Bits Bucket for November 29, 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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The National Association of Realtors is a corrupt and unethical organization.
Kloe Kardahin may be OJ’s daughter.
heh…. Kris Jenner has no boundaries.
….. nor do realtors.
OJ is looking for the real father.
The National Association of Realtors are acting as my lackeys.
They spend their own money in order to receive a one-time blood-soaked commission from reeling in a mark and in doing so they bring to me this mark whereby I am not only able to extract a one-time blood-soaked commission as my realtor lackey does but I also get to extract from the mark some hefty blood-soaked payments each and every month for thirty years or so and perhaps for as long as the mark is living if I can arrange it.
And I probably will be able to arrange it because my RE lackeys such as David Lereah are somehow able to convince FBs to keep and even extend their FB status by convincing them to cash out any equity that happens to land in their lap and convince them that not doing so is a sure sign of financial incompetence.
Do you dare try and sell your home yourself these days? If you try and sell your home yourself will your appraisal come in low?
Houses are rapidly depreciating assets regardless who sells them.
I bought a house after college and sold it later myself. Got three different appraisals. One was low and I think they wanted a “quick sale”. One was ridiculously high and I think they wanted the listing which they would drop the price when it wouldn’t sell. The third was pretty close to what I had figured. You can pretty much tell from comps if you are honest with yourself. I advertised in classified section of the papers and it was across the street from a school so my sign got a lot of visibility. Used a real estate lawyer to handle the title search/transfer etc. Been there, done that. Made a few bucks but I don’t have the overwhelming need to buy.
Indeed they are…… and It’s so good to see this truth getting discussed.
Stuff real estate agents say
By Emmet Pierce • Bankrate.com
It’s easy to get caught up in the excitement of buying a home, but beware of the misleading or downright dishonest things real estate agents sometimes say to make a sale.
What follows are examples of stuff real estate agents say that can be described as “puffery.”
When an agent tells you a home is in excellent condition, be cautious. Perhaps it’s true, but the term is used so often that it has become an industry cliche with little real meaning.
Agents have plenty of horror stories about competitors who lured them and their clients to undesirable homes with grandiose descriptions. Kristie Weiss, a real estate agent in State College, Pa., recently visited a perfect-looking home only to find that a plumbing problem was sending water from the kitchen sink flowing into the basement.
For some homebuyers, the ultimate dream is a house within sight of the ocean. In coastal cities, agents are quick to mention ocean views, even if they are obscured by trees or buildings. In San Diego, longtime real estate agent Gary Kent, with Keller Williams Realty, says it’s not unusual for house hunters to visit such homes, only to wind up asking sellers to point out where the ocean is. Kent says the answers often go something like this: “See that tree? Look a little bit to the left. That blue stuff is water.”
One phrase to watch out for is “a kitchen with everything within reach,” she adds. That’s agent-speak for really, really small.
You’d think something as easy to define as a two-car garage would be difficult to exaggerate. Unfortunately, it’s common for agents to attempt to pass off a large one-car garage as adequate for two vehicles.
Fixer-uppers can provide wonderful opportunities for buying homes at bargain prices. If you’re handy with a hammer and don’t mind making multiple trips to the hardware store, this may be the house for you. It also could turn out to be a money pit.
Generally, a fixer-upper is considered to be a home that requires more elbow grease than money and construction expertise. The problem is the term often is used to describe homes that are badly in need of major repairs that are beyond the skills of your average homeowner.
Real estate is competitive, and everyone looks for an edge. Unfortunately, some agents make promises they can’t keep in order to get your business. A common ploy is to tell you they can sell your home for much more than other agents say it’s worth.
“We call it buying the listing,” says Prothero. “Usually the Realtors who do that fall into two categories: They are weak agents and probably don’t understand the true value of the property, or they don’t have any active listings, and they will do whatever it takes to get one. Some will take the listing knowing they can’t sell it at that price.”
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/real-estate/stuff-real-estate-agents-say.aspx - 74k -
How has this cartel still not been broken up by technology? 6 percent for uneducated shysters as the fig for every transaction. That’s the system. Mr Banker you are leaving money on the table.
We were FSBO owners (using an online MLS listing service) when the DOJ was suing NAR for violations of The Sherman Act. Interesting times. Were we boycotted by the franchise firms, even offering the 3% buyer’s ransom. A really great small time Broker brought us a solid buyer. In reality, NAR is still the seedy cartel they’ve always been. I’ve been to their meetings. Shopping Center career information relationship.
Because, unlike flights and hotel rooms, houses are special snowflakes best viewed in person. Realtors literally hold the keys to the kingdom, and lockbox combinations are the coin of the realm.
And you two got ripped off by them. lmao.
For your amusement, go check out the comments on the Bankrate Article. They read like a Suzanne commercial.
Most of the general public think that Realtors are some kind of esteemed, regulated profession, which they are not. As long as you don’t have a criminal record, you don’t even need a G.E.D. to become a Realtor. Just complete the few required real estate classes, pay the fees, and now you’re a Realtor.
u need people skills.
Jim Jones had people skills. Charles Manson had people skills.
u need charisma to close them.
See above. Hitler had charisma too.
“u need chrisma to close them.”
True of realtors, true of most salesmen, but not necessairly true of bankers. All bankers need is a dotted line on a sheet of paper.
After the realtors have done their work then most of the work - most of the hustle - has already been done. The sale to FB has already been closed.
goon
Actually, there is an exam (hours long) that the Dept of Real Estate administers. The adult anchors are taking sometimes 3 tries to pass the class finals and state exam.
While I agree the requirements are minimal, the test weeds out the really really dumb. The Broker exam requirements should really be the Agent requirements. An additional 24 units of some real curriculum or a College Degree.
I love the concept of ethic classes.
News Flash…if you parents didn’t instill them, you don’t have them. (Unless you acquire them from self work. A class is laughable.)
Yet their leader in CA is corrupt.
Do you agree that LesterAppletonYun is a fraud?
HA
You have to be somewhat of a demented pos to last in the business. Few exceptions, like our buyer’s broker owns a business w/ 70+ agents working for him. He’s a stand up guy (to us anyway). Lots of “spots” changing in the biz.
The adult anchors are taking sometimes 3 tries to pass the class finals and state exam.
The ethics portion must be really hard.
Answer the question.
“regulated profession”
commie pinko
In other news, the sun rose in the east this morning.
Gold mining stocks got a great leap this morning
Interesting article and remember China will soon have the most gold:
http://news.goldseek.com/GATA/1385737200.php
“Housing as a rental investment is a huge gamble considering it’s negative cash flow at current inflated asking prices of resale housing.
Beware.”
Exactly.
I pulled some equity to shop for black friday bargains. Case of sculpin IPA is on my list.
that’s brilliant, paying interest and amortizing the cost of 24 beers (at least they are ipa’s) over the next 30 years.
i pulled some equity in a fat stack of 10s and 20s and hit the club and from the middle of the dancefloor threw all my money in the air and said ‘make it rain, b1thches!’
Report from the front lines. I’ve been to Walmart once already today. 9:30 am, less busy than a normal Saturday. They had extra staff on apparently because I walked right up to the cashier with no wait and sailed out in 5 minutes. The cashier was gossiping with the one from the next aisle over who also had no one in line. I was shocked. Thought I’d be in for pandemonium. Cashier said last night was crazy, but that looks like it was just a shift from today to yesterday.
Bought a 20 buck kitchen garbage can to finally replace my old broken one.
any busty babes in walmart today?
Now that the collapse in demand has resumed and is accelerating past 1997 levels, where does it bottom? 1994 levels? 1990? 1984?
2005 levels they will keep real estate prices high so you can pay a lot of interest.
1985 levels?
janet yellen is a hero.
It bottoms until the bottom feeders with cash think it’s a bottom and so start feeding. If Blackstone is any indication, it bottoms at late 2011 prices in current dollars.
How convenient….. but false.
You’re in for the disappointment of your life.
Drudge links to report of violent melee at Rialto, CA Wal-Mart last night.
The California Inland Empire (Riverside and San Bernardino Counties) is the hottest real estate in America. Thousands of rich Canadians and Chinese move to Inland Empire every year. They aren’t making any more Inland Empire. Buy Inland Empire now or be priced out forever!
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-black-friday-kohls-shooting-20131128,0,3522858.story
Buy Inland Empire now or be priced out forever!
Plus if you don’t buy it now, you might not be able to find it in the smog.
Article discusses how “real journalists” do not report on the violent, racist crimes committed by Obama’s sons:
http://www.realclearpolitics.com/articles/2013/11/28/the_knockout_game_–_nytnpr_say_no_big_deal_120802.html
The media only covers things that promote their agenda.
Here is an example of other issues:
http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-norway-elections-conservatives-win-20130909,0,1503769.story#axzz2m35KKyze
What I find interesting is the brief mention that the conservatives won in Norway, in part, but promising to increase people’s access to private health care. So what is wrong with the public health care in a country that has all that oil revenue? They also won due to a political union with an anti-immigrant party. So what is going on with immigrants that would make that a popular stand? I actually know from reading other publications, it is what always happens when you bring in immigrants with significantly lower IQs than the native population.
it is what always happens when you bring in immigrants with significantly lower IQs than the native population ??
I think thats the problem here with our public schools and it may be more about grasp of material than actual IQ’s…..Talk to any teacher in the 1-4 grade level and they will tell you that there are a lot of kids in the classroom that are so far behind they will never catch up…Then June comes, you graduate those same kids on to the next class where they fall even further behind…Its a dead end disaster…
Drop the age based grade promotion system although that does raise other challenges…
Of course, I am against social promotion. However, the problems of low IQ immigrants goes far beyond social promotions both in this country and Norway. A society with an identifiable group of people with an IQ of 75, when the average IQ is 100 plus, will always have serious problems. There is no practical way to avoid a permanent underclass and that is deadly in a country.
http://www.frontpagemag.com/2013/dgreenfield/norway-loses-713000-on-every-muslim-immigrant/
The real inconvenient truth: http://muslimstatistics.wordpress.com/2013/05/28/danish-psychologist-serious-consequences-of-muslim-inbreeding/
An excerpt from a link that will still post, remember that liberal in Europe means pro free market and liberty:
“I want a change of government because I am liberal-conservative and believe in more deregulation and private solutions,” said Haakon Gloersen, a 25-year-old communications advisor, who voted for the Liberal Party.
Oeyvind Nordli, a 44-year-old salesman, said he voted for the Conservatives because he thought it would benefit him personally and because he dislikes the Labor Party’s tax policy.
OMG! It’s starting to rain here in Southern California. My guess is we might end up getting as much as a quarter of an inch!
I dearly hope ambulances and tow trucks are gassed up and are ready to go.
yeah the freeways are riddled with wrecks everytime it rains down there. people wont slow down. people fly by you at 80 and then you see them upside down a few miles up the road.
Yep…First rains = slick roads…Nobody adjusts their driving habits…
Had a conversation with a middle-aged friend. He, wife, and school-age kid live in a 1999 $600K+ big house in Northern VA. He is constantly re-training just to stay ahead at work, and forgoing vacations to possibly sell back the time for some cash to fix up the kitchen.
He grew up in a small town, and the stress of keeping up the DC lifestyle is wearing out him and his marriage. He wants to do a high-end Oil City plan, selling out and moving South where he can buy an equivalent house for much less and work a less stressful or even half-time job. But the fam won’t hear of it.
Even so, he is doing comparatively well, financially. During the bubble years he was moving around the country for his jobs, and so unintentionally racked up some equity cash. He also has a clean bill of health and drives a “beater” Toyota. His yahoo co-workers have little equity, bought Beemers and Lexi, and are setting up for lifestyle-based illnesses.
Someone on (In colo? goon?) said such guys are a dime a dozen. And so they are.
They need to read Mr. Money Mustache.
“Why would pay more than new construction cost ($60 per square foot=materials, labor and profit) for a depreciating 20+ year old resale house?”
Because that’s what dumb borrowed money does?
Heard of the dude but don’t know the schtick. What does Mr. Stache say to a kid who doesn’t want to leave friends and school and wife who wants to stay closer to family?
Isn’t this the guy who won’t even heat his house in the winter? I’m sure trivialities like friends and family are irrelevant in his book.
No, this is a different guy. The cheapo guy is likely a Millionaire Next Door. He paid off his house several years ago.
I will save them. YOLO!
–Janet Yellin
Now go out and get your McMansion! YOLO - Yellin
He, wife, and school-age kid ??
How old is the Wifee/Kidee ??
He’s around 50, wifey is early 40’s, kid is 11.
“Housing is massively overpriced irrespective of location. Why buy when you can rent for half the the monthly cost?”
Exactly. Then buy later as prices roll back to the long term trend or roughly 1997 levels.
“If you pay current massively inflated asking prices for resale housing, you’ll get ripped off so excessively that you’ll never recover financially.”
You can say that again.
How many suckers have we heard about right here on the HBB that overpaid by $200k or more?
After “throwing money away on rent” every month I have so much money left over I don’t know where to throw it.
“Just for the record; there is no shortage of housing. Not in California, not in Tokyo, not anywhere. And there will come a day (again) when the media will tell us, ‘there’s a glut of houses for sale in….’, and regale us with sob stories, ‘I was doing great until the economy went south and my income went away and I can’t get rid of this damned house!’”
~Ben Jones, August 8, 2013
This false notion…. this lie….. that there is a shortage of housing in the US is laughable considering there are tens of millions of excess empty houses out there. A sea of them. And it’s growing. Day by day.
Another day, another new record level close on Wall Street in the making…
Nov. 29, 2013, 9:52 a.m. EST
U.S. stocks rise, on pace for monthly gains
Stories You Might Like
Black Friday discounts for paying in bitcoin
Gold jumps, but set for biggest drop in 5 months
By Victor Reklaitis, MarketWatch
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — U.S. stocks rose on Friday, extending their gains for the week and month with retail stocks in focus as holiday shoppers packed stores.
The main indexes are working for record closes again, in what would be a sixth straight all-time closing high for the Dow Jones Industrial Average. Volumes are expected to be light Friday given that many traders are still on vacation following the Thanksgiving holiday and the trading session will end at 1 p.m. Eastern time, three hours earlier than normal.
…
http://www.mining.com/now-is-a-very-good-time-to-buy-ron-paul-on-gold-99832/
That Kitco woman who does the video interviews is a hottie
25 MILLION excess, empty and defaulted houses CHECK
Housing demand at 14 year lows and falling CHECK
Housing prices inflated by 250% CHECK
Household formation at multi decade lows CHECK
Rampant housing fraud CHECK
Public denial formed and supported by a corrupt media CHECK
Population growth the lowest in US history CHECK
Immigration flat to slightly negative CHECK
Housing is a mess. Avoid it.
Even if you forget everything, there is one reality you should always remember;
Capitalization rates are negative at current asking prices of resale housing.
AMH, Blackstone and other bulk buyers of houses(they depreciate rapidly) all are bleeding cash and taking huge losses for this very reason.
Any casualty reports in from the Black Friday Wally Wars yet?
Some early reports.
Black Friday Violence Leaves Many Injured
Anthea Mitchell | + More Articles
November 29, 2013
It’s that time of year again, with turkey still sitting fresh in our bellies and shops opening around the country with the promise of money saved during the holiday season. Unfortunately, it’s also the time of year we’ve come to expect violence amid the excitement of Black Friday. This year is no different from the rest.
The Chicago Tribune reports that one individual in Romeoville, Chicago, believed to be involved in a store theft, was shot by police after refusing to stop when fleeing an officer. Mark Turvey, the Romeoville police chief, told the Tribune that police were investigating claims that men were stealing clothing from a Kohl’s (NYSE:KSS) store. The suspects fled, and one officer was partially stuck in the door of the getaway vehicle when the driver attempted to depart, dragging the officer along.
Both the driver and officer went to hospitals, and the three suspects are now in custody. According to the Chicago Tribune’s report, shoppers at Kohl’s continued as normal despite events.
Looking elsewhere, a shooting also occurred in Las Vegas, with one shopper injured around 9:45 p.m. there, according to local Channel 8 News. A man carrying a recently bought television from Target (NYSE:TGT) to his apartment nearby was accosted by a suspect, who took the television to a getaway vehicle where a driver waited. When the victim attempted to regain his television, he was shot in the leg. The TV station reports that he was eventually brought to Sunrise Trauma with non-life threatening injuries.
In Rialto, California, a fight broke out between two men outside a Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT). A police officer attempted to put an end to the dispute, leaving the officer injured and hospital bound, according to The Sun. The officer had a broken wrist and was taken to St. Bernardine Medical Center.
The fight followed the early door opening of the Rialto Wal-Mart, which was set for 8 p.m. Thursday but had been moved up. Three fights occurred in total, with the other two incidents inside the store. All those involved in the events were taken in, and one man was arrested for allegedly kicking a man in the head while he was down, The Sun reports.
“The fight at the Rialto store was an unfortunate and isolated incident to an otherwise very safe event. Providing our customers with the best and safest shopping experience is always our top priority,” Wal-Mart corporate spokeswoman Betsy Harden said to The Sun.
Black Friday Violence Leaves Many Injured - Wall St. Cheat Sheet
http://wallstcheatsheet.com/stocks/black-friday-violence-leaves-many-injured.html/ - - Cached - Similar pages
2 hours ago…
No pain, no gain!
Video from Saginaw Walmart shows man injured in melee over DVD players
http://thescoopblog.dallasnews.com/2013/11/video-from-saginaw-walmart-shows-man-injured-in-melee-over-dvd-players.html/
Here are some more exceptional Americans fighting over a TV, I am not sure why the over weight first responder lady took one of the bargain hunters down and let the other one go.
Wal-Mart Black Friday fight for TV 2013 - YouTube
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n_adgG8Ba2Q - - Cached - Similar pages
16 hours ago …
Very risky having the crowd that close while wearing a pistol.
It’s Rainbow Friday, not African American Friday.
Things would be better if we would just put our heads in the sand and ignore that Obama has destroyed the economy:
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/daily-ticker/complainers-wreck-economy-125802931.html
Maybe Obama will do better in his “Third Term”
Professor: Obama Should Be Allowed to Run for a Third Term
Posted on Friday, November 29, 2013 11:37:24 AM
by bestintxas
In The Washington Post, Jonathan Zimmerman, a history professor from NYU, has written an article claiming that all of America’s problems would be soloved–GET THIS–if only we would allow Barack Obama to run for a third term!
He wants to amend the Constitution and abolish presidential term limits.
Zimmerman writes that Obama–whose approval rating is at an all time low of 37%–would be much more effective at governing if he could stand for re-election in 2016 because then he’d be less likely to “ignore” the will of the American people. “It’s time to put that power back where it belongs,” he writes. “Barack Obama should be allowed to stand for re election just as citizens should be allowed to vote for — or against — him. Anything less diminishes our leaders and ourselves.”
We don’t know whether to shake our head in disbelief, or burst out laughing.
This professor admits that only a third of Americans approve of the job Obama is doing in office, yet he wants us to believe that we’d be better off if he were able to be president until the year 2020–and beyond?
That’s some strange logic.
Just one week ago, the very same newspaper ran a story predicting that if the 2012 election were held now, Mitt Romney would win the White House, not Obama.
Right now, this country has a serious case of voter’s remorse. Therefore the timing for this call for a potential third Obama term couldn’t be worse.
If we were going to go to the trouble of amending the Constitution, I think more Americans would be interested in adding the power to recall this president than would be interested in giving him a third term.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecollegefix.com …
http://209.157.64.200/focus/news/3096609/posts?page=88 - -
Cancer patient critical of ObamaCare now facing IRS audit
Tom Tillison
BIZ PAC Review
November 29, 2013
Bill Elliot‘s heart-rending response to having his health insurance cancelled because of Obamacare tugged at America’s heart strings early this month.
His story may have also drawn the focus of the Internal Revenue Service.
Appearing on “The Kelly File” in early November, Elliot explained to host Megyn Kelly that he could not afford the new premiums in the federal exchange and did not want to “burden” his family with the cost, saying he’ll pay the fine for not having health insurance and “just let nature take its course.”
Kelly was unable to mask the devastation of that comment on her face.
Initially, Elliot’s story took a turn for the better when a health insurance broker helped him keep his existing insurance plan, at least until he learned that he’s being audited by the IRS.
According to a report in Front Page Magazine:
[Elliot] went on FOX News where his story was picked up by C. Steven Tucker, a health insurance broker who helped him keep his insurance.
Now suddenly Bill Elliot is being audited for 2009 with an interview only scheduled in April 2014. Assuming he lives that long. That might be a coincidence, but Tucker is being audited back to 2003.
Elliot was critical of President Obama in his appearance on Fox News. When asked to respond to the president’s quasi-apology for saying “if you like your current plan, you can keep it,” he said: “I believe that was more of an insult to me and other people who have been cancelled.”
That he finds himself being audited may be little more than a coincident, but it would not be the first time a critic of the president found himself up against the agency.
Dr. Ben Carson, the former surgeon who criticized Obama’s leadership and his health care plan at the National Prayer Breakfast in February told Fox News he was unfairly targeted by the IRS because of his comments.
And the scandal involving the IRS intentionally going after conservative groups remains fresh on the minds of many Americans, even though Attorney General Eric Holder has yet to interview a single group unfairly targeted.
I love it when a term I thought I made up ends up in somebody’s dictionary.
Definition of ‘Echo Bubble’
A post-bubble rally that becomes another, smaller bubble. The echo bubble usually occurs in the sector in which the preceding bubble was most prominent, but the echo is less dramatic.
Investopedia explains ‘Echo Bubble’
People point to the rally that occurred after the market crash of 1929 as an example of an echo bubble. Just like its more prominent predecessor, the smaller echo bubble eventually burst. Also, after the technology bubble that occurred at the turn of the 21st century - one of the biggest bubbles of all time - people believed that another echo bubble was on the way.