From HousingWire:
Shadow inventory will keep housing recovery at bay for three to four years
A full housing recovery is three to four years off as the nation grapples with a shadow housing inventory of 4.5 million distressed properties, according to Michael Fratantoni, vice president of research and economics for the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Fratantoni said a phenomenon is now surfacing in housing that is essentially a “tale of two cities” where home prices are beginning to stabilize in economically viable parts of the country, while other areas are paralyzed by high unemployment and large shadow inventories.
“We are going to see different housing market recoveries,” Fratantoni said during the state of the industry address at the MBA’s secondary mortgage market conference in New York.
“You will find new homebuilding stronger in markets in Texas and around Washington D.C.,” he said.
Meanwhile, the shadow inventory that is driving down prices in parts of the U.S. is stalling an overall national recovery even though most of the distressed inventory is concentrated in Florida, California, Illinois, New York and New Jersey, according to Fratantoni’s research.
“This year, you will see some markets show gains in housing prices, while other markets will continue to have elevated levels of inventory,” he said.
Good Morning New Jersey
This is laughable. In three to four years, Dodd-Frank has pretty much guaranteed that there will be only 4-5 giant banks doing all the mortgage lending in the US.
Now, imagine those same 4-5 banks doing loans against the massive REO portfolio…of which they hold the lion’s share.
This will end in tears.
Can you recover to an earlier point if the foundation that created it is no more? (loose lending & cheap money)? 30 yr mortgages, FHA & Fannie Mae might not exist in a couple years. There’s no returning sans the fuel that created that earlier point.
Interesting post.
Dan Statlander
http://www.statelandbrown.com
(Real estate experts in Boca Raton Florida)
Jets12 Number 3 Maybe with zero unemployment
All the Federal Reserve knows is how to create inflation and pump asset bubbles. Too bad they 100% don’t understand that you can’t reinflate a burst asset bubble.
On the other hand, they have unwittingly and unknowingly stimmed a bubble in paper.
This will end in tears.
A full housing recovery is three to four years off as the nation grapples with a shadow housing inventory of 4.5 million distressed properties.
This is nonsense, we hit bottom in 2009. Suzanne researched it.
“you can’t reinflate a burst asset bubble.”
Hobo, you’re too critical of the fed and that’s coming from a ron paul supporter. We don’t need to reinflate a housing and nasdaq bubble to spark inflation and wipe the debt away.
I’m not critical enough of the Fed. We should be sending all of them straight to summary executions.
Buy the fcuking dip.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_FHWqIneWY4&feature=player_embedded
5 years of 5% inflation will help many of our problems become manageable.
veets (11)-
Why set the bar so low? We can get everything right a helluva lot faster by having 17,000% inflation in six months. Then, after the currency collapse, bank run, hyperinflation and civil unrest, any improvement at all will allow us to claim we’re the world’s fastest-recovering economy.
Just ask Robert Mugabe.
veets (11)-
The scary thing about your post is that the entire Federal Reserve and UST most likely share your opinion.
And, they all think they know when to step in and take away the punch bowl.
Then again, take a look at Greenspan & Bergabe’s track record on that one. Hard to take away the punch bowl when you can’t even recognize that everyone at the party is slobbering drunk and about to get into their cars.
It occurs to me that many of our problems would become manageable if we could co-opt an Army division or two and lay siege to DC and WS.
Hobo 14
immensly entertaining as well!!!
DC Under Siege, the next great reality show. You could live blog it with Twitter feeds, iPhone camera feeds etc. Think of the ratings potential.
though Northcom will probably play hardball with your co-opted divisions
Geronimo EKIA. This is a term that should be used on some of those in the financial industry.
vodka (15)-
Gotta get hold of some biologicals or tactical nukes early on to make the plan a go. :)
Oh thats right because the exhaustive list of alternatives is limited to two scenarios, deflation or hyperinflation. The vast ether in between doesn’t exist because its not negative enough. And of course you’re only credible if you disagree with bernankes every move.
‘Why set the bar so low?’
it would prob be easy for them to ignite 17000% inflation in six months if they really wanted to.
Captain Cheapo and family going to see the Red Bulls vs. DC United.
Promo code: RBNYSOCCER = 50% off
Got 2nd row upper bowl end line for $12.50 each. No service fees whatsoever.
Hobo 17
You would probably get better results going guerrilla with the break away divisions. Deny northcom direct conventional conflict and your divisions have the upper hand. In direct conflict northcom probably wins in short order.
The Bullock School may have the easy access to drugs, but for 30k/year at the MKA you get teachers into kiddie p*rn. Replace the asterisk in the link below.
Montclair Kimberley Academy teacher charged with possession of child p*rnography
http://www.baristanet.com/2011/05/mka-teacher-charged-with-child-p*rn/#comment-255305
Hobo,
A trained, native guerilla force actively operating in the US with some degree of local support, is probably one of TPTBs worst nightmares. Look at the damage relatively ragtag groups were able to inflict in Iraq.
Just one more great reason to move to Montclair. Crappy high school AND unsafe private school. The choice is yours.
Perhaps Montclair residents can pretend they have a GR zipcode and send their kids down the road?
#24 Newsflash for you. Drugs are a problem in many of the surburban schools in North Jersey, as well as Westchester., and all the other surburban NYC area.
And over the years there have been various assorted perverts in surburban schools too. Lots of things are covered up and not talked about, but it is all there.
If you think by leaving NYC, you are going to leave this all behind, you are mistaken.
You should have seen the budget approval meeting last night Montclair Ditto.
Resident after resident got up to ask for a zero percent municipal tax increase (currently the municipal levy is going up around 4%) but wanted to restore funding to our pre-K to make sure that our 40 needs-based scholarship students could still attend. No one was willing to offer any real areas to cut to make up the difference. Then each council member got the opportunity to offer amendments to our budget. We decided to restore funding to the pre-k without cutting anything else and then our 4th ward representative decided to ask for 50,000 for her neighborhood (private) pre-K from our surplus account. Both amendments passed. Montclair is so f’ed.
ket need something to negate air superiority, EMP maybe but I’m going way to call of duty here and that only buys you limited time.
Ditto – We registered Lil Gator for the fall with GR yesterday. The whole process took about 5 minutes and was as easy as pie. In Montclair it was an ordeal that took close to an hour, and required us to have at least four proofs of residency. Then last summer we also got a surprise visit at our house from an attendance officer to confirm that Lil Gator actually lived there.
3b thanks for your informative newsflash. newsflash back – drugs are not child pornography. Perhpas you got your knickers in a twist about our tax disagreement the other day, but don’t take it all so personally. I don’t even know you.
NJ Gator, congrats!
Montclair is going to the dogs.
Whoops, the private pre-K didn’t get their funding from the Montclair tax payer since the 4th vote needed felt it was unfair since the center accepted out of town children.
Pain,
people have already figured that one out.
Pain,
Most military aircraft/hardware are hardened against EMP and any EMP a guerrilla group is able to produce is unlikely to inflict “mission critical” damage to military hardware except at very close range. EMP is a poor option for guerrilla groups when directing against military targets.
3b
interested in a place in oradell… i’ve got some questions that i hope you can answer…
what’s the parking situation at the train station like? are there bike racks? is the 165 bus the only one going into the city? and how long into port authority?
is the elementary school there k-8? does kinderkamack get really backed up at rush hour?
thanks
From January 1 through April 30, there have been eight completed sheriff sales in Somerset County.
All eight were by portfolio lenders.
That will end in tears.
veets (18)-
The list of alternatives is limited to extreme scenarios due to the spectacular idiocy and corruption of the people running the Fed and UST. This is not your grandfather’s recession; it is an end-of-the-world depression, enhanced by the fact that it is simultaneously occurring during the biggest daylight bank robbery in history.
“Oh thats right because the exhaustive list of alternatives is limited to two scenarios, deflation or hyperinflation.”
Was in Montklair yesterday. Downtown looks like Paterson.
Paterson probably has a lower vacancy rate.
N.E. In the future, you get both alternatives mixed into one tasty package. Deflation of the assets you own, inflation of the things you need to buy. Looks like Bernanke stuck his chocolate in your peanut butter!
Clot 37 – Why do you never come to visit? We still have that bottle of Knob Creek, but it will likely be gone after Derby Day.
montclari like paterson ,, how’s that?
Freedy
Good point. Paterson has better drugs.
Cpt Cheapo
Are those Redbull matches usually pretty full/empty/inbetween?
Actually Paterson has a better bus system and while Montklair brags about diversity, they’re really missing out on the Palestinian crowd……..
It’s a mixed bag and you are welcome to join of us of course. It depends on the match-up and even more so, the time it is taking place.
Their website has a neat feature which loosely shows how ticket sales are going for each match. The match we chose appears to be 2/3rd sold out already, but many of their matches are virtually empty. My son’s lament this morning was that July is too far away. He is such a sports nut.
“really missing out on the Palestinian crowd……..”
Perhaps, but I think we now have 6 middle eastern restaurants.
Silver sub 40. party on!
Libtard,
thinking about going. the start time is a real hit/miss for a 4 yr old.
When I was in Detroit last week remarked to one of my staff that paterson had a more vibrant downtown weird that it just popped up here
Yup…Which is primarily why we chose a 7:30 start on a non-school/camp night.
Lib,
I may just go to stubhub for the 7/23 6pm match.
OK…Too rich for cheap blood!
A west more like benanke put his Johnson in an uncomfortable area without asking permission
Lib
My guy usually crashes by 8pm at these latest. a 7:30 start is likely to end up poorly for me. Hitting the Hayden planetarium this weekend!
#33 Dan Parking is tight at the train lot, but there is municipal parking further away from the station, which would require a little walk. There are bike racks at the train station.The 165 is the NJ transit line that goes to P/A, Red & Tan also have service too. The 165 is an express, as far getting into NYC you have to figure 45 to 1 hour.
Oradell is k to 6. 7th and 8th graders got to River Dell Middle school along with River Edge kids. The middle school is located in River Edge. Keep an eye on the funding fight between the 2 towns.
Ket. I understand completely. Really I do.
Silver Herd running off the cliff now.
Juice (57)-
A few more sessions like this, and you can call me double down.
With max leverage. :)
the above ground pool salesmen investing in silver last week was enough for me to call the top. Pigs get slaughtered.
Hobo
When you go double down comex will up maintenance margin to 120% of value
vodka (60)-
The real bitch is that silver margin requirements will probably hit 120% the same time the US’ debt ceiling hits 120% of GDP. Helluva potential correlation on that one, eh?
And veets busts my chops for not considering “more moderate outcomes”. The best we can hope for is to end up in some moderately-hot corner of hell.
“Reuters reports that the US Treasury has informed lawmakers it needs a $2 trillion debt limit increase to operate… until the end of 2012. Better stated, this is 112% of US GDP (which will soon be declining). This is precisely as Zero Hedge speculated. We hope PIMCO will be swayed soon enough to buy all this extra debt about to start coming down Geithner’s conveyor chute. But yes, the Fed will most certainly not be needed to monetize this extra debt: Japan, Europe and Libya have it covered. That said, we don’t know if Libyan rebels will have the capacity to monetize the $3 trillion in debt in 2013, $4 trillion in 2014, and so forth. The pattern is clear.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/us-treasury-tells-lawmakers-it-needs-2-trillion-debt-capacity
jj (59)-
What’s a baller like you doing with an above-ground slop sink?
I am currently trying to assess school districts around the city.
What’s so special about Glen Ridge? Sat scores for that HS is 1726 while Montclair HS is 1632. OK it is higher but not that big of a difference. Why is the one get much hate and the other so much love in this blog. Neither would make it to to top 10 and both make it to top 60.
Taxes, Taxes, Taxes. In-ground pools are very expensive, eat up my yard, raise my taxes. I don’t want a pool, I want to buy a new trade-up home with an in-ground pool. However, kids are complaining without an above ground pool in my backyard this summer they have nothing to do as they are not going to camp this summer. So went to a few pool stores, got prices and headaches and then I ordered one on-line which was 50% the cost of pool store. Which should be interesting. A freight forwarding service is dropping off a massive 21 round 54 inch deep pool. I never bought something that big on line.
One thing I learned is pool stores make time share salesmen seem honest. In general they order a $1,500 pool for $,3000, $3,000 pool for $6,000 etc. The pool manufacturer ships pool direct to your house. The outsourced pool installer puts in pool, you pay them separately and pool manufacturer has warranty. So in essence the pool store is charging a 100% mark up just to type order in for you. Even more interesting 90% of pools are made by same company they just use different names like a matress store does. Once you figure it out it is easy. Pool stores will go the way of travel agencies very soon. Other thing is MAP codes, turns out there is a minimun advertised price the manufacter allows you to advertise at. But with a MAP code it shows you actual price. That was cool. The pool store guy almost choked when I had the actual prices.
Hobo With a Shotgun says:
May 4, 2011 at 12:12 pm
jj (59)-
What’s a baller like you doing with an above-ground slop sink?
Hobo maybe he likes dipping his balls in chorinated juvenille pee water pools are worse than boats
The best part of an above ground pool is watching the neighbors flip out when one side collapses in.
Uh oh.
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/soros-sells-gold-silver-investments-report-2011-05-04
Stupid blackberry chlorinated
The top is many strike prices away from $50. You gotta love the action, suck in the late comers and throw them under the bus. Tonto said once we busted thru 31 we were going for a ride; then a good chance to come back to test 31. Opportunities will be arising.
Willing to bet jj has cars up on blocks in his front yard.
…and possibly multiple bathtub Madonnas.
That BC Bob fellow has been more of an Oracle then greenspan ever was
Ranger (69)-
Gotta love the way that the entirety of all US investment activity has now boiled down to two forms:
1. Ponzi
2. Pump-and-dump
Vodka, BC is not an addled octogenerian who sits in his bathtub half the day and thinks Andrea Mitchell is hot.
I only hope Greenspan buys the farm the same way Michael Corleone does at the end of Godfather 3.
Ranger
I wiuld bet a silver maple leaf that silver breaches 100 before 2015
Correction to #73- there is a third form: carry vs. the USD.
Kettle [76],
I would not take the other side of that bet.
“…and possibly multiple bathtub Madonnas.” And you mean you don’t, heathen!
Christ I go to school & the whole PM market goes to hell in a hand basket, was it the UNEXPECTEDLY bad ADP jobs report. LOL I know better.
Ranger
the gold:silver ratio has ranged from 16:1 to 70:1 (around 2008) to 30:1 (recently)
as a rough estimate and using those 3 ratios you could produce the following range of gold prices on the assumption that silver hits 100
16:1. $1,600
30:1. $3,000
70:1. $7,000
no point here, just playing with#’s
really happy now that I got stopped out of SLV a few weeks back.
Just got back from WF, and prices that had been pretty stable are now up a lot. I attribute this to fuel surcharges. Also see that they sold out of atlantic cod, yet the pacific cod is still on sale. Wonder why?
JJ – Do you have a Lawn Boy out front and Christmas lights up in July along with the classic used tire planter?
Only funny part with neighbor was I took down old rusty pool I inherited with house in October. What a PITA. Anyhow annoying neighbor comes over while I am all covered in dirt chopping up this thing and goes I never said anything but your old pool pump is very loud and you run it during day and it bothers me when I am trying to relax in my pool so I am glad you are taking it down. So I then go, most likely I am replacing pool in spring. He then goes you getting a new pump, I go why they are like $600 bucks and this works fine. But if you want to buy me a new one that would be great. Needless to say no new pump.
Libtard in the City says:
May 4, 2011 at 12:33 pm
The best part of an above ground pool is watching the neighbors flip out when one side collapses in.
I had a parts cars once in my driveway. Whats wrong with that? Heck Sunday I was fixing my front door with beers and music. Hey the best part of a blue collar neighbor hood is I can do what I want.
Hobo With a Shotgun says:
May 4, 2011 at 12:45 pm
Willing to bet jj has cars up on blocks in his front yard.
No but a neighbor has a patio set and a grill on his front yard. They are from brooklyn. They always offer beers as you walk by.
Juice X says:
May 4, 2011 at 1:10 pm
JJ – Do you have a Lawn Boy out front and Christmas lights up in July along with the classic used tire planter?
And they say the only rednecks are below the Mason-Dixon.
55 3b…
thanks… it’d be a pretty long walk to the oradell station, so i was thinking of driving to a nearby street and just parking there… wouldn’t that be allowed for oradell residents?
as far as the vote for school funding, i imagine oradell residents only stand to gain in the fight, no?
Got the Home inspection done.
Interesting guy, the inspector. Says he only inspects the house and not the yard, although I specifically asked if he did that in our interview. At $650, I expected better. Got his report which was like 62 pages. I appreciated the detail except for the fact that he had the street address wrong. Then I realised that he had defects which we did not even talk about during the inspection – made me wonder if it was cut-n-paste, copy from elsewhere hack job. And sure enough it was a plagiarized report. When he came back for the radon test, I made him remove the false reports. Asked him to correct the ‘typos’.
So, he sends me another report, 2 days later – same as before, except for the first page having the right address – the inside pages still had wrong address. He removed the ‘defect’ from the report about a leak that never was.
Trying not to get too mad at all this – since I know all this comes with ‘owning’ a home and I should be prepared for these vultures.
Rentlord,
You didnt go with the Uber inspector?
Buyer beware is the only rule of the road. There’s no money in home inspections anymore, so most of these guys are mailing it in.
I think George Soros owns the two bears in all those silver cartoons…….
[79] Mike
In Mass, we used to call them “Our Lady of the Bathtub” and “Virgin on the half-shell”. Some towns like Medford (“Meffa”), Revere, Saugus, Everett, Somerville (a.k.a. “slummerville”), and Malden had them at just about every other house.
Looks like we’re back to shank stocks/pump UST/worry about deflation mode.
Too bad the UST continues its death spiral and things in general just continue to turn to black.
[89] rentlord
Makes it easier to sue him later when you discover he missed something really important.
As for yard, if you have large, mature trees, I suggest getting an arborist in to inspect them. Lot of money to remove a tree that is on the verge of falling over onto your garage. Also, they often know a lot about landscaping, and can tell you if yard has water issues, etc.
Interesting . . . .
http://www.marketwatch.com/story/super-rich-love-to-bet-on-commodity-inflation-2011-05-03?Link=obinsite
Have to read between the lines a bit, but this makes a decent argument for the Nompound.
Nom 96
you won that argument long ago.
Kettle, what uber inspector? Sorry, I haven’t been following this blog as diligently as I hope to.
Nom, Life’s too short to go after little guys.
I’m taking everything in the report with a pinch of salt. I’m going to have my RE attorney open the doors for other inspectors – a roofing guy, a landscape guy and a mason.
One thing that did happen – the sellers were at home (too curious to leave) during the inspection. When he turned the dishwasher on, it started to leak. The seller and his wife were on all fours moping the kitchen with wipes. It was a funny sight.
We want to ask for $750 for the dishwasher, and see where we come down with it.
Rentlord,
Ask Libtard or Gator. Several people on this blog found a home inspector who is apparently the super-duper uber inspector.
Anyone remember this guys name?
Rentlord:
Da über inspector is the only way to go.
In other news, just got quotes for all of my future kitchen appliances. I scoured the internet for the best prices on each of the 4 appliances. I sent out an email to 7 different appliance stores online with the best price I found on each and asked them to give me their best price for all four combined with shipping and tax if required.
Wouldn’t you know it, Karl’s was the cheapest. If I pay the invoice in their Orange store, I get 3.5% tax and $49 delivery for the whole thing. My contractor and I will install them. So far, all the work is still coming in under budget, but getting closer to initial dollar amount due to the addition of the new roof, gutters and cathedral ceiling. Slowly running out of cash, but refuse to pay interest on any of this. Even if it is a piddly 3 3/4%. Sorry Gates, but your mother’s day gift is this kitchen and the time I have sunk into it.
100 libtard…
“… due to the addition of the new roof, gutters and cathedral ceiling…”
what’s a cathedral ceiling? is it the same as a “vaulted” ceiling? i ask because i’m thinking what it might cost to raise a ceiling nearly to the roof to give the appearance of roominess… and wouldn’t that reduce the insulation factor?
thanks
JJ
regarding propertyshark post from yesterday….can’t get didly info without signing and paying up
Remember when the Italian lira was so worthless that the government just lopped off three zeros and one new lira was worth 1,000 old ones. Pretty soon the smallest US currency bill in circulation will be a Franklin. Coins will be melted for scrap.
Need an Account?
Accounts are free. With a free account you can:
Property shark you sign in and it is free, only limit is four per day to keep out pros. It is free, you need to however, register.
Look at 4 detailed property reports per day
Conduct comparables searches to estimate market value
See property ownership information and most recent sale price
Use the maps to visually evaluate a neighborhood
… and more!
Danxp (101):
When we ripped down the plaster ceiling, we noticed that the horizontal beams weren’t supporting anything besides the plaster. We also noticed that the old roof (which the über inspector warned us might be the case) was leaking, but had not yet penetrated the plaster which was super thick. We already had a slanted roof, but the area between the roof and the ceiling was essentially wasted space. By removing the beams, we now have a ceiling in our kitchen that slopes from 14 ft at it’s peak down to 10 feet. It used to be 9 ft or so. This is really a big deal for us as the working area in the kitchen is narrow and the high ceiling really opens things up for us. Also will help to keep the heat away from the cooking area. Just be careful when insulating as the inspector dinged us for not having special high hats which are required when they are placed so close to fiberglass insulation which ours now were.
105 libtard…
how much does that kind of project cost? if i end up getting this house i’m interested in, i’d want to go ahead and do the cathedral thingie to give that space…
do you need permits to do this? then, do you get reassessed and taxed further?
does it make the room insulation less efficient?
thanks
On the home inspection thing – lots of times, there is a clause that says if the inspector misses something, they are only economically liable up to the cost of the inspection. I walked with the inspector during his visit to a home we were buying – he missed over $10k worth of stuff that I caught with my naked eye and pointed out to him. He didn’t like it, the seller didn’t like and the agents didn’t like it. I however did like it and saved myself some $$.
Rentlord – control your destiny or someone else will.
#95: A good arborist is worth whatever he costs. If you have old oak trees like I do, get them inspected every year. They can identify the ones that are hazards.
danxp: Every contractor will charge differently. Shouldn’t impact insulation at all. Price will depend on the work involved. Ours was really simple so it added about $500 to the original estimate for the kitchen renovation. If you are raising a roof and the ceiling…probably be a hell of lot more and potentially not worth it IMO. Then again, I don’t pay much for aesthetics.
you need a permit to move a load supporting beam.
#88 You can probably park on the side streets, although the ones closest to the station I am probably have some restrictions. The walk is not really that far, from the municipal parking lot, but I like to walk.Yes the funding issue will be in Oradell’s favor when it is resolved. It is just creating a lot of ill will between the two towns right now, even though if reversed RE would be doing the exact same thing.
Chi,
Posted already?
http://www.businessinsider.com/cornell-michael-abbott-cio-suddenly-steps-down-2011-5
no……. fcuk!
http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2011/05/aclu_sues_in_nj_over_fbi_ethni.html
Just another mommy/blogger from Montclair.
Deb Levy writes a blog called And For Poorer—all about one couple’s journey through life, love, and layoffs. See it at http://www.andforpoorer.com/
Posted on May 4, 2011 at 6:24pm
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“Are we rich?”
My 6-year-old really needed to know.
“It depends,” I tried explaining. “There are people with a lot more than us and people with a lot less.”
“But are we rich?”
It was a timely question, I suppose. His daddy had just gotten a job after a 15-month stint at Unemployment – the fact of which did not make answering him any easier. But what was he really asking? And more importantly, how do I make the most of this teachable moment?
“What does it mean to be rich?” I asked him. I really wasn’t trying to buy time, but rather I wanted to understand what lay beneath his question. Was he working out a way to go to Disney World, to get a DS? Or was he worried about our ability to meet his basic needs? Besides, all the parenting experts tell you to pose the tough questions back at the kids. (How do you think the baby comes out?)
But he needed to know, in no uncertain terms. “Just tell me! Are we rich?”
I thought back to the year-plus time my husband was unemployed. A great recession, a lousy job market, orthodontia bills looming in our future. We learned real quick to distinguish needs from wants, to be creative, to keep perspective and count our blessings.
Sure, there’d be days I’d worry about the corroded pipes in our 2nd floor bathroom promising to rain through the kitchen ceiling, hoping they’d hold out long enough for us to feel solvent again. And I wouldn’t be human if I didn’t at times bemoan the fact that the 529 plans were shrinking as our sons grew taller. But then I’d see my husband playing hockey on the driveway with the boys at 4:00 on a weekday afternoon. And I worried less about what we weren’t putting away for later, and thought look what we’re depositing in their now. And those pipes? How lucky are we to have a roof over our heads that could be destroyed by something that brings us fresh water whenever we need?
“Mo-meeee! Are we rich?!”
My son was still waiting for an answer as images of wealth flew through my mind. Veruca Salt, that spoiled little girl desperate to find the golden ticket; Daddy Warbucks, Bernie Madoff – before he went to jail, anyway. Who would want to be something so distasteful?
But those cultural references mean nothing to a 6-year-old. So as he waited for an answer, I asked myself silently – what is rich? Owning furniture you didn’t have to schlep home and build yourself? Doing your weekly grocery shop at Whole Foods? Bidding on the Bobbi Brown makeover at the school auction?
This was not boding well for my little guy.
And then I realized something. If we want our kids to grow up with a greater perspective, than we need to see the world through that lens as well.
So I answered my son. Yes, we are rich.
And as he audibly exhaled, I explained what that means. We can go to ShopRite and buy whatever food we need to feed our family. We have money to fill up the car with gas so that we can drive to the library and check out books. If we need to buy medicine or go to the doctor, we can afford it. We have land upon which to grow basil and a house to protect us from lightening and thunder. And we have enough to share with others.
This is true now, and it was true for the 15 months we went without steady income.
Perhaps wealth is not measured by an increase in your net worth, but a lowering of expectations. I’ve always maintained that if you go to bed at night next to your spouse, and neither your children nor any major appliances are leaking from places they shouldn’t – you’re living the good life.
Every day I don’t have to wake up and shoot somebody is a good day.
Hobo
margin on cme silver was hiked twice today
100 – Stu, for us Renos beat Karls hands down.
Fidelity just did a study of 1,000 investors with an average portfolio of $3,500,000. When asked how much money they would need to feel rich, they said $7,000,000.
If you ask someone with modest income what it would take – they probably answer $1,000,000.
It’s all relative. Wealth (being rich) is a concept, not a number.
As you rightly describe, being rich doesn’t have that much to do with having a lot of money.
Yeah, vodka, just walked in and saw this on ZH:
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/cme-margin-hike-4th-and-5th-charting-parabolic-rise-cme-silver-margin-hikes
Renos? I never heard of them. I already bought the appliances, but I’ll remember them for the next time. The place I used to outfit the two kitchens in the multi (Rainbow) was 20% higher than what I got from Karl’s. They said they can no longer negotiate web prices. Crazy. My guess is that they are going under.
John’s making me jones to be back up North, just to visit his front yard – obviously one with no Southern influences.
I had a yard sale last week and the only thing that sold were these hundred gallon plastic barrels my husband brings home from work ’cause he’s a pack rat and he hates to see them get tossed. The guy had a pick-up and didn’t say much.
I’m rich in that I can appreciate JJ. And, the fact that I feel a poem a comin’ on.
..but that one’s just for me.
SAS has not been heard from and Osama bites it. Coincidence?? I think not…..
They said they can no longer negotiate web prices.
Doubt they can compete with outfits like AJ Madison online if they aren’t doing massive business.
Renos has a shop in Paterson where you can sign for your goods to get the 3.5% tax.
you need a permit to move a load supporting beam.
You’ll need to go above and beyond just the permit application to change a load-bearing wall or move a beam/header. Most townships will require you to hire an engineer (read: $$) to provide plans and an engineering study.