BILL CHERRY'S GREATEST DALLAS PARK CITIES REAL ESTATE BLOG: January 2009

If Congress really wants to turn the economy around quickly:

1,  Require credit card banks to reduce interest rates on all existing and future credit extensions to 200 basis points above their cost of Fed Funds, regardless of the perceived risk of the cardholder. 

2.  Immediately and for the next 18 months, cut income tax withholding on individual taxpayers by 50% and adjust personal income taxes accordingly.

3.  Immediately discontinue taxing income generated by unemployment benefits, Social Security benefits and other qualified retirement plan disbursement for one year.

4.  Any bailout funds given financial institutions must be used for third-party loans and the loans secured by the appropriate amount of 1st position preferred stock of the bank, issued in the name of the US.

Each of these immediately puts spendable income in the hands of the consumer.  That is the only efficient way to 1) turn the economy around and 2) know whether or not its working without having to wait for two or more years.

Four times this weekend, with the last concert to begin Sunday at 2:30 PM at the Meyerson Symphony Center, Dallas residents and visitors have had a perfect opportunity to see and hear a musical package that is as close to an anomaly as I have experienced since my childhood.

<<--Leonard Salatkin

The Dallas Symphony, augmented with so many additional musicians that there was only room on the stage for the back quarter of the 9 foot Steinway grand, totally blew its symphonic guts out, bringing the audience to its feet at the end of the Dvorak finale, with hoops and hollers of praise of a kind and quality last experienced at a Texas-OU football game.

The occasion was very special.  One of the world's greatest conductors, Leonard Salatkin, was the guest maestro.  One of the world's greatest harpists, Yolanda Kondonassis, pulled the Lyon & Healy Salzedo harp strings almost to their breaking point. 

Yolanda Kononassis-->>

And the audience heard the premiere of the two-time-winning Pulitzer Prize Chinese composer, Bright Sheng's new concerto for harp and orchestra.  It's titled "Never Far Away for Harp and Orchestra."  And Mr. Sheng was there to explain the composition to us before it began.

The program started with Maestro Salatkin's interpretation of an interesting piece by Rossini.  It's known to Americans as "Overture to the Thieving Magpie." 

It was followed by Ms. Kondonassis twenty minute harp solo, backed by the full symphony, of Mr. Sheng's composition.  "Never..." is a fascinatingly complex mixture of sounds, music styles and cords and discords.  Mr. Sheng's purpose was to integrate Chinese-style music with European romantic-style music. 

There is little question in my mind that this composition will live as a classic for generations.

And finally, we heard "Symphony No. 9 in E minor, Opus 95" by Dvorak.  This is the symphony that everyone knows and is commonly called "The New World Symphony."

<<--Bright Sheng

Maestro Salatkin normally conducts entire performances without a score in front of him, and he did this time as well.  I have probably heard most major American symphonic orchestras and a  bunch of civic ones, play this Dvorak piece, either in the concert hall or on record.

Never have I heard --- never of all of them have I heard --- a performance that was anywhere near as well interpreted, conducted and executed as it was by Maestro Salatkin and the Dallas Symphony Orchestra.

The Meyerson for the Friday night performance was, perhaps, one-half full. 

I absolutely couldn't imagine couples sitting in all of the Dallas "in" places, dropping hundreds for a scant dinner, horribly overpriced wine and $20 cocktails, when for less than fifty bucks they could have had this magnificant Dallas Symphony experience.  And they would have it to remember for a lifetime.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 44th Year Selling America!

214 503-8563

1 800-314-7110

Copyright 2009 - William S. Cherry

I was born at the beginning of World War II.  That, I suppose, does seem to most like a long time ago, but it really isn't.  Not even a century has passed.

Yet, I knew many black men and women who could not read or write.  And I knew many who could not sign their name. 

And twenty years later, often times a black person would bring his paycheck into the bank were I worked, and we'd have to get a couple of witnesses to attest by signing below his "x" that he was the payee.  We're talking now about 1962.

At fourteen (1954) I got my first job.  I was a soda jerk at a neighborhood drugstore.  Single dip ice cream cones were still a nickle.  Sometimes black children would come in to buy an ice cream cone and they'd sit at one of the stools at the soda fountain while I was scooping their treat.

The pharmacist would call me over and insist that I tell them they couldn't sit at the counter.  My answer was always the same, "Part of the nickel people pay for ice cream goes for rent on a stool while they eat it.  I'm sorry, but I'm not going to tell that fellow he can't sit there."  The pharmacist would then read the boy the riot act, while unhappy with me that I didn't see it his way.

This week, less than a half-century later, the black boy is now a man, he can sit wherever he wants, he can read and write and sign his name, and he's going to be sworn in as President of the United States.  Oh, I know it's not the same person who sat at the soda fountain, not even the one who couldn't sign his name or read or write.  Nevertheless, he is most certainly their powerful representative.

I don't want to ever hear again that America hasn't come a long way.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS - HIGHLAND PARK

Our 44th Year Selling America!

214 503-8563

Toll Free: 800 314-7110

The financial industry -- especially the major commercial banks -- continues to take huge write-offs for under collateralized loans, and it is expected that the next serious hit to them will come from haircuts they'll take from business bankruptcies that are sure to multiply this year.

Money that has been all but given them, and Fed interest rates at a rate probably lower than they have ever been in my lifetime, don't seem to be helping them or the consumer. 

Rather than revitalize their loan portfolios where there is still life, the common mentality seems to be 1) purchase the assets of smaller banks and 2) continue to squeeze every dime of interest out of borrowers.

For years, there have been two and only two rules of banking that were both common and necessary for them to have very low risks and to be very profitable.  Here they are:

1.  Make loans to people and companies that can and will pay them back.

2.  Make your spread 2 points higher than the rate you are paying for money.

That's it.  The whole shebang. 

The rates banks are charging credit card users, for an example, bump federal usury laws.  We're talking about 20% and more in most cases.  Yet, the banks overall cost of money is less than 5%.  So customers who should be paying 7% are paying 20%.

And as the public's personal economies lessen, they are far more likely to default on loans than they would otherwise.  Consequently, it appears that the federal government will need to institute some rules and tests to keep banks from continuing to provide a major reason for the failing of the US economy.

How many of your friends are beginning to show signs of their net worths tanking?  It doesn't have to be that way, and shouldn't be especially when it's the public's money that's keeping financial institutions solvent.  Banks need to be required to readjust rates on existing credit to match the proper spread on the price they are paying for funds.

And funds the federal government has pumped into to the banks' capital accounts need to be used to make loans, not buy other banks.  That was never the deal.

Copyright 2009 - William S. Cherry

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 44th Year Selling America

214 503-8563

800 314-7110

Tonight our Dallas PBS station broadcasted an extremely well-done documentary showing performances of Elvis, primarily in Las Vegas.  It was titled the 25th Anniversary.

In addition to the actual performances, it is an interesting montage of the show's work throughout those years, many of the back up people with him for years.  You'll see the Stamps, for an example, who were one of the nation's finest gospel groups backing Elvis.  J.D. Sumner, the best bass singer ever, there to glissando down the scale to the final note.

J.D. Sumner ===>>

My friend of fifty years, Buzzy Hart, has been known for years as the world's best Elvis impersonator.  And for years he performed throughout the U.S., although his real-life job was as a butcher in a big meat packing plant in Chicago.

I have two CDs of Buzzy's work.  One is a compilation of Elvis' most famous tunes.  The other is as Elvis singing gospel songs.  They show Buzzy's outstanding talent.

As I was watching the real Elvis performances this evening, it occurred to me that a good producer could recreate those Las Vegas Elvis spectaculars with Buzzy playing Elvis.  I wonder if this will ever happen?

It would very definitely be a big drawing money-maker.

<<---Buzzy Hart Playing "Elvis at 75"

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Selling America for 44 Years

214 503-8563

My hometown is Galveston, Texas.  It's on a barrier island just off of the Great State of Texas.  I've not lived there in more than three years, but I still remain homesick.  

Galveston, with some frequency, is hit by hurricanes.  The one that everyone talked about until 2008 was the famous 1900 Storm that did huge damage and killed at least 6,000 citizens. 

But Galveston recovered and handled storm after storm unil September 2008...almost to the day 108 years after the 1900 Storm came ashore.   That's when Hurricane Ike struck. 

Even in spite of the long concrete seawall that Galveston installed after the 1900 Storm, a seawall that was supposed to protect the city from 1900 Storm-style devastation, it caused such damage that if Galveston recovers at all, it will take years and billions.  

Seventeen thousand of the city's population -- that's 30% -- left and with no plans to come back to renew their lives on the Island.  

The famous University of Texas Medical Branch, worth many, many millions, was crippled from flood waters and now appears to be struggling to find a reason to not return to its full glory.   

Unless I missed something, Texas Governor Rick Perry has not personally visited the island since the storm, and most of the help one would expect the state to provide in such situations is, at best, on the back burner and the fire has probably been permanently turned off.  

Presidents George Herbert Walker Bush and Bill Clinton did come to see.  They came to see if they could figure out a way they could help.  

U.S. Congresswoman from Houston, Sheila Jackson Lee, oft times the butt of criticism from conservatives, took it upon herself to insist that the federal offices get busy and get involved.  State Representative Sylvester Turner began putting pressure on the state offices. And Galveston is not in either's district.  

But last week a check came in the mail.  That was the surprise.  It was a personal check and it was unsolicited.  The Obamas sent a donation of "more than $1,000."

Thank you, Mr. and Mrs. Obama.

Gaither Homecoming gospel music singer and my friend, Janet Paschal, sent this in an email today.  She said she didn't know who wrote it.  She had inadvertently neglected to include the author's name when she jotted his thought down years ago.

Nevertheless, it is exactly precisely correct, and I wanted to share it with you.

Life is not a journey to the grave with the intention 
of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but
rather to skid in broadside, thoroughly used up, totally
worn out....

And those of you who know Miss Janet will be pleased to know that after her terrible bout with breast cancer a few years ago, she remains cancer free.

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 44th Year Selling America

214 503-8563

800 314-7110

My lifelong school chum, Elaine Mitrovich, and I often discuss with gratitude that we were molded to be as we are.  Elaine sent this to me this evening.  I want to share it with you.

It's the second part that says it all....

CHARLES SCHULTZ PHILOSOPHY


The following is the philosophy of Charles Schultz, the creator of the 'Peanuts' comic strip. You don't have to actually answer the questions. Just read the e-mail straight through, and you'll get the point.

 1. Name the five wealthiest people in the world.
 2. Name the last five Heisman trophy winners.
 3. Name the last five winners of the Miss America.
 4. Name ten people who have won the Nobel or Pulitzer Prize.
 5. Name the last half dozen Academy Award winners for best actor and actress.
 6. Name the last decade's worth of World Series winners.
 

HOW DID YOU DO?

The point is, none of us remember the headliners of yesterday. These are no second-rate achievers. They are the best in their fields. But the applause dies. Awards tarnish.. Achievements are forgotten. Accolades and certificates are buried with their owners.

 
HERE'S THE IMPORTANT QUIZ.  SEE HOW YOU DO ON THIS ONE.
 
 1. List a few teachers who aided your journey through school.
 2. Name three friends who have helped you through a difficult time.
 3. Name five people who have taught you something worthwhile.
 4. Think of a few people who have made you feel appreciated and special.
 5. Think of five people you enjoy spending time with. 
   
   
 EASIER?

THE LESSON:

The people who make a difference in your life are not the ones with the most credentials, the most money, or the most awards. They are the ones that care.

 "Don't worry about the world coming to an end today. It's already tomorrow in Australia." (Charles Schultz)

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 44th Year Selling America!

214 503-8563

800 314-7110

Patty and I were sitting in a business' reception room today, and I was thumbing through the magazines.  I came across an article on Michael Dell.  It could have been written yesterday or last year.  I didn't get around to checking the magazine's publication date.

<<<---MICHAEL DELL

What it said was that for the period of time that he had others running his company, its quality of products, service and its overall position in the marketplace had substantially diminished.

So, the article says, now he has a company that searches out everything written about Dell, especially those things in blogs and other Internet features.  That company passes them to Dell and they supposedly use them as accurate critiques to better their service and products.

That's Michael Dell's way of regaining the company's market share.

Well, I'm posting my experience here now, and we'll see if we hear from Dell or if they take my comments seriously.

1.  We leased a Dell lap top three years ago.  The thing has never worked properly and calling Dell and asking that they replace it or service it, each time started a very unpleasant sparing contest.  It was, therefore, never fixed or replaced, and we did our best to keep from having to use it.

2.  I do not believe the people I spoke with at Dell were in America, and I further do not believe they had proficiency in English.  I would say something, and they would read a response.  Problem was, what they read had nothing to do with what I said.

3.  Dell Financial Services does not process payments in a timely fashion.  Instead, they prefer to have a guy/woman from "the other country" call and read the riot act to you for not having your $32.00 payment in on time.  And they are relentless.  They call several times a day until the Dell people in AMERICA get around to updating your account.

Each time they call, they belligerently want you to give them your bank account information so they can immediately charge your account with the payment.  Like I'm going to give some stranger my bank information?  No other company acts like this. 

4.  So our lease on the Dell laptop that has never been serviceable runs out at the end of this month.  They want to know if we want to continue the lease, buy it outright or send it back.  And then the say that they're hopeful we'll get with them and lease more Dell equipment.

That answer was decided almost three years ago, and we haven't changed our minds. And while we're at it, where, Mr. Dell, is the box to return it in and the address in India where it should be sent?

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 44th Year Selling America

214 503-8563

I loved the Galveston neighborhood I grew up in.  My parents bought their first and only home when I was 1.  Most of those who lived in that neighborhood had, too, and they never left either. 

Neighbors for life. 

After my dad passed away at 71, my mom continued to live in their home for another 23 years.  A sociologist, Dr. Allen Martin, mused in one of his papers that that particular neighborhood seemed to be like few others.  Homeowners rarely sold, and those who did often returned.

I have spent all of my years in the real estate business trying to give people the same experience I had, by helping them find a home where they could build and nurture their families, and with the hopes they'd never move from there.  The dependable nest of their lives.

Many who have devoted their careers to the real estate business love it as much as I do.  And there are a lot of us here on Active Rain like that. 

It's a lovely business for those who have it built into their souls that everyone should grow up and live in their own home. 

I'm just as sure and as enthusiastic about this as I was when I became a broker.  That was in 1964.  I had black hair then.  And lots of the new homes I was selling had orange or turquoise shag carpet inside and soon would have a house full Danish modern furniture sitting on top of that shag carpet.  And one of the popular client presents I'd give them was a plastic rake.  (If you don't know why, email me!)

BILL CHERRY, REALTORS

DALLAS

Our 44th Year Selling America

214 503-8563

800 314-7110