Readers will immediately recognize the name of real estate shill, Warren Boroson..
If not, please read this older post:
Warren blessed us with another real estate gem this past week:
Morris’ housing market ‘vibrant;’ prices up 13.5%
I was a bit upset about the bubble references in this piece, so I decided to do a bit more digging on Mr. Boroson’s real estate holdings (he is, afterall, a renowned real estate author and investor).
So I searched the Bergen county tax records database, which turned up nothing. Interesting, since his website has him living in Hackensack, NJ. I did some more sleuthing and found this article:
Is it time to cash in on your home?
Who else might want to seize the opportunity to take profits? Anyone with more house than they really need. Warren and Rebecca Boroson bought their Glen Rock, N.J., home 29 years ago for $69,900 and raised their two sons there. But now, says Warren, “our children are grown and out of the house. We had four bedrooms, which is three more to mess up than we needed.” Last year the Borosons sold for $579,000 and moved to a high-rise apartment in Hackensack, N.J., with a doorman and a swimming pool.
“We sold mainly to lock in the profit,” Warren says. “It was a little faster than we’d planned. But if you’re planning to sell in a few years, you might as well do it now while you’re sure the market is still good.”
Warren writes a financial column for the Morris County, N.J., Daily Record that is syndicated nationwide. With an eye on retirement (he’s 69), he invested his cashed-out home equity in a laddered portfolio of bonds.
Are you kidding me? You’ve got to be kidding me? This shill is one of the biggest real estate cheerleaders in North Jersey, but he himself has since sold his home and now rents an apartment? Is anyone here as outraged as I am about this? He continually writes pieces that read like real estate advertisements, but he himself has realized that the market was overpriced and has “cashed out”.
I can’t believe his trash is peddled to the public as journalism.
Caveat Emptor!
Grim
Unprecedented. Unreal.
He’s just shillin’ in his crib.
i have a question.
if we buy based on their information can we sue them later?
maybe we should get this information out to other blogs and the media?
i cannot believe this stuff. cut and paste and send to friends.
CDF
LOL, nothing surprises me anymore when it comes to the media. They have the edge and they will tell you to buy while they are selling in the background.
This isnt isolated to real estate either.
Actually, Grim, what I find most interesting about the Kiplinger article is that it suggests something that I feel has been overlooked by the mainstream media and bubble bloggers alike.
Which is? That the (relatively) new capital gains exclusion for home sales has been a driving factor behind the housing mania. Can you think of any other investment in the past five years where you could double your money and then not have to pay a single cent of capital gains tax? Not to mention that within a mere two years you could do the same thing all over again without penalty?
Low interest rates and funky loan packages contributed their fair share to the mania, but let’s not overlook tax policy.
Cassandra:
As a financial planner, I have to disagree somewhat. I realize that the tax law enacted in 1997 has altered the real estate landscape. However, since this exclusion is only available on a principle residence, it should not be responsible for fueling speculation. It has created two types of behavior though: (1) the ability to sell, and subsequently rent without tax consequences (2) a motivation to sell a property and buy another property when the capital gain begins to approach $250K (or $500K if married).
I appreciate the thought, but if you work through the details you can see how it really does wash out in the mix if you carry it through an example.
chicago
Anonymous said:
“Maybe we should get this information out to other blogs and the media?”
Please do. I think the Columbia Journalism Review, among others, would be very interested in Boroson’s shilling. He gives journalism a bad name.
here you are Warren. For your next article.
here are the facts. People are leaving the state of New Jersey. according to Allied Van Lines And United Van Lines NJ is the second worse state for people leaving.
Incomes have remained stagnant for 5 years.
More and more first time buyers are using NO MONEY MTG SCHEMES to buy.
Largest employers in this state are hurting. the pharmaceuticals, the telecoms, the Food (Kraft-Nabisco)and soon to be hurting Banking and construction related to housing. laying off lots of people. Kraft just anounced 8000 person job layoff. more occurring at the once mighty Drug companies.
Affordability is at record lows.
It’s bad really bad. Now start writing about the truth to change this insnae psychology that the Real estate industry does not want to stop. manipulation and spin is their expertise.
Journalism as a field is going downhill in my book. It seems the media is slowly but surely turning into thinly-disquised advertising or promotion of people or views. The objectivity is getting harder and harder to find. Thankfully, Grim’s blog exists!
And interesting idea about filing lawsuits against real estate promoters when the public follows their advice and loses big time. I know that you can sue someone for anything and that person has to go to to court to defend himself (or herself!). It would be interesting to see how something like that would play out. It does seem that there are already many potential candidates out there who are in financial trouble (with more to come, I’m sure). Question is can they prove that their financial troubles are directly attributable to Boroson-like advice and prognostications and wouldn’t have resulted if it were not for these misleading claims. Any lawyers out there that can shed some light on this?
“Question is can they prove that their financial troubles are directly attributable to Boroson-like advice and prognostications and wouldn’t have resulted if it were not for these misleading claims.”
unfortunately, journalists don’t have a duty to print the truth. no lawyer who values his reputation would file a suit over something like this.
if you really want to sue someone, look for those who benefitted directly from deceiving buyers. i.e., sellers, realtors, loan officers, etc
Roadtripboy said…
Journalism as a field is going downhill in my book.
Go to http://www.mediamatters.com
You will find that the media is not just shills but are downright deceptive and even liars. Check out the Abramoff scandal and how a supposedly liberal journalist Katie Couric is toeing the republican line that the scandal is bipartisan. Which is patently false.
This “Spin” is no different than the Wall Street “Spin”. I clearly remember one of the CNBC “Floor Reporters” a few years ago touting there was no stopping the NASDAQ when it crossed North of 5000. He went on to say it will be 11,000 by the end of the year………Buyer beware.
Gee, liberalism at its very best. Do as I say, not as I do!!!
This entry confirms my belief that the local Jersey papers are so dependent on Sunday real estate ads that reporters are encouraged to spin, spin spin.
Usually this BS has a little tage above the headline that reads “This section prepared by the Advertising Department” to at least ALLUDE to the potential bias of what follows. This piece had no such caveat.
Disgusting.
That’s why they call the paper he writes for the “Daily Wrethced”
From Warren Boroson
I sold my house because I didn’t need 4 bedrooms, and I think older people like me should live in an apartment, for safety. I STILL OWN ANOTHER HOUSE.
Since selling that house, it has appreciated $100,000.
I have repeatedly written about selling my house. Ain’t no secret. In Kiplinger’s, in my own column.
I have conveyed various people’s views in my column — the view that house prices are poised to plummet, the view that house prices will level off. My own view, which I have written about many times, is: Sell sooner rather than later.
By the way, if I’m a shill for the industry, how come I wrote a book called, How to Sell Your House Yourself?
You guys are a bunch of ignorant creeps. And terrible writers! But you are hilarious. And I love the publiciity!
LIAR, LIAR!
from Warren Boroson
By the way, GRIM says that I have urged people to buy houses now — while selling one of my houses. That is a lie. I have told everyone what Jim Hughes of Rutgers has said: If you buy now, be prepared to hold on for 10 years.
What a creepy guy this GRIM is!
Nice to meet you Warren. We were wondering when you would stop by.
grim