From the Washington Post:
Existing-home sales fall in April
Sales of previously owned homes dropped in April, falling short of many analysts’ expectations for this key month of the spring selling season.
But the number of households that fell seriously behind on mortgages in the first quarter is down, suggesting a smoother path ahead, if only the housing market could shed the foreclosures that continue to drag down home prices.
The findings come from two industry reports released Thursday, both of which signaled a slow housing recovery. Even though mortgage defaults are shrinking, the homes in foreclosure remain at an alarmingly high level, and a meaningful pickup in sales is needed to purge them.
Existing sales dropped 0.8 percent to a seasonally adjusted rate of 5.05 million in April from March, the National Association of Realtors reported. They were down 13 percent from a year earlier, when a federal home-buyer tax credit ignited a buying frenzy.
The Realtors group blamed the sluggish activity on unnecessarily tight lending standards. Low home appraisals also botched many potential sales, the group said.
Some economists expected sales to rise in part because the Federal Housing Administration, which backs low down-payment loans, raised its fees in mid-April. They thought buyers would rush to close on homes ahead of the increase, said Patrick Newport, an economist at IHS Global Insight. Going forward, the higher fees will hurt demand, he said.
From CNBC:
Home sales fall, despite uptick in 1st-time buyers
Fewer Americans purchased previously occupied homes in April, a troubling sign that the weak housing market remains a drag on the economy.
Sales fell 0.8 percent in April to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 5.05 million units, the National Association of Realtors said Thursday. That’s far below the 6 million homes a year that economists say represents a healthy market.
Purchases made by first-time homebuyers did increase but not nearly enough to signal a housing recovery is on the way. First-time buyers are critical because they typically improve their properties and invest in their communities, a combination that helps home values rise.
Foreclosures, on the other hand, force prices down. They represented more than a third of all sales in April and more are expected in the months ahead.
Since the housing boom went bust, sales have fallen in four of the past five years and hit a 13-year low last year. Declining home prices and low mortgage rates haven’t been enough to boost sales this year.
Some who want to buy can’t, mostly because banks have tightened lending requirements and are insisting on larger down payments. Many buyers who can qualify for loans are holding off. They are worried that home prices have yet to bottom out.
Economists say it could be years before the housing market fully recovers.
From the WSJ:
‘Move-Up’ Home Buyers Moving In
Building giant DR Horton Inc. has long been known as a starter-home builder. But the buyer pool is shifting, prompting the company to build slightly bigger homes with more amenities for ‘move-up’ buyers.
“We see a great opportunity,” Donald Tomnitz, Horton’s chief executive, said on a recent earnings call.
That’s certainly an optimistic view given the market for home sales these days. But other industry watchers agree with Horton’s assessment that move-up buyers—absent from the market for the last few years—are slowly crawling back into the game. (Move-up is a buyer category tracked separately from investors and others.)
These move-up, or repeat, buyers made up 47% of sales in the first quarter, up from 40% a year earlier, according to the National Association of Realtors trade group. First-time buyers made up 32%, down from 42% a year earlier. While that covers existing homes—the bulk of the market’s transactions—some builders report similar shifts.
First-time buyers had dominated the market in the last few years since they weren’t saddled with an existing home to sell in a down market. Sales surged last year as the government offered buyers a tax credit of up to $8,000, an offer that expired last summer. KB Home even made some of its floorplans smaller and more affordable, largely to cater to those buyers.
But the credit pulled so much demand forward that sales have been anemic since the expiration. Another problem is that lenders continue to tighten loan requirements, excluding many would-be buyers.
From CNN/Money:
Realtors bond over tough times
It’s no fun to be a realtor these days: home prices are sinking, delinquencies are up, and stricter regulations are coming.
So the mood at the convention for the National Association of Realtors last weekend in Washington, D.C., was understandably sober.
And yet, those in attendance were working hard to stay upbeat.
Matt Cohen was in from Minneapolis. He’s in the tech side of the industry, handling multiple listing services for realtors.
“You can’t let yourself get down,” Cohen said during a break. “You just have to be positive. Move things forward. Try to make things better.”
He knows what some of the realtors here have been going through.
“In many markets, between 45% and 60% of the members have not done a transaction in the past year! There are not a lot of listings to go around. And the prices are down so the commission checks are smaller — it’s a very difficult market for everybody.”
From the Asbury Park Press:
N.J. gained 14,000 jobs in April
New Jersey’s economy added 14,000 jobs in April, and its unemployment rate remained steady at 9.3 percent, the state Department of Labor and Workforce Development reported Thursday.
The survey is a sign that the economic recovery, nearly two years old, is starting to reach New Jersey’s labor market. The state added 13,400 private-sector jobs and 600 public sector jobs last month. And it has added 32,000 jobs since January.
“It was certainly by far the best month of the recovery,” Rutgers University economist James W. Hughes said.
The monthly jobs report is made up of a survey of New Jersey employers that calculates the number of jobs and a survey of New Jersey residents that calculates the unemployment rate.
The state is trying to fill a big hole left by the devastating recession, when it lost 265,000 jobs, or 6.5 percent of its employment. And it has trailed the nation’s economy for the better part of the decade – at least until now.
The nation added 244,000 jobs in April, leaving its unemployment rate at 9 percent. Since New Jersey accounts for about 3 percent of the nation’s labor force, the state more than exceeded its expectations last month, Hughes said.
Among the industries that gained ground: The trade, transportation and utilities sector added 8,300 jobs; manufacturing added 3,200 jobs; education and health services added 2,700 jobs; and even the slumping construction industry added 800 jobs.
Other sectors declined. Information lost 1,700 jobs; financial activities lost 1,100 jobs; and professional and business services lost 1,000 jobs.
Good Morning New Jersey
Another day closer to WW3. Todays breakfast will be a cesium laced sh_tburger with a side of doom. After that I plan on crapping out an Obama.
Number 2 In reference to the 45-60% of pond scum that have not done a single transaction in the past year, lets shoot for 100%
http://emailrpt.gsmls.com/public/show_public_report_rpt.do?report=clientfull&Id=64975597_11260
Here is a 70k reduction on a nice place (personal pref. aside) taxes low 7s. If you look closely at listing you will see “oil tank underground”nobody touching that with a ten foot pole. First off homeowners does not cover , tank ins. separate, try to get a mortgage with an underground tank, I dare you. By the way the state program where they payed for tanks to be removed, out of money. This guy must get that filled , or taken out if he ever wants to sell. Once that is done he has a sell-able house although you can have a lot nicer for 319 up here, 280 should do it.
Number 2 Mr. Cohen who handles the tech side by handling the multiple listings. Yeah go jump in the pond with the rest of the scum how’s that for thinking positive. Don’t need you either Craigslist is free dooch bag.
Gary you around? How about a nice “tick tick tick “for this one.
Is the vampire squid in the govs cross hairs?
Goldman Sachs (GS) is getting ready for a wave of subpoenas. Sources say execs expect the Justice Department to demand documents and information about Goldman’s mortgage-related business, and that the subpoenas could arrive within days.
Better contribute some big bucks to “O”post haste.
#5 AG “Another day closer to WW3………”
That quote sounds like it came off Clot’s keyboard.
it gets wicked cool at about 1 min.
Vampire squid:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWAnliNc6wk&feature=related
Serenity I though it was him for a minute.
Barb No. 12 Yum yum fresh calamari, that baby will go good with maranara sauce
mike (7)-
And, a prime highway location! Hurry, hurry…it won’t last!!!
mike (8)-
Craigslist RE = idiots selling to idiots
serenity (11)-
On most mornings lately, I’m just trying to get to the grain alcohol before I’m fully awake.
The transition from sleep to jacked on Everclear has to be made quickly, lest reality penetrate my consciousness.
Clot next year it will still be sitting or in foreclosure. Couldn’t sell my house in 06 without taking care of the tank, think they have a shot now. As far as loc rte 565 pretty tame up here but I have no little ones , if you do no go.
2 houses in my neighborhood…same house, floor plan, same basic location and amenities…one is priced at 835k and the SAME house around the block is 755k…quite a difference…both of them are dressed up bi levels so neither one will sell.
mikey (18)-
Will be at Vernon HS tomrrow at 10 AM. Daughter playing in final of Hunterdon/Warren/Sussex lax tournament.
Do they have turf there, or do they let cows graze down the grass field?
“realtors blame tight lending standards for slow sales” a pox on the banks for realizing a mortgage should be given to someone who does more than fog a mirror to qualify.
clot, 30 year, your profession is littered with idiots
Remember what I said:
April is the Cruelest Month
Car dealerships are looking for out of work pond scum for training “and on your left we have the new Chevy Volt let me show you how to plug it in and charge it” and look at all the closet space, I’m sorry I mean trunk space. Same scum but a different pond.
mike, what kind of lowlife business are you in?
TS,
Not in NJ real estate it is not. Given proximity to Manhattan, things are always looking up. In fact, BC, I believe that Bruce wrote a song anout NJ real estate agents suffering through a temporary (aren’t they all?) RE downturn:
Well I’m a little down under, but I’m feeling O.K.
I got a little lost along the way, and I’m
Just around the corner to the light of day
Although Joan Jett looks a heck of a lot better whilst singing this.
Clot,
Those meadow muffins will slow the ball’s velocity.
3. So, 14,000 jobs created in NJ. I wonder if they consider McDonalds as the manufacturing sector? Handcrafting the Big Macs, etc., etc.
Frist!
Re GS,
I am sure all the foreseeable government lawsuits and indictments that materialize against them and the likes of the other big banks and hedge funds like SAC etc can all go away for the right amount of campaign donations.
Funny how all the brouhaha re hedge fund manager pay not being taxed as ordinary income magically disappeared once their checkbooks were opened before the 2008 elections. Hmmm, several millions of dollars in taxes out of my wallet or cut about 100 politicians $5k checks and host a few fundraisers at my Park Ave townhouse. Hmmm, tough choice.
Oh and before somebody says I am too jaded, keep in mind Eric Holder is our Attorney General – a man Howard Kunstler described as photograph taped to a piece of plywood.
Hobo 24 I’m an enviromentalist (clean the scum out of the ponds)
Salmon #21 – When my biz was really cranking in the late 90’s and early 00’s, doing almost 200 transactions per year myself, I hated real estate agents more than all you haters put together.
All I did was list REO’s and the only sale side transactions I did were on my own listings. If I had almost 150 listings sold by cooperating agents and each one had 3 offers before acceptance, that was 450 morons per year I had to handle negotiations with. You have no idea how absolutely brain dead some of these people really are!
mike (30)-
EnviroMENTALIST?
Guess they’ve dumbed down the barriers to entry in this gig, too. Or, mike combines the powers of The Mentalist with environmental do-gooding.
“Hobo 24 I’m an enviromentalist (clean the scum out of the ponds)”
30 Year (31)-
Oh, I have some idea. That’s why I’m slowly trying to get out.
I keep thinking the stupidity is contagious. Maybe Cobain was right.
An environmentalist broadly supports the goals of the environmental movement, “a political and ethical movement that seeks to improve and protect the quality of the natural environment through changes to environmentally harmful human activities”.[1] An environmentalist is engaged in or believes in the philosophy of environmentalism.
(29) hehehe
The difference is that I have a use for plywood.
Looks like the Shorts are piling on.
http://blogs.forbes.com/greatspeculations/2011/05/18/its-getting-harder-to-defend-goldman-sachs/
Mike,
How does this get to be called a profession?
30 year, I could only imagine but what do you expect from a profession that attracts folks looking for easy money. You should try working in pharmaceuticals where the number of imbaciles increase dependent on the number of acronyms after their name. I have long ago dropped the MS off of my card, it buys me no cache. The morons who list everything down to a bs and certification dujuor drive me nuts as they are usually functional retards.
Hob with what? senseless apprentice or the shotgun to the head?
Personally, I don’t understand all of the aggression towards RE agents. Anyone who thinks their profession or industry is immune to incompetence and/or greed is a greater fool than any agent I ever met.
Here are the news headlines from Grim’s selection over the past few days (Grim, I know you don’t write the news, just report it) …
First we have:
“Home prices stable in region”
and
“Existing-Home Sales in U.S. Probably Rose for a Second Month”
Followed by:
“Home sales fall, despite uptick in 1st-time buyers”
and
“Existing-home sales fall in April”
No wonder nobody pays any attention to the bogus media stories these days. I can’t be bothered to read most of the articles, it’s like shooting fish in a barrel. I just read one every now and then to pick out the most inane statements.
The only interesting report on housing, which I tune in for every weekday, is Clot’s assessment of today’s stench: oblivion, extra oblivion, or apocalyptic. And I do love the sound of that “tick, tick, tick” in the morning …
A friend of mine, who (thankfully) bought in 2001 long before the worst of the bubble (although he bought in Maplewood), has listened to me deride the housing market many times over the last several years. Sent me this link to a thread on a local Maplewood forum where some guy is flipping out on everyone in town for selling at “firesale” prices.
http://www.southorangevillage.com/vc/comments.php?DiscussionID=68211&page=1
“You all will be looking back 12 months and even 3 months from now and realizing you got absolutely robbed … You are selling at the bottom and I’m watching people leave 50k to 100k on the table”
It’s amusing to watch idiots bash their neighbors for selling at market prices instead of fantasy prices.
Jets moved to Maplewood?
and tommorow class we will learn the basics of opening a lockbox
Mike – what is your goal with that comment? Does degrading someone’s profession make you feel better about yours? More intelligent, perhaps?
Little boxes on the hillside
Little boxes made of ticky tacky
Little boxes
Little boxes
Little boxes all the same
There’s a green one and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
And the people in the houses all go to the university
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same
And there’s doctors and there’s lawyers
And business executives
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky and they all look just the same
And they all play on the golf course and drink their martini dry
And they all have pretty children and the children go to school
And the children go to summer camp
And then to the university
And they all get put in boxes, and they all come out the same
And the boys go into business and marry and raise a family
And they all get put in boxes, little boxes all the same
There’s a green one, and a pink one
And a blue one and a yellow one
And they’re all made out of ticky tacky
And they all look just the same
West, wtf was that? Considering your infatuation with China and its spectacular environmental progress, you can get a pass on being anti-environmental (till someone close to you gets affected and Ayn Rand’s corpse fails to cure)… Environmentalism is advocacy, not a major profession. There is heavy duty clean up stuff, planning, permits, etc. Do you have a similar disdain towards everything other than non-TARP professions? Makes you feel smarter because your ilk could loot tax payer money effectively?
Since tomorrow is Rapture should I tell my brother in law I won’t be coming
over to work on his kitchen remodel?
Gardner: “The society which scorns excellence in plumbing as a humble activity and tolerates shoddiness in philosophy because it is an exalted activity will have neither good plumbing nor good philosophy: neither its pipes nor its theories will hold water.”
Corollary: The society which values dollars over quality of life and what is right will have a lot of (Zimbabwean) dollars but nothing else.
I know times are tough for real estate agents, but this is too funny:
—
Chuck E. Cheese’s sued for tot ‘slots’
Dana Littlefield, San Diego Union Tribune, May 12, 2011
SAN DIEGO — A San Diego woman has sued the company that owns the Chuck E. Cheese’s family restaurant chain, claiming that many of the games intended for children at these locations are actually illegal gambling devices — like slot machines.
Denise Keller, a local real estate agent and mother of two daughters ages 3 and 5, filed the potential class-action suit in U.S. District Court March 29. According to court documents, she is asking for a jury trial and damages and restitution of at least $5 million.
…
[T]he suit says, the games are based mostly on chance, and that they could foster addictive behavior in children by enticing them to play repeatedly for tickets. It says the games “create the same highs and lows experienced by adults who gamble their paychecks or the mortgage payment.”
http://web.signonsandiego.com/news/2011/may/12/federal-lawsuit-claims-chuck-e-cheese-promotes-ill/
—-
Is this Ms. Keller the one from those “Keller Williams” signs I see carpeting the streets of NJ?
I suspect the plaintiff would be willing to go along with enticing people to engage in addictive behavior and gamble their paychecks away, so long as she was getting a 6% cut …
39. Sidelined says: Personally, I don’t understand all of the aggression towards RE agents. Anyone who thinks their profession or industry is immune to incompetence and/or greed is a greater fool than any agent I ever met.
_
Excellent point. The nature, theme, and culture of this forum is to be omnisciently negative…on everything, that explains the aggression. Contrary views are not aloud, it’s collective ‘group-one- think’ here. It’s been hard for this forum to accept the very founder of this blog just purchased a home. His actions (which speak louder than words) kind of say it all and run contrary to the crowd here. This forum only makes an exception for him, the founder of this blog justifying and buying a home. Anyone else who considers or actually does the same thing as the founder of this blog? Well….they are ridiculed. Just answering your question.
Sidelined 43 Obviously you, your husband, or one of your boyfriend’s must be in the RE or car dealership business and you’re feelings are hurt that’s understandable
it doesn’t do a dictator much good to have a navy when his air force isn’t worth the paint necessary to paint it:
http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2011/WORLD/africa/05/20/libya.war/story.tripoli.afp.gi.jpg
Grim did not use an RE correct?
#49 And real estate prices are up 26% in a very special place since last year.
#40 There is a bucolic village that hugs the banks of the majestic Hackensack where prices are up 26% since last year. Perhaps the people of Maplweood should have purchased there instead.
I’m afraid not, Mike. Just tired of your foolish posts.
#31 30 Year: There is a picturesque town that sits atop the banks of the historic Hackensack river, where prices are up 26% form last year. Houses there sell themselves; you should look into it.
[56] The Little Community That Could! (TM)
(Sorry Jets, I know it’s your line, but I ran out and trademarked it while you were still tallying up the YOY price increases in Brigadoon-on-Hackensack …)
Chifi,
How does it go?
High above the Hackensack’s waters
And the Maywood/Teaneck din
Stands overpriced 70’s bilevels
And sellers with thin skin.
Foolish is paying a commision to an individual that gives directions to the basement
Perhaps they thought you needed them.
Mike,
They somwetimes give doughnuts, too.
sometimes
And Sally said, Sally said
I can’t take no more regret
It cut us deep, into our souls
Came and climbed into our bed
And Sally said, Sally said
Meet me by the river’s edge
We’re going to wash these sins away
Or else we won’t come back again
No retreat, no regrets
Meet me by the river’s edge
Sas3,
yes, everything I think and do is about making myself feel smarter and richer than you, (though I hardly notice you, and you seem to mostly monitor this blog to lash out at me). You cannot even comprehend me or what I think enough to understand that I don’t like China, that I hate government bailouts, etc. But you have figured out that I disagree with you on basically every tenet of political philosophy, so that’s a start.
For the record, I think that environmentalism is a form of political/religious dementia, not a job, and has nothing to do with cleaning up dirty stuff, or preventing things from getting dirty or polluting, all of which are real jobs in the noble profession of sanitation/waste management.
I don’t loot tax payer money, btw, if you recall, I complain about paying high taxes, apparently mostly as a subtle means to make you feel small and inadequate. As for my “ilk”, I’m not sure you have a clear handle on who those are or what they do.
Shore 61 Now that’s a professional
After the rapture tomorrow there won’t be any good Realtors around to
sell your house.
You pay a commission for participation in the system that makes properly priced real estate a liquid asset. If you are lucky you get an agent who provides good guidance and advice.
Shame on sellers for listing their homes when they are not serious about selling. Shame for hiring stupid agents who do not know their business. Shame for hiring the agent who tells you what you want to hear about the value of your home, insuring that it will not sell.
Idiot agents cannot act alone. Someone has to be stupid enough to employ their services!
Juice Open houses are usually 1-4 I think the end is coming around 6
Hit the bid prices on tiny boxes in train towns are going through the roof on this news!
Including buildings completed last year, Manhattan could see about 28.5 million square feet of new office space in this decade. Only 7.4 million square feet was built in the 1990s, and 18.5 million in the 2000s, according to Cassidy Turley. The 1980s had 47.2 million square feet of offices built.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/manhattan-developers-plan-biggest-decade-for-skyscrapers-since-the-1980s.html
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/manhattan-developers-plan-biggest-decade-for-skyscrapers-since-the-1980s.html
56] The Little Community That Could! (TM)
The Little Community That Could tax itself into oblivion.
If my spouse and I are eating dinner tomorrow night at 6PM when the rapture occurs
and she vanishes am I now free to hire a baby sitter and go out drinking and whoring for the night?
Ferrin legally owned this money, correct? All the contents of a house are part of the transaction, right?
WWGD?
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110520/ap_on_fe_st/us_found_money
Family finds $45,000 in new home — then returns it
SALT LAKE CITY – When Josh Ferrin closed on his family’s first home, he never thought he’d make the discovery of a lifetime — then give it back.
Ferrin picked up the keys earlier this week and decided to check out the house in the Salt Lake City suburb of Bountiful. He was excited to finally have a place his family could call their own.
As he walked into the garage, a piece of cloth that clung to an attic door caught his eye. He opened the hatch and climbed up the ladder, then pulled out a metal box that looked like a World War II ammunition case.
“I freaked out, locked it my car, and called my wife to tell her she wouldn’t believe what I had found,” said Ferrin, who works as an artist for the Deseret News in Salt Lake City.
Then he found seven more boxes, all stuffed full with tightly wound rolls of cash bundled together with twine — more than $40,000.
Ferrin quickly took the boxes to his parent’s house to count. Along with his wife and children, they spread out thousands of bills on a table, separating the bundles one by one.
They stopped counting at $40,000, but estimated there was at least $5,000 more on the table.
Ferrin thought about how such a large sum of money could go a long way, pay bills, buy things he never thought he could afford.
“I’m not perfect, and I wish I could say there was never any doubt in my mind. We knew we had to give it back, but it doesn’t mean I didn’t think about our car in need of repairs, how we would love to adopt a child and aren’t able to do that right now, or fix up our outdated house that we just bought,” Ferrin said. “But the money wasn’t ours to keep and I don’t believe you get a chance very often to do something radically honest, to do something ridiculously awesome for someone else and that is a lesson I hope to teach to my children.”
He thought about the home’s previous owner, Arnold Bangerter, who died in November and left the house to his children.
#69 There is an enclave that is nestled securely on the banks of the mighty Hackensack, where news such as this makes no difference as prices are up 26% from last year. However with this news one would be foolish to believe that prices will not be up 52% next year.
Make that mighty and bountiful Hackensack, I hear its full of wonderful giant golden carp.
Double No. 72 Looks like Josh Ferrin is the only one going to heaven tomorrow
Mike says:
May 20, 2011 at 10:59 am
Foolish is paying a commision to an individual that gives directions to the basement
…
Man who eat many prunes get good run for money.
“you seem to mostly monitor this blog to lash out at me”
C’mon, A.W. Give the misguided, but heartfelt, liberal a break. Everyone needs a hobby.
“As for my “ilk”, I’m not sure you have a clear handle on who those are or what they do.”
Oppress the masses, no?
#74I hear its full of wonderful giant golden carp.
And shopping carts.
Jets12:
I bought a home too and wasn’t ridiculed. We only ridicule the posters who get caught up in bidding wars and overpay with glee. We also tend to ridicule misguided posters who claim Zillow and Trulia numbers as fact. Not all of us are negative, actually, most of us are not. It’s funny, I’ve read a lot about how prices in GR are holding up better than in neighboring communities. We got our place for 430K only 4 months after it was listed for 540K. Plus, the seller installed a new garage door, refinished the wood floors and painted the main floor. The fact we got an additional $3,500 from inspection items is just icing on the cake. Jets12, do you believe that prices in GR dropped nearly 20% in 4 months? Why I am trying to reason with a troll is beyond me, but I’m 90% positive you overpaid due to the BS that some realtor told you about the resiliency of home prices of homes located in the gold coast of the Hackensack River. How much did you put down?
#79 Please stop being so reasonable and sensible.
Libtard,
YOU bought a HOUSE!! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA RIDDICULE RIDDICULE RIDDICULE. YOU ARE SO FOOOLISH! NOW YOUS IS UNDER THE WATER TOO!!!111
Just joking, good luck with that man. I’m still fence sitting for now.
Jets12,
We’re not negative… just waiting for the right moment to buy. :o
When Graydon starts selling dime bags at East Central Paterson HS and his mommy is standing on a corner in downtown Ridgewood in red stilettos, then it wll be time to buy, grasshopper.
I R bought a house. Is I stupid? LOL
I don’t think Jets even reads the responses to his posts, just hops on to say how negative we are. As well as being packed full of ridicule and pessism. I stand by my previous response to you when you first showed up, no one cares go f*ck a carp
Nicholas,
It was a very difficult decision. The price gave use some downside protection as it really was a bargain. We also only put 10% down which provides us with some insurance if the economy hits the fan again.
Leave the poor oversized goldfish out of this please.
Who was the other troll who said none of us would ‘ever’ buy a home? Funny as one by one, many of us have taken the plunge. And plunge it could be.
#82 When Graydon starts selling dime bags at East Central Paterson HS and his mommy is standing on a corner in downtown Ridgewood in red stilettos, then it Will be time to buy, grasshopper.
gary: There is a township that spreads out majestically along the banks of the gracious Hackensack River, where prices have gone up 26% in on year. And where such things as you mention could never occur.
I remain proudly and firmly a negative renter!
How do you sell real estate with an attitude like mine? Yeah that’s my trouble, my fcuking attitude.
30 year,
LOL! Now you’re talking!
RE #44
Shouldn’t you really at least provide attribution for such copyrighted material?
You guys are depressing me. I need more doom. Posters here are way to upbeat on our future. My financial future depends on doom. The more the merrier.
Anyone striper fishing this weekend?
Im going out tomorrow to practice my future profession when we return to our agrarian roots. Ill be with the Normandy invasion fleet wishing it was the real thing.
#90 – Doesn’t striper fishing get messy when you use automatic weapons?
Al was out last weekend pounding sand, 1 bass over two days of drowning clams. Haven’t been out in 4 years due to marraige and other things. So I had a smile on my face wish it was on my fly rod but the aformentioned hiatus did make me feel to confident in not hooking myself.
Lib would you have prefered mutated 3 eyed catfish instead?
OMG! This is awesome. Put your coffee down before watching. Especially the last minute.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNmcf4Y3lGM&feature=player_embedded
91.
lol. I wish. I just stab the eyes out of bunker to make up for the loss in bloodshed.
[93] That one never gets old :-)
I never saw it. Pretty good stuff.
52 – grim was the re on the deal.
92,
Pain,
Looks like the weather has scattered the bunker all over the place. They are catching big numbers around Barnegat Inlet. They should be up here by tomorrow. We need a new inlet on the Barnegat Bay. Once we are done bulldozing Montclair into the Hudson perhaps the Army Corp of Engineers could reopen Cranberry Inlet.
92,
Pain,
Looks like the weather has scattered the b__ker all over the place. They are catching big numbers around Barnegat Inlet. They should be up here by tomorrow. We need a new inlet on the Barnegat Bay. Once we are done bulldozing Montclair into the Hudson perhaps the _rmy Corp of Engineers could reopen Cranberry Inlet.
End is near.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/macho_man_randy_savage_dies_in_car_OngFEYEjbeP4CsG5xKWsDJ
#72: See? “The Book of Mormon” on Broadway is having a positive effect. (Wonderful songs, by the way…if you haven’t listened to the cast recording yet, it’s well worth your time. NPR has a free preview….hilarious!)
juice are they sure he wasn’t raptured?
Grim No. 92 Thanks for clarifying that. No pond scum needed to help you buy and close.
Correction Grim 97
[93] stu
That was fcuking hilarious.
Aking my 15 yr old niece to NYC for the first time next Saturday for the day and then dinner. She has asked me for suggestions. Any thoughts on daytime activities for a 15 yr old girls first time in NYC? We are tentativly doing little Italy for dinner. Any suggestions there? Nothing too fancy
Juice
tomorrow is rapture? Might as well spend Junes rent money on hookers and blow tonight!
Ket, Scores is probably open but they might offer her a job. so I’ll suggest the Met, but since she is a 15 yo just take her for lunch, then walk up and down 5th ave while she window shops. Bring ear plugs the squealing could be bad.
[104] kettle,
I’d stick to the touristy stuff, perhaps also chelsea piers. If she is into shopping, 5th and Park Aves., but make her spend her own money (the prices should scare her into reasonable).
Full disclaimer–Never took a teenager to NYC, except for the 19YO during freshman year at UMass.
[107] redux
Yes, I know JJ, you took more than that number of 19YO nymphos to NYC in one weekend.
Nom
I’m funding the trip and dinner any shopping or trinkets are on her
Pain
if I want to get arrested there moe entertaining ways for me to do so
If its raining tomorrow, will the Rapture be held indoors, or is there a rain date?
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/jacketcopy/2011/05/the-rapture-in-books.html
Ket – Oh c’mon I offered reasonable alternatives
Mike, #101…
“No pond scum needed to help you buy and close.”
Grim helped at least one person here to buy and close, and they have been very grateful. Your “all RE agents are scum” is as offensive as “all ‘professional’ environmentalists are scum”. Since I work with physicians, engineers, and public health people somewhat related to environmental issues, I felt particularly offended by the anti-environmentalism posts.
Personally, I had great experience with the two realtors I had to deal with, and got valuable advice from Hobo (Clot)… and you should tone down your rhetoric, especially since you are on an RE-related blog…
Oh, Fcuk it… I am simply feeding the Anti-RE and Anti-tax trolls.
Ket… depending on the kid… Museum of Natural History…
Kettle1 – you should go wait in line at the Cake Boss in Hoboken for 6 hours with the rest of the herd.
Kid ideas…I would wait on the tckts line and just get whatever musical you could get and catch a matinee. Do pizza at John’s first. I heard recently about a super deal for Stomp tickets too. Here…I did the homework for you.
http://stomponline.com/landing/travelzoo.html Shows at 3 and 8 on Saturday.
“Kettle1 – you should go wait in line at the Cake Boss in Hoboken for 6 hours with the rest of the herd.”
I second that; let me know when you get ther so I can stop by and laugh at you.
sas3 You’re entitled to your opinion, in a previous post I mentioned about having close friends and a family member in the business (all part timers) although I never called any of them pond scum to their faces they definetly know how I feel. They’re greed maybe only a fraction of what the bankers & mortgage companies did to the country still made a contribution to this mess. I’ll bet all the RE on this blog had no problem cashing there commision checks. This blog is sometimes a way to blow off steam. Since this is Grim’s I’ll wait to get an email from him personally before I tone it down. By the way the phrase “all professional’ environmentalists are scum” did not come from me.
Sas3,
I have met 5 times as many worthless RE agents as ones worth their salt. I can’t say that I have observed that in any other industry other then fast food. Yes there are some good ones but they have been overwhelmed in the last 10 years by the onslaught of low quality humanity.
That doesn’t mean that there isn’t one or two gems out there though.
I heard a report on public radio the other day that said one of the top RE agents in the area with 45 sales last year drives around in a yellow Hummer that gets 12 mpgs. I felt sick listening to this agent as she described how she makes sales. Not a single statement refered to observation, research, and perserverence…the focus was on bling, standing out, and conversation starters. If this is what I get for my money when I hire a RE agent then I’m not interested.
Kettle,
NYC 1st time tourism picks, try a couple of the following: Museum Natural History, The Met. Circle cruise. Rockefeller Center. Central Park. On a Saturday there will be plenty of tourists everywhere. May as well also take a look at Chinatown since you’ll be right next to it at Little Italy.
I like to hang out with my kids in Washington Square Park, then drag them around the shops and force them to spend time at the MAC Pro store. Do they love it? I’d like to think so.
(119)-
Geez, Mike, if this is how you feel about friends and family, I’d hate to see how you treat your enemies.
“…in a previous post I mentioned about having close friends and a family member in the business (all part timers) although I never called any of them pond scum to their faces they definetly know how I feel.”
You’re short, aren’t you, Mike?
Now Hobo the man he bought a shotgun
‘Cause he was in the mood for a little confrontation
He just let it all hang loose
He didn’t think about the noose
He couldn’t take no more abuse
So he shot down the congregation
You can’t talk to a man
With a shotgun in his hand
Shotgun
Now Big Grim the chief stood for law and order
He called for the guard to come and surround the border
Now from his bulldog mouth
As he led the posse south
Came the cry, we got to ride
Clean up the streets for our wives and our daughters
You can’t talk to a man
When he don’t want to understand
No, no, no, no, no, no
The account of the capture wasn’t in the papers
But you know, they hanged ole Hobo right then instead of later
You know the people were quite pleased
‘Cause the loser had been seized
And on the whole, it was a very good year
For the undertaker
You know, you know, you can’t talk to a man
With a shotgun in his hand
Kettle1 – 15 year old girls like shopping. Take her to Central Park South and head down 5th avenue and hit all of the shops. End your day at Morton’s on 45th st with a nice steak.
why are you all sending this 15 yr old girl into stuffy midtown? DOWNTOWN, NYU. She isn’t going to buy a snake skin clutch at Caroline Herrera.
Mike,
Would be interested to see what your “close” friends and family say about you in the blogs they frequent. No doubt they appreciate your inability to control your disdain.
Shore Guy says:
May 20, 2011 at 10:58 am
Chifi, How does it go?
High above the Hackensack’s waters
And the Maywood/Teaneck din
Stands overpriced 70′s bilevels
And sellers with thin skin.
http://vimeo.com/23897683
I would suggest breakfast at the Palm Court then a walk through the park. Then catch a subway to the battery and walk up to Wall Street and the South Street Seaport. Head to Little Italy for lunch and pick up a mooncake in Chinatown. Grab a subway up to City Hall and let her see the Flat Iron building. Perhaps walk out onto the Brooklyn Bridge before heading up to the ESB/Macys area. Walk up to the Public Library and into Grand Central. Head to Rockafeller Center/St. Patricks/Sacks. From there, a walk up Park Ave to W57 and then back down 5th.
Most expensive part of the day will be the Plaza Breakfast but they do a nice job, it is a great setting, and she will remember it forever.
ChiFi,
How many times does that kid make the “Where you go to______ , or not….” winky do? I stopped after the first three.
Gator dirt………………
Battle over Condé Nast office space at 1 WTC
When Condé Nast finally moves into its new downtown digs at 1 WTC, many of the denizens of the city’s glitziest publishing house will be in a for a rude surprise: the new office plan calls for open floor seating in the 1 million square feet of office space.
That’s a dramatic reversal from the current headquarters at Times Square, where walled offices are the rule, not the exception, and the Condé Nasties fought hard for each square inch of office space.
The toniest digs in the Midtown office, which went to upper level executives and chief editors, such as Anna Wintour, of Vogue; Graydon Carter, of Vanity Fair; or David Remnick, of The New Yorker, were huge offices featuring private bathrooms.
Some executive suites were even said to have showers. That is likely to come to a dramatic end.
“They are very interested in the whole cubicle world,” said one insider.
While there was a flurry of new publicity recently about agreeing to the 25-year lease downtown, the plans were actually being drawn up late last year, and tentative plans were shown to some select senior people in recent months.
So far, the design plans are not being shared with the staff. And for good reason.
“I think it will be horribly received in many parts of the building,” said one source, who noted that office space is deemed very precious in status-conscious Condé Nast.
In the new layout that only a precious few have seen, far fewer will have glass offices.
And even though just a few have seen the office-lite plans for 1 WTC, grumbling has already begun.
“Newsrooms are all about speed and accuracy,” said one Condé Nasty. “The kind of writing we do is much more involved with style. You need quiet.”
In the Condé Nast headquarters, there are five levels of office space, ranked from A, for top-level editors and publishers, which are corner offices with windows, to E level, where assistants and junior staffers are sitting in the open. But even the D level office space in the current headquarters have walls and doors — although that level would be relegated to interior windowless space.
New job
Bill Wackermann, the publications director of a slew of Condé Nast titles, including its second-most profitable one, Glamour, is said to be searching for a hands-on publisher to take over the role for that magazine. The news broke yesterday on Adweek.com and insiders confirmed the search is indeed on.
The company is said to be looking outside the company for a replacement. Wackermann has been the de facto publisher, but he also has responsibility for Details, W and Bon Appétit.
Sources say that the company would love to set its sites on Kim Kelleher, the former publisher of Self. Kelleher is said to have shot down the rumor at a staff meeting yesterday. The other target could be Connie Anne Phillips, the InStyle publisher, who had been a No. 2 at Vogue before jumping ship.
But complicating any potential raid could be Time Inc. contracts and non-compete agreements. Kelleher, in particular was just promoted to global publisher of Time magazine, from publisher of just the domestic edition.
Ad pages
Media Industry Newsletter is set to release its first half numbers for ad pages in monthly magazines today and they will show that in the closely watched fashion titles it is nearly a dead heat between InStyle and Vogue.
For the first half, InStyle is up 14.5 percent to 1,156 compared to 1,009 in the year-ago first half. That puts it just ahead of Vogue, which jumped 11.1 percent to 1,094, from 985 a year ago — with Publisher Susan Plagemann at the helm.
Elle, which is in the final stages of being sold with the rest of the Hachette Filipacchi titles as part of a deal with Hearst, actually showed a 15.1 percent gain to 1,082, compared to 940 in the first half last year. That may bolster the status of Elle Publishing Director Robin Domeniconi when the merger is finalized in the next few weeks.
Bringing up the rear is Hearst’s Harper’s Bazaar, where ad pages dropped 5.4 percent to 712.6 compared to 753. That magazine just had a change at the top, where Valerie Salem bier, a chief trouble shooter for ex- Hearst president Cathie Black, was dispatched to try to fix Town & Country. Former Elle publish ing director Carol Smith, who is highly re garded for her run there despite her short six-month stint running Bon Appétit at Condé Nast last year, was handed the job at HB.
“The first half for all magazines in the industry is up factionally, a gain of 1.5 percent in ad pages,” said Steve Cohn, editor in chief of MIN. September is still the bellwether month for most women’s magazines.
Manhattan developers are planning the city’s biggest decade of office construction since the 1980s, betting on rising demand for modern space even with tenants unsigned and the availability of financing more limited.
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-05-20/manhattan-developers-plan-biggest-decade-for-skyscrapers-since-the-1980s.html
Let
Hit the boathouse in Central Park. Rent them a rowboat then watch them giggle and scream while you grab a bite and liquor. Plenty of street performers to keep them entertained too.
Thanks for the input everyone
Clot 20, check your email.
Ket have fun, better you than me.
Clot 20 my email of yours old, AstroTurf.
Shore and NJ Coast….if you are interested….let me know and I can get you signed up…..
Cornell on the Road and the Cornell Club of Monmouth/Ocean Counties present:
Obama in the World: Some Reflections on Foreign Policy with Fredrik Logevall, J.S. Knight Professor of International Relations and Director of the Einaudi Center for International Studies
June 3, 2011 ~ Rumson, NJ
Register Here | See Who’s Coming
Just past the midway point of his first term, Barack Obama faces a range of challenges in foreign policy, in the Middle East and Central Asia and elsewhere. How is he responding? To what extent has he followed through on promises to change the direction of American diplomacy? And what issues in world affairs could threaten his reelection? Join us on June 3, as Fred Logevall, Cornell history professor and director of the Mario Einaudi Center for International Studies, examines where we are and where we might be headed.
About the Speaker
Professor Fredrik Logevall specializes in American foreign relations and political history, with particular interest in the Cold War. He has published extensively on both Vietnam and the history of American foreign policy, and his writing has won several prestigious scholarly awards. Professor Logevall is also the Director of the Einaudi Center for International Studies, which celebrates its 50th anniversary next year. The umbrella organization for more than 20 interdisciplinary programs across the university, encompassing over 800 faculty members from every college and school, Einaudi generates and supports research, teaching and outreach that advances international studies and bolster Cornell’s reputation as a truly “global university.”
Event Information
Register here | See Who’s Coming
Date: Friday, June 3, 2011
7:00 PM Light reception, Cash bar
8:00 PM Presentation/Q&A
8:45 PM Dessert table,coffee, tea
Location: David Burke Fromagerie 26 Ridge Road, Rumson, NJ 07760-1907
West, #121… Man, really, the world is coming to an end. We agree on one thing: Museum of Natural History.
Kettle-
My suggestion for your niece. Open on Saturdays.
http://www.grownyc.org/unionsquaregreenmarket
babs (126)-
Everybody knows the 15 y/o girlz want to score knockoff designer swag in the false front subway joints in Chinatown.
mikey (135)-
Nothing there. My new e-mail is:
reeveshughes at yahoo dot com
Can’t belive no one has paraphased Billy
Who needs a house on the Hackensack?
Is that all you get for your money?
And it seems such a waste of time
If that’s what it’s all about
Mama if that’s movin up then I’m movin out
Ket:
As a contrarian, I suggest starting at the Cloisters (she would totally love it especially if the weather is sunny), then taking the subway all the way down and into Brooklyn to the foot of the bridge, walking the Brooklyn bridge over to the island. From there, follow Shore’s directions.
Billy Joel sucks.
Gun to head, I might even take Neil Diamond over Billy Joel.
Then again, I might just request to be shot in the head.
Ket,
Park in Hoboken, take the boat over to WTC. Walk across town past the Canyon of Heros, past City Hall and over the Brooklyn Bridge. Pizza at Grimaldis and ice cream in the Brooklyn Ice cream factory. Walk to Jay St and get a subway up the Natural History museum or the Gugenheim. Check out Strawberry fields or the Central Park Zoo and then subway/cab to Times Square. Walk to Macys at 34th St and Path back to Hoboken.
Paulson Cast as Stoic Savior in ‘Too Big’ Wall Street Saga: TV
May 20 (Bloomberg) — Andrew Ross Sorkin’s sprawling best- seller “Too Big to Fail” is now a TV movie that transforms the complex tale of Wall Street greed into a knight-in-shining-armor saga.
The knight is Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson, portrayed by William Hurt as a stoic savior who endures sleepless nights and a nervous stomach to forestall the economic meltdown.
“What do I say when they ask me why it wasn’t regulated?” asks a Treasury Department official (Cynthia Nixon), boning up for a press conference to explain bundled home loans and the potential collapse of AIG.
“No one wanted it,” Paulson replies. “They were making too much money.”
Director Curtis Hanson and screenwriter Peter Gould clearly needed a hero to transform murky, complex reality into save-the- day storytelling.
In their HBO version, which airs Monday night, Paulson rights the wrongs of money-hungry chief executives like James Woods’s antic Lehman Brothers boss Dick Fuld and ineffective politicos like Peter Hermann’s hapless SEC chairman Christopher Cox.
The ploy works as a dramatic device, much as it did for that other Sorkin (Aaron), who fashioned “The West Wing” from an idealized presidency. But the chief shortcoming of the Paulson- engineered cash injections — public money ending up as corporate profit — isn’t noted until the very end.
Master of Universe
The movie, crisply edited to 98 minutes, opens in May 2008 as Lehman’s stock price is plummeting and ends that October with the blood-staunching bailout of nine major U.S. banks.
It efficiently sketches the personalities behind the lofty corporate titles and government positions. Bill Pullman is Master of the Universe personified as JPMorgan Chase’s Jamie Dimon. The real Timothy Geithner, president in 2008 of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, will no doubt be flattered by handsome Billy Crudup’s conscientious portrait.
Despite the blue-chip ensemble, some of the characters are reduced to one-note simplicity. Edward Asner’s Warren Buffett is all Yoda-like wisdom, a gentle guru sharing ice cream with the grandkids while doling out advice to the nation’s fattest cats.
“Too Big to Fail” airs May 23 on HBO at 9 p.m. New York time. Rating: ***1/2
Hobo,
Huey Futon pleather bags are like The Call Of TheWild to teen girls.