Prices Go Up Just To See Where That Ceiling Is
A report from Builder Online. “The Realtors, in Washington this week for the annual 2018 REALTORS® Legislative Meetings & Trade Expo, got an earful Friday. The message was for home builders, and it was ‘Build more.’ The session focused on rapidly rising home prices, tight home inventories and whether or not the country is in the middle of a bubble. All three of the panelists agreed that more new home construction is necessary to meet rising demand from increasing household formation and curtail the affordability crisis. However, the panelists were quick to point out that just because we are not currently in a bubble does not mean we won’t enter one. If supply and demand continues to become more and more out of balance, it could trigger a fast price growth said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.”
“‘A best-case scenario is largely dependent on new home construction. An increase in inventory will provide some much-needed release,’ he said.”
From Growella. “Mortgage guidelines are loosening, lenders tell us. But, consumers haven’t seen the memo. According to the Federal Reserve’s Senior Loan Officer Survey on Bank Lending Practices, a quarterly questionnaire sent to the Fed’s member banks, lenders are reducing their hurdles for mortgage loan qualification. As compared to last quarter: Conforming loans: 98% loosened or made no change to guidelines. FHA and VA loans: 100% loosened or made no change to guidelines. Jumbo loans: 100% loosened or made no change to guidelines.”
“In aggregate, fewer than 1 percent of mortgage lenders are working with tighter mortgage guidelines as compared to the start of year and that’s excellent news for today’s buyers of homes. Buyers aren’t getting the message, though. In Fannie Mae’s monthly National Housing Survey, a survey of 1,000 consumers nationwide and their feelings toward housing and home loans, the number of respondents who said ‘it would be difficult to get a mortgage today’ spiked, adding six percentage points from the month prior. There’s a disconnect somewhere.”
From Port City Daily in North Carolina. “It’s slim pickings for the locals and a steal for out-of-towners. The Cape Fear region’s real estate is moving off the shelves faster than its inventory can be restocked. ‘It’s like a frenzy market,’ said Patrick LaJeunesse, who dissects real estate numbers every day at Cape Fear REALTORS. Last month, the median days on the market was 37. The last time houses were moving that quickly was in Jan. 2007.”
“‘We’re consistently eating up more and more inventory,’ LaJenusse said. ‘The appetite seems to be getting stronger.’ The biggest difference? ‘We’re not going to dive down,’ LaJenusse said.”
“According to Tim Milam, the president of Coldwell Banker Sea Coast Advantage, lending requirements have tightened up, buyers have grown more conscious of their susceptibility to bad loans and the market–for the most part–has stabilized. Still, appreciating costs can elicit déja vu. ‘We have a lot of people asking, are we at the top of the market again?’ Milam said. ‘Are we there?’”
“Particularly in the upper-tiers of the housing market, LaJeunesse said out-of-towners are getting a deal. ‘These aren’t local people buying these properties,’ LaJeunesse said. From New Jersey to New York to California, LaJeunesse said people are flocking to the southern coast and away from higher property taxes. ‘They’re selling their properties at discount price and coming down here,’ LaJeunesse said. ‘It’s almost like buying at a discount rack price. The question is on more of affordability issues and greed. You’re going to start seeing people and prices go up just to see where that ceiling is.’”
The Chicago Sun Times in Illinois. “A week or so ago, retired Chicago Public Schools teacher Josephine Sennet received a letter from the Cook County assessor’s office, and what she read floored her. In the space of a year, the estimated market value of her home in the Lakewood Balmoral neighborhood had shot up about 51 percent, likely meaning a huge increase in future property taxes. Reactions have been similar across this North Side enclave of handsome, historic homes.”
“‘I haven’t added on anything,’ said Sennet, 78, who has lived in her home since 1972. ‘I don’t have a grand, glorious kitchen. All the bathroom fixtures are what came with the house.’”
“But several real estate agents the Chicago Sun-Times spoke to agreed the reassessments seem unusually high, even with an improving economy. One veteran agent who specializes in North Side properties said home prices actually appear to be falling. ‘What’s happening, unfortunately, over the last year — and at a rapidly accelerating pace — is people not having confidence in the real estate market, and we’re noticing a big slowdown in sales,’ said Realtor India Tougne. ‘Although the inventory is low, the prices are not going up in a corresponding fashion.’”
“One client, Tougne said, had an offer of about $1,325,000 for a home back in 2016 in Lakewood Balmoral but hesitated long enough for the buyer to back out. The owner then made some improvements and put the home back on the market last year. ‘We just finally sold it after almost a whole year for $1,000,050,’ Tougne said. ‘Boy, was she kicking herself.’”
From the Houston Business Times in Texas. “The price has been lowered again at a well-known mansion in The Woodlands. The listing price is now $7 million, down from $7.95 million in December 2016, according to Nan & Co. Properties’ website, which has the listing. The Carlton Woods home belongs to Houston socialite Theresa Roemer and Lamar Roemer, who first listed the home in 2015 for $12.9 million before lowering the price to $9 million in July 2016.”
“Platinum Luxury Auctions was planning to auction off the 17,300-square-foot home located on a 2-acre estate in the summer of 2016. But the auction was delayed due to a softening in the luxury housing market.”
The News Tribune in Washington. “I am a small property developer. For the past many years, I have purchased homes and rehabilitated them with the intent to re-sell them. In 2010, I purchased two houses in Tacoma. One was on the Hilltop, the other close to Point Defiance. Both were in deplorable condition, but I gutted them and completely rebuilt them. When they were complete, market conditions made them impossible to sell at a profit, so I put them in the rental market.”
“This spring I decided that the market had improved, and I decided to sell them. The Hilltop house was the smaller of the two, about 1,100 square feet with no garage or fenced yard. After considerable research and rumination, I elected to price it at $194,000. The larger house, which measures a little over 1,800 square feet, I priced at $370,000. These prices are very comparable to the similar houses in the respective neighborhoods.”
“The larger house has been on the market for over a month. I have received no offers. The smaller house I placed on the market last Friday evening. By Monday, I had 11 signed offers ranging between $200,000 and $243,000. With the offers, I received several touching letters from prospective buyers telling me that they were offering everything they had, and to please consider them because they were desperate to buy a house for their family to live in.”
“Every one of the buyers was prequalified, and every one of them was employed. All had good credit. They were all offering the maximum amount they could qualify for, based on their income. I realized that I was looking at a sample of middle America and the housing dilemma it’s facing. Most middle-class Americans simply cannot afford a house that costs in excess of $250,000.”
“So, what’s a person to do? My advice for all those people trying to buy a single-family home at below $250,000 is to bide your time and save all you can. I know it’s hard, but the key to buying something during the next recession will be cash. Now is the time to prepare for the next downturn. It’s coming in the next few years. Save as though your life depends on it, and a house you can afford will be your reward.”
“..I know it’s hard, but the key to buying something during the next recession will be cash. Now is the time to prepare for the next downturn. It’s coming in the next few years. Save as though your life depends on it..”
Sage advice.
‘With the offers, I received several touching letters from prospective buyers telling me that they were offering everything they had, and to please consider them because they were desperate to buy a house for their family to live in.’
‘Every one of the buyers was prequalified, and every one of them was employed. All had good credit. They were all offering the maximum amount they could qualify for, based on their income’
And at this point credit should begin to contract. Is there any question the risk is higher?
‘As compared to last quarter: Conforming loans: 98% loosened or made no change to guidelines. FHA and VA loans: 100% loosened or made no change to guidelines. Jumbo loans: 100% loosened or made no change to guidelines’
To the claim that lending standards are loosened, They’re only reporting on loans approved and funded (if they made an exception to DTI Ratios or the like because the buyer was close enough). Note that they also say “or no change” to include loans that had no qualifying issues.
What’s not reported is how many loans aren’t getting approved in the first place (as opposed to approved after relaxing standards) - there’s a lot of filtering going on there for anyone with less than near-perfect qualifications.
BS. Ben has even posted that no doc loans are back. No income qualifying.
Actually, the two situations can co-exist.
You can have a lot of people having to jump through all sorts of qualifications and hoops at Lenders A, B & C, especially to get the best rates.
And then lender’s X, Y & Z just trying to originate maximum volumes and expensive products to maximize their commissions and fees, targeting people A, B & C won’t bother with or can’t help.
No, you can’t. Either standards are loose or they’re not. You can’t have loose lending but also say at the same time that standards are strict. C’mon, man, you’re sounding like a politician - “I was for it before I was against it.”
I’m trying to say that not every lender will have the same standards.
If you want a 4.5% 30-year loan today, it can be tough to obtain. But if you are willing to go for 5.25% or arm/balloon, then it gets easier.
We not talking about the same thing, so… whatever.
We’re talking about the best way to pay way too much.
‘Every one of the buyers was prequalified, and every one of them was employed. All had good credit. They were all offering the maximum amount they could qualify for, based on their income’
What astonished me was that all the offers he received were for way below asking–50-65%.
I think he was talking about the smaller house at $194,000 so there was a bidding war over asking price.
******
“I elected to price it at $194,000.”
I agree. This is just an example of what i’ve been harping on. A household of two $50k teachers can afford $270k and they will desperately bid up. The same couple won’t even look at a $370k house. Easy reason: PITI is affordable up to 3x middle class income, regardless of down payment or FICO. I know Ben likes to say “shortage…glut.” But is there a glut for prices up to 3x the middle class income. Probably not, especially for SFH.
On a side note, where are the Chinese/Canadian buyers for the $370k house?
That’s the way I read it, and I completely agree with Oxide. The shortage is in affordable homes for a given area.
“Easy reason: PITI is affordable”
Donk,
Stack on interest, insurance taxes and depreciation at $3/sqft per year and that $2000/month mortgage payment on the $270k house becomes $4000/month….. and you haven’t even turned the lights on yet.
hon,
Here’s a $245K house in Tacoma WA, similar price to the article:
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Tacoma-WA/fsba,cmsn_lt/house,townhouse_type/51687258_zpid/27362_rid/pricea_sort/47.403693,-122.188569,47.094201,-122.711106_rect/10_zm/2_p/0_mmm/
Zillow’s Zestimates are corrupt, but their advanced calculator is not:
House price: $245K
$ down: 3%
Interest rate: 4.5%
PMI: $194/m
Taxes: $955/y
Insurance $800/y
Total PITI: $1544/m.
“Stack on” depreciation” at $3 x 1723 sq ft - $5169/y = $431/m
Total PITI + “depreciation” = $1974/m.
So much for your $4000.
Oh, and did you know that even renters need to pay to “turn on the lights?” The ONLY units where e- is included is Grade C pre-1980 high-rise towers where they didn’t include meters in the original build. Enjoy your free e- among the “undesireables.”
Donk,
$245k for a 110 year old house? That only makes sense to you and DebtDonkeys. Furthermore, $245k is a $1500/month payment. Moreover, taxes on that dump are $2700/year and that’s a 2005 quote so they’re more like $4500/year.
Oh yeah…. by virtue of that fact the house is 50+ and older, depreciation escalator rises to $5-$6/sqft.
Let’s get back to business….
Albany, OR Housing Prices Crater 8% YOY
https://www.movoto.com/albany-or/market-trends/
“Easy reason: PITI is affordable up to 3x middle class income…”
What does this mean? Payments 3 x Income are affordable? Ridiculous.
I agree with oxide here and MGSpiffy too. Although it seems like a paradox, I do believe there can be a shortage and glut at the same time. There seems to be a glut of high-end stuff like McMansions and luxury apartments while there is a shortage of affordable stuff under $250k, and definitely under $150k in many areas.
There’s only a glut at the higher-end and a shortage at the lower-end _momentarily_, because the higher-end buyers wake up first in a downturn.
More simply put, housing is overpriced.
It’s ok to say it here my good friend. It’s ok to say it here.
Or maybe because there aren’t as many higher end buyers as builders believe.
There’s only a glut at the higher-end and a shortage at the lower-end _momentarily_, because the higher-end buyers wake up first in a downturn.
True, but I think in this case greatly exacerbated by building lots of high end and very little low end for the last few years.
And in that case, it’s another nice way of saying gambling fools paid too much for land using investor money.
I wonder how many crimes were committed by these amateurs?
Would it be wrong for a seller to write a touching letter to a buyer telling them to offer more money?
++++
I received several touching letters from prospective buyers telling me that they were offering everything they had,
Laugh all you want, but a friend of mine actually got a nice house in Seattle (older house with full basement and single-car garage which will be a rental, along with a detached two-car garage with apartment above where he lives) with a love letter recently.
He explained that he is a working person (locksmith) and that the property would work perfectly for him as he could keep his work van locked up at night (ironically, it was broken into several times and even stolen once). Don’t know what else he said.
The seller could probably have gotten more, but elected to take my friend’s offer. It’s probably a one in a thousand chance, but it appeared to work for him.
Letters that work for me contain some sort of threat.
Which reminds me of one of my idols …
“You Can Get Much Further with a Kind Word and a Gun than with a Kind Word Alone.” - Al Capone
😁
Anyone remember SFhomowner, the gay teacher couple in San Fran? They got a house when their kids wrote a letter about the fairies in the backyard. The seller believed that the property had actual fairies, so when she saw SFhomowner’s letter, she believed they were “meant” to have the house.
Divorce, poverty, homelessness, bankruptcy, and suicide.
Buy overpriced housing today and this is what you’ll get.
Divorce, poverty, homelessness, bankruptcy, and suicide.
Buy overpriced housing today and this is what you’ll get.
I thought you get that with marriage. I am not married, does a wife come with a house order today? Couldn’t I just get fries?
The odds around here might be better than a thousand to one - a house the next street over sold last spring, and the sellers did not take any of the top-3 offers - the reason? they didn’t want to sell to a foreign investor or one of the builders like Jaymark. The people who bought it were Asian, but 3rd generation American and fleeing California with 2 small kids. Nice people.
‘The appetite seems to be getting stronger.’ The biggest difference? ‘We’re not going to dive down’
You sound like a central banker. It’s not hard to see what’s wrong with this picture. When prices go up, demand should decrease.
“When prices go up, demand should decrease.”
Or (another way of looking at it) …
When prices increase wealth is created, wealth that can be cashed out and spent.
When wealth is created by price rises then demand INCREASES because people want to jump aboard the wealth-generating machine.
And they “need” that wealth generating machine. How many households can actually afford to buy a pair of $30-40K vehicles using savings or conventional financing? Even leasing is becoming a stretch for many.
“And they “need” that wealth generating machine. How many households can actually afford to buy a pair of $30-40K vehicles using savings or conventional financing? Even leasing is becoming a stretch for many.”
Hence it is not only the buyers of the houses who need that wealth generating machine, large sectors of the economy also are in need of this wealth, wealth that is cashed out and spent.
This is what a debt-based economy looks like.
“This is what a debt-based economy looks like.”
“deficits don’t matter” … & Wyoming Cheney has proof.
Willy’s bus may be enroute to the next great Farm Aid$, … But he might knot be onboard to witne$$ the burnt cropland$ carnage.
corn/wheat etc prices are in the tank and land is barely off recent highs
mmhhhhhhhhh
Crop prices and land prices are strongly correlated, with some additional hit to the land prices already in the pipeline due to the rising cost of funds…
What were the numbers from that Bankrate article? 40 percent of Americans couldn’t come up with $400, 60 percent couldn’t come up with $1,000, 20 percent of all Boomers have nothing saved for retirement? Yeah, great numbers there.
“Yeah, great numbers there.”
A good start.
“40 percent of Americans couldn’t come up with $400″
Because 40% of American are throw away every penny on a rapidly depreciating house they could have rented for a fraction of the monthly cost.
FWIW, I know plenty of renters who spend every penny they earn and save nothing.
That’s true. But I think they would be in even bigger trouble with a house.
Renters getting soaked in areas with rents up to 40-50% income - bet they are saving a bundle! LOL
Just not a good time if you need shelter - buy or rent…
The cruel irony is that the more rents go up, the harder it is to save. Many renters to amass a significant amount of wealth…for their landlords.
I remember when I was in college I was always so busy. One of my friends saw an advertisement on the wall for a time management seminar given by Stephen Covey. I was far too busy to attend a time management seminar. The poor are far too poor to save. Everything costs too much, and they make too little. And thus it is with our ever stratifying economy. It’s brutal that our form of capitalism is giving rise to fairly entrenched poverty and inequality.
Renters getting soaked in areas with rents up to 40-50% income - bet they are saving a bundle! LOL
Haha, very funny Chucky—and yes, my rent did go up significantly as of this January. But, incidentally, it only now just surpassed the mortgage that I was paying… back in 1996! LOL. So yeah, I’m “getting soaked”, right, gotcha, uh huh.
“getting soaked”
Some might be but I think it would be voluntary. My shelter cost is on par with what I was paying in the 70s. Choices.
The poor are far too poor to save.
Some years ago we had a discussion about dollar stores and trial sizes of products like soap or shampoo, or even small sizes of canned goods. The poor could save money by buying the economy size of shampoo for $5, but they can’t even afford that. So they are stuck buying 97-cent trial sizes of shampoo or canned beans. It’s as if there is a barrier of entry into “getting ahead,” and the poor can’t get over that.
“the poor can’t get over that…”
Ridiculous. Hard to imagine a non-addict who could not conceive a way to come up with $10 one time to start a chain reaction that would save them thousands of dollars eventually.
“It’s as if there is a barrier of entry into “getting ahead,” and the poor can’t get over that.”
+1 Being poor isn’t about money.
Ridiculous. Hard to imagine a non-addict who could not conceive a way to come up with $10 one time to start a chain reaction that would save them thousands of dollars eventually.
BlueSkye, I admire your out-of-the-box thinking with how you’ve chosen to limit your housing expenses. But I ideology that it is solely about choices can be very damaging insofar as it allows one to overlook structural problems that create inequality. The poor are not just poor because of poor choices, though they may make them. As DJT would say, “The game is rigged.”
“The game is rigged.”
If you know the box is a trap, do you jump in, go around or just sit and whine? The weakness of a rigged game is that you need to volunteer to play and play by the rules. I don’t admire me, I am just fortunate to have made some better (for me) choices after the unfortunate consequences of really not so good choices.
Choices. or Victims.
to have made some better (for me) choices after the unfortunate consequences of really not so good choices.
Good judgment comes from experience. Experience comes from bad judgment.
“When prices go up, demand should decrease.”
That’s how it would work if credit standards were not continuously relaxed to support ever-ascending prices.
Lone Tree, CO Housing Prices Crater 8% YOY
https://www.zillow.com/lone-tree-co/home-values/
*Select price from dropdown menu on first chart
‘From New Jersey to New York to California, LaJeunesse said people are flocking to the southern coast’
You left out Chinese, Australians and cashed up Memphis folk.
‘It’s almost like buying at a discount rack price. The question is on more of affordability issues and greed. You’re going to start seeing people and prices go up just to see where that ceiling is.’
Well sure, rocket go now! Let’s just see where it lands. Nobody is gonna stop you. What’s the worst that can happen?
‘It’s been a while since the US made a wholesale push to get more cash and income-strapped households into the ever more unaffordable American dream of owning a house, three years to be exact, which is when nationalized housing agency Freddie Mac last rolled out a conventional mortgage that only required a 3% down payment for certain borrowers.’
‘The problem is that what modest requirement the mortgage program had back in 2015, meant that most Americans who needed access would be excluded. The program, which as we described at the time was designed for qualified (that being the key word) low-and moderate-income borrowers - i.e., Millennials - saw limited progress over the last few years, with FHFA Director Mel Watt telling Congress last year that Freddie’s 3% down program (along with a similar one from Fannie Mae) was continuing to grow.’
‘It just wasn’t growing fast enough, because while putting 3% down may not have been especially challenging for most Americans, having even the modest income required to go along with it, was.’
‘So fast forward to last week, when Freddie Mac announced on Thursday it was about to supercharge its 3% down program and launch a widespread expansion of the offering, when it announced that it is rolling out a new conventional 3% down payment option for qualified first-time homebuyers, - effectively the same as the 2015 program… with one small difference: there would be no geographic restrictions; more importantly there no longer will be any income restrictions.’
‘In other words, whereas many Americans could not qualify for the original 3% down program because, well, they lacked virtually any income, that will no longer be a hindrance and the government will effectively backstop the lack of income as a new wave of ‘income-challenged’ Americans rushes in to buy houses.’
Speaking of the devil:
https://www.denverpost.com/2018/05/19/denver-affordable-condos-coloradan/
We all know how this is going to end.
Denver is an overpriced sh*thole.
Can you under price a sh@hole?
Can you under price a sh@hole?
Too funny!!
Here’s a $225K condo in Downtown Denver, 1-bed:
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/2500-S-York-St-APT-215-Denver-CO-80210/2089717956_zpid/?fullpage=true
Zillow’s advanced calculator shows a monthly total payment of $1894 (PITI + HOA). 50% of a $63K median is $31K, or $2583/m pretax. Yeah right.
‘In other words, whereas many Americans could not qualify for the original 3% down program because, well, they lacked virtually any income, that will no longer be a hindrance and the government will effectively backstop the lack of income as a new wave of ‘income-challenged’ Americans rushes in to buy houses.’
Bahahahahahahahahahaha … Arizona Ben and his jokes.
Mel Watt is obama’s greatest legacy.
If there’s ever a law that needs to be changed, It is whatever law created —and still governs— the FHFA. Agencies with a single head are usually cabinet-level. They are kept in check because they can be fired at any time by the President. Agencies with 5-year un-fire-able terms are run by a 3-5 person panel with staggered terms, where they can keep each other in check.
But Mel Watt is a single-head with a 5-year unfireable term. There is no check on him at all. The worst of both worlds. But he will be gone by February. I say bring back Ed DeMarco. He seemed level-headed.
Hey Donk
hi hon
Housing Donk…..
Arlington, VA Housing Prices Crater 5% YOY
https://www.zillow.com/arlington-va/home-values/
https://snag.gy/m5EzRB.jpg
FHFA isn’t housing? C’mon, hon…
Post up some falling prices Donk.
You two get a room.
However, the panelists were quick to point out that just because we are not currently in a bubble does not mean we won’t enter one. If supply and demand continues to become more and more out of balance, it could trigger a fast price growth said NAR Chief Economist Lawrence Yun.
No chance that a bubble has already begun, eh? Just maybe, possibly in the future… *cough* Someone should ask them “If there isn’t one currently, then what would actually being in a bubble look like?”
https://www.zillow.com/homes/for_sale/Wilmington-NC/pmf_pt/townhouse_type/54305497_zpid/21320_rid/globalrelevanceex_sort/34.391329,-77.533951,34.025632,-78.137513_rect/10_zm/
my end game
no yard work- taxes about $1900
Looks like a $75k place, not $250k.
HOA 242/m
why 3-bed?
75 too lo maybe 150
HOA $242m*12m=$2,904+1,900=$4,804/12=$400 per month carrying cost BEFORE mortgage. Yuck.
noo zeeland too……
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-newzealand-economy-budget/left-behind-why-boomtown-new-zealand-has-a-homelessness-crisis-idUSKCN1IL0UG
She doesn’t see the irony….
++++
“A week or so ago, retired Chicago Public Schools teacher Josephine Sennet received a letter from the Cook County assessor’s office, and what she read floored her. In the space of a year, the estimated market value of her home in the Lakewood Balmoral neighborhood had shot up about 51 percent, likely meaning a huge increase in future property taxes.
Heh, watch her sell out and move to a low-tax state. She’s 78, wonder how long she’s been collecting. 20+ years?
How ’bout this for an idea: the state/local gov should guarantee the tax assessment price. If you want to sell and the price is too high, the local gov should be forced to buy it at the price *they* assessed it for. That would cut down on over-assessing.
A parallel
I have always asked democrats why the same standard to exercise the constitutional right to keep and bear arms is not the same standard to vote…
ID, background checks and jail for lying for one…
The weak link isn’t the voting booth, it’s the registration. 15+ years ago, I tried to register to vote in Maryland, and visited several post offices and a library or two to obtain a registration form. I didn’t find a single registration form in English, but lots of forms in Spanish.
Spanish. For CITIZENS. I was PO’d.
I finally found an English form somewhere. All I did was fill it out (easy, not much needed) and whoomp, voter registration card comes in the mail. No ID or in-person needed. Once you’re in the system, you don’t even need a fake ID. You can bring all the real ID you want to the polling place and still vote fraudulently. No wonder Trump wanted all the voter information from California.
When I came back to the US after living overseas, I was floored when I learned that you could register to vote without having to prove citizenship.
Yup. In WA, our driver’s licenses don’t meet the federal Real ID act (so technically can’t be used as ID to board airplanes, but we keep getting an exemption from the feds) because we don’t verify citizenship before giving out licenses. AND we have motor-voter, meaning that you are automatically signed up to vote when you get your license.
Our current governor, Jay Inslee (D), is now running for president in 2020 (not officially, but we all know how the game is played).
Not giving it away!!!!
What does one call a 30% reduction anyways? Dip? Crash? Insanity coming to an end?
+++++
“One client, Tougne said, had an offer of about $1,325,000 for a home back in 2016 in Lakewood Balmoral but hesitated long enough for the buyer to back out. The owner then made some improvements and put the home back on the market last year. ‘We just finally sold it after almost a whole year for $1,000,050,’ Tougne said. ‘Boy, was she kicking herself.’”
What does one call a 30% reduction anyways?
It’s barely 25%—c’mon!
How to turn your business into a homeless shelter…and then try to walk it back
+++++
Starbucks Says Drug Use, Sleeping Unacceptable as It Clarifies Guest Policy
Wall Street Journal - 5/21/2018 - Julie Jargon
On Saturday, Starbucks said its new policy would allow all guests to use its cafes, including its restrooms, whether or not they make a purchase.
But the announcement fueled criticism over the weekend on social media and in online comments to news reports. Some customers said they feared there wouldn’t be room for paying customers to sit and others said they worried that the public restrooms would attract drug users.
“It sounds like Starbucks is turning their stores into homeless shelters. Their coffee is strong but their management is weak,” said Ron Raduechel, a 64-year-old retired supply chain executive from Waukesha, Wisc., who said he’ll no longer go to Starbucks.
so if someone is in the mens room for 30 minutes you have no right to ask management open the door and see if he is still alive? or is it ok to use the ladies room, or are all bathrooms going to be open to all.
Usually those single-room bathrooms are unisex. It accommodates the trans crowd, and to accommodate both (all) sexes because women (or anyone who sits) take longer and go more often.
Instead of single-hole bathrooms with a locking door, Sbux could have the open push-door into sink area, with individual locking stalls where you can see people’s feet underneath. You know, like most places. Of course, that takes more space, and would anger the trans crowd.
It seems to me that Sbux is turning into the type of establishment it was in the movie Idiocracy. Maybe the writer was a prophet.
“Maybe the writer was a prophet.”
+1 Indeed.
Mike Judge is a genius. And an engineer/musician type. Not to everyone’s taste but still a genius.
It flat-out scares me how fast our society is declining into Idiocracy, hundreds of years ahead of schedule.
And that other movie Judge did, Office Space, is one of my all-time favorites because it’s exactly like my current workplace. I watch that movie at least once a year as a form of therapy.
I think when you start identifying Office Space with your current workplace it’s time to start looking.
“Seems like you’ve been missing a lot of work lately”
“I wouldn’t say I’ve been missing it, Bob”
He also has a newer movie with Mila Kunis(?) that I need to see sometime.
Oh lets make up signs for Starmucks see if we can win a prize…..
Our bathrooms are timed. At the end of 10 minutes the doors will unlock to give other customers their opportunity to use the facilities, and to make sure you are still alive.
How long before the “no bathing” signs show up?
So I guess the San Francisco heroin users can move out of the BART tunnels and into Starbucks?
I hope their naxoline is not as overpriced as their caffeine
$290k in BFE middle of nowhere? Check. Got locusts? Check.
“After 4 years of internet searching (2002 to 2006) through North Dakota real-estate, we found the most gorgeous spot we have seen for sale. They wanted too much money, but we bought it anyway because it was exactly what we were looking for and thus we purchased this dream location in 2006…We are teachers in California, the kids are all in college or in careers and it is now too far away. We are very sad to let it go. It still needs work, but it’s perfect for someone else with the same dream of having a beautiful old farmhouse and barn in the country.”
https://nd.craigslist.org/reo/d/10-acre-farmstead-1840-sq-ft/6575476911.html
Two teachers in California could afford this as a vacation home, all the travel and kids in college…
The coward kiddie cop in flat is getting 104k pension n teachers beat cops
“now too far away.”
I don’t believe this “excuse” - my bet is on the change in the tax law limiting state tax deduction to $10K caused these 2 fools to rush to the exit since they can’t deduct the taxes on their “investment” since their personal income taxes plus their cali property taxes probably exceed $10K.
Now these 2 “teachers” (fools) are going to get schooled on ponzi borrowing your way to riches. I suspect there is a large mortgage on this “investment” and these 2 fools jingle belling the keys to the “investor”.
Let’s hope the mortgage forgiveness doesn’t have the income taxes forgiven this time (as in 2008 - 2012) and these 2 fools will never forget their lesson when the file for bankruptcy and the bankruptcy judge rules that they are overall “solvent” for the income taxes on the bank’s loss on their second home “investment”.
No wonder our kids are so dumb when they graduate from our schools.
SWEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEET!
I don’t think the deductions have anything to do with it.
1) it was bought in 2006
2) The listing price is just $290k
3) Looking up online the property taxes look to be $5-6K/yr.
I’d put my money on the winters, the isolation, and/or other factors.
“Other factors”
They neglected to acquire the mineral rights and they are about to get fracked?
“…the property taxes look to be $5-6K/yr.”
That’s crazy expensive for land in the middle of nowhere.
Bellaire, TX Housing Prices Crater 19% YOY
https://www.zillow.com/bellaire-tx/home-values/
*Select price from dropdown menu on first chart
Buyer idiocy is when 32 vendors reduce their prices but 3 buyers pay more than asking in that month. Blue Mountains, Ontario.
When you really look into the housing market as a whole, there were very few transactions making all owners paper rich.
And municipal governments cash rich.
And bankers. 😁
Bankers are and will be big losers.
Rates of 3% fixed for 30 years - they are already being squeezed.
As far as municipalities - will they have to retroactively pay back taxes on overcharged assessments ?
And universities will be able to charge even more - but I don’t know why.
Rates of 3% fixed for 30 years - they are already being squeezed.
I don’t know…I could make a lot of money at any interest rate if I can get an infinite amount from someone else and lend it out at any rate higher than I borrowed it.
Realtors are liars.
What the fed giveth,the state n local taxman taketh away
Hobe Sound, FL Housing Prices Crater 18% YOY As Slowing Vacation/Retirement Property Market Sustains Crushing Losses
https://www.movoto.com/hobe-sound-fl/market-trends/
The “If you’re in foreclosure we can help” commercials have started again in SE Region IV.
It’s like 2007
There’s a ‘decent probability’ bitcoin goes to zero, says Vanguard economist
By Aaron Hankin
Published: May 21, 2018 8:22 p.m. ET
Joe Davis says central banks may be bitcoin’s biggest threat
Bloomberg News
The price of bitcoin is down 40% year to date.
A senior economist at the Vanguard Group, the $5 trillion investment fund, is the latest market participant to pour cold water on the No. 1 digital currency.
In an op-ed Monday, Joe Davis said bitcoin (BTCUSD, -1.42%) is not a currency, it makes for a poor investment choice and its biggest threats are the very institutions it was meant to overthrow.
“Over the past few months, I’ve gotten this question more than any other,” wrote Davis. “As for bitcoin the currency? I see a decent probability that its price goes to zero.”
The head of the Vanguard Investment Strategy Group argues that bitcoin does not meet the criteria of a currency — which its creator(s) and proponents believe it to be — saying it’s a dubious medium of exchange and its excessive volatility does not make it a suitable store of value.
Read: Bitcoin bull argues for rally to $20,000
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/theres-a-decent-probability-bitcoin-goes-to-zero-says-vanguard-economist-2018-05-21
It is an investment. It goes under the category of Transparent Ponzi Scheme.
Generation Snowflake.
Bahahahahahahaha … these pukes raised their son to be a flake and now they are stuck with him.
Karma.
http://philadelphia.cbslocal.com/2018/05/21/parents-30-year-old-son-new-york-eviction-court/