You Can Defy Father Time Forever These Days
The News & Observer reports from North Carolina. “The Triangle housing market continued to follow a familiar pattern in November, with sales increasing by double-digits while the number of homes on the market kept falling. Ed Willer, a broker in Raleigh, said he’s seeing lots of activity up to about the $800,000 price limit, particularly inside the Beltline, where he’s seeing an increasing number of tear downs. ‘You’ve got new homes going up all over inside the Beltline,’ he said. ‘A lot of that going on.’”
The Philadelphia Inquirer in Pennsylvania. “The developer Carl E. Dranoff is partnering with Los Angeles-based SBE Entertainment Group to build a 47-story, mixed-use luxury boutique hotel and condominium tower for more than $200 million. The 422,838-square-foot SLS International, which Dranoff said would be Pennsylvania’s ‘tallest structure built for residential use.’”
“Dranoff declined to give a price range for the condos. He said that the success of 10 Rittenhouse Square, the luxury high-rise on South 18th Street that has nearly sold out since the lender iStar brought him in, first as receiver, in 2011, motivated him to launch what will be his most expensive project. The last units at 10 Rittenhouse were commanding $1,050 a square foot. ‘Both SBE and I have a lot of skin in the game, but financing is in the wings, and we are fully committed to building this project,’ Dranoff said.”
The Washington Post. “Maryland is getting a cut of a $2.1 billion national agreement negotiated by state attorneys general, the federal Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and Ocwen Financial Corp. and a subsidiary, Ocwen Loan Servicing. In Maryland, Ocwen customers who are facing foreclosure are expected to receive about $85.7 million in principal reductions, and about 2,500 Ocwen borrowers who have been through foreclosure will receive payments of as much as $1,000.”
“Marceline White, executive director of the Maryland Consumer Rights Coalition, said she was glad that a large portion of the Ocwen settlement is going to that purpose. White was less enthusiastic about the checks going to people whose loans were foreclosed. ‘The good news is they’re getting $1000,’ she said. ‘It is a recognition they had this loss, some compensation, but it is not anywhere near what they’ve lost.’”
“Foreclosure activity in Maryland has been increasing as banks work through a backlog of foreclosures created in part by a national moratorium imposed a few years ago. Maryland also has one of the nation’s longest foreclosure processes. As of the end of September, more than 11,000 homes in Maryland were in some stage of foreclosure, the most recent state data show, an increase of nearly 180 percent from a year earlier.”
The Daily Times in Maryland. “Maryland’s belated foreclosure crisis has hit Salisbury with particular force, prompting city officials to consider measures to slow the trend and forestall a wave of property crime. The foreclosure boom in the Free State isn’t a second housing market collapse crash, analysts say. The influx is a kind of breaking of a legal dam that was constructed when Maryland lawmakers passed legislation in 2010 requiring lenders to give struggling homeowners a chance to find alternatives to foreclosure.”
“Foreclosures saw a four-fold increase from July through September in Wicomico County compared to the same three months in 2012, according to Maryland Department of Housing and Community Development statistics cited by city officials. The task force isn’t required to submit its recommendations until Sept. 1, 2014. ‘There will still be foreclosure issues in September, so the time is now to get started,’ said Mayor Jim Ireton, adding that many distressed mortgages takes months, even years, before they reach the foreclosure stage.”
The Baltimore News Journal in Maryland. “Baltimore City NAACP President Tessa Hill-Aston announced that the group would hold a ‘Stop Foreclosures Town Hall’ meeting to address the growing rate of foreclosures. The group is also calling on Governor Martin O’Malley to issue an executive order for a moratorium on foreclosures in the state.”
“‘It’s time for someone to answer the questions of the citizens who feel they are being railroaded and displaced by this foreclosure crisis,’ said Hill-Aston. ‘We’re calling on Governor O’Malley to put foreclosures in the state on hold until we can figure out what’s going wrong in Maryland, what needs to be done to reverse this trend and how we can protect Marylanders from losing their properties needlessly,’ she added.”
The Baltimore Sun. “After losing her job as a teacher, Guernica Williams tried for months to get her bank to modify the mortgages on her Windsor Mills home. When her unemployment insurance ended in 2012 and she defaulted, she kept trying. In September, she met with a Wells Fargo representative at a court-administered mediation session, where she received assurances that the bank would review her loan, if she submitted additional documents. She sent the paperwork, then more paperwork, but a letter still arrived informing her that her house would be sold this month.”
“‘I’ve done everything I was supposed to do and they either did not get back [to] me or they send me the same information back and forth,’ said Williams, 38, who lives at the home with her 13-year-old son. ‘It seems like they’re playing a cat-and-mouse game.’”
“‘At its core, it seems like you should gauge the success of foreclosure mediations based on the number of homes that were saved,’ said Owen Jarvis, a staff attorney for the St. Ambrose Housing Aid Center who said he has worked on about 100 mediation cases. ‘There are few cases, very few, in which I can say that it was because of mediation that a home was … saved.’”
“After a call from a Legal Aid attorney and the submission of more documents, Guernica Williams’ foreclosure sale was rescheduled for January. She still hopes her loan will be modified, but said she is looking at her options, including filing for bankruptcy, in order to save her house. ‘I’m determined to keep my house. I’m not going to uproot myself,’ she said. ‘Something’s going to be done.’”
The Sun Gazette. “Northern Virginia’s real estate market looks solid for 2014, despite higher interest rates, low housing inventory and the menace posed by ongoing federal budget cuts, three speakers told members of the Northern Virginia Association of Realtors (NVAR) and Greater Capital Area Association of Realtors (GCAAR). ‘Neither a bubble nor a fall,’ was how Jon Wolford, NVAR’s 2013 board chairman, described this year’s real estate market. ‘It has been a very good year, just the kind of year you would hope to have . . . I think we’re set up very well for the year to come.’”
“In Northern Virginia during the first quarter of 2013, buyers flooded open houses and snapped up properties within a median of 14 days, Wolford said. Realtors began putting up ‘Coming Soon’ signs, which led to shortage of inventory because properties were being sold without being placed on the area’s multiple-listing service, he said.”
“The real estate market calmed during the second quarter, after interest rates rose 1 percent in one month. Prices had stabilized by the third quarter, but the federal government’s looming shutdown dampened consumers’ confidence, Wolford said. Average housing prices will reach about $540,000 by year’s end, a 6.6-percent increase that tracks exactly with the standard long-term rate of gain, Wolford said. The region’s economy is improving and consumer confidence is increasing. ‘Coming Soon’ signs may return to properties for sale and the resulting competitive environment may lead to higher prices and buyers’ use of escalation clauses in their contracts, Wolford said.”
“Some shifts are taking place in the local real estate market, said David Versel of George Mason University’s Center for Regional Analysis., citing 10-percent price increases for condominiums and popularity of housing units within a half-mile of Metrorail stations. ‘People increasingly want to live a different way than they have been,’ he said. ‘We’re not seeing a stampede, we’re not turning into New York City overnight, we don’t have any illusions about that. But [for reasons] generational and cultural, there is more interest in people living in condos or apartments in a way there may not have been in the past.’”
“Another factor in the lack of housing inventory for sale is the fact that 47 percent of the region’s single-family homes are owned by Baby Boomers who show no signs of wanting to sell and move to traditional retirement areas, such as Florida or North Carolina, Versel said. ‘The Boomers don’t want to be like their parents,’ he said. ‘They want to stay in their houses. They want to age in place. They want to stay in their communities and maintain their friendships . . . You can defy Father Time forever these days.’”
Q: Mr. Banker, I am behind on my mortgage payments and I need advice from you as to what actions I should take in order to keep me living in the house I am now occupying. Thank you in advance.
A: After much deliberation and consideration on my part about the pain and suffering brought about by the difficult plight you are currently forced to endure I have reached the conclusion that the best course of action that should be taken by you in order to keep the lenders at bay and to once again enjoy peace of mind is to pay the lenders what money that you owe to them.
And, you are welcome.
all you can do is have a stake in the casino they have created. Don’t get to attached to a house someone else built.
All casino owners have to do is open up their casinos and the something-for-nothing people (their bread-and-butter people)will flock in just like the mindless sheep that they are.
The something-for-nothing people do not stand a chance against the casino; It has something to do with the math involved.
It’s the same with houses: The something-for-nothing people who bought more house than they could possibly afford do not stand a chance - never stood a chance, will never stand chance - for the same reason that the people who go to casinos never stand a chance in that it too has something to do with the math involved.
Interestingly, just like degenerate gamblers, they only ever speak of their wins and conveniently forget their losses.
Like degenerate bankers, they hope some bailout authority will come along to pass a rule which shifts their losses onto others.
“… shifts loses onto others.”
That’s what friends are for.
“The financial sector is far and away the largest source of campaign contributions to federal candidates and parties, with insurance companies, securities and investment firms, real estate interests and commercial banks providing the bulk of that money.”
http://www.opensecrets.org/industries/indus.php?Ind=F
It’s a pretty good ROI.
“I’m determined to keep my house. I’m not going to uproot myself,” she said. “something’s going to be done”.
I have a suggestion. Get some bags of redi-mix fast dry cement and some boards to make a cement block, put an I-hook in the cement and handcuff yourself to it.
Forgot to mention, “secure to living room floor”. Or a cement shoe shine could be another option.
“something’s going to be done”
Something such as perhaps making your mortgage payments?
That’ll do the trick.
“Honk If I’m Paying Your Mortgage”
http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41ewxBCzp9L.jpg
Strange these empty pocketed declarations by DebtDonkeys….. no?
Ironically, It is the uprooting that delivers freedom from DebtSlavery that so many millions of people are currently bonded to. They seem blind to or unwilling to see that rental rates are a fraction of their total monthly carrying costs.
These kind of stories totally crack me up. Yes, bankers aren’t your friends. Is this really news to anyone? They are out to scr*w you for the absolute maximum that they can get away with. Also, who didn’t know that already?? And finally, if you don’t satisfy the terms of a contract, the other party will, in fact, take the actions specified in said contract to make themselves whole. Well, no s**t. Did you think they put that verbiage in there just to scare you into making the payment?
Seems like a lot of people seem to think of banks in “Leave it to Beaver” terms. The friendly guy who helps you buy a house. Maybe once, but, certainly today, that is LONG GONE. Our world has become dog eat dog, and banks are at the top of the food chain. You can ask that dog for a bit of his kibble, but you’re going to pay for it down the road. The days of “moral bankers” and “moral business practices” are, sorry to say, a memory of the past. Prepare yourself accordingly.
This is a business, not a charity. Maybe one day UNICEF will get into the banking business, but until then we are the people to see.
There ARE charity banks that offer microlending. Muhammad Yunus won the Nobel in 2006 for founding Grameen Bank in Bangladesh.
12 bucks ain’t gonna buy me a McMansion.
‘a lot of people seem to think of banks in “Leave it to Beaver”
I’m pretty sure that back in those days you had to pay back what you borrowed or someone would throw you out. Here’s a item for a reporter out there; just when did it become immoral to expect an account receivable?
However:
‘The Reason Police Brutality Is Rising’
‘Generally speaking, however, a state prefers to avoid the use of brute force. It will directly attack those for whom the average person has no sympathy or patience, such as drug addicts. But a prudent state will avoid inflicting direct violence upon the man on the street because it relies upon some level of cooperation from him. The state does not want average people to view it as an enemy to be resisted or evaded. So why are the police now acting like a military force that is occupying the streets of an enemy nation?’
‘A main reason for the increase in police violence is because average people are beginning to understand that all of society’s forced exchanges (binary and triangular interventions) are rigged. This has not been as obvious before, especially with triangular intervention. The farther the state moves away from direct force, the less apparent it is to the average person that any force is occurring at all. Everyone recognizes a policeman kicking a helpless man on the ground as brutality; few people recognize inflation as the economic equivalent. This is changing. The triangular interventions are becoming widely viewed as scams through which government and its cronies are feasting on the productive sector of society. They are feasting so richly that the children and grandchildren of the productive sector are confronted with wage slavery to sustain the gluttony.’
‘The Reason Police Brutality Is Rising’
80% of the reason, IMHO, is because we are asking our police to fight an unwinnable war against the very people they are supposed to protect. I am speaking, of course, of the drug war; the longest, most expensive, and biggest body count of any war we’ve ever fought. We fight it on almost every continent, and, of course, we fight it more than anywhere else right here at home. Imagine how many crimes would go away tomorrow if there was no more drug war. Yes, people would overdose, die, become addicted, etc. Is that really that different that what we have today?
The drug war has given police defacto “SS” type authority. When police begin to act like jack booted thugs to the “non-criminals” of society, we quickly start to see a lack of respect and a coupled increase in violence all the way around.
Think about how much time an average police office spends busting/investigating/prosecuting/etc crimes for which there is no victim? The state should never be allowed to press charges unless, of course, the victim was murdered or incapacitated to the point they are unable to do so themselves. If you can’t find a “victim” there’s no crime, plain and simple.
Check out the part where they let the dog join in the fun:
http://photographyisnotacrime.com/2013/12/22/atlantic-city-cop-ordered-pay-250000-pocket-suspect-abused/
You can find lots of videos like this on the web. Here’s something to think about; these policemen know there are cameras all over the place.
“Here’s something to think about; these policemen know there are cameras all over the place.”
Are you sure you aren’t overestimating the intelligence of the average cop?
Last sentence sums it up accurately IMO…
This is the sentence I was speaking of;
They are feasting so richly that the children and grandchildren of the productive sector are confronted with wage slavery to sustain the gluttony.’
It’s all out in the open. For instance, if I deposit $1,000 with a Federal Reserve system bank, that bank can then lend out $20,000 and charge interest and fees.
How about this from the article below:
‘Boujai said…“I also hope the lenders will gradually let foreclosed properties back on the market.”
So he’s saying, “I hope the banks will manipulate the housing market so consumers pay more which directly benefits me”.
So he’s saying, “I hope the banks will manipulate the housing market so consumers pay more which directly benefits me” ??
Well sure…We are all in this together don’t ya know…snark
The trick is, you gotta keep the swindle complex and subtle enough so the mark doesn’t realize he’s being scammed (the frog doesn’t realize he’s being boiled). And if he does, he can’t figure out by whom.
This is all part of the claiming increasing amounts of consumer surplus by politicians and Wall Street. Eventually it will break, and we’ll see a lot of politicians swept out of office, and the cycle will begin anew.
Twain said, “Politicians and diapers need to be changed frequently and for the same reason.”
The Contract With America in the mid 90s had “Term Limits” as a plank. There was much excitement over it, but there was one quick vote on it and it was discarded. At the time I was surprised and disappointed, but today the outcome appears obvious.
The society didn’t want an imperial presidency so it was limited to two terms. However, we still have an imperial Congress. People will eventually realize term limits are essential once again.
“just when did it become immoral to expect an account receivable?”
About the time the bank lent money to people that could obviously never repay it. Both parties are greedy and stupid, but it’s the bank’s business to know better.
‘About the time the bank lent money to people that could obviously never repay it’
I think what you are missing here is the banks don’t own the houses. It’s owned by all sorts of things, trusts, maybe even your pension. The banks are just servicing the loans in the majority of cases. Did your pension make the loan that couldn’t be paid back? Probably not.
Many loans were guaranteed by the government in one way or another. Foreclosure is how these entities/government recoup as much as they can.
It doesn’t matter what you or I think of the situation. The trustees make the decisions, and they could be sued if they didn’t protect the assets they’re responsible for. That way, when you go to retire, the pension hopefully won’t say, “well, Mr Jones said he got a raw deal, so here’s half of what you put in.”
I understand all the bankster stuff. But it doesn’t represent how the foreclosure system works.
“‘The good news is they’re getting $1000,’ she said. ‘It is a recognition they had this loss, some compensation, but it is not anywhere near what they’ve lost.’”
Is the money to make foreclosure victims whole supposed to drop down from helicopters like manna from heaven?
“The good news is they’re getting $1000 …”
Lol. And a big wet kiss.
(But no dinner, no dancing, no flowers.)
These are people who have likely been living rent-free for 3-4 years now. In Arizona, they were taking 2 years to foreclose. I figure in Maryland, they are just getting around to foreclosing now, so that makes about 3-4 years of rent-free living, plus $1,000.
Supposing the monthly was $2000, then four years of rent-free living (= 12*4 = 48 mos) + $1000 would be worth 48*$2000 + $1000 = $97,000 in tax-free income.
Not a bad deal if you can qualify!
“As of the end of September, more than 11,000 homes in Maryland were in some stage of foreclosure, the most recent state data show, an increase of nearly 180 percent from a year earlier.”
Is this process of clearing out foreclosure homes destined to carry over into the next foreclosure crisis?
“Foreclosure activity in Maryland has been increasing as banks work through a backlog of foreclosures created in part by a national moratorium imposed a few years ago.
…
The group is also calling on Governor Martin O’Malley to issue an executive order for a moratorium on foreclosures in the state.”
If the national moratorium imposed a few years ago was insufficient to protect Maryland homeowners from foreclosure, would the Governor’s foreclosure moratorium be expected to work better?
Yes, you CAN defy Father Time forever.
…or if not, you can die trying.
“The real estate market calmed during the second quarter, after interest rates rose 1 percent in one month. Prices had stabilized by the third quarter, but the federal government’s looming shutdown dampened consumers’ confidence, Wolford said. Average housing prices will reach about $540,000 by year’s end, a 6.6-percent increase that tracks exactly with the standard long-term rate of gain, Wolford said.”
Here we are a decade after the Housing Bubble came into plain view, and home prices remain at ridiculously high prices relative to incomes in many parts of the U.S.
How many more decades until this ends?
It only ends when we return to feudalism, and only the 1% own anything.
“47 percent of the region’s single-family homes are owned by Baby Boomers who show no signs of wanting to sell and move to traditional retirement areas, such as Florida or North Carolina, Versel said. ‘The Boomers don’t want to be like their parents,’ he said. ‘You can defy Father Time forever these days.’”
Why am I unsurprised to learn the 47 percent have something to do with this stopped-clock Housing Bubble?
‘Home sales were down in November, and foreclosures were up in Frederick County. Home sales in the county totaled 216, down from 240 in October, according to RealEstate Business Intelligence. Foreclosures, according to RealtyTrac, were up 42 percent at 186 in November.’
‘Darren Ahearn, a Realtor with Re/Max Results, said he doesn’t see foreclosures as a major threat to the market, but a change in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s loan programs will be a challenge in 2014.’
‘Under current guidelines, the USDA allows eligible home-buyers to qualify for a loan based on 29 percent of the their income. That will change in January, Ahearn said, requiring an applicant to have 36 percent of their income meet the loan requirement.’
“People will have to make more money to qualify for a loan for a home they may want to buy,” Ahearn said. “It means they won’t qualify or their payments could be $200 to $300 more a month for what they could qualify now.”
‘USDA loans are a good deal because there is less cost in financing the loan and less insurance required compared with other loans, Ahearn said.’
‘Carlton Boujai, past president of the Maryland Association of Realtors and a director for the National Association of Realtors, said the regulations Maryland put on lenders to hold off on foreclosures pending reviews of distressed properties may have delayed foreclosures that will come on the market next year.’
“I’m hoping the lenders will work with borrowers, modifying loans,” Boujai said. “I also hope the lenders will gradually let foreclosed properties back on the market.”
‘Boujai said he knows a lot of properties are still underwater — worth less than what the borrower owes on the mortgage — in Maryland.’
‘USDA loans are a good deal’
Oh, they’re a good deal alright. Zero down and specifically targeted at people with low income. Strangely, these loans were expanded quite a bit just after subprime loans went away.
Re: the “teacher” who lost her job…. No sympathy here. Balt City began merit pay and a process for firing bad teachers about 2 years ago under its new union contract. There is significant due process to fire someone for cause. And if you are part of a school reorganization (where a new principal gets a chance to make big changes) there is a process for being placed at a new school. They have to place you.
The reality is that underperforming teachers will mostly not be terminated, they will just languish in terms of pay. Automatic pay level increases based on longevity are gone. Performance evals and extra responsibilities are the way to advance up the ladder these days. These increases are limited bc principals are limited in how many superior evaluations they can give (as a % of staff size). In other words, a lot of people only get average evaluations, which means small pay increases. This is as it should be, the superstar performers get rewarded and the max salary was bumped to ~100k which is competitive with the surrounding counties. Before I think it was ~82k for a classroom teacher.
Anyway, if that teacher really was fired, it’s fitting. She couldn’t handle her mortgage, I’m not surprised she was incompetent in the classroom.
You were supposed to pay your mortgage.
If the houses were not saved, then what happened to them? Did they die?
I heard the Boomers all have reverse mortgages on their underwater houses.
Mr. Jones, you put out a nice effort all year, have a great 2014!
Wishing all on this site no matter what your views a safe holiday, and prosperous New Year.
Thanks for monitoring. GFY’s.
‘Housing inventory levels improved slightly for the second consecutive month but were still extremely low.
The Unsold Inventory Index for equity sales inched up from 3.4 months in October to 3.6 months in November.
The supply of REOs rose from 2.7 months in October to 3.4 months in November, and the supply of short sales increased from 3.6 months in October to 4.2 months in November.
California pending home resales fell in November, with the Pending Home Sales Index (PHSI) dropping 13.6 percent in November to 93.8, down from a revised 108.6 in October, based on signed contracts.
The monthly decline was the first double-digit drop in nearly a year.
Pending resales were down 9.4 percent from the 103.5 index recorded in November 2012.’
http://www.sddt.com/News/article.cfm?SourceCode=20131223czb&_t=SD+distressed+resales+in+November+plateau+monthly+down+from+2012#.UrjVLBCpCUk
‘The Chapman family early last year embarked on the daunting task of finding a house in one of the world’s hottest property markets—not Paris, Shanghai or San Francisco but Windhoek, Namibia.’
‘Philip Chapman, a 32-year-old financial manager in Windhoek, said he and his wife, Sunette, looked at 30 potential homes. Everything they viewed was too expensive or too shoddy—or sold within 24 hours. One buyer was asking 2.5 million Namibian dollars, or about $242,000, for a subdivided 30-year-old house with plaster peeling from the walls and a pool that leaked in the backyard.’
“I was, like, ‘Are you serious?’ But after two months it sold,” for the asking price, Mr. Chapman said.’
“Four years ago, a bank teller could afford a house in Windhoek,” says Namene Kalili, a housing-market researcher at FNB the largest home-mortgage provider in Namibia. “Today, some bank managers cannot even afford a house.”
http://online.wsj.com/news/articles/SB10001424052702303670804579234591680049328