Tue 25 Mar 2008
From Screaming Frog Productions:
More information about this clip can be found here:
http://www.thejobtheshort.com/
Hat tip to chicagofinance for this gem.
Tue 25 Mar 2008
From Screaming Frog Productions:
More information about this clip can be found here:
http://www.thejobtheshort.com/
Hat tip to chicagofinance for this gem.
March 25th, 2008 at 5:47 pm
first?
March 25th, 2008 at 6:09 pm
I guess that the “day-laborers” left behind were all realtors or mortgage brokers?
March 25th, 2008 at 6:15 pm
That looks like a Carlos Mencia skit.
Very funny!
March 25th, 2008 at 6:29 pm
The subprime crisis is just the tip of the iceberg. Fundamental changes in American life may turn today’s McMansions into tomorrow’s tenements.
http://www.theatlantic.com/doc/200803/subprime
March 25th, 2008 at 6:30 pm
Invert. Always invert.
- Charlie Munger
March 25th, 2008 at 6:35 pm
#4 I would be very nervous about buying in any development that’s less the 10 years old. The place could deteriorate in a hurry. Especially with no money down subprime owner occupiers and out of state investors owning a large chunk of the homes.
March 25th, 2008 at 6:59 pm
So, bairen, isn’t the trick to buy up a bunch with gubmint redevelopment money, take out a “remodel” grant, and then collect rents until the places rot?
One the places start to fall down, you start accepting Section 8. That’ll get you through another 5-10 years after the termites make the floors creak.
After that, retire.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:07 pm
“$999999999 Are you JC sellers on crack?”
Gary??
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/rfs/618472041.html
March 25th, 2008 at 7:15 pm
BC Bob,
Whatever that link was is gone now. I could only imagine.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:26 pm
Greg and Barbara Abbott have already cut the price twice on the two-bedroom condominium they are trying to sell on the Las Vegas strip. They’re asking $669,900 now — and an offer in the $650,000 range means they’ll lose money.
Abbott thinks hesitant buyers don’t realize how reasonable the current price is. “They’re not really being realistic about what the place is worth,” he said.
F*cking idiots.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:33 pm
Another story from the world of complete deadbeat insanity that surrounds me:
One of my clients, an “investor” whose short sales I’m now doing, admitted to me today that he had the idea of advertising one of his beautiful, suburban homes (some of you guys may recognize it as the nice contempo with pool I have listed in Clinton) as “rooms for rent”, in the hopes of jamming it full of illegals @ $900 a pop. He figured he could pack the place, collect deposits and pocket both the deposits and rent money until the sheriff sale finally went off.
He even admitted that he went as far as to put the ad in the paper and began fielding calls.
Why didn’t he go through with it?
“I like you. And, I didn’t want you to have problems or have to explain to the neighbors why there were 25 South Americans in my house.”
Oy vey. There has to be an easier way to make a buck.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:34 pm
My gawd…if you’re reading this right now, at 7:31 p.m., you have to turn on NBC, where there’s actually an informercial disguised as a news report from something called the “Mortgage Loan Network.”
Glad you added a humor thread, JB.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:35 pm
Gary, the last line was supposed to be
“are you LV sellers on crack?”
March 25th, 2008 at 7:43 pm
Another disgusting thing about today’s McMansions is that there aren’t even any decent architectural details to rip out.
The things are complete and unadulterated fluff.
Clot, I’m stealing one of your words: mayonnaise.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:44 pm
I had to look up the spelling on m-w.com.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:49 pm
Pat (14)-
Plenty of copper wiring and fixtures to rip out, though…
March 25th, 2008 at 7:52 pm
Pretty sad when million dollar homes come clad in paint-grade/mdf moulding.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:54 pm
Clot,
Scrap dealers don’t want PEX
March 25th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
Bush to visit NJ on Friday
BY RAJU CHEBIUM
GANNETT NEWS SERVICE
Tuesday, March 25, 2008
Post Comment
WASHINGTON - President Bush is scheduled to visit New Jersey on Friday and discuss the nation’s housing crisis.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino said today Bush will visit a credit-counseling agency named Novadebt in Freehold.
“During his visit he will tour the facility and make a statement on housing,” Perino said during the daily press briefing at the White House.
Novadebt is approved by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development to provide counseling to those facing housing-finance problems. If people call a housing hotline, Novadebt is one of the agencies they could be referred to.
On its Web site, Novadebt describes itself as a nonprofit group that provides financial education and free housing and credit counseling services.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:56 pm
From Bloomberg:
Wall Street May Face $460 Bln in Losses, Goldman Says
Wall Street banks, brokerages and hedge funds may report $460 billion in credit losses from the collapse of the subprime mortgage market, or almost four times the amount already disclosed, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Profits will continue to wane, other analysts said.
“There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is still rather dim,” Goldman analysts including New York-based Andrew Tilton said in a note to investors today. They estimated that residential mortgage losses will account for half the total, and commercial mortgages as much as 20 percent.
March 25th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
When we sold our parent’s home, the guy who bought it told us he could pay for the sale if he ripped out the floor-to-ceiling chestnut, brass and marble fireplace from the parlor, pulled out all of the three-inch high-gloss pocket doors, and took down the chestnut ceiling from the garage.
But he liked the way it all looked, so he didn’t.
How many people could pay off the mortgage on their McMansions doing something like that?
March 25th, 2008 at 8:01 pm
I believe this is the video of regan that shoreguy meant to link in the main thread today
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=6201749097015961790&q=regAN+DRUGS&total=259&start=0&num=10&so=0&type=search&plindex=0
March 25th, 2008 at 8:02 pm
maybe you could invite Bush on the NNJ Bubble Blog short sale bus tour….
March 25th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
1st -Long time reader/Rare poster –Got question for you boys. It’s existential in nature.
I got my mother/brother in a FL nursing home. Brother wheelchair bound got hurt in 90 in Army. They will be coming home to NJ in may, decided to bring back -Nursing home falling apart see Sept 07 NY Sunday Times article about Warburg Pincus buying nursing home and creating the equivalent of nursing home slums.. Plan to rent house. Will use some of their monies/some mine.
Found 2 wheelchair friendly house (difficult in most areas). First one is in my local neighborhood expenses will be very affordable/ manageable (Ft.Lee area), but a bit cramped. I got to live with them until either buy house & Sis&her kids move with them (she’s not to hot about the idea, even thought it will financially help her) or replacement in NJ nursing home (both together)(I’m a single guy).
Second one in Saddle River, essentially a big beautiful house (yard, pool,etc.) - double the rent- still doable but less margin for errors. I don’t care about Saddle River’s rep, it does not rub my ego. It’s the only one I could find that had the space/pool/comforts.
Either way plan to stay 18 months or so, until decision time. In the Saddle River one & I even negotiated a lower rent vs. early release from lease, if party sell house (which I doubt it looking at market/house/asking price).
I prefer to live by myself but got to do this, until I find a more permanent solution.
Question is do I:
Get Saddle River/Spend bundle/Have good 2 summers before decision.
Or pick my neighborhood & cheaper area. Which could help if/when I buy the house.
March 25th, 2008 at 8:26 pm
24 Exis…
This doesn’t exactly answer your question like: “Choose door #2″, but…
I find these decisions are best made when the answer seems clear. A gut feel that just seems right. So if you’re completely tossed up about which way to go, wait a few days, gather more facts, keep scratching at the issue and something will expose itself as a either “the better choice” or the “worse choice”…
Sorry I don’t have a concrete answer.
So if you’re completely
March 25th, 2008 at 8:29 pm
Gary[9],
Here it is. Did you post this?
Reply to: hous-618472041@craigslist.org
Date: 2008-03-25, 5:16PM EDT
Is it just me or does any potential buyers out there think sellers in Jersey City are on crack or some other hard drug? If you look at the coast from Weehawken down North Hoboken, and finally to the are around Jersey Avenue in Jersey City, there are dozens of new high rise condos going up and scheduled to open within a year. That’s hundreds of new units due to open. All which are starting in the “low 500’s” for a one bedroom/studio. With $500 - $1,000 a month in HOA fees!
So we are in a recession, inventory is about to blow up, credit is tight, and prices in Jersey City (including existing homes) are sky high and haven’t come down. Wall street just cut thousands of jobs. How do you expect to sell existing condos/properties for the same price of the new condos!? Where is this money coming from when lending is so tight? Who is going to buy your properties? Foreign & domestic investors are going into NYC, and maybe there is a lure in Hoboken, but Jersey City? Come on people!
I’ve seen homes posted for more than half a year now, and only come down to a “price improved” price of $10K cheaper. The Beacon is a ghost town next to the ghetto with sky high prices. People at Mandalay and Portofino are selling at Trump Tower Prices. Keep holding on to the dream of selling for your high asking price. The days of fast purchases are over people of Jersey City, wake up and start adjusting your prices! If not, ride it on into foreclosure
March 25th, 2008 at 8:30 pm
Existential Questioner
to stay in the theme of your name i would suggest you consider whether short term luxury really increases your happiness more then an increased long term financial stability. It sounds like they both have merits, but will a pool and yard be worth the extra $$$ in the end? i dont know everyone has to answer that for themselves, for some the answer is yes, for some the answer is no. best of luck!
March 25th, 2008 at 8:37 pm
In the Saddle River one & I even negotiated a lower rent vs. early release from lease, if party sell house (which I doubt it looking at market/house/asking price).
EQ,
I think you might be underestimating the risk here.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
re: jersey city
Maybe, they did not get the memo there yet, builder cancellations are running around 43%, perhaps not in Jersey City or Hoboken but it’s coming, wall st is not hiring right now.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:06 pm
If I were taking care of my brother and mother, I’d ask myself the same questions, but replace with the following, “What would I do if it were all my own money being spent?.”
The answer to that is the personal protective fiduciary in you.
If you can still say you’d freely spend on the pool, then go for it.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
#20 “There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is still rather dim,”
Don’t worry that light will got bright soon enough because that light is a freight train heading down hill in the dark and all those Wall St wizards have their feet stuck in the tracks.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:25 pm
re: (24)Existential Questioner
Tough spot to be in. I have a friend in a similar situation with his retired mother and indigent brother.
All I can say is he chose to keep his mother and brother closer than further away.
Closer with nearby activities and mass transit would be a better choice in my opinion rather than the burbs with a pool but with little options for socialization.
We are talking about mental health here as well and they may be better off with more people around to socialize with and less travel distance for you.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:30 pm
Guys,
I’m guessing the pool is less for luxury and more for brother’s and/or mom’s physical exercise.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
I dunno. He’s “pooling” it with the word comfort, not therapy. So I’m going for him deciding between being fiscally conservative, but cramped, or having some extra spending money from mom and bro’s accounts, so maybe why not go for the gusto as long as he’s not paying for all of it.
Nothing wrong with that. As long as bro and Mom get their Farina.
March 25th, 2008 at 9:52 pm
Pat Says:
March 25th, 2008 at 7:59 pm
“When we sold our parent’s home, the guy who bought it told us he could pay for the sale if he ripped out the floor-to-ceiling chestnut, brass and marble fireplace from the parlor, pulled out all of the three-inch high-gloss pocket doors, and took down the chestnut ceiling from the garage.
But he liked the way it all looked, so he didn’t.
How many people could pay off the mortgage on their McMansions doing something like that?”
What really disturbs me are the people who rip all that good stuff out of old homes in order to make them look more like McMansions. And it happens.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:00 pm
#35 Yeah. I looked at a house in Metuchen in 1999 that had all those pocket doors removed and it’s beautiful chestnut railings ruined by the current owner’s fake wood paneling. Yes the clown attached wood paneling through sections of the chestnut rails.
I would love to get a nice pre 1940’s colonial with hardwood floors and the orignal architectural details still there. There’s a nice house from the 1880’s in Warren on .97 of an acre that’s been dropped down to 450k. I think if i keep waiting something like that will come along in the mid to high 300’s.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:15 pm
JC,Hoboken,NYC and NJ commuter towns. 2008 and 2009 will be much worse than 2007.
Bear Stearns
All other Wall St layoffs
Floor Brokers on the NYSE are making low 100s vs 300k-500k
Mercantile Exchange is unravelling as well. All electronic trading
Economy is headed downward. The bottom line is that there will be fewer buyers in 2008/09.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
#37 mr potter,
There will be shorter waits for parking permits all across the train towns.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:35 pm
BOOOOOOYAA
“Depeche Mode have finally set a date for when work starts on their forthcoming album, which will hopefully see the light of day in a years time. The band had a meeting just before Easter to make a rough time line and listen to demos. The meeting took place in Santa Barbara, and was also attended by the yet-to-be-announced producer of the album. Sessions are expected to kick off in early May.
According to sources close to the band, Ben Hillier will do a repeat stint as producer for Depeche Mode on their forthcoming album. Hillier, who’s CV includes names like U2, Smashing Pumpkins and more recently The Rascals and The Horrors, also helmed Mode’s most recent full length studio output, “Playing The Angel”.
Other names already known to be involved with the record include Sie Medway Smith, who worked as a programmer on Martin’s demos, and Christian Eigner, Andrew Phillpott and Kurt Uenala who worked with Dave on his compositions.”
March 25th, 2008 at 10:49 pm
WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Monday gave employers a green light to reduce health benefits for millions of retirees who turn 65 and become eligible for Medicare. The justices turned away a legal challenge from AARP, the nation’s leading senior-citizens lobby, which had contended the lower benefits for older retirees violated the federal law against age discrimination.
The court’s action upholds, in effect, a rule adopted last year by federal regulators that says the “coordination of retiree health benefits with Medicare” is exempt from the anti-age-bias law.
Fortunately, this only applies to Private Sector Retirees. Fortunately, when Medicare fails in 2014, Public Sector retirees will still have full medical provided by Tax Payers as is their due.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:50 pm
#24 - existential -
….”I even negotiated a lower rent vs. early release from lease, if party sell house (which I doubt it looking at market/house/asking price).”
if this means that they will be showing the house while you’re all living there, then i think that would really be a bother - i wouldn’t do it - personally, i’d rather be cramped in fort lee.
March 25th, 2008 at 10:54 pm
Re :40
Yes that is the public employees God given right!
The union creed goes something like this” All NJEA and PBA members shall have lifetime care and pension provided by the private sector, until their death” .
JIM
March 25th, 2008 at 11:51 pm
some bear brokers have already started at another morgan in boston. if you can bring $1m to the firm each year, you will be fine.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=conewsstory&refer=conews&tkr=BSC:US&sid=a9ykinzrvGvk
March 26th, 2008 at 6:08 am
If Bush is coming to NJ, may be we all should go to the event with NJREREPORT T-shirts and seat behind him.
March 26th, 2008 at 10:14 am
Clot, that story had me in tears.
I think I’m going to start a survivalist cult. Anybody want to be a charter member?
March 26th, 2008 at 10:26 am
#44 SG - A euro goes to whoever get a POP sticker on the limo! (who’s taking a million dollar dare)
March 26th, 2008 at 11:16 am
JC/Hob is running high because of high NYC rents and spill over. The honest truth is nothing is really selling I have been trying to buy and the inventory is rather stagnant. High rents which I don’t think will recede are driving the prices, when that entry level studio or 1 bedroom is 2k a month to rent, the sales price will be higher than you would expect but not the 400-500k that these developers think they are getting but more like 275k-300k and at that price they would sell. I live in a building that is converting and decided not to buy my apartment I pay $2300 in rent for my apartment and to buy it they wanted 460k and on top of that taxes of 10k per year and cam costs of $7500 per year. It was insane, these developers will be sitting on rentals or will be substantially cutting prices.
JC/Hob will hurt next year because Jr. bankers/people working in finance industry ops will not get the big bonus next year, are getting laid off and will not have the discretionary funds or job security to buy homes, additionally mommy and daddy won’t have the liquid funds in their investment account to assist with the down payment.
The Alpines, Franklin Lakes, Short Hills, Essex Fells will be hurting because senior I-Bank execs will be out of work, not geting the big bonus etc., thus hurting their ability to spend 2-3 million on a home. This will then trickle down to their neighbor the developer who built the homes, and on and on and on. Go to any of these “Rich Towns” and you will see that you have Bankers, Real Estate people, Corporate executives, and then others who feed on these people(Financial Advisors, Small Business people targeting affluent customers). So if we take two groups out of the picture that leaves the executives and they cannot support the feeders thus collapsing the prosperity of the area. I know people who in 1990 bought homes in the above mentioned areas 40-50% off the original listing price.
March 26th, 2008 at 4:59 pm
Rob,
You can have survivalist cult meetings on my NE PA farmland. See my post on the tax story thread