Copy for Real Estate Guide Column for 4-25-08

REAL ESTATE PATTERNS
By Ken DuVall

FIDO IN FORECLOSURE

Pet owners all over the country are being forced to abandon their loved ones. They’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. They’ve had to leave them in their backyards, some with their leashes still on. Neighbors hear their cries in the night. Shelters and animal rescue organizations are packed cage-to-cage with dogs, cats, and others that have been ditched or dropped off as scores of foreclosed-upon homeowners relocate. It’s yet another sign of these tough economic times. Call it collateral damage and it breaks my heart. It’s got to be breaking theirs too.

The Sacramento Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals reports a large increase in the number of pet drop-offs attributed to foreclosures. The volume is up 20% over last year. They’ve identified foreclosures as the primary reason. Of those moving- and willing to talk about it- 25% say they had to leave their pets behind because they’re losing their home and relocating where pets aren’t allowed. The pain is real for those owners too, who’ve had to leave a beloved pet behind.

The Humane Society of the United States reports a sharp increase in the number of animals coming in. They care for some 8 million pets every year but their resources are tapped out due to the onslaught. Don’t forget that shelters and rescue centers rely on donations for their programs to function. The Society has also launched awareness programs to promote its food assistance and other foster programs.

The www.1.800.save-a-pet.com web site has set up an online database for people that can provide at least a temporary home for homeless pets. More than 5000 animal shelters post pets for adoption on that Save-A-Pet site. This wave of needy pets has gone largely unnoticed, compared to those left behind in New Orleans after Katrina. The Humane Society at www.humanesociety.org is offering grants up to $2000 to help pet shelters and rescue groups. Click on the “Through Thick and Thin” link on their home page.

The message about this situation hasn’t gotten out. After Katrina, we saw pets on TV being rescued by boat, dramatic, graphic images, clear and compelling. Our hearts went out to those poor animals. This tragedy, which continues unabated, is so far largely invisible. It’s a creeping flood, an imminent crisis pleading for action. And don’t forget that “dog” spelled backwards is “God”! Be the kind of person your dog thinks you are!! I always try to. There are all these poor sweet helpless and homeless critters out there in need. Let’s do what we can to lend them a helping hand here, people.

Ken owns Ken DuVall & Associates, REALTORS at 3rd Ave. & Mangrove in Chico. Ken was the 2001 President of the Chico Assn. of Realtors and the 1995 Chico Realtor of the Year. See Chico MLS listings at www.KenDuVall.com and call Ken at 345-3700 for all your real estate needs. Free consulting.

Copy for Real Estate Guide Column for 4-18-08

REAL ESTATE PATTERNS
By Ken DuVall

JUST HOW BAD??

The definition of a recession calls for two consecutive quarters of negative economic growth. We’ve had one so far. Therefore we can’t confirm a true recession until July- but don’t bet the farm! Wall Street says even a dead cat will bounce if dropped from a high-enough point. Here’s the latest facts compiled from reliable sources. Some experts even assert the worst is over. Don’t hold your breath. That remains to be seen.

The upending of the housing and financial markets is very bad. When lenders get spooked and hoard their money as is now happening, the flow of money through the system slows down. Eventually the economy does likewise. Maybe the Fed has enough “plumbing tools” to clear the clog of bad mortgage paper choking financial markets. Maybe not. That script is still being written. But we’ve had these crunches before, and they all ended without devastation.

The plunge in home values, however, is a major cause for concern. This is not just your “normal” correction. Hundreds of billions of dollars worth of home equity has gone up in smoke. Consumers are gloomier than they’ve been in years. Some 70% of our economy is tied to consumer spending. If that stops, the vast bulk of our growth comes to a grinding halt. Firms, corporate earnings, and jobs are dropping like flies. Which airline will go belly up next week? However, the Government is hard at work to stabilize uneasy markets. How very comforting. Just gimme one of those government credit cards and I’ll fix everything!

I was a gleam in my father’s eye early in the “Big Depression” of the 1930’s. But I was here for the worst economic period of my lifetime: The 1970’s. Interest rates were on their way to 20%. Whenever I got a salary raise, inflation gobbled it up. Gasoline wasn’t even available some days due to shortages. There were long gas lines. Every month we struggled to come up with our then relatively huge home loan payment of $141. We were living on credit cards. Sound familiar? But we made it through.

Next came the run on Continental Bank in 1984; the $400 billion collapse of the savings & loan industry; the Crash of ’87; the housing crash/credit crunch of ’90-’91; then the dot-com crash of 2001 hit us. During each period, the media provided a steady supply of “expert’s” warnings of the “coming collapse” and that “the end was near.” They were wrong. We survived. The game didn’t end. Just the players changed.

Many say we’re at least a year out before getting back on an even keel. I agree. The loss of 80,000 U.S. jobs in March- the most in 1 month since 2003- fortunately signals yet another offsetting Fed rate cut this month. But fewer jobs will curtail consumer spending even more. Thank goodness new unemployment claims dropped last week. There’s still a lot of economic angst out there. But Chico real estate, insulated somewhat from the outside world, is chugging along somehow in spite of everything, although we obviously share common local budget challenges.

Bottom line: In each of the past “catastrophes”, the doomsayers were wrong. They overstated the downside risk, the “Chicken Little” syndrome. What we’re seeing now is the ugly flip side of what turns out was the insanity, greed, and outright fraud that propelled home prices to unsustainable levels over the last few years. As always, there’s no free lunch. Fear is as strong an emotion as greed. And that’s exactly where we find ourselves today: in an atmosphere of pervasive, paralyzing fear and uncertainty, one in which perception easily becomes reality. There are no bedtime stories to comfort us either.

It may be that we’re heading for an economic cataclysm the likes of which we’ve never seen. I doubt it, but I could be wrong. I was wrong once before when I thought I was mistaken but it turned out to be an error! Seriously, it’s impossible for anyone today to credibly project a meltdown like those of the past. Still, there are plenty of naysayers making that forecast. My own crystal ball is cloudy, but for the time being, I respectfully choose to disagree. Time will tell. Hang in there, people- and keep the Faith.

Ken owns Ken DuVall & Associates, REALTORS at 3rd Ave. & Mangrove in Chico. Ken was the 2001 President of the Chico Assn. of Realtors and the 1995 Chico Realtor of the Year. See Chico MLS listings at www.KenDuVall.com and call Ken at 345-3700 for all your real estate needs. Free consulting.

Copy for Real Estate Guide Column for 4-11-08

REAL ESTATE PATTERNS
By Ken DuVall

The Jeff & Freedom Story

Still no good news to report again this week, so instead here’s a heartwarming first-person true story for you. You don’t need me to repeat the bad news for you here. You can read it for yourselves. In these bleak days, this is the kind of miraculous happening that makes all the turmoil worthwhile.

“Freedom and I have been together 10 years this summer. She came in as a baby in 1998 with two broken wings. Her left wing still doesn't open all the way even after surgery. It was broken in 4 places.

When Freedom came in she could not stand. She was emaciated and covered in lice. We made the decision to give her a chance at life, so I took her to the vet. From then on, I was always around her. We kept her in a huge dog carrier with the top off with shredded newspaper in the bottom to lie in. I used to sit and talk to her, urging her to live, to fight. She would lay there looking at me with those big brown eyes. We had to tube feed her for weeks.

After 6 weeks she still couldn't stand. The decision was made to euthanize her if she couldn't stand in another week. You know you don't want to cross that line between torture and rehab, and it looked like death was winning. She was going to be put down Friday. I came in on Thursday. I didn't want to go because I couldn't bear the thought of her being euthanized. But I went, and when I walked in everyone was grinning from ear to ear. I went back to her cage and there she was, standing on her own! She was ready to live. I was just about in tears by then.

That was a very good day. We knew she could never fly, so the director asked me to glove train her. I got her used to the glove, and then to jesses, and we started doing education programs for schools in western Washington. We wound up in the newspapers, on radio and some TV. Miracle Pets even did a show about us.

In the spring of 2000 I was diagnosed with non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. I had stage 3, which is not good (one major organ plus everywhere), so I wound up doing 8 months of chemo. Lost my hair - the whole bit. I missed a lot of work. When I felt good enough, I would go to Sarvey and take Freedom out for walks. Freedom would also come to me in my dreams and help me fight the cancer. This happened time and time again.

In November 2000, the Friday after Thanksgiving, I went in for my last checkup. I was told that if the cancer was not gone after my 8 rounds of chemo that my last option was a stem cell transplant. They did the tests and I had to come back Monday for the results. I went in Monday, and I was told that all the cancer was gone!

The first thing I did was get up to Sarvey and take the big girl out for a walk. It was misty and cold. I went to her flight and jessed her up and we went out front to the top of the hill. I hadn't said a word to Freedom, but somehow she knew. She looked at me and wrapped both her wings around me to where I could feel them pressing in on my back (I was engulfed in eagle wings). She touched my nose with her beak and stared into my eyes, and we just stood there like that for I don't know how long. It was truly a magic moment. We are soul mates. She's my baby.

On a side note: I have had people who were sick come up to us when we are out, and Freedom has some kind of hold on them. I once had a guy who was terminal come up to us and I let him hold her. His knees just about buckled and he swore he could feel her power coarse through his body. I have so many stories like that.

I never forget the honor I have of being so close to such a magnificent spirit as Freedom’s.”

Jeff Guidry

Note: Contact Jeff and Freedom at Sarvey Wildlife Center, Arlington, WA: www.sarveywildlife.org

Ken owns Ken DuVall & Associates, REALTORS at 3rd Ave. & Mangrove in Chico. Ken was the 2001 President of the Chico Assn. of Realtors and the 1995 Chico Realtor of the Year. See Chico MLS listings at www.KenDuVall.com and call Ken at 345-3700 for all your real estate needs. Free consulting.