Reuters News Service reported this week that people in the age group of 100+ years believe the 2008 election will be the most important election ever. It eclipses Roosevelt vs Hoover and Kennedy vs Nixon in the majority opinion of 1000 elders polled.

By the way, 70% also plan to vote in the fall elections…

Just slightly off the subject here, but the number of centenarians who have dated someone they met on internet dating sites equals the number of baby boomers who have done the same. That statistic is reported to be 3% of both age groups. Surprised? I am.

It’s called HR 3221 and it’s done. President Bush signed it yesterday so now it’s history -  Congress passed this bill to ease our current mortgage crisis; some call it a mortgage bailout.

What does it mean to real estate professionals looking for new business?

Well, it means buyers will now be required to actually have cash downpayments, just like the old days. And sellers will have to understand that their buyers will need at least 2% more of their own money in order to qualify for FHA-backed loans. Not too bad, really.

FHA has a new minimum down payment of 3%, and all builder/seller contributions to downpayment assistance programs have been eliminated. That means fewer buyers will qualify for FHA mortgages, but it’s better than the probable scenario if government backing disappeared entirely.

Oh, and FHA capped permanent loans in higher-priced markets at $625,000. Still not too bad.

What do you think? Comments welcome.

One panel discussion here at Inman Real Estate CONNECT San Francisco identified an important problem in the mortgage bailout situation.

The problem is particularly dear to the heart of real estate investors like myself, and the problem is that houses are no longer guaranteed equity-building assets. Seasoned investors know that only too well, but younger investors may not have experienced a real estate downturn since accumulating their portfolios. They bought their own personal residence with the same expectation of profit as their rental houses and apartment buildings.

So, homeowners who own one piece of real estate and investors who own several are often experiencing the same reality shock - a house is not guaranteed to appreciate.

It was public perception of guaranteed appreciation that has driven the buying frenzy the last few years, and now that perception is forced to change - for all of us. Maybe the mortgage crisis is really a crisis in perception. Maybe we should call it an appreciation crisis.

Here I am among the blogging experts at Inman Real Estate CONNECT San Francisco, listening to their opinions for hours each day. Not unlike politics, blogging can be a hot topic.

But, hey! Since I’m blogging here I’m just going to give you my opinion on the subject, too.

Blogging is writing, it’s not art. It’s supposed to be fact and opinion, right? So I figure that those old, time-tested 5 W’s of Journalism apply to blogging in cyberspace as much as ink on paper: Who, What, Where, When & Why. That’s what people want to know, and if a blogger wants readers he or she had better tell them what they want to know.

People are busy. Nobody has time to absorb lots of personal opinion that isn’t steeped in facts that - and here’s the most important part - help me in some way. That’s what I want and I’m betting it’s what you want, too. I read for information that helps me.

This conference is awash with catch phrases. A person could drown in them…

So my summary is this: stick to the 5 W’s and know who is reading your blog so you can make sure that what you write helps them in some way.

Well, you can imagine the buzz about the bailout here at Inman CONNECT real estate conference in San Francisco right now. I picked up a Wall Street Journal that somebody left at breakfast and read, “… conservative estimates by the Congressional Budget Office say the cost for this bailout will run to $41.7 billion, with $16.8 billion offset by higher taxes. No one has any idea of the real cost. The most expensive provision gives the Treasury temporary authority to pour money into Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. The CBO says this could cost $100 billion, or it could cost “nothing…” 

Uh, is it just me or is anybody else wondering where these billions and billions of dollars will be coming from? 

And, has there ever been a time when all of our real wallets will be so deeply affected by our vote?