If they flooded the market with all their properties, this would drive prices even lower to stimulate demand.

Higher mortgage rates could keep buyers from coming back into the market and could bring prices down even more.On the plus side, lower short-term rates should stimulate the economy and hopefully keep us out of a recession and keep us from losing jobs, which would be terrible for housing.It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.

I thought I heard something about the government granting a visa for buying at least 250,000 in real estate as a way to stimulate the real estate market.

I'd like some feedback on a program idea to stimulate the rehab of SFRs in and near our downtown neighborhoods.Essentially the concept is for our department to serve as a hard money lender for flips in targeted areas.

Tom,I imagine thats what they are betting on to "stimulate the economy".

You remember, those $600 checks that were supposed to stimulate the economy and get us back on track....I wonder what went wrong.

"To be frank, since the TARP money came in, they are still selling off (properties at auction), but they kind of took a step back." . . .Real Estate Disposition LLC (REDC), which claims to be the nation's largest real estate auction company, held 300 ballroom auctions in 2008 and sold nearly 33,000 foreclosed homes for $3.4 billion -- a seven-fold increase in sales volume and nearly triple the proceeds the company generated in 2007.Company CEO Jeffrey Frieden said he expects to "smash that record" this year as banks and lenders continue to amass a huge inventory of foreclosed homes and are more motivated than ever to sell their inventory. . . .Some observers fear that if the massive amount of debt the government is taking on to stimulate a recovery, inflation -- and higher interest rates -- are inevitable consequences.

I'm sorry, but I just don't find the failure to be fun, exciting, thrilling, enticing, stimulating, enjoyable, pleasurable, desirable, motivational..

The "stimilus" package has nothing to due with stimulating the economy itself but is really the governments best guess of how they can prevent having to spend this money later.If they were to let things be more companies would have folded (or at least called it quits) and the government unemployment rolls would have exploded so drastically that they would have easily have doubled the monies they gave away in unemployment claims, food stampt, and all those other programs.This is what I believe is the real drive behind this and the government is going to get a little upset that their ploy did not work and take it out on those of us that have found a way to make money.

One thing you look for when retired is something that will keep you cerebral, intellectually stimulated and of course a place to socialize and talk about common interest, this is what Bigger Pockets has become for me.