I was thinking about some things that I’m not going to be doing as much of for the foreseeable future and how to wring the maximum amount of enjoyment out of them on those rare occasions that I opt to do them. These aren’t New Year’s resolutions; I gave up on those years ago. I’m talking about prudent personal decisions that may cause my life to become more full.
At the top of my list is eating out; it’s simply become too expensive to do regularly. Also, inconsistency was a key factor in my decision. I’m not alone; my friends admit they’re no longer comfortable with restaurant prices, and their level of interest in meeting for lunch or gathering for dinner has waned over time as well. Maybe it’s an age issue, but the older I get the more comfortable I am eating at home. However, when I choose to eat out there are some things restaurateurs might keep in mind for luring diners into their establishments more often. Train the servers to listen and the chef to read and comprehend the order instructions. For example, a note jotted on the order indicating “no onions” means leave them off, not a smaller handful. With the high cost of meals today, I consider every morsel of food on my plate edible unless I’ve asked the server to return it to the kitchen for a do-over. That said, don’t stop by the table and ask, “Are you still working on that?” If the plate doesn’t give the appearance of being licked clean then I’m not finished. When I’m done I’ll conscientiously put my silverware and various other items such as the silverware and unused butter dish on it and slide the whole thing a conspicuous distance away from me.

I’ve never been much of a drinker; I’m customarily the designated driver. Nonetheless, doctors tell me that a glass of red wine with dinner is a health-improving option, so I have one several times a week. However, grapes have become almost as valuable as chunks of solid gold; it’s no problem finding bottles of wine costing $20-$50 and higher if you’re into the elite ones. From my perspective, this whole wine thing is another marketing sham. While some vintners may be better than others, I’ve simplified the issue. If I slightly enjoy the taste at the lowest price possible then its good wine. That’s the gist of many things, personal enjoyment. It shouldn’t make a rip what a wine reviewer says; I’ve sampled some highly rated, expensive wines costing over $100 a bottle that taste like they’re moments away from being vinegar and others that leave an unpleasant lingering aftertaste. My wine shopping ritual occurs infrequently and focuses on price and region. Anything under $10 a bottle and produced in Napa Valley California is in the running; ones below $5 are likely to go in the cart. I saw Chinese wine the other day and immediately had the taste of lead paint in my mouth—no thanks. Some, albeit few, things made in the USA are still the best. A note to those serving wine in restaurants; when I order a glass of wine please don’t pour me half a glass. I know, those stylish little measuring containers are trendy and savoring the aroma is voguish, but my doctor wouldn’t agree that smelling the stuff has an adequate health benefit. Fill my glass to within about an inch of the top and I’ll remember to leave a tip.
Like many retirees, I’ve reached a point where there isn’t much I need, but there are things that I sometimes want. That’s when shopping can be fun because if it isn’t on sale and I mean darn near giving it away, I’m not buying it. I carry a little solar powered pocket calculator for figuring out those 66% off the lowest ticketed price marketing offers, but regardless of the deal my price ceiling on most items such as clothing and footwear is $10. Anything more than that and I can do without it.
Finally, I plan to do a lot more reading this year, and I’ve noticed that during hard times many people and especially older ones, read the Bible. For now I’m going to re-read a couple of documents that Congress seems to disregard often, the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution of the United States. Since I already know there’s no way of getting out of this adventure called life alive, I’m catching up on my actual personal rights, at least the ones that are currently in place and we’re presumed to have as citizens. I need to refresh my memory about ways to defend myself against Congress. Since they proclaim to be “full” of knowledge it just seem like a good idea to gorge myself of some of it as well.

I just got home from my second medical appointment of the week and learned that one of my most essential doctors is leaving the medical practice.

After a brief discussion it was confirmed that the reason for the departure was the insurance debacle, and the doctor’s opinion of the upcoming

changes weren’t going to help improve the medical care dilemma in the country–it would worsen.

Prior to this appoint I’d met with another long time physician who opted out of all insurance plans and adopted a cash or credit card only payment

policy. This physician also cited the upcoming health care changes as the deciding factor.

At this rate of physician loss we’ll be lucky to get an appointment with an energy healer that was trained in Sedona.

The simplistically brilliant master of the obvious, Yogi Berra, would have a field day offering observations about the economy and especially the housing market. His quote, “It ain’t over till it’s over” is a perfect analogy of the housing market crisis. The escalating number of homeowners who are perilously delinquent on their mortgages but are clinging to their homes is about to see a tsunami of foreclosures that will likely strike as the real estate market continues stumbling, yet showing modest signs of moving toward stabilization.

At the present time there’s an estimated 7 million properties poised for foreclosure but, to date, have not been repossessed and placed on the bargain basement sale rolls. Industry economists are projecting another three years for this stockpile of homes to actually hit, move through the market and be acquired by new owners. But 7 million is an optimistic estimate; the actual number of imminent foreclosures could swell during the current year as the job market continues to falter and additional distressed homeowners become delinquent on their loans. Without immediate mortgage relief and minimal governmental red tape that often takes more than a year for homeowners to navigate, the bottom will once again fall out of the housing market.

Obviously, the more foreclosed properties that hit the market, the greater impact they have on undercutting current home prices and making it even more difficult for sellers to simply get out of their homes without taking a financial beating. Since 2008 when the housing market fell like a stone off a cliff, there’s been a grindingly slow improvement in actual home prices and sales according to a recent banking industry report. However, expectations have risen regarding probable repossessions for the remainder of this year, and that’s horrible news for homeowners and lenders holding mortgages.

Further clouding an already distorted picture, mortgage companies and banks have been playing a shell game with already repossessed homes by holding them on their books rather than releasing them onto an already oversaturated market. They can’t hold these losing propositions much longer, and as borrowers get farther behind on their payments, the oncoming inventory of foreclosed properties will once again sink the market. Analysts call this a “shadow market,” one that indicates the impending lag between actual defaults and outright foreclosures. Lenders are using whatever means they have at their disposal to deal with the mounting number of borrowers who can’t make their payments. The last thing these lenders need on their books are more repossessed homes with a diminished supply of qualified or even interested buyers.

Times have changed and today’s delinquent borrowers aren’t those living in homes financed by subprime loans. That wave of borrowers is old news. Those on the brink of going under now are folks who were creditworthy and made typical, safe loans. But due to economic circumstances they’ve lost their jobs, exhausted their savings, and become delinquent on their payments. An estimated three quarters of those who are now 90 days or more delinquent have traditional prime loans. The majority of these borrowers haven’t made a mortgage payment in six months or longer.

While you’d assume the government would be focused on assisting these people refinance and stay in their homes, they’ve become the most problematical to assist because so many of them have exhausted their unemployment benefits and don’t have any form of income. They simply can’t make any mortgage payment regardless of the amount.

But even if they did have the financial wherewithal to make a reduced mortgage payment, the cumbersome process for modifying or refinancing a loan can take six to eight months. Lenders are holding huge backlogs of delinquent loans, but this situation isn’t sustainable.

Another aspect of the likely second wave of the housing market disaster is an additional 11 million borrowers who are under water or upside down meaning they owe more on their mortgage than their home is worth. This sector is fraught with concern about whether or not to hold onto a home that may not be worth what’s owed on it for another decade. Many are simply cutting their losses and walking away. If they have a stable income stream and a reasonable cash down payment of 20-30 percent, many of them are able to find builders that are willing to offer them great deals on selling prices and help them negotiate loans on new homes for a lower payment per month than they were paying.

In some circumstances, lenders are opting for short sales. This is when the home is sold for less than the outstanding loan balance, but it gets the property off the books. In a trial program in several locations across the country, Citigroup is testing a program allowing delinquent borrowers to remain in their homes for up to six months at no cost, but they must sign a binding agreement for leaving the property in good, saleable condition upon departure.

The quirky thing about the impact of the oncoming new wave of foreclosure is that it will have a wide variance depending upon the part of the country it’s in. Some large metro areas have as a “shadow inventory” estimated to last for upwards of one year. But the worst hit locales have at least two or more years worth of inventory that will have to be cleared.

No matter where you live there will be some impact of the oncoming round of housing market destabilization. It’s not a matter of if it will occur, it’s when, how bad will it be, and how long will it last. “It ain’t over till it’s over.”