Election Reflections

I read with interest about a survey that revealed an extremely low voter turnout in the 18 - 25 age category. I recall it being in the area of 15% of the eligible voters in this age group actually voted. As pathetic as the overall voter turnout was, this age group brings apathy to a new low. Here is the kicker; the articles I read gave various reasons (excuses) for the low turnout in this group. It sited the negative ads that turned off this group. It sited the the prevailing position among these young people that it doesn't really matter who is in office, it's all the same. It quoted some as saying they are just fed up with how Washington behaves and they want no part of it. What a bunch of hooey! What is seems to me is that they just don't care, and they have no idea what is going on in Washington. Further, they don't realize that Washington is just part of the voting process, many local offices and local issues are decided from these elections that directly affect them. Second, they are lazy. They have not even taken the simple step to register, obviously, not all, but most. Many are so out of touch that they are not even aware that a registration is necessary. It is amazing that in the midst of the information age, and the most technologically advanced individuals are so ill informed. I recall in the last presidential election, a young first time voter wanted to know what number to call on his cell phone to vote, like he did on American Idol. The third reason from my observation is that this age group is just into themselves. They will protest some of the most silly things on campus that have so little significance, or will go to great lengths to participate in amusing or so called 'spontaneous' events (ie Zombie walks, or world's largest pillow fight, etc). Where does voting fit into their that mix?

Voting seems outside of their peripheral. It seems to far detached to enter into even of secondary importance. It is a sad commentary for what lies ahead for our country. I remember my first voting experience. I couldn't wait to get registered and vote. When I watch the election night returns and saw this huge number of votes cast, I knew that number would be one less had I not voted. My vote was actually posted on the television screen. I was proud to vote and counted it a duty and privilege to do so. I consider it the bare minimum a citizen of this great country can do. It is a freedom that many Americans have fought and died for to preserve and protect this right. It is a freedom that is only dreamed of in many peoples and countries across this globe.

There are some who want to challenge the voting process and make it easier for the lazy, uninformed, voter to cast a ballot. Perhaps on line vote casting or cell phone or texting. Do we really want to cater to those who don't care? Privileges come with responsibility, and exercising that privilege should take some, albeit small, amount of effort.

Years ago I remember the "get out and vote" campaign. A good idea that hasn't taken a lot of traction. How about the "stay home and don't complain" campaign. Stay home, don't vote, and don't complain. Let others make the decisions for you and your country, so our young adults can participate in the more important events, like world's largest cotton candy eating contest.

Wooden Boat Show September 18

One of my favorite early fall activities is the annual "Wooden Boats on the Wall" in Leland, Michigan. Every year on the 2nd Saturday following Labor Day, wooded boat owners display there restored wooded boats in the river along the park in Leland, Michigan. Boat enthusiasts and interested lookers will congregate in the charming little harbor town of Leland to admire these rare beauties. Live music and food choices are offered for your strolling pleasure. Also, rare and antique cars will be on display in the park near the boat show. Boat and car owners are often present and eager to share some of their experiences on the waters and roads of beautiful Leelanau County. The show is free and usually goes from 9:00AM to 3:00PM. While you're in Leland explore the historic 'fishtown' district. Dating into the 1800's this quaint village are remains largely undisturbed in its shanty town appearance. Inside these wooden shacks you'll discover shops and deli's. The recently completed marina plays host to sailers and motor boaters alike and offers more 'boat looking' along the rock lined harbor. Venture on north or south on M22 and enjoy some of Michigan's most splendid country side dotted with vineyards and romantic wine tasting venues.
We fell in love with Leelanau County on one of our many family camping trips to the area. We particularly loved Sleeping Bear Dunes National Lake Shore and dreamed of owning real estate in the county some day. Ten years ago we acquired some property and built a lake cabin. If you would like to know more about Leelanau County or real estate in Leelanau County, don't hesitate to contact me. I would be delighted to share what I know about Michigan's 'little finger'.

"Was not meant to be." ?

As a real estate agent I have heard that quote many times from sellers and particularly buyers. I have heard it from people of faith and people with no faith connection. It has continued to puzzle me. It often comes up when a home purchase does not go the way the buyers have intended. A typical response is, "everything happens for a reason, so it was not meant to be." That is particularly puzzling from a no faith perspective. What then is behind the reason? If your belief is in no authority, what then is driving or orchestrating the events. Is it mere fate, or chance or luck or lucky stars? Taking it from a faith perspective, how does one know if it was meant to be or not meant to be? Does that mean that beyond any control of a buyers decision, that the outcome is invariably left to divine intervention. So if a home is listed at $225,000 and the buyer offers $130,000, the seller rejects the offer, the buyer responds by saying, "well, it was just not meant to be". Both the faith based and non faith based buyer can claim the same result. If however, a buyer offers $215,000 on the same home, and the offer is accepted, then it must have been "meant to be". Could it have been that it is not so much fate or divine intervention, but rather a process of determining a fair market value and offering a reasonable amount based on comparable properties and value to the prospective home buyer. When a non faith buyer responds to a outcome as "was not meant to be", they seem to be giving a whole lot of credit and responsibility to fate (chance) or to their lucky stars. When a faith based buyer who offers $130,000 on a $225,000 listing and then responds "was not meant to be" would seem to be trivializing a God who would have interest in a ridiculous offer. The same can be said for a seller who prices their property way higher than its market value. When it certainly does not bring an offer, was it "not meant to be" that we move? Did Lucky Stars align against the seller, or did God block any interested parties from viewing the property?
Art Linkletter had a appropriate quote, "Life happens while you are making plans". To the faith and non faith buyer or seller, my response is, determine fair market value, determine your finances, your options, and make a informed decision based on facts and your gut (intuition).
To the faith based buyer/seller, I would add prayer to the above. I do not want to diminish God's involvement in a believers life in any way. When their no peace in regards to a decision after careful prayer and consultation, then likely there is a reason for it. Or if there are road blocks after road blocks when making informed and reasonable decisions, then perhaps there is a time to pull back. It's just when a faith based buyer or seller does the "was just not meant to be" thing in response to unreasonable decisions, it becomes a rather poor reflection or witness on God.
Life, the things and events make up our lives and experiences, happen when we set goals, make plans, dream, decide and then engage.

Half off the Half off Price

Some years ago I was shopping at a local Meijers store and heard the announcement over the public address system "attention shoppers, right now in our outdoor garden department, we are having a half off the half off sale". Well, if you do the math it comes to 75% off. But as good as 75% off is, the idea of half off the already discounted half off price, sent the shoppers streaming into the outdoor garden center...including myself. 75% off is good, but hey! half off the half off price is just to good to pass up! There I picked up decorative trees for $4.50, shrubs of all kinds for $2.00. Grasses for $1.75 and so on. I spent about $30 and pretty much landscaped my entire home and deck area. I thought I had been so lucky. Now those trees and shrubs are beautiful mature features of my landscaped areas of my home, and at a fraction of what it would have cost me now to do it.

Right now in real estate, the market is giving us a 'half off the half off sale' of properties. Incredible bargians at just a fraction of their original price. Two days ago I submitted an $28,000 offer for a home last sold in 2005 for $115,000. Two weeks ago I wrote an offer for $24,000 on a home that last sold in 2004 for $118,000. These are bank owned homes and take some time to get acceptance and close, but the offers are considered acceptable and likely to close soon. Every day I see opportunities for savy shoppers to cash in on these 'half off the half off prices'. I bought my first home in 1978 for $16,000. Incredible, that 32 years later, homes can be purchased for that price and less! I have heard some say that we are not at the bottom yet, and they may be right. But think of it. If the market declines another 10%, that means home prices at 10 - 15% of original price. That is close to actually giving them away, how much farther can there be decline when there are homes at the 25% of previous pricing. Even if such does happen, with a $20,000 purchase that computes to $2,000. Passing up a "half off the half off price" on a solid home with great upside potential, because the market might dip another 5% or so, just doesn't make sense. This is the time to reinvest in real estate. High inventories, very low interest rates, buyer incentives. Does a buyer opportunity get any better? At this point, I wouldn't miss out on a solid home purchase, because I thought, possibly, maybe, could be, get better. Just like the Meijer sale, half off the half off price, won't last forever.

Distressed Mansions

It seems that foreclosed and distressed properties so prevalent in our news today are nothing new. A recent, and delightful trip, to Newport, Rhode Island revealed even the multi-millionaires of the gilded age experienced declining values. Huge mansions meant to impress the European royalty were built on the rocky shores of Rhode Island during the early 1900's.

Millions of dollars spent in constructing mansions that took hundreds of craftsmen 2-4 years to complete, went on display to the worlds rich elite. These mansions were the owners summer "cottages" where it was all about the social scene. Most mansions employed 30 - 40 staff members (servants) to handle their busy social calenders and events hosted through out the summer. The who's who of America's mover and shakers maintain summer residence in Newport. The opulence of those years ended rather abruptly with the govenment instituted income tax and the following generation not having the desire of the finances to keep such money pits going. Many mansions fell into disrepair from neglect and abandonment. The Rosecliff Mansion is one such cottage. After the stock market crash and depression, the home changed ownership a number of times and at one time during the 1940's was sold as a distressed home for about $24,000. Just a fraction of the millions it took to build it. (see photo). The home, now lovingly restored and donated to an historic preservation society, is a beautiful piece of architecture displaying some of the days finest craftsmen and available to tour for a modest fee. I will say, Newport Rhode Island seems to have weathered the economic recession pretty well. Exquisite shops, cool harbor side restaurants and pubs bustling with people, marinas packed with yachts, even in mid September. It's a very interesting place to visit and recall a very different time in our countries history.

Today's foreclosures, not for all first time buyers.

We are, no question, in a real estate market that unless you are over 80 years old, you have never experienced. Sixteen percent of our local listings make up eighty percent of our units sold. That 16% represent bank involved properties, that being foreclosures and short sales. When we look at real estate, we need to look with a completely different lens. If you are a buyer, you are in the zone. Particularly if you have the time and know how to rescue or fix up what can be a terrific purchase. Some homes are selling at 70-80% discount of their purchase price just 4 years ago! Often these homes are not the condition that they were 4 years ago, but with some know how, gumption, and ambition, these can be great buys. The problem I see with many buyers is a mentality of a $20,000 home that needs no work. Forget it. It's not there. Or a $50,000 home that has acreage, remodeled kitchen with stainless appliances and new baths and pole barn. Forget about it. When I show young men foreclosure homes that have terrific potential and incredible value, I am surprised that so few of them actually know very basic home repair. Even painting, which is the lowest level of home repair projects, is foreign to them.
It has occurred to me that we have been raising our young men with a mentality of hiring it done. Our young men have been brought up soft. Even when we have a flat tire, we have a service we call to have it changed. As young boys, they see their dad calling roadside service to change a flat tire and they figure "so that's how it's done." We get our oil changed at Jiffy Lube, not in the garage in the evening. When an organization of young boys has a sub sale, the boys don't actually make the subs, they just order them from someplace and resell them. In fact, they don't even sell them. Their parents bring in the sub sale sign up sheets and post them in their workplace breakrooms. This is how we begin to train our young boys and girls, and it is making a impression. My point is that calling roadside service is not a bad thing, or going to Jiffy Lube is a not bad thing. It's just that many boys have never been exposed to actually doing these things. The option of doing it themselves doesn't even occur to them. The lack of any substantive home repair/remodel knowledge hits hard when these young boys become young adults and enter the home buying market. The "hire it out" mentality might work OK in good economic times, but in these challenging times, more and more inept young men find themselves completely clueless when the necessity of circumstances eliminate the "hire it out" option. What often floors me is the lack of gumption to even try. Obviously there are other social conditions that put some young boys at a disadvantage to learn. Absentee dads, single parent households, divorce, have left these young boys without a example. Now, as young adults wanting to capitalize on a incredible real estate purchase value, it's not for them. Not that a solid real estate deal is not within there grasp. A 20% discount is still a 20% discount, it just that it's not 70%. Foreclosures can be a terrific deal- but not for everybody.

Chinese Drywall - Causing Big Stink!

First in was asbestos, then radon, then mold, now there is a new home owners problem: Chinese drywall. Just recently, in the last couple of months, some homeowners have been faced with a whole new set of problems. After hurricane Katrina that ravaged New Orleans and other areas of the south, drywall became in short supply. Some primarily large corporate builders purchased drywall manufactured by Chinese companies by the barge load. This Chinese drywall seemed fine when installed and with painting and finishing, who would know or suspect a problem. Indeed there was not a problem until recently. Occupants of home built with Chinese drywall 3-5 years ago, recently started to experience health problems. Flu like symptoms. Toxicologists have found Chinese drywall is emitting sulfur containing gases that is corroding copper fixtures, air conditioning coils, electrical wiring, and home electronics. Imagine what it is doing to the insides of a human body. Home owners have noticed unusual problems recently with there 3 and 4 year old homes like leaking air conditioners, drains that become pitted, and mirrors that have turned black. Home owners themselves have complained of headaches, post-nasal drip, and burning eyes, couphing up blook, and just feeling lousy. And the smell, like burned matches or rotten eggs, will overpower the senses.
The remedy? Tear out the drywall completely and start over. Lawsuits are being filed, but in some cases, the contractor is out of business, a victim of our sluggish economy. Not sure how the insurance companies are treating this, it is all so new. There may be as many as 300,000 plus properties affected with this bad drywall. In Florida, many real estate companies are requiring disclosure forms relating to Chinese Drywall. Although initial reports are coming primarily in the south (Florida, Mississippi, Georgia, Louisiana) environmental watchdogs have found links to 41 states and expects to see it in all 50 states.
So whats to do? First, the problem seems to be in newer homes built within the last 5 years, although some reports go back to homes built in 2001. Check for unusual corroding of electrical wires and copper plumbing. Check for stamping identification on the back side of drywall, most often visible from an attic space. When building a home, I would recommend a statement from the contractor/builder that Chinese drywall would not be used in the construction of the home.
This can be a huge problem for a home owner and it begs the question. Are the Chinese companies that have manufactured the drywall taking any responsibility in the problem? Do our US companies have responsibility to shoulder in subcontracting out to Chinese manufactures, knowing their lack of quality and environmental standards. As for the consumer, are we driven by economies of price that we overlook our local supplier and inadvertently take on risks.
As we become more and more global in our economy, and as we re-evaluate ourselves when going through our current economic downturn, I can't help but think that our smaller and family owned businesses will be looked on with favor once again. Bruce Cornell, 3-17-09