December Housing Scorecard

From HousingWire:

Obama Administration: Housing prices up, inventory down

Home prices showed strong annual gains for the 12 months ending October 2012, the Obama Administration said in its December Housing Scorecard report.

“As the December housing scorecard indicates, our housing market is continuing to show important signs of recovery — with the FHFA and Case-Shiller housing price indices up 5.6% and 4.3%, respectively, from one year ago,” said the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development Senior Advisor on Housing Finance Michael Berman.

Housing inventory continued to drop overall, falling to 4.8 months’ supply from 5.3 months’ supply on the last scorecard.

This drop in inventory, coupled with strong demand, is a driving force behind price appreciation. Home sales are up, hitting 31,400 existing homes for sale compared to 30,100 homes last month.

The December scorecard also revealed a significant drop in foreclosures, with starts only reaching 77,500 in November, down from 89,200 starts the previous month.

A key indicator that, while still fragile, the housing recovery is very much happening is the number of underwater borrowers. The first quarter in 2012 accounted for 11.4 million underwater borrowers, while the second quarter only revealed 10.8 million.

This entry was posted in Housing Recovery, National Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

106 Responses to December Housing Scorecard

  1. Essex says:

    Never been a better time….to leave New Jersey.

  2. Essex says:

    House next door to us just sold in a non- realtor transaction. It was never listed. If the details are correct the buyers easily got $600k of house for about $450k.

  3. grim says:

    From the Record:

    N.J. faces $2B budget shortfall, but Christie holds out hope

    With six months left in the fiscal year, New Jersey needs a nearly 12 percent growth spurt in tax collections to stave off possible cuts in education aid, property tax relief or the public employee pension fund.

    But that kind of economic growth hasn’t been seen in eight years, according to an analysis by The Record. And it happened then only because borrowing gimmicks and a host of tax increases by Gov. James McGreevey generated a huge revenue spike.

    Governor Christie — whose current budget features tax cuts, not tax hikes — is still holding out hope that tax revenue from corporate bonuses and Wall Street gains will combine with the rebuilding effort from superstorm Sandy to create an economic burst.

    New Jersey’s budget — built on tax projections portrayed as highly optimistic as soon as Christie introduced them in early 2012 — is on pace for a $2 billion shortfall. But Christie is not talking about spending cuts — cuts that would be distasteful to any officeholder in a reelection year.

    Waiting deep into the fiscal year to confront any revenue shortfall could leave only a few unpopular options or open the door to one-shot financial stopgaps that end up costing taxpayers more in the long run.

    “I think it’s all too early to be pushing the panic button,” Christie told The Record in a recent interview when asked about a revenue shortfall that his own administration measured at $451 million last month.

    Rebuilding from Sandy could serve as a much-needed stimulus in New Jersey, where unemployment was near 10 percent, among the highest of all states, before the storm hit. So far only $9.7 billion, to cover flood insurance claims, has been cleared by Congress heading into this week’s voting sessions.

    A significant factor in a possible recovery built in large part on Sandy is how much of the expected $60 billion federal aid package will ultimately make its way to New Jersey.

  4. Young Buck says:

     BERGEN COUNTY — Several North Jersey towns are considering changes to their tree planting ordinances after Superstorm Sandy leveled hundreds of trees throughout the area last year, according to a report by NorthJersey.com.Glen Rock and Ridgewood are considering changes to their municipal ordinances, which would require homeowners to obtain a “landscaper’s easement” in order to replant trees felled by the storm, according to the report. Many North Jersey towns, known for their large canopies, are considering replanting on homeowners’ properties rather than along sidewalks to avoid the damage that led to power outages after Sandy’s fury.Wayne, which is one of the towns considering the easements, lost 420 trees to Sandy, the report said. Ridgewood lost 363 trees in the storm, and officials told NorthJersey.com that 90 percent of the town’s residents are considering replanting.Downed trees contributed to sprawling power outages throughout Bergen County in Sandy’s wake, sparking the conversation about replanting, the report said. Many residents in the area blasted PSE&G as they went weeks without power, but PSE&G representatives have warned Bergen residents the trees that are replanted should be “utility friendly,” or below power lines.

    http://www.nj.com/bergen/index.ssf/2013/01/bergen_county_towns_rethinking_planting_of_trees_in_wake_of_superstorm_sandy_damage.html#incart_river

  5. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  6. grim says:

    You think we’re any different? I’d argue that the culture and spirituality of this event, in the context of ‘rebirth’, is more similar than you like to believe.

    http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2013/01/here_i_come_sandy_nj_residents.html

    They wrapped themselves in towels and jogged on the beach, they drank alcohol and danced to the live band, and they even huddled with friends like groups of wintering penguins — anything to keep warm.

    Then they took the most wicked plunge.

    With the wind chill near freezing, about 500 people jumped into the ocean today during the Sons of Ireland’s 10th Annual Polar Bear Plunge. Organizers said the event represents the first step in 2013 to reclaiming the shore and rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.

  7. Ernest Money says:

    Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
    Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
    Into the blue again after the money’s gone
    Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
    You may ask yourself, how do I work this?
    You may ask yourself, where is that large automobile?
    You may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful house
    You may tell yourself, this is not my beautiful wife
    Letting the days go by, let the water hold me down
    Letting the days go by, water flowing underground
    Into the blue again, after the money’s gone
    Once in a lifetime, water flowing underground
    Same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was, same as it ever was

  8. Essex says:

    When a person’s mind is full of thoughts of how rotten things are and how bad they are going, the troubles say, “Hey, here’s a place for us with all our friends, where we can feel at home!”

  9. Essex says:

    Sometime soon, the executive director of the state’s largest sewage treatment plant — nearly wiped out by Hurricane Sandy — will need to pay for more than $250 million in storm-damaged wastewater facilities that are barely functioning.

    But an angry political standoff, ignited by a history of scandals, has left the Passaic Valley Sewerage Commissioners unable to borrow money to fix anything.

  10. grim says:

    The only issue I have with that article, is that the water arc hair splash photo should have featured the much more typical bikini clad model as opposed to the hairy dude. Was Christie Brinkley (or Priyanka Chopra) not available?

  11. chicagofinance says:

    Never been a better time….for your to consider euthanasia……

    Essex says:
    January 14, 2013 at 7:09 am
    Never been a better time….to leave New Jersey.

  12. Painhrtz - Not like you can dust for vomit says:

    Freedy would it not be the Raritan?

  13. Peace, Love, Dope & Beer says:

    7 – silly grim…YOUR weird fairy tales and rituals are freaky, frightening and just downright wrong…but OUR fairy tales and rituals are the ones that make complete sense – says anyone who believes in their god but poo poos anyone else’s

  14. Essex says:

    13. $300k is the new $200k doncha know. Are you suggesting I visit Asia? Secks tourism is so 2009.

  15. JJ's B.Se says:

    Brazilian Bikini Waxes Make Crab Lice Endangered Species
    By Jason Gale & Shannon Pettypiece – Jan 13, 2013 8:00 AM ET

    Pubic lice, the crab-shaped insects that have dwelled in human groins since the beginning of history, are disappearing. Doctors say bikini waxing may be the reason.

    http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-01-13/brazilian-bikini-waxes-make-crab-lice-endangered-species-health.html

    I want to use some of the SANDY Pork to explore this further. I need to pick a large sample of shaved beavers to explore this further. Any volunteers.

  16. Comrade Nom Deplume in the eye of the storm says:

    [12] chifi

    That’s a bit harsh. I don’t want essex eliminated. So long as he and those with some of his views (hard to know what his views are; they seem to change with lunar cycles), remain in NJ, I am fine with that.

  17. Comrade Nom Deplume, updating this really old header says:

    [17] redux

    Naturally, I am speaking of the views I find objectionable, namely those of Euro-socialist SX, not those of Quasiliberarian SX.

  18. Essex says:

    18. My folks still love me. I got that…wife & kid…ditto.
    Even my man from Darien welcomes me to his home to dine. It’s really clear to me that there is so mucg economic and cultural disfunction in our midsts, that we really might be wrestling for the last scraps one day. God help us.

  19. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [20] SX

    Enjoy. Just enjoy on your side of the river. If we get TEOTWAWKI, I would hate to have to cap you.

    Same goes for dope. Really. No really, I’m serious.

  20. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Useless and weird football fact of the day that is interesting only to me:

    Three of the four quarterbacks in yesterday’s playoff games played h.s. or college ball within 15 miles of my house.

    Only one didn’t and that is the one I hope I will see hoisting the Lombardi Trophy this year.

  21. Peace, Love, Dope & Beer says:

    Be more concerned with “capping” yourself or one of your family members…no really, it is 43 times more likely:

    “Art Kellermann was raised in eastern Tennessee, where his father taught him how to shoot a long gun when he was 10 years old. Kellermann grew up to become an emergency room doctor — and a target for gun-rights groups when he started asking questions like, “If a gun kept in a home was used, who did it shoot, and what were the consequences?”

    Kellermann found people turned those guns on themselves and others in the house far more often than on intruders. “In other words, a gun kept in the home was 43 times more likely to be involved in the death of a member of the household than to be used in self-defense,” he says.”

    after that, of course, the gun lobby and TPTB made him stop with such studies.

  22. joyce says:

    23
    I believe the FBI estimatems 30,000 deaths a year from guns with 20,000 of them being suicides… are we to believe that without a gun, someone insisting on taking their own life can’t find another way?
    The 2/3 being suicide very much skews the number (43%) that you cite.

  23. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [1] But, but, Essex…NJ is two hours from the shore, two hours from the mountains, two hours from New York City…two hours from practically every great place you’d rather be.

    Never been a better time….to leave New Jersey.

  24. Jason says:

    A front page article in today’s wsj is about car makers efforts to meet tougher fuel economy standards. The approach they’re taking is to lighten the vehicles weight. Replacing steel with aluminum and magnesium.

    As standards get tougher and tougher to meet, how long before the aluminum gets replaced by aluminum foil? Or maybe they’ll decide an engine really isn’t necessary.

    It’s appearing more and more likely that the Flinstone mobile (sans stone wheels) will be the car of the future.

  25. nwnj says:

    My question for the day is how is the state and some of the shore communties going to bridge the budget shortfalls? Christie says not to panic, yet we know the revenues aren’t going to rebound enough to fill the gap? Federal bailout under the guise of disaster relief?

  26. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    More OT:

    This has been debated on and off by the board for a few years now, especially the predictions that we will implement “stealth” protectionism and that protectionism writ large is the only way that Obama’s policies can succeed without ballooning the debt. Now with China’s trade advantages and behavior long well known, and other countries moving in that direction, is it only a matter of time before an unfettered Obama goes in that direction?

    http://www.oxan.com/Analysis/DailyBrief/Samples/NewProtectionism.aspx

  27. joyce says:

    25
    Expat,

    Hilarious.

    And regarding Portsmouth, I’m going back in the general direction in the not so distant future. What are your favorite places?

  28. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [27] nwnj – You’re looking at it from the wrong side (the private sector side). The real question is how do we create the economy necessary to fuel government growth at a greater rate than the economy that fuels it? Answer: financial innovation. Problem solved.

    My question for the day is how is the state and some of the shore communties going to bridge the budget shortfalls? Christie says not to panic, yet we know the revenues aren’t going to rebound enough to fill the gap? Federal bailout under the guise of disaster relief?

  29. chicagofinance says:

    ……and libtard rolls a 7…….

    Libtard working from home says:
    November 30, 2012 at 1:10 pm
    Juice box…we’ll see. I’m open to many opinions and trust me, I know all good runs always come to an end. I just don’t see their run ending just yet. As for margin compression. Yes maybe in their tablets, but not so much in their iPhones and definitely less so in their iMac and MacBook business. Besides my actual dollars invested (and it’s not a huge position), I’ve got a free lunch riding on it getting to $800 before $500. It’s a sick world where I really care almost as much about making a friend eat crow than the profit I’ll take if my position hits $800. Lets just say, I could probably buy lunch for many years with it.

  30. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [27] nwnj

    “Federal bailout under the guise of disaster relief?”

    We’ve already seen it under other guises. And I would not be surprised that an undercurrent of suspicion about Obama bailing out democratic areas sub rosa isn’t, in some small part, behind the intransigence on the part of fly-over representatives.

  31. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Watch out, you might get what you’re after
    Cool babies, strange but not a stranger
    I’m an ordinary guy
    Burning down the house
    Hold tight, wait ’till the party’s over
    Hold tight, we’re in for nasty weather
    There has got to be a way
    Burning down the house
    Here’s your ticket, pack your bags, time for jumpin’ overboard
    Transportation is here
    Close enough but not too far, maybe you know where you are
    Fightin’ fire with fire
    All wet, hey you might need a raincoat
    Shakedown, dreams walking in broad daylight
    Three hundred sixty five degrees
    Burning down the house
    It was once upon a place, sometimes I listen to myself
    Gonna come in first place
    People on their way to work said, “Baby what did you except?” [sic?]
    Gonna burst into flame, go ahead

    Burning down the house
    My house is out of the ordinary
    That’s right, don’t want to hurt nobody
    Some things sure can sweep me off my feet
    Burning down the house
    No visible means of support and you have not seen nothin’ yet
    Everything’s stuck together
    I don’t know what you expect staring into the TV set
    Fighting fire with fire

    Burning down the house

    Burning down the house

    Burning down the house

  32. Essex says:

    I feel that asphixiation from living too near the parkway had seriously impacted my sense of propriety.

  33. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [34] redux

    and further:

    http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111904353504576568352231645730.html

    I could go on, but that is pointless. This is a well-educated group and has seen this all before.

  34. Painhrtz - Not like you can dust for vomit says:

    don’t know if anyone posted the story of the journal news posting the map of gun owners in westchester with their address, if not look it up. Here are the inevitable consequences of that action

    http://newyork.newsday.com/news/nation/journal-news-gun-permit-map-used-by-burglars-to-target-white-plains-home-1.4441678

    Dope, my guns are locked up, ammo locked up separately only I have access to them. most intruders I would be able to handle with a hockey stick and my German Shepherd. In the event that they get past those defenses there is the only exception to my security is the biometric safe with the 9mm that my wife could access. I honestly think you libs think responsible firearms owners have guns in every nook and cranny of our homes with brass and shells scattered about the floor for toddlers to play with.

  35. Painhrtz - Not like you can dust for vomit says:

    Grim unmod good article

  36. grim says:

    31 – Impact of the Windows 8 debacle is only starting to be felt. HP, Lenovo, Dell, Acer, Intel, etc.

    Microsoft needed to take a page from the Apple playbook regarding hardware requirements, they should have forced the PC manufacturers to include Touch screen monitors on EVERY desktop and laptop being sold with 8, not just the pinnacle products. Likewise, the touch screen should have been an installation requirement on upgrade PCs. Like I said, Apple had no problem cutting the ties with backward compatibility to ensure optimal user experience, meanwhile, Wintel is focused on backwards support to the extent that it becomes handcuffs and not a benefit.

    Windows 8 might just be the last nail in the coffin for the home desktop. From a productivity standpoint, Mac now beats it by far, and I’m not talking about the artsy shit, I’m talking real work too. Unfortunately, MS and it’s related PC companies aren’t in a position to capitalize on the tablet market. Maybe Win 8 fiasco was intentional? Either way, they aren’t in a way to benefit from it, even with the very sad Surface tablet.

  37. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [24] joyce – I think suicide is often an “impulse buy”. It’s a lot like Crème brûlée. Some people just shouldn’t have Crème brûlée in their house.

    23
    I believe the FBI estimatems 30,000 deaths a year from guns with 20,000 of them being suicides… are we to believe that without a gun, someone insisting on taking their own life can’t find another way?
    The 2/3 being suicide very much skews the number (43%) that you cite.

  38. Peace, Love, Dope & Beer says:

    37

    “I honestly think you libs think responsible firearms owners have guns in every nook and cranny of our homes…”

    I can’t tell you what “all libs think” but it is not the responsible gun owners that are of concern; it is the irresponsible ones. When I was a freshman in high school two seniors were “playing with/cleaning” a gun and it went off. One was killed. Were they (or their parents) responsible or irresponsible gun owners? I couldn’t tell ya.

  39. joyce says:

    “it is not the responsible gun owners that are of concern”

    But it is them who will be impacted by future legislation

  40. joyce says:

    Continued infringing on their rights when they’ve done nothing wrong.

  41. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [29] joyce – The River House and Portsmouth Brewery were two of my favorites. There were a lot of other places where we’ve only eaten once, but I don’t remember a bad meal in any of them. Our kids used to like visiting the Children’s Museum, but my wife told me the other day that it closed and moved to Dover, NH, but the Strawbery Banke Museum is kind of interesting if you like old wood stuff.

    And regarding Portsmouth, I’m going back in the general direction in the not so distant future. What are your favorite places?

  42. chicagofinance says:

    The End Is Nigh (Pats Fans edition):

    STOUGHTON, Mass. (AP) — Three men and a 14-year-old boy have been arrested in connection with a violent brawl at a Massachusetts baby shower in which bottles and punches were thrown and furniture was smashed.

    Police say 24-year-old Patrick Cardoso Lopes; 24-year-old Paulo Pires Depina; and 22-year-old Aderito Lopes Deandrade, all of Brockton, are scheduled to be arraigned Monday on charges including disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and assault and battery on a police officer.

    The 14-year-old boy’s name was not released because of his age.

    Police say they responded to a function hall in Stoughton at about 11:45 p.m. Saturday and found as many as 200 people involved in the fight they say was sparked by uninvited guests. The fight, involving women, went on in front of children. Sgt. Daniel McGowan called the scene a ‘‘nightmare.’’

  43. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I’m rooting for a non- East Coast guy too.

    Colin Kaepernick
    High school: John H. Pitman (Turlock, California)
    College: Nevada

    Three of the four quarterbacks in yesterday’s playoff games played h.s. or college ball within 15 miles of my house.

    Only one didn’t and that is the one I hope I will see hoisting the Lombardi Trophy this year.

  44. Painhrtz - Not like you can dust for vomit says:

    dope cleaning a loaded firearm and your asking if they are responsible? you really don’t know much about guns and gun ownership.

    i was taught from as early as I could remember that the first thing you do when picking up a firearm or handed a firearm is verify that the chamber is open and clear. Next magazine. When you verify gun is unloaded only then can it be deemed “safe” but should still be handled as if it is loaded.

    Pistols never keep one in the chamber, never trust a safety and never ever put your finger on the trigger until you intend to pull it.

    Everyone in my circle of shooting friends has been trained similarly. Would not associate with someone who isn’t. Firearms deserve respect like a car, butcher knife, chainsaw when used. All can be very deadly in untrained or operated by careless individuals without a healthy respect for their capabilities.
    Never see anyone banning butcher knives over 6 inches, chainsaws can have a maximum chain length of 12 inches or cars can not be operated above 12 miles an hour and fitted with governers to ensure as such.

  45. grim says:

    Pistols never keep one in the chamber, never trust a safety

    Many modern handguns do not have a safety for exactly this reason, Glock, Sig Sauer, etc.

  46. Comrade Nom Deplume: To Tax what JJ is to Sex. says:

    [41] dope

    How do you clean a loaded gun? Seems rather difficult.

    [45] chifi

    You lost me at Brockton, the Camden of Massachusetts.

  47. Peace, Love, Dope & Beer says:

    i put “playing with/cleaning” in quotes for a reason; that was the story we were told. for all i know they could have been amped up on meth and had an argument…they may not have been cleaning it at all…and it might not have even been one of theirs, could have belonged to one’s dad, who could very well be a responsible gun owner that would never clean a loaded gun.

  48. Comrade Nom Deplume: To Tax what JJ is to Sex. says:

    [22] errata

    Meant to say 3 of 4 QBs in games I saw. Weekends tend to blur together into one long day when kids are involved.

  49. Comrade Nom Deplume: To Tax what JJ is to Sex. says:

    [41] dope

    I know you didn’t weigh in on responsibilty but many on your side have, and their idea of responsible is to make it so hyper secure as to be unusable for many purposes, or too loaded with features to be affordable. And let’s not forget strict liability so you are liable no matter how many precautions you took.

    Lanza’s mother may have been irresponsible. But she is currently judgment proof and immune from prosecution.

  50. Essex says:

    Wow, that kind of spiraled.

  51. Painhrtz - Not like you can dust for vomit says:

    Is it sad that I could care less about football anymore? As much as I despise Belichek you have to respect what he has created but without Brady he is just another genius DC with no offense. If I end up tuning in this weekend I just hope the Pats beat Baltimore can not stand Lewis redemption fake or true, two people are dead and he has accepted a modicum of culpability to keeping their murderers at large.

  52. JJ's B.Se says:

    The will milk FEMA to pay for a lot and then bring back BAB bonds. Finally, homeowners will capitulate, new owners will buy cheap build mcmansions and towns will tax the heck out of them.
    If anything, next few months is a great buying opportunity in shore towns. Only less off folks cant rebuild, if they are forced to resell in cash deals richer folks will buy and build. Either way tons of fees and permits and chances for higher property tax collections in 2015 and beyond.

    nwnj says:
    January 14, 2013 at 10:18 am

    My question for the day is how is the state and some of the shore communties going to bridge the budget shortfalls? Christie says not to panic, yet we know the revenues aren’t going to rebound enough to fill the gap? Federal bailout under the guise of disaster relief?

  53. Libtard in the City says:

    Just paid the bet ChiFi. Kung Po Chicken! I tried to argue that the bet didn’t cover intra-day prices, but only closing prices. But he wouldn’t bite. Was really hoping my bet would have at least held up until earnings. If Apple’s earnings do not surprise up, I suppose we all can truly see how amazing of a man Jobs really was. Since his departure, Apple has done nothing but F up.

  54. Libtard in the City says:

    Chi(45),

    Sounds like the Shameless premier, only in a different city.

  55. JJ's B.Se says:

    Jobs was by far the best ceo ever who was a dead beat dad musilm cheapskate

    Libtard in the City says:
    January 14, 2013 at 12:45 pm

    Just paid the bet ChiFi. Kung Po Chicken! I tried to argue that the bet didn’t cover intra-day prices, but only closing prices. But he wouldn’t bite. Was really hoping my bet would have at least held up until earnings. If Apple’s earnings do not surprise up, I suppose we all can truly see how amazing of a man Jobs really was. Since his departure, Apple has done nothing but F up.

  56. Libtard in the City says:

    “dead beat dad musilm cheapskate”

    Really? Not confusing him with Kat Stevens?

  57. Brian says:

    39 –
    Grim the technology space is always an arms race. You have to always have the innovative product. So what’s the next big thing for apple? The iPhone is 4 1/2 years old now and technology geeks are always looking for the next big thing. Jobs is gone. People are betting on a different management team now. I think Jobs was the guy that brought out the best in the folks at apple. How long can they keep reintroducing things that Jobs drove the company to create?

    Funny, during Hurricane Sandy, when all hell was breaking loose, and people needed to come to my office to work cuz they couldn’t or wouldn’t go to manhattan, they all wanted windows laptops because they couldn’t get their macbook air or iwhatever’s to work on the corporate network. I couldn’t deploy them fast enough. Why? not really apple’s fault but the issue was so much of the entrenched underlying infrastructure is microsoft based.

    No doubt, Microsoft has been losing the battle on the consumer products front though. Many home users are tired of dealing with a complicated windows interface and long for the simplicity of an ipad. Out of the box, easy to use.

  58. Brian says:

    I guess people still really do like iphones. Maybe it is a company worth fighting for.

    Kenneth Schmidgall Tracks Down Stolen IPhone, Fights The Guy Who Has It (VIDEO)

    http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/01/08/kenneth-schmidgall-stolen-iphone_n_2433101.html

  59. JJ's B.Se says:

    Brian Morgan Stanley was processing huge amounts of blackberry requests the week of hurricane as none of the samsungs and apples could send or receive email.

  60. Painhrtz - Not like you can dust for vomit says:

    Ruh -ro Harry Reid might be in trouble. that and some of the names are Johnson and Swallow in the article

    http://www.sltrib.com/sltrib/home3/55598812-200/johnson-swallow-rawle-attorney.html.csp

  61. Brian says:

    JJ, I finally got my iphone 5 from work. It’s a neat phone. Sucks for all the things I need to do for work though.

    I needed it to integrate with outlook and send and respond to emails quickly and reliably. Despite the recent, poor timed and embarrassing outage, I still find that the blackberry was a better work tool. the iPhone is a neat little toy.

    Again, not really Apple’s fault, but I always worked in financials where the SEC and FDIC had strict regulatory requirements. We had to encrypt everything on the phone. Blackberry worked better in this environment in my opinion. Much easier to acomodate requests from HR and Information Security guys on Blackberry platform.

    Hopefully the BB10 infrastructure is as good as the old stuff was.

    Sh1t. Now I’m stuck with this iphone.

  62. JJ's B.Se says:

    I have an iphone 5 too. Apparantly all us good looking trendy hip people have to have it.

    I miss my old trio!!!

    Heck I remember, 1998 when I was on the LIRR with my laptop open updating email for a project and talking to my boss on the cell phone and people would look over in amazement. By 2008 when you did that they would look at you in disgust, in 2013 it is a quiet car. I actually had a laptop in 1988. A Sharp laptop of all things. Back then they made PCs/Laptops more than TVs. We did not have computers at work yet and I brought it to work as I was doing something on it for grad school. Within minutes I had like 20 people at my desk. Gawking and staring. I still have it in my attic with all the manuals. Times change. Apple should be like Zenith TVs, Kodak Cameras and Blackberry Smartphones in 20 years.

    BTW Palm invented the first smartphone not apple, samsung or blackberry

    Brian says:
    January 14, 2013 at 2:23 pm

    JJ, I finally got my iphone 5 from work. It’s a neat phone. Sucks for all the things I need to do for work though.

  63. Libtard in the City says:

    Chi…is there a way to open a 529 without paying one of you shysters? Ha ha! When I originally opened Gator Jr’s, I think I did it through Upromise. That option is not available anymore.

  64. Brian says:

    get the new Otterbox Armor case for it. Crush proof, waterproof, dustproof, drop proof. You will be ready for the next flooding hurricane sandy type event.

    http://www.otterbox.com/armor-series/armor-series,default,pg.html

  65. Libtard in the City says:

    Forget it. I was looking at one that was only adviser sold.

  66. grim says:

    66 – We were able to setup the T Rowe Price online, no fees, no advisors. Took all of about 15 minutes.

  67. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [65] pain

    Aside from giving JJ a rise, this is a nonstory outside of Utah. Unless you have Reid on tape or being photographed counting the cash in the envelope, he will deny and this story dies.

  68. chicagofinance says:

    stu: if you prefer the new plan, you can also roll the old one over…..

    grim says:
    January 14, 2013 at 3:13 pm
    66 – We were able to setup the T Rowe Price online, no fees, no advisors. Took all of about 15 minutes.

  69. chicagofinance says:

    chinese food? …..you are a cheap bastard….

    Libtard in the City says:
    January 14, 2013 at 12:45 pm
    Just paid the bet ChiFi. Kung Po Chicken! I tried to argue that the bet didn’t cover intra-day prices, but only closing prices.

  70. Libtard in the City says:

    I know about the rollover, but am debating the pain in the ass it is to shift new Upromise rebate dollars into T. Rowe. Actually, I’m not even sure why I am doing the 529 as I plan to sell the multi to pay for the kids’ college, but people keep sending them gifts and I need to put them somewhere for their future. So do you think TR lobbied Morningstar to give them such high rankings? I wouldn’t put it past them.

  71. Libtard in the City says:

    You think I’m cheap. He probably would have bought me a banana from the fruit cart.

  72. Libtard in the City says:

    Or more apropos, an Apple.

  73. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Blackberry was very good for Outlook integration, but I actually preferred this company’s solutions with my old Palm OS Treo 650. Motorola bought the company about 5 years ago, I thought you would only find their software on Motorola devices after that, but apparently they’re opening it up to the world again (including IOS iPhone 5):

    http://www1.good.com/products/good-for-enterprise

    I needed it to integrate with outlook and send and respond to emails quickly and reliably. Despite the recent, poor timed and embarrassing outage, I still find that the blackberry was a better work tool. the iPhone is a neat little toy.

  74. JJ's B.Se says:

    The smarter thing would be to not sell your multi to pay for college. I would use all my assets to pay off multi and transfer it at same time to a LLC trust set up outside your name. Then it wont count as assets come college time.

    My only interesting college bill will be my daughter who is in kindergarten. I doubt I can survive 16 more years on wall street till her graduation. If am not working and bulk of assets are in 401K plan, paid off house and maybe a vacation home in a LLC not in my name how will that work. After first two kids raid my bank account and I buy a vacation home where I may retire in a LLC for cash and own my primary house cash and have no income it should be interesting. I bet it happens a lot now. I have lots of friends who had kids in their late forties and even early 50s who had great jobs since 21 and always put in 401K. You will have 68 year old Dads with freshman in college with only income SS which cant be touched. Millions in a 401k that cant be touched and a paid off house. 401K is a crazy tax deferred growth vehicle. Once you hit 61 and you started at 21 you did it 40 years already. Money starts doubling every ten years it goes high very quick. If one wont touch it till last kid is done with school around 71 it had 50 years to grow

  75. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [65] My wife still uses my old 2006 Palm Treo 650 as her phone. I used to edit spreadsheets and word documents on that phone using “Documents to Go”. I loved that phone. The Outlook integration was amazing for email, contacts, calendar, etc. Completely seamless, everything was always synchronized in real time. When my wife started using that phone it went from lasting 1.5 days to 5 days on one charge. I guess all that real-time synching used a lot of juice. It even had a custom realAudio app that was like iTunes now. Ripped all my CDs to the phone and took them everywhere when that was actually a big deal.

    BTW Palm invented the first smartphone not apple, samsung or blackberry

  76. Brian says:

    Expat, we run good on all of our apple devices here and it is terrible. I hate it.

  77. joyce says:

    77

    [money doubles every ten years]

    I’ll bet you any amount of money that 7% growth a year will not last forever.

  78. JJ's B.Se says:

    Who said growth. I just said Money doubles. Think of the late 70s to early 80s, zero growth or negative growth but 16% treasuries.

    BTW Between March 2009 and today money has doubled in stocks. Under 3 years. If one could time travel back to 1982 I would have just bought a 30 year treasury at 16% and put all interest into the S&P 500 fund for 30 years. Imagine the massive amount of money that would be worth today.

    2013 I would say is most challenging year since WWII for investment. Joyce last 30 years one could have went year 1 30 year treasury, year 2 30 year muni, year 3 S&P 500 fund and today would be sitting pretty and massively rich. That 30 year cycle wont repeat

    However, you cant leave money at 1/2 of 1% in the bank taxable at 40% that is the sure path to being broke.

    joyce says:
    January 14, 2013 at 4:06 pm

    77

    [money doubles every ten years]

    I’ll bet you any amount of money that 7% growth a year will not last forever.

  79. Essex says:

    PCs are a tough way to make $$$$ not a shocker about Dell.

  80. Back1nJersey says:

    @81 JJ – So where would you put your $$$ today ?

  81. joyce says:

    OK then, ill rephrase

    7% return a year forever will not happen

  82. Mike says:

    Bloomberg reports mortgage delinquencies four times higher in Sandy damaged areas

  83. joyce says:

    “Between March 2009 and today money has doubled in stocks”

    Ok What happened betwee June 2008 and today…?

    Cherry pick any time frame and any asset class you’d like to try to prove your point. But in reality it doesnt make it so.

  84. Comrade Nom Deplume: To Tax what JJ is to Sex. says:

    [77] JJ

    An LLC trust? And why exactly won’t it count? Seems to me you need to be more specific about the type of trust.

  85. JJ's B.Se says:

    You set up an LLC such as 151 East 26st Associates LLC. The LLC is not in your name. Normally it is in some type of irrevocable trust. You cant do this once kids are like sophmores in HS. You need to hire someone to set it up right.

    But bottom line, you no longer own that asset. It does not count against you in financial aid. Also when you die it is not part of the estate.

    Comrade Nom Deplume: To Tax what JJ is to Sex. says:
    January 14, 2013 at 5:19 pm

    [77] JJ

    An LLC trust? And why exactly won’t it count? Seems to me you need to be more specific about the type of trust.

  86. JJ's B.Se says:

    I am too old to cherry pick, my ladies no longer have cherries to pick.

    I am a value investor. I never buy at highs. Back between late 2005 and late 2008 I was just rolling CDs, which rolled into Junk in 2009/2010, into munis in 2011 and stock in 2012 and now all CDs have matured. .

    joyce says:
    January 14, 2013 at 5:16 pm

    “Between March 2009 and today money has doubled in stocks”

    Ok What happened betwee June 2008 and today…?

    Cherry pick any time frame and any asset class you’d like to try to prove your point. But in reality it doesnt make it so.

  87. JJ's B.Se says:

    “If the business is incorporated (e.g., C corporation, S corporation, LLC), the “significant services” requirement does not generally apply. Incorporating the business avoids many questions about whether it really is a business or not. However, the rental property must be owned by the business in order to be excluded, as the small business exclusion only applies to the business and its assets. The small business exclusion does not apply to assets that are managed by the business but not otherwise owned by the business. If the deed to the property is in the family’s name, it is a personal asset and must be reported as an investment asset on the FAFSA. If the deed is in the name of the business, then it can be excluded on the FAFSA if the small business exclusion applies. For example, if the family owns a property which it rents to the business, that property is reported as an investment asset on the FAFSA because it is owned by the family, not the business.”

  88. JJ's B.Se says:

    http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/401-Hibiscus-Tree-Dr-Lantana-FL-33462/46690488_zpid/

    fannie mae home for sale for 10K higher than its 1984 sales price!!!

  89. Ernest Money says:

    If Bill Gross can’t find consistent 7% returns, how am I?

  90. chicagofinance says:

    Right in front of me…..
    Teachers’ Retirement System of the City of New York
    Tax-Deferred Annuity [i.e. 403(b)]

    Basically this thing looks similar to everyone’s 401(k) with one HUGE EXCEPTION……the “Fixed Return Fund”
    “Investments in the Fixed Return Fund received interest at a guaranteed rate of return determined by the New York State Legislature in accordance with applicable laws. Members who are serving in (or resigned/retired from) titles represented by the UFT are credited with 7% annually on TDA investments in the Fixed Return Fund as of December 11, 2009; all other members are credited with 8.25% annually on TDA investments in this Fund.”

    Also…..cumulative total contributions $84,000…….
    closing account balance from 2012…..$750,000…..this balance is above and beyond the pension……

    joyce says:
    January 14, 2013 at 5:13 pm
    OK then, ill rephrase
    7% return a year forever will not happen

  91. chicagofinance says:

    to be clear: no risk to the unit value…..

    Also…..cumulative total contributions $84,000…….
    closing account balance from 2012…..$750,000…..this balance is above and beyond the pension……

  92. Ernest Money says:

    Sorry, isn’t this the NJ G@nital Lice Report?

  93. joyce says:

    You’re like a child who changes things after the fact so you’re always right, in your mind. You initially ‘one could have done this or that investment’ and ‘you could have done…’

    JJ’s B.Se says:
    January 14, 2013 at 5:31 pm

    I am a value investor. I never buy at highs. Back between late 2005 and late 2008 I was just rolling CDs, which rolled into Junk in 2009/2010, into munis in 2011 and stock in 2012 and now all CDs have matured. .

    joyce says:
    January 14, 2013 at 5:16 pm

    “Between March 2009 and today money has doubled in stocks”

    Ok What happened betwee June 2008 and today…?

    Cherry pick any time frame and any asset class you’d like to try to prove your point. But in reality it doesnt make it so.

  94. Brian says:

    Bill Gross is no JJ

  95. Great items from you, man. I’ve remember your stuff previous to and you are just extremely magnificent. I really like what you’ve obtained right here, certainly like what you’re stating and the best way in which you assert it. You make it entertaining and you continue to care for to stay it wise. I can’t wait to read far more from you. This is actually a terrific web site.

  96. Fabius Maximus says:

    #43 joyce

    “Continued infringing on their rights when they’ve done nothing wrong.”

    Think if it like your parents took away your car keys and grounded you because your baby brother got drunk at a kegger. Technically you did nothing wrong and were a responsible driver staying sober, but his actions spoiled it for both of you.

  97. caljn says:

    1
    Never a better time…to ignore Essex’ ever toxic posts.

  98. Anon E. Moose says:

    Fab [99];

    Think if it like your parents took away your car keys and grounded you because your baby brother got drunk at a kegger. Technically you did nothing wrong and were a responsible driver staying sober, but his actions spoiled it for both of you.

    Is that in Amendment 2.5, then? Congress shall pass no law infringing the right to par-tay? (Which, as the Beastie Boys taught us, you gotta fight for…)

    What a remarkably mature outlook on public policy you have. How is it that you have not graced some municipality with your presence in elective office?

  99. Fabius Maximus says:

    1998 I was on a RAS dial up into work on my big dog 100Mhz Pentium laptop running windows 95 and rocking a Nokia 9000, the original smartphone.

  100. Fabius Maximus says:

    #102 Moose

    2.5 I think would be a state right to party. That only applies at college level.

    As for running for public office. I find that the incumbents seem to have a law degree and the shingle on the door which seems to give them enough spare time to serve.

  101. joyce says:

    Are you trying to make a point? Or just use an analogy to agree with me, and further prove the illogical nature of it.

    Fabius Maximus says:
    January 14, 2013 at 9:38 pm
    #43 joyce

    “Continued infringing on their rights when they’ve done nothing wrong.”

    Think if it like your parents took away your car keys and grounded you because your baby brother got drunk at a kegger. Technically you did nothing wrong and were a responsible driver staying sober, but his actions spoiled it for both of you.

  102. caljn says:

    Shocking. Who’d a thunk…on a right leaning site, you know, liberty and all, that a post would be deleted.
    The tyranny of the moderator.

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