I’ve been blogging for months now about the Southern Oregon housing market recovery by focusing on Grants Pass real estate and Medford real estate, as well as homes throughout the rest of the country. Now there is evidence both from my personal sales in the Southern Oregon real estate market and from the Case Shiller home price index that we’ve finally turned a corner.

It seems that 15 of the top 20 markets in the country have seen either price increases or no declines at all for the month of May. In some of my previous blogs, I wrote that the bottom of the housing market was June 2009. Interestingly, Jim Cramer of CNBC’s Mad Money feels the same way. Admittedly, we’ve all been wrong before but on his July 28th show Jim told his viewers that those who wait for evidence of a turnaround in the housing or stock markets will be missing out on the great buying opportunities.

Now, to be fair, Jim actually called the bottom of the market in Continue reading Grants Pass Real Estate, Medford Real Estate, and the Southern Oregon Housing Market Recovery

As a specialist in Grants Pass real estate within the Southern Oregon real estate market, I am well aware of the distress many home owners currently feel regarding the significant drop in real estate market prices, both locally and nationally. I am writing these words to assure readers that the wealth of the American family will continue to be provided by the ownership of real estate, be it ownership right here in Grants Pass real estate, in the Southern Oregon real estate market, or nationwide.

Here’s why the recovery is working all across America. Yes, the wheels of recovery have been slow to turn because they found themselves at a dead stop, churning to free us from the worse financial mud hole since the Great Depression. But consider this Continue reading Grants Pass Real Estate and the Southern Oregon Real Estate Market

As many of you already know, the Southern Oregon real estate market is dependent on the California real estate market for much of its activity. In Grants Pass and Medford, California has always been regarded as their largest “feeder” market, driven by Baby Boomers seeking retirement.

So when sales in California began to tank back in 2006, the Grants Pass, Medford, and Southern Oregon real estate markets tanked right along with them. Now comes the latest news regarding the recovery of the California real estate market.

Sales statistics indicate that California may finally be coming out of its economic tailspin. Statistics show that Continue reading The Grants Pass, Medford, and Southern Oregon Real Estate Market Recovery and the California Real Estate Market

In my last blog, I described the dangerous circumstances created by outsourcing America’s great manufacturing industries and choosing easy profit over long-term financial stability. It seems we’ve become a nation that imports more than it exports and borrows more than it lends. We arrived in this predicament by allowing government and big business to sell out our economy on the promise that free trade and the global economy would allow us to continue to prosper. Admittedly, some have prospered though not who we believed it would be. How can anyone believe that shipping electronics and software jobs, manufacturing and industrial production, and a whole host of other revenue-rich concerns to other parts of the world would help us? How could anyone believe that we could import $500 billion worth of oil and then burn it without producing hardly anything of value in exchange be good for our economy? This is what we let happen. We sold out or wore out our best divisions of the best businesses that we call American and now we have little left over to sell. So we have but one choice — restructure!

That is what our new leadership in Washington is talking about. I have voted Republican most of my life and when I hear my Republican friends complaining about the debt we are incurring, I ask “What’s the alternative?” Continue reading Selling Southern Oregon, Restructuring America, and a Return to Economic Prosperity, Part II

I’ve been selling Southern Oregon real estate now for nearly 30 years. Over that span of time I’ve been asked to list and sell many businesses and companies here in the Grants Pass and Medford areas. The first question I inevitably ask is “Are you making money?”

If a company is for sale and it is not turning a profit the next questions are always “Then what are we selling and why should anyone buy it?” Consider the obvious —-everyone wants to sell their business when it’s not profitable. That’s a lot easier choice than staying in it and restructuring to get it in the black. I always tell my clients that If you have a business enterprise that is not turning a profit or if it is making a profit that is about what you would be paid if you had a job doing the same thing then forget about selling it —- Liquidate it! That’s tough advice but the truth is a lot easier than giving someone the false hope of an entitlement to money that they’re never going to receive.

No matter where you live, if you ever find yourself in such a situation then you’ll have the same easy choice to liquidate, take your losses and go do something else, or the more difficult choice of staying in and restructuring. That may mean borrowing some money and then reinventing your company to make it profitable. I’ve seen the previous scenario play itself out dozens of times over the years in my Grants Pass real estate business, and with my social conscience I find it a lot easier to tell someone that their business is really no more than a pool of assets costing them money to run every month.

I always recommend that they go back to the basics and get their flawed business model repaired and made profitable. It then becomes very simple to sell a business that’s making money. At that point most don’t want to sell except for retirement. I want to draw a comparison here between unsuccessful businesses with flawed or outdated business models and our current economic situation here in America.

Not so long ago, we were the economic engine of the world. We were the envy of all other countries for our modern business practices, our progressive labor laws, and our tax structure. In short, we did almost everything right and as a result Continue reading Selling Southern Oregon, Restructering America, and a Return to Economic Prosperity, Part I

In my last blog, we defined toxic assets of banks. This blog will focus on derivatives. Simply defined, derivatives are financial instruments comprised of mortgages that have been bundled together and typically sold Over-The-Counter to customers worldwide, from Southern Oregon to Europe to the Middle East. During the height of the real estate feeding frenzy, derivatives where bought and sold with little or no regulation to banks, hedge funds and other sophisticated entities. Behind the policy of “no regulation” was the belief that the buyers of derivatives were sophisticated investors aware of the risks and complications inherent to a financial instrument of this caliber. Billions in bundled mortgages circulated the globe as investors chased supposedly secure investments in the rising real estate markets of California, Nevada, Arizona, Florida, and yes, Southern Oregon, including Grants Pass. And throughout this period, you can bet there were some Wall Street traders making a bundle over the bundling, knowing that their tracks would be covered by complexity. When the party came to an end and the real estate market began to fall, the derivates took a nose dive. Since then, derivatives have becoming perhaps the most perplexing challenge for economic recovery. And that is because no one knows whether these bundled mortgages represent a beautiful new home Grants Pass or a boarded up shanty in flood damaged New Orleans. Continue reading DERIVATIVES, TOXIC ASSETS, AND THE SOUTHERN OREGON REAL ESTATE MARKET, Part 2

Oh, those pesky derivates and toxic assets. When the real estate bubble burst, derivatives and toxic assets became the problem that wouldn’t go away. These two trouble makers have expanded in numbers and they continue to pose complications that threaten the recovery of the entire global economic system. But what exactly are derivatives and toxic assets and how do we get them under control? Their definitions are easy compared to the second question; how do we get them under control? The answer to this question is at the heart of any successful plan for economic recovery whether we are talking about a recovery in the Grants Pass real estate market, the Southern Oregon real estate market, or the national economy. Continue reading DERIVATIVES, TOXIC ASSETS, AND THE SOUTHERN OREGON REAL ESTATE MARKET, Part I

Fly fishing is nothing more than using an artificial fly for a lure to catch fish. Investment in the Grants Pass real estate market is nothing more than using your money to buy a great bargain. Along the way, both the fisherman and the real estate investor must acquire skill, patience, and perseverance. And with a little luck, a fisherman will find a fly fishing home in Oregon.

One of the first things a fly fisherman looks for is that spot in the river where the fish thrive and feed. For the fisherman, it’s all about finding the right location. The Grants Pass home buyer also looks for the same thing — location, location, location. The fisherman and the home buyer both strive to cast their lines into waters that will bring them a return. For the sportsman, the return is a fish. For the real estate investor, the return is the security of their investment. And so the search for a fly fishing home in Oregon is the perfect combination of sport and habitat. Continue reading Fly Fishing, Zen, and the Grants Pass Real Estate Market

It is my belief that one of the basic fundamental needs of all humans is the need to feel connected, the need to love and be loved, the need to belong. It is the reason we’re nurtured as newborns, the reason we’re elated on our wedding day, and the reason we seek security in the place we call home. As a Socially Conscious Realtor in Grants Pass I understand that need to feel connected. I understand that home owners purchase property in neighborhoods that they connect with in order to form friendships, participate in local schools, and foster a sense of belonging to a community. And so I try to treat every one I encounter in my career as a realtor with a respectful validation of that fundamental need to feel connected.

But sometimes the need to feel connected runs head on into the tough love of separation. Newborns are ultimately weaned from their mothers. Marriages sometimes end in divorce. Families change, grow, and move on to new neighborhoods. And these days, a dramatic number of homeowners have lost their homes to foreclosure. As a socially conscious realtor I recognize the powerful emotions involved in the dramatic events that influence people’s lives. I also recognize the power of tough love and the need to wield it delicately.

Tough love is helping someone to do the right thing even when it’s painful. Tough love in real estate occurs when Continue reading The Socially Conscious Realtor in Grants Pass and the Need to Feel Connected

It is my belief that one of the basic fundamental needs of all humans is the need to feel connected, the need to love and be loved, the need to belong. It is the reason we’re nurtured as newborns, the reason we’re elated on our wedding day, and the reason we seek security in the place we call home. As a Socially Conscious Realtor in Grants Pass I understand that need to feel connected. I understand that home owners purchase property in neighborhoods that they connect with in order to form friendships, participate in local schools, and foster a sense of belonging to a community. And so I try to treat every one I encounter in my career as a realtor with a respectful validation of that fundamental need to feel connected.
But sometimes the need to feel connected runs head on into the tough love of separation. Newborns are ultimately weaned from their mothers. Marriages sometimes end in divorce. Families change, grow, and move on to new neighborhoods. And these days, a dramatic number of homeowners have lost their homes to foreclosure. As a socially conscious realtor I recognize the powerful emotions involved in the dramatic events that influence people’s lives. I also recognize the power of tough love and the need to wield it delicately.
Tough love is helping someone to do the right thing even when it’s painful. Tough love in real estate occurs when Continue reading The Socially Conscious Realtor in Grants Pass and the Need to Feel Connected