Bits Bucket for September 13, 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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How is future U.S. housing demand shaping up over the next few decades, in light of crushing student loan burdens, high unemployment among recent college grads, dismal rates of household formation, and the lowest U.S. birth rate on record?
Hopefully the all-cash Chinese, Canadian and Wall Street investor brigade can keep housing prices propped up high forever, as the picture is grim for fundamental demand from families who just want a home to live in.
Baby bust: U.S. births at record low
By Annalyn Kurtz @AnnalynKurtz September 6, 2013: 10:59 AM ET
NEW YORK (CNNMoney)
The Great Recession and the slow recovery have been quite the romantic buzzkill.
The U.S. fertility rate fell to another record low in 2012, with 63.0 births per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44 years old, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That’s down slightly from the previous low of 63.2 in 2011.
It marked the fifth year in a row the U.S. birth rate has declined, and the lowest rate on record since the government started tracking the fertility rate in 1909. In 2007, the rate was 69.3.
Falling birth rates can be considered a challenge to future economic growth and the labor pool.
“If there are fewer younger people in the United States, there may be a shortage of young workers to enter the labor force in 18 to 20 years,” said University of New Hampshire demographer Kenneth Johnson. “A downturn in the birth rate affects the whole economy.”
…
Don’t worry. The Shamnesty will legalize 12 million Nuevos Americanos. And thanks to Teddy Kennedy’s “chain migration” family-reunification immigration policies, another 50 million will join them.
Every neighborhood will become a barrio. Beverly Hills and Malibu will become a barrio. Even New Hapshire and Alaska…every town a barrio. Thank John McLame and Obamarx.
Every town in NH already has a barrio.
Umm…those 12 million are already living someplace in the US.
The Ca Assembly just passed driver license legislation for the illegals, and Gov. Brown says he’ll sign it.
Los Angeles County wants to regulate portion control in restaurants. They are mostly targeting fast food meals for kids. Most of the chains take EBT cards and from empirical evidence, the illegals feed their kids cr*p. And yes, so do others.
“The Ca Assembly just passed driver license legislation for the illegals, and Gov. Brown says he’ll sign it.”
Disgusting isn’t it?
rms
Yes it is. Our citizenship is worth toilet paper. Our brave military shed(s) their blood for our treasonous govt. Makes me sick.
Our brave military is in significant part made up of illegals who joined for the money and the expedited green card.
“Yo soy el Army”
-Banner on the Bakersfield, CA. Army Recruiting Center c. 2004.
That’s racist.
You should probably go get some Diversity Training or something.
This is what America’s future looks like:
http://www.picpaste.com/fat-kid-ZCIAbUn6.jpg
Diversity Training
I had to take a class for my last position. The people in the class bought it hook line and sinker. I behaved for the paycheck and legality. I prefer to live around legal immigrants. They may not always be my flavor, but they respected our immigration laws.
That kid in the picture needs some serious carb detox.
Goon - you are correct, that’s what the future looks like for the US (outside of a few small pockets).
The thing is, I do _not_ blame them for wanting to come here instead of stay in Mexico or Central America. I blame boomers, who bought what politicians in both parties told them, despite the fact that the politicians only care about what corporations want. Corporations want population growth, they want cheap labor, they want more customers, etc.
The other thing we did is create a society where young, educated whites generally don’t have many kids nor want many. Some people just don’t want to deal with kids, but many others have reevaluated having kids or having multiple kids because of (relatively) high housing prices, (relatively) low wages and job security, and the lack of single payer health insurance. Note that NONE of those factors matter at all to teabilly whites or immigrants. They’re going to have a bunch of kids because, duh, wtf else are they going to do with their free time? And this gets back to why I feel culture is important - we’ve allowed our culture in the US to be degraded, not only by immigrants but mostly by our own underclass and fundies.
@JoeSmith - on an unrelated topic but wanted you to see this
Repost from a few days ago (Warning: pdf file) of an article in Contract Management Magazine by Daniel Gordon, Associate Dean for Government Procurement Law at GWU Law about bid protests, the GAO, and the Court of Federal Claims. We dialed in to hear Mr. Gordon discuss the article this week followed by a Q&A, very informative overview.
http://www.ncmahq.org/files/Articles/CM0913%20-%2016-29.pdf
I’ll read that article, Bid Protests are about half of what I do.
(The other things are Requests for Equitable Adjustment, Rule 4 Filings, False Claims Act, and qui tam defense.)
GW profs will never say anything bad about GAO, bid protests, or gov’t contracting. Why? GW has a massive program in Goverment Contract Law. If you go to GWU, your best chance at BigLaw is do to the Govt Contracting Program. Even if you don’t get that, you will get something else pretty good, like in-house for a contractor or a cushy GS-14 or 15 job.
Was going to say that part of the decrease in fertility rates since 2007 must be attributed to Mexicans deciding that maybe it’s better NOT to have their anchor baby here after all, and either going home or not coming over the border to give birth in the first place.
I guess it’s too late at this point to reevaluate the wisdom of buying a streamside home in one of the beautiful Colorado Front Range canyons?
I think we need to pass on more debt to taxpayers so the stock market can go up some more.
speaking of debt, here’s more borrow and spend from the community organizer in chief
http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_24084525/obama-oks-federal-aid-flood-ravaged-colorado
Fire and rain for Colorado. I hope all our Co HBBers are safe.
Watched some of the video footage yesterday evening, it was surreal to see it in an area that doesn’t get a whole lot of rain as a rule.
Safe and dry. No major disasters in our little burg.
No problem here. $500k neighborhood across the fence got flooded basements due to a big ditch/stream overflowing, though.
The rain and flooding are just another example of how Obama betrayed America. Remember when he said:
“This was the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and the planet began to heal”
Nice, goonie.
it was surreal to see it in an area that doesn’t get a whole lot of rain as a rule.
Some places (like Boulder) had over 10 inches of rain in just 6 hours.
Just got back from from New Mexico…rained for two days straight.
That’s the vestiges of a tropical storm that settled over the desert SW. I’m not sure it is related to the system deluging the Colorado Front Range.
Some places (like Boulder) had over 10 inches of rain in just 6 hours.
In 2003, the town I live in got 12 inches of rain in 24 hours. 6 inches of that fell in a single hour at the end. This caused generalized flooding over a good part of the county. About a half dozen died. Here storm water is able to drain off in many directions, rather than barreling down a few mountain canyons. Around here, not many live close to rivers & creeks. In 1913 there was a massive springtime flood of several area counties that may have discouraged stream-side rebuilding for decades afterwards.
Stymied! Mortgage Purchase Applications Fall With Real Household Income And Employment/Pop Ratio
Confounded Interest | 09/12/2013 | Anthony B. Sanders
I was interviewed by a reporter from the Times of London on banks loosening credit standards and whether that will jumpstart the housing market. I said it is doubtful.
Expanding the credit box only works if borrowers want to borrow, or feel comfortable doing so.
As the economy rebounds and home values climb at about the fastest pace since 2006, lenders including the largest, Wells Fargo & Co., JPMorgan, Bank of America Corp., and mortgage insurers are easing the tightest credit conditions in two decades, lifting restrictions put in place after the worst real estate bust since the Great Depression.
I also mentioned the FHA reducing the “penalty box” for borrowers who have defaulted on their loans. It is now only 1 year now.
The problem is that mortgage purchase applications are stuck at 1995/1996 levels.
The employment to population ratio is declining with mortgage purchase applications. As Jay Leno joked, “President Obama is so thrilled about declining unemployment rates that he is asking more Americans to drop out of the labor force.”
But with negative growth in real median household income, the well of borrowers is more shallow than it used to be.
Household debt service as a percentage of disposable personal income is back to President Carter levels. This is an aggregate proxy for debt-to-income.
Obamacare taxation on young men (starting October 1st) rising between 49 and 56% for those under 40,
this creates thinness in the homeownership pool in the USA among younger people. Just like in Italy where shrinking baby boomers pushing house prices down further.
It’s called pushing on a string
Those that can borrow don’t want to.
Those that want to borrow can’t pay it back and you will be loaning against an asset that is likely to decline in value.
Expect demand to continue falling as efficiency continues to reduce demand for labor and governments cut back.
Isn’t there a rather simple solution for the string pushing problem, which is to transform fiat money into mortgages through MBS purchases funded by quantitative easing?
Yes let’s concentrate the wealth further.
Printing to buy MBS hands money to the wealthy and inflation of food and fuel to the masses.
It also makes housing prices less affordable, reducing home ownership rates among the masses.
Why the homeownership rate has declined to 65% in this recession
By Brent Nyitray
Aug 28, 2013 1:13 pm
The homeownership rate has dropped precipitously since the beginning of the Great Recession
The homeownership rate is the proportion of households that are owner-occupied. It’s calculated by dividing the number of owner-occupied households by total occupied housing units. The index has oscillated in a range of 63% to 69%. It’s currently sitting at its historical average.
…
Well, let’s play this out.
More and more illegals hired in place of American citizens
Higher unemployment for blacks and young folks
More and more businesses leave CA
More and more automation. Especially in farming. And fast food.
Unions wages rise (they use a multiple of the minimum wage as a base for many contracts)
Higher costs for food and every day items for everyone
And the democrats will say “We never saw this coming!”
—————-
Bill would give Calif. among highest minimum wages
Associated Press ^ | Sep 12, 2013 | Don Thompson
California’s minimum wage would rise to $10 an hour within three years under a bill passed Thursday by the state Legislature, making it one of the highest rates in the nation.
Washington state currently has the top minimum wage at $9.19 an hour, an amount that is pegged to rise with inflation. Some cities, including San Francisco, have slightly higher minimum wages.
The state Senate approved AB10 on a 26-11 vote and the Assembly followed hours later on a 51-25 vote, both largely along party lines. Gov. Jerry Brown indicated earlier this week that he would sign the bill, calling it an overdue piece of legislation that would help working-class families.
“Unions wages rise…”
Gotta love it if you are a working stiff.
(I’ve worked union and I’ve worked non-union. Union is better.)
whether this passes or not, taxpayer dollars will make up the difference to pay for snap cards, earned income tax credits, section 8 vouchers, medicaid, school lunches, obamaphones, et cetera
taxpayer dollars will make up the difference ‘
more Fees, income taxes are too hard to pass.
I knew there would be inflation and a lower standard of living for most workers
“A recent study reveals that the top 10% of earners in the U.S. took home more than half the country’s total income in 2012. That’s the highest level recorded since the government began collecting the data a century ago, according to a New York Times analysis.
Related: Why Incomes Could Fall For the Next 30 Years
The study by economists Emmanuel Saez and Thomas Piketty also found that the top 1% of earners enjoyed 95% of the income gains since the recession ended. Meanwhile, incomes for the rest of us stagnated from 2009 to 2011 and grew only about 1% in 2012.”
Middle-class taxpayers get squeezed out of existence, the Lucky Ducks get their freebies, and the 1% and especially the 0.1% accumulate even more, what’s not to love?
See the post by goon yesterday on Tyler Cowen:
“It will be a very strange world, I think. We will be returning to historical levels of inequality. We’ll view post-war America as a kind of strange interlude not to be repeated. It won’t be the dreams that we all had that virtually all incomes go up in lockstep at three percent a year. It hurts to give that up. It will mean some very real increases in economic fragility for a lot of people.”
We’ll view post-war America as a kind of strange interlude not to be repeated.
Unless you’re on HBB. Then you will think that the price of housing during post-war America actually will be repeated as a reversion to “historical mean.”
So you’re saying that things couldn’t possibly get worse than an unusually stable and high growth period in our history?
What do you call people that heavily support legislation and the people who pass that legislation…
And then expect to exempted from the same legislation?
Hypocrites?
Tyrants?
Useful idiots?
Fools?
————–
AFL-CIO demands changes to Obamacare
Politico | September 12, 2013 | Brett Norman
The AFL-CIO has approved a resolution calling Obamacare “highly disruptive” for some union health plans
The resolution says that “contrary to the law’s intent, some workers might not be able to keep their coverage and their doctors
they don’t have these problems in canada, uk, germany, scandinavia
But they are Socialist over there and Socialism is the devil.
ObamaCare Costs Will Explode; Trader Joe’s Shows Why
Investor’s Business Daily | 09/12/2013 | John Merline
When Trader Joe’s announced it was dropping health benefits for part-time workers, it reassured them that they’d be no worse off as a result.
“We believe that with the $500 from Trader Joe’s and the tax credits available under the (Affordable Care Act), many of you should be able to obtain health care coverage at very little if any net cost to you,” noted CEO Dan Bane in a memo to employees revealed this week.
In other words, Trader Joe’s — like some other companies — has decided to shift its health care costs onto federal taxpayers via the subsidized ObamaCare insurance exchanges.
The specialty grocer’s move adds further evidence that ObamaCare will cost far more than the $1.4 trillion currently forecast…
Everyone knew those government “projections” were gamed in favor just like they always are. The statists and messiah loving media would have been exposing the lies if it hadn’t been their guy.
Hahaha I’m going to love watching this play out. It’s gonna be like the Big Dig. Where are the stories asking the Trader Joe employees how they feel about Obamacare?
You are forgetting the record profits projected for drug companies and hospitals.
Do you know for a fact that AFL-CIO heavily supported Obamacare, or are you just making an assumption?
If he throws enough turds against the wall, a few of them might stick
Like the Washington Times article that claims that the government borrows 46% of what it spends. Turns out the article is a year out of date and extrapolated the deficits from the first two months into the rest of the year. Of course we all know that the deficit for fiscal 2013 will be about 700B and not the 1800B the Times was projecting.
I also like how he didn’t post a link to the article and only cut and pasted he liked. Unfortunately for nannerz there are search engines, and here it is:
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/dec/7/government-borrows-46-cents-every-dollar-it-spends/
I’m not surprised that the Times was disingenuous with its numbers. It is the Moonies’ newspaper.
If we stop feeding the troll(s), maybe he’ll go away and we can have our HBB with open-minded and well reasoned debate instead of his moronic brand of partisan hackery - like it was in the early days.
+1…I agree
I find it telling that he never has the balls to post an original thought, let alone a cogent paragraph of his own creation; it’s always someone else’s article or essay, and always strives for partisan division. I wonder why?
http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/09/afl-cio_supports_obamacare_but.html
“…Organized labor — the AFL-CIO in particular — has not only been a strong supporter of the president, but of the health plan. Many of these labor leaders, primarily those from unions representing more working-class members, were growing increasingly frustrated that Washington wasn’t addressing their Obamacare concerns.
O’Sullivan endorsed the resolution that passed Wednesday, the last day of the convention.
“It needs to be changed and fixed now,” he said of the loophole. “We will work with the president to do everything we can to fix the Affordable Care Act.”
The resolution marks the first time the AFL-CIO has gone on record embracing any thing but a pro-Obamacare view…”
What was that Obama said to Putin? Something along the lines of he’d be able to do more after he was reelected?
I don’t think we will see him “doing” much at all from this point.
His programs to spy on every American are going great.
Fully funded arrogant liberals get voted out of office
The GOP did nothing to help.
It was a pure grass-roots movement.
———————-
The Epic Meltdown of the Gun-Grabbers
Townhall.com | September 13, 2013 | Michelle Malkin
COLORADO SPRINGS — Quick, call the CDC. We’ve got a Rocky Mountain outbreak of Acute Sore Loser Fever. After failing to stave off two historic recall bids on Tuesday, two delusional state legislators and their national party bosses just can’t help but double-down and trash voters as dumb, sick, criminal and profligate.
The ululations of gun-grabbing Democrats here in my adopted home state are reverberating far and wide. Appearing on cable TV Thursday to answer the question “What happened?” Pueblo State Sen. Angela Giron sputtered that she lost her seat due to “voter suppression.” Giron whined to CNN anchor Brooke Baldwin that voters “weren’t able to get to the polls” and that there was “voter confusion.”
“Voter confusion”? My goodness. You’d think there were no public libraries, local television stations, talk radio, newspapers, blogs, Facebook, Twitter or government websites to get information about the elections. (Oh, and pay no attention to the massive 6-to-1 spending advantage that Giron and her fellow recall target John Morse, formerly the president of the state Senate, enjoyed.)
“Voter suppression”? Dios mio! You’d think there were New Black Panther Party thugs standing outside the polls shouting racist epithets and waving police batons!
But no, there was no “voter confusion” or “voter suppression.” In fact, as the Colorado Peak Politics blog pointed out, the “majority of turnout in (Giron’s) district was Democrat, by a large margin. And she still lost. Voter suppression (is) not even believable.”
Giron was defeated not by elite Republicans and nefarious NRA bigwigs, but by a former Clinton supporter/police chief/campaign neophyte and a couple of upstart citizen activists who make a living as plumbers.
Only after the local citizens got the ball rolling — catching flack from establishment GOP types who initially opposed the disruptive process
I support Morse and Giron getting booted.
Imagine that, an informed and engaged electorate that is more concerned with issues than with party. An electorate that actually gets sh1t done.
That’s Colorado for you!
Progressives = desire to seize other people’s guns.
Democrats = desire to keep their guns.
Strange how elitist Progressives believe that all Democrats agree with them always.
Just another sign that the elitist NeoCon-Progressive Party is falling off the rails.
Great news!
well the legislators couldn’t let a mass shooting go to waste!
Luckily, we will have plenty more mass shootings in the future!
/keeping crazy people from buying guns, what were those politicians thinking?
Yeah, thank God for your politicians, huh? Those bastions of honor, wisdom, truth and efficiency. I’m sure they’ve fixed that problem…
Friday the 13th humor….
Would you board flight 666 to HEL? (On Friday the 13th?)
AP | 9/13/2013
For superstitious travelers, that might be tempting fate. But Finnair passengers on AY666 to Helsinki — which has the 3 letter designation HEL — don’t seem too bothered. Friday’s flight is almost full.
“It has been quite a joke among the pilots” said veteran Finnair pilot Juha-Pekka Keidasto, who will fly the Airbus A320 from Copenhagen to Helsinki. “I’m not a superstitious man. It’s only a coincidence for me.”
My superstitions are all petty and do not apply to others. I would not hesitate to be on that flight.
A plus: The line may be short and you may get your choice of seats.
Except the actual article says the flight is almost full. No one cares. Media filler. They write the article because it is amusing, not because there is any story.
It’s a Drudge Report link. Drudge links to these “human interest” type stories sometimes as a diversion from his normal editorial policy consisting of:
Obama bad
Democrats bad
Obamacare bad
Muslims bad
Unions bad
Scary black people bad
Global warming not real
They’re coming to take your guns away
Just went over to Drudge.
Headline and lots of articles of the historic floods in Colorado.
Can we talk about that or does it offend the goon squad rules?
Oh wait - it is not your blog.
i much prefer the more liberl leaning websites:
obama awesome
democrats super duper awesome
obamacare a right
islam is a religion of peace
unions saved us from child labor and slave wages so they get on pass on whatever they do till the end of fracking time.
only white people can be racist
global warming is 95% real
removing guns from law abiding citizens is the right thing to do even though every study under the sun says crime rates increase when they are taken
Struck a nerve there calling out the intellectual laziness of copying and pasting Drudge Report links?
I don’t like Obama either, but I prefer to read criticisms of his policies that are written at above a third-grade reading level.
Just went over to Drudge.
Headline and lots of articles of the historic floods in Colorado.
That just shows that people who are not too bright like reading about and seeing photographs and videos about the weather and natural disasters.
Hah hah…smart people are immune to human nature? I don’t think so…
I love how the elites have you guys ignoring the real issues.
I prefer to read criticisms of his policies that are written at above a third-grade reading level.
Then I recommend DailyKos, a very liberal website. I am not snarking.
Skroodle: Bingo! +1000 whathesaid etc!
Voting R or D is like hitting yourself in the head with a hammer….
Hah hah…smart people are immune to human nature? I don’t think so…
There was a story in the news a few years about a TV station in Chicago that was trying to attract more highly educated (and presumably more prosperous) viewers to their local evening news show. One thing they tried was reducing the amount of time spent on the weather. A local TV news show could probably give people the information they need about the local weather in one minute. For some reason, most of these newscasts spend much more time than necessary, including temperatures from all over the country and whatever extreme weather stories could be found anywhere in the 50 states.
This station had some research that said that highly educated people were not interested in all that extra weather. My guess is that people who want to go to web sites to view photographs of flood damage and read stories about the related human misery tend to be less well educated. Of course, this doesn’t include people who live in Colorado or who have family or friends who live there and may actually have a need for information.
I’d prefer that flight as there would most likely be lots of empty seats due to others’ superstitions.
superstitions
another word for organized religion. rituals, prayers, making deals with God…
My mother tried to instill religious superstitions in me, but at the age of reason I took out my Ouija board as a replacement. lol
Business is business.
Sept. 13, 2013, 10:20 a.m. EDT
The financial cost of religious faith
Jewish Day of Atonement is also a day of fundraising
By Charles Passy
With the onset of Yom Kippur this evening, Jews will begin a day of fasting, prayer and reflection — all key parts of this holiest of holy days on the religion’s calendar. But this Day of Atonement often comes with another ritual of sorts — namely, a pitch from synagogue leaders for contributions.
The High Holy Days appeal, as it’s often called, may strike some as distasteful, but it underscores the reality that faith of any kind — Judaism, Christianity, Islam — often has a literal price. Houses of worship solicit donations in order to pay the bills. Parochial schools charge tuition. Beyond such fees, various religious practices, from adhering to certain dietary laws to avoiding certain types of investments, also have costs associated with them. But while this has always been the case to a point, some of the faithful say the financial burden has become harder to bear, especially in light of the slumping economy of late.
“I wish it wasn’t so expensive,” says Judy Safern, a Jewish resident of Dallas who runs a strategic consulting firm. In the past couple of years, Safern has cut back on what might be dubbed her “religion budget,” pulling her two children out of a Jewish day school in favor of a public one (a savings of $16,000) and foregoing membership to her local synagogue (a savings of $1,800). Safern’s hope is that she can maintain her faith without emptying her pocketbook. “I refuse to continue to be squeezed,” she adds.
…
Organized religion requires alot of dollars.
“Safern’s hope is that she can maintain her faith without emptying her pocketbook. “I refuse to continue to be squeezed,” she adds.”
+1 The Palestinians in Dallas are better behaved. Fingers crossed.
“[God] isn’t too good with finances though because he NEEDS MONEY!”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPOfurmrjxo
Exactly. It always struck me as odd that the all-powerful god needed my baby-sitting money every week.
With tens of millions of excess, empty and defaulted houses in the US, who started this lie that there is a “shortage of housing”?
with the simple stroke of a pen you to can become a debt serf to the big banks. You get to pay a lot of front loaded interest so they can get fat bonuses and not actually have to work.
They call working figuring how much money they have got from you free each month.
What surprises me is that Richmond is willing to take on the legal costs of this fight…I smell a rat and I think its Mortgage Resolution Partners…
http://www.city-journal.org/2013/cjc0912sg.html
Here’s a repost of MarketWatch’s recent piece promoting mortgage albatross debt slavery. This article was published two days ago, but it is a still a top headline on the website. And why is that?
Because the lying liar NAR-scum thrive on urgency. When inking your name to a 30-year note that with interest will total hundreds and hundreds of thousands of dollars, you should always do it in a hurry.
“Consumers shopping for a home might want to pick up the pace, getting a mortgage will likely become more challenging and costly next year”
Pick up the pace? Better write love letters to the seller too. And bid 20% over asking.
“Would-be home buyers who are planning to get a mortgage that’s close to the Fannie and Freddie caps might want to consider getting the loan before the year ends”
Home prices only go up. They’re not making any more land. You should hurry to borrow $417,000 ($625,000 in some markets). You should spend the rest of your life paying interest to banks. It is your patriotic duty.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-about-to-get-harder-to-buy-a-home-2013-09-11
Beautiful. Stay on’em. Expose the liars.
Ben Jones posted a link recently about Generation-Y loanowners in Australia paying an average of 56% of income for housing.
The NAR and the criminal bankster syndicate would love to condition the American sheeple to accept that as normal.
Without debt, you have freedom. And having a fat stack of FU money is nice too.
“The NAR and the criminal bankster syndicate would love to condition the American sheeple to accept that as normal.”
And there is the crux of the biscuit. You see that effort in action here on this blog everyday. They haven’t had much success lately thanks to the blog owner who has a keen nose for BS. (No flattery intended)
And today the same cast of characters using different names changed their approach and are attempting to drive the blog off topic. They think they’re slick.
I went through SFH sales training. Urgency and triggers are part of the sales training. I was in a class of produce managers, eye candy with no substance, a fed ex guy, and some other nice, but clueless folks. Things I learned in school were dismissed. Group Thinkers and Zombies. The psychological games were interesting and the role playing was an eye opener. They don’t much care for the engineering types. I’m married to an EE.
A real*** isn’t your “friend”. (I hear this cr*p all the time.) It’s part of their marketing ploy (referrals). lol
Don’t forget to report back everything from here.
with the simple stroke of a pen you to can become a debt serf to the big banks.
But you do get a sweet garage. And pergraniteel as far as the eye can see. And what is serfdom really? It can’t be that bad when you get a house this sweet…
Story about Lehman’s Dick Fuld five years after the Lehman collapse:
http://www.businessweek.com/articles/2013-09-12/where-is-dick-fuld-now-finding-lehman-brothers-last-ceo
If you want to see a pompous @ssclown, watch his congressional tesimony on C-SPAN.
Q: How do you destroy your country’s manufacturing base?
A: Embrace progressive “Green” energy while none of your competitors do. Just make all your big decisions based on their feelings and wishes rather than sound economic analysis.
Romantic Germany risks economic decline as green dream spoils
The Telegraph | 11 Sep 2013 | Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Germany is committing slow economic suicide. It has staked its future on heavy industry and manufacturing, yet has no energy policy to back this up.
Instead, the country has a ruinously expensive green dream, priced at €700bn (£590bn) from now until the late 2030s.
The likelihood is that Germany will start to lose its economic halo soon, “de-rated” like others before it.
Chancellor Angela Merkel tied a deadweight around the ankles of her country when she suddenly - and flippantly - abandoned her nuclear policy after Japan’s Fukushima disaster in 2011. “This has forever changed the way we define risk,” she said at the time. “It’s over.”
The assumption was that Germany would gain a “first-mover” lead in renewables, reaping the reward later. They overlooked the Chinese, who copied the technology. Chinese firms gouged the German home market with the aid of cheap labour, a cheap yuan, cheap state credit and a global trade system that let them get away with it.
In the end, it is wind from thousands of turbines in the Baltic - generating 25,000 megawatts (MW) by 2030 - that is supposed to power Europe’s industrial heart. This is an astounding gamble. As of today, barely 300 megawatts of offshore wind capacity is in place. The cables across the country do not exist.
Electricity prices are twice as high as in America. Natural gas costs are four times as high, forcing the chemical giants of the Ruhr and the Rhine to decamp across the Atlantic. BASF is building its new site for emulsion polymers in Texas, the latest of a €4.2bn investment blitz in the US.
I thougth you destroyed it by sending trillions of dollars to Saudi Arabia and Russia for fuel and natural gas, and to other countries for coal and fuel for your nuclear reactors, and constructing a trade policy that leads to offshoring your manufacturing and massive trade imbalances. Isn’t that how we did it.
Given that our economy is a lot more hollow than Germany’s, I’d say that our job destroying techniques are far more effective.
We’re also very Green Energy in Colorado. Wind Power is working great here. It’s also working well in Texas of all places.
Wind Power is working great here.
+1 Location, location, location.
Average Wind Speed - Map of USA
http://cdn.theatlantic.com/static/coma/images/issues/200810/win-large.jpg
Well, duh!
The chemical plant boom approaching in the US is based on the belief that there is so much natural gas in the US it will be practically free. This is the feedstock for the chemical plants. ChE’s are commanding salaries of $300K at the Engineering companies I am told. From other fronts we hear that the fracking exploration companies are starting to go tits up due to unrealistic expectations on well depletion. These two groups don’t seem to be talking to each other, only to investors.
Germany gets its natural gas from Russia.
“Germany gets its natural gas from Russia.”
+1 Ironic isn’t it?
And Russian Oligarchs buy their custom yachts from Germany.
“Germany is committing slow economic suicide.”
German birth rates have been below the replacement rate for years, so they won’t need a manufacturing base. Morgenthau would be jubilant.
What to people make of the SEC requiring kill switches for the markets to deal with “software glitches”. My guess is that they want an automatic kill switch in place people are too slow.
“What to people make of the SEC requiring kill switches for the markets to deal with “software glitches”. My guess is that they want an automatic kill switch in place people are too slow.”
More likely, they wish to prevent the little people from the exists with their cash during a panic. Titanic’s steerage passengers were locked below decks so that the top hats could board the lifeboats in a timely manner.
Realtor Charged with Running $15 Million Investment Fraud Scheme
http://www.fbi.gov/cincinnati/press-releases/2013/milford-realtor-charged-with-running-15-million-investment-fraud-scheme
Realtor Charged With Kidnapping And Rape
http://www.wkrn.com/story/23331396/franklin-man-charged-with-kidnapping-rape
A perfect example of National Association of Realtors® “family values”
Real Estate Agent Charged with Grand Larceny, Residential Mortgage Fraud and Falsifying Business Records
http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2013/08/real_estate_agent_four_others_accused_of_defrauding_banks_and_home_buyers.html
Last Updated: 9/05/2013 15:28 PST
The 5 Dumbest Things You Can Do if You Have Too Much Debt
Experts warn against making your debt problems worse due to these common mistakes:
1. Paying only the minimum payment on your debt, as this will result in the amount you owe actually growing, and your problems will only become worse.
2. Relying on friends and family, as this can damage relationships with the most important people in your life.
3. Unscrupulous credit counselors that demand high fees for help they promise, but don’t deliver.
4. Using new high-interest loans to pay off lower interest rate loans. It may be easier to just have one payment. but it will actually increase the amount you have to pay back.
5. Declaring bankruptcy. This can have permanent and severe consequences on your financial future. Avoid it if you can, especially when debt settlement may work for you.
…
6. Pile on much more debt in an attempted hair-of-the-dog hangover cure.
6. Taking on more and more debt?
This is only smart if your are a local/county/state or Federal government.
Don’t be a debt donkey.
Read “The Millionaire Next Door”. Read Dave Ramsey. Read the Mr. Money Mustache Blog.
“The Millionaire Next Door”.
Catchy title but feel better about being an average joe book, imho. Dave Ramsey isn’t my flavor either. I’ve read a lot of personal finance advise books. I concluded talking to my bosses (who were wealthy investor types) was a better way to learn. Granted, they had more $, but they were on top of wealth growing. A best selling book gets you on the path to wealth. lol
Some good points, but it’s still an infomercial.
“Debt Settlement
For many people, working with a debt settlement company can actually be a great solution….
Here are some debt settlement links to get you started:…”
Debt settlement eh? So they’ll drop off _some_ (not all) of the interest? So they’ll drop _some_ fees? So they’ll forgive piddling amounts of principle (which you get a 1099 for and have to pay taxes on)? Stupid.
Bankruptcy can be shrewd and decadent. The problem isn’t with the BK process, companies do it all the time and come out healthy and renewed. The problem is that the avg American doesn’t make changes or learn lessons. But if you look at really successful people in American, many of them have had rough patches and used the law to regroup after a BK.
This article was clearly written by an idiot or else someone shilling on behalf of the credit card/banking sector.
Why would bankruptcy have “permanent” consequences? The FICO hit is at worst 7 years.
I almost think BK would be a blessing in disguise for most of these yahoos. Wipe out the debt, repo the toys, stow them in a 2-bed apartment and let them live frugally while they work their way back up. They’ll emerge on the other side with a healthier FICO and a much healthier attitude towards others.
Gold bullion is insurance. Gdxj down 80% from a couple years ago. Well that was several weeks ago. Down 60% at this point. It’s a hold. Gotta stack more quarter ounce gold American Eagles.
Cyprus style electronic asset confiscation. Coming soon to a thugernment near you. Low hanging fruit. They will steal 10% of your electronic assets long before they take my insurance. By the way gold is the kind of insurance that you get the unused, plus or minus a percentage, back. Unlike health insurance.
“Cyprus style electronic asset confiscation.”
Inflation? Probably.
Cyprus style? No.
Maybe yes. Maybe no.
—————–
Democratic leaders in the U.S. House discuss confiscating 401(k)s, IRAs
By Karen McMahan
November 04, 2008
RALEIGH — Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers’ personal retirement accounts — including 401(k)s and IRAs — and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration.
The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers’ retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration.
Rep. George Miller, D-Calif., chairman of the House Committee on Education and Labor, in prepared remarks for the hearing on “The Impact of the Financial Crisis on Workers’ Retirement Security,” blamed Wall Street for the financial crisis and said his committee will “strengthen and protect Americans’ 401(k)s, pensions, and other retirement plans” and the “Democratic Congress will continue to conduct this much-needed oversight on behalf of the American people.”
Once again, don’t rely on right-wing websites:
IRAs, 401(k)s and You
Q: Are congressional Democrats talking about confiscating IRA and 401(k) investment accounts?
A: No. There’s no plan to seize these accounts. One House witness at a committee hearing proposed to allow some people to trade their old accounts for a new type that would be less risky.
…
Teresa Ghilarducci, Nov. 18: It is utterly ridiculous [to suppose] that I advocate seizing 401k assets.
…
Ghilarducci: If people put money into 401(k)s they could keep it there, and taxes would continue to be deferred until withdrawn. It is unthinkable that Congress would take a tax break away for activities already undertaken.
http://www.factcheck.org/2008/11/iras-401ks-and-you/
It sounds like the exact reverse of opting out of Social Security. Who are you gonna trust, the Wall Street Bankstas who manipulate your 401 DOW or the US gummit who has the ability to simply print the money to back up your SS check? Shouldn’t people have that choice?
(then again, buying laddered Treasuries is effectively the same thing as parking money into SS, why not take that route..)
“Cyprus style? No.”
Unless Chancellor Hitlary becomes Fuhrer in 2016.
Hitlary in 2001: “We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.”
Hitlary between 2017 and 2020: “I told you that in 2001″
full context here:
This is an accurate quote, but also a misleading one in that it completely omits the context. Senator Clinton was not addressing the general public, but rather a group of relatively well-to-do Democrats attending a June 2004 fundraiser for California senator Barbara Boxer. And her statement specifically referred to a desire to repeal tax cuts that had recently been enacted by the Bush administration, cuts which Democrats had criticized as favoring the wealthy:
Headlining an appearance with other Democratic women senators on behalf of Sen. Barbara Boxer, who is up for re-election this year, Hillary Clinton told several hundred supporters - some of whom had ponied up as much as $10,000 to attend - to expect to lose some of the tax cuts passed by President Bush if Democrats win the White House and control of Congress.
“Many of you are well enough off that … the tax cuts may have helped you,” Sen. Clinton said. “We’re saying that for America to get back on track, we’re probably going to cut that short and not give it to you. We’re going to take things away from you on behalf of the common good.
http://www.snopes.com/politics/clintons/marxist.asp
“Unless Chancellor Hitlary becomes Fuhrer in 2016.”
Part of me thinks she has little chance.
And the other part of me worries that women will vote for her in droves, on the false premise that she is their last great hope to put a woman in the WH.
Don’t worry, gals, there will be plenty of other qualified and willing female candidates over the next century. This one is not ‘do or die.’
Miners are also down because it is expensive to mine gold. Especially with energy and labor costs now so high.
What makes you think the government won’t take your energy stocks or just nationalize the mines?
I like gold as insurance also.
But if it ever comes down to using that insurance - it will be almost worthless too.
As you will be spending most of your time finding food and avoiding riots.
As you will be spending most of your time finding food and avoiding riots.
If SHTF, you can use shiny metals to buy foods and protection. Your bag full of cash will be of no use at all. That’s the only reason to keep some gold around.
I know.
But your bag full of gold won’t be worth much to the guy with a bad full of ammo in a SHTF.
True, but you can take your gold and get out of Dodge before it gets too crazy. And if it gets that crazy, your US Passport won’t open any doors to a safe, offshore haven, though a well placed bribe (paid in gold) might get you in.
Isn’t the purpose of Swiss bank accounts to stash your money somewhere it will be waiting for you in case you ever need to get out of Dodge?
Gold will not become worthless before your 401ks, brokerages, and bank accounts become worthless
Cyprus style electronic asset confiscation. Coming soon to a thugernment near you.
How soon?
Cyprus style electronic asset confiscation.
Works for me. Let dumb investors lose their shirts as opposed to getting taxpayer funded bailouts.
The group (Fidelity employees) is suing the company in federal court in Massachusetts, Fidelity’s home state, arguing that the company neglected its fiduciary duty to them by stocking their 401(k) plan with relatively expensive mutual funds when cheaper ones were available.
If they stiff their own worker bees what do you think they are doing to you.
My company has expensive mutual funds as well.
Frontline had a great show on how Wall Street takes the majority of 401k earnings in fees: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/retirement-gamble/
Well worth a watch.
Life in Obama’s ‘murka:
“My wife hasn’t wanted sex since her mastectomy. So I ended up sleeping with a man.”
http://www.slate.com/articles/life/dear_prudence/2013/09/dear_prudence_my_wife_no_longer_likes_sex_after_cancer_treatment_so_i_cheated.html
I’m a 50-year-old professional man. I married my college sweetheart and we’ve been happily married for almost 30 years. We have two grown children who are doing well. About four years ago, my wife had breast cancer, a mastectomy, and chemotherapy. It was traumatic and after her treatment she told me that she was no longer interested in sex. I figured the experience, understandably, might make her shy away from intimacy for a while. I’ve said that I still love her more than anyone in the world, and that she’s beautiful to me, which is true. From time to time, I’ve told her that I miss intimacy with her. She’s thanked me for the compliment, but it hasn’t gone any further than that. One of my hobbies is photography, and sometimes I’ve been asked to take pictures of rock bands. Three weeks ago I was at a club and a twentysomething man walked up to me. He said, “This band has a large gay following. Are you gay?” I said, “No. I’m married. I’m just here to take photos.” He said, “Well, I think you’re hot. If you’re bi-curious, my apartments is nearby.” Nothing like that had ever happened to me before. He was young, and handsome. I thought, “Why the hell not?” We went to his place and had (safe) sex. I’d never had sex with a man before. I found it to be interesting and enjoyable, but not something I’d been longing for all of my life. What I did I find that I longed for was the passion. Three times that night, he said, “You are such a sexy man.” No one had ever said to me before and I keep hearing those words in my head. Since then, I’ve had a bunch of conflicted feelings. I feel sad about betraying my wife. I also keep scanning crowds to see if I can find that guy again. I don’t think that it’s the sex that I want, so much as the passion and appreciation. I would like to find some way to explain my feelings to my wife, but I can’t tell her about the one-night stand. She’s not homophobic, but the fact that I’ve strayed outside of marriage would be painful for her. Your thoughts?
Liberace,
I thought you got banned yesterday.
Wait, I got banned? Why? (If I was banned, the IP he used was probably from my phone.)
I’m gigging in the Village this weekend, btw, bro. We can catch up at The Eagle on Sunday afternoon.
And the point in posting this?
(no offense, just a strange contribution but harmless)
I could care less about someone experimenting, but he could have pleasured himself watching adult DVDs. Maybe the wife could not have reconstruction surgery and feels ugly. She evidently needs help. I do a lot for BC, and this isn’t uncommon.
I was just sharing in vignette from Obama’s America, relax.
“the point in posting this?”
Joe Smith has a more than passing familiarity with the downlow lifestyle (married men cheating and having gay sex) and the names and locations of gay bars in New York and other East Coast cities.
To be fair, the gay bars in big cities these days seem to be in some of the nicer overall areas. They’re not hidden away in industrial parks under highway overpasses anymore. At least this is what I’ve seen in Philly/NYC/DC/Baltimore.
Next time you’re out here, go climb Brokeback Mountain. There’s no better Rocky Mountain high than getting some sweet sweet downlow above elevation 14,000 feet!
Down Low Joe Liberace.
???
Now THIS is different….
Thirty-three years would take you back to 1980 — roughly the time when a historic bond bull market got started.
This is an egregious example of How to Lie With Statistics (see Ch 1 The Sample with the Built-in Bias) — through cherry picking the “data sample” to support a position, which in this case is to show the bond market almost never generates a loss.
Bond investors face annual losses for only third time in 33 years
- Only a “highly unlikely” fall in interest rates can prevent bond investors losing money over the course of 2013, BlackRock executive says.
- The US Federal Reserve, chaired by Ben Bernanke, wants to stop buying bonds Photo: AP
By Richard Evans, Investment Editor
3:59PM BST 11 Sep 2013
Investors face losses on their bond holdings this year for only the third time in more than three decades, a senior expert in the field has said.
Jeffrey Rosenberg, who is the chief investment strategist for fixed income at BlackRock, which manages bond investments worth $1.2 trillion or £750bn, said bond investors had lost 3.65pc so far this year and that “avoiding an annual loss will require a major shift lower in interest rates, something we do not expect”.
The figure refers the change in the Barclays US Aggregate index or “Agg”, one of the most common benchmarks for company and government bonds. It fell by 0.86pc in the first week of September alone. Although the Agg is a US index, movements in the UK bond markets are unlikely to be greatly different.
Mr Rosenberg added: “An annual negative return in 2013 would represent only the third loss over the last 33 years. That loss highlights the rapidly changing dynamics for investing in fixed income.”
…
British holidaymakers are being warned they could face costs nearly as high as the annual average national wage for common but essential medical care abroad if they have an accident while travelling without insurance.
Research looking at the top 20 tourist destinations found costs for basic healthcare can vary wildly - and the average cost in the US is more than double that of the next most expensive country.
AXA analysed costs for a short stay in hospital to treat stomach problems such as gastroenteritis, medical care for an ear infection and hospital treatment for broken bones after a serious fall.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/money/holidays/article-2417632/Worlds-expensive-medical-care-Breaking-bone-US-cost-years-wages.html
What’s the problem? They can just go home and not pay the bill.
What have your experiences been with National Health?
There are a lot (alot) of misconceptions about that here in USA.
My sister-in-law lives in the UK. She was diagnosed with bad gall bladder. She had it removed last week, about 3 weeks after the diagnosis (she was originally told it would be a 12 week wait), via laparoscopic surgery, which went without incident. She is recovering nicely.
There are plenty of companies that sell short term inexpensive emergency medical insurance for tourists.
There are plenty of companies that sell short term inexpensive emergency medical transport insurance for tourists.
In America and most other countries.
There are plenty of companies that sell short term inexpensive emergency medical insurance for tourists.
My Euro relatives always purchase one when the visit.
I know someone who broke a bone in New Zealand and was not charged anything for treatment there. It was covered by their health care system.
I don’t understand the resistance to national health care.
Oh oh
Better keep printing.
————-
Consumer Confidence Collapses - Biggest Miss On Record
Zero Hedge | September 13, 2013
This is the first consecutive monthly drop in 14 months and the largest miss vs expectations on record. Printing at 76.8 (against an expectation of 82.0), this is the lowest in 5 months and points to the picture we have been painting of a consumer increasingly affected by rising rates and soaring gas prices amid stagnant incomes. As Citi notes below, this is the exact same pattern we have seen play out in the last 2 cycles and suggest significant downside risk to US equities. The economic outlook sub-index collapsed to its lowest since January.
Housing Markets About to Get Squeezed
MarketWatch - By AnnaMaria Andriotis – 13 SEP 2013
A plan to lower the cap on federally backed mortgages may hit home buyers particularly hard in several pockets of the country, new data shows.
The Federal Housing Finance Agency plans to reduce the maximum size of mortgages backed by Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac this January. The current limits are $417,000 in most parts of the country and up to $625,500 in more expensive markets. The agency hasn’t announced how much it will lower loan caps, but data compiled for MarketWatch by Lender Processing Services, a mortgage-data tracking firm, shows that a decline of just $25,000 from the current caps would impact hundreds of thousands of home buyers in middle-priced and upper-middle-priced housing markets — areas that are relatively upscale but far from the most expensive. “You are really talking about communities that are comfortably well-to-do; you’re not talking about communities with large numbers of hedge fund managers and the like,” says Robert Hockett, a professor of law at Cornell Law School with expertise in real estate finance.
A greater number of borrowers could be impacted if mortgage caps drop by a larger amount. Housing experts say a $25,000 drop is likely conservative, and if the real cut is bigger, more borrowers will be left with fewer mortgage options going forward.
Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac mortgages weren’t always so generous. They were mostly capped at $417,000 until 2008, when legislation increased their loan limits in more expensive markets, and by late 2011 they settled at the levels currently still in place. The moves were meant to stimulate home buying and lending in the wake of the housing downturn.
But analysts caution that lowering their caps could have a domino effect on home sales. Many borrowers who use the maximum dollar amount of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac loans tend to live in high-cost areas and rely on these mortgages to buy homes. If they’re unable to get financing, given that the private mortgage market is more selective, sales could stall and prices as a result may drop, says Jack McCabe, an independent housing analyst in Deerfield Beach, Fla. “This will be a real eye-opener,” he says.
the definition of insanity is having the same bubble over and over again.
asset bubbles are the only game in town.
“The current limits are $417,000 in most parts of the country and up to $625,500 in more expensive markets.”
Are Midwest taxpayers perfectly content to help California buyers out with federally guaranteed mortgages to buy homes costing north of $1 million?
Do they have a say in the matter?
The interests of folks who live in Flyover apparently hold little sway inside the Beltway. Otherwise why would they be forced to help guarantee California home loans in excess of $500K with no say in the matter?
Ran into the father one of my kid’s classmates this morning. He’s a RE agent in Silicon Valley. His two comments (aside from the usual market commentary):
1. The number of cash buyers is diminishing…there are still the occasional cash buyers, but definitely much less than before; and
2. $ is coming from strange places to provide the necessary cash in deals. The example he gave was a young tech employee who got their money from their parents who live in China. In other words, it was foreign money, but not completely absentee foreign money.
Money laundering is legal when it comes to housing.
The -fixr’s new favorite author = Andrew K. Bacevich
He has articulated some of the points that I’ve been trying to make for a long time.
My secret crush for the last ten years. A most righteous person.
Update on the -fixr front……
Mom’s condo is going on the market. The realtor is telling her that she may be able to get “X” dollars out of it. I don’t know…….everything I’m seeing says that if she breaks even, she’ll be doing good.
Putting it on the market at the end of September isn’t going to help.
Meanwhile, in ICT……the oldest daughter’s MIL and her worthless brood have been foreclosed and evicted. Have taken up residence in daughter’s basement. I’m betting that they will be stuck with them for a long time. Daughter and SIL are not happy about it.
Of course, the rest of the family projects this Southern hillbilly “religious/close family/stick together when times are tough” persona, but run for the hills when it comes time to put their money where their mouths are.
TARP didn’t save banks, it ruined them: Kovacevich
CNBC | Published: Friday, 13 Sep 2013 | 11:08 AM | By: Matthew J. Belvedere
TARP was one of the “worst decisions in the history of the United States,” former Wells Fargo boss Richard Kovacevich told CNBC on Friday.
Kovacevich has never been known to mince words.
He was in the room five years ago when the financial world was blowing up and then-Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson was pitching the $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, known as TARP, to the banking industry.
Reason #485759292912374 health care is so expensive in Amerikka.
In the office next door (different company) a client had some health issues. Don’t think it was a heart attack. Someone called 911..an ambulence showed up, a firetruck showed up and a cop showed up. Mind you, there are 2 hostpitals with emergency care within half an mile from the building….nobody even effin’ bothered to put her in a car and took her to the hospital….and this is a city evenryone owns a car. When common sense fails, all you get is a mind blowingly inefficient and expensive turd.
nobody even effin’ bothered to put her in a car and took her to the hospital…
There is no fun like the fun to be had when a friend has a cardiac arrest in your front seat while you are waiting at a traffic light. At least the EMTs and firemen tend to show up with defibrillators.
This didn’t show up yesterday, perhaps because I used a link. If this has already come up here, I apologize. Anyway, google “housing demand is at 16 year lows”. You need to put it in quotations. Click on the third result, which is a housing forum. In the search box, click “Darrell” Scroll about halfway down. Notice the content of the postings by a certain Darrell in Phoenix.
Among the gems is, “Again…. with massive housing inventory in the tens of millions of empty houses, why buy when you can rent for half the monthly cost?”
Darnell lives in your empty skull….. rent free.
Thank you for pointing out that rental rates are half the cost of buying.
This story puts the notion of underwater housing in an entirely different light. I’m having flashbacks to all the natural disasters in whose path I have landed over the years. Good luck to all those who are impacted by the flooding.
Heavy rainfall heading once more for flooded Colorado
By David Simpson. Michael Pearson and George Howell, CNN
updated 9:22 PM EDT, Fri September 13, 2013
People stand at the edge of floodwaters in Boulder on September 12.
Boulder, Colorado (CNN) — Clear skies allowed for more evacuations and rescues in flood-devastated Colorado on Friday, but the forecast through Sunday called for more heavy rain.
Even after the last of the storms, authorities can’t say how long it will take to reach residents who will remain isolated by devastated roads.
The confirmed death toll reached four when Boulder County officials recovered the body of a woman who had been swept away after getting out of her vehicle Thursday, Sheriff Joe Pelle said. Authorities already had recovered the body of a man who left the same car and tried to save the woman.
One other death had been reported in Boulder County and one occurred in El Paso County.
President Barack Obama declared an emergency for Boulder, Larimer and El Paso counties, FEMA announced Friday. The declaration allowed FEMA to bring in four rescue teams, the largest ever deployment in Colorado, officials said.
More heavy rain is forecast through Sunday for the region, on top of the 15 inches some parts of the state have already received.
“This isn’t over,” CNN meteorologist Chad Myers said.
…