COLLEGE STATION (Real Estate Center) – Chief Economist Dr. Mark Dotzour is crisscrossing the nation delivering his economic message and collecting valuable data for the Real Estate Center at Texas A&M University.
Among the comments he heard this week at meetings of the National Association of Business Economics in Washington, D.C., were:
• “Clearly there is virtually no threat of inflation in the next two years.”
• “There’s virtually no chance of the Fed increasing interest rates (maybe a symbolic small move aside).”
• “The last recession, the Fed waited until unemployment was 5.5 percent before tightening.”
• “We won’t get to that level for several years.”
• “The threat is for deflation across the globe, with the exception of China.”
• “China’s money supply is up 30 percent from last year. Our M3 (the Fed’s measure of the money supply) is virtually unchanged from a year ago, and available credit is less than last year.”
“The Congressional Budget Office said the United States is going to be unable to pay for the social contract with America,” said Dotzour. “It’s only a matter of when and how the adjustments for failed promises have to take place. Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security cannot be funded at current levels of spending.”

1. Get rid of clutter. Throw out or file stacks of newspapers and magazines. Pack away most of your small decorative items. Store out-of-season clothing to make closets seem roomier. Clean out the garage.

2. Wash your windows and screens to let more light into the interior.

3. Keep everything extra clean. Wash fingerprints from light switch plates. Mop and wax floors. Clean the stove and refrigerator. A clean house makes a better first impression and convinces buyers that the home has been well cared for.

4. Get rid of smells. Clean carpeting and drapes to eliminate cooking odors, smoke, and pet smells. Open the windows.

5. Put higher wattage bulbs in light sockets to make rooms seem brighter, especially basements and other dark rooms. Replace any burnt-out bulbs.

6. Make minor repairs that can create a bad impression. Small problems, such as sticky doors, torn screens, cracked caulking, or a dripping faucet, may seem trivial, but they’ll give buyers the impression that the house isn’t well maintained.

7. Tidy your yard. Cut the grass, rake the leaves, trim the bushes, and edge the walks. Put a pot or two of bright flowers near the entryway.

8. Patch holes in your driveway and reapply sealant, if applicable.

9. Clean your gutters.

10. Polish your front doorknob and door numbers.

Reprinted from REALTOR Magazine Online by permission of the National Association of Realtors, Copyriht 2005, All rights reserved.

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WASHINGTON, D.C. (Associated Press) – Homeowners have received another year to refinance their loans under the Home Affordable Refinance Program, the Federal Housing Finance Agency announced yesterday.
The program, which was originally scheduled to end June 10 but now expires June 30, 2011, allows borrowers who owe up to 25 percent more than their homes are worth to refinance at lower interest rates.
The Treasury Department reports that, so far, the program has helped about 220,000 homeowners with loans owned or guaranteed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, far less than the projected four to five million.

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AUSTIN (National Real Estate Investor) – U.S. businesses are hoarding cash instead of helping revitalize the down economy through spending and hiring, says Dr. Mark Dotzour.
The Real Estate Center’s chief economist shared his thoughts on why at CCIM Central Texas’ symposium in Austin Tuesday.
“We are used to thinking of the federal government as the solution to these problems for economic growth and they have rapidly become the source of the problem because of the uncertainty that they have created for business people,” Dotzour said.
Take taxes, for instance.
Although proposals to raise the capital gains tax from the current 15 percent to 24 percent have been scaled back to 20 percent, Dotzour said even that hike would reduce initial returns on investments in commercial real estate. That threat of a bigger tax hit will influence many potential buyers to postpone acquisitions until a definite rate is set and can be factored into purchase prices.
Dotzour also said worries about higher income tax rates, increasing energy costs as a result of cap and trade legislation, and the potential impact of health-care reform proposals are weighing on the minds of business owners and would-be entrepreneurs.
For more on what Dotzour had to say, read the National Real Estate Investor article.