Harsher Times Ahead For Sellers In Florida
The Miami Herald reports from Florida. “A glutted real estate market is spilling into the lodging sector, as recent condo buyers who had counted on flipping for a profit instead face mortgage payments and maintenance fees. ‘They can’t sell them and they need an income coming,’ said Linda Luft, a mortgage broker, whose short-term rental business grew between 20 percent and 30 percent this year.”
“‘Basically, what they’re doing is telling me: ‘Please rent it. Get me anything,’ she said.”
“Housing sales are already down 29 percent from a year ago. And some real estate experts predict harsher times ahead for sellers, with more than 22,000 condominium units under construction in Miami alone.”
The St Petersburg Times. “Two months ago, Nikki DuFore and her husband paid the owner $3,000 and settled into a spacious Tampa home with a big back yard. But their stay may be short-lived. On May 19, they were served with notice that the bank seeks to foreclose because the owner is months behind in his mortgage payments.”
“‘It was a shock,’ DuFore said. ‘We had just moved in, and now we’re already having to look for another place.’”
“It used to be that tenants got all the scrutiny. But in Florida’s topsy-turvy, fraud-plagued real estate market, it’s the property owner who may warrant a closer look.”
“‘We’ve been getting a lot of calls of late, and the amount of these calls is increasing because more people are in foreclosure,’ said Tom DiFiore, head of the housing and consumer unit of Bay Area Legal Services.”
The Star Banner. “Sales of existing homes statewide in April continued to tumble from last year’s levels, and the Ocala area was no different.”
“The 267 homes sold locally last month were down 38 percent from the same period last year and down 33 percent from last month’s total, the Florida Association of Realtors reported.”
“Ocala broker Steven Light said holding back the market are sellers who are looking to unload their homes for prices that were commonplace when the local housing boom was at its zenith, but are no longer realistic in today’s buyers’ market.”
“‘I see people still holding on to 2005 prices,’ Light said. ‘It’s a mindset.’”
“Light said Realtors shouldn’t let sellers dictate what prices the market should bear.
From the Ledger. “April marked another tough month for the local economy with ongoing housing declines and a slight uptick in unemployment, according to The Ledger’s monthly Polk County Business Barometer.”
“The county’s builders had a slow April, amassing 333 permits for new home construction. That made for a decrease of 41 percent from 568 in April 2006. Winter Haven saw its permits sink to 47 from 115 last year, a 59 percent drop.”
“Meanwhile, Polk had 348 existing homes sold last month, down nearly 35 percent from 535 in April 2006. Lakeland’s total fell to 207 homes from the previous year’s 314, a decrease of 34 percent, while East Polk’s 137 homes fell 35 percent from 211 a year ago. Bartow had four homes sold in April, compared to 10 last year.”
“Realtor Shawn McDonough said…that too many homes have lingered on the market for six months or more. ‘That’s the change we could see that would be helpful,’ McDonough told The Ledger.”
The Sun Sentinel. “On Tuesday, when the nationwide index of consumer confidence compiled by The Conference Board rose more than expected, a Florida index of consumer confidence from the University of Florida went in the opposite direction and fell to its lowest level in more than 18 months.”
“Floridians, reeling from record-high gas prices and falling home values, are veering away from the rest of the nation in their outlook for their finances and the economy.”
“‘In Florida, employment is solid, but people’s finances are not,’ said Chris McCarty, director of survey research at UF.”
“‘No doubt retail sales [in Florida] have been declining for some months already,’ said economist Per Gunnar Bergland. ‘Particularly related to construction.’”
“Palm Beach and Broward counties lost almost 12,000 jobs in April from the year before. McCarty expects Florida consumer confidence to track the housing market’s fortunes and gas prices. ‘Until housing has complexly corrected, there’s going to be downward pressure on consumer confidence,’ he said.”
The Herald Tribune. “Smacked hard by regulators, Coast Bank of Florida is under the gun to strengthen its financial condition and its management. The struggling bank faces numerous deadlines, some as soon as next week, to shape up or face further sanctions by federal and state banking authorities.”
“Coast made $110 million in loans to nearly 500 customers of Construction Compliance Inc., a defunct home builder in St. Petersburg. CCI drew millions of dollars from the bank, even though it did little or no work on some of those homes. Many of those customers are now refusing to repay their loans.”
“The bank has other deadlines to charge off or collect on millions of dollars in loans. It also must immediately stop collecting brokered deposits, which typically pay high interest rates, and within 10 days file a plan with regulators to eliminate its reliance on those CDs.”
“The bank has $40.7 million in those deposits it gathered from customers after its loan problems were revealed.”
“Trump Tower Tampa has lost its biggest asset: the Trump name itself. New York tycoon Donald Trump has terminated his contract with SimDag, the Tampa development team behind the proposed $300-million condo tower long touted as west Florida’s tallest and most luxurious.”
“In a lawsuit filed Friday in federal court, Trump sounded like a man whose patience was spent. Investors scooped up many units, but SimDag failed to hook financing. Banks shied from pouring hundreds of millions of dollars into a Tampa Bay area housing market stagnant with thousands of unsold condos.”
“Tampa officials looked to the tower, one of several new condo high-rises, to help revitalize its central business district. But the proposal never shook criticism that its fancy penthouses and gold-trimmed living may have suited Miami and New York but clashed with Tampa’s middlebrow image.”
The Tampa Tribune. “SimDag has not made payments since October and owes Trump at least $1 million, the lawsuit claims. The developers have yet to break ground on the building.”
“The company’s office phone is disconnected. Trump declined to answer questions but said through his assistant, Rhona Graff, that ‘the lawsuit speaks for itself.’”
“Trump Tower was announced with much fanfare in early 2005. But the luxury high-rise project has struggled to go vertical. Construction activity stalled in November. On Tuesday, there was no equipment on the vacant site.”
“SimDag boasted it had sold out of condo units shortly after announcing the tower project, but the company has acknowledged that some buyers have dropped out. SimDag has passed along at least $40 million in construction increases to buyers who had signed up to purchase units.”
“In recent months, two buyers have sued the developer for their deposits. In the lawsuit, filed in January, buyers Louis Ricci and Joe Shultz, both of Walton County, near Pensacola, argue it is impossible for SimDag to build the tower by the December 2008 deadline stated in their contracts.”
“They also complained that they bought, in part, because they thought Trump was involved in the building of the tower and felt misled when they learned SimDag had only licensed the use of Trump’s name.”
“George Galiouridis was among the first buyers to put up a 20 percent deposit. In January, 2005, he reserved a 2,900 square-foot, three-bedroom condo on the 31st floor for $1.1 million. A few months later, he says, SimDag said he would have to pay $200,000 more to convert the sales agreement to a hard-purchase contract, locking in the sale price.”
“When he learned about Trump’s lawsuit, Galiouridis said he wants Trump to take over the project and build the tower himself or push SimDag to return deposits to buyers. ‘This is good news,’ he said. ‘I believe Trump finally realizes that his name and credibility is at stake. He’s said he can build it out of his pocket. I hope he does.’”
‘Palm Beach County commissioners aren’t the swaggering bunch they used to be. With angry taxpayers, budget-slashing legislators, and persistent federal investigators all zeroing in on them, members of the county’s cockiest deliberative body often come across as cranky and frustrated these days.’
‘This job isn’t as much fun as it used to be,’ says Commissioner Jeff Koons. ‘We have a worse and a worse and a worse scenario.’
swaggeringstaggering bunchI thought Jeff Koons was a controversial artist. Has he gotten a new gig?
Soon he might have a new boyfriend named Snake.
no he is in vegas with a new show at the hardrock. my buddy a former mortgage broker for wells fargo who was laid off is working for him and renting in vegas as well
This “commissioner” thing is conceptual performance art. Don’t you get it?
good one
‘This job isn’t as much fun as it used to be,’
Since when is a job like their’s supposed to be ‘fun’?
When the builders are lining up to pay the tuition for your kids to go to the best private schools in the area. Plus, free new fun-bags for the Misses, all to approve their project.
koons is a good commissioner and karen marcus has always done an excellent job, shame if their names are tarnished by all the crap that has been going on.
‘I believe Trump finally realizes that his name and credibility is at stake. He’s said he can build it out of his pocket. I hope he does.’
LOL! Good one, yeah, Trump is going to step in and save they day. If by ’save the day’ you mean walk away with a wad of your cash.
Also, isn’t Trump’s name about blunt-force business deals? I mean, he wins and you lose, right? Trump doesn’t do the “right thing,” Trump does the “Trump thing.”
Game over.
“Trump Tower Tampa has lost its biggest asset: the Trump name itself.
If that’s your biggest asset, then it’s time to close up shop.
Funny coincidence: Trump rhymes with dump.
Don’t forget to wipe your Liereah after you take a Trump…
Which rhymes with “chump”.
Trump’s Chump Dump
I like it!
Reminds me of the old Bloom County comics (eighties)in which Trump had his brain transpalnted into a character named “Bill the Cat”. One of the first thing he did was say that the litter box was unacceptable, next panel had “Trumps Dump” on a shiny tower on top of it…
fitting….
That’s exactly correct. Without the Trump name that building will be just another severely overpriced condo tower during a time in which we already have a glut. If it’s even built at all, I wonder whether it will have to be redesigned; the artist’s rendition showed it to resemble an enormous letter “T,” just in case we all needed to be reminded of the “brand.”
I remember the hoopla when the project first was announced. The most recent “Apprentice” winner came down here to supervise, and people took Trump’s interest as evidence of this town’s long-awaited arrival into the glitzy big time. Really. This is Tampa! The newspaper interviewed some local buyers, one of whom said he planned to use his $1 million unit “on weekends.”
I wonder if Trump should of taught the apprentice the ends and outs of lawsuits .
This data is nothing, wait until the data comes out later this year on the declining tourism industry and how hotel occupancy is way off and Disney’s attendance is down. Then we will see a huge increase in job loses.
What’s that light breeze I feel, oh its the start of hurricane season as well.
With the slowing of the UK property market and so many Britons exposed to “underwater” property values in Spain and Florida condos, I don’t think there will be as much UK funny money to spread around Florida at vacation time.
My father and sister got this idea of a family reunion at Disney next July, which was presented to me as a fait accompli.
My Dad was crazed and wanted to book the airline and hotel right away before we were priced out forever. You see, a travel agent “Travelator?” told him that only by booking right away could you secure a decent price for the trip, which you otherwise might not be able to afford.
I think I’ll tell them to wait until NEXT May before booking a trip to Florida, or do it without me.
How stupid does a travel agent need to be to say something like that? I could go to Disney this year…and next year…and next year… probably all for about the same price. I’d definitely take my travel booking elsewhere if someone tried to “scare” me into booking now. (And, frankly, I’d be booking it myself online anyway - travel agents are definitely something I’ve cut completely out of my life. Even when booking business travel at work.)
Florida in July. That sounds fun. Was the face of the sun completely booked?
LOL. I easily can see a person losing 5-10 pounds of water weight at Disney on a typical July day here. Better bring a hat and some powerful sunscreen.
My father and sister got this idea of a family reunion at Disney next July,
Why do your dad and sister hate you?
I think I’ll tell them to wait until NEXT May before booking a trip to Florida, or do it without me.
Better to book in January for an April trip. Disney in July sucks: hot and crowded. Better to take the kids out of school for a week. The traveltor should have told you that, but like realtors, they just do what you tell them to.
July ? bring oxygen
you can stay for free in and abandoned penthouse close by
July in Orlando, Disney? I am a Florida native and I wouldn’t wish that on my WORST enemy!!
“‘Basically, what they’re doing is telling me: ‘Please rent it. Get me anything,’ she said.”
I am expecting a glut of high-end rentals offered at reasonable rent levels within the next couple of years in San Diego. So far, it seems as though many of the neophyte landlords have not quite figured out what is a reasonable rent offer. There are hundreds and hundreds of places for rent on SD Craigslist, and I am guessing that at least a few are affordably priced…
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/apa/
I realized the “hundreds and hundreds” sounded a bit like hyperbole, so I went back and counted. It appears there are 1098 new places for rent on SD Craigslist listed since yesterday. I guess the San Diego amateur landlord community is expecting a huge number of new renters to spontaneously materialize at any moment?
If someone here is a potential renter in SD, would you please entertain us with stories of your upcoming LOWBALL rental offers for the “high end” stuff? It would be extremely entertaining to hear the responses from the various bagholders who hear rental offers of $1,000 for their 1.2M highrise condo’s!
Ok, I am renting a 2 bed luxury condo in Porte Liberte, which is in Jersey city for $2200 when the supposed to be going rate is $2600. I see in 60% of the utils lights are nevers lit, i.e they were not rented out still. Also, I see the price of these condos going down from 600K to 450K since last year.
i knew that would happen and i was only in san diego 3 days last year. it was obvious from the insane amount of condo projects being built. renters in sd will have alot of choice for their rental dollars
If the foreclosure numbers are correct, there may indeed be a large number of new renters materializing soon…of course a good number of them may be those from your search this morning. D’oh.
Here in Orlando the pain is palpable. The newspaper is all over this thing and the hot nightspots are only busy on weekends. It is truly amazing how wide the swath is when housing tanks.
Spoke to friends in the real estate business on the east coast and they tell me things are picking up but only in the $200K and under market. There isn’t much in the Sarasota area in that range, yet. I reiterate, YET!
did a ziprealty check for 200k and under properties in the northern va/DC metro area and not one hit.
wow. they must be selling like hotcakes.
“‘I see people still holding on to 2005 prices,’ Light said. ‘It’s a mindset.’”\
This is a problem all over the country. Sellers still think they’re entitled to 50% increases in values of their homes simply because it is a house. But more and more are being forced to wake up.
“Two months ago, Nikki DuFore and her husband paid the owner $3,000 and settled into a spacious Tampa home with a big back yard. But their stay may be short-lived. On May 19, they were served with notice that the bank seeks to foreclose because the owner is months behind in his mortgage payments.”
It is definitely Renter Beware. When we look at rentals the first thing we try to do is figure out if it is a flipper. If so, no thanks.
I don’t see a Victor Clavizzao as owner of the property. I do see a Vincent Clavizzao, whose home is in foreclosure. The property was purchased for $710k in 9/06. The borrower got 100% financing with BNC Mortgage (80/20). Most likely the loan was done as an owner occupied loan. Now the property is estimated to be worth $659k. I would assume this is the home mentioned in the article. Methinks that renters payment wouldn’t come close to covering the mortgage payment. Another deal that stinks to high heaven.
There is another Clavizzao who owns four properties in Pinellas County, all of them in foreclosure. The old saying is true, the family that defrauds together, stays together.
This is why I only rent from professional landlords who have been in the business for a while. Additionally, if something goes wrong with the property, the professionals often have someone to fix it within the hour.
I looked to rent in Jan 07, There were so many places with new paint, new carpet, completely remodeled inside out, some still had the For Sale sign up, or taken down but still sitting in the back yard. If so, I had to quietly steer the wife away. Good thing is she has really good taste (Marrying me is her only lapse) so we actually rented from someone who has moved away for a job but wants to keep the house because they want to retire in it. This house had a more comfortable home feel than the lipstick on a pig feel of the newly remodeled properties
This might help quiet the people who say Colorado didn’t experience a bubble.
“The price of a 2,400-squarefoot new home in Colorado Springs fell 7.6 percent during the first quarter to $267,028, while the median price of a similar home for the 293 cities surveyed fell 0.7 percent during the same period. Housing costs make up 28 percent of the overall index.”
Link? tia.
OMG, looks like you are right. I couldn’t believe it, and when I saw only 40 listings for Wed May 30, I was about to argue with you. Then I realized you meant Tue May 29. Yup, hundreds and hundreds.
Oops, this is misplaced. Was meant as a reply to Stucco’s comment about the 1098 SD rental listings that appeared SINCE YESTERDAY
You know, the S+L crisis premeried in Ohio and Maryland because they had state chartered thrifts. Is there some regulatory reason that Florida and California are the bellweathers of the housing crash?
Can’t speak for California, but in Florida it was the sheer number of houses and condos built just for speculators. I’m sure each speculator thought he/she was one of perhaps a few in a neighborhood or condo building who were buying to flip. Instead most if not all of the units in some developments and condos were sold to speculators.
This was evident on our trip to Sarasota in January. Older, established neighborhoods had just the normal number of For Sale signs (1 or 2 percent). But newer neighborhoods had upwards of 16% of homes with signs, and the beachfront condo we rented had lockboxes on an astounding 20% of the units.
BTW, looking at listings on realtor.com in our old ZIP code, sellers have not yet capitulated.
My aunt moved to FL after the Denver market cooled. She owns 5 properties in Sarasota county (one she lives in). She’s “retired”, but was working as a real estate agent. She mostly bought before the run up, but I wonder if the rents she’s getting are enough.
Another in-law was bemoaning how none of her kids owned real estate. I explained to her that it just doesn’t make sense nowdays. She insisted that even cash flow negative was ok. What she fails to recognize is that when she got into real estate interest rates were at all time highs and she rode that trend for 20 years. It really is different right now. We’re at a completely different point in the cycle. There’s a time for everything. Life is cyclical.
Bill-
You are right. One of the newest sections in Lakewood Ranch has an estimated 50% of the completed houses for sale. These are large houses that were selling in the high-hundreds but it appears most that bought had no intent in living there……what a shocker!
Is there some regulatory reason that Florida and California are the bellweathers of the housing crash?
CA has 1) A 30 year history of underbuilding due to anti-growth locals, 2) A population hungry to own because, while often making substantial incomes, they live in old and small dumpy houses or rentals, and 3) An insane property tax system that gives long-term owners a free ride at the expense of recent buyers–which keeps retirees in houses they’d never afford today.
This background lead to relatively safe easy-money loans until 2003, as high demand would lure in new blood when a buyer got in too deep. The easy-money loans exploded in 2003 and home prices jumped 25% to 35% in a few months. This lead to a simple mania, where people started buying at prices they have no chance of ever repaying. (Not to mention the CA speculators who bought garbage real estate at inflated prices all over the western half of the country.)
Now, with banks tightening there’s no way to refinance out of the hugely overpriced purchases. The net result is that anyone who bought in late 2003 through 2006 paid more anyone could pay today–those with no equity are doomed. If the thought of paying $600,000 for a 50 year old 1200 sq. foot house in a bad neighborhood makes sense to you then the bubble will never end…
Now, with banks tightening there’s no way to refinance out of the hugely overpriced purchases. The net result is that anyone who “bought in late 2003 through 2006 paid more anyone could pay today–those with no equity are doomed. If the thought of paying $600,000 for a 50 year old 1200 sq. foot house in a bad neighborhood makes sense to you then the bubble will never end…”
The thing a lot of people maybe don’t realize is that you’re being CONSERVATIVE in your numbers, instead of exaggerating them. I’ve been researching some ‘hoods of LA (echo park, highland park, etc) and 600k usually means under 1,000 sq feet.
My friend’s 9xx sq ft. 1940’s kit house in Echo Parque gets tagged, checks stolen and used from his mailbox(more than once, a real pieceof work that guy), car stolen from his driveway, neighbor’s borracho brother in law lives in the garage and parks his broken down 1982 conversion van in front of his house, gangbangers and homeless walking around, etc etc. He bought for 220 in 2000?, zillow says its worth 600+, and neighboring houses have been sold in the 800-1,000 range in the last couple years. Not that I’m bitter.
The SPT articles about the renters is really interesting. In one case the guy went through a property management company, which now appears to be a total sham, on a house that looks like a cash-back fraud deal. Is there a uniform way for renters to figure out the financial situations of the potential properties/landlords? Can that data be found online, or it is more dependent on the local assessor’s office? Personally I tend to rent from established rental management companies, because I haven’t had very good experiences with individual owners.
thank god my rental is owned by someone who purchased in 1983 and has over 20 years experience as a landlord and does not know what a heloc is. you must do your homework before renting from one of these new landlaords
Actually - I think if the bank forecloses - then the rental contract is still enforce but the bank is the new landlord not the old “owner”.
Am I right on this?????
You are wrong. If the house were ‘SOLD”, then the bank would be the new landlord.
this is FORECLOSURE, to liquidate the debts of the current owner. Different scenerio entirely.
The answer to this question varies from state to state. In Florida, if the property is sold or forclosed the lease supercedes the sale or foreclosure so the lease must be honored between the tenant and the new owner. UNLESS, it is written into the rental contract that the lease is voided in the case of sale or foreclosure. Most landlords have a clause that states that the tenant has 30, 60 or 90 days to move in the event of a sale of foreclosure to help the landlord in case the landlord gets into a financial bind. But, without this clause a renter does not have to move.
We had this exact scenario in a condo building that my company manages. A condo was lost by an owner due to foreclosure. The new owner wanted to move in and start to renovate the unit immediately. But, the tenant’s lease between the tenant and the old owner had nine remaining months. The new owner sued to void the lease agreement, lost the suite, and eventually lost the unit again to foreclosure because he could not flip the unit in time. The latest owner now has the unit with no tenants since the lease expired, but is going to lose the unit again to foreclosure due to a cash flow problem. No tenant, no cash flow.
I have a situation in which I pay one year in advance on a lease in Florida. In return the home owner takes care of the pool and garden expense. In the event the owner went into foreclosure would we get kicked out prior to the expiration of the lease?
Search the county records (ownership, taxpayments etc), make any prospective landlord show proof of mortgage payments for the last 6 months and get a credit check on them. You can draw up a contract of your own complete with a landlord “application form”. They have been doing it to renters for decades, now it’s time for some reciprocity. What’s that line the government uses? “if they have nothing to hide they won’t mind you invading their privacy”.
That is the one Good thing about Florida. You can go to the County Websites and Get any Information You want on a Property or the Owner. Don’t always believe the prices You see. Because some Fraudsters said the Paid 980,000 for a Quarter Acre lot that actually sold for 3 Grand so they could drive up Comps.
But You can TYPE IN YOUR LANDLORDS Name and see What Property’s they own. Then You can do a MORTGAGE SEARCH and see How much They owe on the Property.
IF They Borrowed $250K in 05′ and are trying Rent for $900 You can bet they are Going Down.
I did this with my FL rental house I just moved into. It was a year old (never lived in) and after seeing what they paid (signed their contract right as the big runup started) and what their mortgage was, I was pretty comfortable doing a one-year lease. Of course they re-financed into an Option-Arm so my rent might almost cover their monhtly “minimum payment”…Haaa!
also in Sarasota all of the recently completed downtown condo projects are erieely dark
I came on here two months ago and shared a story about co-worker living in Kissimmee with husband and two kids who had a Sheriff’s process server show up and tack a Notice Of Foreclosure on the front door with the butt of his pistol.
They laid out arount $2,000 to a twenty-something asshat “landlord” …and after making three (3) rent payments got kicked to the curb.
We did a quickie search at the tax collectors website for Osceola and Orange counties and found this punk kid “owned” five $ 300,000 ++ properties and hasn’t yet paid the November taxes on any of them.
Clerk of Courts records also reveal Lis Pendens on all five (5) properties. Turns out that he bought all these stucco McMansions in the last two years and is now on the run.
Five honest hardworking families are gonna be displaced because of the greed of a pubescent 24 year old.
How in the he11 did we ever allow this to happen ???
It will all end very badly, I am afraid….and sooner than we may think.
The multiplier effect of the speculation is even more astounding. One speculator, 5 properties that we know of. Assuming each speculator only had two investment properties, plus their primary residence that provided the start-up capital, then each speculator stands to lose 2-3 houses.
Anybody out there know somebody who turned real estate tycoon? I know of 5 families who bought before selling their old home in the last year, and another 2 people who own multiple SFR as investments. There is a lot of idiocy out there, and without rising prices, jingle mail is the natural result.
I have friend turned real estate investor who owns 4 houes in Cape Coral and 2 in Vegas for flipping that are not moving. She also got everyone in her family and church to buy a few of these Cape Coral houses. And they are all waiting for the market to pick up soon. She bought all these houses at weekend hotel ballroom real estate investor classes. I went to a few with a 2 for 1 ticket deal she had. Very slick stucco salesman… You walk in on Friday morning, fill out a credit app and have a couple houses by Sunday night. I think this network of real estate seminars is a big part of the speculator situation.
It will be really ironic when these moron banks (who had the financal sense to lend to the moron) lose so much money they realize they’d be way better off keeping the housese rented and collecting the rent. It’s not just the “owners” who were jerks. The banks/Wall Street/Hedge funds (whatever) faciliated this run up the whole way.
As for the process server - unholstering a firearm without cause is a crime. Using it for a hammer is the pinnacle of idiocy. If I was a tenant at the house I’d call the guy’s employer and ask them to keep the idiot away from my family.
nice to see trumpee lose some of his own money for once. how’s it feel mop head?
“for once”?
Trump is hardly a serial success. He’s an extraordinarily successful person — but the same can’t be said for his businesses. As a New Yorker I’ve witnessed dozens of his projects go into the crapper. He’s a master of his image though. And people (for some bizarre reason) still equate his name with wealth and success, even though by NYC standards he’s not all that rich.
think about this….
With gambling the odds are in the house’s favor. Trump actually managed to lose money with his casinos.
How in the he11 did we ever allow this to happen ???
“WE”
Wrong!
Some of us, at least those that know the value of savings and the sacrifice it takes to own a house did not cause these issues. I hope to benefit form this foolish stpuid behavior after several years of waiting and lip bitting listening to these pigeons brag about their re wealth on paper.
‘”Light said Realtors shouldn’t let sellers dictate what prices the market should bear.”‘
Oh ,you mean all this time during the false run-up Realtors could of dictated normal increases and saved us all from this correction .What ever happened to” real estate always goes up” and “buy now or be priced out forever ?”
Sellers never dictate RE prices. Buyers do.
Somebody always has to sell. But nobody has to buy.
Did anyone see this in USA Today?
http://tinyurl.com/36oyr5
“Bottom line: Taxpayers are now on the hook for a record $59.1 trillion in liabilities, a 2.3% increase from 2006. That amount is equal to $516,348 for every U.S. household. By comparison, U.S. households owe an average of $112,043 for mortgages, car loans, credit cards and all other debt combined.”
Those are some of the worst numbers I’ve seen yet, and they come from (shock) the mainstream media…
The whole deficit boogeyman is a political football because political parties are afraid (because of the political consequences) of admitting the truth: deficits don’t matter. The us government can meet its liabilities without collecting a dime in taxes. This has been a fact since the government went off of the Bretton Woods system in 1971. They just print money. State and local governments cannot do this that is why you have seen defaults there. Japan has a deficit more than twice are size in terms of GDP and there economies are rocking.
Increase the deficit. Stimulate the economy. Keeping sending paper dollars to Japan,Korea, and China (as long as they keep taking them ) in return for nice cars, cell phones, and clothing. Its not
The White House and the Congressional Budget Office oppose the change, arguing that the programs are not true liabilities because government can cancel or cut them.
…does anyone still believe that the government will be there for you in your retirement?
That was supposed to be a reply to sohonyc
So if a guy jumps off a cliff once and makes it, then everyone else should be able to do the same thing without worry?