The Ugly Scar That Is Slow To Fade In Florida
The St Petersburg Times reports from Florida. “What happens when big spenders with disposable income neither spend nor dispose? The area’s high-end real estate market is finding out. Sales of million-dollar-plus homes in Hillsborough and Pinellas counties plunged 42 percent from 2006 to 2008, from 554 to 321. This year, million-dollar transactions are even harder to find. Some luxury builders who specialize in the million-dollar-plus market report peak-to-valley sales declines of 80 percent. Upscale builder Mark Maconi declared bankruptcy, and some of its competitors are adjusting to leaner times.”
“‘The meat of our market is in the million-dollar price range — or was,’ said Charley Hannah of Tampa’s Hannah Bartoletta Homes.”
“A particularly stubborn segment are super premium Taj Mahal homes. Examples include the 25,000-square-foot mansion in Avila built by ex-corporate raider Paul Bilzerian and the $19 million bachelor pad near Tarpon Springs owned by former NBA basketball player Matt Geiger. Both have languished. ‘Derek Jeter paid $7 million for the lot alone. No one’s ever going to buy that house,’ said Ed Gunning, a Realtor who sells luxury homes ‘Why would you buy someone else’s house for $25 million? You’d build your own house. Those are monuments to yourself.’”
“Another problem is appraisals. With so few sales against which to compare prices, banks are going with the lowest, to the chagrin of sellers and Realtors.”
“Hannah has weathered another phenomenon: wealthy buyers who want the shirt off his back, and maybe the skin underneath for good measure. Hannah faced the wrath of disappointed buyers when he listed a former $2 million model home in MiraBay, a Key West-style saltwater community in Apollo Beach. Hannah chopped the price to $1.2 million, but the house hunter offered $700,000. That didn’t even cover Hannah’s land and construction costs.”
“‘I can appreciate them being savvy buyers, but at some point reasonable is reasonable,’ the builder said. ‘The anger has caught me off guard. They’ll call you names and fault your morality. I’ve been called stupid and crazy for not taking the deal.’”
From TC Palm. “Famed attorney Willie Gary was among thousands of Martin County land owners who failed to pay their property taxes on time. ‘Right now, we’re just kind of sitting on the dollars,’ Gary said about his $239,196 in unpaid taxes on five properties he owns with his wife Gloria. ‘I’m going to pay my taxes, but strategy wise, and specifically with the economy being the way it is, the money that you do have, you’ve just got to hold onto it right now.’”
“Gary and several well-known developers helped Martin County set a new record for delinquent tax bills this year with 4,718 properties in arrears as of the April 1 deadline, county records show. That’s an increase of nearly 13 percent from last year and an 83 percent increase from 2005.”
“‘At the end of the day, obviously, I’ve been back here practicing law for 35 years, so obviously I’ve been paying taxes,’ Gary said. ‘I think it’s an obligation that nobody should be able to shuck. They’ll be getting a check soon. It’s just going to be on my time, rather than on their time.’”
The Sun Sentinel. “New rules to safeguard the integrity of home appraisals are complicating the deals they’re supposed to protect. Real estate agents, mortgage brokers and buyers, as well as homeowners who want to refinance their loans, are feeling the effects of rules designed to prevent inflationary appraisals that helped fuel the housing boom.”
“Chuck Luciano of Keller Williams Realty recently represented a client who agreed to sell a five-bedroom Boca Raton home for $1.085 million. An appraiser from Miami estimated the value at $1.025 million. ‘The seller didn’t want to drop the price, and the buyer said, ‘Why should I pay more than the bank says it’s worth?’ Luciano said. ‘I lost the deal.’”
“Another common complaint: appraisers value properties on the low end to appease lenders, which are scrutinizing appraisals now after suffering large loan losses in recent years. Bill Burton, of Boca Raton, was trying to refinance into a loan with a 4.75 percent interest rate. Burton has a high credit score and lives in an upscale development. But his Deerfield Beach mortgage broker said the bank turned him down after insisting that the appraiser include in his report two sales from a less-desirable community nearby.”
“‘I can’t fathom not being approved,’ Burton said. ‘It’s a disgrace.’”
“But appraisers and the management companies blame the flood of foreclosures and short sales for skewing the value estimates downward. Mortgage brokers and real estate agents are upset because they’ve lost control of appraisals, said Dan Morden, an appraiser in Broward and Palm Beach counties. ‘That’s a bitter pill for them,’ Morden said.”
“The livelihood of real estate agents and mortgage brokers depends on sales, said Guy Cecala, publisher of the Inside Mortgage Finance newsletter. Changes that appear to stand in the way of that are sure to draw criticism. Regardless, more conservative appraisals likely are here to stay, he said. ‘It’s a political reality,’ he said.”
The News Journal. “Florida was one of eight states that set unemployment records for May, with jobless claims reaching 10.2 percent, according to figures released Friday by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation. Flagler County posted the highest jobless rate in the state at 14.4 percent, up from 8.7 percent a year ago. Volusia County reported 10.8 percent unemployment, compared to 5.9 percent last year. And at least one expert says the bad news is not over.”
“‘Florida’s labor market will be the ugly scar that is slow to fade and serves as a reminder of the economic trauma we have endured,’ said economist Sean Snaith, at the University of Central Florida in Orlando. ‘We’re going to experience double-digit pain not just for a few months, but through the middle of 2011.’”
The New York Times. “Earlier this month, the sign outside of Martha Connie Salas’s former real estate agency on Suffolk Avenue here was changed. Down came the banner for Easy Realty..up went the marquee for Casa Latino, heralding the storefront agency’s reinvention, under different ownership, as part of a two-year-old international real estate franchise that has its home base in Florida and gears itself toward the Hispanic market.”
‘Robb Heering, Casa Latino’s CEO…said he started the chain two years ago in Connecticut but moved the headquarters to Florida for a larger potential clientele. If you ‘want to achieve the American dream,’ he explained, ‘you need to understand the reality of the housing market today. We are not waiting for the storm to pass. We are teaching people to dance in the rain.’”
The News Press. “A spacious pool home, direct Gulf of Mexico access or an address in a ritzy, established community. Prized attributes such as these can now be considered by home shoppers in the $125,000 price range — roughly $100,000 to $150,000. That was rarely the case during the frenzied times of 2005, when the median price of existing single-family homes in Lee County reached a record high of $322,300.”
“Waterfront locations may not be likely in North Fort Myers, but canal-side houses certainly are, said Deanna Rogers, broker in North Fort Myers. he cited a homSe in Riverbend, a development located off Bayshore Road, as an example. Built in the 1980s, the three-bedroom, two-bathroom house with a pool sold for $115,000 in March. In 2005, ‘it would have sold easily for $250,000, $280,000,’ she added.”
“For $139,900, someone can by a lushly landscaped, four-bedroom home with a backyard spa located near the Fort Myers Country Club. ‘It has a wonderful, tropical backyard, similar to the Edison backyard,’ said the listing agent, Bari Fischer in Fort Myers. ‘It’s a great location because you’re near the golf course and you’re near McGregor,’ she added. ‘Lots of palms and mature vegetation. basically, it’s a 2002 value. That’s sort of where we are price-wise right now.’”
The Daily Business Review. “The time may soon come when Phillip Biber faces ‘a moral dilemma’ that will help shape the economic future of South Florida. Biber, a real estate investor and appraiser, owns a Pompano Beach condo with a mortgage balance of about $225,000. The condo, purchased for $280,000 in 2005, is now worth less than $175,000, Biber said.”
“Should he continue to pay the mortgage and association fees on a property that is worth at least $50,000 less than he owes or should he cut his losses and walk away from his obligations? He is current on his mortgage but wonders how much longer he will be able to afford the payments. His tenant left and without the rental income, he is having to pony up nearly $1,600 a month.”
“‘I committed that I was going to pay this mortgage, so I do,’ Biber said. ‘But if it comes to paying my light bill versus paying on my third or fourth property, guess what’s going to go before I throw all the cash into the wind?’”
“Those who do walk could fuel a disastrous third wave of foreclosures that would ripple through the South Florida economy. The first wave came in 2007 and involved investors who bought properties hoping to make profits by quickly reselling. When the market soured, lenders seize the properties.
The second wave, in 2008, involved owners who couldn’t pay adjustable mortgages after their interest rates reset to unaffordable levels.”
“When Kenneth Tencer’s tenant lost his job in the car business a few months ago, Tencer lowered the rent on his Aventura condo and let his tenant pay it in installments. The renter still couldn’t afford the $1,300 a month lease and moved out in April. Tencer is paying nearly $2,000 a month to carry his empty condo. For now, Tencer can manage the expenses.”
“Tencer, vice president of lending for Best Beach Lending, is seeing the crisis from two perspectives.
Many of the people that walk into his Miami office want to sell investment properties that are worth less than their debt. Many are considering walking away from those properties, he said.”
“‘They tell me they need to make a decision: ‘Am I going to eat, am I going to pay medical insurance for my family or am I going to pay a mortgage on a property that I don’t even occupy,’ he said.”
The Miami Herald. “Rosa Mendoza’s upstairs neighbor quit making his condo association payments almost a year ago. He bought another home and let his unit slide into foreclosure. What irks Mendoza — no, infuriates her — is that, as the foreclosure process drags on, the neighbor continues using the Miami Beach condo as a weekend getaway, even keeping his sailboat tied to the dock.”
”’What I would love to do is untie that boat of his and let it float away,’ Mendoza said. ‘I would never do it, but I fantasize about it.”’
“The frustration is fed by a legal system that affords considerable protections to delinquent owners — too many protections, in the eyes of some of those who are current with their payments. And so, some associations are meting out their own punishment. Public humiliation is in vogue. At least two condominiums — The Collins in Miami Beach and Island Place in North Bay Village — and probably far more, post lists bearing the names of owners who are behind on fees.”
”’I don’t see it as a bad practice, myself,’ said Jenny Huertas, a resident of The Collins who hopes it will keep her assessments from going up. ‘I guess it’s a way to embarrass them and get their attention that they need to take action.”’
“After appealing to nonpayers’ sense of fairness failed, Eduard Sotolongo, a board member at Island Shores condo, said he started aggressively calling the towing service to haul away their cars when parked in guest spots or other unauthorized spaces. About 16 of 81 units are in foreclosure at the North Miami Beach condo.”
“Towing the car of one offending resident, however, resulted in a threat on his life, Sotolongo said. ‘You feel like buying a shotgun because it feels like the Wild West.”’
“For residents of the Mirassou Condo in Northwest Miami-Dade, where 124 of 310 units are in foreclosure, financial problems reached a crisis in April, when the county water and sewer department cut off water to the complex because it owed more than $100,000. ‘People were screaming. Children were crying. It was pandemonium. People were yelling, ‘We want water! We want water!’ said Katherine Rivera, who bought a unit there last year.”
“She had no idea the condo association was so far behind. The water was restored after the association scraped together several thousand dollars and agreed to a final repayment plan. If they fall behind again, that’s it, Rivera said. ‘If they shut down the water, within 72 hours we could be out on the street,’ Rivera said. ‘People that live here have had to work their entire lives to save up for a home to call their own. If at any point we are considered uninhabitable, those people are left in the street.”’
“For nonpaying condo owners like Rudy Martin, the guilt can be pretty intense. Martin, who quit paying the fees on his Deerfield Beach condo more than a year ago, avoids his neighbors or endures ‘chilly stares.’ He had hoped loan modification would take care of his financial problems, and he felt compelled to explain himself when he ran into neighbors: ‘I felt like I had to talk to them and justify it, so they didn’t think I was scumbagging them.’”
The Palm Beach Post. “Remember Kendra Todd? She’s the hard-working, telegenic Boynton Beach real estate agent who won the third season of Donald Trump’s TV show, The Apprentice.”
“Now she hosts an HGTV cable show entitled, ‘My House is Worth What?’ The show helps homeowners figure out their home’s market value. But homebuyer Diane Harris probably wished Todd had a different show - perhaps one entitled, ‘My Closing Costs Are Worth What?’”
“Harris said Todd used her Apprentice success ‘to lull unsuspecting victims into her scheme to defraud,’ according to a Palm Beach County Circuit Court lawsuit filed against Todd by Harris earlier this month.”
“Harris, a California resident, says she was drawn to Todd after Todd’s blockbuster 2005 victory in The Apprentice. In January 2007, Harris heard Todd speak at a real estate investors’ club in California. At the meeting, Todd made a pitch for Obra Homes of McAllen, Texas, the complaint alleges. (in 2005, Obra was named the 87th largest home builder in the country. Today, Obra is defunct.)”
“In her lawsuit, Harris claims Todd called the Obra purchase ‘a fantastic investment opportunity” and that only a few lots still were available for sale. Swayed, Harris said she gave Todd a $7,500 deposit for the purchase of a $88,820 home, the lawsuit says. Things went south soon after that. ”
“Leslie Jose Zigel, Todd’s Miami attorney…said the lawsuit was filed simply because Harris’ investment did not turn out as she had hoped. Zigel said Harris has no one to blame but herself for her money woes. ‘This investor attended an investor conference because she was interested in real estate investing,’ Zigel said. ‘She then flew to the development, viewed the home herself and made her own independent decision to purchase an investment property.’”
“Despite the housing market bust, Todd continues to promote her book, Risk & Grow Rich. She also makes frequent television appearances, including on cable shows Fox News and CNN. For instance, in February 2008, she appeared on a CNN segment entitled, ‘Markets Set to Bounce Back.’”
‘People were screaming. Children were crying….‘We want water! We want water!’ said Katherine Rivera’
‘who bought a unit there last year’
Yeah Washington, keep trying to get people to buy into the bubble…
About 150 properties in my part of town (Hyde park and surrounds, Tampa) have sold in the past five months, many for their adjusted zillow estimated values or even higher. And some prices have jumped almost right back up to pre-crash levels.
Evidently, there are a lot of people who can afford almost anything, and who couldn’t care less about what’s happening around them.
I did find one bungalow with a zillow estimate of 400k that supposedly sold for 20k, but perhaps it was a misprint. I remember when the owner was asking 2 million for the place just 2 short years ago.
“I remember when the owner was asking 2 million for the place just 2 short years ago.”
Is that that little street in Hyde Park with all those bungalows? Those are pretty cool. That might be the coolest little area in Tampa.
‘If they shut down the water, within 72 hours we could be out on the street,’ Rivera said. ‘People that live here have had to work their entire lives to save up for a home to call their own. If at any point we are considered uninhabitable, those people are left in the street.”’
The problem with this “home to call their own” business is that in no way are condos anything of the sort. I don’t like to see people tossed into the streets, but some hard lessons are going to have to be learned about the realities of condominiums. They are NOT for the masses, unless they are converted into apartment buildings.
LOL. Your, of course, absolutely right, condos are typically not a “mass market” product. But, frankly, condos weren’t even the worst product. What about “condo-tels”? Now there’s a product that just should never, EVER have even entered the mind of any normal human being!
No, it was on hideous Hills Avenue.
That little bungalow street (reached by foot, rather than by car) over by Hyde Park Village is still bringing ridiculouly high prices.
There IT is again…
“But appraisers and the management companies blame the flood of foreclosures and short sales for skewing the value estimates downward. Mortgage brokers and real estate agents are upset because they’ve lost control of appraisals, said Dan Morden, an appraiser in Broward and Palm Beach counties. ‘That’s a bitter pill for them,’ Morden said.
Why do I just LOVE seeing this paragraph in Print ?
It’s informally known as Bungalow Row. I wish we still built houses in that style. Judging by the premium they command, you’d think the message would have reached the builder community to go retro, but it’s still apparently easier to erect and sell a 4,000 square-foot rectangle.
I was walking my dog yesterday and wandered onto a McMansion property where contruction has ceased indefinitely. The garage had more square footage than some apartments I’ve lived in comfortably.
Ahh, who doesn’t love a Florida thread?
BTW, this is a repost, but Floridians should renew vehicle/license regs by Sep. 1. I saved about $70.
Anyone who is paying attention to science, would not buy anything in South Florida. All of South Florida will be completly flooded and abandoned by 2050. In the next 10 years, the increased hurricanes and sea levels will make it clear to everyone that florida (and almost all lands close to sea level) has no future. By 2020 it will be impossible to finance or insure Florida real estate except thru the state fund. This is almost true allready.
Another global warming HOAX. Must be an algore clone.
That sounds a little out there.
Ahh, who doesn’t love a Florida thread?
And let’s add former Miami Hurricane Bernie Kosar to the mix. Bernie is bankrupt. Too bad, Bernie. Something tells me that this grid iron Donald Trump was speculating in Florida real estate. I could be wrong. I don’t really care. I’m laughing to hard to care.
“Kosar owes almost $1.5 million in “unsecured debt” to the Cleveland Browns, who he played for from 1985 to 1993. Kosar also owes his ex-wife Babette $3 million and $725,000 (from a personal loan) to the owner of the Cleveland Gladiators of the Arena Football League. He owes a bank more than $9 million for bad real estate deals.”
“No one’s ever going to buy that house,’ said Ed Gunning, a Realtor who sells luxury homes ‘Why would you buy someone else’s house for $25 million? You’d build your own house. Those are monuments to yourself.”
I guess Mr. Gunning is a straight shooter, so to speak. I think this man is probably a good realtor.
I was talking about this just the other day. Those really high-end houses have little resale market since the owner was indulging in his own fantasy. Look at the super-fancy houses in California which never sold and ended up being a state park or museum:
- Hearst Castle
- Villa Montalvo
- Filoli
- the Ralston Mansion
As someone else pointed out, “The Breakers” in Newport was sold to a historical trust for $1. Not much return on the Rockerfeller’s investment there.
Here in Boise Jack Simplot’s sprawling mansion was deeded to the state to use as a governor’s mansion.
Palmy posted a link to a Vanity Fair article about the Hamptons. Lots of mansions there are torn down after sale because the new owner has his own fantasy in mind.
Yeah, same with a bunch of stuff throughout New York State.
Google Boldt Castle. The dude toke some dynamite to an island to make it heart shaped for his sweetie.
I loved it when Simplot cornered the Potatoe futures on the CBOT one year. Those ‘brokers’ were sqeeking like the pigs they were when they couldn’t cover.
Myself and friends used to love to ride our bicycles on the trails on the Montalvo property that was once one of Leland Stanford’s little meditation pads. In the sixties the spanish styled structures were decaying and rain leaked through the broken tile roofs. Hippies began to use the enourmous lawn and spectacular grounds for weekend “happenings”. Anyone could just drive up the narrow one lane driveway a mile or so at the time, no guardshack, no gates. The huge entry pillars with winged griffins were and still are imposing. The state owns it now, charges I dunno how much to enter and there’s always some soire’ for gazillionaire S.F. peninsula people to see and be seen at going on. It was really cool back in the day though, an abandoned mansion with a enough acres to play in for years only a bicycle ride from home!
“She had no idea the condo association was so far behind.”
… something to consider when you’re partnering with 300 people.
“Famed attorney Willie Gary was among thousands of Martin County land owners who failed to pay their property taxes on time.”
Yup, famed for those personal injury “Axe Gary” commercials. LMAO!
Hey Palmy, I’m a lawyer, you know. What is this Axe Gary” stuff? Also, it is hotter than hell in socio-economic cesspool St. Loueee, Mo. Today.
“They’ll be getting a check soon. It’s just going to be on my time, rather than on their time.’”
If anyone can get away with the above, Gary can and he knows it. Willie Gary is a very powerful Florida personal injury attorney. 1-800-AskGary TeeVee commercials. Except the spokeslady pronounces it “Aks” rather than “Ask”.
I was waiting for a comment on Gary, Esq., rather than just venting my spleen randomly above. He wants to pay his taxes? Yeah. I’m sure he does. I deal with lawyers everyday, and I’ve taken to exclaiming a little more loudly around the office lately that I hate them more everyday. Their collective belief that they are the smartest persons in any room admittedly does work to my advantage at times; but I’ve come close literally to having to bite my tongue when they address me as if I were one of their idiot clients or one of the poor receptionists whom they abuse and turn over about once per month. In fact, I have the attorney husband of one lawyer who has told others he is going to punch me in the nose because I had the nerve to give right back to his obnoxious lawyer wife as good as I got from her. It’s OK, though; I’ll give him the first punch, and $15,000 worth of LA Boxing lessons aren’t going to save him from the flurry with which I intend to respond. Hey– the court date is July 31; I’ll report back if he “walks the walk.”
Case in point about lawyers: I went to pick up an easy Rx for the wife today and was barely beaten to the pick-up counter by a patron. He gave his name to the pharm tech , and I recognized it as that of a locally prominent lawyer. He doesn’t know me; I don’t know him except by reputation. Well, he has something like generic Depends for which he wants to pay along with his Rx. Tech rings up $10.99 for the diapers, and he informs her they’re $10.49. As she’s saying something about scanning, three or four more patrons pile up behind me. Tech finally says, “I’ll have to get the manager.” Guy turns around, scans the four of five people now in line, and loudly, with a contemptuous tone that let everyone know he had all day, replied, “Fine. You do that.” I’m tellin’ ya, if I thought I could have gotten away with it, I would have garroted the guy and not lost a minute’s sleep over it.
I’ve had mis-rings at the register plenty of times, and standing on principle is all well and good. But I’m telling you this guy was bad. You would have had to hear his “You do that” line. All right, all right. Rant over.
Yeah, it’s so hot in Palm Beach today that you’d have to be out of your mind to step out the front door. If my AC stopped working I’d be dead in minutes.
I’ve been in FL for almost 10 years now; I think this is the hottest single day I’ve ever experienced. It’s brutal (and tomorrow is supposed to be worse). Any reports from Orlando? Orlando is always much hotter than the coasts; wouldn’t surprise me if all our posters up there passed out from the heat!
I periodically take bikram yoga classes, and yesterday it felt hotter outside than in the studio. I actually think the summer of 2007 was the hottest I’ve ever experienced here–I remember being out the night before the Buccaneers’ home opener, and feeling the air, and thinking, my God, I’m glad I’ll be watching from my sofa. The announcers related at halftime that eleven Tampa Bay players needed intravenous fluids.
“I periodically take bikram yoga classes, and yesterday it felt hotter outside than in the studio.”
I took a few of those myself, back in the 1980s when I was prowling Ft. Lauderdale. For those not familiar, bikram yoga takes place in highly heated studios, to prevent muscle injury and promote stretching. You get used to rivulets of sweat slippin’ between the cheeks.
I spent summer of 1997 in Orlando. Never again will I spend a summer in FL…
Why? Was the sun all booked?
Even when i lived in a 3bd house in SCarolina with central air..i still had 2 old window units in the garage…just in case
——————————————
If my AC stopped working I’d be dead in minutes.
What do you guys do when you lose power? Surely with all the thunderstorms you must lose power on some very hot days.
When we were without power for a week after Hurricane Andrew, we spent a lot of time in the outdoor spa and took outdoor showers and then tried to find a breeze. We were without power for a few days after one of the hurricanes that came through a coupla years ago. For some reason, it wasn’t too bad that time, although the heat and humidititty usually tends to be ferocious after a hurricane. I think that’s what drove some of the New Orleans folks half-mad, among other things. Just ask Ray Nagin.
I think that’s what drove some of the New Orleans folks half-mad, among other things. I think a large percentage of the deaths in the days post Katrina were in people over 70, and due to heat stroke or similar conditions. Us moderns who are used to A/C really don’t understand heat stress. If there were no such thing as A/C, how many people could endure to live year round in places like Florida or southern Arizona?
“If there were no such thing as A/C, how many people could endure to live year round in places like Florida or southern Arizona?”
I think about that a lot, tresho. I once asked the question on this blog, where in the US is livable all year round without too much use of power for heating or cooling? San Diego and maybe Asheville, NC. was all I could come up with.
Duluth, Minnesota you big California wuss.
Sorry, I meant Florida. Oh heck, you are all a bunch of wusses. There!
where in the US is livable all year round without too much use of power for heating or cooling? Hawaii.
San Francisco
where in the US is livable all year round without too much use of power for heating or cooling?
Behold my name. (zip: 98502)
‘Course, you gotta like rain quite a bit.
But luckily for me, I do!
Most of coastal California from about San Louis Obispo north would fit your requirement.
Santa Clara county is probably the most temperate place in the country. My family lived there for generations and nobody ever owned a house with any kind of air conditioning.
It was difficult for me to decide upon another place to relocate for retirement - every other place in the US has crappier weather.
I picked Boise in part because I’d rather be too cold than too hot. Here you only need the A/C a few weeks out of the year. January and February it gets down into the teens at night so be sure your house is well-insulated.
I can’t agree that one doesn’t need winter heat in SLO, not to mention SFO. OK, I guess it depends on what Palmy meant by “too much power.”
Comment by SanFranciscoBayAreaGal
2009-06-21 15:41:51
San Francisco
Yeah. Except in the summer when it’s f***ing cold here and you have to turn on the heat.
I spoke to some old timers who lived in Palm Springs in the 1920s, pre A/C. I asked them how they endured the hot summers and they said it was never a problem. They lived in thick adobe walled homes with clay floors and each morning they’d sprinkle the floors to keep them damp and cool, like a wine cellar. It’s the modern tract house stucco construction which turns homes into hot boxes. I happened to be in Palm Springs during a brown out and without A/C the house was about 115 degrees inside.
That’s exactly it, most of our problems with heating and cooling are taking construction methods from Europe and applying them to the whole of the US without consideration of differences in climate. Adobe walls work quite well in the desert.
Alright, I’m actually off to a Father’s Day get together with my wife’s family. We’re going to check out some neighborhoods up in East Lake (the Geiger house area).
O.k., the wife and I love the East Lake area. Anyone familiar with it?
Yes, I live up the road on the other side of the lake….Tarpon Ave. This is my favorite part of the bay area.
The best description of that property came last year, in another piece lamenting its failure to sell: “if aliens ever visit our civilization, they will conclude that Matt Geiger was our God.” And that guy was only an average player!
As crazy as it gets. Condos in Orlando that sold for $445,000 plus are now $15,000. Slums in the making.
Awesome, dime! That beats the Little Harbor condotels over here now listing for $40,000, when they were like $250,000 at peak.
That’s about what we figured $15K kondo, $1K month kondo fees to cover the 1/2 that aren’t paying….Finding a great tenant at $750 a month…priceless
I love the ‘bandit’ signs all over the median on Conroy-Windermere, Sand Lake on Colonial Drive: “Investor’s Special! 3/2 house for $25,500!!” And who DOESN’T want a crack house in Pine Hills or Tangelo Park at that bargain price?
Dime: Where is THIS stuff happening? What is that, 97% off??????
There are quite a few condos in FL that are going to 100% off.. They simply have no value. I point a few out all the time (only because I happen to live very close to them), but there are probably 100’s of condo buildings in FL that are going to see all the units go to 0. They will go section 8, and all the paying/owners will move out/foreclose, leaving a building that has absolutely no value for anyone.
When you build a luxury condo tower on the edge of the EVERGLADES, what the heck do you expect? There’s NO demand for it, not even a single person who both wants to live there and can afford the astronomical HOAs that go along with these “luxury” buildings. Many areas in FL built 1M+ dollar condos in mall parking lots; this is another one.. Going to 0. Simply no demand for luxury units in a mall parking lot (duh??), none what-so-ever…
So, those places you see at 97% off today? They are actually grossly overpriced.. The real value is 0.
Are you talking about Tao? There was a great article earlier this week in the New Times (summarized in Ben’s desk-clearing) on empty or mostly-empty condo towers in Broward and Palm Beach.
What gets me is that, as a result of the bubble, there are empty or mostly-empty gigantic condo towers all over the world. The comparison to Easter Island persists; maybe it’s because the “ICON” tower in Miami actually used the statues as a motif on the ground-floor support pillars. In Tampa we have the infamous Channelside Towers, which someone here (Incredulous? Palmetto?) accurately characterized as Soviet in appearance.
“Channelside Towers, which someone here (Incredulous? Palmetto?) accurately characterized as Soviet in appearance.”
Probably Incredulous, since I don’t recall singling out Channelside, but I have commented from time to time on what I call “gulag” architecture. There was a great article in Vanity Fair (ok, ok, I realize I’m getting to be a bit of a bore regarding that mag, but I just love it. Muir was an afficionado, too. Say, what happened to Muir? Did we run him off?) a while back, just scathing about the architecture that arose in New York and other cities during the bubble, indicting most of it as third rate crap based on stuff from Europe, Russia and the Middle East.
The current issue of Vanity Fair totally rocks. The sons of Madoff, Miss Porters boarding school, Sir Stanford the ponzi king of Antigua, the property blowout in the Hamptons, oh, and lest we forget, Johnny Depp. I couldn’t decide what article to read first!
Mike, non-free housing…Wow.
“There are quite a few condos in FL that are going to 100% off.. They simply have no value. I point a few out all the time (only because I happen to live very close to them), but there are probably 100’s of condo buildings in FL that are going to see all the units go to 0. They will go section 8, and all the paying/owners will move out/foreclose, leaving a building that has absolutely no value for anyone. ”
I predicted that scenario a couple of years ago. I can just see the section 8 trash amid the granite countertops, stainless steel appliances and travertine tile. In a year, two max, they’ll be total slums.
I looked at a condo 1/1 (not my favorite) in the sands resort at Myrtle Beach….Where Ocean Annies beach bar is. My wife and go there when we are in party mode. Well it sold for 250 in 2005 and now bank wants 75k. I would do it but the POA is around $500 per month. Its a no go us! We go to the beach once a month and rent for less the POA, even Hilton Head and don`t spend that much.
Lane
You can rent a condo, direct oceanfront, in pretty much any location in FL, furnished/short term for 2-3K a month. Unless you’re going to spend 6+ months here a year, there’s absolutely NO way to make any purchase of a condo in FL make sense as a vacation home (without 100% YOY appreciation, that is).
My parents are coming down to visit and staying in a condo they rented for 1250/mo. It’s furnished, and the rental period is 2 months (but the price is the same for 1 or 2). About 1 mile from the beach. Very nice development (selling for 300K+ at the peak, no idea where they are now). How on earth can anyone justify buying when you can rent at prices like that? Your HOA fees are more than the entire cost for a winter rental!
“Hannah faced the wrath of disappointed buyers when he listed a former $2 million model home in MiraBay, a Key West-style saltwater community in Apollo Beach.”
I think the potential buyers were not as disappointed as portrayed here. Besides, Hannah’s doing them a huge favor. Mira Bay has some problems with the reclaimed swamp it is built on. Cracking seawalls, fissures in lawns, cracks in buildings, watercraft that can’t get out into the bay unless it is high tide. Yada, yada. Hey, but it’s GATED WATERFRONT!
That has got to be out and out fraud…..somebody knew this
———————–
watercraft that can’t get out into the bay unless it is high tide.
It’s a big problem in the Ruskin/Apollo Beach area. The man-made canals have a habit of filling in with silt and sand over time. When Mira Bay started, it was touted as the last major undeveloped piece of waterfront property on Tampa Bay. Shortly after I moved here in 2000, it was ballyhooed all over the place. People were camping out overnight to buy lots and flipping their contracts. It was really crazy. Originally there was no problem with the watercraft getting in and out, but that’s changed.
A while back on this blog, I wrote about how some of the long time locals were laughing out loud about the land Mira Bay has been built on. Because sometimes if there was a real strong moon tide, it was submerged all the way to Route 41 and beyond. People went clamming or oystering on those flats. Mira Bay has dodged a few bullets so far, but all it would take is one good storm or hurricane coming up the mouth of Tampa Bay, and it’s Atlantis.
Dredging is necessary and expensive. Was it to be paid out of the HOA dues? No dues - no dredging is my guess.
For a while there was a push for some sort of “partnership” between Hillsborough County and the homeowners who lived on the canals. Meaning the taxpayers would pick up some of the cost so the would-be swells could go a-boating. I don’t know what happened in the end. I think the idea tanked along with the economy.
They are also the proud owners of those boarded up “shells” in the back of Riverbend. Started out asking 800k+, now they’re trying to pawn them for 500k haha. I drove through that mess of a subdivision a couple weeks ago - ugh. Honestly I would not live there again if they gave me a home and paid me a monthly fee.
“now they’re trying to pawn them for 500k haha.”
Complete with Chinese drywall and irradiated granite counter-tops, lol. Your new home in Riverbend comes complete with a free gang initiation!
I actually do feel sorry for some of the folks who bought in bubble era developments, all over the country. They thought they were getting something nice for their families and now find themselves trapped in less than desirable circumstances, in some cases with construction defects, toxic materials, over former bombing ranges, without the promised pool, clubhouse or gates, stuck with skyrocketing HOA fees, grafitti tagging, etc. So many insults added to injuries.
The housing bubble has, in many ways, been a massive subcrime wave.
I feel sorry for some of them too Palmy, I know because I was 60 days from being one of them. All I wanted was a modest little place to remodel/live. Mom got sick, and I had to sell. Didn’t get greedy, and got out just in the nick of time. House I sold for 153K in May 2006, (Spring Hill) is now, comparable exact model, newer, same kind of location, 59K asking. No guoilt either. The hottie tottie kids who bought it with Daddy’s $ wouldn’t even open the door and let me in 93 degree heat to give them their eary tax payment, an agreement at closing. Plus, I remodeled the place to the point of beyond immaculate, and disclosed everything I knew.
guilt, early, sorry typos
The housing bubble has, in many ways, been a massive subcrime wave.
Today’s neologism: “subcrime mortgages”.
“subcrime mortgages”.
Wish I could take credit for that, but I saw it in some financial blog online somewhere. Good one, though.
LMAO!!!!!!!
“… watercraft that can’t get out into the bay unless it is high tide. Yada, yada. Hey, but it’s GATED WATERFRONT”
There’s a new sport in town
How far can you drag your jet ski across the mud flats fatman ?
Ha hah
How far can you drag your jet ski across the mud flats fatman ?
Palmetto,
There is something you should know about this development that i posted in the past, but it probably didn’t get much notice.
MiraBay was never a waterfront community. It was a swamp, as you pointed out. the developers used the swamp as a dredge for the upland areas. They spent a long time making the “canals” for the waterfront community.
This is interesting, since you can no longer dredge up the shore-line as in the past in places like the Keys, Miami, Tampa, and everywhere else they built Canal Communities, including
Apollo Beach.
But, there is a little known law in the with the Federal Government and the Corps of Engineers.
Basically, the intent was to make the Corps keep navigable waterways navigable, since most tend to silt up over time. But essentially, the loopholes was that if there was a “boat dock” with boats on davits adjoining an open bay or inlet, then the Corps was required to provide access.
So………..after all the dredge and fill, when the “community” was finished, they had canals all around with no connection to the bay. They then built docks and put in boats and petitioned the Corps to dredge, or to provide a dredge permit to connect the swamp to the open bay.
It’s rather cleaver, really. Getting around regulations. At least, this is the tale I was told by someone well acquainted with engineering and permitting in the Apollo Beach area.
So, now, you have a bunch of mcmansions sitting on dredge and fill in a swamp of muck connected to shallow bay by a canal. Talk about luxury accomodations!
diogenes, I do recall that post, now that you mention it. But I didn’t understand it fully until now. Thanks for the clarification. How Apollo “Beach” and similar areas came to be. Guy Lombardo used to be the spokesperson for Apollo Beach, back in the day.
‘People that live here have had to work their entire lives to save up for a home to call their own.”
Another lie of the real estate industry. These quotes just roll me over. If this statement were true, that people worked their entire lives and SAVED UP to by a home, there wouldn’t be any foreclosures, because the owner would be invested in the house.
Instead, people saved up nothing, took a cash-out at closing, easy- pay loan for a short term speculation that failed. Bye-bye house.
no loss to the “buyer”, just the neighbors that put up a down payment.
Never buy a condo during a housing boom. I’ve said this over and over. The neighbors will default. the legal bills will mount. the remaining tenants get the bill. A truely stupid purchase, unless you are a speculator.
Maybe Miami will become the next Tijuana.
“Maybe Miami will become the next Tijuana.”
Ruskin’s in the running for that honor. BTW, very interesting incident occurred in Ruskin a few days ago. The long time owner of a liquor store on Rte 41 got held up by three guys. The owner got hit in the head with a bottle and when he fell, was able to grab his gun behind the counter. Shot one of the perps, who is in the hospital, paralyzed. Good going, right? Not. Rumor has it the owner has been charged because he shot the perp in the back. Spoke to a gal who is a friend of the store owner. Gimme a break. You’ve just been hit over the head with a bottle and you’re supposed to be able to judge WHERE to shoot the guy? It’s been really hushed up. Haven’t seen the names of the perps released, either. Guess we’re not allowed to defend ourselves. Oh, and the perp is not dead at this time, but if he dies, the liquor store owner is facing murder charges.
Being the holder of a gun pemit, i am familiar with the laws of the State of FLorida. The owner is, in fact, guilty of attempted murder by this State’s standards, if i read the story correctly.
Self-defense means that you are in fear of your life at the time you are using the weapon. You cannot ‘retaliate” or attempt to stop a FLEEING FELON. Only the Cops can do that.
IF the person is retreating, regardless of the damage done to you and your property, the Courts would say that deadly force was not justified. It’s not too thin a line.
Defense ONLY for yourself, or some other defenseless person.
If i was the defense lawyer, i would claim brain injury from the perp caused impaired judgment…..temporary insanity due to severe head injury. But shooting in the back is Illegal here.
oh,
And since i am way off topic, there is another law against displaying a firearm in a threatening manner.
Say that 3 scumbags walk into your store and start tossing things about and you want them the hell out of the place.
They haven’t threatened you personally and you are in no danger of being killed by any reasonable measure.
Still, you pull out your gun and wave it at them and tell them to get the xxx out of your place.
You are guilty of Brandishing a Weapon, a felony.
you really need to think it over before you pull out a gun around here.
stabbing’s okay, though. just ask any realtor.
“But shooting in the back is Illegal here.”
but stabbing’s okay, though. just ask any realtor.
(works better with the quote… doh!)
I hear ya, diogenes, but something doesn’t pass the smell test here. The guy was assaulted. Now, maybe he got ahold of the gun, pointed it at them and they started to run even as he was getting off a shot. I dunno, if I’d been hit with a bottle, all I could think about would be defending myself. That would be my sole and only consideration, even if the perp was standing on his head doing a yoga exercise.
People are definitely getting a tad twitchy here in Fla. This old biddy really buried herself with the statement about how she would have shot the guy if she’d known the police weren’t going to file charges. I feel sorry for the handyman. I hear tell he was so traumatized, he hasn’t returned to work.
http://www.abcactionnews.com/news/local/story/Grandmother-pulls-pink-pistol-on-handyman/9hzsHgh9zUSXFhjphrW9Jg.cspx
“My hands were shaking so much,” Taft-Mueller said in her German accent. “And the guy said, ‘Is that pistol loaded?’ I said, ‘Of course it is. It’s ready for you. It’s ready for you, honey.’”
What a fabulous old lady! AND SHE HAS A PINK GUN! Robiscrazy, robiscrazy, where are yooooo?… Remember the other day when I complained that my little Raven was only pearl handled and that I was still regretful I hadn’t gotten the pink-pearl handled one? Well, THIS is a pink .38! Exactly like you suggested I get!
‘Of course it is. It’s ready for you. It’s ready for you, honey.’”
This lady is my idol. Her and Johnny Appleseed. I’m glad she didn’t shoot the handyman, though. He might not have been doing anything. Also she would have messed up her dresser.
There’s actually an organization called “Pink Pistols”. But I don’t think Olygal would fit in somehow.
www dot pinkpistols dot org
Olygal has a gun…sheesh
Elmo’s got a gun
Elmo’s got a gun
Big bird’s on the run
Ernie’s dialin’ 911
What made elmo snap,
Was he tired of big birds crap?
They said when Elmo was arrested
They found Oscar headless in the trash
I hear that Gordon’s really runnin
Now that elmos got a gun,
The streets never gonna be the same.
Elmo’s got a gun
Elmo’s got a gun
Grover’s head has come undone
Sesame street’s not real fun -
*GUNSHOT*
You want me to walk around sesame street without a bulletproof vest?!
Forget about it
What a lovely song. It’s so pretty that I’m gonna sing that one from now on, in my idle moments, instead of Anne Murray’s ‘Snowbird’ or else ‘Send in the Clowns.
I have THREE guns, so there.
But I don’t remember where I put the big, greasy, black one, as I fussed about the other day. Although I’m sure it’s around here somewhere.
Oh, I also can’t find my favorite color of nail-polish, the mango colored one with small gold flecks in it. Why, the Universe is clearly agin’ me!
A big time beer drinker, 3 guns, known to talk to clams and she says….
“Why, the Universe is clearly agin’ me”
God…Spare us !!
“Why, the Universe is clearly agin’ me”
Well, it IS! Or else where’s my mango nail-polish? Huh huh huh?
Oh, yeah, and where’s my lavishly appointed wheelbarrow, with a team of green-clad leprechauns to pull me around in it?
Because I been asking the Universe to give me one of those for the longest time now.
There’s actually an organization called “Pink Pistols”. But I don’t think Olygal would fit in somehow.
www dot pinkpistols dot org
Boy, that’s for sure. What a bunch of grumps! I only hang out with charming and easy-going hom*osexuals, is my firm rule.
I thought about changing my gender preference the other month when I got mad at men in general—perhaps you recall that time, Dennisina, when everyone had to become an honorary girl… goodness, you know, I still miss Muirina, come to think of it—but I couldn’t manage it.
Instead, I’ve just become a grouchy hermitess, lurking in the woods and speaking morosely to a bunch of stupid frogs and twigs and cr*ap. Come to think of it, now I’m being all grouchy and stuff, I’d fit in just fine. And maybe I’d be given a pink gun! Ooooh! That’d cheer me right up!
You kids get outta my swamp !!!
Futurama, unknown episode.
I’m a Deputy in Florida and we aren’t allowed to shoot people in the back either (unless they are firing behind them or somthing).
Mike: I lived in Florida, now near St. Louis, Mo. (This means East St. Louis, Il.).
Be safe, and thank you for protecting the citizens of Florida and enforcing the laws.
but what is he’s a really bad shot and was aiming at another one of the perps who was still threatening him?
Yar! Good point. Or what if his gun accidentally discharged when he tripped? Being inexperienced with guns and it being a stressful time and all.
Happy Fathers Day to all you daddy HBBers!
Yes! A Happy Happy Father’s Day to all HBB daddies!
I’ve asserted this before, but I believe that HBBers make superior parents, along with being generally delightful in all ways.
After all, you’s all obviously very wise and prudent and fiscally responsible and so forth, ’cause here you are!
So Happy Father’s Day!
Now, go tell all your kids they’re very lucky to have you as their dad.
Go on, go on!
Hey Baby, I’m your Handyman…:)
James Taylor
Hey Baby, (sic) Oly, I’m your Handman!
:)
Handman=Handyman
That was sweet of you Oly to wish the Great Dads here a Happy Fathers day. Also, that little old lady “It’s ready for you honey”, is my idol too. Seriously, how cool, pink and all, is that?
1. I completely love that pistol-wavin’ granny.
2. Oh, yar. I’m sweet as can be!
It was a sincere Happy Fathers Day, too. I like to see good daddies, that makes me happy, like on the teevee and sometimes in real life. My own dad was not a very good dad.
My own dad was not a very good dad.
But he was probably better than S*atan.
Well…maybe.
Actually, I shouldn’t speculate. I don’t know if S*atan is a good dad. He could very well be a fine father, once He gets home from work. There needs to be a reality series ‘Who’s Your Dam*ned Daddy?’
Oly, My Dad was the Best. But my Mom, well she loved me. Say that for her.
But my Mom, well she loved me.
And here you are taking care of her now. How’s that going, if I may ask?
She passed Oly, but thank you for asking. Again, you are a very nice lady.
“Todd continues to promote her book, Risk & Grow Rich.”
Why would anyone take advice from this realtor or is the book just one more way for this realtor to strip money from the unsuspecting consumer?
If it sounds too good to be true then …….
Speaking of Apprentice winners, what ever happened to Kelly, the winner of Season 2? His assignment was to come to Tampa and promote our Trump Tower, which never should have been proposed and which ended up never being built.
That’s what I find the most disturbing about this surplus of $1 million homes in Tampa. This is a low-wage, lower-education city with only a handful of large non-public employers. Outside of professional athletes, surgeons, old money, and the developer class, without reckless lending we have very few non-retired people who can afford a million-dollar residence, and most of them already have one: in other words, we’re not creating any new wealth. My opinion is that we’re getting poorer all the time.
“This is a low-wage, lower-education city with only a handful of large non-public employers.”
B-b-b-but, we’re in the running for the title of “All-American City”!
“‘At the end of the day, obviously, I’ve been back here practicing law for 35 years, so obviously I’ve been paying taxes,’ Gary said. ‘I think it’s an obligation that nobody should be able to shuck
This lawyer has apparently never heard of another attorney by the name of Tommy Crier whom recently defeated claims that he owed any income tax whatsoever.
Please don’t try to mislead ppl. Cryer was tried on two counts of willful failure to file tax returns, and acquitted of those criminal charges only. Cryer did not make any of his arguments about the legality of the income tax to the jury itself. Instead he asserted that he really did not believe that he owed the taxes, so there was no criminal intent. Cryer convinced jurors that he genuinely believed he was not liable for the $73,000 in taxes the government says he owed. It not like he didn’t have to pay the taxes or the penalties, or that the Constitutionality thereof were even at issue in the case you refer to.
‘It has a wonderful, tropical backyard, similar to the Edison backyard,’ said the listing agent, Bari Fischer in Fort Myers.”
There’s no end to the spew from the mouths of some of these RE agents, is there? “Similar to the Edison backyard”. ROTFLMAO!
Hey Palmy, NOW I remember “Ask Gary”!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey, Gary,
These real estate taxes are injurious to my financial and mental wellbeing. I think I am being “harmed” by the government.
Can you sue them for me for “damages”.
Thanks. I knew you would.
Even though I don’t think she is that hot, on the old hopusing panic blog me and and another guy started a “Let’s do Kendra Todd” sub-thread. Keith, who ran the blog, reluctantly went along…
What a raconteur you are.
Anyway, hi, ATE!
Are you a dad? If so, Happy Father’s Day! (In case you didn’t see my above general Happy Father’s Day to all HBBers. )
Hi Oly! No, but there is a non-anatomical reason for that. Wife didn’t want kids. However, I have great little nieces and nephews and they love Uncle Greg very much. I love children, just missed the boat. I am so proud of all my friends who are good fathers, including my Dad friends here, and I call them all (friends I know) wishing them Happy Fathers Day!
Oly, I ain’t no raccoon!
Wife=Ex-Wife. Yes, I will watch my spelling from now on, it is irritating to be exposed to repetitive dribble.
Oly, I ain’t no raccoon!
Are you sure?
*squints eyes suspiciously *
Maybe you are and just don’t know it. Just as the other day I was speculating that I could be a beet, and just don’t know it. I’m still considering the matter. The fingers and stuff make it unlikely, but then I thought ‘Maybe I’m a mutant beet.’
Now somewhere in the black mountain hills of Dakota
There lived a young boy named Rocky Raccoon
And one day his woman ran off with another guy
Hit young Rocky in the eye Rocky didn’t like that
He said I’m gonna get that boy
So one day he walked into town
Booked himself a room in the local saloon.
Rocky Raccoon checked into his room
Only to find Gideon’s bible
Rocky had come equipped with a gun
To shoot off the legs of his rival
His rival it seems had broken his dreams
By stealing the girl of his fancy.
Her name was Magil and she called herself Lil
But everyone knew her as Nancy.
Now she and her man who called himself Dan
Were in the next room at the hoe down
Rocky burst in and grinning a grin
He said Danny boy this is a showdown
But Daniel was hot-he drew first and shot
And Rocky collapsed in the corner.
Now the doctor came in stinking of gin
And proceeded to lie on the table
He said Rocky you met your match
And Rocky said, Doc it’s only a scratch
And I’ll be better I’ll be better doc as soon as I am able.
Now Rocky Raccoon he fell back in his room
Only to find Gideon’s bible
A Gideon checked out and he left it no doubt
To help with good Rocky’s revival.
Why, that’s almost as pretty as the ‘Elmo’ song mikey just posted! Who could imagine there would be such uplifting and inspiring music in the whollllle world? Not me.
PS. You’re still a raccoon. Admit it!
OK Oly.
We could have a thread of “Who’s your Gary?” They have at least one in every city it seems. The ads on daytime, TV mostly - why is that?
Let me just say that I hate Barbara Corcoran and hope she gets the nastiest yeast infection in human history.
What was the question?
All right, ‘fess up, which one of you guys made that offer?
“That didn’t even cover Hannah’s land and construction costs.”
Now this little tidbit amuses me no end. Clearly, the idea of “cutting losses” is unheard of to the reporter. And therein lies the problem. So what if it doesn’t cover Hannah’s land and construction costs? Too bad. Some money is better than none and prices are only going down in Mira Bay.
Hey, I’m in the stuff biz and there are times you sell for what you can get. You may take a loss on a particular item, but so what? As long as you come out ahead overall. I see people holding out for ridiculous rents, too. “Ihaftaget”.
“Mortgage brokers and real estate agents are upset because they’ve lost control of appraisals, said Dan Morden, an appraiser in Broward and Palm Beach counties. ‘That’s a bitter pill for them,’ Morden said.”
In other words, brokers and realtwhores are upset because they can no longer extort appraisers thus committing real estate fraud. Shouldn’t somebody at least acknowledge this, just a little?
Our congress:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-richardson12-2009jun12,0,3272269.story
Ben, Snaith is no doubt celebrating because you used his quote for your title. The St. Pete Times ran Snaith’s picture too; despite his sickening errors when the bubble was forming, he slickly has reversed course and has become a must-have quote from the economics community on all matters recessionary.
I think in my next life I’m going to be an economist. I’ll make sure my degree is in public relations.
‘My Closing Costs Are Worth What?’
How about ‘My Real Estate Investments Ain’t All That’?
Gah, I just google mapped Mira Bay. Yeah, they’ll be fighting sedimentation forever. That really bugged me when I lived in St. Pete Beach — the beach “renourishment.”
Hating on nature is a government-sponsored, full time love affair in Florida.
‘Robb Heering, Casa Latino’s CEO…said he started the chain two years ago in Connecticut but moved the headquarters to Florida for a larger potential clientele. If you ‘want to achieve the American dream,’ he explained, ‘you need to understand the reality of the housing market today. We are not waiting for the storm to pass. We are teaching people to dance in the rain.’”
Note to deluded sellers-
Get dancing……. faster.
Get dancing……. faster.
ROTFLMAO
Ever see the cartoon “Penguins of Madagascar?” King Julian would have his two subjects dance to amuse him. Is that what all these RE investors are really doing?
Got Popcorn?
Neil
Scuttlebutt in my ‘hood: a house a few doors down is in foreclosure, the tenant is the owner’s brother, and bro miscalculated his flipping clock, I think he bought in 2006. We are in an HOA because we share common area streets, fences and landscaped areas, but otherwise we’re SFR. Rumor has it that they haven’t paid HOA fees of $100/month for almost a year, and sounds like the tenant is living there for free. The HOA has filed a lien for unpaid dues, but I’m not clear as to how we can recover the money. How does a lien work in this instance?
Salad: I would forget about getting that money back, seriously. I am an attorney, (big deal) and don’t do real estate or foreclosure law. But, it seems like that is a hard nut to crack. Sorry, just my two honest cents.
Thanks, I had a feeling it was a lost cause. I was hoping that if the lien became a cloud on the title, either the foreclosed owner or the bank would have to pay it off. What exactly does a lien do if it’s not enforceable?
“Rumor has it that they haven’t paid HOA fees of $100/month for almost a year”
Don’t HOA’s have the power to foreclose?
Ric: Good question, but I don’t think so directly. Only file a lien or some shit, I think…
This recent AP article indicates that HOAs have the power to foreclose in FL
partial link:
statesman.com/search/content/business/stories/other/2009/06/14/0614foreclosure.html
Ultimately yes, but the laws here in CA force you to wait for a year before starting (as i understand it,) etc, etc. My HOA has gotten a unit or two before, particularly for not paying a special assessment.
Guy next door moved his crap out at the end of last month. We’ve heard him visit once or twice since then, but no cars, dog is gone, none of the regular traffic. (I share a wall with him, it’s a condo.)
Bought for $360K in 06 or so. Current unit prices are around $220K, all foreclosures. 960 Sq. feet or so. Well located though, easy commute to multiple job centers. At $140K underwater I just sort of suspect he miiiight have walked. Ya think?
Short sale downstairs. 2 foreclosures in the back and one on the corner. That’s just one out of 8 buildings. People have been ’snapping them up’ though. Well, everything except the short sale. Good luck with that s—.
Me? I’ve had my unit for 20 years. I’m too lazy to move, but man I sorta wish I had sold for $400K when it was possible. Hindsight sure is 20-20.
I’m sure it depends upon the jurisdiction. Here in Idaho aparently the answer is no, an HOA can’t foreclose on a lien. (I haven’t researched the topic in detail.)
Holy crapola the kitchen is on the 3rd floor….
http://www.brownharrisstevens.com/detail.aspx?id=1020542
‘Robb Heering, Casa Latino’s CEO…said he started the chain two years ago in Connecticut but moved the headquarters to Florida for a larger potential clientele. If you ‘want to achieve the American dream,’ he explained, ‘you need to understand the reality of the housing market today. We are not waiting for the storm to pass. We are teaching people to dance in the rain.’”
I’m singing in the rain
Just singing in the rain
What a glorious feelin’
I’m happy again
I’m laughing at clouds
So dark up above
The sun’s in my heart
And I’m ready for love
Let the stormy clouds chase
Everyone from the place
Come on with the rain
I’ve a smile on my face
I walk down the lane
With a happy refrain
Just singin’,
Singin’ in the rain
Nuthin’ like Gene Kelley in Mono!
Or Alex the Droog and Leader.
testing.
You failed. Probably because you’re a raccoon.
Oly, can Mikey, Me, and Milkcrate all be simultaneous Raccoons?
You know what, that would be a great band name! ‘The Simultaneous Raccoons’!
Speaking for me, I would totally buy tickets! Front row!
Especially considering that it’s you guys. Hahahah!
Oh, gosh…no venue would survive the arrival of ‘The Simultaneous Raccoons’. Probably no town would, either. Probably no state would, come to that…
I think I found a
buyersucker to take my Florida condo off my hands at only a $45K loss. I think I’m getting off cheap.Only lose 45K?
Yeahhhhh….you’re just super lucky, there…
Actually, you know what, you probably ARE super lucky, there.
So no more eye-rolls from me.
Lol - you don’t want to mess with the HOA boss at the Collins. Maybe that is a good thing, though.
I rented there last year from a nice family. At 5 pm after putting a bathing suit on the balcony laundry rack to dry, with the afternoon July sun hitting with full power, the door lock malfunctioned, and I was trapped on the balcony. I put the wet bathing suit and towel on my head, and tried to get someone’s attention below. As I was only on the fifth floor, an employee finally noticed that I was shouting something, but he did not understand, he did not speak English.
For the next 30 minutes, no one appeared down below to inform me what they will do, or when my predicament might end, or even that they have understood the problemo. Whether they will break into the unit, or send a fire truck with a ladder. I kept trying the door knob, and after an eternity it unlocked itself.
I storm downstairs to berate the concierge why they never sent someone who spoke English. The HOA boss appears, fuming, and let me have it, because she was disturbed at dinner, over the situation. I passionately made the case that the whole situation was handled horribly, but found myself on the receiving end her wrath.
The family that owned the unit had bought it two months earlier, as a foreclosure from Deutsche Bank. The owner, though, was one of the very few people I met who was aware of the precipitous decline, and must have gotten a rather sweet deal. She owned a title agency, and said that some of the people who bought half million dollar condos were unable to shell out an extra 1000 dollars for closings, and that was her cue.
Hey.. ‘The Simpsons’ are making fun HELOC, Home ATMs, Adjustable Rate Loans.
The Simpsons get foreclosed on..