From HousingWire:
Mortgage interest tax deduction may be in danger
President Obama’s 2012 budget proposes an across-the-board 30% cut to itemized deductions for high-income taxpayers. This includes the mortgage interest tax deduction.
Currently, interest on a mortgage taken out to buy or improve a home can be fully deducted if the amount of the loan is less than $1 million for married couples and $500,000 for singles. Home equity loans taken out for anything else is limited to $100,000 for couples and $50,000 for singles.
In December, a commission appointed by President Obama to reform the tax code and reduce the nearly $14 trillion in U.S. deficit submitted a proposal to lower the cap on the mortgage interest tax deduction for purchase loans from $1 million to $500,000.
Obama’s budget did not specifically name the mortgage interest tax deduction. But he does propose cuts “across-the-board.” These cuts will pay for a three-year fix to the alternative minimum tax (AMT), which the president said in his budget has driven the country deeper into deficit year after year in order to prevent this tax from hurting too many middle-class families.
A spokesperson for the office of management and budget said the proposal caps the value of itemized deductions at the 28% tax bracket.
“For too long, we have tolerated a tax system that’s a complex, inefficient and loophole-riddled mess,” Obama said in the budget.
The National Association of Realtors, the biggest advocate for the mortgage interest tax deduction, voiced concerns when the commission first brought up the proposal in December.
“The tax deductibility of interest paid on mortgages is a powerful incentive for homeownership and has been one of the simplest provisions in the federal tax code for more than 80 years,” said NAR President Ron Phipps at the time.
This won’t impact NJ at all. Everyone pays cash for their 550k pos cape.
From CNN/Money:
Slash mortgage deductions for the rich? Fat chance
President Obama’s plan to limit two popular deductions for wealthy taxpayers will hit a wall of resistance from entrenched special interests.
The president once again proposed in his budget to curtail high-income earners’ tax deduction for mortgage interest payments and charitable contributions.
Under his proposal, taxpayers in the 33% and 35% tax brackets would only be able to deduct their contributions and mortgage interest payments at the 28% rate. It would affect those with taxable income of $250,000 and up and bring in $321 billion over 10 years, according to the White House.
The Obama administration, as well as several tax and deficit commissions, have called for limiting or eliminating the deductions in the past. But the proposals have gone nowhere and the same outcome is expected this year.
Still, the real estate industry and non-profit sector are not taking any chances. They are making it clear to both Congress and the White House that they strongly oppose any limits to the deductions.
The real estate industry is a powerful advocate for the mortgage interest deduction. And they are a major lobbying force on Capitol Hill.
“We will oppose any limit,” said Jerry Howard, chief executive of the National Association of Home Builders. “This is an attack on the middle class.”
From Forbes:
What’s Costing America More Than The Fannie-Freddie Bailout? The Mortgage Interest Deduction.
On Friday, the White House will release its ideas for overhauling mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. While there is little agreement in Washington over just what to do, there is broad bipartisan support for big changes. In large part that’s because when the implicit government guaranty behind Fan and Fred turned explicit in the wake of the 2008 housing collapse, taxpayers were socked with a bill of $130 billion.
Pols are shocked that we’d add $130 billion to the nation’s burgeoning debt to subsidize owner-occupied housing this way. Except we spend far more than that each year buying down the cost of home ownership through the tax code. The one-time $130 billion cost to taxpayers of the failure of Fan and Fred is a fraction of the $210 billion annual cost of the mortgage interest deduction, the deduction for state and local property taxes, and the exclusion of capital gains taxes on owner occupied housing. Over a decade, those tax subsidies will cost more than $2 trillion.
The single biggest housing subsidy is the mortgage deduction, which will add $130 billion to the deficit in the coming year alone. But even worse, at a time when both Democrats and Republicans claim to worry about the long-term deficit, the MID is a case of government acting as a reverse Robin Hood—the biggest subsidies go to those who need it least. The Tax Policy Center estimates that more than 70 percent of the benefit of the mortgage and property tax deductions go to the highest-earning 20 percent of households—those making $104,000 or more.
From the AP:
Trump selling Atlantic City casino to Landry’s
In a sign of just how much value casinos in the nation’s second-largest gambling market have lost in recent years, Trump Entertainment Resorts agreed Monday to sell its Trump Marina Hotel Casino to the Texas-based parent company of the Golden Nugget Las Vegas and Laughlin for $38 million.
That’s about a tenth of what Trump Entertainment was offering the casino for in 2008.
Landry’s Inc., a Houston casino and restaurant company that recently abandoned its bid for the struggling Atlantic City Hilton Casino Resort, plans to invest significantly in the Trump Marina and rebrand it as a Golden Nugget.
Good Morning New Jersey
From Ritholtz:
Fannie Freddie Market Share Plummeted During Boom
(look at the chart)
There is no way to reconcile this chart with the jihadist blatherings of folks like AEI and CATO.
The facts of the matter are simply this: During the housing boom, it was Wall Street, and their mad purchases of Sub-Prime, Alt A and non conforming loans for their privately issued securitization that drove the credit bubble. Not, as the ideologically blinded Peter Wallison claims, Fannie & Freddie.
Class dismissed.
So is this early signs of inflation?
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/15/business/15prices.html?_r=1&hp
Can anyone explain why copper prices are so high or in what part of the world demand is growing for it? Obviously, it is not from new home construction in this country.
I would also like to know why the president doesn’t just cut his entire 2012 budget by 3% or so. Better yet, figure out what 2012 revenues will look like and cut the budget to match the tax revenue that will be collected.
Copper demand will outstrip supply for the next two years as the economy recovers, China sustains consumption and mine output drops, Japan’s top producer said.
Demand will likely exceed supply by 635,000 metric tons in 2011, the biggest deficit since 2004, compared with 234,000 tons last year, Hidenori Kamoo, general manager of the marketing department at Pan Pacific Copper Co., said in an interview Jan. 18. The shortage may be 91,000 tons in 2012, he said.
Copper, used in wires and pipes, climbed to a record $9,781 a ton yesterday after gaining 30 percent in 2010 as the world economy recovered from its worst recession since World War II. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. says the price may climb 12 percent in the next year to $11,000 a ton. Michael Jansen, metals strategist at JPMorgan Securities Ltd., predicts a deficit of 500,000 tons to 600,000 tons this year.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-01-19/global-copper-shortage-to-widen-on-economic-recovery-kamoo-says.html
Yo, thanks for the info on Cu
grim (6)-
At the same time Phony/Fraudy was losing market share, they were simultaneously setting the credit parameters (remember Desktop Underwriter, grim?) for anyone who had the intention of selling paper into the secondary market. Of course, those credit parameters consisted of breathing, walking upright and being able to sign your name to a piece of paper.
Just great. Set up private companies to reap an easy windfall, while at the same time taking on a declining percentage of garbage that was becoming more rancid by the day.
In this camp is Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke. He’s argued that now isn’t the time to slash government spending or raise taxes. Instead, Bernanke has urged Congress and the White House to preserve federal stimulus — including tax cuts — in the short run but draft a plan to reduce the deficit over the long run.
Translation, kick the can down the road, until I’m out of here!
Mortgage interest deductions will not matter once we are all roaming the country in packs, like dogs.
Personally, I can’t wait for my first bread riot.
Got Milk?
Milk is only for the rich.
Debt, stop wining and get back to work. :)
mortgages are like 8 track tapes they have outlived their purpose
Except if you got yer cow or goats.
That’s the benefit of 3+ acres. More space for farming! McMansion mini estates are back!
Debt Supernova says:
February 15, 2011 at 8:46 am
Milk is only for the rich.
CHIFI, brand new Citi bond research. Enjoy.
Corporate Debt Comments & Recommendations
Investment Grade The backup in US and German government bond yields has spoiled the spectacular spread compression that’s taken
place in high grade corporate debt since the beginning of the year. Although total returns are slightly negative over YTD
(-0.75% and -0.55%, respectively), the rally in spreads has led outperformance versus the broad market. Improving credit
fundamentals are outweighing concerns about European periphery issues, troubles in Northern Africa or even the low
level of absolute yields. Mutual fund indications remain relatively strong with a fifth consecutive week of positive inflows.
We currently do not see any catalyst that would drive spreads to wider from here. However, further spread compression is
most likely to be due to rises in risk-free rates rather than lower corporate yields. With credit curves steep, long duration
securities continue to offer the best relative value opportunities.
Although periphery Europe sovereign concerns have recently abated, we continue to prefer US financials over European
counterparts. Valuations are more attractive and fundamentals (e.g. balance sheet repair) are more advanced. We favor
US banks, life insurance and REITs (the last two sectors are among the best YTD performers). In non-financials, we favor
metal/mining despite poor 4Q results due to strong commodity prices and wide spreads relative to the broad credit index.
High Yield High yield debt has been one of the few fixed income asset classes posting positive returns this year. The sector has
gained 3.1% YTD as investors gain greater confidence in the recovery. The rally has been downright impressive – spreads
have tightened by 85 basis points since January 3. Notably, the 6.78% yield on the Citi High Yield Index is its lowest since
the index was introduced in 1989. The significant outperformance has been fueled by two key factors: 1- High yield debt’s
recent strong correlation to the equity markets (the S&P is up 5.5% YTD); 2- The huge mutual fund inflows that have
occurred during the same period ($4.8 billion, or one-third of total inflows in 2010).
Since we’ve already reached our full-year return target, investors should consider taking profits. Fundamentals remain
strong and we do not foresee any catalyst that might drive spreads significantly wider. However, investors who are
overweight HY should consider securing some gains. For investors seeking to add exposure, we recommend short
duration (spread curves are inverted); the best values are in 3 to 7 year Single-B names, in our view.
Hybrid Debt
Securities
The recent backup in US Treasury rates has had little impact on hybrid debt markets. Indeed, our indices show that hybrid
debt has gained 1.2% YTD (only high yield corporate bonds have outperformed). This is mainly due to Frank-Dodd and
Basel III bank reform legislation, which is phasing out the ability to consider these securities Tier 1 debt. In turn, investors
are purchases these high-coupon, long-duration securities expecting them to be redeemed at their much earlier call dates.
While we expect most of the US TRuPs market to fade away, opportunities still exist. Additionally, European issuers that
are subject to Basel III (rather then Frank-Dodd) may offer higher yielding opportunities due to the grandfathering of
existing Tier 1 hybrids. These should remain outstanding through their initial call dates, some of which are years beyond
the introduction of Basel III in 2013.
shhh…dont tell the automoton morons like our feline friend about GIGO into their wonderous spreadsheets and regressions….
Option ARM Time Bomb Blows Early, Easing Damage to U.S. Housing
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a21jKRNsBdpU&pos=6
BOOYA! I gots me some callable paper that is trading to the call….bought at a serious discount….
Hybrid Debt
Securities
The recent backup in US Treasury rates has had little impact on hybrid debt markets. Indeed, our indices show that hybrid
debt has gained 1.2% YTD (only high yield corporate bonds have outperformed). This is mainly due to Frank-Dodd and
Basel III bank reform legislation, which is phasing out the ability to consider these securities Tier 1 debt. In turn, investors
are purchases these high-coupon, long-duration securities expecting them to be redeemed at their much earlier call dates.
While we expect most of the US TRuPs market to fade away, opportunities still exist. Additionally, European issuers that
are subject to Basel III (rather then Frank-Dodd) may offer higher yielding opportunities due to the grandfathering of
existing Tier 1 hybrids. These should remain outstanding through their initial call dates, some of which are years beyond
the introduction of Basel III in 2013.
Note to self: remember to wear reflecting clothing when struggling for independence….
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110215/ap_on_re_us/us_dalai_lama_nephew_killed
JJ: for you……спаcибо
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/risque_MdjrtTrOMV7FSj3Rjc0qgI
Chifi – wonder if he was reincarnated as a newt
Figures they are going to kill the mortgage tax deduction. typical washington. sorry you have to sacrifice even though we have had it for years and are past the mortgage phase of our lives. At least I’ll get six months of it this year to claim on my taxes.
On the other hand it is a stupid deduction that should go away as it rewards people for behavior they would have been engaged in anyway. I say keep cutting the deductions, student loans (didn’t get that one made too much money), dependents (well guess I’ll be getting that one) let people see what they really pay for taxes and have them scream bloody murder at their actual tax rates. Also institute a minimum tax floor if you make 20K you pay 1K to the governemt. 10K 500 bucks no more free rides. Pay down the debt, shut down the federal goverment, and finally kill the 16th amendment.
Did I miss something? I don’t see it as going away completely, I see it as being capped for the higher earners @ 28%.
I’ve never understood the mortgage or dependent deductions. But given our governments propensity to mis-spend, I’ve felt that the money is better off in my hands. Life would be easier if you knew what percentage of every dollar went to taxes and we concentrated on productivity and growth. We appear to have too many smart minds working on ways to preserve a shrinking pie. But, I’ve heard many times that it is the middle class that gets soaked on a flat-tax system.
See you the man. Last week I had a good week too , I had 30K long ALU bonds and had a nice pop when Lucent made some good earnings. And believe it or not I do own some stock, I was long 100K NYX and had a nice pop there. Also unloaded a bunch of GMAC and M&I bonds last week at a 50% gain to cover munis I bought that were paying 6% .
I really really want that trade up house, but it is so much fun trading!!! This is starting to remind me of 1993-1999 when friends were like who the heck would want a house as I get 20% every year in stocks with no work. Trouble is people may start cashing out in 2012 and houses may have a good recovery.
Hey do you have any good trups recommendations. I got money that wants to work.
Money never sleeps baby!
chicagofinance says:
February 15, 2011 at 9:06 am
BOOYA! I gots me some callable paper that is trading to the call….bought at a serious discount….
Hybrid Debt
As taxes serve us all, it is time to move to a flay tax with no deductions. Also, as the federal government is backing social security and Medicare, We should end the folly of seperate taxes for them. A flat tax from which we fund everything would br both more fair and more transparent, thus allowing The People to better decide whether we are getting value from government.
[28] shore
Won’t happen. Not in this version of America anyway.
Shiny comeback means I don’t lose my toes, and part of my foot up to the ankle. Very nice recovery means I was able to put in stops. Now I can only hope I don’t get stopped out like I have on numerous other occasions.
[26] d2b
Depends on how you define getting soaked. As this is something I could talk about for hours, I won’t bore everyone here. But it is a good GTG topic.
Speaking of GTGs, any interest in a central NJ GTG? It’s been quite a while.
re: Taxes – only going up my friends. There will be no austerity, not when the printing press is there to save you. Just look at the current balance sheet.
http://www.federalreserve.gov/releases/h41/current/
Whatever Happened to the Fed’s Plans from 2009 and 2010 to drain liquidity before it starts new bubbles in say commodities?
Wait here it is, your Mutual Fund >>>ROFL!!!
Feb. 11 (Bloomberg) — The Federal Reserve is in talks with money-market mutual funds on agreements to help drain as much as $1 trillion from the financial system as policy makers prepare for the first interest-rate increase since June 2006, according to a person familiar with the discussions.
The central bank is looking to the $3.2 trillion money- market mutual-fund industry because the 18 so-called primary dealers that trade directly with the Fed have a capacity limited to about $100 billion, estimates Joseph Abate, a money-market strategist at Barclays Capital in New York.
Money-market funds may welcome the opportunity to trade with the Fed after the financial crisis reduced the supply of safe assets in which they can invest. In one example of demand for such assets, auctions on four-week Treasury bills have attracted an average of $5.47 in bids for every dollar sold this year, compared with an average of $3.77 last year, according to Bloomberg data. Yields on the four-week bill fell to five basis points from 20 basis points a year ago.
“There are lots of great credit stories, but the option of going with the Fed and the government — it takes away part of the risk,” said Deborah Cunningham, a chief investment officer at Federated Investors Inc. in Pittsburgh, which manages $318 billion in money-market investments. Conversations with the Fed “seem pretty positive,” she said, adding that the Fed and the industry should be in a position to conduct operations before the end of the year.
Fannie, Freddie
Chairman Ben S. Bernanke yesterday charted ways the Fed might withdraw record monetary stimulus pumped into the economy to fight the recession. Among the central bank’s tools are reverse repurchase agreements, in which the Fed sells securities with the intention of repurchasing them at a later date.
The Fed is also considering reverse repurchase agreements with mortgage lenders Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, said the person familiar with the discussions. Freddie Mac spokeswoman Sharon McHale declined to comment. Fannie Mae spokesman Brian Faith also declined to comment.
“To further increase its capacity to drain reserves through reverse repos,” Bernanke said, the Fed is “in the process of expanding the set of counterparties with which it can transact” beyond primary dealers of government securities.
The primary dealers, which are required to bid at auctions of Treasury notes and trade directly with the New York Fed’s markets desk, include BNP Paribas Securities Corp., Banc of America Securities LLC and Goldman Sachs & Co.
Bernanke repeated yesterday that while interest rates are likely to stay low for an “extended period,” the Fed in “due course” will need to “begin to tighten monetary conditions to prevent the development of inflationary pressures.”
Securities Purchases
The central bank has created more than $1 trillion in excess reserves in the banking system through its purchases of $300 billion of Treasury debt and $1.25 trillion of mortgage- backed securities. To put upward pressure on the federal funds rate, the Fed may need to drain as much as $800 billion, Abate estimates.
One potential tightening tool is the interest rate on reserves that commercial banks keep on deposit at the Fed. By raising that rate, the central bank “will be able to put significant upward pressure on all short-term interest rates,” Bernanke said.
The Fed can also use reverse repos to shrink the quantity of reserves, which in turn gives it “tighter control over short-term interest rates,” he said.
Fed officials face the risk that when they start to tighten policy by raising the rate they pay banks on reserves, other market rates may not follow. That would keep monetary conditions too loose in an expansion.
Controlling Rates
“They still seem nervous that they might not be able to control short rates, and if they can’t control short rates, how do they tighten?” said Mark Spindel, chief investment officer at Potomac River Capital LLC, which manages $200 million in Washington.
The Fed has sought to keep the benchmark rate in a range of zero to 0.25 percent since December 2008. The federal funds rate is now 0.13 percent, even though banks can earn 0.25 percent by keeping their money on deposit at the Fed.
One reason for the discrepancy is that Fannie and Freddie have become “significant sellers” of funds in the overnight market and aren’t eligible to place cash on deposit at the Fed, according to a December research paper by the New York Fed.
Some hurdles remain in the Fed’s efforts to secure bigger repo capacity. Fed officials and mutual-fund industry representatives are working on a structure that would allow funds to invest in relatively liquid assets that can be sold in seven days, while allowing the central bank to avoid having to renew billions of dollars in transactions each week.
“There needs to be liquidity,” said Cunningham of Federated. “A reverse repo contract is not considered to be liquid in the context of anything beyond seven days.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aSn2_iDKbl1g&pos=3
Cummon! Kid friendly and ample parking……also JJ accesible…..
http://www.zeppelinhall.com/
31.Comrade Nom Deplume says:
February 15, 2011 at 10:09 am
[26] d2b
peaking of GTGs, any interest in a central NJ GTG? It’s been quite a while.
[33] chifii
JJ won’t consort with mere mortals like us.
The end is nigh (Venture Capital Edition):
Empire Built on LOLCats Gets $30 Million
By Jennifer Valentino-DeVries
A picture might be worth a thousand words, but add a cute cat and a funny caption, and you apparently have something much more valuable.
A company called Cheezburger Inc., famous for a site dedicated to these so-called LOLCats, said Tuesday that it won a whopping $30 million in funding — which it will use “to become the largest humor network in the world.” Cheezburger, which has been around since 2007, also publishes more than 40 other sites, including the FAIL Blog, which provides photographic evidence of human stupidity, usually captioned with the simple word: “Fail.”
The funding round is being led by Foundry Group — a firm that also has invested in social-gaming company Zynga. Madrona Venture Group, Avalon Ventures and SoftBank Capital also are investing.
So what do these venture capitalists see in the company? Web traffic and a high-margin business. Cheezburger cranks out posts and sites and capitalizes on Internet memes — trends that by definition are spread virally. The company says it has a fan base of 16.5 million people who view 375 million pages a month.
Many of the pictures are generated by users and submitted to Cheezburger, so staffing costs aren’t much of a concern. It says it’s been profitable “since its inception” with revenue from advertising, books and merchandise.
Cheezburger said it would use the influx of money to make some new hires — engineers, product managers and ad salespeople, among others. The company also promised fans “more content” and a “better user experience.” But Cheezburger is known for developing sites very quickly, and it’s not clear what exactly the company has in store.
“As it relates to specific features, this might sound crazy, but honestly, we’re not sure what’s coming yet. We’re a company that’s about testing ideas and understanding what our users want from us,” the company said on its official blog.
“The only question mark is whether the Cheezburger Network can stay nimble and create sites that ride the wave of new memes just as they’re starting, but clearly they’ve done this pretty well since 2007, opening, adjusting and closing dozens of sites,” writes Pascal-Emmanuel Gobry at Silicon Alley Insider.
Digits colleague Aaron Rutkoff covered the LOLCats phenomenon back in 2007, before Cheezburger founder Ben Huh purchased the original site, Icanhascheezburger.com, from its creators, Eric Nakagawa and Kari Unebasami.
Mr. Huh has been adding to the Cheezburger empire since that purchase, and the company now describes itself as the “largest online humor publisher in the world.” But in a 2009 interview, Mr. Huh said he doesn’t think he’s funny on his own. “I am a business person,” he said. “Let’s put it this way, no LOLcat I have ever created has made the home page.”
Sounds like a good excuse to “visit” the data centers! Is this place in honor of the NYX deal?
chicagofinance says:
February 15, 2011 at 10:30 am
Cummon! Kid friendly and ample parking……also JJ accesible…..
http://www.zeppelinhall.com/
31.Comrade Nom Deplume says:
February 15, 2011 at 10:09 am
[26] d2b
peaking of GTGs, any interest in a central NJ GTG? It’s been quite a while.
Chi Fi I can haz how much?
How am i still working for a living.
Ben say’s; If the Hungry Peasants have no bread, Let them eat Cake! He must be from France?
Thanks to everyone who responded to the mortgage pre-approval question I had yesterday. I suppose one additional factor to consider is who you think you will be bidding against. If you are buying into a town where competing buyers have half a million cash in the bank, you may not want to risk looking like you can’t close. Hard to swallow if you prefer to play things close to the vest.
At this point the car is the safer investment than living in any of these places
Houses you can get for the price of a car
http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/4-bedrooms-for-the-price-of-4-wheels.html
25ok [41],
If you want to play things close to the vest, why disclose the pre-approval? Make the offer with no financing contingency.
#41 – Absolutely! If you have the financial strength to represent cash you are likely playing on a different field than the competition in the eyes of the seller. If you were the seller you would tell the buyer; if you are so certain of getting a mortgage just remove the contingency. All qualification concerns are eliminated!
When the seller finally comes to realize they are gonna have to take less, getting it without a mortgage contingency is a spoonful of sugar. It helps the sh*t sandwich go down easier.
“If you are buying into a town where competing buyers have half a million cash in the bank, you may not want to risk looking like you can’t close.”
If you’re “competing” with anyone to buy a house right now, you’re paying too much.
That said, having been both a buyer and a seller …
As a buyer, I would always get a new pre-approval letter for each offer, with the precise amount of my offer. Obviously the language of the letter didn’t say I was approved “up to” X amount, rather, it said I was approved “for” X amount.
As a seller, all I wanted to see was whether the buyer was pre-approved for the amount of the offer. If the approval amount matched the offer amount, I just assumed the buyer could be approved for more. Obviously, a pre-approved amount higher than the offer amount indicated that the buyer *could* increase their offer, but it also (to me anyway) indicated that the buyer wasn’t very savvy, and might be more likely to flake out on the deal.
I don’t care how freaking cheap these houses are:
http://maps.google.com/maps?hl=en&biw=1120&bih=632&q=23803+N.+Bridle+Way,+Florence,+AZ+85132&wrapid=tlif129778982321811&um=1&ie=UTF-8&hq=&hnear=23803+N+Bridle+Way,+Florence,+AZ+85132&gl=us&ei=grNaTbisHsH68Aaum-HtDQ&sa=X&oi=geocode_result&ct=title&resnum=1&ved=0CBMQ8gEwAA
Flat tax rate, no mortage deduction, spending less than you make, what is this, Bizarro World?
The joys of stucco. How would you like to buy a house 12 years old and find out it needs $100k of repair work to fix shoddy stucco?
http://www.courierpostonline.com/article/20110214/NEWS01/102140339/Homeowners-horrified-by-problems-with-siding
Shore- You are your bride can buy that vacation home on the cheap. Offer 20k and be sure to include the pre-approval letter……
You can get a street level view of that area on Google maps. The only green space in the area is the golf course down the road.
DL and that is why I like hardy siding
re: #46- Stucco warranties are what 1-5 years are they not? This lady got 12 out of her’s she should be happy it lasted that long.
Enacting a flat tax will be the last step in our transition from democracy to plutocracy.
About the whole pre-approval thing. I think we are all reading way too much into it. The seller only cares that you are pre-approved to legitimize your offer. The seller could care less if you plan to pay all cash or all mortgage. They get a big fat check either way. If things are as competitive as you make them out to be, then the seller need not worry about the pre-approval falling through. They can simply relist the home. If I’m the seller in an ultra-competitive market, the only time I would even worry about the buyer’s financing would be if there is a tie in what the bids offered were. Of course, this too is incredibly unlikely.
In my experience buying a recent home in an ultra-competitive Glen Ridge, you get your preapproval (doesn’t matter how much it’s for), and you bid what the house is worth to you. What you don’t want to do is bid how much you think some sucker with a windfall of an inheritance would be willing to pay. When the seller says they have higher offers, you say, “Congratulations.” Then wait two weeks for the seller to come back and say that the other offers fell through and then reoffer your original bid and not a penny more. Then send me a thank you note for saving you a few 10Ks.
I never really thought highly of pre-approval letters, pretty easy to get and pretty easy to fake. Also deal for a good price should be non-contingent on a mortgage.
I lowballed recently around 300K under ask, seller considered but wanted a little more which I would not give him. He said he really like my terms.
Terms to get a good price to me would be.
Non-contingent on a mortgage.
Non-contingent on sale of the buyers home
Show proof you got the cash to buy
OK if you get a mortgage but as seller I want to make sure you are closing either way either via mortgage or cash
Flexibility on move-in date.
Not going to back-peddle on nonsense repairs after price is set.
A pre-offer letter makes you a better offer than someone with out it.
I miss the old days when I was selling a home and old asian lady offered full price at open house pulled out check book and yelled “you take check you get out”.
If stocks keeps rising and homes keep falling and we get some cuts on mortgage tax write-0ffs you may see a lot more homes in cash deals.
Happy Renter says:
February 15, 2011 at 12:11 pm
“If you are buying into a town where competing buyers have half a million cash in the bank, you may not want to risk looking like you can’t close.”
If you’re “competing” with anyone to buy a house right now, you’re paying too much.
That said, having been both a buyer and a seller …
As a buyer, I would always get a new pre-approval letter for each offer, with the precise amount of my offer. Obviously the language of the letter didn’t say I was approved “up to” X amount, rather, it said I was approved “for” X amount.
As a seller, all I wanted to see was whether the buyer was pre-approved for the amount of the offer. If the approval amount matched the offer amount, I just assumed the buyer could be approved for more. Obviously, a pre-approved amount higher than the offer amount indicated that the buyer *could* increase their offer, but it also (to me anyway) indicated that the buyer wasn’t very savvy, and might be more likely to flake out on the deal.
As much as it is witty to say ‘if you’re competing to buy a house, you’re paying too much’; that still doesn’t do anything about a person’s living situation when they walk away because they refuse to get into a bidding war on a house.
I just did that exact thing. I had an accepted offer at 2003 purchase price. Lo and behold, a magical full price offer comes in that the guy takes and the house is currently under contract. Now I’m back to square one, sifting through the feces that is out there on the market.
I almost wish I would have ‘overpaid’ to the asking price just to be done with this process and into a house that had all of my needs and some of my wants met.
cat [83, yesterday];
The interesting question now, is whether all the payments made to the servicer’s of a mortgage after it was transferred through MERS are essentially fraudulent? How many banks and worse, MBS are holding naked notes?
How many people now own a home with a naked note?
MERS claims they impact about 50% if US mortgages.
If you know nothing else about common law, know that a court’s decision is binding only on the parties that are before it in that case. Especially a trial level court where cases are intially brought (which this Bankruptcy decision is from).
Even if the decision was from the Supreme Court, any other court must find a reason to follow the prior decision. It can also find a reason not to follow it, whether there is a distinguishing fact, whether a precedent that the cited decision relies upon doesn’t stand for when it was said to, etc. Any of these means to distinguish a case can be applied faithfully, or even in bad faith, to the effect of ruling a different way.
“Also deal for a good price should be non-contingent on a mortgage.”
You’ve just eliminated 95% of your buyers. Once again, JJ is living in a different world than the rest of us.
Add in the non-contingent on the buyer selling their current home and you are probably down to 1%. If you’re lucky, that same Chinese lady is still looking.
BTW an offer letter is like a resume, if you are a playa you don’t need it. Do you think Jack Welch or Warren Buffets submit resumes for board positions.
I do verbal offers and say you accept I will have 10% deposit in your hands in under 48 hours non contingent and if I can’t close you can keep it. Amazing that people get so caught up they cut the home price. Meanwhile the check is in escrow at lawyers and they ain’t actually getting cash to closing anyhow. Kinda like show Pickers, they throw in the word cash on barrel, money now and people are like ok.
Moose: save your breath…….the feline feels he has the stature of an expert on virtually any topic since he reads the wikis…..
54.Anon E. Moose says:
February 15, 2011 at 1:31 pm
cat [83, yesterday];
The interesting question now, is whether all the payments made to the servicer’s of a mortgage after it was transferred through MERS are essentially fraudulent? How many banks and worse, MBS are holding naked notes?
How many people now own a home with a naked note?
MERS claims they impact about 50% if US mortgages.
If you know nothing else about common law, know that a court’s decision is binding only on the parties that are before it in that case. Especially a trial level court where cases are intially brought (which this Bankruptcy decision is from).
Even if the decision was from the Supreme Court, any other court must find a reason to follow the prior decision. It can also find a reason not to follow it, whether there is a distinguishing fact, whether a precedent that the cited decision relies upon doesn’t stand for when it was said to, etc. Any of these means to distinguish a case can be applied faithfully, or even in bad faith, to the effect of ruling a different way.
53: Doughboy:
“I almost wish I would have ‘overpaid’ to the asking price just to be done with this process and into a house that had all of my needs and some of my wants met.”
Under contract or out of attorney review? The house we bought was under contract twice. Once for over $100,000 than what we paid for it and that was before many upgrades were performed.
We almost overbid on a house 6 months prior that was two blocks north of our new home. We would have spent $70,000 more for a much less desirable home.
If you wished you overbid, then you should have overbid since it’s obvious you have money to burn. If you wished you overbid, but really couldn’t afford to, then you just did the right thing.
As someone who had been looking for nearly 30 months, through both demented tax credit periods, I can wholeheartedly sympathize with your plight. Believe me, it frustrated me to no end to see a couple of sales in the listings that were true steals as we watched POS after POS obtain retardedly high offers. I’d say the rate of fair prices to money to burn offers was about 1 to 12. I simply can’t tell you how great it is to have an extra $120,000 left over to build a new kitchen and bathroom, exactly how we dreamed it, then to waste that same $120,000 on someone elses dream which most likely sent them into the poorhouse obtaining. And we will probably have 60K left over afterwards.
Patience young grasshopper. Time is your friend in this market. Don’t fall for the annual Spring market hype that will be shared ad nauseum in the press and from the big mouths of the realty cheerleaders. Look at Case-Shiller too. Chances are 9 to 1 that prices will be lower in the fall than they are today, and you’ll have a lot more saved to make this process easier by then. And all this is coming from someone who has a seriously vested interest in this not occurring.
JJ: TruPS? Try junk rated ones (BB/BB+) that are currently callable or have 2011/2012 calls that are trading at a discount. Some of the stuff that BAC purchased off the bone pile might fellate your gonads…..
JJ, ouch on the data center comment. JC is the new Brooklyn, which was the new TriBeCa, surprisingly it is still drawing people from manhattan, something about nicer apartments for less than half the cost and no city income tax. Zepplin is great, but be forewarned you will get drunk and probably only on 2 beers, some of the microbrews they sell is like rocket fuel.
When I was house hunting recently only people buying were investors, contractors, bottom fishers and we were all coming in 25% under asking non-contingent. Sellers were estate sales, divorces, short sales, REOs, job transfers, retirees who had to sell or were stuck with two houses.
People asking full price were people who did not have to sell looking for full price to fund a planned rich retirement or to get what they paid for etc. They got offers from people who made it contingent on sale of home, contingent on mortgage, contingent on inspection and them making repairs etc. Funny, a few of them had offers fall through as they got a good price but appraisal did not work or person could not get qualified for that much of mortage.
I am off the market now till December. I made my low offers on a few homes, went to a few open houses wrote down the details and next December I will see what they sold for. Or if still for sale re-low-ball them. Every house I lowballed on I was actually offering them full price if it was 2012. The knife is still falling.
However, there was one home I really did fall in love with. My dream house and we were only like 100K apart, but I would not do it. I am tracking that house. My only issue is I noticed some CO violations that I would fix if I bought it and factored it into my low ball bid. I hope they spend a few more months sitting on house and then get back to me. If they find another seller at the 100k higher price I am 50/50 on reporting the CO violations to town in order to bust up the deal. The CO violations are it is a corner house without a proper fence or gate with a huge pool, with sliders that go right into pool, it needs non climbable fences, self closing gates, pool alarm and alarms on sliders. Plus pool is type with out cover, it should have a second fence around pool inside yard. Big bucks as they was a really big plot.Thing is a huge danger and I would report it if it was in my neighborhood, however reporting it now makes me feel a little yicky as am I doing it for safety or to push seller over edge so I can get house cheap .
Libtard says:
February 15, 2011 at 1:32 pm
“Also deal for a good price should be non-contingent on a mortgage.”
You’ve just eliminated 95% of your buyers. Once again, JJ is living in a different world than the rest of us.
Add in the non-contingent on the buyer selling their current home and you are probably down to 1%. If you’re lucky, that same Chinese lady is still looking.
Happy Renter (43)
>>If you’re “competing” with anyone to buy a house right now, you’re paying too much.
Probably. I walk into this with eyes wide open. If you want to buy into the “it’s different here” towns, you have to be prepared to pay the price and suffer the consequences when the breadlines start forming.
When you were selling, you looked for the bids to come with pre-approvals for a mortgage at the full price of the bid? Wouldn’t the mortgage approvals cover say 80 to 97% of the offer price? What about putting some money down as a cash deposit? Did you expect buyers to also show you their bank statements?
>>a pre-approved amount higher than the offer amount indicated that the buyer
>> *could* increase their offer, but it also (to me anyway) indicated that the buyer
>> wasn’t very savvy, and might be more likely to flake out on the deal.
See this is where it gets tricky. You saw a preapproval higher than the offer and thought the buyers might flake out. Someone else might say, hey, they have money to spend, lets try to get more of it. In Utopia, a buyer is told that it will show they are a “strong” buyer and the seller will be more inclined to accept the offer knowing they really can back it up.
Lib (51)
>>When the seller says they have higher offers, you say, “Congratulations.” Then
>>wait two weeks for the seller to come back and say that the other offers fell
>>through and then reoffer your original bid and not a penny more. Then send me a
>>thank you note for saving you a few 10Ks.
That works until it doesn’t. Negotiated up to a max. bid last Fall when suddenly there was interest from another buyer. Said sorry, this is my best and final. House went under contract a week later and sold to someone else two months later for a few thousand more than my best and final. As Dough said (53), there are times I wish I had overpaid just to end wading around in the cesspool that is the current inventory.
The smell of rotting flesh is everywhere.
JJ…That house will probably come to you, as did ours.
Doughboy [53]; Lib [58];
Passed an open house sign this past weekend. Plain looking house, corner lot, POS cape but already dormered, decent school district, other good locational aspects. Not interested enough to get the kids out of the car, but interested enough to remember the address. We said if it’s a 4-handle, they’re still dreaming; if its a 3-handle maybe its worth looking into. I looked today – asking $529k. Best recen comp on the block was $329k. A comp one block over has been on the market almost a year at $349k. Some people just don’t get it.
250k [62];
It went for ‘only’ a few thousand more because of where you pulled out of the bidding. Had you stayed in, you could have bid it up $15k-25k more and still ‘lost’. It’s called the stupidest bidder auction. I guarantee that the seller wouldn’t have even sent you a fruit basket or given you a ball squeeze for making them money.
Preapproval letters, my ass. If you’re dealing with some idiot seller with a fourth grader’s knowledge of how to handle personal finance, you could conjure up Mary Magadalene and have her do a donkey show in the idiot’s living room, and he wouldn’t come off his delusional price.
Apparently, it has become an American birthright to have access to an endless stream of bigger fools who will reverse for you in one fell swoop the effects of a lifetime of financial idiocy.
A properly-priced, desirable home comes on the market maybe once a week out here. When it does, it has a bidding war, goes UC immediately and it’s on to the next one. Any house still active after 10 DOM is pretty much guaranteed to be a mispriced POS.
When you are about to enter a competitive bidding situation that will end in an instant, you better have all your bonafides lined up and ready. Playing cagey with preapproval letters and the like simply guarantee that you (and your offer) will be crushed flatter than an armadillo on 1-40 in the Texas panhandle.
Con’t [66];
BTW, send a letter to the buyer telling them that you pulled out below the final sale price and that ‘their’ agent had them bidding against themselves.
BB&T CAP TR I CAP SECS 5.85000% 08/18/2035
Basic Analytics
Price (Ask) 94.801
All I see Chifi, does not look like a deal to me
You want to bid down overpriced crap that’s been on the market for 397 days? Play all the pre-approval games you want. Kill date your offer and throw around your weight, too. Play any game you want, because 90% of the time, it all amounts to a big circle jerk.
Good luck actually buying the house, though.
Funny how Moose keeps coming to us with advice on how to buy a house in this market, yet all he knows is procrastination and serial failure.
If you go to propertyshark .com you will see sellers home phone number and name, just call them up. Or ring the bell. Closing is for closers
Anon E. Moose says:
February 15, 2011 at 2:04 pm
Con’t [66];
BTW, send a letter to the buyer telling them that you pulled out below the final sale price and that ‘their’ agent had them bidding against themselves.
jj (72)-
That’s how we all know Moose is dead money.
“Closing is for closers”
Debt [73];
Correct me if I’m wrong, but your current line of work involves advising destitute house sellers whether to serve Cabernet or Chardonay at the 12th open house, right?
Moose,
Not an attorney, so i cant disagree with you. If nothing else it makes for great theater. At this point i don’t particularly care who comes out on top in the end. At this stage in the game it just happens to be better entertainment then Jersey Shore.
No offense but we leave in a plutocracy right now. Deductions, cronyism, favorable tax shelters due to connections with the K street boys.
How is a flat tax going to send us further down the path? Because tax rates would be equitable? People who make more get to keep more? A flat tax that includes capital gains as income is fair. the poor pay at the same rate, the middle class pay the same rate and so do the rich. After all, all men are created equal aren’t they. Just because someone makes more than you, doesn’t mean more should be taken away. equitability in the tax code would go a long way in fixing what is wrong with the country. I think your liberalism and class envy are showing
wtf says:
February 15, 2011 at 12:49 pm
Enacting a flat tax will be the last step in our transition from democracy to plutocracy.
Debt New monitor please
you could conjure up Mary Magadalene and have her do a donkey show in the idiot’s living room, and he wouldn’t come off his delusional price.
Moose (66):
Was going to write the same thing, but had to go host a meeting. House would have never gone for a few thousand more. Both parties most likely would have been ‘played’ to a big payday for the seller and the realtors.
On the last house we bid on I went non contingent on mortgage AND inspection, just to get the deal done at our price. They balked. I was doing them a favor keeping a publicly disclosable inspection from coming online, the house needed everything and then some. Last word, the “kids” (its an estate) are going to “remodel” the kitchen, put it back up for the coming white hot spring market and try to get their asking. Can’t wait to see the Barny cabinets and Home depot fixtures, lets not forget the whirlpool stainless steel…
Nothing but garbage on the MLS now, pure garbage at any price.
When I go back into market in December I noticed by using Propertyshark and Redfin I can see address and owners name. I can also see homes that were MLS listed and listing expired with houses not being sold.
Before I call any realtor I an going to write a nice letter to the top 20 homes I want, give details about myself, my offer, how much I love their house and say I am interested in buying it and have them contact me directly.
Maybe most turn it over to realtor anyhow and if so, at least I put my foot in door with my own spin. Or maybe they do it direct with me, particularly those with expired or soon to expire listings.
Nothing against realtors but in reality when I was 100K apart on the house I wanted the realtor was 72K of the difference. Without that realtor in way I could have went up 9k, seller down 9k and house would be sold. But no way was seller coming down 50K and me up 50k after I bid 300K below asking
Debt [73];
Blake is the kind of guy who ends up slumped over his desk with a dagger in his back, but nobody saw or knows who did it. I imagine a boss would like the people who work for me would at least finger the perp, not buy them a drink. But you do what you want. If the people at the bottom of pyramid schemes (like used house sales, for example) appreciated that the boss needed them more than they needed the boss, Blake and the people who idolize him would be selling $5 Plom jobs for a living.
[40] pain
I would consider the house in South Bend. Already configured for apartments, so depending on proximity to campus, it could be a moneymaker by renting to grad students, visiting professors, etc. Undergrads in a pinch, I suppose.
I was preapproved by God when he granted me a fat weiner that the ladies love.
63.Debt Supernova says:
February 15, 2011 at 1:57 pm
The smell of rotting flesh is everywhere.
clot: client who is Type 1 diabetic just had to snip of his big toe this morning due to gangrene…..yes…rotting flesh is unique…
Go to minute 9:30 of 10:27…..5 questions and it is #5 that should be committed to memory spoken by a great cougar….
84.Dick Schwartz says:
February 15, 2011 at 3:24 pm
I was preapproved by God when he granted me a fat weiner that the ladies love.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjgD7KXuFCo
Nom you know I did not even get the ND reference. Good catch, good actually be a winner if you got it cheap turn it into a frat house.
Detroit the city that keeps on giving
http://www.upi.com/Odd_News/2011/02/15/RoboCop-statue-supporters-raise-18000/UPI-23271297795456/
The headline of the WSJ Editorial today is “The Cee Lo Green Budget”…..
I keep seeing “POS cape”. While capes are usually POS, the lowest rung on the ladder is a POS ranch. A ranch is basically a mobile home with the wheels taken off.
my wife would love you no. 84, even if it isn’t her favorite color
#53 “As much as it is witty to say ‘if you’re competing to buy a house, you’re paying too much’; that still doesn’t do anything about a person’s living situation when they walk away because they refuse to get into a bidding war on a house.”
I hear you. It must suck to be looking to buy a house right now if your current living situation is not good. Thankfully I haven’t been in that situation – it must be frustrating. But I think you did the right think by not paying more than the house is worth.
#62 “When you were selling, you looked for the bids to come with pre-approvals for a mortgage at the full price of the bid? Wouldn’t the mortgage approvals cover say 80 to 97% of the offer price? What about putting some money down as a cash deposit? Did you expect buyers to also show you their bank statements?”
I wasn’t being precise in my earlier comment — I didn’t look for a mortgage pre-approval for the FULL amount of the offer, just a pre-approval for the mortgage amount, which was the offer amount minus the stated down payment (typically between 10% – 20% based on the offers I received).
I didn’t ask for bank statements, but I did get on the phone with the pre-approval bank and (1) confirm it was a real pre-approval and not a faked document and (2) confirm that the pre-approval involved credit checks and copies of asset statements showing the down payment funds (shown to the bank, not shown to me). I learned the lingo is a little imprecise as to what exactly each bank considers a “pre-approval,” I knew about pre-qualification/pre-approval but some of the “pre-approvals” were more like what I thought of as pre-qualification, and the stronger approval level was something else that I can’t remember right now.
In any case, once the weak buyers were weeded out (either based on low down payment or weak “pre-approvals” that were really more like pre-qualification as I thought of the term) I ALWAYS assumed that the buyer could pay more, regardless of what the pre-approval amount was for. So to me, it wouldn’t have made any difference to see a higher pre-approval amount. But I grant you that this is just my own bias because that’s what I remember doing when I was a buyer. I could see other people looking at it differently, maybe thinking that you’re just a stronger buyer because you could get a much bigger mortgage if you wanted to.
That said, it’s just a gut-feeling that affirmatively showing people that you can pay more than you’re offering triggers emotions in sellers that might make them act less-than-rational and dig their heels in more on price because they KNOW you can afford more. I guess the problem is that people aren’t entirely rational, so you never know which type of seller you’ll have to deal with.
But in general, I opt for giving the other side less information, not more.
I love that someone named Dicks like’s weiners.
Funny, on train ride home from city last night, Valentines Day I felt like that with the ladies, a few girls were standing near me, meaning single in their early 20’s. All were dumpy, some slightly overweight, some with glasses, some short some indian, some black, some chinese, some poorly dressed. And I was thinking Brooklyn Decker, a five foot nine inch blonde 120 pound beautiful 23 year old women is the standard they are held to. Heck all she did was go shopping at 16 in a mall and was discovered, heck she is in a movie now simply because of what God gave her on day one.
Once when I started on Wall Street I went for an interview at Morgan Stanley and I was scheduled for one hour. My friends dad used to work there and I asked him for advice on my one hour interview. He said one hour, that interview may last one hour but it is over in one minute, I go what! Yep, soon as you walk into HR’s office, they will look at you, check out your clothes, check out your handshake and confidence and pretty much they put you in one of three places in their head, Making the Money, Counting the Money or Mailing out the Money. In other words, Trader, Finance/HR/Accounting or Mailroom. Don’t blow that first one minute. OK so I shined my shoes, bought a new suit, new shirt tie, did not trip, shook the hand firmly and charmed the young pretty girl in HR who said at end of interview how about I take you down to the trading desk to meet the guys and set up your next interview.
If god dealt me a short, fat, ugly body I would need a perfect 4.0 GPA from Harvard to make it to the trader interview.
I do recall when I reached that trading floor it looked like a GQ photo shoot. I did notice a few dumpty young kinda bridge and tunnel guys on desk and guy saw me looking and said they are traders assistants hoping to be traders one day, I said that sounds great, trader goes well they don’t every actually ever become traders they just settle trades.
Dick Schwartz says:
February 15, 2011 at 3:24 pm
I was preapproved by God when he granted me a fat weiner that the ladies love.
Chifi that WSJ article hip title and sums up the situation perfectly.
You have to love Il Duce playing political games with the country’s solvency. I know the idiot republicans will walk right into the trap like the mouth breathers they are.
91.
JJ: WWP (worthless without picture)
We have just started to use an electric vehicle on some farming land, which is 95% made of recyclable product – this was the first of many to come
Hate to answer a nonsensical bot but is the farming land or the vehicle 95% recycled?
I do not understand this house….read description. 7 bedrooms? Where?
http://www.trulia.com/property/1071651017-146-Hawthorne-Ave-Glen-Ridge-NJ-07028
“Enacting a flat tax will be the last step in our transition from democracy to plutocracy”
Democracy is overrated.
Babs – perhaps they’re behind that great homemade fusebox panel in the pics. It does look like a stage prop trapdoor.
this was the first of many to come
The first of many electric vehicles?
The first of many 95% recycled-product electric vehicles?
The first of many farming land?
The first of many 95% recycled-product farming land?
I’m so confused at this arbitrary statement attribution.
I’m going to go with “this is the first of many 95% recycled-product electric vehicles being used on 95% recycled-product farming lands”. By the way, 95% recycled-product farming lands is the equivalent of a junkyard. He is driving around in a junk-yard car, harvesting junk parts from junked vehicles.
Clot, on fire. Quote of the day.
“it has become an American birthright to have access to an endless stream of bigger fools who will reverse for you in one fell swoop the effects of a lifetime of financial idiocy”
Nom,
I thought the same thing about South Bend. I don’t care for the town and I have not looked at whether the house is walking/biking distance to campus. Parking is not that good on campus so it can’t be too far to be viable as student housing. Still, a house for a couple months worth or ordinary credit card bills is tempting.
“The facts of the matter are simply this: During the housing boom, it was Wall Street, and their mad purchases of Sub-Prime, Alt A and non conforming loans for their privately issued securitization that drove the credit bubble.”
Uhm….no.
1. The chart shows percentages. It would be interesting to see absolute numbers. Given the explosion in housing in 03-06 it could very well be that Fan/Fred were writing ever increasing amounts.
2. Of course private product exploded during that period. Wall Street exists to feed demand – tech IPOs at the millennium, LBOs in the 90s, junk bonds in the 80s. If a market for a financial product is robust Wall Street will create more, that is their raison d’etre.
3. Following on the above Wall Street did not ‘drive’ the credit bubble with ‘mad purchases’. As quickly as Wall Street will find the next acned, college dropout’s website with ‘eyeball count’ and package it up for hungry investors at a $1B valuation is how quickly that they will leave you at the altar if the investor demand disappears. This point is very important to understand…Wall Street does not ‘create’ demand, it reacts to it – quickly and in size. If there were no demand for such product, Wall Street most certainly will not create more. Conversely, if everyone in America tomorrow wants a green suit each major investment bank would have a Green Suit Subsidiary, Inc. the next day.
Barb (95): That Hawthorne house is a disaster. Our friends checked it out when it sold a few years ago. They said it was a true disaster and they said it was scary. Price history is interesting. Sold for 350 in 2007. 400 in 2009 and now listed for 500. No explanation, except tax credit madness and moronic buyers.
The Spring buying season is on. All of the silly sellers who thought they could wait till the end of Winter to get a better price have apparently come out of hibernation. If I were buying, I would let the moronic buyers over pay now and then wait for what’s leftover in the Summer and Fall to find some value.
[99] leftwing,
I don’t need an endless stream of greater fools. I just need one.
Spring market DOA. All over but the crying.
Nom [104];
You and every one of your neighbors and fellow NJ homeowners. So will the people each one of you sells to. Maybe not all today, but eventually. Thus the endless stream.
Everyone should hire Donnie Walsh when price negotiating.
James Dolan represents the wife who fell in “love” with the house.
“We said if it’s a 4-handle, they’re still dreaming; I looked today –asking $529k.”
Moose 64, This is what I’ve been dealing with for three years now in my neighborhood. But time and time again, not one month after I’ve picked myself up from roflmao I check the comps and the darn thing closes near ask.
Can’t this guy just take federal benefits and save a bit of money for NJ?
The Blue America PAC recently ran a series of radio ads picking on four GOP congressmen who voted to repeal health care reform while gladly accepting their own government provided benefits program.
The good news for at least one of those congressmen is that Blue America got it wrong. It turns out that Republican Rep. Leonard Lance of New Jersey had, in fact, turned down his federal benefits. Thus, the Blue America ads were not accurate.
The bad news is that the reason Rep. Lance turned down the federal benefits is because he’s already getting a better policy at a much better deal from the State of New Jersey. As a retiree from the state senate, he qualified for a free Cadillac style health care plan the state provides for retirees and their families (he does have to pay co-pays but no premiums) for life.
That would be one of the programs that have come under attack by conservative Governor Chris Christie in his battle with public employee unions over the unusually lucrative benefits paid to retiring public servants.
Oops. So much for sacrificing to make a point.
107,
All it takes is one fool per listed house.
Jersey city bier garden a yes for me if on a fri night.
F*ck the seller. It’s all a bunch of bullsh1t and noise. The seller doesn’t get a whiff of the size of my assets, my financial strength or my approvals. Here’s my offer; take it or leave it. You want to deal? Talk to my lawyer. You don’t? Then maybe I’ll counter with a lower offer when you’re desperate. You think the next guy is a better deal? By all means, go for it. The end.
109. Shoreguy.
“All it takes is one fool per listed house.”
And in the most densely populated state, it happens a lot. Yep.
Wheat, soy, corn, and cotton are gaining momentum in price and the 30 yr. will be around 7% in a blink of an eye. Let me hear more about this mindless chatter regarding pre-approvals and negotiating tactics again. One more time: the buyer calls the shots, not the seller. The water always settles after the storm, it never fails.
From Wednesday’s WSJ:
Banks Push Home Buyers to Put Down More Cash
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748703312904576146532935600542.html?mod=WSJ_hp_LEFTTopStories
By S. MITRA KALITA
The down payments demanded by banks to buy homes have ballooned since the housing bust, forcing many people to rethink what they can afford and potentially shrinking the pool of eligible buyers.
As housing prices drop, mortgage lenders are requiring larger downpayments on homes. Kelsey Hubbard talks to WSJ’s Mitra Kalita about what the changes mean for consumers.
Last week, the Obama administration called for gradually raising down payments to a minimum of 10% on conventional loans, meaning those that can be bought or guaranteed by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. And mortgage data show that private lenders are already pushing sharply higher the required down payments, mainly to mitigate their risk as home prices continue to fall.
The median down payment in nine major U.S. cities rose to 22% last year on properties purchased through conventional mortgages, according to an analysis for The Wall Street Journal by real-estate portal Zillow.com. That percentage doubled in three years and represents the highest median down payment since the data were first tracked in 1997.
I think Chris Christie has a sweet, chocolaty center.