Bits Bucket And Craigslist Finds For April 7, 2008
Please post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here.
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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FED Blameless…
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/81c05200-03f2-11dd-b28b-000077b07658.html
Just die already! Geez.
I concur… Why can’t someone just put him out of ‘our’ misery.
NYCB, you may have missed my belated advice yesterday, that you should buy your wife a new vase. Now that she knows to stick with lukewarm water for its cleansing, you can buy her flowers very often. The problem was, she wasn’t familiar with the washing constraints, because you bought her flowers too infrequently. Hey, if you Rich Tenants don’t spend money, who will!?!
Eskimos put their aged on ice flows
Washington Mutual to Get $5 Billion Cash Infusion
A lot of good that’s going to do. They have over $200 billion in loans outstanding, and charged off $2 billion last quarter. The rate of defaults is accelerating. Let’s see how many $5 billion rabbits they can pull out of the hat…. should be fun to watch. If the stock gets a bounce it’ll be another good opportunity to short, and this will be my third time.
DP
I also am fascinated at how everybody just thinks the worst has passed and all will be well. The rot runs deep and we’ve only gone a little but below the surface. Basically the smoke & mirror maneuvers by the fed, wall street, the dubya administration and all the banks/financial firms have shored up the facade after the first wave, but there are so many more waves to come as we go deeper into this that I just cannot imagine buying into all the optimism that is now prevailing in the market. Its all just wishful thinking and willful blindness as to the elephant that is still in the room
That’s my bank. I’m glad they’re going to stay alive. I didn’t want to move.
Same here — we have no home equity ATM, but we do have WaMu ATM cards!
I’m at Citibank and am somewhat concerned that I’ll need to move at some point over the next few years. I think if I was at WaMu, I would have moved already!
The question is where to move TO. Of the major banks with lots of ATMs, only Wells Fargo seems to be relatively strong, and I found their fee structure to be particularly bad regardless of one’s balance. Plus they charged me $10 to close an account I had with them in 1992, and I still haven’t forgiven them for that.
P.S. What the heck is up with WaMu’s stock this morning? Up nearly 17% as I write this.
I’m at Schwab Bank for better or worse…free ATM usage worldwide is a nice plus though…
Look for a credit union that shares branches with other credit unions. I haven’t been to my actual bank in several years, the shared branch is much closer. I think the ATM is free, but I get cash back at the supermarket instead.
It amazes me that banks borrowing billions at interest rates that would make a subprimer think twice, is considered good news.
It sounds as though the FB initials goes all the way to the top of the banks as a F’d Banker too. Things must be pretty bad, if these guys are willing to borrow at double digit interest rates just to keep some cash coming in the door.
I wish they’d throw some of that double digit interest rate goodness to us depositors. I’d even take 5-6%.
The hope seems to be that if the elephant is kept afloat long enough, he will swim to safety. Are elephants very good swimmers?
Yes they are but banks ain’t.
“I also am fascinated at how everybody just thinks the worst has passed and all will be well. The rot runs deep and we’ve only gone a little but below the surface.”
Shh! Just go along with it. Tell every politician who wants some taxpayer bailout/rescue plan to leave well enough alone - the worst is over! Don’t need to do anything.
Just sit back and watch.
Indeed, the level of “All is well!” nonsense in recent weeks has become quite alarming. The plan of sweeping it all under the rug seems to be working for now judging by the stock market. Unreal!
WAMU was very late to wake up to the mortgage fraud game. Fraudsters partied on their nickel into mid 2007.
In Sacramento metro (Placer County), as recently as July 2007, it appears WAMU lent Keith Crowell $916,000 on a suspicious sale from Michael Chand, a stuck Realtor Flipper. Mr. Chand had paid $808,000 for the house in May 2006. We all know real estate appreciated 15% in that 11 month period (sarcasm off).
Crowell was already in foreclosure on two other homes in the same neighborhood, which he purchased from Cyndi Nguyen and Tien Cao under similar circumstances in mid 2006 using Long Beach Mortage (WAMU sub prime) and First Franklin.
Crowell went NOD in 3 months on Chand’s house. Crowell’s Realtor friend immediately listed it as a shortsale for $500,000! What a joke.
WAMU foreclosed and has now listed it with a foreclosure specialist for $465,000. WAMU eats $500,000 in less than a year. How many loans will it have to make to break even on that deal??? These guys are definitely the Smartest Guys in the Room. If WAMU had any brains, they would pursue some of these fraudsters. There is probably over $100 million in fraudulent loans by WAMU just in Sacramento. Some of the fraudsters have real assets. If they recovered 50% of the loot, the $50 million would pay for a lot of attornies fees and court osts. A new industry might be formed, buying fraud cases from these stupid lenders and pursing the fraudsters to the gates of h3ll. Could be some serious money. Pay up, or we send you to jail for 10 years. I don’t think it would be that hard.
RE: WaMU
Another huge lender who shit-canned all their honest and legit appraisers to get down in the gutter with the “hit the number” rubber stampers.
A bazillion ditz’s in the processing and underwriting dept’s. If you wrote anything negative in an appraisal report, they were all over you to remove the commentary because they couldn’t sell the loan.
$5bil is a spit to what’s in the write-off books for these clowns.
seeing more open house signs during the weekday here in citrus heights, CA. (North Sac area) also seems like another “for sale” sign pops up daily.
however, the ones manned by realtors are still too expensive. they’ve dropped the price maybe . . . 10% and put on a big show about it. placards all hanging beneath the sign. it too much info/overkill. reeks of desperation.
like how the independent c-stores have 5 million product signs in their windows. impossible to read em all so you end up reading none of ‘em.
or how mcdonalds has gotten out of hand with their drive-thru advertising signs leading up to the menu board. first it’s one, then two, then many promo signs planted like a fence.
ahh, the joys of unregulated, runwaway, rat-raced capitalism. eat, sleep, breed more workers & run a little faster. faster. I SAID FASTER or NO BONUS FOR YOU & yer kid has to go to public school while the trophy wife takes whats left in court.
sucker.
I remember seeing the first mid-week open house sign in Sacramento about 2 years ago. It was a little 1280 SF house in Rocklin. $399,000 special, dropped from a $429,000 wishing price. I was so flabbergasted to see a mid-week open house at 4 PM on a Wednesday, I stopped to see the place.
The sellers stayed over priced and walked the market down for about 18 months. It finally went into foreclosure in late 2007 and is listed today for 289,000. Too late. It will probably sell for $250,000 or less when the bank gets real. It will be 2 years next month.
There’s a townhome development near my house that was holding open houses just about every day of the week. I’d see the realtor taking down his sign as I drove home from work at about 3pm. This stopped about a month ago. Half of the units are still empty (or else their occupants don’t need lights at night) and I haven’t see the open house sign or the realtor in weeks. Gave up, I suppose.
Here in OC, the Register had two articles this weekend. The first in 72pt type was that houses are now being competitively marketed drawing multiple bids to get over asking. The second was that the bottom was in and if not only a 10% loss is left. If they yell loud enough maybe it would become true. Some people are buying it as we see multiple people out at open houses. The sales prices I have seen have been about 95% of asking.
oc bear,
Any thoughts on North Tustin 92705…?
Sorry, Tustin is too far east for me.
Since I rent, and am moving, I would like to discuss how best to rent in this fiscal environment. I have teo people at work being evicted as reors. Both due to foreclosures. And, yes, one was renting through a property managemant company. Allegedly, more safe. My question, how can a rentor protect themselves. How, safe are contracts when we know how much mortgage contracts mean now?
sorry, two, spell check is out to lunch.
Yikes, e.g. rentors.
reors
I though you’d invented a new word describing renters who are being evicted due to foreclosures, i.e., REO-ers.
They aren’t safe because nothing means anything anymore. I suggest you talk to the previous tenants before renting a place.
You know the answer already….not safe at all. Just make sure you don’t put down a deposit since you will lose that if your landlord goes belly up.
What you must do is check up on the landlord. Go to the county website and see what the situation is. When was the house bought? How much is the mortgage? What kind of mortgage is it? All this info is public and available from the county and most counties now have all that online. If not take a trip to the county office and do the research the old fashioned way. If a prospective landlord has an ARM, an I/O, etc, don’t rent.
See if you can find out about the mortgage on the place. Perhaps you can negotiate directly with the mortgage holder and demand that it guarantee the lease if the landlord fails to make payment.
It might be interesting to try.
NFW will any mortgage holder agree to this. They will not compromise their right to take possession of the property. There is nothing in it for them.
I looked up the property i was moving into before i did to see if there was any funny business (2nd mtg or major helocs) look into your local information if possible (in nyc there is property shark)
luckily my landlord bought the house in 1983 owes nothing and never took a heloc but be careful
i have heard stories of people paying rent to fb’s only to have them keep it and not pay the mtg and then you have trouble
Look up the property records. You can sometimes do that from the web; otherwise, a trip to the courthouse might be in order. But that will tell you who owns it and what their mortgages are, since mortgages are publicly recorded documents. Sure, it’s a pain, but moving house is a pain in general anyway. This just adds a couple of hours to it.
Things to look for:
(1) Make sure the bloke owns the house! Slim but non-zero chance that he doesn’t.
(2) See what was paid for the house. If they paid way above current value, that might indicate a problem in that the owner can’t sell and is stuck renting it out as an undesired and maybe temporary alternative instead of as an income property.
(3) Make sure the owner isn’t HELOC’d to the gills. If so, there might be a problem. A set of 80/15/5 mortgages on a devaluing property could well be bad news for you later.
(4) Based on the mortgage(s) recorded on the house, estimate the owner’s payments. Hopefully, these are near or below what you’re being asked to pay in rent.
If the person does own the house and has a reasonable mortgage which you are covering (or at least close to covering) via rent, then you are probably OK. On the other hand, if you are only paying half of the mortgage cost with the landlord needing to cover the rest, that is where the risk appears.
That said, if you find a $450,000 house for $1500 per month, don’t write it off just yet. A friend of mine rents such a place. We checked out the owner: He bought it years ago, his payment is $1400 per month (approx), and he still has lots of equity in it even at current falling prices. There’s little chance the owner would let that one go back to the bank.
>
In 1988 Denver has a rash of problems with fraudsters breaking into REOs to rent out to hapless tenants. It can be a very profitable business especially if the banks are slow in reprocessing their REOs as is the case now.
Tough & easy at the same time.
1-Stick w/ not just professionally managed properties, but professionally owned, i.e. companies that own & run the property.
2-If you go private landlord make sure they are a pre-bubble buyer. You can also look up the property records and see if there is any refi activity. If there is none then outside of HELOCs & other 2nd liens you should be good.
3-Strike up a conversation with the LL while your looking over the property and discussing matters. What is said as well as unsaid will be very telling. Look for ones who’ve been a LL for a long time, at least a decade. See if they’ve already made lots of recent repairs and/or if you find problems gauge their response.
4-See how emotionally attached they are to the property. My LL raised her kids in the place I rent and behaved very protective of the property.
I panned another guy as my LL because I could see by the level/tone of desperation in his voice, combined with him stating the unit was purchased purely as a rental income investment. I looked up the sales history of the unit and he purchased at the height of the bubble. I ran the numbers and based upon the purchase price, a quick conservative 30 year fixed payment calculation I determined he was running a negative cash flow of 1k/month. Cash flow was break even only if he had put 50% down!! So I was like um, no thanks I’ll pass.
Good luck!
All good advice — but, if they’ve been at it a while and the property is in good shape, you’re probably okay. One good thing about individual landlords is that sometimes you’ll get one who is happy enough to have steady renters that they don’t raise the rent at market rates - or at all, for that matter. I had a landlord who gave me the same rent from 1992 to 2002 - and, I know he had escalating property tax and maintenance issues. I signed one lease for 18 months - and was just month to month beyond that.
An apartment complex provides some measure of efficiency and peace of mind - but, they are always going to be looking for opportunities to maximize their income, especially if their expenses rise. I realize my experience was probably rare, however.
Well renters DO have a tendency to turn into REOers. (people living in bank owned property)
How to protect yourself when renting: rent through an agency, or rent in a large building or, in a small town, know a lot about your landlord.
Perhaps you should have your prospective landlord fill out one of those “permission to have a credit check” forms. And get a gander at his credit report.
we need to get electric cars ASAP. you cant refine yer own gas but you CAN generate yer own electicity, off grid even by solar & windmills.
if a critical mass of people did that the oil companies would proabably get a law passed requiring consumers to buy a min amt of gas.
There won’t be any breakthrough in personal vehicle propulsion systems, at least not cheap & commonly available ones. The era of Happy Motoring is ending.
We already have the breakthroughs, look up Stan Meyer, John Bedini, Ed Gray, and Nokia Tesla. Having studied and personally played with these technologies I can assure you that they are real and work. I have also personally met individuals whom had their lives threatened and investors scared off by men in black suits.
I think the plan is for us to trade the other half of our constitutional liberties for access to cheap energy sometime down the road when the planned energy crunch hits (I say planned because what other reason could there be when everyone knows it’s coming yet nothing is being done on a federal level).
As holder of several process patents related to these references, I can attest to your assertions. If the DoD had devoted 10% (1% even,) of what has been squandered in Iraq to development of an ambient temp super conductor, we’d not be in the socio-political pickle we’re now facing.
How’d your bid go?
The era of Happy Motoring is just beginning, as traffic congestion decreases.
Electric cars are totally impractical at the moment (unless you want a glorified golf cart). The plug in hybrid is coming, GM, BMW, Mercedes are planning lithium battery based vehicles in the next few years. But cost & reliability? The auto industry is cooking up lithium battery controllers at the moment & if the cost & safety issues are solved we might have a vehicle that can be driven more than a few miles on juice!
The problem with full electric is that when your battery runs down it takes a long time to recharge, opposed to a quick fill-up for gasoline. I think the eventual solution will be that you’ll go to a station, and just trade in your drained battery for a fresh one.
I’m seeing cell phones that recharge to 75% in 5 minutes now. Notebook computers like the OLPC/XO seem to be able to charge to over 50% in 10 minutes. Battery technology is changing. Then there is the whole thing with capacitors made with nano technology to give huge increases in surface area to boost storage capacity.
There are electric cars that can beat high end Ferrari and Porsche cars as well
Nothing like huge amounts of torque at 0 RPM.
There are big differences in the total amount of energy needed to charge a 1/2 watt PA in a phone with a couple hours of talk time vs 100W motor pushing a ton and a half of steel.
Not really… just the amount of power (current) available to be used to recharge the cells with.
I had similar thoughts but there is a huge structural problems. No stations available and they will need forklifts to handle the batteries.
We would also need a common battery standard for every car company. That doesn’t seem to be in the works yet.
On the other hand if we get wide spread switches to Prius type vehicles that get north of 40mpg price of oil will collapse.
Going from an SUV (
I’d like to thank the post muncher for eating my posts.
Going from an SUV at 15mpg to a prius at 50mpg is a savings of 70% of fuel use. That is the equivalent of reducing the number of cars by 2/3. Even at only a small percentage of users we will have major over supply of oil.
This is the second cycle of this I’ve seen. First we build big cars in the 60s/70s. Then oil skyrockets. Then we switch to voltswagon rabbits and lower consumption cars. Oil prices collapse. Repeat again in the 90s–2008 era starting with the Explorer and minivan to the hummer and finally back to the prius.
Anyhow, I’d like to see technological and structural development continue even though prices should collapse soon.
I’m not one of those nutso Peak Oil theorists or anything, but I have to say that I’ve thought myself along the lines of what you opine above with regard to price changes over the decades.
My observation is that this time is “different” because there are, and will be in the future, many more people on earth who can afford a vehicle and the fossil fuel required for them.
So prices may not collapse.
“nutso peak oil theorist”. So I suppose you think that the supply of oil is infinite? Idiot.
Thanks for confirming your existence.
Nustso = those doomsayers who believe the supply of oil is ending soon
I guess my best option is just to overinflate my tires.
If you think gas is expensive, try making it from solar. The cost of the equipment will shock you.
Like most technology. The more common it becomes, the cheaper it gets.
PCs, flat screen TVs, etc…
Plus solar manufacturers know they are selling something that prints money for their end-consumers so they adjust their prices UP accordingly.
The higher electric rates go, the higher manufacturers will charge for their product, REGARDLESS of their input costs, thanks to the limited supply and infinite demand of the product.
I’ve already tried pricing 2′ x 4′ PV panels direct from China. They seem to try to price competitive to the normal US/UK vendors. “How it’s made” had a show where they were making panels, and the guy WAS DOING IT BY HAND. Machines cranking out every other product 20 a second, but when it came to the solar panel the guy would produce 2 a day. Need some automation on that!
The idea of electric cars is a joke, the biggest fraud perpetrated on the public in decades.
It is a net energy waste. The only reason that it is being used is the subsidies by China and the US. The same is true for solar power. Wind power may be cost effective at this time.
The batteries are made in China from materials that have gone up 500% in the last three years. You care about the price of gold, silver and platinum and the real metals you ignore.
There may be a new technology in the next 30 years that makes the point moot, but the battery cars are in a bubble not supported by price equivalents. It is a serious joke that is destroying millions of acres of land in China, Russia, Brazil, Canada, South Africa and soon in the Rockies and the Sierras of the US. It makes ethanol from corn look practical.
Yikes, rentors. Sorry
jtie, we all became immediately aware of your pre-caffeinated state. Don’t worry about it.
send me to Egypt / I’ll quell the food riots by myself holding a megaphone shouting “the scoops are coming. the scoops are coming “.
farewell, charleton heston. one of my all-time favorite actors.
Interesting enough, considering the MLK assination anniversery last week, CH was one of the “Holywood contengent,” at the march on washington where MLK gave the “I have a dream” speech.
I watched him stomping benignly on the workers in “The Hawaiians” last night, in memoriam.
Don’t scoop me bro!
I watched him be Moses. We didn’t have a t.v. and wouldn’t have been permitted to watch that Satan’s Toolbox anyhow–I mean, lookit all those wimmin wearing shoes and talking without permission, the very idea!!
But, verily, an exception was made for ‘Moses : The Ten Commandments’. IT came to pass that we excitedly went to grandmas house and we kids watched it with goggle-eyed excitement. I still remember watching the naughty behavior of the Israelites and their great golden calf. I made a careful internal note of just how to throw a party, which still stands me in good stead, yea verily, all these years later.
(sorry if this is a repost)
And verily, besides growing up to host well-attended and vastly popular parties with grapes, giant golden cow idols and dancing harlots, verily, I ALSO have a giant ‘Satan’s Toolbox’ flat screen on the wall, so I can watch wickedness and/or women wearing shoes anytime I want, should I ever run out of my own wickedness and shoes to watch, which isn’t likely, but maybe I’ll bust a limb from falling off a graven image and have to hold still for awhile.
And yea, verily, of course I didst pay for it with cash, not credit.
I can picture you popping up now and then from the sofa to part the red bead curtain.
Tale of Two Towns in Michigan
HOLLAND, Mich. — Four years ago, a low-slung factory on the fringes of town here was stagnating and shedding workers. Then Siemens, the German industrial giant, bought the plant, which nows employs twice as many workers.
“Globalization has been good for Holland,” said a Siemens VP.
About 60 miles to the northeast, such talk provokes contemptuous snickers. Greenville MI had the country’s largest refrigerator plant until production was sent to Mexico, and the plant was closed two years ago, eliminating 2,700 jobs in a town of 8.000 people.
Foreign buyers have been capturing widening swaths of the US’s industrial landscape and putting millions of Americans to work for new owners. And with the dollar losing much value in recent years, the pace is picking up again, as some of the country’s most valuable assets go on the block at bargain-basement prices.
The United States is living on borrowed money, with the value of imports exceeding exports by more than $700 billion last year. Selling companies to foreigners is one step toward squaring the accounts.
“To the extent that the United States continues to have low levels of savings, well, the rest of the world, they are not going to give us that excess for free,” said Matthew J. Slaughter, an economics professor at Dartmouth. “We have to sell them something. There’s no metaphorical free lunch for the United States.”
U.S. dollars represent claims on U.S. goods and services.
We’ve been shipping these claims overseas for years; why should anyone be surprised when these claims are traded back for the goods and services they represent?
Foreigners aren’t suddenly buying the U.S.; The U.S. is selling itself, and has been doing so for years.
The U.S. has run up a tab to buy consumption goods from the rest of the world at the price of I.O.U.s (aka Watcher’s much reviled Uncle Buck) which may redeemed to purchase our corporate and real estate assets.
This is pretty good news.
some of the country’s most valuable assets go on the block at bargain-basement prices
Isn’t there a touch of cognitive dissonance here?
China to allow investment into U.S. stocks, funds
Negotiators conclude pact to expand QDII program
By Chris Oliver & Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
Last update: 7:40 a.m. EDT April 7, 2008
HONG KONG (MarketWatch) — Chinese banking and securities regulators signed an agreement with their U.S. counterparts Monday that will help lay the groundwork to enable mainland investors to buy and sell U.S. securities.
Under the plan, Chinese banks will be able to buy U.S.-listed stocks and mutual funds for their clients.
Under the plan, Chinese banks will be able to buy U.S.-listed stocks and mutual funds for their clients.
Oh yes, they can buy as much as $hiti, FNM etc. as they want. Bernanke and Paulson will be happy to stick it to the foreigners, with the compliments of the USA government. Just wonder why they didn’t arrange this a year earlier, that would have been an easy way to bankrupt some foreign banks.
No this is an opportunity for the 100 MM Chinese investors to buy 100 shares of anything in the US. What you are referring to is not going to happen with regard to US Banks. The China sovereign wealth fund has better places to invest than in US Banks.
Frugal is in Fashion
“Keeping track of where your money goes is the most important financial task you can undertake,” says New York financial planner Stacy Francis. “It really doesn’t matter what you make. It matters what you spend.”
she paraphrases Thoreau
frugality is the new black
who knew it would be trendy to save and spend less then you earn- what a concept
I read somewhere that if you have a change jar that you can add to regularly then you’re doing better than a very large percentage of the world’s population. I also read that having $2000 qualifies you as wealthy in the big global picture.
I once walked through detailed tables of US and Canada wealth statistics (true “accountant’s wealth” even — you know, assets less liabilities.)
Trust me, you really don’t want to see the tables.
They’ve been giving us advice like this for decades. Problem is, this type of nickel and diming is no longer enough, no matter how much Suze Orman tries to empower us.
It’s the big expenses which are new: housing, college tuition/student loans, insurance, and total energy (gasoline, e-, CH4 add up). And then add to that: DEBT SERVICE. It won’t help to skimp a few nickels now now if you’ve already spent too many dollars on Wealth Effect non-recoverables like vacations, home renovations, expensive consumable (like clothes) or plastic surgery. And that doesn’t begin to count inflation.
(I do appreciate trying to save on food, but farmer’s markets are hardly cheap.)
Yes, this hit home when I was reading the “hard luck” stories in that Newsweek feature that TX posted. One woman was making 45K gross (26K takehome), paying $1600/month on a student loan, and didn’t have anything leftover after paying her $575/month rent. I figure she borrowed about $100K to get her education, for a take-home salary maybe $10K more than what she would make on a clerical job. That’s a 10-year payback period. Either education is too expensive, or some people shouldn’t be going to college.
Either education is too expensive, or some people shouldn’t be going to college.
Or both. Higher education is generally overpriced, but the general approach to education in this country could use some tweaking. Vocational and trade schools have sadly gone out of fashion in this country. There are a lot of people who would be better served in alternate settings; a four-year BA or BS is not the best solution for everyone.
True, except we don’t build anything in this nation anymore, so we all go to college to get “information” jobs and such… and many people then end up working at Wal-mart, which also doesn’t work. The system is definitely hosed up.
paying $1600/month on a student loan, … I figure she borrowed about $100K to get her education
No F’ing way. My wife and I have a combined $80,000 in student loans that we are in no hurry to pay off. Because the monthly payment is just a hair above $400. My degree says that I’ve done enough math, so I’ll leave it up to the reader to figure out the FIXED interest rate on the loans
It should not surprise anyone that we are in no hurry to pay them back.
We just ended, perhaps no more than 2 years ago, a period of absolutely ridiculous federally-subsidized student loan interest rates. Young people that didn’t use this as an opportunity to get a good degree that substantially increases earning opportunities really missed out on an opportunity that is not likely to repeat itself.
I have a few friends who got loans at 1-2%. I’m guessing you’re somewhere along those lines. My student loan is a bit more than that (more than current short term rates), so I prefer to pay it down faster.
“My degree says that I’ve done enough math,…”
Seen on a tee shirt: “I’m an English Major; you do the math.”
The smartest idea in that article in terms of saving money was not eating meat. I am not a fanatic (still eat meat from time to time) but most of our meals are vegetarian and our grocery bills have dropped dramatically.
(I do appreciate trying to save on food, but farmer’s markets are hardly cheap.)
“I spend a lot, so I must be rich!” - the expected response from the debt = wealth crowd.
Question.. is there some way to find out if a home is corporate owned without contacting previous realtor? And.. what sites do you guys use for foreclosure listings.. I’m in the Chicago burbs.
Thanks.. if anyone sees this.
What county?
cook
Find the property PIN. You can use the Cook County Assessor’s website to look it up from an address.
Take the PIN and go to the Cook County Recorder of Deeds website and do a PIN search. All recorded documents since the mid 1980s are online. You can browse the brief summaries for free. Unless the property is held in a land trust (fairly common in Illinois), you’ll easily see who the owner is. You can also find out how much they paid, if they have any mortgages or other liens (and for how much). If a “Lis Pendons” is filed against the property, there is a lawsuit relating to the property. If was filed by a bank and the “previous document” is a mortgage, there’s a very good chance that it’s a foreclosure suit.
If you want more info, you can pay to download a copy of the document (or go down to the Loop and pay in person for a paper copy).
The Cook County pins are usually on Zillow too… click “more property information” and scroll all the way down.
I wish the Recorders office would make it easy and allow searchs by address, but no such luck.
Yesterday afternoon I saw 4 houses ‘Under Contract’ driving around my neck of the woods in Atlanta. I can’t recall the last time I saw even one of those. All of a sudden 4 pop up. Not saying the bottom is here, not saying go out and buy 20 houses. Just relating my observations which made me raise an eyebrow every so slightly.
And yes I know that just because it’s under contract does not mean the deal will close. It does say to me that despite all the talk of crashes, recessions, depressions, etc, people are still buying - or at least attempting to buy - houses.
There are a lot of people who do believe that the recent weakness in the RE market is a buying opportunity. So, yes, there are buyers out there for sure — just not as many as there used to be.
Is this dip actually a good buying opportunity? Doubtful, of course.
I’ve noticed an increase in “sale pending” signs as well. I’d don’t buy it at all. The only people buying right now are the completely uninformed; those so much more clueless than those buying in 04 to early 06. If I remember correctly Ben Jones mentioned that these dumbasses are necessary cannon fodder to get prices back to normal. We shall see.
The only people buying right now are the completely uninformed
Yes, but that’s still a lot of people.
Well, one question is can those buyers get financing?
Exactly my assertion Jim.
Why not?
These homes are in the $450K-$550K range. Assume 0 down at 6% and that’s $3K a month. Add in $500 in taxes, take out $750 in tax deductions and you’re talking $2750 a month. Take a couple each making $75K a year and $2750 works out to 22% of gross income.
There is always so much emphasis here on people making $30K and buying $500K homes. Well yea, and they can no longer qualify, probably. But there are plenty of people making $150K homes buying too. They can afford to buy and can qualify easily.
Now whether or not buying is a good idea…whole other question. But stop assuming nobody can qualify for a loan anymore. It’s just not accurate.
It’s not the point. Next you’re gonna tell us that that $150k/yr combined salary is guaranteed for 30 years. Dream on.
But there are plenty of people making $150K
Define “plenty”. IIRC 150K puts a household in the top 10% nationwide.
not to mention the areas whihc pay these 150k a year type of salary have homes much higher than 450k
and imo 150k a year is not enough to support a 500k house
0% down? isn’t that how we got into this mess in the 1st place
So by that logic nobody should ever buy a house because nobody can guarantee their income for 30 years. $150K is plenty to support a $500K home. 3.3 times income is perfectly fine.
As to the word “plenty”, just what the word means. Many, lots, not few. I didn’t realize every word typed here had to be quantified. Care to explain what you mean by “not enough” to support a $500K house?
Like it or not there are and will always be people who make good money. Good economy or bad economy. Housing boom, housing crash. And these people can and will afford $500K homes, $600K homes, $800K homes. And they will qualify for mortgages, again whether you like it or not.
The $500K homes in question are not your typical homes in Atlanta. The typical home costs $225K. So these are “high end” homes relatively speaking. It stands to reason that they will be bought by people earning “high end” incomes, not your typical worker making $50K. The median income in that zip code is $100K.
I think it’s fair to make assumptions on income based on census data. In the well-to-do areas near where I live, median household income is still under 100k. So these 400 or 500k+ houses just don’t add up.
Manny… what is a “home”?
As to the word “plenty”, just what the word means. Many, lots, not few. I didn’t realize every word typed here had to be quantified.
It helps when dealing with numbers. One could say that 4-5 million households in the US earn over 150K per year. On the surface that sounds like “plenty”, until that number is compared to the total number of households. In that case it is a “small” number.
Activity will be up the next 8 weeks for ppl that have kids and want to move during the Summer without too much disruption, just not as much as prior bubble years. Also there is price cutting going on so the first wave think they are getting a deal.
I’ve been seeing lots of SOLD signs again too. Although there was one smaller, older village home in a less desirable area sporting a sold in 1 day sign, many have been sitting at least a year and are probably due to seller capitulation.
My town’s inventory is historically around 100 homes so its pretty easy to watch and keep track of. With a range of $60k to $1.3 million, it’s also easy to segment w/ probably 8-12 homes per buyer niche.
I have seen something interesting in several other burbs of Syracuse. Several smaller homed, older neighborhoods I was checking out in towns with top rated school systems have virtually no homes for sale in them. I know these neighborhoods are chock full of school children (and probably pay a mortgage) so some people out there were smart about not maxing out their credit options. Meanwhile across town, we could be supplying some good bubble photos for Ben’s blog.
Hey… let them buy… So many people are gonna get burned in the 3rd degree by the RE bull$hit. Sometimes it seems this thing is enlarging instead of shrinking.
Rush of pendings in our area, too (San Diego County). We’ll see how many fund, but I’ve heard that a number of purchases have over 20% down.
First wave of knife-catchers.
BTW, if you look at the histories of homes around here, you’ll see a surprisingly large number were foreclosed on over and over and over again during the last downturn.
A property I am looking at has been under contract twice and fallen out both times because the buyer couldn’t sell their other house.
That “under contract” thing means nothing because there are situations such as wills, divorce and probate where an estate administrator is required by the court to attempt to sell a house; even if they don’t intend to do so.
No it doesn’t. Under contract means the house is “sold” but not closed…as in offer made, offer accepted, will close in 30 days…stays as under contract until then. Every house goes to under contract first, then sold.
Comment by manny
2008-04-07 05:40:43
No it doesn’t. Under contract means the house is “sold” but not closed…as in offer made, offer accepted, will close in 30 days…stays as under contract until then. Every house goes to under contract first, then sold.
So what happens if it doesn’t close?
The reason I ask is because my own sister did it.
If it doesn’t close, it goes back on the market.
One down the street has said “under contract” above its for sale sign for at least six months. I think this is just a new scam to make people think real estate is selling and now is a good time to buy. If the place really sold, what would be the point of leaving the for sale sign up? If the contract fell through, the realtor could always put it back.
“If the place really sold, what would be the point of leaving the for sale sign up? If the contract fell through, the realtor could always put it back.”
Advertisement for the realtor.
Did what?
manny is obviously a real estate troll trying to sway everyone with his oh-so-logical (but typical) pro-real estate pitches.
giveaway is ONLY statements FOR real estate, non against. and leaving the ending sentences in a fake open ended question to impart nuetrality. oh, please! Manny, we’ve all been around the block here on this board.
Real estate shills are are transparent.
OK you got me. I don’t agree with everything said here, therefore I must be a real estate shill. Is this what passes for debate these days?
“There’s roulette and there’s skydiving. Then there’s investing in Detroit and Cleveland real estate.”
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/Economy/story?id=4592244&page=1
lmao… your name link is hilarious.
OK you made me look.
very unexpected, and yes - hilarious!
great picture.
My thought is that the guy pictured could be the type who take a bus from Erie (or anywhere, really) and who have decided to “move” to SF to take advantage of the handouts and services.
I could have lived a better life without seeing that picture!
Yes, that there’s an image that is going to linger.
Dude…say, dude…OK, I’m left speechless…
OMG!
You’ve lost so much weight!
Savers vs. Speculators
http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=qxYi2W9vEfw
I miss the ‘Death to America’ chants in the background. Surprisingly balanced.
What, the investment banksters were chanting? I didn’t catch that either.
That’s a great video.
Why is it that our media cover this subject as objectively?
Why?
Is it “off limits” to Katie or Brian or any of the other network airheads to talk about this?
How about a week, a couple minutes each day, on the War on Savers?
Too many questions… I know. But it would be nice to see or hear some answers.
“… _cannot_ cover this subject…”
I have to mention that I do not pay much attention to Katie or Brian, but maybe I would if their programs were worth watching.
The latest cavalry charge to rescue the global housing bubble from its untimely demise is led by the IMF. Can they do something which governments and central banks cannot (e.g., make new monies grow on trees to replace those which the globalized banking system flushed down the toilet), or is this more hot air?
My hunch about this (based on Brown’s comments in the linked article):
The UK and U.S. govts have asked the IMF to speak up in order to make the case for more drastic govt interventions in the mortgage lending sector than have been attempted thus far, possibly including coordinated interventions across the G7 countries. (Just MHO…)
Top Stories
Need for global action on financial turmoil: IMF chief
India Infoline News Service / Mumbai Apr 07, 2008 12:06
In an interview to the Financial Times, Dominique Strauss-Kahn says government intervention will act as a third line of defence behind monetary and fiscal policy
I notice the “S.W.A.T. team” language disappeared from the early version of the super regulator proposal…
SWAT teams tend to leave a lot of corpses on the scene. So this is an accurate characterization- savers are slaughtered in an attempt to rescue the investment bankers.
DP
Brown is the one who keeps talking about propping up the housing/mortgage market with massive amounts of taxpayer money. Not only does he want to do that in his own country, he is pressuring other EU governments to do the same. It might be more effective with international cooperation because of all the equity locusts and foreign specuvestors in Europe - and even if it doesn’t work governments can share the blame so no one gets really punished at the next elections.
Come to think of it, this really IS an unprecedented War on Savers. Just look at the Netherlands: they are currently spending 12 billion a year in homeowner subsidies and have been doing that for at least the last 20 years (amount was smaller at the start because of lower home prices). For a country the size of the US (about 15x the population) that would amount to a staggering 3 trillion or so, similar to the Forever War
Losing Leverage: Some Firms Cut Debt in This Uncertain Era
By Peter Eavis and David Reilly
Word Count: 942 | Companies Featured in This Article: Bear Stearns, Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers Holdings, Merrill Lynch
In the investment world, borrowed money is a double-edged sword: It improves returns in good times, but can be lethal when markets quickly sour.
That is why some of Wall Street’s biggest firms are trying to reassure investors that they are reducing the amount of borrowed money, or leverage, they use to generate profit. Reducing leverage became especially urgent after the collapse of Bear Stearns Cos., which, like its peers, had a highly leveraged balance sheet.
But borrowing levels remain high at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., Morgan Stanley, Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co. In some cases, the amount of assets held by a firm is 30 times more than shareholder equity, or net worth.
It is as if some of the firms had equity in a home that equaled about 3% of the value and the rest was mortgaged.
And what if the ‘mortgage’ is this large and the value of the firm in question is under water?
… big ass bonuses and parachutes in the final year.
The Fed has a poisonous toad on its hands…nice metaphor.
AHEAD OF THE TAPE
By MARK GONGLOFF
To Be Learned: Bear Stearns Consequences
April 7, 2008; Page C1
The Fed may have a Cane Toad problem on its hands.
About 70 years ago, in hopes of controlling a sugar-cane-munching beetle, Australians transported from Hawaii a massive, poisonous toad to eat the beetles. But the fecund Cane Toads flourished so rapidly that they became a bigger pest than the bugs.
Such is the history of unintended consequences, and it applies to the financial system as well. Take the recent shotgun wedding of Bear Stearns and J.P. Morgan Chase. The not-quite-a-bailout may have kept the financial system from imploding in the short run, but created an array of possible new headaches in the long run.
The idea of the Fed taking protective custody of big investment banks has already led to arguments that those firms should be subject to the same capital requirements faced by the commercial banks already in the Fed’s care.
It certainly makes sense: If the Fed is going to extend its safety net to broker-dealers, then it should be able to ask them to keep their shareholders’ equity, reserves and other measures of financial cushion at safe levels relative to their investments.
Would that be a Cayne Toad perchance?
Excellent!
Didn’t they learn their lesson from the rabbits??
On Saturday I attended a foreclosure home auction run by the Real Estate Disposition Corp. (REDC). I stayed long enough to observe the disposition of 49 of the more than 100 properties auctioned off. The average sales price was $129,000. The average “previously valued to” number was $234,000. This was a 45% haircut.
I didn’t inspect any of the properties, but afterwards drove by several higher priced condos in Clearwater Beach that had been auctioned off. They were very nicely situated with water views and the building was only 2 years old. If you drive up and down Gulf Blvd. you’ll find numerous condos still being constructed.
It looks like we’ve only seen the beginnings of the price declines yet to come.
I wondered about that auction, Bob. Was it an absolute auction, do you know? I was curious about some of the properties that started at $1,000.00.
This weekend is the Hudson and Marshall auction.
I didn’t see any mention of a reserve price. It appeared to be an absolute auction in all cases. There was a 5% “buyer’s premium” added on which I assume was REDC’s take. Several properties that had been auctioned off came back on the auction block after the winning bidders couldn’t qualify for some reason or another. It took a $5,000 cashiers check or cash to become an eligible bidder.
That’s the problem, it’s easier to scare up 5k in cash than 500k in financing. OTOH it doesn’t take very many people losing their deposits to make for a tidy afternoon for the auctioneers.
I’ve been eager to attend one of those auctions simply for entertainment, but have not yet had the chance. Its my understanding that REDC auctions are not absolute, though. The opening bids may be low, but the sellers either have reserve prices or can veto the winning bid.
Foreclosure/household, top 10, Feb. ‘08:
Nevada, California, Florida, Arizona, Colorado, Michigan, Ohio, Georgia, Indiana, Tennessee.
http://www.huntingtonnews.net/columns/080314-kinchen-columnsforclosureactivity-table.html
Truly amazing that a state the size of AZ could be 4th.
It’s normalized by the number of households.
Don’t know where to turn and found this site. Maybe someone here can help me. My grandparents refinanced their home four years ago to give my brother the money to help start a business. He was to make the payments and pay the taxes for them. Turns out he stopped making the payments and the house was about to go into foreclosure when my husband and I stepped in. We’ve been making the payments for over a year. The house is worth much less than is owed on it and we can’t keep making the payments. My grandparents are on a fixed income and eat out pork and beans towards the end of the month while they wait for their social security check. They are in their 90’s and want to die in their home.
What gets me is that they asked for an $80,000 loan which they could sell their home for and not lose money. Somehow my brother managed to get $100k without their knowledge. The payment is $600 a month. If they can’t make it month to month, where did the bank think they were going to get the extra $600.
I hear of bail outs and people living in homes for years without making any payments. My question is, how long can they stay in their home(they are in Michigan) and is there anything we can do? I have begged and pleaded with my brother, but he says he has to take care of his own family and refuses/can’t help. We can’t make the payments anymore. I hate to force my grandparents out of their home of 60 years! This just sucks anyway you slice it!
“…but he says he has to take care of his own family and refuses/can’t help…”
Since your overly-generous grandparents are part of your brother’s family, can he take them in? Seems like the least he could do after ruining their finances.
Trust me, that has been brought up. I am embarrased that my children have heard some of the things I’ve had to say to my brother! Based on his morals, I think you know the answer to that. They will need to move in with us. There is no one else to care for them. It breaks my heart to do this to them, but there just isn’t any choice.
Ug, what a story. On the plus side, they have you as a grandchild. So if it comes to losing the house, I say look on the bright side: They have you to care for them. You can’t put a price on that.
I surley agree with JP here.
They are just lucky that you turned out right.
I meant ’surely’ agree. It was a Freudian slip, as I was feeling quite surly after reading that story. Poor old grandparents.
Ses, forget the admonitions; what your brother needs is a serious bum-stomping, with cleats, and a couple spoons, and hey, why not, a pair of moose antlers.
“They will need to move in with us.”
If you do this, I hope you tell that, under no uncertain terms, are they to EVER have any contact or communication with your bro’, unless in the course of a lawsuit. If they’re not willing to do that, I wouldn’t have them move in. I know it sounds cold, but you’re gonna make a big sacrifice here and bro’ deserves to be cut out of the family fast.
Is the bank trying to kick them out? Perhaps with so many others in similar situations (living in house without means to pay for it), your grandparents can find a way to stay in the back of the eviction line. It would appear they are in a less capable position to withstand such a wrenching adjustment than many other younger hhs in similar pickles. Do banks take into account such matters, or do they just go for the jugular vein of the weakest target?
We just missed the first payment in a year. I don’t know how long before the bank starts coming after them. I am hoping just what you say. I feel in many ways they are victims here. My brother did sign a notorized agreement to pay them back. He owes so many people money though I doubt we’d ever see a dime. I’m willing and able to pay $200 a month, but can’t continue with $600.
I’m leaving to go to Tennessee for the day (lol, another little paradise on earth) but when I get back I’ll try to help you. Email me if you wish with contact info and I’ll shake my source tree and see what help I can find you in Michigan.
gymnastgal 32 at yahoo dot com
Are you freakin’ kiddin’, PB? You know the answer as well as anyone.
This is just a terrible story.
Where are your parents in all this?
Hey, good point. I naturally discount my own parents from any equation, as they always were about as useful, insightful, and effective as nipples on a daffodil, but I understand from books that parents oughta be good for SOMETHING. Where are the parents?
Dad has parkinson’s and dementia and mom is his caretaker. They have some money, but they need it for themselves as you can imagine the cost of their medical bills…..
Well, they could sue the bro’. These family matters really do suck. I’d ask the grandparents if they’d be willing to sue and get bro’s assets under lien ASAP. Nine times out of ten, people are not willing to do this, if a family member is involved. If they’re not willing, I’d walk away, actually. I’ve seen family members unwilling to do what’s necessary to the black sheep, but all too happy to burden other family members who try to help. However, if they’re willing, Legal Aid is a good place to start, provided the local Legal Aid is not too busy defending illegal immigrants.
Just got off the phone with legal aid for seniors in Macomb County. thank you so much. I don’t know if they can help, but it’s a start.
Good luck!
I’d say your GPs should definitely sue your bro. They may not collect, but they’ll be able to put a lein on his house (which is probably HELOCed to the gills anyway, but you never know. You can at least make life a little miserable for him when he tries to sell!).
palmetto makes a good point. For the sake of your grandparents not being unfair to you and your generosity, I think they owe it to you to take legal action against your brother if he is truly not willing to live up to his obligations.
Just my opinion.
your brother is a real specimen huh?
i feel for your grandparents
Banks are taking longer and longer to foreclose, especially in Michigan where there are more foreclosures than can be handled by the courts in an expedited manner. I have heard of cases where people can live up to 24 months without paying on a mortgage before the bank forecloses. If you are determined to keep your parents in the house contact a lawyer. There many organizations who would do pro-bono work for a case like you describe.
Good luck.
A lot of what is discussed here on this blog stems from financial miscalculation, be it the investment bank, investors, or borrowers. The first thing to do is determine what the true financial situation is, without miscalculation or distortion.
It sound’s like your grandparents payments are up $600/month (principal 100K instead of expected 80K) from this malfeasance. But from your notes, it appears that they could pay +$480 of it, but your brother can’t chip in +$120? At this level, perhaps the bank would work with them.
Look at the situation clearly and carefully, determine available options (palatable ones may be slim), and choose the best. Lying to yourself or them is not going to help. If they are insolvent, and have exhausted any aid, moving elsewhere and renting within their means may be the “best” solution, providing adequate shelter with greatly lowered stress.
They have to decide, with full knowledge of their situation. They may need help considering their options, especially if the only feasible solutions are still in their “unthinkable” zone.
Finally, I am firmly in the camp of those who believe that family members who commit acts of betrayal are outlaws, not in-laws. If the facts merit it, after the circumstances become dire enough, perhaps they will consider any legal recourse available. Only if to teach the great grandchildren some life lessons they are missing out on.
” the facts merit it, after the circumstances become dire enough, perhaps they will consider any legal recourse available. Only if to teach the great grandchildren some life lessons they are missing out on. “
Sad story. I would bet that most lawyers would not take the case as they are unlikely to collect a fee even if they win, since the bro is an insolvent deadbeat. If the gramps are already underwater then the final option may be living with ’ses’ if they are evicted. Just a thought, but can more of the $600 be massaged out of their social security checks by reviewing their expenses and making sure they are budgeting appropriately?
If there are any lawyers around, maybe you can clarify this. If the deadbeat grandson/brother is sued and as a result forced into bankruptcy, don’t relatives fall pretty low on the list of creditors with or without documentation? It sounds like he’s in pretty deep debt and by time everyone else is paid off there wouldn’t be much left.
The nasty fact is they need to sue your brother for the money he owes them. Hopefully there is some kind of written agreement, but even if not the paper trail of transferring the money to him would form the basis for recovery.
My brother did sign a notorized agreement to pay them back.
this might be a good starting point
It doesn’t seem like they’d have the $$$ to sue unless they got someone to do it pro bono or whatever you call free in Latin.
Unfortunately your grandparents made a huge mistake in the name of family and now likely have to pay for it by losing their house. Fortunately for them, they have you.
Sounds like it’s time to move them out and for you to quit paying. And make sure that under no circumstances they give anyone else a dime.
Personally, I’ve not heard about people being able to stay in houses longer around here, however that doesn’t mean it isn’t happening.
May I ask, where in Michigan??
roseville. east side of detroit.
I would call legal aid, you do need a lawyer’s input. Do you grandparents have other assets besides the house that you might need to protect? I would also call the Clinton campagin folks in Michigan and ask for someone who knows the foreclosure situation…politicians are scrambling now, and you might be able to use them to your advantage. Also, think about local TV or newspapers…many times they have a reporter who does human interest stories…90 grandparents certainly qualify.
Contact them and see if they have any suggestions. I would not be shy about using any resources out there.
You are clearly loving and responsible…work the phones.
Good luck.
SES.are you sure taking them in with you is a good idea…they are almost 90??? That is a full time care taking job…is there not a continuing care facility there that they can move to??? i don’t mean to sound cold but when elderly live in their houses for too long something like this is bound to happen. In your case it’s a family member which does make it so much worse but older people have to realize when it’s time to get out and think of their diminishing abilites.
I’ve borrowed from family members once (my mother, for a portion of my college tuition and expenses) and paid it back in full a couple years early.
I’ve lent money once to a to family member and once to a friend, and never saw a cent back. But there were never any issues or hard feelings between us in either case. Why? I decided long ago that if I ever decided to lend money to a family member or friend, I was really giving that money away and should never expect any of it back. Of course I didn’t say that at the time to either borrower, in order not to wound their pride any further. And I only lent amounts of money that I was willing to let go for good.
Usually if someone is trying to borrow money from family or friends, it’s due to the fact that they can’t get it from the more traditional sources. That should say something.
I know, I know! He used the sob story that he didn’t want to take a hit on his 401k……seems there never was a 401k. I live hundreds of miles away and had no idea what was going on until they were going to lose the house. I am not going to put blame on them. They were taken advantage of. Easy prey!
ses,
I posted with some legal aid info and a couple questions but it hasn’t popped up here yet. If it doesn’t, feel free to email me privately at: blano8102@yahoo.com
Oops…….see below.
P.S. I live about 30 minutes south of your grandparents.
“Usually if someone is trying to borrow money from family or friends, it’s due to the fact that they can’t get it from the more traditional sources. That should say something. ”
I’ll bet hearing SES’ bro’s loaded-with-holes “business venture plan” would generate much more shock and nausea for us than reading how he drained his Grandparent’s nest egg to gamble on it.
Total freakin’ shame. SES, it’s gotta suck see family make asshat moves like your brother. To see him fry your Grandparents in it has to be outright painful. Your Bro should be immediately forced to sell everything he has that isn’t nailed down and give the proceeds to your Grandparents. That’s just for starters. I’m not a violent person, but If I were you and I outsized him, I’d be tempted to deliver him some well-deserved deep-tissue massage with my fists…let’s just call it “brotherly tough love.”
DOC
ses,
I live about 30 minutes south of your grandparents. Txchick might have better leads for you than me, but here’s one I just came across that might at least be able to head you in the right direction:
Legal Aid and Defender Association, Inc.
613 Abbott Street
Detroit , MI 48226-4216
Call: (313) 964-4700
Web URL: http://www.ladadetroit.org/
Here’s another:
Detroit Metropolitan Bar Association Volunteer Legal Services
Primary Address: 645 Griswold St Ste 3550
City: Detroit
State: MI
Zipcode: 48226-3681
General Phone: 313-961-6120 ext. 203
Fax: 313-965-0842
Counties Served: Wayne
Case Types: Bankruptcy, Consumer, Elder Law, Employment, Housing, Individual Rights, Public Benefits, Real Estate, Wills
Do you have anyone around here who looks in on them?? Is your brother in this area too, in case you’d like someone to whack him upside the head??
If you’d like, feel free to email me privately:
blano8102@yahoo.com
Counties Served: Macomb County, Oakland County, Wayne County
You’re not the one forcing them out of their home. You’re the one who has been picking up the slack for your brother.
If I were you, I would get a lawyer immediately. It might be possible to sue your brother to force him to live up to the agreement he made with your grandparents. It looks to me like he defrauded your grandparents and could be arrested for elder abuse. If they are not mentally competent, the whole refinance might be nullified. You need a good lawyer immediately.
Went through this last Christmas - in Macomb County. Strangers embezzled funds from kidnapped Alzheimer-ridden relative to buy a condo that “they would share” but it was put in THEIR name, not hers! Before the trial, the arbitration (band of lawyers) advised settlement of 45%. I bargained it up to 52%. Legal fees were half of recovered funds. They get to keep the condo, and no prison time or even a judgment against them(trial would have cost even more)! Life is really sad!
Dude who lives across the street from us rides a hog. They have had no fewer than 6 garage sales in the past year; my wife commented yesterday that they seem to be hard up for cash. It is really quite sad to watch this play out.
HERB GREENBERG
Of home equity and Harleys
Commentary: Consumers may be riding on a different debt highway
By Herb Greenberg, MarketWatch
Last update: 6:56 p.m. EDT April 6, 2008
This column first was published in the weekend edition of The Wall Street Journal.
SAN DIEGO (MarketWatch) — In his speeches these days, one of Paul Kasriel’s favorite examples of economic activity, or lack thereof, is the motorcycle.
“There is no consumer purchase more discretionary than a Harley-Davidson hog,” says the chief of economic research at Northern Trust Corp.
I believe a Ducati is more discretionary (if you are over 60.)
As an avid motorcyclist, (I ride a bmw boxercup, GasGas & a Beta), and I can tell you most Ducati riders are on their game when it comes to money. I see alot of HD guys and most are not that bright, just stating what I see. They tend to be more showy, look at me kind of guys living pay check to pay check.
Maybe a used Triumph Speedster will coming my soon. It gives a girl hope >; )
That is a subjective opinion as opposed to factual. I suggest that layoffs in industries give a better indication and if it does then the single largest discretionary item is health care.
Everybody complains about variable costs (gasoline, etc.) but it’s out-of-control fixed costs that kill people. I’m willing to bet the average new HOG or BMW owner spends more just on non-base-price accessories (fairing, panniers, stereo system, riding gear, etc.) than the average construction worker spends for gas on his pickup in a year. Not to mention the additional finance costs associated with same.
Actually, the motorcycle insurance thingy alone wipes out any gas advantage. Bikes also suck up a couple hundred dollars in tires every 6-10,000 miles. Fun, though.
Nah - in most cases the reverse is true. I’ve known of people who bought a motorcycle just so that their total (car + motorcycle) insurance would go *down*, by listing the motorcycle as their primary vehicle. Moto insurance is cheap, because if you hit someone you do a lot less damage, and because the vehicle you’re driving tends to be less expensive than a car.
If the crash insurance contains full health then it can be expensive - but you don’t need full health coverage if you already have separate health insurance.
At least that’s the way it was 15 years ago when I had mine.
That depends on the insurance. If you don’t have collision, it’s peanuts. If you DO have collision, youre gonna pay for that garage candy.
Not for nothing, but my BMW was bought for cash, with all the options, at a significant discount (30-40% off).. It gets about 40mpg highway, costs $350/yr to insure, and brings me more happiness than just about anything else in my life.
Though I will admit that the tire thing does drive me a little crazy…
Harley also owns Buell, http://www.buell.com. Buell is an inexpensive line of bikes. A friend who works at a Harley dealer said the Buells are doing very well, as are motorcycles in general. Gas prices have pushed a lot of people to try motorcycles.
The Buell blast gets 73mpg on highways.
The Buell blast gets 73mpg on highways.
Thanks for mentioning this… I have been obsessed with scooters for the last month or two, thinking about the fuel economy. We have a MINI Cooper S which gets about 30 MPG but uses premium gas. We could sell it, get two of those and still have 80% of the proceeds left over.
Try carrying groceries home on a motorcycle.
An acquaintance moved a 29-inch CRT TV set using a motorcycle. It doesn’t make for a stable ride, but it can be done.
The scooter-less overweight slobs is one of my favorite bubble fallout sob stories. Beautiful…… just beautiful..
We bought a commuter bike for my wife on Saturday. It cost $580 with all the trimmings, including a lock, basket, and helmet.
The operating costs are low.
ses:
Have your parents contacted a legal aid clinic? Since they are on a fixed income, they would most likely qualify for attorney advice on a sliding scale, or perhaps for free.
the Washington Post
Double Bubble Trouble?
Sebastian Mallaby
“There are two views of the financial crisis. The first is that we face the bursting of a real estate bubble, a product of loose monetary policy, no-doc loans and alphabet-soup financial securities. The second is that we face the bursting of that bubble plus a terrifying long-term one that has been building since the Reagan era. This second bubble is the product of a quarter-century expansion in borrowing, excessive confidence in the dollar and an overblown faith in markets….”
http://tinyurl.com/3kejzm
lots of flawed analysis there, e.g. the role of the US dollar as world currency in stimulating the (US) bubble.
The current debt orgy sprang to life in the Netherlands and some other EU countries in the same era. In NL there was a slow start in the early eighties and by the early nineties there was a roaring bullmarket in homes (although ordinary citizens didn’t yet notice then), stock speculation and everything that thrives on debt. There is just ONE factor that applies to all these countries: monetary expansion, first from the US FED and later from many other anglo-saxon central banks. The Netherlands was probably early because it has a very open economy, geared strongly towards the USA and with a remake of their economy in the eighties after the US and UK (Thatcher) ‘free economy’ model. In Europe the start of the ECB with its mega credit growth (around 15% yoy, similar to the FED) threw more oil on the fire of the debt orgy, despite the second rate statue of the euro when it started.
But I agree that this could turn into a lot more than just the bursting of a (relatively small - by world standards) US housing bubble. Can’t stress enough that there is NO sign that the EU credit/housing bubble has popped yet; it is still growing and in some countries even accelerating lately (thanks to even more free money from the ECB and FED).
Beltway Fun House
If only someone would foreclose on the Senate.
Hey Congress - wake the hell up!
Courtesy of: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/First%2C_do_no_harm
“Primum non nocere is a Latin phrase that means ‘First, do no harm.’ The phrase is sometimes recorded as primum nil nocere.
It is one of the principal precepts all medical students are taught in medical school. It reminds a physician that he or she must consider the possible harm that any intervention might do. It is most often mentioned when debating use of an intervention with an obvious chance of harm but a less certain chance of benefit.
Since at least 1860, the phrase has been a hallowed expression for physicians of hope, intention, humility, and recognition that human acts with good intentions may have unwanted consequences.”
For anyone interested, the quarterly roundup on mutual funds, from the NYTImes. A dozen articles or so, mostly on the losses people have taken in the first quarter, with worse to come.
http://www.nytimes.com/pages/business/mutfund/index.html
After I read this article, I went to the TIAA-CREF Website. Is anyone else stuck here? They have a long article about the current financial crisis and their exposure to subprime:
http://tinyurl.com/44jdqu
I have said before that I was in favor of the bonus system on Wall Street -just not in favor of the way it is a currently applied. I have suspected that the current bonus system led to this financial abyss. It seems that there is building consensus that this appears to be the case.
The Big Brokers Blew It. They Should Bear the Cost.
Washington Post
“…At a March 7 hearing on corporate executives’ compensation before Rep. Henry Waxman’s House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, nobody on either side of the microphones dared ask or answer these questions, or one about how to return accountability to Wall Street. Nell Minow, the corporate governance watchdog, came the closest. “If you make the compensation all upside and no downside, that will affect the executive’s assessment of risk — or, rather, it will make it clear to him that he can easily offload the risk onto the shareholders without much in the way of adverse consequences to himself,” she told the congressmen. “It is heads they win, tails we lose.”
http://tinyurl.com/5ess4h
I thought those of you opposed to the home borrower and lender bail out would appreciate this.
Neil Cavuto’s page on Fox Business News currently has a video up in which they question guests (Michael Steele, MD’s former Lt. Gov.) and some other guy about where the personal responsibility is in Obama’s plan. They said they asked Obama’s campaign, but have not received an answer. Michael Steele and the reporter do a pretty good job opposing the plan.
Here’s the link:
http://www.foxnews.com/yourworld/index.html
Scroll down to Mortgage Meltdown and click on the caption Subprime Mortgage Mess next to Obama’s picture to hear the interview.
Fox News is asking for questions for the Candidates. Here’s what I asked:
Explain to my why you, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, think it is alright for you to steal hard earned money from my pocket that I, a responsible American who did not buy an overpriced house, need to provide for my family to give to someone who irresponsibly signed a loan to buy a house they should have known they could not afford? In a free society, we have the right to make our own choices and we should also have the responsibility to deal with the consequences resulting from our decisions.
What is really disgusting is that you pander to people who should be ashamed to ask, even worse demand, that I pay to subsidize their lifestyles by paying for their stupid mistakes, rather than stand up for my rights. Maybe we should bring back debtors prisons so that these people can pay off their debts by working on our failing infrastructure. That would be a much more effective way to teach them to make responsible financial decisions than the counseling for which you also expect me to pay.
This goes for the irresponsible banks, lenders, builders, and Wall Street big wigs (including Bear Stearns) as well. They should not receive bail outs from the American taxpayer. They should have to eat the losses that they have incurred from their reckless business practices (after all, I don’t hear them complaining about the exorbitant profits they made, or offering to give them back to make things right.) Again, why should I have to pay?
Same question relating to health care — why shouldn’t people be responsible for choosing and paying for their own health care? What Constitutional authority do you have to do these things? I swear the Constitution says “PROMOTE the general Welfare” NOT “PROVIDE the general Welfare”. I think you, and the rest of our Congressmen and women, need re-read and take to heart the Constitution and “Not Yours to Give” by Davy Crockett.
Stop privatizing the profits and socializing the losses! You are redistributing wealth, and it is not only wrong, but morally reprehensible!
Here’s the link to Ask the Campaign, in case you would also like to submit a question –
http://elections.foxnews.com/ask-the-campaign/
Keep writing to the media. Maybe we’re getting somewhere.
Not bad not bad. It’s easy to identify you as someone who clearly doesn’t support either of those candidates, so I can imagine they wouldn’t be in a hurry to answer your question, unfortunately.
And verily, besides throwing well-attended and vastly popular parties with grapes, giant golden cow idols and dancing harlots, verily, I ALSO have a giant ‘Satan’s Toolbox’ flat screen on the wall, so I can watch wickedness and/or women wearing shoes anytime I want, should I ever run out of my own wickedness and shoes to watch, which isn’t likely, but maybe I’ll bust a limb from falling off a graven image and have to hold still for awhile.
And yea verily, of course I didst pay for it with cash, not credit.
oly, does the phrase “jack Mormon” mean anything to you?
Yeah that’s my brother’s name. What does that mean?
Paul, are you a golfer?
Sorry, I meant to post this up above, under aqius’s tribute post to Charlton Heston. I watched CH in ‘the Ten Commandments’, it made an impression.
I think we’re past that phase. Now we’re in the “You Maniacs! You blew it up! Ah, damn you! God damn you all to hell!” phase of the housing market.
From the anecdotal “what going on behind the scene” story dept.
Good friend is a heart surgeon at a major New England hospital.
Says work is way off due to stents, but lung cancer work is taking up the slack at least for him. The big problem is the hospital administration financed the construction cost of a major addition with a variable bond float. Rates have gone from 2.75 range to 10% and decimated the operational budget.
So head honcho brings in an outside “Chainsaw Al” Dunlap type as medical cost overseer which has thrown my friend’s dept. into chaos with talk of 50% pay cuts.
One nationally recognized ER surgeon w/ 18 years has already packed it up and pushed off to PA. I ask my bud if he’d take a 50% haircut and it was no way jose. And he’s been in place for 25 years.
Amazing how far the ax is reaching.
HD:
Sad to say “chainsaw al” might be right, During the 2 years my father was really ill, I saw lots of waste and mismanagement, money being wasted, and care being compromised. Especially in the Nursing home..they had psychical therapists which almost never seem to be doing their jobs. Instead of 2-3 hours a day so he could get back on his feet he was lucky to get an hour a day on any exercise equipment.
And we are still fighting over an $8000 bill which would have never been incurred had he been well enough to be released before the insurance ran out.
Plus there is very little in home care which is covered, why not save a ton of money by having people kept in their own homes at 1/3 the cost of a nursing homes is a financial mystery to me.
The doctors nurses were decent people, but most of the “help” were Jamaicans, not highly paid….
But truthfully the only real way to get a handle on health care costs is to make Nursing and Med School FREE, in exchange for “X” years of working at a lower pay. So a 50% cut would not really be so bad with ZERO student loan debt
The problem with nursing is how intensive it is student to instructor. I haven’t seen a nursing program without a huge waiting list in years.
Ditto for Med School.
Don’t know if this is the same major NE hospital where my doctors are, but I recently had to make some appointments, after my annual physical, and it took me over 4 months to book a mammogram and 3 months to book a colonoscopy. (My doctor explained that fewer doctors are willing to do mammograms now, because they are afraid of getting sued; and, for the colonoscopy, there was a problem finding an anesthesiologist.) When I tried to schedule a mole check, my long-time dermatologist’s receptionist informed me that he was not doing anything as mundane as mole checks at all these days–only cosmetics.
My doctor explained that fewer doctors are willing to do mammograms now, because they are afraid of getting sued
————————-
Why would they be sued?
Life after lending ……..
“We’ve used up most of our reserves, cashed in her 401K,” said Kent.
We’re going Mach 1 into a wall. When we run into it, then we’ve got to decide what to do next.”
http://tinyurl.com/5vhgp2
Cash is not always king
Termites in bank safe deposit box eat up trader’s life savings
Cash is never king:
“The following ideas, then, lumped together, may be called mercantilism.
Professor Gerhard Rempel, Western New England College.
(1) Bullionism was the belief that the economic health of a nation could be measured by the amount of precious metal, gold, or silver, which it possessed. The rise of a money economy, the stimulation produced by the influx of bullion from America, the fact that taxes were collected in money, all seemed to support the view that hard money was the source of prosperity, prestige, and strength.
(2) Bullionism dictated a favorable balance of trade. That is, for a nation to have gold on hand at he end of the year, it must export more than it imports. Exports were later defined to include money spent on freight, or insurance, or travel.
(3) Each nation tried to achieve economic self-sufficiency. Those who founded new industries should be rewarded by the state….”
http://tinyurl.com/odm9m
This is what is happening with the new mercantile nations in Asia, Africa and South America. While the US plays its fiddle and screws around with none productive industries like banks.
I rarely “disagree” with you, Hoz, but it’s @ss-kicking time. I’m putting on my boots.
All of this is fine and dandy but you have to realize that economics is micro not macro, as in, economies are the sum-total of the individual decisions not some grand planned doo-wop.
Yes, you are right that the mercantilist policies of Chindia are what they are.
However, what’s your point? What should an average American do? And what should an average Chindian do?
Talk micro, dammit!
Cash is still king; and the average Chindian should recycle their moneys probably into commodities or a basket before their governments inflate it all away by pegging the currency.
There is a reason for the absurd stability of the Indian social system (as dysfunctional as it is.) It’s called gold, and it’s the main reason that Indians have lived through many many many cycles of emperors and governments and not much has changed. (Not an argument in favor of gold; just a blunt fact.)
Your wimpy size 6 boots would not even dent my @ss. A poof kicker, Hah!
I am not suggesting that gold is king, but that commodities are king. One of the side effects of a low interest rate on the US dollar is the carrying cost for hard commodities is a lot less, buy and store now or be priced out forever.
Mr Prasad says that relations with his wife and children were strained and he wanted to put the money in the safe box to keep it safe from them.
———————–
LOL!
Market Last Change %
Crude Oil 109.13 +2.9 +2.73
Oil is back. What a great day to short the stock market.
Oil is such a boring story, every week it’s the same thing Record high, Record high, blah, blah, blah…
I think we’ve seen that the economy has been decoupled from oil prices. They could go to 200, it wouldn’t slow anything down.
/sarcasm off
Tremonton, UT
Furniture maker La-Z-Boy Inc. said Wednesday that it will close its plant in Tremonton, Box Elder County, this summer, putting 630 people there out of work.
Deseret Morning Sun - April 3, 2008
How much do you wanna bet that when demand eventually picks up they’ll open a new plant in a place like Torreon or Hermosillo in Mexico?
Tremonton, population 6286.
My sister does billing for a lazyboy distributor. She said this is devastating to that town. Luckily, it’s different there.
Jane Wells at CNBC contacted me in response to a letter I sent her to say she will be blogging about this today.
Here’s the link:
http://www.cnbc.com/id/23997696
See, if we speak up, we can be heard!
Send your comments!
Nice letter. Too bad Hillary and Obama could care less, at least until the point where they think pandering to people who want a bailout will cost them more votes than it will win them.
Patient Renter,
Thanks! According to Neil Cavuto, 95% of people are currently paying their mortgages on time. I don’t think they will want to subsidize their neighbors who are not paying their bills. That is in addition to all of us who have been renting and waiting this mess out. If enough of us speak out, maybe they will realize that it could cost them more votes than it will win them. If we sit silently by, however, they certainly won’t.
Jane said she will be doing continuing coverage on this. I hope others send their stories. If you own and didn’t refinance into a crazy ARM or take out an unmanageable line of credit to buy toys or an “investment property”, send your story. If you bought a house, but took out a 30-year fixed rate and are paying your bills on time, send your story. What I think would be a truly compelling story would be from someone who rented from a flipper, but was evicted because the flipper made off with their rent checks instead of paying the mortgage. I know there are people out there that this has happened to. I’ve read their stories on blogs asking what they should do, but I haven’t seen their stories in the paper. They are truly innocent victims who not only had to move again but now will have to pay for this mess. Send your stories.
Now is the time to act!
Just saw a guy on Kudlow didn`t catch his name, anyway he said americans have an additional 5 trillion in debt from the last 5 boom years. How many billion make a trillion ?
Growth in Consumer Borrowing Slows in February to Just Half the January Pace
http://biz.yahoo.com/ap/080407/consumer_credit.html
The slowdown reflected much weaker demand for auto loans and other type of non-revolving credit, which rose at a rate of 0.4 percent in February, much lower than the 3.6 percent growth rate in January. Credit card debt rose at a 5.9 percent rate.
The overall increase in credit of $5.16 billion, which was slightly below expectations, pushed total consumer credit to a record $2.539 trillion.
A trillion here, a trillion there; after a while you’re talking real money. Those credit cards are working overtime.
A curious statement - “debt increases during boom years.”
This would suggest something deeply wrong with the US financial zeitgeist.
http://austin.craigslist.org/rfs/626343196.html
$400,900. 2906 Pamella Court, Austin, TX 78734. Reduced price by over $20,000. Upscale, custom built, Tuscan style FORECLOSURE w/ all the amenities! Has never been lived in! Outdoor lovers delight! Exterior features include: walled front patio w/ fountain, enclosed conservatory, private garden, near Lake Travis, covered porch & balcony and tower overlook. Interior features: in pristine condition, 9ft solid wood doors, granite countertops, hard tile & carpet floors, Jenn-Air gas appliances, game room w/ wet bar, two living rooms, walls of windows that let in lots of natural light and very energy efficient. Master bed suite includes: walk in closet, double sink and vanity, separate glass shower and garden tub! Home has never been lived in and is 95% complete.
never lived in. and it was built in 2004 … geez …
8407 Alisterr Blvd. Palm Beach Gardens Fl. built in 2006 paid $460,259 in 2006 for sale now $259,000
Alister
That’s pretty funny, really; by the time someone gets around to living there, it might need to be “renovated”.
Kidding aside, I hate the wasteful side of the bubble.
From Craiglist -
$575000 BUY OR RENT - Price for Rent $2,500 per month. (Silver Spring, MD)
Q. How long does it take for a deflating stock market to bottom out?
A. In some cases, it takes over seventeen years.
IMF to shed staff and sell gold
By Daniel Pimlott in Washington
Published: April 8 2008 00:39 | Last updated: April 8 2008 00:39
The board of the International Monetary Fund voted on Monday to cut 15 per cent of its staff and sell about $11bn (€7bn, £5.5bn) in gold reserves in one of the biggest shake-ups of its funding since it was founded.
The IMF plan to cut 380 jobs and sell 403.3 tonnes of gold, about an eighth of its reserves, still has to be approved by other authorities. The reforms have the support of the US Treasury, but the gold sales must be approved by Congress, which is unlikely to happen until after the presidential elections this year. Other changes in the IMF’s funding structure would require legislation in some member countries.
An IMF spokesman said the gold sales would be done in a way that would avoid disrupting the market. A spokesman for the World Gold Council, an industry body, said that “no one I’ve spoken to is worried” by the sales.
Sole bid contract, you say?
House panel questions Bear rescue plan
By James Politi in Washington
Published: April 8 2008 00:29 | Last updated: April 8 2008 00:29
…
In a letter, Henry Waxman, chairman of the House oversight and government reform committee, asked Tim Geithner, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to answer questions on the decision to give BlackRock a “potentially lucrative position…without competition”.
“When contract terms are not defined in advance, it is usually the taxpayer – not the contractor – who suffers,” Mr Waxman wrote. “In Iraq and in the response to the September 11 attacks and Hurricane Katrina, taxpayers have incurred billions of dollars in unnecessary costs when federal agencies tried to negotiate terms with a private contractor that knows it has already won the contract.”
Mr Waxman asked that by the end of next week the New York Fed describe the “basis” of the BlackRock choice, and whether the Fed would be able to solicit competing bids. A spokesman for the New York Fed declined to comment.
San Diego Dutch condo auction sale…
4310 54TH ST #208, SD - San Diego, CA 92115**
List Price: $69,900 - $69,900
Bedrooms: 1
Full Baths: 1
Partial Baths: 0
Square Feet: 700
Lot Size: N/A
Year Built: 1972
Listing Date: 08/20/07
On Market: 231 days
Type: CONDO/TH
Status: ACTIVE
MLS #: 078076881
Description
Bank owned. Not a short sale>>>>
Newer stone tile floor, carpet, tub, vanity, fixtures and washer/dryer. Spacious one bedrooom unit, close to san diego state. Good sized master bedroom as well. Payments could be lower than a rental.
ZipRealty Price Track:
Price Reduced: 10/01/07 — $129,900 to $122,500
Price Reduced: 11/13/07 — $122,500 to $119,900
Price Reduced: 12/31/07 — $119,900 to $99,900
Price Reduced: 02/07/08 — $99,900 to $84,900
Price Reduced: 03/04/08 — $84,900 to $79,900
Price Reduced: 03/25/08 — $79,900 to $69,900
On Market: 231 days
Price per square foot:
$69,900/700
Bold off?
It was the less than sign (dumb math error…)
$69,900/700 “less than” $100/sqft