Susan Walters

As we weather the unusually cold winter in Michigan, with snowfall already close to the season expectation and half the season still ahead of us, we recently invested in some supplemental electric heaters.

We are watching every nickel we spend since my husband lost his automotive position in late October and heat was big on the list of "can do without." Of course, we cannot completely do without it and fortunately have two zones of heating in our home - one in the primary area of the home and one in the bedroom area that also includes my office and the kitchen.

Zone 1 was adjusted to a 60 degree temperature for day and lower for night. Zone 2 was adjusted to 55 degrees day and night. There are time variations for weekends via the programmable thermostats but those temperatures are not toasty by any means.

The three supplemental electric heaters were purchased for under my husband's desk, under my desk, and under our high school daughter's desk. With a cooked meal in the kitchen for dinner, we were heating up the property to a comfortable level. No t-shirts allowed; we dress for winter with two layers on the top plus socks and slippers on the bottom.

Our family TV area has a large bed-size quilt made by my mother that is incredibly warm and can cover multiple people on a sectional sofa. It feels a bit like Little House on the Prairie sometimes, particularly The Long Winter, but no one is complaining. It is a source of conversation to our regular visitors who know to dress warmly when coming to our house. One of our children's friends gleefully exclaimed once, "You have so many fleece blankets!" We do.... We raise the temperature for our less regular visitors who haven't necessarily dressed for winter. It is a trade-off to enjoy their company.

Back to my main point though. Do these little supplemental heaters really keep our massive propane expenses in control, given that we are adding electric charges to the mix? The cost of the units was less than $100 and they will likely last for years so cost can be considered inconsequential.

I was thrilled to see that Ask This Old House was covering the topic of supplemental electric heaters the other night but disappointed to not have any information reported as to whether the idea makes financial sense. They were heavily in favor of the oil or water-filled radiant heaters, reminiscent of the old fashioned radiators removed from older homes and happily discarded when ductwork was installed for central air. What a mistake - those units will throw heat long after the boiler has stopped firing; I know, we owned 2 previous homes with them and miss them greatly. No blast of cold air as the furnace turns on or cools down, just heat, always heat, hotter and then very slowly cooler. Progress is not always progress.

So thoughts anyone? Aside from caulking, weatherstrip, insulation, and the passive solar technique of covering windows on sun-less days/times and opening the window treatments wide on sunny days, do these supplemental heaters really help? We feel better but will our pocketbook? We need to know and haven't yet seen an electric bill reflecting changes. Why suffer if it makes no difference in the end? Comments are appreciated and wanted.

I first heard this phrase of wisdom from Norm Abram on This Old House in the early 80's when my husband and I bought our first house and I became engrossed in the series. I literally never missed an episode for years - it was the thing I cared about most. OK, in TV time, it was the thing I cared about most....

I learned so many basic skills from watching the guys on the program that I felt I could do anything. A little knowledge can be a dangerous thing but when a friend of my husband's came to our home one day and we were showcasing the things we had corrected in the 1940ish structure, he was shocked when I said we needed to scribe the woodwork to fit the plaster-contoured wall into the basement. "How do YOU know about scribing?" he asked. "I watch This Old House," was my answer. (What a chauvinist!) It was the first DIY show, it is still the best, for true construction knowledge (in my opinion) and I will love it until the day I die. I do watch other DIY shows and was caught up in one tonight about renovation mistakes. So much was true - some mistakes we have made, some we have avoided. I loved the one about accurate measuring. Measure twice, cut once.

My best example of this error was when we had an addition put on our house about 6 years ago - very competent company and subs. We were relocating/reusing windows that were being displaced; I had supplied the dimensions for the windows and the framers had taken my word as gospel. The windows did not fit into the framed openings.

When the error of my measurements collided with rough openings needed, the supervisor and I came up with a simple plan to rearrange where the windows would go. I think only one or two openings out of five needed minor modifications, and to my delight, a spare window found the perfect home in what would have been a blank second floor wall. The contractor just looked at me, put an arm around my shoulder, and the framers said at least I was always one step ahead of them. Sometimes you cannot plan these things and out of lemons you make lemonade.

Renovations can be treacherous. We still laugh about the addition and having those guys in our house for months, almost like family. My youngest recollects the day she slightly awakened to find a man pushing open the attic access in her room while she still slept (they started VERY early and it was summer break). Me, I remember the day I was washing dishes in the kitchen and singing, as I so often do for fun in my home (I can't carry a tune) until my older daughter reminded me that there were men just 15 feet away while I belted out, "I need some hot stuff, baby, this evening!" They told me I was their favorite customer ever, but I did put on coffee every morning and had a cooler stocked with soft drinks, carbonated and not, and beer for the end of the day. Those guys did a great job!

There was some material left at the end of the job - small pieces that we asked them to leave for fire starters in our natural wood-burning fireplace. There were also a few large pieces of the tongue and groove they used for the ceiling - we finished parts of the interior of a basement room with that and created a frame for our youngest's work of art. I doubt there would have been any leftovers at all but I was privy to the conversations. They knew what they were doing - they measured twice and cut once. Who wants to go back to the lumber yard for just one board?

h

Things were looking pretty grim when I last posted. In Michigan, nobody is going to deny that things are sad. Ask Congress.

My husband lost his job in the auto industry on October 28, 2008 after nearly 20 years as a dedicated and continually valued professional. At first it felt devastating but then with the severance package we felt empowered. A huge bonus to leave? Well, I guess that is better than, soooooorrrryyyy. Or a note on the door when a person arrives for work one day.

We paid down debt and allowed ourselves many months of expenses, not even allowing that I would make a dime in real estate - that is a pretty iffy proposition in Michigan as well. Tomorrow is a new day and it started the day my husband lost his job. Amazing what adversity will do to the spirit!

I felt I needed this bridge blog, husband with salaried job no more, wife with commission only job, as always. My husband has had numerous responses to his highly qualified resume and he evaluates all of them. Looking for a job is almost as difficult as having a job, except it can be done in sweats and occasionally allows for loading the dishwasher midday. Sadly, no job offerings have been in Michigan.

The quandary of the bailout of the auto industry is evident to all of us here in Michigan. No one wants to bail out private industry, but is the banking industry not private? We just bailed them out; if I were a better mathemetician, I believe that might equate to the auto industry bailout, to some power of whatever. OK, again, not a mathemetician; let's see what that bank bailout really costs us in the end. P.S. Homeowners are still losing their homes in record numbers.

Bottom line? I spoke to two people in the last two days who are or were auto industry suppliers. One person plainly stated that the loss of one job in the 'big three' auto industry equated to 7 jobs total in the greater auto industry, suppliers included. Can our nation afford this industry defeat?

So it is looking pretty clear. We will probably be leaving, though I will stay until our daughter finishes high school in 2010 and of course her braces need to come off - we relocated once mid-braces and it was starting all over again, expense wise. We are not doing that again. Funny the things you value.

Should there be no commutable offer for my husband, we will dearly miss our home. It is a treasure that has been enjoyed by many, particularly our children and their friends. We will miss Ann Arbor, the bastion of liberal thinking, always pushing the envelope. We prefer to stay for now, but I don't know if that is reality.

The ocean is calling, probably eastward. Family and familiarity will be near. Time will tell.

Recently a Michigan Association of Realtors publication posed that question within the text of a piece entitled, A world without...you. My real estate year was hardly going to plan. In fact, even for Michigan, it was badly awry.

Among the many disasters in the road to closings were the usual failures to qualify despite pre-approvals, loss of buyer income, loss of down payment assistance programs, no timely letter of acceptance on short sales, but also the more unusual and unbelievable.

One listing agent removed the CTS status on a property my buyers had bottom lined. All contingencies but financing had already been removed. The agent would not believe that the underwriter on the loan had suffered an aneurysm, was in a coma, and that the reassignment of the loan was going to delay closing by one week. (I admit, that was pretty out there.) Refusing to sign the extension, certain that the issue was really with the buyers and the coma was a ruse, the property was re-staged and held open that weekend. My first-time buyers were terrified. We closed as expected, one week late. At closing, the agent did not greet me or the lender and the sellers were no-shows for an hour - the closing had not been confirmed with them. They were apologetic, kind, and found they had a connection to the buyers. The sellers saved the day but the listing realtor gave our profession a black eye. (I do not know if the underwriter is still with us....)

Another deal, a drawn-out bank closing where I was representing the buyers, was delayed first for massive gas leaks both inside and outside the building. The saga continued in waiting for frost laws for heavy equipment traveling over roadways to be lifted, delaying the bank's installation of the county-required new well - then the water quality test failed twice before passing on the last strike. Eventually, just days before contingencies were to be removed, the ghost of the previous owner was revealed to the buyers by a neighbor - suicide in the garage - where they had planned to extend the living space for their master bedroom. No one can make this stuff up. The offer was withdrawn.

I won't detail what went on with the purchase that followed and closed for those buyers, only that I questioned whether the entire industry, sellers, lenders, appraisers, were all losing their grip on reality. My tenuous hold frayed and I seriously considered quitting.

The stories of 2008 seller/buyer dramas could take up many more pages but those two stand out.

So when I read the August 2008 MAR issue, I felt a real connection. I questioned what failure looked like to me, and I was pretty sure it looked like my real estate career. I began to seek other relevant employment but being Michigan, that was pretty hard to come by.

I stumbled upon what seemed to be a great job - part time, small salary with a title, commission on sales, creativity required. I interviewed and was offered the job. My meager closings were going to get some regular relief with the salaried paychecks. I would continue in real estate full time and supplement with this new position.

About one week later, my husband lost his auto industry job. Panic, then calm, immediately descended upon our household. The worst had happened and it would be OK, for a while. The next week brought the downsizing of my new position right out of existence, leaving me again with a commission only second job to back up my commission only first job. Lightining had struck twice. I decided to resign.

Here is what I learned.

First, relying on someone else to provide a paycheck is foolish. My husband's nearly 20 years of loyalty to his company, where upper management regularly required attendance at seminars on integrity and other lofty goals, may have been misguided. The company had never really internalized the messages itself.

Second, being a corporate employee after being self-employed is nearly impossible. It is stifling, draining, spirit-killing, and not income productive. The only way to make money in this economy, perhaps ever in this world, is to be in control of the results of your own efforts.

What does failure look like? It looked like what I had been doing in real estate in early 2008. Now, it looks like I just needed to focus a bit more. By taking those 20+ hours that I had been spending at the new job and using them effectively on lead generation, lead conversion, prospecting, and followup, I'd soon be on a path to success. Even in Michigan.

That was a lot of learning in a three week time period, perhaps the best business lesson I have ever learned. It all boils down to two things, freedom and control. Freedom - to make my own schedule and decisions, freedom to succeed, and unfortunately, freedom to fail. Control - of my own destiny and income - nobody is going to do it for me. I get it now. I know what I want to be when I grow up. Lucky me, I am already there - I am a Realtor.

I believe Santa Claus is Barack Obama.

I welcomed a comment today from a reader on a blog I wrote a while back about the political process in this election season. I specifically noted my daughter who is studying AP Government with a wonderful teacher who will not reveal his political leanings so that all students will feel free to express their opinions. As a result, she has developed a very good method for evaluating and questioning political facts put before her. She will happily (gleefully) tell us when we miss the point or if we are wrong.

My daughter and I watched all of the debates together. I read the news in print and online, she went to class and read the news online (print is so old-fashioned), and we both kept each other informed.

Following is the comment from a reader, and my response. The commenter's name has been eliminated to protect her identity.

***Your candidate is untested and we really know very little about him except for the details of his personal life. A vote for him is a vote in the dark.

And my response:

***I appreciate your point of view (-protected identity-) but after weighing all the options of each candidate (and their running mates) I have no fear in voting for Obama. For years I said that if I were to leave my Democratic base I would strongly consider John McCain since until recent years he has been so solid and sensible but I don't believe he has what our country needs now. Choosing Sarah Palin was the last straw. As someone recently commented in a political discussion about her, she is dumb and arrogant, a very dangerous combination. We DON'T know if she would ever be called upon to assume the presidency but I DO know that if Joe Biden were called upon, we could rest easy. With Sarah Palin....no comment. I say give the "new guy" Barack Obama, with education, Washington experience, and a straight-laced family a chance. The negative ads? Read the fine print. If you want to, you will see the truth.

P.S. My husband was laid off from his job yesterday after 20 years of exemplary service with the same automotive firm. We have moved several times for his company, including internationally. He has held positions in multiple departments and was doing the work of 3 employees, about to take on the work of a 4th employee when he was hit yesterday. Three months ago he received an excellent performance review and a raise. His department was growing, profitable, well-funded. He is 53 years old, 1.5 years from eligibility for 1/2 pension. I am quite sure that the CEOs of both Ford and Visteon made handsome salaries and welcomed many additional perks during the time of his employment and during these last few years of downsizing. We are not in the $5,000,000 middle class that John McCain talks about. (We know how many homes we own - one, sort of, via mortgage - and cars, total: one 2007 Mercury Mariner - minimally equipped and bought as a demo, one 1999 Ford Taurus, one 1987 Ford Tempo.) We are not even the $250,000 "Joe the plumber" that John McCain talks about. Just like Christmas morning, I prefer to be surprised and delighted with the unknown. The unknown/untested is Barack Obama. I believe it beats the known of John McCain - you cannot teach an old dog new tricks. We know all of his tricks.

John McCain pulled out of Michigan because he has no solution for the problems that plague us. Michigan embodies the problems that plague the USA, magnified. Seriously degraded manufacturing facilities due to outsourcing. Leader in unemployment since 2006. Foreclosures, bankruptcies, no health care for unemployed workers. As one comic said in his routine recently (it was not funny really), the guy with 18 houses versus the guy with one house - who do YOU relate more to? Who is more likely to understand YOUR position and the positon of most people in the USA? Remember THAT in the voting booth.

*****Now that my husband is unemployed and our financial future is threatened, can I get a bailout? Hmmmm, I thought not. I recently took a part-time job to keep me alive in real estate. If I take a third job I'd be "uniquely American" by President Bush's standards. No thank you, despite your kind words.