Mon 2 Nov 2009
From the Record:
Hard-to-move condos go quickly at auction
In one afternoon, the developer of an East Rutherford condo complex sold 26 units in his 32-unit complex.
Sales of the two-bedroom, two-bath homes in the new Courtland Arms building had suffered in the slumped housing market, so Rolando Cribeiro, president of CP Building Enterprises Corp., agreed to an auction.
On Sunday, suggested starting bids of $150,000 for condos that had originally listed for nearly $500,000 drew a standing-room-only crowd at the Hilton in Hasbrouck Heights.
Manhattan-based auctioneer Sheldon Good & Co. was enlisted to sell off 26 units, eight at the highest price, and the rest sold “on reserve,” where the seller has three days to reject bids not high enough.
But Sunday the homes were selling so well — many fetching prices in the $280,000 range — that CP Building sold them all on the spot.
“The prices were there,” said Cribeiro. “It would have taken 18 months, and to get it accomplished in four hours has been fascinating.”
A first-time home buyer, Ho-Ho-Kus native Stacey Weinberg, 27, drew cheers from the crowd when she finally outbid others for a condo at $284,000 after being forced to pass on previous units that sold above her price range.
“It’s stressful,” said Weinberg, a Manhattan resident who bought one of the luxury units for herself and her husband, Morgan. “It’s to get the best deal, so I guess, what are you going to do?”
From Bloomberg:
CIT’s Bankruptcy May Help Bondholders and Erase Taxpayer Stake
CIT Group Inc.’s decision to seek court protection probably will keep money flowing to bondholders and 1 million customers of the 101-year-old commercial lender. Shareholders and taxpayers won’t be as fortunate.
CIT’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy may give bondholders new notes at 70 cents on the dollar plus new common stock, and Chief Executive Officer Jeffrey Peek said clients will be able to get funds. Common stock owners could be mostly wiped out, and the U.S. Treasury Department said it won’t recoup much, if any, of the $2.33 billion of taxpayer money that went into CIT, the largest firm to go bankrupt after getting a federal bailout.
“It doesn’t look too good for the government preferred or any preferred holders,” Brian Charles, a debt analyst at New York-based brokerage RW Pressprich & Co., said yesterday. “It’s unlikely common shareholders realize any value.”
From HousingWire:
Foreclosures Growing in Suburbs and Secondary, says RealtyTrac
Foreclosures are beginning to flare up in suburban and secondary metro markets for Q309, according to a report from RealtyTrac.
Dramatic increases in foreclosures from a year ago came in suburban areas previously believed to be more stable, such as Boise, Idaho, up nearly 22% from Q209. Another area, Provo, Utah, is located a distance of 45 miles outside Salt Lake City and rose nearly 11% in the same period. RealtyTrac provides an online marketplace for foreclosure properties with more than 1.5m default, auction and REO listings.
In several states, foreclosure activities drifted toward new focal points, such as smaller towns with previously self-sustaining industries. Chico, California in Sacramento Valley, and agricultural hub, had a 98% increase in foreclosures from Q308, according to the report.
…
Sharga sees the foreclosure crisis coming in three waves, and with this new data, the market is showing signs of the second one.
“That first wave of foreclosures cratered the economy, which created job losses, which created the second wave. Now, we’re seeing prime rate loans affected by unemployment. And the third wave will be really a repeat of wave one, except this time we’re going to see a switch of Option ARM and Alt-A loans out for the subprime loans. It will probably be as big but somewhat shorter lived,” Sharga said.
Sharga said that he expects a peak in foreclosures in 2010, only a marginal improvement in 2011 and a return to normal monthly foreclosure activity sometime in 2012.
“Rising unemployment and a new variety of mortgage resets continued to gradually shift the nation’s foreclosure epicenters in the third quarter away from the hot spots of the last two years and toward some metro areas that had avoided the brunt of the first foreclosure wave,” said James J. Saccacio, chief executive officer of RealtyTrac. “While toxic subprime mortgages drove much of that first wave of foreclosures, high unemployment and exotic Alt-A Option ARMs are spreading the foreclosure flood to more metro areas in 2009.”
From the Record:
Office parties take a hit
The number of companies planning holiday parties took another big dip this year as businesses continue to keep a lid on non-essential spending, according to a new survey.
Results of Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc.’s annual survey showed only 62 percent of companies plan year-end festivities, despite signs the economy may be on the mend. That was down from 77 percent a year ago, and 90 percent in 2007.
The Chicago consulting firm’s survey also showed that among those having parties, more will be serving alcohol this year than last year.
“For companies that have recently announced layoffs or other significant cost-cutting measures, such as wage freezes, it would be difficult to justify, let alone get in the mood for, a holiday party,” John Challenger, the firm’s chief executive officer, said in a statement.
…
Nontheless, northern New Jersey companies that help other companies throw holiday parties remain optimistic.
John Kempf, general manager of Il Villagio, a restaurant and caterer in Carlstadt, said that so far, only one company that scheduled a holiday party — a local food distributor — has canceled.
Last year the restaurant had several big parties canceled, and owner Ralph Magliocchetti called it his “worst year since 1989.” But this year’s looking up, Kempf said.
The new trick: blow out the gubmint’s position in BK and protect the senior, secured debtholders?
Dump all the losses on John Q. Sounds entirely premeditated and pre-planned, doesn’t it?
Yep. The gubmint is looking out for you, me and future generations.
It’s 6:57 AM, and I’m ready for a shot of Knob Creek.
This year’s cause for celebration in my office is that none of us are living in our cars.
#5
LMAO
and I though by knob creek you meant this
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31vm3-BQRJU
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704746304574506040208385548.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_news
“Landlords Offer Incentives to Stay Put”
WSJ
http://baselinescenario.com/2009/11/02/britain-to-break-up-biggest-banks/
Baseline Scenario - Simon Johnson
“Britain to Break Up Biggest Banks”
“The US position on protecting everything about our largest banks is starting to look increasingly isolated and out of step with best practices in other industrialized countries. Time to start planning for a break-up of Citigroup.”
“t none of us are living in our cars.”
Not cars, mobile cottages with 3-4 sleeping areas (including rear loft), expansive and ever-changing views, AC and forced-air heat, storage unit, extensive outside lighting, being sold furnished (seats included)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/02/business/economy/02geithner.html?ref=us
NYT- Geithner Laments the Deficit, but Demurs on the Tax Increases”
But oh no…we get this from Geithner:
“Mr. Geithner said a bright spot in the recovery was the banking system.”
http://www.streetsblog.org/2009/10/30/bikes-at-work-where-you-live-part-1/
For Grim…Bikes at Work Where You Live
Clot - One of these folks has a mattress attached to their bike…moving though…
Just got the sad news that the guy I have been renting from hung himself. I am in Voorhees, NJ and pay $850/month for a one bedroom. The landlord owns about 30 condos, but 13 of them are in a development in Lindenwold that is in very bad shape and may just be knocked down. He did have some mental problems and I wonder if managing 30 condos pushed him over the edge.
Cindy:
A primer for you to understand NJ.
From Geek to Guido.
Seems a little lame, but it has a great payoff….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBWgBc1Wpf8
PPT buying up futures this morning?
JJ: Glad you did fcuk with this sh!t? I know it was not a real consideration, but you were on a roll.
19.John says:
November 2, 2009 at 9:25 am
Not really, people who own CIT corporate bonds which are fully taxable and generally are high income people who pay a lot of tax in general just got back a little of their bail-out money. Simple re-distribution of monies.
Why is the site still on DST?…..what a pile of crap! This moderator has his thumb up is a%%…meanwhile we are trying to run a website….what a lout!
November 1, 2009 at 12:30 pm
For nom & clot:
Keep on file for the nompound; especially if clot is hired as resident chef…”Blend in purée of dog’s liver and cook for additional 5–7 minutes.”
WSJ
LIFE & STYLE
OCTOBER 31, 2009.Let Them Eat Dog
A modest proposal for tossing Fido in the oven
By JONATHAN SAFRAN FOER
Despite the fact that it’s perfectly legal in 44 states, eating “man’s best friend” is as taboo as a man eating his best friend. Even the most enthusiastic carnivores won’t eat dogs. TV guy and sometimes cooker Gordon Ramsay can get pretty macho with lambs and piglets when doing publicity for something he’s selling, but you’ll never see a puppy peeking out of one of his pots. And though he once said he’d electrocute his children if they became vegetarian, one can’t help but wonder what his response would be if they poached the family pooch.
Dogs are wonderful, and in many ways unique. But they are remarkably unremarkable in their intellectual and experiential capacities. Pigs are every bit as intelligent and feeling, by any sensible definition of the words. They can’t hop into the back of a Volvo, but they can fetch, run and play, be mischievous and reciprocate affection. So why don’t they get to curl up by the fire? Why can’t they at least be spared being tossed on the fire? Our taboo against dog eating says something about dogs and a great deal about us.
The French, who love their dogs, sometimes eat their horses.
The Spanish, who love their horses, sometimes eat their cows.
The Indians, who love their cows, sometimes eat their dogs.
While written in a much different context, George Orwell’s words (from “Animal Farm”) apply here: “All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.”
So who’s right? What might be the reasons to exclude canine from the menu? The selective carnivore suggests:
Don’t eat companion animals. But dogs aren’t kept as companions in all of the places they are eaten. And what about our petless neighbors? Would we have any right to object if they had dog for dinner?
OK, then: Don’t eat animals with significant mental capacities. If by “significant mental capacities” we mean what a dog has, then good for the dog. But such a definition would also include the pig, cow and chicken. And it would exclude severely impaired humans.
Then: It’s for good reason that the eternal taboos—don’t fiddle with your crap, kiss your sister, or eat your companions—are taboo. Evolutionarily speaking, those things are bad for us. But dog eating isn’t a taboo in many places, and it isn’t in any way bad for us. Properly cooked, dog meat poses no greater health risks than any other meat.
Dog meat has been described as “gamey” “complex,” “buttery” and “floral.” And there is a proud pedigree of eating it. Fourth-century tombs contain depictions of dogs being slaughtered along with other food animals. It was a fundamental enough habit to have informed language itself: the Sino-Korean character for “fair and proper” (yeon) literally translates into “as cooked dog meat is delicious.” Hippocrates praised dog meat as a source of strength. Dakota Indians enjoyed dog liver, and not so long ago Hawaiians ate dog brains and blood. Captain Cook ate dog. Roald Amundsen famously ate his sled dogs. (Granted, he was really hungry.) And dogs are still eaten to overcome bad luck in the Philippines; as medicine in China and Korea; to enhance l-b-do in Nigeria and in numerous places, on every continent, because they taste good. For centuries, the Chinese have raised special breeds of dogs, like the black-tongued chow, for chow, and many European countries still have laws on the books regarding postmortem examination of dogs intended for human consumption.
Of course, something having been done just about everywhere is no kind of justification for doing it now. But unlike all farmed meat, which requires the creation and maintenance of animals, dogs are practically begging to be eaten. Three to four million dogs and cats are euthanized annually. The simple disposal of these euthanized dogs is an enormous ecological and economic problem. But eating those strays, those runaways, those not-quite-cute-enough-to-take and not-quite-well-behaved-enough-to-keep dogs would be killing a flock of birds with one stone and eating it, too.
In a sense it’s what we’re doing already. Rendering—the conversion of animal protein unfit for human consumption into food for livestock and pets—allows processing plants to transform useless dead dogs into productive members of the food chain. In America, millions of dogs and cats euthanized in animal shelters every year become the food for our food. So let’s just eliminate this inefficient and bizarre middle step.
This need not challenge our civility. We won’t make them suffer any more than necessary. While it’s widely believed that adrenaline makes dog meat taste better—hence the traditional methods of slaughter: hanging, boiling alive, beating to death—we can all agree that if we’re going to eat them, we should kill them quickly and painlessly, right? For example, the traditional Hawaiian means of holding the dog’s nose shut—in order to conserve blood—must be regarded (socially if not legally) as a no-no. Perhaps we could include dogs under the Humane Methods of Slaughter Act. That doesn’t say anything about how they’re treated during their lives, and isn’t subject to any meaningful oversight or enforcement, but surely we can rely on the industry to “self-regulate,” as we do with other eaten animals.
Few people sufficiently appreciate the colossal task of feeding a world of billions of omnivores who demand meat with their potatoes. The inefficient use of dogs—conveniently already in areas of high human population (take note, local-food advocates)—should make any good ecologist blush. One could argue that various “humane” groups are the worst hypocrites, spending enormous amounts of money and energy in a futile attempt to reduce the number of unwanted dogs while at the very same time propagating the irresponsible no-dog-for-dinner taboo. If we let dogs be dogs, and breed without interference, we would create a sustainable, local meat supply with low energy inputs that would put even the most efficient grass-based farming to shame. For the ecologically-minded it’s time to admit that dog is realistic food for realistic environmentalists.
For those already convinced, here’s a classic Filipino recipe I recently came across. I haven’t tried it myself, but sometimes you can read a recipe and just know.
STEWED DOG, WEDDING STYLE
First, kill a medium-sized dog, then burn off the fur over a hot fire. Carefully remove the skin while still warm and set aside for later (may be used in other recipes). Cut meat into 1″ cubes. Marinate meat in mixture of vinegar, peppercorn, salt, and garlic for 2 hours. Fry meat in oil using a large wok over an open fire, then add onions and chopped pineapple and sauté until tender. Pour in tomato sauce and boiling water, add green pepper, bay leaf, and Tabasco. Cover and simmer over warm coals until meat is tender. Blend in purée of dog’s liver and cook for additional 5–7 minutes.
There is an overabundance of rational reasons to say no to factory-farmed meat: It is the No. 1 cause of global warming, it systematically forces tens of billions of animals to suffer in ways that would be illegal if they were dogs, it is a decisive factor in the development of swine and avian flus, and so on. And yet even most people who know these things still aren’t inspired to order something else on the menu. Why?
Food is not rational. Food is culture, habit, craving and identity. Responding to factory farming calls for a capacity to care that dwells beyond information. We know what we see on undercover videos of factory farms and slaughterhouses is wrong. (There are those who will defend a system that allows for occasional animal cruelty, but no one defends the cruelty, itself.) And despite it being entirely reasonable, the case for eating dogs is likely repulsive to just about every reader of this paper. The instinct comes before our reason, and is more important.
Cindy (23)-
Delay in business investment? I sadly think that serious business investment is done for at least a generation. Hell, I haven’t invested a penny in my own damn business for close to 24 months. Why do that when faced with an uncertain tax situation and having to do twice the work to make the same amount of money…in an industry that helped cause one of the biggest deflationary collapses in history?
I have, however, spent an inordinate amount of time on the following:
- strategic planning for operating in a negative-growth environment of complete deflationary debt destruction (my baseline assumption is that this will be the situation for the rest of my life)
- paying down debt
- planning to either successfully sell my business to some other entity or do a strategic walkaway
- planning to leave the US altogether
“More interference - more delay in business investment.”
O & Jon in Camdem, Newark. The reason? Lots of non-English speaking population. Absentee ballot “mishaps”, courtesy of FryAcorn affiliates. Hey, it’s Jersey!
clot: I reposted the WSJ dog comestibles article. Maybe grim will pay enough attention to unmod it today…
24#, cindy, better than that. friend of mine got laid off by citi last year and now hired back and can work from home after enjoying several months of paid vacation.
>Cindy says:
November 2, 2009 at 9:38 am
Oh pardon me…what was I thinking. Geithner said @10 that a bright spot in the recovery was the banking system. They must be planning on hiring all of the laid-off workers.
Best part….
STEWED DOG, WEDDING STYLE
First, kill a medium-sized dog, then burn off the fur over a hot fire.
chi (32)-
When you cook a dog, do you parboil it, or singe it, to remove the hair?
chi (35)-
Thanks for that. Never knew how you get that all-important first step done.
Apologies to all who mistakenly thought this was the Food Network blog.
So between the bank failures and CIT the taxpayers took a $5B hit this weekend.
Chicago @ 26 - Thanks for enlightening me…
“That shirt’s killing my eyes - it’s giving my eyes a heart attack.”
Bad to the bone…
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/golf-carts-obama-taketh-right-hand-and-giveth-left
(allegedly) Marie Antoinette: “let them eat cake”
O’Bama: “let them have golf carts”
/snip/ The golf-cart boom has followed an IRS ruling that golf carts qualify for the electric-car credit as long as they are also road worthy. These qualifying golf carts are essentially the same as normal golf carts save for adding some safety features, such as side and rearview mirrors and three-point seat belts. They typically can go 15 to 25 miles per hour./snip/
sl
Methinks Mr. Pandit may be leaving to “spend more time with family” pretty soon:
Nov. 2 (Bloomberg) — “Citigroup Inc. and JPMorgan Chase & Co. are hoarding cash as if another crisis were on the way.
Citigroup has almost doubled its cash to $244.2 billion in the year since Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. filed for bankruptcy, the biggest such stockpile of any U.S. bank. The lender, which last year came so close to a funding shortfall it had to get a $45 billion government infusion, is under pressure from the Treasury Department and regulators to keep more money on hand for emergencies, even as markets improve.
The caution, which may help restore confidence in the financial system, offers little comfort to shareholders, who can expect to see shrinking returns as banks put money into liquid investments that yield one-twelfth the interest rates of loans.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aQokWJUKo2d0&pos=4
Have to go now…and schedule the yearly, town-mandated test of the well at my office bldg.
This will be test #7. No test has revealed anything other than crystal-clear water…yet they will not let me stop.
Assholes.
Chifi, all I had left were short term seniors I bought at 68, that opened at 68 this morning. (CIT GROUP INC SR NT 5.80000% 07/28/2011), I sold the rest at a net $2,500 hundred loss back in their near death June/July experience, as sick as it sounds, Uncle Sam picks winners and losers GMAC and AIG won and CIT lost. I rolled the CIT bonds I sold three months ago into American General Finance and GMAC. Up 47% on average on AIG, Up 22.01% on GMAC. Not bad for 90 days.
Don’t be scared to double down and you don’t have to make it back where you lost it. Only regret was on July 24 when CIT short term seniors were going for 50 I didn’t ploy in harder. Here is some awful smelly junk I bought back in June/July with my CIT money. This stuff I did not really push for in my recommendations as I am gambling with the houses money right now.
02639ENG5 AMERICAN GEN FIN CORP 6.00000% 47.06% Gain
02639ENP5 AMERICAN GEN FIN CORP 6.00000% 12/15/2014FR 12/15/2014 6,000.0000 45.59% Gain
3704A0QQ8 GENERAL MTRS ACCEP CORP 6.10000% 09/15/2019CALL Gain 22.01%
chicagofinance says:
November 2, 2009 at 9:58 am
JJ: Glad you did fcuk with this sh!t? I know it was not a real consideration, but you were on a roll.
19.John says:
November 2, 2009 at 9:25 am
Not really, people who own CIT corporate bonds which are fully taxable and generally are high income people who pay a lot of tax in general just got back a little of their bail-out money. Simple re-distribution of monies.
30 - Yes, paying off debt here as well.
$2,197. left on a second from 2005 and then I can power play the first.
I got my tax bill Saturday - $1,417. for 09/10 - Up from 08/09 $1,379.84.
From what I can figure out, my annual taxes are equal to one month in Brigadoon.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125712303877521763.html
Jittery Companies Stash Cash
After crisis, big businesses hoard most bucks in 40 years, Google $22 billion cache
Since businesses have to hold out waiting for the next government intervention, who can blame them?
Even though business has picked up here for a coworker’s husband’s employer, he is still on a four-day work week. Cap and trade, insurance - what hit will they take? Taxes? The government interference into everything business has them gun shy.
I don’t see how employment can pick up until these guys in DC are finished tinkering with everything.
I love when citi hoards cash. It is the bond holders that only matter anyhow, keep us happy.
golfer (12)-
Sounds like you have an opportunity there…
There will be a 21-gun salute on Monday, 11/2/09, between 8-9 AM from the deck of the USS New York. The ship will be in the Hudson River near the World Trade Center Site in Manhattan. Expect repetitive loud noises, helicopters, and police activity in the area.
John (19)-
I’ll mention that to Prince Alwaleed when I have tea with him.
I’d love to see you two in a steel cage match.
“I love when citi hoards cash. It is the bond holders that only matter anyhow, keep us happy.”
Cindy, when the guys in DC are finished “tinkering with everything”, we’ll be back to the 16th Century.
Then, nothing will matter, save survival.
Not really, people who own CIT corporate bonds which are fully taxable and generally are high income people who pay a lot of tax in general just got back a little of their bail-out money. Simple re-distribution of monies.
d2b says:
November 2, 2009 at 9:06 am
So between the bank failures and CIT the taxpayers took a $5B hit this weekend.
http://tiny.cc/Jet5G
Middlesex Democratic employee distributing Hopium?
sl
Mish’s Monday pieces are his best. I think he’s just like me; a day or two off only replenishes his capacity to be pissed off:
“Note that Congress has passed 300+ affordable housing measures over the years and all of them failed. The irony now is Congress has simultaneously passed measures hoping to prop up the price of homes while seeking still additional money to create affordable housing.
Home prices need to fall (and will fall) to levels of affordability based on wages and wage growth regardless of what the Fed does. Thus, efforts to prop up prices are triply stupid: They are costly; They they will not work (prices will fall to where they are headed anyway); and they will delay a recovery.”
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2009/11/is-debt-deflation-just-beginning.html
#21 Speaking of pissed off. What pisses me off is every picture of Obama with that finger in the air. Always lecturing, with the attitude that he knows best. His handlers should tell him to knock it off.
18 Clot
They don’t even seem to pretend that employment in the private sector matters - that is what gets to me.
More interference - more delay in business investment.
46,
Pandit and Lewis are gonna be fishing for Marlins together this spring.
Oh pardon me…what was I thinking. Geithner said @10 that a bright spot in the recovery was the banking system. They must be planning on hiring all of the laid-off workers.
Hey Everybody! It’s a Monday morning sing-a-long! To the tune of “The Candy Man”…..”Who can take your money…”
http://www.timhawkins.net/video/government-can.html
One of the best Twilight Zone features was “To Serve Man”, which turned out to be an Alien Cook Book. If they put the Taliban on a Third World Menu, problem would be solved quickly.
DST changed, disregard the odd post sequencing until the time catches up.
Your posts are not missing, just scroll up.
Game 5 tickets in Philly down to $215. Sucks that the beginning of the month are my most crucial days at work. Maybe the MLB can stop trying to have baseball after Thanksgiving.
Is it just me or is 280K for a condo in decidedly blue collar Rutherford not a steal? I can list something at 1MM but that does not mean it will be the deal of a lifetime at 500K.
I went to look at some places this past weekend. I am interested in leasing the middle floor of a renovated brownstone in Edgewater. Place has plenty of BKNY charm, quick commute to work and a really nice covered deck with river views off the kitchen. However, the apartment only had two radiators; one by the bay window in the living room and the other in the bathroom (across the hall from the bedroom). Both small bedrooms (10X10, 13X10) were devoid of heating units. The owner swore that, despite the lack of heaters in the kitchen and both of the bedrooms, it gets very warm. Also, the heat is controlled by the top floor tenant.
Sounds like half the place will be like a sauna while the back half kit/br1/br2 stay below optimal temps.
Is seriously considering this place a half baked idea?
Latest poll from PPP:
Christie 47, Corzine 41.
This should be outside the margin of fraud, except in Hudson County, of course. Dead people must vote several times to overcome that, but no doubt ACORN is working hard..
I thought the idea of the rally yesterday was to remind everyone to bring in the dead to vote.
End result is Corzine 47-45 imo.
Renting for another year…..
Any recommendations for a moving company between New Brunswick and South Brunswick?
Never used one before and only heard horror stories.
Under $200 now standing room.
Danzud says:
November 2, 2009 at 9:51 am
Game 5 tickets in Philly down to $215. Sucks that the beginning of the month are my most crucial days at work. Maybe the MLB can stop trying to have baseball after Thanksgiving.
Cramer Does It Again with CIT Call
http://seekingalpha.com/article/170457-cramer-does-it-again-with-cit-call?source=yahoo
You mean buying CIT with both fists wasn’t a no brainer? You mean it wasn’t a screaming buy?
[33] cindy
That would be toward the higher end, but you are essentially correct.
Now down to $188.88…..
John says:
November 2, 2009 at 10:19 am
Under $200 now standing room.
[51] zieba
depends on the rent. But having lived in a house like that, methinks someone is blowing hot air up your behind.
If it is dirt cheap, and you can afford a few electric units and humidifiers from the savings, go for it. Otherwise, the promises he made about heating aren’t worth the paper they are written on.
[kettle, last thread]
Speaking from first hand knowledge, there is a reason cops don’t qualify often, or attempt to do very well when they do. It has to do with litigation.
Can someone explain to me why in a town like Harding Township people will buy a house (14 Lindsley) at the top of the market (paid $2.5 mil in mid 2006) over pay for the house (was assessed at fair market value of $2.1 mil) then list the house for $3 million 3 years later when things are way down?
Do these people really ever expect to sell?
So i tried my hand at purchasing a short sale home. Contract was signed and went through attorney review, offer was countered by the bank. I went to check the house out again just to see the condition and check some things for my own knowledge, as it turns out the “owners” are taking the appliances (about 5K worth) and yet the contract had no exclusions.
wow.
Now im back to countering with the bank my original offer, considering the “owners” are not being cooperative.
its a learning experience thats for sure.
ChiFi
Regarding the recipe you posted:
I have worked with a number of folks who were born in the Philipines over the years. One once told me that if your family has a major event, such as a wedding or graduation, and you don’t have a dog, your neighbor is socially obligated to give you his dog.
Bon appetit!
clot: can you add to the list of eternal taboos?
“Then: It’s for good reason that the eternal taboos—don’t fiddle with your crap, kiss your sister, or eat your companions—are taboo. Evolutionarily speaking, those things are bad for us. But dog eating isn’t a taboo in many places, and it isn’t in any way bad for us.”
Just in case you’ve forgotten: the gubmint is your sworn enemy. They and the banks collude every day to strip you of what wealth you still have and will not stop until you are homeless and bankrupt:
“There has been lots of speculation on why Representative Mel Watt has done his best to make sure that the Audit the Fed bill will be gutted, and why the Congressman is willing to promote the same irresponsible and unaccountable bubble-inflating behavior that got us to the current Fed-sponsored, bubble-reflation attempt, which is practically guaranteed to end much worse than just a few Goldman competitor banks imploding here and there.
Here are some attempts at reconstrcuting Representative Watt’s motivations courtesy of Robert Wenzel at EconomicPolicyJournal.com. It should make all questions as to why Fed transparency is not Mr. Watt’s friend, quite clear.
The Tom Woods’ congressional testimony last week Friday in favor of the ‘Audit the Fed’ bill had two very curious turns, he set off extremely hostile questioning from two congressmen, by the hearings Committee Chair Barney Frank and Representative Mel Watt. Every other Congressman that questioned Woods, and Fed General Counsel Alvarez, was seemingly concerned about where the money the Fed is printing is actually going. But not Frank and Watt.
I discussed Frank’s hostility, here. Watt was even more hostile. It looked like he was hit by a lightning bolt everytime Woods tried to answer a question that Watt posed. He interrupted Woods everytime, as though Woods was taking food off of his dinner table. But, maybe that’s exactly how Watt’s saw Woods testimony.
Most of the top industries donating to Watt are major beneficiaries of Fed money printing. His top industry donors are at #1 the commercial bankers industry, at #3 the building trade unions (All that Fed money printing benefited the building trade unions probably more so than anyone else), and at #5 the securities and investment industry. The current #1 corporate donor to Watt is Citigroup Inc.
During 2007-08 his top contributors were:
#1 Bank of America
#2 Wachovia Corp
#3 American Express
#4 American Bankers Assn
Overall in 2007-08, he received $187,359 from the Finance/Real Estate sector, more than double the amount of money he received from any other sector. Outside of North Carolina, his home state, Watt received the most contributions from Washington D.C. and New York City. Hmm, NYC donations for a North Carolina boy.
I wonder if the good people of North Carolina know what master their representative is really serving? Representative Watt’s high voltage act during Woods’ testimony suggests that Watt knows all too well where a tiny bit of the money the Fed is printing is ending up, and he is really making sure that tiny money flow doesn’t stop, above anything else.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/less-opaque-look-mel-watts-motivations-kill-audit-fed-bill
Shore Guy says:
November 2, 2009 at 8:27 am
““t none of us are living in our cars.”
Not cars, mobile cottages with 3-4 sleeping areas (including rear loft), expansive and ever-changing views, AC and forced-air heat, storage unit, extensive outside lighting, being sold furnished (seats included)”
You forgot the ultimate in a world of “location, location,location” easily relocated to the best school district of the moment, avoid bad neighbours and be available to move closer to work.
Roubini - carry trade bubble
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/globe-investor/mother-of-all-carry-trades-faces-an-inevitable-bust/article1347932/
chi (64)-
Sure:
1. Don’t shit where you eat.
2. Don’t put your weenie in the till.
re: living in cars.
Ever see the movie Americathon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=965Alxl5b_U&feature=player_embedded
BC Bob - isn’t the carry trade your thing?Would appreciate your input.
Mother of all carry trades faces an inevitable bust
So the combined effect of the Fed policy of a zero Fed funds rate, quantitative easing and massive purchase of long-term debt instruments is seemingly making the world safe – for now – for the mother of all carry trades and mother of all highly leveraged global asset bubbles.
While this policy feeds the global asset bubble it is also feeding a new US asset bubble. Easy money, quantitative easing, credit easing and massive inflows of capital into the US via an accumulation of forex reserves by foreign central banks makes US fiscal deficits easier to fund and feeds the US equity and credit bubble. Finally, a weak dollar is good for US equities as it may lead to higher growth and makes the foreign currency profits of US corporations abroad greater in dollar terms.
The reckless US policy that is feeding these carry trades is forcing other countries to follow its easy monetary policy. Near-zero policy rates and quantitative easing were already in place in the UK, eurozone, Japan, Sweden and other advanced economies, but the dollar weakness is making this global monetary easing worse. Central banks in Asia and Latin America are worried about dollar weakness and are aggressively intervening to stop excessive currency appreciation.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/9a5b3216-c70b-11de-bb6f-00144feab49a.html?nclick_check=1
Green Shoots:
http://www.lasvegassun.com/news/2009/nov/02/new-faces-day-labor/
The new faces of day labor
U.S. citizens are joining immigrants in store parking lots
BC -Again, your department. More green shoots? Where the US is headed?
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/ambroseevans_pritchard/6480289/It-is-Japan-we-should-be-worrying-about-not-America.html
It is Japan we should be worrying about, not America
“Japan is drifting helplessly towards a dramatic fiscal crisis. For 20 years the world’s second-largest economy has been able to borrow cheaply from a captive bond market, feeding its addiction to Keynesian deficit spending – and allowing it to push public debt beyond the point of no return.
….No one knows exactly when a country tips into a debt compound trap. But Japan must be close, even allowing for the fact that liabilities of the state Loan Programme (FILP) have fallen by 40pc of GDP since 2000.
“The debt situation is irrecoverable,” said Carl Weinberg from High Frequency Economics. “I don’t see any orderly way out of this. They will not be able to fund their deficit. There will be a fiscal shutdown, a pension haircut, and bank failures that will rock the world. It is criminally negligent that rating agencies are not blowing the whistle on this.”
Mr Hatoyama inherited a country that was already hurtling into sovereign “Chapter 11″. The Great Recession has eaten up 27pc in tax revenues. Industrial output is down 19pc, even after the summer rebound; exports are down 31pc; the economy is 10pc smaller today in “nominal” terms than a year ago – and nominal is what matters for debt. “
Sch(l)ump, re 65
Just in case you’ve forgotten: the gubmint is your sworn enemy. They and the banks collude every day to strip you of what wealth you still have and will not stop until you are homeless and bankrupt:
“I believe that banking institutions are more dangerous to our liberties than standing armies . . . If the American people ever allow private banks to control the issue of their currency, first by inflation, then by deflation, the banks and corporations that will grow up around [the banks] . . . will deprive the people of all property until their children wake-up homeless on the continent their fathers conquered . . . The issuing power should be taken from the banks and restored to the people, to whom it properly belongs.”
—Thomas Jefferson, The debate over the recharter of The Bank Bill, (1809)
May as well read “2009″ instead of 1809
Where the f*ck is Thomas Jefferson when you need him??
Spinning in his grave, I’d guess.
I dedicate a belated “Dia de los Muertos” to him.
sl
#7
“Some landlords have also become more open-minded about tenants with credit issues involving home foreclosures. In the past, a foreclosure on a credit record could have meant an automatic denial. Now such blemishes are so commonplace that the stigma is easing. Equity Residential looks for reasonable credit history “outside of a problem that they’ve had with a single-family home,” Mr. Neithercut said.”
***********
walk-away stigma quickly becoming non-existant
SAN FRANCISCO (MarketWatch) — Federal regulators have shut the doors on part of a small banking empire built by through a string of 28 acquisitions over the past two decades.
Nine banks, all owned by the same troubled Illinois holding company, were closed Friday by regulators, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said U.S. Bank of Minneapolis would assume their deposits.
The nine banks as of Sept. 30 had combined assets of $19.4 billion and deposits of $15.4 billion, the FDIC said. Combined, US Bank took over 153 branches.
The deposit insurance fund will take an estimated $2.5 billion hit, the FDIC said.
All nine banks were subsidiaries of FBOP Corp., a holding company based in the Chicago suburb of Oak Park, Ill., according to the FDIC.
The closings brought the 2009 total to 115 in 2009 — the first year since 1992 that more than 100 banks have gone under.
By number, banks in Georgia account for one-fifth of all U.S. banks closing this year, with 20 failures, followed by Illinois with 19, California with 13, and Florida with nine.
Privately held FBOP, which originated as the parent company of First Bank of Oak Park, wasn’t involved in Friday’s closures, the FDIC said.
FBOP is run by Michael Kelly, who from his base in the Chicago suburbs snapped up banks in San Diego, Los Angeles, Houston, and San Francisco. He started in 1990 with First Bank of Oak Park, which had $125 million in assets.
The FBOP subsidiaries that were closed Friday were identified as Bank USA, Phoenix; California National Bank, Los Angeles; San Diego National Bank, San Diego; Pacific National Bank, San Francisco; Park National Bank, Chicago; Community Bank of Lemont, Lemont, Ill.; North Houston Bank, Houston; Madisonville State Bank, Madisonville, Texas; and Citizens National Bank, Teague, Texas.
Things were looking grim for Kelly late this summer.
On Aug. 28, he had signed an agreement with the Federal Reserve to present a plan to shore up his commercial real-estate loans.
US Bank reportedly began doing due diligence on FBOP’s banks a month ago.
Since the 1990s, US Bank itself has expanded from its Minnesota-base, acquiring small banks in California and other western states.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/small-banking-empire-collapses-9-fail-in-1-day-2009-10-31
The second phase begins.
Wit the time change, the blog reads like a Joyce novel.
Portrait of the Blogger as a Young Man?
North Jersiers?
Real Estate’s Wake?
“Where the f*ck is Thomas Jefferson when you need him??”
Mouldering in his grave, just like reasoned and ratonal decision making in DC.
OT but good:
http://boss.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/10/29/one-hundred-things-restaurant-staffers-should-never-do-part-one/
ISM # this morning,supposedly saw an increase in apparel and furniture? Seems odd to me in the midst of a still ongoing recession there would be an increase in production in those areas. And just exactly how much furniture and apparel is even manufactured here any more? Of course the new orders number portion of the ISM has decreased but the article tells us no need to worry,and it was at the end of the article. So if you just read the first 3 sentences you could scream YEA!!! All is well!!!
Zieba,
Looking at your post about the heating units in the place you are considering reminds me of something ol’ Sam Clemens said:
If I stick me left foot in a bucket of ice water and I stick my right foot in a bucket of boiling water, on average I am comfortable.
““location, location,location””
Lisoosh,
See! THIS is whay I am not a member of the NAR. I lacked the basic understnding of RE marketing to point out such an obvious benefit. My hat is off to you. Should you desire a career in RE, no doubt you would be a great success.
NJC,
Have you noticed anything happening with those two houses on West End Ave in Avon? I got think ing about them earlier today.
Shelley #61:
a better question would be - how could they justify that price, when I know I could come in and buy a tear down/open lot for $800k (being generous), and building 6000SF @ $200/SF, for an all in price of $2m. That should be the absolute ceiling of such a house’s worth (it is after all a brand new house to your specs).
“Some landlords have also become more open-minded about tenants with credit issues involving home foreclosures.”
If it were clearly a strtegic default, whould this not make the tenants a better risk, inasmuch as it is unlikely they are going to leave mid lease to buy a house?
[pgc and priced][prior thread]
Your rants were as amusing as they were misinformed. I’d get into it with you, but it does as much good as explaining things to my 6YO. Serves me right for feeding the trolls. Someone my age should know better than to argue with sophmores.
Show up at a GTG sometime and bring your A game. And hit Grim’s donation button for wasting his bandwidth. I can’t keep carrying you there too.
that’s sophomores. Damn BB buttons.
Ricky,
That is the kind of analysis we use when determining whether something is in the ballpark pricewise for a given area: 1) what is the and worth; 2) what is the value of the existing construction or cost of new construction in tht geographic area. In most cases, people seem to think their dumps are made with 24 kt gold studs.
Nom,
The BB button man.
I picture roaming packs of kids dressed in all black, including black leather gloves, carrying air pistols trying to off neighbors with a bb gun for failing to pay up.
#83 Except they can strategically decide not to pay their rent either. Takes a long time and a lot of money to remove a dead beat tenant in the PRNJ.
3b,
Wht is the process?
Comrade, perhaps you political frustration would be better expressed like this guy.
World Artist Destroys Portrait of Obama.
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5ab_1256677143
whiplash….I’m getting whiplash…
sl
sl - Physician, heal thyself.
From the AP via NJ.com
MENDHAM TOWNSHIP — Whitney Houston’s New Jersey estate, where she married Bobby Brown in 1992, is for sale. The five-bedroom, 12,561-square-foot house in Mendham Township is listed for $2.5 million. That’s less than half its $5.6 million assessed value.
(snip)
[89] shore
You do know I meant blackberry?
[92] james,
I won’t open it now (probably NSFW for me), but I suspect not.
Does it come with or without all the cocaine stashed in the floorboards?
willwork4beer says:
November 2, 2009 at 1:25 pm
From the AP via NJ.com
MENDHAM TOWNSHIP — Whitney Houston’s New Jersey estate, where she married Bobby Brown in 1992, is for sale. The five-bedroom, 12,561-square-foot house in Mendham Township is listed for $2.5 million. That’s less than half its $5.6 million assessed value.
(snip)
You are amusing yourself… Look who resorts to Nom calling!
Comrade Nom Deplume says:
November 2, 2009 at 12:48 pm
[pgc and priced][prior thread]
Your rants were as amusing as they were misinformed. I’d get into it with you, but it does as much good as explaining things to my 6YO. Serves me right for feeding the trolls. Someone my age should know better than to argue with sophmores.
Show up at a GTG sometime and bring your A game. And hit Grim’s donation button for wasting his bandwidth. I can’t keep carrying you there too.
“blackberry?”
I am sometimes (often) out of touch with pop culture but BB as BlackBerry I got.
Re: Thomas Jefferson
According to the good folks at snopes.com, Jefferson, while mistrustful of banks, did not say this.
http://www.snopes.com/quotes/jefferson/banks.asp
98 ChiFi
Not sure about the coke, but it does come with a 92K/year tax bill.
I distrust all banks, even Tyra
So what are people’s thoughts about the article at the start of today’s discussion? Is $285K a good deal for East Rutherford New Construction 2BR condo? The building is nice, 1 block to train, 5 minute walk to downtown. Pool, parking etc. I’d be interested in hearing people’s opinions on this. Is getting a house at auction the way to go?
#85 Got Ball?
Again a failure to engage and a weak insult. Are you picking up your ball and walking again? Do I get to upgrade you to plural!
While we did not talk at the the GR GTG. I will be sure to find out if you avoid debate at the next one we are both at.
As for the button, albeit not since closing, I have been in the past and will be there again.
RayC 101
Maybe we should be saying it today and be just as distrustful of banks.
This isn’t going to end well.
sl
lis, thanks! just wish I had the stomach for Knob Creek.
sl
The best real estate value in NJ is a 4K Jets PSL, 10 games a year and you can spend nearly all day there. As long as you have somewhere to hang out other 355 days you are good to go. Plus put some snot on seat to make the Giant’s Psl co-owner really mad.
grim,
maybe later?
my ears are still bleeding from my latest phone call regarding family angst.
Took a pinch bar to pry the f*cker out of the drying blood from my ear.
sl
Can’t NJ agree to build a stadium over the rail yards for the Jets just to keep their fans from coming over to paradise.
Maybe they can have a multiuse stadium, a rail yard football stadium in one. On game days just move the trains out. It might be a bit-ch to get tsckled on a rail, but if baseball can have ground rules why not football? Surely it would keep the costs down. After all, a stadium gets, what, maybe 100 hours of use on game days during a season? Maybe. This would allow for economic use the rest of the remaining 8660 hours a year.
I can see it now — Nom and PGC each with a switch blade and their left wrists bound together with a piece of Outlaw Pete’s leather chaps.
Surely, a GTG for the ages.
I like football played in grimy, old stadiums where you can sneak in a flask of whiskey under your coat, there is no artificial turf, no canned music, no announcer telling you when to cheer and you can use your half of your ticket stub to go out to your car to get more whiskey at halftime then get back in.
…and no tramp-stamped cheerleaders who can’t dance, hopping up and down like containers of half-congealed Jello.
106 Still
Take heart, Jefferson DID write this: (hat tip to RayC for that Snopes page)
“And I sincerely believe, with you, that banking establishments are more dangerous than standing armies; and that the principle of spending money to be paid by posterity, under the name of funding, is but swindling futurity on a large scale.”
Shore 110-
Atlanta’s football stadium is right next to their convention center and would be used for events from time to time because it was a dome. I don’t understand why they built domes in Indy, Dallas, and Phoenix but not for the Giants/Jets. Seems kind of stupid.
Clot,
In college, the day after a game we would be on the field for stretching, etc., and the people cleaning the stands would colllect these enormous mounds of glass liquor bottles on the space between the end of the turf nd the beginning of the wall by he stands.
There must have been 10,000 bottles piled up in various mounds after each game, the cold weather ones anyway. The hot days were those giant plastic cups.
thanks WW4B 114,
I owe you a beer….
Either way, we are f*cked. I loved that video of the artist shredding Ohama.
here, in case everyone missed it:
http://www.liveleak.com/view?i=5ab_1256677143
sl (a/k/a willwork4scotch) :)
d2b,
Heck, use the dome as the convention center. All one needs to do is lay the same panels used at a concert to protect the turf.
A dome in NY or NJ? How silly, like it gets cold enough for that up here.
The state of NJ offered to renovate stadium back in 2002 for 300 million and do it with tax free bonds if Jets and Giants signed new lease. Mets asked them to go in with them and if so they would dome stadium, Jets choose Manhattan instead which failed, but them Jets went ahead and built stadium and NJs offer to renovate was off table so they decided to build a stadium that was orginally estimated at 600 million that ended up at 1.6 billion.
#111 Shore
I suspect his wit to be as sharp as his weap0n!
http://www.amazon.com/Melissa-Doug-Scissors-Set-2/dp/B000VNVVK4/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=toys-and-games&qid=1257191972&sr=8-1
Can I request a better soundtrack. Ennio Morricone perhaps?
“…and no tramp-stamped cheerleaders who can’t dance, hopping up and down like containers of half-congealed Jello.”
Commie!
[120] pgc
. . . must not feed the trolls, must not feed the trolls, must not . . .
Damn. Can’t resist
[111] shore
No worries there. Trolls don’t show.
#122 Got Balls?
Shall we plan the long overdue Bergen Co GTG, or how about another Hoboken?
Why don’t we have the NJ GTG in someplace good, like New York.
If a friday night, boken is better as I commute by train. First friday I can make is 12/4. More flexibility if a Sat. night; only this coming weekend is out.
New York is the same as ‘boken for me, so I have no strong opinion.
any good restaurant suggestions for the South Orange/Summit area? Any of the neighboring towns as well?
Something nice preferably, where you would take a female.
anecdote
Limo driver on the way to EWR on Saturday told he is getting more airport and Manhattan business the last 3-4 weeks, though “certainly” less than a couple years ago. CO flight to Geneva was totally packed. And Geneva RE as I figured out looking at the agencies’ windows on a jetlagged Sunday is unbelievably overpriced. Do the Swiss have any subprime CDOs to short yet?
Re: New & Improved Housing Credit
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703932904574511553673695162.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_sections_realestate
JJ: I assume you are willing to make a deposit there….yuk..yuk…
John says:
November 2, 2009 at 2:39 pm
I distrust all banks, even Tyra
Who woulda thought, you allow the market to dictate the price and the inventory moves instantaneously. Oh wait…Washington doesn’t like the direction of the prices. They’ll just stick to price fixing and keeping Americans from actually buying a home with their own money. You’ll just have to sit back and wait for the next demand side policy.
[127] cobbler
Recall an article a few weeks back, said the same thing about SUI r.e. Article strongly suggested that the market was driven by uber-weathy, looking for tax homes, mostly by europeans, with americans a distant second.
Alap says:
November 2, 2009 at 4:57 pm
any good restaurant suggestions for the South Orange/Summit area? Any of the neighboring towns as well?
Something nice preferably, where you would take a female.
http://www.thehuntleytaverne.com/
clot: please slag accordingly….
[132] Chifi, ALAP
That is a Celgene hangout due to its proximity. If Alap is looking for “really nice” I liked the Martini Bar in Millburn. Nice, upscale atmosphere, good service, and not as expensive as it looks.
um…that is bad why?
Comrade Nom Deplume says:
November 2, 2009 at 5:49 pm
[132] Chifi, ALAP
That is a Celgene hangout due to its proximity. If Alap is looking for “really nice” I liked the Martini Bar in Millburn. Nice, upscale atmosphere, good service, and not as expensive as it looks.
Nom: To be clear…NJ restaurant by definition means overpriced for what it is…hence bad value…NYC is generally great value and high quality; expensive, but quality is there or they are out of business.
I guess if you are sleeping around with multiple Celgene employees on the sly….you may want to avoid…nom is that better?
chicagofinance says:
November 2, 2009 at 5:51 pm
um…that is bad why?
Comrade Nom Deplume says:
November 2, 2009 at 5:49 pm
[132] Chifi, ALAP
That is a Celgene hangout due to its proximity.
Depressing article in WSJ.
Apparently, ACORN and Obambi thugs from PA and NY have already moved in to NJ to “optimize” the results tomorrow. No doubt O Dept of Justice will carry out honest investigation on voter fraud.
“Absentee voter fraud may play a significant role in New Jersey’s gubernatorial election.
Groups associated with Acorn in neighboring Pennsylvania and New York appear to have moved into the state. An independent candidate for mayor in Camden has already leveled charges that voter fraud is occurring in his city. Meanwhile, the Democratic Party in New Jersey is taking advantage of a new loosely written vote-by-mail law to pressure county clerks not to vigorously use signature checks to evaluate the authenticity of absentee ballots, the only verification procedure allowed.”
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703932904574511612622116146.html
Say hi to 4 more years of corruption, waste and higher taxes!
For the sake our country folks. We have to get Corzine out. Drag everyone you can to the polls tomorrow. No foreign country could conquer this country. We cant let taxpayer funded ACORN to subvert our Constitution.
Shore Guy says:
November 2, 2009 at 2:53 pm
“I can see it now — Nom and PGC each with a switch blade and their left wrists bound together with a piece of Outlaw Pete’s leather chaps.”
I see it more like the dancing fairies at the end of Blazing Saddles - “Oh you Brute, you Brute”.
Or maybe just some b!tch slapping.
[136,137] chi
Tell you what. You pick the place for Alap.
[140] lisoosh
I don’t think so.
Not that there is anything wrong with that.
#126 Alap
Monster Sushi in Summit is pretty good. Not just sushi, lots of rice, noodle, and soup dishes as well.
#143 -You could have a “Walk Off” just like in Zoolander.
[145] lisoosh
Never saw it. The only walk offs I am interested in involve bats.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FleHabIGa58
[138]
“Meanwhile, the Democratic Party in New Jersey is taking advantage of a new loosely written vote-by-mail law to pressure county clerks not to vigorously use signature checks to evaluate the authenticity of absentee ballots, the only verification procedure allowed.”
Didn’t dissident post here a few weeks back, saying that he tried to register absentee in Hudson, and they said his signature didn’t match his signature???
Shore Guy says:
October 30, 2009 at 12:31 pm
Asbury,
Can you put down 20%, pay all moving fees, closing costs, yadda yadda, and still have a year’s worth of expenses in the bank?
this is what i tell any friends who are thinking to buy. believe it not, some of them don’t have 2 months living expenses saved.
i lived paycheck to paycheck in my 20s. not fun.
[147] lisoosh
I’d rather play dodgeball. With socket wrenches.
[136] chi,
So, are you saying no restaurant in the tri-state area is worthwhile?
I’m going back to Philly to eat out then.
Right after parent-teacher conferences tonight.
so James, I do not recall you ever posting anything about real estate. Anyone care to post anything about real estate? Anyone? Bueller?
Really, too much political discussion.
147:
naw, this is how I see the NJrereport grudge match with their posses:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uqxo1SKB0z8
Real Estate?
You are an idiot if you buy real estate in NJ. Should I be clearer?
How those granite counter tops doin?
Ok, I incorrectly spelled (I think) the last word….so F**King sue me!
James:
its granite and stainless steel appliances . .. woo hoo! let me break out my check book, never mind that the the furnance is 40 years old and the roof is 25 years old. GRANITE BABY!!
Like SAS said, granite counter tops are like having a nuclear reactor in your kitchen. lol
chi,
#136
My family is real fond of Louca’s, Italian restaurant in Edison - that intersection where if you turn left, you’re on the way to the Menlo mall.
Great food, reasonable prices, and they always get a good crowd.
I think just the opposite - that NYC has a lot of places that are overpriced and not worth it.
never mind that that there is an underground oil tank, look at my GRANITE. BUY NOW OR BE PRICED OUT FOREVER!!!
you must be a bitter, dirty renter if you don’t want to buy my house—LOOK AT THE GRANITE.
after dealing with all this shit in the real estate market for almost two years, people wonder why I drink.
NJ real estate wont recover until the problems the state are creating are rectified. Locally, by me it is being propped up by New Yorkers fleeing from an even worse situation in the city and LI.
(157) James
But without the pretty blue glow from the Cerenkov effect.
Nom,
Gotta love beta decay. If one has never looked down through the shielding water of a reactor in operation to see that fantastic blue glow one has missed out on one of the most incredible sights. As it builds to full power, wow!
I have beautiful granite counter tops. I am embarassed by them. They are like a monument to the stupidity of the past 10 years. I drank the Kool Aid now I have to look at these things daily.
159, Morph.
My father had an underground oil tank. In the late 90’s there was a mandate to have them removed. Being the honest guy he was he played by the book. He had it removed, had the EPA come out to inspect the tank for leaks at his cost. They found a pin hole. Then they had to test the soil which cost hundreds. Then they said it was contaminated and it cost thousands to remove dirt. UN Agenda 21 and the green police in action.
#153-
Nah -what about the Obama/McCain dance-off of 2008?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wzyT9-9lUyE
162:
WOW. . . Now that is a sight I would love to see.
BTW, is this what the last NJrereport gtg looked like?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Km7WD8wkb1c
For #152: Real estate
I attended sheriff sale today in Freehold, 35-45 attendees.
Very little sold, mostly went back to banks. Condo complex in Wall, underwater for $38mil, back to Amboy Bank. Ouch.
“Amboy Bank”
Is it just me or does Amboy Bank seem to be on the hook for LOTS of big foreclosures?
Orion, is the condo complex in Wall located at Route 34 and 70? Wouldnt be surprised the place is half empty.
#169, yes, Route 34.
During the sale I kept thinking to myself, all this inventory has yet to hit the market. No wonder banks are hoarding cash.
“located at Route 34 and 70″
And such a lovely location. The view is beyond compare.
I have a tank in my crawspace. I have it insured with the oil company for both replacement and cleanup should it leak. Oil salesman told me not to do it because they almost never leak. I’m positive that he was serious, it’s done through a 3rd party. It’s only about $115 per year.
Calculated Risk has Amboy Bank on the “Unofficial” problem bank list:
http://www.calculatedriskblog.com/2009/10/unofficial-problem-bank-list-grows-to.html
I thought the Dwek fiasco would have put them under.
Halloween in Boulder Colorado is an experience like none other, although I imagine that Salem Mass. is also a hoot.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB125693458626119361.html
Speaker Nancy Pelosi has reportedly told fellow Democrats that she’s prepared to lose seats in 2010 if that’s what it takes to pass ObamaCare, and little wonder. The health bill she unwrapped last Thursday, which President Obama hailed as a “critical milestone,” may well be the worst piece of post-New Deal legislation ever introduced.
In a rational political world, this 1,990-page runaway train would have been derailed months ago. With spending and debt already at record peacetime levels, the bill creates a new and probably unrepealable middle-class entitlement that is designed to expand over time. Taxes will need to rise precipitously, even as ObamaCare so dramatically expands government control of health care that eventually all medicine will be rationed via politics.
Yet at this point, Democrats have dumped any pretense of genuine bipartisan “reform” and moved into the realm of pure power politics as they race against the unpopularity of their own agenda. The goal is to ram through whatever income-redistribution scheme they can claim to be “universal coverage.” The result will be destructive on every level—for the health-care system, for the country’s fiscal condition, and ultimately for American freedom and prosperity
snip
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703399204574505423751140690.html
From the WSJ article above, full employment for Nom:
All told, the House favors $572 billion in new taxes, mostly by imposing a 5.4-percentage-point “surcharge” on joint filers earning over $1 million, $500,000 for singles. This tax will raise the top marginal rate to 45% in 2011 from 39.6% when the Bush tax cuts expire—not counting state income taxes and the phase-out of certain deductions and exemptions. The burden will mostly fall on the small businesses that have organized as Subchapter S or limited liability corporations, since the truly wealthy won’t have any difficulty sheltering their incomes.
This surtax could hit ever more earners because, like the alternative minimum tax, it isn’t indexed for inflation. Yet it still won’t be nearly enough. Even if Congress had confiscated 100% of the taxable income of people earning over $500,000 in the boom year of 2006, it would have only raised $1.3 trillion. When Democrats end up soaking the middle class, perhaps via the European-style value-added tax that Mrs. Pelosi has endorsed, they’ll claim the deficits that they created made them do it.
Under another new tax, businesses would have to surrender 8% of their payroll to government if they don’t offer insurance or pay at least 72.5% of their workers’ premiums, which eat into wages. Such “play or pay” taxes always become “pay or pay” and will rise over time, with severe consequences for hiring, job creation and ultimately growth. While the U.S. already has one of the highest corporate income tax rates in the world, Democrats are on the way to creating a high structural unemployment rate, much as Europe has done by expanding its welfare states.
Meanwhile, a tax equal to 2.5% of adjusted gross income will also be imposed on some 18 million people who CBO expects still won’t buy insurance in 2019. Democrats could make this penalty even higher, but that is politically unacceptable, or they could make the subsidies even higher, but that would expose the (already ludicrous) illusion that ObamaCare will reduce the deficit.
oope, it must be in moderation
From the WSJ article above, full employment for Nom:
All told, the House favors $572 billion in new taxes, mostly by imposing a 5.4-percentage-point “surcharge” on joint filers earning over $1 million, $500,000 for singles. This tax will raise the top marginal rate to 45% in 2011 from 39.6% when the Bush tax cuts expire—not counting state income taxes and the phase-out of certain deductions and exemptions. The burden will mostly fall on the small businesses that have organized as Subchapter S or limited liability corporations, since the truly wealthy won’t have any difficulty sheltering their incomes.
This surtax could hit ever more earners because, like the alternative minimum tax, it isn’t indexed for inflation. Yet it still won’t be nearly enough. Even if Congress had confiscated 100% of the taxable income of people earning over $500,000 in the boom year of 2006, it would have only raised $1.3 trillion. When Democrats end up soaking the middle class, perhaps via the European-style value-added tax that Mrs. Pelosi has endorsed, they’ll claim the deficits that they created made them do it.
oops, even.
BOHICA baby!!
Gore’s Dual Role in Spotlight: Advocate and Investor
WASHINGTON — Former Vice President Al Gore thought he had spotted a winner last year when a small California firm sought financing for an energy-saving technology from the venture capital firm where Mr. Gore is a partner.
The company, Silver Spring Networks, produces hardware and software to make the electricity grid more efficient. It came to Mr. Gore’s firm, Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, one of Silicon Valley’s top venture capital providers, looking for $75 million to expand its partnerships with utilities seeking to install millions of so-called smart meters in homes and businesses.
Mr. Gore and his partners decided to back the company, and in gratitude Silver Spring retained him and John Doerr, another Kleiner Perkins partner, as unpaid corporate advisers.
The deal appeared to pay off in a big way last week, when the Energy Department announced $3.4 billion in smart grid grants. Of the total, more than $560 million went to utilities with which Silver Spring has contracts. Kleiner Perkins and its partners, including Mr. Gore, could recoup their investment many times over in coming years.
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/business/energy-environment/03gore.html?_r=2&hp=&pagewanted=print
#124/#125
If the famous John can make it, I think it would have to be a NY GTG and it should get a good turnout.
I am proably 80% for getting a 12/4 pass from Mrs PGC. The week after would see the tribe out for Drediel Time and most of the holiday parties starting.
I will suggest Stout on 34th http://www.stoutnyc.com/ or the new Blarney beside it, so that most can get to the Path, Penn or the Subway.
#14 Got Balls?
“Never saw it. The only walk offs I am interested in involve bats.”
I’ll take Arron Boone in 2003
You just keep pitchting these.
8-2 down, but its not over until the last out. I have seen an 8-1 down go 9-8 in the 9th.
I have long time played baseball, but now i am a certificated baseball coach. I agre with your article, you provided some good points for later discussions.