Hey
Congress.
Where's
Our
Personal
Bailout?

Apparently everyone is now unofficially eligible for applying for their 'fair share' of the bailout. Cities are doing it. Companies are doing it. Homeowners are doing it. So where's our share?

It's now obvious that any additional bailing out should be viewed and analyzed with the highest degree of skepticism. Not being able to see who's getting part of the initial $250T allotment is bad enough. Why would we trust these clowns in Congress when they have denied us total transparency on where the dollars are going. You can get the best information available at BailoutSleuth.com but don't think you're going to get the full story.

[EDIT: I am not an insensitive ass. There are people who genuinely need help in this world and as human beings we need to do what we can to help. What I'm NOT in favor are idiots who choose to be victims and exploit the system. Let them eat cake.]

Again...where's my personal bailout?

GM, Ford and Chrysler are an absolute joke asking for a bailout. First, they're paying their workers an average of $78 per hour in total costs and benefits adding over $2000 per car to the expense. Toyota pays only $36 per hour for the same product and is subsequently kicking our clueless American butts in the auto industry. Next, you have industry executives like the president of GM who made $15.1 million dollars last year sitting in front of Congress asking for a bailout. Absurd. This is the same guy who thinks the Cadillac Escalade is a mass appeal product getting about 11 miles per gallon. Give it up big 3. You're in way to deep to recover. You don't get it and it's too late to change. A financial reorganization is the only way for you to go. Get rid of the costs and start building cars that are financially competitive again. Yes I have empathy for the workers but they're toast anyway if there's not a complete reorganization of the auto industry. Stop asking for a bailout and do something about the mess YOU'VE created.

Meanwhile I'll ask the question again. Where's my personal bailout? Perhaps my national trade organization who keeps saying 'it will get better very soon" will get off their sunshine and butterfly back sides and get us Realtors a bailout.........NOT.

Questions? Comments? Donations?
317.848.GREG (4734) or Greg@GregCooper.com

Henry Paulson's Magic Act

This week Secretary Paulson did what many thought would happen and what many hoped wouldn't happen.

He changed the game.

In announcing this week that the bailout was not going to support distressed mortgage assets to stabilize the housing market, good old Hank picked up that giant crystal ball known as the American economy and shook it up. Now instead of having a bailout that our good friend Jim Cramer promised us could potentially pay us back in full, we have a quagmire that most certainly has encouraged every conceivable entity from the City of Detroit (and others) to General Motors to ask for a personal bailout. In essence our friend Mr. Paulson has taken the bailout and started moving it around under the three cups much like the carnival barker. Many had hoped for calm after the passage of the bailout. Many had hoped for stability. Nope. Now we have just about as much fear and loathing as a financial market could have. Pardon my curtness but what it in the hell were they thinking?

I have said numerous times over the last month I'd give anything for the stock market not to go up or down more than 100 points per day over an entire week. So much for that pipe dream.

In Today's New World of Real Estate stability sells. Fear and uncertainty do not. While many of us hoped that with the presidential election behind us there would be hope and a desire to move forward in our country, what we have is another step into the muck that will most certainly be with us for years to come. With the October home sales stats due out soon, we're going to get a first hand glimpse of exactly how far into the muck we've stepped.

Of course my national trade organization has smiled and sailed happily along with chief economist Lawrence Yun proclaiming this week that Indiana was primed for a quick turnaround based on housing affordability and good employement rates. This was the same clown that told us in January of '08 that things would be better by the summer of '08. Mr. Yun I'm begging you ....just stop talking. As our mothers told us often in our younger years, if you don't have something nice to say.....

Questions? Comments? Donations? Greg@GregCooper.com 317.848.GREG (4734)

For those of you who insist on clinging to your newspaper, broadcast and glossy magazine marketing to find your way, here's a little reality check from the front......

Where are the marketing dollars being spent to promote your property? Big splashy ads in the Sunday paper are not what they're cracked up to be. Marketing guru Gary Vaynerchuk has a few suggestions on the perception versus reality of what actually drives results in Today's New World Of Real Estate....and a LOT of other places.






Want to see how our federal officials are squandering our 'bailout/rescue' money? Mark Cuban has played a role in creating BailoutSleuth.com to watch the dollars roll out into the wind. One can only look at this every so often for fear of being totally sick to one's stomach!

Conversation Of
The Week:

Expired Listing Seller: "I'd like to speak with you about listing my home"

Me: "Certainly....tell me about your property's history"

ELS: "Well it's been for sale for a year with no showings and no price adjustments."

Me: "Are you aware of the available inventory, how many homes have sold in your price point and location?"

ELS: "No....but I built homes for several decades and I know what this property's worth."

Me: "Have you had an appraisal?"

ELS: "No....by the way you're not going to be one of those agents that keeps telling me to lower my price, are you?"

Me: "Why would I actually want to waste your time with nonsense about supply and demand, inventory absorption and silly little things like how buyers actually feel about your property?"

ELS: "Good....I think we're going to get along just fine...when can you come out?"

Me: "I can be there just after nine on Monday, July 21st, 2011...about the time the market actually recognizes your price. Looking forward to seeing you. One more question Mister ELS....are you aware that we're in the most challenging real estate market since the '70's?"

ELS: "No but I've got the entire Pable Cruise collection on vinyl. I loved the '70's!"

To think some people believe we Realtors are overpaid.

Questions? Comments? Donations? Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG (4734)

UPDATE: Here is the 28 minutes (comercials edited out) of Greg's WIBC appearence on 10/13. Click here to listen.

If you're looking for the WIBC economic round table discussion from 10/6 please go HERE.

"My problem lies in reconciling my gross spending habits with my net income."
-George Bernard Shaw

What in the world is LIBOR?
The current overall economic challenges we're facing are broad. To boil it down to how the housing market is affected, one term we've all been hearing about in the last several weeks is LIBOR.

The LIBOR benchmark is a key rate that reflects how lending institutions loan money. It affects how businesses borrow money. It affects how people borrow money to buy homes, cars and just about anything else that requires capital. Right now the LIBOR numbers are very high meaning borrowing money is tough. It's high in part because so much money has disappeared from the stock market through many factors (corporate defaults, mortgage foreclosures, etc). In essence, lenders are scared. Hey, we're all a bit uncomfortable right now. But there is some light at the end of the tunnel.

One of the reasons that the LIBOR numbers remained so high is that the money agreed to in the economic bailout has not yet been put to use. It's not been used yet to help the current crisis because we passed a bailout bill in 10 days without really having any plan.

Uhhhhh.....Isn't this what we all feared?

The good news from those smarter than I on these things is that many people do have great faith in Henry Paulson and Ben Bernacke to get the right people and plan in place to use the bailout to help ease credit.

To keep this simple, if you look at LIBOR numbers for the next 30 days, they are still very high meaning borrowing money will still be tough. The 90 day numbers are much lower meaning the markets believe over the next three months money will be easier to borrow. IF...and it's a big if that does occur, car, home and business loans will be easier to get and we may see some progress in getting this mess headed in a better direction. LIBOR getting better is essential. Life getting back to normal (whatever that means) is essential. For all of our sake, let's hope we see some steps in the right direction between now and Christmas.

Questions, Comments , Donations? Greg@GregCooper.com or 317.848.GREG (4734)