The Gold Mine Has Turned Into The Money Pit In Florida
The Bradenton Herald reports from Florida. “Jo Lynne Navarro wants her $270,000 back. That’s how much the Sarasota County woman paid to reserve two Bel Mare at Riviera Dunes condominium units two-and-a-half years ago. The units existed only in glossy sales brochures at the time, but Navarro - like many others lured by a sizzling condo market - was eager to buy early.”
“Now, units 206 and 801 in Bel Mare’s second 12-story building in Palmetto are complete but empty, as are numerous others, making the brand-new building resemble a ghost tower. Navarro doesn’t want the units anymore and is suing the developer because it won’t let her out of her purchase contracts for $1.35 million, or return her deposits. She has a lot of company.”
“Real estate and legal observers say the rise of ‘buyer’s remorse’ lawsuits is just the latest legal fallout from an unprecedented housing slide. ‘This might just be the tip of the iceberg,’ said William P. Sklar, a West Palm Beach real estate attorney following the trend.”
The Herald Tribune. “When Joseph Long conceived the idea of buying homes and condominiums in Southwest Florida at 70 cents on the dollar, he was thinking in terms of tens of millions rather than hundreds of millions of dollars.”
“But as the former elevator company executive…discovered that 10 times as many builders and developers wanted to participate as he had anticipated.”
“‘People are calling me and saying: ‘Please, Joe, do this deal,’ he said. ‘One guy told me he would lose $3 million if I succeed, and $13 million if I don’t.’”
The St Petersburg Times. “For most home builders in the Tampa Bay area, the gold mine of 2005 has turned into the money pit of 2007. Pulte Homes lost $122-million in Florida in the three months ending June 30. Lennar bled $214-million in just three months this year in its Southeast region, which prominently includes Florida.”
“Standard-Pacific lost $24.6- million in its Southeast division and, in a note to its shareholders, singled out Tampa for dragging down business. KB Home lost nearly $50-million in Florida, Georgia and North Carolina. Heavy into the Tampa-area suburbs, KB said it cut prices by a third locally since January, a move that’s improved sales but decimated profits.”
“‘I haven’t talked to a happy builder in about two years,’ said Marvin Rose, a Tampa Bay area housing analyst who advises local builders. ‘Demand has completely evaporated. So what is out there for sale is moving slowly.’”
“Houses bought by investors, new but empty, continue to compete with those offered by builders. Tony Polito, a housing analyst in Tampa with Metrostudy, counted 4,200 unoccupied new homes in the Tampa Bay area.”
“Most analysts predict the new home market won’t reach a healthy balance until 2009, when buyers and sellers can meet at prices that please both sides. For most of this new century, the industry has been distorted, first by overdemand, and now by oversupply.”
“‘We haven’t had a normal market since 2002,’ Rose said.”
The News Press. “The parent company of First Home Builders is negotiating with a federal agency about what to do with a slew of shaky loans used to construct houses in Lehigh Acres and Cape Coral.”
“But experts say it’s questionable how much any deal could accomplish, given Lee County’s downward spiral of property values.”
“Norlarco and Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Huron River Area Credit Union collapsed earlier this year, mainly because loans they made to build houses here ran into problems when property values plummeted. Both are being run by the National Credit Union Administration.”
“Now numerous investors are unwilling or unable to close on those houses and numerous lawsuits have been filed — 20 of them against D’Alessandro & Woodyard, the real estate firm that handled many of the deals.”
“Norlarco has loans totaling $238.4 million on 1,035 homes in Lee County, McKechnie said. Hovnanian has a backlog in Lee County of 1,787 homes worth $496 million, said J. Larry Sorsby, the company’s chief financial officer.”
“‘We typically receive between 75 percent and 90 percent of the purchase price from our Fort Myers customers via their construction loans,’ he said. ‘However, given that the market has deteriorated so significantly in Fort Myers, many buyers are now refusing to convert to permanent financing where we would receive the balance of our sales price. They are effectively defaulting on their construction loan. Therefore it is likely that we will not receive the balance of the purchase price on many of these homes.’”
The Palm Beach Daily News. “Many experts say the deals could get progressively better for potential buyers as more banks start attempting to unload foreclosed properties at below-market prices.”
“Real estate consultant, Jack McCabe, CEO of McCabe Research & Consulting LLC, recently told me of a Tampa developer who had bought at the top of the market and needed to sell some condo units. At auction, some $180,000 units went for as little as $90,000. Three-bedroom units that had retailed for $295,000 to $325,000, sold for as little as $180,000.”
The Palm Beach Post. “The eagerly anticipated home-sales reports for August comes out tomorrow, but we get an early peek at Palm Beach County numbers thanks to Illustrated Properties Real Estate and IPRE.com, which posts the latest MLS results.”
“Sales of single-family homes fell again in August - no surprise there - to 688. The drop is in the neighborhood of 15 percent year over year. Also, the median price of homes in Palm Beach County fell to $280,000 in August, according to IPRE.com. That’s down from $300,000 a year ago.”
“The most alarming trend the August report reveals is that ‘inventory’ continues to mushroom. In August, there were 24,428 existing homes and condo units for sale in Palm Beach County, according to the report. Wow! At the current pace of sales, that’s almost a three-year supply.”
‘MANATEE COUNTY — Although the county government’s Building Department is supposed to be self-supporting, it has not come close to balancing its books since the bottom fell out of the local housing market. The department was able to pay for itself in the 2003-04 and 2004-05 fiscal years. But when the real estate bubble burst, the department was in trouble. McClash said the department has no excuse for not cutting expenses. ‘Anybody who has talked to any contractor or developer out there knows that anybody who had 50 employees now has 25,’ he said.’
‘Veteran commercial real estate agent Carl Wise created a stir this month when he said that demand for office condos had all but dried up because of Southwest Florida’s slumping residential real estate market.’
‘Only 14 office condo units were sold for a total of $7.1 million during the six months ended Sept. 14, 2007, according to the Sarasota County Property Appraiser’s Web site.’
‘That is a 57 percent drop in total sales value from the previous six months when 33 units were sold for $16.6 million, and a 66 percent drop from the 41 office condos that were sold for $21 million during the six months ended Sept. 14, 2006.’
‘Arby’s … closed. Jimmy’s Roadhouse … closed. Bo Ling’s … closed. Naples Bread Company, Dolce Vita, Sazon Latino Cafe, Bob Evans, Cilantro Tamales. Applebee’s. Closed. This is part of the changing landscape in south Lee County.’
‘The summer is slow, but I’ve heard that some think it’s been the slowest ever,’ Thurber said. ‘It could be the economy. When people can’t afford their house payments, how can they afford to go out to eat?’
Since the Canadian dollar is the strongest ever against the US $, I’ve decided to open a Canadian restaurant in Florida. The problem is that I can’t come up with much of a Canadian menu. So far I have:
- Canadian Bacon
- Canada Dry Ginger Ale
- Beer
- those little cakes that are shaped like hockey pucks
I’m also going to stock speedos in extra extra large, for the French Canadians.
Anyone have any other ideas?
Canadians also have ketsup flavored potato chips.
Isn’t there a Canadian maple syrup? Since they have a maple leaf on their flag, some maple-based product wouldn’t be too far off.
Maybe we should invade Canada and confiscate their wealth after we’re done with Iraq!
Maple candies are always nice. We have them in NE too.
I was gonna say, “Maple Syrup Boutique”
Tim Hortons donut and coffee, baked beans, sugar pie, raost beef, cheese whiz sandwiches, definately Kraft dinner.
Also salt and vinegar. Plus, we don’t call it Canadian bacon, it’s called back bacon or peameal bacon. There’s also butter tarts.
NR
what about seal blubber?
“I’m also going to stock speedos in extra extra large, for the French Canadians.”
LOL, my bro calls them “nut huggers”.
I call ‘em cheap hotels.
No ballroom.
ROTFLMAO!
Ooops, that was for santacruzsux post above.
wow that was funny.. I am borrowing that.
marble sack
Banana Hammock?
PERFECT!
Weenie beanie.
Hoser…
If you’re gonna do it right, make sure there’s a chesterfield or 2, for the great northern hoardes, to sit on, eh?
And toques!
Beer and bacon?! What the hell else does anyone need to eat? Super idea, SFC!
You need nanaimo bars. Gotta love the Canadians, my entire extended family is Canadian but they have some of the worst food on the planet. Britain may be worse but not by much.
My mom was a bohunk…
I was in London for a week a few months back. The food was horrid. Absolutely horrid. I lost about 10 pounds that week. i found the Indian and Chinese to be edible but nothing like the food we enjoy here in the states. Even the McDonalds doesn’t taste like McDonalds. Is that Beef they use? It didn’t taste like it. I found the Chicken Nuggets to taste ok but don’t use their sauces. Tastes like vinegar.
You’ve always had to sneak up on the the food, in merry old England…
Was in Kensington area of London two years ago, hotter than Hades (try temps in the 90s F!!!). Walked down the street looking for a restaurant with central air conditioning. Found this great American style Tex-mex place. Thank God! Decent food and yes, they even had Sam Adams Beer (bottle). I was somewhat of a novelty there, taught some of the locals how to do a tequila shooter/popper. Their Chili was exceptional. Yes, very spicy- the staff couldn’t believe that I was eating it (said no local person could take more than a few bites). Otherwise, yes, the food (local) is not that great at all.
Your all nuts if you don’t like pot roast .
I believe I read about some kind of much-loved Montreal-area late-night snack that consists of fries smothered in cheese, bacon and gravy [gravy ???!!!]. It sounds like the kind of thing I would have loved in college at 2:00 a.m. after an evening of keg-draining.
OK, I’m also going to have a cardiologist on site. And a body shop in the back with people who speak Canadian.
Called ‘poutine’. To get the full Montreal experience, you should chain-smoke while you eat. Yummy.
* Gravy on french fries
* Tim Horton Donuts. Fly ‘em in.
Tim Horten’s Donuts: flies in em.
Why not just open a Tim Horton’s franchise? It would probably turn into a big draw. Curiousity seekers and all that.
(Heh, remember that awful year when Dunkin Donuts tried to emulate TH and tried selling soup? Mmm, ice crystals in the chowda. Good times.)
RE: Anyone have any other ideas?
“Fries de fromage”…
These are french fries covered in cheese sauce.
Quebecois luv ‘em.
You might also start a “Crepier” kitchen. This is a breakfast joint with those special little round crepes irons. Whenever I go to Quebec City there’s always a huge line to get into the places.
I lived in Michigan for a while (15-20 years ago). I would watch the CBC every now and then. Before and after shows they would have 5 second PSA’s with various Canadian celebrities (Michael J. Fox comes to mind for appearing in many of them. Anyhoo, these various Canadian celebrities would simply say, “MY CANADA INCLUDES QUEBEC”. Maybe the restaurant could have a sign that says, “Our Restaurants Canada includes Quebec”. I’ve always supported Quebec secession, so I would tell them to eff off.
You gotta hire Don Cherry as your spokesman.
How could you forget poutine?
They have a thing called poutine that is like gravy cheese fries. Pretty good.
I second that they do not have “Canadian bacon”, LOL.
Pickerel (Walleye)?
…“Canadian bacon”,
That’s what we used to call the guys on the beach in Wildwood Crest - in their banana hammocks…
You have to have a place for them to plug their cars in @ night…
Fox Hat
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FfMUwCKtWMI
Poutien!
(French fries covered in gravy.)
Tim Horton’s
a canadian institution. great coffee and the best doughnuts. Even better than Dunkin.
A special Quebec junkfood is Poutine. Google it…… nasty stuff. I used to ski sometimes at Jay Peak near the Canadian border and they catered 100% to the Quebecois in food.
Back then it was CAD 1.50 to the USD and they let people pay at par in CAD. I guess that’s no longer a deal, eh? I used to cross the border and take out cash from a Canadian ATM. Later they demanded Canadian ID from people paying at par……..
Perhaps we should change the old US Treasury money Motto from “In God we Trust” to “A Fool and THIS money are soon Seperated”
Way to Go Alan and NAR..you Fooled a Lot of Them
mikey, you raise a good point here. Why such financial “irresponsiblity” at all levels? I suspect that, underneath it all and subconsciously, people realize that the money is a joke, not being based on much underlying value to speak of. So why not gamble with the funny money? Why not piss it away? If it isn’t worth that much, what does it matter? Besides, if you manage to keep any of it, the gov will figure out a way to take it from you, so why not get that overpriced POS home? Why keep your word to a bunch of crooks and thieves on Wall Street and in Washington, when they don’t keep their word.
While we are on the subject of irresponsibility, here is an update on Northern Rock from Russ Winter.
http://wallstreetexaminer.com/blogs/winter/?p=1087#more-1087
Excellent, auger. I love the links you provide.
ditto, auger. How’s New Hampshire?
Actually, money being a joke contributed to this.
I like to compare the “wealth” generated by the real estate boom to printing money. It’s exactly the same thing.
If anyone can qualify for a mortgage of any amount, house prices will simply increase unbounded. Only after things tightened (and very slightly I might add) did the inflation stop.
Responsible people who didn’t want to buy a house without 20% down and a 15- year fixed mortgage were simply priced out of the market. (And anyone who didn’t get a fixed mortgage during the 40-year interest loans of 2002-2003 is simply an idiot, except under very special circumstances.)
Little old ladies who thought they had enough saved up for retirement ended up poor because they can’t generate enough fixed income on these low interest rates, and their property taxes went through the roof! But politicians don’t care about them! They want to keep “property values high” because that buys the most votes.
“Little old ladies who thought they had enough saved up for retirement ended up poor because they can’t generate enough fixed income on these low interest rates, and their property taxes went through the roof!”
While my late mother didn’t quite end up poor, her retirement account went into the crapper as the interest rates cratered. It was extremely frustrating to watch. She’d always been very conservative and was punished for it, like many. Alan Greenspan can shove it sideways.
RE: “Real estate and legal observers say the rise of ‘buyer’s remorse’ lawsuits is just the latest legal fallout from an unprecedented housing slide.
Another thing idiot bubbles buyer can’t quite seem to grasp-the legal validity of a contract.
Scores will be pissin’ in the wind, and simply lining the pockets of a bazillion contract law lawyers.
I so sickens me that Hillary Clinton and her ilk don’t recognize the true victims of the housing mess.
I never thought I’d be voting Republican in ‘08, but if the republican nominee is against homeowner or lender bailout and the dem isn’t, I’m voting republican!
Wedding vows also need to be changed to “til debt do us part” !
Well we expected government NEVER to lay off any of its “temp” hires during the boom
So The building Dept in debt and business is way down but the employees stay.
Call it the Bulding Debt Dept
Does anyone EVER buy office condos to actually use for their office, rather than just for speculation? This has got to be the stupidest get-rich-quick scheme ever. Businesses don’t want to own their office space because it ties up working capital.
I can’t wait until the bank forecloses on a couple of properties I been watching in Miraslo in Palm Beach Gardens. The houses originally sold in the high $700,000 and the current asking price is $699,00. I bet once the bank takes it back I will be able to pick it up for under $350,000 or less. The price should fall to $100 a square foot.
I have seen other foreclosed properties where the bank is selling the REO $300,000 less that anything else in the building. The other condos were in the $800,000 range and the bank was asking $500,000.
Look out below.
$100 a square foot for a newer house in good condition is a fair price. We paid $69 a square foot for our older foreclosure here in 2005, but the needed renovations and discretionary remodeling (no granite!) together added another $20/sq ft.
Be patient. When you decide to make a bid, pay for a home inspection first. Use the report to either decide to walk away, or lower your planned offer even more. For the lender to accept it, your offer must be contingency-free, and should provide for a settlement date that’s less than a month away.
Good hunting!
“Be patient. When you decide to make a bid, pay for a home inspection first. Use the report to either decide to walk away, or lower your planned offer even more. For the lender to accept it, your offer must be contingency-free, and should provide for a settlement date that’s less than a month away.”
The houses I am looking at are all basically new. When I do pull the trigger I am hoping to make the offer for cash, with no financing or at the worst very little.
If the prices are approaching $100/sq ft, I’d say anytime soon. Be prepared for a long wait after you make your offer, as I’m seeing stories posted on this blog about how banks’ “recovery” departments are overloaded with foreclosures. Be sure to put a “drop dead” date in your offer that makes it null and void if you don’t get a response from the lender/bank. You DON’T want two or more offers hanging at the same time.
Foreclosures are now like New York taxis on a sunny day. If you don’t get the first one, another one will come along shortly.
Always, always get a home inspection. I made all my former clients do this, whether the house was old or new. Actually some of the new ones came away with a longer list of things that needed corrected. With the shoddy building now I doubt there’s a new house out there without lots of problems.
RE: The houses I am looking at are all basically new. When I do pull the trigger I am hoping to make the offer for cash, with no financing or at the worst very little
Make damn sure to get a good home inspector and select a competant title company and insurance policy.
There’s no tellin’ who from where has liens on all this foreclosed stuff. Hell, nobody even knows who has control of the original note!
“I can’t wait until the bank forecloses on a couple of properties I been watching in Miraslo in Palm Beach Gardens. The houses originally sold in the high $700,000 and the current asking price is $699,00. I bet once the bank takes it back I will be able to pick it up for under $350,000 or less. The price should fall to $100 a square foot.”
Oh, it doesn’t look good for that happening. I’m quite shocked by the front page report regarding sales and prices in the PB Post today. Did you see it? I mean, who are all of these idiots still buying? I guess there’s just way too much money here.
I am not sure what you are talking about. According the Post sales are down 15% YOY and median is down to $280,000 (was up to $417,000). There is now a 3 year inventory.
BP — could be the poster is a troll. Not a regular, that’s for sure.
“BP — could be the poster is a troll. Not a regular, that’s for sure.”
I’m sorry, I didn’t know I needed to post daily in order to be a “regular” and not a “troll.”
You don’t. But one of the tried-and-true signs of a troll are observations of market prices that are decidedly more optimistic (high) than those reported by a number of regulars, in this case from the Palm Beach area.
As for “daily” posting, you’re intentionally exaggerating the point. You implicitly turned “could” into “is.” Might be just a coincidence, but those are tactics used by trolls here in the past. It would be nice to know that you personally have nothing to lose if prices in or near Palm Beach Gardens fall to $100 a foot, whether by sale of property you own or a commission in any form.
Chip, in franco’s defense, he’s posted here before occasionally and he does explain in the post below. I, too, have been a little put off by some of the wishing prices that still persist in this area over here.
“Chip, in franco’s defense, he’s posted here before occasionally and he does explain in the post below. I, too, have been a little put off by some of the wishing prices that still persist in this area over here.”
Thank you. That’s the only point I wanted to make. That is, that I’m surprised to see the prices that are still out there. And in response to another poster’s comments: No, I have no vested interest in seeing the current prices being sustained. It’s quite to the contrary. I’m a “bubble sitter.” The sooner the prices fall, the better off I will be.
“I am not sure what you are talking about. According the Post sales are down 15% YOY and median is down to $280,000 (was up to $417,000). There is now a 3 year inventory.”
I guess I should have been more specific. It’s Palm Beach Gardens that drew my attention. The numbers are still way up there. Single family home sales were 441 in ‘06 an 358 in ‘07. While that’s a decent drop, it’s not near what it should be with all that is going on. People just don’t see that the market was built up on half million dollar loans they gave to anyone that came through their doors. Prices went up 100% plus in many areas here. So, I don’t understand why these knuckleheads jump when they see 10-20% off of the last wishful thinking listing price.
It was slowing down in 2006 and then add another 20% drop on top of it. Now things have hit a wall watch the numbers in PBG, Wellington etc and you will see the slide. Those areas will always be higher than other areas in PBC but they will drop as well in tandem, that’s just how markets work.
“So, I don’t understand why these knuckleheads jump when they see 10-20% off of the last wishful thinking listing price.”
Franco — that makes much more sense. Thank you for clarifying your concern. Builders are under pressure to build at virtually zero profit, in order to retain their wholesale discounts and in order not to lose valued subcontractors, possibly forever. The cost of their materials is way down, almost across the board (though lumber seems to be off way more than concrete). It is pretty easy to get to $100/ft, that way. And vacant land in most parts of Florida is dropping like a rock; I know of an acre lot in central FL for which the asking price is $225K; previous comparable was $275K, but a highly reputed broker estimates the real salable value at $110K.
IMHO, a good way to estimate the value of an existing house is to find out what it would cost to build it today, on a lot at today’s “getting” price.
Florida?
I’m surprised anyone would live there. Flat, hot and ugly.
warm weather and great golf.
I was born here. Believe me, there was a lot more natural beauty when my family moved here in the 1920s.
great boating.
and fishing. And tubing in the springs and rivers. Rolling hills in the upper half of the state. Nice refuge when the north is boneass cold in the winter. But hey, I’m just as happy if people don’t want to come here.
RE: great boating.
Big fookin’ snakes, lizards, gators, & fire ants!
YIKES!
Yep, that’s one thing I miss about New England. At least you can sit on the grass without having fire ants crawling up your a$$.
If you could only convince a few million New Yorkers of that, us Florida natives would be forever grateful.
Personally, I love the heat. I complain when it’s less than 90, and wear sweaters if it gets below 80, but I also grew up in a house without A/C (unless company was coming over for dinner).
RE: Personally, I love the heat. I complain when it’s less than 90, and wear sweaters if it gets below 80, but I also grew up in a house without A/C (unless company was coming over for dinner).
DOUBLE YIKES!
sort of like Rubin when the dot com bust was coming
\Greenspan: Home Prices to Drop Much Lower
and hi-ho away……..
“Now, units 206 and 801 in Bel Mare’s second 12-story building in Palmetto are complete but empty, as are numerous others, making the brand-new building resemble a ghost tower.”
Don’t look at me, I didn’t do it!
I knew when they were building those it was a joke. Million dollar condos in Palmetto?
Obviously that means the fed should cut rates so that more can be built.
Got popcorn?
Neil
why should she get any money back ?
Navarro doesn’t want the units anymore and is suing the developer because it won’t let her out of her purchase contracts for $1.35 million, or return her deposits. She has a lot of company.”
At least the builder got to count the units as “sales.”
At least the builder got to count the units as “sales.”
Don’t you wonder how much this practice has distorted sales numbers.
She shouldn’t get her money back. Those are those Condos they built in Palmetto. No way. Most contracts state that they must go to arbitration. if she losses, it could cost her another 10% which would mean another $135,000 on top of the $260,000 she lost.
“Most analysts predict the new home market won’t reach a healthy balance until 2009, when buyers and sellers can meet at prices that please both.”
- This means that the home was purchased for 30cents on the dollar and later sold for a 10% profit. This is years down the road.
“Long, who burned through the cash he made from selling his elevator company in 1990 and who lost his New Jersey home to foreclosure seven years later, has not lined up the financing he needs yet. But he says he is close, and is more confident about completing the deal than ever.”
One of the most incredible stories about the aftermath of the bubble, IMO. Actually, I’m rooting for the guy, because I’m hoping he can wipe out some hedge funds and private equity groups. You go, Joe!
He’d probably be better off sticking to elevators; elevators is what he knows.
Next stop:
Basement Floor
Guys, stop this nonsense. It’s much too early in the morning to be reduced to the laughing fits.
for you, slim…. we are past lunch time here!
If he was worth millions and millions and he went bankrupt covering his daughters medical bills, don’t you wonder how bad a money manager he is.
Did I read he was going to pay $.70 on the dollar. He’ll lose his shirt at that price. They’ll be worth $.50 on the dollar a year from now.
short long!
“Norlarco and Ann Arbor, Mich.-based Huron River Area Credit Union collapsed earlier this year, mainly because loans they made to build houses here ran into problems when property values plummeted.
Or is it that property values plummeted because a bunch of bad loans were made?
Wow! Ann Arbor! (The Huron River runs right through Ann Arbor). I thought Ann Arbor was one of those places EVERYONE wanted to live in? Seriously, it is a great place to live, fantastic place to raise a family, but…
I’m going to write to General Motors! I want my money back! I bought their stock at 60 ten years ago and now it’s at 35!
Obviously, people would laugh at that statement. But this crazy woman bought two units for the sole purpose of specuvesting, much like my purchase of general motors, and she is upset that she lost her bet? Well, boo hoo hoo.
I agree, reuven. I think the best she and others like her can do is just walk away and leave the cash on the table and just pray she doesn’t get sued to force performance. In fact, could she even get a loan to complete the deal at this point? It sucks to lose hundreds of thousands of dollars, but them’s the breaks.
Remorse buyers points and Builder points :
(1) Builder never performed on comprehensive disclosure required to complete a sale.
(2) Builder went beyond 2 year dead line for construction,claimimg was due to “act of God” beyond sellers control -strikes ,hurricanes ,etc..Buyer wants letter of the law on exact time when project should of been completed ,and feels contract was broken by builder .
The builder is claiming that market conditions or “acts of God” delayed the project ,claiming strikes and hurricanes as the ‘acts of God “. In addition, Builder claiming these lawsuits are just” buyer remorse lawsuits.”
The Buyers best arguement IMHO is that they never got the “comprehensive disclosure “,(in a timely manner) that is required to make a sale .
Apparently these pre-construction contracts that were written before the crash in housing were one-sided contracts,(in favor of the builder ), in which the contract was pretty tight regarding the buyers giving up the deposit .
Apparently Buyers didn’t put stipulations in their contracts that they could get out of the deal if market conditions changed or they couldn’t qualify for a stated loan or if the market changed or they couldn’t sell their home .
The thing that I think about is that in some of these cases the buyer won’t be able to qualify for the loan now because of the tight money market ,so they can’t perform actually in some cases or they can’t sell their homes now . In other words , the contracts covered unforeseen events for the builders, but not the buyer .
Don’t sign contracts without covering all possible future events and define terms of acceptable financing in the future . As a buyers ,I would even put in a clause that I had a right to get my deposit back if the market value of the dwelling goes down .But,buyers don’t protect themselves in a hot market .
To me the problem is the one-sided type contract writing that you get during a mania or frenzy on construction that isn’t due to close for years in the future . If these buyers were going to buy something like that ,they should of had a lawyer help them protect themselves going in .
As a buyers ,I would even put in a clause that I had a right to get my deposit back if the market value of the dwelling goes down .But,buyers don’t protect themselves in a hot market .
This sounds like one of those clauses where heads the buyer wins - tails the developer loses. What builder would agree to this type of stipulation? That’s like buying stock on margin where you stipulate that if the stock goes down, the trade gets reversed. As I see it, the buyer gets this clause in only if he agrees to buy above comparable market prices. Even that’s a big maybe.
hey should of had a lawyer help them protect themselves going in
I own property in Florida. And I’m not asking for my money back.
I’ve used an attorney at every estate closing (and during the buint process) I’ve ever done. (A total of two!) In both cases the R-E agent told me that was unncessary. That they could handle everything. And in both cases, the Attorney more than earned his money by finding problems in the offer or the contract, or zoning issues, etc, that the agent “missed.”
Certainly someone planning an investment of over a million dollars should spend $5,000 on a lawyer before she gets into it.
And to continue my General Motors analogy, GM also had a slick shiny brochure–the annual report–when they sold me their stock at 60.
I’ve always had legal representation myself and I think it is a good thing. Contracts are always one-sided when one side is in the driver’s seat, as many builders were during the bubble. I wouldn’t sign a builder’s contract without legal counsel. And I definitely wouldn’t sign any contract without making it contingent on very specific financing.
I agree palmetto . I’m sure during the boom if a buyer tried to get protective clauses in a contract they would not of been sucessfull because people were standing in line to sign these contracts .
My point is that if you have to compromise on good business practice and protection for yourself regarding future events (that we all see happened ) than the investment is to risky .
I have never engaged in a real estate contract without defining the max. interest rate I would pay before closing, along with alot of other protections .
I would require even more protections regarding a pre-construction long term contract into the future .
Zhange Fei…I understand your point about the heads or tails concept ,but the way these pre-construction contracts were written ,it was a total you win in favor of the builder . Your talking about a contract written two years into the future . Some of these buyers can’t even obtain financing now .Maybe a disclosure should of been given by the builder ,in big bold letter, that the deposit would not be refunded in the event that financing changes,interest rates go up , or the market prices drop ,or words of that nature (maybe that clause is in those contracts).
Sure these buyers are “remore buyers “who thought the market prices would go to the sky ,and cheap financing would be available, thats why I’m curious how the Courts are going to rule on these cases .The lawyers are going to be picking these contracts apart to see if any loopholes are there .
Maybe the builder should just charge the reduced market price for the place because of the extreme market change ,but still alot of buyers would try to get out of the contract knowing that they can’t flip the place for a profit . It’s a bad situation for all when markets crash in a extreme way . I think contract law will prevail however .
“My point is that if you have to compromise on good business practice and protection for yourself regarding future events (that we all see happened ) than the investment is to risky .”
I agree, if an opportunity is that “hot”, then walk away, because you’re sure to get burned.
RE: I think contract law will prevail however .
I agree Wiz…gonna be a lot of shocked and dazed people out there, stuck not only with their real estate white elephants, but also a huge legal bill!
A fool and his money are soon parted.
Talk about a dark hole.
RE: I think contract law will prevail however .
When I bought property in Florida I spent over two years finding buildable land in Orange County that wasn’t encumbered by CC&Rs and a Home Owners Association. Why? Because I wanted some unique features, like a light-colored roof (for energy efficiency) and the ability to have solar electric panels on my roof.
After all, I thought, the neighbors bought homes with stupid contractual provisions that would prevent their abilities to do things ranging from installing solar panels and choosing their roof color, to flying the American Flag!
So my property in my opinion had unique value because I was free to do these things.
So what did so-called conservative Jeb Bush do? He made provisions in CC&Rs against solar panels and American Flags illegal. (It still may be tough to have a white roof, though, in most “gated” communities)
This angered me! If people were foolish enough to enter in to a stupid contract fully informed, then they should deal with the consequences. If people agreed to “no flag flying” (I suppose because they hate America!) then who is Jeb Bush to undo a legally bounded contract.
While I’m being a bit silly here, I fully expect legislators on both sides of the aisle to disregard existing contracts. And that, IMHO, can start a major socioeconomic decline. If you can’t count on our Government to uphold your right to have a contract, what’s the point of doing business in the United States of America?
But isn’t THAT the basis for the lawsuit, that liquidated damage claims are not even to both sides.
I agree she was speculating buying 2 condoze I think her case would be stronger is she bought one. And now can’t qualify for the loan.
================
To me the problem is the one-sided type contract writing that you get during a mania or frenzy on construction that isn’t due to close for years in the future .
That’s what I was thinking, That and where did this ignorant woman get that kind of cash? Drug dealer,Ex-husbands money from divorce settlements. I’m still laughing my ass off from when my ex insisted she buy me out and keep the house. She even lowered child support in lieu of me signing off on her new loan. I tried to get her to just sell and wait but she had a new boyfriend and dollar signs in her eyes. After I signed she laughed at me and said You stupid bastard just gave away a million dollars. Now new b-f is in foreclosure on 2 specs he bought in Sacramento and she has little equity after 3yrs of monster house payments and heloc. Still waiting to buy back my house at a substantial discount.
Check out this Bank REO in Highland Beach. Purchased in April 2004 for $1,330,000. Currently owned by US Bank. http://www.pbcgov.com/papa/aspx/web/detail_info.aspx?p_entity=24434704530002070&geonav=Y&styp=general&owner=&city=-1&zip=&method=address&cidx=-1&sdiv=&sdivnam=&stno=3720&pdir=S&st=ocean&strnm=&sufx=&ptdir=&cty=&rng=&twp=&sct=&blk=&lot=&book=&page=&tangid=&condo=&condoname=&use=&usnam=&sloc=&prd=&pedir=S&podir=&famt=&tamt=&fsqft=&tsqft=&srt1=&srt2=&srt3=&stpage=50&adlfilter=
Currently list for $569,000 http://palmbeach.expertrealty.com/highland-beach/condo-details/r2812210-toscana-3720-s-ocean-207
That is 43% of the original price. So what do you think all of the other 26 other units currently for sale are worth?
I found a similar unit that is also REO http://www.pbcgov.com/papa/aspx/web/detail_info.aspx?p_entity=24434704530005060&geonav=Y&styp=general&owner=&city=-1&zip=&method=address&cidx=-1&sdiv=&sdivnam=&stno=3720&pdir=S&st=ocean&strnm=&sufx=&ptdir=&cty=&rng=&twp=&sct=&blk=&lot=&book=&page=&tangid=&condo=&condoname=&use=&usnam=&sloc=&prd=&pedir=S&podir=&famt=&tamt=&fsqft=&tsqft=&srt1=&srt2=&srt3=&stpage=50&adlfilter=
This bank is asking $899,000 http://palmbeach.expertrealty.com/highland-beach/condo-details/f818560-toscana-3720-s-ocean-bl-506
Which one do you think will sell first?
I find it amazing that some banks are holding on to prices that are no longer realistic.
I remember when $1,000,000 homes were “untouchable”. These houses weren’t meant for the wealthy. “Wealthy” is the key word. These wealthy people had the money to put a big down and the income to keep up with the mortgages.
I saw young couples only making $100,000 buying $1Mil homes in the BA. The only people that can bail them out is to fleece their parents. Crazy
Sorry, 1 Mill dollar homes were meant for the wealthy.
Nope - 1 Mill dollar houses are meant for low class riff raff posers with access to neg am adjustable rate mortgages.
Depends on the condition. Remember the guy that took the plumbing, broke the windows, trashed the pool and left pigs in the house. A lot of REO’s are like that. In single family homes the house next door might be $200k more, but the REO would have to be bulldozed over or burned to the ground and rebuilt. I know everyone wants a great deal, but please be very careful out there. I’ve been in some bad REO’s. One had no electric and the basement was pitch black. The other realtor didn’t tell us there was 2 feet of water in the basement. One house had 200 bats living in the attic. Another had dead rats and a dead cat in the basement. Some had walls covered with mold; the whole house was black inside. Many were winterized and when someone bought them and turned on the water all the pipes burst. Another’s septic didn’t work, but the bank didn’t have to disclose ($20k to put in a new one in our area). I’ve seen divorces where the wife went in and took a sledge hammer to all the walls, woodwork, and cupboards the morning of closing after the final walk thru. They don’t always mail back all the keys. These were the years prior to the bubble. Imagine how mad these screwed homeowners are going to be now, and guess where they’re going to take their anger out. Get a good home inspector and research that title to make sure that the person’s name on the deed actually owns the property. I don’t want to see people who have been patient to buy get burned.
Don’t forget glueing the windows shut. Pouring cement down the toilet and having it setup in the pipes. Round Up weed killer in the planters and yards. Rotten food in the refrigerator,dishwasher,stove,cupboards, (if they actually left them). You definately need an inspection with water and power on.
“Standard-Pacific lost $24.6- million in its Southeast division and, in a note to its shareholders, singled out Tampa for dragging down business.”
Here that, fellow Tampa Bay residents? We’re dragging down home builders. That’ll teach them to build around here. Take that, builders!
That’s what they get for building Million Dollar homes down in Ruskin.
LMAO, Tom, I couldn’t believe it when I saw the developers going to town around here. I was, to say the least, completely stunned. Million dollar homes in Ruskin. And have you seen “Little Harbor”? I nearly lost it when I saw the billboards go up for that place. A man and a woman, dressed in white and walking barefoot on the beach, as if they were on a permanent Caribbean vacation. What the billboard doesn’t tell you is that you don’t even want to dip your foot in that water, unless you want about six different kinds of cancer or other diseases caused by toxins drifting down from the Port, TECO plant, sulfur plants, dysfunctional de-sal plant (what a boondoggle that was and it STILL ain’t working right), gypsum plants, phosphate processors, etc. And that’s just what I know about. And if you own a boat, you’d better be lighting some candles that the phosphate processors don’t have another acid spill that will rot your hull and dock out.
MiraBay, that’s another rich one. I about crapped my shorts when this nice little gal, a local health care worker, told me proudly she had purchased in there with her sister, also in health care. I’ll bet they got an ARM. Sheesh.
I have a friend who bought two investment properties in MiraBay. He bought another down the street. He is drowning in debt. He decided to walk away from his job as a mortgage broker and has been in law school for 6 mos. I think all his homes are in the process of foreclosure.
Don’t get me started on MiraBay, but since you did, here goes: MiraBay is essentially built on fill over a very low lying section of land. When they first started building there back in 2000, 2001, I spoke to one long time local who shook his head and wondered if people who bought there knew what would happen to the land during a good moon tide combined with a storm. In other words, it’s pretty much coastal swamp and locals have seen that land flooded from time to time over the years.
When MiraBay went into the pre-construction sales phase, people were camping out overnight to purchase and then flipping their contracts, that’s how crazy it was. “The last undeveloped waterfront property in Tampa Bay” was the battle cry. So MiraBay led the bubble in this area and then any waterfront area around here skyrocketed. Local fishing tackle and bait shops disappeared along with boat ramps and a rustic watering hole or two. Everything became faux Key West and faux lighthouse.
Oh, Tom, forgot to tell you, Toll has ads in the Sunday paper for half a mill “luxury” homes across 41 from MiraBay. Hold me back, boys! I’m not sure I can restrain myself.
“Don’t get me started on MiraBay, but since you did, here goes…”
ROFL.
Palmetto — digressing a bit, but still in Florida (Orlando/Kissimmee): Before Disney, there was a vast tract of land on either side of South 441, from Tupperware north to Sand Lake Road. Other than Gatorland and a tractor/mower sales & repair place, there was nothing at all along that strip. On the west side during rainy season, you could see the reflection of water among the cypress trees, virtually all the way between Tupperware and Sand Lake. Now there is a vast development called Hunter’s Creek sitting on top of that very low land. They apparently got a break when Charlie came through, but I’d think that some day there might be a slower-moving mega-rain hurricane that could put much of that area under water. Hope those folks have flood insurance.
Charlie came through, but I’d think that some day there might be a slower-moving mega-rain hurricane that could put much of that area under water. Hope those folks have flood insurance.
When got our Florida home architected, we wanted a pier foundation, instead of on a slab. (Fortunately, our land isn’t in a deed-restricted HOA-ruled community, so we can build the house we want).
I’m not talking about putting the house up 10′—just 2 feet or so above the ground. This is the way people USED to build houses.
There are two benefits: Access to the bottom of the house for repairs (try fixing plumbing in a slab house), and flood protection.
It was hard to find builders when getting bids who didn’t try to talk us out of it!
(We decided to wait on the build–it’s to be a retirement home–for the prices to drop! When we priced the build back in 2005 the quotes we got were unbelievable. Since we plan to spend our own money and actually live in the house, we simply decided to wait until times got more rational. I think at least another year or two is warranted.)
Chip, you probably know this, but Florida’s land is essentially like a shallow bowl, with ridges surrounding lower lying area in the center of the state. Typically, the center of the state is pocked with lakes in many areas, like in Polk County. Not to mention that massive development changes flooding patterns. Some people who thought they were high and dry all of a sudden find themselves sloshing around in ankle deep water after a storm, or looking anxiously as the water from a nearby pond or lake encroaches. This summer has been unusually dry. But watch out when we get another major rainy season.
Here is some real price drops.
Check out this Bank REO in Highland Beach. Purchased in April 2004 for $1,330,000. Currently owned by US Bank. http://www.pbcgov.com/papa/aspx/web/detail_info.aspx?p_entity=24434704530002070&geonav=Y&styp=general&owner=&city=-1&zip=&method=address&cidx=-1&sdiv=&sdivnam=&stno=3720&pdir=S&st=ocean&strnm=&sufx=&ptdir=&cty=&rng=&twp=&sct=&blk=&lot=&book=&page=&tangid=&condo=&condoname=&use=&usnam=&sloc=&prd=&pedir=S&podir=&famt=&tamt=&fsqft=&tsqft=&srt1=&srt2=&srt3=&stpage=50&adlfilter=
Currently list for $569,000 http://palmbeach.expertrealty.com/highland-beach/condo-details/r2812210-toscana-3720-s-ocean-207
That is 43% of the original price. So what do you think all of the other 26 other units currently for sale are worth?
I found a similar unit that is also REO http://www.pbcgov.com/papa/aspx/web/detail_info.aspx?p_entity=24434704530005060&geonav=Y&styp=general&owner=&city=-1&zip=&method=address&cidx=-1&sdiv=&sdivnam=&stno=3720&pdir=S&st=ocean&strnm=&sufx=&ptdir=&cty=&rng=&twp=&sct=&blk=&lot=&book=&page=&tangid=&condo=&condoname=&use=&usnam=&sloc=&prd=&pedir=S&podir=&famt=&tamt=&fsqft=&tsqft=&srt1=&srt2=&srt3=&stpage=50&adlfilter=
This bank is asking $899,000 http://palmbeach.expertrealty.com/highland-beach/condo-details/f818560-toscana-3720-s-ocean-bl-506
Which one do you think will sell first?
I find it amazing that some banks are holding on to prices that are no longer realistic.
I don’t care if the Condo went for 100 grand, you can’t get financing for Condos in FL.
What do you think happened to all the Soccer Moms who pooled together to dabble in condo investing? Do you think their husbands are leaving them?
They’re getting shock therapy like in Requiem for a Dream.
More likely that the Soccer Moms are finding a way to accuse their husbands of abusing them and their kids, and putting the guys in jail (or at least debt forever), with no chance of ever seeing their kids again. I’m pretty sure Suzanne researched that.
Also, many of the “pools of soccer moms” commited R-E fraud to buy the homes. For example, they claimed they intend to live in the house to qualify for government-backed mortgages. And are they deducting the interest payments somehow, as if it’s a primary or secondary residence, and not an income property? Did they misstate their income?
I’m a strong believer in the “clean hands” theory. If you don’t have “clean hands”, then your rights to sue (or even complain) go away.
Yeah, watch for more marriage fraud like this, soccer mom wannabes getting divorced to get the debt slave ex plus the new live-in boyfriend and his salary too.
Has the condo financing totally dried up in FL. If so condos will be selling for $.25 on the dollar.
“Jo Lynne Navarro wants her $270,000 back. ”
That’s an interesting story. A judge has already ruled in favor of developers regarding the two year completion rule, so that kinda raises the bar for Jo Lynne even though it wasn’t binding on other cases. This will keep a lot of lawyers busy for a while. In reality, since Jo Lynne decided to double down, she should be happy she’s not making full boat payments on 1.35 million dollars. Had the market kept up it’s psychotic appreciation, she would be shopping right now instead of fretting every single second of her miserable life.
“We haven’t had the kind of market we’ve had, where buyers get cold feet and don’t want to buy,” Miller said. “I’ve never seen anything like it in my 25 years in the business.”
The lawyers are the ones who are the real winners. LMAO!
I should have gone to law school.
Lawyer ads will be replacing all the mortgage ads on TV and the internet.
No kidding. I want that $5K back that I sank into a pre-ipo company that bellied up. Who can I sue!
From Shiller -
Shiller: Futures markets are predicting declines, but the futures markets go out only one year. However, starting September 17, they go out five years; we’ll have a better idea of what people think is reasonable. I have a scenario in mind in which it could go down a lot. That possibility doesn’t seem to be mentioned very often. I’m surprised it doesn’t, because it happened before, at least for individual cities. That could have big effects, of course, on the economy.
First of all, it would cause homeowners to default in great numbers. This hasn’t happened yet. We’ve seen defaults rise, but home prices haven’t fallen very much. If there were big drops in home prices, we’d see a lot more defaults. In the Great Depression in the 1930s, home prices in nominal terms fell 25% and there was a huge rash of mortgage defaults. But that was also caused by unemployment.
Palmetto
I’m coming to your rescue in Tampa Bay - gonna build more strip clubs & pawn shops. One on every corner now doesnt meet the demand. And to prime the pump gonna throw in a few check cashing places too.
Oh yes, cant forget the obligitory liquor store. (We have one of those in every single strip mall here in CA.)
I was looking for a place to locate a small business … scouted around for awhile & realized there are about 3-4 types of stores in EVERY SINGLE STRIP MALLl: nails, check cashing, booze.
I weep for our nation.
“gonna build more strip clubs”
Dang, Aqius, you shoulda told us you were Joe Redner. Seriously, though, interesting observation about the nail salons. Until you mentioned it, I didn’t realize there were so many and indeed there are.
Nail Salons are staffed by by illegal aliens from China. They have to work there until they’ve paid off their “coyotes”.
Huh, in West Roxbury the nail salon was owned and operated by Koreans.
What is up with nail jobs? I mean, men notice hair, for sure, but those nasty extended painted nails look more like weapons to me.
Nail Salons are staffed by by illegal aliens from China. They have to work there until they’ve paid off their “coyotes”.
“Coyotes” refers to people who smuggle Mexicans. The Chinese human smugglers are known as “Snakeheads”.
I’m curious to see how the crash is going to affect the nail painting business. Several of my wifes friends (all Vietnamese) have temporarily moved out of state to do nails because there has been so much money to be made and they are paid cash (lots of it). I’m thinking that it all has to do with same excess spending resulting from the housing bubble, and that nail businesses (like many others) will take a serious hit. Here come the lipstick sales.
They all get lung disease working around those fumes for 10 hours/day, 6 days/wk. I would not do it…
No town in Florida is complete without an adult video store. Maybe that’s why Southern Pacific is having problems.
Except Polk county. They have managed to get all of them closed down years ago. Ironically, the last adult store to close became a gay church.
I wonder why that is … don’t they know how to use the internets?
In my hold neighborhood in Loudoun, VA, they built a new strip mall across the street from the one that already existed. The old one contained a pub, a grocery story, a Chinese restaurant, a nail salon, and a dry cleaner.
We were really looking forward to the new stores — and we we’re really hoping for a badly needed bookstore. Instead, the new tenants were a nail salon, dry cleaner, and Chinese restaurant, so now we had two of each.
A book store in Loudoun? You mean they read something other than the Washington Times and the Nickel Trader there?
Hehe! I was in Illinois for a while, and the Borders there kept trying to get me to get a Borders card or something. I explained to them that I wasn’t from around there, and where I lived, there were no bookstore.
They didn’t believe me. So, we went into their system and looked it up: 15 miles to the nearest bookstore (intersection of 50 & 29 in Fairfax), and, no, Books-a-million doesn’t count.
We’ve got one of the largest concentrations of PhDs around here, but I swear the whole DC metro area is ignorant and uncultured.
Will you people please slow down???? I’m still trying to catch up with all the postings from yesterday. Go outside for a few minutes and enjoy the day while Blano catches up.
Chuckles.
“‘We haven’t had a normal market since 2002,’ Rose said.”
Even that’s a stretch — here in central Florida I can remember reading phrases like “red hot market” in 2000 and in particular hearing from a friend out of state who heard that Sarasota values were predicted to outpace most other areas.
As far as I can tell, the entire non-tourism economy of Florida is based entirely on people buying and selling “investment homes” to each other. Look at the county sales records for Orange County, for example, and just watch the property move back and forth.
Sounds like Arizona’s economy.
Yes, minus the huricanes and ocean.
The rest of the non-tourism economy of South Florida is based on fraud. Insurance fraud, mortgage fraud, medicare fraud, tax fraud, political fraud. If the Feds could get rid of 50% of the fraud in South Florida, the place would collapse.
Yes, well, tell it to Charlie Crist. He’s governor now, but he was Attorney General during the bubble. So he’s inherited the mess he made by looking the other way. Good on ya, Charlie. Interesting that Jeb Bush is using the lecture circuit to take what seems to be a swipe at Crist. Oh, and they fixed the insurance crisis so well, that the insurance companies are now going for more rate hikes. LMAO!
Except for fraud, half this country would be unemployed.
That’s it, reuven. Florida’s big “economic boom” was entirely RE dependent. They thought it would go on forever. Stupid, stupid, stupid. But it wasn’t just Florida that was touted as having an economic boom. When I watched Tom Brokaw’s puke-inducing program on illegal immigration, he was touting Colorado’s “booming economy” and how illegals should be legalized to keep the economy going there. They were all employed in construction. Part of what encouraged the builders to build like there was no tomorrow was the flood of cheap labor. For what? Houses, houses, houses that nobody really needed in the first place.
“Most analysts predict the new home market won’t reach a healthy balance until 2009, when buyers and sellers can meet at prices that please both sides.”
I think I’ll wait til 2010 then …until prices please only us BUYERS.
“…until prices please only us BUYERS.”
Dan — it took a couple of years, but I finally convinced my wife of that. To me, it’s ironic that my time to buy is when the traditional rent ratios are back in line, but it seems likely that the sellers will think they are being screwed … as if it’s my fault they overpaid or didn’t get the profit they felt entitled to.
TXChic,
Should I sell AAPL now? I bought at $114 during the big sell off awhile back and it’s finally pushing $150.
Tom, I’m not tx and I don’t give investment advise, but a wise man once said “You can never get hurt by taking a profit”.
It’s breaking out technically. I wouldn’t touch it but you could either trail a stop or sell some probably overpriced October calls.
They report earnings in October. Mac sells are way up. They also have new machines and a new OS coming out and that should hype it up even further.
I simply do not understand nail salons. Craziness! Gluing colored fake keratin points onto your own hands, in a voluntary crippling of effective hand action. A few days ago I was at a friends house and she was trying to tie a little bow on a gift basket, pawing away ineffectually at the simple little ribbon, and I sat there trying not to develop a major tic until I finally just leaped up and grabbed it away from her and tied the damn little bow myself. Jeeze.
And think of all the money those fake nails waste! Money that could be better spent on pretty shoes, candy, and beer. Now THOSE things are a good use of money, I think we can all agree.
Sorry–that was supposed to post further up, to something palmy said about nail salons in strip malls.
Yeah, fake nails kill productivity.
So ladies, do you get your nails done for the job interview or do you pass out of fear they may not hire you?
You know, I bet very few of the lady bloggers here wear fake nails. As you say, they kill productivity.
I mean, heck, txchick brings her cats to go watch hurricanes! I bet if someone walked up and suggested fake nails for her, she’d just reach on over and bust their fingers like little snap peas.
that’s right. I can say with all honesty that I have never had fake nails. Paying for that would send me to the rubber room.
Ditto…and I might add, my nails are real and registered as lethal weapons…LOL.
I hate fake nails. I am pretty sure that only the people who get them, like them. Not other females. Certainly not men….
I wear acrylic nails, even though I have disgustingly healthy natural nails.
When I broke myself of biting my nails in high school, I did it by obsessively manicuring my nails. Eventually that warped into picking my hangnails until they bleed. Seriously, I have scar tissue down to my last knuckles.
Acrylics blunt my nails sufficiently that I can’t pick at my hands. (Also, the manicure cleans up any rough edges I might pick at.)
I always have to argue with the manicurist, though, about the final nail length. I can’t type as well once they get about 1/8″ past the tips of my fingers, so I have them ground down almost to the quick.
So gentlemen, do you get your nails done for the job interview or do you pass out of fear that they may not hire you?
I get a manicure. Gotta keep those cuticles in good shape.
KIDDING lol
Shucks — I thought they were to get 4-5 extra peanuts with each scoop.
Has anyone noticed most of the fake nails you see are on cashiers in stores. How do they run the registers? I’d check my sales slip. Plus where do they get the money to pay for them. They have to be filled every two weeks for $25, probably $50 or $75 in expensive areas. I don’t know what the fascination is, or who would want to take the time and smell the fumes. If I’m going to waste time & money give me a spa anyday. At least I’ll be relaxed instead of high.
Olympiagal,you always get me laughing .
I had some fake nails for my wedding - I spent most of the time (until I wiped them off with acetone) feeling like one of those Mandarin emperors - foot long nails and no way of opening doors for myself. Working with my hands all the time, I like having short, unvarnished nails.
As for nail salons - my experience in L.A is that they are exclusively staffed by Vietnamese ladies, not Chinese.
Actually, I treat myself to a pedicure once a month in the summer - they always do a better job that I can do myself.
watch out for the cooties in the foot baths…
I like having short, unvarnished nails.
Me too. No maintenance except to occassionally file a snag.
only the beer can we agree upon
“‘We typically receive between 75 percent and 90 percent of the purchase price from our Fort Myers customers via their construction loans,’ he said. ‘However, given that the market has deteriorated so significantly in Fort Myers, many buyers are now refusing to convert to permanent financing where we would receive the balance of our sales price. They are effectively defaulting on their construction loan. Therefore it is likely that we will not receive the balance of the purchase price on many of these homes.’”
Translation: “We typically submitted fraudulent building contract’s to the construction lender so the customer could build a home with no down. We figured the “appreciation” would allow him to refi the construction loan with enough cash out to pay us. Now he can’t get a permanent loan. What do we do?
“
Check this, from a Florida paper today:
http://tinyurl.com/2hwxbw
The HUD Secretary apparently said, in Singapore, that the US mortgage default rate is stabilizing. The implication is that the “stabilizing” is tied to the Fed Funds rate cut of a few days ago. So…they can come up with mind-boggling statistics over a weekend, but Fannie can’t balance its books in a couple of years.
As in, I call B.S. on the “stabilizing.”
Or, as someone else said in Bits Bucket, stabilizing at a permanently high plateau. Seriously, though, with the re-sets about to break in October, no one could say this with a straight face.
What else is she going to say? If she told the truth, all foreigners would be running for the exit.
Perhaps she worked for the Iraqi Information Minister (under Saddam) prior to this job.
If she told the truth, all foreigners would be running for the exit.
The Truth will send everyone running for the exits..
Such a stampede might be fun to watch were it not for the fact that nobody is protected in such an event.. not the rich nor the poor, invested in RE or stocks or gold or foreign currency or not.. saver or spender, working or jobless, govt or private sector..
Yes, like the famous line by the Prince in Romeo and Juliet: “All are punish-ed”.
This is “Singapore Rose,” broadcasting live to all you lonely FBs.
Maybe we could get her face on a playing card. I know we can make money making decks of cards like the ones from Iraq. Mortgage brokers on one deck, realtors on another, victims, scammers, hedge fund managers…the possibilities are endless.
Subprime mortgages must stay despite the current crisis as they play an important role in increasing U.S. home ownership, Williams also said.
Our tax dollars at work. We’re paying someone to work for HUD that has NO CLUE about housing, loans, the economy or probably even how to find her way home. How stupid could one person be.
A few hours ago, in bits bucket, I requested more entertainment in the form of writhing misery for builders and developers, and also some scrambled eggs since I was still hungry.
I see the writhing misery– thank you, Ben! You are a considerate fellow.
(But where’s my scrambled eggs?)
Ok, I’m all caught up now. Please continue posting.
Freeloading spec flippers deserve to be burned. greedy dopes!
LOL!
The Florida legislators just got their wrist’s slapped. The real estate tax amendment was rejected by a judge for poorly worded and misleading language.
http://tinyurl.com/2wnma5
How about jumping off a tall building….oh wait, it would probably be locked up in foreclosure.