Bits Bucket for December 17, 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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Hey, since I’m still up here in beautiful San Jose I figured I should take advantage and post. The natives are restless…I can tell the people who live here and work at my company are getting pretty burned out trying to deal with the new boss. I’m supposed to help interview a possible new hire tomorrow, who appears to specialize in something only the new boss thinks we need. While meanwhile existing customers with checks in hand are getting ignored. Starting to think this isn’t going to end well…
“Starting to think this isn’t going to end well…”
You’ve been thinking that for awhile, haven’t you Carl?
The boss not listening to his collection of high-IQ hanger-ons? Or is he just totally out of touch with what the company actually needs to do to make money?
The boss is on a power trip. That’s bad no matter which way you cut it. Marginalize your staff and you lose….eventually.
The seemingly sudden rash of control freaks IMO is a direct result of a crappy economy and crappy government decisions.
How is this a result of crappy government decisions?
Crappy government decisions (EPA, ObamaCare, NSA….you name it) makes it difficult for individuals and private business to operate.
Puts lots of stress on individuals and businesses who HAVE NO DAMN CLUE how government is going to shaft them next.
Get it now?
So bosses go on power trips and ignore paying customers because of government regulations?
Oftentimes, yes. Especially the bosses who have little to no interaction with customers.
Consider the IT industry and the lack of IT bosses who ensure that their products work at the customer/user level. The usual practice is “hell, let’s just design something and force everyone to use it.”
It’s astonishing the extent to which IT bosses get away with it.
Perhaps if they were contractually forced to use products of their own making for a month or two at the customer level, they’d figure out that they aren’t all that.
I would wager that most of us have had a–hole bosses at least one time in our lives. I don’t see how this phenomenon can be blamed on the government.
I fail to see what the NSA or Obamacare have to do with that. I saw irrational bosses decades ago. Dilbert’s pointy haired boss appeared in print what, 30+ years ago?
This is nothing new.
No, it’s NOT the result of the economy or government, it’s called Narcissistic Personality Disorder, and it is inherent in these scumbags. Quit making excuses for them.
+1
Here here! The only way to avoid narcissistic boss’ or business partners is working alone. Stay out of debt and keep your overhead below income. Live a low-cost, simple lifestyle and you will live longer and be a blessing to others.
A certain business man left a small Oregon town owing a lot of money to his employees.
The boss not listening to his collection of high-IQ hanger-ons? Or is he just totally out of touch with what the company actually needs to do to make money?
We’re owned by an investment group who wants to double their money. The problem is that they overpaid years ago. But every couple of years the replace the old VP of engineering who obviously can’t keep his promises with a new VP of engineering that makes some wonderful sounding promises. It’s like a frat guy trying to get with the dumb hot chick…whoever makes the best promises is in. However the reality of the market niche we are in never supports the promises being made but that never matters in the hiring process.
That’s one thing I’ve noticed about the IT business…. BS air fairy language, impossible to measure and meaningless metrics and no way to determine if anyone is actually producing anything.
But every couple of years the replace the old VP of engineering who obviously can’t keep his promises with a new VP of engineering that makes some wonderful sounding promises.
LOL! I think I’ve worked at that place a few times.
We’re owned by an investment group who wants to double their money.
You know whose fault that is? Crappy govenment regulations, and like you know Obamacare.
Actually, you’re wrong.
It’s Bush’s fault.
So quit.
Considering it. I’d rather do it on my own terms. I’ve got a few feelers out but haven’t decided if I’m serious. The company has a lot of potential, as it always has.
The company has a lot of potential, as it always has.”
You need to get equity in it to make it worth your while like stock options.
Sounds like the old joke that Brazil is the market of the future and always will be.
I thought you were banned.
This is your Asian tigers guy who always thinks he’s the smartest guy in the room?
Sounds like a weasel. Plan your exit well. And soon.
Or, even better, play politics, set him up for failure and let him and his type A team step into the trap you’ve set for them.
Welcome to the corporate rat race.
The corporate rat race, a thing of beauty.
Yup, the slaves have to work someplace. Start any new cube farms lately??
Or, even better, play politics, set him up for failure and let him and his type A team step into the trap you’ve set for them.
These clowns get into positions of power because of cronyism. They can crash and burn and wind up with an even better job at the next place. I’ve seen it happen too many times.
These clowns get into positions of power because of cronyism. ”
yes they are like “made men”. We have been through a bunch of CEO’s since my company first started. Some are cool some are elitists. I’m employee number 8 and except for 4 years in Phoenix to time the housing bubble I’m been here from the start. They ask why did you quit ? I tell them my RE story how its expensive to live here and I have a family so I had to take big chances blah blah..I have no idea what they think of it ?
I get the feeling most of the CEO’s are probably are not even listening to me once I start in on RE. They want me to say I rage quit from the pressure or something juicy.
Probably just going to quit telling my story I’ll just say I was really lucky and am so fortunate to work for you I can learn sooo muccchhh. blaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhh
Starting to think this isn’t going to end well…’
yea me too why don’t all your good software engineers bail to Amazon etc ?
Then your idiot boss can hire H1B workers, they can’t easily quit
At least it’s not cold you can get out and walk. if you are off the Great American parkway there is a nice walk along the river.
One funny thing is that the guy bailing right now IS H1B. But still managed to find somewhere else to transfer him.
Dang, do I work with you? It’s my boss to a T. And I won’t quit because I’m hoping the boss gets the axe this year. It’s high time.
Dectaper anyone?
Fed may wait, you shouldn’t
Tue Dec 17, 2013 12:01am EST
By James Saft
Dec 17 (Reuters) - The Federal Reserve probably won’t taper when it meets this week, though maybe it should.
Financial markets definitely ought to sell off no matter what the Fed does, but almost certainly they won’t.
…
I’m trying to figure out all this taper nonsense.
To start I guess stock prices go up when they print because for the asset to retain its value it would need to rise for the loss of purchasing power of dollars due to printing. Takes more dollars for the asset to retain its value basically.
So if you dont own assets basically you get hosed by inflation , no interest on your savings etcetera.
I just don’t see how you can taper if tax revenues are not rising. All this bond buying by the FED basically is allowing the govt to overspend. Sell treasuries to finance the deficit. I dont hear them talking about cutting spending.
$hitHousePoet….. there is no “inflation”.
Hold onto your cash and stay out of debt.
more rhetoric and bs today? why are you here?
Poet,
You need to learn what inflation is.
Sit back, read and learn something while you’re here.
…..consider buying stocks…. inflation will gnaw at the purchasing power of your money.
Suze Orman - O magazine Jan 2014 p 144. I left you a copy in the grocery store if you want to see for yourself.
You don’t know what inflation is so why invoke the word?
“Sell treasuries to finance the deficit. I dont hear them talking about cutting spending.”
Exactly, and who most benefits from this policy? China and the big banks who can get out of the T-Bonds without taking a bath. China has cut down on buying any new T-bonds while it allows others to mature. It also benefits from the other side of the coin; to allow the monetizing of debt the PTB needs to suppress the price of gold so it does not set off the alarm over monetization. China benefits since it can buy gold cheaply and it is buying as much as it can without causing the price to rise which is how smart money acquires things. This hurts gold miners in the US and we are a big producer. So we also lose real jobs paying decent wages. Finally, you know that gold suppression is going on due to how gold is sold. Massive amounts when the trading is light which is going to depress the price. Why would a seller try to depress the price that they receive for its gold unless it was gold suppression? China buys smart and the Fed controlled banks sell stupid to keep the fiat currency rip-off going.
In sum, China wins big and we are on both the path to serfdom and the lost of our world reserve currency status. Thanks Obama for that hope and change.
Thanks Obama for that hope and change ??
Wow Adan…You are non-stop…Unhinged about as bad as RAL when it come to Obama you are…
YellowStone Volcano is three times larger than once thought…If it blows, it may be be the end of civilization…
Thanks Obama for that hope and change…
YellowStone Volcano is three times larger than once thought…If it blows, it may be be the end of civilization…
I prefer the scenario of an undetected asteroid taking out a Joint Session of Congress while the President is addressing it. Asteroid would have a crust of 24K gold with a creamy nougat center of light sweet crude.
tresho, best. post. today. Priceless, thank you.
to allow the monetizing of debt the PTB needs to suppress the price of gold so it does not set off the alarm over monetization.
Doesn’t monetizing the debt typically debase fiat currency and send gold prices into the stratosphere?
I hear “them” talking about cutting spending all the time. I think that has something to do with the perpetual budget crises.
Fed Taper Message Succeeds as Bonds Adjust to Economic Data
By Caroline Salas Gage Dec 16, 2013 7:52 AM PT
After misleading investors with a time line for tapering its unprecedented stimulus, the Federal Reserve now is stressing that any reduction in bond purchases will depend on the economic outlook — and the message is sinking in.
Officials surprised traders and roiled markets across the globe on Sept. 18 by maintaining their $85 billion in monthly asset purchases. Investors had clung to Chairman Ben S. Bernanke’s May guidance that he might taper “in the next few meetings” of the policy-making Federal Open Market Committee, ignoring the weakest back-to-back months for payroll gains in a year and a jobless rate that was falling partly because workers were leaving the labor force.
The Fed since then has emphasized that changes are “not on a preset course” and hinge on the economy. The result: When unemployment dropped to a five-year low of 7 percent in November, the odds doubled that the central bank would begin tapering its bond buying this week, a Bloomberg survey showed.
…
Fed’s dreaded ‘taper’ may not hurt after all
Sunday, 15 Dec 2013 | 9:00 AM ET
By: John W. Schoen | CNBC.com Economics Reporter
For all the hang-wringing (SIC) on Wall Street about the Federal Reserve’s expected “taper,” you’d think the central bank was considering a ban on helicopter flights to the Hamptons.
Take a deep breath. For most of the rest of us, the Fed’s “tapering” of its massive money flows into the U.S. economy could actually spell good news.
The “tapering” you may have heard about refers to a gradual easing up on the central bank’s response to the financial collapse of 2008. Beginning in November that year, the Fed began buying up hundreds of billions of dollars’ worth of Treasury bonds—along with dodgy mortgage debt—in exchange for cash that it conjured out of thin air.
Unlike you and me, the Fed can take a pile of debt, swap it for cash, and then hang onto that debt until it reverses the process later, which takes cash back out of the economy. The idea is to fine-tune how much cash is out there: More money makes it cheaper (interest rates go down) less money makes it more expansive (rates go up.)
It’s been doing this—routinely—for decades. But the scope of this buyback—close to $4 trillion and counting—was anything but routine. Now, more than four years after the Great Recession ended, the Fed wants to get back to a more routine interest rate policy.
…
The Dectaper is the football. The Fed is Lucy. Who is Charlie Brown?
Who cares about what the Federal Express Reserve does? Peyton’s gonna throw $50,000 of equity my way when we win the Souper Bowl.
What happens when they lose the first playoff game, after blowing a comfortable lead? Does everyone in Denver lose 50K in equity?
Maybe Dove Valley (where the Bronco’s HQ is located) will vanish into a sinkhole and all the pricey nabes around it will crater.
How do you pronounce this? Distaper or Dektaper?
Given the history of head fakes, there is no way the markets will not be shocked when and if the Fed ever does taper.
Only 11% of fund managers see a taper this week, survey finds
December 17, 2013, 8:59 AM
…
Bulletin U.S. stocks finish lower on eve of Fed taper decision »
Dec. 17, 2013, 11:49 a.m. EST
El-Erian: Chance of taper this week is 50% to 60%
By Ben Eisen
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — The chances that the Federal Reserve will announce a reduction of its bond-buying stimulus this week are between 50% and 60%, according to Mohamed El-Erian, CEO of asset manager Pimco. “We put the probability of them tapering tomorrow somewhere between 50-50 and 60-40,” he said on BloombergTV . “By January, it increases tremendously, and by March it’s almost a done deal.”
…
Whac:
It won’t happen until you have officially announced on this blog that the Federal Reserve will NEVER tapir. Then the old Federal Reserve will be demolished to make way for a new, even more ludicrious Federal Reserve, and tapiring will mean something different by the new rules, such as “doughnuts”.
“Housing is a depreciating asset and a loss, always. Your losses are magnified tremendously if you finance it.”
BINGO
Bingo, Dingo…..Oingo Boingo……..sing it H.A……Ha, ha, ha, Ho, ho, ho….Merry Christmas.
And your speculator losses are up to?? $150k? 200k?
After “throwing money away on rent” every month I have so much money left over I don’t know where to throw it.
“Why buy when you can rent for half the monthly cost?”
That’s right. Because resale housing prices are double what they should be. Buy later, after prices crater for 70% less.
-5°F here this am. Probably a bit colder inland.
Should be almost 60F today in the Mile High City.
68 today….72 yesterday….
78-80F Scattered showers. Humid.
But it feels like 74F and dry.
(Because I’m in my house)
22F in Boston today…
“Tonight’s forecast: Dark. Continued dark throughout most of the evening, with some widely scattered light towards morning.”
George Carlin
89 and toasty. Just the way I loves it.
#56 Wal-Mart recently opened up two new stores in Washington D.C., and more than 23,000 people applied for just 600 positions. That means that only about 2.6 percent of the applicants were ultimately hired. In comparison, Harvard offers admission to 6.1 percent of their applicants.
http://theeconomiccollapseblog.com/archives/83-numbers-from-2013-that-are-almost-too-crazy-to-believe
#56 Wal-Mart recently opened up two new stores in Washington D.C., and more than 23,000 people applied for just 600 positions ??
I stop by a little sports bar in the afternoon on my way home…Have a couple of beers and BS with friends etc…One of the regulars was having a conversation about hiring someone..He is a supervisor in the janitorial arm of the school district..I listened and then asked a few questions…
The job opening is for entry level, what he described as Janitor 1 and the full time job paid right at $60,000…He said that he had received 63 applications for this position…
He described many of the applicants as college degreed including a private jet pilot and a number of teachers..He said most were over qualified in one way or another and that the job would likely go to someone that had some experience on their resume doing janitorial type work…
I came away thinking about David Simon piece and the wire and how it could be the new reality in our country…Disturbing…Unsettling…
Here is the link if you would like to read it;
https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&ved=0CCwQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.theguardian.com%2Fworld%2F2013%2Fdec%2F08%2Fdavid-simon-capitalism-marx-two-americas-wire&ei=33qwUrXQK8KGoQTuuoHoCg&usg=AFQjCNHczXjS2_AxDvUOszObEjgGJ7FLVg&sig2=ZOV1ygpUGnZ_9Vx3CcAEGw&bvm=bv.57967247,d.cGU
A entry level janitor at $60k?
Yep…School district plus the work graveyard hours…
I should also add they are likely union…
Dave:
This is what we run into everyday………..everyone is overqualified for everything.
Ask your friend how long will it take to reach janitor level 2?
My guess is never, its a dead end job…..so that anyone overqualified will never ever get hired because they would always be looking to advance and do more.
maybe that’s my problem i’ll gladly start at the bottom, but i wont be happy if i stay there.
You should ignore those nattering nabobs of negativism.
The link below notes that Boeing just sold a bunch of airplanes.
“Walking on Sunshine” by Katrina and the Waves:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iPUmE-tne5U
More signs of the impeding global depression…
(Reuters) - Boeing Co (BA.N) has secured commitments for around 200 of its 737 Max aircraft, the upgraded variant of its best-selling short-haul planes, from multiple Chinese customers, said two sources familiar with the deals. The deals are worth a combined $20.7 billion at list prices and must be approved by the Chinese government, a usual practice for aircraft orders in the country, before the customers can be identified, the sources said.
Boeing said in a report in August that there are 1,650 single-aisle aircraft in China, with existing orders for another 700. These fly on domestic and regional routes of up to five hours. The planemaker also forecast that China will take delivery of 3,900 single-aisle aircraft over the next 20 years.”
“things are going great, and they’re only getting better
the future’s so bright, I gotta wear shades”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8qrriKcwvlY
They’d better hurry and close those sales. China will soon be making its own narrow body airliners, and even though they will be inferior to jets made by Boeing and Airbus, China will play the protectionist card to grow its airliner industry.
I feed on that krill and can confirm that, at least in that industry, things are hoppin’.
I bought 12 cookies from Subway yesterday. THERE IS NOTHING BUT UP HERE.
Obamacare is working here
Denver Post: “Enrollments in Colorado’s new subsidized private insurance exchanges continued to climb in early December, as end-of-year deadlines loom.
State officials said they had reached 23,009 enrollments on the exchange through Dec. 14, enough to creep closer to the lowest-case scenario for the month contained in a projection they made before the Oct. 1 launch.”
For government, almost reaching the worst case scenario is considered a success.
I wonder how many of those 23,000 will actually be paying customers, ie not Medicaid enrollees, not duplicates, not people just shopping around, etc. Actual **paid** policy holders. If it’s that number is above 5000 I will eat my hat.
And let’s say that 23K is real. That’s 23K out of a population of 5 million.
Whatever happened to the 50 million people who desperately needed health insurance? That’s how O-Care was sold. Tens of millions of people nationwide dying on the steps of hospitals due to lack of insurance.
And now, nearly 3 months into O-Care’s rollout, less than 0.5% of the population has signed up? You don’t think they were lying about the 50 million uninsured now do you?
Yes.
You’d think that those “desperate for healthcare” would have stood in line (literally/figuratively/whatever) to sign up.
Desperate people do desperate things…..such as march on Washington.
It hasn’t happened. Why not?
Because they marched on Wall Street and … well, they stopped in a park and tried to set up a hippie paradise. Idiots.
I STILL think they should have shown up in business suits and silently protested from 8 am to 6 pm, silently. They could still be there today.
Mr Smithers, I certainly waited in line at the PO yesterday to send an overnight letter verifying my citizenship and my past income. There is, of course no way I can verify my 2014 income — duh. Even considered driving 2 hours to the processing center.
No way can I say the website is working when I can’t acess important correspondance in a timely manner.
This has been a great deal of aggravation for a pittance of a subsidy. Struggling with whether I should even apply for the subsidy. 50/50 chance my income will be too high in 2014 but too soon to predict. Aggravating as it is, it beats being forced to work for The Man or choose between bankruptcy or death.
The same Denver Post (staffed by what Dianne Feinstein would consider “real journalists”) had an article on Dec. 3 titled “Obama declares health law is working”. They had this link on the top of the left column of their website for over a week, lest anyone missed hearing Dear Leader’s “declaration”.
“This is a big fu@#!n’ deal.” A grinning Biden said to Obama after Obama signed the ACA into law on March 23, 2010. And it was. Because most presidents (including Repubs) since Truman had tried to address healthcare reform and failed.
But Obama did not fail, and for 3 years now we’ve had the Rebubs in an absolute pissing-their-pants panic. And the tactics they’re using are pathetic. Repub governors denying millions in their states Medicaid simply to spite Obama and help the ACA fail. Employing a never-ending barrage of racist innuendo-shifty brown people taking the white man’s money. Spewing out constant lies on AM radio and FOX to discredit the noble goals and actual successes of the ACE. Acting like they care when someone “looses” their insurance. Shutting down the government etc. It’s farcical.
You can even see a lot of this panic on this HBB blog. A real gnashing-of-teeth vitriol, hatred, finger pointing and name-calling. Now, why do you think this is? Why are Repubs in such an outright panic? I think it’s because Biden was correct. Obamacare is a “big fu@#!n’ deal.”
I’ve been basically saying for 2 years that ObamaCare is a BFD because it will be a success even if “fails”. This thing is rolling on. People are signing up by the thousands every day while Congress has gone home. So any point months and months from now when there can be any chance of stopping Obamacare, millions will have signed up.
Who’s going to take existing insurance away from millions of the newly insured without offering a real alternative? The Repubs? I don’t think so. And I think there is going to be an outrage on the door steps of the Grinch-like Repub governors who refused to take the “free” Washington money to help Americas receive Medicaid. Missourians are going to see that their neighbors in Arkansas have it but they don’t and are going to ask why?
Repubs might be afraid Obamacare will work and throw millions into the Democratic fold. But more importantly, The ACA has changed the debate. The debate is no longer should we have near universal health care but how can we have universal health care. That’s the game changer. You can’t put this ship back in the bottle, the train has sailed and the fat lady has left the station.
Yesterday someone snarled that I was talking about how Reaganomics destroyed the middle class to distract from Obamacare. But that’s not true. I was talking about Reaganomics destroying the middle class because SupplySide/TrickleDown is the biggest economic failure of our day. And why should I talk much about Obamacare? This is not 2009. The law was passed in 2010. It’s here. The debate is over. Let’s all just sit back and enjoy the ride.
There is a lot of BS in Obamacare that will become apparent going forward, but it will go forward. And again, Obamacare will be a success even if it “fails”. Why? Because any debate, now or in any future “repeal” will be how can we have universal health care and not should we.
……..That, my fellow Americans, is the “big fu@#!n’ deal.”…..
‘You can even see a lot of this panic on this HBB blog. A real gnashing-of-teeth vitriol, hatred, finger pointing and name-calling.’
Oh really? Panic? Watching this thing go down and take Obama with it was fun for a few days. Now it’s boring.
In case you haven’t heard, Biden is an idiot.
Words to live by when dealing with O-bots:
“I learned long ago, never to wrestle with a pig. You get dirty, and besides, the pig likes it.”
George Bernard Shaw
ACA will fail because it contains more bad than good and it disrupts a key sector of our economy. Like everything else our government does, there will be unintended consequences in 2014 and beyond, some economic and some political, but guaranteed those consequences will be painful for Democrats…
The larger issue right now is the Trans Pacific Partnership economic treaty. It was described today on NPR as “NAFTA on steroids”. More jobs shipped overseas, no means to deal with currency manipulation, and the icing on the cake: the ability of corporations within the trade alliance to directly sue governments when laws are enacted that may violate the terms of the trade agreement.
The TPP needs to be stopped in its tracks. If the middle class in this country want any future, the US can not be a part of this trade agreement.
ACA will fail ??
Whats constitutes failure ?? If it is modified down the road is that failure ??
Biden is an idiot.
“Big fuc#in’ deal….”
And I wouldn’t mind if ACA were scrapped tomorrow if there were something like the uninsured’s ability to means-test buy into Medicaid/Medicare/VA with similar type subsidies offered by the ACA. ObamaCare is overly complicated. I’m not an Obamphile and have no real love for ObamaCare. But I believe all Americans need access to at least basic healthcare.
And the ACA is much better for the uninsured than what was before imo.
Dude, those uninsured are “a key sector of our economy.” How dare you disrupt that.
@scdave:
The goal of Obamacare was to insure more people, but also lower the costs.
So far, it appears as though the cheapest to insure (young folks) do not want to pay a premium to have insurance (since they are paying something like 2-3x more than their actuarial medical risk), are NOT jumping into the ACA with both feet.
Those who are jumping in by and large are those are are either a) getting fully subsidized, or b) had pre-existing conditions.
There is a very real and inconsequential risk that without the “young invincibles”, you end up with a much higher risk pool that makes healthcare unaffordable for people who currently are medium risks with medium incomes (and get no subsidy). In other words, you end up with more subsidized, previously uninsured poor folks with insurance, and more high risk people with insurance, but fewer folks in the middle with insurance.
And so you could end up with the same or fewer people insured, but at a higher cost per person.
To solve this POTENTIAL outcome, you need to increase the penalty, or increase the subsidy, or increase the cost to the high risk customers for the benefit of the low risk customers.
For me, failure is pretty clear:
1. You don’t meet the objectives of the program.
I think this means higher premium costs, higher program costs, and NOT solving the uninsured problem to the extent projected.
Based on what I’ve seen so far, if I were forced to place a wager, I would bet that the ACA stays in existence, but is a failure based on my definition (higher costs, still lots of uninsured).
(notice my use of the words “potential” and “could” throughout my commentary? These negative outcomes are reasonably predicted with common sense and simple math, but not necessarily how things will turn out…risk aversion vis a vis one’s health tends to make some people act differently than one would assume based on simple math).
Hey Bubbleboy,
Care to share how deeply submerged you are on your depreciating shack?
should be “not inconsequential” risk…
Discrediting the Socialist agenda pushed by the Messiah for a generation is truly a big deal. Messiahcare on the other hand is the Big Dig.
“Get what you can get for your house now because it’s going to be far less later for decades to come.”
I recently heard a realtor say the same thing.
Living in a rental will never feel like a real home.
Sure feels like a real home when I’m sittin’ on the can.
Amy Hoak and MW is very disappointed with you.
Amy, What percentage of my income should I spend on a house. How much of a down payment should I have?
Your realtor can help answer these hard math questions, that’s what realtors are professionally trained for. And don’t worry about a down payment, you’ll want to save your money to buy new furniture and appliances and landscaping for your beautiful new home. A general rule of thumb is that your total monthly liabilities including the mortgage should not exceed 80% of your income.
Thank you realtor.
Should I stretch the truth on my mortgage app in order to really stretttttttttttttttch myself into the biggest payment I can swing?
Hi Amy:
Can you tell me whether or not I should include taxes (including health insurance) as a part of that 80%? Also, If I don’t have enough money, should I buy it anyway?
“Household Formation Is Cratering”
http://realmoney.thestreet.com/articles/08/21/2013/household-formation-cratering
This is part of the cratering demand metric…. which in part leads to the accelerate supply metric….
Housing Advice: You’re throwing good money after bad if you have a mortgage. The money is gone forever.
You mean the millions of graduates from the classes of 2009-2013 with their BA’s in Obama Studies and working at Starbucks aren’t snapping up $500,000 “starter homes” ??
That’s unpossible!
Remember…… There is a deep housing bottom in front of us. And it’s a long way down.
More works needs to be done in the area of floating student loans. If the U.S. is to catch up with the rest of the world education wise then every child should be given the opportunity to gain for himself or for herself a college degree, which everyone knows, will lead one onto the path of true success.
People who complain about the costs of a college degree are trying to associate the value of filthy money with the value of True and Pure Enlightment, and, of course, there can be no comparison.
The cost an the value of a college degree can be measured, the cost and value of ignorance is infinite. Do whatever it takes, pay any price necessary to allow your sons and daughters to become successes in this world. To do otherwise is child abuse.
Few events in this word warm the hearts of bankers as much as seeing the investment of tens of thousnds of dollars pay off the moment a student is annointed with a degree because it is at this time the student suddenly realizes that “Gee, at last I am now fully educated!”
Truly, it warms my heart.
Students should borrow a lot (alot) to pay for college, especially if they’re majoring in anything that ends in “studies”, they can always get a job doing telephone customer service at the Obamacare call center in Rancho Cordova.
“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.
well, maybe somewhere
North Dakota sees surge in homeless population
The oil boom in North Dakota has created tens of thousands of jobs, but its homeless population is skyrocketing.
While homelessness nationwide has declined in the past year, the number of people living in shelters or on the streets in North Dakota has tripled to 2,069, according to data released by the Department of Housing and Urban Development. And that increase is likely understated since it doesn’t count all the homeless people who are staying in motels, RVs or other people’s homes.
…
In drilling hotspots like Williston, Dickinson and Watford City, it’s easy to find jobs paying six-figure salaries in the oilfields or driving trucks. Unemployment is around 1% in Williston and less than 3% in North Dakota as a whole — compared to 7% nationwide.
But housing has been slow to catch up with the influx of people. Demand has led the average rent for a two-bedroom apartment to shoot up to between $2,500 and $3,000 per month, compared to $500 a month a few years ago, said Gene Veeder, executive director of McKenzie County Job Development Authority, which includes Watford City. And while a number of new housing developments are in the works, they’re not coming online fast enough to keep up with the number of people who need housing, he said.
http://money.cnn.com/2013/12/17/pf/north-dakota-homeless/
Hello BoomBustCherryPicker!
40 below and 70 below wind chill is just around the corner that should separate the men from the wussies..
40 below and 70 below wind chill keeps the numbers of homeless down to a real manageable level, y’know.
“If you borrow money now, you’re going to regret it the rest of your life. If you’re in debt, do everything in your power to get out from under it, including default.”
You better believe it.
Mortgage rates are now at historic lows. And when mortgage rates rise, it makes home prices rise. If you buy a home today, you can lock in a low mortgage rate to buy at a low price. If you wait to buy, you’ll get left behind, and in some markets, possibly priced out forever.
How can that be when housing demand is at 16 year lows and falling?
You’re just sour grapes because you missed the recovery.
Have fun spending the holidays in a rental apartment with all the other losers. Nothing feels more like Christmas than celebrating it in your own home.
Why buy a house when you can rent if for half the cost?
Remember…. A “housing recovery” is falling housing prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels by definition.
Study Finds 6.4 Million U.S. Homeowners Still Have Underwater Mortgages
http://www.forbes.com/sites/erincarlyle/2013/12/17/6-4-million-still-have-underwater-mortgages-as-of-q3-2013-says-corelogic/
If they’re even acknowledging this amount, you can guarantee the actual number that are underwater is double or triple that amount.
Remember….. housing is always a loss and the losses grow due to depreciation.
The map in that article is stunning.
There are a dozen counties (the usual suspects, of course) where 55% of the homeowners are underwater. Looks like there are a hundred “good” counties where only 35% are underwater.
In order to produce those types of numbers, I would guess that at least half of the houses in this country were bought, sold, or refinanced in the past 10 years. I know someone who made payment #360 on a mortgage in 2009. He’s an endangered species.
“I would guess that at least half of the houses in this country were bought, sold, or refinanced in the past 10 years.”
I am disappointed that the figure is only half, especially if it’s the refinancing.
More work needs to be done in this area if the economy is to be saved.
The interest rates are too damn high. No worries, you got Janet on speed dial.
Make that 18 million after a 10% drop in housing prices.
Ray of hope. Even though people may have considered him a nutbar, he hung in there and got the danged NSA surveillance program declared unconstitutional. It’s not over, but it’s a start for sure. Danged right it’s an unreasonable search.
http://www.politico.com/story/2013/12/larry-klayman-national-security-agency-101233.html?hp=f3
I thank this guy for fighting for my freedoms.
Expect Mr. Klayman to die in a single-vehicle accident soon, with minimal reporting of the incident from the “real journalists”.
I am thinking the same thing.
I think Ron Paul was lucky in 2012 to stay alive. So many statists did not and do not like his message.
Exactly.
As with this guy, they just marginalized him and slagged RP. No need to kill him, in fact it’s even better to slag him, consigns him and his philosophy and system to the dung heap. Kill him and he becomes a martyr.
TPTB know this.
With this decision, I think it would be very difficult for a jury to find Ed guilty of spying and what-not.
Hope and Change
“President Obama is ending his fifth year in office matching the worst public approval ratings of his presidency, with record numbers of Americans saying they disapprove of his job performance and his once-hefty advantages over Republicans in Congress eroded in many areas, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/obama-suffers-most-from-year-of-turmoil-poll-finds/2013/12/16/8468fd00-667e-11e3-a0b9-249bbb34602c_story.html
you know what they call Barack Obama on the lowest public approval day in his 8 year term? My President
Actually it’s Mr. Albatross.
Of the 1%, by the 1%, for the 1%, because the future belongs to Lucky Ducky.
The infographic in this article notes that the share of U.S. income earned by the middle quintile (41st through 60th percentiles) was 15% in 1947, 16% in 1979, and 14% in 2007. And the share earned by the top 1% in those same years was 12%, 8%, and 17%, respectively.
http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/12/14/we-are-not-all-in-this-together/
Helpful information for first time home buyers:
http://www.realtor.com/home-finance/buyers-basics/
This is exactly what I’ve been looking for. Thank you.
Realtor,
I recall hearing a realtor say I should buy the most expensive house possible and to really stretttttttttttttttch and take a big risk.
It’s that still true?
You should do exactly that.
But with today’s record low rates, there is no risk. Your payment will be fixed for thirty years, but when you receive a five percent annual raise like most American workers do, within a few years that fixed payment will be a greatly reduced fraction of your income.
I’d prefer a 10% raise.
What do you think?
Between hubby’s job installing window tint and my part-time call center job, we made $48,000 last year. Our realtor is showing us homes in the $450,000 - $600,000 range. We are in suburban Sacramento.
Between hubby’s job installing window tint and my part-time call center job, we made $48,000 last year. Our realtor is showing us homes in the $450,000 - $600,000 range. We are in suburban Sacramento.
You must buy now. Jigle B@lls and others need you byuing for their gambles to pay off.
I sell Pampered Chef too and made about $2,500 from that this year. Our realtor says we should qualify for at least $550,000, possibly more.
Why use a REALTOR®?
All real estate licensees are not the same. Only real estate licensees who are members of the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®
are properly called REALTORS®. They proudly display the REALTOR “®” logo on their business cards or other marketing and sales literature. REALTORS® are committed to treat all parties in a transaction honestly. REALTORS® subscribe to a strict code of ethics and are expected to maintain a high level of knowledge of the process of buying and selling real estate. An independent survey reports that 84% of home buyers would use the same REALTOR® again.
You be the judge
Real estate transactions involve one of the biggest financial investments most people experience in their lifetime. Transactions today usually exceed $100,000. If you had a $100,000 income tax problem, would you attempt to deal with it without the help of a CPA? If you had a $100,000 legal question, would you deal with it without the help of an attorney? Considering the small upside cost and the large downside risk, it would be foolish to consider a deal in real estate without the professional assistance of a REALTOR®!
Ron Schmeadick Ron Schmeadick, CRB, is Co-Owner and Associate Broker at Realty Executives, Eugene, Oregon.
If you like warm weather you better look south of the border to buy. My estimate that only 1/7 of the global warming from 1978 to 98 was caused by Co2, appears to be too high:
http://wattsupwiththat.com/2013/12/17/solar-amo-pdo-cycles-combined-reproduce-the-global-climate-of-the-past/#more-99397
“Science” is overrated, and scientists are all just a bunch of gay socialists:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/may/28/global-warming-consensus-climate-denialism-characteristics
Because climate change is a lie that Al Gore made up to sell more movie tickets:
http://www.theguardian.com/environment/climate-consensus-97-per-cent/2013/oct/23/climate-change-climate-change-scepticism
And because my grandaddy ain’t no monkey:
http://creationmuseum.org/
The 97% number is arrived at by including anyone that thinks man has had any role in global warming in that percentage. My views would place me in that number. Ask the question correctly did you think that man has been the primary cause of global warming and you will find that it get very close to a 50/50 split.
“97% of scientific papers taking a position on climate change say it is man-made.”
No, there opinions are much more nuance and my view which claims man is responsible for 1/7 of the warming which is significant would meet the test for the 97%:
http://www.forbes.com/sites/jamestaylor/2011/09/08/global-warming-a-98-consensus-of-nothing/
there=their
Pro amnesty Bloomberg tries to put a positive spin on it but it is still less deportations. Less than 400,000 deportations when there are 11-20 million illegals in the country is a bad joke on taxpayers and workers. Why can’t we both deport criminals and raid job sites?
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-12-17/deportations-drop-as-obama-pushes-for-new-immigration-law.html?cmpid=yhoo
If you don’t want to send your kids to a school full of MS-13, you are a racis.
I’ve never heard of a MS13 member massacre school kids..
’ve never heard of a MS13 member massacre school kids..
SO FAR.
I’ve never heard of a MS13 member massacre school kids..
My understanding is that MS-13 is not a Mexican gang, but rather it is Salvadoran. And from what I have heard, the Mexicans don’t like them at all.
That said, you’d be hard pressed to find a school in most of the country that is “full” of MS-13. There just aren’t that many Salvadorans in the US.
they only massacre the ones in the gang who misbehave. E.g., who want out.
Not sure about MS-13, but thought gangs did kill school kids, just not seemingly randomly and not in the schools.
Current sidebar ad on HBB:
http://www.thaimatches.com/
Feeling the need for a new squadette, I see. My sidebar ads are for lighting fixtures.
There was an article today talking about how targeted advertising is ruining Christmas suprises. Wifey looks up the new Xbox on google ot price it. Hubby comes home, checks the foxnews on the same computer and oops, there’s a sidebar ad for X-box. Wifey is all
.
(Half of the idiot commenters recommended getting a pop-up blocker or erasing the history. Not the most internet-savvy…)
It is possible that goon is using a proxy server.
It is very possible goon owns that site and it’s a clever marketing on his part.
And it’s very likely liars are using proxies to hide behind while posting their BS here.
Hey V,
What was that (what ISTR to be) open-source private access proxy that you wrote about several months back?
Thanks.
http://www.thestar.com/business/2013/12/17/winter_has_yet_to_dampen_gtas_hot_housing_market.html
(radio preacher) Harold Camping, radio host who predicted world’s end, dies at 92 Washington Post Tuesday, December 17
See? He was right.
I hope he left a youtube clip saying “I told you so”.
I remember a story about some Physicist type dude who said he had used math to prove that a curveball was just an optical illusion. Some major league pitcher said… Get him to stand in the batter’s box and I will hit him between the shoulder blades with an optical illusion.
Are we living in a HOLOGRAM?
Physicists believe our universe could just be a projection of another cosmos
By Ellie Zolfagharifard
PUBLISHED: 08:03 EST, 12 December 2013 |
The universe is a hologram and everything you can see - including this article and the device you are reading it on - is a mere projection.
This is according to a controversial model proposed in 1997 by theoretical physicist Juan Maldacena.
Until now the bizarre theory had never been tested, but recent mathematical models suggest that the mind-boggling principle could be true.
According to the theory, gravity in the universe comes from thin, vibrating strings. These strings are holograms of events that take place in a simpler, flatter cosmos.
THE HOLOGRAPHIC PRINCIPLE
The holographic principle claims gravity in the universe comes from thin, vibrating strings.
These strings are holograms of events that take place in a simpler, flatter cosmos.
The principle suggests that, like the security chip on your credit card, there is a two-dimensional surface that contains all the information needed to describe a three-dimensional object - which in this case is our universe.
In essence, the theory claims that data containing a description of a volume of space - such as a human or a comet - could be hidden in a region of this flattened, ‘real’ version of the universe.
In a black hole, for instance, all the objects that ever fall into it would be entirely contained in surface fluctuations, almost like a piece of computer memory on contained in a chip.
In a larger sense, the theory suggests that the entire universe can be seen as a ‘two-dimensional structure projected onto a cosmological horizon’ - or in simpler terms, a projection.
If we could understand the laws that govern physics on that distant surface, the principle suggests we would grasp all there is to know about reality.
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2522482/Is-universe-hologram-Physicists-believe-live-projection.html -
Wait, I think I’ve seen this movie: It is not the spoon that bends, it is only yourself.
That theory is based on some Asian religion. I read about it a long time ago. There is no reason to believe it’s true, but it persists because people think that the Big Bang theory is based on Christianity, and they want representation of other cultures in scientific creation theories. I don’t know if there’s really a ton of evidence for the Big Bang theory either (other than the fact that the universe is getting farther apart), but that doesn’t mean that String theory is right.