A Precipitous Fall From The Peak
USA Today reports on Colorado. “While everyone agrees these more prudent lending standards should ensure future borrowers can afford to keep their homes over the life of the loan, many homeowners who got those loans in the past few years are now having grave problems refinancing as their interest rate rises. In the Denver area, Patrick Jones bought his home three years ago and has paid his mortgage on time every month.”
“This month, his adjustable-rate loan reset for the first time, to $1,800, up $450. Loan terms in the current market mean that he can’t get relief if he were to refinance. ‘Now, I’m just barely making it,’ he says. ‘I used to have a steak once or twice a week; now, I’m going to have hot dogs and beans. We used to go to the movies, but we’re giving that up.’”
From CBS 4 Denver in Colorado. “Homebuyers tried to zero in on a good deal at the Denver Convention Center Saturday when REBC held the first home auction in the Denver area. More than 100 homes were on the auction block, including a property Jon Carle had his eye on.”
“‘I hope to get it for under $300,000,’ Carle said. ‘I honestly think it will go for well more than that. If it does, then I just walk away from it, but if it’s coming under $300,000, that’s why I’m here.’”
“The downtown town home was valued at $468,000. The starting bid was $259,000. The home sold for $340,000.”
“‘Sometimes you can get deals and I’m not saying that you can’t, but then sometimes there are some that people get all excited and wrapped up into it and the bidding just keeps going and going,’ realtor Jody Malone.”
The Arizona Republic. “Home buyers have long flocked to metropolitan Phoenix’s farthest flung suburbs to get the most house for their buck. But where affordability and steady appreciation once enticed many to the Valley’s edges, foreclosures are now forcing them out.”
“Neighborhoods from Queen Creek and Pinal County in the southeast to Laveen, Goodyear and Buckeye in the southwest to Surprise and Anthem in the northwest have at least three times as many homeowners struggling to hold on than communities closer in, according to an Arizona Republic analysis.”
“‘The fringes are where affordable houses were and where investors went,’ said Jay Butler, director of realty studies at Arizona State University. ‘A lot of people stretched to buy at peak prices and can’t hold on.’”
“The number of Valley residents who lost their homes to foreclosure has nearly tripled since last year, from 1,073 in all of 2006 to 2,954 through June of this year. Some suburbs like El Mirage, northwest Peoria, Buckeye, Queen Creek and parts of Gilbert were hit especially hard, with the number of people in danger of losing their homes quadrupling in the past year.”
“Maxine Gordon bought a new home in Surprise in early 2005, at the height of the housing boom. She had very little to put down in cash, so she was advised to get two loans, one of which would cover her down payment. That loan came with a rapidly rising interest rate and now has a payment she can’t afford.”
“‘I am stuck,’ the retirement-home nurse said. ‘I can’t afford it, and I can’t refinance and I can’t sell.’ Her lender filed to foreclose on her home in June.”
“Gordon, like many other struggling home buyers in new edge developments who are trying to sell to avoid foreclosure, is competing with home builders offering huge incentives of $50,000 or more to sell homes. Builders are motivated, too, because more than 20,000 new homes are unsold across the Valley.”
“Add to those houses the multiple homes that speculators snatched up during the boom and now want to unload.”
“And then there’s the glut of homes on the market. A record 50,000-plus homes are for sale across metropolitan Phoenix, compared with 12,000 two years ago. The median price of a new home has fallen to $275,000 from about $315,000 a year ago, according to the Information Market.”
“Low home prices enticed Anthony LaRocca to buy a home near Florence in Pinal County last year. But the 30-mile commute to doctors’ offices at the nearest hospital in Casa Grande has soured the retiree on the area.”
“‘We have been trying to sell our home for four months. Not one person has come by,’ LaRocca said. ‘Of course, foreclosures are jumping here. No one can afford the commute, and no one is making money off their homes.’”
From Las Vegas Now in Nevada. “The largest single home foreclosure auction in Las Vegas history took place on Sunday. Prospective buyers across the valley got a chance to cast their bids for nearly 100 homes and condominiums. Real estate buyer Bill Guerra called the auction a buyer’s bargain market.”
“‘There seemed like some deals, which is good for our market. We need to see the bidding go high so our market doesn’t stay soft like it is,’ said Guerra.”
“Some of the homes in the auction were newer homes. ‘I would say this is a new home someone bought, whether they could not afford it or they decided not to move, whatever the case may be,’ said Joe Iuliucci, a Prudential real estate agent.”
“‘We do have a lot of vacant homes on the market in the MLS today. The numbers are astronomical,’ said Iuliucci.”
“Joe Iuliucci works with banks to sell foreclosed properties. He says the competition to sell could be a silver lining for the right person.”
“The bidding usually starts at $1. The bank’s goal is to make enough to cover the loan. ‘In some cases, they don’t, unfortunately. They have to settle for less than they are into it for. That is a common thing,’ said Iuliucci.”
The Reno Gazette Journal from Nevada. “It’s taken time, but Ken Wiseman believes Northern Nevada’s sluggish housing market has finally hit home with sellers. And that’s good, he said, as more sellers realize they need to trim their asking prices if they want their homes sold.”
“‘In the second quarter, it finally registered that they need to be on board,’ said Wiseman, broker/owner of Reno Rancho Realty LLC.”
“The median price for all types of single-family homes in greater Reno-Sparks was $295,000 in the April-June quarter, below the 2006 peak.”
“‘We’ve seen an increase in sales,’ Wiseman said. ‘There’s so much inventory, it comes down to supply and demand. If we look at history, every five to seven years we go through this.’”
“UNR economist Tom Cargill said the housing slump might be hitting bottom. ‘I think we’ve seen the worst,’ he said. ‘People have adjusted their prices down 10 (percent), 20 percent. If anyone’s waiting to get another 10 percent cheaper next year, I don’t think that’s going to work out.’”
“Housing…will continue to top the economy talk for the rest of 2007, if not longer, observers said.”
“‘We’ll see this pattern for what could be the next year,’ said Brian Kaiser, research analyst at the Center for Regional Studies at the University of Nevada, Reno. ‘Everyone’s been shell-shocked. It was such a precipitous fall from the peak….It’s definitely a psychological mountain to surmount.’”
‘Another big mortgage lender is shutting down, leaving some Arizona borrowers in a lurch. New York-based American Home Mortgage, which has been struggling to raise money, announced this week that it will stop making loans and that it is laying off 6,000 people nationwide.’
‘The job cuts were effective almost immediately. The lender has 15 branches in Arizona; none were answering their phones on Friday. Almost half of American Home’s business is in California, Florida, Virginia and New York.’
BTW, we’ve had a couple of hiccups with the new server today, so if you’ve had posting delays, please check back.
PLEASE LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE IS NOT A SUBPRIME LENDER.
This speaks volume about the impending doom.
‘Weld County continues to appear on a list of the nation’s top 10 counties for foreclosures per capita so far this year, but another Colorado county has taken the top spot. Costilla County in south-central Colorado had 253.5 homes lost to foreclosure for every 1,000 households year-to-date, according to data from Foreclosures.com.’
‘Weld County was No. 7 on the list of Real Estate Owned or REO properties, with 28.4 homes reverted to the mortgage lender through foreclosure per every 1,000 households so far this year.’
Holy cripes, 1/4 homes in that county were lost to foreclosure? Locals–is there more to this story?
No, 2.84%
“Costilla County in south-central Colorado had 253.5 homes lost to foreclosure for every 1,000 households year-to-date, according to data from Foreclosures.com.’”
Incredible, that’s the highest rate I’ve ever heard of. Hopefully a local can let us know what’s up.
Its a dirt poor county in southern Colorado. From wiki:
As of the census2 of 2000, there were 3,663 people, 1,503 households, and 1,029 families residing in the county. The population density was 1/km² (3/mi²). There were 2,202 housing units at an average density of 1/km² (2/mi²). The racial makeup of the county was 60.91% White, 0.79% Black or African American, 2.48% Native American, 1.01% Asian, 0.14% Pacific Islander, 29.46% from other races, and 5.21% from two or more races. 67.59% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 1,503 households out of which 28.50% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.60% were married couples living together, 11.30% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.50% were non-families. 28.10% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.60% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44 and the average family size was 2.98.
In the county the population was spread out with 25.00% under the age of 18, 6.60% from 18 to 24, 23.30% from 25 to 44, 28.30% from 45 to 64, and 16.80% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females there were 99.80 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.20 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $19,531, and the median income for a family was $25,509. Males had a median income of $22,390 versus $16,121 for females. The per capita income for the county was $10,748. About 21.30% of families and 26.80% of the population were below the poverty line, including 32.40% of those under age 18 and 23.30% of those age 65 or over.
Thanks!
PLEASE LET EVERYONE KNOW THAT AMERICAN HOME MORTGAGE IS NOT A SUBPRIME LENDER.
Yeah, and they were arrogant pricks when I tried dealing with them in Tucson in the late ’90’s.
Holy crap, this is them!
Them? Not them?
Did you catch the following at the bottom of that page?
“LOCAL ANGLE
The bad news for the national firm called American Home Mortgage was mixed news for a Tucson firm also called American Home Mortgage.
The local firm, based at 5401 N. Oracle Road, has been originating residential mortgages in Tucson for about 10 years, said owner Hunter Sampsel…”
Did you catch the following at the bottom of that page?
Yes, I did. I was disappointed…
And here’s another one going up on the chopping block:
Aegis Mortgage Corp., a mortgage lender that’s part-owned by private-equity firm Cerberus, suspended all loan originations on Monday. Aegis also is unable to fund home loans that are already in its pipeline, spokeswoman Pat Wente said.
1967: Summer of Love
2007: Summer of Shove
Ouch!
another one bites the dust…
Aegis unable to fund mortgage loans already in pipeline
2:12 PM ET, Aug 06, 2007 - 4 minutes ago
04. Aegis Mortgage suspends all loan originations
2:12 PM ET, Aug 06, 2007 - 4 minutes ago
[The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition copyright 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company.]
aegis also egis n. 4. Greek Mythology The goatskin shield or breastplate of Zeus or Athena. Athena’s shield carried at its center the head of Medusa.
There’s got to be a condom joke here. Anyone? Anyone?
There’s got to be a condom joke here. Anyone? Anyone?
Hell, I just got a chuckle out of Jen Bones
good one.
A handy chart from the NYT…
http://www.nytimes.com/imagepages/2007/08/05/weekinreview/20070805_LOAN_GRAPHIC.html
Great article, I sent it to some of my friends and family who are still trying to understand what I am talking about.
Magic. Seperate the wheat from the chaff and grade the wheat AAA. Then take 10 leftover chaff piles, reshuffle and magic…..more wheat…..rated AAA. Alchemy at its best.
Something they left out in Point Number 6 “Things to look for in the coming months”:
What will be the effect on personal spending in the economy in the aftermath of this debacle?
‘I used to have a steak once or twice a week; now, I’m going to have hot dogs and beans. We used to go to the movies, but we’re giving that up.’”
Oh my. I can’t believe it! Sorry Patrick. It’s not your fault.
Good well at least i may not have to wait 30 mins to get a table at a local eatery on a weds night!. Geez, not that I went to them much in general, but it was getting insane. Time to cull the herd!
Here is an example of when an individual knows the difference between steak and beans but doesn’t seem to grasp the paycheck vs mortgage payment concept.
I agree marktMaven FL
Apparently this sacrifice is a biggie. I remember buying our first home in 1983 (ARM 17.5% (Volker)- betting it would go down, and it did. If he thinks that giving up steak and a movie is a big deal, he is truly a spoiled brat. We lived like college kids to buy and after. We struggled, but it was worth it. My, have times changed.
“‘I used to have a steak once or twice a week; now, I’m going to have hot dogs and beans. We used to go to the movies, but we’re giving that up.’”
Tanslation: “I just left the middle class, and it wasn’t to move up.”
Inference: Economic spillover.
To everyone who resisted taking out a stupid loan for an overpriced house:
Dip into your massive savings and treat yourself to a nice steak dinner.
HA! Not until they stop the gov’t corn subsidy.
Patrick will HAVE to be more careful ! If he eats ALL his hot dogs and beans now, it will be Ramen on Toast for the next 30 YEARS (:
Pikes Peak, or Bust
There is a nice train you can ride to the summit on Pikes Peak.
According to FT:
Jimmy Cayne, chief executive of Bear Stearns, has been calling round other Wall Street chiefs asking them not to pull business as he faces a growing crisis of confidence in the bank.
Mr Cayne called Stan O’Neal, chief executive of Merrill Lynch, on Friday to reassure him about Bear Stearns’s financial health and is reportedly asking for a meeting with Chuck Prince, chief executive of Citigroup.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/d0dc876c-444b-11dc-90ca-0000779fd2ac.html
Yeah, my ass. He was calling them to beg for more time to cash out, I’d bet.
“Housing…will continue to top the economy talk for the rest of 2007, if not longer, observers said.”
I think longer is a pretty safe bet.
Structural failure in vegas casino
http://www.lasvegasnow.com/Global/story.asp?S=6892276
hmm.. Nobody hurt this time but an ironworker guy died there last week.. “All of them were wearing harnesses, but one of the harnesses failed.”
That’s on the site of the old El Rancho / Thunderbird.. the joint is definately haunted.
“..News 3 of Las Vegas did an investigation into the hauntings and discovered..”
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thunderbird_%28resort%29
The stock market just blew up. Fannie Mae up 11%!
Here is why; the government will bail out flippers:
NEW YORK, Aug 6 (Reuters) - Shares of Fannie Mae (FNM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) and Freddie Mac (FRE.N: Quote, Profile, Research), the largest providers of money for U.S. home mortgages, jumped as much as 10 percent on Monday on speculation that regulatory restrictions limiting the size of their portfolios might be lifted.
Lifting current limits could allow the companies to dramatically boost their combined $1.4 trillion investment portfolios, which provide some three-quarters of revenue for the government-sponsored enterprises, or GSEs.
http://www.reuters.com/article/marketsNews/idUKN0642974820070806?rpc=44
There are several FBs in this post alone and nobody is bailing them out….
True, if you are going to be an FB, it’s better to be a late one than an early one. At this point the government will take those pesky bad loans off the hands of the banks through Fannie and credit will flow like water again…at least that is the plan. The market liked the plan today.
…the government will bail out flippers:
Pardon my ignorance, but if houses are still unaffordable to the majority of the buying public, how is this “bail-out” going to work?
Is Fannie Mae really prepared to offer loans to people for less than their (FNM’s) cost in order to rescue the previous round of people with houses they couldn’t afford? Is FNM going to start losing money each year? Won’t that be a bit obvious? Or is it more of the same governmental inability to see two years down the road?
Keep the drug-frenzied party going a few more years until the country OD’s on bad credit.
“Pardon my ignorance, but if houses are still unaffordable to the majority of the buying public, how is this “bail-out” going to work?”
It doesnt’ bail out the borrower. Once he owes $300K on a $150K house, he’s going to walk regardless of how low a rate we give him.
It bails-out the lender by letter the borrower refi to a U.S. Treasury backed loan prior to the foreclosure…. bailing out the lender from the U.S. Treasury. Indirect bailout.
Indirect bailout.
Ah. Thanks for that tidbit of depressing info
“UNR economist Tom Cargill said the housing slump might be hitting bottom. ‘I think we’ve seen the worst,’ he said. ‘People have adjusted their prices down 10 (percent), 20 percent. If anyone’s waiting to get another 10 percent cheaper next year, I don’t think that’s going to work out.’”
This guy gets the “dolt of the day” quote. There are so many reasons this idiot is wrong, why even bother trying to list them. The bigger question is who pays this moron’s paycheck? He can’t possibly be a qualified economist because this comment is absolutely ridiculous. He has to be a NAR shill.
Could be qualified, but since bought and paid for. Definitely a shill.
But his argument is so compeling:
‘If anyone’s waiting to get another 10 percent cheaper next year, I don’t think that’s going to work out.’
Oh, well, since HE doesn’t think so, I guess I’d better jump in! Who gives a rat’s?
I don’t think it will drop 10% next year. So those waiting for a mere 10% drop must recalibrate their expectations.
15% to 25% is more like it.
Let’s face it, half the mortgages are already gone!
Got popcorn?
Neil
I assume Tom Cargill is unfamiliar with the oh so familiar reset chart courtesy of Ivy Zelman of CSFB. The tidal wave of resets gets started this fall and don’t peak until the first half of next year. We are only in the first innings of this and there has been far more mayhem than anyone could have predicted for this stage of the game.
This guy is actually an endowed chair in economics with a fantastic publication record. But as far as I can tell he zero expertise or publications related to real estate! Why the heck do they quote this guy on local real estate? The irony is that his primary expertise lies in Japanese finance and banking. You think he might have some familiarity with long housing busts.
Expertise from his website: “Money and banking, financial economics, Japanese finance.”
The GJ always quotes him.
My guess is that he happens to live next door to the reporter or otherwise is a friendly, accessible interview. And the reporter is obviously operating under the erroneous assumption that someone with a PhD in economics knows everything about economics. The reality is that a PhD academic will normally be so speciallized intellectually that they will be a complete ignoramus on any topic outside their area of specialization.
You don’t have to be an expert in real estate economics to understand what’s going on. Hell, you don’t have to have a degree in economics. If you went to ONE CLASS and understood supply and demand in economics you’d understand what’s happening and what the outcome will be.
This guy is a tool.
How much longer can these idiots expect other idiots to believe that “we’ve hit bottom, recovery is just around the corner”? Will they next say that sales will pick up this winter?
Will they next say that sales will pick up this winter?
Let me be the first to NAR-Quote the winter-sales season:
“Actually, sales would have picked up this Winter if it hadn’t been for all that, uh, ice and cold and snow and Christmas spending and the fact that it’s not, you know, Spring.”
They will rotate the idiot microphone around as each wave of propagandists is discredited. It went from LAY/Liarreah to Retsinas/Watts to Yun/Paulson and the next generation. They all have the credibility of Baghdad Bob, Goebbels or Molotov.
LaRocca said. ‘Of course, foreclosures are jumping here. No one can afford the commute, and no one is making money off their homes.’”
Well there you go, they aren’t making money off our homes. I have always had backward it would seem. That wasn’t the reason you bought a home. Oh well enjoy the bag your holding Mr. LaRocca!
From Las Vegas Now in Nevada. “The largest single home foreclosure auction in Las Vegas history took place on Sunday. Prospective buyers blah blah.
- This will likely be a headline in the news every week, ‘Largest Foreclosure in the History of ‘City of ******.’
Right, he admits the commute stinks and there are tons of default, but he’s ticked off that he can’t make money on the house after ONE year!
He’s a poster boy for this whole housing bubble. The feedback loop in a nutshell.
Wall $treet: to the $huttle
Go for throttle up
“‘Now, I’m just barely making it,’ he says. ‘I used to have a steak once or twice a week; now, I’m going to have hot dogs and beans. We used to go to the movies, but we’re giving that up.’”
You’ve been listening to the media again, haven’t you, Pat? You need to drop the negative ‘tude and realize that it’s all good! A simple extrapolation of the CPI hedonic deflator tells us that you’re doing just fine, because you’ve exercised your right to eat less costly food products. Therefore, you actually haven’t been impacted in any measurable way by your decision to engage in risky financial behavior; in fact, you’re probably doing better than ever before once imputed rent has been factored into the equation, and food and energy prices are removed from their totally inappropriate consideration in your budget. Quit whining and do your country a service, Pat: go buy a 70-inch 1080p plasma TV and 1,500-watt, 7-speaker surround sound system with a same-as-cash-for-a-year store credit line. You won’t even need to go to the movies, which is just another plus to your bottom line, dude! Did I mention it’s all good?!
LMAO!
Silly Patrick, steaks are for renters.
Silly Patrick, steaks are for renters.
Har!
bahhahahahahaha
Front Range Bob,
Well said. You don’t know how smug I’m feeling towards these FB’s. No sympathy when they walk right into it…
Got popcorn? Enough cash for fillet?
Neil
“Low home prices enticed Anthony LaRocca to buy a home near Florence in Pinal County last year. But the 30-mile commute to doctors’ offices at the nearest hospital in Casa Grande has soured the retiree on the area.”
And the inability of this coot to read a map before buying his house has soured me on the whines of yet another fb.
What happened to researching a neighborhood before buying? Before I rent, I drive around an area to find the resources (jogging paths, gas stations, markets, etc.). If I were older, I’m sure the distance to a doctor would be of concern. Heck, I’d pick the doctor first and buy withing a reasonable radius.
No sympathy… idiot. (The FB, certainly not Jimmy)
Got popcorn?
Neil
Neil,
I’m looking for another rental. Where I live I know the good and not so good areas to live in. I also look at maps and drive around an area to see if this is the place I want to live.
I agree, I knocked on neighbors doors to get a perspective of the street I bought in.
There are morons everywhere. That fact is rammed home to me every single day.
“UNR economist Tom Cargill said the housing slump might be hitting bottom. ‘I think we’ve seen the worst,’ he said. ‘People have adjusted their prices down 10 (percent), 20 percent. If anyone’s waiting to get another 10 percent cheaper next year, I don’t think that’s going to work out.’”
Yeah - more like another 20% - but that is not what I think he meant…
“LaRocca said. ‘Of course, foreclosures are jumping here. No one can afford the commute, and no one is making money off their homes.’”
Meant to say “the HELOC train has left the depot.”
Um….Note to Tom Cargill. I have NO idea how you were able to get a job with UNR. They must have mixed your job application up with that of the janitor position they had open. Somewhere, there is a smart economist doing a janitors job at UNR. That said, Tom - Don’t look now but this mess is not only NOT near bottom - it has only just started. A little word of advice concerning economics 101, Tom. People making $20,000 a year with no health insurance, working in the service industry, cannot afford $300,000 houses or $200,000 houses. The new loan rules which banks and The Wall Street Financial Gangsters have put into place, means the majority who wanted to buy are now back at square one, 1990’s style. That is, unable to come up with the 10% or 20% down and unable to show REAL W.2’s. Tom, you’re either a freakin’ idiot or a paid shill for the realtors.
See my comment above. He is neither an idiot nor a paid shill. He just has ZERO expertise or experience in real estate economics. Did the reporter just call the university and ask for ANY economist to make a comment and since he is nearing retirement Tom was the only guy with time to chat?
At least Tom was honest when he lists his professional experience and background.
http://wolfweb.unr.edu/homepage/tcargill/#history
“A record 50,000-plus homes are for sale across metropolitan Phoenix, compared with 12,000 two years ago. The median price of a new home has fallen to $275,000 from about $315,000 a year ago, according to the Information Market.”
Are the guys arguing ‘it’s contained’ and ‘lower the rates’ missing the big picture? When prices fall, all borrowers across the spectrum feel the pain. In addition, the cat is out of the bag; specubuyers are feeling the pain. Their delusional passion for buying is waning. As another poster once said, ‘you can’t unring a bell.’
Um…Tom. A follow up. Go over to Brokers Outpost and read some of the postings. A few hours ago someone announced another mortgage broker bit the dust. That blog is awash with tears and anxiety as day after day hundreds of brokers (both the boom and bust carpet baggers and the old pro’s) are finding themselves out of work. There are a few “Gotta Support The Team, Man” posters but they are growing smaller in number each day.
Y’see Tom (and as a smart, economist I’m sure you know this) in a boom, the employment numbers for those selling the boom go sky high as everyone rushes to join the riches. When the the riches diminish the opposite happens. This rush to riches is over and what we are left with is hundreds of thousands of badly built, over-priced sh*t boxes, many unoccupied, big builders in debt, lenders trying to figure out who they can sue and a lot of people who are now unable to afford those over priced sh*t boxes walking away as their mortgages reset, thousands of building industry workers being laid off plus all the other people who worked inside the industry. Yes, Tom…..you seem to be yet another brilliant economist.
One exchange between a broker and probably someone from this blog (with three posts) who posted a response:
Mortgage guy: “I do not want to seem to be cruel, however, you are sounding as if the people who signed up for these loans did not read their documents, to a chance and knew that they would refinance as the rate gets ready to increase, and now they have been caught.
I do not feel sorry for any of them.
Why?
Because I refused to take out a loan like you are talking about from the get go of this illusionary economic boom.
I refused to put my family in jeopardy gambling on the fact that my house would appreciate and I would just refinance and cash out.
The people you speak obviously did not care about this and now will pay the price.”
Response from somebody: “Of course you aren’t going to lose sleep over it, you are the same guy that was looking for advice on creating fake tax returns, W2s, etc. (I’ll post the link shortly) You have the fix for everybody!
Congrats on not putting your own family in jeopardy but putting others in financial risk by fabricating information to put them in a loan they no where near qualify for! I guess it doesn’t matter since you know they aren’t going to read the paperwork anyway.
I am not saying the borrower is faultless but for you to say you have no remorse for a borrower whose tax return/W2/employment/credit score you would willing falsify (probably without their knowledge) to qualify them for a loan makes you immoral, heartless, greedy, and a poor example of our professionals in our industry.”
RE: and what we are left with is hundreds of thousands of badly built, over-priced sh*t boxes…
Good point.
These shitboxes were falling apart the minute the drywall nailing guns started missing the wall studs, ’cause Manuel didn’t have a chalk line.
You damn well be sure the appraisal hack’s and neophyte number punchers called the quality of construction Excellent and then fudged their Remaining Economic and Physical Life estimates on the FNMA 1004’s.
Another human element (shoddy work) factor the derivative boys didn’t factor into their risk equation.
Amazin’ how thin the air is at the top.
I have broker’s outpost in my bookmarks.
I renamed the link:
schadenfreude
Got popcorn?
Neil
Touche, sir.
‘New York City’s real estate market is still booming — but ‘that may change at a moment’s notice,’ said Donald Trump in an interview with CNBC.’
If one more kook says Manhattan is different and Wall St. “bonus money” I am going to slap them.
‘ The billionaire developer told CNBC’s Erin Burnett that despite the weakening housing market across the U.S., “certain small luxury niches” remain strong, including Manhattan and Palm Beach, Fla. The Gotham market “is stronger than I’ve ever seen it,” Trump said, adding, “but next week, I may have an entirely different story.” ‘
Robin: Holy housing crisis, Batman. Commissioner Donald intimates that Gotham City might be in for a residential real estate meltdown — perhaps as early as next week! To the batpoles?
Batman: Right you are, Robin. I don’t know what “intimates” means, but in any event, I’ll just reach into my ulility belt and pull out my Gotham-sized option ARM. Avert your glance, Aunt Harriet.
Batman: What else could I have done, commissioner? If I told the truth, panic will grip the city.
Commissioner Donald: A fine job, Batman. You allayed their fears magnificently.
Batman: What else could I have done, commissioner? If I told the truth, panic will grip the city.
“Maxine Gordon bought a new home in Surprise in early 2005, at the height of the housing boom. She had very little to put down in cash, so she was advised to get two loans, one of which would cover her down payment. That loan came with a rapidly rising interest rate and now has a payment she can’t afford.”
“‘I am stuck,’ the retirement-home nurse said. ‘I can’t afford it, and I can’t refinance and I can’t sell.’ Her lender filed to foreclose on her home in June.”
Surprise!
She’s not stuck. She can do what she did before she got into that moneypit debt trap - rent.
The city was founded in 1937 by real estate developer and state legislator Homer C. Ludden, who named it after his hometown of Surprise, Nebraska. (wiki)
But the name-trail seems to end in the village of Surprise, Nebraska, population 44 (in 2000). (wiki)
‘Everyone’s been shell-shocked. It was such a precipitous fall from the peak….It’s definitely a psychological mountain to surmount.’”
The old term, shell-shocked, used to be used to describe psychologically/ and or physically injured soldiers in war and is NOT very applicable to Lame, Lazy and Greedy Stupid FBer’s, 6%ers and HouseSlaves Mr. Research Analyst
It’s estimated that 10% of the soldiers wounded in Iraq have permanent brain damage from the concusive blast produced by IEDs.
It appears that many recent buyers have brain damage caused by watching too much TV and other brain damaging media.
I constantly tell my kids that too much TV will damage their brains, it appears to be true. How else do you explain all this?
‘I used to have a steak once or twice a week; now, I’m going to have hot dogs and beans. We used to go to the movies, but we’re giving that up.’”
The grind of the financially dead…
Renters rule!
Mobility is the key to success in the next decade.
Mobility has always been the key to success - Columbus, Andrew Jackson, Abe Lincoln, Bonnie and Clyde, and every 20-something who has ever moved to LA or NYC come quickly to mind.
“Mobility is the key to success in the next decade.” - and beyond I might add. But at the most fundamental level the life plans of so many today absolutely count on fifty more years of stability. How else would buying something at 5,10,12x income ever make sense - unless one was counting on another fifty stable years?
Is anybody listening to Cramer right now? The man needs a serious beat down.
After his Friday metdown, I no longer watch him. Even for spite. I thought Erin was going to run for her life. Not too long ago, a reporter, even an editorial or color commentator, would lose his job for pulling that classless rant, IMMEDIATELY!
Not too long ago, a reporter, even an editorial or color commentator, would lose his job for pulling that classless rant, IMMEDIATELY
Well stated, and very true. A complete outrage. I’m still thinking CNBC has to have made the decision to let him go after that and is just trying to figure out the 6 p.m. time slot.
This baby is rolling down hill now!
I see dead people.
UNR economist Tom Cargill said the housing slump might be hitting bottom. ‘I think we’ve seen the worst,’ he said. ‘People have adjusted their prices down 10 (percent), 20 percent. If anyone’s waiting to get another 10 percent cheaper next year, I don’t think that’s going to work out.’”
Well, well, well…. Another economist predicting a bottom! It will be over when it is over and that will take some time to unwind. The last bubble took seven years to hit bottom and this one is a whole lot bigger. I think we need a truck load of popcorn and some warm nights before this is over.
The concept of rent as both a capital input and a bond-like payment on investment is one of the most basic in finance and economics. There is always a trade-off relationship between prices and rents, whether it be leasing vs. buying cars or airplanes, owning vs. renting a commercial building, or owning vs. renting a residence. How can these “economists” (painful disclosure: I have an MA in Econ) keep shooting off about what the bottom is when there’s no analysis about fair value? Perhaps they think sub-prime mortgages are going to magically reappear, and the interest rates on them are going to tend toward zero?
“Low home prices enticed Anthony LaRocca to buy a home near Florence in Pinal County last year. But the 30-mile commute to doctors’ offices at the nearest hospital in Casa Grande has soured the retiree on the area.”
Here Lies the Exurbs
R.I.P.
“The number of Valley residents who lost their homes to foreclosure has nearly tripled since last year, from 1,073 in all of 2006 to 2,954 through June of this year.”
They used almost this exact same line on the evening news. Hello. 1000 in 12 months. 3000 in 6 months. That is NOT triple. That is “on pace to increase 6 fold”.
And I bet if they compared the first half of 2006, there would be less foreclosures since it has been picking up steam every month. The rate of increase is probably even higher. I know this isn’t exactly foreclosure info, but, shows the steep trend nontheless of Notices of Trustee’s Sales in Maricopa County.