The Hangover Has Taken Different Forms In Florida
The Miami Herald reports from Florida. “Since South Florida’s raucous real estate party ended, the hangover has taken different forms, sales plunging, foreclosures rising, lawsuits flying. Now, a Hialeah condo conversion company has gone bankrupt in one of the biggest bankruptcy cases yet to come out of the soured housing market. Puig, a private condo conversion company in Hialeah, is seeking protection from creditors who claim they were stiffed for nearly $120 million.”
“The case may be one of many more to come, or so think the law and accounting firms that have launched or beefed up distressed property divisions for months. ‘Unfortunately, I think the ball is just beginning to roll,’ said Bowman Brown, a veteran attorney in Miami.”
“All told, the company converted and sold some 19 projects with 1,400 units. Meanwhile, another 2,900 units were in the works. By 2006, the housing boom was fizzling fast. Yet the company had taken out big loans to buy new apartments for conversions. It became harder and harder to make a sale, and harder to make loan payments to lenders.”
“In late May the company entered bankruptcy, seeking to end the blood-letting. ‘In the real estate business, everything can’t keep going up and up and up,’ said Allen Greenwald, a Miami developer and real estate investor who is among the creditors owed money by Puig. ‘But the market turned so fast. Unfortunately, this was a very fast and severe downturn.’”
“Now, (the chief restructuring officer) must unload the units Puig could not sell to pay creditors like Greenwald back. He has to sell about 2,000 condominium units at a price low enough to entice buyers, yet high enough to pay creditors back.”
From TC Palm. “Even though the housing bubble had burst months before construction began, Janos Gyory was optimistic the new homes his company was building would sell for nearly $300,000 each. Most of them didn’t.”
“This Saturday the remaining 14 finished homes will be auctioned, with bidding starting at $190,000. ‘We were always optimistic that it is a good product,” said Gyory, president of NGG Point. ‘But we are still paying interest to the bank and need to move it somehow.’”
“Auctioneer George Richards expects the homes to sell between $195,000 and $200,000, roughly two-thirds of the original asking price.”
“Gyory’s company purchased the nine-acre parcel for $230,000 in 2003 and construction began in early 2006, months after the start of the national downturn in the housing market. ‘We thought there was still people who might be interested,’ Gyory said.”
“Gyory is still optimistic about the new home market of St. Lucie County. He is in the early stages of developing a 44-unit subdivision in Fort Pierce. ‘We believe the market will turn around by the time we are building there,’ Gyory said.”
The St Petersburg Times. “The official-looking notice appeared in his mailbox last year. To Denith Harrigan, the promise of an interest rate as low as 1 percent was too good to ignore. Disabled and on a fixed income of $2,100 a month, Harrigan could finally pay off credit card debts and fix his leaky pool.”
“Now just a few months into his new mortgage, Harrigan is in serious risk of losing his house. In less than three years, his payment could grow to equal his total income.”
“‘I got into something I had no intention of getting involved in,’ said Harrigan. ‘I believe this should be against the law.’”
“For Harrigan, the lower interest rate initially decreased his mortgage payment from $1,495 to $1,005. But if he covers only the minimum payment, his principal will grow by about $1,000 a month, and in less than three years his payment will equal his total income.”
“Brokers and lenders alike are quick to point out that option ARMs fill a need. For investors, borrowers with fluctuating incomes or people with a lot of home equity and an immediate need for extra cash, the mortgages work.”
“‘It’s a pay-now-or-pay-later situation, and ultimately it’s always the customer’s decision which is best for them,’ said Patrice Yamato, president of the Florida Association of Mortgage Brokers. Yamato acknowledged that people have misused option ARMs and some brokers and lenders have outright lied that the low interest rates were fixed.”
“The broker, Harrigan said, didn’t mention the stiff prepayment penalty or make clear that he could pay the minimum for only so long before triggering a monthly payment of more than $2,000, leaving him only about $100 to live on.”
“While Harrigan regrets getting the mortgage, Premier Mortgage Funding says it was a good deal. Harrigan was able to pay off $12,000 in credit card debts and got an extra $6,000 in cash.”
“‘I see a huge improvement for this gentleman,’ said Peter Forcey, sales manager of the Independence, Ohio, branch that sold the mortgage. ‘It looks like a pretty strong loan.’”
“Forcey said Premier often directs customers to less risky mortgages, but added that consumers need to take some responsibility for their decisions. ‘We pride ourselves on the level of disclosure,’ he said. ‘There has to be a benefit for the client or it’s gone.’”
The News Press. “Collier County is No. 1 and Lee County is No. 6 on a nationwide list of housing markets where prices are most likely to fall during the next two years.”
“‘I’d probably agree’ that prices are headed down in Lee County, said Joe Cameratta, CEO of Cleveland-based Cameratta Properties, which built High Point Place condominiums in downtown Fort Myers and is building the First Street Village residential/commercial project nearby.”
“LaVaughn Henry, director of economic analysis for PMI, said the forecast is based largely on how sharp past price swings have been in a particular market. ‘Florida’s had a high probability assigned to it because historically it’s had a high price volatility. What goes up will, at some point, come down.’”
“Lee County’s housing market is a shadow of what it was in the boom years of 2004 and 2005. Since December 2005, when the median price of an existing-single-family-home resale reached an all-time high of $322,300 according to the Florida Association of Realtors, both the number of sales and the pace of construction have dropped sharply.”
“The median price was $283,200 in April, off 12 percent from the peak. Meanwhile, the number of single-family permits pulled by developers countywide fell from 1,422 in December 2005 to 424 in May, down 70 percent from December 2005.”
“There’s an unsold inventory of about 15,000 homes in Lee County, about four times what it was a year ago.”
From CBS 4. “When it comes to mortgage fraud, Florida ranks number one in the nation with Miami Dade coming in fourth among all metropolitan areas nationally. A survey found the most common mortgage fraud scheme is South Florida involves a buyer receives a property loan above for thousands above the appraised value and then the seller kicks back cash at the closing.”
“‘There are so many people profiting off of this,’ said a local realtor who did not wished to be identified by CBS4. This realtor told CBS4’s Evan Bacon he became involved in a fraudulent deal this past spring.”
“‘I was approached by a group that I did not know,’ said the realtor, ‘and they asked me directly to ask my seller if I could raise the price of my unit a substantial amount, almost double.’”
“The realtor said the caller then offered to buy the condo for what the seller was asking if the seller agreed to increase the sale price by more than $200-thousand and then give the extra cash back to the buyer at closing. The realtor told CBS4 on the day of the closing the sale documents had been changed to reflect a new buyers name and a much higher price.”
“‘It’s a very typical scheme in South Florida,’ said Miami Dade Police Sgt. Richard Davis, ‘that is now spreading all over the country.’”
“Fraud investigators say if this type of scheme continues it’s going to get to the point where lenders will pull out and not lend any money. ‘When I see mortgage commitments where someone makes $28-thousand a year and they are qualifying for a $900-thousand mortgage, that’s not normal,’ said Nancy Hogan with the Florida Real Estate Commission.”
The News & Observer from North Carolina. “Crosland, which was planning to sell 179 condominiums near Glenwood South, will rent the units instead, a decision that illustrates how surging interest rates could dampen downtown’s growing condominium market.”
“‘It’s a safer opportunity for us to be the only rental when everybody else is condominium,’ said David Ravin, a senior VP at Crosland.”
“When the project was approved in April 2006, the Charlotte developer offered some units for rent and some for sale. But demand from potential buyers was so high that it decided early this year to sell all the units.”
“Since then, however, mortgage rates have spiked. That causes Crosland to worry that, by the time the project is complete, late next year, buyers will have bought elsewhere, or abandoned plans to buy.”
“The number of condos in Raleigh’s core is expected to double to nearly 1,000 within two years. By 2011, there could be more than 2,000. ‘Inevitably, you’re going to see a timeout in downtown for-sale product,’ Ravin said.”
“Crosland’s decision is not the first sign of condo conservatism. Others have abandoned, delayed or shrunk downtown condo plans.”
“The company has refunded deposits for about 80 condo reservations, but will allow the prospective buyers to get back in line if the sales campaign is revived. Meanwhile, renting the units will get the project going. As Ravin points out, ‘A project that doesn’t get built isn’t profitable.’”
‘We’ve got people paying 26 percent to 27 percent more than they did two years earlier, and they just can’t afford it,’ said Gary Brissenden, president of the Toronto-based Canadian Snowbirds Association. ‘It is absolutely ridiculous.’
‘His group has about 80,000 members, and Brissenden estimates that half are Florida property owners. Some of those Canadians are already voting with their feet. ‘A lot of them are saying they are selling,’ Brissenden said. At Colony Cove in Ellenton, there were 150 homes owned by Canadians a few years ago. ‘They are just about all sold now,’ he said. ‘If they are not sold, they are for sale.’
Double-whammy for Canucks selling out — the US Dollars they bought for their home purchases probably cost a lot more than they’ll get for those bucks when they cash out.
Those dollars may up staying in the U.S. for a while in a MMF fund.
“‘I got into something I had no intention of getting involved in,’ said Harrigan. ‘I believe this should be against the law.’”
Apparently you did.
However I do agree with him, it should be against the law to be this dumb. In fact why don’t we have a law that if you are this stupid you should be sterilized so you can’t breed? I think this a far more benign solution to natures way of doing things, at least you are not eaten alive for your weakness or mistakes…just a simple snip snip.
I’ve got a feeling that Harrigan’s “disability” might be mental.
If the going interest rate is 6% and someone offers you 1%, you’d have to be brain dead to not figure out it’s a scam. It still all boils down to greed.
“Now just a few months into his new mortgage, Harrigan is in serious risk of losing his house. In less than three years, his payment could grow to equal his total income.”
“‘I got into something I had no intention of getting involved in,’ said Harrigan. ‘I believe this should be against the law.’”
Ahhhhh, but my dear Mr. Harrigan you should have thought more deeply before accepting a few complimentary rounds from the Auger, for the hour is now late and there is that menacing glint in the Auger’s eye.
“Gyory’s company purchased the nine-acre parcel for $230,000 in 2003 and construction began in early 2006, months after the start of the national downturn in the housing market. ‘We thought there was still people who might be interested,’ Gyory said.”
“Gyory is still optimistic about the new home market of St. Lucie County. He is in the early stages of developing a 44-unit subdivision in Fort Pierce. ‘We believe the market will turn around by the time we are building there,’ Gyory said.”
-’Optimistic’
I am also feeling optimistic and am heading down to 7-11 to buy my Super Lotto Plus ticket.
You have to admit the housing speculation was no different than a trip to reno or the local casino.
It is very funny that most people will simply not admit this.They want to try and complicate the problem and blame on other ideas such as economic fundamnetals and other BS.You and I both know this was simply gambleing in it’s purest form.
People love to pretend there was a science to it, and the improvements were worth 300k for their 2 months of work and their 30k investment in material. I mean doesn’t that just make sense?
At one point, that was how it was rationalized.
Well it IS sometimes possible even in a normal market for minor cosmetic improvements to noticeably increase the selling price of a house. By buying from a time-desprate seller and putting in say, 10-20k of materials and alot of sweat equity you can sell for maybe 50k more. This is because of the buyers perception that poorly maintained cosmetics imply poorly maintained fundamentals. But 300k? Pu-leese. The only way for a house to go up 300k in a short period of time is a major rehab in a gentrifying area. And you’re likely to spend far more than 50k fixing that sucker up.
“This Saturday the remaining 14 finished homes will be auctioned, with bidding starting at $190,000. ‘We were always optimistic that it is a good product,” said Gyory, president of NGG Point. ‘But we are still paying interest to the bank and need to move it somehow.’”
“Auctioneer George Richards expects the homes to sell between $195,000 and $200,000, roughly two-thirds of the original asking price.”
Does this makes sense? 14 homes have a minimum bid of 190K in an auction and they will all sell more or less at the level of the minimum bid? My guess is that the retail market isn’t deep enough to take on even 14 houses and no more than a handful will make the minimum bid.
Sounds to me like they are trying to dump the homes at raw cost, profit margins having gotten very high during the bubble. They know that the cost to build a new house today is noticeably less than these units cost, so they have a lot of incentive to dump what they can. You may be right about a shortage of bidders. If that happens, it will be interesting to see how much below cost they’ll go to unload the inventory.
It amazes me that used-home sellers in such areas don’t comprehend how badly this screws them.
“‘I got into something I had no intention of getting involved in,’ said Harrigan. ‘I believe this should be against the law.’”
Add this dude the the FB list. Lenders are there to make a commission these days.They are not meant to be financial advisors.
Coffee is for closers come to my mind:)
LOL, dude, you are picking up on the Florida “victim” mentality, which has to be seen to be believed. I was watching the local news last night and there was a story about a kid who stole a fire truck. He didn’t get very far, but the firefighters were really disappointed, since the kid had become a sort of firehouse mascot and they had been trying to mentor him, thinking maybe he had an interest in being a firefighter someday.
Here’s the victim kicker: they had a clip of his fatuous mama blaming the firefighters for the situation. “They shouldn’t have shown him how to operate the fire truck, they explained the ignition and everything.” What do you wanna bet she lawyers up and seeks damages from the fire department?
BTW, mama knew a little too much about the ignition, IMHO. Plus, the kid was just a little too slick: first, he calls the firehouse posing as a repair person and tells them to leave the truck outside in the drive with the keys so it can be inspected. Then, he calls in a false alarm to clear the place of personnel. THEN he takes the truck. But mama says it’s all the firefighters fault.
“first, he calls the firehouse posing as a repair person and tells them to leave the truck outside in the drive with the keys so it can be inspected.”
Sounds like someone at the firehouse is gonna be in a little trouble.
I think it was just better when they had a dalmatian as a mascot.
LMAO!
We had something similar happen in Tucson. But our dodo stole and earth mover. Then things REALLY went downhill…
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/1424861/posts
I meant to say, “AN earth mover.” My bad.
THEN he takes the truck. But mama says it’s all the firefighters fault.
I read the same article Palmetto and it sure looks like there was a setup by this kid and his mother. It will not suprise me if he and his mother sues.
“It will not suprise me if he and his mother sues.”
Me, neither. You should have seen the TV clip, with mama’s fatuous, accusatory expression. I wanted to reach through the set and give her a good clip.
Would you happen to have a link to the story?
wow the BLACK BOX on a mort app will be huge & the commissions very, very small
“We pride ourselves on the level of disclosure,’ he said. ‘There has to be a benefit for the client or it’s gone.’”
6k in my pocket and my payment goes from 1400 to 1000 mo.? Sure why not, free money right? (not) Some one else please name a thousand other things that look good without doing any due diligence.
Granite countertops?
full-size SUV
A Stripper.
‘But the market turned so fast. Unfortunately, this was a very fast and severe downturn.’”
Hot love cools fast.
The great housing bubble.
Another great example of the concept of thinking for yourself and not listening to the herd. Drink upstream from the herd at all times.
Maybe in a few more years we can get back to the housing long term mean price.
“When it comes to mortgage fraud, Florida ranks number one in the nation with Miami Dade coming in fourth among all metropolitan areas nationally.”
WE’RE NUMBER ONE! Yippeeeeeeeeee! At least we’re beating Cali at something.
Damn right we’re #1:
“In May, the Sunshine State led the country with nearly 30,000 homes entering the foreclosure process, according to data assembled by Bargain.com, of Goleta, Calif. And while 35 states saw a decline in new foreclosures last month, Florida’s rose 22 percent.”
The 22% increase was probably sellers holding out for the big market turn around.
“When it comes to mortgage fraud, Florida ranks number one in the nation with Miami Dade coming in fourth among all metropolitan areas nationally.”
We were also number one during the voting fiasco between Gore and Bush. It’s great to be a Floridian and being number one!
Florida is also #1 in Medicare fraud. Florida’s #1 industry is fraud. What a great state to live in.
Now on CNBC:
JPM, Deutsche Bank, ML are all selling assets of Bear Stearns fund.
Who are they selling to? I guess home buyers aren’t the only FBs out there.
“Now, a Hialeah condo conversion company has gone bankrupt in one of the biggest bankruptcy cases yet to come out of the soured housing market. Puig, a private condo conversion company in Hialeah, is seeking protection from creditors who claim they were stiffed for nearly $120 million.”
Hialeah???? The only decent thing there was the race track. However, there’s still hope for these units. They will make great apartments for all the folks coming from Cuba when Castro kicks the bucket and China makes its move on the island.
Maybe Hialeah will be saved by the 100’s of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing Chavez. Hey, it’s as good a story as the millions of baby-boomers coming in from the northeast!
“100’s of thousands of Venezuelans fleeing Chavez.”
LMAO, Mugsy! Where I live, the illegal population comes from Mex, Central America and Brazil. I have yet to run into a single illegal Venezuelan, so Chavez must be doing something right, despite efforts to portray him as another Castro.
Go to SE Florida, you’ll find thousands of Venezuelans fleeing from Hugo.
Really? I’m surprised they haven’t made it here. When I lived in SoFlo, there were a handful of Venezuelans. And they disliked the Cubans with a passion. This was many moons ago, so that may have changed. I recall thinking that if this attitude didn’t change, there’d be some major problems down the road.
Soon we’ll be giving Venezuelan emigrants the same deal as Cuban emigrants: If you make it to dry land here you get to stay. BTW, I read where Daniel Ortega, formerly of Sandinista fame, is likely to take Nicaragua down the same path that Hugo is taking Venezuela. But, Dan and Hugo were both freely elected. So be it. Just don’t expect any more free elections when their terms of office are up.
“Soon we’ll be giving Venezuelan emigrants the same deal as Cuban emigrants: If you make it to dry land here you get to stay.”
Nah, won’t happen, because of the Cuban emigrants. They sort of feel they have first dibs here and they’re not happy with Martinez right now.
I’ve received a few emails from Florida recently offering me 7% commissions paid in full at contract signing (instead of at closing as normal). Developers are getting desperate.
(I get these emails because I have an Illinois broker license - but I am not in the real estate game.)
That’s pretty unusual. Just few years ago, many builders here wouldn’t even talk to RE agents. It would be interesting to see the contract language and to know the deposit requirement.
Exactly, Chip. I know a few local folks in the REIC and during the boom, they were rather put out by the attitude of the builders. But the builders started courting the realtors, at least in this area, in late 2005.
Palmetto — yep — I bet the contracts require at least 7% deposits and are very tightly worded, to make a refund almost impossible.
Chip, speaking of refunds, check this out:
http://tampa.craigslist.org/rfs/355615330.html
You have to wonder, what is the likelihood that someone intent on, or very amenable to, buying a KB home will even find that ad?
They may not find the ad, but having a bit of an advertising background, I’ve learned that if you need to accomplish something, you need to really throw lots of sh*t against the walls. So the guy posts on CL, talks to brokers, puts up notices on bulletin boards in grocery stores, etc. It might work, you never know. At least they are giving him an out, but it means passing on his pain…
I wonder how much the refund guy’s deposit was.
Maybe he should put flyers in windshields near a KB sales office. I’ll bet KB would refund his deposit just to make that practice stop.
Oh this is good….
“Even though the housing bubble had burst months before construction began, Janos Gyory was optimistic the new homes his company was building would sell for nearly $300,000 each. Most of them didn’t.”
So, most didn’t but SOME did, can we get an interview with the “IT’S NOT FAIR!” newcomers to the you got rolled index? Since they are at least 100k in the hole from their sell off figures,…but then again who doesn’t have a 100k to burn? One thing I love about this whole melt down, that with a modicum of investigative powers, basic use of the net, you can know all this beforehand instead of crying on camera looking like a loser douche bag about the money you just lost.
that’s the thing — it was never their money! How about somebody gives me $100K to gamble in Vegas, and i keep the winnings, now if the lender was coming after my knee-caps for that $100K i’d be more careful.
got cash?
Condo conversions driven by greed.
After I sold my place in San Diego, I started to rent. There were other renters who had sold their properties too — garages were full of furniture.
So, all this pressure built up among the renters to ‘convert’ the apartments to condos — the renters lobbied the owner of the complex to convert. You know what? The owner said you gotta a deal! A group of renters with investor backing bought the entire complex out and started to convert. Former owner walks away a happy man because he sold the entire thing!
Next thing to happen was the San Diego city council changed the zoning. You see these apartments were initially meant for affordable housing for the elderly but the two years was up. The elderly were the first to get the boot. There were some other renters going around drumming up money for an elderly man to rent a uhual truck to goto his only remaining relatives in PA.
Then one by one we would get a notice saying: buy your town home … err apartment … for 585K or leave immediately. About 40% of the renters left with the elderly people who were booted. Though, I remember talking to this italian guy happy about his purchase — big gold necklace and all. Wife was confident.
The irony was with the zoning. Nearly every apartment complex in the area was being converted — there was literally no place to rent. After a year into this process, I left and they were unable to sell a significant portion of these units. They were getting downright desperate. Sign twirlers on every corner.
I figure they’re close to bankrupt at this point.
With the larger volume of sales on the market, do you think that there is going to be turf wars for sign twirlers on the corners? I mean 15 people holding giant arrows can not occupy the same corner, this could get ugly!
I’ve been thinking of making my own sign with the defective homes website on it and standing next to some of the sign twirlers around here.
it’s the new “bum fights”
we can sell tickets…
heck of a trade- you should be 15-20 % up if you sold in 05
You know the shite’s totally outta control when the outlaw motorcycle clubs are into the mortgage fraud biz.
http://bikernews.obworld.com/index.cfm?d=news&p=read&newsid=4741
And the FBI thinks they’ve got a handle on all this?
Take a bow all you sleazebag loan originators.
You know the shite’s totally outta control when the outlaw motorcycle clubs are into the mortgage fraud biz.
http://bikernews.obworld.com/index.cfm?d=news&p=read&newsid=4741
And the FBI thinks they’ve got a handle on all this?
Take a bow all you sleazebag loan originators.
Sounds like mortgage fraud is the least of their worries.
“The FBI’s attempt to smash the Highwaymen — detailed in court records, hearings and interviews, and based on at least 30,000 wiretapped phone calls — features allegations of murder for hire, bloody beatings, suspected police corruption, a tractor trailer full of cocaine, interstate theft, and mortgage and insurance fraud.”
I just hope none of these guys got ahold of good old Wire Paladin. I miss his detective stories!
Just taking over for the mob.
Oops…sorry for the double post.
Not sure how that happened.
OT. but shades of future past…?
http://www.mercedsunstar.com/local/story/13707530p-14295095c.html
I think this will be the newest and fastest growing industry in the next year, arson for hire.
“I think this will be the newest and fastest growing industry in the next year, arson for hire.”
And you don’t have to be a genius to get away with it. About 1986, a wacko renter burned down my house after we moved from Idaho (where it was located) to Arizona. We had found a buyer for the house and he was asked to move out. Cops knew it was arson but couldn’t prove it. Luckily it was insured.
“Fraud investigators say if this type of scheme continues it’s going to get to the point where lenders will pull out and not lend any money. ‘When I see mortgage commitments where someone makes $28-thousand a year and they are qualifying for a $900-thousand mortgage, that’s not normal,’ said Nancy Hogan with the Florida Real Estate Commission.”
Oh for God’s sake.
Lenders have no one to blame but themselves. In this day and age it is a trivial exercise to evaluate the credit worthiness and financial means of a buyer. It is also a trivial exercise to appraise a piece of real estate.
If Lenders decided to demonstrate just a small amount of due diligence and decided to hire their own appraisers this sort of fraud would vanish overnight.
I have even less sympathy for these lender “victims” of mortage fraud than I do for the clueless “victims” of negative ARM mortgages.
If Lenders decided to demonstrate just a small amount of due diligence and decided to hire their own appraisers this sort of fraud would vanish overnight
Lenders do hire their “OWN” appraisers….meaning those who hit the numbers given to them and do what they are told to do.
Don’t play their game…it’s no work for YOU!
But too late now. All the damage has been done.
“All the damage has been done.”
It sure has, and most of Ben’s bloggers are going to profit from the aftermath. Used to be, I’d feel guilty about that, but just as during the dot-com bubble, people laughed at me for not participating. Now it’s my turn.
“…someone makes $28-thousand a year and they are qualifying for a $900-thousand mortgage, that’s not normal,’ said Nancy Hogan with the Florida Real Estate Commission.”
To me, that level of understatement borders on whatever malpractice is called, when it applies to a public official. The $900K is TEN TIMES what the borrower should qualify for. “Not normal” is the wrong phrase, lady. “Absurd” is the minimum I’d accept as credible.
Please…don’t for one min think that the easy lending days are over..the house I just sold went to a couple who have really no means of being able to pay..already in the first 6 months they are struggling..waiting and hoping that the tax reform of 08 will save them…
Hey Palmetto
You may be #1 in foreclosures at the moment but here in Sacramento we are rallying towards a late inning surge.
Sign o’ the local economic desperation: TV ad last night had a local waterpark offering a season pass with the purchase of just ONE regular day ticket.
Reminds me of my days lifeguarding @ Adventure Island …. good times !!
LOL, I read about that surge, but it’ll be about as effective as the surge in Iraq. We’re in it for the long run here in Fla. We’ll show Cali who is boss of the bubble.
“The case may be one of many more to come, or so think the law and accounting firms that have launched or beefed up distressed property divisions for months. ‘Unfortunately, I think the ball is just beginning to roll,’ said Bowman Brown, a veteran attorney in Miami.”
Images of Greenland’s ice cap rapidly melting away just popped into mind. Coastal real estate, anyone?
———————————————————————————
More than melting is at work in Greenland
By Doug Struck
Washington Post
Enough of Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier tumbles into the sea every day to supply 20 to 30 New York Cities with water. And if all the Arctic island’s ice were to melt, seas around the world would rise by 23 feet, threatening all of Earth’s coastal cities.
DOUG STRUCK / Washington Post
Enough of Greenland’s Jakobshavn Glacier tumbles into the sea every day to supply 20 to 30 New York Cities with water. And if all the Arctic island’s ice were to melt, seas around the world would rise by 23 feet, threatening all of Earth’s coastal cities.
JAKOBSHAVN GLACIER, Greenland - If South Jersey - or, for that matter, Manhattan - floods, it may start here, on an ice field that stretches in frozen silence to every horizon.
http://www.philly.com/inquirer/magazine/20070618_More_than_melting_is_at_work_in_Greenland.html
Time to get some USGS topographic maps for coastal states, and start identifying and buying up future coastal properties that are currently at 25- to 30-foot elevation. Will require some interpolation; the maps only show 20-foot increment lines, e.g., 20′, 40′, 60′, etc.
Atlanthattan?
There’s one. And in Florida, Sebring can change their name to Sebring-By-The-Sea.
For those who aren’t familiar with sign twirlers (aka “Human Directionals”) this site explains all:
http://www.nytimes.com/2006/11/19/realestate/19nati.html?ex=1321592400&en=6434c12d0ef68f46&ei=5088&partner=rssnyt&emc=rss
Does this tactic actually increase sales?
It could if good-looking hookers sign up to be twirlers.
‘A project that doesn’t get built isn’t profitable.’
Profits can be negative. Sometimes zero profit is a beautiful thing.
I’m seeing a lot of Chapter 11 bankruptcies for builders who are all insisting that their project “could” be profitable and “could” pay everyone off if they could just complete it - by which they mean start on it. Of course, there are a few problems. Most of the builders have used their loan for other stuff, generally the shiny new heavy-duty Ford F-350s they seem to think are indispensable, so they don’t have funding. They also seem to think that the projects, when funded, built and completed, will be profitable - at today’s prices.
The time of disillusion is coming…
One more pull on the one-armed bandit “could” make everything all better. Please please please…just one more try. Please…just let me get back to even and I swear I’ll never do it again.
As for Harrigan, he was probably better informed than most: He earned a real estate license in 2003 and has studied accounting. Yet, looking over his house, he knows he may lose it.
Business Law 101 - Read the contract and fine print before signing the document! However, Harrigan will now be well informed as he loses his house.
Would you want him selling you a house or doing your taxes?
The Inland Empire here in CA is just now becoming a summer furnace that will blast until mid Fall. Fire danger is already very high. Gas prices remain relatively high. While driving past new McMansion developments, I see a lot of windows open (as opposed to air conditioning). I wonder how well insulated all those stucco-encrusted barnacles are? And, those commute times… Many who moved out here recently will not be best pleased…
The original Spanish/Mexican settlers of CA had a unique form of air conditioning: huge earthenware urns and receptacles filled with water placed at open windows and doorways. The air currents passing over and around the earthenware were cooled and humidified.
“…huge earthenware urns and receptacles filled with water placed at open windows and doorways. ”
Yes, and to keep algae out of the urns, they would cut a one-cent piece into fragments and drop them in, as the copper was a algaecide. From which comes the phrase, “a penny shaved is a penny urned”
LOL.
And the copper part might be right — when I lived on a lake, we used copper sulfate to keep down the muck.
Yep. Actually, copper salts are good algeacides with (fairly) low toxicity to other plants and to animals. Perhaps I should have alerted Casey Serin when he was having his ‘pool problems’…
Lets see the NAR and Mortgage Assoc said
1)The Florida market will rebound in the beginning of 07
2)The Florida market will rebound in the spring of 07
3)The Florida market will rebound in late 07….
Do you think these people have a problem facing reality? Its like this buddy of my husband who is a mortgage broker who SWEARS that with the next tax reform in front of voter for jan 08 is going to be the miracle cure to put the boom dollars back into his pocket!
The party is over boys…WAKE UP!
One day they’ll be right and that will be the only prediction that they’ll remember.
Its like this buddy of my husband who is a mortgage broker who SWEARS that with the next tax reform in front of voter for jan 08 is going to be the miracle cure to put the boom dollars back into his pocket!
Your husbands buddy will be unemployed as a mortgage broker long before January 08. Perhaps he can seek a job as a cheerleader for the Bucs!
The official-looking notice appeared in his mailbox last year. To Denith Harrigan, the promise of an interest rate as low as 1 percent was too good to
ignorebe true.Fixed.
I used to get notices like that in my box. They were promptly sent (sans my name, address, and other ID theft bait) to the recycle bin.
“The number of condos in Raleigh’s core is expected to double to nearly 1,000 within two years. By 2011, there could be more than 2,000. ‘Inevitably, you’re going to see a timeout in downtown for-sale product,’ Ravin said.”
but I thought North Carolina was different
Just a oberservation. I got a job in last for some condo’s in St. Pete and they listed at 1.4Mil to start and 4.4Mil to start for the 4 floors of penthouse. Who do they think is gonna buy this stuff? L. Ron and crew?
Oh but as everything is crashing around them…its “different” for this builder in St Pete..he made his property with the magic beans…I love these guys who think they all have the magic product that is going to make crowds of people want what they build..the stupid just get stupider..
Glenn Theobald with the Miami Dade Police Department’s Chief Counsel’s Office said the bill signed into law by Governor Crist Tuesday will allow them to track down illegal deals by using the closing document. Theobald say they will be able to prosecute illegal deals going back up to four years.
Hey Glen..a little helping hint..pull the MLS and look at the LOADS of closing in this crap market that sold for MORE THAN LISTED….
So, anyone know if there are repercussions for the seller?
By co inky dink, a friend called last week with the story of being approached by “investors” who wanted to buy their home. Comments were made that led to the understanding that there was going to have to be a cash back deal.
I was quick to point out that fraud was most likely involved.
Friend is desperate to sell, but I still think it is bad karma .
Florida has always been know as a “con artist” heaven..so why should this scam be any different. Imagine you are the investor who now looks at real estate in a new money making scheme..Here he/she approaches the “desperate” seller(which there are ton of those in Florida)..offers to buy…makes no substantial investment but makes money on the property…hey they can even let it go into foreclosure after doing 4 or 5 of these.. think of the money if each house is 100-200K back at closing(the investor can get a cool million)…another scam game in real estate…hey is the seller going to say something..OF COURSE NOT?” He FINALLY got rid of his home..and for the amount of transactions happening how can the goverment keep up..this is going to be rampant in Florida as mortgage brokers, appraisers, realtors and anyone else involved in the process needs the $$$.
I was approached by a realtor who had Spanish buyers. These buyers aren’t even in the country. They just rip off the lenders and disappear overseas. The greedy realtor is going to end up paying the price as they cannot say with a straight face they didn’t know this was illegal.
I could not make money or close loans anymore due to my first company going out of business (The Mortgage Zone) then I went to Premier Mortgage Funding and Premier started having bankruptcy issues and lenders were closing down left and right. I think it will come back but it will be a while!