Life in the Tucson Area, in a slow economy

In better economic times when I sold a house to a client, I would feel very happy, satisfied, and fulfilled because I found them the perfect dream home. But yesterday, when I handed my clients the keys to the house that they had just purchased, I had mixed emotions. I was happy for them because they got a very nice home for a very, very good price. If the seller was not in financial trouble, the house would have been sold for more than I estimate $50,000 additional. But this was a short sale, and the lender simply wanted to get one more bad asset off their books. (In a short sale, a distressed homeowner avoids outright foreclosure by selling his home for less than the value of the existing mortgage. The lender loses money on this type of sale, but it is less costly than if the bank forced the homeowner to go into foreclosure.)

As I say, I was happy for my clients because they bought a very nice house that they could afford for a low price. But at the same time, I felt really bad for the seller. He lost his home and now has to rent a place to live. I don't know what his particular financial trouble was, but he is young and single so I suppose he can rebound and start over again. I don't think many of the short sale or foreclosed homeowners are in that same position. It may take them years to get back what they have lost. I don't want to judge or speculate how some of the homeowners get into short sale or foreclosure situations, but it is heartbreaking to see so many people similarly affected.

In just this last week, we have heard from three of our friends, in differing parts of the country, who have been laid off. I just hope things get better soon for the country and the people.

The shops and restaurants in Tucson are very quiet these days for economic reasons but also because the tourists and snowbirds have left for the summer. But the good thing is that in the Tucson area there are still quite a number of retired people who are relatively well off. I think the Tucson area is faring better these days than the rest of Arizona. Restaurants and resorts are offering specials, discounts, and packages. Barry and I like to take advantage of these shopping and dining specials. Like many of our friends and neighbors, from all economic levels, we are trying to cut back on our extra spending and focus on essentials until the financial recovery kicks in.

Instead of buying flowers to brighten our home, Barry goes out to the backyard every other day to cut some of our fresh roses and places them in our big dining table crystal vase. We shop at Sprouts now for their reasonably priced produce, and we try to buy mainly sales items from the big chain grocery stores. For entertainment, we are still reading books and watching movies, but we go to the library for our books and rent or borrow the films we watch. In these times, we are reminded that we are lucky that we can still afford the things that we enjoy, and we're very grateful that our kids are growing up cheerful, having what they need overall, and are about to become productive and useful citizens when they shortly leave school.