From the NY Times:
Brokers Face Challenges in This Snowy Winter
PAPER booties beside the door? Check. Fresh salt on the driveway? Check. Broker standing in the street to direct traffic around giant piles of snow? Check.
Sure, the scented candles were lighted and the soft jazz was playing recently inside the house for sale at 76 South Terrace here. But in this snowy winter in New Jersey it takes more than that to stage an open house.
“It takes ingenuity and hardiness,” said Karen Eastman Bigos, the broker from the Towne Realty Group of Short Hills who assumed the role of traffic cop after the local police department told her no one could be spared to help her in the aftermath of yet another significant snowstorm. She had also tried to hire a valet service at the last moment, but not one was ready to wing it on a snowbound suburban street.
…
The brokers and agents who went inside the five-bedroom three-and-a-half-bath colonial, offered at $1.15 million, dutifully donned the paper booties or took the tour in their stocking feet.
…
Last Sunday Jacqueline O. Denk, an agent with Weichert Realtors, walked to one of her listings in West Orange from her own house several blocks away for an open house. Two inches of snow had fallen the night before, so she got busy shoveling.The house was bought not long ago and completely renovated, then returned to the market several months ago. Ms. Denk said she felt sorry for the seller, who was probably “going to lose his shirt.” A previous open house, also held on a snowy day, attracted only two potential buyers.
From Bloomberg:
New Jersey Population Growth Slows as Taxes Push Some to Flee
New Jersey is among the slow- population-growth states in the U.S., and an analysis of economic data shows that it shares a trait with other Northeastern states losing political power: high income taxes.
New Jersey’s population grew 4.5 percent to 8.79 million from 2000 to 2010 as its most prosperous areas were little changed, including Bergen County with a 2.4 percent gain, according to 2010 Census figures released yesterday in Washington. New York, Rhode Island, Vermont and Maine had increases ranging from 0.4 percent to 4.2 percent, less than half the 9.7 percent national rate.
…
“The census data make it quite clear that high-tax states aren’t growing compared to other states,” William Dunkelberg, the chief economist of the National Federation of Independent Business, who is based in Philadelphia, said. “States are like firms: Bad management equals loss of capital and people. Good management attracts capital and people.”
…
As Northeastern states lag behind the South and West in growth, they lose congressional seats. New Jersey is losing one seat as a result of the 2010 Census, while New York is losing two. By contrast, Texas is gaining four, Florida two and Nevada one.
“For those in power, any loss of clout is viewed as a loss,” said Patrick Murray, a political scientist who heads the polling institute at Monmouth University in West Long Branch, New Jersey. “We have one less voice.”
…
David Kotok, chairman and chief investment officer for Cumberland Advisors Inc., an investment firm that manages more than $1.5 billion, moved last year from Vineland, New Jersey, where he lived and worked, to Sarasota, Florida, which has no state income tax. The New Jersey income tax is applied proportionally, which discourages him from spending time at hotels or eating out while in the state, Kotok said. He spent fewer than 90 days in the state last year.
“In today’s technological world, more and more people can do their work from anywhere,” Kotok said. “If the income leaves, you are not going to be able to tax it.”
From the Home News Tribune:
1,300 stand to lose jobs if warehouse company moves to Pa.
Friday may be the last day on the job for nearly 1,300 grocery warehouse workers if their company goes ahead with plans to move its Middlesex County operations to Pennsylvania.
The planned move, announced by C & S Wholesale Grocers in December, has become more than a labor issue. Local officials and even Gov. Chris Christie have intervened to try to change the company’s decision. which would add to the state’s high unemployment rate.
At stake are more than the jobs of warehouse workers in Woodbridge, New Brunswick, North Brunswick, Carteret and South Brunswick, but the economies of these communities and surrounding counties.
Elected officials and labor leaders at a press conference Thursday released a report by the Center for Labor Community & Research that called the company’s move “”economic treason.”
The closings would cause $129.9 million in lost sales and $48.9 million in lost profits for local businesses, as well as $11.7 million in lost tax revenue for the state, the report estimated.
Well after almost spending 4+ years on this blog and waiting to buy a home, we finally made the plunge. House closed yesterday. In true spirit of this blog, we established a new comp killer on the street for at least 10% below market value. We could have waited little longer, but finally called it in, and went ahead. Just needed to kind of move on from one chapter of life to next.
Great thanks to everyone who has enlightened me over the last 4+ years, and kept me going and not making stupid decision. Special thanks to
James (for starting and maintaining this blog, IMO you have true spirit of free market),
Clot (Your comments are always pushing us on edge)
and many others…
From CNBC:
Treasury to Roll Out Fannie, Freddie Reform Next Week
The U.S. Treasury Department is expected to announce an overhaul of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac next week that will call for a significant reduction of their share of the U.S. mortgage market, CNBC has learned.
Sources tell CNBC that major elements of the Treasury plan include a call for an increase in the cost of government-backed mortgage insurance, essentially a hike in the fees charged to borrowers. Treasury is also expected to endorse a reduction of the government’s share of the mortgage market, to less than 50 percent from the current 95 percent.
In addition, Treasury is expected to propose reducing the maximum size for mortgages guaranteed by the government, to $625,500 from the current $730,000. The limit was temporarily raised in September.
Sources cautioned, however, that changes to the plan could yet be made in the week before its release.
SG!
Congrats! Awesome news!
Sick of the snow, I’m ready to hop on a plane for the Keys and wait out the rest of the winter.
Grim, something to do instead of shoveling
The Sailfish Open at Hawks Cay, an official leg of the Sailfish Pro Series, will be held February 10-12, 2011
http://www.sailfishopen.com/
My last time out was for barracuda off the coast of Mexico, and that was years back. I get too seasick to really enjoy it. It took at least half a dozen beers by the pool to recuperate later that afternoon.
6.grim says:
February 5, 2011 at 6:32 am
Sick of the snow, I’m ready to hop on a plane for the Keys and wait out the rest of the winter.
They must have heard you, we don’t get snow anymore, only ice.
Confused In NJ says:
February 5, 2011 at 7:48 am
6.grim says:
February 5, 2011 at 6:32 am
Sick of the snow, I’m ready to hop on a plane for the Keys and wait out the rest of the winter.
They must have heard you, we don’t get snow anymore, only ice.
Saturday, February 5, 2011
Storms keep guests here and away
Winter weather forces hotel cancellations, longer stays
BY JOHN L. GUERRA Citizen Staff
jguerra@keysnews.com
As major airports across the northern half of the U.S. reel from deep snows and powerful winter winds, the ones in the southern half are getting a sheet of snow and ice — a one-two punch that has not been seen since the 1950s.
Commercial air traffic is struggling with canceled flights and passenger backlogs, crippling such hubs as Atlanta. That’s been both a blessing and a curse for Florida Keys hotel bookings. Hoteliers’ room cancellations are being balanced out by guests who were forced to stay longer.
“We have lost a handful of reservations,” said Catherine Smiley of the Pier House Resort and Caribbean Spa. “But we did have about 10 rooms of folks who could not get home and had to stay an extra day.”
At the Banana Bay Resort in Marathon, front desk clerk Billy Williams said some guests stayed on there as well.
“Fortunately, we really haven’t had cancellations,” he said. “It’s been really busy and, if anything, the storm has helped where people had to stay a couple of days. In this case, five or six hotel rooms stayed.”
Historic Key West Inns owner Julie Fondriest, whose five guesthouses are of a subdued, quiet nature compared to the international corporate hoteliers, said she saw a handful of cancellations at the beginning of the week.
“We’ve seen a few cancellations, not anything major like we expected might have happened,” she said. “We’ve been filling in and we have some rooms left for this weekend.”
Jodi Weinhofer, spokeswoman for the Lodging Association of the Florida Keys and Key West, said hotel managers had seen cancellations in the earlier part of the week, when the storm screamed and piled snow across 2,100 miles from Maine to Texas.
“We had a similar situation around Christmas, which also was a large storm,” she said. “February is a very busy month for the Keys and during a meeting with hotel general managers Friday morning, they were saying they had cancellations because people couldn’t get here.”
Jessica Bennett, who crunches tourism statistics for the Monroe County Tourist Development Council, said the largest market for Key West tourists is New York, which got clobbered with snowstorms this week and Christmas.
“Chicago, Philly, Boston and other Northeastern cities are big, too,” she said. “At this time of year, one of our strongest markets is the Northeast.”
The Keys, by the way, are enjoying nearly perfect weather while states on the northern side of the Gulf of Mexico freeze, because we’re protected by a high pressure system stretching from west of the Keys to the Bahamas, said Ben Nelson, a forecaster with the Key West office of the National Weather Service.
“The high over the northwest Caribbean and the Bahamas is acting like a brick wall for all these cold frontal boundaries,” Nelson said. “We’ve seen storm system after storm system roll out of the Rockies in recent weeks and they don’t seem to break through the Bahama ridge.”
That could begin to change by Monday, but not by much, Nelson said. The wind could pick up from the northwest Monday evening and bring slightly lower temperatures, with highs in the low 70s and lows in the high 60s.
Sure, the scented candles were lighted and the soft jazz was playing recently inside the house for sale at 76 South Terrace here. But in this snowy winter in New Jersey it takes more than that to stage an open house.
Sellers, here’s a little tip for you: there could be a stinking pile of dog sh1t in the middle of the living room and your mother-in-law could be sitting naked on the couch and the house would STILL sell if you come to your senses and drop the ridiculous asking price by 20%. You will have sold the house, assist in the house market correction and open the door for others to buy as well.
On the other hand, you can wait and sell for less in two years even if you drop the price 20% today. You don’t believe me? Ask the guy who bought in 2006, insisted on getting the same price in 2009 and is currently dying with a mortgage that’s $200,000 more than the house is worth.
tick… tick… tick… tick…
WSJ
NY REGION
FEBRUARY 5, 2011
State Trooper Is Indicted
By SEAN GARDINER
A veteran New Jersey state trooper was indicted Friday for allegedly working full-time as an investigator for an insurance company even while being employed as a police officer.
James A. DeLorenzo, 54 years old, at times allegedly performed work for the insurance company—such as interviewing witnesses, making telephone calls and picking up documents—while on duty. He has worked for the State Police for 28 years, reaching the rank of detective sergeant, according to Stephen J. Taylor, director of the state’s Division of Criminal Justice.
Mr. DeLorenzo’s attorney, George Daggett, said the charges were filed in retaliation for his client trying to act as a “whistleblower” against the State Police.
The eight-count indictment charges Mr. DeLorenzo with official misconduct, computer theft, theft by deception and tampering with public records or information. It alleges that he falsified the time records of his daily activities for the State Police in an attempt to conceal that he was also working for the insurance company. It’s also alleged that he used State Police vehicles for his private work and unlawfully obtained an investigation report from the State Police computer system to give to the insurance company.
The indictment further alleges that after discovering likely insurance fraud and telling the company he worked for he would report it to the state’s Office of the Insurance Fraud Prosecutor, Mr. DeLorenzo failed to do so in an attempt to keep his second job a secret from the State Police.
He is alleged to have been concurrently employed for about 18 months before it was discovered that he had not obtained approval for the secondary employment and was suspended in August 2009.
The insurance company was unaware that he was employed as a state trooper, the indictment states. The company was not named in the indictment, which was obtained in Mercer County but was transferred to Essex County, where Mr. DeLorenzo will be arraigned at a later date.
He could not be reached for comment Friday. The State Police would not comment on pending litigation.
If convicted, Mr. DeLorenzo faces up to 10 years in prison and a maximum fine of $150,000.
Mr. Daggett said his client in 2006 “blew the whistle on a massive waste of money in the State Police and since that day they’ve been out to get him.”
He said Mr. DeLorenzo wanted to retire prior to 2008, but the State Police didn’t allow him to do so because of pending disciplinary charges that were later dismissed. Mr. Daggett claims those charges were payback for Mr. DeLorenzo’s whistleblowing. At the same, Mr. DeLorenzo received a “good job offer” from the insurance company.
“They wouldn’t let him retire and with the economy being the way it is…whatever happened they [the State Police] brought it about,” said Mr. Daggett, who filed a lawsuit against the State Police on Mr. DeLorenzo’s behalf last year.
Mr. Daggett said he expects to take the case to trial.
[2] grim
Will the last business leaving NJ, please turn out the lights?
This is a continuation of the economic development policies that saw PA poach NJ business left and right. To use a football analogy, PA built an econ development team that resembled the Steelers; NJ has a team that resembles Elizabeth H.S.
And when it comes to gubernatorial politics and economics, party is irrelevant. Rendell plucked Corzine like a goose, and it seems like Corbett will continue his predecessor’s policies and fleece fellow republican Christie.
The dems will be quick to blame this on Christie, but history will show that they are the anchor holding back Christie from revitalizing the state’s economy. The Fat Man inherited an economy in a death spiral, but his co-pilots in the Assembly think that the plane is flying straight and level (for them, at least), and will fight him at the controls.
As I said before about the election, the loser gets to be governor.
[2] grim,
I love how the schizophrenia of the politicians works:
“Officials called on the company to wait 90 days before making a decision to allow for more negotiations. They also asked shoppers to boycott the struggling A&P and Pathmark supermarkets whose shelves the warehouse workers stock.”
Only someone living in Trentonspace thinks that this will actually improve their position. And think of the economic hit that stand-up comedy clubs take. The company’s executives, accountants and attorneys now don’t have to pay a cover and drink minimum to get their chuckles–they have Trenton, unions and the print media for that.
[3] SG
Congrats. Give me a shout when you want to appeal your tax assessment. ;-)
or call Stu/ Gator. They have a great track record at that.
8
being seasick is a horrible experience… here’s something for the landlubber in you-
“These are the new leads. These are the Glengarry leads. And to you, they’re gold. And you don’t get them. Because to give them to you is just throwing them away. (he hands the stack to Williamson) They’re for closers.”
http://www.waterfrontplayhouse.org/html/Glengarry.html
grim, 6,8
I know a great, inexpensive place you can stay.
You need to know how not to get sick while boating/fishing.
Even Ian didn’t get sick on both boat trips. :)
I miss the Keys a lot.. To me it doesn’t even feel like you are in Fla but more like you are on islands far away…
sl
SG – Congratulations!
I remember the first NJRE get-together when we met like yesterday. Time flies indeed.
Gary # 11 – If you wanna get top dollar you’ve gotta get rid of the steaming pile of sh*t and the naked mother-in-law.
In all seriousness, if your home is in good condition and you don’t live like a pig, the right price will cure more than the most innovative staging and marketing. An agent with a good feel for market value who will tell you the truth even if you don’t like it, is better than professional photos and a virtual tour.
The best, most professional, innovative marketing campaign and valet parking at the open house will not sell a home that is overpriced. Even if your home is located in a train town, has new everything, stainless steel and granite, nothing can replace the correct price!
No Snow Today, just Freezing Rain.
Congrats SG!!
sl
Way to go SG. Judging by the results here, me thinks list prices are not dropping as much as they should, but offers around true current value are finally being accepted. Have fun in your new abode.
Cooper 17, we used to occasionally volunteer as ushers at the Waterfront to get into some of the plays there.
SL, what Key did you stay on?
Just got notice that my property taxes are going up 50% this year. F_ck NJ.
I better be next.
Congrats, SG.
Learning To Walk: Fear, Shame And Your Underwater Mortgage
WASHINGTON — Nearly 1 in every 4 U.S. homeowners with mortgages owe more on their home than it’s worth. Once a month, those 10.8 million are faced with a question that cuts to the core of the American Dream and offers a confusing collision between a deep-seated sense of personal obligation and a cold, simple business calculation: Should I pay my mortgage?
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/03/learning-to-walk-underwater-mortgages_n_818315.html?source=patrick.net#entry_12345
SG (3)-
Knowing a bit about the particulars of your deal, posters here should know that the best part of the whole shebang is that you completely pantsed WFC on a deal in which- over the two years it was a short sale, before they foreclosed- they TURNED DOWN two offers which were 40K and 60K over the price you eventually paid.
WFC also had to spend several grand in repairs and mold remediation after they foreclosed, too.
Fcuk WFC and the horse they rode in on.
Then, fcuk Buffett, Munger and the weasels who keep telling the sheeple that DOA, zombie banks like this festering turd somehow equal “buy and hold”-type investments.
They can all rot in hell.
escapee, 24
Tavernier, between Largo and Islamorada.
(need to go back there right now.)
sl
This place is hoppin’ today. Like a dead frog.
SL, Tavernier is nice. Did you go to Founders Park? We like it up there a lot. Nice area for family vacations.
30 year [#20],
Agree. Tell your colleagues to pound it into the sellers heads, over and over. When we began to approach the 100 yr. trend line, I will list my house, sell to someone who can afford it and turn around and buy from someone in return. Two transactions, numerous potential commisions and everyone sleeps at night. What a concept. Until then, let the stup1d b@stards drown in their own ignorance.
tard it was warmish today only freezing rain. Q
My wife and I have been looking at places around Ewing. I do not know if it is just the area of the price range but most of the places we see are sitting empty. Whoever owns these places are too cheap to pay for snow removal, so there is no easy access to the house. We have had to make our own path to a house multiple-multiple times. How do these people expect to sell their crapshack without at least making it accessible?
Galgon,
We couldn’t even get into our future home for a final walk through an hour before the closing due to unshoveled snow! Needless to say, we didn’t close that day.
Al,
Your taxes might go up 50% but, at least you live someplace in proximity to NY.
Welcome to Florida:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1352758/100-000-sharks-mass-Floridas-beaches.html
SG,
Congratulations on the new home.
The end is nigh (Booya Edition):
“Beavis & Butthead” And Their Unique Brand Of Music Criticism Return To MTV
Staff Writer // Sam
As we spend the morning flashing back to 1993 with Wendy Rice, some 90′s slackers will be making a comeback this year. MTV announced that new episodes of the series “Beavis & Butthead” will be on the air by the end of 2011. The show was originally centered around the two characters watching music videos on their couch while providing crude, yet hilarious and surprisingly astute commentary about the music.
Even though they only ever wore AC/DC and Metallica t-shirts, their musical “tastes” were not limited to metal.
MTV only ran new episodes of the series from 1993 to 1997, but with a movie and lots of repeats on various channels, the show has had a larger impact beyond those who were in the show’s 10-18 year old demographic in the 90s. “Beavis & Butthead” revealed a number of different artists to a mainstream audience that may have not otherwise been aware of them. Check out the videos below of Radiohead, Lou Reed, The Flaming Lips and the Red Hot Chili Peppers along with Beavis & Butthead‘s commentary. Radiohead – “Creep“
24 escapee
Jealous I am- love the keys, still… did/do you live there? isn’t bartenders weekend coming up? not that I go but what a great place for a get together
we used to occasionally volunteer as ushers at the Waterfront to get into some of the plays there.
chi (40)-
Thank you for giving me a reason to live. Now, if we could get new Ren & Stimpy episodes, I’d have a chance at true happiness.
“MTV announced that new episodes of the series “Beavis & Butthead” will be on the air by the end of 2011.”
Fire…heh-heh…heh-heh…
Cooper, we live here year round. I think bartenders week is in May or sometime at the end of the tourist season.
My Magpies came back from 0-4 down at St. James to draw the Gooners, 4-4!!!
From the Asbury Park Press
Downturn spikes housing vacancies
By ANDREA CLURFELD
New homes built but unsold, foreclosures and a higher number of available rentals are contributing to a rise in vacant housing units in New Jersey, officials and industry analysts say.
The number of vacant homes –houses, apartments and condos –in New Jersey climbed by 93,572 between 2000 and 2010, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Of 3.5 million housing units, 339,202 were listed as vacant on April 1, 2010, the day of the census. That’s a 9.5 percent rate of vacancy, compared with a 7.4 percent rate in 2000, when New Jersey had 3.3 million housing units and 245,630 vacancies.
A cocktail of economic conditions, shifting attitudes about home ownership and a migration out of state all factor into the rise in vacancies, said Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group, East Brunswick, whose firm tracks market data and trends.
“We spent decades in New Jersey building primarily the houses people in New Jersey will not be wanting,” Otteau said, referring to the classic four-bedroom suburban home that no longer suits an increasing number of households without children.
Home-ownership rates declined from 69 percent to 65 percent from 2005 to 2009 in New Jersey, according to the Census’ American Community Survey released last year.
“And coming right out of that (survey) is a continuing decline of childless households –70 percent of all households in New Jersey are childless, a dramatic number,” Otteau said.
(snip)
Otteau does believe a key factor in the increase of the last decade can be attributed to the “compression of households,” a trend caused by continued weak economic conditions.
“There are children moving back with their parents,” Otteau said. “Grandparents moving in with their children.”
At the same time, he added, plans for housing developments that took seed when the economy was stronger and came to fruition just as it nose-dived could be causing the high vacancy rate in some towns.
Look at the big picture, factor in the state’s high cost of living and high taxes, and it’s easy to surmise that it may take a while for the rate to level off, he said.
“Remember we’ve gone from a 69 percent homeownership rate to a 65 percent rate,” Otteau said. “And that 70 percent of all households are childless. That speaks volumes about what’s going to happen next.”
So Jeff, what’s going to happen next?
As Gary would say, “tick… tick… tick… tick…”
http://www.app.com/article/20110206/NJNEWS10/102060352/Downturn-spikes-housing-vacancies-?odyssey=tab
Darn it. Original post moderated due to the dreaded “c0cktail effect”
From the Asbury Park Press
Downturn spikes housing vacancies
By ANDREA CLURFELD
New homes built but unsold, foreclosures and a higher number of available rentals are contributing to a rise in vacant housing units in New Jersey, officials and industry analysts say.
The number of vacant homes –houses, apartments and condos –in New Jersey climbed by 93,572 between 2000 and 2010, according to figures released Friday by the U.S. Census Bureau.
Of 3.5 million housing units, 339,202 were listed as vacant on April 1, 2010, the day of the census. That’s a 9.5 percent rate of vacancy, compared with a 7.4 percent rate in 2000, when New Jersey had 3.3 million housing units and 245,630 vacancies.
A c0cktail of economic conditions, shifting attitudes about home ownership and a migration out of state all factor into the rise in vacancies, said Jeffrey Otteau, president of Otteau Valuation Group, East Brunswick, whose firm tracks market data and trends.
“We spent decades in New Jersey building primarily the houses people in New Jersey will not be wanting,” Otteau said, referring to the classic four-bedroom suburban home that no longer suits an increasing number of households without children.
Home-ownership rates declined from 69 percent to 65 percent from 2005 to 2009 in New Jersey, according to the Census’ American Community Survey released last year.
“And coming right out of that (survey) is a continuing decline of childless households –70 percent of all households in New Jersey are childless, a dramatic number,” Otteau said.
(snip)
Otteau does believe a key factor in the increase of the last decade can be attributed to the “compression of households,” a trend caused by continued weak economic conditions.
“There are children moving back with their parents,” Otteau said. “Grandparents moving in with their children.”
At the same time, he added, plans for housing developments that took seed when the economy was stronger and came to fruition just as it nose-dived could be causing the high vacancy rate in some towns.
Look at the big picture, factor in the state’s high cost of living and high taxes, and it’s easy to surmise that it may take a while for the rate to level off, he said.
“Remember we’ve gone from a 69 percent homeownership rate to a 65 percent rate,” Otteau said. “And that 70 percent of all households are childless. That speaks volumes about what’s going to happen next.”
So Jeff, what’s going to happen next?
As Gary would say, “tick… tick… tick… tick…”
http://www.app.com/article/20110206/NJNEWS10/102060352/Downturn-spikes-housing-vacancies-?odyssey=tab
#46 – 70% of households have no children under 18? That seems like a lot. In 2008, nationwide, 54% of households had no children. In 1963, 43% had no children (the lowest % on record). So, does that mean property taxes will go down as there are fewer children in the schools?
New Jersey had a plan to help low income people pay their cable tv bills?? Huh??
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/02/tax_meant_to_subsidize_low-inc.html
46 that was one crazy game. Went to store at half time chuckling. Who would’ve thought I should have tivo’d it.
48
bread and circuses
Grim. Great opinion article in sunday times today from shiller. ‘Housing bubbles are few and far between’.
Basically reiterating Debt’s daily motivational affirmation, 20-40 year walk into wilderness.
Escapee,
We really liked Tavernier — not too touristy – we stayed a few blocks from Harry Harris Park
Did not get to see Founder’s Park — we did go to the Everglades and fishing and canoed in the waterways between Dove Sound and the ocean.
sl
Anything good on TV tonight?
SG Best of luck!
Outofstater 47 ROFLMAO, yea that’s gonna happen.
Shore 53 No.
Italian Soccer’s ‘Old Lady’ Seeks Return to Glory With Stadium
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601109&sid=atCl6Fmewzjc&pos=14
Moving from NJ to Florida? Don’t get taken by the Preapproval scam being run by the home builders.
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/06/business/06gret.html?_r=1&ref=business
re #56 – This is what you get for 350k in Windermere Florida. A nice 5 Br McMansion, top of the line everything for a woman with no job and it does seem allot for a woman who did not claim her current husbands income for whatever reason. He must have defaulted or has bad credit, so she is only claiming child support income and whatever alimony she is getting as income. I don’t blame Pulte for declining the loan based upon the new fannie and freddie guidelines but they should refund 20k.
Here is the house.
http://www.pulte.com/communities/fl/windermere/berkshire-park/plans/pembrooke.aspx
The cream of Ocean County:
http://www.app.com/article/20110205/NJNEWS/110205025/Sources-Suspected-heroin-found-crashed-car?odyssey=tab|topnews|text|Frontpage
Well, duh.
http://www.app.com/article/20110205/NJNEWS10/110205051/Study-Newark-school-district-must-make-reforms?odyssey=mod|newswell|text|Frontpage|s
http://www.app.com/article/20110206/NJNEWS/102060356
These are SOME towns. Well, even if the school suc-ks, at least they have sports.
Green Bay will win by 4.
31-27.
And Giants fans, and the rest of the Northeast will yawn.
re #62 – Pittsburgh is in the Northeast. I have driven to Three Rivers to wave the terrible towel. Go Pitt!!!
63: Parts of Penn are NE. Pittsburgh is Midwest.
Congrats SG. Good luck.
Just cover, baby.
– Al Davis
These Black-Eyed Peas are some motherfcuking bullsh!t.
Switched over to catch some Genoa-AC Milan.
NFL = 3BR POS crapshack
Hope the owners lock out the players on 3/1. Time for the US to embrace the real world’s game.
Is it time for me to start beating my wife yet?
Now I know who Fergie is. Now what’s the attraction? She’s skanky, she can’t dance, she can’t sing. Am I missing something here or am I just old?
Beyond Thunderdome says:
February 6, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Green Bay will win by 4.
31-27.
What a call!!!
stu (69)-
You didn’t miss anything. Any fat stripper who can sing within the range of autotune and hook up with a couple of guys who can lay down a beat can make it in Amerika.
Football sucks, the Black-Eyed Peas suck, and we are all just sucking our way to complete societal annihilation.
Just a whole world of fcuking suck. Now, we get to watch Glee.
I wish there was somebody that could take away my real estate license.
And, put a bullet in my head and make it look like an accident.
Fergie, who?
Black eyed, what?
As soon as halftime started, we fired up an old episode of the Wire.
“Any fat stripper who can sing within the range of autotune and hook up with a couple of guys who can lay down a beat can make it in Amerika.”
This would make a great FB status…
Fergie was cute years ago before the tranny style cosmetic enhancements. She’s on the Lion Lady fast track. Google it.
73. somebody’s got a case of the mondays.
Beyond Thunderdome says:
February 6, 2011 at 4:30 pm
Green Bay will win by 4.
31-27.
Not bad.
Debt [66];
Switched over to catch some Genoa-AC Milan.
Ended in a 1-1 tie. Real barn-burner there, huh? At least InterMilan v. Rome had some action at 5-3.
Speaking alternatives to the halftime show, I remember at least one year when Fox didn’t have the SuperBowl, they aired a competing halftime show.
As for the official show, I’m hopeful that someone will have their @$$ chewed out over the “v” in ‘Love’ having half its lights out. I imagine the show was better in the stadium than it looked on TV.
“Our economy, our culture, our entire world, is built upon debt. No one ever asked us if that’s how we wanted it, it is simply how the system was designed when we came into it. Many of us have lived our entire lives under the assumption that debt is a necessary function of daily commerce and a valuable driver of successful society. Most households in America operate at a steep loss, trapped in constantly building cycles of liability and interest. There are even widely held schools of economic thought that are centered completely on the production and utilization of nothing but debt. Only recently have many people begun to ask themselves what the tangible benefits are (if any) in being dependent on debt based finance.
After careful examination, it becomes evident that debt does not fuel economy, it suffocates it. It does not nurture growth, it stunts and poisons it. Extreme debt is not a fundamental organ in a body of commerce; it is an aberration, a spreading cancer which disrupts the circulation of healthy trade. Debt is, in large part, unnecessary.
Of course, debt can be very useful if you are the controller or determining overseer of a system, especially if you wish to centralize and maintain power over that system. The tactical wielding of debt has been used by elites for centuries as a means to imprison the masses, or to create an atmosphere of endless dependency.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/guest-post-great-global-debt-prison