5.1 million. Since then, they have stayed in a very narrow range, bouncing between January's low of 4.49 million and October's high of 4.94 million.

The July performance far exceeded expectations: A consensus of real estate experts had forecast sales of 5 million.

Market Update

Barney Griggs — 2009-08-17T01:54:00Z

As summer comes to a close in what has touted to be the worst recession in many a year, it appears that the Upper Valley has escaped relatively unscathed so far. The first quarter of the year was pretty dead in the real estate world, but since April, activity has steadily picked up and sales are becoming more frequent every month that goes by. Of course, much of the activity has been first time buyers taking advantage of a once in a lifetime opportunity for the government to actually pay up to $8000 if you buy a home.

Sadly, that program is over at the end of November, so it will be interesting to see how things go this winter. Foreclosures have, for the most part, been few and far between, but some of the foreclosed properties have been real bargains and some fortunate buyers, especially those with cash, have made some really good buys. I suspect there will be more foreclosure action as time goes on, but not in the crippling fashion prevalent in some over-developed states.

For buyers, there has probably been no better time to buy in the last 10-15 years. Rates are low, tax incentives are there, inventory is high and prices are low. The outlook is not as bright for sellers: prices are down, days on the market are up, and the competition is fierce. But- homes are being bought and sold every day. For brokers, it's more work than it has been in the past, but there is opportunity for everyone who does what has to be done.

At least it's hot enough to feel like summer for the last few days, so enjoy it, all!. The ground will be white before we know it.

Dont' Forget - 1rst Time Homebuyer Tax Credit Expires

Barney Griggs — 2009-07-30T01:29:00Z

Lest we forget - the $8000 tax credit for first time home buyers expires at the end of November, 2009. This means that, to take advantage of this opportunity, a first time buyer must have purchased and closed on their primary residence before the end of November. In the current world of real estate transactions, this means that you first-timers out there should be looking for your new home right now!

I predict that, as the deadline approaches, lenders, appraisers, closing companies, building inspectors, and every other professional associated with the real estate business is going to be out straight and time frames from loan application to closing are going to start dragging out.

So --- Don't get caught in the rush and have to make quick decisions on a major financial event. Make a plan and get started now finding a property that meets your needs. Hire a buyer broker to help you navigate the process. (Check out my post on buyer brokerage for details about how it works.) But, whatever you do, do not let this opportunity pass you by. Ask yourself, "How many times in the last 50 years has the government offered thousands of dollars for just buying a home for myself and my family?" I'll answer that for you. The answer is, "NEVER!!" And I think you can be assured that it will never happen again in your lifetime.

Get the facts - take the money!!

Getting Old

Barney Griggs — 2009-07-26T01:36:00Z

I was watching an old John Wayne movie late the other night right after the news of Walter Cronkite's death was reported. As I watched and tried to identify the actors as best I could from having first seen them in my youth, it struck me that every one of the people I could identify was dead. John Wayne, Dean Martin, Ward Bond, Ricky Nelson and half a dozen others I can't remember now. Not to mention that most of the other lesser known players are probably dead as well.

Anyway, without getting too morbid about it, when you reach a certain age, the characters that peopled your youth and affected your world view, provided entertainment and were household names start to disappear and are replaced by others that, for some reason, seem to be lesser lights. I pondered why that might be and couldn't really come up with anything. I'm sure that contemporary movie actors, musicians, writers etc. are every bit as talented as those that have gone before, but I don't think it's about talent. Maybe, when youth is gone, the memories from it seem larger and more important than they really are.

I know none of this has anything to do with real estate per se, but it does help explain why selling an old home place has an effect on the sellers out of proportion to the transaction itself and why many buyers like to purchase older homes that, just maybe, remind them of a simpler, kinder time.

A Home is More Than An Investment

Barney Griggs — 2009-07-07T01:39:00Z

I read a piece in the Valley News submitted by a professor at Dartmouth's Tuck School of Business a couple of days ago that has been bothering me ever since I saw it. In it, the professor, no doubt a learned and respected member of the faculty ,raised the old question of whether home ownership is a "good" investment. I have seen and heard this argument raised before and can't just let it go by again. The simplified version of his claim is that $15,000 invested in the stock market, even if the market goes completely sour, is less risky that using the same $15,000 as a down payment on a home and borrowing the balance of the purchase price in the form of a mortgage. Of course his answer is perfectly correct as far as it goes. The potential total loss in the stock market is limited to the original $15,000 and the potential total loss in the real estate purchase is the total cost of the property which because a portion of the purchase has been borrowed will be far greater than $15,000.

The problems with the premise are as follows:

1. The potential upside or for this argument, cash on cash return, is not equal. If the stock purchase appreciates 100% in one year, then the cash on cash return is 100% or $15,000. If a home that costs $300,000 appreciates 100%, the cash on cash return is $300,000 or 2000% because the homeowner has used the principal of leverage to increase his return. Of course the likelihood of either investment doubling in one year is slim, but the point is that along with the additional risk, home ownership offers greater potential reward.
2. The home buyer gleans tax benefits that also offset any additional risk that may exist. Even though real estate is not as liquid as securities, you can't live in a security while you are selling it and you can live in your house until it is sold.
3. Probably the most important problem is that the writer ignores the intangibles of home-ownership: the pride, the stability, the freedom to do with your property as you please, the independence that fee simple ownership bestows. As a financial investment, these factors are worthless, but as a human investment, they are priceless.

So, call me touchy-feely, but I sell dreams every day and that's the reason I sell real estate and not insurance, securities, or cattle futures. Give me a little more humanity and a little less cold profit any day.

Summer Update

Barney Griggs — 2009-06-16T01:06:00Z

Even though it really hasn't felt very summery so far this year, it actually is summer and the summer real estate market is under way. The initial flush of spring buyers has now morphed into more of a steady trickle of buyers entering the market after feeling that the bottom has probably been reached. Meanwhile, properties are pouring onto the market at a pace more reminiscent of early spring. So buyers are enjoying a wide selection of homes to look at except for the $150K and under price-range. The influx of first time buyers into this pool of properties has decimated an already thin supply leaving only some pretty chancy selections, i.e. houses that need a lot of work or located in a less than desirable spot.

Sellers are waiting longer and taking less pretty much across the board. Financing is possible but aggravatingly nit-picky. It would be so nice if lenders could achieve some consistent lending policy that is somewhere between giving everyone a loan regardless of their qualifications and making it impossible for anyone who actually needs a mortgage to get one and then stick to it for a while. I know it sounds controversial and out of the mainstream to suggest a fair, consistent, and defensible lending policy, but it would sure make life easier for buyers, sellers, brokers, and everyone else associated with the real estate industry.

But, enough whining! There are plenty of bargains to be had and a load of good properties for sale at prices not seen in many a year. Patience seems to be the most necessary quality these days. Sellers patiently waiting for a buyer; buyers patiently waiting for prices to hit the bottom, and everyone waiting patiently for lenders, underwriters, loan committees, appraisers, and attorneys to review, review again, delay, and delay again and finally close a few transactions.

RDL and FHA Loans - No Panacea

Barney Griggs — 2009-06-05T16:50:00Z

With all of the hoopla surrounding the government's various stimulus packages, much of the hype has been dedicated, second only to the 1rst time buyer tax credit, to new (really not very new) FHA and Rural Development Loans for home buyers without much cash. The difference for lenders being that these loans are insured by the government, which makes them a little more palatable to now-cautious lenders.

Billed as the first time buyer's entree into the housing market, these loans make it possible for buyers to have as little as a 3% down-payment for FHA or with the RDL program even have the sellers contribute up to 6% of the purchase price back to the buyers at closing to cover the down-payment and closing costs, essentially allowing buyers with NO cash to purchase a home.

The "new" FHA is, of course, really just the old FHA with higher borrowing limits and the RDL is really just the old Farmers' Home loan in a new package. The problem now, as in the past, is that unless buyers trying to use these loan products have sterling credit and cash in the bank, closing the loan is a low percentage endeavor. The new appraisal process is a nightmare and the underwriting is onerous in the extreme. In a nutshell, the "new" loans designed to help first timers and those with limited cash are not really much help and will again fall out of use of their own sheer weight in the same way that the "old" loans did.

Before this year, I hadn't written a contract FHA or RDL in the last twenty years because they didn't ever work out. I've tried a couple of the new ones this year and guess what - they didn't work out. I'll not be wasting any more of my time or my buyers' time with them.

Buy Your First Home - Get A Tax Credit - FAQ

Barney Griggs — 2009-05-11T20:34:00Z

Hi Folks - For general info on the 2008 1rst Time Home Buyer Tax Credit as promulgated by the National Association of REALTORS, please click the link below:

1rst Time Home Buyer Tax Credit

Check back often for changes or updates on this very beneficial program!

Is this another bubble?

Barney Griggs — 2009-05-11T00:45:00Z

Well - it's official. The business leaders of the Upper Valley have declared that the real estate market has "hit bottom" with only minimal damage in terms of sales prices and days on the market. It seems according to one leader that, "We're rolling again!" While I would love to leap onto the band wagon and in fact, I admit that activity has certainly been good given the negative press and the economic bad news on almost every other front; I have to ask for a pause in the euphoria long enough to make a couple of observations. Mine are more of a gut level reaction to the statistics that I have see reported as well as my own personal experience rather than the compilation of current MLS statistics favored by some of the community's business leaders.

1. Despite a load of phone activity and property tours and open houses, the actual closings that I take a look at every day seem pretty puny given the level of activity.

2. The price levels of the actual closed sales are low, mostly in the $200K and under category. It is now the exception rather than the rule to see $500K and up closings.

3. It appears to me that many sellers have been sitting on the sidelines waiting for some stability in the market before listing their property for sale and are only now beginning to put homes on the market with a vengeance.

"What does this mean?" you might ask.

1. REALTORS are "doing a lot of business", but not very many transactions are actually closing.

2. The market is crowded with first -time buyers who have previously been shut out of the over-heated market. Anxious to get into their first home with a low interest rate and a tax credit to boot, they are out in force. The only problem is there are not very many decent properties in their price range for them to choose from.

3. The slightly rosier statistics that are being reported are being skewed by behavioral factors relative to emotion and state of mind.

Conclusion: We could very easily be in the middle of a "rebound bubble". I actually think the same thing is going on in the stock market. When prices get so low that investors/buyers can't resist, things look better for a while. Unfortunately, as real market conditions come back into play, the activity diminishes again until the next irresistible price point is achieved. I hope I'm wrong.

Much Ado About Something

Barney Griggs — 2009-04-28T14:27:00Z

Well, it's happening again. A real estate allegory snatched from the headlines.

By now, we've all heard about the BBC talent show sensation and viral YouTube star, Susan Boyle, whose claim to her fifteen or slightly more minutes of fame is that she is able to carry a tune on pitch with a very pleasant singing voice and a positive stage presence. I also might mention that she is apparently even more famous for what she is not. That is, she is not a half-dressed, tattooed, pierced, bleached blond, no talent, rock star wannabee like most of her competition.

It seems the entire entertainment world is completely dumbfounded that a person who does not fit the pre-conceived, canned, Hannah Montana, Britney Spears visual image of a pop music singer actually has some talent and is not totally reliant on costume, lighting, musical production, dancers and all of the other trappings of successful entertainers in order to perform. It would actually be nice to see a few more actually talented performers from time to time. Maybe this will start something.

But------ on to real estate. Unfortunately, the marketplace that has just collapsed fell victim to the same problem; too much focus on glitz and looks and not enough emphasis on fundamentals. Too many stainless steel appliances and granite countertops and not enough attention to utility, floorplan and location. Too much Flip This House and not enoughThis Old House. Yep - that's right. The real estate market has been Punk'd. Big house - no foundation. While we were Dancing with the Stars, style once again has been trumped by substance.

What to do? What to do? - Maybe Susan Boyle has the answer. Just sing the song the best you can and the rest will take care of itself. For the rest of us - Let's open our eyes and look for actual value in the properties we buy. As a reminder, the two canons of real estate investment remain in force:

1. Location, location, location!
2. You don't make money when you sell your property; you make money when you buy it.

Arrrrggghhhh - Pirates!!

Barney Griggs — 2009-04-10T00:57:00Z

I guess this entry is only peripherally about real estate. but it's been a long winter and we don't get much irony in these parts, so I couldn't resist sharing a thought that struck me this morning as I watched the news on TV. Of course, the media are full of the story of an American flagged ship being attacked by pirates, the ensuing fight to overcome the miscreants and the captain being taken hostage. All of these things are clearly criminal acts and deserving of a strong response and stern punishment.

From what I can glean, these Somalis who risk their very lives to go into the open ocean in rubber boats and attempt to hijack vessels hundreds of times their size have gleaned something over fifty million dollars for their efforts, which according to some reports they take back to their villages and share with other starving Somalis to buy food, medicine and other necessaries. They are regarded as heroes in their locales as sort of modern day Robin Hoods. As the outrage over their foul deeds as increased, there are now warships from more than one country's navy patrolling the area in an attempt to thwart this "band of merry men". Millions of dollars of military and other resources are being expended to end this foul scourge.

The irony of the situation, which runs so deep and lustrous as to almost defy the imagination, is that one pirate from New York City sacked over fifty billion with a "b" dollars from his hapless victims right here within the borders of the good ol' USA. His booty, unfortunately, did not go to assist the starving masses, but to buy penthouse apartments, yachts, expensive jewelry and so on. Of course, he is not regarded as a hero, but he operated successfully for years without so much as a row boat being called out by the Navy or the SEC for that matter. His band of merry men, pirate scourge all, consisting of derivatives traders, oil company executives, mortgage bankers, and other financial malefactors have successfully hijacked the retirement savings, college funds, real estate value and the actuals homes of millions of victims.

Was the National Guard called out to round up these business suited Jack Sparrows and send them to Davey Jones Locker? Was a multi-national naval force called out to secure the financial oceans? Nope and Nope! As a matter of fact, most of the criminals not only kept their ill-gotten gains, but were actually paid bonuses for, I guess, being able to steal so much from so many.

Anyway, back to the irony. Let's see - Navy warships chasing down starving Somali pirates who stole $50,000,000 - bonuses being paid to Armani suited, Rolex wearing American pirates who stole almost $1,000,000,000,000. To quote one or the other of the Peanuts characters - "I can't stand it!"

Spring Update

Barney Griggs — 2009-04-02T01:03:00Z

Spring has officially begun and the real estate buying season is off and running. In the Upper Valley, the phone is ringing often and buyers are looking around a lot. Sellers are listing their properties in spite of the national hype about the market and, in fact, properly priced properties are selling. Buyers are taking their time and negotiating hard. Rates are at historic lows and, in spite of tighter credit restrictions, qualified buyers with some cash to put down are receiving mortgage loans and, combined with lower prices, are saving a ton of money.

First time buyers are out in force as the market prices and low rates combine to allow them to purchase for the first time in several years. The problem is that there is still not much to choose from in the under $200K category. Many of the properties at this level are not appealing because, generally speaking, if they have a decent house in anything resembling move-in condition, the location is on a main road or near something unappealing. Conversely, if the location is decent, the building either needs a ton of work or is pretty small or both.

The other price points are not moving particularly well. There are some lookers, a lot of property for sale, but not many closings as of this writing. However, the buying season is just getting started and the weather has been so nasty that it's hindering efforts to get buyers motivated. Who wants to look at property when its 38 degrees and raining with 30 mph winds?

Anyway, despite fear and loathing all over the financial world, our little microcosm appears to be only slightly injured; a sprain rather than a knock-out blow, if you will. Certainly there are some foreclosures and short sales going on, but on a scale a couple of orders of magnitude less than in other parts of the country.

A buyer's market, no doubt, but an active one so far. Here's hoping for it to continue and improve.