Archive for February, 2009

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There was an article published in the Burlington Free Press today about the troubled economy and housing market. You can read it here: Housing permits dry up. It should have been called Burlington Real Estate Market Bucking National Trend.  “Permits for new single-family homes in Chittenden County slumped to their lowest levels in at least 19 years…” As true as this is, do we really need to be pounded over the head with more doom and gloom news? If you actually make it to the bottom of the article without jumping off a cliff, you begin to realize that it’s not all bad. In the article, David Scheuer, president of Retrovest Companies says, “Burlington is in much better shape than the rest of the country.” Why couldn’t  that have been the title of the piece? The article even makes reference to the fact that the doom and gloom is a self fulfilling prophecy and the only way the economy and particularly the housing market is going to turn around is if people start feeling confident again. The only way people are going to start feeling confident again is if we stop getting told that things are bad. I’m not suggesting that things are all ice cream and jelly beans. I’m just saying that there is something to be said about believing something the more you hear it repeated. So, if that article and all the others about the state of our economy had headlines that read something like, Burlington Real Estate Market Bucking National Trend, maybe things could actually have a chance of turning around this year. Listen, 60% of consumers just read the headlines anyway. Actually I just made that figure up but I’ll bet there is some truth to it. If you only have 10 minutes in the morning to breeze through the Free Press and you want to get a feel for the days news, your probably only going to read part of each article. With all the good news at the bottom of each article, you’re most likely not getting to it. My point is we need to start hearing and reading better news or at least headlines. The sad reality is that bad news sells and for struggling publishing companies, selling is good! If only it were the same for real estate.

That’s all for now.

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On Feb 9 MortgageDaily.com reported that Mortgage Finance company Fannie Mae will expand the 4 property rule where investors already owning four properties could not finance property number 5 and beyond with its loans. The new expanded rule says you can finance up to 10 investment properties. What this means is that all you investors who have been stuffing your money into the mattress for the last couple of years can go wild again.  Brian Faith, a Fannie Mae spokesman said in an email statement, “Bona-fide, experienced investors bringing significant equity to the table will play a key role in the housing recovery.” Fredie Mac is reported to still has a four-unit limit but they are “looking at it.” Yes, that is a Fanie Mae Chip Clip

Read Full Story at Bloomberg.com

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