David Streitfeld (“Housing Fades as a Means to Build Wealth, Analysts Say” in New York Times of 8/22/2010) cite several economists who suggest that we may never see the home appreciations of the 2nd half of the 20th century. What is now past us can be seen as an exception: GIs returning to build families, inflation of the 1970s, and decreasing interest rates since deregulation of the 1980s. I am not sure.
Home prices stabilized in the fall of 2009 and started inching back up. But after the federal tax credit ended in April 2010, sales have tapered off. As the job market continues to struggle, so do home sales. Today, there is near consensus that we may be headed for a double dip recession. In times like these, we become less optimistic and articles like these pop up regularly. By the way, there is also consensus that the conditions that led to the extraordinarily cheap interest rates and home appreciation will not repeat soon. However, according to history, economic cycles are an inevitability. This time, it was the abundance of cheap capital from east Asia that reduced interest rates and made credit easy. Next time it will surely be something else.
Continue reading »
First Posted May 20, 2010. Revised 6/3/2010. Updated 8/25/2010.
When you take out a mortgage to purchase a property, fail to pay, and that bank forecloses on you, you are protected from any deficiency collection beyond the value of the house you lost. However, if you refinance, there were no such protection. The banks could go after your remaining assets unconnected to your house if the foreclosed property is not sufficient to cover your debts- which in these troubling times, it possibly may.
On June 3, 2010, the California Senate approved SB 1178 (State Bill 1178) aimed at extend ingthat protection to refinanced mortgages. Today, the law is on the Governor’s table. CAR (California Association of Realtors) and Broker Charles urge you to call the Governor’s office to have him sign the bill.
Click the image to see a video presentation on the subject.
In June, I reported on the lowest mortgage rates in 39 years. Today the rate stands at 40 year low. Perhaps it’s time to refinance? Refinancing down to a shorter term (15 years/ 20 years) could be an important part of your retirement planning. The depressed home prices together with the low mortgage rates make 2010 a good year to buy.
Amy Hoak of the Wall Street Journal reports 8/20:
- 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 4.42% with 0.7 points for the week ended Aug. 19, the lowest since Freddie started tracking the rate in 1971.
- 15-year fixed-rate mortgages averaged 3.9% with 0.6 points this week, vs. 4.56% a year ago, the lowest since Freddie began tracking it in 1991.
This is a tremendous opportunity if you have been thinking of getting into business. I’m helping some very nice people sell their business.
Shipping Plus is a retail mail box store like the UPS Store, located at the Western Cameron Plaza at the corner of Western and Sepulveda in the South Bay. Services include: Mail box rental, FedEx, DHL, and USPS shipping, copy and printing, banners and signs, keys, shipping and packaging supplies, Live Scan finger printing, etc. It was started in April 2008 by two partners – one put in most of the know-how and the other put in over $100,000 in fixtures, equipment, and supplies. Almost two and half years in business, it is almost breaking even- income roughly pays for rent and costs minus the utilities. Over 40 mail boxes are rented and provide a steady income stream. Revenue has gradually increased over time.
Continue reading »
“Learning a Language From an Expert, on the Web” By PETER WAYNER Published: July 28, 2010 NYT.com reviews resources available on the web for learning another language. Taking the learning of French as an example, the article identifies several website efforts at connecting people who want to learn eachother’s languages.
Livemocha.com – people can swap messages over the internet and correct eachother
MyLanguageExchange.com – email list of people who want to learn a language (fee for full features)
RhinoSpike.com – anyone can post or listen to spoken words and phrases
Skype – has forums where language learners can place free calls to eachother
Traditional textbooks have been the lynchpin academic courses for eons. They provide the ready materials for the teacher to organize the course and lead the students. For the purpose of schooling my kids in math over the summer, I recently tried and failed to get the exact textbooks currently used by the state. Amazon.com, eBay.com, or Half.com didn’t have them. I didn’t find one on Craigslist.com either. The publisher didn’t give me the chance to purchase a single copy. And even if new textbooks were available, at upwards of $200 a pop, affordability is another issue. What to do? Continue reading »
Always cheerful friends' mom- also my friend- helping to cook the last pot.
The annual Cypress Festival takes place at the Cypress Community Center grounds in late July. In the morning, there is a 5k run. In the afternoon, there is a chilli cook-off with rides, foods, music, businesses, and lots of people.
This year, I teamed up with my friend for the chilli cook-off. And boy was it popular. For the first three hours, all I did was run back and forth serving chilli samples. We served through 3 pots in a matter of 2 hours. We shortly finished off our backup pot. Finally, we had to cook another pot to pull us through the afternoon.
Exhausted but relieved for the reinforcements.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
.
Continue reading »
DUI checkpoints were part of the holiday tradition- now it’s an everyday occurrence.
In the past, DUI checkpoints were regular parts of July 4th, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years. Now it’s a regular thing. This summer I encountered two checkpoints in a span of about one month in Cypress and Cerritos- both on non-holidays.
Should public education or public safety be the priority in DUI checkpoints?
Since I had a can of beer an hour and a half before the Cypress checkpoint, I had the unpleasant experience of being pulled aside for evaluation. I wondered whether we were turning into a police state where your freedom can be undercut over a can of beer. Accordingly I was sensitive to treatment I received from the officers – being directed to an ill-defined line, being told not to run into a vehicle in front of me, being told to come out and follow the rigamaroo of alcohol level testing. My protest against the treatment only returned one-sided lectures about the dangers of DUI and public safety. I passed their test and was told to move on.
Continue reading »
There is a great Redwood trail near the park headquarter that runs along a stream then up the hill. Very nice short hiking or picnicking place.
Note: To avoid freezing your browser, refresh after viewing each pano. Thank you and enjoy.
~ ! ~
~ ! ~
~ ! ~
There are sand dunes at Pismo State Beach and it’s one of the few beaches in the US where the sand is hard enough to drive on. It’s a regular part of my trip up the Central Coast.
Note: To avoid freezing your browser, refresh after viewing each pano. Thank you and enjoy.
~ ! ~
Thanks to our study of the California Missions, they hold a special place in my heart. The Santa Barbara Mission is one of my favorites.
Note: To avoid freezing your browser, refresh after viewing each pano. Thank you and enjoy.
~ ! ~
Grand Canyon West and Skywalk is located on the Hualapai Indian Reservation on the western edge of the Grand Canyon National Park. If you live in the greater LA area, now it does not have to cost a fortune and a lot of time to enjoy Grand Canyon. It took 4 hours to Las Vegas, then 3 hours to Grand Canyon West. With the completion of the Hoover Dam bypass bridge, it should take about 2 hours.
Note: To avoid freezing your browser, refresh after viewing each pano. Thank you and enjoy.
~ ! ~
~ ! ~
Continue reading »
A long time ago, a coworker handed me the Rules for Being Human by Anonymous. You may have received one yourself. Here’s a redux. One important lesson to remember here is that lessons are meant to be forgotten.
YOU WILL RECEIVE A BODY.
You may like it or hate it, but it will be yours for the entire period this time around.
YOU WILL LEARN LESSONS.
You are enrolled in a full-time informal school called life. Each day in this school you will have the opportunity to learn lessons. You may like the lessons or think them stupid.
THERE ARE NO MISTAKES, ONLY LESSONS.
Growth is a process of experimentation and trial and error. The “failed” experiments are as much a part of the process as the ones that ultimately “work.”
LA Times July 4, 2010 reports in “Small business slow to rebound”:
Between 1990 and 1993, employers with 1,000 or more workers added 258,000 jobs. Those with 500 to 999 workers shed 102,000 jobs. But the smallest mom-and-pop operations added 860,000 jobs, census figures show.
Today, unfortunately, it’s reported that most small businesses have put a brake on new hiring. This is in part blamed on the owners’ inability to refinance their homes and obtain crucial financing.
Day or night, it’s worth a trip to the Griffith Observatory. And every couple of years or so I do return with the kids. The below panos were taken at about 9pm on a June night. To avoid overburdening your computer, refresh after viewing one and before viewing the next.
~ ! ~
~ ! ~
