What’s Next for Wall Street[Editor’s Note: normally, this blog concerns itself with real estate matters. However, what’s happening on Wall Street now is, at its core, all about real estate. So, here goes . . . ] If you’re overwhelmed — as many people are — by the magnitude and rapidity of events on Wall...Read More
Gov’t. Officials Devise New Playbook The news accounts following Wall Street’s gyrations this week frequently compared (Treasury Secretary) Henry Paulson and (Fed Reserve Chairman) Ben Bernanke to grim-faced surgeons trying to stem a potentially lethal and fast-moving infection threatening their patient. Their countenances aside, Paulson and Bernanke’s ad hoc reaction to market developments actually reminds...Read More
vs. Two in the BushThere’s an old joke about two hikers who encounter a hungry grizzly bear. The first hiker thinks he has to out-run the bear. The second, smarter hiker knows that he has to outrun . . his hiking companion. In a nutshell, that captures the dilemma facing buyers trying to decide how...Read More
Who “Lost” Fannie Mae & Freddie Mac?When China fell to the Communists after WW II in the 1940’s, it triggered a full-scale national “soul-searching” about where to place the blame (the Democrats lost). Now that the Treasury has taken over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, we’re in the early stages of assigning blame for a...Read More
Treasury Moves Lower Interest Rates It may only be temporary, and it doesn’t necessarily signal that the housing market’s troubles are over, but the government’s seizure of Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae has had at least one immediate, salutary effect: lower interest rates. Since just last week, fixed 30-year rates have dropped almost a half...Read More
How Many Showings is Too Many? Just as there is “love at first sight” in relationships, there is also “love at first sight” in real estate. I’ve witnessed it several times: sometimes even before my clients said anything, I knew that they had found the home they wanted to buy (body English and facial expressions...Read More
