I need to start with a “Thank You!” to all those that helped with the Taste of the Metrocom. More details next week, but I do need to send a special thank you to Kim Turner for all of her, and her staff’s, extra help and to the city of Live Oak for the donation of the Live Oak Civic Center.

As the chamber chairman of the board and a real estate agent, I have been asked many times in the last few weeks about our economy. I thought that I would take a few minutes here to share my opinion that I don’t think our market is nearly as bad as what we hear on the news.

There are a few issues that keep our real estate market more stable. First, our laws prohibit lines of credit attached to real estate that exceed the 80 percent of the current value of the property. Second, when we refinance property in Texas, although we have 100 percent loans, we are not allowed to take money out of the transaction. This creates more equity in our homes.

Our safer lending practices that don’t allow getting loans for over 100 percent of a property’s value also contribute to our stability.

We are not doing as well as a year ago and with all the national issues we have some tough times, but I believe we will do much better than the nation as a whole.

Thanks to Bellacino’s on FM 3009 for a great mixer.

The Gala is Nov. 7. Tickets are going quickly; if you still need yours, please e-mail This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it for reservations.

Pat O’Brien

Chamber board chairman