Well the election is over and I don't know about you but I'm ready to get back to business.  I don't know if that's what we're going to see anytime soon but I'm ready for it!  I was at a seminar on the weekend and the speaker was a writer for the one of the local Real Estate magazines.  She said we have a trifecta in the market place.  I hadn't heard that before but after she explain I think she's right.  1. Sellers finally realize prices have come down and there are some really nice reasonably priced homes on the market today   2. The crisis in the market has caused mortgage rates to go down even further and they are the lowest I've seen in a while   3. There are buyers out there ready,who are willing to buy, they have been preapproved for loans and just need to find the right house.  It just doesn't get any better than this.  Now trying to put them all together at the right place and the right time - thats the secret.  I am tired of all the negativity and look forward to things being sane.  I think buyers and sellers are ready too.  I'm excited about the possibilities in this market.  I'm not trying to predict anything just saying this isn't a bad place to be at this moment in time.

The fires in Southern California are yet another heartbreak in what is now becoming a long string of sad events in the housing area.  Listening to the news and seeing the pictures on television just doesn't do justice to what is actually happening.  We can only pray that the only thing lost was a building.  It reminds all of us how precious our families are.  In the midst of so much terrible news, it warmed my heart to see neighbors helping neighbors.  In some areas nobody can explain what happened, one house goes up in flames and the one next door appears to be untouched.  In some cases the home owner will tell you they think their new tile or flame retardant roof helped.  One thing I know for sure, here in the Long Beach area, we must do everything we can to convince people that wood shakes roofs have to go.  We had one - I loved it - it was one of the reasons we bought our house.  But when it came time for a new roof my husband insisted we spend the extra money and put on a roof that had been treated with flame retardant.  I love El Dorado Park Estates, but a lot of these homes have their original shake roofs and right now our cars, our homes and our pools are full of soot and ash.  How hard would it be for a single spark to land on any one of those roofs?  Please if you have a shake roof, consider that it's time to change it.  Do it for the love of your home and your family.  If you need local referrals to some great roofers, let me know.  Let's try to keep everybody safe, and let's all pray for the people who lost so much during yet another fire season.

I haven't spoken about the stock market or the continuing decline in the Dow.  I haven't spoken about the current value of Real Estate, my home, my investment property or your home.  I haven't spoken about these things because like any good ostrich I put my head in the sand and hoped it would all go away.  Well it hasn't, I must admit it's probably not going to and worse yet it's time to face the music.  I received my monthly statements from my 2 stock brokers yesterday.  Very different accounts, with very different brokers, but still all that money invested in the stock market.  Well it's not ALL THAT MONEY any more.  Any hopes of taking advantage of good buys in Real Estate are temporarily gone and any thoughts of just kicking back and letting the world go by are gone too.  I called my husband and said my account is down 50% and he corrected me, no dear it's only down 47% percent.  Big whoop wrong by 3 points.  But one thing I do know.  Some stocks in my portfolio are now worth 0.  As in the past, my Enron stock is worth nothing, and several others I still hold are worth pennies on the dollar.  My real estate investments - not worth 0, not worth pennies on the dollar.  Down - sure - but nothing compared to the stock market.  Hmmm....maybe that means that my idea of taking advantage of the current market to buy additional investment property is a good one.  I do know for sure that my Real Estate investments will never go to zero.  My stocks, not so sure.