Bits Bucket for June 4, 2011
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The Housing Bubble
Examining the home price boom and its effect on owners, lenders, regulators, realtors and the economy as a whole.
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Name:Ben Jones
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I’ve been running some numbers on a multi-family property and was reviewing the monthly PITI on a $320k loan. In another column was the total interest paid over the 360 months, $370k!!
Now, I realize that there is SOME truth to rent being money thrown away, depending on the circumstance, but something just seems wrong about paying the same or more in interest that you did for the home.
And this is for a property that can actually cash flow, so at least other people are paying it off. Why do people sign up for this for the homes they plan to live in?
Every time I see the total interest number it really brings home the reality of how expensive things become with the ability to finance them and how reliant we are on debt. Is the ability to finance our lives really worth it? Why do we accept it?
I think it depends on how you define “money being thrown away”.
Rent DOES buy you something, but because when you move on you can’t pack it in a box or sell it to somebody else it’s easy for the intangible quality to make it feel as if you’ve “lost” something because you have “nothing to show” for all the rent payments.
The fantasy of “happy families” with picket fences dies hard.
“happy families”
“The fantasy of “happy families” with picket fences dies hard.”
The suburban, post WW2 model evaporated with lifetime jobs. What does the future look like? No hyperbole.
Families were probably happier, and healthier, when a single breadwinner - Dad - could provide a modest but comfortable living for his family, and stay-at-home moms were the norm. And it was safe for the kids to roam their neighborhoods and towns without constant supervision.
The future looks grim. This is one f***ed up country right now.
Exactly, rent buys you a roof over your head. It’s no more intangible or “throwing your money away” than buying food, water, heat, gasoline, etc.
The advantage of a mortgage is that
1. You can buy a house for generally the same payment as renting an apartment. This was true until the bubble began in ~2002. For example, the house I rent would sell for ~$250K on today’s market. The principle and interest will be about $700/month LESS than what I’m renting now.
2. At the end of 30 years, you have a paid off house, and you only pay taxes. With savings and social security and Medicare, it’s possible to live in the house relatively well until you get put into a nursing home. Or if I don’t like the house I can sell and use the cash to buy in a cheaper area anywhere in the country and use the profits to retire on.
“With savings and social security and Medicare, it’s possible to live in the house relatively well until you get put into a nursing home.”
This is sad. I really don’t want my mom to be “put into a nursing home.” My narcissistic sister would have no problem just sending her off into some such place, and my other sister would probably follow suit. What a dreadful way to live the end of one’s days.
“Every time I see the total interest number it really brings home the reality of how expensive things become with the ability to finance them and how reliant we are on debt.”
Much of the things people buy is bought not because these things NEED to be bought but because they CAN be bought. If people DON’T HAVE the money TO BUY then things won’t be bought. If people CAN GET the money TO BUY then these things will be bought. So buying decisions are really based on whether money is available or not available not whether the bought things are needed or not needed.
Needs are one thing, wants are another, and it takes money to satisfy both. Cash in hand will satisfy both needs and wants. Borrowed cash will also satisfy both needs and wants but the price for both will be higher if one factors in the rent price for the rented cash.
Right now the rent price for cash is quite high. Take a look at all the payday loan stores popping up everywhere like mushrooms if you don’t believe me. The rent price of cash, when added into the purchase price of an item, will drive the true cost of the purchased item through the roof.
So this means that in a cash-starved economy there are really two prices for items that are for sale and one of these prices is much, much higher than the other.
“Right now the rent price for cash is quite high.”
Combo- isn’t the rent price for cash equivalent to the interest rate? I’m getting next to nothing for my cash holdings. Interest rates are low.
The rate on payday loans is high because the credit quality is poor. I attribute a great deal of that rate to to the high risk premium for extending credit to borrowers with crappy credit.
Cash rates are low for those who are flush with cash but are high for those who are starved of the stuff. But those who are starved of cash are flush with other things - tangible things such as cars and boats and houses, and intangible things such as their labor.
The things the cash starved have - both tangible and intangible things - are sooner or later going to be exchanged for cash. Whoever it it that has the cash will get to buy these things at a big discounts.
The nominal rent for cash holders - the interest rate they receive for their cash deposits - is low, but the buying power of their cash will increase as the economy continues to tank.
Whoever it it that has the cash will get to buy these things at a big discounts.
This has been talked about here for many years, and I initially had the same thoughts. I find it interesting, though, that this doesn’t appear to be happening yet.
It could just be where I’m located, and that the tech industry is still doing quite well these days.
I bought some kayaks last weekend. While I bought used and was able to get a decent discount off new, they certainly weren’t at fire-sale prices. Nothing I saw for sale on craigslist was that heavily discounted.
Are others seeing better opportunities for cash buyers?
Are others seeing better opportunities for cash buyers?
Not yet. The only good deals (if you can call them that) I’ve seen so far are for things that most people don’t really want, such as the double-wide and the wife’s Mercedes. The stuff that everybody wants seems to be holding its value just fine so far. So wants must be more attractive than cash for now.
Prices on decent used cars have been going up for the past year around here.
Eventually, the used stock is going to be worn out. Give it 5 years. And not very many people are going to be able to buy new.
So the sheeple will be forced onto mass transit. Which conveniently fits in with all the “liberal” social planning. Which will BTW, make them easier to herd. A win-win, as far as the liberal/conservative urban elite are concerned.
“Personal Mobility” sucks, if you are into limiting the options of the sheeple. Evidently, the “mobility” of the US workforce isn’t such a big deal after all.
If you are a high end car dealer, it will be business as usual. The banksters will still be buying, along with “Starter Benzes” for the little Snotleighs.
Where is this “mass transit” you mention?
I was about to ask the same thing. I live in the outer edge of a very large metropolis and outside of commuting buses set up like train stations and only running for the rush hours, there is no mass transit between me and 15 miles toward the city, yet at least 2 million people live in these surrounding areas.
2 million people. NO mass transit and not going to be any within my lifetime.
huh? How does used stock run out? Once a new car leaves the lot it is used.
I dont think used car prices are going up either. Go to Phoenix and buy a black car, they cant give them away.
I know for a fact that I can sell my 11 year old (but excellent condition) car for $2-3K more than I could get for it 2 years ago. Ask anyone in car sales.
The 120-150K mile “creampuff” is the “new” 70-80K mile creampuff.
We’ve gone from selling 16 million new cars a year to somewhere around 10 year. Cars in the Northeast wear/rust out a lot faster than cars out here in Flyover.
Not many people in flyover can really afford a $30,000 car, even with “fog a mirror” financing. New dealers around here are stocking about twice as many “program cars” as they used to.
So, give it five years, if current trends continue. By then, the average new car should be $40k or thereabouts. IOW, about the same price as a house out here in the boonies (if house prices continue their trend).
As far as “mass transit” in the burbs, I’m betting you are going to start seeing a bunch of “under the table” bus lines and “shuttle services”.
It may not get like the “50 guys in the back of a farm truck” deal like you see in Latin America. but I wouldn’t bet against seeing that eventually.
Cash rules.
The items bought with borrowed cash when they were brand new and when money was easy and available will be offered for sale at huge discounts when money is tight. The sellers of these items will be those who need the cash. The buyers of these items will be the ones who have the cash.
The sellers NEED the cash so they NEED to sell. The buyers have the cash but they don’t necessairly need to buy. So, guess who it is that sets the price?
And this brings up another cost of an item that is bought and that is the depreciation price.
An item that is bought and later on MUST BE SOLD to raise cash will be sold at a very low price. This is a true cost of the item that needs to be factored in.
The buyer of the item will get to buy the item at the depriciated price (if he so chooses: remember, the buyer has a choice, the seller doesn’t). This means much of the cost of the depreciation is already behind the buyer and has alredy been paid for - paid for by the seller.
OK, you need to stop answering yourself!
Borrowing is the old model. In hard times, people will sell their stuff cheap to those who work for the government. Government workers have first access to new cash. The rest of us get the backwash. In the new economy, we don’t borrow cash to make this game work, we just create it, and the elite are first in line. Works until it doesn’t.
“Borrowing is the old model.”
That’s sort of my point. The old model of borrowing is what supported the economy, and this borrowing morphed it into a consumer-based economy. Now the ability to borrow, being that it was the old model, is gone.
Pay-as-you-go is the new model. And those who have the cash in this new model get to buy on the cheap from those who borrowed and bought during the old model.
“Government workers have first access to new cash.”
Where do you get this tripe? I assume you make it up, as it appears to have little basis in fact, like most GOP talking points.
Employment likely cooled in May
* Will QE2 end in fire or ice?
A man carrying a stack of job listings listens to a discussion at the One Stop employment center in San Francisco, California, August 12, 2009.
Credit: Reuters/Robert Galbraith
Tue May 31, 2011 4:37pm EDT
(Reuters) - U.S. employment probably cooled in May, confirming the economy’s loss of momentum as it grapples with a raft of headwinds ranging from high energy prices and bad weather to supply chain disruptions from the earthquake in Japan.
A weak stream of recent data suggests the economy remained mired in a soft patch early in the second quarter. That negative tone could be underscored by details of the closely monitored employment report on Friday.
Net new private hiring is expected to have slowed to 205,000 last month after scaling a five-year high of 268,000 in April. The private sector has created about 2.1 million jobs since March 2010.
The Federal Reserve is closely watching the labor market and continued slack could prevent it from tightening policy anytime soon. The U.S. central bank wraps up its $600 billion government bond-buying program in June.
With government employment expected to shrink for a seventh straight month because of budget problems at both the state and local level, overall nonfarm payrolls are expected to expand by 180,000 after growing by 244,000 in April, which was the most in 10 months.
…
Generally I think you’re right Combo. Pay as you go will result in much lower prices. Long ago I stated that $100 pair of Nikes wouldn’t exist in the absence of credit cards. Anyways, I’m curious as to the duration of pay as you go. I’m skeptical of our Banking Masters ability to reignite the profligate, spendthrift profile of yesteryear. However, knowing that they’re evil monsters, they’ll find some way to re-implement the lending slavery.
Question to ponder;
What will it look like 5 years from now? Will there be mindless, use of credit and hyper consumerism if we regain full employment? Will there be a renaissance of post-depression frugality even if we have full employment?
The price of everything is grossly exaggerated. Houses, cars, food, energy, electronics and even clothing is moving up. I don’t believe inflated prices of anything is sustainable.
“What will it look like five years from now?”
I think we are in the midst of a Great Turning, a Fourth Turning of the Grand Cycle and in five years - and well beyond five years - a generation will grow up that will be quite different than the current and previous borrow-and-spend generation.
IMHO the future looks much like the Thirties.
What will it look like five years from now?”
I think we are in the midst of a Great Turning, a Fourth Turning of the Grand Cycle and in five years - and well beyond five years - a generation will grow up that will be quite different than the current and previous borrow-and-spend generation.
IMHO the future looks much like the Thirties.
So what you are saying is that life will be stressful, sometimes worry some and sometimes miserable. Question is will we have hope? In the 30’s we had abundant low cost energy and an industrial revolution was on the horizon. What will get us out this time around? We don’t have cheap abundant energy and we hardly produce anything.
Cars, heath care, software, finance, insurance, restaurants, education????????
I also was confused about the statement that “government workers get first access to new cash”. Doesn’t the money have to be generated in the private sector, which is then taxed before it goes to government workers?
“Question is will we have hope?”
I have not in years been more full of hope for this country than I am now. Up unti a few years ago this country was on the road to financial doom. Now we are in the pricess - IN THE PROCESS - of choosing another road.
This process is a painful one. The trick IMHO is to somehow find a way so as to not be among the multitudes who are going to be forced to endure this pain.
I’m agree on the hope part. However, it’s going to take dramatically lower prices for that hope to fully materialize.
Hope =
(1.)the massive reduction of financial middlemen who contribute only to their pockets
Hope two = price of anything will reflect it’s true value
Hope three = gov will reign in their “essential services” and costs
Really big hope =
PB, Blue Skye should have added the qualifier “federal” government employees. Did you check the latest Case-Schiller for D.C.? Up MOM and YOY.
And those who have the cash in this new model get to buy on the cheap from those who borrowed and bought during the old model.
So far those borrowed and bought haven’t needed cash more than their wants. I assume that’s because they are living in their houses for free?
Carl:
We have record foreclosures right now, being relinquished or taken by those that borrowed and bought. Hugely record. I believe that’s what combotechie was referring to.
“Did you check the latest Case-Schiller for D.C.?”
I expect Herbert Stein’s law will eventually take down D.C. prices.
“Doesn’t the money have to be generated in the private sector, which is then taxed before it goes to government workers?”
V: What I was thinking is that we are shifting from a tax and spend and even borrow and spend, to a print and spend (with a wierd interest payment function to the Federal Reserve (why don’t we print our own money instead of buying it from a private bank?)).
Hey PB, don’t paint me the GOP and use that for an argument as to why I’m wrong. If I say something you think is stupid, just say that, it is enough if you can’t couple with it. You say stupid stuff all the time and I don’t call you the GOP. The “everything is a party slogan” is really lame.
Interest costs associated with a mortgage are grossly understated. It’s why I will never get a mortgage. I will pay cash or I won’t buy unless rates drop to sub 1% levels.
Mortgages only make sense if appreciation is outstripping/keeping pace with inflation, AND the mortgage payment would be lower than your rent in the medium term. I guess that’s why banks love inflation so much. Not much reason to borrow otherwise. Better to save up and earn interest.
“Now, I realize that there is SOME truth to rent being money thrown away, depending on the circumstance, but something just seems wrong about paying the same or more in interest that you did for the home.”
To each his own. As for myself, I look at the value of owning or renting as follows:
C_o = Cash outlay at purchase or origination of a lease agreement
C_N = Cash returned at sale or termination of a lease agreement after N months
P = monthly payment between purchase or initiating a lease agreement and sale or termination of lease agreement
V = my subjective value of owning or leasing the property over the duration of the contract
NPV(C_o, P, C_N) = net present value of ownership or lease costs for duration of the contract
V - NPV(C_o, P, C_N) = net value of ownership or leasing
- Calculate the above for all properties you might consider owning or leasing, and you have an objective comparison.
- One difficulty (for anyone with a decent math background) about the calculation is figuring out the subjective value, V, as it requires judgments about things like, “How much do I care that I am not allowed to paint my rental home purple?” To further complicate matters, most owners probably overestimate the latitude of their rights and privileges of ownership, particularly if they fail to read the CC&Rs for their homeowner’s association.
- A second difficulty is determining in advance what “N” will be; I used a capital to suggest the notion that it is a random variable. For instance, how many 30-year mortgages do you think last for 30 years? My hunch: NOT MANY.
- A third big question mark is rent inflation; for instance, if your lease is on a twelve month basis, then N = 12 in the formula (baring early termination, which is rare), and P is subject to change each year. By contrast, under a 30-year mortgage, N may turn out to be as large as 360 (as in your example), and the owner retains the option to hold on through a period of high inflation to a P which looks increasingly small compared to what others are paying on their mortgages; just ask anyone who bought in the early-1970s.
I still think that fixed rate notes in the 4.5 % range are good deals
for long term investment if you can find a house for a good price .
There is always risk in buying something that you might encounter misfortune and have to sell for cheaper than what you might think the value is .
The fact that the job market is not stable in a lot of peoples minds
is a big factor in making this market unlike any real estate market has been for decades .
The good prices are not present in the areas of San Diego where it makes sense for us to potentially buy. If I lived in another part of the country (say Detroit), I am sure I would be a homeowner by now.
Never understood the argument (from realtors maybe) about painting the walls. Most landlords let you decorate. If you want something really wild you would just have repaint or pay to have repainted your purple and pink walls to white or off white when you leave the rental. Now if you wanted extensive remodeling such a new kitchen or swimming pool yes you will not get your costs back. And maybe no permission to remodel.
In that case, you would just rent a house that already has a nice kitchen and a swimming pool.
So if I bought a house for 120k cash(I did); wouldn’t that be exactly like paying 1/2 price for it compared to someone who takes out a 30 yr mortgage on the same property, since I will never incur interest charges to tack on to the price I am paid for the home.
Of course I will miss the MID. And the opportunity to invest the rest of the money elsewhere. I only bought a house because a rental income of $10,000 per year sounded better than $1,500 per year that a CD was paying on the funds.
Of course I am only netting about 6k per year on the deal after insurance, taxes, and maintainance. Still making 5% ROI; opportunity cost(I am a stock market rookie so I only know houses and CDs) seems about nil. And not paying interest on the home means I am somewhat protected from prices falling versus someone with a mortgage. First, prices falling have nothing to do with the ROI I am receiving if the rent does not fall. Actually it seems rents are rising as prospective tenants(and better tenants in general) want and will pay a premium for landlords who will not foreclose on them in the immediate future.
Also, if prices fall 50% to 60k, the person paying interest with a mortgage will also end up paying 120k for the house as well.
Cash rules in this atmosphere(correct me where I am wrong). Who cares about the opportunity cost of funds when most investments pay next to nothing and I can earn 5% on a house? And live in it when my wife’s foreclosure goes thru.
I see so many 60+ year olds with brand new mortgages; cases where they did not want to “waste” the equity in their homes. Now they are upside down and wanting to ditch their whole investment in housing, and executing defaults in droves. My parents, who also paid cash for their pad, plan on passing their home on to us kids in a very old model where mortgage burning parties are revered and second mortgages were always hush hush. “Did you hear the Nelsons are taking out a second on their home? Gasp! There goes the neighborhood!”
Now its “don’t let any good equity go untapped!” and we can see how that is working out for folks.
Yes, mike, you are correct. Cash is king right here, right now. You can save 50% right off the bat by not paying interest. Then, in some cases, you can save another 50% by purchasing a property that has been eliminated from the regular market because it needs major repairs, which means no one will lend against it.
Purchasing distressed properties with CASH is exactly where it’s at. That’s what Ben is accomplishing with his fund.
Which “fund” are you speaking of?
The point of me suggesting that rent could be construed as throwing money away (for those that focused on that side comment outside of overall context) was because traditionally you paid a house off, so at least the P and the I from PITI goes away, whereas renters continue to pay the inflation adjusted price of rent endlessly, including (if the landlord is doing it right) property taxes and insurance.
I was trying to highlight that there are very good reasons to buy, but I don’t think most folks appreciate the premium (in this case $370k) they pay in financing. Doing the calculation makes a person realize how affordable housing would be if those financing options didn’t exist, or were reduced in form.
I wish as a society we would recognize this, say “enough!” and quit being hypnotized into debt-ridden housing lives.
NEW YORK (AP) — Shoppers are pulling back on spending on discretionary items like clothing and home goods as gasoline and groceries eat up more of their paychecks.
Those pressures led many retailers on Thursday to report only modest revenue increases in May, the latest sign of the economy hitting a soft patch.
Retailers that cater to wealthy shoppers and warehouse clubs like Costco that also sell gas reported the biggest gains.
Most of the spring, consumers seemed to shrug off rising prices. Now, gasoline at more than $1 per gallon more than last year and higher grocery bills are “finally taking a bite and affecting sales,” said Ken Perkins, president of research firm Retail Metrics. “It definitely raises the caution flag going into the summer.”
Revenue rose 5.4 percent overall at stores open at least a year among 27 retailers, according to the International Council of Shopping Centers. Excluding gasoline, the figure rose 3.7 percent.
That was within the 3 percent to 4 percent range expected, said Mike Niemira, ICSC chief economist and director of research.
“On the surface, the numbers look pretty good,” Niemira said. “But it is being driven by a very narrow set of retailers.”
The figures are based on revenue from stores open at least one year, a key indicator of a retailer’s health because it excludes results from stores opened or closed during the year.
Niemira expects the June revenue figure to rise 3 percent to 4 percent, excluding fuel.
The May results follow disappointing economic reports on unemployment, housing and consumer confidence that investors worry indicate a softening of the economy. The Dow Jones industrial average skidded 280 points Wednesday, losing more than a quarter of the year’s gains, on rising economic fears, and fell again Thursday.
Just saw an entire family camped out at the driveway entrance of Costco, along a busy thoroughfare, with signs begging for money. I suppose Costco shoppers can throw them a bone from their 24 pack of whatever food item they’ve bought.
Food will soon become a “discretionary purchase”
You will never see this in the stats, because the government will replace hamburger with catfood in their little inflation calculator.
Costco sells a years supply of food for under $1,000.
Comes in paint cans.
I heard some story about a guy who tried to walk the Appalachian trail, which takes a couple months, strictly living on energy bars so he wouldn’t have to cook or carry utensils. He calculated the amount of nutrition the bars provided which seemed to cover his essential needs. Got violently ill after a couple weeks of this diet. So, eating a years supply of food stored in paint can is probably not a good option.
Exactly. We are omnivores and without variety of diet, you will die.
Big time trouble dead ahead thanks to the Federal Reserve.
The paper money dollar experiment of the last 40 years has reached an unsolvable impasse. Since 1971, when Nixon defaulted on the dollars convertibility into gold there has been no restraint whatsoever on the Federal Reserve’s ability to finance the U.S. government’s boondoggle spending programs both foreign and domestic.
The government doesn’t have to rely on tax receipts any more. It simply issues bonds to borrow the money. The Federal Reserve ensures those bonds are always bought, buying them itself if necessary as it has done with QE1 and QE2. Here is a chart of the national debt since the dollar was taken off the gold standard.
http://www.freemarketfan.com/2011/06/big-time-trouble-dead-ahead-thanks-to.html
We weren’t really on a gold standard in 1971. The thin suggestion of settling foriegn debts with gold was there, but when France called the bluff, Nixon was not fool enough to give up our strategic reserve. We were about the last to give up the charade.
Since QE-2 did not and could not work, what makes any sane person think QE-3 will? Also is there any point in time when enough is enough? Our course is absolutely unsustainable,no doubt about that fact.
“It seems that almost every bit of data about the health of the US economy has disappointed expectations recently,” said Mark Riddell, in a note sent to CNBC on Wednesday.
“US house prices have fallen by more than 5 percent year on year, pending home sales have collapsed and existing home sales disappointed, the trend of improving jobless claims has arrested, first quarter GDP wasn’t revised upwards by the 0.4 percent forecast, durables goods orders shrank, manufacturing surveys from Philadelphia Fed, Richmond Fed and Chicago Fed were all very disappointing.
“And that’s just in the last week and a bit,” said Riddell.
“And right now, the economic data is suggesting that however measly you may think a 3 percent yield is on a 10-year Treasury, the yield should probably be a fair bit lower given what’s going on in the US economy,” said Riddell.
“You’ve also got to wonder at what point the markets for risky assets start noticing, too.”
“QE3 anybody?” asks Riddell.
Without QEn, my guess the current government or economic will cease to exist, so as long as we want to continue as nothing need to be changed, we do not need to tight up belt, give up some entitlements, politics as usual, QWn will flow.
Because QE is like whiskey - Too much is never enough (Mark Twain)
Just for the record: THE DEBT CEILING WAS BREACHED A FEW WEEKS AGO. As of the end of May the public debt was nearly $51 billion over the limit. However, Treasury Secretary Geithner is using some bookkeeping tricks to shuffle accounts to keep the USA from defaulting on any of its obligations.
Geitner is just demonstrating that the law doesn’t matter, not one little bit. Default isn’t even an issue, rather the continuation of looting and transfer payments. If I understand correctly, Geitner is typing Xs across the retirement account balances of government minions to make the payroll. Kind of like enjoying your retirement early. Sure, I know you’ll rob me twice later to make up the difference, but just now it looks sweetly ironic.
ah, rob peter to pay paul? what a basis for the us economy?
This debt pandering has been going on for 40 years now and it’s nothing more than foaming from the mouth silliness. You haven’t got an invoice for it and never will.
However, Treasury Secretary Geithner is using some bookkeeping tricks to shuffle accounts to keep the USA from defaulting on any of its obligations.
Yes…hasn’t the debt grown, it’s just now the additional debt is a debt to gov’t employees rather than to treasury holders?
How much you wanna bet we don’t pay China back on all those bonds they bought? Lots of nastiness going around these days.
The White man will escrew the China man. I won’t take that bet.
another 20% drop here in MA is “in the bag” as one famous realtor shill in CA would say….
Greece to get next batch of bailout funds
ATHENS, Greece (AP) — Greece is poised to receive the next installment of its bailout facility, debt inspectors said Friday after a near month-long inspection of the country’s public finances.
Finance Ministry building in Athens, on which protesters hung a banner calling for a general strike.
It also looks Greece’s partners in the eurozone could be providing additional money beyond the current 110 billion euro package to help the debt-ridden country meet its massive debt obligations.
“I expect the eurogroup to agree on additional financing to be provided to Greece, under of course strict conditionality,” Jean-Claude Juncker, the head of the 17 eurozone finance ministers, said in Luxembourg following a meeting with Greek Prime Minister George Papandreou.
Juncker also hinted that the private sector will be asked to help out.
“This conditionality will include private sector involvement on a voluntary basis and this private sector involvement will have to be negotiated with private creditors,” Juncker said without elaborating.
” under of course strict conditionality”
Haha! Yes, of course. Ever been to an ANON meeting? You should try it.
They can’t pay off what they owe now, so let’s lend them some more.
Brilliant.
It’s all about the first domino. Once Greece defaults there will be as chain reaction.
Floridians are nuts. Sometimes in a good way:
COLLIER COUNTY, Fla. - A bank foreclosure story you’ve got to see to believe. A Collier County couple turns the tables on Bank of America, the bank that tried to foreclose on their home. Now, the family is foreclosing on the bank! Even bringing trucks and deputies ready to seize property.
http://www.winknews.com/Local-Florida/2011-06-03/Tables-Turn-Deputies-and-movers-show-up-at-bank-to-seize-property-for-homeowner-#ixzz1OHElPqQs
I love it!
But it didn’t end well: B of A is still in business.
Possibly not for long.
A little silly, but still a must-see news clip for any HBB reader.
Not where I am looking to buy, west of town with well water but this is the price crash many here said would happen. $430,000 in 2006 down to $89,900 in 2011
Realtor.com today
13798 N 72nd Ct West Palm Beach, FL 33412
Beds:3 Bed
Baths:2 Bath
House Size:2,862 Sq Ft
Lot Size:1.31 Acres
D.O.M. 296
$89,900
————————————————————–
Property Appraiser
Location Address: 13798 72ND CT N
Jan-2006 19817/0361 $430,000 WARRANTY DEED BOTET ISACHY
Oct-2004 17783/1287 $295,000 WARRANTY DEED GRILLO YAIMA
Oct-2003 16071/1600 $10 QUIT CLAIM NAST ROBERT
Year Built 1994
———————————————————————-
ISACHY overpaid and COUNTRYWIDE overloaned slightly in 06 @ $430,000
County Records
View BOTET ISACHY GRILLO YAIMA 01/19/2006 D 19817 361 20060036082 28 42 41 POR
* View BOTET ISACHY MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC 01/19/2006 MTG 19817 362 20060036083 28 42 41 POR
View BOTET ISACHY COUNTRYWIDE HOME LOANS INC 10/27/2008 LP 22924 1786 20080391568
Four cases of the e-coli outbreak identified here in the US. Apparently people travelling from Germany. A super-strain of the bacteria. Is that how the world is going to end, with a moan and a plop?
We are all just food.
I remember first hand accounts of the ravages of the Spanish Influenza about a century ago. Makes that 10,000 mile salad rather unapplealing.
But how do we really know where anyone or anything comes from these days?
Globalization. Worst. Idea. Ever.
Don’t worry Palmy, I’m sure the person shitting and spitting on your food is local. LOL
Yeah, any hamburger you eat at fast food could be sourced from 100 different cows from all over the world.
Thank god I rarely ever eat that fast food garbage.
read “the stand” by steven king.
i think he had it right, if there is a super-epidemic, there will be at least a small sliver that survives.
“read “the stand” by steven king.”
That was one of my fave King novels. And then he jumped the shark.
if there is a super-epidemic, there will be at least a small sliver that survives.
Of course. That’s the thing with natural selection….some selecting events/set of events happen and those with certain traits/behaviors get wiped away.
I recall an article a few years ago about some scandanavians (perhaps?) that appeared to be immune to HIV/AIDS.
Of course, our medical advances have neutered the selection process(with regards to all sorts of diseases) and left us with a more vulnerable population than we would otherwise have. Time will tell whether that’s a net gain or not for the species…
Anyone read “Earth Abides” by George R. Stewart? King supposedly was inspired by this novel, written in the 1940s or so, when he wrote The Stand.
I did. I’ve read both. Great books.
Or “Rainbow Six” by Tom Clancy, where Eco terrorists design a super bug to kill all Hunan life except the few self-appointed elite who hug trees.
“human”
Interesting slip, bipt.
It’s weird this thing comes from Europe. I thought Europeans were against using antibiotics universally on ranch animals. It’s definitely a terrible practice, but I figured something like this would come from China first, then Mexico, then maybe the US.
One word “Monsanto”, maybe. Although GM foods are illegal there (Europe), the big “M” owns all the world’s seeds. Poetic justice if they could trace it back to “M”.
It has nothing to do with seeds. That’s something ahan came up with. It has to do with fertilizer created by cows who are fed antibiotics every day. They do this because it enables them to grow the cows in overcrowded conditions, where they would normally pass bacterial illnesses to eachother.
E.coli is a natural resident of cow gut. Cows are not hurt by it, but people are. Because the cows are being fed antibiotics all the time, their natural E.coli has developed plasmids that make them immune to those antibiotics. When the cow poops, the E.coli gets pooped out too. If you eat something raw with cow poop on it, then you will get E.coli. If the E.coli is antibiotic-resistant, then you are in for a very nasty illness. You will need IV fluids and the pain will be awful.
The good news is that you will become immune to E.coli.
Big V
I’ve heard on our local news radio this E. coli strain is from raw vegetables. A MD was on the radio educating the public about how it affects the human gut and what the origins could be. This E.coli stain is a dangerous and rare one. I am not well versed like you are, but we’ve had raw vegetable E.coli outbreaks here in Ca. Thank you for the insight.
E. coli does not live in vegetables. It lives in the guts of animals. People can get it from eating unwashed, uncooked vegetables that have poop on them.
Not sure how thoroughly washed vegetables can/need to be, maybe a sure way is to eat only fully cooked vegetables. No more salad for sure for the time being.
I remember onions causing outbreaks and death in the 80’s
Onions are bad because you can’t really wash them.
My recollection of an e.coli outbreak a few years back was that spinach was grown in Salinas fields located adjacent to huge pig farms. The waste from the pigs was getting into the water table underlying the spinach fields so the eColi was being absorbed by the plants. So, it’s IN the plants, not on it.
Layman’s terms, so you can understand the concept:
You combine the DNA of a toxic bacterium with a viral replicant to modify your seedstock, (so it’s resistant to TOXIC herbicides,) don’t be surprised when it mutates into something that defies antiBIOTICS.
Not saying I’m correct, but I bet I am….
No, the spinach has nothing to do with the antibiotic resistance. There are antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria created and used by scientists every day, but those are nonpathenogenic strains. It is possible (and probably quite frequent) for these strains to be washed down the drain without being killed first (like they’re supposed to), and then share plasimds with wild bacteria in the sewer, but that’s a small amount and a small effect. Antibiotic resistance is not stable in the wild because it causes other problems for wild strains. Also, we usually don’t eat stuff that came from the sewer.
Cow E.coli has become resistant to antibiotics in nonorganic cows because those cows are being fed antibiotics every day by ranchers, and they have E.coli naturally in their guts.
Also, E.coli can not be absorbed by roots. The pig shiznit may very well have contaminated the soil through the flow of water (from the pig farm toward the spinach farm). The bugs would have been in the dirt, which got on the spinach. Spinach is always really dirty when it’s picked.
SD
From the wiki article on the spinach outbreak:
“…Although officials could not definitively say how the spinach became contaminated, both reports named the presence of wild pigs on the ranch and the proximity of surface waterways to irrigation wells as “potential environmental risk factors.”
Yes. It’s conceivable, maybe even plausible, that wild boars tracked cattle manure into surface waterways which somehow backflowed into irrigation wells, and that SYSTEMICALLY contaminated 200 acres of spinach. But the cattle ranch in question was never cited (it was over a mile away,) and irrigation wells in the area are typically 180+ feet down to standing water, but…whatever.
Then there is the question of what happens to GM feeds when they go through the gut of our fertilizer-producing farm animals? Several generations later, is it not possible that gut bacteria have also evolved?
I’ve no bone to pick here, but have personal experience with presumption and the law of unintended consequences….
ahan:
Pigs have E-coli in their guts too. I don’t think SD’s spinach outbreak was related to antibiotic-resistant bacteria. I think it was just plain-old pig E.coli.
Anyway, Monsanto grains do not carry genes for antibiotic resistance. The genes for Roundup resistance are in no way related to the antibiotic-resistance genes carried by the modified E.coli that are used in this process.
It is possible for the transfecting virus to randomly carry small segments of antibiotic-resistance genes (or other gene sequences) into the genome of the infected plant. However, there is no way for bacteria to pick those genes back up out of the plant. E.coli does not do that.
Besides, like I said, they would almost certainly only be gene segments, not whole genes. The viruses used are directed at the specific genes being cloned (the Roundup-resistance genes). They are designed to attack certain gene sequences, which are engineered around the target gene in the bacterial plasmid. In this way, the virus cuts specifically the target gene from the bacteria. Random mistakes happen when the that virus’s favorite sequence happens to also exist somewhere else in the genome. However, in order for the virus to actually cut out a gene segment, the sequence has to be in two places. The part that the virus cuts out is the part between the two sequences.
Because the antibiotic-resistance genes in these bacteria are designed for this purpose, they make sure not to confuse their virus by including that sequence anywhere in or near that gene. It would be EXTREMELY improbable for that specific sequence to suddenly mutate itself into the flanking areas around the engineered antibiotic-resistance gene. Even if that did happen, then I guess that plant would end up getting transfected with the gene that does NOT cause Roundup resistance. Hence, the plant would not be used to produce seed.
Okay, I’m not crazy… after a bit of searching I found an article which mentioned the e.coli contamination within the plant. Whether this is a credible source I can’t say:
http://www.growersforwheatbiotechnology.org/html/news.cfm?ID=297
Palmy, I thought it was radioactivity from the leaky nukes in Japan that was going to do us all in. Now it’s e. coli?
BTW, so far the death rate appears to be about 1% of those infected.
“There are numbers of us who strongly believe that we did very well in the 1870 to 1914 period with an international gold standard.”
~Alan Greenspan
This push is getting stronger and the un-federal reserve really dislikes the idea. They love their faith based/debt based fiat currency. The idea of an anchor ruins their wonderful experiment. So the push back will be mighty strong.
ITEM: S.C. Legislator written up in the LA Times
People may chuckle at him but they should rethink their prejudice.
“Mike Pitts is no economist, but that hasn’t kept the retired small-town cop from taking a prominent role in a quixotic campaign to push the U.S. monetary system back to another century.
“Pitts, a South Carolina statehouse representative, introduced a bill in April that would make gold and silver coins legal tender in the state. Similar efforts are underway in more than a dozen state capitals, fueled by Tea Party support and antipathy toward the federal government.”
Article: The Push for a Gold Standard
~ A tip ‘o the hat to Nathaniel Popper of the LA Times for his report about the promotion in more than a dozen states of the role of gold and silver as money.* He notes that most economists say such an idea would lead to disaster, but we’ve noticed that what most of these establishment economists know about the history of money through the ages could be put inside a thimble and still leave room for a finger.
* Weird, isn’t it, to define irredeemable paper notes - which have almost no intrinsic value - as money, while dismissing valuable coins of gold and silver as being “archaic” and unable to function as money; that is, a medium for exchange, a store of value, and a standard of measure.
make gold and silver coins legal tender in the state.
certain coins already are, no? Gold and silver eagles, at their face value…
(Yes, I realize that’s not what’s really being pushed for here)
Visualize Economic Collapse
Realtors Are Liars
Did you see Liz Penden’s thing yesterday? “Realtors are Lions”. Teeheheheh.
I live in Liz Pendens head…. rent free.
Good employment news for this HBBer! After exactly 5 quarters of unemployment with few interviews and no offers, I just got hired by the local school district as a technician. This is the first time I’ve ever worked outside the private sector and hopefully it will be the most secure job I’ve ever had. Downside? The pay is only 60% of my previous position. No matter. The extended bout of unemployment has pushed me from merely frugal into a frosty hyper-austerity where nothing is wasted and every expenditure of money, energy and time is optimized for maximum efficiency and economy. That scumbag Bernokio and the rest of the DC clown circus better not be counting on *me* to fertilize those “green shoots” of the “fragile recovery” with increased consumption, because it aint happening. It’s *my* new normal.
Sure is a relief to have health coverage again though. I skipped the COBRA scam and just barebacked it all this time. I figured all those dudes like Jefferson, Adams and Franklin lived into their 80s and 90s without the benefit of modern medicine, and when they actually saw a physician, he probably had a big jar of leeches waiting for them!
“The pay is only 60% of my previous position. No matter. The extended bout of unemployment has pushed me from merely frugal into a frosty hyper-austerity where nothing is wasted and every expendture of money, energy and time is optomized for maximum efficiency and economy.”
There it is, folks, the Fourth Turning.
Say goodbye to the borrow and spend days of yesterday. The next generation is going to grow up to be quite different from this one and previous ones.
Good luck to you, Fisher.
A quote I picked up from this blog a year-or-so ago went like this:
“I was lucky in that I grew up during the Great Depression.”
IMHO there is a lot of meat imbedded in this quote.
Yo go, fisher. Go Fisher, go!
Leeches and Rush’s Pills.
A typical dose of Rush’s Pills provided 120 milligrams of mercurous chloride to the body. Yes, mercury. A CFL contains about 4 milligrams of which only a fraction is likely to be absorbed by an individual if a bulb is broken. Oh, and these pills were available and used until around 1940.
http://lewis-clark.org/content/content-article.asp?ArticleID=2564
Glad to hear you’re working again. We went through about like that a while back. My husband is in tech also.
Welcome back to the land of the re-employed. Just got back there myself after almost two years.
I did a little better than “60% of my previous position”. But not much. Hard to build a “Recovery” when 20 million people are out of work, and the ones that actually find jobs are taking 30-50% pay cuts.
Ditto with skipping the COBRA scam. Paying full retail for drugs sucked though.
Spent the last week in the Chesterfield, Mo area. No recession there. What’s the deal with all the Indian H1B-types there? They even have the radio presets in the rental cars set to XM stations playing Indian music.
“…and the ones that actually find jobs are taking 30-50% pay cuts.
You just described the last 4 recessions.
Thank you all for your good wishes!
I hope I am next. I am severely underemployed looking to be a W-2′r again!!
I got my first “Direct Deposit” statement in the mail the other day.
Regular checks again. I almost went back to rub one off.
Hi:
Approximately 1/2 of the commentators on this blog are “liberal”, and the other half are “conservative”. For some reason, the conservatives see themselves as a persecuted minority. They complain about it all the time. How many times has a conservative commentator stated that “this blog is overrun by liberals”, when a simple count of comments over time will tell you that it’s not.
Why is that? It’s like conservatives get so upset by liberal views, that they absorb them and then expand them in their own minds, so the conservative sees 2 liberals where there is only one.
Also, the conservatives are the only ones who ever declare that they have blocked a lot of people with the JT extension. Seems the liberals are willing to read the conservative posts, but the conservatives are not willing to read the liberal posts.
I think it’s an interesting phenomenon.
PS - I would like to know what you all think of my place in the spectrum. Am I a liberal, a conservative, or something else? (No profanity, please. This is a family blog.)
I hate labels in that they lock me into a position that I had rather not be in.
I believe in balanced budgets, does that make me a conservative?
If that makes me a conservative then I must be against free choice when it comes to women having babies because conservatives are supposed to be against abortion which is not necessairly the case.
Labels suck.
I agree, combo. Each one of us is a great big mixed salad of ideas, experiences, and preferences. When I was younger I was more “left” leaning. In my 40’s I leaned to the “right”. Now I am a “centrist”. Fiscally conservative but socially accepting. Age mellows you.
Yeah, but there are some who self-identify as “conservatives”. Those are the ones who most often comment that “this blog is overrun by liberals”, even though it’s not.
I think a lot of conservatives see anyone who is even a little to the left of them as liberal. They keep dragging the Republican party farther to the right.
I agree. I am radically pro choice, radically atheist, yet own a gun and am against entitlement spending and against most taxes. Yet I am accused of being a commie or a conservative.
It’s all part of the pseudo-conservative meme. They constantly declare they’re victims while they champion causes to further victimize the poor and oppressed, even though they themselves are poor in many cases, yet cannot bring themselves to admit their peonage. I guess they’re too embarrassed to admit it and paper it up with cheap credit and anger in an attempt to deflect reality. Their willingness to scuttle their own interests and champion the cause of their masters is fascinating and it’s getting alot of attention.
They complain about it all the time. How many times has a conservative commentator stated that “this blog is overrun by liberals”, when a simple count of comments over time will tell you that it’s not.
Perhaps different perspectives lead to different definition of what is conservative and what is liberal. From my perspective a “simple count” suggests otherwise. But it is what it is, I’m quite happy surrounded by liberals if they are polite about it. I even agree with them sometimes. Not sure what that makes me.
My take on your place in the spectrum is that I don’t have a take. I’ve seen you post things that I thought were a bit odd, but I didn’t necessarily associate it with a political leaning. I think I’ve seen you post things that leaned both directions.
As noted before, I used to be a conservative Republican.
My views have changed a little. But out here in Flyover, what used to be considered whacked-out extreme right Republicans are not considered “mainstream”.
Conservative to me means having the government meddle as little as possible, but make sure it has the tools and motivation to treat everyone equally under the law.
The new conservative thinks any government is bad, and believes there is a “Free-market” that will fix all evils all on it’s own. Any attempt by government to reign in excesses is now considered “socialist”.
A conservative wants to conserve what has been status quo for decades. Well big government snooping into our wallets and our bedrooms has been status quo for decades. I would therefore say Jimmy Carter, Barack Obama, Bush senior and Junior, Bill Clinton, John McCain are all the epitome of conservatism.
Local governments are the most intrusive. Period.
Apparently conservatives are fraidy-cats who fear disorder, change, and other people. And they also have difficulty understanding complexity. Explains a lot, really.
Brain structure differs in liberals, conservatives: study
(AFP) – Apr 7, 2011
Google News
WASHINGTON — Everyone knows that liberals and conservatives butt heads when it comes to world views, but scientists have now shown that their brains are actually built differently.
Liberals have more gray matter in a part of the brain associated with understanding complexity, while the conservative brain is bigger in the section related to processing fear, said the study on Thursday in Current Biology.
“We found that greater liberalism was associated with increased gray matter volume in the anterior cingulate cortex, whereas greater conservatism was associated with increased volume of the right amygdala,” the study said.
Other research has shown greater brain activity in those areas, according to which political views a person holds, but this is the first study to show a physical difference in size in the same regions.
“Previously, some psychological traits were known to be predictive of an individual’s political orientation,” said Ryota Kanai of the University College London, where the research took place.
“Our study now links such personality traits with specific brain structure.”
The study was based on 90 “healthy young adults” who reported their political views on a scale of one to five from very liberal to very conservative, then agreed to have their brains scanned.
People with a large amygdala are “more sensitive to disgust” and tend to “respond to threatening situations with more aggression than do liberals and are more sensitive to threatening facial expressions,” the study said.
Liberals are linked to larger anterior cingulate cortexes, a region that “monitor(s) uncertainty and conflicts,” it said.
“Thus, it is conceivable that individuals with a larger ACC have a higher capacity to tolerate uncertainty and conflicts, allowing them to accept more liberal views.”
It remains unclear whether the structural differences cause the divergence in political views, or are the effect of them.
But the central issue in determining political views appears to revolve around fear and how it affects a person.
“Our findings are consistent with the proposal that political orientation is associated with psychological processes for managing fear and uncertainty,” the study said.
Well duh.
“Apparently conservatives are fraidy-cats who fear disorder, change, and other people. And they also have difficulty understanding complexity. Explains a lot, really. ”
My non communist brain is failing to understand the complexity of your accusations, so I guess those traits go beyond conservatives and reach all the way to my unlabeled portion of the political spectrum.
I think most Americans are not big fans of disorder in our society. What type of disorder do you speak of?
There is that word “change” again. What type of change?
By “other people” do you mean non-white, non-male, gay, lesbian, trans-gender, questioning and the undocumented? If so, I think the 90’s progressives just called and they want their lame political slander back.
“By “other people” do you mean non-white, non-male, gay, lesbian, trans-gender, questioning and the undocumented? If so, I think the 90’s progressives just called and they want their lame political slander back.”
Oh, so conservatives are suddenly cool with gay marriage, gay couples adopting, and all that jazz. Don’t make me laugh. Conservatives will eventually be alright with that stuff, but only after it’s been accepted by everyone else for a few decades.
That’s what conservatives do- that’s their purpose. To slow down human advancement until the most neanderthal mindset can finally accept the changes that most everyone else has been cool with for years.
You’re intellectual drag anchors.
I think a community benefits from both perspectives. Tradition becomes tradition because it gives cohesiveness to a community - stick with what works, until it doesn’t. In periods of rapid change, like ice ages and droughts, willingness to change and experiment is an advantage for a community.
We have been in a period of rapid technological and social change for the last 150 years that has had as great an impact on our societies as the ice ages did.
Most of the white male Republicans I know from my youth are racists- you know, conservative family values types.
So many newer commentators on this blog are fond of declaring that globalization is good for “competition”. There seems to be a lack of understanding here. Globablization does not allow for normal competition the way Americans understand that term. We are not talking about two teams competing in the same game with the same set of rules. As a matter of fact, we aren’t even talking about “teams” who are competing. We’re talking about currencies.
We are talking about the US dollar competing with the yuan.
The United States requires a strong-dollar policy to thrive. China, not so much. They are happy to devalue their currency ad-infinitum, as long as it makes Chinese products seem “cheaper” to US consumers. This is destructive to their people, and it is destructive to our people too. One knee-jerk response is for us to do what they do. Start artificially devaluing our currency. It’s a “so there!” solution. It’s immature and it hurts us. BTW, that’s exactly what the Federal Reserve is doing right now. Our strong dollar is the only thing that makes the US consumer such a great patsy. If our dollars weren’t so strong, then the Chinese wouldn’t care whether or not they can sell stuff to us. They wouldn’t want our dollar. Clearly, the entire system of trade that we have right now is destructive because it both requires and eliminates a strong US dollar.
Now let’s go back to the metaphor of two “teams” competing in the same game. Team A has helmets and knee pads, and they are not allowed to kick Team B in the groin or poke them in the eye. Team B has no helmets or knee pads, but they are allowed to kick Team A in the groin and poke them in the eye. Why would Team A even go in for such a thing? Everyon must agree that it’s better for ALL PLAYERS to have helmets and knee pads, and not be allowed to kick anyone in the groin or poke them in the eye.
The United States is Team A. We have developed a functioning economy with general prosperity for all, and a fair and meaningful rule of law (knee pads/no poking). China is Team B. They really want to play with us, but they have not developed a society that allows for general prosperity, and they do not have a fair and meaningful rule of law. So what do we do, start kicking people in the groin and poking them in the eye? Let’s say Team B makes a new rule that says it’s OK to take the other team’s helmets and knee pads off their body if you want. Now what do we do? Do we keep playing, or do we pick up our toys and go home?
If we want to compete with China or whoever else, then we must wisely consider our contracts and agreements with them. Why should we sign on to a trade agreement that allows them to hurt us? That is not very competitive of us, now is it?
As a reformed Repuke, in retrospect, I was a train wreck until I started to think like a “Political Atheist” about circa Sept 11, 2001. I got a clue.
I use to defend globalization until the reality of “The New World Order” sunk in. We were getting poorer and life was changing with no U-Turn. I’ll tell you, brain washing is insidious. I am not proud of what I said to woman 1-2 years ahead of our fate.
“That is not very competitive of us, now is it?”
But we want iPads! Just make sure the
slavestotally free workers sign “no suicide” pacts, o.k.?Global investing is a way to cash in while your high paying job is being outsourced. I assume no one but myself has a 401k or IRA here on HBB .
No, BiLA, I have a 401k and an IRA too. The 401k is great because my employer gives a match. Otherwise, I would be putting it all toward cheap houses right now.
But what you’re saying is not a solution to the problem. It’s just a way for some people to be less screwed for a few years.
That might work if you cashed in on the job gravy train and saved some money to invest before the big offshoring party began. When the best jobs todays grads can get is folding T-Shirts at Old Navy then maybe they won’t be able to save any moneyt to invest overseas.
And as Big V said, its only a bandaid unless you have a lot of money to invest in “emerging” economies. Not all that different from flipping houses, just a speculative “investment” which could turn south (and deep) on a moments notice.
Pet peeve: Has the real estate cartel decided that bare wood floors are in for some reason? Most of the pictures of the houses I see on Realtor.com have most of the rooms with bare wood floors. They’re as common as granite and stainless steel. I can’t believe that so many people live that way. This seems the case for long time ownere that can’t be underwater homeowners who can’t afford carpeting / rugs. Many rooms have no window coverings either. The later though does let in more light and might give a more spacious feel. It just annoys me to see bare floors ’cause its so conformist and seems to be a religion with the used house sales people. Rant off. I feel better now.
The addiction to housing crack alive and well. The Housing Crime Syndicate better know as NAR is the largest wholesale supplier of housing crack.
I prefer hardwood floors. Carpets got popular with the invention of the vacuum cleaner, but I don’t like them because they don’t get fully clean when you vacuum them, and they have to be replaced often to keep them in good shape.
We pulled out the carpet on the first floor, sanded and stained the concrete and have nice rugs. The previous owner had a dog that must have peed in the corner, every time we cleaned the carpet it stank to high heavens. gross. Love the look of the stained concrete–and side benefit is we don’t have a worn path from the front door.
When I bought my house 10 years ago, the bathroom was carpeted.
I remember seeing carpeted bathrooms when I was a kid. I was always grossed out by the discoloration in the carpet around the toilet. TMI
We don’t have carpet. Rugs are nice, but I love wood floors.
I love wood floors too. Rugs, though sometimes necessary, are just something extra to clean.
Gotta keep the churn going. Carpeting is “out of date”. Gotta rip it all out, and replace it with a few thousand dollars worth of faux wood flooring.
Real wood flooring, especially if the house is an older one and the floors are original to the house, are different.
Wood floors are the new granite counter tops. Expect granite to be “yesterdays news” in a couple of years.
I prefer carpeting in the master bedroom though it can be irritating to the knees. Unfortunately that threat seems to diminishing…
I am selling a house now with a bare floor sunroom. When deciding what to put in, I thought I should leave it blank and let the buyer decide. I’m paying for it, both materials and labor, so pick whatever you want! Well, some of the comments I got back from other realtors were “Need carpet in the sunroom” without fully understanding that the seller could pick whatever they wanted! No need to negotiate! Linoleum, tile, carpet, pergo……pick something! It’s on me!
That is why we all hate Realturds! 6% and they don’t even reed the remarks.
Anon
Sometimes it is an allergy issue, or in our case a Glaucoma eye sensitivity issue. Besides, even though we are a shoe free home, carpets are a maintenance pita. You can clean an area rug easier. I was raised in a wood floor home. It’s in again.
By KURT BADENHAUSEN
June 3, 2011
The unemployment report released this month by the Bureau of Labor Statistics was filled with good news. While the national unemployment rate ticked up to 9 percent, which was the highest since January, the economy added 244,000 jobs in April, a sure sign of Spring for the country’s workforce.
Now, there is still more positive news on the labor front. The BLS released another report last week that disclosed the number of mass layoffs (50 employees or more) was down 26 percent in the first quarter compared to a year ago. There were 1,393 major job cutbacks across the U.S. affecting 190,389 employees. This marked the sixth straight quarter of declining layoffs.
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/top-10-cities-layoffs-americas-pink-slip-capitals/story?id=13742250 - -
Sorry, Kurt……
Can’t consider almost 200K people getting the axe as “positive”.
And, BTW, what’s with this “birth/death” model? Somehow, they generate a magic number that gets (seemingly) pulled out of someone’s rectum, which represents new businesses being “born”
Don’t know about everyone else’s neighborhood, but the only “births” we are seeing around here are all the guys trying to scratch out a living as contractors, usually making half the pay they were before (at best).
It hasn’t changed. Back in the old days, if a King or Emperor had a soothsayer or fortune teller that predicted that there would be 10 bad years, which would end with the death of said King or Emperor, they would get rid of them, and get a new one that generated more optimistic sooths.
Now these guys are called “Economists”, “Researchers” and “Forecasters”.
How can you “add jobs” when ~400,000 people are being laid off EVERY WEEK?
Oh that’s right, they were lying:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/2011/jun/03/us-nonfarm-payrolls-unemployment-white-house?intcmp=239
The White House admitted on Friday that unemployment in the US was “uncomfortably high” after the latest set of figures for the American labour market showed only 54,000 new jobs were created by the world’s biggest economy last month.
The report from the US labour department was the weakest since last September. Private-sector jobs grew by 83,000, the smallest rise since June 2010, while government payrolls fell by 29,000. Employment growth in March and April was revised down by a total of 39,000, while the jobless rate rose in May from 9% to 9.1%
Paris Luxury-Home Prices Increase 22%, Fastest in World, Knight Frank Says (Bloomberg)
Paris luxury-home prices rose the most in the world in the 12 months through March as buyers from emerging markets competed for a limited number of properties, Knight Frank LLP said.
Values of houses and apartments costing more than 2 million euros ($2.9 million) increased 22 percent in the French capital, Mark Harvey, a senior negotiator for the London-based property broker, said in an interview. Hong Kong was second with a 15 percent rise and Helsinki third with 12 percent. Shanghai and Beijing completed the top five.
Buyers from the group of Brazil, Russia, India and China “are increasingly looking to Paris as a safe haven to invest funds in a mature and high-performing market,” Liam Bailey, head of residential research, said in a statement. “Like London, supply is hindered by a paucity of new-build developments.”
Measures by Asian governments to curb property speculation appear to be working, with luxury-home prices in Hong Kong, Shanghai, Beijing and Singapore growing 11 percent as a group in the first quarter compared with 55 percent a year earlier, Bailey said in the statement.
London prices gained 8.6 percent, putting the city in a tie for sixth with Singapore. Zurich followed with an 8 percent increase.
Los Angeles had a 2.2 percent decline and Moscow took the bottom spot on Knight Frank’s 15-member Global Cities Index, with prices contracting 8 percent. The index compares the performance of prime housing markets, defined as the top 5 percent to 10 percent of the mainstream market, in key global cities chosen by the broker.
People are tards.
Goldman Sachs Investigators Bolstered by New York’s Martin Act
By David Voreacos - Jun 4, 2011 Bloomberg
Prosecutors at the Manhattan District Attorney’s Office who are examining Goldman Sachs Group Inc. (GS) may have an easier time than federal authorities in bringing criminal charges because of a 90-year-old New York state law.
District Attorney Cyrus Vance Jr. subpoenaed Goldman Sachs, the fifth-biggest U.S. bank by assets, for records on its activities leading into the credit crisis, two people familiar with the matter said. Vance may bring charges under the state’s Martin Act, which lawyers call a potent tool for New York prosecutors probing investment frauds, Ponzi schemes and other white-collar crime.
To prove securities fraud in federal court, prosecutors must show that a defendant intended to defraud victims and that the investors relied on misstatements or omissions. Under the Martin Act, prosecutors aren’t required to prove intent, said Michael Perino, a law professor at St. John’s University in New York.
“The reason why New York prosecutors love it so much and Wall Street firms hate it so much is that it is a much, much easier case to bring,” Perino said in an interview. “All a prosecutor has to show under the Martin Act is a material misstatement in connection with a securities offering.”
Vance’s subpoena of New York-based Goldman Sachs related to the U.S. Senate’s Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations report on Wall Street’s role in the collapse of the financial markets, said the people, who spoke on condition of anonymity because the inquiry isn’t public.
Reminds me of an apt tune by Syd Straw with Michael Stipe.
This isn’t the way I dreamed
it would be someday (this is
what I’ve settled for) if I had
the chance I’d find a better way
I had some fine dreams
I traded them away
The future looked like the 40’s
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xRBGdVCuC5g