From the WSJ:
Keeping Families Above Water
May 8, 2008; Page A2
The latest flash point in the debate over the nation’s bursting housing bubble is this: Since so many American houses are worth less than their mortgages, should the government do more to get lenders to settle for less than the full debt, even if it may cost taxpayers some money?
The White House and Treasury say “No!” House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and other House Democrats, with the quiet backing of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, say “Yes!”
Of the 80 million houses in the U.S., about 55 million have mortgages. Of those, four million are behind on payments. Foreclosure proceedings were begun on about 1.5 million homes last year, up more than 50% from 2006. This year will be worse. The Treasury, according to presentations its officials have made recently, predicts house prices could fall another 10% to 15% before touching bottom.
Moody’s Economy.com estimates that one in roughly 12 American families with mortgages — four million in all — already owe more than the current value of their homes. They are said to be “underwater.” The firm predicts that by early 2009 nearly one in four, or 12 million, homeowners will be underwater. Most will continue to pay mortgages on time. Many won’t, and are at risk of losing their homes.
…
In ordinary times, a lender shouldn’t need prodding from the government to do what’s in its self-interest. But these aren’t ordinary times. The drop in home prices is pervasive, mortgage markets messy and complexities caused by turning mortgages into securities many. No one in Washington wants to help the “speculators” who bought homes they don’t live in or those who lent to them. And there’s broad agreement that those who bought more house than they’ll ever be able to afford are going to lose out. The debate revolves around the “preventable foreclosures.”
…
The White House condemns this as a “bailout” and says it won’t work. As the Treasury argued in a recent PowerPoint presentation: “Homeowners who can afford their mortgage but walk away because they are underwater are merely speculators.” (It’s a bit jarring to hear the Treasury vilifying people who are acting in their economic self-interest.) But if not for the widespread decline in house prices — “a relatively novel phenomenon,” Mr. Bernanke labels it — and the proliferation of no-money-down mortgages made with the acquiescence of regulators, these homeowners wouldn’t be underwater.
From the WSJ:
Home-Appraisal Code May End Up in Court
By JAMES R. HAGERTY
May 8, 2008; Page A4
New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo may face legal challenges to his effort to overhaul the way homes are appraised across the U.S. Such a case could help clarify how far state officials can go in setting public policy for the nation as a whole.
Earlier this year, Mr. Cuomo made an end run around federal regulators and Congress with a campaign against inflated home appraisals, which have contributed to the current wave of mortgage defaults. He threatened to sue government-sponsored mortgage investors Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac for allegedly failing to ensure that appraisers were shielded from pressure to pad their estimates. Appraisers have long maintained that many loan officers or brokers, whose pay depends on how many loans they complete, pressure them to come up with value estimates high enough to ensure approval of the loans.
In March, Fannie and Freddie, eager to avoid a legal battle, agreed with Mr. Cuomo on an appraisal code of conduct, which is due to take effect Jan. 1.
The plan has drawn fire from mortgage-industry groups and some federal regulators. Among other things, they say the code could raise costs for consumers and cause unnecessary disruption in the appraisal business.
Mr. Cuomo’s staff describes the code as an agreement between his office and the mortgage companies, backed by their main regulator, the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight. But Fannie and Freddie buy or guarantee the bulk of all U.S. home loans. So nearly all lenders would be bound by the code, making it a de facto national standard. Many people in the appraisal and mortgage industries are upset that Mr. Cuomo was able to rewrite the rules without giving Congress or federal banking regulators time to weigh in.
Unless Mr. Cuomo works with the industry to revise the code, “somebody out there is likely to file litigation,” says Steve O’Connor, a senior vice president at the Mortgage Bankers Association. Roy DeLoach, executive vice president of the National Association of Mortgage Brokers, says legal action against the planned code is “one option” his trade group will consider.
The mortgage brokers and others argue that the code of conduct is tantamount to federal regulation and so is subject to the U.S. Administrative Procedures Act. The act requires federal agencies seeking to make new rules to first publish a proposal and solicit public comments on it, says Raymond Natter, a lawyer at the Washington firm of Barnett Sivon & Natter.
From Bloomberg:
U.S. Consumer Debt Rises More Than Forecast in March
U.S. consumer borrowing jumped more than double the amount economists forecast in March, indicating a slowing economy is forcing Americans to accumulate credit-card and other forms of debt.
Consumer credit increased by $15.3 billion for the month to $2.56 trillion, the biggest monthly rise since November, the Federal Reserve said today in Washington. In February, credit rose by $6.5 billion, previously reported as an increase of $5.2 billion. The Fed’s report doesn’t cover borrowing secured by real estate, such as home-equity loans.
Consumers are turning to credit cards after banks tightened standards for home-equity loans and other borrowing. The March figures brought U.S. consumer borrowing in the first quarter to $34 billion, the most since the first three months of 2001, when the economy entered its last official recession.
“Consumers are strapped as incomes are not keeping up with inflation and this is leading them to rely increasingly on credit to see them through the worst housing downturn since the Great Depression,” said Chris Rupkey, chief financial economist at Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi in New York. “The days of extracting cash from one’s home to spend on goods and services are long gone.”
Economists forecast an increase of $6 billion in consumer credit for March, according to the median of 34 estimates in a survey conducted by Bloomberg News.
From Reuters:
US House opens debate on major housing rescue bill
The U.S. House of Representatives opened debate on Wednesday on a bill to create a $300 billion fund to save homeowners from foreclosure, but President George W. Bush threatened to veto it.
The sweeping legislation, which Bush argues is too costly and could delay a housing recovery, would also provide $15 billion to buy abandoned properties and offer a $7,500 tax credit to first-time home buyers.
A vote on the measure, which looks certain to pass the Democratic-controlled House, is expected on Thursday.
Its sponsors expect many Republicans will break with Bush and back the election-year measure because of voter concerns over falling home prices and mounting foreclosures.
“We have seen the perfect storm of stagnant wages, rising mortgage payments and decreased home values, all of which have led to a record level of delinquencies and foreclosures,” Rep. Carolyn Maloney of New York said in arguing for the bill.
From the Boston Herald:
Foreclosure surge hits toney towns
The foreclosure crisis in Massachusetts has gone from bad to worse, with the number of homes seized by their lenders soaring in some of the state’s wealthiest towns, a new report finds.
Some of the state’s toniest locales, including Nantucket, Edgartown and Weston, have seen their foreclosure rates double over the past year, ForeclosuresMass.com finds.
…
Late to the foreclosure mess, the state’s elite communities are now fast catching up to their less affluent urban and suburban counterparts. Buyers who stretched to purchase a home or condo in the state’s ritzier ZIP codes are now struggling to pay their mortgages amid a weakening economy and the crash in real estate values.
“The foreclosure crisis really has no boundaries in Massachusetts,” said Jeremy Shapiro, president and co-founder of ForeclosuresMass.com. “Communities rich and poor, urban and suburban and rural are all being impacted.”
Leading the foreclosure pack, three of the four towns with triple-digit increases are in the top tier of the real estate market. Belmont, Oak Bluffs and Nahant have seen the number of distressed properties increase by 200 percent, 217 percent and 240 percent, respectively.
Several wealthy suburban towns also make the list of the 25 Bay State communities where foreclosure rates have doubled.
…
The downturn in the market and falling home prices have made it difficult for people to escape, even in wealthy communities, if there is a job loss or other setback, said Karl Case, a Wellesley College professor and real estate market expert. In a down market, the option of selling the house is no longer there.
“House prices are really the culprit,” Case said.
From the NY Times:
Wave of Lawsuits Over Losses Could Hit a Wall
Finding someone to sue over losses in the mortgage market and the credit crisis is easy. Winning in court, lawyers say, will be hard.
Shareholders in big financial firms have accused UBS, Merrill Lynch, MBIA and Morgan Stanley, among others, of trying to hide their home loan problems, which later led to declines in their stock prices.
Institutional investors have sued investment firms, including UBS, saying that they were misled into buying risky securities that later fell sharply in value. And there are more possible defendants, like the rating agencies that were supposed to evaluate these mortgage securities and the accounting firms that audited these companies.
“The wave of litigation that we’ve seen, and certainly the current momentum, is going to eclipse what we saw out of the savings and loan crisis” of the early 1990s, said Jeff Nielsen, managing director at Navigant Consulting. “Some of those cases are still ongoing.”
A recent study by Navigant found that 170 lawsuits — 44 of which were securities suits — had been filed because of subprime mortgage losses in the first three months of this year, up from 89 in the last quarter of 2007.
Wonderful.
How kind of the legislature to ask us to bend over, instead of telling us.
From the AP:
Senators weigh asking voters to back new water tax
New Jerseyans may get the chance to decide whether to tax their water use.
A Senate committee on Thursday is slated to hold a hearing on a proposed constitutional amendment that would dedicate the $150 million that would annually be raised from the water tax to farmland and open space preservation in the nation’s most densely populated state.
…
Sen. Bob Smith said the tax would charge 40 cents per 1,000 gallons of water usage, equating to $32 per year for the average household.
“And the most important thing is it happens only if the people of New Jersey say they want it,” said Smith, D-Middlesex. “This is not the Legislature imposing a tax.”
(cont)
Senate Minority Leader Tom Kean Jr. said the current method of open space preservation, in which borrowed open space money is paid back through sales tax revenue, has worked well.
“I don’t see why raising taxes is always the first option for the Democratic Party,” said Kean, R-Union. “Rather than find a way to live within our means, the Democrats are looking at new ways to raise money and outsource their responsibilities.”
From the Star Ledger:
NJ plans bond-market moves
New Jersey taxpayers this morning are scheduled to take another step toward the exit of the fractured bond market known as auction-rate securities.
…
New Jersey and other public borrowers have been scrambling since February to remove bonds from the auction-rate market, since the market was paralyzed by concerns about credit and the solvency of insurers who backed many of the bonds.
…
Since the collapse, the state’s interest payments on its $3.4 billion in auction rate holdings jumped by $1.8 million a week. Leaving the market has also been costly.
So far the state has paid underwriters, attorneys and other professionals more than $48.9 million to replace the auction rate debt with other types of loans, state records show.
From Yahoo Finance:
Are Single-Income Households a Thing of the Past?
Is it possible for families to go from two incomes to one?
It’s something most households with two working parents and young children at home have contemplated at some point. More than 60 percent of families with children under age 18 had both parents employed outside the home in 2005-2006, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. That compares to less than a third of mothers in 1975.
…
The single-income family with two children in the early 1970s earned about $32,000 in inflation-adjusted dollars, compared to $73,000 for the dual-income family in the early 2000s.
Despite the higher income, today’s families save less and carry more debt: In 1970, the one-income family saved 11 percent of its take-home pay and allocated 1.4 percent of its annual income to pay revolving debt, such as credit cards. In 2005, the two-income family saved nothing, and allocated 15 percent of its annual income to revolving debt, according to Warren.
In other words, the two-income family spends everything — the second income, all of its annual savings — and has piled on debt. Where does the money go? Despite the sticker-shock that goes with buying a gallon of milk these days, they didn’t spend it on food, clothing, appliances, electronics, or automobiles — on an inflation-adjusted basis, those costs actually went down.
…
So is it possible to downscale to one income? It may be, for couples who are willing to make bold changes with their money and in their attitudes, says Judy Lawrence, a financial coach and author of “The Budget Kit.”
“You have to be willing to do some soul-searching about the things you’re going to change and let go of,” Lawrence says, adding that the stay-at-home parent takes on the additional job of planning ahead and investing the time to get the best deal. It’s going back to your true priorities, values and goals and saying ‘it’s the best choice for me, my family, and our future’ — not ‘we’ll be locked into a life of drudgery and we can’t do what we want to do.'”
Who Has More Level 3 Assets Than Capital?
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/index.php?a=17068
Grim, in the early 1970’s my Dad was paying about 11% of his net salary in housing with taxes.
“The firm predicts that by early 2009 nearly one in four, or 12 million, homeowners will be underwater.”
Not to worry, the fed is steering the ship, ooopps, the submarine.
“An Essex County judge has ordered the arrests of former New York Giant Bart Oates and former New Jersey Devil Ken Daneyko for their repeated failure to show up for depositions in a real-estate lawsuit, an attorney said yesterday.”
“Nagel said he represents Cary Heller, a Short Hills investor who loaned $300,000 to the two players and a third man, J. Michael Gallagher. The loan was made in September 2006 for a luxury hotel and condominium complex planned for Wildwood, he said.”
“Nagel said the players’ partnership, Pro Re Developers Wildwood 1, would have been among the developers in the project, but he said the project has not gotten off the ground. He said the three men failed to repay the loan as promised.”
http://www.nj.com/business/ledger/index.ssf?/base/business-9/1210221362159820.xml&coll=1
Patient- previous thread
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?
hehe [10],
Before long we’ll have rankings, top ten, similar to college basketball, RPI. Instead of strength of schedule, they’ll be ranked by strength of lies.
By the way, I thought Goldman was in the lead. Comforting that we are in the 9th inning?
“May 8 (Bloomberg) — The European Central Bank kept interest rates at a six-year high today to fight inflation, even as the euro’s appreciation and fallout from the U.S. housing slump curb economic growth.”
“Inflation could stay at an elevated level for a longer time than previously forecast,” said David Kohl, deputy chief economist at Julius Baer Holding AG in Frankfurt. “There’s clearly a risk that the ECB will cut interest rates later than forecast and less aggressively.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=a92BH6plfvas&refer=home
BC,
I honestly wonder if any of the clowns claiming the “9th inning” ever watched a baseball game, much less ever played the game.
hehe [17],
LOL. They probably wouldn’t know the difference between a blacbox and a box seat.
I don’t think the complaint that people spend more on housing (to rent or buy) than our parents did is legitimate. Society has changed a lot in the past thirty years, such that food and goods have become much cheaper (compare to thirty years ago) now that everything is made in China. On the other hand services and things that can’t be made in China have become more expensive compared to thirty years ago. Mymoneyblog had an excellent post about this, see
http://www.mymoneyblog.com/archives/2008/05/the-coming-collapse-of-the-middle-class.html.
I consider it noteworthy that despite the outrageous cost of housing and living in the tri-state area, the median family likey spends a much smaller percent of its annual income on food and clothing than 30 and 50 years ago. Despite being a staunch “bubble believer” since late 2005, its possible that certain rules use to determine affordability are less relevant today simply because our consumption patterns have changed so dramatically since these “golden rules” were made.
Re 9, “working moms” is like “baked alaska”, what a joke, 60% of women with children go to a job to avoid the large amount of work at home and to get a break and be a part time Mom just on nights and weekends rather than a full time Mom.
The stay at home mom can’t justify a new car every three years, maid, expensive vacations, take out, new “office’ clothes and baby sitting. Heck my “working moms” siblings were shocked that some people actually purchase pre-owned cars and actually groom their own pets! How repugent. Plus how could they survive in a three bedroom house with their two kids. OMG no empty bedrooms.
re: claiming we are in the the “9th inning”.
The fact that they are using innings as a yardstick only leaves them room to hedge as usual.
Pretty soon we will be hearing “extra innings” and Nobody ever said this would not go into extra innings Bla, Bla, Bla.
factoid: Longest MLB game ever 26 innings.
factoid: Last housing bust prices in some areas too 10 years to recover not including inflation.
From MarketWatch:
U.S. initial weekly jobless claims fall 18,000 to 365,000
U.S. continuing weekly jobless claims fall 10,000 to 3.02M
U.S. 4-week avg. initial claims up 2,500 to 367,000
U.S. 4-week avg. continuing claims up 16,750 to 3.00M
U.S. 4-week avg. continuing claims highest in 4 years
The White House and Treasury say “No!” House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and other House Democrats, with the quiet backing of Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke, say “Yes!”
Politics aside, for what it’s worth, Rich says “No!” too.
http://www.bankrate.com/brm/calculators/personalfinance/spouse_income_calculator.asp
The should my spouse calculator would most likely throw 50% of working spouses (male or female) out of the workforce.
Sean great WSJ article on Dark Pools in todays paper.
MLS said yesterday that last month that have stats on home prices in Nassau County and Queens rose in Price!
BC (18)-
John Henry, the most famous (and only?) quant/baseball guy, nearly destroyed his franchise by encouraging his manager to bring on the closer in the 6th inning.
Funny…when Pedro was gassed and needed to be pulled in the playoff game vs. the Yanks, Grady left him in. I always thought that move was part FU to Henry. Too bad it cost him his job.
Golden rule: he who has the gold, rules.
Saks sales up 24%
JC Penney sales down 2%
Lower and middle classes be proud, you get your own recession.
Ironically, John Henry has ended up experiencing more success in baseball than in running his investments.
IMF’s Lipsky Says Inflation Back After Years of `Quiescence’
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=atBllA3IbEyI&refer=home
IMF research indicates that if the dollar hadn’t fallen from 2002 to 2007, oil prices would be $25 a barrel lower.
Middle East and Asian countries that keep their currencies linked to the dollar are seeing inflation pressures worsen as a result, Lipsky said.
BC (16)-
No inflation in US…persistent inflation in Europe.
Those Europeans can’t do anything right. :)
Inflation never left, but it has changed.
Old Inflation
Inflation = Goods Inflation + Services Inflation + Wage Inflation
New Inflation
Inflation = Goods Inflation + Services Inflation
Old inflation punished savers and folks on fixed incomes. New inflation punishes everyone through a lower quality of life.
re: 30 (Grim)
Wage inflation is rampant in NJ, just ask the teachers, Cops and other civil service employees.
grim (30)-
goods inflation + services inflation – lies = no problem
Here’s the percentage of homes that are underwater on their mortgages based on when they were bought, according to Zillow:
2003 7%
2004 16%
2005 42%
2006 52%
2007 45%
re: (26) Grim I heard sales at Victoria Secrets was down 5% as well. I guess women are now starting to shop at Target for
undergarments. :(
# 4 “House prices are really the culprit”
Noooooo. The REAL culprit was “fog a mirror and get a loan” lending standards, which created “qualified” buyers, which increased demand and started the unsustainable upward spiral. The high prices are a symptom of an underlying problem and the drop in prices is an indication of healing. It is not unlike the ugly yellow, black, blue, and green splotch one gets on the skin after taking a big hit of one type or another; THAT is not the problem, it is an indication of healing. It is folly to try and stop echimosis and it is folly to try to stop the fall in home values. What are we going to do next, refuse to allow fly balls from descending to earth because they have come down from their highs?
Lazear Sees No Recession for U.S. Economy
May 8 (WSJ) — The White House’s top economist said he’s confident the U.S. economy hasn’t dipped into recession, and expressed optimism that stimulus checks could bolster growth in the current quarter, earlier than expected.
“The data are pretty clear that we are not in a recession,” Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Edward Lazear told a meeting of editors and reporters from the Wall Street Journal and Dow Jones Newswires.
# 35 I think the real decline there is that the company has largely abandoned its previous focus on women 30-50, in favor of the 15-25 set. Before, they focused on women who not only had mney to spend but had some motivation to find undergarments that would accentuate the positives and help keep the husband’s attention.
THe recent emphasis on the size 0 to size 4 set, who would look good in anything, left many women feeling like they could not buy anything there. The CEO recently acknowledged that the brand had strayed and that it hurt the bottom line. Much of the product is now lacking the alure and the quality workmanship that prompted women to buy the company’s products. When things tighten up, the younger set can walk away and find the cheap trashy stuff in numerous other outlets. The 30-50 set, on the other hand, would be willing to continue buying, but now has litle ability to do so because VS lacks the product.
# 37 He sounds like a guy who went off and had a threesome with two hookers just outside Vegas saying to his wife, “Honestly honey, I have never been with a single other woman since we got maried. Not even on my trips to Vegas.”
39 It may be technically true, but it is not honest.
#37 John:The data are pretty clear that we are not in a recession.
I wonder what data he is talking about?
Must be the date we cannnot see.
I wonder what data he is talking about?
Sales at Saks up 24%, what recession?
From Bloomberg:
State Street Subprime Damages May Reach 12 Times Reserve Amount
State Street Corp., the largest money manager for institutions, may have to pay more than 12 times the $625 million it set aside for damages from lawsuits over losses from subprime-mortgage investments made for pension funds.
Prudential Financial Inc., the second-largest U.S. life insurer, is suing the Boston-based company on behalf of more than 200 retirement plans, alleging that State Street inappropriately invested their money in risky securities. Three other companies filed similar actions.
http://www.newsday.com/news/opinion/ny-walt-babyboomers-blurb,0,1036393.blurb
If you are over 50 very funny. If not, not so funny.
# 41 We have not had two consecutive quarters of negative growth. True enough, but the economy is in a fall. We may not have crashed yet but the oxygen masks have dropped from the passenger service unit and the flight attendants are telling everyone to put on the life vests and to put their heads down. The Administration just hopes the statistical evidence of a true recession does not come until after election day, so they can blame the next administration.
Businessweek article,
Your house is so underwater you need a submarine to get in the front door
Here’s what Zillow.com, the real estate website, says today: “Of homeowners nationwide who purchased when U.S. home values peaked in 2006, one out of every two (51.6%) now owes more on their mortgage than their home is currently worth.”
You’re in better shape if you bought before or after the 2006 peak in prices. Here’s the percentage of homes that are underwater on their mortgages based on when they were bought, according to Zillow:
2003 7%
2004 16%
2005 42%
2006 52%
2007 45%
Las Vegas may look dry, but from the point of view of homeowners, it’s deep underwater. Zillow says that buyers in 2006 posted a median downpayment of just 2%, and since then, home values have fallen 25 percent year-over-year, so 89.9% of homeowners now owe more than their home is worth.
Stockton, Calif., is worse: 95.8%. No wonder it’s known (unofficially of course) as the Foreclosure Capital of the U.S.A.
“I wonder what data he is talking about?”
Employment- Birth/Death
GDP- Inventory growth
Consumer Spending- Up with inflation.
It’s a sunny day.
Repost from late yesterday: Zillow report for NY-NJ MSA
http://www.zillow.com/quarterlies/QuarterlyThumbs.htm?msa=New+York+Northern+New+Jersey+Long+Island+NY
# SG Says:
In NY-NJ MSA Area, number of home buyers with Negative equity, (approx numbers below)
2005 Q2 – 15%
2005 Q3 – 25%
2005 Q4 – 30%
2006 Q1 – 30%
2006 Q2 – 32%
2006 Q3 – 32%
2006 Q4 – 35%
2007 Q1 – 35%
2007 Q2 – 32%
2007 Q3 – 30%
2008 Q4 – 25%
2008 Q1 – 30%
I think those are very conservative numbers as well as they are probably based on Zestimate. I have found zestimate give much higher value than what houses have sold in last few months
32…
Wage inflation is rampant in NJ, just ask the teachers, Cops and other civil service employees.
——————————————
Or hedge fund managers……
The richest hedge fund managers keep getting richer — fast. To make it into the top 25 of Alpha’s list, the industry standard for hedge fund pay, a manager needed to earn at least $360 million last year, more than 18 times the amount in 2002. The median American family, by contrast, earned $60,500 last year.
I would venture to guess most teachers, police, and civil servants are making the median income.
Believe It: Condo Sales Slow
By MICHAEL STOLER, Special to the NYSun | May 8, 2008
Very little correct information is being floated about the state of the New York City condominium marketplace. The glossy, full-page advertisements for luxury condominiums that are liberally sprinkled throughout local publications project strong sales, while the regular quarterly reports on the state of the local market suggest the city has been relatively immune to the real estate downturn that has crippled other cities.
In reality, nervousness about the economy, falling consumer confidence, and the rising cost of commodities are slowing sales of residential condominiums in Manhattan, the other boroughs, and the suburban communities.
“The truth is that people can’t take the truth,” the president of RAL Cos., Robert Levine, said.
Mr. Levine blames press coverage for creating an atmosphere of nervousness that is slowing the sales. He said smart buyers would see opportunity today, and make purchases on properties with good intrinsic value.
“The truth is that the principles and pricing of good real estate and the intrinsic values prevail. The truth is that the press has created an atmosphere of fear without basis. We are not talking about subprime real estate, we are talking about New York City and if the developer has priced his property appropriately there are interested buyers and sales. Although the impact of the press has certainly impacted velocity,” Mr. Levine said. “Yes, there is a slowdown in sales. Yes, the buyers need more time to make a decision. And yes, if you are qualified to buy there are mortgage opportunities at good rates and for properties that are complete or nearing completion, it is a good time to buy.”
He continued: “There is no clear answer to sales — one week nothing happens on the Upper East Side, and the next you sell three units. One week Chelsea is standing-room-only at an open house, and the next week three couples show up. Overall, the buyers are still there, but they are taking two to three visits if they decide to buy, and they are comparing products. There are those properties that have pricing the result of developers overpaying for land, and higher construction costs that will have to realize that their pricing is too high. But its not the pricing, its the abundance of product, and again the atmosphere created by the press.
“I am still optimistic! But then again I am a developer!” Mr. Levine said.
“It’s strange that the stock market is reacting as though the worst is behind us,” the president of Beck Street Capital, Kevin Comer, said. “For those who remember what a real estate cycle looks like, this one hasn’t even started down the hill. This cycle looks to be a textbook repeat of the late 1980s. At the worst possible time, while the equity markets are saying things are improving, the lending community has completely shut off capital. This will have the effect of snowballing property values over a cliff if liquidity isn’t restored in the very near future.”
He added: “As transaction volume dries up, and liquidity remains nonexistent, property values will fall, and banks will begin foreclosures. The kid gloves will come off, and it won’t matter if you own property at Fifth Avenue and 58th Street or Williamsburg, the banks will be brutal as they all struggle to survive and avoid Bear Stearns fate. The busted condo deals will be the first to fall given their short term financing. This scenario is now being played out in markets around the country; we’ve just avoided it to date in New York City.
“If a condominium project has been on the market for over 12 months, and there remains units to sell, then those units need to be re-priced as rentals until the next cycle. Until this has happened, the market won’t find a bottom. This doesn’t mean that there won’t be successful condominium projects still completed that sell out at luxury price points, but marginal projects will not be successful in this market,” Mr. Comer said.
A senior executive for sales of condominium at a national sales brokerage firm, who asked not to be identified, said, “Anyone who tells you the market today is doing great is flat-out lying.”
The broker added: “Every buyer coming in today is looking for a deal, and they are getting more brazen about given embarrassingly lowball offers. The more times they come in to view the property, the lower the offers seem to get. With this said, properties that are priced well — with room for some negotiations — are moving at a fair clip. Anything perceived as overpriced by the buyer is sitting on the market because the ball is squarely in the buyer’s court, and there is little to no urgency in the market.
“There are many people on the sidelines that want to buy, but are being cautious. Traffic at our sales offices in general is healthy, but the buyers are taking a much longer time to make decisions. The smart position in the market today for a developer is to remain flexible. Nobody can predict with certainty what around the corner, but I’m of the mind that it’s better to take a little off the price now, than a lot off the price later and keep moving your inventory. If the developer insists on remaining inflexible on sales price, they will be in a stalemate with the buyers,” the broker said.
A local developer who asked not to be identified said certain markets “are flooded with product. Buyers are aware of this and are negotiating hard and really taking their time in making decisions, and consequently, sales are slow.
“When a new building hits the market, there are a bunch of early sales during the initial buzz period from friends and family and the interest list, but then sales slow down rather quickly,” the developer said.
“It is clear that we are experiencing a change in the overall state of the real estate market,” the president of Citi Habitats, Gary Malin, said. “One change that is apparent is that even though the volume of transactions is off of the 2007 peak, prices of properties continue to increase in the first quarter of 2008. By no means, however, has business dried up. In fact, properly priced apartments are, at times, leading to bidding wars. I think that some market changes are to be expected given the economic conditions currently eroding consumer confidence, such as increases in the cost of oil, gasoline, food, etc., as well as an uncertain job market and the increase in the foreclosure rate as a result of the subprime market.”
The president of Troutbrook Companies, Marc Freud, said that in general, “the volatile market means that sellers are ready to negotiate off of sales prices. The malaise of the housing crisis is still with us, and buyers are very cautious.”
The president of Winter Financial, Gregg Winter, said, “Without question units in ‘b’ locations of the New York City condominium market, like parts of Queens and further reaches of Brooklyn, are moving slowly, even though well-qualified buyers can make very good deals right now with developers and can still get excellent mortgages at low rates.”
He added: “For the moment, developers who have slow unit sales are paying for some of the closing costs and or taking single digit discounts on pricing to execute the transactions. Sponsors are acutely aware that there are limited sources of debt available today to take out their existing condo construction loan.”
A local developer in Brooklyn who asked not to be identified said: “My project in downtown Brooklyn had consistent sales up until the third week in March. Since that date, the offers have slowed down and the quality of the offer has decreased. The amount of foot traffic of purchasers to open houses has decreased. In order to sell units we are now paying transfer tax, attorney fees, and other closing costs which amount to approximately a 4 to 5% discount.”
The president of the City Investment Fund, Thomas Lydon, said the pace of sales “has definitely slowed in Manhattan. No price concessions of major proportion as of yet, but definitely a willingness to negotiate transfer taxes, brokerage, etc, on higher priced units.
“Everyone knows there are fewer ‘real’ buyers in the market, and the smart owners are being flexible to capture every prospect,” Mr. Lydon said. “I can speak directly to the townhouse market in Greenwich Village area. Prices for properties, both renovated and unrenovated, were very strong the past two years. Prices rose over 10% both years, with properties selling between $2,000 and $3,000 a square foot, depending upon location and condition of property. Buyers are much more conservative this spring, making offers substantially below asking prices for unrenovated properties. Expect to see comparables dropping from previous highs, but still at substantial nominal dollars.”
Many real estate experts are still bullish on the overall condominium marketplace.
“In our Williamsburg development, the 575 market rate condominiums in our first phase of the Edge, we have entered into 65 contracts during the first 30 days of marketing,” the chairman of Douglaston Development, Jeffrey Levine, said. “
Mr. Winter said, “In the unique and peculiar algebra of New York City condominium sales, smaller projects in Manhattan which offer something unique and special to the marketplace are still selling and will continue to sell. The modest, outlying units in the boroughs may be sitting there for a moment, but the Manhattan projects with both sizzle and substance still seem to be selling.”
Mr. Freud said, “Overall buyer sentiment has improved from the beginning of the year. Bidding contests have not totally left the marketplace.”
The principal of Essex Capital Partners, Mitchell Rutter, said: “This past weekend I attended a grand opening in Williamsburg located in a section which is called the North Fourth; at the corner of Fourth Street and Driggs Avenue. Approximately 70 people were in attendance and according to the sponsor; four of the initial 20 units listed for sale were sold. Even with prices in the range of $750 per square foot, there seems to be many potential buyers undeterred by the current economy.
“Sales activity remains strong in Park Slope section of Brooklyn. For example, the Argyle Condominium located on the west side of Fourth Avenue, which many consider the wrong side of the street, and is not in the preferred school district has a sales office on Fifth Avenue has had steady and consistent sales,” Mr. Rutter said. “The average sales price per square foot is $740, and about 60% of the units have been sold with the building’s steel still in process. Another sign of the frothy Park Slope market is that these sales have occurred from floor plans and not from walking the actual units.”
It looks like some difficult times are ahead for the New York City condominium market place. As Mr. Freud said: “Condominiums that are well-executed and in stable neighborhoods are selling at a brisk pace.” One must concur with Kevin Comer when he says that for a project to be successful in this market, it has to have a truly great design, a great location, and a reasonable price. “Now more than ever its location, location and location. Long term, real estate remains a great place to invest capital, especially in New York City, and we are headed for one of the best buying opportunities of my lifetime,” he said.
I’m wondering what kind of fairy dust will be required to run an economy that consists of nothing but teachers, police, civil servants and legislators.
Just to get on a little diatribe on why I hate dealing with realtors. I find a bank owned POS cape through a GSMLS search a couple of days ago. Looks OK, perfect lowball opportunity and is the style the wife and I have looked at in the past. So I email the realtor through his website asking for information about the house. Basically, the address, condition and how long the house was back in the bank’s possession. Sales being down I figured I would get a quick reply. 2 days go by nothing. This is what I find in my inbox this morning.
Dear XXXX,
Thank you for your interest in our current listings. Spring is here and it is a great time to buy. (Ugghh, I guess if canaries can’t change there tune why would a realtor) I am unable to email you the requested information but I would be happy to speak with you by phone (if I wanted to speak with you I would have called the number on your website). Call me at XXXXXXX and I will be happy to schedule an appointment at the requested listing and show you some other great listings in the area.
Sincerely,
XXXXX
All I wanted was basic information nothing more nothing less why is that so difficult for him to understand. I would rather not waste my time and his if the house is in an undesirable location (proximity to highway, school, Etc), or if I think the loan amount is so exorbitant the bank won’t consider an offer. You would think the guy would like to make a potential sale. With the exception of Clot and some of the other realtors who post on this site, I hope the ramen tastes good schmuck!
JB[53],
Easy. An economy marked to a model.
I’m not sure that Mother Jersey has enough central planners to work that black box.
#42, Grim,
I wonder how long it is going to take the decline in consumer spending to reach northern NJ. I have been to the short hills mall a number of times over the past few months and people are shopping. It is mobbed on the weekends and during the day it is filled with stroller pushing moms and the after school crowd with their kids. And people are not just window shopping as someone on the board once declared. They have their hands full of shopping bags. And they’re buying clothes, and pottery barn items and the restaurants in the mall have hour long wait lines at lunch time. So it hasn’t hit here yet.
On the other hand, interesting anecdote, was browsing the italian designer shoes at neiman marcus (not that I can afford it), the $500+ pair and most of the women buying were not speaking english. The salesman told me their customers are mostly russians from brooklyn, and south americans.
Jobless claims fall sharply, except in New Jersey.
Jobless claims post sharp decline
The number of newly laid off workers seeking unemployment benefits dropped much more than expected last week.
The Labor Department reported Thursday that applications for unemployment benefits fell to 365,000, a decline of 18,000 from the previous week. Economists had been looking for a much smaller decrease of around 5,000.
…
For the week ending April 26, 32 states and territories had a drop in initial claims while 21 had increases.
The biggest increase was in Massachusetts, a rise of 5,591 that was attributed to higher layoffs in transportation, services and public administration.
Other states with big increases were New York, up 4,648; Kentucky, up 3,776, and New Jersey, up 3,521.
Wage inflation is rampant in NJ, just ask the teachers, Cops and other civil service employees.
Private sector employees get paid based on market forces; supply and demand in a world flooded with cheap overseas labor. This labor pool is increasingly accessible as trade barriers fall and is growing increasingly sophisticated, competing for “better and better” jobs.
Market forces don’t play a role in NJ public sector pay. They get paid based on the strength of the union and the impotence of those on the other side of the negotiating table. They argue, and are mostly successful, to get paid based on the cost of living in NJ.
From the Department of Labor:
http://www.dol.gov/opa/media/press/eta/ui/current.htm
NJ
+3,521
Layoffs in the transportation, warehousing, and service industries.
Painhrtz [54],
I feel your pain (no pun intended..lol). The incessant sales pitch is nauseating. Find another way to go around the idiot.
“Frustrated owners try to unload their guzzlers”
“The SUV craze was a bubble and now it is bursting,” said George Hoffer, an economics professor at Virginia Commonwealth University whose research focuses on the automotive industry. “It’s an irrational vehicle. It’ll never come back.”
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2008/05/06/frustrated_owners_try_to_unload_their_guzzlers/
59….Market forces don’t play a role in NJ public sector pay
——————————————–
In times of economic expansion or booming job growth….the recruitment of lower paying paublic sector jobs is much more difficult.
All this talk about inflated wages. Don’t forget we pay overinflated taxes that go into the public servants overinflated benefits that go into the hedge fund managers overinflated compensation to generate outsized returns (that’s 1-2% more annually).
Someone please rationalize this. I can not.
Hehehe (10),
I wonder what kind of level 3 assets Northwest Air has.
In Vegas, recruiting teachers is a ruthless art
By Steve Friess | Special to The Christian Science Monitor
LAS VEGAS –
A secretary races into George Ann Rice’s office, apologizes for the interruption, and then blurts out: “My husband’s nephew heard that at least 80 teachers are losing their jobs in Iowa because of the budget cuts.”
Dr. Rice, the chief recruiter for Las Vegas schools, has just finished saying that she doesn’t like to capitalize on the misfortune of others when trying to staff the nation’s fastest-growing school system. Her eyes light up, she asks if this information has been passed on to the recruiter in charge of advertising, and then realizes the irony of the moment. “That’s not vicious,” she insists. “They’re losing their jobs anyway.”
OK, maybe it’s not vicious. Opportunistic might be a better word. But when you’re responsible for hiring as many as 1,900 teachers a year at a time when the nation is facing a shortage of instructors, opportunism can be a virtue.
Rice’s challenge is staggering. The district projects 400,000 pupils by 2009 – up from some 172,000 in 1995 – and plans to open dozens of new schools. By necessity, then, recruiters in Clark County, Nev., have become known as perhaps the most aggressive in the nation. They’re going after retirees, stay-at-home moms, cops, social workers – anyone and everyone from Majorca to the military.
As an Arizona legislator once told Rice: “We say in Arizona, ‘You hear that sucking sound? That’s our water and our teachers going to Nevada.’ ”
Some parents and national teaching advocates worry that the desperate need for instructors results in unleashing less-qualified people on students. But Rice insists she passes over hundreds of applicants who don’t meet her standards. “It’s much easier to not hire them than to realize you’ve made a mistake and try to fire them later,” she says.
The Las Vegas area has been the nation’s fastest-growing region for more than a decade. It now boasts 1.5 million people, luring new residents with plentiful jobs, cheap housing, and no state income tax.
The region has been fortunate to have a voting public willing to approve more than $4 billion in bonds for school construction since the early 1990s. As a result, 16 new schools opened last fall, nine will open this year, and 17 more are planned for 2003. More than 60 are planned through 2010.
But the local universities crank out only 600 teachers a year, forcing Rice and her team to raid other regions where economies are tight, school buildings are old and decrepit, job promotions are slow, or the city’s just not as much fun.
Anybody and everybody can be a job candidate. A stay-at-home mom whose children are school-age is liable to get a call informing her of a teacher-certification program that includes classes during the hours her kids are in school. A military service member near retirement might notice ads in armed-services publications. An accountant looking for a career change can be in the classroom within months, and have most of his expedited training paid for by the district.
Even vacationers at McCarran International Airport are beckoned with billboards like this one: “More career opportunities. More new schools. More all-you-can-eat buffets. Is this a great place to teach or what?”
These varied and far-reaching efforts have earned Clark County a national reputation, says Mildred Hudson of Recruiting New Teachers Inc., a nonprofit think tank in Belmont, Mass. “If you look across the nation, you can see that St. Louis also recruits teachers from overseas and Savannah also has grow-your-own programs,” she says. “But Clark County is cutting edge because it’s trying to solve this problem … with an unusually wide range of strategies.”
Indeed, Clark County’s prowess is legendary, says Stephanie Zuckerman-Aviles, career-development center director at Buffalo State College in New York. One example: After visits to regions like hers, recruiters play up the weather issue by e-mailing candidates to say it was hot and sunny when they returned to Nevada.
“Other recruiters used to sit there very passively at job fairs while people passed by their tables, but the Clark County group would arrive en masse, advertise before they came, make some noise,” says Ms. Zuckerman-Aviles.”
Job fairs remain an integral part of the push, but they’re fast becoming old-fashioned in an era when 95 percent of the district’s applications are accepted via the Internet. Rice believes Clark County is the first district in the nation to have a full-time “director of e-recruiting,” Greg Halloposs, who has devised a computerized system for tracking prospective teaching candidates by color-coding.
“Green is the color of people who have asked for but never even opened the application,” Rice says. “I can send an e-mail and say: ‘You haven’t opened your application yet! We’re eager to help you!’ ”
If it sounds a bit like stalking, it is nonetheless necessary. To not keep after candidates is to risk losing out to other newly aggressive school districts in the West, including those in Arizona, southern California, and Colorado.
That might explain how Shannon Lahiff of Cleveland raced through the process. The recent graduate spent three months being rejected or ignored by dozens of Ohio school districts with few openings before phoning Clark County on May 10. By that afternoon, Ms. Lahiff had faxed her transcript and had a date on May 15 for a phone interview. Hours after that interview, she had a job offer. “I was very impressed,” she says.
Clark County does have one significant competitive disadvantage: salaries. At $26,847 for a teacher fresh out of school, it is below the national average of $27,989 for the 1999-2000 year, the most recent data available. San Diego Unified School District, a major competitor, offers $33,903. To sweeten the deal, however, the Nevada Legislature provided for a one-time $2,000 signing bonus for out-of-state teachers. Rice’s crew also reminds candidates that Nevada has a low cost of living.
Still, even with the myriad of programs, the district is likely to start the school year at least 100 teachers short in high-need areas such as special education and math.
That means Rice and her staff can never slow down. On a recent flight from New York to Las Vegas, Rice and another associate superintendent found themselves sitting on either side of a young couple. Recalls Rice: “Halfway through the flight, the other associate superintendent leans over to me and whispers, ‘She’s a social worker! I’ve got her!’ And I whispered back, ‘That’s good, because he’s a police officer, and I got him.’ “
Poser,
I think the Short Hills mall is not a good mall to use when judging recession and shopping trends. Although the Short Hills mall in the past few years has seen a good uptick in shoppers, it will never truely lose its base set of upper class shoppers. This group will not be as impacted.
This is will be / is a middle class recession fueled by bad lending, greed and jealousy. Look to other malls that are flooded by the middle class crowd who purchased 1/2 to 3/4 million dollar homes and shopped at Louis Vuitton and Prada on 75K a year.
Check this link out – If you really drill down, zillow has some pretty interesting data. Very hard to find though.
http://www.zillow.com/static/xls/2008Q1_New_York_Northern_New_Jersey_Long_Island_NY_NJ_PA_MSA.xls
On the other hand, interesting anecdote, was browsing the italian designer shoes at neiman marcus (not that I can afford it), the $500+ pair and most of the women buying were not speaking english. The salesman told me their customers are mostly russians from brooklyn, and south americans.
Welcome to the New World.
You weren’t looking at women buying shoes, you were looking at your competition.
So, looking at the product “designer shoes,” can we make an assumption regarding the decoupling of these economies?
Ready to Buy,
Thx, that’s really good info. Look at the popularity tab, 9 out of 10 were NJ towns. That either means more people are looking at NJ, or people looking to NJ tend to use zillow more.
#69,Grim,
Exactly. If I get what you’re saying, my point was, it’s not the local Americans who are buying this product, or who can afford it. Obviously there are a few Americans who can and always will afford such items. Incidentally the brooklynites come to avoid paying NY sales tax.
Once again the oh so noble and on our side democrats want to set free those struggling on the backs of those who did things the right way.
# 41 We have not had two consecutive quarters of negative growth. True enough, but the economy is in a fall
A big difference between today and recessions of the past is the availability of credit cards and lack of aversion to running up a big tab. Everyone has a stack of credit cards these days. Does gas really cost $4 per gallon when you charge it and make the same $50 per month payment you always make? In the near term, one can blunt the impact of a downturn with credit cards. Credit card companies have noted an increase in the use of CC’s to buy gas and food. This strategy, however, only works for so long and only delays the inevitable.
Why do they need schools in Vegas anyhow. Do they really need 12 years for girls to learn to work the stripper pole and to teach guys to deal blackjack?
#67 TJ,
That’s what I’ve been wondering all these years. I could never understand how my colleagues and folks I knew who made less than I did, were affording the additions on the house, the 2 new cars, vacations at least twice a year, dinner out every weekend, etc. I thought I was doing something wrong.
Unfortunately, it’ll never be fashionable to wear your brokerage statement on your chest.
“the $500+ pair and most of the women buying were not speaking english.”
$500, USD. There’s your answer.
What’s the cost in SF, DM, BP, CD or Real?
From November through April, women gained nearly 300,000 jobs, while men lost nearly 700,000.
BC,
Less VAT, nobody declares.
From MarketWatch:
Fitch cuts CIT’s default rating to ‘A-‘; outlook negative
Pain,
Post some more info and you may be able to get your answers here.
“I wonder what kind of level 3 assets Northwest Air has.”
Probably some type of lease on their planes or equipment.
Syb, I have in the past I don’t want to take advantage of this great resource unless I’m really excited about the house. Besides I like poking the hungry tigers, some of them have been very forthright. Toothless as they may be.
400000 new students in Vegas by 2009, what are they going to drink? If the drought continues in the southwest they are going to be hot and thirsty. Doesn’t exactly bode well for a learning environment.
Essex Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 9:32 am
Believe It: Condo Sales Slow
By MICHAEL STOLER, Special to the NYSun | May 8, 2008
SX: someone correct me if I am wrong……the profile of the market in this article sounds like A NORMAL MARKET. You have a normal market and the sales force is bellyaching that people are performing due diligence and placing serious thought INTO A MAJOR PURCHASE!
NY Sun is a f—ing pandering s—rag owned by a 25 year old NYU trusta-farian….
#67 TJ: True to a point. But lots of upper middle class and beyond were playing the same game.
And with significant Wall St layoffs (big money positions), this may have started as a middle class recession, but will move up the food chain.
Just as there were people making 75k a year spending like they made 200k a year.
There were 200k a year people spending like they made 500k a year, and so on and so on.
Hat tip to Ben Jones for the link..
CITY OF LOCKPORT: Debtors tagged for problems at vacant houses
Lockport City Court is laying down the law on responsible home ownership.
Judge Thomas M. DiMillo sentenced a former homeowner to fines and community service Tuesday for his part in the deterioration of an Elmwood Avenue property that he lost to foreclosure. DiMillo also warned the former occupant of another vacated home that she, too, faces consequences for walking away from title-holder’s responsibility.
David Stewart, formerly of 31 Elmwood Ave., was ordered to pay a $1,000 fine and perform 60 hours of community service within 60 days to avoid jail time on his guilty plea to four building code violations.
…
“Word has to get out that you can’t just abandon property,” Brooks said. “You have to do something to get out from under it, not just stick your head in the sand.”
DiMillo, while expressing some sympathy for Stewart’s hardship, agreed.
“At some point three years ago you had an obligation … that you couldn’t afford to do anything about, so you abandoned it,” he said. “(That’s) a crime in itself.”
…
Also Tuesday, Judith Northcliffe, owner of 162 Monroe St., reported to the court that she has no means to make needed roof and drainage repairs at her vacated house. Brooks said he will look into initiating city seizure of the property under state abandoned housing law.
Northcliffe, a senior citizen, asked the court’s help to get out from beneath the burden of owning a house she bought sight unseen 14 years ago and has regretted ever since.
The Recession That Never Was is Now Over
http://www.briefing.com/GeneralContent/Investor/Active/ArticlePopup/ArticlePopup.aspx?SiteName=Investor&ArticleId=NS20080501093140TheBigPicture
grim (53)-
Don’t forget waiters and retail clerks…
What does this mean?
Special to the NYSun
If it is anything like the “Specials” that run in the Record, it means it was written by advertisers or media firms and given preferential treatment to run along side articles written by staff.
Wow John you’re in rare form today.
#59 rent:They argue, and are mostly successful, to get paid based on the cost of living in NJ.
Sometimes it is not so much the pay that galls me, but the arrogance.
It is never enough,and they are constantly screaming for more.
For once I would love to hear just one acknowledge that they have a sweet deal.
grim:
#1 make 9PM?
#2 check this out….read my mind….
GSB Real Estate Career Management Seminar
Tuesday, May 27, 2008
4:00-7:00pm
Please join us for a lively discussion led by speaker Michael Herzberg,
Co-Chairman and Co-Chief Executive Officer of FPL Advisory Group.
Location
Citibank, 153 E. 53rd St
Agenda and Event Details
Throughout this seminar you’ll have the opportunity to hear a leading industry expert share career trends and success drivers, particularly with the increasingly global demands of institutional real estate investment management firms.
Council Adopts New Affordable Housing Rules
TRENTON – The Council on Affordable Housing (COAH) May 6 adopted its revised third round rules and methodology at its monthly COAH Board meeting.
Additionally, as a result of the over 4,800 public comments received regarding the new rules, the Board also voted on a series of amendments. The new rules, which go into effect on June 2, 2008, continue to use a growth share approach which bases municipal affordable housing obligations on market-rate residential and non-residential growth.
The complete list of amendments will be published in the June 16 NJ Register and will be open for a 60-day public comment period, which will end on August 15.
COAH unveiled the revised rules in December of 2007. During a 60 day public comment period, which ended on March 22, 2008, over 4,800 comments from 600 individuals and groups were submitted to COAH. COAH staff reviewed, analyzed and responded to all of the submitted comments.
the deadline for municipalities to submit affordable housing plans to COAH has been amended to December 31, 2008; municipalities that approved affordable housing projects between 2004 and 2008 will receive a one-for-one bonus for each affordable housing unit approved; municipalities that include affordable housing units in smart growth areas near transit or those that include affordable housing units in redevelopment areas will receive a one-third bonus for every affordable unit approved; the number of jobs generated by warehouse construction will be reduced from 1.5 to 1 job per 1,000 square feet; COAH’s vacant land analysis will be revised to incorporate new DEP spatial data.
cf,
Just barely, I was the last seat.
grim Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 11:02 am
cf,Just barely, I was the last seat.
grim: did you throw up on someone to get it as was suggested?
grim (77)-
“Unfortunately, it’ll never be fashionable to wear your brokerage statement on your chest.”
If one assumes that NJ in 10 years will look like Colombia in 1988 (that’s my working thesis, BTW), letting anyone know that you have wealth will make you a target for kidnap.
Pain (84)-
“400000 new students in Vegas by 2009, what are they going to drink?”
Grey Goose and beer?
#78, BC Bob,
you are so right. I forgot to mention that. The salesman also said the euro was killing them. I know these same shoes were about $400 a year ago. Now they’re $600 to $800.
Only reason I know so much about this, is because I keep telling myself I’m going to treat myself to a pair of these unnecessary luxuries once in my life. But everytime I go to the store to do it, I just can’t shell out the dough. Instead I choose to leave it in my money market earning a meager 2% interest, while inflation erodes my dollars. Hmmmm, when I put it that way, maybe I will get those shoes . . . they might be worth more than the interest I’ll earn a year from now.
How low will prices go?
hehehehehe
BOOOOOOOOOOYAAAAAAAAAAAA
Bob
“the $500+ pair and most of the women buying were not speaking english.”
$500, USD. There’s your answer.
What’s the cost in SF, DM, BP, CD or Real?
Good Point.
Why is it that the founder of Jet Blue is starting a Airline Company in Brazil? With oil at $123?
Standard of Living in the US is collapsing and that means that other nations standard of living is rising.
Only reason I know so much about this, is because I keep telling myself I’m going to treat myself to a pair of these unnecessary luxuries once in my life.
Needless Markup Last Call in Jersey Gardens, Woodbury Commons, Gucci outlet in Secaucus, etc. Go ahead and splurge, just don’t pay sticker.
#88 Sean: I think it is a little early for this gentlemen to be calling the recession that was not over.
He mentions consumer spending yet does not mention what the consumer is spending on. Covering food and groceries with CC’s to me is not a sign of strength.
He mentions the growth in GDP, yet does not mention that the increase was due to an increase in inventories. An increase in inventories to me is not a sign of strength.
He talks about the boom in exports, yet fails to mention that it continues to become a smaller and smaller part of our overall economy, since we import far more than we export.
He acknowledges that mtgs have become harder to get for many, and yet at the same time says the credit crunch that hit Wall St has not hit Main St. Not being able to get a mtg qualifies as hitting Main street.
has anyone seen this. Only in New York.
If you’re falling behind the City will pay three months mortgage.
One year moratorium on all subprime forclosures.
It’s not a bail out but an assistance program. I guess I’ll be trying to get assistance to pay 3 moths of mortgages on all my investment properties and use the money I save to buy more Gold.
This nation is getting to borderline pathetic.
http://www.thetruthaboutmortgage.com/ny-assembly-passes-one-year-foreclosure-moratorium-bill/
Analysts, please digest..
Hovnanian to sell 14 mln shrs, stock falls
U.S. home builder Hovnanian Enterprises Inc said on Wednesday it is selling 14 million shares in the open market, sending its stock down 5.7 percent in after-hours activity.
After the close of regular trading, Hovnanian said it started the follow-on offering and would use the proceeds for general corporate purposes.
The company also said it would grant the underwriters an overallotment option for an additional 2.1 million shares.
25% dilution?
Poor Ara, at least he has the oil to fall back on.
JB,
Not an Anal-yst. Yes, they are diluting shareholder value.
#9 – single income households?
Yes, it can be done.
The income doesn’t go towards the house but you’re 20-35 & the only one living there who works because mom & dad are retired.
What I want to know are the turkeys buying these shares?
HOV is Dead and just buying some time.
What I want to know is WHO are the turkeys buying these shares?
Sorry.
See D!ck go to the FHA housing blog contest.
See D!ck vote for some whack blog like the Title Insurance Blog.
See D!ck cost grim some money.
See D!ck cry when he realizes he could have voted for njrereport.com
Don’t be a D!ck.
VOTE GRIM!
http://www.fhamortgagecenter.com/contest/view.php?id=73
What I want to know are the turkeys buying these shares?
Why bi of course.
You’ll see, there is plenty pant demand for this stock.
http://www.baltimoresun.com/business/investing/bal-bz.economy08may08,0,7827903.story
What does one do when they’re intending to go Bankrupt?
When they know that they can’t pay back the current debt they have.
They do what our governament is doing borrow a lot more and at a faster pace. As long as they can find stupid lenders who are willing to lend them money. Hey what’s another 50K in debt when you already owe more than a million and your assets(House) are worth less than it’s mortgage.
Gas and Food are expensive, Who cares? I’ll just charge it and never pay these suckers back. It’s money coming from Arab world and Russia and Asia and India. Screw them.
Say good buy to America’s phoney economy and military might.
This movie is gonna end really bad.
njp,
I take pride in the fact that this site is in both first and ninth place.
or, perhaps my head is so big, it requires two places in the top 10.
Housing Market Crash Predicted By Ron Paul And Alan Greenspan
“Greenspan also broke new ground in the introduction to his thesis, where he noted that homeowners were refinancing for larger amounts than their original mortgage, in essence monetizing increases in their home’s market value and spending the excess cash on goods and services or putting it into savings.” This was long before double-digit rises is home values, subprime mortgages, no-doc loans, Home Equity Lines of Credit (HELOCs), and inflatable-value McMansion-burbs, but is a perfect representation of what happened during the real estate boom of the late 1990’s and early 2000’s
Ron Paul, as well, understood the consequences of the housing bubble. In a speech made into the Congressional Record on September 6, 2001, he stated, “Refinancing especially helped the consumers to continue spending even in a slowing economy.” The same monetization of rising property values that Greenspan was concerned about became Greenspan’s policy when looking for a new bubble.
Greenspan, for one. A “break in prices of existing homes would pull down the prices of new homes to the level of construction costs or below, inducing a sharp contraction in building,”
September of 2007, Paul said, “The housing boom was caused by the Federal Reserve’s policy resulting in artificially low interest rates. Consumers, misled by low interest rates, were looking to consume, while homebuilders saw the low interest rates as a signal to build, and build they did.” The larger the bubble, the more malinvestment would occur, and the more severe the correction would have to be.
For once I would love to hear just one acknowledge that they have a sweet deal.
Amazingly, many of my cop and teacher friends have bought into their own line of B.S. When Snooty River cops get a pay raise, the cops in surrounding towns feel like they are getting a raw deal. “Well, Snooty River cops make $120k per year and here in Sleepy Hollows, we only get $110k…and we have 10% more speeders to deal with…we are being oppressed”.
I’ve talked to teachers who think getting to retire early is completely warranted because dealing with kids all day is hard work.
Why isn’t there a Taxpayers Union?
Maybe we could hire Katz and work a deal at the table.
There is a taxpayer’s union. It’s the head of our govt. Just like a union they spend some money on the contributors and the rest they squander away.
Housing crash claims a whole city as Vallejo, CA declares bankruptcy
I wonder what will happen to all NJ towns if property prices come down 30% or so. In fact in outer burbs the property taxes are almost becoming same amount as mortgage.
[112] Patient,
Someone took down the Tampa blog. Grim now stands alone. All others a very distant second.
# 74 Bingo
# 83 Most of the airlines “own” (aka mortgage) only a small portion of their fleets. Most planes in the commercial fleet are leased by GE and other such companies.
“I wonder what will happen to all NJ towns if property prices come down 30% or so.’
SG,
Their only chance of survival is to declare bankruptcy. Small towns can no longer afford to pay 3 times for 1 position, 1 active and 2 retirees.
Likewise, our federal govt may declare, in the future, bankruptcy. The dollar will be laid to rest and there will be a new currency. The Amero; US, Canada and Mexico. It will be the Amero vs the Euro.
Ridgewood
SLD 110 PINE ST $430,000 4/27/2004
ACT 110 PINE ST $474,900 12/8/2007
PCH 110 PINE ST $463,500 2/1/2008
PCH 110 PINE ST $447,900 4/4/2008
ACT* 110 PINE ST $447,900 4/16/2008
U/C 110 PINE ST $447,900 4/28/2008
SLD 110 PINE ST $425,000 5/8/2008
Small update on the house I described before. The front door pic prominently displayed the house number. So thanks to all of the tax links grim has posted and a little snooping with the info from the listing I found out the following nuggets.
Loan was 2003 vintage,
330000 large owned by Fannie Mae,
home debtor foreclosed early this year.
Why do we need realtors again?
Economist article,
American housing: Map of misery
The house-price bust has a long way to go
SOUNDING more like a cartographer than a central banker, Ben Bernanke this week showed off the Federal Reserve’s latest gizmo for tracking America’s property bust: maps that colour-code price declines, foreclosures and other gauges of housing distress for every county.
Hardest hit have been the “bubble states”—California, Nevada and Florida, and parts of the industrial Midwest. The biggest uncertainty hanging over the economy is how red will things get.
By most measures, prices are still above the levels implied by the fundamentals. Using a model that ties house prices to disposable incomes and long-term interest rates, analysts at Goldman Sachs reckon that the correction in national house prices is only halfway through. They expect an 18-20% correction overall, or another 11-13% decline from now. But their models suggest that six states—Arizona, Florida, Virginia, Maryland, California and New Jersey, could see further price declines of 25% or more.
Given the typical pace of rental growth, Mr Feroli reckons house prices (as measured by the Case-Shiller index) need to fall by 10-15% over the next year and a half for the rent/price yield to return to its historical average. Again, that suggests the national housing bust is only halfway through. And, given the scale of excess supply, house prices are likely to overshoot. All told, the pressure on policymakers to help struggling homeowners is bound to increase.
This is first time I read New Jersey mentioned among other top 5 states.
Tampa blog is at 18.
I’m guessing they lost votes due to ballot stuffing.
RentinginNJ Says:
I’ve talked to teachers who think getting to retire early is completely warranted because dealing with kids all day is hard work.
Believe me, I’d rather work 80 hours a week at my office job than 20 hours watching 28 or so children. It’s not the picnic that everyone thinks it is…parents are a real P.I.A. with their “special” sons and daughters.
Also, here’s how NJ teacher pensions are calculated. Take number of years service and divide by 55. Then multiply that figure times your ending salary. If you work 30 years at the same job and make $75,000, you will get $40,909/yr. If you work 20 years, you will get $27,272/yr….not exactly the lottery that everyone makes it out to be.
Tenure also sucks too. As soon as you leave one school district and go to another, you start over again. Non-tenured teachers can get bumped at any time. My wife is stuck to the town where she works because she doesn’t want to lose tenure, even if the pay in that district is lower than most.
RE: Taxpayer’s Union. My 0.02 on why it will never happen.
It won’t work here for a number of reasons. In Mass., which had a tax revolt, most homeowners were white, middle class, fiscal conservatives (notwithstanding Mass’ liberal bent, that is largely limited to social issues). That level of econ-demographic homogenity doesn’t exist in NJ. In addition, there was not a large uber-wealthy class of WS types there that the public could wring out, and that wealth was highly mobile, meaning that any millionaire’s taxes would cause deadweight loss rather than actual revenues. In addition, at that time, this same middle class group was becoming upwardly mobile so there was no real incentive to start a class war.
Another reason it worked there was that fewer Bay Staters sucked at the public teat, so there was a general, widespread antipathy toward taxes and gov spending that does not exist in NJ. Here, too many of the electorate rely on gov, directly or indirectly, for salaries, welfare, or other perks.
Finally, the wane of the traditional power bases centered in Boston, meant that there was no counterweight to the angry suburbanites, many of whom came from that waning power base in the city, moved from gov-centered employment to private-centered employment, and were getting gored by taxes in the suburbs.
When the tax revolt hit, it wasn’t a rollback but a cap on future growth, so the munis were handcuffed somewhat–if they started to cut programs immediately, it would look really dirty to the taxpayers. Another smart measure was to include renters by giving a deduction for rent on personal income tax forms. That won over a fair swath of city voters.
Finally, Mass has a clear statutory method for getting ballot initiatives on the ballot, and a reasonably independent judiciary, unlike NJ where the process is more difficult and the Supremes can be counted on to kill initiatives that the gov doesn’t approve of.
Those differences are why the tax revolt worked in Mass. but won’t work here.
7 grim
“Senate Minority Leader [AND BRIGADOON RESIDENT] Tom Kean Jr.”
“Tampa blog is at 18. I’m guessing they lost votes due to ballot stuffing.”
Rich [127],
Tampa? No street smarts. We’re from NJ, we know how to contend with that small obstacle.
I am ticked off. I called the Fed and told them that I had invested heavily in eight-tracks, but the market has tanked. I asked about being bailed out, but they said that we live in a market economy and people need to make good investment decisions. Treasury said the same.
So, I called the Fed back and told them about the declining value of my Beta-max. Same story at both the Fed and Treasury.
So, I called about my Atari, Commodore, and Sinclaire computer systems. Clearly with the importance of computers consumers should not be expected to suffer with assets that have declined in value. No dice they said, market economy and all that.
I guess the government really isnt in the business of bailing out people who make bad decisions after all.
# 131 “We’re from NJ, we know how to contend with that small obstacle.”
By the way, was it one kneecap or two? I always found that it is good to leave one, in case another message needs to be sent.
Well, it looks like Obama will be the nominee. We know what that means; it is time to start assessing the McCain cabinet appointments and his likely policies.
The dollar will be laid to rest and there will be a new currency. The Amero; US, Canada and Mexico. It will be the Amero vs the Euro.
No way, The canadians and the mexians are not stupid!!!!!!!!!
128……..Bingo! Most people who work in good private sector jobs will outearn teachers while they work and then once they retire…..it is not difficult. But then again, I cannot expect an electorate who voted twice to elect George Bush to understand this. So people will continue to complain about this ‘issue’….
14 lost
“Patient- previous thread
Sprechen Sie Deutsch?”
Ja, ein bisschen. Ich hab’ nicht seid ’88 Deutsch studieren, aber.
http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/08/africa/ME-FIN-Iran-Oil.php
IRAN says $200 oil in the near future and provide an explanation.
“No way, The canadians and the mexians are not stupid!!!!!!!!!”
make,
Funny, the same thought crossed my mind as soon as I hit submit.
Actually it is not the parents it the teachers. Teachers would not last a moment in the real world. I will use this weeks chapter of golden teacher moments. Monday of this week Teacher tells class to bring in six empty bottles/cans with a deposit return by tommorrow. I am not a big soda nut so my wife runs out buys a six pack of soda so we have something to give in on Friday. You would think the teacher would have gave more notice as lots of people shop on weekends. Then yesterday she tells the students that one of the parents needs to volunteer to come in on Friday pick up the cans take them to the supermarket return them and bring the cash back to class. Nice project, parents do all the work and what the heck does it teach. Everytime I have a party at my house I return cans the next day and one of my kids is usually with me. That and this week the school got a new phone blast system for “emergency response and snow days” well the school budget is this week, they have a fund raiser and PTA stuff so two or three times a night my phone is ringing with automated messages from the school to vote for this, give in money or go to a PTA meeting. The inmates are running the nut house at most NY/NJ surburban schools.
Are they underpaid? Not really.
“How to be an American citizen”
http://www.kahunaburger.com/2008/03/23/a-long-strange-trip-by-tom-hyland/
Do not read the above post if you do not want to know the Truth about the preset state of affairs.
If you read it, and feel compelled to act, it is at your own peril.
John….thanks for your riveting story. I am now convinced that you know ‘everything’.
Re early teacher retierment:
Is anyone aware of any reliable data that shows the percentage of eligible teachers or other governmental employees who actually retire early?
Here are my unscientific observations. I know alot of teachers and most of them do not retire until their early sixties because they cannot afford it or do not have 25 years in service because they took time off to raise children. On the other hand, there is no mandatory retirement age for teachers and I have known some who don’t retire until they have one foot in the grave. Also, most of the municpal employees I know, except for cops, do not retire early.
I am not for or against this benefit because I do not have enough information. Complaining about or defending it is a waste of time without data.
http://www.ownapieceofamerica.com/
Now this is weird a website that gives out free land.
I don’t think you can collect teacher’s retirement until you hit 60. My wife and I were discussing it and I didn’t totally pay attention because that’s a long way off. I think if you try to collect before that, there are a lot of penalties
[108] BC BOB says: “Not an Anal-yst. Yes, they are diluting shareholder value.”
It’s hard to dilute shareholder value when it is already down 86%.
Re 145
NJ Public School teachers can get full retirement benefits if they are at least 55 and have 25 years of service.
Re 142 – Teachers are not paid that much given educational requirements. But they are sill overpaid. For instance when my sister got her job their were 3,000 applicants for he one position. If you can get 3,000 applicants for a single position you should lower the salary. That is what you would do if it was your own business. That said I would never want to be a teacher. Six hours with screaming kids and no adult company and all the little gossiping bitties I would shoot myself.
You’re all heart John
27 clot
“Ironically, John Henry has ended up experiencing more success in baseball than in running his investments.”
But can only take personal credit for the latter.
“It’s hard to dilute shareholder value when it is already down 86%.’
Stu,
LOL. Recent buyers only.
can anyone provide a little history on MLS#: 2515952
Thanks!
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805060342
This is probably the worst case of Flipper fever. I love the fact the her CPA moved in her Two million dollar flip and enjoys the benefits.
Enjoy this story. Its a classic.
Also, here’s how NJ teacher pensions are calculated. Take number of years service and divide by 55. Then multiply that figure times your ending salary. If you work 30 years at the same job and make $75,000, you will get $40,909/yr. If you work 20 years, you will get $27,272/yr….not exactly the lottery that everyone makes it out to be.
Most teachers get summer off. they also get overtime pay, and special bonuses. They also get almost free health insurance afetr retirement.
My FIL right now pays 1600$/month for health insurance. Put a prive on that.
teachers benefits are wayy to generous. I’d say – take away health insurance after retirement., cut pensions by 25% as they only work 9 month.
reality – my wife tired to get into teaching in OK Nj town. No way. The only open positions available are in Camden and Newark, and other places liek that. Salary is actually higher in Newark, but no wite female will make it there.
Al…I can tell by the spelling in your post you are an educated man.
50/51 essex
Thanks
Also, here’s how NJ teacher pensions are calculated. Take number of years service and divide by 55. Then multiply that figure times your ending salary. If you work 30 years at the same job and make $75,000, you will get $40,909/yr. If you work 20 years, you will get $27,272/yr….not exactly the lottery that everyone makes it out to be.
Not too shabby for 20 years of work. Most places would give you nothing for 20 years of work and leaving at 55.
Also teachers & cops often load up on overtime/extra activities in their final years to boost their ending salary.
Tenure also sucks too. As soon as you leave one school district and go to another, you start over again.
Boo Hoo. Who in the real world gets tenure at all? In the real world, you can get the boot at any time. Most teachers never leave the district after getting tenure anyway.
“NY Sun is a f—ing pandering s—rag owned by a 25 year old NYU trusta-farian….”
Chifi: You’re thinking of the Observer, owned by Jared Kushner, which I think is a pretty good paper. I’m not sure who owns the Sun.
I’m not really good with economics here but maybe some of you might now this, what happens if a government worker retires with pension next year and the year after the city claims bankruptcy, are pensions protected?
No link;
– Home equity loans have a seven percent delinquency;
– Subprime mortgages, past due over 60 days, are pushing 14 percent;
– Over one million homes are in foreclosure and three million more are empty, and up for sale;
– Ten million homes have mortgage balances greater than their value. (No wonder some homeowners are walking away from them);
– In the auto market, 25 percent of all car loans are higher than the car is worth. (The average balance these cars are underwater for is $4,300!)
Jobs are also falling off a cliff. If it hadn’t been for the Birth Death computer model at the BLS creating service jobs out of thin air, the payroll data would have shown over 280,000 people actually lost their jobs in April. Currently, 2.7 million workers have exhausted their unemployment benefits, and with no job prospects or income.
Vito Fossella’s wife definitely not happy:
Fossella Admits to Extramarital Affair
By Jonathan P. Hicks
Representative Vito J. Fossella answered questions on May 2 about his arrest for driving while intoxicated. (Photo: Craig Ruttle/Associated Press)Updated, 12:43 p.m. | Representative Vito J. Fossella, a Staten Island Republican who was arrested on May 1 in Alexandria, Va., and charged with drunken driving, issued a statement on Thursday acknowledging that he had had an extramarital affair with Laura Fay, a former Air Force lieutenant colonel, and that the two of them have a 3-year-old daughter together.
http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/05/08/fossella-admits-to-extramarital-affair/index.html?hp
You’d be floored by how much teachers make over in PA. 25+ years on the job gets you like $100,000. That includes areas in the middle of the state where cost of living is much lower. Getting one of those jobs is impossible though. People don’t leave the positions until they’re carried out in a box. Main difference between PA and NJ retirement is that NJ pays healthcare for life…that is a big deal. Average salary over there is around $25,000 higher though
Al Says:
my wife tried to get into teaching in OK Nj town. No way.
My wife had to start out in Elizabeth City, NC….(ButtF*** Egypt) she still gets nightmares about going back to that place.
Getting a teaching job is all politics….who you know is everything
157….’real world’ I love that expression….no what I think the poster was saying is that tenure is not all that it is cracked up to be…you get some job security in one place perhaps, but it limits mobility unlike other professions….
53 grim
As long as we don’t need any food, clothing or shelter, we’ll be just fine!!
4. One Goal: Prevent Price Discovery
Today we see where India’s government suspended futures trade in basic foods such as lentils, soy and potatoes for four months, hoping to “stop price rises driven by speculators.”
Stopping price rises driven by speculators? That’s one way to put it. Another way to put it is they are preventing price discovery. Why? Simple, because they don’t like the prices that are being discovered.
The irony is that this prevention of price discovery is precisely what the Federal Reserve is doing by swapping out Treasuries for all manner of lesser-quality assets. They are basically preventing price discovery. Why? Because, like India’s government, the Federal Reserve, banks, home sellers, mortgage lenders, derivatives dealers, almost everyone, doesn’t like the prices that are being discovered.
The short rebuttal to this is that the Fed isn’t preventing price discovery, it’s simply providing liquidity because there is no price discovery currently taking place because there are otherwise no bidders. But you know what, as anyone who has ever tried to sell a ticket to a baseball game discovers after the first pitch has been thrown, a lack of bids is price discovery.
http://www.minyanville.com/articles/cost-wmt-retail-rebate-tgt-wms/index/a/17081
58 grim
“Other states with big increases were New York, up 4,648; Kentucky, up 3,776, and New Jersey, up 3,521.”
That CAN’T be true!! Employment in and near New York is better than everywhere else. C’mon, admit it – those lost jobs are all in Troy and Buffalo and Glens Falls and Plattsburgh!
“Boo Hoo. Who in the real world gets tenure at all?”
The guy who does the best job of sucking up to the boss, that’s who.
Essex Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 1:24 pm
Al…I can tell by the spelling in your post you are an educated man.
Very.
I am also very smart, pretty and rich.. Can’t you tell??
Why do you like to pick at people’s typing – Does it make you feel better?
I love MYSELF. I can’t help it, I just do.
I Type blind and do not check what I typed in. I probably should. Sorry if I offended you, GREAT ESSEX, defender of spelling..
Also – does anybody else have the same problem: When I type fast, keys I type with my left hand come in just a bit later than the ones I type with the right one. Sometimes in make up for very interesting typo’s.
And Finally for essex: I am not american, was not born in this country, and did not grew up here. My english will never be as good as of native speaker.
However my wife is 4th generation American, highly educated. So I really do not understand you post. I did not apply for a teaching job and y spelling is irrelavant here.
Essex Says:
you get some job security in one place perhaps, but it limits mobility unlike other professions….
We’re stuck keeping within commuting distance of that town for the rest of our working lives. Getting another similar teaching job would be very difficult in another district…pay isn’t worth it if you ask me. If you banked the extra money you’d be making over 30 years in private industry, you’d have a nice chunk of change.
poor vito, i guess the wife is a little pissed.
NJP (152),
Sorry, can’t help. It’s probably listed on GSMLS.
Unless you’re interested in the rental history of a co-op in Fair Lawn?
90 grim
I think that is what it means.
97 clot
“NJ in 10 years will look like Colombia in 1988 (that’s my working thesis, BTW),”
That’s just self-evidently absurd. Our drugs will NEVER be that fresh.
168….Al, you aren’t posting from Hyderabad by any chance?
Essex Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 1:55 pm
168….Al, you aren’t posting from Hyderabad by any chance?
How did you know??
This
http://www.panoramio.com/photos/original/775647.jpg
Is my house which I bought with my Fat American salary and now I am making money off it by using it as a museum.
Unfortunately, I also own a house in NJ and profits from Museum just cover taxes so I still have to work :(
#169 If you banked the extra money you’d be making over 30 years in private industry, you’d have a nice chunk of change.
That is assuming you last that long in private industry today.
Water tax vote delayed, not enough hands in the pot.
From the Star Ledger:
Lawmakers postpone voting on water tax
A legislative committee today postponed action on a bill that would ask voters this fall to dedicate a new water tax to annual purchases of new parks and farmland.
The Senate Environment Committee delayed action until May 19 to consider whether the ballot question also should earmark funds for historical preservation projects. Sen. Robert Smith (D-Middlesex), committee chairman and the sponsor of the ballot question, said there is “no question historical preservation is very important.”
But while it was included in the existing open space acquisition program, he said he wasn’t sure he could justify spending water tax proceeds on historical property purchases.
138 make
He attributed the rise in oil so far partly to difficulties in production in Nigeria and said it was also the result of the dollar’s weakening against other currencies.
“In fact oil has not been expensive, the dollar has been weak,” he said.
Hey Paulson, looks like somebody didn’t get the memo.
Dollar strong like bear!
168 al
“When I type fast, keys I type with my left hand come in just a bit later than the ones I type with the right one.”
Take up the piano – that’ll set you straight!
Can You Live On One Income? It’s Worth a Try
180…the fix for good ol Al is the Mozilla browser….shows errors…has spell check…he’ll be the brightest bulb in the pack.
Essex Says:
May 8th, 2008 at 2:28 pm
180…the fix for good ol Al is the Mozilla browser….shows errors…has spell check…he’ll be the brightest bulb in the pack.
I have Mozilla at home. Not here.
Good example of right hand typing before left:
“I do nto knwo hwo” – I actually typed this about a minute ago and checked it – it seems that it is my Left hand typing BEFORE my Right.
Isn’t CIT Commercial RE HQ’ed in Manhattan?
From Dow Jones:
CIT Scales Down Commercial Real Estate Division
CIT Group Inc. (CIT) has scaled back its commercial real estate finance division as the company struggles to remain afloat.
CIT Commercial Real Estate has undergone a number of staff reductions, which included former managing director Tim Zietara who was let go in February.
The division had been stepping in as a balance-sheet lender for commercial real estate developers who couldn’t drum up financing from Wall Street banks amid a credit crunch.
“In response to the change in market conditions in 2008, CIT scaled back our Real Estate finance originations team,” a company spokesperson told Dow Jones Newswires in an email.
njp,
You get the history?
Flip gone flop?
#184 grim:Isn’t CIT Commercial RE HQ’ed in Manhattan?
No its in Manhattan Beach ….California
Paulson sees end of credit crunch
“We’re closer to the end of this than the beginning,” Mr Paulson told the Associated Press news agency.
However, he said that credit markets were still not functioning in a normal manner.
I had like to meet with this guy called “Credit Market”. It seems he needs some steroid. I wonder how the heck they monitor this market? Is there an index?
re: (123) BC Bob
Somehow I doubt Canada will play along. Perhaps there will be a quick invasion like we did with Panama back in the 1989?
grim (184)-
CIT?
Good riddance. They were- and are- pure scum.
Remember when Tyco bought CIT for like 10 billion and ended up selling them about 9 months later for about 1 billion. Pure madness.
Don’t hold me to the exact numbers please. I could be pretty far off, but not THAT far off.
185 grim
“You get the history?
Flip gone flop?”
I did, thanks. Looks like a major flip flop. They can’t sell it for more than they bought it for, despite what they apparently thought was ~$450K in value added by renovations.
Yikes!
ECB, BOE Keep Main Rates Unchanged to Fight Inflation (Update1)
finally got around to reading this
http://news.cincinnati.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008805060342
this has to be a joke, no?
“Woman says she was tricked into buying 3 homes worth $5M”
“Breaking News: Oil prices settle at a new high of $123.69, the fourth record close this week.”
Ever closer to $40
Getting a teaching job is all politics….who you know is everything
My wife doesn’t/didn’t know anyone when she got her job. This does not mean that it hasn’t happened this way, i just don’t know anyone who has gotten a job this way.
CIT was only for a hot minute by Tyco, it is over 100 years old. It used to be a part of Manni Hanni and also was independent for a large part of its history. CIT has a lot of major lease loans from fortune 500 companies that help its income stream. The idiots jumped on subprime and student loans to juice income and burned them. They will either barely make it through this or get bought out for $5 bucks a share. I doubt they will go bankrupt.
Anyone have any info on this house?
MLS ID# 2727045
I drive by it everyday and i believe it was listed on Foxtons for a while and then put through RE/MAX. I think it’s been listed for over a year as well. I might even say i think it was listed for $550-600,000.
“Ever closer to $40”
$100 is the new $40.
Anyone have any info on this house?
MLS ID# 2727045
MLS# 2703977
Listed: 1/30/2007
OLP: $520,000
LP: $465,000
DOM: 153
MLS# 2727045
Listed: 7/27/2007
OLP: $465,000
LP: $418,999
DOM: 312
From the Star Ledger:
Retired athletes agree to appear for real estate lawsuit
Faced with warrants for their arrest, former New York Giant Bart Oates and former New Jersey Devil Ken Daneyko agreed today to appear at an attorney’s office next week for depositions in a real estate lawsuit.
Both former athletes said they never disputed that they owed Short Hills investor Cary Heller $150,000 and that their failure to appear for depositions in Heller’s lawsuit was a misunderstanding.
“We have had conversation with them. We haven’t avoided them,” Oates said. “I’m not sure why they took this tack.”
Daneyko said the dispute was purely business and that the two retired athletes and a third partner, J. Michael Gallagher, fully intended to pay off the debt.
He said he was not even aware that he had missed depositions and was surprised Heller went so far as to seek their arrest.
“It’s because of our names,” Daneyko said. “I was blind-sided by this.”
Getting a teaching job is all about who you know or who you blow.
Dear Sellers,
According to the professionals at the NAR, now is a great time to buy as interest rates are at historic lows. So, don’t hesitate, call a realtor as soon as possible and list your house as there is substantial pant up demand with buyers waiting on the sidelines.
And remember, you worked hard to maintain your lovely home so don’t settle for anything less than top dollar! After all, you wouldn’t want to give it away, right?
I don’t get it, Daneyko needs to borrow $150k? Wasn’t he a hockey star?
John [202],
That’s beneath low, simply moronic.
“I don’t get it, Daneyko needs to borrow $150k? Wasn’t he a hockey star?”
JB,
Inflation, dental work.
From MarketWatch:
House passes neighborhood stabilization bill
Despite a veto threat, House lawmakers on Thursday passed a bill that would provide $15 billion for state and local governments to redevelop and buy owner-vacated foreclosed homes.
The bill passed 239-to188 with “aye” votes from 11 Republicans. Despite passage, the bill’s future is uncertain, given strong opposition from the White House.
“In addition to being extremely costly, this new program would constitute a bailout for lenders and speculators, while doing little to help struggling homeowners,” according to a statement of administration policy.
Supporters of the bill see it as a vehicle to stabilize neighborhood housing values, and a way to ensure that there’s affordable housing for renters facing eviction.
Grim – sent you email request from Mrs. Patient.
http://www.walkscore.com/
This is a great tool when you are buying a house, you enter the address and gives your walk score. Basically, how many things are walking distance from address. Cleaners, bars, restaruants, schools, doctors etc. Great for Four dollar Gas.
Re 205 – It is true. My younger sister had two chances to be a teacher. One she blew when she did not invite the adminstrator to her wedding shower when she was a student teacher. And number two she did not call my cousin to get moved to the top of the list. She needed either to Kiss Up to the strangers or use her connections to get in. That is how it is done in every single good school district. If you don’t want to use those techniques you can do it the old fashioned way and work in the Bronx or Harlem.
My favorite line of all time was “of course we take the balls out with the good schools before we run the random lottery to determine what school you are placed in when you get a job as a NYC teacher” To me a random lottery does not mean the Principal gets to take a good ball out to give to his neice before the lottery is run. But then again that’s teaching for you.
“More evidence that times are tough — it now costs more than a penny to make a penny. And the cost of a nickel is more than 7 1/2 cents.”
“Surging prices for copper, zinc and nickel have some in Congress trying to bring back the steel-made pennies of World War II, and maybe using steel for nickels, as well.”
“Gutierrez estimated that striking the two coins at costs well above their face value set the Treasury and taxpayers back about $100 million last year.”
http://www.chicagotribune.com/business/sfl-flzcoinsx0507sbmay07,0,1669601.story
202 john
“Getting a teaching job is all about who you know or who you blow.”
Oh my
To be sure, I’m not sure that separates teaching from much else – certainly not I banking, corp law, acting, bartending, singing, politics.
Easier to work with exclusions: ballplayers, neurosurgeons, rocket scientists (like my dad) – who else?
I just went under contract to buy a place in Hillsborough. I got in to a move-in ready unit for a fair market price through an excellent realtor, who wasn’t afraid to take my lowball offer and sell me as a buyer with a DP and solid credit history. We eventually settled a little more north of halfway between our starting points, but I wasn’t about to mess up a good opportunity to squeeze a couple thousand more out of a seller.
Thanks to Grim and everyone else on this board for the real estate education I’ve received over the last couple of years. I’ll still read the discussion here and attend the GTGs. Even though I’m about to become a homeowner, I don’t believe the NAR spin about a home as the path to never-ending riches: spending less than you take in, year after year, is how you arrive at wealth.
re: (207)
So are they going to Buy up Detroit with the money?
The text of the bill says to give priority emphasis and consideration to metropolitan areas, metropolitan cities, urban areas, rural areas, low- and moderate-income areas, census tracts and other areas having the greatest need, including those–
(A) with the greatest percentage of home foreclosures;
I have a feeling that Congress is just a warming up to signing a trillion dollar bailout bill.
congrats jmac.
Thanks Grim. Wow, a $100,000 drop and still not selling.
“The severity of the unrealized valuation losses and decline in value of our investments were beyond our expectations,” Chief Executive Officer Martin Sullivan said in the statement.
I don’t get it, Daneyko needs to borrow $150k? Wasn’t he a hockey star?
No, he played for the Devils.
Everyone knows the true regional hockey stars are the Rangers!
Here’s a feather in NJ’s cap… (/sarcasm)
http://www.cnn.com/2008/CRIME/05/08/interpol.pedophile/index.html?iref=topnews
Everyone knows the true regional hockey stars are the Rangers!
Ewwww :)
“Oh bother.”
From Reuters via Yahoo
House passes major housing rescue bill
The U.S. House of Representatives on Thursday approved a bill to create a $300 billion mortgage-insurance fund and provide billions more in homeowner aid to stabilize a housing market shaken by a wave of foreclosures.
The bill would also offer a $7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers. A separate measure passed on Thursday would send $15 billion to local communities hard-hit by the mortgage crisis to help them buy and fix abandoned homes.
The mortgage insurance fund, which would be overseen by the Federal Housing Administration, is expected to help 500,000 borrowers whose homes have dropped in value since they took out their mortgage. Under the program, lenders could get an FHA guarantee on the loan if they wrote down the principal amount.
While the White House has threatened to veto the sweeping bill, it supports some provisions and has left the door open to compromise.
More political grandstanding at the link above
Grim 219 in Moderation
Ewwww :)
Well, they DID beat the Devils in the playoffs…
Potvin Sucks!
AIG Credit Rating Cut to AA- from AA by S&P, May Be Cut Further – Bloomberg
#221 Rich:$7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers
Does that apply to those who used to own a house who now rent, and will buy again. Or is it for first,first time home buyers?
OT:
Raritan Township police blotter
SHOPLIFTING, 2:34 p.m. April 25: Samudra Chittuluru, 38, of Raritan Township was charged with shoplifting from Borders book store on Route 202 after police said he downloaded two audio books, valued at almost $60, onto his personal laptop computer while he was in the store.
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080508/CRIME/80508012
AIG had a record first-quarter net loss of $7.81 billion, or $3.09 a share, compared with earnings of $4.13 billion, or $1.58, a year earlier, the New York-based company said today in a statement. The company wrote down the value of contracts to protect fixed-income investors by $9.11 billion.
…
“The severity of the unrealized valuation losses and decline in value of our investments were beyond our expectations,” Chief Executive Officer Martin Sullivan said in the statement.
The world’s largest financial institutions reported at least $318 billion in asset writedowns and credit losses tied to the worst U.S. housing slump in more than a quarter century.
…
U.S. homeowners with private mortgage insurance defaulted on 37 percent more loans in March than a year earlier, according to the Washington-based Mortgage Insurance Companies of America.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=adyL.GUyLSbM&refer=home
This, in a way, covers two areas from previous threads…school employees (a principal in this case) and luxury cars (ending an expensive lease)…
http://www.app.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080506/NEWS/805060449
Looks like the next wave of debt related losses might come from the automotive leasing market.
JM
I find it amazing that citi got away getting this set up in a way it gets the 15% tax treatment. Even more disturbing the rich get 8.5% at a 15% tax bracket and the middle class citi customer gets 1% on his savings in a 28% tax bracket.
I bond with equity like features. WOW like a diet Big Mac.
NEW YORK–(BUSINESS WIRE)–May 07, 2008 Fitch Ratings assigns an ‘A+’ rating to the 8.5% non-cumulative perpetual preferred stock, Series F issued by Citigroup Inc (Citi). The Series F preferred securities totaling $2 billion qualify for Tier 1 regulatory capital treatment. Based on Fitch’s criteria, these capital securities have equity-like characteristics which result in Fitch ‘Class E’ treatment (100% equity credit), up to a 30% limit of Fitch capital.
3b (226),
#221 Rich:$7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers
Does that apply to those who used to own a house who now rent, and will buy again. Or is it for first,first time home buyers?
I’m assuming if you have nothing to sell, you qualify.
But it’s all moot. I feel it’s just political pandering before the election.
Just a way for the powers that be so show how they care and are concerned for their fellow man. “Now vote for me (or my party).”
Current admin will veto and it probably won’t be brought up again.
Unless McCain wins…
195 grim
“Ever closer to $40”
Lol
#221 Rich:$7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers
I can just see the NAR advertising campaign that would ensue if this were actually passed. I would probably get blitzed by every realtor for whom I’ve ever signed a sign in sheet at an open house vomiting sunshine about the chance of a lifetime.
Every offer would be countered with a “well, you know, you are getting a $7,500 tax credit, so you can afford to do a little better”.
I would rather pass on the tax credit than deal with this.
230 john
“Even more disturbing the rich get 8.5% at a 15% tax bracket and the middle class citi customer gets 1% on his savings in a 28% tax bracket.”
That should be shouted from the rooftops.
By the way, how many ignert teevee pundits repeat the uninformed canard that Grandpa and Grandma Jones pay capital gains rates on their 401(k)? I don’t know if it’s ignorance or mendacity, but judging by the way the WSJ ed page uses (or more accurately, abuses) the term “income tax”, I’m going to guess it’s the latter.
1) Buy a $10,000 home in Camden
2) Claim the $7,500 credit
3) Tear the home down over the weekend
4) Leave plot vacant
5) Forget about plot (Don’t forget to pay taxes)
6) Camden Gentrifies in 2035
7) Profit!
Congrats J-Mac! No reason to leave. I’m a homeowner as well and surprisingly am not upside down yet as I bought in Sept. of 2004.
As for Daneyko, he has one hell of a drinking problem. Perhaps this might explain why he missed his deposition date?
Speaking of $40:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=CCJ&t=5d
From MarketWatch:
AIG reports $7.8 bln net loss; to raise $12.5 bln
American International Group reported a $7.81 billion first-quarter net loss late Thursday as the giant insurer was hit hard by the credit crunch.
AIG shares dropped more than 7% to $40.75 in after-hours trading. Ratings agency Standard & Poor’s downgraded the company and several subsidiaries to AA- from AA. AIG’s big aircraft-leasing business was cut to A+ from AA-.
“Although we expected that AIG would have some losses in the first quarter, the level of the additional losses exceeds these expectations,” S&P credit analyst Rodney Clark said.
The worse-than-expected results were driven by a $9.11 billion write-down on a credit derivatives portfolio and $6.09 billion of net realized losses from AIG’s investment portfolio.
From the Star Ledger:
EnCap files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection
The company behind a failed $1 billion project to build golf courses and thousands of homes on landfills in the Meadowlands filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy this afternoon.
EnCap Golf Holdings filed for protection from its creditors in federal court in Newark, one day after the state killed the project, according to court records.
The East Rutherford company stated in its filings that an affiliate, NJM Capital LLC, which owns 69 percent of EnCap, has also filed for bankruptcy protection.
It was not immediately clear what the bankruptcy filing means for the state money invested in the project, which was supposed to include a golf course, hotel and 2,600 homes in Rutherford and Lyndhurst.
The state Department of Environmental Protection arranged $215 million in loans for EnCap to clean the landfills. About $129 million of that money was paid out. About 40 percent of that $129 million was not backed by repayment guarantees.
Also, the Bergen County Improvement Authority arranged $103 million in loans.
EnCap has at least 100 creditors, according to the filing. It lists both its assets and its liabilities as between $100 million and $500 million. Among the 20 largest creditors listed by name: the township of Lyndhurst, which is owed nearly $4 million; the borough of Rutherford, which is owed $640,000; and the Bergen County Utility Authority, which is owed $109,000, according to the filing.
jmacdaddio, good luck with the home inspection and getting to close.
213 jmac
congrats, and keep swinging by to chat
(and don’t be a Reech!)
220 hard place
“Here’s a feather in NJ’s cap… (/sarcasm)”
so I’m doing a deal a couple of years ago, when I call the counsel for the other side. “He’s not here,” his secretary said.
Then the news broke.
Here’s the backstory;
http://www.abovethelaw.com/james_colliton/
/end john-like story/
222 Rich
“More political grandstanding at the link above”
May be worthwhile for folks to call their preferred Prez candidate’s office and get a stance on the bill and post it here.
228 renting
“The company wrote down the value of contracts to protect fixed-income investors by $9.11 billion.”
That CAN’T be true!! bi and S&P said there would be no more writedowns!!
236 Stu
“As for Daneyko, he has one hell of a drinking problem. Perhaps this might explain why he missed his deposition date?”
I don’t know about that, but it certainly explains why he accidentally shtupped Vito Fossella’s girlfriend.
239 grim
“thousands of homes on landfills”
“thousands of homes on landfills”
“thousands of homes on landfills”
“thousands of homes on landfills”
“thousands of homes on landfills”
“thousands of homes on landfills”
“thousands of homes on landfills”
Can’t even begin to imagine why THAT project failed!
Icing on the cake…
AIG put up a performance bond for Encap.
You’ll never notice that $148m among the $7b in losses.
(Not that AIG will ever pay it)
From the WSJ:
House Votes to Pass Broad Rescue
For Housing Despite Veto Threat
By MICHAEL R. CRITTENDEN
May 8, 2008 4:56 p.m.
WASHINGTON — House Democrats, joined by Republicans from states hard hit by the foreclosure crisis, voted Thursday to pass a wide-ranging package of new loan guarantees, tax credits and financial regulation aimed at righting the housing market.
The House voted 266-154 in favor of the centerpiece of the legislation — $300 billion in federal loan guarantees — despite a veto threat from the White House. Almost 40 Republicans voted with Democrats to pass the measure, providing solid bipartisan support but falling 25 votes short of the two-thirds majority needed to override a potential veto.
“This is about trying to reach out to people who have been savaged in many ways by this economy,” House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said of the bill during floor debate.
Despite the bipartisan support, White House spokesman Tony Fratto reiterated the administration’s opposition to the legislation. “Right now, we want to make clear to Congress that the bill as it is won’t become law. We’ve been very clear about our concerns for weeks, publicly and privately,” Mr. Fratto said.
House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank disagreed with that assertion. “They are sending mixed signals,” Mr. Frank said. “I’m waiting for the next letter to come from the Navajo code talkers.”
A majority of Republicans equated the legislation to a bailout of borrowers and lenders that would put taxpayers at risk. “This bill sends the message that there are no real consequences,” Rep. Wally Herger of California said. Congress, Mr. Herger continued, needs to send the message to speculators and lenders that the housing crisis “is your problem and not the problem of the taxpayers.”
Rep. Steven LaTourette, a Republican whose home state of Ohio has been ravaged by foreclosures, said he was disappointed by the comments from his GOP counterparts. “It calls for some bold action and what’s offensive is some of the rhetoric that this is a bailout,” Mr. LaTourette said.
At the heart of the legislation is a program to provide up to $300 billion in federal loan guarantees through the Federal Housing Administration. The guarantees would be provided only after lenders agreed to reduce the value of a borrower’s existing mortgage, after which qualifying borrowers would be refinanced into an affordable loan.
The bill would also overhaul regulation of Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac and the 12 Federal Home Loan Banks, as well as modernize the FHA. It would also shield mortgage servicers from lawsuits when they modify the terms of a borrower’s mortgage, and an additional standard property tax deduction of up to $700.
“It’s not a give-away and not a bailout; there’s a lot of good in this bill,” Rep. Gary Miller said in an interview.
Mr. Frank said lawmakers must act in order to avoid broader economic dislocation. “Foreclosures have caused and are causing serious economic problems,” he said.
See, this is what really f*cking angers me. I haven’t been on a good soap box in a while. I know there’s no picture in this link below but I received it in an email.
Let me explain it to you: picture a contemporary ranch circa 1970 with Burt Bacharach playing in the background while two swinging couples drink Martinti and Rossi on the rocks.
Now, picture the furnishings, the rugs, the kitchen and all the rest of the decor, and that’s what this f*cking joint looks like.
$799,000 and $16,000 per year in property taxes along with a big pair of brass nuts for the sellers who think that anyone with a shred of sanity would offer even 70% of the asking for this f*cking pipe dream. And it’s on a double yellow main road. Man, I wish this link had the pictures.
http://www.realtor.com/realestate/wayne+twp-nj-07470-1099185280/
From CNBC:
As Greenwich Goes..? Maybe Rich Aren’t Immune In Housing Crisis
I’m doing a story on jumbo loans today and how their price and availability are affecting the million-dollar home buyers.
In the course of my research, I decided to take a look at Greenwich, CT, one of my favorite enclaves of multi, multi-million-dollar homes.
There’s an excellent resource called The Warren Group, which provides all kinds of housing data on New England, so I asked for specifics, and WOW was I surprised.
Trust me, I know that the nation’s housing bust isn’t being all that selective in whom it’s hitting, but I thought Greenwich would be one of those “micro-bubbles” of happiness, due to its proximity to Manhattan, its toney reputation, and its relatively land-strapped inventory. Not so much.
Existing home sales in Greenwich are down 37.5 percent in March from a year ago and prices are down 13.7 percent. Compare that last one to the nationwide price drop of 7.7 percent in March. What’s even more disturbing, given the median income of the typical Greenwich homeowner (I don’t know what it is, but it’s a LOT), the number of Greenwich foreclosures in March was twice what it was a year ago.
For those of you that live outside the Manhattan beltway (the tri-state area), Greenwich is where Wall Street money-movers aspire to park their Maybachs. It is chock full of stone mansions, endless lawns and big, big gates. So when I see stats such as these, I have to wonder.
gary,
You forgot swimming pool turned cesspool out back.
Surely, that has got to be worth $100k.
grim,
Unbelievable, isn’t it? I mean, what is this listing agent thinking? lol! Geezus, it frustrates the h*ll out of me.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/business/09norris.html?_r=1&ref=business&oref=slogin
ResCap has recently modified thousands of mortgages to make them more affordable, but those changes have almost all involved changing the interest rate, not reducing the amount owed, as ResCap is demanding from those who lent money to it.
Wow Gary just tell us what you really think in regards to the overprice POS these sellers who are still dreaming of getting 2005 prices (smile)
Gary was I actually supposed to picture Burt Bacharach?
Was he in a tux, and swaying back & forth?
Gary, thanks so much. Now that picture is frozen into my head for the rest of the night.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/09/business/09rent.html?ref=business
With Private Equity as Landlord, Questions of Rent Tactics
“Predatory equity is undermining the best efforts of New York City and state elected officials to slow the loss of affordable housing,” said Benjamin Dulchin, deputy director of the Association for Neighborhood and Housing Development, a nonprofit organization. “Both the private equity funders and the lending institutions are aware, or should be aware, that harassment of tenants is taking place as a result of their financial models.
—
Predatory equity is a great term.
“It’s not a give-away and not a bailout; there’s a lot of good in this bill,” Rep. Gary Miller said in an interview.
249,
Passing the bill from a debt intoxicated stooge, with zero to little skin in the game, to the prudent is not a give away? You just have to love this propaganda. The Federal Housing Manifesto.
Well, they DID beat the Devils in the playoffs…
Grumble grumble, snicker snicker…
“I thought Greenwich would be one of those “micro-bubbles” of happiness, due to its proximity to Manhattan, its toney reputation, and its relatively land-strapped inventory. Not so much.”
Don’t sweat. Bergen County is different.
Rich:$7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers
If it did pass about when would this mess happen?
Pat,
LOL! What a sight, no? :) Stay tuned, I think Rowen and Martin’s Laughin is coming on next. :)
Arr Elle,
What can I say, I guess I get a little passionate now and then. :)
A house I was checking out has the following as a huge chunk of its description:
Flood insurance required. Presently paying $950.00 annually. 1996,2005 and 2006 floods,only surface water after flood, from the creek, not the river. Rear yard up to left rear side of house only. No FEMA claims
One good thing that has happened over the last year is that people are coming clean with stuff over here more. Is honesty part of the despair phase, or pleading phase?
I’m thinking of maybe taking some of my predatory equity and offering half of asking.
Hey, has anyone seen my smoking jacket?
http://www.bacharachonline.com/bacharach_pix/publicityphoto.jpg
I’m having a memory that a couple of years ago our government was giving people cash incentives to buy SUVs.
Did I dream that?
that jacket is SMOkin’!!
Doesn’t it look like Felix Unger lives here?
Or maybe the snow queen. Or CF.
http://tinyurl.com/444ysv
#231 Rich: Agreed. Which brings me to my next question. If they re-negogiate mtg amounts due for these “poor misfortune people” who are now underwater, what does that do to the value of real estate.
Why would anybody buy knowing that some body who has already bought may get a big chunk of their mtg forgiven.
How do you determine what the true value is?
I as a buyer would want insurance by way of an even lower price.
And one final point what incentive is there for someone to continue to pay their mtg, if there is a possibility they can get a chunk of it forgiven in the future.
If I were the NAR I would think long and hard about signing on to this outrageous proposal.
Pat,
That’s a nice house. No Bacharach records needed there, for sure.
I’m all over that baby walker/bouncer being a plant.
No way has that house seen eight months of baby.
We truly live in an age of zero consequences.
Barney Frank the first openly gay member of Congress originally from Bayonne NJ got the housing foreclosure bill passed by the US House Of Representatives today.
This bill would reward people who would otherwise chose to walk away from their house and mortgage obligation when the value of their homes has declined.
http://thehill.com/leading-the-news/house-bill-draws-support-from-gop-vulnerables-2008-05-08.html
266
The SUV Tax break is still there, now the limit has gone down from $100,000 to $25,000. The SUV has to exceed 6000 lbs and be used for Business.
The seller is related to agent.
Agents: In a situation like this, how many more staging hours do you think went into this house (note the pool prepped in April; note the pics taken at exact bloom time, fire in fireplace).
#268/270/271
“full handicap access bedroom and bathroom”
I’ll wager this might be the grandparents’ place, with a baby/walker/bouncer there for when the grandkids come over.
“Agent related to seller.”
Is that supposed to be enticing to a potential buyer?!
#275
‘“Agent related to seller.”
Is that supposed to be enticing to a potential buyer?!’
I think it’s more for full-disclosure than for any other reason.
#276
Ah! and I guess it could also save a potential buyer from being brutally honest (or insulting) about the price and condition of the place… If that’s a bad thing. Heh
202: John, could you please at least frame that gross generalization as “in New Jersey”? (My dear mother recently got a teaching job out on Long Island, where she knew nobody. The alternative is a bit ookie. Now I need mental floss.)
Anybody know what 1410 Vincenzo sold for in Toms River?
Grim or Chicago –
How was Thaler? Anything to share?
The housing terrorists on this board are a bunch of Communists. The government should do whatever it takes to prop up housing prices and condemn renters to a life of slavery trimming the lawns of homeowners. Bailouts for everybody. If you don’t buy a house, no wait, if you don’t buy two houses right now, you’ll end up living under a bridge.
Now, excuse me so I can burn some $100 bills just because I can. And because I like fire. Flames dancing… so fascinating.
Cindy,
I’ll post a PDF of the deck tomorrow morning.
213
Congrats JMac!
Congrats jmac! Hillsborough is a nice place
231 “$7,500 tax credit for first-time home buyers”
Humm. It is tempting to have my kids buy some property with a provision like this. Mrs. Shore and I may need to co-sign the note, but that is okay.
# 246 ““thousands of homes on landfills””
Does anyone here remember the Love Canal waste site up by Buffalo? Well, some years ago, here is the headline that ran for a story about government efforts to get Hooker Chemical to get off its @ss and start cleaning-up the mess:
Government sues Hooker for $230 Million to clean up Love Canal.
# 249
I want relief for my 8-track tape investments, the Beta Max investments, and investments in Atari and Commodore Computer systems. It only seems fair.
How ironic. Energy costs derail Chevron. Those damn crack spreads.
“May 8 (Bloomberg) — Chevron Corp., the U.S. oil company that reported an 84 percent drop in quarterly refining profit, said it plans to fire as many as 1,000 employees in its refining, marketing and transportation divisions.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aaCxrI5PgO_Y&refer=home
246 Patient
Kein mehr besprechen Sie Staten Island.
re (231) $7,500 tax break
Before you put that down payment on a castle you will call home the credit is distributed over 15 years and my guess is you don’t get the full amount if you flip or move in less than 15 years.
# 290 “the credit is distributed over 15 years”
But if one purchases a home in the name of one’s child, as a long-term investment, that $7,500.00 is a nice bonus.
Before you put that down payment on a castle you will call home the credit is distributed over 15 years
$500 per year? That might cover the property tax increase for the first year.
u blokes really think there is even going to be a dollar in 15 years?
SAS
re: (288) BC Bob
Any chance Chevron priced its crude oil low to shipping affiliates based in flag-of-convenience countries (no or low taxes), and sold it at a high nearly retail price to refineries and marketing outlets in the oil-consuming nations?
Does anyone here have a count on the number of taxing authorities (counties, cities, towns, school districts, fire districts, lighting improvement districts, etc.) there are in NJ?
Mr Mortgage – HERE COMES THE ALT-A CRISIS
Tent cities spring up in LA