Hockley, TX

Superbowl Party -- Texas Style!

Here were some of the snacks at the tailgate party at my brother's house. You can see the poster I got him from the Texan's cheerleaders at Chick-fil-A last year.

Every football party needs one of these -- a football crockpot to keep your cheese dip hot.

After snacking, I went outside and saw this beautiful sunset.

The horses seemed calm tonight.

Here was a preview of dinner, we had beef and chicken fajitas, fruit salad, shrimp cocktail and home made macaroni and cheese.

After dinner, the guys took up their places in front of the TV and the ladies tried to put this jigsaw puzzle together.

The kids were lining up dominos. They went down in a clatter.

All-in-all it was a great evening. Hope yours was as well.

Could Ranch Country, in Hockley Texas, provide an investment opportunity for you? It has worked for others and it may be that opportunity is knocking again. This is now a tried and true investment.

In the mid 1980s Ranch Country was a subdivision wayyyyy out from Houston. There was a recession (read; oil bust) going on, not that different from the one we are experiencing now. Interest rates had spiraled up to 17.5%. The adjustable rate mortgage was a fairly new product. People failed to understand that although the monthly rates started out low, they would suddenly go up, up, and away out of sight of the original projected budgets.

The interest rates did just that and soon people in Ranch Country bailed out and left their fairly new homes unceremoniously. In a very short time, the area was foreclosure driven. Houses were selling for as little as $4,000. Did you say, "Four thousand dollars?" Yes! (now remember, this is back in the late 1980s) How many would you like to own? Investors snapped up these little gems and turned them into next eggs for the future and college plans for their little ones.

In the meantime, civilization moved out to Ranch Country. There are now convenience stores conveniently placed right on HWY 290., a large master planned community, and an Outlet Mall within just a few miles.

The schools that service the area have been biggered and bettered and a new stadium has been added to improve the educational facilities. The best part is that these cute once inexpensive homes now sell for as much as $100,000 in some sections.

So, here it is beginning to be foreclosure time again. It appears that the mortgage game got a bit out of hand again. Sadly a lot of folks were allowed to borrow more money than they could repay. It seems as though that seems to happen a lot when jobs get scarce.

The good news is that the area is continuing to grow. It may make sense to snap up one or more of these foreclosures for your investment portfolio. Ranch Country homes are a proven commodity. How often can you say that about an investment? These are historically tried and true!

The map below shows how many electoral votes your state is allowed in the presidental election.

The map below shows how Bush won the 2004 election.

Bush had 286 electoral votes and Kerry had 251.

The graph below shows the projected numbers for the 2008 election (according to one site).

Let me state for the record that these "projections" are about as valid as the National Weather Service guessing how many hurricanes there will be in a given year. The truth is that they don't know, they are just guessing and hope they are right.

Regardless, it is VERY important that EVERYONE get out and vote and be heard in this election. Weither or not the electoral college votes the 'right' way or not is nothing we can control at this date. All we can do is let our vote be counted and pray that God blesses this country in the future.

I will be arranging a carpool to the election site in my area. If you live in the 77447 zip code, please call me to arrange a ride. I only have room for 6 more people.

** to my fellow ARers, make room in your cars and use your gas for a really good purpose. Join me in helping people get to voting booths who otherwise wouldn't make it.