The Power Is Now Media Inc.

Today is April 30th and enough time has gone by now that I can finally talk about my traumatic birthday experience on April 25 th .  April 25 th started off early for me.  I got up at 6:00 AM to catch up on emails and work because I had been in meetings all day for the last two days.   My wife made me one of my favorite meal in the morning - a bowl of hot oatmeal with all the fixing’s.  Oatmeal has a way filing you up so when I looked up from my computer, after working all morning, it was 3:00 PM and I was starving.  I didn't want to eat to heavy, as I sometimes do when I miss the lunch hour, because I was savoring my Birthday dinner at the happiest place on earth – Disneyland.   So instead, I made one of my famous Crazy Sandwiches which involved toasted sourdough bread, peanut butter, provolone cheese and grape jelly.  If you haven’t tried this you are really missing something.   After a delicious snack I went back to work and wai...

When the first African-American President was elected into Office, many thought that the change that they had long hoped for would be felt not long after.  But in 2009, the Great Financial Crisis left the U.S. in shock with the collapse of large financial institutions, the bursting of the housing bubble and declines in overall consumer wealth. The crisis also played a significant role in the housing market which suffered a huge blow. Less than five years after the financial crisis, many are still crawling out of their losses. Unfortunately, not all groups are recovering the same way as others. Regardless of race or ethnic origin, owning a home is the American dream. But while the goal is shared equally across races, home ownership is radically different among groups in the Unites States. This blog examines the recent trends in access to home ownership, employment, annual household income and experience when seeking mortgage when buying a home as a minority. Despite the f...

Tax Day is over and no one could be happier than me.  The Pew Research Center wrote an article about how American's view the IRS and so I couldn't resist to chime in.  Please read the article.  This is my last blog about the IRS .   Are you a member of the 100 million American who filed their returns on April 15th?  If so great job!    But for the estimated 12 million people who have requested extensions, the worst is still to come because they still need to file and probably need to pay .   The question I have is why?  The answer is because we all hate doing our taxes and especially if we owe money.  The reason my why my CPA practically begs me get him the information he needs to finish my taxes on time every year is because I always owe money. According to Pew Research Center, 34% of Americans liked or loved doing their taxes which leaves 56% of people who either disliked or hated doing their taxes. Most of those who liked doing ...

Why does April 15th always come upon us like a thief in the night?  Without fail you can find me every year finishing my taxes or my extension at the 11th hour.   My CPA is practically begging me to get him what he needs until  he gives up out of absolute frustration and files the extension on my behalf.   Is there anyone out there that can relate to this?   I am an expert tax procrastinator and it is largely because I am a terrible book keeper.   I am adding "Stop procrastinating" and hire a bookkeeper" to my 2015 New year's resolutions.   I know several ways to deal with the IRS and even more ways to beat them – legally of course.  (See my previous blog for tax deductions that you may not know about when buying a home. )   But after all these  years of paying taxes and dealing  with the IRS,  I have not found a way around paying the penalties for filing late.  If you have a strategy other t...

I love owning real estate because it is one of the best legal ways to beat the IRS.  If you want to pay less in taxes and you think the government is wasteful in how they spend your money, then the best way to get your money back is to buy a home or investment property.  Isn't that great!  You can beat the IRS by buying real estate.  I love it.   This is also why some people want to eliminate the mortgage interest deduction because they think it is discriminatory to renters.  Maybe it is, but until they change the  tax code, which could happen soon, I would buy a house.   The deductions you received for buying a house and paying less with a mortgage payment than you would pay in rent is amazing.   It's a great incentive to buy a home if you can significantly reduce the taxes coming out of your income going to Uncle Sam. We have learned our lesson as real estate agents, not to sell future appreciation to first time home buyers and the abili...

Can we take a break from Healthcare for a minute?  I want to reexamine Welfare and then get back to Health Care because right now there is so much over reaching by Republicans in trying to downplay the success of  ACA that they are digging themselves a hole and will not be able to climb out it.  This is not an issue any Republican should be prepared to fall on their sword.  ACA or Obama care is here to stay.  Game Over! People are signing up for the program and based on the trajectory I see - by 2015 every Republican I know will have it.  Welfare, Unemployment, Medicare and Social Security are more pressing issues especially as it relates to the budget that have lost our attention.  Lets talk about Welfare in this blog and we will cover the rest later.  The Cato Institute, a public policy research organization, released an updated 2013 study that welfare benefits in the United Stated pay more than the minimum wage job in 33 sta...

HOME-OWNERSHIP Home-ownership brings stability to individuals and families who have never had anything that they could really call their own.  There is something special about real estate that is unlike anything else on earth you can possess. Real Estate is not like a car that will decay over time and you have to replace. Real Estate you own is not like your clothes that go out of style and you have to buy new ones. Real Estate you own is not like expensive vacations or experiences that only last a moment in time.  Real Estate you own is not like an apartment that the landlord may sell or increase the rent until it is unaffordable.   Real Estate you own is not like staying at your parents house where you know you can't stay forever.   Home-ownership is the essence of wealth that has nothing to do with money. Home-ownership is the essence of pride of a mother nurturer and a father provider. Home-ownership is the essence of permanence and a place...

Access to credit is an issue and has always been an issue. I have lived it and seen it firsthand. The critics of the CFPB forget the history of our country and the legal fights that have taken place just make access to housing and credit possible (ECOA, Fair Housing Act of 1968, Fair Lending laws Reg. Z, 1964 Civil Rights Acts and more).  These do not include state laws across the country to fight redlining and race discrimination.   I say bring on the litigation because that is how we get things done in this country. We are country of laws and I thank God for the Law and the Supreme court. It is the last stand for the powerless to fight the Powerful. Change will only come when lending institutions are force to change through legislation, fines and penalties.  Social change didn't happen because it was good business.  It happened because of the law and the enforcement of the law.  We will see how lenders respond to the CFPBs actions and what the courts say ...