Social Security - Tarav

It seems to me as if everything is going downhill in our country right now. Instead of problems getting better little by little, they are becoming catastrophically worse! Maybe we need to start looking to other countries for ideas? Something obviously is not working and we may need to try a different method.

As for the housing market, I think there are pros and cons to it. Obviously for those of us who have already purchased homes, it is scary. We spent x amount of dollars and now our house is worth much less! Ouch! Fortunately, though it might not be enough, there are small things we can do to increase the value so we are not at a complete lost. Being that my husband plans on buying and selling homes, I have done lots of research on how to significantly increase the value of your home without spending major bucks. I would advise everyone to do the research and really learn about the area in which you are living. What is important in a house in the area, etc. I am blessed by the fact that I live in a little "Marine Corps town" we call it. Because of that there is not a huge fear of my house not selling for a nice price or renting out. Where I am at, families always need homes. It is not a matter of moving to a cheaper city if you cannot afford it. The Marine Corps places you where they want and housing is obviously a necessity.

As for the pros of the declining housing market, I look at it like this. I was watching a day time talk show and Suzy Oreman (a financial "expert") was asked, 'Is it better to buy or rent in this economy?" Her response? "Right now, renting. And I will tell you why." She went on to explain that the housing market will not be getting better anytime soon and values will continue to decline. Therefore, if you wait you can ultimately get a house for much cheaper. It is not a positive thing for our economy to fall, but maybe more families will be able to purchase homes at much lower prices.

Anyways, those are just a few of my thoughts on the matter. I wanted to post something since we have all being extremely inactive on this blog. Not for lack of desire, summer time is a busy one for our families! Not to mention, preparing for a newborn and spending some much needed time with my husband who was deployed to Afghanistan for 7 months.