Is anyone out there listening?

Today I read in The Plain Dealer that the government is considering asking the people of the private sector to bail out the government employee retirement benefits program. Their argument was that if we don't do this, we will suffer the loss of teachers, police, firemen and city workers! If you are a government employee you should just stop reading this because you won't like what I have to say. The article went on the say that these lucky individuals retire with twice the benefits that the private sector does. They also stated that they are excluded from paying social security taxes because they have their own system and that the private employer is burdened with 6.2% in social security taxes. This alone is enough to put most people out of business. On top of all that these government employees get their own health care and it is way better than anything the private sector can even think of getting. IS EVERYONE OUT THERE CRAZY!!! We should be having another Boston Tea Party! Things have just gotten way out of perspective. We are eliminating the middle class. Do you know what happens when you eliminate the middle class? It becomes the "Haves" against the "Have nots". This whole health care debate is just that! Well I am a "have not"! I am self employed and I won't go to the doctor unless I have to because I can't afford my monthly premium to go up anymore. I don't have anything to count on but myself for retirement. I have struggled these past 4 years to keep from going under financially. I have downsized my business. While I have done everything to cut costs and be responsible the government continues to find more ways to get more money out of you! They want additional money for garbage collection, and sewer costs have gone up. If there ever was a time for the government employees to cut back it is now!!! I can't do it anymore. I am not going to bail them out. Isn't this the system that some jerk invested in a coin collection? Why do they get 88% of their regular pay when they retire early like age 48 and I have to work until death or at least 72 years of age to get a whooping $1500.00 a month which out of that I have to pay most of it to health care costs. On top of all that did you know that your Senator or Congressmen has cart blanche to travel at our expense all over the world! Yeah that's right! Say the Governor of Ohio decides he wants to go to London for a few days. He calls someone in our government who makes all arrangements for not only him but his entourage to show up first class with everything attended to as long as he schedules a meeting with some dignitary. They don't have to accomplish anything! Just have a meeting. Meanwhile they spend 1000's of our tax payers dollars having a grand old time. This has got to stop. How do you take all this away from the "haves" and start giving some back to the "have nots"? I don't know. I do know that if I was a "have" I would fight pretty hard not to lose any of it. Meanwhile "have nots" aren't fighting!! What happened to our Declaration of Independence where "all men are supposed to be equal"? I don't see equality when the government employees who have the power to vote for our benefits have a better and different set of benefits. Why should they vote on something that doesn't affect them! Why do the people that don't benefit get to make this decision? It doesn't seem right to me. The "haves" are voting if the "have nots " should have benefits like them and now they want us to bail their system out!!Is anyone out there listening? Maybe I am becoming a Socialist but this is just inhumane.

Extension of Tax Credit

With great expectations the house and senate passed the tax credit. This is now up to an $8000.00 dollar credit ($5000.00 less than the old one) for first time buyers with higher income limits. It also passed a credit of up to $6500.00 for the move up buyer. You have to have lived in your present home for 5 years within the last 8 years and be under contract for either credits by April 30th and transfer by June 30 2010. Did this cause more activity in the Real Estate market? Not yet! I am hoping that there is a delayed response to this. I know I plan to put my house up in February. I practice Real Estate in Ohio. It is November and while we have had incredible sunny and warm weather the market still feels kind of dormant. Here in Ohio from November to March traditionally the market slows down. With this new tax incentive we may have a better sales season this winter. As long as the weather holds out I have hope. When the snow gets going and there is a foot of snow out there motivation to look at real estate become pretty low. You can't see what you are buying for one thing. It seems that every winter I have a buyer who drags me out to look through all sorts of properties and they never buy. I have had these people call right after blizzards! Usually they are going through a life change like divorce,death of a loved one, bad break up or adjusting to an empty nest. No matter how long I have been in this business I still get had by one of these at least once a year. The point is We have a great new tax incentive right smack in the worst season for my location. Hope it has the same energy as the last one. I guess I will buy some UGGS (those ugly warm boots) this year and watch out for the emotional buyer who just really needs attention and not a house.

Free Real Estate info

There is a lot of real estate information out there. Recently I got a first hand look at how harmful this information can be in the wrong hands. I had a customer who was looking for a rental property. Instead of calling me to show her the properties that I was sending her she thought she would cut out the middle man -- "Me" and go direct to the properties that she was interested in. The thing about this is she wasn't paying me for my service! The seller pays the commission. This person knows that she isn't new to the business and her mother is a retired Realtor. Well anyway on a drive by for one of the properties she noticed a condo that might be perfect. She had the listing agent meet her at 7:30 am at the property. This guy is working for the seller. He told a great story and before you know it she was not only renting this property but buying it!! She went on the various websites the give estimates of value like Zillow, Trulia, Hometrends. She saw that the average sale price was $174k. The property that she was interested in was selling for $162,900. The agent told her that he just listed it in August. He failed to tell her that it was last August 2008. She negotiated a wonderful sale price of 158k having them professionally clean it and replace the carpet. Well she was so proud of herself she called me to brag about what a great deal she got for herself without my help. I am still baffled by this because my input would have cost her nothing!! As she was going on and on about it I kept thinking why is she calling me! What is the point here. As I listened to her I realized I knew the property. I can remember showing it twice over the last two years. I asked her if it was the one I thought it was and sure enough it was. This is a unique property in a development. Every other property built there is a townhouse style with 3 bedrooms and a lot more sq ft. There are only a few 2 bdrm ranch style units built here I think two. So when she went to the website she got an average number of 174k. The problem is the she bought the smallest unit in the development. That average number is going to be high. You can not replace a good appraiser and a good Realtor. We have information and experience that the novice home buyer does not! When it costs you nothing to use a professional for advice over a website why would an educated person do this? Ego ! I have to believe she just wanted to show me that she didn't need me. This is like talking to a friend that lets say sells cars. Getting all sorts of info about a certain car and the cost of that car and then going to the competitor and purchasing it. Then calling that friend to brag about it. I don't understand this behavior. It happens over and over again to me and my fellow Realtors. Maybe it is the lack a respect the general public has over this industry. All I know is she paid about 13k too much, will probably decide it is too small and now be stuck with another property that has a higher mortgage than you can sell it for without taking a loss.Before this decline the rule of thumb was you need to live there for 5 years to be able to get out even. That is in a good market. All I could say is it will be a good rental property. I'd love to hear your comments!

35130 Sullivan, North Ridgeville, OH | Powered by Postlets

35130 Sullivan, North Ridgeville, OH | Powered by Postlets

Aging Why do some people do it better than others?

Recently I have been noticing that some people just don't seem to be aging as fast as others. Now that I'm fifty this is something that I am paying a lot of attention to. The other day I went to a Real Estate mini convention. I have been in this business for 25 years now. So over time I have gotten to know a lot of Realtors. When I was at this mini convention I saw an agent that I have not seen is maybe 10 years. She looked better than when I saw her ten years before. I told her "you don't age"! She laughed at me. I asked her if there was something special that she was doing? Like being a vegetarian, or using a new face cream ect. She just laughed me off saying oh you know I drink and smoke all the time. Then she said no she doesn't smoke. I know smoking ages you and I know drinking is supposed to do the same. Could it be that simple? Just don't pollute your body? Now here's the really odd thing. The class that I took with Miss fountain of youth had a speaker. His name is Hal Becker. I have seen him 3 times over 25 years.He fought a really tough battle with stage four cancer. This guy is energy on steriods. Now usually when you fight a fight like that you look like you've been through a tough time. He looked great!! I sat there wondering what was it that Miss FY (fountain of Youth) and he had in common. They both had great looking skin, their hair wasn't thinning but vibrant! Miss FY had the body of a high school girl without looking sickly skinny. Hal was in great shape bubling with energy and fit as can be!I don't think it comes down to just good genes. The one photo at the top of this article is of a woman aging from 20-70 She is a doctor that believes in skin therapy and sells a product for that. I think it has something to do with diet and exercise. I'm going to bug Miss FY and find out if she works out and what her diet is like. I think I might bug Hal too. Does anybody have any ideas here?

Issue 3

First of all What exactly is issue 3? I looked it up on smartvoter and this is what it reads like:

To adopt Section 12 of Article XV of the Constitution of the State of Ohio.
This amendment to the Constitution would:

Permit up to 31,500 slot machines at seven horse racing tracks and at two Cleveland non-track locations. Permit expanded gaming in the four Cuyahoga County locations if approved by the county's voters. Distribute the revenues as follows: 55% to the slot and casino owners and operators. 30% to the Board of Regents for college scholarships and grants to eligible students and administration of the program. The remaining revenues to be divided among local governments, race tracks for purse money, gambling addiction services, and The administration of the Gaming Integrity Commission comprised of five members appointed by the governor and the majority legislative leaders. The moneys provided by this amendment are to supplement and not supplant existing and future constitutional obligations to post-secondary education and local governments.

All these Ads about 34,000 jobs coming to Oho. Then we have the ads that state these jobs won't go to Ohio people because the Casinos will hire out of state professionals. Now lets look at this. First of all if 34,000 people move to Ohio for a job that is going to bring growth to our state. I know if 34,000 people move to Ohio I will probably be selling a few homes. The banks and grocery stores will get more clients. Restaurants will have more business well you see where I am going with this. The statement that all these jobs will go out to out of state workers is just crazy. First of all how many professionals are left out there. Every other state has opened casinos all around us. Seems to me they will have to do some training to get good help. Also if you were really a good professional in the casino business wouldn't you be in Vegas, or St. Marrten somewhere with better weather than Cleveland Ohio. So the claim that it won't help us is just wrong. Then there is the moral issue. Gambling is dangerous and a sickness. Do you really believe that people who have this problem aren't doing it because we don't have a Casino? Do you really believe that we are drug and crime free because we don't have a casino? Do you really think we don't have prostitution? Come on get real!!! The thing that bothers me in this bill is that the revenues from gambling won't go the city or state. I understand that to encourage new growth we have to give a little. I understand that all these workers will be paying taxes and boosting our economy. We need a Casino in the Flats! They have the Green light to get started with the development. Along with the Medical Mart and Convention Center we may have a shot at an economic turn around. If you have been to Windsor or Detroit you will see that the only thing going is the Casinos. Well we have theaters, the Rock Hall of Fame the Science Center. Wonderful museums and a botanical garden that is absolutely beautiful. We have Fabulous restaurants and neat little sections of town like Tremont, Little Italy to name a few. All this with a lake view!!Come on Cleveland so what if every tax dollar doesn't go to the City and State , so what is some people move to Ohio because of this. Lets vote for Growth and change that can make a difference for all of us!

My Rant about health care

Recently if you read my blog you will know that I had the opportunity to experience our health care system in action. I went to the hospital thinking I was having a heart attack. The doctors decided to "ADMIT" me overnight for observation. I have highlighted the word admit because it is wrong. They commit you. Once they do this you can not leave on your own free will. They threaten you with your insurance company telling you that they will not cover your bill if you leave without getting "released" from the doctor. With that in mind, that is how the system starts to treat you. You are no longer a person with rights. Any rights for that matter. They will poke and prod you all night and order whatever tests that they can. Now take the same person with out health care. Chances are they would take a blood test to evaluate the levels of whatever it is they look for I think enzymes and release them once they see the blood levels aren't jumping with bad enzymes. Why I am writing about this months after this experience? This big fight regarding health care is insane! No one is saying what really needs to be said!! The price of health care has gotten out of control in this country. My one night stay in the hospital billed out to a little over $10,000.00. That is insane!! The hospital that billed this is "non profit" I have never seen a more profitable non profit in all my life! Then I went for a follow up stress test. Between the observation (I saw the guy once when he let me out) Echocardiograph and stress test that bill came to over $1500.00 of which I had to pay $230.22. My total patient cost was around $2000.00. I have insurance!!! This is the problem. I am afraid to make appointments to go to the doctor for "well" visits.I think of insurance kind of like a car insurance if I get too many tickets or have and accident or two then my rate goes up. I can barely afford my rate now. Let alone the deductible payments. To top that off can anyone understand the billings that they send you? I went to see my regular doctor who I see maybe once every two or three years. Thought I should follow up. The bill that came in the mail said she charged $330.00 for that visit! The insurance company paid $169.69 of it. I paid $25.00 when I got to the appointment. Somehow $133.22 is not charged because I went to the right provider! Once she sent me for a test and I went to where she asked me to go and it was the wrong provider! I had to pay out of my pocket $800.00. Not only is it too expensive but it is too confusing!! If I had my health care paid for me and my deductible was nothing I wouldn't understand what all the fuss is about either. I am a middle class hard working self employed citizen that at any minute could be put into bankruptcy if I get a catastrophic illness! Why don't we hear that costs are out of control and Americans have the right to basic health care. Who are these people that are against trying to fix a system that has gotten so far out of whack? I've talked with Canadians and they don't complain about their health care. We do!