And the world shuttered...............

How cool did the USA look yesterday?
In one word VERY.

We Are seriously "Hip and Happening" again.......

I'm the same age as the new president and his call to personal responsibilities hit the mark; funny article in the onion about that.

This is something that I preach daily "you reap what you sow"

He spoke of choosing hope over despair and in essences it all goes back to the hog dog vendor story.

In short the basics and damn its cold today.

Oh and for my right wing friends......you know who you are; the market dropped over 300 points and the Sun rose in the East.
You say; Oh well so much for change, I say let's give it a chance.

As Sheryl Crow sings "Change will do you good".

GOT CHANGE?

I sure as hell do, after 8 years of "W" (btw; voted for him) we seriously need it.

Take time today at noon to witness the inauguration; pretty cool to know that when all is said and done, we were part of a huge moment in our country's great history.

Change is coming to this Blog also, hopefully today.
from now on you can access it at javsblog.com (a bit easier then the blog spot link)

So, we were suppose to have a closing on 1/15 then 1/16 and now (hopefully) this afternoon.

Heard some of the best excuses from my lender this past week; in order and I am not making these up:
Prior to Closing; This deal is a slam dunk, it will close without any issues.......HA!
Day before Closing; Oh my god, title company is not approved by the FHA....only have had the file over 3 weeks, could not have seen this coming?
Day of First Closing Date; when we got the doc's back, the priority process box was not checked, so it went into a we can wait pile..........HUH?
Day of Second Closing Date; this loan is being guaranteed by the FHA (Flagstar) and they are in Detroit.....and wait for it...........a little more.........here goes...................
THEY ARE BACKED UP BECAUSE IT'S SNOWING................WHAT!
It snows every @#$%^&* day in January in Detroit.

And today it will be delayed because................ you got it; CHANGE.

Now where was I..........

Ranting about all of this doom and gloom and woe is me put me in a festive mood.

To prove my point, closed a property last week and we have another one tomorrow and if the Tasmanian devil birth short sale would have flown it would have been 3 this month....actually 4 we have this Foreclosure that we rescheduled for March.

So, your trusty laid back Realtor is doing OK so far.

HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE YOU ASK?

Glad you did, as opposed to all of the sad sacks out there, I have never lost focus of a couple of basic principals in Real Estate;
First it's a local business....So to hell with national stats, I really don't give a crap what is going on in Tampa, or for that matter "Parkland" (I'll get to parkland in a bit)

Second, "List to Last" I drill this into each new agent that I mentor, some get it some don't....guess which ones make it.

In this gig you must have Listings (inventory) if not what are Buyers in this Buyers Market :) going to buy.....have I told you it's NEVER a Buyers market?

Back to Parkland (and after this I will never get a listing there) WHO the hell wants to live this deep in the Glades.
Played in the Florida Panthers charity event on Monday; it was free.

After driving forever and running a sun pass toll (who knew they took pictures of your license tag) I finally found the "Country Club" in the middle of the Loxahatchee wildlife preserve, which only means one thing.....Alligators, Indians and Migrant workers. Yea I know it's not political correct, but it's still true.

It was hot as hell, big ass homes in the middle of nowhere (east Naples as I fondly call it) and nothing but Saw grass as far as the eye can see.

If you really want to detach yourself from reality (read lilly white) this is the place for you.
I'll keep my hood any day.

Stats, Predictions and more............

OK, so this topic was suppose to be done a couple of days ago; sue me I was busy......

If you know me, you know I like football, you know......hell starting to sound like Caroline Kennedy, you know.

Well there is an old saying in the grand game that states "Stats are for losers" so "no stats for you". Who gives a shit how many homes were sold and what was the % decline and % this and % that.

All I know is I had a great year, took care of my customers and made sure they were not part of the decline. In short I did my job.....so much for stats..now on to predictions.

Predictions, I have always been an optimist and I will continue to be one.......even though and I'm sorry to take a turn here; but as I am writing this Blog I just received a call from Ana that a good friend of ours has passed away after a long bout with an Illness (Maria we will miss you, you'll always be in our hearts).

I don't buy into gloom and doom, life's too precious to be caught up in that mind set.
This year will be great, we will survive (Miami's shadow industry will beat the odds) we will continue to prosper, we will continue to do all of the little basic things that make this world go around.

Read this little story about a Hot Dog vendor; in short you make your Magic.

Fish, Kayaks and a New Year......

So it's been about a week, sorry for the delay but I have been quite busy doing absolutely nothing productive.......and I feel great.

Quick recap; the fish bit the dust (Ravens have a tough D), I got a kayak for Xmas and NADA for my Bday (well not true, my Mother in law did leave for 3 months), so all in all I did OK.

Buddy of mine who knows about my Buyers Market Myth Concept sent me this link and 2 things caught my eye; first anyone who is looking for a home....tell me is it a buyers market? If so prove it and I'll change my mind.

Second; that whole FHA increase HA!!!!! Only if your buying in the MOST FREAKING EXPENSIVE area in the State.

In Miami, the limit has actually come down and will continue to do so.
I just had a deal where we started at 425.0 level and in a matter of 6 months we are at 344.0......so all of you Buyers in this Buyers market....better hurry.

Tomorrow's blog will have past years Stats and my predictions of this years market.

How fun!