Bits Bucket for January 24, 2011
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
-
November 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
The pace of change - business models continue to evolve. None of us can rest on our laurels.
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/businesstechnology/2014008855_btdotjobs24.html
“A massive network of employment websites — where any company can list job openings for free — launched last week over the protests of newspapers and online recruitment companies, who fear billions of dollars in lost revenue.
The 40,000 sites, with Web addresses that all end in “.jobs,” have the potential to upend companies such as Monster.com and CareerBuilder.com, which only a decade ago set up for-profit jobs classifieds online that roiled the media companies that printed the listings on paper. The initiative is being backed by nearly 600 industry titans such as Google, American Express, IBM, Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin.”
…
“Major corporations, particularly those who are among the 580 major corporations that pay dues to the DirectEmployers Association, believe the nonprofit’s sites will shake the online recruitment industry. The association’s members, which pay an annual fee of $15,000, enjoy perks on the sites like getting their job openings placed at the top.”
…
“Monster costs around $400 per job.”
When will the the realtor monopoly fall like this?
Maybe thousands of .sellyourhouse websites linked?
J6P, who can’t even fill out a 1040EZ without help, is going to know how to create his own For Sale listing on a web site?
In case you weren’t aware, there is already a “FSBO” site. You can search listings by ZIP code, and narrow the search by various criteria. They charge $81 a month, or $179 to list until the property sells.
Our old ZIP code in NoVA had a grand total of seven listings on this site.
J6P, who can’t even fill out a 1040EZ without help, is going to know how to create his own For Sale listing on a web site?
He’s figured out how to use eBay and Travelocity, so don’t put this one past him.
I still see places like “Liberty Tax” doing fine, and charging 100’s of dollars to do people’s taxes.
I would say that a lot of J6P’s, especially the older ones, are still hardcore technophobes.
My mother told me last night that you have to be over 90 these days to get your Social Security as a check. Everyone else gets some sort of automatic deposit. And there are people in their development that are peeved. They would prefer a paper check.
J6P doesn’t have to figure out much. Most websites now have templates which take fill-in-the-blank information and generate a professional-looking online listing. Just look at Craigslist and Facebook.
Earned Income Tax credits are a specialty of Liberty Taxes.
Many ” loan officers” were pizza delivery men, haircut operators, etc before they became the honorable trusted loan , real estate agents. They switched pretty fast when they saw the easy money in real estate to be made. Now they are right back in their older jobs making a lot less money if at all. I would not judge Joe six pack now after what has happened!
Turbo Tax Timmy Geitner, as head of the NY Fed (Now Treasury Secretary) tried to do his own taxes. Failed so he didn’t file for 12 years. You try that !!! I’ll visit you down the hall from Madoff.Typical lib smarts.
When will the the realtor monopoly fall like this ??
When the financial institutions are allowed to play thats when…So far, NAR & CAR have successfully held it at bay with their DC buddies….
I would have to agree with you. These sites are backed by employers who have a stake in reducing costs.
Attendance at the Seattle Boat show is up. What’s up with that?
http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/localnews/2014020422_boatshow25m.html
“After two years of sluggish boat sales nationwide and low attendance at the 10-day Seattle shows in 2009 and 2010, organizers and boat dealers alike said they’re seeing an uptick in the number of people expressing interest in buying a boat.”
‘What’s up with that’
People like boats
“organizers and boat dealers alike said they’re seeing an uptick in the number of people expressing interest in buying a boat.”
Doesn’t seem to say anything about people actually buying boat. When I was a kid, my family would go to things this like this because it was relatively inexpensive (indoor winter) entertainment, not because anyone had a real interest in boat ownership. As a kid, all the free balloons ,key chains, etc. were a real kick.
And a lot of people on this blog “express interest” in buying a house… but not anytime soon, unless under very specific conditions.
When I was in college, I used to go to trailer sales places just to eat their free hot dogs. Sometimes I would “express” an interest in buying a trailer so that the owner wouldn’t think that I came just for the free hot dogs!
I go to the boat show in SJ just to see what the price of river rafting trips or trips to the outback of Canada or Alaska are going for.
Attendance is up. Last year, people weren’t even going for the entertainment and freebies.
And if gas continues to rise, maybe they won’t be next year either.
I was in the marine business for quite a few years. The number of orders placed at the shows is a very good barometer of the coming sales year. But show attendance and orders are two entirely different things. New boat sales are very much driven by the availability of credit, the 180 month loan. I doubt that is even available any more. Show attendance is generally a fairly cheap form of entertainment.
The best barometer of the boat biz thought is to go the 10-K’s for the largest pleasure boat manufacturer and the largest retail marine dealer. Best I can tell unit sales are down 60% from 2006 ( the recent peak) and about 75% from1988, the absolute peak of recreational boat sales.
And free Hot Dogs /x4 beers (ifin’ snag extra coupons)/popcorn/soda…and it’s not often Mr. Cole gets to walk around $1-2 million dollar boats, while Hwy checks out the latest cool devices on board. Not to mention, all that walkin’ exercise! Oh, and all those free floating key chains, pens, pencil’s, water-hose sprayers, whistles, beer top openers, and personally thanking all the gals handing them out.
boats and budwieser go hand n hand.
They are planning an escape to CUBA. hahahahahaha
LOL!
Or in the Seattle are, to Canada.
Doh! areA
My guess: new boats for the rich who are not at all affected by the Great Recession, and used boats for the smart cash-money who were waiting for a deal. I wonder if there’s a Boat Bubble Blog.
There might be a staycation angle to this too.
Folks might think it’s cheaper to get a boat and take it to the local lake over many years, in place of trips to HI, Mexico, or the Carribbean.
Our local inland lakes have functioned like a blue collar/redneck resort for decades now.
I stay on mine for eight months at a time, although it is not exactly stay in one place. The rent to own equation for a house gets very skewed when the rent is only for four months of the year (at off season price). This year will be year four for me. Thank you Housing Bubble, I’m not going to come back.
Perhaps they were checking out boats in the inflatable 8-foot length category?
Going to a boat show is free entertainment. Just like walking around the mall. The habit of shopping as entertainment dies hard, even if you can’t afford to buy.
The Home and Garden Show is coming up in 6 weeks. I’m apprehensive about going. The last time I tried to “just walk around,” I was accosted by salespeople desperate to re-do my kitchen in granite and turn my backyard into an outdoor room. When I replied that I rented and couldn’t do anything, they went into Telemarketer Plan B mode and asked if I had any friends, or did I want to buy gifts for my friends. I would gladly pay the $10 admission if they issued a “Leave me alone” sticker with my ticket.
Wear a surgical mask. When they approach you, point to it and shake your head ‘no’. I bet they’ll leave you alone then. I would.
Who wants to have an HBB meetup at the Home and Garden Show? We could ask pertinent questions like “why isn’t any of your furniture multifunctional so that people in apartments can make the most use of their space?” or “Don’t you all realize that the fastest growing segment of furniture buyers are apartment dwellers and downsizers?”
This will be my third year looking unsuccessfully for a quality, all wood corner desk with modules available for adjacent dressers and bookshelves designed to sit on top of the dresser, etc.
Anybody got any ideas?
Claim your boat as a personal residence (also 2nd home) and deduct the interest on your taxes.
I’ve known a few folks who lived on houseboats. It might be pleasant in fair weather, but I wouldn’t want to be there in a wind storm. OTOH, with the big trees in my yard I sometimes get a bit nervous in a wind storm.
[boat sales/interest might be a little up] However, the boat show here is really part of the lifestyle - a lot of people go. Interesting note - 1 in 6 households has a boat
“1 in 6 households has a boat.”
And most of them are rarely used.
what’s that saying?
two of the happier days of a man’s life is the day he buys a boat and the day he sales it.
“A boat is a hole in the water that you fill with money.”
Boat = break out another thousand.
Boat Ownership = Taking cold showers while tearing up one hundred dollar bills.
And most of them are rarely used.
It’s not always just about sailing the “high seas”, there are other things you can do.
“You’re gonna need a bigger boat.”
What was that saying we used to frequently quote here? Something to the effect of, “If it flocks, flies or floats, it is better to rent it than to own it.”
SF Chronicle did a survey many years ago across all the marinas in the bay area. It turns
out that the average moored boat left the dock
seven times a year for a short day trip. Sail and powered combined.
boats N ho’s!
LOL…..
RIP Jack La Lanne. Died at age 96. His father died of a heart attack in his fifties. Jack LaLanne showed how people could live longer, stronger lives by a regimented diet and fitness habit. He would work out two hours per day into his 90s!
It depends to some extent on ones own biochemistry, but he would have probably died 20 years ago in a debilitating form if not for his fitness and diet. Instead he had 20 more years to enjoy with his wife, and they would still go to restaurants andbenjoy the central California coast.
Jack made the best use of what he was given; My kind of guy.
My doctor tells me during my annual check ups that the one factor that seperates his healthy patients from his less-than-healthy patients is exercise.
combo
Keep that MD. He seems like a reasonable guy. Is he a legal drug pusher, or does he practice real medicine?
Is he a legal drug pusher, or does he practice real medicine?
Oh, is that ever a good question! Seems that there are quite a few of the legal drug pushers out there.
Which, to us, means caveat emptor.
I also like to see health role models among my health care professionals. As in, are they exercising? Eating well? Managing their weight?
You get the idea…
I think that docs have become drug pushers in response to the TV Ads. Gal comes in and said she wants Boniva because Sally Fields looks so good, what’s he gonna do. He only has about 12 minutes to talk her out of it.
“Is he a legal drug pusher, or does he practice real medicine?”
He’s a real medicine guy (medicine man?). Each visit he asks me if I take any medication and when I tell him “No” he responds with: “Good”.
Last year, during my digital exam, he mentioned he’d like to do to a senator or two what he was then doing to me. He had this burned out air about him, as if he was tired of all the BS that goes with being a doctor.
“My doctor tells me during my annual check ups that the one factor that seperates his healthy patients from his less-than-healthy patients is exercise.”
that’s interesting…i would have pegged it at diet…but i ain’t no doc.
RIP Jackie. Truly one of a kind.
I can point to an example of the same in my own family. This relative probably won’t make it to age 96, and he has memory/cognition impairments. But I think the exercise has helped to insulate him from having worse “mind” problems.
James Fixx died at 52.
Too much jogging can backfire?
IIRC, at the time his doctors said he would not have even made 52 had he not been jogging. He was a pretty unhealthy fella prior to taking up running, quite heavy.
I wanna be like ‘Happy’. She’s outlived Jack Lalanne, and she enjoys a smoke!
from Spiegel
The Secrets of the Supercentenarians
Scientists Seek To Unlock Key to Longer Lives
By Samiha Shafy
How is it possible to live more than a century yet still remain healthy and lucid? Scientists believe there may be a genetic link. The Kahn siblings in America, aged 108, 104 and 100, are helping researchers to unlock those secrets.
Helen is 108 years old. She hates salads, vegetables, getting up early and just about everything that has to do with a healthy lifestyle. She loves rare hamburgers, chocolate, cocktails and nightlife in New York: all the exotic restaurants, Broadway shows, movie theaters — where she recently saw “Iron Man 2″ — and the Metropolitan Opera. That’s where she attended her first opera, “Samson et Delila,” in 1918. It was a present from her father for her 17th birthday.
She also likes to smoke, of course: “I’ve been smoking for more than 80 years, all day long, every day. That’s a whole lot of cigarettes,” admits Helen, who has always been called “Happy” since she was a child. Then she giggles as she falls back into her soft armchair.
link http://www.spiegel.de/international/zeitgeist/0,1518,719208,00.html
She also likes to smoke, of course: “I’ve been smoking for more than 80 years, all day long, every day. That’s a whole lot of cigarettes,” admits Helen, who has always been called “Happy” since she was a child. Then she giggles as she falls back into her soft armchair.
I think that we’re going to find that social connectedness will have a great deal to do with longevity. There was a PA town that was studied — Roseto was the name. It was settled by Italians, and was a much healthier place than surrounding towns. Social cohesion and connecteness had a lot to do with it.
A coworker used to wear a t-shirt that said
Exercise
Eat Right
Die Anyway
Or to be more philosphical …
In an old episode of he TV series “Kung Fu” Kwai Chiang Cane compares a long life with a short one: “they are both but mere moments in eternity”.
Or, and Tony Banta (Tony Danza’s character on the TV show Taxi) once said: “When you’ve been dead for a million million years, that’s only a tiny fraction of the time you’re going to be dead.”
No amount of exercise or diet changes will offset heredity. Exercise can make you feel much better with the time you have left.
Again, Jack La Lanne’s dad died of a heart attack in his 50s. Jack La Lanne was a sickly teenager when he changed his diet and got away from sugars. Diet and exercise can rum hereditary illnesses and early death. Jack’s life was the proof.
My Aunt is in a Alzheimer’s care facility at 94. She showed symptoms at age 85, and was diagnosed at 87. She was sedentary all her life, and was a Type 2 Diabetic after 60 yo. They call Alzheimer’s Type 3 Diabetes. Her docs tell our family to exercise and it should help us possibly avoid this horrible exit. Exercise is important to the brain, they’ve explained to us.
“Exercise is important to the brain, they’ve explained to us.”
Indeed. I highly recommend a book called Brain Rules by John Medina.
+1. If I start feeling any mild symptoms of depression, it usually means I haven’t been to the gym in awhile. Once I’m back on a schedule of exercising regularly (in addition to weekend activities), those symptoms fade fast.
No Prisitiq,Prozac, or Zoloft necessary!
Exercise makes you sleep better too.
My own doctor goes up into the national forests and cuts two cords of wood each year. He says he never sleeps better than the day he does this.
Two women that I know who are in their mid 90’s eat a lot of fruits and vegetables ,small amount of meat ,walk daily and exercise , and they have family that takes them places and care about
them . I went to a party about a year ago and there was a lady who was 103 there at the party . She had a walker, but I talked with her
for a little while and her mind was sharp ,she was cracking jokes.
The ones that I see go downhill fast are the ones that aren’t
very active and just set around watching TV waiting to go to the Doctor to get their medication . Not enough air getting to the
brain is my theory . Some of those people are pickled in medication . I run into these people when I walk my dog two times a day . Anyway ,moving around a lot I think is a big key .
Recently I read that Jack drank a 4 oz. glass of red wine at lunch, and another at dinner. Every day. This was of course in addition to his famous exercise habit. I want to be like Jack!
10-4 Elanor (sorry, could not resist). He was a son of French immigrants. He touted the “French Paradox,” and considered red wine his dessert. But ate no red meat. Mostly fish. When I order red wine with salmon, I think Jack La Lanne would approve.
Thoughts to keep you company whilst you dine alone..
But ate no red meat. Mostly fish ??
I grew up next door to my Portuguese grandparents….Watching my grandmother cook would make a Cardiologists have a coronary…The salt shaker was a Bell fruit jar with holes poked in the top with a ice pick because the chunks of salt were so large thats the only way it would come out…She cooked pretty much everything in the frying pan (including fish) with Lard out of a 25 pound box…The residual grease etc., was used for the gravy…Grandpa went out at 88 with a heart attack after a serious leg operation and Grandma went out at 93 with initially small basically of old age….
Red wine lowers your blood glucose..
Wow. End of another era.
Interesting point about note securitization. Anyone know if it’s correct?
cdowney14 wrote:
Folks, there is no creditor and they can’t foreclose. The creditor has charged the debt off their balance sheet in order capitalize the REMIC trust certificates. The note was securitized, which means the note no longer exists. In other words, the note was tendered for other consideration (certificates in an investment trust). When a debt instruments inherent value is divested and transferred into another form of marketable security instrument (bonds certificates, stock certificates, ect …) the note is destroyed. Both instruments can’t exist at the same time for the same debt. Its called derecognition according the generally accepted accounting principles that all banks use to keep the books.
Creditor = the entity that accounts for the debt on its balance sheet.
MERS = securitization. MERS registers the transfer per article 8 of the UCC code. A MIN# means your note has been divested.
from Accounting Tools:
Definition: Derecognition is the removal of a previously recognized financial asset or liability from an entity’s balance sheet. You should derecognize a financial asset if either the entity’s contractual rights to the asset’s cash flows have expired or the asset has been transferred to a third party (along with the risks and rewards of ownership). If the risks and rewards of ownership have not passed to the buyer, then the selling entity must still recognize the entire financial asset and treat any consideration received as a liability.
my company spent tens of millions of dollars re-stating 10 years of financial statements because of that de-recognition principle.
Charging a debt off on your balance sheet only means that your auditor thinks there is a low chance that you will ever collect the entire amount. It has ZERO effect on legal rights. And if you actually collect money that you have already written off, it is pure profit to the bottom line.
The rest doesn’t say much.
Alpha, you are getting too upset about this stuff. It is not that hard to figure out who actually has the right to foreclose on the note. You start with the originator. You figure out if the first transfer was valid under state law. If it is, you check the next one. These things transferred several times, but my guess is a lot of them didn’t transfer more than 3 or 4 times before they became bonds. You aren’t talking about trying to trace back 300 or 400 transactions.
And once they got to MERs it is pretty clear that none of the state laws on real estate transfer were honored. I haven’t heard anyone claim that MERs tranfers actually were OK, under state law, though a few months ago people suggested that the federal government should just wave a magic wand and say that they were. Didn’t go anywhere as states are fussy about the few items (like real property) that are really outside interstate commerce.
My instict tells me that a lot of this stuff was never validly transferred away from the originator, though I wish it had all been validly transferred at least once to the investment bank that was the securitizer before going to the trust that issued the bonds. That would be nice. But this is not that hard. It is time consuming. Lawyers are involved. Lots of lawyers. Lots of paperwork. Finding documents. Reading documents. Researching state law that a bunch of securities lawyers don’t usually bother with. One serve directly into the net doesn’t end the game.
“Alpha, you are getting too upset about this stuff.”
Oh, so swinging from the chandelier, hurling my feces at people, and screaming “Oh mommy, we’re all gonna die!” is ‘getting too upset about this stuff’ in your book?
Well, ex-c-u-u-u-use me!
Seriously, my warped little non-lawyer mind still thinks there’s something rotten in Denmark. Why did multiple banks suddenly pull out of well-advanced, expensive foreclosure suits all over Florida? Most of the lawyers there seemed shocked and puzzled by the action. Why shouldn’t we be? Something made them suddenly realize that their cases were impossible to continue. What could that be?
I do not pretend to understand all the legal issues involved, but I see nothing that indicates that MERS hasn’t royally screwed the pooch. It may be fixable, but I’m predicting that fixing it won’t be cheap, easy, or quick.
Because they knew they couldn’t win those suits.
Money you have already spent is a sunk cost. Pissing off judges who are perfectly aware that the servicer of the loan acts on behalf of the bond holders and that there is about a 90% chance the bond holders don’t have the right to bring the suit and nearly a 100% chance that they don’t have the paperwork in order to prove they have the right to bring the suit is useless. Time to go back, figure out who has the legal right to bring the foreclosure action. Then you *sue* those people for the money you would get if you could bring the foreclosure action to force them to bring it. The bond holders are, as I explained yesterday the ones who have the right to get the money from the foreclosure; they just can’t enforce it themselves. It is a delay. A big delay. But it isn’t the end.
“[T]he note is destroyed. Both instruments can’t exist at the same time for the same debt.” That is out and out false. The note is transferred to a trustee, who distributes the payments in accordance with the certificates. Payment, however, is still made on the note. Here is an example with a 10 mil note at 5% interest. Note tranferred to Trustee who sells 9.5 mil worth of weekly floaters up to 5% (i.e., bear interest at a weekly floating rate), and transfers a 500k residual to the person or entity that set up the trust. For the note holder that set up the Trust (the “Trustor”), he could argue that only 500k should be on his books and he gets the difference between the weekly rate and 5% (otherwise known as the residual). There are lots of tax and securities issues, however, with respect to off balance sheet treatment (i.e., does the Trustor have call rights (i.e., can he force a buy back), what amendments can he unilaterally make, etc.). The real issue with foreclosure is what consent rights must be obtained for the trustee to exercise foreclosure rights with respect to the note. If all the holders need to agree and there is no way for the Trustor to get the certificates back it could be hard. cdowney14 doesnt understand securitizations unless he was just talking about being destroyed in a fictional accounting sense for determining ownership, but even then the rules about whether the securitization can be recharacterized as a loan to the holders as opposed to an interest in the note are very complex.
Wow - not great for selling houses either…
———————
Arctic cold forces school closures in upstate NY (-36 in Saranac Lake)
AP/WSJ | 1/24/11
Several dozen schools across upstate New York have canceled classes or are delaying their start because of dangerously low temperatures.
The National Weather Service has issued wind chill advisories and warnings for much of the region, including the Adirondacks where the low was 36 below in Saranac Lake early Monday morning.
In my school district in the 80’s, school was automatically closed if the windchill reached -25°F, no questions asked. This kind of cold snap isn’t new for them.
Meanwhile in DC, at the end of the Metro lines, where the lines go above ground, rails are cracking and causing huge delays for passengers freezing on the patform. A 54″ water main broke and closed the Beltway.
As horrible as it is, that water main break sounds kind of spectacular as a visual. The reporter on WAMU said water was gushing several feet in the air and the water that spread on the ground was freezing right away because the temp was in single digits.
Once the temp drops below zero, you can throw boiling water into the air, and it immediately freezes.
I was outside exercising and drinking water off of race tables in these temps yesterday. I have some real doubts to the validity of this statement. I live in the area mentioned in the above report although not in the extreme Adirondack areas east of Lake Ontario.
****************
Once the temp drops below zero, you can throw boiling water into the air, and it immediately freezes.
Here’s the exercise at -22. I’m not sure of the exact temp where it starts.
http://www.weather.com/outlook/videos/what-happens-to-boiling-water-at–22-19419
Also, you are talking about a glass of water which is sitting there. I am talking about throwing the boiling water into the air.
In North Texas, schools close if there is the threat of snow.
Out here we have years between snow days. Amazing what a snowplow can do.
You also don’t build highway over passes 200 feet into the sky.
neg 36 is really not all that bad for Essex County. It just so happens that is more unusual now than in the past. I recall back in 1980 or so a three week period when night time temps were -30 and day time never above -15 give or take a degree or two. It was spooky at night as the spruce trees would make a whole lot of cracking sounds, especially if there is the slightest bit of wind.
Now that’s cold!
I delivered newspapers at the school mailboxes my senior year in the winter. Had to cross campus at 8:00 in the morning (after getting the house’s woodstove going). There were two weeks when the thermometer at the south end of the green was between negative 25 and negative 20 every single day. It was so cold you couldn’t wear sunglasses because the plastic felt like it was burning your face, even with the retained heat of the balaclava. My first class that semester was at 10. By then things were a little bit warmer.
Montana used to get like that in the good old days..a whole month below zero.
[sniff]
Coldest windchill I remember in Spokane was 2/1/89. I remember because it was the day we had to take our youngest home from the hospital after her birth. The insurance company would not allow a third day. We had her bundled up pretty well and didn’t have a problem. But I hate to think what might have happend if the car had crapped out. I think the still air temp was around -25. Pretty unusual for Spokane. I haven’s seen the wind chill that low since, but I have seen -27 for the temp. Guys from the Dakotas just scoff at that.
Let home buyer beware
Builder appeals ruling, seeks clear title to foreclosed property
By Thomas Grillo
Monday, January 24, 2011
Last summer, the Massachusetts Land Court ruled that Francis Bevilacqua had no right to a property he bought in Haverhill in 2006 because the lender that seized it failed to produce all the ownership documents at the time. Bevilacqua later turned the property into four condominiums and sold them.
In his decision, Justice Keith Long, while sympathetic to Bevilacqua, who sought clear title to the property, said his beef is with the lender — not the previous owner, Pablo Rodriguez. Bevilacqua sought a court ruling to force Rodriguez to say whether he had a claim on the property.
http://www.bostonherald.com/business/real_estate/view/20110124let_home_buyer_beware_builder_appeals_ruling_seeks_clear_title_to_foreclosed_property/srvc=home&position=also
Sheila Bair Wants to Protect Foreclosure Victims
By Alec Foege (RSS)
Jan 20th 2011 4:35PM
Sheila Bair wants to help rescue the nation’s homeowners from the foreclosure disaster. On Wednesday, the chairman of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. (FDIC) recommended the formation of a foreclosure claims commission not unlike the one created to aid victims of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico in 2010. Bair was speaking at the Mortgage Bankers Association conference in Washington on the future of mortgage servicing when she made the proposal. “The mortgage servicing industry is fundamentally flawed and in desperate need of reform,” she said, explaining that homeowners needed protection from improper foreclosures.
http://realestate.aol.com/blog/tag/sheila+bair/ - 45k -
I foresee a drop in prices in the foreclosure market.
The entire housing lending market is going to seize up with this crap. The only way anyone is going to be able to buy a house is going to be for cash…
——————-
2 banks, 1 house
NewYorkPost | 1/23/11 | CATHERINE CURAN
A house divided cannot stand. A house foreclosure case divided by two banks probably doesn’t have standing — in court — either.
Two banks, Home123 Corporation and US Bank, both lay claim to owning a house in Staten Island, according to a foreclosure filing. The original lender, Home123, is the mortgage holder on the county’s tax rolls, but US Bank and its servicer, Ocwen Loan Servicing, have filed the court papers, saying they have the right to the action.
US Bank claims that they purchased the mortgage from Home123. But, the bank admits, “due to unforseen circumstances, the original Assignment of Mortgage and Endorsement Note were lost before they could be recorded.”
It’s worse than that. The only way anyone can buy a house is to buy a house that the previous owner owns free and clear, and buy that house free and clear with cash. If a bank was involved anytime in the past 15 years, chances are it’s a screw-up.
O-oh, MERSy, MERSy me
O-oh, things ain’t how they used to be, no no…
Now that’s just too funny, right there.
+1 LOL!
Oh MERS eat oats
And Dodds eat oats
And little Franks eat ivy…..
I’ll have to work on the rest of this sometime.
Cash with free simple absolute title and hope that your title insurance company is still afloat and in business after all the banking and RE mischief manure hits the rotating blades.
hope that your title insurance company is still afloat ??
Fidelity National Title Company is the only one I would use today….
SC, why Fidelity National Title Company? I think you’ve said this before, so tell us the good stuff, please.
Just FYI, Mikey, the term is fee simple absolute, though I kind of like your twist on it.
“The only way anyone is going to be able to buy a house is going to be for cash …”
The source of money isn’t the problem. Deciding who owns the house is the problem.
Well there’s no third party requiring you to get title insurance if you’re paying cash. But with everyghing that’s going on these days, title insurance is a good idea. Have we heard any rumbling about the possible failure of THOSE insurance companies? ISTM that the probability of claims is SKYROCKETING.
An insurance company collects fees to cover expected claims, pay operating expenses, and make a profit. Even if only half the premiums they collect have been used to pay claims, if there are suddenly 3x more claims than before then that insurer is hosed.
Has the cost of title insurance risen significantly in the last couple of years?
IMHO the question is, are they monolines? If title insurance is only a small part of their business, they’ll probably still be able to pay claims. And what’s the corporate structure? If the larger company and disavow the claims from the mortgage insurance stuff, look out.
Has the cost of title insurance risen significantly in the last couple of years ??
Yes…A lot…So have all the other fee’s…escrow, notary etc…
I payed $165 for escrow & recording fees when I bought my dirt in Montana a year and a half ago.
I purchased title insurance even though I paid in cash. The premium was $556.
I didn’t feel too bad about that.
payed = paid
One would have to be nuts to buy a foreclosed house for cash these days, as you have no idea if the bank selling it to you really owns it. It would be like buying a car for cash on a street corner from a guy with no shirt and an “I was on COPS” belt buckle.
The situation has indeed changed. When we bought our current house from a bank in 2005 we didn’t give much thought at all as to how clear the title was. Planning to pay cash, we also didn’t think about title insurance until just before settlement. We called the title company where settlement was to take place, to inquire about the cost of such a policy, and we were pleasantly surprised when they told us the bank had already purchased an owners policy for us.
I’m sure it was a CYA move on the bank’s part. They didn’t want us coming back at them for any reason later on.
Hey, no worries… isn’t that what title insurance is for?
j/k
“The only way anyone is going to be able to buy a house is going to be for cash…”
I suspect the FHA and other government agencies in the mortgage lending business will continue providing loans on easy terms to specially favored constituents. The rest of the pool of prospective home buyers are on their own.
I came across this on Malaysia:
‘Q&A: Do I accumulate funds in the bank or save enough for my third property onwards? I’ve bought an apartment in Subang Jaya for my personal stay at a 10% downpayment. It was my first property, which I am also sub-letting to a friend. My motivation everyday in working is to acquire the funds required to purchase many more properties as I target to attain 10 properties by the time I am 30 years old.’
‘The update by Bank Negara has struck a major blow to my plans as the capital required for each property is two times than required now, and of course a lot more thought has to be put in before the purchase. What is best now?’
A: I love your plan of investing into property with direction. If you should achieve 10 properties by 30, you would have your financial future brighter than many! ‘
‘Do understand that Bank Negara is implementing the current restrictions due to many investors who are buying properties at crazy prices. The government is doing the right thing…However, last I heard, many are still going on a buying spree. Everyone is looking for a way to circumvent Bank Negara’s restrictions. ‘
‘if you did buy a good property, even though you bought it with a 30% downpayment, consider alternative strategies to cash out the money. If it is a good property, you can consider refinancing it later to get the money back. Just make sure your tenant is financing the installments (with a bit more margins) than you.’
‘Last but not least, when is there a good time to invest in properties? The answer: Anytime. ‘
http://www.starproperty.my/PropertyGuide/Finance/9659/0/0
I came across this on
MalaysiaCalifornia 2005:——
Q: I’ve bought an
apartmentcondo in Stocktonfor my personal stay at a10% downpayment. It was my first property, which I am also sub-letting to a friend. My motivation everyday inworkingborrowing is to acquire the funds required to purchase many more properties as I target to attain 10 properties by the time I am 30 years old.’A…consider alternative strategies to cash out the money. If it is a good property, you can consider refinancing it later to get the money back… Last but not least, when is there a good time to invest in properties? The answer: Anytime.”
Fixed it for ya, Ben.
Where have I heard this before?
A Malaysian Donald Trump wanna-be…
Make sure you plow every cent into your housing investment and leverage as much money as possible.
As housing only goes up - you can’t lose…
Sound advice, this bit Just make sure your tenant is financing the installments (with a bit more margins) than you.
The question is whether such cash flow positive purchases can still be made anywhere in the world. Even disregarding taxes, HOA dues and making allowance for repairs and vacant time, my contention is that few places exist in Asia where you can buy properties and rent them out for “profit”. You may have better luck in Detroit.
And how is this even investing?
‘consider alternative strategies to cash out the money…you can consider refinancing it later to get the money back’
This ’strategy’ is basically a way around the down payment rules. It seems clear that the idea is to then re-use the money to buy more units.
‘restrictions due to many investors who are buying properties at crazy prices’
“… you can consider refinancing it later to get the money back.”
I remember a conversation from an article posted on this blog several years ago that went something like this:
Realtor: “And you can buy this wonderful house with a two percent loan for thirty years.”
Future FB: “But the loan is not for thirty years. The interest rate resets after two years.”
Realtor: “But you can refinance after two years, so it’s the same thing.”
If you have truly cash flow positive properties, then certainly you should invest the minimum possible in each (pulling money out when you can to buy more such cash flow positive properties) and leveraging till the cows come home. There is nothing wrong with that approach in theory.
The problem is in the real world, too many things can go wrong:
1. Rents can fall
2. Taxes can rise
3. Stuff can break
4. Neighborhoods can change (for the worse)
5. Renters can lose jobs and/or shoot themselves
6. Condo boards can make things hard/expensive
If you can actually make a margin for each risk and still come out ahead, then by all means do what the article suggests.
I contend that it is nearly impossible, unless you are really lucky or politically connected, to be able to source properties that will be cash flow positive over the long term.
Stuff breaks ALWAYS.
Corrected #3.
Just make sure your tenant is financing the installments (with a bit more margins) than you.’
Isn’t it a good thing that inflation never has any effect on the behavior of tenant’s?… oh, wait inflation never hits that part of the globe.
Inflation is one prime reason people invest in real estate. Inflation often means you pay a fixed interest rate to the bank but the rent continues to rise over time.
Fixed rate loans are not always available outside the US.
Probably one reason why Bernanke is aiming for a $10 cup of coffee.
Or deflation in other investments (stocks, bonds, gold). It becomes a flight to perceived quality. One of the fuels for the US bubble was the dot bomb. It may not have been the primary factor, but it contributed.
I wonder if Malaysia will bail out their banks when the bubble bursts.
Author of this response: Michael Tan conducts property investment seminars and workshops throughout the year. No wonder he recommends real estate investing. If I were deciding whether to invest in real estate, I would take anything he said with a huge grain of salt. If investing is such a good thing, why is he conducting seminars?
If investing is such a good thing, why is he conducting seminars?
He’s probably making much more from the seminars than he ever did from his investor. After all, there are investors. And then there are seminar promoters.
For sale: five-bedroom house in Idaho, infested by snakes. Asping price: $109,000
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1349679/Desperate-realtor-slashes-price-Idaho-home-infested-SNAKES.html
This could be a great new reality show…
Snakes in the MOFO house! (in Samuel L Jackson voice)
Reminds me of an apartment I had in an old house. My GF and I moved there in the winter, but come spring the yard and porches were full of snakes. And of course my GF was terrified (phobia-level) of snakes- couldn’t stand even to see one on TV.
So, using plastic tongs and a pickle bucket, I became a snake-hunter, and eventually moved about 100-150 snakes to surrounding parks, woodlands, etc- wherever there was cover and water. Have you ever heard 50 snakes slithering for their lives (or so they thought)? That’s what I’d hear after dumping the snake bucket. It was a strange, muffled, slithery sound- quiet, but with an air of desperation.
Now I learn I probably moved them from their ancestral snake pit. In fact, I must have destroyed the whole vibe, because although we continued to have the occasional snake, we never had another infestation, for years afterward.
Oh well, something else to feel guilty about. Throw it on the pile…
Alpha…. WTF is a pickle bucket?
It’s a food-grade white bucket (5 gallon?) that pickles and all sorts of other foods come in for restaurant use. They’ve got a plastic top that clamps down tightly- important when you’re driving across town with fifty snakes in your bucket. I had punched air-holes in mine. (I always thought I’d make national news if I was involved in a car wreck that allowed the snakes to escape. News of the Weird or something.)
They’ve got a plastic top that clamps down tightly- important when you’re driving across town with fifty snakes in your bucket
LOL!
Around here they call them Mormon buckets, since the LDS members use them for long-term food storage. Here the grocery stores sell new ones for $5. A 25 lb bag of flour fits nicely into one.
They also make a decent primary-fermenter container for the home winemaker - in a Mormon bucket!
There’s a snake in my boot!
The only justification for owning a cat.
I found a rather large garden snake behind some book shelves, and I never did know how it got there. All I could figure is that my cat brought it in when it was smaller and dropped it where he usually dropped the mice and voles.
Sorry, no such thing as a garden snake. There is, however, a species that’s called the garter snake.
You have to watch the whole darned video clip to find out were this was…..Salem ID.It’s a one-horse town north of Rexburg, which itself is most known for a Mormon temple and Beaver Dick Park.
Beaver Dick Park ??
I actually goggled it just to make sure it was really a park…LOL
Well tickle my pickle……. Beaver dick park!
You might also enjoy my state’s Big Bone Lick State Park.
LOL. I’d drive past there every Spring in my college days on my way to hedonism in FL. Those were the days when Beavis and B*tthead were popular. Impressions were done, hilarity ensued. (and it still makes me chuckle when I see references to it)
I never make anything up….the world is full of real weird things.
If you don’t believe about the Mormon temple in Rexburg…
http://www.ldschurchtemples.com/rexburg/
I really wanted to attend the open house in January 2008, but the roads between Boise and Rexburg are all but impassible at the time. It’s about a 500 mile round-trip.
“Asping price”
Did no one else catch this?
Oh I saw it…gave a little groan and clicked “Next” :-).
Stupid realtor. It’s a feature! They are keeping out the mice, carriers of hanta virus.
I caught the tail end of an episode of Hoarders this weekend - some guy kept pet rats in his house. By house I mean inside the walls and everything!
I have known someone who kept a pet rat (1). Having more than 1 is a recipe for having an infestation.
I think rats do not carry hanta virus.
I think scorpion infestations the type that happen in certain homes in Phoenix would be worse. Same thing though build on ancestrial homes of small animals and get infested.
The snakes probably disperse in Summer and return in the fall to hibernate. Plus they are harmless.
In phoenix parents had to cover cribs with nets in case scorpions droped off the ceiling. bark scorpions they were the dangerous ones, small little things.
Treasure hunters turn to storage
Bucks County Courier Times
The lock is cut and the door pulled up. The crowd is eager for the big reveal.
It’s disappointing.
The crowd moves on through the catacomb hallways of the Warminster public storage unit facility. On this day, 40 people, unperturbed by morning snow, have showed up hoping to stumble upon a hidden treasure.
Welcome to the world of public storage auctions. For years, people have been buying the contents of foreclosed units and selling them at flea markets, consignment stores and on the Internet. Storage facilities put the units up for auction after an occupant defaults on their rent. Officials say they make every effort to contact the occupant and work out an agreement. Auctions are the last resort.
Auction attendance has skyrocketed in the last few months from a few buyers to scores, sometimes more than 100. Most agree the increase is the result of two main causes: television and the economy.
There is a new and growing sub-genre of reality television programs about people hoping to strike it rich with long-forgotten trinkets. A&E’s “Storage Wars” in particular has increased auction attendance even in this region.
There’s also Spike TV’s “Auction Hunters,” History Channel’s “Pawn Stars” and “American Pickers,” and the old standby “Antiques Roadshow” on PBS.
Call it recession television.
http://www.phillyburbs.com/news/local/courier_times/courier_times_news_details/article/28/2011/january/24/treasure-hunters-turn-to-storage-1.html
Boxes full of stupid packaged up just for the stupid.
I wonder if they’ll have guys in tuxedos running around and jumping up and down and pointing as they do in other auctions?
If a person really had something of value in a rented storage unit does anyone really think he would stop paying the rent for the storage unit?
If he couldn’t afford to pay the rent they all he would have to do is take what is of value in the storage unit and cash it in for the the rent money. The fact that the doesn’t do this suggests that there is probably nothing of value in the storage unit that is worth selling.
Combo
Our storage units rent got lost in the mail recently. If I didn’t call the bank for confirmation everything cleared, it would not have been discovered. If my other post shows up, you’ll see why it’s not all junk. Vette, piano, expensive home furnishing, etc… (nefarious industry imho)
Seems kind of silly to cash in the ONE valuable item…just to pay storage rent on the rest of the stuff, which is comparatively valueless. Also, if you don’t need it enough to cash it out, then why bother storing it? Just cash it out right away…
Or better yet, take it to a pawn shop, where they will effectively “store” it.
People die, get sent to jail, go into the hospital, etc.
A lot of people have a built in “hoarding” instinct, in some cases its manifestation is … extreme.
People die, get sent to jail, go into the hospital, etc.
OK.
I can understand the dying and going to jail thing but going into a hospital just reflects a total lack of personal responsibility.
I can understand the dying and going to jail thing but going into a hospital just reflects a total lack of personal responsibility.
Tell me about it. Before I had my gall bladder removed I read it the riot act! How dare it accumulate stones! Selfish hoarder!
I know a doctor who fills his house and rented warehouses with storage Auction stuff he buys.
His house is very nice but full of junk, I don’t know if he ever found anything worthwhile ? its like a hoarding instinct, and a problem IMO.
If I had his house I’d through all that junk out so fast. Oh well.
If I had his house I’d through all that junk out so fast.
One’s man’s junk is another man’s trash….
“its like a hoarding instinct, and a problem IMO.”
And it afflicts a lot of people. I was explaining to my mom how for these people it literally hurts to throw junk away.
And it afflicts a lot of people. I was explaining to my mom how for these people it literally hurts to throw junk away.
My parents are beginning to show signs of that. And, when I was back east, I attacked some of my father’s stash with gusto.
Man, that felt good.
Big stack of unread magazines and unused catalogs that went out for recycle.
It only hurts me when I strain my back.
I have too much junk, having lived in the same house for 14 years. Some of it belongs to children who have moved out. It won’t pain me to throw it away, but it is a pain in the arse to have to spend time doing it instead of something more interesting or lucrative.
I decided to do it in small chunks. Flylady says you can do anything 15 minutes at a time. It is slow going - I am not spending enough 15 minute chunks.
The other key is not to acquire more stuff. That is easier for me, because it is not doing something.
I wouldn’t be surprised if these storage companies aren’t already putting boxes of junk in empty lockers and auctioning them off.
We have 3 storage units. One has our Vette, another our piano,etc,… and the other our furnishings. They have been playing lock out games w/ us. We now walk our check in on the 1st and get a receipt. A new law effective 2011 in Ca., took away our notification rights (no registered/signature mail required), should something go wrong if we mailed in our check.The industry is full of immoral scum, imho.The rental agreement is in one name to get around community property rights, should the tenant die or just not pay. If something happened, I’d have to hire an Attorney to get our community property out of the units.They deserve a law suit.
“A new law effective 2011 in Ca., took away our notification rights (no registered/signature mail required), should something go wrong if we mailed in our check”
But, but, that is business friendly. We have to be business friendly. What are you, a communist?
Just another thing to add to the list of why I hate CA.
There a lot of thing to not like about Texas, but CaA makes Texas look positively consumer friendly.
And THAT’S saying something.
CA is a ” liberal ” state but with some of the most dracoian laws in the Union. funny how that works
Right, cactus? But it’s the same with New York. Both states seem to think they are the center of the universe and end giving everyone and everything a bad name.
Conservatives. Liberals. Moderates. Those to states have a real talent for taking something good and really trashing it.
You might enjoy looking at this study about the ranking of personal and economic freedom in the 50 states.
http://mercatus.org/sites/default/files/publication/Freedom_in_the_50_States.pdf
Note: 64 page PDF.
Dennis, another fabulous find! I know I will be sending this to my old, close friends in CT. Thank you for all of your excellent data - to me, it all ties in to promote personal freedom.
Dennis, again thanks for this. The discussion following the stat tables is interesting. WV is castigated for corporate taxes, home schooling regulation and land use laws. I can understand these as responses to WV’s role as a throwaway mineral extraction state, where all the economic profit goes away, leaving little for local infrastructure, like schools. Even if I had very few qualifications, if I could see that the local schools had fewer, I would opt to keep the kids home on the theory that I’d do them less harm.
In the case of CT, it is noted for its excellent tort system. I would wager that is because it has the most litigious, entitled population in the Union, along with the highest population of rapacious bloodsuckers …err, lawyers. I can tell you that the only time I was not moved to disgust by the provincialism and rank nepotism in any court I was ever in, in CT, was when I was in a Federal Circuit court that had to endure being in that geography.
Your adopted state, Idaho, fares REALLY well on every single measure of freedom! I have long wanted to take a scouting trip out there. I wonder if Idaho has caves to move into, in deference to my complete ineptness with fixing things. I need a habitat with NO moving parts. And very high ceilings for bookshelves.
VA, my adopted state, fares well also. But the RENTS ARE TOO D*MN HIGH.
I saw “Storage Wars” for the first time last week. DH and I wondered if the storage companies sponsored the show to drag in fresh patsies to up the bids on the auctions.
Sounds cynical, I know, but we found it unrealistic that none of the buyers lost money, and many times doubled it.
Kim
Considering the storage industry lobbyist had a law changed in Ca effective 2011 to put tenants at risk (no signature needed on lien notification (just proof of mailing), I bet you and your DH nailed it. I read it will save the industry $10M.
Auto Auctions the old scam shill bidders can’t drive the cars
etc.
new scam storage auctions yea I beleive it.
“Sounds cynical, I know, but we found it unrealistic that none of the buyers lost money, and many times doubled it.”
And these shows are going to act as motivational commercials that will fire up the delusional something-for-nothing lemming herds whose masses will flood into these auctions and feverously bid up the prices.
Remember, these are auctions; The highest bidder gets the prize. There are a lot of nutcases out there in the world with more money than sense - probably a temporary situation soon to be rectified by one of these auctions. But these nutcases are the guys one will be bidding against.
Storage units are a horrendous waste of money. Most people don’t do the math, and simply pay to store items of little to no value ad infinitum; things they are too emotionally attached to to even consider parting with. I remember a guy telling a story about his father who was paying to store a bedroom set from the 70’s. He had told his father to just sell the thing for whatever he could, but the father kept bringing up how much money it cost him new, and what it was “worth.” Turns out the old guy ended up paying many times over the new cost to store the junk for several years before he finally listened to his son and got rid of the POS.
Very true, Grizzly. I unfortunately came to know someone who owns the largest of all of these ridiculous entities, Public Storage. He explained that people sign up for units with the intention of using it for an average of three months, but (due to inertia, I would imagine), they end up keeping them for three years. So three grand later, you’re left scratching your head, wondering if what you have in storage is worth anywhere near three thousand dollars. It’s a big scam and a reason why this guy has over three billion in his piggy bank. (He also personally funded the swift boats attack. Yuck.)
Since they’re selling the service that they advertise without recourse to deception, I wouldn’t characterize it as a SCAM, per se.
If you shop by advertised size of the unit, and then measure the size of it, you might find that the service they advertise is deceptive. It’s in the fine print that sizes are estimated. It seems like a good biz to be in, especially in an area where we don’t have basements.
Back in the 90s my grad school roommate and I went to one of these auctions. I recollect we paid around $100 for a decent locker full of someone’s junk, sight unseen. Sectional couch, cappucino machine, knife set, and various kitchen supplies if I remember correctly. I don’t think there were more than one or two competitors at the auction. Seems the crowds have grown some…
It’s a sign of the times that we have people now bidding up this junk and then trying to make a living re-selling it. Between this sort of glorified dumpster diving and the renewed interest in scratching out a gold-mining claim(Gold Rush is a decent watch on the boob-tube) we are certainly living in interesting times.
It’s a sign of the times that we have people now bidding up this junk and then trying to make a living re-selling it.
This is concrete proof that extreme wealth concentration and income inequality does create jobs.
Yeah. Selling junk to each other.
Soon we’ll all be Sanford and Son.
Aren’t we already?
“Ya big dummy! How would you like one across yo lip? ” - Fred Sanford
“bidding up this junk and then trying to make a living re-selling it. … creating jobs…selling junk to each other…”
Sounds like a housing bubble to me!
The town of Prichard, Alabama came up with a unique way to battle their budget woes recently. They simply stopped sending out pension checks to retired workers. Of course this is a violation of state law, but town officials insist that they just do not have the money.
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie recently purposely skipped a scheduled 3.1 billion dollar payment to that state’s pension system. People relying on pension checks from government coffers have reason to worry. Scraping up dollars will be tough in 2011 UNLESS the federal government lets the hyperinflationary horse out of the barn, in which case the dollars will be available but their buying power will deteriorate.
But this “hyperinflationary horse” won’t expand the supply of money in circulation, it will just replace the money that otherwise would have been doled out.
I agree that as long as the “new” money isn’t more than the “poof” money, then inflation will be kept at bay. I guess that we have nothing to worry about with Social Security then, do we? Just fire up the printing presses.
That’s the nut of the inflation/deflation debate that used to rage here. If the money printed merely replaces the money that’s gone poof, then it’s not really inflationary, is it?
The Fed, of course, knows a loophole: If you give the money to the banksters, then they’ll use it to bid up commodities, which is inflationary. Problem solved- and the rich get richer! It’s a 2-fer!
Bidding up commodities is bubblatory, especially in the face of slack demand. But yes, the man on the street sees it as inflation. In effect, WS and the boyz can now levy taxes - sort of.
Good point, sure explains the fundamentals defying stock market too.
Good explanation, folks…
There is an income stream connected with the churn of debt. If the Fed simply pays off everyone’s liabilities, the churn stops. The Fed would need to expand credit to keep the blood flowing. We really have been in a Grow or Die economy.
“There is an income stream connected with the churn of debt.”
Yep. And it flows from the non-rich to the rich, so you know they don’t want to interrupt that stream.
“If you give the money to the banksters, then they’ll use it to bid up commodities, which is inflationary.”
I’d call it stagflationary. Without incomes going up, people will buy less and the economy slows. Not really important, though, as long as the rich get richer.
That’s not very smart of them. What this means is they will now be sued and it will cost them a lot more.
A WHOLE lot more.
The end of The World: Dubai island development sinks back into sea after being scuppered by financial crisis
It exemplified the booming property market and ambition of Dubai’s entrepreneurs. But after the global financial crisis led to the collapse of the emirate’s home-building market, a unique development known as ‘The World’ is reportedly facing Armageddon. The project, a man-made archipelago designed to resemble a map of the planet, is facing disaster as its islands have begun sinking, a tribunal heard this week.
The development, which sits a mile and a half from the mainland is all but vacant after investors who bought up its ‘nations’ saw their finances collapse after the economic crash.
A company that ferries people to the islands is now seeking to withdraw from its contract with Nakheel, developers of The World, due to a lack of business and the erosion of the islands’ sands.
Richard Wilmot-Smith, a British lawyer for Penguin Marine, told a property tribunal the islands are ‘gradually falling back into the sea’
He added there was evidence of the ‘erosion and deterioration of The World islands’. Only one of the ‘nations’ – Greenland is inhabited currently, with Dubai’s ruler owning a show home on the island.
While Nakheel deny penguin Marine’s contention that the project is ‘dead’, the firm admits The World has slipped into ‘a coma’.
‘This is a ten-year project which has slowed down,’ he told the tribunal. ‘This is a project which will be completed.’
He added Penguin would see a return on its investment.
(From the U.K. Daily Mail)
Awesome. I remember reading an article a few years back by Nick Tosches called “Dubai’s the Limit”, illustrating its extreme building and mercantilism. And I remember all the bloviating in the press about Dubai and how “advanced” it was and how it was going to be THE center of international trade. I even knew a couple of folks who were working in IT there on contract. The only one who was viewing the whole Dubai frenzy with a cynical eye was Taki Theodoracopulous at Takimag. He laughed with contempt when the rulers or emirs or whatever they are showed up at the British horse races in their silk top hats and morning coats. According to him, there were those in England who chased the emirs, bowing and scraping, hoping to make a buck or two off them, but never did.
Dubai attempted to get a contract on a couple of our ports here in Florida, but the public outcry put period to that. And some of their suits showed up here, supposedly looking to buy land to build some sort of huge media center and Charlie Crist all but went to his knees for them. And then nothing else in the press.
Posers.
Didn’t Halliburton leave Houston and move there?
“TruePatriotAmericanCorpoorationInc.™”
Yes. And so did Cheney.
Same guys who put the substandard mud/concrete down the oil well that just destroyed the Gulf.
I hope they never come back.
Now it makes sense why the islands are sinking…
I recall Erin Burnett from CNBC broadcasting a 1-hour CNBC Special *cough* informercial from Dubai in I believe 2007. Apparently the well-heeled and/or connected to the honchos at CNBC were trying to draw in the final few suckers before it came crashing down. Or maybe CBNC was just doing a legit journalistic study. That’s what they’re known for, right?
In defense of CNBC, I did see “Enron, the Smartest Guys in the Room” the other night. I’m somewhat surprised they aired this. Usually they’re regaling us with tales of small-fry American Greed far that is the speck of dust on the a$$ of the flea on the butt of the fraud elephant.
“Only one of the ‘nations’ – Greenland is inhabited currently, with Dubai’s ruler owning a show home on the island.”
Filed under ‘places I’d like to see an errant bomb land’…
For older, out-of-work residents, the future looks grim
Rough economy has pushed some into homelessness
w w w DOT baltimoresun DOT com/business/bs-bz-older-workers-jobless-20110123,0,3357484,full.story
Age discrimination is rampant. The few posters here that rail against the “boomers” are just the tip of the iceberg.
They seem to not realize that they will be old one day and life is not as linear as they think and that most of the boomer got just as screwed and were just as powerless.
ecofeco ….I see people attacking 50 year olds now ,as if 50 is that old .
Older people are human beings ,they have lives . Screwing older people just leaves less inheritance for their line ,has anybody thought about that ?
Bingo! Age discrimination is also very hard to prove. And employers are good at disguising it.
I just noticed this in the article.
“Eve Prietz, 54, an Abingdon attorney who was laid off from a Baltimore law firm three years ago, said she applied for Justice Department jobs across the country and found the responses telling.
“All I kept getting was, ‘You have impressive credentials but you’re not exactly what we’re looking for,’” she said. “And I fit all of the criteria they put in their job announcements.” “
The Justice Department (aka GOVERNMENT) practices age discrimination. We should get the Justice Department to look into it.
There are some posters here who talk about Generation Greed, but what I see is boomers being thrown under the bus. Here are people who are capable of working, who are willing to work, who need to work, with lots of experience, that can’t find full time work with a living wage. These are not uneducated deadbeats who have collected handouts all of their lives.
Our country is culling the herd with a game of musical chairs. Those who manage to keep a job or who have family they can fall back on will survive. I suspect homeless folks with diabetes and high blood pressure have a very short life expectancy.
“Johnson found that only a quarter of workers age 50 to 61 who lost jobs between the middle of 2008 and end of 2009 were re-employed within a year. For those 62 and up, the results were even worse, with 18 percent landing a new job within a year.”
The lucky few who manage to land a job will have burned through most of their savings.
For those who resent Generation Greed, this is your future, too. Your advantage is that you have time to plan for it. Good luck. And be prepared for several game changing events before you get there.
“There are some posters here who talk about Generation Greed, but what I see is boomers being thrown under the bus.”
Yup, they are the first to be laid off in Corporate America. I saw it first hand: single, young pups who are willing to work 80 hours a week are hired to replace boomers who aren’t fully vested in their pensions (if they even had them to begin with).
A Path Is Sought for States to Escape Their Debt Burdens
By MARY WILLIAMS WALSH
Published: January 20, 2011
Policymakers are working behind the scenes to come up with a way to let states declare bankruptcy and get out from under crushing debts, including the pensions they have promised to retired public workers.
Unlike cities, the states are barred from seeking protection in federal bankruptcy court. Any effort to change that status would have to clear high constitutional hurdles because the states are considered sovereign.
But proponents say some states are so burdened that the only feasible way out may be bankruptcy, giving Illinois, for example, the opportunity to do what General Motors did with the federal government’s aid.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/01/21/business/economy/21bankruptcy.html - -
It willbe interesting to see what happens once there is no money to pay the obligations. Will creditors attempt to seize assets to cover their losses?
But that is the thing with a state - it has taxing authority, so there is always some money coming in. And there could be more if they chose. Or there could be less if they chose that. What power would the bankruptcy court have? Could they tell them they had to raise taxes? Tell them they had to stop all aid to cities and towns? Tell them that they have to fire all state police that make over $70K per year? Tell them that they have to stop Medicaid? Tell them that they have to sell off the state parks?
I don’t know much about municiple bankruptcy, but the issues are similar. Gonna be interesting.
I guess the Tea Party and its reps will vehemently oppose any change in states’ constitutional status, such as allowing them to go bankrupt. Or is that part of the Constitution out the window since it protects government pensions?
I guess the Tea Party and its reps will vehemently oppose any change in states’ constitutional status, such as allowing them to go bankrupt.
It’s not the Tea Party’s job to protect entire constitutions.
Rather it’s the Tea Party’s job to protect the parts of constitutions that are beneficial to those who matter.
Reminds me of the folks who like to protect only parts of their particular Holy Book.
I am not sure when the constitution was written the intent was to protect the government’s right to engage in theft from the citizens for whom they are supposed to work. Here in San Diego, our city officials illegally go behind closed doors and vote themselves raises and pension increases as they please.
Lets be clear about protecting rightfully earned income and pensions vs ill gotten gains!!!
Next step is to allow states to issue thier own currency and the circle willbe complete.
I am reminded of an episode of Futurama (this episode was a parody of The Wizard of Oz) where Bender mugs Prof. Farnsworth. All he gets for his trouble is some the of Professor’s Funland Bucks, which he throws away.
The main event comes Tuesday night as President Obama delivers his State of the Union message and House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan (R-WI) delivers the official Republican response.
Got Popcorn?
Too bad they never really say anything new and/or substantive.
I’m sitting here with bated breath, wondering what he’s going to say about my town.
Since January 8, there has been quite an outpouring of, well, solidarity, around here. As in, we are Tucson, we are loud, we are proud, this is what we are. And if the rest-a you don’t like it, tough shhhh!
It’s as if I’ve moved to Jersey or something. The defiant pride is just incredible. Something this place has never shown before.
Are you going to loose Gabrielle Giffords as a representative? I read that there is a obscure law that lets the Gov. appoint a replacement after a period of time. Since it’s a federal position I don’t think AZ could do it but If Giffords doesn’t register a vote in Washington in the next month or two I wouldn’t be surprised to see AZ pass a law and just do it (like the immigration law). The Tea Party is counting the days till they can put their person in that spot.
The Constitution Art. I sec. 2 para. 4 recites “When vacancies happen in the Representation from any State, the Executive Authority thereof shall issue Writs of Election to fill such Vacancies.”
So I don’t think the Governor can just pick a replacement.
No, we’re not going to lose Gabby as the rep for AZ District 8. She’s federal, not state.
As for the Tea Party, well, let’s just say that in our neck of the woods, a lot more people are paying attention to what they’re doing. And trying to do.
How long should the good folks in Tucson be without representation in Congress?
The Tea Party is counting the days till they can put their person in that spot.
But using real math?
The Gov picks a replacement for the Senate (or gets caught trying to sell it), so why not the House?
It is only fair that the people if Tucson maintain representation in the House. Keeping a seat empty until the next election isn’t right.
I love Tucson….Unfortunately I have not visited in a long time…I will attempt to change that this March….Hi Corbett field, a beer and a dog…
Aw, right, Dave, ya wanna drink local brew with us real Tucsonans? Well, I hereby announce that an HBB Meetup will be held in your honor. And, Ben, if you wish to venture down from snow country, you are so invited to this event.
ya wanna drink local brew with us real Tucsonans ??
(channeling Palin)….You Betcha !! I even meet you there on my bike….
Seems like last year was the first State of the Union address when I heard the CIC say he was going to protect the value of middle class Americans’ most important investments: Their homes.
Please correct me if this was not a first.
Let me know if he sends that pack of snarling, barking police dogs that was deployed at McKale Center during his speech in Tucson. They made quite a fearsome racket. Surely any home depreciator would steer clear of them.
I’m getting the definite impression that A.S doesn’t like dogs.
I like dogs……..with mustard, and maybe a little bit of relish…..
I won’t date any gal that doesn’t like dogs. Period.
with mustard, and maybe a little bit of relish ?
Don’t forget the beverage…..
I have no problem with well-trained dogs. And that includes police-type dogs. They’re highly trained and only go into ferocious barking mode when commanded to do so.
OTOH, the untrained backyard robo-barkers are the bane of my existence. And that of a lot of other people.
Slim, that is a good site, I never knew of it prior to this, and I am a dog person. Akitas don’t generally bark unless there is a darn good reason, but it’s good to know the information anyways, as a matter of pride.
State of the Union: Not good.
In other news…
7.5 million more foreclosures expected this year.
Unemployment hovering near 10%
Stock market: Up
Weather forecast for tonight: dark. Continued dark overnight, with widely scattered light by morning.
(George Carlin)
Sports
William & Mary 28
Michael & Jane 17
(George Carlin)
Obama has been talking about job creation for years now, but has never once addressed the offshoring of jobs, the importation of cheap, oftentimes illegal, labor, or the bogus trade agreements which put us at a competitive disadvantage. In fact, he is perpetuating the practices by selecting economic terrorists such as Gene Sperling for key positions within his administration. He is a phony; a fraud.
Have to agree there, but include the last three presidents at least in that bag. Our elected officials do not represent us, but rather multinational corporations.
Buying a Home Is Cheaper Than Renting in 72% of Big U.S. Cities, Trulia Says
Buying a home is cheaper than renting in 72 percent of the largest U.S. cities, led by Miami and Las Vegas, as an increase in foreclosures boosts demand for apartments, said real estate data provider Trulia Inc.
The cities where purchasing is most affordable include Arlington, Texas, and Mesa and Phoenix, Arizona, according to Trulia’s latest Rent vs. Buy Index, released today. The San Francisco-based company compares the costs of leasing and buying a two-bedroom home in the 50 biggest cities each quarter.
“Many former homeowners have flooded the rental market,” Trulia Chief Executive Officer Pete Flint said in a statement. “Following the principles of supply and demand, renting has become relatively more expensive than buying in most markets.”
Renting is less expensive than buying in only four cities Trulia tracks: New York; Seattle; Kansas City, Missouri; and San Francisco. Boston, Cleveland and eight other cities have relative affordability for renting, though “buying may still be a financially sound long-term decision,” the company said.
The top 10 cities where buying is cheaper are all in Florida, Nevada, Texas, Arizona and California. Except for Texas, those states were among the five with the highest foreclosure rates in 2010, according to RealtyTrac.
The two most affordable cities for buying a home also have among the highest mortgage-default rates. In Miami, one in every 309 homes received a foreclosure filing in December, and in Las Vegas, one in every 76 did, according to RealtyTrac.
Trulia compares the median list price with the median rent on two-bedroom apartments, condominiums, townhouses, lofts and co-ops listed on its website, and takes into account ownership costs including mortgage payments, property taxes and insurance.
Blah blah blah from REIC. They’re implying the affordability of shelter has improved without saying so. I call BS.
I call BS too. I would bet that those 72% cities are Where the Jobs Aren’t. Where the Jobs Are, housing is still too high.
condominiums, townhouses, lofts and co-ops
Not a word about SFH, and nothing over 2 bed? In other words, the Pretty Young Thing condo markets are cratering first (predicted on HBB, as usual). And I notice that Trulia tracks PITI, but NOT HOA fees, which are a killer for condos townhouses lofts and co-ops. Some of those condo fees are more than the rent, and they can go up. So much for housing being an “inflation hedge.”
I’m sure that some of the figures they tout on the surface look like that is the case. However, what is not said is that they are talking 3.5% down, a low interest 5/1 loan (telling people that things will be better down the road; RE ploy to RE pricing up) and fail to disclose hidden costs like bond issues and taxes. Most people buying into this game will pay on the loan for 10 yrs or more and walk away with negative equity, while the RE agents and banks will be snugly settled into some nice warn digs.
Yup, a few years ago (2007?) CAR came out with their ‘new and improved’ First-Time Homebuyer Affordability Index propaganda piece that could have been written by Baghdad Bob. Low down, suicide note, etc…
By the way folks, here in Cali entry-level is considered under 500k by our esteemed housing experts. There’s never been a better time to buy a california home.
“In other words, the Pretty Young Thing condo markets are cratering first (predicted on HBB, as usual).”
I haven’t been looking at condos or townhouses because that’s not the kind of housing we’ll eventually buy. However, this weekend I took a peek to see what that market is doing.
Well, it seems the bank-owned ones are now asking the buyer to pay the back assessments (in IL the HOA can collect up to six months worth in a foreclosure situation). Buyers, it seems, aren’t on board with that (judging by how few were under contract).
Who buys a 2-bedroom house?
Me, that’s who! And here I am, in one of the two bedrooms. I’m using this space for my studio.
Special court may settle foreclosures
NORTH ANDOVER — A new bill would set up a special court to resolve questions raised by a court ruling that could invalidate thousands of Bay State foreclosures.
Massachusetts Secretary of State William Galvin filed legislation Friday to give the Land Court authority to create a special master to deal with foreclosures that may have occurred improperly. Anyone seeking to challenge the legitimacy of a foreclosure would have one year to file a lawsuit in the court.
Galvin’s bill follows a Supreme Judicial Court decision in U.S. Bank v. Ibanez, upholding a 2009 Land Court ruling that a bank or lender must have proper documentation proving it holds a title before foreclosing on a home.
“It’s opened the door to anyone that wants to question a foreclosure that’s already moved forward,” Galvin said of the decision. As the secretary of state, Galvin is the state’s register of deeds. Galvin’s bill will go to the Legislature for debate.
The special court could play host to homeowners who purchased a foreclosed home staking claim against a former homeowner who may have faced an improper foreclosure. Galvin pointed out that about 40,000 foreclosures have taken place in Massachusetts since 2006.
“I doubt that half of them are going to be involved in this,” Galvin said. “I don’t know if it’s 5 percent. But if it’s 5 percent, that’s 2,000 properties.”
Attorney Paul Maggliocchetti, a partner in the Haverhill firm Sheehan, Schiavoni, Jutras and Magliocchetti, LLP, believes the Legislature needs to act fast to tackle the potential lawsuits from people who have faced foreclosure.
“Where do they go to inquire whether they get their home back or whether [a foreclosure] was done illegally?” Maggliocchetti said. “Are they all going to have to file suits in the courts? You’re going to overload the courts.”
Limiting the special court to one year will help the state move forward, Galvin said.
“There’s significant enough numbers here that we’ve got to straighten this mess out,” Galvin said. “We want to get this problem solved and we want to move on.”
Ooops.
Home sales hit 13-year low; slow recovery ahead
WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of people who bought previously owned homes last year fell to the lowest level in 13 years, and economists say it will be years before the housing market fully recovers.
High unemployment and a record number of foreclosures are deterring potential buyers who fear home prices haven’t reached the bottom. Job growth is expected to pick up this year, but not enough to raise home sales to healthier levels.
“We built too many houses during the boom, and now after the crash, it will take us a long time to get back to normal,” said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York.
The National Association of Realtors reported Thursday that sales dropped 4.8 percent to 4.91 million units in 2010. That was slightly fewer than in 2008, which had been the weakest year since 1997.
“We built too many houses during the boom, and now after the crash, it will take us a long time to get back to normal,” said David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poor’s in New York.
No Dave….. the 13 year low in transactions *is* getting back to normal.
1997 sales volume - check. 1997 prices - right around the bend.
This discussion is complicated in my local context by the sheer number of units built/converted post-1997. Through conversations and message boards it appears to me that owners of units built/converted after 1997 don’t think the prices of their units can ever reach such prices simply because they didn’t exist back then.
Hmmmm, okayyyy.
1997 prices would go far to restoring used home sales transactions volumes to normalcy.
A unit in Bend we purchased in 2005 for 208k, sold it in 2006 for 350k, just sold out of foreclosure for 172k. Another home we purchased in 2001 for 129k, sold in 2006 for 287k, sold again out of foreclosure in 2010 for 130k.
So the bubble is burst here, you can again get a home for 100k. But can you get a job here that pays the bills is the question. We own a little home outright, but lack of good paying employment w/ bennies equals debt and a questionable future.
Given the horrendous employment situation in Bend, somehow $100k houses don’t see such a bargain.
Given the horrendous employment situation in Bend, somehow $100k houses don’t see such a bargain ??
Maybe, Maybe not…..Lets do the math;
FHA loan with 3.5% down plus closing costs of lets say another $2,500. so total cash necessary will be $6,000….
Loan amount of $96,500 @ 4.75% for 30 years…Payment is $503./Mo…
Taxes are fairly expensive in Oregon so lets apply a mil rate of 2%…Another $167./Mo
Insurance will be roughly another $40./Mo…
Add it all up and its $710. per month….Times it by 12 and its $8,520. per year….
Lot of assumptions but, standard metric would have it that no more than 30% of gross is required to comfortably afford this payment..
So, with a 40 hour week and working 48 weeks per year you need $14. per hour…If its lets say, a married couple, they need to make $7.00 per hour each…
Are you factoring in the nearly 20% unemployment rate?
Thank you for laying this out scdave. I think sometimes the discussion on this blog ignores the fact that a lot of markets are now ‘affordable’ by most standards. And in your example, affordable for a couple each earning minimum wage. Of course many of those markets also have too much supply, high unemployment, historically low rates, etc which will all tend to drive prices down for the foreseeable future, but that’s a different discussion. In my opinion, the return to affordability is a significant milestone in the correction.
30% of gross? On $14hr? You’re dreaming.
That should be 30% of NET. And net of $14hr isn’t enough to buy a house. It’s barely enough to rent a cheap apt.
You’ve mistaken the map for the terrain.
Well done Dave. But there is a problem. Those kind of numbers are non-existent where there are jobs. Those prices in Deschutes County are still too high given the high risk of lay offs and extended periods of unemployment.
I tend to agree with eco.
In addition, cost of living is definitely rising so the old saws about less than 25% of gross or net are simply loose guidelines and your mileage may vary.
For example, our practice’s health insurance premiums have risen - drumroll please — over 100% in the last 4 years. Part of the reason for the increase was the dropping of any family coverage. The cost of a decent BS PPO plan in CA is now over $16,000 (primary insured is covered by practice at no cost), HMO is over $9000 and I have seen documents suggesting this is just the tip of the iceberg. Even in a six figure household these figures are breathtaking.
If housing costs don’t kill us, insurance costs (and commodities like gasoline and utilities) will as premiums continue to increase at breakneck pace.
Are you factoring in the nearly 20% unemployment rate ??
Well in fact, yes I am….I am talking about the other 80%….
30% of gross? On $14hr? You’re dreaming ??
30% of gross is a standard metric used…In fact, its more like 33%…Underwriters have been know to push it to 40% but I am sure thats not the case anymore…And like I said, there are many assumptions concerning debt obligations in that 30%…
30% of gross? On $14hr? You’re dreaming ??
Was there something wrong with my math ??
are still too high given the high risk of lay offs ??
Well, the risk of layoff (along with other things) always needs to be part of the decision process to buy a home but has little to do with “if” it is affordable given what you do earn…
In addition, cost of living is definitely rising so the old saws about less than 25% of gross or net are simply loose guidelines and your mileage may vary ??
Okay…I will buy that…So the metric may be somewhat lower today and its not $7.00 per hour each…Maybe one makes $9 & the other $11…Looks affordable to me…
If housing costs don’t kill us, insurance costs (and commodities like gasoline and utilities) will as premiums continue to increase at breakneck pace.
And the next sound we’ll hear is the “thud” of insurance policies being dropped right and left. It’s almost as if the health insurance companies are asking to be put out of business.
If you can afford your house payment on minimum wage then your fear of being laid off should be relatively low, regardless of the job market.
Mortage underwriters will push debt service to 45% of gross income with good credit. So a couple making minimum wage that doesn’t have any other debt could actually qualify for more than $100k. And yes, I realize ‘qualify’ isn’t the same thing as ‘afford’, but they’d have the ability to borrow that much if they chose even under today’s ’strict’ lending standards.
I don’t understand how this isn’t viewed as a huge milestone to those that have been following the housing bubble. In many markets, prices have fallen to the point where a couple making minimum wage can buy a house priced at the median. That is incredible considering where prices were just 4 years ago.
I think you lost me at the part about minimum wage workers having $6000 in savings that weren’t already blown on an Iphone with unlimited plan, a big truck with aftermarket wheels, or various $400 purses. Ok I’m generalizing but that’s what I see around here.
Let’s look at the numbers for a married couple making 35k per year:
PITI 9600
Med insurance: 5000 assuming no children and cheap HMO and assuming young/healthy/maternity bennies. Could be ALOT higher.
Car insurance: 2000
Utilities: 3000 (avg $250 month)
Food: 5000
Where are we at? About $26,000 on a $35000 salary. Didn’t discuss entertainment, hair stylists, furnishing the place, repairs.
Now I’m told by the GOP these guys would pay no income taxes so I’ll have to to believe that.
Didn’t get to non-important things like saving for retirement or kids education either.
Exactly my point Max Power…..
lost me at the part about minimum wage workers having $6000 in savings ??
My daughter saved more than that as a teenager babysitting…Your right…You are generalizing…
That’s impressive and I say good for her, and it reflects well on you as a parent. I worked a a paper route, mowed lawns, and stock clerked 20 or so hours/week throughout high school and I don’t believe I saved enough to buy even a $5000 car after 3 years (this is back in early 90s. I still needed a little kick-in from my dad.
Of course, under the table cash jobs like lawn work, babysitting etc help the savings build up fast. I believe we pay our sitter $40 for the average 3-4 hr evening. In my opinion that’s pretty good money for a teenager. I’ve heard of others paying even more.
Are you buying an “investment” property in Bend, or perhaps selling, scdave? You seem to really want to justify prices there.
I didn’t figure in costs of buying/maintaining cars and cost of gasoline.
Assumption is needing 2 cars for 2 working, @ 10,000 miles/yr each minimum.
Gasoline: $3,000/yr assuming $3 per gallon holds
Maintenance: 120 for oil changes every 5000 miles, tires every 3 yrs assume another $400 per year. Batteries, wipers, the occasional bulb, alternator. Figure another $1000 year on average.
Then you have to eventually buy a decent used car and I guess you could go as cheap as $5000 but that’s assuming a high mileage used car that won’t last more than 2-4 years.
Adds up.
Sometimes I get the impression that many on this blog would argue that prices were too expensive even if they dropped to $0.
Maybe it’s better to phrase the question like this: If a couple making $35k a year can’t afford a $100k house, how much can they afford? Or if they can’t afford $800 a month in PITI, can they afford $800 in rent?
A couple isn’t going to be living large on $35k a year, regardless of whether they buy or rent.
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-01-21/fannie-freddie-s-24-billion-glut-imperils-recovery.html
From the article;
Officials at the two companies say they are committed to an approach consistent with their mission as backstops for the housing market. In an effort not to depress housing prices still further, the two companies have focused on selling to live-in homeowners instead of investors or “flippers.” And except for properties in need of repair, they say they won’t sell for rock- bottom prices.
“We don’t want a reduced value to initiate a quick sale,” said David Wendling, senior director of REO sales at Freddie Mac. “The focus has always been on supporting neighborhood values, making sure we don’t create low-dollar comps that impact other neighborhood folks.”
—————————————————————————–
So whatever happened to “Making homes affordable”??? Isn’t that their charter?
READ the article….. They say they have “no shadow inventory” and “hold nothing back”. To this I say they are LYING. These people shuffle more shacks than a Vegas dealer shuffles cards. I’ve seen inventory come back on that was supposedly sold 18 months prior.
“We don’t want a reduced value to initiate a quick sale,” said David Wendling, senior director of REO sales at Freddie Mac.
“The number of properties on their rolls — now at nearly 242,000 — has increased fivefold.”
“That’s roughly a third of the total U.S. portfolio of repossessed homes. And it’s growing because the two mortgage companies operating under U.S. conservatorship aren’t finding buyers faster than new foreclosures come in.”
Somebody explain that “supply and demand” thing to me again.
Recontrust in Oregon runs Bofa foreclosures. Thousands of auctions scheduled. 450 homes on the schedule in Deschutes County alone; although this number has fluctuated as they shuffle them around; but the number of homes in the Sold category is ONE, last time Iooked.
More coming in than going out; but my wife’s unit’s auction has been postponed 5 times. The minimum bid of the loan balance or around 300k(these numbers are released days before the auction) does not match up well with the going rate for the units, which is 100k less. Does this then make the unperforming asset worth more to the bank than repossessing the house and selling it for 200k when 300k is owed?
A lot of that RE is what’s backing up the Level 3 assets nationwide.
And as you can see, it’s all “mark-to-fantasy.”
A Royal Pain In The Butt?
Kate Middleton’s drug-taking uncle was warned about his behaviour by the security services more than a year ago, friends said last night.
Gary Goldsmith claimed he had been approached by unspecified officials who urged him to ‘modify’ his hedonistic lifestyle on Ibiza, where he owns a £5million villa visited by his niece and Prince William, for fear of embarrassing them.
The businessman, who was filmed handling cocaine and boasting about his association with the royals by a newspaper, told friends: ‘They have been on to me and I’ve got to keep a low profile and be a good boy.
‘I am going to stop all the drugs and clean up my act.’
His claim suggests there has been long-standing concern about his behaviour, begging the question why William was allowed to use his house for a week’s holiday in 2006.
Goldsmith, 44, who was at the villa at the time, even arranged a yacht for the prince and Kate to use.
William, 27, has been forced to cut ties with Goldsmith, the only brother of Kate’s mother Carole, after the News of the World exposed him as giving a reporter cocaine and offering to set them up with prostitutes.
He also bragged about his friendship with William, who has been dating his niece for eight years, and claimed the couple planned to announce their engagement later this year.
The revelations have caused huge embarrassment to the Middletons and sent shock waves around the palace, although William, who is close to Kate’s family, is standing by them.
Carole Middleton is said to be particularly distressed. Although angry at her brother, she is also worried about his state of mind.
An inquest has already begun, however, into why the friendship with Goldsmith was encouraged when his questionable behaviour was already an open secret in family circles and, it now seems, officially as well.
It is not clear who might have warned Goldsmith, although senior security officials indicated that it was more likely to be a matter for Royalty Protection and the Metropolitan Police.
A source said: ‘Gary is said to be beside himself - practically suicidal - over the revelations but in truth he was always an accident waiting to happen.’
(From the San Franciso Sentinel)
Non-story. All he has to do is put it on the “down low”. He could hire a congresscritter as a lifestyle coach, they know all about the “down low”.
There is nothing more worthless, useless and dangerous in the world than a rich coke head.
Especially when they get elected President.
Especially…
‘Every day is hell’: Octomom Nadya Suleman’s neighbors say living next door to her is a nightmare
Nadya ‘Octomon’ Suleman’s neighbors have opened up about what it’s like living next door to the infamous mother of 14. And perhaps unsurprisingly, it’s not a pleasant experience by any means. Telling stories of relentless screaming and crying coming from the house, Suleman’s neighbours claim there is rarely a moment’s peace day or night.
And to make matters worse, just the fact that she lives in the neighbourhood is damaging property value as estate agents must disclose that the unemployed 35-year-old lives nearby.
One person told celebrity website TMZ: ‘We continuously hear kids screaming and crying and fighting.’ Another neighbor said they’re constantly being woken up at 6AM by the sounds of screaming children when Suleman lets them go outside to play.
Neighbors, including children as young as ten, also find themselves having to show ID to the police simply to gain access to streets around Suleman’s home.
Suleman could face an investigation by social workers after recently filming a baby fetish video at her home. Revealing photos and a video of the mother of 14 dressed in a dominatrix outfit whipping a grown man wearing a diaper are being shopped around Hollywood. Some photos published on TMZ show the man on her bed, while corset-clad Suleman whips him near a baby crib. Another photo shows her feeding him the man with a bottle and another shows him posing inside her children’s play castle.
“Another neighbor said they’re constantly being woken up at 6AM by the sounds of screaming children when Suleman lets them go outside to play.”
See, there is an advantage to living in the snow belt!
And an advantage to living in a 55-up community!
Here’s Arizona Slim with a prediction: Y’know that house that Bristol Palin recently bought in Maricopa, AZ? I predict that she’ll never live there.
Why? Two reasons:
1. Due to a recent event in Tucson and her mom’s public comments afterward, the Palin family isn’t as popular as it once was.
2. Security concerns — coupled with neighbor concerns over increased traffic, noise, etc. — will dissuade the young Palin from moving in.
Note to prospective foreclosure home buyers: Check inside for dead animal smell before going through with any purchase.
At least 31 dead animals found in vacant home
Locksmith reports foul odor at foreclosed house in Washington state
By TONYA MOSLEY
updated 1/22/2011 9:16:43 PM ET
GRANITE FALLS, Wash. — Investigators found at least 31 pets dead inside a foreclosed and abandoned Granite Falls home after a locksmith reported a foul odor.
A team from Pasado’s Safe Haven is assisting the Granite Falls Police Department in removing the cats and dogs.
“Seems like everywhere you stepped there’s an animal. They literally did just lay down and die,” said Amber Chenoweth of Pasado’s.
…
This is so sad. I seriously HATE people who do this to animals. All they had to do was call the shelter. That’s it. A single phone call. Instead, they chose to murder 31 animals. Disgusting. For those not familiar with Granite Falls, WA, I’ll remind you that it was selected as the “Meth capital of the USA” by Rolling Stone magazine several years ago. Think ‘hillbillies on meth.”
There is a special place for these people.
PS- The homeowners assertion that the shelter would not help is an absolute lie, and a cop out. She’s trying to cover her @ss.
Realtors Are Liars.
They eat fetus too.
Terrible!
http://www.cnbc.com/id/41230896
“Can Republicans Really Cut Budget as Much as Promised?”
Simple answer? NOPE! There will be a purely symbolic vote on cutting spending, then we just raise the debt ceiling and keep on spending.
Filed under: “Diz ALL the gubmint’s fault!”…or…lil’ Opie (the Non-Hawaiian) Islamic-Muslim Destroyer of America!
“TrueAnger™” + “TruePurityPerry™” + “TrueHypocrite™” =
“TrueTexasDeceiver’s™”
Tami Luhby, senior writer / January 24, 2011 / CNN Money
Turns out Texas was the state that depended the most on those very stimulus funds to plug nearly 97% of its shortfall for fiscal 2010, according to the National Conference of State Legislatures.
Texas, which crafts a budget every two years, was facing a $6.6 billion shortfall for its 2010-2011 fiscal years. It plugged nearly all of that deficit with $6.4 billion in Recovery Act money, allowing it to leave its $9.1 billion rainy day fund untouched.
Texas is in trouble too. State lawmakers last week unveiled an austere budget for the 2012-2013 fiscal years that cuts $31 billion in spending. Schools, colleges, Medicaid and social services for the needy will be hit especially hard.
Texas Gov. Rick Perry likes to tell Washington to stop meddling in state affairs. He vocally opposed the Obama administration’s 2009 stimulus program to spur the economy and assist cash-strapped states.
Perry also likes to trumpet that his state balanced its budget in 2009, while keeping billions in its rainy day fund.
But he couldn’t have done that without a lot of help from … guess where? Washington.
Ho ho, hah hah, hehehehehehe, BwaHaHaAhHAHAHAHAHAHA!!! (Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb-thrower™)
And even though the Repubs have run the Texas government for years, they are still trying to blame the Democrats for the deficit.
“they are still trying to blame the Democrats for the deficit”
And will get away with it.
So they are Hypocrites…Whats new here ??
Cutting the budget is only the start. That’s for the future. What about paying off the principal from the past?
“Can Republicans Really Cut Budget as Much as Promised ??
Neither can the Dems or the tea’s or anybody else for that matter…. Structural reform is required starting with “major” overhaul of the tax code of which, IMO, won’t be friendly to anybody…Do it, or will do it for you…Reform or the Bond market….
Our favorite blond NYC real estate agent was on morning TV today telling people to take their houses off the market and re-list next month so it will show up as a “new” listing…
See? Not only are they liars but they’re deceptive liars encouraging others to be….. deceptive liars.
Our favorite blond NYC real estate agent was on morning TV today telling people to take their houses off the market and re-list next month so it will show up as a “new” listing…
This technique really doesn’t work anymore. Very easy to check out a property nowadays.
But back in the day - this worked like a charm. Almost as good as the “I have several other buyers interested in this property so make an offer soon (like today) or you may lose it.”
Greed knows no shame.
I don’t understand the herd mentality which CARES about this.
(Sorry if my other post comes later - I may have hit “send” by accident).
You used to have to wait 90 days or three months to get a listing re-posted as “new” around here. Not anymore. They changed that a couple years back.
As 2banana said, its moot anyway since Redfin posts the history on its listings (maybe Zillow too?).
And she decides to broadcast this little secret on television, exposed for all to see? Dumb or desperate or both.
Fannie, Freddie leave $160 million in legal bills to taxpayers
‘We need to be doing everything we can to minimize any further exposure to the taxpayers associated with these companies’
Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud.
The cost was a closely guarded secret until last week, when the companies and their regulator produced an accounting at the request of Congress.
The bulk of those expenditures — $132 million — went to defend Fannie Mae and its officials in various securities suits and government investigations into accounting irregularities that occurred years before the subprime lending crisis erupted. The legal payments show no sign of abating.
Documents reviewed by The New York Times indicate that taxpayers have paid $24.2 million to law firms defending three of Fannie’s former top executives: Franklin D. Raines, its former chief executive; Timothy Howard, its former chief financial officer; and Leanne Spencer, the former controller.
Late last year, Randy Neugebauer, Republican of Texas and now chairman of the oversight subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, requested the figures from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It is the regulator charged with overseeing the mortgage finance companies and acts as their conservator, trying to preserve the company’s assets on behalf of taxpayers.
How…unexpected. Gubmint making more work for lawyers.
What A Racket (Fannie/Freddie Legal Bills):
Mortgage Giants Leave Legal Bills to the Taxpayers
Since the government took over Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, taxpayers have spent more than $160 million defending the mortgage finance companies and their former top executives in civil lawsuits accusing them of fraud. The cost was a closely guarded secret until last week, when the companies and their regulator produced an accounting at the request of Congress.
The bulk of those expenditures — $132 million — went to defend Fannie Mae and its officials in various securities suits and government investigations into accounting irregularities that occurred years before the subprime lending crisis erupted. The legal payments show no sign of abating.
Documents reviewed by The New York Times indicate that taxpayers have paid $24.2 million to law firms defending three of Fannie’s former top executives: Franklin D. Raines, its former chief executive; Timothy Howard, its former chief financial officer; and Leanne Spencer, the former controller.
Late last year, Randy Neugebauer, Republican of Texas and now chairman of the oversight subcommittee of the House Financial Services Committee, requested the figures from the Federal Housing Finance Agency. It is the regulator charged with overseeing the mortgage finance companies and acts as their conservator, trying to preserve the company’s assets on behalf of taxpayers.
“One of the things I feel very strongly about is we need to be doing everything we can to minimize any further exposure to the taxpayers associated with these companies,” Mr. Neugebauer said in an interview last week.
It is typical for corporations to cover such fees unless an executive is found to be at fault. In this case, if the former executives are found liable, the government can try to recoup the costs, but that could prove challenging.
Since Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taken over by the government in September 2008, their losses stemming from bad loans have mounted, totaling about $150 billion in a recent reckoning.
Halliburton more than doubles 4Q profit
Halliburton 4Q net income jumps to $605M even as Gulf of Mexico operations lose money
NEW YORK (AP) — Halliburton Co. said net income more than doubled in the fourth quarter as oil drilling activity remained strong away from the Gulf of Mexico.
The Houston oil services company on Monday reported net income of $605 million, or 66 cents per share, for the three-months ended Dec. 31. That compares with $243 million, or 27 cents per share, a year ago. Revenue increased 40 percent to $5.2 billion.
First off, it’s no longer a Houston oil services company.
It’s Dubai. That’s where it’s headquarters are, now.
Here’s a house which illustrates not only how inaccurate Zillow’s Zestimates are, but how to follow the market down:
Zestimate: $850,000
Date Price History
01/07/2011 $639,000
12/30/2010 $649,000
12/09/2010 $669,000
11/23/2010 $699,000
09/23/2010 $690,000
09/02/2010 $730,000
07/02/2010 $699,000
05/03/2010 $725,000
03/20/2010 $770,000
01/22/2010 $770,000
12/25/2009 $849,000
11/24/2009 $899,000
10/30/2009 $899,000
01/31/2009 $987,500
01/12/2009 $987,500
09/24/2008 $1,249,000
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/3720-NW-Phinney-Bay-Dr-Bremerton-WA-98312/23401875_zpid/
“12/25/2009 $849,000
Zestimate: $850,000″
If they have priced it below $850K for over a year now and have yet to find a buyer even at much lower prices, I’d have to say the Zestimate Zucks™.
Bridgeport Harley-Davidson filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection this week as the owner restructures the business.
W. Fritz Blau III said the Stratford-based Harley-Davidson dealership, at 155 Research Dr., was hit hard when the economy turned south in 2008. The company, under its official name, Fritz Blau Industries Inc., filed for protection in U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Bridgeport on Thursday.
Bridgeport Harley took a triple hit when the credit markets tightened up, unemployment jumped and disposable income shrank. All three areas are vital to the dealership that sells and maintains Harley-Davidson motorcycles. The company also sells Harley-branded merchandise.
The company limped through the last few years, but has cut 15 jobs and is now down to 10, he said.
“I believe I can get all those jobs back,” Blau said Friday of his plans for restructuring.
Blau said like any dealership, his business is capital intensive and the debt piled up when people stopped buying. Now, with the economy recovering, people may become more willing to spend on discretionary items such as a new “hog.”
“We’ve blasted to bedrock,” Blau said of the economic hole the nation and state fell into. “And now we’re ready to rebuild.”
The company listed debt of between $1 million to $10 million and assets of about the same. Its biggest creditors include JPMorgan Chase, with $315,000, and GE Capital, which is owed $240,000.
$20,000 toys are not going to make a comeback anytime soon…
Especially when it is -35 outside.
Someone else who doesn’t seem to realize that people making $12hr can’t buy big ticket products.
Harley Davidson’s suck. They are underpowered turds. If they were pumping out 175 horsepower, I might change my tune, but they’re putting 50 hp motors in bikes which can weigh north of 800 lbs, with asking prices approaching $20k. The Harley Davidson ship has sailed, IMO. They’re primarily owned by an aging Baby Boomer population hanging on to “Easy Rider” dreams while staring at a nursing home reality.
My brother bought his first Harley - a new 2007 Fatboy - when he turned 60. He probably has north of $25K in it.
Around here, I’m seeing very few young ‘uns on Harleys. They seem to be very popular as a Statement Bike among the over-50 crowd. And even that bunch isn’t getting out on the highway the way they once did.
The younger generation doesn’t like them. They much prefer something like a Yamaha R1 with nearly 200 hp which can turn on a dime, and do a quarter mile in less than 10 seconds, not some overpriced chrome behemoth than cannot get out of its own way. One of my favorite pastimes is perusing Craigslist ads for used Harleys. There is serious delusion insofar as asking prices are concerned. Slowly, they get religion, and the bikes end up selling for a good $7500 less than they thought.
There is an annual “Thunder in the Rockies” event held in our burg, kind of a mini-Sturgis, sponsored by the local Harley dealership. Every year there are traffic fatalities related to that event.
Used to be a Harley Davidson dealership in this nabe. Complete with loud rock and roll parties on the premises. After numerous complaints from residents around here, they cut that stuff out.
Then they decided that they needed more space, so they moved out of here. New space is right next to I-10. Don’t know how they’re doing there, but I’ll bet that biz is way down.
Nowadays, their space is a vacant lot. It’s along Grant Road, which the city keeps saying will be widened. And we neighbors will believe that one when we see it.
They did the same here, building a new place next to I-90 (a route to Sturgis) at the peak of the HELOC bubble. Don’t know how they’re doing but I notice they advertise more now.
What sort of news will finally put an end to this “stock market only goes up” fantasy?
Short of Armageddon? None that I can think of.
Many FIRE businesses should have collapsed and gone out of business during the world credit crisis. Instead, most were propped up. If that didn’t do it, nothing will.
Welcome to the new world order.
Many FIRE businesses should have collapsed and gone out of business during the world credit crisis. Instead, most were propped up. If that didn’t do it, nothing will.
For a fraction of the bailout’s real cost, Americans could have instead invested in universal health care, longer vacations, more time off, better mental health care, busted up monopolies and subsidized small business creation, invested in energy independence, lowered taxes on the middle-class, lowered the cost of education and fixed our infrastructure.
However bailing out Banks was much more beneficial to the uber-rich than the list above would have been.
“Money” is easily found when those with the most of it want more but is unavailable when those with the least of it need more.
Reminds me of a Wi story
Wisconsin Gov recently turned down 820 million for high speed rail. His arguement was Wi didn’t have the money to pay for the maintenance.
Local reporter pointed out that we recently gave millions in tax breaks to win a contract to build a number of warships. It turns out the high speed rail could have been run on this same amount of money for 65 years.
Both would have created jobs.
One would have helped the citizens of Wi in terms of cheaper faster transit particularly as gas prices rise from inflation. The other was a boondoggle for corporate America.
So long as the Fed keeps quantitatively easing, I don’t see why the stock market can’t keep (nominally) going up forever…
I’m one of those fools stuck in the silly mindset that companies, in order to thrive, need customers with decent paying jobs to afford their products.
I can
1. Very few of those printed bucks are going to consumers. So business facess decreased consumption and higher input costs. At some point the chickens will come home to roost.
For tax reasons, I sold off all my SPY last December, and planed to buy it back after the post Christmas sell-off. But the sell-off didn’t occur in January so now I’m not sure what to do.
I don’t see anything short of the reinstatement of mark-to-market accounting.
Easing of FASB 157 in March 2009 is the one and only thing that stopped the collapse. Allowing companies to flat out lie about the value of the assets on their balance sheet worked wonders in stopping the forced selling that was driving everything down.
As log as everyone can lie, marking subprime MBS at par until actual losses are forced to be booked 30 years from now, there will be no return of the all out crash… IMO.
I don’t often agree with you on much darrell, but on this you’ve absolutely nailed it.
This housing relocation did not go as planned:
Court Removes Rahm Emanuel From Chicago Mayoral Ballot
Some very bad news for the former Obama head henchman - according to NBC Chicago, the mayoral candidate has just been bounced from the mayoral ballot after an appellate court has overturned a previous decision to allow Emanuel on the mayoral ballot. One can only imagine the firestorm of profanity that has erupted upon Rahm’s learning of the news…
From NBC Chicago:
Rahm Emanuel’s residency fight just took a turn for the worse.
The Illinois Appellate Court ruled 2-1 to overturn a Chicago Board of Elections decision to allow Rahm Emanuel on the mayoral ballot.
Rahm’s Attorney Kevin Forde says “its a surprise.”
The candidate’s residency has been questioned since he announced his intention to leave the White House and pursue public office in Chicago.
Opponents say Emanuel gave up his residency when he moved his family to Washington D.C. to serve as the White House Chief of Staff. During his abscence he rented his home to Rod Halpin.
Emanuel endured a lengthy questioning by citizen objectors in December after which the Chicago Board of Elections said Emanuel belonged on the ballot.
Lead opposition attorney Burt Odelson then filed a motion in Cook County Circuit court, which upheld the Board of Election decision to allow him on the ballot.
Isn’t Chicago like a lot of places, in that it requires a certain stretch of uninterrupted residency before you can run for mayor?
Yep, Slim, that is why the court ruled against him. Maybe he felt above the law for so long he forgot it.
From USA today - “An appeals court has ordered former White House chief of staff Rahm Emanuel off the ballot for mayor of Chicago, saying he does not meet the residency requirement for candidates.”
Yes, which Rahmbo didn’t meet. My feelings about this are conflicted. He’s a longtime Chicago resident and a strong supporter of the city, was a Congresscritter representing a Chicago district, then went to DC to work for Obama, and now his mayoral aspirations are shot down because of it.
When it comes to politics, I wouldn’t say that Chicago is “like a lot of places.”
Carole Moseley Braun is going to be a fun mayor!!
The funniest comment of the day came from some guy commenting at the SF Chronicle site, who thought that Carol Moseley Braun was Hitler’s girlfriend.
Court tosses Emanuel off Chicago mayoral ballot
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE70N56D20110124
Hilarious.
Well, it is the bits-bucket… I read this snippet from an article that seems housing-bubble-related with interest.
I know some on this blog have shared how they felt a lot of pressure from spouses (of BOTH sexes!) to buy a house. Here’s one way that can go:
http://today.msnbc.msn.com/id/41118523/ns/today-books/
Jane’s story: I wanted to feel passion in my marriage
I worked hard during my marriage until I started having children. I made decent money, but my husband and I decided I would stay at home to take care of the children. It worked okay until we decided to sell the large house we lived in when the housing market was still a little strong and move our three children into a tiny temporary rental apartment until the housing market dropped enough for us to get the best deal on a new house. The rental was a very frustrating place to live because it was so small and I had a new baby and two other little ones.
I wanted so much to be a homemaker but found it impossible when we were only staying for a few months. We ended up renting much longer than anticipated because my husband refused to commit to buying a new home. We had the money, but the market was still dropping and he wanted to wait for the best deal. When he got home from work, I had to get out from the crying children and the home I hated. And since we weren’t having sex, though I’m still not sure why, I would go out and play golf or bowl in a mixed league while my husband stayed home and watched television and surfed the Internet.
After spending so much time together with another man in these leagues, trouble just happened. We connected and he made me feel so desirable, beautiful, and sexy. I didn’t leave my husband for another man, and I didn’t have sex with the other man until later. I left my husband because another man made me feel something that was so lacking in my marriage that I couldn’t bear the thought of going back to it and never feeling that way again. I would rather be alone and have the chance to feel that way than be trapped in a marriage to a person I know I’m never going to feel passionate about. I still see this man, but have dated other men as well.
I know some on this blog have shared how they felt a lot of pressure from spouses (of BOTH sexes!)
That’s not legal in Brazil.
It appears Jane was never cut out for motherhood, or marriage. Jane needs to look in the mirror to identify her problem.
After spending so much time together with another man in these leagues, trouble just happened. We connected and he made me feel so desirable, beautiful, and sexy. I didn’t leave my husband for another man, and I didn’t have sex with the other man until later. I left my husband because another man made me feel something that was so lacking in my marriage that I couldn’t bear the thought of going back to it and never feeling that way again. I would rather be alone and have the chance to feel that way than be trapped in a marriage to a person I know I’m never going to feel passionate about. I still see this man, but have dated other men as well.
The above graf, in a nutshell, sums up why so many men think that we gals are a bunch of emotionally-driven ditzoids.
After spending so much time together with another man in these (bowling) leagues, trouble just happened. We connected and he made me feel so desirable, beautiful, and sexy.
This is one of the reasons why FADB (Fathers Against Drunk Bowling) was formed.
LOL……
There’s a C&W song there, just waiting to be written.
“When you said he had three fingers in, I thought you were talking about the ball……”
Went and checked out two open houses over the weekend. I was most interested in Realtor-speak. One RE was a true RE and a breadth of fresh air, the other a remolded RE bubble seller (REBS). The REBS when pressed said that houses are now being released by the banks but will only be released slowly in order to keep prices up. Was told that mortgage holders would get one shot at a short sale and if that fails the property will become REO. Then I get there is no better time to buy as you pay less monthly to own than rent. When challenged I was told BS, and things were so good that millionaires and billionaires and RE people were scrambling to pick up their quotas of 10 properties each for rental purposes; and they could realize $500 profit/house/month for a $5000 income flow. I was told that I was just stupid, but another fellow came in and she went off for the hard sell while telling me to leave a name, number and email addy.
The other RE was wonderful. She started off asking me where and what price range I had in mind. We agreed on the areas and she supplied alot of background info into hidden costs, turn over rates, soil structure, etc. On pricing he told me to lower the top by at least a $100K. I was shown printouts of just how bad things were to come in neighborhoods of interest and told to inquire on properties of interest and then just sit back and wait.
“The REBS when pressed said that houses are now being released by the banks but will only be released slowly in order to keep prices up.”
Who coordinates this collusion, and is it legal?
“On pricing he told me to lower the top by at least a $100K. I was shown printouts of just how bad things were to come in neighborhoods of interest and told to inquire on properties of interest and then just sit back and wait.”
That’s my kind of used home seller — client oriented!
This is why there aren’t even better prices out there - people like this guy. The story doesn’t indicate if there were other offers, or other details I might be missing but, if not, why on earth would you fall for this “highest and best” nonsense? A “request”? C’mon, man!
“…Spence thought that prices had fallen low enough to make buying worthwhile and set a limit of $200,000….The lender repossessed it at auction for $155,000 and listed it for $180,000. The lender countered Spence’s full-price offer with a request for his “highest and best” offer — so Spence offered $196,000 with contingencies for a home inspection and financing. After the bank accepted his offer, Spence was relieved to discover that it looked as good in person as it did in the listing photos, and the inspection turned up only minor problems.”
Looks like they found someone with a brand-new box of stupid!
With that “new stupid” smell fresh from the factory!
Mmm, mmmm, mmm!
Mortgage Lenders Seeking Court Permission To Destroy 22,100 Boxes Of Original Loan Documents:
The solution to the ongoing fraudclosure fiasco is so simply and yet so brilliant (in a way that benefits the banks naturally) that it has to date evaded most… but not all. The solution: just shred it all. That is what insolvent mortgage lenders Mortgage Lenders Network USA and American Home Mortgage are pushing hard to get permission from their respectively bankruptcy judges in their chapter 7 liquidation cases. Says Reuters: “Federal bankruptcy judges in Delaware are due to hold separate hearings Monday on requests by two defunct subprime mortgage lenders to destroy thousands of boxes of original loan documents. The requests, by trustees liquidating Mortgage Lenders Network USA and American Home Mortgage, come despite intense concerns that paperwork critical to foreclosures and securitized investments may be lost.” With servicer banks increasingly unable and unwilling to provide the original lender docs (since they don’t have access to them) to parties curious in seeing if there is a legal case to continue paying their mortgage, what better solution than to have the banks retort that the original document was sadly destroyed in a court-appointed shredding. In that way all the fraud canaries are killed with one stone, and the party responsible is none other than some bankruptcy judge who had given the go ahead for the wholesale destruction. And since we are not talking peanuts, in the case of MLN it comes to 18,000 boxes of records, while in the AHOM case it is just over 4,000 boxes, we wonder just how many other originators have gotten a comparable idea from the banks, and are currently busy shredding every last detail of an original mortgage note. Good luck trying to convince anyone that the bank is not in possession of a mortgage that was “purposefully” destroyed as part of a company’s liquidation proceedings. Soon to follow: the burning of all books and the banning of all websites that dare to claim this is nothing but pure, grade-A criminal destruction of evidence.
(From Reuters & Zero Hedge)
Mortgage Lenders Seeking Court Permission To Destroy 22,100 Boxes Of Original Loan Documents:
What is a greater violation of law or precedent?
Lender’s destroying evidence such as above, or a movement of a majority of Americans refusing to make their mortgage payments?
Does who is being affected influence the answer?
And so it begins….
> By Barack Obama
Ronald Wilson Reagan was a believer. As a husband, a father, an entertainer, a governor and a president, he recognized that each of us has the power — as individuals and as a nation — to shape our own destiny. He had faith in the American promise; in the importance of reaffirming values like hard work and personal responsibility; and in his own unique ability to inspire others to greatness.
No matter what political disagreements you may have had with President Reagan— and I certainly had my share — there is no denying his leadership in the world, or his gift for communicating his vision for America.
“dude, I’m telling you, this stripper really likes me..”
LA Times
Court orders Emanuel off mayoral ballot
Rahm Emanuel
Mayoral candidate Rahm Emanuel answers questions about today’s 2-1 ruling by the appellate panel that said Emanuel does not meet the residency requirements for candidacy. (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune / January 23, 2011)
By Kristen Mack Tribune reporter
January 24, 2011, 11:45 a.m.
Rahm Emanuel should not appear on the Feb. 22 mayoral ballot because he does not meet the residency standard, according to a ruling issued by a state appellate court today.
Emanuel told a news conference he would appeal the decision to the Illinois Supreme Court and would ask for an injunction so his name will appear on the mayoral ballot.
“I have no doubt at the end we’ll prevail in this effort,” Emanuel said. “We’ll now go to the next level to get clarity.”
…
“I have no doubt at the end we’ll prevail…”
“We” as in your deep-pocket flock, Rahm?
I suspect what he means is that he assumes himself, as a former Obama administration cabinet official, to live above the rules which pertain to the little people out there — similar to Timmay and his exemption, as top IRS official, from the tax law that applies to the rest of us.
Since capital goes where it’s treated best, it’s about to start fleeing Illinois.
Jimmy John Liautaud, founder of the Jimmy John’s sub chain, just applied to move his residence from Illinois to Florida… and his company’s headquarters could soon follow. “All they do is stick it to us,” he says of the state legislature’s move to jack up the personal income tax from 3% to 5%… and the corporate income tax from 7.3% to 9.5%.
“I could absorb this and adapt,” Liautaud tells his hometown paper, the Champaign-Urbana News-Gazette, “but it doesn’t feel good in my soul to make it happen,” he says. Too bad for Champaign, where he brings people in to headquarters for training, accounting for 350 motel nights every week.
Where the firm ultimately moves is up in the air… but his kids started school in Florida this month. “My family and I are out of here.”
Note to self: Stop getting sandwiches at Jimmy John’s.
Yeah, ‘I could adapt but it doesn’t feel good in my soul to make it happen’ is pretty weak. At least admit it’s about the money.
They’re not that great anyway, their only good thing is their bread. You gotta cut the meat fresh per order in a deli, to make a really good sandwich, which they don’t do.
Not a big fan of their sandwiches, either. Dry, tasteless…meh.
ITEM: The federal government’s reliance on borrowed money to carry out its functions more than doubled between fiscal year 2008 and 2009, according to the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). Also, between fiscal year 2007 and 2009, borrowing as a percentage of federal income increased by 566 percent.
Because it was a recession. Adjusted for the business cycle, Bush put us in the hole (as Reagan had) and we haven’t gotten out.
Read that flaming liberal magazine, The Economist for the reality. That is the reason that magazine endorsed Kerry, despite agreeing with Bush on the war with Iraq (at the time), and despite having absolutely nothing good to say about Kerry. (The whole endorsement was anti-Bush).
U.S. Treasury’s Report on Fannie, Freddie Reform Is Delayed
A Treasury Department report on the future of U.S.-owned mortgage companies Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac will be delivered to Congress in the first half of February, rather than by the end of this month as prescribed under the Dodd-Frank regulatory overhaul law, an official said.
Washington-based Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac of McLean, Virginia, have been surviving on taxpayer aid since they were taken over by the federal government in 2008 amid mounting losses linked to subprime mortgages. They have drawn more than $150 billion in taxpayer funds to remain solvent.
My First Sale marathon on HGTV. I watch some of the home buying/selling shows to keep up with what the herd is doing. Most of these shows are annoying, but this one is almost unwatchable. The sellers howl and whine about having to get enough of a profit on their current home to buy the next one. “We HAVE to get x dollars.” On one episode, the sellers considered a $310k offer on a 330k asking price a serious low ball. Seriously?
Yes. Seriously. They ARE insane.
Actually, it IS true that they HAVE to get X dollars. That is the way the system is set up. And the system is set up that way because there are idiots just like them that buy (literally) into it.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-24/countrywide-sued-by-investors-in-mortgage-backed-securities.html
Countrywide Sued Over Mortgage-Backed Securities
Bank of America Inc.’s Countrywide Financial unit was sued by investors in mortgage-backed securities who alleged a “massive fraud” in a complaint filed today in New York state court.
TIAA-CREF Life Insurance Co., New York Life Insurance Co., and Dexia Holdings Inc. are among about a dozen plaintiff institutional investors in mortgage-backed securities issued by Countrywide’s subsidiaries, according to the complaint.
The investors claim they bought hundreds of millions of dollars of Countrywide mortgage-backed securities from 2005 to 2007 because they wanted conservative, low-risk investments and relied on term sheets, prospectuses and other materials provided by the firm that they say were recklessly or knowingly false, according to the complaint.
“In reality, Countrywide was an enterprise driven by only one purpose — to originate and securitize as many mortgage loans as possible into MBS to generate profits for the Countrywide defendants without regard to the investors that relied on the critical, false information provided to them with respect to the related certificates,” according to the complaint.
They are calling this” massive fraud” ,this fake marketing of junk securities.The kicker is that the taxpayer ended up with a lot of that junk
from Countrywide . I question that the taxpayer should end up with
the liability on securities that end up being the subject of a fraud lawsuit .
This also goes back to why should insurance companies pay on claims
involving fraud either . This is what happens when you have a CEO like ‘Mozillo trying to pump up the stock trying to make a exit ,a over 80 % default rate . I hope everybody in the World sues Mozillo .
http://market-ticker.org/akcs-www?post=178151
Insurance company “investors” sueing banksers - this is starting to get good!
My guess is this is where insurance company CEO’s find out what the rest of America has already learned. Their wealth is secondary to that of that of BAnkers and selected hedge fund managers. It will be confiscated in the long run. There can be only one
One of the few things that gives me hope that justice might be done in all this, is that a lot of big boyz got burned by the banksters. They’re not as easy to roll as Joe6pack. I think the insurance companies, and the pension funds, are gonna want some payback. Likewise some wealthy individual investors. Those guys can all hire some fancy lawyers.
Yes. While the banksters own the Adminisration, the Fed, and Congress, insurance companies also have a few congress-critters on the take. This will be like alien vs. predator.
This will be like alien vs. predator.
Excellent.
Home Prices in U.S. Probably Fell at Faster Pace; Consumer Confidence Rose
By Shobhana Chandra - Jan 24, 2011 9:00 PM PT
Home Prices in U.S. Probably Dropped
Residential real estate prices probably dropped in November by the most in a year, signaling housing has yet to join the U.S. rebound, economists said before a report today.
The S&P/Case-Shiller index of home values in 20 cities fell 1.6 percent from November 2009, the biggest 12-month decrease since December 2009, according to the median forecast of 26 economists surveyed by Bloomberg News. Another report may show consumer confidence rose in January, extending a see-saw pattern of gains and losses since the recession ended in June 2009.
Mounting foreclosures will probably throw more properties on the market this year, further depressing prices, homeowners’ equity and construction. The lack of a sustained housing rebound and unemployment above 9 percent are among reasons the Federal Reserve may announce this week it’ll complete a second round of stimulus that will pump $600 billion into the economy by June.
“The large overhang of unsold houses will weigh on prices,” said Sal Guatieri, a senior economist at BMO Capital Markets in Toronto. “Housing is lagging the economic recovery. It is one factor encouraging the Fed to remain on the sidelines.”
The S&P/Case-Shiller index, based on a three-month average, is due at 9 a.m. New York time. Survey estimates ranged from declines of 2.1 percent to 0.1 percent, after a 0.8 percent drop in October.
…
Published: Jan. 23, 2011
Updated: 12:56 p.m.
Will the Fed hike interest rates soon?
By JONATHAN LANSNER
* Monday: Holidays are over. Will house shoppers return to local market? Altera biweekly reports will give us a peek.
* Tuesday: Will the Case-Shiller index for LA/OC confirm home-price weakness?
* Wednesday: Will Federal Reserve admit to seeing any economic strength? Whiffs of inflation? Don’t bet on a policy change on interest rates!
* Thursday: Don’t expect anything uplifting from the latest nationwide pending-home sales report from Realtors.
* Friday: The first estimate of gross domestic product for the fourth quarter will give a clue if overall economic lethargy is waning.
Remember how New York City proved to be too big to fail back in 1975?
Investors should turn to municipal bonds for states, cities that are ‘Too Big to Fail’ for security
Peter Siris
Monday, January 24th 2011, 4:00 AM
When investors want to get conservative — which they should as they get closer to retirement or anticipate needing to cash out an investment — they often turn to municipal bonds.
But right now, there are two issues that could boost risk: What’s the direction on interest rates, and will severely cash-strapped states and municipalities file for bankruptcy?
Think about the interest rate issue. If rates fluctuate lower, bond prices go up because the yield becomes more attractive compared with other investments. If rates go up, bond prices go down, because the yield becomes relatively less attractive. This is more important if bonds have a long time to maturity. Higher interest rates will not hurt a three-month bond, but they could play havoc with a 30-year Treasury.
Rates and yields are now near historical lows and are unlikely to go lower. Unfortunately, no one can say for certain when or how much they might rise. Much depends on what happens in Washington.
…
But how do you work through the minefields of potential bankruptcies among states and municipalities? It’s clear local governments are facing an economic crisis. Tax revenues have dropped, while costs, including health care, keep going up.
Perhaps the biggest issue is the retirement obligations to state and local employees. Not only are these obligations extremely high, but if states and municipalities lay off workers, they’re going to have to accelerate retirement payoffs, and many do not have the money. All these problems could lead to a raft of bankruptcies, which obviously would not be good for municipal bonds.
But navigating through these minefields is actually much easier. Go back to the last bailout and remember the key phrase the government used for everything it did: “Too Big to Fail.”
The government bailed out all the large banks and Wall Street firms, as well as AIG and General Motors, but did little to help local banks, insurance companies or small businesses. Big institutions were deemed critical. Small institutions were seen as expendable.
I think you’ll see the same with states and municipalities. If Citigroup was too big to fail, so is California.
…
I’m happy to see wealthy muni bond holders taking one for Uncle Sam, Amalgamated. The very rich, who are the primary investors in muni bonds, are certainly in much better shape than the rest of us to shoulder these investment losses.
S&P warns of more muni bond downgrades
By Hibah Yousuf, staff reporterJanuary 24, 2011: 2:36 PM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney) — Just as fears about a heavy sell off in the municipal bond market seemed to be easing, Standard & Poor’s issued a warning that this year could bring a potential surge in the number of downgrades of bonds issued by state and local governments.
States including California, Illinois and New York are strapped for cash and dealing with deep budget deficits, sparking fears that states and cities could fall short in payment obligations to muni bond holders.
During the first three quarters of 2010, S&P cut ratings on 343 state and local government-issued bonds. That’s 26% higher than all of 2009. And in all of 2008, S&P downgraded ratings of just 37 bonds issued by state and local governments.
“We believe that continued revenue decreases for state and local government may increase fiscal strain on budgets, and monitoring of liquidity will be especially important in 2011,” said Standard & Poor’s credit analyst Gabriel Petek.
…
Thank you for every other fantastic post. The place else may anyone get that kind of info in such a perfect method of writing? I’ve a presentation subsequent week, and I’m at the search for such info.