I check the US Recession: News & Discussion thread and there are lots of postings on how the national economy is doing.

 

Considering there are conflicting views on our states ability to draw new business and create and/or maintain jobs, I thought I would ask how the economy is personally affecting UO members.

 

The economy has shown signs of slow growth after four years of horrid results. 

 

Looking back at 2007 and looking at your lifestyle today, are you economically/financially better or worse?

 

 

What affect has the economy had on you?

 

 

How much time do you have?

 

What affect has the economy had on you?

 

 

How much time do you have?

 

Leave it to you!  Laaaawd!

Well, considering that I managed to survive the NCC-PNC merger I think things have been going my way

^Ditto about that PNC/NCC merger here.

We were grad students still in '07 and one of us managed to get a full-time t-t gig so by the measure we are much better off. Though the market for me is practically non-existent and am contemplating a new career to get a gig.

I check the US Recession: News & Discussion thread and there are lots of postings on how the national economy is doing.

 

Looking back at 2007 and looking at your lifestyle today, are you economically/financially better or worse?

 

 

I'm worse off.  After being in a stable job, working my way up in a construction company for 6 yrs, I was laid off due to no work.  Bounced around to 3 other companies in 08 & 09.  Finally settled at a good stable position but it's about $20k yr less than what I was making at the first place.

I had to move across the country for a job.  Oregon and my job are both great, but I wasn't really looking to leave Cincinnati and uproot my whole family.

I'm back to about where I was 3yrs ago.  It was a little bumpy between then and now but I made it.

Lost my job that I hated at Key, took about a year off, then opened my own business, which I love.  Suck it, economy!

effect

My wife and I lost teaching jobs in Wisconsin and had to leave my nice little spot in downtown Port Washington. 

 

The only place I could find a job was in Cleveland, so I moved back to my hometown and now live in a place in Lakewood that is twice the size of my old spot for $25 a month cheaper.  I also make about $5000 more a year. 

 

To be honest, I'd say the economy going in the crapper and causing me to lose my job was one of the best things that ever happened to me. 

 

  Didn't lose my job but lost some friends. Cost of recreational activites including cost of driving to the activities has become prohibitive for some people.

Lost my job that I hated at Key, took about a year off, then opened my own business, which I love.  Suck it, economy!

 

OK MorningTheft Griffin!  LOL

The hit has been manageable for us. Not fun, but minimal compared to some.  All bonuses have been stopped at my job and mr RNRs, and that was a hefty bump in our yearly income.  We also do not have any 401k match now at my job, that was discontinued a few years ago and I just started in the plan about that time, so I'm seeing a dip in my income because of my 401k contribution, which is not padded/offset by a workplace contribution, so that's like another "cut" in pay.  Our health insurance premiums have gone sky freaking high in the past couple of years and they are going to increase again next year.  The amt of money I pay for insurance premiums each month for me and the baby (mr RNR is on his own plan through his work) is staggering, it is a huge chunk of money. We may investigate moving the baby to mr.'s plan next year. His plan is more preventative in nature so if you only have routine visits, it can be affordable. I had the baby in my plan because I wasn't sure if he would have any problems, and he did have a milk allergy and we had to see some specialists about that which would have been very, very expensive in mr.'s plan, but compared to what I'm paying to have him covered under my insurance, I'm not sure that it's worth the cost. 

 

Because of the insane actions by the credit card companies, we were hit pretty hard, because all of our cards increased their APRs to very, very high rates and there was nothing we could do about it.  Some of the cards we closed and are just paying on, in order to retain the low APR we had in place previously (you can either close the card and keep the current/low APR or keep it open and pay the new one). But this meant that the couple of cards that we do use had increased APR and so we've paid a lot more interest there.  We have made a little bit of headway with debt in that mr recently completed his 4 year consumer credit counseling debt repayment plan, but that was only about 1/3 of our total debt.  Now that the money for that monthly payment has been freed up, I should be able to concentrate more on paying down/off some additional cards and in another 2 years, we might be in a good place.  Unfortunately, mr.'s car is dying and once we go back to having a car payment, that will be yet more money we can't send towards paying credit.

 

But we were both lucky to keep our jobs and not have to take an actual pay cut of any kind.  I would say we are a little lower than where we were a few years ago, but it's not staggeringly different.

Well, if you recall, before the great financial meltdown I was going to open a bar in Chicago's south loop near McCormick place.  Then financing for my partners master plan fell through so he did not want  to open a business there at the time.

I had left my full time job in automotive to work contract in China to make some serious money before opening the bar.  I was working for a GM plant there, needless to say the plant was mothballed.

No one was hiring welding engineers or bartenders in Chicago at the time, so I had to look outside of my beloved Chicago and Great Lakes region.

 

I moved to New Orleans for a military contracting job.  Hated the job, loved the city.  Just took another job in Houston in the oil industry.  Now I love my job, and hate the city its in, so I drive back to NOLA every weekend.  The plan is to move back to Chicago in 3 years and open that bar.

In exactly the same place. Loss opportunity is really the only hit that I have taken. I made it through the lay offs here. Waiting for things to loosen up so I can move on.

Lost my job that I hated at Key, took about a year off, then opened my own business, which I love. Suck it, economy!

 

Love this one. This gives encouragement to everyone who hates their job and wants to make it on their own. Sometimes losing your job can be a blessing in disguise.

Well, if you recall, before the great financial meltdown I was going to open a bar in Chicago's south loop near McCormick place.  Then financing for my partners master plan fell through so he did not want  to open a business there at the time.

I had left my full time job in automotive to work contract in China to make some serious money before opening the bar.  I was working for a GM plant there, needless to say the plant was mothballed.

No one was hiring welding engineers or bartenders in Chicago at the time, so I had to look outside of my beloved Chicago and Great Lakes region.

 

I moved to New Orleans for a military contracting job.  Hated the job, loved the city.  Just took another job in Houston in the oil industry.  Now I love my job, and hate the city its in, so I drive back to NOLA every weekend.  The plan is to move back to Chicago in 3 years and open that bar.

 

I cannot believe you drive back-and-forth every weekend.  That is some kind of crazy!

 

Now I want some Mr. B's BBQ Shrimp!

Looking at the early stats, 85% of the people who have responded are either at the same or doing better.  Yet the media continues to tell us the economy in Ohio is bad.

Graduated in December 2008.  I had a job on graduation day that was supposed to start in the 2nd week of January.  That start date was pushed back twice, ultimately to mid September 2009.  I ended up looking for other jobs during that delay and found my current job.  Started in July of 2009.  So the economy cost me about 6 or 7 months in wages and I had to pay for private health insurance during my period of unemployment so I did suffer some impact.  But, since then everything has been going pretty well and I survived two rounds of layoffs so I can't complain.  My wife has also survived the layoffs at her company and has even managed to get a couple raises and some bonuses.  She's smarter than me...

 

And really, given the fact that I started pumping money into my 401K and the stock market at a time when it was really low kind of helped me.  We also plan to buy a home within the next two years, so assuming rates stay below 5% this whole economic meltdown could end up saving us a lot of money in interest while allowing us to realize more gains in our 401K and stocks.

Oddly enough, I guess you can say I'm doing better. Since real estate prices tanked I was able to suddenly afford a house and the $8000 tax credit certainly helped me afford it.

Own my own business and have to work seven days a week (4 of them are 13 hour days) in order to contain costs due to often lackluster sales.  I am looking forward to getting at least one day off a week once things get better, but who knows when that will be. 

^Same here! I bought a (two unit) house November 2nd last year, right before the tax credits expired. I used the $8000 from that to pay off my few existing debts, purchase some new appliances, and go visit the family for New Year's. I have a renter living downstairs paying most of my mortgage every month.

 

As for work, for a two or three months after the whole bank collapse business was slow. Since then the customers have come back and we're consistently beating our revenue figures for 2007, 2008, and 2009.

 

Oh, and also I finally signed up for 401 k through work, right as the DJIA was nearing its 6,500 point low.

 

I'd like to sell my condo but unless I want to take a bath on it, I'll have to rent it out until the real estate market recovers.

 

The reason I am considering renting/selling my condo is I may be taking a new job which will require me to travel a lot more and we'll need to move closer to my parents to help my wife out with our son since I'll be gone.  I thought I might get laid off for a time (I didn't) but all of the networking seems to have unearthed some new opportunities anyway.

I'd like to sell my condo but unless I want to take a bath on it, I'll have to rent it out until the real estate market recovers.

 

The reason I am considering renting/selling my condo is I may be taking a new job which will require me to travel a lot more and we'll need to move closer to my parents to help my wife out with our son since I'll be gone.  I thought I might get laid off for a time (I didn't) but all of the networking seems to have unearthed some new opportunities anyway.

 

You had a baby?  Who knew?  Congrats!

 

Are you guys in a space where you can rent out the downtown unit and buy a second?  Or would you just move in with your parents, collect rent and pay down the mortgage?

I'm actually doing fairly well. I got married,bought a house,and am going back to college after 10 years.My wifes salary keeps increasing as a nurse practitioner which has actually allowed me to step down from my job and work part time while pursuing a 2nd bachelors and a masters in something I actually will like doing. Apparently we both have been pretty lucky considering my wifes hospital is undergoing a huge expansion and my prior job keeps posting large profits. I actually turned down two large pay raises to step down. Hopefully that wasn't a stupid decision! I think alot of companies are much more frugal right now but, at least in my case, have money to retain employees if push comes to shove.

I have a relatively recession proof job.  Actually, business picks up a bit during a recession.

 

The downside is that I couldn't sell my house if I wanted to and not take a loss.  When I bought it, I was thinking I would only own it for about 5 years.  I am at 7 years now, but don't see a need for an upgrade, so no biggie.

 

I think new college grads might have it the worst with this recession.  I have seen a lot of legitimately "over-qualified" applications come accross my desk in the past year or so.

 

My wife wants to switch jobs and go back to full-time employment.  In the past 6 months, she has been submitting applications and has received two offers from the Clinic, one from UH, one from Key Bank and two from smaller businesses.  We just haven't found the right fit for her, but it shows that all hope is not lost.  I think she has received an offer for every job but one she has interviewed for.

 

effect

 

I wasn't going to be the one to nitpick.... but, yeah

 

And, MTS, the Recession thread has a heavy "lean" to it.  Thoughtful discussion, but a lean nonetheless.  Follow the announcements in the news of the economy's status.  If it is looking doomy and gloomy any given day, it gets posted.  If the numbers/projections are good, it doesn't for the most part (today appears to be an exception).

Lost my job that I hated at Key, took about a year off, then opened my own business, which I love.  Suck it, economy!

 

Love this one. This gives encouragement to everyone who hates their job and wants to make it on their own. Sometimes losing your job can be a blessing in disguise.

 

And, MTS, the Recession thread has a heavy "lean" to it.  Thoughtful discussion, but a lean nonetheless.  Follow the announcements in the news of the economy's status.  If it is looking doomy and gloomy any given day, it gets posted.  If the numbers/projections are good, it doesn't for the most part (today appears to be an exception).

 

Lost my job that I hated at Key, took about a year off, then opened my own business, which I love.  Suck it, economy!

 

Love this one. This gives encouragement to everyone who hates their job and wants to make it on their own. Sometimes losing your job can be a blessing in disguise.

 

 

This shows how many rednecks I have in my family on my mom's side...my grandma was in a relationship with Johnny Paycheck (this was in the 50s) before he was famous. My aunt told me stories about how immature and crazy he was. Get drunk and high all the time, wrote profanity and drew penises on the wall and smashed a really nice Gibson guitar that belonged to her. She was more-so telling me about her emotional trauma growing up but all I could say is "You know how much that Gibson guitar would be worth today!?" Wowzers.

Got a new job a couple of years ago when my company started the whole "we're gonna outsource all you worthless employees" bit (even though they ultimately did the numbers and realized it was actually better to keep IT in house) and started to cut back salaries and benefits.  Now I work long hours at a more stable company that does bankruptcy and foreclosure work (which is good business even in better economic times).  Things are great for me, but I do have a bit of a complex being at a company that makes money being the middle man for debtor/creditor financial messes.

I'd like to sell my condo but unless I want to take a bath on it, I'll have to rent it out until the real estate market recovers.

 

The reason I am considering renting/selling my condo is I may be taking a new job which will require me to travel a lot more and we'll need to move closer to my parents to help my wife out with our son since I'll be gone.  I thought I might get laid off for a time (I didn't) but all of the networking seems to have unearthed some new opportunities anyway.

 

You had a baby?  Who knew?  Congrats!

 

Are you guys in a space where you can rent out the downtown unit and buy a second?  Or would you just move in with your parents, collect rent and pay down the mortgage?

 

Yeah, he's 5 weeks old today...I guess I didn't mention it here.  He's presently having reflux issues and we've been at the Clinic all week.  Welcome to parenting!  But I guess that is for another thread...

 

As for the condo, we could rent it out and buy another place.  I could rent it to cover the mortage but not enough to cover mortgage + HOA dues so I would be eating those.  My parents - now that we're all out of college - downsized to a 2 bedroom townhouse so that would be kind of cramped.  If they were still in our old house, I totally would have moved into the basement and socked away a bunch of cash for a sick house once we could sell the condo, but alas, that ship has sailed!

I've managed to keep things stable - I was let go from my old job in February 2009; took about a year and a week until I landed another graphic design position. The pay is less, and the environment is a little stuffier than I'm used to, but it definitely helps to know my current company is stable (growing, actually) and can allocate funds for my projects (for example, where I used to work - there was NO money for a photo budget and there were always people being let go). Most of the people I work with are really nice, so no complaints there.

 

The worst part of the year off was that weekly "stipend" ;-) I received; enough to stay afloat but certainly not enough for proper retail therapy. So, I learned how to cook - not in the sense of 'someday I want to be a chef', just learned how to make a lot of different dishes, got to really know the food and vendors at the West Side Market. If someone had told me that I'd know how to make several variations of beef wellington, I'd have said they're a loon. I sometimes miss the free time I had to be able to do things like go to the Market on days OTHER than Saturday, but I'm grateful to be where I am now. There's no way I could have managed without my partner and his being so supportive - I *know* how fortunate I am.

I've managed to keep things stable - I was let go from my old job in February 2009; took about a year and a week until I landed another graphic design position. The pay is less, and the environment is a little stuffier than I'm used to, but it definitely helps to know my current company is stable (growing, actually) and can allocate funds for my projects (for example, where I used to work - there was NO money for a photo budget and there were always people being let go). Most of the people I work with are really nice, so no complaints there.

 

The worst part of the year off was that weekly "stipend" ;) I received; enough to stay afloat but certainly not enough for proper retail therapy. So, I learned how to cook - not in the sense of 'someday I want to be a chef', just learned how to make a lot of different dishes, got to really know the food and vendors at the West Side Market. If someone had told me that I'd know how to make several variations of beef wellington, I'd have said they're a loon. I sometimes miss the free time I had to be able to do things like go to the Market on days OTHER than Saturday, but I'm grateful to be where I am now. There's no way I could have managed without my partner and his being so supportive - I *know* how fortunate I am.

 

Well I have to say, you're very talented.  I, for one, thought you losing your job would be the catalyst for you to create your own company.  I'm glad everything worked out!

I'd like to sell my condo but unless I want to take a bath on it, I'll have to rent it out until the real estate market recovers.

 

The reason I am considering renting/selling my condo is I may be taking a new job which will require me to travel a lot more and we'll need to move closer to my parents to help my wife out with our son since I'll be gone.  I thought I might get laid off for a time (I didn't) but all of the networking seems to have unearthed some new opportunities anyway.

 

You had a baby?  Who knew?  Congrats!

 

Are you guys in a space where you can rent out the downtown unit and buy a second?  Or would you just move in with your parents, collect rent and pay down the mortgage?

 

Yeah, he's 5 weeks old today...I guess I didn't mention it here.  He's presently having reflux issues and we've been at the Clinic all week.  Welcome to parenting!  But I guess that is for another thread...

 

As for the condo, we could rent it out and buy another place.  I could rent it to cover the mortage but not enough to cover mortgage + HOA dues so I would be eating those.  My parents - now that we're all out of college - downsized to a 2 bedroom townhouse so that would be kind of cramped.  If they were still in our old house, I totally would have moved into the basement and socked away a bunch of cash for a sick house once we could sell the condo, but alas, that ship has sailed!

No. you didn't tell us!  Congrats, Papa SHS96.  I guess you're up to your elbows in diapers right now!  he he he

 

I thought your parents were still in the big house.  Your very example is why if my parents sold their house, I would punish them and then ship them off to Shady Pines!

I'm extremely fortunate that I've been pretty stable through the last 2 years. Actually, back in June I started a new position, and a new opportunity with company looking to break into the NEO market. It's a great place to work, and my management is readily available, and very accomodating to certain scheduling needs I've had come up over the last 2 months.

 

I left a place where the environment was getting more and more toxic, so I'm glad I got out when I did. And I got to leave on my own terms.

So I can't complain on that front at all.

So far.... 34 votes for "major improvement", "better" and "about the same"... compared to 4 votes for "worse" or "economic meltdown".

 

Interesting.

I'm extremely fortunate that I've been pretty stable through the last 2 years. Actually, back in June I started a new position, and a new opportunity with company looking to break into the NEO market. It's a great place to work, and my management is readily available, and very accomodating to certain scheduling needs I've had come up over the last 2 months.

 

I left a place where the environment was getting more and more toxic, so I'm glad I got out when I did. And I got to leave on my own terms.

So I can't complain on that front at all.

 

I've never had that option.  Both times I was "visited" by HR.

 

I'm extremely fortunate that I've been pretty stable through the last 2 years. Actually, back in June I started a new position, and a new opportunity with company looking to break into the NEO market. It's a great place to work, and my management is readily available, and very accomodating to certain scheduling needs I've had come up over the last 2 months.

 

I left a place where the environment was getting more and more toxic, so I'm glad I got out when I did. And I got to leave on my own terms.

So I can't complain on that front at all.

 

I've never had that option. Both times I was "visited" by HR.

 

They always take out the sassy ones first.

 

I'm extremely fortunate that I've been pretty stable through the last 2 years. Actually, back in June I started a new position, and a new opportunity with company looking to break into the NEO market. It's a great place to work, and my management is readily available, and very accomodating to certain scheduling needs I've had come up over the last 2 months.

 

I left a place where the environment was getting more and more toxic, so I'm glad I got out when I did. And I got to leave on my own terms.

So I can't complain on that front at all.

 

I've never had that option.  Both times I was "visited" by HR.

 

They always take out the sassy ones first.

ROFLMAO!  Well at BP, they took us all out, unless you wanted to go to CHI.

 

At WMA, they told us they company was being sold and the executive team would be replaced by candidates the new owners picked.

I'd have to say that overall, we're doing better but that has to do more with each of us picking up an additional part-time consulting work than with anything else.  The only exception was the benefit from refinancing the house when rates hit their (then) lows a year-and-a half ago.

 

But like others, we're seeing benefits taking a hit

 

+ wife's salary rate at main job has been frozen for some time, and even contracted raises were given in "other" benefits, not in cash.

 

+ my company pretty much suspended 401k matching 18 months ago, but recently partially re-instated them.

 

+ salaries at my place were frozen, but this year they went up about 2%.

 

+ Healthcare costs where I work went up dramatically last year, and the coverage is pretty poor imo. Told rates will go up mildly this year, whatever that means.

 

So, if it weren't for the house refi (to a shorter time frame, not lower monthly payments) and the extra part-time consulting work, we'd be  mrginally worse off.

 

"So far.... 34 votes for "major improvement", "better" and "about the same"... compared to 4 votes for "worse" or "economic meltdown".

 

Interesting. "

 

Interesting, maybe.  Surprising, I don't think so.

 

As I've commented before, I think Ohio went into a recession in 2001 and never really came out of it.  We stabilized, but that's about it.  Other parts of the country lived the boom-bust cycle of the past decade, and are probably back to where they were on 2001.  Or, in other words, back to where Ohio has always been.

 

So, in a stagnant world, most people who have jobs keep them (while their standard of living probably stagnates) and those who lose their job or can't get one after college/school move away (if possible) and don't join an Ohio blog.

Was able to find a new job before the old job went away. Had to move the family across the country but, income went up significantly, job stability increased and the amount of sunshine about doubled. So all in all, not bad.

 

I have had a lot of friends in Florida, Ohio, Indiana and Colorado that have not been as fortunate.

"So far.... 34 votes for "major improvement", "better" and "about the same"... compared to 4 votes for "worse" or "economic meltdown".

 

Interesting. "

 

Keep in mind sampling error. Most of us on this website are nerds, and probably pretty smart with our money too (how many people here own oversized sprawl houses in at-risk suburbs?). I bet the average education (and brain) level on the forum is way higher than the norm in Ohio. While recent college grads have been hit especially hard (particularly 2008, 2009, maybe 2010), people that graduated before the recession began are likely in a stable position. They don't have enough seniority and pay to be top targets for firing/cost-cutting, but also aren't so low on experience that they are "must fires/don't hires." I bet the average person on the website is aged 25-40 with at least a bachelor's degree. But we're probably low on the 50-something males who get let go when it comes time to cut payroll and hire the cheerleading squad from Ohio State (*I'm a recent graduate, and I've already seen things like that happen).

 

Personally, I can't even say better or worse because I was in school when the recession started. There is no perspective when you're a full-time student burning cash for that piece of paper. Do I think I'd be making more money if I graduated in say, 2005, or a year when hiring was up in my industry? Hell yes, but I also recognize that most people with my degree are gainfully unemployed right now.

 

By some standards, I'm doing great since I landed a real job, and the vast majority of people who have my degree do not land jobs in it. But by realistic standards, I'm in limbo because I'm overworked, underpaid, and in a stagnant company. Getting hired in thick of the layoffs meant you took serious pay hits. But you got hired. That's better than a lot of kids can say. I know tons of recent grads people working outside their industries in Ohio, and they hate every second of it. I also know tons of recent grads who moved away from Ohio and have great jobs.

 

So, in a stagnant world, most people who have jobs keep them (while their standard of living probably stagnates) and those who lose their job or can't get one after college/school move away (if possible) and don't join an Ohio blog.

 

That too.

"So far.... 34 votes for "major improvement", "better" and "about the same"... compared to 4 votes for "worse" or "economic meltdown".

 

Interesting. "

 

Keep in mind sampling error. Most of us on this website are nerds, and probably pretty smart with our money too (how many people here own oversized sprawl houses in at-risk suburbs?). I bet the average education (and brain) level on the forum is way higher than the norm in Ohio. While recent college grads have been hit especially hard (particularly 2008, 2009, maybe 2010), people that graduated before the recession began are likely in a stable position. They don't have enough seniority and pay to be top targets for firing/cost-cutting, but also aren't so low on experience that they are "must fires/don't hires." I bet the average person on the website is aged 25-40 with at least a bachelor's degree. But we're probably low on the 50-something males who get let go when it comes time to cut payroll and hire the cheerleading squad from Ohio State (*I'm a recent graduate, and I've already seen things like that happen).

 

Personally, I can't even say better or worse because I was in school when the recession started. There is no perspective when you're a full-time student burning cash for that piece of paper. Do I think I'd be making more money if I graduated in say, 2005, or a year when hiring was up in my industry? Hell yes, but I also recognize that most people with my degree are gainfully unemployed right now.

 

By some standards, I'm doing great since I landed a real job, and the vast majority of people who have my degree do not land jobs in it. But by realistic standards, I'm in limbo because I'm overworked, underpaid, and in a stagnant company. Getting hired in thick of the layoffs meant you took serious pay hits. But you got hired. That's better than a lot of kids can say. I know tons of recent grads people working outside their industries in Ohio, and they hate every second of it. I also know tons of recent grads who moved away from Ohio and have great jobs.

 

So, in a stagnant world, most people who have jobs keep them (while their standard of living probably stagnates) and those who lose their job or can't get one after college/school move away (if possible) and don't join an Ohio blog.

 

That too.

 

Well lets do some UO Research

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,12304.0.html

http://www.urbanohio.com/forum2/index.php/topic,24727.new.html

 

;)

Stagnant world. I like that. It describes me to a T.

I suppose I'm fairly lucky. My job at a private university -- where our enrollment has been breaking records every year, I can afford to be a little more risky in what I purchase or decide upon. I also started taking odd jobs for experience, and began engagement/wedding photography (again) on the side, and moved up to a full-time photography position at Xavier. I also sell a lot of artwork directly and indirectly.

 

I purchased a new car in June, and have pretty much spent the same amount as last year in terms of books, camera equipment and so forth. I've paid down my credit cards -- cancelled one, paid off two, and have a $2,500 balance remaining on the fourth. Having about $7,000 in debt at one time scared me, and I'm determined to keep my total debt to $1,000.

 

I've saved a little more, and instead of waiting for the recession to end, I'm looking to purchase my first home. I locked in the lowest APR available for 30-year fixed, and came very close to buying a home last week in Northside, Cincinnati. Unfortunately, that failed in the inspection process, so I used a clause in the contract to back out. The sellers are in a bit of a financial pickle and deferred maintenance to the brickwork and box gutters, which allowed water to seep into the plaster :(

 

I'm looking forward to 2011.

Sherman, sorry to hear your Northside deal fell through-lots of great historic homes in that neighborhood. But back to "what effect has the economy had on you?" Well, for one, it's stopped our idealistic on-going plans to relocate from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area in Texas to Cincinnati, dead in its tracks. When we last visited the Queen City in April 2009, we brought a contract from a developer to buy our Texas property for $325k which we showed to some Cincinnati friends. Upon our return, we were confident we would soon be Ohio bound but unwisely, we countered a little higher and the sale fell through. Very few showings or buyer interest since then. Today, we'd be very grateful to take that offer and probably even less, but that's a moot point because the real estate market here (and apparently, almost everywhere from all the information around) is beyond slow. For those handy with a hammer and a saw, and have a little cash, there's an abundance of cheap but great historic home fixer-uppers right now in Cincinnati in many of the old neighborhoods, including the Northside. Bummer about the plaster getting wet-box gutters absolutely have to be kept in good working order to avoid such extensive damage.

 

My wife is currently looking for a job as an MRI Technologist (registered) and if something could be found and nailed down in Cincinnati, we'd go ahead and relocate where I could then reopen my restoration business. (restoring historic structures, old homes, period architectural millwork fabrication, and refinishing antiques) Cincinnati has all of that potential business in abundance-North Texas does not. Haven't been able to find any jobs in Cincinnati for my spouse, so until we can either sell our property here (or let our 20-something son house sit) or can find an MRI job in the beautiful Queen City, we are stuck. From our personal perspective, things certainly are NOT improving but maybe looking at the wider, big picture, they slowly are. Don't know when or even if we will ever get to Cincinnati now as our savings are slowly eroding from this extended waiting game. (no mortgage, no credit card debt, thankfully)  Guess the moral of this story is to recognize opportunity when it comes by because sometimes second chances are pretty hard to come by in a bad economy. 

 

 

Well, the crap economy has screwed up plans to hire my company's contractors fulltime (though there are some nice labor savings), and we're delaying plans to find office space (doing the whole work from home/free wifi venues still).  Plus business is extremely erratic - some very good weeks, some weeks of $0 - so I guess I'm in the category of f this economy.

 

However, there are some theoretical benefits to this bad economy that we are seeing.  No jobs equals more kids in school, which is our bread and butter.  Plus some international newspapers are outsourcing their work to us since they need to cut labor costs drastically.  So there are some advantages to this depression and we are maybe 4 or 5 clients away from realizing them