If You Were Breathing You Could Get A Home Loan
The Press Register reports from Alabama. “In the aftermath of Hurricane Ivan, the owners of the Sapphire Beach condominium complex were nearly unanimous in their decision to halt repairs and sell their Gulf-front property to a developer. Some sold their stake for a shade under $1 million — in many cases, more than three times their investments in the four-story complex. Others passed on the instant cash and signed up for new condos in a proposed high-rise that never materialized. Each of them lost six figures. A few, those who bought into the complex at the height of the real estate boom, wound up $500,000 in the red.”
“Today, the property sits flecked with bits of concrete, ceramic tile and conduit. And because no one paid the $61,000 ad valorem tax bill, and there were no bidders at a tax sale last summer, it has joined the Alabama Department of Revenue’s vast land holdings.”
“‘All I wanted was my condo,’ Stephen Paul Farmer, a Mississippi man who owned a third-story unit, said in a February 2008 deposition given during a two-year legal battle over the property. ‘And if I didn’t get the condo, then I knew I had land for collateral. If I would have ever thought that we would be sitting in here today, I wouldn’t have held out for the big condo. I would have just, you know, took the money when I could have took it.’”
The Sun Herald in Mississippi. “At the Harrison County Courthouse, an extra display case was added recently to post the foreclosure notices. Now there are eight glass cases nearly full of foreclosure listings and the Sun Herald classified pages have dozens of listings each week. ‘We thought we had seen the bottom of foreclosures,’ said Carlene Alfonso, owner of Coldwell Banker Alfonso Real Estate, ‘But that’s not what the numbers say. We still just have too many listings.’
“Depending on the price range, there is up to 20 months of inventory on the local market. ‘A lot of people getting foreclosed on are investors,’ said attorney Mark Orgler in Gulfport. They often are from out of the local area and purchased property on the Coast when it was worth more than it is today.”
The Clarion Ledger in Mississippi. “The topsy-turvy economy caused new homes in Rankin County to dip by 38 percent. The county issued 246 permits for single-family homes in 2009, a big drop from the 397 in 2008. ‘Given the economic conditions of the country and state, the number of new houses being down is a reflection of the economy,’ said Tom Troxler, executive director of the county’s economic development authority. ‘You have a lot of people staying in their houses who in the past would be moving into larger homes.’”
“Madison County saw similar decline in home building with about 300 permits issued last year, a drop from the nearly 500 in 2008, said Brad Sellers, Madison’s zoning administrator. ‘That’s the lowest it’s been in a long time,’ Sellers said.”
The News Star in Louisiana. “For Southern Delta Homes owner Ronnie Savage, the residential home building business in the Ouachita Parish area has been lean over last two years. The company is the region’s highest volume home builder according to the Home Builders Association of Northeast Louisiana. But Savage is quick to point out that business just hasn’t been what it used to be. ‘It’s been real slow the last couple of years,’ said Savage, whose company primarily builds specification homes.”
“And recent data compiled by University of Louisiana at Monroe economist Robert Eisenstadt confirmed what Savage has been seeing in the industry. According to Eisenstadt, new housing starts last year in the Monroe area reached the lowest level in five years. Since 2005, residential building permits issued in the Monroe metropolitan statistical area have decreased 81 percent, according to Eisenstadt.”
“‘Basically, what we’ve seen is because of the tightening of the banking credit industry,’ said Home Builders Association Director Paul Stephenson. ‘Several years ago, if you were breathing you could get a home loan, which is what caused the bubble to eventually burst. Now, banks are requiring people to have a modest investment in their homes.’”
The Times Picayune in Louisiana. “With home prices declining throughout the metropolitan area, sellers have no shortage of things to blame for their unsold properties: too many homes, not enough people, and lending requirements that have gotten tougher at exactly the wrong time. But some are beginning to wonder whether there’s another culprit in the mix: apartments. ”
“In the next two years, about 5,000 brand-new units are expected to open for residents. ‘Your rent is less than a monthly note. And you don’t have to do a down payment. For first-time buyers, you have a decision of, do I buy now or do I stay a renter?’ said Wade Ragas, president of a firm that analyzes real estate sales for the New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors.”
“The desirability of apartments could be a reflection of broader queasiness about the economy or challenges of the local housing market. ‘You potentially have a situation where you have an oversupply of single-family homes. We don’t have the migration of people into this city, and the job picture is pretty fuzzy, and that’s not a good combination,’ said apartment broker Larry Schedle, who notes that the apartment rental market is also flat.”
The Town Talk in Louisiana. “Roz Allemond hasn’t seen the type of foreclosure activity in the Alexandria area one might expect, given the recession and downward trends in the national housing market. But that doesn’t mean she isn’t preparing for it. The Alexandria Realtor is involved in several aspects of the foreclosure business. She has as good a read as anyone on the local foreclosure forecast. Though Rapides Parish has had relatively low foreclosure activity in the past two years, she sees an increase coming.”
“‘What I foresee — and this is just from my personal opinion and guidance from people I work with — is to be ready for the floodgates to open,’ Allemond said. ‘I think we’re going to have tons of stuff coming up.’”
The City Wire in Arkansas. “January homes sales activity in Crawford and Sebastian counties did not help continue regional housing sector gains made in the fourth quarter of 2009, according to the King Realty Group report authored by Realtor Ernie Schimmelman. Sales continue to be dominated by homes priced below $200,000. Homes priced below $200,000 in Crawford County and Sebastian County are 77.8% and 72.6% of the inventory of homes on the market, respectively.”
“‘Sellers continue to maintain an advantage on properties under $150,000, and buyers continue to have the stronger position above that. As long as this imbalance above $150,000 continues, the primary topic of discussion Realtors must have with their sellers will be market pricing,’ Schimmelman noted in his January report. ‘If sellers want their homes purchased in less than 12 months, they will have to seriously consider aggressive pricing within the comparable market for their property.’”
From KSPR. “New information tonight about two men charged with promoting prostitution in Branson. Investigators say they caught Thomas A. D’Alessandro and David L. House in an undercover sting. The two men are also known for bringing luxury condos to the tourist town. Celebration Cove Condos website lists D’Alessandro as the principal. ‘Tom has built hundreds of homes and a handful of subdivisions in the Ozarks since 1985,’ the website reads.”
“Undercover investigators say D’Alessandro also paid to bring three prostitutes from Arkansas to a Branson condo in Falls Creek Resort. KSPR also stopped by the address House listed as his home and business, Elite Realty, no one answered the door. His listed phone number was disconnected. Condo models are open and ready but no one at the site was willing to comment either. If KSPR would not leave the property, one employee threatened to break the camera.”
The OK Gazette in Oklahoma. “If it’s hard to find love in the ‘city that never sleeps,’ what’s it like to fly solo in a city that catches its Zs? After all, New York City took the top spot for 2009 Best Cities for Singles on Forbes.com’s annual list. While Oklahoma City didn’t make the list of top 40 cities, Howard Kurtz, a sociologist at Oklahoma City University, thinks the metro is fast becoming a contender.”
“Travis Caperton, a single dad of two children, believes the improvements, such as the downtown lofts, are nice, but really only benefit the independently wealthy without school-aged children. ‘Don’t most of us live where we live because of our job situation and the circumstances of our family ties? Leaving OKC is not an option for me. But I do appreciate the good-looking condos going up near Bricktown that I drive by every day,’ said Caperton.”
“Holley Mangham, a public relations practitioner with Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, echoed Caperton’s sentiments. ‘I would like to see more housing that is affordable for single, middle-income professionals in the downtown/Midtown area,’ she said. ‘I see all of these really cool-looking new condos and homes in that area that I can’t afford on only my own income.’”
The Dallas Morning News in Texas. “More than one in 10 Texas homeowners with loans are behind in their payments. That’s up by about a percentage point from a year earlier. Texas’ mortgage delinquency rate is now just slightly behind the national average of 10.44 percent.”
“The number of homes going through foreclosure slowed in 2009 because of the large number of home mortgage modification programs designed to help troubled borrowers. But foreclosure filings remain high – reaching a record of almost 61,000 in North Texas last year.”
“The Mortgage Bankers Association said that 31 percent of home mortgage holders in Texas are considered ‘non-prime’ borrowers, compared with 22 percent of these loans nationwide. These non-prime mortgages were provided with the help of the government backed Federal Housing Administration or are subprime loans.”
The Austin Business Journal in Texas. “A large, mixed-use condo development in Northwest Austin is trying to dig out of $12 million in debt and restructure after unsuccessful management by Nebraska-based investors. Pecan Park Professional Plaza, a 32,000-square-foot office condo, and the neighboring Pecan Place Park Condominiums, a residential plan made up of more than 100 lots, are part of a Chapter 11 bankruptcy filed late last month by Pecan Park LLC.”
“The company is claiming $12.4 million in debts, mostly to Wells Fargo, against $17,000 of assets. It’s not known whether the bank will attempt to force project owners into Chapter 7, which can occur when a large mismatch of debt and equity is involved.”
“In November, the bank and debtors picked Vito Rotunno to salvage the project, Rotunno said. About 25 single-unit, attached residential condos are already built on the site, with about 17 sold, and more than $15 million has already been invested in the tract of land, Rotunno said.”
“Beyond available housing units, the development has about 17,000 square feet of empty office condos, said real estate dealer Steve Turner, who has the listing. Turner said he has not done a deal on the site since taking it three months ago. Out-of-state owners like Pecan Park’s are common, and experts said it is not characteristic for out-of-town-run projects to fall into shambles. But when projects such as this do get into trouble, it is often more reflective of an owner’s operational health than the health of the Austin market, said Charles Heimsath, president and founder of Capitol Market Research.”
“If I would have ever thought that we would be sitting in here today, I wouldn’t have held out for the big condo. I would have just, you know, took the money when I could have took it.’”
…or, you know, took his dadburn money and , you know, bought some learnin’.
But …but…but…. we never saw this acrash acomin ’round the bend
Give him a break, he might be mentally disabled.
Then put him in congress where he belongs.
Natalie: You might be on the wrong website. Somebody here might offend you. That would be horrible wouldn’t it?
I can’t tell if you are serious or into dark humor such as myself. Thus, I deleted my initial response and will move along as if nothing happened.
Class act, Nat (smiling)
“…he might be mentally disabled.”
Precisely, due to the heinous affliction known as Joshuatritis.
If someone had offered me a million bux or more for my 3rd story condo, I believe I would have latched right onto that. Better a million in the bank than a pile of rubble on the oceanfront.
How ridiculous. I’m still amazed at how much money gets spent on rubbish.
Of course, we heard on the news last night that someone had paid $ 1,000,000 for a mint, first edition Superman comic. That’s a lotta dough for an 80-year-old comic that originally cost 10 cents. I’m sure they’re paying a hefty insurance premium to protect that baby.
I would love to get my hands on a first edition Action Comics featuring Superman. I too would sell it for $1,000,000.
Pretty soon, we’ll have strawberry pickers getting subprime loans to buy rare comic books.
““‘What I foresee — and this is just from my personal opinion and guidance from people I work with — is to be ready for the floodgates to open,’ Allemond said. ‘I think we’re going to have tons of stuff coming up.’””
Ben, I seem to recall you saying a couple of months ago that your business contacts were telling you to expect a surge of activity sometime soon.
Has that materialized yet, or did the January moratorium push it out by another month or two?
The GSEs are foreclosing like crazy here in N AZ
Just got back to Cali from a 7 hour drive thru AZ.
Man!!! Talk about your unlimited land!!!
What rube is stupid enough to speculate on housing in AZ??
It’s not like there’s a land shortage… the builders will ALWAYS keep building more… & more… & more… at the 1st sign of any housing recovery.
I never did understand the unwashed masses salivating over AZ props during the bubble times… & to see people now talking about a “miraculous recovery” (better grab the deals now.. or be priced out forever!!)… just makes me laugh.
BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
Seven hour drive through AZ? And you didn’t even stop to say hello?
Hmmmmph!
A BofA representative gave a talk at the RE brokerage today - said that here in Sacramento 30% of their mortgages will reset in April. Finally.
Just as an informal observation, i’m seeing about 3 to 5 houses come on the market each day on Redfin here in SD for every one house that sells, given my search criteria (nicer neighborhood, 2000+ SF, etc.) I’ve noticed this since January and I don’t think it’s just because the market’s slower at the beginning of the year.
“‘All I wanted was my condo,’ Stephen Paul Farmer, a Mississippi man who owned a third-story unit, said in a February 2008 deposition given during a two-year legal battle over the property. ‘And if I didn’t get the condo, then I knew I had land for collateral.
When you buy a condo you don’t own the land. I don’t get his logic.
What a loser.
If the new condo building never materialized or was destroyed and the land was sold, he would arguably have a claim for a percentage of the sale proceeds from the sale of the land. Thus, rather than zero dollars he would have a claim for a few pennies less transaction and legal costs. How could he lose?
I should haved added after all the liens of higher priority are paid off.
Nope. You own the air that you breathe. And thats it.
Give the regulators a few more years and you’ll
be paying for the air you breathe.
Nust have been aTownhome PUD.
From the original post:
“Holley Mangham, a public relations practitioner with Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency, echoed Caperton’s sentiments. ‘I would like to see more housing that is affordable for single, middle-income professionals in the downtown/Midtown area,’ she said. ‘I see all of these really cool-looking new condos and homes in that area that I can’t afford on only my own income.’”
To which I say:
In Downtown Tucson, there’s a shell of a building that fronts on Broadway. The building was to be converted into luxury condos which would sell for beaucoup bucks.
Well, that was the plan. There aren’t a lot of Tucsonans who have beaucoup bucks. Especially when it comes to condos whose buildings front on busy streets.
But the project never got off the ground, the developer went bust, and the bank recently tried to sell the property at auction. No bidders. So, now the bank owns it.
“Tucson we have a problem”
We sure do! And, if you can brave a PDF, you can read all about our problem at:
http://www.downtowntucson.org/
Click the “Gem of a Show” image.
Or you can read right here:
Creditor Bank of West takes possession of 44 E. Broadway
Bank of the West, which held the debt on the former U.S. Courthouse Annex at 44 E. Broadway, acquired the skeletal building
with no outer walls on Jan. 22 after no bids were made in an auction.
Bank of the West, 7225 N. Oracle Road, was ruled the highest bidder through a credit bid of $3,005,063, appointed trustee
Mark Barker said. Bank of the West officials were not at
the auction held outside the Pima County Superior Court.
This foreclosure sale on a defaulted $2.86 million loan ends a four-year chapter for developer James LeBeau, who has tried to
convert the former federal court annex into luxury lofts since buying the fortified four story structure in 2005.
LeBeau’s 44 Broadway Lofts never got beyond designs and stripping off the outer walls on the Broadway and Jackson Street
sides.
Serves them right ! Bank of West is owned by the - - - Saudis.
Arizona and Florida are geriatric ghettos.
Geriatric ghettos can be nice. I was home in southeast Phx this weekend. It was pure quiet. Except for the light rain, which was not annoying. And then the birds woke me up. The birds of the Sonoran desert make beautiful music. In other places you get the annoying screech of ravens and other predator birds - yuck!
It helps by living near a desert preserve and park…My Phoenix apartment is my sanctuary.
Back in Los Angeles I get sirens all day outside my window. I live along a very busy street. But then I have great weather all year and proximity to everything a man can want out of life.
The company is claiming $12.4 million in debts, mostly to Wells Fargo, against $17,000 of assets.
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!
Of course, this has nothing to do with the health of the local market. (Snort.)
Up north on 183-A, past Cedar Park and Leander and the furthest exurban subdivisions, up in cedar scrub-land cattle pastures, for a couple years there’s been a sign for an office / professional park and mixed-use commercial residential development. That’s all there is - a sign in a pasture almost an hour north of central Austin. Late to the party, much?
But I do appreciate the good-looking condos going up near Bricktown that I drive by every day
Now this is really a “glass-half-full” kind of guy, concerned for the benefit of the independently wealthy without school-aged children unlike himself.
… matched only by the guy who thinks that OKC is becoming a contender in the best cities for singles list…
“best cities for singles” - I never understand these rankings. If you are hot and have a decent personality, you can get lucky and find like minded people in any city in the USA. If you are less attractive and have a bad personality, you will probably strike out. Moving on the basis that hopefully the new city has lesser standards kind of misses the point. There are marginal areas, but for the most part, you need to look in the mirror rather than blaming the city if people do not like being around you. I realize different cities may have different education levels, cultures, and things to do, but I see that as different than “best for singles.”
The town I reside in (and face it, there is no unincorporated areas in eastern Massachusetts, and a town here is the size of a subdivision out west and has all the same ways to differentiate it) was receintly named a top area for singles.
Now, I’m not single, but for the life of me, no. There are no bars in this town because they’re illegal. There are no fancy condos because the town mucky-mucks prohibit high density development. The Boston subway doesn’t quite come out this far because the mucky-mucks are afraid of what that would bring, so you have to take the bus to get to the city.
No single in their right mind would move here. Which I guess makes it desireable for singles because the ones that are here are so desperate they won’t care about faults.
(PS: I agree - “best for singles” is a joke.)
When I was single and moving around a lot for my job, I had a great social life in Oshkosh WI even though it wouldn’t have made any “best place for singles” list.
The key was a dynamic middle-aged reference librarian at the Oshkosh Public Library - this was years before the internet. Single herself, she assembled a “salon” of interesting people that she met through her work. She and her group had lots of gatherings, get-togethers and parties. Some were single and some married; there were a number of newcomers to town like me; everybody was younger than her.
People interesting in what way? All kinds of ways - people who were curious, interested in learning more, passionate about something - the kind of people that got into stimulating conversations with the reference librarian (back in those days).
It wasn’t Sex-a-Palooza. It was a great network for a single person new in town.
I’m not much for salons, but this is a good idea.
It was great.
The critical factor was Mary: her enthusiasm for the interesting people she met and her indefatigable energy for gathering and introducing people and encouraging them to share the good they had to offer.
‘A lot of people getting foreclosed on are investors,’ said attorney Mark Orgler in Gulfport. They often are from out of the local area and purchased property on the Coast when it was worth more than it is today.
That statement could be used as a template for many other places.
‘A lot of people getting foreclosed on are investors,’ said attorney Dewey Cheatham in Boise. They often are from out of the local area and purchased property in Idaho when it was worth more than it is today.
Remember at the end of 2005 they announced that 40% of the purchases
in Florida were investor type transactions .These investors were putting down low down payments when they should of been putting down 25% or more and paying higher fees . Historically investor purchases made up less than 10% of the average real estate market ,and that should of been a red flag in itself . Historically real estate investors don’t buy if the property doesn’t cash flow either ,so these investors were simply short term flippers . Remember the equity locust who would go around the Country looking for the next place to ‘flip that house “and drive up the prices while builders were building unsustainable projects just for flippers with all their special lenders
Remember in 2006 than came the incentives to try to get greater fools to keep purchasing .They were giving away cars and all sorts of
cash back incentives in order to sell for a while to keep the fraud market going ,but finally that didn’t work anymore .
I don’t know how Wall Street could claim that this high risk lending was anything but a Ponzi scheme and a fraud market that nobody could see coming ..Kinda like
Toyota claiming that floor mats were creating the problem with a stuck gas petal .
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/ontheblock/detail?entry_id=57374&tsp=1
A not-so-subtle metaphor for the housing bubble. You can’t buy a house on landfill in an earthquake disaster area for under $1.5 million. People won’t due basic research that could save their life when spending that much on a house. Expecting them to understand economics might be a bit much.
Well, built on rubble or not, there isn’t one single-family home in the Marina on the MLS now for less than $1.5 million. Most of these command more than $900 per square foot.
My wife breathes, and got a loan for 300k. No way could she afford 30 years of 2k per month payments.
Oregon is non-recourse state, this is the home we live in no HELLOC, BofA tells us that our payment is due alert via email today, even though its not due till 3/1, not late till 3/5, and no late penalty until 3/17. Like we need reminding.
Sorry but no more money from us, they can have the keys when they come a callin. 20% down and two years of interest payments is enough of a slap on the wrist to us dummies; and we are realizing that our value was inflated and is not likely to come back.
Maybe holding on for the rebound is the smart thing to do, or is giving up the collateral smarter?
Is this strategic default, knowing that 6k per year will not cover the mortgage after our savings are depleted in a couple years. Should we piss away every penny we have on our devaluating asset, or hand the keys over as per our contract?
after all, real estate only goes up, right? What were the underwriters thinking, I wonder?
Two of my credit card issuers have hit me with finance charges in the last two months because they “didn’t receive” my payment. Both times I’ve verified with my bank that the payment was made on time and called to have the finance charge removed. I expect more shenanigans in the future.
I’m so happy to have moved my credit card business to a credit union. Really glad to be away from the bank cc shenanigans.
I’m totally paranoid about the credit cards. I started paying both of them online a few months ago. I need them because I travel a lot, plus I like the miles.
Bink: I walk 3 blocks to $hi**ybank and give them cash…i get a receipt and it gets credited immediately….I wonder how can they get out of that?
I pay my credit cards in full through online banking about 15 days before the due date. Those banksters aren’t getting any interest payments out of me…
Hi Mike. Sounds like you’re hurting. But do you like living in Bend? If you want to stay, would a nice rental be cheap enough to justify losing your 20% and your credit?
Well we do have 100k squirreled away, which helps. (hard work plus easy money real estate gains, which we paid 100k in gains taxes for, which helps assuage our guilt over default) and we are waiting for the bottom for me to buy a nice enough starter home in my name, like a 3/2. Wife’s credit will be hurt, thought, but mine is mid 700s and should stay there for now. Saw one in Terrebonne, 20 miles north today, an a frame 1/1 on 2 acres for 59k, so the time may be soon indeed.
I was not given the loan on the house nor am i on the deed, so my wife is looking at default and I am looking at buying a house for cash when the time is right.
Renting is also a possibility, but for now, we are just fed up with BofA and don’t want to give them another dime, or our ineffectual hoa at $250 per month.
No we dont want to lose our down or our equity, but the writing is on the wall(economic recovery for us in Coregon is not at hand), nor will the house she bought for 400k, now worth 200k, recover soon enough for us to benefit from that before going broke. What is the point of flushing all our money away when we can hand over the keys in due time, honoring her no recourse loan and handing back the collateral?
Heck Tischman Spyre did that with 11,000 apartments in NYC…go for it.
———————-
honoring her no recourse loan and handing back the collateral?
“Sorry but no more money from us, they can have the keys when they come a callin. 20% down and two years of interest payments is enough of a slap on the wrist to us dummies; and we are realizing that our value was inflated and is not likely to come back.”
Is there any recourse risk for becoming squatters?
Bend is in the middle of nowhere. Stop paying your mortgage, save your cash and wait till you are evicted. It will take the bank between 12 and 18 months to get around to foreclosing. You’ll have plenty of money to find a nice apartment in Portland.
The one that takes the cake is the story about the condo developer / procurers running hookers out of one of their condos in Branson. BRANSON!!
For those not familiar with Branson MO, it’s a big tourism center for flyover country. Nice safe places for nice people to stay, shop, eat, have fun, and go to high-production-values shows in exciting top-notch venues. There’s a Story of the Bible show, some Christian entertainment, and secular entertainment that is clean, wholesome, uplifting - and spectacular. You can get drinks there but they have plenty of darn good iced tea and coffee. Lots of bus parking. The venues are mostly owned by entertainers who got tired of the working conditions and pay in Vegas, I think, and it’s a hugely successful enterprise.
With condo developers as procurers, it makes you wonder who the hookers are - realtors?
WTF are you talking about???
Endless rambling with no point.
Refering to the KSRP story link. You’re welcome to skip my comments, or use drumminj’s add-on to block them.
Dude, you’re in Texas, break out the firearms
break out the firearms
…channeling my inner “Tallahassee”
(Woody Harrelson character in Zombieland)…
Having visited ‘wholesome’ Branson, the irony of that story caught my attention, too, that plus the obvious potential for humor along the lines of what will a realtor/developer do to cover the shortfall when real estate is down.
Thanks for the “Cliff’s Notes” version of my endless rambling, slb
Ok, couldn’t resist, from the story “Before joining the Celebration Cove team, Dave ran…” mmm, now we know what they were celebrating.
The scheme involved transporting said alleged prostitutes from Arkansas to a Branson Condo and was promoted on Craigslist. Who knew that Arkansas was such a hotbed? I mean, Arkansas, what’s wrong with the local product? At least if they’d stuck w/ Missouri prostitutes they wouldn’t risk federal prosecution because of crossing state lines.
Developer and real estate types just always seem so smarmy and, well, not very bright and these guys are poster children for that.
if they’d stuck w/ Missouri prostitutes they wouldn’t risk federal prosecution because of crossing state lines
I thought of that too, and I am - ahem - not one of your HBB legally sophisticated minds.
what’s wrong with the local product?
Missouri prostitutes have too many teeth?
A few, those who bought into the complex at the height of the real estate boom, wound up $500,000 in the red.”
I still don’t understand why the MSM is sympathetic to real estate specu-vestors who lost money, more so that very conservative investors who can’t get any interest income any more and have lost 25% of their money in the stock market.
Even very “conservative” mutual funds, like those investing only in Utilities, are down 15% over the last 3 years, even after that little dead-cat-bounce we had last year. But lose some money in a crazy R-E scheme, and the MSM wants us to feel sorry for you…
I still don’t understand why the MSM is sympathetic to real estate specu-vestors who lost money
Well, since real estate always goes up, that would make someone who lost money in real estate the equivalent of a natural disaster survivor, wouldn’t it?
Look at how fixed income people have been getting 1% yields ,and these are people that saved for their retirement and were at least expecting a
modest 3 to 4 % yield on a liquid account or short term account . Older people have to have somewhat liquid accounts in case they have to go to a nursing home or assisted living or pay medical bills that aren’t covered .
My beef with the Global financial systems is that it put to much money supply in areas that were/are unsustainable regarding the local jobs ,and the loans were defective anyway in terms of the terms & underwriting . The FB’s ended up being the pawns in this real estate housing scheme because greed or fear got the better of them ,along with all the brainwashing . Who would of expected that the financial system was a Ponzi scheme to enrich the Wall Street Money Elite .
Like who would of expected that Toyota ,who was well know for their good product ,throwing out a defective product . That doesn’t excuse someone committing fraud on a loan application ,but the industry of professional encouraged this insanity with their well know talking points during the boom .
And the question becomes ,”Why are we allowing this financial system to even continue as is based on what happened ?”
What’s really sick about the current situation for savers, is that they are re-capitalizing the banks. Interest rates on savings and CD’s are at virtual zero, and loan rates are UP this year. We all talk about the injustice of paying Goldman 100% on their default swaps with AIG, with of taxpayer money, but the scale of the theft of savings through the above, is actually greater.
Right, rusty1014 ….Recapitalization of the Mega Banks /Insurance Co/Investment Firms at the expense of the savers and fixed income people ,not to mention the pension plans that are making less . And still the government has to back residential lending these days because of how the credit markets were destroyed .
I think a entire overhaul of the systems are in order ,but good old Wall Street would bitch and moan and threaten . If Wall Street can sell a good rap to the people that we are stuck with the corrupt pad Wall Street/Mega Banks pockets casino system ,at the expense of the Majority ,than it will continue .
The PR machine was saying that they can’t bring back Glass-Steagal
because America would than not be competitive in World financial markets .I say ….SO WHAT ! We had to much of a money supply anyways from other Countries investing here on the spreads . This was just a big World financial game that ended up producing a bunch of unneeded real estate and served to create spending people couldn’t afford by debt . Economies are local and needs are local .America needs jobs and a closed economic system ,or at least a regulated one . It only took the corrupt greedy elite 7 years to crash the financial systems after de-regulation .The crash is no different than the crash of a Toyota that has the defect ,yet we wouldn’t think of putting a defective car on the road to continue to be a risk to life and limb .
I find it very interesting that now you have this car case in the media ,yet what the financial industry did is hidden behind bail-outs ,and they want to keep the defective system in place.
Think about it. Somebody offers you nearly a million for something for which you put down a hundred thou. Why would you turn it down? The only thing that comes to mind is GREED.
“Holley Mangham, a public relations practitioner with Oklahoma Housing Finance Agency”
Huh! Now Finance Agencies are getting practitioners.
Sometimes strip malls have massage parlors.
Sometimes dogs have fleas.
Wonder what you have to do to get rid of public relations practitioners when you are a Finance Agency? In Oklahoma no less?
There has to be some kind of over the counter soap or lotion. Or maybe a sonic zapper you just plug into a wall outlet, and they just scurry out.
I would hate to think you have to resort to the old surprise! turn on the lights and crunch ‘em with your shoe.
When the evil genius, Edward Bernays, created “The Engineering Of Consent”, he changed the world for the worse. Some call him the Father of PR, but I like your roach crunch better.