Action Comes With A Catch In California
KFSN reports from California. “California homebuyers who make a deal by midnight can save a lot of money. In order to get the federal credits, a deal must be in place by midnight April 30 and finalized by the end of June. The State Credits start May 1, but there’s enough overlap for double dipping. The combined tax credits sparked a surge in sales. The incentives were enough for Harpit Gill to sign on the dotted line. ‘I was like, I better hurry up for the deal so I can take advantage of those credits,’ Gill said.”
The Daily Breeze. “On Friday, after months of trying to buy their first house, newlyweds Terry and Ebony Jackson had finally reached their boiling point. About an hour after the Jacksons cooled down, their real estate agent called with the good news. Their offer on a foreclosed house in Carson was accepted. The Jacksons hope to move into their new house by June 1. The four-bedroom residence on a cul-de-sac was listed for $375,000 and received multiple offers. The couple’s bid was $2,000 above the asking price.”
“The couple was worried about missing Friday’s deadline. ‘We haven’t been sleeping the past couple of weeks,’ said Ebony Jackson, a child social worker who lives with her husband and his two young sons in a one-bedroom apartment in Hawthorne.”
The North County Times. “Chill out, California homebuyers: The federal tax credit for new homebuyers may have ended Friday, but on Saturday the state of California’s tax credit begins, and hey, it’s even bigger than the one the feds were giving. Critics, like economist Chris Thornberg of Beacon Economics, have attacked the tax credit as a waste of taxpayer dollars because the home sales would have happened regardless. Supporters, like the National Association of Realtors, have declared it a great way to goose the value of existing homes.”
“There may still be some reason to hurry, though: Robert Kleinhenz, an economist with the California Association of Realtors, calculated that the $100 million California has allocated for the new homebuyer portion of the credit probably won’t last till the end of May.”
The Union Tribune. “San Diego County’s housing market was the strongest in the nation in February, the Standard & Poor’s/Case-Shiller Home Price Index reported. Analysts attributed the overall annual increase partly to the federal homebuyer tax credit that expires Friday. Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego, was at a loss to explain San Diego’s Case-Shiller numbers.”
“‘It’s very unusual that every other market is down,’ Gin said, noting that the unemployment rate of 11 percent here is worse than the national average.”
“Mark Zandi, chief economist at Moody’s Economy.com, said the credits ‘helped staunch the price declines.’ ‘The home is still the largest asset on most people’s balance sheet, so when prices are falling, nothing works for most families,’ Zandi said. ‘But now people can take a deep breath and think clearly again.’”
ABC News Money. “Debbie is one of California’s many homeowners who have found they can no longer afford the house of their dreams. Although she stopped paying her mortgage last year, she has found a way to avoid foreclosure: a ’short sell’ of the house for less than she owes on it. But even though she has found a qualified buyer, she can’t get the bank to approve the sale.”
“‘Why are they sitting on this so long?’ says Debbie, who bought her two-bedroom cabin in Modesto two years ago for $250,000. She can no longer afford the mortgage after she lost her job as a financial officer, even as the house has lost half its value in the economic downturn. Debbie says she’s surprised that her buyer has been willing to stick around for so long.”
“‘This whole situation has been very emotional for us,’ she says. ‘We’re just trying to do this the right way.’”
The Contra Costa Times. “A Brentwood councilman’s contracting firm has collapsed under the weight of impending lawsuits over home inspections gone awry. Now Robert Brockman, who lost his own home to foreclosure, is trying to pick up the pieces and start over. Brockman rejects the homeowner claims, even though he did not appear in court to defend himself against one. Homeowners always sue when the housing market declines, he said, to recover their lost equity. ‘Everybody sues a foundation guy,’ he said.”
“As the lawsuits mounted and the housing downturn soured business, Brockman cashed out $500,000 in retirement and 401(k) savings to keep BEC afloat. He had outlasted downturns before, and he said he thought he could persevere. Last May, he lost his Brentwood residence, and is in danger of losing a handful of East Contra Costa investment properties that have all gone underwater. He said he likely would lose a Brentwood industrial park complex assessed in 2009 at $4.7 million. ‘I was broke,’ the 55-year-old councilman said.”
The Sacramento Bee. “The new Ritz-Carlton luxury hotel at Lake Tahoe has gone into default, the latest sign of trouble for the lake economy and one of its top developers. The manager of the hotel, which charges anywhere from $249 to $4,000 a night, says business has been strong. But East West Resort Development of Avon, Colo, which has built hundreds of condominiums and town homes in the area clustered around the Northstar-at-Tahoe ski resort, is suffering from the collapse in the real estate market.”
“Even as the economy starts to recover, consumers are wary about spending money on goodies such as luxury timeshares. ‘Resort real estate and vacations fall into the category of discretionary spending,’ said Ralf Garrison, a consultant in the mountain resort business. The luxury resort real estate market remains in deep trouble, with the Northstar region among the hardest hit, said Garrison, who analyzes mountain resort travel.”
“In its bankruptcy papers, East West said the recession ‘took its toll on demand for luxury real estate, causing property values to fall markedly, particularly in Lake Tahoe.’”
The Desert Sun. “Keller Williams Realty Inc., led by operating principal Michael Hilgenberg…opened an elegant, new Legacy Division at 50-981 Washington St., in one of the hottest, million-dollar-plus sales areas of the Coachella Valley: La Quinta, where 32 luxury sales were recorded in the first three months of the year.”
“‘We think the baby-boom generation, which has been holding off on where to put its money, is going to come off the fence, and pick real estate for their investment,” he said. ‘What’s exciting about this is we’re the test case to this whole concept of an exclusive office specific to luxury homes.’”
“Valery Neuman, a luxury residential real estate broker for Windermere Real Estate who was a top sales agent in the Coachella Valley in 2009, described this period as one laced with opportunity in all price ranges. Action comes with a catch. ‘If it’s priced to sell, it’ll sell,’ Neuman said. ‘This is not a speculator’s market.’”
“Prices are down roughly 40 percent from 2006 levels, Neuman said, and the $6 million homes of 2007 are in some cases fetching $4 million, or 33 percent less than they did three years ago. Mike Smith, of Classic Living Realty, is advertising a short sale in The Vintage on an $8 million home that’s now going for $4.3 million. And the former estate of Liberace just sold in Palm Springs for roughly half of its former $2.8 million list price.”
The Santa Barbara Independent. “A 65-year-old Texas billionaire has agreed to buy 91 percent of the struggling parent of Santa Barbara Bank & Trust, which posted a $79.9 million first-quarter loss. Gerald J. Ford’s $500 million investment in parent Pacific Capital Bancorp (PCBC) gives the 50-year-old bank the capital boost it desperately needs to help weather the financial storms that have engulfed it since 2007, the last year it posted a profit.”
“Pacific Capital has been hit hard by toxic real estate loans for large out-of-state residential projects. After posting a stunning $431 million loss in 2009, the bank went on a cost-slashing campaign, including eliminating dividends, which badly hurt its retirees. Some in the market hoped that the bank would show a first quarter profit this year, but that didn’t happen.”
“As of March 31, the bank had a Tier 1 total risk-based capital ratio of 10.2 percent, which meant it was not in compliance with ratios set by federal regulators in order to be considered ‘well-capitalized,’ the bank said.’ ‘As a result of the most recent examination of the bank (by regulators) we expect that the bank and the company will be subject to further supervisory action. Any such supervisory action could have a material adverse effect on the results of operations, financial condition and business of the company and bank.’”
“It still has not repaid its $180 million federal TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) loan. Not only is the fate of the once-beloved local institution, operating from its longtime red-tile roofed headquarters at Anacapa and Carrillo streets, bemoaned in Santa Barbara today as the news sinks in, but the pain of recent cost-cutting has caused much bitterness among longtime employees and retirees. Dividends they had counted on for their ‘golden years’ have been eliminated, and medical benefits have also been slashed or, in the case of those 65 years old, eliminated.”
The Glendale News Press. “The California Assn. of Realtors reported that the median sale price for homes in Glendale fell 20.8% in March compared with the same period last year, although the median rose 3.3% in Burbank and 8.3% in Los Angeles County. The mixed regional results likely reflect a trend toward recent sales of more lower-priced homes, experts said. The sales mix in Glendale may have included more expensive homes in the past than are on the market and selling today, which likely pushed down the median sales figure, they said.”
“Still, the March median sale prices — $439,000 in Burbank and $399,000 in Glendale — indicate an increase in activity on the lower end of the price spectrum, most likely because more distressed homes are being sold, real estate experts and agents said. ‘There’s a lot of transactions happening,’ said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Assn. of Realtors. ‘They’re just happening at greatly reduced prices.’”
“Banks are beginning to foreclose on and auction homes with distressed mortgages after months of restraint, said Robert Bridges, professor of real estate finance at the USC Marshall School of Business. ‘This is really a big thing that’s going on right now,’ Bridges said. ‘The fact that all of these auctions are going on, not just in L.A., but kind of around the nation, that is really recognition on the part of the banks that they really do need to get this stuff off of their books.’”
The Voice of San Diego. “It’s full-on spring frenzy in the housing market — bidding wars have erupted between flippers and newlyweds, and builders are taking the tarps down from shuttered projects. But those signs of growth and energy in the local housing market haven’t yet banished the gloom. Other trouble still looms — on the jobs front, in commercial real estate, in impending foreclosures. And with bank strategy difficult to read and government stimulus changing shape or disappearing, the forecast is even trickier.”
“Financial pros and regular Joes are gathering bits of insight where they can to get their bearings on this economic landscape. Buy a refrigerator from a guy on Craigslist, come back with daunting questions about San Diego’s economy. That’s what happened a few weeks ago to Dieter Haschke. The guy selling the fridge had been living in his Mission Valley home without making a mortgage payment since December 2008, Haschke discovered.”
“‘How many more people are out there doing this?’ Haschke wondered.”
“As of Tuesday, there are more than 9,602 properties actively scheduled for foreclosure sale — the second stage of foreclosure — that have not already been sold or had their auction canceled, according to ForeclosureRadar. Lenders have filed another 7,577 default notice within the last four months against San Diego County homeowners that have not yet made it to auction.”
“But it’s hard to tell when those homes will show up in the market. ‘While on the one hand we won’t bail homeowners out, we’re also totally anti-foreclosure,’ said Sean O’Toole, ForeclosureRadar’s CEO. ‘Politicians don’t want to kick people out on the street. And so we have a stalemate.’”
The Orange County Local News Network. “The number of home foreclosures continues to mount in the more-expensive enclaves of Orange County, but is decreasing in less-affluent neighborhoods, it was reported today. The beach cities of Laguna Beach, Newport Beach, San Clemente, Dana Point and Huntington Beach were among towns with the highest percentage increases in foreclosures in the state.”
“The biggest percentage gain in foreclosures occurred in Newport Beach’s 92660 zip code, encompassing the Back Bay and other neighborhoods. Lenders seized eight homes in that area, up from two in the first quarter of 2009. The homes in tony new subdivisions in the Ladera Ranch area had the county’s highest foreclosure rate, as 8.3 foreclosures were in process per thousand homes. Rancho Santa Margarita had a foreclosure rate of 4.4 per 1,000 homes; Aliso Viejo had a rate of 3.8 per 1,000. That compares to a county-wide average of just 2.8 foreclosures per thousand homes.”
“Home foreclosures are ‘definitely a trend that is moving toward the coastline,’ Steve High, a Coldwell Banker luxury-home agent based in Newport Beach. ‘The notice of default list is at the highest rate that I’ve seen in 25 years.’”
‘And the wave of foreclosure filings against pricey homes, generally near the ocean, may not have crested yet, High told the an Orange County newspaper. ‘There are many people out there who haven’t paid their mortgages in months.’”
The Press Democrat. “Home sales in West Petaluma, heart of the city’s turn-of-the-century Victorians, witnessed a significant jump during the first three months of the year. Real estate brokers say the increase in sales volume may be related to more sellers cutting prices and to more buyers wanting to purchase before interest rates rise. ‘We’re getting sellers that are much more realistic’ about the value of their homes, said Steve Crook, a broker associate in Petaluma.”
“Buyers purchased 58 homes in west Petaluma in the first quarter of the year, up 71 percent from the same period a year ago, according to The Press Democrat monthly housing report prepared by Rick Laws of Coldwell Banker. Laws said more sellers in the county appear to be lowering initial asking prices after concluding that they won’t see a big bounce in home values. He suggested some had hoped for a larger rebound after median home prices fell more than 40 percent during the past five years.”
“Waiting for prices to come back to 2006 levels ‘could take the rest of your life,’ Laws said.”
“There may still be some reason to hurry, though: Robert Kleinhenz, an economist with the California Association of Realtors, calculated that the $100 million California has allocated for the new homebuyer portion of the credit probably won’t last till the end of May.” I thought California was strapped for cash. How can they afford to just give $100 million away to national homebuilders and banks by increasing sales and sales prices for a few weeks? What if they put that money towards things that would result in real job growth and at let home prices fall to the point that it would actually make sense to locate there, and thereby lessen the impact of future recessions and position it for future growth? It appears California cares nothing about its residents.
I heard there is something tricky with the California “credit” that will deflate many people’s hopes. I understand you have to wind up with a tax liability on your California return in order to take the credit, and it will only offset what you own. It does not act like a true credit where you can get cash with a zero tax liability. So, only people who owe $10,000 would get the benefit. It would take a lot of paycheck scheming to wind up owing that amount. So, the CAR and NAR get to crow about something for what will probably wind up costing the state much less.
Anyone know more about this?
The top CA tax bracket is 9% so you would need well in excess of $100K income to use up any such non-refundable tax credit.
UNLESS you are permitted to take it over several years, as in the case of (IIRC) capital losses over some threshold value.
You have to take it over three years (~$3,333/year).
Yes, you need to owe that each year in order to get the credit.
Hahahaha, good joke on the FB’s!
Well, the tax credit is spread over three or four years. Now, this is a credit on paid tax so a dollar for dollar reduction BUT you don’t get a check for more than you owe.
It’s a substaintial incentive and I’m waiting it out for all the wheeling and dealing to end.
Start a new job in July so will not be posting so much after the summer.
The California thread is mentioning the wave of forclosures is rearing at the coast finally. Rate is way up. Still a long way to fall out here.
And yes, Natalie, the guys in Sacremento don’t give a darn about us.
CA tax credit is a NON-REFUNDABLE tax credit.
Many homebuyers don’t understand this.
They think it’s refundable.. like the Fed one.
They are probably being mislead to believe that it is… only to find out… much later… that they hardly get any benefit at all!!
Of course.. then.. it will be too late.
Suckers!!
Supporters, like the National Association of Realtors, have declared it [CA tax credit] a great way to goose the value of existing homes
I presume “goose” here means to support the asking price above what it should be…..
Here the NAR has come out and flatly stated that these tax credits artificially boost house prices. Isn’t that admitting what people around here have been complaining about?
Here the NAR has come out and flatly stated that these tax credits artificially boost house prices. Isn’t that admitting what people around here have been complaining about?
Sure sounds that way to me.
Slim: I honestly don’t believe most of the general public would understand your point. People are disconnected from reality, IMHO.
Some residents are more equal than others.
Man if I lived in CA I would be steaming mad about this stupidity. The state isn’t even CLOSE to breaking even, and they’re spending money on THIS poo?
One good way to get even: Don’t buy a home. The state is heavily dependent on property tax, which is supported by artificially high home prices relative to incomes. If you don’t own a home, the worst you can do is implicitly share the high property tax rates through artificially inflated rents. But the monthly for renting is still relatively low to monthly mortgage rates even at current interest rates, and expected future home equity gains are zero to negative, thanks to artificially propped up home prices.
“On Friday, after months of trying to buy their first house, newlyweds Terry and Ebony Jackson had finally reached their boiling point. About an hour after the Jacksons cooled down, their real estate agent called with the good news. Their offer on a foreclosed house in Carson was accepted. The Jacksons hope to move into their new house by June 1. The four-bedroom residence on a cul-de-sac was listed for $375,000 and received multiple offers. The couple’s bid was $2,000 above the asking price.”
“The couple was worried about missing Friday’s deadline. ‘We haven’t been sleeping the past couple of weeks,’ said Ebony Jackson, a child social worker who lives with her husband and his two young sons in a one-bedroom apartment in Hawthorne.”
Their REWhore called with the worst news of their young lives. They are now in a situation that will burden them with an amount of debt that I would NEVER think of assuming. Where does an $8000 Fed goody motivate a rational person or persons to purchase a $375K foreclosure house?
Losing sleep? They have not yet begun to lose sleep. The Jackson’s house purchase will likely cause recriminations and financial stress. I see a divorce in the not too distant future. That being said, their P&I should be $1600/ mo assuming a 20% down payment (LMAO!) not counting taxes, maintenance, insurance, utilities, and how far was that commute? In truth their payment is more likely to be nearer (much nearer) to $2000/ mo. For 30 years. 30.
A frugal and prudent homeowner would need to make $85k to $90k net per year to afford this house. The lady is a child social worker? What does her husband do? Do they both make $90k/year net? Maybe. Will their incomes grow? IDK, ask Ben Bernanke.
It is a foreclosure, so it surely has issues. Chinese Drywall anyone? Broken window neighborhood? I wish I knew.
Suzanne researched this. It must be ok.
Roidy
A couple of the articles posted here talk about “newlyweds” buying a house. One would think they should not view buying a house as the first order of business after just getting married.
Old order: marriage, baby, house.
New order: baby, house, marriage.
New order: baby, house, marriage, forclosure, divorce, baby…
New order:
1) Baby
2) House
3) Marriage
4) Foreclosure
5) Divorce
6) Move into Mom’s basement
7) Regular visits to Family Court
1. Overpay
2. Claim victimization
3. Live payment free for months or years
4. Strategic default
5. Taxpayers cover bank’s bad loans
And to think that Yours Truly was conceived in an apartment. My folks had been married for eight years.
And I can’t help thinking that my impending arrival motivated them to become homeowners. They moved in about two months before I was born. House was unfinished, as was the landscaping. I can remember Dad out in the yard, planting things.
I also remember him doing car repairs in the driveway. All the other dads did the same thing. Same for home repairs. We as a people were much more self-sufficient back then.
I was conceived in an apartment, too! And look! I came out just fine. My parents were married for 10 years before they bought a house…44 years ago. They still live in that same house.
Neither set of grandparents ever bought houses. They, too, did just fine. They were able to move when they got old to where they wanted to be and it was no big deal.
“I also remember him doing car repairs in the driveway.”
Of course, that was during the days when if you had a bench grinder, a monkey wrench and a roll of duct tape, you could fix just about anything. Nowadays, things are either so shitily made that they aren’t worth fixing or they’re so complicated that it almost takes an engineering degree to fix them.
Worse, even if you know what you’re doing, you better not do it in the driveway or the HOA Nazis will have a fit. Somebody fixing something with their own hands is a precursor to falling home values.
“‘We think the baby-boom generation, which has been holding off on where to put its money, is going to come off the fence, and pick real estate for their investment,” he said. ‘What’s exciting about this is we’re the test case to this whole concept of an exclusive office specific to luxury homes.’
Wrong..wrong ..wrong.
I’m sitting on the fence with HBB friends, eating popcorn, while we watch the GF and FB gobble up the remains of the toxic RE deals, bribes, carcusses and entrails of the dead and poisoned housing market.
We don’t care..we don’t care !!
mikey’s no fool, my Mom taught me NOT to eat poison.
Puke and Die Everyone…Puke and Die !!
(I’ll tell the RE spin misters how I really feel as soon as I get a soft drink and some more melted butter on this popcorn)
Hi Mikey,
Saw your post yesterday. I’ doing pretty good. Sitting here on my back porch watching all the craziness go on. Another beautiful day here.
Hope life has been good to you.
Hi BayAreaGal,
Nice to know that all is well with you and you’re just chilling in San Francisco today. No pun intended but as I remember, the Bay Area’s breezes are sometimes as strange as Lake Michigan’s. I always keep an old hooded British Navy jacket and my mittens on a string in the trunk of my car.
I’m fine, still a little weird and trying hard to enjoy every moment of life. Thanks.
Oh please. I live out here and they are all running around spewing sunshine, rainbows & unicorns.
“Oh please. I live out here and they are all running around spewing sunshine, rainbows & unicorns.”
“Yikes…Hello SETI…I have a CONTACT !!
“Oh please. I live out here and they are all running around spewing sunshine, rainbows & unicorns.”
Wow, unicorns? A pony doesn’t cut it anymore?
Hah, and a lot of us are checking out yurts as our Plan B, they’re pretty cool and inexpensive: http://www.coloradoyurt.com
“One would think they should not view buying a house as the first order of business after just getting married.”
One doesn’t have to watch too many episodes of HGTV to see this is what is being pushed relentlessly. Apparently a marriage isn’t complete without buying a house, or buying a bigger house if adding spawn.
“One doesn’t have to watch too many episodes of HGTV to see this is what is being pushed relentlessly. Apparently a marriage isn’t complete without buying a house, or buying a bigger house if adding spawn.”
Sounds like a conspiracy. Unfortunately, it is!
I’m still getting over the fact that they paid 377k for a house in Carson…and a foreclosure at that. Carson is home of oil refineries, dirty air, gangs, and warehouses. Great place to raise a family.
Worst decision ever.
Except in bubbleland, $377K should buy you a decent house almost anywhere except maybe SF or Manhattan. Considering what a cr@phole Carson is, there shouldn’t be any house nice enough to be priced at $377K.
Action comes with a catch
Yeah, that’s been my experience.
They say that first-time housebuyers make up a good chunk of this spring’s buyers (~40%). Now I ask, pretend it’s 2050 for sec. - which group will the history books most likely show as having been reamed the most in the bust: A. first-time house buyers (young families), B. the landed gentry (Boomers), C. the banks?
What’s that saying everyone is so fond of? Something about pigeons and poker games.
If you look around the room and can’t find the mark, the mark is you.
“California homebuyers who make a deal by midnight can save a lot of money. In order to get the federal credits, a deal must be in place by midnight April 30 and finalized by the end of June. The State Credits start May 1, but there’s enough overlap for double dipping.”
There’s enough overlap between April 30 and May 1 to enable the clever to get away with fraud in a financial system which is no longer subject to a rule of law.
I’m curious as to how the state credit is written such that it allows one to double-dip. If it “starts” May 1, wouldn’t that suggest that a new buyer is under contract ON or AFTER May 1?
Federal based on contract date (but must close by end of June); State based on closing date.
Right, Ron.
As long as you have a signed contract by April 30th, and if escrow closed by June 30th, you get the $8,000 tax credit.
For the state credit, you have to enter into a contract **after** May 1st.
So, if you enter into a contract/escrow by April 30th, then close the deal after May 1st, you get both credits.
They think the California credit is only going to last for a few weeks/months. My guess is they’ll end up extending it because it’s so “successful.”
It’s working, too. Lots of eager buyers out there bidding everything up again. We’ve learned NOTHING from the “crisis.”
“There may still be some reason to hurry, though: Robert Kleinhenz, an economist with the California Association of Realtors, calculated that the $100 million California has allocated for the new homebuyer portion of the credit probably won’t last till the end of May.”
What will the bankrupt state of California come up with to prop up home prices after this temporary housing market stimulus runs dry?
What will the bankrupt state of California come up with to prop up home prices after this temporary housing market stimulus runs dry?
Super-duper special incentives for the software industry? AKA the Silly Valley Subsidy? Or how about the Hollywood Blockbuster Tax Credit?
“Alan Gin, an economist at the University of San Diego, was at a loss to explain San Diego’s Case-Shiller numbers.”
Unlike me, Gin must not know any Asian real estate investors who are sinking money into San Diego’s falling knife real estate market.
We’ve learned absolutely NOTHING from this real estate bubble/burst.
Just like a wind up toy hitting the wall… then hitting the wall… then hitting the wall… again.. & again.. we, collectively as a society… will do the same.
Sad.
Plenty of great educational experiences in life’s dear school for fools still await participants in this bubble; the fact that the lessons have not yet sunk in is a clear indication the bubble is not through deflating just yet.
When you have the govt encouraging the madness what do you expect?they are the ones giving 0 down loans.they are also encouraging the banks to buy treasuries with loaned my at 0%.At least wall street had a market for their garbage loans.The govt loans go over to freddie and fannie where the taxpayer insures the loss.they have turned the housing market into a casino like the stock market.
I’m just waiting for the stated income loan to roar back.
I stopped caring much about what the collective society does a long time ago. Some things will never change, and that’s a shame from a certain point of view.
But from the point of view of someone who seeks to better himself, or invest profitably, the more you know about habits and predilections of society, the more opportunities you might see to gain from it.
Bees pollinate flowers and make honey. Man harvests the fruit and also steals their honey, but bees can’t help themselves or change their ways.. and they keep on pollinating and making honey. It’s a pretty big industry.
“Man harvests the fruit and also steals their honey, but bees can’t help themselves or change their ways..”
Are you insinuating now that it is against the law to use bees to produce honey? Your use of analogies to justify criminal behavior in the banking system seems a bit flimsy.
Don’t know if you have been reading the news, bees are dying.
i saw that.. some tiny little parasite iirc..
I heard/read part of the problem was pesticides.
When plankton dies, so do whales. Perhaps the whales on Wall Street believe their plankton supply is unlimited, but I have my doubts.
Strange, last time I talked to a bee, he said that the bee’s unionized.
..Bees have been declining over decades from various causes. But in 2006 a new concern, “colony collapse disorder,” was blamed for large, inexplicable die-offs. The disorder, which causes adult bees to abandon their hives and fly off to die, is likely a combination of many causes, including parasites, viruses, bacteria, poor nutrition and pesticides, experts say.
http://www.redcafe.net/f13/honey-bee-problem-getting-worse-apparently-289952/
Whew.. I really expected him to conclude it was a mental illness.
The bees are being raptured.
The USA needs money ( like Greece ) and the Chinese and Indians need more land. So its a trade. Thats the future here on the coast.
Can we afford it ? japan rejected this solution but I bet the US will embrace it.
its going to get crowded in the next 100 years over here.
“But even though she has found a qualified buyer, she can’t get the bank to approve the sale.”
“‘Why are they sitting on this so long?’ says Debbie, who bought her two-bedroom cabin in Modesto two years ago for $250,000. She can no longer afford the mortgage after she lost her job as a financial officer, even as the house has lost half its value in the economic downturn.”
OMG did they make this up? Her ‘two-bedroom cabin’ has reverted from the absurd price she paid to it to a level closer to its actual value, and this unemployed financial officer cannot figure out why the bank is not eager to take a $125,000 hit on its balance sheet to help her get out from under her debt obligation…
Who wouldn’t want financial advice from this genius? Guess she can use her free time work on getting a real estate license.
“$125,000″ and “cabin” should be mutually exclusive. “$250,000″ and “cabin” is ludicrous.
“As of Tuesday, there are more than 9,602 properties actively scheduled for foreclosure sale — the second stage of foreclosure — that have not already been sold or had their auction canceled, according to ForeclosureRadar. Lenders have filed another 7,577 default notice within the last four months against San Diego County homeowners that have not yet made it to auction.”
9,602+7,577 = 17,179 San Diego County homes either actively scheduled for foreclosure sale or subject to a notice of default over the past four months. What is the current number of active San Diego County MLS listings — 10,000 or so? Sounds like the San Diego County housing market is about to drown in shadow inventory…
Zandi sez: ‘But now people can take a deep breath and think clearly again.’
Okay Mark, you bought a couple of people a little respite - but then what? Do any of these Keynesians have a clue about the wider socioeconomic shifts that are rocking our world?
As best as I can see it, these pukes are “modernists” in the truest sense of the word. They are high on the twentieth century ideal of “rational man”. They approach this as if it was happening decades ago…in a classroom debate no less!
Does anyone know how many residential investment properties Zandi owns? Just curious…
‘Zandi said the credits ‘helped staunch the price declines’
So here’s one for you media folk out there; at what cost? The ‘credits’ didn’t do anything, people buying houses did. What happens to those people now?
See, I don’t get where the govt and the Zandi’s of the world get off pretending like this is ‘helping’ anyone. More foreclosures in the future? And for what, a slight slowdown in price declines?
i gotta believe the government is doing it only to gain time.. time for the economy, specifically the financial industry, to get back on it’s feet. Then they cut the entire RE industry loose to fend for itself.
Government will never admit it, or be accused of it, but these newest FBs are just cannon fodder.
I believe you’re correct regarding the plan. The FB’ers as cannon fodder goes without saying.
“Government will never admit it, or be accused of it, …”
What are you talking about? Ben just accused them, as have many other posters on this blog.
Are you suggesting that what bloggers post has no influence in the political discussion? If so, why do your corporate masters pay you to post here?
Bloggers have tremendous influence and set the tone in Washington. They are among the most feared and respected influences in the world of politics as well as in the boardrooms of the largest corporations.
To cross them, or to not heed their opinion is equivilant to political / financial suicide.
That’s why I get paid the big bucks. If i can just steer you slightly off course, my masters may survive your relentless onslaughts.
‘Bloggers have tremendous influence…in the boardrooms of the largest corporations’
I’ve mentioned this before; back around the end of 2005, IIRC, I got an email from one of the directors at Bear Stearns, asking me to call him. I did, and spoke with his office. They said they would tell him I called and he’d get back to me. I never heard anything from them again.
I’ve wondered, over the years, what he wanted to talk about and what might have happened differently.
He may have wanted your advice on which were the weakest parts of the market in order to set up some credit default swaps.. and you might have provided it.. and then maybe you’d be in front of some congressional committee pleading your innocence..
but seriously.. too bad he never got back to you, and you’ll likely never know.
“That’s why I get paid the big bucks. If i can just steer you slightly off course, my masters may survive your relentless onslaughts.”
LOL! joey, one of your best posts ever!!!
“Bloggers have tremendous influence and set the tone in Washington.”
That seems a bit far fetched, don’t you think?
Frankly, if the propagandists in DC were not so far out in left field and the banksters on Wall Street were not so far outside the bounds of the law, I wouldn’t have such a strong conviction that blogging could actually make a difference. Given the state of affairs at hand, I believe it can make a difference.
If you don’t understand this, I refer you to the tale of the Emperor’s New Clothes. If that doesn’t get the idea across, then move on to Gulliver’s Travels. Bloggers are the little boy who alert the populace that the Emperor is naked; they are the Lilliputians who tie the mighty Gulliver down to the ground.
Oh no Ben, it is a boomlet out there.
The combination of pent up demand, lack of supply, low rates and incentives.
And before I’m roasted: working in Aeropsace and a lot of the younger people are now in their 30s and really want to buy. Me, I’m moving on. I see govt spending is a bubble and trying to ease into some commercial/civil work instead.
So, there is some rather small amount of pent up demand.
The other incentives are pretty strong too. Taxes going up and credits going away.
Just the small circles I run in here.
Waiting till I see some amazing deals.
I was in Girl Scouts with Mark Zandi’s sister. While growing up, I don’t recall that the Zandis lived in a palatial estate. If anything, their house was fairly typical of what had been built in Chester County, PA during the 1950s and 1960s.
As for today, I don’t know about Mark’s digs. But I do know that one of his brothers had been several injured in a drunk driving accident. (He’d been drinking, and you can pretty well guess the rest.)
My mother taught in one of the local high schools, and periodically, this brother (who was brain damaged as a result of the accident) would come in and speak to the students about what can happen if you drink and drive. According to Mom, his talks were quite moving.
Interesting story, AZ Slim.
Very sad about the brother with the brain injury. Just one “small” mistake can change/end your whole life.
“Does anyone know how many residential investment properties Zandi owns? Just curious…”
This is a very important question, and one I’d like an answer to as well. This mania included all facets of our society, as evidenced by that failure of a flipper Nicolas Cage. My guess is that a lot of the people who are instrumental in influencing and guiding policy are sitting on some nasty alligators.
Nicolas Cage may have a plan.
Unfortunately, realty reality doesn’t seem to be any part of it.
..“It still has not repaid its $180 million federal TARP (Troubled Asset Relief Program) loan. Not only is the fate of the once-beloved local institution, operating from its longtime red-tile roofed headquarters at..
—-
Small banks got TARP? That can’t be.. can it? I thought small banks acted more responsibly and are more stable, because they are small.. and were denied TARP funds in any case.
It inspired me to search.. to see who all got some of that tax-payer money..
Turns out that a lot of small banks got bailed out.. I didn’t count them, but there’s gotta be close to a thousand listed on this page.
Shows who got how much.. What, if anything was paid back. How much revenue profit, if any… as of Apr. 30, 2010
http://bailout.propublica.org/main/list/index
“I thought small banks acted more responsibly and are more stable, because they are small..”
How do you come up with these whacked out ideas?
WBBR Bloomberg reported this morning that “appraisal fraud skyrocketed in 2009 with the implementation of HVACC requirements”.
You know…. that’s all I heard Tom Keene say but WTF is it going to take to clean up the housing sales crime syndicate? Where is the end of this? Does not the low-lifes involved in a transaction of this magnitude owe a fiduciary obligation to the transaction? I’m presuming they do. The fact that appraisers, realturds, inspectors are all complicit in deliberately or knowingly misrepresenting the value of an asset is fraud. Even by the narrowest of criteria, it’s F-R-A-U-D. As far as I know, fraud is a felony in all 50 states yet this fraud continues, coast to coast, north to south. Where is DOJ? WTF?!!!!!!
My post above was meant for The Bucket.
I was interviewed by Time magazine a couple of years ago. The reporter said, ’so you don’t think the govt should do ANYTHING?’
I replied that there were plenty of people/organizations the govt could be going after. (The interview was never published.)
So fraud hits a new high in 2009? WTF indeed…
‘California’s foreclosure crisis has spawned an unusual operation by a bankrupt Orange County businessman who takes control of vacant homes and rents them out, according to police, property records and neighbors. Mark Bellinger, an investor in an Anaheim Hills home taken over by Hanloh, fretted that he might lose the property.’
‘It’ll take a year to get (the tenants) out. Who’s going to pay the mortgage for a year?’ Bellinger said. ‘It’s the equivalent of kiss your home goodbye.’
‘Hanloh twice declined comment, saying only that he is doing everything legally. ‘I will tell you that what I do is fight the banks,’ Hanloh said. ‘The crime of the millennium is happening to the American public by the banks with the blessing of Wall Street bankers, and I’m fighting back.’
http://www.ocregister.com/news/-245178–.html
Is this guy serious? He collects rent on homes he doesn’t own by breaking into empty houses, changing the locks and filing bogus deeds?
This guy needs to be tied to a GS executive and both of them shoved down the elevator shaft of an uncompleted foreclosed high-rise condo complex.
He’s fighting back against the criminals on Wall Street by screwing over honest renters. Nice.
“So fraud hits a new high in 2009? WTF indeed…”
Yes. Caution: this piece is expletive-laden, but I think truthful. And, apparently, we’re losers because we don’t like fraud. My fervent wish is that one of these Wall Street turds needs an operation from a doctor who shares their philosophy.
http://exiledonline.com/confessions-of-a-wall-st-nihilist-forget-about-goldman-sachs-our-entire-economy-is-built-on-fraud/
palmetto ….I liked comment number 52 after the article .
Get rid of the mafia blackmailers that took control of the financial markets .
An MSM propaganda outlet spiked your interview, Ben?! I am shocked; shocked! I tell you. Their corporate masters probably had them tout the latest must-have fashion accessory instead.
Wow, this is hilarious.
It used to be “hurry, buy before the price goes up”. And now, “hurry, before the tax credit expires”. What will they scheme up next?
Amazingly, they’re already peddling “hurry, before interest rates go up!”
After seeing all the BS on the tax credit, it doesn’t surprise me anymore that people buy into this one as well. And in a way, the peddlers are correct. Rates seem to poised to rise, but will do so so slowly that prices won’t decline quickly enough to give people pause. (Yet another depressing thought of how long this will take to play out)
Okay, this may seem like a stupid question… but… California is BROKE, is it not? Where exactly is the money going to come from to PAY FOR all these credits?
A: from those who don’t buy houses, I guess…
No, it’s not a stupid question! There’s all this money to hand out, and they claim they have to tax me and my business more? Stop giving away money to deadbeats first, then see how big your shortfall is.
Stop giving money to deadbeats? And doom the Democratic party to extinction?!
I think it’s a perfect example of why California is broke. Note to self: never move to California, no matter how beautiful some areas are.
A: from those who don’t buy houses, I guess…
Ding-ding-ding! MacAttack wins a prize!
Many people think most Klowniformians are not very religious. Not true. Our taxpayer-funded state religion is real estate speculation. Church: Our Lady of Everlasting Appreciation. Pastors: Lawrence Yun & Leslie Appleton-Young.
Harm ,nice to see you posting ,always liked your posts .
Oh wow. Haven’t seen you in a while, HARM. Welcome back.
“‘The home is still the largest asset on most people’s balance sheet, so when prices are falling, nothing works for most families,’ Zandi said. ‘But now people can take a deep breath and think clearly again.’”
You call what most families did when prices were going up thinking clearly?
““‘The home is still the largest asset on most people’s balance sheet, so when prices are falling, nothing works for most families,’ Zandi said. ‘But now people can take a deep breath and think clearly again.’”
I am thinking clearly. Screw you. How is any house with huge negative equity an asset, @sshat? Houses are still way overpriced in San Diego. With a perpetually rigged system, it’s time to get out of SD. Why should I pay top dollar to live in a corrupt, poorly managed city with the worst infrastructure in America? The climate is nice, but it’s not that nice.
“I am thinking clearly. Screw you. How is any house with huge negative equity an asset, @sshat? Houses are still way overpriced in San Diego. With a perpetually rigged system, it’s time to get out of SD. Why should I pay top dollar to live in a corrupt, poorly managed city with the worst infrastructure in America? The climate is nice, but it’s not that nice.”
I was looking for the proper response to that bit of BS and I think you said it perfectly!
Of course, I also don’t care for the climate - I miss snow and a decent annual rainfall, but I realize that’s just me.
Thanks for the words Greg!
ABC News Money. “Debbie is one of California’s many homeowners who have found they can no longer afford the house of their dreams. Although she stopped paying her mortgage last year, she has found a way to avoid foreclosure: a ’short sell’ of the house for less than she owes on it. But even though she has found a qualified buyer, she can’t get the bank to approve the sale.”
I’m stumped. If the bank won’t agree to it, has she or hasn’t she “found a way to avoid foreclosure”. It’s more like a hare-brained scheme at this point.
And, no matter how hard the reporter tries to evoke sympathy, I can’t feel too sorry for someone who has lived rent-free for the past year. If this really was a “dream house” this could be worth at least $24,000 of tax-free income! Your or I would have to earn $48,000 to clear that much!
“Debbie is one of California’s many homeowners who have found they can no longer afford the house of their dreams.”
As overpriced as houses still are in California, most people still can’t afford even the house of their nightmares.
A dream house is something that might happen someplace else, but never in California.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3yFSpml8oSw
Cue Debbie Downer trumpet.
It’s probable that she NEVER could afford the “house of her dreams.”
“The tax credits are nonrefundable and unused credits cannot be carried over.”
Under General Information, 2nd paragraph.
In other words, “nonrefundable” = NO CHECK involved in Ca Tax Credit. You have to be making big bucks to have a liability of $3,333.33 for state taxes for 1 yr. The credit is for 3 years. All it is, is no state taxes due. bfd
http://www.ftb.ca.gov/individuals/new_home_credit.shtml
If it’s no BFD to you, why don’t you write a check to the CA franchise tax board right now to cover it!
Reuven,
I didn’t mean BFD as in screw the taxpayer (we are small business owners), it was meant is in, it’s such a miniscule credit to most taxpayers, to take a leap into a home purchase is ridiculous. I apologize for not making myself clear. I hope you didn’t blow a head gasket
No, I didn’t! If I wasn’t having fun here, I wouldn’t participate.
I’m glad you clarified! Phew!
Don’t forget, there’s tremendous fraud with all these giveaways/handouts/credits. I’m sure most people will try to finagle their books to get the maximum one. (The IRS estimates that 50% of the first-time homebuyer tax credits were fraudulent! http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126010317 )
Reuven-
I am most definitely on the same page as you. So, I guess I won’t be cleaning off your ceiling. Good.
Maybe it’s just me, but committing fraud for so little money is just dumb. I mean, if I was an immoral pos, I’d go for real bucks.
You must not live in California….according to this calculator:
http://www.ftb.ca.gov/online/Tax_Calculator/Calculator.aspx
…you would owe (based on 2009 tax rates):
- $3,365 in California income tax with $59,000 in taxable income if you file Single
- $3,348 in California income tax with $81,000 in taxable income if you file Married (Joint)
In California, you hit the highest tax rate (9.55%) pretty quickly. For 2009 if you are single, any taxable income over $46,349 - if you are married (joint filer), any taxable income over $92,698.
Hardly “big bucks” given how expensive it is to live here….
$50k is just barely getting by in California so that hitting the highest tax bracket at under $50K is an indication of how high taxes are here, among the highest 2 or 3 combined state and local in the U.S. Fortunately, we get such excellent services in return, oh never mind.
Just got in so don’t know if anyone else has posted
this…but, buried in the health care bill, a misnomer if their ever was one, is a little nugget that just got discovered.
When the HCB goes into effect, there will be a 3.8%
tax on home sales and other real estate transactions. Plus, in other related news from our glorious government, the EPA will require almost full hazmat gear when working on homes built before 1978. Even if you’re just pressure washing
the exterior prior to painting, you need to fully
contain all the “contaminated water” and old paint
flakes that are hosed off the building…Hosed is
right.
I’m even more glad now that I sold off my 1959 vintage San Jose house back in 2006.
I hope you’re kidding, Rancher.
Will have to look that up.
“Although she stopped paying her mortgage last year, she has found a way to avoid foreclosure: a ’short sell’ of the house for less than she owes on it. But even though she has found a qualified buyer, she can’t get the bank to approve the sale.”
Well, my parents were in town this weekend (which is why I haven’t been posting). They had lunch with their banker friend. The conversation turned to short sales and why banks weren’t processing more of them faster, and the answer, in a nutshell, was interesting.
We all know that banks are regulated by both the federal government and state goverments as well as their own internal auditors. It would seem that a streamlining of this regulation might perhaps be in order, given that such regulation had existed (paid for in triplicate) and yet the banks still got mired in this “crisis”.
So… in one corner we have bankers paralyzed and paranoid about making decisions regarding booking large losses because of fear of the regulators. In the other corner, we’ve apparently got regulators who know they’ve already screwed up big time but still hope to be “last man standing” (i.e. keep their jobs through whatever financial reform Congress and Obama come up with). Everyone is trying to keep their head down. Consequently, few decisions get made (because decisions end up affecting the bottom line AND get noticed).
At the end of the day, foreclosures appear to be the path of least resistance for both bankers and regulators. I got the impression that the regulators won’t question a bank’s foreclosures as much because that’s the traditional and customary method of dealing with FBs - just hand the file over to the lawyers. No decisions, no blame. Short sales (and presumably modifications as well), however, might get noticed and examined.
I’m not saying the keep-your-head-down mentality is universal to all banks, but its a factor that I don’t think has been brought up in the HBBs discussions regarding short sales. I usually hear “banks are overwhelmed”, and its easy to see why. That may be true for a lot of banks, but I did not get the impression it applies to this bank.
Thanks for the update Kim. It’s an interesting idea.
Kim,
IIRC a short sale is a 2 year hit on your credit now, then you can attempt to buy again, and a foreclosure can be up to a 5-7 year hit. We’re shopping, and seeing a lot of short sales. Many not approved yet, but they are looking for the highest bidder to offer the bank, as they submit the short sale scenario. No thanks. At least a foreclosure has a clean title and no mop up for us buyers.
In Sacramento in 2010, short sales are significantly cheaper than foreclosures. I think that if you’re in no hurry it wouldn’t hurt to offer on a short sale if it’s a good deal. You can always back out. Escrow will proceed and you can’t get the loan if the title isn’t cleared.
REhobbyist
No loan needed for our “toe tag” home.