Red Light Cameras - REMOVE THEM NOW

Fear and Terror.... that's what I experience everytime I go through the intersection of a red light camera.  The reason? What to do...When you go through the light and it turns yellow right as you get there do you go through?  Do you Stop?

I have long railed against the stupidity of a red light camera.  Today, I experienced the stupidity first hand.

While going through a light on Mexico Rd in St. Peters, the light turned yellow. I was going almost exactly the speed limit, but I realized that I might have an issue going through the light.  So to avoid getting a ticket from the red light camera, I slam on the brakes.  My tires screech and I'm not going to stop, so instead I'm forced to turn right due to the momentum of the car to avoid being in the middle of the intersection.

When I slammed on the brakes, a car behind me had to slam on his brakes, and the car behind had to do the same thing.  Luckily none of us hit each other.  However, what if we had?  This accident would have been cause by the red light camera.  Clearly it was 100% safe for me to go through that light.  However an accident could have been due to it.

In my opinion , Red Light Cameras need to removed immediately.  I belive them to be unconstitutional and have not met one person that disagreed with me.  Even the Governor of Missouri, Jay Nixon has commented on them saying "A picture may be worth a thousand words, but a picture in and of itself is not a conviction."

I encourage anyone to comment below that agrees.  I will be sending a letter to elected officials asking for a ban of them and will include any comments I receive.

Click Here for a list of all Red Light Cameras in St. Louis

$8000 Tax Credit For First Time Buyers

Do you know about the tax credit for first time home buyers that was enacted in the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009?  

See our new page on the bullet points of this plan:

Click Here

Realogy: Here Today, Gone Tomorrow?

A report out today from US News and World Report and Yahoo! Finance listed the 15 companies they believe will not be around in 2010.

(See the news article here)

Right at the top of the list?  Realogy:  The parent company of Coldwell Banker, Century 21, ERA, Better Homes and Gardens, Sotheby's and more.  (did you know that all of these companies are owned by the same entity?)

Let's look at a few facts here:  First of all, Realogy was split off of a larger corporation, Cendant, a few years ago when the market was hot.  The reasoning?  Their real estate divisions were doing great and they thought it was a good time to spin off the company and get the money spinning it off.  A private equity company called Apollo bought the company on April 10, 2007 using a HUGE amount of new debt.  Big problem....they paid a price at the top of the market, and now the business is down significantly and paying the debt payment is getting harder and harder.  They have tried to work things out with their lenders.  (Private investors for the most part.) However, they have been unable to come to an agreement and even lawsuits to get the debt reorganized have failed.  Now, in no way am I saying that the big real estate names are going to die.  However, as they are known now, it is doubtful they will be a) owned by the same company and b) operate in the same way next year.

I am a data fiend and obviously I watch our comeptitors very carefully.   Here is a link to public filings to the SEC by Realogy (Even though they are no longer a public company they are still required to report certain items.)

Other Big Company

Did you know that the other large local company sold less than 50% of all the homes it listed in 2008?  They spend thousands on newspaper advertising, little online comparatively, and demand 7% and even sometimes 8% listings.  Take a look at the stats below:

Big Company Listing Fail

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Comparing Total listings in local MLS (MARIS) to the number of listings sold for each office.