Homeowner's Blog

What Will Put An End To Our Economic Decline?

The GDP (Gross Domestic Product) has now declined in the last three quarters, the latest decline (6.1%) was greater than expected by most economists. Housing accounted for much of the decline. Business investment and state and local government spending also declined. So when is all this going to end?

On the plus side home prices are showing some signs of stabilizing, and the number of homes sold are finally increasing in many areas. Business inventories have also been drawn down substantially in most sectors, which will lead to more manufacturing activity in the future. Another positive is that most of the stimulus spending has either not yet occurred or had the chance to impact the marketplace. When it does there's a good chance that it, combined with some of the other positive economic factors, will put an end to our economic decline. That end may not signal the beginning of an extremely robust recovery, but it will be nice to see the economy moving forward again, more job openings, and a further recovery of the housing market.

Lets Support Legislation to Reform Mortgage Lending

Congress will hold a hearing tomorrow on legislation to reform mortgage lending. The Mortgage Reform and Anti-Predatory Lending Act of 2009 (H.R. 1728) deserves our support! This bill is an important component of mortgage finance reform. Along with bankruptcy reform legislation, it will prevent the future destruction of the savings, investments and home equity of American homeowners. The Act would:

Continue reading Lets Support Legislation to Reform Mortgage Lending.

Handing Out Stimulus Money Is Easier Said Than Done

President Obama has dedicated $7 billion dollars to provide broadband services in areas where no broadband services are currently available. Broadband services are increasingly important to homeowners, so this is a worthy investment. Now come the challenges. Who decides how the Broadband Stimulus money will be distributed- the States, one federal agency such as the Commerce Department's National Telecommunications and Information Administration, more than one federal agency? Once its decided who will distribute the money, the next problem to face is how to rank grant applications. This will be another challenge since the Administration wants the stimulus money distributed quickly so  it will create new jobs and help turn around our declining economy. An April 14th Wall Street Journal article entitled Broadband Stimulus Funds Up for Grabs addressed these challenges.

The Right Way to Punish AIG

The House of Representatives has passed legislation that would tax the bonuses of senior AIG representatives at a 90% rate. In one sense that approach is a good first step forward, and serves as a good example for how to approach similar abuses in other financial services firms. The step forward is that it is aimed at individuals rather than the companies. Companies don't make decisions, their senior executives do. Fine a company and you're really only punishing the stockholders, who in many cases are consumers who own the company's stock in their IRs, 401Ks or stock market accounts.

The mistake is that the House approach uses a shotgun where a scalpel is needed, it leaves the real culprits in place to wreak future havoc to our pocketbooks and the economy, and it micromanages personnel policies. 

Continue reading The Right Way to Punish AIG.

Notice To State And Local Governments: Stay Away From Our Yard Sales!

Homeowners have been holding yard sales and bartering goods and services for a long, long time. It's been a great way to bring in some extra money and get rid of unused stuff. Today, a lot of the yard sales and bartering are being conducted online, using outlets such as Craigslist.com and Ebay.com. This has been an especially important means of income to homeowners who are facing tough economic times and looming forclosures. California-based http://swapthing.com offers 3.4 million+ items and services for barter or swap.

A looming threat to these trends are efforts by some state and local governments to require consumers to collect sales taxes on these transactions, and send them to the appropriate state and local government. This could be a real headache for consumers, because there are some 7,000 state and local taxing authorities, and each one taxes different products and services at different rates. State and local governments should either tighten their belts as many of the rest of us has had to do, and/or look to other sources of additional tax revenues besides untapped consumer Internet transactions.