Food Drop 2009

This morning, between 2,500 to 3,000 people came together to unload 7 semi-trailers full of food and personal care items. They did this despite extremely cold weather. They did this even though about 10 inches of snow fell over night. They did this in order to help the less fortunate in our community. They did this to tell people that they matter to God.

The yearly food drop is one of the many reasons that I love Granger Community Church and the people that attend there. In a time of economic problems everywhere. Through our giving, we were able to to donate 6,160 boxes of food and personal care items to 9 diferent community agencies and to 13 different neighborhoods. We were able to effect an estimated 3,000+ families today from Niles to Elkhart to Mishawaka to the west side of South Bend. For more information check out www.GCCWired.com

Fun Facts About The Presidency

Wi th the inauguration of our 44th President of the United States coming up on January 20th, I thought it would be fun to look at some facts about the Presidency that you may or may not know.

On January 20th, Barack Obama will be our 44th president. Did you know that he will actually be only the 43rd person to hold the office? Gover Cleveland was elected to 2 terms as president, but they were not consecutive. He is listed as our 22nd and 24th president.

Did you know that John Adams became the first president to live in the presidential residence that we know as the White House? However, when he moved into the residence during 1800, it was not called the White House. Instead, it was referred to as the President's Palace, the President's House, or the Executive Mansion. The first president to live in the "White House" was Theodore Roosevelt, who gave the residence its official name in 1901.

The tallest president of the United States was Abraham Lincoln, who stood 6 feet 4 inches tall. The shortest president was James Madison who was 5 feet 4 inches tall.

Do you know who was the 1st president to be born as a US citizen? Martin Van Buren. The seven presidents prior to Van Buren (Washington, J. Adams, Jefferson, Madison, Monroe, J.Q. Adams and Jackson) were considered British subjects. William Harrison, who took office immediately after Van Buren, was also born as a British subject.

Abraham Lincoln was the first American born president that was born outside of the original colonies. Herbert Hoover was the 1st American born president born west of the Mississippi. Richard Nixon was the 1st and only president born in California.

Theodore Roosevelt was the youngest president at age 42 when he took office, however, he became president after William McKinley died in office. The youngest elected president was John F. Kennedy at 43 years of age when elected. Ronald Reagan was the oldest at 69 when he was elected and age 77 when he left office.

John Quincy Adams, Rutherford B. Hayes, Benjamin Harrison and George W. Bush all lost the popular vote but still became president.

Jimmy Carter is the only president to have graduated from the US Naval Academy in Annapolis.
Woodrow Wilson was the only president who had a Ph.D. He received a doctorate in political science from Johns Hopkins University in 1886.

Who is the only person to become president without being elected as either president or vice president? Gerald Ford. He was nominated to be Richard Nixon's vice president after Spiro Agnew resigned. Later, when Nixon resigned on August 9, 1974, For became the 38th president.

December #'s for Southwest Lower Michigan

I just received the December numbers for Southwest Lower Michigan and I thought I would share them with you.

Total units sold for December were 166 which is down 24% from the 217 sold in 2007. Hartford, Lawrence, Bridgman and New Buffalo areas were up for the month a combined 29%. The areas with the biggest decreases were Coloma and Watervliet -55%, Dowagiac and Marcellus -45% and the Edwardsburg to Cassopolis areas which were -44%.

Average sales price for December 08 was $166,504 which is -13% from the $191,097 average price in December of 07. The Coloma and Watervliet average price increased 108% over last December from $108,068 to $224,300. The South Haven area also showed an incread of 29% from $135,996 to $175,981. The biggest decline in average sale was in the Edwardsburg to Cassopolis area which had an average price of $85,160 which -69% over last years average of $272,144. Another area with a sharp decrease was Benton Harbor which was -50% at $40,160 from $80,037 a year ago.

Total dollar volume for December was at $27,639,651 which is -33% from December 07 which was $41,468,054. The Hartford and South Haven areas were +9% and the only areas of Southwest Lower Michigan that were up in total sales dollars for the month over last year. The Edwardsburg to Cassopolis area was the hardest hit being -82% in sales dollars. In December of 07 that area was at $6,803,605 compared to $1,192,240 this year. Other significate decreases were in Benton Harbor (-62%), Niles (-55%), Dowagiac area (-49%) and Berrien Springs (-43%).

St. Joe County Housing Starts Down in 08

This post is actually from Mark Peterson @ WNDU. I am just re-posting it here for you to read.

Another economic crisis is vying for the attention of Congress.

The National Association of Home Builders has descended on Washington D.C. in search of a helping hand.

Some local home builders think that 2009 is bound to be the year things start looking up for the industry, if only because it's hard to imagine things getting any worse.

"You know, I don't thing we can honestly go lower," said Kim Baker with Weiss Homes. "As far as that is concerned, the market never goes to zero, I'm confident in that."

The market in St. Joseph county appears to have come dangerously close to zero, in 2008.

The city of Mishawaka had just 44 housing starts in 2008, compared to 112 the year before. In South Bend, there were just 55 housing start in 2008, down from 103 in 2007. In St. Joseph County, a total of 183 single family homes were built in 2008, compared to 287 the year before. Housing starts in the county had topped 500 back in 2004.

"Our national group is going before the capital to promote a stimulus package there," said Andy Place of Place Builders. "It's not a bailout, it's definitely not a bailout."

The plan is more a series of suggested tax incentives for people who buy new homes.

Last summer, Condgress did pass a tax credit for home buying, but that was limited to first time home buyers and it had to be paid back over a 15 year period.

The Home Builders Association would like to see a true tax credit extended to all buyers of principal residences. The group has also proposed that the credit amount be increased to as much as $22,000.

Some believe that the incentives would carry benefits well beyond those who wield power tools.

"If homes aren't being built, then the electrician might be out of work, or not have as much business, or the plumber might not have as much work," said Kim Baker.

"Let's look at carpeting, let's look at appliances, landscaping, all that is part of it," said Andy Place.

The Appraisal

Over the past year there has been an uproar, so to speak, in the real estate world about the appraisal process. One of the many factors with what went on with the collapse in real estate was the appraisal process. Because of the lack of oversite in the industry, a lot of blame has been brought to the appraisors feet. Some of that is deserved and some of that is not, as there is plenty of blame to spread. The way it used to work, depending on the lender, some lenders had a couple of different appraiors that they would use and assign according to what their specialty was. An example would be that some appraisors specialize in FHA or VA while others are better at just doing good old fashioned Conventional. Some were more hardline to the rules, while others might have been a little more "forgiving" when appraising a property.

With the crackdown in the industry, more and more you are finding that the lenders have no control now over who gets assigned to do the appraisal of your purchase or refinance. Most lenders now have pool of appraisors that randomly get assigned to your purchase or refi. And those that have not implemented that system, from what I understand, will be forced to by May 1, 2009. The positives of this is that the appraisor will not feel pressured now in advance to "hit" the number for the transaction. They can do what their job is designed to do, which is a great thing in my opinion. Here is the only negative that I have ran into so far with this system. When a lender puts together their "pool" of appraisors, they often have several appraisors that might not be familiar with your market due to the wide areas that the lenders cover. We have ran into this lately here in St. Joseph County Indiana. These outside appraisors, because they are not familiar with this particular market, have been shorting most appraisals. A $2,000 to $5,000 short is one thing, but they have been shorting by $10,000 to $25,000 depending on the situation. How I have gotten around this, is that if the property is being financed, I write in the purchase agreement that the appraisor must be affiliated with the St. Joseph county board of REALTOR's. That way I am complying by not choosing my appraisor, but can narrow the field down to someone that I trust is going to do a proper appraisal. You can do this as well if you are refying your home. Don't be affraid to ask the appraisor, when they call to set up the appraisal with you, if they are a member of your local board of REALTOR's. If they say they are not, ask them to reassign the appraisal. You have the right to do that.

Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008

In 2008, a bill was passed that has not received a lot of press. It is the Housing and Economic Recovery Act of 2008, also know as the First-Time Homebuyer Tax Credit. This credit is actually a tax free loan from the government for people that have either never bought a house before or have not owned a principal residence in the 3 years prior to the purchase. The amount of the credit is 10% of the cost of the home not to exceed $7,500 and can be used on any single family residence including condo's and co-op's that will be used as a primary residence. This is designed for people making less than an adjusted gross income of no more than $75,000 per year or $150,000 per year if filed jointly and applies on purchases made on or after April 9, 2008 through July 1, 2009. This is a loan that has to be repaid. The repayment is made through your yearly income tax filing over 15 years. The yearly payment is 6.67% of the credit you were given. If the home is sold before 15 years, the remainder of the credit will be paid back at the time you sell your home. For more information feel free to call me at 574-370-8156 or contact your accountant as they should be up to date on the ins and outs of this program.

My Housing Forecast for 2009

With the new year upon us, I thought that I would take a moment to give my opinion of what is ahead of us in the housing market for 2009. The picture to the left says it all. I do not feel that we have fit bottom yet. If you go back to what housing sales were like back in the early 2000's, say like 2001 and 2002 before the big housing boom, we actually have not declined quite to that point yet. In 2003, the lending requirements were lessened causing an influx of buyers into the market that caused this "bubble" that you have heard about. Early in 2008, we tightened the lending requirements back to, or maybe even a little tighter, than what they were in the early 2000's. Some of what you are seeing is an adjustment back to where housing sales should be at. The rest of what you are seeing is due to the economy and job loss. Earlier this week, MSNBC was predicting a summer unemployment number to be over 8% nationally and close to 10% by the end of 2009. I think that by the end of this year, you will see housing sales around what they were about 7-8 years ago.

In our area, South Bend and Elkhart have seen the bulk of the foreclosures. This is no suprise since they are highly populated areas. A trend though that I have observed, is that foreclosures are starting to hit more and more in other areas. Mishawaka has had a jump in recent months, Goshen has had a big increase as well. But I am starting to see more and more in Osceola, Granger, Bristol and other outlying areas. Those are the areas to keep an eye on. We'll always have numbers in the higher populated areas, but increases in the less populated and sometimes higher income areas are a sign that this is not over yet, and in fact might be worsening. Jobs are what is needed right now.

With all of that being said, values should not be dropping too much further, and that is good news. Interest rates are fluctuating all over the place, but are still at or near all time lows which makes it a great time to refinance or buy--that is if you do not have a house to sell. So, I see another year of decreases in both value, and in the number of houses being sold, but they should not be at the pace we saw this year. By the end of 2009, we should be close to being stable again which means we'll be close to the level back in 01 or 02 which is where we should actually be anyway.