Sandy strikes again

From Bloomberg:

Mortgage Delinquencies Jump in Areas Hit Hard by Sandy

Mortgage delinquencies have jumped about four times the U.S. average in areas of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut that were damaged by Hurricane Sandy, according to Lender Processing Services Inc. (LPS)

The share of loans with late payments rose 3.7 percent nationwide from August to November, the Jacksonville, Florida- based company said in a report today. In ZIP codes hit hardest by the storm, delinquencies surged 15.4 percent in Connecticut, 15.2 percent in New Jersey and 14.8 percent in New York.

Sandy made landfall on Oct. 29, killing more than 100 people, inundating New York City’s subway system and destroying waterfront properties from New Jersey’s Atlantic City to Greenwich, Connecticut. While many homeowners fell behind because of brief disruptions, such as difficulty retrieving mail after the storm, some people lost homes and jobs that won’t be replaced easily, said Keith Gumbinger, vice president of HSH.com, a Pompton Plains, New Jersey-based mortgage-information website.

“A good portion of these are probably temporary,” he said in a telephone interview. “However, there are people who did suffer from catastrophic loss, whose houses are not habitable.”

Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac said on Nov. 9 that they would suspend evictions and foreclosure sales for 90 days in storm- disaster areas. The government-backed housing-finance agencies will allow firms that service their loans to extend forbearance plans for as long as 12 months.

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135 Responses to Sandy strikes again

  1. grim says:

    From the Record:

    Rutgers sees net economic gain for N.J. from Sandy

    A new report on the negative and positive economic effects of Superstorm Sandy projects that New Jersey will overcome the heavy economic losses of $11.7 billion sustained by 2015 — but only if about $25 billion is spent on recovery and reconstruction.

    The report, issued by Rutgers University, measured $11.7 billion in economic losses in the wake of the Oct. 29 storm, excluding damages to physical structures.

    Researchers weighed that cost against their estimate of $25.1 billion in expenditures needed for recovery and rebuilding.

    By that formula, researchers calculated what they called a “modest” pace of recovery for the state, meaning the economy would absorb initial losses in productivity, $1 billion in lost wages, $82 million in lost taxes and 4,200 in lost jobs but only if it gets the needed resources for reconstruction and recovery. New Jersey is awaiting a vote in Congress tomorrow on post-Sandy federal aid.

    “We do not intend these losses to seem small. These damages will echo for years,” said Joseph Seneca, a professor of economics at the Edward J. Bloustein school and one of the report’s authors.

    Without aid, however, the results sketch a bleak economic picture:
    State gross domestic product would be $2.8 billion less than it would otherwise be in 2013, and three years out would still be $325 million below expectations.

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

    Segundo

  3. Mike says:

    Good Morning New Jersey

  4. grim says:

    From Krugman:

    Japan Steps Out

    For three years economic policy throughout the advanced world has been paralyzed, despite high unemployment, by a dismal orthodoxy. Every suggestion of action to create jobs has been shot down with warnings of dire consequences. If we spend more, the Very Serious People say, the bond markets will punish us. If we print more money, inflation will soar. Nothing should be done because nothing can be done, except ever harsher austerity, which will someday, somehow, be rewarded.

    But now it seems that one major nation is breaking ranks — and that nation is, of all places, Japan.

    This isn’t the maverick we were looking for. In Japan governments come and governments go, but nothing ever seems to change — indeed, Shinzo Abe, the new prime minister, has had the job before, and his party’s victory was widely seen as the return of the “dinosaurs” who misruled the country for decades. Furthermore, Japan, with its huge government debt and aging population, was supposed to have even less room for maneuver than other advanced countries.

    But Mr. Abe returned to office pledging to end Japan’s long economic stagnation, and he has already taken steps orthodoxy says we mustn’t take. And the early indications are that it’s going pretty well.

  5. Ernest Money says:

    God, what a monkey Krugman is.

  6. grim says:

    From Bloomberg:

    Recovery in U.S. Saving 8 Million Underwater Homeowners

    Maggie Medved was stuck with her Phoenix house for two years after the market crash wiped out the equity in the property. Last year, as prices in the area rose by the most in the U.S., she and her partner were finally able to sell the 3-bedroom 1950’s style home and move to a larger place.

    Medved was among the 12 million borrowers in the U.S. who at the peak of the real-estate downturn owed more on their mortgages than their houses were worth, blocking them from moving or saving money by taking advantage of the lowest borrowing costs on record to refinance. As prices recovered, the number of underwater borrowers fell by almost 4 million last year to 7 million, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM), and could drop to 4 million within 2 years.

    The housing market is rebounding faster than anyone thought possible, according to Blackstone Group LP (BX)’s global head of real estate Jonathan Gray, as the Federal Reserve buys mortgage bonds to keep rates near record lows and investors sop up a diminishing supply of properties for sale. Housing construction could boost U.S. gross domestic product by 0.4 percentage point and home price appreciation may add another 0.2 percentage point, Bank of America Corp. (BAC)’s senior economist Michelle Meyer forecasts.

    “It supports household wealth, consumer confidence and can generate greater credit creation,” Meyer said. “If prices are rising, homeowners believe that they will once again have an appreciating asset. It’s a very big change in how they think about their wealth and their balance sheets.”

  7. Mike says:

    Maggie Medved?

  8. Anon E. Moose says:

    Re: Title post;

    RECOVERY!

  9. Essex says:

    I’m awash in regret.

  10. Anon E. Moose says:

    Notify the press: I agree with Money [5], unreservedly.

  11. Essex says:

    …and ecstacy at simply being…

  12. Essex says:

    Thus, lies the conflict.

  13. Essex says:

    Therein lies the duality.

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

    [4] grim,

    So if we give in to our short term impulses, the resulting sugar rush is a good thing and the economy promises that all will be good if we only buy more candy now?

    I had no idea my 9yo daughter had what it took for a Nobel Prize in economics. Of course, I already knew my 3yo had what it took for a Peace Prize. She gives us hope!

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

    Essex,

    Press down on the cap and twist.

  16. grim says:

    From MarketWatch:

    U.S. Nov. home prices edge up 0.3%: CoreLogic

    U.S. home prices edged up 0.3% in November to take the year-on-year gain to 7.4%, the biggest annual gain since May 2006, CoreLogic said Tuesday. The year-on-year rise is the ninth consecutive gain. Excluding distressed sales, home prices are up 6.7% year-on-year. CoreLogic’s pending home sales index forecasts a 7.9% year-on-year gain for December.

  17. grim says:

    Retail sales come in, not nearly as bad as expected, up 0.5% in December, minus gas the number moves up to 0.8%. November revised upwards to 0.4% from 0.3%.

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

    and of course that economic activity will enable us to double down on entitlements cause the money train is never going to end. All politicians should be tried for treason.

  19. JJ's B.Se says:

    Any new housing data around NY/NJ is going to be flawed. Fannie/Freddie put a 90 hold on any foreclosures in flood areas so until mid Feb we wont see those homes start to move through pipe line again.

    Also we have a lot of homes that are basically abandoned. Second homes, investment properties, heavily damaged homes without flood insurance. Or even, I see a lot near me homes with flood insurance and no mortgage. Homes with flood insurance and no mortgage are often older folks home. They get damage check from insurance company and are under no obligation to fix house. I have seen a few folks on high end homes, think like 500k-1.5 million just taking their max 350K flood damage in cash, selling home as is to a builder and moving on. Rebuilding could take 1-3 years and folks over 60 are just moving on.

    What does this mean. Lots of cheap homes hitting market. This will not only effect folks like me near the water, but will have a domino effect on towns near the water.

    Even manhattan is not immune, Zone B is the new Zone A. My zone B building still does not have electricity. We are on generators which can only produce so much heat and stuff. Folks are wearing sweaters and coats some days and hallways are dimmer than normal. Good luck with that 1.5 million condo below wall street.

  20. All Hype - Mr. Oil, Mr. Gas, Mr. Coal says:

    Grim (17):

    The big miss in retails sales was in electronics (-0.6%). Not good news for Best Buy.

  21. chicagofinance says:

    End the conflict now…….go to your gun case and swallow…….

    Essex says:
    January 15, 2013 at 8:11 am
    Thus, lies the conflict.

  22. grim says:

    20 – Retailers have conditioned customers into believing that the only electronics worth purchasing during the Holiday season are the door-busters. Outside of the deep discounts, if it weren’t for the tablets, that number would be even worse. I’d imagine that TV sales are petering out now that just about every household in the US has gotten rid of CRT TVs.

  23. Juice Box says:

    The Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans might add some perspective to the rebuilding of homes in a flood zone in in NY Metro. Over 4,000 homes were destroyed in the lower 9th ward by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. Even though the Federal Government has spent over 142 Billion since the Hurricane hit in 2005 there still have not rebuilt the lower 9th ward homes. FEMA did give cash, block grants etc, but most took the cash and ran which means they will never rebuild. I think they still have 1/2 a billion sitting in the block grant account, thing is you need to build it up to FEMA code and put it up on stilts.

    Lower 9th ward stats.

    As of the census of 2000, there were 14,008 people, 4,820 households, and 3,467 families residing in the neighborhood.[7] The population density was 9,731 /mi² (3,730 /km²).

    As of the census of 2010, there were 2,842 people, 1,061 households, and 683 families residing in the neighborhood.

    Only a few hundred homes have been rebuilt, even Brad Pitt’s foundation has only completed about 37 homes.

    Everything will need to be rebuilt on stilts. See some pics here.

    http://makeitright.org/

  24. JJ's B.Se says:

    FEMA only gives 31,900 chump change so since that is not enough to fix a heavily damaged home folks just moved on.

    Banks are the ones who got burnt. Give a poor person with a mortgage 250K out of NFIP program directly to rebuild homes and they buy caddies, disney vacations and air jordans till money is gone while living rent free in a FEMA trailor and when FEMA went to kick them out a year later they refused to move.

    Folks with mortgages and flood insurance. Banks now get check. Homeowners do not. Chase for instance requires you to get estimates, contractors to be licensed and insured and work to code. Then homeowner to front money then homeowner gets paid. And it is piece meal till job is done. Chase dont want to give homeowners coke and ho money then repossess a moldy house.

    I am lucky in a way I dont have to deal with flood insurance claims. Took my 31,900 and spent 50K to do renovation the right way and now I have my house redone, with new furnace, oil tank, bathroom, den and laundry room. FEMA only pays for bare bones. But no what if I did renovation on my own dime I would have to rip out sheetrock, floors, electrical and tear out 55 year old furnance anyhow.

    Folks in NO are more like folks in Shameless. They would steal electricity from neighbor, get a stolen furnance and leave rest as is and pocket 31,900k. Folks on LI are not like that. Every house is being rebuilt.

    Most people dont realize cars were a bigger hit than homes. I spent 80K replacing cars and only 50K fixing the house. Mostly my wifes Denali. All the ladies have SRXs or Denalis. Cant be pulling up in a broke dick honda or chrysler.

    Juice Box says:
    January 15, 2013 at 9:19 am

    The Lower 9th Ward of New Orleans might add some perspective to the rebuilding of homes in a flood zone in in NY Metro. Over 4,000 homes were destroyed in the lower 9th ward by Hurricane Katrina in August of 2005. Even though the Federal Government has spent over 142 Billion since the Hurricane hit in 2005 there still have not rebuilt the lower 9th ward homes. FEMA did give cash, block grants etc, but most took the cash and ran which means they will never rebuild. I think they still have 1/2 a billion sitting in the block grant account, thing is you need to build it up to FEMA code and put it up on stilts.

  25. JJ's B.Se says:

    Nope. people now dumping old plasmas and dumb tvs to get new smart/3d tvs.

    I bought one last week. A LG Smart TV with magic remote. It makes my 3 year old Samsung flatscreen seem like an antique.

    grim says:
    January 15, 2013 at 9:17 am

    20 – Retailers have conditioned customers into believing that the only electronics worth purchasing during the Holiday season are the door-busters. Outside of the deep discounts, if it weren’t for the tablets, that number would be even worse. I’d imagine that TV sales are petering out now that just about every household in the US has gotten rid of CRT TVs.

  26. JJ's B.Se says:

    So news this morning had story about huge rally in Island Park, NY one of hardest hit towns by Sandy. Well for fun, I went to look at effect on home prices.

    OMG, this little house in Island Park just sold as is after Sandy for 66.5K which is amazing when you consider the 1995 price was 110K. Little more research shows you have to go back to like to 1985 to see homes selling regularly on that block for 66.5k!!!

    Long Beach was the best. Saw a home owner bought at peak in Late 80s went bk in 1992, owner who bought off him went bk in 1999, next owner sold at peak in 2005 for a big profit and that owner went bk in 2010 and current owner just went bk after sandy Four out of last Five owners of house in last 25 years went BK on that house.
    Property History for 155 Radcliffe Rd
    Records
    For completeness, Redfin often displays two records for one sale: the MLS record and the public record.
    Date Event Price Appreciation Source
    Nov 20, 2012
    Sold (Public Records)
    $66,500 -0.6%/yr Public Records
    Jun 07, 1999
    Sold (Public Records)
    $72,000 -10.1%/yr Public Records
    Jun 16, 1995
    Sold (Public Records)
    $110,000 — Public Records

  27. zieba says:

    Grim/JJ:
    Yet, some 25% of MLS ads have big honkin’ CRTs sitting in those dated living rooms.

    I purchased an edge-lit Sony LED last year . I wasn’t impressed and had Sony buy back from me. I had the LG prior to that as well, also returned. Internet/FB/gadget implementation was woeful (at best) across all brands and really gimmicky. I have a seven year old Samsung LCD that’s going strong. Maybe next year there will be some substantial tech that’s worthwhile upgrading to.

    The single biggest jump in performance will start when they start shipping LEDs with panel native 240hz refresh rates, and not 60-120 with multiplier wizardry to combat motion judder.

  28. Brian says:

    Still have my CRT in the living room. It’s virtually indestructible. Kids pound on it with their toys and are constantly pressing the buttons (one and four year olds). I’m kind of hoping they break it so I can buy a new TV but they just can’t kill the darn thing. I’m probably better off waiting until they get older anyhow.

  29. Brian says:

    If I want all the apps and wizadry that a smart tv gives me today, I’ll just buy a roku box.

  30. Peace, Love, Dope & Beer says:

    Is the “Newtown conspiracy theorist” a new type of asshole or one that has been around for years?

    http://www.salon.com/2013/01/15/this_man_helped_save_six_children_is_now_getting_harassed_for_it/

  31. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [30] dope,

    Nah, they’ve been around forever. I recall that Pearl Harbor had conspiracy theorists and they persist to this day.

    And there is no party here: I have a friend who is so uber-progressive, he makes you look like a republican. And he is both a Truther and a Deather.

  32. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    For anyone in foreclosure practice, the Administrative Office of the Court is holding a Bench Bar conference on foreclosures. Jan 31, 9:00 to 11:00, New Jersey Law Center.

    Anyone wanting to submit agenda items may send them to Kristi Robinson, Chief, Civil Practice Liaison, by Jan. 24th.

  33. grim says:

    New CoreLogic Numbers:

    http://www.corelogic.com/research/hpi/november-2012-home-price-index-report.pdf

    New Jersey State
    Including Distressed -0.5% YOY
    Excluding Distressed +2.4% YOY

    New York-White Plains-Wayne, NY-NJ MSA
    Including Distressed +6.5% YOY
    Excluding Distressed +6.3% YOY

  34. grim says:

    From Newsday:

    JPMorgan ordered to endorse Sandy checks

    A Nassau County judge has ordered JPMorgan Chase Bank to endorse $15,000 in insurance settlement checks for a South Bellmore woman whose home was flooded by superstorm Sandy.

    State Supreme Court Judge F. Dana Winslow said the bank had acted in “bad faith” in waiting more than a month to sign off on the three checks so that the woman, Beth Eisenberg, could begin repairs. His order comes as Sandy victims are struggling to rebuild as they wait for banks to endorse settlement checks.

    “There’s a sense of urgency here . . . We must address the problems of homeowners as quickly as possible,” Winslow said during a hearing last week.

    During the Jan. 7 hearing, Winslow ordered the bank to endorse the checks immediately or pay a daily fine of $2,500. Chase signed the checks shortly afterward, and the judge issued a formal written order Monday.

    A lawyer for the bank did not respond to a request for comment.

    The court order stems from a foreclosure case filed by the bank. Eisenberg has countersued, saying Chase forced her into foreclosure by reneging on a modification agreement. Her lawyer, Lloyd M. Eisenberg, said banks are holding on to settlement checks to gain the upper hand in foreclosures.

    “I believe what they are trying to do in not signing these checks is make it all the more difficult for people to stay in their houses,” said the attorney, who is also the homeowner’s ex-husband.

    The judge also ordered Chase to pay $3,200 in legal fees.

  35. Anon E. Moose says:

    Grim [22];

    just about every household in the US has gotten rid of CRT TVs.

    That’s funny. I just saw a ~36″ one lying face down next to the curb on my way to work. Took me a minute to recognize what it was.

  36. Juice Box says:

    Unfortunately there are plenty of reasons to believe in Government run conspiracies after all we never did find those WMDs in Iraq under GWB, and the USS Maddox incidents which gave LBJ cover for legislation that led the USA to war in Vietnam.

  37. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Brian, from yesterday – I’ll take your word for it. My only experience with Good was as an end user on a Palm OS Treo 650 in 2006, and it was phenomenal. We switched to Blackberry in 2007 and Motorola bought Good about the same time and I never heard anything about what they were doing with Good for years after that. My bet is that Motorola drove out Good’s best people and ruined it, but that’s just a hunch.

    Brian says:
    January 14, 2013 at 4:05 pm

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

  38. grim says:

    Yet, some 25% of MLS ads have big honkin’ CRTs sitting in those dated living rooms.

    If you are talking about the people who couldn’t be bothered, in 40 years of ownership, to paint a room or change some carpet or wallpaper, I have no doubt they probably still have a 35 year old CRT on a brass colored television cart.

  39. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [36] juice,

    Maddox was a front for the GOT resolution, no doubt. Iraq was a comedy of bad intelligence and wishful thinking. But neither were conspiracies.

    On Iraq, I saw an interview that got aired once, but then the story got buried shortly thereafter—it was with an agent who had been interviewing Saddam, and he reported that Saddam basically admitted that he wanted the world to believe he had WMD so that Iraq would not be invaded. In short, he was bluffing. As it turned out, bluffing badly because the bluff and his actions to foster the bluff (moving assets around, blocking inspections, etc.) fed into a US intel structure that wanted to believe and saw all of this as confirming its belief. Oh sure, the French said we were off base but the French did not want Saddam toppled and see their oil rights eviscerated so we dismissed their view as politically motivated.

    In essence, Iraq was a Perfect Storm of policy missteps, intelligence failures, misinterpreted motives, and brinksmanship, and I think that is how history will record it. The only conspiracies are of the small variety (e.g., what happened to the story about Saddam bluffing?).

  40. grim says:

    I couldn’t wait to pitch my BB8830 in the dumpster for an iPhone. Just look around at how many companies have had to invest in developing strong BYOD policies to enable it’s employees to utilize non-corporate (Read: Apple) devices. I had an Samsung Android device for all of a week before I brought it back to AT&T and exchanged it for an iPhone. RIM is dead, any CIO that invests in any kind of BB deployments or infrastructure at this point is an idiot.

    That said, after a day on Windows 8, I went out and bought a Mac on Craigslist in protest, I’ve got to admit, I’m a convert.

    They build good stuff, they do a better job on user interface, experience, and usability than anyone else in the world, period.

    I’ve wondered why the hell Apple hasn’t built an Automotive UI/IOS yet. Would be a huge selling feature in high-end cars. Just look at Ford’s Sync abomination if you need any confirmation of how bad this segment is.

  41. Juice Box says:

    re: #37 – With two kids in daycare and private school soon I will be middle class again.
    Heck if I go out and buy that 5 BR house my wife wants and another SUV since we no longer live in the city I will be poor. I may have to start picking garbage cans for bottles and cans…

  42. Ragnar says:

    Once you’ve started watching on a 100″+ screen with a quality projector and sound system, you can’t go back.
    Sony VW95ES projector
    106″ Dalite High Power screen
    PSB Stratus Silver(i) speakers with PSB center and surrounds
    2 X SVS PC12+ Subwoofers
    Onkyo 3009 receiver
    Oppo BDP93 blu ray player
    Harmon Kardon Citation 24 Amp for external amplification of fronts.

  43. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    LOL. This was written about 60 days before Steve Jobs introduced the iPhone:

    Good Technology, the push e-mail mobile software company (think of it as RIM without the hardware, if you prefer), has just been acquired by Motorola for an undisclosed amount. Motorola previously had a business relationship with Good, and uses its mobile messaging software on Motorola — but now, things get a little more interesting, given that consumers may have a choice between BlackBerry Connect or Good software on a Motorola Windows Mobile device. It’s also curious that RIM and Motorola seem primed for a titanic clash, given that Big Mama Moto, a traditional ordinary-consumer company, seems to be encroaching on RIM’s corporate customers with devices like the Q Pro, while our Canadian enterprise-focused friends are coming straight at John Q. Public with the Pearl. The deal is expected to close in 2007, given the Feds approve and all that jazz. As of this writing, Motorola stock rose on the news 0.84 percent to 21.37.

    http://www.engadget.com/2006/11/10/motorola-acquires-good-technology/

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

    Nom the late nineties early aughts will go down in history as case studies in what not to do with intelligence. Look what it has wraught police state, eroding civil liberties etc. Where most people see as conspiracies are events so utterly absurd as not to be believed without some invisible hand guiding them to their conclusion. When in actuality it is either incompetence, malice or a combination of both.

    Seeing the French in Mali, having a democrat in office has me waiting for the inevitable US intervention. We are so good at picking up their garbage and turning it into sh!t I can’t see how Chairman O can resist. Especially since we are not fighting an overt war in Africa and it has been a while since we had a police action.

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

    Grim integrated with I tunes and whatever I device you have. Partner with a company to make head units and off you go. Wow, your right I’m surprised they have not thought of it.

  46. Brian says:

    42 –
    Only one problem, in organizations that use Exchange as their email platform, I don’t think that the iphone integrates as well in organizations that must adhere to strict regulatory and information security requirements (Financials/Government etc.).

    While Good technologies does the job, I’ve found it buggy. I’ve fielded more than a few calls from p1ssed off PM’s traveling around the world who have to have it reinstalled and reactivated.

  47. grim says:

    47 – Dedicated automotive data plans (Ala AT&T, Verizon, etc) is another wide open market. If someone will pay for a data plan for a tablet, or for Sirius/XM, why not an automotive data plan? I stream Pandora in my car, would be great if it was built-in.

  48. Brian says:

    42 –
    Holy Sh1t wait BB 8830? I haven’t seen one of those in two years. No wonder you think you iPhone is the sh1t.

  49. grim says:

    I’ve been an iPhone user since the 3gs was released, now on a 4s.

  50. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [42] – I bought a used Intel Mac Mini on eBay in 2007 just to see if there was anything worth seeing. A few months later Apple put BootCamp in beta and I installed Windows XP as a dual boot option on that same Mac mini and that sold me. I spent $600 to just take a look at a Mac and I ended up with not only a Mac but a faster PC. I’ve never looked back.

    JJ and all women can skip reading this next paragraph:
    BTW, how is it that Apple devised a way to install a Windows OS mac hardware faster and easier than it ever installed on a Dell? I ran BootCamp assistant, told OS X how much disk space I wanted for my NTFS partition and after OS X burned me a drivers disk all I needed on top of that was an XP disk and I suddenly had two OS’s on two partitions and all the hardware worked instantly on the first try, including sound and the apple remote under XP. And that was BootCamp in it’s first beta!

    That said, after a day on Windows 8, I went out and bought a Mac on Craigslist in protest, I’ve got to admit, I’m a convert.

  51. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [49] Any data plan you could turn on/off or up(more data) on a monthly basis is another wide open market.

    47 – Dedicated automotive data plans (Ala AT&T, Verizon, etc) is another wide open market. If someone will pay for a data plan for a tablet, or for Sirius/XM, why not an automotive data plan? I stream Pandora in my car, would be great if it was built-in.

  52. Brian says:

    I guess the point is, the difference between that model BB and the iPhone is night and day. There’s no comparison.

    I admit, BB’s attempt to replicate the Apple iPhone success appear sad and pathetic.

    I’m curious, do you pay for your phone or is it a company phone? Most people where I work don’t bring their phones to work and ask us to put corporate email on it. We can accomodate that, but the majority want the company to pay for their phone. Buying it yourself and expensing it is a PITA. Much easier to be on the corporate plan. Plus I guess managers can use it as a perk for their staff.

  53. xolepa says:

    (44) I got you beat on the speakers and subwoofers. I use paradigm studio version 2. Paradigm could not improve the product on their subsequent releases. It seems that all speaker quality actually hit a pinnacle in the 70’s and 80’s when the analog units were just about perfected. Nowadays, who cares about audio quality when you for the most part are playing compressed digital music.
    Now for the best part, I built my own subwoofer using 22 1/2″ ID cylindrical sewer pipe. The green stuff. The driver was an Adire Audio Tempest, 15″. I used their HT/Musicality configuration. Took me and my eldest a month to build. The walls on the pipe are 5/8″. Makes the SVS look and sound like a cardboard speaker. I built two more with my son, when he was in HS doing DJ stuff. Those babies used Adire Audio 18″ Maelstroms. He drove his main DJ speakers with a 2×750 amp. For the Maelstroms, he used a 2×1000. Ah, that was fun listening to those babies pump. the good old days.

    I am jealous of your OPPO unit, though.

  54. grim says:

    Would be interesting to see an Apple AutoIOS that included some type of audio streaming feature/subscription (above an beyond the iTunes model), as well as a product that competed against OnStar, these features would certainly justify a dedicated cellular connection.

  55. Brian says:

    I could see using something like that for my wife and kids on a family plan.

    53.The Original NJ ExPat says:
    January 15, 2013 at 11:20 am
    [49] Any data plan you could turn on/off or up(more data) on a monthly basis is another wide open market.

  56. grim says:

    55 – You guys have me beat, I can’t afford any more than 2 channels these days.

    Vandersteen 3A Signature, Manley Labs Stereo 100 amplifier, AES Octal Pre-amp, Marantz CD-63 and a Krell DAC.

  57. Juice Box says:

    Grim – Apple as usual has a piss poor support model for business needs, same asthey did back in the 80s and 90s too. Should a business staff up with Certified Apple techs since they are the only ones allowed to open the iPhone case and replace the screen or battery or button? Perhaps companies should just send the CEO to the Apple store to wait in line? Blackberry has an easy support model and their devices frankly they are cheap and easy to replace. Businesses with thousands of corporate smart phones are not about switch to BYOD. First the employee does not want to pay for the phone, the plan or wait in line for support so it no longer becomes BYOD if the company is paying for the phone, plan and support. Employees expect that the company will do it, not the other way around, most will even balk at turning in their company phone to do BYOD on a personal iPhone.

    In addition businesses needs outside of email sync it’s all about the apps and app dev for large companies that do mobile apps. Xcode does not even rank in the top 10.

    Top ranked SDKs by developers.

    Rational
    Visual Studio
    JDeveloper
    SAP NetWeaver
    JBoss
    MyEclipse
    Flash Builder
    Eclipse
    MyEclipse
    Delphi

    I am not saying IOS does not have market share, but frankly their closed architecture and software stack and expensive support model is their Achilles heel.

    Rumors are the new Blackberry 10 phones will run Android apps native. That is something to think about before you write them completely off.

  58. nwnj says:

    Sounds like grim has become a full blown fanboy. I wouldn’t build a GUI into a car unless you want a lot of crash lawsuits.

    Ford sync is still evolving but they have the model right. Using the cars controls with voice activation to control your smartpone.

    You can stream pandora through the car audio now using voice.
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcbMnxryg5Q

  59. nwnj says:

    Building the streaming into the vehicle is a step backward in mobility.

  60. Peace, Love, Dope & Beer says:

    Those crazy “deficit hawks” are at it again!

    “DOMA: House Republicans Poised To Spend $3 Million On Legal Defense”

    Good old taxpayer money well spent.

  61. Brian says:

    On our plan an iphone costs $199 w/2yr contract
    BB9810 costs $49

    Lose or break your iphone (happens all the time) pony up $649 for a replacement
    Lose or break your BB only pay $49 (up to 6 times in one year…I know because we have a repeat offender)

  62. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [54] Brian – From 1998-2008 My phones were always company paid, every dime, never saw a bill. Hell, my old company used to pay for my cable modem AND a second land line to my house. Now in my current company everybody pays for their own phone and what they can expense is based on their position. Interesting sales people pay for their own iPhones (and cars) and expense back but company reserves the right to wipe their iPhones remotely if deemed necessary.

    I’m curious, do you pay for your phone or is it a company phone? Most people where I work don’t bring their phones to work and ask us to put corporate email on it. We can accomodate that, but the majority want the company to pay for their phone. Buying it yourself and expensing it is a PITA. Much easier to be on the corporate plan. Plus I guess managers can use it as a perk for their staff.

  63. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [65] For me, personally, I get nada toward data and telecom, which is fine with me. The payback is I am never on call and there is no guarantee I am ever reachable while not in the building.

  64. Juice Box says:

    re # 41 – Nom – lots of false testimony ins the 2002 -2003 time frame about their capabilities for WMDs. Cheney, Rice etc. Even GWB used the false uranium claim in his 2003 State of the Union, never mind the fact that they would had to spend years refining the yellow cake in centrifuges etc, they were no where near having a nuke program again. The decision to go to war was his alone, GWB pulled the trigger under false pretenses even Tenent said not to use. His agenda was revenge and he put on his horse blinders and allowed the MIC to lead the way.

  65. Peace, Love, Dope & Beer says:

    63 – every democratic president “risks impeachment.” when the whiners on the right don’t win or can’t get their way that’s what they do.

  66. Brian says:

    65 –
    Expat, Do you know how they’re getting corporate mail on the iphones? If it’s good…..they just kill the app. Doesn’t affect the phone.

    I’m wondering if your company uses something other than good…and whether or not your co-workers and IT staff like it.

  67. BearsFan says:

    Nom, and anyone else who can offer some insight….I’m going from 1099 status with one of my shops I work for to W2. I’m having trouble figuring out how to best quantify the value though in $$ terms. Is there a rough edges guideline rule I can apply (assuming rate is the same for both 1099/W2) that can help me get a rough estimate of the value?

    Thanks in advance.

  68. joyce says:

    68

    Thank god all the illegal wiretapping that happened from 2001-2008 stopped on a dime after a ‘different’ party took over the white house.

  69. grim says:

    60 – Sure, but I was a C64 fanboy, and then an Amiga fanboy, and an SGI fanboy too, I suppose you could call me a Windows fanboy, and a *nix fanboy, and a Mainframe fanboy too. Hell I was a bbs and modem fanboy too (when 300 baud was all there was). I’m no stranger to technology, I’m as comfortable coding in .net or java as I am coding x86 assembler, or troubleshooting CICS code, or analyzing core dumps in ebcdic. The last Mac I owned was a IIfx, and before that I was burning roms for Mac emulators that ran on the 68k platform. At one point I almost had a VAX back in the early 90s as my father’s company was disposing of it during a move. I’m no stranger to technology, and Angry Birds doesn’t at all apply in my definition of good technology.

    They make good shit, I’ve got an appreciation for that, and I’ve used enough bad shit to know what good shit is. Android is getting better, but they aren’t there yet, hell, maybe they’d be closer if the carriers stopped trying to reskin the UI and adding tons of bloated applications on each device in a pathetic attempt to differentiate. I was a BB user for 5 years+, an IOS user for at least 3 years now, and I do run cyanogen 9 on my HP touchpad (although the lag makes me consider reimaging it back as a webos device). Speaking of, I even owned a few HP wince devices and a few hideous palm handhelds before that (when they were still US Robotics).

  70. Brian says:

    Now you’re just showing off.

  71. Libtard in Union says:

    Speaking of AudioPhalic equipment…If anyone can find an old pair of Monitor Audio Radius 90s, let me know. Want them for my rears, but don’t want giant speakers hanging off my walls, or little speakers on giant stands. Would pay up to $200 for the pair. Don’t want the HDs. I need 100watts peak minimum in a small package if you can think of anything else. Used to use Paradigm Phantoms for my rears but they are just too big (though awesome).

  72. grim says:

    73 – If I was showing off, I’d have said I knew how to beat Zork, or that by the time I got my license, I owned more dollars worth of computer equipment than my parents car was worth.

  73. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    [62] dope,

    At least they are spending it on lawyers. And that isn’t much money in DoD or legal terms.

    And it doesn’t pale in comparison to Obama’s OMB buying off defense contractors to keep them from sending out WARN act notices just before the election.

    http://www.whitehouse.gov/sites/default/files/omb/memoranda/2012/m-12-19.pdf

  74. Comrade Nom Deplume says:

    Dope (and cobbler):

    Come on, you didn’t see this and hit me over the head with a nompound reference???? You must be slowing down. Either that or Glenn Beck’s 15 minutes are up and he’s off your radar.

    http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/lookout/glenn-beck-announces-plan-independence-usa-233854956.html

  75. Peace, Love, Dope & Beer says:

    who is glenn beck?

  76. JJ's B.Se says:

    And exactly what would you do with a computer back then?

    I recall at Stony Brook being forced into some horrid computer room once to write a BASIC program on flipping a coin 100 times or something. Meanwhile I am like cant I just flip the coin. This is stupid. It looked like the Fall of Saigon in there desperate Asian grabbing onto computers like it was the last helicopter out. Finally after what seemed like a life time was around 15 minutes I ask the Chinese guy next to me for help. He was like I no help, you hurt curve you dont know you get F. You F help me . I am like look I am not looking for trouble beside you dont know it either I saw you throw out like last few copies. He like I know, they are not perfect. I need 100, they are like nearly perfect. So I take his stupid green and white printouts from can tape my header sheet to it and hand it in and get a B. I am like the course was P/F for me anyhow. To this day I cant imagine pre-internet/email the attraction to the computers the asian kids had back in the 1980s.

    Actually I dont understand asian kids today. For example I am a married old fart. So Saturday evening and I was furniture shopping and things were running late. I ended going out to dinner by roosvelt field in one of the trendy chain restaurants. Place was packed, as NFL playoffs were on. Lots of young white and black single folks at bar, hanging out, hooking up, drinking and watching game, so about to leave and I realize I need a new pair of Johnson and Murphy shoes as have a busines tip coming up in a few days and I go into DSW. Mind you it is Saturday night at 9pm. Place has expensive stuff. $250 pairs of shoes, $300 handbags etc. I see tons of asian/indian young single people couples out clothes shopping Saturday night. Some guys with their GFs.

    I am like WTF. First if you have a GF why do you need $300 shoes. Second if you have $300 shoes shouldnt you be at a club. Also some of the guys look fruity, but they were with GFs, $300 dollar shoes, slim build, iron dressed pants screams I like men. But there they were. Meanwhile, the guys in jeans, untucked shirt in bar was having a blast.

    Shoes equal computers I guess today, back in Stony Brook I recall asians having study dates on keg nights.

    grim says:
    January 15, 2013 at 12:33 pm

    73 – If I was showing off, I’d have said I knew how to beat Zork, or that by the time I got my license, I owned more dollars worth of computer equipment than my parents car was worth.

  77. Brian says:

    Grim impressive….really. Just busting your hump. I wasted my youth chasing skirt and drinking cheap beer. I didn’t get into the technology business until after I was already working.

    So, Given that sort of experience, what attracted you to real estate?

  78. JJ's B.Se says:

    Brian that was not a waste of time. Everything else you did was a waste of time.

    Speaking of chasing skirt, I miss skirts. Pants are a god dam pain in the butt for drunken slobs to deal with.

    Brian says:
    January 15, 2013 at 12:57 pm

    Grim impressive….really. Just busting your hump. I wasted my youth chasing skirt and drinking cheap beer. I didn’t get into the technology business until after I was already working.

    So, Given that sort of experience, what attracted you to real estate?

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

    Brian every one needs an aggravating hobby some like golf some like real estate.

    C64, amiga hello memories. Had a bud who was big into those, Had a dedicated phone line and modem his rents put in so he was not tying up there phone. Still remember playing Aliens on a floppy for C64. Stupid landing ship level drove me nuts. Original pixelated pron games my intro into sex ed. Plus freaking hours on Oregon trail

  80. Comrade Nom Deplume a.k.a. "JJ Ultra Light" says:

    [78] dope

    “Who is Glenn Beck?”

    Right wing version of Red Ed Schultz.

  81. Ragnar says:

    Xolepa, I’ll concede that your subwoofer is more powerful, but on the other hand, my subwoofers may provide a flatter in-room response, given that I have two of them located in different spots, and that my Onkyo is simultaneously equalizing both via Audyssey XT32. As for the Paradigms vs the PSBs, I’d say the Paradigm advantage is only at the low end where the subwoofer has taken over anyway. I’ve heard it said that the midrange/highs could be better on the PSBs. But they were basically the same class of speaker in 2000.

    Grim is the one with crazy stuff out of Stereophile’s “recommended components”. I’m an anti-purist though, there’s been a lot of technological advance, and Stereophile fogies are still listening to LPs on 2 speakers powered by tubes. Stereophile will convince people to buy tube amps for distortion, then buy multi-thousand dollar DACs, then thousand dollar gold speaker cables and interconnects. But this stuff cannot decode DTS-HD, which is a newer format with the best quality sound with the most data, even better than SACD, and the old stuff cannot perform room correction. The Vandersteen 3s are classic speakers, though, and good value too.

  82. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [67] Juice – I find it curious that why an administration that corrupt would go that far, but wouldn’t just dig a hole and throw some WMDs down there to be dug up later. “There they are! I told you so.” They must not have consulted Paulson, because he would have showed them how to tie up that loose end.

    The decision to go to war was his alone, GWB pulled the trigger under false pretenses even Tenent said not to use.

  83. jcer says:

    Juice, I’m a developer. Obviously you are not as the vast majority of those IDE’s suck. Xcode is pretty good and most big companies are ok with it. Flex is a good possibility as you can target iphone, android, bb, etc. The other thing is the vast majority of coding in these mobile apps would be backend. Blackberry is a secure messaging protocol that happens to come with a phone, as a device it sucks compared with iphone, android, or even webos(HP palm). If I were standardizing on a device today for business it would be Android because of the flexibility. iphones do work better and standardization for mobile phones is dying.

  84. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [81] JJ – Backpedaling on black ladies with tight wool pants with a zipper up the back?

    Speaking of chasing skirt, I miss skirts. Pants are a god dam pain in the butt for drunken slobs to deal with.

  85. Libtard in Union says:

    test

  86. xolepa says:

    My greatest joy was programming an IBM Datamaster. Punching cards was fun, too. Better yet, writing the code on paper and sending it to the punch card clerks was even better. Merrill Lynch had half a floor of them once at 1 (?) Liberty Plaza. Very pleasant ladies, I remember. I even had them punch up some of my MBA projects with Management blessing.

    side note on HT. I still have my HD CRT RPTV bought and self-calibrated 12 years ago. I since have purchased several more HD TVS, the latest a Samsung LED unit for another room. None of the newer units come close to the picture of that CRT unit.

  87. JJ's B.Se says:

    Front Zippers only. Watching Bachelor last night and first season with lots of ladies of color past first few rose ceremonies. The brothers aint going like whitey getting jiggy with the sistas

    Actually my favorite of all time was a short lived I dream of jeannie look. Like loose fitting pants with the sides open like a jeannie pants. OMG once at TGIFs put my hand on the lovely ladies thigh through side of those loose pants and daddy found a shaved beaver that was out of its cage. OMG.

    Worse pants move ever was comfort fit pleated docker pants. If you were not careful ladies could launch and shoot the missile before you got them out of the bar.

    The Original NJ ExPat says:
    January 15, 2013 at 1:49 pm

    [81] JJ – Backpedaling on black ladies with tight wool pants with a zipper up the back?

    Speaking of chasing skirt, I miss skirts. Pants are a god dam pain in the butt for drunken slobs to deal with.

  88. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [69] Brian – I just checked as Exchange hasn’t been my domain (pun intended) in 14 years. I’m told we use Microsoft Exchange’s native push, no other software used. I’m told it pushes and syncs just like Blackberry or Good. It would be funny if MSFT called there’s “Better”;-)

    Advice to IT people starting out: I realized long ago that having any responsibility for email is an absolute guaranteed lose-lose proposition. I would rather be responsible for balancing coworkers’ infants atop 20 foot poles. When was the last time someone heard or said, “My email has been working flawlessly for the last 6 months, who do I thank for that?”

    65 –
    Expat, Do you know how they’re getting corporate mail on the iphones? If it’s good…..they just kill the app. Doesn’t affect the phone.

    I’m wondering if your company uses something other than good…and whether or not your co-workers and IT staff like it.

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

    JJ what would we do without you : )

  90. Brian says:

    91 –
    Infosec guys won’t let us use activesync. I’m guessing that’s what your technology folks are using.

  91. jcer says:

    91. Agreed, email and phones for that matter are assumed to work flawlessly 100% of the time. The fact that they are totally required for business and almost never go out at home, make it something that does not get any credit when it works but get an excessive amount of scorn when it fails.

  92. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [90] JJ – I think you’re conflating stories in your old age. I think the pleated dockers “incident” happened to you on a circular panel at Comic-Con 1.

    Worse pants move ever was comfort fit pleated docker pants. If you were not careful ladies could launch and shoot the missile before you got them out of the bar.

  93. Statler Waldorf says:

    “Lots of false testimony ins the 2002 -2003 time frame about their capabilities for WMDs.”

    It’s interesting how partisan memories block out literally decades of inconvenient information and facts.

    “In the next century, the community of nations may see more and more the very kind of threat Iraq poses now — a rogue state with weapons of mass destruction ready to use them or provide them to terrorists, drug traffickers or organized criminals who travel the world among us unnoticed.” — President Clinton

    “Iraq is a long way from Ohio, but what happens there matters a great deal here. For the risks that the leaders of a rogue state will use nuclear, chemical or biological weapons against us or our allies is the greatest security threat we face.” — Secretary of State Madeleine Albright

    “Iraq appears not to have come to a genuine acceptance — not even today — of the disarmament, which was demanded of it and which it needs to carry out to win the confidence of the world and to live in peace.” — Dr. Hans Blix, Chief UN Weapons Inspector

    I could post 50 more such statements.

    And below, just a few of the 77 US Senators who voted yes to authorize the use of United States Armed Forces against Iraq in 2002:

    Biden, Joseph (D-DE)
    Clinton, Hillary (D-NY)
    Edwards, John (D-NC)
    Kerry, John (D-MA)
    Reid, Harry (D-NV)

  94. Brian says:

    This blog has been working flawlessly for 6 months. Who do I thank for that?

  95. grim says:

    The geeks at wiredtree

  96. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    [89] We have a 30″ Philips HD CRT (not RP) in our living room, bought new in 2004. The room isn’t that big and only people on the couch are looking squarely at the TV. I’ll keep it forever just for the wide viewing angle and because I’m cheap. Also we record a lot of the kids shows in SD instead of HD and SD only looks watchable on a tube. My inlaws finally had their old SD tubes fail and bought Sony Vaio big flat panels for Den and family room but won’t spring for HD TV in their 3 Garage non-McMansion house. OMG, visiting them and enduring SD only on big flat screens is the most hideous torture. My MIL still has the 20 foot twisted up cord on the phone receiver in the living room. My FIL retired in the early 80’s and my MIL stopped working in 1963, so they’ve missed a lot, I guess you’d say.

    side note on HT. I still have my HD CRT RPTV bought and self-calibrated 12 years ago.

  97. Juice Box says:

    re# 96 – And your point is what exactly? That they are all liars perhaps? I am far from being a proverbial partisan but that is not worth defending.

    It was the testimony of Tenet and Powell on yellowcake that pushed the Senate aye vote, even though it was investigated to be false before hand by our military and sent to the Joint Chiefs. Our Nigerian ambassador did his own investigation and found it unfounded sent his report to the State Dept, then there was the whole Joe Wilson issue with Cheney. In the end it was up to Bush to decide and my gut feeling is his desire for revenge pushed him over the top. Will he ever speak about it again? Who cares the victors get to write the history. I am sure in his Library there will be no mention of yellow cake and nukes.

    Let’s bring back the One Percent Doctrine and build a nice case against Iran even if we have to make it all up.

  98. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    20 foot twisted up cord on the phone receiver in the living room. kitchen. Only phone on the entire first floor.

  99. joyce says:

    Juice,
    Yup, they are all liars.

    Re: ‘One Percent Doctrine’ Aren’t we using that now (or even the 0.001% doctrine) to implement unlawful gun control?

  100. Juice Box says:

    Joyce – my opinion is guns just make murder more humane and without guns we will go back to our barbaric roots

  101. nwnj says:

    Prices in NJ still falling.

    “Just six states, Delaware, Illinois, Connecticut, New Jersey, Rhode Island and Alabama saw annual price depreciation. New Jersey still has a huge backlog of distressed properties, as does Illinois. ”

    http://finance.yahoo.com/news/us-home-prices-surge-despite-161714252.html

  102. Statler Waldorf says:

    Like I said, selective memory. Carry on in la la land…

  103. joyce says:

    105

    What are you talking about?

  104. grim says:

    104 – CoreLogic November was one of the best prints yet for NJ:

    New Jersey State
    Including Distressed -0.5% YOY
    Excluding Distressed +2.4% YOY

    You can argue with me that I should be looking at the number that includes distressed properties, and maybe so, but for an active buyer looking in mid or upper tier town, that “including distressed” number does not apply, because the distressed properties are not located there.

  105. Juice Box says:

    re # 106- Doen’t matter Joyce, this was just my segue over the hot topic of Gov conspiracies, a topic I usually avoid. We all have our opinions right or wrong, some more than others are more capable of voicing them. Might as well get back to real estate, video games, audio rigs and which IDE isn’t better than Apple’s. All I know is Mocha so let’s take a survey.

  106. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Active buyers looking in mid or upper tier towns have absolutely nothing to fear…until they do.

  107. JJ's B.Se says:

    You should also remove the bottom 20% of sales prices too as they are mainly estate sales and fixer uppers.

    BTW if mortgage rates are on average 3.4% and home prices rose 2.4% that would work out to a negative 1% return. Borrowing at 3.4% to get a 2.4% return!!!! Add in inflation for final adjustment and it is even more impressive.

    Other issue is rich blue ribbon towns that really hold their value and have great schools also have huge taxes. The silent killer. 18K in taxes in many towns make the investment even more loopy.

    The 18K and larger mortgage usually make the house more expensive than renting. Therefore you need a postive return to make this all work. As much as I do hate my house the bottom line is Homeowners, RE taxes and Flood insurance all together are around 10K a year. That is under $900 a month. I dont need my home to be an investment as it saves me around $1,500 a month on renting a similar home.

    We are back to 1999 prices in some towns. Those buyers still made out as they saved on rent and got a deduction. But the folks buying today are locking in higher prices and higher taxes. Folks are going to find the folks with money, 250K and up crowd dont want trade up homes anymore. Mostly broke folks want them to show off.

    grim says:
    January 15, 2013 at 3:10 pm

    104 – CoreLogic November was one of the best prints yet for NJ:

    New Jersey State
    Including Distressed -0.5% YOY
    Excluding Distressed +2.4% YOY

    You can argue with me that I should be looking at the number that includes distressed properties, and maybe so, but for an active buyer looking in mid or upper tier town, that “including distressed” number does not apply, because the distressed properties are not located there.

  108. joyce says:

    110

    Yeah? And what was the yearly cost/return when you had a mortgage?

  109. Anon E. Moose says:

    Bill called ‘toughest gun control package in the nation’ passed by New York Senate

    Almost shocking how fast it happens. Hope you don’t own a magazine that holds 8 or more rounds in New York — you now have to sell it, retrofit it to hold only 7, or be an outlaw. Malum Prohibitum, not malum in se.

  110. JJ's B.Se says:

    Trouble is I would have to keep that money safe so most you can get risk free is like 1%. Also I learned that easy money goes into safe money. I threw bonus money, gains on prior sale etc into home to pay off mortgage in a few years. Kinda like I cashed out a lot of TBTF/Junk gains in 2011/2012 and put into munis.

    Owning home outright is a HUGE tax deduction. Some countries believe it or not tax the difference between your monthly housing costs and equivalent market rent as income. Owning house means I get tax free income of $1,500 a month. Plus I get joy of knowing I got all of you to pay to fix up my house via FEMA> now you cant do that in an Apt. .

    Now what to buy!! Now is time to buy a flooded house. Some good deals out there. The cash only aspect as they cant get a mortgage is good as it forces out the broke dick buyers with a mortgage who dont mind overpaying as it is someone elses money.

    Plus I think if you buy a damaged home from someone with no flood insurance you have a great down low play. Just keep it on downlow. Do repairs with no permits or nothing then grieve taxes using your purchase price as market price you could end up with a nice little beach place for like 250K with super low taxes. Town cant jack your taxes till you sell or a long time down road.

    joyce says:
    January 15, 2013 at 3:25 pm

    110

    Yeah? And what was the yearly cost/return when you had a mortgage?

  111. nwnj says:

    #107

    I still see falling prices and distressed sales in the hinterlands of Morris. I think prices will fall through to the 90s prices based on the current trend. Taxes are a big issue, vacant house on my street and two elderly neighbors are getting ready to escape. They’re carrying mortgages on their 80s. A whole $30M shopping plaza was foreclosed right around the corner.

  112. xolepa says:

    How long do I have to hear this babble of how owning a home free and clear is a great investment? Geez, I could sell my house here in Hunterdon and move to where my maternal grandparents lived for a long time – South 13th street in Newark. That was Ground Zero in the 67 riots. I could buy myself something real cheap there and own it free and clear. It would be my greatest investment.

    On the other hand, in some countries, when you buy a house you pay a modest fee when you close. You are never again taxed on it.

  113. JJ's B.Se says:

    http://newarknj.patch.com/articles/newark-man-killed-in-am-shootingMultiple shootings that rocked an area of the city between South Orange and Madison avenues this morning have left one person dead and another in critical condition, the Essex County Prosecutor’s office said today.

    Two men were shot at S. 13th Street and Madison Avenue shortly before 9 am. One man was later pronounced dead at the scene and the second victim was taken to University Hospital, where he is listed in critical condition. Neither victim has yet been identified, the prosecutor’s office said.

    xolepa says:
    January 15, 2013 at 4:01 pm

    How long do I have to hear this babble of how owning a home free and clear is a great investment? Geez, I could sell my house here in Hunterdon and move to where my maternal grandparents lived for a long time – South 13th street in Newark. That was Ground Zero in the 67 riots. I could buy myself something real cheap there and own it free and clear. It would be my greatest investment.

    On the other hand, in some countries, when you buy a house you pay a modest fee when you close. You are never again taxed on it.

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

    Moose i have to bring my 10/22 back from my inlaws cabin because they come with 10 shot magazines. you know it is an assualt rifle after all. I have assualted bottle caps, squirrels, occasional rabbit because 22 caliber rim fire rifles are dangerous.

  115. xolepa says:

    (116) It’s a heartbreaker. I was at my family get-together a week ago, my mother’s side. We all agreed that we would be dead if we even think of driving by grandpa’s old house. Stubborn man. he had an offer to sell in ’61 for $25k. He refused. Wound up giving it away in ’77 for $6k. It was a 3 family.

  116. Ragnar says:

    I only know how to code R. And I do it very slowly, with a lot of trial and error. Programming isn’t my thing, but I learned what I had to out of necessity. Learning how to do that has been very valuable. Much more valuable than BASIC from when I was a kid and high school. Or that one semester of COBOL in undergrad.

  117. Comrade Nom Deplume, plotting his moves for 2013 says:

    [67] juice

    For clarification, were those willful false statements or false statements made without actual knowledge?

    The former suggests lying, a statement made with knowledge of its falsity. The latter suggests error, a statement made with a belief in its accuracy but later proven false.

    I submit that we clarify what we mean. Certainly, if we apply the term “false statement” to every utterance of an error reansonably believed, then the current president has issued multitudes of false statements. And if it is the former only, then there must be knowledge that a statement is false, or at least a duty or opportunity (and ability) to discover the falsehood.

    Which is it?

  118. JJ's B.Se says:

    http://www.homepath.com/search/NJ_019.html

    almost six acres in hunterdoom, 300K from fannie mae. Like same price as Newark

  119. joyce says:

    120

    Comrade,

    How many times in a row are the statements ultimately false (whether knowingly false or proven false after the fact)? I would say so many that it is outside the statistical norm which suggests there is intent to deceive, and therefore knowingly false. I soemtimes, incorrectly, refer to this politician or that PHD as stupid or incompetent… it is not possible that they are that wrong, continuously. It is clearly intentional.

  120. Anon E. Moose says:

    Pain [117];

    You know, I’ve been trying to decide between a new Glock 27 or Sig P239 with a double stack magazine on one hand (no pun intended), v. something slimmer that my wife can more easily get her hand around – models holding fewer rounds single stack. Had I made that decision one way or the other last week and been in NY, I’d be mighty *ticked* right now. Even the shorter double stacks hold at least 8 rounds — *h-e-double-hockey-sticks* that’s WHY they are double stack.

    Now if the impending NY law became law in NJ, given the bright line against CCW (I had thought upstate NY was a bit more reasonable in permitting once the latitude climbed out of the sewer that is NYC, Long Island, Rockland, Westchester), the smaller capacity pistols would immediately become more popular on the market because of capacity — No compelling reason to have wide body; which would only be demonized two years hence, the target of a media campaign blitz against “rouge concealable guns”.

    With apologies to Grim from dropping a link to a competitor agent’s politico-real estate blog, this is worth reading: Helping a good citizen go renegade

    the detective I spoke with casually mentioned that “we know what guns you have”…

    As soon as this latest spasm of gun confiscation dies down and the demand for them slows enough to find them again, I intend to go out of channel and buy three “assault” rifles so that my children will have them a decade from now. I will not buy them from a legitimate dealer because I want no record of my ownership of them, no way for Feinstein’s troopers to show up at my door to demand their surrender.

    Related — anyone interested in an indoor range GTG in Morris Co.?

  121. Anon E. Moose says:

    Grim, unmod, pls.?

  122. Juice Box says:

    re #120 – Well, according to Oliver Stone it was a conspiracy so “false statements made without actual knowledge” would be the winner. A conspiracy against GWB by Rice, Rumsfeld and Cheney etc. Three or four separate independent reports from early 2002 apparently did not make it to GWB’s desk it seems, although his writers were told more than once not to use the Niger yellowcake references. Only GWB really knows the truth and he isn’t talking. As I said previously it won’t make it into his library anytime soon.

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

    Moose if I ws buying for my would go with a Walther instead. Doesn’t matter we all will only be able to own single shot pistols soon anyway. Have to take our high standard 22 pistol home to also has 10 shot clip

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

    [125] juice

    Oliver Stone? Might as well say Krugman.

  125. joyce says:

    125
    Comrade,

    I’m not a huge fan of Oliver Stone, outside of a few movies. But comparing him to Krugman is not in the ballpark; Krugman is … he is… I’m out of quality adjectives to use on him.

  126. joyce says:

    Unfortunately, multiple times daily.

    xolepa says:
    January 15, 2013 at 4:01 pm
    How long do I have to hear this babble….?

  127. joyce says:

    Juice,

    Was there a Westfield sighting in that video? And then maybe Elizabeth (wasn’t sure)?

  128. chicagofinance says:

    Another quality headline from the NY Post….
    “It was his time to go”

    Man falls to his death after defecating between subway cars; another injured at same station
    By JENNIFER FERMINO, KAYLEE OSOWSKI and JAMIE SCHRAM

    A 31-year old Bronx man fell to his death this afternoon while defecating between subway cars on a moving number 6 train, cops said.

    The man fell onto the tracks and was run over by the northbound train as it was leaving 125th Street station shortly after 4 pm, police said.

    It gets weirder.

    Around the same time on the opposite platform, a bloody and extremely battered man crawled up from the tracks — just as the northbound 5 train was pulling in — with a broken pelvis, severe buttocks injuries and cuts.

    That man — who sources said was Manuce Dulcio, 50 — might have been hit by the train, cops said.

    It’s unclear why he was on the tracks.

    Dulcio was “very intoxicated,” a police source said.

    Officials had initially said that the men had been involved in a fight. But they now believe the bizarre incidents were totally unrelated.

    Riders were stuck on the 5 train for 45 minutes after the incident.

    “They told us the brakes weren’t working, but we all knew it was something else,” said Angel Torres, 17.

    His mother Evelyn Boneta, 38, said she had a hunch someone was killed.

    “When the train stopped I told my son someone fell. .. It’s not a good feeling being on a scene where someone died,” she said.

  129. Fabius Maximus says:

    You guys hit on the topics today that consumed most of my teens, computers and acoustics. Some of my happiest times, but for various reasons my greatest disappointments. I had great opportunities that I couldn’t take up, but “That’s Life!”
    I spent my teens writing BASIC programs to calculate the likes of Axial Room Modes to help design acoustically perfect rooms. I grew up in a recording studio that kept getting relocated. Every few years we moved and would have to design a new space. It was hard as a 14yo explaining to bricklayers that the internal walls of the room while made of brick were not supposed to be square and would be 7 degrees off. They had to build the walls along the chalk lines I drew on the floor and that was a big leap of faith for them.
    I got a scholarship from a very large firm to study acoustics in college, but again couldn’t take it up. They wanted me to focus on making their underwater vehicles quieter to passing “whales”. I ended up studying computer science where I met my parallel processing professor who had previously worked for another large company, tracking “whales” through the North Atlantic, small world.
    In college I was supposed to go onto a PhD where I had designed a system for concert venues to correct the output signals from the amps to correct for the acoustic deficiencies of a room. It would give the audience a clearer sound and was effectively taking emerging DSP technology and applying it to active noise cancelling.
    Coming out of college, I did get offered a very cool job. It was working for a manufacturing plant, that in those days was producing 10% of the world’s music CDs. My job would have been taking the master mix tapes from recording studios and producing the CD production dies for the manufacturing line. The deal killer was that I would have to work the shift schedule of the plant. Even though the job did not require it, one week a month I would have to adjust my hours to the night shift.
    I will get back to acoustics at some point.

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