Recently, I wrote about how we had refinanced our home through ING Direct. In our case, we had enough equity in our home to do a standard refinance.  (Unfortunately, not everyone does.)

Those that do not have 20 percent equity in their homes may still be able to refinance though through the federal  Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP).  The catch is, the mortgage must be backed by Sallie Mae or Freddie Mac.  However, not everyone knows if their mortgage is backed by Fannie or Freddie, and probably assume it is not.  (Bad assumption.)

How To Find Out if Sallie Mae or Freddie Mac Back Your Mortgage

You can either call or check online to see if your home is guaranteed by Fannie or Freddie.  It is really easy to check, and you don’t even need your account number:

Fannie Mae: 1-800-7-FANNIE or www.fanniemae.com/loanlookup
Freddie Mac: 1-800-FREDDIE or www.freddiemac.com/mymortgage

If your mortgage is owned by one of the agencies, there are still other qualifications that must be met.  A few examples are as follows:

*Home must have been sold to Fannie or Freddie on or before October 31, 2009.
*Timely payments must have been made on the property for the last 12 months.
*Your mortgage servicer must participate in the HARP program.

Additional Notes About Refinancing Through HARP

*Fees may still apply when refinancing.  However, it is possible that you will not need an appraisal.

*At this time, the program is only available until December, 2013.

*If you do decide to refinance, really think about the loan term you want to agree to.  Maybe consider taking a 15 year loan instead of 30 year if your monthly payment will be dropping because of the reduced interest rate.

*If you find that your mortgage is guaranteed by Fannie or Freddie, call your mortgage servicer to get more details and possibly initiate the process.

So, if you are frustrated with how high your interest rate is and wish you could lower it, click on the links above and see if maybe your mortgage is actually backed by Freddie/Fannie.  It only takes a minute to check, and it may just end up saving you hundreds of dollars a month if you actually are eligible for the program.

If you have actually refinanced or tried to finance through HARP (or want to discuss refinancing in general), please leave a comment!

We bought our house 10 years ago, at a price and interest rate that seemed incredibly reasonable.

A few years later, we refinanced our mortgage from a 30 year to 15 year term, and got what we thought was an incredibly low rate of 4.75 percent.

A few months ago, I started looking in to refinancing yet again, even though it was something I thought I would never have to do since my previous rate seemed so low at the time.  After a lot of research, we decided to refinance with ING Direct.  We chose a 7 year ARM at 3.125 percent.

The process was incredibly easy.  Most of it was done over the phone and internet, and the closing costs were reasonable.  (Yes, I do know there are no-cost refinancing options available, but from what I saw, the higher interest rate that came with the no closing cost options more than made up for what I would pay in closing costs.  Proved the point that not much in life is truly free.)   We didn’t even have to go anywhere to sign the final paperwork – a representative came to our house for that!

Refinancing took about a month, and the most stressful part was waiting for the final appraisal value on our home.  I wasn’t worried that our home was underwater or anything, I was just afraid it was way below what we paid for it since housing prices have dropped so much in our area.  Unfortunately, our house appraised out at $20,000 less than we paid for it 10 years ago, even though we have spent quite a bit of money in home renovations.  It could have been worse though.. but it does drive home the fact that a house is not an investment, but a place to live.

We didn’t just refinance what we owed.  We took out some extra money for various other reasons.  After all, when else will I ever have the opportunity to borrow money at just over 3 percent?  Keep in mind, we still plan on paying off our house within 6 years or so.  However, this extra money will provide some flexibility and we also invested some of the money in the kid’s college funds. (Considering we can deduct up to $10,000 in college plan contributions from our Michigan state income taxes, we are already coming out ahead since the interest rate on the borrowed money is so low.)  However, we still did not borrow the entire amount that we qualified for, as we wanted to keep our monthly payment below a certain amount.

My Biggest Tip When Refinancing Your Home

When you start the refinancing process, you are asked how much you want to refinance (meaning the amount owed or amount owed + cash back), and how long you would like the loan term to be.

Know the answers to those questions before you even initiate the process!!!

Mortgage companies want you to borrow as much money as possible and for as long a term as possible.  Don’t be influenced by what you can have, only take out what you can afford.  In our case, the increased payment is easily affordable and our payoff date will be no different after the refinance than it was before.  (Based on the payoff plan we created for ourselves.)  We are very disciplined when it comes to money, so we are trying to optimize the money available to us.  However, if you do not have a set amount in mind ahead of time, it might be tempting to just borrow the maximum amount allowed.   (Which can lead to disaster down the road.)

Overall, I found the entire refinancing process easy, and it was also interesting to know the market value of our home. (Even if it wasn’t the amount I wanted it to be.)  The real test will be how responsive ING Direct will be if any issues arise down the road.

Have you refinanced lately?  What was your experience?

I hope everyone is all ready for Thanksgiving.  This will be a great Thanksgiving for me as my whole family will be together, and some are traveling from as far away as California (to Michigan).

So, I will be taking a little break from my website for a few days while I enjoy time with my visitors!

However, I will leave you with a couple Thanksgiving cooking thoughts:  If you are looking for a side dish to serve this holiday season, try this recipe for Sweet Potato Casserole.   You will swear you are eating pumpkin pie strangely enough.  Also, if you are stressed out about making homemade gravy, read this post containing tips for making gravy.  Once you master the art of gravy making, you may never go back to store bought gravy again.

I hope everyone has a wonderful and safe holiday, and as always, thank you for reading!

I watch quite a few home shows, and I have to say I love them.  Watching these shows gives me an opportunity to briefly live in another part of the country, or even the world.

One thing that many people on the show have in common  is this:  They want to upgrade to a bigger home.  Maybe a second child is on the way, or a tax credit becomes available and people feel like they must move now to take advantage.

But Do These People Really Have To Move?

Obviously, I do not live in the people’s shoes that are on these shows, but often when I watch, I wonder “why are they leaving”?  Quite often, prospective ‘movers’ walk through a new home and say “well these countertops aren’t  granite, waaaaahhhhh”.  They want a massive amount of amenities in a new home but at a low, low price.  In the end, they buy a more expensive house and then spill a bunch of money into the upgrades.  (In other words, the new home may be in even worse condition than their current home, but maybe a little bigger.)

Instead of deciding to up and move the minute a house feels a little cramped or outdated, why not really take a close look at your existing living space instead?  You can even involve a friend you trust that has an aptitude for design or just has good home ‘vision’. (Obviously if your neighborhood has suddenly become a crime zone or you need to relocate for work, your focus needs to shift from following these steps to make your home more sellable than to decide if you need to move or not.)

10 Steps To Take Before Putting Up The FOR SALE Sign:

1. Identify A Third Party That Can Help You With the Process.  If you and/or your spouse evaluate your living space, you may just see things a certain way to justify a decision to move.  Walk through the house with your ‘home helper’ and list everything you don’t like about the house and why you need to move.
2. Declutter.  Maybe the reason you feel like you are outgrowing your space is because of all the excess toys/books/knick knacks laying around.  I know I feel very unsettled when the family rooms seems ‘out of control’.  Don’t know if it is a lack of feng shui or what, but I know I am not calm and serene when books are stacking up and mail is strewn across the table.  Also, be ruthless about what goes into the donation or trash pile.  Is the shelf full of Precious Moments figurines really still appreciated? Are there some bikes in the garage that are no longer used?  Are there other children out there that could benefit from some of the toys that are strewn everywhere in the basement?
3. Create Usable Storage Space.  Once all the extra stuff is gone, look around and see how what is left could be properly stored.  I have this issue with photos and mementos from the kids.  I have boxes that are falling apart and are crammed with old drawings, reports cards, etc from the kids.  I want to keep these items, but I don’t want them sitting in a collapsed box in my bedroom.  Actually, just seeing that box is frustrating for me, and I see it every single day.  Look at how you are storing mementos and such.  Are random boxes of ‘stuff’ taking up usable space in your home?  Is there a way instead to store important items that are not accessed much in a different way that would not make you feel closed in?
4. Clean and Polish.  Once everything has its own place in your home and the clutter has been donated or thrown away, look at your home and make the most of what you have.   Make those kitchen cabinets and counter tops sparkle.  Clean out the refrigerator inside and out (and behind).  Have the carpets professionally cleaned.  Vacuum the blinds and wash the windows.  In other words, clean your house like it actually is going on the market, and you know you want top dollar for the house!   Clean to impress, not to just get it done.
5. Evaluate Each Room.  Now that each room is cleaned and organized to perfection, sit and think about how you use each room.  Does the dining room sit there empty 360 days of the year?  If so, then maybe that room needs a different purpose.  Does one of the bedrooms act as a catchall for leftover stuff?  Then you need to change your habits and not bring things into the house that are just going to sit in a spare room, never to be seen from again.  You can rearrange furniture, do whatever you like to try and get the most out of each and every room in your home.
6. Decorate!  Now that your rooms are nearly perfect as they are, see if there is an extra touch that can be added to make the room more aesthetically pleasing.  Maybe it is a nice centerpiece on the table or a new painting on the wall.  Design the room in a way you like and can appreciate.
7. Walk Outside.  Stand at the sidewalk and see what you do and do not like about the look of your home.  Do you hate the color of the front door?  Have the plants gotten overgrown?  Have you always wanted a little bench underneath the giant maple tree that you could sit at and read a book?  Making inexpensive changes to your yard can make a big difference about how you feel when you pull up in your driveway each day.
8. Take Some Time To Think and Then Walk Through the Home Again.  Now that your home is spotless and clutter free, live in it a little bit.  See if there is a new paint color you would like on the wall, or maybe there are other ways rooms could be repurposed.   Do you still feel cramped?  Do you still have a negative feeling about the house?  Make a list of things you still do not like.  Is the Formica countertop really wearing on your nerves?  Is the pink tile in the bathroom an eyesore?   Do you still have legitimate complaints about the house?
9. Think Renovation Instead of Relocation.  Every home has some areas that need improvement, and maybe it is the countertop.  Instead of picking up and moving to find that perfect kitchen, could a few changes be made to your own kitchen instead?  Remember, moving is an expensive endeavor, and you will spend thousands of dollars in closing costs, realtor fees, and more if you do move.  Not to mention that the new house will not be perfect either and will most likely need some improvements.  Add up just what the ‘sunk costs’ would be for moving such as the closing/realtor/mover fees.  What if you spent that amount of money renovating your current home intead, would that bring you closer to owning a dream home?
10. Think About Why You Want To Move.  Is it because there are so many ‘deals’ out there in the market and you can now buy a huge house for the money?  If that is the case, then disregard that thought.  There is never a guarantee that your house will not go down in value, and there are huge costs that accompany a huge house.   Buying more space than you need just because you can is still a waste of money, and totally unnecessary.  Sit down an evaluate why you think you need such a big house instead.  Maybe you need to evaluate your spending habits in general.

Moving Is Not A Party, No Matter How Much Pizza You Buy

I love Halloween, and always have.  The fall is such a wonderful time of year, and when you combine falling leaves, cider and trick or treating, it is perfect!

I was watching the news the other day, and the newscaster was providing all kinds of Halloween safety tips.  The news story made me stop and think about how Halloween has changed over the years.  The general theme has obviously remained the same, but there are some differences.

Halloween In The 1970s

When I was a kid, costumes were not elaborate.  We bought a plastic mask, some cheap costume, and marched up and down the streets with a pillowcase.

Fun-size  candy bars were more the exception than the rule.  Dum dum suckers, Mary Janes, Black Jacks, Smarties and Good N Plenty were much more common.  Now that I think about it, I didn’t even like much of the candy I received, but it sure was special to go out trick or treating.

Devil’s Night (I believe it is called ‘Mischief Night’ in some parts of the country) was almost exciting.  I used to hide on our front porch to try and catch someone egging or soaping our car.  (We all parked in the street.)  I never did catch anyone, but the thought of seeing such vandalism was intriguing.

Pumpkins were carved traditionally.  Triangle eyes and a mouth with some missing teeth.  Pumpkins were great.

Nobody wore reflective bands or carried glow sticks.   Kids just ran door to door (although they still looked both ways before crossing the street).  The streets were packed with trick or treaters!

Halloween in the 2000s

The majority of my kid’s candy now seems to be fun-sized and regular sized candy bars.  I would have been ecstatic  if candy bars had been so popular in my youth, and probably pretty sick too.

According to that news story I watched, masks should not be worn because they are just not safe enough, and kids should all wear something reflective on their costume.   No masks?  Well I should have been arrested when my son was 8 and wore a Darth Vader costume, which was all black, and had a mask AND  a helmet.  Although a light saber might have appeased the child safety experts… but would it also be considered a weapon?  Hard to say.  (I will say though that I would have never let him trick or treat alone in that costume…)

Pumpkins can be considered a work of art.  I have seen some very elaborate scenes carved out of pumpkins, and it looks very labor intensive.  I thought the fancy pumpkins were interesting the first year I saw them, but then they lost their novelty for me- and I prefer the standard pumpkin. (Although I still think the vomiting pumpkin is funny, where the  ’guts’ are strewn in front of the mouth.)

Speaking of pumpkin guts, I also saw a news story the other day about how a major road was closed because of  ’pumpkin debris’.  That was a first for me.

Detroit took Devil’s Night to an all new level where fires  were set all over the city.  I believe it is now called ‘Angel’s Night’ and there is extra effort to prevent arson.  (The wide spread fires in Detroit actually started in the 1990s.)

Kids in our area now start trick or treating in the daylight since the clocks ‘fall back’ in November now. I just cannot get used to daylight trick or treating!

There are Halloween stores all over the place.  Right now, many of the out-of-business Borders stores have become ‘Spirit Halloween’.  I have to admit though, I love going in these stores…

If You Live In Southeast Michigan…

Even though things are a little different now than when I was growing up, Halloween is still a great holiday.  If anything, people seem to decorate more now than they did when I was a kid.  What else is great is that it isn’t even a Hallmark Holiday!

Speaking of decorations, I don’t know how many of you readers live in the Metro Detroit area, but if you do, head out to Tillson Street in Romeo and see the best Halloween decorations I have ever seen.  The street is made up of older homes, and the way homeowners have decorated their homes and yards is amazing.  You can park your car and take a stroll up and down the street and at the end, stop at the Dairy Queen that is right there.  I am not affiliated with this ‘presentation’ in any way, I just enjoy going there every year and wanted to spread the word.  If you want more information, go to TerrorOnTillson.com.

What are your Halloween plans?

So President Obama has another plan to help out the housing industry.

In synopsis, this revision to the Home Affordable Refinance Program (HARP) will allow ‘struggling homeowners’ with good credit history, no late payments in the last 6 months, and have a mortgage backed by Fannie Mae/Freddie Mac to refinance without a credit check or home appraisal.  (Other exceptions do apply.)   One article said that the purpose was to alleviate the pressure on ‘homeowners who are underwater’.

Now, don’t get me wrong, I totally sympathize with those that bought their home at a high price and the house is now worth 50 percent of the original purchase price.

However, why is there pressure on these under water homeowners, and why do they need to be rescued?

Don’t Hate Me Because Of My Opinion

When we bought our home, we paid what the market would bear at that point in time.  The market soared after we bought our house, and we could have made a lot of money on our home had we sold it about 2 years after we moved in.  But, we didn’t view our home as an investment, we viewed it as a place to live and raise our family, so we stayed put.

Flash forward 8 more years, and the value of our home has dropped to below what we paid for it.  We are not under water because we aggressively paid down our mortgage, and we did not do a cash-out refinance when our home was worth a lot during the housing boom. What we did do was bought a home that we could afford on one income, and we paid our bills responsibly.

That should not be a novel idea!

So Why Do People Who Are Under Water Need Bail Outs??

Paper gains and paper losses occur all the time.  Why are mortgages treated differently than stocks?  Does anyone care that my 401k was down 10 percent for the third quarter of this year?  After all, my retirement account is now worth less than it was in June, shouldn’t someone be worried about my retirement and be willing to provide a special program for me?  Nobody promises when you buy a house that it will appreciate in value.  Buying a house can be a risky proposition, and should be treated as such.  That is why you should not buy more home than you can afford.

Keep in mind, in theory I think it is just fine that homeowners that qualify will be able to refinance and lower their overall mortgage bill. I just don’t understand why so much attention is paid to under water homes when really, the value of a home does not really matter unless you absolutely have to move.   Also, if you purchase only what you can truly afford, then being ‘under water’ shouldn’t affect you at all. (Exception given to those who are forced to relocate.)  Whether my house is worth half a million or a hundred thousand really doesn’t affect my monthly cash flow. My mortgage payment is static for the term of the mortgage, and the revised ‘value’ of the home does not matter.  As a matter of fact, if people did not know what their house was currently worth and just went about paying their bills, would the housing crisis be as bad?  Is the mere fact that people KNOW that they owe more than their house than the house is worth causing panic and encouraging people to walk away from their mortgages?  Just because your home is worth less than you paid for it doesn’t mean you are suddenly in financial distress!

So, is a lot of the housing crisis really just on paper?  Really, this new mortgage program is aimed at people that do not have much equity in their home, and are not in foreclosure or dire straits.   In other words, it is designed to help those that have a ‘paper loss’ on their home but are not at risk of default.  Is that any different than having poor returns in your 401k?  What do you think?

I am so mad at myself.

I just finished cleaning out my refrigerator, and I am embarrassed to say that I threw out a LOT of food.

Why My Family Ends Up Wasting Food

1. Life gets busy and meal planning becomes haphazard
2. My refrigerator is not organized
3. I am buying things that I forget about and do not use before expiration
4. Some leftovers are just being forgotten, especially from restaurants

After 2 years of marriage and apartment living, we bought our first home.  The year was 1993, and the housing market was on fire.

Our combined income was about $70,000 back then, but we had quite a bit of student loan debt.  Therefore, we didn’t want to spend too much on a house as I was also pregnant, and the goal was for me to be able to stay home with our kids at some point.

We looked into different types of home financing, which was a topic we knew almost nothing about.  We knew there were VA Loans (that we didn’t qualify for), Conventional Loans, and FHA Loans.   Because it was our first home and we had little credit history, an FHA Loan seemed to be the perfect fit for our decision.  There was one aspect to FHA Loans that actually kind of kept our spending in check:  FHA Loans had a limit on the amount of ‘house’ you were allowed to buy.  I don’t remember the exact price limit, but I want to say that if we planned on buying a home using an FHA loan, we were not allowed to purchase a home for greater than $103,000.  That was actually kind of difficult given how good the housing market was at that time.  We ended up buying a cute 1,150 square foot home in a nice neighborhood for $95,000 though, so it worked out perfectly.  We even bid $100 over what the sellers were asking because the market was so competitive.

Mistakes Made With Our First Home First Purchase

Our first home worked out fine, and we lived there for four years.   We ended up selling the house for $126,500, so at least we didn’t owe money at closing like many do today.  (Even though it looks like we ‘made’ $31,500 on the home over four years, we did spend money on new windows, new furnace, some new flooring, taxes, etc, so we pretty much broke even on the whole deal.)  Looking back on the experience, there are a few things I would have done differently:

1. Rented longer.  Had we stayed in our apartment longer, we could have accumulated more money to put toward a down payment.  The first couple years, we had to pay PMI insurance, and I hated that.  (Private Mortgage Insurance, or PMI, has to be purchased until a homeowner has at least 20 percent equity in a home.)
2. Better Researched Home Appraisers.  We didn’t have any major problems in our first house, except with the leaky screened in back porch.  I think I hired the home appraiser that the realtor recommended, which was probably not very wise.  I am sure it is in the realtor’s best interest to get a nice, clean inspection on the home so the sale can go through.  I wish I had known someone like the guy on the “Holmes On Holmes” TV show that could pick up the smallest issues.

Things We Did Right With Our First Home Purchase (and throughout our home ownership):

Even though our first home transaction was not perfect, there are a few things that I think we handled pretty well, such as:

1. Became very familiar with target neighborhoods.  We really researched the neighborhoods of the homes we were considering.  We had no idea how long we would be living in the home, so we wanted to make sure the house was in a safe neighborhood with good schools.  We bought the house on the premise that we may live there forever, so we wanted to make sure it was a house we could stay him long term and raise our family.
2. We refinanced once rates dropped.  Our initial interest rate on the home was 8 percent.  Over the course of our stay there, we refinanced our mortgage to 6 percent.
3. Kept a close eye on home equity.  When we refinanced, the home appraised at a higher value than it did when we first purchased it.  With the increased appraisal and increased equity in the home, we were able to get our PMI insurance dropped since we then had greater than 20 percent equity in the house.
4. Made reasonable home improvements.  We updated the home, but we did not make high-end improvements because we didn’t want to  outprice our neighborhood.  For instance, we replaced the windows with vinyl instead of wood as all homes in the area had vinyl windows.  In other words, we didn’t want to own the most expensive home on the block.
5. Sold the house by owner.  We had 3 realtors come in and they all said our house was worth about 30,000 dollars more than we had paid for it.  The market was still quite hot, so we took that as our chance to start looking at our next home.  We took the average price of the 3 realtors and put the house up for sale, and the house sold the first weekend.  Handling the sale ourselves saved us a lot of money, and we were able to put all the proceeds from our first house on the down payment for our next house.

Ironically enough, my first house is currently up for sale.  Turns out the house is for sale for $132,000, which is $5,500 more than we sold it for 14 years ago.  There were also a lot of pictures of our former home online, and the house has been totally remodled since we lived there.  The house has been on the market for awhile, so I fear the price will actually end up being somewhere around what we sold it for all those years ago.  It is just another example of why people should never consider a home an investment!

Do you live in your first home?  Do you have any first home-buying stories?

Most people love a fresh, tasty watermelon.  One thing I have found though is picking out a watermelon can be difficult.  Quite often, I have grabbed a melon and cut it open at home, only to find a mushy mess inside.  I am always tempted to pack that watermelon up and take it back to the store for a refund, but I never have.  I would probably destroy the upholstery in my car if I did such a thing, and that would pretty much negate the five dollars I would be getting back from the store…

Now, there are no guarantees in life, and always selecting a perfect watermelon is just one of those things where you try your best at. However, if you follow the tips listed below, your odds of bringing home a watermelon you would be willing to serve to guests (as opposed to whipping off your roof and watching it explode), should increase dramatically.

Tips For Buying Watermelon:

1. Make sure there is a whitish/yellow patch on the watermelon.  As far as I know, all watermelons grow on the ground, which leaves a section of the rind that will be whitish yellow if the melon is allowed to ripen on the ground.  If you pick up a watermelon and you can not figure out where it laid on the ground, then set that under-ripe melon down and find a new melon to buy.
2. Tap on that melon!  A nice, fresh watermelon should NOT have mushy spots.  The flesh should be nice and firm, and if you ‘knock’ on it, your hand should not make indentations and your hand should ‘rebound’.  It should also make a nice hollow sound.
3. Bright is bad!  Quite often, the untrained eye will gravitate toward a nice, bright green watermelon.  Well, only buy that piece of fruit if you want to eat an unripe melon!  Make sure your melon is green and not getting yellow (except for the ‘ground spot’), but make sure it is more of a deep green that is somewhat ‘dull’, and not bright and shiny.
4. Make sure it is heavy.  Yes, most watermelons are naturally somewhat heavy.  However, make sure it is heavy for its size. Nobody wants to cut open a watermelon that is light like a gourd!  The heavier the better, as that implies the watermelon will be nice and juicy inside.
5. Inspect the rind.  Make sure the watermelon rind is not bruised  or soft anywhere.
6. Make sure you are looking in the right watermelon bin!  If you swear by seedless watermelon, then make sure you are paying attention and not picking up melons from the ‘seedy’ section.  Keep in mind though if you only eat organic- seedless watermelons are generally NOT organic, so you might have a tough decision to make!  (Although this may depend on your definition of organic.  Seedless watermelons are grown by chemically altering the seed that will be planted so that the number of chromosomes in the fruit are reduced.  Somehow, this creates a seedless watermelon.  However, seedless watermelons can be purchased that have not been grown with the help of pesticides and such.)

Tips For Watermelon Storage and Preparation

This past week, my son had a soccer game at the high school of the city I grew up in.

Feeling Nostalgic About Childhood

I grew up in a somewhat small city that is located on the northern border of Detroit.  The streets are lined with huge trees, and the houses are generally smaller bungalows.  The neighborhoods are loaded with parks, and the city still provides leaf removal (if leaves are swept out to the curb), and if you put out a bucket in the winter, the city will fill it with rock salt to be used on sidewalks.

Anyway, during halftime of the soccer game, I got out of the stands and walked around a little bit.  I walked past 3 different people I did not know, and each one of them smiled at me and said hello.  It was such a small thing, but it made me miss my small town.

Driving home, I thought about how different my hometown is compared to where I live now.    The city I live in now has no character, and I live on a cul-de-sac where we barely know our neighbors.  Generally, people come home from work, pull up to their mailbox to grab the mail, pull in to their attached the garage, and shut the garage door without talking to a soul.  In comparison, most of the homes in the city I grew up in didn’t even have garages, and you knew the mailman because he actually walked up to your house each day.  (One thing I don’t miss is how close the houses were to each other though.  I will never forget one day I wasn’t feeling well and I was laying in bed on a summer day.  It was so hot out, and I rolled over to face the window, hoping to catch a breeze.  I was shocked when I then almost came face to face with my neighbor, who was standing right outside my window and was checking to see if I was ok.  I am sure there is a balance somewhere in the middle where neighbors all knew each other and helped each other out, but maybe didn’t linger just inches away.)

In addition, our current home is located in a suburb that doesn’t have many conveniences nearby.  Grocery shopping is about a mile away, which isn’t bad, but people generally drive to the store.  On the other hand, in my childhood, we walked or rode our bikes everywhere.  There was party stores at the end of many streets, and the ‘downtown’ area had a Kresge, a drug store, and a restaurant called “Wein-R-Bun”.  What’s not to love about that?  (Could have the spelling wrong on the hot dog place…)  Anyway, kids and adults walked everywhere, talking to people along the way.

A Synopsis:  Reasons Why People Are Getting More Isolated In Their Own Neighborhoods

The following is an overview of the reasons why ‘communities’ do not seem to exist like they did in previous decades, based on my observations and absolutely no scientific facts:

1. Remote Control Garage Door Openers.  With a click of a button, people can avoid all of humankind by just shutting their garage door as soon as it can come down without taking off the rear bumper of their vehicle.  At least in the old days, even if you had a garage, you had to be seen by others because you had to manually close your garage door.
2. More Two Car Families.  When I was growing up, many households had just one car.  That meant that mom (usually) and the kids all walked to where they had to go, and generally stayed somewhat close to home.  If you wanted to hang out with someone other than your siblings, you had to become friends with neighborhood kids.  The option for mom to drop you off at a location miles away did not exist.
3. Starbucks.  No longer do neighbors collect to have coffee and discuss the latest events of the neighborhood.  Now, people want premium coffee, so they hop in their cars to sit and have a cup of coffee work on their computer.
4. Technology.  With Skype, texting, email, Xbox Live, and more, you don’t ever have to sit face-to-face with someone anymore.  You can just type to communicate, or talk through a camera on your computer.  Kids don’t need to get together to play a board game.  They can just log on to their Xbox Live account and talk to their friends through the TV while they blow each other up during a friendly game of ‘Call of Duty’.