It's 8:00 AM and I had my first call of the day from an inquiring buyer of one of my listings that is pending and scheduled to close tomorrow (that story will be my next blog).  I get lots of calls from prospective inquiring buyers on my listings.    All the doom and gloom one reads about the world of real estate and two facts unarguably remains: 1).  People have to live somewhere  2).  They ain't building more land, especially along the coast. 

I understand people are nervous about the economy.  Gas today is $4 a gallon in Humboldt Co. Food prices going up.  War, economy, unemployment going up.  Lots of negative press. Financial markets in turmoil.  Is this the first recession in the 232 years since our country was founded?  NO.  Will it be the last.  No way.  It was much worse in the 1990's in so cal....people were losing their jobs by the thousands and subsequenty losing their houses....different dynamic today.  Agree with me or not, its all about confidence in the economy.  I sense the country is tired.  It needs new energy.  My humble opinion is no matter who gets elected, a fresh change will help get the confidence level back and right the economy.  As I say to buyers, buy in a buyers market now because prices are down and interest rates are still very attractive.  Financing has dried up for marginally qualified buyers but that means lenders are going back to basics of credit, income, and down payment....that will help the real estate market in the long run once this sub prime mess washes out, which it eventually will.  Am I unrealistically optimistic?  No.  I have been around long enough to remember different ebbs and flows of the economy and real estate markets, unlike many in this business who never experienced a "buyers" market.  I just fall back to points one and two above, and add a third:  The population in California is getting bigger, not smaller.

 Thank you for reading my blog.