It is darkest before the dawn & it is pitch dark outside!

It has long been stated that it is darkest before the dawn. Well it is beyond dark in today's current state of affairs. I am one of the most optimistic people that there is and times are finally making me really worried. All of the following has not worked:

• Wars have pulled our country out of recession in the past and we now have about 5 of them going on. The only thing that has been accomplished economically speaking is many young men have a job. The best result would be the worst result for our country finances. Imagine all wars ending and the troops coming home. There are no jobs available so this would spiral us further down hill.
• The Stimulus Packages were supposed to put money on the streets. Somehow all of this money keeps ending up in the pockets of the banks. They refuse to lend it our so they have reserve buy hoarding this money just leads to more of us losing our homes.
• The government has implement programs to help troubled home owners refinance. However the lenders won't help anyone that needs help and won't allow those not in trouble renegotiate their loans. The program is optional to the Banks so unless they have everything in their favor they simply opt out.
• People that are able to make payments aren't able to qualify for a loan so they are forced to rent. Many could own a home with the same monthly payment, take a troubled asset off the market & benefit for low interest rates. Lenders are forcing them to be renters. This helps the rental market but hurts home values and hinders the economic recovery.
• Many home owners have the ability to buy a home but want to wait for prices to drop lower. This wait is making them right as the longer people wait the lower prices will be. At some point everyone will start buying at the same time. Everyone loses! Prices will rise, interest rates will escalate, bidding wars will start and we will have another unhealthy market in the opposite direction.
• Jobs aren't coming back fast enough to bring confidence to the consumer. This lack of confidence slows home sales. We need homes to sell which will bring back jobs and consumer confidence will skyrocket. People will spend money and we will have a sound economy once again. Getting from here to there, that is the question!

Your Friend & Realtor,

Tony Lewis * RE/MAX of Valencia * www.TonyLewis.com * tonyglewis@yahoo.com 661-702-4720