I spent just over an hour waiting to vote this morning. The lady at the door said that this was the shortest the line had been since the line started at 6:15, forty five minutes before the polls opened.

Was I upset?

Not even a little bit.

The news media is already squawking about people having to stand in line for hours, uphill, both directions, in inhumane conditions, after which they discover that they are not listed, or had to cast a provisional ballot that may or may not be counted in the end.  They will proclaim how bad our process has become, and that we are no better than a third world country because of this.

That’s fine - it is, after all, their First Amendment right to say these things.  The media is in business to sell a story, not to tell the truth or even the bigger picture.  It is also my right to once and for all say to the media, “Horse squeeze!”

I live in a country where our political leaders are chosen by the people, not for the people.

I live in a country where one does not have to pay a penny to cast a vote.

I live in a country where one does not have to stick their finger in indelible ink to prove that they voted.

I live in a country where one can freely choose to vote for any candidate, for any reason, without fear of retribution or bodily harm.

Such has not always been the case. So if it takes an hour of my time to exercise this privilege, that’s okay.  If I had to wait three hours to vote, that would have been my choice to wait -or not.

Because I also live in a country where one can freely choose to not vote at all, without fear of retribution or harm.

So go vote for your candidates of choice today. You can choose based on religion, skin color, issues, how their election will affect your wallet, your Myrtle Beach real estate, or anything you can think of that matters to you.

And tomorrow, we can compare notes and rejoice or commisserate as appropriate.

We’ve been telling you for months to stop listening to the media talking heads convincing the public of the evils of real estate.  Today we have three new reasons why the talking heads are wrong and Myrtle Beach real estate is still king.

1. The numbers are up. Tom Maeser, real estate market analyst for the Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors, said that prices for single family homes were up 11% in September over the same period a year ago. Over the summer we reported that prices were stabilizing, and now the numbers show that the tide has turned.

2. Learn from history.  During the late 1970’s and early 1980’s, if you were lucky enough to purchase a home, you paid as much as 22% interest in a financial environment of 13% inflation. Savings & Loans (mortgage lending banks of that era) were failing all over the country and were taken over by the government (remember the Resolution Trust Corporation?).  Foreclosures were rampant and put today’s mole hill into perspective.

3. Who do you trust?  If you are considering jumping into real estate (or jumping back into real estate), whose advice should you follow: (a) the ratings-driven nattering nabobs of the media, or (b) two of the most successful real estate “people” in modern history?  Warren Buffett and Donald Trump have been buying for almost a year. Builders and MLS report decreasing inventory. Now we have prices moving in the right direction. A year from now, nobody will care what the media said, but you can be sure that Warren and Donald will have been in the right place, at the right time, again.

And we told you so.

They’ve done it again.  Actualy, they do it every few days.  If you regularly fly to Myrtle Beach (or want to) for real estate reasons or just for fun, you really should check out Spirit Air’s sales as well as DirectAir’s sales.

The Dow opened under 8,000 this morning.  The last two weeks is what’s known as Time Travel for Investors… trouble is, your time machine is going in the wrong direction!

So what are we supposed to do when five years of our retirement savings disappear almost overnight?

The “gurus” tell us to keep saving money away, but since October 12, 2007 the Dow went from 14,093 to under 8,000 today - which means that the gurus have lost close to 40% of your money! “Keep working hard…this will all blow over!” they repeat over and over.  Meanwhile, banks are dropping like flies! We only hear about the big guys - WaMu, IndyMac, Wachovia… but the number of bank failures in 2008 stands at 30 and we’re not done yet.  How much more stress can our banking system handle?

Do you believe anyone who tells you not to worry, since you’ll have Social Security and Medicare?

So what SHOULD you do?

Here’s some free advice.  Don’t stick your head in the sand…take action!  A good, solid plan using in-demand Myrtle Beach real estate to build cash flow and long term appreciation is more useful today than ever before.  Do YOU have a plan?

Our Carolina Income For Life members do.

We have been saying for months that, right or wrong, foreclosure will be the new bankruptcy.  That is, five years from now, lenders will look at a 2008 or 2009 foreclosure on your credit report as more indicative of “victim of circumstance” than “huge credit risk”.  Now it seems that, at least in Chicago, the long arm of the law agrees.

Cook County, Illinois Sheriff Thomas Dart said today that he will no longer evict occupants of foreclosed homes, effective immediately.

Dart told CNN, “The people we’re interacting with are, many times, oblivious to the financial straits their landlord might be in.  They are the innocent victims here and they are the ones all of us must step up and find some way to protect.”

The banks are howling that the Sheriff should be found in contempt of court if he makes good on his threat.

We will follow this story…