Brick’s Blog

     This morning I was writing our senators about a defeated amendment proposed in Senate Finance Committee. This particular amendment proposed that the revised Health Reform bill be posted on the internet for 72 hours prior to it being voted on by the Finance Committee. The Finance Committee is chaired by Max Baucus who said about the defeated amendment “This probably sounds a little crazy to some people that we are voting on something before we have seen legislative language.” Do you think?

     Anyway, I am pretty sure that neither of Virginia’s senators sit on the Finance Committee. In fact, I know Warner doesn’t, since all his committee assignments are posted on his website. I wish I could say the same for Webbie. See although Webb is our senior senator, I can’t seem to find his committee assignments posted anywhere on his website. Since all these guys do all day is attend committee meetings, don’t you think Virginians deserve to know how Webbie spends his day?

     T.G.I.F. and that’s mean it’s time for another episode of Foreclosure Friday Flash.

Lots of interesting new things to the market this week and some price reductions on outstanding inventory that now means these properties are on “my radar.”

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See you next Friday!

      As one of those domestic racist gun totin’ astroturfed Nazi terrorists who was in DC on September 12th, I find the grandeur of our Capitol complex spine tingling. Every American should experience it very few years. The last time I had visited the Capitol prior to September 12th was when Gerald Ford laid in state under the Capitol dome. My daughter, Lucy Gordon, and I went on a rainy Labor Day weekend.  As I age, I realize my chances to participate in such an event wanes; and despite Ford’s unelected status, he was still President.  Lucy Gordon and I were both awed by the solemn pomp and ceremony of the occasion which was only amplified by the magnificence of our Capitol.

     Since the events of the 12th were held outdoors, my attention this time was turned to the buildings surrounding the Capitol. In my treks back and forth to the Metro station, I saw numerous legislative office buildings lining the edges of the Capitol complex whose existence for me had been previously unknown. Being of curious mind, when I got home, I looked up what these buildings were and what I discovered floored me.

     Our legislature is comprised of 435 representatives and 100 senators. So how much office space do you the American taxpayer think each of these employees deserves? Well, each of our representatives has over 8,000 square feet allocated to his use. I arrived at this number by taking the square footage of each of the 3 House office buildings and dividing it by our 435 representatives. Of course, in this number is underground parking, but it is still a huge number. Personally, I am delighted with my 10′ x 12′ private office; and frankly, I could get by with one of the 6′ x 8′ cubicles also available at my office. And don’t forget these officials also have local office space in their districts, while our senators have numerous local offices scattered across their states.

     Yet this wasn’t the number that enraged me. Want to take a guess how much office space each senator has? Com’ on, take a guess. After all, our senators are just men of the people, even though some of them have spent millions of their own (or wife’s) money to land one of these $175,000 jobs. Oh, these servants of the people require only 23,000 plus square feet to accomplish your work. With all this square footage available, you would think each could have just one reading room where they could actually read the legislation they mandate upon us.

     Well, it’s Friday, so that must mean there is another episode of Foreclosure Friday Flash.

Not a particularly exciting week for the Bank Owned Inventory, since I only saw one new property that I could get vaguely excited over. And I didn’t see any price adjustments on old inventory that got my blood pumping either.

If you’d like to subscribe to Bank Owned Weekly, click here to subscribe for the West End. Click here for Glen Allen and click here for Midlothian.

Please don’t forget to play “identify” the Hollywood guest in the video. Be the first to identify the actor, the role and the movie and you’ll win a Starbucks card. See you next Friday.

     Here’s where the sales fell in August for the West End. Once again, we are seeing an increasing number of sales above the $ 500,000 plateau, but these numbers pale in comparison to past years.  I’ll try to get the 3 year comparison posted in next few days, so you can have a proper perspective. 

     Sorry about the delay in getting this information out this month. I’ve been trying to catch up on some projects I’ve got going so I’ve been distracted. August to August comparisons for ‘09 versus ‘08 show the current year lagging last year by only 5 %. We are seeing some stabilization in ‘09 and now find the year to date drop to be only slightly over 14 %. And don’t even bother with the comparisons to ‘07, where month to month shows a 23.7 drop and year on year a 40.85 % deficit. The goods news is ‘09 continues to show a stable consistent number of sales each month. My real concern is whether this will continue after the $8,000 tax credit for 1st time home buyers expires in November, but November is just around the corner, so we’ll know shortly. Here’s the comparison.

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     Yesterday, I attended the 912 Project’s March on Washington. Although I had attended the Richmond Tea Party on April 15th downtown, I went unaffiliated. Obviously, a whole lot of other folks went unaffiliated, too; because the U.S. Capital police, by their own admission, were caught woefully unprepared for the size of the crowd. You knew that by the 50-100 people deep lines for Porta Potties. The overflowing trash cans. The hastily erected barricades and snow fences to direct and manage crowd control and traffic.  

     Here’s my video on the 9.12 Project March on Washington. This is all my own footage shot yesterday. What a great way to spend a day – surrounded by several hundred thousand folks who love their country, love its military, love the American spirit of free enterprise, believe in God, and think less government is good.

    I’ve got to admit that I find a Chick-fil-a sandwich one tasty item. Chick-fil-a is definitely in my pantheon of fast food suppliers, but not solely because of the food. It’s their business practices that I admire as much as anything. Having their service folk tell me “it was their pleasure” to serve me is just the start of what I find so right about Chick-fil-a. Well, they did it again today, 9-11-09.

     As I was proceeding east on Broad Street west of Parham, I noticed that the flag at Chick-fil-a was at half mast. Momentarily, the rolodex in my mind starting flipping pages wondering who had died; and then with a huge “duh” it struck me. A quick glance at the surrounding businesses that also fly Old Glory found no one else at half mast. And although it was only slightly past 11 a.m., I had to stop at Chick-fil-a not only for lunch but mostly to commend them for remembering. When I expressed my appreciation to the clerk for his company’s reverence of the day, he proudly told me that he had arrived early at work today for the sole purpose to insure Old Glory flew at her appropriate spot.

     Too often, we hear of the menial nature of fast food service jobs. To my way of thinking, this early rising Chick-fil-a employee may well have performed one of the most important task accomplished today in America. Thanks, Chick-fil-a.

Here’s the latest episode of Foreclosure Friday Flash.

My picks this week are just good solid buys, so if you’re an owner occupant than pay special attention.

And don’t forget to enter our contest. Identify the mystery “Hollywood” guest – actor, role and movie and win a Starbucks card. Congrats to last week’s winner, Rich Iacovetta of Santa Clara, CA. Rich knew it was Gloria Swanson as Norma Desmond in Sunset Boulevard.

If you’re interest in receiving Bank Owned Weekly, then click here for The West End. If you want Glen Allen, then here’s your spot.  And if you Midlothian is your cup of tea, then X’s marks the spot.

     Since getting the sad news of Marshall Coggin’s death on Sunday, my mind has been awhirl in memories of a man who in many ways was my father. You see Marshall Coggin was my godfather; and in all duties Marshall undertook or assumed, there was true dedication beyond the call. Just part of that Flyboy Semper Fi credo that exemplified his life.

    Thursdays in the Northern Neck meant the publication of The Northern Neck News which in many ways was like a party line telephone as it shared the tidbits of various communities faithfully reported by its correspondents strewn across the area.  Anchoring the News most Thursdays was a column, Tale Spinning, penned by the Editor himself, which offered an anecdotal glimpse into the very heart of the Northern Neck and small town America. This morning I unearthed my own time capsule and retrieved a scrapbook compiled by my mother which contained several of these columns. Those Thursday lessons learned so long ago still reverberate today.

     Yesterday, as I drove to the Northern Neck, I was reminded that Thursdays also meant Marshall’s work week was over. As his godchild that often meant there was a weekend lesson awaiting you, too; as Marshall would whisk you away on some day trip adventure. And adventures they always were, because Marshall Coggin was just a big kid himself who loved life, adventure, and the people who were a part of it. I don’t think I have ever known anyone as self-effacing as Marshall Coggin, and that may be the greatest lesson he ever taught me. Rest in peace, good and faithful servant.