All in the Family-The next wave of Floridians

FHA Writes Record Number of Multi-Family Home Loans The saying, "blood is thicker than water" has never meant more to so many faced with the challenges that our new economy has brought forth. People of retirement age who find themselves with depleted retirement reserves find themselves needing to stay in the workforce for the foreseeable future but are at a loss for securing a new position "at their age." Dreams of moving to Florida full time are met with concern with outliving one's income and gray collar jobs often don't add enough to the income stream to warrant the time spent (the infamous Walmart greeter scenario), and as we have more years to look forward to than our ancestors, their is the concern of outliving our savings. Then there are the adult children and newly college graduated children of this group.  For years, corporate jobs have taken younger Baby Boomers and Generation X-ers around the country and even the globe creating familial distances that are not always welcomed.  But these jobs have dwindled and made competition  for the existing ones unpalatable and even unattainable for many. Add to that the hard cold fact that many wide eyed (or already discouraged) legions of freshly graduated or soon to be graduated Generation Y-ers are coming into a job market that promises fierce competition for less than inspiring positions. Note: "interning" is NOT a job but a brilliant idea made up by cash strapped companies to get eager and bright kids to work for free.  So how does this effect the Florida economy and the housing market here?
For quite some time now, major and mid-sized corporations have realized and utilized the concept of working in teams for maximum effectiveness and efficiency.  While most of us do not work on the family farm any longer (if we ever did) we instinctively band together in hard times. Families are uniting in these difficult and uncertain economic times tending to want to be closer to one another and there appears to be a growing trend of multi-generational families wanting to live and work together and this trend is coinciding with the rise in demand and renovation of multi-unit housing here in Florida. The idea is this, cash in what is left of your home equity in the northern states and buy not a smaller, snowbird-esque home but rather a larger home ideally set up with two master bedrooms and rooms for the kids/grandkids or a multi-unit home that everyone can live in, share the costs of and maintain together. Then, buy or lease one of the many vacant commercial spaces that are everywhere these days and work together as a family building dreams, memories and wealth. Many are making a family business of buying and renovating other multi-family properties for steady rental income at a time when rentals are increasing in demand. This is a win/win situation for the families that are making this scenario a reality and a win/win for the Florida economy.
In the near future look for new construction trending towards homes designed for the multi-generational household and a thriving residential rental market.

Those cute little peppers...what to do?

They come in those colorful Florida shades of orange/yellow/red and are just so lovely to look at.
With Labor Day coming up and the Football season starting soon (go Gators).  It is a perfect time to stuff these babies and eat them up. Let me know what you think.


TORITOS WITH SHRIMP AND QUESO BLANCO

INGREDIENTS

2 tbsp. butter
1/2 pound medium cooked shrimp (shelled and chopped)
1 dried chorizo link (optional)
1 C. queso blanco (shredded)
3 green onions (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (minced or pressed)
1 C. cooked basmati rice
1 two lb.. bag of sweet mini peppers

chopped cilantro
salt and ground pepper to taste

RECIPE    Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Dry fry the peppers in a cast iron skillet (alternatively grill until lightly charred). Do not overcook.
Set aside to cool.
Next. Melt butter in a skillet and add chopped green onion, garlic and chorizo. Saute until lightly golden brown and add chopped and cooked shrimp. Saute for 2 minutes more. Cool mixture and then add cooked rice, cheese and 2 tbsp. chopped cilantro. Mix lightly. Add salt and ground pepper to taste.
Make a slit down each pepper and using a small teaspoon (or your fingers) stuff the peppers with the mixture. Arrange in a baking dish lined with tin foil.  Note: dish may be refrigerated at this point and baked later in the day.
Bake mixture at 350 degrees until cheese is melted (about 13 minutes) if at room temperature.

Serve with guacamole, salsa  and yellow corn tortilla chips.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.

Our country has a long history with growth and change. In fact, the aforementioned actions are what propelled our United States into becoming a leader amongst the world's nations to begin with.
In these long, last few years, we have begun to "grow and change" in ways that we weren't aware we needed to. Change is tough. It is work. They say that we have to do something for at least 28 days before it becomes a habit. Many of us have had much longer than that to get used to all of the change that we have been experiencing in our daily lives as well as how it is going to be in the future. Life does not come easy these days and the choices we make now (of course they always did matter as much as they do now) will put us in a good place, in fact a great place, later on.
Digesting so much loss, whether it is of a cherished home or a financial investment, a crashed 401K or a tanked stock portfolio, creates a fear and a panic that is palpable. So much so that in these "worst of times" it is hard to feel good about ones next step. So we wait and watch and wonder.
The elements that came together to create the condition that we are faced with as a nation and the world as an economic whole were born from the opposite of the only financial advise I ever received from my Mama when she succinctly said: "Be careful not to spend more money than you make." Thanks Mom, but people don't have all the money they need to buy a house. They have to borrow it. So now I can hear her saying: "Pay attention to the sales and you can save what you would have overpaid for."
The elements that exist now in the real estate market follow the advise of my Mother. Money is on sale. In fact, it is at it's "lowest price of the year." Homes are on sale as well.
I picture myself sitting with Mom and watching Gone With the Wind, the perfect tale of "the worst of times" and I hear Gerald O' Hara, Scarlett's Father saying: "Do you mean to tell me, Katie Scarlett O'Hara, that Tara, that land doesn't mean anything to you? Why, land is the only thing in the world worth workin' for, worth fightin' for, worth dyin' for, because it's the only thing that lasts."

Run-gle in the Jungle

Who needs Bikram yoga? Running in the Florida summer helps one to FOCUS.
Beautiful out here.

The bright spot in a dim economy. Carpe Diem!

Mortgage Rates Hit Record Lows Amid Signs of Weakening Economy - Aug 4, 2011