The Housing Bubble

The Union Tribune reports from California. “Most home sellers and real estate agents in the county would like to forget about 2006. The median home price had its first decline in 11 years. The volume of sales shriveled by 24 percent. Between July and September, foreclosures were three times as high as the summer of 2005.”

“But still the prices in many San Diego neighborhoods remain in the stratosphere.”

“In his office in the upscale Kensington neighborhood of San Diego, real estate agent Rex Downing is spending much of his time these days telling clients something they don’t want to hear: Don’t ask too much for your home.”

“‘A lot of sellers are still being unrealistic about what their property is worth,’ Downing said. ‘When I get sellers who take my advice, I can still sell a home by the optimal day. But not all clients will take my advice.’”

“In the past month, Downing sold two homes for sellers who took his advice. But he says that most hopeful sellers still come in with prices about 10 percent higher than the market will bear. ‘They’re either going to have to drop those prices or pull their home off the market,’ Downing said.”

The North County Times. “Carlsbad financial planner Judy Stewart said she advises clients not to buy a home that costs more than three or four times their household income. ‘I don’t let clients reach for real estate,’ said Stewart. ‘If they can’t afford it, they can’t afford it.’”

“Unfortunately, many homeowners now believe that they stretched too far during the real estate boom of the last six years. As prices rose dramatically in that period, many borrowers chose risky loans to buy homes that they couldn’t afford with conventional loans.”

“A growing number of borrowers want to replace those loans, according to experts. However, because home prices have stabilized, or even fallen, some homeowners now owe more on their mortgages than their homes are worth.”

“Two of the most dangerous loans have become popular. The California Association of Realtors said earlier this month that 43 percent of home buyers statewide chose to take second mortgages, typically 20 percent of the purchase price, in addition to a first mortgage covering 80 percent.”

“The percentage of homeowners carrying a first and second mortgage is the highest since 1982 and the second highest in the last 30 years, the association said. Also, First American Real Estate Solutions said 60 percent of all loans taken out for home purchases statewide in 2005 were adjustable-rate mortgages.”

“Victoria Johnson, president of the San Diego chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers, said that she has been flooded with people trying to understand their adjustable-rate mortgages.”

“‘There aren’t bad loans,’ she said. ‘The problem is how they are being used.’”

“Then there is the negative-option, adjustable-rate mortgage, sometimes referred to as an ‘option ARM.’ ‘I think the people who got into option ARMs a few years ago are in a world of hurt,’ said Stewart, the Carlsbad financial planner.”

The LA Daily News. “This year should be a good one for Ventura County’s economy, with rising employment and incomes, but there are several potential problem areas, according to economists who presented their economic forecast for the areak.”

“‘We are seeing very low population growth and very strong economic growth in Ventura County,’ said Bill Watkins, executive director of the UCSB Economic Forecast Project and a former research economist at the Federal Reserve.”

“The high cost of local housing will continue to drive away high-paying jobs, he said. As an example, his report pointed to Technicolor’s recent announcement the company is moving hundreds of manufacturing jobs out of the county.”

“The report also noted that Countrywide Financial’s growth over the past real estate boom has greatly contributed to economic growth, so any decision it might make to relocate jobs or merge with another company could have serious economic consequences locally.”

“‘So far at least, the county is pulling off the economic hat trick of strong economic growth in the presence of weak population growth,’ he said. As for housing, ‘Realtors are having a terrible year,’ he said.”

The Whittier Daily News. “California experienced a large spike in foreclosures, with 6,080 in the final quarter of 2006 compared to 875 in the same period in 2005, according to DataQuick.”

“Some home buyers have gotten into loans they just can’t afford, said Alex Del Haro, president of the San Gabriel Valley chapter of California Association of Mortgage Brokers. Some loans include prepayment penalties the borrower is not aware of, he said.”

“Interest-only loans or adjustable-rate loans affect many first-time buyers at the 15-month mark, said Chris Vigil, Realtor/appraiser in Whittier.”

“‘We’re seeing a lot of short sales in my office,’ he said. ‘Two or three years ago, we never saw those.’”

The Press Democrat. “Across the United States, more Americans are banking on rising home values instead of the stock market and savings to pay for their retirement.”

“‘They think of their houses as a savings account more so than a generation before,’ said Bruce Dzieza, a Sebastopol financial planner. ‘It’s become more of a commodity, and people have the attitude that real estate will never go down.’”

“The recent housing downturn and declining property values doesn’t appear to have lowered Sonoma County residents’ expectations that homes are the key to financial stability in retirement.”

“‘The majority of clients we get, that’s their biggest asset. And they don’t have a lot for retirement,’ said Dale DeGennaro, president of the North Bay Chapter of the California Association of Mortgage Brokers.”

“A couple sold their Sonoma County home more than a year ago and became renters while continuing to work. ‘They fell in love with renting. They liked the cash flow from their portfolio,’ Dzieza said.”

“Dzieza put together a retirement plan for another couple keyed to the sale of their Sonoma County home. But the couple purchased a ranch in Oregon a year ago before selling here. Now, they have about $400,000 less to work with because their Sonoma County home sold for less than they expected.”

“‘It won’t ruin their retirement, but it will have a dramatic effect,’ Dzieza said.”

The Record.net. “The coming layoffs of about 100 Stockton-based workers at Washington Mutual should surprise nobody. A good number of those people work in WaMu’s sub-prime lending arm, Long Beach Mortgage, one of the nation’s biggest sub-prime mortgage lenders.”

“Sub-prime loans are aimed at higher risk borrowers, people with little to put down, and people who, to be honest, might be buying more home than they can afford.”

“People who in a normal real estate market, couldn’t get into a home, or at least couldn’t buy too much house for their income, squeeze into the market. But what if you hit a financial speed bump? Or, what if the market takes a jarring dip? The pool of buyers dries up? Interest rates climb? The inventory of homes for sale balloons? Prices slip? And that’s where we find ourselves today.”

“It probably will be a while before we see what we saw at the height of the boom. In the first quarter of 2005, 42 percent of all mortgages in San Joaquin County were interest-only loans. The heady times started heading south by the end of that year.”

“Foreclosures are climbing. In the fourth quarter of 2006, foreclosure notices in San Joaquin County reached their highest level in at least 10 years.”

“So what’s an aggressive outfit like WaMu to do? Pull back. And that’s just the signal the bank sent last week.”

Readers suggested a topic about property taxes in a housing bubble. “Topic Suggestion-Tactics to ‘Persuade’ the County Assessor that your House Really isn’t worth $xxx,xxx.”

“Maricopa Co, Arizona, came out with their assessments for 2008 already! I guess they’re trying to lock in the values before they sink into the abyss.”

One said, “That’s a cottage industry in Dallas. The tax appraiser has really been socking people the last two years with absolutely no justification.”

One saw this, “Especially since if your house was ‘worth’ $100,000 ten years ago and then $250,000 five years ago and $500,000 today you in fact not gotten anything more then you had ten years ago since you still live in the same house and you are still getting the same government services yet they want to charge you more when you have not made a dime off this appreciation.”

“I can see people paying more in sales taxes when they sell at a much higher price but if you have not sold you have not made a dime in profit so why are you paying more for some possible profit later that may not even occur if house prices drop.”

One recalled, “I lived in AZ from 2001 - 2004, we purchased a house in McCormick ranch for 235k. It was first purchased for 100k 10 yrs prior. It took 10 to double in value, seems normal right? Subsequently when we sold it to move away 2 yrs later, we got 265k for it. We had an offer of 275k, but was told we could not sell it at that price as it would not appraise for that, so the buyer would have to come up with the cash difference. Now how does that same house, go to 460k 3 yrs later? How is this possible?”

A reply, “Not for nuthin’, but 135k jump in ten years isn’t particularly normal (at least IMHO). 460k? We all know that’s just obcene. Welcome to the wacky world of sub prime mortgages!”

Another added, “Doubling in 10 years is not normal — that means that the home appreciated at a rate of 7.2% every year for 10 years, which is far above the rate of inflation or increase in incomes.”

And another said. “He does raise a good point. How often over these last five years or so did a deal fall thru because the appraisel couldn’t be reconciled with the offer. Probably less that in previous decades I would imagine. A sure sign a dirty appraising and appraisal shopping by realtors.”

The Arizona Republic. “If you’ve seen homes selling for less in your neighborhood lately, you might be thinking there’s a silver lining. Your home could be worth less, so your taxes might be less, too. Right? The answer is an unqualified maybe.”

“Homeowners in Maricopa County got an envelope in the mail last week showing their homes’ new assessed value. And on average, that value is up. Not the 52 percent rise of the boom days, but still up, 13.4 percent overall.”

“Tax bills are due out in October, and those could surprise homeowners more than their recent valuation. Property tax bills lag valuations by almost 18 months because of Arizona’s complicated property-tax system. So the tax bill homeowners get in the mail this October will be based on the assessment of their home’s value a year ago, after Valley housing prices skyrocketed 52 percent.”

“‘The tax bill people get this fall could be the one with the big increase,’ County Assessor Keith Russell said.”

“The valuation most Valley homeowners got in the mail during the past few weeks will show up on property-tax bills in fall 2008. These valuations show an overall 13.4 percent increase on single-family homes. ‘We recognize the housing market slowed last year and tried to incorporate that in the most recent valuation,’ Russell said.”

“Nick Wood, who lives in Ahwatukee Foothills, said his latest valuation jumped 4 percent over last year’s valuation to hit $685,500. Like other homeowners, he has mixed feelings because while the increase could mean higher taxes, it also means his house is appreciating.”

“‘You know, part of me says it is excessive, but another part of me says obviously the value of the house has increased and there should be an increase. There is justification for an increase. So it’s kind of bittersweet,’ Wood said.”

“What could spur more appeals this year is a wave of mortgage fraud in the Valley that has inflated some home values through scams called cash-back deals. The fraud involves obtaining a mortgage for more than a home is worth and pocketing the extra money in cash. The deals are pushing up comparables beyond the true value of a home. Mortgage fraud opponents say the deals could inflate property taxes.”

“‘Mortgage fraud could create a nightmare for the county assessor trying to base fair valuations on comps,’ said County Treasurer David Schweikert.”

“Determining the comparable sales, in a neighborhood is at the crux of the housing market. Homeowners feel poorer or richer depending on what houses are selling for in their neighborhood. Buyers check out comps to see where they can afford a home, and what kind of offers they should make sellers.”

“Appraisers look at comps in neighborhoods to determine the value of a home someone is trying to buy or sell. Lenders rely on those appraisals to fund loans that won’t go south on them.”

“Unfortunately, cash-back deals are making it harder to determine the value of homes in metropolitan Phoenix now. These fraudulent transactions involve getting a mortgage for more than a home is worth and pocketing the extra cash.”

“Many people involved in the deals may think they are harmless ways to make money in the Valley’s slowing housing market.”

“But those deals can mess up the comps in an area, and that can hurt many people, including neighbors of the home sellers, people buying at the inflated comps set by cash-back deals, and lenders who fund the loans and end up losing money on them.”

“Some veteran Valley Realtors are throwing out comps on homes they think are inflated in information they give to prospective buyers and sellers.”

“More lenders are balking on Valley home loans because of unreliable comps in some areas. Some of the big mortgage companies are second-guessing recent home appraisals in metropolitan Phoenix and hiring their own appraisers.”

The Star Telegram reports from Texas. “Having more than 1,000 homes posted for foreclosure each month is becoming the new norm in Tarrant County. The total for the March 6 auction is 1,029, and it’s the seventh month in a row that foreclosures have topped 1,000. There are now almost twice as many foreclosures as there were the same month five years ago, according to the Foreclosure Listing Service in Addison.”

“It’s 10 percent more than the number of postings a year ago. ‘There’s really no end in sight,’ said George Roddy, president of the agency.”

“The Summerfields is like many neighborhoods that have cropped up across Tarrant County in recent years. And like many neighborhoods in Tarrant County, the Summerfields has had its share of foreclosures.”

“Kim Rider, whose house is directly in front of a foreclosed home, wonders when the house will be sold and the hole in her neighborhood filled. ‘If it doesn’t soon, we wonder what will happen,’ she said.”

“One effect is evident already. Nearby housing prices are eroding. The four houses immediately next to the foreclosed property had their appraised values sink in the past year. The same situation is playing out along Rhoades Street in Azle, Mayflower Court in South Arlington, Fossil Butte Drive in the Arcadia Park area of north Fort Worth and too many other streets to name.”

“February saw another record in Tarrant County for the number of homes posted for foreclosure. There were 1,274 postings, the most since the real-estate crash of the late 1980s.”

“‘Generally, they price them to move right off the bat,’ said Joe Peterson, broker in charge of reselling foreclosed properties for lenders in Bartonville. Foreclosed homes sold by the Department of Housing and Urban Development go down in price 10 percent if they don’t sell in the first 30 days, Peterson said. The price keeps going down until the house sells, he said.”

“Dale Erwin, broker in Fort Worth, said his own neighborhood of 200 homes in west Fort Worth has been affected by foreclosures. Erwin said he and his neighbors have seen about 15 foreclosures in the past year. He figures that the less than 8-year-old homes had appreciated by 10 percent to 15 percent at one point. ‘Now they’re back to where they were,’ he said.”

“The economy in the Metroplex has been steady since the 2001-2002 slump, and the rates of illness and divorce have not changed enough to explain why foreclosures have tripled.”

“David O’Brien Jr., executive director of the nonprofit Housing Opportunities of Fort Worth said the market has seen a stratospheric rise in mortgage fraud and in the default rate of subprime loans, typically written at a higher interest rate for people with the lowest credit scores.”

“‘Someone will loan you money for anything in this country,’ O’Brien said. ‘The thing is finding out how much that money will cost you.’”

“Appraisers get pressure from lenders and homeowners to meet a certain price so that the loan will go through. ‘It happens daily, hourly,’ said Greg Stephens of LandSafe Appraisal Services. ‘It’s rampant.’ He said he has seen mortgages taken out for $100,000 more than the recorded sales price.”

The Dallas Morning News. “Dallas-Fort Worth area foreclosure postings are up again. More than 3,200 North Texas homes are facing forced sale – a 7 percent gain from the filings for March 2006 filings, the Foreclosure Listing Service reported Thursday.”

“During the first quarter, D-FW area foreclosure postings were up 15 percent from the same period of 2006.”

“‘We saw a pretty good decline in postings from February to March, but we’ve seen that before, and it goes right back up,’ said George Roddy. ‘I think these high foreclosures are here to stay.’”

“In the D-FW area, Collin County had the biggest increase in foreclosure postings for March, up 21 percent from a year ago. Texas has been one of the country’s top home foreclosure markets during the last three years.”

“A recent report by the Texas A&M University Real Estate Center predicts a sharp increase in nationwide home foreclosures this year. ‘Foreclosures are up 27 percent in the last 12 months,’ A&M economist Mark Dotzour said. ‘But that’s still low in my books. I’m betting 2007 U.S. foreclosures will double last year’s total.’”

The North Texas E-News. “‘In recent years, investor thirst for the higher yields of mortgage-backed bonds has allowed lenders to relax credit standards,’ Dotzour said. ‘Many people who have bought homes in the past five years would never have been able to buy a home at any other time in our country’s history. It stands to reason that you are going to have more foreclosures.’”

“So who will lose when the expected tsunami of foreclosures washes through the system? Dotzour said…hedge funds, pension funds and endowment associations that have been chasing yield by accepting more risk, or large commercial banks offering complex derivatives to allow traders to hedge their risk in mortgage bonds are likely to feel the pinch.”

“‘It’s safe to say that nobody knows exactly where the ultimate risk really lies in the financial markets,’ Dotzour said. ‘Look at how long it is taking Fannie Mae to get their accounting straightened out. There is no way a layperson will ever be able to understand the risk they take when they buy stocks in large financial institutions.’”

“Dotzour said price pressures on foreclosure sales could retard equity growth for other neighborhood homeowners, many of whom have bought homes with a small down payment. With negative equity, these homeowners may not be able to sell their homes if they need to.”

“‘We have seen the good parts of the social experiment in expanding the credit risk of mortgage borrowers,’ he said. ‘We may be getting ready to see the consequences.’”

What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Auctions? Related graphs? Builder incentives? A slowing market? “Year-end figures show the number of single-family homes sold in Southampton Town dropped about 25 percent. At least one insider, Judi Desiderio of Town & Country Real Estate in East Hampton, was willing to say last year wasn’t just a ’slump … it was bad.’ From August 2005 until December 2006, sales hit an all-time low, she said. The largest segment of house sales, the $1 million to $3.5 million price range, was also the segment hardest hit.”

Price reductions? “Wisconsin weathered the national housing downturn of 2006, but it came at a price. The market’s peak eroded, with Ozaukee County’s median price sinking to $225,000 from $244,700 in the same quarter a year earlier. Washington County dipped to $198,200 from $212,500. Up north, Sawyer County plunged from $203,600 to $146,700.”

“‘Prices on a lot of homes were inflated, and for a long time, sellers wouldn’t budge,’ said Randy Schmit, president of Schmit Realty Inc. in Port Washington, of the market in Ozaukee and Washington counties. ‘Now they’ve budged.’”

Mortgage fraud? “The story of this Iowan’s home refinancing was told to us by Iowa Assistant Attorney General Patrick Madigan. The woman was a so-called ’subprime’ borrower. The loan officer at this company made up a home-based day care, ‘Debbie’s Little Dolls’,’ Madigan said, even though Debbie had never even worked in child care. The lender made up the company name and years she had worked there, filled out the paperwork and showed up at Debbie’s house for her to sign the document.”

“When Debbie asked the lender whether it was OK to do this, the lender replied that companies did it ‘all the time,’ Madigan said.”

“Last year, more than 40 percent of subprime loans in Iowa were based on stated income.”

Or legislation? “A measure that would make it a crime to coerce a home appraiser or falsify a real-estate appraisal gained traction in the state Senate on Tuesday. The bill would make pressuring an appraiser or falsifying an appraisal a serious misdemeanor, with repeat offenses treated as felonies.”

“Appraisers who falsify their work risk losing their licenses and face fines under current rules, said Geoff Hier, a spokesman with the Colorado Department of Regulatory Affairs. Arvada mortgage broker Jim Spray said he was initially concerned the bill would target only mortgage professionals. But he was assured the bill will cover real-estate agents, as well as buyers and sellers.”

Signs of speculation? “Mini-Cassia Economic Development Commission Executive Director Bob Shepard said the commission is expecting to see 500 new jobs in the area between now and July. According to Idaho Commerce and Labor, the Mini-Cassia unemployment rate for December 2006 was 3.8 percent, down from 4.9 percent the previous year.”

“‘There are more spec homes in the area than ever before,’ Shepard said.”

The Times Dispatch reports from Virginia. “Gordon and Martha Mabey don’t know their neighbors. But they don’t have many any way. The Mabeys bought into the newly renovated Nolde Bakery Condominiums at Church Hill last fall. Now, some of the unsold units are for lease. ‘It’s better than cutting the sales price by umpteen thousand dollars,’ said Gordon Mabey. ‘We were told the units would not be leased unless it became necessary.’”

“About a third of the 77 condos sold, said Jason Dodd, VP of marketing for the developer.”

“Nolde is not the only condo project struggling in the Richmond area. Inventory grew as investors tried to sell off property and more new condos came on the market. The Nolde condos were on the market for the low $200,000s to the mid-$300,000s. They are renting for $985 to $1,600 a month.”

“‘If it ends up that we spent more than it is worth, that is the luck of the draw, and we will have to live with it,’ Mabey said.”

“Several blocks away on East Main Street, a sign hangs from the newly finished Cutters Ridge at Tobacco Row: ‘Apartments for lease.’ These same 12 apartments, which look like town houses, were marketed for sale last fall as single-family attached row houses. They were on the market until January for $449,000 to $485,000. None sold. They are renting for $3,000 a month.”

“‘The good news for us is we only had 12,’ said Kirsten Brinker of Forest City Enterprises, the developer.”

“A total of 3,675 town houses and condos in the Richmond area went on the market in 2006, up 52 percent from a year earlier, according to the Richmond Association of Realtors. Meanwhile, the number of closings fell to 1,721 last year, down from 1,788 a year earlier. Another 161 condos will hit the market soon.”

“New home construction is way down in the Richmond area. But that is good news, said David Lereah, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors. ‘You want to see construction activity down when real estate is contracting so much,’ Lereah said during a visit to Richmond last week. ‘Richmond is looking a lot better than most areas of the country,’ he said.”

“Speculative investors, who got into the market to make a fast dollar, turned the recent boom into a frenzy, Lereah said. ‘When lenders offered exotic mortgage loans, that was fuel for the fire.’”

The Record Herald from Pennsylvania. “Home prices are cyclical, but many in the business say the most recent downturn has been the worst in decades. Developers enjoyed a fruitful, above-average market in Franklin County for nearly a year. Building lots were plentiful, and the demand for new homes was high. But last spring, the market took a sharp turn nationwide.”

“Ron Koontz of Creative Homes said he’s accustomed to industry ups and downs, but this dip was severe. ‘It’s probably the deepest we’ve seen it. I’ve heard other developers say the same thing,’ Koontz said. ‘There were definitely layoffs because of the slowdown.’”

“‘High cancellation rates, mainly due to people not being able to sell their current home, were a big factor in the decline of new home sales,’ said Mark Boastfield, VP for Richmond American Homes. According to Boastfield, there was a nationwide slowdown in home sales in 2006.”

“When prices go through the roof and developers get caught up in the market, there comes a point where the rush inevitably ends, Koontz said. Many buyers overshot what they could afford, Koontz noted.”

“‘First-time home buyers in the past several years were buying much bigger homes. Interest rates were down, and decisions were made on monthly payments,’ he said. ‘It was much bigger than they needed … It scares me to think of foreclosures on these houses.’”

“He said a lot of people in the construction business are laid off right now, and developers are offering increased incentives to potential buyers.”

“As prices have dropped, Dan Ryan Builders’ Gil Ohler said the profit margin has definitely suffered. Last year, the company was building 12 to 15 homes at time. Now, they’ve had to close two of four local offices and lay off workers, he said. ‘It was pretty major, pretty quick,’ Ohler said.”

The Herald Leader from Kentucky. “Snowmen lined Lexington’s streets in past winters; this year it’s For Sale signs, often in front of vacant houses.”

“The signs have been multiplying since last summer when the national housing slump arrived in the Bluegrass, and even the most optimistic of forecasters say this unwanted visitor is unlikely to leave before next summer.”

“Falling prices and weak demand can be good news for buyers, but sellers face long delays and financial stress. ‘You just have to wait and see what you get,’ said Kate Blair, who has been trying for about a month to sell her house on White Chapel Circle in Andover Hills for $235,000. Their four open houses have attracted a few people and they’ve had some nibbles, including one offer they rejected.”

“Across town on Bay Colony Lane in Masterson Station, Eric and Kristy Little put the ‘for sale’ sign in the yard on the first of October. The price was about $217,000; today it’s $205,000. They have had only a few expressions of interest.”

“‘It’s just really frustrating, because I know this is a really good location and the area appreciates so quickly. I just think this is a great deal,’ Kristy Little said.”

“The selection of new and existing houses is the highest in years and prices are beginning to fall. The economy is strong and employment is strong, so why are home sales so sluggish? ‘I think they (buyers) are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see if prices maybe aren’t going to go down a little bit,’ said Becky Murphy, president of the Lexington-Bluegrass Association of Realtors.”

“Meanwhile, more and more housing units, those being offered for sale and for rent, are vacant. Landlords have no tenants, or owner-occupants have moved on to better digs while attempting to sell their older homes.”

“The U.S. Census Bureau has surveyed the Lexington and Louisville markets annually since 2003, and estimated the number of vacant units. Lexington’s vacancy rate has doubled from 5.1 percent in 2003 to 10.25 percent in 2005, while Louisville’s rate increased from 8.6 percent in 2003 to 9.1 percent in 2005.”

“‘People either continue to hold onto their asking price or withdraw their house from the market’ if it doesn’t sell immediately, said Brent Ambrose, a Pennsylvania State University economist. Eventually buyers will get ‘a phantom price decline. Vacancy rates will go up first, because sellers are reluctant to cut prices. Eventually prices will start coming down to clear the vacancies.’”

“Too many vacancies also can mean that builders misjudged demand and built too many units, Ambrose said. ‘As more supply comes on line and fewer buyers are out there, those houses are vacant.’”

“Melissa Brown, president of the Boone Creek Neighborhood Association, said she and her husband drove through new subdivisions along Hays Boulevard last fall. They counted 175 houses that were vacant or for sale, more than 300 building lots and ‘a couple hundred acres slated for development.’”

“‘Some of the houses, I know, have been sitting there three years because I know the builder,’ Brown said. ‘With the market so stagnant, it’s obvious this area has been overbuilt in the last 10 years.’”

Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.