Menomonee Falls Real Estate - Matt Yogerst

Guide to Buying a Wisconsin HUD Home - Introduction

Many Wisconsin Buyers right now are looking for a good deal. Actually, many Wisconsin Buyers have ALWAYS been looking for a good deal. Why wouldn't they be? In the search for finding that perfect Wisconsin Home for Sale, Buyers spend countless hours searching the internet for what they want. Wisconsin Buyers also look through newspapers, property magazines, drive neighborhoods, and more! One of the main things a serious Wisconsin Buyer does is obtain the services of a Wisconsin Real Estate Agent. Most Wisconsin Realtors(R) often offer free consultation to the Buyer and help streamline the buying process. One thing that some, not all, Wisconsin Realtors(R) can offer is to be able to access HUD Homes.

HUD stands for Housing and Urban Development. It is a government run program that has a great mission:

"HUD's mission is to increase homeownership, support community development and increase access to affordable housing free from discrimination. To fulfill this mission, HUD will embrace high standards of ethics, management and accountability and forge new partnerships--particularly with faith-based and community organizations--that leverage resources and improve HUD's ability to be effective on the community level."
(Provided from http://www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf12/hudmission.cfm)

HUD registered brokers can offer alot of advice for the Wisconsin Home Buyer. Whether it is regarding potential loan programs, grants, or inspection tips your local Wisconsin Real Estate Agent can walk you through the home buying process.

Some of the Main Steps in Buying a HUD Home Process include:

1. Determining What You Need In A Home.

2. Determining What You Can Afford.

3. Finding What Homes Are Available.

4. Selecting The Right Home For You.

5. Writing Up An Offer To Purchase.

6. Preforming Your Due Diligence.

7. Preparing For Closing.

8. Closing On Your Home.

9. Moving Into Your New Home.

We will be going into more detail on each of the steps above in the coming weeks, and you can make sure that you get emailed the next step of the process by subscribing to this series on the right. There are many more little steps involved with Buying a Wisconsin HUD Home, but selecting a knowledgable and friendly Wisconsin Real Estate Agent to assist you will help you make this process a quick, easy and smart way to start your homeownership experience. Buying a HUD Home is just one of the ways to make a smart real estate investment.

Matt Yogerst - RE/MAX Realty 100 - Menomonee Falls, WI - Guide to Buying a Wisconsin HUD Home - Introduction - October 2008

Let me apologize for the length of this update at the beginning. We are in trouble in America and need to wake up before it is to late. You may not agree with what is presented in this update, but please realize we are in trouble. You can also read part two, Govt Bail-Out Bill 2 ~~ Makes a Lobbiest PROUD!

Where is our state and nation going with all this financial crisis that we are experiencing? Daily and moment by moment it is getting worse and rather than get serious and try to find a solution, as usual, the Democrats are blaming the Republicans and the Republicans are blaming the Democrats. The debate is more about who to vote for in the upcoming presidential election than it is about solving a problem that has long been ignored and now can no longer be ignored. This is not a Democrat vs. Republican problem, but a problem that has been building for a long time and is much bigger than Democrats vs. Republicans. This is about good vs. evil and we must look at it from a bigger perspective than two parties disagreeing. The big problem is both parties are reading from the same play book and it is easier to blame the other than to solve it, especially in an election year.

This problem goes back to 1913 when the Federal Reserve was created and Congress gave up the American principle of a sound currency based on the gold standard. As a result, we now have a fiat currency that is only paper and backed by nothing but a non-government group of international bankers that are orchestrating this whole downfall of America. For those who still don't believe or understand what the Federal Reserve is all about need to read G. Edward Griffin's book, The Creature from Jekyll Island. Aaron Russo in his DVD, America: Freedom to Fascism, sought to wake up America but many refuse to wake up even now that the results are getting clearer every day. We are now faced with a crisis and no easy solution. Congress and the Presidents since this creation in 1913 could have solved this problem but for 95 years have not had the will to do what needed to be done. The Federal Reserve should never have happened and should be dismantled along with the Internal Revenue Service and America should be returned to the gold and silver standard. Instead we are seeing more and more of government taking control of everything and they have proved beyond a shadow of a doubt that government is unable to manage most everything, especially money.

The US national debt today is $9,851,597,475,402.24 and is increasing at the rate of $2,320,000,000, that is $2.32 billion dollars per day, since September 28, 2007. The population today is estimated to be 304,800,372. This means every man, woman and child in America owes $32,321,.47 as their share of this national debt. Don't take my word for this. Go to this site and check it out. http://www.brillig.com/debt_clock/ Remember it is changing so fast that it will no doubt be more when you check it.

America, with a debt of $9.851 trillion, now wants us to believe they/we can guarantee and bail out banks and loan companies if they, through greed and poor management, go bankrupt. Look what has happened in recent days. JP Morgan bought Bear Stearns in March to prevent them from bankruptcy. US regulators seized IndyMac bank in July, which was the 3rd largest US bank failure. We are told there are 300 banks right now on the government watch list for bankruptcy. September 7, the government seized Freddie Mack and Fannie Mae placing more than $5 trillion of mortgages on the back of taxpayers. September 15, 158 year old Lehman Brothers filed history's biggest bankruptcy case and the government decided it was not in debt enough to cause a major problem so decided not to bail them out. However, September 16, the government decided that American International Group (AIG) was so far in debt that it would cause problems if it went bankrupt so the government took over and injected $85 billion of taxpayer money to bail them out. The Securities Exchange Commission took steps to block "short selling" which is a trading method betting stock values will go down. Then the Treasury Department and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) took steps giving money market funds the same protection as checking and savings accounts which are insured up to $100,000. Just yesterday the largest bank to fail in the history of this country took place when the FDIC seized WaMu (Washington Mutual Inc) founded in 1889 and then sold their assets to JP Morgan for a reported $1.9 billion to prevent bankruptcy. A question comes to mind immediately and that is will JP Morgan receive some of the bailout money being negotiated to bail out failing banks?

This last weekend government officials met over Saturday and Sunday, actually working like many taxpayers do to try to pay their bills, to solve this crisis which has just popped up from nowhere. A plan was discussed to allow the government bailout plan to purchase worthless mortgages and other "toxic debt" which at first was to cost the taxpayers $500 billion. It was soon upped to $700 billion and then thought to be more like $1.3 trillion or more. This plan was proposed without any oversight by congress or any judge and would be handled by a new government agency set up to make sure it was handled properly. Anyone care to guess what this new government agency set up with no oversight by anyone will cost the taxpayers to even operate? That is all we need is another government agency with no oversight and $1.3 trillion of taxpayer money to spend as they see fit. The government will soon own or control everything.

We are all aware that the negotiations broke down when some of the people meeting thought there should be some oversight by someone. It was also brought up that there needed to be some assurance that this money would not be used to bail out and help illegal immigrants purchase homes. It was also thought that corporate executives of these companies the government was bailing out should not get huge bonuses and umbrella amounts of this taxpayer money used to bail them out. It was also decided there needed to be some assurances that the taxpayers would be protected in some way so they might get some or all of their money back sometime in the future. Both presidential candidates were called back to assist in this debate to reach a consensus and of course this changed the debate to who is the best candidate for president and injected a new wave of politics. This was even after the President went on national TV last night to tell us we are in a crisis as if the taxpayers aren't smart enough to figure that out. Many taxpayers already know we are in trouble and it may be time to put politics aside and decide what is best for America and the American taxpayers since government got us into this mess back in 1913 and no president or congress since that time has had any desire to solve it. You have not and will not hear either of the two candidates saying the Federal Reserve should be eliminated and this country should be put back on sound financial standing with something more than our finances being controlled by a private organization that prints money, is not federal, and has no reserves.

Bring this problem a little closer to home. Wisconsin ended our last fiscal year with a $2.44 billion deficit when measured using GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) which 42 states and all accountants and businesses in this state are required to use. However, the state of Wisconsin does not use GAAP because, if it did, we could not legally continue to go farther and farther in deficit. Every man, woman and child in Wisconsin owed $3,500 to pay this debt. Knowing this, the state legislature and Governor Doyle, passed a budget which was 117 days late in October 2007, with little concern for the continuing debt. There were 18 of the 33 state senators who voted for passage of this budget along with 60 of the 99 representatives. The focus was on taxes and little concern paid to the continuing debt. This budget created a built in $892 million deficit for the next budget (which is the one they are working on now). When the budget that was just passed was analyzed, it was discovered that the state had a shortfall of some $527,000,000 of being able to pay their bills in June 2008. Governor Doyle called a special budget adjustment session to correct this shortfall. After about 2 months of closed door negotiations, with the public having no input, a compromise was reached and passed 17-16 in the senate and 51-46 in the assembly. This compromise added $1.7 billion more deficit to the already $2.44 billion deficit. Any Wisconsin legislator who voted for the original budget or the budget adjustment bill has proven they are not fiscally responsible and should not be returned to office at the election November 4, 2008. This irresponsibility at the state level is causing financial problems for all counties and municipalities with their budgets as they try to live with all the mandates the state has placed on them and come up with their new budget for the coming year. Once again, it is obvious that many elected officials have little concern for the taxpayers at the state or federal level.

When you put the federal and state deficit together it is obvious the taxpayer is the one who has little input and even less consideration in all these situations.

It is obvious that a majority of elected legislators are reading from the same play book and the problem is much bigger than Democrats vs Republicans at all levels. When are we, as we the people taxpayers, going to wake up to the fact that having a D or a R behind your name is not as important as what you believe about our freedom, and our sovereignty, and our rights. We are losing our freedom, our sovereignty and our rights so quickly most of the time we do not even realize it. When they are gone, we will have no say about anything and we will be consumed with just trying to survive. If our nation continues this free fall, the more important question will be, "How are we going to buy groceries to feed our families until one of these candidates for president is sworn in and solves the crisis in January 2009? Does anyone really believe that all the problems facing us in America will be solved by either of these candidates in January 2009? Remember who ever gets elected will just be the president and they have to deal with congress.

May I ask that each of you call your US Congressman & US Senator and ask them not to vote for this bailout without safe guards in place to give assurance that we as taxpayers will not just lose all this money. Also ask for oversight in the spending of this money by congress or someone besides the agency that will be established to spend it. Ask for assurances that the money will not be given to corporate executives in the form of a bonus or umbrella give away which does nothing to solve the problem. Ask for assurance that the money will not be used to promote loans to illegal aliens who are in this county illegally. I am sure you can come up with some more assurances you think should be in place as well. We the people need to let them know our concerns.

WISCONSIN US SENATOR PHONE NUMBERS

RUSSELL FEINGOLD (D) 202-224-5323
http://feingold.senate.gov/contact.html
HERBERT KOHL (D) 202-224-5653
http://kohl.senate.gov/gen_contact.html

WISCONSIN US CONGRESSIONAL WASHINGTON OFFICE NUMBERS

(SOME HAVE TOLL FREE DISTRICT OFFICE NUMBERS LISTED)

DIST 1 - CONGRESSMAN PAUL RYAN (R) - 202-225-3031 - 1-888-909-7926 http://www.house.gov/ryan/email.htm
DIST 2 - CONGRESSWOMAN TAMMY BALDWIN (D) - 202-225-2906 http://www.house.gov/formbaldwin/IMA/get_address.htm
DIST 3 - CONGRESSMAN RON KIND - 202-225-5506 - 1-888-442-8040 http://www.house.gov/kind/contact.shtml
DIST 4 - CONGRESSWOMAN GWENDOLYNNE MOORE (D) - 202-225-4572 http://www.house.gov/gwenmoore/contact.shtml
DIST 5 - CONGRESSMAN JAMES SENSENBRENNER (R) -202-225-5101 - 1-800-242-1119 http://sensenbrenner.house.gov/email_zip.htm
DIST 6 - CONGRESSMAN TOM PETRI (R) - 202-225-2476 - 1-800-242-4883 http://www.house.gov/writerep/
DIST 7 - CONGRESSMAN DAVID OBEY (D) - 202-225-3365 http://obey.house.gov/HoR/WI07/Miscellaneous+Information/email+sign+up+form.htm
DIST 8 - CONGRESSMAN STEVE KAGEN (D) - 202-225-5665 http://kagen.house.gov/IMA/issue_subscribe.htm

Toucan Food and Custard in West Bend WI

It seems like every town has that special place with good food and great custard. This place exudes that hometown feel with regular special events for everyone. Like for instance Hot Rod Nights...

Provide the locals a chance to air out the classics and talk about the good times over a burger and drink.

There are plenty of seats available as The Toucan has built outdoor seating areas around the building and next to the hill. There are about 6-7 tables inside along with stool seating as well.

The Toucan Food and Custard has a good selection of items to choose from. One favorite of the locals is the Kong Burger. (or Triple Kong Burger for some!) A great big burger with a healthy dose of 'sauce'. (which I think is thousand island dressing) One of my favorites are their Chili Cheese Fries that come piping hot out from the kitchen. I wouldn't consider the Toucan to be a fast food joint either. They make everything fresh to order and with quality products as well. So there is a little bit of a wait (but similar to when you are in a fast food drive through and they 'ask' you to move up because they didn't have enough fries for your order - or they should honestly say that they want to keep their 'window time' down for... ah that is another story)

Of course the main draw for most people is 'the flavor of the day'. They have a different special custard flavor of the day along with vanilla and chocolate. I haven't been able to find an on line place to see the schedule for that, but they do update their sign to alert all the passing vehicles. You can also call the Flavor Hotline to find out prior to driving over. Another great aspect is that the Toucan is very close to Regner Park, but that is for another post...

It is a great place to stop for a quick bite in the middle of a long day of real estate showings.

If you are new to town, or just visiting the area.... Make sure you stop in for a tasty treat!

Address
600 N. Main St.
West Bend, WI 53090

Flavor Hotline: 262-338-8444

Hours:

April - August:
10am - 10pm

September - March:
Fri & Sat: 10am - 10pm
Sun - Thu: 10am - 9pm

Since there are so many restaurants out there that are
more than willing to take your money and throw some food together for you I thought it would be good to highlight the exceptional local restaurants.

Today's Main Dish - Ribs!

For the local consumer, the main place to go for a great rack of ribs is Jerry's Old Town Inn of Germantown, WI.

Whether you are dining alone, celebrating an anniversary, or having a get together with good friends Jerry's Old Town Inn can accommodate almost any occasion.

With a friendly and skilled staff on hand they take care of all the details of the night with ease.

The main event is a Thursday Night Rib Special were people come from afar to delight in the "Famous Ribs" that are served in huge portions for an affordable fare.

Jerry's offers a full bar as well for those seeking to pleasure the other taste buds in their mouth.

With the five-pigs-head neon sign outside of the restaurant it is hard to miss. Jerry's is situated on the north side of Germantown on Main St just off of Fond du Lac Ave.

I have been able to take a few real estate clients there in celebration of their Germantown home sale or purchase.

So if you are one that prefers a great big rack of ribs at reasonable prices, the place to go when you are in South Eastern Wisconsin is Jerry's Old Town Inn!

Jerry's Old Town Inn
N116W15841 Main Street
Germantown, WI 53022
Phone: (262) 251-4455
www.jerrysworldfamousribs.com

Zopen - A wiffleball tournament to fight cancer.

Almost all of us have known someone who has been effected by cancer. I know that when I was just 1 year old I lost my mother to cancer due to a misdiagnosis. There are many things still to be learned about cancer and things have come along way during the past 24 years. Since getting married in 2004 I have seen 5 other people in my church effected by cancer. So far all have been succesful in their battle, but it has impacted them for the rest of their lives.

Because of two great men, Ron Johnson and Gary Bell, the Zopen was created by John Lorenz. He was one of the many lives that they touched. It started as just a backyard bareque and has grown into a amazing event. The goal of the event is to raise funds for the Community Memorial Hospital Foundation. They are always looking for fans and participants as well as Angels in the Outfield (sponsors).

If you would like to come join in the activities on July 19th, 2008, or would like to sponsor a team please contact John Lorenz at john@thezopen.com. There have been some great past supporters that have generously opened their hearts to the needs of those around them.

You can go to www.thezopen.com to find out more details.

Here is a map of the area...