You be the judge. In the Greenwich Village section of New York City a home has hit the market for sale except it is not your normal size home. It stands a mere 8 ½ feet wide and 42 feet deep. It is listed for a staggering $2.7 million. Here is the original article from the AP it is a must read.   8 1/2 Feet wide and selling for $2.7m

In July of 2009 U.S. new home sales increased 9.6 percent. Take note that this figure is for new construction and not existing home sales. That is a big jump and certainly something that we have not seen in a while. On the surface things look good, great in fact. Home builder sentiment is improving, consumer confidence is rising, the stock market seems like it is back to its never ending upward incline and last but not least the recent CARS program was a huge success, in fact it helped push over 700,00 cars being sold during the program. Even Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke is making comments that the worst is behind us.

While I think it is fairly obvious that the worst is behind us we are far from calling it a recovery. Let’s look at what the “worse” part of that statement was. In one weekend we saw the Fed orchestrate the sale of the collapsed Bear Sterns, the fall of a 100 year old Investment Bank in Lehman Brothers. We literally witnessed the credit markets seize. Washington Mutual collapsed, AIG bilked the tax payer out of billions and not just a couple billion over 100 billion in bailouts. The Government has spent trillions to prop up the financial system in the past year. So to say the worst is behind us is indeed true, to say we may we may be in recovery is extremely premature.

The issues still at hand are some big mountains in the way of the road to recovery. First the job market is still weak so no improvement in the job arena means no chance anytime soon of recovery. The deficit has surpassed $10 trillion, the FDIC is near broke and the bright spots that we have seen in the real estate and economy is all smoke and mirrors.

An uptick in existing or new home sales recently is due mainly in fact that the 1^st time home buyer tax credit is due to expire within the next several months. The 700,000 cars that were sold are artificial sales propped up by the government spending billions to entice the sales, the stock market is way overbought, foreclosures are still on the rise and mortgage rates are still north of 5 percent.

So where does that all leave us? We have seen the worst but the road ahead is a long one indeed any thought of recovery being here is foolish. Maybe summer 2010.

The highest percentage ever recorded for delinquent mortgages was announced for the second quarter. The Mortgage Bankers Association reported that residential mortgages that were in foreclosure or at least one payment past due jumped to 13.16%. Residential mortgages that were somewhere in the foreclosure process reached 4.3% of all mortgages and that number was up from 3.85% in the first quarter of 2009.

The sub-prime and exotic mortgages that were the focal point of the housing bubble are not what has drove the escalation in delinquencies. Prime loans now account for nearly 40 percent of all foreclosure starts. That number is a direct result of the job market. As the flood of jobless claims continue so will the default rate for prime loans. A year ago prime loans, those issued by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac only accounted for roughly 15 percent of foreclosure starts. That number is nearly doubled in a year as the job market is still weak.

The Fed announced this week the extension of the Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility of best known to the public as the TALF fund.

The TALF fund which was derived in a ‘think-tank’ episode to combat a frozen and severely wounded economic and financial market environment was set to expire at the end of the year. The Fed has extended the fund until March.

With the credit markets seizing up for not only mortgage loans but auto, consumer and student loans as well as small business loans the Fed rolled out the TALF fund with a backstop of $1 trillion. Designed to provide investors a low cost way to buy consumer and commercial loans so far has not proven all too effective. Consumers and small business are still finding it extremely difficult to obtain credit or financing. Of the $1 trillion pledged by the Fed to date about $29 billion has been lent out with proceeds from the program.

The TALF is there to help facilitate commercial mortgage lending as well and as the market for commercial real estate deteriorates rapidly lenders may look to the TALF a lot more in the coming months as the commercial real estate market may be the next shoe to drop.

In a tough buyers market here are some pointers to prepare your home if you are listing it for sale.

·         Interior Atmosphere: Make the home inviting. Maybe some fresh flowers, something recently baked. If you do not bake buy something frozen to bake. The smell in the air makes the home that more inviting.

·         Cleanliness: Make sure the home is clean from top to bottom. Most importantly the entrance way. This is the first entry point to the home and first impressions last so focus on a tidy spruced up front entrance.

·         Repairs: Minor repairs should be done both inside and out.

·         De-clutter: This is one of the biggies. If you are a pack rat or have a tendency to pile up things this is the time to either clean it up or get it out of sight. If the home is cluttered whether you keep your house in good shape or not the sight of piles of stuff make one wonder what shape the home really is in.

·         De-personalize: Other than cleaning this is the next important. The potential buyer needs to visualize your home as their new living space so excess personal effects will deter buyers. Neat, clean and simple is best. A lot of pictures or personal items should be taken down.

These few pointers will make the job of your realtor showing your home that much easier and increase the odds of your home selling quicker.

While the real estate market is still struggling many home owners will look to home improvements as opposed to trying to sell their home in the current market. It is not a bad idea but there are some dos and don’ts to consider.

                Dos:

Decks: are a good investment, while they do not add square footage to the home pound for pound it is one of the best improvements cost wise you can make.

Kitchens:  if I was looking for a new home the kitchen is key but then again I love to cook. But generally speaking the kitchen is the focal point of a home. It is what attracts most home buyers to the house. There are definitely places to cut corners but when it comes to the kitchen use nothing but the best. Remodeling the kitchen is a huge selling point for your home.

Finished Basement:  below grade, meaning below the ground level living space is not considered when adding up the square footage of a home. Finishing off a basement adds value to the home but it is not a place that you want to add crazy amenities in the hopes that it will make it sell.

Windows: replacing the old windows in your home is a good investment. Anything that helps out in the energy efficient department is a great idea.

Siding/Painting:  is a worthwhile investment. Especially these days, some of the siding out there really looks so real and the fact of not needing to paint is a plus.

                Don’ts:

Painting: use neutral colors. Painting your house purple is not going to help you. It may be appealing to you but definitely not the rest of the population.

Pools: unless you live in Florida a pool is not a selling point. You are limiting yourself to the amount of people that would be interested. Buyers tend to shy away at the thought of the upkeep of a pool.

Gardens/Landscaping:  this is a tough one for me. I love to garden. I also think a well maintained yard makes the home more attractive. However expensive landscaping and gardening falls into the pool category. You are limiting potential buyers. The upkeep of nice landscaping and gardening is nonstop. I could weed every single day if I had the chance so you get the picture. Not a place to drop a lot of money.

Amenities: over the top amenities may make your life and home more enjoyable but that’s where that ends. DO not spend a large amount of money to add crazy amenities to the home. You will never recoup the cost when it is time to sell.

In July the Fed seized 24 banks in the month alone bringing the total for all of 2009 to 69 banks that have been seized by the Fed. The “watch list” of troubled banks is still extensive and the likelihood of another large bank failure like a Washington Mutual is certainly a strong possibility. To date the FDIC Insurance Funds has been hammered to the tune of $14.677 billion.

53) Bank of Wyoming, Thermopolis, WY Cost to the FDIC $27 million

54) First Piedmont Bank, Winder, GA Cost to the FDIC $29 million

55) BankFirst, Sioux Falls, SD Cost to the FDIC $91 million

56) Vineyard Bank, Rancho Cucamonga, CA Cost to the FDIC $529 million

57) Temecula Valley Bank, Temecula, CA Cost to the FDIC $391 million

58)Waterford Village Bank, Williamsville, NY Cost to the FDIC $5.6 million

59) Security Bank of Gwinnett County, Suwanee, GA

60) Security Bank of North Fulton, Alpharetta, GA

61) Security Bank of North Metro, Woodstock, GA

62) Security Bank of Bibb County, Macon, GA

63) Security Bank of Houston County, Perry, GA

64) Security Bank of Jones County, Gray, GA Cost to the FDIC $807 million between the six banks

65) First State Bank of Altus, Altus, OK Cost to the FDIC $25.2

66) Integrity Bank, Jupiter, FL Cost to the FDIC $46 million

67) Peoples Community Bank, West Chester, OH Cost to the FDIC $129.5 million

68) First BankAmericano, Elizabeth, NJ Cost to the FDIC $15 million

69) Mutual Bank, Harvey IL Cost to the FDIC $696 million

In this case privacy is a ‘con’. We all know that we are in full swing of a mortgage, banking and financial crisis. The worst some have stated since the great depression.

For those of us in the great “nutmeg” State of Connecticut we have our own financial/mortgage woes. We do not have stories like this though.

In Florida it is no secret it is one of the 5 that are hardest hit in this crisis. A mass glut of overbuilt and overdeveloped areas of the state. Imagine being in a brand new high rise building 32 stories high and you are the only tenant in the place. In Fort Myers, Florida there is a place that this exists. The article was originally written by the AP and picked up on Yahoo. Read this article and you will be glad we are in Connecticut and not the sunshine state. A complex 32 stories high and 1 tenant