From Bloomberg:
Hunterdon County, N.J., Has Highest Taxes
Residents of New Jersey’s Hunterdon County pay the highest property taxes in the U.S., according to the Tax Foundation.
The annual median property tax in Hunterdon, about 60 miles (97 kilometers) southwest of Manhattan near the Delaware River, was $8,216, a report issued today by the Washington-based organization shows. Suburban Westchester and Nassau counties, both bordering New York City, ranked second and third, respectively, at $8,206 and $8,160.
“The only source of revenue to pay for a broad spectrum of services in New Jersey is the property tax,” said William Dressel, executive director of the New Jersey League of Municipalities. “The property tax in many states is not the dominant source of revenue for local services.”
…
New Jersey Governor Chris Christie has made a 2 percent cap the centerpiece of his plan to control growth in New Jersey’s property taxes, which averaged $7,576 last year. Real estate levies, the main source of funding for schools and towns, have climbed 70 percent in the past decade.
Good morning Mike.
From the Press of Atlantic City:
New home construction declines in Atlantic and Cumberland counties, increases in Cape May County
Mitchell Zbik is the president of the Builders League of South Jersey and is the vice president of operations at Group Ten Builders in Burlington County, which has developments in Egg Harbor Township and Galloway Township. Zbik said employment will be the key to reviving the new construction industry in the area.
“Until they fix the employment problems, I don’t really see the market getting any stronger,” said Zbik, who lives in Ventnor. “The rates are still very good for buyers and prices are still good for buyers, but people are still uncertain what to do based on their current employment status.”
Atlantic County saw 82 single-family home construction permits in the first quarter, a 30 percent decline from the first quarter of 2010, the census data show.
Cumberland County saw 47 permits from January to March, a 34 percent decline from the first three months of 2010, statistics say. In the same period, Cape May County issued 84 construction permits, an increase of 26 permits from the year before.
“You’ve got people sitting on the fence and that’s not good, especially for housing orders,” said economist Richard Perniciaro, director of the Center for Regional and Business Research at Atlantic Cape Community College.
Despite national trends, homes are being built.
Jessica Dziegrenuk is a sales consultant for Fernmoor Homes, which is constructing several developments in Atlantic County. At its Crystal Meadows development in Egg Harbor Township, base prices for new three- and four-bedroom homes range from $199,000 to $254,000, she said. At Crystal Lakes, also in Egg Harbor Township, prices range from $269,900 to $315,000 and up, she said.
The developments have two homes under construction with plans for a third, she said.
Dziegrenuk said she is seeing interest from first-time homebuyers entering the market after years of renting. Those buyers are not concerned about selling existing homes in a market that has seen declining home values over the past several years.
“There are much more qualified buyers in the market now and they’re seriously taking advantage of the affordability in home prices and interest rates right now,” she said.
Perniciaro agreed with Zbik that jobs are the key to the health of the home building industry.
“Especially when people feel a lot of risk, putting an order on a house to be built a couple of months from now takes a lot of nerve,” Perniciaro said.
Zbik said he saw positive signs when the federal government offered a first-time homebuyer tax credit, which offered an $8,000 government subsidy to help spur the real estate market.
But new construction lapsed since the credit expired last year and has not come back, he said.
“The outlook is not that strong for a builder/seller of real estate,” he said. “Some of the negative still continues to undermine value. There is a lot of property available for sale today and there is value if people have the resources to go and acquire something. The government, whether it be the state or federal government, should do something to try to spur growth.”
From HousingWire:
Tough housing market slams Realtor income
The median income of Realtors dropped almost 35% over the last eight years, according to new data from the National Association of Realtors, as home sales across the nation struggle to gain footing.
The median income for real estate professionals in the NAR network last year was $34,100, a 4.5% decline from 2009. Realtor income dropped every year since 2002 when the peak salary hit $52,200 and salaries are down 34.7% between then and 2010.
Paul Bishop, vice president of research at NAR, told HousingWire that Realtor income is highly dependent on market conditions, meaning when the industry tanks, so will a real estate professional’s salary.
“The biggest factor in what we’re seeing with Realtor income really depends on what were seeing in the overall market,” Bishop said. “How many transactions and what the properties are selling for will determine what professionals are making.”
From Nasdaq:
Mortgage Delinquencies Fall Again
Fewer homeowners are getting into trouble on their mortgages, as the mortgage delinquency rate has fallen for the fifth consecutive quarter, according to credit reporting firm TransUnion.
The percentage of homeowners over 59 days past due on their mortgages declined to 6.19 percent by the end of March, a decrease of 3.4 percent in the total number of past-due home loans.
Over the past year, mortgage delinquencies have fallen by 8.6 percent, down from a level of 6.77 percent of mortgage borrowers in the first quarter of 2010.
The size of the recent decline came somewhat as a surprise, given that home prices continue to fall, leading to expectations that the delinquency rate would show little or no improvement over the previous quarter. Instead, the shrinkage in delinquencies accelerated, with past-due loans falling considerably more than the 0.5 percent drop reported for the fourth quarter of 2010.
“Decreasing home prices can be risky because they exert upward pressure on mortgage delinquency rates. The fact that mortgage delinquency continues to decline despite this situation demonstrates that today’s borrowers are less risky,” said Tim Martin, a TransUnion official. “While many homeowners still face pressure to make ends meet, they have lived in their homes for a long time and have diligently been paying their mortgage each month. These are borrowers that have roots in their residential neighborhoods and may already have substantial equity invested.”
The company predicts that delinquencies will continue to fall throughout the rest of the year, assuming that the economy continues to improve as expected.
Good Morning to you too Mocha and New Jersey
From SmartMoney:
Hedging Your Home Value: The Greatest Idea Never Sold
With home prices in what seems like an endless fall, why is it so fiendishly difficult to protect yourself against the risk of a further drop?
…
Everyone sees the need to buy homeowners’ insurance to protect against the risk of fire or storm damage or burglary. The need to hedge against a continued bear market in real estate that could damage your home’s future value is just as urgent.
That’s especially true with roughly one in four homes “underwater,” or worth less than the outstanding mortgage which stifles job mobility by making people reluctant to move. Now more than ever, homebuyers would seem to take great interest in a financial product that could permit such mobility.
People can always rent, of course. But once you own a home free and clear, you have the option of selling it and using the proceeds to fund your retirement. That makes a fall in home prices worth protecting against.
Yet the market for that type of protection remains underdeveloped. “People know they are overexposed,” says Prof. Shiller, who has been advocating protection against the chance of falling real-estate prices for more than 20 years. “Why they don’t hedge the risk puzzles me.”
No. 3 Real estate professionals = greedy pond scum
If you want a housing recovery in New Jersey “CUT PROPERTY TAXES” the state may have to raise revenue some other way but do it as a shared sacrifice. For to long local governments have used peoples homes as their personal piggy banks, They have taxed homes to the point that it makes owning a home here unappealing, or unattainable,,, taxes add approx 40% to what the average mortgage holder has to pay each month. Ave mortgage $1400 then add $700-800++ to that bill for taxes, pay your insurance, fill your gas tank to get to your job and you eat dog food for the rest of the month.
re: [3];
I’m surprised its not greater. A Realtor’s take is a function of total sales volume, not just sticker price. The former is down more dramatically than the latter. I wonder if/how the NAR statistics account for the washouts from the industry, whose real-estate income has done to zero.
In any case, the realtor compensation model was created by the realtors for the realtors. If they don’t like it, they can change it.
Finally, these are NAR statistics we are talking about. Downward revisions are inevitable, aren’t they?
Fried eggs, basted with grain alcohol.
The smell of it cooking tempers the stench of death.
RE is dead money for- at minimum- a generation.
Two Decades at Bernie’s, baby.
Local munis in NJ are run like backwater southern towns. Boss hog and all that. That’s what “local rule” gets you, a local govt that’s bloated and reads like a family tree. Gotta employ those boarder line retarded offspring and in-laws somehow. Stay classy, NJ.
Border, even. Retard says what? What?
7. Mike says: No. 3 Real estate professionals = greedy pond scum
–
Unlike lawyers and bankers? Give’em a break, though their space is cluttered with a lot of bad and rotten apples, there are some good ones out there.
Hunterdoom LOVES LOVES LOVES high taxes. It is not NJ faults. My buddy lives there, last year to lower taxes they proposed a truck transfer station in a remote part of town so they could get some commercial taxes. They all banded together to block it. That would have lowered property tax.
So I go to friend well what type of commercial property would you want. He goes some type of medical billing building or white collar office building where people work 9-5pm and not retail so little traffic.
I say great. I have a big one of them not far from my house with a few hundred white collar workers working in building. I then say you do know that a subway, dunkin donuts, pizzeria, lotto/newstand, dili, 7/11 store etc. all opened up walking distance to office building shortly after it opened up. Workers buy breakfast, lunch, newspapers etc. He goes NO not in Hunterdoom we can’t have those businesses, I then go who the heck would want an office space with no place to buy coffee, bagels, lunch, newspapers etc anywhere near building. He goes well they should bring it with them or drive to another town at their lunch break. WTF. Hunterdoom deserves its high residential real estate taxes.
Look what I read while staying up all night with teething baby!
http://foucault.info/documents/disciplineAndPunish/foucault.disciplineAndPunish.panOpticism.html
I blame the sleep deprivation mixed with possible clinical depression. Also, spending the night ripping Matthew Sweet CDs for my Ipod. He’s gloomy, but catchy.
babs (16)-
I’ve blown out speakers by blasting Sick of Myself at top volume. It’s like that guy channels Alex Chilton and Brian Wilson at the same time.
Hobo,
He gone all Wall Of Sound In Love With Phil Spector a la Joey Ramone. I miss him and 100% Fun is great almost all the way through but Girlfriend is still my fav.
babs (18)-
Both those discs are in my car at all times.
Hunterdon. Why did I want to buy in this county? Can anyone remind me? Anyone? Beuller?
Despite my brand new bitching Mini 4 door, I cannot listen to loud music in the car as I have young children. Thank god for Ipods and one hour at the gym.
Jets12 No. 14 I guess, but the few I know personally including a family member are pond scum. God if they ever found out what I was posting here!
I smell a new attack coming, this time on retirement accounts and 401(k)s. There are some rumblings that the Senate will take another run at restricting 401(k) deductibility, probably by some ledgerdemain whereby the “wealthy” won’t get the benefit of the top end of the 401(k) limit (which was always intended to keep the wealthy from using it anyway).
http://money.usnews.com/money/blogs/planning-to-retire/2011/04/18/what-retirement-savings-tax-breaks-cost-us
The GAO also issued a report that suggests only “wealthy” people contribute the maximum to a 401(k). Hey, I did that–Guess I am wealthy after all, even without 250K this year.
Considering that 401(k)s and IRAs merely defer, not eliminate, taxes, they are literally robbing Peter’s kids to pay Peter. And let’s not forget the effect this will have on the retirement plan industry–those costs have to go somewhere and when the top end contributors are forced out, the remainder of the proletariate has to pick up the tab. So 401(k)s, which are not a great savings vehicle anyway because of fees, will get worse.
Hope and change.
I never even gave a thought to Hunterdon County until my sister and her hubby bought their McMansion in Ringoes. Mega-landscaped it to get themselves the highest property taxes on the block, Hummer, Bentley, and Lexus in the 3 car garage. I don’t get it.
actually 401k is a better break for middle class families than the rich.
Joe the Blue Collar worker puts in 16,500 in his 40’s when he is in 28% tax bracket and saves $4,620 in taxes. Money triples to $49,500 and he sells when he is old and is in 10% tax bracket and pays $4,950 in taxes. Govt only gets an extra $330 in taxes after Joe’s 30 year tax defferal.
Steve rich guy, puts in 16,500 in his 40’s when he is in 40% tax bracket and saves $6,600 in taxes. Money triples to $49,500 and he sells when he is old and is still in 40% tax bracket as he is rich and pays $19,700 in taxes. Govt gets an extra $13,100 in taxes after Steves’s 30 year tax defferal.
Nobody lies better than Hoboken realtors. I never heard more bs come out of people’s mouths before in my life:
“Public housing projects are going to be torn down because they are too hard to police – they did it in Chicago” – yeah and the buildings were 20 stories taller than those in Hoboken; “You have dogs; I know that new park two blocks away is going to contain a dog run” – park opens six months later, no dog run; “‘light rail will be opening next spring and will really help property values” – light rail opens three years later. “The upside to this place is that the Mayor is planning on turning the entire area across the street into a park” – three years later there’s not even a bond issuance to purchase land.
These are the wonderful words of just a few of the pro’s I either dealt with in transactions or heard at open houses; and those are just the whoppers I remembered, God knows there were at 20 other lines of pure bs they were spouting. I highly recommend you take a pen and paper with you the next time you go to an open house in Hoboken; memorialize the bs and enjoy the laughs later over a tall drink.
dam JJ you’re good
Braunschweiger & twost!
#26 HEHE –
Nothing new under the sun. My parents bought their house in Mercer County back in 1965. The person who’d originally contracted to buy the house backed out suddenly. The builder gave my parents a “good deal” on the house, supposedly because he needed the income to build the other houses in the development. The realtor who led them to the house went on and on about what a great neighborhood, and how it would be so QUIET there on the cul-de-sac.
What no one mentioned was that I-295 was going to be put in in a few years. Everyone but my parents apparently knew this. (they moved in from another state, so they didn’t know the local gossip.) It was right on their property line. Sure enough they built it in 1972, and it was never quiet again.
Speaking of music, a few recent albums for Clot:
1) Middle Brother – side project by three leads of some up and coming indie bands. The song writing is top notch beginning to end- not a sh*tty song on the entire album.
2)J Roddy Walston & The Business – “A steamroller, a drunken steamroller, a drunken steamroller in a bar fight, a drunken steamroller in a bar inside a phone booth”. Saw these dudes at Maxwells two weeks ago on a Tuesday. Place was half full and they could have phoned it in but blew the doors off the place. Best live band I’ve seen in years and I see about 15-20 shows a year.
3) Twilight Singers “Dynamite Steps”- Greg Dulli and hamilton metts are the only good things to ever come out of Hamilton, OH. Nobody blends R&B, soul, and punk like this guy. Except maybe JJ.
401K – I might have the lowest non-negative return in my current 401K, you could call it a virtual mattress. I took a job at the end of August with a company I’ve been consulting for for 3 years. I was able to bang in $22K (turned 50 last year) in the closing months of 2010 and left my election high and banged in this year’s $22K in the first few months of this year, all in Money Market. I think I’ve earned less than $3 (THREE DOLLARS) in interest on $44K PLUS my company’s 7 percent match. I don’t really care as my other retirement assets are a little better diversified, but it’s astounding to log onto Fidelity’s site and see first hand and quantitatively how savers are being robbed.
tbiggs,
Classic!
Barb, 12-
Nepotism is the American way. Take a look at many small companies today and you will see that many have seen better days. We want the best and the brightest to succeed, after we take care of our own. Sometimes it works if the kids were brought up in the business. Other times they are handed the keys after 4 years vacation time at Seton Hall.
My boss, who inherited his mother’s business (but is a very bright guy), likes to say that every small manufacturing company has a “VP” that seems to have the same last name as the owner.
Ewww and Whay would one save such quantities of such a thing?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43075305/ns/us_news/
LANGHORNE, Pa. — Suburban Philadelphia police say a DUI stop involving an ice cream truck led to the discovery of water bottles filled with urine, including one in the freezer where treats are kept.
Police say 46-year-old Yassir Hassan was visibly drunk when he was pulled over Friday in Middletown Township, Bucks County. When police searched the Trenton, N.J. man’s truck, they say they found boxes of wine along with the bottles of urine.
snip
Why, also
Why the heck would you do cash when QE2 was guaranteed to do a 20% rise in stocks?
The Original NJExPat says:
May 18, 2011 at 9:11 am
401K – I might have the lowest non-negative return in my current 401K, you could call it a virtual mattress. I took a job at the end of August with a company I’ve been consulting for for 3 years. I was able to bang in $22K (turned 50 last year) in the closing months of 2010 and left my election high and banged in this year’s $22K in the first few months of this year, all in Money Market. I think I’ve earned less than $3 (THREE DOLLARS) in interest on $44K PLUS my company’s 7 percent match. I don’t really care as my other retirement assets are a little better diversified, but it’s astounding to log onto Fidelity’s site and see first hand and quantitatively how savers are being robbed.
Shore Guy says:
May 18, 2011 at 9:12 am
Ewww and Whay would one save such quantities of such a thing?
For a second I thought you were talking about Money Market funds.
JJ says:
May 18, 2011 at 9:16 am
Why the heck would you do cash when QE2 was guaranteed to do a 20% rise in stocks?
Back in August nobody would give me the guarantee in writing.
23- What is left for us to retire on?? Social Insecurity program? Not. Pensions? Not. That only leaves us w/401K’s, etc. and even that they may change. Oh, and it’s not like there are a plethora of decent jobs for older people to support themselves. They better start looking at the Medicare benefits because I can tell you that the people now receiving it have a darn good deal. I do not expect such benefits to exist for the generations to follow. Patients now on Medicare get “whatever care they need with no questions” provided everything is well documented. This will not exist for us.
#12 Barbara: The local school budget in my area was defeated. The clueless moms huffed and puffed and the Mayor & Council backed down, and passed the budget as demanded by the moms. One of the council members spouse is a local teacher; I guess that council member did not want their spouse to deal with the fall out had the spouse voted no, and so it was passed. This council member ran on a platform of cutting taxes and listening to the people. Well the people voted no, by a substantial margin, and the no vote was null and void. Democracy at its best!!!!
On another note why are so many moms so clueless??
JJ,
Saw your post regarding Equinox. I have a contact there that can give you pricing options. I can tell you that they don’t negotiate price but their equipment and services are far supeior to the other clubs listed. If you work on Wall St. or a big Nyc firm then you may get discount corp. rate but you have to go to that club only. All-access to clubs is more expensive prob. $175/mo. I can send my email to Grim if interested.
Dick Codey on the air pitching his Book. Glen Ridge is the place to be.
they are fighting to get into the town
#24 I don’t get it either. People like that remind me of Daffy Duck. “I’m rich! I’m rich!”
http://www.theclassictoons.com/6/ali-baba-bunny/
175 a month!!! I can get NYSC on Wall Street for $79 a month and dumpy crunch on John street for $45 a month.
However, I do love Equinox. I worked out there a few times on the one on Wall Street as I had a pass for a few free visits, it was heaven. But that is $100 a month more than NYSC on Wall Street.
I was looking for like a $90-$120 a month deal at Equinox. The good looking in crowd like me should never have to pay full price.
Bystander says:
May 18, 2011 at 9:25 am
JJ,
Saw your post regarding Equinox. I have a contact there that can give you pricing options. I can tell you that they don’t negotiate price but their equipment and services are far supeior to the other clubs listed. If you work on Wall St. or a big Nyc firm then you may get discount corp. rate but you have to go to that club only. All-access to clubs is more expensive prob. $175/mo. I can send my email to Grim if interested.
#15 JJ Same thing in a local town by me. Walgreens wanted to build on a couple of blighted pieces of property in the local business district. They met all the requirements and agreed to all of the requests that mayor and council demanded. The project was approved. Some of locals went ballistic and said they did not want it, it would destroy the town etc. etc. etc. The formed groups packed mayor and council meetings and in the end the project was scrapped. Who turns down a big clean rateable like a Walgreen’s in this environment??? And of course the opposition to the project was spear headed by women. Why are some women so incredibly dumb???
#24 I am amazed too at the number of people that commute from there too to NYC. Brutal commute.
46- Hunterdon County.. too far from the shore, too far from the city, too far from good jobs.
JJ – not that it matters but the Equinox on Greenwich is really Gym Dandy.
People commute from Barnegat to the city. Amazing how many people slave their lives away on a bus or train.
John Willaims calling for hyperinflation by 2014 at the latest. Excellent update on shadowstats site.
The illuminous will pay off that sexual assault victim and the IMF guy will go free. Either that or they will suicide him.
Forget 401k’s, just keep working into your 70’s.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/people-plan-to-work-into-their-70s-or-later-2011-05-17?pagenumber=1
Richard Suttmeier’s market view will either bum you out or shore up your convictions — the latter if you’re already short or about to be.
No middle of the road analysis here from the chief market strategist for ValuEngine, who screens fundamental data on 5,000 stocks then runs them through a rinse cycle of technical analysis before hanging them out to dry on his proprietary clothes line of death. If that seems a little too “out there” for you, perhaps this will help clarify things:
“Stocks are overvalued fundamentally and overbought technically,” says Suttmeier, a nearly four-decade market veteran who began his career as bond trader.
More recently, and on the prescient side, he was warning on housing and real estate in 2005 and 2006, ahead of the bulk of the investing crowd. Gulp. Hang in there … it only gets worse.
“The May 2nd highs for so many [assets classes] marked a significant top for this market,” he says between calls to go to 50% cash. “Something big is happening. I think the Dow goes below 11,500.”
His prediction comes as he’s pointing to weakening momentum indicators that suggest a slump of this magnitude could last for three to five weeks, if not longer. Suttmeier says he first got jittery on Feb. 18 when every sector he tracks and 65% off his stock universe registered as overvalued. “The technicals are breaking down,” he says. “The story is breaking down.”
Had dinner last night with one of the most successful and optimistic agents I know. He’s been selling real estate longer than me and we get together a couple of times a year to compare notes on the market. The route 23 corridor in Passaic and Morris is his primary market area and he carries a large listing inventory.
So much for optimism. My friend said his motivated sellers are in panic mode. The Spring is nearly gone and their homes are still on the market. He envisions large price reductions and capitulation in the immediate future. Not just his listing inventory, a general strong down trend on values beginning NOW.
39.House Whine says:
May 18, 2011 at 9:22 am
23- What is left for us to retire on?? Social Insecurity program? Not. Pensions? Not. That only leaves us w/401K’s, etc. and even that they may change. Oh, and it’s not like there are a plethora of decent jobs for older people to support themselves. They better start looking at the Medicare benefits because I can tell you that the people now receiving it have a darn good deal. I do not expect such benefits to exist for the generations to follow. Patients now on Medicare get “whatever care they need with no questions” provided everything is well documented. This will not exist for us
Public Sector still gets Full Pensions & Medical superior to Medicare.
The IMF chief’s alleged sex-assault victim lives in a Bronx apartment rented exclusively for adults with HIV or AIDS, The Post has learned.
The hotel maid, a West African immigrant, has occupied the fourth-floor High Bridge pad with her 15-year-old daughter since January — and before that, lived in another Bronx apartment set aside by Harlem Community AIDS United strictly for adults with the virus and their families
#52 I guess he is in the wrong area. He should be in that magical mythical place nestled on a river bank, where prices are up 26% from last year.
Must be all the dye they put in their hair, you know the old saying, what do you get when you turn a blond upside down? A brunette with bad breath
3b says:
May 18, 2011 at 9:35 am
#15 JJ Same thing in a local town by me. Walgreens wanted to build on a couple of blighted pieces of property in the local business district. They met all the requirements and agreed to all of the requests that mayor and council demanded. The project was approved. Some of locals went ballistic and said they did not want it, it would destroy the town etc. etc. etc. The formed groups packed mayor and council meetings and in the end the project was scrapped. Who turns down a big clean rateable like a Walgreen’s in this environment??? And of course the opposition to the project was spear headed by women. Why are some women so incredibly dumb???
re # 52 – 30 Year Realtor – “motivated sellers are in panic mode.”
So could we say that the disturbing interaction between herding and the local housing market tells you that these motivated sellers are going to herd off the cliff edge together?
I don’t understand those insane commutes. How can you do that math and think the result is a better quality of life if you move out to somewhere which takes you 1.5hrs to get in to work and 1.5 to get home.
#57 Juice Box – No cliff’s edge involved. At best it could be a rush toward reality. You will hear me say it over and over again, real estate happens slowly! No one day sell off events in long established residential real estate markets. Long, slow trends are the rule.
Before going to work for myself, I used to do the 90 minute each way thing. It sucks the life out of a person, especially if one has a job that often keeps one in the office until 9 or later at night.
We should be working to live instead of living to work. Most people would be better off living while young enough to live than to work/commute themselves to exhaustion just to have 20-30 nice vacations during their working life and then, they may hope, a fantastic retirement. The creatures of the commute may never even live long enough to retire and may not be healthy enought to live it up once they get there.
beer (20)-
If you have a spare moment one day, could you come over and help me burn down my house?
#59 30 Year: I seem to remember a similar siuation during the last bubble/burst. Last to fall, and then fall we did. And of course back then property taxes were not approaching $1,000.00 a monthe before even touching the mortgage.
#60 Years ago a family member moved to the Poconos, and commuted for a few years to NYC for work. One of the attractions at the time, was the Realtor told them to train to NYC would be reactivated in a few years, making the area highly desireable;that never happened of course. He commuted 110 miles each way by bus; brutal. He eventually moved back.
3b
breaking the property tax growth curve is going to be one hell of a show down and quite mess when it happens. In order to break that growth curve you have to kill off the local government cheese including the pensions. You are talking about a lot of town bankruptcies needed to have any real impact on taxes. When that happens say good bye to any services since the locals living off the cheese will do anything they can to ensure maximum pain for the locals taking the cheese away.
It is also a nasty feed back loop given the large # of individuals who work for local governments
Ditto – It really is a paradox. It has been the American Dream since Dwight D Eisenhower and General Motors thought it up back in the early 1950s. “See the USA in Your Chevrolet”. The State government had really never implemented any real urban growth boundary in New Jersey other than what was recently done to the Highlands so we now have the sprawl you see today after 60 years of building. Driving endless miles daily from sprawling suburbs on congested roads is what still makes Americans happy or so they think. Americans get the social segregation they desire (white flight) as man is a social animal and therefore needs significant amounts of social space or they become agitated and aggressive. Ofcource this has been discredited to some degree but is still very ingrained in our society.
It may very well end with the shrinking of oil reserves, but that may not happen until we drain every drop from the ground, dig up every ounce of coal and conquer all remaining reserves or die off trying.
My Hunterdon property taxes bought me:
-Sprinturf athletic field
-wireless cloud at schools
-whiteboards in classrooms
-Blue Ribbony, minty-fresh designation
-overspending on crappy football and boys’ basketball teams
-six years’ worth of teachers trying to brainwash my daughter and pack her head full of shit
-“inclusion” and personal valets for kids who would be better off at Midland School or ESC, since they are basically incapable of higher thought. Natch, these kids will walk the stage in June and get the same diploma my kid gets.
-HS roof that leaks so badly, the school is filled with black mold
-HS library that is so beaten to crap that mice and rats live in the couches
-Blue Ribbony skool bureaucracy that will not allow an architect friend of mine to donate a free library renovation plan or start a campaign to get new furniture (since the Blue Ribbony guidelines mandate your school can’t engage in fundraising for projects that will make the school appear poor).
-the right to have the same lunkhead teachers and bureaucaracy spend the next six years turning my son into an idiot.
vodka (64)-
And everybody thumbs their noses at Meredith Whitney.
JJ-
Conpletly agree that it is insane. They are not competing against NYSC or Crunch or others. Their product is top trainers, equipment, spas et al. You will also see the most primo tail. Rich want to hang with rich- you know this. You can waive initiation, join mid-month and ask to guest pass you until the 1st but price will not budge. Only way to get $120/mo. is if your company subsidizes the other $55.
The Spring is nearly gone and their homes are still on the market. He envisions large price reductions and capitulation in the immediate future. Not just his listing inventory, a general strong down trend on values beginning NOW.
Any questions?
#64 Either the property taxes come down, or the prices keep falling. It is one thing to have high taxes in towns that might truly have very affluent people in them, but they are the exception. When the majority of towns including the every day an wannave towns have taxes starting at 10 k and up, you simply will not draw the buyers, as they do not have the means to afford these taxes.
The current homeowners refuse to acknowledge this reality. alot of the hight taxes in many towns are self inflicted, massive school spending projects being just one item.
#69 gary: Please be advised there is a bucolic town nestled on the banks of the mighty Hackensack, where that statement simply does not apply.
Any questions??
3b,
even if prices come down, it is possible that buyers will begin to balk at the tax rates as they come closer to equaling the PI on the house. If that happens you could end up with a double feed back where dropping home values increase the downward pressure on taxes. Just a guess and i could be way off.
#66 In a few short weeks, my last one is done with the whole blue ribbony thing.
#61 Clot
Sure. I’ll even bring the beer.
BTW – What goes better with barbecued house? Duvel or Celebrator?
Went to pick out a slab at the granite and marble place in Ridgefield Park this morning. Was done in 15 minutes as we are going with a black granite that has little noise in the pattern. Price was $500 than I estimated it would be before starting the entire project. Price was also almost half of what it would cost to do engineered stone, which was the direction I was leaning in. Forget about keeping up with the Jones’. The stuff is now just too cheap to pass up value wise. Templating will take place tomorrow. So far, they rock. We’ll see how well they install. I’m guessing they’ll do it later this week. Just crazy. By the way, the cabinets are in and that Perth Amboy supplier was great. Only problem is that the manufacturer forgot the mullion, but they are sending it my way now. Getting closer!
#72 I could see that happening. I see inventory backing up substantially now in my blue ribbony town?? Well what happened, rates are still low. The 8k tax credit is gone, so that hurts. But I believe we finally just hit the point of no return with taxes, and the few people who are seriously out looking, are balking when they are quoted taxes of 12 to 14K a year for a 60 year old 3bed 1.5 bath house.
The young people that I know (who are employed), do not have the means ore even the desire to buy a house,and they all want to live in NYC. These are people in their late 20’s early 30’s, many of them are living together (couples), and the idea of house and baby is something way, way off. Plus they still have out size student loans to pay off.
Going down a few years you get the 22 to 25 year old crowd, many of these kids still are not yet working (recession) or have low wage jobs, and they too are loaded down with student loan debt. They will not be buying for years, some may never buy. This is the landscape, this is the reality that the 40 to 65 (and older) homeowner crowd refuses to acknowledge.
according to reports the average US home has fallen 15K since the expiration of the 8K credit. Since losses are not tax deductible on personal residences the 8K credit actually is a 7K debit.
Stu,
$500 more or $500 less?
Whoops $500 LESS. The best number I got on Ceaserstone was about $3,300. Marble.coms granite price was $1950 tax included with the free ss undermount sink. This was their 2nd level from the bottom granite (all the same quality, just different appearances). The Perth Amboy place wanted $2937 for the same thing and $3,300 for Caesar. Third estimate for Caesar from the contractor recco was $3850. You gotta shop around!
re 76 why would anyone in their right mind in their 20’s or early 30’s want to live as an unmarried couple. All of the downside of marriage with none of upside.
Can’t they just get roomates, or even better do what the single girls/guys do on LI, mooch off Mom and Dad and take money from no rent to get a share in Hamptons and Ski House. You are really only home in fall and spring, but then you get a rich BF or GF in city and crash there.
Or is this something that ugly people in their 20’s and early 30’s do? I really don’t know as I only hung out with the beautiful people. Generally, speaking being alone with my GF in a dingy apt on the three summer long weekends would be my version of dante’s inferno. To me in my 20’s I considered missing a big party invite on a holiday weekend and having to attend a lesser party was my own personal Vietnam.
I was like a male Lizzy Grubman who happened to be a better driver.
FYI, I have 40 square feet of countertop in the kitchen. That’s $48.75 per sq ft. Really much cheaper than I expected for granite. Back in 2005 when I did my multi kitchen, Corrian was about $50 per sq. ft, laminate was about $30 and granite was closer to $100 easy. Caesar/Silo was probably around $70.
Countertop Materials and Cost…This looks pretty correct.
* Concrete: $100 per square foot.
* Marble: $50-$100 per square foot.
* Granite: $50-$100 per square foot.
* Wood: $50-$100 per square foot.
* Ceramic: $10-$30 per square foot.
* Limestone: $50-$100 per square foot.
* Slate: $50-$100 per square foot.
* Quartz: $50-$100 per square foot.
* Stainless Steel: $100-$200 per square foot.
* Laminate: $25-$50 per square foot.
* Solid Surface: $90-$150 per square foot.
Kettle 64,
Seeing this now. Threats made on message boards and suggestive commercials are enough to scare and intimidate people into paying more.
Clot #66, why does the school system only have access to warp your kids brains for only six years?
Barbara #21, you can play loud music with small children in the car, you just can’t play it loud-ly. Just last week I was playing “Have Love , Will Travel” by the Sonics with my three and half year old daughter in the back seat. When it was over she yelled “Play that song again daddy”. When it finished the second time she said “That’s a good song”. I thought she was pretty cool until the Sonics were followed up by “Boots” by the Laurie Berkner Band and my daughter went apesh*t.
Theo,
my 4 yr old is a big fan of ACDC (Thunderstruck) and Tool.
beer (74)-
Celebrator Dopplebock. For that extra-roasty taste of arson.
Theo (83)-
They only have six years, because the school district we lived in before moving had a shot at brain-neutering my kids for their first six years.
Hobo – I want an asterisk next to that Hunterdon County Award. You only “win” because you don’t have Newark, Irvington, Orange and East Orange to bring your medians and averages down. Real men pay West Essex taxes!
It just struck me that the black helicopter guys that have to be pretty much following everything I do or say wouldn’t stop me from trying to burn down my house.
Anyone think I’d get into trouble by posting a suggestion to the local wiki that my blue ribbony HS change the name of its sports teams to Waffen SS?
401k “Money triples to $49,500 and he sells when he is old”
Triple? What about flat to negative?
willwork4beer says: Hunterdon. Why did I want to buy in this county? Can anyone remind me? Anyone? Beuller?
My parents built a house on 3 acres in Ringoes ~1981, I moved out in 1992 and they still live there.
Great place to raise a family. Assuming you don’t live in one of the cookie-cutter developments that sprung up in unprotected lands it’s a pleasantly rural, quiet, bucolic area. My brother and I had endless fields, forests, streams etc for dirt bikes, exploring, shooting, general rednecking around etc. Great curvy roads for driving sports cars. About an hour to Philly, the shore or 1.5 to NY. Night life and decent Pizza just a short drive away (Hillbilly Hall). Can’t blame any of my numerous deficiencies on East Amwell Elementary or Hunterdon Central HS, but then again I could have been brainwashed.
Heck my parent’s road was even paved not too long ago, used to be tarred and chipped every spring.
I’d take Hunterdon over Burlington, Middlesex/Essex/Union ect any day.
I’d have bet 5K that I was the only poster here ever to set foot in Hillbilly Hall.
The great insider Sourland Mtn. hotspot!
Hobo,
Speaking of brainwashing kids, have you taken a look at the recent book “Your Teacher Said What?! Defending our kids from the liberal assault on Capitalism” by Joe Kernan? I can tell by the reviews/summary that it won’t be perfect (e.g. he’s anti gold standard, he works for CNBC), but it might be marginally useful. Probably better to skip Kernan and go straight to Rand if the kid can handle it.
The attempt to gentrify HH by renaming it Mignella’s was short lived :)
We had a party there last fall for all the NJ relatives who couldn’t make it to our wedding in Milwaukee. Not the same without the constant haze of cigarette smoke but for pool, mugs of beer, C&W, tipsy locals and simple food the Hall delivers.
JJ,
Forget about health club memberships. Buy some kettlebells and kettlebell DVDs with some hot chick telling you what moves to do, and repeat 2-3 times/week. Kettlebells give you useful strength and flexibility, and cost very little. Then play tennis or some other active sport that you enjoy with the time and money you’ve saved.
Kettle,
Just make sure he does not get caught in the Undertow.
Clot,
No need to stop you, as long as you don’t try to collect insurance and don’t endanger any other property.
From an ASCAP newsletter (I guess we will see a bunch of notices like this from now on):
Vocal arrangements as fresh today as they were when recorded over 60 years ago.]
‘The Four Freshmen’ Tenor Bob Flanigan Dies at 84
By Ken Ritter – Bob Flanigan, an original member of the four-part jazz vocal harmony group The Four Freshmen, has died in Las Vegas at age 84, a manager of the group said Monday. … The group [one of the greatest vocal groups of all time] was credited with being an early influence on Beach Boys founder Brian Wilson.
Equinox offered no iniation fee as memorial day sale and $140 a month with a one year committment. Could not get it for less.
Bystander says:
May 18, 2011 at 9:25 am
JJ,
Saw your post regarding Equinox. I have a contact there that can give you pricing options. I can tell you that they don’t negotiate price but their equipment and services are far supeior to the other clubs listed. If you work on Wall St. or a big Nyc firm then you may get discount corp. rate but you have to go to that club only. All-access to clubs is more expensive prob. $175/mo. I can send my email to Grim if interested.
west (93)-
It’s very hard to take a CNBC dolt seriously. These people are bought-and-paid for shills who divert attention away from the biggest daylight bank robbery in history.
shore (97)-
You should know me well enough by now to know I’m taking down as many people with me as I can when I finally snap. :)
Hobo,
Car batteries (unsealed) release hydrogen gas. Enough of them inside a closed space with a spark and you can go out like a man. What better way to destroy your home then with a hydrogen explosion.
Worked at fukushima
…and Amanda Drury looks like a roaster chicken stuffed into a miniskirt.
AG (102)-
I’ve learned more science here than in all my years in school combined.
Too bad it all centers on runaway nuclear reactions and explosions of various types.
This is interesting:
What political group’s membership constitutes the biggest bloc within the California Republican Party? The Chamber of Commerce? The California Manufacturers Association? The bloggers of Flashreport, who consider anyone in favor of child labor laws or the 40-hour work week a dangerous socialist?
Not even close.
Dave Kieffer, the new executive director of the Service Employees International Union in California, did a bit of research and discovered that 87,000 of SEIU’s 700,000 members are registered Republicans – which he figures makes it the single largest political organization within the state GOP. And that, Kieffer says, gives the union a golden opportunity.
“SEIU needs to build a Republican program to play in Republican districts for our Republican members and for our broader self-interest,” Kieffer told Calbuzz, offering a glimpse of his strategy for an SEIU presence in GOP legislative districts in 2012.
This is a big deal for SEIU, long one of the most liberal forces in the Democratic Party, and it could become an equally big deal for any hardcore right-wing legislators who get reapportioned into new districts where moderate Republicans become competitive under the top-two primary system…
Full article at http://www.calbuzz.com/2011/05/seiu-shocker-plus-lat-payback-on-the-barbarian/
LMFAO. Hobo had me in tears over here
FYI. CFTC is going on a hiring binge. Whole bunch of deputy director positions being filled.
Will be needed if there is going to be another Gold Confisc@tion Act.
(101) clot
Future tense? You mean you haven’t snapped yet?
plume (108)-
Betcha they go after silver first. Maybe stop people from opening new positions on the Crimex, like back in the Hunt days.
I mentally snapped when I was about 26. I just haven’t acted on my impulses yet.
Grim from yesterday could you give my email address to ditto. Thanks much.
Batteries that are made with sulfuric acid and lead need to be topped off with water occasionaly. The reaction with these batteries when discharged is that they release hydrogen as a byproduct.
Pb + HSO4− → PbSO4 + H+ + 2e−
When charged they drive this reaction in reverse producing lead(Pb) and sulfuric acid (HSO4) thus you need to replace the hydrogen by adding more H2O.
Thus you only run the risk of a hydrogen explosion if you are actively charging and discharing the batteries in an enclosed location. So don’t try and use these in your basement without adequate ventilation.
AG, hobo
if you want hydrogen it wold be much easier to do so by filling a 30gal garbage can with waded up aluminium foil followed by adding a few dozen of the 1 gal bottles of drain-o. In a very short period you too can re-enact reactor 1 at fukushima.
-note. Do not attempt anything even resembling this as you will end up deformed, disabled and/or dead.
AG, the battiers are an extremely inefficent method of producing hydrogen.
If we are going harrdcore chemistry, the the aluminum and draino reaction is as follows
2Al + 2NaOH + 2H2O → 2NaAlO2 + 3H2
Hobo AG
fun with hydrogen
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KzABEkkc10&feature=youtube_gdata_player
How many simultaneous fronts in the middle east do we want? How long before we bring “democracy” to Syria?
(Reuters) – The United States imposed sanctions on Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and six other top aides for human rights abuses on Wednesday in a dramatic escalation of pressure on Syria to cease its brutal crackdown on protesters.
Targeting Assad personally with sanctions, which the United States and European Union have so far avoided, is a significant slap at Damascus and raises questions about whether Washington and the West may ultimately seek Assad’s removal from power.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/05/18/us-syria-usa-idUSTRE74H4XX20110518
#91 Nurburgringer
Actually, I love Hunterdon. I’ve lived here for a number of years. I grew up in Bergen and I agree with your quote below.
“I’d take Hunterdon over Burlington, Middlesex/Essex/Union any day.”
You can add Bergen to that list.
Hobo,
You would have lost that bet at least twice. I’ve been to the Hall several times. Not for many moons, however.
“I’d have bet 5K that I was the only poster here ever to set foot in Hillbilly Hall. The great insider Sourland Mtn. hotspot!”
As an aside, I was out of town this past weekend and attended a Unitarian Church service. I must be getting old and conservative, but it was the basically religion for the “everyone gets a trophy” crowd…….I do not know why I was hacked off, but I certainly was…..the gist….I am mediocre, without standards, and a psuedo-intellectual….give me a trophy!
If I offended anyone, I apologize in advance…..
ChiFi…between the reconstructionist jews and the unitarian church, you cover about 85% of the Montclair population. The other 15% still believe that vaccinations serve a greater purpose than spreading autism.
Might as well toss in Cumberland, Glouster, and Atlantic and Ocean west of the Parkway (and a fair bit east of it as well).
“The other 15% still believe that vaccinations serve a greater purpose than spreading autism.”
Isn’t that how the government implants the microchip?
Autism is caused by rusty sperm. Gotta keep those pipes clean.
This woman is lucky the other passengers did not dump her out of the train while it was moving:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/yblog_thelookout/20110518/us_yblog_thelookout/loud-cell-phone-talker-removed-from-quiet-car-by-police
Chifi,
My neighbor from 2000-2010 was a unitarian. Nice enough guy but still totally creeped me out. This seems to be a religion where they channel surf the world’s religions then say “we like them all” so they don’t hurt anybody’s feelings.
I much prefer being a pro-reason atheist who just cares about the truth.
School Superintendent Gets $540,000 Salary, Pension
By Esmé E. Deprez – May 18, 2011 4:09 PM ET
James Hunderfund, who earns at least $225,000 a year as a school superintendent on Long Island, is also entitled to a $316,245 annual pension from a previous administrative post, according to a compilation of pension data by the Empire Center for New York State Policy.
Mayor Jerry Fried
Community involvement:
Founder of TrueJustice, founder of Bike Montclair, youth advisor/mentor/teacher at the Unitarian Congregation at Montclair.
…
A 22-year resident of Montclair, Jerry Fried was elected Mayor in 2008. The Township has become a leader in sustainability initiatives and was the first Municipality in New Jersey to adopt a Complete Streets policy, something the State itself later adopted. In addition to his duties as Mayor, he currently chairs the Board of School Estimate, is a member of the town’s Planning Board and Library Boards and is a liaison to the Montclair Parking Authority.
He is the founder and former President of Bike/Walk Montclair, which works to make Montclair a safer place for pedestrians and cyclists and has been instrumental in procuring hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants for the Township. The group’s annual Tour de Montclair family bike ride attracts about 1000 participants. Fried also founded TrueJustice, an interfaith oureach group, in the days after 9/11. The group organized visits, discussion forums, workshops and dinners tobring together members of Muslim and non-Muslim congregations and groups. Active in the Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Montclair, which has a long history of social justice and philanthropic actions in Montclair and beyond, he has delivered lay sermons on topics such as “Building Community Through Cycling” and “A Communion of Gifts”, has taught Religious Education, and has chaired several committees.
http://www.montclairnjusa.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=category&layout=blog&id=248&Itemid=693
127 JJ, I guess that’s why Nassau County is bankrupt.
Shore Guy (125):
LaKeysha felt disrepected and got aggresive when confronted before getting thrown off the train. Too bad it was stopped when she was removed.
Well gator that now explains everything about your boy Jerry he is a leg shaving roadie
Greetings from Houston airport
JJ – Your superintendent may be raking in the dow, but in Long Branch, the Super is making a not too shabby $242,550 and just got accused of s*xual assault by a former district secretary.
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2011305170118
Yet is has cheaper taxes than hunterdoom, go figure
nj escapee says:
May 18, 2011 at 4:34 pm
127 JJ, I guess that’s why Nassau County is bankrupt.
I’m fortunate to have a chemical engineering background, and one of the things I enjoy most is turning beer, wine, and whiskey, into urine. I’m pretty damn good at it too!!
Wish I could find a motivated seller here in Bucks. Spring is nearly gone and most are still delusionally smoking crack and expecting 2006 prices. Since 2 realtors have the market I’m looking in totally locked up, and they apparently don’t believe in actually analyzing or showing their clients recent comps, it looks like me and my betrothed with 2 younguns will be renting in the near future – unless of course those price reductions are to the tune of a couple hundred thousand dollars.
“30 yr – So much for optimism. My friend said his motivated sellers are in panic mode. The Spring is nearly gone and their homes are still on the market. He envisions large price reductions and capitulation in the immediate future. Not just his listing inventory, a general strong down trend on values beginning NOW.”
bucks is like bergen /prices never go down. its all good
JJ, seems like quite a few ChemE’s here.
Stu, did I read your post on vaccines correctly? Did you say you believe the vaccine-autism link theory? I talked to some Montclaire resident recently that was unhappy with his doc because the doc wouldn’t let him “go slow with vaccine schedule”.
Sas3
wouldn’t let? It’s not the soca choice. You can always go to a doctor who will accomodate you
Regarding silver. One major distributor as of today is -54,000 in inventory for 1oz silver eagles.
west (126)-
Certain types of hatred are as satisfying as love.
gator (128)-
Get me that guy’s address. I want to mail him a bullet.
Shore (125)
Oh no they di’int!
140 now now , hobo calm down.
Hobo,
You can’t really have one without the other (love-hate). Humans must make value judgements, and I grade A through F. The crashing and burning of things I hate does afford me some satisfaction in its justice, but by itself it provides little nourishment for the soul.
Hobo
don’t forget the corrolary that revenge is a dish best served cold
Al [139],
Low 30’s back up the truck. If we’re lucky to see sub 30, back up the fleet.
BC 146 There with the truck, no fleet available.
Sas3…You read it wrong. Not only do I not think there is a link between vaccinations and autism, but I’m 100% sure of it.
re: the Unitarian critique, legalism dies hard even among the agnostics. It is the human condition, the thing to be saved from.
Stop being such a big baby and go find a job.
http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/may/17/senator-questions-benefits-to-adult-baby/
there is a link between vaccinations and the disappearance of smallpox. I’m not trying to be controversial, but if you were wondering about your pox, look no further than vaccinations and FDA/Big Pharma.
144.
well said
njescapee,
I asked Grim to send you a link. It is my newest addition.
Day late on the natural stone conversation, but the link below is good stuff, check the MSDS before putting on food prep surface.
http://www.drytreat.com/
The below link is a good one for all sorts of related FAQ. Met the owner while trying to have a productive mid-life crisis. Really good and knowledgable source.
http://www.ntc-stone.com/