Sustainable Tucson is having a meeting on

August 12th

From 5:45 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

At Joel Valdez main Library, downtown Tucson, Arizona

Featuring: Thomas H. Greco

Title: The Global Financial Meltdown

He will also have his new book available at that time

Three minutes of the Old Pueblo, Tucson Arizona

 Click here to view our 3-minute destination video

Taking Care of Your Brain

What aging can bring: Forgetfulness, decline in mental agility, risk of Alzheimer’s disease.

What the research shows: “Doing things that hit both the left and right sides of the brain, like word puzzles plus mazes and visuals, has been proven to build brainpower,” says Gary Small, M.D., director of the University of California at Los Angeles Center on Aging. Swedish researchers believe there’s also a connection between physical activity and cognitive decline. Their study found that subjects who exercised at least 20 minutes two or more times a week at midlife reduced their risk of developing Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia later by 60 percent. On the nutrition front, a study at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center showed that an essential omega-3 fatty acid counteracts the brain’s production of neuron-damaging amyloid proteins.

What you can do: “Challenge yourself mentally and physically; as little as 10 minutes of exercise a day may lower your risk of Alzheimer’s,” says Small. Eat antioxidant-loaded foods, such as almonds, leafy greens, and blueberries; and if you don’t eat enough fatty fish rich in omega-3 acids, like salmon (at least two servings a week), ask your doctor about taking a daily 1,000-milligram fish-oil supplement.

How To Be Happy In a Recession

With the recession barreling toward us, the road noise has become alarmingly loud. But as the economy contracts, we must resist our natural reflex to contract with it. Instead, we need to do the opposite. Expansion is the best way to survive any crisis.

Add page to favoritesBy Deepak Chopra

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• Explore Deepak’s new online program.
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• Deepak Chopra, Byron Katie, & Robin Sharma - Let the world’s leading mentors guide you.

When a box turtle is crossing the road and it hears a car coming, it reacts by drawing in its head and feet, contracting for protection. Evolution has kept turtles alive for hundreds of millions of years that way. What works as a natural defense isn’t much use, though, when a Yukon or Explorer is barreling toward you. There are times when contracting inward is the very worst thing you can do.

That’s true now in the recession that economists see barreling toward us — the road noise has gotten alarmingly loud already. But as the economy contracts, we must resist our natural reflex to contract with it. Instead, we need to do the opposite. Expansion is the best way to survive any crisis.

The lesson should have sunk in after 9/11, when the whole country learned what it means to contract with fear, anxiety, suspicion, and distrust. We felt threatened by a vast, unseen enemy, which was magnified as large as fear itself.

Fear deprives people of choice. Fear shrinks the world into isolated, defensive enclaves. Fear spirals out of control. Fear makes everyday life seem clouded over with danger.

A lot of people are approaching the economy that way, and not enough leaders are warning them that it’s the worst possible reaction.

To be happy in a recession means, first and foremost, resisting all the threats that fear possesses. Don’t obsess anxiously over what you could lose. Don’t reduce your world to a bank account or a 401k. Isn’t there an upside to losing some “consumer buying power”? To be honest, we went too far with consumerist mania. By any measure this is an inordinately rich country, and instead of mourning sagging profit margins, can’t we use the current slowdown to ask what makes for true personal happiness?

Relationship. Gratitude. Appreciation. Compassion. Mutual regard. Strong social connections. Love you can trust.

I don’t know why it takes a crisis to bring out those fundamental human qualities. But it often does. We all realize that the next video game, the next new car, the next flat-screen TV means nothing compared to the rewards of relating to other people. Yet we live as if the opposite is true. The pursuit of happiness is blocked just as much by indulgent over-consumption as by an economic downturn. More, in fact, an impoverished country like Nigeria recently scored number one in a survey of the happiest countries on earth, while the U.S. has never broken the top ten in any such survey.

Some may protest that expanding and becoming more human is all well and good if you have a job but totally unrealistic if your livelihood is threatened. I don’t think so. Whatever happens, the worst-off will be the ones who need more compassion, kindness, and relating to. They will need real coping skills, not a show of group pity.

There’s a lot more to say about how to be happy in a recession, but the main thing is to remind yourself that it’s possible. Refuse to contract just because the economy does. You have the tools to be happy in the worst of times. They’re just hidden under the box your new iPhone came in.

About Dr. Deepak Chopra:

Acknowledged as one of the world’s greatest leaders in the field of mind-body medicine, Deepak Chopra continues to transform our understanding of the meaning of health. Formerly the chief of staff at Boston Regional Medical Center, Dr. Chopra built a successful endocrinology practice in Boston in the 1980s.
Deepak Chopra is known as the prolific author of over 50 books and more than 100 audio, video, and CD-ROM titles, which have been translated into 35 languages. Many know Deepak Chopra from his regular television presentations for PBS, which include The Happiness Prescription, The Soul of Healing: Body, Mind, and Soul; Body, Mind and Soul: The Mystery and The Magic, one of the most highly viewed and successful fund-raisers in the history of the network; The Way of the Wizard; Alchemy; and The Crystal Cave. More articles from Deepak Chopra at Intent.

About Mentors Channel

The Mentors Channel is a resource of growth, empowerment & Inspiration. It is the place in which you can find the world’s most famous mentors offering you interactive guided coaching programs, based on their world-wide bestselling books. Each of these programs is designed to support and guide you by learning and practicing the wisdom from their best sellers in your life. Our mentors will guide you towards a great change in your life, one that you have been dreaming of but were never sure how to obtain. Learn More:

Additional Mentors

Byron Katie’s: The Work on the Web is based on The Work process of Byron Katie and her bestselling books. This program helps people stop suffering, reduce stress, eliminate fear and guides them on a journey to reach happiness and peace. Learn More:

Robin Sharma’s: Leadership For Everyone: based on the bestselling book: “Leadership Wisdom from The Monk Who Sold His Ferrari” This program shows people how to un-leash and shape the leader within themselves and reach exquisite results and success. Learn More:

Get inspiration for your own yard

Circular patios can easily fit into gardens of any style, and they can be constructed of various materials. (For do-it-yourselfers, a circle is also the easiest shape to draw accurately. After you view the examples, follow our step-by-step instructions to build an elegant slate patio.)

Desert terrace
A circular patio of tinted concrete aggregate is edged with rose flagstone. The naturalistic spa backing, tough plantings and the paving’s rosy tones visually connect the patio to the surrounding desert.

http://realestate.msn.com/slideshow.aspx?cp-documentid=17326313&gt1=35000

Real Estate Outlook: Rates and Applications Improve

By Kenneth R. Harney

March 24, 2009

We’ve all learned not to get too far out ahead of occasional spurts of good economic news, and not to assume too early that the long-awaited real estate turnaround has arrived.

But for the past few weeks the positives have been significant and sustained. You really can’t ignore them.

Take mortgage rates and new loan applications. Rates hit their low point in decades last week, and it looks like they’re going lower in the wake of the Federal Reserve’s announcement that it plans to pump hundreds of billions more into mortgage securities.

Average thirty year fixed rates dropped to 4.89 percent, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’s latest national survey. Fifteen year rates hit four and a half percent with one point.

Not surprisingly, loan applications are rocketing. Last week they were up by 21 percent over the previous week and are now 31 percent higher than applications were at the same time in 2008. A lot of the volume is for refinancing, but applications for home purchases are up as well.

Meanwhile, housing starts took a surprise jump of 22 percent in February over January’s depressed levels. Most of the increase was attributable to apartments and condominiums, but single family starts were up by one percentage point, and new home permits were up by 11 percent, after months of sharp declines.

Even sales may be starting to stir in the depressed new home sector. A survey of sales at sixteen hundred new home communities in 80 metropolitan markets by John Burns Real Estate consultants found small but noteworthy “improvements in sales that can’t be explained by just “seasonal ” changes in buying habits, according to the study.

On the west coast of Florida, builder John Cannon of John Cannon Homes told the Sarasota Herald Tribune that “there’s a different buzz in the air (now) than we had sixty to ninety days ago. People are (suddenly) out there looking. Astute buyers know that they (can) take advantage of low pricing” and today’s bargain financing rates.

Too much optimism here? After all, unemployment keeps rising and the national economy is still in recession. But Fed chairman Ben Bernanke sees reason for cautious optimism about the months ahead. He told a national TV audience last week that the recession will likely be over later this year.

“I do think we will get it stabilized” and then “pick up steam” as the recovery gets rolling into next year.

But here’s what we believe at Realty Times: Real estate as a sector will see its own recovery sooner than most sectors. The signs are pointing that way already.

Copyright © 2009 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.

By Phoebe Chongchua

March 6, 2009

Don’t let a sluggish economy get you down. There are reasons to shop for personal items—including a new home. I recently saw an advertisement for a new car that said you could return the car in the first year if you lose your job. While there may not be that incentive for homes yet, some other perks might give you reason to start your housing search.

If you can afford to buy, consider making homeownership a goal this year, especially if you haven’t owned a principal residence in three years prior to buying. The new stimulus package sweetens the deal for homebuyers who purchase a residence on or after January 1, 2009, and before December 1, 2009. The incentive is for first-time homebuyers who remain in their home for at least three years. It provides a credit for 10 percent of the home purchase price, up to an $8,000 limit. The credit can be taken on your 2008 or 2009 tax return.

If you close on a home after the April 15 tax deadline, you can apply for an extension provided that you close on your home before the extension deadline of October 15. If you’re extra speedy and have already filed your 2008 return, don’t worry—you can file an amendment to claim the credit. You have three years to do that. You’ll need IRS Form 1040X to do that.

Taking the credit on your 2009 return or getting the benefit now, before filing your return, by adjusting your income wage withholding are also options.

The full credit applies to those first-time homebuyers whose modified adjusted income is less than $75,000 or $150,000 (filing jointly). The credit amount drops as your income rises. And if your income is over $95,000 or $170,000 (filing jointly) then you’re out of luck—the credit is eliminated.

Be sure to speak to experts to ask questions as some other qualifications apply.

Yet another reason, you may want to shop around is to get in on the action while it’s still a buyers’ market. Others certainly see the U.S. as a stable place to invest. According to the Association of Foreign Investors (AFIRE), a survey released earlier this year showed that more than 53 percent of respondents ranked the “U.S. as the country providing the most stable and secure real estate investments.”

Foreigners from China, Thailand, Vietnam, Mexico, Europe, and South America are traveling to the U.S. to see what real estate opportunities exist in the U.S. Areas such as Las Vegas, New York, and Miami have been infiltrated with foreigners who are buying now to take advantage of their stronger currency or the opportunity to stash their cash in a dollar-dominated place. While many are looking for commercial properties, some are vying for residential properties too.

“This is the greatest opportunity we’ve had in 50 years,” says Billy Procida, president of William Procida, Inc., a turnaround management firm for middle market real estate companies. He says even though there is a lot of inventory on the market, certain properties will have less interest and be a better bargain.

“If you buy something that is pristine, painted, clean—brand new—you’re going to be competing … . This is truly the time when the folks who are willing to roll up their sleeves [and do some work] will benefit from it,” says Procida.

So if you’re ready to buy but wondering if you can qualify for a loan, Procida recommends the following:

1. Put down 20 percent on a home or don’t buy it. He says even if you can get a larger loan, don’t risk it. “Buy within your means. Look how we got [in this crisis],” says Procida. He adds, “There are still [people] out there doing no income verification loans.” Bottom line—buy what you can afford.
2. Check your credit. Procida says one of his family members found out that there was $20,000 of erroneously reported credit debt. “It’s absolutely incorrect, but it was on there,” says Procida.
3. Clean up your credit. “If you have a delinquency clean it up, says Procida. And he advises that you check your report once it’s been cleaned up because sometimes the credit agencies neglect to update your credit report.
4. Be prepared. Get all your financial records such as two years of tax returns in order and have them handy to make the loan process go smoothly.
5. Liquidity is key. Don’t go buy a car before you plan to purchase a home (even if you can return it). Having cash helps to show you are qualified to buy at the price point you want.

Copyright © 2009 Realty Times. All Rights Reserved.

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