BRIAN and MARIE SPRAY - Frisco TX Realtors

A good friend of mine shared this little treat with me today. It holds many little gems on how to help deal with stress in our lives and heaven knows being a Realtor can certainly be a very stressful life!

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, 'How heavy is this glass of water?' Answers called out ranged from 8oz. To 20oz. The lecturer replied, 'The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it.' 'If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. ' If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance.' 'In each case it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes.' He continued, 'And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on.' 'As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden. ' 'So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work/life down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow.' 'Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment if you can. Relax; pick them up later after you've rested. Life is short. Enjoy! And then he shared some ways of dealing with the burdens of life: 1 Accept the fact that some days you're the bug, and some days you're the windshield. 2 Always keep your words soft and sweet, just in case you have to eat them. 3 Always read stuff that will make you look good if you die in the middle of it. 4 Drive carefully. It's not only cars that can be recalled by their Maker. 5 If you can't be kind, at least have the decency to be vague. 6 If you lend someone $20 and never see that person again, it was probably worth it. 7. It may be that your sole purpose in life is simply to serve as a warning to others. 8 Never buy a car you can't push. 9 Never put both feet in your mouth at the same time, because then you won't have a leg to stand on. 10 Nobody cares if you can't dance well. Just get up and dance. 11 Since it's the early worm that gets eaten by the bird, sleep late. 12 The second mouse gets the cheese. 13 When everything's coming your way, you're in the wrong lane. 14 Birthdays are good for you. The more you have, the longer you live. 15 You may be only one person in the world, but you may also be the world to one person. 16 Some mistakes are too much fun to only make once. 17 We could learn a lot from crayons. Some are sharp, some are pretty and some are dull. Some have weird names and all are different colors, but they all have to live in the same box. 18 A truly happy person is one who can enjoy the scenery on a detour. Have an awesome day, and know that someone has thought about you today ! ! !

So, this is the time of year when we all start seeing For Sale signs popping up all over the place right? Well, this year I'm not seeing nearly as many so I think people are worried that they may not get what their house is really worth. Unfortunately, your house is worth exactly what it's worth right now and what it may have been worth a year or 2 years ago is ancient history! You would like to buy a bigger or nicer home, maybe in a better neighborhood right? Lets take a look at the market today and compare it to say a year ago, then we'll project ahead several years to see potentially where we could be if "normal" appreciation returns.

Your home last year - $200,000.00

Your home today - $180,000.00

This would be a drop of 10% - actually much more than average in the DFW area.

Now, lets say this same home goes up 6% per year for the next 5 years.

year 1 - $190,800

year 2 - $202,248

year 3 - $214,382

year 4 - $227,245

year 5 - $240,880

So - your $180,000 home has gone up $60,880.00 Not bad right? Good thing you didn't sell right? -

WRONG!

Lets assume you would have sold your "$200,000" home and buy a $300,000 home. We'll also assume the same 10% depreciation from last year, and the same 6% appreciation the next 5 years.

$300,000 depreciated 10% is now selling for $270,000. Lets see where we'll be in 5 years. Any bets?

Year 1 - $286,200

Year 2 - $303,372

year 3 - $321,574

year 4 - $340,868

year 5 - $361,320

So, the $270,000 home has gone up - drum roll please! - $91,320.00 you would have increased your equity position if you bought today by over $30,000!!!

It can be difficult to grasp this information without seeing it demonstrated in front of you, like I tried to do here. If you are wanting to trade up, there is really no reason at all to wait until values go up! In fact it will cost you money! You have to remember that your home isn't the only one that has gone down in value - everyones has! You should contact a competent Realtor who can really feel this market and can accurately price your home for as efficient and quick a sale as possible.

Now, adjust your attitude, all is not doom and gloom is it?

While the weather forcast currently calls for possible rain this weekend, there will be a different kind of

thunder coming from the sky - the roar of 4 Pratt and Whitney Radial engines! This weekend March 7

and 8 only at Cavanaugh Flight Museum located at Addison Airport you will have the rare chance to tour

through and possibly even have a ride on a recently restored B-17 Bomber - the Liberty Belle. This is

not a common event, and there are fewer and fewer warbirds of any type flying - let alone giving rides so

if you are at all interested in amazing pieces of history I recommend getting over there to check it out!

I'm an airplane nut, I earned my Airframe and Powerplant license nearly 20 years ago. I cannot keep

myself from looking skyward whenever I hear an unusual aircraft overhead! There are currently less than

100 B 17 airframes out there and fewer still that are flyable - not very many at all especially considering

12,732 were produced! The plane is expensive to keep in such good shape so it is maintained by

donations and managed by the Liberty Foundation so expect to pay a donation to tour the plane and

rides are not cheap but this is really a once in a lifetime thing for us these days! Check out their

website for tons of cool stuff!

Many of you have probably had some kind if brush with fame or greatness - you know, ending up in the elevator with someone famous or sitting at a table near someone, maybe even being in an auto accident with one? Well, I've had a couple of occasions that I can think of, the first time was over 20 years ago when I happened upon Cheap Trick guitar player Rick Nielson in a stairway down to a club. I stopped and stuck my hand out to shake his and he was very gracious and shook my hand! well, this morning I had another incident I'd like to relate. I was driving in Dallas down a very nice road called Preston road. I was traveling south approaching another busy road called Northwest Highway. Suddenly just in front of me a police car and several black Suburbans pull out followed by another police car and they continue in the same direction I'm going. I think - hey, I'm near where George Bush bought a house - I bet he's in one of those Suburbans! Well. soon enough I end up at a stop light in the middle lane, and the procession is to my left in the left turn lane. They get a green arrow and start moving - as I watch them I see former President George W Bush waving at me! He was in the right rear seat and it caught me so off guard I was briefly stunned! I immediately called Marie to tell her about this rare occasion. Here was the leader of the free world for the last 8 years, much maligned but also much loved and he waved at little ole me. Thank you Mr. Bush, you gave me a simple memory I will re tell whenever I get the chance.

Who have you bumped into in your travels through this life?

Remember the days when you went to the grocery store and they bagged your groceries in a sturdy and well shaped paper bag? I do! I liked them! Then they seemed to suddenly become environmentally un friendly because they were made from - trees! Gasp!!! Well, the circle is almost complete. Dallas law maker Rafael Anchia is supporting a bill that proposes to TAX PLASTIC GROCERY BAGS!!! Thats right, we aren't being patriotic enough I guess (Joe Biden) and we need to pay more taxes. HB 1361 proposes to tax each bag 7 cents!

"The goal of the legislation is to reduce demand and encourage consumers to use their own reusable bags when shopping," he said in a statement.

Reduce demand, arent we still going to go shopping and need to carry our stuff? Maybe they will also discourage people from shopping with all these taxes - yeah thats a good idea in this economy!

Rep. Anchia wants people to "think twice before using plastic bags". You know rep Anchia, I'm a responsible person, I don't waste resources and I definately don't litter and I resent this proposal! I won't think twice about opposing you and your proposal!

Cue scary music - voice of the famous movie trailer guy - "In a world where everything you use and do is taxed, and the government plans your life for you, nobody does anything anymore".