Gas prices are skyrocketing and that comes down to everything we buy. With the economy and home values ​​slowing and health care, airfare, and the cost of living rising, this comes down to one definition, “recession.” Bush can downplay anything he wants and ignore gas prices hitting $ 4.00 a gallon, but he doesn’t have to fill up his tank or worry about paying his mortgage.

Bush doesn’t need gasoline. For the rest of us, however, our dollar isn’t worth much anymore. I will not touch the cost of Iraq, Afghanistan, China or the spy tactics implemented in the United States because, after all, we must remain protected against those pesky weapons of mass destruction at all costs.

I remember when we had to walk 10 miles barefoot to school in 3 feet. of snow. I remember drinking tap water with a glass and stopping the ice cream truck with fifty cents in hand. Oh yeah, I also remember buying a gallon of gas for less than a dollar. Now the same tap water sells for over a dollar a plastic bottle, which is doing wonders for the environment, ice cream trucks require a credit card, and gas is going … four get it .

The real estate market is experiencing price and percentage drops that we have not seen in over twenty years. Banks and mortgage brokers are being strapped to their chairs and tied up because of all the high-risk junk they were going through a few years ago. However, things are changing for the better! (at least on the real estate buying side) I say this confidently because it really doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that now is a great time to buy a home despite the media taking advantage of the claims of the crisis. The only real crisis comes from those who refinanced their homes to pay their bills or bought a home well beyond their means with a ridiculous loan that they should have read and understood before signing. Those are the majority of the people who give up their properties and turn them over to the bank.

The seller crisis (value and equity) has evolved due to a previous increase in the belief that prices were justified. Another contributor is bank-owned houses that come to market in a distressed state and therefore tear the surrounding houses down once they have been sold. That’s called market value, and unfortunately, real estate appraisers base their value on area comparables.

What does that mean for the buyer or investor of a new home? Scream, “Buy me!” Buy me now and I will love you later. All previous owners will become tenants. All the houses that the banks are desperately trying to sell (and by the way, they really don’t know how to handle this) are selling well below the market values ​​we’re at. It costs a bank approximately $ 50,000 to sell a foreclosure. They don’t want to hold them for long. Now is the time to buy a property when the market is down. Now is the time to collect rental properties like Monopoly deeds, including dwellings.

When any market is down, including real estate, that’s always the best time to buy, and throughout history, long-term real estate investing has always performed the best. People will always need shelter and a place to call home. This is not a fashion market or an investment.

However, I only recommend that you buy, if you plan to keep the property or live in it for at least the next five years. Let the market stabilize. Of course, there are exceptions to this. You can get a fabulous deal and turn it around if you do it right: (price, condition, area, and with the right resources).

Get a foreclosure tattoo on your credit and you won’t be able to buy another home for about a decade. Where are they going to live? Many of these families who have lost their homes are decent and responsible people, ironic as it may seem. Most have just fallen into a trap, and while ignorance is not an excuse, it is not a permanent label, as the credit reporting agencies say.

Bush has big plans to save us in the eleventh hour. Maybe we can get all the banks to throw us a fondue party in our honor. Then we can open the champagne and they will forgive all the exaggerated debts releasing the nonexistent equity of ten million homes.

Bottom line: interest rates are incredible, the FHA has raised its pricing guidelines, houses are available for much less than rent, stop buying bottles of tap water, people will always need a place to call home , Bush has gas but we pay, it’s time to spend less, owning has never looked better, and God bless America because outside of real estate, we need it.