Bits Bucket And Craigslist Finds For May 18, 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.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
May 2024 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 31
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
The Economic Sky Has Fallen…
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/Global_Economy/JE17Dj01.html
That’s funny, the AT had an add for the Wisconsin Dells. Are Asians really interested in going to the Dells?
We used to go all the time, but stopped in 2001. By then the wannabe gang banger offspring of Chicagoland ruined the atmosphere. The Eastern European hoteliers were no fun either.
Canadian “Farm Vacations” are relatively popular among the Japanese. It’s like staying at a B and B on a farm with a few chores thrown in.
RE: economic skies…
At least the Brits have a national rail system and can purchase auto’s reflective of $8.00 per gallon gasoline.
Meanwhile, we US dimwits have no trains and drive around in 10mpg grotesque, pig iron SUV’s and 3/4 ton 4×4 pick-ups, while begging the Arab play-boys for more pudding.
Completely and utterly disgusting.
USA, no more Numba #1, GI
yea….gwb is kissing some moslem bootie this weekend. pucker up gwb.
A coworker of mine takes the train in to work everyday and recently told me that on many days he now has to wait for 2 or 3 trains to pass before one comes in to the station with room for anyone to board.
The suburban commuter trains are packed as well. Unfortunately they have had to cut back on expansion plans because there’s no money.
Every single passenger rail service in the Chicago area has train cars on order but none have the money to buy enough to meet demand.
I posted on this in another thread. Amtrak trains coming through my little SE Utah town seem to have 30 to 50% more cars.
Saw both posts - that’s interesting information. Wonder what their limits are on capacity increase.
Knowing little to nothing about the transportation of goods in the U.S., I now often wonder why trains aren’t being used more, instead of trucks. Read somewhere that the cost per mile by train is a pittance compared to mileage in a truck. Obviously, terminal costs and location and loading/offloading costs have to be taken into account, but even so, when diesel costs twice as much in less than two years, why isn’t there a major shift to trains?
Trains run on diesel that runs the electric generator that runs the motors.
True, they run on diesel, but apparently then can haul tonnage at an advantage of something like 100-to-1 per mile.
BIG auction sing in my hood 22151
never saw one in the 90’s
homes @ 3.5 times income now
Welcome back, flat - there’s some guy called taxmeupthebooty who’s bee impersonating you…
Lost - are you thinking of flatfplan?
Yeah, isn’t flat just another of his screen names? Whoops, sorry, if not. He’s a man of many personas…but it’s the same terse writing, that’s why I thought it’s one and the same poster.
Don’t know the answer to that one.
Warehousing Old People…
http://www.wrisley.com/comment.htm
A considerable number of these seniors believe the world owes them a living just because they are old. It never occurs to them that if they get something for nothing, someone, somewhere, got nothing for something. They see no connection whatever between their government subsidy and the efforts and sacrifice of productive younger people. And therein lies a ticking bomb.
This is my favorite part of this article and matches my experience almost exactly. The people who I’ve talked about on this issue who are about ready retire have the exact same attitude.
They see a connection in so much they paid in, but the blank stares come when I suggest that a)their parents/grandparents were wrong for creating a system that forced them to help pay for someone else’s retirement and b) even if they do deserve to retire, we can’t afford the boomer retirement. Between the national debt and the worker to retiree ratio, it’s just not going to happen. (Heck, I don’t think it was going to happen without the national debt.)
I’m not against a social net for people of any age who are physically unable to work - but old age all by itself can’t be a qualification for an income stream from the government.
RE: The people who I’ve talked about on this issue who are about ready retire have the exact same attitude.
Just to let ya know, VemonterGal-I’m a boomer and I don’t ever expect to retire.
I’ve watched Greatest Gen parents (including my own), in-laws, relatives et., el. sit on their collective azzes for 30+
years without working, outdrawing their pensions (from all those US corporations who had no competition after the rest of the world lay in ruin after WW II), SS & Medicaid by thousands and thousands of $$$ beyond what they put in, and think it is all justified.
I won’t even get in to the federal pension double and triple dippers.
It is all an immoral Ponzi scheme, and I refuse to become any part of it.
I never really looked at it this way, but you know what? My parents are doing the same. My dad taught for around 36 years at the same school district before taking early retirement. His reason for early retirement were - IMO - founded. The once award-winning school district had gone down the tubes and he was being told he had to “pass more kids”. Basically, just shuffle them through regardless of whether or not they learned what they should have. He couldn’t do that so he retired.
But…he’s been retired now for about 10 years and is in his late 60s. He and my mom live off his pension. Realistically, they could have another good 20 or so years in them. That would mean approximately half his career life would have been spent not working, but collecting pension. (Which he never paid a dime into - unlike 401k plans.)
Hmmmm…interesting. Now I see why my dad seems to increasingly not understand (or care about) my economic plight.
While I agree that if you are capable of working (even re-training),
The younger want these oldsters to retire, open up their upper management/level positions so that they can advance.
I guess you call it unintended consequences.
Of course, we could just kill off all the old people. That would solve the problem.
/sarcasm off
The younger want these oldsters to retire, open up their upper management/level positions so that they can advance.
Maybe some - my direct experience, though is that many of those jobs just disappear after someone retires.
“It is all an immoral Ponzi scheme (federal pension system)”
hd74man, you need to study the current FERS program. A small portion of it is funded as a traditional pension which converts to SS at age 65. The system basically has three elements to form a fairly good system. The small pension portion, SS and a self funded (with some gov”t matching to spur participation) thrift plan.The plan is very inexpensive fot the federal gov’t but only provides the Fed employee with a good retirement if he contributes to the Thrift plan. This plan went into effect over 20 years ago and as current Fed Retirees die it will save much money for the taxpayer.
If gov’t benefits are so great why are the jobs so hard to fill?
Old people get many things for nothing, whether it be lower car insurance premiums (even though seniors statistically get in far more accidents–per mile driven–than any other age group), free dinners at Denny’s, and, of course, California’s Proposition 13, which essentially makes the young & dumb pay for the old and wealthy.
Almost everyone in this country has the entitlement attitude–something for nothing and I want it now! Look at the housing bailouts working through Congress; these initiatives would have been unthinkable even a few years ago [I don't remember any legitimate effort to reimburse people for stock losses from 401(k)s with the market meltdown earlier this decade]. Congress is merely a reflection of the composition of people who vote them in there: whiny, irresponsible, selfish & greedy, overspending morons.
Anthony,
I i’m not involved in auto insurance, however approx. 30% of every premium dollar goes to profits and costs. Large groups of people, whether old or young, good or bad drivers, can get a reduction in premiums just by pooling together.
This is why a single payer plan run by anyone (govt. or private) will significantly reduce any insurance costs that are insurable.
One other point, of the bulk of the costs of individual policies, marketing is the biggest cost driver. Think about it, $1,200 annual policy at 10% commission is a $120. I am sure the commission level is in the 15-20% range for most company policies. Marketing has always been expensive, whether contracted out to independent agents or by in-house sales employees.
From personal experience as an insurance broker-
My husband’s great uncle enlisted in the Army at 18, got a battlefield commission during WWII. Retired at 38 with full military retirement then got a gov’t job and retired from that at 58 with another pension. He died in Jan 08 at 94 years old. The amount of money he collected in 38 years of not working is mind boggling!
Our governmental problem is a reflection of many US industries. How long can you maintain balance when the percentage of people you pay that don’t produce anything continues to climb? If that percentage is increasing, then the percentage of those who don’t produce is obviously declining. That can only end one way if the trend doesn’t reverse itself through purposeful action.
Even worse, for those who realize the death spiral that is occurring, where do you turn? Refuse the benefits since you know that practice is ultimately sealing the fate of the employer? That is simply cheating yourself since the rest won’t be following suit.
It appears that many have resigned themselves to the fact that it will collapse, but hopefully after that generation is gone-whichever generation it is. While it continues, might as well get as much as you can.
That will reverse, on its own or through purposeful action. Which it will be is the question. What will come out the other side? History gives many examples of the options that are available. We’ll see which one repeats in our case.
here’s how it worked for some peoples parents who are now my age:
1. Born 1946
2. high school grad 1964
3. enroll college 1964-graduate, defer draft till 1969.
4. Enlist.
5. Commisioned officer.
6. 20 years in service.
7. Retire at half pay, full medical benefits, paid off mortgage, at the age of 42.
8. plan on living to at least 80 (38 years of retirement, on 20 years in)
pretty sweet deal, dontcha think? why doesnt everybody work for the government? Isnt it the best deal going? If everyone worked for the goverment, nobody would have to work……its so simple.
I know Ben doesnt like the breakdowns in the generational gaps, but.. well, lets just say they are looming over the deflationary slowdown.
You forgot the best way to do it! At the age of 42 run for state councilman, assemblyman at 18K per year, win that since you are the only one running; then run for US Congress (don’t win), then eligible for full retirement pay at 65. With this experience accept position at City University and become eligible for full retirement at 62 after 7 years at the University. Age 50, Accept position with Oil company and eligibility for an addtl pension and 401K. A homerun. Retire at age 55 with continuing upstream of moneys indexed to inflation and pay grade. 4 pensions and retirement plans, 3 from government.
LOL
Home-run my arse, thats hitting for the cycle with a grand salami thrown in…
I may have to call up the ficticious character in my tale, and tell him what a lazy, pathetic troll he was for not piling on…
everyone into the lifeboat, get your Goverment applications in, ASAP, the competition for the teets is unbelievable…you dont want to be left behind!
That’s good — but I’m even more impressed with the folks who retire from a municipal position w/ 30 years service and a very lucrative pension - and then get hired back as a consultant to do pretty much the same job. Now THAT is genius stuff.
Nowadays anybody making it to 100 is a bit of a rarity…
But, as we’ve eradicated most diseases that preyed on the elderly and the infirm, Century-ions will be much more common in the future.
Popular sentiment seems to be going against anybody that dares live longer than the norm, which doesn’t bode well for those that partake in the practice…
I guess your right about talking to the people around you. So do you talk to only those people that confirm your belief that the old are out to get the young?
The people I know around me has given me a different experience. My grandparents worked until they couldn’t. Retired only when their health wouldn’t allow them to work anymore. One would stay home and take care of their sick partner. When they did collect SS payments they barely survived on those payments. Both sets of my grandparents are now dead. All of them would have still continued to work if they could. My parents were working until my dad dementia forced him to stop working (75 years old). My mom couldn’t afford a caregiver or put him into a home that would take care of him so she retired at 63. He passed away last year. Right now my mom wants to go back to work. My brother and sisters and I are of the late boomer generation and don’t expect to retire. Heck all of us want to continue working until we can’t.
BTW, Denny does not offer a free meal to seniors, they offer discounts. Also for those of you who don’t like proposition 13, there is the ballot initiative. Put it up to the voters.
“My husband’s great uncle enlisted in the Army at 18, got a battlefield commission during WWII. Retired at 38 with full military retirement then got a gov’t job and retired from that at 58 with another pension. He died in Jan 08 at 94 years old. The amount of money he collected in 38 years of not working is mind boggling!”
There’s another perspective here, IMO.
20 years military service? No offense, but 20 years in the robotic, soul-sucking, grind down your individuality military isn’t very pleasant. Let’s not forget to add the wondrous psychological and physical effects of active battle duty.
Many don’t come back from their “battlefield duty,” no? Those that do are never quite the same, IMO. I’ve seen these fella’s up close and personal. PTSD’s no joke. So he goes to work for another 20 years and retires at 58 and collects pensions till he’s 94.
Maybe we should exercise a little more thought here.
Many people die right after retirement or within a decade or so. So, if he died, within 15 years or so, like most do, I guess he’d be ok in some of your eyes (not being a burden on the taxpayers and all). When he was 58, HE KNEW MOST MALES DIE AROUND 75 YEARS. Just how much of one’s life does one have to give to be justified in drawing a pension in your opinion? Work till we fall over dead? Or, do you feel they should “limit” pension durations? “Sorry Al, we know you started working at 18, never stopped for 40 straight years and laid your life on the line a time or two, but, unfortunately, you’ve lived past 70 and are still healthy. Get a job.”
This guy worked for 40 freakin’ straight years, chose 20 in military life, (which is no life at all), saw battle-time and made it home, then worked another 20 years!
The fact he lived past 65’s pretty amazing IMO. Must’ve been a pretty resilient man.
Rant off…DOC
Good post Dr.
I get the feeling that the youngbloods have a very selfish attitude. And before anybody assumes I’m a geezer (nothing against geezers) I’m 45 and have been paying through my A** for as long as I can remember.
Let’s all think about this. Before we turn on our own, especially those that fought in a god damn war, let’s think about all off the illegals we pay for. LOOK BEYOND THE HOOD ORNAMENT on your car people. These old timers deserve some security, not welfare, security. Speaking of old timers, as we speak a B-17, & a B-25 are flying over my home right now. They have an annual stop where people can pay around $425+/- for a 20 minute flight.
Before we turn on each other, take a long hard look at what is going on.
Mike
We flew on a B-24 about 10 years ago, leaving from Burbank out to the ocean, up the coast and back over the valley.
There wasn’t a lot of aluminum skin protecting the airmen, and it was quite cold @ 5,000 feet as we made our bombing run over Hollywood, imagine being @ 30,000 and people shooting at you?
damn straight.
follow up,
made the call,I make the call every Sunday and brought the story up, his comment:
“Well Bubba, if I didnt do those 20 long in Naval Intelligence, you’d be speaking a different language. Oh yeah, got my very first SS check this month, $1280.00 on top of the military retirement, never thought I would ever see it.”
got a lot of respect for the old geezer…taught me much of what I know…
However: SS,on top of Military benefits, on top of energy royalties, on top muni and private pensions…
Its a tough case to not start callin tops, Pops.
I think that all we are really discussing is transfer payments. It is the abominable essence of government. Take a look at the details of the current “Farm Bill.” The biggest part of it by far is “assistance programs” - transfers of taxpayer money to people who didn’t pay the taxes. Yet it is disguised as a Farm Bill and not listed anywhere, to my knowledge, under “welfare.”
As long as governments have the power to tax at the point of a gun, there will be aggrieved parties - all the ones who believe they are getting less than they are paying in.
Read a great article this morning about Davy Crockett and how he “got religion” about giving taxpayer money to the “needy”:
http://www.fee.org/library/books/notyours.asp
Welcome to democracy and the problem of majority vote: He of Rob’s Peter to Pay Paul, always has the vote of Paul.
would you call it the screw your neighbor way of doing business.
A considerable number of these seniors believe the world owes them a living just because they are old.
Only one of my sisters has kids. For years she felt the same - the world owes her a living just because she has children. Now the children are adults and now she is working. Maybe she changed.
In the local grocery stores, the special treatment to those making families is obvious: Next to the handicapped parking spaces is a space for “expectant mothers.” However rejoice: In one grocery store parking lot there is a special space for the in-store starbucks customers.
I figure middle aged white single males who never married will have to park the furthest out from the grocery store one of these days. By that time, I will be in a different nation, one where there is no nanny state political correctness B.S.
The Scars of Losing a Home
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/18/business/18view.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
Because homeowners facing foreclosure must bear the brunt of the pain, they naturally feel indignation when all of these other parties continue to lead comfortable, even affluent lives. Trying to enforce mortgage contracts may thus have a perverse effect: instead of teaching homeowners that they should respect the contracts they sign, it may incline them to take a cynical view of the whole mess.
And a cynical view they should take. But not enforcing contracts makes every contract signing merely a formality and therefore it carries not force or respect.
Another whine-a-tribe, but with some interesting filler.
“The pain of this reverse movement could leave a psychological scar that will be with all of us for the rest of our lives.”
I feel for these people - really - I do… I want to start crying into my coffee - big tears - big fat tears… OK - maybe not.
don’t worry…dudd and barney are gonna make things right.
“… that after an initial pang of sympathy, people tend to develop negative views toward others who are suffering.”
While harsh, it’s actually a very natural reaction - perhaps too natural and maybe that’s what makes it uncomfortable. Imagine if an entire herd of gazelles all stuck with the sick gazelles - would not the lions stalking them be grateful?
Oh heavens! If it weren’t for the NYT to constantly remind us of our civility we might all revert to the wild.
I agree wrt. contracts. I get angered whenever I see the government invalidate any perfectly-legal contract signed by two fully informed parties.
When Jeb was guv’nor, he signed a law that made it illegal for HOAs to ban American Flag flying! This pissed me off. Of course *I* love the American Flag and fly it often….but if some dumbass knowingly entered into a contractual arrangement stipulating how he can decorate outside his home that he’d better stick with it.
In effect, it devalued *my* property where I can fly any flag I want. I went to special time and effort to find land unencumbered by HOAs and CC&Rs for this very reason, and then Jeb came along and devalued my time and effort.
Contracts, in general, need to be upheld. It especially protects the small businessman, who can’t simply lobby congress to enforce what he wants. What’s the point of trying to do business in the US if your contract means nothing?
I agree with your analysis of contracts . It will get to the point where they will put more recourse in contracts if people fail to honor contract.You will have to sign twice the amount of papers and agree to giving up your first -born if you default .
During the boom ,there were a lot of one-sided contracts written that would only make sense if real estate continued to go up and easy money loans continued .In most cases real estate purchases are subject to obtaining certain financing and the property appraising ,yet people signed contracts not protecting their deposits or performance on the contract should the market change
The fact that lawyers and real estate agents where not protecting borrowers (as they should of been) is another black mark with these crazy contracts written during a frenzy . Because of the crazy mania, borrowers were willing to sign absurd one-sided contracts . No excuse for borrowers ,but the industry was not being very protective of borrowers and no doubt the borrowers were rammed into contracts . Of course many borrowers didn’t care about the contract because they planned to sell or refinance because real estate always goes up .
Contracts that are based on future events happening (such as real estate going up ) are stupid . The industry was making a lot of verbal promises to people while they signed their life away .
I ask myself sometimes if there could be any circumstances in which I would buy anything that was 100% more than I could afford that would depend on that asset appreciating in the future to afford it ,and the answer is “no”.
I couldn’t drum up any schandenfraud reading this. There are millions of people that will be financially ruined by the fallout here.
Yes, we read about the Cassey Serin’s and the strawberry pickers but that isn’t all the picture. Many people did what they thought was the prudent thing and buy a house (albeit overinflated). Stage 2 will be the loss of jobs. Even if they had good loans, if you have no income and limited savings then they will default at some stage.
(Btw: I am switching jobs within my company out of a segment that I believe will be heavily impacted. )
Whilst fundamentaly an economic problem, the Housing bubble bust is a major social issue that will go deep into the health of country. The financial policy should not have encouraged stupid people to buy stupid things with stupid loans backed by stupid institutions. I can’t see any Govt solution to it.
Which brings me to a question : What point do the bond holders realize they have a hobson’s choice and voluntarily agree to a haircut. Do nothing and the get a foreclosure that could bring 10 to 40c on the $ in x years away or pull plug now and renegotiate 65c on the dollar.
Welcome to the world of malinvestments.
Contracts free of any defects at formation must be enforced sans any issues of force majeure.
The current pending waive of foreclosures speak to the fact that someone was not doing their homework, more likely than not on both sides of the table. I say let the chips fall where they may, despite the economic scale of the impairment that will follow.
The result will be alot of people who will have learned their lesson and move forward as being more responsible parties. The lessons learned in the school of hard knocks are not easily unlearned. However, if you never have to suffer from your poor judgment then you are most certain destined to repeat it on a grander and grander scale until you are not bailed out. This is moral hazard, and it must be avoided at all costs, otherwise will be all be pulled down economically, and that would truly be an injustice!!
Yesterday morning, while speaking the owner of my local coffee shop, I learned that he pays no lease for his space. Three years ago, when the strip mall was constructed, he cut a deal with the developer. The shop owner will not pay rent until phase II is built and occupied. I think he’s going to be rent free for a long time–or until the bank steps in…
And one more free rent story. My wife and I purchased a several couches about 2 weeks ago from a local boutique furniture store (we’re building a new house and we have no furniture). While looking through the inventory, the owner invited us to see more in her warehouse. The warehouse turned out to be the prime location next door. This is a big 10 college town. The warehouse should have been very expensive store frontage. She made a similar deal with the developer–I’ll rent the shop, but I want extra storage for free until you rent the space. It’s been about 2 years…
I saw a similar situation here in Charlotte, but I don’t know if the space has free rent.
I bought some furniture and their storage space was an end cap retail space with the windows whited out.
First…cute house…
http://newyork.craigslist.org/lgi/rfs/684334503.html
Group grants new life to abandoned homes
WHEDA pairs first-time buyers, foreclosed houses. Note the rising foreclosure rate on right side of the article.
Fill those abandoned slumhouses…we NEED OUR money !!!
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=752024
What is it? A bunker on Omaha Beach? Where are the firing slits?
I thought that read Obama Beach!
It’s a dry-docked houseboat. They took the pontoons off.
Where are the 7 bedrooms? This house gives “Cute” a whole new ring….
beauty is in the eye of …
Housing market crash takes toll on family pets:
http://tinyurl.com/6cdmvk
“As foreclosure signs spring up across Los Angeles, so has the number of unwanted pets. In the first four months of 2008, city animal shelters reported a 16 percent increase in pet drop-offs and abandoned animals over the same period last year.”
“But while the number of dogs and cats at L.A.’s six animal shelters rose 16 percent overall, the number of animals killed there shot up 31 percent - the first euthanasia increase in six years, according to Ed Boks, general manager of the Los Angeles Department of Animal Services.”
“Boks blamed housing foreclosures, which rose 314 percent across Los Angeles County during the first quarter of this year compared with the first quarter last year. Many more homeowners were in default.”
“Pets are among the voiceless victims of the current economic downturn,” Boks said. “I encourage families to prepare for their pets in the event of financial difficulties.
“An animal shelter should only be a last resort.”
They should drop them off in Korea town.
Yeah, you’re a real comedian. I feel sorry for any animal unfortunate enough to come into contact with you.
Insensitivity and kindness to animals is no joking matter to txchick57 and a lot of people on this blog.
I laughed at peter’s joke as well.
Then I went and gave my dogs, cats, guinea pigs, & bunny their morning treats.
If you can’t laugh at yourself laugh at someone else!
Mike
I laughed too just before I went and fed our 5 cats. This is the first time I heard of a Korea town. Here in MA it’s China town.
I love animals, but c’mon, Peter’s quip did make me chuckle.
You know very well that there are food animals and then there are pet animals… which might explain why rabbits are kinda jumpy.
I feel especially sorry for the tropical fish. They never make it to the pound.
I chuckled too. I’ve been a vegetarian for years, but my depraved sense of humor persists.
With the price oil, perhaps we’ve found a new source of fuel. Biodiesel can be made from just about any organic matter, under high temperatures and pressures. SUVs that run on puppies. Or surplus realtors.
You know very well that there are food animals and then there are pet animals
Only by some arbitrary designation. There’s no difference (other than legal) between killing a cow or killing a dog, both are animals and both are property. In both cases the kill should be as humane as possible. I believe in killing in one shot when hunting, that is that the hunter has the responsibility to make the kill on the first shot and not wound the animal or some such.
As for rabbits, I have been thinking lately about building some pens and raising rabbits for food. While researching the details, I found a website for an orginzation whose purpose is to outlaw the practice of eating rabbit. That group is particularly upset about the fact that the USDA has designated rabbits as “poultry” (for certain purposes with regard to how they can be handled/killed etc). I can understand (kind of) people who are across the board against killing animals, but people who pick and choose the “cute” ones to protect are just ridiculous.
What I can’t figure out, is where the line is drawn. Rabbits have been a food source for a long time, if we are to agree that animals which are traditionally pets are protected from the dinner table, under what rational do these people think that applies to rabbits? They have been food far longer than they have been pets. And anyway, why can’t they be both?
The problem is that if we allow social convention to dictate food choices, anything is game. Rabbits have been eaten for food by westerners for a long time but now recently there are more and more people claiming they should fall into the “pet” category and be protected. What’s next? My brother had a pet chicken once…are we going to see that outlawed in a few years?
It seems to me that private property rights resolve this fairly well. If you own an animal (rabbit, chicken or dog) then you get to decide whether it is food or not.
In Korea there are “dog farms”, raised for food and humanely slaughtered for the population. In France, horse meat. In Texas, Armadillo; In Louisiana, alligator and crawdads; In Wisconsin anything that moves is fair game.
When in Rome, be a roman candle.
6 taco shells
1 cup grasshoppers (legs and wings removed)
2 cups water
1 onion, peeled, chopped
salt and pepper
1 bay leaf
1 clove garlic, crushed
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
lettuce, chopped
additional onion, chopped
tomato, chopped
Bring grasshoppers, water, salt, pepper, 1 chopped onion, and bay leaf to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 30 minutes. Drain off liquid. Add garlic, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, and tomato sauces and simmer about 10 minutes. Partially fill taco shells with some of the grasshopper filling. Top with lettuce, onion, cheese, and tomato.
I will try anything once and if it is good gain another few pounds. lol
Please show me someone in Texas who eats armadillo. I’d love to see him.
me. :>)
from the handbook of Texas
“…The animals have long been considered a legitimate game animal in Mexico, and the practice of eating armadillos was adopted by residents of South Texas when the animal migrated there. During the Great Depression,qv East Texans stocked their larders with armadillos, which they called “Hoover hogs” because of the animal’s supposed pork-like flavor (some say chicken-like) and because they considered President Herbert Hoover responsible for the depression. Currently, barbecued armadillo and armadillo chili are popular foods at various festivals in parts of Texas, Arkansas, and the southeastern United States….”
The Handbook of Texas Online is a project of the Texas State Historical Association.
http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/AA/tca2.html
A horse is a course in France, of course…
I was wondering about the armadillos, too. We have plenty of ‘em here in Florida, and I will eat most anything that walked or crawled, except insects - and I suspect armadillo.
Would that be my horses, dogs, cats, chickens.
Ethically speaking is it better to eat kill them and eat them, or kill them and dispose of them. A lot off people in Burma would probably like a Pit bull right about now.
Come live in my world for a few days. See my email box filled with people trying to get any kind of a help for an endless line of doomed unwanted pets. Our rescue group has seen about a 50-60% increase of owner surrenders and abandons in the past year. And these are extremely expensive and popular purebred dogs (French Bulldogs). Too popular it seems, I would suspect many were purchased with heloc money.
No, I don’t have any ability to find humor in this subject.
A lot of people in Myanmar would be grateful if the Chinese, who are the strongest backers of the military junta there, would insist that the bastards let emergency food be delivered to the starving. Meanwhile, the Chinese are crying about their own misery, but ignoring the ongoing crisis they’ve helped to create in Myanmar.
There is nothing wrong with pit bulls, but there is plenty wrong with some of the people who mistreat them.
Nobody owns a cat. Umm, cat burger.
Seriously though, some people care about their pets more than their children. That is morally outrageous and yet another reason why America is in the mess its in. I remember a couple of court cases where a guy killed his neighbor’s mut because it barked all hours of the night and was being abused by his owner…got 4 years in the big house; several months later, in front of the same judge, another guy killed a woman for drugs. The sentence was 2 years. Does this send the wrong message or am I missing something?
” some people care about their pets more than their children. That is morally outrageous ”
Says you. People who insist on reproducing are responsible for their own spawn. Don’t palm them off on the rest of us.
Exactly. Geez, don’t even get me started on that subject.
In Maricopa County (Phoenix) they have the “World’s Toughest Sherrif” who gloats over dressing his prisoners in pink underwear, housing them in tents in the Arizona sun, feeding them green bologna sandwiches and working them on chain gangs [the violent offenders DO deserve this, though] . . . but gets as weepy as a school girl over an underfed horse. Go figure.
At least he got one thing right: he had his prisoners take over a county animal shelter, saving the county big bucks and giving the prisoners some worthwhile work.
Anyway . . . it’s interesting that many folks get as worked up as Sherrif Joe over a pet’s plight, yet can be completely indifferent to the plight of a down-on-their luck SOB (”human”). As I say to the Mr. and Mrs BetterThanYou’s of the world: there but for the grace of Yahweh go you.
Humans have the ability and community resources to help themselves. Animals are at the mercy of people. If you can’t make that connection, even Yahweh can’t help you.
Animals are at the mercy of people. If you can’t make that connection, even Yahweh can’t help you.
So are children, txchick. Yahweh can’t help you either if you end up with 2 bastards for parents. You may in time grow to have independence but that decade between birth and 10 is going to be a living nightmare, to put it mildly.
There’s nothing wrong with sympathy for children or animals. But from where I’ve sit, it seems petty to have the kids fend for themselves but we’re all supposed to feel sorry about the largely orderly abandonment of luxury dogs. *shrug* Humans are animals, too.
“Humans have the ability and community resources to help themselves.”
That’s not an absolute. Some people cannot help themselves. Sometimes there are no resources available. Some people just need a helping hand. Then again, some people are beyond redemption.
“Animals are at the mercy of people.”
Again, shades of grey. The animals did just fine until “we” came along to “care” for them. Pets are an aberration–like growing roses in Phoenix–dependent upon humans and a far cry from their ancestral origins. Many domesticated animals can go feral. The highly specialized/mutated varieties are doomed.
I believe in balance, so I have a problem with people who are so misanthropic that they wouldn’t spend a dime on their fellow man yet can lavish huge sums upon animal companions.
Situations that are out of balance tend to correct–with or without our “help”.
” But from where I’ve sit, it seems petty to have the kids fend for themselves”
Fat chance. We are taxed to death to provide for everybody’s children. School taxes,property taxes, welfare taxes, food stamps, etc. Afterschool programs, special ed., playgrounds,et. al.
Worrying about “the children”. This is rich from somebody who wants the “nonproductive” elderly to go hungry or just plain die.
I believe in balance, so I have a problem with people who are so misanthropic that they wouldn’t spend a dime on their fellow man yet can lavish huge sums upon animal companions.
So do I. In her defense, txchick has posted that she also helps the human kind of animal.
There’s enough problems to go around for everyone.I can’t see where the plight of animals is more or less important than some of the human conditions that exist. At any rate, there’s no “cause” is worth losing a sense of humor over.
Well, my conscience is clear. I have given plenty to both.
Just don’t make jokes about the barbaric Asian practice of eating cats and dogs.
Worrying about “the children”. This is rich from somebody who wants the “nonproductive” elderly to go hungry or just plain die.
Wow, I didn’t know that about myself.
I had thought I made it clear that I was in favor of social nets for those unable to work at any age.
Just don’t make jokes about the barbaric Asian practice of eating cats and dogs.
Why not?? LOL - What’s the difference between a dog and cow other than size and you keep one in a house and another in a barn?? On this point, I think the Asians are far more rational on the subject.
What about the barbaric American practice of eating the sacred cow? I’m sure many Indians look upon us meat-eaters just as you do some asian groups. I’ve had dog, and it’s very good — there wasn’t much else to eat where I was though. I love my dog, but damn if I didn’t laugh at that joke too.
Not much difference between us and certain other groups, save for where you’re born and raised. I’m sure if I were desperate enough I’d at least think about cooking up a ‘pet’. God forbid we ever face a Donner Party type of situation though — how about those guys in the Andes plane crash that survived off dead passengers? True instinct there you just gotta respect.
rob
You know…. that sounds like a good business opportunity. Collect stray dogs and cats and sell by the hoof pound to the asian community.
I don’t eat meat, haven’t in 35 years.
Pet Charity Ultra Short Fund with Chick!
This topic always reminds me of a Dennis Leary standup routine…
Dennis Leary: My fluffy little dog.. He’s so cute- There’s the problem. We only want to save the cute animals, don’t we? Yeah. Why don’t we just have animal auditions. Line ‘em up one by one and interview them individually.
Dennis: What are you?
Otter: I’m an otter.
Dennis: And what do you do?
Otter: I swim around on my back and do cute little human things with my hands.
Dennis: You’re free to go. And what are you?
Cow: I’m a cow.
Denis: Get in the fucking truck, ok pal!
Cow: But I’m an animal.
Dennis: You’re a baseball glove! Get on that truck!
Cow: I’m an animal, I have rights!
Dennis: (pointing at leather jacket) Yeah, here’s yer fucking cousin, get on the fucking truck, pal!
If things get bad enough you wont have to because the neighbors will eat them. Be thankful you live in a part of the world where there is so much food even the pets are fat.
I would not ever give up my pets, we have never had a problem renting with pets. They do less damage than most children.
No “sob story” about someone losing their home ever makes me feel sorry for the purported victim (who, we all know, didn’t lose anything with no-money-down, and a NEG-AM I/O teaser rate and 125% financing with the $$$ already spent, tax-free).
But, boy, do I feel sorry for these poor cats and dogs.
“Insensitivity and kindness to animals is no joking matter to txchick57 and a lot of people on this blog.”
My two dogs are better cared for and receive better nutrition than half the worlds population. Most spoiled two dogs in my hood, but they preserve my sanity in a senseless world and are an essential part of my home invasion anti-burglary defense network.
I rescued my current dog from the pound . They didn’t even know what breed the dog was because she was so skinny when they found her . She had some injuries ,but I didn’t care because I fell in love at first sight . After I fatten up the dog she turned out to be a purebred .
I have paid a lot of money for dogs in my life ,but this dog that I paid 57 dollars to get at the pound has got to have the greatest personality of any dog I have ever had and she may be the smartest .
I rescued mine also…..
Our Husky is from the Husky Rescue Network.
She’s a smart little beatch!
Mike
Also ,dogs think a family is their dog pack . After a short while a dog will defend you because you are part of the dog pack. The loyalty you get from most dogs is second to none . Dogs are friends and if your upset or having a bad day, they have a bad day also . Dogs become so in tune with their masters and many dogs just wait for their masters to come home . Many dogs won’t even eat for days if they are put in a kennel away from their owners who went on vacation . It’s real easy to get a emotional bond going with a dog .
*help, i’m being held @ clawpoint by a couple of overfed indoor outcasts.
Hoping to make a break for it when their guard is down and they fall asleep…
I rescued my dog also from the pound. He was 8 wks old and a ball of fur weighing maybe a pound or two. Fast forward 6 years and I have a 70lb. mixed chow. He is lovable unless you knock on the door or ring the doorbell. Heck, the dog has better medical treatment than I, though there will be no chemotherapy treatment for him if he gets cancer.
There is a limit how much I will devote to a dog on limited financial resources.
I love it, one joke and its on.
I’m having a bbq tonight and you are invited
By the way, my family is vegetarian. I haven’t laughed so much for a very long time.
Thanks txchick57.
Got two Australian Shepherds. The last one we got was found by my brother wandering down the middle of the road in a national forest. No houses for many miles. We went back and put notices around but no answers. He is the most wonderful dog. These dogs are so smart. One Aussie we had would pin our cat at the shoulders, she must have seen me do it and copied it. Anyway the cat would hiss and swipe because he knew what was coming. Once the cat was pinned, she would proceed to take his head in her mouth and thoroughly slime that cat so that he had a spike type hairdo.
I am first!
Milwaukee slumlord from hell.
It’s amazing that the State of Wisconsin allows this nonsence to happen to low income renters. It appears they have very few rights and the enforcement agency is the State Dept. of AGRICULTURE, Trade and consumer protection ? He ISN’T the only notorious Milwaukee slum landlord either.
If he treated a herd of COWS this bad, he might be in serious trouble.
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=752032
..Sessler, 49, typically rents to lower-income individuals who are in desperate situations and sometimes have checkered pasts, including prior evictions and other small-claims suits against them.
first thing he should do is cut that out..
first thing he should do is cut that out..
Yep.
I read those articles and think: wow, everyone is wrong. The landlord is probably a jerk and so are a majority of the tenants. I don’t think I’d want to hang out with either party.
My Dad had a rental unit attached to his property. There wasn’t a whole lot of cash flow in the business - he couldn’t rent the Taj Mal but the property we clean, functional, and livable. He had a set of tenants that absolutely trashed the place: holes in the walls, ripped carpet, etc. I remember him spending alot of time fixing it up.
Because of the particular business that he was in were in, he rented it next to a mostly independent but mentally retarded couple (they had special services, etc.). The place was filthy (cleaning wasn’t high on the priority list) but it was still left in better condition than the previous “normal” tenants.
Bottom line is that some people are absolutely determined to trash where they live and/or their lives. It’s not surprising that the kind of landlord who would accept them would have some issues, too.
First what?
A TEXTBOOK CASE OF WASTE
http://www.democratandchronicle.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080518/NEWS01/805180354&referrer=FRONTPAGECAROUSEL
Board member Van White cast the perpetual dysfunction as symptomatic of a school district in which, as he put it, “people are operating in silos.”
“It’s beyond the left hand not knowing what the right is doing,” White said. “The left hand isn’t interested in knowing what the right hand is doing.”
The school industrial complex and its continuing wasteful practices: They expect the kids to keep track of their books, but the “adult” teachers, employees and administrators can’t keep track of thousands of books worth millions of dollars. How do they expect kids to respect such a dysfunctional system? Increased school taxes are continually approved by the clueless voter who thinks that the increases they approve are necessary and making a difference.
“Picture a line of moving trucks extending for hundreds of miles: they are taking the furniture of countless families to storage lockers. Picture schoolchildren saying goodbye to their classmates. They aren’t going on vacation: they are being abruptly moved to the other side of town.”
Does he have documentary evidence of this human tragedy? If not, I suggest some hard fact-finding is in order. For example, just exactly how many flippers purchased ten homes, and lied on the applications that they were owner-occupant of all ten? And how much of the foreclosed real estate is bank-owned or builder-owned vacant housing which has never been owner-occupied? I guess nobody would need to say by to classmates or move to the other side of town in those cases.
–
Can’t schools be replaced with Internet classrooms? All we would need are play-areas where kids can go and play with and fight each other.
Jas
The Market Oracle… Inflation.
http://www.marketoracle.co.uk/Article4721.html
I would like to offer an observation with regard to medical costs.
I recently had a visit with an overnight stay at Kaiser Permeate in CA. I was amazed at all the electronics in the SDA (same day admissions). I was amazed at individual color TV monitors and especially the electronic gimzo’s called beds on wheels. I swear, these things must cost at least $10,000 each, if they cost a dollar.
The point I am trying to make, is that the out of control health costs are, in my humble opinion, contributed in part to all the labor saving devices. I suspect that this equipment was sold to the hospital’s in order to reduce labor costs. With the general decline in wages/incomes in the future, I suspect as this equipment breaks down, it will be gotten rid of.
I would prefer a qualified medical staff with minimal critical equipment over a medical facility with a lot of labor saving fancy gizmos of little value.
Heck, instead of TVs, pass out books and play calming music.
Just my humble opinion.
In only a few years, something like the Sony QRIO will be coming in to take your temperature and BP. And not that many years after that, autonomous surgery droids straight out of Star Wars will be working in the operating room.
Bill, I suspect that the new revised health system will consist of pain killers.
lol
Several years back when I first moved to LA, I asked a friend in the film business if he knew of a good dentist. He sent me to his (paid by his company’s insurance). This guy took mirco-digital photos of my teeth and then proceed to lead me to his kitted-out “media room” where he detailed all the so-called problems with my teeth. He wanted to do a few crowns, replace any amalgam remaining in my mouth, and on and on.
I ended up just getting a cleaning that day. Even during that procedure, I was fitted with a headset/eyeset DVD player so I could watch a movie. Then came the bill, as well as an estimate for future work. How do you think this a** of a dentist pays for all of his toys?
Being a self-insured cash patient, I did not return. My current dentist is fantastic - and her office has no silly techo-gimmicks, and the bill reflects that fact.
–
The idea is that in the future a patient will enter a cubbyhole, taken care by various machines, and would be discharged at the other end.
Human being would only be needed to fight over who pays.
Jas
“And while the district wants all new textbooks to be ordered by and shipped directly to schools by fall, some committee members worry that schools with limited parking and no loading docks will be unable to receive their orders”.
“No loading docks” please Just go to Home Depot Get a couple of day laborers At $10 per hour and a case of cervasa. Unloaded no problem.
Heh. One wonders how they manage to serve meals everyday if that can’t get large orders in by truck.
“Get a couple of day laborers At $10 per hour and a case of cervasa. Unloaded no problem.”
Uh, over here in California the laborers like $20 per hour.
Inflation seems tame, but consumers paying more
Statistics reflect how agency collects data
By Martin Crutsinger
ASSOCIATED PRESS
WASHINGTON – If only beleaguered motorists and shoppers could make their gas pains and food sticker shock go away with the ease that the government can.
DEAN CALBREATH
Senate, Bush need to act on bill to help homeowners
May 18, 2008
After more than two years of declining home prices and rising foreclosures, Congress has finally come up with a proposal that could keep hundreds of thousands of borrowers from losing their homes.
True, the bill is currently stymied in the Senate and faces a veto threat from President Bush.
But it could be the closest thing we’ll see to a significant remedy coming out of Capitol Hill. Judging from the wave of foreclosures that is about to hit us, we’ll need it.
Here’s the situation. Nationwide, more than 1.2 million homes are in foreclosure – and we’re not even halfway through the foreclosure wave. By the time the smoke clears in 2010, as many as 3 million more homes will be foreclosed upon nationwide, some analysts predict.
Last month alone, there were 5,297 defaults and foreclosures in San Diego County, twice as many as the year before, according to RealtyTrac, a firm in Irvine that tracks the real estate market.
“By the time the smoke clears in 2010, as many as 3 million more homes will be foreclosed upon nationwide, some analysts predict.”
I caution anyone thinking about buying that an additional 3 million homes going into foreclosure could have a serious negative impact on price appreciation over the next several years.
Personally, I think it will be 10 million.
If (when) prices return to “pre-bubble levels + income growth adjustment” 20 million people will be upside down. I expect close to half to default either because they can’t afford their house or choose not to.
Nobody seems to realize that there are TOO MANY HOUSES! I just came back from Orlando yesterday where I saw with my own eyes (and heard of more from people) SFH developments where 50% of the homes were empty after already having a few owners, and condo complexes that are half empty.
There’s many more empty homes than people living on the street.
There are houses here (and in Sacramento, Stockton, Vegas, Boise, etc) that will never sell at ANY PRICE. They are worth ZERO. Nobody seems to realize that yet.
I believe the recently reported figure was 18.6 m vacant homes in the U.S. at the moment? Why is is so hard for the Fed and the Congress to understand that efforts to artificially prop up home prices will only add to this wasteful glut? Is this an Economics 001 type example, or am I missing something?
I had a chat with a fellow renter in my hood yesterday morning who happens to be a real estate appraiser. He was lamenting the fact that bank REO pricing is severely undercutting used home resale market prices in our area. He also expounded (with no prompting from moi) on the oddity of myriad people with good income and credit facing the unusual situation where a ginormous drop in the values of their homes makes walking away from their mortgages a rational economic option.
PB - if he was also a renter, I wonder why he was lamenting that which most of us are plenty happy to see. REO pricing is way closer to true market pricing than most “regular” listings. Around here, it is the tax assessor who is nervous (but obstinate).
isn’t it obvious from his line of work?
“isn’t it obvious from his line of work?”
No, not to me, at least. If he’s an appraiser, he shouldn’t be unhappy that REO pricing is undercutting used-house wishing prices. His job is to tell it like it is, not as he apparently hoped it would be. I think an appraiser should be like Dr. Spock.
Well a boatload of them better come to my area because prices are not budging!
“True, the bill is currently stymied in the Senate and faces a veto threat from President Bush”.
And the damn bill needs to stay ’stymied’ forever, I hope. Of course the D.C. screw ups won’t stop until they completely f-up the entire system.
5000… Amatures.
We did 6000 Notice of Trustee sales (our version of NoD) and 3000 actual foreclosures. Even if we population adjust San Diego’s 2.8 million to Maricopa’s 3.9 million we are still well in the lead 7000 to 9000.
We probably had at least 1000 walk aways where the person just signs the house over to the bank before they have to go through the court expense of the actual foreclosure.
‘“What we’re talking about here is a $300 billion bailout for those who were scamming the market,” said House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio. “Democrats are forcing responsible homeowners and taxpayers to pick up a $300 billion tab to bail out scam artists, speculators and reckless borrowers.”
Boehner and the vast majority of House Republicans voted against the bill, including our own Reps. Duncan Hunter, Brian Bilbray and Darrell Issa. Democratic Reps. Susan Davis and Bob Filner voted for the proposal.’
Bravo for Republican leaders who are willing to take a stand in favor of principle. I am personally all for measures to prevent foreclosures from sinking the economy, provided they do not involve further injection of taxpayer monies into a real estate sector whose poor performance is already reflective of massive taxpayer-funded subsidies.
Best-possible risk-based loan system I can think of: Require down payments of larger than 3 pct in falling-price markets.
NATION’S HOUSING
KENNETH HARNEY
Risk-based loan system in the works
May 18, 2008
DALLAS – Who have better credit scores on average – home buyers with higher or lower incomes?
Inside the country’s fastest-growing home mortgage program, the surprising answer is: People with lower incomes have slightly higher FICO scores. That finding, which emerged from a statistical analysis of all approved mortgages insured by the Federal Housing Administration (FHA) during fiscal 2007, is now buttressing a forthcoming major policy switch that could affect thousands of buyers and refinancers.
FHA, which for decades has used a one-size-fits-all approach to pricing its insurance on home loans, plans to shift to a “risk-based” system keyed to FICO scores and down payments, beginning as early as mid-July. Private sector lenders and insurers have priced interest rates and premiums using sliding scales of FICO scores and down-payment amounts since the mid-1990s.
FHA’s move, which will cover all new applications including “jumbo” loans up to $729,750 in high-cost markets through December, will bring the agency in line with the private sector’s predominant approach.
How can anyone claim with a straight face that in today’s declining market a 3% down payment counts for much of anything? Houses in my area are dropping by that much in little more than a month! We need minimum 10% real-money cash down payments if we’re ever going to get pricing back to reality.
WOW!…It finally happened HERE…and it’s IN a newspaper !
and the WEATHER …DID it
Housing prices in state take a tumble
Experts blame economy, bad weather for sales falling 24% across Wisconsin
http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=750510
$1M mortgage mess: No English? No income? No problem!
How a single mother in public housing got a million in mortgages
http://bostonherald.com/news/regional/general/view.bg?articleid=1094770
Single mothers are our Nations Hereos! These strong brave women raising kids all by themselves! What would we do without our Single Moms!?
Amazing. These “straw buyers” are the white collar crime equivalent of drug mules. But the “I no habla” business doesn’t ring true. She had a business, so she knew at least something. I hope she gets the ultimate in public housing, the Big House.
The San Diego Union Tribune is still running Used Home Sales People ads representing “buy now or get priced out forever” scare tactics, despite home prices that were recently reported falling at a 20 pct annualized rate (or over $100,000 annual rate of loss on a median-priced San Diego home) and a report of a record number of foreclosures last month (5300 in one month, which occurred at a 63,600 annual rate).
Waiting to buy is a risky business
By Steve Rodgers
President and CEO, Prudential California Realty
In the world of real estate, positive trends can often be lost in the ripples of rough waters. While many market watchers are still talking about the housing crisis and real estate downturns, market stabilization has been quietly occurring all over the country. Just remember, all real estate is local. As home prices are steadying and rising in some areas, waiting to buy becomes a more costly option every day.
April was a pivotal month in several key markets for home prices. According to the Real Time Housing Market Report, asking prices fell just half a percent, with drops occurring in only seven of 25 markets. Compare this to March when listing prices dropped 2.7 percent, and the trend is clear. “This report is bearing out the positive news that we have been expecting,” said Steven Campbell, a Prudential California Realty agent in the Rancho Bernardo office. “The market appears to be trending toward stabilization.
OMG these people are stupid.
RE agents still chanting…”Buy now or be priced out forever”
HBB chants…”I’m against Slavery of any Kind, especially MY OWN !”
–
Moral bankruptcy precedes stupidity.
Jas
Steven Campbell In Gaelic Campbell means crooked mouth.
they are not stupid. nor they are delusional. they are simply lying.
In Fl we are really in a mess. I use a certain nail salon to gauge the economy as well as retail businesses where I have contacts.(The salon is next door to the bistro where I dull the pain of the market) 1 nail tech outside on the cell is normal. Lately I have been seeing two and three.
I know several gals in what I would call lower paying positions. So far the toes are still trimmed and painted with that French thingy that looks like the cuticle is at the end of the nail. I am betting they will give up lunch before dropping the nail salon.
“I know several gals in what I would call lower paying positions.”
Go on…
LOL
BWAHH
Well folks, looks like we maybe have our Texas house sold after 2 weeks on the market. If it goes through it was painless. Signed a contract for $2000 under our listing price plus we kick in $5000 at closing. Which is about what I though it was worth. Various other houses in our neighborhood have been sitting for months and months. We said screw it and undercut them by about $25 grand.
We are in an exurban subdivision about 15 miles NW of Waco. Very pleasant place on a bluff overlooking the Brazos River. But just too far. We’re both 20 miles from our jobs and our fuel bill has been running over $400/mo recently. Both our cars get 25+ mpg. Then with 3 girls we’re always running back into town for soccer, music lessons etc and I’m sick of spending 2 hours/day in the car going back and forth. My fear is that if gas prices double again which I think is conceivable, these far-flung exurban subdivisions will become ghost towns…or more likely, get filled with retiree types who don’t need to ever drive anywyere.
Here in the Waco area housing still seems pretty stable. The place never bubbled. We sold for $20,000 more than we paid for the place new in 2003. When you figure how much money you pour into a new house on a large lot with all the landscaping and details we certainly didn’t come out ahead. I know I spent more than $20,000 at Home Depot over the past 5 years. But the grim times in the bubble cities havn’t reached here…yet.
The wife still has the idea of buying something in a good neighborhood closer in. But we haven’t seen anything that screams “buy me” and I think I have her convinced to lease for the next year to see what happens. Amazingly there are almost NO houses for lease in any nice neighborhood in the Waco area. NONE that are not absolutely trashed and unnatractive at any price. This shocked me. I was expecting to find lots of rental options all over the area as it seems to have gotten somewhat overbuilt in the past few years and there is a lot of stuff for sale.
In the end, what I ended up doing is talking to some real estate agents to see if I could find a seller who’s house has been on the market too long and who is ready to lease for a year instead. That turned up just one house that is currently listed for $430 grand in which the owner is willing to lease for a year. Huge house in a master planned community with community pool and lake next door. They even bargained on the rent so I guess they are desperate.
Question for the gurus. How does one research a homeowner to make sure they are not at the brink of foreclosure? I don’t want to lease a place and then get tossed out when the bank takes the house. Is there any way to do this online?
I’m no guru, but i wouldn’t bank on even the most thorough search. Even a financially secure owner might just decide to walk away.
If i ever do what you’re doing, i’ll pay to have an attorney include provisions in the lease that provide me protection or compensation if the owner defaults due to foreclosure. State laws vary, so a local RE atty that knows his stuff might be worth spending a couple hundred bucks on.
I have a friend who sold an (albeit very nice) property in Belton, Texas for almost 700K. Tell me the world isn’t still crawling with FBs.
Just got the postcard in the mail from a real estate agent announcing that the house at the end of our street was sold. It was listed at 1.4 million over a year ago and the last I had checked it was down to $899 grand or something like that. I’m curious as to what the sale price was. Here’s the house still up on one of the listing sites with photos:
http://www.livingchoices.com/detail.aspx?lid=101-537236770&refer=treb-gbase&sid=119FB961E3BB
http://www.visualtour.com/shownp.asp?t=1229026&prt=63
Gawd that’s awful. Faux chateaux. But they love that stuff in More Money than Taste, Texas.
I do LIKE that pool with a view
Kent - I’m confused. I thought Texas property taxes were noticeably higher than here in Florida. Is that (choke) “cheap” $12K in tax due to homesteading over many years?
It’s not just Texas, the days of j6p and family just jumping in the car or truck for a 200-300 mile mindless road trip are over..at least for a while:)
Kent:
No big deposits for one thing, Second your lease is still good until you lose in court
You have to be served by a process server, sheriff, and usually answer in 5 days to get a court date. and you as an American still have a right to ask a judge for time to move. Or not not pay rent in lieu of the past paid deposit
Make sure all the utilities are in your name then they cannot surprise you one day and its been cut off.
If you know the landlord is in foreclosure set up an escrow account with the court and let a judge decide who gets the money. Remember as a renter YOU do not have any right to make any decisions to withhold rent etc. But you don’t have to pay the landlord either.
Try to imagine how many billions of dollars Western banks could have lost if the system had done as badly as all the unfairly-negative media articles insinuate. Now that The Economist has come on board as apologist for the modern banking system, I am thinking about ending my subscription. I can read these articles online, anyway…
Banks
Barbarians at the vault
May 15th 2008
From The Economist print edition
Modern finance is under attack. Yet the banking system has done much better than it is given credit for
BANKS have endured a brutal nine months since credit markets froze in August. Losses and write-downs already total $335 billion; many of their best businesses have disappeared. In developed economies, almost all banks are facing economic and regulatory headwinds that will cut revenues and jobs. Yet the biggest danger facing Western finance is not a fall in its earning power but a loss of faith in how it works.
Two criticisms assail the industry, one based on fairness and the other on efficiency. The first argues that finance is rigged to enrich bankers, rather than their customers, shareholders or the economy at large. Some worry about the way bonuses are calculated; others about moral hazard. Bankers will take wild bets because they know they will be bailed out by the taxpayer. Look at Bear Stearns or Northern Rock.
The second, deeper question is whether a market-based approach to finance is efficient. Some Chinese officials claim the Western system has been shown up by the crisis (see article). This week Germany’s president demanded that the “monster” of financial markets “be put back in its place”: bankers had caused a “massive destruction of assets”. The critics do not lack ammunition. The lapses in credit-underwriting in the subprime-mortgage market hardly reflect a wise allocation of capital. The opacity of the shadow banking system and the mind-boggling complexity of those toxic asset-backed products have raised doubts about the discipline of the market.
Didn’t BB throw out a total loss estimate of $200 bn last summer? The estimate is looking a tad low at this point, given the loss tally is already $335 bn and still growing.
Any loss estimate under $1T is suspect, IMO.
I expect the loss to be a lot larger than that largely because of the sheer number of derivatives that need to be unwound.
I don’t have any clear sense of the magnitude, but I generally concur that the $335 bn is the tip of the iceberg, as it does not address the shadowy world of derivative losses.
It’s impossible to tell for sure. Too many counterparties, and notionals don’t mean anything anyway.
But it’s abundantly clear that the numbers are staggering, and the unwind (= deleveraging = deflation) comes at a steep price.
I’d still go with something like a $2-6T number, each end being highly unlikely, and the likely number somewhere in the middle. Not terribly precise but better than any number I’ve seen publicly.
I don’t claim to know enough about the size of the derivatives iceberg to even begin to guess the ultimate future magnitude of deleveraging losses. All I know for certain is that in light of ongoing current efforts by top officials to paint lipstick on a dead pig, the magnitude of future losses will prove “worse than expected.”
Nobody does, but you ignore what you can’t measure at your own peril.
That having been said, there were any number of contracts whose only existence was the ability to access cheap credit.
FED or no FED, ECB or no ECB, those babies are going away.
The deleveraging has begun, and it’s impossible to stop a tsunami of this sort.
There seem to be at least two schools of thought on this issue of what is difficult or impossible to measure.
One is what I call the “ostrich school”: If something is out of sight or lacking in hard evidence, it must not exist and hence should be ignored. Burying one’s head in the sand is a good tactic to make sure that one does not notice any discomforting evidence.
The second is what I shall term the “rational expectations school”: If the water has receded far out of sight from the swimmers playing on the beach, there is probably a tsunami headed their way, whether or not it is currently visible.
I probably don’t have to elaborate on to which of these two schools I personally subscribe.
“BANKS have endured a brutal nine months since credit markets froze in August.”
Gee, just who “froze” the credit markets again? Wasn’t it banks who decided they couldn’t loan to the proto-deadbeats and each other anymore? Few investors willing to buy their packages, surely. Not a problem really, they can just hold and service their high quality debt themselves.
If i ever do what you’re doing, i’ll pay to have an attorney include provisions in the lease that provide me protection or compensation if the owner defaults due to foreclosure. State
Nice idea in theory. But how in God’s name do you think anyone could collect? If he has no money to pay the mortgage and the bank is taking the house what secret stash of money is he going to use to pay you your damages? And how hard are you going to have to work to get them?
I’m not so worried about damages. I just don’t want to have to move twice in 1 year.
Maybe you could ask for a credit report on the owner. That would be one way to know if he has any mortgage lates.
Sounds like a good idea. Wonder how they would respond to that. I was hoping to do something covert but might just as well ask.
Ultimately if you don’t buy you have to rent. At some point you just have to stop obsessing and live your life. We almost didn’t even put the house on the market but I had the nagging feeling that the window of opportunity to unload this far-flung exurban property was closing. Look how fast the resale market on full size SUVs collapsed.
If you have a friend who’s a banker or mortgage broker, you may be able to get ahold of the report covertly. Just takes a little sleuthing on various databases.
I want to know what town this is in though. Your descriptions of the bluff above the Brazos river intrigue me. We are the types who don’t have to drive that much (both telecommute).
It’s China Spring which is an unincorporated suburb NW of Waco. The area is a mix of exurban subdivisions and rural farms. The farms range from trailer trash to fancy horse farms.
Here’s the listing for the house we just put under contract. You can click the map link and then zoom out to see where it is.
http://www.coldwellbanker.com/servlet/PropertyListing?action=detail&ComColdwellbankerDataProperty_id=13629030&page=propertyMap
Damn, I would have bought that. Why didn’t you tell me you were selling it
Kent - what were the property taxes on that? Also, is the contract contingent on buyer financing?
Sorry guys, been out most of the day.
Taxes are $3,754 on an assessed value of $204,800
Since it’s outside the city the only taxes are China Spring ISD, McLennan Co. Community College, County general, and Farm to Market Roads.
The contract is contingent on buyer financing. Standard stuff. They’re closing on the house they are selling on May 30. We close on June 13. So if their sale falls through we’ll know 2 weeks before closing. Young couple with kids. This is the perfect neighborhood for that. Lots of kids here. We can stay there forever, no problem, its just the commute that’s getting old.
This area is quite similar to the Hill Country further south. Rolling hills, lots of oaks. Search zip code 76633 to see what’s available in the China Spring area. Basically count on 20 minute drives to anyplace you need to go. Most every place in Waco is about 20 minutes away going around the lake one way or the other to get to Wal-Marts, big HEBs, Target, etc. etc.
Driving north to Fort Worth is also nice because you can take back roads through Lake Whitney, Cleburne, and never touch I-35. I can drive about 75 miles to Costco in Fort Worth in 1.5 hours without touching the freeway. When I was a stay home dad working out of a home office I’d do that every week or so. Cutting over to I-35 adds about 15 extra miles but costs the same time. Going to the east side of the Metroplex is rougher because you gotta go up I-35E
New twist on the same old mortgage scam, fraudulently inflating income. This time you screw your own employees.
http://www.oregonlive.com/business/oregonian/index.ssf?/base/business/1210987521306830.xml&coll=7
‘At some point you just have to stop obsessing and live your life.’
Well said. It has been a wild five months in ‘08. Almost gutted my soul. Looking forword to more chaos to go with my rice cakes and corn chips. I wish i could protect all the small dogs from losing their American Dream.
Has anyone got any current information on the impact on their local banks liability from bad loan that they are holding or that got kicked back from lenders ?
Prof. Bear,
what are you going to do today to save San Diego from the upcoming implosion?
Nothing. But I am planning to look at some open houses soon when my sister visits me. (I avoid doing this sort of thing with my wife, for fear that she will develop an acute case of purchasitis.)
Just ship the wife to a spa at a suitably “future” weekend.
Then tell her that you should spend the next few weekends together because she “will be going away”, and do something fun.
Then, when she is back, just claim you “missed her”, and you don’t want to waste your time on looking at houses, and you’d rather “spend time with her”, etc.
Learn a few tricks, my good man, from people like Paulson. Never commit, and delay as far as possible any possible details.
Hey! I’ve lived my entire life that way!
I have a very simple strategy, which is whenever my wife suggests we should buy a home, I suggest that she pencil out an estimate of what we can afford. So far, no estimate…
Yeah, that works but you need to incorporate into one of those “happy peppy” feedback loops.
Look at something; note down the price. Then a while later, look at it again, note down how much it has gone down by.
“Honey, we saved $50K by waiting. Let’s have a nice romantic dinner.”
Then go blow $100 or whatever, and drily note that it’s precisely because we saved the $50K that this works, etc.
Best return on that $100 EVER.
Oooo,
I love those tricks. Makes everyone happy.
If only I could go back in time, and teach my younger self all these tricks.
Sigh.
I hear you there FPSS.
personally, i lock the hubby in the closet - then let him out for sunshine once or twice a week.
dang, it’s difficult typing with one hand -grrr…
Leigh
Leigh,
Good to hear from you. Are you enjoying the last year of Battlestar Galactica? I will be sorry to see BS come to an end.
“…then let him out for sunshine once or twice a week.”
I am lucky if I get ’sunshine’ once a week, now that we are done with having kids…
“Honey, we saved $50K by waiting. Let’s have a nice romantic dinner.”
Actually the figure is more much bigger at this point. A typical SD middle-income household could have saved $120,000 or so by not having bought between 2005 and now.
I gave you enough credit to be able to plug in the right number in the obvious place.
You want to me retract even that?
I know some people on the HBB do foreign currency investment, many via Everbank. I’ve been doing Everbank for a while now - however I have to say their website is absolutely *horrendous* - it’s very difficult to track things, and it seems very buggy - e.g. I can’t login with IE on my home computer; I can only login on my work computer. To be honest it makes me not trust Everbank; it seems like a very shoddy outfit.
Does anyone know of other good methods to invest in foreign currencies, short of having to travel somewhere to open an account?
Thanks.
WisdomTree and Dreyfus Launch Currency Income ETFs Today
Chinese Yuan, Indian Rupee, Brazilian Real and Euro ETFs list on NYSE Arca
http://www.centredaily.com/business/story/592423.html
Hoz, the explorer fund was closed, but I picked up six other ones to go!
Will revisit june 15, right after estimateds. Looking forward to worry free. curtsy!
Which fund is that? The emerging market fund? VEIEX
My screen is showing all the Vanguards are still open to the public.
Guess I will have to update, if closed. There are other emerging market funds, that is critical to a sustained performance. all emerging market funds have averaged over 20% per year over the last 3 years and do better when the major markets go to crap. Vanguard is the least expensive to be invested.
So post the symbol and Name of the fund that is closed so I can find an alternate!
Hoz, I think it was the vipsx.
I ordered:
Pacific Stock Index Inv
Extended Mkt Index Inv
Small-Cap Growth Index
Emerging Mkts Stk Idx Inv
500 Index Fund Inv
Small-Cap Value Index
the quest for “what is money continues”, lucre for the glory!
You could try Currency ETFs / ETNs. Search on Google.
FYI: Market Vectors has double long/double short ETNs on Euro.
Watch it though, the dollar is actually on a buy signal. Not because of dollar strength but weakness in the others.
You should be able to buy the FXF (Swiss franc) ETF through any discount broker. Or GLD, of course, although some people think that isn’t a currency.
Brazil from Bloomberg
“Brazil in coming years will enjoy growth in financial instruments much higher than any other country that I’m able to be in,” said Setubal, a member of the International Advisory Committee of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York. “The biggest opportunities for Itau are in Brazil.”…
“This is a big change in Brazil,” he said. “Politicians used to believe spending was very popular and nowadays they learned that stable prices is much more popular.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=abIV57HMwpRQ
There is one troubling thing about Brazil. President Lulu’s term is coming to an end and like the US, the Brazilian constitution does not allow for another term. Mr. Lulu has said he will not serve any longer, do not change the constitution. The opposition party is trying to get Mr. Lulu to stay on!
President Lulu has the respect that the US reserves for dead presidents. It is amazing how fast a country can recover with fiscal responsibility. Brazil went from the crapper to a world economic power in 9 years.
The Real is up 19% in the last 12 months against the dollar. The 6 month zero coupon treasuries yield 12%.
Ever buy a REO in Rio?
junebugs to a porch light.
I here cowbell…
They recovered because they have massive natural resources which have soared in value. Fiscal responsibility sure helps, but it ain’t the only explanation.
Well, we all need to get out once in awhile and enjoy life and forget about everything. Here’s what I did yesterday (this is 20 miles from my house) - I’m not in the video, but 2 of my dogs are
Enjoy!!
http://tinyurl.com/5hmhfs
Great video Lost. Love the drawings on the rocks. Also love the music Ghost Riders in the Sky. Heard this sung by Marty Robbins a number of times.
BTW which dogs are yours?
Thanks! The white one in the water (Spanky, from Moab) and the blue heeler in the silver FJ with the driver in the white hat ( a friend), Blueeze (from Ridgway, Colorado).
They’re good bad dogs…and they eat Koreans for lunch when they get a chance!
If you like the music, go to:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXCnCQTlppw
a classic that will leave you rolling on the floor. Hank Marvin was one of the most influential guitar players of our time.
I rafted that river in the 70’s.
I hope you didn’t go through the Black Box!
devil’s falls or something scary like that.
Fair Game
What a Deal: Trash for Treasuries
By GRETCHEN MORGENSON
Published: May 18, 2008
SAVING the nation’s financial system from reckless banks and brokerage firms is an enormous job, heaven knows. But somebody’s got to do it, so the Federal Reserve Board, with its taxpayer-funded balance sheet, stepped in.
To grease the gears of the nation’s seized-up credit markets, the New York Fed in recent months created three new lending entities. Together, they allow banks and financial firms to swap up to $350 billion of securities they cannot sell for cash or United States Treasuries.
Did they really mean “for U.S. Treasuries”?
Lost,
great video, the Foreclosure Dogs are looking pretty pleased with themselves. Are you sure you don’t want to turn your landlady’s house into a B and B…you’d get plenty of takers.
Hey Spike, they like squatting (LOL).
A B&B is a great idea, we’ll call it the Spotted Dog Ranch. Maybe we should also do a summer camp for dogs, we could do rock hounding, leathercraft (chewies), ad ground squirrel head counts (only sniffing, no biting). Sounds like fun!
Lost; I put that video in my favorites. That’s the music we listened to when we were like six!!!
Aren’t the Shadows a blast back in time (even though before my time). Thanks, Ouro! And thanks, Ben, for the OT bandwidth!
Britain’s foreclosures hit a 15-year high
Associated Press
May 18, 2008
LONDON—Home repossessions in England and Wales rose to their highest first-quarter levels in 15 years, the government says. It was the highest repossession rate since 1993, and 9 percent from the previous quarter.
Howard Archer, chief European economist at Global Insight, said the report underlined the limited effect for consumers of a series of interest rate cuts this year. The Bank of England has lowered the rate to 5 percent from 5.75 percent.