James K Barath, CMPS - Northwest Indiana Mortgage Planner - Benchmark Mortgage

As I am writing this post, I have my HP Mini 2140 charging up and downloading any updates that it may need in preparation for Real Estate BarCamp Indianapolis tomorrow. I also have my iPhone plugged into iTunes to see if there are any apps that I might need updated and/or downloaded in preparation to endure this day long event.

I have had many individuals ask why I would subject myself to waking up at 4 AM, CST to make the 2-1/2 hour drive from my home in Chesterton Indiana all the way to Fishers Indiana where the event is to take place. That's a good question.

First of all, what is Real Estate BarCamp (aka. REBarCamp)? According to Andy Kaufman, the founder, RE BarCamp is...

"an ad-hoc gathering born from the desire for people to share and learn in an open environment. It is an intense event with discussions, demos, and interaction from attendees."

Nobody is paid to speak and all of the events are coordinated by volunteers and paid by sponsors. Consequently, people gravitate for the purposes of sharing what really works and not just the theory of what should work. I was fortunate to witness one of the larger RE BarCamp events when it was hosted in Chicago by the National Association of Realtors.

This leads me to my second and primary purpose of attending this event. Since the original concept of this event evolved from a technology gathering, most of what is discussed is the proper methods to integrate technology into the human experience of real estate.

In other words, how can we enhance the law of attraction through all things digital. Want to know more? Come join us on Monday, November 2nd, from 9 AM - 5 PM, EST. Can't make the event in person, follow the ongoing conversation on twitter.com with the search hash tag of #rebcindy.

Are You Ready for Real Estate BarCamp Indianapolis?

It's that time of the year again; time to set our clocks back an hour, return to standard time, and "gain" an extra hour. That means this Sunday, November 1 at 2:00 am, Daylight Saving Time officially ends until its return on the second Sunday in March, 2010.

Since 2007, Daylight Saving Time has actually been four weeks longer, thanks to the passage of the Energy Policy Act in 2005. The Act extended Daylight Saving Time by four weeks in an attempt to save 10,000 barrels of oil each day through reduced use of power by businesses during daylight hours. Unfortunately, the Department of Energy (DOE) says that it's difficult to determine actual energy savings, if any, as a result of Daylight Saving Time. But, there are definitely some easy steps you can take to save significantly on your household energy bills.

Did you know that water heating can account for 14%-25% of the energy consumed in your home, especially in the coming months? According to the DOE, it's true. With this in mind, we thought we'd share with you a few of the DOE's energy-efficient water heating strategies to help you save throughout the holiday season.

• Wash only full loads of dishes and clothes.
• Lower the thermostat on your hot water heater to 120° F.
• Repair leaky faucets promptly; a leaky faucet wastes gallons of water in a short period of time.
• Install aerating, low-flow faucets and showerheads. Select a shower head with a flow rate of less than 2.5 gpm (gallons per minute) for maximum water efficiency.
• Consider natural-gas on-demand or tankless water heaters. Researchers have found savings can be up to 30% compared with a standard natural-gas storage tank water heater.
• Consider installing a drain water waste heat recovery system. A recent DOE study showed energy savings of 25% to about 30% for water heating using such a system.
• Install heat traps on the hot and cold pipes at the water heater to prevent heat loss. Some new water heaters have built-in heat traps.
• Insulate the first 6 feet of the hot and cold water pipes connected to the water heater.

Have a safe and happy Halloween - and enjoy your "extra hour" of standard time. And don't hesitate to give us a call if you'd like to invest that extra hour reviewing your mortgage options. A lot has changed in the industry recently, and You May Be Able to Save Even More Time and Money.

With the election of Barack Obama into the presidential office last fall, the message was clear that the "Time is Now!" For many citizens this was a historic moment that reached a pinnacle during the inauguration.

At last, a man of color had earned the highest elected office in the United States. And so the winds of change have been firmly set into motion.

This historic event also stirred the pot of racists and bigots who had been lurking in the shadow of our communities. Slowly, these individuals have been lashing out against integration and diversity at the outer edges of society.

For all the progress that has been made, people within communities were starting to create bold lines in the sand that were based on race and not just on politics.

It is an honor to say that my good friend, Christine Hisick, wanted to do something about this negativity that was beginning to plague our local communities. Her vision has come to life with an initiative called Hands Around the Square. This is a candle light vigil with a mission...

"To create a visible collaboration of those in our city who support unity in diversity. To bring together the greater collective of those in our city who support these values in the same place, at the same time. To bring this greater collective into prayer and/or meditation for the healing of our city from hate, discrimination, exclusion and the like-to pray and/or meditate for the peace, harmony, and unity in diversity that we desire in Valparaiso, IN. To join hands to take our stand for these values."

For those near Valparaiso Indiana on Monday, November 2nd, come join us in this community vigil. For those who are else where, consider creating your own vigil for unity.

United We Stand, Divided We FAIL!

Did you hear the big news today?

White House: 650,000 jobs created or saved under President Barack Obama's economic stimulus plan.

As is in my nature I wanted to know a little bit more about how this number was figured and how is that possible with such high unemployment. So I clicked over to RECOVERY.gov which happens to be the US government's official website that reports all data related to the Recovery Act.

It should be noted that on the home page as of October 30th that 640,239 jobs have been created/saved as reported by companies that received money from the Recovery Act.

It did take me a little while to digest the information and where to find the actual numbers that were driving the headline numbers. For those who want to see how many jobs were created or saved in your state, you are in for a surprise. I know that I was when I saw them for my home state of Indiana.

According to the government website, Indiana ranked 11th in the most jobs created with a total number of 18,876. In order to create/save this number of jobs it also required $848,420,000.

This means it would have cost $44,947.02 to create/save a job within Indiana.

If these numbers were accurate, it seems like a reasonable number. There is the catch. The numbers have to be accurate.

When I checked my state unemployment numbers, they told a complete contrarian story. Here are the real employment numbers from the state of Indiana: 271,000 jobs lost from January 1, 2009 through September 30, 2009. Every sector in the state of Indiana with the exception of government, which includes public schools and hospitals, lost jobs. And the government jobs created were only 2,400 for the first 9 months of 2009.

I have to believe the numbers that came from the Indiana state employment office because it correlates to the nature of the home loan inquiries to my mortgage planning office in Northwest Indiana this year. As I scratch my head in disbelief, What Is Obama Trying To Pull Over Our Eyes This Time?

I was playing with my son this evening and was kindly reminded about the simple joys in life. He didn't do anything extraordinary or say something ridiculously funny. He just looked at me and I could see the love in his eyse and happiness in his smile.

As I was absorbing in this magical moment, a commercial came on television. It was an advertisement by Fisher-Price and their ongoing campaign of Play Laugh Grow.

It got me thinking about the mind set of real estate professionals that I have been in contact with over the past year throughout Northwest Indiana and the greater Chicago land market. Unless you have been living in an underground bunker with no access to any media, everyone is aware of the financial and housing collapse that has demoralized so many.

Let me state that this is not just about Realtors. Even I as a Certified Mortgage Planner in a small town of 10,000 people in Chesterton Indiana have slipped mentally and succumbed to the reality of the market.

Many times it is not of my own doing but things that are really out of my control. The biggest of these things has been government intervention on a weekends whim. Needless to say, grasping for a glimmer of hope and a ray of light has been difficult for many as our lives have been impacted like so many of our clients.

The real estate industry as a whole has become frustrating, disheartening, exhausting, anxiety driven and created many skeptical practitioners. Here is where the commercial brought it home for me.

Life is too short. So get out there and remember the joys we had when the market was on fire. Remember why we love this business so much. Simply Remember to Play Laugh Grow!