Bits Bucket for August 8, 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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Read it an weep, boys!
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/the-home-equity-line-crisis-might-not-be-as-bad-as-some-fear-2014-08-07-1210307
Is this the part of the article that should cause me to weep?:
“When a borrower’s payment schedule changes, his or her monthly payments could go up by 50%, Becker said. If you haven’t planned for it, the increase could be a budget-buster. And that’s what some in the industry — and regulators — worry about.”
Not if you can do this!
““Borrowers concerned about a HELOC reset can try to refinance into a new home-equity line, oftentimes with another lender, to restart the clock on interest-only payments rather than interest and principal,”
“And that’s what some in the industry — and regulators — worry about.”
+1 We need another round of HELOCs to “juice” the economy, and add the mortgage origination fees on to the back-end of the new mortgages. ‘Merica,,, phuc yeah!
A nation of broke @ss loosers
“If you have a 10-year draw period, you may have forgotten that you will be hit by a payment [increase],” he said.
Gawd, their chit is thick and really stinks!
Linked from my twitter page this week, what kind of home are you?
http://marketing.realtor.com/homequiz/
I’m a castle. So looks like I won’t be moving anytime soon.
Underwater shanty.
Faux chateau
I assume a lot of people are kicking tires again this weekend?
Just renewed my lease for another year, and have *ALL* of my housing expenses plotted on the spreadsheet for the next 12 months.
Loanowners can’t do that.
Loanowners can’t do that ??
Why Not ??
Repairs, maintenance, and the opportunity cost of time wasted on the unpredictable activities associated with loanownership are incalculable.
Mountain biking and rafting slated for this weekend.
Oh, but I do have to meet with the landlord to sign the new lease and have her pay to clean the windows, fix the AC, trim the fauna out back, yada, yada. Should take me 10 mins. Her time commitment is currently incalculable.
trim the fauna
Rabbits going at it like rabbits, eh?
Haha, oops, the other fauna.
Rats?
I’m just posting this for the website:
Study: Best Place to Buy Furniture
IKEA vs Target vs Walmart
Best Furniture for the Price: Walmart
Best Furniture for Small Spaces: IKEA
Best Furniture for the Money: Target
http://www.creditdonkey.com/buy-furniture.html
Best place for Swedish meatballs and chocolate cake cheap at a furniture store: IKEA.
Credit Donkey? Seriously?
A nation of broke @ss loosers
Actually, when my nephew was injured years ago in Iraq, I visited him at Walter Reed and stayed at suburb of D.C. and had an IKEA very close to me. Could even be the one close to Oxide.
Donk… how much did you pay for your shack?
S H E E P
Roseville, CA Housing Prices Sink 4% YoY; Prices Reductions Balloon 130% As Demand Collapses
http://www.movoto.com/roseville-ca/market-trends/
Falling housing prices is positively bullish and good for the economy!
your data is rubbish.
Get on board and spread the word.
La Mesa CA Housing Prices crater 5% YoY; Seller Price Reductions Skyrocket 75%
http://www.movoto.com/la-mesa-ca/market-trends/
Spread the word!~
Aren’t you supposed to say that the list is for renters only?
It does say something if you are buying furniture for your house from these places. I thought that living in East USA was elite.
IKEA is supposed to be “temporary” furniture until you can afford the good stuff. Of course, it’s never temporary. East coast living IS elite. They buy their stuff at IKEA new instead of fishing it out of the dumpster.
Some of the stuff at Wayfair online is as good and as expensive as any furniture store. My plan is to work on the house itself, and when it comes time for real furniture, I will find an Ebay jockey. Those boomers are leaving behind more than houses.
A couple of years ago, my wife and I wrote up a shopping list and went to IKEA. After a few minutes in the maze of the store layout, I realized I had left the list in the car, but simply getting out of the building (I gather that this is part of the charm) was an ordeal. I might have walked a few miles. It took half an hour for me to return.
simply getting out of the building (I gather that this is part of the charm) was an ordeal.
Yes, that’s all according to plan.
Roaches check in, but they don’t check out!
I always wonder what the fire marshal thinks about purposely-designed mazes of shelves with no obvious or direct way out. They seem like a disaster waiting to happen. Family Dollar also has them down to an art.
“I always wonder what the fire marshal thinks about purposely-designed mazes of shelves with no obvious or direct way out. They seem like a disaster waiting to happen.”
+1 Good point!
I would turn a corner, and then another corner, and another. Showroom after showroom after showroom. No windows, either. I was following a yellow line on the floor, like the string Ariadne gave to Theseus in the myth, but rather than lead me out of the labyrinth it led me in deeper.
I was trapped there once behind a sea of about 30 people. Everyone was laughing at how ridiculous it all was.
You have to look for the “Shortcut to: ” signs tucked (mostly out of view, in small print) in certain corners. Still doesn’t lead to a direct exit but it allows you to avoid most of the store. I just avoid the store completely now…
Need to get my China comments in early. Despite this country being a nation of broke @ss loosers, China is having no trouble increasing its exports and its trade surplus:
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/business/2014-08/08/content_18276083.htm
¨Need to get my China comments in early. ¨
Why?
Excerpt about the China’s trade surplus:
Trade surplus for July reached an all-time high of $47.3 billion, soaring by around 170 percent from the previous year, up 50 percent from June, the data showed.
http://usa.chinadaily.com.cn/world/2014-08/07/content_18269120.htm
People in the Bay Area better rent, the Chinese are playing your game.
Have about three comments about China coming but will post this last one. The China’s housing market has reached one of those states we are all familiar with, the buyers will not buy at the present prices and the sellers will not lower their prices. Major difference between the two countries is that Chinese wages are growing at 10% per year not 2%. Affordability can be restored in a reasonable time.
The articles not posting are about China’s trade surplus hitting a record high and another successful IPO for a Chinese high tech. Another company which sounds like it is straight out of Silicon Valley.
Have about three comments about China coming
ADD dan, Thank you for always warning us. We get worried when you post and it has not posted yet.
“Major difference between the two countries is that Chinese wages are growing at 10% per year not 2%.”
I wonder how long that will last once their construction industry has fully tanked?
China had to weaken the Yuan to save their industries, which are barely squeeking by on the slimmest of profit margins. I guess they’re too weak to compete without a favorable exchange rate, just like the Japanese and Koreans. Someday the Yuan will replace the dollar. Suuuuure.
But meanwhile, China wages will continue to grow at a double-digit rate FOREVER.
Breaking news we are bombing ISIS artillery.
Just another day for this Nobel Peace Prize president
Going country for Obama:
I`m back in the Iraq again
Out where a friend is a enemy
Where the camels feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in Iraq again
Ridin` the range once more
Totin` my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is right
Back in Iraq again
Whoopi-Goldberg-aye-oh
Rockin` to and fro
Back in Iraq again
Whoopi Goldberg-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in Iraq again
“an enemy” for Oxide
I don’t recall needing enemies, I have enough already thankyou.
Or did the autocorrect bring up my name?
I was hoping China articles would post but another excerpt:
BEIJING - China’s export volume was stronger than expected in July due to recovering external demand, with the monthly trade surplus hitting an all-time high, according to new customs data published on Friday.
Last month, exports surged 14.5 percent from the previous year reaching $212.9 billion, while imports dropped 1.6 percent to $165.6 billion, the General Administration of Customs (GAC) said in a statement.
The export growth rate more than doubled from the 7.2-percent rise seen in June. It’s the fastest rate of growth in more than a year
Also I would like to revise my song:
Going country for Obama:
I`m back in the Iraq again
Out where a friend is an enemy
Where the camels feed
On the lowly gypsum weed
Back in Iraq again
Ridin` the range once more
Totin` my old .44
Where you sleep out every night
And the only law is might
Back in Iraq again
Whoopi-Goldberg-aye-oh
Rockin` to and fro
Back in Iraq again
Whoopi Goldberg-aye-yay
I go my way
Back in Iraq again
Out where a friend is an enemy
Dude you’re clueless about math and patterns. Count the syllables if your going to “re-write” a song. “Out where a friend is a friend” does not equal Out where a friend is an enemy etc etc line by line.
“Step 2: Rewrite your section in syllable format. Split your words into their syllables.”
“Syllables” are the number (#) of speech sounds a word has when you say it.
Car has 1 word sound (1 syllable).
Party has 2 syllables (par-ty).
Exterminator has 5 syllables (ex-ter-min-a-tor).
The sentence, “John went to the ex-ter-min-a-tor”, has 9 syllables.
http://www.learneverythingabout.com/lyrics/songwriter_exercises/songwriter_rhythm.html
“Count the syllables if your going to “re-write” a song.”
How about, “you’re?”
Thanks for another lame, off-topic, racist post. Where did you crib that?
I just ran my credit score last night; it’s now under 800. Here’s their reasoning and remedy:
You have no recent activity from a non-mortgage installment loan.
Your credit report shows no recent non-mortgage installment loans (such as auto or student loans). This might be because you have no open installment loans, or because the lender has not recently reported information about this account. Having an installment loan, in combination with other credit accounts, demonstrates that you are able to manage a variety of credit types.
What to do about this: Although the credit inquiry associated with opening an installment loan may lower your score in the short term, you might consider opening an installment loan. Opening and responsibly managing an installment loan will demonstrate your ability to handle different types of credit.
my auto insurance policy specifically cites my lack of a mortgage loan in my credit report as a factor in determining rates.
No mortgage, no revolving debt; freedom.
I got denied a credit card because I didn’t have a credit card to show that I knew how to make credit card payments. Paying cash for everything, including my cars, wasn’t good enough for them. Finally my bank gave me a card after they checked my account to see how much money I had saved from being a lifetime renter. But if I had ten other cards maxed to the limit, I could probably easily get ten more. No wonder the banks are messed up.
I was denied my first card by Wells Fargo in my youth (1980’s) despite having a very good job and $10K in my WF savings account…they would not even do a secured card w/ a $500 limit. Asked my credit union for the same deal and they had no problem with that and have got all my banking business since, will never do business w/ Wells Fargo again and it was very foolish of them to blow off a young customer they might keep for another 50 years or so.
I should probably it offensive that we have to use credit to get credit, but for some reason I don’t. I think it’s pretty well known by now that everyone should have revolving credit, even if they barely use it, and it’s a game that two can play.
I pay about $20 a year to maintain credit cards. Financing my car cost about in $500 total finance charges. Several times I deliberately did not pay off my credit cards every month, to avoid being flagged as a deadbeat. In return for pretending to be poorer than I was, I got a high FICO which gave me the best rate on my mortgage, which saves far more than I paid in total finance charges.
With a little finagling it’s easy for anyone to maintain a high FICO with very little credit activity or fees. I think that the only advantage to NOT having a credit card is the privacy/freedom of not having any information in the system. That’s a choice for homesteaders and go-timers, and I have tremendous respect for that. But since my car, my house, and my body are no longer spring chickens and are all subject to deterioration, I’d rather be at least somewhat plugged in.
“my body are no longer spring chickens”
Another weekend elbow deep on the mulch plantation?
Lolz
Oxide, not fully paying off the credit card bill sounds like a good idea - the banks need to think they can gouge you with high interest rates before they will give you a good credit rating. I don’t plan on needing a loan any time soon, but for some reason car insurance is cheaper if you have a good credit score.
“I don’t plan on needing a loan any time soon, but for some reason car insurance is cheaper if you have a good credit score.”
+1 Your college degree also gets you lower insurance rates.
The President says he won’t send in any troops to fight the Iraqis battles for them. It must be driving the right wing chicken hawks crazy.
Osama was right, spread us out, stretched to our limits.
Hey Junkie.
M U P P E T
You’re enraged.
how many homes did you lose? whats your motive for a depression?
Should I change my moniker to The Enrager?
Did you dump your Treasurys too soon?
Aug. 8, 2014, 7:13 a.m. EDT
Treasury yields tumble to 14-month low on Iraq concern
NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Treasury prices jumped Friday amid global geopolitical concerns after President Barack Obama approved specified airstrikes in northern Iraq late Thursday. No airstrikes have taken place yet. The 10-year Treasury note (10_YEAR -0.83%) yield, which falls as prices rise, sank 6 basis points to 2.366%, a new low since June 19, 2013. The 30-year bond (30_YEAR -0.31%) yield dropped 4 basis points to 3.193% and the 5-year note (5_YEAR -1.43%) yield fell 4 basis points to 1.561%.
Aug. 8, 2014, 4:19 p.m. EDT
10-year Treasury yield falls for fourth week in five
By Ben Eisen, MarketWatch
Reuters
U.S. President Barack Obama
NEW YORK (MarketWatch)—Treasury prices climbed Friday, sending benchmark yields to their fourth weekly decline in five, as investors weighed escalating conflicts across Ukraine and Iraq.
The 10-year Treasury note 10_YEAR -0.12% yield, which falls as prices rise, was down half a basis point at 2.420%, the lowest close since June 2013. The yield fell as low as 2.350% overnight, according to Tradeweb. It’s down 8.5 basis points in the week.
Stocks closed higher.
Treasury investors initially reacted to news late Thursday that President Barack Obama will allow targeted airstrikes in northern Iraq as a means of protecting U.S. forces in the region. The U.S. launched airstrikes on Friday.
The market cut some of its rise after a report by news agency RIA that Russia wants to de-escalate its conflict with Ukraine. U.S. government debt walked back nearly all of its daily gains after a report suggested Russian troops were returning to their base.
“Flight to quality gripped the market, driving rates to new lows with price action likely exacerbated by lower liquidity,” said research strategists at Bank of America Merrill Lynch, led by Priya Misra.
The 30-year bond (30_YEAR -0.09%) yield fell half a basis point on the day to 3.231% and the 5-year note (5_YEAR -0.24%) yield dropped 1.5 basis points to 1.618%.
…
Aug. 8, 2014, 6:34 a.m. EDT
The stock market: Is it worse than it was in 2000?
Stocks may be more overpriced now than before the tech bubble burst
By Brett Arends, MarketWatch
You know how I reported that this is now the third biggest stock market bubble in U.S. history?
I was wrong.
By one way of looking at it, it isn’t the third biggest bubble at all.
It may be the biggest.
Yes, really. Bigger even than 1999-2000 - the daddy bear of all stock-market bubbles.
Yikes.
That’s because the average overvaluation today may actually be higher than it was back then. There are fewer wacko bubble stocks - but there are also far fewer good-value stocks.
We tend to think of 1999 as the off-the-charts nuttiness classic of all time, the “Caddyshack” of stock-market wackiness. And when you look only at the big picture, that’s right.
…
Real journalists frame the narrative:
http://www.infowars.com/mainstream-media-americans-against-wide-open-borders-are-anti-immigration/
A nation of broke @ss loosers
Washington Post - Almost 20 percent of people near retirement age have no retirement savings
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/08/07/almost-20-percent-of-people-near-retirement-age-have-no-retirement-savings/
Probably have bad teeth too, which can aggravate health issues.
In your *FACE* Seattle
http://www.denverpost.com/broncos/ci_26297369/seattle-seahawks-denver-broncos-preseason-game
50% off all Papa John’s orders the day after the Broncos win, and with this much win this season I hope to reach 250 pounds by February
Put a topping on it!
Goon - Broncos WIN, Broncos WIN. Until the Superbowl rolls around and then……sorry - got distracted.
Did you catch the story on CBS local station there in Denver about how most of the pot shops are in low income nabes. Man o man - who could thunk that eh?
I don’t care about the Souper Bowl. By the time that game happens I’m gonna be like Augustus Gloop with month-old Cheese Sticks™ wedged in my fat rolls.
Ouch - them cheese sticks gotta hurt man.
Don’t get me wrong - I have been a life long Bronco fan - still got the season ticks even though I don’t live there right now. Just seems that the whole darn town gets all worked up about the Donks and then things blow and the whole place goes into a stupor. All the while Rome burns (up in pot smoke that is).
Where I live, Papa John’s will give you a free 10-inch pizza with a ticket stub (you still have to visit to Kane’s Furniture to pick up the voucher) if our pro baseball team’s pitchers strike out ten or more batters during the game. With MLB strikeouts surging, I’m surprised the chain still is offering the promotion.
And now, some comic relief:
“With a bankruptcy and pending foreclosure, Christine Hansen would find it nearly impossible to buy a house or get a mortgage.
Yet Hansen, 49, is in line to become treasurer and eventual president of Florida Realtors, the powerful organization whose mission is to “advance Florida’s real estate industry.”
http://tinyurl.com/l5jks49
I think this is a great idea! She can best serve the real estate market because she has personal expericence with ALL aspects of the business. (especially in FL)
There are reports circulating that realtors in San Diego are more corrupt than anywhere else.
How do they rank corruption, by the fees charged?
Today’s read from Zerohedge -
Read on peeps. Happy days are here again!!!
http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2014-08-08/housing-recovery-fizzles-new-scheme-emerges-boost-fico-scores-changing-definition
And how will that magically change the fact that housing demand is at 19 year lows and falling along with price declines resuming again?
That is the question is it not?
I much prefer holding a yard sale on my property.
Will lows in this latest recession match the property
lows of 2009-2012? It’s hard to tell, but now up to
2015 should probably be a buyer’s market. Especially
in rural sustainable America.
Buy with confidence youngsters. This may be the best
chance in your lifetimes.
CONGRESSMAN WANTS TO BAN SALE OF ENHANCED BODY ARMOR TO CIVILIANS
Gov’t has more rights than the people, according to lawmaker
Congressman wants to ban sale of enhanced body armor to civilians
by CHRIS EGER | GUNS.COM | AUGUST 8, 2014
Rep. Mike Honda, (D-CA), has submitted a bill to the U.S. House that would prohibit the sale, use or possession of what he terms military-grade body armor.
Honda reasons that this measure would aid law enforcement in taking out an active shooter, since the active shooter wouldn’t be able to obtain body armor.
“There is no reason this type of armor, which is designed for warfare, should be available in our communities except for those who need it, like law enforcement,” Honda said in a statement last week. “There’s nothing more dangerous than what a well-armored, unstoppable active shooter can do. This bill is common-sense and long overdue.”
“Congressman wants to ban sale of enhanced body armor to civilians”
Why not limit the ban to felons, leave honest folks alone?
Because some animals are more special than others.
FOURTH-GRADER SUSPENDED FOR BRINGING NERF GUN TO SHOW AND TELL
by MIKAEL THALEN | INFOWARS.COM | AUGUST 8, 2014
A 9-year-old Georgia boy was suspended this week after bringing a plastic Nerf gun to show and tell.
Ramsey McDonald, a fourth-grade student at Miller Elementary School, brought the item to class after a teacher asked students to present their favorite toys.
“They were trying to get the kids to know each other,” McDonald’s father, Scott, told 13WMAZ News.
McDonald reportedly told his father about the assignment several days prior, saying he intended to bring in several toys including his IPad.
Thinking nothing of the assignment, Scott was shocked to receive a call the following morning that accused his son of bringing a “weapon” to school.
“They told me my son brought a weapon to school and they asked me if I was aware,” Scott said. “I asked them what it was and they said it was a plastic Nerf gun.”
Scott, who says he likely would have advised his son against bringing the toy if he’d have known, was even more surprised to learn that his son would be suspended for three days.
“He told me he didn’t know they would think it was a weapon or he wouldn’t have brought it to school,” Scott said.
According to Houston School Superintendent Mark Scott, McDonald’s punishment was later “reduced” to a three days in-school suspension.
The superintendent also claimed that school officials “never” viewed the toy as dangerous or weapon-like.
Scott refuted the superintendent’s claim, saying a school official told him that the suspension was directly over his son having “something that looked like a weapon.”
Scott, who says he never received written notification on his son’s suspension, plans to meet with the superintendent to further discuss the school’s handling of the situation.
Such absurd incidents have become increasingly common as more and more schools adopt “zero tolerance” policies towards anything remotely related to firearms.
An 11-year-old boy was interrogated and suspended last February after accidentally bringing a plastic toy gun to school. The boy, who had left the plastic gun in his jacket pocket and realized the mistake, was subjected to “intimidation tactics, threats and accusations of lying” after alerting teachers voluntarily.
Incredibly, items that even slightly resemble the shape of a firearm are now deemed dangerous.
Last September, a 9-year-old boy in Detroit was suspended after a teacher accused him of pretending his spinning top was a gun.
Most famously, a 7-year-old student was suspended last year after allegedly chewing his pop-tart breakfast pastry into the shape of a handgun.
That same year, a 5-year-old girl talking about her “Hello Kitty” Bubble gun was suspended for “terroristic threats” after another student found the discussion offensive.