Obama Enjoys Historically High Ratings

On the eve of his Presidency, Barak Obama is enjoying historically high approval ratings as the nation pins its hope on his vision of the future.

Contrasting Obama’s ratings is the way Americans are viewing George W. Bush as he leaves office. 57% of Americans say George Bush is one of the worst presidents in U.S. History. Source

Only time will be the true judge of how the nation will view both of these presidents.

Indexed by Google in 15 minutes

I posted a short blurb on this blog in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day at 10:35 PM Sunday (PST) night and exactly 15 minutes later Google indexed my homepage. I am finding Google will index my home page in about 15 minutes when I post a new article.

I understand being indexed is much different from actually ranking for specific keywords but it is nice to know my blog is being indexed quickly by Google.

MLK Day

Martin Luther King, Jr. (January 15, 1929 – April 4, 1968) was an African American clergyman, activist and prominent leader in the American civil rights movement. His main legacy was to secure progress on civil rights in the United States and he is frequently referenced as a human rights icon today. (Source Wikipidea) Read more here.

Martin Luther King, Jr. “I Have a Dream” Speech

Social Media and Real Estate Go Hand and Hand

I use many social media sites to help promote my real estate investing business. By far the most popular and productive social media tool I use in my business is twitter. Twitter has proven to be an incredible resource for finding any type of talent. I have used it to find a handyman, a copywriter, real estate agents, BPO’s, etc… twitter has been a phenomenal tool for building my business. You can follow me here: http://twitter.com/ForeclosureData

YouTube has also been a great resource for making connections with industry leaders. Recently I’ve started posting video walk-throughs of short sale properties we have listings for. Today I was showing a property in Redondo Beach California and one of the potential home buyers that showed up had found the property through my YouTube channel. He recognized my voice from the videos and said “You are the YouTube guy right?” It was pretty cool to see my social media efforts translate into a real business lead. Not sure if he will put an offer on the house but the recognition of my social media efforts were confirmed.

Social media can be a very powerful tool when harnessed for business purposes. We’ve only scratched the surface with our interaction with twitter and YouTube. In the coming weeks we will also focus on Facebook and Flickr, as another source of traffic to our real estate website.

Here is the video that sparked this post:

Circuit City To Liquidate 1-17-09

Get ready for some great deals starting January 17th, 2009. One word of caution, once you buy an item you will not be able to return it or get a refund. More info here.

UPDATE: Circuit City to Liquidate All Stores

Following up on Circuit City Chapter 11 announcement, Circuit City will Liquidate all stores. A lack of credit and declining economy takes down the large electronics retailer. This will add to the overall national trend of job loss, to a tune of 30,000 jobs.

Read the Full Story Here.

A side note as a consumer – I bought my HD TV from Circuit City two years ago, with an extended warranty. I bought my laptop from Circuit City one year ago, with an extended warranty. I called this morning and they said the warranties are serviced by another company so not to worry… Keeping my fingers crossed.

Peter Schiff on The Obama Economic Plan (1-10-2009)

At 1:32 in the Video Peter Schiff looks like he is about to tell Stephen Leeb he is insane!

Job Outlook Looks bleaker

There is so much debate about when the housing market will reach bottom, but jobs are the key indicator. We have massive unemployment and it’s getting worse.

When we start adding jobs and wages start to increase, we can then start talking about a bottom in the housing market. With today’s unemployment news (7.2% the highest level in 16 years), I would guess a bottom is at least in 2010 maybe even 2011.

Peter Schiff Talks 2009

CNBC: 12-29-2008

Part One:

Part Two:

More from Peter on WSJ.com

Home Sales at a 7-year low

“The National Association of Realtors Pending Home Sales Index, based on contracts signed in November, dropped 4.0 percent to 82.3, the lowest level since the series started in 2001. That was worse than economists’ expectations for a 0.1 percent drop.” Read the full article here.

“”Mounting job losses and very weak consumer confidence deterred home buyers from signing contracts in November,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR chief economist.”

So when will the housing market bounce back?

Dr. Housing Bubble says:

When the employment situation improves.
When wages start increasing again.
When there is a lack of inventory on the market.

I agree.

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