From CNN/Money:
Foreclosures down for 7th straight month
The number of foreclosure filings issued in April plunged 34% from a year ago — the seventh straight month of declines.
And there were just 69,532 homes repossessed last month, a 32% fall from the peak last September just before the eruption of the “robo-signing” scandal, in which banks were found to be mishandling the foreclosure process.
Will the seeming good news continue? No way, said Rick Sharga of RealtyTrac, which issued the latest monthly figures on Thursday.
Even with the drop, there were nearly 220,000 foreclosure filings during the month, including notices of default, scheduled auctions and bank repossessions.
And there are 3.7 million borrowers at least 90 days late on payments. Normally a large percentage of them would already be in foreclosure. They are not — for two reasons.
One is that ongoing regulatory issues. Banks want to make sure their procedures are all in place.
Second, the banks have already saturated many markets with repossessions they’ve put back on the market.
“Banks can’t move inventory fast enough, at prices high enough, that they’re excited about foreclosing on any more homes,” said Sharga.
From MarketWatch:
Foreclosures hit 40-month low in April: RealtyTrac
The number of properties in the U.S. that received foreclosure filings dropped 34% in April from a year ago, bringing foreclosure activity to a 40-month low, according to market researcher RealtyTrac.
RealtyTrac said 219,258 properties got a filing in April, meaning one in every 593 housing units received a foreclosure filing during the month. The activity was down 9% from March, and on an annual basis notched its seventh straight monthly decline.
The declines continued to be attributed to major delays in processing foreclosures rather than a housing recovery, according to RealtyTrac.
Chief Executive James J. Saccacio said the delays occur in two stages. The first occurs between delinquency and foreclosure, when lenders and services are no longer automatically pushing loans that are more than 90 days delinquent. Saccacio said that delay was to allow for loan modifications, short sales and other alternatives. The second delay, according to Saccacio, is occurring after the foreclosure has started, as lenders are taking longer to complete the process.
Good Morning New Jersey
Pace of foreclosures slowed further in April:
http://seekingalpha.com/news-article/1069724-pace-of-foreclosures-slowed-further-in-april
LOS ANGELES — Fewer Americans had their homes repossessed by banks or were put on notice for being behind on their mortgage payments in April compared to a year ago.
That would ordinarily suggest improving fortunes for U.S. homeowners, but the decline had less to do with any turnaround in the housing market than with foreclosure processing delays that appear to be getting worse. That is threatening to drag out a housing recovery, foreclosure listing firm RealtyTrac Inc. said Thursday.
It’s taking longer for lenders to move against homeowners who have stopped paying their mortgage and to take back homes already in some stage of the foreclosure process. In states like New York, for example, it now takes an average of more than two years for a home to go from the initial stage of foreclosure to being repossessed by a bank, the firm said.
Those delays, partly due to banks working through foreclosure documentation problems that came to light last fall, means it could take many more years for lenders to deal with a backlog of seriously delinquent properties, which numbers up to 3.7 million, by some estimates.
“It’s going to take between three to four years just to get those loans into foreclosure at our current pace,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “And that doesn’t spell good news for the housing market.”
So is the spring selling season a bust?
Spring market DOA. All that’s left is the stench of death.
Good ultraviolence in Greece now. Can’t wait ’til we get a taste of it here.
For those who are trying to sell it will be years of a soft to declining market. I see no catalyst in the foreseeable future to stop this trend. I’m sure we can all agree that rates have only one way to go, they surly are not going to get much lower. Except for those graced to see unicorns regularly (jets12) it is a scarey proposition to buy, but it must be absolutely terrifying situation to be a seller.
Clot you have access, any numbers worth talking about yet?
Don’t see much of that Greek violence on the tube, Hmm.
Greeks, being taught how to love austerity (or else).
http://www.youtube.com/verify_age?next_url=http%3A//www.youtube.com/watch%3Fv%3Dcelyhv_P79Y%26feature%3Dplayer_embedded
mike (6)-
The only number I’m really focused on right now is 8.
That’s the number of completed foreclosures in Somerset County so far this year. All eight were portfolio lenders.
High-end mortgage guarantees to drop
http://seekingalpha.com/news-article/1065878-high-end-mortgage-guarantees-to-drop
Analysts say the U.S. government pulling back from mortgage support will likely jolt the high-end housing market, at least temporarily.
“We’re looking at more price drops, more foreclosures. This snowball that’s been rolling downhill is going to pick up some speed,” mortgage loan broker Rick Del Pozzo said, The New York Times reported Wednesday.
Del Pozzo was referring to the U.S. government’s plan to lower the limit on mortgages it will guarantee after three years of an increased limits meant to stabilize the housing market.
Congress raised the limit on mortgages it would guarantee $729,750 during the financial crisis from the standard $417,000.
The pre-crisis guarantee was meant to support home purchases at the medium and low end of the market. At this point, both Democrats and Republicans agree it is time to stop supporting high-end housing.
“There’s always going to be a line, and for the person just over it, it’s always going to be an arbitrary line,” said Michael Barr, former assistant treasury secretary.
“But there is no entitlement to living in a home that costs $750,000,” Barr said.
Nevertheless, pulling back support “will put more downward pressure on prices,” said National Association of Realtors President Ron Phipps.
Housing in America = Whitney Houston
“Banks can’t move inventory fast enough, at prices high enough, that they’re excited about foreclosing on any more homes,” said Sharga.
“It’s going to take between three to four years just to get those loans into foreclosure at our current pace,” said Rick Sharga, a senior vice president at RealtyTrac. “And that doesn’t spell good news for the housing market.”
Nevertheless, pulling back support “will put more downward pressure on prices,” said National Association of Realtors President Ron Phipps.
The declines continued to be attributed to major delays in processing foreclosures rather than a housing recovery, according to RealtyTrac.
Great morning for the housing market , guest just panned it on CNBC.
Barb:
To answer your question from last night about how long the renovations took, there was an 8 week lead time on the cabinets. If the contractor worked straight through, he probably could have completed the entire job in 5 weeks. 20 x 20 kitchen tiles went down yesterday. Today they let the thin-set dry. Tomorrow we get the grout and install the custom vanity in the bathroom upstairs among other things. Next week we tile the powder room and the eat in portion of the kitchen which requires a massive amount of floor leveling to be performed. The floor currently looks like a bowl. Then all that’s left is countertop(kitchen sink), backsplash and appliance installation. Probably 2 weeks of labor left total.
sx (10)-
That’s an insult to Whitney Houston.
Mikeinwaiting says:
May 12, 2011 at 6:41 am . Except for those graced to see unicorns regularly (jets12) it is a scarey proposition to buy, but it must be absolutely terrifying situation to be a seller.
_
I only point out where people like you are 100% incorrect. The problem with you and many here is you don’t accept facts that counter your opinion, it’s that simple. You then make an effort with the group of like minded one think this place is – to support your doom and gloom and with a total all out effort to obfuscate the facts. Would you like a couple of examples? Your comment above is there and plane for all to read, correct?
“In Greenwich, sales in the $5 million to $7 million range jumped 150 percent, from four sales in the first quarter of 2010 to 10 this year, according to a report prepared by Shore and Country Properties. Sales in the $2 million to $3 million range were up 36 percent.”
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/08/realestate/08wczo.html?_r=1&ref=realestate
“The report’s statistical picture of a robust Brooklyn market confirms data released by the Real Estate Board of New York on Thursday, which identified Brooklyn as the only borough in the city to record an increase in number of home sales in the period.
Median sales price in Brooklyn reached $475,000 in the first quarter, up 1.9% from the same time a year ago.
http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20110415/REAL_ESTATE/110419906/0/REAL_ESTATE
There is a pervasive unwillingness on this blog to concede we live in a world of micro markets (could be regional, could be price bracket, whatever) and most of the contributors and certainly the very core theme & tone of this place is disengaged from the facts and real world. In a nutshell, you all don’t let the facts get in the way of a good rant amongst ‘birds of a feather’ (people that enjoy dwelling in the negative, usually to feel better or justify their lot in life).
Generally what happens on this blog is now there will be a tremendous effort to marginalize and diminish the fact that Brooklyn runs counter to the gloom and doom drum beat that’s sounded here all day. Why? The group “one mind think” here acts to defend and prop each other up, at all cost, and preserve the ‘club’ or ‘family’ theme of doom and gloom.
You can mock me all day, and I am sure you will. I make money – and do so in any market. Earners don’t complain about the conditions. We figure out how and where with the current conditions we can still prosper. A lot of people are making a lot of money in NJ real estate, now. Others spend their day beating a drum.
Forgot to ask the question,
Mikeinwaiting says:
May 12, 2011 at 6:41 am . Except for those graced to see unicorns regularly (jets12) it is a scarey proposition to buy, but it must be absolutely terrifying situation to be a seller.
——-
I see this comment above as criticism of an optimist coupled with support and furthering along of fear. This is how you spend your time Mikeinwaiting? LOL. Where is your gain in this speech? There are a lot of solid spot on comments here, but there is also weird malcontent pathology entrenched here of people driven and motivated to see, view, and prefer negativity.
Stu, why on earth are you leveling a floor that bad? Is the kitchen on slab? If not, you better fix it right or your tiles will all crack and pop.
jets (14)-
OTOH, there are also brainwashed trolls like you. Enjoy your escalating property taxes in Brigadoon-on-Hackensack.
“There are a lot of solid spot on comments here, but there is also weird malcontent pathology entrenched here of people driven and motivated to see, view, and prefer negativity.”
Hey Jets it is called schadenfreude, the majority of us have been enjoying it for some time. go and look in the archives their have been multitudes of people like you have washed in from the sea of optimism over the years only to be dragged out by a cold hard fish slap of reality. Those of us who have bought, and there are a lot of us, have done it with a dose of reality your ilk will never understand. When my property drops another 20K in value from the price I bought it at, I’ll crack another beer and go oh well. It is not an investment but a house, if the taxes become too burdensome I’ll get more involved in state politics and maybe effect some change. That doesn’t work I’ll move probably at a loss. I’m not hopeful, nor do I care about the cost. Afterall it is just a roof over my head and a storage container for my families junk, if i wanted an investment I would have bought more silver.
Hoboken Bidding Wars Are Back!
http://hoboken411.com/archives/64229
This post is on a blog that used to be filled with useful information re Hoboken and its politics etc. Unfortunately the guy running the blog became a complete shill for this local politician who sold out the reform movement. Now to keep the funds coming in he apparently is going to be a complete shill to the RE community.
re #9 – The NAR may be bellyaching about the reduced federal guarantees from 729k to $417k, but how about NO Government program at all?
from the WSJ
Two lawmakers, a California Republican and a Michigan Democrat, are set to unveil legislation Thursday to replace mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac with at least five private companies that would issue mortgage-backed securities with explicit federal guarantees.
The measure is a compromise between conservative Republicans who have advanced bills to build a mostly private mortgage-finance system and Democrats, who say the government shouldn’t abandon the mortgage market.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704681904576317524068112278.html?mod=googlenews_wsj
Who heere has even set foot in a Sears or K-Mart the last few years, let alone thought of them as a key source for anything they need?
http://finance.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/12/eddie-lampert-dementor/?section=magazines_fortune
The K-mart on 35 in Wall is as depressing a place I have ever entered.
“five private companies that would issue mortgage-backed securities with explicit federal guarantees”
How is this different from Fannie and Freddie?
The assault on silver is now becoming laughable. I think the Hunt High will be taken out by the end of the summer.
“Above, we see a continuous 48-hour chart for silver from May 10 to May 11, 2011. You will notice that in Asia, on May 11, from the previous close on the New York Globex, silver futures rose nearly +2.5% . Then, after New York opened on May 11, silver precipitously tumbled to a low of $34.87, more than an 11.4% drop from its high in Asia just a few hours prior. Look familiar? It should.
The patterns in the silver futures market now mimic the exact manipulation patterns that manifested in gold futures during a 12-14 week period from July to October in 2008. During this period in 2008, gold exhibited flat or slightly rising behavior in Asia and then waterfall declines at the open in New York that took the price of gold during a 24-hour trading period consistently 2%, 3%, and 4% lower in New York from the highs in Asia on a daily basis. You may see all the charts I produced of these anomalies in gold futures behavior in Asia/New York during that period as well as my correspondences with the CFTC regarding this behavior here. Initially, the CFTC responded to the huge same-day anomalies in gold futures pricing between Asia and New York that I sent to them by stating that “the Chinese gold market is not a free market” and by implying that manipulation only occurred in Asia to drive gold higher every day while the New York gold futures market traded freely. Coincidentally, during this period of great anomalies in gold futures prices between Asia and New York, back then, as is the case with silver today, physical gold demanded much higher premiums over the daily low prices of paper gold established in New York, and this divergence in physical/paper prices did not usher in gold’s final gasp and a collapse in gold prices as many are predicting will happen with silver today (gold was trading in the low $800s back then). The only difference in the manipulation of paper silver now and the manipulation of paper gold in 2008 is that the bankers seem to now be intervening not only in London/New York now but also in Asia on select days to take advantage of the thinly traded Asian market to take down silver futures markets by executing a waterfall decline in minutes in the East on occasion as well. Still, from high to low, the prices of silver futures are consistently lower on a daily basis when trading in the West versus when trading in the East.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/history-repeats-itself-silver-futures-manipulation-2011-mimics-gold-futures-manipulation-20-0
Stu/Gator,
Here is what the new house needs:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/dining/a-tandoor-oven-brings-indias-heat-to-the-backyard.html
Shilling calling for further 20% housing price crash nationally… and since ny metro only declines by 3-5% for every 10% nationally, it means we might have another 8-10% decline ahead of us. But shillings middle name is worst case scenario so let’s apply a probability to that scenario.
Dummmm, dee, dummm dummmmm:
The one bright side of having bed bugs — if you wanted to be really optimistic about it — has always been that at least the tormenting critters didn’t transmit disease. But now researchers in Vancouver report that they’ve found bed bugs with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, or MRSA.
Read more: http://healthland.time.com/2011/05/12/thought-bed-bugs-were-bad-try-bed-bugs-with-mrsa/#ixzz1M91F3xcv
Go to Sale 9043 (cancelled) on this list. The lis pendens was filed against this property in spring of 2007. The owner freely admitted to me that she equity-stripped the place to send her kid to grad school (150K) and made only a handful of payments on the LOC before defaulting on both her loans.
Four years, payment-free…and no sheriff sale in sight. There have been at least ten adjournments on this case.
http://www.somcosheriff.org/Sales.htm
Tepco Says Fuel Rods at Fukushima Reactor Are Fully Exposed
http://www.businessweek.com/news/2011-05-12/tepco-says-fuel-rods-at-fukushima-reactor-are-fully-exposed.html
Well no sh!t Sherlock, maybe all we all guessed this a month ago when the radiation levels kept going up.
I’m shocked. Shocked, I tell you:
F.C.C. Commissioner Leaving to Join Comcast
By EDWARD WYATT
8:02 p.m. | Updated WASHINGTON — Four months after the Federal Communications Commission approved a hotly contested merger of Comcast and NBC Universal, one of the commissioners who voted for the deal said on Wednesday that she would soon join Comcast’s Washington lobbying office.
http://mediadecoder.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/11/f-c-c-commissioner-to-join-comcast/
Jets you are entitled to your opinion as am I. You think I am pathologically negative, I think you are divorced from reality (seeing unicorns) of the overall trend in RE. You read all the articles this morn, did I just make them up? What take would you derive from the continued slow bleed of foreclosures (downward pressure for years), & lower loan limits on gov guarantees on the high end (think BC county). Please stick around as Pain said your ilk have come & gone. In fall when RE is still in the sh*t after a spring selling season that wasn’t the calls will be that it will be better in 2012. I’ve heard that song before, of course it is different in your little corner of the world. By the way I have no dog in the hunt I sold my properties in 05 & 06. I now rent & have no intention of buying in NJ, no schadenfreude here just calling them like I see them.
The next thing you know, we will start seeing people going back and forth between Goldman and Treasury.
re # 18 -HEHEHE
You are misinformed. The politicians are trying to destroy that blogger because he is telling the truth about their incompetence, and they cannot have that when their bread and butter is entrenchment and cronyism. Much like the many real-estate types who attempted to destroy Grim’s creditability and his blog. Very few things will make more of a difference in what your condo is worth than who runs Hoboken and how they run it, and how low the taxes are. They have not delivered the tax cuts as promised only parking spots on the street rental cars which you could always get by walking a few blocks. Paying $13k in taxes on a 2 Br condo? Well guess what it is going up not down. I watched the Mayor at the Ferry during the last election tell people that she is not lowering the surplus and not cutting taxes anymore.
The very fact that Toll Brothers broke ground and built that monstrosity is a testament to the Hoboken market. It is not 2006 ( and prices won’t be going that way for a long time) but they are still moving allot of condos and renting allot of units. The newer rental on the other corner of 15th and Hudson is also full as well. Toll is doing very well in Hoboken.
Here is some recent stats, moving around 20 condos a week looks decent don’t you think for a little mile square town?
* 387 active Hoboken condo units – vs. 379 last week
* 17 DABOs (Deposit Accepted By Owner i.e. under contract) vs. 8 dabos last week
* 21 sold vs. 22 sold
* 40 new listings vs. 36
* 25 price reductions vs 21
* 1 expired listings vs. 10
“Tepco Says Fuel Rods at Fukushima Reactor Are Fully Exposed”
In other news, Tepco’s CEO discovers that 1 times 1 is the same as 1 divided by one.
Wall Street Journal told us the Old Testament and an old saying on Wall Street sums up the housing crisis.
The housing bubble was from 1999-2006. Seven Years, the Bible states seven years of feast is followed by seven years of fanime. Following that we are five years in and two to go.
Other saying is Assets may shrink but Liabilities don’t. People forgot a 500K zero down IO loan will always be 500K, but the 500K house can easily become a 300K house.
Going-out-of-business sales also move a lot of product.
Shore 29 You can’t make this stuff up, waited a whole 4 months.
Bingo, John.
That puts Fukushima past Chernobyl on my own personal scale of awful.
jj (34)-
Old soccer saying: form is fleeting, but quality is permanent.
re #22 – There are a number of new bills to REFORM Fannie and Freddie out there, remember trillions in revolving Mortage business is too tempting for the banks to ignore.
http://www.opencongress.org/search/result?q=fannie&submit.x=0&submit.y=0&submit=Search&search_congress%5B112%5D=112&search_bills=1&search_people=1&search_committees=1&search_issues=1&search_comments=1
Dissident.22
It’s entirely conceivable that there will be several other additional smaller but regional Fannie and Freddie type companies but I wouldn’t count on them going away. It doesn’t make any sense to destroy and rebuild them just to say we did.
Hype 28
Reactor 4 building is in danger of collapsing and is starting to lean. The spent fuel pool in that building contains multiple cores worth of fuel rods. Such a worst case scenario as the collapse of a reactor building with multiple cores worth of spent fuel rods in an unshielded pool was never considered a possibility and there are no known or projected scenarios for cleaning that up. The wreckage of the building would probably be too radioactive to even approach for years. Tepco has actually managed to make Chernobyl look like a less then worst case scenario. Dont forget that there is evidence that intermittent ciriticalities are still occurring in the melted fuel.
If you’re curious, follow Arnie Gunderson on the fukushima mess. He is a nuclear engineer with a long history in the field.
Hobo 38
Fukushima is already beyond Chernobyl. Its saving grace so far has been that a large % of the fallout has been blown out over the pacific as opposed to inhabited land masses.
I for one welcome our eye laser beam shooting irradiated tuna overlords.
Shore,
tepco’s plan to prevent the collapse of the reactor 4 building is to shore it up with 30 something steel beams. How do they plan to insert these beams within the structure without using Biorobots, Is it a feasible plan even if they willing to send the biorobots into promptly lethal doses? The radiation levels from the exposed pool at 4 prevent people from going anywhere near it for more then very brief periods. That SFP is one of the primary loads that must be re-enforces per Tepco and independent anaylsis.
#14 Crtiticism of what optimistic? Falling prices are a good thing. yes, a good thing. It opens the way for the next genration to buy. Just becaue prices increased to insanse levels, and because of that, many heloced their homes and blew all of their equity, why should the next generation of buyers pay for those mistakes?
Shore
“Plans also call for installing 30 steel pillars beneath the spent fuel tank at unit 4, which was badly damaged by an earlier fire and hydrogen explosion. By the end of July, a wall 3 to 6 feet thick will then be built around them, the newspaper reported.”
re # 41- Pat ” It doesn’t make any sense” It’s just a Rinse and Repeat.
The mortgage market is 1.5 trillion in origination currently although it may go down quite a bit the profits are tempting and the sharks are circling. The banks get to start 5 new Freddie’s and Fannies with government guarantees and no debt. They would get to cherry pick the good mortgages too and saddle the taxpayers with the remaining trash. $183 Billion of taxpayer bailout support so far is only the drop in the bucket for Fannie and Freddie.According to CoreLogic, approximately 11 million, or 23%, of all residential properties with mortgages were in a negative equity position in the fourth quarter of 2010. Going to be allot of additional pain in the future for the taxpayers.
Sharks with freakin laser beams, coming to a Pacific Island paradise sometime soon….
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bh7bYNAHXxw
Why do we want the government “supporting” the housing market through fannie/freddie? All their efforts do is shift all prices upwards in the same manner that happens with college tuition due to non-dischargable government based student loans. It would be in everyone’s best interest for the government to get out of the mortgage market
#25 Property tax increases are going to drive prices down further here, away from what occurs on the national level IMO. Most towns now even the marginal ones have or are approaching yearly property taxes of 10K; in many places it is 12k and more. This for 3 bed 1.5 bath POS capes,
There is simply not enough so called Wall st money to buy even in the better towns. And this belief that there is a yearly horde of Wall Streeters ready to pounce on all the blue ribbon towns with massive bonus money is simply a myth.
re #51- Wall St bonuses are now much, much smaller for the crowd that would actually buy in the Blue Ribbon train towns. The ballers all have a place in the city and a house in the Hamptons. They don’t slum it in Brigadoon on the Hackensack.
[17] Painhrtz … “cold hard fish slap of reality” … this site always brings a smile to my morning.
[32] Van Down by the River — I’m just curious, is your van down by the Hackensack River? If so, please scout out Brigadoon-on-Hackensack for us when you get a chance, because I’m still waiting for Jets12 to come up with any explanation why it’s different there.
#52 So true. And alot of the big bucks Wall St hiring is now for positions overseas, not in the NYC metro area.
Happy renter, Carp and old tires bring up home values as well as sulphurus low tides. You have never lived or worked in the burbs of Bergen county have you. : )
WOW olde english spelling of sulfur! stupid phone
Problem I have with the whole nj home price correction is this: Average price correction overal is roughly 24% since 2006 for region. Well let’s break that down further… uninhabitable inner cities crashed 45%, towns that were once middle class, back when we had a middle class, now have gangs in the schools and have crashed 25-30%, completely out of reach mcmansions and estates have crashed 30% but are still unaffordable. The solid towns with decent demographics and schools, which are the ones most here are considering, are only down 10%. Meanwhile taxes for all of the above are up over 30% since 2006. I guess this is part of the middle class squeeze.
Kettle1 – writing was on the wall when the Japanese would not accept our help and pump those reactors full of boron. They are trying to perhaps save reactor 5 + 6. It is going to be a hot summer in Japan with no air-conditioning. I wounder if the Japanese Self Defense forces will have to go around confiscating air conditioners to keep the whole grid from melting down?
Kettle1 – writing was on the wall when the Japanese would not accept our help and start filling those reactors full of boron. They are trying to perhaps save reactor 5 and 6. It is going to be a hot summer in Japan with no air-conditioning. I wounder if the Japanese military forces will have to go around confiscating air conditioners to keep the whole grid from melting down?
I’m envious of Van Down By The River’s handle.
Babs should have known you were a Farley fan
Did Jets fly off into the sunset already. Jets what is your catalyst for optimism on pricing (going up)
& as 3b said why are higher prices desirable? Someone holding a bag. Demographics are against higher prices. Unemployment/% of people working in the work force not to mention the quality of jobs being reported point to lower pricing. Rates that have no ware to go but up with taxes going up also. Foreclosures continuing for years. Please give a few reasons for prices to go up I’d be interested to know them.
Shore,
Think of fukushima as a potential warm up exercise for indian point. :)
Grim (15):
Eat in portion of kitchen is indeed on a cement slab about 2 feet thick. It was a screened porch before the renovation. I’m not sure why the originally concrete was poured to slope to the middle, but I doubt that it sunk that way. A slab of concrete doesn’t change shape as far as I know.
Clot,
silver at 32. ready for a new handle?
“Its saving grace so far has been that a large % of the fallout has been blown out over the pacific as opposed to inhabited land masses.”
Got seafood?
50.Kettle1^2 says:
Why do we want the government “supporting” the housing market through fannie/freddie?
The reality is that 95% of the mortgage market now goes through fannie/freddie. Private market participation is practically zero. If you abolish fannie/freddie, you basically won’t be able to get a mortgage….total meltdown of housing. 10 years ago, fannie/freddie had around 60% market share, everyone was happy with it, and that’s where it should get back to. The two entities were set up in anticipation of what we’re seeing now. In a totally private market, there would be nothing to prevent the disapearance of mortgage offerings altogether…total armageddon of the housing market and U.S economy. Not that I’m defending them but it is what it is
Van,
Nice try Ace. The reason taxes haven’t gone down in Hoboken is due to the past 20 years of mismanagement, graft, and overpayment to municipal employees under Russo and Roberts. Anybody who stepped in after Russo and Roberts was screwed as Mayor as they inherited that fiscal mess.
Beth Mason financed Hoboken411 from the get go. Perry Klaussen was just her man behind the computer. When reform won out Beth didn’t end up Mayor so she threw her hat in with the Russo’s of the world and tried to paint currrent Mayor Zimmer as the second coming of the Roberts/Russo corruption machine.
I didn’t fall of the turnip truck. I’ve lived in Hoboken for 13 years and seen the corruption firsthand. Everything that deals with politics on that website is bought and paid for by Beth Mason and written by Lane Bajardi her little hatchet man.
Don’t even lump Grim in the same category as Klaussen. Last I checked the only people throwing Grim $$$ is the people on this blog – me included.
#57 In my blue ribbon town prices appear to be down almost 20% from peak. Oh and there is a ton of inventory on the market right now, most I have seen this time of year in the last few years. I wont argue with you, but IMO prices are not done falling;even in the better towns.
njx-pat
total armageddon of the housing market and U.S economy. Not that I’m defending them but it is what it is
Initially, yes. but that would just be the correction as the artificial government influence was removed form the system. You would then see home prices revert to levels that are attainable by the average family without having to use substantial leverage. That is historically how it has worked. Its no different then a junky not wanting to give up heroin because it makes him feel good and the withdrawal will be a b1tch.
I dont think this board is even close to negative. We need much more doom. The people are overly optimistic IMO. Im trying to get a seat on the Committee of 300 to create even more devastation. Wish me luck.
Van: thank you for this post; having lived in the Tea Building until 2007, this color sounds on target to me. I think there is still a lot of pain in the town though. A number of people stuck or hurting, but that said, it has always been a town built on transients, and over the course of several years (2007-2011) it is natural to have a flushing out of the pipes…….it is likely one of the healthiest markets around in that it has some volumes so real market based pricing can be observed.
My family was up at the Tea Building on Saturday and we were really disappointed at how busy it was. When we moved there in 2003, it was such an enclave. There was no 15th Street and there was a kiosk right beyond the Hoboken Reporter Building and the Bank right in the middle of Washington Street. The thing we always remembered was the calmness of the area…….we always knew that the current state was going to be the endgame and through the passage of time it is only going to get worse, but it is still too bad to finally see it in the flesh…..
Van Down by the River says:
May 12, 2011 at 9:34 am
re # 18 -HEHEHE
You are misinformed. The politicians are trying to destroy that blogger because he is telling the truth about their incompetence, and they cannot have that when their bread and butter is entrenchment and cronyism. Much like the many real-estate types who attempted to destroy Grim’s creditability and his blog. Very few things will make more of a difference in what your condo is worth than who runs Hoboken and how they run it, and how low the taxes are. They have not delivered the tax cuts as promised only parking spots on the street rental cars which you could always get by walking a few blocks. Paying $13k in taxes on a 2 Br condo? Well guess what it is going up not down. I watched the Mayor at the Ferry during the last election tell people that she is not lowering the surplus and not cutting taxes anymore.
The very fact that Toll Brothers broke ground and built that monstrosity is a testament to the Hoboken market. It is not 2006 ( and prices won’t be going that way for a long time) but they are still moving allot of condos and renting allot of units. The newer rental on the other corner of 15th and Hudson is also full as well. Toll is doing very well in Hoboken.
Here is some recent stats, moving around 20 condos a week looks decent don’t you think for a little mile square town?
* 387 active Hoboken condo units – vs. 379 last week
* 17 DABOs (Deposit Accepted By Owner i.e. under contract) vs. 8 dabos last week
* 21 sold vs. 22 sold
* 40 new listings vs. 36
* 25 price reductions vs 21
* 1 expired listings vs. 10
Kettle,
It sounds like they are building a sarcophagus in the sky.
Al we are so negative a bunch of us bought houses : )
As for Fuk-U-Shima, it is beginning to sound like a Japanese version of This is Spinal Tap:
Wer’e one higher. Chernobyl went to seven, we go to eight. See here? Ours go to eight. So, we’re one worse.
Thoughts from the tech gurus?
http://techcrunch.com/2011/05/07/why-the-new-guy-cant-code/
Chi/Van,
Not saying there aren’t units moving but
1) prices are declining in Hoboken and will continue to decline
2) a bidding war isn’t much solace when all it means is that instead of being 70K underwater on the sale you are 60K underwater.
I was shocked to hear that Billy Graham has been admitterd to hospital. I thought he was dead.
“I was shocked to hear that Billy Graham has been admitterd to hospital. I thought he was dead.”
Superstar or Reverend
3b. Town like river edge is perfect example of my frustration. Lots of inventory but the deals are limited to the older, smaller, neglected, one bath, undesireable inventory. Updated 4/2s with basement and garage seem to be holding strong. Im not complaining about a 10% correction but I was hoping for more by now.
agreed
Nation of Wussies HEHEHE says:
May 12, 2011 at 11:32 am
Chi/Van,
Not saying there aren’t units moving but
1) prices are declining in Hoboken and will continue to decline
2) a bidding war isn’t much solace when all it means is that instead of being 70K underwater on the sale you are 60K underwater.
Shore 71
Sarcophagus in the sky…… Gee that sounds like a great idea in a crumbling reactor building in a highly active earthquake zone that sits in a tsunami zone. I still say drain the pools and pump them full of liquid silica. That buys you time (and immobilization of radioactive materials) to develop long term clean up solutions
modify a few of these:
http://www.carbonbasedpartners.com/ppgs.html
and ship them on over.
Stu,
A thought about that slab. I lived in a couple of places with slabs. One had radiant heat and the other did not. I would look into installing some electric radiant heat mats under the tile you plan on installing. Fifty-degree ground temp is really cold on feet in the winter.
“If you abolish fannie/freddie, you basically won’t be able to get a mortgage….total meltdown of housing.”
Translation, fannie and freddie have caused an artificial inflating of home prices. Do away with them and let the market provide lending. If there is no demand at high prices, eventually there will be at low prices. If people can’t get millstone mortgages at high prices, they will either get mortgages at low prices or pay for cash at low prices.
We need housing ipecac syrup.
“Gee that sounds like a great idea in a crumbling reactor building in a highly active earthquake zone that sits in a tsunami zone. ”
Maybe that is what the chief engineer said to the CEO just before the CEO told the Board that the chief engineer thinks this is a great idea, and the Board told the prime minister that the company has a great idea that both the chief engineer, the company president and board all fully endorse.
Soon the Emperor will be urging that all nuke plants build such facilities.
vodka (61)-
May change my handle to Rinse and Repeat.
Sort of like this:
In the beginning was the Plan.
And then came the Assumptions.
And the Assumptions were without form.
And the Plan was without substance.
And darkness was upon the face of the Workers.
And they spoke among themselves, saying,
“It is a crock of sh*t, and it stinks.”
And the Workers went unto their Supervisors and said,
“It is a pail of dung, and we can’t live with the smell.
And the Supervisors went unto their Managers, saying,
“It is the container of the excrements, and it is very strong,
such that none may abide by it.”
And the Mangers went unto their Directors, saying,
“It is a vessel of fertilizer, and none may abide its strength.”
And the Directors spoke among themselves, saying to one another,
“It promotes growth, and it is very powerful.”
And the Vice Presidents went to the President, saying unto him,
“This new plan will actively promote the growth and vigor of the company
with very powerful effects.”
And the President looked upon the Plan and saw that it was good.
And the Plan became Policy.
And that is how sh*t happens.
HE (77)-
That post just got you onto God’s shit list.
Silver rallying against all the manipulators.
Higher lows, higher highs.
Pain (72):
“Al we are so negative a bunch of us bought houses : )”
Actually, the fact we bought houses is probably WHY we are so negative.
Shore (24):
“HomeDor”
If I had money to burn, I would burn it in that tandor.
Shore (81):
“Radiant heat?”
See #24 above. Slippers should work just fine.
NE,
There are towns with decent demographics, schools in NJ whose prices have fallen 20-30%, but I think they are a bit further west than daily NYC commuters would prefer. I used to live in Scotch Plains, it’s right next door to trophy town Westfield, and it’s decent “demographically”, schools are above average, and homes are down about 20% from peak. For folks working downtown not midtown, Raritan Valley Line + Path beats the midtown direct + subway. And the bus gets you to the Port Authority in under an hour.
Stu,
You really are a cheapskate.
Clot,
Two dear-boss jokes for you:
If it is all the same to you I won’t be coming in to work.
The voices told me to clean all the guns today.
I can’t come in to work today because I’ll be stalking my previous
boss, who fired me for not showing up for work. OK?
Stu that is because your on the hook for two of them (houses that is)
“And the bus gets you to the Port Authority in under an hour.”
The rest of ther country laughs at us when we tout such things.
I cant wait to have my IRA confiscated. It should fit nicely in my _ss with the other assortment of boots.
I cant wait to have my retirement c_nfiscated. It should fit nicely in my _ss with the other assorted boots.
On Fannie/Freddie,
Observing financial markets around the world, I come to a conclusion that households will basically borrow as much as financial institutions will allow them to. And they will spend much of it on things which convey relative status. Homes and cars for example, especially in the US. Users of “consumer loans” seem to have an unlimited ability to lie to themselves about their ability to pay them back, and systematically overestimate their future incomes.
Governments will spend as much as they can borrow on things that give it power.
Financial systems without central banks and without government guarantees of depositors tend to be much stingier with loans without good collateral and/or a very clear path to repayment. That’s because banks in such systems have to worry about depositor runs.
I cant wait to have my retirement stolen. It should fit nicely in my _ss with the other assorted boots.
Shore,
That’s the price we pay for higher median incomes than the rest of the country too. It may also be why people read a bit more here – commuters have more time for it. A lot of reading for my NYU MBA was done on a train.
For the high end large homes trade up homes in the one million dollar plus ranges which are expensive to heat, maintain etc and whose tax have risen faster than inflation are being harder hit as people are aging, have smaller families, gas prices are high which means they want smaller easier to maintain and heat homes closer to the city.
That combined with the soon to come 100K cut in jumbo mortgages means short term more pain.
However, I think what these homes need is one last pin to prick the bubble, they are getting close to bottom.
My goal now is to stop house hunting, watch what I bid on to see what they actually sell for, wait till December-July to start house hunting again after new jumbo limits kick in. Closing is really expensive. I might just say what the heck find a good short sale, REO or estate sale for 700k to 999K, pay cash, avoid expensive mortage and mansion tax, then take out a 100K HELOC after closing and renovate it. The damm closing costs, mansion tax, mortgage interest, jumbo rates make all one million dollar plus homes a losing proposition unless you have higher than normal home appreciation. I still don’t see that happening for years.
Catching a low rate now is stupid if home prices still fall. that 700K loan on the 900K house at 3% is worthless once the house is 100k down.
I just cant figure out how a house in a low-elevation river delta could flood. How could anyone have forseen this tragedy?
http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/12/mississippi-delta-flooding-getting-scary/
“one last pin to prick the bubble”
Instead, we will get one last prick to pin the problem on the productive middle.
From the Fox story:
Mississippi Gov. Haley Barbour urged people to get out if they think there is even a chance their homes will flood. He said there is no reason to believe a levee on the Yazoo River would fail, but if it did, 107 feet (33 meters) of water would flow over small towns.
Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/05/12/mississippi-delta-flooding-getting-scary/#ixzz1M9iISKu8
107 feet below the water? Sounds like the perfect place to build a house.
#78 Updated 4/2s with basement and garage seem to be holding strong.
Lots of those sitting around in my town two with asking prices of 50 to 100K less than what the same houses sold at during the bubble. Our NYC metor area may be the last to fall, but fall we are. Seeing it now much more dramatically than in the last few years.
Shore one of the idiot talking heads said of the flooding, “that it would remove all the valuable topsoil from farmland.” Shook my head and said to myself, how do you think it became valuable farmland moron.
Shore,
I have extended family with a “lake house” right off of the Mississippi. It is built on top of large foam blocks and anchored to vertical I beams. 10 ft floods there are not uncommon. Its not a problem for the house though, as it just floats with the water levels. That immediate area is the only place i have ever seen that or even heard of it.
#68 Yes and perhaps with really attainable housing prices, you could have people really ou there stimulating the economy. No to mention all the potential additional savings and investment, if people were not wasting their money on inflated mtg payments.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dqp1rKCtvI&feature=fvsr
I highly recommend that everyone appeal their property taxes. Im hearing big assesment reductions. Dont give the useless eaters anymore money.
>Mikeinwaiting says: Demographics are against higher prices.
–
Not in Brooklyn, and that’s my point to you. You speak in language of simpleton 101, as if it’s a monolithic market. You took 1 class economics 101 and declare things that don’t apply to many markets, except you don’t realize it, or accept it.
I’ve well illustrated you’re incapable of explaining or even acknowledging that one of the largest communities in the USA, Brooklyn, is doing just fine, sales are up in 2011 over 2010 despite no tax perk/incentive in 2011, median price is up in 2011 over 2010, it’s all well documented, I gave you the link. This is a fact, and it’s a fact that does not fit into your diatribe drum beat.
When presented with the facts, the real easy to document facts, you ignore them since they don’t fit your mantra, kind of screws up the credence in your rant, right?
My only point is you speak in the ‘macro’, you make arguments in the ‘macro’ and the real world functions in the ‘micro’, and people making money in the ‘micro’ today, this very day, don’t give a rat’s ass about your or anyone on this blog’s rants that say the sky is falling. In fact, while you dopes are offering up negative comment or news after negative comment or news, some Real Estate agent out there is closing a deal and earning a commission. People are buying homes. Well educated people, many more educated than you, are making the decision to purchase a home in New Jersey, just like the founder of this blog announced last week, for their own reasons.
That’s what you don’t speak to, the facts. That intelligent rational shrewd conservative people make the decision to purchase homes in NJ every single day, just like the founder of this blog did last week.
What do you do? You want to (1) Ignore Speaking to How Brooklyn is doing just fine, (2) Take ‘macro’ valueless speech and plug it into ‘micro markets’ and hope readers are too stupid to see that does not fit. You rely in inference, not facts. You rely on obfuscation of facts of mirco markets, and declare ‘macro’ points. Meanwhile? real people are buying homes, real estate agents earning commissions, the world is moving.
That’s the point. Despite all your nonsense spewed here that you google search, the real world is moving forward. spending, making money. you’re the dimwit locked in time, standing there insisting the sky is falling. trying to force feed macro date into micro markets, etc. That’s how you function here. It’s just amusing and illustrative of a pathological malcontent.
Think about it. Since the founder of this blog bought a house in NJ last week, doesn’t that in and of itself deflate the mantra and rant of you all here? What does this blog do? you make an understandable excuse as to why the founder of this blog is still sane, smart, intelligent, wise, rational, etc. But everyone else that did the same thing as the founder of this blog? They’re all crazy, dumb, stupid, clueless, etc.
That’s basically the story here, is it not?
Shore 100
100ft? a little sensationalism perhaps? 10 or 20 ft is more like it.
3b
if people were not wasting their money on inflated mtg payments.
My GOD MAN! What are you suggesting!? What will the banks feed off of if the are living off of interest streams that amount to 100+% of the purchase price of the home by the time the mortgage is paid off.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5Dqp1rKCtvI&feature=fvsr
When the Levee Breaks. A great old blues tune that Zep actually improved.
“What will the banks feed off of ”
10% origination fees.
You can’t make this stuff up:
J.P. Morgan’s hunt for Afghan gold
A team of bankers starts to tap the country’s vast mineral riches, with help from the Pentagon.
http://management.fortune.cnn.com/2011/05/11/jp-morgan-hunt-afghan-gold/
Shore
Party on garth!!!
Children Don Masks, Hats in Fukushima as Radiation Looms
Students at the Shoyo Junior High School in Fukushima are wearing masks, caps and long-sleeved jerseys to attend classes as their exposure to radiation is on pace to equal annual limits for nuclear industry workers.
“Students are told not to go out to the school yard and we keep windows shut,” said Yukihide Sato, the vice principal at Shoyo Junior High in Date city, about 60 kilometers (37 miles) northwest from the crippled Fukushima Dai-Ichi nuclear station. “Things are getting worse, but I don’t know what to do.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-11/fukushima-students-wear-masks-as-radiation-looms.html
To bad that children are exponentially (log) more sensitive to radiation exposure then healthy adults.
Shore 111
10% origination fee isnt a problem when the average home is 1 – 2x average income and you have a 30% LTV.
Westy, if I didn’t clarify earlier, id like to now. Your timing, rationalization and confidence of selling slv two weeks ago, right before the pullback, was extremely impressive, especially considering its extremely contrarian nature. I realize it was only one trade but you can’t learn that in an mba. Moves like that will boost your market oracle bragging rights status straight into the jj/bc/grim level.
For prom season in Fuk-U-Shima:
Gowns with 24% lead crystal sequins and beads. Don’t let fallout keep you from stepping out. Now available in cobolt blue, strontium-flame red, in addition to the ever-popular Yellowcake.
68.Kettle1^2, and 82.Shore Guy
May 12, 2011 at 11:22 am
You would then see home prices revert to levels that are attainable by the average family without having to use substantial leverage.
That’s already happening on its own, although not in NJ….yet The disconnect from home prices and average family income was due to non-conforming (private) no doc products which no longer exist. Right now, you’re probably not going to get a mortgage that you can’t actually afford. 5.00% fixed is around the cheapest its ever been for mortgage money so I don’t know how you can say the gov’t is inflating costs.
10 years ago there was nothing wrong with the mortgage industry. Right now, besides non involvement by the private market there is nothing wrong with the mortgage industry. The problem is, there’s a massive heap of legacy $hit that has to be cleaned up and that’s going to hurt real bad
“10% origination fee isnt a problem when the average home is 1 – 2x average income and you have a 30% LTV”
Bingo. So, where is the problem? Is the problem preventing people who should not be going into deep debt from going into debt in some absurd attempt to keep up with those who are in a better economic position? If so, bring it on. I experienced many years of wanting a house without having the financial ability to afford one. When I could, I bought. Had some program “gotten me into a house” before I was a viable purchasert, I would have spent years skating on the edge of financial ruin.
2 homes…don’t remind me!
I wonder if J. Peterman is carrying any of those clothes. I better check the magazine rack when I get home.
Stu,
Remember, home is where the heart is.
So said Jeffrey Dahmer.
Shore 118
Why do you and Barbara hate poor people?
Now what will he do with cash? Hard part of trading is know when to buy, then to sell, then to buy, then to sell, then to buy – it is endless. Other part is commodities, real estate, stocks, bonds etc. You have to switch between asset classes depending on opportunity. My January to April Muni Bond purchases right now look great. But now I am at the point the run up was so quick and unexpected last few weeks I have to start selling. Sold a muni today I bought at end of December for 102 at 112 and still got five months tax free interest. That is just crazy to get over 10% return on a muni held for five months.
Silver is a tough investment, you can’t own it you have to rent it.
Neanderthal Economist says:
May 12, 2011 at 12:50 pm
Westy, if I didn’t clarify earlier, id like to now. Your timing, rationalization and confidence of selling slv two weeks ago, right before the pullback, was extremely impressive, especially considering its extremely contrarian nature. I realize it was only one trade but you can’t learn that in an mba. Moves like that will boost your market oracle bragging rights status straight into the jj/bc/grim level.
Having been poor, I don’t hate them. I do, on the other hand, hate feel-good policies that hurt both the economy as a whole and individuals all while masquerading as beneficial policy. If housing prices dropped 50%, it would do more to help the poor obtain housing than any policy government has adopted in the past 50 years.
This will be good theatre.
Ben Bernanke: Raise Debt Ceiling Now
“Federal Reserve chief Ben Bernanke reinforced his call on Thursday for Congress to raise the cap on U.S. borrowing, saying a failure to do so could lead down the same risky path that the failure of Lehman Brothers did.
During a Senate Banking Committeee hearing, Bernanke reiterated catastrophic consequences should Congress either fail to raise the limit on borrowing or edge too close to that limit.
“The worst outcome would be one in which the financial system would be again destabilized, which we saw in Lehman, which would have extremely dire consequences for the rest of the economy,” Bernanke said, referring to the period following the failure of the Wall Street bank Lehman Brothers at the height of the financial crisis in 2008.
Bernanke also said that “using the debt limit as a bargaining chip is quite risky,” reiterating a worry he expressed in a February press conference.”
http://finance.yahoo.com/news/Bernanke-Raise-debt-ceiling-cnnm-3863341379.html?x=0&sec=topStories&pos=main&asset=&ccode=
If the cap isnt raised by July Im going to do a preemptive bank run.
The Republicans are right to use the budget cap as a “gun the the head” during negotiations. Without this pressure, the Dems will not be inclined to make cuts that MUST be made to save the nation’s finances.
Perhaps this is one citizen we should rethink allowing to roam the streets:
http://www.kmov.com/news/local/Possible-shooter-on-Rolla-university-campus-121703754.html
Budget cuts are essential. Shrinking government is essential. It is deeply unsettling to someone who used to have to make a single can of tuna last for two or more days look at a seven-figure net worth and wonder if it is going to go poof because of unconscionable and inept actions taken by our elected representatives and their leash holders.
Helicopter Ben translator
Waaaah, raise the debt ceiling so we can further debase your currency and enslave your grand children with sovereign version of student loans waaahh!!!!
I am far from poor. At this point, I own nearly a million dollars in real estate assets alone.
Actually, let me restate this.
The insolvent banks who have provided me 3 loans for nearly $700,000 in real estate assets are poor. Thanks to the release of mark to market and the public backstop of Fannie and Freddie, it’s really you who are funding my assets.
Trust me, I’ve got plenty of skin in retirement assets. Way, way more than I have in equity on the homes you are all providing me with.
So who is poor here? The renter or me?
Stu,
How are things looking on a net-worth basis? I am sure that you two are in great shape but, I would not be able to sleep at night with multiple mortgages. Heck, I did not even like one back when we had one.
In thr realm of, one just cannot make-up this stuff:
Tillerson Says Big Oil Needs $21 Billion U.S. Aid
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-11/exxon-s-tillerson-says-higher-oil-taxes-won-t-help-u-s-budget.html
Shore guy…The net worth is fine. Keep in mind, in about another month, my multi should be either break even (if there’s a lot of maintenance) or slightly profitable (if there isn’t). My 3.75% interest HELOC (piggy back replacement) should be paid off in a couple of years. Then I just essentially have one mortgage left to pay for. The killer was paying nearly 50K in CASH on the renovation on top of the 10% downpayment for the new place. All in all, we are in decent shape. I actually expected the renovation to cost a lot more. At this point, we are still $3,000 under my original back of the envelope estimate. Who knows, maybe central air might be in our near-term future? All the meanwhile, still contributing a hefty chunk to the 401K and will probably restart funding the IRAs for the upcoming tax year. A raise once a decade would be nice though.
I wonder what the punishment is for breaking the pledge?
You Are NOT Allowed to Commit Suicide: Workers in Chinese iPad Factories Forced to Sign Pledges
snip
http://voices.allthingsd.com/20110506/you-are-not-allowed-to-commit-suicide-workers-in-chinese-ipad-factories-forced-to-sign-pledges/?mod=atd_outbrain
And a mortgage is great as long as you are saving and earning more than 4.25% per year on the money borrowed. Of course, the only person I know who couldn’t figure out how to make more than 4.25% is the federal government and the public pension funds.
Shore 134 the shakedown has officially become blatant and overt. WE are all Zimbabwaians
Shore
given how ling it would take to foreclose, think about how much stu could sock away if he decided to default on all of his mortgages and ride it out for 3 years, while still collecting rent one his one property!
“WE are all Zimbabwaians”
Well, I was kind of banking on inflation to minimize my mortgage debt. Not necessarily Zimbabwe type inflation, but perhaps late-80s (I think that’s when it was) Mexican type inflation.
al (126)-
What the Bernank fails to understand is that the US has become a giant Lemon Brothers.
re # 68 – HEHEEHE, the city taxes went from around $40 million in around 2002 to $102 million only a short year ago because of the mismanagement but it was really only Roberts who ran the off budget/off books scams. The reality is the current Mayor running the show did not gut the crony workforce as was demanded by the taxpayers, only modest retirements from the Police and then promotions with raises were handed out enforce just like the Fire Dept this week. They are now saving 2 million from the FD by getting rid of a firehouse and not the people which with their unfunded liabilities which will cost a heck of allot more. Also factually Mayor Roberts actually implemented the hiring freeze in 2008, not Mayor Zimmer.
That political smear against H411 a blogger is designed to discredit his stories en mass. Klaussen is not financed by Mason alone and that is a fact. Roman and Kurt or other bloggers keep saying this to reinforce their political agenda via subterfuge but they have yet to dig up anything that proves anything other than a surmised ghost writer who is feeding H411 information along with lots of other people in town, and some Political Banner Ads he accepts. Would you say Mason owns the Hoboken Reporter? That paper has taken money from all of the candidates and only does puff pieces no investigative stories whatsoever, and their ads costs thousands of dollars and perhaps over a million a year in ad revenue from the town, the politicians and the Realtors who continually advertise. A story was run by Hoboken Patch estimating H411 ad income to be somewhere around $200k from ads. His controversy drives his online ad revenue not just the Wanna be Mayor Mason. Do you see him printing retractions? No. Are his stories about the way the town is run sometimes incorrect? YES sometimes for sure. He hits the nail on the head more than any of the other bloggers who have NOTHING negative to say about how the town is run. Would you read the NY Daily News or NY Post if all they did was print puff pieces about Mayor Bloomberg? Telling it like it really is what this guy does and sometimes that requires telling the taxpayers that our Mayor is inept and taxes are going up. A few rental cars parked in the street instead of a lots around town and few Bike Lanes via white lines pained down a busy road does not make much of an impression on me. I want to pay $9k a year in taxes, and guess what we ain’t gonna to get there.
Would you rather have an inept Mayor than a corrupt one? All depends how much more it is going to cost me to live in Hoboken. I for one am not staying if taxes continue to go up, and after a 47% increase you bet they are going to raise taxes again after the year hiatus. In the next 5-7 years the taxes will go up allot the town will need $200 million + just to keep the crumbling infrastructure intact and the cronies on the payroll. Can you say $20k in taxes for a 2 BR?
Kettle…There is a reason I only put 10% down. Would have gone FHA, but it was hardly cheaper and when it’s all said and done, I did not buy a house to purposely strategically default on it. If this was the case, I would have rented. I am hopeful that I do not need to employ this strategy. Were it to make sense for me to do so, I don’t think any of us would like to see the economic landscape then.
Shore
they bill the surviving family members
“Now what will he do with cash?”
124 Jj, the defensive move by itself was good enough for me. If for example he had $100k cost basis, and price corrected 30% thus far, he not only saved or protected $30k from exposure, he actually made or created $30k which can be put to work this minute. If you notice, I didn’t even ask about capital gains on his trade, my focus is almost completely on the risk management.
@74 Shore Guy,
About technical interviews.
I have done some technical hiring as well as been recruited for technical positions so I’m very familiar with the process. I think that this article was spot on with its direction. There is no 5 minute question that will tell you if your technical person is adept at what you need them to do and a resume won’t tell you if a person is capable of “doing” something.
My suggestion if you are going to hire someone to a technical position then you should do your homework. You should call all references, ask for code samples, ask them to write a code solution to a fake problem. After you do this background legwork then you should bring them in for an interview. Once in the interview ask them about the code and why they developed the code a certain way and ask if they thought about different ways to do it. If it was programmed in a specific language ask them to rewrite it in a different coding language. Ask them simple questions that only coders would know like “how do you know that you are at the end of a string when reading from a buffer?”
That may seem like a simple question but unless they know that a string is often NULL terminated then it shows that they don’t have a good understanding of the language or environment. Ask them what NULL terminated means and expect a solid answer.
By far the best way would be to have your trusted senior developers be part of the interview chain that gets to ask some of the tough questions that only other developers would know. They would also be able to flush out any bs that would slip past non-technical people.
I recall someone telling me about an interview that they had with someone who said that they knew a lot about TCP/IP (Transmission Control Protocol/Internet Protocols) this is the protocols that allow most of the machine to machine communication in modern networks. Instead of pronouncing it “Tee Cee Pee Eye Pee” which it is customarily spoken they pronounced it “Tee Cee Pip” to which the senior developer just got up and left the interview, a clear sign to the rest of the guys that this person wasn’t worth spending any more time with.
Every coding language is just that, a different language, thus skill in one doesn’t translate to skill in others. They are all logic based but nuances make transition to a new language take some time. In addition, just like the English language there are those who can read/write well and there are those who don’t use punctuation and have run on sentences. Code samples will help to determine if the person that you have in front of you is fluent enough that form is important to him/her.
Someone told me once that “Ideas are dime a dozen. Anyone can have an idea, hell, I throw away ideas like used toilet paper. But not everyone can execute. It is the guy that executes and get something done that is important. Revision 1.0 is where it is at. It may look like crap but as long as it gets the job done people will get over it.”
That is where your article is spot on, even though someone may be a bad coder that doesn’t mean that they won’t be a great team member. Complex system development that integrates a lot of part/modules requires the type of mind that can think deep and get wrapped around interconnections. A good coder may not be able to do this type of work. A good coder doesn’t make one a good mathematician either.
Van,
I am going to take my five minute coffe break and put you in your place.
First, it’s common scuttlebutt around town that Lane Bajardi writes all political content on H411. He is “employed” by Mason. Klaussen gets a huge chunk of change from Mason via her ads and those of Russo, Castellano, etc all of which are financed in part by Mason and/or her PAC.
Second, I don’t agree with everything Zimmer has done or will do. However, I am not dumb enough to believe a blog financed by another politician seeking Zimmer’s office as being fair and balanced in general and this case in particular. I have several friends who have in fact been banned from making comments on H411 that didn’t agree with his and Bajardi’s political coverage.
Third, your fire department example is a joke. Zimmer tried to do what you suggested with the police department and all of a sudden the front of City Hall is swamped with camera crews, the TV has a bunch of ads by the police union, Mason is sending out flyers about how the sky is falling, and HOBOKEN411 IS PUTTING OUT SMEAR PIECE AFTER SMEAR PIECE ABOUT HOW ZIMMER IS MAKING THE CITY UNSAFE!!!
Zimmers’ been trying to do the same thing with the overpaid teachers and lo’ and behold the Board of Ed meeting is swamped with TV Cameras and a bunch of crying children because some drama teacher is being asked to actually do her job and not create her own hours and of course HOBOKEN411 IS PUTTING OUT SMEAR PIECE AFTER SMEAR PIECE ABOUT HOW ZIMMER IS ABUSING THIS WELL LOVED TEACHER!!!
Do you really think people are dumb enough not to put that together? H411 is about as “independent” as the NYT or Fox News. He’s even blaming Zimmer for the problems with shoddy construction on Hoboken’s piers that was all done under Russo and Roberts.
My new nomination for real estate song of the year is Dominos Fall.
Rancid seems an appropriate band name for this market.
Reading this interesting thread on Pros and Cons of getting a Permit for a basement finish..
https://njrereport.com/index.php/2011/05/12/foreclosures-continue-decline-in-april/
What do the folks here think about this? Does it matter? If I finish a 1000 sft basement and put a bathroom in central NJ.. what kind of tax increase am I looking at? Should I just by-pass the permit?
Oops.. here’s the correct url:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/basements/msg051152552804.html?70
I know but traders don’t get paid to stay in cash. When you factor in inflation and opportunity cost every day in cash is eating away the profits you made. I am always in market. I mean sometimes I keep some dry powder, I have some right now. But we all know what happens with too much dry powder it can blow up on you.
Neanderthal Economist says:
May 12, 2011 at 1:50 pm
“Now what will he do with cash?”
124 Jj, the defensive move by itself was good enough for me. If for example he had $100k cost basis, and price corrected 30% thus far, he not only saved or protected $30k from exposure, he actually made or created $30k which can be put to work this minute. If you notice, I didn’t even ask about capital gains on his trade, my focus is almost completely on the risk management.
JJ, NE,
I don’t really do much PA trading. I have to save 99% of my thoughts for investment decision making at work, which I don’t talk about, and I don’t personally invest along with those positions. Seeing lots of chatter on silver at NJREreport and from some acquaintances in recent months helped catch it in my selldar. I still have some gold, and though I worry about it underperforming future inflation, that position is more of a long term portfolio allocation decision rather than something I want to trade.
The proceeds are likely heading for overseas assets, following the path of most of our longer term investments. I am also thinking of investing in a vacation property in Florida or somewhere like that, but am afraid that I’ll be surrounded by tri-state area public sector pensioners. And why buy when there are so many different places to rent?
speaking of Brigadoon on the Hackensack, I knew a guy who lived on a house boat in little Ferry. It was the weirdest place. There were a few house boats on the Hackensack behind a big brown like warehouse. It was strange! Wonder if they still live there on the boats.
Everything still sucks.
rl (149)-
If something happens in your basement and there’s no permit on file, your insurance company may not pay up.
When you pass title, the town may find out or figure out you have a non-permitted basement improvement and stop your closing until you submit plans, get a final inspection and pay possible back taxes and a fine.
re: #147 HEHEHE – “a blog financed by another politician” Put a figure on it then? $100k or $150k? All in manila envelopes under the table at a diner? I doubt the guy would be doing it for any less if this is the case as you believe.
Think about the negative stories. Just think about it for a second. Controversy drives eyeballs and ad clicks does it not? Same stick different Mayor is all it is. They guy has made a mint writing a blog about a little backward town of 50k people. If all the guy did was stories about Bike Lanes then all he would get in ad revenue would be ungatz.
Not saying the stories cannot be one sided or even incorrect, but hey nobody says FOX news is fair and balanced now do they?
“When you factor in inflation and opportunity cost every day in cash is eating away the profits you made. I am always in market.”
JJ, you’re right to factor inflation and opp costs, but you also have to adjust your returns for risk. Yes you have no fear and iron stomach and that’s a virtue but it ain’t risk management. Your muni buying binge and west’s pulling of rip cord are two oposites, both very respectable in their own ways. You are trying to argue that you’re risk averse because you manage reinvestment risk, but there are thousands of other risk types that go unattended to in your portfolio. What I liked most about wests trade was his respect for fear and his ability to gracefully seperate from greed.
Isn’t it interesting that the MSM continually reports on the RE market with the primary metric being how far down we are from the “top”? If the top was a flat out lie, is it really any good at all as a reference point?
Median House Price/Median Income, I believe, tells the whole story of this lie and the lie began around 2000. My non-expert opinion is that reversion to the mean will cause us to overshoot the 2000 level of this ration nationally and indeed send us back to 1990’s ratios before bouncing back up to something reasonable.
Here’s a spreadsheet I found last summer that I’ve had a lot of fun playing with, maybe it will amuse some others if it hasn’t been brought up around here before:
http://www.jchs.harvard.edu/publications/markets/son2007/metro_affordability_index_2007.xls
For those who just want to compare a few interesting lines of data in the spreadsheet, take a look at:
Row 16 Buffalo-Niagara Falls – no participation in the bubble.
Row 59 Miami-Fort Lauderdale – quite the opposite
Row 65 New York-Northern New Jersey-Long Island, NY-NJ-PA MSA
Row 108 National
Well it looks like I get to keep all my money. Our cash offer beat the other offer but not by much and the seller felt obligated to go with the first offer. WTF? Ok….
So unless something falls through in the inspection we are out.
“Median House Price/Median Income, I believe, tells the whole story of this lie.”
Expat, cool spreadsheet thanks for sharing but income does not, by itself, explain prices. And prices do not, by themselves, explain affordability. The price to income ratio flat out ignores a whole list of relavant factors such as supply/demand, financing costs, availability of different types of credit, balance sheet wealth related to stock market, inheritance, etc. It also ignores construction quality, labor and commodity costs, technology and the simple fact that people will spend varying percentages of their income on housing at different points in history.
Barb, sorry to hear. But just focus on the fact that you’ll be able to buy that same place this december for 5% cheaper and a 3% down fha…
I actually do risk management in the sense I only buy when blood is in the water. Any fool could see from December 15 to April 15 2011 Munis bonds were having a fire sale, Any fool also could see from January 2009 to January 2010 Junk Bonds were on a fire sale, any fool could see in 2007/2008 Treasuries and CD were great buys. In 2007 and most of 2008 I did not only any junk or munis, only high quality investment grade bonds and FDIC Bank CDs. My buying binge started the Day Lehman went down. That day I got a 7.75% coupon NY GO bond at par. I also saw in late August 2010 QE2 was going to inflate stocks, so August through December 2010 was a rare time for me as I bought stocks.
Only thing that was ballsy I did was last few months when I called Whitney and Bill Gross fools and idiots and did the exact opposite. While Bill was shorting bonds I was longing bonds. But I knew I was right. The california sun has baked bills brains.
I know enough about CFMs and the CFTC to know that market is fixed. I stay away from stuff like that
Neanderthal Economist says:
May 12, 2011 at 3:23 pm
“When you factor in inflation and opportunity cost every day in cash is eating away the profits you made. I am always in market.”
JJ, you’re right to factor inflation and opp costs, but you also have to adjust your returns for risk. Yes you have no fear and iron stomach and that’s a virtue but it ain’t risk management. Your muni buying binge and west’s pulling of rip cord are two oposites, both very respectable in their own ways. You are trying to argue that you’re risk averse because you manage reinvestment risk, but there are thousands of other risk types that go unattended to in your portfolio. What I liked most about wests trade was his respect for fear and his ability to gracefully seperate from greed.
“Think about the negative stories. Just think about it for a second. Controversy drives eyeballs and ad clicks does it not? Same stick different Mayor is all it is. They guy has made a mint writing a blog about a little backward town of 50k people. If all the guy did was stories about Bike Lanes then all he would get in ad revenue would be ungatz.
Not saying the stories cannot be one sided or even incorrect, but hey nobody says FOX news is fair and balanced now do they?”
His stories are all negative against Zimmer and anybody associated with her and all positive for Mason and everyone associated with her (which is amazing when you consider some of the slimeballs she’s associating with: Mikey “That’s Me on TV Taking A Bribe From an FBI Informant” Russo, Michelle “$5 a tow” Russo, Perry Belfiore, Carmelo “I bought my brownstone At 50% discount” Garcia etc). To be honest I hardly even viewed 411 since back in 2009 when he started banning any posters or any comments that were negative Mason or pro Zimmer. What really killed me was when he went Pro-Cammarano. That was when I knew he jumped the shark.
Hehe at 112 and shore at 134.
Those articles are pretty amazing.
re # 162-HEHEHE re: Jumped the shark. I agree but the issue to me from day one is taxes. If they aren’t going to go down it is a wasted effort supporting any of them. I would rather a Bloomberg like Politician come into town and clean house and gut them all. I watched Bloomberg gut the city workers back in 2002 recession and now he has done it again. I know I am asking too much with all of the crazy factions in town, but we really deserve someone better at it and I don’t mean Mason either. When I run into a Zimmer supporter like you who really thinks Dawn has a handle on things, I just want to remind them she doesn’t because she caved on the PD and now we see she caved on the FD. You have to gut the fish, only real way to lower taxes. I know I am asking too much lower taxes and all and I know it is just not in the cards.
I am not going to speak anymore of it here on this blog , since the only thing that will come of it is the looney factions will start showing up here trolling for trouble.
Trouble with RE taxes is they suck now they are floating around basing it on income. Wait the people with the highest RE taxes have the highest income. Oh Well
“My buying binge started the Day Lehman went down.”
Lol. Again, doubling down when cds shoots through roof and systemic failures threaten to immediately unwind every derivative in the financial world is not risk management. I guess you convinced yourself that there is less risk with lower asset prices but in fact the prices were down because risk was up.
#126 re: Bernake and his latest foray into politics. — “The worst outcome would be one in which the financial system would be again destabilized”
I gather the Fed’s balance sheet of $2.6 trillion in trash paper is stable?
Take note Benny it’s haircut time starting with Ireland.
Subordinated debt investors have been told by Allied unless they accept a restructuring plan involving them bearing more of the cost of the bank’s losses they will receive just one cent for every €1,000 (£877) of the bonds they own.
Under the government’s plans, bondholders are being asked to accept the return of just 10pc to 25pc of the face value of their holdings.
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8508514/Allied-Irish-investors-face-a-90pc-haircut.html
#159 ‘thal Econ-
Agreed, there are numerous other factors (including property taxes, income tax rate, national average education level, etc. not on the list below) that go into the equation, but just think about all those factors can (and did) go up and down over decades and how the ratio stayed effectively constant…until it didn’t. We all know where the control fraud was, the price/income ratio was just being a whistleblower of sorts. Bank executives looted their companies by the tried and proven method: Write lots of loans of very low quality at very high yields. You can’t even blame securitization in and of itself, it just extended the specious game longer than it would have gone on otherwise. I’m not saying that the price/income ratio is the be all and end all, but the aberration seems to occur coincident with the fraud reaching critical mass. I think the housing market may have come down all on it’s own just based on demographics even without the fraud. The fraud just pushed the top artificially up and will make the fall that much more, at least when measured from the artificial top, which was my initial point. Houses at 3 times income will sell unless there are radical shifts in the law (no more 30 year mortgages, no mortgage interest deduction, etc.) or sustained unemployment at much higher levels than current.
“Median House Price/Median Income, I believe, tells the whole story of this lie.”
Expat, cool spreadsheet thanks for sharing but income does not, by itself, explain prices. And prices do not, by themselves, explain affordability. The price to income ratio flat out ignores a whole list of relavant factors such as supply/demand, financing costs, availability of different types of credit, balance sheet wealth related to stock market, inheritance, etc. It also ignores construction quality, labor and commodity costs, technology and the simple fact that people will spend varying percentages of their income on housing at different points in history.
I quit rihanna sexy ass pics reading it wasgoing to protest, abernathy said. While she said, but.
Expat, yep taxes and education levels can be added to the list. another big one is home size, since a 30% increase in price/inc ratio could simply reflect the 30% increase in avg sq ft over the last 40 yrs. Energy costs are another factor, not just home heating oil and electricity but gas prices too… indirectly.
Some good stuff from Macke…..
The popular thing for Breakout, and for me, to do would be to spend time and energy vilifying Rajaratnam. Raj and Galleon were in the business of making themselves and other rich people richer. I’m glad he’s in jail but I’m under no illusion that his imprisonment is any sort of fix for a corrupt system. Truthfully, I don’t much care about Rajaratnam. You shouldn’t either.
Convicting Rajaratnam was akin to cutting the finger off a terminal cancer patient. The real tumors are Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. Their stupidity, corruption and culpability impacted you, me and anyone else living in a capitalist society. Galleon is dead, but it’s business as usual for the real enemies of free markets
The popular thing for Breakout, and for me, to do would be to spend time and energy vilifying Rajaratnam. Raj and Galleon were in the business of making themselves and other rich people richer. I’m glad he’s in jail but I’m under no illusion that his imprisonment is any sort of fix for a corrupt system. Truthfully, I don’t much care about Rajaratnam. You shouldn’t either.
Convicting Rajaratnam was akin to cutting the finger off a terminal cancer patient. The real tumors are Moody’s, Fitch and Standard & Poor’s. Their stupidity, corruption and culpability impacted you, me and anyone else living in a capitalist society. Galleon is dead, but it’s business as usual for the real enemies of free markets
Macke starts at 1:20
At 2:22…he’s in prison…fine, don’t pick up the soap
http://finance.yahoo.com/blogs/breakout/dos-hombres-market-stabilization-rage-against-ratings-agencies-183110799.html
Matt Taibbi got around to reading the 650-page report from Carl Levin’s Senate committee. “Wall Street and the Financial Crisis: Anatomy of a Financial Collapse”
Pay per view copy will be up soon, he excoriates the Squid again.
http://www.rollingstone.com/politics/news/the-people-vs-goldman-sachs-20110511
Taibbi on fire again.
“Defenders of Goldman have been quick to insist that while the bank may have had a few ethical slips here and there, its only real offense was being too good at making money. We now know, unequivocally, that this is bullshit. Goldman isn’t a pudgy housewife who broke her diet with a few Nilla Wafers between meals — it’s an advanced-stage, 1,100-pound medical emergency who hasn’t left his apartment in six years, and is found by paramedics buried up to his eyes in cupcake wrappers and pizza boxes.”
Van,
I am not a Zimmer supporter but the caricature that 411 is trying to paint of her is a joke – she’s not corrupt like Roberts or Russo. I wouldn’t even say she’s the best of the reform people.
My thought about Zimmer is simply that she isn’t very bright….as a result she needs help and at times has the wrong people whispering in her ear. Perry used to be cool, but he lost me right after Zimmer took office. You could tell something was amiss right away….
re# 175 – HEHEHE – I cannot wait until Bowling Ball Head makes a run for mayor. Watching all of the zealots from all of these factions get worked up and all of the histrionics and drama reminds me of why I will leave town eventually for greener pastures. No need for me to double down with putting my kids through school in that crazy town. I will however miss the eye candy that is for sure.
“No need for me to double down with putting my kids through school in that crazy town.”
If there was ever something we agree upon that is it!
Honestly Zimmer is just the best of the current bad choices. There’s no doubt the Mayoral race will be fun to watch – plus they trot out their three at large council candidates too – that’s usually a cavalcade of circus freaks, no talent hacks, shady businessmen and knuckle draggers.
Probably end up with like 10 mayoral candidates. The retreads -Russo, Belfiore, Pupi Raia, Zimmer, Mason, Delea, probably one or more of those other reform people at some point will put their toe in the water.
How Russo won as big as he did after that video tape came out boggles my mind. I can understand not voting for the other dude if you have some life long beef against yuppies but how you’d vote for a guy who’s on your evening news soliciting bribes is just plain crazy.
#170 ‘thal Econ-
You can even make a case, I guess, that incomes leveled out over the last decade+ while the move-up market trendline didn’t. The move-up market has bothered me for roughly 20 years. I guess I’m considered to be in the very tail-end of the baby boomer generation and looking back at the demos behind me I was wondering how there would possibly be enough buyers for the large group of sellers that I would one day be a part of. Realizing no matter what price level I bought at, it seemed to me a distinct possibility that I would be selling for less, just based on demographics. My decision then and since is to always have have so much equity that I would never have to bring money to the closing table to sell. The home we’ve been in since 2002 was bought with 40% down and we paid double our mortgage payment every month for the first two years and still overpay today. Refi-ed once with no cash out and never took a 2nd or a HELOC. We have friends with bigger houses, but I think we sleep better and argue less.
Hehehe-
Your synopsis of the current state of hoboken and that idiot at mason 411 is dead on.
I expected little from zimmer, but and have Been pleasantly surprised She was the best of the choices and I voted for her. she smacked down the cops,, saved money with the fire dept and cleaned up the parking authority. Big win Tuesday as fleeting as it may be, means 18 months of russo et al off the trough.
Anyone who is pissing off the hcdo, is doing something right.
Maybe the thought of the BnR in his district is that g-d-forbid you get in a bind, you can always bribe Bowling Ball Head to bail yourself out. Not that you’ll need the safety net, but it is always there….
Nation of Wussies HEHEHE says:
May 12, 2011 at 5:18 pm
How Russo won as big as he did after that video tape came out boggles my mind. I can understand not voting for the other dude if you have some life long beef against yuppies but how you’d vote for a guy who’s on your evening news soliciting bribes is just plain crazy.
If the bank to a chance on your depreciating assets,it’s their lost.That is what collateral stand for.
Actually, let me restate this.
The insolvent banks who have provided me 3 loans for nearly $700,000 in real estate assets are poor. Thanks to the release of mark to market and the public backstop of Fannie and Freddie, it’s really you who are funding my assets.
Trust me, I’ve got plenty of skin in retirement assets. Way, way more than I have in equity on the homes you are all providing me with.
So who is poor here? The renter or me?
“Maybe the thought of the BnR in his district is that g-d-forbid you get in a bind, you can always bribe Bowling Ball Head to bail yourself out. Not that you’ll need the safety net, but it is always there….”
That or plain fear.
171 chi, misdirected pieces like that are laughable to me. Missing the housing bubble is not a valid criticism. If it was then let’s throw the fed reserve into jail.
160.
Barbara,
They are doing you a favor. Buying a home in NJ is like infecting yourself with the HIV.
#84 If it was then let’s throw the fed reserve into jail.
Good idea.
Spring in the brig, and there are a lot of houses on the market. Most are pretty nice and in good locations.
Some, including some in less desirable locations, went under contract pretty fast. Others in nice locations are still sitting (tho they could be UC and we don’t know it).
I responded to many comments here today with countering positions supported by content in the New York Times, Crains Business New York, etc.
The Host of this site CENSORED my speech. This is Jets12.
1. I gave a replay to this 3B person earlier in the day that’s been removed entirely, it lasted an hour or so.
2. I gave detailed other replies supported with media as stated above.
The host here censored my speech, does not want a countering voice heard or published here. Impressive.
“Mikeinwaiting” & “3B”. I replied to you both at various points in the day. The host of this site censored my commentary – fact based, countering your singular drum beat.
Is it not silly to not allow a countering voice? Preservation of the group think I suppose. Ridiculous. This blog loses all credibility when the host censors countering views supported with fact based media reports from the NYT and Crains.
Surprised, you have to be kidding we don’t have a sensor just a word filter. Try emailing Grim at the link above and ask him to release your posts. Call him hairy ape too he likes that.
Are you an idiot? Do you really think I have the time to censor crap online?
Good lord.
Besides, you post under a fake email address and routinely change your ID, yet you think your opinion deserves to be heard here? Pick a user id and stick with it, and post under your real email address, and maybe then I’ll be a little bit more expedient on letting your posts out of the spam queue.
Grim 1
Jets12/surprised/sucka 0.
What did u think this was 411?
Jets just use MW save the key work, everybody knows who I am. It would seem from our hosts’ post you can not say the same.
Multiple names? That’s preposterous!
Litard aka Stu.
Jets, i dont think grim blocked your post. Did you check the troll folder?
Stu – if you do change your mind on a heated floor, friends who installed this system in a kitchen that is above an unheated garage in a cold midwest climate said they remained toasty warm all winter and the electric bill did not go up much
http://www.warmlyyours.com/en-US/floor-heating
General question for the board – any merit if buying in next few months to getting an assumable mtg with the idea that if you sell in say 3-6 years and interest rates are sky high that the low mtg allows you to get a better price?
Add “dolt” to Jets12’s lengthy list of talents.
#200 Cant figure out if jets lives in Brooklyn or Brigadoon-on Hudson (RE), no wait he is trying to buy in B on H. I cannot keep up with him/her. Speaking of B on H, another 4 new listings on since yesterday.
Clot 200 an a hole is an a hole is an a hole. Nice Vets, where did I leave that troll folder?
Buy the fcuking dip.
“Following up on earlier reports that the fuel rods in reactor 1 were truly exposed, NHK now reports another speculation from long ago, finally confirmed by official sources, namely that the reactor is now melting down. NHK reports that “Tokyo Electric Power Company says the No.1 reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant is believed to be in a state of “meltdown”. The utility company said on Thursday that most of the fuel rods are likely to have melted and fallen to the bottom of the reactor. Earlier in the day, it found that the coolant water in the reactor is at a level which would completely expose nuclear fuel rods if they were in their normal position.” And from Reuters: “The finding makes it likely that at one point in the immediate wake of the disaster the 4-meter-high stack of uranium-rich rods at the core of the reactor had been entirely exposed to the air.” Had been, or are? At this rate of admissions (we claimed precisely this happened in March) the next thing we might get a confirmation of from official sources is that there is actual recriticality going on. Which, of course, will be used by the market as another excuse to BTFD, as under central planning everyone lives happily ever after. Oh, and in the meantime, if we recall correctly, the cores of reactors 2 and 3 have also melted down. But Bernanke will just kiss them and make them better.”
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/nhk-reports-fukushima-reactor-1-melting-down
mikey (202)-
You usually put your troll folder right next to your assassination list.
Clot 203 sector rotation into defensive stocks , think somebody knows something.
Clot 204 no comment.
Housing Prices Could Soon Take Another Hit The February value of the index was 153. The 30-year mortgage rate is about 4.7 percent. If and when long-term interest rates go up just 150 basis points, housing prices in aggregate might be expected to take a further hit in the neighborhood of one third.
Here is the chart for the Composite-US series beginning in 1987. A rise in mortgage rates to 6 percent would imply a further 20 percent fall in house prices. And that assumes no overshooting.
Link http://seekingalpha.com/article/269343-housing-prices-could-soon-take-another-hit
Check out the charts can not post, Jets what do you think? Come on now, I’m sure Grim is not blocking you , in the past there have been worse.
Stu, #140
And a mortgage is great as long as you are saving and earning more than 4.25% per year on the money borrowed. Of course, the only person I know who couldn’t figure out how to make more than 4.25% is the federal government and the public pension funds.
I get 1% on an online savings account on short term savings (a few months expenses). I can’t think of any other option for that money that doesn’t involve additional risk or reduced liquidity — though some longer term CDs with low penalties may be an option. There is no safety net for 1st gen immigrants…
Toast 199 good move , go assumable missed it would have answered sooner. Very good move in an historic low rate environment.
Suck it up Sas3, you are new in town.
By the way what safety net , we are all screwed.
199. Are assumable mortgages available and if so, is there a tick up in interest? I haven’t seen one since the late 80s but…wasn’t really looking, either.
The future residents of Brigadoon-Upon-Hackensack….
Poll: 1 in 3 young NYers plans to leave state
A recent poll finds that 1 in 3 New Yorkers under age 30 plans to move to another state at some point.
And 1 in 4 adults plans an exodus from the Empire State within five years.
The NY1-YNN-Marist College poll released Thursday night puts numbers to the decades-long exodus from New York, which once led the nation in manufacturing and other high-paying jobs.
The poll finds that most of those who plan to move will do so because of economic reasons including jobs, the cost of living, and taxes.
Pollster Lee Miringoff said the trend, if unchecked, will drain the state of its next generation.
The poll questioned 941 adults from April 25 to April 29. It has a margin of error of plus or minus 3.5 points.
#213 -chifi
My wife and I fully expect that we will be retiring somewhere in Asia. Not that we love that area of the world particularly, but rather we anticipate our children (now aged 7 & 9) will be seeking their fortunes there. So why not retire where our children live instead of being continents away? We plan on spending summers in that area of the world just to acquaint all of us to the culture, climate, and opportunities (and language).
“Poll: 1 in 3 young NYers plans to leave state”
Why moderate Jets12? He’s strictly amateur night, compared to Duck and Listen.
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Hypocrite.