Bits Bucket for March 6, 2014
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.
About Me
Name:Ben Jones
Location:Northern Arizona, United States
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My rental history the last 7 years in the Sandwich Isles:
1st 2 years: 900/mo incl utilities for the 2nd story of a house with ocean view, big lanai.
Next 2 years: 750/mo incl utilities for a 1 bedroom house by a pond/reservoir.
Last 3 years and for the foreseeable future: 1K/mo + utilities (electricity, water, cable for a total of 150/mo) for a 2 bedroom house with big lanai on .2 acres.
Rent is less than 10% of gross income. Buying would be at least 1/3 to 1/2 my net worth (7 digits).
Bottom line, renting in a lot of places is cheap and gives you a lot of freedom to move/travel/live. And I’m a former owner (sold in summer of 04).
Renting in upscale coastal cities in the United States is also cheaper than owning. People do not realize this.
A young gal I know rented an ocean view apartment in Redondo Beach and got the dumb real estate bug to buy a condo five miles inland in old Torrance for $300,000. Now she’s not living in that condo but married and they are up in Marina Del Rey. I did hear she’s renting out the condo.
My own druthers, I prefer large apartment complexes because I get same day maintenance that I call in a problem.
Bad experiences with small landlords.
“Renting in upscale coastal cities in the United States is also cheaper than owning.”
This is because the perception (real or imagined - it doesn’t matter) that coastal real estate prices will forever go up because they are not making any more coast and therefore it is logical to pay any price for such a deal and thus many investors (choke) will do so, will pay any price.
Which means for these investors they will get to endure negative cash flow because their enthusiasim for the coast as owners is not entirely matched by the enthusiam for the coast by renters - which means they will have to settle for lower rental income from tenants than they otherwise would and any shortfall to the lenders will have to be made up for by themselves.
Which is okay for them because, as everyone knows, there is a shortage of coastal real estate and thus coastal real estate will always go up in price and whatever is lost to the owners in the form of rents will be more than made up when these investors become sellers (or something like that).
I just met a woman a few weeks ago out here who bought a condo a few years ago in Carlsbad, CA. She said at the peak they went for 300k, she bought for 170K. I asked if she had lived there (she lives in NY) and she said no, she was visiting and liked the area so she bought a condo there - you can guess she is a bit impulsive. Anyway, she said she isnt making any money, just covering her mortgage and hoa fees with rent - and this is at a relative peak in the market.
Now I travel a bit (17 countries so far, many several times) and I have yet to buy real estate anywhere I’ve traveled to. Nice places, sure, but I don’t have to own them. That ownership disease costs people a lot of money and life.
“ownership disease”
Very apt. It’s up there in aptness with “progressivism disease.”
she was visiting and liked the area so she bought a condo there
WTF?
Were you able to use that impulsiveness in your favor?
Not sure what type of worm gets into the heads of those who buy houses. They think nothing of throwing $300,000 and much more into a place they hardly know, and among neighbors who may be child molesters for all we know, or Bud-drinking good ol boys from “down south” blaring “down south accordion music”, but they spend years hemming and hawing before committing money into a 401k of diversified stock funds.
A bonafide sage has entered the HBB arena!
“They think nothing of throwing $300,000 and much more into a place they hardly know,…”
They are also clueless about the risk involved with massively leveraging up their household balance sheets to the tune of 10-1 or more.
W-A-B here is food for thought.
Pre 2000 my roommate at the time was even cheaper than me. He had the looks so he could get any woman tied around his finger. The woman (always good looking) provided the money. Anyway we were discussing materialism. Once you buy all your treasures then what?
“Then what?”
Well there is a let down - we both knew.
Even though he drove a Corvette - he was so cheap he did all his auto work himself, and it was a used Corvette but looked new.
Just another associate who influenced my life.
Tying this into fools who travel thousands of miles and drop N times $100,000 on a condo as if it’s impulsive… I am glad I was influenced by cheap people. Sometimes cheap middle class people and sometimes cheap rich people.
You buy a 2015 Porsche 911 Turbo and you get gold diggers or thieves suddenly taking an interest in you. Better to drive a Japanese import of average cost.
Just wait until the Chinese and Canadian equity locusts fly back from whence they came. The losses on Coastal CA real estate are gonna be INCALCULABLE.
My experience with large complexes is that they are much more comfortable jacking up the rent. They have the budget to market for another tenant. If the complex is part of a national management company, it’s even worse. Then the middle managers are pressured to raise rent to make the numbers. (this is what happened at my old place).
The old model of a being rewarded for being a good tenant is dead. It’s cheaper to let in unsavory characters and fix the place up afterwards than it is to give a rent break to a quiet tenant. As for rent non-payment? Bah, chuck ‘em on the sidewalk and find a new one.
“As for rent non-payment? Bah, chuck ‘em on the sidewalk and find a new one.”
Just like renting from the bank.
In case you haven’t been reading HBB, bank do not “chuck buyers on the sidewalk.” They let the FB squat for years. And when the FB finally does go to the sidewalk, banks don’t “find a new one” either. They let the house rot empty.
That’s interesting considering the thousands of defaulted houses in this region are being maintained nicely with door inspection tags that say BAC Service Corporation on them.
How can BAC Service Corporation afford to flush so much money down the toilet?
How can BAC Service Corporation afford to flush so much money down the toilet?
Maybe the Fed made them an offer that they couldn’t refuse?
My experience with large complexes is that they are much more comfortable jacking up the rent.
Living in coastal California AND Phoenix that has not been my experience.
Arizona: 2005 $950 per month. 2014: $1050 per month.
Ho hum.
“Bad experiences with small landlords.”
In fairness to our ’small landlords,’ they teach you self-sufficiency out of necessity.
Fairfax, VA Housing Prices Sink 16% YoY
http://www.movoto.com/fairfax-va/market-trends/
Median house size down 18%. Price per square foot unchanged at $244.
He also won’t answer the question about sales volume. I think everyone knows that volume is far, far below the 06-07 time period. But RAL doesn’t note how that might influence the sales mix. More crappy houses being sold, more distress sales, many people with small or no mortgage just happily living in their home.
(I still think prices are way too high, btw. Just question RAL’s choices of data.)
Liberace!
“Median house size down 18%. Price per square foot unchanged at $244.”
And I’ll ask you again.
Attributed to what? A larger garage? A pool? Fencing? Basement? Finished basement? Newer house v. older run down house?
I know you agree that an old run down house is worth far less than a new one.
Hey, dude. You are the one who loves the data from this site. If you have information from the site that explains the increase in prices per square foot, then include it.
I’m just adding a little context to the data you provide.
You’re backpedalling.
To add clarity to your context.
A larger garage? A pool? Fencing? Basement? Finished basement? Newer house v. older run down house?
Polly was posting about the median house size going DOWN. Attributed to what? Not a finished basement.
More likely, the median house size is decreasing as short sales are shifting from overbuilt bubble McMansions to older Cold War inner-burb homes.
Standard McMansion 2500 sq ft.
Cold war burb ranch: 980 sq ft + 600 sq ft addition (added to sq ft) + 800 ft finished basement (added to # bed/bath but not to sq ft)
She was? Are you sure?
So the unit price stays the same, transaction prices falls 16% and the units bought decrease.
What additional items were transacted for the same unit price and lower overall price?
A finished basement versus an unfinished? A three car garage? A seperate additional garage? A pool v. no pool?
Buy a house today and your losses will be incalculable.
Only if you sell it and living in it had no value to you.
You confuse price and value.
This is especially confusing if the price goes up 30%.
There is no loss and the gain is quite calculable. About 100% return, if you put 25% down, had a reasonable loan, and your cost to own was less than rent.
Why would the price go up? Remember, housing depreciates rapidly.
Just put your money on black in the casino.
I look forward to your tales of losses as the year progresses.
“the gain is quite calculable. About 100% return, if you put 25% down…”
Don’t be silly. Put the down payment on a credit card and your gains will be a gazillion %. Then HELOC the place to put a down payment on a second “primary” residence, & etc.
Great news for home buyers:
http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2014/03/06/apparent-mummified-body-found-in-foreclosed-home/
Even the imputed rent of living in a paid off house will never outweigh the incalculable costs of maintenance, repairs, utilities, taxes, and the opportunity costs of lost time to maintain a depreciating asset.
It will if the house is bought at the right price.
Of course it will but when has the “right price” occurred at any time in the last 16 years?
It hasn’t .
“It hasn’t.”
Hence stay in cash until the right price makes a return.
4 degrees outside. Yeah, baseball begins in a month. Hardee har har har.
It already started down here in Phoenix. My car thermometer said 82 yesterday. “Play ball”
Poor Northeasteners, their weather is so unfriendly.
It’s going to be in the 60’s today here.
‘It’s going to be in the 60’s today here.’
You’ll need to drive by a webcam at 4 PM on I-25 to verify that.
So that’s how that 100 car pile up happened.
Conservatives - More than happy to live under the same laws they want for everyone else.
Liberals, Progressives and unions - Expect to be exempted from the laws they want for everyone else.
And BTW - obamacare does not allow any president to delay the law, implement parts of it, ignore other parts it.
—————
Feds give 2-year grace period for non-Obamacare plans
CNBC | March 5, 2014 | Dan Mangan
The Obama administration will let people with health insurance plans that don’t comply with Affordable Care Act standards keep them through October 2017 if their states allow it, officials said Wednesday in announcing a series of final Obamacare rules.
New rules also simplified the paperwork that larger employers will have to file when the the mandate obliging them to offer affordable health insurance to workers begins next year.
And the rules gave a financial break to the types of self-insured health plans run by many unions, excluding them for two years from the $63-per-capita “reinsurance contribution” assessed for each enrollee.
Under the new rule, people who maintain those plans, and who renew them as late as Oct. 1, 2016, will be able to keep them until as late as 2017. The administration Wednesday emphasized that the extension now includes people in the small-group market, whose employers will start becoming subject to Obamacare’s mandates in 2015. The administration said it would be up to individual states to allow the extension, and whether to include both individuals and small group members in the waiver or just one category.
The extension could give political relief to Democrats, particularly in vulnerable legislative districts, who face criticism about the effects of Obamacare on their constituents. It also effectively delays until after the 2016 presidential election the requirement that nearly all Americans have health insurance that complies with ACA minimum standards. Most people who do not have health insurance by this year face a tax penalty in 2015 equal to up to 1 percent of their adjusted gross income.
Conservatives - More than happy to live under the same laws they want for everyone else.
Show me one conservative who would be happy if Saddam had bombed us instead.
The insanity of hope and change.
——————-
Woman Pretends to be Mexican Illegal Alien — Defrauds Dozens in 4 States
Top Right News | 03-05-2014 | Gina Cassini
You truly can’t make this stuff up.
In one of the most bizarre stories we’ve yet heard, a North Carolina woman used her fluency in Spanish and fraudulent immigration documents to convince others that she was a Mexican national — so she could defraud dozens of people out of tens of thousands of dollars.
Sherry Stanley Jimenez, 39, of Greensboro — a U.S. citizen — was able to change identities, addresses, and obtain employment for many years avoiding detection and arrest — very similar to what millions of actual illegal aliens do every year across the nation.
How uniquely American.
How uniquely American.
LOL…
Comment by Housing Analyst
2014-03-05 22:07:43
“I posted the article here yesterday. This is nothing for these used house pimps. Go ahead and google realtor + arrested or realtor and any other sordid detail if you don’t believe me. It’s reads like a friggin’ police blotter; a real live crime wave…”
It is not just the realtors. Look at Bernanke taking a $250,000 kickback in Abu Dhabi in full public view. Is there any outrage? In what honest world does the chief regulator of the largest central bank in the world get that kind of money for an hour of standup days after leaving office?
In what honest world does the chief regulator of the largest central bank in the world get that kind of money for an hour of standup days after leaving office?
+Infinity. That stinks to high heaven.
Not a smidgen of corruption
Reminds me of when Reagan went to Japan shortly after his presidency, and banked millions in ¨speaking fees¨. It’s all part of being in the big boys club. Once youŕe in, youŕe made.
I don’t think W made or makes that kind of money. Does he mean he was less corrupt?
W got his in advance, thanks to having a rich president as a daddy. The Texas Rangers, and all that. He was already made.
They’re probably paying W not to speak.
I was thinking maybe BB earned some payback from folks overseas whom he bailed out?
Serf talk. You guys are just jealous because you have to work for a living wage.
Dear Mr. Banker, I’m told that for every dollar in interest I give you I get to deduct 28 cents on my taxes. My Realtor® told me what a great investment this is. Where do I sign up for this free money giveaway?
You should listen to your realtor and visit your nearest bank and sign the dotted line on any form that he happens to present to you.
If you see such words as “adjustable” in association with the term “interest rate” do not allow this disuade you from signing the dotted line. Do not allow ANYTHING from disuade you from signing the dotted line.
Along with the realtor your banker is the best friend you will ever hope to have in this world and you should trust both of them with everything you possess, whether it be your finances, your house, your wife or, even your teen-age daughter.
Can I open a HELOC on my teenage daughter?
You can open a credit card on you teenage daughter which, in a sense, is a type of HELOC.
IMO a teenager without a credit card is a form of child abuse.
will you refi a used car loan ?
thank you Mr.Banker !
“In what honest world does the chief regulator of the largest central bank in the world get that kind of money for an hour of standup days after leaving office?”
Welcome to the Corruption Age, where crooked bankers, politicians, and corporate henchmen steal everything in broad daylight.
“… steal everything in broad daylight.”
Most of it is not stolen, most of it is willingly handed over.
My favorite task:
Get a homeowner (someone who actually OWNS his house) and allow him to willingly cash out the house’s equity (which is a marketing term I like to use that, deep down, means borrow against his debt-free house and thus put his ownership of the house at great risk) and then spend the money he borrowed on a bunch of stupid stuff.
He trades equity for debt; He trades what used to be his for something that just may end up being mine and all the while this is going on he is sending to me some of his precious, hard to get money each and every month.
People are smart.
Google Exec on WhatsApp Deal: $500 Million Per Employee?!
GoogleGOOG +0.27% was flirting with WhatsApp before FacebookFB +3.87% swooped in and bought the text-messaging service for $19 billion last month. Wednesday, a top Google executive suggested Facebook overpaid.
Arora was skeptical. “$500 million per employee? Is that a good use of our money?” Arora said. “Are you recommending we buy some Asian messaging service?”
WhatsApp has 55 employees, meaning Facebook’s acquisition works out to $345 million per employee. A Facebook spokesman declined to comment.
http://blogs.wsj.com/digits/2014/03/05/google-exec-questions-whatsapp-price-tag/?mod=yahoo_hs
Are you recommending we buy some Asian messaging service?”
No dude you should spent money on Asian massaging service. That’s money well spent. Extra points if there’s a happy ending.
There’s always a happy ending. Remember to tip her well.
Are you recommending we buy some Asian messaging service?”
I was hoping to invest in an Asian Massaging business instead.
the moto deal cost goog 3-4 billion ?
deworsification under way
College Grads Taking Low-Wage Jobs Displace Less Educated
Katherine Peralta - Mar 6, 2014 - Bloomberg
Jeanina Jenkins, a 20-year-old high-school graduate from St. Louis, is stuck in a $7.82-an-hour part-time job at McDonald’s Corp. that she calls a “last resort” because nobody would offer her anything better.
Stephen O’Malley, 26, a University of West Virginia graduate, wants to put his history degree to use teaching high school. What he’s found instead is a bartender’s job in his home town of Manasquan, New Jersey.
Jenkins and O’Malley are at opposite ends of a dynamic that is pushing those with college degrees down into competition with high-school graduates for low-wage jobs that don’t require college. As this competition has intensified during and after the recession, it’s meant relatively higher unemployment, declining labor market participation and lower wages for those with less education.
The jobless rate of Americans ages 25 to 34 who have only completed high school grew 4.3 percentage points to 10.6 percent in 2013 from 2007, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Unemployment for those in that age group with a college degree rose 1.5 percentage points to 3.7 percent in the same period.
“The underemployment of college graduates affects lesser educated parts of the labor force,” said economist Richard Vedder, director of the Center for College Affordability and Productivity, a not-for-profit research organization in Washington. “Those with high-school diplomas that normally would have no problem getting jobs as bartenders or taxi drivers are sometimes kept from getting the jobs by people with college diplomas,” said Vedder, who is also a Bloomberg View contributor.
Low-wage Positions
A year-long survey ending in July 2012 of 500,000 Americans ages 19 to 29 showed that 63 percent of those fully employed had a bachelor’s degree, and their most common jobs were merchandise displayers, clothing-store and cellular phone sales representatives, according to Seattle-based PayScale Inc., which provides compensation information.
2Brony confirms that the future belongs to Lucky Ducky.
Welcome to the recoveryless recovery.
“recoveryless recovery” = God’s plan.
Money that cannot be earned must be borrowed.
Don’t forget the nicely-dressed boyz in Home Despot with a clipboard trying to sell cabinet refacing and kitchen design services, especially weekday evenings. I get hit up by these jokers every time. They see a white woman in work clothes and think ah-ha rich husband cha-ching. I’ve started being rude.
what are re taxes doing in your county ?
ours may go up 8%+ fairfax va
In CA, property taxes are limited to 1% of the purchase price and can only go up 2% each year……
In New Jersey, my inlaws property tax rate was 5.35%. They now rent an apartment in CA for less than their property taxes were in NJ.
Here is another little related tidbit: Health Insurance (medicare supplemental) in NJ cost them $720/mon (2 people, includes prescription policy). In CA, Kaiser charges them $174/mon, waives the co-pay for office visits and prescription charges. Moving from NJ to CA was the best financial move they could make.
Plus they don’t have to shovel any snow.
Why rent when they could make a fortune buying?
“In CA, property taxes are limited to 1% of the purchase price and can only go up 2% each year……”
I always wondered why the passage of Prop 13 didn’t ‘get this ball rolling’ before. I guess our odd initiative laws might be part of it, but…
http://www.csmonitor.com/1980/0911/091146.html/%28page%29/2
“Proposition 13-type measures on ballots in nine states”
“Tax-chopping measures of various types, including several Proposition 13-type measures, will be on primary or regular election ballots this fall in nine states — Alska, Arizona, Florida, Massachusetts, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, and South Dakota.”
2.1% in Balt City. Which isn’t bad — property taxes in places like TX are much higher %. But Balt County (which is 2 blocks from me) pays a lot less. But people pay more for the same house. Alot (sic) more. By state law, property taxes can only go up a few % every 3 yrs if a house is owner occupied.
Our property taxes are supposed to go down to 2% around 2020. We’ll see if that happens.
My house is woefully under-assessed because the city doesn’t know we have central air, 2 car garage (it’s detached and it’s not visible from the street), or that the basement is not only finished, but has a wet bar, oversized bathroom, new gas fireplace, media room, etc. I did the work myself with help from friends. My assessment is based on the old people who lived here for 50 years until they died.
Thoughts:
Property assessments are usually mostly based on square footage and comparables. Does the tax assessor really care if you have a wet bar in the basement?
Did you get permits for all that work? Could be lots of problems if you ever sell or have an insurance claim.
Isn’t it ironic the things people do to avoid paying their “fair share” of property taxes instead of solving the root problem of their insane property taxes (out of control public unions)?
0.5% and I’m paying less now than 10 years ago. And TABOR keeps increases in check.
This is for Joe:
“We are sick and tired of hearing about how dumb people are in the South, and we challenge any so-called “smart” Yankee to take this exam:
1. Calculate the smallest limb diameter on a persimmon tree that will support a 10 pound possum.
2. Which of these cars will rust out the quickest when placed on blocks in your front yard?
(A) ‘65 Ford Fairlane
(B) ‘69 Chevrolet Chevelle
(C) ‘66 Pontiac GTO
3. If your uncle builds a still which operates at a capacity of 20
gallons of shine produced per hour, how many car radiators are
required to condense the product?
4. A woodcutter has a chainsaw which operates at 2700 RPM. The
density of the pine trees in the plot to be harvested is 470 per acre.
The plot is 2.3 acres in size. The average tree diameter is 14 inches. How many Budweiser’s will be drunk before the trees are cut down?
5. A front porch is constructed of 2×8 pine on 24-inch centers with a field rock foundation. The span is 8 feet and the porch length is 16 feet. The porch floor is 1-inch rough sawn pine. When the porch collapses, how many dogs will be killed?
6. A man owns a Georgia house and 3.7 acres of land in a hollow with an average slope of 15%. The man has five children. Can each of his grown children place a mobile home on the man’s land and still have enough property for their electric appliances to sit out front?
7. A 2-ton truck is overloaded and proceeding 900 yards down a steep slope on a secondary road at 45 MPH. The brakes fail. Given average traffic conditions on secondary roads, what is the probability that it will strike a vehicle with a muffler?
8. With a gene pool reduction of 7.5% per generation, how long will it take a town which has been bypassed by the Interstate to breed a country-western singer?
I betcha thought that this test was gonna be an easy one, didn’t ya?
It’s okay if’n y’all didn’t do all that well. Just goes to show ya
there’s a whole heap of things that big city book-learning don’t
prepare ya for in this life.
As an added bonus for taking the ” RED NECK CHALLENGE”,
here’s some southerly advice that may come in handy
down the road a piece….
Next time you are too drunk to drive, walk to the nearest pizza shop
and place an order. When they go to deliver it, catch a ride home with them.”
I loved the quiz. My question about #6 is, is that slope on his property enough to ski on??? (asking for Slithers aka eddietard)
I don’t think all southerners are dumb. I just think it’s hopelessly pathetic when people talk about the south as the “real America” or when they claim that some low-margin business moving there proves that the coasts are going to be surpassed. Simply growing in population means very little and 2ban’s anecdotes don’t change that. The idea that southerners have a monopoly on brute toughness is also laughable. Aggression and brutality are better when leveraged and these traits are hallmarks of people high up in society. I don’t know why teabillies with gunz fancy themselves as alphas — they are not the ones on top of the pyramid, they’re not even close. If you have to base a large portion of your self worth on toting a gun, you’ve already lost, you are not actually the type of person that could come out on top.
“Aggression and brutality are better when leveraged and these traits are hallmarks of people high up in society.”
Aggression and brutality are better when performed by the unwashed masses for the benifit of people high up in society.
The people high up in society - the Ruling Class - are not meant to bleed, instead they are meant to cause the bleeding.
God’s Plan 101.
If you have to base a large portion of your self worth on toting a gun, you’ve already lost, you are not actually the type of person that could come out on top.
Coming from the guy who has never served in the military, probably never held or shot a gun, and certainly never had one pointed at him…
Here’s a little quote regarding the work of Sam Colt:
“God created man. Colt made them equal”.
If you don’t understand that, try and put that statement in the context of what events in the Ukraine currently.
The idea that southerners have a monopoly on brute toughness is also laughable. Aggression and brutality are better when leveraged and these traits are hallmarks of people high up in society.
You mistake aggression and brutality for narcissism and psychopathy, both personality traits in abundance the higher up in society you go.
As to tolerance to pain and discomfort (i.e. “toughness), if your theory is that higher education attainment is positively correlated to higher physical tolerances, I think you’re way off base. I base my statement on my time served in the infantry, as an athlete through university and as someone who grew up in a commercial fishing family and who fished in between semesters of college. At best there is no correlation and at worst, they are negatively correlated.
I have fired a gun. I grew up in a military household (dad is a West Point grad, was overseas a bunch) and was raised in that style from early on. No plush comforts, no easygoing mom and dad, etc. My parents just did not force us to go into the military–the military has changed a lot post-Vietnam, almost all for the worse. Regardless, I have 2 brothers that went to Annapolis. Even they do not romanticize military service–any officer with half a brain knows that 90% of what the military does has no innate honor. It’s just a job, get over yourself.
Yes, I have fired guns. I grew up in scouts and handling guns and learning about safety was a key. Clearly I was not doing doomsday prepping, more like target shooting, skeet shooting, etc. No, I do not carry a gun and I would never go around bragging about gunz.
Throughout the ages, the most aggression has been directed and carried out by those at the top of society. Studies show that people in the ruling class are, in fact, much more aggressive and have less qualms about pulling the trigger. Just because they don’t carry a gun or equate it to self worth, well, I see how that could confuse you.
On a daily basis in an office you can see who actually has power. Guns distract from the issue, they really don’t tell you much.
On a daily basis in an office you can see who actually has power. Guns distract from the issue, they really don’t tell you much.
Tell that to French general François Colbert, Union general John Sedgwick, President Lincoln, Archduke Ferdinand, President Kennedy, etc… how’d that work out for them given their positions of power and influence?
A gun is a tool. It merely provides the means to apply force or the threat of force taken to the extreme. The application of force (or threat therein) is power. This is why the founders of this country disliked standing armies and why the 2nd Amendment exists. To ignore that is to ignore the lessons history provides.
What makes a 105 pound woman more powerful than a 215 pound home invader? A 9mm pistol.
What makes it possible to kill 26 innocent people by pointing and clicking at them? Yeah.
It’s a complex issue.
7. A 2-ton truck is overloaded and proceeding 900 yards down a steep slope on a secondary road at 45 MPH. The brakes fail. Given average traffic conditions on secondary roads, what is the probability that it will strike a vehicle with a muffler?
Moreover: Will the truck’s engine still be running on impact, or will it have seized up since your uncle already has the radiator in his shine operation? Will you spill your spit cup? Will you spill your beer? Will you get too excited & drink from your spit cup?
Worthless housing…. worthless worthless housing. It’s worth less and less with each passing day.
Burke, VA(DC area) Housing Prices Crater 12% YoY As Excess Housing Inventory Skyrockets 62%
http://www.movoto.com/burke-va/market-trends/
Median house size down 30%. Price per square foot up slightly.
Time to drive to downtown DC now (back end of the rush hour so traffic is much less than it would be at peak commute time) is about an hour. Longer on public transit.
Attributed to what? A larger garage? A pool? Fencing? Basement? Finished basement? Newer structures v. older structures?
Proceed.
I have heard that many potential US military target countries have spent a boat load of money on lobbying to take them off the list.
That may explain some “high paying” jobs.
polly,
why does public tranport take longer? or did I misread your post?
I just put in the name of the city/town and “Penn Quarter, DC.” I don’t know google’s exact algorithm, but if they taking into account a bus ride from the center of Burke to the train, waiting for the train, riding the orange line in, then a tranfer from one line to the other it could easily exceed an hour. Or even if they are assuming you drive to the train and have to park and then wait for one train and then transfer, it could easily be over an hour. The Metro isn’t a particularly quick system. There are a lot of stops along the way.
Best public HS in America is in that Burke area. If I lived in VA instead of MD, I’d consider buying a crap shack in that area so my kid could go to TJHST.
(13 students in my college class were TJHST grads. Stuyvessant in NYC was 2nd with 9. My HS had only 4. New Trier HS near Chicago had 4 as well. Basically TJHST is the best public HS by a pretty wide margin.)
Richard Florida pegs Denver as part of ‘urban revolution’
“The American dream has shifted from a notion of “quality of life” with big suburban homes to “quality of place” where people can live, work and play in the same area.
“We’ve witnessed the great inversion,” Florida said of people flocking to urban cores. “We’re seeing the re-urbanization of the city core. Investment dollars are flooding back.”
“Denver is incubating its own urban center revival,” Florida said. “You’re seeing the power of the clustering force.”
The economies of scale he talked about involved such factors as car sharing, living closer to work to avoid wasting time and resources on long commutes, and not having to support a large suburban house and yard.
http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/news/2014/03/05/richard-florida-pegs-denver-as-part.html
If it’s car dependent, it’s not an urban revolution. Maybe Portland? Can any confirm whether Portland is car dependent? How about Seattle?
denver in some ways is the opposite of my experience of living in cleveland. the educated, affluent, pretty young things want to live in the urban core, downtown, lodo, highlands, cherry creek, wash park. the denver suburbs are where people move to get fat and embrace clown car driving lifestyles. most of the white trash here live in inner ring ’suburbs’ (if you can call a sprawl of 300,000+ people a suburb) like lakewood and aurora. leapfrog beyond that into highlands ranch, greenwood village, douglas county and you are back into affluent, albeit sprawly, areas that are very clown car but great if you want horses and distance from neighbors.
A lot of the young, prosperous, pretty things get married and move to places like Broomfield or Highlands Ranch.
The only way to be car-independent is to live in housing with shared walls. Is that what you want?
Portland was probably the first city to come up with free bikes in the city. You just borrow a yellow bike and pedal it to your destination and put it in a rack next to other yellow bikes nearby. Someone else could take that bike and pedal it to their preferred destination and you probably will get a different bike when you are done patronizing the business.
San Francisco has blue bikes I noticed. In the financial district. Same deal.
Somehow the cities of:
Detroit, Chicago, Philly, Camden, Cleveland, Buffalo, Newark, Baltimore, etc. will miss out of this “renewal”
Hmmmm - I wonder why?
Too many black people?
That’s racis’
Richard Floriduh has never been relevant.
Stop this sophistic, nonsensical & banal drivel from Richard Floriduh.
Florida overestimates the impact of the “creative class” here. The pretty young things aren’t all opening their own artisan bakery, craft brewery, mobile app startup, etc. Many work in crusty old industries like the oil and gas biz or telecommunications, both of which are huge here.
He gets it right on the rejection of outer suburbia as something desirable, something to aspire to. There are thousands and thousands of people here and moving here who just like me, grew up in car dependent suburbia, and choose to never live like that again.
And before the tin foil hats pull the “Agenda 21″ card, note that these moves are voluntary, not directed top down from Geneva.
If you like your clown car commute, you can keep your clown car commute.
Exactly 17 minutes walk to work. I only drive when it rains.
Give it up, dude. It’s played out.
if you like your clown car commute, you can keep your clown car commute.
http://www.walkscore.com/
if you like your clown car commute, you can keep your clown car commute.
http://rsu.tv/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Clown-car.jpg
Tell me you don’t want one!
If you like your clown car commute, you can keep your clown car commute.
Don’t forget, it’s a lot easier to telecommute than before. I do it 2-3 times a week. Seems like everyone I know does it (admittedly, my social circle is small).
Don’t forget, it’s a lot easier to telecommute than before. I do it 2-3 times a week. Seems like everyone I know does it (admittedly, my social circle is small).
Recently, I interviewed at a private, fast growing .com retailer in their dev ops group. They don’t offer telecommute as one of their perks. I work from home a couple of days a week currently and putting a price on that is difficult. Not just the additional funds for parking and commuting, but the time away from home and family and the loss of flexibility.
Wife wants me to stay put (for the above-mentioned reasons), but stock options can be quite an incentive.
They can have the urban core, I’d rather live in the sub burbs where I can have a garage, and have machines that produce products to sell and storage space.
Eventually the young people will tire of the urban center. Recently the urban center was cheap, but not for long.
The pendulum swings back and forth.
Climate Insensitivity: What the IPCC Knew But Didn’t Tell Us
“The [climate models] overestimate future warming by 1.7–2 times relative to an estimate based on the best observational evidence.
This is a powerful and important conclusion.” (that the IPCC knew but didn’t share)
http://www.google.com/gwt/n?u=http://www.cato.org/blog/climate-insensitivity-what-ipcc-knew-didnt-tell-us
This report sheds new light on the IPCC withholding information because it didn’t meet their blueprint. While I think it’s true that man can effect our environment I think a real cost/benefit analysis should be taken because it’s obvious some people’s climate models are way off.
Got snow anybody???
I’m still pissed that I am not given credit where credit is due.
Where do you earth pukes think the energy for all this climate change comes from?
Earth: A planet full of dummys.
(BTW, who gave you earth pukes the right to demote Pluto?)
Mr. Sun, you speak like Mr. Banker.
Arlington, VA Housing Prices Crumble 11% YoY On Rapidly Rising Excess Housing Inventory
http://www.movoto.com/arlington-va/market-trends/
“Here’s a real estate fact that every home seller should know: Buyers determine the right price for a property, not sellers. The market price for a home is determined by what an able and willing buyer ultimately pays for it.”
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/where-we-live/wp/2014/03/06/why-overpricing-a-home-is-not-a-good-idea/?tid=hpModule_34d54128-919e-11e2-bdea-e32ad90da239
CRATER!
“The market price for a home is determined by what an able and willing buyer ultimately pays for it.”
So long as the all-cash Chinese buyers are in the game snapping up homes at ever-higher prices, where is the problem?
“The market price for a home is determined by what an able and willing buyer ultimately pays for it.”
Bring to me the willing and I will make him the able.
This able thingy may cost him a bit (maybe everything?) but this cost is something that will be paid for down the road a bit.
Is the ECB about to escalate its War on Savers?
Are Ukrainians savers?
UPDATE 1-Negative interest rates an option for ECB, says Liikanen
Tue Feb 11, 2014 7:53am EST
* Says ECB must be ready if inflation outlook worsens
* Negative deposit rates one tool that has been discussed
* Does not see signs of deflation in the euro zone
* Says OMT “totally compatible with our mandate”
* Possible some banks may be wound down after health check
LONDON, Feb 11 (Reuters) - Negative interest rates are a policy option for the European Central Bank should the euro zone inflation outlook deteriorate, ECB Governing Council member Erkki Liikanen said on Tuesday.
The ECB left rates at a record low last Thursday but put markets on alert for a possible move in March, acknowledging that emerging-market turbulence could hit the euro zone.
The central bank held its main refinancing rate at 0.25 percent and the deposit rate it pays banks for holding their cash at zero on Feb. 6.
Asked at a House of Lords’ committee hearing in London whether negative rates were an option for the ECB, Liikanen replied: “If our inflation outlook worsens, we must be ready for that. Among all these tools, which we can consider and which we have discussed, negative deposit rates is one of those.”
“But of course, when we take policy decisions in our monetary policy meeting, it’s based on the most recent data and careful preparation,” he added.
…
My Oil City:
http://www.landwatch.com/chaffee-county-colorado-land-for-sale/pid/200288095
They’ll be sitting on that dirt for an eternity at that price.
whats the high water mark in a flood?
I thought our plan was to head to Pattaya in 2040? We just need a secret handshake to know who is part of the HBB club.
It’s a hand signal I believe.
Why is Pattaya a place where an erudite bunch like us would want to be? Hell, if it’s that great I’ll go sooner.
Seriously - did I miss a good riff on Pattaya?
Arlington County, VA(DC area) Housing Demand Collapses 19% YoY
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/VA-Arlington-County-home-value/r_2619/#metric=mt%3D30%26dt%3D1%26tp%3D4%26rt%3D6%26r%3D2619%26el%3D0
Wall Street Journal - How Housing Policy Hurts the Middle Class
Many buyers decided that the largest-possible house was a better idea than a retirement fund or a child’s education
“The American dream traditionally meant that anyone could get ahead based on ability and hard work. But over the past few decades, the United States government created incentives through housing programs and the tax code that changed the dream for many Americans. Middle-class families began to think of homes as investments, not just shelter.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052702304610404579401613007521066.html
“But over the past few decades, the United States government created incentives through housing programs and the tax code that changed the dream for many Americans.”
More likely that the government approved these incentives at the behest of their deep pocketed lobbyists.
“Middle-class families began to think (think? lol) of homes as investments, not just shelter.”
And this “thinking” made lenders such as myself very rich because these thinkers largely financed these “investments” with borrowed money - money borrowed from guys like me. And when they borrow money from guys like me they turn over the title of the house to guys like me until the property is paid for, and if for some reason the property ends up not being paid for then guys like me get to toss out the thinkers and lay claim to the property.
I like it: They get to think, I get to spend.
But didn’t guys like you typically lend more against the house than what it was worth? I suppose the bailout made you whole, but I’m just saying.
“But didn’t guys like you typically lend more against the house than it was worth?”
And this did what?
1. Increased my fees?
2. Increased the perceived value of the mortgages backed by the comps, the same comps that I wrote paper against and distributed all around the globe, collecting fees along the way?
3. Increase my standing as a good and wonderful guy among the community, comparable to that of that Great American Angelo Mozilo?
4. And the money that was put at risk belonged to somebody else?
And the downside of all this was … well, from my point of view there was no downside.
All good points.
My favorite acronym: TBTF.
The American dream traditionally meant that anyone could get ahead based on ability and hard work.
Wrong word. Instead of “ability” it’s “mobility.”
$1,816,000 net worth as of tonight.
Consulting for 13 years and saving into stock funds for 25 years is the key.
As long as they vote democrat - what difference does it make?
————————–
Boston bomber’s widow cozies up to his mother on trip to her former Soviet state
The Daily Mail Online | March 7, 2014 | M R Freda
In the family photo captioned Kyrgyzstan 2013, Katherine Russell, 24, is holding the daughter she had with Tsarnaev, who was killed during a shootout with police days after he and his brother Dhzokhar allegedly detonated two pressure cooker bombs along the finish line of the Boston Marathon on April 15.
The picture shows just how close Russell was with mother-in-law Zubeidat Tsarnaeva, who lives in Kyrgyzstan and has an open arrest warrant hanging over here in the US….
‘It was a small cramped apartment,’ said one source investigating the marathon bombings that killed three and wounded another 260 people. ‘What did she know about the bombings? Well, she knew her husband was in a terrorist hotbed for six months.’
In the photo captioned in Kyrgyzstan, both women are toting designer bags - Russell’s mother-in-law sporting a signature Louis Vuitton tote.
Massachusetts legislators discovered that the family had collected more than $100,000 in welfare while working jobs under the table.
“When is housing massively overpriced? It’s quite simple. When the price of the house is in excess of the cost to build (lot, materials, labor and profit), less depreciation for a used house.”
Exactly. No need to confuse it. Our cost to build a SFR is right around $55/sq ft, with profit.
You are a liar.
And we build’em all year round.
Teabaggers bagging votes in Texas:
“While establishment candidates in some of the top races were successful, Texas Republicans continued to tilt ever further right.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/03/06/us/tea-party-in-texas-sees-silver-linings-in-gop-primaries.html?hpw&rref=politics
‘texas democrats have tried to cast the continuing push by republicans to the far right as out of step with ordinary texans, but democrats’ showing on tuesday suggested they were struggling to remain competitive. republican voters far outnumbered democrats at the polls — 1.3 million versus roughly 550,000.’
Great strategy for 2020 and beyond, when Texas is a majority non-white state.
“continued to tilt ever further right”
That’s in the future and will be “someone else’s problem”
Most of those messicans don’t vote. They don’t even want to. They figure it makes no difference. They are from messico.
If you haven’t realized gains on your riskiest, most profitable stocks, you are greedy.
Be fearful when the others are greedy.
Or you’re waiting for a year + a day to get long term capital gains treatment on a very large gain.
That’s where things like PUT options come in handy - protect against the downside.
^^ Good comment.
Except when you buy a put option on a long holding, you stop the clock on the cap gains treatment…consult your tax advisor.
I purchased a whole boatload of Apple leaps in the early 2000’s (after OS X release, just before iPod, and before the iPhone). I was waiting to get capital gains treatment to cash in on my result, and was looking at any way possible to protect my gains while I waited. I considered buying puts, but when doing research, found that if you take the risk out of the holding, the clock stops on the cap gains wait.
They do have strategies called “correlated protective put strategies”, where you buy puts on securities that are highly correlated to the one that you are waiting to achieve cap gains.
I’m no CPA, and I dealt with this issue almost a decade ago, so my memory may be wrong, so consult your tax advisor…
Living in trhe south? better fill out an application!
APPLICATION TO LIVE IN THE SOUTH
Name:___________________ Nickname:___________________
CB Handle:___________________
Current Address:___________________________________________________
Neck Shade: Light Red ( ) Medium Red ( ) Dark Red ( )
Number of teeth exposed in full grin:____ Upper: ___ Lower: ___
Make of Pickup: ____________________ Size of Tires: __________
Does it have doors? Yes ( ) No( ) Sometimes ( ) Can’t remember ( )
How high is the first step into your pickup? 3 feet ( ) 6 feet ( ) More ( )
Number of empty beer cans on floor of pickup: _____
Number of empty peanut shells on floor of pickup: _____
Truck equipped with:
( ) Rust ( ) Gun Rack ( ) Camper Top ( ) Hi-jack shocks
( ) Winch ( ) Roll Bar ( ) Rottweiler ( ) Running Boards
( ) 8 Track ( ) Spittoon ( ) Fuzz Buster ( ) Load of Compost
( ) Pit Bull ( ) Mud Tires ( ) Curb Feelers ( ) 4-wheel drive
( ) Air horn ( ) Mud Flaps ( ) Confederate Flag
Bumper sticker:
( ) I Love Grits ( ) Redman Chewing Tobacco ( ) Eat Mo’ Possum
( ) Jesse Helms for President ( ) I Dig Boiled Peanuts
( ) Honk If You Love Jesus
Length of right leg: __________ Length of left leg: __________
How many cars do you have up on blocks in your front yard? _____
When was your last Elvis sighting? __________
How many appliances do you keep on your front lawn? __________
Working appliances: __________ Non-working appliances: __________
Do you own any shoes (not boots)? ( ) Yes ( ) No
If so, how many? __________
Do you bathe? ( ) Weekly ( ) Monthly ( ) Bi-yearly ( ) With soap
Are you married to either of the following? ( ) Sister ( ) Cousin
Does your wife weigh more than your pickup? ( ) Yes ( ) No
Can you sign your name and spell it right every time? ( ) Yes ( ) No
Did you read and understand this? ( ) Yes ( ) No
tsk tsk Liberace.
You assume that the applicant is male.
Median household income in 1990 was $35,978.00 which equates to $64,390.43 in 2014 dollars using an inflation calculator. Today according for the census it is only $61,400. The trend is declining income.
61K? Where did you get that number? I ask because after googling I found links that say that it’s in the low 50’s:
http://money.cnn.com/2013/09/17/news/economy/poverty-income/
http://quickfacts.census.gov/qfd/states/00000.html
Peak of about $56K that has declined to about $51K is what I’ve seen from multiple sources.
And that’s using “official” numbers. Considering the under-reporting of inflation, I would say that $51K today actually has the purchasing power of $45K or less when using the “base” year dollars for calculation.
1990 was $35,978.00 which equates to $64,390.43 in 2014
And all these years, they told you there was/is NO inflation.
Suckers!
They weren’t lying when they said there is no inflation. They’re engaging in some verbal counterfeiting and gave you a substitute and called it inflation. It’s called price fixing.
“Median household income in 1990 was $35,978.00 ”
That year, 1990 I got a raise that took me somewhere in the $35,000 to $35,999.99 range. Very accurate. I lived in California. That was low income compared to what my former college friends were making in Los Angeles. I was in Ridgecrest.
What about government tax receipts? That seems like one of the best indicators of economic activity, assuming no great jump in rates. CT’s own Governor Malloy is considering returning the state’s $400 million surplus to taxpayers. There was a tax amnesty that boosted the coffers, but nationally or in other states, aren’t more taxes being collected?
Colorado tax receipts haven’t bumped into the TABOR limits in 15 years or so and those TABOR limits are pretty stingy, so at least out here it’s been anemic, not exceeding inflation and population growth.
Well we will see.
My wages and compensation have dropped four years in a row. But in 2010 I did the big IRA conversion to Roth and paid huge taxes in the 2011 and 2012 tax years. In 2013 my AGI went markedly lower. This year might be the same as 2013 as I have started realizing huge capital gains on my company stock.
I’m close to finished with my big gains. Thinking I will get salary increase next year if not this year and won’t have to sell much stocks to be able to raise money to contribute to my Roth 401k.
Bill, I just found the Vanguard finally gave us the option to convert any non-Roth 401k holdings to Roth…so I just converted the company match to Roth and will need to pay our taxes this year, but after that (except for future company matches), all of our retirement accounts will be Roth…
I think it’s a good deal R.W.
At 59 and a half you can get it all tax free. I’ll be 59 and a half during Hilarious Clownton’s term. If she pulls a Cyprus / Poland / Argentina on our retirement funds I will yank out all my Roth holdings and put the proceeds into gold and municipal bonds.
“Hilarious Clownton”
SCHWEEEEEEEEET!
Mr. Banker, have you no shame? Isn’t it enough to collect 3 times what’s borrowed?
So recently, I called my mortgage company to make a substantial principle payment, removing about 7 years of interest payments for me (while keeping the same payments). The rep asks me if I’d like someone to call me with “help”, so I said okay (totally unsolicited by me). Turns out, they wanted to “help” me alright. They offer a “re-casting” of the loan, which would reduce my payments. I got excited until I realized the catch. Instead of keeping the new reduced term (by 7 years), they “recapture” the 7 years by extending the loan out to the original remaining years. Same interest, less principle payments. How creative of them! Shame on you Mr. Banker!
“Mr. Banker, have you no shame?”
Not one molecule of the stuff.
“I got excited until I realized the catch.”
This was their mistake, allowing you to realize the catch before the dotted-line signing ceremony; Somebody at the mortgage company needs to be fired.
When I was younger, I would have tried to marry you (bad boy attraction syndrome).
When you were younger I might have promised to marry you.
When I was younger, I would have tried to marry you (bad boy attraction syndrome).
So now you’re willing to “settle” for a boring, nerdy, “beta” nice guy? From what I’ve been reading, those guys are being hunted to extinction and the few left are in hiding.
yes, and I’m not as exciting as I used to be.
“Isn’t it enough to collect three times what is borrowed?”
The ultimate goal is to collect three times what is borrowed and still end up owning the house.
Check out the graphs on the last page of this thread:
http://www.city-data.com/forum/denver/1348006-positive-real-estate-news-25.html
“There is nothing better for your wallet than a deflationary spiral.
Let the spiral proceed.”
You better believe it.
Yesterday people were patting themselves on the back due to energy savings thanks to renting (smaller places?) I find the opposite. I find the appliances to be old and worn, thus using more electricity. I find the HVAC systems to be older and cheap, thus using more electricity. Also - renting, I can’t ever have much in the way of PV solar panel arrays or properly cable up automation systems into the electrical panel and such.
So for me, it’s been an energy loss?
2 more months left on the apartment then it’s relocation time to Northern VA! Hope to find a rental house with a walk out basement.
Make sure you rent a newer place to further limit your losses on energy.
not ‘patting myself on the back’, more like patting my fat wallet to feel all the cash i’m not throwing away on utilities.
my fridge died last year. so i called my landlord (my employee) and had a new, more energy efficient fridge delivered the next day.
not watching teevee helps keep the electric bill low too.
Blackhawk’s niece is an environmental lawyer in Madison, making a difference in the quality of the waters near Madison WI
http://m.host.madison.com/wsj/news/local/know-your-madisonian-melissa-malott/article_110fecfa-d87f-5d96-819b-e9f83b171b0d.html?mobile_touch=true
I know this has nothing to do with anything but I’m just so proud of her.
she is pretty hot for a commie.
Thanks. She’s an example how you can work hard and do whatever you want in our country.
What? Sue other people?
Congratulations! Happy for you and your family. And many thanks to your niece for working to “make a difference”!
That’s cool, she gets to be on the “good guy” side of things. I want to barf knowing the lengths our clients go to in order to discredit studies about air pollution, hormone disruption by pesticides, etc. etc.
Another plus for her — If you go to an in-state law school in WI, you need not take the WI bar exam. A lot of people just take MN or IL to give themselves a 2nd option with a bigger legal market, I guess. So kudos for her on that, too.
HAMP failures comin’ down the pike.
Got cash in CA of FL??? Make sure you only pay $34/sqft
http://money.cnn.com/2014/03/04/real_estate/hamp-mortgage-resets/index.html
To quote George Takei: Ooooh Myyyyy!
“Got cash in CA of FL??? Make sure you only pay $34/sqft”
Ha! I’ll believe that when I see it. (Said by someone who paid $89/sq ft back in 1996.)
I just want to let you all know that I am perceived as being nice, so there. For those of you who think I’m mean just because it makes me happy when adults riding bicycles get hit by cars, you are oversensitive.
By the way, I have been noticing more houses coming onto the market around the hood where I work, even though none of the existing inventory has sold since I moved here in the beginning of December.
I, too, am perceived as being nice. When people share their dreams with me I, in return, share with them some dotted lines.
They get their dreams fulfilled right off the bat, and I - their newest best friend - get my dreams fullfilled right off the bat as well PLUS I get my dreams fulfilled each and every month as the checks come rolling in and land in my coffers.
Sharing dotted lines - now THEREIN lies a true and meaningful bonding experince.
Staples has become the second major chain to announce the mass closing of stores this week, providing the latest evidence of how the retail landscape is being remade by shifts in American shopping habits.
Closing 10% of it’s stores
Radio Shack closing stores
Expect the trend to continue.
Good luck getting jobs America the retail and service industry is crashing, manufacturing requires fewer people and is mostly done overseas. The elite don’t pay any taxes so the gov won’t have any money to create jobs. It’s getting worse now but when the current credit bubble pops you can expect a more rapid decline.
Automation in the service industry will eventually make anyone with an IQ below 100 (by definition, half the population) unemployable. And in the long haul, it could be even worse.
Other than food, I mostly shop online.
Same here. I crossed the boundary and ordered a pair of my favorite shoes online. No sales tax and free shipping. Order all of my tools online. Two days is OK 99% of the time. For heavy things, still better to pick up at the “yard” in town. I’m not afraid of efficiency putting us all out of work.
There will always be work, if one wants/needs to work. What we’ve done is offshore our standard of living.
Cox Communications to lay off 500 in San Diego
Cable company is consolidating call centers, closing its operation in San Diego
By Mike Freeman
6:15 p.m. Feb. 26, 2014
Cox Communications said Wednesday it is closing a call center in San Diego, eliminating 500 jobs.
The move comes as part of a company-wide consolidation of call center operations for Atlanta-based Cox Communications, which is trimming its current 19 call centers nationwide into seven large sites.
Company spokesman Dennis Morgigno said the expanded call centers will be located in Las Vegas; Phoenix; Omaha, Neb.; Oklahoma City; Wichita, Kan.; Hampton Roads, Va.; and Baton Rouge.
…
Sony Electronics announces layoffs; 400 affected in San Diego office
Feb 26, 2014
8 days ago
Sony Electronics President and COO Mike Fasulo speaks during a Sony press event at the Las Vegas Convention Center for the 2014 International CES on January 6, 2014 in Las Vegas, Nevada. (Photo by David Becker/Getty Images)
SAN DIEGO - Sony Electronics announced Wednesday that it will layoff about 400 employees in its Rancho Bernardo office in an attempt to remain competitive in the market.
The Toyko-based company said the restructuring will affect a total of 1,000 employees in the U.S. It will also close 20 stores excluding its Fashion Valley and UTC mall locations.
Sony president and COO Mike Fasulo described the move as “extremely tough” but “absolutely necessary.”
“I am entirely confident in our ability to turn the business around, in achieving our preferred future, and continue building on our flawless commitment to customer loyalty through the complete entertainment experience only Sony can offer,” he stated in a press release.
…
http://www.dailyjobcuts.com/
U-T’s moves raise employees’ fears of layoffs
More head-chopping could come this week, according to rumors
By Don Bauder, Jan. 6, 2014
U-T San Diego’s recent spending slashes have employees worried about possible layoffs — perhaps as early as this week.
Three management moves have generated the rumors: (1) The company told employees that it is ending its 401(k) match — that is, the company will no longer add 50 percent to a 401(k) contribution up to 6 percent of one’s salary. The move was effective January 1; (2) For several months, the company told employees to take all their vacation before the end of 2013. Such a move often suggests an effort to clear the books by year’s end; (3) Effective January 1, the U-T abruptly ended its U-T Rewards program, through which consumers could get discounts on products from certain advertisers. In its announcement, the U-T stated, “Any outstanding rewards that you have will no longer be eligible for redemption.”
Newsroom employees believe the layoffs could be concentrated in advertising and U-T TV, which they estimate is losing $400,000 to $500,000 a month. They note that the 401(k) memo from chief executive John Lynch stated, with unusual candor, “The media business continues to face the challenges of a difficult economic recovery.” Lynch blamed the move partly on the expenses of Obamacare.
In short, the happy face management formerly flashed when it claimed it was profitable seems no longer in evidence. Some employees, noting that the dropping of the 401(k) match is essentially a pay cut, are likely to stop contributing to the company’s 401(k) program and find an individual retirement account (IRA) outside the U-T.
There is even some speculative talk that the company or parts of it will be put up for sale, or the whole operation could be terminated so owner Doug Manchester could pursue his real estate plans with the land he bought when he purchased the paper. He has already filed for entitlements on some of the property.
…
Staples is just too big its almost never crowded so why the big wide aisles?
why so much junk at the counters………they should have condensed years ago you dont need 15,000 sq ft when 10-12000 will do just fine..
A few stores are starting to sub lease some extra pace
Radio Shack, well whats wrong the80’s RS was doing great back then.
As usual companies THROW AWAY their steady customers and mostly never to return again…Instead of closing 1100 stores why not go back to the 80’s and try once last thing……designate 1 store in each area that won’t sell phones and uses that space instead to sell Parts, the cheap ones.
I told you the time a few months back I got a brand new apple pro keyboard and they have very short usb cord so I wanted a 6 foot USB extension, well RS had them the $19.99 gold plated ones a dozen with probably a years worth of dust on them…the $4.95 one I have to order it on line..
“A Stubborn NYC Tenant Held Out For An Absolutely Insane Amount Of Money To Finally Leave His Rent-Controlled Apartment”
http://www.celebritynetworth.com/articles/entertainment-articles/stubborn-tenant-holds-absolutely-insane-amount-money-finally-leave-rent-controlled-nyc-apartment/
My renter hero!!
Well dont buy a apartment house with rent controlled tenants…..you will pay one way or another…..
What ever you believe about any kind of rent control. Its no different then any other stipulation/ easement with the property….The idea was to slow down turnover and make communities more stable and viable.
The problem came in the last say 15 years when rents and home prices went up so fast that you had some people paying $400 rent controlled some paying $1000 rent stabilized and some paying over $2000 for a fully renovated upgraded apartment all in the same building.
So landlords instead of just paying the tenant to leave, (oh they hate that) instead have done all sorts of illegal activities, and eventually the LL has to pay up the nose for it…