I have this quote from him hanging in my office. I try to get others to understand this philosophy but it usually falls on deaf ears,

Obsess About Solutions, Not Problems

 “There's a lot to the credo that success breeds success. It puts you on a high that makes more success like a magnet. I'm a positive thinker who does frequent reality checks. Negatives turn into positives, problems can be solved, things can turn around. The image of success is important, but even more important is the ability to focus on solutions instead of on problems. That way, you'll never be thinking like a loser, and you probably won't look like one either.”

It was so touching. The whole family got up and spoke about how wonderful she was and recounted someof their best memories.

I told Bruce that i thought he was a lucky man to have so many years with such a wonderful person.

Beginning January 1, 2013, ObamaCare imposes a 3.8% Medicare tax on unearned income, including the sale of single family homes, townhouses, co-ops, condominiums, and even rental income.

Please comment and let us know.

The famous Case-Schiller index of housing state paints a dismal picture. According to them we have hit a double dip.

I was listening to my friend Jim Kramer of mad money and he had a very interesting view.

It turns out that the Case-Shiller index only uses data from 20 cities. Almost like only using the Dow Jones Index as the only way to decipher stock trends.

Just like the Standard and Poor 500 Index is a more telling indicator, for stocks, the FHFA index is a more reliable housing index.  According to them prices were unchanged from Nov To December and no double dip.

In addition, Kramer pointed out that the NAR shows prices  up 12.3% in Dec– the 5th straight month increase.  According to them, inventory was down4.2% and pending home sales were up 3.5 %.

Lastly the census bureau track s home data and they showed the average price up 12%. 

  Just as the stock market is usually a 6 month leading indicator of the economy, keep in mind that housing related stocks are going strong also.

  So who should you listen to?  If you only pay attention to headlines, you are going to be the last in line to see trends. Guess what– if you listened to the news media in 2005, you got clobbered.

The economy is rolling along and inflation is coming back and so are interest rates.  BUY NOW!!!

This is a lead story in the Times.  Hello!!! Didn’t they just tell us that banks stopped issuing them last quarter because of legal concerns?

Another example of bad journalism.

According to Case Shiller.

The good news is that L.A. is not one  of them.

California's coastal cities and the nation's capital were the only apparent bright spots in the report, with Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Washington showing year-over-year gains. But when measured month to month, the index declined for every city except San Diego, which inched up 0.1% in November from October.</span>

 read the story

We had don Bronchick– yes, another son– give a class on dealing with contractors.  All i can say is WOW!!!!. As proud as i am of him– i did not know he had it in him– i got writer’s cramp from taking notes. You know me, i usually don't even stay in the room when the speakers talk. I have heard it all. But this time, i would not even take a potty break for fear of missing something.

In the past, i have avoided getting permits and hid from inspectors. Don changed my mind. From now on i will only use licensed contractors who pull permits.

If you are going to do any rehab either on your own house or an investment house, you MUST GET this course.