Bryan Crabtree

While everyone waited for two weeks to see what's going to happen with the bailout bill, things slowed down a bit - perhaps the slowest week all year (last week). Again, I must reiterate the importance of not watching CBS, NBC or ABC in the evening. They're flat out wrong. Most of what they report is an exaggeration of the challenges in Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Miami and Phoenix. You would think every city in America is having massive housing declines and half the homes are vacant or in foreclosure.

Oh! and the subprime mess..... Do you realize that this whole reporting - this whole story of subprime meltdown accounts for just 2% of all homes in America. TWO PERCENT! Yes, that's a TWO. And, here's an even better stat for you: 50% of all homes in the United States, have NO MORTGAGE. Yes, but Katie Couric is a little new at this and really needs to get her ratings up, so she reports the TABLOID news in the evening.

Don't listen to these people. Think about the opportunity that presents itself right now. Homes are as low in price as they've been in years, the choices are phenominal and if you have a job and good credit, you can get a loan. That's a recipe for success, given that money will begin to flow again as the months following this bailout cast its healing effect over our industry.

I predict that money will begin to become slightly easier until January, where it will markedly change for the positive. We will hit a recession perhaps in third quarter (if not, it will be fourth) reporting that will last 2-3 quarters; housing will begin to recover in late 2009 to early 2010 and the economy, as a result will rebound.

Simply buyer fact: Find a home that is 5-10% below market comps and you'll have hedged your bets, found a great interest rate, and be poised to gain a great deal of equity over the next 4-6 years.

Bailout - no bailout. What does this all mean? Well, for one thing, the Washington Political machine is a failure. This mess started with the policies of both Clinton and Bush's administration exerting pressure over Fannie and Freddie and other financial markets to make lending more vigorously; to give more money to more people. The result? The biggest financial crisis in US History. Now, they can't fix it. For starters, Nancy Pelosi should not be making partisan speaches at the beginning of a vote for such a critical issue.

But, more importantly, what's the problem with this bailout? First, they shouldn't call it a bailout. They should call it a market recovery investment Bill. Then, the sentiment of Main Street would be much more favorable. What amazes me is that most congressmen were getting 9 out of 10 constituents who didn't want this to pass, then the constituents on TV last night were all upset it didn't.

Glenn Beck put it best yesterday when he said that we have to go back to a time where values meant something in this Country. We, the American People have to extert our values on our leaders and enforce them. This means, vote their *** out this November if you don't like the way this isn't being handled.

Finally, what does a bailout mean for us? It means that credit will flow more freely (not nearly to the extent of 2003-2005). This means that businesses can get short-term credit facilities to handle payroll, expand their facilities and grow. The alternative is massive layoffs, potential system-wide runs on banks as more failures will result. This also will help to partly stabilize the American Economy and Dollar. If we don't "clog up the holes in the Dam" this disaster will become a calamity. It will be worse than any Nuke on the American Financial System.

What will this not do? It will not stop continued bank failures. Some are just too weak and ill-positioned to make it. It will not fix the economy completely. The economic mess is greatly driven by Energy.

IN ORDER TO FIX OUR ECONOMY WE NEED SOME SORT OF RESCUE (LOOSELY BAILOUT) PACKAGE AND AN AGRESSIVE, IMMEDIATE ENERGY POLICY THAT OPENS DRILLING, ENCOURAGES SHORT AND LONG TERM INVESTMENTS INTO ALTERNATIVE ENERGY, AND PROVIDES SIGNIFICANT TAX BREAKS TO COMPANIES WHO BRING JOBS BACK TO THE U.S. FROM OVERSEAS TO PROPEL THIS POLICY.

May God be with us>

Many sellers are struggling to figure out what to do to sell their home in today's situation. Buyer's struggling with loans, consumers losing their jobs and a mess on Wall Street. It's not as bad as Charlie Gibson would have you believe. My first tip is turn off the Nightly News with Katie Brian Gibson. They are out of touch. In the words of Rush Limbaugh, THE DRIVE BY MEDIA. They drive by and make a report that is completely out of context.

The truth? There are a lot of buyers out there right now. Several of them are indeed struggling for financing. And, many are waiting on a deal. So as a seller, you have a couple of choices: Give away your home at a greatly reduced (below market) price, or price it right, with a strong marketing and positioning strategy.

The real problem? Very few agents in the business today, have ever worked in a slow market. And, frankly, most have limited to no sales skills. In reality, the past 5-7 years have consisted of a market where you basically find a seller, then grab a buyer, don't say anything too stupid, and a deal was done. Today, it takes experience, creativity, knowledge of credit markets, staging the home, aggressive marketing, and a strong skill to overcome home objections.

In this market, I wouldn't even consider a Realtor who hasn't sold 20 homes or more in the past 5 years (yearly), and you should make certain they fully understanding the staging, internet marketing / digital marketing and presentation dynamics of selling a home. Otherwise, you will stastically have no chance of selling.

View our sales tips and ideas at Housedog.com.

"I can also help you find an agent anywhere in the Continental 48 states that meets this criteria (I can also help you find 3 agents in any one area so that you can interview the one that best meets your needs)"

There's a lot of talk these days about the Meltdown and the Bailout. There's an interesting history similar to this in the World. This crisis happened on a local level in Japan in the 80's. And, after years of turmoil, the government had to step in and clean it up. It was a similar circumstance (on a smaller level) but with equal turmoil.

Bottom line: Yes, we the taxpayers will end up paying for at least some of this, and many of the greedy leaders of companies who created this will walk away millionaires with large bonuses for their years of corrupt practice will go in the History Books.

But, if we don't (as a country) put an end to this crisis, we'll continue to lose far more money on the value of our homes than it will cost us in taxes.; more Americans will lose their jobs, our focus will turn away from energy independence and our economy will sink deep into a recession as many more banks, investment firms, lenders and the like go Bankrupt. More importantly, as they go bankrupt, the losses to taxpayers will be huge as they lose deposits and investment value in these firms.

Do I like it? No. But, we must put an end to this. The Senate and the Congress must pass the $700 billion bailout bill (as I'll call it) and then work dilligently to insure that regulation prevent future problems such as this.

Better yet, it was late in the Clinton Administration that pressure was put on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to ease standars on lending and mortgages to allow low to lower middle income and minority families to obtain mortgages; But let's not make this a partisan statement. Bush did nothing to stop this policy either. In 2005, Alan Greenspan warned that Fannie and Freddie were in very serious trouble by their current lending practices. In fact, Congress and the Senate fought changing or adding more conservatism into lending due to their desire to tout "more homeownership that ever before." This, my friends, is one of the funadmental reasons we are in this mess: Our Government pushing and pulling and easing of the mortgage market. And, now, like always, "we" are paying for it.

But, it has to be done.