Will transition to rentership put ownership even further out of reach?

From the WSJ, hat tip hoodafa:

Why New Jersey’s Soaring Foreclosures Are Good for the Housing Market

New Jersey’s foreclosure crisis is hitting a peak, and that could be a boon for the state’s housing market.

While bank repossessions across the U.S. fell to an 11-year low in 2017, they reached an 11-year high in New Jersey, according to ATTOM Data Solutions, a housing-research firm.

New Jersey, along with New York and other states, practice “judicial foreclosure,” in which foreclosures are handled through the court system. The process is typically friendlier to owners who fall behind on payments, but it can take years.

Other states, such as Texas and Michigan, have mainly nonjudicial foreclosures. After the housing bubble burst a decade ago, those states tended to work quickly through their backlog, flooding the market with fresh supply when there were few buyers.

“The pig is now finally at the end of the snake,” said Michael Affuso, director of government relations for the New Jersey Bankers Association. “We had the extraordinary slowness of foreclosures occurring at the judiciary, and that problem has reasonably resolved itself.”

More than a decade after the start of the housing bust, New Jersey leads the nation in overall foreclosure activity, with 1.61% of the state’s homes in foreclosure last year. The number of new bank-owned homes in December jumped to 2,308 from 1,448 in November, according to ATTOM.

The number of bank-owned homes started rising about a year ago, according to an analysis by Jeffrey Otteau, an appraiser and president of Otteau Group Inc.

The increase in distressed homes for sale is coming as the market is starved for inventory. Homes sold in January were on the market for an average of 72 days, according to data from New Jersey Realtors, a trade group, down from 86 days for the same month in 2017 and 94 days in January 2016.

Housing experts caution the increased pace of foreclosure actions could affect parts of the state differently. Areas where there is already too much inventory—the outer rings of the state and South Jersey, for example—will fall further behind Northern New Jersey and other suburban areas.

Still, the surge in foreclosures is attracting investors looking to buy homes and convert them to rentals.

Christian Schlueter, president of New Jersey Realtors, said bank-owned inventory is increasing for his Toms River-based office. A recent waterfront bank-owned home, he said, attracted eight offers in three days and went into contract for more than the asking price. The home will have to be completely gutted, he said.

“There’s a lot of experienced investors who are buying [bank-owned homes] and some new people are buying them believing they are going to be investors,” he said.

Howard Banker, director of housing finance at New Jersey Community Capital, a nonprofit community development organization, said he is seeing many distressed homes being converted to rentals. There is a growing market of displaced lower- and middle-income former homeowners who are unable to get another mortgage, he said.

“Investment firms have been able to acquire these homes in bulk and therefore at a discount. It is a lovely cash-flow system,” he said.

This entry was posted in Demographics, Economics, Foreclosures, New Jersey Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

93 Responses to Will transition to rentership put ownership even further out of reach?

  1. Ex-Jersey says:

    Twump

  2. grim says:

    It only took a hundred years, but rooming houses are hip again. From the NYT:

    Dorm Living for Professionals Comes to San Francisco

    In search of reasonable rent, the middle-class backbone of San Francisco — maitre d’s, teachers, bookstore managers, lounge musicians, copywriters and merchandise planners — are engaging in an unusual experiment in communal living: They are moving into dorms.

    Shared bathrooms at the end of the hall and having no individual kitchen or living room is becoming less weird for some of the city’s workers thanks to Starcity, a new development company that is expressly creating dorms for many of the non-tech population.

    Starcity has already opened three properties with 36 units. It has nine more in development and a wait list of 8,000 people. The company is buying a dozen more buildings (including one-star hotels, parking garages, office buildings and old retail stores), has raised $18.9 million in venture capital and hired a team of 26 people. Starcity said it was on track to have hundreds of units open around the San Francisco Bay Area this year, and thousands by 2019.

    These are not micro-units, nor are they like WeWork’s WeLive housing developments, where residents have their own small kitchens, living rooms and bathrooms but share common event space and industrial appliances for parties. These are not single-family homes that are being used as group houses.

    Instead, Starcity residents get a bedroom of 130 square feet to 220 square feet. Many of the buildings will feature some units with a private bath for a higher rent. But Jon Dishotsky, Starcity’s co-founder and chief executive, said a ratio of one bathroom for every two to three bedrooms makes the most sense for large-scale affordability. The average one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco rents for $3,300 a month, but Starcity rooms go for $1,400 to $2,400 a month fully furnished, with utilities and Wi-Fi included.

    “I’ve run a household; I’ve done the bills; I’ve mowed the yard, and I don’t want to be responsible again,” Ms. Shiver said. “I want to paint and learn how to make ramen noodles. And when we run out of tinfoil, there’s just more tinfoil.”

    The Starcity community manager (a.k.a. the building manager) is extremely involved in household affairs, dropping off care packages when someone is sick and organizing birthday parties. If tenants sign up for premium services, Starcity will do their laundry for $40 a month, clean rooms for $130 a week and even arrange for dog day care. For many residents, the arrangement does not feel temporary.

  3. grim says:

    So it’s like living with your parents, except not?

    Like I’ve been saying for the past 10 years, standard of living in the US falls now. It will be fed to us as being hip and cool, whether it’s micro apartments, rooming houses, tiny houses, higher density, or whatever, but it will happen.

  4. Ex-Jersey says:

    Rising, falling, it’s inevitable. No one can keep up the charade without lots of money.

  5. grim says:

    Northeast megalopolis is the most important economic area on the planet.

    From Bloomberg:

    How Trump’s Hudson Tunnel Snit
    Threatens the National Economy

    Economic risks keeping Americans up at night include the hastily rewritten tax code and the possibility of a global trade war set off by U.S. tariffs. Consider another cause for insomnia: President Donald Trump’s opposition to a new rail tunnel linking New York and New Jersey beneath the Hudson River.

    The current link is shot, corroded by age and chemical-tainted flood water. That’s unnerving enough for the 820,000 passengers a day traveling to New York City jobs or some other U.S. Northeast destination. For those farther afield, there’s the chilling fact that a tunnel predating World War I is key to 20 percent of the nation’s gross domestic product.

    The first locomotive chugged through the Pennsylvania Railroad’s 2.5-mile tunnel in 1910. Amtrak, its current owner, says it’s still safe, albeit unreliable, and in constant need of temporary fixes. But say its haywire electrical system finally goes kaput, or its cracked concrete walls and ceilings yield to the river’s muck. There goes the New York City commute for Wall Streeters, big-city accountants and lawyers from New Jersey suburbs, plus the legions that work in health, tech, tourism and retail. Beyond New York, that’s the end of Boston-to-Washington service on the nation’s busiest passenger-rail route.

    “We don’t build this, and these tunnels fail, the whole economy will collapse,” Schumer, who like Trump is from New York, told transportation planners in December 2016. “There will be a deep recession in the New York metropolitan area and a recession probably in the whole country.”

    The Northeast accounts for 30 percent of all jobs in the U.S. and contributes $3 trillion annually to the U.S. economy. It’s home to 51 million people—one in 7 Americans—a figure expected to hit 58 million by 2040.

    The Northeast Corridor is its backbone. It’s the most heavily used passenger rail line in the U.S, both in ridership and service frequency. It extends 457 miles from Union Station in Washington to South Station in Boston, carrying more than 2,200 trains daily. On the high-speed Acela Express between those cities, more than 75 percent are business travelers—the biggest such population, by far, on any Amtrak line. In 2016 those 3.48 million riders spent $593.7 million on seats, for more than 25 percent of Amtrak’s ticket revenue.

  6. grim says:

    Short Hills NJ – 5th Richest Place in the US.

    NJ takes about 18% of the top 100

    https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-hundred-richest-places/

  7. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    That’s how I see Pumps manor in 10 years. Front lawn replaced by blacktop, 8 cars parked there. Talk about great highway access, he lives on one!

    It only took a hundred years, but rooming houses are hip again.

  8. joyce says:

    “Learn” how to make ramen noodles? And what about tin foil?

  9. grim says:

    You don’t need to worry about shopping for household items, mom makes sure there is always tin foil.

  10. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Short Hills is the only one in the top 20 though.

    Short Hills NJ – 5th Richest Place in the US.

    NJ takes about 18% of the top 100

    https://www.bloomberg.com/graphics/2018-hundred-richest-places/

  11. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    But, according to Pumps, that will only happen until they buy a big house in the suburbs 3 or 4 counties away from the city.

    Like I’ve been saying for the past 10 years, standard of living in the US falls now. It will be fed to us as being hip and cool, whether it’s micro apartments, rooming houses, tiny houses, higher density, or whatever, but it will happen.

  12. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    BTW, I think that is the globalist agenda. Open borders, abolish governments. Corporations run the world. The good news is we’ll finally get RollerBall.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aVUxK1mNups

  13. grim says:

    Short Hills is the only one in the top 20 though.

    The top 20 looks to be fairly diverse, including the wealthiest towns from a number of states.

  14. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    This was pretty good, but then again, I’m a fan of the movie:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kYv48fATh0A

  15. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Ahhhh, diversity needs to be incorporated into statistics and math now too. I wonder why we don’t have a diversity lottery for airline pilots and surgeons?

    The top 20 looks to be fairly diverse, including the wealthiest towns from a number of states.

  16. Yo! says:

    Grim 6:58,

    Elise Young at Bloomberg is good – a lot better than NJAM’s Jonathan”So Slanted” Salant, who cover DC policy.

    NJ Transit’s woes are only getting worse and if I was a Manhattan commuter looking to buy house in the burbs, I would avoid buying in a NJ train town.

  17. Ex-Jersey says:

    The wealth out here looks insane. Just sayin.

  18. Ex-Jersey says:

    But then I believe that Calif. is further down the road to the complete Brazilification that was oft mentioned on this board in by-gone days.

  19. Ex-Jersey says:

    Was it me or was the Oscars “grey” . So many older folks in the industry. I wonder what’s next for Hollyweird and how long can the homosexual undercurrents in so many of the ‘edgier’ films not start to creep people out to the extreme?

  20. chicagofinance says:

    Got Mononucleosis?

    grim says:
    March 5, 2018 at 6:18 am
    So it’s like living with your parents, except not?

    Like I’ve been saying for the past 10 years, standard of living in the US falls now. It will be fed to us as being hip and cool, whether it’s micro apartments, rooming houses, tiny houses, higher density, or whatever, but it will happen.

  21. chicagofinance says:

    I used to be interested in the art house crap……now I am fatigued…..the stuff is so self-indulgent, and the culture is myopic and self-congratulatory.

    I get even more irritated when I see a clear agenda being foist upon innocent minds who are unaware they are being manipulated.

    My 8 year old daughter is watching a Disney show targeting tweens called Andi Mack. Over the course of several episodes we get to see the main character find out that her parents are actually her grandparents. Her much older sister is actually her mom, who abandoned her as an infant, but miraculously reappears when Andi Mack is 13 years old, and then the grandparents are quickly shunted aside. Now the mom dispenses all kind of life lessons as if she has stature or any credibility. The dad was a musician, who also abandoned her as an infant and reappears at 13. He is basically an irresponsible sh!t, but is treated as prince charming because he is cute. He barely shows up even though he is still around. There doesn’t seem to be any good reason the parents aren’t together other than they just don’t feel like it. The mom has a great house in LA even though she has some bullsh!t job. One of Andi’s best friends has a bar mitzvah which was filmed and dominated an episode, which was completely gratuitous and self-indulgent, including religious ceremonies. I am half-Jewish. Then for good measure, the boy comes out of the closet at the reception.

    I mean seriously, WTF is this sh!t? The goddamned show is for kids who are just trying to make sense of their identities, and Disney/SoCal/Hollywood dumps this righteous inclusion horsesh!t in their laps because the head writer is some closeted Heeb with a “woke” complex.

    Ex-Jersey says:
    March 5, 2018 at 8:13 am
    Was it me or was the Oscars “grey” . So many older folks in the industry. I wonder what’s next for Hollyweird and how long can the homosexual undercurrents in so many of the ‘edgier’ films not start to creep people out to the extreme?

  22. Grim says:

    Ahhhh, diversity

    Geographically diverse.

  23. Very Stable Genius says:

    @kurteichenwald

    The cost for steel to manufacture a car in America will go UP under Trump’s trade tariffs. The cost to import a car manufactured overseas will not. So auto workers, Trump is hurting you.

    As economist and Trump biographer @DavidCayJ says, Trump has no idea what he’s doing.

  24. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    chi – Don’t worry, your kids’ school will help them make sense of their identity (gender and race!). For your convenience, you might not even be told that your kid has changed their race and/or gender:

    “..a new proposal in Delaware … that would allow children, through the assistance of their school, to change their gender or race without informing that child’s parents.”

    http://dailycaller.com/2018/02/28/tucker-kids-change-gender-race-parents/

    I mean seriously, WTF is this sh!t? The goddamned show is for kids who are just trying to make sense of their identities

  25. leftwing says:

    “Like I’ve been saying for the past 10 years, standard of living in the US falls now. It will be fed to us as being hip and cool, whether it’s micro apartments, rooming houses, tiny houses, higher density, or whatever, but it will happen.”

    Some good posts today grim across the real estate spectrum.

    Re: the above as it relates to NJ the question for me is how the real estate mobile will deploy their dollars, especially if squeezed.

    Is it to suburban houses, further out or in less desirable nearby towns? Or will there be a tradeoff between proximity/amenities and quality of life, as above with microapartments.

    This bounceback so far feels different than others. Going back to even the late 80s people seemed to push further out (remember the “90 minute Pocono commute”?). Haven’t seen many such offers and now it seems there is a bright line drawn much further in…anything outside 287 seems DOA.

    But, despite the JC waterfront development and some urban pioneers in other ‘inner ring’ downtrodden towns there are some notable proximate zip codes missing….

    Either way, definitely seems to be a ‘hot/cold’ phenomenon…either a locale is ‘in’ or ‘out’. Whether suburb or urb.

    Will be interesting to see how it develops.

  26. Ex-Jersey says:

    8:29……wooooof.

    I’m old enough to remember when Hollywood discovered the trailer park, and before that the road movies and the endless existential wandering outsider hero….I feel like I have always appreciated a good film. Still do. I get the whole inclusive thing, that feels better to say than ‘only the gorgeous’ need apply, however, H’Wood is still fixated on sex and even respected actresses usually have to get naked to get noticed. Stories? Who the hell knows. Reboots galore have left me cold since they botched Starsky and Hutch.

  27. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    False and moronic liberal drivel. What “foreign” cars do you think are made overseas?

    Toyota Camry? Nope
    Toyota Corolla? Nope
    Honda Accord? Nope
    Honda Civic? Nope
    Volkswagen Passat? Nope
    BMW X3, X4, X5, X6? Nope
    Mercedes Benz S-class? Nope

    http://www.businessinsider.com/all-the-japanese-cars-made-in-the-usa-2017-11

    http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/2017/05/cars-german-auto-brands-sell-build-united-states-america/

    The cost for steel to manufacture a car in America will go UP under Trump’s trade tariffs. The cost to import a car manufactured overseas will not. So auto workers, Trump is hurting you.

  28. 3b says:

    The Frozen 2 movie may have a lesbian love interest. Just saying.

  29. 3b says:

    NYC still had rooming houses in the late 1940s, my Dad lived in one when he first came to the U.S..

  30. 3b says:

    I watched that 3 billboards outside of Ebbing Missouri over the weekend I am not sure what to make of it.

  31. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    This is what young adults want in real estate: someplace not too cold, not too hot, fast and cheap wifi allowing the greatest level of pleasure from the act of touching the glass 11 inches in front of their nose.

  32. leftwing says:

    Ex, why even respond to the liberal re-tweets? I’ve told him repeatedly he needs to upgrade his feed which gets an ‘F’ on timeliness and analytical rigor.

    My news cycle already has products parsed down to the cent on effect.

    The just-graduated-to-training-wheels-from-the-tricycle liberal crowd is still looking for the light switch.

  33. Libturd says:

    Had a very busy weekend. Lot’s of sh1t to weigh in on here, because I know you all value my opinions so highly.

    Hillary at the Barn in New Brunswick?
    Oh, how the mighty have fallen. And for $25K? She got more selling tickets to her book signing in Montclair six months ago. I guess, when you have no political favor to sell, you command much lower rates. No more million dollar per hour speeches to Goldman or Credit Suisse. Yet, there was no conflict of interest with the Clinton Foundation when she was Secretary of State. Funny, no mention of this in her book. It was all the emails on the bathroom server (convenient excuse). Not even the RAC! The Barn. That’s laughable. Just stop already Hillary. You put Trump in the WH. Why continue to damage the party? You are a two-time loser. Give it up already. I’d also argue that you are hurting your gender more than you are helping it. I knew this would always be the case when she didn’t dump the Cigar in Chief.

    The weather.
    First, I warned you all. Second, Don Sutherland and Joe Bastardi both called for the upcoming storms (the 7th and the 12th). There’s a neat phenomenon called a negative NAO (North Atlantic Oscillation) that is the lowest it’s ever been recorded. This causes cold air to push down from the Arctic into Europe and the US and makes the climate as ripe as it can be for large coastal storms. Essentially, any weather that pushes across from the West gets pushed down South and then picks up moisture from the Atlantic. That push down is cold air so when it get’s to us, it’s cold enough to arrive as frozen precip. It’s a very cool pattern to study both figuratively and literally. Or you can just be a buffoon and blame global warming.

    On to the tunnel.
    It’s obvious that Trump is not going to play friendly with the blue states which was proven by his treatment of property taxes in his tax reform. Trump abhors Schumer since he’s showy (which is Trump’s MO). Why would Murphy follow in Schumer’s footsteps here? Certainly Trump bashing is not working. It completely backfired in the primaries, the General and you’ll see it will do little in the mid-terms. Yet Murphy continues to play this strategy. I really think he might end up as the Dinkins of NJ. You can forget about the tunnel. At best, Trump will use it as concession bait for something else. He’s no dummy like Murphy.

    The NJ Pension Return raise in expected rate of return.
    Holy sh1t Murphy. This is no different than when all of your predecessors chose not to make their contributions. During his campaign, he continually pointed out that Fatman did not make his pension payments when CC actually contributed more than any governor since Whitman and two months into office he is already playing the same game? Raising the rate of return at a probable market top so you can contribute less? I warned you all this guy is pile of sh1t. Well it didn’t take long now. And really, not a peep from the press on this?

    Finally on the RE front
    My brother in law is selling his condo down in Monmouth County. The 3.5% down loan is still alive and kicking. The buyer, with a personal bankruptcy in her record, has been extended a 96.5% mortgage. I need not mention her name, but it rhymes with Patiesha Bones. Hmmmmm.

  34. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    I lived in a rooming house the Winter of ’96-’97. The place was called “The Suffolk Hotel”, 22 Elm Street, Huntington, NY. I just checked and it still exists. I was living with my gf (eventually wife) in Nutley, but I had a prime consulting gig in Hauppauge, Long Island. During Spring, Summer, and Fall I just did the long interstate commute, but when Winter rolled around I realized that I could lose a ton of money if I missed a day or two because of snow. I paid weekly (maybe $120 per week back then?) which more than paid for itself. I’d stay there just Mon-Thu. It was actually pretty cool, even with the shared bathroom. I had a sink and microwave in my room and the bathroom was just an immediate left turn outside my door, I think I only shared the bathroom with two other renters. There was a young kid/aspiring musician who lived directly across the hall from me. He used to work at the Radio Shack in town during the day and have his friends over for acoustic guitar jam sessions in the evening. What I really loved about Huntington was the restaurants and night life. I could eat dinner at any of 30 different restaurants without ever walking more than 2 blocks. I belonged to a gym in town for 25 bucks a month or so, and I didn’t need much else. The following Winter I still had the contract so we just moved to the area and I rented a house.

  35. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    LOL. Here’s a room for rent at the same place. My room looked pretty much the same, except my table was bigger and was in a different corner. I think I had a soft chair too.

    https://www.trulia.com/p/ny/huntington/22-elm-st-huntington-ny-11743–2010692129

  36. leftwing says:

    Murphy on announcing the change in discount rate said the drop to 7% (still too high and higher than most) was ‘playing politics’.

    Oh, and raising it ‘temporarily’ to a level that everyone agrees is unrealistic to shake loose on paper a few hundred million extra to blow while representing to the blue collar crowd that you are not fcuking with their elder years’ well being is not the most crass level of politics out there?

    Re: the tunnel, Schumer sounds like the buffoon he is…again with the ‘politics’. Dumbass. They are all just learning they are up against someone who simply doesn’t give a fcuk. The exact wrong type of person to pick a fight with lol.

    The only response these bozos have is ‘politics’, and no one is listening or cares. LOL.

  37. nwnj says:

    The latest phony hysterics by the left is the tariff scare. Yahoo or some other fake news said it would cause the price of beer to go up. Then I saw an analysis that said the worst case scenario is three cents a case. More trump derangement syndrome.

  38. PumpkinFace says:

    When I went to the dentist recently, everyone (including myself) in the waiting room was on their phones 100% of the time. They should cancel their magazine subscriptions. And they were all 40s if not 50s +

    The Original NJ ExPat says:
    March 5, 2018 at 9:00 am
    This is what young adults want in real estate: someplace not too cold, not too hot, fast and cheap wifi allowing the greatest level of pleasure from the act of touching the glass 11 inches in front of their nose.

  39. 3b says:

    Beer in plastic bags!!

  40. leftwing says:

    I have lots of subscriptions to traditional media, NYT, WSJ, NYMag, etc and haven’t picked up a paper copy of any in at least a couple years. Hell, I don’t even receive a paper copy of the NYT and WSJ. In exactly that demographic age group.

  41. grim says:

    When I went to the dentist recently, everyone (including myself) in the waiting room was on their phones 100% of the time.

    I wouldn’t want to have any exposure to any company that makes any revenue off providing toll free numbers.

    TFN is dying very, very quickly.

    As more people have mobile and non-copper voice, paying a premium for a toll free number is quickly going out of fashion, and big companies are saving millions by dumping toll free in exchange for toll. You might not even notice it, they have funny exchanges like 1-801-###-####.

    Why pay the premium if everyone in the US gets free long distance?

    A bit further down the line from this trend is companies providing end-to-end voip options for customers – click to call, in-app calling, so that a phone line isn’t even necessary. The telephone business is quickly dying.

  42. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    When I went to the dentist recently, everyone (including myself) in the waiting room was on their phones 100% of the time. They should cancel their magazine subscriptions. And they were all 40s if not 50s +

    They get those for free. My father did the billing for his practice out of his basement so all of the copies of every magazine in existence would arrive. We never ordered them.

  43. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    The latest phony hysterics by the left is the tariff scare.

    Ironically, they scream that the prices will go up because we will have to pay higher wages domestically. Isn’t this what they wanted in the first place?

  44. Bystander says:

    From the looks of spring pricing, the snake is swallowing another pig up in haughty Fairfield county CT. The mass delusion is astounding. Neighbors expecting 12% return now on 5 years of ownership and almost no upgrades other than brick patio. Idiots with absolute dump of a ranch, want 100k more than 2008 purchase with zero work put into it. Pricing per square ft but it is bizarre looking extended ranch with strange 2 car addition. Looks like the where tge Alps meet a dumpy Slovenian town. There are tons of houses for sale dating back to last year when they did not sell. Also noticing builder tear downs are now sitting for months. No inventory? BS.

  45. Fast Eddie says:

    Ironically, they scream that the prices will go up because we will have to pay higher wages domestically. Isn’t this what they wanted in the first place?

    LOL! It was my immediate thought. Can we explain this to the Unstable P.ussy and the rest of the androgynous liberals here?

  46. leftwing says:

    “Why pay the premium if everyone in the US gets free long distance?”

    Forgot there was actually a time long distance calls cost the caller something lol.

    “Idiots with absolute dump of a ranch, want 100k more than 2008 purchase with zero work put into it.”

    I don’t see that as unusual. Missed out on a bilevel had my eye on around the trough. Tried to price the bid too perfectly and lost by a few k on a $645k bid. And that was 2011-ish. No work in it, simply rebound pricing today easily up $100k.

    Rising markets mean that….original purchase prices go up, no?

  47. Libturd says:

    long distance was freakishly expensive

  48. Trick says:

    Finally had a house go on the market in our neighborhood, lasted 14 day. Figure there were multiple offers the 1st weekend.

  49. grim says:

    We convinced a major US Airline to drop their toll free number, they saved a million dollars a year. That was $1 million dollars in annual revenue that AT&T lost.

    Very few people notice their 1-801 number isn’t toll free, except a few grandmas that won’t call to complain, because it will cost them money. Funny, people think toll free numbers are some kind of legal requirement, they are aghast when they see a charge, most people though, have no idea since they haven’t paid for a toll call in years.

    They’ll go the way of newspapers and magazines.

  50. Bystander says:

    Left,

    Huge difference between buying in 2008 vs. 2011. 2008 and 2009 were about worst times to purchase as govt. tried to artificially pump market up with tax credit. In CT, prices were still dropping into 2017. As I said, mass delusion.

  51. leftwing says:

    Getting old, it’s all a blur. Thought we were down by 08……

  52. grim says:

    Speaking of newspapers and magazines. You want to make a fortune?

    Hottest topic for publishers is utilizing predictive analytics to identify behaviors that lead to customer churn. Even for the biggest publishers, it’s no longer about growing subscriber base, it’s about maintaining it.

  53. nwnj says:

    Being inclusive now means compromising your belief system to conform to the progressive whim of the day or risk being labeled a hater. If you believe in gender. You ar not being inclusive.

  54. Libturd says:

    “We’ve all got n1pples! ”

    I state this this whenever the topic turns to gender.

  55. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Ryan splits with Trump on trade as GOP lawmakers move to block planned tariffs – The Washington Post
    https://apple.news/AtOupz6W1RBGjPG4xX1P0jg

  56. The Great Pumpkin says:

    My post above illustrates how insane our country has become. Everyone is all over the place.

    Blue Ribbon Teacher says:
    March 5, 2018 at 11:03 am
    The latest phony hysterics by the left is the tariff scare.

    Ironically, they scream that the prices will go up because we will have to pay higher wages domestically. Isn’t this what they wanted in the first place?

  57. leftwing says:

    “Hottest topic for publishers is utilizing predictive analytics to identify behaviors that lead to customer churn. Even for the biggest publishers, it’s no longer about growing subscriber base, it’s about maintaining it.”

    Dump the rabid communist Chait and stop proselytizing random liberal drivel throughout every article and I will re-up my NY Magazine subscription expiring this month…..

  58. Very Stable Genius says:

    @about_scot

    The findings of the Mueller investigation will be the largest scandal in the nation’s history.

  59. Very Stable Genius says:

    @CarlWong

    “The Qatari officials decided against cooperating with Mueller for now out of fear it would further strain the country’s relations with the White House, these people said.”

  60. joyce says:

    Cars built in America currently face a 10% tariff when they enter the EU, while vehicles shipped from Europe to the US are charged 2.5%.

    http://money.cnn.com/2018/03/05/investing/trump-tariffs-european-cars/index.html

  61. chicagofinance says:

    As we know, house prices are sticky and 08 was well before capitulation…… at that point there was a massive drop in volume of sales…… it took several years before people who got the memo would actually accept what the memo said…….

    leftwing says:
    March 5, 2018 at 12:32 pm
    Getting old, it’s all a blur. Thought we were down by 08……

  62. Mike S says:

    Is there anywhere you could even buy a multifamily right now and make a good enough profit? (Close to NYC)? And not be a slumlord*

  63. No One says:

    Thoughts:
    Median income would have been a better number than average income because of skewness.
    I’m slumming it in Bridgewater. Maybe I should move up and closer to my kind. But then my commute would be longer.
    Oscars were really irritating.
    My whole house generator ran nearly all weekend.
    BMW is a net exporter from the US, despite importing all their sedans from Europe, they export even more value in terms of SUVs out of South Carolina.
    Trump craves the bad old days of every country having its own set of sub-scale manufacturers of everything. Comparative advantage and division of labor is basic economics – perhaps Trump failed that test at Wharton.

  64. grim says:

    Is there anywhere you could even buy a multifamily right now and make a good enough profit? (Close to NYC)? And not be a slumlord*

    My uncle just converted a commercial building in Passaic to residential, I think he converted to 8 units + indoor parking. It’s absolutely beautiful and he has no problem getting top dollar rents. He had the whole place rented before it was even finished.

  65. grim says:

    But if you are expecting someone to just hand you over a high-return property at a big discount? Yeah, not going to happen.

    Look at those idiots that bought multi families in downtown JC for TOP TOP DOLLAR before the reval. They got f*cked.

  66. joyce says:

    grim,
    I remember your stories about trying to find a property zoned for industrial use and how difficult it was… I imagine getting a property rezoned or a variance for something like that would take a LONG time?

    grim says:
    March 5, 2018 at 2:00 pm
    Is there anywhere you could even buy a multifamily right now and make a good enough profit? (Close to NYC)? And not be a slumlord*

    My uncle just converted a commercial building in Passaic to residential, I think he converted to 8 units + indoor parking. It’s absolutely beautiful and he has no problem getting top dollar rents. He had the whole place rented before it was even finished.

  67. 3b says:

    Grim what is top dollar rent in Passaic? Is it the city of?

  68. chicagofinance says:

    Stu:

    This one is in Philly. do you know? I have to believe it is d0uche-lite compared to the BBerg location, as a result, it may be OK.

    https://fettesauphilly.com/

  69. nwnj says:

    Democratic Party is now the party of open borders and nafta. The more poverty and discontent the can pile on the better. They’ve given up on working people who don’t share their vision of a multicultural panacea.

    “Isn’t this what they wanted in the first place?“

  70. grim says:

    Ask any American company that has tried to open in China or India what they think about American’s openness in comparison.

  71. grim says:

    $2,000-$2,500 a month.

  72. Mike S says:

    Makes sense – i figure all multi going forward better be more than just 2 units, or else it will be hard to be profitable.

  73. Libturd says:

    That’s some pricey Q to eat on picnic tables.

    I buy my ribs for between $2 and $3 per pound. My brisket $4 to $5 tops. Chicken is virtually free, especially when buying a whole bird. And the cost of smoking is next to nothing. That’s the beauty of BBQ. You can drive up to a stand/shack/flea market anywhere the schools are bad and eat some of America’s finest cuisine for $5. Even the better BBQ places in Texas are only $10 to $15 all you can eat.

    BTW, I’ve really mastered ribs. There are all of these crazy things that people do, but it’s really simple to make great ribs.

    Open the pack. Trim the fat. Remove the membrane and trim it up square and save the scraps for burnt ends. Don’t put anything on it except your rub. I’ve tried about ten different off the shelf rubs and I swear, the $8/11 oz. Jack Daniel’s pork rub is the best for ribs. Get it at Walmart. It’s $16 at Amazon. Rub both sides, throw it in the smoker once the smoke is going at 200. I put apple juice in a bowl in the smoker to maintain the moisture. Pork I smoke with a combo of Cherry and Apple wood. I smoke it for 3 hours. Just until the bones start sticking out from the meat. Then I crutch it for an hour in foil with a tiny beer or apple juice/cider, but before your wrap it, sprinkle both sides with brown sugar and honey. One more hour in the smoker will do it and no more smoke is needed. Then, brush with whatever bbq sauce you like and throw on the grill to caramelize it and reharden the bark after the crutch. No more than 3 minutes a side or you’ll burn it and dry out the remaining oil in the pork. That’s it. Your guests will think you are a pitmaster. You can serve three people per rack. Average rack costs $6-$8. That’s BBQ.

    Chi…one day you gotta get out of that Colt’s Neck ghetto and come up.

  74. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    Try smoking with Pecan wood. It’s amazing. Most places don’t use it so it really tastes different than what most people are used to. The other thing is that I regular prune my fig trees (I have 9 right now). I save those cuttings and age them. Smoking with fig wood is absolutely amazing.

    The other thing I do is that I put a gigantic bowl of sea salt in the smoker as well and spray it with a little bit of water. The salt retains all the smoke and that is a key ingredient in my rub.

  75. Libturd says:

    Mike –

    “Makes sense – i figure all multi going forward better be more than just 2 units, or else it will be hard to be profitable.”

    Yup. Though my multi makes a nice dime, no one is really interested in it except to convert it back into a one family.

  76. Libturd says:

    BRT…I have pecan. Like it with chicken more than ribs. Alder is interesting too. One of the best smoking woods out there is actually Oak and lord knows we have enough of that around. I’m still experimenting. The problem with my cherry/apple mix is you don’t get the color you want on the smoke ring. But in the end, I care more about flavor than appearance.

    As for brines, I find dry brining does enough for poultry. Ribs are so greasy, I’m not that worried about locking in moisture.

  77. Trick says:

    Lib/Blue

    What are you using to smoke them with? I was looking to pick up a kamado type grill

  78. Juice Box says:

    re: Ask any American company that has tried to open in China or India what they think about American’s openness in comparison.”

    Add Mexico to that list.

  79. Libturd says:

    Forget it. Best investment I ever made. Though the air fryer is pretty amazing too.

    https://www.amazon.com/Masterbuilt-20071117-Digital-Electric-Smoker/dp/B01JGF97D0/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1520281771&sr=8-2&keywords=masterbuilt+electric+smoker

    I got mine for $80. Not sure why it was so cheap, but it was. Get the cover too. Thing is built like a tank. Get a two probe bluetooth thermometer as well. You can do a whole setup for $125 to $150 out the door.

    Forget the glass window. There’s nothing to see and the windows get smoked translucent eventually anyway. The beauty of electric is the ability to maintain a study temperature. The purpose of the two probe thermo is because the built in thermostat is useless and you need to monitor the meat temperature without opening the door and letting the thick smoke out. Masterbuilt is built like a tank. I’m not sure how they can sell it for as little as they do.

  80. Juice Box says:

    I have a charbroil electric wifi enalbed smoker. Works really well, and I bought it on clearance at the end of the summer season. It is pretty much fire and forget, it will notify your smartphone via an app when it’s done.

  81. Libturd says:

    I once had a charbroil grill (when I was poor and just out of college). Thing rusted out really quickly. Can’t speak for their smokers, but Masterbuilt is one of the best in the business. The wifi is overated since unless you are smoking a 20 pound brisket, you are not leaving the house while it’s smoking. And even if the temperature started to fluctuate, what are you going to do?

  82. Libturd says:

    I’m calling for a foot of snow in and around the city tomorrow night into Wednesday.

  83. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Democrats are consolidating their base…and it is a rapidly shrinking base. Academy Awards viewership was the lowest ever, down 20% from last year.

  84. Ex-Jersey says:

    The blue wave will wash over the Country next midterm.

  85. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    Your delusion is born from you only knowing life in the parenthesis coastal states.

    The blue wave will wash over the Country next midterm.

  86. The Original NJ ExPat says:

    In reality, the blue wave will ebb in the blue states and it will still be Russia’s fault.

  87. chicagofinance says:

    I am not inclined to disagree, but you are in no geographical position to have any idea. At this point, you are the equivalent of this….
    “I live in a rather special world. I only know one person who voted for Nixon. Where they are I don’t know. They’re outside my ken. But sometimes when I’m in a theater I can feel them.”
    https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Pauline_Kael

    Ex-Jersey says:
    March 5, 2018 at 6:45 pm
    The blue wave will wash over the Country next midterm.

  88. Ex-Jersey says:

    6:54 completely untrue. I’ve spent time in the Midwest, mid south, So FL, Chicago, NJ …. my delusion … I think we’re gonna see a shift.

  89. Blue Ribbon Teacher says:

    What are you using to smoke them with? I was looking to pick up a kamado type grill

    I actually do it on my regular weber grill. I put a tin of water in the bottom and use like 5 coals at a time. I can regulate the temp to 225 easily and I use foil as a heat shield from any direct heat that comes in.

  90. Libturd, AKA Dr. Howie Feltersnatch says:

    BRT…I bought a cast iron smoker box for my Weber and it worked OK. But I couldn’t figure out a good way to add more wood to the box once the wood burned off. I had surprisingly good results as well. It was just too messy. That $150 I spent on my electric setup was worth its weight in gold.

    BTW, if anyone is interested. My disabled brother-in-law is selling his Weber. It’s been used twice in three years (not lying). I think it’s the Genesis Series with the three burners and the side burner (propane, not NG). It’s always been covered and it’s in brand new condition. He paid $650, so I think $325 is overly fair. LMK. It’s in Manalapan right off 9 by Wegmans. I’m also trying to sell off his furniture. Hopefully Grim lets me do this. It’s a fukced up family situation and I’m doing my best to help fix it. I get nothing out of this except for good karma.

    https://stuartweissman.wixsite.com/sale

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