Sat 28 Nov 2009
“The owners have already walked out — just given up”
Categories: Housing Bubble , New Jersey Real EstateFrom the Press of Atlantic City:
Sheriff’s sales increase as housing bust continues
Larry Notch may have the most difficult job at the Cape May County Sheriff’s Office.
The veteran investigator is in charge of serving court papers on homeowners who are so far in debt that they are at risk of losing their homes. And when all efforts fail to raise money or renegotiate a loan, Notch is the one who must evict the former homeowners and their possessions.
Lately, he has been busier than ever.
“Can you imagine being in a home most of your life and having to leave because you got caught up in this situation?” he asked.
Cape May County, with its thousands of resort properties, was in some ways insulated from the national mortgage crisis as investors waited in hopes of a quick market rebound. But like the rest of the nation before it, Cape May County is seeing a rise in foreclosures now.
The county auctioned 280 properties last year, double the number in 2006 during the flush real estate market boom. So far this year, the county has sold 287, with five weeks to go.
The same phenomenon was seen across the region.
Cumberland County has seen 453 sheriff sales so far this year.
Ocean County has tallied 553 sales so far compared with 518 last year and 99 during the peak of the last real estate market boom in 2005.
“We’re finding when we go to houses to post them, the owners have already walked out — just given up,” Ocean County Undersheriff Wayne Rupert said. “I think next year is going to be at least as bad as this year and maybe worse. It’s a shame, but these things are happening all over.”
First!
Happy Thanksgiving all. Busy up here in the Pacific Northwest. Say - Maybe a little help with a question:
What is the Wii all about? Both daughters talked about it for exercise? Huh? What all would I get for them for Christmas if I wanted to get the exercise component (?) and through Amazon? or…?
In other words, what does anyone know about Wiis as a gift knowing that these are not “game” oriented families - Anybody a fan? Forget it? What say you….
Good morning Cindy. Happy Thanksgiving.
The Wii is a gaming system. However, there is an add on called Wii Fit or Wii Fit Plus. That is used for exercise. So if you wanted the Wii Fit, you’d still have to get the Wii console. I’d look on Amazon and ebay for bundles with the Wii console, the Wii fit, and extra controllers. I think it only comes with one controller. Check Best Buy’s website to see what each item comes with.
I don’t have it but I hear good things about it. I was thinking of getting it until I got hurt.
Good luck shopping!
Oh Cindy
I forgot to mention that if you want to do yoga, and several of the other exercised, you’ll need the balance board too.
Cindy Daughter wants one also, been shopping around online will post if I find a great deal. Dell has a bundle at 249 no fit controllers,so far cheapest I’ve seen.
Good Morning Lost - Been thinking about you. What a bummer that you are still dealing with that incident -
Thanks ever so much for the info. That must be it. I tried not to ask too many questions or I would risk giving away my gift idea.
You can come to this forum with any question - isn’t that fantastic.
Wii?
Better than alcohol at making rational adults jump around like idiots.
Great Mike - I’m on a daughter’s computer in Portland so I don’t want to search here…
The yoga balance board - check. Oh, this is going to be fun. I’m rarely able to surprise them with something they actually want.
Grim @ 7 - That almost sounds like an endorsement.
It rains so much up here… hard to get out for months at a time. Without drinking involved, maybe the little ones will even join in….come to think of it, they jump around for no reason no matter what.
Cindy, - hope this helps a bit:
http://tiny.cc/G4GH1
Google shopping search above.
…and Grim… um…past experience? care to share ;)
sl
grim,
almost forgot… you awake enough for a call?
sl
10 SL
That looks like the mother of all bundles. Jeez!
buy a home now, before prices go up….
The Economy Is Coming Back
Unemployment aside, economic conditions this Thanksgiving weekend are the best the country has faced in three years.
http://online.barrons.com/article/SB125916659274164149.html?mod=BOL_hpp_oe
13- Really? So the article states 9 out of 10 are employed. Hmmm, doesn’t mention the non-existent raises, full-time positions cut down to part-time positions,recent college grads unable to find jobs, benefits cut off so that jobs are now just contracted out, etc, etc..
I don’t care what any “economist” says, my common sense tells me that without secure jobs there is no real recovery.
House, 14
You need to ‘dumb it down’ for frank:
See Jane.
Jane has no job.
Jane has no money.
Jane has no house.
sl
But, lest we forget Peggy.
Peggy has “Hope.”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P36×8rTb3jI
sl
Judge Erases $525G Mortgage for N.Y. Couple, Citing Repulsive Acts by Bank
I love shopping online.
Once upon a time in Mortgage Land
First, let’s revisit the way this security was put together, and how and why it fell apart. Our tale begins in April 2006, when Goldman Sachs sold $494 million of securities to institutional investors seeking yields somewhat above those that were available on Treasuries or high-rated corporate bonds.
As of Oct. 26, the date of the most recently available trustee’s report, only $79.6 million of mortgages were left, supporting $159.9 million of bonds. In other words, each dollar of bonds had a claim on less than 50 cents of mortgages. But even worse, those mortgages aren’t worth anything like their $79.6 million of face value, according to ABSNet Loan HomeVal. ABSNet, unveiled in October, combines a database from Lewtan Technologies of Waltham, Mass., that has a list of every mortgage underlying every mortgage-backed issue, with data from Collateral Analytics of Honolulu, which tracks individual home values. Their numbers give you a snapshot of the value of the collateral backing a mortgage security. As of Sept. 26 — a slightly different date from what we’re using above — ABSNet valued the remaining mortgages in our issue at a tad above 20 percent of their face value. Now, watch this math: If the mortgages are worth 20 percent of their face value and each dollar of mortgages supports more than $2 of bonds, it means that the remaining bonds are worth maybe 10 percent of face value.
If all the originally AAA-rated bonds were the same, they’d all be facing losses of 90 percent or so in value. However, they weren’t all the same. The A-1 “super senior” tranche was entitled to get all the principal payments from all the borrowers until it was paid off in full. Then A-2 and A-3 would share the repayments, then repayments would move down to the lower-rated issues.
#17 in mod.
Dubai: Who Defaults Next?
The Wall Street Journal points out that the cost of insuring sovereign debt for countries including Bulgaria and Hungary moved up sharply after Dubai announced a “standstill” on paying many of its debt obligations.
The financial world is waiting to see whether another shoe will drop. The value of commercial real estate is down in many large nations around the world. That was a likely cause of some of Dubai’s problems because of its investments in the real estate sector.
Large commercial real estate loans sit on the balance sheets of many global banks and some analysts have asked whether these pools could be as dangerous as mortgage-backed securities were over a year ago. The commercial real estate problem is not one involving a set of exotic financial instruments, but that does no make it any less a threat.
The credit crisis is almost certainly not over. Asset devaluation is happening too rapidly for loans backing many of these assets to hold their face value. In October, the IMF said it expects banks around the world face another $1.5 trillion in write-offs between now and 2010. If sovereign debt beyond Dubai goes into default, that number could be too low.
The Federal Reserve Must Counteract Asset Bubbles
Dean Baker, Jane D’Arista and Gerald Epstein
Center for Economic Policy Research (CEPR) and Political Economy Research Institute
November 24, 2009
The Federal Reserve Board’s main job is to use its monetary policy tools to stabilize the U.S. macro-economy. To this end, it must take responsibility for recognizing and counteracting asset bubbles before they grow large enough to pose a danger. Both the stock bubble of the 90s and the housing bubble of this decade were easily recognizable based on the fundamentals in these markets. In both cases there were sharp divergences from long-term trends with no plausible fundamentals-driven explanation. For example, the $8 trillion housing bubble which grew up in years 1996-2006 fueled by huge piles of debt, leveraged securities and massive banker bonuses, could have been easily recognized. There was a sudden acceleration of housing prices beyond inflation rates, departing from a hundred year long trend. There was no unusual increase in rents, demonstrating clearly this run-up was not driven by fundamentals. Yet the Federal Reserve, first under Alan Greenspan and then under Ben Bernanke, did nothing to counter-act this bubble that has now burst and brought down our economy.
The Fed’s failure to do anything about the bubble is an egregious error, not just because the bubble was easily observable, but also because the Fed has many tools at its disposal to allow it to limit asset bubbles while achieving its other important monetary policy goals, such as achieving full employment and price stability. The Fed must use these tools now to counteract asset bubbles as they develop.
Stop with this woe is me crap. These idiots in Dubai can pay, they just need a damn inducement to do so. If someone were to go over there and crack some damn kneecaps and break some damn fingers, this damn crisis would be over with. They’ll pay, they just need the right medicine applied.
21.SG says:
November 28, 2009 at 9:22 am
Dubai: Who Defaults Next?
The Wall Street Journal points out that the cost of insuring sovereign debt for countries including Bulgaria and Hungary moved up sharply after Dubai announced a “standstill” on paying many of its debt obligations….
Lost 18
Amen!
sl
#14 What a rah, rah cheerleading piece of nonsense that article was. Consumers spending even more next year? Everyone I know who is employed will not be getting raises, and have had their bonus money cut or completely eliminated. Not to mention big increases in health ins costs.
China bubble puts our recovery in doubt
Delivering this year’s annual Richard Snape Lecture for the Productivity Commission in Melbourne, he said that “now, even the safety of China’s ($2.5 trillion) foreign exchange reserves is under threat”, as a result of the US collapse.
He called on the US government to compensate China for its losses on its US investments.
He said the impacts of the government’s post-downturn expansionary policies and of the current “investment fever” were worrying.
“China’s monetary policy is too loose,” he said in his written speech.
“There is no need for China to drop the benchmark interest rate to such a low level. A large chunk of excess liquidity has entered stockmarkets and real estate markets. Asset bubbles are returning with a vengeance.
“The huge gap between the massive growth rate of monetary supply and gross domestic product growth implies very large inflation pressure in the future.
“With near zero interest rates, small and middle-sized private, innovative enterprises will be discriminated against vis-a-vis state-owned monopolistic enterprises. Progress made in enterprise reform may suffer retreat.”
As the economy moves into “investment overdrive”, said Professor Yu, “China’s overcapacity will become more serious.”
There’s No ‘V’ In ‘Recovery’, Says Roubini
Roubini dismisses all letters of the alphabet other than an extended “U”. He sees a slow recovery out of global recession rather than the “V” bounce suggested by stock markets, and this week offered ten reasons why. He also notes that the third quarter US result was heavily fiscally stimulated, which may only result in growth potential in the future being “stolen” and stashed in the third quarter ‘09.
#13 frank Should I buy 2 ??
when a house is in foreclosure I assume the property taxes aren’t being paid as well. When does a town start to execute delinquency charges?
A few months ago: Citizens Community Bank, Ridgewood, New Jersey, with approximately $45.1 million in assets, was closed. North Jersey Community Bank, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, has agreed to assume all deposits (approximately $43.7 million).
And Ridgewood Avenue is beginning to resemble a place that was struck by a Neutron bomb. But hey, Ridgewood and surrounding area is bleeding wealth as I’ve been told and we have hope and change so let’s not let a few little details stop us from buying that $600,000 3bd/1.5bth sh1tbox in order to be among the prestigous and haughty.
Pottymouth.
24.still_looking says:
November 28, 2009 at 9:43 am
Lost 18
Amen!
sl
Is there ANYONE who is more negative than Roubini? We don’t need to listen to him. The man is just plain evil.
27.SG says:
November 28, 2009 at 9:52 am
There’s No ‘V’ In ‘Recovery’, Says Roubini
Roubini dismisses all letters of the alphabet other than an extended “U”. He sees a slow recovery out of global recession rather than the “V” bounce suggested by stock markets, and this week offered ten reasons why. He also notes that the third quarter US result was heavily fiscally stimulated, which may only result in growth potential in the future being “stolen” and stashed in the third quarter ‘09
reinvestor
The “Royals” of the UAE ain’t gonna pay. They owe somewhere around 180 Billion total. Wait until the bondholders try and collect, the rule of law does not apply to the Royals. A video tape surfaced this year,kind of a best hits type of tape showing Sheik Issa bin Zayed Al Nahyan brutalities more than two hours of video footage showing Issa torturing 25 people.
If you go over there and try and collect, better hope you get out of there without getting a cattle prod shoved where the sun don’t shine, like this guy did.
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/story?id=7402099&page=1
Reinvestor101 Xmas List:
1. Lump of coal
2. Date with frank
3. New pair of gasoline soaked panties
4. Date with frank andBarney frank.
5. New tube of vaseline
6. New asshole.
Oh wait. We have a new asshole already: frank.
sl
Food for thought.
There are not 552 banks in danger. Try 2000.
The cost of bailing out these banks will be about 800 billion.
“He called on the US government to compensate China for its losses on its US investments”
With what, more dollars? With gold? With Guam?
So, your husband leaves the house in a rush at 2:30 a.m and gets into a crash ans is unconcious. You:
1) call 911 or
2) race out of the house carrying a golf club, smash his back window, pull his unconcious body out of the vehicle and lay him on the street?
Humm? Hummm? Who wants to bet that they had a fight, she chased after him with a club, smashed his rear window with the club either just as he started to leave or that this smash cused him to take off like a shot, and it was his escaping that caused him to so misjudge the proper exit from his driveway?
I am not betting on the wife rescue story. Making a misstatement on a police report will cause some problems too.
Trouble in paradise?
*The FDIC will collapse in 2010.
*Sept 18th FDIC insurance on money markets ends forcing money into government bonds to save the system. The result of this will be small and medium sized banks closing or being absorbed.
*Major banks being told to obtain storage for new currency dollars.
*Expect major devaluation by the end of the year. Exchange rate unknown. Likely 3:1.
*Meltdown in municipal bond market with big decreases in public services.
So, your husband leaves the house in a rush at 2:30 a.m and gets into a crash and is unconcious. You:
1) call 911 or
2) race out of the house carrying a golf club, smash his back window, pull his unconcious body out of the vehicle and lay him on the street?
Humm? Hummm? Who wants to bet that they had a fight, she chased after him with a club, smashed his rear window with the club either just as he started to leave or that this smash cused him to take off like a shot, and it was his escaping that caused him to so misjudge the proper exit from his driveway?
I am not betting on the wife rescue story. Making a misstatement on a police report will cause some problems too.
Trouble in paradise?
Lol Shore,
Maybe we could give the Chinese some of our Tungsten bars from Fort Knox.
still a bit surprised tiger would allegedly cheat on his wife with some fake-boobed trash like this
http://tinyurl.com/ykwxrue
assuming the divorce happens … $200 mil to the swedish nanny?
Time to move to Plan II, and cue the Israili Air Force?
Story posted 2009.11.28 at 10:08 AM CST
By ALI AKBAR DAREINI
Associated Press Writer
TEHRAN, Iran (AP) - A conservative Iranian legislator warned Saturday that his country may pull out of the Nuclear Nonproliferation Treaty after a U.N. resolution censuring Tehran - a move that could seriously undermine world attempts to prevent Iran from developing atomic weapons.
snip
#25 3b
>>Everyone I know who is employed will
>> not be getting raises, and have had
>> their bonus money cut or completely
>> eliminated.
You don’t know any investment bankers.
re: Tiger Woods -I am surprised his house is only worth 2.5 million, and that he has to “back out” of the driveway.
Here is the house, there is indeed a fire hydrant and tree at the end of the left driveway.
http://virtualglobetrotting.com/map/tiger-woods-car-crash-27-nov-2009/
#43 Oh yes I do. Don’t believe all the hype. The bonus money is for the small numbers at the top. I have been on the street for years. I know what I am talking about.
The people that would be paying the 400 to 500K for a pos cape if they were buying ain’t getting the big bonus money.
supposing the dollar is secure….when might the banks begin dumping these foreclosed properties?…there is a problem…they cant dump them until they are solvent….if they have to take the market value of these properties the banks would go into insolvency….they will liquidate the properties when the government promises them the difference between wholesale and book.
had a good Tday. had to damn feed an army.
now, I’m flat broke.
Recession xmas for me.
where is my bailout?
SAS
ahh… i throughly enjoy a good Yerba maté.
SAS
Where are you securing this in the Northern hemisphere?
Tiger got beat up by his wife….. oppsssss
TMZ had earlier reported that a source had informed them that Tiger Woods had had a heated altercation with his wife over reports that he was having an affair. After she attacked him, he left, but she followed him with the golf club. He was distracted (possibly by the golf-wielding blonde whacking his SUV?) and hit the hydrant and tree.
#45 - I guess our subset of investment banker friends swing in different circles. I don’t know any bankers who have ever set their sites on 400-500k POS Capes.
They start out renting or owning in Manhattan or worst case, Gold Coast. When the family gets too big for the apartment, they branch out to Upper HaughtyVille. They pay 700-900k for homes that smell more like 500-750 to me. Then they dump another 200k in to make it “their own”. And these aren’t high flying MD types. Basic Veep level who want the good schools and decent commute. They are out there.
As for the top level guys, they are all working on upgrading their terraces at their Rumson estates to full-blown Cipriano designed lanais.
As best I can estimate, the 400k Cape market was being driven by people bad at math who concluded that an $8k tax credit made it worth their time.
I think it’s time to move to Maui.
Here’s an unusual listing……
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/570-W-Mount-Pleasant-Ave-Livingston-NJ-07039/2135711431_zpid/
what do you all make of it?
Ulquin Albani:
http://www.skyscrapercity.com/showpost.php?p=46580337&postcount=317
Also can you explain what is happening here?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h_i8guIC6wc&feature=player_embedded
Ulquin = Ulqin
I think it’s time to move to Maui.
Prices aren’t bad in Maui right now.
You get considerably more for your money in Maui over, say, LBI or Guido Beach.
But you’ve better have cash and an in-demand job, because those are both scarce out there.
#53 - subleasing of office space? Is this a trick question?
I know some attorneys who saw their RE practice partners lose so much business, they have since taken corporate jobs to pay the bills. That leaves a lot of empty office space. May as well try to sublet it.
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