Bits Bucket for April 12, 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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We need updates from Blue and SF!
You are my boy, Blue!
i also reckon Neil must of ran out of popcorn?
Hey Muggy. My routine is pretty much the same. The weather is getting nice and I am finishing up a transmission overhaul on the boat. Now the entire drive train will be refurbished. Planning the cruise to Georgian Bay with my regular beautiful Canadian cruising companion. In the meantime I am quitting my winter appartment and living aboard the RV at my dock.
I closed on the shortsale gutted failed renovation/flip property over the winter and my son is already putting in plumbing and wiring. The whole downstairs will be shop, except for the jacuzzi room. The upstairs will be winter living quarters. Super insulated and all that. Today the Menonites will start on a new metal roof that should outlast me at least. My workbench and tools are getting unpacked and I have a decade’s worth of projects in mind.
Five years of frugal living and the savings went to a cash purchase. Distressed property meant no competition from easy-money debt slaves. $30K and probably $15K in DIY renovations. 2000 sqft of rock solid construction. Geezer tax exemptions. No debt, no rent.
I am so ready to retire.
I am finishing up a transmission overhaul on the boat. Now the entire drive train will be refurbished.
Good thing you escaped the maintenance requirements of owning a house!
You ever think of just renting a boat when you need one? Letting someone else do the maintenance? (One hour a day according to our friend McGee.)
Ha. Just like some people like to garden, I have enjoyed the projects on the boat. No I wouldn’t consider renting a boat unless it was for a short exotic cruise far away. Perhaps if I get to the canal system in England for a vacation. I also like knowing exactly how everything works and what condition it is in when crossing the big water.
I do not care to own the redhead, per se. A little timely maintenance is no bother though.
I do not care to own the redhead, per se. A little timely maintenance is no bother though.
LOL…
Is she fully on-board with the rent-rather-than-own relationship?
Is she fully on-board with the rent-rather-than-own
relationship ??
Probably depends on whom is renting whom…It can work in reverse you know…:)
She says that a great part time relationship is a whole lot better than a crappy full time relationship. We let it rest at that.
$30K and probably $15K in DIY renovations. 2000 sqft of rock solid construction.
???? You mean it only cost you $30K for 2000 sq-ft??
Wow!
Ding ding ding!!! Ladies and gentlemen, we have a housing bubble winner!
Yes, and change. The previous flipper wannabe gutted the place. All the old plaster and lath is gone and the studs exposed. All the post and tube wiring is gone. Some of the piece and patch plumbing still needs to come out. Only old growth 2×4 and oak flooring left, and one of those Victorian staircases in the center of the house. I’m furring the studs out to put in R21.
Blue….
Is this thing balloon framed?
No. The floors are isolated. It’s nailed construction but the studs stop at the ceiling. I think that is what you are asking.
Yeah. It sounds like it was balloon framed and they added fire blocking later on?
It doesn’t have added fire blocks, the studs on the each floor end on that floor’s top plate.
Congrats, dude.
“$30K and probably $15K in DIY renovations. 2000 sqft of rock solid construction. Geezer tax exemptions. No debt, no rent.”
Truly awesome! Don’t think I will be finding anything in the $30K range near where we live anytime soon, though…
James Cameron is rereleasing the Titanic movie in 3D. So there’s never been a better time to grab your very own piece of history: This 8000 sq foot beauty on an estate was owned by an actual Titanic survivor, Arthur Ryerson. Hope you don’t mind that it’s located in the beautiful yet remote Cooperstown, NY or that it comes w/some upgrades from it’s last owner, summer camp latrines. Maybe they ought to try selling it to a YMCA.
http://syracuse.craigslist.org/reb/2953330869.html
The majestic manor house (circa 1900) consists of 10 bedrooms (including three- one bedroom studios), seven fireplaces, ballroom, dining room and a commercial grade kitchen. Additional buildings include:
o Caretaker House 1,440 sq.ft.
o Two-bay Garage 1,500 sq.ft
o Pavillion 2,400 sq.ft.
o Assembly Hall 3,500 sq.ft.
o Nine cabins and accompanying latrines 400 sq.ft each
Most recently occupied by Beaver Cross summer camp, the 28 x 60 pool, baseball field, golf, basketball/tennis court and nature trail position this property for any use that your or your client can dream of.
http://syracuse.craigslist.org/reb/2953330869.html
No mention of the property taxes.
My guess - being in the boonies of upstate NYS on this house…
$36,000/year.
And the maintenance aloneon this estate per year is most likely the same amount.
Big Government costs lotsa money.
Apparently, quite a few New Yorkers can afford annual taxes approaching that of the average per capita income nationwide.
It is quite obvious. New York: Land of the 1%ers.
To own that much property, i’d hope the taxes were more than that. You would own a town block’s worth of buildings plus (non-ag looking) 39 acres! Instead of the Buffet Rule, any home property over 2 acres should have to pay the area’s going sales tax rate instead of a paltry 2% per year.
So you would bankrupt every farmer in America or just NYS?
BananaRepublic… you don’t know the difference between a regular assessment and an agricultural assessment……….
…. or you’re misrepresenting the truth again.
Which is it?
James Cameron is rereleasing the Titanic movie in 3D
Fools and their money…..
If you mean James Cameron, he’s got money to spare.
Now, if you mean the teeny boppers going to see Titanic again… yeah, I agree. Terminator 1 (1984) was a much better chick movie than Titanic.
James Cameron is genius. He has no problem milking the dead cow; Director’s cut, Deleted scenes, Blue Ray, 3D……
I watched the video of him 2 miles below the ocean surface getting the video he was determined to get. He’s got my respect.
I heard he worked 70 hour weeks to make Avatar.
He has my respect, too.
A friend of mine and I went to see Titanic during the first release. We were so bored by the end that we were trying to figure out if the loss of body heat from being in the water would really kill you that much faster than being soaking wet but basically out of the water. Then we tried to figure if the thing she was floating on would have enough boyancy to keep them both out of the water long enough to get rescued within the time frame used in the movie, so he committed suicide for nothing. It was just dull. Her hat was sort of cool.
Walter Lord’s book, A Night To Remember, was much better.
Have you ever seen Titanic II? It made the first one look like pure art.
My sister got tossed out of the theater for laughing so hard (loudly) when everyone around her was crying during the movie.
My sister got tossed out of the theater for laughing so hard (loudly) when everyone around her was crying during the movie.
Your sister.
My sister
Of course she did.
Realtors Are Liars®
Just want to clarify from yesterday:
Comment by San Diego RE Bear
2012-04-11 18:46:44
$80k will buy a very nice cutie-pie here, but it’s hard to find the decent neighborhoods under $100k…You couldn’t KEEP a job in flyover? I know finding one that pays decently is hard, but keeping one? A little devil worship we don’t know about?
Let me clarify. I meant that an $80K income will buy either a very nice $250K house or a $115K cutie-patootie with a lot left over in the paycheck.
As for “devil worship,” where are you going with this comment? Here’s what happened: they asked me to LIE and say that a scientific project would succeed, when I knew it would not. I refused to lie,* which made the boss look bad. They demoted me to the money-grubbing division where neither I nor my new boss could bring in any money because the company was enormously overpriced compared to the competition. The boss got rid of me because I was deadweight on his books. Also because I told them the truth that they were overpriced.
If that’s devil worship, I’ll have more of it please. It’s well worth the high house prices to work for an employer that actually cares about good sci/eng. (yes, the US gov).
———–
*even if I had lied and said the science was great, the project would have failed, and they would have blamed it on me anyway.
I think the Bear meant that you would have to sell your soul to obtain job stability in fly-over country, in general, not as a personal jab.
“A little devil worship we don’t know about” seems to imply that oxide got caught by the locals doing something that they interpreted as devil worship. I expect it was pretty tongue in cheek, but I don’t see how your interpretation fits at all.
Foreclosures, repos up from last year in South Florida
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 12:22 a.m. Thursday, April 12, 2012
Banks were busy in South Florida last month filing new foreclosures on 4,119 homes, an 85 percent increase from March 2011 and an indication that lenders continue to make up for time lost during the robo-signing scandal.
Florida ranked second nationally for total foreclosure filings during the first quarter of with 73,344. California was first with 133,245. RealtyTrac measures three types of filings - initial default, notice of sale and final bank repossession.
RealtyTrac analyst Daren Blomquist said he expects to see continued year-over-year increases in Florida’s foreclosures, but the monthly totals will bounce around.
“There’s only a certain capacity that states can handle, and I think we’ll hit a plateau in Florida,” he said. “But there is still backlog that needs to be pushed through.”
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/foreclosures-repos-up-from-last-year-in-south-2298731.html -
Interesting post. Retired 1/1/12 and we are considering acting on our 30 old plan to retire in FL. For the last 7 months we have been watching the VA Beach area (home) and several areas in the mid Atlantic Fl area using a variety of sites. Cannot conclude much on SF homes in Fl other than it appears that in a good number of cases listing prices are moving up. For example, Zillow indicates that numerous SFR in the Daytona area that did not sell are being relisted for 4-5% more than the original listing. I do not know how that marketing plan will work out unless the homes were repaired/updated/improved in some manner.
The VAB area is equally screwy. Had received input from several UHS on marketing our home (15 yrs old traditional center hall colonial, 3100 sf, great shape, very desirable area):
1. Approximately 7 months inventory in region. Lowest inventory in several years.
2. Median is approximately $200 and includes (some, not all) short sales and foreclosures. Asked how that worked and recieved conflicting mumbled responses.
3. ALL sales offers now include seller closing cost assistance to buyer @ 3 -4% of offer (purportedly no one has any cash), 1% of sale price to buyer for inspection related repairs, offers coming in at 1 - 3% under listing price and 5 - 6% RE comission.
4. Asking prices are going up in this zip and sales of mid $300 homes are increasing. Anything over $400 is very slow. Bank appraisals on used homes are very conservative.
5. Homes have to be in absolutely primo condition to get any traffic flow. If the home is not primo it will not get any attention including low balls since investors are in the short/REO market.
6. New home sales in this zip are absolutely booming in the <2500 sf <$400 price range. This is close to bubble pricing based on sf costs. Used and new home prices in the region however, remain in a downward trend. Slight upward trend on used sf in this zip.
6. Regional unemployment remains at about 7%.
Yesterdays “Bits” had a number of interesting perspectives on potential regional market bottoms or new trends. Based on what I see there is simply confusion in the VAB market that even the professionally disengenous UHS cannot explain.
Based on our interpertation of the info recieved from the RE agents, it seems that demand in desirable areas for sfh in primo condition has definately picked up as morgage rates start to rise. At the same time, sellers resistance to buyer demands for these homes are increasing. For homes in less than primo condition there is no market. My basis for this conclusion = guesswork due to my inability to find a trend in a very screwey local market. Do not know how long it will take to unscrew itself or if this conclusion covers more than this market.
BTW what is wrong with mid-Atlantic? Whenever I see pics of NC, SC etc there are trees, lush greenery, early spring to die for. But that’s just me, since I grew up in the arid West where growing anything is a struggle.
Is So Carolina still filling up with Fla refugees?
From Politico - Allen West: 80 Communists in the House
“Rep. Allen West channeled Joe McCarthy in a town hall event in Florida that he’s “heard” that up to 80 House Democrats are Communist Party members, the Palm Beach Post reports.
The Florida Republican, and tea party favorite, made the comments while speaking in Jensen Beach, Fla. Tuesday evening.
In a video clip of the event posted Wednesday, West was responding a question from a constituent asking “What percentage of the American legislature do you think are card-carrying Marxists?”
“That’s a fair question. I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party,” West says in the video.
Since communists are a direct threat to us- and one we shouldn’t have to flee from, can Floridians not legally hunt down and shoot these commies, in self-defense?
Stand Your Ground, America! For Freedom, and its fries!
“Stand Your Ground, America! For Freedom, and its fries!”
Crowd Beats, Strips & Robs Tourist On St. Patrick’s Day; Incident Caught On Camera
April 6, 2012 10:55 PM
BALTIMORE (WJZ)– Caught on camera– a tourist being beaten in downtown Baltimore, and instead of helping him, a crowd laughs and steals his belongings.
Mike Hellgren has the video and the investigation.
Police hope this video will get the attackers off the streets.
The video shows a man being punched in the face in downtown Baltimore. You can hear his head hit the pavement near the entrance to Courthouse East.
Instead of helping, people laugh.
Then, the crowd strips him naked and takes his car keys, watch, money and iPhone.
It happened St. Patrick’s Day. Police say the victim was out partying and woke up the next day at his hotel, cut and bruised with no idea why.
“He had every right to leave wherever he was and get back to where he needed to be safely. Their behavior was just criminal,” Det. Nicole Monroe of the Baltimore City Police Department said.
“Not only was he relieved of his property after he was assaulted, but there were a lot of other things done to him that are disturbing to look at, and we want to bring these people to justice,” Monroe said.
Those who filmed it for fun and posted it for the world to see unwittingly provided cops and prosecutors with the key evidence in this vicious attack.
The victim didn’t even know that such a video existed until a relative watched it online and told him.
After the attack, people bragged about it on camera. Tens of thousands of people have seen the video online.
http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2012/04/06/crowd-beats-strips-robs-tourist-on-st-patricks-day-incident-caught-on-camera/ - 869k -
The version that didn`t make the news.
(RAW VIDEO) Mob Beats, Strips & Robs Tourist As … - Youtube
4 days ago … Then, the crowd strips him naked and takes his car keys, watch, money and iPhone. It happened St. Patrick’s Day. Police say the victim was out …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YwoEh-ZwlCI - 150k - Cached - Similar pages
This is precisely the “long hot summer” that awaits. Expect for hundreds of similar incidents to occur across the country and be completely ignored by corporate, advertising revenue dependant media. Despite its partisan sensationalism (links from the NY Post and the UK Daily Mail), the Drudge Report is the only major platform that reports on these events. See also the Wisconsin State Fair assaults last summer, the social media flash mob assaults in Center City Philadelphia and Chicago’s Miracle Mile, and the numerous flash mob retail lootings by what the media always report as “youths” or “students”. The Long Hot Summer is here!
And then there’s the Knoxville Horror.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Murders_of_Channon_Christian_and_Christopher_Newsom
Well, well. What do we have here? According to a Time blog, trayvon’s mother believes it was an accident.
http://newsfeed.time.com/2012/04/12/travyon-martins-mother-i-believe-it-was-an-accident/
Ooopsie! The Palmster’s prediction? Charges will be dropped. JMO, but I think the leaders of the mob howling for Zimmerman’s blood is having second thoughts, after Zimmerman dropped his former counsel.
If he’s got himself a bare-knuckle legal gladiator, EVERYONE”S going on trial, like it or not. The Martin family’s EVERY aspect of their lives will be under the microscope as much as Zimmerman’s. NBC’s going on trial for the edited 911 call. Sharpton’s Tawana Brawley and Duke Rape Hoaxes will be front and center, etc., etc. It’s not going to be pretty for anyone. There’s a lot at stake and anyone who makes money by shaking down the system stands to lose some big bux and a whole lot of credibility, even if they claim to be on the side of the angels. And that includes various media outlets and professional pot-stirrers.
I think perhaps Martin’s family has had a thorough education over the past few weeks on what’s in store even for them. I’m not saying it’s right, but there are realities to the legal/media complex.
The squad predicts that *social justice* will be sought by looting Foot Locker
My point was that the poor shlubs who are the victims and the alleged victimizers in the situation are exactly that: poor shlubs to be used by the media/legal complex. And perhaps this is dawning on Martin’s mother, at least. The fact that she now says she believes it was an accident would demonstrate to me that she might have learned a few things she didn’t know earlier, during her time with the special prosecutor. Maybe she’s intelligent enough to realize that she’s being used, big time.
In any event, the way this has gone down so far, the Martin and Zimmerman families are essentially being used as meat, to feed the insatiable jaws of the media/legal complex.
There will probably be settlements, payoffs, church services, calls for forgiveness and unity, much pious mouthing about teachable moments, charges dropped, Zimmerman will quietly move to Peru, Florida’s Stand Your Ground law will be repealed and Sanford will go back to being a seedy little grifter locale, that no amount of cobblestone pavers and faux old fashioned street lamps can change.
You do know that the opinion of his mother has absolutely no bearing on the case because she wasn’t there, right? Her opinion is beyond irrelevant.
What’s sad to me is that there isn’t the same amount of public outrage, media coverage, and community organizing/marches/rallies when a young black kid gets gunned down in his own neighborhood due to drugs, gangs, or just random violence.
“You do know that the opinion of his mother has absolutely no bearing on the case because she wasn’t there, right?”
In theory.
However, the mother’s opinion that justice hadn’t been done does seem to have had a major bearing on the case. Her opinion has been highly relevant, IMO.
“What’s sad to me is that there isn’t the same amount of public outrage, media coverage, and community organizing/marches/rallies when a young black kid gets gunned down in his own neighborhood due to drugs, gangs, or just random violence.”
+1. Although I have to say, here in our Bay area, when it happens, we do have marches and rallies, especially in St. Pete. But it doesn’t make the national news and there’s no money in it for the professional pot-stirrers.
“Her opinion is beyond irrelevant.”
Legally, in the strictest sense, no doubt. But I looked at it as a sort of smoke signal, because up until now, her opinion seemed to be rather different. I mean, who goes to the UN looking for “justice” in the case of an accident? Just sayin’.
Sanford will go back to being a seedy little grifter locale, that no amount of cobblestone pavers and faux old fashioned street lamps can change.
They need to get some kind of neighborhood watch thing going.
Clarification by Trayvon’s mother - the meeting was an accident, not the shooting.
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57413332/trayvons-mom-clarifies-it-was-an-accident-remark/
“Later Thursday, in an interview with the Associated Press, Fulton said she referring to the chance nature of the encounter between Zimmerman and her son.
“Their meeting was the accident,” Fulton said. “That was the accident. Not the actual act of him shooting him. That was murder … They were never supposed to meet.”
“
Thanks for the late breaking bulletin. I guess the shakedown and pot stirring continues.
Police say the victim was out partying and woke up the next day at his hotel, cut and bruised with no idea why.
Now that’s a party! Too bad he didn’t have a handgun during his blackout.
“Now that’s a party! Too bad he didn’t have a handgun during his blackout.”
Spoken like a true Deadbeat apologist.
BTW- Nice use of red herring propaganda there Jeff- you’re a pro, wasting your talents in drywall.
A real pro.
Spoken like a true Deadbeat apologist.
Really? I think it raises an important point. He doesn’t remember everything that happened as he was partying, up until the point where he was punched- he doesn’t remember anything at all about the night. Sounds like a blackout to me. Who knows? Maybe he threatened to ‘go Zimmermann’ on one of those guys, so the guy punched him in self-defense, while Standing His Ground?
Would the evening have turned out better if the guy on a drunk blackout had had a handgun?
Too bad he didn’t have a handgun during his blackout.
Looks like a neighborhood that I wouldn’t want to be in without one.
But obviously, I’d prefer to be sober so that my aim is better.
“Really? I think it raises an important point.”
It does, you apologize for bad behavior when it fits into your talking points.
Sounds like a blackout to me.
Could just as easily be memory-loss due to the head meeting the pavement. Did you see how he was obvious “out” for around 5-10sec after the punch/pavement combo?
Who knows? Maybe he threatened to ‘go Zimmermann’ on one of those guys, so the guy punched him in self-defense, while Standing His Ground?
Wow, did you even watch the video?? That guy had just taken his wristwatch right off his arm! That’s why we followed the guy who punched him.
Are you now an apologist for racist violence??
you apologize for bad behavior when it fits into your talking points.
Perhaps you don’t recognize irony. I was pointing out how Stand Your Ground can be used to defend all sorts of thuggery, and the victim and the perpetrator can be white or black.
How do you know the guy who punched him wasn’t Standing His Ground? Is it only for white guys with guns?
Could just as easily be memory-loss due to the head meeting the pavement
Possible. I was knocked out in a car wreck, but have total memory of the evening up until the crash (of which I have no memory, thankfully), but I assume it can go the other way.
But he does admit he was ‘out partying’, so it’s also quite possibly a drunken blackout.
Are you now an apologist for racist violence??
I’m not defending any violence. I find the people who attacked him to be disgusting criminals who deserve to go the jail. I’m just showing that they could use Stand Your Ground laws as a defense, if not in this case, then in similar ones, without video. Unless it’s only for white guys.
I’m just showing that they could use Stand Your Ground laws as a defense, if not in this case, then in similar ones, without video. Unless it’s only for white guys.
I’m fine with them standing their ground when attacked, regardless of race, sex, creed, orientation, etc etc.
But obviously, I’d prefer to be sober so that my aim is better.
That’s why in the Zombie Apocalypse, you use the double tap… just in case you didn’t kill with the first shot
“You need to get a gun and learn how to use it which leads me to my second rule, the double tap. In those moments when you’re not sure that the undead are really dead-dead, don’t get all stingy with your bullets, I mean one more clean shot to the head. You can avoid becoming a human happy meal.”
I’m fine with them standing their ground when attacked, regardless of race, sex, creed, orientation, etc etc.
But who’s standing their ground? The live guy or the dead guy? Who was at fault? Hard to ask the dead guy.
But who’s standing their ground? The live guy or the dead guy? Who was at fault? Hard to ask the dead guy.
The one who initiates violence is at fault. The one who did not has a right to defend him/herself.
All of your questions are equally applicable in the case of state laws that require an attempt to retreat before acting in self-defense.
And barring having other witnesses present, throughout history it has generally been the still-living guy who writes history.
I agree with most of your points, Prime, but I think that Stand Your Ground laws actually encourage people to look for trouble. Traditional common law Duty To Retreat allows for reasonable self-defense, but discourages vigilantism, unlike Stand Your Ground laws, which seem to encourage it, as we have seen.
The squad’s Ohio concealed carry class in 2008 was conducted by Cleveland police and Cuyahoga County sheriffs who instructed that there is a duty to (attempt to) retreat and to verbally warn an assailant that you have a weapon prior to using potentially lethal force. They also advised against head shots, as the intent is to incapacitate, not to kill, and to consider how that could possibly play out with a jury…
They also advised against head shots, as the intent is to incapacitate, not to kill,
Sorry, but if I pull my gun and have to shoot, I’m shooting to kill, PoPo and jury be damned. The Federal Hyrdashock hollow point rounds I keep in my M&P40 ensure any center-mass hit will likely kill, unless the assailant is wearing ceramic plate body armor… and that’s why the last three rounds in the mag are 180gr FMJ.
(1): Fight or flight response will kick in, making aimed fire problematic… i.e. even if you wanted to aim for the head, you’ll be lucky to hit center mass with all the adrenaline running through your system. This is where a very bright, green laser helps: tap, rack, bang! your dead.
(2): Depending on hit location, caliber bullet, and type of bullet (HP vs. FMJ), a single hit may not even register and the attacker may continue his assault. Ex. 9mm FMJ often pass right through instead of tumbling and an assailant who is high on meth or crack may not register a bullet wound between the drugs and adrenaline.
(3): An assailant who survives multiple bullet wounds will very likely suffer permanent damage/disability. This increases the likelihood of a civil suit against the shooter being brought.
(4): A live witness/assailant allows another point of view to discredit/weaken your testimony, even if it was clearly self-defense. It is in the assailants best interest to create doubt with your testimony, regardless of the truth. Dead man tells no tales, forensic evidence notwithstanding…
I would advise against head shots too, because in a fright situation, it’s more likely you aren’t going to hit it. Aim for the toro - it’s bigger.
Aim for the toro - it’s bigger.
Let me clarify… I wasn’t suggesting anyone shoot for the head, unless it is actually a flesh-eating zombie. Aiming center mass increases hit probability, period.
Having said that, “shoot to incapacitate” is fraught with peril for the shooter. Better to put two to three rounds into the assailant’s center mass in very quick succession and then reevaluate the situation. If you hit your target, more than likely it is no longer a threat…
“pull your gun”????
What is it you so fear that you need to walk around with gun?
Bears. And zombies…
Aim for the toro - it’s bigger.
Yes. And never aim for the butt. Juries don’t like butt shots.
I agree with most of your points, Prime, but I think that Stand Your Ground laws actually encourage people to look for trouble.
And I’m not actually sure that you are wrong on that, alpha. A Duty to Retreat certainly makes for a situation that is easier for bystanders/witnesses to assess.
But everyone has jumped to convict Zimmerman in the court of public opinion, which I think is wrong.
If he was truly on his back on the ground with someone on top of him that was attacking him, after being hit in the head with something from behind, then retreating would prove to be nearly impossible.
In which case there should be no charges regardless of the legal standard that was the law of the state at the time.
Note that I said “if”.
“What is it you so fear that you need to walk around with gun?”
It’s not fear, it’s insurance and if a person has the weapon concealed why should you care? Crimes of opportunity happen every day in increasing numbers, you have every right not to carry a weapon and take your chances with 911, I am sure the police will do a great job of notifying your next of kin and rounding up the assailant.
I am of the opinion that everyone should carry something for self defense, especially women. Pepper spray, stun gun, knife, blackjack…something that will cause pain and give you that split second to escape…but that’s just me.
I don’t care. Carry an arsenal in a wheelbarrow for all I care.
I’m asking you what you’re so afraid of that you have to pack iron. So you claim it’s not fear but “insurance”. Insurance against what?
Violent crimes are falling and have been for years. See for yourself.
http://www.fbi.gov/about-us/cjis/ucr/crime-in-the-u.s/2010/crime-in-the-u.s.-2010/violent-crime/violent-crime-offense-figure
Aim for the toro
So I shoot him in the lawn mower? That only works on suburbanites.
or really bad sushi….
“78 to 81 members”
Lets not take any chances, let’s get rid of 81 members so as to be sure not to miss anyone.
/sarc
Channeling Joseph McCarthy
Next up throwing citizens in jail for thought crime
“That’s a fair question. I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party,” West says in the video.
Which is, what, 1/1000 the number of corporations that sent our jobs to China?
Communist China.
Communist China.
I don’t understand why we still call it that; China obviously has just as much interest in promoting private ownership by the oligarchs as we do in our country.
Because they ARE still VERY much communist.
“…they ARE still VERY much communist.”
Just like the USA is VERY much free-market capitalist?
No. Just like we are becoming communist. Corporate communists.
They are communist. To think otherwise is show a serious lack of understanding of China. I get to speak to Chinese every day. In the flesh. Not immigrants, but nationals, here for temp company assignments.
It’s not quite straight from the party members mouth, but it’s as close as most of us will ever get.
Give us your definition of communism.
From Wikipedia:
“In the modern lexicon of what many sociologists and political commentators refer to as the “political mainstream”, communism is often used to refer to the policies of communist states, i.e., the ones totally controlled by communist parties, regardless of the practical content of the actual economic system they may preside over.
Examples of this include the policies of the Socialist Republic of Vietnam where the economic system incorporates “doi moi”, the People’s Republic of China (PRC, or simply “China”) where the economic system incorporates “socialist market economy”, and the economic system of the Soviet Union which was described as “state capitalist” by non-Leninist socialists and later by communists who increasingly opposed the post-Stalin era Soviet model as it progressed over the course of the 20th century (e.g. Maoists, Trotskyists and libertarian communists)—and even at one point by Vladimir Lenin himself.[3]“
“In the modern lexicon of what many sociologists and political commentators refer to as the “political mainstream”, communism is often used to refer to the policies of communist states, i.e., the ones totally controlled by communist parties, regardless of the practical content of the actual economic system they may preside over.”
So communism is what states that call themselves communist do no matter what their economic systemt is? Well that definition does get China to be communist, but it isn’t useful beyond that. The definition is totally circular.
I’m going to be out for the rest of the evening, so I’ll let someone else take over the discussion. Have fun kids.
Now I understand turkey’s hatred of Andrew Breitbart. I am pretty sure the communists have a better chance of going to hell than Breitbart.
Agreed, the PRC is now Communist in name only.
No. Do not be fooled. They are communist. Modern communists, but commie nonetheless.
See my post above.
“That’s a fair question. I believe there’s about 78 to 81 members of the Democratic Party that are members of the Communist Party,” West says in the video.
Only 78-81?
Thank goodness the commies are still outnumbered by the fascists.
Considering that there are estimated to be about 2000 actual card carrying Communist Party members (per Wikipedia), who is electing West’s purported Communists?
Ignorant people in their districts.
Comment by Cantankerous Intellectual Bomb Thrower©
2012-04-11 22:21:57
“ ‘Personally, I think rock meets hard place is only a few years off.’
Maybe it’s different this time, but last time rates were this low, during the early-1960s, it took two decades for rates to boil up, in the early-1980s. The precursor to the interest rate blowout was a protracted period of double-digit annual inflation during the 1970s.”
My FIL had a 3% mortgage from the ’60s. He was pretty smug about it in the ’70s when new loans were 6%. This time it appears we have ZIRP after the protracted period of double digit inflation.
The difference, so far as I can tell, is that home prices did not go parabolic before the low-rate period in the early 1960s. Hence home buyers had a combination of attractive low interest rates and low home prices. My folks bought the home they still live in back then for $15,000. Today Zillow says it is “worth” $66,300, after having hit a peak of $114K (May 2007) and bottoming out at $48K (January 2011).
Fortunately, it is fully paid off!
I should add my folks live far away from the two coasts, where prices became “a bit frothy.” They live in the American Heartland, where there was no housing bubble.
but last time rates were this low, during the early-1960s, it took two decades for rates to boil up,
This is one of the scenarios that HBBers (including yours truly, I admit) hauled out as a reason that housing hadn’t crashed yet. Interest rates were going to rise, dropping house prices so HBBers could snap them up and refinance later. We’d rather have a low price and high rate than vice versa…
Now you’re telling me that this scenario may not happen for… what, 10-15 years? That just makes the price decreases less likely, p-bear.
“That just makes the price decreases less likely, p-bear.”
Au contraire. The Japanese experience since their housing bubble collapsed beginning around 1989 has shown that interest rates near zero will not necessarily prevent housing from continual price declines over a two-decade period.
I believe it really has to do more with how overvalued housing gets at the peak than where interest rates are going forward.
Since the Fed is on hold now until 2015 at the earliest to raise rates and unemployment is expected to remain high for years to come, there is no hurry to buy before then.
April 11, 2012, 7:15 p.m. EDT
Fed’s Yellen makes case for keeping rates low
More asset purchases only if economy worsens, official says
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The Federal Reserve’s number-two ranking official on Wednesday made the case for keeping interest rates low for some time, arguing the economy will continue to grow only gradually and that the unemployment rate will remain high for years.
Janet Yellen, the Fed’s vice chair, didn’t argue for a new round of asset purchases. A current program of shifting $400 billion of short-term securities into longer-dated ones is due to end in June, and the Fed’s balance sheet has swelled to nearly $3 trillion.
At the same time, she presented at New York University a number of models and rules that, if followed, wouldn’t begin interest rates hikes until 2015 and possibly later — which is longer than the “late 2014” language the Fed currently uses.
…
We’d rather have a low price and high rate than vice versa…
If you have a lot of cash saved, then low prices and high rates are great.
But with the price of food, gas, etc. and low wages for the average joe, saving money is hard when you live paycheck to paycheck.
But say you have 50K saved (which most people do not)
A 300K house with a 250K loan at 10% is $2500 month, with a total of 902K at the end of 30 years.
Same 50K saved
500K house with a 450K loan at 4% month is $2600 month with a total of 960K at the end of 30 years.
I’m not talking about investing here, just shelter.
Good thing it’s not an investment. A gain of $60K over 30 years seems like a lousy return. Financially, you would be better off changing jobs to a flyover Lucky Ducky and using that $50K to help buy an $80K Oil City/flyover shack outright. (if only we had single-payer health insurance…)
Suppose you factor into your “investment return” all the countless hours spent repairing things that break, painting, mowing the lawn, etc. Compute the value of these hours at a price you could receive for weekend work (not sure about the average homeowners’ opportunity cost of slave labor to take care of a home).
How would the “investment” pencil out after factoring in those time costs? I’m guessing not that well…
“Compute the value of these hours at a price you could receive for weekend work (not sure about the average homeowners’ opportunity cost of slave labor to take care of a home).
How would the “investment” pencil out after factoring in those time costs?”
Yup. Renter life really sucks after throwing money away on rent and having all this money left over to do fun things, and it really sucks having so much free time every single weekend to do these fun things while the loanowner loosers are mulching and mowing their lives away…
Good thing it’s not an investment. A gain of $60K over 30 years seems like a lousy return.
Housing is not an investment for most of us: it is a place to live.
In 30 years how much would you have spent on rent?
“mortgage fraud, foreclosure fraud, loan modification misconduct - didn’t even exist three years ago,”
Of course it didn’t even exist three years ago because before that the Deadbeat Robo signed Donald Trump wannabee victims were living large on the refi pie. It was heads I win back then. Now of course it is tails you lose.
‘Tsunami’ of foreclosure complaints swamps Fla. Bar
By Kimberly Miller Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 8:06 p.m. Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Beginning in the fall of 2010, as foreclosures receded because of robo-signing revelations, a wave of consumer complaints alleging attorney misconduct began to hit the Bar.
The complaint categories - mortgage fraud, foreclosure fraud, loan modification misconduct - didn’t even exist three years ago, said Ken Marvin, director of lawyer regulation for the Florida Bar.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/money/foreclosures/tsunami-of-foreclosure-complaints-swamps-fla-bar-2298138.html - -
Nodody ever experiences a hangover while they are getting drunk. Just the day after the party.
Dewey Finn: Ok, here’s the deal. I have a hangover. Who knows what that means?
Frankie: Doesn’t that mean you’re drunk?
Dewey Finn: No. It means I was drunk yesterday.
With the hair-of-the-dog cure, one needs never experience a hangover.
“Nodody ever experiences a hangover while they are getting drunk. Just the day after the party.”
Except me. I don’t wait till the next day to feel terrible. It’s one of the main reasons I don’t drink.
Thanks for all your comments yesterday to the sceneario I shared with you about my personal residence. It was quite illuminating to hear the responses and many of you offered very intelligent responses. I will come back and update you all in a year.
There is nothing like the Housing Bubble Blog. It saved my @ss in those goofy bubble years. It turns out I wasn’t the only one wondering WTF is going on in the housing market!
You’re full of sh!t. Your numbers didn’t add up, and I proved it last night. You lied more to try to get out of it. The problem with coming on this blog with such bluster and lies is that there’s always going to be someone who knows as much, or more, than you, and you didn’t count on that. I’ve got friends and family who own property in that area, both residential and commercial. “Boots on the ground” stuff. You’re a fraud. I don’t even believe your FBI stuff.
BINGO.
And did you notice our liar never addressed the construction cost related questions?
He also has no idea what the term “effective tax rate” means. None at all.
Polly, it is not that difficult:
The Effective rate is the rate a taxpayer would be taxed at if taxing was done at a constant rate, instead of progressively.
The Marginal Rate is the highest tax rate paid on the last dollar of income.
Grizzly, I will update you in a year. I believe values will be even higher then. You did not prove me wrong about anything. The home I live in now I paid about $140/SF. I purchased multiple other homes in lessor areas for $80-$90/SF.
No, it isn’t.
“The home”????
As far as I can tell, the only people who call a house “home” are lying realtors.
So anyways, you paid 2.3x retail cost for a used house.
Why did you do that?
Pollywog, it is. Go here. You can learn somethying.
http://www.investopedia.com/terms/m/marginaltaxrate.asp#axzz1rtFbE9V8
Clearly you know nothing about taxes…
GrizzlyBear, here is more positive trending your friends and family must not see:
Foreclosure notices in Sacramento continue to decline, according to figures released Thursday by RealtryTrac, an online real estate information company that tracks foreclosures.
In the four-county region, filings of all types — notices of default, notices of trustee sales and bank repossessions — for the first quarter of the year were down 12.6 percent from the previous quarter and down 16.3 percent from the same period a year ago.
Whats-yer-spaz: According to the writers of the Sacramento Business Review, real estate values in the Sacramento region are expected to remain stagnant through 2013, until the foreclosures “in the pipeline” (of which they suspect there are many) continue to make their way through. Also, the unemployment rate in Sacramento is at 11%, just 2 points below last year’s high of 13%. For the housing market to have a meaningful recovery, there has to be qualified buyers. No income, no buyers. It’s Econ 101, man.
http://www.cba.csus.edu/sacbusinessreview/Sacramento_Business_Review/Archives_files/SBR_Real_Estate_12.pdf
witless belle,
So you are saying employment is improving of the bottom in this area? I agree.
I’m not saying anything. I’m merely relaying statistics. In case you were not aware, the central valley region of California remains one of the hardest hit areas of the housing crisis. It’s a unique region and can provide a wealth of information if you avail yourself to it. You should try it. Oh, who am I kidding?
A agree. That is why I am buying here.
You must be lucky to own in the area of Sacramento where home prices are going up!
Sacramento area’s home prices down – rent goes up
Share
By Mark Glover
mglover@sacbee.com
Published: Wednesday, Apr. 11, 2012 - 12:00 am | Page 6B
Last Modified: Wednesday, Apr. 11, 2012 - 7:08 am
Sacramento metro-area home values declined 7.9 percent year over year in February, but monthly rents rose 0.4 percent in that time, according to Zillow.
The Seattle-based data company put the Sacramento region’s median home value at $200,600 in February this year. The median monthly home rent at that time was $1,406, slightly up from the year-ago period.
Nationally, Zillow said rents rose 2 percent to a median of $1,212 from February 2011 to February 2012, but the median home value continued to fall – down 4.5 percent to $145,400.
“We have made it through the worst of the housing recession with a bottom on the horizon, but the deep backlog of foreclosures, elevated negative equity and high unemployment are all still obstacles on the road to recovery,” said Svenja Gudell, Zillow’s senior economist.
…
I am lucky. Price has not effect on me as I am not selling. Rent increases are great, as I rent out many properties.
You’re losses magnify with time irrespective of your indecision to get out while you still can.
Get out? I am getting in!
This is a great time to increase my portfolio. I get a nice return of 5% on my cash flow (better than a bank account), I get tax shelter (better than paying the IRS) and I manage all my own assets (better than letting the Dow brokers play with it).
Wasn’t LasVegas gal or whatever her name was singing this same tune in 2006?
Six years ago? Six years ago, the housing market was in full bubble. What does that have to do with today? Six years people were saying housing would never crash, just like you are saying today housing will never recover. It did crash and it is recovering.
A housing “recovery” is dramatically lower prices by defintion, so you’re right.
And housing is going to do a whole lot of recovery over the coming years.
From Bloomberg: “Federal Reserve Bank of New York President William C. Dudley said the economy may be gaining strength even as the weakest job growth in five months highlights risks to growth.
“The incoming data on the U.S. economy has been a bit more upbeat of late, suggesting that the recovery may be getting better established,” Dudley said.
This is William “there is no inflation because ipads are cheaper now” Dudley. How’s that recovery working out for the 50% of workers making less than $500/week paying $4/gallon for gas? The future belongs to Lucky Ducky!
Who exactly is Lucky Ducky?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_the_Dancing_Bug
“Lucky Ducky (purportedly from Wall Street Journal Comix) is a duck who despite being homeless, destitute, and working in a crummy job always manages to enrage his arch-nemesis, the very wealthy Hollingsworth Hound. Hollingsworth usually views any source of joy or happiness in Lucky’s life to be too much of an advantage and does his best to eliminate it, claiming that the joy or happiness is at the expense of the rich. Hollingsworth tries to show that taxes especially hurt the poor, and demolish claims that they do not. Lucky Ducky first appeared after The Wall Street Journal editorialized against progressive tax policies, calling poor workers “lucky duckies” because they have a smaller federal income tax burden.”
Who exactly is Lucky Ducky?
Anyone who falls off the middle class wagon and can’t get back on. Which these days is a growing number of people, about half the US workforce..
Ask anyone who got laid off past age 50 how the recovery is working out for them
**Raises hand**
Fortunately for me I look younger than I am. But it was tough nonetheless, and I have some skills that are in short supply.
But I know many middle aged folks who did not fare so well.
Just curious how looking younger helps you pass the resume filter.
I look younger but that piece of paper usually is the first thing they see.
When you get jobs through networking, the paper isn’t the first thing they see.
If you drop off the first 10 years of experience and drop any references to the actual date of graduation, your resume can look younger than you are.
I see green shoots of higher asset prices across the board. Is there a central bank liquidity dump operation in play?
Markets »
19.90M
Dow Volume:
Avg Vol: 138.82M
Unchanged 276
Decliners 1620
Advancers 3784
Dow 12,882 +76 +0.60%
Nasdaq 3,037 +20 +0.67%
S&P 500 1,377 +9 +0.63%
GlobalDow 1,927 +13 +0.68%
Gold 1,671 +10 +0.61%
Oil 103.57 +0.87 +0.85%
Yes the usual suspects (Dudley, Yellen) have come out and said QE is still on the table.
Today’s U.S. stock market seems to be driven entirely by QE3 speculation. The Fed has gone from pushing on a string to controlling the stock market on puppet strings.
AHEAD OF THE TAPE
Updated April 11, 2012, 8:09 p.m. ET
Inflation Reports May Clear Path for QE3
By SPENCER JAKAB
Run a media search across major publications for “QE3″ and more than 5,000 results come up in the past six months. Over 2,000 of those are in the last month alone.
This doesn’t betray society’s obsession with ocean liners but with money—or money printing to be precise. The Federal Reserve’s two rounds of quantitative easing, followed by a related “Operation Twist,” have given markets a series of sugar highs since 2009. Fearing that the last one is wearing off, traders are understandably anxious to handicap the odds of a fresh round, which is why they will be watching a pair of inflation reports closely on Thursday and Friday.
Economists’ consensus expectations are for a jump in energy costs to push March’s producer-price index to 3.4% Thursday. That would be up a bit from February but half of September’s pace. The consumer-price index, out Friday, is expected to have slipped to 2.7%, down 1.2 percentage points since September.
The odds of the Fed pulling the trigger on a new round of bond purchases are higher if price rises have been slowing. Year-on-year consumer-price inflation had decreased by 1.6 percentage points over the eight months before “QE2″ was floated in August 2010 and by 2.9 points in the eight months before “QE1″ was discussed in November 2008.
If March’s tepid jobs growth marks the start of a weaker phase for employment growth, the Fed may be more likely to act.
With many economists expecting consumer-price inflation to be below 2.5% by the third quarter, 1.5 percentage points below September 2011’s level, the path may be clearing for QE3.
…
Did you buy the dip?
I thought about it, but not nearly as seriously as I was considering buying index puts right before the dip started. I literally had the order on my screen, and decided to wait one more day to execute. Whoops!
Oh well, there will be more ups-and-downs to come…
Getting dangerously close again to the “bad” new claims level of 400K. But no worries — it will improve again after spring break.
April 12, 2012, 10:03 a.m. EDT
U.S. jobless claims jump to 380,000
Requests for benefits highest since January; spring break effect
By Jeffry Bartash, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The number of Americans who applied for jobless benefits last week rose to the highest level in two and a half months, partly because some school workers can file claims during spring break.
Weekly jobless claims jumped by 13,000 to 380,000 in the week ended April 7, the highest level since late January, the U.S. Labor Department said Thursday.
…
I mentioned the issue of market instability yesterday in the thread on JingleMale’s Sacramento home buying experience.
Here is a perfect example. The Zestimate® on this home has an implausibly wide range:
Value Range 30-day change $/sqft Last updated
Zestimate What’s this? $1,361,000 $871K – $1.91M +$50,600 $361 04/10/2012
The “Value Range” they come up with is $1,910,000 - $871,000 = $1,039,000.
Is it really that hard to pin down an estimate of a San Diego home’s value to a level of precision narrower than +/- $500,000?
And notice that the value supposedly went up by $50,600 over the last 30 days; that is almost the median family income for a San Diego household. The market must clearly be recovering now if values are rising that quickly!
median family income for a San Diego household.
Aren’t those two different things? The median household income in my city is ~$40,000, while the median family income is ~$50,000.
I’m not entirely clear on the difference- I think it’s a sneaky way to filter out single income households to make the final number look larger.
I thought “household” and “family” were two different ways of saying the same thing. Admittedly, “family” seems a bit dated…
“I think it’s a sneaky way to filter out single income households to make the final number look larger.”
That seems like a reasonable guess.
It’s also worth noting that these statistics are also likely biased by excluding households without incomes. For instance, what is the median income for the 88,000,000 working age Americans “not in the labor force,” and how does that enter the average or median income for Americans? My guess is that this large lower tail is excluded from the average to make the lot of the 99% appear better than reality dictates.
And my guess is that most of those people are living with others who do have income (parents, spouses, significant others, friends, etc.) and are included in households. They aren’t their own households. That might be a preferred choice or a forced choice, but I don’t see a mechanism for excluding them - they aren’t living in barracks somewhere.
You raise a good point.
Another one is that many of the 88M “not in labor force” working-age adults most likely have unreported income (I know a few personally!).
“$1.91M”
Here is a hint about the upper end of Zilldo’s value range: It’s wrong.
The home was listed last year at $1.8m, then down to about $1.6m, then finally circa $1.5m, where the listing recently expired.
If it wouldn’t sell at $1.5m, could its value really be $1.91m?
What’s wrong with the Zestimate on this house?
Serial bottom callers never give up! I guess they missed the memo about how extraordinary measures are in place to prevent further price declines; hence it is easy to understand their mistaking the temporarily low price plateau for a long-term price bottom.
Home prices close to bottoming, to rise in 2013
A sign advertising a home for sale at a reduced price is shown in Pacifica, California December 31, 2008. REUTERS/Robert Galbraith
By Lucia Mutikani
WASHINGTON | Thu Apr 12, 2012 10:03am EDT
(Reuters) - The relentless decline in home prices is nearing an end and prices should rise for the first time in seven years in 2013, but a possible new wave of foreclosures could threaten the recovery, according a Reuters poll of economists.
The median forecast of 24 economists polled by Reuters was for the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city home price index to end the year unchanged. That was the same finding back in January for this house price gauge, which covers 20 cities.
“We are expecting a gradual improvement, but if we get a big wave of new foreclosures coming to the market, price declines could be even greater,” said Yelena Shulyatyeva, an economist at BNP Paribas in New York.
The survey forecast the S&P/Case-Shiller home price index rising 2.0 percent next year, up from 1.5 percent in the January survey.
The housing market’s collapse pushed the economy into its longest and deepest recession since the 1930s. Historically, housing has led the economy out of recession, but it has been the weakest link in the recovery that started in mid-2009.
…
Did any of these so-called economists happened to predict the housing crisis? If not, who really cares what they think.
“Home prices close to bottoming, to rise in 2013″
Lemme’ get this straight: housing prices are gonna go down. Then they are gonna go back up. Got it.
I presume they presume their “housing is nearing a bottom” stopped-clock call will encourage buyers to snap up homes at premium prices?
There Will Be Cheating: Another Gift to Big Banks Hidden in Obama’s Principal Reduction Strategy
Thursday, 05 April 2012 10:52 By Matt Stoller, Naked Capitalism | Report
If you ask a homeowner who has tried to get a government-certified mortgage modification from a bank, half the time you’ll hear a story of lost paperwork, incompetence, and interminable phone calls to call centers with unhelpful staffers. Recent foreclosure mitigation programs designed by the government are not merely poorly conceived, they are poorly implemented. In discussing principal write-downs, one must take this into account. Who is going to do the writing down? Who will be eligible? What about homes with second mortgages? Most importantly, is there a good database that can match those second mortgages to first mortgages?
The Government Accountability Office has shown, as recently as March of 2011 that there are serious operational problems with the second lien write-down program implemented by Treasury to date. Bluntly speaking, the GAO reports, Fannie doesn’t have the computer systems and quality databases to match second mortgages with first mortgages.
The administration, the banks, and Fannie/Freddie have an impressive track record of operational failure when it comes to implementing mortgage modification programs in the mortgage market. HAMP, the administration’s major housing initiative, bombed not just because of program design, but because of severe operational problems. These kinds of loan modification programs have created bitter mistrust; debtors often send in papers, are given inconsistent instructions, and never hear back on pending loan modifications. Sometimes, debtors will get a loan modification, and after nine months or so of paying on-time, they’ll get a foreclosure notification out the blue. Some of this is because of misaligned incentives in the bank servicing model, but some is a simple lack of operational competence in the form of inadequate record-keeping, staffing and training, and quality assurance.
…
Fannie doesn’t have the computer systems and quality databases to match second mortgages with first mortgages.
Ruh-roh. Good thing we’ve got MERS’s iron-clad records to fall back on, right? Right?
Oh-oh, MERSy, MERSy me…
Fraud and incompetence?
So they’re saying that the bank servicing model is really the Wall St. model.
Unfortunately, the “lack of operational resources” always seem to favor the financial sector.
Curious, that.
Don’t these loans have an address attached to them? Google and ChoicePoint are whizzes at sending me directed advertising to my address, this shouldn’t be much different.
That means doing one at a time with employees. They don’t have the staff to do that. They are looking for a mechanism to match it useing electronic records and can’t figure it out.
Hiring people to do the work seems to be the one thing they won’t do.
Gary Shilling 4 part series.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-09/will-u-s-avoid-recession-in-2012-part-1-.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-11/will-u-s-avoid-a-recession-in-2012-part-3-.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-04-11/will-u-s-avoid-a-recession-in-2012-part-3-.html
It’s about time this guy gets right.
In a real word he would right most of the time. In a make belief, centrally planned economy & monetary system, you have to account for certain actors and their reactions.
I’m pretty sure he made a ton of money on treasuries before the collapse as well.
The headline’s implication is diametrically opposed to the information in the article. Link to the actual RealtyTrac article in the WaPo summary.
Foreclosures reach lowest quarterly level since late 2007, RealtyTrac data show
By Brady Dennis, Thursday, April 12, 12:01 AM
The Washington Post
“The low foreclosure numbers in the first quarter are not an indication that the massive reservoir of distressed properties built up over the past few years has somehow miraculously evaporated,” RealtyTrac chief executive Brandon Moore said in a statement. “The dam may not burst in the next 30 to 45 days, but it will eventually burst.”
A coming flood of foreclosures is expected in part because some states — such as Florida, California and New York — have a long backlog. It sometimes can take three years to complete the foreclosure process.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/business/economy/foreclosures-reach-lowest-quarterly-level-since-late-2007-realtytrac-data-show/2012/04/11/gIQAjTqoBT_story.html
(At least Debbie started out slow in the 80`s with her cash out liposuction but at this point Debbie needs some serious Hardest Hit cheese in order to save her ATM.)
Hardest Hit foreclosure prevention program slammed by inspector general
by Kim Miller
Deborah Stockhammer, of Jupiter River Estates, applied for Florida’s Hardest Hit Fund to save her home.
A federal audit released this morning by the Office of the Special Inspector General for the Troubled Asset Relief Program says the federal Hardest Hit Fund has experienced “significant delays in providing help to homeowners,” and must dramatically increase its efforts.
The Hardest Hit Fund, announced by President Obama in early 2010, provided four rounds of funding to states whose homeowners were most negatively impacted by unemployment and housing value declines.
In all, $7.6 billion has been given to states, including more than $1 billion to Florida, to keep struggling borrowers in their home.
Yet two years after the program was announced, just $828.6 million has been drawn down by the states in the program, the majority of which is being used for administrative expenses, said today’s audit.
“As of December 31, 2011, Housing Finance Authorities had spent $217.4 million (or 3 percent of the $7.68 billion) to assist 30,640 homeowners,” the report states.
In Florida, as of January, about 3,400 homeowners had received help paying their mortgages from the Hardest Hit program overseen by the Florida Housing Finance Corp.
Statewide, about 23,320 people have completed applications and $77.3 million has been either reserved or spent on those approved for money.
In Palm Beach County, 1,931 applications were completed, 348 have been approved and $7.7 million has been either reserved for payments or already spent.
But a Florida official quoted in the federal audit said that while the $1 billion “has been a nice carrot” it’s been difficult to get banks and loan servicers to participate in the plan.
“There is no stick with the carrot to force servicers to participate,” the unnamed Florida official is quoted as saying.
Palm Beach, Palm Beach County, real estate, sigtarp
This entry was posted on Thursday, April 12th, 2012 at 9:01 am and is filed under Florida economy, Foreclosures, Housing affordability. 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.
“Deborah Stockhammer, of Jupiter River Estates, applied for Florida’s Hardest Hit Fund to save her home.”
WAAAAASSSSUUUUP Debbie? Momma needs a new pair of shoes. (and a fuqin boat) (and a new car) (and a flat screen) (and a free house to live in and extract the equity from while she acquires these necessities)
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 8/16/1985 10:09:00
CFN: 19850185240
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 4626/217
Pages: 1
Consideration: $2,499.00
Party 1: LAMENDOLA DEBORAH A AKA
STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH A AKA
Party 2: FLEET FIN INC
Legal: L2 B32 JUP RIVER EST
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 8/19/1986 09:53:00
CFN: 19860212257
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 4976/318
Pages: 1
Consideration: $4,951.00
Party 1: LAMENDOLA DEBORAH A AKA
STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH A AKA
STOCKHAMMER MARK
Party 2: FLEET FIN INC
Legal: L2 B32 JUPITER RIVER EST
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 9/4/1987 11:20:00
CFN: 19870264980
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 5409/1105
Pages: 1
Consideration: $4,951.00
Party 1: LAMENDOLA DEBRA A AKA
STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH A AKA
STOCKHAMMER MARK
Party 2: FLEET FIN & MTG CO
Legal: L2 B32 JUPITER RIVER EST
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 7/31/1992 08:33:08
CFN: 19920235418
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 7341/1681
Pages: 3
Consideration: $1,183.00
Party 1: LAMENDOLA DEBORAH A AKA
STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH AKA
STOCKHAMMER MARK
Party 2: BLAZER FIN SVC INC
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 3/25/1993 08:32:43
CFN: 19930087880
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 7636/418
Pages: 3
Consideration: $2,287.00
Party 1: LAMENDOLA DEBORAH A AKA
STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH AKA
STOCKHAMMER MARK
Party 2: BLAZER FIN SVC INC FL
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 6/21/2000 10:22:58
CFN: 20000233582
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 11851/1062
Pages: 7
Consideration: $15,000.00
Party 1: STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH & MARK E
STOCKHAMMER MARK E (M)
LAMENDOLA DEBORAH A
Party 2: BANK 1
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 4/4/2003 10:50:57
CFN: 20030188343
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 15018/1468
Pages: 17
Consideration: $62,000.00
Party 1: STOCKHAMMER MARK E
STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH
Party 2: CENTEX HOME EQUITY COMPANY LLC
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 5/20/2003 11:30:26
CFN: 20030291469
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 15248/227
Pages: 17
Consideration: $75,000.00
Party 1: STOCKHAMMER MARK E
STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH
Party 2: CENTEX HOME EQUITY COMPANY LLC
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 3/25/2004 13:48:07
CFN: 20040163430
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 16715/1785
Pages: 14
Consideration: $99,900.00
Party 1: STOCKHAMMER MARK E
STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH A
Party 2: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC
FULL SPECTRUM LENDING INC
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 5/23/2007 09:13:43
CFN: 20070251322
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 21762/1306
Pages: 20
Consideration: $150,000.00
Party 1: STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH A
Party 2: MORTGAGE ELECTRONIC REGISTRATION SYSTEMS INC
NOVSTAR MORTGAGE INC
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Type: MTG
Date/Time: 9/27/2011 17:04:17
CFN: 20110360776
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 24765/1871
Pages: 5
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH
Party 2: FLORIDA HOUSING FINANCE CORPORATION
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Type: LP
Date/Time: 7/27/2011 11:59:38
CFN: 20110278259
Book Type: O
Book/Page: 24657/1236
Pages: 1
Consideration: $0.00
Party 1: DEUTSCHE BANK NATIONAL TRUST COMPANY TRUSTEE
NOVASTAR MORTGAGE FUNDING TRUST
Party 2: STOCKHAMMER DEBORAH A
LA MENDOLA DEBORAH A
STOCKHAMMER SPOUSE
LA MENDOLA SPOUSE
USA
Legal: JUPITER RVR EST B32 L2 BL
Unbelievable how much cash she extracted from that house. Zillow has it now worth $120,000.
Funny how you can watch the bubble forming through the years as shown by Debbie`s equity lipo.
8/16/1985 $2,499.00
9/4/1987 $4,951.00
3/25/1993 realestate was down $2,287.00
6/21/2000 $15,000.00
4/4/2003 $62,000.00
5/20/2003 $75,000.00
3/25/04 $99,900.00
5/23/07 $150,000.00
and now….
“Deborah Stockhammer, of Jupiter River Estates, applied for Florida’s Hardest Hit Fund to save her home.”
She’s a VICTIM.
Consideration: $1,183.00
Wow, I’ve never seen so many mortgages for such a low-dollar amount!
Is this the housing-equivalent of payday-loan stores?
Gold is taking off again like a rocket!
Gold - Electronic (COMEX) Jun 2012
CNS: GCM2
Market open $1,677.00
Change +16.70 +1.01%
Volume 106,756
Apr 12, 2012, 12:49 p.m.
Previous close $ 1,660.30
war on women.
war on mothers.
and i thought this election would be about the war on savers.
proof that the status quo will prevail…no matter which one of these clowns wins.
Got brown tide?
Sewage Spilled in Local Waters without Notice: Report
After 2 million gallon spill, millions more flowed through Tijuana River
By Lauren Steussy | Thursday, Apr 12, 2012 | Updated 11:54 AM PDT
A sewage spill in a San Ysidro treatment plant may have caused millions of gallons of sewage to flow through the Tijuana River into a public beach.
Typically, surfers and swimmers are notified of any potential contamination in public waters.
However on Tuesday, a spill in San Ysidro made its way to Imperial Beach unbeknownst to the surfers who frequent the beach, according to our media partners VoiceofSanDiego.org, who broke the story.
The spill was caused by a software malfunction in the treatment plant, an operations manager for International Boundary and Water Commission told VOSD.
The spill flooded parts of the plant’s filtration system, which filters about 25 million gallons of Tijuana sewage.
An estimated 60 million gallons of untreated sewage then flowed into the Tijuana River, which discharges just south of Imperial Beach, according to a notice from the Surfrider Foundation.
…
Welcome to the future, where software can kill you.
The beach is near deserted today despite sun and 70 degree temperatures. I wonder if word got around about the brown tide?
I live 2 miles from the beach and I cannot even remember the last time I dipped so much as a toe in the ocean. I don’t even like to walk on the sand. It’s disgusting. There are soiled baby diapers and hypodermic needles, rusty nails and glass, petrol deposits and bird sh!t. If anyone thinks the government will protect them from polluters, they are morons.
What beach, wittbelle?
Huntington Beach, CA. I know, it sounds like Santa Monica, but it’s not.
Wow, witt!
And your congressman is a surfer. I’d a thunk Surfriders would be all over that. Just Hyperion or the whole beach now?
Yeah, Dana is one of HB’s finest “bought and paid for”s. I suppose Surfrider is involved in trying to keep the beach clean, but when you have budget cuts and record temperatures and all of Southern California descending upon us in hopes of getting some relief from the heat, it’s a challenge. Besides, I might be exaggerating a tad. I hate the fu@king beach. That huge ball of fire hanging in the sky, incessantly beating down on me and all that sand and dirty pigeons and seagulls everywhere. Add tourists and smoke from the nasty fire pits and its a godd@mn paradise. It’s like Bakersfield … by the Sea.
That’s why I left Malibu and moved up here. Those damned used baby diapers in my front yard every Monday morning. And the Kentucky Fried detritus….
soiled baby diapers and hypodermic needles, rusty nails and glass, petrol deposits and bird sh!t.
I always preferred the Atlantic.
And that crap is floating in from Mexico- which has the kind of environmental protection that libertarians and conservatives like: none.
BS - We just don’t make a religion out of environmentalism. Have you ever seen a park or other common area after so called liberal environmentalists get done using it for an event or protest? Garbage everywhere, feces, urine, used needles, condoms etc…hypocrites all of you. You only think you own the issue.
Oh brother, here we go again. More finger pointing. That’s good. As long as we keep blaming each other, it keeps our attention off of our bought and paid for government and their generous corporate sponsors’ agendas.
Silly “argument”. That makes as much sense as, “Have you ever seen a park or other common area after so called conservative environmental destructionists get done using it for an event or protest? Soiled bible pamphlets and unpoliced brass and empty Coke cans all over the place?”
Or maybe they don’t leave a visible mess because they are in their 8-banger trucks that they use like cars or destroying the dunes with their pre-runners.
See how that works?
Bubb-
Don’t feed the troll.
Did your hens come through for you?
I can’t wait for the Japanese cr@p to start washing up! There’s supposed to be some cool stuff like household appliances and dog corpses!
There are soiled baby diapers and hypodermic needles, rusty nails and glass, petrol deposits and bird sh!t.
Why?? There are miles and miles of Beaches in Rio that are clean. They clean them every night with big tractors pulling strainers. It works.
Apparently the foreclosure crisis is over at this point, as March 2012 foreclosure filings occurred at the lowest rate since July 2007, before the financial crisis erupted.
P.S. My best guess is that the foreclosure crisis will remain in cryonic suspension until after the November 2012 election, at which point foreclosures will resume occurring at “worse than expected” levels.
April 12, 2012, 12:01 a.m. EDT
Foreclosure activity lowest since July 2007
March foreclosure filings drop 4% from February
By Amy Hoak, MarketWatch
CHICAGO (MarketWatch) — The number of foreclosure filings in March fell to the lowest level since July 2007, according to a report from RealtyTrac, released on Thursday.
Filings, which include default notices, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions, dropped 4%, compared with February, the company said. They fell 17%, compared with a year ago.
But that doesn’t mean that the large supply of distressed properties has “miraculously evaporated,” the company’s chief executive said.
“There are hairline cracks in the dam, evident in the sizable foreclosure activity increases in judicial foreclosure states over the past several months, along with an increase in foreclosure starts in many judicial and nonjudicial states in March,” Brandon Moore, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac, said in a news release.
“The dam may not burst in the next 30 to 45 days,” he said, “but it will eventually burst, and everyone downstream should be prepared for that to happen — both in terms of new foreclosure activity and new short sale activity.”
…
Just heard on the headline 1pm NPR news:
Bank foreclosure filings are up for March 2012.
It’s getting really hard to sort truth from fiction as this bubble nears its death throes.
My best guess is that the foreclosure crisis will remain in cryonic suspension until after the November 2012 election, at which point foreclosures will resume occurring at “worse than expected” levels.
Why? The banksters prefer Obama to Mitt? Not bloody likely.
By your argument, we should see foreclosures go into hyperdrive from now through November 2012, to give Romney the chance to point the finger of blame for so many foreclosures at Obama.
Any chance this scenario will actually happen?
I think the banksters will do whatever they feel is best for them and their bonuses. But pointing out they won’t bend over backwards to help re-elect Obama seems pretty self-evident.
A shocker: CA is not among the ten worst states for retirees.
Jan. 11, 2012, 9:45 a.m. EST
The 10 worst states for retirees in 2012
They may look like havens but taxes, cost of living a burden
It is an interesting list.
Almost without exception -
The 10 worst states to retire are long time democrat run/public union controlled/high tax hell holes.
2Ban, do you plan on retiring to Florida?
Maybe.
Maybe Texas, Tennessee, Pennsylvania to name a few others…
“Maybe.”
If NYS is killing you, why not move now? Why feed the union pigs?
Answer: Banana is earning more in NY than he can anywhere else.
Those damn socialists in NY huh banana?
C’mon, walk into it… I’m waiting…
“…long time democrat run/public union controlled/high tax hell holes…”
Which brings me back to my amazement over CA’s exclusion.
CIBT- Just a theory:
The net inmigration to CA was predominantly immigrants, not skilled potential unionized skilled laborers. At least recently.
The recent net outmigration reflects the same trend.
I see unions losing strength in CA, thus the delisting.
Logical?
amazement over CA’s exclusion.
They’re including climate in the rankings, hence all the New England states. Maine apparently makes it for its climate alone. It’s a pretty weak and subjective list.
Except for Minnesota and Wisconsin they’re all Northeast Corridor states
Weather was a big factor. Health care was missing.
On NY-1 today. Manhattan residential rents hit all time high today.
… sigh…
Have faith
……. cratering rental prices are ahead of NY, not behind.
“cratering rental prices are ahead of NY, not behind.”
Sure, maybe. But, the long term might outlast me. Rents are at a peak (not necessarily final peak) what 6-7 years after the start of the ‘pop’.
Rents are definitely up in NYC. That’s what I hear all around.
Mine is not up for a while so we shall see.
Fed Reserve president Dudley visited Syracuse today. He had this to say among other things: Emphasis mine.
The open markets committee has set current interest rates very low, which is holding down the interest the nation pays on its debt, he said. “This is temporary. This is not permanent. People should not get too comfortable with it,” he said.
If the rates were normalized, there would be a big jump in the amount of interest the federal government owes, Dudley said.
That’s not the Federal Reserve’s concern, he said. The Federal Open Markets Committee has a Congressional mandate to set monetary policy that promotes the maximum level of employment consistent with stable prices, he said.
“We’re not going to keep interest rates low to solve fiscal problems. That’s completely inappropriate,” Dudley said.
If no “grand bargain” comes out of Washington to deal with the fiscal crisis, the debt could derail the country’s economic recovery and discourage companies from hiring workers, he said.
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2012/04/failure_to_deal_with_governmen.html
If the rates were normalized, there would be a big jump in the amount of interest the federal government owes, Dudley said.
Which raises an interesting question: with rates at historic lows, why is the Treasury still borrowing at the short end of the curve, when they could be locking in low rates for the next thirty years?
Update on the boat sale I posted yesterday.
Turns out it was a Bahamian foreclosure victim`s drug run forced on him by a Jamaican bankster.
But what a sob story! If it was up to me I would pay off Lynx Jones Bahamian house with Hardest Hit money. Why I think we should throw in a year of SNAP and 99 weeks of unemplyment benefits too after all this poor Bahamian Deadbeat has been through.
Man tells authorities he was forced to import drugs or face death
By Alexandra Seltzer Palm Beach Post Staff Writer
Posted: 1:09 p.m. Thursday, April 12, 2012
PALM BEACH––The man spotted by fire rescue crews Wednesday morning wandering the beach on North Ocean Boulevard, now accused of transporting about $342,000 worth of marijuana, told agents that he was forced to bring the drugs over from the Bahamas or else he would be killed.
Lynx Jones, a Bahamian who said he lives with his U.S. citizen wife in Fort Lauderdale, was charged with importing 100 kilograms or more of marijuana, according to a federal criminal complaint filed Thursday.
Jones initially told investigators that he walked from Fort Lauderdale after fighting with his wife. He denied any connection to a 21-foot Concept center-console vessel that was found near where he was walking, according to the complaint.
U.S. Border Patrol agents searching the boat removed 74 packages of marijuana, which amounted to 193.6 kilograms.
Jones later told agents said that between 2007 and 2009 he borrowed money from a Jamaican man named Brandon Stirrup that he used to build a home in the Bahamas.
He was never able to repay Stirrup. In March, Stirrup told him, “you can’t pay me my money; I need some packages to be dropped off in the States,” the complaint said.
Jones said he had never done anything like that before, but Stirrup said the debt had to be paid “one way or another.”
On Monday Stirrup came to Jones’ home in the Bahamas and said “let’s go.” He was driven to an area in Freeport known as the Waterway where they were met by two men. One of the men gave Jones a GPS already programmed to guide him to Florida. The 21-foot boat, full of packages of drugs, was waiting.
He drove a short distance, tossed the packages overboard and returned home, the complaint said.
On Tuesday Stirrup told him he knew the drugs weren’t delivered.
“You destroyed my drugs, I’m going to kill you,” Jones said Stirrup told him, according to the complaint.
Stirrup said he’d have to transport drugs again. Later that night, Jones departed for Florida while two men followed him in their own boat. Once they approached the Florida coastline the men turned their Donzi go-fast boat around.
Jones came ashore and was met by two men. He was told him to throw the drug packages over an eight-foot seawall. Instead, Jones ran, the complaint said.
He hid for a short time in a bathroom of a business, he told agents, and later was walking the beach when he was met by a Palm Beach Police officer and detained.
http://www.palmbeachpost.com/?r=t - 88k -
In a fight between hawks and doves, who is likely to win?
Or is the whole debate a scam designed to increase the shock-and-awe effect of QE3 when it happens on the unwitting sheeple?
April 12, 2012, 3:55 p.m. EDT
Post-Fedspeak deluge, QE3 is in play — but not yet
By Steve Goldstein, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — The 12 different Federal Reserve speakers who hit the lecture trail this week were all willing to, in theory at least, indulge positions at odds with their reputation.
Said Minneapolis Fed President Narayana Kocherlakota, considered a hawk who says interest rates may need to be raised as early as this year: “If the outlook for inflation fell sufficiently and/or the outlook for unemployment rose sufficiently, then I would recommend adding accommodation.”
From Team Dove, Fed Vice Chair Janet Yellen was willing to embrace the opposite: “A significant acceleration in the pace of recovery could call for an earlier beginning to the process of policy firming than the FOMC currently anticipates.”
Confused? Don’t be. The Federal Reserve is going to make its interest rate and bond-buying decisions based on incoming data. And what the Fed speakers have done this week is to narrow the possible courses of action. For instance, a fresh round of bond buys in two weeks’ time is nearly an impossibility, barring some catastrophe.
Yellen was the top-ranking official to talk about monetary policy, and her views are likely shared by Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke.
She said a “highly accommodative policy” was appropriate now, but more action could be needed if the recovery proceeds at a “slower-than-expected” pace. That’s an important phrase, as it doesn’t suggest an outright contraction would be needed for a new round of action.
Much seems to come down to the jobs data. The March payrolls report disappointed, with only 120,000 jobs created.
But Fed officials weren’t ready to panic.
“It is way too early to conclude that the economy is sputtering and the employment progress we’ve made is sputtering out,” said Dennis Lockhart, president of the Atlanta Fed.
James Bullard, the St. Louis Fed president who typically flies with the hawks but supported the second round of bond buys, agreed: “The report was mediocre but it’s just one piece of data in the larger mosaic.”
Arch-dove William Dudley of the New York Fed also wasn’t hyper-ventilating.
“The somewhat softer March labor market report that was released last Friday may reflect the earlier positive influence of the mild weather on job creation in January and February, although other less sanguine interpretations are also plausible,” he said.
“We thus will need to see more data to determine the extent to which the March data represent a transitory weather-related setback.”
…
THE Bubble 2006
Bubble zombies: 2008, 2010, 2012
I hope I can sit 2014 out, maybe jump in, in… 2016?
Bubble zombies: 2008, 2010, 2012
This waiting is getting old. Maybe by the time I finally buy a house I’ll only need a little tiny one, as my kids will be grown up by then…
“This waiting is getting old. Maybe by the time I finally buy a house I’ll only need a little tiny one, as my kids will be grown up by then…”
+1
Sad thing is I sold a little tiny place in 2005. In another 3 years that will be all I will need again.
I’m only 6-8 years away from that. And he was only 5 when I started reading here.
Yep… Mine was 6.
Does this mean SF County FBs can stop making payments, with the assurance they are protected against foreclosure actions?
San Francisco Board of Supervisors unanimously passes foreclosure moratorium resolution
April 10, 2012
Resolution supports California Homeowner Bill of Rights and principal reductions
by Raquel Redondiez
Supervisor John Avalos is backed by foreclosure fighters Vivian Richardson, Ross Rhodes and Kathryn Galves at the rally prior to the April 2 hearing on the foreclosure moratorium. – Photo: Occupy Bernal
San Francisco – Supervisor John Avalos’ resolution calling for a suspension of foreclosure activities in the City and County of San Francisco passed in an 11-0 vote at the Board of Supervisors. This resolution signals the City’s resolve to protect homeowners from unfair and unlawful actions by banks, trustees and mortgage companies until protections at the state and federal level are in place.
“The foreclosure crisis has already devastated so many lives. This resolution is an important step to support solutions to prevent millions of Americans from losing their homes. And, while we are eager to see state and federal reforms enacted to provide much needed reprieve, we must do what we can TODAY to stop preventable foreclosures,” said Supervisor Avalos, who represents District 11, one of San Francisco’s areas hardest hit by foreclosures.
“Every day, families, seniors and children wake up with the fear of losing their homes through foreclosures. I look forward to working with Mayor Ed Lee to use the full weight of the City in urging banks, especially our City banking partners, Wells Fargo, Bank of America and Union Bank, to stop foreclosure activities until currently proposed state and federal measures to protect homeowner and tenant rights are in full effect,” added Avalos.
…
Pay attention my brothers and sisters….
If you haven’t observed the Realtor/Housing Crime Syndicate attempting to re-frame the truth about housing, you’re not paying attention. At all.
You get straight to the reason this bubble and this blog are oh so fascinating. There is this perpetual wedge between what your eyes and common sense tell you, and what the MSM-manipulated REIC propaganda spews forth.
Continually debunking bunkum has been an ongoing source of entertainment for me now for seven years running!
Thank you.
NARscum and their proxies in the media (and here on this blog)are really beating the drum and misrepresenting the truth in a very big way starting last week.
We Stand At The Doorstep Of A Foreclosed House. Then We Go In
Categories: Radio, Housing
02:49 pm
April 12, 2012
by Chana Joffe-Walt
Listen to the Story
All Things Considered
[4 min 3 sec]
Marc Joseph, a real estate agent, checks on homes that have been foreclosed on.
In Florida, the foreclosure process takes 861 days, on average.
That means houses often sit in limbo for more than two years after the owner stops paying the mortgage. Maybe the homeowner is still living in the house. Maybe he’s renting it out. Maybe squatters are living there, or maybe it’s empty and falling down.
Marc Joseph’s job is to find out.
Joseph is a real estate agent. On the day I tag along with him, he’s representing a bank that had repossessed a concrete block home in Cape Coral, Fla.
“The assignment for this property came out auto-generated through the computer last night at, like, 2:01 in the morning,” he said.
His assignment today is to figure out what condition the house is in and report back to the bank.
Outside, he surveys the place. No broken windows. No lights on. No cars in the driveway. He then takes a breath and moves toward the door. “There shouldn’t be anyone living in there,” says Joseph.
It’s quiet. We stand at the doorstep for a couple of minutes. I wonder whether we should leave.
“Oh, we’re absolutely going in today,” Joseph says.
The front door is unlocked — this is common, apparently — and Joseph likes what he sees. No inhabitants. The place isn’t trashed. No furniture. No one has poured concrete down the drain or ripped out the electrical system.
“When I see something like this, I know this will sell immediately,” he says.
This is the new phase of the housing collapse. Homeowners stopped paying for their homes a long time ago. We are just now dealing with that fact.
“Sure it’s an ugly business to go out and repo somebody’s house,” Joseph says. “But on the flip side of that, the beauty is [that] affordability is back. Now you can buy that house for $150,000, and you can actually come down and retire in Florida,” says Joseph. “And as long as that sun is up there shining, people are going to want to come here.”
That, of course, is exactly what real estate agents always say in Florida. But Joseph listed the house on Tamiami Court for close to $150,000 — less than half of what it was worth five years ago.
Three days later, the bank accepted an offer.
http://www.theburningplatform.com/?p=30405
This is a great article even though it’s a month old. This ought to put to rest any notion of rising housing prices.
Dear MAR, NAR and any other realtor group out there,
Stop the crap about “low inventory” etc. In Boston they are coming….another 10 percent just showed up on zillow today after being hidden. And it’s a long weekend! Ha! Suck it liars!!!!!! I’ll tell you what sellers…..I’ll just wait 3 years until it really really hurts and then I’ll offer 20 percent under asking…….tee hee….
So much for outsmarting the big boys with underground markets as they try to tax the masses into submission. All that remains? Barter and theft…..oh, and um death.
Black Market in Spain: Cash Transactions Exceeding 2,500 Euros Now Banned
Via Google Translate from Libre Mercado …
The Prime Minister, Mariano Rajoy, has announced on Wednesday that the plan to combat tax evasion on Friday approved the Cabinet prohibit the payment in cash transactions of over € 2,500 and n which at least involved a businessman professional.