Ridiculous Low-Ball Pitches In California
The Recordnet reports from California. “When Consuelo Magat bought a Mossdale Landing home in Lathrop three years ago, she had no idea she was buying into an area that would emerge as one of the hotbeds of foreclosure activity in California. Magat said she bought the Lathrop house for $636,000 as a residence but then had to buy a home in another area when it turned out that a daughter was unable to get into a nearby Catholic school.”
“Magat rented out the Lathrop house in April, she said, but was in mortgage trouble by June because she became unable to carry the monthly payments on two houses. Her lender was unsympathetic to her plight and declined to refinance because there was no equity in the house and its valuation was less than the loan balance, Magat said.”
“She wanted to sell the Lathrop house, she said, but in this slow market, ‘nobody wants to buy it.’”
“Nearly 3,000 households in San Joaquin County received a notice of default in the third quarter, DataQuick reported. That jumped by nearly 1,000 from the second quarter and represents a nearly 230 percent from 898 notices issued in the third quarter of last year.”
“There were 431 homes repossessed last month in San Joaquin County. There were, though, six other counties with greater repo totals for September: Los Angeles, 1,476; Riverside, 1,070; San Diego, 866; San Bernardino, 860; Sacramento, 721; and Contra Costa, 524.”
“Real-estate agent Dave Harmon (has) foreclosures now accounting for 80 percent of his listings, said that over the past six months, the number of foreclosures quadrupled and then doubled again.”
“There are plenty of investors who are willing to take a chance on the Central Valley again and count on the long-term upswing, he said, but many of the offers on foreclosure homes are ridiculous low-ball pitches.”
The Modesto Bee. “The region’s top real estate pros warned us a couple of years ago that home values in the Northern San Joaquin Valley were overinflated.”
“One of those who identified in early 2005 that the market was headed for a fall, Mike Zagaris, president of PMZ Real Estate in Modesto, said the current slide shouldn’t be a shock, given the market’s previous peak.”
“‘In our industry, you tend to pay to the extent to which you were rewarded,’ Zagaris said. ‘If you have a hot cycle at which you are increasing at double-digit rates, when the market turns, it tends to turn more dramatically.’”
“Zagaris said people got caught up in the easy credit terms, which created a spend-now, pay-later attitude. ‘So the availability of money to, in effect, take what was a historically conservative investment asset and convert it into an ATM that can be used for current expenses, has undermined the basic security that investment has had in the past for many people.’”
“One of the things driving the downward spiral these days is people’s attitudes. But don’t blame the messenger, that’s just an easy out; the numbers are the numbers.”
“For those who can’t lower the price enough to be competitive in today’s market, finding a way to hang on is critical. If all else fails, selling that sweet SUV, hot ski boat or radical motorcycle just might generate some needed revenue and reduce the debt load. There’s also the option of taking on a second job, putting the kids to work to help pay bills or renting out a room.”
“Right now it’s a buyer’s market, said Larry Matos, co-owner of Century 21 M&M and Associates of Modesto. ‘There’s an abundance of selection, prices continue to decline, sellers are willing to negotiate, and you can get a very favorable loan.’”
The Ventura County Star. “Citing slumping market conditions, a developer has abruptly halted construction of a 66-unit condominium development near what is known as Happy Face Hill in Simi Valley, city officials said Tuesday.”
“‘I know the council’s very concerned that they would stop at the point they’re at,’ said City Manager Mike Sedell.”
“At the site, on Kuehner Drive from the west side of Highway 118 to Mount Sinai Drive, trucks were spraying water to control dust Tuesday. Since the project is on the edge of the highway…it has high visibility in the community, Sedell said.”
“‘There are just so many questions that need to be asked,’ Williamson said. ‘My concern is that the city of Simi Valley and the residents aren’t left with a big mess over there.’”
“Encino-based Larwin Co. said it also is putting a separate condo development on hold in the city, Sedell said. The 12-unit condo project is further along in construction, city officials said.”
The Press Enterprise. “Inland Southern California’s consumers don’t seem panicked about declining home values and rising gas prices. But they say they’re being careful, and that could affect how much they spend in November and December.”
“Housing is an issue for Rich Thomas. He recently moved to Lake Elsinore from San Jose and hopes to buy a home. He has a potential buyer for his Bay Area home, but that buyer also needs to sell an existing home.”
“‘I try to take a Zen approach to this and not let things I can’t control bother me,’ said Thomas.”
“He’s said he is also concerned about the job market. As a sales representative for a company that makes building materials, he’s seen some industry-wide cutbacks. His own position seems safe, he added.”
“Sharon Way can’t help but notice that problem. She said there are ‘for sale’ signs all over her Corona neighborhood. ‘I know people who are trying to sell and can’t,’ Way said. ‘It’s a mess.’”
From KPBS. “The Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County fell 1 percent in September, the 17th decline in the past 18 months, a University of San Diego economist reported today.”
“According to Alan Gin, who compiles the index, the outlook for the local economy continues to be weak at least through the first half of next year.”
“Big drops in building permits, consumer confidence and help-wanted advertising along with an increase in the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance offset positive news, according to Gin.”
“The weak housing market continues to be the dominant strain on the local economy, according to Gin’s index.”
Inside Bay Area. “San Mateo County supervisors issued a call Tuesday for a three-month halt of foreclosure proceedings in the county, but industry experts say that’s unlikely to happen.”
“The county board of supervisors unanimously passed a resolution asking mortgage lenders to voluntarily suspend foreclosure activities.”
“Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson, who wrote the resolution, said residents who find themselves trapped by subprime mortgages should be able to reach out to lenders and renegotiate interest rates or the loan’s principal.”
“‘Subprime loans have turned the dreams of home ownership into nightmares,’ Jacobs Gibson said. ‘This three-month window will help people keep the dream of home ownership alive.’
“But real estate observers said lenders have shown no signs that they’re willing to suspend foreclosures, which have skyrocketed nationwide as consumers have found themselves unable to make rapidly increasing payments on adjustable-rate mortgages.”
“‘We can certainly tell (the resolution is) well-meaning, but I don’t know what kind of an effect it’s going to have,’ said Geoff Craighead, president of the San Mateo County Association of Realtors. ‘Another three months isn’t going to bail them out, because it’s just going to give them three more months of free rent.’”
“A report released last week by DataQuick Information Services found 155 homes in San Mateo County were foreclosed on during the third quarter this year compared to only 37 during that time frame last year.”
“Notices of default, issued if a borrower stops making payments, also jumped from 290 in third-quarter 2006 to 581 this year.” “One member of the community group ACORN, Estela Baldovinos, told the board she went from paying $2,700 a month at 6.5 percent interest in 2004 to facing a payment of $8,200 at 12.5 percent interest next month.”
“She is now four months behind on her payments but is trying to renegotiate the loan with her lender. ‘We can’t even concentrate on our personal lives,’ she said. ‘We have no vacations, no weekends, nothing.’”
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Just in case this gem on subprime wasn’t posted (worth a repeat anyway)…
“With these advances in technology, lenders have taken advantage of credit-scoring models and other techniques for efficiently extending credit to a broader spectrum of consumers. The widespread adoption of these models has reduced the costs of evaluating the creditworthiness of borrowers, and in competitive markets, cost reductions tend to be passed through to borrowers. Where once more-marginal applicants would simply have been denied credit, lenders are now able to quite efficiently judge the risk posed by individual applicants and to price that risk appropriately . These improvements have led to rapid growth in subprime mortgage lending; indeed, today subprime mortgages account for roughly 10 percent of the number of all mortgages outstanding, up from just 1 or 2 percent in the early 1990s.”
Chairman Greenspan Federal Reserve System’s Fourth Annual Community Affairs Research Conference, Washington, D.C. April 8, 2005
Jas
Easy money Al they call him.
Famous last words!! He was a short-timer, why would he care!!
I was out most of the day and was just checking the Washington and Wall Street thread. You guys were downright VICIOUS today, but I like it!
Excuse me, I, too, have to take a Bernanke right now.
Once again, Palmy, don’t forget to wipe your Paulson…
I have some shares of a hedge fund you can use for toilet paper.
Nothing like those computer-based models, is there?
What was that acronym - GIGO - Garbage In, Garbage Out.
Reminds me of computer models claiming sea-level and temperature changes 50 years out, when they can’t even predict what the weekend’s weather might be like!
Wrong
you are comparing climate modeling to weather forecasting. Climate forecasting is like saying ” 5% of all subprimes will go to foreclosure by 2008″ Weather forecasting is like saying” one house on this block will go to foreclosure some time this afternoon”
Massively different modeling problem. In some cases local (small scale) phenomena can be impossible to predict while global (large scale) phenomena is trivial to predict. If you tell me the volume, mass, and temperature of a box of gas I can accurately predict the pressure (the effect of molecules hitting the walls) using a hand calculator. Even with a supercomputer, I could never tell you which molecules are hitting the wall at any instant.
I think the models were primed to SISO as for the borrower SOOL
The computer models spit out 100 possible outcomes and the scientists choose the one that fits their agenda.
Maybe carbon credits will be the next bubble market!
I fully expect that they will become a bubble market or a crazy new form of “asset” for banks to keep on their balance sheets. “Why, no, we have no money and we’re loosing $8 billion dollars a quarter on mortgage junk, but we do have $100 billion in carbon credits, so everything is fine. No, we don’t really know what those credits are worth, and they aren’t really anything except vague promises stored in a computer somewhere, but really, they are worth $100 billion. Now, please stop asking questions…”
Greenspam didn’t get it now and still doesn’t get it: I don’t care how many “creative” products are created - either person can pay the monthly bill (PITI) or not… and declining wages in the face of inflation (which the Fed ignores) certainly doesn’t help and definitely doesn’t justify the real estate Bubble.
But, as well all know, it was “howmuchamonth” for the teaser period, and then - BOOM! - house goes into foreclosure when no greater fool is found. Ah, the new eCONomy!
“There’s also the option of taking on a second job, putting the kids to work to help pay bills or renting out a room.”
Great, so my options are work myself to death, break the law by starting a home sweatshop business using my kids, or rent a room to a homicidal stranger who is probably Jigsaw from the Saw movies. Think I’ll walk.
LOL. I’m not sure why, but that reminded me of the recent beer commercial:
Driver: “He’s got a case of Bud Light!”
Hitchhiker #1 in back seat: “AND A CHAINSAW!!!!”
Good luck with putting the kids to work. I’ve tried, but haven’t had any success. Maybe he has some pointers he can share with me!
The only thing my kids work on is wearing out the fridge door hinges.
Actually, all you have to say to your kids is “no workie, no i-Pod.”
You could sell them to some African country.
Or there’s always medical experiments.
I think my kids are medical experiments.
*snort* Sleepless
When my son was naughty, I’d buy a tree (hugger) and he’d dig the hole for said tree.
(Not a Joshua tree!)
Chortles,
Leigh
Quote:
my options are work myself to death, break the law by starting a home sweatshop business using my kids, or rent a room to a homicidal stranger who is probably Jigsaw from the Saw movies. Think I’ll walk.
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Go for it Mo Money !. I am with you, Man Dude, on this one. Let the freaking bank swallow the house if they want to. The HELL I am gonna get stuck with a car that does not start, has a flat tire and is rusty all over the hood. Teach the freaking bank a good damn lesson about making profit…
I find it interesting that the advice is to hold on at all cost, or as he puts it, “finding a way to hang on is critical”. Why? Who really benefits in this market if you do absolutely everything you can to “hang on”? Is there really a chance that the FBs can wait this out if they somehow pinch their budget enough AND bring in extra income? IMHO, the reason they are in this predicament is because they could not afford to pay the fixed rate on the property when fixed rates were lower. Now they have higher rates and declining value. They are working against the tide if they follow the advice given. They will find that they are house poor and their lives are falling apart from stress. But by doing all of that they will help prop up these prices for as long as they can keep it up. And who benefits from the higher prices? Everyone in the REIC food chain is my guess. The FB will only benefit IF they can hold on long enough and since this was the biggest bubble on record and no one has a crystal ball that magically tells how long it will last I am inclined to believe that anyone who tries to hang on is a patsy for the REIC. They were a patsy going in and will continue to be so.
Agreed most people in this cycle that try to “hang on” are forked. But I met my wife because she hung on. Thirty years ago she was in city govt of Flagstaff. Bought a house and after a power struggle lost her job. She rented rooms in her house, worked two jobs,and after a year where Snowbowl has no snow she moved to Maui for two jobs. All because she did not want to lose her house. After two months here she met me. We fell in love, worked together, paid off her loan early and we still have that house.
Sometimes people are just plain stubborn. My wife is one of them. But that was a different time. I’m sure that if her loan was for 250.000 instead of 50,000 two jobs are not going to help. Put in the same situation today that house would be gone. There is a thick red line between stubborn and stupid.
Some people will hang on. and some will keep their houses. Many will try but few will make it. But it makes much more sense to drop the anchor and live to fight another day.
I agree. It reminds me of the guy who on his 25th wedding anniversary said “If I had shot her 25 years ago, I would’ve been out in 15.”
Walk from an overpriced asset. It will take 10 years or more for many of these homes to appreciate to the amount that you owe. 10 years from now, you will be far removed from any credit problems caused by a foreclosure today. In fact you probably can fully recover in 5 years.
Does anyone want to “hang on” for an unknown length of time 1, 3 even 5 years, than lose the house anyway.
Start NOW to fix your credit. You can do it in 5 years. Start my maximizing your cash. Besides, foreclosures will be so common it will have less of an impact on your credit score, long term. If the credit card companies did not issue plactic to people who had a recent bankruptcy or a foreclosure they would miss out on a significant portion of the market.
Good points. I would think that if there ever was a time to walk away from a house now would be it. With all of the noise about helping FBs it looks like some form of forgiveness will be put in place. But the bottom line as you pointed out is in the long run getting out from under the debt is much less painful to the FB. Insofar as personal responsibility, that was tossed when FBs entered into loans they new they couldn’t afford if appreciation slowed or ceased. Increased foreclosures pushes the pain up the chain and will eventually drop prices toward fundamental support levels.
“For those who can’t lower the price enough to be competitive in today’s market, finding a way to hang on is critical. If all else fails, selling that sweet SUV, hot ski boat or radical motorcycle just might generate some needed revenue and reduce the debt load. There’s also the option of taking on a second job, putting the kids to work to help pay bills or renting out a room.”
- This man is a Monster! How dare he say such things to Californians!
They should not be expected to sacrifice their lifestyle - we need the goverment to help!
For those who can’t lower the price enough to be competitive in today’s market, finding a way to hang on is critical. If all else fails, selling that sweet SUV, hot ski boat or radical motorcycle just might generate some needed revenue and reduce the debt load. There’s also the option of taking on a second job, putting the kids to work to help pay bills or renting out a room.”
I actually like what he said, big problem is that walking away is much easier and acceptable since people dont have money in their houses. Lenders will be feeling Joshua trees all day long
While I understand CDOs, CDO waterfalls, correlation trading, and RMBS securities, I keep seeing this phrase “Joshua Tree” and have no clue what it means. Well, i have kind of clue that it means something bad but could someone please (please please please) let me know what it means?
“Supervisor Rose Jacobs Gibson, who wrote the resolution, said residents who find themselves trapped by subprime mortgages should be able to reach out to lenders and renegotiate interest rates or the loan’s principal.”
Okay, what about the responsible buyers who chose to buy within their means, made a downpayment and have a fixed mortgage? Do they get to “reach out to lenders” to get a break on their interest rate as well?
This “negotiation” talk is infuriating. Not everyone made stupid financial decisions about a house.
The banks are counting on folks like you to pay all kinds of fees and taxes to help them out of the mess they’re in.
Fine - then I want to renegotiate my car loan. How about renegotiating student loans while we’re at it. What is wrong with people. Did they suggest the banks renegotiate loans upwards when times were good? OK, you now have $100K equity so we think we should renegotiate your loan upwards a point - yeah, I know you have a fixed rate, but you have equity now and can pay more. How about negotiating up every time you get a raise or make a profit on the market. Sheesh - rant off.
Notice in one breath the Feds/Corporations tell folks to “shop ’til you drop” since consumer spending props up our country, and then the next breath it’s like, hey, you’re some pathetic loser who bought so much crap that you’ve O’D. It’s actually brilliant, keep folks so encumbered, but obsessed with living like the rich, that they don’t have the time/energy to question their eroding position in a gamed economic system. So, that’s why they want to keep stringing along the FBs by giving them these credit life lines. Not fair to those of us who peeked behind the red velvet curtain and saw there was no Oz, but it keeps the money in play so someone up the food chain gets their year end bonus.
Work-outs are fine when there is equity in the property. No equity, nothing to work out. Lender wise to foreclose ASAP so as to unload the property ASAP.
“No equity, nothing to work out. Lender wise to foreclose ASAP so as to unload the property ASAP.”
However, say you have lent money to an FB in the IE. (1) Foreclose on house, keep it for years because the number of houses on the market is multiple years of sales, probably go bankrupt, or (2) renegotiate with the FB, who at least might pay above what you could rent the thing for. Essentially, it might be profit maximization. The laws may be merely allowing for flexibility that was impeded by the structure of the servicing agreements. ?
You can’t spell ‘renegotiate’ without ‘renege’…
“The county board of supervisors unanimously passed a resolution asking mortgage lenders to voluntarily suspend foreclosure activities.”
Yeah, We’ll get right on that after we provide Unicorns & Endless Sunshine.
I wonder if they’d consider a similar resolution for tax sales. Notice they never mention how property tax can cause people to “lose their homes”.
We can use our perpetual motion machines to power everyone’s houses!
Some people here in the bay area are just total lackwits. The sense of entitlement is staggering sometimes.
Down here in the SF South Bay.. to bad many still think they are immune from downturns.. its like they never heard prices of homes fall as much as 35-40% as they had in early 90s.
Ohhh lackwits! I love that term! I’m going to have to start using it. Old-fashioned sounding yet so precise!
Mortgage lenders: Scary, faceless bad guys that we can blame. I really like Climber’s take - a complete stoppage of any and all payments to any debtor would be so much more fair. Think bunches of Christmas toys, important things like new shoes and that vacation to Maui.
“The county board of supervisors unanimously passed a resolution asking mortgage lenders to voluntarily suspend foreclosure activities.”
later that day they also called on all home buyers to pay the asking prices, and buy two homes if possible, help upkeep the run down foreclosure properties, donate extra taxes to local government, open their homes to the new homeless……after which they patted themselves on the backs and proclaimed what a very productive meeting they just had, then all got on a bus to Disneyland for the rest of the day. What a good life.
Your comment brought to mind the scene of the monkeys and the football that ex-nnv talks about.
I wonder what is in the water up there? They think they have more clout than banks. LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1
I’m sure they will, right after the county board of supervisors votes to suspend their own pay.
“She is now four months behind on her payments but is trying to renegotiate the loan with her lender. ‘We can’t even concentrate on our personal lives,’ she said. ‘We have no vacations, no weekends, nothing.’”
And that’s exactly where you want to leave the people who loaned you the money isn’t it?
Yup, sucked drier than a bleached camel skull in the Sahara. Our work here is done, ciao!
–the Banksters
I’m glad we found a nameless 13 year old boy, to blame the California wildfires on…
He’s Al Qaida.
Was it Tan-man Jr.?
Pity his parents. Talk about financial jeopardy…
No, you sue the match company, because they didn’t print a warning on the package to not start wildfires. And you sue the cigarette companies , because if people didn’t smoke, we wouldn’t need matches. And you sue the mortgage companies, because all this news about the housing crisis depressed the boy.
Didn’t the band “America” do a song about him:
He burned up the desert
That boy with no name
It was cool to watch all the flames.
In the desert when your house in in flames
there ain’t no bank for to give you no pain
La, la …
“She is now four months behind on her payments but is trying to renegotiate the loan with her lender. ‘We can’t even concentrate on our personal lives,’ she said. ‘We have no vacations, no weekends, nothing.’
___________________________________________________
The American Dream! Dumbass!
‘We have no vacations, no weekends, nothing.’
NO KIDDING!
based on the numbers she gave, how in the h… can her payment go from $2,700 per month to $8,200 per month???? doesn’t make sense.
It used to be called “liberating equity.”
“how in the h… can her payment go from $2,700 per month to $8,200 per month???? doesn’t make sense”
I’m betting it was an interest-only option ARM and now the principal is coming due.
shoot, most of my co-workers don’t have wknds, vacations, etc..with -35% taken 5 yrs ago.. what is this woman whining about. Sheesh. Most of us sold our homes to downsize 5+ yrs ago when our co threatened to go BK.. now the ceo/mgmnt has taken continuous bonuses yr after yr..
And those who didn’t sell their properties 5+ yrs ago, are struggling now.
Vacations? weekends?
Working double /triple time to make up for lost wages.
Renting house till the market cools way way way off.
Why are you still working there?
Or as the kids say: “sucks to be you.”
Lady,
it is time to mail the keys to the bank. Heck, do it COD and save on postage.
More like throw the keys on the roof and go fishing.
Hey lady…..get a grip…..could be worse…….you could have no nothings…..or, you could be Cramer’s fed who ‘don’t know nothing’.
instead of scaring the holy crap out of a delinquent kid by dragging him to the morgue to learn the wages of sin, take him to this lady’s home…
‘We have no vacations, no weekends, nothing.’
Ah, I remember last weekend back at my apartment (which I rent) in Phoenix. Had my car in the shop, had to do errands, so I walked. Walking to errands in the west is rare compared to out here in Maryland. Anyway I was thinking of how great it was not being on congested streets. It didn’t take much time to walk 3/4 of a mile. I was thinking, yeah I paid $838 in car repair, but I could actually live without a car in that part of Phoenix if I lost my job. My apartment is $1006 per month. I think I could live on $2000 per month (food, entertainment, rent) if I had to, but I am counting on $4,000 per month, in case I lose my job. I can do this for several years.
BTW: I still think a severe depression will occur in the next 5 years in the U.S. unless we import the brightest young immigrants. The difficulty in obtaining citizenship makes it more likely we’ll not have enough labor to drive the economy and drive consumption.
but, but…
We have spent the past 6 years since 9/11, making foreigners unwelcome, and they are staying away in droves~
“One member of the community group ACORN, Estela Baldovinos, told the board she went from paying $2,700 a month at 6.5 percent interest in 2004 to facing a payment of $8,200 at 12.5 percent interest next month.”
Hey Estela, how much income did you “state’ on your lending docs? So this chick is hanging her hopes on ACORN, a “community” group, and wants help with her 8,200 mortgage payment?
BWAHAHAHAHA!!
Estela should consider immigrating to Mexico. I hear it’s cheaper there.
We’ve heard from this Baldovinos lady before, apparently she’s since joined ACORN and is hoping to play the victim card hot and heavy. Man, these people make me sick, LaRaza and other similar groups are loaded with them. She reminds me of that Elvira lady who holed up in a church in Chicago before she was finally deport. They either break the law or do something stupid, play the victim and turn everything into some “noble” crusade. That’ll be the theme of the bust, how everyone was victimized. Cue Mozilo.
Like there’s not plenty of white folks whining and complaining and looking for someone else to bail them out. It cuts across the board of race or social class.
Race-based organizations amplify the victimization mentality. La Raza, NAACP, even the KKK.
ACORN: Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now
They are very loud and they are very progressive.
I dunno what “progressive” even means, anymore. I don’t think it means what I think it means, LOL.
Indeed, though, they are loud, I’ll give them that much. I have to give them points for demonstrating outside a hedge fund office in Greenwich, Connecticut. Greenwich doesn’t often see that sort of thing.
“Progressive” — adjective of the political camouflage persuasion — means “Consumed with the desire to use Peter’s money to pay Paul.”
Amen brother.
I just realized that the change in interest alone doesn’t fully account for the change in payment. I guess she did some extra borrowing against that house. I tried to warn the world about the difference between debt and wealth, but no one would listen.
The interest went up just less than 100% (from 6.5% to 12.5%) but her payment went up over 200% (from $2,700/month to $8,200/month). How did that happen? Option ARM that recast? Low, teaser payment in 2004? Any other way it could have happened? Sorry, I just can’t feel sympathy for Estela.
“The interest went up just less than 100% (from 6.5% to 12.5%) but her payment went up over 200% (from $2,700/month to $8,200/month). How did that happen? Option ARM that recast? Low, teaser payment in 2004? Any other way it could have happened? Sorry, I just can’t feel sympathy for Estela.”
Maybe a HELOC or three to open a chain of make-your-own candle shops?
Do they make any candles in the shape of Joshua Trees? Might come in useful. Not sure it captures the full effect tho.
It can go that high if she had an option arm based on a low payrate with a lower balance…. now the balance is higher, the interest rate is higher, and the payment is based on amortization, not just interest only teaser… payments can actually go up more than 400% in one month once you eat up all you allowable equity with a neg am loan
you can have an equity neg am loan??? You can’t be serious. Someone want to loan me $1trillion so I can be the first $1trillionaire American??
‘This three-month window will help people keep the dream of home ownership alive.’
Sure it will, if they just happen to win the Lottery ! Nice to see such clueless politics even at the local level.
Mo, I was thinking this three-month window would help people keep the dream of home ownership alive…for exactly three months. Dreams are all that matter, apparently.
“Dream” is the correct word, in the sense of “illusion” or, better still, “delusion.”
I like the dumbass who “bought” the one house and then had to “buy” another one because the kid couldn’t get into some school.
Was there some reason a second house could not have been rented?
These people deserve contempt, not sympathy, not handouts, not bailouts.
Yeah, that one all riled up too. It always surprises me that papers print ridiculous statements like that.
Exactly. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve met people who buy homes BEFORE the old one sold. The case in which her kid couldn’t get into a specific school is equally ridiculous. I’ve noticed that parents in CA seem to go to extremes for schools, whether it be paying through the nose for a certain school district, putting them in private school etc etc. Whatever happened to just sending the kiddies to public school like the rest of us did?
Not sure how old you are, but public schools have changed in the last 20-30 years. A LOT.
Nodding head in agreement. Homeschooled my son in HS with American DL School, Lansing IL.
The boast some big names, Aggassi, for one.
They also wrote the curriculum for the Prep school at the Air Force Academy.
The best decision hubby and I made, by far
Leigh
Good for you Leigh,
I think that the education you gave him far exceeded what he would have received in many of our HS Babysitting programs today.
I think if people want a good school district they either should move to a community where costs are low.
Thanks OC!
BTW, any others that have the means to take on this enormous task, here’s a few things you should know:
Your child(ren) CAN participate in H.S. activities.
-my son was enrolled in band
-ROTC
-art classes
-lab biology
Yes, it is hard work, but the rewards, (spending time with child(ren) are priceless!
I realise many do not have this opportunity due to job/career, but if you are a stay at home mom/dad, you’ll not regret the experience!
Leigh
Leigh: My daughter went to private school except for one year. Had moved back to LA and was living on westside with one of the so-called best public schools in LA. She was miserable and so was I. So much busy work, so little stimulation and their idea of a gifted program was 2 hours on Saturday. What was sad was to see how much the schools had deteriorated. I grew up in that area and went through all public school. Used to be LA was top public schools in country until prop 13. Put her right back in private school. If your child is anything but average, public schools are miserable. Best part of private school is lack of BS - they don’t have to take or keep anyone. If the kid doesn’t cut it, they’re out. They were constantly trying to guilt me into paying more for all sorts of fundraising which I refused to do. Going to Annapolis (not Naval Academy) tomorrow to visit and can’t wait to see her. Kudos to you for a job well done.
Hugs Crazy and a huge congrats.
Love is bigger than life!
As parents, some of us blame ourselves for the deterioration of the education(al) system.
In Florida, parents are nearly expected to teach!
So, we said, OK, we’re in the position to do it, so damn the system! (Look at the homework the child(ren) bring home!)
I’m happy for you and your daughter…sounds like you made the right decision, though it may not be judged as the most popular (God knows at the time we were riddle).
Bless you and yours.
Best always,
Leigh
I like this, speaking of schools:
“Magat said she bought the Lathrop house for $636,000 as a residence but then had to buy a home in another area when it turned out that a daughter was unable to get into a nearby Catholic school.”
I knew the Pope was behind this!
Wasn’t there something biblical about “magats”?. Sorry, that was maggots. Seriously lady, consider a name change.
My daughter just started K in the LAUSD. After hearing all the stories about LAUSD and having just about all my daughter’s friends opt to go to private school, I was nervous about sending her. But, after two months, I am 100% thrilled with the school. The teachers are so dedicated and curriculum is vigorous. Yeah, we have already had a fund-raiser, but I hear the private schools get hit up for that stuff too. Just wanted to give some props to the LAUSD because there are dedicated people working hard to improve it!
Jetson Boy:
Ever since Proposition 13, the CA public schools are severely underfunded. Everyone fights to get their kids into a school where there are enough wealthy parents to afford donations for paper and such.
I’ve heard of this before concerning Prop. 13. I also didn’t grow up here. The schools were fairly all the same where I was born. Are CA schools really as bad as some say they are?
Hi Jetson Boy:
I don’t have kids, but all my coworkers/childed friends tell me there is a HUGE difference between the rich and poor schools. I can also see it when I drive/walk past schools in different districts. All schools are underfunded, but the ones in wealthy areas get donations from the parents, so those kids are OK. From what I hear, the difference gets more and more noticeable every year.
That’s why they came up with this voucher system. Now, parents can apply to get Federal aid for private school tuition. Apparently, the competition from private schools has made it even more difficult for the public schools to prosper, and now all the rich/upper-middle-class people feel that they shouldn’t be paying property taxes at all, since their kids go to private school anyway.
The only parents that I know of who think it’s a good system are the ones with two willing, highly paid wage-earners.
Sorry, Jetson_boy, but I don’t call $10K per year per student underfunded. CA schools suck because they’re a monopoly, and the CTA doesn’t give a damn about good education.
Big V - the difference between “rich” and “poor” schools is the parents, not the income. To give an example from my life, at the public Jr High, students took days off to “go to the beach”, but at the private Jr High, the expectation was you were going to learn the basics.
Dear Bear Cat:
Are schools not a monopoly in other states? I recall going to school in CA, NV, and IL. The CA schools were the worst. I know that illegal immigration is a big issue too, but so is Prop 13. CA spends less per kid (including Federal aid) than other states, even though the cost of living here is WAY HIGHER.
Here’s a quote from the paper I linked to below:
In addition to this variation
among school districts, the authors
find that, on average, California
school districts spend significantly
less and receive fewer revenues than
do districts in other states.
Here’s the link:
http://irepp.stanford.edu/documents/GDF/SUMMARIES/Loeb_Grissom.pdf
LOTTERY was Supposed to pay for CA education.
Now lets see… I believe less than =1% goes to CA education. And millions/millions/ millions/ ne Billions are run in and out of the state, oh yes and the NEW agreement with the Indians who want to expand the gaming are GIVING CA more than 18 Billion when this passes, and it already has by Arnie/legislature.
SO, when the heck is all that money going to go to where it was SUPPOSED to go?
And when will the proposition that the voters passed in a landslide to Roll back Insurance rates go into effect from over 10 yrs ago? Thank goodness for lobbyists.
I guess.
Big V
problems in CALI is money is wasted left and right, walk into any LAUSD office and check your self, they have all these entitlement programs and special need (which are generally good ideas) but like any goverment program get severely abused, also like you mentions illegal immigration is another factor.
As for that lady who bought another house for her kid to get into another school I say BULL SHIT, she propably wanted to put him in the school of choice and make some money along the way.
Lotteries can be some of the biggest scams ever foisted on taxpayers, if they are like Florida’s. I worked with a man who was on the committee/board that created Florida’s lottery. The promise was that the profits would be used for education. The slimes in the legislature then proceeded to reduce regular state funding by the same amount, which meant that in truth none or virtually none of the new lottery revenue went to education — they just used is as more pork.
In the past year, I’ve become quite well acquainted with three cases of “buy the new house before selling the existing house.” None of them have turned out well.
P.S.
If I hear another one say money is the problem with our education system, I swear, I’ll scream so loud, they will have bleeding ears in China!
It’s not the money!
Ancedotally I’ve noticed the decline in education when many were forced to bus outside their districts (in the name of harmony).
Birds eye view, it doesn’t work! For the same reasons seperating a family is not always the best idea. I’m really tired of all this PC hoc…nothing against tolerance, but JEESH!
Rant Off,
Leigh
Money is the problem with our education system.
yep, why just earn a “profit” on one house if she has a perfectly good excuse to earn it on two…………………..
In the old days, you would sell the first house first, and they buy a house where you want/need to live.
Lots of people said to themselves “Hey, now I have an excuse to become a real estate mogul, and it was so easy. Lets see. If I just made 50k this year on this house, next year I will make at least 100K. Wow, honey, you’re college will be all paid for”
This was my reply….an i picking up your brainwaves here in the big apple, txchick?
How can Consuelo Magat be a complete blithering Idiot? She HAD to buy another house? Was she doing drugs? She couldn’t RENT and get her daughter into that Catholic school?
Man how dumb and stupid Americans have become, can’t read can’t think, then whine to your reporter about 2 mortgages she can’t afford…she should be shamed in public!
Are you sure she’s an American?
I’m sorry, Big V, I have to delurk for that. I generally enjoy the content of your posts but the above comment smacks of prejudice, whether intended or not. There are some people with Spanish surnames here in California whose forbears have lived in this land since before CA was a state and, yes, before the USA was a nation.
It’s my opinion that the FB under discussion is a financial idiot with evidently no common sense, but does it really matter whether she is an American?
Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound racist. I just meant that some lenders weren’t even checking for citizenship when giving out recent loans, so we can’t really say she’s a “stupid American” with 100% confidence.
Hi Big V, I thought the room for racially-charged interpretation might be unintentional on your part. It seemed unlike you. I hope you see this. I take your point in clairification and agree with it, thoroughly.
Big V,
FYI! H1B visa holders can buy/bought a house in US. Not sure about student visas…
FYI! H1B visa holders can buy/bought a house in US. Not sure about student visas…
I don’t think there are any visa requirements. Isn’t it quite common for Europeans to buy vacation homes in Florida and elsewhere in the USA even though they aren’t legally entitled to live here permanently?
And it doesn’t even matter what school she goes to anyway. Her kid will end up just as dumb.
The ashtray in my beemer filled up with gum wrappers. I guess it’s time to buy another one.
the many line items in the state budget have been categorized under education over a period of years. now according to california politicians spend 50% on the state budget on education.
“There are plenty of investors who are willing to take a chance on the Central Valley again and count on the long-term upswing, he said, but many of the offers on foreclosure homes are ridiculous low-ball pitches.”
“Ridiculous low-ball pitches”, also known as “market prices”…
“offers on foreclosure homes are ridiculous low-ball pitches.”
Hmmm. Sounds like someone is reading Ben’s blog.
I am spartacus,
in north orange county anyway.
Hey Mr Realtor, just do your job and pass the offer on to the lender and let them decide if it’s ridiculous or not. Meanwhile, shut your know-it-all pie-hole!
But he’s a “professional.” And I’m sure that Suzanne researched the prices.
whatever happened to Suzanne i researched this?
that’s why I’m reluctant to even submit my own lowball offer of $100K on a listed 249K bank owned mess of a fixer upper; I dont know if the agent will even forward my offer … or comeback with another phantom bidder … or falsely tell me the bank won’t go that low … or any other BS excuse to jack up his comission.
board question: how does a bidder actually verify the prop owner has recvd yer bid? Are you at the complete mercy of the agent?
Send offer to the Realtor. But before you do, do your research, find out who owns it, and wrap the offer up in a certified letter to the owner. If you can get the fax number of the REO Dept or REO manger and fax it over as well. If more folks did this it would stop a lot of nonsense. If you’re using a Realtor make them do it and give you the receipts showing it was done.
thanks for this info - we are putting what we believe to be a really good short sale price, but the realtor just told us on the phone that it was too low and may not be worth the effort to submit it. the realtor should have absolutely no input at this point, this is between the buyer and the seller, as a matter of fact, they really are not even needed IMO. then she says she will ‘hold’ the offer, wtf!! isn’t that against the rules?? use our offer as a base against other ‘phantom’ offers. God, i wish these games would stop. the buyers and sellers control the outcome of the offer, not the realtor. just because they don’t like $$ amount, then find something else to do in life. and to top it off, the house already has a NOD posted 7 weeks ago and will be foreclosed on. since we know who the lender is - countrywide - we are going to submit an offer directly to them - which i am sure they will be most happy to see. we will be sure to let the lender know the actions of this realtor. thanks again for this blog and all the helpful info that just keeps continuing to pour out of here.
Here let me straighten this out for you…
The Realtor who has the listing has absolutely no say so with the bank in a short-sale situation. He’s nothing more than a paper pusher. All he’s doing is putting together a package.
In a short-sale situation you are no longer dealing with the seller you are dealing with the bank. It’s a grey area situation for the bank because they technically do not own the property yet.
I would contact the workout dept from countrywide and see if they have received an offer on the loan number for the property once you submit your offer and if they haven’t I would find out where to send it if you’re in that big of a hurry to buy something
But if it’s going into foreclosure it may be better if you just waited and bought it from the bank direct. It will be a lot easier, less stressfull and probably a better deal. The minute it’s foreclosed on I would submit a offer directly to countrywide. It will be a lot easier for them to take a loss if you take it as-is and they don’t have to pay a commission.
I’ve done a few short sales and honestly dealing with a bank after the fact is far easier than playing the shortsale game.
Actually IMO short-sales are a waste of time for everybody accept the Realtors the better deals come after the fact.
If you only get ONE offer how can it be a Low-ball? Last time I checked if something was a good deal you would get several offers. Only with several offers can you determine if one is a low-ball.
good point - i can only guess that she felt it was not the $$ she was willing to work for. scr*w her. i have been waiting for this time to begin, but it will be such a mess dealing with reo’s and r.e. agents in denial, not impossible, but messy non the less.
Anyone know how to get info on foreclosures? Any good websites you know of?
Hi Wilson,
Some are dead links, as the institutions have went under or passed REOs off to other companies. Most of them work. Not all are in every state.
Best,
Leigh
http://www.thedirectoriescompany.com/reos.htm
“Ridiculous low-ball pitches,” also known as “still much more than a dozen times the likely annual rent,” also known as “knife-catching prices.”
“Real-estate agent Dave Harmon (has) foreclosures now accounting for 80 percent of his listings, said that over the past six months, the number of foreclosures quadrupled and then doubled again.”
I’d say the chances are fair that what has really happened is that they’ve double every 2 months.
4X2=8
2X2X2=8
So based on that I’ve got a fair guess at where foreclosures will be at year’s end, two months from now.
Who wants a Bay Area HBB dinner?
November 17th, 6:00 PM
Chevy’s Fresh Mex, 2907 El Camino Real, Redwood City, CA, 94061-4003
So far I have only one person saying they are up for it. Please RSVP here.
Thanks,
Big V
The Recordnet reports from California. “When Consuelo Magat bought a Mossdale Landing home in Lathrop three years ago, she had no idea she was buying into an area that would emerge as one of the hotbeds of foreclosure activity in California. Magat said she bought the Lathrop house for $636,000 as a residence but then had to buy a home in another area when it turned out that a daughter was unable to get into a nearby Catholic school.”
“Magat rented out the Lathrop house in April, she said, but was in mortgage trouble by June because she became unable to carry the monthly payments on two houses. Her lender was unsympathetic to her plight and declined to refinance because there was no equity in the house and its valuation was less than the loan balance, Magat said.”
Okay, first paragraph owns the asinine statement of the week: “Magat said she bought the Lathrop house for $636,000 as a residence but then had to buy a home in another area”. Had to? Really? Unreal!
Second paragraph: “Her lender was unsympathetic to her plight and declined to refinance”. Is anyone else getting sick of hearing how somehow it’s the obligation of lenders to be sympathetic to these f-ed borrowers. What’s the deal here! I don’t ever remember being taught that if you borrower money under contract, and you can’t pay it back, well then the lender is obliged to be sympathetic. People SUCK!
That must a huge house for that price in Lathrop which is 70 miles from San Francisco. Insane to pay that much for a cow town. The builders made big bucks here until they used the profits to build even more houses.
That’s what I was thinking. First I had to google Lathrop since I wasn’t even sure where it was! Then I thought holy cow $636k for a home way out there. I also scratch my head hearing about $1M homes in Tracy. I know quite a few people who commute all the way from Tracy and Modesto into San Jose for work. You couldn’t pay me enough $$$ to endure that commute on a regular basis - people are insane.
Isn’t it obvious that she bought a rental property and listed it as owner occupied on the loan to get a lower rate? This story is just to avoid prosecution for mortgage fraud.
Life is not fair. People are not “entitled” to a bailout! I can’t believe houses were going for over $600k in Lathrop.
Quote:
#####
Life is not fair. People are not “entitled” to a bailout! I can’t believe houses were going for over $600k in Lathrop.
#####
I am curious as to the price of this ‘let-say-house-price’ = $630K in Lathrop, CA as if this kind of pricing is way over-the-top for this location, then who or what is making profit from the pricing of the house ? Is it the builder that builds the house, the owner of the land, or the contractors that build, assemble, various parts of the house into a complete structure ? Can any one here help me on this ?
$636,000 in Lathrop?!?
Buying another house because her daughter couldn’t get into Catholic school?!?
She deserves to move from Lathrop to Bankrupt.
She felt guilty about not living in the right district.
Don’t catholic church schools accept poor kids? Maybe there is a limit . . . I remember years ago riding along w/a former friend who was picking up his small son in downtown Sacramento from a catholic school. He chuckled as we arrived saying how he claimed poverty on the application to avoid tuition. At the time, he owned a Subway sandwich shop & his wife did at-home daycare.
They made PLENTY OF $$ - enough to easily afford tuition, but felt no shame in bragging about how clever he was. It really frosted me, his lack of morality about scamming a church!
(Didn’t feel like an argument at the time, so I just held my comment.Wouldnt have made a difference anyway; Some people are just morally corrupt, no matter how much you want to believe otherwise . . .)
Probably one of the reasons he is a ‘ former ‘ friend.
Aqius, karma works in mysterious ways, sometimes faster, sometimes it likes to work up a good head of steam before slapping a dude with a trout. Little story fer ya: my sis used to work with a fairly well off guy who, when he came on board at the company where she worked, bragged to everyone how he was still collecting unemployment (basically ripping off his fellow workers). A couple of months later, he comes to work all upset because his house had been burglarized and he was all up on his hind legs because he couldn’t believe “someone would do a thing like that”. Unfortunately, we are usually not around to see someone “get theirs”, but they do. Which is why I would advise all the housing market scamsters and most especially those who put out misinformation to avoid doctors, hospitals and pharmacies for the rest of their lives, if they can. Also they should avoid any products from China, etc.
hey there Palmetto
was just thinkin about karma myself, in relations to that story . . . and life in general.
follow up to the catholic school cheater:
several years later, this guy gets hit head-on by an elderly lady driving in the wrong lane, while he is going to his cushy prison guard job @ Folsom. ( mismanaged the Subway to BK)
He almost dies, lots of pain, full body cast, etc, etc. limped for years . . . !!
Karma is said to be the result of a prior life, and theoretically what you do now impacts in the next, but when I heard that news, it surely made me stop n think ….
Some people always seem to land on their feet no matter, what but the piper will be paid, sooner or later!
Waiting a year or two to enroll in a Catholic school is common… probably the norm near a school with an outstanding reputation.
A lot of Catholic schools have closed around the Bay Area, especially in poorer areas. Not enough nuns to do free labor.
“For those who can’t lower the price enough to be competitive in today’s market, finding a way to hang on is critical. If all else fails, selling that sweet SUV, hot ski boat or radical motorcycle just might generate some needed revenue and reduce the debt load. There’s also the option of taking on a second job, putting the kids to work to help pay bills or renting out a room.”
Zen and the Art of Radical Motorcycle Conveyance…
So let’s see…
Step 1: Sell everything you HELOC’d to pay for.
Step 2: Get the 2nd job you really needed to buy the stuff in the first place.
Step 3: “Put the kids to work.” Ummm… with minimum wage were it is…. there is only one profession for the kiddies that will help pay a mortgage. But we joked about what would happen to the teenage daughters six months ago.
Got popcorn?
Neil
For some reason reading the San Mateo County Supervisors asking the mortgage lenders to stop foreclosure activity really pissed me off! Why not ask the repo-man to stop repossesing cars too? Why not just ask the banks to wipe out everyone’s credit card debt who ran their cards up thinking they could get a heloc to pay them off and right off the interest?
Why not build more f-ing houses in the Bay Area so people don’t have to pay so much for an f-ing house? Huh? Is that so hard…oh wait…these are the same people who stop all home construction in the Bay Area in the name of open space and the environment. I have an idea for the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors….in this current environment of my attitude……..shove it up your open space you pathetic idiots.
PS: I guess I picked a bad week to quit sniffing glue.
I’m totally with you. The East Bay Town I live in is so rife with anti-build, NIMBY politics that the ONLY homes that are built were built 50 years ago. Unsurprisingly, the people who make the most noise when anyone even suggests building a middle income development are the old farts who made the laws and their rich neighbors who shelled out 800k for the 30k homes they bought in 1970.
The bad part is, I see no end to that kind of attitude. We are in the Bay Area after all, the home of “progressive” politics.
Dude… relax. Wrong week to quit drinking, quite coffee, and smoking.
Ya know… get back on the meds. Real estate only goes up.
ROTFL
Neil
These open space people are the biggest hypocrites. None of them give a sh*t about open space. Their hidden agenda is to preserve property values. “I have my house, but you can’t have yours.” And environmentalists should favor dense housing! The denser a community is, the “greener” it can be. More people can walk, ride bicycles, etc.
If you want to keep some land from being developed, BUY IT.
The town I live in has a measure passed in the 70’s stating that you CAN’T build a home under 2,000 sq feet, CAN’T change a family home into a multifamily dwelling, CAN’T build new multifamily dwellings-aka- apartments, CAN’T have a yard under a certain size and so on. So as you can see, basically it meant do not build anything. This town used to be a blue collar town. Not anymore.
Recently a large chunk of the town that used to be a Military base has been in the eye of a number of developers. Signs for saving this measure suddenly popped up all over town to “Save us from overcrowding!”
I’ve never lived anywhere that had such Selfish people.
Jetson
intersting comment about the older gripy seniors. I’ve said the same to my spouse about noticing that most men over 50 are really anal retentive assholes around here …. hehe!
ex: I forgot to place the rubber divider between my few groceries (3) and the older guy in front of me in line on the belt.
After a minute her SLAMS the divider on the belt! I was so startled it took a minute to understand what the bloody hell was going on.
another ex; surrounded by retired grey-bearded seniors, all ex military. they mow their grass every 3 days without fail & bitch to high hell if my lawn has more than 7 leaves showing.
more: with Sun City Lincoln nearby this area has turned into Florida West! In the A.M. you take yer life into yer hands by getting run over either by the KONSTRUCTION TRUCKS IN A FUGGIN HURRY or the grouchy bad senior retirees hurrying to make the damn Dennys early bird special.
Youll accept the retirees & LIKE IT by god because they pay huge taxes … is the attitude of govt. Just wait until they finish shielding (hiding) all their assets & go on free/reduce state aid in the skilled nursing facilities. THATS why the illegals are let in as someone has to change bedpans!
Think I’m kidding!? HA wish I was.
rant turned down - but not off. for now.
you just described this valley.
Hi Aqius!
Retired military (21yrs) but NOT anal retentive!
I will admit I still cannot bring myself to walk on the grass, as our basic instuctors (T.I.’s) would let out a scream heard in China, if we were to do so!
People are rude in all walks of life, and then, just when you think it can’t get any worse, a beautiful act of kindness happens out of the blue
Leigh
I have to say, the military people have some right to be angry and upset. If I was someone in past wars watch this country fall to such shambles after fighting for some purpose I would be pretty ticked. Plus I would be old to top it off.
There were lots of Anti Growth measures made in the 70s and 80s in california. All of that has now gone away.
Its a free for all teardown and build up as much as you want!
Heck you should see the new development in San Franisco over the past 4-5 years. And still going strong…
which lends the myth that there is no more land to build in is totally BUSTED
that’s what I did!
thats exactly right. its called infill housing mixed use in city centers near mass transit and already existing infrastructure. as for them environmentalist types all I can say is God bless them. this here planet is heating up fast, we’ve got a green belt here in the Bay Area that is incredible. if that were turned into…
America left to them capitalists and their strip malls and walmarts why it would ruin our air quality and congest our already congested city. whatdya want more concrete? building more houses is fine,just do it in the city centers near transit.
If you want to control what happens with a piece of land you should buy it. If you think that people shouldn’t be able to own land, you should move to China.
Don’t necessarily agree with you about open space, but there is a group of folks that seema to think that no one else matters. We call them the “I got mine f**k you” crowd.
It’s called;
“I’ve got mine, but you getting yours would be harmful to the environment”.
While I know what you’re gettting at, denser housing is NOT more green. Denser housing results in a higher percentage of the land being paved over, which impacts rain water runoffs (can cause flooding), plus the denser housing lacks green space, so there’s no room for trees, etc. If you want to see the ultimate result of how “green” dense housing is, take a loo at the horrid, lifeless, brown rowhomes in Baltimore City. Very dense, yes - and crumbling away in areas that are totally devoid of life aside from a few weeds. No grass, no trees, no yards, no life, and no hope. Sorry, but I’d sooner live in the middle of nowhere than in a hell like that!
That being said, McMansions combine the worst of all worlds: larger than anyone really needs and thus wasteful of resources AND often set cramped together on tiny lots so that there isn’t enough room for any green space in the area.
ME TOO!
I read it out loud to hubby.
We both ranted for about ten minutes! I need apsirin.
Leigh
What you need is a bottle of tequila and a Joshua tree, the rest will just take care of itself.
PS - Until you get the hang of it, wear a back brace.
Hi Neil!
They don’t call it ta kill ya for nothin
P.S. got the back brace, please don’t tree me!
Smiles,
Leigh
chuckle.
But that wasn’t me.. it was ex-nnv.
But that guy needs a Joshua tree!
Neil
Curtsey Ex and Neil
Proposal:
Let’s not tree each other (laughing loudly…eye leaking…hey, did you poke my eyes out with a Joshua tree?!!
Ya just can’t make this stuff up! *snort*
Best ever,
Leigh
CA renter - regarding your question yesterday e-mail me: sd.re.b@hotmail.com
Did he just advocate selling a stolen ski boat?
“For those who can’t lower the price enough to be competitive in today’s market, finding a way to hang on is critical. If all else fails, selling that sweet SUV, hot ski boat or radical motorcycle just might generate some needed revenue and reduce the debt load.
Given that it was probably paid for by a HELOC that the borrower is about to default on, actually, yes, it is stolen in a sense.
“The Index of Leading Economic Indicators for San Diego County fell 1 percent in September, the 17th decline in the past 18 months, a University of San Diego economist reported today.”
How many declines in this leading economic index would be required to suggest a recession is a significant possibility?
Prof.: you live in beautiful SD. Everyone wants to live there. So, a recession is just not possible. Just like declining home prices were not possible in the rating agencies’ models. /sarcasm
“Big drops in building permits, consumer confidence and help-wanted advertising along with an increase in the number of people who applied for unemployment insurance offset positive news, according to Gin.”
Aside from these minor challenges, coupled with net outmigration of the workforce plus the worst wild fires in San Diego history, the area economy is doing just great.
Other than that, Mrs. Lincoln, how did you like the play?
mom always says that to me..
LOL
Mrs. Lincoln replies “What play? Couldn’t hear a dang thing……just ringin in my ears after that dang firecracker went off “
Inflation is tame. GDP is great. Property prices will soon bottom out. Gas prices will fall. The deficit will go away. Health care costs will fall. Unemployment is the lowest in years.
OR:
Inflation is running at 7% to 10%. GDP numbers are fake. Property prices have a looooong way to go before bottom. High gas prices are here to stay with no more than a 10% drop but on the other end of the scale a 25% increase. Health care costs will continue to rise faster than incomes. Unemployment has already started to ramp up.
Take your pick.
An interesting piece to the rise (110,000) in employment numbers this month was that +/- 80% was from government hires. Given housing’s down-stream affects on state and local government incomes, this is a wonderfully lousy figure.
And to think that in 2004 several of my friends voted for “less government.” Yeah, right.
Who wants to be a suicidal sword swallower, in this market?
I’ve looked at a number of properties, many i’m interested in, all woefully overpriced, they reek of delusions of grandeur~
Prices have to fall 40% and Gold has to go up 40% from now, before I can get a little serious and put some chips on the green felt water table…
Would those “chips” be yellowish?
Another earthquake. This time at the office. This building is a death trap.
Most people here have the jitters from last nite and used the minor 3.7 jolt we just got as an excuse to go home early. Us old timers don’t worry until things start coming off the walls.
By then it’s too late to worry. This is exactly why I didn’t want to move up here to begin with.
The 1989 quake caused my Mothers “good” plates to fall out of the hutch, large mirror fell off the wall and some drywall cracks around fireplace plus power went out. I had just moved to New York a year earlier and was amazed that I had missed a big quake when I had spent so many years in Silicon Valley.
‘‘Another three months isn’t going to bail them out, because it’s just going to give them three more months of free rent.’”
I actually find myself agreeing with a realtor!
Just read some stuff on Brokers Outpost. My favorite comedy website. According to several of the posts, laws are on the way concerning brokers. Part of the proposed legislation, will require brokers to have a $100,000 bond. Actually, what’s going on is they are going to drive the independant brokers out of business. Frankly, a great idea. In fact, if someone wants to earn a living as a broker the new laws shouldn’t be of any concern outside of the fact they they will just earn a living because they cannot rape, plunder and steal anymore. If they haven’t got $100,000, they can ask the bank. Maybe they can get a teaser interest loan with low interest for 2 or 3 years. After that the interest rates will double or triple. Maybe there is a God after all.
My next hope is that they do the same with realtors only make them put down a $200,000 bond and, if the price of the property falls in the 5 years following the clients purchase, the realtor has to make up the difference.
Of course, the realtors, appraisers and brokers have all been complicit in this mess. They jumped on the band wagon and started grabbing loot with both hands when it started rolling. They might be guilty of being shysters and predators but the main culprit who should be put into jail for his criminal actions which are causing so much heart ache and grief is Greenspan. Don’t hold your breath.
I go to the outpost to see what’s stirring in the pot…boo…Happy Halloween Mike
Leigh
For all of you who may not know, Lathrop was and still a pass-thru town. You would not even realize you were in Lathrop when passing it by the freeway. Most of the Central Valley towns are dumps. That people could ‘justify’ a $636K price for a house there is stupid.
This may be the place that I noticed on my last trip from Sacramento to LA. A community with a great freeway view, sandwiched between two truck stops, with not a hint of retail shops for miles around.
Watching extraordinary popular delusion & madness from a great distance, shouldn’t be as enjoyable as it is…
I know I’m splitting hairs here, but it makes me wanna puke every time I hear someone refer to a house as a “home”. It’s just a building. 6 out 13 “homes” are being used as investments by their owners. They are not homes, they are houses, condos, and apartments!
And most of those “buildings” are merely expensive large boxes.
Where does the 6/13 come from?
Hi Hoz:
I took it from Gwynster’s CA stats that she posted yesterday. Here they are again:
Total housing units 13,174,781
Owner-occupied housing units 7,102,197
Renter-occupied housing units 5,049,030
Vacant housing units 1,023,554
Median value (dollars) 535,700
Total population 36,457,549
In labor force (over 16+ yrs) 18,064,498
Average household size 2.93
Average family size 3.54
Median household income 56,645
Median family income 64,563
Per capita income 26,974
Gross Rents, Median (dollars) 1,029
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey
test
Total housing units 13,174,781
Owner-occupied housing units 7,102,197
Renter-occupied housing units 5,049,030
Vacant housing units 1,023,554
Median value (dollars) 535,700
Total population 36,457,549
In labor force (over 16+ yrs) 18,064,498
Average household size 2.93
Average family size 3.54
Median household income 56,645
Median family income 64,563
Per capita income 26,974
Gross Rents, Median (dollars) 1,029
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, 2006 American Community Survey
She wanted to sell the Lathrop house, she said, but in this slow market, ‘nobody wants to buy it.’”
It will sell however buyers with brains only will pay 50% of asking.
In Lathrop you’d be lucky to get $200k when this is over. Crazyness.
I just noticed San Diego had 800+ bank repos and 3000 sales last month. We also had 4500 NODs. I wonder what the standard lag time between NODs catching upto repos would be? 6 months? It is somewhat ambigious because all of the NODs might not fail, but most will!!!!
Chairman Greenspan Federal Reserve System’s Fourth Annual Community Affairs Research Conference, Washington, D.C. April 8, 2005
Mr MaGoo trying to convince the world he had noting to do with this disaster. Wrong MaGoo.
“There are plenty of investors who are willing to take a chance on the Central Valley again and count on the long-term upswing, he said, but many of the offers on foreclosure homes are ridiculous low-ball pitches.”
This is so funny, in a few months this guy and the bank are going to have these investors on speed dial begging for offers.
Realtors really need to quit spouting this nonsense about lowball offers they are acting like quasi-appraisers, a CMA doesn’t qualify as an appraisal. I used to hate when guys told me that about offers. If a building has been on the market for a year and someone submits an offer for 50 cent on the dollar based on your asking price. That is the market.
Bunch of upcoming auctions in SoCal, AZ, and NV, including REOs:
http://www.hudsonandmarshall.com/calendar.asp
Funny, though, the way these auction houses like Hudson & Marshall hype their events so heavily but never seem to publicize outcomes. There was a slew of auctions in FL Oct. 15-25 up and down the state - I couldn’t make the one here because of a (rare) work commitment - anybody know how things went generally in FL?
“This is so funny, in a few months this guy and the bank are going to have these investors on speed dial begging for offers.”
Spot on mrincomestream, and that will be the signal to really get the party started.
I’m laughing at these guys who claim it’s a buyers market and it’s harder to sell a house we are no where near a buyers market not even close.
Buyers market examples-
1.) You smell your Realtor before you see him. Not his cologne but his car, sweat, and coffee that he got for free from the office and has been drinking all day to stave off hunger pains.
2.) When you pull up to a repo and find a closet full of suits and a suitcase and see last night’s take out from a cheap Chinese food place in the trash can with a nice car in the driveway no one in sight because the Realtor that was living there took off for a neighborhood walk when he heard the key in the door.
3.) When you pull up to a Realtors office and every Realtors car has squeaky brakes and the rims are covered with brake dust nevermind being clean. And they are all at least 3 years old
4.) When your soliciting listings from the bank and the first question they ask you are… how many cash investors do you have in your Rolodex?, how many did you sell last month? (anything over 10 and your an Allstar), and how close to the listing price that was 10% below the latest comp did you get (over 80% and your considered an AllStar), what do I have to price this at to get rid of it in 30 days? and then they price it at 5% less than what you recommended.
5.) You call your Realtor at 11:30 pm in his office to leave him a message for the next day when he comes in, he answers the phone and is happy you called.
6.) You make an offer 10 cents on the dollar and the Realtor encourages it and spends a week trying to get it done.
7.) You show up on Saturday to view a few listing with your Realtor and you wonder why he is carrying a phonebook plus he asks do your kids like McDonalds or Burger King because you’re going to be out for awhile…
8.) You’ve seen 50 houses and all of them are vacant and when you do see one with occupants the seller takes over the showing and when your ready to leave he offers to take 10% off the price, pay your closing costs, and give your agent a 10k bonus, then your agent promptly turns to you and says the 10k is all yours if you take the deal.
9.) You actually qualify to live West L.A. when you thought you had an East L.A. budget.
10.) Your Realtor asks to ride with you so you can review houses and it’s easier to give directions, when the real reason is A.) He has no gas in his car B.) The car he drives is worse than yours C.) his car just got repo’d the night before.
Get the picture…
Not even close to a buyers market.
And yes I have seen all the above in my career.
I must say, your post is very imaginative!
Cinch
That was awesome!!!!
“If you do not wish to be lied to, do not ask questions. If there were no questions, there would be no lies.”
B. Traven
Or as my mama said “ask me no questions, I’ll tell you no lies.”
“If you can’t stand the answer, don’t ask the question.”
- Gene Greenwood, a former USAF comptroller at the Pentagon
Now this brings a song to mind….”Slip sliding away”
Countrywide Financial Corp
http://finance.yahoo.com/q?s=CFC
I havent seen much positive on that CFC board for a while now. But look at a link that kind of goes deeper from there.
http://tinyurl.com/33n6rb
notice a little ways down they start looking into who owns what CDO’s. If thats true, not so good for UBS when that gets announced.
$636K for a POS Mc$H!TBox in Lathrop? Too laughable. Most of you probably don’t that most of Lathrop, and especially the new housing, lies right in the middle of a flood plain. It was under severe threat 2 yrs ago. It will flood and wipe out a lot sooner or later (and probably sooner with the poor state of the levies in the area). Ciao you bluthering idiot. Houses in Lathrop were $100K or so in 2000.
When in Ca, my last area was Castro Valley (10 miles south of Oakland). Had a neighbor move to Lathrop to buy a POS. I told him he would hate the commute and give up. I saw him a year later. He hated the commute and moved back - tired of the 2 hr, stop dead 60 mile commute each way.
‘There’s an abundance of selection, prices continue to decline, sellers are willing to negotiate, and you can get a very favorable loan.’”
Willing to negotiate?
Sorry. I make a bid based on fair prices and that’s it. NO Negotiation. I set the price or I walk.
Check out this post on reddit. This guy called “racist” thinks that the FED is trying to avoid Hyperinflation by cutting rates. What a moron.
http://reddit.com/info/5zjn4/comments/
$2700 to $8200 is criminal. This idiot lady should be locked up and the key chucked. Tossing her A$$ out on the street would be just as good. She is a worthless POS. You signed willingly. Take the consequences. (not meant to forgive the criminals that put her in this loan. Slow torture death isn’t a good enough punishment).
http://www.ustreas.gov/redesign_feedback.shtml
send hank “slimball” paulsen a message to keep his greesy hands out of the housing market
Renter, I see the form for “redesign feedback,” but I don’t see the “redesign” upon which one is supposed to be commenting. (?)
Magat = Maggot?
Is this related to housing issues by any chance?
http://www.local6.com/news/14471080/detail.html
a developer has abruptly halted construction of a 66-unit condominium development near what is known as Happy Face Hill in Simi Valley
Happy Face Hill? I swear, America gets more infantile every single year.