Bits Bucket for July 30, 2013
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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This is wild:
“That section of Coffee Pot Bayou was navigable in 1845, when Florida became a state, so it has been state property all along, the DEP contended. The state claims ownership of all land in Florida under navigable waterways.
Ware countered by pointing out that he had a chain of title going back more than a century. He traces the private ownership of that property back to 1883, when Florida sold 4 million acres to Hamilton Disston to help pay off debts dating back to the Civil War.”
http://www.tampabay.com/news/environment/water/state-sues-couple-over-ownership-of-submerged-st-petersburg-property/2133869
When Florida farts, people listen:
http://abcnews.go.com/US/injured-humongous-blasts-florida-propane-plant/story?id=19811188
Yes, let’s have lots of natgas pipelines and gas powered home appliances. Good, clean gas. Because clearly, Florida has proven how well it can handle gas.
buying a house will get you out of the 9-5 rut.
Exactly. I bought a house and I work 8-5 instead of 9-5. See? It worked.
In a few years, you even get a free hour-each-way commute when you want to switch jobs. The benefits are endless!
How are efforts to overhaul the MID coming along?
If the concern is lost stimulus, how about if the full value amount of tax savings from the MID were redistributed as a flat percentage of income to all American households’ bank accounts. I’m guessing more than 659,000 jobs would be gained from all the extra consumer expenditures thus generated, which would not be narrowly concentrated on building large homes for wealthy buyers.
Mortgage Interest Deduction Is Ripe for Reform
Conversion to Tax Credit Could Raise Revenue and Make Subsidy More Effective and Fairer
By Will Fischer and Chye-Ching Huang
Revised June 25, 2013
Costing at least $70 billion a year, the mortgage interest deduction is one of the largest federal tax expenditures, but it appears to do little to achieve the goal of expanding homeownership. The main reason is that the bulk of its benefits go to higher-income households who generally could afford a home without assistance: in 2012, 77 percent of the benefits went to homeowners with incomes above $100,000. Meanwhile, close to half of homeowners with mortgages — most of them middle- and lower-income families — receive no benefit from the deduction. Three major bipartisan panels have proposed to convert the deduction to a credit and lower the maximum amount of interest it covers. These reforms would be major improvements over current law and would generate significant additional revenue.
…
“Costing at least $70 billion a year…”
Israel could use that money.
Abraham Foxman heard you say that. You are now on their “list”.
“You are now on their “list”.”
+1 We all are.
The NSA/PRISM snooping [within] the U.S. is based on a congressional mandate to investigate antisemitism around the world. Neocons + Progressives = No 4th Amendment.
By this time 2017, the mortgage interest tax deduction won’t exist.
This is a good thing.
“By this time 2017, the mortgage interest tax deduction won’t exist.”
And that’s not the only thing that won’t exist.
The 4th Amendment won’t exist? With the 2nd soon to follow?
1st anyone?
The Dallas Cowboyes will win the 2018 Super Bowl.
The argument is out there now, promulgated by top economists, that housing is such an important part of the American economy that there is nothing wrong with showering massive amounts of subsidy on the sector.
Which helps explain those artificially inflated home prices and the millions and millions of vacant homes that dot the American landscape.
I think the opposite of these economists would be more correct.
“The argument is out there now, promulgated by top economists, that housing is such an important part of the American economy that there is nothing wrong with showering massive amounts of subsidy on the sector.”
There is a big difference between regulating mortgage lenders/big banks, having good zoning laws, having good housing codes, etc. and subsidizing a sector. Yes, you want to prevent fraud and give people some confidence that the courts will oversee things. No, you do not want to actually start having the government heavily involved in things.
“In order to see the robust economic recovery we all want, we need to deal effectively with the large volume of vacant and distressed properties throughout the country,” said Duke. “The potential fallout of high rates of vacancy — blight, crime, lowered home values, and decreased property tax revenue — is the same for every neighborhood and community. In some areas, the private market will lead the way, while in others government will have to use precious resources wisely to catalyze recovery.”
Lower property taxes are Un-American and evil too.
Are home prices surging past record levels in your area?
Yes…. which is crushing demand. There is no interest in resale housing when priced 40% higher than new housing.
It’s at least good to know that housing market reflation efforts have been highly successful, allowing banks the opportunity to offload all the bad mortgage debt that was weighing down their balance sheets.
once they dump all their shanties will they loosen up credit again?
Local governments with large pension liabilities appreciate a floor under their property tax base too.
I guess there must not have been a bubble after all before the 2007 housing price crash; otherwise prices would not have popped right back up to the same levels again.
Bulletin U.S. home prices surge; Dallas, Denver at record levels »
Investor Alert
July 30, 2013, 9:00 a.m. EDT
U.S. home prices surge as Dallas, Denver at record
By Steve Goldstein
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — U.S. home prices continued to accelerate in May, with Dallas and Denver now at record levels, according to data released Tuesday. The S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite jumped 2.4% in May to take the year-on-year change to 12.2%. Each of the 20 cities rose by at least 1.2% and San Francisco saw a monthly pop of 4.3%. “Two cities set new highs, surpassing their pre-crisis levels and five cities - Atlanta, Chicago, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle - posted monthly gains of over 3%, also a first time event,” said David Blitzer, chairman of the index committee at S&P Dow Jones Indices, in a statement.
…
I think they’re cherry picking in Denver. Sure, prices are high in places like Broomfield and Highlands Ranch. In other parts of town, not so much.
Though I am hearing that little ol’ Loveland is attracting people who are getting priced out of renting or buying in tony Fort Collins (or as I like to call it: Boulder North).
Isn’t Loveland where Mr Money stache lives? I remember him talking about liking it bc fancy people won’t live there and so it has low property taxes. IIRC, he said in a blog post that his property taxes are under 1%, something like 2400/yr on a 400k house.
Nope. He lives in Longmont which is a dozen miles northeast of Boulder. I know a few people who used to rent in Boulder during and after college at CU who bought places in Longmont.
Boulder homeowners = California equity locusts, trustafarians, people who bought 30 years ago, IT entrepeneurs and worker beez.
Property taxes are pretty low along most of the northern Front Range. 2400 for a 400K house is pretty normal in Larimer and Weld Counties. Longmont is in Boulder County.
I know a few people who used to rent in Boulder during and after college at CU who bought places in Longmont.
A lot of them are also buying in places like Lafayette and Louisville, which are tonier and closer to Denver than Hispanic infested Longmont.
My coworkers are convinced that prices only go up.
‘hispanic infested longmont’
that’s really racist. you should probably get some kind of diversity training and more coexist stickers.
that’s really racist. you should probably get some kind of diversity training and more coexist stickers.
No need, you see, I am Hispanic. But even I know better than to live somewhere infested with illegals.
No need, you see, I am Hispanic. But even I know better than to live somewhere infested with illegals.
You’d be amazed at the number of kindred spirits you have here in AZ. I’ve seen Hispanics go sky-high over things like the refusal of others to learn English. Or follow the rules for proper immigration. Y’know, the laws.
I’m for immigration reform and some kind of earned citizenship (tax refunds for X number of years, passing a test of English proficiency, clean crim record, etc.) and yet even I would avoid areas that become full of (primarily) Mexicans. The fact that getting legal jobs is harder for them means they’re more likely to shack up 10 to a house, to have 20-somethings being small time dealers, and generally to not give two fu*ks about following community norms. This is another way of saying, no I wouldn’t want to live around a lot of hispanics either.
My War on Ebonics and eliminating interpreters at immigration hearings is looking better by the day…..
‘Boulder homeowners = California equity locusts, trustafarians, people who bought 30 years ago, IT entrepeneurs and worker beez.’
I think ‘Mork and Mindy’ started it all. Before that, who the heck even thought about Boulder?
“No need, you see, I am Hispanic”
How do you say Uncle Tom in Spanish?
The coastal elitist libtards demand your solidarity with your brown brothers and sisters, whether they owned ranches granted by the Crown of Spain in the 16th century, or if they are illiterate peasants from Guatemala, Honduras, or El Salvador (birthplace of MS-13!) smuggled by coyotes into USA last week.
you should probably get some kind of diversity training and more coexist stickers.
Diversity training 101. COEXIST stickers sold separately…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yVMik5Mfwk
How do you say Uncle Tom in Spanish?
Tu supones que todos los hispanos somos mestizos. Pero asi no es la cosa, buey.
I think ‘Mork and Mindy’ started it all. Before that, who the heck even thought about Boulder?
You may be on to something there. Miami Vice is widely seen as the instigator of Miami’s return from Detroit-like decay to a world-class city.
Conversely, WKRP in Cincinnati didn’t do much for Cinci, and Alice didn’t trigger a stampede to Phoenix. Fame is a fickle thing.
In Colorado: No need, you see, I am Hispanic. But even I know better than to live somewhere infested with illegals.
Arizona Slim: You’d be amazed at the number of kindred spirits you have here in AZ. I’ve seen Hispanics go sky-high over things like the refusal of others to learn English. Or follow the rules for proper immigration. Y’know, the laws.
There is something to be said for voting for you and your family’s standard of living versus voting for some sort of group solidarity.
OK, I get the rest of it (including the use of second person familiar), but what does “buey” mean?
Slang for “dude”. See also: chuy
That’s great but what they fail to tell the public is that prices are falling when defaults and foreclosures are counted.
Details, details…
Denver and Dallas were among the least bubbly cities in the first place.
January 2000=100
Denver peaked at 140.28
Dallas peaked at 125.70
Both in summer of 2006. Other places (Phoenix, etc.), were well over 200…Los Angeles was over 270!
Now, they are at 140.98, and 127.58, respectively.
100 to 140.98 nominal increase over a period of 13 and 5/12 years is 3.1% per year.
100 to 125.70 nominal increase over the same period is 2.2%.
Focusing on these places is missing the real rebubble in places like SF, LA, and SD. While they are not at peak, they have grown at 4.7% (SF) to 6.2% (LA) over the same timeframe that Denver and Dallas have gone up 3.1% and 2.2%. DC is at 6.2%.
‘Bulletin U.S. home prices surge; Dallas, Denver at record levels »’
Fair to say that cities with boom in house prices can be attributed a great deal to influx of new people to the area? Trying to picture people who were living there prior all of a sudden deciding time to buy instead of staying in their apartments or lesser houses(?).
I guess some cities seem most likely to have growth -ie- Colorado and Texas get influxes I bet. Some cities I think are buy high and sell higher for the same citizens, like San Francisco perhaps? Influx into that city is a high cost ticket. Otherwise I’d move there in a heart-beatish. Nice to visit. NYC? I don’t care if that place gets Weinered. Sorry NYCdj.
I live in New York City and I’m voting for Anthony Weiner.
‘I live in New York City and I’m voting for Anthony Weiner.’
Why? For both parts of that.
Don’t know and don’t care about house prices but rents are going up, up, up.
Rents are heading lower in NYC an DC.
Rent for my lease renewal is going up 8.2%.
But fortunately, since I rent at less than half the cost of mortgage albatross loanownership debt slavery, the impact will only be a decrease in my savings rate from 40% to 39.5%.
Tell us how you REALLY feel about home ownership!
“Tell us how you REALLY feel”
Home ownership is a lifestyle choice, just as having sex with animals or snorting bath salts are lifestyle choices. That lifestyle choice may work for you, but don’t assume it’s best for everybody else.
The home you live in is the lifestyle choice.
The decision to buy vs. rent simply has to do with how you can attain that lifestyle choice.
If you can be confident that you can stay in the house you want to rent in perpetuity as a renter, then it is very hard (or impossible) to justify owning.
“…just as having sex with animals or snorting bath salts are lifestyle choices.”
Would having sex with a Realtor™ perhaps fit into your list of lifestyle choices?
not in dc or n va
Home ownership is nearing all-time lows.
Rents are at all time highs.
Link: http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-07-30/us-rents-hit-record-highs-homeownership-plunges-18-year-lows
“Rents at all time highs”
Not really. Not at all. But even if they were, rental rates are a fraction of the cost of buying at current massively inflated asking prices of resale housing. Rent for half the cost, and buy later for 65% less.
I just found out that one of my coworkers sold her house in Arvada in less than a week and had four offers. Some parts of Denver are still bubbly.
and she parlaid dose smartz into a bigger house and spent 1/2 the profits on a new his and hers suv’s….
They’re moving to tony and yuppie Highlands Ranch. No SUV though, she drives a 10 year old Camry.
That commute from Highlands Ranch to Broomfield sounds delightful.
Did they move to HR for the school district, because it’s “for the children” ?
According to her, to be closer to family.
Yeah, I know, it makes no sense. When I heard about her move the “delightful” commute came to mind. We are allowed to work from home part time and she already does 2-3 days a week.
Arvada is the home of The Filthy Critic… no wonder everyone wants to live there!
Actually what I see surging is inventory. We’re getting close to peak numbers last seen around 2007/8.
Not past record levels, but probably at 2005 levels (peak in central MD was probably spring of 2007).
Hard to compare apples to apples, though, because nearly a decade has passed and many houses that were bad condition/ugly in the bubble have been redone while ones that were newly-minted flips in that period are now somewhat behind-the-times and, in some cases, have deferred maintenance bc “howmuchamonth” owners can’t afford to keep up appearances.
DC area prices seem to be in line with the peak, except the people living in the nicer houses are now all older and closer to retirement. Supply is pretty low, almost nonexistant in places like Bethesda/Chevy Chase. That can’t last forever, someone has to sell sometime. A 1MM house in Montgomery County has annual prop taxes over 18k (property tax rate is 1.8%), not a lot of money for most of these people when they’re working, but 15k when you’re retired might force people into selling. 1MM is a pretty average house in nicer parts of Montgomery County. 3-4 bedrooms, maybe 2200 sq ft in a decent but not fancy neighborhood.
Give it time. Its all falling prices ahead in DC
DC itself has massive amounts of new condos and apartments coming online. A lot of the projects I posted pictures of in March or April are now nearly complete. Thousands of new units available by the new year. I think the rentals will do well because driving into DC is terrible. I think the condos might move slowly because of monthly fees. I’ve seen 1000/month for small units with rather limited “extras” - doorman, a small gym in the building, and a “rooftop deck” that people will use maybe twice a year.
That raises the question of how the Millenials will want to live out their middle age. DC is effectively increasing the density of Pretty Young Things by housing them in high-density hi-rises in formerly dead land in the city. What will they want to do in 5-10 years? Will they choose stay in their near-carless apts and condos with their one baby, European style? Or will they want to spread out, 1950-1970 American Dream style, into an inner ring of burbs which were developed in (surprise) 1950-1970?
Where is the demand going to be in 10 years? Condos or SFHs with a yard?
NPR is reporting a home sales slowdown. And it appears that house price increases are slowing too.
Methinks that the latest bubble is starting to hiss air…
NAR propaganda piece that sounds like it was written by Amy Hoak:
“The U.S. homeownership rate, which soared to a record high 69 percent in 2004, is back where it was two decades ago, before the housing bubble inflated, busted and ripped more than 7 million Americans from their homes.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-07-30/american-dream-erased-as-homeownership-at-18-year-low.html
‘NAR propaganda piece’
Here, I can not help but sometimes tune into this show:
http://retradio.com/abouttheshow/
It is like the Cramer/Motley Fool pep rally version for RE.
Markets More: Art Cashin Larry Summers Janet Yellen Federal Reserve
ART CASHIN: All This Larry Summers Talk Might Just Be A Ruse
Sam Ro
Jul. 29, 2013, 9:23 AM
It was long believed that current Vice Chair Janet Yellen was the clear and obvious favorite.
But former Treasury secretary Larry Summers seemingly emerged out of nowhere as an unlikely frontrunner.
However, UBS’s Art Cashin floats the idea that a Summers’ candidacy is just a “ruse.”
It would have all started when volatility in the markets spiked after Bernanke suggested the Fed could soon taper its monthly purchases of $85 billion worth of bonds.
…
The coastal elitist libtard bedwetters must be celebrating this (Hannity is a coastal elitist neocon bedwetter), but Rush is laughing at all of them, $400 million laughs to be specific.
http://www.politico.com/blogs/media/2013/07/cumulus-planning-to-drop-rush-limbaugh-sean-hannity-169371.html
I’ve been driving a lot lately and listening to talk radio. These two guys are going on about how the Republican “establishment” is forcing amnesty on us, among other things. But a couple of things occurred to me about the role of media. These guys frame the debate for one “side” in a way that obscures the real motives and gets everyone to line up along non-existent fronts. They say, “McCain and Paul Ryan think we can get Hispanics to like us and vote for us.” That’s not what this amnesty proposal is about at all. Simply put, it’s globalism. Blurring national borders and eventually making them meaningless. When you look at it that way, you can understand how two Arizona senators can be behind something that Arizonans have been going the opposite direction on. And because senators are no longer chosen by the state legislatures, they can do this and not be thrown out on their butts.
Another thing about these two radio hosts; man they are talking insurrection against this Republic “establishment”, mentioning that they were the ones that forced candidates McCain and Romney on the “conservatives.” I heard that and asked, say what? Just a few months ago, these clowns insisted we had to vote for Romney, or the world would end.
IMO, this is their role; play the offended true believers. Act like they are standing up to the never named “establishment”, almost, nearly, hold me back or I’m gonna quit. Then, down the road, there will be a primary, where they back a “real conservative”, who loses and what do you know? We’ve got to vote for this establishment candidate, or the world will end.
The reason Hannity and Limbaugh are on the air is because they are globalists. They are neo-cons, they are the establishment. And they carefully BS millions of voters as to what the “real” issues are, keep them inside the two party dictatorship, and lead these voters down a path they don’t even know they are on.
When liberals accuse Rush Limbaugh of being racist, whatever he is saying is usually true.
WRT foreign policy, yes he is a Neocon.
They and the rest in the media are proof positive that anyone will lie repeatedly for the right amount of money.
I’ve worked in mass media. Yes, all of it. And yes, this has been true since before we were even born.
Hearst, anyone?
That’s not what this amnesty proposal is about at all. Simply put, it’s globalism. Blurring national borders and eventually making them meaningless.
“Blurring” our borders perhaps. Other countries are not as stupid as we are, and they will jealously guard and protect their borders and industries. Protectionism is OK for them, we’re the only saps who are expected to throw our borders and markets wide open while we export entire industries and their associated jobs.
‘Other countries are not as stupid as we are’
These globalists have tricked them. Mexico, for instance, is fiercely nationalistic. But because they saw NAFTA as so tilted in their favor, their political elite sold it to them. Now trains loaded with lumber cut from Mexican old growth forests have streamed north for 2 decades. Hundreds of factories have closed and moved to China. Walmart bribes their politicians. DEA/CIA are running around on the ground, and US drones fly over their heads. They’ve lost sovereignty too. It’s even worse south of Mexico.
“What the large print giveth, the fine print taketh away.”
FWIW, Mexico is running a small trade surplus, even with falling oil exports.
Arizona talk radio leaves much to be desired from what I hear. Shockingly not conservative, but more old guy establishment dont rock the boat, roll their eyes at the liberal types. I think SoCal was better. Maybe they are reacting in SoCal to being in the belly of the beast, whereas in Az they don’t have to work so hard to convince their listeners?
Frankly these days it’s all about the interests, and conservative or liberal the interests line up with the 1%.
When we hear Limbaugh and Hannity disparaging John Boehner, Eric Cantor, Kevin McCarthy, and Mitch McConnell as part of the “progressive” agenda, what we’re really witnessing is the utter disintegration of the Republican Party in the United States of America.
Maybe in an election or two we’ll be able to reform it as something relevant and rational….
July 30, 2013, 8:02 a.m. EDT
Inflation is rotten to the core
Commentary: Regardless of what Fed says, prices are rising
By Irwin Kellner, MarketWatch
PORT WASHINGTON, N.Y. (MarketWatch) — How about giving us three cheers if you really believe that inflation has been vanquished? I can’t hear you!
These days, prices for many kinds of goods and services have suddenly begun to rise. Some are obvious, some are not.
Among the more visible items riding the up-elevator are prices of food, energy and health care. However, there are many others for which the price increases are less visible but are pinching your pocketbook just the same.
Stealthy, but painful nonetheless, are price hikes posted for insurance, magazines, newspapers, phone and cable service, and those from the airlines, utilities and local governments.
The methods that are used vary widely. They range from slipping in or raising fees and surcharges on the one hand, to reducing services or package sizes on the other.
…
The price of fresh produce has been increasing significantly in the past few months. Some examples from King Soopers (owned by Kroger):
Fuji apples (non-organic) from $1.99/lb to $2.49/lb
Organic Fuji apples from $2.49/lb to $2.99/lb
Bananas from $0.49/lb to $0.55/lb
Navel oranges from $0.50 to $0.69 each
Peeled baby carrots from $1.50/lb to $1.99/lb
Packaged/processed foods have all been going up and shrinking in package sizes.
Welcome to the recoveryless recovery.
The future belongs to Lucky Ducky.
Buying raw vegies is like rolling dice.
Tarrant County health officials are now investigating 28 cases of a nasty stomach ailment that has infected 353 people in 15 states.
The Centers for Disease Control and the U.S. Food and Drug Administration along with state and local officials have not determined the cause of an outbreak of cyclosporiasis which has previously been linked to fresh produce and water contaminated by feces.
Read more here: http://www.star-telegram.com/2013/07/29/5038879/tarrant-county-health-officials.html#storylink=cpy
Michelle Obama wants people to eat more vegetables. Barack Hussein Obama took away all the money for food inspection to give $500 billion to Solyndra. It’s all part of a secret plot that Obama wants to kill us all.
Well … dead people don’t collect SS, foodstamps or other government cheese, right?
Fresh cherries = $6/carton this summer (highest ever, and yes I am not buying them…)
Teens Lose Out on Important Summer Jobs as Older Workers Fill Their Spots:
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/business/july-dec13/youth_07-29.html
Arab spring coming to America?
http://www.pbs.org/newshour/businessdesk/2013/07/could-high-teen-joblessness-trigger-an-arab-spring-or-summer-in-america.html
LOL…same hoary old chants…can’t the *organizers* come up something new?
PROTESTER: What do we want?
PROTESTERS: Youth jobs!
PROTESTER: When do we want it?
PROTESTERS: Now
I didn’t watch the videos linked from the articles. The youfs under 30 voted for Chicago Jesus 66 to 32 over McSame in 2008. And they got what they voted for, as summarized by Paul Ryan (who is a dingleberry for other reasons):
“College graduates should not have to live out their 20s in their childhood bedrooms, staring up at fading Obama posters and wondering when they can move out and get going with life.”
Yup, the O-Man let them down. Of course, McSame would have been no different.
yep.
Because we all know.
When republicans are in power they are evil and are responsible for all the evil in the world and must be voted out of office immediately.
When democrats are in power they are just the same as republicans, what difference does it make, they are just trying to fix the mass the republicans made, the system won’t let them change anything so we may as just keep them in office as electing anyone else to replace them would be more of the same.
Oh yeah - I am an independent thinker not affiliated with any party but vote democrat 99% of the time.
So…..you are finally catching on.
Why do you lie, cabana boy?
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE68R40I20100928
I think that some of this has to do with over-parenting. I’ve found many of my renters have had parents that provide all their needs so they really have no drive, desire or need to enter the workforce while in college or even thereafter. I’ve also found that to give them a nebulous task, like clean the pantry gets blank stares and not much accomplished. Now if I tell them specifically that I need A, B and C done, they’re usually quite diligent. And I think this stems from things like lack or creative, alone (or non-adult supervised) time when they’re growing up. Everything is structured in their free time with adult supervision - sports, music lessons, etc. … One thing the youth are is very intelligent in a ‘book smart’ but applying this to real world situations is woefully lacking. Although I am the end of taking on renters, it has been an interesting experience.
The products of helicopter parenting are useless wastes of space.
Over parenting isn’t the problem in this country. Exactly the opposite.
Do they pay their rent on time?
Oddly enough, the females always paid rent on time, the males usually needed to be reminded.
The funny thing is that two of them, both in their twenties, got jobs at convenience stores and act like it’s the biggest responsibility in the world.
ah ,I ate at Subway yesterday, and don’t feel so hot about it now.(Check the News.Nasty)..As a rule , I will not usually eat where there are only kids about.(Under 25-30 or so)
The other fast food places , especially in the South ,are emergency Only eating places for us . We have a local Micky D’s where one can smell the rotten food when one comes in the Door. SC food Inspections are obviously not top-rate.
do you like subways overpriced , low quality food? They are so cheap they measure the amount of meat they give you. what happen to eyeballing it?
mcdonalds want 6.19 for a big mac meal these days, ridiculous. I guess the sheep keep lining up though.
You know that Special Sauce doesn’t grow on trees, don’t you?
The other fast food places , especially in the South ,are emergency Only eating places for us . We have a local Micky D’s where one can smell the rotten food
Emergency Only eating places? Sounds / smells like eating nothing at all would be an improvement.
” SC food Inspections are obviously not top-rate”
The South doesn’t give 2 fu**s about alot [sic] of things. The South gave us Walmart and the general idea that Amerika should be about quantity, not quality. I believe they have it almost exactly wrong. There is a reason the south and midwest are dominant when it comes to obesity rates, McJob rates, out of wedlock births, etc.
Coastal elitist.
‘The South gave us Walmart’
I detect a public education.
‘The South doesn’t…’
Yeah, they’re awful. Hey, let’s split up! The southern states will really miss you yankees, but you gotta do what you gotta do.
Hah, I think the yanks would love it if the South seceded. In fact they’d be moppin their brows with relief, because it would give them a huge buffer against illegals without having to sacrifice their “humanitarian” and “egalitiarian” poses. They could point and titter and talk down about unenlightened tea partiers and rednecks and white trash and such, but meanwhile they’re laughing up their sleeves because they get that buffer without having to worry about or invest in border security.
If Harpsichording Down Low Joe hates the south, then I love it.
Lynyrd Skynyrd
Hank Jr. (A country boy can survive!)
Gregg Allman
HotLanta
Grits
(real)Fried Chicken
Stars and Bars
Juke joints
Sawdust Joints
The South will rise again.
….. even Krusty Perkins the Realtard……
jazz
blues
bluegrass
rockabilly
bourbon
Faulkner
Louis Armstrong
Elvis
Johnny Cash
Jerry Lee Lewis
Carl Perkins
Roy Orbison
REM
We might be more progressive, and less obese, but we’d be a much more boring country without the South.
The south wouldn’t have an illegal alien problem. They’d actually enforce laws that would prevent it.
The South gave us Walmart
Why did we take it?
the south gave us “Duck Dynasty” which acually isn’t half bad.
Better than Housebitc#s of OC
And don’t forget Lizard Lick Towing!
Joe, every other day you’re saying how much the South sucks. I think you have something like a 2nd grade crush on us, where you refuse to admit it and try prove you don’t like us by calling us ugly. Would you just admit that you love it here and move here already? Half of everyone else from up there is already here anyway.
We got the note you passed to us through Katie, and we will hold your hand at recess. Just stop pulling our pigtails.
Downlow Joe loves them Southern bois.
Down Low Joe!
Hey RAL, some of the landlords over at MrLandlord owe you royalties:
http://www.mrlandlord.com/landlordforum/display.php?id=14086653
Check it out.
RAL, you should add this one to your repetoire as well:
“He who has the gold makes the rules.”
Where has ral been anyways? Its been a few months since I’ve seen a post from real.
Living rent free in your skull.
Now Liberace….. Its time u get creative a develop your own material.
Will you always play cover tunes on that harpsichord of yours???
For anyone interested in the Apollo moon landing “controversy”, here are two sites I think you can use that allow a person to avoid the name calling, lack of logic, and general “butt hurtness” that plagues most discussions of the topic.
To support the NASA position is this site:
http://www.clavius.org/envidx.html
It doesn’t claim to answer for NASA, but given NASA can’t answer “moon hoax” questions for itself without in a sense validating the behavior of questioning/doubting NASA; this site is the best Ive found so far for people with good knowledge of physics/chemistry…
To support the skeptics position is this site:
http://www.aulis.com/aulis_apollo.htm
The key to this site is to understand they are only challenging the official record, specifically the photos, video and associated images of the moon Apollo missions. This has long been the position of people who while not physicists; are often photographers, visual artists… and have a greater understanding of image production and/or manipulation, techniques, equipment, photo layout, advertising, lighting…
Others on the site use use geometry, physical constants and mathematics to raise questions about the official Apollo images release to the public. The site also includes reports from non English speaking researchers such as Poles and Russians which are not easy to locate.
Summary:
If you wanna fool white people?
You better bring your “A” game.
There is no diplomatic/scientific, soft shoe way for me to point this out; and its not a value judgement.
It is what it is.
Now, do nonwhite people (such as myself) engage in this behavior? Sure.
But in the arena of the Apollo moon landing controversy, white people have one distinct advantage which I can sum up using a Hip Hop “physical constant”
*Game Recognize Game*
For anyone interested in the Apollo moon landing “controversy”
Where do I join the Flat Earth Society?
Where do I join the Flat Earth Society?
Vote GOP. They’ve figured out science is a bunch of hooey, dreamed up by eggheads and granola eaters to make life miserable, which they know is rightly religion’s job.
Its across the hall from your Gerber pep rally
I saw Capricorn One. Does that count?
I didn’t fully understand the post. Are we being asked to consider that perhaps the moon landing was a hoax?
Spook periodically dusts off this old retread. I suppose that when the Chinese send their astronauts it will also be a fake.
Comment by In Colorado
Spook periodically dusts off this old retread. I suppose that when the Chinese send their astronauts it will also be a fake.
********************************************************
A major causes of the socio-economic and cultural deficit of the negro is we accept certain white people who lie to us and reject certain white people who tell us the truth.
This is a major problem for black people; we are confused.
What do you suggest I do?
Believe the white people who have the most money?
Believe the white people who can beat up the other white people?
Believe the white people who have an English accent?
We
need
the
help.
If you won’t help me, I’ll just have to help myself.
*Brace yourself for many mistakes*
How about you start with not referring to folks as “white” people and realize that the power structure has evolved into something far more complex at this point?
*Game Recognize Game*
Uh, would that be the same as “It takes one to know one?”
Whatever happened to Sly Stone’s vision? I guess it was naive and Uncle Tom, right?
Whatever, I still like his music from back in the day. I think he had the right idea. A visionary whose art was swallowed by degraded thug hip-hop.
The only controversy is why are there so many stupid people?
My interest is merely historical. My grandpa’s brother was in the room when we watched the first moon walk, and the only thing he said pver and over during the entire broadcast was, “They made this movie in Hollywood. Men cannot walk on the moon.”
My interest is merely historical.
My Indian grandmother marveled at Charley McCarthy & how the white men could carve little boys out of wood & bring them to life.
“They made this movie in Hollywood. Men cannot walk on the moon.”
Tell that to the people at JPL and see how long you last in a nerd rage….
There is no Apollo moon landing “controversy”. Please don’t be an idiot?
http://www.ibtimes.com/nasa-orbiter-images-show-remnants-left-apollo-astronauts-moon-photos-708413
http://video.cnbc.com/gallery/?video=3000186718
Shiller on the rebubble and his current expectations of prices over the next year.
Let the public draw their own conclusions “RW”.
http://imageshack.us/a/img802/7812/caseshiller.jpg
The graph you show is nominal. At least give the public the information necessary for them to draw their own conclusions.
Wrong again “RW”.
Unless they have been adjusted for inflation, the index data is nominal. They do not present inflation-adjusted numbers.
Guess again “RW”.
Did you tell the reading public today that you have stake in the direction of prices?
I bought the house I occupy in mid-2011.
Post-crash, through the company I work for, we purchased a number of pieces of residential land at late 2008-early 2011 prices.
I absolutely have a stake in the direction of home prices, and land prices–specifically in California (where we hold the majority of our property).
This is why I’m so-focused on CA-centric data…and this is why I share that data. For what it’s worth, I’m concerned about a rebubble of prices in California. I think the Fed’s policies have the US has a whole in mind…rates will be too low for too long for CA housing…don’t be surprised if within 12 months I’m posting here about being a seller. We stopped buying some time ago.
They’re solely your losses. Sucker.
“I absolutely have a stake in the direction of home prices, and land prices–specifically in California (where we hold the majority of our property).”
Are you prepared to rapidly unload at the point the Fed pulls the plug on its QE3 MBS purchase program? Or do you plan to just eat the losses? Or have you convinced yourselves that the QE3 withdrawal either will never happen, or will have no effect on prices when it does, despite the massive price inflation effect QE3 had on the upslope?
Which is it?
Rates were falling the same time home prices were falling…what was more powerful, the lower rates, or the negative psychology of not wanting to buy an asset that is declining in value.
I believe for a time the reverse will also be true…positive psychology will be more powerful than rising rates.
That said, I don’t think the removal of QE3 will have much of an impact until rates rise above 5% or 6%. This is based upon the rents that we see people paying for homes and comparing those rents to mortgage payments at higher interest rates (ie. what people are willing and able to pay on a monthly basis).
This is also based on the fact that housing is so screwed up in CA, that only the top few percent of renters need to be buying each year in order to absorb the new housing stock that is built. Today that isn’t much…psychology plays into people’s desire to own, and that psychology has turned toward the mania today.
I don’t subscribe to the view that everyone is paying the absolute most that they can for the homes that they buy, and therefore every basis point of increase decreases what they will pay for a house accordingly.
These cycles tend to go on for a while (in both directions)–however, while Shiller says he thinks prices will go up for at least a year, we will be starting to sell well before that time.
Pulled from a ZH post and sanitized for your protection (and tastefully delivered in a plain, brown wrapper to avoid embarrasment).
“Tue, 07/30/2013 - 11:41 | 3800209 toady
Vote up!
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Huh… my property managers always say the opposite of what I see here. “There are no applicants right now” ” you may want to consider lowering the rent” & “sell sell sell!” Is all I’ve heard for the last month.
reply
Tue, 07/30/2013 - 12:36 | 3800432 asscannon101
Vote up!
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There is an often used technical term within mainstream economic circles that succinctly and accurately describes your current situation: “somewhat f@cked”. You have become “somewhat f@cked” by hedge funds and other large companies buying up large blocks of foreclosed shit-houses and pimping them out as rentals, undercutting your price structure. If you aggressively lower your monthly rents, you may (in the short term) become “marginally un-f@cked”. This trend should continue (ceteris paribus) until these hedge funds and other large entities find some other “Golden Turdball”* (* see the compiled works of Prof. Wm. Banzai7) to chase and need to free up capital from their underperforming rental portfolios to redeploy elsewhere. At this time, they will collectively sell their massive inventories at whatever the market will bear. As more units become available, the pace of price decline will accelerate, resulting in a “rush for the exits” as more and more previous renters become new owners at substantially lower prices. As this trend progresses, you may once again regain equilibrium at the level of “somewhat f@cked”.
Where the bubble goes from here on out seems heavily dependent on for how much longer the Fed stays “all in” with its QE3 housing bubble reflation MBS purchase program.
Once the Fed is no longer “all in,” housing is toast. Is it really any more complicated than that?
If you were Fed chair and your term was soon to end, could you resist the temptation to crash the markets as a farewell present?
July 30, 2013, 7:46 a.m. EDT
Fed watchers debate timing of taper
By Greg Robb, MarketWatch
WASHINGTON (MarketWatch) — A lively debate has broken out among economists about whether the Federal Reserve will decide to slow down the pace of its asset purchase plan in September or December.
Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke has suggested only that the slowdown of purchases is likely “later this year.”
Markets are expected to hang on every word change in the Fed statement on Wednesday to see whether the Fed adds more clarity to the timing. They are likely to be disappointed, analysts said.
While it is not certain, many Fed watchers think the central bank will keep mum and not insert any forward guidance about its quantitative easing program.
“At this point they will attempt not to create any additional ripples” in financial markets, said David Stockton, a former top Fed staffer and now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.
“When push comes to shove, I expect an ambiguous message,” added Michael Hanson, U.S. economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.
…
Listing #13009574
$475,000 (LP)
$484,500 (SP)
Price/SqFt: 327.14
SP % LP: 102.00 4439 Cedar Branch Ct, Moorpark, CA 93021 Sold
Beds: 3 Baths: 2 (2 0 0 0) (FTHQ) Sq Ft: 1481 Lot Sz: 6708sqft
Area: SMP Yr: 1984
http://www.census.gov/housing/hvs/
New vacancy data out today from the Census. CA is now at 1.1% on the homeowner vacancy, lowest since Q2 2005, and at 4.8% rental vacancy, the lowest since at least Q1 2005 (they don’t have data going back farther).
Contrast this with FL, which is 2.4% and 10.5%
AZ, which is 2.2% and 9.2%
NV, which is 3.1% and 12.3%
CA has about half of the vacancy rates of these other “bubble” states, and among the lowest 5 in the country for both metrics. Development needs to ramp up–there isn’t enough housing here; as evidenced by too few empty housing units.
This is not a discussion of the price bubble (which is being fed by the lack of supply), this is a question of fundamental supply vs. demand (shelter for human beings).
Reading Public-
Be advised that RW’s (aka “Rental Watch”) posts are to be taken with a grain of salt and and great skepticism. RW posts are there to support housing fraud and grossly inflated prices.
In regard to the HVS, this data point exclude the 25 MILLION excess, empty and defaulted housing units.
Don’t be bamboozled by frauds like “RW”.
It is funny actually. Even the Census admits that by their definition 15% of all housing units are vacant.
http://www.census.gov/housing/ahs/about/faq.html#Q5
“How many housing units are there in the United States?
There were 132,419,000 housing units in the United States in 2011. Approximately 114,907,000 were occupied as regular residences and 17,512,000 were vacant or seasonal.”
This is excluding shadow inventory, the empty houses that people see but don’t show up in any database.
This is excluding shadow inventory, the empty houses that people see but don’t show up in any database.
How does the census miss them?
Some of the 17.5MM vacant homes are not part of the rental vacancy rate…to my understanding, a vacant vacation home is part of the 17.5MM vacant homes, but not part of the percentages that I note above.
On the other side, my understanding is that the percentages that I note ARE part of the 17.5MM vacant home numbers.
Shadow inventory is something else altogether. These are homes that are in some level of distress, but have not yet been foreclosed. There are something like 300k of these homes that are vacant. The others are occupied.
When a home that is part of the shadow inventory is foreclosed, and the occupants evicted, most of the time, they move into a vacant housing unit in that market…zero sum game.
CoreLogic came out with their National Foreclosure Report today…good data there…Increasingly the shadow inventory problem is concentrated in judicial states. CA has 1.1% of their homes in the foreclosure process, vs. 2.5% nationally. CA has 3.6% in serious delinquency vs. 5.5% nationally.
Okay, I’ll retract the “excluding shadow inventory”, because I don’t know that for sure. Nor does anyone else for that matter.
“RW posts are there to support housing fraud and grossly inflated prices.”
He has agreed with you too many times to count that housing in many markets is going to tank again.
Specifically where I disagree with him though is when, and how much–HUGE difference here.
He thinks prices never fully corrected, and should fall 65%-70% from where they are today.
I think prices hit roughly their cyclical trough in 2012ish, but are now rebounding too fast…driven overall by low rates, but driven in some places by lack of supply (which I measure by housing units as compared to people who want to live in them). My concern is that prices will go up too far, too fast, and be subject to a recrash…perhaps re-testing 2012’s lows, but I doubt will fall much further.
When will the re-crash occur? I don’t know specifically, but I think prices have a ways to run before we see the re-crash.
My hope is that increases slowdown so we can get some relief from the volatility (bidding wars, etc.). I think in some markets the only way to get this slowdown is to build more.
What would you know about prices? You’ve already proven you know nothing about input costs.
Quit pimping $hit you know nothing of.
“to build more…”
Too funny. The answer to a massive credit expansion and housing mania is to hold-er-steady! And build more houses!
You are living on that new high plateau where there are no boundaries.
Buckle Up.
If the Republicans can get poor and middle-class whites to vote for them in slightly higher percentages, they can win.
Republicans aren’t going to move black and hispanic numbers enough to matter, and elite whites are too steeped in shitlibbery to go GOP. Will non-elite whites follow the trend of increasing racial polarization, or will they do what the elites tell them to do and ignore the racial polarization? Will the GOP present anything more appealing to poor whites than the usual tax cuts for the rich and anti-abortion agenda?
I think if the GOP nominates a hispanic, as the elites are itching for, this is really going to backfire on them. The best path for them is a more populist paleocon route, but I’m doubtful about any decent candidates in this mold coming forward.
Hispanic win: ‘California can be Republican again’
By Ralph Z. Hallow
The Washington Times
Monday, July 29, 2013
Fresno cherry farmer and cattle rancher Andy Vidak, who is fluent in Spanish, said he captured the state Senate seat in last week’s closely watched runoff vote by connecting with Hispanic voters with a “common-sense” approach that focused on job creation, affordable energy and opposition to big government.
According to the logic of politics, Leticia Perez should have handily won the heavily Democratic and Hispanic district in California’s central valley, and her failure to do so has Republicans eager to develop a victory template for struggling GOP candidates elsewhere in the deep-blue state and across the country.
Fresno cherry farmer and cattle rancher Andy Vidak, who is fluent in Spanish, said he captured the state Senate seat in last week’s closely watched runoff vote by connecting with Hispanic voters with a “common-sense” approach that focused on job creation, affordable energy and opposition to big government. He even cooked menudo, a cow-stomach soup and a Mexican favorite, at a Hispanic Chamber of Commerce event at the Bakersfield fairgrounds where 10,000 Hispanics turned out.
“sh*tlibbery” ?
That term conjures so much. What first comes to mind:
NPR
undergraduate minor in “_____ Studies”
graduate degree in “_____ Studies”
veganism
telling people you have a black friend
telling people you have a gay friend
anyone who moved to Brooklyn after 1995
moving to Los Angeles for 2 years after college to “become a writer”
living in Los Angeles while being supported by your parents
ironic mustaches
driving a 15 year old Volvo
et cetera
To me the term conjures Anthony Weiner. The devolution of libman into depraved freakery.
downlow joe referred to ‘elite whites’. until recently, anthony weiner was living in queens. sh1tlibs would never set foot in queens.
depraved freakery is bipartisan.
Will the GOP present anything more appealing to poor whites than the usual tax cuts for the rich and anti-abortion agenda?
Nope.
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/06/21/the_case_of_the_missing_white_voters_revisited_118893.html
“There were likely 5 million fewer whites [voting] in 2012 than in 2008. When you account for expected growth, we’d find 6.5 million fewer whites than a population projection would anticipate. … [these missing voters] tended to be downscale, blue-collar whites. …
[Black turnout increased because Obama is Black. Hence] if the African-American share of the electorate drops back to its recent average of 11 percent of the electorate and the GOP wins 10 percent of the black vote rather than 6 percent (there are good arguments both for and against this occurring) … the next Republican would win narrowly if he or she can motivate these “missing whites,” even without moving the Hispanic (or Asian) vote. …
One option [for the GOP] is to go after these downscale whites. … Doing so would likely mean nominating a candidate who is more Bush-like in personality, and to some degree on policy. This doesn’t mean embracing “big government” economics or redistribution full bore; suspicion of government is a strain in American populism dating back at least to Andrew Jackson. It means abandoning some of its more pro-corporate stances. This GOP would have to be more “America first” on trade, immigration and foreign policy; less pro-Wall Street and big business in its rhetoric; more Main Street/populist on economics.”
Doing so would likely mean nominating a candidate who is more Bush-like in personality, and to some degree on policy.
Too bad Perry is such a nitwit.
Rick Perry cares about the lives of unborn children. The Democrats don’t want any restrictions on abortion because they don’t care about killing innocent babies.
I think that most GOP candidates have similar views to abortion as the Dems, they just put on a “show” for voters. Their Supreme nominees are more like to protect the personhood of corporations than of the unborn.
But you aren’t taking into account all of the “guilty babies”.
LOL
buddy of mine put an offer on a house…5 total offers…2 over asking…less than 24 hours on the market.
it’s deja vu all over again…hell…it’s worse than deja vu in the DC Metro area.
Sit tight and keep your powder dry. When the wheels come of this thing, you’re going to be glad you did.
i feel like i have taken the blue pill and am amongst idiot drones. i didn’t vote for obama but i did have some hope for him…he had an opportunity to be one of the greatest president’s that ever lived but succumb to the “vipers and thieves”.
if i had fat cat billionaire bankster…he would look like barrack obama.
i didn’t vote for obama but i did have some hope for him…he had an opportunity to be one of the greatest president’s that ever lived
***********************************************************************
Indeed, he had a certain amount of political cover unavailable to any other U.S president; including future ones.
He could have taken the unpopular but necessary steps (as described by some on this blog) to correct decades long systemic problems; and then dared anyone to kill the first black president.
Who has the “stones” to remove the stone that the builders refused?
Being president is great. You have a tremendous amount of power, but not total control, so there is room to blame your opponents for things that don’t go well.
The people are the ultimate arbiters of who goes into government but the system is set up to favor the big money candidate in the primaries.
The political parties are completely private organization who use the powers of government to advance their re-election goals.
spook…i guess we were all duped my white friends all thought the colored guy just might be able to get tough with black people you know the ebonics and crime thing….. and instead he pulls the race card on us and makes things worse……
I think the same thing happened in Rome just before it got sacked.
It’s a great time to be a government contractor, we are bleeding the taxpayers dry. I’m gonna ride this gravy train until it goes off the rails like it did in Spain last week.
To quote the late Jim Morrison: “I just wanna get my kicks until the whole sh*thouse goes up in flames”
Lol, liar! You post all kinds of cynical stuff (most of it is a hoot, too) but you got the tears of a clown, I’m tellin’ ya.
Hey, goon, sucks to see the old ship goin’ down, don’t it?
no, it doesn’t suck. halliburton and cheney’s buddies all got theirs. solyndra and obama’s buddies all got theirs. i’m getting my piece now.
thanks,
taxpayerssuckers!Prices are skyrocketing upwards again, per the Case Shiller index. Just like last time, I look forward to picking through the wreckage here when it blows up, piecing together just what happened.
“If you believe a house is an “investment” and is actually worth something, you better get selling today because todays price is your best price for decades to come.”
Yep. It’s a long way down from here.
Homeowners get to paint the walls any color they want. Renters can’t do that.
And when you pay rent, you’re just paying off your landlord’s mortgage. When you own your own home, you build equity with every mortgage payment.
CRATERRRRRRRRR!
” you build equity…”
How does that explain foreclosures?
Question here. What are best places to research the repair likelihoods and cost of ownership, etc. for a car? I am interested in a used Toyota or Nissan basically because of I think they have less repair costs over their life and there are plenty of them for sale at any given time so I can probably keep an eye out for a deal eventually.
I have a budget to buy an early 2000’s model. I think by late fall I might be needing to get a new car. So I have time to look into a replacement.
Talk to our favorite blog mechanic and symphony harpsichordist named Joe. He’s an expert in wrenching.
Consumer’s reports publishes in their magazine (once a year) the reliability of used cars by make and year.
They also have a list of lowest cost of ownership.
CR available in most libraries, or for $ online.
Try The Truth About Cars
And for what it’s worth, I’d look at Honda before Nissan. Nissan quality has taken a dive the last decade. Honda is still going strong…
Try edmunds dot com.
If they don’t have the mechanical info you need, they will link to it. You can also search their site for available used vehicles for sale of any make, model, or year, by location.
Consumer reports magazine has an annual issue devoted to just that subject.
If you’re interested in a used car, carmax online allows you to search. The NADA guide gives you an idea of what various used cars cost. Craigslist will give you some ballpark prices too. New car dealerships often have a used car section too.
Well, is everyone ready for JEB! vs Hill, 2016? The mere thought makes me sick to my stomach. It’s enuf to make one pray for the dissolution of the gov’t.
I am excited. First stepford wife president vs first latino president, what’s not to like?
Did you actually read The Stepford Wives?
What if you renounce your U.S. Citizenship?
Wouldn’t that be the ultimate protest vote?
If someone did renounce their citizenship in protest of the government would they be:
a) A true patriot
b) A fool or idiot
c) A traitor
d) prisoner No. 347821
I saw some Freedom Works gimmick on the Daily Show last night where they were having rallies for a “Burn Your Obamacare Card” protest. They were trying to channel the spirit of the anti-Vietnam protests from the 60’s but what would really happen if tens of millions of regular Americans suddenly just renounced their citizenship?
I’m thinking Henry Thoreau and ‘Civil Disobedience’ but on a national scale.
If you owed $200,000 on your student loans leaving the country maybe the only way out other then death….
“If you owed $200,000 on your student loans leaving the country maybe the only way out other then death….”
…other than death…
There is a hilarious Standard and Poors commercial on DC news radio. Basically, they’re saying their ratings processes are much more robust than they used to be. I thought, “The best way their ratings could be improved is to stop being fraudulent.”
The government and the Fed have successfully insulated Wall Street from the consequences of their actions.
The level of treachery has reached staggering and shameless proportions.
Americas 14.2 Million Vacant Homes: A National Crisis
In order to see the robust economic recovery we all want, we need to deal effectively with the large volume of vacant and distressed properties throughout the country, said Duke. The potential fallout of high rates of vacancy blight, crime, lowered home values, and decreased property tax revenue is the same for every neighborhood and community. In some areas, the private market will lead the way, while in others government will have to use precious resources wisely to catalyze recovery. As of the first quarter of 2013, there are just over 133 million housing units in America and 10.7 percent…
http://www.realtytrac.com/content/news-and-opinion/americas-142-million-vacant-homes-a-national-crisis-7723
But…….what about the shortage of houses we keep hearing about?
Me sooooooo confused……..
Sorry, even the Department of Truth says it’s 15%.
Looks like it could be Bush/Clinton 2.0 in 2016. A corporatist versus another corporatist…I wish they would just run on the same ticket and be done with these silly elections.
Instead of voting they should just give the presidency to the candidate with the most facebook “likes”.
Republicans will win it this time… enough Obama voters have realized he screwed them over and will stay home, unless the Hillary can pull off some spectacularly convincing lies.
We’ll probably end up with some screwhead like Santorum.
Oddly, Republicans will not win. The party bosses keep choosing anointed that don’t represent us.
Truth needs to break out (to open ears) before any of us “win”.
Going, going, still going: Detroit family home still for sale after 519 days despite being on the market for just $1
•House built in 1915 has been listed for sale since May 2011
•It was initially placed on the market for $900
•Is one of a number of run-down properties lying in suburbs of bankrupt city
By Anthony Bond
PUBLISHED: 06:50 EST, 30 July 2013 | UPDATED: 08:07 EST, 30 July 2013
It may not look particularly attractive, but as just $1 this family home is a complete bargain.
However, despite being on the market for the drop-down price since February last year, the Detroit property is astonishingly still for sale.
It is one of a number of run-down properties lying in the suburbs of Michigan’s largest city, which earlier this month filed for bankruptcy, crippled by enormous debts.
After initially being placed on the market for $900, its price was dramatically reduced to just $1 in February last year.
A description of the property on the Zillow website describes it as a ‘Multi Family home featuring 2 units, hardwood floors, basement, and much more!’
Estate agent Albert Hakim said the sale of these distressed properties comes with many other fees and expenses, which many buyers are naive to.
‘They don’t understand, when the house sits vacant, that [thieves are] going to bust in and steal the pipes, steal the water tank,’ Mr Hakim told the Huffington Post .
In addition to the expected costs of fixing up homes or bulldozing and starting from the ground up, Detroit has the highest property taxes among big cities nationwide.
According to a new analysis by the Detroit News, half of Detroit property owners also don’t pay taxes leaving many
‘Why should I send them taxes when they aren’t supplying services?’ homeowner Fred Phillips who owes more than $2,600 recently told the paper.
‘Every time I see the tax bill come, I think about the times we called and nobody came.’
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2381283/Going-going-going-Detroit-family-home-sale-519-days-despite-market-just-1.html -
>‘Why should I send them taxes when they aren’t supplying services?’ homeowner Fred Phillips who owes more than $2,600 recently told the paper.
‘Every time I see the tax bill come, I think about the times we called and nobody came.’
Now THAT’S effective protest.
No “astonishment” there - that house has a NEGATIVE value. Highly likely there are unpaid tax & other liens on it, plus it is obviously in violation of building codes (civil assessments most likely exist).
“Today it’s Detroit, tomorrow it’s DC.”
Laugh now, cry later.
1.2 million foreclosure checks go unclaimed, 90-day deadline to cash
by Kim Miller
About 1.2 million foreclosure reparation checks sent nationwide have not been cashed, leaving nearly $1 billion unclaimed.
The checks, part of agreements reached with banks earlier this year after the Independent Foreclosure Review fell apart, expire 90-days after being issued.
The checks are worth between $300 and up to $125,000, depending on the borrower’s foreclosure. They were sent beginning in April to 4.15 million borrowers who were in foreclosure during 2009 and 2010.
An additional 37,000 checks will be mailed later this summer.
A total of about $3.6 billion in payouts is going to 4.2 million borrowers nationwide after January agreements between the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency and the Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve with 13 lenders.
Bryan Hubbard, a spokesman for the Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, said the cash rate is high when compared to other settlements.
“Returned checks and uncashed checks are going through additional address searches to locate more current addresses for borrowers before being re-issued,” Hubbard said. “Checks may be reissued for a number of reasons, including the check is lost or destroyed, needs to be sent to a different address, or the original check is past its 90-day expiration.”
The foreclosure payment program has had challenges from the beginning, starting with non-descript postcards sent to tell borrowers that a check would be coming.
Some homeowners said they tossed the postcard thinking it was another notice from a collection agency.
Also, some checks bounced in the beginning of the payout while others were written in the wrong amount.
Minneapolis-based paying agent Rust Consulting, which is the company managing the payout and check mailings. Hubbard said Rust is analyzing returned and uncashed checks to determine what additional outreach activity should be taken, including outreach by phone and email.
People who need to provide an alternative address or others who wish to have an expired check reissued can contact Rust Consulting at (888) 952-9105 Monday through Friday, 8 a.m.–10 p.m. or Saturday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m.
This entry was posted on Tuesday, July 30th, 2013 at 7:24 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.
One Response to “1.2 million foreclosure checks go unclaimed, 90-day deadline to cash”
1
ron con coma Says:
July 30th, 2013 at 2:52 pm
Well, when Rust Consulting mails the checks out to the addresses of the foreclosed homes, and not to the current address of the displaced families you tend to cause a billion dollar cluster.
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Rent-Backed Secrurities.
You. Can’t. Make. This. Shit. Up.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324170004578638093802889384.html
“Rent-Backed Secrurities.”
Great investment for the teacher’s pension funds.
The next new thing will be “Fraud-backed securities.” You read it here first.
Sport like, who can reach the exits first?
Financial genius:
http://www.slate.com/blogs/moneybox/2013/07/30/richmond_ca_eminent_domain_on_underwater_mortgages_expect_lawsuits.html
Fascinating discussion on this in the comments section. This would make and EXCELLENT weekend topic on HBB — especially if we bring the effect of FNMA the the Kelo decision into the mix. Thanks for posting.