Labor Day - a day to relax and savor the end of summer and the last long weekend of sunshine and fun, right? This may be how most Americans see Labor Day today, but it is far from its true meaning which dates back to the height of the industrial revolution.

Labor Day was originally established as a day to honor those who toiled twelve hours a day, seven days a week to keep American running in the late 1800’s. Recognizing the history of Labor Day may enhance the holiday’s meaning for you and your family. Here are a few facts you may not have known about this day that is dedicated to America’s workers:

There are two versions of who created Labor Day:

• Peter J. McGuire, secretary of the Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners and co-founder of the American Federation of Labor, suggested the day be put aside to honor those “who from rude nature have delved and carved all grandeur we behold.”

• The second Labor Day creation version involves Matthew Maguire, secretary of the Local 344 of the International Association of Machinists in Paterson, NJ, who proposed the holiday while acting as secretary of the Central Labor Union in 1882. Maguire planned to have a picnic and demonstration in honor of American laborers.

Tuesday, September 5th, 1882 marked the first Labor Day celebration in New York City when 10,000 workers took an unpaid holiday and marched in Union Square marking the first Labor Day parade. These participants vocalized grievances with employers as well as celebrated the American workers’ accomplishments. The next year a similar demonstration was held on the same day. Oregon, Colorado, New York, Massachusetts and New Jersey were the first states to declare Labor Day a state holiday. On June 28th, 1894 the first Monday in September was declared Labor Day by President Grover Cleveland.

Labor Day celebrations have shifted from parades and demonstrations to speeches and picnics. Although Labor Day traditions have evolved, the American labor force still deserves celebration.

The American Labor force today is a far cry for where it began in the 1800s. Although an eight hour work day and a minimum wage may seem standard today, this was not so when Labor was first celebrated:

What became known as “Haymarket Square’ occurred on May 4th, 1886 when police broke up a riot in which seven policemen and four people were killed along with 100 wounded. The attention gathered from this gave steam to the labor reform movement, causing the work day to change from twelve to eight hours.

In 1938, Congress passed the Fair Labor Standards Act making the minimum wage $0.25 an hour and a maximum of 44 hours in a work week. The Act has been revised multiple times, eventually raising the minimum wage and cutting down work weeks.  In 1962, the Work Hours Act provided time and a half pay for days worked over eight hours or weeks worked over 40 hours.

The changes made due to Labor Day and the American labor force in the 1880s proves there is much to be appreciated. Without this day and those who created it, eight hour work days and a minimum wage would not be possible. Weekends also came to be because of these fearless fighters, and most notably the last long weekend that rounds out the summer.

So turn on the sprinkler and sip some lemonade, but don’t forget to give a toast to those who made it possible.

Have a safe and happy holiday weekend from your friends at MCT.

MCT Group, based in Orlando, Florida announced the opening of their Real Estate and Mortgage School as the first step towards the formation of a comprehensive educational institution.

MCT Real Estate School presently teaches necessary courses to obtain and maintain the Real Estate License in Florida.  MCT Mortgage School teaches necessary courses to obtain and maintain a Mortgage Broker License in Florida. MCT is also offering on line courses to obtain the Real Estate License in 42 States in US as well as course to obtain the Appraisal License and Home Inspection.

For more information please contact MCT, “The Relationship Team” at 407-236-0120 or at schools@mctgroup.us

How many times have you read or heard the same or similar media headlines in newspapers, magazines, TV…  over and over and over:

“Real Estate market in Orlando is DOWN”

“Orlando’s Real Estate is in turmoil”

“Orlando Real Estate prices collapse”

Interestingly enough, the appropriate question should be “Is the Real Estate Market in Orlando REALLY down?”

Let’s analyze this phenomenon, but in order to do this we must go back to 2003 … oh yes, “those were the days my friends we thought would never end” …  everything was going so well. No change, the same number of available units, the same number of sales; no problems.

Then, change began to creep in. A massive impact evolved from developers, builders, and investors taking money out of the stock market and instead investing in Real Estate for speculation. Adding to the frenzy were home owners, most who originally purchased their property years ago for a fraction of the current market prices, decided to cash in the bonanza by selling their properties and making massive profits. We became accustomed to hearing of owners who profited anywhere from $100,000 up to $500,000 by selling.

In order to look at the big picture we should look at a typical homeowner. Let’s say that homeowner “Jones” purchased his property before 2003, for say $250,000. All of a sudden Jones’ property value, due to the market conditions, increased to $400,000 for the same home… an increase $150,000 of equity value. Eventually, prices started to come down to current levels and homeowner Jones found himself with a house that is worth “only” $325,000!   OMG! (Oh my God) what a tragedy, what a collapse of the Real Estate market in the Orlando area! Jones’ home suffered a 75 thousand dollar plunge! But wait, did the value really go down? By looking at the simple math, the news media is indeed correct, the inflated, unrealistic high price of 400 thousand went down to 325, so market is obviously down.

We need to look at the big picture. If homeowner Jones forgets about the 400 thousand figure and realizes that 325 thousand is in fact higher than the original 250 thousand he paid in 2003… and increase of $75,000. Taking that amount and dividing it by 4 (2003 to 2007) he comes up with a yearly increase of $18,750.00… OR a whopping 7 1/2 % increase per year (rounded)! Folks, this is no magical math, this is REALITY! Even if the price went down to 300 thousand, his property market value increased 5 % PER YEAR! So I still present the same terrifying question: Is Orlando’s Real Estate market really down?

Draw your own conclusion … 

Of course the individuals who purchased Jones’ property at 350, 360, 375 or 400 thousand, for speculation, are indeed claiming that Orlando’s Real Estate market collapsed. They are correct but saying it collapsed, but for whom?

The National Association of Realtors Chief Economist, Lawrence Yun said it loud and clear:

REAL ESTATE INVESTMENT IS FOR THE LONG RUN ………. flippers and speculators, with few exceptions, are loosing big, but those who bought houses a few years back are still getting the benefit of regular price appreciation. 

In my opinion, 2008 brings some additional price correction. Look towards the third quarter or the beginning of the fourth quarter of 2008, as the time when we will get some interesting surprises when some local areas will start showing modest price increases.

UP TO DATE NEWS:  Be on the lookout for my next comments: Sub-prime Mortgages, Hispanic Market, and International Market.

In the meantime, keep a positive outlook and check back for updates!

Carlos ThurdeKoos

   The Orlando Regional Realtor Association (ORRA) installed new Officers and Directors for the 2007-2008 year.

   ORRA has aproximately 11,000 members and it is one of the largest Realtor’s Association in Florida.

   Carlos ThurdeKoos, Certified International Property Specialist (CIPS), Transnational Referral Certified (TRC) and E-Pro, is one of the Directors for the 2007-2008 year.  He was also named Chairman of the ByLaws Committee.

   Carlos is the 2008 National Association of Realtors President’s Liaison to Paraguay.

   ThurdeKoos is also a Real Estate and Motivational speaker as well as a Licensed Real Estate Instructor.

For a list of Officers and Directors of ORRA please go to the link below:

http://www.orlrealtor.com/Main/Main.asp?CategoryID=7&SubCategoryID=88&&

 You can obtain your Florida Real Estate License 

and your Florida Mortgage Broker License

Learn how this Real Estate/Mortgage School can help you achieve your goals.

For Class and Schedule information, please call:

MCT at 407-481-8530 

or contact us at info@mctgroup.us

Make sure you mention you saw this information at MCT’s Blog.

Obtenga su licensia de Corredor de Bienes Raices en Florida

y la licensia de Corredor de Hipotecas

LLame a MCT Realty Corp al 407-481-8530

o contactenos a info@mctgroup.us

The National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals (NAHREP) held its National Convention in Orlando Florida in September 16-19, 2007. The event was very successful and attended by representatives from all over the US. Carlos and Maria ThurdeKoos of MCT Realty Corp. attended the entire event. Carlos ThurdeKoos is a Board Member of the local Chapter of NAHREP. Here are some pictures:

          Carlos ThurdeKoos, CIPS, E-Pro, TRC, Broker/Owner of  MCT Realty Corp and Malla Wedberg, CMP, Chief of Staff , Vice President and Event Planning and Operations from NAHREP, Headquarters, Washington DC.                       

Ray McCoy, Broker, Florida Living Properties and President of local chapter of NAHREP, Lizette Valarino Assistant to County Mayor Richard Crotty, Maria  & Carlos  ThurdeKoos, MCT Realty Corp.

 For a list of the local Orlando NAHREP chapter, please click here:  http://www.nahrep.org/Chapters/ChapterSite.aspx?iChpId=27&sFnt=Board

NAHREP (National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionas) of Orlando participated in the Puerto Rico Relocation Expo during the month of July to promote moving to Florida.  This expo was in conjunction with the Centro Unido de Detallistas and was held at the Conquistador Hotel.

Carlos & Maria ThurdeKoos and Ivonne Boswell of MCT Realty Corp., and Maria Ramirez are in front of the booth during the trade show.

 Maria ThurdeKoos of MCT Realty Corp. is at the entrance of the Expo Hall.

Carlos ThurdeKoos, visited ACOSOBIRA in Cuenca, Ecuador.  Got everyones atttention as he spoke about the organization of Realtors in Orlando (ORRA), Florida (FAR) and the US (NAR). Also spoke about the necessity to become a member of local Associations and be active, as well as having a code of Ethics.

Carlos ThurdeKoos visito ASOCOBIRA en Cuenca, Ecuador.  Capturo la atencion de los participantes explicando como trabaja la organizacion de Corredores en Orlando (ORRA), Florida (FAR), y en USA (NAR).  Tambien recomendo la necesidad de ser miembro de las Asociaciones locales and ser activo como tambien tener un codico de Etica profesional.

Carlos ThurdeKoos, President and Broker of MCT Realty Corp.,  visits ACBIR Asociacion de Corredores de Bienes Raices del Guayas in Guayaquil, Ecuador and gives a conference to discuss the advantages of being a member of a Real Estate Association and how the Real Estate Associations are structured in Florida USA.

Carlos ThurdeKoos, Presidente y Broker de MCT Realty Corp., visita ACBIR, Asociacion de Corredores de Bienes Raices del Guayas en Guayaquil Ecuador and da una conferencia sobre las ventajas de ser miembro y pertenecer a una Asociacion, como tambien como funcionan las Asociaciones de Corredores en Florida USA.

Carlos ThurdeKoos, Chairman of the Orlando International Council (OIC) visits Panama with his spouse Maria, also a Licensed Real Estate Associate, during their Annual Panama spectacular.

Carlos ThurdeKoos, Chairman of the (OIC) y su esposa Maria (Licensiada en Bienes Raices) visitan a Panama durante el evento anual “Panama Espectacular”.