Not sure I’d trust Zillow

From Marketwatch:

I’m a senior economist at Zillow. Here are 3 things home buyers should know about the housing market now

Buyers should prepare for higher monthly costs

There’s no doubt that mortgage rates are rising quickly after hitting a record low in 2020 and remaining near 3% for a 30-year mortgage for much of the past two years, keeping payments in check. But 3% mortgages are a thing of the past. “Now the typical 30-year rate is over 5%, which means much higher monthly costs for any given purchase price. Shopping around for a mortgage to find the best rate can bring significant savings and using a mortgage calculator can help a buyer stay up to date on what they can afford,” says Tucker. (You can find the lowest mortgage rates you may qualify for here.) 

Even with rising rates, there’s still a lot of competition in the market

Indeed, demand is still sky high. The median seller is accepting a purchase offer less than one week after listing their home for sale, says Tucker. “There will be a point when the cost of buying a home deters enough buyers to bring price growth back down to Earth, but for now there’s plenty of fuel in the tank,” says Tucker. 

What’s more, demand should remain high thanks to generational demographics, he says. “There’s a massive wave of millennials aging into their prime home-buying years and baby boomers are more active in the housing market than earlier generations. And inventory has a long way to catch up from more than a decade of under-building following the mid-2000s housing crash, meaning supply and demand realities will keep pressure on prices for the foreseeable future,” says Tucker.

Home prices may cool, but they likely won’t drop

Still, he says this is not a bubble and he doesn’t expect home prices will fall. “The combination of more new homes being built, higher prices and rising mortgage rates should help throw cold water on the market in the near future.” says Tucker. This will lead to a cooldown in price growth, but not a price drop, he predicts.

This entry was posted in Demographics, Economics, National Real Estate. Bookmark the permalink.

171 Responses to Not sure I’d trust Zillow

  1. dentss dunnigan says:

    First

  2. Fabius Maximus says:

    Lib, the bar has been set!

    https://www.nj.com/news/2022/06/this-nj-house-just-sold-for-301k-over-its-asking-price.html

    Offering the list price for a home in some New Jersey communities isn’t nearly enough. And one place where that’s the case is Montclair.

    Homes in this Essex County town regularly sell for 30% over asking price, said Paula Cardenas, an agent with Signature Realty.

    She listed a 100-year-old colonial in April on Cloverhill Place for $749,000. It closed last week for $1,050,000. That’s $301,000, or 40%, over the asking price.

  3. Juice Box says:

    Saw that article too, Lib better get that sign out front of the multi.

    Live stream the open house too….with comments of course…

  4. Fast Eddie says:

    So, is this Zillow analyst just throwing a biased opinion out there? Will the Boomer fence-sitting sellers rush to the exit now after they see what their neighbors got for their house? We all know real estate is like turning a ship, takes a long time and moves very slowly. What do you think? Where’s it going?

  5. Fast Eddie says:

    Ahh, Montclair. I was there Friday for a graduation ceremony, rode through the Valley Road shopping district, grabbed a coffee. I lived a bike ride away from there for 12 years, haven’t been through there in a while. Anyway, look at the tax history on this one. I can’t figure out the wild fluctuation and the sticker shock:

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8-Clairidge-Ct-Montclair-NJ-07042/38688946_zpid/?

  6. Fast Eddie says:

    Come on kids, you have that “Montclair” feel for a bargain!! Your neighbor is in Montclair. Call it the “Montclair Grove Section” of Bloomfield. Clifton has a “Montclair Heights” section, you can do it, too!

    https://www.trulia.com/p/nj/bloomfield/58-sunset-ave-bloomfield-nj-07003–2005835163

  7. Fast Eddie says:

    Go to picture 29 on this one, a walking tour will begin along with Charlie Brown piano music. Where’s the cocktail hour buffet? lol?

    https://www.trulia.com/p/nj/nutley/17-van-riper-pl-nutley-nj-07110–2006305353?mid=28#lil-mediaTab

  8. Phoenix says:

    –It’s the woman who decides if the house is to be purchased. Men just go along if they want to be married..

    The survey finds that in 43% of all couples it’s the woman who makes decisions in more areas than the man. By contrast, men make more of the decisions in only about a quarter (26%) of all couples. And about three-in-ten couples (31%) split decision-making responsibilities equally.

    Significantly, in a large plurality of couples – 43% – men don’t have the final say in any of the four areas tested. These men either share decision-making with their partners or defer to them. There are significantly fewer couples – 33% – in which the woman does not take the lead in any of the four areas tested. Also, more women (15%) than men (9%) are the lead decision-makers in three or more of the areas tested.

    By a ratio of nearly two-to-one, women say that they (45%) rather than their partner (23%) manage the money in the household. Men see things differently. Some 37% say they manage the money, while just 30% report that their partner mostly handles the household finances.

    In dual-income couples, it is the woman who has more say, regardless of whether she earns more or less than her partner.

  9. Bystander says:

    Ed,

    Where is Robin Leech’s less successful, younger brother, Lackey Leech with the narration? That nuclear sky is popping up everywhere. Should a criminal law against photoshopping pictures. Worse than a McD ad.

  10. Phoenix says:

    Ed/By

    Someone will buy it. Happy wife, happy life.

    Men see a purchase, women see a lifestyle.

  11. Mike S says:

    I saw a Montclair house go 700 over asking this spring. I saw a 3 br/2 bath in Verona on a semi busy road go almost 300 over. Verona gets the Montclair overflow.

  12. Bystander says:

    Phoenix,

    No doubt. I posted this before as delusional at 650k. The people bought 6 years ago for $450k and did nothing but make it worse. The color is pink and adobe though photoshop tried to adjust. On market 2 days and under contract..people are insane.

    https://ibb.co/whRshmp

  13. crushednjmillenial says:

    Property and property taxes . . .

    The house below is the most-recent single-family listing in North Jersey. Today, June 6, 2022, the house has the following attributes:

    35 Birkendene Road
    Caldwell, NJ
    3 Bed/ 2 Ba.
    Split-Level Style
    Looks like last renovation of the house, on average (old bath, newer kitchen), is 1995
    List Price: $599,900
    Prop Tax: $14,244

    If you pay list price to buy this house, your current property taxes are worth 2.374% of the asset price. So, if the property tax stayed at the same exact dollar amount, you pay for the asset again in 42.12 years. Realistically, you will probably pay for the asset again in 25 years.

    https://www.njmls.com/listings/index.cfm?action=dsp.info&mlsnum=22020459&openhouse=true&dayssince=15&countysearch=false

  14. Juice Box says:

    Enjoy your million dollar crap shacks and grid lock traffic North Jersey..Don’t move down here, we have loads of deer ticks, bears, and sharks…worst of all our pizza and bagels are horrible. Nothing to see here keep on driving past when you are headed home from your day trip to the beach.

  15. Phoenix says:

    Interesting times ahead. Real estate reaching the coffin corner. Gas to probably break 5 per gallon. Anger in the streets-a shooting in Philly-not subsiding. Cops just let a man drown-hero status is gone-they stand outside schools when kids are dying. Nurses and doctors stabbed inside a hospital.

    You wonder what is happening-listen to ten seconds of this. None of this is an accident. Social media is not an “experiment,” it’s well documented on how to manipulate:

    https://youtu.be/5IBa88VkM6g?t=2415

  16. Very Stable Genius says:

    Are the hearings of the Republicans treasonous insurrection on CSPAN?

  17. Bystander says:

    Phoenix,

    Social media has exacerbated the human condition called jealousy and greed. People see luxurious houses, European trips and swanky new jobs then get angry on why they are not getting ahead like their virtual friends. That is the biggest problem with America. The investor asset class entitlement that Fed has supported, to avoid any pain or suffering below. People love when 401ks and houses go up 50%. In fact they are entitled to it. Tick down in stocks, a new tax or inflation? Hell no. That is BS. I am entitled to it all.

  18. Fast Eddie says:

    Gas in Jersey is definitely goin north of $5/gallon. I also notice the media is now labeling the endless shootings in inner city environs as “mass” shootings. Leave it to the biased liberal muppets to push their cause. Back to gas… when is Murphy going to suspend the state gas tax?

  19. Juice Box says:

    Soccer season just about over soon, thankfully. It’s been a crazy season of red cards, broken writs, players fighting and a few crazy parents. I had to personally intervene twice this season and get between a coach and an opposing teams parent at an away game and two parents at our church run rec league that nearly came to blows. This in addition league drama about training and combining travel teams etc.

    At my son’s game yesterday we were the guest team, as we arrived a man and woman showed up and asked us to get up off the aluminum stands and help move the stands 40 yards up the sidelines away from the home team stands as we were sitting on the same side of the field. These people were not parents of players but were either league managers or perhaps they owned a house in the neighborhood and did not want the cops to be called. It seems that the locals are very vocal at the games, so they did not want the parents from either team sitting near each other.

    The locals were indeed very vocal. Even though we were getting crushed there was one bad call and the home team parents went ballistic on the referee. This was after two yellow cards for their players bad behavior. Game was stopped and the home team coach was told forfeit if the home team parents weren’t quiet for the last 10 minutes as they were yelling at the referee now all the time and this was being up 6-1. Game was stopped and the team’s coach came over slowly and asked nicely for them to be quiet or they would forfeit. One woman was asked to leave as well, and she huffed and puffed about it too.

    My son told me on our ride home that the referee had warned our coaches and players before the game about the other team, there could be trouble and to let him deal with it. I have to say for a team being up there was simply no reason for that kind of craziness from the parents. They beat us in the tournament a week ago and it was a close one on our fields in the beginning of the season.

    The drama starts again with training in late August, one evening a week we meet up at Sandy Hook to train in the sand and have some beach fun too.

  20. 3b says:

    Lots of houses available out here in Montauk/ Hamptons. Prices to eat out are insane! Just picked up 2 coffees, cost over 7.00. But don’t fear inflation so many opinion pieces out there saying we will achieve a soft landing, nothing to worry about.

  21. Phoenix says:

    IDK,
    3 dead, 11 wounded. Yeah I’d call that a mass shooting.

  22. Bystander says:

    Ed,

    As opposed to Rs calling it a ‘black problem’. Geez, your party is purely insane.

  23. Phoenix says:

    People in the Hamptons can afford fifty dollar coffee.

    It’s all relative.

    A 100 dollar speeding ticket does not affect everyone the same.

  24. Fast Eddie says:

    3b,

    O’Biden said the inflation is transitory and Putin’s fault. O’Biden beat up Corn Pop so you better believe what he says or else!

  25. 3b says:

    Bystander: That’s why all the talk about soft landing and avoiding a recession. It’s not going to happen of course, but this is the mindset the Fed encounter with their recklessness policies. People want this inflation recession thing done by August, and then the party is back on.

  26. Phoenix says:

    Police are alllowed and encouraged to lie to you.

    Start with this . Protect and Serve. The biggest lie is stenciled right on the side of the car.

    Keep your eyes open as you are on your own.

  27. 3b says:

    Phoenix: This was in a local spot in Montauk, I am saying in general that dining out even getting coffee is insanity expensive right now.

  28. Phoenix says:

    O’Biden got the USA into a proxy war spending billions that should have gone to either paying down the deficit, or fixing the problems here at home.

    Real working Americans are having a hard time here and that brain dead old goat just shuffles along on the beach.

    He makes James Stockdale look sane.

  29. Phoenix says:

    3b,
    What is expensive? It’s a relative term. If you have 10m in the bank you can afford 30 dollar coffee-stop whining and crying that you have to pay more- unless that whining and crying is for someone else less fortunate than you.

    If I have millions in the bank I’m not gonna whine like a beach filling my new Telluride or Range Rover. I’m gonna feel for the teenage girl or guy scraping quarters in order to put a few gallons in their rusted Corolla in order to get to work.

    Passive income needs to be taxed at the same rate as wages. It’s immoral to allow someone to make more money from getting a pressure ulcer on their buttocks than the person WORKING to clean up that same infected wound.

  30. Juice Box says:

    Phoenix re: “Cops just let a man drown”.

    Makes for a good headline. I watched the video did you notice the water swirling and the dam?

    That person jumped off by a bridge and swam 100 yards away, some kind of mental issue to do that, near the edge of a dam no less. No way no how even a crazy David Hasslehoff would jump into that water to try and save someone without a rescue can or other flotation device especially near a dam, the person in distress would only drown the lifeguard too anyone else without it.

    Here is the location..no way out of that water, you are going to the get sucked into the undertow… The dive team had to get the body probably off the dam gates.

    https://www.google.com/maps/place/Tempe+Town+Lake/@33.4334699,-111.9495664,466m/data=!3m1!1e3!4m5!3m4!1s0x872b09221d4e8449:0xeb25365354743a3e!8m2!3d33.4316776!4d-111.9276565

  31. Juice Box says:

    re: dining out

    $53 bucks for kids tacos, and some adult tacos in town now. I used to take them more but the taco prices are well insane.

  32. leftwing says:

    “Are the hearings of the Republicans treasonous insurrection on CSPAN?”

    Going to be met with a big yawn by Joe Q Public….nice try at diversion from the horror show of this Administration but the populace (at least those people who actually determine your next Congress and president) really don’t care.

    I just want to see mockable media moments…like the “eucharistic procession” of the House members solemnly marching the first impeachment orders across the Capitol, lol…also, can we get Adam Schiff’s eyeballs rolling in opposite directions every time he says ‘insurrection’, like what happened every time when he went into a trance saying ‘impeachment’?

    Ass clowns, lol.

    And, btw, for anyone interested google Liz Cheney’s Sunday morning CBS interview…she describes so solemnly how her party no longer ‘works’ for its members and references her great-great-grandfather who fought for the Union and how she relies deeply on her father’s advice, as he was VP, to try to bring things back to ‘normal’.

    Sorry, bitch, but I have only some passing idea who my great-great-grandfather was back in some region of eastern Europe that has been war ravaged for centuries…my grandfather emigrated here and worked as a chauffeur, my dad was a laborer (machinist)…’normal’ for you may be a daddy VP and six generations in the US but it is not representative of your Party, nor are you. You and your family sold my family down the river with BS ‘moderate’ and ‘centrist’ policies for decades that benefitted you, not us…now GTFO and the faster the better.

    If you leave quietly we promise that the Libertarians, Populists, and the Left will not try to re-appropriate your family’s ill gotten gains.

  33. Fast Eddie says:

    Leftwing slamming a line drive triple in the right center (a bit of pun there) gap this morning!!

  34. No One says:

    Juice,
    I’m on some Facebook foodies group for Sarasota, and the most annoying people on there are the NJ/NYers who feel compelled to announce to everyone that there are no good bagels, no good pizza there like NJ or NYC. It’s like clockwork every few days, someone says they like bagels or Pizza at some place, and a New Yorker or NJ immigrant has to crap all over them for their inferiority. It’s how they mark their own superiority somehow. I even saw NYers complaining about there being no “authentic NYC style Chinese food” which is the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. Why not skip straight to authentic Chinese food without stopping in NYC? These people need to migrate over to the Miami area where they belong if they want to hang out with New Yorkers.

  35. leftwing says:

    For those home gaming I mentioned a couple months ago or so when I got back into DNA in the 2.00s that SPAC dumpster diving may be worthwhile for certain companies based on various criteria.

    One catalyst was that capital structures for viable SPACs would need to be cleaned up as the crazy complexity, for several reasons, substantively inhibits share price gains.

    It’s starting.

    Not an endorsement of SEAT, DNA, or any other SPAC and as always do your own due diligence and trade within your own boundaries. But as one of the first of what should be more than a few of these restructurings to clean up capital structures you are starting to get some view of the parameters.

    https://www.globenewswire.com/news-release/2022/05/26/2451177/0/en/Vivid-Seats-Announces-Exchange-Offer-and-Consent-Solicitation-Relating-to-Public-Warrants-and-Authorization-of-40-Million-Share-Repurchase-Program.html

  36. Bystander says:

    left,

    Showing your age. Oldest of Z are now 25. Generation Alpha has 12 years olds. Five generations back to them is Baby Boomers. Your party does not represent immigrant crowd. Most Midwest red states had migration into region in late 18oos and early 1900s. Lots of German, Norwegian, Scandinavian but now just Americans with little tie to old world. I remember living in Northern Virginia and talking to girl with last name DiGenovese or something. I said oh you are Italian? She said I don’t know and no one asked her that before. That is America, outside Northeast.

    The Lost Generation — born 1883-1900. …
    The Greatest Generation — born 1901-1924. …
    The Silent Generation — born 1925-1945. …
    Baby Boomer Generation — born 1946-1964. …
    Generation X — born 1965-1980. …
    Generation Y — born 1981-1996. …
    Generation Z — born 1997-2012. …
    Generation Alpha — born 2013-2025.

  37. Bystander says:

    Sorry Aplha 9-10 year olds. My kids I guess.

  38. Phoenix says:

    Didn’t expect them to go on a swim, but they seemed pretty indifferent to the entire situation. Hanging out, relaxed, as if they were just watching the sunset.

    It all starts with a phone call…

  39. Bystander says:

    Here is immigrant stat. I know several people who pay cash for illegal Indian developers. This will continue to suppress IT wages.

    The largest number of overstayers — about 1 million — hail from Mexico, a neighboring country with a long history of commercial and family ties and substantial flows of people across the border. But the picture is changing. Between 2010 and 2017, 330,000 Indians overstayed their visas, more than from any other country.

  40. Libturd says:

    We are clearly reaching the insanity level. Housing is definitely forming a top. What we are seeing is demand increased due to fear of rising mortgage rates. After another point, housing is completely dead.

    This is the dumbest thing I’ve seen in a long while. If you are going to turn your garage into living space, at least remove the damn electric garage door opener.

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/8-Clairidge-Ct-Montclair-NJ-07042/38688946_zpid/?mmlb=g,22

  41. Libturd says:

    Oil tank comes out tomorrow and my painter comes by tonight and will work for five days. After that, and if the rebuild of the back of the house goes as quickly as I would expect it would, my multi should be back on the MLS within two weeks. My realtor is planning on staging it too. I like the timing with school ending and people getting desperate to move in for the horrible Montclair schools Fall semester. Though, I will say this. Colleges think Montclair is a city school and definitely are more lenient with applicants from there then from our lily-white Glen Ridge. The truth is, that high school is as segregated as the town is.

  42. Axios says:

    https://www.axios.com/2022/06/05/january-6-committee-electoral-college-reforms

    The House’s Jan. 6 committee has split behind the scenes over what actions to take after the public hearings: Some members want big changes on voting rights — and even to abolish the Electoral College — while others are resisting proposals to overhaul the U.S. election system, Axios has learned.

    Why it matters: Televised hearings begin Thursday night. Committee members are in lockstep about capturing Americans’ attention by unfurling a mountain of evidence connecting former President Trump and those close to him with the attack on the Capitol.

    But the committee’s legacy depends in large part on what reforms it pursues after those hearings to prevent another Jan. 6 from happening — and that’s where the united front breaks down.

    The big picture: Disagreements arise whenever proposals are raised such as abolishing the Electoral College, vastly expanding voting rights like same-day registration or tightening the Insurrection Act to make it harder for a president to deploy the military domestically for use on civilians…

  43. Libturd says:

    Gator texted me that article. That home is in my neighborhood. With some luck, I hit that million mark in a bidding war.

  44. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    Philly and all of the democrat cities are getting what they want. Defund the police and hand over the community to criminals and the mentally ill and call it equity and restorative justice. Just don’t complain if you’ve created an uninhabitable hell hole. You chose it.

  45. Ex says:

    Staging absolutely worth it! My Jersey split never looked better after staging.
    De-cluttering key.

  46. Libturd says:

    Well not really Goat. Few of the police were actually defunded. They just stopped doing their job in spite. If I were mayor, I would fire every last supervisor up to the chief and would start over with reforms in place.

    But yes, it’s a nice wedge to throw in to the pile when your party is suffering the wrath of it’s leaders refusing to do anything to stop mass school shootings which continue to occur in non-Democrat cities. I guess you could say, their staunch positions on automatic weapons, like these near machine guns is, “backfiring?”

  47. Libturd says:

    Ex,

    Place is vacant so clutter will not be an issue. The only issue is that the place is old!

  48. JCer says:

    bystander, I think you have it backwards. Your “party” is the one that releases gang bangers on a promise of good behavior and then calls a “drive by shooting”, a mass shooting event. The “obvious” solution to gun violence is disarming law abiding citizens….. sure that makes total sense it’s not like the cartels that supply the gangs with drugs don’t have as many weapons as most militaries and extensive experience in smuggling contraband into the country….

    Neither side operates with any common sense because the left wants to essentially ban privately owned fire arms and the right doesn’t want to give an inch on the issue. The he issue at hand is that the modern left is the more dangerous group by far than the idiots on the right.

  49. chicagofinance says:

    left: this is my great-great grandfather…..
    https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abaz_%C3%87elkupa

    leftwing says:
    June 6, 2022 at 10:20 am
    Sorry, bitch, but I have only some passing idea who my great-great-grandfather was back in some region of eastern Europe that has been war ravaged for centuries…

  50. Bystander says:

    “democratic cities” is now lingo for black cities for the non-Faux News crowd. When it happens in Tulsa then it is different reason…it is never guns.

  51. chicagofinance says:

    There is even a street that I have to visit one day….. my son is stoked to do it at some point. I would get to see my grandfather’s grave, wherever that it is.
    https://www.google.com/maps/place/Rruga+Abaz+%C3%87elkupa,+Durr%C3%ABs,+Albania/@41.3228529,19.4509717,17z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m5!3m4!1s0x134fda3e4fc70a7d:0x34bdaeed36f3387b!8m2!3d41.3228489!4d19.4531604?hl=en

  52. Juice Box says:

    Lib – Did you say old?

    These are glue on… specialty old looking ones will get you well above ask, just ask Susan or Karen or whatever the local NAR member is pushing..

    https://www.amazon.com/Maison-Ceilings-GK19pw-5-Corbels-Glue-up/dp/B08DM4LHS3

  53. BidenIsTheGOAT says:

    You’re right I forgot to throw in strip the police of their political and legal coverage and the police who remain are just bystanders. Enforcing the law has white supplement roots and is systemic racism even though it’s minorities targeted most by the criminals.

    I was contemplating a day trip to Philly when I go down to Camden fire a show, not happening. Wouldn’t want to harm the inclusiveness provided by the homeless and gang bangers.

  54. Bystander says:

    Jcer,

    Nah Jcer. It is not all or nothing argument. Your side always want it to be that. 2nd amendment never said you could own grenades. You can shoot high magazine weapon in a shooting range. Taking about the Ar-15 toy would be a rational start but the insane R party will try to make it not a solution. After all, less guns would not lead to less gun deaths, right? And why would we want that? Let’s not even try, I can show you worldy stats to really make it even more complicated.

  55. leftwing says:

    “I guess you could say, their staunch positions on automatic weapons, like these near machine guns is, “backfiring?””

    tsk, tsk…hitting those illicit, illogical news feeds again, huh?

    Automatic weapons have been illegal for citizens in the US for some while now.

    There is no realistic debate on that topic.

    There is no such thing as a ‘near machine gun’ except among those trying to taint a reasonable debate with hot button terms.

    The weapon either fires continuously with one pull of the trigger (automatic), or it doesn’t (semi or single shot). Pretty straightforward.

    Facts matter.

  56. Juice Box says:

    Who thinks there isn’t a gun stance issue in the Democratic party?

    I am talking about Philly for example, their progressive democrat District Attorney Larry Krasner has deprioritized gun possession charges for offenders aged 18 to 25 years old. He says that gun possession laws fuel racial disparities and mass incarceration. At the very same time nationally Democrats are arguing more forcefully than ever for stricter gun laws than ever?

    BTW nice Dashboard Larry has up see link below, diversions and dismissed means the cases were dropped. Click on the firearms tab, they are letting most of the illegal gun possession off.

    For the first few months of 2022 massive increase in arrests for firearms possession. 523 arrests
    284 dismissed

    That is crazy, click on the + sign and look at the data folks, gun crime and arrests in Philly have skyrocketed and they are letting a huge amount of these perps back onto the street.

    https://data.philadao.com/Case_Outcomes_Report.html

  57. chicagofinance says:

    You keep a strong eye on the Ten again. I saw 304 out of the corner of my eye. So we make a run at 325 again? How about 400?

    Friday is CPI……

  58. Libturd says:

    Was just about to post the same thing, ya long hoser.

  59. Juice Box says:

    CPI Friday and PPI on Tuesday the 14th… Who is buying with all the bad news coming.

    BTW the $4.00 Philly crème cheese blocks are now on sale at Shoprite, they moved it to the sale section for $2.50. The English muffins? Thomas English on sale approx. $2 a pack. Need to clear it out before it all goes bad as people seem to be buying the store brand instead.

    Chi from the other day. Yes that Shoprite is the old Sears a massive footprint, they bought it outright Eddie Lampert so I hear. The parking garage at Riverview Medical is named after the family. Saker ShopRites, have a lock down here to a certain degree and all are massive stores..

    ShopRite of Aberdeen
    ShopRite of Bayville
    ShopRite of Belmar
    ShopRite of Bordentown
    ShopRite of Boundbrook
    ShopRite of Branchburg
    ShopRite of Bricktown
    ShopRite of East Brunswick
    ShopRite of East Windsor
    ShopRite of Edison
    ShopRite of Ernston Rd.
    ShopRite of Ewing
    ShopRite of Fischer Bay
    ShopRite of Freehold
    ShopRite of Hamilton
    ShopRite of Hamilton Square
    ShopRite of Hazlet
    ShopRite of Howell
    ShopRite of Jackson
    ShopRite of Lacey
    ShopRite of Manahawkin
    ShopRite of Manchester
    ShopRite of Marlboro
    ShopRite of Mercer
    ShopRite of Middletown
    ShopRite of Montgomery
    ShopRite of Neptune
    ShopRite of North Brunswick
    ShopRite of Pennington
    ShopRite of Piscataway
    ShopRite of Route. 37 (Toms River)
    ShopRite of Shrewsbury
    ShopRite of Somerville
    ShopRite of South Brunswick
    ShopRite of South Plainfield
    ShopRite of Wall
    ShopRite of Waretown
    ShopRite of West Long Branch
    ShopRite of Woodbridge

  60. Libturd says:

    I think “semi” is really the problem. It is possible that when the 2nd amendment was written, the concept of semi-“automatic” was not even in the realm of plausibility. I mean, the first automatic weapon was invented in 1887 and not mass marketed until 1913. Not trying to play politics here at all. It’s clear what an automatic weapon is needed for. Defending against other automatic weapons. That’s it. Let the cops have them and leave it at that. Get caught with them, severe penalties. Leave everything else alone. Since clearly, everything else is ALSO working so well.

    And yes, the 2nd amendment needs to be amended. Next, we’ll be allowing people their own personal nuclear, bio, and chemical weapons. Why? The 2nd amendment.

    “A well regulated Militia, being necessary to the security of a free State, the right of the people to keep and bear Arms, shall not be infringed.”

  61. JCer says:

    Juice the democrat position is clear, guns for the criminals but not for the law abiding citizens……there is no inconsistency these are their policies.

    I saw it first hand 5 years ago in traffic court in Jersey City, the prosecutor tossed all kinds of charges for a guy smoking a joint at 4am driving the wrong way down a one way street at 40 mph and threw the book at a janitor who was speeding because he was late to work, this is the reality of the democrat party both people were minorities(you can guess which types) but effectively received the same penalty despite the difference in their crime and the fact that one was almost certainly a gang banger. White liberals are insane…

  62. NYC Director says:

    ChiFi, – Impressive! – My roots are Albanian, as well. Hail from Ulcinj in Montenegro. Have you ever visited Durres?

  63. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Scary for the economy. Getting paid, but what are you producing. Click on the link for the video of the girls. Good for them, but bad for the economy.

    “The fact that apparently like 50% of our national economy is now this (girls with BAs working a pretend email job that pays them 60k a year to swim in the pool and go to sephora) has lowkey got me a little nervous”

    https://twitter.com/junker_jo/status/1533489900217065475?s=21&t=KQL68lM1xAiWwEbfq2gi4A

  64. No One says:

    If it works for Kenyan schoolchildren, how about Paterson or Camden kids?
    Follow the science, or follow the teacher union political donations?
    https://bfi.uchicago.edu/working-paper/2022-68/

    We examine the impact of enrolling in schools that employ a highly-standardized approach to education, using random variation from a large nationwide scholarship program. Bridge International Academies not only delivers highly detailed lesson guides to teachers using tablet computers, it also standardizes systems for daily teacher monitoring and feedback, school construction, and financial management. At the time of the study, Bridge operated over 400 private schools serving more than 100,000 pupils. It hired teachers with less formal education and experience than public school teachers, paid them less, and had more working hours per week. Enrolling at Bridge for two years increased test scores by 0.89 additional equivalent years of schooling (EYS) for primary school pupils and by 1.48 EYS for pre-primary pupils. These effects are in the 99th percentile of effects found for at-scale programs studied in a recent survey. Enrolling at Bridge reduced both dispersion in test scores and grade repetition. Test score results do not seem to be driven by rote memorization or by income effects of the scholarship.

  65. Libturd says:

    My only knowledge of Albania is from many of our local pizza joints. Always wondered why the Mama would wear a babushka. Didn’t realize so many are Muslim.

  66. leftwing says:

    ByS, just quoting Liz Cheney’s description of her family history. I suppose her privilege also extends to longevity if five generations back put her predecessors in the Civil War…

    And, as I seem wont to do, I need to correct your characterization of the Repubs as ‘my’ party. I have never been a member of either mainstream party (with the possible exception of once where I changed affiliation to be able to vote in a primary and then switched back immediately thereafter).

    Romney, McCain, Bush, Cheney…not representative of me. At all. Nor are the professional political class of the Dems. Wash them all out.

  67. leftwing says:

    “Lib – Did you say old? These are glue on…”

    Only a matter time…moving from cheap plastic house to even cheaper styrofoam ones…what’s next, straight to biodegradable cardboard for exteriors? Lol.

  68. JCer says:

    pumps, they are paper pushers, I know exactly what they do, the vast majority of “PM’s” are glorified secretaries, they are tracking things sending emails and generally annoying people. By and large they could operate anywhere with only an iPhone. Very likely they are being paid much more than 60k, the key part of their job is reporting to management what the designers and developers are actually doing and that probably only happens once a week or less frequently. Large companies often carry excess staff that provides little value, these women likely could be eliminated with better process and procedure as their job requires very little thought but the executives are used to carrying an army of PM’s, they clearly work for a bank.

  69. Libturd says:

    The only thing that is clear about the two parties is that there will never again be any compromise. Hence the need for a third party with rational centric positions, which too will never happen.

    Both parties are so afraid that if you give an inch, you will lose a mile. The problem is, it’s forcing legislation to the extremes. Legislation that is not wanted by the majority of the population (and I’m not talking the blue majority which will probably always own the general election). Whether it be abortion or semi or fully automatic weapons (stop with the semantics defense please already), the vast majority wants a reasonable position. As a country, we can no longer get there. I’m fairly certain, our forefathers did not want it this way.

  70. grim says:

    We’ve been talking about Montclair underpricing homes to force multiple bid scenarios for just about forever now.

    The reason those homes sell for ### over list isn’t at all representative of demand, it’s representative of incredibly low “list” prices.

  71. Juice Box says:

    I was near Albania once at night while out on the Adriatic sea headed north on a cruise ship. All I could see was darkness along the coast and wondered why everyone keeping their lights off at night? All I could think of was Dracula’s Castle was out there somewhere nearby in the Balkans and everyone was hiding from him with the lights off, but then I realized Bram Stoker was just an Irish author and they were just poor. I went to sleep and woke up in Dubrovnik Croatia with quite a hangover the next day.

  72. Bystander says:

    Hey JCer, let’s go back to Dick Cheney arrested for two DUIs in a year at 22. Who is dangerous? Pretty pathetic argument..really.

  73. grim says:

    We must have had a post on this in the late 2000s.

    eBay effect and bidding wars.

  74. Juice Box says:

    re: “it’s representative of incredibly low list”

    Nah it’s the crown moldings, cast iron radiators and character of the town plus the 10 minute commute to NYC.

  75. grim says:

    Who the hell was that agency that started all of that in Montclair – I can’t for the life of me remember the name. They were on Valley I think.

  76. Libturd says:

    I almost became a PM. Phew. Great description JCer. They are organized babysitters. No more, no less. All of the LEAN, 6-Sigma, PM bullshit tried to legitimize their need. Truth is, you end up bending the data to fit the outcome. A good manager knows not to shoot from the hip. They are already using the majority of the principles espoused by these PI plans. Though, where most management suck is in the “continual improvement” step in the process loop. It’s almost always, set it and forget it.

  77. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Big difference there, buddy. Kenyan children are hungry to learn. Nothing is wrong with the education system here, what’s wrong is people like you that are trying to destroy the public education system in the name of not 100% perfect results due to your libertarian wet dream of small govt.

    No One says:
    June 6, 2022 at 12:29 pm
    If it works for Kenyan schoolchildren, how about Paterson or Camden kids?

  78. Libturd says:

    I remember them too. Forgot the name also. What happened to them? And yes, the bidding war thing is not exclusive to Montclair, though it is limited to towns with great desire.

  79. JCer says:

    Left, those moldings are rigid foam, actually a very good product, quite strong and literally they never degrade, the glue will fail long before the molding will, it doesn’t rot, split or warp and is dimensionally stable. The product is fine but a lot of times the DIY installation leaves a lot to be desired.

  80. grim says:

    BURGDORFF

  81. grim says:

    SCHWEPPE

  82. grim says:

    I can’t believe I just pulled that out.

  83. Libturd says:

    I was thinking Schweppe.

    It’s now an Amy Owens and Keller Williams town.

  84. leftwing says:

    “It’s clear what an automatic weapon is needed for. Defending against other automatic weapons. That’s it. Let the cops have them and leave it at that. Get caught with them, severe penalties. Leave everything else alone.”

    Good, then we’re done. At the status quo. Because automatic weapons have been illegal for citizens for some time.

    “…fully automatic weapons (stop with the semantics defense please already)…”

    Not semantics. Law. Legislation. Facts. JCF you of all people should know words matter.

    So if conflating two similar but distinct items is inconsequential…

    How about you trade your multi straight up for one in Orange…wait, what, those two proximate towns are in fact not the same and quite different? Whoda thunk?

  85. JCer says:

    I’ve been to Albania, it’s a messed up country, Hoxha really did a number on those people. They are still recovering from communist rule, he was potentially a bigger monster than Stalin who is often forgotten because Albania is a relatively insignificant country.

  86. The Great Pumpkin says:

    What worries me is how do these paper pushers learn skills to move up. Losing years of learning experience

    JCer says:
    June 6, 2022 at 12:35 pm
    pumps, they are paper pushers,

  87. Libturd says:

    I’m using Stanton as I we know the owners daughter really well and she is incredibly smart and shares a lot of our political views of Montclair as well. She also agrees that the ship is probably turning. Find me another realtor who will admit that to you.

  88. The Great Pumpkin says:

    It’s going to hurt the economy, that’s for sure. Bunch of former 20
    Somethings with no valuable skills in their 30s to contribute to the economy because they never had the chance to learn.

  89. Libturd says:

    Here’s the question. Do we need semi-automatic weapons? If so, what for? Honest question for someone who believes in the right to bear arms and would be adamant about making sure that right is preserved.

  90. leftwing says:

    “All of the LEAN, 6-Sigma, PM bullshit tried to legitimize their need.”

    Said it before, will say it again….stay away from any profession with a job description that relies on an acronym that delineates nothing more than common sense…no good will come of that employ long term.

    “Here’s the question. Do we need semi-automatic weapons?”

    I’ll answer if you do first….why ban them? Not one single child that passed would have survived that shooting had the perpetrator possessed a handgun or double barrel shotguns instead…so why are you so intent on banning them? You are proposing going to single shot pistols?

  91. Bystander says:

    Need some definitions here.:

    PM(O) – project management organization who over-does reporting and metrics to show upper mgt how valuable they are while never looking at admin burden downstream.
    PM – project manager – could be a useless box ticker or valuable person who actually follows up to ensure requirements are vetted, issues resolved, tech team delivering and UAT concludes. It does not happen on its own magically. Really depends on organizational structure. Banks in bad shape really need people to manage their change, particularly when regulators involved. Citi is bad shape as example.
    PM – product manager – same as above except sells themself as digital product SME to older business dinosaurs within Agile environment, whatever that means. They leave hard work to product owners and scrum masters then take credit on delivery. They get paid $250K in NYC.

  92. leftwing says:

    chi, interesting family history. saw the bond yields move. fun week or so upcoming.

  93. Juice Box says:

    I was going to say…. Sue Adler but wrong train line….She was big on the commute from Millburn, Summit etc aka Midtown-Direct Train Line Towns….

  94. Ex says:

    Amgen stock. Lord! Roller coaster.

  95. Ex says:

    Burghdorff lady told me in 2002 that “if” I wanted to live in Montclair, be ready for a bidding war.

  96. Libturd says:

    shorturl.at/gwDKO SFW

  97. Juice Box says:

    re: “two parties”

    As much as we think politics is bad here just look across the pond.

    Right now in London there is a secret ballot happening to oust Boris Johnson. The ruling party the conservatives are the only ones voting and he may be out as his popularity has waned quite a bit. Imagine if we could kick a president with only one party voting?

  98. Libturd says:

    Leftwing,

    Yes. Only handguns and non automatic rifles. If shooter has to stop and reload, someone will jump him in the process, I would hope. Yeah, probably not.

  99. Bystander says:

    leftwing,

    Acronyms are all we have to delineate getting paid well vs. getting paid shite. That is most professions. How many actually need MBA to do what they do? It is marketing, plain and simple. Certified Agile scrum master..no, no…we need Agile Safe expert now…and the world keeps turning.

  100. JCer says:

    pumps there is an army of paper pushers, my wife accidentally was interviewing for a job that involved basically running the PMO, she was very confused as they were going to give her a staff of 30 people and a 400k salary to essential prepare statuses for senior management at an investment bank. Suffice it to say my wife does not think much of PM’s especially ones in a PMO. To bystander’s point there are PM’s who really do move the ball forward they are just few and far between and in general in a PMO are not differentiated in any way, basically the PMO’s role is to perpetuate the PMO so actual success/failure is not really considered in the employee’s individual performance.

    Our society has lots of jobs that provide little real value yet perpetuate, these ladies I’m sure have a bright career ahead buried somewhere in the bowels of a bank or government entity, where market forces are suppressed enough to allow such inefficiency. What they have to worry about is what happens when discretionary projects get cut in a recession and everyone just goes into keep the lights on mode. Management “consultants” are another group where very rarely do they provide value remotely close to their bill rate.

  101. JCer says:

    Juice, England…try italy, so many parties that it’s a free for all with alliances like something out of a soap opera and some MP’s are literally strippers.

  102. Juice Box says:

    Yup the underpricing concept to get a bidding war going, less advertising costs for the Realtor and quick commissions.

    From the archives…. link in comment does not work anymore.

    Post crash Burgdorff/Coldwell Banker merge..

    “Burgdorff Montclair most always charged a flat fee of 6% and gave co operating agents 2.5%, keeping 3.5% for themselves. This, while underpricing homes to “sell for more than the asking”. The concept behind this was one of profit for the company. Less advertising costs and a fast commission coming in with “multiple bids”. This went off base in this economic downturn, where correctly pricing a house is difficult and keeping a deal together a challenge. If the house came back on the market because of building inspection issues or mortgage/appraising problems, it was difficult to get that original sale price back. Often homes had to be “readjusted down” to get the original momentum back up, which upset homeowners as they thought the original price too low to begin with.”

    Post at 10:25 AM

    https://njrereport.com/index.php/2009/07/10/not-to-worry-the-crisis-is-contained/

  103. leftwing says:

    So current pistols with clips of say six rounds are OK or not?

    And again, absolutely nothing in your statement supports your argument…you ‘hope’ that someone would intervene…

    here’s an idea…

    How about we first enact laws that actually make sense toward the goal we are trying to achieve…ie, my former business partner cannot take his 20 year old, $25k, side by side Holland & Holland shotgun OUT of Manhattan due to NYC gun laws…read that correctly, we are not talking about bringing something into Manhattan, current NYC long gun laws prohibit him from taking it OUT of the city….OK…..

    Then, how about we actually enforce the laws we have in place…coming off someone’s Philadelphia data above how can criminals illegally in possession of firearms get a walk while at the same time you want to take away firearms from the 99.999994% of the population using them legally and responsibly?

    Don’t come for my shit unless and until your own house is in order…fucking nothing more dangerous than a liberal with a control agenda.

  104. JCer says:

    Oh and let not forget one of their major political parties is run by a comedian. too many parties can be a problem as well. So far we know single party states are bad, it sounds like 2 party isn’t good and have tons of parties is bad. Maybe the problem is politicians?

  105. JCer says:

    Left, that is the modern democrat platform. Restrictions for the law abiding but criminals can run amok with impunity. They keep decrying gun violence when somehow the most gun restricted cities on earth have the most gun crime. From a logical standpoint it makes no sense, much like Trudeau’s gun grab in Canada, a place that has exceedingly little gun crime.

  106. leftwing says:

    “Acronyms are all we have to delineate getting paid well vs. getting paid shite.”

    Totally disagree. My prior statement stands…if your specific job description requires an acronym that is nothing more than common sense it will not end well….

    Plenty of well paying performance based jobs not requiring the obvious and self-evident being codified for those too incompetent to figure it out…

  107. Libturd says:

    Left,

    No clips, no magazines. 6 in the chambers or a single in a rifle. Who needs more? We really need to redefine what most law abiding citizens have guns for. And yes, enforce the rules too. Maybe put a huge sin tax on guns to pay for the illegal gun users prison sentences. Better yet, but the huge sin tax on the bullets.

  108. Libturd says:

    Problem is politicians playing politics over what is best for the majority.

  109. SmallGovConservative says:

    Bystander says:
    June 6, 2022 at 10:00 am
    “As opposed to Rs calling it a ‘black problem’. Geez, your party is purely insane.”

    It’s almost pathetic at this point to watch Dem dead-enders like Bi and Lib shrieking about guns (and abortion) in an attempt to divert attention from the disastrous Biden admin — and Dem governance more generally. As exemplified by Musk’s recent abandonment of the Dem party, I suspect that the already small number of men that continue to vote D is rapidly dwindling, and the transition of the old, somewhat moderate Democrat party into a radically leftist and unhinged Femocrat party, is well underway. I further suspect that Bi and Lib’s wailing is their way of reconciling the fact that they’re among the few remaining toxically-feminized men who are willing to continue to support incompetent and otherwise unelectable Dems like Joe Biden and Kamala Harris.

  110. Bystander says:

    Those ladies are nothing but low paid assistants masquerading as product managers. Email jockeys who sit on a meeting then provide updates on progress or lack thereof. Go be the person who tries to solve it. That is what a PM should get paid to do but most orgs want to monkey around with pretty power-point slides. I work with business group who sells a major app rewrite as 1 year (if universe aligned BS) and now heading into year 4. Upper management provides the money each year. When you remove time and cost bound nature of projects then you will have mostly have weak delivery and weak people.

  111. JCer says:

    Left, you don’t understand because Bystander is coming from the banking side which is almost as bloody bad as the government. They live and die by certificates and branding, in the bloated bureaucracy of the big banks all they have is acronyms. The like to break things down into fungible pieces and really dislike when people counter that line of reasoning. Effective teams within these organizations work around all of this nonsense, which is why so many are not and IT projects are always late and way over budget.

  112. leftwing says:

    OK, so we’ll tax alcohol through the roof with the proceeds of that special tax going to incarcerate and treat DWI offenders and reimburse victims….

    Don’t forget the fast food tax, double at least the price of that whopper, since those proceeds need to cover CAD and other heart ailments…I hear RD is tacking on a 40% rate to their briskets just for that purpose….

    And to the efficacy of your proposed law? Bringing two pistols and two additional clips would have been infinitely easier for the shooter and just as lethal…the failure there was not one of gun design but purely a breakdown of existing rules, best practices, and common sense by humans entrusted to do so….

    What you propose has no demonstrable chance whatsoever of altering the outcome of that shooting. It is pointless, and totally political.

  113. Bystander says:

    A whiff of man-a$$ must have entered the air as someone showed up with his anti-women tirade again. You don’t like women, small…we get it.

  114. Juice Box says:

    loosey-goosey guns are the problem in the cities.

    Straw buyers bringing them in from other states with lax laws and well there are several hundred thousand guns stolen from law abiding gun owners every year. Several Hundred thousand we know about.. That is allot of weapons making it onto the streets. For example the city of Philly alone reports over 1,000 gun thefts every year for legal gun owners.

    I don’t see how they can fix that anytime soon.

  115. Libturd says:

    Leftwing,

    Like I said at the beginning. Better to accept that the chance of your kid getting blown away COD style at school is very small, than to waste any money whatsoever on preventing it.

    Here’s a solution. Fuck the constitution. Just get rid of all weapons and put them only in the hands of the military and police.

    Problem solved.

    It’s not like we could ever organize a militia anyway. Specially not a “fit” one.

    It would look more like this.

    https://cnn.it/3NU6FIr

    Talking about an unhinged party.

  116. Bystander says:

    left,

    You can disagree but it is the truth. Go read job descriptions out there and you will see companies want lots of acronyms. You will get rejected from AI hiring software. This is the new norm. Now once you get in then I agree that common sense and performance should matter.

  117. JCer says:

    bystander, you need to get out of the banks. The issue in the banks are too many silos which is why they have PM’s in the first place, which is also why agile is such a sh*t show in the banks. You integrate the teams from infrastructure to development to project management and you drive success by aligning the incentive structure and the metrics of success. Furthermore applying time and money pressure does nothing but detrimental things to a project, you need to give some time and space for people to create. You need the people with vision to drive the project, the ones who see what it should look like and what it should do both technically and functionally.

  118. JCer says:

    Juice as indicated before willingness to violate gun laws makes gun laws obsolete. We are not Europe or Asia, we have a big porous border with Mexico, a place run by cartels you make guns illegal and they just open a new line of business. We are talking about 19th century technology here, it would be exceedingly difficult to ban it and heck if you are getting an illegal weapon why not get a fully automatic one?

  119. Juice Box says:

    There is an election tomorrow, school is open and the parents on Facebook are now being crazy as well there will be adults voting while the kids are in school. Apparently Gov Murphy snuck in a new law this year? No law enforcement allowed 100 ft from a polling place usually a school.

    https://www.nj.com/politics/2022/01/nj-bans-police-at-polling-stations-in-new-law-advocates-say-prevents-voter-intimidation.html

    We just voted to have armed retired police as security in our schools full time. I am not for that necessarily as a retired barney has never stopped a school shooting as far as I know. Seems to be a bit of a false sense of security. When is the last time armed security stopped any shooting in a school or even a bank?

  120. leftwing says:

    “Like I said at the beginning. Better to accept that the chance of your kid getting blown away COD style at school is very small, than to waste any money whatsoever on preventing it.”

    And I disagree with that….

    Maybe you missed your SMILE, AGILE, KPI, SME and whatever-the-fuck else certifications to get you to a point of identifying the problem one is trying to solve and then discerning the most effective pathway.

    There are approximately 100,000 public school buildings in the US. There are approximately 95 million men aged 15-59. There are approximately 400 million guns in civilian hands.

    If we want to minimize school shootings which avenue do you believe presents the most efficient pathway? Controlling 400 million units of something? Somehow within other constitutional strictures identifying the eight or so individuals of 95 million people total who annually perpetrate such crimes? Or maybe – just maybe – going exactly to the location of what one is trying to protect and hardening the 100,000 discrete potential targets?

    Quick, find me a PMO….

    JFC guys, just drop the pretense of logic and honest debate and flat out state you personally don’t like something and just want to impose your will and view on others. Man up to that at least.

  121. leftwing says:

    “You can disagree but it is the truth.”

    Not disagreeing, just offering an alternative.

    Why would any competent person want to work for an organization that believes their workforce needs a flow chart for common sense?

    If your potential employer tells you even before you are hired “we employ at a level such that people need to be instructed and certified in these matters” they are telling you right up front the quality of employ they are offering. Run. Run fast.

  122. Bystander says:

    JCer,

    My last bank, before this horseshit one, was under government support and selling assets to get out of US. It was the best place I ever worked. No visionary non-sense. We were there to accomplish things. The vision was to sell the portfolio, close entities and reduce cost. I got to see inner-workings of everything FORT (finance ops risk tech) because we just needed to get it done. I look at the guy at my son’s school who got let go from startup and now job less. Banking sucks..but it is stable for now. I am thankful not to jump on crypto or BNPL bullshit which was 90% of job pitches. I had interview with BetMGM for pay was below my current salary. I would go there if right offer came or perhaps solid utilities looking to grow. I won’t get hired at small boutique investment firms. Too old.

  123. chicagofinance says:

    I’ve needed my MBA almost every second since 1997.

    Bystander says:
    June 6, 2022 at 1:20 pm
    How many actually need MBA to do what they do? It is marketing, plain and simple.

  124. chicagofinance says:

    The wife of my good friend is from Ulcinj. From what I’ve seen, the former Yugoslav republic Albanian diaspora are far more religious than everyone in the motherland. I guess it was all whitewashed out of them. She must have been a model when she was younger. Tall, smart and super-friendly. It wouldn’t surprise me if you knew her. For all I know you are her brother-in-law.

    NYC Director says:
    June 6, 2022 at 12:19 pm
    ChiFi, – Impressive! – My roots are Albanian, as well. Hail from Ulcinj in Montenegro. Have you ever visited Durres?

  125. Fast Eddie says:

    As exemplified by Musk’s recent abandonment of the Dem party, I suspect that the already small number of men that continue to vote D is rapidly dwindling, and the transition of the old, somewhat moderate Democrat party into a radically leftist and unhinged Femocrat party, is well underway.

    The democrat party no longer exists. Even guys like Bill Maher and Jim Carrey are saying the democrats are a bunch of goofy lunatics. Their platform has become rights for pregnant men, debates on which bathroom to use for each of the newly-discovered 57 genders, freedom to loot and switching real science with political science. They used to be blue collar, kick-your-ass guys that are now blush collar, metro acolytes… a collection of angry misfit muffin muppets. Remember when Trump got elected in 2016? Madonna was going to blow up the White House, Hillary said “resist” which was code for “attack” and some senators were calling for physically confronting conservatives anywhere and everywhere. November 8th, 2022.

  126. chicagofinance says:

    Also, never set foot in Albania. Super sad story. I hope one day to make amends with my history.

  127. Bystander says:

    left,

    It just seems like perhaps you have worked at the mouth and never the stomach or worse, assh*le of finance. If you have heavy SME layoffs, tight regulation, light documentation, India support and no training budget then lots of flow charts are needed. There are things called target operating models and responsibility matrices. Why? Because people will fight doing something and it usually falls out of the sky looking for a name at the last minute

  128. NJGator says:

    Y’all think Cloverhill is a big deal and you’re sleeping on this.

    $1.15M to live steps away from East Orange and near a former super fund site.

    10+ years ago Lib wanted to buy a modest ranch further north on this street for under $400k. He wanted to put a 2nd floor on it and completely renovate into a brand new house. Realtor at the time discouraged him and said “You don’t want to own the only $600k home on a $400k block.” That advice didn’t age very well.

    https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/26-Midland-Ave-Glen-Ridge-NJ-07028/38654836_zpid/

  129. JCer says:

    Bystander, the question is what are you trying to do? Technology exists to solve problems….what are the problems? How do we solve them? Where is the value add? How do we keep what we build running and relevant going forward and what is that going to require in manpower and $? Who is going to fund it and why? You need a product owner and technology owner who really know the answers to these questions and even know what questions to ask. 99% of these technology projects fail because they are rudderless, there is no vision(right or wrong) for what they are building and it is being decided by committees that have different priorities and ideas about what they are building and why. Banks have a nasty habit of starting a big project, spending s whack of money, never finishing it and then leaving it for dead to move on to the next burning need. For the most part for the last 5 years banks have been focused solely on cutting spend so regulatory projects are the only things being funded.

    Dude stability is why I do this garbage, I know everyone and everything is bloody incompetent. I do what they ask me to do, I help them figure out how to do what needs to be done and collect my check, I’m also will to push back if they ask for too much, I’m not going to work 12 hours a day for them. Just so you are aware banks and specifically your bank thinks nothing of laying people off, I remember being there in 2007 or 08 and at one point I was sitting on vacant floor as literally everyone around me had been laid off, they had something like 18 rounds of layoffs but if you’re the guy who keeps things running or that’s the perception, they will not eliminate you.

    I have a tendency to make things run smoothly, I “fixed” my old system to the point where when I left your firm it was running without intervention and when I was on boarded as vendor my old manager was asking me how to build the code as they had been running the system without the ability to build the code or set it up locally for a DECADE. When I started working on the system it would fail on weekly basis. I think they finally decomm’d it as the replacement they were working on for the last decade was now ready to fully replace it but it was such a disaster they were buying my product to replace the replacement.

  130. NJGator says:

    Here are the pics for 26 Midland.

    https://www.realtor.com/realestateandhomes-detail/26-Midland-Ave_Glen-Ridge_NJ_07028_M57366-06360

    The home was purchased for $380k in April 2021 and expanded and completely redone.

  131. JCer says:

    Chi, in Albanian Hoxha pretty much banned religion, it simply was not allowed, especially after some fighting between Muslims and Christians, the communists closed almost every house of worship in the 1960’s. In contrast Tito was much more permissive than most communist leaders and all religions were permitted in Yugoslavia. That is why Albanians are largely secular.

  132. JCer says:

    Gator, that’s a NYer special. People coming from the city are oblivious to questionable locations and seem to pay a mint for smaller uber renovated spaces. It’s comical they’ll pass over a great house because it has a dated kitchen but they’ll buy that abortion for over a million because it is “move in ready”. The city folks are so detached from reality they’ll pay hundreds of thousands extra like it’s nothing.

  133. Bystander says:

    Ed,

    When did Madonna attack? I must have missed it. Did she attack them with her and Lourdes body hair?

  134. Hold my beer says:

    I went to a flea market over the weekend and was last there in October. Parking has gone from $5 to $10. The stuffed potato lunch was $10. I think it was $8 last year.

  135. Hold my beer says:

    Elfast

    Where the rest of the house with the 3 handle? Those expensive dumpy Jersey houses make me feel sad. Especially when they sell for a lot more than the list price

  136. Bystander says:

    JCer,

    Wholly agree. Why do I think most IT projects fail? Because the business owners always want to do less work and the system to do more – but really it means someone else has to do more work or technology has to add massive complexity with ETL feed integrations or BPM business flows which are not easily solved. To me, external dependencies are the killer. Can I source it? Nope, that master security data lake is a year away…now two years. Want to simplify this process down to a few steps. Oh, that means have to rewrite entire regulatory feed with retest. Like clockwork..every project.

  137. No One says:

    I’m still using stuff I learned at my NYU Stern MBA 20 years ago.
    Both academic stuff, (finance, econ, strategy, statistics, marketing) and presentation skills that were sharpened.
    You get out of school what you put in to school. I took classes about things that I’d already been doing in my career, and which I thought would sharpen my skills more down the line in my career.
    If you treat it as just a certificate, that’s all it will turn out to be.
    Same for the CFA program.

  138. JCer says:

    Bystander, all the banks are now jumping on the “data office” concept because of this. The issue is one of management not really understanding technology and then failing to listen to their experts. They want to eliminate people but are never satisfied with a good hybrid solution, the buzzword now is ML/AI/etc and they think this is the answer to their problems without really understanding what it would take to get the system to the level where people are not involved, execs think of this like the easy button without understand the ML model needs to be trained after it is built with a lot of data in order to work correctly. They also have gone away from building and want to piece things together they buy, how many are building their “data lakes” on some crap vendor MDM products, integration is far worse than a build but the management hasn’t figured this out yet. How many are still doing largely manual testing. Your firm loves BPM tools, it’s crap, hire competent people and you become a lot less reliant on that garbage.

    You aren’t really talking about where they waste most of the money to the detriment of running their business, which is the new build wholesale system replacements. Liek the never ending data lake projects, which is at least a step in the right direction because before they’d fund the immediate business demands without considering core functions like data which were resource starved for many years.

  139. No One says:

    I remember when my wife and I moved to NJ in 1998, East Orange in the apartment guide map looked like the perfect location. She was working in Berkeley Heights, I expected to find work in NYC. East Orange was on the train line right in between both, and the apartment rent was very reasonable compared to the other places. What’s not to like?
    Found out on our first train ride from Summit to NYC, looking out the window going past East Orange looked like Beirut after a bomb, or some other disaster crime zone. So we never looked at any East Orange apartments, instead stayed a couple of years at an aging Short Hills apartment complex next to the Kings.

  140. Very Stable Genius says:

    Breaking News:

    Five members of the Proud Boys, including the group’s former leader, were charged with seditious conspiracy for their roles in the Jan. 6 riot.

  141. Bystander says:

    In other breaking news, don’t watch the first episode of The Boys, season 3 without a bucket next to you. I have seen some foul stuff but they make have eclipsed it.

  142. Libturd says:

    Leftwing,

    I’ve identified the problem.

    Our constitution has a big mistake in it. At the time of the 13 colonies and with the recent escape from oppressive European governments fresh in the mind of the formerly oppressed, they created the 2nd amendment so we could overthrow our government if it became like the ones they escaped from. And at the time, our military, the Continental Army, had 22,000 troops. Of course, this army was dissolved and the closest thing to represent a U.S. military was the 5K member Legion in the 1790s built to kill Native Americans (oh no, my man pussy is showing). So the 2nd Amendment gave the right to the 4 million to assemble and take over the mostly demilitarized country. For all of the 1700s, in New England, guns accounted for 74 of the 480 homicides (IN TOTAL). In 1776, there were a total of 4 gun-related homicides among a population of 2.4 million. I’ll be nice and we’ll say, the total was 8 in America, although the vast population lived in New England. So the homicide rate was 1 in 300K. In 2020, even with the pandemic (low number year, but last I can get data on) the homicide rate was 1 in 7K. Yes, it’s that high!

    So let me honestly proclaim, if our forefathers had any idea that a musket or handgun would be replaced by semi automatic weapons that can theoretically fire 138 rounds per minute, they might have thought twice about it.

    So as much as I support guns for self defense (now) and for hunting (forever), it is simply not worth the 54K deaths that occur each year due to them, nor the 1 in 7,000 chance that someone will die from them.

    We’d be a lot better off without them. It’s hard to argue against that.

    So let’s hear some well defined arguments for semi-automatic weapons that can fire more than three bullets per second and with quick magazine changes, 138 a minute. Then there are bump stocks that take them up to 600 rounds per minute. So what exactly do we need these for? I know that four of the five most deadliest mass shooting in America involved them. Heck, the mad Vegas shooter even had fully automatic weapons.

  143. No One says:

    I’m tired of the excess of “superhero” shows and of woke shows. Looks like “The Boys” is trying to be both.
    “Not only does The Boys season three take fearless swings at everything from socio-economic oppression to whiny white men crying about cancel culture, but it does so with a precision that makes joke after joke, scene after scene, glory kill after glory kill, land like a knockout punch. Whether it’s a massacre featuring a MAGA-inspired dildo or straight-up calling Lindsey Graham a “gooch licker,” The Boys doesn’t give a fuck about pissing off the wrong people.”
    https://www.avclub.com/the-boys-season-3-tv-review-prime-video-1849006548

    I don’t think this reviewer person understands the meaning of “fearless” or “pissing off the wrong people”. Wow, criticizing white males, MAGA, and Lindsey Graham, that’s so daring in Hollywood! Not! Sounds like stale, conventional wokeness instead. I wonder if the writers of the show have been watching “The Daily Show” and SNL for their news and worldview inspiration for maybe the last 20 years.

  144. Libturd says:

    And no, the copout that we don’t enforce the current rules is not a valid argument. I wish nearly every single law on the books were followed.

    Since the police aren’t arresting gangbangers, we should all buy guns. I mean, as well as people driving over 65mph are not being pulled over, we should all just drive as fast as our cars can go.

  145. Chicago says:

    Here is a post from the Next Door website. This passage is so much the Jersey stereotype. I don’t know what is funnier, the post itself, or the 20 odd earnest responses that followed. I only posted the original. Is this a joke?

    Cassville/Jackson • 1 day ago

    Anyone know what to do? My kid brother Salvatore is in town from Brooklyn and was stung by a wasp during supper. I was grilling up some burgers with peppers and onions and he got stung. No pharmacies are open at this time but he is starting to develop a rash on the good half of his arm. I’ve never been attacked by one of those disgusting creatures so I don’t know what ointment to get him. Anyone have suggestions?

    Posted

  146. Libturd says:

    I would have stopped at my kid brother Salvatore.

  147. Bystander says:

    “Wow, criticizing white males, MAGA, and Lindsey Graham”

    True. You might enjoy the Righteous Gemstones for a solid conservative religious family.

  148. leftwing says:

    “…it is simply not worth the 54K deaths that occur each year due to them, nor the 1 in 7,000 chance that someone will die from them. We’d be a lot better off without them. It’s hard to argue against that.”

    Consecutive sentences. Your conclusion is simply a statement that is not supported by your argument…which means by definition it is nothing but opinion. But I don’t need to tell you, that is the reason you put the ‘hard to argue against’ disclaimer at the end to discourage analysis.

    The ‘ratio’ of guns to deaths as an argument is irrelevant and, worse, totally unsupported especially given the two centuries elapsed since measurement (c’mon man…). Until and unless you can demonstrate causation – and not simply correlation – you are just cherry picking numbers to support your pre-formed conclusion.

    My pre-formed conclusion – otherwise known as opinion – is that those numbers are worth widespread gun ownership especially when stripping out exogenous deaths like suicides and gangbanger on gangbanger.

    My opinion – again underscoring opinion – is also that the 10,000 DUI auto fatalities each year is an ‘acceptable’ number to continue the legality of alcohol. And so on…

    Opinions differ on all topics among people. Perhaps you find the DUI death rate unacceptable as well. Fine. But…no one’s opinion should be the basis of law.

    On some of the other stuff, of course, ban bump stocks. I believe that already happened, no? Limit magazine size, sure. I don’t care. But as I noted a week ago in these conversations relative lethality is a red herring. It really doesn’t matter. If the goal is stop mass shootings like that in TX the actual characteristics of the weapon aren’t particularly relevant…those 19 children were dead when an active shooter was allowed to walk into the school with a weapon in open view and have free rein for an hour unchallenged. The dead and their families would take no consolation that their child died from a handgun or shotgun rather than a rifle. Still dead.

  149. leftwing says:

    “And no, the copout that we don’t enforce the current rules is not a valid argument.”

    And yes it most certainly is….

    I’m not a sociological petri dish for the bunch of white coated control freaks in your party.

    If law upon law is ineffective against the actual criminals, if law upon law is not enforced, you most certainly DO NOT get the right to further constrict the activities of the 99.999994% of law abiding citizens with more emotional, analytically bereft ideas and opinions.

    Matter of fact, the failure of your current legislative drivel and entire lack of enforcement is Exhibit 1 on why you are specifically and expressly wholly unqualified to have even a say in these matters. You’ve been swinging and missing for decades now. Time to go back to the dugout and have a seat. On many matters, not just guns.

  150. 3b says:

    A lot of African Americans and Hispanics in all the service jobs out in Montauk/ Hamptons. Not so many white kids. I guess it’s beneath many of them.

  151. OC1 says:

    I just got back from a hike in Watchung Reservation. It’s a county park, very popular with the locals. Not remote at all.

    I’m going down the trail (a very well-used trail) and I come across a guy sitting naked on a rock, smoking a joint, while his girlfriend is, umm, “pleasuring” him.

    This was not a remote spot out in the woods, hidden by the trees. The area is wide open- you could see them from 100 ft away in any direction.

    WTF?

    Maybe it was JJ.

  152. 3b says:

    I know a few Muslim Albanians, they were Christians before Muslim. Many converted to get better treatment from their Turkish rulers. The Muslims mix a lot of Christian rituals including praying to Christian saints. Also most don’t do the no pork thing.

  153. OC1 says:

    Also saw a big red fox. Not being pleasured by anyone, as far as I could tell.

  154. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Never had a chance…human nature says so.

    “The resistance to remote work has many facets, including the bottom line: Many organizations have made pricey investments in office real estate, which has led to the creation of vast economic systems that are ultimately reliant on having workers at their desks.

    “I’m trying to fill up office buildings, and I’m telling JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, I’m telling all of them, ‘Listen, I need your people back into office so we can build the ecosystem,’” New York City Mayor Eric Adams said this past week.

    The city, which is heavily reliant on tax revenue from massive midtown offices, recently announced a strict policy of in-person work for city employees.

    “How does that look that city employees are home while I’m telling everyone else it’s time to get back to work?” Adams added. “City employees should be leading the charge of saying, ‘New York can be back.’””

    https://news.yahoo.com/office-monsters-trying-claw-way-144906386.html?.tsrc=daily_mail&uh_test=1_02

  155. The Great Pumpkin says:

    Business travel back…literally the only thing permanently impaired is daily office commuting.

    “NYC IS BACK:
    • Last week, hotel demand hit 95% of pre-pandemic levels — the highest since COVID started
    • Mid-week demand beat weekend demand — showing growth in business travelers
    • Broadway attendance and gross sales were highest since theaters re-opened”

    https://twitter.com/nycmayorsoffice/status/1533939793175928832?s=21&t=s1ynueBmBznCblD7Fyzj4g

  156. PumpkinFace says:

    Let me see if I understand this. People are working remotely more so than before but they are going to Broadway? I thought all those people working from home were chained to their desks. Also, I hope they showered and changed out of their pajamas before going to see a show.

  157. 3b says:

    I learned something new this weekend at a wedding ironically enough. As we know many women are choosing to limit the amount of children they have or not having any at all. For those that announce they are not having children, they have puppy showers, and those invited have can choose gifts from a registry. Insane in my view, but apparently it is a thing.

    The crowd age wise was from Gen Z to Boomers, and for those not retired most of them are all working either remote or hybrid combination, and they all love it. No one wants to be back in the office 5 days a week. For those that do the office the ideal seems to be 3 at home and 2 in the office. There is no going back to the 1950s and antiquated offices. There is simply no need.

  158. grim says:

    I spent 8-9 months deep in data science/ml/analytics/automation.

    It’s an amazing field, what we’re seeing right now is a unique intersection of data and dev, empowered by a host of down right amazing off-the-shelf AI services.

    Even more amazing, are the kids coming out of school, that have EONs more practical data science and ML experience than most tenured staff do. It’s really a paradigm shift. Was interviewing DS candidates and spend as much time with them going through their github repos and doing code walkthrus as I did the rest of the interview.

    That place completely changed my perspective on data and what analytics really was.

    Really considering masters degree #3 in data science (or a DBA in Analytics), just because it’s so god damn amazing what you can do today, when compared to 10 or even 20 years back.

  159. Bystander says:

    OC,

    I will admit it. I was the guy sitting on the rock. Sorry. Just part of my usual routine. I already forgot which girl it was..so many. If there was Dead on in the background then I would probably call it a life at that moment. Does not get any better.

  160. Bystander says:

    Speaking of the Dead..lest anyone think Bob Weir’s greatest gift to mankind was his music, I offer Monet Weir. Holy moly! Brown eyed women, indeed.

    https://www.maxim.com/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/monet-and-bob-weir-promo.png

  161. Juice Box says:

    OC1 – don’t know how old you are but there was a guy on Howard Stern who worked at the Watchung Reservation years ago, and said it it was or is a popular gay cruising spot, mostly closeted married men.

  162. Juice Box says:

    Grim – re: “going through their GitHub repos and doing code walkthroughs”

    Wait until your eyes go. It’s a thing in the 40s if you haven’t experienced it yet called Presbyopia.

    Means I have to put on reading glasses. Just cheaters now 1x but still sucks. because it was always fun sitting at the back of the room and calling out stuff when I had 20/10 vision the older management thought I was a god once too. Nobody is superman….

  163. Juice Box says:

    re: “NYC IS BACK”

    Guy I know who pumps concrete for a living into new high-rises in Manhattan says differently. All those new high-rises built in the last decade or more weren’t for tourists.

  164. Juice Box says:

    Lib and leftwing

    re: gun-related homicides in whatever century. That shit was not reported just like the bear killings happening right now in New Jersey.

    I am not against guns. I am against all people owning them. I have spent plenty of time in flyover, they are conditioned, even in the most liberal places. Spent some time in a car with with a massive 6’7″ husband of my wife’s cousin as we were going to pick up food for a family party. The man had a hand cannon on the front seat, 44 Magnum hunters edition. Claimed it was for protection, and totally legal on the front seat…… I have held plenty of weapons but firing that one will hurt and miss everything.

    There is a common ground here somewhere, not everyone should have guns and well not everyone should have a hand gun cannon or semi auto bump stock.

    And well reality is we are not getting there soon however there is an election coming and well the plebs have no understanding of the debt ceiling or well government spending and really never will. So no hope for gun control….Unless the Dems take the senate who knows how that will go…

  165. crushednjmillenial says:

    Governments in history have seized citizen’s gold. They have seized foreign currency and converted to local and then de-valued it. They have disarmed their populations.

    I am proud that there is widespread support for the Second Amendment in the USA. I’d say the Dems response to recent events shows their hand – they are the anti-gun party but even with Dems in control of the executive and the legislature, they seem to realize the ballot box will revolt if they push too far. So, they are aiming at red flag laws or whatever at the margins.

  166. crushednjmillenial says:

    It’s probably something like 99% of gun homicides in the US are arising from four categories:

    (1) drug-related firearm homicides;
    (2) low socio-economic status (ghetto) inter-personal disputes (including gang violence unrelated to drug trade);
    (3) money-related robberies;
    (4) inter-personal disputes among normal people (guy kills his wife’s lover, guy kills his neighbor over persistent noise complaints, road rage, etc).

    Recent mass shooting episodes are terrible, but statistically a tiny tiny portion of undue mortality in the USA. I posted the other day about this, but legalizing drugs takes a big bite out of the firearm homicides for reasons #1-3 above, in my opinion, because so much of our minority “violent ghetto” sociology comes from the illicit drug trade. Probably the most-effective way to peacefully, quickly and substantially lower the 20K firearm homicides in the USA each year.

  167. leftwing says:

    “…the Watchung Reservation years ago, and said it it was or is a popular gay cruising spot, mostly closeted married men.”

    Haha, I was going to post the same in response to ByS’s comment that he was the one but I figured he may be having a hard day already…

    Even in my lily white town it was well known as a gay cruising spot…and apparently equally indiscrete as several runners were openly propositioned during daytime…

  168. leftwing says:

    Winding down my comments on this topic as we are nearing an end in the road…

    “I am not against guns. I am against all people owning them. I have spent plenty of time in flyover, they are conditioned, even in the most liberal places.”

    Yes. Once again, 99.999994% of weapons are never involved in a mass shooting. Of primary aged males 99.99997% of are not either.

    “There is a common ground here somewhere, not everyone should have guns and well not everyone should have a hand gun cannon or semi auto bump stock.”

    Yes. Once again, it comes down to the person, ie “not everyone”. And, once again, I will go even further and agree regulate/prohibit the weapons and accessories (as opposed to the people) if you want but on a State level. AOC should have no say over gun regulations in WI, and the typical Michigan UP’er should have no say in NYC gun regulations.

    “So no hope for gun control…”

    And…despite your excellent post crushed we end up back here, maybe even subconsciously, conflating ‘gun control’ with ‘gun safety’. It is impossible to state the level of frustration among those 99%+ of responsible gun owners when someone who is near clueless on the topic at hand (most Congressional Dems, Alec Baldwin, etc) inserts their ‘feelings’ and ‘views’ and tries to make them law on a topic about which they know next to nothing…

    And before the resident leftist trolls chime in replace ‘gun control’ with ‘abortion ban’ and I will make (and have here) the same argument.

    Stay the fuck out of my business but if you are going to claim standing over my matters you better have your own house in order, have control of your facts and analysis, and implement it the governmental entity closest to the people (ie, most local).

    Don’t like abortion on demand? Stay out of Manhattan and stay out of their business.

    Don’t like open carry? Stay out of Midland and stay out of their business.

  169. Libturd says:

    To be clear Lefty. Nothing was handpicked. I assumed it, looked it up and the data met my assumptions. 1776 had 4 gun homicides. Most years had none at the time the bill of rights was written. You know me well enough to know that I don’t follow narratives or hand pick data.

    Yes, it’s my opinion. Of course, it is. I tried to present data to support it. There is no way to prove it, but in the. Kurt of common sense.

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