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My wife and I had the pleasure of taking a short vacation at a wonderful Bed and Breakfast in St. Michaels, MD. The name of this treasure is Wades Point Inn. The mini-vacation was a gift from our kids last Christmas and one that we really enjoyed. I'll have to remind them that Christmas is only a couple of months away :)

Not to be political but Vice President Cheney and previous Defense Secretary Rumsfeld both own houses in St. Michaels.

Just a few minutes from downtown St. Michaels you'll find the welcoming sign greeting you to a restful stay. Turn in and enjoy the stay.

No tv or phone in the rooms. Just peace and quiet.

At the end of a long driveway you'll find the main house welcoming you. Sweeping lawn in front with a huge waterfront access on the Miles River in back. Yes, that's a screened porch where guests can sit and chat in the cool evening breeze. There are guest rooms in the main house as well as another guest building to the left just out of view. We were greeted at the main house by the owner's beagle who hardy lifted her head.

Here's another view of the main house. Wonderful 19th century architecture.

Can't you just see yourself just sitting here and rocking after a hard day of doing nothing? If only there was a bar with Mint Juleps I might never leave.

Laying in the hammock I didn't even think of real estate once.  Was that bad?

I don't know about you but I could watch a sunset like that every day and never get bored.

It just doesn't get any better than this.

This is the "breakfast room" of the Wades Point Inn Bed and Breakfast. Not exactly the view from Denny's now is it? Breakfast included fruit salad, cereal, eggs and a view to die for.

What a shoreline. This was taken from the guest house we stayed in and is only about half the shoreline of the property.

Some interior shots.

Until next year at the Wades Point Inn...keep my chair warm.

I got a call the other day from someone on my website. We all like those calls just knowing that our websites are out there working 24/7.

Simple request...Rich, can you send me all the listings in a zip code under 300K, 3 BR and 2BA. Oh yeah, no foreclosures or short sales. Alright, the last part made the request a bit harder but not impossible.

We're talking about a zip code where the yearly family income is approaching $100,000, not too shabby.

The first part of the search was real easy. Once I logged on, literally less than a minute. I found 48 properties that met his search criteria.

The second part of the search took a bit longer because I had to read each of the agent remarks. The key words I was looking for were foreclosure, short sale, third party approval. Out of 48 properties it didn't take that long but was I surprised by the results.

OF THE ORIGINAL 48 LISTINGS THAT MET HIS SEARCH CRITERIA, ONLY 8 WERE NOT FORECLOSURES, SHORT SALES OR BANK OWNED...WOW!

I knew that foreclosures and short sales have been creeping up lately but I never thought it was that high. It's one of those things that you see every day but never really look at.

WHEN THESE HOMES SELL THEY WILL BE DETERMINING THE FUTURE VALUE FOR THE NEIGHBORHOOD, AND IT'S NOT LOOKING GOOD!

Three to six months from now an appraiser will be looking back to now for the data necessary to perform their appraisal. I don't know about you but it's been my experience that foreclosures, short sales and bank owned properties tend to sell below the market value. Sometimes well below the market value.

The real estate pendulum has swung pretty far and it's going to take quite a while until it swings back. The number of sales will return much sooner than the value for home owners. It will remain a buyers market for a considerable time.

There is a well defined process that people use when dealing with the loss of someone or something that is near and dear to us. In this case I'm talking about the sense of loss that many people are feeling regarding the financial crisis that is facing the country. This isn't just a psycholgical loss, this is going to be a loss in tangible assets to a great many people.

Stages of Grieving:

1. Denial: It's hard to get the entire country moving at the same pace. Some people are still in denial about what's happening but for the most part the public has moved past this stage pretty quick.
2. Anger: This is where I think we're having the most problem. The American public is still here while the politicians have moved beyond this stage. We are furious and we are furious at the people who let this happen. Some judgements are being made about who we're furious at but for the most part we really don't know yet. This disconnect between the public and the politicians is dangerous.
   
3. Bargaining: This is where out politicians are and I think they're out of sync with their constituents. We're still in the anger phase and getting angrier by the minute.
4. Depression: This stage is going to get scary in the next couple of weeks as what's happened really sinks in to the American public. A lot of people will be walking around numb about what is happening to their lives. What do you think is going to happen at the end of the month when the 401K statements hit the mail. Borrowing to purchase a house, car, etc. is going to get much tougher and the outcome of that will have serious ramifications on the entire economy for years to come.
5. Acceptance: Yes, eventually we will accept our fate and move on. We're not going to like a lot of what was negotiated, we're still going to be angry, some are still going to be depressed, but we will move on nonetheless. It's going to be interesting to see how quickly, or not, the public will move to this phase. We're being bullied by the people that got us into this mess in the first place that we have to get here in a matter of hours or days.

The stages of grieving are going on right now for the entire American public. We're being dragged along to an uncertain future by people we voted into office...and Presidential politics.

For those of you who don't know "Taking a Mulligan" is a golf term. You're allowed to take another shot after making an errant one on your first try. Sort of like a do-over for the social golfer.

Life doesn't always let you take a Mulligan

Our industry has a lot of demands on our time and on the time of our families. Most of them aren't discretionary since we're independent contractors and have to be available when the demands of the job and our clients insist. Don't get me wrong here, there's plenty of idle time when we wish we were busier. It turns out to be more of a scheduling problem in the real estate industry.

• I need to see houses this weekend.
• I want to write an offer tonight.
• The home inspection can only be tomorrow.
• etc.

These are the last two verses of "Cats In The Cradle" by Harry Chapin, 1974. The rest of the song is a build up to the last verse where it should hit home to those of us who may not value our time with family as much as we should.

"And as I hung up the phone it occurred to me
He'd grown up just like me
My boy was just like me

And the cat's in the cradle and the silver spoon
Little boy blue and the man on the moon
When you comin' home son?
I don't know when, but we'll get together then son
You know we'll have a good time then"

The song is about a father who's life just sort of got away from him because he was always too busy for the family. As his son grows up he finds his son doesn't really have the time for him now.

To see Harry singing it click below.

To read the lyrics click the link below, "The Cat's In The Cradle." I mean really read the lyrics, and remember what's important in your life.

http://www.lyricsdepot.com/harry-chapin/cats-in-the-cradle.html

Whenever my life gets out of balance I try and remember Harry's song.

Maybe you've heard of the parlor game "Six Degrees of Kevin Bacon." The gist of it is that anyone in Hollywood in the past fifteen years could be linked to Kevin Bacon in six strokes or less. It works.

Watching the hearings and reading as much as I have about the current 700 Billion Dollar Bailout by the Treasury Secretary, I was struck by the fact that Kevin Bacon has nothing on the Washington crowd.

Everybody in Washington DC and the financial institutions they purport to oversee, seems to know each other within one degree of separation.

Well now, isn't that just too cozy. The American public is finally waking up to what's going on...and they're angry. Why not, we're paying the tab for all that cozyness.

Apathy on our part will give the politicians free rein to do whatever they want. Call or email your elected representative and respectfully let them know how angry you are, and how good your memory is going to be in the next election, if they don't get it right.

If you have a cell phone it's probably happened to you. Somehow the send button is hit putting it down or attaching it to your waist, putting it in your pocketbook/briefcase, whatever, and it automatically dials the last number.

If they answer than they are probably listening to you talking or doing whatever in the background. I'm sure some of these "ghost calls" have been pretty interesting and maybe a bit embarrassing as well.

I got one the other day after talking to an agent who submitted an offer on one of my listings. After shouting to try and get his attention unsuccessfully, I heard him in the background swearing to an office mate and discussing the "low ball" offer he just made. Of course I listened...got some great tidbits too.

You can stop making these "ghost calls" by locking your keyboard. Every phone has this function, trying to figure out how to get it to work may be a challenge though.

Good luck avoiding the embarrassment of making "ghost calls."

I'm usually OK with showing homes where dogs are present. I've been around dogs my whole life and can generally develop a rapport pretty quick.  Sort of like a mutual respect and understanding. You leave me alone, I'll leave you alone.

My rapport was tested to the extreme showing a house the other day. Although the owner was home at the time the house contained five pit bulls and what I can only describe as a wolf (the seller told me it was a German Shepard but I've never seen a German Shepard this big).  He (it) was behind sliding glass doors in the basement. Thankfully, the wolf was kept separated from everyone else because it wasn't very friendly. Shocker there. The seller asked if we wanted to go into that room and look around and I think we all answered no a bit too quickly.

If you're old enough and remember, The Little Rascals had a pit, bull and extra points if you remember his name...Petey. My recollection of "Petey" was that he was friendly and actually pretty short. Stocky but not very tall.

Anyway, these five pit bulls were enormous compared to Petey. Like they mixed steroids in their dog food. They almost came up to my waist and all five were following us around as we tried to tour the house for sale. At one point in the basement they ALL developed a fascination for smelling my crotch.  There is nothing worse than five pit bulls nosing each other out of the way to smell your crotch. I think they sensed the fear emanating from every pore of my body. If they did they were right, I was truly scared.

OK, the owner is with us but I'm thinking to myself...what the hell can a 110 pound woman carrying an infant do if five pit bulls decide to act? Nothing. She wouldn't be able to get one pit bull off, much less five. I can't imagine the liability she's letting herself in for by having people view the house while the dogs are loose. Did I mention there were five pit bulls?  

We flew through the house as best we could. Actually, my buyer clients seemed to be OK with the animals following us around. When I initially expressed concern they were the ones who said let's go inside.

I don't fault the agent because I'm sure he instructed the sellers to get rid of the dogs when someone has an appointment to view the house. Maybe some fault though because when I made the appointment, I was never told there were dog(s) in the house. I can't really fault the sellers either. I have two small dogs and I know what trouble it is to corral them up when I need to. Where do you put five pit bulls and a wolf? Now that I think about it, what do you feed five pit bulls and a wolf? Maybe we should check for missing real estate agents in the area.

I'm sure that house will be on the market a long time. Not everyone is comfortable viewing a house with one dog, five is out of the question for most agents and buyers. Even if people do go in it's like a sprint to view the house and get back out. A good number of buyers will spend less time in a house with a dog that is not crated.

I'm thankful my clients weren't interested in the house so I don't have to go back.

As reported by The Sunday Capital yesterday:

• Anne Arundel County School Superintendent Salary: $231,750
  
• State School Superintendent Salary: $195,000
• Governor Salary: $175,000
• County Executive Salary: $150,000

The number of Anne Arundel County school employees earning more than a six figure income jumped from 213 last year to 450 this year.  The top 100 school employees received raises of 18 to 33% from 2007 to 2009.  I know you have to pay well to get good employees but WOW!    

Only in America could you have a County School Superintendent making more money than the Governor of the entire State.

Congratulations to Coldwell Banker for completing a survey of what first time homebuyers want when purchasing a home.  Drum roll please...first and foremost they want a home that is in move in condition.  Fully 80% of first time homebuyers expressed this as a requirement according to the Coldwell Banker survey.  This is one of those stats that pass the smell test.  It just makes common sense.  Probably more than most, first time homebuyers don't have the additional monies to perform fix up and maintenance repairs to this major purchase of a home.  I know that in Maryland I deal with a fair amount of first time homebuyers who make good money, have good credit, but don't have much in the way of savings.

Size of the home came in at 71% for first time homebuyers as well.  More so than in the past, apparently the size of the first home is important.  41% of the respondents listed proximity to job as being the most important aspect.  That makes more and more sense with gas prices being what they are today and the recent past.

Lastly, 73% of first time homebuyers expressed a desire for help with the entire homebuying process, including paperwork, negotiations, neighborhood identification, etc. 

It's not in the survey results but my experience with first time homebuyers indicate that they want to know they are getting a good deal.  Who doesn't, right?  With all the news about foreclosures and short sales this is getting more and more important...and they're not just taking their agent's word.  They check Zillow and a number of other internet resources to support their decision.

Source: REALTOR® Magazine - Daily News 9/8/08 

Mahatma Gandhi got it right, where in my opinion, the current politicians haven't; he said, "You must be the change you wish to see in the world."  Be the change - not talking about change that may or may not ever happen.

Which of the current candidates is the change, not just mouthing the words?

In any case, thankfully, we only have to listen to the posturing by both parties for another two months.