Came across an interesting piece out of Sydney. The piece is mainly about the Australian real estate market, but I thought the lead in was an interesting question and could make for an interesting discussion.
Are real estate ads ‘house’ porn?
Some say cooking magazines are ‘food porn’ because people love to look at the sexy dishes for titillation, but have no intention of taking it any further.
Can the same be said for those glossy real estate mags and newspapers – are they ‘housing porn’ by exposing your mind only to the fantasy of purchasing?
It seems silly to even make the point, but feel free to use this as an “open discussion” due to the holiday. It would have probably gone that direction any way.
jb
I’ll be headed off to the EU for a few weeks, leaving the end of the month. A mix of business and pleasure. The bulk of my stay will be in Krakow and around southern Poland.
Poland Offers Good Investment Prospects
A report into overseas house prices, released by Savills, has revealed that the price of Polish property has increased faster over the last year than in any other country in the world. According to the Savills 2007 Global Residential Market Review property prices in Poland have increased nationally by over per cent in the past year, almost 10 per cent more than in second place Denmark and third placed Bulgaria.
According to the report, “In 2006, new developments in Warsaw recorded price rises of 33 per cent and in historic Krakow to the south, prices rose by 58 per cent.”
Savills put this Polish property price growth down to the fact that Poland now has one of the fastest economic growth rates in Europe and such a buoyant economy is being reflected in housing market activity.
It is also generally agreed by experts that the Polish property market is one of the more stable of the emerging markets, and values are expected to maintain significant growth for the foreseeable future.
For those in town for the fourth, the Star Ledger has a rather comprehensive calendar of events.
Towns get fired up for Fourth of July
From the Record:
County fighting couple over 8 feet of land
“Time runneth not against the king.”
Thus sayeth a Superior Court judge, who has ruled that the “king” — Bergen County — has a claim on an 8-foot-wide strip of Iris Cooper-Shepard’s Fair Lawn back yard.
Officials contend the county has owned the land — where Cooper’s family has lived for 35 years — since 1953.
They’ve sued Cooper-Shepard and her husband, Rod, saying the couple is trespassing. The Hackensack judge agreed last month, ordering the couple to retreat from about 1,200 square feet of their yard along Saddle River Road.
For the Shepards, the ruling means more than losing a few feet of shrubbery: It means slicing in half a 50-year-old cedar cabana, which is anchored in concrete, and cutting through the electric and plumbing lines for their pool filtration system. The total estimated de-construction cost is about $45,000.
…
“There is no benefit to the public from this,” Rod Shepard said. “It won’t make much of a difference if they get these 8 feet.”
County officials say those 8 feet do matter. It’s a matter of principle and fairness, county spokesman Brian Hague said. Public property, he said, should not be used for private enjoyment.
“As a government agency, you can’t just let homeowners arbitrarily take park property,” Hague said.
…
The Shepards don’t dispute that their back yard extends past the county’s property line. What they are challenging is whether the county — after 50 years of allowing them and the previous homeowners to use its land — has a legal right to reclaim it.
The couple is invoking an arcane legal doctrine known as adverse possession. Dating to English common law, adverse possession allows a person to gain title to land simply by using it. In other words, if a landowner doesn’t dispute a neighbor’s use of his property, then the owner has abandoned his right to that property.
The state of New Jersey gives rightful owners 20 to 60 years to reclaim property from the neighbors, depending on how much it is developed.
From the Record:
State review near on River Dell plan
A state review board on Friday will begin its examination of Oradell’s bid to dissolve the two-borough River Dell Regional School District.
Unless the board determines that the proposal would create extreme problems — severe financial difficulties or racial imbalance, for example — it will authorize Oradell to put the plan before voters in both River Edge and Oradell, perhaps as soon as this year.
The proposal, which has the support of both the Oradell Borough Council and the Oradell Board of Education, would potentially save taxpayers in Oradell millions of dollars in property taxes, while passing along much of that cost to River Edge residents.
For those interested in the most hard-core of real estate porn:
Sotheby’s International Realty
Christie’s Great Estates
Re:#6
You nasty boy!
Happy 4th to all.
grim (2)-
Good luck, Mr. Phelps.
grim (4)-
Unless there’s more to it, I don’t think adverse possession will fly in this case.
The possession has to be “open and notorious”, with some attempt being made to tell the offended party you’re encroaching.
grim (2)-
Egads! A Polish real estate bubble!
Or, should it be called an exploding kielbasa?
Can someone give me the history and address of gsmls #2401204.
Thanks.
Gsmls, just soared over 35,000 listings.
How much higher can it go? Just wait until New Jersians get their new tax bills, we just may see 40,000 listings with no buyers in sight.
Can you say BLOODBATH. YOUCH
lurking,
It’s on W. Main St. in High Bridge.
OLP: $299,000
LP: $299,000
DOM: 65
Not that it makes too much of a difference, but it’s a Foxtons listing.
jb
Clot,
#10 – You ain’t kidding.
jb
2401204.
112 W main Street
KL
A little Mogambo to lighten up the dreary weather..
The Crumbles of a Subprime Pie Crust
#9
You’ve got it backwards. In adverse possession, the party which is being encroached upon must tell the encroacher to get off. Not the other way around.
JB,
Mogambo should be posted weekly.
It’s funny, I don’t lust after real estate ads with glorified mansions in them. The neighborhood penny pinchers will suffice, and definitely have a jones for them! Like crack…
I guess I’m indulging in both real estate and puppy porn. I’ve seen about 10 houses that I’m in love with that I cannot touch. And since my husband has decided he wants a French Bulldog, and puppies are usually $2000 and up, we will just have to admire from afar. I just can’t justify 2k for a pet. I didn’t even pay close to that for my Rottie.
… and these are where I can peruse the trail down of home prices and compare the price drop to the week before. And also entertain ideas of living at any of the outside NY location listings..
Jim off moderation?
Flippers are still earning profits at some new construction condo projects.
See post #41.
http://www.hobokenx.com/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=12854&start=40
jb,
Can you give me some info on two houses?
1) MLS ID# 2415594 (Montclair) – Price, Taxes, DOM, Location?
2) 133 Westview Road, Montclair – Price, Taxes, DOM?
Thank you!
“Just because you can’t afford a house in Alpine doesn’t mean that the inventory in NJ (or precious Bergen County) isn’t high.”
I can’t afford Alpine? There is a lot about me that you do not know. If you think my only asset is my house in Bergen County, you are completelty wrong.
“#242 Robert the Troll
Found the article myself on cops and pay. Excerpts below from The Record on March 4, 2006:
Headline: For N.J. cops, a degree pays off
Generous perks and high salaries across the state have turned what once was a blue-collar job into a competitive and well-educated profession, police in North Jersey say. Having good instincts and precise shooting skills no longer cuts it: Officers are trying to market themselves by earning master’s degrees, law degrees or doctorates.”
Thanks for the article, but it left out the MOST IMPORTANT requirement for becoming a cop. More important than a degree. That requirement is who do you know? Do you really think you can just come off the street with your master’s degree and get a job as a cop? The cops are all cronies.
I think the subprime loan market collapse will have a very small affect on Bergen County. The chart provided by nj.com in their “by the numbers” section shows that most Bergen towns have a subprime loan rate of less than 20% while many others are less than 10%.
One thing I did find interesting about the chart was that Cresskill had more subprime lonas than all of its neighbors. Cresskill is more affluent than Fort Lee and Edgewater, but it had a greater percentage of subprime loans than they did. Cresskill had just as many subprime borrowers as Cliffside Park.
#9
building a fence or outbuildings or otherwise cultivating the land is considered “open & notorious” possession.
#27
seems to me that subprime is not only important in terms of sheer percentage of the overall market, but also due to where subprime buyers typically fall on the property ladder. Because the are usually in the entry-level market, I would think taking them out of the equation would have a disproportionate effect up the line
#2
JB, I just came back from Poland and the property prices are out of control, apartment in Warsaw will cost you just much as in NYC.
Bulk of the appreciation happened in the last year. Since the economy is on fire, the boom will continue. Too bad there’s no good way to invest in the Warsaw Stock Exchange in the US.
I think the subprime loan market collapse will have a very small affect on Bergen County.
The truth is that nobody really knows what the outcome will be, these waters are uncharted. There is no historical precedent for has taken place over the past few years. Making this even more complicated to interpret is the fact that pundits from both sides spew and spin data in support of their own positions. Of course Freddie, Fannie, and the lenders all think everything is milk and honey, they’ve got a vested interest in the market. On the flip-side, you’ve got groups that have taken positions against housing claiming we’re going to see the next armageddon. The truth lies somewhere inbetween, but that continuum is awfully wide.
Keep in mind that data is circa 2005, two years old at this point. We saw subprime and arm loans continue to grow throughout 2006.
jb
peace (17)-
In NJ, the law was changed a few years back, both lengthening the duration of time required for adverse possession AND imposing new requirements on the encroacher to actually inform the encroachee of his actions. The net effect is to render adverse possession almost impossible to achieve.
1) MLS ID# 2415594 (Montclair) – Price, Taxes, DOM, Location?
This one is in Attorney Review
73 Gates
$629,000 (no price changes)
24 days on market
Taxes $11,829 (you need to check on the reval amount).
2) 133 Westview Road, Montclair – Price, Taxes, DOM?
Can’t find this one.
Have you seen MLS# 2421557? It’s on a busy road, but you border the park. Not to mention you can be neighbors with Steven Colbert.
jb
peace (17)-
You are correct, in that any notice on the part of the offended party demanding that an encroacher cease his actions stops the clock on an attempt at adverse possession.
jb,
I passed by 133 Westview, it has a burghdorf sign in front. I can’t seem to find it on their site.
I haven’t seen MLS# 2421557.
48 Bellevue
jb
Have you seen MLS# 2421557? It’s on a busy road, but you border the park. Not to mention you can be neighbors with Steven Colbert.
Now,that’s the realtor coming out in you, I knew it would happen.(-;
KL
re: #26
I normally do not agree with the resident troll but look what the cops in my town make, and this is their base pay, no overtime pay, but they do pay a few dollars toward their healthcare. http://php.app.com/pfrs/results.php?last=&rest=&agency=MT+OLIVE+TOWNSHIP&group=Police&Submit=Search
Just sign me- name not given
Credit crunch will ‘shred investment portfolios to ribbons’
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard
Last Updated: 2:07am BST 04/07/2007
The near collapse of two Bear Stearns hedge funds has lifted the rock on our 21st century mutant capitalism, exposing the bugs beneath to a rare shock of naked light.
When creditors led by Merrill Lynch forced a fire-sale of assets, they inadvertently revealed that up to $2 trillion of debt linked to the crumbling US sub-prime and “Alt A” property market was falsely priced on books.
Even A-rated securities fetched just 85pc of face value. B-grades fell off a cliff. The banks halted the sale before “price discovery” set off a wider chain-reaction.
advertisement
“It was a cover-up,” says Charles Dumas, global strategist at Lombard Street Research. He believes the banks alone have $750bn in exposure. They may have to call in loans.
Not even the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) has a handle on the “opaque” instruments taking over world finance.
“Who now holds these risks, and can they manage them adequately? The honest answer is that we do not know,” it said.
Markets have been wobbly since the surge in yields on 10-year US Treasuries, the world’s benchmark price of money. Yields have jumped 55 basis points since early May on inflation scares, the steepest rise since 1994. It infects everything; hence that ugly “double top” on Wall Street and Morgan Stanley’s “triple sell signal” on equities.
Wobbles are turning to fear. Just $3bn of the $20bn junk bonds planned for issue last week were actually sold. Lenders are refusing “covenant-lite” deals for leveraged buy-outs, especially those with “toggles” that allow debtors to pay bills with fresh bonds. Carlyle, Arcelor, MISC, and US Food Services are all shelving plans to raise money. This is how a credit crunch starts.
“This is the big one: all investment portfolios will be shredded to ribbons,” said Albert Edwards, from Dresdner Kleinwort.
more at
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/main.jhtml?xml=/money/2007/07/02/bcncrunch102.xml
Forgive me, as its been a little bit since I took property, but aren’t you not allowed to adversely possess the government (regardless of how long you’ve encroached on the land)?
A little off topic – But can anyone tell me ANYTHING about Lopatcong, NJ? Its way down 78 close to PA. Houses seem reasonable there and the schools do not look like they are horrible, they actually look decent.
Would appreciate any info, anecdotal or otherwise. Thanks!
-Anth
#32–
I don’t mean to be difficult, but I’m not finding this requirement that the person encroaching must notify the person encroached upon (despite a variety searches on a couple of legal forums). It would make a total mockery of the concept of adverse possession if you’re right.
Though, like Pooch123 said, it’s been a while since my property law classes, so I’m prepared to be wrong…. Do you have a source for this info?
Peace (43)-
I’ll try to source it. I believe it came into effect at the same time that the time period for accomplishing adverse possession was lengthened. If memory serves me (which it often doesn’t), the law changed around 2001.
Pooch (41)-
Nice call. I think you’re right on the government never being subject to adverse possession.
Hedge funds revalue their holdings at the end of each quarter. These may take several days. Revaluations will be in bankers’ hands by the end of this week. An indicator?
“Goldman Sachs Group Inc., the world’s biggest securities firm, yesterday said the value of its collateralized debt obligations, securities backed by bonds and loans, dropped $1.56 billion, or 29 percent, to $3.79 billion in the second quarter. Goldman’s fixed-income revenue fell 24 percent because of home loan delinquencies, the New York-based firm bank said in its quarterly filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.”
“Investors in two hedge funds operated by New York-based Bear Stearns Cos. that lost money on subprime bets are being offered as little as 5 cents on the dollar for their stakes, the Financial Times reported today.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aFCroiWBMumk
My real estate/decorator porn is American Bungalow magazine.
Lopatcong, sounds like a corny town. But then again, so does the town I live in, Pequannock.
-Richie
Richie, imagine living in a town called “Ho-Ho-Kus”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ho-Ho-Kus,_New_Jersey
Hope all had a nice 4th.
Ho Ho Kus is a very affluent town and you should not bash it. However, I was going to make the same comment that you did, but decided not to. It is almost like you were reading my mind. While we are on names, is it official tat Hell’s Kitchen in the city is now called “Clinton” or is this just a gimmick by the realtors?
I’ve found a property in a downtown area that’s primed for growth, maybe. This property has living quarters upstairs and retail / office space downstairs. I could probably swing the mortgage based on my income but if I lived upstairs and found a tenant for the office space, it could work out nicely. Does anyone here have any pointers for getting involved in commerical real estate? It’s a new idea for me – nobody in my family has ever been a landlord of any kind.
thanks!
Re: Anth 42 – Lopatcong
Lopatcong is a nice township with good schools through 8th Grade. There high school students currently attend Phillipsburg High which has been ranked fairly low in the state. The school is very overcrowded and they are in the process of building a new school but it is stalled due to lack of promised state funding. Phillipsburg was one of the towns that was given money to build low income housing by other towns in the state. Due to this and its major employer shutting down (Ingersoll Rand) the area has become depressed over the past 20 years.
Overall though Lopatcong is a great place to live but if your children are nearing high school age you may want to look else ware.
LR, Thank you for the info!
Gary – regarding the house on Gates, a friend of mine put in a below ask bid on that place and were outbid by the people in attorney review. So apparently this place got multiple offers.
Not sure if you looked at the inside, but according to my friends, it needed about 100k worth of work.