Why In The World Buy a House? Because you have D needs!

D Needs? yes, according to Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, housing pretty much scratches every itch. From the basic need for shelter, air and food and water our needs progress up. As soon as one need is satisfied, another need arises. And if you are deprived of a need, you default back to getting that one satisfied, pronto. The people in Haiti are now preoccupied with shelter and food. Any higher needs are on hold until that basic need is fulfilled. And so we live our lives. That is why 'noblesse oblige' works. Those who come on line with the baser needs in place provided by parents and family money, can work on self actualization sooner. Their bellies are full. They can contribute to others moving up their own pyramid. The baser needs referred to as D needs or deficiency needs, and the higher ranks a B needs. Here's the list:


1. Physiological Needs (lizard brain) {amygdala}
These include the most basic needs that are vital to survival, such as the need for water, air, food and sleep. Maslow believed that these needs are the most basic and instinctive needs in the hierarchy because all needs become secondary until these physiological needs are met.
2. Security Needs
These include needs for safety and security. Security needs are important for survival, but they are not as demanding as the physiological needs. Examples of security needs include a desire for steady employment, health insurance, safe neighborhoods and shelter from the environment.
3. Social Needs (dog brain) (limbic system)
These include needs for belonging, love and affection. Maslow considered these needs to be less basic than physiological and security needs. Relationships such as friendships, romantic attachments and families help fulfill this need for companionship and acceptance, as does involvement in social, community or religious groups.
4. Esteem Needs (ah, human mind)
After the first three needs have been satisfied, esteem needs becomes increasingly important. These include the need for things that reflect on self-esteem, personal worth, social recognition and accomplishment.
5. Self-actualizing Needs
This is the highest level of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. Self-actualizing people are self-aware, concerned with personal growth, less concerned with the opinions of others and interested fulfilling their potential.



But back to houses.

Certainly if you are choking, starving, dehydrated or sleep deprived, nothing captures your attention except the satisfaction of that need. But if you are reading this , we can go on to Need #2. Houses answer the call for shelter, they answer need #2, the need for security and certainty. Coming home to a nice warm house in a good welcoming neighborhood, fits #2.



How about #3? Social needs. A house fulfills the desire to belong: belong to a neighborhood, a country club, a street of party givers, a community. A home is the base unit of Need #3.



#4. Okay, here's the trophy house buyer.. Number 4 is about self esteem.. Reflected glory. The big dog neighborhood you made it into. Wine cellars, pools, built in aquariums, media rooms. Oh yeah baby, number 4 is all about real estate and home ownership.



And last? The downsizer.. He is all done with climbing the ladder, pandering to others opinions, keeping up with the Jones'. He like his port, his hybrid camellias and a simple life. Need #5 says, "I am the master of my fate and the captain of my soul" (Invictus)



So don't fight it. If you have a steady job, don't overbuy, pick a great location, know your lender and the terms of the loan, find a Realtor that will steer you away from an impulsive or misguided choice, go ahead.. move up the pyramid, you have needs. Now some facts:



From Dataquick: An increase from November to December is normal for the season. Last month’s year-over-year increase was the 16th in a row. The sales count was the highest for a December since 8,372 homes were sold in December 2006. Sales for Decembers since 1988 have ranged from 5,065 in 2007 to 12,349 in 2003, while the average is 8,762.



The rich are doing fine according to American Express: AmEx dominates the market for affluent customers, with individual card purchases averaging $9,392 in 2008, compared with $2,699 for San Francisco-based Visa Inc. and $2,269 for Purchase, New York-based MasterCard Inc., AmEx said in August, citing company reports.
At year end, AmEx had lowest loss rates among the six- biggest U.S. credit-card issuers, including JPMorgan Chase & Co. and Bank of America Corp. according to Bloomberg.



I think American Express also showed wisdom and vision in dealing with long time clients in trouble with the recession by cutting interest rates, allowing principle reductions and maintaining relationships. Those prudent customer service moves are paying handsomely.



That's the news this week in Real Estate.



Peace and competence,



Terry

First Things First, Your Safety Online

Here are some tips to keep you safe on line. While the world is becoming increasingly transparent, you are still in charge of your privacy levels.

First:
Be wary of quizzes and games. They’re fun, and seeing how you stack up against your friends is a big ego boost, but it’s amazing the amount of information they can gather as part of their terms of service.

When you sign up for a quiz, typically a notice pops up to declare that interacting with the application requires opening access to information such as: "access will let [the application] pull your profile information, photos, your friends' info, and other content that it requires to work." Pretty broad rights.

Be sure to use the privacy options on Facebook. They provide very granular privacy tools that are useful to spend some time reviewing. Start by dividing your friends into separate lists. You might consider creating lists for ‘work’, ‘good friends’, ‘family’, ‘clients’, etc.Once you’ve created your lists, go through your friends and add them to the appropriate list. Friends can be on more than one list or none of them. Your friends are not able to see how they have been sorted.

Once you have sorted your friends, click on settings in the upper right corner and then on privacy settings. There are many areas of Facebook where you can control what you chose to share. Let’s start with Profile. You can edit many portions of your information here so that it is visible from everyone to no one but yourself. If you have used the list function to sort your friends you can also exclude certain lists from having access. So if you don’t want your coworkers to see photos that your friends might post, you could exclude everyone you listed in ‘work’. The granularity is pretty extreme and appears to be getting even more so. Facebook also give you a link on the page to view your profile as one of your friends will see it. This is a nice way to test if your changes are going to have the desired effect. Here is a quick YouTube video that shows how to set up lists and set privacy.

I want to spare you from the experience of the person that bashed their employer on Facebook, forgetting they were in their network... "your fired" posted on their wall right after they finished their rant!

Peace and competence,
Terry

2010 The Market Starts to Quiver

Historically, January in real estate is a void. People recovering from the holidays, travel, and writing resolutions. But this January feels a little like 2002. Multiple offers, a bit of an urgency about getting in on the foreclosures with a loan and some cheap money. Here's how cheap it is:

At 4.87% your house payment of $2116.83 will buy a $400,000 loan amount. at 7.875% that same payment buys a $322,231 loan...whoa. That's a difference of a 2 bedroom or a 3 bedroom. Don't overlook this advantage! Rates will rise.

The crystal ball is still milky, we have rumors of the double dip and just hoping that the banks are getting their act together, but the pent up anxiety of the American consumer is wearing thin and people are anxious to exhale and feel like life is normal again.

Watch here for easy to digest, factual information on real estate in Santa Cruz County.