The Economy

Several things come into play in my thoughts as I reflect on many of the recent events surrounding my life, my business, and my family. My friend, the Congresswoman Maxine Waters, was recently on television encouraging President Obama to help create job opportunities in urban America because unemployment among African Americans is up to 40% in some urban areas. Maxine Waters also said that the Tea Party was disruptive; it was causing problems with the President and Congress in their ability to pass constructive legislation and it was the cause of  Standard & Poor’s (S&P) dropping the US Government’s credit rating from AAA to AA+ .

I can remember just recently when normal credit underwriting for a home loan required the ability to have reasonable credit and enough income to support the repayment of the loan; it also required a down payment and if the down payment was low you had to live in the home as your personal residence. I can remember doing this for 30+ years.  It was not until the invention of creative mortgage products and the subsequent collapse of the markets that the economy became a problem. Had we never allowed the type of financing that came to play in the early 2000′s, we would have never fallen off the cliff. We let Wall Street in the game, we let the hedge funds play, and we took away the good old days of qualified mortgages. We should have never allowed Pick-A–Pay Negative Amortization Loans without restrictions.

I am staying away from the politics of government; my concerns are the politics of Real Estate and I know that good Real Estate is good for the country. Real Estate is good for employment, it is good for urban and rural communities, and it is good for America!  I encourage all of my friends to get involved — express yourself, work on campaigns, get your friends to vote, and let the politicians know where you stand. We can build a stronger America because this is still the land of opportunity!

The National Association of REALTORS®’ (NAR) Chief Economist, Lawrence Yen, has indicated that we are in a modest recovery and everyone says that we need jobs to stimulate the economy.  I guess we can all agree with that. Those of you that are working on a job — think about teaming up with someone. Today is a great time to buy a house.  Interest rates are at an all time low. Imagine buying a house today and paying that house off in, let’s say, 20 years.  Think about how old you are.   Why pay rent of $1,000 or $1,200 per month when you can buy a house and pay it off.  What are you waiting for? While rent will continue to go up, your mortgage can basically stay the same for 30 years except for your taxes and insurance.

Do something today — contact me about Real Estate or call your REALTOR® friend!

AUTHOR:  LeFrancis Arnold, CAR 2011 President-Elect, LACBOR Past President —                                  www.LeFrancisArnold.com and LeFrancis’ On The Move (blog) …