Fruit Inspection

This is the sign that’s been staked at the bottom of my driveway for about a month or so. This weekend is the big showing and we are accepting bids on Wednesday. This morning, my parents saved my life by taking the kids for the weekend. I am cleaning my butt off today and getting ready for (hopefully) lots of folks tomorrow and Sunday.

I noticed the other day just how many For Sale signs are out there. Some I know I’ve seen for over a year. I know of one couple personally whose husband got a job in another state, but the wife and kids can’t join him until their house sells. So he lives out of a small apartment during the week and comes “home” to his family on the weekends. At least, on weekends that he isn’t serving in the National Guard.

I’ve been hearing and discussing all week long about this proposed “bail out” or “government investment” plan. I don’t claim to know the answer. I can tell you that I saw the problems with 100% financing 10 years ago when I first got into the home building industry, and I find it very hard to believe that the investors and anyone in Congress couldn’t see it too. I even quit my job at a mortgage company in 2001 because I couldn’t believe how many buyers the underwriters would approve for loans and they obviously couldn’t make the payments. I had to wash my hands of that nonsense.

And let’s not forget about the homebuyers themselves who apparently could not do simple math. The blame does not just lie with Wall Street. Anyone buying a home should go into it knowing what they can afford. Hmmm…my bills are this amount and my salary is this amount. Now subtract the 2. Do you have any money left over??? Please…most of these foreclosure are the result of the ever popular “keeping up with the Jone’s” mentality.*

Now everybody wants a quick fix. Imagine that. Another sign of the times and this generations “I can do what I want and let someone else clean it up” attitude. It really makes me sick.

I should stop now or I’ll really give you an earful! Anyways, if you think of us this weekend, send a prayer up that we get a good turnout for the Open House. More than anything we want to be in God’s will for our future. If He wants us to stay, we will hunker down. If His desire is for us to leave, then by golly, get me some boxes!!! Whatever you want, Lord…that’s what we want.

*Okay, so after thinking about what I wrote I decided to make a side note because there are people out there, in foreclosure, due to job loss or health problems or many other unforeseen circumstances. And that’s different. That’s not what I’m talking about here. I’m strictly talking about hundreds of thousands of people who were irresponsible. And now they want a part of the “bail out” too. Will anybody, anywhere stand up and simply say, “My bad”. If not, I’m afraid nothing will be learned from this mess. It’s pitiful to me. Really pitiful.