Bits Bucket For November 7, 2010
Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here
The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
To donate by mail, or to otherwise contact this blogger, please send emails to: thehousingbubble@gmail.com
PayPal is a secure online payment method which accepts ALL major credit cards.
Links
-
April 2024 M T W T F S S « Sep 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
Photo Submission: hbbphotos@gmail.com
View the HBB Photo Gallery *updated 4/13/2008
Fannie-Freddie tab hits $153 billion
Fannie Mae posted a $1.3 billion third-quarter loss, blaming high unemployment and falling house prices for the latest rise in loan defaults.
The Washington-based mortgage company, which has been run by the government since the feds took over Fannie (FNMA) and its younger brother Freddie Mac (FMCC) two years ago, asked for $2.5 billion in new taxpayer funds to fill the net worth hole left by the latest-quarter loss and the dividends the company pays Treasury.
losing more money by day.This is a total joke and an example how our economy is so messed up.
They need to go down and go out of business asap!
This is MSM propaganda used to pave the path for a massive, mega housing GSE.
Yes the news may be factual but the intent is something different. Do you really expect that the banking elite will deep six the Housing Sales and Finance Crime Syndicate? Nope. It’s too large of a cash cow.
Why are they still paying dividends to the Treasury? Is this a money laundering scheme: FED to Fannie to Treasury?
Mortgages
Even though most people commonly refer to their home loan as a mortgage, technically this is not an accurate definition. A mortgage is actually a document that borrowers sign and give to their lender to secure the debt on their home. It involves two parties – the borrower (mortgagor) and the lender (mortgagee) – and it creates a lien against the property that is normally recorded in public records. Property title/ownership cannot be transferred until that debt is paid in full and the lien released. The title holder during the loan period can be either the borrower or lender depending on which custom is practiced in the state where the property is located – “title theory” or “lien theory.” In a title theory state, the borrower conveys title to the lender during the loan term. In a lien theory state, the buyer holds title.
If the borrower fails to repay the loan, the lender can foreclose on the property. In other words, the lender has the right to sell the property to recover funds. When a mortgage is the security instrument, the lender usually has to go through a court action to foreclose. This is called a judicial foreclosure.
List of Deed of trust state or mortgage:
http://www.docmagic.com/media/docmagic/compliance/compliance07/mtg-and-dot.pdf
Most states prefer a deed of trust over mortgage because of non judicial foreclosure process.
why do they pay.. We are part owners. The 80% part. The company pays dividends to stockholders.
Companies only pay dividends on profits, fool.
True..
You’re halfway there. Now take the next step.
Joey:
Preferred stockholders do not own 80% of the company, and you are not a preferred stockholder.
You pulled an Joey again…. or you pulled another Eddie… Oops… Joey and Eddie are synonymous.
of course we own preferred stock.. and we do own 80% of the companies..
all this stuff is out there for anyone who cares to look.
Fannie Mae not like it, but methinks the taxpayer band-aids may not be forthcoming anymore.
Sad part is that “they” had faith to begin with…
~ Half of Americans Have Lost Faith in the Fed: Survey
About half of Americans say they are less confident in their central bank now than they were five years ago, according to a survey released Friday.
This lack of confidence comes at a critical juncture for the Federal Reserve, which on Wednesday announced a bold but risky program to pump more money into the economy to support the U.S. recovery.
The program’s success hinges on the Fed’s hard-won credibility that it can keep prices stable and bring down unemployment over the long run.
http://www.lewrockwell.com/paul/paul504.html
Most of the sheeple, kept in a state of ignorance by the corporate-owned MSM, are unaware that the Fed is a private entity, not a central bank, and are completely clueless as to the Fed’s role in enriching the banksters while destroying 95% of the dollar’s value since 1913. Ron Paul and Alan Grayson were the ONLY political leaders of note actively trying to audit, then end the Fed, but the sheeple voted for more to the status quo.
Well they got rid of Grayson.
Look who poured money into his opponent’s campaign. The oligarchs had it out for him.
Your facts are correct. To bad 95% of the public is in the dark that stills believes federal means federal government. They were very smart 1913 to come up with the words federal reserve to fool the American Public. That they did and nothing has changed! The public is ignorant and there is, besides the internet, no real investgations into this by any main stream press. Just “to hot of a issue” and they know this so don’t ever bring it up. The public might see the truth some day but the damages will have been done. The dollar completely debased!
So…abolish the Fed…and give printing power to Congress. That would be a big plus.
Next!
Who has the brilliant answer out here in HBB land on said subject? I have yet to read one despite all the ruckus.
‘Who has the brilliant answer out here in HBB land on said subject? I have yet to read one’
You haven’t been around very long:
http://www.radioopensource.org/the-beginning-of-the-end-of-the-bubble/
August 1st, 2005
‘Ben Jones
Economic Activist, Blogger
‘from Robin’s pre-interview notes:
The Fed did what a lot of central banks did. Their response to one bust is to start another boom. They did it in ’87 with Black Monday, pumped a bunch of liquidity. They respond to each crash with more money creation. I think this particular movement in housing price started with opening the flood gates after the stock crash, then after Sept 11. We all remember when car loans went down to zero percent.’
‘I do fault them [the Fed] [for this housing bubble]. We have the system we have.’
‘Its outside the question of whether we should have a central bank.’
‘But in the system we have, they’re in charge of interest rates in the short term. Recession is a natural way of an economy working out bad investments. You can’t do it without them. They’re regrettable, but that is how an economy handles it. So was it a good idea to create this bubble to fix the other one? What Im saying and others are saying, is no, we should have just taken our lumps. Cause now we’ve got housing, something that’s an essential need, likely to fall just at the time we don’t want it to. I think it was a colossal mistake.’
“less confident in their central bank” - kind of trick question if you ask me. I am entirely confident they know what they are doing- it just happens to benefit an infintesimally small group of bankers.
There is no way you play these wild up and down monetary games and expect anyone to believe you had good intentions for the rest of us.
We have a winner.
Lowe’s Companies Inc. has increased their Chinese drywall settlement offers, providing $100,000 for customers who bought the toxic wallboard at their stores and suffered more substantial damage to their home or medical injuries.
A friend’s grandparents just found out their home was built with Chinese drywall in Houston. The max they can get is 100k, which is about a third of what they paid for building the property.
——–
The Lowe’s Chinese drywall settlement was proposed last week and will likely be approved in December. It represents a massive increase over the home improvement store’s previous offer of $2,000 and $2,500 in in-store credit, which disappointed home owners who purchased toxic imported wallboard from the stores.
The $100,000 offer is only available for people who suffered at least $4,500 in damages or medical bills due to Chinese drywall purchased at Lowe’s. The damages must be an estimate from an independent contractor. In addition to the larger offer, the store chain is also offering $250 gift cards for customers who can prove they bought Chinese drywall at Lowe’s but cannot prove they suffered damages. The store chain is also offering $50 for customers who say they purchased Chinese drywall at Lowe’s but have no proof of purchase.
They are going to people coming out of the woodwork saying they bought chinese drywall so they can get 50 bucks of goods.
Does Lowe’s know which of their stores sold the Chinese drywall, and during which range of dates?
Bad or good immigration policy?
——–
A French immigration bill that would, among other things, strip police-killers born in other countries of their French nationality, has been endorsed by the National Assembly. The bill will be considered by the Senate in November.
The bill means nationality would be taken away from foreign-born nationals who carry out violent crimes against police, and is part of President Nicolas Sarkozy’s law and order crackdown.
It will also expel EU citizens for certain crimes such as repeated acts of theft, aggressive begging or for illegally occupying land.
Critics say the plan will make second-class citizens of immigrants who obtain French nationality.
Wimps! Over here in Anerica we put police killers on death row.
Hmmm … Not sure a person really has a right to be an immigrant when they are killing cops.
test
Success
If only it were that easy.
I’m getting ready for another big push on my biggest project at work. When I started this thing, I had two people on my team. Lost one to another project. The other is doing a temp assignment to another role which limits his available time. I’m getting the first one replaced, and seems that we are important enough that I actually get to request someone specific. I’d take the first guy back in a second, but that ain’t going to happen. Sigh. So my current second and I got together and figured out who we wanted. We couldn’t really send out a call for who wanted on and pick from a group of volunteers. Not the way things work around here. So I told him where I saw our final product going (he really liked my ideas), we figured out what skill sets we needed to make that happen, and he suggested someone I know a bit but not enough to know how well he would fit in this spot. We grabbed the possible new guy and told him about the project: how it is a good opportunity and how it will be a pain in the neck (and points further south). He said what I needed to hear. I talked to my boss and requested him and explained in excruciating detail why he is the person we need. Now it is up to the powers that be. They say they want us to succeed, so hopefully they will give me the person I need. I will, of course, make it work no matter what third person I am given, but this could be better than just “make it work.”
And it took up too much time. Way too much. I have actual work to do people. I can’t spend all of it trying to do a backdoor recruiting effort. However, all the machinations may have more to do with success (at least when it comes to leading this project) than all the other work I did last week.
Sometimes you have to take a step back in order to take two steps forward.
It’s been one of the nicest Indian Summers in my memory here in Flyover County. I love it!
I moved into my place on Oct. 8 and have comfortably enjoyed an early cup of coffee on my deck except one morning that had a little rain. We could use a little more rain before heavy winter but it has been amazingly beautiful Fall here. No complaints.
I know that peoples lives in America are somewhat hectic and busy in today’s fast paced world but I hope that they too have a few moments to pause and enjoy the great weather while it lasts.
More coffee and then back to work…
You have an idyllic life Mikey. I can go out on my balcony this cool morning in Phoenix but the beautiful shade tree gives off pollen. I used to have the bedroom on the north side, while my sister had the bedroom near the trees. She moved to Oregon three years ago. Before then, i would not suffer as much from the pollens. We would keep the sliding glass door open a lot to get fresh air and so that the pets can go in or out as they wanted.
Now the door is mostly closed!
My reasonably quiet next door neighbor moved out and a new neighbor is in. Yesterday afternoon there was annoying crap “music” (noise + anger lyrics) coming from next door. They shut it off, but not before I said this once peaceful place just turned ghetto!
Bill, you are really over in Avondale? In the HBB tradition, I could meet you for coffee some Sunday, before we both move further East…
Ahwatukee. I may have plenty of time for coffee in two weeks. At that point I will give two week’s notice. I haven’t seen any consultant allowed to stay the two weeks. They were all ushered out.
That’s right next door. Contact me off line if and when you want to meet: otanew2010@yahoo.com.
Hi Mikey. I like to think of you settled in your new place.
We enjoyed a beautiful fall here in Sacramento. Today we have light rain and temp fell to 61 degrees. But we need the rain so no complaints.
I enjoyed coffee this morning and two newspapers. I recommend Richard Thaler’s article on the estate tax.
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/07/business/economy/07view.html?src=busln
Tankxs!
(Tax policy fluidity has provided Hwy’s big bro with a steady income, and a constant heheheheee smirk)
(To give proper credit, this provision should really be called the “planned Bush tax increase.”)
The uncertainty imbedded in this tax was actually written into the law in 2001 by a Repubican-controlled Congress.
The wealth in many large estates has never been taxed because it is largely in the form of unrealized — therefore untaxed — capital gains. A 2000 study found that for estates worth more than $10 million, unrealized capital gains represented 56 percent of assets. For estates with active farms and businesses, the percentage is much higher. If no estate tax is imposed, capital gains taxes can be avoided indefinitely.
The second myth is that the estate tax somehow threatens family farms — that they would need to be sold if they couldn’t pay the tax. But under the $7 million exemption proposed by the Obama administration, such cases would be exceedingly rare.
…Now, the I.R.S. wants to know the original purchase prices, which you will have to enter on a form that the agency has not yet provided.
So if your affluent grandpa died this year, now might be a good time to start looking for the receipt for that original Picasso he bought in Paris 50 years ago.
Obama calls India creator, not poacher, of US jobs
President Barack Obama on Saturday embraced India as the next jobs-creating giant for hurting Americans, not a cheap-labor rival that outsources opportunity from the United States.
By the end of the first of his three days in India, Obama was promoting $10 billion in trade deals — completed in time for his visit — that the White House says will create about 54,000 jobs at home.
That’s a modest gain compared with the extent of the enduring jobless crisis in the United States. Economists say it would require on the level of 300,000 new jobs a month to put a real dent in an unemployment rate stuck near 10 percent.
Yet to Obama, the bigger picture was the lucrative potential of an unleashed trading relationship between India and the United States. He seemed comfortable and energized away from Washington, days removed from the GOP’s election thumping.
“For America, this is a jobs strategy,” Obama said of his emphasis on trade, although it could stand as a motto for his 10-day trip. He is spending Sunday with young people in Mumbai and then heading onto meetings in New Delhi, the capital, before shifting later in the week ahead to Indonesia and economic talks in South Korea and Japan.
More proof that there’s no meaningful difference between Tweedle-Dee and Tweedle-Dum.
At this point who cares who won the elections? Both parties are in the pockets of big biz, and big biz wants more offshoring so they get the puppet president to tell us that “offshoring creates jobs in the USA”.
Orwell would have been proud.
No difference?
The repubs blocked ending offshore jobs tax breaks abckin September. That’s a HUGE difference.
The problem is no longer political, but is now a lack of comprehension by the public. A public that gave the repubs more power even though they just boned them on jobs.
And that’s why it’s going to be a long decade.
I didn’t say NO difference, but close enough for all practical purposes. To hear Obama say offshoring is good for us is enough to make me choke.
I would agree… if he had said “offshoring.” He didn’t. He said “trade” and creating jobs here from that trade.
He’s trying to create EXPORT jobs. Whereas the Repubs are plain exporting… our jobs.
I am profiting from jobs going overseas instead of sitting on my a$$ complaining. I cannot cut the world’s second highest corporate taxes or reverse the costly regulations and labor unions, but I can invest in BRIC, and I am profitting.
investing? That’s what you call it - turning real jobs into slave labor? Modern-day triangle trade, I’m so glad you’re profiting while your neighbors are losing their jobs.
And yes most labor union sucks bad, but to lump bad unions in with regulations? wth? Are you suggesting that lack of regulation is the cause of our economic malaise. Just because BRIC countries are okay with lack of accountability and decent working conditions does not mean that America has to stoop to their level.
wth do I need to “invest” to make my daily dime? - some of us would just like our jobs back. I know I performed my job better and faster than my BRIC counterparts.
I’ve never been one to investor-hate, but this BS is exactly why Main Street loathes Wall Street. “sitting on [one's] ass” and complaining is all Wall Street participants seem to do these days. Go look at a historical graph of income tax rates in the US, and then stop spinning this CNBC nonsense.
Regulations, again, raise business costs. We spoiled Americans want to have our cake and eat it too. The reality is to either continue to have high business costs chase our jobs offshore or to help drive business costs here down to stop this bleeding.
So we have to destroy America to save it? All those pesky environmental laws to keep air and water clean come at a cost I suppose.
BiLA:
India has more onerous regulations than the US. Ask any Indian. Indian regulations don’t even pretend to be for the good of the people. They are soley designed to reduce competition and line the pockets of the special few.
Business in India is extremely inefficient.
“Business in India is extremely inefficient.”
Very hard to fire people there too I have heard. The only reason Rajiv is getting your job is because he works for pittance.
Don’t for the tax breaks for offshoring those jobs.
“…forget…”
OCbystander needs to wake up a deal with reality. I have followed this blog for years. I find value in hearing the man on the street telling about their real estate observations. The pontificating about the economy and the markets where it is clear the writer doesn’t know what he/she is talking about is really tiresome. It’s a real estate blog. Why don’t you keep it on topic. No one cares about your opinions on the other non real estate topics where clearly you don’t understand what you are talking about. According to my r/e salesperson friend, things are slowing in the Twin Cities. The robosigning fraudclosures aren’t helping any.
“Post off-topic ideas, links and Craigslist finds here”
Says it right there at the top of the page.
Bingo. I never understood why people on Bits Bucket never see the word “off topic” in the byline. It’s been there for years.
Its been there for many years….
So Bill, you got yours, huh?
$10 billion should create more than just 54,000 jobs, man.
Wait a second. Is this a deal where India is buying some planes from us?
That’s what it sounds like.
And then we can sell some to Pakistan as well.
It’s all good.
I expect this situation will only get worse from here, now that the heartless, filthy-rich Repugnicans are back in power.
One Law for the Rich, One Law for the Poor
The new foreclosure crisis reveals the shocking unfairness in how the law treats struggling homeowners.
By Joseph E. Stiglitz
Posted Sunday, Nov. 7, 2010, at 8:24 AM ET
A foreclosure sign. Click image to expand.The foreclosure crisis has revealed flaws in mortgage law.The mortgage debacle in the United States has raised deep questions about “the rule of law,” the universally accepted hallmark of an advanced, civilized society. The rule of law is supposed to protect the weak against the strong, and ensure that everyone is treated fairly. In America in the wake of the subprime mortgage crisis, it has done neither.
Part of the rule of law is security of property rights: If you owe money on your house, for example, the bank can’t simply take it away without following the prescribed legal process. But in recent weeks and months, Americans have seen several instances in which individuals have been dispossessed of their houses even when they have no debts.
To some banks, this is just collateral damage: Millions of Americans—in addition to the estimated 4 million in 2008 and 2009—still have to be thrown out of their homes. Indeed, the pace of foreclosures would be set to increase—were it not for government intervention. The procedural shortcuts, incomplete documentation, and rampant fraud that accompanied banks’ rush to generate millions of bad loans during the housing bubble has, however, complicated the process of cleaning up the ensuing mess. To many bankers, these are just details to be overlooked. Most people evicted from their homes have not been paying their mortgages, and, in most cases, those who are throwing them out have rightful claims. But Americans are not supposed to believe in justice on average. We don’t say that most people imprisoned for life committed a crime worthy of that sentence. The U.S. justice system demands more, and we have imposed procedural safeguards to meet these demands.
…
Stiglitz has emerged as one of my favorite writers on aspects of this crisis. His critique of P-PIP (remember P-PIP?) was epic.
They should change the words in the national anthem to “the land of the banksters and the home of the serfs”.
Think how many notes Whitney or Mariah could pack into the word banksters…
Melisma soup?
History of the sheep .
http://www.youtube.com/freedomainradio#p/u/2xbpumQT58A
Walk-aways leading to big changes for all borrowers’ credit scores
By Kenneth R. Harney
Friday, November 5, 2010; 9:01 AM
With foreclosures soaring - and homeowners with unblemished payment histories abruptly walking away from their houses with no warning to lenders - the two major producers of credit scores have begun changing how they evaluate consumers’ risks of default. The revisions could touch you personally the next time you apply for a loan.
Last month, Fair Isaac, the developer of the FICO score that dominates the mortgage field, and VantageScore Solutions, a joint venture by the three national credit bureaus and marketer of the competing VantageScore, outlined modifications they are making to handle the vast credit disruptions caused by the housing bust, the recession, high unemployment and behavioral changes by consumers.
…
Long overdue.
“The resulting VantageScore 2.0, which is expected to be rolled out nationwide to lenders in January, focuses on the subtle warning signs of credit stress that might have been missed earlier. And it rewards or penalizes consumers with higher or lower scores than they would have received before.”
Obviously they aren’t talking about these “subtle” warning signs yet. Any guesses as to what they are?
Change in the mix of purchases going on the credit card? Like starting to buy food on credit where before it was entirely clothes, big ticket items and gas?
Gradual increase in balances going on credit cards even if it is still below the level where the percent of available credit in use factor kicks in?
Less use of credit cards? Especially for things like restaurants and coffee places?
Payments still arriving on time but getting closer and closer to the due date of the bill? (do they even get this information reported?)
Any others? I’m not sure I think any of those are very reliable indicators, but they might have somewhat high correlations with people on the edge of financial trouble.
If the new scores are intended to gauge the risk of strategic default then some reference to loan to value of the residence would be needed. Perhaps also area trends in foreclosures, NOD’s etc.
What about BKs?
Bankruptcies are already in the FICOs. I was wondering about what they are going to add to the analysis that they don’t already use.
..abruptly walking away from their houses with no warning to lenders..
perfect credit.. NO warning.. they can afford to pay, but choose not to. And yet they prove to be unreliable.
How can a bank defend itself? What is it about people that might provide clues before the walk away?
———-
This is not a question of money. It’s a matter of character.
Has the potential borrower walked away from other things? Jobs? Marriages? Abandoned their kids or other responsibilities?
Dropped out of school? Political affiliations… Have they sued someone before. Do they go to church?
What do their neighbors think? Do they return the tools they borrowed.
Are there indications that they can survive just fine with trashed credit? (That counts as a negative, of course)
——-
I may not have selected things that they can research, or things that are true indicators, but I think I’m on the right track when I say it’s mostly a matter of determining a person’s character.
Who doesn’t buy food and gas with credit cards? I get 5% cash back with mine. And it’s not like I change my consumer habits at the pump - “Hey, I’m paying with credit, I’m gonna put 20 gallons of gas into my 12 gallon tank.” Or “I’m going to buy the $14/lb hamburger today because I’m paying with credit.”
I pay cash for food and gas, but I wasn’t talking about looking for people who have paid for food and gas on credit cards for a long time. I am talking about a change in the distribution of what is charged. More food and gas on the cards could be a switch by people who used to be able to pay cash for those items and prefer it and now can’t or it could be a reduction in the amount spent on other items which could indicate financial troubles.
It seems to me one obvious one is credit card balances starting to gradually rise or other changes in usage patterns.
It is possible that in the short term, this may simply be small business owner financing receivables, or someone with good but erratic income but over a longer term, if a persons card balances are ticking up month over month I would say that indicates they have a cash flow problem and if I were a lender I would cut them off before balances rose too high for them to manage.
Of course many folks just stopped paying once the card company jacks their rate to 30% as used to be the case for missing a minimum payment by even hours…
I would be willing to bet card usage increases a lot after a layoff, and after savings are close to gone.
I can’t imagine why anyone over 50 would want to borrow for anything. A fifteen year loan at max. All loans should be paid off by traditional retirement age, even if one retires later., and even though some of us life-long health/fitness buffs are living longer, more youthful lives.
I would extend that to under 50, Bill. I spoke with my sister-in-law the other day. Her husband is being down-sized, so they won’t be able to help her son and daughter-in-law with their underwater condo anymore. I’ve been telling them to short sell it for the past three years, but they kept hoping that it would come back up. She spent a lot of time talking about how good the kids’ credit is. Who cares about their FICO score? That’s what got them in trouble in the first place. They borrow for everything - furniture, car, condo, etc. If they had rented and paid cash for a car as I suggested 6 1/2 years ago, they would be sitting pretty now.
Well, of course their FICO is great when mom and dad are paying the bills!
Economic outpatient care.
+1 TCM…LOL
“I can’t imagine why anyone over 50 would want to borrow for anything.”
Because they don’t have a choice?
Or because they have savings that are getting far better rate of return than the interest they’ll pay?
And that’s just 2 of the easy ones.
It is comedy to me that they believe that tweaking of the FICO formula is the way to predict walk-aways; of course Fair Isaac’s would, considering that it gives them something to sell.
The lender already has the easiest and best tool right in front of them—and best of all, the information is free! I’m referring, of course, to the Loan-to-Value ratio.
A large-enough downpayment implies a zero walk-away risk. No one is walking away from 60-70% downpayments, even in the hardest-hit areas. And with a 20% downpayment minimum, there would have been no bubble, and there would BE no hardest-hit areas.
Most people and businesses like to see stable and honest predictabe traits in others. It kinda attempts to keep this funny little green planet in some form of homeostasis.
For example, many women value the predictability of a good man when planning marriage and a future with children. More than a little research is done in this area by both of the dancers in the mating game.
A new small business owner will need some research in predictions of his potential customer base, their needs and means to support his products and business model. Lots of research should be do in this area too.
Banks and lenders used to check their clients out carefully and used their past finacial history as one guide to future payment predictability.
The FICO gang thought that they had the model of human nature as well as it’s predictability down to a fine art and sold it to the entire world.
Isn’t predictability wonderful…
Of course, until somebody tosses some silly little “unforseen” variable like a cheatin’ heart, high unemployment or highly oppressive usury into the mix.
Nobody could have foreseen that ultra-cute, young hardbody poolboy with those muscles and tight buns coming down the pike.
Yeah rich old man, nobody, I say nobody, could have ever seen that coming !!
Short sale of home similar to foreclosure in its effect on FICO score
The action can cause someone with excellent credit to fall to near-subprime territory for a while.
By Liz Pulliam Weston Money Talk
November 7, 2010
Dear Liz: In 2005, I purchased a town home for my children, and they have since vacated the property. The town house is now worth 60% of what I owe, and I am considering a short sale. All my other obligations are current with no late payments in years. My credit scores are over 800 and my only other debt is a car payment. After a short sale, what kind of hit can I expect on my credit score, and about what would be the recovery time for my credit score?
…
I think credit is pretty important in todays world.you can do without it but I prefer to have access to cash or credit if I need it.
My dad went through a divorce and it screw his credit up royally.He has been on cash for the past 30 years essentially.
Interesting … the ‘word on the street’ is that you can rebuild your credit at 7 years. Wonder what the real life story is … folks can live on cash for 7 years - but asking them to do that for 30 years is hard
If you still have a decent job, yes, 7 years is the long side. I’ve seen it as short of 3 years. Your mileage may vary.
Of course, the trick is keeping a decent job. Most people don’t have credit trouble because they have a good job.
Did your mom go through a divorce too? Just askin.
Could’ve been Dad’s second (or more) wife…
She purchased the town home? I beg to differ.
She purchased a town home for her children, or as an investment? ‘Cause if she purchased it for her children, then I’m not sure why she has to sell it now.
Bought a house for her children.
That was her first mistake. Why didn’t she rent?
But then, she probably thought the same as everyone else. Sell for a profit.
But really, BUY a house for your kids? It doesn’t get any more spoiled brat than that. (unless they are handicapped)
I can’t believe it but it still goes on..an investment, doncha know. When the market bounces back..
Taking 2nd Mortgage to Pay the Foreclosure Lawyer
By DAVID STREITFELD
Published: November 6, 2010
For some Florida residents, the price of getting out of foreclosure will include taking on a second mortgage — payable this time to their lawyers.
Thomas Ice and other foreclosure lawyers in Florida typically receive a few hundred dollars a month from each client.
The new mortgage, which takes effect only if the foreclosure is dismissed and the homeowner’s debt to the bank is reduced, is controversial among defense lawyers, some of whom call it “creepy” and “crass.” Yet even they acknowledge it offers a solution to a vexing question: How do they get paid?
…
A lawyer who wants a contingency fee for keeping a homeowner who may or may not be deserving relief from foreclosure is crass, but a medical malpractice attorney taking 30% of a multimillion dollar verdict is honorable?
Contingency fees only work when there is a cash payout. Criminal attorneys don’t work on contingency because staying out of jail or getting a shorter sentence than otherwise might have happened isn’t a cash payout, though it might have a determinable value.
How do you value avoiding forclosure for an unknown number of months from one or two months up to and possibly including infinity? And even if you could value it, how do you get access to the money when the person is probably not paying their mortgage?
Actually, I call garbage on this. If they have enough equity to be able take out a second mortgage to pay the lawyer, couldn’t they have just sold the house in the first place? This might work for the ones who were actual clerical mistakes (forcloseing the wrong house), but it can’t be a real option for people who are defaulting due to lack of money.
the lawyers who call it ‘creepy and crass’ are just upset they didn’t think of it first.
“The new mortgage, which takes effect only if the foreclosure is dismissed and the homeowner’s debt to the bank is reduced”
that sounds pretty reasonable…
“that sounds pretty reasonable…”
Except if you read the entire article you’ll see its not a third party bank but the law office that owns the note.
That is kind of “creepy and crass” IMO.
Creepy and crass is pretty much the backbone of this country.
lawyers have always been good at picking up ‘rentals’ and even ranches at times…
run as fast as you can when you see a greasy haired lawyer asking for cash upfront.
Clients sure as hell better pay up front! Ever hear of “retainers”?
In the old days the divorce lawyers would take a lien on the house in a contested case, when a party ran out of money. Bitter, drawn-out divorce? House –> lawyer.
It pays to part amicably.
Obama calls India creator, not poacher, of US jobs
http://www.samachar.com/Obama-calls-India-creator-not-poacher-of-US-jobs-klhsKidcdfa.html
MUMBAI: Searching for help half a world away, President Barack Obama on Saturday embraced India as the next jobs-creating giant for hurting Americans, not a cheap-labor rival that outsources opportunity from the United States.
Fresh off a political trouncing at home, Obama was determined to show tangible, economic results on his long Asia trip, and that was apparent from almost the moment he set foot on a steamy afternoon in the world’s largest democracy. By the end of the first of his three days in India, he was promoting $10 billion in trade deals completed in time for his visit that the White House says will create about 54,000 jobs at home.
That’s a modest gain compared with the extent of the enduring jobless crisis in the United States. Economists say it would require on the level of 300,000 new jobs a month to put a real dent in an unemployment rate stuck near 10 percent.
“Economists say it would require on the level of 300,000 new jobs a month to put a real dent in an unemployment rate stuck near 10 percent.”
“Oh, but for the sweet,sweet nectar of the $100,000 / $250,000 / $425,000+ …single deposit transactions”
My home was worth…
My commercial building was worth…
My savings was once…
We used to have xx number of employees…
Reduce the tax burden of the top 5% in America = Shazam! Back-to-the-Future in only 486 days.
Tax breaks for offshopring jobs is one the biggest reason jobs went offshore.
Not ending those tax breaks is why they continue to do so.
India orders may create 7 lakh jobs in US in 10 yrs: CII
NEW DELHI: Industry body CII today said sourcing of infrastructure equipment, nuclear hardware and military aircraft from the US by India could create over seven lakh jobs in America in the next ten years.
A CII survey of member firms with operations in the US clearly shows that Indian business is now engaged across a wide spectrum of sectors in America, and not just IT and ITeS.
The Report, ‘India - A Growth Partner in the Indian Economy’, estimates that, “India sourcing of US military and nuclear hardware and civilian aircraft could create over 700,000 jobs in the US over the next ten years.”
Yesterday, US President Barack Obama had announced USD 10 billion worth of deals between Indian and US companies, including a USD 2 billion equipment order from Anil Ambani Group firm Reliance Power and the purchase of 30 Boeing 737 aircraft by low-cost carrier SpiceJet .
These deals would create more than 50,000 jobs in the US. The report also said that Indian firms operating in the US have been aggressively hiring US workers and a large majority of the workforce for their America operations were local citizens.
It further said that Indian firms having operations in the US are actively engaged as stakeholders in community development programmes for development of libraries, health research and imparting skills to college graduates.
Surprise, surprise, tey want to buy the one thing we are still competitive at: weapons.
America: the world’s gun shop. (Ask a Mexican drug lord!)
what are lakh jobs?
Apparently “lakh” is Indian slang for 100,000, originally referring to currency but I guess used elsewhere now. So 7 lakh jobs would be 700,000 jobs.
shoulda googled..you’re right of course.
1 lakh = 100 large
7 lakh = 700 large = 700,000
Got it?
dairy jobs.
lakh is goat’s milk.
shuddup
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2010-11-06/papandreou-braces-for-austerity-backlash-as-greece-holds-local-elections.html
A strong Greek popular backlash against EU-demanded austerity could reignite the Eurozone financial crisis, which never went away despite massive stimulus spending.
Immigration liberalization and increasing outsourcing are the only viable options for America to get out of the depression it finds itself in.
RA …please explain why ?
Talent creates jobs. Not the government.
If you want to compete you need the brightest people with a market based cost structure. Hence you need to source them globally or else get into unsustainable currency fixes.
“If you want to compete you need the brightest people with a market based cost structure. Hence you need to source them globally or else get into unsustainable currency fixes.”
This sounds as if you are talking about a COMPANY. This depression isn’t about a company, it’s about a country.
The country is a ‘company’…
Talent creates jobs. Not the government.
1960’s space program = Little talent, few jobs
1960’s / 70’s / 80’s / 90’s &10 years into the 21st century Industrial-Military weapons program = Some talent, some jobs, most lethal & deadly products sold to, oh yeah,…the US Gov’t & “others” (with the US Gov’t’s approval).
Perchance, any “technologies/jobs” get transferred over to the “Public Sector” from all these non-Gov’t jobs involved in innovation & creation?
Right, but in this case in India, and at rates which would be illegal here in the Unites States. Unless… you are advocating the elimination of the minimum wage, which in and of it’s self is uncompetitive, especially when the going rate on the world market for a days labor is just a dollar or two, and the going rate for highly skilled work is under $5 an hour.
Bottom line, is we have a combined $56 trillion in debt in the US, which will go unpaid if we eliminate our middle class and the economy collapses. I doubt this will bode well even for countries like India or China.
No one is reasonably expecting us to pay off that, the key is they do not care if it keeps their people employed and earns a bit of interest. Its a flaw which they are willing to live with until they can get their domestic demand up. Until then we benefit by getting goods for free ( ok increasingly worthless dollars which they finance by buying our treasuries)
To some extend the jobs may be created in India, but it is still a net positive for companies here. In exchange for outsourcing, India has had to open up its market for goods made here. Do you realize how many of the mom and pop businesses there the Walmart and other multinationals drive out of business there? How many farmers are ruined by the Monsanto’s from here? How many of their farmers and the population there lose of their health and well being by being forced to buy or compete with the industrially farmed animal products from here?
You cannot expect to invest your money in companies here and expect a decent return of even 5% if you stop them from selling overseas. Intel derives only 18% of its revenues from North America. It has driven untold companies in the developing world to bankruptcy by its presence in those markets. Who benefits from this? the US. In exchange they take some of our jobs from us. I think the US is the biggest beneficiary of the worlds kindness by the fact that they put up with us.
China is right by telling the US to shove it. India will be right if they tell us to f-off. Because you cannot expect to own the worlds reserve currency, behave the way we do and expect them to bail us out by asking them to raise their exchange rates and still buy goods made here or else…
Can you imagine where our quality of life would be if you close the borders and stop outsourcing? Innovative companies will spring up everywhere in the world and finish off America. It does not help that our scores in the sciences have seriously begun to trail their cohorts in Asia.
You stop outsourcing and watch the new Microsofts, Intels, Googles of the world finish off the American dominance fast.
‘ finish off America…’
Lots of people rant and rave on this subject, but when you use phrases like this, I don’t think you have much credibility. Yeah, we’ve got problems, lots of them. But we can calmly discuss what changes might be made:
http://original.antiwar.com/justin/2010/11/04/the-biggest-threat-to-america/
‘The Biggest Threat to America: It’s bankruptcy’
‘As Garrett put it at the very end of his scintillatingly prophetic pamphlet, Rise of Empire: “When the economy has for a long time been moving by jet propulsion, the higher the faster, on the fuel of perpetual war and planned inflation, a time comes when you have to choose whether to go on and on and dissolve in the stratosphere, or decelerate. But deceleration will cause a terrific shock. Who will say, ‘Now!’ Who is willing to face the grim and dangerous realities of deflation and depression?”
“When Moses had brought his people near to the Promised Land he sent out scouts to explore it. They returned with rapturous words for its beauties and its fruits, whereupon the people were shrill with joy, until the scouts said: ‘The only thing is, this land is inhabited by very fierce men.” Moses said: “Come. Let us fall upon them and take the land. It is ours from the Lord.’
“At that the people turned bitterly on Moses, and said: ‘What a prophet you have turned out to be! So the land is ours if we can take it? We needed no prophet to tell us that.’”
“No doubt the people know they can have their Republic back if they want it enough to fight for it and to pay the price. The only point is that no leader has yet appeared with the courage to make them choose.”
Well you have been running this blog for how many years Ben? 5 - 7 years? What solutions do you suggest? It is not the first time that you mentioned we have problems here. I have not seen you proposing any lasting solutions that have caught peoples imagination. So is it a flaw to assume that our problems are so deep that we have the unemployment rate where it is? Our Fed keeps printing more and more money but gets no traction. Not one major ground breaking invention or other dislocation has been produced which can power our engines.
Where is your credibility when you seek to question others? So stop being the general with no troops.
By no means I mean to imply that the US will die. The US will be there and its people will retool, but we shall be the new Japan. What I am saying is that the dominance of America as we know it will suffer erosion giving gradually bigger roles to Chindia and other. In another 20-30 years we shall be economy #2 or #3.
Consider this, the population of Chindia is approx 2.5 billion. They outnumber us 8-1, they are much younger than us with no debt overhang like here, so where will the demand for products and services be? Granted they do not have the purchasing power of the US but the purchasing power here is based on our ability to service our debt. Unlike currencies demand cannot be printed.
The dominance of America was based on a number of factors such as WWII, due to other nations having their infrastructure destroyed by the world wars, communism and population migration due to persecution or instability at other places in the world. WW2 left America with the only industrial base intact which we used to meet demand at other places in the world. We made handsome returns from it and served as an attractive option for global talent. Now the world is not as unstable as before and others are choosing to stay in their countries and build companies that compete with companies here. Nothing new you might say but the fact is that we are increasingly finding great talent globally and the quality of immigration is changing. Do not be surprised if the next Facebook’s and Goolge’s emerge elsewhere. It is only a matter of time.
Yeah, whatever. I’m just saying you come off kinda kooky.
I shall take that as a compliment :)…
Now the world is not as unstable as before and others are choosing to stay in their countries and build companies that compete with companies here.
Ha,
So, India 1.1 Billion consumers / China 1.3 Billion consumers are building eCONomies based on what enduring template of said stated stability? Oh, that’s right, GMO mass produced food, self-renewing energy & increasing natural resources, construction of 250 sqf wifi shelters with a moped shed.
More Humans = More “assets” with fewer & fewer liabilities.
In another 20-30 years we shall be economy #2 or #3
Please let it be so…the sooner the better!
I am not sure I completely understand your argument.
From what I can understand, I think they are more stable societies that we give them credit for. They have been there long before America came along. Largely agrarian based, with enduring social systems. If they suddenly find no buyers for their goods, there will be some pain in the urban area but largely in the rural area life will go on as it always did. In Indian urban areas the pain will be relatively minimal since there is plenty of domestic demand to pick up significant slack. Of course, there will be a period of readjustment and some losses but the damage will not be massive.
The average Chindian family saves more and consumes less. They might have 250 sqft wifi shelters with mopeds as you humor but it is far more sustainable financially than the 2500 sqft homes built here with the 2 cars. In those countries there are no zero down mortgages, you need something like at least 23-30% down to qualify. Plus in India you do not need the heating and cooling systems so those micro homes have smaller carbon footprints. The quality of construction there is better, no paper homes, it is either steel and mortar or totally low cost like earthen homes with plant /natural derived roofs. What you would fancifully call here as a sustainable living
Mass produced food is more prevalent here than in Chindia, there people eat more traditional slow cooked food. Indians are largely vegetarian. The average grocery store here has 50000 products of which 90 % are made from GE/GM corn products. Not so there, it is largely organic (take that with a grain of salt here please) and farmers do not use GE seeds. Plus the tropical climate there allows for a vast mix of local food options.
China is not so well off in terms of its environment like India because of the production base of the world having shifted its pollution there. I feel it will have a harder time retooling than India because as a percentage India has more usable land and favorable climate matrix.
But the Chindians were stupid enough to buy American debt. Who gets the last laugh in default?
“But the Chindians were stupid enough to buy American debt. Who gets the last laugh in default?”
Well all bets are off as anything can happen.
I would be inclined to think that BRIC wins big. Their currencies or a basket of currencies tied to some metric better than what we have now will replace the dollar and that will mean a dramatic lifestyle degradation here. No more cheap anything, your house will be 800 sqft as you shall welcome 12% interest rates on 15 year mortgages, a dollar of capital will back a dollar of risk. That means your lifestyle will suffer big. Care for $10 gasoline?
“…They have been there long before America came along.”
Yep, but NOT as 1.3 Billion mfg. PRODUCT demand based humans, that’s where their toxic synthetic rubber spinning aluminum wheels hits their soon to expand assphalt roads! It’s one thing to provide basic subsentence, quite another to stave-off competition harmony between the few “have’s” and the hundreds of millions,… “don’t have ‘nough”
Jumped in here late tonight but it seems to me this “RA” likes to talk allot hence His/Her long posts…
Now the world is not as unstable as before and others are choosing to stay in their countries and build companies that compete with companies here… ??
Yeah…That is until we stop protecting their A$$….Bought time we just stepped back and said “U’all on your own”…Paki wants Indi ?? Go gettem Bro…And the same to all the others…Lets see who is the last standing…Why don’t you move to another country RA…Please..
“Talent creates jobs”
Not exactly. A person with capital, talent, expertise, and a work ethic can start a company in a strong economy, and maybe create jobs. That sort of thing doesn’t really happen in crappy places like India. It typically happens in places like the US, where we are like capitalists and free and all.
The trouble occurs when jobs are created in the US, but then sent to India afterwords.
One country (and its people) create the environment that makes it possible to create jobs, and another country then sucks those jobs away because of currency arbitrage. Outsourcing does not create jobs at all.
“Not exactly. A person with capital, talent, expertise, and a work ethic can start a company in a strong economy, and maybe create jobs. That sort of thing doesn’t really happen in crappy places like India. …..”
But jobs can exist in an economy only if there is a demand for its products in the first place. Outsourcing allows you to sell products globally at the lowest costs. If you do not have top line revenue growth then you cannot sustain your company.
Western style life if predicated on having a strong vibrant middle class, comprising the MAJORITY of it’s citizens. Now that we have to compete with cheap foreign labor, our middle class is in rapid decline all over the west. I cannot see economies in places like India continuing to grow if they effectively kill the goose that laid the golden egg.
What places like the United States seems to foster at it’s very best is a creative and entrepreneurial and free spirited nature. It is this spirit, and not economists, politicians or government what will ultimately carry us through the coming hard times, and give us back our competitive edge.
Already, thousands of us laid off from software engineering jobs after having our livelihoods shipped to India and making the necessary adjustments are working hard on the next great things. We have traded our security and comfort for opportunity. I know several others who are for perhaps the first time in their lives creating software and technology that will carry us into the next economic boom!
RA:
Offshoring allows a US company to produce goods at the lowest cost, but it also destroys that high-paid consumer base that makes it possible for companies to sell those goods a high price. This is because the worker and the consumer are the same person.
If Intel had to sell its products only to people in India, then Intel would go out of business. Indians don’t earn enough to cover the cost of research on Intel products. Equipment, educated labor, legal costs, etc place Intel products out of reach for your typical Indian.
It is economic suicide for US industry to offshore its labor, thereby killing its consumer and, ultimately, its own viability.
“Offshoring allows a US company to produce goods at the lowest cost, but it also destroys that high-paid consumer base that makes it possible for companies to sell those goods a high price. This is because the worker and the consumer are the same person………US industry to offshore its labor, thereby killing its consumer and, ultimately, its own viability.”
What other option do you suggest? I am all ears if you have an alternative model.
If Intel finds itself in an environment where we close our borders. It will find itself unable to sell globally because of its higher costs. We may wake up to a new company opening its doors in Asia that will replace it. As it is they sell only 18% of their products here in America, that will be a disaster. The ratio of populations of Chindia to America is 8-1, we need to go there and win, closing borders may feel good for a while but we will lose those markets eventually.
‘an alternative model’
Tariffs, excise taxes, selective holds on trade agreements.
RA:
I used to work at a global medical device company. Only a tiny percentage of our profits came from global sales, although a very large percentage of our labor was offshored. The offshored labor all went to countries that gave us 0 sales, since the people who work in those countries could never afford the devices we were selling.
That is unsustainable. Let’s eliminate the consumer to give us opportunity to sell our products to people who can’t afford them. Great idea. Can you make a pacemaker for $10? ‘Cause that’s about how much your average Indian can afford to pay for one. Won’t work.
Big V …..Your post above my head is just so right on ….I suspect that much of the debate for outsourcing is from people who profit from that system .
It use to be that American Companies would compete with each
other . This is changing to American Companies either manufacturing in foreign countries ,or American Companies being the Middle men for foreign produced products ,or American Companies are outsourcing jobs to increase profits which sets the stage for the monopoly that unless you do the same you can’t survive as a American Company .
Cheaper foreign labor becomes a form of price fixing that forces
others to resort to same or fail if the monopoly becomes big enough .
In American History the monopoly came about because some
smart Railroad Company cut the prices which crashed the business of the competition leaving that monopoly able to than raise prices because of no competition and become the only game in town . Tricks ,all tricks .
Trade has been taking place since the dawn of man ,but I don’t think people would trade if it would mean they lose their job and can’t survive anymore . The World loves to sell to the consumer based United States ,but who is going to buy the products now ? Industry thinks emerging markets will buy the products
The obvious win all around is to REQUIRE American companies who wish to offshore to pay US wages, or tax and tariff to the same amount, so that if a programmer here in the US gets say 100K a year, it would also cost $100K a year to hire a programmer in India. Companies have said it is not about cost, but about finding talent and innovation, so they absolutely have indicated this would not be a problem. It would also allow our govt to recover a huge percentage of the taxes lost to these cheap areas. A WIN WIN scenario for all.
Viable? What’s that word mean..
Just because we refrain from using the more potent economic weapons at our disposal, it doesn’t mean we can’t or won’t.
…are the only viable options for America
Then, some small “unexpected” event sorta happens…that changes EVERYTHING!
The name transistor is a portmanteau of the term “transfer resistor”.
In 1947, John Bardeen and Walter Brattain at AT&T’s Bell Labs in the United States observed that when electrical contacts were applied to a crystal of germanium, the output power was larger than the input. Solid State Physics Group leader William Shockley saw the potential in this, and over the next few months worked to greatly expand the knowledge of semiconductors. The term transistor was coined by John R. Pierce. According to physicist/historian Robert Arns, legal papers from the Bell Labs patent show that William Shockley and Gerald Pearson had built operational versions from Lilienfeld’s patents, yet they never referenced this work in any of their later research papers or historical articles.
Main article: History of the transistor
Physicist Julius Edgar Lilienfeld filed the first patent for a transistor in Canada in 1925, describing a device similar to a Field Effect Transistor or “FET”. However, Lilienfeld did not publish any research articles about his devices,[citation needed] nor did his patent cite any examples of devices actually constructed. In 1934, German inventor Oskar Heil patented a similar device
The first silicon transistor was produced by Texas Instruments in 1954. This was the work of Gordon Teal, an expert in growing crystals of high purity, who had previously worked at Bell Labs. The first MOS transistor actually built was by Kahng and Atalla at Bell Labs in 1960.
Shockley argued that the higher rate of reproduction among the less intelligent was having a dysgenic effect, and that a drop in average intelligence would ultimately lead to a decline in civilization.[16] Shockley advocated that the scientific community should seriously investigate questions of heredity, intelligence, and demographic trends, and suggest policy changes if he was proven right.[17]
Although Shockley was concerned about dysgenic effects among both blacks and whites, he found the situation among blacks more disastrous. While unskilled whites had 3.7 children on average versus an average of 2.3 children for skilled whites, Shockley found from the 1970 Census Bureau reports that unskilled blacks had 5.4 children versus 1.9 for skilled blacks.[18]
William Shockley
1970 Census Bureau reports
…That short-hoe wielding cantaloupe-pickers in AZ would be in high demand,…looking forward.
He was sorta socially myopic for a “smart electronics” guy don’t ya think?
Lower skilled does not necessarily equate to lower intelligence. Lower skilled does seem to persist across generations but it may be due as much to cultural pressures as to genetics. Children born to lower skilled people have fewer educational opportunities and probably have lower expectations. They will settle for less.
Ambition is not the same as intelligence. Lower skilled families that produce ambitious children will see them rise into higher skilled occupations over generations. They may not be more intelligent than their less ambitious peers. As families rise to higher skilled occupations, their reproduction rates would theoretically fall.
From a long term, evolutionary timeframe perspective, it may not make a huge difference. If intelligence is a significant reproductive advantage, then even among the lesser skilled the trend would be toward greater intelligence. The most ambitious and intelligent of the lesser skilled would migrate into the higher skilled occupations. The less ambitious or less intelligent of the higher skilled would migrate into the lesser skilled occupations.
The lower socioeconomic groups would also see greater evolutionary pressure toward healthier, more robust individuals than the higher socioeconomic groups due to less access to health care.
What is Shockley’s policy solution? Encourage reproduction among the higher skilled? Encourage birth control and abortion among the lesser skilled? What impact does the destruction of the middle class have on these questions?
I think the questions are interesting, but I am fairly certain that the answers that any investigator would produce at this point would correlate with his/her expectation. Even measuring intelligence is not straight forward. I am pretty good at math, but will never be very good at left and right.
I agree with you. Genetics are more random than most people think, anyway.
“Immigration liberalization and increasing outsourcing are the only viable options for America to get out of the depression it finds itself in.”
Bull$hit !!
America could get their bought and paid for gov’ts head out of it’s A$$, reinvest, retool, build and SELL something of value that was …Made In America once again.
Possible and likely where it will be going, but you will have to pay for it in something other than dollars.
Jobs are not something you pay for RA.
“SELL something of value that was …Made In America once again.”
You mean sell something of value FOR A PROFIT right? Here’s the thing. Nobody can make a profit on good make in America. Not with unions, a 35% tax rate, OSHA, ObamaCare and the other thousands of regulations imposed on American manufacturing. And without a profit, no company will stick around to operate as a charity simply to provide jobs.
“Immigration liberalization and increasing outsourcing are the only viable options for America to get out of the depression it finds itself in.”
Troll.
Bigot.
I do not understand why you are saying bigot.
This is the standard response to anyone who would stand up for protecting our sovereignty by NOT liberalizing immigration procedures, especially for illegals or H1Bs.
Now I don’t know if he meant it or was just satirizing the knee jerk reaction of groups like say, La Raza.
Intellectual bigot. Deliberate closing of one’s mind in the face of that which doesn’t necessarily represent one’s world view.
There’s a great deal of that these days.
Incorrect, ecofeco. Bigotry and racism are not the same thing. Perhaps you aren’t aware of that.
That you often take personal offense (or willingly carry the mantle of another’s presumed slight) when it serves your moral purpose apparently is your wont. Or so it seems thus far.
How typically average.
If you want the economy to get out of this mess then:
1. Seize banks that have bad debt and raise interest rates.
2. Lend a dollar on 50 cents of collateral. No exceptions.
3. Make the homeowners who are behind in payments sell their homes.
4. Get rid of the tax structure and go for a flat tax
5. Bring back the soldiers, stop wars and slash military budget by 50%.
6. Invest in clean energy and transportation.
7. Fire 50% of the government workers.
8. Get rid of silly pensions for govt workers like anything above (80K/yr)
9. Go for immigration liberalization and make it easy to obtain permanent residency here in industries with growth potential.
10. Copy health care from the best systems in the world.
Some good points, but it seems to me allowing mass immigration seems to serve only to depress wages, leading to further bad debt, leading to further bank seizures, leading to further interest rate increases, leading to further job losses, leading to further bad debt …
My problem with health care is that it isn’t free market capitalism
once it became a insurance system with monopolies and price fixing,while they want to pick and choose who they will insure .
People who are healthy pay into the insurance system to fund the
ones that are not healthy or become unhealthy .The healthy people
do this so that just in case they need the insurance they would get it
or they have no other options,or they take the insurance the Company pays for .Than the once healthy that
become unhealthy find that the Private Insurance doesn’t like them anymore once they might collect in spite of how many years they paid
in when they were healthy ,and they raise their premium or they deny a new policy because now they are higher risk to collect benefits
,or they might suffer job prejudice because the Company is pressured by the Insurance Company . So you paid in all those years just to be denied when you really need the care . The insurance companies give the eventually unhealthy the illusion that they will
get theirs once they need it, but it never takes place .
So the Insurance Companies refused to insure people over 65 ,so the government stepped in with Medicare .
So , you have a corrupt so-called Insurance System that begins to ration in the name of higher profits and price fix until they BK the Companies that pay for health insurance for their workers .
To add insult to injury after the Government took over Medicare the insurance companies wanted to get in on that action by contracting
and supplementing Medicare.
The point is if someone young and healthy put 200 dollars per month
into a interest bearing account of say 5 % for 40 years they would have enough to cover their health care at a older age .So ,if everyone just purchased a 20k deductible policy just for the unforeseen of a claim that might be over 20 k and pay for all services under that than it might make some sense . The exception would be children that are born with medical problems that exceed any families ability to pay .
So I’m saying if Insurance Companies want the government to pay for
the children who can’t pay and the seniors that can’t pay (but paid in for years when they were healthy ) than all the insurance company wants is the gravy ,so we should just have socialize medicine to
do away with their price fixing monopoly parasite scheme .
Maybe you could have a government system whereby each person
pays the first 2k of medical expense per year and after that the government picks up the rest and its funded by a National Health care tax for instance . Lets say people who want higher care than basic can opt for increased benefits by paying more or having insurance that would cover more( like the Germany plan) .Or the other option would be to go to a entirely free market capitalist health care system ,but currently the insurance system isn’t cutting mustard and will eventually price every one out of the market .
Why have a private health care system with a public option . Everyone in need will be thrown to the public option and the private health care Companies would grow even richer . You would have to
have either a Government system ,or total free market capitalism ,which would mean without a insurance system ,or you would have
to have a insurance system that insures everyone at the same rate
for their entire life .
We used to have the best healthcare system in the world, right before the insurance companies starting getting involved. Let’s mold our healthcare system after the best in the world, decades ago.
I don’t exactly know when the health care companies got in bed with the EMPLOYER to fund health care ,but it seems like this set the stage for price fixing and the never ending increase in price .
We’ve had very high levels of immigration for decades now. It’s hard to imagine that we’re in need of large numbers of additional foreigners. Given the current situation of very high unemployment, we certainly don’t need any unskilled workers who can’t speak English. I say let’s reduce immigration to about 100,000/year with a focus on highly skilled, Engligh-speaking people.
The problem is we stick with systems that don’t work because we think
only about the problems and pain with turning them back into long term
systems that might work .
It’s just like the crazy Private Health care system that evolved that is now a price fixing insurance monopoly which the Employers use to pay for ,but now Employers are getting priced out and can’t afford to pay for such costs for employees.
So ,the Politicians ,who are bribed,try to come up with some
answer to the corruption that evolved and they come up with crazy solutions that even make it more profitable for that Private Insurance Monopoly who thinks its job is to deny claims and ration health care to make more money and than deny coverage altogether if a person becomes high risk ,even if they paid in for years when they were low risk .
Nobody seems to see the connection that this is one of the reasons why
American Companies are becoming uncompetitive in World Markets
because of their health care costs for employees . And as more and more Companies drop health care coverage for their employees,the more it goes on the backs of the employee ,along with no wage increase and all the other burdens that the Powers that Be want to shift to the
employee ,which is usually the middle class .
Now Industry want the American worker to compete with the outside
foreign lower wage worker or be without jobs all together .
While industry does everything in its power to sit the stage for their burdens to be relieved ,like taxes ,liability for health care ,at the same time there is no contract that they will produce in American and give jobs for Americans at live-able wages .
Brahma30:
I don’t think most of your solutions would work. I think many of them would make problems worse. They sound sort of big-brothery. Can you explain how you think these things would work?
It’s the Tom Friendman solution. After all, *we* can surely do better!
Yesterday I started doing research on Tampa. My new engineering contract will be adjacent to the University of South Florida. Found some furnished apartments 12 miles north, two different complexes. Both have short term leases. They are also near a workout club I am a member of, which I found has a four- lane lap pool, open at 5:00 a.m. The work site is 26 miles from the airport, estimated 35 minute drive.
This is similar to my situation when I contracted in Maryland. Except Tampa has no scary ice/snow.
i dunno how you do your research, but if i were doing it from afar, I’d download MS Streets and Trips 2010, and install it. (2011 might already be available)
You can use it for free for 60 days, and/or pay $40 or so to keep it.
it’s a fairly big d/load..about 1.2 gig.
The boxed version at the store ($65 ?) included a GPS dongle for a UBS port.. works really well… as well as my portable GPS.
find out where all the stores are.. points of interest.
Good idea Joey. I also rely on apartment ratings and reviews. I read some of the comments. Unfortunately, even the most expensive places there have section 8 renters. I had bad experiences with section 8 neighbors. My new Phoenix neighbors just walked out, yes, they certainly listen to the ghetto cRap “music.” nice. I should thank the management who I knew for several years, for putting cRap noise fans next door. I am one month into this twelve month lease. I cannot stand ghetto!
some people just don’t care.. they block your driveway, apologize up and down when you mention it, and then do it again and again.
No easy solutions. You gotta live with them.
i never could figure out what’s up with the ghetto music.. grown men blasting that bass just to attract attention?.. does it impress the girls?
What boggles me about cRap noise is that most people announce they hate it. Match.com ads that I looked at a couple of years ago when I was a member usually had “I hate rap” in them. You can also add metal - the kind with blood- curdling death screams, and some country “music” to the lack of culture. Fortunately it has been many years since I had a real live metal rock band practicing in the one bedroom apartment next door! Dregs.
You should consider renting a furnished house. There are tons of them.
Oh, and the only girls who like rap music are rap girls. No offense, but they really have no right to complain about the quality of their chosen male counterparts. Yuck.
Old lady here who likes rap music. I raised two sons and got used to hearing it.
Re:
Think of it this way, its all about Language. I don’t have any friends that speak ghetto, or dropped out of the 8th grade. Which is what this music appeals to.
Now if you are talking old school say before mid 90’s and before Wu Tang, without the swearing and BS then i love dj’ing those parties with fun music.
To me the skeptic i am, it was designed , and funded to flood the airwaves to separate and marginalize the races, sort of the new version of the Ku Klux Klan …. and it worked
Google Earth.
Then: Google Maps. Turn on “Show Search Option” right hand of the input box. Choose “Real Estate.” Explore the other options as well.
The 2 combined will help you find everything from an apartment to the nearest grocery store or favorite restaurant.
Did I mention “free?”
A million thanks! Rentals too! I’m exploring the zip code where the fitness center is.
You’re welcome. I’m all about trying to make things easier.
i have both on the little netbook i travel with.. My first choice was Google earth, but it needs an internet connection.
That’s ok if you’re near a wifi hotspot or you pay for that other thing.. some kinda cell phone / cell tower relay connection.
I got a MIFI through Verizon. I use it with my iPad to get the internet. Works well in traveling. I love to travel light. At my main address I can also hook my laptop up with the Mi Fi and have essentially another screen.
On the iPad you can still do Mac-related documents. I have “Numbers” for my spreadsheet stuff. I think you can buy apps to translate it into excel or the word processing stuff to MSWord.
A friend of mine is getting nowhere with BofA on a short sale.
His place in El Dorado Hills (far Sacto suburb) was bought new for $750K in 2006. The place now Zillows for $519K.
He’s asking $425K for it in a short-sale, and has received two firm offers at that price. But BofA sent their own appraiser over and said nothing doing: they claim it’s worth $485K.
So he’s reached the point of stopping paying the mortgage and is going to go the jingle-mail route. I’m sure this is better for BofA than accepting those short-sale offers.
better for BofA? Not if they are the beneficiaries of a mortgage insurance policy which would pay off to the tune of.. 485K.. or better.
Who’d be dumb enough to insure a $425K home for $485K or better?
it was $750K when the loan was made.
i know very little about it.. i recall insurance being available up to 60 or 80% of the loan depending on circumstances.
First, you’re getting all these details from your friend? We often point out that reporters don’t get all the facts when covering short sale/foreclosure issues, and I’m guessing your friend isn’t giving the entire story either. For instance, the lenders don’t usually care what the house appraises for, but rather what it would sell for. This would come from a BPO.
Is there a second lien? This changes the motivation for the first lien holder. Then there is the matter of letting the FB off the hook; if they don’t play a little hardball, every underwater loan in their portfolio would default. And I’ve posted before that what often isn’t mentioned in these scenarios is that the ‘firm offers’ fall apart most of the time.
Lastly, ‘bought new for $750K in 2006′. Like I was saying at the time; the CAR; minting new FBs every day!
There’s no second lien, just a purchase-money first. IIRC he paid a large down payment due to selling his old house in Santa Cruz for a handsome profit in 2006. He and I are both lawyers so we’ve gone over his situation in great detail, discussing the various legal ramifications of his situation.
He relocated to DC about 6 months ago to take a much-improved job. The house has been sitting empty all this time.
Also, if it’s backed by a GSE (or HUD/VA), they may get a better deal from those guys.
vacant.. so it’s not his principal residence.
So he might not qualify for a few things.. like he might still owe and have to pay the remainder of the loan, and or pay tax on it.
Easy come easy go…..smart guy
———————————
IRC he paid a large down payment due to selling his old house in Santa Cruz for a handsome profit in 2006
I keep telling you people. Banks are stoooooooooooopppid. They do these things because they’re dumb.
“I’m sure this is better for BofA than accepting those short-sale offers.”
It just might be better for BofA. If BofA accepts the short-sale offer then the new price becomes the official price and this new price has to be acknowledged and a hit needs to be taken against the bank’s balance sheet.
Not so for the imaginary price.
What’s funny to me about this is that BofA just incented him to do what he should have done from the beginning: stop paying.
It makes ZERO sense to pay the mortgage current when you know the only available exit-strategy is to short-sale; at that point, you know you are going to take the hit to your credit-rating anyway due to the SS, and by continuing to pay you are only _incenting_ the lender to drag their feet in responding to offers, and to play hardball by countering reasonable offers.
After all, what incentive do they have to move things forward? If the borrower is paying current, they do not have to include the morgage in their deliquencies. And when they do accept an offer, they will have to book the loss on the mortgage. They have every incentive to stall, stall, stall, for as long as possible.
Once you stop paying, their incentives shift, since they have to report the mortgage as deliquent regardless.
what’s the lender’s choice..
short sale or foreclosure.
They both cost money, but foreclosure takes a long time, and it has it’s own special costs.
i did a quick search for a comparison of pros and cons from the lender’s point of view, but nothing good popped up. I imagine the best choice would depend on the lender’s goals and immediate situation, as well as lots of other factors.
If this lender is actually resisting the short sale, and the resistance doesn’t come from some other interested party, i gotta give them the benefit of the doubt and suggest it’s not in their best interest to go this route.
Examples Of What Industry or Government does .
Government give tax breaks to Corporations …Corporations out-source
and out manufacture to increase profits and than tax base is destroyed
because of loss of jobs .Than Industry demands more tax breaks claiming
it would increase jobs ,but once given the tax break they outsource and continue to do the things that increase profits
Government gives bail-outs to banking system claiming that saving system will keep credit to Main Street and save system …. Bankers immediately
horde money or pay out bonuses ,continue with casino games ,raise the cost on credit cards and Government has to step in and be the only financier of mortgages or any other credit that is needed .
Government enacts a New Health Care reform bill …. Insurance Companies raise costs and cancel programs altogether in response and begin to issue bad policies in response .
Government gives bankers/investment houses self-regulation in the name of not hampering innovation and profits and that industry steals the wealth of a Nation with a crash by a real estate Ponzi-scheme .
Government doesn’t enforce immigration laws ………States inherit the
job problems and welfare problems of the Country that these immigrants
are fleeing from .
Government gives welfare to unwed mothers …..Mothers have more
children out of wedlock to receive benefits .
Government sets up Social Security System and takes from the pay check
to fund it . ……Government under funds the fund or steals from the fund
or doesn’t adjust fund for changing circumstances and than leaves people
relying on it potentially out in the cold . I could go on and on .
I’m just saying we need good Government ,not bribed Politicians who end up enacting laws/policies that don’t make a lick of sense other than responding to highest bidder lobbyist .
Make no mistake ….the rest of the World thinks we are stupid .
Yeah, but we’re stupid with 5000 nuclear weapons and 13 carrier groups.
Feel better now?
I was thinking about SS compared to the pension programs for federal and state/muni employees
Federal pensions: Are they even invested in anything, or are federal pensions paid out of the general fund (via borrowing)
State: They are traditional plans but are woefully underinvested
SS: Pay as you go, with a “trust fund” where the surplus was “invested.
Amazingly, of the 3, SS appears to be the one on the firmest ground as it is funded via a dedicated tax.
And yet, it’s the very one the Repubs want to use to play with in the casino stock market.
And you know what? Eventually the people will beg them to do so. Want to guess why?
Ok ,so we have big guns . What good is that going to do us if we
fall apart because of the betrayal to the United States Work force, which provides the tax base that funds those big guns .
What is the plan on the part of Health care Insurance Companies ,
raise the price so high that only a fraction of the population can
afford it ?
What we got after World War 2 was a unique situation in which to
build a Country without competition from without, with a guiding principal of the Constitution . These circumstances were a advantage no question about it and the middle class grew and the balance of power seemed to favor a more equal distribution of
wealth .
I guess I don’t understand entirely why a Country would give what they built away in favor of a system that would throw its Citizens into poverty while the rich just amass more money and power .
Why didn’t China sell all its junk to its own citizens ,seems like
there would be a big market . The Citizens didn’t make enough
to buy the junk they produced
I just don’t get it .
..play with in the casino stock market…
iirc, Bush suggested something tiny, like 3 or 4% of people’s SS withholdings, might instead be invested in whatever they saw fit.
Gheesh, what a week:
Training partner is a financial planner. He told me for anyone under 35, fp’s are being told to work under the assumption that there will be no social security for them. Ouch!
Friend went out on a few open houses this week. She said there was heavy traffic at all of them.
Attended a meeting with several people this week. It was a comfortable crowd: world travelers in their youth, parents in high places. One reported a relative had worked on Basel II. Definitely not your hangers on crowd. I brought up housing and the idea of shopping for lower price points due to the potential for hyperinflation. The concept for any major change coming up was so not on their radar. The conversation turned to your home being the location from which you base your work, your charity outreach, your networking. Lawrence Yun had nothing on this crowd.
M&T Bank is trolling for new depositors at my place of employment.
Oh yeah…and then there’s the resurgence of the bank holiday gossip.
“He told me for anyone under 35, fp’s are being told to work under the assumption that there will be no social security for them. “
You’ve just seen first hand how long term psycho warfare planning is done.
Now, no mater whether there is or isn’t SS for them, they are going to believe there isn’t.
You’ve just won the prize for figuring out why people will beg to have SS used for the stock market.
ecofeco …I would agree with you that its all tricks ,nothing but tricks
that keep the sheep from revolting against the Masters that control the puppet Politicians .
Can’t these jerks(Politicians ) see that every out-sourced job insured that less funds would go into Social Security .
Calif borrows $40M a day to pay unemployment
Sunday, November 7, 2010
(11-07) 10:05 PST Los Angeles, CA (AP) –
With one in every eight workers unemployed and empty state coffers, California is borrowing billions of dollars from the federal government to pay unemployment insurance.
The Los Angeles Times reports that the state owes $8.6 billion already, and will have to come up with a $362-million payment to Washington by the end of next September.
The continued borrowing means federal unemployment insurance taxes are going to increase, upping the annual payroll costs $21 a year per worker.
California tops the list of 32 states that have borrowed a total of $41 billion to pay claims.
The state took out its first loan from the federal government early last year, to deal with rising payment of benefits and number of claims.
there are roughly 2,300,000 unemployed Californians.
$40,000,000 a day adds up to (x 365) around $14.6 trillion a year?
$14.6T divided by 2,300,000 people is $6,347 per person, or $528 a month.
Hey Jerry. Welcome to Sacramento.
Enough niceties. Get your butt to work. Don’t be shy about calling Meg and asking her what to do.
yeah.. i screwed that up..
it’s 14.6 billion a year… not trillion.
the rest stands… especially the part about getting advice from people who know about money and business.
Green is an expensive luxury. Forget about that for the time being.
“Don’t be shy about calling Meg and asking her what to do.”
What advice are you expecting her to dispense? ‘Let them eat cake,’ perhaps?
I guess you’d have to be an entrepreneur to understand what motivates them. Reading quotations by the great ones might give you some inkling.
“…will fall another 6% to 8%…”
Do these guys just make up these numbers?
Outside the Box
Nov. 7, 2010, 11:01 p.m. EST
Helicopter Ben to the rescue
Commentary: Can quantitative easing solve the housing mess?
By Barry Wood
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — If the darkest hour comes just before the dawn, could this approaching winter be the bottom of our three-year long home-price nightmare?
During this dreadful period for millions of homeowners, home prices nationally have fallen by nearly 30%, while almost 25% of all borrowers — some 15 million homeowners — owe more on their mortgages than their property is worth.
Fed’s QE2 sets sail: Will it float?
The Federal Reserve unveiled a controversial new plan to buy $600 billion of Treasurys, hoping to spur growth in a disappointingly slow U.S. economy. David Wessel and Neal Lipschutz discuss the likelihood that the plan will work.
While there is no magic bullet to solve the housing conundrum, Ben Bernanke and the Federal Reserve are doing all they can to help. The massive $600 billion purchase of Treasurys announced last week initially had a positive impact on long-term interest rates. Bringing mortgage rates down is a principal objective of the Fed action.
Writing in Thursday’s Washington Post, Bernanke said, “easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance.”
With mortgage rates already at their lowest level in nearly 60 years, how much lower can they go? Economist Mark Vitner of Wells Fargo predicts that by spring, a 30-year mortgage-loan rate could fall to around 3%. That would be a full percentage point drop from the current rate.
However, lower mortgage rates alone won’t spur a housing recovery. If they did, a recovery would already be under way. A huge inventory of homes still needs to be cleared from the market. In addition, the foreclosure crisis is still not resolved, and a growing number of foreclosed homes are yet to come onto the market. This puts more downward pressure on home prices.
Vitner of Wells Fargo believes home prices will fall another 6% to 8% before bottoming in spring 2011.
Mark Zandi of Moody’s Analytics says home prices will remain depressed into 2012. “We’re not at the bottom, but we’re getting close,” he said.
…
Nov. 6, 2010, 1:32 p.m. EDT
Home prices likely flat in 2011: NAR
Five years from now, many will say 2010 was year to buy: economist
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
NEW ORLEANS (MarketWatch) — Nationwide, homeowners can expect little, if any, increase in home values in 2011, the National Association of Realtors said in a forecast released Friday at the group’s annual conference in New Orleans.
And it will take another two years to clear the foreclosures and short sales on the market, said Lawrence Yun, the group’s chief economist, at a news conference.
NAR forecasts that home values nationwide will increase just 0.7% in 2011, not a “measurable meaningful change,” Yun said. In 2010, home prices will rise 0.1%, compared with 2009, according to NAR.
Still, five years from now, when home values have recovered and mortgage interest rates likely are higher, “many people will look back to 2010 and say ‘I should have bought a home back then,’” Yun said.
…
Sounds as though China’s real estate bubble is about five years behind the U.S. When U.S. home prices had no further to rise, they began falling.
Caixin Online
Nov. 7, 2010, 8:19 p.m. EST
China’s property market at turning point, Xie says
With lower money-supply growth, prices have little room to rise
By Han Wei
BEIJING (Caixin Online) — China’s property market has reached a turning point and will begin a gradual decline for years, said financial analyst Andy Xie at the Caixin Summit in Beijing.
“The property market has reached its peak,” said Xie, a board member at the firm Rosetta Stone Advisors. “Generally speaking, the government has been keeping money supply growth lower than the [gross domestic product] growth this year, and the tightened currency supply will leave little room for housing prices to rise further.”
…
In search of personal responsibility over mortgage loans
Posted: 11/07/2010 09:56:25 PM PST
I’m trying really hard not to start today’s column with “See? I told you so!” Clearly, I’ve failed.
Let’s go back a few years, like five or six. Or eight or 10. I cannot count the times over the years that I have pleaded with my readers not to fall for nothing-down or interest-only mortgage loans. And how many times did I warn against the lunacy of stripping the equity from homes through the magic of home equity loans? I warned; I pleaded. I think I even nagged on a few occasions. The reason, I explained over and over again, was that no one knew what the future would hold. Homes would not continue to appreciate forever. Your job may not always be there for you. You need to remain in a position in which you could sell your home, and if you owe too much, that may not be possible.
…