Ok so we all know we get a bad wrap for the way we talk here in The Bluegrass State. But you know what? We don’t care what you think. In fact if you come here we think you need to speak the local language and try to fit in. Because there is nothing a good ole boy from Kentucky mistrusts more than an outsider, an outsider city slicker especially.

1. As a general rule in most cases know that it’s not necessary to pronounce every letter, especially the ones near the end of a word. The human brain is a great thing, it can determine what you are trying to say without wasting all the effort to pronounce every single letter in a word.

2. Know the correct way to say the town you are living in or going to, these are the most easily recognizable words city slicker outsiders use.

For example:

Versailles – we don’t care what the French say, ever, its (Ver-sales) not (Ver-seye)

Pikeville – Silent K, i = u, no e (Pi-vull)

Louisville – Not Looeyville, (Lool-vull) (Lool-ville is acceptable West of Frankfort.

Garrard County – (Gar-rid)

Lancaster – (Lank-ister)

Rowan County – Not Row like Row Your Boat – But Row like How and one syllable. (Rown)

Athens – It’s not Greece, Long A – (Ay-thins)

Beattyville, Maysville– Again any i, in any ville, is a u, and no e. Beatty-Vull, Mays-Vull)

(Any) Hollow – Its Holler, always, unless is an empty log, but it’s acceptable in that use as well.

Cincinnati – is the same thing as Northern Kentucky as far as we are concerned

Lastly (remember this is the CliffsNotes Version not the Master’s Level stuff) just because Webster or Mrs. Seventh Grade English Teacher says it ain’t a word, or “correct” English, don’t mean nothing.

Quick Tips: Aint , Caint, Up yonder, pert near, reckon, double negatives, dangling participles, all OK in the right context. “Bless your heart” is really bad if directed towards you. If you want to end a sentence in a preposition, well that’s ok too, as long as you imply there is word following it…Never honk you hore outside of Lexington or Louisville unless you want to fight, or are saying Hi to someone driving by, the direction you are looking as honking is the understood target.

Most Important Tip: If a stranger waves at you, or says Hi as passing, and you do not return the gesture, you are a city slicker and it’s acceptable to spit tobacco on your shoes. Just kidding about the tobacco part but it ain’t cool – be friendly. And remember if you visit and don’t like the weather outside, give it a few minutes it will change but it will probably rain at some point.

OK so that is bad news right?? But I wanted to put that into perspective.

1. We are under the county mile measuring system, I don’t think our inch is equivalent to others people’s inch. So 3 inches probably is more like, 1 inch to the rest of the county. (no comments from the peanut gallery, I am talking strictly snow measurements here)

2. How does that stack up with the rest of the country? I mean we are KY and that means we are just far enough north that its a possibility to get snow, and just enough south that it usually ends up being rain. And if it is snow its usually gone before lunch time at the latest. BUT here is some perspective I found:

Most Snow in One Day

The most snow to fall in any 24 hour period is 75.8 inches (193 centimeters), well over six feet, that landed at Silver Lake, Colorado. The mountain lake sits at 10,220 feet elevation about 40 miles northwest of Denver. Its record-setting snowstorm began at 2:30 pm on the afternoon of April 14, 1921.

Even after 24 hours, the snowflakes still kept coming and by 6 pm on April 15, 1921 a record 87 inches had landed. The blizzard continued non-stop for 32.5 hours, ultimately leaving 95 inches (241 cm) of fresh snow on the ground. This set yet another record for the deepest accumulation from one continuous snowfall. (THAT’S ALMOST 8 FEET!)

The biggest snowfall for a single calendar day belongs to another Colorado location, Georgetown where 63 inches landed on December 4, 1913. This small town with plenty of history is nestled high in the mountains at 8,550 feet elevation. Another dozen states have also measured three or more feet of snow arriving in one day. (Over 5 Feet!)

Places that have set state records for the heaviest one-day snowfall amounting to three feet or more.

Location  Inches   Date

Georgetown, Colorado  63   Dec 4 1913

Thompson Pass, Alaska  62   Dec 29 1955

Giant Forest, California  60  Jan 19 1933

Mount Washington, New Hampshire  49  Feb 25 1969

Millegan, Montana  48  Dec 27 2003

Gunn’s Ranch, Washington  48  Jan 21 1935

Deadwood, South Dakota  47   Mar 14 1973

Watertown, New York  45  Nov 15 1900

Heber Ranger Station, Arizona   38  Dec 14 1967

Morgantown, Pennsylvania   38    Mar 20 1958

Chemult, Oregon  37    Feb 6 1949

Wolf Ridge, Minnesota  36  Jan 7 1994

Abbott, New Mexico  36  Nov 24 1940

Heaviest Yearly Snowfalls

Several spots scattered across the United States can count on plenty of snow each winter. By far the snowiest region in the country is the Cascade Mountains of western Washington state.

Weather stations on both Mount Baker and Mount Rainier measure much deeper snows than anywhere else in the US.

Among 6,377 official NOAA weather stations that record snowfall in the United States, ten report annual totals that averaged over 300 inches or 25 feet (7.62 metres) from 1981 to 2010. The Rainer Paradise Ranger Station located near alpine at 5427 feet (1654 m) on the south flank of Mount Rainier tops the list for the greatest snowfall with 671 inches (1704 cm).

The only town among the nation’s snowiest places is Valdez, a seaside community in southeastern Alaska.

Besides the NOAA 1981 to 2010 averages, several other places in the Cascade Mountains of Washington state have recorded impressive amounts of snow. The Mount Baker downhill ski area in northwestern Washington reports an average snowfall of 701 inches (1781 cm) in recent years.

Other significantly snowy places include Washington’s Snoqualmie Pass which tallied 504 inches yearly from 1948 to 1972 and Stevens Pass where 493 inches were measured from 1950 to 1994.

Average annual snowfall for places that receive over 300 inches of snow a year

Location Inches

Mt Rainier, Paradise Station, Washington 67 1

Alta, Utah  546 (Awesome PLACE!)

Crater Lake Park Headquarters, Oregon 483

Brighton, Utah 411

Echo Summit, California 407

Wolf Creek Ski Area, Colorado 392

Caples Lake, California 375

Brian Head, Utah 368

Valdez, Alaska 326

Mt Evans Field Station, Colorado 301

Highest Snowfall in One Year

The Mount Baker downhill ski area achieved the world’s record for receiving the most snow in a single year when 1140 inches, or 95 feet, (2896 cm) landed between July 1, 1998 and June 30, 1999. Ten states have weather stations that have recorded over 30 feet of snow falling in the 12-month period between August 1 and July 31.

In conclusion. NOTICE ONE TREND HERE. Kentucky ain’t on any of these lists!

So you may ask what is the biggest snow Kentucky or Lexington (Sorry Morehead and Sharkey you didn’t make the list) has ever had?

Most snowfall in a season (July – June):

Least snowfall in a season (July – June):

Most snowfall in a calendar month:

Most snowfall in a calendar day:

Earliest snowfall:  Trace on October 6, 1952
Latest snowfall:  Trace on May 24, 1925
Latest first snowfall:  Trace on December 24, 1918

This all leads to this: It may snow tonight, but it will be above freezing by noon. Chill out, and don’t drive tonight. Relax you will not starve to death tonight or before lunch tomorrow. But if you plan to take your sled our or build a snowman, get up early or stay up late. And remember people in KY see a snow flake and forget how to drive! Relax its not 8 Feet!

PS This weekend looks awesome come out and see my open houses! Check here Friday for a list!!! 

Realtors have membership in the National Association of Realtors (NAR), which oversees practices and co-operative efforts between more real estate agents than any other organization in the world. NAR has more than one million members in 60 countries worldwide, and is based in Washington, DC, where it lobbies government on behalf of the real estate industry and buyers and sellers. NAR also conducts extensive research on the economic, political, and structural effects of changes in the real estate industry, and passes those findings onto its members.

Members of NAR have the opportunity to network with each other and compare notes on regional industry conditions at regular events, including an annual conference and expo with more than 500 exhibitors. In effect, NAR provides representation and education for its members, which enhances their real estate expertise.

Perhaps NAR’s greatest value is that it upholds a well-established code of ethics which covers every practice in real estate. NAR’s Code of Ethics is updated every year to keep pace with changes in the industry, and is followed by its members around the world. These rules help promote a common standard for real estate beyond NAR, and maintain trust between consumers and real estate professionals. In order to meet the code of ethics many Realtors take courses offered by the NAR’s REALTOR® University, which provide education on things like foreclosure markets, second home markets, and real estate safety.

Buyers and sellers working with Realtors also get an upper hand on the rest of the market, with access to more Multiple Listings Service (MLS) data. Realtors enable their clients to list their home on the MLS and view other homes for sale, whereas other real estate agents may not be able to provide access to this service. The vast majority of homes through the MLS because that’s where Realtors search for homes when they work with a buyer.

Next time you get ready to sell or buy a home please work with a designated REALTOR® like me!

One thing that I found surprising was the average age of a home buyer.

Check out the infographic and let me know in the comments what you think.

Real Estate Infographics powered by Benchmark

Below is a summary of real estate related provisions in the bill:

Real Estate Tax Extenders

• Mortgage Cancellation Relief is extended for one year to Jan. 1, 2014
• Deduction for Mortgage Insurance Premiums for filers making below $110,000 is extended through 2013 and made retroactive to cover 2012
• 15-year straight-line cost recovery for qualified leasehold improvements on commercial properties is extended through 2013 and made retroactive to cover 2012
• 10 percent tax credit (up to $500) for homeowners for energy improvements to existing homes is extended through 2013 and made retroactive to cover 2012

Permanent Repeal of Pease Limitations for 99% of Taxpayers

Under the agreement so called “Pease Limitations” that reduce the value of itemized deductions are permanently repealed for most taxpayers but will be reinstituted for high income filers. These limitations will only apply to individuals earning more than $250,000 and joint filers earning above $300,000. These thresholds have been increased and are indexed for inflation and will rise over time. Under the formula, the amount of adjusted gross income above the threshold is multiplied by three percent. That amount is then used to reduce the total value of the filer’s itemized deductions. The total amount of reduction cannot exceed 80 percent of the filer’s itemized deductions.

These limits were first enacted in 1990 (named for the Ohio Congressman Don Pease who came up with the idea) and continued throughout the Clinton years. They were gradually phased out as a result of the 2001 tax cuts and were completely eliminated in 2010-2012. Had we gone over the fiscal cliff, Pease limitations would have been reinstituted on all filers starting at $174,450 of adjusted gross income.

Capital Gains

Capital Gains rate stays at 15 percent for those in the top rate of $400,000 (individual) and $450,000 (joint) return. After that, any gains above those amounts will be taxed at 20 percent. The $250,000/$500,000 exclusion for sale of principle residence remains in place.

Estate Tax

The first $5 million dollars in individual estates and $10 million for family estates are now exempted from the estate tax. After that the rate will be 40 percent, up from 35 percent. The exemption amounts are indexed for inflation.

Originally posted on Realtor.org at http://www.realtor.org/articles/real-estate-provisions-in-fiscal-cliff-bill

Weather Conspiracy

I have stumbled upon a serious and troubling conspiracy recently. It reaches the highest levels of media and consumer goods corporate titans. It has the power to reach all of us, and we hear it everyday and don’t even question it or its legitimacy. It’s the Weather conspiracy, more specifically the weathermen conspiracy. It works like this. Every year around December it starts and it gradually gets worse the rest of the winter, with noticeable spikes around Christmas time every year. As far as I can tell here is how it starts, one of the “titans” makes a shady backroom deal with the local weathermen, maybe at the annual weathermen holiday party or something, that profits are going to be on the low side of expectations this year, and they need to find some way to boost sales for the end of the year results, and a plan to jump start sales for the next year. So they agree to a profit sharing inducement deal that will benefit both sides. All the weathermen have to do is make sure that about every week or two, particularly around Christmas and the weekends in the winter, simply mention or hint at the chance that there may be a chance for snow or wintery weather in their 7 day long range forecast. Now they always add a disclaimer that the system is a long way out still and a lot can change depending on the actual track of the system. All this is really is a way to cover them selves, as no one holds a weatherman to his long term predictions. Then the real plan jumps into action. Unsuspecting viewers, race to the grocery stores and discount stores to grab all of the bread, milk, sidewalk salt, show shovels, kerosene, and batteries they can., just in case that 2″ of snow shuts down all civilization for the next week. This phenomenon is more noticeable and effective the further south you go. I have noticed in the north it is geared more to the projected hike of heating oil costs due to a colder than normal winter, and out west it is more geared towards extreme weather conditions like floods and fire conditions being perfect. So call me crazy if you want but the next time you see a long range forecast between December 1^st and March 31^st that mentions a chance for any of the above events, keep track and see if it comes to fruition. Also watch the crowd race to the stores to spend money to prepare for the impending disaster.

You maybe wondering where in the world this came from, or how on earth does it relate to the real estate business. But then next time this scenario plays out, see how many call you get to show or list property. Then compare that to normal and I think you will see the effect on real estate also. What do you all think…..by the way as I write this it IS snowing or icing in KY and my phone has not rang all day….so maybe they are due one every now and then.

Ty B

From the highest sky-dive in history to the fastest running man, a first vote or last mission, joys and tragedies, grumpy cats and flash mobs; whatever it is that we shared in 2012, here is a compilation.

Feel free to share this video with your friends.

Keeping Current Matters put together this InfoGraphic showing statistics for the September 2012 real estate market.

Regulators are preparing to release the language of two rules taking effect in January to set standards for non-abusive lending and require banks to hold a slice of risky mortgages on their books. In addition, U.S. banking overseers must also complete new capital standards mandated in the international Basel III accords next year.

The housing rules, coming almost simultaneously, may overlap or conflict, creating what National Association of Realtors President Maurice “Moe” Veissi called a “perfect storm” of regulation.

“There’s this intersection of policies that are absolutely not being considered by this massive array of institutions, all involved in deciding the future of homeownership and rental opportunity,” David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in an Oct. 22 speech at the association’s annual conference in Chicago.

Mortgage credit is already tight. U.S. regulators including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, have expressed concern that banks are preventing qualified borrowers from taking advantage of interest rates driven to record lows by the Fed’s quantitative easing strategy.

Crisis Correction

James Parrott, a member of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council who advises on housing issues, told mortgage bankers that the administration is still concerned.

“How do you correct for what happened in 2005, but not do so in such a way that we’re stuck where we are today, where there’s not nearly enough liquidity?” Parrott said at the MBA conference. “We clearly haven’t threaded the needle yet.”

Borrowers whose loans closed in September had an average credit score of 750, which would place them in the top 40 percent of Americans, according to Ellie Mae (ELLI), a Pleasanton, California, company that provides automation solutions for the mortgage industry. Those buyers made down payments averaging 22 percent. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.37 percent in the week ended Oct. 18, according to Freddie Mac.

The housing market has been gaining steam in recent months, with online real-estate listing firm Zillow Inc. (Z) reporting yesterday that home prices jumped 1.3 percent in the third quarter, the largest gain since 2006. At the same time, about 28 percent of existing-home sales are all-cash transactions as investors snap up distressed inventory.

Fears Overblown

Consumer advocates, who question whether high credit standards are really just a response to regulation, say the industry’s fears are overblown.

“All of these rules are reactions to the failure to regulate at all over the last decade,” said Alys Cohen, a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “The rules don’t need to be in lockstep in order to provide reasonable oversight.”

The next few months will usher in a new implementation phase of the government response to the financial crisis of 2008 as regulators begin to unveil exactly how they will set limits intended to prevent another housing bubble.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is briefing other regulators about its plans for the qualified mortgage rule, which will require lenders to determine borrowers’ ability to repay loans. If banks meet the standards for a non-abusive mortgage set in the rule, they’ll be offered a degree of legal protection.

Safest Mortgages

Lenders say they’ll probably make only the safest mortgages as defined by the rule, commonly known as the QM regulation, after it is issued.

“QM will, in my mind, largely define the market,” Michael J. Heid, president of Wells Fargo (WFC) Home Mortgage, said at the MBA conference on Oct. 22.

The CFPB, which faces a Jan. 21 deadline, told regulators last week it is considering issuing a rule that would offer the strongest legal protections for loans to borrowers spending less than 43 percent of their income to repay debt. That would include about 80 percent of government-backed loans, according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Once the QM rule is set, regulators including the Fed, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Securities and Exchange Commission will write a second measure with a similar name: the qualified residential mortgage rule. The QRM rule will require lenders to retain stakes in risky mortgages when they package them into securities.

Basel III

At the same time, regulators have proposed a set of standards under the Basel III agreement that would require banks to hold more capital against risky mortgages. A deadline for public feedback on the proposal was Oct. 22. The agencies are going to complete the language and phase in the rule beginning next year.

The MBA last week wrote a letter urging regulators to abandon their Basel III proposal on the grounds that it would hurt lending.
Veissi of the Association of Realtors also sent a letter raising concerns. “The sheer volume of regulations surrounding the mortgage-finance business has resulted in consolidating and constraining the number of institutions offering mortgage credit to consumers,” he wrote.

Consumer advocates say they agree that the rules are complex and must be carefully calibrated. However, they say, the mortgage industry needs to be more judicious with its complaints.

Crying ‘Wolf’

“Unfortunately, the mortgage lobby is the boy who cried wolf,” Julia Gordon, director of housing finance and policy at the Center for American Progress, said in an e-mail. “They fight any and every regulation and routinely insist that the [fill in the blank] rule will increase the cost of credit or reduce access to credit, which makes it difficult for the regulators to figure out when that’s actually true.”

Federal Financial Analytics, a Washington-based consulting firm, released a study yesterday analyzing possible unintended consequences of overlapping mortgage rules.

Karen Shaw Petrou, author of the study commissioned by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said the rules will shut out less-than-perfect borrowers.

Rule ‘Tightening’

“Regulators in every cubicle at all of the agencies are tightening each of their rules so drastically that the combination of all of them will stifle a return of private capital to securitization, blocking constructive change at the GSEs to end their conservatorship and limiting credit availability for all but the most gold-plated borrower,” Petrou said in an e-mail.

Parrott, the Obama administration official, said the rules could always be changed if they don’t work.

“Given where the market is today, I’m actually optimistic that we can land these regulations in a pretty good place,” Parrott said. “I think the objective everybody shares is a more stable, healthy system going forward that maintains broad access to credit.”

Original Post on Bloomberg BusinessWeek here: Mortgage Lenders See Tighter Credit Under New U.S. Rules

Regulators are preparing to release the language of two rules taking effect in January to set standards for non-abusive lending and require banks to hold a slice of risky mortgages on their books. In addition, U.S. banking overseers must also complete new capital standards mandated in the international Basel III accords next year.

The housing rules, coming almost simultaneously, may overlap or conflict, creating what National Association of Realtors President Maurice “Moe” Veissi called a “perfect storm” of regulation.

“There’s this intersection of policies that are absolutely not being considered by this massive array of institutions, all involved in deciding the future of homeownership and rental opportunity,” David Stevens, president of the Mortgage Bankers Association, said in an Oct. 22 speech at the association’s annual conference in Chicago.

Mortgage credit is already tight. U.S. regulators including Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke and Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, have expressed concern that banks are preventing qualified borrowers from taking advantage of interest rates driven to record lows by the Fed’s quantitative easing strategy.

Crisis Correction

James Parrott, a member of President Barack Obama’s National Economic Council who advises on housing issues, told mortgage bankers that the administration is still concerned.

“How do you correct for what happened in 2005, but not do so in such a way that we’re stuck where we are today, where there’s not nearly enough liquidity?” Parrott said at the MBA conference. “We clearly haven’t threaded the needle yet.”

Borrowers whose loans closed in September had an average credit score of 750, which would place them in the top 40 percent of Americans, according to Ellie Mae (ELLI), a Pleasanton, California, company that provides automation solutions for the mortgage industry. Those buyers made down payments averaging 22 percent. The interest rate on a 30-year fixed-rate mortgage averaged 3.37 percent in the week ended Oct. 18, according to Freddie Mac.

The housing market has been gaining steam in recent months, with online real-estate listing firm Zillow Inc. (Z) reporting yesterday that home prices jumped 1.3 percent in the third quarter, the largest gain since 2006. At the same time, about 28 percent of existing-home sales are all-cash transactions as investors snap up distressed inventory.

Fears Overblown

Consumer advocates, who question whether high credit standards are really just a response to regulation, say the industry’s fears are overblown.

“All of these rules are reactions to the failure to regulate at all over the last decade,” said Alys Cohen, a staff attorney at the National Consumer Law Center. “The rules don’t need to be in lockstep in order to provide reasonable oversight.”

The next few months will usher in a new implementation phase of the government response to the financial crisis of 2008 as regulators begin to unveil exactly how they will set limits intended to prevent another housing bubble.

The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau is briefing other regulators about its plans for the qualified mortgage rule, which will require lenders to determine borrowers’ ability to repay loans. If banks meet the standards for a non-abusive mortgage set in the rule, they’ll be offered a degree of legal protection.

Safest Mortgages

Lenders say they’ll probably make only the safest mortgages as defined by the rule, commonly known as the QM regulation, after it is issued.

“QM will, in my mind, largely define the market,” Michael J. Heid, president of Wells Fargo (WFC) Home Mortgage, said at the MBA conference on Oct. 22.

The CFPB, which faces a Jan. 21 deadline, told regulators last week it is considering issuing a rule that would offer the strongest legal protections for loans to borrowers spending less than 43 percent of their income to repay debt. That would include about 80 percent of government-backed loans, according to data from the Federal Housing Finance Agency.

Once the QM rule is set, regulators including the Fed, Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. and Securities and Exchange Commission will write a second measure with a similar name: the qualified residential mortgage rule. The QRM rule will require lenders to retain stakes in risky mortgages when they package them into securities.

Basel III

At the same time, regulators have proposed a set of standards under the Basel III agreement that would require banks to hold more capital against risky mortgages. A deadline for public feedback on the proposal was Oct. 22. The agencies are going to complete the language and phase in the rule beginning next year.

The MBA last week wrote a letter urging regulators to abandon their Basel III proposal on the grounds that it would hurt lending.
Veissi of the Association of Realtors also sent a letter raising concerns. “The sheer volume of regulations surrounding the mortgage-finance business has resulted in consolidating and constraining the number of institutions offering mortgage credit to consumers,” he wrote.

Consumer advocates say they agree that the rules are complex and must be carefully calibrated. However, they say, the mortgage industry needs to be more judicious with its complaints.

Crying ‘Wolf’

“Unfortunately, the mortgage lobby is the boy who cried wolf,” Julia Gordon, director of housing finance and policy at the Center for American Progress, said in an e-mail. “They fight any and every regulation and routinely insist that the [fill in the blank] rule will increase the cost of credit or reduce access to credit, which makes it difficult for the regulators to figure out when that’s actually true.”

Federal Financial Analytics, a Washington-based consulting firm, released a study yesterday analyzing possible unintended consequences of overlapping mortgage rules.

Karen Shaw Petrou, author of the study commissioned by the Securities Industry and Financial Markets Association, said the rules will shut out less-than-perfect borrowers.

Rule ‘Tightening’

“Regulators in every cubicle at all of the agencies are tightening each of their rules so drastically that the combination of all of them will stifle a return of private capital to securitization, blocking constructive change at the GSEs to end their conservatorship and limiting credit availability for all but the most gold-plated borrower,” Petrou said in an e-mail.

Parrott, the Obama administration official, said the rules could always be changed if they don’t work.

“Given where the market is today, I’m actually optimistic that we can land these regulations in a pretty good place,” Parrott said. “I think the objective everybody shares is a more stable, healthy system going forward that maintains broad access to credit.”

Original Post on Bloomberg BusinessWeek here: Mortgage Lenders See Tighter Credit Under New U.S. Rules