The Market Isn’t What It Was In California
The San Francisco Chronicle reports from California. “A year and a half ago, Saverio Bellomo and his wife, Amy Robinson Bellomo, thought about selling their house. A real estate agent urged them to list it at $930,000. They decided to hold off for a while. Big mistake. Today, their two-story stucco house in American Canyon is on the market for $868,000.”
“‘Obviously, we’d love to sell high but we have to be realistic,’ said Robinson Bellomo, who has lived in the house since it was built five years ago. ‘The market isn’t what it was a year and a half ago.’”
“When the Bellomos bought their house in 2002…they paid $424,000. The Bellomos…upgraded cabinets and added granite in the kitchen, placed an inlay in the foyer’s hardwood floor and added marble and granite slabs in the bathrooms.”
“Saverio Bellomo got his dream library-study with built-in cabinets and the couple added expensive Venetian plaster to many of the walls in the house. The same high-end cabinets and granite countertops used in the kitchen were installed in the laundry room. Every closet got a built-in closet organizer. New built-up baseboard and crown moulding was installed throughout the house.”
“The Bellomos declined to say how much they paid to make the renovations but admitted that even if the house fetches full price they won’t break even. ‘Upgrades are very difficult to value,’ said Napa Valley Realtor David Barker. ‘So much of what people do to their homes they won’t get a return on.’”
The Sacramento Bee. “In the Sacramento region last year, about one of every six homeowners spent more than half his or her gross income on housing, according to a Bee analysis of new census data. That’s 30 percent higher than the 2005 rate, and almost double the 2000 rate.”
“Due largely to an adjustable-rate mortgage, the Cavanesses’ house payments had grown $200 a month, to $2,300 including taxes and homeowner’s insurance — about 60 percent of their $3,800 monthly gross income. Ultimately they defaulted on their loan and last week their home went up for public auction.”
“‘I feel like someone said, ‘Here’s a shovel. Dig yourself a hole,’ Christina Cavaness said.”
“Shortly after they bought their Orangevale home, in 2001, increasing housing prices presented that opportunity to use equity in their home to supplement their income. It worked well for several years. The family refinanced their house at least twice, David Cavaness said, as its value increased. Their cycle became build equity, cash out, repeat.”
“‘We paid off two cars,’ Christina Cavaness said. ‘We paid off some credit cards. We were just trying to survive.’”
“The Baileys made the mistake of refinancing at the height of the housing boom. Now, their mortgage payment is set to increase in October from about $2,700 to $3,400. During a slow month, that’s about half their income.”
“Mary Bailey now knows the monthly payments will increase even more — every six months, according to her reading of the loan. And the property values in the couple’s North Natomas neighborhood are falling, so they figure selling won’t even cover their debt.”
“‘I think everybody is to blame,’ Mary Bailey said. ‘Us for signing the documents. Shame on us, we shouldn’t have. But (the lenders) have also helped to create the problem.’”
The Ventura County Star. “Ventura County’s foreclosure sales spiked 784 percent to 548 from January to June, compared with 62 for the same period a year ago — according to the Real Estate Research Council at California State Polytechnic University, Pomona.”
“Kay Wilson-Bolton, broker in Santa Paula, has dealt with 38 foreclosed properties from February through mid-September, ranging from a $230,000 condominium in Port Hueneme to a $1.15 million house in Simi Valley.”
“‘There’s a flood on the way,’ she said.”
“For Alvarado, it was a combination of many factors that cost him. The maintenance technician bought the home in December 2002. He scraped together the $2,700 monthly payment by pooling resources with several other adults living in the house.”
“But he later took out a $100,000 home equity loan to pay for various expenses, including property taxes. ‘The money went fast,’ he said.”
“‘I feel bad, but I don’t have a choice,’ said Alvarado, who has to move by Oct. 18. ‘I want to keep my home, but it’s too late.’”
“‘Sylvia,’ a Ventura County resident who asked for anonymity…and her husband purchased their house nine years ago for about $200,000. They borrowed against it a couple of times for upgrades and to start a business. When the business failed about two years ago, Sylvia became a Realtor. In early 2006, they refinanced again in a subprime loan.”
“When the interest rate adjusted, their payments ballooned from $2,000 to $4,150 a month. The family could not keep up. As the market softened, members became ‘upside down’ on their home, owing more than what they could sell it for.”
“Sylvia and her husband decided foreclosure was the most viable solution. Her family moved out of their home July 1. Their monthly rent of $1,800 is much more manageable.”
“‘I’d rather rent a home that’s nice and be comfortable, than own a home that’s a burden and struggle,’ Sylvia said.”
“In most markets, a spike in foreclosures provides a better opportunity to score a deal on a house, but it is not necessarily the case in Ventura County.”
“Erik J. Beckstrom, an auctioneer who handles trustee sales, has seen a growing crowd congregate at public auctions held weekdays outside the Ventura County Government Center. There’s been a 50 percent increase in trustee sales during the past three months, he said.”
“But bargains are difficult to find as banks try to recover the total amount owed on homes, leaving a small margin of potential profit for people interested in capitalizing on an investment.”
“Dan Bruce was hoping to bid on a home for his daughter in his housing development. At most, he was planning to bid $1.25 million on a home that he estimated had a market value of $1.75 million to $2 million. Bruce thought the asking price of $1.3 million was too steep, considering it was a blind purchase.”
“He learned the house had been trashed by its former owners, and he had no idea how much he would have to pay in back property taxes. ‘Wait until 2009, it’ll be $800,000,’ another person half-jokingly told him.”
“Dave Kingston, a real estate investor from Oxnard who has been flipping homes since 1971, regularly attends the auction sales in hopes of scooping up deals.”
“But with four unsold homes in his inventory, Kingston is hesitant to buy more. He says he’s discounted most of the properties to a point where he might lose money when they sell. He also expects home prices to drop 10 to 15 percent in the next six to eight months.”
“‘This market is unbelievable,’ he said. ‘There are so many houses for sale.’”
The Union Tribune. “Leti Moreno recalled getting caught up in the excitement yesterday as she bid on a three-bedroom Encanto townhome during an auction of new dwellings built by D.R. Horton.”
“Moreno, who rents in the College Area, said she offered $230,000 for a three-bedroom unit. On the advice of her real estate agent, she stopped bidding when the price climbed higher. The unit finally sold for $250,000, she said.”
“‘It was a little overwhelming,’ Moreno said outside the auction. ‘You know how fast those auctioneers talk.’”
“Real estate agent Steven Moran said fast-paced bidding can be confusing. Some bidders weren’t aware that properties have unpublished minimum reserve prices that may be higher than the starting bid, Moran said.”
“Moreno said she could afford to wait for a better deal because, with the housing boom over, home prices have begun falling in San Diego County. ‘We are in a different market,’ she said.”
“In the Sacramento region last year, about one of every six homeowners spent more than half his or her gross income on housing, according to a Bee analysis of new census data. That’s 30 percent higher than the 2005 rate, and almost double the 2000 rate.”
This is indeed gross — and a natural consequence of affordable housing policy designed to encourage households to buy homes they cannot afford. Thank you HUD, Fannie and Freddie.
gov help = disaster
so the gov will spend even more
It’s even worse when you consider how many of us (myself included) work in the construction or real estate industries. As the layoffs continue throughout 2008, a lot of households that currently appear to be holding their own will become distressed home-owners.
My best guess is that there’s a 50% chance that I’d get laid-off at some point in 2008. Rather than stick my head in the sand and pretend that it wasn’t so, I’m going to actively look for a new job once we get passed the holidays. Most of my co-workers don’t even want to consider the possibility.
But even if I stay and were to get laid-off, my wife and I could restructure our monthly expenses so that her salary (high school teacher) could cover everything. Things would be tight, but we could survive indefinitely on just her salary. But most of my co-workers are stretched to the brink, living paycheck to paycheck. And not just the admin clerks and warehous grunts, there are project managers and engineers who would be screwed if they were laid-off.
So far, Sacramento homes have lost about 15% off peak. If the region doesn’t find itself in a recession, then we’re probably looking at declines of another 15-20% and we’ll hit bottom sometime in late 2008 or early 2009.
Yet given the exposure of so many households to high-risk industries like construction and financial services, I’m virtually certain that a recession will imperil a good number of households who might have otherwise weathered this. When that happens, the bottom will completely fall out of the local housing market as young professional households flee to more prosperous areas of the country. And then we’re looking at 50%+ drops in housing with no end in sight for the better part of a decade. Which is to say, even the best-capitalized and positioned households who survive the waves of foreclosures and layoffs will be unable to sell their homes for 10+ years.
All of which is to say, I’m glad we’re renters.
Good luck, Walt. (I have been on the receiving end of industry downturns, and it is no fun at all…)
I wonder where those more prosperous areas are though. From what I’ve been reading no area is totally immune.
I worked in sales at disney earning commissioned pay during 2000. Early in the year the dot com busted, and the common news was we were in a recession so business was slow. Then we had the September 11th attacks, and tourism pretty much halted abruptly. In the months after things slowly picked up, and after a couple of years we were back to normal.
That whole period really sucked for me. Fortunately now, I neither work in the tourism or the real estate industries. However, I believe this will get much uglier than the dot com bubble, and the pain will be spread out over a longer period of time. Thus, I fully expect competition for most jobs in many areas to greatly increase as real estate devalues.
Walt,
The exodus from the Sacramento area began in 02′ by families that felt displaced by people and money coming from the Bat area. That outmigration excellerated in 04-05 but because of how USC collects data, we won’t really see it expressed in what I call “playschool” numbers until the 07-08 estimates.
Welcome back Gwynster.
Did Moses ok this?
Thanks for the great post. Start looking for the new job ASAP since a lot of construction workers and mortgage brokers are already looking. It is going to get ugly in Sac. and will be a great time to buy a jet ski, fishing boat or Harley in the next couple years…
Anyone who thinks this doesn’t understand where the true costs of these toys lie.
Why bottom in 2008/2009?
Good question - and I think what most people mean when they say “bottom out” is that real estate prices will begin rising again. On the contrary, if indeed prices will “bottom out” in 2008, 09, or ‘10, then we are looking at another 5-7 years without price increases. That means there will be NO RETURN to rising house prices for the near term.
This is indeed gross — and a natural consequence of affordable housing policy designed to encourage households to buy homes they cannot afford. Thank you HUD, Fannie and Freddie.
The problem isn’t so much that these government policies and programs encourage people to buy houses they can’t afford, but that said policies and programs (including tax advantages on mortgage interest, tax-free profits from selling ones primary residence and so on) causes house prices to appreciate. Here’s an analogy: if the government said, “To encourage home ownership we will give every first time homebuyer $5,000,” what do you think would happen to the prices of homes? They would go up $5,000 across the board!!
“…said policies and programs…cause house prices to appreciate.”
Agreed! The policies are all the worse for encouraging low- to moderate-income households to buy houses they cannot afford as the key driver behind unaffordable pricing, helping said households down the road to financial self-destruction in the process.
To fix this issue, the government is trying to lower the down payment required for FHA loans to 1.5% or even no money down.
Ditto with student loans! So the administrators can spend more money on themselves ($5000 chairs). Nice.
I think this is also true to some extent with Medicare, as it keeps the price of medical equipment way high. Costs used to be kept down because hospitals were non-profits and perpetual paupers.
Now, maybe this wasn’t a bad thing overall because we get more high-tech hospitals … but the private insurers (and now the public) covering drugs, as well as the FDA allowing TV ads, has certainly raised the price of patented prescription drugs 1000% or more.
The current PPP system is a total scam, as the company makes more money if healthcare becomes more expensive. Moral hazard indeed!
This is why my Lasik eye surgery only cost me all of $2,700. This type of surgery is elective, and as such, is not paid for by any gobmint or insurance policy. No “helping hand” pushing prices up.
My eyesight is now 20/20, and I consider these $2,700 the best amount I have ever spent on myself. And my surgeon is a top eye specialist out of Vanderbuilt Medical Center in Nashville, TN. When other surgeons blind people with this technique, they send their patients to him.
This is how medical is SUPPOSED to work. Great results from competent doctors at affordable prices. The way to fix medical is to have the end user pay for it.
Got 10% down?
This is totally off topic but I have to agree with tcm_guy. My laser surgery was about the same price. Absolutely. The. Best. Money. I. Have. Ever. Spent. I can’t think of a single thing that even comes close as far as ROI/quality of life. $2700 to reverse a lifetime of crappy vision. Unbelievable. If it cost 4X that amount it would still be a bargain.
“This is why my Lasik eye surgery only cost me all of $2,700. This type of surgery is elective, and as such, is not paid for by any gobmint or insurance policy. No “helping hand” pushing prices up”
I got my lasic done this july at TLC newport beach, OC in Ca. Mine cost $5000 but of course Ca prices including housing are 2x the national average. Mine was top notch all lasic w/wavefront, the best most expensive way to go-done by one of best most experienced surgeons in CA. Will not compromise on my eyes and the operation 100% perfect and after two months no problems.
Did incure a debt of course at average 9% finance rate but the way the $ is eroding and with inflation escalating at average 7% real rate, it makes sense to finance at just above the yearly(5-10%?) percent decline of the dollar.
I invested a mere $800 for a vasectomy, unquestionably the best money spent of my entire life! Given that it costs $1 million to raise a child, even if it spared me only ONE inadvertent offspring, I earned $999,200! Far better than any stock. Highly recommended!
we did the same, only cost us a $10 co-pay! Kids cost too much!
I wanted to get Lasik. I went to the UCSanFrancisco Medical Center. It was cost $125 for the initial exam. After about 1 hour of tests, the doc says I can’t have Lasik and don’t get it even if someone else is willing to do it. I say okay and where should I pay? He said since its not my fault, I don’t own them anything! Wow
Neighbor works at a medical equipment firm specializing in detection and treatment of glaucoma. Their unadvertised, internal slogan is “As long as there is Lasik, we will always be profitable.” Seems that the likelihood of developing glaucoma goes up exponentially for people who have had this procedure done. Moral: just because you can now see 20/20 doesn’t mean you stop getting annual eye exams.
“The problem isn’t so much that these government policies and programs encourage people to buy houses they can’t afford, but that said policies and programs (including tax advantages on mortgage interest, tax-free profits from selling ones primary residence and so on) causes house prices to appreciate.”
Yes, and I would just insert “abnormally” in front of ‘appreciate.’
~Misstrial
No kidding, eh? Ya want affordable houses? Abolish the interest rate deduction, cap gains exemption, and “affordable housing” initiatives.
Oh, yeah. Abolish all political parties as well…..
Ya want affordable houses? Abolish the interest rate deduction, cap gains exemption, and “affordable housing” initiatives.
Hear, hear! Even the poor had houses, and the middle class bought houses with cash, before the gov’t “help” came along.
Section 8 is a scam too, as the LL’s get to collect well above market rate for their ratty slums. (As I’ve said before, the City managed Section 8 is decent. Mainly retirees and the disabled live in them.)
Getting rid of the interest deduction would reduce the incentive to go into debt AND knock a lot off of house prices. For this reason it will never happen … the FIREs must be continually stoked.
Still, a dyke can dream.
Ya want affordable houses? Abolish the interest rate deduction, cap gains exemption, and “affordable housing” initiatives.
“Hear, hear! Even the poor had houses, and the middle class bought houses with cash, before the gov’t “help” came along.”
I agree but you ain’t gonna convince most folks. The local news ran a warm fuzzy story just last year about how a subsitute teacher and his stay at home wifey got $100,000 in grants and interest free loans to buy a house. It was some shared appreciation cr@pola. They acted like it was the best thing since sliced bread.
Winner’s curse strikes again…
“Moreno, who rents in the College Area, said she offered $230,000 for a three-bedroom unit. On the advice of her real estate agent, she stopped bidding when the price climbed higher. The unit finally sold for $250,000, she said.”
How ’bout this comment by jeffsd that follows the UT article. (Hmm, Jeff, San Diego…sounds familiar):
By jeffsd on 09/30/2007 at 11:49 a.m.
i just bought 2 houses. next month i am going to buy 2 more. in 10 years i will sell all 6 of my holdings and retire at 45. i just hope you guys keep scaring people into thinking there is a housing problem until my purchases are complete. you are doing a great job of helping me negotiate down he prices i am paying for these properties.
“…you are doing a great job of helping me negotiate down he prices i am paying for these properties.”
Glad we could help jeffsd catch falling knives!
The SD area hospital ERs have been put on alert and added staff for the increase expected of more delusional jeffsd FB’s. “Happens every downturn” Doctor Gotcha said.
I believe Curt’s alluding to Taco Bell Jeff from the San Diego Creative Investors Association:
http://tinyurl.com/255b64
If anybody has some extra time on their hands, I really feel that Jeff deserves his own Wikipedia entry for one of the most public and comical meltdowns of the housing bubble unraveling.
He pulled one hell of a David Copperfield after his final famous thread entry:
http://tinyurl.com/3bjvlc
Hope he didn’t join the Philip Taylor Kramer School of Driving
good update bots……forwarded info to paramedics
“‘There’s a flood on the way,’ she said.”
How much worse can the housing situation get? If we plunge into a recession, what then? Oh, the humanity! The thought makes me wanna puke.
People are still in denial on the recession bit… yet forward looking indicators are looking a bit down. But everyone just looks at the August consumer spending and doesn’t ask “is it really a good thing people borrowed more so they could buy gas and food?” Is it a good thing that people are so obsessed with “saving face” that they’re going full throttle until they hit the wall?
“Oh the humanity” is right. 2008 is going to see pain. And relocations. My company looks to be having a reorganization in December. Nothing official… but most of us have learned how to read the signs well ahead of time. Luckily, this is because we’re growing so fast we have to move senior personnel to low cost of living areas where we can hire not-senior personnel. Personally, I’m happy how my company is handling it, but wish they were being a little more proactive, like one of our competitors, on letting people transfer out of state. Cest la vie.
Got popcorn?
Neil
A friend works on the docks at the Ports of LA/LB. Based on cargo activity he says we’re already in a recession.
This should be the beginning of the busy season at the ports, when the Holiday merchandise heads in from China and the Far East. It would be interesting to hear your friend’s update in a month or so, that would be telling…
Keep in mind, for the vast amount of people in their mid 30’s or younger…
They’ve never experienced a downturn of any significance and as we live in the twilight of the Billy Mummy economy, (if somebody dared say something bad about economics on the tv, they’d be categorically “wished” into the cornfield) nobody has prepared them for failure, as in… it wasn’t an option
May you live in interesting times~
alad,
I consider myself fortunate to be in that demographic but not be part of that statistic.
To be sure, I’ll be affected by the recession (or whatever they’ll call it) but I’m done preaching to the fully sensory deprived.
“To be sure, I’ll be affected by the recession (or whatever they’ll call it) but I’m done preaching to the fully sensory deprived. ”
Agreed. As I have stated here before, times are going to get tough. I don’t need any friends who are too stupid to figure this out ahead of time (or at least by now). It has helped me focus in on those who’s lives I want to be a part of and those who are a waste of emotional effort and disposable time.
(last sentence) and = as opposed to
I know nothing about shipping and ports. My brother works as a manager at a major trucking company internodal facility in Texas. The “Christmas” rush that usually starts in mid-September has not even started - and apparently the entire company - one of the top 5 trucking companies - had their absolute worst September in history. This is going to be bad - real bad.
“friend works on the docks at the Ports of LA/LB. Based on cargo activity he says we’re already in a recession.”
Just want to add to likely indicaters/ signs of a recession here in Scal/LA area. Was at Long beach Dwtn harborwalk fun zone sept 30th, a gorgeous clear warm day at 80% It was empty, about 20% of the volume of labor day weekend. The few strollers were not spending any money.
Also spend a half day SAt 29th in lake elsinore area, and this part of the IE is in severe ecomomic/ RE meltdown. Of the estimated 40% hispanic population here in LE, many are in real poverty. and i saw plenty of yard sales. KB’s new tract is advertising new homes in the $200,000.s, which has dropped prices of all homes purchased last three years by estimated 50% off peak values of 2005. There has been a ton of new tracts put up all around the lake and up the elevated areas above the lake, with flags still fluttering everywhere. Still lots of ragged hovels and trashy trailer lots strewn about around the lake, and the new shopping centers along mission trail drive are virtually empty.
LE is already in a severe retraction/recessonary meltdown. The rest of IE is close behind, or maybe already there.
So do I. I concur. Traffic is way down over last year (although plasma TVs are way up).
What’s a flipper to do? Keep paying interest and taxes while watching the value of his specuvestment go down in a death spiral. Oh, the horror. NOT.
What is it with people and their *%$#@@!!! “upgrades?” And what about with this fixation on stainless steel, granite, marble, hardwood, etc? Bizzarro!!!
Mother Earth is not making granite anymore: haven’t you heard?
Granite is obviously for “show kitchens” only, because it will helpfully break your ceramic and glassware if you are the least bit sloppy!
Corian for me with ceramic tile backsplash. Sure, you have to replace it in ten years … hope I like the color.
I do like hardwood floors (vintage is better than the stuff they sell now, btw). I lived with linoleum. It is cr-p.
My stupid parents put down ceramic tile in their kitchen and my younger brother has a huge scar in his chin to show for it. He was emptying the dishwasher and dropped a ceramic cup and then fell on it.
Now, large ceramic tiles in the bathroom, that is a maintenance dream. Ohio used them in their interstate highway rest stops.
Not to get all 70’s on y’all, but I’d like good quality cork tiling in my kitchen. Easy to clean, nice on the feet and stops stuff from shattering into a million jagged pieces when you drop glass/ceramics.
here in southern cal white formica is making a big comeback
Pretty soon in southern Cal, dirt floors will be making a comeback.
Get adobe.
“‘Obviously, we’d love to sell high but we have to be realistic,’ said Robinson Bellomo,”
Oh yeah. Lives in a house for 5 years, bought for 424k and wants to sell for a marked down 868K, with a modest little profit of 444K.
And he wants to convince buyers that he has sunk nearly half a million dollars into his used house, such that he will barely break even at that price?
Would you like to discuss how much you’ve HELOCed the place for?
Break even? Yeah, that’s what you owe after you’ve sucked all the equity out of the joint.
Luckily, this guy is the sort who will follow the market down…and $100 says he hasn’t got the cash to bring to a closing table when his need-to-get price fails.
The Bellomos declined to say how much they paid to make the renovations but admitted that even if the house fetches full price they won’t break even. ‘Upgrades are very difficult to value,’ said Napa Valley Realtor David Barker. ‘So much of what people do to their homes they won’t get a return on.
In a buyer’s market you better tell the buyer how much you sweat and greenback equity you put out for the HO use.
Perhaps they can write a nice letter to potential buyers about how they created the upgrades just for them.
Isn’t it amazing how just 12 to 18 months ago any ,money you put into a house to “upgrade “was deemed ‘a good investment’, by Realtwhores, but now they tell you like this clown David Barker, ” Upgrades are hard to value….”
I hope tha annual sales drop below 3 million units / year and all these failed and flawed carnies starve like the dogs they truly are.
Plus, American Canyon is a DUMP! Was nothing but trailers until the past few years…
The Bellomos seen like nice people. Shouldn’t they make a few bucks on the deal for being so nice? Come on now. They have lived in this home for years and, well, they are just nice. They willing to part with their place for a sweet 6% discount. As a result, they will have to suffer with steak and lobster instead of caviar and champagne. Have some compassion for the less fortunate.
“The Bellomos declined to say how much they paid to make the renovations but admitted that even if the house fetches full price they won’t break even.”
- I smell the stench of a Mortgage Equity Withdraw!
I just got back from Portland’s newest yuppie delight….IKEA.
I thought for sure the novelty would have worn off by now (it opened end of July). I just wanted a shelving unit dammit.
Seems that no one in the Portland area had furniture before July. What a nightmare!
I will hand it to whoever designed that place. It is just about impossible to escape without passing through every square inch and dodging hundreds of Suburban Assault Strollers like a game of Frogger.
(Reminded me of that South Park episode where Wall*Mart opens in town:
“Those two-dollar salt-and-pepper shakers! They were three dollars five minutes ago! The Wall*Mart is lowering its prices trying to stop us!”)
They were designed that way on purpose. Entrance at the top floor, exit at the bottom. Spiral all the way down.
IKEA is a damn HabiTrail for adults. Went to the one ONCE, we will never go again. Everyone right next to each other on the wheel looking for some crap they don’t need. I just came for light. There ain’t NOTHING I want to buy that makes this experience worth it.
I almost miss David Lereah.
http://seekingalpha.com/article/48506-nar-on-temporary-housing-problems?source=feed
Look up this book on Amazon, it’s funny to see the “user tags” linked, to it:
snake-oil salesman (7), kool-aid drinker (6), liar (6), paid shill (6), real estate hack (6), worthless (4), real estate (2), chief lying officer (1), clo (1), insightful (1), investment (1), nar (1), propaganda before the fall (1), senior vice president (1), swindler (1)
Just testing to see if I can post from iphone
How do you like that phone? I was considering trading in the Treo for it.
It’s beyond cool. The typing is a little weird to get used to but I’m already just winging along. I love it.
I was given a new iPod touch, which has wifi. Same interface as the iPhone. Using right now. Cool.
As for smartphones, I’ll stick to Nokia for now.
Although the iPhone has an incredible screen and a nicer web browser, I really dig my Nokia N95. Adequate screen and browsing, definitely enough for blogging, and just as good of an iPod (works with iTunes) and integration with address book and iCal. But also GPS, room for memory cards, and an awesome 5MP camera (movies and photos).
‘I really dig my Nokia N95′
- Are you selling these babies? I got excited just reading your testimony!
Hah, no. I’m just a consumer (sorry, I’m doing my best not to contribute to the economy, but my old $9 phone worked for two years and I wanted a convergence device). I’ll show you the phone tonight if you’re going to Neil’s party. But it is a great device.
Welcome to the in-crowd, txchick57! I’ve gotten so adept with the iPhone keyboard that I can now type with two hands! Thanks to Apple I can now read the HBB from the privy of my own loo - just be careful to not accidently flush it down the commode…
txchick57,
Did you pay full price for the iphone and where did you buy your iphone?
Full price of $399, yes, and at the Apple store. But I bought two of them on the first day and flipped both of them for $300 profit each, so it was free and then some.
http://www.thebestpageintheuniverse.net/c.cgi?u=iphone
The last and final word on the iPhone and its fanboys.
Sammy,
Enjoyed the side by side comparison.
Good one!
It’s Maddox! Wow, I haven’t been on his site for a long time because he wasn’t coming out with new material.
He ripped the iPhone a new one, there. Awesome.
Also, that lim x->0 [sin(x)/x] business was so nerdy I could cry.
I am truly humbled (and peed myself laughing)
droog
Yeah, but I made enough money on my Apple stock to send two kids to college. I can’t do that with the so-called “Best Page in the Universe”!
Heh. That $200 price drop is reeling in more folks, I guess.
In today’s (Sunday, Sept 30, 2007) LA Times, main section. There is a quarter page ad in blue from Countrywide. The marketing message is not great rates, or convienient branches, or other common banking sales messages. The message is that your deposits above $100K can also be insured by the government (FDIC) if you set up your Countrywide accounts in the proper way.
This seems like those cases where “Thou protest too loudly”, like when a family values politician makes a statement that he doesn’t cheat.
I can picture the marketing meeting for this ad: “Joe: Bank of America has a campaign going on ATMs.” Jill: “Wamu has a campaign on branches.” Ed: “Hey, let’s do one where the message is, ‘If we fail, you still get your money’”.
It’s a desperate situation. Countrywide is scrambling for cash.
It’s a good thing Mozilo sold as many shares as he could before the whole thing became undone. Now, he gets to laugh all the way to the bank while taxpayers, FBs, and poor savers scamble for cover.
http://tinyurl.com/2q7h76
“Now, he gets to laugh all the way to the bank…”
Just not his bank!
There’s a big ad in the Dallas Morning News jobs section for a countrywide job fair. I think they’re laying off thousands of people who made over $75K and hiring thousands of people who will be making about $25K
That sounds about right. Seems like every large corporation is trying to increase profits by significantly decreasing payroll. With this sort of horrendous wage deflation, home prices are going to crater even worse. Good times!
This is on top of the 10% pay cut from the dollar crash so far…
That’s interesting. College-educated people don’t work for $25k anymore. Especially not in financial services. They couldn’t even pay the student loan payments for that amount.
Your average Starbucks barista has a college degree, and they sure as heck don’t earn $25k. Most companies require their “administrative assistants” (secretaries) to have college degrees these days. Why? Because they can. There’s no shortage of degreed people in this country. They will work for precisely what the market will bear, and in many cases that’s less than $25k.
Hah. My job is for $25k. But then again, I’m in the social services field so I didn’t really expect to make a whole hell of a lot.
Quote:
#####
That’s interesting. College-educated people don’t work for $25k anymore. Especially not in financial services. They couldn’t even pay the student loan payments for that amount.
####
Then don’t work for 25K a year. Go and wait table in NY and these new college grad Jack/Jill will make more than 25K/yr. Or Jack/Jill can just sit on his/her bump waiting and dreaming for that fat-job $150K to come sooner or later. Probably later around the year 2100 since if Jack/Jill does not want to work for 25K, then some outsourced grad from India or Red-China will do it for 25K. Damn poor Jack/Jill with their albatross college loan hanging on their back like a freaking red-ass monkey !!!
“‘This market is unbelievable,’ he said. ‘There are so many houses for sale.’”
Yeah……..good eh?……….now lets talk about supply and demand.
Yea… let’s plot those curves. Don’t forget class, take into account the drop in the supply curve due to idiots who didn’t qualify for a home being excluding from the purchase demand. That’s right… you must qualify and document now.
Got popcorn?
Neil
From the LA Times today Sunday Sept. 30: Countrywide’s latest ad campaign is not for rates or branches or ATM’s or other common marketing messages - instead, the ad is basically, we are FDIC insured, so if we go broke, you don’t lose all your money. It then mentions how you can get FDIC insurance at Countrywide greater than 100K if you split up accounts.
This could attract some people, since Countrywide “Bank” does pay the highest CD rates of anyone in the US right now.
Actually, PenFed in DC has 6.0% CDs in 3-7 year terms.
I would be careful and be more inclined toward gold, silver, or anything tangible at this point. Have you seen the pictures of Northern Rock bank run in UK? Why is Northern Rock going bankrupt?
Answer: Because they lent money to Americans who can’t pay it back.
Who has Countrywide lent money to?
Answer: Americans who can’t pay it back.
Do you think the FDIC has warehouses full of cash, waiting to bail out institutions that go BK? Hell no. The money gets created out of nothing on the spot.
Got gold?
“‘I’d rather rent a home that’s nice and be comfortable, than own a home that’s a burden and struggle,’ Sylvia said.”
Yeah, but some folks don’t need to have the financial sh*t kicked out of them to figure that one out. You suck Sylvia.
It’s right out of the Great Gatsby…”they were careless people…they smashed things and left them for other people to clean after them.”
But instead of the merely rich, it’s become an all-American pastime, with every income level playing. Wonder why the economy is in such a mess…hey Sylvia, count yourself as a destructive factor.
This is going to be interesting. Those that see the door of opportunity closing on them are going to make some noise in 2008/2009. Me? I’ll just wait until more sane times. They are coming.
Got popcorn?
Neil
That’s an interesting analogy. Not that I was alive at that time, but from movies and other accounts of that period, I’ve felt there were great similarities between the roaring 20’s and this passing era. So much waste. So much arrogance. So much carelessness. And, we all know what event ushered out the roaring 20’s, don’t we?
No! What event? I’m a 30-something with no clue! I should probably make a credit card payment this week to pay down my $10,000 in de……
Ooh! Grey’s Anatomy is on!
hey now, I am 35 and although what you wrote was really funny (spot on for some of my peers), it is a generalization. I know exactly what wittbelle was referring to and I have no credit card debt and called this bubble like all of us on this blog years ago even when my 73 year old father was telling me I should buy a house because RE never goes down, blah, blah, blah. I told him that the prices were outrageous and unsustainable…i love my Dad and he comes from another generation but in the end I was the one who knew better…
“Yeah, but some folks don’t need to have the financial sh*t kicked out of them to figure that one out. You suck Sylvia.”
Well put.
DOC
“Sylvia and her husband decided foreclosure was the most viable solution. Her family moved out of their home July 1. Their monthly rent of $1,800 is much more manageable.”
“‘I’d rather rent a home that’s nice and be comfortable, than own a home that’s a burden and struggle,’ Sylvia said.”
This just proves that people that lose to REO do NOT have their lives ruined. I am sick of reading the contrary.
REO is not the end of the world when you have NO skin in the game.
The only skin they might lose is the higher intrest payments these deadbeats have to pay for things on credit.
amen!
“‘I think everybody is to blame,’ Mary Bailey said. ‘Us for signing the documents. Shame on us, we shouldn’t have. But (the lenders) have also helped to create the problem.’”
A year into the bust, and these statements still never fail to rattle my cage. Just because somebody out there will sell you a gun, doesn’t mean that they are partially to blame when you put it up to your head and pull the trigger.
I do think they are partly to blame, myself. Not equally to blame, because you’re right, they aren’t forcing the trigger pull.
It’s just that once you’ve got the gun sitting there all bright and shiny, those little trigger thingies look like so much fun to play with…
Thats rediculous.
So, are the guns that are dull and flat looking with ominous warnings all over it ok?
Everyone is responsible for their own actions, period.
There are many easy ways to accidently kill yourself or others with using companies products. The dangerous ones almost always accompany numerous warnings and some require licenses. Vehicles (cars, motorcycles, ATV’s) kill many more people than guns. When I find myself behind the wheel of a fast car, I think about how fun it would be to drive like a maniac. That doesn’t mean the dealership would be at fault if I went careening off the road into the woods.
Silly Gal.. That gunpowder behind the lead slug is your equity just sitting there. It NEEDS to be liberated!
Anything before “but” is a lie.
” ‘Upgrades are very difficult to value,’ said Napa Valley Realtor David Barker. ‘So much of what people do to their homes they won’t get a return on.’ ”
But what about those flipper shows that valued a $2k kitchen upgrade at $5k, and the $50 bush out front that added $1k in value?? Sniff, was it all a lie?
“Shortly after they bought their Orangevale home, in 2001, increasing housing prices presented that opportunity to use equity in their home to supplement their income.”
Use debt to pay off debt — that’s the ticket to success…
rob
“…So much of what people do to their homes they won’t get a return on…’”
When are people going to learn that granite counter tops do not add value? Adding sqft, a bedroom, a bath or land is the only thing that adds value. The rest is just creature comfort items that more than likely will be torn out the second it closes escrow for the next buyer.
Ain’t that the truth. I’ve seen beautiful landscaping torn out because it wasn’t the new homeowners cup of joe. Also not everyone is going to appreciate your taste. I won’t even consider some homes because they have done expensive remodeling I hate. I don’t want to pay for your taste (or lack of) in remodeling. Even at the right price it would bother me to tear out a brand new tile job.
I saw a home for sales near my sister’s that had the entire interior painted red and pink aling with pink carpeting. I bet that knocked about $25K off the selling price.
I’ll bet it did too. We have a couple of those beauties for sale in my neighborhoor. One is a glorious shade of pink. I think it’s called pepto bismal. The other house is tangerine with lime green trim. No pics of the inside of that one. Hopefully the realtor supplies shades for viewing.
Painting though is pretty easy even when you need to give it a good coat of primer and most places I’ve seen I’d like new flooring anyway. I hate really taste specific things that hard or expensive to change, like kitchen counters, bathroom tile, stuff like that. It would be wasteful to rip out new stuff.
“Dave Kingston, a real estate investor from Oxnard who has been flipping homes since 1971, regularly attends the auction sales in hopes of scooping up deals.”
“But with four unsold homes in his inventory, Kingston is hesitant to buy more. He says he’s discounted most of the properties to a point where he might lose money when they sell. He also expects home prices to drop 10 to 15 percent in the next six to eight months.”
“‘This market is unbelievable,’ he said. ‘There are so many houses for sale.’”
I remember guys like this during the last downturn, they are not real investors, but people who have 9 to 5’s or golden parachutes trying to make an extra buck on the side. The minute you walked in the door of the property you could tell. They lose more then they win, the vast majority of the time they would have made better earnings in Vegas.
“Dave Kingston, a real estate investor from Oxnard who has been flipping homes since 1971, regularly attends the auction sales in hopes of scooping up deals.”
I wonder how many houses this guy flipped between 1990-95? Subtract 20% from that number and you’ll have his production during the next five years. The next three years in VTA County is all about shaking people like him, and the approx 10 million renters who were sold mortgages, despite being in no way qualified to be mortgage owners, out of the system. When Marshall Reddick and his ilk are tarred and feathered when they come to Ventura County then the market may be starting to revert to normal. Until then, a surprising number of idiots are still in the drivers’ seat.
“‘I feel like someone said, ‘Here’s a shovel. Dig yourself a hole,’ Christina Cavaness said.”
“Shortly after they bought their Orangevale home, in 2001, increasing housing prices presented that opportunity to use equity in their home to supplement their income. It worked well for several years.
It’s just one moron right after the other, hey dip$hit you don’t “supplement” your income through equity extraction. I guess perhaps you figured that out by now, or not. Here’s to many more years of idiots like you being debt slaves.
a few days ago one newspaper column link offered a chart.. illustrating how all these home equity loans have “increased disposable income” in recent years.
Consider the source - that’s the way a lot of newspaper reporters think - and the way a lot of government types think.
Nineteen Eighty-Four was a documentary, don’tcha know….
“‘I feel like someone said, ‘Here’s a shovel. Dig yourself a hole,’ Christina Cavaness said.”
They did. And you did.
“‘Sylvia,’ a Ventura County resident who asked for anonymity…and her husband purchased their house nine years ago for about $200,000. They borrowed against it a couple of times for upgrades and to start a business. When the business failed about two years ago, Sylvia became a Realtor. In early 2006, they refinanced again in a subprime loan.”
This is the dirty little secret you don’t hear about much… There is no rational reason other than death, long term illness, or lengthy job loss that someone who has been in a home for 9 years should be losing it. For all intents and purposes they should be in it right in this current market. But trying to keep up with the Joneses has put a lot of people in this situation. Crazy…
“But trying to keep up with the Joneses has put a lot of people in this situation. Crazy…”
This was driving me crazy since 2002, because at that point I started noticing a lot more people in our (formerly) sleepy part of Tampa Bay, Florida, driving SUVs, owning boats, sporting jewelry and fancy duds, buying gadgets and just generally living the high life. I would get offended looks when I pulled my beater into a parking space next to some expensive car at the grocery store. Very out of character for these parts and I just couldn’t figure it out. Where’d all the richie riches come from all of a sudden?
Well, the blog sure opened my eyes. It’s a real pleasure to know that I have a much better balance sheet than the poseurs.
Indeed, we started noticing the same thing around Portland OR in 2002 or so. There was a Volkswagen commercial airing at the time that really seemed to sum it all up. The commercial featured a young couple who lived in an apartment and drove a used car. By the end of the commercial they were driving a new volkswagen and had bought a house! At the time, I was starting to think that everyone else must be rich but me somehow. Now I realize it was all smoke and mirrors…funny money and credit.
LOL…me and the other half drive a VW Jetta and a Hyundai Elantra respectively. We are renters in LA with an annual income a little over $200k.
PDX,
I agree. I drive around Portland everyday amazed at how many more luxury sedans and SUVs are out there than there were just a few years ago. I just replaced my alternator and catalytic converter on my ‘98 Jeep with 250K miles and no monthly payment. My goal is 400K miles. Maybe I’m projecting but I get the feeling these people see me and think, “poor little pauper.” Fine by me.
PS - I thought you were the blogger formerly known as PDXRenter?
P: We’ve been scratching our heads for years wondering how they all do it - all the meals out, shopping as entertainment, vacations, cars…..We couldn’t do it because we don’t buy on credit (extended family) and were into paying down debt. My daughter (35) remembers when she grew up we hardly ever went out but our house was always filled with friends, family, neighbors. We all hung out, played cards, watched movies, kids ran around. Maybe it’s a generational thing. We were taught it is gauche to show your money.
I miss those days — and I’m only in my early 30s. I remember when my parents and the neighbor parents would rent movies and watch them while all us kids would play in someone’s bedroom or outside. People just don’t do things like that anymore. We don’t even know any of our neighbors. And of the people we do know, it’s hard to find anyone who just wants to hang out and watch TV or play cards.
That’s because everyone has a grass is greener attitude, IMO, moving every 3 years to try to find something better instead of trying to cultivate community where they are.
Then again, when you lose your job perhaps moving is the only answer. Just seems everyone is so mobile these days. Our parents stayed in jobs for 15-30 years. How many people do that today?
You can’t stay in many jobs today for 15-30 years even if you wanted to. They reorganize, downsize and hire in people to the work cheaper here or overseas (and they frequently jam you out out of your retirement/pension money). I wish it wasn’t so, but it’s happened to us. So we keep the resumes and training up to date. Too bad you can’t look ‘young’ forever though. That’s THE challenge out in the job market these days.
I was having this conversation with my Dad last night. I don’t think people really want to keep moving on, as long as they are treated and paid half decently. Getting a new job is stressful and you usually end up at the bottom of the benefits totem pole. (My Dad tend to place the blame on 401(k)s and people feeling like they could move on.)
The truth is you can’t stay someplace for a long time if they don’t keep the position open. Loyalty is a two way street that can’t be bought - something that corporate america has forgotten.
Still is.
“We were taught it is gauche to show your money.”
“Still is. ”
LOL. Don’t tell anyone in either Scottsdale (my hood) or the OC (former hood), cause the koolaid runs deep and wide here/there…
But *DUDE*, my neighbors got a cady SUV, so I HAD to, you hear, H*A*D to get that Hummer… I mean you did note she became a realtor (and their business failed… so we already know they aren’t exactly savvy business types)? Have to play the part and all.
We had everyone and their babies trying to talk us into sucking equity and doing granite and such. Told ‘em they could buy the house from us and do what ever they wanted, but we were content taking care of “updates” as time and EARNED $’s allowed.
It’s been kind of funny in our neighborhood actually. A bunch of wanna bee’s moved in over the last three or four years. Across the street from us is a development that has a HOA and they’ve been busy complaining about our side of the hood. We bought ours a decade ago, 3rd owners but the second owners ran into problems and we got it for about 50k less then the going rate in the area (we knew there were going to be things that needed to get fixed immediately, like the pool with the broken filter\pump, and others we’d take care of over time).
We had been trying to figure out what color we wanted to paint the outside (wife changes her mind – the back porch posts became the “trial” area while we decided if we liked what the lighting in this area did to the colors we were choosing between…). Long story short, it took awhile to come to an agreement. In the meantime the HOA decided to start pestering everyone around here and we had a city enforcement lady show up. She couldn’t figure out what the deal was (it needed to be painted – but compared to how things were when we moved in there is 100% improvement – the last owners used the “shut the water off” method of landscape control… in a desert that generally only leads to one thing…). A physician around the corner from us hired our daughter and son to help with some yard clean up as she apparently got visited too (same response from the investigator as we had). Our understanding is several dozen of us had the same experience.
I’m figuring they’re all trying to bail out of their debt traps (late 1999 our cost 160k, comps in the area were running 210-220… neighbors bought in a two years ago for 425k, one around the corner went for 600k end of last year… it is a nice neighborhood and all, but flat roofs and 1978 builds… for 600k???) and are thus screaming at everyone about how things “look”. We aren’t part of their stupid HOA and I really don’t much care if they all make their money back – they were stupid to buy at those prices to begin with…
Anyone else seeing the HOA’s flogging their members or neighbor areas as things start to crash?
I haven’t seen that just yet, but I am renting a condo and pretty much keep to myself. However, my past experience with HOAs in Florida is that they were pretty aggressive, generally. However, I think we’ll see less and less of that, due to more foreclosures and defaulted HOA payments. There just won’t be the money there used to be to go after people on a whim.
I have been hearing more and more anecdotes of people who used their home equity to bankroll a business venture that quickly failed.
Unbelievable. If you weren’t able to get a bank to give you a small business loan over the past 5-10 years, then chances are that your business model is obviously fatally flawed. Seriously, over the past several years small business loans were even easier to get than subprime mortgages.
“I’d rather rent a home that’s nice and be comfortable, than own a home that’s a burden and struggle,’ Sylvia said.”
Ya’ll had a comfortable $200k house, but it wasn’t enough. Oh well.
“There is no rational reason other than death, long term illness, or lengthy job loss that someone who has been in a home for 9 years should be losing it.”
Depending on how much of the mortgage covered ‘upgrades’ vs how much covered ’starting a business’, I might give Sylvia a pass. Starting a business is always risky, and banks will usually expect you to put your house up as collateral even for a business loan. I think a business failure would be the type of occurrence that could legitimately cause someone to lose their home. Of course, the details are lacking… I’ll be most of the cash went to ‘upgrades’ (i.e. lifestyle upgrades)…
I saw one of the scariest TV adds on Friday by a lender who is promoting that people take a HELOC out, (if they have equity), and invest it in several “can’t lose” mutual funds to offset the dropping prices in the housing market. This was totally appalling to me even though I usually believe in a free market and think that people need to be responsible for their decisions. If anybody falls for this line then they deserve to lose on both ends of the deal. I do not recall the name of the lender since it really took me by surprise. It was on an Arizona TV station so not sure if it was a national spot or local. I will watch for it again.
The reverse mortgage for older people is also something to be reviewed since it is heavely loaded up front with fees and costs. There are many ways for lenders to suck out any remaining equity from people who will then whine for a bailout.
Its a great day-Enjoy!!
Anybody have info on life settlements?
The next craze??
Right now appraisals are still above what people can sell for. Any buyer with any equity could HELOC and buy gold. Then when they can’t sell and end up in bankruptcy (which they would end up in anyway) they still have their gold which no one would have any record of. Not that this would be honest, but that hasn’t seemed to be a problem these days.
“Shortly after they bought their Orangevale home, in 2001, increasing housing prices presented that opportunity to use equity in their home to supplement their income.”
Transltion:
“Shortly after they bought their Orangevale home, in 2001, increasing housing prices presented that opportunity to use equity in their home to cash out repeatedly and spend like drunken sailors–with little or no attention paid to the eventual negative outcome.”
DOC
CORRECTION:
Should have read, “phantom equity”…my bad, LOL
DOC
“‘I think everybody is to blame,’ Mary Bailey said.
Sorry Mary, I don’t feel the slightest bit guilty. Perhaps you should stare at the mirror a little longer.
LOL!
~Misstrial
Is my signature on any of the paperwork, Mary? No? Then kindly explain how I - being an alienated atomized unit of “everybody” - am somehow to blame.
‘So much of what people do to their homes they won’t get a return on.’”
Went to an open home in Pasadena last night. The couple bought a 1.5 million fixer sight unseen. Sunk 700K in remodeling. Nice place on 1/2 acre. It was a party for neighbors to check out the new decor. Jealous, but after doing the math i was wondering how much the decorator made on the deal?
700K in remodeling? Why didn’t they just raze the place and start from scratch? For half that money, everything would be new and to one’s specification. Was there some architectural charm to the existing home? Nothing I assume that couldn’t be replicated again.
Remember you are reading the California thread, the second you click the California thread all rational thought should be suppressed… it makes for an easier read.
LOL, you nailed it. Suspension of disbelief is mandatory in this theater of the absurd. Starting with $1.5 million fixers. Yes, I have actually seen a few real ones in places like La Canada and old Pasadena, but that still takes a lot to swallow.
You mean kindas like the Twilight Zone?
I am working on a ‘Remodel’ project on Paseo la Cresta in Palos Verdes …. the budget for this year of the remodel is projected at 3.5 million.
See what I mean…
Maybe it is true. I used to hear but not belief the story of an old friend who apparently makes (maybe now more like made) about $25K a month working for a company that builds and remodels custom homes in the expensive areas of LA. I guess the rick did get a whole lot richer and those of us in the middle got screwed.
‘i was wondering how much the decorator made on the deal? ‘
- We design and build custom cabinets in the beach area. I have dealt many many times with the customers ‘decorator’ … the customer is literally led by the nose of the these decorators! My job is to serve the customer and their agents, I simply try to become a mirror and reflect back to the decorators the love they have for themselves. The decorators usually make $100.00 to 150.00 per hour and I have seen many times when the customer will hand over cash to the decorator at the end of our meeting. Occassionally, the decorator will bring me in on the job and I will include a ‘Referral’ fee in the contract for her.
No offense, but if you’re self employed only charging $100 to $150 an hour in CA - you’re not making it.
“…but if you’re self employed only charging $100 to $150 an hour in CA - you’re not making it.”
Not necessarily, it just depends on how may hours in a day.
(Ask any lawyer).
One thing not to be underestimated in the pricier climes, is intense peer pressure, a bigger better keeping up with the joneses, if you will…
When we lived in RPV, there were far too many society women, with their smarmy cotillion-like behavior, and endless open houses to show off one another’s castles.
I’d always see the horsey and tennis women in their appropriate clothing, uniforms really.
We would just laugh at their antics…
Where in Pasadena? I grew up there. My parents bought a beautiful craftsman in the old bungalow area near Washington and Lake back in ‘71 for 28K, sold it for 400K in ‘89 and moved to Maine. I bet that house would be about 1.5mil now and that was a VERY middle class neighborhood. Pasadena home values are insane.
LOL !!! You better be well armed if you are going into that hood bro !!!!
Depends on which side of Lake. A few blocks east is “Bungalow Heaven” a neighborhood with mainly 1900-1920s craftsman bungalows. Most are in the $650-900K price range. Most have been bought by professionals. Granted, there is still some gang activity around, but it is not too bad. This doesn’t mean that I think the prices are at all related to reality, but it is generally far safer than it was 10 to 15 years ago.
“‘I think everybody is to blame,’ Mary Bailey said. ‘Us for signing the documents. Shame on us, we shouldn’t have. But (the lenders) have also helped to create the problem.’”
Finally we see people admitting their fault. Is the denial stage passing to anger?
Is there room for horror in these phases?
When I bought my ticket for this show I thought this was a comedy drama. It is starting to look more like an eye-closing gut-tossing slasher film. People are getting killed left and right.
No doubt, very gory and non-fiction.
And right now the audience (us) knows there is a killer on the loose meanwhile:
the dumb jock is trying to get in the hot bimbo’s pants in the middle of the forest
the other hot bimbo is taking a shower in a dark house by herself
the rest of the cast is still partying and as they drunkenly stumble out of the house one by one, they will meet their deaths (just like the other three mentioned above)
“‘I’d rather rent a home that’s nice and be comfortable, than own a home that’s a burden and struggle,’ Sylvia said.”
Here’s a creepy thought:
(1.) Government realizes smart renters waiting on the sidelines are actually living comfortably and SAVING money.
(2.) Politicians and their back pocket banking/wallstreet contributers don’t like the fact that renters/savers aren’t pumping the bubble.
(3.) Legislation is suggested to increase taxes on “renters/savers” as it is now determined they have more spendable income than FB’s. It’s “renter’s credit” in reverse in order to attempt to force people to buy into the bubble.
Sounds insane, but I wouldn’t ben at all surprised if some asshat politician throws something like that out there to inflict more pain on the moderate income renters/savers that are wisely waiting before they buy.
DOC
Those who are not hedged are paying a “wealth tax” north of 5% annually through inflation. If you count what’s happening to the dollar, there’s another 15% annual wealth tax.
There will be nothing left to squeeze out of Joe and Jane Turnip before long.
Peter Schiff has made exactly this point about the bubble. The people who are going to be left holding the bag and who will pay for the bailout of housing is holders of US Dollars who will see their purchasing power diminish.
I’m doing the “no spending” thing one better.
I’ve decided to pay off my cheap (2.75%) student loan. The drop in rates has squeezed my spread (from CDs). Also, it makes my GF happy. (We are planning to sign some papers–domestic partnership, health care proxy, etc, so we will be, like, 50% married soon.)
Watch monopoly money disappear! Here’s my $11K toast to the Great Kahuna!
What they will do is raise taxes on everyone but give a tax credit back to FB’s. Another thing they could do is raise taxes and then send checks out to people who took on option ARMs. That is what they did in Ohio and Taxachussetts. The scam will spread to other states and eventually become federal.
The govt is already doing this by proposing to eliminate the tax on short-sellers. FB’s signed up for a predictable deal (no tax break if you lose money on your house; pay tax if your debt is forgiven) but they will not be held to it.
More likely they will just give bigger tax breaks to home owners.
“Sounds insane, but I wouldn’t ben at all surprised if some asshat politician throws something like that out there to inflict more pain on the moderate income renters/savers that are wisely waiting before they buy.”
Interesting post, DOC. I had a conversation recently with a relative who works in retail and manufacturing consulting and placement. They live in the Northeast with very strong ties to the NYC corporate lifestyle and philosophy. They are VERY nervous right now about what’s going to happen and they said “We NEED people to consume to keep things going”. I asked “Consume with what, our good looks?” On the other hand, they themselves are quite frugal, very conservative in spending. But, that does seem to be the mantra in the NE and NY areas: please, consumer, keep it up!
Welcome to Capitalism! Not just consume our NEEDS, but more importantly to consume our WANTS. Not just any old WANTS, but WANTS generated by others who have the manufacturing ability to create said WANTS.
“Welcome to Capitalism…”
Colonialism was driven by industrialism’s excess production needing expanding markets. The irony of capitalism is that the shoe maker’s children are barefoot.
“I had a conversation recently with a relative who works in retail and manufacturing consulting and placement. They live in the Northeast with very strong ties to the NYC corporate lifestyle and philosophy. They are VERY nervous right now about what’s going to happen and they said “We NEED people to consume to keep things going”. I asked “Consume with what, our good looks?” On the other hand, they themselves are quite frugal, very conservative in spending. But, that does seem to be the mantra in the NE and NY areas: please, consumer, keep it up!”
Yes, that’s the mantra. And it’s the central theme–especially in the media. Just look at the absurd ad rates paid during superbowl. I have to agree with comedian George Carlin; He says, “this country used to be beautiful, now it’s just one big ugly shopping mall.” Consume, Consume, Consume. It’s crazy. My girlfriend is a total compulsive shopper. Bought an ipod a year ago. Still sitting in it’s box. She’s smart as they come (double master’s) but I swear, some people can be stupid as a box of hammers when it comes to grasping the concept of LSD retail…Christ, just because you got 80% off does not mean it was a good deal. If my girlfriend gets a pair of boots 80% off and thinks she got a steal, she looks at me with a blank stare when I say “80% off of what?” If she says, 80% off of $1,000.00 she still doesn’t seem to grasp that anyone in their right mind would would have to be high on LSD to believe a pair of boots made in China could retail for 1k. God save us.
Rant off./
DOC
“…If my girlfriend gets a pair of boots 80% off and thinks she got a steal, she looks at me with a blank stare when I say “80% off of what?” If she says, 80% off of $1,000.00 she still doesn’t seem to grasp that anyone in their right mind would would have to be high on LSD to believe a pair of boots made in China could retail for 1k. God save us…”
My god that was funny Mimosa everywhere…
Then we have someone in the Whitehouse who keeps telling people to go shopping and keep spending. It doesn’t matter what they make, but keep spending. I will be in for some rough times.
“My girlfriend is a total compulsive shopper.”
Be careful, Doc.
I did a dissolution for a couple where the soon-to-be ex-wife (master’s degree) went through $90k in just 8 months (in ADDITION to child support and spousal support). And, 50 golden eagles too.
She’s a compulsive shopper as well.
~Misstrial
What’s the situation there? Is the guy on the hook to support her lifestyle, even if it’s obscene?
lets all hope she just remains a girl friend…..i think you see the writing on the wall if she was your wife.
Yes, besides why buy the cow when its giving out free milk. LOL
Has anyone looked at the DR Horton auction numbers? The UT has a link. Check it out.
http://tinyurl.com/2rdo2t
The median drop of sold price compared to “previous value” was 30%.
Q: How do you know you’re living the housing bubble?
A: You don’t know how many times you have refinanced…
“Shortly after they bought their Orangevale home, in 2001, increasing housing prices presented that opportunity to use equity in their home to supplement their income. It worked well for several years. The family refinanced their house at least twice, David Cavaness said, as its value increased. Their cycle became build equity, cash out, repeat.”
“‘We paid off two cars,’ Christina Cavaness said. ‘We paid off some credit cards. We were just trying to survive.’”
“‘We paid off two cars,’ Christina Cavaness said. ‘We paid off some credit cards. We were just trying to survive.’”
No Christina. You weren’t trying to survive. You were consuming above your income and using your house as a bank. People trying to survive aren’t buying new cars, they drive beater cars they got for almost nothing. People surviving aren’t running up credit cards at Macys (or Disneyland or Nordstroms), they are scraping barrel to pay bare minimum expenses and eat at home (rice and beans type). No sympathy from those that have really just survived and/or lived below our means, not overconsumed and always thought the house would bail you out.
Well said!
Yep, testify! need to leave ca!
Great post.
~Misstrial
Christina. We will give you credit for making a statement millions will be repeating.
“‘I feel like someone said, ‘Here’s a shovel. Dig yourself a hole,’ Christina Cavaness said.”
“‘I feel like someone said, ‘Here’s a shovel. Dig yourself a hole,’ Christina Cavaness said.”
Beautiful! Excellent metaphor.
But if she knew the purpose of the shovel, why did she accept it?
Neil, don’t forget I am there at Redondo Cheesecake with you in spirit. Love that place. Would love hanging out with fellow HBBers. Have a great time - to all who attend.
and we want a full report tomorrow!
Yes!!!
~Misstrial
“Dan Bruce was hoping to bid on a home for his daughter in his housing development. At most, he was planning to bid $1.25 million on a home that he estimated had a market value of $1.75 million to $2 million. Bruce thought the asking price of $1.3 million was too steep, considering it was a blind purchase.”
Yea I was thinking of buying my kids a 1 billion dollar tree house. Unbelivable how much money some people have or most likely borrow in CA. When I was selling my Townhome in Moorpark CA many parents my age were interested in buying my home for their 20 year old kid. 425K for a 20 year old kid and I’m a middle aged tech worker and felt I couldn’t afford it. Why do I even bother working anymore ?
The Bellamo house listing at 138 Wetlands Edge Rd
American Canyon, CA 94503:
http://www.cbnapavalley.com/search/property_details.asp?ID=20732877&ds=BAREIS&locale=&propertyType=&price_range=
No information about HELOC’s or how they managed to spend $0.5 Million dollars ‘improving’ this tract home on Property Shark.
Does anyone have another way of finding out why they are under water?
“Shortly after they bought their Orangevale home, in 2001, increasing housing prices presented that opportunity to use equity in their home to supplement their income. It worked well for several years. The family refinanced their house at least twice, David Cavaness said, as its value increased. Their cycle became build equity, cash out, repeat.”
“‘We paid off two cars,’ Christina Cavaness said. ‘We paid off some credit cards. We were just trying to survive.’”
These people truly disgust me. They were not trying to “survive” - they were deliberately living beyond their means and expecting someone else to pick up the tab.
I have raised two kids in Sacramento (Elk Grove) and we were truly blessed to live in a safe, friendly community. However, I couldn’t help but wonder at how my neighbors could afford to buy into the neighborhood because housing prices were skyrocketing, and my neighbors were humble, middle-class, 9-to-5 types. Yet despite they escalating shelter costs, they continually “upgraded” their cars every year or so, going on extended vacations and putting in pools and other improvements. My monthly housing costs were less than 15% of my monthly take-home pay, and I drove the same humble Toyota I owned since 1997. When we talked about mortgage costs, I was aghast to find they were paying 2-2.5 times what I paid, and I knew for a fact that my income was twice as large as most of my neighbors.
My I see how it’s done - you HELOC your lifestyle and declare that it “supplements your income” - and when it comes time to repay your obligations, you cry boo-hoo and play the victim.
These people need to rot somewhere. I nominate them as chief scapegoat in Omelas.
My I see how it’s done - you HELOC your lifestyle and declare that it “supplements your income”
I do have to wonder about these people. This “income supplement” is not a supplement, it’s a future “income suck”, for more than you got. These are all loans. Loans have to be paid back, plus interest, if not by you, by somebody else. My nickel says they will never understand that. I can’t for the life of me figure out how this won’t end badly.
Thank goodness I didn’t fall for that trick. My family is all the more glad for it.
OT but interesting…………….
UBS to report large loss from fixed-income unit - WSJ.
http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/ubs-report-large-loss-fixed-income/story.aspx?guid=%7BF5F89D3D%2D9BBB%2D4E9B%2D8587%2DE6EF242005BC%7D&siteid=bnb
Actually I believe this is right on topic. Expect a really bad reaction from the stock market monday over this bit of news.
Actually right now the futures are about even, but who knows how Europe will take this news?
Right now the stock market is just about 100% unpredictable, IMO. Icahn told the Fast Money folks that he felt the markets were standing at a threshold, but that he couldn’t say whether the markets would head up or down.
I suspect mortgage brokers and real estate agents are digging deep into their filing cabinets and making sure their passports are up-to-date with their glam photos. I am sure it’s only a matter of time before the masses come after them with pitchforks. I’ll bet it will become the new reality TV show - “96 ways to cook a realtor” and “skewer your mortgage broker”. I can’t wait!
I rented the house where I’m staying in April of this year. The owner had listed the house at $499K and it had been languishing on the market for 9 months. The real estate agent advised, “pull the house off the market for a year until prices improve”. Ha ha! Last week a house down the street with the identical floor plan just sold for $420K, and now I’ve spotted a larger home on another block listed at $399K and will *possibly* sell for $360K.
I’m personally tired of these idiot savant real estate morons peddling their financial advice, as if they were Alan Greenspan. Just last week a rather nasty-looking specimen told my girlfriend, “You should always buy and sell your home in the same market.” WTF? Where had she milked this pearl of wisdom? My girlfriend had just sold her townhome in March, and was thanking God she got out in time. Last week an identical townhome to hers sold for $41K less than the price she had gotten.
I actually have some better advice - never listen to someone who is trying to sell you something, and, as Dave Ramsey says, “Never take advice from broke people!”
O masters, lords and rulers in all lands,
How will the Future reckon with this Man?
How answer his brute question in that hour
When whirlwinds of rebellion shake the world?
How will it be with kingdoms and with kings—
With those who shaped him to the thing he is—
When this dumb Terror shall reply to God,
After the silence of the centuries?
Funny you mention Dave “Cut the Credit Cards” Ramsey. He seems to be getting much more popular now. He was interviewed for 60 Minutes tonight. I kid you not - after the Ramsey segment one of the commercials was for MasterCard. Priceless.
“making sure their passports are up-to-date with their glam photos”
LOL. This reminds me of one Realtor(tm) in our area who had her glamour photo on all her For Sale signs. Finally saw her in person and it was evident that the photo was taken 10-15 years ago. Had to do a double-take similar to John Lovitz’s in the movie “A League of Their Own.”
“The Sacramento Bee. “In the Sacramento region last year, about one of every six homeowners spent more than half his or her gross income on housing,”
I don’t know if anyone has mentioned this yet, but this headline is the front page of the print edition this morning. It’s been a series of soap-like articles every weekend. Remember that ridiculous “bury st Joseph in your front yard” article? And this week , “What? I’m broke? Aw shucks!” I mean get real, Sacramento has more than just housing to worry about, this city is going through an identity crisis.
Just got back from visiting Tim Lewis Communities in Orangevale, CA. I live up the street from the development and I’ve been keeping tabs on it. When I moved in Aug 1, the places had been “released” at 700k, they’re now listed at mid 500k. They are big I’ll give you that, all of them around 3000 sq ft. I’m not used to walking into houses that big, really puts things into perspective.
We also looked at their smaller models, which sucked. They’re small and overpriced. You open your window and there’s your neighbors wall, it’s comical. The one thing that was the most interesting was that the giant models, had all this staging and expensive furniture in it, where the smaller ones were in some ways, unfinished. There were big white plaster marks all over the walls, dust and construction writing all over the place. The microwave oven in one of the units was actually not mounted and was resting crooked on the stove top. It was like people just stopped working. And I don’t think they had the air conditioning turned on in any of the houses by the way, it was hot.
I don’t know how many other people have noticed this but the agents at these new homesites are are throwing out numbers just to see if it gets a reaction out of you. The Pulte rep we met last night started yelling out prices before we even had a chance to ask where the models were. He was like shaking from too much coffee. He then pretended to be really busy and told us how he was going to be there really late because he had to write up “all these contracts”. It was awesome, what a tool.
That being said. A 3100 sq ft brand new 5 bedroom Centex home just sold in Lincoln, CA for 380k. If I’m correct, that’s $125 a square foot. Which means that, the current pricing for homes listed in both Lincoln, and Orangevale is off by $200,000 in some areas. Easily! And those are new homes, forget about existing, you couldn’t pay me to settle for existing in this market.
I hope the builders realize the irony in their current marketing strategies. Telling people that there are “only 10 left” means that I should be watching the neighborhood for foreclosures instead of “snatching” up one of the last ones. Because, chances are, they suckered a lot of them into loans that they shouldn’t have gotten, and can’t refi out of now. Muchas gracias.
Hey thanks for the report. Take care.
There is a quarter page ad in blue from Countrywide.
Correction - should be “Countrypuke”
For my jollies lately, I’ve taken to trolling web sites like the NAR and sending some plain-speaking emails to their webmasters, using my best Savaranola tone. Try it out! If you want to heckle the NAR, go here:
http://www.realtor.org/Icreqonl.nsf/Feedback?OpenForm
This is the email I just sent them:
You must have invented Lereah and Yun just to keep us entertained, right? They are funnier than Abbot and Costello! I don’t think our celluloid duo could ever have dreamed up monthly “deja vu” announcements of a “housing bottom” that has failed to materialize, or ascribed current mortgage perturbations to such specious causes as the weather!
I just don’t know how you sleep at night, knowing these talking-heads helped pump up the housing bubble so naive people would take on excessive and reckless loans, only to lose their homes to foreclosure when their interest rates reset.
On the bright side, at least, this mendacious pair have found a way to make used car salesman look legitimate!
While I doubt the bon mots will reach Yun’s pampered ears, at least I know the webmaster will feel my angst…
Old 8 is enough: Bad 80’s tv show
New 8 is enough: ownership of 8 houses around Sacramento
“In the Sacramento region last year, about one of every six homeowners spent more than half his or her gross income on housing, according to a Bee analysis of new census data. That’s 30 percent higher than the 2005 rate, and almost double the 2000 rate.”
Sorry to go a little OT and break the thread, but, just did some math.
Rent on my 650 SQ FT one bedroom detached mother-in-law unit complete with one car attached garage plus washer and dryer is $800. This is in the Fab 40’s of Sacramento….very nice place to live (quiet and no crime).
$800 is 23% of my gross. 34% of net.
To own something comparable, I would have to buy a condo in midtown (15th to 28th streets) that would probably have a PITI =~ $2000+. Purchase price around $175K to 200K. That would put me at about 50% of gross. 70% of net.
How’s that for a fun little exercise and some perspective?
Yahoooo, I’m only the second poorest guy on this blog! robiscrazy, you made me feel relief….just kiddin!
I’m in similar circumstance, except i’m renting the house that include the mother-in-law unit for a similar price. The really scary part is that my landlord by circumstance, makes less than I do. But fear not, he has help from his girlfriend and grownup children.
Cinch
Y’alls should be glad that the mother-in-law is not included
lol….yup, I’m pretty low income. Amazingly, still do everything I want in life and manage to save money every month. Not having a 2 income household hurts me. But, also don’t have a wife and kids to support, so it’s probably a wash.
1st time auction attendees attempting to buy Quarter of a Million Dollar items, make me laugh…
These dodgy auctions are tailor made, for victims.
“‘It was a little overwhelming,’ Moreno said outside the auction. ‘You know how fast those auctioneers talk.’”
“Real estate agent Steven Moran said fast-paced bidding can be confusing. Some bidders weren’t aware that properties have unpublished minimum reserve prices that may be higher than the starting bid, Moran said.”
I’m personally tired of these idiot savant real estate morons peddling their financial advice, as if they were Alan Greenspan.
Easy Al Magoo’s advice wasn’t much better. He advised all these “Trumps” to break their fixed and get an ARM. He confused people with his ‘frothy exuberance’. And now he admitted he was blind to the excesses of the industry he helped create and didn’t realize what would happen. The Dave Ramsey advise - really true.
Thanks for the nice comments on my post for Christina. One thing to add for her. She hasn’t had to ’survive’ before. But I think she is in for that part of her life, and it won’t be pretty. And I bet NNVBroker has a Joshua Tree saved for her too - an extra prickly one. Wish I could be at the Redondo Cheesecake - hoping for them to have a great time. I haven’t been there since 96, but a great place. LOL
We went to a Mexican style rodeo this weekend, 1st one i’ve ever been to…
I gotta say, they put on a quite a show, and what horsemen!
The audience was 98% Mexican-American, and as we were leaving the parking lot, I noticed the cars in the parking lot were mostly newer suv’s, 3 or 4 years old, at the latest, and 2 hummers amongst them…
hmmm….. sporting events have taken a much celebrated look at the Hispanic consumer…note: Football night in Chicago last week, and another coming up in New Oreleans….
Is this dude looking for a realtor????
http://dallas.craigslist.org/rfs/436366973.html
Loan brokers can’t seem to refinance much over at Brokers outpost
http://forum.brokeroutpost.com/loans/forum/2/170022.htm
OMG! The brokers outpost site just sickens me! It’s like a bulletin board for drug dealers… I’m glad one of them reported that his neighbor confessed she never mentioned her troubles to him because she didn’t trust mortgage brokers!
Is this old news? NetBank shutdown by FDIC due to mortgage loss:
http://money.cnn.com/2007/09/28/news/companies/netbank/index.htm?postversion=2007092817
NetBank shut down by federal regulators
FDIC appointed receiver for the online bank, which failed because of loan defaults and other problems.
September 28 2007: 5:26 PM EDT
WASHINGTON (AP) — NetBank Inc., an online bank with $2.5 billion in assets, was shut down by the government on Friday because of an unsustainable level of mortgage defaults.
It was the largest thrift to fail since the tail end of the savings and loan crisis more than 14 years ago. Federal regulators appointed the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. as a receiver for Alpharetta, Ga.-based NetBank.
not if you’re one of the 109 million in cash that got……evoporated, that type of wealth effect is whats known as “pitting in the shants” time.
afaik, the $109 million in unqualified portions of accounts is eventually repaid through the forced sale of netbank’s assets and these customers will have to wait a while to get the money.
All of these unfortunate victims must have had more than $100K in their accounts and probably weren’t concerned about the risk to a paltry 5 or $10K overage.. In any case, let us find it in our hearts to pity their misfortune.
What the hell is wrong with these people? You realize that if they get, say $500,000 for this house they’ve done well! That would be equivalent to 5% increase each year, plus the R-E commission.
And that doesn’t factor in that they don’t have to pay income tax on that 5% increase for three years AND they got to deduct from their income tax the cost of the interest (presuming they don’t have an AGI of over 200K) AND they got to live there, too!
So why are they bitching to the press that they can’t get $868,000 for it? They’d be doing WELL by any standards if they got $500K for it. And anything else is gravy.
This was mentioned above, but…
They can’t accept anything lower because chances are that they HELOC it to death.
Cinch
The quote not published: ” We were hoping to get a better return on our investment compare to our Giants and 49ers season tickets”. LOL!
Wow! I spent well under 3 percent. And no, I’m not Bill Gates. I just did it the old fashioned way. 18 years ago I got a fifteen-year fixed mortgage and I paid it off. Now it’s just property tax and insurance and upkeep.
Of course, for being a responsible saver who realized the American Dream, I’m going to get “American Reamed” up-the-ass to pay for idiots in Sacramento who tried to get rich quick.
The sad thing is, anyone could have done what I had done pre-bubble. And anyone who got an ADJUSTABLE mortgage in 2002-2005 when 30-year FIXED mortgages were hovering around 5.5% is a COMPLETE IDIOT. (You know how many people I pissed off by calling them idiots for getting ARMs during that period? In fact, I think ARMs are never a good deal. You can always re-fi a fixed mortgage if rates drop.)
It’s about time someone said it. Fixed mortgage rates were at 40 YEAR LOWS while these people we’re taking adjustable rates and buying more home than they should have. I refi’d my own house and saved about 300/month, which I put in a college fund for the kids. I never understood this obsession with ARM’s until I saw the prices in Cali.
OT
Is there a way to read new posts in a thread without scrolling through them all?
And…thanks to all here!
No, way back when Ben migrated from Blogspot to Wordpress, the community at that time voted for nested rather than chronological comments.
It is more readable, just wait until the thread has seasoned a bit and read it once.
what i do is search for date-hours. Your post is dated 2007-09-30 in the 18th hour. 2007-09-30 18:19:21
use “find” (cntrl-F) and copy/paste 2007-09-30 18
Only posts made during that hour, before and after yours, will be found, which narrows it down quite a bit.
Then use 2007-09-30 19, 2007-09-30 20, etc.
Did anyone here read the comments on that Sacramento Bee story? Besides the usual, there was a comment from some lunatic who claims that a ghost is responsible for her problems!
You can’t make this stuff up!
One poster wonders,
“While the bottom line is we are responsible for our own actions, why can’t these lenders help people help themselves by just saying O.K. we aren’t going to adjust your rate, we’ll leave it at the original rate, This way people could still make their payments, and foreclosure rates would slow down, or even stop. Lenders still make money, every body is happy.”
Better yet, why doesn’t the bank just tell them they can stop paying their mortgage altogether? Every body is happy.
“My house, used to be mine anyways, I bought in 2004. I was one of those who was so eager to have my own place. That is an American dream! To have your own place and have a nice backyard for a party and barbecue with friends and family. I thought I had a deal! The house is beautiful and big enough for me and my son. To make it short, the house was haunted. I lived in the house for three months and rented it out for 2 years. After the value went up about 100,000.00 more, I refinanced, my mortgage increased to 2/3 of what it used to be, in short, the rent was not making the mortgage, so I had no choice but to let it go. How dare of that person to sell me the house knowing there was something wrong with it. The house was unbearable! I am a single mom. I can’t deal with extra baggage…having to raise a child, and then some…is just to much to handle. I now live in San Diego renting a room because my credit got ruined and can’t rent an apartment. What happened to us? ”
This wacko is giving single moms a bad name.
Sorry, but the ghostly remarks don’t end there:
“How dare you judge me! You were not there at that house when I experienced all of those tragedy in that house! For as long as you have not been in any situation, you will not understand what it was like to be in one. I don’t blame a ghost for ruining my credit, I tried selling the house right after I found out about the ghost haunting, but it just didn’t sell. I hope to God you wouldn’t run into the same situation…. but because you have judged me…you will equally received as such judgement!! Make sure you know how to fight them, if not try finding your self where I’m at now…….I may have a ruined credit but, I found my self being closer to GOD!!!!! That is the greatest of all! You can be so ignorant around you and do not know anything in the world….you have so much to learn!!!!! All of these will pass….it doesn’t matter, its only money, its importnat to have peace in your heart!”
She doesn’t mention where she stores her Prozac, but I hope it’s next to the peace in her heart.
“I’ll face that predicament when its here! For now, the bank has not sold the house yet, so I am not responsible for any 1099 just yet. But when it comes, I’ll face it head on! That is the price I pay for wanting to have that beautiful house. The house was georgeous and came with many extras!!!!!!! Extra guest!!!! I am ready for the consequences!!!!! I am 46 and mature to know what my responsibilities are!
For those who have foreclosed homes…I’m sorry for what happened to all of you. There should be such a guideline before all these lenders willingly lend us the money, and told us to sign a piece of paper. We all have dreams…to be in a house we can call our home! but, when we are like puppets and was told you can have this piece of chocolate for a penny, we all got trapped and bought into what we thought a deal!!!! To all those who thinks and judged those people who have gotten tangle up into a mess….wait for your turn, because it will come your way!”
Guys, did I mention she’s a single mom?
I have little sympathy for single moms who aren’t widows.
“The Baileys made the mistake of refinancing at the height of the housing boom. Now, their mortgage payment is set to increase in October from about $2,700 to $3,400. During a slow month, that’s about half their income.”
Am I the only one who sees something wrong with this statement?
“During a slow month, that’s about half their income.”
And that’s just the mortgage…factor in property taxes, insurance, utilities & repairs, and it’s probably 75% of their income.
Have you seen the not so little piggies?
There is nothing sudden about the push for regulatory reforms. Consumer advocates have been warning for years about unfair and deceptive lending that has taken place in plain view of do-nothing regulators. All along, they have presented detailed analyses and recommendations for regulatory action. And yet, Mr. Paulson has dismissed even the suggestion that a lack of regulation may have precipitated today’s financial turmoil, saying that “history says it’s very difficult for policy to keep up with innovation.” His under secretaries chalked up the current mess to “benign” market conditions that bred “complacency” and impaired “discipline.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/30/opinion/30sun2.html?ref=opinion
bubbles, bubbles everywhere?
Private student loan bubble could burst
The near doubling in the cost of a college degree the past decade has produced an explosion in high-priced student loans that could haunt the U.S. economy for years.
http://tinyurl.com/2p25zd
A legal aid worker, Cole said she may need to get a job at a law firm, “doing something that I’m not real dedicated to, just for the sake of being able to live.”
Ms. Cole, you’d just hate being in men’s shoes.
Yep. This is hitting Generation Y a little harder than X but it was getting nasty even when we went.
The college system in about 20 years is going to have it’s day of reckoning when the children of Generation X and Y refuse (and quite frankly are unable to anyway) to pay over inflated prices to acquire an education that used to be free (as in standards were much higher in high school.)
The only way to bring down college costs is to cap student loans and get rid of “any amount of loans for an education” crowd.
As a lawyer with $170k in student loans I understand their plight. It’s tough to pay back especially on a low salary. All I wanted was an education and instead I became an indentured servent. They don’t let 18 year olds drink but they can borrow hundreds of thousands of dollars for college. Fortunately most of my student loans are at 3.5% interest (will reduce to 2.5% after 48 ontime payments) but the private loans are the killers. They’re non-dischargable in bankruptcy too so they’re a real bitch.
Heard that the WSJ is reporting UBS is latest to be hit by sub prime taking over a 3 billion hit.
“This is why my Lasik eye surgery only cost me all of $2,700. This type of surgery is elective, and as such, is not paid for by any gobmint or insurance policy. No “helping hand” pushing prices”
I got my lasic done this past summer at TLC in Newport beach, and it cost me $5000.00.
Did not skimp, got the best latest technique, called all-laser lasic with Wavefront: the top surgeon at TLC did the procedure. Just a note: the average prices for top-quality lasic operation including wavefront is average 2000-2400+ per eye. That is Scal/ West Coast prices. It seems far cheaper in other parts of the country.
I paid top dollar for my Lasic at one of the top lasic centers on the west coast, and do not regret it. Operation was flawless and after two months no problems and 20/20.
Do not skimp on Lasic: one mistake will result in possible lifelong eye-malfunctions and repeated operations to correct problems.
I also had it done by Dr. Tooma at TLC (Jamboree and Bristol). If somebody’s looking for advice, here’s what I have (assuming you’re going to accept the Lasik risks):
1) Get the Intralase procedure done! Don’t use the knife.
2) Wavefront is also a big plus. You get better results.
3) If you want to use a healthcare FSA from your company to make it tax-deductible, and your costs will be >$3000, you can do one eye in December and the other eye in January.
peter m- ditto for me on lasik. eyes not the place to be cheap. i got mine done in Bay area right before moving to NM.
Us California bloggers had a great time at Neil’s party. There should be some good photos on the way. Thanks for organizing Neil!
Local Real Estate Special “Boom to bust”
http://community.kget.com/blogs/kiyoshi_tomono/archive/2007/09/30/2017049.aspx
If she’s a Realtor(TM) she certainly should have been able to make an intelligent decision about a real estate transaction. Any statement from her other than “I’m a stupid woman, and I have an obligation to pay back the money I borrowed” is unacceptable.
Talking to a work mate, he told me the story of a friend who was selling his holiday home in Florida to enable him to buy a buytolet house in the UK. Expressed suprise when I showed him your site he still thought houses in Florida where going up in price, but said it explained why his friend was bailing out of Florida. Of cause it’s diffrent here we don’t have a housing bubble in the UK, not half we don’t