Real Life Real Estate Blog

Janine Romney has been kind enough to put together a list of fun events across Northern California for this weekend and will be posting new activities every week. Check it out on our Fun Things in Norcal Page.

Everyone from Wall Street to Singapore would like to know exactly when the US housing market will bottom. Being a savvy investor, I am not disclosing the date and time that I have accurately predicted.

However, I will let the world know some of the methods I have used:

1. Swing a pendulum over the Real Estate section of your local newspaper and ask it, “Is today the bottom?”.
2. Talk with your pet. Animals tend to be more in tune to the climate outside. The same applies for the financial climate.
3. Listen to one of Donald Trump’s Trump University CD’s backwards. He’ll tell you when the bottom will hit and it will blow your mind.
4. The month before the bottom comes the show “Flip that House” will not run as often on TLC.
5. Eat Alphabits cereal and look for the month in which the bottom will be upon us.
6. Consult your trusty eight ball.
7. Go to the sauna at your local gym. Stay in longer than the recommended 10-15 minutes to find your “Spirit” Financial Advisor.
8. Send a letter to Ben Bernanke asking when the housing bottom will hit. I’m sure you will get a prompt and overcompensated response.
9. Watch the much anticipated upcoming movie, “The Sub-prime Code.”
10. Wait for CNN, FOX News, MSNBC, and Oprah to tell you when the bottom hits.

Since the DOW closed today at 12548 points, I figured that now would be as good a time as any for a little diversion. Good news, although temporary, is still good news and cause to celebrate. Without the weight of a drooping stock market on my mind today, I decided it would be best to sit down and “process” what has been going on with the economy and everything in general by rekindling a long lost passion of mine. Tonight, for the first time in almost two years, I will attempt to play my guitar. I was inspired by a website I ran across, Chordbook.com, which is filled with lessons, music theory help, and a very good chord dictionary. It can definitely help anyone, a novice or someone who has fallen far from guitar greatness like myself, to learn and enjoy the instrument. Over the next couple of weeks I’m going to try to learn a full song again with the help of Chordbook.com and some old guitar books I have.

I’m feeling a little more down to earth so I want to learn something acoustic. Also, the strings on my electric guitar are broken while my acoustic has been safely gathering dust in the closet and I am too busy (or lazy, you pick) to go buy new strings. I was thinking of something by The Dave Matthews Band, John Mayer, Oasis, Radiohead, or the Beatles. These are just a couple of groups I was thinking of.  I’ll be giving an update soon about my song choice and how well (or not) my guitar rehabilitation is going.

Happy St. Patrick’s day everyone. Even if you’re not Irish like me, remember that on St. Patrick’s day everyone is Irish and every one can take time to appreciate friends, family, fun, and perhaps a nice pint of Guinness. So “go green” today and enjoy the festivities. If you’re a fan of St. Patrick’s day and would like to make it an official holiday in the US, then hop on over to www.proposition317.com to sign the petition.

Fidel Castro has stepped down as Cuba’s leader early this morning. He is to be replaced by his brother Raul who has hinted at some reforms. I don’t think that this will be the end of socialism in Cuba, however it may be the beginning of the end. Perhaps Raul will be to Cuba what Gorbachev was to the USSR. Gorbachev introduced economic reforms called perestroika in 1987 and we all know what fell in 1989. Hopefully after a couple of years and some capitalist reforms, Havana and the rest of Cuba will enjoy prosperity once again as a vacation hot spot for Americans. I dream of the day that I can have real Cuban food, not just the stuff in Miami. Check out the details on MSNBC.com