Your Exceptional Life

Turn off the television news.  Really.  Turn it off.  If you’re letting it dictate your personal business decisions, turn it off.  Ahhhh.  Doesn’t that feel better?  Once upon a time, the news was reported over the airwaves.  The face of the news looked like this.

Now there was a guy you could trust.  I lost faith in the news around 20 years ago.  I was involved in a criminal case that was well reported.  The guy stole millions, we caught it, but the story was complicated.  I realized that the people who were reporting were just trying to get the story out and didn’t really care for the nuances of how it actually occurred.  I learned to take all media with a grain of salt.

In September 2005, I got on a plane and flew into Jackson, Mississippi.  I got the last hotel room in town, rented a car and the next day drove down to Gulfport, Mississippi.  There, the MGM Grand, which previously sat on a barge in Gulf, sat half a mile inland, aground.  I met a friend and we went down to Walmart and bought cheap jeans and waders.  That night we drove to Baton Rouge and the next morning we were at Lamarr Dixon awaiting our assignment.  I can say unequivocally, that the stories reported at the time and the reality on the ground were diametrically opposed to one another.  They just don’t take the time to learn the full story when they report it to us.

I take buyers out nearly every day of the week.  They tell me that it isn’t a good time to buy or it isn’t a good time to sell or other broad stroke generalizations about the housing market.  There is no such thing as a bad time to buy or sell for everyone.  There may be a bad or good time for YOU to buy or sell.  Your neighbor’s situation might be entirely different.  Mathematically, it’s a great time to look at purchasing for folks that couldn’t get into the pricey market before and for investors in particular.  I like move ups too.  You get less for your current place but you pay less for the next place and taxes are based on the lower number.  I like it.  Mortgage rates are very pretty right now.  It’s a great time, unless you’re in an industry that’s spotty and you’re concerned about losing your job.  Then it’s not a great time for you, it’s a scary time for you.  Most importantly, don’t let something you saw on the 5 o’clock news dictate how you invest your money, and where you choose to live.  Check things out for yourself.  There’s a lot going on right now.  Talk to those of us who are on the ground doing the work right now.  We know what’s going on out there and we’d be pleased to share the information..

Jon Stewart laid out the media’s shortcomings last week.  Here’s your moment of zen.  Enjoy.

httpv://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cTAk54c8tFQ