Joe Patterson's (joemoney) Blog

In yesterday's press release, The Conference Board says that "the correction in the housing market is nearly over." This is the first national, non-real estate, non-mortgage group to make this declaration. The Conference Board is best known for the Consumer Confidence Index and the Leading Econom...

Hello all,I resisted writing on politics, but this is one special election this year. There are many issues facing our country and the next President. I like watching the process (the politics get irritating at times), but there is one thing I don't understand - what qualifies as experience? This...

Hello again,Many of us have been directly affected by cancer (my dad died of pancreatic cancer in 1985) or we know of someone who has. Well, my good friend Alan Russell is doing something about it. He has been involved with Relay for Life for years. If you would like to be involved, there is prob...

This is an ongoing battle I have with the national news media. They say 'bad news sells' but please be more balanced. According to First American CoreLogic, 31 states actually had price increases over the past 12 months in their latest survey which includes 7,462 zip codes and 662 counties in all...

The news media keeps lumping prime loans and subprime loans when it reports on the housing crunch. I wish they would do a little bit of research. Prime loans are not defaulting like subprime loans. Yes, underwrwiting guidelines have tightened up (as they should have), but the default rate on prim...

Your information ... a hot commodity                                                                                                                                                                         Having your credit checked is an important and necessary step in the home buying process.  B...

One of my main pet peeves in this whole real estate mess is that the news reports on 'national' real estate sales and 'national' home prices, or even 'California' real estate activity which at least is a little more accurate. Real Estate is a micro-economic phenomenon that really doesn't impact o...