Geez, have you been freaking out about the bay area real estate housing market? With all the negative news, media pundits, newspaper doomsayer stories, worried neighbors, family and anybody with a mouth. The talk has been whether the bubble has burst on Bay Area real estate forever now! Ironically, I guess the war in Iraq does not make the evening news as much; starvation in the Darfur region; and the mindless stories about Britney Spears and Anna Nicole Smith have not taken real estate off the evening news yet!
I am a Proud Professional Real Estate Agent. Some, people might say, “Of course, he’s going to be positive, he’s an industry pundit”. Big Deal! My prognosis, feeling and mindset are fairly simple and grounded in basic facts of real world “Buying and Waiting!” If you bought a house because you wanted to build your American Dream, then you will do fine no matter what happens in the interest rate markets or bond markets. The reason is simple: It goes back about 40 years to when my father bought his house for $24,000 with the government’s GI Bill; it’s about starting a family and buying a home for “Shelter”i.e. a place to live. After all, no matter what happens in real estate we aren’t going to move into Motel 6, I’m not!
40 years later, my father in his 70s has achieved that American Dream without ever in the last 40 years being worried about interest rates and all the other negative stuff in the media today. At this point, he’s survived every imaginable “Crash” if there was ever a real estate crash! Can you name one! Real Estate was great when the media was pumping up the housing craze, i.e. bidding wars, buyer frenzy, etc, and everywhere you went the talk was about real estate and how high the market could go! My father as you can see bought a house for shelter and a place to raise his family. Now, some people reading this article will say: “Dude, those houses cost less than a new Honda Accord back then!” True. In reality, as my father says all the time: “Boy, you young folks are wimps, son, in my day, interest rates were in the double digits like 20.1%”.
It is that old school wisdom does for you because it makes everything: Basically, common and not as fearful. I wrote this column for the homeowners out there in the world today that are struggling, afraid and are panicking about the housing market. I am writing this column for all the good, hardworking people and families out there that are enjoying their homes for the comfort, joy and love that is shared within those walls. I am writing this column to stick up for the people that are being blamed for the “Subprime Meltdown”!
A lot of people in the subprime meltdown are not poor inner city people, they are just people, i.e. human beings that bit off more than they can now afford. It happens to the best of us, but if only 10 to 20% will go into default, let’s cheer for the other 80 to 90% that will not have that problem happen to them. The blue collar types; hardworking families that are the backbone of American culture will do their best and hold on to their homes no matter what happens. Why? It’s the American way, my father drove for Muni for years, my mother was hairstylist, both high school graduates intent on raising their family. Yes, dedicated and hardworking people that had a vision, dream and were passionate about making it through whatever times were out there in America.
The mortgage meltdown will just happen and it will go away like all things in life in due time! Your home, my friends is more than just concrete, woods and walls, it’s your place to live and have lifetime memories. If you are in a bad loan, call your local bank; ask around; call a trusted real estate agent that you know and ask: “Do you know a good mortgage person I can talk to about a mortgage check up?”
My father had the American dream on his mind and he never took out all his equity in his home, quite frankly, today this day, he still does not know what “Home Equity” is really! Awesome! Today, I wish a lot of people did not know about all the crafty loans; crazy scams; and other assorted ideas that taken away their same love and passion for their homes. Everyday, we are flooded with new news about “Where’s the housing market going?” I am just tired of it, I am tired of the Harvard guys talking about where Bay Area housing is going as if they live here, work here and understand the unique culture of the Bay Area.
There are over 48 million people in California; 68% of Americans own their homes; and homeownership rates have increased dramatically among Minorities my friends. Please nominate me as the most optimistic soul in the real estate business because I am! The Bay Area housing market will do good long term because the bay area is quite simply a desirable, beautiful and incredible place to live in the world. If you are like many people worried, then just remember the story about my father, I am not done yet. But it’s been over 40 years and his little investment of $25,000 has culminated in a home worth more than $500k now that’s the American dream if you want a piece of it my friend.
If you bought a house for shelter; if you bought a house for investment; if you bought a house for sheer family dinners; you have a family with kids and dogs; and great neighbors, then you will be okay because you are not like the people that just bought homes for all the wrong reasons that you should never buy a home. Looking back, my father vision’s of the American Dream has paid off because he provided shelter for his family, he built lives and he did something that he and his wife can leave a great legacy, so his investment was not something that media jargon and scare stories could every rob! He stayed true to his own American Dream. Be a hero today and love your house and the joy it will bring you!
As Cecil Williams of Glide Memorial Church says: “Move Forward”! Quit worrying about the real estate market and take a drive down Highway 1, i.e. the California Coastline for a change! After all, this is the Golden State whereby you pay for this great highway with your taxes; it is considered the most beautiful drive in the world, so enjoy your life! Goodbye!
Jonathan Fleming is a professional real estate consultant, entrepreneur and published writer. He runs Jonathan Fleming & Associates, a global real estate company specializing in sales, development and urban renewal projects. He actively volunteers with local organizations that focus on after school programs and sending inner city youth to college.
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