Decide to be Happy

I just posted a quote from Abraham Lincoln on my Facebook and Twitter pages that says, "Most folks are about as happy as they make up their minds to be." I have always made it a point to be happy no matter the circumstances, and for the most part, I succeed. It's a state of mind, a decision made in advance. It has served me well over the years.

Today I received an email that has a similar story and while who knows if it's true, it's a good story so I'm sharing it. What does this have to do with real estate you ask? Well, everything in my opinion. The news media is determined to tell us how scary this housing market is, how terrible it is to buy or sell right now but in reality, we are where we should be. The last few years have been an aberation, a blip of several years that made us think that the housing market should always be that way. Housing prices aren't meant to double in two years! If you were to draw a line on appreciation over the past ten years or so, leaving out those few crazy years, you'd see the correct amount of appreciation on homes in a straight line up about 45 degrees. So, lets ignore the media craziness - look for the good, look for the positive and realize that now is a great time to buy a home. It's not as exciting when you're selling, of course, especially if you bought your home at the height of the market. Yes, people are having to foreclose, but overall it's a very very small percentage of the number of homeowners.

Choose to be happy. Choose to deal with what's going on - good or bad - but realize that this is only a small moment and will be past soon enough.

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A 92-year-old, petite, well-poised and proud man, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o'clock, with his hair fashionably combed and shaved perfectly, even though he is legally blind, moved to a nursing home today. His wife of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary.

After many hours of waiting patiently in the lobby of the nursing home, he smiled sweetly when told his room was ready. As he maneuvered his walker to the elevator, I provided a visual description of his tiny room, including the eyelet sheets that had been hung on his window.

'I love it,' he stated with the enthusiasm of an eight-year-old having just been presented with a new puppy.

'Mr. Jones, you haven't seen the room; just wait.'
'That doesn't have anything to do with it,' he replied. 'Happiness is something you decide on ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn't depend on how the furniture is arranged ... it's how I arrange my mind. I already decided to love it. It's a decision I make every morning when I wake up. I have a choice; I can spend the day in bed recounting the difficulty I have with the parts of my body that no longer work, or get out of bed and be thankful for the ones that do. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open, I'll focus on the new day and all the happy memories I've stored away just for this time in my life. Old age is like a bank account. You withdraw from what you've put in. So, my advice to you would be to deposit a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories! Thank you for your part in filling my Memory Bank. I am still depositing.'

New FHA Appraisal Guidelines

This just in!

New FHA Appraisal requirements started April 1st. This information is important for sellers!

Here are the 10 things your appraiser must do or provide for all FHA appraisals done after April 1st, 2009:
1. The Market Conditions Addendum (Fannie Form 1004MC/Freddie Form 71)
2. At least 2 comparable sales within 90 days of appraisal date
3. A minimum of 2 active listings or pending sales in addition to the 3 closed comparables
4. Bracketed listings using both dwelling size and sales price when possible
5. Adjust active listings to reflect the List To Sales Price Ratio
6. Adjust pending sales to reflect contract sales price when possible
7. Include original list price and any revised list prices
8. Reconciliation of adjusted values of active or pending sales with adjusted values of closed comparable sales
9. Absorption Rate Analysis
10. Known or reported sales concessions on active and pending sales

This update includes an often stated warning that..."Direct Endorsement Lenders are reminded that if the appraiser they selected provides a poor or fraudulent appraisal that leads FHA to insure a mortgage at an inflated amount, the lender is held responsible equally with the appraiser for the integrity, accuracy and thoroughness of an appraisal submitted to FHA."