June 20, 2017

Waiting For The Rescue Boat

A report from Bizwest on Colorado. “In the Boulder Valley, we are beginning to see the two largest residential market segments (in terms of price) act as two different market with two different sets of rules. On one hand, we have what I’ll call the ‘Upper Market,’ which I’m defining as homes priced at $1 million and above (which currently go up to $5,995,000). You’ll note that I’m not calling this the ‘Luxury Market,’ both because the average home in Boulder is currently over $1 million and because many of the homes in this segment would not fit the definition of ‘luxury.’ On the other hand is the ‘Lower Market,’ which is comprised of any homes below $1 million. While the Boulder Valley is generally described as being in a seller’s market, the Upper Market shows strong signs of being a buyer’s market.”

“As of the close of the first quarter, there were 11.3 months’ of inventory in the Upper Market. If you are a buyer in the Upper Market, it means you likely have a little more time to consider your options and are more likely to be able to buy a home for less than its asking price.”

From Maui Now in Hawaii. “Maui Now sat down with realtor Lee Potts of Aloha Group Maui and KW Island Living to discuss the current Maui real estate market. Maui Now: Is the current Maui market a buyers or sellers market?”

“Lee Potts: If you go to homes that are for sale over $700K, there were 48 sales last month and there’s 405 homes for sale above $700K. That’s enough inventory to last for over eight and a half months, that makes it more of a buyers market. If you jump up a little higher, which is not uncommon here on Maui, to $1.5 million there were only 15 sales but we have 215 homes for sale so that very much is a buyers market above $1.5 million.”

The Greensboro Reflector in North Carolina. “Current data indicates that the supply is dwindling in lower to mid-price ranges, good news for those sellers, but increasing as prices increase, according to data supplied by Mike Aldridge of Aldridge and Southerland Realtors. ‘There’s only a one month supply of houses between $100,000 and $150,000 and a three-month supply of houses between $155,000 and $175,000,’ Aldridge said. ‘It only reaches a balanced supply when the price reaches $250,000 to $350,000. Really, anything below $400,000 is looking really good for sellers.’ Above that price, supplies increase between 12-24 months, Aldridge’s data indicated.”

“Home prices are adjusting upward somewhat but not yet to pre-recession levels, Charles Manning, president of the Greenville-Pitt Association of Realtors acknowledged. ‘People who have been sitting on the (selling) fence now are hearing that the market is picking up and they’re beginning to feel like they’d better get their home on the market,’ Manning said. ‘A great many are still upside down (a condition where the equity value of a property is less than the outstanding loan balance) and they can’t sell. That explains some of the current financing issues some people are facing.’”

The Killeen Daily Herald in Texas. “Almost 67 percent of all new foreclosures in Bell County in 2016 were tied to the Veterans Affairs home loan, a federally guaranteed, zero percent down mortgage for qualified veterans and active-duty soldiers. Due to the favorable terms of the loans — more than 57 percent of new purchasers in the Fort Hood area market used one in 2016 — service members, often unknowingly, take on a Catch-22 loan in looking for a way to grow their wealth.”

“Brian Adams, a real-estate agent with StarPointe Realty in Killeen said the Fort Hood area market is unique due to a high number of foreclosures on Veterans Affairs home loans. ‘Because of the 100 percent financing and the fact that most buyers finance the VA funding fee into the loan, it literally means that buyers with the VA loan are underwater from Day 1, usually by a few thousand dollars,’ Adams said. ‘Many soldiers’ financial situations change, they find that they bought more house than they could keep up with, and find that they can’t sell it without bringing a lot of money to the table.’”

From Mansion Global on Florida. “Both developers and buyers are taking a wait-and-see approach to the launch of new developments in Miami. For developments that have broken ground and are moving forward, between 60% and 100% of the units have been sold, said Edgardo Defortuna, CEO of Fortune International Group, a real estate development. For Miami projects that have launched sales but not broken ground, ’sales are slow, with few exceptions,’ he said. ‘They’re waiting for the rescue boat to come in and lift them out of the water,’ Mr. Defortuna said.”

The Real Deal on New York. “On this week’s episode of ‘Million Dollar Listing New York,’ our three heroes give us an exercise in stress management. With 25 Mercer in the rearview mirror, Fredrik is reaching for new heights — literally — at 45 West 22nd Street, an 83-unit condo tower in the Flatiron District. He’s beckoned by the building’s developer, Bruce Eichner, who bestows on him $400 million in unsold listings.”

“Though it doesn’t seem like Lorber is especially ecstatic when he finds out Fredrik has agreed to Eichner’s pricing structure. Perhaps he should have said no and ran for the hills? Nevertheless, Fredrik embarks on his quest to make Papa Lorber proud. He focuses on selling the $20 million apartment before he pushes the pricier units on the higher floors. Lorber unexpectedly turns up during the sales soiree, and reminds Fredrik of all those ridiculously priced pads that he needed to sell, like yesterday. This tower may too tall for even Fredrik to climb.”

“Shortly after the first home sells, Ryan meets with David, the seller of the 17-foot-wide townhouse, to convince him lower the asking price. He uses the $9.47 million townhouse — yep, the one that ruffled David’s feathers last episode — as a comp for the neighborhood. Even if the current price is a bit high, he should’ve known this would upset David, seeing as he was bothered by Ryan talking a similar listing on the same street. But rather than budging on the asking price, David decides to take the townhouse off the market.”

“‘That’s not reducing the price — that’s the opposite,’ Ryan says. ‘Now there’s no price!’”




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83 Comments »

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-06-20 07:08:17

But rather than budging on the asking price, David decides to take the townhouse off the market.”

How sweet it’s going to be when the bottom drops out and greedheads like David belatedly realize no Greater Fools will be coming along to pay them their wish price.

Comment by Carl Morris
2017-06-20 13:26:45

One problem with the rescue that was done by the Fed to not allow prices to go very low for very long, is that now all the FBs will assume that they just need to hang on for a year or two and the greater fools will be back. So it will have to be that much worse before any real capitulation occurs.

Comment by Blue Skye
2017-06-20 14:46:40

That, and fools who now wish they had bought the dip 5 or 6 years ago will jump in. It will be like bouncing down a flight of stairs. I cannot imagine what stupidly they will apply next round to goose another sucker’s rally. What they’ve done up to now was unimaginable.

Comment by Rentor
2017-06-20 19:13:15

In theory this step down will occur with interest rates rising and a lack of QE. Also we haven’t had a recession for 8 years.

Bottom line, it all depends on “this time it’s different” or if this is the new normal.

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Comment by BearCat
2017-06-21 08:33:22

We haven’t had a real recovery, either

 
 
 
Comment by rms
2017-06-20 17:36:58

“One problem with the rescue that was done by the Fed to not allow prices to go very low for very long…”

Having the SHTF at the onset of the boomer retirement likely meant preventing the pension funds from a meltdown.

 
 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-20 08:46:47

A neighbor, who originally listed at 500K, closed at 460k last month. He bought it in 2003 for 283K. He did do some refurb before selling: had the hard wood refinished, carpeting replaced and had it painted inside and out, so more like he got 430K, minus closing costs The basement was finished, not sure if it was that way when he bought it, or if he did it. If he did it, then he probably spent another 30-40K on that and didn’t even clear 100K.

Still, I suppose, better than bringing a check to closing.

Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2017-06-20 09:00:00

I’ve paid $100K in rent in like 4 years.

Comment by Neuromance
2017-06-20 16:58:12

If you’re paying over 2K a month in rent, you can easily get a house for around a 400K mortgage in DC metro, outside the beltway: https://www.google.com/#q=google+mortgage+calculator (when calculating your true cost of ownership, you should add in the whole PITI-UMF - principal, interest, taxes, insurance, utilities, maintenance and other fees - quite doable with a spreadsheet and knowing someone who owns in the area).

That is a tidy sum to pay in rent. Renting builds your net worth if your rental payment would be significantly less than a mortgage. Not if you’re living in luxury accommodations.

Now, if you’re not planning on staying in the DCA for long, then sure, buying isn’t the right course of action. But… I think you could easily score a townhouse for around that rent if you are planning to stay.

Worried about the bottom dropping out of the market and you’re stuck with an albatross around your neck? DC is the seat of the US government. It received a tremendous wealth injection after the financial crisis, and after 9/11. It’s not going to get cut. It might level off. Too much power in DC, too many lobbyists buying favors from too many politicians for top dollar. I know people that bought at the height of the last bubble in DC and their houses have yet doubled (net result for them of course is merely a higher property tax load).

Renting has been very good for me in building my net worth. But that wouldn’t have happened if I were paying 2K a month or more. Being house-poor is not a nice place to be. But if you’re comfortable paying that kind of rent, and you’re gonna stay put, buying makes sense IMO.

Comment by oxide
2017-06-20 18:10:44

Neuromance, you’re describing the exact line of reasoning I had 5 years ago.

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Comment by Neuromance
2017-06-20 18:44:34

I see one thing that could create a downdraft in DCA house prices: a broad based economic recovery. People would stop flocking to this area as economic opportunity would again be broadly available around the country.

People don’t come here for the gangs, the crushing traffic congestion or the crime - they come for the jobs and money. If that appeared again in other parts of the country, there would be less demand for houses.

Is that likely? The current economic regime is very lucrative for lots of aggressive, organized people. If the tick can avoid killing the host, it can continue sucking “stimulus” from the rest of the country, but not too much, and it can continue indefinitely.

OTOH… maybe they are pushing back with the rise of nontraditional candidates around the country. But foul mouthed aristocrats are a pale imitation of true reformers. They know where their bread is buttered. Heck, even Elizabeth Warren knows, as she wouldn’t speak up about the root cause of runaway education costs, and she’s supposed to be the *real* reformer, coming from a humble background.

Once again, “It’s difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends on his not understanding it.” — Upton Sinclair.

 
 
Comment by Blue Skye
2017-06-20 18:54:40

“score a townhouse”

Well, there you go.

The bubble in DC and the hemorrhage of spending, speculation and cheap credit will never end.

Living modestly will make you (and me) wealthy, but if that’s not your thing, get a big fat mortgage and buy into it. Hey, if you are a spendthrift the only thing a spreadsheet will do for you is affirm you. Then you can get the “Oh my God, I’m gonna be rich” by borrowing a huge sum reasoning Oxy had 5 years ago.

Never mind me, I lived on the boat for some years and just could not imagine pissing so much money away.

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Comment by MightyMike
2017-06-20 19:20:22

Too much power in DC, too many lobbyists buying favors from too many politicians for top dollar.

The people paying the lobbyists ultimately have the power and they’re not all concentrated in DC.

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Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2017-06-20 19:47:07

When I looked at the numbers using a low down payment, it looked like the ITI part of the PITI equation would drive the cost up quite a bit. $400K houses can be had (I live in one really, 2 car garage townhouse Loudon County special type thing) but the taxes and PMI and stuff I think drive the cost up a lot more than my rent.

If I had a job I liked then I’d be more inclined. When I moved to the area I didn’t know as much about it. Not sure I would want to stay in the neighborhood I’m in.

Currently looking for better job, hate my current one. Hope to increase pay a good amount.

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Comment by leaving DC
2017-06-20 20:16:29

I wish we only paid 100000 in the last 4 years. We bought in Burke in 2011 after renting for 3 years and it turned out to be a big mistake. We’ve had it on the market for 5 months with tepid interest and two price reductions on our agents advice. Right now it’s 58,000 lower than what we paid even after spending 40k on a kitchen. Our rental in Rosslyn was more than adequate, had more room and cheaper by $1400 a month. It was a 10 minute commute to my husbands work.

VA has been a bad experience for us and I can’t bring myself to sharpen the pencil and find out what the total hit will be. We plan to draw on the 401k to cover the difference.

Comment by Taxpayers
2017-06-21 14:10:18

Sorry to hear,I’m in 22151 and we are just 5% below par w 2005 peak

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Comment by rms
2017-06-21 16:55:46

“Our rental in Rosslyn was more than adequate, had more room and cheaper by $1400 a month. It was a 10 minute commute to my husbands work.”

Inquisitive… what made you decide to buy a place?

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Comment by Prime_Is_Contained
2017-06-21 09:08:50

Ethan, you’re missing the fact that the described so-called “owner” also spent way more than $100K, he just spent it renting the money rather than renting the house.

 
Comment by Jingle Male
2017-06-23 00:28:19

$25,000/year in rent. That seems reasonable.

My appreciation has been $300,000 in 7 years. Granted I was lucky and got a great deal on a foreclosure from BofA, but my total housing costs has been $210,000 over the same 7 years.

 
 
Comment by Apartment 401
2017-06-20 11:10:47

The Front Range economy is running on fumes.

This is back-office flyover. HELOCs and cash-out refis *are* the Front Range economy.

Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-20 11:23:30

FWIW, I’ve never seen so many tech jobs on the Front Range. We had a reorg/layoff in January (it was really about getting rid of underperformers). One of the guys who was let go immediately found another code monkey job that paid 10K more than the old job. And he was in his early 60’s too, and looks old.

But yeah, for non STEM types the pay is low in Denver.

Comment by rms
2017-06-20 12:35:52

“And he was in his early 60’s too, and looks old.”

Sounds like he needs a thirty-something with long legs to put the joy back in his life. The guys wouldn’t ask how he’s doing… they’d know how he’s doing.

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Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-20 12:49:48

He’s divorced and moved in with a single mom in her 50’s. Her child is a teen, so he gets to enjoy being as pseudo stepdad at its worst.

 
Comment by rms
2017-06-20 17:38:29

Sounds like hell on earth.

 
Comment by oxide
2017-06-20 18:14:59

Betabux alert!

 
Comment by Blue Skye
2017-06-20 19:09:59

You’ve given me a flashback PTSD moment.

 
Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-21 07:55:21

And he and his girlfriend bought a house together.

 
 
 
Comment by Puggs
2017-06-20 14:05:32

Pffft. Front range, “Everyone wants to move here”. Yeah, from Omaha.

Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-20 17:43:07

The comment is more on the mark than you might think. People think Clownifornians move here, and while some do, most who move here come from the midwest.

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Comment by MightyMike
2017-06-20 19:23:19

Many of those people probably come from places much smaller than Omaha and move to the suburbs of Denver, rarely venturing into the city itself. Nevertheless, those suburbs seem like some sophisticated, glittering metropolis compared to the tiny towns that they hail from.

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Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-21 07:58:49

Actually, those folks (the small town bumpkins) prefer to move to places like Colorado Springs, Greeley, Ft. Collins, etc. In my experience most new Denverites, at least those with skills and good paying jobs, come from larger locales.

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2017-06-21 10:36:18

Hahah…that was me after the army. Moved to the “big city” of Longmont/Boulder to get a tech job but stay as close as possible to Wyoming where I was from.

 
Comment by MightyMike
2017-06-21 10:49:56

Few jobs these days are good jobs, so people who have them represent a small portion of the population.

 
 
 
 
 
Comment by Avg Joe
2017-06-20 08:47:10

‘Because of the 100 percent financing and the fact that most buyers finance the VA funding fee into the loan, it literally means that buyers with the VA loan are underwater from Day 1, usually by a few thousand dollars,’ Adams said. ‘Many soldiers’ financial situations change, they find that they bought more house than they could keep up with, and find that they can’t sell it without bringing a lot of money to the table.’

Which I’m sure you warn them about in advance, right, Brian?

Comment by taxpayer
2017-06-20 10:59:09

add 6% resale fee to the underwater part

wowo !
Almost 67 percent of all new foreclosures 2016 were tied to the Veterans Affairs home loan, a federally guaranteed, zero percent down mortgage

Comment by Jingle Male
2017-06-23 00:50:14

Wrong!

VA-guaranteed loans have a foreclosure rate of only 1.98% and have enjoyed the lowest foreclosure rate for five years. Even prime loans, which have very strict credit and underwriting requirements, have been bested with a foreclosure rate of 2.47%.

http://www.military.com/money/va-loans/home-purchase/va-loans-have-lowest-foreclosure-rate.html

VA loans have never cost the tax payers a nickle.

 
Comment by rms
2017-06-23 07:42:50

I looked a the VA loans back in 2002/2003, but I could easily get a better deal elsewhere. A disabled or wounded vet could likely do better than “prior service.”

Comment by Jingle Male
2017-06-23 16:12:22

Not true today. They are typically 30-50 basis points less in rate than a conventional loan.

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Comment by ibbots
2017-06-20 09:15:52

Dallas near top of national troubled home market list, and five of the top 10 areas are in Texas.

Tight inventories and soaring prices have put Dallas near the top of a list of troubled U.S. housing markets.

Nationwide’s report grades the home markets in each metro area for near term sustainability based on factors including employment, demographics, the mortgage market and home prices.

https://www.dallasnews.com/business/real-estate/2017/06/20/dallas-near-top-troubled-home-market-list

 
Comment by frankie
2017-06-20 09:47:17

A £475,000 bungalow will be Britain’s FIRST home bought via Facebook Live with viewers making offers using the Messenger app
Buyers can see inside the three-bedroom bungalow using Facebook Live
The company believes the property could be sold during the live stream
Owner Shanty Helim said she wanted to sell her home ‘as simply as possible’

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-4622174/Bungalow-Britain-s-home-sold-FACEBOOK.html

Tis a mad world, my masters.

Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-06-20 12:50:02

I’ve always wondered how the NAR mafia manages to justify its six percent realtor fees in the Internet age. It seems like a website matching buyers and sellers with a nominal fee would instantly command a huge market segment who don’t feel like paying some botox barbie an outsized fee for minimal services.

Comment by Ethan in Northern VA
2017-06-20 16:34:07

The sue. They get regional governments to enact rules to keep them in power. They might hold patents on the MLS ideas. RedFin years ago tried to skip them but it didn’t work so well.

And marketing (like Century 21’s stellar ads.)

 
 
Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-20 12:56:45

Took a look on the map. That place is in London’s boondocks, its equivalent of San Bernardino (without the climb or the nasty smog).

If it was closer, say in Kensington or Chelsea, it would fetch 3x, if not more.

 
Comment by Apartment 401
2017-06-20 15:16:34

Just as stupid as “push button, get mortgage” here in USA.

 
 
Comment by megamie
2017-06-20 10:20:57

For developments that have broken ground and are moving forward, between 60% and 100% of the units have been sold, said Edgardo Defortuna, CEO of Fortune International Group a real estate development.
hmmm count me as suspicious of such a claim

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-20 11:27:38

Hey, if someone offered me 35M to star in a bad Disney movie, I’d do it.

Comment by Puggs
2017-06-20 14:10:26

Heck, I’d do it for 1mil. I just wouldn’t watch it. Kinda like the current movie.

 
 
 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-06-20 10:31:36

Really, Hong Kong? You just now figured out you’ve got a dangerous housing bubble?

http://wolfstreet.com/2017/06/20/hong-kong-house-price-bubble-dangerous-situation/#comments

 
Comment by Raymond K Hessel
2017-06-20 10:59:59

“Almost 67 percent of all new foreclosures in Bell County in 2016 were tied to the Veterans Affairs home loan, a federally guaranteed, zero percent down mortgage for qualified veterans and active-duty soldiers. Due to the favorable terms of the loans — more than 57 percent of new purchasers in the Fort Hood area market used one in 2016 — service members, often unknowingly, take on a Catch-22 loan in looking for a way to grow their wealth.”

Most junior enlisted military members and their spouses (especially) are terrible when it comes to financial responsibility.

Comment by Carl Morris
2017-06-20 11:49:31

Most junior enlisted military members and their spouses (especially) are terrible when it comes to financial responsibility.

True, but I think most of their teen/early 20s peers who are not in the military are similar. It’s just that the ones who join the military are considered more adult-ish in our society than their peers who are still in their parent’s basement, and Mr. Banker gets a lot of opportunity to have his way with them and their steady paycheck.

Comment by rms
2017-06-20 12:44:54

“…and their steady paycheck.”

+1 Yeah, it’s low hanging fruit alright, but it’s still fruit.

 
 
Comment by Puggs
2017-06-20 14:15:34

Yeah, cuz their teacher, Uncle Sam, sets the worst example.

 
Comment by trader jack
2017-06-20 18:07:15

which , of course, may be why the armed forces required that you hat to get permission to get married , I don’t know when it was changed but when I was in the Navy you had to be a first or second class petty office in the 1940s.

Comment by Blue Skye
2017-06-20 19:02:59

The rule is still on the books, but is considered only window dressing.

 
 
Comment by Bluto
2017-06-21 14:46:07

Yep, and there are lots of businesses that exploit undisciplined service members in big military towns, saw that in San Diego long ago. Anyway many who use VA loans are older and have been out of the service for a long time, did it myself in 1997 and had been out of the Navy for nearly 20 years…but had a good job and credit, the RE market had been flat for quite awhile and it worked out well for me. Sold that place 10 years later thanks in part to the HBB.
You can take out another VA loan if you paid off the first one but I didn’t bother even trying in 2011/2012…wasn’t able to buy even with a preapproved conventional loan and a big down payment, was shut out multiple times by cash buyers. (in norther Calif. FWIW)
On the sidelines for now until Bubble 2.0 inevitably pops…

 
Comment by Jingle Male
2017-06-23 01:04:18

Foreclosures are at historical lows….

 
 
Comment by Mike
2017-06-20 11:48:50

Some anecdotals, FWIW….
Just got back from Southeast Florida. IN Boca Raton, heard about 3 $3000+ 1 BR apartment bldgs. Don’t know that there are that many folks in that bracket and they look the same (on the outside) as much less expensive rentals. In Fort Lauderdale, a friend told me that it seems prices are coming down a bit. Looking for something in Boynton, where prices are more reasonable but I am still uncomfortable paying 100% more than what a property sold for in 2012…

 
Comment by palmetto
2017-06-20 12:13:38

“For developments that have broken ground and are moving forward, between 60% and 100% of the units have been sold, said Edgardo Defortuna, CEO of Fortune International Group, a real estate development.”

And we can believe you, Eddie, because?

Comment by Rental Watch
2017-06-20 15:42:34

The problem is with how he defines “sold”.

I personally define “sold” as money and deed changing hands, and escrow closing, which isn’t possible with a partially built property.

These guys usually define “sold” as a purchase contract having been executed by buyer and seller.

 
 
Comment by The Filth
2017-06-20 12:31:16

We need more bad news, so the Fed can finish destroying the last bit of value that still remains in the dollar. All the way to nothing. On the bright side, your houses and stocks should be worth trillions. Buy anything that isn’t nailed down.

Comment by Rental Watch
2017-06-20 12:48:31

I have a few $100 Trillion dollar Zimbabwe bank notes (as a future teaching tool for my kids on fiat currency).

The paper on which they are printed is worth more than the note itself.

Comment by Blue Skye
2017-06-20 14:21:07

I used to carry a 5000 Brazilian Cruzeiro note in my wallet, maybe 30 years ago. As a joke I handed it to the checkout gal in the local diner with my $3 lunch bill. She gasped and said there wasn’t enough in the till to make change. I decided an explanation would be worse than pointless.

Comment by Rental Watch
2017-06-20 15:52:11

Now that’s funny.

My 9 year old is starting to “get it” with various ideas. I don’t think she’s ready for a fiat currency discussion, but yesterday, we actually had a reasonably good discussion about progressive taxation. She actually paid attention and asked good questions!

Funny story. My 7 year old wanted to borrow $2 from my 9 year old. My 9-year old wanted to charge interest, but she set the rate at $0.50, because a $2 loan was such a small amount it had to be “worth it” to her to make the loan in the first place.

I did not guide this AT ALL….payday lending emerged organically in my house.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2017-06-20 19:04:05

Maybe you will consider a bail out as a further educational experience?

 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2017-06-20 19:51:45

‘I did not guide this AT ALL….payday lending emerged organically in my house.’

LOL

Make sure to show them this HBB post about 20 years from now.

 
 
 
Comment by The Filth
2017-06-20 16:07:52

Here is a cool picture of NYC, early 1900’s, back when the dollar was actually worth something.

http://i.imgur.com/vPPdsdb.jpg

Comment by MightyMike
2017-06-20 16:55:04

A better one would include all of the manure from those horse-drawn carts. Life was pretty miserable back then. A dollar was worth more and yet nearly everyone was poorer.

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Comment by Blue Skye
2017-06-20 19:08:40

Jeeze Mikey, I knew a man ( an old man now gone) whose father was a street cleaner. He shoveled up the horse poop. They didn’t let it pile up at all. It was a renewable resource!

 
 
Comment by rms
2017-06-20 17:51:08

It’s amazing that they could actually build skyscrapers in a age of horse-drawn carriages. No hydraulics yet either… the compund block pulley did the heavy work.

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Comment by In Colorado
2017-06-21 08:00:09

Hordes of cheap labor made it possible.

 
Comment by Carl Morris
2017-06-21 10:37:43

Not much different than China now. Multiple stories of skyscraper per day.

 
 
 
Comment by Jingle Male
2017-06-23 01:07:42

I have stacks of Iraqi bank notes….

 
 
 
 
Comment by sod
2017-06-20 16:15:49

@oxide from the previous thread, the service merchandise questionnaire would have been from around 88-90, I can’t remember if I was still in high school at the time or not, I graduated in 89. Interesting theory on the psych test though, I think you might be right about that!

Comment by oxide
2017-06-20 18:23:50

Thanks for reading! Do you remember if your questionnaire was around 500 questions? The MMPI was.

I didn’t realize that Service Merchandise lasted that long. I thought they died in the early 80s. We used to get their catalogs. Most of it was boring jewelry.

Comment by sod
2017-06-20 18:58:29

I don’t remember how many questions there were though I vaguely remember thinking “is all this really necessary?” so it must have been fairly extensive. Coincidence that the MMPI v2 came out in 1989??

 
Comment by AbsoluteBeginner
2017-06-20 19:58:01

‘I didn’t realize that Service Merchandise lasted that long. I thought they died in the early 80s.I didn’t realize that Service Merchandise lasted that long. I thought they died in the early 80s.’

I bought a Brother word processor from them in 1989. Basically a Barbie Bake Oven device versus computers of that day. And it was $300 or so for it and it used a lot of printer ribbon cartridges.

Comment by JQ
2017-06-20 22:06:45

Ha! I bought one of those the same year for college. It was a tank by today’s standards but it was very reliable.

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Comment by Professor Bear
2017-06-20 22:42:03

“On the other hand is the ‘Lower Market,’ which is comprised of any homes below $1 million. While the Boulder Valley is generally described as being in a seller’s market, the Upper Market shows strong signs of being a buyer’s market.”

If you got Subprime Sam’s GSEs outta the way, the Lower and Upper Markets would both suddenly morph into Collapsed Markets.

 
Comment by Professor Bear
2017-06-20 22:46:28

How is Albuquerque Dan’s prediction for an oil price recovery panning out?

Global oil slump weighs on Asian markets

Published: June 20, 2017 11:22 p.m. ET
Australian stocks drop more than 1%, Nikkei backs off 22-month high
Reuters
Oil prices returned to bear-market territory overnight.
By Ese Erheriene

Stocks were lower across the Asia-Pacific region early Wednesday, as global price declines for oil hurt energy companies, though mainland markets were resilient after MSCI Inc. said it would include Chinese stocks in its emerging-markets index.

Oil prices returned to bear-market territory overnight and the U.S. benchmark has fallen 20% from its last high point, with cuts by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries offset by increasing production elsewhere.

Australia’s S&P/ASX 200 (XJO, -1.36%) slid 1.2%, with the energy subindex off 2%. The Nikkei Stock Average (NIK, -0.31%) was 0.2% lower, edging down from a 22-month closing high in the previous session. Inpex (1605, -1.38%) and Japan Petroleum (1662, -2.05%) were down 1.9% and 2.4%, respectively, with the Topix mining subindex declining 1.6%.

Comment by Jingle Male
2017-06-23 01:16:25

Yes, he was touting $100/barrel rebound.

I sold my VGENX last week. 20% gain in just over a year. Wish I’d bought more….

 
 
Comment by frankie
2017-06-21 00:46:23

House sales have fallen by nearly a third in some parts of UK, says Lloyds

Housing market activity now substantially below level before financial crash thanks to high prices and stamp duty, research finds
…………………..
Last year Countrywide, the estate agent group, announced the closure of more than 50 branches, while London agency Foxtons warned in March of tough trading conditions in 2017 as it reported a 54% fall in profit for last year.

However, the total number of estate agents in Britain is today about 15% above the last pre-recession peak, said Mark Hayward of the National Association of Estate Agents, with rising house prices making each transaction more valuable. But he warned that if transaction activity continued to fall, closures may be inevitable.

“Commission has reduced in percentage terms but due to house price inflation, the amount agents receive is not vastly different,” he said. “It’s true that we aren’t seeing a raft of closures; when you look at the amount of commission received and number of sales that take place it does suggest it’s not sustainable in the long term.”

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jun/21/house-sales-uk-lloyds-housing-market-crash

“Food, please. Bread! Can you spare a penny for a poor estate agent?”

 
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