Bits Bucket for April 10, 2012
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.
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Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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Good Morning all.
The house deal terminated yesterday. It seems fwy noise has an atmospheric relationship, and the visit in the yard failed yesterday. And I might add the owners (job relocation seller, owned it since 1990) were way too arrogant and their agent is an a-hole. (redundant, I know)
Amazing, how they treated a cash buyer so poorly, and their pos agent was called to produce comps to back their counter and could not.They’ve been on the market 4 months.
btw, the custom white (not our flavor) kitchen cabinets turned out to be refacing and 2 Home Depot ready made stock ones. The wife told us it was a custom kitchen. Appliances were old/cheap.
Realtors Are Liars. Sellers are Liars. Caveat Emptor, for sure.
That really sucks, you have to wonder wtf is wrong with some of these people, it almost seems like a twilight zone episode sometimes. I hope to see a “normal” market someday, by normal I mean one where houses go up for sale, people come and look at it over a period of time and it sells. Why all of the games? Why do prices have to go up 50% in one year for UHS’s to be happy? You would think that people who make their living from RE transactions would want more transactions…Just crazy.
Good luck to you in your search…Better days.
“Why all of the game$”?
The an$wer is contained in yer question.
The $weet $weet nectar of the “$ingle action depo$it$” … makes the bee’$ a buzzin’
Boy, did they that screw up. With the owners it’s obviously their ego is wound up in their home. That isn’t so uncommon. But the realtor isn’t doing them any favors not considering all offers especially you with the cash offer. Perhaps he gets a kick-back from referrals to lenders, and he’d rather steer the mortgage holding couple into the home?
Hasn’t it been frustrating being a buyer w/money and realizing there is no advantage to the position while credit is still flowing like water? We were originally stunned but now are resigned to the fact that our large downpayment brings us no edge whatsoever even when combined w/the lack of a house sale contingency. I know so many people who own 2 houses right now because they signed away their contingency clause to get the house they wanted.
I’m telling ya in the minds of most buyers I see around me, it’s 2006 all over again…simply because the banking sector returned to easy credit and no one learned their lessons from the first crisis.
because they signed away their contingency clause to get the house they wanted ??
Some of the best deals I have ever made were non-contingent and with a swift close…Just need to do your due-diligence prior to your offer…
scdave,
I don’t doubt it’s been done in the past. I think during the bubble that might have been the norm in the bubble locales. But these people bought their 2nd homes in 2011 and are still sitting on their house #1s. There is another person I knew who just sold hers after owning 3 for a while and 2 for almost 2 years. She sold the most expensive one quickly but her first house ended up rented out. After the first year, the renters negotiated the payment downward so they were paying even less than what we pay in our rental. She just sold it for $50k less than her original asking price. Almost a 20% discount off the original price plus paying the $10k in taxes for 2 years. She also had done quite a bit of renovations while in there. I think she took a bath on that one yet she still tries to tell me we just have to dive in and take a chance. (eyeroll)
CarrieAnn
You nailed part of the issue (behind the seller’s back), the brokerage they just changed to owns a mortgage co. We’re not an additional income stream. Also, they MAKE you use their Title Ins. and Escrow Firm (they own the escrow firm too) in the counter. My husband told them to go to h*ll. It’s a free market out there. I’m turning them into the state. As it turns out, we don’t want the house, but I’ll tell you, this brokerage firm lays DIRTY.
The reason their former agent could not sell their home is it’s been $40K more. At our price point, that’s a lot of money. Another home (a flip w/ a pool and spa) came on the market Friday that blows this one away, but another fwy noise home. In our one-story search most have had noise and/or yard privacy issues. We’re not stupid buyers. Even our Broker hates that.
Spring Premium around our part of So Calif is $20K btw.
lays=plays
My keyboard has been failing. My laptop is on its way out.
Also, they MAKE you use their Title Ins. and Escrow Firm (they own the escrow firm too) in the counter.
You can always write a counter that says you can use whatever companies that you want…
You can always write a counter that says you can use whatever companies that you want… ??
Sure you can but do you also want to pay for it ?? Sellers pay for the title insurance around here why shouldn’t they want choose their own title firm…
Title I have no problem with giving up control, but as a buyer with cash, I want to pick the escrow service. This firm will cut loose of a cash buyer, and blame it on the stubbornness of the buyer. They strong arm people and that “ain’t” right. The seller’s counter was so arrogant, our broker told us to walk. In our area escrow is split. And as it turns out, they can keep their cheap cabinets, mauve tile, and fwy noise for $40K still above real comps. This tight inventory is bringing out the d*cks full force.
I want to pick the escrow service ??
Title & Escrow are one in the same here (1st American Title for example)…If its a mobile home then just a straight escrow company is used…
Most of the local brokerages around here own their own escrow companies. I guess different regions, even with in a state, all work differently.
To be honest, my whole transaction was done by one of the bank-realtor-closing etc conglomerates. As a first time buyer it was just much easier to have that turn-key aspect.
But I did turn down their homeowners insurance and stayed with my old company.
and how many realtor lies did you hear through this entire process?
oxide & CarrieAnn
Check out epinion Buyer Home Protection forum. Those policies are a commission scam(I’m licensed) and the people (99%)who bought homes thinking they would be a good idea (sellers pays)said the seller wasted their money. Maybe on some cheap stuff, they we OK (deductible), but on the expensive stuff, forget it. They flaked.
RAL
We lost track. Lies, omssion of facts lies, arrogance of everyone but us. you name it.These sellers picked a Top Producer Agent who is known to the other liars as a master liar. The sellers think he’s a rock star.We’ll see if they sell their house quickly. Remember, this is a relo. the hubby is already gone. You’re not kidding about liars.
I’ll have to check it out. Thanks for the tip. Sorry you have to go though this. The scam artists control so much of the process these days. It’s getting almost impossible to escape.
How many lies? Probably a few. She said there was a lot of activity in here office, lots of offers. She encouraged me to make a quick offer on something near the top of my price range because all the other houses we had looked at in my price range were trashed rentals.
In the beginning she tried to ensnare me on a couple things. Here’s what a $400K house looks like (that’s out of my price range.) Have I thought about buying with a housemate (HELL NO). How about a condo (HELL NO). I like this (expensive) neighborhood for you (no thanks.)
Then again, I wonder about the lying. Today in the elevator I overhead a someone ask a colleague how the house selling was going. Colleague answered that they had sold after 31 days on the market, and they had gotten their asking price.
Wow, I have’t heard of contingency clauses in years. I wondered what ever happened to them. Was a big deal in the 1980s here.
The agent let the owners meet you before the closing? I though that wasn’t usually allowed because they are “professionals.”
Polly
We don’t get our broker involved until we screen a home. He is the brokerage owner (construction knowledge is his strength). Just like how we found our buyer (twice), it was a casual knock on the door.
Many times, the opposing broker/agents blow the deal. Past grievances or just strong wills clash.
Despite the hocus pocus and rigmarole, RE is really no holds barred horse trading.
It makes buying a used car seem easy.
The noise alone is a killer. If more buyers spent a weekend in the house they were thinking of buying, they’d realize just how much that barking dog collection, the acceleration from the stop sign on the corner, the traffic at the church down the block would drive them crazy during non-business hours. (IE: the time they’d actually be inhabiting the place.)
As for the Barbie-doll cabinetry, yeech.
Congrats, Awaiting. A far, far better place awaits you….
bad particles near freeways a film will deposit over everything
I don’t know how far away one has to be? a google search will probably answer this?
UC Davis said within 100 yards of a fwy was a cancer risk. I went to a R E seminar and the keynote speaker (someone with clout) said it to a room full of realturd and broker types. Disclosure issues was the topic. I would assume it is even further away as more research has come out.
Cactus, thanks for the additional info.
How far freeway noise travels does indeed depend on atmospheric conditions, mainly wind direction and whether or not there’s a low cloud layer. We lived about 1.5 miles west of I-75 in Sarasota and although we could never hear the traffic while inside the house, it was often plainly audible while out on the lanai. On other days there was no evidence of it whatsoever.
Bill - Thanks for the one up. Add to that, we were in the yard on Friday at 4:00PM on Good Friday, light traffic. Then on Monday the true noise was experienced. Thanks for the insight. Appreciated.
ahansen - Thanks for the post and encouragement. You made some excellent points.
Well, as one realtor asked us….”don’t you think the freeway noise kind of sounds like the ocean?”
I knew a lady who had a house near Kolb Road in Tucson. That’s a major road, and it’s not what one would call quiet. She referred to it as the Kolbian Sea.
From the trenches: Courthouse Sale Report. 4/01/12
I went to a local county courthouse foreclosure sale today. Of the 40 or so properties being auctioned, probably at least 75% of the sales were cancelled (postponed is more like it) I suspect by bag-holder lenders who are stalling. There was a girl there wearing jeans who had a stack of papers and was bidding on behalf of several different banks (planintiffs) and she bid $100 on almost every property. Two men bid on houses (one $20k and another $40k - not really sure what was going on there), and they were required to pay 5% cash on the spot. The whole thing went fast and nothing really was accomplished in the clearing of shadow inventory. I am guessing this was a typical sale. That is all.
4/10/12 is what I meant.
If they call back lower your offer by $25K
NYCdj
If your post was addressed to “awaiting”, a $25K savings doesn’t make up for lack of quality in our lifestyle. If we were looking for a rental income home, the fwy noise would not be such an issue.
Besides, our great buyer broker told us a whole house fan would make a lot of noise and not feel remotely like AC comfortable. I’ll tell you, our guy is a gem on the real stuff. He can look at HVAC, pool/spa stuff, plumbing, roof, and tell you when, where, reliability, etc… He’s not just a BS’er.
Yes, ok then really low ball them $100K off… I’m right near the LIE, so its noisy and a lot of traffic at rush hours.
So its all on your lifestyle, i don’t mind noise, its part of city living, the only disadvantage is you cant leave the windows open on a cool night unless you are a heavy sleeper which i usually am…lots of bouncing truck noises hitting the dips and potholes.
I’ve had country living and at the time that was good too..hearing crickets cats birds nice big yards….but do i want to take on the whole outside responsibility …my father loved to mow the lawn it was relaxing for him.. I’d let the grass grow 3 feet high.
The wife told us it was a custom kitchen.”
been there except I was told it was a custom paint job white over brown it looked terrible
Yes Virginia….. realtors are liars.
How many states (- Virginia) are there in America these a-day$?
Your can throw Puerto Rico too iffin’ yous like!
AIG looking at buying home loans: FT
Sun Apr 1, 2012 6:52pm EDT
(Reuters) - Bailed-out insurer American International Group (AIG.N) is looking at the possibility of purchasing whole loans as another investment vehicle, leveraging the growing market share of its mortgage insurance business, the company’s chief executive said in an interview with the Financial Times.
“We’re now thinking about maybe we should try to find a way to buy the mortgages that we’re insuring,” Bob Benmosche told the paper.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/01/us-aig-idUSBRE8300J820120401 - 97k
That is a way to make sure that the servicer doesn’t screw you over by forgiving the borrower’s principle to fulfill its requirements under the settlement with the state AGs.
the servicer doesn’t screw you over by forgiving the borrower’s principle ”
like a Short Sale ?
Unbef@ckinglievable. My eyes are rolled so far back in my head I think they might actually stick. What is wrong with this ̶c̶o̶u̶n̶t̶r̶y̶ world?
“AIG looking at buying home loans: FT”
Better hurry up, before the Fed rolls out its mortgage-bond-oriented QE3.
Living ‘underwater’ the new normal?
Tue, Apr 3, 2012 - FOX News 2:55 | 2,495 views
Millions of homes worth fraction of their mortgages
http://news.yahoo.com/video/us-15749625/living-underwater-the-new-normal-28818637.html - 190k
When does the new normal stop being “new” and just become normal?
Just across the wires;
“Barnanke calls on regulators to limit shadow banking risk”….
So what does that mean ??
What do you think it means?
Means an “unseen Financial Innovation$” group has learned to play “Hanky-Panky” $imilar to Enwrong.
(but really, I’m just gue$$ing/$peculating)
“Barnanke calls on regulators to limit shadow banking risk”….
“So what does that mean ??”
bUM BA BUM,
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a everlovin’ light on me
Yonder come Barnanke, how in the world did you know?
Cause he been lookin at the shadow, and he sreamed OH NO!
Printing press up on his shoulder, piece of paper in his hand
He come to see Obama, with a workout plan
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a everlovin’ light on me
That was a premature launch much like the one that ended Cousin Jethro`s Dj career with WHBB. Rumor has it Cousin Jethro is still on the corner of 45th St. and I 95 with a “Will Spin for Food” sign and squatting at night in Lynn Szymoniak`s pool cabana.
Creedence Clearwater Revival - The Midnight Special (LYRICS + …
Apr 26, 2010 … http://EasyLyrics.org Your ultimate lyrics search engine and index! Find these lyrics at: …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RYFHn0_LnX4 - 127k - Cached - Similar pages
lmao….. Cousin Jethro spinnin’ da hits on WHBB.
But you better not complain, boy,
You get in trouble with the man
Bum ba bum, Bum ba bum
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a everlovin’ light on me
Yonder come miss alpha, how in the world did you know?
By the way she wears her apron and the clothes she woe.
Umbrella on her shoulder, piece of paper in her hand;
She come to see the Banker, she wants a workout plan.
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a light on me
Let the Deadbeat Special shine a everlovin’ light on me
lmao….. Cousin Jethro spinnin’ da hits on WHBB.
And for all of you listeners west of the Mississippi, tune in to KHBB. We’re also streaming live at KHBB.org.
Sorry, couldn’t resist a little deejay-speak there.
“The heavy human and economic costs of the crisis underscore the importance of taking all necessary steps to avoid a repeat of the events of the past few years,” Bernanke said yesterday in a speech in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Bernanke supported efforts to increase the “resiliency” of money market funds, referring to Securities and Exchange Commission proposals to require firms to maintain capital buffers or to redeem shares at the market value of underlying assets rather than at a fixed price of $1. He also called for efforts to monitor financial innovation and backed curbs on intraday credit in tri-party repo markets.
An average of more than $2.8 trillion in securities was financed during the market peak in 2008 through tri-party transactions, many of which had short-term maturities. During the first quarter of 2010, the value of securities financed by tri-party repo had fallen to an average of $1.7 trillion, according to New York Fed calculations based on Bank of New York and JPMorgan Chase & Co. data and cited in a May 2010 Fed paper.
Following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. in 2008, Bernanke flooded the financial system with liquidity by opening facilities that provided credit to money market funds, primary dealers, commercial paper markets, banks and other borrowers.
Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/g/a/2012/04/10/bloomberg_articlesM28OQL0D9L3501-M28S3.DTL#ixzz1reaB0jzN
Bernanke supported efforts to increase the “resiliency” of money market funds, referring to Securities and Exchange Commission proposals to require firms to maintain capital buffers or to redeem shares at the market value of underlying assets rather than at a fixed price of $1. He also called for efforts to monitor financial innovation and backed curbs on intraday credit in tri-party repo markets.
POOF goes a lot of the available credit for short term financing. Just another way to force Joe 6 pack to jump into the FED sponsored game of Russion Roulette. More risk More risk. I suspect this will cause short term Treasuries to gain as people continue to look for a way to store their wealth.
If that happens with mmkt I will roll my IRA back to my bank.
Can’t do anything about the 401k, though, unless I quit my job.
“The heavy human and economic costs of the crisis underscore the importance of taking all necessary steps to avoid a repeat of the events of the past few years,” Bernanke said yesterday in a speech in Stone Mountain, Georgia.
Usually a stiff (hehe) prison sentence, i.e., a thick water moccasin for a cell mate would deter such behavior.
I posted a link below about a wealthy Chinese woman sentenced to execution for “shadow banking.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-10/shadow-banks-on-trial-as-china-s-rich-sister-faces-death.html
Millions of homes worth fraction of their mortgages
The RE rag at the grocery store doorway in our area is disproportionately filled with high-end homes, which is just the opposite of the way things were when the bubble was inflating.
Same with all the “Homes and Land” rags at the subway stop. The DC-area mags are almost all McMansions, nothing that’s more than 15 years old. The mags for Shenandoah Valley (second homes) are a little more varied.
I call those mags real estate p0rn. Because they get you all excited. And then you realize that you can’t afford any of the houses in them.
I call those mags real estate p0rn.
All that space, the granite, jetted tubs, etc., just doesn’t do it for me…never did…not even a twitch.
I gotta admit I kinda like the standard McMansion stuff. But I don’t want to clean or maintain it. And I sure ain’t selling myself into slavery for 30 years for it.
Carl
Use to call ours “the woman killer”. You’re not missing anything. Go rent one on vacation and get it out of your system.
…lmao AZ.
(I agree with this study but they really didn`t need to do a study they just could have asked me)
Study Hits Banks On Foreclosure Maintenance.
April 4, 2012, 5:19 PM.
By Alan Zibel
A consumer-advocate group said in a report Wednesday that a study of foreclosed properties found that banks have higher standards for properties they own in wealthy, predominantly white, neighborhoods than low-income ones, raising a new civil-rights challenge against the mortgage industry.
The report by the National Fair Housing Alliance examined more than 1,000 foreclosed properties in nine cities: Atlanta; Baltimore; Dallas; Dayton, Ohio; Miami; Oakland, Calif., Philadelphia; Phoenix and Washington, D.C.
“This report offers evidence that banks responsible for peddling unsustainable loans to communities of color and triggering our current foreclosure crisis are continuing to damage those communities by failing to properly maintain and market the properties they own,” Shanna L. Smith, the housing alliance’s chief executive, said in a statement. The group said it is planning legal action against two banks, which it didn’t name.
From the report:
Homes in white neighborhoods were cared for in a substantially better manner than those in communities of color. While [foreclosed] properties in predominantly white neighborhoods were more likely to have neatly manicured lawns, securely locked doors, and attractive “for sale” signs out front, homes in communities of color were more likely to have overgrown yards littered with trash, unsecured doors, broken windows, and indications of marketing as a distressed sale.
http://blogs.wsj.com/developments/2012/04/04/study-hits-banks-on-foreclosure-maintenance/ - 67k -
Depths of foreclosure crisis difficult to measure
Updated 4/1/2012 5:15 PM
But this stretch of 21st Street, pocked by homes with boarded-up windows and dead-ending at railroad tracks, is unlikely to make it to a tourism poster. Verna turns the car around in case he needs to make a quick exit and tucks a Smith & Wesson pistol into his jeans.
“Just watch your step,” the real estate agent says, parting bushes grown across the building’s entry path. Beyond is the darkened doorway to Unit 1 — missing its door.
“I think there’s a dead animal over there,” Verna says, aiming his flashlight at brown fur in the center of a living-room floor blanketed in garbage. The stench of whatever’s in there is potent. Nobody is home.
Verna is here because he specializes in distressed properties and Florida, thrashed by the mortgage crisis,
http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/story/2012-04-01/foreclosure-crisis-florida/53929010/1 - 64k -
BOFA just took a 300k bath on the house next to me and yet they have money to hire a lawn crew, must be nice. I mow my own lawn with a 10 year mower that needs a full time mechanic to keep it rolling.
BOFA just took a 300k bath ??
Or was it really a “flush” as in toilet ??
Because, someone is helping BOFA cover that loss…Who would that be ?
mr taxpayer likes to get hosed.
BOFA just took a 300k bath on the house next to me and yet they have money to hire a lawn crew, must be nice.
Sounds like they took the house, but they have no yet taken a bath. That only happens when they have to sell and recognize the loss. At the moment, they’re just holding a house that they think is worth $300K more than the neighbors’ houses!
It is in escrow, the NOD was back in FEB 2008.So add in 4 years of carrying costs to that 300k loss too. What ever happened to mark to market accounting?
I mow my own lawn with a 10 year mower that needs a full time mechanic to keep it rolling.
Buy an electric with a cord not battery powered. No maintenance, no gas fumes, no oil changes. My 12 year old Black and Decker which has seen some heavy use runs like a champ. The only thing I’ve done is take a file to the blade a couple of times.
I mow my own lawn with a 10 year mower that needs a full time mechanic to keep it rolling.
I gave away a thirty year old Snapper commercial 21″ push mower to a friend, and I bought a new Honda HRC216HXA commercial 21″ with the hydrostatic drive. Yeah, it’s heavy, but it starts right up and cuts a beautiful lawn with less noise too.
While costly, newer mowers are both quieter and more fuel efficient and come standard with variable self propelled and rear bagging/mulching.
Thanks for the reminder. I need to report a few places around here. Obviously bank-owned, but not being tended to.
City has this really cool reporting form. And the city inspectors DO NOT like unkempt foreclosures.
Firm sells former foreclosures in bulk
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 6:49 p.m. Monday, April 9, 2012
WEST PALM BEACH — Real Estate Asset Disposition Corp. specializes in selling bank-owned homes, but with foreclosure inventory shrinking, the company is turning to bulk sales to buoy business.
Jim Banford, chief executive of Real Estate Asset Disposition Corp., has bundled five groupings of previously foreclosed homes in West Palm Beach, Jacksonville, Fort Lauderdale, New York and South Carolina for investors wanting ready rental income and little renovation.
The homes, which are in packages of between 10 and 40 properties, were mostly bought piecemeal at foreclosure auction by other investors who have already made improvements and found tenants. Only homes in the New York bundle, which includes properties in Ohio, are still in need of remodeling, Banford said.
The bundles will be available for viewing today at http://www.reoinsider.net .
“All the heavy lifting has been done,” said Banford, whose main office is in West Palm Beach. “People are chasing cash flow and this is cash flowing from Day One.”
Banford, who founded his company 11 years ago, said he started looking at bundling sales as the number of bank-owned properties dwindled.
In Palm Beach County, just 1,957 “lender-mediated” homes and condominiums, which are bank-owned or listed as a short sale, were on the market for sale in February.
That’s down 71 percent from the 6,810 properties on the market in February 2011, according to the Realtors Association of the Palm Beaches.
And although the pool of bank-owned homes for sale might increase as lenders move properties through the foreclosure process, Banford said he couldn’t stand by idly waiting for that to happen.
“This is looking at a new twist to keep things going,” he said.
If successful, Johnson said banks likely will try to emulate the plan.
Federal mortgage backer Fannie Mae is already selling foreclosed homes in bulk to investors who plan to rent them out. Of 2,490 properties that went up for sale nationwide in late February, about 420 are in Southeast Florida.
Banford has 40 properties for sale in his Fort Lauderdale bundle, which includes 61 individual units bringing in about $770,000 in annual gross rent income, he said.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/firm-sells-foreclosures-in-bulk-2292903.html -
‘Fannie Mae is already selling foreclosed homes in bulk to investors who plan to rent them out’
Fannie has been offering bulk sales for years, with no rental restrictions, as has Freddie and Wells Fargo. Nobody buys them cuz the package is bogus. These kinds of stories are part of the hurry up and buy campaign.
READC is just another auction company. ‘this is cash flowing from Day One’, I bet it is, right into their pocket.
Just like HBB called it
Pump up housing with easy credit.
Trigger a collapse.
Let the FED bail you out.
Then use near zero % loans to purchase homes in bulk (ie the average citizen doesn’t get a chance to purchase homes)
I’m sure many of these purchases come with a written or understood guarantee that they will get bailed out as well.
Not the program that I posted about yesterday. The Fannie Mae bulk program I read about had language that you accept the risk; if you lose you’re SOL. No bailouts.
And you already have to manage REO “in the course of everyday business” with already “established experience.”
AND you need to prove you have CASH.
And the houses are NOT a security so you can’t slice ‘em up.
And you can’t set up an entity for the sole purpose of buying in bulk.
And you have to qualify even before they give you information about the homes.
To which pennies-on-the dollar program do you refer? Link please.
To me, it seems as if a lot of wannabe in-VEST-ors won’t qualify for the Fannie Mae bulk buying program. And that might just be a good thing. The proof, as always, will be in the pudding.
Homes for the price of a car
By Erika Riggs, Zillow
April 2, 2012
A house for the price of an SUV? That’s plausible, given the dip in housing. But a home for the price of a Ford Fiesta?
Whoa. Now there’s a value-bending proposition.
While most people don’t think of real estate in prices relative to that of a car, there are houses in some parts of the United States that are for sale with listing prices just like what you’d see at an auto dealership.
And we’re not talking about a house priced at the median home value of $150,000, which is akin to the sticker price of an Aston Martin. The homes featured below compare more favorably to standard highway fare: Nissans, Hondas, Fords, etc.
Some of these properties are distressed sales — either foreclosed or in the midst of a short sale — and some need a little renovation, but that’s still a pretty impressive given that they’re all comparable to the price of a new car.
1620 W 2nd N, Wichita, KS
For sale: $54,900
1404 22nd St, Two Rivers, WI
For sale: $29,900
15851 Rutherford St., Detroit, MI
For sale: $12,900
210 Melrose Circle, North Little Rock, AR
For sale: $30,000
969 Tunstall St, Memphis, TN
For sale: $24,000
121 comments
Thomas Fry · RETS
GO AHEAD buy that home in DETROIT for 12,900….then spend another 12,900..for the alarm system and assault rifles your going to need to get in it.
Reply · 52 · Like· April 3 at 9:51am
Naisha Feliciano-Brown
only ninja’s need apply
Reply · 14 · Like· April 3 at 10:03am
Bhaktavar Thakur
Also along with the Home Loan the buyer should make all final arrangements with a Funeral Home ! Actually 12,900 should buy 3 blocks in that crime infested dump.
Reply · 12 · Like· April 3 at 12:14pm
Jack Gaither
Goes to show how over-priced cars are.
Reply · 21 · Like· April 3 at 10:38am
Bhaktavar Thakur
But shouldn’t the homes in Detroit be free? Who would want to go and live in that dump?
Reply · 13 · Like· April 3 at 9:40am
Frederick Baum · Lake Worth Community High School
How much is that in dime bags?
Reply · 14 · Like· April 3 at 11:59am
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/homes-for-the-price-of-a-car.html - 56k -
I dont think you could pay me to take one of those homes in detroit.
You used to be able to get a Detroit house for a dollar, maybe you still can. Same with Cleveland.
Better hurry though, at these prices they will soon be all sold out.
I dont think you could pay me to take one of those homes in detroit.
What, you don’t like great neighbors and weather?
Here’s your competition, Jeff.
Florida 14-Year-Old Buys Distressed Home
ABC News
By Susanna Kim
@skimm
Follow on Twitter
Mar 12, 2012 1:44pm
After Willow Tufano earned $6,000 from antiquing and selling items on Craigslist, the 14-year-old asked her mom if she could invest in half of a short sale in her home state of Florida.
With her saved money, she didn’t want to buy or barter for another longboard skate board or Xbox. Instead she set her sights on a three-bedroom short sale of $12,000 that was worth about $100,000 at the peak of the housing market, as reported by NPR’s Planet Money.
“If there’s one thing I want people to know, it’s that your age does not matter,” Tufalo told ABC News. ”If I can inspire another person my age, younger, that would mean the world.
Tufano’s mother, Shannon Moore, is a broker who owns several rental properties with her husband. When Tufano heard that her mother was considering purchasing the home, she asked her mom if she could buy half of it with the hope of buying the other half eventually. Florida requires a minimum age of 18 to own property.
Tufano is splitting the proceeds from the rental income with her mom and says she will use that to buy out her mom’s share.
Asked if she was considering a career in real estate, Tufano said she preferred investing. “I’m not so sure about real estate,” she said. “But investing is really cool. You get to see a property that was a mess before and afterward see that it’s beautiful. I suppose with real estate you can connect with people more, but I would probably prefer investing.”
Tufano, who is home-schooled, said her favorite subject is American history, but dislikes algebra because she is “really, really bad at math.”
“Here’s your competition, Jeff.”
I checked the kid out, she is a cute little Slumlord I`ll give you that. I`m sure her broker Mom has section 8 tennants all ready to move in and sleep on that free mattress and bed for their new living space.
“After the purchase, Tufano helped her mom fix up the home so it would be suitable to rent to tenants and even found them a free mattress and bed for their new living space. Tufano, who is home schooled, will split the rental proceeds with her mom until she can finally buy her out. But she probably won’t be following in her mom’s footsteps.”
oops- here’s the link
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/business/2012/03/florida-14-year-old-buys-distressed-home/
I wonder why they did the video during the day?
North Port Fl. Crime
Arrest Arson Assault Burglary Robbery Shooting Theft Vandalism Other
Other @ 10XX WATERSIDE 04/04/12 06:30 PM
Assault @ 95XX 103 AVE 03/18/12 05:50 PM
Other @ 24XX COUGAR WAY 03/08/12 01:32 PM
Assault @ 72XX 144 AVENUE 02/26/12 07:36 PM
Other @ 95XX 102 AVENUE 02/16/12 04:08 PM
Other @ 23XX VILLA AV 02/11/12 01:58 AM
Other @ OAK STREET/N TAMIAMI TRL 01/31/12 03:57 AM
Shooting @ 11XX AMNESTY DR 01/02/12 05:35 PM
Vandalism @ 105XX SOUTH ACCESS RD 01/02/12 03:31 PM
Burglary @ 71XX MATHON CT 12/26/11 02:48 PM
Other @ 29XX VINELAND AVE 12/17/11 02:40 PM
Assault @ 32XX 116A AVE 12/04/11 08:15 PM
Assault @ 100XX 106 AVE 11/29/11 02:01 PM
Other @ OAK STREET/N TAMIAMI TRL 11/20/11 04:10 PM
Assault @ 99XX 106 AVE 11/11/11 11:35 AM
Other @ OAK STREET/N TAMIAMI TRL 11/07/11 02:06 AM
Other @ OAK STREET/N TAMIAMI TRL 11/07/11 02:06 AM
Other @ OAK STREET/N TAMIAMI TRL 11/05/11 10:40 PM
Assault @ 4XX SEVILLA ST 10/21/11 12:13 PM
Other @ BARNACLE CT 09/27/11 06:31 PM
Assault @ ASHLAND LANE 09/25/11 07:30 PM
Other @ XX HARWICH CIR 08/07/11 03:38 PM
Shooting @ XX BEVERLY CIR 08/05/11 07:10 PM
Shooting @ XX BEVERLY CIR 08/05/11 07:02 PM
Assault @ 82XX LOMBRA AVE 08/03/11 06:53 PM
Shooting @ 27XX TRAVERSE AVE 07/28/11 03:19 PM
Other @ 210XX CHIPMAN AVE 04/11/11 04:11 PM
Shooting @ 25XX ALBREN ST 03/30/11 12:12 AM
Shooting @ 100XX 29A AVE 02/28/11 09:00 PM
Assault @ 95XX 118 AVE 02/23/11 01:49 PM
Arrest @ 80XX CASCADAS AVENUE 01/30/11 01:00 AM
Assault @ 1XX S. MCCALL RD 01/19/11 06:50 PM
Assault @ 100XX 102 A AVE 01/16/11 09:34 PM
Assault @ 70XX QUIGLEY ST 01/02/11 07:19 PM
Sounds like a typical Florida neighborhood, eh?
“Sounds like a typical Florida neighborhood, eh?”
Ask President Obama he’s hitting a couple of Florida neighborhoods today.
President Obama’s motorcade in Palm Beach Gardens
By George Bennett and Jennifer Sorentrue
Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 6:05 a.m. Tuesday, April 10, 2012
PALM BEACH GARDENS — WEST PALM BEACH - President Obama’s motorcade just got off Interstate 95 at PGA Boulevard about 12:10 p.m. after arriving at Palm Beach International Airport at 11:38 a.m.
Interstate 95 was closed as the president headed north to Palm Beach Gardens for a lunch-time fundraiser at the Palm Beach Gardens home of former Pratt & Whitney executive Hansel Tookes for $10,000 a plate.
Interstate 95 south and north of the airport is blocked.
From Palm Beach Gardens, The president will travel to the Boca Raton campus of Florida Atlantic University for what is billed as a non-campaign event on the economy. Obama is expected to promote the “Buffett Rule,” a call for those making $1 million or more per year to pay at least 30 percent of their income in taxes.
After his FAU appearance, Obama will head to Hollywood for a fundraiser at the Westin Diplomat Hotel, then to Golden Beach for a $15,000-a-head dinner fundraiser at the home of attorney Jeremy Alters in Golden Beach.
PS
The FAU stop is so President Obama’s campign does not have to pay for the trip.
I hope Willow remembers to file her taxes. IRS is cracking down on folks selling on Ebay, etc. and making sure they get their cut. Anyone selling over $20K is getting a 1099K.
I hope Willow remembers to file her taxes. IRS is cracking down on folks selling on Ebay, etc.
If I can read between the lines, it sounds like she’s getting the stuff from her mom’s work with foreclosures, and maybe rentals.
I’ve actually picked up some nice stuff that was left behind by previous renters, over the years.
IRS definition of income: all income from whatever source derived. Selling used sh!t for cash counts.
Selling used sh!t for cash counts.
Except if that is true, you should also be able to claim a capital-loss on the spread between what you purchased it for, and what you sold it for…
Income == Loss, so there would be no tax liability there. Unless I’m missing something…
p.s. I’m just assuming that most people sell used sh!t for less than they bought it for. If they manage to sell something for more than the purchase price, then the spread would be taxable, presumably as capital gains.
Well, she certainly is getting an education at a young age.
Goes to show how over-priced cars are.
damn rights.
It looks as if a short-term bottom in the stock market might have been made yesterday in that a lot of stocks experienced a key reversals day.
Every time I want to get into stocks I just remind myself that “Cash is King” and I don’t buy any. This has been working really well for me ever since I first learned who/what the king was back in 2008 or 2009.
I just think of a dear old friend. Guy was fond of saying that he was more interested in the return OF his money than the return ON his money.
He accumulated quite a bit of the green stuff by living very frugally, saving up big stacks of money, and, when he was in an investing mood, he stayed with Treasuries. No stocks for him.
His estate has helped quite a few organizations in this community.
short-term bottom in the stock market might have been made
yesterday ??
To the moon Alice !!…Goosed by the fed’s….Take interest rates to 7% then tell me how the market does…
I think dow 8000 would be a nice bottom. Stocks are way overpriced as the economy has done nothing since 2009. Goods and services are an economy not printing. AAPL is 36% of s&p q1 earnings. there are a handful of stocks that seem to be keeping the market up.
Here’s the headline at Yahoo Finance:
‘Stocks Head for Fith Day of Declines’
Things are well at best buy:
http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2012/04/10/best-buy-ceo-resigns-shares-jump/?mod=yahoo_hs
Churn baby churn!
Disco inferno!
Churn baby churn!
Here’s the headline at Yahoo Finance:
Guess it was the overpaid spellers that got the pink slips.
“take interest rates to 7%…”
That would be death for the DOW. Not the least of which because all those scaredy-cat individual investors (read: OPM) would move their money to savings accounts at the credit union.
Yep. ‘Tis but a pipe dream for us. I’ve been laughed at twice in the past week for suggesting such a thing. I’m going reverse-psychology on the whole thing. That way unmet expectations can’t put a damper on things day after day.
In the meantime, low rates allow the masses to buy $300k houses for $500k and be satisfied in thinking they got away with something by doing so.
“take interest rates to 7%…”
that would be one way to get you some $ 2.00 gas.
It looks as if another short-term bottom in the stock market might be made today.
But never fear, as each leg down in stock prices represents a greater likelihood the Fed will soon invoke QE3.
how much QE will it take this time to keep the market in levitation mode?
you mean today ?
It’s 2006 again in Portland, people, if not worse. Houses in my former nabe that had dropped to the mid-300s are now being listed in the mid 400s - mid 500s. One such place was purchased in 2010, after being rehabbed, for $300k. It is now on the market for $585k and PENDING. Someone actually sat and thought, “Yes, that’s the one, and we want it at almost $300k above what it sold for 2 years ago.” The suburbs are mostly hosed, but it’s alive and well close-in to the city.
I’d gladly pay about $350k for most of these places. You want to pay $350k? There’s a few 1 bedroom high-rise condos in town for that price.
It’s as though people acknowledged the downturn, declared it over, and multiplied the 2007 price by 1.15^5.
Cash is king? Well apparently there’s so much of it that it appears to be just that…
Why does Ben Bernanke hate me?
Why does Ben Bernanke hate me?
Because you are too smart for your own good and, worst of all, you are a saver.
“Why does Ben Bernanke hate me?”
All savers shall be subject to extraordinary rendition through the Fed’s QE waterboarding program.
Yeah, and I’m here to state, officially, that it effing blows. It took awhile, but I’m finally seeing the reality firsthand of the QE effect.
Didn’t think it possible that this thing would, COULD come back…but here it is.
Did anyone notice that the Palm Beach Realtor who was found shot dead (possibly self-inflicted) in a parking garage had this Florida license plate: 410-LYR?
Realtors are LYRs.
Too soon?
I read about him. He had a fancy business and built stuff for Donald Trump and sh!t. He must’ve had a lot on his mind…
http://www.barclaysgroup.com/bio.html
Here in Tucson, there’s an unsolved murder involving a guy who worked for the same mortgage originator that I made the mistake of using back in 2004. (Wish I’d known about the HBB back then, but live and learn.)
Any-hoo, the guy was gunned down in a Chik-fil-A back about three years ago. The killer got away on (get this) a bicycle.
The victim was at a meeting of a Christian business group. Apparently, he got religion after his former employer got into trouble with the state of Arizona, which eventually closed the mortgage company down.
Early last year, I met an attorney who had worked on the mortgage company case for the state. He referred to the guy who was murdered as his prime witness. Methinks that someone didn’t want him to talk.
Oh HO! Well, well, well.
Who needs truth when you are trying to score political points?
This AM, The Donald was on CNBC to promote The Apprentice, and as usual, he tries to talk economics.
So, Mr. Kernen tosses up a softball question about Obama and asks whether he’ll (Obama) be able to get unemployment back down to the 7.8% where it was when he took office.
WHAT?????
WHAT?????
That number is the January 2009 number, but Obama didn’t take office until the end of the month. The February number, that reflects his actual first month in office, is 8.3%.
We are already below that!
Ignoring that they are comparing the last Bush number, not the first Obama number, or anything like momentum and 2nd how the 2nd derivitive turned positive the moment Obama’s stimulus pased…
Oh, says The Donald. Those are phony numbers anyway. It ignores all the people that gave up looking. Real unemployment is above 21%, or maybe 25%….
Oh, like the Jan 2009 number under Bush that they are trying to compare to included everyone.
Labor force participation had already fallen more than 1% from the peak in the late 1990s, and was always expected to accelerate to the down side when the Boomers started breaking 63….in…yes…2009.
From looking at the graph of participation rate, what I see is the housing bubble artificially propping up the participation rate for a few years, and the crash just putting us back on the trajectory that was established prior to the housing boom.
Seems awfully convenient that “official” unemployment numbers are starting to drop just months before the next election.
UE stats have always been fudged since Reagan.
The real telling point for most people is the stock market, which has gone up in the last 3 years.
(I know the stock market is not the economy and the president has no influence, but there is no denying it has gone up under Obama, which much really stick in a lot of neocons’ craw)
Looks like China is taking this whole financial fraud thing seriously by threatening to execute those convicted of it. In the US, the Fed and government would have responded with a firehose of taxpayer funded bailout money and healthy bonuses for the executive teams. To, you know, retain the talent. So the taxpayer could experience the exquisite taste of BOHICA. Quite a contrast in the approach of the two countries in dealing with financial misconduct.
Prosecutors later upgraded the charges against her to financial fraud, a crime punishable by death in the most severe cases, for losing 380 million yuan of investors’ money. Two years later, she was sentenced to die.
The court found that Wu raised her money by “fabricating facts, deliberately hiding the truth, and promising high returns as an incentive,” according to Xinhua.
Photographs of Wu in court show her sobbing as she stands at the dock, clad in a yellow prison jacket, her tattoo peeking from the neckline. She has been in prison appealing her conviction since her arrest in 2007. Xinhua reported in April 2011 that Wu was writing a book called “Black Swan,” a fictional account of her life, while in prison.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-10/shadow-banks-on-trial-as-china-s-rich-sister-faces-death.html
I’m sure it’s only the mid and lower level guys or the guys that screw the politicians that get the death penalty.
380 million yen isn’t “low level”.
If only we had that here.
The only Chinese women to have tattoos are the criminals!
Facebook drops $1 billion on a company that has virtually no revenue and no viable plan on how to make any revenue?
Holy Snap, it’s 1998 all over again. In this new economy, it is about eyeballs, even if those eyeballs are never going to give you even $1 for your product.
Darrell, be patient. And recall that 1998 was followed by the dot-com bust a couple of years later.
Furthermore, the business world is starting to wake up to the reality of social media. Here’s an example, courtesy of branding guru Rob Frankel. Quoth the brandmeister:
While there’s no question social media links people together 24/7, it really only does it for social reasons. Keeping up with your boyfriend, your Uncle Ned, the Class of 2006 — whatever — is perfect for sites like Facebook, Vimeo and Picasa. But when marketing people try to leverage social media for business, the results aren’t quite so good. Sure, you’re going to hear a lot of advertising and marketing people hawk the virtues of social media, but if you look really, really closely at their claims, you’ll see why it’s called social media and not business media.
Exactly slim….what good is it for me to get 5000 FB friends if only 100 live near NYC?
Now if i had an daily internet radio show, the 5000 fans would jump start the numbers to attract paid advertisers.
For me FB friends are just people I don’t want to lose touch with. I have no desire to try to revenue-ize them.
The same reason I quit Facebook.
Whats facebook ??
Carl: I wouldn’t waste time on FB unless i can try to revenue-ize it..or make contacts with talk show hosts who might need a production assistant.
Its a big waste of time, and do i really want to be friends with GF’s (ok sex) i knew when i was 19… yes i know some of my old GF are on FB…
Plus and I never ever see any ads on it….maybe my ad blocker is that good.
Might try linked-in but it seems you need to build up a rep before you start asking everyone for a job.
Slimmie, that is so awesome I can’t hardly stand it. This is an issue that my sis and I have discussed ad nauseum. Businesses have jumped on the social media bandwagon like a buncha chimps, fingering themselves and chattering away like it’s the solution to all their marketing problems.
As my sis has often observed, “social media” as a business tool is just a way for some businesses to avoid doing the necessary, frequently painful and hum-drum but traditionally effective actions of actually finding and approaching potential new clients. We’ve watched the explosion of “social media” gurus hosing small and medium sized businesses and just shaken our heads. And yet the businesses desperately advertise for these people to come and screw them over. If I were a biz owner being approached by one of these dicks, I’d tell them if it’s that great, surely they’d be willing to work on the come.
It’s like the craze during the 1980s for small businesses to have local television ads. Being in the business, I knew what worked and what didn’t. TV doesn’t work for everyone and in order for it to be truly effective, you have to be able to run the ads for long enough and often enough to make an impression.
Now, having a user friendly, interesting business website, that makes sense. Having a Facebook page? Who cares?
“But when marketing people try to leverage social media for business, the results aren’t quite so good.”
Business owners are just as guilty. I’ve lost clients trying to explain this to them.
And they didn’t just try to leverage it, they tried to make it the entire focus of their on-line presence. Why? Because they didn’t want to pay for a real website and someone to maintain it.
I hope that blogs are soon seen the same way.
turk, ED ZACHARY! See my post above.
Business-wise, social media is a huge bust, but it’s like the Emperor’s New Clothes.
Your advice, to have a decent, credible, well-maintained, user friendly website, is the only way to go.
Many business owners can’t handle the truth. I’ve just recently dealt with exactly that issue.
I hope that blogs are soon seen the same way.
Except, of course, this blog.
Exactly. This blog is a great example how it should be done.
I think I`ll go puke now.
ProPublica foreclosure song is the new Schoolhouse Rock
by Kim Miller
A generation of Americans learned the basics of history, politics and grammar through Saturday morning Schoolhouse Rock songs, but ProPublica has a catchy new tune to teach us all about the housing crisis.
In the nearly 4-minute long diddy, The Great American Foreclosure Song, the roots of the real estate market crash and subsequent foreclosure mire are outlined in a surprisingly accurate fashion considering we’re talking about an animated song.
Check it out here.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, April 10th, 2012 at 8:27 am and is filed under Foreclosures, Housing affordability, Housing boom, Mortgage fraud, Mortgages, Real estate bust, Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.
Video: The Great American Foreclosure Song - ProPublica
1 day ago … Looking to get a handle on the foreclosure crisis, the loan modification fiasco, and the robo-signing scandal? We put it all in a music video.
http://www.propublica.org/article/video-the-great-american-foreclosure-song - 48k - Cached -
That song rocks. I’m gonna bast it out my windows til the cops come.
They’re getting into your territory, Jeff- and they’re writing their own songs. THEY WIN!
I stopped watching at 1:59
One Response to “ProPublica foreclosure song is the new Schoolhouse Rock”
1
jeff saturday Says:
April 10th, 2012 at 2:07 pm
“the roots of the real estate market crash and subsequent foreclosure mire are outlined in a surprisingly accurate fashion considering we’re talking about an animated song.”
accurate? Are we not forgetting these homeowner victims took out these loans and refied their houses as if they were ATM machines from 2004-2006. How long have you lived here Kim Miller? I have lived here since 1983 and I remember very clearly how people in Palm Beach Gardens and Jupiter bragged about how much money they had made on their houses in 05 and 06. The whistle blower queen Lynn S. refied many times to the tune of hundreds of thousands of $ the last being in 2007. She is a white collar crime lawyer are you telling me she didn`t know what she was signing? People are still collecting rent and not paying their mortgage, the lady you had a story on who was about to lose her Hardest Hit money was collecting rent on 2 condos she had not made a payment on in years and there are thousands more doing the same thing in South Fl. Yes the banks were criminal but many of these victim Homeowners were Donald Trump wanabees who didn`t care what they were signing at the peak of the bubble because “Scipps was coming” and they were all going to be millionaires. When it went bad they screamed foul. Now they want free houses? Heads I win Tails you lose? What happens to renters who didn`t buy into the mania when they lose there jobs? I`ll tell you what you`re out on the street in 2 months that`s what. I know of many people who have been living in “their” houses for 3= years without making a payment and they are still crying foul. So this song doesn`t really tell the whole story now does it.
Ding, ding, ding! We have a winner!
I just got word that my bicycle photography book just won a regional award! It’s going on to the national Addy Awards, which are in Austin, Texas on June 5th.
AWESOME! Congrats, Slim!
Very cool. Congtats
I thought you only snapped fixies.
You Rock!
From the Palmster.
Congrats! You’re on a roll, Slim. Time to buy that lottery ticket.
Richly deserved, Slim. Congrats!
Elanor
Whoo! Hoo! Hope you grab some more jobs from the recognition!
Congrats!
Az Slim
I’m tickled for you.
Congrats!
Good for you, Slim. This is a valuable addition to your portfolio. Here, have a video of Danny McAskill trial riding around Ediburgh:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z19zFlPah-o
Yup, jumping for joy on my bike. That’s how I feel right now. Thanks, oxide, for the video link!
Way to go!
What talent! Many congrats, richly deserved!
Methinks your aim is a tad low, personally, Slimmie.
Mebbe you oughta give Oprah a run fer her money. It could work. You are already a certified DJ on a well loved show. You are positioned as a local media celebrity. You have a rich and colorful history - published, storied, travelled, adversities overcome. All you need is to expand your market.
You can market inspiration! That’s MOJO, sister!
So. How do you get to host your own teevee talk show? (disclosure: I haven’t a clue). You’d be a foil to the Jerry Springers of the small screen. Sort of like a thinking person’s Imus, but without the sports. Second thought, you may want to have a steady guest or two who can joke knowingly about sports. Great rebuilt cars and planes also go into this category (Heavy Metal for The Rest of Us). A thinking person’s alternative (you really want ahansen on one of your first shows - to snag the back to the earth crowd!) Target audience: those who are stuck at home and unemployed and stressed out, and those who are stuck at work and stressed out. But who have that app that instantly changes their screen back to The Company home page in case The Man walks by.
e.g., a thinking grown up’s show. Heaven knows, you DO have a whole cast of characters to call on, should you need some interesting and eccentric guests. We’re all cynical as h*ll. We’d be great.
THAT’s the ticket! A melange of Klick and Klack; Oprah; some self-help guru; Dennis Miller; the mechanical engineers on that blow-it-up show; Dog the Bounty Hunter; ex-GS Fixer; and Imus. A veritable cross section of America. With your very own inimitable style to tie it all together!
It would fly in Pittsburgh, Peoria and even in DC, the favored destination of Pittsburghites on the lam. They’d turn on your show surreptitiously instead of taking notes about the Congressional hearings. You could invite Oxy on to talk about the local real estate market vs. Oil City. You’d get fan mail from Bye FL (I miss that kid, I’m sorry we ran him off, hope he’s got a sense of humor and is OK. I’d love for him to know that he started a cult).
OK, I’ve taken a deep breath and got aholt of mysself. Going to get back to my problem set now.
It was just a thought, but you must admit it was a really fun thought. You’d be terrific. Even if it only aired a couple shows, you could forever put on your websites “As Seen On TV - Designed by Slimmie”
Nice work, Slim. Congrats!
If the Fed’s main reason to invoke QE3 is to keep a lid on bond yields, then I fail to see why they need to go there, as the market seems to be achieving the same objective without intervention.
April 10, 2012, 1:39 p.m. EDT
U.S. 10-year yields stay below 2% after auction
U.S. sells $32 billion in 3-year notes
By Deborah Levine, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices rose for a fifth session on Tuesday, pushing 10-year yields below 2%, holding on to gains after a government sale of 3-year notes garnered good demand.
…
Would this be a good time to buy the dip?
“Onward brave muppets, once more into the breach!”
If S&P 1000, I would get back in.
when people are cleaning out their shorts is the best time to buy the dip. way too early, move along.
“Would this be a good time to buy the dip?”
Which dip?
Sell in May? You’re too late
April 10, 2012, 12:22 PM
April typically is a strong month for the U.S. stock market, but not in presidential election years.
Since 2006, stocks have risen every April, gaining an average of 4.2%, and April is the best month for the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA -1.55%) since 1950, according to the Stock Trader’s Almanac.
“Election year April has been about half as good with the Dow up only about 1% back to 1950 and Nasdaq (COMP -1.81%) actually going negative in election years,” said Jeffrey Hirsch, the Almanac’s editor-in-chief, in a report Tuesday. “There tends to be quite a bit of selling in April after you have a better idea of who the contenders will be for the national election.”
…
Breaking news: Santorum has dropped out.
That dude has some mongoloid looking kids.
Nice. Real nice thing to say.
I wouldn’t have said it if it weren’t true.
As in afflicted with mongolism? Or just mongoliously ugly? Or a combo????
Now if only Obama and Romney would do the same…..
Romney will too… in November, after Obama WINS!
Just like Nancy won in 2010?
Fundies won’t vote for Mormon Romney.
Santorum has dropped out
I wonder what his price was? I doubt he got VP, which is what I think he was running for towards the end.
He’s probably going to slink back to PA. Where he will really annoy people.
And if you think that my “recently broke her hip and wrist” Pennsylvania-dwelling mom will up and whack him with her cane, think again. Mom’s just about through with the cane. She’s doing most of her walking without it.
I might add that she’s also walking the dog again. And he’s a 100-pound Lab. Opens the door just by pushing it with his nose.
But he’s a gentle giant. Most aggressive think about him is that wagging tail. Beware of that tail while it’s in motion.
I bet he gets a show on Fox News.
Maybe he can get plastic surgery for his kids written into his contract with fox.
“I bet he gets a show on Fox News.”
Are you kidding? He’s obviously going to open a charter school.
I miss Michele Bachmann so much now.
The Santorums, Palins, Bachmann’s will join with the Duggar’s and their mutant progeny and start a made for TV freakshow cult in Frogballs, Arkansas.
If you needed to hire a bonafide liar, who would you call?
Here you go, Alpha:
http://www.mamieyoung.com/dailydawdle/philoslothical.jpg
Three toes are all you need. Two toes, however, are not enough.
“Comment by wittbelle
2012-04-09 22:20:25
I loved drinking alcohol. A lot. My favorite was chilled, dry chardonnay… like a Far Niente or a Cake Bread. Yummy. I could go through a couple of bottles in a single night. I quit 8 years ago. In the first month alone, I lost 25 pounds and saved around $500. Restraint is a good thing.”
I need to do this.
And the houses are NOT a security so you can’t slice ‘em up.
Because of the weight? The expense? Or the sheer volume of consumption?
Yes
Yes
Yes
I told you to watch out for box wine. You never know how much you’ve drunk.
Muggy: I shall pray for you.
Have any of you ever watched RT? It’s “Russian Television” and they have some interesting news programs. They did a bit on Blythe Masters, the former head of Chase’s British CDS division. Evidently, they’ve been manipulating commodities like wheat, soy, sugar, you name it. They are hammering silver with naked shorts. Interesting stuff. I wish I had a broader knowledge of finances and could understand exactly what was going on. I also can’t wait until my French is up to par and I an read this book:
http://www.amazon.com/Blythe-Masters-banqui%C3%83%C2%A8re-lorigine-mondiale/dp/2914569920
This guy basically said she was the devil with a blue dress on.
http://news.yahoo.com/6-old-conn-boy-dies-wood-chipper-accident-234308213.html
I used to be afraid to let my kids use scissors…
Taxpayer-funded cramdowns are coming.
April 6, 2012, 7:31 PM
HUD Secretary Makes Case for Mortgage Write-Downs
By Nick Timiraos
The regulator for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac could have a “legal responsibility” to approve loan modifications for certain homeowners now that the U.S. Treasury has offered to share in the cost of mortgage write-downs, said Shaun Donovan, secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
Mr. Donovan made the comments in an interview taped Friday for C-SPAN’s “Newsmakers” program. He said that he was increasingly worried that given the severity of the collapse in home prices and the slow pace of recovery in certain housing markets, that some homeowners who owe far more than their homes are worth would conclude “there is really no light at the end of the tunnel” and ultimately default on their mortgage.
In certain hard-hit markets, families struggling to make payments “will give up at some point. We think the data shows that.” The administration’s analysis of various housing markets makes a “compelling” case for principal write-downs, he added.
But at the same time, Mr. Donovan downplayed concerns that borrowers who are deeply underwater but able to pay their loans would similarly default in order to receive debt reduction. “The vast majority of homeowners don’t operate that way,” he said.
Edward DeMarco, the acting director of the Federal Housing Finance Agency, has so far resisted principal forgiveness, arguing that other means of reducing payments are just as successful with fewer costs for taxpayers that are backing the mortgage giants.
One concern for that regulator is whether debt forgiveness would encourage more borrowers who are current on their loans to stop paying. Right now, about three in four loans backed by Fannie and Freddie that are heavily underwater are still making regular payments. “These borrowers are demonstrating a continued willingness to meet their mortgage obligations. This should be recognized and encouraged, not dampened with incentives for people to not continue paying,” said Mr. DeMarco in a speech this past week.
Mr. Donovan said for those cases where borrowers might strategically default, there are ways to carefully design a program “to ensure that it doesn’t become a real issue.”
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April 11, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EDT
A slowly healing housing market
Spring housing data is encouraging, but this will be a slow recovery
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — Encouraging reports on the housing market are stirring up optimism about this year’s home buying and selling season.
But industry watchers say not to get too excited: Even if 2012 brings increased sales and stabilized home prices, they expect for improvement to come slowly, due to a continued subdued demand for housing.
“Expect the market to improve in the spring, but in baby steps,” said Sam Khater, senior economist for CoreLogic, a provider of consumer, financial and property information. “It’s still getting off the crutches and learning to walk again and that process is going to take a good two to three years before the market is on firm footing.”
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