Irrational Anxiety

I am a new fan of Will Wilkinson! I heard a fantastic commentary on Marketplace this morning on WFDD and I would love to share it with you. Here's the origin if you prefer to read it that way:

"Penny-pinching is a time-honored recession tradition. For those who've lost a job, are dealing with reduced hours or wages, or face a real risk of economic pain, it's plain sense to do what it takes to make ends meet in lean times. Cancel Showtime, pile on the sweaters, go unto the checkout armed with coupons. When you have to do it, belt-tightening's no joke.

But, gladly, most Americans don't have to -- not even in this economy. Most of us won't lose our jobs, won't face a pay cut. Yet we tighten anyway. Dollar-stretching tips circulate even among the most comfortable. But if your paycheck's intact and you're still cutting back, you may be part of the problem.

When home values surge, we tend to feel richer and spend a bit more, even if we don't plan to sell the house. Economists call this "the wealth effect," and it's got a recessionary flip side. So when our 401(k)s dive as the economy hits a rough patch, we feel a bit of a pinch and rein in consumption -- even when our incomes and the long-term value of our investments hasn't changed a bit. In short, we don't always look to our personal financial fundamentals when choosing whether to splurge or scrimp.

But just as "irrational exuberance" can keep a speculative bubble afloat, equally irrational anxiety, and the ethos of austerity it produces, can trap us in the doldrums. So maybe you went a bit crazy during the boom, and now's the time to return to financial sanity. Good! But if you were living comfortably and responsibly within your means last year, you probably don't need to cut back now.

Of course, none of us is duty-bound to stimulate the economy by snapping up 50-inch plasma screens just because we can afford it. But if you're blessed with good fortune in these hard times, you're not helping anyone if you let frugality chic stop you and yours from having a very Merry Christmas indeed."

Eco-brokerage

So I have officially received my Eco-broker designation and what a relief! Thank goodness for call-time confining me to a chair for a couple hours since no one is calling, goodness knows. But every time I was at home, I either wanted to help Steve with something or hang out with him during off hours.

I LOVE this stuff! It is soooo interesting to me and I am shocked when I see other Realtors look at me with blank stares when I talk about it. Soon enough, a lot of the standards that are placed on homes that are Energy Star rated or NAHB Green will be code. To be on that leading edge of technology when someone asks me the question is exciting.

Today, I met with a networking group through Natural Triad and was re-aquainted with a Realtor from Leap Realty in Winston. How incredibly impressive Sarah Olson is and what she has managed to accomplish thus far.

I will be teaching a green building class to other Realtors in the spring at Guilford Technical Community College and Steve will have the first Green Built home (as certified by the NAHB) in High Point by January, 2009. I feel good.