A Monopoly Game-Like Reliance In Florida
The Miami Herald reports from Florida. “The top job-loss state in the nation. Shrinking wages. Collapsing population growth. Record home foreclosures. Florida’s economy is not just firmly and bleakly in the red, it will likely stay that way until next June, according to the state government’s top economists. At the heart of the problem is the falling housing market, upon which Florida’s economy has a Monopoly game-like reliance. The economists projected new housing construction will fall to about 60,000 units this year, a decrease of 78 percent from a high of nearly 283,000 in 2005.”
“Florida lost more jobs in the past 12 months — 74,700 — than any other state in the nation. And the economists predict that more people in construction, government, manufacturing, financial services, transportation and warehousing will be out of work soon.”
“‘We were No. 1 in jobs created in the entire country,’ said Clyde Diao, one of Gov. Charlie Crist’s economists, referring to the booming economy in 2005. ‘Now, if you count the District of Columbia, we’re 51. What is important is jobs. If you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a house.’”
“In unusually plainspoken terms, the experts struggled with the data to figure out just when the state can wrest itself from a vicious cycle in which the lagging housing market triggers job losses that, in turn, worsen market conditions. They cut the their population-growth estimate for the state by nearly 100,000 from 300,000 over the next three years.”
“And the state has a surplus of housing units, especially in Miami-Dade, and Florida was No. 2 in foreclosures in the nation last month behind California. The combination — fewer home buyers and more foreclosures — will only increase the surplus housing stock and decrease the need for so-called ’starts’ in new construction, said Alan Johansen, the Senate’s chief economist.”
“‘What’s going to support the starts when there’s nobody here to buy them?’ he asked.”
“As foreclosures continue to mount, borrowers who have run out of options are turning to attorneys to fight back, and they’re living mortgage-free for months in the process. Although the chances of ultimately keeping a foreclosed home are slim, for $1,500 to $3,000 some lawyers are offering to defend borrowers in court, causing the wheels of justice to turn more slowly.”
“One way is forcing the lender to prove it owns the debt behind the mortgage by producing a promissory note. As mortgages were bought, bundled and sold off to investors, notes got lost in the shuffle, landing in vaults or warehouses around the country. Physically retrieving them can be difficult and sometimes impossible.”
“When lenders can’t prove they own the loan, lawyers can get cases dismissed, said Peter Ticktin of the Ticktin Law Group in Deerfield Beach, whose firm has advertised foreclosure defense services on television. He began taking foreclosure clients about eight months ago. So far, none of his cases have gone to trial. His clients are still in their homes.”
“‘People think I am dealing with a bunch of con artists,’ Ticktin said. ‘I’m talking about families, innocent kids, people who got led into deals that are causing them trouble.’”
“Angela Bellsanctious, of Lauderhill, admits she is careless about opening her mail and said her mortgage was bought by a new servicer without her knowledge. Because her payments were automatically withdrawn from her bank account, she didn’t know her loan wasn’t being paid until it was too late. On June 12, the home she had lived in since 1990 was sold. Last week she got notice from the Broward sheriff that she had 48 hours to move.”
“‘I was freaking out. I was praying and praying, and this lawyer came on the TV and said something about foreclosures,’ Bellsanctious said.”
“It was Ticktin, who for $360 got a judge to waive the writ of possession while he tries to sort out the problem with the lender. ‘I have no idea where I would have gone,’ Bellsanctious said.”
“Yet, for every legitimate miscommunication and misconduct by a mortgage lender, dozens of bogus defenses are filed, clogging up the courts, some lawyers said. Iris Hernandez, a lawyer who files foreclosures on behalf of lenders, said some local attorneys were known for filing boilerplate defenses without supporting their positions, acting for borrowers seeking to take advantage of the system.”
“‘Some people feel that ‘If I don’t pay for a year, I’m getting my down payment back,’ Hernandez said.”
“Marc Ben-Ezra, who also files foreclosures statewide for lenders, said the borrower who seeks to delay the inevitable can face consequences. Interest rates and other costs continue to pile up as the process drags on. Plus, homeowner and condo fees aren’t being paid, which places hardships on people who are paying their debts.”
“‘With every single day that goes by, they could be helping their clients get into bigger and bigger debt, rather than if they face the problems head on and resolve them as quickly as possible,’ Ben-Ezra said.”
From TC Palm. “A multi-million dollar auction at Tesoro in St. Lucie West proved homes across Florida won’t sell until homeowners face reality: They won’t get top dollar for their homes. The reserve auction, which allows sellers to accept or decline the highest bid, was a bust. Not one property sold to any of the 150 people in attendance on June 28.”
“The first and highest bid that was declined came in at $1.2 million for a four-bedroom, five-bath, furnished home that lists for $3.75 million. After the first bid of $450,000 on the second house was declined, the remaining properties were removed from the auction block.”
“‘Until sellers readjust their asking price, there will continue to be an overhang of properties in Florida,’ said Jose Boza, spokesman for J.P. King Auction Co., which hosted the auction and promoted it in a national campaign.”
“Reserve auctions aren’t working in today’s market and they’re wasting the sellers’ money, said Daniel Decaro, president and broker of Daniel Decaro Real Estate Auctions Inc., which handles a large percentage of Florida’s auctions. His firm auctioned Vero Beach luxury homes in April. ‘Sellers are in denial when it comes to the market,’ he said.”
From Local 6. “The Orlando housing market is beginning to stabilize, but it’s not improving quickly enough for people who have a house that has to sell now. The Local 6 report featured a three-bedroom, two-bath home in Orlando’s Almond Tree subdivision.”
“When the Howe family put its home on the market, it listed it at $425,000. The family’s Realtor, Art Kent, told them the price needed to come down — even though homes in the same neighborhood were selling for mid-$400,000 and even low $500,000 prices a few years ago.”
“‘What their home was worth when they bought it doesn’t matter and what their home was worth two years ago doesn’t matter,’ Kent said.”
“And price alone is not the only consideration. ‘It’s a price war, and it’s a beauty contest,’ Kent said.”
The Herald Tribune. “The region’s economic downturn is not paying attention to social status and is starting to take down commercial and residential developers alike. The latest casualty is Mark Ogles, a Manatee County commercial real estate developer who led Southwest Florida’s legislative delegation in Florida’s House of Representatives in the 1990s.”
“Since March, Ogles has defaulted on five loans totaling $2.24 million. Ogles says he is not ashamed of his debts. A recent divorce from his wife of 20 years that stripped him of more than half his net worth and the worsening global credit crunch made it impossible for him to come up with the capital necessary to stay afloat.”
“‘I was in, like, 10 projects,’ Ogles said. ‘I couldn’t get construction loans, and a year ago, I started going under.’”
“Former Florida Senate President John McKay defaulted on a $4.135 million loan in April after being unable to bring a 288-unit Lakewood Ranch apartment complex out of the ground. Even U.S. Rep. Vern Buchanan, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, has had to sell real estate at a loss. In November 2006, Buchanan sold a condominium at the Residences at the Ritz-Carlton in Sarasota for $300,000 less than he paid nearly two years earlier. Buchanan has since listed a waterfront house near Sarasota’s Stickney Point Bridge for $600,000 less than he paid for it in 2004.”
“‘It’s been hard for a whole bunch of us,’ Ogles said. ‘The bottom line is that nothing is turning, and whole lot more foreclosures are coming.’”
“The worst blow Ogles took was the foreclosure on his house on 137th Street East in Bradenton in July. Ogles had borrowed $327,600 against the house to support his business ventures and help pay money owed from his divorce. ‘What really killed us is that banks are unwilling to do any land or development loans right now,’ Ogles said. ‘All I can do is let go of stuff, and try to turn negative into positive.’”
The St Petersburg Times. “Desperate to salvage the $300-million Trump Tower Tampa with last-ditch financing, SimDag, the Tampa developer of the proposed deluxe skyscraper, sought a nine-figure loan from Providence Funding Inc. Providence bills itself as a faith-based lender. Its chairman identifies himself as ‘the Very Reverend Father Barney.’”
“With creditors baying for satisfaction last spring, SimDag principals Frank Dagostino and Jody Simon took the plunge. They paid Providence $150,000 as a ‘loan commitment fee’ to secure $200-million in financing for the 52-story condo tower. But Father Barney, the reassuring figure in the black clerical garb and white collar, is actually an ex-convict named Barney Canada.”
“The Providence Funding revelation comes as SimDag’s creditors gather today in a Tampa courtroom to press for repayment of nearly $40-million. It highlights the dubious sources and extreme lengths to which SimDag, rebuffed by conventional lenders, went in search of a substantial loan for a project largely given up for dead.”
“Donald Trump, who licensed his name to the tower in exchange for half the profits, sued SimDag for breach of contract more than a year ago, taking the wind out of the project. ‘If this information about SimDag is true, this is a very sad turn of events,’ Trump spokeswoman Rhona Graff said on Thursday.”
“Turning the tables, Father Barney’s Indiana attorney, Thomas Lewis accused SimDag of bad faith. He said the Tampa developers withheld information about liens on the Trump Tower lot during the loan application. Said Lewis: ‘These guys weren’t exactly saints on the other end of the deal.’”
The Tampa Tribune. “For two years, Edwin Letras searched for a home he could afford. Discouraged, he thought his three young children were destined to grow up in a two-bedroom apartment. But the now-sluggish real estate market has brought better luck for the family.”
“This weekend they’re moving in to a new, three-bedroom, 1,271-square-foot house in the Highland Ridge subdivision in Hudson. They paid $138,400. Husband and wife both work at the nearby, and several of their co-workers are buying homes in the subdivision, too.”
“‘This is great,’ Letras said while doing yard work last week. ‘Real estate is finally low enough. And we’ll already know some of our neighbors.’”
“Builders are rearranging floor plans, shrinking rooms, even changing the type of grass in the front yard to cut down on construction costs and offer more affordable prices. In some cases they’re figuring out how to pack in four bedrooms, a feature in high demand for targeted buyers: young families.”
“Smaller homes also can be profitable, especially at a time when builders have suffered from the housing bust: The price per square foot is about the same, said Kevin Robles, VP for the Tampa Division of Atlanta-based McCar Homes.”
“The larger homes in Highland Ridge were 1,800 to 2,200 square feet and cost $189,000 to $259,900 in 2007. Kevin Robles, VP for the Tampa Division of Atlanta-based McCar Homes. said McCar didn’t want to cut down on the number of bedrooms and bathrooms for the smaller homes, and they didn’t want to put in cheaper light fixtures, flooring and cabinets. Instead, it cut costs by putting the garage in the backyard, and adding a front porch instead of a back patio.”
“K. Hovnanian traditionally built smaller homes and catered to first-time buyers. As land costs rose during the housing boom, though, the company decided to concentrate on larger homes.”
“It’s changing directions again now that the market has slowed and land prices have fallen, Tampa division president George Schulmeyer said. The new communities the company is launching in 2009 will have homes starting at 1,130 feet and $117,900. It will continue to build homes up to 3,500 square feet and $360,000 in various neighborhoods, mostly in Pasco County, he said.”
“One thing the company is doing to trim costs is to cut out vaulted ceilings and plant shelves, which were staples in many Windward Homes. They were popular because they give the home a cottage feel, Schulmeyer said, but they are an ‘unnecessary cost.’”
“‘When you have them, you’re just giving away square-footage that could be used in a two-story,’ he said. ‘Also, they waste energy.’”
“Pulte Homes is experimenting with smaller home products as well, said Reed Williams, VP of sales and marketing. In both Harrison Ranch in Parrish and Trillium in Hernando, new homes start at $127,400 for a 1,265-square-foot home and $131,400 for a 1,598-square-foot home. The two communities are 70 percent of the Tampa division’s sales right now, Williams said.”
“For Pulte, he said, the thinking was to target first-time homebuyers who don’t have to sell another home in this problematic real estate market. The only thing holding many of those buyers back, Williams said, was price.”
“‘The response has been fantastic,’ he said. ‘People are a bit skeptical as what they’ll get for this amount of money. But they’re pleasantly surprised. You can get into these homes for about $1,100 a month.’”
“new homes start at home and $131,400 for a 1,598-square-foot home. The two communities are 70 percent of the Tampa division’s sales right now, Williams said.”
About $80/sq…. Still a very hefty profit on $45/sq cost.
Yes, but moving in the right direction. IMO, the situation in Florida is encouraging and is an example for the other states. Instead of grasping for ways to turn back the clock, like Massachusetts, the folks there seem to have accepted that there was a housing bubble and are looking to the future. There are a lot of people that need jobs, and housing retirees, etc, is one way the state has always done that.
Look at it this way; these are new houses. That can only put additional pressure on prices. I regularly see reports of foreclosures taking a year there. That means many thousands of units have yet to hit the MLS. More price pressure. I wouldn’t buy there now, but it looks like many quarters of further price declines are baked in the cake. And ultimately, that’s what will put the economy back on its feet, IMO.
I agree it’s getting there, however I was making the point that these shack builders can and do make nice profit based on historic prices. All the cries of poverty by Bob Hole and Ari LameBrainian Hovnanian was, is and always will be BS. Not “all” the retirees are coming and they aren’t all millionares.
It’s not just retirees. I have long documented industry leaving the bubble zones due to lack of workforce housing. Lower prices should draw commerce (and jobs) into Florida and also bring down prices in neighboring states.
Couple of months ago I made the observation that prices in the more bubbly areas in the west coast have already come down about 2/3 of the way back to “normal”. It’s very encouraging, since I’d like to buy there someday. Allowing for some overshoot due to general economy and the tax and insurance problems they’ve had there - I expect prices to bottom in FL probably sometime in 2010. They’ll probably remain flat for a while and may still trickle down a bit, but the deep slide will have stopped by then I think. We’re halfway there, time-wise.
“The top job-loss state in the nation. Shrinking wages. Collapsing population growth. Record home foreclosures. Florida’s economy is not just firmly and bleakly in the red, it will likely stay that way until next June, according to the state government’s top economists.’
Hey, Ben, do you remember when Gov. Crist stood there and told a bunch of FL realtors to get their rest and take their vitamins because they’d be so busy as soon as that tax-relief thingie took effect they’d be ‘busier than they’d ever been’? Something like that. I can’t recall the exact quote. Golly, I wish I could, because I enjoy a good belly laugh.
Olygal,
Good point and since when is it the gov’s concern that the NAR commission coffers be full at all times? Look how twisted things have become.
It infuriates me when economists say things like “the Florida economy likely will recover by next June.” Do the economists think that gas, food and insurance prices will have declined sharply by then? Do they believe that high-paying industries and jobs suddenly are going to appear here? This kind of forecasting has more in common with astrology and tarot than with any kind of respectable analysis based on facts.
It’s no secret that I don’t believe this state’s economy ever is going to recover, at least not in the manner envisioned. And that comment by Crist was one of a growing litany that lead me to believe he is on some kind of medication to produce such circus-clown optimism.
if they lie you will spend. If they tell the truth you will save.
Are they factoring in Hurrican season?
Snakecharmer, never covers a very long time. It’s all cyclical; Florida will come back.
Having lived in Florida for 25 years, and vacating in 2005, “”"I can tell you this”"”…..AS LONG AS THAT SUN KEEPS COMING UP IN THE MORNING…PEOPLE WILL FIND REASONS TO FLOCK TO FLORIDA….I found the sunrises cost less in North Carolina….
The out of state short term memory deficit banks, lenders with their high priced legal eagles that are about to eat their bad loans in Florida will really enjoy DANCING with those Fla judges and lawyers.
Even if these out of towners hire the local law talent, the local RE crowd and big hustlers down there have been doing the House, Condo and Land Shuffle for many years and they are VERY GOOD at IT.
And they usually ALL leave this DANCE…Happy with THEIR Courts and with someone else’s MONEY
A Monopoly Game-Like Reliance In Florida
Monopoly was invented in the midst of the Great Depression, but we’ve got the real deal going on in Fla.tlantis.
Do not pass go, do not collect $200
losng gov jobs ? not here
feds still hiring and bama booty is offering to hiring thousands
green jobs
baby sitters
dial watchers
regulators
How about some street sweepers like they had in the old USSR? It’s time for a change to the USSA. Yes we can.
And I can’t wait. I’m going get me one of those high paying $40k year jobs. I’ll be rich!!!!
$40k/year would be a good job here in N AZ.
And with no debt, a paid off car and no CC bills…you could save money even in NYC….
“And with no debt, a paid off car and no CC bills…you could save money even in NYC….”
Year 2000,my first job in NYC paid $22k… I still saved money.
It has become quite a pursuit for me too - to live cheaply in a big city. It took five years of preparation and downsizing though.
It gives one a unique perspective because no where are this society’s excesses greater than in the cities. It’s thrilling to be a “fly on the wall” and watch the world go by.
“$40k/year would be a good job here in N AZ.”
And $40K a year is also pretty good even for Austin, eventhough it often ranks as one of the top 10 cities with the best job markets according to the MSM.
From today’s Austin American Statesman:
Developers negotiating with the City of Austin to include more than the required amount of affordable housing in a mixed-use project on South Lamar Boulevard want an additional $800,000 from the city, and they don’t want it in the form of a loan.
In a July 11 letter to the Austin Housing Finance Corp., Atlanta-based Post Properties asks the city for $1.9 million in assistance — upping the original $1.1 million — and requests that it “would not be characterized as a loan or be secured by a Deed of Trust or any other security.”
As required by the ordinance, the developers will make 10 percent of the units affordable for people who make 80 percent of Austin’s median family income — $45,500 for two people — for 40 years. To bring rents down further, the city agreed to “buy down” the rent on those 30 apartments to make them available to people who earn 50 percent of the median family income, or $28,450 for two people.
In April 2007, the city agreed to give Post Properties and Ardent Residential fee waivers worth $397,000 and to negotiate a deferred forgivable $710,350 loan to further lower the rents.
Thanks Hondje.
Interesting that they are talking about actually INCLUDING affordable housing units - I thought that most projects (including this one, which is in my neighborhood) were just donating money to an affordable housing “pool,” not actually building and including affordable housing units in their projects. The developers paid into the pool, but none of them actually wanted to build affordable housing on their land. (As is FL, that may start changing here.)
Sounds like they’re taking advantage of the city’s affordability program to help finance their project in these uncertain times and tough circumstances for condo developers.
The thing that is really aggravating, is that the apartments that are being replaced by this condo / boutique palace long provided affordable housing for the resident renters. They were perfectly decent apartments, not run down.
40K is good here in S.C. also, in fact about 4k above average.
I guess anyone happy to making $40k is just another lowlife idiot in your opinion? : ) Enjoy your elitism, I guess.
My dearest friends make no more than $20-25k a year, and money has never corrupted them and they’ve learned how to make do with less, quite happily.
The only thing they are outlandish with as far as spending goes, is they all spend a lot of time in the wilderness, hanging out with Mother Nature.
It’s refreshing to read posts about folks who thrive quite nicely in the below 100K pond, and don’t fret ad nauseum about where’s the best place to invest their excess disposable income. There’s a fine line between being financially saavy, and showboating.
‘…is they all spend a lot of time in the wilderness, hanging out with Mother Nature.’
Buncha freaks!
Truly, though, money’s great stuff. I work for money. I like money and I sure wouldn’t object to having more, but there’s a certain point when you’ve got enough. You’ve got ‘enough’ when you’ve got food, shelter, warm clothes, medicine, and transportation for you and yours. Jeezily, most of the world’s people don’t have all that! After you get ‘enough’, you can enjoy luxuries like books, pretty dishes, pretty shoes, more education, but then after obtaining THAT excess of riches, why, then it’s ALL just fiddly crap; comparing yourself, comparing others, looking at labels, posturing, wasteful nonsense like that. It could make you all crazy-like, wanting more more more…
As I have mentioned before, I sometimes wear a tiara when I run around in the forest or go kayaking, and you know what? The frogs do not care one speck that’s it’s not real diamonds. I don’t care either.
Furthermore, alad, you mention friends who don’t make much money but are still happy with their lives, well, one of my best friends has a whole bunch of money and we go yard-saling together. You shoulda heard the girly sissy-fight we once had over a wooden chair in a Free Pile. Why doesn’t she just go BUY a freakin’ forest and then a freakin’ lumber mill and order them to make her about a thousand chairs, and without the splinters, like this one had, see right there, was my excellently reasoned argument. She had some other, stupid argument, but I forget what it was.*
Now, I don’t know if I’m making my point. Perhaps not. I think my point is that your friends and my friend would probably get along great, and have joyous and good times, because they have the right perspective.
*And, just so you know, I saw the chair FIRST.
(I sanded it down and painted it red.)
Having money is great. Making big money requires critical thinking and too much of the latter makes you unhappy…..so IMO its great to get money but paying with the big boyz (and girlz TX chick) sucks the life from you …..way to much bad energy for me.
I wants to get me inta de kountry clubs…Dare takin applikations fur kitchin helps, but I need a ride dare…
TaxMe…
Dial Watchers, laughed so hard the chair started to creak and the cat ran to her closet. See what you did?
“‘We were No. 1 in jobs created in the entire country,’ said Clyde Diao, one of Gov. Charlie Crist’s economists, referring to the booming economy in 2005. ‘Now, if you count the District of Columbia, we’re 51. What is important is jobs. If you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a house.’”
Perhaps they should stop focusing on the purchasing of houses as the be-all and end-all of econmic health (i.e., jobs are crucial becase they’re what enable you to buy houses)?
If I don’t want to buy a house does that mean I can’t have a job in Florida ?
Florida is like an aging Pro Football player that was too lazy, or too dumb to develop any other marketable skills, and never saved any of his earnings. His contract has expired, and he’s just been cut. Now what? Maybe Florida can play in the CFL…
KInda like Barry Bonds…..
I hear there is a nursing shortage, he’s probably pretty qualified.
LOL! Balco Nursing Home: We’ll have your folks up and around in NO time! Why we have the longest regulation horseshoe pits on the Senior Circuit…
“‘We were No. 1 in jobs created in the entire country,’ said Clyde Diao, one of Gov. Charlie Crist’s economists, referring to the booming economy in 2005. ‘Now, if you count the District of Columbia, we’re 51. What is important is jobs. If you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a house.’”
Crist almighty!
Not yet another ewrongimist in our midst?
Day-o, day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and he wan’ go home
Day, he say day, he say day, he say day, he say day, he say day-ay-ay-o
Daylight come and he can’t buy home
“If you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a house.”
What a turd. Workers have to work, and employers have to produce, but not a one of them has to buy a house - let alone an overpriced one.
These states need to throw their local REIC under the bus and a chart a new course - fast.
“If you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a house.”
but….. i usta coulda y no mo?
That is total bs anyhow.
“If you don’t have a job, you can’t buy a house.’”
Says who? What you really need is cash. You only need a job if you want to sell your future earnings at a discount for cash today.
We just had a CD come due that would have bought 4 houses at 1966 prices. Even today that sum will buy a nice cabin in the midwest and a modest house in some of the rust belt towns.
It’s not my only savings either and I have more than that in equity in my current house.
Lots of people can buy a house with no job.
Foreclosure defense buys homeowners time
Homeowners facing foreclosure are hiring lawyers to defend them in court against their lenders, during which time they can stay in their homes without paying a cent.
Posted on Fri, Jul. 18, 2008reprint print email
By MONICA HATCHER
Miami Herald
Headline from the future, August 2008.
“Every single bank in the world has just announced that they will no longer offer mortgage loans in the state of Florida, under any circumstances. Florida officials are stunned.”
kind of curious what effect that will have, myself
they can stay in their homes without paying a cent.
Not counting lawyers’ fees I guess. What is that costing in comparison to rent/mortgage?
They’re probably paying the lawyers with credit cards, which they also will never pay back.
“‘People think I am dealing with a bunch of con artists,’ Ticktin said. ‘I’m talking about families, innocent kids, people who got led into deals that are causing them trouble.’”
I seriously have confused feelings on this one.
The law states you must produce that little piece of paper thingy, the note or deed or whatever.
We’ve read cases where judges say, no paper thingy - smack of the gavel - come back when you have said paper.
In the case illustrated in this article, the woman was paying her mortgage through an automatic deduction from her checking account, and the law gave her 48 hours notice to leave the house she had been making payments on - yeah, probably to the wrong company.
Now, I would not do such a silly thing, as I alway know where to send payments of my debt (zero, minus rent, utilities, phone).
Here’s where the confussion comes into my head, as there are two sides of every story and the truth that hangs above.
Attorney’s defending client rightfully so, and those that do it simply because they can. It’s the latter that angers me.
Also, stupid ones who don’t find said paper before going to court, and expect a judge to gavel in their direction! Morons!
OK. I feel better now.
Rant off,
Leigh
My daughter’s and my sister’s loans were sold and their payments were not properly credited. It happens all the time. Most people I know just make a double payment. My sister said she be damned if she’d make 2 payments. Citi Bank was nasty as hell until my sister reported them to state of Nevada for illegally reporting her to the credit bureaus.
My daughter’s loan was sold 3 times in the first 6 months she owned her home. None of the buyers properly credited her. Countrywide was the worst. She got a landline because of them.
Or, they could not lose the paperwork. Once prices stop plummeting so that calculating LTV becomes POSSIBLE, there’ll be enough business for bankers who can manage their paperwork.
I like to idea that price are finally coming down in some of these communties..but at what cost..they don’t seem to speak about the neighborhoods, the schools, and community services..I would be a little cautious buying for just a low payment each month..
“Donald Trump, the famed New York developer who licensed his name to the tower in exchange for half the profits…”
This reminds me of a story posted here a couple of years ago about some poor investor who paid a hefty deposit on a condo in another troubled Trump development. Trying to reassure himself the investor said “I’m sure everything will be OK otherwise Mr. Trump wouldn’t have let them use his good name.”
I remember that. But it wasn’t a couple years ago. It was relatively recent, I think, unless there’s been a whole buncha nitwits saying “I’m sure everything will be OK otherwise Mr. Trump wouldn’t have let them use his good name.”
And now that I consider it, I believe that there could very well be a whole buncha of nitwits around.
Providence bills itself as a faith-based lender. Its chairman identifies himself as ‘the Very Reverend Father Barney…
They paid Providence $150,000 as a ‘loan commitment fee’ to secure $200-million in financing for the 52-story condo tower. But Father Barney, the reassuring figure in the black clerical garb and white collar, is actually an ex-convict named Barney Canada…
Donald Trump, who licensed his name to the tower in exchange for half the profits, sued SimDag for breach of contract more than a year ago, taking the wind out of the project.
So many crooks and scumbags in one place…unbelievable! What the heck is a “faith-based lender” anyway? Aren’t they all faith-based?
How did we hopelessly fall for a bunch of religious con men, cleverly disguised as moral authorities?
A “faith-based” anything is one who intends to create an association between itself and “faith” (typically, a euphamism in this country for christianity) to more easily take other peoples money in some fashion.
mkay?
Perhaps Florida is in crisis and parts of Cali are too but overall, this is all nonsense.
Come to LA…Glendale/Burbank, Pasadena, etc…you’d never guess there was a housing problem. People there are either still to dumb, have too much money, or don’t care and continue to pay exorbitant prices for homes. Do you think the folks up on the hills of Laurel Canyon give a rat’s ass what’s going on in San Bernandino county?
Prices are STILL too high.
There was an article in the L.A. Times today, about how the studios are having a devil of time getting financing to make films, and the defense industry is about to get downsized, ala 1990.
What else makes real money in the city of angles?
My son makes commercials of all types in LA. Their work schedule is very slow this summer.
You can get into these homes for about $1,100 a month.’”
I’m pretty sure that’s just the PI count the TI and your looking at 15 or 16 hundred a month if not more.
What they don’t tell you is how to get back out.
Always have an exit strategy - it just may be a trap.
“landing in vaults and warehouses around the country”
Well that’s encouraging..?
So now the attorneys ( enabled and educated by bubble bloggers ) are working the system we helped to expose! Grand, just grand.
“So now the attorneys ( enabled and educated by bubble bloggers ) are working the system we helped to expose! Grand, just grand.”
Some of my closest high school buds are now crazy-ass lawyers. They laugh at people like us, and they enjoy it too. It’s hard for me to understand, but some of them really get off on getting over on anybody for anything. And I mean anbody for anything.
I, for one, am proud to have played a role –no matter how small– in giving greedbag fraudulent lenders their (well deserved) comeuppance. I just wish we could find a way to funnel some of the rewards to the the *real* bubble “victims”: savers, renters and honest taxpayers.
HARM,
As usual, a more balanced take. So the way we should be looking at this is, the more “crazy-ass” lawyers - jerking around more “clueless lenders” the more PAIN for the banks?
Brilliant!
I guess I shouldn’t let the fact that Muggy’s buddies coat-tailed off the BB’s and have now found a new feed trough bother me. Can you imagine a “fertile market”? I can’t. Thanks HARM!
Hey, don’t get me wrong, Mr. DinOR –I hate lawyers too. I just hate banksters and the REIC even more ;-).
“I shouldn’t let the fact that Muggy’s buddies coat-tailed off the BB’s and have now found a new feed trough bother me”
To quote my lawyer friend, “I go where the money is.”
Every case has two sides. There are (I hope) plenty of lawyers, cops, FBI and others working on the right side. I know the FBI and such are way behind the curve, but it’s a start.
Why doesn’t this process work the other way as well?
Why can’t “homeowners” be required to PROVE they are rightfully there. What proof or right do they have (especially if they aren’t making payments) to live in these homes?
“As foreclosures continue to mount, borrowers who have run out of options are turning to attorneys to fight back, and they’re living mortgage-free for months in the process. Although the chances of ultimately keeping a foreclosed home are slim, for $1,500 to $3,000 some lawyers are offering to defend borrowers in court, causing the wheels of justice to turn more slowly.”
“One way is forcing the lender to prove it owns the debt behind the mortgage by producing a promissory note. As mortgages were bought, bundled and sold off to investors, notes got lost in the shuffle, landing in vaults or warehouses around the country. Physically retrieving them can be difficult and sometimes impossible.”
“One way is forcing the lender to prove it owns the debt behind the mortgage by producing a promissory note. As mortgages were bought, bundled and sold off to investors, notes got lost in the shuffle, landing in vaults or warehouses around the country. Physically retrieving them can be difficult and sometimes impossible.”
Wow. Talk about “poetic justice”.
Lenders: You worshipped at the altar of “effeciency” and short-term profits at the expense of everything else. You threw due diligence, borrower qualification, risk pricing and common sense out the window. Now reap the rewards.
Mmmmm…. sweet karma.
They better start raising rates to account for this added risk/cost too. Unless of course, the banker men enjoy getting fleeced by their own lawyers as well.
was just wondering…..banker men = girly men
denquiry,
No actually they walk around like they’re hung like a shetland pony, hitting on the “better” looking female employees ( married or not ), conversing loudly about their trip to ____ , kid’s private school and wife’s new Benz.
Then “that” email arrives and they find out the transfer/promotion they were promised *isn’t going to happen and they will be thrown back into “production” and lose their “primo” parking space. THEN… they turn into girly men. IMHO.
“Providence bills itself as a faith-based lender. Its chairman identifies himself as the Very Reverend Father Barney. But Father Barney, the reassuring figure in the black clerical garb and white collar, is actually an ex-convict named Barney Canada.”
At least the Barnster is having some fun with it.
“One way is forcing the lender to prove it owns the debt behind the mortgage by producing a promissory note. As mortgages were bought, bundled and sold off to investors, notes got lost in the shuffle, landing in vaults or warehouses around the country. Physically retrieving them can be difficult and sometimes impossible.”
I don’t get it. If I were to buy a house, doesn’t somebody have to produce this promissory note to fund the loan payoff during escrow?
It’s the surly judge show. “If you can’t be bothered to keep track of the paperwork, than I can’t be bothered to approve the foreclosure action.” Just more evidence that everyone thought that the insanity would go on forever. Nobody bothered to keep track of the paperwork because everybody thought that the FBs would just refinance in a few years.
But Father Barney, the reassuring figure in the black clerical garb and white collar, is actually an ex-convict named Barney Canada.
The Bishop!
(for you Monty Python fans)
One thing I’ve noticed lately is that Tampa apartment vacancies are definitely up, leading to some aggressive advertising. I haven’t seen statistics on rents, but I presume they are down or stable.
The Trump Tower continues to amuse. “Faith-based” schemes are a traditional Florida haven for flim-flam artists, not that the bozos fixated on saving their ridiculous spectacle of a tower would know. They would have been better off asking the long-departed Apprentice winner to bury one of those St. Joseph statues on the empty site, which now has weeds higher than my head. And not that the Donald gives a s__t either, because he just sold his Palm Beach property for a record, “and [he] likes breaking records.”
Question for you commercial real-estate experts. Lately as I drive around Palm Beach County, I’ve noticed than every single office building has a big “for lease” sign, or many times two or three. I have yet to see a building without a sign. I’ve never really paid attention before. Is this normal - do all commercial buildings always have vacancy?
I’m not in florida (I’m in eastern MA); and building of commerical space around here continues.
This despite the fact my employer’s old office building has sat unused for the past four years since we left to go into a new building; which still has one floor out of five empty. Add to that of the seven buildings in our office park every one has vacancy, including a completely empty building.
Methinks commercial real estate is about two years behind residential. Speaking of which, I hear that a list of soon to be empty retail space consisting of 600 prime locations for a coffee shop was released today. That can’t help retail rents go up…
http://www.starbucks.com/aboutus/USStoreClosureInfo.pdf
First I’ll reply to your specific question - no it is not normal for all commercial buildings to always have vacant space.
However you are going to see frictional vacancy; i.e. tenants leaving and space sitting empty for a few months until a new tenant gets in. Generally a 5% or 10% overall vacancy is considered healthy. As an example, I recently read that downtown Charlotte (or uptown, as it is locally known) has 1.1% vacancy. That’s phenomenal. But their suburbs are at about 15% or
so, so not near as healthy.
I suspect what you are seeing is an overbuilt area where there is just too much space.
“Angela Bellsanctious, of Lauderhill, admits she is careless about opening her mail and said her mortgage was bought by a new servicer without her knowledge. Because her payments were automatically withdrawn from her bank account, she didn’t know her loan wasn’t being paid until it was too late. On June 12, the home she had lived in since 1990 was sold. Last week she got notice from the Broward sheriff that she had 48 hours to move.”
“Careless” is an understatement. This woman is too stupidly irresponsible to own a house. I realize that renting would make her look much smarter than she is, but we can’t make her parents take her, so I don’t know WHAT to say.
Can’t be bothered to open any mail or check her bank balances, but I betcha she was on top of things enough to open the IRS stimulus check, though…
But where were her automatic deductions going?
A would think that they old servicer would have stopped requesting the money, and after a while she would have had $1000’s more than she should in her account. I also doubt that the new servicer wouldn’t have called numberous times, and sent registered or certified mail when her payments never showed up. Something fishy here.
My stimulus “check” was an EFT, it just appeared in my account.
How could you not know that you’re overdrawn on your checking account for several months???
““One thing the company is doing to trim costs is to cut out vaulted ceilings and plant shelves, which were staples in many Windward Homes. They were popular because they give the home a cottage feel, Schulmeyer said, but they are an ‘unnecessary cost.’”
“‘When you have them, you’re just giving away square-footage that could be used in a two-story,’ he said. ‘Also, they waste energy.’”
I was wondering when people would wake up and realize that these high ceilings were energy wasters. I predict people will be blocking them off with tarpulins before next winter is over.
People in this country finally have realized that gargantuan cars are too expensive to drive. The next belated realization will be that 3,500 square foot houses are too expensive to heat, cool and maintain.
We’re talking Florida. Winter?
Now if you’re talking New England, I agree.
We are reaching older levels of value here. Sadly those big drops are occurring in the far reaches of the metro area and due to gas prices as much as anything else. I am not sure j6pak can afford the drive time much less the house.
I really think we are going to go back to 80’s values in many areas as a result of the overbuilding and cost of living factors. We are not in just a real estate crisis but a money crisis. Lending is non-existent and many lenders have effectively red lined the state as a whole.
Humans are Stupid??
1. Only in America……can a pizza get to your house faster than an ambulance.
2. Only in America……are there handicap parking places in front of a skating rink.
3. Only in America……do drugstores make the sick walk all the way to the back of the store to get their prescriptions while healthy people can buy cigarettes at the front.
4. Only in America……do people order double cheeseburgers, large fries, and a diet coke.
5. Only in America……do banks leave both doors open and then chain the pens to the counters.
6. Only in America……do we leave cars worth thousands of dollars in the driveway and put our useless junk in the garage.
7. Only in America……do we use answering machines to screen calls and then have call waiting so we won’t miss a call from someone we didn’t want to talk to in the first place.
8. Only in America……do we buy hot dogs in packages of ten and buns in packages of eight. (THIS ONE ALWAYS BUGGED ME!)
9. Only in America……do we use the word ‘politics’ to describe the process so well: ‘Poli’ in Latin meaning ‘many’ and ‘tics’ meaning ‘bloodsucking creatures’.
10. Only in America……do they have drive-up ATM machines with Braille lettering.
EVER WONDER ~~~~
Why the sun lightens our hair, but darkens our skin?
Why women can’t put on mascara with their mouth closed?
Why don’t you ever see the headline “Psychic Wins Lottery”?
Why is “abbreviated” such a long word?
Why is it that doctors call what they do “practice”?
Why is it that to stop Windows 98, you have to click on “Start”?
Why is lemon juice made with artificial flavor, and dishwashing liquid is made with real lemons?
Why is the man who invests all your money called a broker?
Why is the time of day with the slowest traffic called rush hour?
Why isn’t there mouse-flavored cat food?
When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it?
Why didn’t Noah swat those two mosquitoes?
Why do they sterilize the needle for lethal injections?
You know that indestructible black box that is used on airplanes? Why don’t they make the whole plane out of that stuff?
Why don’t sheep shrink when it rains?
Why are they called apartments when they are all stuck together?
If con is the opposite of pro, is Congress the opposite of progress?
If flying is so safe, why do they call the airport the terminal?
~~~~~
In case you needed further proof that the human race is doomed through stupidity, here are some actual label instructions on consumer goods.
On a Sears hairdryer: Do not use while sleeping. ( and that’s the only time I have to work on my hair.)
On a bag of Fritos: ..You could be a winner! No purchase necessary. Details inside. (the shoplifter special?)
On a bar of Dial soap: “Directions: Use like regular soap.” (and that would be how??…)
On some Swanson frozen dinners: “Serving suggestion: Defrost.” (but, it’s “just” a suggestion.)
On Tesco’s Tiramisu dessert (printed on bottom): “Do not turn upside down.” (well…duh, a bit late, huh!)
On Marks & Spencer Bread Pudding: “Product will be hot after heating.” (…and you thought????…)
On packaging for a Rowenta iron: “Do not iron clothes on body.” (but wouldn’t this save me more time?)
On Boot’s Children Cough Medicine:”Do not drive a car or operate machinery after taking this medication.” (We could do a lot to reduce the rate of construction accidents if we could just get those 5-year-olds with
head-colds off those forklifts.)
On Nytol Sleep Aid: “Warning: May cause drowsiness.” (and… I’m taking this because???….)
On most brands of Christmas lights: “For indoor or outdoor use only.” (as opposed to…what?)
On Sunsbury’s peanuts: “Warning: contains nuts.” (talk about a news flash)
On an American Airlines packet of nuts:
“Instructions: Open packet, eat nuts.” (Step 3: maybe, uh…fly Delta?)
On a child’s superman costume: “Wearing of this garment does not enable you to fly.” (I don’t blame the company. I blame the parents for this one.)
On a Swedish chainsaw:”Do not attempt to stop chain with your hands or genitals.” (..was there a lot of this happening somewhere?)
Now that you’ve smiled at least once, it’s your turn to spread the stupidity and send this to someone you want to bring a smile to (maybe even a chuckle)…in other words send it to everyone. We all need to smile every once in a while.