Separate the Wheat from the Chaff

Greetings!

I’m sure you have heard the expression about separating the wheat from the chaff. As a kid on the farm I learned a bunch about separating; cream from milk, weeds from good plants, wheat from chaff…well you get the picture. In fact, the Bible has a bunch to say about chaff and I don’t recall any of it being good. We are bombarded with information on all the economic news including the distressed housing market, investments, changing mortgage rates and more. You have to learn what is important and what is not important, what affects you right now or may affect you in the future, or possibly not affect you at all.

Whenever I am faced with difficult decisions about things I know little about, I do some consulting. I check with professionals like accountants, attorneys, advisers or friends that know more about the subject than I do. Those of you who know me well know that I do pray; admittedly, I don’t always get the answer I want. On the farm we didn’t quit planting wheat just because the wheat futures market was down. My Dad usually consulted with folks in the know and decided how many acres to plant and what other crops he might consider planting in place of wheat. We didn’t quit farming just because we had hail, drought or too much rain or on the basis of what people were saying; each year we planted and each year we harvested, sometimes more and sometimes less.

The media can and has caused unnecessary anguish and panic. I believe real estate works the same way as farming in that we try to make good and informed decisions based upon our short term and long terms needs. We seek professional advice as well as advice from those we trust. We optimistically move forward with a resolve and hope for the future. Separate the wheat from the chaff and may your future be blessed. Life is a Gift…Live It!

Gary A. Nathan
Woodland Developments & Realty
15617 Railroad Street
Hayward, WI 54843
715-699-4040 Cell
715-634-2110 Office
nathan@garynathan.com
http://www.garynathan.com/

Warming Up!

Greetings! It's fishing opener in Wisconsin and the weather is warming up! If you don't find the walleye fishing very friendly tomorrow, I heard my basketball buddies bragging about great crappie fishing. They were all talking about their favorite holes but no one was saying where I could find those spots.

Speaking of warming up, there was a report yesterday from the Economic Cycle Research Institute (ECRI) that said the current recession, which is the longest post war, will probably end by the time the summer is over. The ECRI uses leading indicators that have a solid track record of predicting turns in the business cycle. It said that enough of its' key gauges have turned upward to indicate with certainty that a recovery is coming.

The real estate climate here has warmed up and local appraisers are really busy. Let's hope our local building contractors and vendors see an uptick in their work. Speaking of ticks, they are out in force so plan (protect) accordingly.

Have a wonderful weekend and remember...Life is a Gift...Live It!

Gary Nathan
Amanda Mavis
Woodland Developments & Realty
15617 Railroad Street
Hayward, WI 54843
715-699-4040
nathan@garynathan.com
http://www.garynathan.com/