Now Buyers Are King In California
The Desert Sun reports from California. “Mirroring a trend sweeping across California and the rest of the country, home foreclosures and mortgage delinquencies are rising in the Coachella Valley. Triple-digit percentage increases are significant and send ‘an alarm that something is wrong,’ said Bill Powers, CEO of Pacific Western Bank in the valley.”
“Borrowers and investors who opted for adjustable-rate, interest-only and other loans are now facing ‘resets,’ just as home prices have flattened or have fallen in some areas. So many borrowers who had hoped to refinance based on fast-increasing home equity are stuck, Powers said.”
“‘I was saying years ago that this was out of control,’ Brad Mix, a business consultant in Palm Springs, said of aggressive lending activity. ‘You could tell it was going to excesses.’”
“Mix has watched foreclosure signs pop up in country club areas of Bermuda Dunes, an unfamiliar sight until now. Other valley cities with one, three or five foreclosures in an entire quarter a year ago are suddenly seeing double-digit figures.”
“The 92240 ZIP Code in Desert Hot Springs had five foreclosures during the second quarter of 2006, but 74 in the most recent quarter. La Quinta, with three during the second quarter last year, increased to 55.”
The Santa Cruz Sentinel. “Jim Chubb of Pacific Inland Home Mortgage in Soquel said he has seen some fallout from subprime loans.”
“‘I have had several Spanish-speaking borrowers come to me to help them understand loans they had obtained from a friend or a family member,’ said Chubb, who has been in lending for more than 20 years. He said he’s seen cases with ‘a gigantic commission’ and ‘misleading or incomplete information about the loan and the costs.’”
“‘I see this as a result of new loan officers entering the business and either being unsupervised or taught to overcharge friends and family because they trust who they are working with,’ Chubb said.”
“So far this year, 539 Santa Cruz County homeowners have received notices of default, which are issued after missed payments; in Monterey County, where there are more Latino home buyers, the number is 1,559.”
“According to statistics from the Santa Cruz Record, about half of those properties are in foreclosure. In the tri-county area, which includes Santa Cruz, Monterey and San Benito, 719 homes have been sold in foreclosure auctions this year, up from 71 last year at this time.”
“‘Until this ‘glut’ passes through the system, the real estate market cannot regain a stable momentum,’ said Greg Flowers, president of FirstNet Mortgage in Capitola, predicting lower prices for homes that go on the market.”
The Modesto Bee. “Forged signatures. Fake documents. Phony figures. Lies. Lies. Lies. That’s what leads to real estate fraud, and housing industry professionals must beware of such crimes or they can be criminally prosecuted.”
“That’s the message Marlisa Ferreira emphasized Tuesday in a talk to a group of Latino real estate professionals. Ferreira prosecutes real estate fraud cases for Stanislaus County, and she’s spreading the word that everyone involved in scams can be held criminally liable.”
“‘I know you all see it. I know you do. So report it. I don’t care if it’s a friend of yours who’s doing it,’ Ferreira told members of the Central Valley chapter of the National Association of Hispanic Real Estate Professionals.”
“Letting a suspicious transaction proceed is not just unethical, it’s illegal, the deputy district attorney explained: ‘If you know the deal is hinky and you do it anyway, you’re aiding and abetting a crime.’”
“There’s plenty of blame to go around in real estate fraud and the current home foreclosure crisis, said Aly Vizcarra, a marketing executive with Chicago Title who is president of the real estate professional group.”
“‘Realtors, title and escrow officers, home inspectors and lenders, we all played a hand in this,’ Vizcarra said.”
“When the housing market was booming, he said, many home buyers got into bad loans without anyone warning them off. ‘It was a lot easier when the market was hot to just look the other way and accommodate these (contract) signings,’ he said.”
“The same day Holly Olmstead packed up the house she no longer can afford here, the City Council took up the troublesome question Tuesday of what to do about homes that have been lost to banks and are now deteriorating.”
“The Northern San Joaquin Valley is ground zero in the foreclosure crisis: San Joaquin County ranks first in the nation, followed by Merced County in second place and Stanislaus County in fourth.”
“Olmstead said she had to stop watering her front lawn when she couldn’t pay the bills. She lost her job shortly before escrow closed in May 2005 on a two-story, five bedroom home on Tannehill Drive, a fact she said her lender knew, but still told her she would be able to refinance in two years with money to spare.”
“‘I’m devastated,’ Olmstead said. ‘By the time I tried to refinance, (the lender) said I didn’t qualify.’”
“She put the house on the market a year and a half ago, but it didn’t sell despite enlisting the help of two real estate companies. She has dropped the price from $650,000 to $515,000. If she doesn’t find a buyer by Sunday, the home goes into foreclosure, she said.”
“She isn’t the only one. A few houses down, another dry lawn surrounds a real estate sign advertising the home as a bank foreclosure. The new neighborhood around Woodward Park is speckled with for sale signs and dry lawns. The story is repeated in other Northern San Joaquin Valley cities.”
The Union. “While declining home prices leave a bitter taste in the mouths of sellers trying to recoup profits on investment properties, the housing slump offers Nevada County’s working class a chance to set down permanent roots in their community.”
“Prices have dropped in western Nevada County since real estate peaked in 2005, and low-end sales continue to fuel purchases in the area’s most relatively affordable area, Grass Valley.”
“Nancy Markson never thought she could afford to buy a home on her own. ‘I didn’t see how a person making what I make could buy a house,” she reflected. But she underestimated herself. Last week, Markson signed escrow for a two bedroom, one bath, ‘cute’ Grass Valley home.”
“Median home prices in Nevada County fell by 7.74 percent, from $465,000 in July 2006 to $429,000 in July 2007, according to Data Quick.”
“The shifting home sale prices mark the beginning of a new real estate cycle, according to Chauncey Poston, president of the Nevada County Board of Realtors. ‘I think what we’re seeing right now is a transition,’ Poston said. ‘We just came from a cycle that reached all time highs.’”
“The flooded market gives buyers negotiating power for a competitively priced house in good condition and in the right neighborhood. Buyers with good credit can still find interest rates under seven percent. ‘Now buyers are king,’ said Teresa Poston, a broker with 22 years in the real estate field.”
“Gone are the days of quick appreciation when investors flipped homes in a matter of months. Instead, buyers must use patience, because they probably won’t see significant returns for five to ten years, Poston said.”
‘The company proposing a controversial housing development in the bluffs of northeast Bakersfield has once again defaulted on its loan, according to county records. Canyons LLC has three properties next to each other south of Hart Park and Alfred Harrell Highway, totaling nearly 847 acres in the bluffs. General Holding has battled the city and outdoors enthusiasts since around 2003 over plans to develop more than 1,000 homes in the area.’
The bluff area has had settling problems along with either methane or radon leakage. The city had to pick up the tab on some houses a few years ago on Panorama ave. Soil on those out by Hart Park is hardpan and rocks, rocks, rocks.
Is this near the Old Landfill? I used to monitor the landfill gas collection system and wells. Yes the City had to buy several homes along Panorama Ave due to explosives levels of methane in the walls. Apparently the landfill gas was migrating under the bluff and into a few homes. Methane is explosive between 5% to 15%. Behind each home behind the back fence there is a 1/2″ dia x 10 ft deep monitoring probe. If methane concentration higher than 5% were found I would adjust the landfill wells to control the migration.
At one time the City was operating the collection system but once methane was found around the homes the City had to get a private consultant to do it. That was fun work but very very hot in the summer. Walking that old landfill was not fun in 110 heat.
Sounds like they had a problem of NOT ENOUGH methane!
Bakersfield is as close as you can get to a hellhole in the desert. I am surprised that the methane from the cows’ gas does not gas the whole town like one big gas chamber. I went there for a birthday once and couldn’t go outside because of the stench. and there are homes asking for over one million. great example of this house bubble.
“Are cow farts really that bad for the environment?”
The United Nations has declared the methane from cow emissions as the greatest threat to the climate, forests, and wildlife. Livestock emissions are responsible for 18% of the greenhouse gases that cause global warming. That’s more than all forms of transportation put together.”
As if we didn’t have enough to worry about already…
Just you wait- -when we run out of fossil fuels, cows will become the next best thing in energy. Just fix ‘em with a butt bag and let ‘em low and graze away. Now if that ain’t “free” energy, I don’t know what is!
It’s lawballing season. How far down will you make an offer?
I intend to offer 40% of the asking price of a condo soon…
I think when I start lowballing on condo’s, it will be at 1999-2001 prices less a discount for wage deflation. LOL
I’m going to wait until there are half completed condo skeletons scaring away buyers before I bid on a condo. Then? Forget previous normal markets, lets look at 1995 prices.
Got popcorn?
Neil
Neil — now that’s taking the lead on offerings! I like it. Worst that can happen is they counter with a ‘97-’98 price that makes you not want to fight any longer for a lower price. So be it. Throw ‘em a bone. Arrrgh!
Throw ‘em a bone. Arrrgh!
I swear, by the time we get into the market, we’ll have to hire bodyguards due to our “schadenfreude tendencies.”
Got popcorn?
Neil
I SAY — MULTIPLE LOW BALL OFFERS!! Set them up for the downfall. Get one person to offer 60% off of asking, then next person 50% off asking—- so on and so on- then when they are about to accept - back out and start all over —-mwhahhaahhahahhahhahahahah. Smither’s “Release the HOUNDS”
Love it. LOVE IT !!!
Ian;
Think that one through! A year from now 40% of asking price might not be such a good deal.
If you can, look at the price of similar property in 2000. My bet is we will be at 2000 levels in most of the country. Be careful buying now.
I’m not saying you can’t get a good deal that you won’t regret in a year or two, but tread lightly, man.
It totally agree. I’ve been saying 2000 prices will be the settling point.
“Letting a suspicious transaction proceed is not just unethical, it’s illegal, the deputy district attorney explained: ‘If you know the deal is hinky and you do it anyway, you’re aiding and abetting a crime.’”
No it is not aiding and abetting, but conspiracy to commit fraud, generally punishable by double the prison time of the fraud. But as I have proposed before, the FBI will not be mass prosecuting this fraud because it would mean hundreds of thousands, if not millions, or middle class and upper middle class would be imprisoned. Instead we will get more sob stories and bailout talk, at least until the election is over.
Chris, you cynical sob. Are you suggesting white-collar criminals will be spared in this debacle?
Blasphemy!
Invest in the prison industrial complex! As far as I know even tsarist russia would imprison hundreds of thousands… once money is tight and applying the rule of law will mean enough slave labor and enough demand destruction to keep gas prices low (so many car drivers off the roads!) then it will be prison orgy time!
Better yet–outsource! Send the mortgage fraudsters to China.
heh heh heh
“‘I have had several Spanish-speaking borrowers come to me to help them understand loans they had obtained from a friend or a family member,’ said Chubb, who has been in lending for more than 20 years. He said he’s seen cases with ‘a gigantic commission’ and ‘misleading or incomplete information about the loan and the costs.’”
Chubb (another great name, btw!) despite all his experience, is obviously misinformed. Everyone *knows* that all ‘predatory’ lending is done by The Man. No one who belongs to La Raza and/or speaks Spanish could possibly be that crooked. Call in the P.C. police!
“Everyone *knows* that all ‘predatory’ lending is done by The Man. No one who belongs to La Raza and/or speaks Spanish could possibly be that crooked.”
LOL
Si!
¿Como se dice, “prestatario chingado” en Inglés?
That’s pretty funny. I had to look that up.
Nosotros dicemos “effed borrower.”
When we refinanced in 2002, the broker tried to screw us TWICE with the paperwork, quoting us one rate and writing down another rate (with a bigger commission) on the paperwork. If my wife had not seen this, we would have been screwed.
And yes, he specialized in the Hispanic market.
PG County maryland is like 70% black and ALL the FBs were screwed by Da Man, that is to say the black man next door, they go to church or the PTA with, etc. There was a big “predatory lending” meme going for awhile until it was mentioned that 90% of FB blacks were f’d by another black. Now, not so much noise.
Sure. A left-wing visitor from Germany tried to give me a hard time about the huge number of black men who are annually murdered in the US. I told him most are murdered by other black men, and I found something or other to document that. I didn’t hear any more from him on that subject.
There was an article in yesterday’s Gainesville Sun about the same issue, Jay, although they didn’t mention who the lenders were. East Gainesville is going to be hit hard by the foreclosures.
Apparently something similar has happened in previous cycles because the historically black Pleasant Street neighborhood has been gobbled up house by house by two major white landlords.
Not every Black property owner is a chump, but if you live in that neighborhood you still have to pay for the ills caused by the scammers and fraudsters.
“There was a big “predatory lending” meme going for awhile until it was mentioned that 90% of FB blacks were f’d by another black. Now, not so much noise. ”
I remember watching the documentary “maxed-out” where an African Am woman and her son were duped into a loan by someone from their church. Man, that’s pretty low, but not surprising.
In my office, two front desk women were involved in RE during the runup. One was selling loans and the other was a real estate salesperson on the side. The one selling real estate has since left–and dear god, she was really stupid and clueless. I couldn’t quite wrap my head around the thought this woman was facilitating RE transactions–as she made very many mistakes at her job for our company. For me, the fact that these two jumped in the game just reinforced how insane this bubbles was (is).
DOC
Chubb cohosts a radio show out of SC with Robert Aldana. They were promoting option ARM’s, no down, 1st and 2nd’s so you didn’t pay any PMI, buy the biggest house you can buy and when they finally got the picture that the tide was going out they quietly changed their tune to the current market spiel even to the tune of it’s a buyers market and now is a good time to buy. Aldana is hispanic which I only point out in light of Chubbs comments on Latino buyers. Chubbs says 20 years in the business but I think only three have been in the SC area.
Salinas Ron, I just wanted to make a comment on what you just wrote. I enjoy reading this BLOG because it has a lot of great info and conversation. However, I do want to make a correction about your post. Actually a couple of corrections….
1. I have NEVER promoted Option ARMS. Never. I have never liked them and I have been one of the biggest opponents of these loans since day one. Most people, probably 99% of them get these loans for the wrong reasons. Very rarely, and I mean very rarely do these loans make sense for people. Most people are misinformed and only find this out when it is way too late.
2. I have never stated to buy as much as you can buy. On the contrary, I preach and have always preached that just because you qualify for a loan amount, does not mean that you should buy it. I ALWAYS advise people to buy within your means.
I just wanted to bring this to the attention of this BLOG because I really like reading it and just wanted to make sure that info here is accurate. I hope that you can appreciate this. I do not mean it negatively, in fact, keep doing what you are doing because i am enjoying reading what you and everyone else is writing.
Now, in terms of the market, you are correct. I just did not see it coming this hard!
Thanks for allowing me the opportunity to respond to this post (I hope)….
Robert Aldana
“Borrowers and investors who opted for adjustable-rate, interest-only and other loans are now facing ‘resets,’ just as home prices have flattened or have fallen in some areas. So many borrowers who had hoped to refinance based on fast-increasing home equity are stuck, Powers said.”
Margin calls! Margin calls! Those FBs will soon need to feed the alligator the equivalent of a rent while they rent it out.
Subsidized housing will never have the same meaning again…
‘Until this ‘glut’ passes through the system’
- Isn’t this a medical term? or is it a realtor term. Whatever.
The peak resets are still one year away. The second quarter next year (2008) will experience 540 billion in resets. Then it finally will begin to settle out.
The foreclosure pig has a long way to go, through the python.
And it feels like the roasted chili peppers I had for lunch. (But they tasted so-o-o good while I was eating them. Why does my gut feel like it’s on fire now?)
Yeah, but try roasted pig with lipstick on it - not too appealing.
To hell with the gut, wait ’til them peppers do a number on your winker. I suggest lifting the seat and submersing the bum.
You may also want to think twice when consuming all that popcorn during this disaster.
Have you consideredthe potentially fatal “popcorn worker’s lung?” And the government isn’t even doing anything about it, so why should they worry about a bunch of FBs?
By the way, got popcorn?
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/05/us/05popcorn.html?_r=1&oref=slogin
ROTFLMAO
From the link: “Exposure to synthetic butter in food production and flavoring plants has been linked to hundreds of cases of workers whose lungs have been damaged or destroyed. Diacetyl is found naturally in milk, cheese, butter and other products.”
chuckle. Good thing my popcorn is synthetic butter free. (Man, that stuff scared me BEFORE I read the article.)
Got *natural* popcorn?
Neil
O.K., Q.A. has issued a Corrective Action:
“Neil’s *Natural* Hot Buttered Derivative Popcorn”
‘Until this ‘glut’ passes through the system’
Time to call in trained cork pulling monkey……
all hands don lifejackets and breathing devices……
IMPLODER!
ROTFL… but that wasn’t what I expected on a thread dealing with the health scare of artificial butter… You caught me in the “wrong mental gear.”
lol
Neil
OK. This metaphor has been taken to a jove extreme. Last time that elephant farted, we ended up with an earthquake in Los Angeles. Somebody put that thing on a diet! And call in PETA. Whoever keeps stuffing it under the rug is just abusive. And now we have a monkey and a python? We’re gonna have to keep those two separated. This lot isn’t zoned for zoo animals, you know.
““Neil’s *Natural* Hot Buttered Derivative Popcorn” ”
That aint butter. Your Schadenfreude is dripping in the popcorn.
Speaking of buttered popcorn, I’m so cheap I pop mine at home in an iron skillet … with grocery store brand Canola oil.
That’s not cheap - that’s gourmet.
The best birthday present I ever got was this $25 old-fashioned popcorn popper - it’s an aluminum pan with a lid that has a crank handle so you can stir the popcorn - makes the best popcorn ever.
“Nancy Markson never thought she could afford to buy a home on her own. ‘I didn’t see how a person making what I make could buy a house,” she reflected. But she underestimated herself.
No, no, actually Nancy got it right the first time. A fact that will quickly dawn on her once she gets her first reset notice in the mail, a year or two from now.
The old saying rings once again: if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Tough luck Nancy. You’re a FB!
It’s worse then that. Single income families are falling further behind so she may not be able to afford the house even if she has a fixed rate.
So while everyone was dancing happy over the poverty figures, the decline in wages just slipped on by. If you look at estimates across 99 to 06, you’ll see that wages have essentially been flat.
http://tinyurl.com/2l9437
(AP) US Poverty Rate Declines Significantly, Aug 29, 2007
Individual earnings dropped for both men and women in 2006, but more members of each household worked, resulting in the overall increase in household income, said David Johnson, chief of the Census Bureau’s Housing and Household Economic Statistics Division.
No problemo. Once the foreclosures really start piling up, millions of FBs will be forced to move back in with their parents, GFs/BFs, ex-spouses, etc. Assuming they all still have jobs in the resulting recession, the average number of incomes per HH could skyrocket (3, 4, 5…? it’s anyone’s guess!). Even if individual real earnings are dropping, average HH income can actually rise when you have multiple breadwinners in the house!
Problem solved –’Goldilocks’ status restored!
And the vacated housing volume goes …… where?
2010 Housing Volume: The Problemo!
Yep,
If you look at interior CA counties annual population change, you will see a beautifully clear coorelation between prices (rent or home price) and outmigration and vacancy rates. It’s pretty elementary analysis but still lovely to see charted.
You guys know I was pulling a “Colbert” with that comment, right?
Har! I do now.
I pay $100/month for cable, to watch two programs: The Daily show and The Colbert Repor….(t).
Re: gwynster’s always good stats…..
Back in the mid 80’s, we lived in San Leandro. Our neighbors bought a house in Tracy, and shortly after we bought our first, and very modest, home in Castro Valley. We all (both couples) worked in the East Bay. We were invited to their home shortly thereafter, and it was certainly impressive compared to our POS. At times I thought maybe that is what we should have done, because the 40 mile commute was only 40 minutes.
Holy problemo! Look at it now. The I-580 corridor looks like I-880. The trip to Tracy is now 1.5 – 2 hrs, at $3-$4 gal.
I can see how these extended-suburbs of the Bay Area evolved, but what a nightmare today. These areas will clearly fall back in line with THEIR area incomes…. Tracy, Modesto, Patterson, Brentwood, Vacaville, Fairfield….. the fall could even be worse, as the out-migration unfolds. These areas were where many of the new ‘Stucco Box’ developments were built during the boom. If it gets bad enough, they could become attractive again, but at a very affordable price.
You should try DISH for $29.99/mo
“I pay $100/month for cable, to watch two programs: The Daily show and The Colbert Repor….(t).”
Let me tell you about this new thing called the internet, its a series of tubes
Hey! I didn’t say BASIC cable. We have the everything network, with 1% of it being watched……and yes it does come through a series of tubes….
Well, anyone with half a brain could see that the area of San Joaquin, Merced, and Stanislaus Counties would get hammered hard. Looks like that day is upon us (finally!). $500K or more to live an hour from anyone gainful employment is absolutely unwarranted. Hell, it’s not even warranted in the urbanized areas. The central valley real estate market was the perfect storm.
Thanks for the tanning oil - now get the F out!:
http://www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/major-layoffs-reported-at-countrywide/
Dang, that picture looks a lot like my digestive system right now. (Memo to self: Beware of eating roasted chili peppers as part of a light lunch.)
Most of those employees should’ve already had their parachutes on. Shame on them if they didn’t.
Ditto. Working Life’s Lesson #1 or #2.
I’d like to see all the layed-off mortgage brokers get jobs at the Countrywide customer service division that deals with all the distressed borrowers and foreclosures … I’d like them to see the fruit of their labor.
Speaking of which, there’s not much sympathy for our local Enron. See comments that follow:
http://www.azstarnet.com/business/199734.php
How many FirstMagnus employees were quick enough to steal the computers or the $750 aeron chairs?
Maybe it’s the coffee withdrawal taking effect, but I just got chills reading that article. That’s alot of layoffs man, I don’t even know what to say.
“She put the house on the market a year and a half ago, but it didn’t sell despite enlisting the help of two real estate companies. She has dropped the price from $650,000 to $515,000. If she doesn’t find a buyer by Sunday, the home goes into foreclosure, she said.”
Has she tried to bake it or boil it or BBQ it ? because she’s gonna have to eat it.
I wonder what she paid for the house. I’ll guess that she was hanging on hoping for a quick flip for a some profit to live off. It may sound cruel, but how does someone who loses a job intend to pay for a $600K house? I couldn’t pay for it off my salary and I am gainfully employed.
Can you say cash back deal? That would certainly explain it.
Perhaps she should sue for not getting enough cash back.
“She has dropped the price from $650,000 to $515,000.”
It looks like she followed the market down. She went from thinking she was going to make a few buck, to please just get me out.
Sell when you can, not when you have to.
This logic is impossible for most acolytes steeped in the faith of the Church of Everlasting Leverage. Acknowledging that RE prices can go down would violate their most sacred Commandment: Intelligent Appreciation.
It’s absolutely impossible for such beautiful and varied price appreciation to have happened randomly, without the help of some Great Price Appreciator. Look at the Salton Sea, Apple Valley, how could price appreciation ever happen there but for his command? The Great Appreciator blesses us with the hard times so that in depths of misery we can learn from our sorrows and pray resolutely for His second coming.
Is anyone thinking Job here? haha
This is a Very HARD lesson to learn and actually do well. When i see on ebay someone bidding up something i own, that one day i might sell…well its goes up the next day….. and i have sold things 20-50% higher by being fast and observant.
But life throws you some curves and sometimes you don’t have much choice to sell….but a year and a half and $135K lower is just seriously stupid.
=========================
Sell when you can, not when you have to.
Gee she should’ve tried to do what this braniac is attempting to do in Vista, CA with this craigslist AD…Rent it out while it’s on the market!! What a deal! LMAO…
http://sandiego.craigslist.org/apa/411389271.html
I think it’s cool how she insists that the “house is so cute you have to see it”, yet there is no picture. You’d have to be a f@#king genius to pull that one off.
Vizarra statement regarding fraud in the business …..”Realtors ,title and escrow officers,homeinspectors and lenders ,we all played a hand in this ‘ Vizcarra said.”
OK Vizcarra ,stick out your arms ,put your hands in the cuffs ,and lets get this over with .
I am getting paid to evaluate the local Indian casinos. I am probably only one that walks in KNOWING I am making some money. Some sad characters in there throwing away a lot of money. I just do my work. Getting paid to eat and gamble. Tough gig, but someone needs to do it.
My wife is working in the Citi call center. She is telling me a lot of good credit card stories. She sure tells me a lot of folks are way in over their heads. $10, 20K under and barely making minimum payments. I am sure glad mine are paid off. Ditto for car. Now want same for house. Debt sucks. Been there, done that.
Love hearing CA horror stories. Couldn’t happen to a better or more deserving place. Keep them coming. Juicier the better. I feel bad for the undeserving victims, but really hard to find a true victim where there wasn’t greed and assumption that the party would go on forever involved.
Hey need 2 - I live in CV and was in one of the casinos last Saturday and was amazed at how packed it was. It always is except for before noon. And it seems to be packed with lower end folks. Everyone hoping for a jackpot.
It was the first of the month. They were probably trying to double their welfare check or SSI check.
“Getting paid to eat and gamble.”
Eating at a casino is a big gamble. You ever toured the kitchen area of a res casino?
‘If you know the deal is hinky and you do it anyway, you’re aiding and abetting a crime.’”
HINKY! Love it, that was one of Joe Fridays expressions on Dragnet back in the 60’s.
“Olmstead said she had to stop watering her front lawn when she couldn’t pay the bills. She lost her job shortly before escrow closed in May 2005 on a two-story, five bedroom home on Tannehill Drive, a fact she said her lender knew, but still told her she would be able to refinance in two years with money to spare.”
Just out of curiosity, what did this woman think she was going to do for the first 24 months with no job? She lost her job BEFORE escrow closed and still bought the house? Oh yeah, she is a victim. Of stupidity.
The remedy for dry lawns? Don’t have one! Do xeriscape instead.
I’m doing it here in Tucson. Other than getting a bit of greywater that I carry out in buckets, my drought-tolerant plants have to tough it out on rainwater. And they do!
The new Turf Tech fake grass isn’t half bad, maybe these cities should carpet these FB’s yards if they are so concerned.
Olmstead said she had to stop watering her front lawn when she couldn’t pay the bills. She lost her job shortly before escrow closed in May 2005 on a two-story, five bedroom home on Tannehill Drive, a fact she said her lender knew, but still told her she would be able to refinance in two years with money to spare.”
“‘I’m devastated,’ Olmstead said. ‘By the time I tried to refinance, (the lender) said I didn’t qualify.’”
Holly, you are a true dumb$hit. When you lost your job was your clue to walk. You still bought, assuming the party would go on and you didn’t want to miss that appreciation gravy train. No sympathy from me when you missed the major sign. I had a lady that had done the same crap with a house in Mountain View CA (San Jose area). She lost the job before closing. Still went through with a liar’s loan. Paid her mortgage for a year with cash advances on cc. I recommended selling the house, use the gained equity to pay off cc and get back to ground 0. She gave me the ‘WHAT - I thought you would give me some ideas’ look. I assume she lost the place after 3 more months when she would be completely insolvent, and then nothing left to get. BOO HOO HOO HOOO HOO. You would have had better odds at the casino. At least there is a chance you may win something (not much, but some).
She wanted ideas on how she could pocket 100K in six weeks or less.
You were giving her FACTS not ideas.
I think you are missing the point. Owning a house and monitoring the increase in value was her job. Did you expect her to do the career equivalent of walking and chewing gum at the same time?!
Oh, sorry, my bad
I know many of us on here are educated and sane, and it is basic psychology to point out other’s idiocy since it makes you feel better about your superior intellect.
But..I have said it here before and will say it again, the world is full of stupid people, and none more so than right here in the good ‘ol USA. And the stupid people are having the most babies. So if you want to be savvy, learn to profit off of other people’s stupidity.
Part of what caused me to leave CA was becoming ill from the crummy work there. I only get half of my previous income. Big reason for lower cost area. Thank goodness I hadn’t bought into the now CA nightmare, and didn’t have any debts holding us down. We just packed up our few items, and headed east on I-40. If I had been in the CA nightmare. I am sure I would have been a foreclosure stat, BK stat, car repossessed (some kind of Hummer, BMW, or whatever). Too many of my former co-workers are now living that nightmare. I wasn’t sure how they were paying for all of that crap I refused to buy.
I only go shopping if someone is paying me to go (I am serious on that - do business evaluations). Otherwise, just basic minimal needs. Mostly make use of whatever I have. Old paid off cars are fine. No expensive wardrobe. I don’t give a rat’s ass about impressing anybody (still haven’t gotten wife there yet). Take me as I am, or I don’t come. I don’t care to impress, and don’t care to be impressed. I just care about people being geniune, honest, ethical, etc. I don’t care if they are rich or poor. I am fine in a tiny living space, as well as the spacious home. Just go to see people, not the crap.
Rant off.
I hope someone like you is my neighbor, when all this has run its course.
“I don’t give a rat’s ass…”
Why do you have to break balls? What have rats ever done to you to cause this kind of disrespect? What is it about a rat’s ass that makes you so apathetic? I know that whenever I think of a rat’s ass, I suddenly get the urge to watch reruns of MASH instead of the Situation Room. But I don’t talk bad about ‘em out loud.
Please keep the disparaging remarks to yourself.
And why am I afraid of going to sleep all of a sudden? I have this feeling I will be I mean, rats have never given me any grief, so whybeen a particularly
Sweeney, you can’t like Sam Sam Kinison and have a hard time with ballbusters >; )
Just sayin’
…S-A-M, my main man…yeaaah…my main man. Sam.
My girlfriend and I rented a Kinnison video of one of his stand-up routines a few months ago. We got about 15 minutes into it, and I had to turn it off because I couldn’t breathe, I was laughing so hard. No joke!
From a fire and brimstone Pentacostal preacher to the funniest, most nothing-is-sacred comedian of all time.
I wish he was still around - I’d like to ask him about his enlightenment…
Yeah, I know I misspelled Kinison. Mea culpa.
Or, as Eddie Murphy said in a skit on SNL after messing up a line: “So I screwed up! So what? Shut up!”
The foreclosure pig has a long way to go, through the python.
Lets all buy stock in Maybelline (or whoever else sells lipstick). We will be going through a lot for this pig. LOL
Or large quantities of Preperation H for the other end.
“Instead, buyers must use patience, because they probably won’t see significant returns for five to ten years, Poston said.”
Buyers must exercise caution in properly formulating their lowball offer, or else they probably will see significant losses for five to ten years.
Remember, Friends don’t let friends buy houses. Or, ‘Just Say No’.
We did this; we (parents and I) managed to get my sister not to buy a big McMansion; Her friends, who all bought more than one McBox mansion, tried to convince her to buy, but we managed to convince her otherwise. It was close, though.
Peter, you are like Christ.
If your not going to see a return for five to 10 years ,why not buy in 5 to 10 years from now ?
I noticed that “no return for 5 to 10 years” thing, and I thought, “naw, there’ll be a big NEGATIVE return in the first five years.” BTW hope I am replying to the right comment, sometimes my HBB screen is screwed up with the text of comments not aligned with the compartments.
It helps to refresh your screen.
The “5 or 10 years” only correctly refers to breaking even on the purchase price. When you add in the negative cash flow on the monthly nut, it’s a lot, lot worse. Like maybe not in your lifetime.
But I can’t make a commission NOW if you wait 5 - 10 yrs.
“If your not going to see a return for five to 10 years ,why not buy in 5 to 10 years from now ?”
Wiz — exactly. I think that idea is very gradually beginning to dawn on enough people to turn this market around sooner than it might have. Not soon enough, but sooner.
Since this is a California thread I’ll report what my sister told me this morning about Folsom. Brother in law is an agent there. There is no market at all, nothing moving. Total standoff as buyers refuse to make full price offers and Sellers refuse to lower prices. Banks totally hosing the short sales and forcing foreclosures . Idiot buyers overpaying for foreclosures because they think the “Foreclosure” sign means an automatic bargain. Brother in Law going nuts because he could have sold them comparable houses below list. Things are tight for Realtors in area, not looking forward to winter.
Really?
According to the “Real Estate expert” @ Landers site, Folsom is different.
For some reason I think he is full of $Hit and I believe you!
Folsom and Gold River! How could miss Gold River? >; )
I work (remotely from New Mexico) for a Folsom company. Something about that city strikes me as smug and arrogant. Intel effect? Dunno. But it is a city that reeks of ponzi-RE phony wealth effect.
If you can smell it all the way over there, you can just imagine the stench closer in.
I was in a stunning house today designed and built by owner 20 years ago. Small, but full of quirky personal touches. A funky fireplace from Mexico, a wooden-slatted hall ceiling arched entry with the semi-circle repeated on steps up to the main open living area, and in an arched window over the patio door onto the deck. Totally unique, down to the wooden-slatted kitchen cabinets.It was in the old part of Folsom, looked over the river/ravine area. Lots of trees, bushes, funky old homes.
I could live in a place like that.
You couldn’t PAY me to live in the stucco ditto-land that is engulfing the original Folsom and totally changing the vibe of the place.
Hey Mo Money, thanks for posting this info. I work off Auburn / Folsom right by the Verizon complex (Iron Point). I had a feeling this was coming.
If there is “no market at all, nothing moving” then how is it that idiot buyers are overpaying for foreclosures? Clearly, something is moving, just not the places your brother-in-law is representing.
“Letting a suspicious transaction proceed is not just unethical, it’s illegal, the deputy district attorney explained: ‘If you know the deal is hinky and you do it anyway, you’re aiding and abetting a crime.’”
Love to share this true story with everyone here. Sold North Florida home in June to a military officer–very generously priced.
We both bank at USAA (for military). USAA wouldn’t give him the rate he WANTED sooooooooo he went to a mortgage company. I specifically pointed out that he was paying….drum roll…$17k in fees!!!
He took the loan anyway. After all, he’s a big boy now.
Reaching for aspirin.
Logic like that is why I got OUT of the military.
I know I am gonna catch flack for this, but let me ask: Was he married?
More job cuts at Countrywide. My source says this is not the last and that up to 40% are on the block ready to be chopped. The next 2 weeks is critical.
http://www.tickerforum.org/cgi-ticker/akcs-www?post=6465
40% ?? That is 24,000? WOW!!
It is sad to see anyone lose their jobs. How does the Gov’t bail these people out of their homes?
Fortunately, someone on Dodd’s staff apparently showed him some real numbers. His current proposal correctly, triumphantly! (and futilely) addresses the empty barn. He seems not to absolve the doomed horses that are already out, for which I am temporarily happy (as in, believe it when I see it).
A trillion is a whole lot more than a few billion. Whole lot. Takes a while for Congressmen to figure that out. Probably, most never do but they trust a staffer or two to interpret for them.
CFCEmployee Says:
February 10th, 2007 at 7:10 am
I sold a few shares as well, but have kept the bulk and feel that CFC is very well positioned.
All this shakeout with New Century, HSBC, OwnIt, Ameriquest etc. etc. is actually a good thing for CW.
Our guidelines have been 10 times tighter then any of our competitiors for the last few years, while most people were bitching about that, now they are grateful. But I’m sure we still have some bad loans and we’ll need to take our lumps…but our lumps won’t be anything compared to what 75% of the sector is going through.
Hang on to that stock and don’t get nervous is my advice turner….in fact April might even be too soon…..when CFC is left standing and is holding all that market share that is left up for grabs, wall street will be eating up our stock like it’s going out of style.
I know this is site was created to bash CFC, but I gotta tell you, if you are in our industry, their is no better time to be a CFC employee!!!
I feel like I have a forcefield around me as I watch and listen to all the other companies restate earnings, and mis earnings and extreme their guidelines etc. Not saying we are going to feel some pains, but like I said, thats nothing compared to others.
Word is our Execs our giving themselves a nice pat on the back for whats happening now….DS had a call last week and was giddy about the shakeout and how its coming faster then he thought with more competitors falling harder then anticipated. This 25 horse race is turning into a 3 horse race with CFC being the most experienced horse on the track!
Thats my rant for the day!
I know that they are one of the top three employers in Ventura county. They have a least four office buildings in Ventura and one branch office in Oxnard that I know of at this time. It will definitely hurt if they do the number of layoffs that they some believe are pending in the next 2 months.
Countrywide holds my mortgage for our Albuquerque house. Anything I need to worry about. I am current, paying down, and able to afford mortgage. Fixed rate 30 yrs, working to pay faster. One good law in NM, lender must apply extra payments immediately. No bi-weekly, charge you extra, hold your payment crap can be done here.
No, nothing to worry about. If the SHTF, BAC will buy CFC’s mortgage servicing unit and you will get a letter that says to start sending checks to BAC instead. But… you’ll probably hear something on the news first
There were actually stories about people who had mortgages with New Century that just stopped paying when they BKed! Wow.
“The Northern San Joaquin Valley is ground zero in the foreclosure crisis: San Joaquin County ranks first in the nation, followed by Merced County in second place and Stanislaus County in fourth.”
I’m beginning to notice a pattern of various locales trying to claim the title of ground zero for the crash. Some people trying to claim it is Ohio, others Detroit, Miami, Las Vegas, San Diego… Damn it… everyone knows the Bay Area is always #1. When do we get to be ground zero?
There’s a big future market for tourist knick-knacks!
“This car passed through ground zero.”
“I’m with F*d Borrower –>”
“This shirt costs more than your house at ground zero.”
I bought, heloced, remodeled, was foreclosed on, and I’ll I got was this lousy t-shirt.
That’s pretty funny.
also, no prepayment penalties allowed in NM. One nice benefit here.
sarcasm: that darn nanny state interference!
/sarcasm
“The Buyers are King in California” - Get out of here
Is that anything like Burger King, i.e. where all the ex countrywide mortgage brokers will be working soon.
I did get out of Clownifornia.
CW site from ex employees:
http://excwinsider.com/
crispy:
i read through that website a little bit, that first post has like 500 comments. The ones from today are pretty heated to say the least. it reads like a train wreck, thanks for the link.
OK. I tried to ask this a few days ago. Here it goes again:
Who in the South SF Bay Area wants to get together for an HBB party?
Reply here and we’ll try to make a plan for a couple weeks from now. I will advertise it on the blog.
Everybody should meet in the mid-pennisula…. that way it’s inconvienant to EVERYONE!
OK, I’m game.
I’m interested!
OK. Mid-Peninsula it is. I’ll try to think of a good place and I’ll post it soon. Suggestions are welcome. Once I’ve gotten quite a few people to agree on something, I’ll post it a few times on whatever California thread shows up.
-Big V
Must be a place where the scotch flows like water and sometime in October. I envision us watching the fed meeting higlights on cspan on the bar TV and we all have to drink every time the word contained is uttered.
When housing nerds play drinking games >; )
Hmmm better make sure there is a hotel I can wobble to in an emergency.
October souds good, Gwenster. What’s your favorite scotch? Glenlivet for me when it’s a good month. Otherwise, anything goes.
ok
OECD warns on US slowdown
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/20609761/
Big V., looks like they are planning one over at Patrick
Bronco:
If you’re still on, can you post a link to the Patrick party thread? I can’t seem to find it.
Thanks,
Big V
Americans need to take another look at this book: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Sneetches_and_Other_Stories
“Now Buyers Are King In California”
WRONG!. Let’s not overdo the enthusiasm here. Buyers aren’t even PRINCES yet and this fiasco has quite a bit unraveling to go thru still.
Most sellers CAN’T & WON’T lower their prices because they’re upside-down. Only the upcoming wave of foreclosures and defaults will REALLY drop home prices significantly. In the meantime, lamebrain statements like the above only serve to give the impression that things are changing when in fact NOTHING HAS. Sellers are still holding out for top-dollar unrealistically. An insignificant 10% drop in home prices is MEANINGLESS when those same homes are OVERVALUED by 40, 60, even 80%.
So let’s avoid making grandiose statements that bear NO RELATION to reality ..we’ve already had TOO MUCH of that so far.
Preach, brutha!!!!
Thanks Jay, I feel the Spirit upon me today. Praise the Lord and pass the foreclosure notices!.
Amen!
Agreed.
BTW, the “auction” scene offers no relief for buyers either. Yet.
Currently, most auctions are FRAUDS, using shills to drive-up the bidding price. They also have secret ‘reserve sales prices’ and use salespeople employing high-pressure psychological techniques in order to create a ‘buyers mass-euphoria’ state-of mind among the attendees, the end result of which is most buyers wind-up paying WAY more than they originally budgeted for.
This is because the auctioners are still holding-out for top-dollar, just like the original FB’s did before they lost those same homes.
And just like the original FB’s, these sellers at auction will need to feel REAL PAIN before auction starting prices get better.
Just imagine if we -the buyers- where to BOYCOTT these phony baloney auctions for -let’s say- 6 months!. Let ‘em EAT the freakin’ homes!. Let no one raise even a single pubic hair to bid on them. THEN we’ll see the REAL price reductions.
Imagine the power we could garnish, if only we buyers formed some kind of coalition ..agreeing to HOLD OFF -en masse-on home buying for a specific period of time!.
Nothing written in stone, but just an informal agreement AMONG THOUSANDS of buyers pledging to not purchase a home for XX months. With that and using specially dedicated online forums in order to vote, discuss progress amongst ourselves and share comments, we would have sellers BY THE HUEVOS.
Heck, we would have the US Economy’s twins too!.
Dan:
Ya notice all the “auctions” are held on weekends with lots of free parking?
Hi Dan:
A few years ago, I was involved in quite a few conversations regarding a possible boycott. Of course, nothing ever happened. But, as it turns out, we never really needed a boycott. All we needed was patience because the market always sorts itself out. I think the same thing still applies today.
I for one, am definitely NOT buying a house within the next 6 months. No way.
“People are screwed.”
-Big V
Dow Jones Newswires
09-05-07 1844ET
WASHINGTON (AP)–A third of home loans originated by mortgage brokers failed
to close in August as investors shied away from riskier borrowers, a new survey
says.
The survey of 1,700 mortgage brokers sponsored by trade publication Inside
Mortgage Finance comes as numerous lenders that catered to subprime borrowers
with weak credit close down and lenders back away from riskier lending practices
common in recent years.
That has led to many borrowers being stuck without a loan as they prepare to
settle.
“There’s a problem with funding commitments not being honored” by lenders,
said Thomas Popik, who designed the survey for Washington-based research firm
Campbell Communications.
Three years ago, Popik said, a survey of real estate agents found that only 4%
of transactions failed to close on average.
The survey also found that some homebuyers backed away from deals last month.
Some may be waiting to see if market improves, while some sales may fall apart
because sellers are unable to get financing for their new home, Popik said,
noting that sales agreements often are contingent on buyers selling their
current home.
The survey also found that nearly half of borrowers with adjustable rate
mortgages were not able to refinance their loans. That’s a major concern of
policymakers as an estimated that 2.5 million mortgages given to borrowers with
weak credit will reset at higher rates by the end of next year, according to the
Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.
Mortgage brokers account for about one-third of total mortgage originations,
and have originated a larger share of loans to riskier borrowers, so the
percentage of failed loans in the entire market may be smaller.
Nevertheless, the results provide another indication of how the housing
market’s troubles are continuing.
Total subprime lending was down more than 50% in the first half of the year as
lenders pulled back from risky loans. Countrywide Financial Corp. (CFC) was the
top subprime lender, followed by Citigroup Inc. (C), HSBC Holdings PLC (HBC),
Merrill Lynch & Co. (MER) subsidiary First Franklin Financial Corp. and Wells
Fargo & Co (WFC), according to Inside Mortgage Finance.
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
CFC is toast, the sales velocity necessary to cover the overhead with 60K employees in an industry that is and will be operating at 1993 sales levels can’t be long for this world. The distrust in the ABCP market has put a lid on it. This will become a world wide story just like the uptick was, so the downstroke except companies like CFC that became paper monsters will disappear under a heavy pile of debt. So long Tan Man when they begin the hunt for the guilty your name will on the FBI most wanted list, enjoy your retirement.
That’s why Banco des Amigos put up the money they did. So they can first in line to take over CFC’s peforming loans, while the “DOA” CFC holds onto the bad loans.
More job cuts at Countrywide. My source says this is not the last and that up to 40% are on the block ready to be chopped. The next 2 weeks is critical.
———————————————————————–
Well, at least Mozilo (the gorillo!) got out in time with his millions. It just warms my heart to see the free enterprise system working.
Heh, where’s the luv? Give Tanzillo a break. Do you any idea how much a tanning session costs these days? The guy needs the bucks to keep his tan and buy those ugly suits/ties.
A “No Buy Until Prices Drop” embargo would be cool! Big rallies. Protests! What would the picket signs look like?
Hell, the thing that’s so hard to understand is that with every other product in this country lower prices are a good thing. Walmart lives by it. Everyone likes a good deal. Except for housing.
“Hell NO, We Won’t Buy!”
“One Two Three Four
We won’t purchase anymore!”
Let’s get together and burn our credit reports! Fight the powers of the REIC!
Don’t buy, Price too high!
“Just say NO”
Yeah, add autos and other big ticket junk to that embargo of yours and it’ll really bring this thing to a head.
No way, not in the Bay. We have the cash, but we won’t pay!
“All we are saaaaying, is lower the priiiiiiiice”
“FB Not Me!”
Maybe we should hold a “Million Renter March” on Washington? Share the ideas here with the politicans?
“All we are saaaaying, is lower the priiiiiiiice”
Ha. Here’s a poor deluded soul:
http://dallas.craigslist.org/lgs/414826347.html
I love craigslist. that guy is out of his mind.
I think I am upsetting people. I am going through Craigslist and on all the overpriced stuff (where they want $1500 rent for a place that is only worth $1000), I am making them offers. The thing is, the offers are for like $850.. $900.. telling them that the true market value is much less than they need. I realize they might be upside down on their mortgages but unlike them, I have decided to rent. There is plenty of inventory out there and I am sure someone will rent their place out to get something rather than let it sit empty.
I can’t wait for one to respond with a smarta** comment : )
If someone started a website dedicated to not buying homes I would so join it.
Ya know, at first I suggested the idea half-kiddingly. But then I thought; if something like a NO BUY embargo ever really snowballed I’m SURE it would have a measurable impact, at least in certain cities/areas home prices.
Anyhow, I think we already have a few potential members on board. Next step: we’ll probably need to dump a few realtors into the bay in formal protest.
You guys are on to something. Seriously, what bit of evidence have we seen this year that even comes close to indicating that buying will be a good idea anytime soon? All the knife catchers are doing is giving the shills and pols evidence to support their false hopes for a recovery.
i’m in.
maybe we can dedicate a small portion of the website to firetrucks and how awesome I am at Halo. not alot just a few lines here and there. no? awe come on!
Use one of those online petition things.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/sddt/20070906/lo_sddt/affordabilityofentrylevelhousingat24percentincalif;_ylt=Apq1oiRGLj5mITSAywLaMGoE1vAI
Huh?
Chip, I would love being your neighbor too. We have a few homes for sale in our Albuquerque neighborhood. Nice area. Reasonable prices. Less likely to fall than the hellhole known as California.
I haven’t been in the kitchens at the casinos. I am sure they are the same as most restaurants. Some are good, and some are very bad. I have been pleased with what I have seen in the restaurant area. I have visited a lot of different restaurants in addition to the casinos. And a lot of sorry characters throwing away a lot of good money. I don’t make any personal judgments when I go in one now. I just go in, do my work, and leave as quickly as I can. I work to maximize $$$ in my pockets so I can take care of my family. But beats the hellhole known as a major telecommunications company I used to work at. Said company will remain unnamed. Spoke with an old friend over the weekend. He said it was still terrible inside there. But they paint great pictures with their advertising.
BubbleViewer. Where in NM are you? Around Albuquerque?
Big V - if I was still in the Bay area I would love to come. But now gone from there. Count me in ‘in spirit’ at least.
Me too. With blessings.
“Taught to overcharge friends and family because they trust who they are working with.”
If a family member did that in my family, he or she had better start sleeping with one eye open!
we’ll probably need to dump a few realtors into the bay in formal protest.
Can I push a few in? I will make a special trip back to the Bay area just to push a couple of those blowhards in. Can we use a firehouse to push them in the water? And I hope it is a cold and windy day.
How dare Aly Vizcarra accuse the title/escrow industry of partaking in fraudulent activity! The last 4 years we have ALL!!! been in loan doc signings with mostly hispanic’s here in Cali that were stated income loans. Income’s stated were absolutely unbelievable. But it is NOT!!!! the role of title/escrow to question the truthfulness or ability of the Buyer/Borrower, unless Chicago Title or any other Title Co. … is willing to put themselves out there for a HUGE!!! discrimination lawsuit.