You know, I’m pretty skeptical when it comes to most broadcasters.  In my blog yesterday, I noted that  a lot of folks are starting to turn off their TVs and radios because of the way the constant crisis talk makes them feel.

One of the people I do enjoy listening to from time to time is Dave Ramsey (www.daveramsey.com).  He’s smart, he’s funny and I generally find myself nodding in agreement with his thoughts and advice.

A few day ago, a friend of mine forwarded me an e-newsletter that she’d received from the Ramsey organization.  After reading it, I wanted to shout for joy at the common sense that it contained.  Here’s some of what he had to say:

Over the past month, we’ve witnessed the largest bankruptcy in history, the stock market dropping like a rock, and the talking heads on TV freaking out that the world is coming to an end.  I’m here to tell you the truth-we’re going to make it.  We’re going to be fine.  Take a chill pill.

This month I’ve compiled some of the most-asked questions I’ve gotten recently from you:

Are we okay, Dave?

Definitely.  Remember Enron and WorldCom in the recent years?  We survived that.  But much worse than all this was the financial crisis of the ’80s-S&L collapse and 1,000 bank failures in 2 years.  We’re nowhere near this type of thing; that was probably 50 to 100 times worse than all of this.

What does all of this come back to?

Greedy banks financing homes to broke people.  It all seemed to work okay in their minds when the economy was booming, but when the economy slowed a little bit broke people quit paying on their subprime mortgages.  DUH.  No wonder they went out of business.  Stupid decisions.

Is there anything we can do to fix this bailout mess?

YES!  Here’s a quick summary: Companies that had billions in subprime loans were feeling the effects of their stupid decisions to make those loans in the first place, and practically gave them away for pennies on the dollar.  But since no one wants these loans, and they’ve had to mark them down to market value, it has frozen the market.  If we temporarily change the rule that forces companies to do that, that will free the market up.

Will the collapse of businesses and banks affect me?

No, not unless you work there.  Thousands of stock brokers on Wall Street have lost their jobs in the past few weeks, but that happens in other industries across the country in good and bad times.  This time it just happened in NYC where all the national news media is so they made a big deal of it.

Ramsey is promoting an interesting idea which he calls “The Common Sense Fix”, which I would encourage you to check out if for no other reason than to see the other kinds of solutions that are being proposed out there.  (And no, it does not involve giving every American over the age of 18 his or her “cut” of the $700 billion.)

But the main reason that I bring up Ramsey’s ideas and his newsletter is for one reason: his encouragement to stay calm and stay positive.  The stories in the media may not-and probably do not-accurately reflect the economic conditions of your household.

I know that there have been some fairly well-known folks, including those with a lot more money than I have, who have been on the crisis bandwagon.  But here’s what I find interesting: they’re still investing in the stock market.  And these folks aren’t stupid-they know that you buy low and sell high.

It’s the same principal in the mortgage market.  If you’ve got good credit and can afford a home, get out there and find one.  Why wait until home prices head back up?  Take advantage of this market while you can, because it’s not going to last forever.  It never does.  Buy something you can legitimately afford and make your payments, and you won’t get foreclosed on.  It’s basically that simple.

I’m not being flip about the hardships that some people are feeling, and I’m not saying that you will never feel the downside of a lost job or high medical bills or something else.  I’m just saying that most people are not in foreclosure and will not be in foreclosure.  And I’m saying that real estate is still one of the best long-term investments you’ll ever find, provided you choose it wisely, finance it wisely and pay it off wisely.

On that, I believe, Mr. Ramsey and I are two peas in the proverbial financial pod.

This blog is intended for information/entertainment purposes only and is not meant to provide any financial or legal advice.

With all due respect, I have to say that the media sometimes gets on my nerves.  Or maybe it’s the people who take everything that the media has to say as the gospel truth that really gets my dander up.  And in the last year, it’s been worse than ever-and the effect is profound.

Lately, I have spoken with a lot of people who have started to turn off the news, the talk radio commentators and anything else that smacks of a media outlet.  And the reasons have been pretty much the same: With every broadcast, they get angrier, and more worried and even physically ill because, as they put it, “everythig is so bad right now.”

And what’s sad about this is that the people that I’m talking to don’t live in Phoenix, where home prices have tanked, or in Michigan where unemployment is up and there’s a glut of existing homes.  These are folks in areas where there are plenty of jobs, home prices have remained solid, and things are looking good.  But they’re so inundated with the stories of foreclosure, angry politics and name-calling that they think everything is headed into the dumpster.

I also think that it’s made a lot of folks in this country doubt anything that either the media or the political leaders are saying.  In the last year, we’ve continually heard the phrase “from Wall Street to Main Street” and how the economy will absolutely tank if we don’t agree to do one thing or another.  There have been so many cries of wolf that Americans can’t discern-or are no longer willing to learn-what constitutes a real crisis and what does not.

In my opinion, the $700 billion bailout bill was not passed, in large part, because politicians were afraid of losing their jobs.  I know a lot of folks who called their representatives in Congress to express their displeasure with yet another D.C. weekend agreement and Monday morning vote.  They had the same questions that a lot of us do-tell us the details, look for other options, and for heaven’s sake, stop the partisan fights and do something that’s right for the people for a change.  The pressure, and perhaps those same partisan politics, resulted in the bailout being voted down initially.

The media then went crazy, and we were kept informed with every downturn tick of the market.  There wasn’t a media outlet around that didn’t have the 700+ point drop as their lead story.  They were a little quieter today, when the market rebounded up over 400 points.

Like I said before, some sort of program is needed to reassure market investors and stem the bleeding.  Now, Congress and the White House have some breathing room that will hopefully result in some form of helpful legislation that will give some relief and some confidence without selling taxpayers down the river.

Now, for all of you like my friends, who are caught up in the media whirlpool and walk around in the doldrums as a result, take heart…and a deep breath.  I cannot stress enough the fact that while there are some downturns in the mortgage and real estate markets, there are still some great things happening out there.  In fact, this is a great time-as I’ve mentioned on more than one occasion-for some people to buy a house.  One of my good friends, with whom I work every day, just bought her first home last week.  Trust me when I say that there is no way I would have allowed, much less encouraged, that friend to purchase real estate if I didn’t believe that things are going to be just fine.

And it’s okay if you don’t want to watch the news or listen to talk radio.  Just check out my blog, and I’ll be happy to tell you the truth about what’s happening in our marketplace.

Questions?  Comments?  Post your thoughts.

This blog is intended for informational/entertainment purposes only and is not meant to provide any financial or legal advice.