Houses are not just an investment

A house is much more than an investment, though historically houses increase in value more than the rate of inflation. Houses are homes, a place to raise families, a place to provide shelter from the elements, a cozy place to read a good book, or a place to break bread with friends and family. I should know 40 years ago my wife and I bought the perfect home, and it is still perfect. It was the only home my children ever knew, it has seen 40 Christmas, two marriages, and 6 grandchildren. It is still a place to escape the "real world", a place to relax and commune with nature. It has seen countless facelifts, but at its core it is still the same beautiful home we fell in love with in 1969. Yes our house has steadily increased in value, but most of all it is still our wonderful home.

Bad News Sells

There is no doubt we are in an economic slow down, but is it as bad as the media would like us all to believe? There seems to be both statistical and observed evidence that the slow down is not universal. Retail sales were up in January 2009 over sales in January 2008, yet the press amkes it seem like a fluke. Bad news sells! I know that the City of Lawrence has added nearly 3000 jobs in the last 12 months, and lost very few. I know this past Saturday in Castleton, one of Indiana's retail areas, traffic was in a grid lock. This was just like the Christmas season. There is no reason to be there other than to shop or dine. Speaking of dining I seem to wait just as long to get a table in my fav0rite restaurants as always. In conclusion when we each make economic decisions base them on our ownsituation, not on everything we read. I guarntee that today things are not as bad as we read, and that this slow down will end and there will be another boom.