People Seem To Think It’s A Huge Buyers’ Market
The Houston Chronicle reports from Texas. “Josh Lowrey is thinking of selling his three-story townhouse in the Sixth Ward next year so he can buy a house with a yard. The 30-year-old Dallas native said he’s noticed that the housing market has started to slow, and developers are putting up units all around him. ‘Do I sell now when I’m not quite ready?’ he said, ‘or when I’m ready and there’s an abundance of homes on the market?’”
“Some builders say fewer shoppers are walking into their sales centers. And those who do are looking for bargains. ‘People seem to think it’s a huge buyers’ market,’ said Marty Weiner, president of Parkstone Estate Homes.”
“Some in the industry attribute the slowdown to a confused public. Developer Larry Davis, who builds inner-city townhomes clad in metal skins, said his company’s sales are off about 10 percent. But he chalks it up to buyer jitters fueled by a barrage of national news about the housing slump.”
“‘It’s totally psychological,’ said Davis, of Urban Lofts Townhomes. ‘It’s hard to get a grasp on what’s real and what’s not.’”
The American Statesman from Texas. “Reflecting the national housing slump, sales of existing homes in Central Texas fell 22 percent in September, and the number of homes on the market hit a four-year high. It was the fourth month in a row that sales have fallen from a year ago, and the first September drop in five years, according to the Austin Board of Realtors.”
“It has become especially hard for first-time buyers to get financing, but even affluent buyers are finding it tougher to get loans.”
“The fallout is reflected in the numbers. Sales of Central Texas homes priced at less than $200,000 plummeted almost 29 percent in September from a year ago. They fell 22.7 percent for homes from $400,000 to $599,999.”
“‘I think that what’s going on is a little sobriety in the mind-set of home buyers across the board,’ said David Reed, president of CD Reed Mortgage Bankers in Austin. ‘I think people are thinking more with their pocketbooks and with less emotion. They’re asking, ‘Does this really make sense for me?’”
“Pending sales were down 27 percent last month, to 1,695, even as the number of listings shot up. With almost 10,000 homes on the market, the competition for buyers will get tougher.”
“Krisstina Wise, owner of the GoodLife Team, said Austin area sellers will have to become more realistic about what they can get for their houses. ‘Pricing a home based on yesterday’s market will not work,’ Wise said.”
The Denton Record Chronicle from Texas. “Along U.S. Highway 380, where new subdivisions are filling with homes by the hundreds each year in and around Aubrey and Cross Roads, an undercurrent of uncertainty belies the bright picture of prosperity.”
“‘We have reached a point in the development of residential real estate where the more development there is, the more there is a foreclosure issue that will come with it,’ said George Roddy Sr., president of Foreclosure Listing Service Inc. ‘As the metroplex has grown, we’ve seen more foreclosures occur.’”
“Among cities in a 10-county area with between 30 and 100 residential foreclosure postings for the first half of 2007, Cross Roads topped the list with a 338 percent increase above foreclosures as of midyear 2006. Following Cross Roads were Azle, Lake Worth, Princeton and Red Oak.”
“The average assessed value of a home posted for foreclosure in Cross Roads during the first half of this year was $193,249, which was up 38 percent over last year’s average assessed value of $140,092.”
“Among cities with at least 100 residential postings in the first half of 2007 within a 10-county area, Aubrey ranked fifth after Mansfield with a 196 percent gain, followed by Midlothian (119 percent), Frisco (57 percent) and Saginaw (55 percent.)”
“The high-growth region along U.S. 380 is indicative of what Roddy says is happening in other high-growth areas in the Dallas-Fort Worth area. ‘What has happened in the sub-prime market is with adjustable-rate mortgages and funny money loans going on in the last three to four years. It has added to the problem,’ he said.”
“Roddy describes the residential foreclosure spike as a compilation of several issues, starting with layoffs in 2000 and early 2001.”
“‘It started out as a jobs issue,’ he said. ‘As the interest rates continued to drop over the years, more and more people got involved with either refinancing at a lower rate, home equity came into play and adjustable mortgages were more a part of the real estate market.’”
“The large number of loans brought a second wave of foreclosures into the market, Roddy said. ‘People were getting into too much of a house,’ he said.”
“Then, in a third part of the cycle, the cost of living went up. Higher gas prices, higher taxes and higher utility costs put some homeowners in a financial bind.”
“‘All of these four facts have added up to some severe problems for a lot of people,’ he said. ‘When the price of gasoline has almost doubled, the utility cost has gone to the moon — it’s the normal family who has not seen an increase or much of an increase in their living wages,’ Roddy added. ‘Something’s got to give somewhere.’”
“Roddy said the immediate future looks like more of the same. ‘We’ve seen the lessening of these goofball loans, and you can quote me on that,’ he said. ‘A lot of them were goofball loans.’”
“As homeowners look to straighten out their home loans, some may find it impossible, Roddy said. ‘Those people with the adjustable-rate loans adjusting and trying to refinance, they won’t be able to do it,’ he said, referring to the tightening of credit and higher interest rates for jumbo loans.”
“The future? ‘It looks like we have another year to 18 months for high foreclosures,’ he said, barring any unforeseen market changes. ‘Past that point, if I told you what was going to happen, it would be a dream.’”
“The average assessed value of homes posted for foreclosure during the first half of this year exceeded $500,000 in four North Texas cities.”
“The highest average assessed value of homes posted for foreclosure during the first half of this year was $677,750 in Bartonville. The second highest average was $599,760 in University Park.”
“Records show that foreclosure postings of homes valued at $250,000 to $500,000 rose 35 percent; homes valued at $500,000 to $1 million rose 64 percent; and homes valued at $1 million and more shot up 83 percent.”
“The hot spots for foreclosures appear to be homes valued at more than $250,000 and in areas where significant growth in residential development is evident, Roddy said.”
The Denver Post from Colorado. “An Illinois homebuilder with several projects in Colorado plans to file for Chapter 11 bankruptcy. Neumann Homes announced this week that it had been unable to secure adequate funding to operate its business and had closed its sales, production and customer service offices.”
“It also said it has laid off most of its employees. Chief executive Kenneth Neumann blamed the situation on a ’significant downturn’ in housing markets including Denver.”
“In the metro Denver area, Neumann’s communities included Harmony Park in Westminster, Neutowne in Parker, Serenity Ridge in Aurora and Mountain Shadows in Firestone. Of the 1,095 homes Neumann planned to build in the Denver area this year, it reported selling just 81 through August, according to Hanley Wood LLC.”
“The company blamed its woes on the housing decline in three of its largest markets - Detroit, Chicago and Denver - where foreclosures have been rampant and the number of existing homes on the market has spiked.”
“‘A lot of builders out there are hurting,’ said Jay Peterson, Hanley Wood’s regional director. ‘Margins on homebuilders are thin. The market is having a pretty drastic effect on these builders.’”
“Neumann’s vacant lots will end up back on the market. Neumann had announced plans to auction off 49 properties in suburban Denver on Oct. 3. It was unclear Tuesday whether that auction was successful.”
The Coloradoan. “Norlarco Credit Union continued to bleed deposits and depositors five weeks after federal regulators confirmed they had seized the organization and dismissed its board of directors.”
“Norlarco lost $20 million in deposits and nearly 900 members from Aug. 31 to Sept. 30, according to the statement of financial condition released Tuesday.”
“That means in the five weeks after the conservatorship became public, the credit union lost nearly $52 million, a 17.2 percent drop in deposits, and about 1,500 members.”
“State regulators placed Norlarco under federal control in May after an increasing number of construction loans made in Lee County, Fla., became delinquent.”
“Norlarco has just over 1,000 real estate construction loans totaling more than $238 million in Florida, according to federal regulators. The risks are shared by other credit unions that joined in a loan participation program, but it is unclear how much of the $238 million is shared.”
“Norlarco also faces a new lawsuit filed recently by an investor in a spec home in Cape Coral alleging the credit union loaned money to investors knowing they could not repay the loan but used inflated appraisals to qualify the investors.”
“Norlarco for years continued to make construction loans in Florida, capitalizing on a building boom on the western edge of the Everglades. When the bottom fell out of the housing market in Lee County, Norlarco was left with more than 1,000 delinquent loans, most of them in Florida.”
“Norlarco CEO Bob Hamer, who took over the credit union about 18 months ago, immediately ceased the practice of loaning money for construction loans in Florida.”
The Rocky Mountain News from Colorado. “Developer Randy Nichols’ company has filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit against Hypo Real Estate Capital Corp. for failing to fund a $160 million loan for his 41-story Spire condo building across from the Colorado Convention Center.”
“Construction was halted on the 503-unit condo when Hypo pulled the plug on the loan in August. ‘Construction, which had been paid for through investor equity dollars, is on the verge of being suspended, and the entire project is in jeopardy,’ according to the lawsuit.”
“Although potential damages aren’t stated in the lawsuit, they could exceed $10 million. J.E. Dunn Construction Co. stopped work in August after completing more than $8.3 million in work.”
“The contract was signed Aug. 22, the lawsuit said. Shortly afterward, a Hypo director, David McNeil, said the documents did not mean that Hypo would fund the loan and that the company was waiting on final signatures from its corporate parent in Germany.”
“The next day, according to the lawsuit, McNeil wrote: ‘We are having difficulty on the deal with final approval from Europe. We have never had a deal get approved in N.Y. and then not get approved in Germany.’”
“On Aug. 28, Hypo informed Spire that it would not fund the loan. ‘Germany had refused the loan,’ McNeil stated, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit said that McNeil admitted, ‘The German position defied logic and explanation.’ McNeil said telling Spire it would not fund the loan was the ‘worst thing he has had to do in his career.”
If you all could see this I-380 area referred to in the North Texas story, you’d wonder how the builders were able to sell a single house. A more desolate, depressing area I cannot imagine.
Yeah, not my favorite part of Texas, either.
Opps, I should add (before I get a call from my mom) that the people up that way are the salt of the earth. Most of whom don’t earn near enough to afford the prices in that article, and will be the first to admit to the less than stellar views.
That’s what makes it so nuts that people used toxic loans to buy houses up there. They are cheap enough that any family with a 40K income should be able to buy something. It’s nuts! What are there foreclosures up there?
IMO Roddy did a good job of explaining it in that Denton piece.
Right, but I’d answer that with houses as cheap as they are up there, there was no reason to take out anything other than a fixed FHA loan to buy something. The fact that people took funny money loans and then spent the “extra” money on crap is just pathetic.
But the mortgage brokers around here really strongarmed people with this “if you’re paying principle, you’re an idiot - make your money work for you” garbage.
“The company blamed its woes on the housing decline in three of its largest markets - Detroit, Chicago and Denver” -
I did some consulting work for them several years ago, a very competent builder, why they would branch out into two of the worst markets in the country is beyond me.
Misery loved this company.
This shit is just maddening. Pardon my french. They want another rate cut after giving back all the gains from the first one. Screaming children.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/071024/markets_stocks.html?.v=17
On a day when Merrill Lynch writes off 8 billion and home sales hit an eight-year low, the Dow breaks even. WTF.
marketwatch.com uses “Stocks maintain steep losses as home sales, prices fall” and “Wall Street rebounds on thoughts of interest-rate cut ahead” in the same day. You can bet they’ll be running variations on these lines over and over in the coming months — as if they reflected any meaningful analysis.
WTF, indeed…
MSFT caused the Dow to recover. It signed a deal with Facebook, which more than makes up for the Merrill fiasco.
Right the perfect time to cut rates is when the market is at near all time highs and inflation is a major consirn. i mean what else do you want a weaking dollar and investors across the world pulling all of their cash out of the dollar?
(please note heavy scarcasm)
I dunno a whole lot about this, but a buddy of mine who trades the market says this is a hedge fund market anymore, not a stock market.
Yep. Program trading has increased tremendously since 1997 or so. That’s why I still think all you need is the tick, trin and a 1 or 5 minute chart.
When you start talkin’ dirty, it makes me horny. Please stop it.
Hey, you can’t bet against the house (not literally, but figuratively). Maybe I was wrong…perhaps I need to put everything I own in the stock market since the big boyz will obviously protect that.
Watching CNBC, they are already screaming for another 50 bp rate cut, and they will probably get it, despite the fact stocks have been on a tear, gold and oil prices are shooting for the moon, and inflation is rampant.
Based off the bailout mentality of the folks in charge, maybe it is time to put 50% in stocks (preferably international) and 50% in gold (seems like silver is being beaten down, for some reason).
Another 50 cut will put oil over 100, gold to 1000, and probably knock 1000 basis points off the dollar index. The Fed spider monkeys are pushing the wrong buttons, big time.
Bring it on!
Sparky: “I am a choreographer. That’s what I do. You are cheerleaders. Cheerleaders are dancers who have gone retarded. What you do is a tiny, pathetic subset of dancing. I will attempt to turn your robotic routines into poetry, written with the human body. Follow me, or perish, sweater monkeys.”
Bring It On (2000)
I made just about that change 4 months ago…and I’m bailing to gold, alt.energy, and fixed stuff in a month or so. Just seems time to find a rock with a hollow space beneath.
Maybe this is the bailout in disguise. They realized the public would go nuts if they bailed out all those nouveau riche money pigs, so they found a way to either hide it or distract the public. I wonder if there will be all the bragging this year at bonus time.
Let em have it. Cut rates to the bone. It will only help the big companies keep from having to lay off people and keep cash flow. As for reinflating the bubble it aint gonna happen. Banks are not going to pass the rate on to borrowers and long term rates will actually go up on fears of a deflated dollar. Those who already are in trouble will still get screwed just from the shear fact they borrowed way more than they should have and lied about their income on stated loans. I used to think like you about the rate cuts but this time around it only helps us. To late for the FBs.
“‘It’s totally psychological,’ said Davis, of Urban Lofts Townhomes.
“Call me crazy, but I choose to ignore news that might upset me. Better to listen only to “upbeat” people.”
Isn’t that the same thing as hallucinate? Happy, happy, joy, joy. Sounds like a cartoon…
what about the rest of the quote -
‘It’s hard to get a grasp on what’s real and what’s not.’”
Actually, Mr. Davis, there’s a reason they call it REAL estate…check the inventory numbers. That ought to start you in the right direction…
holy mother of god I can’t believe this nitwit is a developer
Yes, but he’s developing URBAN oh-so-cool LOFTS. And everyone wants one of those! Well, all of those hip, edgy, urban people do.
I didn’t shave today. That makes me edgy and cool. Where can I find a loft that shows my urban hip side?
Honestly, where do these guys come from?
We have 2 years inventory, approaching 3 years inventory for sale in Orland, Florida. Unit sales are 30% of what they were in Oct., 2005.
Foreclosures and inventory is up, while sales and prices continue to fall.
How many times do we have to say this? This is not psycoligical, as Mr. Davis would have us believe. In other words Davis doesn’t think there is a real problem, just a perceived one.
Thats why he’s not selling his s**t boxes, people don’t think the market is good and they think prices will come down.
Stupid people!! They should only pay attention to positive news!!!
Hey Davis, Daivid Lereah called. He wants his line of s**t back. Didn’t you know he already gave it to Yun, you s**t for brains, thick headed, “totally lost my power of reason” moron.
The world doesn’t conform to your wishes. You would have better success accepting reality and governing yourself accordingly.
Listen to the Lady: thats why they call it REAL estate, a**wipe.
This is what I like to read. A passionate analysis of current events. Go, DarthRealtor!
“holy mother of god…”
or, as we say in Sweeny,
“Good God Gurdy, Gramaw!”
“Norlarco also faces a new lawsuit filed recently by an investor in a spec home in Cape Coral alleging the credit union loaned money to investors knowing they could not repay the loan but used inflated appraisals to qualify the investors.”
It’s pretty tempting to sue that “investor” for fraud. What are they going to tell the jury? “I borrowed the money and knew I couldn’t pay it back, but I thought my profit was in the bag, so I did it anyway.” That should go over big.
Check these dates, The preliminary contract was signed only a few days before Germany said no to the deal. .E. Dunn Construction Co had already spent $8 Million and decided to sue the poor German Bank because of a few days of confusion?
“Although potential damages aren’t stated in the lawsuit, they could exceed $10 million. J.E. Dunn Construction Co. stopped work in August after completing more than $8.3 million in work.”
“The contract was signed Aug. 22, the lawsuit said. Shortly afterward, a Hypo director, David McNeil, said the documents did not mean that Hypo would fund the loan and that the company was waiting on final signatures from its corporate parent in Germany.”
“The next day, according to the lawsuit, McNeil wrote: ‘We are having difficulty on the deal with final approval from Europe. We have never had a deal get approved in N.Y. and then not get approved in Germany.’”
“On Aug. 28, Hypo informed Spire that it would not fund the loan. ‘Germany had refused the loan,’ McNeil stated, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit said that McNeil admitted, ‘The German position defied logic and explanation.’ McNeil said telling Spire it would not fund the loan was the ‘worst thing he has had to do in his career.”
Keeping Up With the Joneses
This is from Oprah Winfrey. I am not fan but It makes you wonder just how typical this is?
…Like millions of Americans, Felice and her husband, Phil, are heading toward financial catastrophe by living a life they cannot afford. Although Phil brings home $5,000 or $6,000 a month, their expenses are almost three times that amount per month. Felice says she starts each day at a popular coffee chain, which adds up to $300–$400 a month. Because her own six credit cards are maxed out, Felice secretly uses her husband’s credit card to get cash advances.
http://tinyurl.com/38azse
OMG.. I saw this one.. you would not believe what they spent money on like “snow” birthday parties in Calif, etc.. Over 150K in credit card debt I think.
If that was my wife, the good neigbors would be yelling ” Mr Dillion…thar’s been a killing”.
Ask for a jury trial……..show the jury the numbers…….
Verdict: “Justifiable Homicide”
I think the producers went looking for the biggest idiot they could find. Check out the picture. Felice is a parody. A piece of toxic human garbage.
And this type of woman is what you guys want?
No chick, some of us don’t, believe me.
No woman is hot enough to put up with all this. In all fairness, he’s quite spineless himself.
Why am I not surprised she was a mortgage broker???
Nope. I want a rich, good lookin’ day-trader that likes to lounge at home in her birthday suit all day. Know anyone like that?
Yeah. But he’s a guy.
Meet my tradng partner. Steve.
LOL! a TV:-D
The woman has six kids and has no health insurance for herself or the kids, including the kid with a neurological disorder. You know, I really don’t want to spend my tax dollars on health insurance for her kids either.
Let ‘em burn.
I’ll gladly see my tax dollars go to her court-ordered sterilization, however.
And this type of woman is what you guys want?
No way! 10…15 minutes tops maybe, but No WAY
OOPS. Just went to page two. Changing my mind.
She is kind of unfortunate looking upclose.
“…unfortunate looking…”
You’re not quite as wicked as I thought.
That’s why I LEASE instead of BUYING (Marrige).
On a seperate note… is it coincidental that MARRIAGE sounds a lot like MIRAGE?
It almost rymes with “carnage”
I like the question “Are you happy or married”
Ah, the three rings of marriage.
1. The engagment ring.
2. The wedding ring.
3. The suffer-ring
Sam Kinison said it best.
“I don’t worry about terrorism. I was married for two years.”
and
“If I get married again, I want a guy there with a drum to do rimshots during the vows.”
I see that chick and her 3 million twin sisters everyday in CA. Most people chuckle, I point and laugh. I hate CA.
TxChick: Instead of this human detritus, i want YOU on oprah. I will even take a sick day (from the 60+ my global finance firm owes me) and stay at home at watch you…starting the letter writing campaign to Oprah now
I think they have already had enough misogynistic dysfunctional nuts on there already, don’t you?
Misogynistic - (adj.) characterized by a hatred of women.
Tx Chick, now I’m REALLY horny.
Boulevard girl…..
Chick: I think alot of men want women who look similar - blond long hair, big boobs, all done up like a blow up doll, but don’t realize the waste of time an money that takes. And, unfortunately, women have gone so far backwards that they think their only value is what they look like and being able to attract men. Second, what is with spouses that have no idea what the other is doing with money? I have a girlfriend who had the exact same type of experience with soon to be ex. Put him in charge of the money and even let him be CFO of her business. I pushed her to finally look at what was going on and he’s been totally ripping her off. I can remember her being so happy that she had a hubby to take care of everything. My SO was in charge of the bills and each month he would provide me with a list of what needed to be paid and attach bills. We were maintaining separate money and then had a household account. Before I would contribute, I wanted an accounting. I think people choose to be in denial.
I think alot of men want women who look similar - blond long hair, big boobs, all done up like a blow up doll…
Good night Irene. Someone might want to tell my hubby!!
Seriously (laughing) the best advise I would (if asked) give to a gent and lady on marriage, would be:
Can you see yourselves growing together in every imaginable way. There are many speedbumps in life. Can you ride them out together?
26 years and counting! Most importantly: happy!
Smiles,
Leigh
Leigh, I enjoy your posts, thanks for participating.
Consider yourself lucky. I endured 17 years of marriage, but ultimately, I failed. Got 3 great kids who have managed to survive the divorce in one piece, but it ain’t natural.
Here’s to hoping that my kids’ generation does better than we have.
How much would child support be for 6 kids one with medical problems? According to this crazy sh!t a bargain.
Thanks for the link, Ernest. Although the story did make me want to barf. I can’t believe these people exist. This Felice creature thing. How worthless can one human be?
Apparently she is smarter then most of us.
She has realized she can consume to her heart’s desire and buy anything she wants.
When the bills come due? Sorry, we don’t have the money.
Why does she still have credit accounts?
The banks won’t pay for this. WE will.
OH! MY! GAWD! And Suze Orman told them to sell in California and move to…Seattle! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!
NO, oh, please, no, nononononono! Stay away! Stay away!
How COULD you do this, Suze? Do you hate Seattle, is that it?
Seeking higher ground Gal. Remember that flood thing?
The reason Suze recommend them to move to Seattle..
“With a “”booming housing market”" and high-tech industry, Suze says Seattle is particularly well suited to both Felice and Phil’s strengths—Phil is a computer contractor and Felice was once a mortgage broker.”
For sure this woman needs a psychiatrist. There are medications for mania.
It is not a shock that there are people with no self control and no insight into the consequences of their behavior. There will always be such people (and enabling spouses to help them). What is more disturbing is the wholesale behavior of banks to lend more than people can possibly repay. Our whole financial system seems to be Bipolar and has been on the mother of all manic lending episodes. When the music stops there is no avoiding the next step; clinical depression.
Shhh, Blue Skye. The pharmaceutical industry will hear you and “invent” or re-label a drug to treat the heartbreak of FB lack of restraint disorder. Think I’m kidding?
So, we should entertain suggestions for an acronym…if they can treat ED, PAD, why not this?
I’ve watched more tv the past 4 days, than I have the past year…
There is a commercial extolling some pharmaceutical drug, complete with a laundry list of side effects, including compulsive gambling!
Yes, and I found out last month it’s for a semi-bogus “condition” that can be cured with … get this … moderate exercise.
Suze hit the nail on the head about this piece of trash and the rest of the whiners: “You create your own problems and then you feel sorry for yourself and you think you’re victims,” she says. “We’re not victims to our circumstances. We are the creators of our circumstances.”
Yesterday’s role models - today’s objects of ridicule. Isn’t it fun to watch an MSM mouthpiece rip into the very ideal they use to sell so mcuh of their garbage? Keeping up with the Joneses is what keeps them in the stores.
‘At home, Felice says she’s spent around $5,000 on silk flowers.’
Why do I think, ‘big hair.’?
Look at the picture.
Big hair, Dow Cornings.
Nuff said.
Yes, but she has beautiful new boobies!
weekend tx topic: how upside down must a north dallas woman be before she gives up her 200+ monthly dye (light blonde, of course) job ?
(i say she would live in a tent first)
Yes, please. I can entertain you all for hours on that topic.
It was at the Galleria in N TX that first saw a ‘I shop til I drop’ bumper sticker. Those gals really mean it!
come on, let’s not leave out the north Scottsdale cougars…they’d NEVER give up the highlights, the tanning bed, the tattoos, or the Brazilian wax.
They’d re-fi their kids to keep it all goin’ on.
How about the story of a Scottsdale “mom” who drove up to the valet at Neiman’s and asked him to watch her kid while she ran in to do a little shopping. He called the cops and she was arrested. She didn’t understand what the big deal was.
i know enough plano, frisco blondes to make the thread entertaining….
they ALL drive mb500s
RE: …Like millions of Americans, Felice and her husband, Phil, are heading toward financial catastrophe by living a life they cannot afford
It’s all goddam George W.’s fault!
If it wasn’t for him those 6 kids would have insurance!
Think they started a 529 plan for any of their 6 kids? Sorry honey, mommy spent your college money on shoes and silk flowers.
This is all too common. I’m still getting over the $1.5M house up the street that is being sold as a short sale. They had bought matching BMW X5s about 2 years ago when they bought that house for $1.65M. Unbelievable.
Again with the crazy amount of children - SIX - what are they thinking. Even if she wasn’t a self absorbed wannabee, how do you give enough attention to that many children at once. Yes, I know many do it, but there’s only 24 hours in the day no matter how you live. There’s no way to really guide and know that many children at once.
On the other hand, they may be able to pitch in and support their parents in retirement as Social Security will be very little if anything.
Once you get to six, the kids sort of take care of each other. It’s like more is less. Or so they say. I only had four.
Yes, this is true. I was the eldest, and I had a lot of babysitting duties.
I don’t think the GP is right that the parents don’t know the kids well … come on, we end up knowing dozens of people well in our lifetimes, and you have 18 years (if you’re lucky) with your kids. My parents–especially mother–know us well, as we know each other.
Yes, having six kids IS excessive (I say this as the oldest of six), and, frankly, most women stop having healthy children after a certain age. I know one woman, 20 years younger than the oldest sibling, who has some sort of degenerative nerve disease. Her parents are elderly; she isn’t even 30. Actually, certain genetic diseases are worse if you have children later (Huntington’s, for example). The DNA in your ‘nads becomes more degraded over time, after all. (However, having children too early is also a mistake. I’ve seen data showing that finishing school before having the first child has a huge impact on educational/criminal outcomes for the entire litter.)
I posted not too long ago about a friend of ours, his wife ran up a 100k in credit card bills behind his back. They filed for bankruptcy and were done with it, kept the house too. That’s why I’m glad they changed bankruptcy laws, this stuff is way too common.
“The next step is to get a life insurance policy for Phil. ”
Careful Phil….
Honestly, what do people think?
Personally, I think Suzi Ormand is hotter, but the point is where do these people think money comes from.
Hey, I lived this. My ex thru a birthday party for her brother dog.
She was always blowing money on things like a trip to Europe for her and her two best friends on my nickel. Actually, it was worth it because I didn’t have to look at her or listen to the spew from her pie hole for three weeks.
I reminds me of what my Dad said once when we were building an addition to the house and I cut a 2×4 too short: “What do you think, wood grows on trees?”
I said, “Dad, I cut it three times and it’s still too short!”
The bleach in this womans hair must have seeped into her brain:
“What do you mean, we don’t have anymore money in the checking account. We still have checks!”
Her husband looks non to pleased, but he is an accessory to this. Can he count? Evidently neither one can.
Hey, these idiots are the rule, not the exception. I am now volunteering, as a credit counselor for a service here in Orlando and you would not believe the stories I heard in just two hours last night.
There’s an idea for a sitcom….except no one would get it but us.
Lemmings, all. Just don’t be standing under any cliffs.
Fits of laughter Darth!
Thank you,
Leigh
Ditto!
Phil and Felice really have $135,000 in credit card debt. They also pay $1,700 a month for their three cars.
Their two mortgages total $658,000. Because their mortgage is a negative amortized loan, Suze says that means their mortgage will increase by $20,000 every year. “There is no longer any equity in this home at all, and all you are paying is $1,800 a month on it and that is to adjust in a few months up to $3,300 a month,” she says.
Even Suze Orzman is shocked … now that’s shocking.
Looks like they won’t be living there long, btw. 6 mo.s no payments, then a-renting they will go. Jingle Mail for Christmas.
“Suze (Orman) has some tough love for Felice. “I personally don’t believe you’re selfish. I think you’re selfless. I think because you don’t have a self, because you don’t know who you are…that is why you’re doing these things that you are doing. You are just simply trying to find yourself,” she says. “You are trying to define yourself by the things that you buy rather than you define the things around you. And you keep buying new and new things because you can’t find the definition of yourself.”"
WTF?
Although I don’t agree with her on everything, I do generally respect Orman’s perspective on things and she does has some useful advice. This mess isn’t about “finding yourself.” This is stupid woman spending money that she doesn’t have foolishly and selfishly. Orman does summarize their predicament pretty well, though:
“So how bad is Phil and Felice’s situation really? Suze says she’s spent hours pouring over their financial records. “I’ve been doing this, as you know, for a long, long time. And I have never seen such disrespect for money as in this family here,” she says. “I don’t even think you have any idea how bad it is, and you don’t.”
“Phil and Felice really have $135,000 in credit card debt. They also pay $1,700 a month for their three cars.
“Their two mortgages total $658,000. Because their mortgage is a negative amortized loan, Suze says that means their mortgage will increase by $20,000 every year. “There is no longer any equity in this home at all, and all you are paying is $1,800 a month on it and that is to adjust in a few months up to $3,300 a month,” she says.”
Unbelievable. Un-f’ing believable. $1700/month for THREE cars??? And I’m sure that doesn’t include insurance or a maintenance fund. What a bunch of f’ing idiots.
“It has become especially hard for first-time buyers to get financing, but even affluent buyers are finding it tougher to get loans.”
well, (stumped) who’s lying????????????
“‘It’s totally psychological,’ said Davis, of Urban Lofts Townhomes. ‘It’s hard to get a grasp on what’s real and what’s not.’”
No, it isn’t. I employ this here thinky pink ‘brain’ thingie I have, and it notifies me about what is real and what is not. And it just informed me that credit contraction is very real, and so is the vanishing of the buyers for these ‘inner city townhomes clad in metal skins’.
And now the thinky pink brain is wondering, ‘what the hell are THOSE? Like, aluminum-foil yurts? Is that so the gangsta bullets bounce off?
Here’s an example from Tucson, complete with hip, edgy home page music:
http://www.indigomodern.com/
I looked at those. They’re cool. What is the current wishing price?
I’m told that they’re asking around $200k for one of them. And the right to admire the jet engine next to the pool is probably included in the HOA dues.
What was with the jet engine next to the pool area?!? LOL
I have seen those before….what was it?…oh yeah!! Shipping containers!
Its interesting to see stories coming out of placed like Houston, Dallas, Atlanta, and other areas that have lower home prices that people in CA, FL, and most of the Northeast would only dream of. But that’s just it: The infamous slogan realtors are using as damage control is true- which is that ” All real esate is local”, which in the case of the US also means that no matter where the house sits, the prices got way too high via the local economy and everyone- whether the tech workers in Silicon valley paying on a 700k house, or the teacher in Houston paying 150k for a house is being pinched by overzealous spending habits.
“in the case of the US also means that no matter where the house sits, the prices got way too high via the local economy”
You must not have gotten the memo: The Pacific Northwest is different. Glen Crellin, a PhD real estate economist, says so.
“Do I sell now when I’m not quite ready?’ he said, ‘or when I’m ready and there’s an abundance of homes on the market?’”
too late.
I thought the same thing…too late, nimrod.
And I’ll take a wild guess and say there’s more than a few of these comtemplative types still out there trying to time there way to wealth.
“‘I think that what’s going on is a little sobriety in the mind-set of home buyers across the board,’ said David Reed, president of CD Reed Mortgage Bankers in Austin. ‘I think people are thinking more with their pocketbooks and with less emotion. They’re asking, ‘Does this really make sense for me?’”
A little common sense goes a long way. If you can’t afford bid way less or walk away. it’s that simple. Prices are unaffordable.
“Norlarco CEO Bob Hamer, who took over the credit union about 18 months ago, immediately ceased the practice of loaning money for construction loans in Florida.”
Where were you back in 2000, Bob?
Toast…
http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=071024152444.1bd2qxem&show_article=1
“The Federal Reserve slashed borrowing costs last month and many economists expect the central bank to trim interest rates again at a policy meeting next Wednesday. The federal funds short term rate is currently pegged at 4.75 percent.”
Geez, they keep talking like this is going to lower rates for homedebtors.
The Fed will cut another 50 basis points on Oct 31, count on it. Even Ben and the boyz see the recession approaching. Unlike most of you, I am not totally cynical about their motives - yet. Economic growth is fixin’ to stop dead in it’s tracks. This will automatically bring lower short-term interest rates.
On a related note, Anheuser Busch and Kimberly Clark should be in everyone’s stock portfolios at this time. Beer and kotex sales should remain strong, even through the deepest, darkest depression. So drink up, and double down.
Kinda reminds me of the legendary Hee Haw song:
“Gloom, despair, and agony on me.
Deep, dark depression, excessive misery.
If it weren’t for bad luck, I’d have no luck at all.
Gloooom, despairrr, and agony on me.”
She got the gold mine.
I got the shaft.
They’re splitting it all down the middle.
But she got the better half.
How will I miss you if you won’t go away?
you call me up and tell me lies
to try to change my mind
but you’re not the girl i’m lookin’ for
so stop wastin’ all your time
now that i let you know
i got one more thing to say
how can i miss you
if you won’t go away?
you follow me around downtown
like a dog without a home
and i’d do almost anything
if you’d just leave me alone
it’s not gonna make it better
if i see you every day ‘cuz
how can i miss you
if you won’t go away?
If the phone don’t ring, you’ll know it’s me . . .
“Where, oh where, are you tonight?
Why did you leave me here all alone?
I searched the world over, and I thought I’d found true love,
Then you met another, and PFFFT! You was gone!”
I don’t think that another rate cut will do much for The Holiday Shopping Season.
I kind of liked the blog post at the bottom of the page, including the one about parallel universes existing. THAT explains it! The NAR is describing the parallel universe, not ours!
builders still losing big $$$$$
Ryland Reports Results for the Third Quarter of 2007
http://biz.yahoo.com/bw/071024/20071024006310.html?.v=1
Pulte Homes earnings come out tomarrow. cant wait!!!!
Ryland supposedly one of the top tier major builders also….
” Homeowners saddled with subprime mortgages are finally starting to get some well-deserved relief.”
http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_7265651
Cue steam coming out of my ears ………
Yeah, those stories are aggravating, but the more I’ve thought about it (and read) the more I’ve come to realize…most FB schemes to reach for the stars weren’t predicated on them doing something (like making 360 payments ontime) - they were predicated on them doing nothing.
Let’s see how many balk even with their mods.
“well-deserved”….?????
OH dear, victims everywhere. Well-meaning, hard-working people just down on their luck, eh?
Well, f*** them and the horse they rode in on.
Well, bless their tiny little hearts…..Is this where they start to unload some of their toxic waste on the GSEs?
The company has already slashed thousands of jobs as the volume of new mortgages issued has fallen about 44 percent. We’ll learn more about Countrywide’s situation Friday when the company reports third-quarter earnings.
i wonder if this is why they are trying to help the qualified buyers? they will make more money in the refinanceing of these loans.
ben, we need a mathimatical genius to tally up the losses of the public homebuilders third quarter results combined. i think that $ figure would be mind blowing! any takers?
er…what’s the number after trillion?
er…quintillion?
Seriously (reaching for aspirin).
Ya just can’t make this stuff up!
Leigh
How in hell do you short these bums and not end up having your head handed to you? Nothing makes sense.
http://us.rd.yahoo.com/finance/external/mfool/SIG=12qv3ejok/*htt
p://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/10/24/its-official-homebuildings-lost-it.aspx?source=eptyholnk303100&logvisit=y&npu=y
http://www.fool.com/investing/general/2007/10/24/its-official-homebuildings-lost-it.aspx
RE: Roddy said the immediate future looks like more of the same. ‘We’ve seen the lessening of these goofball loans, and you can quote me on that,’ he said. ‘A lot of them were goofball loans.’”
Such a cavalier attitude, Mr. Roddy.
Sure won’t be anything “goofball” about the trillions of dollars in loan losses coming down the pike.
‘I, for one, would not have wanted to be Merrill Lynch’s Stanley O’Neal Wednesday morning, just before taking part in a conference call with Wall Street analysts, knowing that I would have to explain how the company was forced into writing down $7.9 billion worth of collateralized debt obligation and subprime mortgage assets — a considerably worse performance than the company had predicted just three weeks ago.’
‘The call is interrupted by the “hold” music, for some reason. “We’re back after a brief musical interlude,” Mr. O’Neal says. Laughter is minimal.’
Likely cost him his job ??
Well, it SHOULD. But remember, we are in the alternate universe, so he will probably get more options.
No
The Board of Directors is responsible to Mr. O’Neal, not to the share holders.
In another article, McNeil said the CDOs were too large and that the worst case scenarios it had modelled in risk-management stress tests failed.
Ya think…dang quants!
Leigh
er…O’Neal.
Heh. MSNBC discovers inflation:
Submit your video or questions to MSNBC experts who will tell you why your money does not go as far these days.
In that report, you’ll meet three families who are battling to maintain their standards of living in the face of very different circumstances, learn how middle-class families of today earn and spend compared to those of a generation ago, and find out whether there is a agreed-upon definition for the middle class.
Msnbc.com has assembled a panel of experts to answer questions submitted by our readers about the causes of the pocketbook pinch.
We also can still use your help in putting a human face on this issue.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19876326/
Can’t grasp the supply vs demand angle, just yet.
“Josh Lowrey is thinking of selling his three-story townhouse in the Sixth Ward next year so he can buy a house with a yard. The 30-year-old Dallas native said he’s noticed that the housing market has started to slow, and developers are putting up units all around him. ‘Do I sell now when I’m not quite ready?’ he said, ‘or when I’m ready and there’s an abundance of homes on the market?’”
He’s a Dallas native. That should explain a lot.
Sorry Ben! Couldn’t resist.
Josh rode the short bus
Back in the heat of the market, were all potential homebuyers soused out of their ever living minds?
“‘I think that what’s going on is a little sobriety in the mind-set of home buyers across the board,’ said David Reed, president of CD Reed Mortgage Bankers in Austin. ‘I think people are thinking more with their pocketbooks and with less emotion. They’re asking, ‘Does this really make sense for me?’”
“People seem to think it’s a huge buyers’ market,’ said Marty Weiner, president of Parkstone Estate Homes”
Jeebus… so which is it? Is it a buyer’s market or not?
If they knew what magic phrase would get you to buy their sh*tboxes, they’d be saying it night and day. For now, they’re just taking the shotgun approach.
‘Germany had refused the loan,’ McNeil stated, according to the lawsuit. The lawsuit said that McNeil admitted, ‘The German position defied logic and explanation.’
Foreigners are tired of going broke supporting American indebtedness. The free ride is over.
A German bank that made a real estate loan in the US now would probably have its charter revoked. IKB and even more inexplicably, Landesbank Sachsen (think Alabama State Bank - Sachsen is one of the poor former East German states) got smacked by some deals they really (especially LBS) had no business making. LBS got bought out by the Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (think Bank of New York - B-W is one of the RICHEST German states), preventing its collapse.
Today’s Master Of The Obvious (MOTO)
“Krisstina Wise, owner of the GoodLife Team, said Austin area sellers will have to become more realistic about what they can get for their houses. ‘Pricing a home based on yesterday’s market will not work,’ Wise said.”
“Let’s see how many balk even with their mods.”
I like the way that sounds. Kinda sounds like Clint Eastwood.
If you see ‘em balk get the SS# and then drag ‘em out to Joshua Tree.
The needle and the damage done…
“Construction was halted on the 503-unit condo when Hypo pulled the plug on the loan in August. ‘Construction, which had been paid for through investor equity dollars, is on the verge of being suspended, and the entire project is in jeopardy,’ according to the lawsuit.”