From the Press of Atlantic City:
2014 mixed bag so far for South Jersey real estate
Some South Jersey real estate markets are dealing with plenty of distressed properties that affect sale prices. Others have been selling expensive vacation homes.
Ultimately, the first half of 2014 showed the wide variety in local real estate throughout Atlantic, Cape May, Cumberland and southern Ocean counties.
The number of homes sold and median prices dipped in some regions, increased in others, plummeted in some and skyrocketed in others, according to a Press analysis of New Jersey Association of Realtors data.
In North Wildwood, the median selling price of a single-family home was $386,510 in the first half, 21 percent higher than the same period last year. The median means half of homes sold for less, half for more. There were 26 fewer sales there.
James Flynn, broker of Flynn Real Estate in North Wildwood, said sales were predominantly vacation homes to residents of New Jersey and Philadelphia suburbs.
High-end homes with water views have sold well, so far.
“They sell high, $800,000 … $900,000 to $1.1 million. A lot of them, the buyers are not getting mortgages; they’re paying cash,” he said. “The high-end homes, they’re just using them for themselves.”
The New Jersey Association of Realtors said the spring season was off to a slow start across New Jersey. The early part of the year saw wet, wintry weather that kept potential house-hunters indoors.
Some markets still saw volume increases.
…
Cumberland County, Vineland, Millville and Bridgeton all saw more total sales, although single-family home prices fell in Millville and Bridgeton, both by 13 percent, according to state Realtor data.Larry DePalma, owner of DePalma Realty in Millville, said the volume of bank-owned properties and short sales are putting pressure on the market, particularly with prices.
“We have a lot of that kind of inventory to get through,” he said.
“I see the market as ‘spurty.’ We get three, four, five deals, it gets busy and then it seems to die off,” he said. “It seems like that for a while, and then you’ll get a flurry of activity.”
In Millville, for example, sales of single-family homes, condos and adult communities reached 172 the first half of 2014, compared with 127 the year before. The median single-family home sold for $110,000, which was $16,900 less than the first six months of 2013.
…
Short sales are still a factor in the market, although Haberkern says more buyers are steering away from these sales, deterred by long wait times to find out if an offer was approved by the lender, and sometimes getting no answer.
…
In Egg Harbor Township, total first half sales fell from 217 last year to 192 this year, according to state Realtor data. The sale price of a single-family home there dropped 10 percent, to $195,000.In Margate, first half sales were 106, four fewer than last year. The single-family price was up 10 percent.
frist
Where the deadbeats are….
http://money.cnn.com/2014/07/29/pf/debt-collections/
Plug had some news released with Walmart picking up more orders. Stock is rising fast pre-market. Already in the 6 dollar range.
Michael,
Tell me about plug. Everything I look at is about finance but tells nothing about the technology.
What do you fill the fuel cells with? It says it’s hydrogen based but where does the hydrogen come from?
5. Ok Mike, I found it.
Hydrogen delivered and stored or produced on site.
Where this would interest me is if it were cost effective to replace batteries in an off-grid solar system, as batteries are expensive and don’t last.
Something to watch for the future..
@EmilyMiller: STUNNING DEVELOPMENT: DC Police Chief Lanier just told force not to arrest a person who can legally carry a gun in DC or any state.
I don’t have a position as of now. Might buy-in right now at pre-market because chances are it will rise today. Of course, it’s no guarantee, but it looks like it should rise today. Like I stated two weeks ago, the company looks like it’s turning the corner.
I have killed it on sltd since I bought in last week.
Phoenix says:
July 29, 2014 at 7:55 am
5. Ok Mike, I found it.
Hydrogen delivered and stored or produced on site.
Where this would interest me is if it were cost effective to replace batteries in an off-grid solar system, as batteries are expensive and don’t last.
Something to watch for the future..
7- That post was about plug, the last line in the post was about a different company.
This was the last line in the linked story and I just fount it hilarious.
“It’s unlikely, however, that Fabius will let them set their own tax rates.”
http://www.cnn.com/2014/07/24/travel/paris-hotels-pay-what-you-want/index.html?hpt=hp_t5
Was up a little after 5am to throw a pork shoulder on the smoker. Fine fine weather for smoking some pig. Should be ready just in time for supper.
“NEW YORK (MarketWatch) — Shares of Plug Power PLUG +11.05% surged 12% in premarket trade Tuesday after the company confirmed it received a follow-on purchase order from WalMart Stores WMT -0.74% for its GenKey hydrogen fuel sell [sic] power offering.”
It drives me crazy that I can’t read a single article, even print, without finding multiple grammatical errors.
Here’s a good write-up of Nordic American Tankers (NAT), a stock I’ve been in and out of for over 15 years. It has formed a nice base and I’m going to start loading up again for a long term hold:
http://marketrealist.com/2014/07/must-know-overview-nordic-american-tankers/
Yes
Theo says:
July 28, 2014 at 5:50 pm
My take was Joyce was implying that CEOs etc are not paid for taking a longer view…
Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:
July 28, 2014 at 5:29 pm
[63] joyce,
“Not sure what evidence you’re seeing to justify this statement.”
I’m not sure how to respond to that.
Fuel cells has been on the market for quite sometime. Google and other big companies have been producing their own electricity. Why PLUG?
http://mtech.umd.edu/news/press_releases/redox_wachsman_fuel_cells.html
[13] joyce,
I said it, it’s true (whether you believe it or not), don’t have or need evidence.
Never a dull day in New Jersey
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/2014/07/29/wedding-reception-shut-down-when-brawl-breaks-out/pQzsJEtkqdrKD6OPk5q18M/story.html
“Bricka” finally has something to be proud of (Expat, I know you get the snark here).
http://www.enterprisenews.com/article/20140727/NEWS/140727163/2000
Ok then
Comrade Nom Deplume, a.k.a. Captain Justice says:
July 29, 2014 at 9:54 am
[13] joyce,
I said it, it’s true (whether you believe it or not), don’t have or need evidence.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – U.S. single-family home prices fell in May on a seasonally adjusted basis, falling short of expectations calling for a slight gain, a closely watched survey said on Tuesday.
The S&P/Case Shiller composite index of 20 metropolitan areas declined 0.3 percent in May on a seasonally adjusted basis. A Reuters poll of economists forecast a gain of 0.2 percent.
Thank goodness we’re insulated here.
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/u-seasonally-adjusted-home-prices-131120232.html
Wage Inflation starts on Wall St first.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-07-28/morgan-stanley-said-to-boost-junior-banker-salaries-25-.html
I was going to say the same thing. Whoever made that comment is probably old and has lost touch with how the young generation learns today. Just because they can’t do simple math on top of their head, doesn’t mean they are stupid. In the 1960′s, that statement would be right, in 2o14 it is totally wrong due to “technology”. I’m sure spelling has gone out the door too due to technology.
I wouldn’t spout of about how this generation learns. With respect to math, for an alarming percentage of the population, they don’t. Mental math does not exist to them because of calculators and it hinders their entire progress throughout their entire k-12 education. As a result, kids that rely on this become very incompetent (not stupid) in the subject. Think of it as wasted potential.
Anyone have a good rec for a structural engineer? Friends considering a property that might have issues. Needs to know how extensive they are before deciding if they should proceed.
Ok, so I went to an open house two weeks. Long story short, the agent wanted to know what I was looking for and I told her I want the pocket listings. I didn’t go into the diatribe but calmly said I don’t want to see endless, over-priced, public listings. Lo and behold, she forwards me an office listing a week later. I almost died. It wasn’t on the MLS.
The house was a CHC, 4bd/3bth, 2500 sq. ft. on park-like property and really nice-sized rooms. It was built in the early 60s and everything was original except one bathroom. There was no deck, 40 year old wall paper, 50 year old kitchen, no patio – a total original and it really needed an overhaul. I mulled it over for 48 hours and was “this close” to making an offer. I didn’t.
The deciding factor? The property taxes were $15,000. No matter how I crunched numbers and made adjustments, the taxes were the stake to the heart. The biggest uncertainty was the ability to not get a straight answer about what my taxes are going to be in 2015 and 2016, etc., if I pulled the trigger.
I took anything the agent said with a grain of salt. This house needed around $100,000 to get it “nice” and I was willing to overlook a lot and live with the things that needed to be done but it was the taxes that killed it.
I will say this again: with the cost of living (food, gas, insurance, taxes, etc.) growing untouched and unabated, the prices of these houses will linger and whither until that point in which people can afford to buy and get on with life. So again, I can’t make a move up and the first time muppets have one less house to consider.
Ben #21,
I just had a phone interview with recruiter about a lead role in mortgage tech group. They wanted 10+ years tech experience and laundry list of system and banking knowledge. They wanted to pay $680/day. That is horsesh*t for such a skillset. These articles always mention “trader” pay and bonus. 90% of people don’t work front office. Associate pay is usually 70-90k anywhere, for middle and back.
The fact that there are now terms like “Generation Xpat” and books on the subject tells you something you need to know about this country’s future.
http://www.amazon.com/Leaving-America-The-Expatriate-Generation/dp/0313345066
The canary cage down in the mine is starting to sound like a TB ward.
21 – I had a bitch of a time with my 7’s times tables. My brain just refuses to deal with the number 7 correctly, I still question my mental math if it includes multiplication or division with the number 7. Who knows, I’ve just given up and have accepted it. Feel much more comfortable using a calculator, I’m much faster too. I’d make a terrible cashier, unless I owned the store and removed any seven from the price lists. Don’t know that it really hindered me, since by my junior year in college I was already making more money than my professors were.
[21] ben,
I’m not a teacher but I recall that this was the only scene from the movie that hit me like a ton of bricks.
http://vimeo.com/34664087
Bystander [24],
$680 a day is a nice chunk-a-change in my book. :)
grim [26],
Does that mean you never mastered seven minutes in heaven as a teen? :)
Holy shi!, you finally took my advice and became a serious buyer? I told you to get a top agent in the location you are looking. Browsing the mls, and waiting for a deal to fall in your hands is wishful thinking. Glad you finally realized it.
Fast Eddie says:
July 29, 2014 at 11:47 am
Ok, so I went to an open house two weeks. Long story short, the agent wanted to know what I was looking for and I told her I want the pocket listings. I didn’t go into the diatribe but calmly said I don’t want to see endless, over-priced, public listings. Lo and behold, she forwards me an office listing a week later. I almost died. It wasn’t on the MLS.
The house was a CHC, 4bd/3bth, 2500 sq. ft. on park-like property and really nice-sized rooms. It was built in the early 60s and everything was original except one bathroom. There was no deck, 40 year old wall paper, 50 year old kitchen, no patio – a total original and it really needed an overhaul. I mulled it over for 48 hours and was “this close” to making an offer. I didn’t.
The deciding factor? The property taxes were $15,000. No matter how I crunched numbers and made adjustments, the taxes were the stake to the heart. The biggest uncertainty was the ability to not get a straight answer about what my taxes are going to be in 2015 and 2016, etc., if I pulled the trigger.
I took anything the agent said with a grain of salt. This house needed around $100,000 to get it “nice” and I was willing to overlook a lot and live with the things that needed to be done but it was the taxes that killed it.
I will say this again: with the cost of living (food, gas, insurance, taxes, etc.) growing untouched and unabated, the prices of these houses will linger and whither until that point in which people can afford to buy and get on with life. So again, I can’t make a move up and the first time muppets have one less house to consider.
30- Btw, 15,000 a year for center hall colonial in a nice town is pretty nice. I pay 17,200. Suck it up, you have to pay high taxes if you want to live in a nice house in a nice town. Simple as that.
10
Offset or bullet?
I’ve got an offset, always plan on 12 hours for a shoulder to cook, rest, etc.
Takes so long, I just do two at a time and freeze the rest now. Warms up well, makes good tacos, enchiladas, etc.
Key is not to start drinking too early. I usually shoot for 10:00 am.
They are going after a specific niche. They are not going into the automotive industry. They are sticking to companies that are currently using batteries. They are providing cost effective alternative option to these companies and at the same time using cleaner energy. Hence, why walmart and these other companies have been buying their product. They are targeting airports too. Pretty much any industry that needs to move things around.
yome says:
July 29, 2014 at 9:51 am
Fuel cells has been on the market for quite sometime. Google and other big companies have been producing their own electricity. Why PLUG?
http://mtech.umd.edu/news/press_releases/redox_wachsman_fuel_cells.html
Just looking at the S&P Case Shiller for May – NY Metro
Low Tier (To $279k) – Up 3.7% YOY (up 9.0% two year)
Mid Tier ($279k-$433k) – Up 3.9% YOY (Up 7.7% two year)
High Tier ($433k Up) – Up 5.6% YOY (Up 8.2% two year)
Aggregate – Up 4.8% YOY (Up 7.7% two year)
Surprised that the high tier is now leading from a YOY price perspective, if you recall, for a long time the local price movement was being driven by the low tier and the high tier was the laggard.
MRC Latino @MRCLatino 1m
Univision’s Jorge Ramos points out that in Mexico, foreign minors are deported “and there is no debate” about it
Not sure why Gary wants to live in a slum…
http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2014/07/police_wyckoff_man_stole_grandmothers_car_sold_it_for_heroin_in_paterson.html#incart_river
Damn, that’s a nice dividend payout. Thanks for the share.
The Original NJ ExPat says:
July 29, 2014 at 9:20 am
Here’s a good write-up of Nordic American Tankers (NAT), a stock I’ve been in and out of for over 15 years. It has formed a nice base and I’m going to start loading up again for a long term hold:
http://marketrealist.com/2014/07/must-know-overview-nordic-american-tankers/
32 – My own concoction, closer to offset than bullet, but gas. Struggling to get the amount of smoke I want. Not sure if it’s the wind or my wood. First time using cherry wood.
I had a bitch of a time with my 7′s times tables. My brain just refuses to deal with the number 7 correctly, I still question my mental math if it includes multiplication or division with the number 7. Who knows, I’ve just given up and have accepted it. Feel much more comfortable using a calculator, I’m much faster too. I’d make a terrible cashier, unless I owned the store and removed any seven from the price lists. Don’t know that it really hindered me, since by my junior year in college I was already making more money than my professors were.
Yeah, but you didn’t pick up the calculator at age 5. That’s the difference. You can use a calculator at some point and still become a very advanced math student. When the kids pick it up and never even bother doing their homework the right way, they stand very little chance of developing the skill sets they need.
There’s a difference between not being the best at math and being able to do it. There’s a large fraction of kids who are very capable if pushed that have trouble with 6 + 8 = ?
Oh for f*cks sake I had to screw with it now I’ve got a smoke bomb.
Shall I call in the Wayne swat team?
(CNSNews.com) -Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) criticized media bias earlier this month at a solidarity event for Israel.
Schumer made the comments while addressing the current conflict between Hamas and Israel, “And yet when we read accounts, even in the mainstream media, I watched one of the television news tonight there was the depiction of the people in Gaza being killed but no mention of them being used as human shields by Hamas,” Schumer said.
The Democrat from New York spoke at the Israeli American Council (IAC) ‘Come Together’ event on July 20th in New York City.
http://www.mrctv.org/videos/sen-schumer-claims-media-bias-against-israel
“Do you know of any other nation when faced with rockets that are ready to be launched into its territory that sends leaflets and says, ‘please evacuate’?”, Schumer said. “Any other country that tries to reach cell phones of people who live near where Hamas has stored these rockets and say ‘please leave’?”
The New York ‘Come Together’ event, is one of several across the country where the IAC is attempting to rally American support for Israel in its latest conflict with Hamas.
There is no need to feel sympathy for the residents of Gaza. They elected terrorists and now they are paying the price for it. They can end the intrusion anytime they want. All they need do is stop shooting rockets into Israel and stop blowing up their own family members at the border crossings. The choice has always been theirs to make. The fact that they are at a supreme disadvantage in any skirmish? Well that really doesn’t change anything. If they had the advantage and 1,000 Israeli’s died for every Hamas casualty, I would still feel the same way.
I’m strict with my kids memorizing their 6, 7, and 8 times tables. There are tricks or it’s intuitive to remember the rest. OTOH, it may only be in the last decade that I can fairly quickly remember that 6 x 7 =42. For most of my life I had to quickly and silently sing to myself “six times six is thirty-six and 6 is forty-twoooooo”
God I remember in fifth grade, the battles I went through to use pen. I was given a pass for most every application except math, and I refused to use pencil for math. To Mrs. Black this was absolute heresy, how could you use pen for math!? An epic battle for 5th grade, she hated me, took my pens away, and I’d just turn in the math homework in pen. At one point she made it a point to tell me she would mark an answer wrong if I had to cross something out, to which I told her I never made mistakes and crossed them out, which infuriated her more. The whole argument was focused on the need for the eraser, which was not possible with pen, you could not do serious mathematics without an eraser, it was not possible. Amazingly, as if they knew about this impasse, or if somehow the universe owed me a favor, the Bic Company introduced the erasable pen (1981?). You don’t know how hard I begged my parents for an erasable pen. God the day I walked into the classroom with that thing, I’d never been so proud. The defeat was glorious.
I have no doubt that if she saw me crossing the road today, she’d run me down.
I’d never wish myself on any teacher, and I’m sure karma will have a field day paying me back with my own kids.
I’ll post a photo of my Kindergarten progress report when I get a chance, it’s a hoot. I have it framed in my office.
Marking Period 1 – Behavior – C – James has trouble following directions
Marking Period 2 – Behavior – D – James does not follow directions
Marking Period 3 – Behavior – F – James refuses to follow directions
Marking Period 4 – Behavior – F – James follows directions, his own.
Have a great Summer! Good Luck in First Grade.
[45] I have the opposite problem with my oldest daughter. She wants to do her math problem in the same space no matter how many times she has erased it and is now a murky gray area where she can’t read her own numbers. I confirmed with her teacher that it’s OK to “X” out her first attempt and start over on a different part of the page. Well she starts Boston Latin in September, so she can do it however she wants now(so long as she continues to get A’s). If she slips it’s back to the gulag (The Russian School of Mathematics, where I sent her one summer). Maybe not surprising, but the Russian School of Mathematics has mostly Russian women teachers, but mostly Asian students.
I was blessed with indecipherable handwriting. Even to this day, my handwriting can easily pass for that of a kindergarten student. The only reason I became proficient with computers was because I had to submit all of my work from about fourth grade on, from a word processor. Sadly, Gator Jr. has inherited this trait. I have little hope for the 19 month old.
Grim [26];
I had a bitch of a time with my 7′s times tables.
I honed basic math at the casino tables — esp. craps. Hard 4, 10 — 7 to 1; Hard 6, 8 — 9 to 1; Yo (11) — 15 to 1; Odds on the pass/don’t pass: 4, 10 — 2 to 1; 5, 9 — 3 to 2; 6, 8 — 6 to 5.
Grim [26];
I had a bitch of a time with my 7′s times tables.
I honed basic math at the c@s!no tables — esp. cr@ps. Hard 4, 10 — 7 to 1; Hard 6, 8 — 9 to 1; Yo (11) — 15 to 1; Odds on the pass/don’t pass: 4, 10 — 2 to 1; 5, 9 — 3 to 2; 6, 8 — 6 to 5.
Isaac Newton also did his math entirely in pen. Too bad you didn’t offer that fact to your teacher. He did however cross some stuff out at times.
Papermate erasable pens were indispensable in the 1980s when my late elementary, + junior high teachers mandated essays written in cursive. By the end of high school, term papers were done via dot matrix printer, and in-class I think they were back to accepting print rather than cursive.
My daughter in 6th grade only very briefly dabbled in cursive – I think the schools gave up teaching that. Without cursive, pens seem to lose their point.
Libturd,
If the Palestinians had a military advantage, Israel would have already been replaced with yet another Islamic hellhole country stewing in its own hatred of life on earth.
You are right, Erasermate, not BIC.
[47] grim – I was the same kid in elementary school. I had a lot of private sessions with the “Child Study Team” over the years. In 4th grade I had to carry a calendar back and forth from school and home so my mother could receive daily reports on my behavior. Even when I learned to type I handed in a book report typed entirely in red, which drove my teacher crazy. It made sense to me, the black ribbon was wearing out and the red still had lots of miles left on it. I never understood where they were coming from either. If my work was perfect, why should they care? Ultimately they had me skip 6th grade entirely, presumably to push me out of the school system one year earlier.
Michael,
Holy shi!, you finally took my advice and became a serious buyer? I told you to get a top agent in the location you are looking. Browsing the mls, and waiting for a deal to fall in your hands is wishful thinking. Glad you finally realized it.
Keep amusing yourself.
Anyone remember having to “cover” your school books? I covered mine in heavy gauge aluminum foil that had a tar-like middle layer, very durable and much more of a standout look than a paper bag or those cheesy ones from the drug store. Also I could reflect the sun into kids eyes during class.
My f*cking 7th grade teacher knew jack shit about basic science and was forced to teach it due to our science teacher having a massive coronary while snacking on ho hos. She deferred to me to enlighten the rubes in my Abbott district hell hole on all matters relating to science. I had to explain the f*cking challenger Disaster to those idiots because according to her rockets blow up sometimes ask M. he wants to be an astronaut.
thank god I played football and hockey it would have been a hard year.
Grim I’m sure my kindergarten report card probably looked the same
More like a “perpetual shopper.” $15K in taxes for NJ is the bare minimum you’ll pay for a decent neighborhood.
“Holy shi!, you finally took my advice and became a serious buyer?”
Hate to say it, but 15K is the new normal, for now. The question is…how long is now?
My teachers didn’t like me either. I was good at mental math so I never did long division. I just wrote in the answers and the teacher consistently accused me of using a calculator. By the time I got to high school, I was so bored that I stopped doing HW and was a D- student. Got a 4.0 my senior year just to prove a point to all the teachers that hated me. Funny, my four best teachers got together and voted me as the top Math, Physics, Latin, and Science student for graduation. It pissed a lot of the kids in the top 10 off.
A lot of students who are very smart go through a few dozen teachers that they just can’t establish a good relationship with. The key is to have a small handful that you truly do form a good bond with. I find that a lot of teachers do not like students that are smarter than them. They get insecure.
Statler Waldorf,
I’m waiting for an ‘Bama home right after I get my ‘Bama phone.
Lib,
Hate to say it, but 15K is the new normal, for now. The question is…how long is now?
I said it earlier, sort of; if I could project what the rate or increase was going to be YOY for at least the next few years, I would’ve probably made an offer. The best the tax assessment office could tell me is that there hasn’t been a revaluation lately. That’s a scary, generalized statement… especially since we pay the assessor’s salary.
I would move in and the taxes would go to 20K, guaranteed. Still, to simply accept 15K as normal is absurd. Just like we hear nary a peep about $3.50 a gallon for gas. It’s called being desensitized and it’s the reason so many are f.ucked.
But then, you have the “Michaels” of the world and the “Statler Waldorfs” of the world wondering why their ideology isn’t being funded by everyone else. If acceptable means 15K or 20K or whatever, then the price of the asset needs to be reduced accordingly.
@ianbremmer: War in Gaza
3,289 Israeli strikes on Gaza targets
2,319 Rockets launched at Israel
1,202 Palestinian deaths
56 Israeli deaths
(@nytimes)
[48] libturd
“I was blessed with indecipherable handwriting.”
I used to joke that I passed the bar exams that way. Too indecipherable to say I was wrong.
3,289 Israeli strikes on Gaza targets – 1,202 Palestinian deaths
2,319 Rockets launched at Israel – 56 Israeli deaths
Doesn’t say much for Hamas’ accuracy now does it. So who is aiming at civilians here?
24- So $680/day isn’t enough for 10 + years experience? Wow. I don’t know your field but I can’t imagine that is Horse…. I must be living in a different universe than you.
Fast Eddie 61 – I wouldn’t be so down on the Tax Assessor just yet. The assessor doesn’t control what the town spends (i.e. how much the rate will increase). The assessor just controls the valuation of individual properties – i.e. what percentage of the overall town bill that you need to pay.
What town is this? First off I would look at when the last revaluation is and what the current average ratio is to see if another revaluation is imminent. Also look at the tax rate over the past few years and see what the average rate of increase has been. This should give you a rough idea of where that tax bill is headed.
Is the current assessment above or below where you would put in an offer. If it’s flat out above…..or with a dates assessment above the upper limit of the average ratio, you might have grounds to appeal and lower the assessment.
Now if this is a property that requires a lot of renovations, the tax assessor should be able to give you an idea of what you’d be hit with in added assessments if you actually pulled permits and did the work.
You have to ask the right questions.
Speaking of math, anyone remember those old TV commercials for Chismbop, which was supposed to make you a math whiz by counting with your fingers? I think that product died when the Chinese started making $10 calculators. It would be pretty embarrassing to use in meetings today, good thing my wish to learn it didn’t come true.
#22 Gator – Never could come up with a structural engineer. Over the years I have used Gerald Gardener in Ringwood whenever I need a structural report for a bank client.
My problem with math in high school was a belief that doing homework every day was unfair, because there were many more interesting things to learn. There was also at least a year or two when I sat in the back not even realizing I couldn’t see the blackboard without glasses. By the time I got glasses, I was pretty far behind. It didn’t stop me from getting good SATs though.
I finally decided to get good grades in university, and that was a big improvement.
I’ve been looking through my daughters’ pre-algebra book this year – McGraw Hill or some similar big name. Awful. Crap website too. Teacher doesn’t understand how they are trying to teach, but didn’t do well his own way either. Daughter doesn’t understand it much, and my wife and I just have to remember how we were taught. In contrast, Khan Academy is much more understandable than the teacher or textbook.
The book and the teaching process within seems to be written by a committee of aliens.
Chismbop – Don’t remember it, looked it up. I can do binary counting and math on my hands, never any practical application for it though, really just a geek curiosity. Kids seem to get a kick of it though, “I bet you that I can count to 1000 using only two hands”. Looks like a combination of sign language and epilepsy. Will absolutely not help you pick up a woman at a bar.
Say what? Dude, do you know how much money some people have. 15,000 is a joke for them. Some of these people have so much money, they don’t know what to do with it. If you think 15,000 is too much for a 700,000 colonial, please explain how much you think it should be. If these taxes were really so unaffordable for the jersey market, you would see prices drop like crazy. People would be rushing for the doors, but obviously they are not. If you think 15,000 is unaffordable, how the hell is my neighbor paying close to 50,000? You fail to realize how much money some of these people in north jersey have. If they didn’t have all this money, the town could never get away with these taxes. Just think, if you are worth 2-10 million, and bringing in between 200,000 and 500,000 in income, why would 20,000 in taxes be a problem? You are claiming these taxes are unaffordable for these people?? I think you are crazy.
“But then, you have the “Michaels” of the world and the “Statler Waldorfs” of the world wondering why their ideology isn’t being funded by everyone else. If acceptable means 15K or 20K or whatever, then the price of the asset needs to be reduced accordingly.”
Unless of course, she’s deaf and you accidentally ask her out.
71- And don’t bring in wage earnings to justify that people can’t afford the taxes or the house. I think the home ownership rate is between 63-65%. So throw out the lower 40% of earners in that equation. Plus, wealthy people do beautiful magic tricks with their income to make it look lower than it really is to avoid taxes. So they really make more than they tell Uncle Sam. Bottom line, they can more than afford it.
…waiting for the fcuktard-in-residence to start with the wage inflation meme…
Some other stuff they are into.
“Transport Refrigeration Unit
The transport refrigeration unit (TRU) market provides a unique opportunity for hydrogen fuel cell power, and could potentially be larger than the material handling market. There are more than 300,000 TRU trucks in operation domestically.
The leading value delivered through fuel cell-powered TRUs is logistics simplification and decreased environmental impact. TRUs are separate engines on truck trailers that regulate the temperature of cold air for products transported in refrigerated units.
Trucks with TRUs are often limited to a specific delivery schedules, due to noise constraints. Using fuel cell powered TRUs, there is no loud engine noise, so deliveries can be made during all hours of the day. Additionally, the fuel cell-powered trucks offer a lower emission, lower noise and lower OpEx solution for the customer.
Plug Power is currently developing this technology for Sysco in Long Island, New York, through a $650,000 Department of Energy contract and a $500,000 grant from New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA).”
yome says:
July 29, 2014 at 9:51 am
Fuel cells has been on the market for quite sometime. Google and other big companies have been producing their own electricity. Why PLUG?
Say what? Dude, do you know how much money some people have. 15,000 is a joke for them.
Dude, go tell that to the sea of muppets who had to buy now or be priced out forever. They are so many financial zombies, it’s stunning. You are one s1lly b.astard, dude.
Michael,
I have three “can’t lose” investments for you: No cal pizza, a uranium field in Asbury Park and wall paper that glows in the dark. You can’t lose, pal!
A good investment would be to fill fcuktard here with lead.
Bebo’s spirit lives.
(Somewhere between the 18th and 19th floor.)
(71) Michael
Maybe some people have no trouble paying 15 thousand a year in property taxes on a $700,000 house, and then there are many others who do have difficulty with that amount. The point though, should be what value are you getting for the $15,000? What kind of services are those taxes paying for? Chances are the homeowners are not getting a good value. You seem to be taking the position that hey some people can afford to pay it so they should be, no biggie. Furthermore, if they don’t like it, they can move.
Why shouldn’t property owners demand getting a decent value for the taxes they pay?
How does your smugness and aloofness when it comes to property taxes result in anything but waste and out of control spending?
Ask Ben how much a private education costs and what you get in return. If you have two kids going to school in a good school district, you get more than enough value from that 15,000 in taxes. Plus corporations are paying less and less in taxes. Guess how they make up for that, that’s right, they raise your property taxes. All these services cost money. Good towns provide a lot of services. Safe streets with a predominately wealthy white population is their greatest service. If you don’t like it, you can always move to a town with cheap taxes. I’m not saying that in a hateful or attacking way, I’m being serious. You can’t live in the haughty town and expect to pay 5,000 in taxes. That’s just crazy. 5,000 is really nothing.
What do you think is fair value for a center hall colonial in a nice town if 15,000 is too much? If that house is going to be taxed at only 5,000, what is Paterson going to pay? 500 a year?
I don’t know, when people complain about high property taxes, I think it’s the same people that think a 50,000 dollar job is a lot of money. They think it’s 1988 as opposed to 2014.
Thomas says:
July 29, 2014 at 9:10 pm
(71) Michael
Maybe some people have no trouble paying 15 thousand a year in property taxes on a $700,000 house, and then there are many others who do have difficulty with that amount. The point though, should be what value are you getting for the $15,000? What kind of services are those taxes paying for? Chances are the homeowners are not getting a good value. You seem to be taking the position that hey some people can afford to pay it so they should be, no biggie. Furthermore, if they don’t like it, they can move.
Why shouldn’t property owners demand getting a decent value for the taxes they pay?
How does your smugness and aloofness when it comes to property taxes result in anything but waste and out of control spending?
Michael, the more kids one has the more reasonable the property taxes become, the less kids the less reasonable, that’s a given. My point is however, that it appears you’re just eyeballing some property tax number and say that’s fair. What if that $15,000 property tax bill contains $7,000 in waste? You seem to be saying “eh, so what?”
81- 2 kids. Make pretend they only payed 10,000 each for every year of private education (obviously super cheap). That’s 20,000 a year. So for every year that family sends their kids to that public school, they save 5 a year on private cost of education. People with no children benefit by having productive citizens created who know how to follow rules and will hopefully one day find a cure to some disease that will save this person’s life.
Michael, so if your property taxes doubled next year, you’d be ok with that?
Let’s not take it to extremes, but in reality, taking inflation into consideration, I would think 3% is a realistic bare minimum rise in property taxes a year. 2% is literally impossible to keep up long term. How much could you cut, before there is nothing left to cut.
I also think if this were a perfect world and there was no such thing as corruption, that 15,000 property tax might be around 11,000. Over 50% is crazy talk.
Thomas says:
July 29, 2014 at 10:07 pm
Michael, so if your property taxes doubled next year, you’d be ok with that?
Everything Passion Fruit says sounds like crazy talk.
turdblossom (83)-
Kids who sheeple down and follow rules don’t come up with cures for diseases.
“People with no children benefit by having productive citizens created who know how to follow rules and will hopefully one day find a cure to some disease that will save this person’s life.”
stu (86)-
I think if someone introduced fcuktard to the concept of compounding, his brain would explode.
I vote we jack turdblossom’s taxes 2% a year, ad infinitum.
Good advice
Michael says:
Let’s not take it to extremes, but in reality,
Michael says:
People with no children benefit by having … hopefully one day find a cure to some disease that will save this person’s life.
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