Infinite Leverage Along With Trillions In Liabilities
A report from the San Francisco Chronicle in California. “Unless you’re a millionaire, it’s difficult to fathom San Francisco’s insanely high home prices. The median sale price of a single-family home in the city soared to $1.6 million in the first quarter, nearly a 24 percent jump from a year ago, according to the Paragon Real Estate Group. That’s a $110,000 gain in the past three months running January through March. Reporter Mike Rosenberg at the Seattle Times expressed the increase in home prices, saying they’ve gone up $1,200 per day over the last quarter.”
From LA Curbed in California. “The cost of buying a home in the San Fernando Valley hit a new record-high in February, according to the Southland Regional Association of Realtors. A typical Valley residence now runs buyers $700,000—well above the previous median price record of $675,000 set in November 2017. That price is also 16.7 percent higher than a year earlier. Both homeowners and buyers, says real estate agent Mark Alan Bua, are treating purchases as longterm investments, rather than opportunities for a relatively quick profit.”
“‘If it’s a nice property in a good school district, buyers don’t think twice about overpaying,’ he says. ‘They’re in it for the long haul.’”
From Boise Weekly in Idaho. “The continued appearance of Boise on “‘Top 10 Places to Live’ lists has sent the local real estate market into a tailspin. The median price of homes for sale in Boise has also been steadily increasing over the past year, and is now up 12.75 percent to just over $250,000, according to RE/MAX.”
” ‘A lot of news articles that you’re seeing say there’s no inventory out there,’ said Boise RE/MAX broker Darrin Jaszkowiak. ‘But that’s a little bit of [a] misnomer, because there are actually a lot of transactions happening. The overall inventory just isn’t staying put. Homes come on the market and they come off the market pretty rapidly. So, it’s important for homebuyers to make informed, but quick, decisions.’”
From KMMS AM in Montana. “It’s no secret that Bozeman, Montana is an expensive place to live. A vacant lot within the city limits can command a price of $115,000 to $300,00 or more. According to the Gallatin Association of Realtors in February of 2017 the average price for a single detached home in Bozeman sold for $425,216 in February 2018 that increased 15.4 percent to $490,714. Average lots in Bozeman sell for around $100,000. If you use the rule of thumb that the cost of the lot should be about twenty-five percent of the total cost of the project, then you’re looking at a $400,000 home in Bozeman.”
“Outside the city limits is even more pricey. The average price of a home in February 2017 outside Bozeman was $479,089. In February of 2018 that increased 26.7 percent to $606,771.”
From USA Today on Nevada. “This spring home-buying season should be a coming-out party for Millennials, many of whom are finally ready to make a purchase after hunkering down for years in their parents’ basements or expensive apartments. The only problem: Much of the food at the party is gone, and what’s left is priced like caviar. In the Las Vegas area, the median home price has jumped about 12% over the last year and doubled the past five years, Attom figures show. Homes priced below $200,000 typically draw 15 to 20 offers, says Chris Bishop, managing broker of Coldwell Banker Premier Realty. To stand out, some bidders are writing letters to sellers, detailing what they like about the house, says Rob Pistone, a broker at Keller Willians Realty.”
“Maria Maneva, 37, a Las Vegas escrow officer, is looking to move to a larger house now that she and her boyfriend have a 3-month-old daughter. They’ve seen little of interest in their price range of $300,000 to $400,000 and anything appealing sells within a day or even hours, Maneva says. So when she saw a four-bedroom house she liked, she made an instant offer at the asking price of $405,900. And when the seller began leaning toward a rival all-cash offer, she upped her bid by $600 and her agent — Jason Mattson of Orange Realty — agreed to lend her the entire amount in cash. She still didn’t get the house.”
“Now, she says, ‘I will make an offer without even looking at’ a house, she says. ‘I’m even more scared.’”
The Las Vegas Sun in Nevada. “In a recent look at Southern Nevadans’ finances, Las Vegas Valley residents have some of the worst credit scores, debt ratios and money management habits in the United States. ‘These low ratings are highly influenced by each city’s debt levels, which are higher than average,’ WalletHub analyst Jill Gonzalez said. ‘The mortgage debt-to-income ratio in both cities is especially high in both North Las Vegas and Las Vegas.’”
“Both Las Vegas and North Las Vegas ranked in the bottom 30th percentile for credit scores and money management in the 2016 and 2017 editions. Gonzalez said carryover from the housing bubble is a driving factor in the valley’s massive mortgage debt-to-income ratio. At 448 percent and 437 percent, North Las Vegas and Las Vegas are over 100 percentage points higher in their mortgage debt-to-income ratios than the average U.S. city.”
From American Banker. “The Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis this winter finalized its ‘Minneapolis Plan to End Too Big to Fail’ — that is, a plan intended to end the problem of ‘too big to fail’ financial institutions, including both banks and nonbank financial companies. But here is something remarkable: Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, among the most egregious cases of ‘too big to fail,’ appear nowhere at all in the plan.”
“Have the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis authors forgotten how Fannie and Freddie blew masses of hot air into the housing bubble, then crashed, then got a $187 billion bailout from the U.S. Treasury? Have they not noticed that Fannie and Freddie remain utterly dependent on the credit guaranty of the Treasury, remaining TBTF to the core?”
“Since the plan focuses on excessive leverage as the fundamental cause of ‘too big to fail’ risk, have they not considered that Fannie and Freddie each had capital of less than zero at the end of last year, so they had infinite leverage along with their $5.4 trillion in liabilities?”
“What should be done about the TBTF nonbank companies? According to the Minneapolis Fed, the answer is for the Congress to impose a ‘tax on leverage’ that offsets the advantages of running at high leverage and low capital. Among the types of firms that the plan would consider for the leverage tax are ‘funding corporations, real estate investment trusts, trust companies, money market mutual funds, finance companies, structured finance vehicles, broker/dealers, investment funds, and hedge funds.’ Again, and amazingly, Fannie and Freddie are not on the list.”
“We’ve calculated how much the proposed Minneapolis tax on leverage would cost these financial behemoths. For Fannie, total liabilities are $ 3.35 trillion, so the annual tax would be 2.2% times that, or $74 billion. Fannie’s profit before tax for the year 2017 was $18.4 billion, so the tax in the size proposed by the Minneapolis Plan would be four times Fannie’s total pre-tax profit. For Freddie, the corresponding numbers are liabilities of $2.05 trillion and a leverage tax of $45 billion, which would be 2.7 times its 2017 pre-tax profit.”
“In short, instead of paying about 100% of their profits to the Treasury, Fannie and Freddie together would pay Treasury well over 300% of their profits. This would obviously cause them to operate at a huge pro-forma loss.”
The Courier Post in New Jersey. “Two Burlington County residents and a Sicklerville woman are among a dozen people charged in connection with an ‘elaborate’ housing scam in Mercer County. Authorities allege ring members broke into homes left vacant by foreclosure, then changed the locks, illegally turned on utilities and created false documents to rent the properties to unwitting tenants. In some cases, ring members lived in the vacant homes themselves.”
“‘When property managers or bank inspectors would stop by the houses to examine or show them, they would find occupants in what should have been vacant homes,’ the Mercer County Prosecutor’s Office said in announcing the arrests. It said property owners sometimes would pay illegal occupants to leave a property, rather than go through the eviction process. ‘Such payments could be anywhere from a few hundred to a few thousand dollars, but ultimately cost the bank or real estate agency less than hiring attorneys to handle the matter in court, which could take as long as three months,’ the statement said.”
‘Under a newly announced regulation change, Fannie Mae is opening the door to permit lenders to help cover closing costs, within certain constraints. Fannie Mae recently sent lenders a set of guidelines stating that they could provide the assistance to borrowers as a gift that is not subject to repayment, according to a report from HousingWire.’
‘The money cannot go toward the down payment or surpass the closing costs, but otherwise there is no cap on the amount. ‘We’re making it easier for borrowers to purchase a home by allowing lenders to fund closing costs and prepaid fees,’ Fannie Mae Chief Credit Officer for Single-Family Carlos Perez said in a letter to lenders.’
Haha… going for the easy marks now. Always Be Closing!
“We’re making it easier for borrowers to purchase a home”
You know, after reading the headlines in this thread I am absolutely disgusted. Nothing was learned from the last meltdown, and all the usual suspects are up to their same old tricks.
I am convinced that none of the politicians or bureaucrats have any interest whatsoever in improving this country in the least bit. At least Canada seems to be taking steps to pop the bubble and reign in prices, albeit way too late. Our government does everything possible to promote bubbles, and when they pop they scramble around and work feverishly to blow more.
Nothing was learned from the last meltdown
Oh I think some things were learned. Just not the things that would have been learned had nature run its course.
This is my third bubble….I keep learning. That is the best result for which I can hope!
and when they pop they scramble around and work feverishly to
blow moreensure the correct pockets are lined.So, a actual gift as opposed to rolling the closing costs into the load??
/Shakes head
within certain constraints
Uhuh.
Money is fungible so who’s to say where it goes once it’s been handed out or what it was really for.
Fannie Mae: facilitating fraud since its inception.
“Fannie Mae: facilitating fraud since its inception.”
Over the weekend I talked to 40 year retired UHS (he whore the R too) and he said he hasn’t seen a squeaky clean transaction in since the late 80’s.
crime_is_uncontained
“Have the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis authors forgotten how Fannie and Freddie blew masses of hot air into the housing bubble, then crashed, then got a $187 billion bailout from the U.S. Treasury? Have they not noticed that Fannie and Freddie remain utterly dependent on the credit guaranty of the Treasury, remaining TBTF to the core?”
How can the mortgage lending markets possibly function when completely overshadowed by the GSEs (Governmental Scam Enterprises)?
“In short, instead of paying about 100% of their profits to the Treasury, Fannie and Freddie together would pay Treasury well over 300% of their profits. This would obviously cause them to operate at a huge pro-forma loss.”
Somebody’s on the take. Any chance that the current administration will put an end to this once they have the chance to replace Obama’s GSE regulator?
Is all this trade war talk and doom and gloom another attempt to get another rally out of shorty?
Suck them in and then rinse them out? This has been a consistent trend for years.
Conjure up some fake news and then circulate bad news to get people to go short. then flush them out with positive news that the fake news isnt going to happen.
Are you a woman scorned?
Rather a bankrupt gambler.
Highland Beach, FL Housing Prices Crater 9% YOY As Vacation/Retirement Housing Market Collapses
https://www.movoto.com/highland-beach-fl/market-trends/
SSDD
Housing DumpsterFire…. Housing.
Potomac Falls, VA Housing Prices Crater 13% YOY As DC Area Mortgage Defaults Rise
https://www.movoto.com/potomac-falls-va/market-trends/
#fakenews
Hello my good friend.
Redmond, WA Housing Prices Crater 10% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/redmond-wa/market-trends/
Thanks for proving my point!
‘What should be done about the TBTF nonbank companies? According to the Minneapolis Fed, the answer is for the Congress to impose a ‘tax on leverage’ that offsets the advantages of running at high leverage and low capital…amazingly, Fannie and Freddie are not on the list’
Wow, this whole thing is running on autopilot. Now where is Senator Running Deer, who says she protects the little guy from the Big Bad Wolf?
‘when she saw a four-bedroom house she liked, she made an instant offer at the asking price of $405,900. And when the seller began leaning toward a rival all-cash offer, she upped her bid by $600 and her agent — Jason Mattson of Orange Realty — agreed to lend her the entire amount in cash. She still didn’t get the house.’
‘Now, she says, ‘I will make an offer without even looking at’ a house, she says. ‘I’m even more scared.’
‘Maria Maneva, 37, a Las Vegas escrow officer’
This is like those road runner cartoons where you can see the calamity coming.
when people lose money on homes in ca they get bailed out by the make homes affordable program.
now that she and her boyfriend have a 3-month-old daughter.
It’s going to be an even funner calamity if there are no rings or papers.
Why buy the cow if the milk is free…
Hey Donk
turnover in N VA robust as OMNI-bust bill passes
I not sure it is going to be fun that you and I are going to be buying the hay for the old cow, when the boyfriend gets a new cow. They roll in the hay that we buy. I think that is cow manure. The best welfare program would be one that incentivizes sterilization. It is like feeding stray animals, good intentions but you make the problem worse. I donate to have animals picked-up, sterilized and then adopted or to stay in a no kill shelter. Best solution for animals and it would be the best solution for the welfare problem. Unfortunately, even Trump has not proposed that solution. As you stated in an earlier post, just more people will not fix the Social Security problem. We need people intelligent enough to produce more than they consume. We are not producing or importing enough of those.
I’m on on the sterilization train, but liberalizing contraception availability (like making Plan B available at the pharmacy without the need for a prescription) is a good start. One of the best investments in reducing welfare/poverty would be government funded contraception. It’s much cheaper in the end.
In Europe in 1944, they had both a ” freedom train” & “a solution” … Otherwise known, in the current era, as “alternative facts” … so to bee clear, which side of the tracks are you on?
on the sterilization train…
May you never have enough influence to make such decisions regarding your lessers.
on the sterilization train…
May you never have enough influence to make such decisions regarding your lessers.
The Progressives are alive and well and as evil as ever.
There is quite a difference between encouraging voluntary sterilization and forced sterilization. There is quite a difference between killing people that cannot contribute to society and trying to prevent the conceiving of people who will only live marginal lives and may degrade the lives of others. Sorry the real reason we have so many deranged shooters these days, is unlike in previous decades we do not institutionalize people that are dangerous. Further unlike previous decades these people are having children. Voluntary sterilization is the most moral path that can be followed to avoid abject poverty and the perpetuation of dangerous genes. This country is in trouble precisely because people that are instinctively right wing or instinctively left wing do not even try to make nuanced distinctions.
the original post should have read “not on”
To be clear, I have never been, nor ever would be in favor of government forced sterilization. Tubal ligation or hysterectomy as families have decided they are done with their child bearing things is completely another matter and a personal choice. My personal belief is that children should come into this world wanted and able to be provided for in all aspects. The original post was to encourage contraception availability. If you understand the great amount of including sexual toward women, you realize that being able to control when they get pregnant is absolutely vital to a host of problems, including poverty and preventing bringing drug addicted children into this world. I’ve taken care of these opioid babies in the NICU. It’s very disheartening.
In the recent past there was a program in Southern California I believe that would give a young woman a few thousand dollars to have her tubes tied. Nobody was being forced to participate, but the liberal outcry was palpable. There was a Youtube video of a black congresswoman having a full-tilt meltdown.
The problem with intelligent people is that theyre intelligent and will see theyre treated as tax donkeys, mere cattle to be milked by any rapacious entity that holds the reins of government (ranging from corporate lobbyists to teachers unions and everything in between) and opt out. More will ratchet down the lifestyle and retire to Galts Gulch or just become parasites themselves. This is the problem with a lawless kleptocracy - you almost have to be a criminal to succeed, thus an ever increasing number of people choose to game the system as that is how it is set up.
“More will ratchet down the lifestyle and retire to Galts Gulch or just become parasites themselves.”
Bingo. Which will you choose?
There is no reason whatsoever to remain a sitting duck.
“The best welfare program would be one that incentivizes sterilization.”
Knot what Jesus would do ( with such a “thought” ) … What would Jesus “think” about the human with believing in such a “thought”
… There, but bye the grace of the God you believe inn , do you go.
A-Dan ! When did you come back to HBB?
Around a few weeks ago I tried to post and Ben graciously allowed a comment to post.
He’s still on the hook for child support, for 18 loooooong years.
Is he? Not if he’s off the grid and barters for what he needs.
If you opt out of the game, you aren’t subject to its rules.
As the Amish would $ay, ” beware the engli$h!”
But you really need to opt out, as in become homeless. If you have a job, you’re gonna pay, and in some cases pay for kids who are not even yours.
There are numerous advantages in living out of a vehicle.
Especially if you have money.
Especially if you are male.
Especially if you’re trying to rid yourself of parasites.
It helps to have a PO Box.
“It’s going to be an even funner calamity if there are no rings or papers. Why buy the cow if the milk is free…”
MGTOW.
Nobody is blaming the men. It’s the women that are being stupid. This is how single moms are made.
It’s also how MGTOW is made.
Men have little to gain in today’s society, and much to lose. So why bother? Who is to blame has nothing to do with it because “victim” status offers no real solutions to anyone.
In a lawless, non-ethical and amoral society, pragmatism wins.
Society is so warped now, the single mom gets to wear the badge of both victim and hero and get lionized by the left while likely enjoying a miserable life, albeit on someone else’s dime. Normal people look at her as neither hero nor victim (not in this day and age), but rather as both fool and strumpet. Interesting dichotomy.
As an aside, if this civil war goes hot(ter), I think Clownifornia will be the first to taste it. The criminal class that runs that state will stop at nothing to maintain their grip. Interestingly most sane people are checking out of the hotel, which helps to relieve the pressure somewhat but a pressure remains nonetheless.
Nobody is blaming the men.
Are you kidding? Men, especially white, are being blamed for everything.
“Society is so warped now, the single mom gets to wear the badge of both victim and hero and get lionized by the left while likely enjoying a miserable life, albeit on someone else’s dime.”
This reminds me of the recent dual moms and a flock of interracial kids going off the cliff. No mention of how they made their way in society. Our educated and skilled household is struggling to get just two kids through the pipeline.
“Are you kidding? Men, especially white, are being blamed for everything.”
Exactly.
All true.
MGTOW, gentlemen. MGTOW. It’s an option that makes a great deal of sense.
Walk away and live life on your terms to the extent you can.
You cannot live the “victim lifestyle” yourselves. For starters, it’s highly immoral and unethical. YOU are the one experiencing first hand (and repeatedly) the destructive nature of “victimhood”. No one understands that better than YOU do right now.
Secondly, playing victim subjugates your life to the whims of others and to government. Is that what you want your life to be? Big Daddy making your decisions for you?
You don’t exist to play host to society’s parasites (which include the elitist class who also are bleeding you dry).
There are solutions out there, ways you can make YOUR individual life better. Search them out. Minimize your exposure.
Strive to be free. Strive to help others be free.
“Her agent agreed to lend her the entire amount in cash”
Confused. Is this “entire amount” the $600, or the $405,090? Surely it must be the $600, but if this woman cannot afford an extra $600 (in cash, as opposed to…?) she should definitely not be buying a $400k house.
Confused too as $600 upbid seems like peanuts on a $400K plus offer. Maybe it was $6K ?
‘Want a view of the Space Needle? A group of homeless people built a tent “mansion” in a small patch of grass between Third Avenue and Broad Street. It’s a half a block from Seattle’s most famous tourist attraction and surrounded by multi-million dollar high-rise condos.’
“We’ve got the doors, the couch, the table,” said Melissa Burns. She’s currently living in the new camp. “We’ve got the living room here, which is a mess right now because we’re still constructing, but we’re puttin’ up the vinyl to cover it up, make it more attractive.” (I mean, you got to keep up with the Joneses.)’
‘One downtown worker we spoke to wasn’t that upset. “It’s certainly an eyesore. But I don’t think they have a lot of options,” Lou Bequette said. “So, I guess they gotta do what they gotta do.”
‘Right now, the city has no immediate plans to remove the camp, but Lemke said that could change in the future barring some kind of problem or safety concern. “It is a form of protest,” Burns added. “We’re staking a claim. We’re refusing to cower in our tents… If you can live on the street and not pay rent, then why would you pay rent?”
i am 2 blocks away. They are not helpless - they are mostly strung out drug users.
I dont know if they have medical problems —- or are just slackers?
They are living rent-free in Seattle, with free food, free coats & socks, and all kinds of other services that they don’t have to pay for.
What’s not to like?
I wouldn’t want to sit out under a tarp or whatever in the cold rain, zero rent or not.
More and more people here are finally getting fed up with the status quo regarding the homeless.
I guess the assaults, property crime and needles are making them wonder if working hard and playing by the rules is for suckers. Not sure how far we need to go to get to a tipping point policy wise. The local machinery to service the homeless is greased up like a car that needs 2 quarts of oil a week.
“Not sure how far we need to go to get to a tipping point policy wise.”
Pretty far if you’re in California… recall the Rose Bird court?
No, I’ll look it up. I’m living just outside Seattle, and most familiar with the invasion going in here.
My wife goes into an office in Lower Queen Anne, and she has been getting accosted by the homeless going to from (bus + walking) more and more regularly. When your super-liberal/progressive lifelong democrat spouse starts asking about getting a concealed carry permit…. you know s**t is getting bad.
Start her off with mace.
When your super-liberal/progressive lifelong democrat spouse starts asking about getting a concealed carry permit…. you know s**t is getting bad.
Luckily Washington is a ’shall issue’ state so it’s pretty simple to get one when desired. Just pass a background check and get fingerprinted.
super-liberal/progressive lifelong democrat
They’re only liberals until stuff happens.
“Start her off with mace.”
+1
“My wife goes into an office in Lower Queen Anne, and she has been getting accosted by the homeless going to from (bus + walking) more and more regularly.”
It’s been bad for a long time. 25 years ago I nearly tossed an aggressive panhandler into the Puget Sound from the Ivar’s dock. He was assaulting my aunt.
A flashlight/stun gun combo is $12 on eBay
“super-liberal/progressive lifelong democrat…
They’re only liberals until stuff happens.”
Indeed.
It will be interesting to see what women in general are actually made of. Imagine if millions more men decide to go MGTOW and decide they no longer give a damn. What then?
Will tens of millions of women suddenly decide to become non-liberal? Or, will they decide for full-blown Big Daddy socialist government and turn the country into Venezuela? Or, will they be wearing burkas? All are possible.
Who is going to pay the bills? Not MGTOW men, that’s for sure. Men are increasingly outnumbered on college campuses, increasingly marginalized at work. They will be making even less money than they do now. Those men wearing rose-colored glasses will be committing suicide in even greater numbers.
With men marginalized or missing, who exactly is going to pay the bills? Who is going to pay for bastard children? Who is going to provide national defense? Who is going to do the heavy labor or the dangerous work? The UN?
“Start her off with mace.”
+1 Kimber Red Pepper Blaster II - eBay $25.00
Very effective, 10-ft stand-off range, works on dogs too. Read-up!
We were in Seattle Center food court a few weeks ago, where the children’s museum is. One hobo threw a bottle at another one’s head, sailing directly above our heads. Amazingly, the bottle didn’t hit anyone or shatter. One of the custodial workers and my friend pulled the fighters apart. Security showed up and threw them out about 15 minutes later. No way would I take kids in there.
“We’ve got the doors, the couch, the table,” said Melissa Burns. She’s currently living in the new camp. “We’ve got the living room here, which is a mess right now because we’re still constructing, but we’re puttin’ up the vinyl to cover it up, make it more attractive.” (I mean, you got to keep up with the Joneses.”
I actually LOVE this. I really do. I’m not kidding.
With any luck, we’ll see a great deal more of this type of thing. Vagrants living amongst the elites is exactly what needs to happen.
Birds of a feather flock together. Scum amongst scum.
Vagrants living amongst the elites is exactly what needs to happen.
Unfortunately it doesn’t just impact the ‘elites’. It affects us regular working-folk as well…
When equity locusts swoop in to take advantage of the local population, vagrants happens.
Address the problem of equity locusts, or suffer the consequences.
Guess what? I don’t give a rat’s @ss about those who live in $750K houses, who only live in those $750K houses due to the housing madness.
If you bought a house for $250K and now it’s $750K as if by magic, oh well. You didn’t earn that $500K. It fell in your lap. It can fall out of your lap, too.
When you participate in a criminal ring, stuff happens. When you allow your local leaders to participate, stuff happens.
Equity locusts LOVE to strip their new towns bare. You can see their excitement all over YouTube as they exclaim how large a home they can buy with cash in their new cities.
Without a care in the world….
“We’ve got the doors, the couch, the table,” said Melissa Burns.
I love what she’s done with the accent pallet.
‘Friends of Angelo (FOA) VIP program
Further information: Countrywide financial political loan scandal’
‘In June 2008, Conde Nast Portfolio reported that several influential lawmakers and politicians, including Senate Banking Committee Chairman Christopher Dodd, Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, and former Fannie Mae CEO Jim Johnson, received favorable mortgage financing from Countrywide by virtue of being “Friends of Angelo”.[15][16]‘
‘Democratic Senator Dodd received a $75,000 reduction in mortgage payments from Countrywide at allegedly below-market rates on his Washington, D.C. and Connecticut homes. Michael Moore’s Capitalism: A Love Story shows on film that this was actually over a million dollars of a sweet-heart mortgage deal.[15][17] Dodd nonetheless called for stronger regulation of mortgage lenders and proposed that predatory lenders should face criminal charges.[18]‘
‘Clinton Jones III, senior counsel of the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Housing and Community Opportunity, and “an adviser to ranking Republican members of Congress responsible for legislation of interest to the financial services industry and of importance to Countrywide.” was given special treatment. Jones is now state director for federal residential-mortgage bundler Freddie Mac. Alphonso Jackson, acting secretary of HUD at the time and long-time friend and Texas neighbor of President Bush, received a discounted mortgage for himself and sought one for his daughter. “In 2003, using V.I.P. loans for nearly $1 million apiece, Franklin Raines, Fannie Mae’s chairman and C.E.O. from 1999 to 2004, twice refinanced his seven-bedroom home, which has a pool and movie theater.”[18]‘
‘Though Mozilo donated extensively to both parties during the Clinton Administration, he himself was reportedly a registered Republican. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi’s son Paul Pelosi, Jr. also received a loan with Countrywide. Barbara Boxer, Adam H. Putnam, Richard C. Holbrooke, James E. Clyburn, and Donna Shalala are among those with mortgages from Countrywide. CBS News has obtained the following list of then-Fannie Mae employees whose names have been turned over to investigators as having received VIP loans from Countrywide:[19]
Other controversies’
‘Shortly after University of San Diego invited Mozilo to be the keynote speaker at a conference for “sustainable real estate”, DisinviteMozilo was created in protest on January 10, 2008. Mozilo pulled out six days later. Shortly after that, Congress invited Mozilo to testify about his compensation. In May 2008, Mozilo made the news by accidentally hitting “reply” instead of “forward” in response to an e-mail from a distressed homeowner named Daniel Bailey of North Carolina. Bailey had created a hardship letter to request a loan modification from Mozilo on a website forum named LoanSafe.org. Bailey then sent his request directly to the Office of the President of Countrywide and this was Angelo Mozilo’s reply.[citation needed]‘
“This is unbelievable. Most of these letters now have the same wording. Obviously they are being counseled by some other person or by the internet. Disgusting.”[20]
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angelo_Mozilo
so its mozillos fault?
“so its mozillos fault?”
It’s Barney Fwanks fault.
Frank’s fingerprints are all over the financial fiasco
By Jeff Jacoby
Globe Columnist / September 28, 2008
Frank doesn’t. But his fingerprints are all over this fiasco. Time and time again, Frank insisted that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were in good shape. Five years ago, for example, when the Bush administration proposed much tighter regulation of the two companies, Frank was adamant that “these two entities, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not facing any kind of financial crisis.” When the White House warned of “systemic risk for our financial system” unless the mortgage giants were curbed, Frank complained that the administration was more concerned about financial safety than about housing.
Now that the bubble has burst and the “systemic risk” is apparent to all, Frank blithely declares: “The private sector got us into this mess.” Well, give the congressman points for gall. Wall Street and private lenders have plenty to answer for, but it was Washington and the political class that derailed this train. If Frank is looking for a culprit to blame, he can find one suspect in the nearest mirror.
https://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/09/28/franks_fingerprints_are_all_over_the_financial_fiasco/
they had him on cnbc as an expert after the whole crisis.
“they had him on cnbc as an expert after the whole crisis.”
Fwankwy I’m shocked you don’t know this.
They don’t talk about this on anything that ends with bc, bs or NN
SEPTEMBER 25, 2003 | CLIP OF REGULATION OF FANNIE MAE AND FREDDIE MAC
Democrat Barney Frank - Fannie and Freddie Need to make Loans the market doesn’t want to do. Democrat Barney Frank rolled the dice on the housing market.
https://www.c-span.org/video/?c4462401/democrat-barney-frank-fannie-freddie-make-loans-market-do
100 TO BLAME: BARNEY FRANK, RICHARD FULD, AND MORE
BY BRUCE FEIRSTEIN
SEPTEMBER 2009
43. Barney Frank.
To hear Barney Frank tell it, he bears no responsibility for the housing bubble or for the failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. But his record as a member of the House Financial Services Committee tells a different story. As far back as 1991, Frank was pushing Fannie Mae to break its rules, lower its standards, and buy risky loans. As* The Boston Globe* reported in November 1992, he helped to convince Fannie Mae to make “substantial concessions” on its rules regarding multiple-family-home mortgages, despite data from Fannie itself showing that the “default rate on mortgages on two-family homes is twice that of single-family homes, and the rate for three-deckers is five times the rate for single-family dwellings.” During the Clinton years, the time when the foundation was being poured for the financial meltdown, Fannie and Freddie were growing by leaps and bounds. They underwrote more than a trillion dollars in mortgages, and Fannie reported double-digit growth, every year. In assessing what—if any—responsibility the Clinton administration had for the financial crisis, Clinton himself would later tell ABC News’s Chris Cuomo that “I think the responsibility that the Democrats have may rest more in resisting any efforts by Republicans in the Congress or by me when I was president to put some standards and tighten up on Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
None of this happened under a rock. It was all covered by first-tier mainstream news organizations. So what was Barney Frank’s reaction to all of this? Was he worried about Fannie and Freddie’s finances? Was he concerned about their unchecked growth? Was he anxious about what would happen if Fannie and Freddie failed, and how it would affect not only the U.S. Treasury but also the pension funds and the mutual funds that held your retirement accounts and invested in Fannie and Freddie’s bonds?
On September 10, 2003, the House Committee on Financial Services met to hear the Treasury Department’s plea for a new, tougher regulator to oversee Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. In Frank’s opening statement to the committee, he said:
I want to begin by saying that I am glad to consider the legislation, but I do not think we are facing any kind of a crisis. That is, in my view, the two government-sponsored enterprises we are talking about here, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, are not in a crisis. We have recently had an accounting problem with Freddie Mac that has led to people being dismissed, as appears to be appropriate. I do not think at this point there is a problem with a threat to the Treasury.
https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2009/09/100-to-blame-41/2009
Blarney Fwanks = Elmer Fudd!!
“Fwankwy… “
ROTFLMFAO! Where’s the humanity?
A NYT article about renters getting evicted…
https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/04/07/upshot/millions-of-eviction-records-a-sweeping-new-look-at-housing-in-america.html?action=click&pgtype=Homepage®ion=CColumn&module=MostEmailed&version=Full&src=me&WT.nav=MostEmailed
Mr. Banker offers up his solution to the problem:
(drum roll)
Pay the damn rent.
The whole system works on default judgments and people not showing up,”
Yup when i was a paralegal well over half never showed up for court
Cities in the data with the highest
rate of eviction judgments in 2016
1 North Charleston, S.C.
same here i lived in North charleston but there are 2 sides the old school remount rd park circle side lots of section 8 houses and the upper dorchester road Chas Airport side with lots of townhouses and new construction
As indicated, prices are absolutely exploding to the upside all over the west coast. Sickening.
stawks are up! party must go on.
Waiting for the “Buy turnkey homes in Arizona” billboards to pop up again. Unlock your CA equity.
Can make the deal at Starbucks as I heard on the radio back in 2005.
These deal makers probably don’t have an office anyway.
Castro Valley, CA Housing Prices Crater 14% YOY As Housing Correction Expands On West Coast
https://www.movoto.com/castro-valley-ca/market-trends/
Realtors are liars.
“Having been exposed on Friday, today’s open was the perfect opportunity therefore for the machines to run stops and spark a major short-squeeze.”
‘If it’s a nice property in a good school district, buyers don’t think twice about overpaying,’ he says. ‘They’re in it for the long haul.’
Yep, they’re locked in!
‘it’s important for homebuyers to make informed, but quick, decisions’
‘A vacant lot within the city limits can command a price of $115,000 to $300,00 or more. According to the Gallatin Association of Realtors in February of 2017 the average price for a single detached home in Bozeman sold for $425,216 in February 2018 that increased 15.4 percent to $490,714. Average lots in Bozeman sell for around $100,000. If you use the rule of thumb that the cost of the lot should be about twenty-five percent of the total cost of the project, then you’re looking at a $400,000 home in Bozeman.’
‘Outside the city limits is even more pricey. The average price of a home in February 2017 outside Bozeman was $479,089. In February of 2018 that increased 26.7 percent to $606,771′
There’s a shortage of land in Montana!
Least Densely Populated U.S. States
Rank State People Per Square Mile
1 Alaska 1.3
2 Wyoming 6.0
3 Montana 7.1
4 North Dakota 11.0
Remarkable, isn’t it?
In a nation inhabited by a bunch of dummies? Not at all remarkable.
i have run into a few folks heading for montana lately. There must be some cheap homes up there somewhere.
Yeah, but where are the jobs? Remote?
Is it possible Bozeman has very little usable land for housing? Or getting utilities super expensive up a mountain, or it has big chunk of federal lands you cannot build on? just sayin
I was in Bozeman for vacation 20 years ago. The CA equity locusts and other out-of-state vacation-homeowners had already driven up the cost of rural real estate back then.
And then you’d have a longtime landowner in between two redeveloped parcels, with every old car their family has owned back to 1937, sitting somewhere on the property.
Evidence that there is no excu$e for a National Home$tead act in the 21 $t century!
‘They’re in it for the long haul.’
These days “the long haul” is 3 more years of elementary school. Then we’ll sell and take the sweet sweet equity to the perfect middle school district. If one house falls into both then it must be worth double.
buyers don’t think twice about overpaying,’ he says. ‘They’re in it for the long haul.’
In the long run we will all be dead. If you are overpaying at the height of the Bay Area bubble, you may never get back to even after inflation during your lifetime. Buyers are just not thinking period! They cannot think twice when they are not capable of thinking once.
‘They’re in it for the long haul.’
…. until they’re not which happens to be right around the time prices fall….. and very likely why default rates are going up right now.
Keller, WA Housing Prices Crater 14% YOY As Rural Property Values Plunge
https://www.movoto.com/keller-wa/market-trends/
STERILIZE
Housing DumpsterFire…. Housing.
Frisco, TX Housing Prices Crater 7% YOY As Falling Demand For Crude Pummels Dallas Area Economy
https://www.movoto.com/frisco-tx/market-trends/
A buddy of mine works for a mortgage lending company in Honolulu.
He admitted today that he’s worried about his job - he says they have no loans now and their sales they have suck.
Quite the turn around. When I was visiting in October we got in to a heated discussion because I was warning him things were starting to hit the skids, especially at the high end. He insisted that there would never be a slowdown - it’s just going up up up.
CRATER
HI has lots of spare land
Technically the volcanoes ARE making more land over there, just slowly.
“Home Values Are Rising by $800 a Day in San Jose”
Bloomberg•April 9, 2018
“Zillow senior economist Aaron Terrazas said, “For homeowners that have already or are very close to paying off a mortgage, this supplemental ‘income’ – especially if allowed to accumulate over several years – can essentially serve as a kind of second job that pays directly to a homeowner’s bottom line, without nearly as much actual work involved in collecting it.”
Headlines just like 2006
Yes. I see the second pounding coming to San Jose. You would think that people would have learned from the first bubble in the area. People that lived through the depression were frugal their entire lives. Perhaps it is because the area is inhabited by so many transplants and young adults. However, since I believe the bubble is less widespread than the earlier one, I do not see the same federal response to keep housing prices elevated. The people in the area may experience a controlled burn instead of active fire suppression. Thus, they will not see a recovery in housing prices for many decades after the fall.
Also, unlike last time in what I thought at the time was a major mistake, the IRS will probably not ignore loan forgiveness. Many people would not have walked away from their homes, if they had to pay taxes on the loan forgiveness. If your house goes from one million to $500,000 and you can just walk away from the loan, it is not so bad, better luck next time but if you are forced to recognize $500,000 in loan forgiveness and pay taxes on it, I think you will be far less likely to overpay for a house and speculate that it will keep going up.
Don’t forget about the taxable gains on crypto sales! That can hurt.
Trust me, crypto is anything but anonymous - they know about every single transaction - it’s baked into the cake, as data collection is to Facebook.
if home prices go down in ca u can dream up any excuse to get some bailout cash.
Stress factory in Silicon Valley. Over achievers over pay for RE.
rat race on meth or whatever they are stacking these days.
“‘If it’s a nice property in a good school district, buyers don’t think twice about overpaying,’ he says. ‘They’re in it for the long haul.’”
This could be the ultimate debt donkey anthem. I am sure Mr. Banker is singing this tune in the key of G for them.
‘They’re in it for the long haul.’
Bahahahahaha … me too! I’m in it for the long haul as well.
They work, I reap. The longer the haul for them the longer I get to reap.
We’re partners! They may not see it that way but nevertheless a partnership is what it is.
A magician can make a rabbit disappear, but Trump can make a Syrian airport vanish for good.
Putin will bee interested in making sure no ruskie$ are “collateral damaged” …
I am a retired viet era aviator and was in charge of ROE for little over a year at 7th AF in Saigon…spent previous tours in B52s and wild weaels, try to keep up with current situation, especially in Syria… believe the majority of our cruise missiles launched from ships last year were intercepted before hitting target and think only 3 of the 8 missiles recently launched at the Iranian occupied airfield by Israeli AC reached their target. Personally am pretty convinced the current furor over chemical attack is a gigantic “false flag/fake news event”. One rarely snatches defeat out of the jaws of victory
I agree. The conventional bombing was working fine, Trump had announced he was leaving Syria, there was no need to use chlorine gas. The rebels had much more incentive to use it, since it might lead to the destruction of the Syrian air force which was destroying them. The Islamic rebels have no problem with using human shields, thus I do not see why they would have a problem with killing a few dozen civilians to destroy the Syrian air force.
Still here in west san fernando valley. Homes still going like hotcakes. Many all cash and most above asking. Foreign money still pouring in like a faucett. Went to, what we thought, was very over-priced open house yesterday (a flip that two contractor friends passed on as they could not see a decent return after remodel). We laughed when we saw list price - 1.4 mil. Laugh is on us. Were told it is going into escrow tomorrow. LA= just as bad if not worse than the Bay area.
You don’t want to buy anything in CA right now, no matter what the price. Gonna be some big doings there. Possibly martial law.
Just put Deferred Maintenance in for “Bad Medicine”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eOUtsybozjg
Imagine today’s California, but with a lot of people losing a good deal of money.
The straw holding what’s left of California together might very well be the housing bubble. Take that punch bowl away, and who knows what will happen.
Imagine millions of illegals, hoards of Chinese who know life under communism, and millions of leftists under Jerry Brown’s thumb facing a financial disaster. Scary stuff.
California = Venezuela. Or, California = Cuba.
Just drove through a nabe near the hotel. On one side of the street it’s a slum, beater cars and dilapidated shacks, on the other side are newish McMansions.
I am so glad I got out of this sh!thole a long time ago.
Agoura Hills, CA Housing Prices Crater 23% YOY As Southern California Housing Demand Evaporates
https://www.movoto.com/agoura-hills-ca/market-trends/
I’m on the ground in Boise several over priced are currently on the market as we speak. And most of them are from out of state owners
“And most of them are from out of state owners”
…aka speculators.
I’m in Boise too. Keeping an eye on the listings, has definitely picked up in last few weeks. Prices not supported by job market here - not sure how much in-flow from out fo state equity locusts play into this, but listings in the North End are ridiculously priced. House on my block just sold, was last listed at $870k… nuts. ID is non-disclosure state, so cannot see what things actually sell for. Realtors all playing the “buy now or be priced out forever” game. Need this thing to tank - hard and soon!
Why is the sea King of a thou$and $treams? … Because it lie$ below the them.
What lie$ below Boise ID, any every City that sells real e$tate in the current era? An ocean capable of welcoming a sea of homemoaner$ who somehow $uddenly find them$elfs & the homeloan$… Underwater$ …
Opinion: The Amish-taoist Times
“ID is non-disclosure state, so cannot see what things actually sell for.”
So when something sells, sites like Zillow just show the last asking price? Why hide the selling price of a house?
its confidential information.
Property tax records?
Zillow started hiding sales data in June 2016 for ALL states:
https://snag.gy/pOUw3S.jpg
“Real Estate Agent Jailed For Burglary Said She Stole Jewelry To Fund Pill Addiction”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/suburbs/ct-met-real-estate-agent-stile-jewelry-from-homes-20180223-story.html
Yup, gotta crater a lot more than that to be affordable. Agoura Hills is not here nor there and the prices are, as your link shows, just insane:
“The median list price in Agoura Hills is $1,225,000. The median list price in Agoura Hills was less than 1% change from March to April. Agoura Hills’s home resale inventories is 63, which decreased 3 percent since March 2018. The median list price per square foot in Agoura Hills is $450. March 2018 was $450″.
Seattle Lawsuit: Realtor, Developer Conspired To Inflate Home Prices
http://www.columbian.com/news/2018/jan/05/seattle-lawsuit-realtor-developer-conspired-to-inflate-home-prices/
Another bubble is forming in Hungary.
https://bbj.hu/real-estate/resale-home-prices-up-19-year-on-year_147337
Another serious problem in Czech Republic
http://www.ftseglobalmarkets.com/news/moodys-says-high-loan-to-value-mortgages-volume-could-affect-czech-banks.html
Relatives over there are telling me that non Hungarians are pushing up prices, especially Germans in Budapest.
Wages are very low in Hungary. It’s pure insanity.
Crater on sucka jagged azz tooth gimmie a cigarette.
These people will be busy again:
http://keepyourhomecalifornia.org/?gclid=EAIaIQobChMIzciewtiv2gIVzbrACh3Q9gaREAAYASAAEgL_CPD_BwE
This is where u go when your home falls in value. It is the PUT for home prices in CA.
I see commercials during the news every morning for Keep Your Home California. Makes my blood boil.
We are back to basically no money down loans or very little skin in the game. I guess the authority will have to make sure home prices never go down because a lot of people will walk if they do.
Conventional loans are available with 3% down, not an FHA loan.
Leverage home prices to the hilt!
Did you dump your stocks on the news of the FBI’s Stormy Daniels panty raid?
It’s quite puzzling why this story would be such a violent market mover.
…
The Dow had traded more than 200 points higher before a New York Times report that the FBI seized tax documents, emails and other records from Michael Cohen. The FBI also obtained communications between Trump and Cohen, his personal attorney. The report said investigators were looking for information related to a payment that Cohen made to an adult film actress, who claims she had an affair with Trump.
…
The globalists are quite desperate to get Trump.
From a member of the right wing conspiracy and I am being sarcastic:
http://thehill.com/opinion/judiciary/382459-dershowitz-targeting-trumps-lawyer-should-worry-us-all
This article certainly does appear to herald the onset of a recession.
The world’s hottest shopping city is becoming a ghost town
By Steve Cuozzo
April 7, 2018 | 10:26am
…
walmart , dollar store and fast food will b there soon.
No, they won’t, because the building owners would rather leave the spaces empty than lower the rent. There have been commercial properties in my city that have been mostly empty for the past 20 years now, with the permanent ‘for lease’ sign up in the front (on which the pressure-treated 4×4 posts rot off every 10 years or so and have to be replaced).
How will that strategy work out when they are losing money both because of falling property prices and a lack of tenants? Sounds like a recipe for a repeat of the Great Depression.
“Few retailers can afford to pay more than $250 per square foot annually in rent — yet landlords persist in asking $400 a square foot and up to $2,000 a square foot in prime zones like Fifth Avenue and Times Square.”
Bricks-n-mortar, CRE being gamed-up!
Has China waved the white flag of defeat in the trade dispute?
Chinese netizens say they will ‘fight to death’ and ‘play the game’ in US-China trade war
By Christina Zhou and Bang Xiao
Updated Mon at 6:39pm
US and China’s ‘tit-for-tat’ trade war sparks heated discussion. (Photo: AP) ABC News
Far from backing down, Chinese netizens are calling for their country to “fight back” as China and the United States continue their economic sabre-rattling amid fears of a trade war.
Key points:
- Some netizens fear a trade war could cause massive price spikes on everyday goods
- Chinese state media says the move by the US is contrary to the spirit of the WTO
- Experts believe the conflict could drag on for years or end in a stalemate
The show of solidarity with the Chinese Government and China’s threat to hit back run contrary to US President Donald Trump’s suggestion on Sunday — that China would ease trade barriers because “it is the right thing to do”.
…
Here’s an upbeat song from the late 70s (until you listen to the lyrics) IIRC Linda Ronstadt sings backup vocals.
Warren Zevon - Excitable Boy
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJefPK_UkdM
Donk Craterton and The Stampedes- A Stampin’ Good Time
https://youtu.be/gROO7xSTxfY
Donk on