FHA: Nothing to see here, move along

From the WSJ:

What Housing Risk?

Before the 2007 housing bust, financial analysts who raised questions about Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac’s shaky finances were dismissed as cranks. So it’s worrying to see a thoughtful critique of another taxpayer-backed monolith—the Federal Housing Administration—receive a similar brush-off.

The flap centers around an American Enterprise Institute paper “Is FHA the Next Housing Bubble?” by Wharton real-estate finance professor Joseph Gyourko earlier this month. Mr. Gyourko notes that while the FHA’s loan exposure has grown to more than $1 trillion this fiscal year from $305 billion at the end of 2007, the agency hasn’t “increased its capital reserves commensurately.” Sure enough, the Department of Housing and Urban Development recently reported that the FHA’s capital reserves are 0.24%, a far cry from the 2% statutory minimum.

If the FHA were a private entity, these revelations would alarm investors exposed to the risk and force management to adjust. But the FHA is a bureaucracy, so its instinct is the opposite. In a blog post titled “The Continued Strength of the FHA,” Assistant Secretary for Research and Policy Development Raphael Bostic dismisses Mr. Gyouko’s “outrageous claims” and says the FHA’s books are “sound.” His arguments are worth mulling for what they reveal about what passes for FHA thinking.

Mr. Bostic focuses on the FHA’s expansion and recent reforms. Although the agency expects “record” payouts next year as borrowers default, it forecasts $9 billion of new business over the same period. FHA credit scores have improved markedly: At the end of 2007, 47% of borrowers had a credit score of less than 620, but today that figure is 3.5% and the average credit score tops 700. The Obama Administration has increased FHA premiums three times, made “reforms to credit policy, risk management, lender enforcement, and consumer protections,” and “total liquid assets are at their highest point ever,” Mr. Bostic notes.

In other words, the FHA wants to grow its way out of its problems by shedding subprime borrowers and expanding into prime loans, an area historically served by private insurers. Mr. Bostic makes this argument explicit, arguing that the FHA’s market dominance—the agency now backs nearly one-third of all new single-family mortgages—is “essential” to a housing-market recovery, adding: “Providing access to credit for homebuyers of all income ranges and in all communities, and stabilizing our housing market, has been FHA’s mission for nearly eight decades.”

And here we thought its mission was to make housing affordable for lower-income earners. But if the FHA now wants to dominate America’s housing market with taxpayer monies, that’s even more reason to examine the risks, not ignore them.

This entry was posted in Economics, Housing Bubble, National Real Estate, Risky Lending. Bookmark the permalink.

121 Responses to FHA: Nothing to see here, move along

  1. grim says:

    From the Star Ledger:

    Number of N.J. residents receiving food stamps doubled in last four years

    The number of New Jersey residents receiving food stamps has doubled in the past four years and is at its highest level in more than a decade as the nation’s still sputtering economy continues to take its toll on the poorest residents of the Garden State, state and federal data show.

    As of September, the most recent data released by the state Department of Human Services, more than 400,000 households and nearly 822,000 people were enrolled in the food stamp program, meaning nearly one out of every 10 residents in New Jersey receives assistance.

  2. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  3. Mikeinwaiting says:

    Grim 1 that is exactly where they want them, you control the means to eat you control them.

  4. grim says:

    From the Star Ledger:

    Black and Hispanic N.J. residents less likely to own homes following housing crisis, U.S. Census reveals

    Five years ago, Yenny Rosario’s family purchased a home on Sheridan Avenue in Roselle, a feat that she could barely have imagined as a child growing up in the Dominican Republic.

    Then life started to pile on.

    Like so many affected by the foreclosure crisis, Rosario discovered the loan her family took to purchase the house was toxic, and its escalating adjustable interest rate began bleeding their finances. Her property taxes soared. Her mother-in-law was forced to undergo multiple heart surgeries. Her husband lost his job.

    “I was fighting against all odds not to lose my home,” the 33-year-old Rosario said.

    But it all proved too much. Her house went into foreclosure in 2009, and she was forced to file for bankruptcy. Now her family is living in Elizabeth and trying to claw its way out of a swamp of credit problems and debt.

    Rosario’s situation is hardly unique. Data from the U.S. Census Bureau show that for most Hispanic and black New Jersey residents, owning a home is simply out of reach.

    Experts say the housing crisis has stripped homeownership away from thousands in minority communities since 2000, as many were lured into bad loans and found themselves in foreclosure. And the bar for mortgage lending is far higher than it was a decade ago, pushing the coveted asset out of reach for those whose credit ratings may have been sufficient not long ago.

    Sixty-five percent of Garden State householders live in homes they own. But for black households, that number drops to 40 percent. For Hispanics, the homeownership rate is even lower, at 36 percent, even as the community’s population has exploded in the last decade, according to data from the 2010 Census.

    Between 2000 and last year, the state’s overall homeownership rate stayed roughly flat. Hispanic households saw a modest increase of about 3 percentage points, but black households saw no change.

    According to RealtyTrac, a company that monitors foreclosures nationwide, nearly all of the top 20 zip codes in New Jersey with properties in some stage of foreclosure from 2008 to 2010 were in towns such as Camden, Irvington and Newark, with heavy black and Hispanic populations. In parts of Plainfield, Paterson and Elizabeth last year, more than 5 percent of all housing units were in some stage of foreclosure.

    “The foreclosure crisis is continuing to unravel, and the housing market is still very unsettled,” said Wayne Meyer, president of New Jersey Community Capital, a nonprofit group based in Trenton that offers loans to organizations for housing and community development. “The mortgage-lending pipeline has completely dried up. We’re certainly not out of the woods yet.”

  5. evildoc says:

    She’s not losing “her” home. It was never “her” home. Too bad no one ever explains that.

  6. FHA is a gubmint-designated garbage can, and it has been packed to the gills with festering refuse.

    When FHA goes (and it will), the sliver of necronomy we still have will go up in smoke.

  7. Let’s not even bother debating whether there will be an FHA bailout. It’s already baked in the cake.

    We will perish in an environment where every single USD in circulation will be pledged to bailouts or debt service.

  8. A trillion dollars’ worth of skeevy loans backed…virtually no reserves.

    What could be wrong with this?

  9. Neanderthal Economist says:

    Meat, you’ve been railing against fha for years. Unfortunately when you bailout a failing quasi govt agency, it’s no longer called a bailout, its called funding. Meh.

  10. Barbara says:

    Neanderthal, smoke em while you got em becomes, ironically, the ultimate economic stimulus. If all is lost then there’s nothing to lose.

  11. yo says:

    The Fed could have paid all home mortgages outstanding

    $7.77 Trillion

    The amount of money the central bank parceled out was surprising even to Gary H. Stern, president of the Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis from 1985 to 2009, who says he “wasn’t aware of the magnitude.” It dwarfed the Treasury Department’s better-known $700 billion Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Add up guarantees and lending limits, and the Fed had committed $7.77 trillion as of March 2009 to rescuing the financial system, more than half the value of everything produced in the U.S. that year.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-11-28/secret-fed-loans-undisclosed-to-congress-gave-banks-13-billion-in-income.html

  12. yo says:

    S&P Futures up 3%

  13. JJ says:

    Hope everyone had a happy thanksgiving. BTW NOONE HAS LOST MONEY ON HOUSING! The Banks did nothing wrong, mortgage companies did nothing wrong.

    Case in point my neighbor who bought at peak and is going under. Neighbor who sold house to him was a 50 something blue collar worker with three kids and a stay at home wife wanted to retire at 60 something. Bought house for 40K when he was a young newlywed. He did math and said if I can sell my vending maching routes and some idiot willpay me over 600K for my house I can retire ten years early.

    Enter new neighbor with blonde that is too good looking to be married to him and newlymarried. He leverages himeself to max as wife liked house and wrote a check for 620K to old neighbor who took that cash and bought bonds and cds to throw off an income stream. A year earlier he sold his routes and bought a house down south for 200K cash.

    The bankdoes not have my new neighbors money. My old neighbor down south as his money. This has repeated itself thousands of times in NJ and LI between 2003 and 2007 where 45-75 year old people who bought pre-peak cashed out at peak to foolish buyers. This is no different than people who got out of netflix between 200-300 a share and sold to buyers who got hammered. You want mortgage foregiveness or principal reduction from the people resonsible? I am all for it. Got to the prior own who got 94% of your money and the realtor who took 6% of your money and go ask for some back. Maybe they might give you a $20 gift card to TGIFs if you are lucky. Don’t go to banks, banks got your debts not your cash.

  14. grim says:

    Retail sales through the roof, what recession?

  15. Confused in NJ says:

    Bad thing about, “Smoke Em If You Got Em”, is at a $Trillion Dollars a Pack, only the Bloomberg Ilk will Got Em.

  16. gary says:

    The U.S. dollar used to be backed by gold and silver. Now, it’s backed by stup1dity and bacon grease.

  17. yo says:

    20 something’s drove in flock to do the shopping.If they are not paying rent, living back home,why not drive the economy into recovery.They have the disposable cash.

  18. freedy says:

    How many here actually went to a mall over the weekend? and will admit it

  19. grim says:

    16 – you undervalue bacon grease. Nothing beats brussel sprouts sautéed in half a pounds worth of drippings.

  20. yo says:

    Bought myself a barista Tossimo.Best coffee maker I ever tried.Makes every coffee drinks,with the right temperature and right amount of water,using a bar code

  21. grim says:

    I bought a TV on Wednesday night, Sears was honoring their black Friday pricing early. Stopped in Best Buy (Riverdale) on Friday and it was pretty quiet.

  22. grim says:

    20 – You ever try Nespresso? It ain’t half bad if you like the milk drinks, but you will be steaming milk … and portion sizes are Euro.

  23. Shore Guy says:

    The boardwalk was awsome this weekend. Took a walk from Avon to Convention Hall and back. it had to be 70 degrees. Dogs out everywhere, as was a muffin-eating pig.

  24. Shore Guy says:

    Oh, if anyone knows any crunchy-granola types, there is a shop in O.G that sells patchouli-hemp soap.

  25. yo says:

    22
    have heard nice things about nespresso from eurppean friends,but the capsules are hard to find in the US.Tossimo makes the same lattes and espresso and the T disk are easier to find.Bed bath and beyond sells them for less.I paid 25% more at Kohl’s for the T disk.

  26. gary says:

    I went to an open house yesterday just to kill an hour before watching the Eagles get hammered. Anyhoo, the asking price was 739K for a 4bd/2.5bth ranch in a haughtyville area. The house was a snapshot from 1963 complete with the decor. The realtor was very nice but each time the sales mantra came out like low interest rates, pant up demand, I carefully gutted him like a flounder during low tide. I told him it’s all about price, price and more price. So, the house, in a very desirable and pretty area will sit unless the children of the deceased owners come to their senses. BTW, I knew it was an estate sale the moment I walked in the front door.

  27. Shore Guy says:

    “meaning nearly one out of every 10 residents in New Jersey receives assistance”

    When we get that number up above 50%, the politicians will have us where they want us.

  28. Shore Guy says:

    “before watching the Eagles get hammered”

    A worthy way of spending time. Next to watching Dallas get crushed, there is not much better, well, aside from watching the Red Sox curl up and die each autumn.

  29. freedy says:

    black friday was great and the markets are up . hurry

  30. Anon E. Moose says:

    evildoc [5];

    She’s not losing “her” home. It was never “her” home. Too bad no one ever explains that.

    Amen.

  31. Anon E. Moose says:

    JJ [13];

    The bankdoes not have my new neighbors money. My old neighbor down south as his money.

    I make this point constantly. Even I think it sounds kooky, but there is no way it can’t be correct. There should not be a class war, but a generational one. Baby Boomers must die. In the end I figure that my generation will be in power when they are old and most vulnerable (i.e., be nice to your kids; they get to pick your nursing home).

  32. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    YEAH!

    Barney Frank to announce he won’t seek reelection!!!!!!!!!!!

    I will have a nice laugh when he sells out and joins the one percent.

  33. gryffindor says:

    Yesterday was our last gold coast tour. We saw a sign for “Alpine” when we got off the GW bridge and casually mentioned this to the realtor we met yesterday. (We were just making conversation, we’re not actually looking in Alpine.) She matter-of-factly told us that all children in Alpine attend private high schools because taxes are so low, there are no schools there. I nicely tried to point out that every student in the US is entitled to a public school education through high school. She insisted I was wrong. A quick google search might have told her that students in Alpine are districted to Tenafly for high school, whether they attend or not is another topic.

    Obviously we will not be using her services as our realtor.

    After seeing what’s out there, we have put renting back on the table. Though I don’t understand the paid-by-tenant broker’s fee for rentals. I can do an internet search and find places myself. But it the landlord is too lazy to screen rental candidates and hands the place off to a broker, I’m the one having to pay the broker? I always understood if you used a broker in NYC, you would get access to rental units that aren’t on the public searches so that’s what you’re paying for. What am I paying for with the broker’s fee in NJ?

  34. gary says:

    She’s not losing “her” home. It was never “her” home. Too bad no one ever explains that.

    Buyers were used as a prop… a stooge… a setup to complete the con. Watch the movie, “The Sting.” Same concept.

  35. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [28] shore

    Looking forward to your persistent disappointment, at least when it comes to all things sports.

    Our daughters are on notice: No supporting NYC teams. Ever. They do and they’ll be written out of the wills.

  36. gary says:

    She matter-of-factly told us that all children in Alpine attend private high schools because taxes are so low, there are no schools there. I nicely tried to point out that every student in the US is entitled to a public school education through high school.

    Ask her if her mother had any children that lived.

  37. JJ says:

    Lets see, huge thangsgiving dinner thursday plates piled to the moon, Friday Malls are packed for Black Friday, Saturday Bars and Restaurants are packed all kids are home from school and relatives visting, went to Jets Game Sunday and full house spending like crazy, today Monday cybermonday people are on internet spending like crazy.

    What recession?

  38. JJ says:

    My favorite was my NYC apt. For rent by owner, but wife had realtor license so you had to pay realtor fee.

    gryffindor says:
    November 28, 2011 at 9:55 am
    Yesterday was our last gold coast tour. We saw a sign for “Alpine” when we got off the GW bridge and casually mentioned this to the realtor we met yesterday. (We were just making conversation, we’re not actually looking in Alpine.) She matter-of-factly told us that all children in Alpine attend private high schools because taxes are so low, there are no schools there. I nicely tried to point out that every student in the US is entitled to a public school education through high school. She insisted I was wrong. A quick google search might have told her that students in Alpine are districted to Tenafly for high school, whether they attend or not is another topic.

  39. Anon E. Moose says:

    gryff [34];

    Everything is negotiable. First offer on a rental is “landlord pays the fee”. He hired the flack, you didn’t; let them pay for the service. If they push back, ask how many months are they willing to leave the place empty to get someone who will pay a month’s fee?

  40. Anon E. Moose says:

    gary [35];

    Buyers were used as a prop… a stooge… a setup to complete the con. Watch the movie, “The Sting.” Same concept.

    Yes, but see [13]. Who took the lion’s share off the closing table?

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  42. gary says:

    Moose [42],

    I understand… I know. A bunch of fat, stup1d b@stards just happen to be moseying along and stepped in sh1t. The induststry, though, was all too happy to bang unsuspecting individuals up the @ss in new and imaginative ways.

  43. plume (33)-

    Wonder how many minutes it will be after he leaves office that Bawney joins the JP Morgue or Goldman Sack.

  44. gryff (34)-

    Congratulations on coming back to your senses. Condition any rental offer on the landlord’s paying the realtor fee. They balk, you tell ’em to stick it up their bungholes.

  45. After watching 60 Minutes last night, getting a nice truck to live in and moving to Florida is beginning to sound very appealing.

    We are slowly but surely headed toward Mad Max. Extinction before recovery.

  46. gary says:

    More on that open house I went to yesterday: I was there for 45 minutes; no one else showed up. The realtor also had a glossy folder on this house along with folders on previous sold and current listings. I’m surprised he didn’t have a smartboard and a Powerpoint presentation as well. Gee… a far cry from “buy now or be priced out forever.”

  47. Fabius Maximus says:

    #34 gryf
    Alpine does have its own Elementary. The town will also bus your kid to school as well.

    I recomend Grim for your realtor. I don’t have full access, but can someone post up MLS 1123220

    Beautiful Alpine for $2750

  48. gary says:

    Meat [49],

    Those people shouldn’t fret, hope and change is coming very soon.

  49. gryffindor says:

    #41 Anon. E. Moose and #48 There Went Meat – got it, rental terms are negotiable as well.

    My business landlord has offered me his property for sale, so purchasing the commercial property and renting the home instead is also partly what is pushing us to considering renting. The commercial property is a high traffic location and desirable location. It would be nice for business to be able to tailor the property to my tastes than wonder if the landlord is ever going to pave the muddy stone parking lot (he won’t) or fix the busted basement windows (maybe but probably not). There are no realtors involved here so I’m hoping that if I commit, we would be able to work with the accountants and lawyers to be able to structure the sale to benefit both of us.

    The landlord is also selling his home and has already downsized, but we definitely don’t need a 5 bedroom 4 bath with a yard right now. Unless he wants to offer a buy one, get one free deal.

  50. JCer says:

    Tassimo isn’t bad and offers a lot of variety, with regard to drinks and variety, in Barcelona I swear it is the most popular coffee maker. Nespresso in my opinion is alright but it does not create a great shot, is expensive, and when I compared it a few weekends ago to the new illy pod machines it wasn’t even close. For pure espresso either the Lavazza point or illy pods are the best espresso shot from a pod, Nespresso is like in 3rd place, not bad but also not that great. If you drink a lot of coffee you’d be better off getting a super automatic machine(Delonghi, Saeco, or Jura-Capresso) for $750 or $1000. While this is probably 2-3 times what the pod machine costs, my cost per espresso is ~$0.20 vs. ~$0.55 and I have 3 espresso per day on average, assuming $0.90 savings per day x 365 days per year is $328 x 5 year period of machine ownership(maintenance being the same as cleaning tabs,periodic descaling, and water filters are probably required on pod machines as well). If my wife were involved in this estimate it would skew it even more as on weekends she drinks a cappuccino daily made with 2 shots, but during the week gets free espresso at her office. I also get flexibility, if I want illy I can brew it if I feel like the kick of Segafredo or maybe I want Lavazza or maybe a local coffee companies medium-dark roast Brazilian coffee, I’m not getting that with the vendor lock in of the pod machines.

  51. gryffindor says:

    #51 Fabius Maximum – I figured Alpine either had its own schools or bussed the kids somewhere if it didn’t. I know there are many towns in NJ and across the country that do that. My point was arguing with the realtor who insisted “Taxes are low because there are no schools and so everyone has to send their kids to private school.”

  52. POS cape says:

    30

    Also, I like:

    “Like so many affected by the foreclosure crisis, Rosario discovered the loan her family took to purchase the house was toxic, and its escalating adjustable interest rate began bleeding their finances.”

    Discovered? You mean she didn’t know it going in?

  53. grim says:

    Didn’t know or didn’t care?

  54. EJG says:

    My occassional post. Recently read Sinclair’s “The Jungle”. Never had to for school but always wanted to. Amazing how little has changed in past 100 years.

    People buying homes without knowing true terms of sale.
    Corrupt Govt.
    1% rule
    Even food products are still questionable, I believe someone posted on this site some tima ago what is in a McRib sandwich. Would make the Chicago packing houses of the old days proud.

  55. gryff (53)-

    If you wouldn’t buy a residential property in NJ, why would you buy a commercial one? IMO, it is a faster way to commit financial suicide (unless the owner is willing to price in at least another 25% or so drop in value and slice a few more $$$ off for hazy visibility on future taxes).

    I don’t know what municipality the building is in, but many NJ towns look at commercial RE as an entity that can be soaked for revenue as needed and pummeled with all sorts of new zoning/use restrictions that make the sheeple happy.

  56. grim (57)-

    Hard to know what you’re getting into when the loan originator tells you to sign a blank app and let him take care of the “details”.

    I wish I had a nickel for every person I’ve met who did this.

  57. Anon E. Moose says:

    Gary [46];

    I understand… I know. A bunch of fat, stup1d b@stards just happen to be moseying along and stepped in sh1t. The induststry, though, was all too happy to bang unsuspecting individuals up the @ss in new and imaginative ways.

    The game was ‘You screw my kids, I’ll screw your kids; and we’ll all retire in Boca together.”

  58. Anon E. Moose says:

    POS [56];

    Yep, they just -oops- tripped over the closing table and ended up owning a $500,000 house with a $50,000 income.

  59. grim says:

    61 – Dumb luck that they ended up on the right side of the trade, no?

  60. gary says:

    Meat [60],

    Introduce me to some of those people. I have a proposition for them from an acquaintance of mine in Nigeria.

  61. gryffindor says:

    #59 There Went Meat – I would consider buying residential property in NJ, just not right at this moments. I haven’t made any commitments to buy anything yet, commercial or residential, just researching my options. We’re not looking to move out of this area and our jobs are such that we won’t get sent out of the area unless we make a decision to leave.

    Thanks for the tip regarding the commercial property taxes, I will have to look into that some more.

  62. Commanderbobnj says:

    37.GARY says:
    November 28, 2011 at 9:59 am
    “She matter-of-factly told us that all children in Alpine attend private high schools because taxes are so low, there are no schools there. I nicely tried to point out that every student in the US is entitled to a public school education through high school.”

    and as FABIUS MAXIMUS says :
    Alpine does have an elementary school (off Hillside Ave)————–Some of my ‘CommanderBob kids’ went through the Tenafly school system which is the ‘sending’
    district for Alpine. I find it amusing that they all told me that most of the Alpine High School kids get a high priced new car upon graduation …

    On another note: [as always, a true story]
    Back in the early 1980’s I found myself “educating” a young lady from Europe about getting-in the RE sales business ; Since she had a great ‘gift of gab’ and the ‘looks’ to go with it… Instead of watching someone’s children and cleaning houses, she was, in my opinion, a natural sales person…..I thought that she would be perfect for & would go far and most definitely belongs in that profession. She took my advice; I stressed that she should learn ( amongst other things ) as much as possible about the structure of a building, (i.e. difference between stud, rafter, joist; cinder vs. cement block foundation, history about the area and the house, etc.etc.). Credibility is Number One for sucess in Sales ! She also got into Commercial Business sales too. I also recommended (before passing the State RE exam ) that she should connect with (place the license on the wall) a good local RE agency. She advanced to the point (after several years) to marry the owner. He recently died. And this emigent from “across the pond” now owns a multi-million dollar small ’empire’

    Not bad for a (then) non-US citizen…
    G_D bless CommanderBob (HaHa)

  63. gary says:

    Is it true that unicorn attacks are on the rise by the OWS crowd? Ya know, since unicorns represent the prestigious and haughty.

  64. Anon E. Moose says:

    Commanderbobnj [66];

    So the moral of the story is that if one follows their innate talents, with good looks they will become rich and successful by marrying into money?

    Great advice, thanks.

  65. JJ says:

    “You can marry more money in a minute than you can make in a lifetime”

    Anon E. Moose says:
    November 28, 2011 at 12:13 pm
    Commanderbobnj [66];

    So the moral of the story is that if one follows their innate talents, with good looks they will become rich and successful by marrying into money?

    Great advice, thanks.

  66. JJ says:

    Most male CEO are white good looking men over six feet two inches tall in good shape with hair. Sure they have degrees from IVY league schools but any short shmuck from great neck will tell you those pieces of paper are as easy to buy as a good bagel on middle neck road. Good looks is a true blessing that can’t be bought.

  67. Shore Guy says:

    We looked at some houses lately and what strikes me is that people are aware that the market has changed but they think the changes apply to other properties, not theirs. Sellers are like Keith Moon and they want buyers to step in like Scot Halpin and save the day. I will pass.

  68. grim says:

    71 – Always been the case, always will be. It is *always* different here.

  69. grim says:

    This one is special, Suzanne said so.

  70. Too bad that of all those 6’2″, hairy CEOs, only about five of them know how to run a legit business that actually makes an honest, verifiable profit. Seems like very few of them can keep it in their pants, too.

  71. Ask those people on 60 Minutes last night how different it is in their part of FL.

  72. still_looking says:

    JCer 54

    Yes! Someone who understands coffee! I try to explain the uselessness of brewing systems (pods, kcups whatever) that grind the coffee months in advance. It’s sacrilege.

    I’ve been so fanatical at times to have wanted to even roast my own green beans! We use a JuraCapresso with DunkinDonuts coffee. Occasionally I venture off the sample a different kind of coffee but invariably this coffee machine has us spoiled completely.

    In a world of kcup swilling, ground-can coffee brewing, burnt coffee/mocha-latte brewing misery – it’s nice to know someone else appreciates great coffee.

    We gave my in-laws a Capresso. After we moved out were exiled and villified it needed servicing. Rather than even ask what to do about it, (Hubby is a master at fixing- resetting the machine) they discarded the machine and used the Keurig coffee maker that we allegedly left behind actually we were *asked* if they could have it.

    We’ll keep our great morning cup of coffee….

    sl

  73. Just talked to an old RE pal who recently took over running one of Weichert’s flagship offices. He has recruited every single top producer away from other local offices, now has 51 agents…and will be lucky to do 10 closings this month (this represents a massive loss). He was very candid with me in sharing his feeling that this situation will not get better anytime soon.

    Don’t smoke the hopium, folks. We are plunging deeper into the abyss.

  74. sl (76)-

    You got something injectable that will fix my attitude?

  75. Dan in debt says:

    Clot,

    I think the only thing that fixes your attitude is the sound of weapons fire with EPL a distant second.

  76. Shore Guy says:

    Back to the salt mine.

  77. grim says:

    78 – Sure. Fix-a-flat, mineral oil, silicone, and super glue.

    Oh, you said attitude, thought you said ass.

  78. gary says:

    Hookers and blow will fix any attitude.

  79. Anon E. Moose says:

    Meat [77];

    There’s a listing agent in NJ who won’t get off her donut-eating @$$ to drive 10 minutes for a meeting that can sell a property she’s repping. Maybe she needs to hear the news your’re sharing from an “insider”.

  80. moose (84)-

    If that prospective meeting she’s blowing off is with you, she’s smarter than you think.

  81. Lookers look. Buyers buy.

  82. make money says:

    Most male CEO are white good looking men over six feet two inches tall in good shape with hair.

    JJ,

    http://tinyurl.com/7gylpzo

  83. Libtard in the City says:

    Had a thought while I was cruising to the Bahamas last week. If OWS was smart (which they are not, or most likely they would be employed), they would open an investment bank. Then they could get all of their supporters (99%ers) to transfer their accounts from their current IBs over to the OWS IB. All the meanwhile, they should position all of the accounts short their former IBs. In about a week, they could own the park, rather than occupy it.

    “You know, it occurs to me that the best way you hurt rich people is by turning them into poor people.”

  84. Anon E. Moose says:

    Meat [86];

    Closers sell, and suckers pay list price. All she has to do is sell the place and I’ll STFU about its price. Alas, still listed…

    I guess she doesn’t mind paying all those MLS listing fees time and again — woth it to get a new “DOM” number.

  85. prtraders2000 says:

    My BIL works for GMCR up in Waterbury. Great place to work. And if you are not a coffee snob, the coffee is way better than the burnt stuff that used to sit in the office pantry.

  86. still_looking says:

    Meat, 78

    Oh, the stories I could tell you…

    sl

  87. Libtard in the City says:

    I still swear by my Kona (just ordered another 5 pounds). Still…how did the Kona I gave you measure up to your Brazilian beans?

    We used to have a Capresso, but the thing broke too often and I got sick of fixing it. We currently employ a $30 burr grinder and a $70 Cuisinart Brewcentral.

    Stu

  88. Juice Box says:

    I buy Dunkin coffee usually when it is on sale 2 for 1. Currently using a Cuisinart grind and brew, paid about $99 for a few years back when there was some kind of sale. Works great and keeps the brew warm all morning since the carafe is double insulated. I have never had a coffee maker last longer than this one, usually the heating element breaks or it develops a leak. Hopefully I won’t have to buy a new one anytime soon.

  89. JCer says:

    Lib, Capresso or Jura-Capresso? There is a big difference since Jura took over, the other thing is oily beans kill these machines, I got my parents one and 2lb of Starbucks espresso later the machine needed professional cleaning. Brazilian coffee is fantastic, very low acidity and caffeine, makes a nice espresso.

  90. Which bank do you work for, moose?

  91. The lackey stooge never has a comeback to #95.

  92. Where you sit is where you stand.

    Once moose discloses, the shred of cred he has here goes poof.

  93. chicagofinance says:
  94. Anon E. Moose says:

    Would you make a million -dollar decision on the advice of a teenager? 18 year-olds selling houses like they were cell phone skins. These kids proabbly fit right in considering the maturity level of those in the industry.

    http://realestate.yahoo.com/promo/young-entrepreneurs-real-estate-success.html

  95. Anon E. Moose says:

    Meat [96-98];

    never has a comeback to #95.

    Counting problem?

    You can take the boy out of real estate, but you can’t take the real estate out of the boy. Case in point, the less you know about what I do for a living, the more vehemently you insist that your fantasy is correct.

  96. NjescaPee says:

    I imagine moose more as a mouse with a teenie weenie complex. Probably had some traumatic experience where someone older than him took away his gameboy and never got over it hence his animous toward boomers. Maybe it was me who confiscated his pacifier. I sure hope so.

  97. Barbara says:

    I’m still using a French press with illy beans except now I poir it through a paper filter. Pretty good.

  98. Barbara says:

    Rentals are moving here, margins are wide. I may be back in after the new year.

  99. Libtard in the City says:

    I’m seeing the same thing Barb on my multi. It’s gotta be all of those people JJ keeps talking about (recession over). You know, the one’s who can no longer afford to buy or who were burnt so hard the last time around that buying is not an option no matter what. Good for us.

  100. Anon E. Moose says:

    Two investing topics popular on this forum collide: Are guns a better investment than gold? http://blogs.the-american-interest.com/wrm/2011/11/25/guns-better-investment-than-gold/

  101. Barbara says:

    Libtard, just a few DIY horror stories intensified by the bill to follow from the pro is enough to scare off a significant percentage of the over educated/under employed types.

  102. grim says:

    100 – As a freshman in college I was making more money than my parents combined, as well as any of my professors, and probably their bosses. All while attending full-time.

    By senior year, I had been offered a PhD seat and turned it down after spending a month in the research lab with a bunch of dirt poor post-docs. Came to the realization that no matter how much I loved it, I’d never make more than my current income.

    Caveat, of course, is that I was a dot com’er.

  103. JJ says:

    Nice, and you did not have to sell nickle bags and scalp concert tickets like the rest of us.

    grim says:
    November 28, 2011 at 3:51 pm
    100 – As a freshman in college I was making more money than my parents combined, as well as any of my professors, and probably their bosses. All while attending full-time.

    By senior year, I had been offered a PhD seat and turned it down after spending a month in the research lab with a bunch of dirt poor post-docs. Came to the realization that no matter how much I loved it, I’d never make more than my current income.

    Caveat, of course, is that I was a dot com’er.

  104. JJ says:

    I think we need a rate cut, we have not had one in awhile and I am jonesing.

  105. moose (101)-

    Put all this to rest- and shut me up- by disclosing what you do for a living.

    Of course, you’re too much of a kept, bought-and-paid-for bitch to do this.

  106. Silly me. Moose will never disclose.

    It is, however, mildly amusing to read his pathetic comebacks and other attempts to change the subject.

  107. Juice Box says:

    re: #107- Grim – yeah those days of the cocktail napkin business plans when they would over pay guys who were more qualified to be driving cabs $100k if they knew enough buzz words and could bang out a little bit of JavaScript. I used to drink with a guy from Razorfish, he and I used to talk shop about Java in a bar in the lower east side before he made big IPO $ and no longer trolled the lower east side. That was before 2000 when their stock went from $57 to $1. Too bad I was too busy chasing tail at the time to take a job, I could have been a paper millionaire for a year in NYC in my twenties instead of a under-worked overs*e*x*ed keyboard jockey at a Fortune 500.

  108. Confused in NJ says:

    Fed Loaned Banks Trillions in Bailout, Bloomberg Reports
    |
    In a story that sheds new light on the extent of the country’s financial crisis, Bloomberg Markets magazine reported today that the Federal Reserve lent trillions of dollars to beleaguered financial institutions, with $1.2 trillion going out on just one day in 2008.

    “The Fed didn’t tell anyone which banks were in trouble so deep they required a combined $1.2 trillion on Dec. 5, 2008, their single neediest day. Bankers didn’t mention that they took tens of billions of dollars in emergency loans at the same time they were assuring investors their firms were healthy,” Bloomberg reported today. ”And no one calculated until now that banks reaped an estimated $13 billion of income by taking advantage of the Fed’s below-market rates.”

    Bloomberg Markets said it went over 29,000 pages of Fed documents obtained under the Freedom of Information Act and central bank records of more than 21,000 transactions.

    “Saved by the bailout, bankers lobbied against government regulations, a job made easier by the Fed, which never disclosed the details of the rescue to lawmakers even as Congress doled out more money and debated new rules aimed at preventing the next collapse,” Bloomberg reported.

    Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke had argued back in 2008 when the crisis hit that revealing borrower details would create a stigma that would have led to more banks collapsing. And the Fed fought to keep the details of the loans, which totaled $7.77 trillion, secret long after.

  109. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [58] EJG,

    For some lighter fare, I commend to you the complete works of Saki (a.k.a. Hector Hugo Munro). Amazing what hasn’t changed in the last 100 years.

    Heed the warning not to try to read too many shorts in one sitting. It will actually induce literary dispepsyia.

  110. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [54] JCer

    For someone who doesn’t do 3 expressos per day, but perhaps 1X per day and needing to steam milk for those lattes and caps, what is the best option? I want to replace my older than dirt Braun (or is it Krups?) with something that produces a decent cup without brain surgery, and is easier on the wallet.

    Tired of bitter, watery espresso and a finicky machine. Any advice is welcome.

  111. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [99] chi fi

    Sesame Street for JJ???

  112. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Turns out Barney isn’t running cuz his district is changing, and he will have fewer New Bedford welfare queens and illegals voting for him. Given that he had a serious challenge in 2010, he sees that he just might lose, and his ego just can’t handle that. Also, he could take Warren with him.

    Folks in Mass are probably hoping he moves back to Hudson County.

  113. NjescaPee says:

    Mom,try a moderate priced Saeco espresso coffee maker. does an excellent job on coffee and steaming milk. Probably in the 200 plus area. We use lavazza which comes out pretty good.

  114. NjescaPee says:

    I was promoted recently and have to attend an indoctrination camp this week. I’m old
    enough to be their father. Jeez, this is so embarassing!

  115. 30 year realtor says:

    How is it that real estate agents can convince people to do stupid things with their money? When the subject turns to mortgage brokers or bankers, they are unable to take advantage of these very same people. Suddenly these foolish buyers become wise borrowers. Any action these borrowers (same stupid buyers manipulated by real estate agents) have taken is wise and fully informed. Can anyone explain to me how the same people can be so wise about mortgages and so stupid about real estate?

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