I think this sums it up nicely:

All the banter about Fannie and Freddie is interesting but no one seems to be asking: how did the people in a democratic republic, the world’s largest economy, host to the world’s reserve currency, the only remaining super power, let their economy become solely dependent on the ability to process and reprocess debt on homes? How did we let our government legislate into being, through the GSE’s, the largest Ponzi scheme ever?

Check out the entire, excellent post: http://www.oftwominds.com/blogjuly08/alcoholic-US7-08.html

Today was the closing on my house: SOLD! I am happy to complete that chapter and move on to the next (with a little profit to boot). To celebrate all that I learned by being a homeowner over the past two years and nine months, and as promised in my previous real estate article, here are some of the specifics that might be of interest to the budding real estate mogul, like what I spent money to fix up and what made the biggest difference in presentation to give buyers that feeling of, “this is the right house for me.” It is worth mentioning that my house sold promptly after I made some relatively inexpensive but significant upgrades to the kitchen and master bathroom (see numbers 1 and 2 below). At the bottom of this post, you will find before and after photos of the master bathroom to give you a sense of the difference that simple changes can make.

Here are my top five recommended upgrades, in order of “wow-factor bang for your buck”:

1) Faucets & Knobs
2) Light Fixtures
3) Interior Paint
4) Exterior Paint
5) Carpets

Note: counter tops and kitchen flooring would be on the list where necessary, perhaps in place of carpets or exterior paint, but I did not do those upgrades on this house.

Here are the details:

(more…)

It was the best of markets, it was the worst of markets… ok, actually, it has been the worst of markets, and my house has been on it for nearly ten months. As of New Years Day, it is officially under contract! What a great way to start 2007. The close date is set for the end of the month, and I will sing and dance once that is final and I have a check in my hand. The crazy part is exactly what happened the day of the offer…

(more…)