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I’d like to be of some help! I’m not comfortable sitting on the sidelines, waiting for the President and Congress to do something. That is, they have already done something, several things, some of which look promising. But surely they are not the only ones who can have an effect on the economy!
As I have been thinking about it, it seems there are a few areas where an ordinary citizen might be of help. Certainly, we can keep up the payments on our houses, finding a way to make extra money if needed, and aggressively pursuing refinancing if the loan is variable and escalating treacherously. Depending on the size and layout of your house, you could get one or more roommates. Even housing a young person who will help with babysitting could be advantageous to both the young person and the family. Rent in exchange for half-time child care? Cutting those child care costs could help with the mortgage. Let’s get creative and use some of that American ingenuity we seem to have let go dormant.
During World War II, Eleanor Roosevelt annoyed the Department of Agriculture by planting a large garden on the White House lawn, and encouraging all Americans to plant one as well. (The USDA was apparently concerned that this would harm the food industry.) The people responded. Their grocery buying was limited by severe shortages and rationing, and the Victory Gardens they planted kept everyone in nutritious food. According to Living History Farm, “The result of victory gardening? The US Department of Agriculture estimates that more than 20 million victory gardens were planted. Fruit and vegetables harvested in these home and community plots was estimated to be 9-10 million tons, an amount equal to all commercial production of fresh vegetables.” Some organizations advocate reviving the Victory Gardens program to promote sustainability, improve nutrition, and perhaps even make a dent on the junk food obesity crisis. I’m not the only one promoting this outlandish idea. This blog focuses on more than food, but on sustainable living on earth. Much food for thought!
What about job loss? Well, of course hunting for a job is the first priority. There’s help that is offered by the state or former employer, such as perfecting the resume, learning new skills, and being as open-minded and flexible as possible can help a person connect with a new job..
It’s not uncommon for people who lose their jobs to finally start that business they always wanted to start. This can be a very good idea, if carried out thoughtfully and carefully. Investing the last of the grocery money in ventures or educational programs with limited promise is not thoughtful! Seek help from the Small Business Administration, SCORE (Senior Corps of Retired Executives), and the library have ample resources. So does the internet, of course, but sometimes it’s harder to evaluate something on the net, whereas the SBA is unlikely to run a scam on you!
If we are not unemployed, what can we do? It would help the economy if we all went out and spent money on new stuff, whether durable goods, restaurant meals, teeth-whitening – almost anything. And this idea is not new, but it’s important: when we do buy, we should buy locally, and buy American-made, when we can.
While it would be helpful for us to do more spending, it’s not a very good idea unless one has a whole lot of discretionary income. Saving more, not spending, is the wisest course for us right now. Investing, if there are discretionary funds, and building a business so that it could support more jobs, would be great.
If I weren’t involved in real estate, I might be buying things at tag sales to sell on eBay, learning new computer skills at home or at a free class at the library, doing volunteer work where my community had been hit the hardest (the schools may need our help, the poor certainly need our help, and I’m sure there are some services in your community that have recently been cut and could benefit from volunteer help.
This post needs help! Do you have any ideas about individuals or groups taking action to improve the economy?
The work of finding wholesale deals in real estate, a perennial favorite among starting investors, involves finding vacant houses, and tracking down the owners. This should be as simple as finding the name and address in the tax assessor’s list, and sending a letter. It appears that it’s rarely that simple! Maybe the towns and counties don’t keep their internet listings updated, or maybe the location (or identity) of the owners is really pretty uncertain. This is usually the case, I’ve found, with estates. If there were only distant relatives, or the relatives lived far away, these houses seem to languish in probate and fall into neglect and disrepair. Very sad, but said to warm the heart of a true wholesaler, who buys these properties and renovates them to sell.
An investor can gather a (flock? pack?) of “bird dogs,” those who will track down the vacant houses (and sometimes track down the owners). Finding the owners sometimes seems nearly impossible, and using a skip trace service or a private detective becomes the last resort. Didn’t know real estate was so filled with intrigue and adventure, did you?
I have too many irons in the fire – I am making offers on 8-family properties in a nearby town, managing a (herd?) of bird dogs, planning partnerships with other investors, and gathering interested friends who might want to get involved. I am not recruiting anyone; it’s not my style and it’s really not necessary. When people ask what I’m up to, I tell them. When they ask why, I say I already own a couple of rental properties, and since the stock market ate my retirement and real estate is on a half-price sale, it seems like the only logical step. Generally, people want to hear more!
Many of my friends are nearing retirement age, too, and have watched their mutual funds sink into the deep, dark murky waters that have been undisturbed for years now. A sense of paralysis settles on your shoulders. Should I sell? Now? When it’s at its lowest? That doesn’t make much sense. However, I have sold much of mine, and put the leftover cash into a self-directed IRA. Shrunken though this nest egg may be, it can now invest in real estate. I know how to make money in real estate. I make money from my other properties and I bought near the top of the market! I just hope I’m not too cocky. What if I lose money this way, too? I’ll be working for another decade or two. Or laid off.
The swings between worried concern and confident forging ahead aren’t as pronounced as they were earlier. Now I am a little less exuberant about real estate, which is a good thing! Last week’s plummetting Dow keeps the other voice close by, the one that says it’s going to keep going down until there’s nothing left. I’m withdrawing more soon for this 8-family. Forge ahead.
I took the first step today, at work, to plan for the budget cuts that are coming our way. Where I work, over 10% of the budget will be cut come July 1. A couple of months ago I had my first experience with making decisions about layoffs – people I know and work with. The cuts may be bigger this time, and will include revamping our programs.
It’s hard to figure out where to put my passion. Angry about not being able to retire, I have poured myself into the real estate ventures. Spending so much time learning, planning, searching, and networking could be completely absorbing. But the job demands my attention, and my passion, as well. It seems that keeping the place running despite the staff cuts might not be the most important part of the job. I think the most important part of my job is acknowledging everybody’s concerns and fears, honestly responding to the likelihood of job losses, and making it clear to all these people how much we value them and their work.
. . . All over the world
Went “tag-surfing,” and discovered it’s a big, scary job world out there. At Mrs. Justa and Uncertain Tomorrows, the blogger’s recent encounters with unemployment concerns start old layoff memories from recessions past bouncing through her mind. Pennydog Jewelry, a self-employed craftswoman, is holding her own, but really working hard on selling in a recession. It’s on the news, in the papers, and constantly in conversations all around us, but the recession is also being quietly mulled over in our minds. Not just in the US, either! Simba Rulez writes about Gloom and Doom in Germany. We can’t get the recession and threats to our jobs off of our collective mind. Could all this resonating worry around the globe do something to pull us together? Can we solve this problem together? Someone else has been wondering something similar, a blogger named TheThirdDegree. Examining her own role in the financial crisis is java girl, who is managing to be thoughtful in the face of layoff concerns herself.
I heard on the news that the American economic disaster is also a disaster for other economies worldwide. We are linked more closely than ever, in our global economy. Interdependence – we share the troubles as well as commerce.
I was talking with another investor today, who questioned why I was trying hard to buy now, since it seems we’ll be in this recession for a while before prices start going back up. In part, I don’t think there’s a need to wait for “rock bottom” before buying. If I find a deal and it cash flows, that works for me. But the other part is, what if I get laid off? I’ll have to create a lot of cash flow to replace my income. Might as well get started now; either I’ll become financially independent, or I’ll become unemployed, and need to make my real estate pay me.
This started out being about taking back what the stock market took away, and bringing my dream of retirement back to the foreseeable future. Now it feels like it could be about survival.
But that’s exaggerating. I’m not in the position of someone who retired a few years ago and then lost 70% of their retirement savings. I’m one of the lucky ones. I have options besides making real estate investment work or keeping my job. Still, my worries are in tune with our collective global consciousness – people all over the world, worried about work.
Having done some investing in the past, being a small-time landlord, I had a little bit of know-how before wanting to take the Big Plunge. I’ve been wanting to take the Plunge for a few years now, to escape the 9-5 routine. Then, as you’ll know if you’ve been reading along, my dreams of early retirement evaporated in the 2008 stock market.
Now, the urge to ramp up to full time in real estate investment has been given a sudden boost: the prospect of losing my job.
Suddenly, learning to succeed in real estate is much more important!
I am 55, and although I landed this job over two years ago, I discovered in the process that being “overqualified” is one of the biggest hurdles to landing a job. (In my darker moments, I think of it as age discrimination.) Applying for over 6 months, I landed a total of two interviews, and one job offer. This one. To top it off, the other job interview was for a job in a city that’s 90 miles away.
I am fortunate, in that I can return to my previous business, and make a decent living. I’ve done it for years, and one can make a good living at it. Did I mention I’ve done it for years? I am not eager to go back to it. I find that I resist obligations to commit to tasks on exact times and dates, and my previous business is all about committing to exact times and dates. Have I become lazy? I just value taking my time, completing tasks when I am drawn to do so, putting my attention toward things that interest me that day, at that hour. Maybe it is laziness. Or selfishness. I value my free time, although I’m extremely busy in my free time! I like self-directed work much more than assignments, and self-imposed deadlines more than rigidly scheduled appointments.
And losing my present job?
I have had to lay off employees recently. The second round of budget cuts is upon us now, although my division will be spared because of the recent hit we took. However, the new budget for FY 2010 has appeared, and all are certain that the new cuts will reach us. We have already cut severely from our division. It’s hard for me to imagine more cuts that won’t include me, a layer of management. If I’m lucky, they’ll ask me to work part-time. Laid off completely will be unlucky, but it will certainly force me to go forward more assertively in real estate! In that way it could actually be lucky, too. I’m not sure what to hope for!
