Tampons and Toilet Paper…

So I sit down for the first time in what seems like an eternity. Legs up on the ottoman. News on. It’s 6:45pm. And I hear, “We have a crisis on our hands people. We definitely need to address the issues at hand with the American economy and with the real estate and banking systems and take action.” I think to myself as Bush is speaking, no shit dumbass. I’m the walking gospel of the economic crisis! I’m in the real estate biz first and foremost so you know my state of affairs, it’s the same as 1,000s of real estate folks across the nation.

Over qualified and underpaid is what I am.

It’s no lie. I’ve been looking for side gigs to make ends meet but good god almighty, have you seen the job market? $30,000 and you want me to do what? I love real estate and I love what I do. I’m good at it. But I’m no fool. I have a son to feed, a son to keep clothed and a son to keep in school. I’ve been looking but you know what problems I encounter? $30,000/year doesn’t cut it but I’m willing to take it if it was offered to me but I keep hearing “Overqualified”.  Well yeah I’d say I’m over qaulified for that receptionist job and YES I know how to work a fax machine and no I can’t compare to that fresh grad with no experience but you’s sure as hell get one damn good over qualified receptionist who could do more with her eyes closed…gladly for $9/hr!

Short sale hell!

4 months and 2 contracts later I’m caught in short sale hell and my own foreclosure is but around the corner. I’ve followed all the right steps, done my due diligence, crossed all the “i”s and dotted all the “t”s but no one seems to give a damn. I am my own client and have the utmost empathy or anyone going through this process. Not all of us are scum you know. Some of us had circumstances beyond our control take effect. Did I want my marriage to crumble? Did I want to give up my house? Was all of that in the plan? Sometimes good responsible citizens have shit happen to them that is out of their control! Working with the banks is a crap shoot. Half of them won’t get back to you so you never know what the heck is going on. All these programs set up yet every which way you turn it’s either “DENIED” or no response and if you are one of the lucky one’s that were able to successfully make way with your asset manager/negotiator and sell your home without a foreclosure on your record…we’ll I wish I were standing in your shoes. What good are the programs if they aren’t implemented properly and expeditiously?

I’m losing my mind

I hear Bush on the tv again, “Foreign investors, low interest rates, more loans for small business. Easy credit with home values rising meant bad decisions by banks and borrowers. Home buyers are to blame because they were betting on appreciation and refinancing later. Homeowners in ARMs are to blame because it wasn’t a smart decision.”

I’m thinking as I’m listening to Mr. President “what if it does end up being worse before it gets better?” What does that mean for women like me that are walking the fine line with our kids in tow….it was then that I thought to myself, OHMYGAWD what if worst case scenario does happen and you are without a home, no job, no money. I know that there are shelters sest up for the homeless and food distribution organizations but one of the things that has never crossed my mind when I see homeless women on the streets…How do you get tampons and toilet paper? Do you end up stealing it? Ridiculous I know but that’s what’s what’s crossed my mind laterly. Are they passed out at homeless shelters or women’s safe houses/shelters? What if you are the unlucky few and aren’t able to get into a shelter or facility.

Scary really. The whole concept of what could be in light of our economic crisis. I posted to a few groups and was greeted with 2 responses:

1. The one organizaiton that I know of is called Working Essentials - but they are for SF homeless/formerly homeless 415 565-0201 x27

2. She’s got to learn to roll her own. It’s easy and as long as she has access to toilet paper- it’s good to go. It’s like  rolling a fat joint. i worked in the women’s health movement back in the seventies and learned this little-known skill and for over twenty years, never bought a tampon!

3. There is an online source for soup kitchens and rescue mission directory for men, women, and children within United States and Canada.

Hard lessons have been learned in 2008. Does it leave me jaded and apprehensive about real estate? No. Just pissed as hell that I can’t Trump or Warren Buffet the market right now. If I had a dollar for every good bargain I saw out there I’d be a mega millionaire. And you know what? In spite of the market and what is going on in our economy thousands of women investors experienced and new are swooping in and picking up great bargains.

Band Aids

Bush is still rambling in the back ground, “…decline in home values, borrowers defaulted on mortgages and investors had serious losses. Mortgage backed securities now became untrustworthy and could not sell the loans. Banks in trouble, banks held onto money lending dried up….Trying to avoid financial panic, more banks could become defunct, stocks could plummet, home values decrease more foreclosures, farms might not get loans, 100s of 100,000s of people could be at a total loss if the government didn’t step in. Responsible tax payers reluctant to pony up the money…if they don’t it could be a far worse scenario.”

Democratic Capitalism is the best system devised.

That’s what Bush said. Sometimes deciphering what he says is like decoding pigeon English. $700 billion dollars to buy mortgage backed securities so the economy grow? I don’t have a solution myself as I’m not that sophisticated but is buying assets at their current value and betting on appreciation so money can flow back to the treasury really what’s going to happen? Wasn’t this the problem in the first place? And how do you regulate Wall Street? Isn’t the bailout a capitalist problem with a socialist solution? The bailout is corporate welfare at its best or am I wrong about that?

I’m trying to wrap my head around this while I figure out a plan for me and my family. We are down to the haves and have nots again although its so much clearer now. The haves making the decisions and swooping up property and the have nots at their mercy.

Trust me. I had it. The plan now is to rebuild it and take one day at a time. So for me its all about starting over and being more prepared for the next segment of my building wealth through real estate life.