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I was amazed to read that of 2500 Americans taking this quiz, the score was under 50%! I was proud to get 28/33 right for a score of 84.85%, though admittedly I guessed on a few! Take the quiz and see how YOU do!

Quick positive links...

ATL Federal Reserve Bank Chair thinks things will improve by 2nd half of the year, per a speech today in Birmingham. As always, however things can always change. I still have my rose colored glasses on and view everything in a 'glass half full' point of view. We'll see! My hope? Improvement by SUMMER (prior to 2nd half of year). Bo vs. a Federal Reserve President... I'd like for me to be right not for bragging rights but for all our wallets! As I always say, time will tell!

Even Ex-Prez Carter sez it's not all that bad... In comparison of course! Of course, one of the worst economic downturns in my lifetime was during his Presidency... Interesting contrast!

Finally, interest rates at ALL TIME LOWS! (DUH--get out there and REFINANCE TODAY or BUY A HOME!)

Stimulus FAILURE and Al Qaeda on the move?

I am only going to focus on one portion of the bloated mess that is our "Stimulous Bill": a 1st time homebuyer credit of $8,000.00. Let's see--what started this entire mess? REAL ESTATE. Not autos, not jobs, but HOUSING. So let's cut off our nose to spite our face and limit the thing that could finally light a fire on the many fence-sitters out there: a tax credit for ALL home purchasers! That's what the credit was intended to do, but that's not what we ended up with. Four letter word for all this? FAIL. My task for you: can anyone tell me who changed this tax break from ALL homebuyers to only 1st-timers? I really want to know so I can write them personally. Republican or Democrat, they are FOOLISH to limit this.

While I'm on a rant, why not scare the hell out of you too? Read this article and see what may be next for our weakened country.

Georgia Rates are going UP! LOCK & LOAD!

According the Atlanta Business Chronicle, rates are going UP! We are already over 5.25%....!

On the fence? GET OFF NOW!

Good news... sorta...

Well, home sales crept up a bit in December thanks to cheap prices and even cheaper money. Looks like the seasonally adjusted index of pending sales for "used" homes rose 6.3 percent in December from the month before. Yeah, I know that's a LOT of foreclosures being sold but at this point, any positive news is just that--positive! As far as home values, the US average dropped over 18% but the ATL market only dropped around 11%. Again, we didn't truly have that much of a bubble--what hurt ATL is the number of people in over their heads (which led to foreclosures).

For a 'lesson' on value, consider this: I happened to do a refinance in someone's home the other day. It was a beautiful home that turned out to have appraised for around $15,000 LESS than what they bought it for 2 or 3 years ago. One culprit may have been the For Sale sign across the street with "REO" in the title (REO = Bank Owned). They luckily had plenty of equity in their home so they could easily refinance, but it could have been a huge negative for them if they needed a higher loan amount. But that home across the street was just as pretty and could probably be 'stolen' from the seller. That will kill values for surrounding homes, but again, you are seeking a good deal to BUY so what are you waiting for???