Government Archives | Page 3 of 3 | Real Estate & Investment Perspective by Karen Lee Bertiger

2014/04/152014/04/15

Being Choosy

After digesting the financial news lately, I wonder if people will have to choose between being able to pay their bills/taxes and having children?

All of these new taxes have stealthily crept up on people who have decided to become full-fledged members of civil society, complete with kids, jobs, bills….and now they’re facing a future where the rules of the game changed midstream. A general undercurrent I am hearing is that people are tiring of it or they’re just in denial that they’ve been had. Happy talk, no negativity, all of that is good because we are all going to need as much good health, friendship and serenity as we can find.

However, there are certain laws and regulations in the real estate and financial industries which are likely to cause a complete collapse in the those industries. More on that later.

2013/01/072014/04/07

Federal Interloping

One must be aware of all the relationships among the US Treasury, the GSEs & the Federal Reserve Bank. Due to the recent changes placing additional charges on borrowers in the residential real estate market for those in judicial foreclosure states does this imply an unequal treatment under the law? Does being a GSE or a congressionally created entity give immunity? This is your government competing with private business on an unequal playing field. Are private businesses (lenders) being held to a different standard?

2013/01/072014/04/07

New Year – New Market

We are currently experiencing major disruptions in all things real estate related, nationally as well as in both Florida & Arizona as we begin 2013. (And more of the same in 2014.) It remains to be seen whether the government’s legislative & executive branch actions taken over the past 5 years will produce different results or more of the same resulting in a lingering malaise. The interactions between laws, regulations & reality in banking, finance & real estate are increasingly looking to me like re-arranging the chairs. It’s work for somebody. But it makes my work increasingly difficult (as other small business people can relate) as a result of not wanting to spend entire days doing nothing but busy work. At some point, real work must be done. That means bringing more chairs (small businesses) into the game. Those who think that everything in life is of a finite amount (as in zero sum game) will continue to rearrange the chairs with no understanding of why things are not changing for the better fast enough.

If you’re into economics, I would recommend George Gilder’s book, POWER & KNOWLEDGE. It’s the explanation that people can feel but can’t put into words. Here they are. I’d recommend that every person running for public office read this book. By the way, I think we are getting more of a “lingering malaise.”