http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2008/04/governors_schools_to_be_scaled.html

clot: lighten the f— up….!?!?!

Kudlow blows.

Do the math.

Wells Fargo To Acquire Deposit, Loan Accounts From Citibank….consumer and business deposit accounts and loans… from six northern Nevada and two California locations of Citigroup Inc.’s (C) Citibank unit.”

Grim,

Nothing odd about it at all, actually. C has been ditching some outlying low-population and low-marketshare markets for some time now. A year or two ago I noticed that some Citi locations I used to use in Upstate New York were being operated by a different bank.

Epps’ pay would climb to $275G in 3 years

http://www.nj.com/news/jjournal/jerseycity/index.ssf?/base/news-6/1208154341273760.xml&coll=3

Monday, April 14, 2008
By KEN THORBOURNE
JOURNAL STAFF WRITER
Good morning, boys and girls. Can you count to a quarter million?

Jersey City Superintendent of Schools Charles T. Epps Jr. is expected to ink a new three-year deal this week that will pay him $252,000 a year starting July 1, bump him up to $260,000 next year, and pay $275,000 the third year, according to persons familiar with the negotiations.

The agreement represents a roughly 4 percent hike for the 63-year-old schools chief who’s been hauling down nearly $242,000 a year, including his $1,000 a month housing allowance, for running the state’s second-largest school system.

“I think that’s kind of a lot of money, while teachers go underpaid,” School 11 parent Frank Ramos said about Epps’s anticipated pay raise. adding: “I didn’t even know he was the superintendent.”

No school official would confirm the new salary figures, and through his spokesman, Epps would only say, “There is no finalized contract as yet.”

A public hearing on the new pact is scheduled for Thursday, 5 p.m. at School 11, 886 Bergen Ave., when the attorney who negotiated the deal on behalf of the school board is expected to make a presentation.

Even before the anticipated raise, Epps was one of the highest-paid public officials in Hudson County, out-earning both Jersey City Mayor Jerramiah T. Healy ($118,000) and Hudson County Executive Tom DeGise ($133,000).

But compared to other superintendents, Epps’s deal represents the going rate. For example, the superintendent of Newark – Marion A. Bolden – makes $270,000 a year.

And West New York’s schools chief Robert Van Zanten is paid $231,000 a year to run a 7,000-student district that is less than a quarter of the size of the Jersey City school district, which has 30,000 students. Union City’s schools boss Stanley Sanger is paid $202,000 a year in a district with 11,000 students. North Bergen Superintendent Robert Dandorph earns $198,000 a year for running a 8,000-student system.

“This is one position throughout the nation that has been able to command these kind of salaries,” said Mike Yaple, spokesman for the New Jersey School Boards Association, which is also a headhunter for school bosses.

“Around 1990, the typical support search yielded 100 applications,” Yaple said. “Now if we get one or two dozen, you are doing well.”

As teacher salaries rise, administrative and superintendent jobs become less attractive, he said.

Besides, Yaple added, superintendents don’t get summers off.

Again.

re: new tunnels.

I remember researching about the timelines for these tunnels and you may have to wait another 7-10 years before this opens. For my situation, I’ll take the sure thing (i.e. existing lines)

Further, in M&A, one learns that no asset is more fleeting than “human capital.”

The new tunnel will throw a monkeywrench into that mix. While the northern lines have access to midtown through Secaucus junction, they’ll get one seat Midtown service once the tunnel opens. Once they do, how will the current “train towns” justify the premium?

Paterson is prime!

If all that stands between NYC and oblivion is liberal politics, then the city should have gone underwater years go.

Most of us here are familiar with the “death of the suburbs” concept. Assuming this model comes to fruition, then train towns could gain an even greater premium, at least relative to the surrounding areas.

MLS# 2493434 – 37 North Star Drive

Purchased: 4/30/2002
Purchase Price: $589,000

Current asking: $585,000 (OLP $634k)
DOM: 47

Current asking is at the 2002 price. This place would need to be near $690k just to break even with inflation.

Grow up, and get real. F*#k “if only”. Nobody can put offers through the internet, and it’s not happening anytime soon.

If you’re going to get a deal, you’re going to have to work for it. Don’t like that? Then just pay the asking, and shut your mouth.

As a business person in real estate, you should be listening to homebuyers gripes. What’s with the arrogance? Foxton’s may not have been a success, but there was a market for their service. It just wasn’t developed enough, nor was their model perfect.

Unfortunately the towns I’m interested in have remained stubbornly high unlike some of the fringe or further towns from NYC. Sometimes it’s better to be patient. I’m willing to sacrifice now and enjoy living life in the city than mortgaged to the hilt in the burbs, even though I’m a bit cramped. So for you to tell me to just pay asking and shut my mouth, I say to u “F-off”.

Is it naive to think someone can’t make an offer to a homebuyer with only the aid of a real estate lawyer? Information on home sales and prices are now publicly available on the internet, community information is also available. Realtor’s are becoming slowly irrelevant for the diligent ones willing to do some research. Realtor’s are a good fit for those who don’t want to do any work at all. FSBO can work. I have publicly listed real estate rentals on Craig’s list. If you give a renter good information about your rental, you don’t need a real estate broker to lease your space. Not the exact equivalent as selling a space, but it is a comparison.