For tens of thousands, the American Dream was achieved not by years of conservative spending habits and prudent investing, but rather a no-limits bared consumption lifestyle fueled by easy credit and people’s unwillingness to use the word “no” to stuff. “Should I buy a 3rd pair of shoes this month even though I have 5 like them at home?” Yes! “Should I buy a new Ford F-250 truck even though I’m not a contractor and I commute 35-minutes to downtown each day?” Sure! “Should I take out a HELOC to fund that $50,000 gourmet kitchen I’ve always dreamed of despite the fact that 99% of my cooking involves the microwave?” Of course I should! “Should I buy this home that’s 3 times larger than I need, with no money down and an adjustable mortgage due to adjust in 36 months?” Absolutely!

These examples may be comical to a degree but a quick step back a few years and that was reality for many people. “Let the good times roll” was the prevailing attitude for the masses and the result was the inevitable crash we all had the privilege to walk through. As our glass-house perceptions of reality came crashing down all around us, we adamantly cried “never again, I’ll do it differently next time.” Fiscal responsibility chatter started flooding in from the white houses of Main Street to the slightly larger White House on 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. At last, everyone seemed to be reading the Tortoise and the Hare again and desiring to morph their lives to resemble that of the Tortoise.

Though the mess isn’t over for everyone yet, there are enough positive changes from the job and stock markets alike to see that a recovery is in progress. Life is returning to what many people would call normality;  in doing so, I wonder if all those people who begged to become the Tortoise, if given the 2nd chance, are doing so? I’m curious what lessons have really been learned during the down times? Have behaviors really changed? Do we really intend to be more watchful of our spending habits? Have our investment strategies sincerely become more conservative? Have the methods for obtaining the American Dream, at least the pre-recession versions, really died? I hope so for all of our sake. Otherwise, we’ll be right back in this position within a decade if not sooner.

• 263 weekdays (working about 250 of those) = 2,125 hours of work.
• Working 250 of those days = 300 hours sitting in traffic.
• My typical workday involves somewhere between 1-2 hours of phone time clients, tenants, and people wanting to sell me stuff I don’t want or need = 375 hours talking on the phone.
• Utilizing the 102 weekend days and 13 non-working weekdays = 115 full days to spend with my wife, two children, and a home that also begs maintenance attention.
• 115 full days = 600 or so hours wrestling with my son and dancing around the house with my daughter.
• 115 full days = 600 or so hours hanging out with my wife.
• 115 full days = 300 or so hours volunteering time at my church.
• And 2,555 hours sleeping in and attempt to repeat all of items listed above on a daily basis.

After reviewing the numbers above I realized a few things. I now know why my butt (traffic), my ear (phone), and my feet (dancing and wrestling) hurt as often as they do. However, of all the hours listed above the ones I’ll cherish the most when this year ends are the full days spent with my wife, my children, and serving at my church. I’ll never forget them and I can never get them back. My encouragement to you for this Christmas and New Year is to live a few more full days.

Basically, my company took over the management of an older commercial building that has been going down hill for several years now (financially and structurally speaking) from a combination mismanagement and ownership neglect. It’s a 40,000 SF property with only 50% occupancy in a tough sub-market around Everett, WA. Beyond the maintenance woes, we inherited several tenant vs. tenant issues that needed quick attention, and a few of the tenants had/have serious financial problems within their businesses as well. Since the property hasn’t been performing well for several years, the income it currently generates doesn’t cover all the property expenses and the owners mortgage. Still, the property needs several big ticket items (aka lots of cash from owners) addressed to keep from losing what tenants are left (aka remaining income stream). Tough cookie huh!

Well, I enjoy challenges like this. At least I enjoy them until attorney’s get involved! Unfortunately for everyone, an attorney did get involved on behalf of their client (a tenant at the property) who made a checklist of claims against previous property managers, the property owner, and even us (who wasn’t even empoyeed at the time stated). Essentially, half the claims were fair while half were pulled out thin air, but regardless we had address the issue. We went back and forth via official letter this and certified that, while nothing positive was really taking place. Finally, I decided to make the call. Enough with the back and forth games, let’s get to the heart of the matter and deal with the real issues at hand. I called up the attorney sending me the wheelbarrow loads of paperwork and said, “let’s talk!” After listening to his concerns and detailing our position and action plan for the property, we came to a mutual agreement that made everybody happy within a few minutes. What had been a three week merry-go-round of letters and sidestepping was resolved within 15-minutes of a phone call. While there are times for tough negotiations and cloak and dagger like maneuvering in business, sometimes it’s more effective to just make the call.

So if you’ve only been listening to all the garbage (IE. ABC, NBC, CBS, and CNN’s “news cast”) coming out of the tube, here’s a quick reality check of what is actually taking place in the local and national scene:

1. The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) is up to 8,500.00 and climbing. This is an increase of 29% from the market low just 3 months ago, and it’s up 6% in past 30-days!!! Where’s the news on that story? Even if the market didn’t move an inch up or down until March 2010, the annual return would 29%, and yet we still have another 7 months in the year to take advantage of the low market prices!
2. There 304,059,082 people out of 304,059,724 in America that are not infected with the Swine Flu (there are only 642 confirmed cases in the USA as of today, and only two people have actually died according to the CDC). In case you’re still concerned that you may become infected with the “world-wide pandemic of the decade” and you’d like to know your chances of catching this new flu bug, here you go….you have a .00000211% of a chance. If you happen to catch this little bugger you should buy a lottery ticket the same day because you must be one of the luckiest people alive according to the numbers!
3. Mortgage interest rates are near 50-year lows, meaning you can get a 15-year fixed rate mortgage at 4.5%, or a 30-year fixed rate mortgage under 5.0%. If you avoided the stupidity of interest only, “arm” loans, and other terrible mortgage products that we’re being offered everywhere during the past few years, then you’re in a great position to go buy that first home. (PS – There’s plenty of inventory to pick from, especially if you’re fond of Phoenix, Detroit, or anywhere in Florida!)
4. The Seattle Mariners are actually leading the American West by half a game and it’s May (Hey, it’s my blog so I can be proud of my hometown teams if I want to be).

There are already over 1,000,000 people registered to attend at one of over 6,000 host sites internationally. Visit the “Town Hall for Hope” site link below to find the host site location nearest to you, or if you’re in the north Seattle area come join me at The Rock Church in Monroe, WA with seating available for 500 people, with the event beginning at 7:00pm sharp!