Memorial Day 2010

NATIONAL CEMETERY - PHOENIX, ARIZONA

I have always found it strange to wish someone a Happy Memorial Day.  I can never bring myself to say those words.  Yes, we all look forward to the first long weekend that marks the beginning of summer (albeit a few weeks shy of the actual summer solstice).  When I lived in New York, Memorial Day marked the beginning of the planting season, though here in Arizona it's a little late to start planting!  It also marked the date you could start wearing summer white... again, Arizona folks know that we start that much earlier, too.  For many folks, Memorial Day means the first barbecue of the season... picnics, trips to the lake, lots of beer and chips.  Yes, all of those things make Memorial Day weekend a fun time.  But, I sincerely believe that we need to remember the real meaning of Memorial Day. 

I am greatly impressed by the way Israel honors its fallen heroes.  On Yom Hazikaron, the Israeli Memorial Day, a siren is sounded twice throughout the country during a 24 hour time period, from sunset to sunset. The first siren marks the beginning of Memorial Day at 8:00 p.m. and the second is sounded at 11:00 a.m, before prayers are recited at all military cemeteries.  When the siren is sounded, the entire nation observes a two-minute standstill of all traffic and daily activities.  For the entire day, all places of public entertainment are closed and all radio and television stations play music appropriate to the mood of the day and broadcast programs honoring fallen soldiers.


Enjoy your holiday weekend, but please take some time to honor the memory of those who paid the ultimate sacrifice to give us the freedoms we cherish.

Thanks to all our Veterans for your service to our country!

Warmest regards,
Pook

War Casualties in Afghanistan and Iraq

Source:  CNN.com
Thanks to the folks at CNN.com for creating an incredible site to honor those who have paid the ultimate sacrifice while serving in Afghanistan and Iraq.  While it is actually one website, I have created separate links below to separate the casualties of Afghanistan and Iraq.  When you go to the website through either of the links below, you will be able to get to the LIST and MAP views for both Afghanistan and Iraq.  The Map View is amazing... be sure to check it out. 

U.S. AND COALITION CASUALTIES IN AFGHANISTAN: 
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/war.casualties/table.afghanistan.html
This list includes the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, and sailors whose deaths have been reported by their nation's government. The list also includes two U.S. Defense Department civilian employees. The troops died serving in the U.S.-led Operation Enduring Freedom or the NATO-led International Security Assistance force in Afghanistan. At least 5,917 U.S. personnel have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. In addition to the military deaths, one Jordanian and 11 U.S. intelligence operatives have died in Afghanistan. 

U.S. AND COALITION CASUALTIES IN IRAQ:   
http://www.cnn.com/SPECIALS/war.casualties/table.iraq.html
This list includes the names of the soldiers, Marines, airmen, sailors and Coast Guardsmen whose deaths have been reported by their country's governments. The list also includes 13 U.S. Defense Department civilian employees. At least 31,822 U.S. troops have been wounded in action, according to the Pentagon. 

An Excellent Teacher

Thanks to Dr. Lanny Knell for passing this email message to me.  One never knows if these emails are true or not, but the message is a good one, so I'd like to share it with you.

A lesson that should be taught in all schools ... And colleges!  Back in September of 2005, on the first day of school, Martha Cothren, a social studies school teacher at Robinson High School   in Little Rock , did something not to be forgotten. On the first day of school, with the permission of the School Superintendent, the Principal and the Building Supervisor, she removed all of the desks out of her classroom. When the first period kids entered the room they discovered that there were no desks. 'Ms.. Cothren, where're our desks?'  She replied, 'You can't have a desk until you tell me how you earn the right to sit at a desk.'  They thought, 'Well, maybe it's our grades.' 'No,' she said. 'Maybe it's our behavior.'  She told them, 'No, it's not even your behavior.'

And so, they came and went, the first period, second period, third period... Still no desks in the classroom.  By early afternoon television news crews had started gathering in Ms.Cothren's classroom to report about this crazy teacher who had taken all the desks out of her room.  The final period of the day came and as the puzzled students found seats on the floor of the desk less classroom, Martha Cothren said, 'Throughout the day no one has been able to tell me just what he/she has done to earn the right to sit at the desks that are ordinarily found in this classroom. Now I am going to tell you.'  At this point, Martha Cothren went over to the door of her classroom and opened it.  Twenty-seven (27) U.S. Veterans, all in uniforms, walked into that classroom, each one carrying a school desk. The Vets began placing the school desks in rows, and then they would walk over and stand alongside the wall... By the time the last soldier had set the final desk in place those kids started to understand, perhaps for the first time in their lives, just how the right to sit at those desks had been earned..  Martha said, 'You didn't earn the right to sit at these desks. These heroes did it for you. They placed the desks here for you. Now, it's up to you to sit in them. It is your responsibility to learn, to be good students, to be good citizens. They paid the price so that you could have the freedom to get an education. Don't ever forget it.'

By the way, this is a true story.

Please consider passing this along so others won't forget that the freedoms we have in this great country were earned by U. S. Veterans.

SGM David Carmel US Army Ret.

Housing Trends Newsletter

I'm excited to share a fabulous new monthly Housing Trends eNewsletter.  It is filled with local and national real estate sales and price activity provided by MLSs and the National Association of Realtors, and includes U.S. Census Bureau key market indicators, housing market video reports, blogs, real estate glossary, maps, mortgage rates and calculators, consumer articles, and information on 50,000 neighborhoods.  You will be able to see what's happening in your local market.

Please check it out!  I would love your feedback!  

http://pookbellini.housingtrendsenewsletter.com/default.cfm

6 Factors to Consider When Pricing Your Home

Source:  Steve Harney / Keeping Current Matters (5/11/10)

If you currently have your house on the market or you are considering selling it in the near future, make sure you find a local real estate professional. Request them to explain each of the following points and how they apply to your region or neighborhood. You will be better prepared to determine the best option for you and your family once you have this information.

1. Demand for a Particular Type of House

We realize each home has a unique value based on its amenities; however, buyers look at certain basic requirements (ex. style, number of bedrooms, school district, and proximity to mass transit). You should look at your home and see which category it would fall into. For example, you might have a 4 bedroom colonial in a certain school district. Ask the real estate person you are working with to give you a list of the homes in this category that have sold in the last six months. This will give you an accurate depiction of what homes like yours are actually selling for.

But don’t stop there. Take the six month number and divide it by six. That will help you determine the approximate number of buyers that will purchase a home like yours each month.  Then go to the next step.

2. Supply of a Particular Type of House

Have the agent prepare a list of all houses like yours currently on the market. Divide that number by the number of monthly buyers you determined above. That will give you the month’s supply of inventory of available homes like yours. (Example: 24 buyers in the last six months divided by 6 months equals 4 buyers a month. There are currently 40 homes like yours for sale so divide that number by the 4 buyers per month that buy which equals 10 months supply.)

Once you have that number, you can put the principle of supply and demand into play. In real estate:

• 1-4 month’s supply constitutes a seller’s market where prices have a good chance to appreciate
• 5-6 month’s supply constitutes a normal market with stable prices.
• 7+ month’s supply constitutes a buyer’s market where prices have a good chance to depreciate

Now take the average price of houses like yours that sold in the last six months and adjust that price depending on which market you are selling in.

• If it is a normal market, list your home at the average price.
• If it is a seller’s market, add 10% to the average price and start there.
• If it is a buyer’s market, deduct 10% from the average price. (Remember, in a buyer’s market there is an excess of inventory supply. That will mean homes will depreciate.)

All of the information above should be readily available to your local real estate professional. They will be ready to share this with you if you ask them to prepare a Comparable Market Analysis (CMA) on your home.

You now have a good idea regarding today’s value of your home. However, do not allow your agent to stop there. Other factors will impact the price at which your home will sell. Let’s go over them now.

3. Interest Rates

The interest environment has a major impact on home values. The demand for housing increases when rates are low or falling. The demand for housing weakens when rates are high or rising.

Rates are at historic lows today. However, most experts expect rates to climb steadily throughout 2010. As they rise, buyers will be eliminated because they will be priced out of the market. Others will have to buy a home for a lesser price in order to keep the mortgage payment within their monthly budget.

Simply put, there will be a downward pressure on prices as rates increase.

4. Employment Rates

Regional unemployment rates are an interesting dynamic when pricing residential real estate. A person without a job obviously can’t buy a home, so areas with high unemployment have less potential purchasers.

There is also another interesting effect the local job situation can have. If the unemployment rate is rising quickly, many people refrain from making big ticket purchasers out of a fear that they might be next. If you are in an area where the unemployment rate has risen lately, the demand for housing will have fallen. That change in demand will impact prices in a negative way.

5. Foreclosures In the Area

We believe that this factor will impact housing values the most in 2010. We define this ‘shadow inventory’ as the number of foreclosures currently held in banks’ inventories, the number of homeowners seriously delinquent on their mortgage payments (potential foreclosures), and the number of borrowers willing to ‘walk away’ from their mortgage obligations.

There will be a dramatic effect on home prices. When and to what degree these discounted properties will be released to the market will determine the severity of the impact.

6. Consumer Confidence

All of the above factors combined will determine whether the American people have an appetite for real estate. The factors will also determine at what price points purchasers will enter the market. If the real estate market seems to be gaining traction, people will buy. If it seems to be about to take a ‘double-dip’, the purchasers will retreat to the sidelines. The next couple of months will shed light on this factor.

First Time Home Buyer Tax Credit is Still Available... For Veterans

Source:  Michael McDermott, Mortgage Planner

PrimeLending, a PlainsCapital Company

While the Homebuyer Tax Credit has officially come to an end for most, there is an exception that most are unaware of.  For some veterans, the $8,000 tax credit is still very much alive.  Members that have been deployed for at least 90 days between January 1st of 2009 and May 1st of 2010 have been granted an extension until April 30th of 2011 to sign a purchase contract.  The tax credit is identical to the one we are all familiar with.  The tax credit is equal to 10% of the purchase price with a max credit of $8,000 and the buyer must close by June 30th of 2011.