From the NY Times:
Sales of Existing Homes Hit Six-Month Low in May
Sales of previously owned homes hit a six-month low in May and the supply rose, pointing to a housing market still struggling to regain its footing.
The National Association of Realtors said on Tuesday that sales slipped 3.8 percent month over month to an annual rate of 4.81 million units, the lowest since November.
It was the second straight month of declines. The drop was smaller than economists had expected, but the April sales figure was revised lower, leaving a report that was largely in line with expectations in financial markets.
While the fall in sales last month was partly a result of tornadoes and flooding, with sales in the Midwest and South hit the hardest, it underscored fundamental weakness.
“It’s indicative of the depressed housing demand that we have been seeing for some time, and that’s a function of the slow economic recovery and tight credit markets,” said Michelle Meyer, an economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch in New York.
At May’s weak sales pace, it would take 9.3 months to clear the inventory of previously owned homes on the market. That is up from a nine-month supply in April.
The report was the latest to confirm a sustained weakness in the economy through the second quarter, which has been marked by a sharp slowdown in regional factory activity, soft retail sales and anemic employment growth.
But the smaller-than-expected decline in sales was yet another hopeful sign that the economy was set to regain momentum in the second half of the year.
In the 12 months to May, home resales were down 15.3 percent.
From CNBC:
Existing Home Sales Fall Less Than Expected
Sales of existing homes fell 3.8 percent in May, not as deep a drop as some had forecast, to a seasonally adjusted annual rate of 4.81 million units.
April’s figure was revised down to 5 million.
Potential homebuyers continue to be held back by tough credit standards and poor confidence. Sales activity was 15.3 percent below the pace set in May of 2010, when buyers were rushing to take advantage of the home buyer tax credit.
“Spiking gasoline prices along with widespread severe weather hurt house shopping in April, leading to soft figures for actual closings in May,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the National Association of Realtors.
The national median existing-home price for all housing types was $166,500 in May, down 4.6 percent from May 2010. Home prices continue to be pressured by the large supply of distressed properties, which typically sold at a discount of about 20 percent in May. Foreclosures and short sales, where the home is sold for less than the value of the mortgage, accounted for 31 percent of sales in May, down from 37 percent in April.
“The price decline could be diminishing, as buyers recognize great bargain prices and the highest affordability conditions in 40 years; this will help mitigate further price drops,” Yun said. Distressed sales vary market to market, with some of the hardest hit areas of the housing crash seeing far higher shares of these purchases. That may be a factor in regional sales differences.
Regionally, existing-home sales in the Northeast declined 2.5 percent, in the Midwest dropped 6.4 percent and were down 5.1 percent in the South. Sales, however, were unchanged in the West, where distressed sales are a far higher percentage of the market, and where investors are out in force.
Good Morning New Jersey
From the WSJ:
‘Underwater’ Mortgages Sink New Yorkers
New York state homeowners whose properties are worth less than their mortgage balances tend to be more underwater than borrowers in any other state, a reflection of high home prices and high leverage.
A report by real-estate data provider CoreLogic Inc. found that underwater homeowners in the state owed an average of $129,007 more on their homes than the homes were valued during the first quarter. That compares with a national underwater average of $65,000.
The total percentage of underwater borrowers in New York is smaller than for the nation as a whole and substantially lower than in states that were hit hardest by the housing downturn, including Florida, Nevada and Arizona.
…
Price declines, the primary culprit for negative equity, were less pernicious in New York than in the hardest hit states.
But because New York home prices are higher than in most other states—driven partly by the multimillion-dollar price tags in parts of Manhattan, Westchester and Long Island—even a small percentage price decline can result in a substantial level of negative equity.
“Generally speaking, if you’re upside down, the higher the value of the geography, the deeper underwater you are,” says Sam Khater, an economist with CoreLogic. “When someone’s upside down, they’re upside down by a lot—they tended to over-leverage.”
Homeowners in Connecticut had a similarly high level of negative equity in the first quarter, with an average of $111,430. In New Jersey, the average level of negative equity was $77,474
When breaking down the data for the tri-state region by county, owners of Manhattan condominiums and single-family homes had the largest average amount of negative equity—a whopping $1.35 million, according to CoreLogic.
The numbers don’t include co-ops, which are more widespread in Manhattan and typically are far less underwater than condos.
…
In Fairfield County, Conn., the average difference between mortgage debt and property value is $176,038. In Bergen County, N.J., it’s $120,740.
From HousingWire:
May mortgage delinquencies down substantially compared to 2010: LPS
U.S. mortgage delinquencies are faring much better compared to one year ago, according to Lender Processing Services’ “First Look” report released Tuesday.
The report provides month-end mortgage performance statistics from LPS’ loan-level database of nearly 40 million mortgages. The Jacksonville, Fla.-based firm will release more detailed reporting in its upcoming “Mortgage Monitor” report, which comes out at the end of this month.
According to the report, 7.96% of U.S. home loans were 30 days past due but not in foreclosure in May, down a staggering 18.3% compared to the same month in 2010. This figure is down a slight 0.1% from April. LPS estimates there are 4.2 million mortgages in delinquency status, with 1.9 million seriously delinquent, meaning 90-plus days past payment.
Foreclosure pre-sale inventory, on the other hand, continued to stay above last year’s averages. Inventory was up 4.11% last month compared to the year ago period, totaling 2.2 million homes.
Florida posted the highest percentage of noncurrent loans statewide in May, followed by Nevada, Mississippi, New Jersey and Illinois.
From UPI:
Agents More Bearish on Home Values
Half of all agents and brokers and forty-two percent of homeowners think that home values will decrease over the next six months, a huge increase in price pessimism over the first quarter.
In the first quarter 2011 HomeGain National Home Values Survey, thirty-nine percent of agents and brokers and 30 percent of homeowners thought that home values would decrease over the next six months.
Thirty-eight percent of real estate agents and brokers and 43 percent of homeowners think that home values will remain the same in the coming six months.
…
According to surveyed agents and brokers, 77 percent of homeowners believe their homes are worth more than the recommended agent listing price but 67 percent of home buyers believe homes are overpriced.
(And there you have it)
From 1 “In Fairfield County, Conn., the average difference between mortgage debt and property value is $176,038. In Bergen County, N.J., it’s $120,740.”
Maybe the unicorns are on strike.
Grim 4 Russian standoff, who do you think is going to blink first, tick tick tick.
And a bit more on public employee pensions:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/22/business/22union.html?ref=business
“In 2008, for instance, lifeguards in Laguna Beach started receiving increased retirement benefits as the state’s economy began to slow. The next year, the town’s chief lifeguard retired at age 57, with a $113,000-a-year pension…”
who do you think is going to blink first
Yeah, but do you believe the gap in sentiment/perception is any different from any other time? Don’t sellers always want more than their crap is worth, and buyers less?
Is this news just because all eyes are on it?
We are in the top 5, not schools silly non current loans.
“Florida posted the highest percentage of noncurrent loans statewide in May, followed by Nevada, Mississippi, New Jersey and Illinois.”
We need to be # 1 and I am sure we can get there with the extravagant cost of our schools pushing taxes ever higher.
#8 Grim – “Is this news just because all eyes are on it?”
Yes, the gap always exists. Perhaps a better way to portray the situation is focusing on the size of the gap rather than its existence. The overall percentage of overpriced listings and the percentage by which they are overpriced is like nothing I have ever encountered in 3 decades in the real estate biz. Homes priced 25% to 30% above their current market value are common in North Jersey at this moment in time.
Grim 8 “do you believe the gap in sentiment/perception is any different from any other time?”
Yes it is & yes I do. I sold RE turning the last big down turn in the late 80’s, it didn’t hold a candle to this cluster “f”. I can not give you one case of people being as leveraged as they are now on RE . It just wasn’t done back then , banks didn’t go for it. The informed prospective buyers know this. Yes the buyer always wants it cheaper & the sellers house is special but you have a once in a life time (hopefully) financial catastrophe to create a unprecedented situation. Let us throw in unemployment (getting better anytime soon?), % of population working, overall indebtedness (CC given out like cotton candy), demographics(9K every week turning 65) I could go on. Oh yes the blinking will occur, on the sell side. Tick tick tick.
I called spring market ’11 bust in the fall of ’08.
I am clairvoyant.
I am omnipotent.
I will now call spring market bust every spring until at least 2021.
I am Hobo With a Shotgun.
I want to get a job on one of those trendy food trucks where they sell you a $12 falafel.
That will be a good place from which to observe the complete societal meltdown that is upon us.
Existing Home Sales Fell 3.8% in May
“The National Association of Realtors reported that existing home sales fell 3.8 percent in May to an annual rate of 4.81 million units and home values continue to decline on a year-over-year basis, the median price down 4.6 percent from a year ago to $166,500.
The months of supply metric rose from 9.0 months to 9.3 months in what many see as further confirmation of the ongoing “double-dip” in housing, but NAR chief economist Lawrence Yun remains optimistic, noting that temporary factors are now holding back the market. “Spiking gasoline prices along with widespread severe weather hurt house shopping in April, leading to soft figures for actual closings in May,” he said. “The pace of sales activity in the second half of the year is expected to be stronger than the first half, and will be much stronger than the second half of last year.”
Yes, we’re starting to hear a lot about a “second half recovery”, that is, after the first half of 2011 has proved to be such a disappointment.”
http://seekingalpha.com/article/275919-existing-home-sales-fell-3-8-in-may
Check out the chart on this one.
“Homes priced 25% to 30% above their current market value are common in North Jersey at this moment in time.”
30 yr – except for folks that “must” buy or sell, how long do you think it takes for the masses of sellers to come to terms with the new reality? For most of their lives, they have seen prices in NJ go up. Given the economy, unemployment and job instability, even the blue ribbon train towns appear to me to be at a minimum, 15% overpriced but it seems like the price reduction g-ds have to drag sellers where they need to be in very small increments so most of what is on the market is garbage.
13. 8th ave right outside the train stop in Soho. Best Damn gyro I have ever had.
The gap for me is not as much in perception of worth as much as affordability. A decent sized 4br in strong town still has high price and large tax bill. Although we really want to own our own house badly, it would stretch us so much financially that we would never be able to fully enjoy it. Homes in my town are selling for 50% higher than 2002 prices with 60% higher property tax, meanwhile avg income grew by 5% during this same period and stock market was flat. Are we just stuck at higher prices going forward? If so thats fine. Its not even a mexican standoff. we just wont buy.
Lawrence Yun is a liar and a thief.
17 Right on Vets, like I said who will blink first, not us.
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Applications for home mortgages fell last week, after a sharp bounce the week before, as refinance demand dropped and interest rates rose, an industry group said on Wednesday.
The Mortgage Bankers Association said its seasonally adjusted index of mortgage application activity, which includes both refinancing and home purchase demand, declined 5.9 percent in the week ended June 17.
Mortgage applications declined last week: MBA
The MBA’s seasonally adjusted index of refinancing applications dropped 7.2 percent, while the gauge of loan requests for home purchases slipped 2.8 percent.
The refinance share of mortgage activity dipped to 69.2 percent of total applications from 70.0 percent the week before.
Fixed 30-year mortgage rates averaged 4.57 percent in the week, up from 4.51 percent the week before.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43491809
mortgage rates = pushing on a string
It’s a balance sheet depression, kids.
As BC would say: the asset dwindles, the debt remains.
This is one of the 2 large economies propping up Greece & the rest of the pigs, yes
all is well.
“We are approaching the danger zone where the debt/GDP ratio (87%) becomes increasingly closely watched,” warns the head of the French public audit office. President Sarkozy aims to bring the annual deficit down to 3% of GDP by 2013, from last year’s 7.1%”
Currents: http://seekingalpha.com/
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-06-22/americans-worse-now-than-when-obama-inaugurated-by-44-34-margin-in-poll.html
According to surveyed agents and brokers, 77 percent of homeowners believe their homes are worth more than the recommended agent listing price but 67 percent of home buyers believe homes are overpriced.
tick… tick… tick… tick…
Homes priced 25% to 30% above their current market value are common in North Jersey at this moment in time.
Any Questions?
I didn’t think so…. bitch.
Screw it all. We will let everything crumble around us and won’t notice that the banksters have drained us of everything until we are all wandering the country and sleeping outdoors.
What we really need is more bagel shops. Bagel shops = job creation.
It was in one way worse back then. My old coop Dime Savings Bank was doing tons of 5% down mortgages, Even the stronger banks like Independence Bank which always required 25% down, no exceptions were in for a shock back them. My coop in 1988 unrenovated coops were going for 106k, In 1991 I bought mine for 27K with a brand new 20K renovation for 27K. Pretty much a 95% drop in value in 36 months. Even 50% down would not help.
Plus tons of neg am loans like my old GF took a bath on where you can’t wait it out. Also I knew a single guy in his twenties who lived at home was huge into flipping, flipped out tons of places, took dates on 2K dates back in 1988. Brand new BMW, New Pick up Truck, just rented hotels all over when he hooked up with girls, the Palace, the Waldorf. Prices were rising so quickly he would put $500 bucks down on multiple properties with the intent to never close. In the 60 days till closing he would sell the paper to someone else who would buy house at closing. Homes rose so quickly that if he bought a place for one million, it would rise 5% in 60 days so he would sell it to another buyer within 60 days, guy was a millionaire in a matter of 24 months. His undoing happened when he bought a 40 million dollar parking garage in NYC in 1990 and could not get out in time, plus he could not close, Plus seller could not find someone else to buy it. He ended up in BK at time. Seller took what they could get but also at time SEC was investigating his penny stock business that went belly up in the spring of 1987 and at same time he got a DUI. So guy who was CEO of a broker dealer and a multiple millionare at age of 25 was bankrupt, censored from securities industry of life and convicted of drunken driving. Men were Men back then, todays 26 year old it would take till at least 50 to have such a colorful life. this particular guy was insanely interesting. Also pre CEO days at the ripe old age of 26 he had gotten a college degree, a masters in theology as he thought he wanted to be a priest, then joined Marines instead and got into some type of dark ops South American type crap in countries we were not supposed to be in, got “honorably discharged” from Marines after a fire-fight in a country we were not supposed to be in that he was only supposed to be doing recon in. Plus in high school he skipped senior year to travel with Dead. Also had a bad habit of hunting wild boar with a bow and arrow with only one arrow to make it a fare fight. Guy was a sicko. Anyhow he is now 50 and married a multiple millionaire daughters and has a seven figure job. Don’t let the man get you down.
Mikeinwaiting says:
June 22, 2011 at 7:13 am
Grim 8 “do you believe the gap in sentiment/perception is any different from any other time?”
Yes it is & yes I do. I sold RE turning the last big down turn in the late 80′s, it didn’t hold a candle to this cluster “f”. I can not give you one case of people being as leveraged as they are now on RE . It just wasn’t done back then , banks didn’t go for it. The informed prospective buyers know this. Yes the buyer always wants it cheaper & the sellers house is special but you have a once in a life time (hopefully) financial catastrophe to create a unprecedented situation. Let us throw in unemployment (getting better anytime soon?), % of population working, overall indebtedness (CC given out like cotton candy), demographics(9K every week turning 65) I could go on. Oh yes the blinking will occur, on the sell side. Tick tick tick.
H&H went bankrupt today, that is a great place to buy.
gary says:
June 22, 2011 at 8:49 am
What we really need is more bagel shops. Bagel shops = job creation.
low mortgage rates remind me of when the Jets had thousands of overpriced PSLs left for sale and they did zero percent down and no payment for one year, it sold a few but the fact is not many, if the underlying asset is overpriced even zero percent mortgage rate makes no sense.
#8 Yes, but I do not think the gap was ever so wide.
#14 mike: We are almost throught June at this point, what exactly do these hopeful experts expect will happen in the next 5 months, that will have people go out and buy houses, or employers to start a hiring binge?
#15 Did all of these sellers, and many are in the 40 and over crowd forget the real estate bust of the late 80’s and early 90’s??? That was painful, not like today of course but painful. Ibought during that time and sold it 10 years later for $2500 less, not to mention all the improvements I made over the years.
People choose to forget. This time was supposed to be different.
#17 Somebody is going to blink first, and IMO it will be the sellers as there are more of them, and less buyers
How funny is this, facebook and stuff you once in awhile gets blasts from the past the old GF who took a bath on a coop she bought at the peak of the 1980s coop bubble with a neg am loan that ended up back living with Mommy and Daddy on her 30 birthday near broke I saw bought a big trade up home with her hubby and kids at the absolute peak of the 2006 housing bubble. History loves to repeat itself. She bought at the peak TWICE.
Meanwhile her brother after the SEC censuring, BK and DUI was smarter back at the housing bottom around 1993 he married a multi millionaires daughter and bought a grammy award winning artists home in the low seven figures with his wedding money that is worth a ton more. He learned quick profits on wall street and real estate come and go but marrying filthy rich is forever.
3B says:
June 22, 2011 at 9:04 am
#15 Did all of these sellers, and many are in the 40 and over crowd forget the real estate bust of the late 80′s and early 90′s??? That was painful, not like today of course but painful. Ibought during that time and sold it 10 years later for $2500 less, not to mention all the improvements I made over the years.
People choose to forget. This time was supposed to be different.
May have to have a morning dram of grain alcohol.
Grim [4];
Could buyers have a new ally in the battle? After all, the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
#15 Toast – This brings us back to #8. There will always be a gap. Sellers who must sell will face the reality even if they are taken there kicking and screaming.
Overall the public perception of real estate has already changed dramatically. Home ownership is viewed very differently than it was 5 short years ago. People have lost confidence.
Crowds in a busy market fled in terror as a woman walked among them holding aloft the severed head of a man who had attacked her.
Covered in blood, she held the head high like a trophy, said police – her way of showing that she had delivered her own kind of justice to her attacker.
The gruesome scene was played out in Makkapurva village, 170 miles south east of the Indian city of Lucknow, where, last night, the woman was being held behind bars.
The murder took place 100 miles from the Indian city of Lucknow
According to police officer Ram Bharose, the unnamed 35-year-old woman had sliced off the man’s head with a sickle she had been using to cut grass near her village.
‘She was getting grass for her cattle when the man came up from behind her and tried to sexually assault her,’ said Mr Bharose.
‘In a bid to save her dignity, she turned on him and during a struggle managed to chop off his head with the sickle.
‘We have no doubts about her story because she had bite marks on her neck and cheek when the man tried to take advantage of her sexually.’
So determined was the woman to show that she had beaten off her attacker, who she claimed had been stalking her for three months, that she decided to take his head immediately to the local market.
‘She put the head on parade,’ said Mr Bharose. ‘She walked right through all the crowds who were buying their vegetables, holding the head up high.
‘All her clothes were covered in blood, but as far as she was concerned that didn’t matter. She just wanted to make a point and she definitely succeeded in doing that.
‘Everybody scattered. It was a very terrifying sight.’ Mr Bharose said the woman had no regrets about her actions.
‘We have to follow the letter of the law and although she says she acted in self defence she will probably be charged with culpable homicide,’ said the police officer.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti…#ixzz1PxBbPcFz
Crowds in a busy market fled in terror as a woman walked among them holding aloft the severed head of a man who had attacked her.
Covered in blood, she held the head high like a trophy, said police – her way of showing that she had delivered her own kind of justice to her attacker.
The gruesome scene was played out in Makkapurva village, 170 miles south east of the Indian city of Lucknow, where, last night, the woman was being held behind bars.
The murder took place 100 miles from the Indian city of Lucknow
According to police officer Ram Bharose, the unnamed 35-year-old woman had sliced off the man’s head with a sickle she had been using to cut grass near her village.
‘She was getting grass for her cattle when the man came up from behind her and tried to sexually assault her,’ said Mr Bharose.
‘In a bid to save her dignity, she turned on him and during a struggle managed to chop off his head with the sickle.
‘We have no doubts about her story because she had bite marks on her neck and cheek when the man tried to take advantage of her sexually.’
So determined was the woman to show that she had beaten off her attacker, who she claimed had been stalking her for three months, that she decided to take his head immediately to the local market.
‘She put the head on parade,’ said Mr Bharose. ‘She walked right through all the crowds who were buying their vegetables, holding the head up high.
‘All her clothes were covered in blood, but as far as she was concerned that didn’t matter. She just wanted to make a point and she definitely succeeded in doing that.
‘Everybody scattered. It was a very terrifying sight.’ Mr Bharose said the woman had no regrets about her actions.
‘We have to follow the letter of the law and although she says she acted in self defence she will probably be charged with culpable homicide,’ said the police officer.
#39 Moose – We don’t want you as a friend.
#40 Still cannot believe people forget the last boom and bust.
JJ #30 – Problem is that what you describe happening in the late 80’s through early 90’s should have already taken place in this mess. That is why by 1992 or 93 prices had stabilized and soon headed up. This time the strategy is not to clean up the mess. Extend and pretend isn’t working out too well.
30-yr. [41];
Suit yourself. What’s 6% of nothing?
Any enemy of Moose is my ally.
30 year #40: In my late 30’s I wanted a house the way most women want babies. Bought for $193K in 1996, have put about $55K into it (siding, windows roof, basement remodel, 2 water heater replacements, 1 oil burner replacement, new electric) and the house needs MINIMUM another $20K, and that’s just replacing interior doors, some minor bathroom updates (vanity, floor, tub reglaze or liner) and new floor/countertop in the kitchen. So that puts me at almost $300K, and the house is now worth about $360K. The only saving grace is that with no kids we had no other deductions so we would have been clobbered by taxes if we hadn’t bought. So we’ll sell when we want to sell, pocket whatever cash we get and figure we kept the money in the mattress for 20 years.
Looks like the real doom is June 30th in Greece when they vote on the austerity cuts.
Our country is run by a crime syndicate and no one goes to jail.
Why would a couple with no kids want a house in the surburbs? If I had no kids and my wife and I worked full time I would have a great doorman coop in NYC and we would spend sundays reading the NY Times and going to brunch. A house is a pile of sticks rotting away you need to work on all the time to keep it afloat while you listen to the screams of other peoples kids all day and pay huge school taxes for schools you never use.
I loved the city, heck I would most likely still have my tiny rent controlled apt in city if we never had kids and maybe some great place in Hamptons if I felt need to have a house.
JC says:
June 22, 2011 at 9:44 am
30 year #40: In my late 30′s I wanted a house the way most women want babies. Bought for $193K in 1996, have put about $55K into it (siding, windows roof, basement remodel, 2 water heater replacements, 1 oil burner replacement, new electric) and the house needs MINIMUM another $20K, and that’s just replacing interior doors, some minor bathroom updates (vanity, floor, tub reglaze or liner) and new floor/countertop in the kitchen. So that puts me at almost $300K, and the house is now worth about $360K. The only saving grace is that with no kids we had no other deductions so we would have been clobbered by taxes if we hadn’t bought. So we’ll sell when we want to sell, pocket whatever cash we get and figure we kept the money in the mattress for 20 years.
re # 42 3B – History sometimes Rhymes. You would think we would have learned something from the Japanese housing bubble, however most of those people negative on the housing bubble in the early days were labeled Cassandras, myself included.
Just an example but today the Japanese consumers are terrified of debt (biggest savers in the Modern World) , especially after their massive housing crash even super low interest rates didn’t make housing attractive. Seems a bit of a repeat of the Japanese story here and in Europe with record low interest rates and housing prices continue to crash on low volume.
If you take into consideration the study listed in Post #4 even the Panglossian Realtors are now waking up, which only means additional downward pressure, look out below is all I can say.
#45 Already getting the Newsweek propaganda in my in box from the Mommy brigade about how our blue ribbony school ranks 500 hundred something best HS in the country. Gee with the staggering taxes we should at least be in the top 25. And again in this so called survey of great schools NJ, does not have any in the top 100, but we spend more on education than any other state.
My last of 3 graduates tomorrow, so I am done with the whole blue ribbony best schools silliness.
#49 I was ridiculed, ostracized, and pitied for my negativity on the housing bubble. Coupled that with my calls for restraint on out of control local spending, and I was met with outright hostility. There is a certain self satisfaction, but actually I am really disappointed and saddended that people fell for the con game, and now we have the mess that we have. Much of the pain was self-inflicted, and could have been avoided.
There really is nothing left to say but I told you so.
#46 JC Well you should have bought in the land of Unicorns, and you would have been up 26% in one year.
[53] 3b
So, is the realtor’s under contract sign on your lawn next to the one congratulating your grad?
One of our friends on Kimball Ave has a neighbor who sold, and they timed it perfectly. House went on market a few months ago, then UC. Now both signs are on the lawn, and I have to figure that the Bekins Van shows up right after the caterers fold up their tent.
Gawd, it really seems that Mass. is trying hard to keep up with New Jersey.
http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2011/06/22/10m_in_special_education_funds_diverted_inspector_general_says/?p1=News_links
Whipped… any update on how your title search/insurance competitive bidding went? What is a reasonable rate anyway? What were your quotes for appraisals and surveys? Did they toss in an “appraisal mgmt fee”?
Clot,
I will now call spring market bust every spring until at least 2021.
Your outlook has become very positive it seems… I was half expecting you to say something along the lines of “The concept of a ‘housing market’ will not exist by 2015”.
Fresh Summer air doing that to you?
I was at risk of getting very gloomy sitting in a dungeon staring at mountains of piled up work, though the group of nice, smart, hard working kids prevented that… I can even take a break and look at this blog!
S
30# – What a long, strange trip it’s been.
JJ,
Why would a couple with no kids want a house in the surburbs?
If they like the woods and rustic environment, but want to also have basic shopping places within a couple of miles? Usually it is good schools, not for themselves, but for marketing to the next bag holder…
JJ 30 in one way it may have been but there are a plethora of other negative factors now.
“In the 60 days till closing he would sell the paper to someone else who would buy house at closing. ”
As an agent whom do you think I was working with till it all went to sh*t. Buy fix up a little flip, good old days on the gold coast. Interest rates like 15 %, whoa! The man does not get me down at all, sold my two properties in 05& 06. Just staying one step ahead.
Clot have to echo sas3 (strange as that may be for me) you are positively optimistic this morn.
“I will now call spring market bust every spring until at least 2021.”
Hitting the grain early, not that there is anything wrong with that wish I could join you.
Wow actually got a thread mainly about RE, how refreshing.
30 year you had boots on the ground back in the day, do you concur?
Ref 11.
Got Booyah? Nice job calling the obvious Clot, you were screaming the loudest though
re: Living in the burbs with no kids. I know of more than one married couple pushing 40s who have no kids (by choice not biology I am told) and live in the way out in the exburbs. They are in my opinion not much different that the city DINKS who all have dogs or cats to substitute for children. They don’t get promoted, they aren’t interesting enough people to hang with on a regular basis, and generally their personalities seem to be on the controlling side. To me they have controlled their lives to the point of extinction, where their genes won’t get passed on.
Worst thing is they expect me to put on a production and meet them in the city for an occasional dinner which they booked months in advance and they get all dressed up when they go to the city go to pretty expensive restaurants and instead of ordering a nice bottle of wine and a steak they go for the supersaver salad and call it a night by 10PM because they need to get the last train out. BOOORING!
You can’t make this sh*t up:
America’s Latest Proposal To Deal With Its Insolvency And Pursue Stealth Dollar Devaluation: Change The CPI
A few months ago we reported on Goldman’s proposal to change the definition of GDP to make the US economy appear to be growing faster than it really is. So far, it has not caught on, as even the revised definition will soon confirm a contraction. But that proposal appears to have given Joe Biden some ideas, who now has taken the Fukushima approach to (sur)reality, whereby one merely changes the terms of data measurement when the data does not cooperate. Enter the revised CPI: “Lawmakers are considering changing how the Consumer Price Index is calculated, a move that could save perhaps $220 billion and represent significant progress in the ongoing federal debt ceiling and deficit reduction talks.” And because nobody has an issue with the current artificial hedonic and otherwise adjustments to the CPI which always reflect a far lower increase in prices than what is actually happening, here comes the government with another idea to make inflation appear to be rising even slower: “According to congressional aides familiar with the discussions, the proposal would shift how the Consumer Price Index is calculated to reflect how people tend to change spending patterns when prices increase. For example, consumers tend to drive less when gas prices increase dramatically. Such a move is widely seen by economists as resulting in a slower rise in inflation. That would impact an array of federal programs that are linked to CPI including the Social Security program and income tax brackets set by the federal government. The proposal could lower federal spending by around $220 billion over the next decade, based on calculations by last year’s White House deficit commission, which recommended the change as part of its final report.” What does this mean practically? SImply said, the worst of all worlds for the US middle class: “[the proposal] would likely lead to both lower benefits paid to seniors and higher taxes paid by most people who pay federal income tax.” We expect this last-ditch accounting gimmick will be implemented shortly, and the broader American population will not care one bit that it’s purchasing power will see a step function drop yet again in the ongoing crusade to destroy the dollar.
http://www.zerohedge.com/article/americas-latest-proposal-deal-its-insolvency-and-pursue-stealth-dollar-devaluation-change-cp
Toast #7,
Here is the problem with unions summed up once again:
“We fight for our pay and benefits just like CEOs fight for theirs”
This is from a lifeguard. They compare themselves not to the common man who is paying their extravagant packages but CEOs. So, all people in unions consider themselves CEOs of their particular task. Chief executive officer of sand and lotion. In NJ, Chief executive officer in charge of form stapling. Essex, on this site, has also made assertions that the comparison for union members are CEOs not the walmart cashier or mail room worker. You know, the people who actually are comparable in the private sector. I say bust public unions. Let teachers become free agents and fill the gaps with H1 Indian teachers. You will then see how it really works in the private sector, union grubs.
#64 Juice: At this stage I would have seriously considered going back to the city (done with the schools as of tomorrow), but for a number of reasons I cannot. However, the problem with the city (NYC) is there are too many “foreigners: in it. I don’t mean foreign as in from another country, but too many “foreigners” from the mid-west and other places in the U.S. who move to NYC (Manhattan specifically), and adopt all these mores and affectations that they consider will make them quintessential and sophisticated NY’ers. (These are people who used to tip cows over for fun when they were growing up).They are self absorbed and down right boring. They have ruined NYC IMO.
HeHeHe Data not to your liking just change the criteria used to calculate the end number, simple! US Gov. at work.
from last night
“Kettle1^2 says: June 21, 2011 at 7:23 pm ”
If the 10 yr is set to approach 10% again and the 30yr mortgage approximates the moves in the 10 yr ( a very rough approximation) then we could see another big step down in home prices. On average, assuming all else remains equal a 0.1% change in mortgage rates corresponds to a $1,000 change in purchasing power of a buyer.
If mortgage rates were to approach 10% from about 4.5% then on average the buyers have lost about $40K – $60K in purchasing power based on the monthly payment due and property taxes staying flat.
yes there are a number of other drivers in RE but this is one that can hove a pronounced effect given that a large% of buyers are marginally able to afford the monthly payments at the time of purchase, that is they generally tend to take on close to the maximum monthly home payment (PITI) that they can afford. of course we all know that property taxes aren’t going to e be decreasing anytime soon.
perhaps we need to start a nation wide crash unicorn breeding program to counter act the housing decline!!! The Apollo program of unicorn breeding!
MIW
you have mail
#68 Up 26% in a year????
For the Hoboken crowd:
A fellow posting under the moniker ‘IagoJones’ hinted that former mayor Peter Cammarano had reduced his 24-month prison sentence by helping the Feds with their investigation here.
http://grafixavenger.blogspot.com/
Giuliani ruined NYC by cleaning it up and making it safe.
If I want to go to Disney and pet Donald Duck, then goddamit, I’ll go to Disney. If I’m in NYC, the Mets have to be on track to lose 100 games, a serial slasher has to be loose in the subways during a 25-day streak of over-100 temperatures, getting a cab below Canal St. after dark is impossible, and Robin Byrd (or the modern-day version) needs to be dancing three times a day at Show World.
re #67 – 3B you have inhaled too much unicorn fairy dust, since NYC City always has been transplants, there wasn’t a single person on any block I lived in during the 60s, 70s, 80s, or 90s that wasn’t from somewhere else.
Alas, during the current Depression 2, a city like NYC has become a combination mall/theme park, and the suburbs are Mogadishu/Black Hawk Down.
A theme park where the theme is to buy useless, overpriced designer-labeled shit.
What can you say about a world where MS-13 roams Flemington at night, and Times Square is full of kids eating cotton candy?
CBO Releases Daunting Long-Term Outlook
By Tim Fernholz
Updated: June 22, 2011 | 11:00 a.m.
June 22, 2011 | 10:39 a.m.
Increasing federal debt will be a growing burden on government action, crowding out lawmakers’ ability to adopt tax and spending priorities in good times and reducing flexibility during recessions, all while making a fiscal crisis more likely and hindering long-term growth, the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office said Wednesday.
In the annual Long-Term Budget Outlook, the legislature’s budget scorekeepers said that the ratio of debt to GDP this year will be 69 percent, 7 percentage points higher than last year. In 2021, the CBO predicts debt will reach 76 percent of GDP, but under a more dire—and more likely—scenario, the public debt will be 101 percent of GDP 10 years from now, well into the economic danger zone of 90 percent or more.
Last year, that worst-case scenario predicted a debt-to-GDP ratio of 87 percent in 2020, demonstrating that the public debt picture has worsened considerably, in part due to a bipartisan tax deal last year that reduced expected revenue.
While much of the debt is driven by the recession’s drop in tax revenues and government actions taken in response to the economic calamity, CBO highlighted the structural deficit that existed before 2007 and cites growing health care costs and the aging population as a major driver of government spending; federal health spending is set to grow from less than 6 percent of GDP today to more than 9 percent in 2035.
The CBO says that allowing the 2010 tax deal that extended Bush administration tax policies to expire as planned would be helpful in keeping government sustainable, noting “that significant increase in revenues and decrease in the relative magnitude of other spending would offset much—though not all—of the rise in spending on health care programs and Social Security.”
However, the CBO’s more likely scenario assumes that the tax deal is extended, that the alternative minimum tax would continue to be restricted, and that the “doc fix,” Congress’s annual decision to ease limits on Medicare physician pay, will occur as expected. Under this scenario, debt would rise to 187 percent of the economy in 2035.
While CBO does not provide policy recommendations, it urged policymakers to take significant action to reduce the deficit and debt by reducing spending, increasing taxes, or some combination of the two. While those changes will slow economic recovery, the agency warns, the sooner they are made, the more gradual they can be, easing the transition into new policies but likely requiring sacrifices from older Americans.
“CBO’s new long-term budget outlook again highlights the urgency of reaching agreement on a bipartisan and comprehensive long-term deficit and debt reduction plan,” Senate Budget Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., said in a statement. “We must address the projected explosion in federal debt. If we fail to act, it will have devastating consequences for our economy and for the future well-being of the American people.”
On Thursday, CBO Director Doug Elmendorf will testify at a House Budget Committee hearing on the long-term outlook
#74 Oh I know they were in Manhattan, not in the rest of the city. But those transplants knew how to behave themselves back than. Now they have completely taken over, and dictate what is NY, and what is not. They are annoying, and they are always moaning and groaning about some mindless nonsense.
Let teachers become free agents and fill the gaps with H1 Indian teachers. You will then see how it really works in the private sector, union grubs.
This phrase just entered the top 10 all time on this blog.
Confused
who exactly is going to impliment the spending cuts and tax increases needed to address this? Whoever does so is virtually guarenteed to get politically lynched.
#35, as my name indicates, bought for $132,000 in 1987, sold in 1999 for $92,000. Hmm..maybe should change my name to “Idiot”,
but it taught me not to over spend on my house in 1993, and assume it wasalways worth $0.00
Hobo With a Shotgun says:
June 22, 2011 at 7:23 am
I want to get a job on one of those trendy food trucks where they sell you a $12 falafel. That will be a good place from which to observe the complete societal meltdown that is upon us.
GO HERE:
HOPS UNDER THE HIGH LINE
Lot on Tap, under the High Line at 30th Street and 10th Avenue; thehighline.org/the-lot
Authenticity: This pop-up plaza under the newly extended High Line from chef Tom Colicchio — here for the summer only — succeeds in re-creating a beer-garden feel without having much to work with.
Setting: The off-the-beaten-track Chelsea setting means you won’t have to wait long to get in after a leisurely stroll on the High Line, even on a Friday night. And with seating for 350, it’s not too tough to snag a place at a communal table, where you’ll even find folks immersed in a game of cards or Scrabble they’ve brought from home. An interactive art installation next door called “Rainbow City” provides a colorful backdrop — and a cool spot to check out when you’ve had your fill of beer.
Suds: The main bar, situated under the High Line, gets major points for Brooklyn Brewery’s light, fruity High Line Elevated Wheat and Gotham Project’s 2010 Chardonnay, Lot 30, both on tap and produced just for this beer garden.
Grub: A rotating group of food trucks (among them Taim and Rickshaw Dumpling) park in the back — so whether you’re craving falafel or pork, you’ll definitely have a variety of options. And don’t miss the dessert trucks closer to 10th Avenue, known to include yummy ice cream sandwiches from Coolhaus.
Cost: The $7 beer and $9 wine tickets, available for purchase at a kiosk, are a little pricey for bevvies served out of plastic cups.
Hobo With a Shotgun says:
June 22, 2011 at 9:21 am
May have to have a morning dram of grain alcohol.
http://www.ghettowine.com/
Conversation on Monday night where I a guy told me I was a fcuking liar that I was bearish housing in 2005…….did I know it was going to rip the banks to shreds? no
3B says:
June 22, 2011 at 10:05 am
#49 I was ridiculed, ostracized, and pitied for my negativity on the housing bubble. Coupled that with my calls for restraint on out of control local spending, and I was met with outright hostility. There is a certain self satisfaction, but actually I am really disappointed and saddended that people fell for the con game, and now we have the mess that we have. Much of the pain was self-inflicted, and could have been avoided. There really is nothing left to say but I told you so.
#85 So now somebody is rewriting your history. Not surprising the new mantra with some is well nobody saw this coming, well as we know people did. They just were not listened too. Of course if we rewrite history and claim that nobody knew, then those people who ignored the alarm bells can feel better about themselves.
I have a cousin like that he and his “beard” throw like a x-mas cocktail party at night in city and are surprised I never go. Mind you it is a drop-in party over several hours where a few couples at a time come and go and only appetizers are served. I love no starting or ending time, no set menu, even better just stop by around 8ish for around 30 minutes. As if I am packing up three kids, headed to city to pay tolls and gas and then parking for one cocktail while 3 kids complain or paying for babysitting for four hours for a 30 minute cocktail. I am glad in a way I am stuck married with kids as I guess it keeps me grounded. I would be fearful if I was pushing 50 like this couple and living this bizzaro ungrounded life.
#
Juice Box says:
June 22, 2011 at 11:03 am
re: Living in the burbs with no kids. I know of more than one married couple pushing 40s who have no kids (by choice not biology I am told) and live in the way out in the exburbs. They are in my opinion not much different that the city DINKS who all have dogs or cats to substitute for children. They don’t get promoted, they aren’t interesting enough people to hang with on a regular basis, and generally their personalities seem to be on the controlling side. To me they have controlled their lives to the point of extinction, where their genes won’t get passed on.
Worst thing is they expect me to put on a production and meet them in the city for an occasional dinner which they booked months in advance and they get all dressed up when they go to the city go to pretty expensive restaurants and instead of ordering a nice bottle of wine and a steak they go for the supersaver salad and call it a night by 10PM because they need to get the last train out. BOOORING!
3B we can also give them a trophy
Fed announceent expected out in next few minutes.
3B – now then based on your NYC comments – can you please demonstrate for us your superior knowledge of art, music and other things which demonstrate how you are more refined and sophisticated than the mid-western hicks you deem inferior? I eagerly await your response.
Only announcement that would be good would be that Bergabe’s dead.
Guess even if the Bernank croaked, they’d just replace him with yet another two dollar trick.
chicagofinance,
I feel your pain on making the early housing bust call, in 2006 I walked away from housing citing “all I can get for my money is a house that a cat used for a litter box?”. 300k+ for a used litter box, no thanks.
I didn’t know it would destroy US Financial industry either but I could definitely see that the value wasn’t there.
I’m nearing the point where it now appears that the value is there but home prices just keep dropping. I’m thinking in the next 12 months might be the time to move on some properties in my area (Maryland). For that same 300k+ I can now buy a 5 bedroom mansion. The problem I’m having (other than falling house prices) is that it is just me and my wife and we don’t need 5 bedrooms.
NYC lost it’s identity a long time ago as it was all the neighborhoods that made NYC. Now it is like the NYC movie sets nondescript devoid of personality. All the same cr-p that you can find in an Illinois suburban mall e.g., Radio Shack, Gap etc..
chi (83)-
Tom Colicchio selling beer and wine in plastic cups for $7-$9 places him firmly on my shit list.
Maybe it shouldn’t be him on the shit list; it should be the suckers who pony up such sums for what is basically the acceptance of abuse in order to feel trendy.
Hobo With a Shotgun says:
June 22, 2011 at 12:49 pm
chi (83)- Tom Colicchio selling beer and wine in plastic cups for $7-$9 places him firmly on my shit list. Maybe it shouldn’t be him on the shit list; it should be the suckers who pony up such sums for what is basically the acceptance of abuse in order to feel trendy.
clot: it is trust fund money anyway so WGAS?
Sorry; I forgot that Manhattan is a sea of cabbage.
Pret’s claim of the endless riches in that special place still has to be the most ridiculous utterance ever made here.
3B #49: You wouldn’t believe the cr@p I took from people because I didn’t want to take out $75,000 in home equity loan for a “dream kitchen” or to “do it all at once.” Everything we did to this house we did for cash and waited till we had cash to do it.
As for why two DINKs would want to live in the suburbs, well, if I have a choice between renting a one-bedroom apartment where I can’t paint the colors I want and have to ask “Please Mr. Landlord, I promise I’ll be good, can I PLEEZ have a kitty?” — I’ll take my chances with my own place, thank you very much.
Of course if my house had been $450K (which it was worth at peak) when we bought, I’d have said “Are you effing kidding me?” and not bothered — like I did in the 1980’s when friends were hocking me a chynik to buy.
#97 Understand. Now all the rah-rah real estate people I know do not want to talk about real estate any more. Again, much of the pain all around was self inflcited. Oh well.
yeah rates at zero, Mrs Smith goes all MrsWantanabe.
Economic oblivion its’ whats for dinner
#89 No, just general observations. But when more than one mid-western transplant (among other places in the U.S.) has told me I am not a real NY’er because I grew up in one of the outer boro’s, then they can go scratch. As far as art and museums and all the rest we were hopping the subways to go downtown when we were kids; we never called it the city. And we went to all the museums and all the rest. Every year in HS it was a Broadway play for English class. We did not think that we were better or more sophisticated or better than any one else. In fact we were all the children of hard working blue collar families, the city or downtown was just part of our lives. Oh yeah and how could I forget Macy’s windows at Christmas time.
So yes while we were doing all of that while we were kids, the same mid-western (or other transplants) were tipping cows for fun. Hey I never even heard of cow tipping until one of them told me that is what they used to do.
“Let teachers become free agents and fill the gaps with H1 Indian teachers”
“Let teachers become free agents and fill the gaps with H1 Indian teachers”
Yes, let’s have the education of our children go to the lowest bidder. Great idea Bystander!
My hypothesis is that a focus on dream kitchen characteristics is inversely correlated to its likelihood of actual use in preparing good food. Most of our grandmothers cooked far better food with far cheaper and less advanced equipment, less granite, less appealing color combinations and cabinetry. It’s actually quite a bizzare fetish that has been pushed on people, mostly as a status symbol, it appears.
Thoughts?
81.Kettle1^2 says:
June 22, 2011 at 11:46 am
Confused
who exactly is going to impliment the spending cuts and tax increases needed to address this? Whoever does so is virtually guarenteed to get politically lynched.
God on 12/21/2012.
NYC was cool back in the day when we went to the Filmore East, Electric Circus, Max’s KC, Backfence, Dugout etc. What’s left, gray papayaya? so now you can eat a frank and wash it down with juice.
DINK right now it is going to the highest bidder and they aren’t doing a very good job of it. Hell if NASA can get a rocket to go to the moon from the lowest bidder, I’m sure it would work fine fo reducation as well.
On the plus side, the return of the IRA is in the bag
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/us_irish_violence
I have a question for you Realtors.
I really wanted to look at houses without a buyer’s realtor, but against my better judgement I caved in and scheduled to see two places with an agent I had met when seeing another listing. Anyway, this realtor ends up showing us two places. I really liked one, but he ended up talking down this listing and convincing me and my wife it is not right for us.
When we see the second place, he cant say enough nice things about it, despite obvious and major flaws with the place. So this is a red flag. I check the listing and, ofcourse, it is a listing with his company, not his own listing, but with his realty company. Doesn’t he have to disclose this as a “dual agency?” Obviously he was talking up his own company’s book, right?
Now I want to go look at the first place again without the buyer’s realtor. Will I have any issues doing this? Can he claim, because he initially showed it to us, he is entitled to a commission? I don’t want him getting a commission off me.
#06 No. This is just the usual nonsense that occurs at the start of every summer marching season.
#03 People need a really nice place to keep the take out menu’s??
All I know is that it’s contained to subprime.
And that’s that.
Batman [103],
The majority of people are a bunch of fat f*cks and will gladly follow the waddling mor0ns to the edge of a cliff without question. The kitchen is for show… to let Graydon’s sluttily dressed mom know that their neighbors, the Gundersens and the Lundergards, are worthy of living on Wisteria Lane.
I was born in Manhattan. When I lived in Manhattan for a few years when I was single I can tell you I was the only one of my friends who was a real new yorker. In fact I work in NYC and I am one of the few people here who was born in NYC.
Spent my youth in Bronx which is real New York. I don’t consider Queens or SI New York as kinda nancy pancy out there. Also the parts of Brooklyn near New York I consider New York, but my friends in Sheepshead Bay might as well been on the moon.
To this day never been to the Empire State Building or Statue of Liberty as that is a tourist thing. Went to first play and museum in NYC well into my twenties.
A real New York upbringing like I had involved lots of beat downs, getting your tag up on the wall for some street cred. My biggest was on Jerome Avenue in the Bronx, bombed it around 1973 and when I checked it out in 1982 it was still pretty much there. Gone now as I drove by in 1990s. Only survived as I did it on a real busy corner which is risky. Also if you did not have a blank spot and you sprayed over someone elses work that was a beat down. I had a blank spot. I felt like Turk 182 back then.
Only once visit the mecca the 180 Street Subway Yard & Maintenance Shop in the Bronx with a crew around 11pm one hot July night when I was around nine years old. Crazy Scared as we were doing a train, one of the older kids had a skelton key, barely did one small one before the transit cops let loose the shepards and we made a mad run for it. Those were the days.
If you are real NY what was your Graffiti tag?
3B says:
June 22, 2011 at 1:45 pm
#89 No, just general observations. But when more than one mid-western transplant (among other places in the U.S.) has told me I am not a real NY’er because I grew up in one of the outer boro’s, then they can go scratch. As far as art and museums and all the rest we were hopping the subways to go downtown when we were kids; we never called it the city. And we went to all the museums and all the rest. Every year in HS it was a Broadway play for English class. We did not think that we were better or more sophisticated or better than any one else. In fact we were all the children of hard working blue collar families, the city or downtown was just part of our lives. Oh yeah and how could I forget Macy’s windows at Christmas time.
So yes while we were doing all of that while we were kids, the same mid-western (or other transplants) were tipping cows for fun. Hey I never even heard of cow tipping until one of them told me that is what they used to do.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/23957304@N08/
good photos of some of 1970s and 1980s trains
Dealbreaker:
Layoffs Watch ’11: UBS
By Bess Levin
0
inShareCuts are apparently going down at the Swiss bank.
Layoffs in UBS’s WMA (Wealth Management Americas) group are said to be occurring circa now. That’s all we know at this time.
http://dealbreaker.com/2011/06/layoffs-watch-11-ubs/#more-43774
Gary [110];
And that’s that.
That’s what they said right after this happened (jump to 2:00).
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LlQCW02Tbxc&NR=1
re # 106- They never left, apparently 5 shots were fired from the left (IRA) and 4 shots fired from the right Ulster Volunteer Force (UVF) this is after both sides supposedly disarmed. Ballymacarret where this happens allot is a small place of about 8k people with one road in and out. There is a peace wall (segregation wall) between neighborhoods. When it’s marching season, the Loyalists march with UVF Flags (UVF is labeled a designated terrorist organization in the United Kingdom and United States) down into the the Catholic neighborhoods.
http://libwiki.mcmaster.ca/geog3ur3/uploads/Belfast/wall4.gif
I would imagine if the KKK marched up and down 125th street with burning crosses every year there would lots of shots fired too.
#15 Those are the dissidents. The Provo’s have disarmed. Although I would not be surprised if they kept an odd gun around just for times like these. It was exactly this kind of behavior that started the whole madness back in the late 60’s.
If the Provo’s were to come back, they would might have better luck in the south. The pain from their collapse is just starting. Why aren’t they out in the streets protesting like the Greeks?
JJ [111];
If you are real NY what was your Graffiti tag?
“Kwik”
Here’s my take on it – for most people living “in NY” all they get out of the experience is bragging rights. They commute in from the suburbs, they go home, they eat in the same ” ‘s ” restaurants (Applebee‘s, TGIFriday‘s, Houlihan‘s, Bennigan‘s, etc.) getting the same food you can find in Peoria. Their entertainment consists of cable channels that equally accessible in Tennessee.
They don’t go to museums, see shows, major league sports games, or even the beach. (Who can afford that stuff with the house payment? lulz). Thier lifestyle could easily be duplicated if they were planted in Kansas.
So tell me again why they pay 3 times the national average for inferior tenament housing?
#11 Did a lot of that too, in addition to spending lots of time downtown. I agree Brooklyn and Queens were far war away, at the time, but hey had their legit neighborhoods as well. Used to hit the Jerome Avenue bars in my teens. I heard some time back they were trying to turn the armory into some kind of market. Lots of fun times on the old BX 12 bus to Fordham Rd.
Bergabe on TV lying his ass off.
re # 116 – 3b – Real Estate in the North of Ireland is now down 44% from peak, more than the Republic and because the do not have the NAMA bail out everyone policies. The foreclosure rate in Northern Ireland is 10x that of the Republic. There is little to no fear of being evicted in the Republic or bankruptcy since the rate is 1/350th of the North’s.
Buyorrent,
I’m not a real-estate agent but I have been paying way too much attention in the last few years to RE. Dual Agency applies when the buyers agent works for the same company as the seller. Your agent isn’t considered a dual agent until you make an offer on the property then he has to disclose his other interests. Just showing a house doesn’t put him in any danger, nor does talking up the place.
It gets to be a grey line if you start asking questions that give you competative knowledge about a pending sale such as “why do the current owners have to move?”, “Is this a divorce or estate sale?”, “Do you think the owners would take xxx$ for this property?” Unless the information is common knowledge then he is crossing into bad-mojo territory.
He needs to then disclose that his company is the listing company otherwise ethics get in the way. If he showed you a house and it comes out that he is indeed a dual agent for the property in question, then you have the right to get rid of him and seek other council.
If he has done something unethical such as leak information about the seller when he is clearly a dual agent then I wouldn’t worry about him crying for a commission on the property he first showed you. As a rebuttal you could just say that you refuse to deal with him on ethical grounds and if he doesn’t go away you will report him to the local real estate board. If he leaked information about the seller to you, imagine him leaking information to the seller ABOUT you.
“….Essex, on this site, has also made assertions that the comparison for union members are CEOs not the walmart cashier or mail room worker. You know, the people who actually are comparable in the private sector….”
Comparable? Teachers have the ability to ruin your kids’ future. Completely decimate their self esteem ‘or’ they can really be instrumental in establishing a love of learning and the ability to think for themselves. They also tend to have advanced degrees — Walmart comparison? Foolish. CEOs? Completely moronic. So I will let that one drift into the vapor.
The Archway bar was an afterhours bar I used to hit across from the Armory . Once we tripled parked in my friends Chevy Citation at 5am at the Archway after finishing up our last drinks on Bell Bvd at 4:30am.
Kwik was a good tag, my tag was SPIRIT 196.Had a cool way of doing the S and then the P and R would be big the i’s small and t would be a small cap t sprayed large with the 196 in small letters over right side of t and I would paint it devil red in color. Used to practice it hundreds of times when nuns were not looking to make it right.
Amazing a nine year old today can’t walk one block home from school at 3pm yet I was in a rail road yard at nine years old at 11 pm 16 blocks from home and no one cared.
3B says:
June 22, 2011 at 2:45 pm
#11 Did a lot of that too, in addition to spending lots of time downtown. I agree Brooklyn and Queens were far war away, at the time, but hey had their legit neighborhoods as well. Used to hit the Jerome Avenue bars in my teens. I heard some time back they were trying to turn the armory into some kind of market. Lots of fun times on the old BX 12 bus to Fordham Rd.
Anon E. Moose says:
June 22, 2011 at 2:40 pm
JJ [111];
If you are real NY what was your Graffiti tag?
“Kwik”
#20 Was not aware that things in the six counties were getting as bad as the south. I know the econmy was not great; not great in Britain either.But they do have the safety net of big British subsidies.
“I would have a great doorman coop in NYC and we would spend sundays reading the NY Times and going to brunch. A house is a pile of sticks rotting away you need to work on all the time to keep it afloat…”
Isn’t the monthly burn rate of that NY City coop far greater than the landscaping and maintenance costs of a single family house in the burbs? And you would also enjoy NY City taxes.
At least the Walmart cashier does not subject me to pontificating for 40 weeks of my life like a teacher.
#
Essex says:
June 22, 2011 at 2:51 pm
“….Essex, on this site, has also made assertions that the comparison for union members are CEOs not the walmart cashier or mail room worker. You know, the people who actually are comparable in the private sector….”
Comparable? Teachers have the ability to ruin your kids’ future. Completely decimate their self esteem ‘or’ they can really be instrumental in establishing a love of learning and the ability to think for themselves. They also tend to have advanced degrees — Walmart comparison? Foolish. CEOs? Completely moronic. So I will let that one drift into the vapor.
Essex not all teachers are bad but dude chill. 30 + years of throwing money down the education rabbit hole and kids are just as dumb as they were when this all started. the only difference being there seem to be more leeches than real teachers
#23 The Archway was not the after hours bar, it was the one 2 doors down, and the name escapes me at this time. When the Archway closed (last call), every one who still could, made it 2 doors down. Then of course breakfast at sun up in the Capitol diner, or the one on the other corner.
I was not as bad as you, so I did not do the graffitti thing.
The Newsweek high school survey was based solely upon schools that responded to their survey letter.
Any schools that tossed the Newsweek letter out with the junk mail are not included in the results. Many top NJ schools are absent from their list.
Remember I have no kids in my scenario, don’t really need to save much. Some coops have very very low maint. Some are pretend coops. My brothers coop paid off its 30 year mortgage and then took out a 100K 30 year mortgage on a 500 unit building. Coop RE taxes are lower than a condo plus they wanted to keep coop rules. He paid $550 a month maint on a one bedroom doorman in gramercy park. He said if he did not have kids he would have lived there forever.
Double Down says:
June 22, 2011 at 3:07 pm
“I would have a great doorman coop in NYC and we would spend sundays reading the NY Times and going to brunch. A house is a pile of sticks rotting away you need to work on all the time to keep it afloat…”
Isn’t the monthly burn rate of that NY City coop far greater than the landscaping and maintenance costs of a single family house in the burbs? And you would also enjoy NY City taxes.
#27 Or like in NJ, where we spend more money on education than any other state, and then we are supposed to get excited, when our school ranks 500 something out of 1000 in that silly Newsweek survey.
3B, allow me to debunk a bit of the stereotypes you have derived from an inadequate data sample:
I am from the midwest and have never participated in or observed cow tipping. So you know, as a kid from a working class area, we went to the orchestra and museums for field trips as well.
After moving to NJ several years back, my spouse and I would routinely go into the city on Sun am and just walk until we found an interesting place for breakfast (sometimes we had a cab drop us off in a general part of the city without a specific destination). No guide books, no chains and had a great time doing it. By 1 pm, the museums were opened and each time we would check out a different one (BTW – Frick originates in Pitts). Plenty of plays too. One shocker was Avery Fisher Hall – the acoustics are pathetic.
Prior to moving to NJ we, as adults would routinely go to museums and the orchestra in our hick town. You should year the first chair recorder player in our orchestra, amazing – sarc off!
The “Real New Yorker” thing is a bragging badge used by both transplants and locals trying to one up one another. Not sure what the definition is of a “Real New Yorker” but my experience in the NorthEast is that there seem to be an awful lot of folks who are trying to prove their worth via the autos they drive, the bling they wear or the appliances in their kitchen .
OK, back to observing the steady deterioration of the housing market.
Was it Sheas? BTW I stopped my graffiti stuff when I turned ten. I did it mainly from ages 8-10 when I was young and did not know better. Also when I knew I would get off if caught.
SHEA’S EMERALD BAR
2960 Jerome Ave (E 199 St) [Map]
Bronx, NY, 10468-1654
ARCHWAY INN 718-364-8206
2700 JEROME AVE BRONX, NY
When you figure out that in most schools your kid is a number….a seat or a tuition check. Sorry but that is the way it is. It is up to YOU dear reader to educate the child. As far as who teaches the kid, well that one is a interesting yes? Your public schools are filled with “union” folks as you have noted. The private schools tend to attract a different sort, but in both cases, you will be sadly disappointed ‘if’ you leave the business of education up to those institutions.
#29 And the survey is just that a survey. None of the information provided in the survey is actually verified for accuracy. In my example (post #31) We have some residents getting excited about our 500 whatever ranking. Well it appears that we did in fact fill out the survey, and as such since we did, and we spend so much on education, and to listen the experts, the more we spend, than the better the results, well than if that be the case we should have ranked at least in the top 25.
#34 I agree. The problem is many believe since they pay so much in taxes, or tuition, then they are paying for the best, and so nothing more is required on their part.
132. When I was 20 something I had a hand-me-down Porsche in grad school that my dad gave me. I liked it. Girls liked it. But it was incredibly annoying anytime someone wanted to make some inane conversation about ….. oooo how’d you get that car…. blah blah blah. That is the difference between a car person who likes to drive and hear the sound of a motor winding up and some moron who thinks driving something sporty gives them street cred. Car people just like well-engineered cars. There are folks in my family that could literally pay cash for any car on the market and not blink an eye, do you REALLY think these people care what someone sitting next to them at a stop light thinks about their prospects?!
so let use west orange as an extreme example, horrible school and horrific property taxes… and both are only expected to get worse
just shut up and pay if you live there
#33 Could be. All i remember is it was just a couple of doors away. I have a friend who is a walking encyclopedia of our old days. I will check with him this weekend.
136. The problem is that most people reside on the lower end of the bell shaped curve and are dumber than dirt in the first place. They don’t know any better or have a clue as to how to provide any meaningful insights to a child (or adult). Intelligence like money is not distributed evenly. Marry a dummy and see what you get when you breed. I dare ya.
I can honestly state in my 20 years or so of schooling I pretty much learned nothing except from two or three teachers. One of those teachers was the best he said any idiot can graduate HS and any idiot can graduate college, only thing important is getting into right grad school. Once in does not even matter your GPA just graduate with that good grad degree. Of course he said this first day of class when he also said if you skip the midterm the final is cumaltive and will be 100% of grade and he does not collect homework assignments. If I had went to another class I bet he might have said something else important.
Essex says:
June 22, 2011 at 3:20 pm
When you figure out that in most schools your kid is a number….a seat or a tuition check. Sorry but that is the way it is. It is up to YOU dear reader to educate the child. As far as who teaches the kid, well that one is a interesting yes? Your public schools are filled with “union” folks as you have noted. The private schools tend to attract a different sort, but in both cases, you will be sadly disappointed ‘if’ you leave the business of education up to those institutions.
The other issue is that schools are stuck with anyone that walks in the door. Teachers have very little impact on most kids. Only kids that want to learn actually can. The rest may absorb something by accident, but it is not concerted effort. Good classes are a blessing to a child. But few and far between.
141. I pretty much attended school to meet women and because my dad was “old school” and used to berate me any time I skipped out. He was a tough SOB and would actually believed the route to success was a good education.
#32 You are taking this way too seriously.
I also made some decent male friends and the parties were a blast. College was even better. It was there that you learned gamesmanship and how to build biceps. That seems to have been the most valuable lessons from those years. I did like American lit. too.
You are a cheeseball…..who gives a crap where you learned it?
….fcuk off….
Essex says:
June 22, 2011 at 3:35 pm
I also made some decent male friends and the parties were a blast. College was even better. It was there that you learned gamesmanship and how to build biceps. That seems to have been the most valuable lessons from those years. I did like American lit. too.
Dink,
Not saying that I like the idea but the point is plenty of smart English speaking Indians are lined up waiting to get into this country for a fraction of the cost. Great American teachers would get hired to Brigadoon while weaka$$ abbott districts get the desperate Indians. Lazy, moss growing teachers get shown the door. This is what corporate America has taught me the last 10 yrs.
Moose [115],
Those words are uttered in Casino as well. ;)
146. from you that is high praise you cum guzzling poof.
Hastily cobbled together entitlement program, check
Hailed by the progressives as a bastion of sound policy to help the poor and disadvantaged to gain access to healthcare, check
Law of unintended consequences biting them in the a$$, checkmate!
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110621/ap_on_go_ca_st_pe/us_health_overhaul_glitch
SX [140];
The problem is that most people reside on the lower end of the bell shaped curve and are dumber than dirt in the first place.
That’s the educational and Doom-tastic flip side of Stepford’s ‘everyone above average’. “Most” people can’t, by definition, be below the middle.
No more than half of anything is below the middle of the bell curve, much less the long tail. Besides, I’d say anyone at or above -1σ can hold down a job and function normally in society. At worst, mathematically, you’re talking about 15% of the population. Cheer up, would-ja?
Indians are very good at memorizing things, studying and getting straight As. However, that does not make you smart. Plus they are pretty opinionated.
Us meat eating, lower class, white devils, free thinking pagans who don’t believe that if we don’t worship cows we will come back in the next life as a bug may learn how to get As but we will never learn to think. Once on a performance review verbally of course I told my indian staff member you can wow me by thinking the the unthinkable and doing the undoable. The got back how can I think the unthinkable if it is unthinkable, I was like ok just go back into the quickiemart and get me a slurpie.
Bystander says:
June 22, 2011 at 3:51 pm
Dink,
Not saying that I like the idea but the point is plenty of smart English speaking Indians are lined up waiting to get into this country for a fraction of the cost. Great American teachers would get hired to Brigadoon while weaka$$ abbott districts get the desperate Indians. Lazy, moss growing teachers get shown the door. This is what corporate America has taught me the last 10 yrs.
Study: $1400 Tax Hike Needed to Fund US Pensions
http://www.cnbc.com/id/43498037
Study shows that taxes per family need to increase by $1,400 per year, for 30 years in order to meet pension obligations.
Wow JJ… Are you are a pagan? lower class? I thought the whole premise of X-tian/Islamic invaders was to educate/convert the “pagans” that worship multiple gods — and tell them “Jesus/Allah or die”!
Essex,
“Marry a dummy and see what you get when you breed. I dare ya.”
No truer words have been spoken.
JJ, did you get your knowledge on Indian culture from speeches of an Indian version of Sarah Palin?
The Bernank says, “maybe some of the headwinds that are concerning us, like the weakness in financial sector, problems in the housing sector — some may be stronger and more persistent than we thought.”
Any Questions?
JJ,
Most teachers are mouthing from a book and using course structures issued by state anyway. Indians skilled at memorizing and studying would be perfect for the price..not to mention a step up in many situations.
re: #130 – Funny thing about IQs tests. The guy with the highest IQ in the USA worked as a construction worker, cowboy, forest service firefighter, a farmhand and for 20 years as a bouncer in Long Island. He has written a few things and mostly espouses eugenics and I don’t believe he has any kids. He also looks like a he abused steroids a bit too much.
Are you trying to prove him correct? BTW who are you to be lecturing others on the tone deafness of a South Asian to ostensible Northeast U.S. social norms?
sas3 says:
June 22, 2011 at 4:37 pm
JJ, did you get your knowledge on Indian culture from speeches of an Indian version of Sarah Palin?
Is an “X-tian”someone from Planet X?
Northeast US Social norms is an oxymoron. Moron.
Hobo gets some competition…..
Vanilla Ice starts real estate website
http://www.cnn.com/2011/SHOWBIZ/Music/06/22/vanilla.ice.website.rs
Stolen from the comments on CNN:
To the extreme, I take a sub prime loan.
INTEREST, rate at 5-point-oh,
Had no money down, So the bank foreclosed,
Will they ever stop? Yo, I don’t know.
http://www.financialarmageddon.com/2011/06/apparently-scrap-yards-are-the-new-pawn-shops.html
USA better beat Panama tonight.
“a guy told me I was a fcuking liar that I was bearish housing in 2005…….did I know it was going to rip the banks to shreds? no”
Like most here, you called the crash perfectly but missed the depression connected to it. You should have pulled your iphone out and shown him your posts here in 2005, or better yet the piece about you cashing out at the peak.
“Why would a couple with no kids want a house in the surburbs? If I had no kids and my wife and I worked full time I would have a great doorman coop in NYC and we would spend sundays reading the NY Times and going to brunch. A house is a pile of sticks rotting away you need to work on all the time to keep it afloat while you listen to the screams of other peoples kids all day and pay huge school taxes for schools you never use.
“I loved the city, heck I would most likely still have my tiny rent controlled apt in city if we never had kids and maybe some great place in Hamptons if I felt need to have a house.
”
I really must get to the doctor; with each passing day, I find John’s views lining up more and more closely to my own.
Hobo I love the us natl team till death but let’s face it gold cup means nothing and per capita we produce the worst teams in concacaf consistently. When were crossing fingers against teams like jamaica and panama there is a problem. And I say we replace bradley with inter coach.
Gary
I’ll let you comment on this one
Despite ideal housing market, first-time homebuyers still find challenges
Jeff and Kelley Joss are in many ways following the typical path of a young married couple — both are in their early 30s, have steady jobs and, in April, Kelley gave birth to Luisa, their first child. They pay down their student loans each month and set aside money for retirement. They also put money away for a down payment on a house.
And yet, buying a house seems to be the last thing they want to do right now.
“There’s definitely a little bit of pressure,” said Jeff Joss, who works in corporate finance and just signed a second year lease on an apartment in Chatham. “But for us, the situation we’re in, it’s just not really feasible at this point.”
Buying a house in today’s housing market should be ideal. Interest rates are at historic lows, there’s a wide inventory from which to choose and prices are low
http://www.nj.com/business/index.ssf/2011/06/home-buying_rite_of_passage_no.html
Essex,
You are spot on with the assessment that the key to education is at home.
“It’s actually quite a bizzare fetish that has been pushed on people, mostly as a status symbol, it appears. Thoughts?”
In the old days, the kitchen was a place wher the cook toiled away, seperate from the rest of the family. It was a functional work room. In recent years, the kitchen has become a gathering place, another room where one may actually entertain guests. So, functional cabinets have become furniture to show off.
“Teachers have the ability to ruin your kids’ future.”
Not only is this not true but I vote essex the most annoying poster ever to grace us with his presence.
Teaching your own kids sometimes comes down to simply reading aloud to them when they are young. It’s so easy to do. Turn off the t.v., get some fun books, talk about the stories, draw pictures. It’s not brain surgery but it gets their brains going. Take them outdoors and stimulate their brain. Have them meet interesting people and try not to shelter them too much. That’s my recipe and my children are grown and doing quite well.
I have been visiting this site for over 2 years on a almost-daily basis. I like a lot about it.
The ad hominem comments here are getting to me. It seems for the past few months Sastry is getting all kind of crap for expressing perfectly conventional views. He leans liberal but so what — so does this area.
I wish people wouldn’t name call. You would want someone to call you a moron, would you? So why call someone else here, whom you’ve probably never met, a nasty name?
Finally, I wish no one would call the President “Bojangles” anymore. It’s just not right. We are all better than that.
I know this isn’t my site and that’s kept me quiet for months but tonight, for whatever reason, I am coming out with my appeal to good manners and treating each other well.
Every day people post dozens of items about people and organizations that let them down. There’s not a whole lot we can do about what happens in the wider world.
But we can all take a role in keeping this site something to be proud of and a place that people can visit without hesitation. We can be honest and funny and even insult public officials all we want without hitting people here below the belt. I think if we are not kind to each other, if we don’t disagree with each other respectfully, if we don’t use language that we’d be happy to have our adult family members see, that we are letting ourselves down, driving people away and diminishing the effectiveness of the site.
Thanks Grim for all you do to keep this going. I hope I haven’t offended you by speaking this way.
I really like this site. It is one my favorites. I wish Cindy, who evidently left because of some things that were being said, would come back.
….. so then, not a good time to ask how folks have gone about testing for radon I take it? Home inspector vs. buy your kit…
Clemons left us with a love for the Keys
By LARRY KAHN
lkahn@keynoter.com
Posted – Wednesday, June 22, 2011 11:10 AM EDT
While music lovers everywhere mourn the passing of part-time Marathon resident Clarence Clemons, there don’t seem to be any plans, at least right now, for any kind of memorial service in the Keys for the Big Man.
Sax player extraordinaire Clemons, 69, for nearly 40 years Bruce Springsteen’s No. 2 man in the E Street Band, died Saturday, a week after having a stroke at his condo on Singer Island in Palm Beach County.
Clemons was well known in the Keys for playing gigs at various bars, sitting in with whatever bands were playing. They include the Schooner Wharf in Key West; the Brass Monkey Lounge, Castaway, Dockside Lounge and the Hurricane Grille in Marathon; and Woody’s, the Lorelei and Cheeca Lodge in Islamorada.
But in the Keys, his heart was in Marathon. His Stirrup Key home overlooks Florida Bay. He was a sponsor of Capt. Diego Cordova’s flats boat, Flat Out; the two met about 10 years ago during a Redbone fishing tournament.
Clemons’ 2009 autobiography, “Big Man: Real Life and Tall Tales,” has a chapter called “Marathon Key.” In it, he writes following back surgery:
“Most of my time lately has been spent in Florida healing. It’s a slow process but I’m doing well. I feel strong every day and look forward to dancing across the stage again on the next tour. As I write this, I’m sitting on my porch looking out at the bay toward the horizon where the ocean meets the sky.”
The book also has a chapter called “Looking Back from Islamorada.” That recounts his chance meeting with singer Jimmy Buffett, who was signing books at an Islamorada bookstore, likely Hooked on Books.
“I had wandered in here after having lunch at Manny and [Isa’s], which was practically next door. I had a Cuban sandwich and conch fritters. I felt good after lunch and I thought I’d go buy a new book and spend the afternoon reading.”
He went into the bookstore and saw a bunch of Parrottheads. “I walked up to the head of the line and waited for Jimmy to notice me. It’s very hard not to notice me. Especially in a tiny Florida bookstore a few feet off the highway.”
“‘ You’ll have to get in line with everybody else, sir,’ said Jimmy when he finally looked up. ‘I don’t think so,’ I said. ‘I don’t think so either,’ said Jimmy, smiling.”
” ‘Big Man! Look everybody, it’s Clarence Clemons.’ ”
“The folks in line smiled. Two big stars for the price of one in a very unlikely setting. Well, one big star and me. They applauded.”
#175 – “It seems for the past few months Sastry is getting all kind of crap for expressing perfectly conventional views.”
maybe the reason Sastry is getting crap is because he comes off as self righteous and sanctimonious. he doesn’t mind making snarky remarks about other people’s point of view, religion etc. but gets his panties in an uproar when someone insults his background.
Yeah I do kind of grate on people sometimes. Perhaps some time away? Peace all.
[178] tcm
Actually, I’d get my panties in a bunch too if someone insulted my background instead of rebutting the substance of my arguments.
Then I’d remove said panties and strangle the commenter with them. I guess I differ from Sastry in that regard.
Sastry may come across as sanctimonious, an occupational hazard for liberals, but I find he does not equate snark with argument like so many liberals I “argue” with in other forums. I also find he is willing to listen and understands (not agrees with but understands) differing points of view.
My $0.02? He’s a smart guy. Treat him as such and raise your game.
NJE,
Nice article. Here is one from Virginia. take a look at the sidebar photo of C in his old HS for the first time since graduating:
http://hamptonroads.com/2011/06/big-mans-sax-goes-silent
[175] toomuch
That said, I reserve the right to call the President whatever the hell I want. I have paid for that right, and paid dearly.
Nom,
Are you wearing cotton panties or silk ones this time of year?
Just kidding.
http://media.hamptonroads.com/cache/files/images/664651000.jpg
the direct link
[173] NE
“Not only is this not true but I vote essex the most annoying poster ever to grace us with his presence.”
Oh, c’mon. Essex is perfectly reasonable when he is on his meds.
[184] shore
I don’t strangle for remarks like that. I chuckle.
You are on a roll tonight, Nom.
[184] redux
And the black ones that hung from the rear view mirror of my 1972 Cutlass were polyester I think.
(true story. Not mine though. Souvenir from Mount Holyoke College)
Nothing like an E-Street Band concert:
http://music-mix.ew.com/2011/06/21/amy-winehouse-cancels-tour/
[189] redux
Just imagine if JJ had the same hobby. He’d need a fleet of cars.
“Souvenir from Mount Holyoke College”
Hey, if that is the story you are goung with, I am cool with it. I am a progressive kind of guy. Whatever.
“Mount Holyoke College”
Middle of nowhere. Gimme Smith or Welsley any day. Although, as a 20 year old guy, finding a college full of women who are cloistered in the middle of nowhere, MHC probably presented extra opportunities.
going, even
“He’d need a fleet of cars”
Naw. He would persuade three or four of the former owners to get together and make hin a suit, or at least a sport jacket made from them all.
[103] west
“My hypothesis is that a focus on dream kitchen characteristics is inversely correlated to its likelihood of actual use in preparing good food.”
My sister built a dream kitchen before it was trendy, and has now pretty much worn it out. Between her and her husband (1st gen american from queens), they cook everything imaginable and are literally wearing out their fake commercial grade appliances (she bought viking and subzero and says never again. She likes the Bosch though). In fact, they are the only people I know that have a commercial grade deli slicer and ice grinder in their kitchen. And they are used. Often.
[193] shore
As a resident of that region (not a periodic visitor from Dartmouth), MHC was not much more remote than Smith. Access to Amherst was just as good. True, How Sadly wasn’t NoHo, but then we did not find many Smithies in the bars in Noho.
But I agree that MHC was a more forgiving environment.
Next time I am through there, I am going to the MHC library and pulling out the 1983 yearbook. There is a picture in it with several students sitting on a couch and I am laying across their laps. I remember someone taking a picture and the following year, I was told I was in the yearbook.
JJ, surely you can relate.
Apologies to My Cousin Vinnie:
I get it, Your Honor
No, I don’t think you do:
http://www.tmz.com/2011/06/22/lindsay-lohan-alcohol-booze-probation-violation-courthouse-los-angeles/
Shore (193)
It is Wellesley, not Welsley. And just as an FYI it is not a girls school without men, it is a women’s college without boys…. or some such thing.
[193] shore
“Although, as a 20 year old guy, finding a college full of women who are cloistered in the middle of nowhere, MHC probably presented extra opportunities.”
What struck me was just how backstabbing the girls were with each other. If you were dating someone there, you were considered fair game by all of her friends. Once, I had a falling out with my GF there, and a freshman made a play for me. The GF later found out about it and chased the freshman around the dorm dining room.
Also, two of her closest friends made plays for me; one of them knew I had another girlfriend at UMass and instead of diming me out, she used that fact to blackmail me into giving her some attention. The other one made a play that I will just leave to the imagination. Interesting thing was that they were both black/hispanic from NYC. Those NYC girls play rough.
Damn, I realized I just went JJ, didn’t I?
250,
yes it is, amd, as you might have guessed from all the other missing letters this evening i am on an android device.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/22/national/main20073390.shtml?tag=re1.channel
Cliff Claven would not be pleased
Nom,
There id some academic research that shows how when women arte in an environment where they outnumber men, usual morality goes out the window and they get vry se-xually aggressibe
[199] 250K
“it is not a girls school without men, it is a women’s college without boys”
What makes it true is the boys that frequented Wellesley. BC, BU, Harvard, MIT. Boys. By contrast, the students most frequently found at Smith or MHC were from UMass. True, the women there all wanted to marry Ivy or MIT, but while they were undergrads they preferred us State U. men. Today, we are the smiles on their faces that their husbands don’t understand.
Further, from what I knew of Wellesley, there wasn’t much to justify a road trip.
This tos ebern John:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/22/ap/strange/main20073534.shtml?tag=re1.latest
This tops even John:
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/22/ap/strange/main20073534.shtml?tag=re1.latest
[203] shore
No friggin’ sh1t. The issue was already academic when I was there. I remember being introduced to my later GF at a party. She said “you’re cute. I’m gonna pick you up” And she did.
There is a decent Thaiplace in Wellesley. Not that it compares to what you were nourishing yourself with in points west.
The fine Mass education system (from CBS NEws):
(AP) PLYMOUTH, Mass. (AP) — Graduates of a Massachusetts high school who received diplomas this month containing spelling errors are getting corrected versions — plus an apology.
The diplomas handed out to 263 Plymouth North graduates on June 4 had the word “for” spelled “fro” while the word “and” was spelled “ans.” Schools officials signed all of them without noticing.
Principal Kathleen McSweeney tells The Enterprise of Brockton that Jostens, the Minnesota company that printed the diplomas, sent new ones to the school that arrived Monday.
School officials will sign them and mail them this week.
Jostens also sent a letter of apology, saying the mistake was human error made as the company transferred artwork to a new computer system.
Read more: http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2011/06/22/ap/strange/main20073536.shtml#ixzz1Q3y7umXQ
[208] shore
I love thai. Not that I didn’t enjoy the occasional Connecticut River Valley clam now and then. But I have friends in Wellesley and none in Western Mass except for a soc1alist that I will have to kill in the event of Civil War 2.0, so where’s the thai place?
Go east from campus through a good portion od the town to where there are a couple of intersections that make some triangles. I don’t spend much time in the area and don’t recall the street name but it is the main street,
Uh, John? You may want to read this:
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/19/books/review/im-ok-youre-a-psychopath.html
Do psychopaths enjoy reading books about psychopaths? In his engagingly irreverent new best seller, The Psychopath Test: A Journey Through the Madness Industry (Riverhead, $25.95), the journalist Jon Ronson notes that only about one in 100 people are psychopaths (there is a higher proportion in prisons and corporate boardrooms), but he wonders if this population will be overrepresented among readers of his book. After all, people do enjoy learning about themselves, and psychopaths in particular have an enhanced sense of their own importance. And they might like what Ronson has to say. He approvingly quotes experts who argue that psychopaths make “the world go around.” Despite their small numbers, they cause such chaos that they remold society — though not necessarily for the better.
If you aren’t sure whether you are a psychopath, Ronson can help. He lists all the items on the standard diagnostic checklist, developed by the psychologist Robert Hare. You can score yourself on traits like “glibness/superficial charm,” “lack of remorse or guilt,” “promiscuous sexual behavior” and 17 other traits.
snip
[211] shore
Thanks. I am pretty sure I know the block as I was there not that long ago. One of my wife’s closest friends from law school lives in Wellesley now with her husband and kid. They probably know the place.
It is not fancy at all, buty I have had some decvent meals there.
Did I mention that I hate android?
‘
“Connecticut River Valley clam ”
A term worthy of John
Lower the flags half way for the Big Man:
(CNN) — Flags in New Jersey will be flown at half-staff Thursday in honor of E Street Band saxophonist Clarence Clemons, who died of complications from a stroke.
“Clarence Clemons represented the soul and spirit of New Jersey,” said Gov. Chris Christie. “His partnership with Bruce Springsteen and the rest of the E Street Band brought great pride to our state and joy to every fan of this music around the world.”
snip
from CNN
Comrade Nom Deplume says:
June 22, 2011 at 9:56 pm
[178] tcm
“Actually, I’d get my panties in a bunch too if someone insulted my background instead of rebutting the substance of my arguments.”
rebutting the substance of his arguments????? what???? no, his panties were in an uproar over one of JJ’s nutty stories – this time about an Indian co-worker. he needs to lighten up and take a look at some of the stuff he posts.
he tries to portray himself as some open minded sage – i’m not buying it.
just saying, if you want to dish it out, you should know how to take it. and if you can’t then someone may call you out on it.
Shore [193];
I see your MHC and raise you a Geneseo.
shore [215]
Do you know that when you write anything bad about android using android it reports you to Google?
All afternoon, the National Weather Service issued a series of rare tornado warnings in the Garden State as the storm swept through — both for Monmouth and Northwestern Ocean counties, and for portions of northwestern New Jersey, including western Morris County, northeastern Hunterdon County, south central Sussex County and eastern Warren County.
According to a Jersey Central Power & Light Co. spokeswoman, Warren County had 3,000 homes and businesses out of service, and Morris County had 2,000 customers without power.
The towns of Newton in Sussex County, Hackettstown in Warren County and Basking Ridge in Somerset County were among the hardest hit, with between 500 and 2,000 customers in each of those areas out of power. In Ocean County, about 100 customers lost power, according to the utility.
I’m down with ya’ll. Uh Huh.
I think it is important to note that not all markets are the same. The numbers look incredibly when we give data from across the entire country. I live and sell real estate in Celebration, FL, and here we have so little inventory that properties are selling in a matter of days in most cases. Also prices have not dropped here overall in about 18 months. As our inventory has shrunk, our prices have held and in some cases increased a little bit. The Central Florida market as a whole has been gaining momentum over the last year and the our inventory has shrunk dramatically as investors and retirees have taken advantage of the low interest rates and favorable market conditions.
This is the nice post, There is a decent Thaiplace in Wellesley. I think you are right, I agree with you, It was the second straight month of declines. The drop was smaller than economists had expected, but the April sales figure was revised lower, leaving a report that was largely in line with expectations in financial markets.Thanks for share this blog.
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