There Was Way Too Much Blue Sky In The Price
It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “To surrounding residents, the vacant home and the cleared field around it are a safety hazard and breeding ground for mischief. Neighbors hear gunshots late at night, and the area has become a dumping ground, littered with crushed beer cans and spent fireworks. The site was left derelict by Summerville Homes, which once planned to build about 30 homes there.”
“The residents at Legends Oaks still worry about their safety. ‘Every time a car comes back here, we’re not quite sure what’s going to happen next,’ said neighbor Steve Clark.”
“Cranbury yards have seen a recent trend, for sale signs are going up faster than they are coming down. ‘Cranbury’s what they call a second-home community,’ said Josh Wilton, a manager at Weichert Realtors Princeton office. ‘(Its) homes are $600,000 or higher. Cranbury is really trapped by the first-time home buyers.’”
“According to the Middlesex County’s MLS, a real estate database used by realtors, 64 contracts in Cranbury alone have expired in the past year, some expiring twice. Robert Blackburn, of Aughenbaugh Realty in Hightstown, speaks not only as a Realtor, but as a seller. He recently tried to sell his own house in Cranbury and attempted to buy something less expensive.”
“Eventually, Mr. Blackburn said he took his house off the market after pricing it so low that he couldn’t afford to sell it. When the market improves, he said, he plans to try again. ”I think the pace of buying homes has damn near stopped,’ Blackburn said.”
“Lisa Murzin-Pelcz needs a miracle to climb out of a foreclosure hole that’s getting deeper every month as she misses each mortgage payment. She’s dangerously close to losing the house in East Hartford where she has lived for the past 12 years with her children.”
“She brainstorms ideas, hanging on to some, quickly discarding others. One day in June she wonders aloud: Could she run a fundraiser? ‘We’ll invite 300 people, at $100 apiece,’ Murzin-Pelcz figures. ‘That would be $30,000. We could get that guy who does a pig roast. I could play my old Grateful Dead albums.’”
“One day, Murzin-Pelcz spots an ad in the paper for a phone-in psychic. The first question is free. ‘Will I lose my house?’ ‘No. I don’t see you losing your house.”
“Murzin-Pelcz isn’t completely reassured. Many nights she isn’t sleeping well, dropping off around midnight, waking up at 3 a.m., rising a few hours later.”
“While she was researching bankruptcy at the local library, she saw a newspaper with a story about how the new state programs were giving homeowners new hope. ‘I had a laugh on that one,’ she says.”
“Rental prices in Boston stabilized to correct the bubble in the rental market, said Oscar Brookins, an associate professor of economics at Northeastern. ‘There was some indication we needed a decline. There was a bubble in previous years, which implies that people were speculating,’ Brookins said. ‘There has been lots of construction since the mid-90s when the city eliminated rent control. The population in Boston is declining. Landlords built their expectations too high.’”
“Livingston County home sales jumped 39.2 percent in July. Realtors disagree on whether or not that means the housing market has turned the corner. Mike Meloche, broker in Howell, said he believed many of July’s home sales were closings started earlier in the year or the year before and said the increase is independent from the rest of this year’s trends.”
“‘Once we look at the whole year and average it out, we’ll find that our numbers are still worse than they are last year,’ Meloche said. ‘We’ve been quite spoiled in our industry in this country for many years. We kind of created a monster with property values.’”
“Gay Puckett, an agent in Austin, is the second agent Richard and Roxanne Bailey have used to sell their newly painted, five-bedroom home in Round Rock. Richard Bailey thought the home would sell for about $300,000 to $310,000 in about 45 days, based on sales in late 2007. The Baileys, who have downsized to a smaller home, have now lowered the price to $279,000 and are offering to pay $5,000 in closing costs.”
“If they don’t have a buyer by September, Bailey said they’ll be forced to lease the house and wait for a year to try to sell it.”
“In Hyde Park, Janet and Richard Cunningham are eager to find a buyer for a two-bedroom condominium, where their daughter lived while attending graduate school. The Cunninghams have lowered the price to $185,000 from $190,000.”
“‘Our agent is telling us the real estate market is just completely flat,’ Janet Cunningham said.”
“A Scottsdale home builder recognized two years ago as an up-and-coming business has collapsed in the weak market, leaving in its wake lawsuits by investors, lenders and contractors. In a recorded conference call with investors in May, company founder Michael Roberts said he was doing everything he could to get them at least some of their money back. ‘We hope it’s better than fifty cents on the dollar,’ he told investors.”
“In 2006, Debra Lynn Lawrence of Northridge, Calif., invested $600,000 of an inheritance with Charlevoix to build homes at its Montage community in Chandler. ‘I’ve been run through the wringer on this,’ Lawrence said. ‘I’m wondering how I’m ever going to get my money back.’”
“Her attorney, John Breslo said Charlevoix Homes made a lot of promises it could not keep. ‘Everything was fine as long as everyone was making money,’ Breslo said. ‘But as soon as the music stopped, they realized there weren’t enough chairs.’”
“The historic building once known as the Garden City Commercial College and later the Babs Apartments, is being renovated into condominiums, starting at $268,000. The most expensive units, which are house-sized at more than 1,300 square feet - are close to $500,000. While that might be out of the price range of most Missoulians, Realtor Ed Coffman says the price won’t be a problem.”
“‘I don’t need it to be priced for everyone - just one or two people,’ he said. ‘And those people are coming to Missoula now. Sometimes it’s a second house. Sometimes it’s someone who lived here, moved away to make their fortune and now is coming back.’”
“Lane County saw more than double the number of home foreclosures in July, compared with July 2007, according to RealtyTrac. And, increasingly, banks are stuck with the foreclosed homes because foreclosure buyers won’t ante up the amount needed to pay off the failed mortgages and take possession of the houses, as they would have done a year ago, said Casey Hogan, chief credit officer at Pacific Continental Bank.”
“‘Today, it’s a little more difficult because you’re not seeing the values escalate at 12 to 15 percent a year like we were not too many years ago,’ he said. ‘(Buyers) have to be more careful because it may take them longer to flip it.’”
“Among the lush landscapes and expensive neighborhoods on Eagle’s Floating Feather Road stand the casualties of a booming housing market gone bad - a modern-day ghost town of unfinished new homes.”
“And Idaho bankruptcy trustees and attorneys say more homebuilders face the same fate. ‘Everybody’s guilty: lenders, mortgage brokers,’ said Bernie Rakozy, a bankruptcy trustee in Boise. ‘All these people were making a lot of money, and then the faucet gets turned off. There was way too much blue sky in the price of the homes.’”
“Thank you to the Canyon Lake Chamber of Commerce for hosting County Assessor Larry Ward for his Prop13/Prop 8 presentation on August 13. I attended this meeting because I received a letter stating my property value increased and I would be subject to the maximum two percent bump in value for next year’s taxes. I was wondering how this was possible considering the free-fall in home prices since September 2007.”
“With all of the foreclosures in our community, the assessor’s office is having trouble determining the ‘real market value’ of a home due to lack of ‘traditional sales.’ If I put my house on the market today, there is no way a reasonable person would buy it for anywhere near the assessor’s valuation.”
“Unfortunately for people in my situation, not only are we kicking ourselves for buying at the top of a bubble, we are not getting the relief that is by law due to us under Prop 8.”
“The central bankers of the world will be gathering next week for their annual meeting at Jackson Hole, Wyoming. When they met in Jackson Hole in 2005, the meetings were devoted to an Alan Greenspan retrospective, honouring his 18-year tenure as Federal Reserve Board chairman.”
“I suspect that the elite Jackson Hole crew will not be debating whether Greenspan was the greatest central banker of all time this year. The world is now facing the most serious financial crisis since the Great Depression. That’s not my assessment; those were the words of Alan Greenspan.”
“And, how did we get here? Well, the centrepiece in this story is that the United States allowed an $8tn housing bubble to grow unchecked.”
“Between 1996 and 2006, house prices rose by more than 70%, after adjusting for inflation. In the previous century, from 1896 to 1996, house prices had just kept even with the overall rate of inflation. When you suddenly see a sharp divergence from a long-term trend like this, it is reasonable to look for an explanation.”
“If the run-up in house prices could not be explained by the fundamentals, then it was a bubble, which would burst. This was easy to see for anyone who cared to look, but Greenspan and his sycophants could not be bothered. Greenspan insisted that everything was fine - there was no housing bubble - and virtually the whole economics profession acted as enablers touting Greenspan’s wisdom.”
“The economic elites were convinced that everything was just fine. Their new mantra is ‘who could have known?’”
“The same group of economists that led the economy into this catastrophe still has its hands on the wheel. Holding them accountable for their disastrous performance is simply not on the agenda.”
“There should be a ‘Trees Don’t Grow to the Skies’ seminar required at every investment bank, commercial bank, investment manager and mortgage lender in the land, and mandatory meditation sessions for the directors of these institutions who sat by and watched the leveraging of America go on without muttering a word. Now that I think of it, it might be essential for the regulators of such institutions as well.”
“Trees didn’t grow to the skies in Europe either. The housing bubble has burst in the U.K., Spain and Ireland. Japan may already be in a recession. In short, our expectations have to be reduced. Trees don’t grow to the skies.”
My thanks to those who support this blog and the forum. Please check back this weekend. I’ll leave you with this:
‘I’m sorry, but facts are facts: Americans have been living in a wonderland of hero worship and phony money for too many decades now, and the water balloon has finally sprung a leak. Our political geniuses creating this mess, Democrats and Republicans alike, have glorified themselves with borrowed money, unrealistic rhetoric and, now that it’s time to pay the piper, panic has set in. Tempers are flaring and the political “he said, she said” antics continue a phony attempt to cover up some very serious issues that have hit America with a resounding thud.’
‘Facing reality is a tough pill to swallow, and it is going to take more than political doubletalk to change things for the better. That is our challenge for the immediate future.’
‘And on the lighter side:
Lena: “It’s been a long, hot summer, Ole, how about taking Little Ole to the zoo?”
Ole: “Nutting doing, if dey vant him, dey can come and get him.”
— From Red Stangland’s Ole and Lena
Hey Ben,
Thank you for all you put into for this site. I have been a reader now for 2 years and I feel liberated. I watched the premier of I.O.U.S.A. last night and I left the theater ashamed to be an American. We are living a lie and it has finally caught up to us. We are not wealthy. We are flat broke, maxed out, dumb Americans. Not directed to bloggers of course. I hope other people on here get a chance to see the film and post their thoughts. It’s going to be a long bumpy ride. At least I have Italian dual citizenship if it gets really bad
Spoke to soon, next year I’m moving. Thanks America
Buck
..Creadon’s film could just as easily have been titled “An Inconvenient Truth,” and indeed has a number of things in common with Al Gore’s cautionary global-warming doc: It’s essentially a glorified PowerPoint presentation,…
http://www.variety.com/index.asp?layout=festivals&jump=review&id=2471&reviewid=VE1117935899
Not exactly my idea of a fun time.. but i guess it’s my civic duty to suffer through it, come to the conclusion that America is worthless and jump ship, hopefully to be washed ashore on the banks a really prosperous and worthwhile country.. like Italy.
“washed ashore on the banks”
Problem is, the banks are underwater. Sorry, I couldn’t resist.
We are flat broke
My wife and I watched part of an independent documentary about the Iraq war (or whatever we call it now). In it, there is a scene where the guys (newly arrived) are adding armor to their vehicles. So when the drive off they’ve got these trucks with this ridiculous looking armor, just some kind of steel crudely attatched to the door and crudely flapping while they try to close it.
My wife was shocked and made some comment along the lines of “I can’t believe that.” My response: “Yeah, we’re broke.”
For all its problems, the US is still in better shape than the vast majority of countries on the face of the earth. Barring a few Scandinavian countries which took their medicine a decade ago, other countries have worse structural problems. Daily life is without a doubt more tolerable here in the US. For all you folks who threaten to leave the US, I suggest you try living wherever you think the promised land is before you make your pronouncement. (And a visit of a few weeks doesn’t count as living there - I mean, go live thee for a year or two so you have to deal with infrastructure deficits, cross-cultural tolerance etc.)
actually my wife is from there. Been here five years and hates it. Just because I’ve always been told this is the greatest country, how do I know it is? I compare my in- laws lifestyles to ours and there is pros and cons. But you know what. They no how to enjoy life. So I’m taxed a little more. You know what I get. Free health insurance! I am self employed here…and do you know how much it cost here for decent insurance. People are still holding on to this is the greatest country but the times, they are a changin
Most people who I know who threaten to leave are already from other places and have real life comparisons to draw from.
Most people who come to the US and think it’s a pot of gold came from a place where they were starving, hungry, dirty, and usually close to homeless.
Don’t feel too proud that such people think this is so much better.
I wonder why the world’s richest people tend to spend the majority of their time outside of the US? Just curious.
And all the while we quietly spend the TRILLION DOLLARS in a war….be proud to be American.
Yeah.. wars are expensive. Now try this one: How must does surrender cost?
Surrender?
Oh you mean peace.
Well…
Let’s see…the cost of “surrender” would be:
A) money for schools - you know…those silly stupid places our current children have no funding to attend.
B) money for healthcare…you know…that thing that we rely on to save our lives occasionally
C) money for alternative energy programs - you know…the future of our country’s energy requirements, creating cleaner air, cleaner water, cleaner crops.
D) money for infrastructure - you know…that pesky system that is falling apart and is what we use everyday and depend on.
E) money for public transport and services…you know…those things we would like to take as alternatives to driving our cars but we can’t…BECAUSE WE DON’T HAVE IT.
Oh gosh…I could go on and on…but yeah…”surrender” is very expensive you are right.
So let’s continue fighting…let’s continue killing. It creates a wonderfully balanced society…as we are seeing today…don’t you think?
http://rawpoly.blogspot.com/
We spend way too much on schools, with poor outcomes. Schools were better when local support and local control were the order of the day.
We spend way too much on healthcare, with poor outcomes. Too much spent on interventions for people who are at an age appropriate for death.
There is no need for tax money to be spent on alternative energy Programs. The free market is doing its job, and petroleum will not be the main fuel of the future.
Infrastructure — yes. We do need to spend tax money on that. Amen to your proposal that the money be retrieved by curtailing our military adventures.
Mass transit will become self-supporting as private driving becomes prohibitively expensive.
- ron paul for president!
That was a refreshing post! Thanks for the common sense Az-Lender.
I don’t want to pay for your welfare or health care or any of the LA welfare queens. I don’t want to pay for Boone Pickens windmills.The schools have too much money and too many bad teachers who don’t teach. Don’t take my gas tax and waste it on rapid transit (I live in a rural county). Oil will be in use for a hundred years. Dump the nuc waste at Yucca Mtn. or in Searchlight , NV for Harry Reid. When in doubt, FOLLOW THE MONEY.
I think you guys are over looking the obvious - if we were to institute a mandatory draft for all of the over 65s we could take care of those nasty social security/medicare/prescription drug/bad drivers in West Palm Beach problems AND teach Al-Quada a lesson!
Its a Win-Win!!
There is no need for tax money to be spent on alternative energy Programs. The free market is doing its job
Which free market would that be? Oil companies rake in billions in tax breaks every year in tribute to their political bribes. And we spend hundreds of billions a year in the Middle East to secure and stabilize crude oil production and distribution.
What does the US taxpayer get in return? We pay the world market price for crude like everyone else from Bombay to Botswana. Americans don’t get to purchase crude oil on terms any more favorable than the rest of the world who don’t lift a finger or risk a life. All amounts to a pretty hefty subsidy for oil.
I’d like to see a free-market fairy tale where no industry gets subsidies, but the political reality is that large, established industries have a massive advantage in spreading money around and wielding political influence, to benefit their industry at the expense of the public and stifle the emergence of newcomer competitors.
So targeted tax breaks for the up-and-coming clean energy industry, with environmental and tech-spinoff benefits and reduced dependence on foreign supply sources (requiring hideously expensive military deployments paid for not by the industry but by the US taxpayer), seems like a reasonable offset to the manipulations of the establishment oil industry and its kept politicians.
AZ_LENDER:
You’re in a dream world. What schools are we spending money on? All we’ve done is cut from school programs. How does that help? Perhaps it helps YOU? Because you live in a gated community and your kids go to a private school? Possibly?
Healthcare? WHAT are we spending on healthcare? Who’s the money going to? ME? YOU? Let us know.
Alternative energy? Who’s going to fund it then? Concerned (cough) citizens like yourself?
Mass transit will become self-supporting???? LOL…You’re dreaming. You live in a country where no one gives a hoot about his or her neighbour…do you honestly think things will just self correct?
Man…I’ve never seen such denial…you’re completely off your crocker.
I’ve got to agree with the lender on this one.
I’m writing in Ron Paul on my ballot.
Mike
Surrender?
Oh you mean peace.
Well…
Let’s see…the cost of “surrender” would be:
A) money for schools - you know…those silly stupid places our current children have no funding to attend.
B) money for healthcare…you know…that thing that we rely on to save our lives occasionally
C) money for alternative energy programs - you know…the future of our country’s energy requirements, creating cleaner air, cleaner water, cleaner crops.
D) money for infrastructure - you know…that pesky system that is falling apart and is what we use everyday and depend on.
E) money for public transport and services…you know…those things we would like to take as alternatives to driving our cars but we can’t…because we don’t have it.
Oh gosh…I could go on and on…but yeah…”surrender” is very expensive you are right.
So let’s continue fighting…let’s continue killing. It creates a wonderfully balanced society…as we are seeing today…don’t you think?
http://rawpoly.blogspot.com/
very strange….why the double post and different caps?
Noz, “surrender” and “peace” can logically be mutually exclusive.
Had we “surrendered” to the Axis forces in WW2, would this have led to peace? What would the cost of “peace” have been? Spraken zie Deutch?
Have another toke, man. It is indeed fortunate that there are people who are willing to put their lives on the line, day in and day out, in order to give you the opportunity to display your asininity.
Speaking of asininity, its time for certain Americans to grow up and realize that it’s not 1938 any longer, we’re not fighting the Axis, Russkie tanks are not about to overrun the USA, Osama bin Laden will not become King of America, Saddam didn’t do 9/11, world history isn’t a cartoon book…
…and that this whole “war” scam is nothing but a slash, burn and loot operation by military industry. That is what American soldiers are dying for, and not for you or me.
When are you fools going to wake up to that and cease wrecking this country, which is what you all are doing?
Wow, it’s hard to even know where to begin with that one. WWII compared to the war in Iraq.
Just goes to show you, just because someone was not deluded by the RE propaganda is no guarantee the person routinely avoids being taken in by propaganda.
IAT
Wow, JT, hard to even know where to begin with that one. WWII compared to Iraq.
Just goes to show, just because someone was not taken in by RE propaganda does not mean they are able to fend off other propaganda (e.g., Iraq has weapons of mass destruction).
Sad. Very sad.
IAT
Oh please….stop with this patriotic crap. Learn something about the history of your country and what’s it’s been involved with before you look as ignorant as you do.
I can clearly see the “fear and warmongering” machine has got a nice strong grip on you.
Had we “surrendered” to the Axis forces in WW2, would this have led to peace? What would the cost of “peace” have been? Spraken zie Deutch?
Japan attacked us, while the Germans declared war on us the day after Japan bombed Pearl Harbor. By contrast, *none* of the 19 terrorists who attacked us on 9-11 were Iraqi. Most were Saudis, 2 were from U.A.E., 1 was Egyptian:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Organizers_of_the_September_11,_2001_attacks#Hijackers_list_compiled_by_FBI
Perhaps FDR should have declared war on Canada following Pearl Harbor?
I recall us surrendering to the North Vietnamese(Peace with Honor is what I think they called it at the time) and I don’t know how to say anything in Vietnamese.
Maybe the third time’s the charm–my apologies if multiple posts show up.
WOW, JT, I don’t know where to start with that. I mean, comparing WWII and Iraq. WOW.
It just goes to show that just because someone can avoid being taken in by RE propaganda does not mean they have the insight and good sense to avoid being taken in by jingoistic propaganda.
Sad. Very sad.
IAT
There’s a rare bird, almost extinct!…
The devout neo-con chicken-hawk
Who are you referring to Aladinsane?
Surrender…to WHO ?
Osama bin Laden’s Taxi driver?
Saddam’s duct tape and Balsa wood inter-continental Drones of DEATH ?
The evildoer terroist Army of the Duchy of Grand Fenwick hidding in Afghanistan ?
No..We shall fight the the streetgang al Queada Forever…or until they GET OFF of OUR CHEAP Oil and leave us alone
“Yeah.. wars are expensive. Now try this one: How must does surrender cost?”
We surrendered to the military industrial complex a long time ago, at tremendous cost. Where is the enemy that justifies spending more on “defense” than the rest of the world combined?
How must does surrender cost?
Cost of a ticket home? They could proly get a bulk rate.
Why argue with these guys? It’s good to know who the 30 percenters are. That way you can avoid and dismiss them, as needed.
Remember, they are not armed, and thus of no consequence.
It could cost us Iraq. That really makes one think about all the soldiers that died to keep India British. They had a nasty time in Iraq, too. Perhaps that’s an Empire thing. Right now the biggest threat to US security is the fallout from our own military actions.
Gay Puckett, an agent in Austin………….
Come on! They’re making these up.
So now we know what happened to Gary after the Union Gap broke up.
LOL
~~~This boy is a woman now… He’s learned how to give..~~~~
Now that’s just wrong! LOL
Did you guys see the earlier thread where a realtor had the last name Faux? What kind of salesperson would keep a name like that?
Update: He decided that Faux wasn’t a good name for a RE agent, so he changed it to Cheatum!
There is a car salesman in SW Arkansas with the name “Teeter”. For a while he would run state-wide ads for “Teeter the Cheater”. Really.
Is the guy from Northwest Arkansas the same Realwhore that has the (16) brats that has been on the news lately? I think that Rodgers & Springdale are real close to “Beaver” Lake. Any chances he is one and the same? Bet he will come up with a deal, when he is about to lose his orphanage. Bus tour and a free spay job! Should keep the copperhead kissers happy.
Real Estate never go’s down in Bella Vista
There has been in the last few months on national news a realtywhore bragging that he and his born-again whore have procreated (16) rug-rats and will be gladto tell you how they do it affordably. For a price. These pucks live in the Rodgers-Bentonville-Fayetteville-Springdale area.
Is this the same one you are talking about?
If so, someone should tell him, that realty doesn’t go up for ever in Bella Vista.
Somehow I suspect when he takes the retires from KC & Wichita by his underwater orphanage in the bus and offers the free “spay” job, that it will not be much of an inducement!
The copperheads kissers are really upset tho. (18) more mouths to feed.
Sorry
Who chopped down the Money Tree?
=========================================
‘Trees Don’t Grow to the Skies’ seminar required at every investment bank, commercial bank, investment manager and mortgage lender in the land, and mandatory meditation sessions for the directors of these institutions who sat by and watched the leveraging of America go on without muttering a word. Now that I think of it, it might be essential for the regulators of such institutions as well.”
‘Trees Don’t Grow to the Skies’ seminar required at every investment bank, commercial bank, investment manager and mortgage lender in the land, and mandatory meditation sessions for the directors of these institutions who sat by and watched the leveraging of America go on without muttering a word.
———————————————————————–
Hey, numbnuts, you keeping your job depends on you keeping your mouth shut, Kapeesh?
This is more of a systemic issue. Once a bank comes up with some great deal or product either regulators call foul and remove it from play, or all other banks are forced to come up with something similar. This is part of what went wrong with subprime in this bubble. All the bankers knew the game they were playing, but just like the appraisers who needed to lie to stay in business they had few good alternatives available to them.
$100 to see a stuck pig playing Dead?
=========================================
“She brainstorms ideas, hanging on to some, quickly discarding others. One day in June she wonders aloud: Could she run a fundraiser? ‘We’ll invite 300 people, at $100 apiece,’ Murzin-Pelcz figures. ‘That would be $30,000. We could get that guy who does a pig roast. I could play my old Grateful Dead albums.’”
A few months ago, a neighbor had a fundraising party that featured not one, but three live bands. I went and had a great time.
Know how much it cost to get in? Five bucks. For live bands and all the pizza and beer you could stomach.
..When she needed to tap into the home’s equity to help pay for a divorce, she agreed to refinance..
..and so began her financial troubles.
That’s weird.. no ex-hubby to help pay the bills? No child support? The judge gave her custody and felt she could make it on her own as a part time teacher with all of her financial obligations? Something don’t add up, imo.
Read the article, she has 2 grown daughters living with her. I don’t think she needs a miracle. Those 2 grown daughters need to get off their backsides and help Mom pay for the roof over their heads.
I wonder if she tapped into the home equity to buy her husbands interest in the house?
I know of quite a few women who got reemed by some judge. Got the kids, the payments, and no “dad”, just what turned out to be a sperm donor. And some women who are getting wages garnished while making 40k, while ex makes 250k.
Now, I know a few guys who got reemed and no custody rights as well +, so it goes both ways. But there are some bad judges out there. And who wins?
Attorneys.
No dads, moms, or kids, just judges and attorneys.
“All that I am asking for is ten gold dollars
And I could pay you back with one good hand
You can look around about the wide world over
And you’ll never find another honest man.”
….
“Everybody’s breakin’ and drinkin’ that wine
I can tell the Queen of Diamonds by the way she shines
Come to daddy on the inside straight,
Well I got no chance of losin’ this time”
“Loser”, Grateful Dead
“In the thick of the evening when the dealing got rough,
She was too pat to open and too cool to bluff.
As I picked up my matches and was closing the door,
I had one of those flashes Id been there before, been there before.”
“Scarlet Begonia’s”, Grateful Dead
Another oldie:
“Morning Due.”
Hum a few bars….
Speaking of Hunter/Garcia
Some folks would be happy
just to have one dream come true
but everything you gather
is just more that you can lose
“Mission in the Rain”
Always think and chuckle when I hear the line “but everything you gather
is just more that you can lose”
Seen it too many times…….. We’ve all seen it too many times.
I think I saw that plan on the “Brady Bunch”…
I received a letter stating my property value increased and I would be subject to the maximum two percent bump in value for next year’s taxes.
California is effectively bankrupt. The state is in deep trouble and cannot afford to be generous with Prop 8 tax reductions. This year people grumble, next year they’ll walk away in even greater numbers.
Anyone know how California taxes versus expectations are currently trending? I’d love to see a chart showing the growing spread!
Got Popcorn?
Neil
somuns has gotz to support them there illegals. and i nominate Neil. thanks neil.
The current spread is some 17 Billion, income to wishful budget.
The kicker: Cali is a 2/3 yes vote state when it comes to budget approval. After years of gerrymandered districts that have produced an Assembly of 40% hard-right Republicans and 60% way-progressive Democrats - they simply cannot meet in the middle.
So when the Gov suggests 9 Billion in cuts, and 8 Billion in taxes, the Repub’s want zero news taxes and the Demo’s demand zero cuts.
Some say a budget will be approved in 2 weeks. Personally I think Oct. 1st at the earliest.
What’s scary about the budget is that the longer they take to pass:
1. The wider the spread (Thanks for the $17B current number)
2. The more difficult its becoming to secure the required financing. (Thanks Mr. Housing Bubble!)
3. The less businesses and consumers could afford a tax hike.*
At this point, the impasse could be a good thing.
* Let’s not pretend that the legislature is actually going to tax their Hollywood friends. They always manage to find enough deductions. Personally, I think the first ~$150k of income (earned or not) should pay Social security, medicare, etc.
As to paying for the illegals… if this state doesn’t start to invest more into the middle class, they’ll see flight. Actually… I think I see evidence of it starting (but its not a strong enough trend… yet).
Got Popcorn?
Neil
The tanker is 1/2 mile from the rocks going 18 knots an hour. It may take a while to crash but I don’t think they can avoid it.
So true. Its unavoidable.
We’re at the point where the Captain is organizing a tikki torch party on the deck to distract the crew…
Got Popcorn?
Neil
Get rid of the 10 million illegals in Ca and we’ll save 15 billion. Budget solved.
Pure idiocy. A statement not at all well thought out and merely culled from too many hours listening to AM talk radio, methinks.
I heard that most hourly and salaried state workers are getting paid minimum wage until the budget is approved. I bet they won’t get their actual pay . They’ll probably get a huge paycut when all the squabbling is over.
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: tax increases are counter-productive, California’s government will always spend more money than they take in, always. Raising taxes won’t help balance the budget at all; it’ll just take money from people who need it, so that our state government can waste it. I’m with the republicans: no tax increases, they don’t help anything.
Ooof, I cannot read any more about taxes without saying:
I just heard some radio guy go OFF about this, small business owners paying more than a 1/3 of their income, and the “politics of envy”, and how poor people don’t even have to pay income tax (although they do pay taxes at the grocery store and sometimes payroll) and on and on. His solution was to cut every social program known to mankind. But you need taxes to invest in infrastructure. You want to live without a fire station and a police station and a bunch of ignorant citizens who never received a decent education? How about a military? Or roads? Go live in the woods. Then you can be surrounded by real bears (no bulls in the woods, hee). See how well you really do without society.
Anyone who thinks janitors and waitresses have the tax system at their disposal ought to do what every detective does: follow the money. Campaign contributions don’t come from welfare queens and PACs aren’t funded by gas station attendants.
http://marketplace.publicradio.org/display/web/2008/08/12/corporate_tax_outrage/
Every time I hear about the saviour free market, I look at the US health system and say no thanks. It could not be more inefficient, packed full of middlemen (ON TOP OF bureaucrats, and their mutual interests) and the lobbying that goes on in Washington comes from the private sector.
Innovation in drug and treatment methods is actually being held back by patent gridlock right now.
Or the US military? Has it been more effective to bring the free market in there? Contractors are better then regular soldiers? A pure free market is like every other utopian dream: great in theory and never going to happen. Ham-fisted democracy with attempts at regulation is as good as it’s going to get. And it’s not glamourous and involves boring discussions and paying taxes. It involves compromise, in other words.
If a functioning democracy requires intelligent, educated citizens, it requires a reasonable level of school funding which requires taxes AND intelligent organization which is supposed to come from elected government officials who are supposed to be answerable to citizens who are supposed to get involved in the first place. I am tired of waiting for the Easter Bunny, I mean an unregulated free market, to arrive.
I salute the Ron Paulers because they are getting involved and putting their money and time where their mouth is. However, I am not a Ron Paul gal myself (obviously).
Had to get it out of my system! Thanks to anyone who made it to the end of my post! I am going to go make some muffins and try to calm down over here.
That simplifies things a bit. Most of the spending in California is mandated by voters, so the room available for legislators to work with is extremely limited. Oddly enough, it is well understood that the voter mandates conflict and overlap, so they are explicitly selectively ignored or trimmed back in all budgets.
The thing about odd districts and conservatives and progressives getting stuck is kind of true, though there has been a strong movement over time toward liberal voting. Most of the core suburban districts around big cities used to be conservative and now are solidly liberal, so the mix is dynamic.
Data point for CA east bay.
I stopped on the way to work this morning to get bagels on the way to work. While I was getting my 16 bagel box, the owner was picking out an assortment into a bag, 100, for, he said, GE. Every friday they do it.
He told me that he used to have over 20 corporate customers who did the same thing. Now it’s down to 3 or 4. Then he got all wistful and started talking about the Dot-Com days…
“Data point for CA east bay.”
I’ll add one for Marin County, CA. I had a technician come to look at repairing some windshield cracks…he advised against repair and said the car should go to the dealer to get the windshield replaced. Then he apologized about the bad news…there was no danger in driving the car as is, in case I wanted to wait, given “the economy is so bad right now.”
I can only imagine the number of FB’s he sees these days who throw up their hands at the thought of having to shell out their insurance deductible to get a windshield replaced.
And in Marin, the land of the wealthy and financially savvy -);
Lisa,
It has been my experience that the dealers don’t do the work but farm it out. Check with a mechanic inside the dealer shop and he can give you the name of the glass shop; you’ll definitely save over going to the dealer by probably 50%.
Reminds me of a true story from a couple of years ago; I believe it was in NYC — seems there was a rash of windshield vandalism, and when they found the perpetrator, you guessed it, it was a local windshield repairman.
Cracked Windshield and take it to the dealer. Forget it. Pay arm and a leg for it. I replaced mine with a new one at a local shop for $110 and they even fixed my passenger power window to boot. If your car is out of warranty, never take it to the dealer. Many bad experiences.
Every car insurance policy I’ve ever seen had zero deductible for windshield replacement. Maybe this guy had zero insurance?
“Today, it’s a little more difficult because you’re not seeing the values escalate at 12 to 15 percent a year like we were not too many years ago,” he said. “(Buyers) have to be more careful because it may take them longer to flip it.”
This guy is a BANKER? And he thinks he is still loaning money to people who are going to ‘flip’ the property?? Holy crap!
This guy is a BANKER? And he thinks he is still loaning money to people who are going to ‘flip’ the property?? Holy crap!
—————————————————————————-
what grand manner of things could I do if I were but FDIC insured.
Hey, he’s gotta make money, ya know? BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! (Apologies to pussycat)
The Real Cost of a Full Bailout.
8/22/2008
A recent study from the Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has zero credibility. It pegged likely taxpayer losses in the Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bailouts at $25 billion. For those with a sense of history, it is worth remembering that the S&L bailout had a $160 billion price tag. The numbers diverge so far from reality as to be laugh-out-loud funny. Funny, that is, except that the CBO estimate demonstrates a willful disconnect with the actual consequences of federal government actions.
http://mises.org/story/3062#
Did you know that they snuck a bailout of Chrysler in the Housing Bailout Bill? Oh yeah, and now Chrysler has it’s hand out for more taxpayer $$$ along with Ford and GM.
http://biz.yahoo.com/rb/080822/autos_bailout.html?.v=2
That review has no credibility. The study from the CBO was primarily concerned with subprime. The garbage in, garbage out rule always applies. As the CBO to study the whole mortgage market and the answer will probably be different. All of the math is published with the CBO report, so if you disagree with the numbers then the burden is on you to make public corrections.
This review neglects the most important point: That a full bailout is not going to happen. Even just looking at the timing, the process of defaults becoming foreclosures is already well along and going much faster than the speed of legislation. Even if some laws were made as early as mid-2009, the loans left to bail out would only be a fraction of the total. The amounts of money are beyond what the government has available anyway.
Mises is best when they stick hard to the math. In this case they are getting loose with assumptions and the result is nonsense.
“The economic elites were convinced that everything was just fine. Their new mantra is ‘who could have known?’”
If they had read more blog and less academic papers…
I don’t buy that BS. You can’t tell me these “academics” have no common sense. This stinks to high heaven. It’s just as bad as the crack dealer busted with the goods in his pants who tells the officer “they’re not my pants”. Yeah, sure, whatever…
I don’t actually know how to separate the null hypothesis that these guys were quite late figuring out the problems under their noses from the alternative hypothesis that they saw the problems all along but avoided openly discussing them for fear of sparking a financial panic.
I’ve got own hypothesis: they knew exactly what was happening (what they were doing) all along, and were secretly feeding midnight snacks to the elephant under the rug. They were blinded by GREED.
Well. I know a lot of academics, tons, literally tons, and many of them are economists. Based on my conversations with them I’d say no more than 1 in 500 knew anything about what’s happening even 6 months ago.
It would be nice if getting a Ph.D. meant people had skills to critically evaluate what was happening around them. Perhaps they do, but they are people, so whether they bring their critical faculties to bear, when all around they hear what they want to hear–well, no piece of paper can guarantee integrity, intellectual or otherwise.
IAT
*my* own hypothesis
” critically evaluate”
I have said it before and will say it again: critical thinking should be taught in school. The majority of students have gotten used to a “what’s the right answer, a,b,c or d?” model which does nothing to help with critical thought. Also: how to apply critical thinking when consuming journalism and debating skills. Also, cooking nutritiously and basic manners. Why cannot I be Queen? Oh, yeah, I believe in democracy (blush).
“Their new mantra is ‘who could have known?’”
That’s everybody’s strategy these days (see also “I don’t recall”)
Dan Quail was a pretty smart cookie, after all.
“What a waste it is to lose one’s mind. Or not to have a mind is being very wasteful. How true that is.”
Oops, sorry, Dan Quayle. My fingers are worse at spelling than my eyes! Glad I didn’t make a potatoe joke
“Eventually, Mr. Blackburn said he took his house off the market after pricing it so low that he couldn’t afford to sell it. When the market improves, he said, he plans to try again. ”I think the pace of buying homes has damn near stopped,’ Blackburn said.”
Ah, yes, another member of the When The Market Improves cult.
These people are delusional. They’ll be wearing adult diapers or worse when fantasy prices return.
Do you mean because they’ll be old or because they’ll be crappin’ their pants when they find out it’s not going to happen? I guess it all DEPENDS!
“When The Market Improves cult.”
This really deserves some serious discussion.
In my neighborhood, the number of listings that have been withdrawn (unsold) in the last 2 years is huge, many more than the number sold during the same period.
How much of this inventory will be re-surfacing? At what point will those sellers realize that their strategy is wrong-headed? And what part are Realtors playing in keeping those “optional” sellers off the market, denying them their last opportunities to sell at still inflated (albeit past-peak) prices?
Here in Tucson, the UHS crowd is crowing over the fact that inventory is declining.
But I think Giacomo’s pointed out what’s really happening. Listings are being withdrawn because the properties can’t be sold for such stratospheric prices.
“crowing over the fact that inventory is declining.”
This is very much the case around Sacramento as well. Realtors and MSM are making much of the raw sales count in the Valley, often failing to mention what portion of these are distressed sales.
Perversely, local Realtors are using this twisted interpretation to market to first-time buyers, essentially calling a “NEAR-bottom” (allowing that there might be some further slight prices declines).
Nearly everyone’s forgotten, but last year the California Association of Realtors openly called for agents to discourage listings that were “optional” sellers, in a brazen attempt to manipulate inventory levels. Perhaps it has worked.
Certainly, somehow, a huge number of people who would like to sell have got it into their heads that they would be better off waiting (my landlord is one). The truth is that, each individual’s best option is probably getting on the market and getting sold ASAP.
Listen for the wailing and gnashing of teeth one year from now, when the opportunity has passed and the realization hits.
Nearly everyone’s forgotten, but last year the California Association of Realtors openly called for agents to discourage listings that were “optional” sellers, in a brazen attempt to manipulate inventory levels. Perhaps it has worked.
I was looking for that reference. Expect quite a bump up in inventory in 2009. Not to mention those foreclosures eventually will hit the market. Bwwwaaaahaaaahaaaa! (Pardon FastPussycat) Near bottom? With with the mortgage secondary market basically halted?
Time to go see if any bank failed this Friday…
Got Popcorn?
Neil
you said it.. “last opportunity”.
Assuming it were somehow possible to box and store a house in it’s own attic, optional-sellers’ houses will soon be gathering dust next to the Beanie Babies and Pet Rocks.
Yeah, I’ve been thinking about this “When the Market Improves” stuff myself.
Traditionally in America, economic downturns lasted many years, like the panic of 1819 or the Great Depression. More recently, a bunch of bankers and academics came to believe these episodes could be shortened, or avoided all together through clever management.
Thanks to the Web, it’s now possible, in near-real time, to watch as it begins to dawn on the empty suits who thought they were in charge of macroeconomic trends that Humpty Dumpty is off the wall.
In 2047 he’ll get his price. There’s always a “WHEN”, unless you’re talking about Detroit.
By 2047, they might get the nominal prices of 2005….. might.
“When The Market Improves” cult
If you are very patient and wait in the pumpkin patch on Hallowe’en, you can sometimes catch a glimpse of the Great Market as it Improves.
At Christmastime, Father Market climbs down your chimney (even if you still owe money on the chimney) and leaves big surprises under your tree.
In the springtime the Easter Market goes from door to door giving out baskets of equities.
In the summer, nothing happens, and that, children, is why we have “The Summer Doldrums”
The End.
So:
eCONomic Know-Nothings are still very much in charge, asleep @ the wheel?
========================================
“The economic elites were convinced that everything was just fine. Their new mantra is ‘who could have known?’”
“The same group of economists that led the economy into this catastrophe still has its hands on the wheel. Holding them accountable for their disastrous performance is simply not on the agenda.”
“In Hyde Park, Janet and Richard Cunningham are eager to find a buyer for a two-bedroom condominium, where their daughter lived while attending graduate school. The Cunninghams have lowered the price to $185,000 from $190,000.”
Wow! They’re GIVING IT AWAY!
LOL!
Straight out of a movie: “NOOOOOOOOOooooooooooooo!”
Richie Cunningham: Come on, Fonz, haven’t you ever dreamed?
The Fonz: Hey I’m not the dreamer! I’m the dreamee!
“Wow! They’re GIVING IT AWAY!”
If they were really smart, they price it $184,999.99. Maybe that will be the next price.
“The same group of economists that led the economy into this catastrophe still has its hands on the wheel. Holding them accountable for their disastrous performance is simply not on the agenda.”
Why would it be an agenda? They’re all friends and they all work together. They aren’t about to bring each other down while they are already planning another scheme to make you part your money and make it worthless.
“The same group of economists that led the economy into this catastrophe still has its hands on the wheel. Holding them accountable for their disastrous performance is simply not on the agenda.”
This is just infuriating. I wish I had an answer as to how to root out these imbeciles, but it appears impossible at this point. This sort of stuff really makes my blood boil.
”We haven’t really budged (on our asking price) because we feel like it’s still early,” he said.
Not only is there no mass transit in Cranbury, the clue train doesn’t stop there either.
If they have phone service, it’s the clue phone on line one.
‘the clue train doesn’t stop there either.’
A really, really fine word-turn. That one goes in my bag of handy putdowns.
“In 2006, Debra Lynn Lawrence of Northridge, Calif., invested $600,000 of an inheritance with Charlevoix to build homes at its Montage community in Chandler. ‘I’ve been run through the wringer on this,’ Lawrence said. ‘I’m wondering how I’m ever going to get my money back.’”
In 2006 it was obvious what was going on as far as there being a bubble and this woman should have steered clear of it, but like the lotto winner with no brains they manage to parlay a fortune into nothing. If I had a $600K windfall I’d nail it to the wall in CD’s and start planning my immediate retirement.
Mo: I’d be packing up for some small island. Maybe it’s just age, but I find the older I get the more of the population seems to get just plain stupid.
This example further illustrates that money won’t change a person. So here’s a blunt word/warning to the wise:
If you are 1) a person, and 2) you expect a windfall someday, and 3) you are not currently satisfied with what you have, that future windfall is ultimately destined to reside in someone else’s pocket.
joey, that’s pretty good advice. the trick to wealth is largely your attitude.
are they crazy, the number one dumbest-person-with-money I know is probably your age (early 60s), while most of my peers (ie my friends in their 20s and 30s) are squirreling away money for the days after you’ve broken social security (we’re pretty terrified), so easy where you throw the stones, woman. Alan Greenspan isn’t exactly a spring chicken.
huh, I just wanted to add to my comment that the blame is pretty equally spread with respect to age. In case it looks like I’m blaming the old ‘uns when there are plenty of dumb young ‘uns, too. But suggesting current fiscal crises are because of the crazy kids these days is not fair at all, especially when you think of who will ultimately be paying the piper.
Not sure about how equally distributed it is. I don’t see statistics. Obviously if 5,000,000 60 year olds don’t save but 5,000,001 20-somethings don’t save, one can easily spin that 20-somethings spend too much.
I know very thrifty people in different generations. I also know incorrigible spenders in several generations.
Most of us here on the HBB are good savers and I know there are 20 somethings and 40 somethings who post here.
It’s a matter of personal discipline, which can be developed at any age, but admittingly gets easier to do the longer you practice that discipline.
“I know very thrifty people in different generations. I also know incorrigible spenders in several generations.”
this is what I am saying. I don’t have statistics. Even if I did, it’s not just about quantity, it’s quality, too. People currently guiding public policy are, for example *not* young. If teens and twenty-something less thrifty than the people guiding public policy and banking institutions…well, I know who I am more concerned with!! I mean, Ben Bernanke can go overbudget at the Gap this weekend, and buy some pants he doesn’t really need, and I won’t mind. Bailing out Fannie & Freddie…
“It’s a matter of personal discipline, which can be developed at any age, but admittingly gets easier to do the longer you practice that discipline.”
Very true, and my third-favourite thing about growing older.
“I know very thrifty people in different generations. I also know incorrigible spenders in several generations.”
this is what I am saying. I don’t have statistics. Even if I did, it’s not just about quantity, it’s quality, too. People currently guiding public policy are, for example *not* young. If teens and twenty-something less thrifty than the people guiding public policy and banking institutions…well, I know who I am more concerned with. I mean, Ben Bernanke can go over budget at the Gap this weekend, and buy some pants he doesn’t really need, and I won’t mind. Bailing out Fannie & Freddie…
(part of my post got lost, I think - apologies if this repeats):
Bush “Wall street got drunk, now they have a hangover”
Truth “Wall street got drunk and stayed that way for 5 years
While drunk they continued to drive the economy
The police (BUSH) saw them but did not pull them over
They went real fast
They crashed the economy
They have a headache
NEWS FLASH The vehicle was un insured headache much bigger
Today’s bank failure:
Columbian Bank and Trust Company, Topeka, KS
http://www.fdic.gov/bank/individual/failed/columbian.html
Got Popcorn?
Neil
..total assets of $752 million and total deposits of $622 million..
Sadly (for the gloom-n-doomers) it’s too late to panic.. Citizens Bank and Trust has already absorbed the failed bank.
http://www.fdic.gov/news/news/press/2008/pr08069.html
My Colombian wife is going to be pissed when she finds out!!!
They are spreading out the bank failures, so as not to alarm the hoi polloi too much.
That’s how i’d do it, if I was Sheila Bair, and knew that I had $40 Billion in the FDIC kitty, staring down the barrel of over $800 Billion in deposits, 95% of which are going to be uninsured, after the do re mi runs out.
No doubt. It also seems like the FDIC is ‘looking the other way’ on a few larger banks to keep panic at bay. Or are they just waiting for a long holiday weekend?
But something will start another bank run at a weak bank. What? I don’t know. But too many banks are vulnerable. It would only take one large bank failure to change the nation’s mood.
Got Popcorn?
Neil
Um, maybe after the election?
approximately $46 million in uninsured deposits
Another 46 million removed from savers to support the pigmen.
And this was a bank in Topeka, Kansas, far away from the specuvestors of California. It just shows how deep this mess is, and how the stock market is in complete denial. Then again, why shouldn’t the stock market rally–taxpayers will keep eating losses for all these companies going belly up.
http://cjonline.com/stories/082208/bre_bank.shtml
Ok, I checked 2 days of B-buckets and didn’t see it posted, surprisingly.
UK government says home sales data might be wrong
“The British government withdrew most of its home sales statistics for the last three years on Thursday because of doubts about the accuracy of the figures.”
Does this sound fishy to any else? Have British sales prices trended up over that time or down?
Whoops. Linky:
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2008/08/21/ap5346258.html
Have British sales prices trended up over that time or down?
According to the link, the govt trend has been upwards while private stats have shown a downward trend.. I don’t see it as fishy..
Admitting the govt stats are wrong is actually a slap to the face of the govt. Imaginative conspiratorialists are free to disagree.
I thought it was a good sign - the gov’t was willing to admit their stats were wrong and take them down. Maybe I misinterpreted.
Or perhaps I did. I’m probably reading more into it, but it almost sounded like, “we didn’t like the numbers, so we took them down.”
Or, alternatively, a FannieandFreddie-like restatement of earnings.
Overestimated the overestimation. Got caught.
Misunderestimated.
“To surrounding residents, the vacant home and the cleared field around it are a safety hazard and breeding ground for mischief. Neighbors hear gunshots late at night, and the area has become a dumping ground, littered with crushed beer cans and spent fireworks. The site was left derelict by Summerville Homes, which once planned to build about 30 homes there.”
They should rename the subdivision “Slummerville Homes.”