From CNBC:
Pending home sales in April slump to lowest level since the start of the pandemic
Signed sales contracts on existing homes dropped 7.7% in April compared to March, the slowest pace since April 2020, according to the National Association of Realtors.
These so-called pending sales are a forward-looking indicator of closed sales one to two months later. Pending sales were 7.4% lower than in April of last year.
Sales were expected to be flat compared to March.
Since the count is based on signed contracts, it shows how buyers are reacting to mortgage rates in real time. The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage ended March at around 6.9% and then took off, hitting 7.5% by the end of April, according to Mortgage News Daily.
With home prices still climbing and supply very low, leading to increased competition, that jump in rates had a huge effect on sales.
“The impact of escalating interest rates throughout April dampened home buying, even with more inventory in the market,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR. “But the Federal Reserve’s anticipated rate cut later this year should lead to better conditions, with improved affordability and more supply.”
Sales were down in every region of the country, but they fell hardest in the Midwest and West. The former has some of the most affordable markets in the nation, and the latter has some of the most expensive.
…
Perhaps in reaction to the slow sales pace in April, the share of sellers cutting prices in May hit 6.4%, the highest level since 2022, according to a new report from Redfin. The median asking price also dropped for the first time in six months.
Active inventory in April was 30% higher than in April 2023, according to Realtor.com, which suggests the summer market could be more active than last year.
https://www.nar.realtor/newsroom/pending-home-sales-slumped-7-7-in-april
The Northeast PHSI fell 3.5% from last month to 62.9, a decline of 3.1% from April 2023. The Midwest index dropped 9.5% to 70.7 in April, down 8.7% from one year ago.
The South PHSI lowered 7.6% to 88.6 in April, dropping 8.2% from the prior year. The West index decreased 8.5% in April to 55.9, down 7.3% from April 2023.
Juice-
On the ice cream front, check out Nicholas Creamery. 2/3 locations around Monmouth County and a few more scheduled to open. Always a few funky flavors and their basics are really good. Homemade hot fudge sauce is ridiculous.
The one thing I keep noticing is that food stores seem to be empty. Where’s the checkout lines? Even on a Saturday, late morning, no lines. And there’s just a few items in the carts. People seem to just be getting the essentials. I mean the higher traffic stores like Shop Rite. Is this the reason Stop N Shop has announced closings? Costco seems to always be busy. Are folks doing the bulk shopping to save money?
Just for you Gary. Best Sh1tShack I’ve found that’s close to a million.
https://www.remax.com/nj/harrington-park/home-details/313-lynn-st-harrington-park-nj-07640/8353101362361737025/M00000448/24016109
People getting too skinny, it’s time to make America fat again.
Fast Eddie says:
May 31, 2024 at 7:36 am
The one thing I keep noticing is that food stores seem to be empty. Where’s the checkout lines? Even on a Saturday, late morning, no lines. And there’s just a few items in the carts. People seem to just be getting the essentials. I mean the higher traffic stores like Shop Rite. Is this the reason Stop N Shop has announced closings? Costco seems to always be busy. Are folks doing the bulk shopping to save money?
“The impact of escalating interest rates throughout April dampened home buying, even with more inventory in the market,” said Lawrence Yun, chief economist for the NAR. “But the Federal Reserve’s anticipated rate cut later this year should lead to better conditions, with improved affordability and more supply.”
Lol. G0d help us. Rate cut, rate cut, rate cut. The FED should raise it 50 basis points and send a lightning strike message. Geezus, this whole country is fucked.
Fabius,
Congrats on the book deal. That’s an awesome house find above, I’m envious I didn’t find it first! What a gem! I say it goes 200K above asking.
The lines are always long at whole foods in Montclair – all the ‘city’ folks moved in and have created a monster throughout the entire town.
“I consider trial by jury as the only anchor ever yet imagined by man, by which government can be held to the principles of its constitution.”
— Thomas Jefferson, 1788
Cut rates now!! These abnormally high rates are just killing the economy.
Next up the Hunter Biden trial!
Just for you Gary. Best Sh1tShack I’ve found that’s close to a million.
Come on, that’s got to be a prank.
Nah it’s just as nice as the other double wides around the corner.
Sold $1,280,000
https://www.zillow.com/homedetails/260-Brook-St-Harrington-Park-NJ-07640/37930550_zpid/
Trolling on Twitter is magnificent this morning.
https://twitter.com/MFWitches/status/1796411688193032381
Next up the Hunter Biden trial!
They better hurry before Biden dies.
That house Fab. What’s with all the black and white. That looks like my grandmother’s place around the time I was born. Seriously. See the analog clock on the oven. Vintage 1970s. Same with the toilet seat cover. I hope they washed it once in the last sixty years.
As independent, I won’t vote for Hunter if he’s criminally convicted.
3b says:
May 31, 2024 at 8:15 am
Next up the Hunter Biden trial!
Don’t play us for stupid. You might be willing to buy the endless hoaxes and play the fool but I won’t. Without due process it’s meaningless.
Come on, that’s got to be a prank.
Reality is unreal! The financial barbell effect is massive! The haves and have nots can hardly see each other now. Housing is a status symbol of tangible success. All others can toil in apartments like an old chair sitting in a rental pod.
Trump convicted, almost 20 posts and it’s dead quiet on here about that.
Guess you people got it out of your system yesterday. Like a healthy dump.
Hehe.
I could see a couple of the MAGA men doing something illegal after looking and reading that post.
It’s not smart to stoke that fire.
Juice Box says:
May 31, 2024 at 8:42 am
Trolling on Twitter is magnificent this morning.
https://twitter.com/MFWitches/status/1796411688193032381
My guess is defending a show trial such as this, which is an egregious attack on our constitution and rule of law, is a bridge too far for even the most TDS afflicted. It’s every bit as corrosive as J6 was. A bunch of mouth breathers breaking their chests.
Eddie,
Have another slice of pie. If they will give it to you that its, you know, the bakers.
Hehe
Hunter Biden Trial June 3rd?
Should be over quick, they are calling his ex-wife and his dead brother’s widow as witnesses. He royally screwed both of them over. “Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned”.
His lawyers have been arguing about the definition of “addict”. They are trying to twist the jury instructions to say if he did not know he was an addict, then he cannot be convicted.
It’s four years per charge in the pokey. His old man will pardon him along with a few thousand other “addicts” who were “wrongfully convicted”.
Phoenix – There was no way Trump was getting off, the jury was by my understanding all Democrats who probably voted in 2016 for Hillary. Most New Yorker’s haven’t forgot. Remember the lock her up chants?
Orange haired man had a trial. Not really sure they are of his “peers,” however, he had a full blown trial. Something I could never have afforded, and probably would have won if I had the finances.
I think he was most likely guilty of what he did, paying off some skank to keep her mouth shut, something that gender can’t do even when given enough money to buy a decent house (at that time period). It’s what they do. Guess she felt like she was worth more than that. Always keep that in mind, it has a price.
So go after Biden now. He has done even worse. But when that old goat gets up on the stand and says “I don’t recall,” most jurors will believe him. He is a criminal as well.
Him and his son. Go for it.
TraitorJoe says:
May 31, 2024 at 9:10 am
My guess is defending a show trial such as this, which is an egregious attack on our constitution and rule of law, is a bridge too far for even the most TDS afflicted. It’s every bit as corrosive as J6 was. A bunch of mouth breathers breaking their chests.
Phoenix- How about this one?
https://twitter.com/pompeyrod/status/1796464166670393387
They are referring to the banana republic handbook as we speak to see how to handle Hunter. My guess is they’ll send him to a luxury resort for a few days and then announce justice was served.
Isn’t it the job of a court to insure someone gets a fair trial?
You can convict a ham sandwich in America. Look at what happened to Mr Miu.
Police interactions/courtrooms are places to be avoided at all costs.
Have a problem, call a cop, now you have two problems. A 13 pound Shih Tzu ended up dead because a Karen made a call to the PoPo, where one of the Heroes in Blue pumped a bunch of rounds into it cause he “feared for his life” from a 13 pound dog.
Give it time. Oh, do any of you guys know who Liv Morgan is? Elmwood Park, Nj?
Anyone of you know what the PoPo did to her? It’s all on camera. Her entire fan base hates what the PoPo did to her. It was disgusting.
I loved seeing the Daily Mail explode with stupidity last night.
A glorious display of bots and ignorance bursting in electronic ignorance.
It’s aaaaaalive! Ivanka…. ( )( )==D –i love u daddy–
Sure, you can also get a “full blown trial” in Zimbabwe. Likewise the crime in question is a mystery and the verdict is a foregone conclusion.
This is the crime Trump committed that should have been prosecuted. I have no sympathy for him at all.
However, I do believe, even being the criminal he is, that the country I reside in would not be in as much trouble as it is in with Biden the Dolt.
Dumb Mf’r is really pushing his luck. Thinks he is in Vegas. I’d take the convicted Orange criminal as my President. You know, lesser of two evils.
Iceberg dead ahead. It’s coming.
https://www.nytimes.com/2020/10/27/business/trump-chicago-taxes.html
Just look at that thing he stuck his member into. McDougal was the better choice.
He may have money, but bad taste in women.
TraitorJoe says:
May 31, 2024 at 9:30 am
Sure, you can also get a “full blown trial” in Zimbabwe. Likewise the crime in question is a mystery and the verdict is a foregone conclusion.
( )( )==D — oh daddy —
Please come home. Ohhhh Daddy. Mommy’s buried on the golf course
Ooooh daddy Jared thinks i’m boring….ooooh daddy.
When’s the grift start again!!??
Somewhere, in a cabin in Montana, some guys are talking to God on a two way radio planning a way to help Donald Trump from his problems.
FREEEEEEEEEEE DOMMMMMMM.
Hehe.
Likewise the crime in question is a mystery and the verdict is a foregone conclusion.
The actual conclusion is that we’re at the end of a 250-year run. Obammy will go down in history as the American version of Vladimir Lenin.
And while the black “justices” gloat in a picture on X over their silly conviction..
Rome Burns.
It’s all a game until it isn’t.
I heard a crazy number on the radio last night. A car is stolen in nj roughly every 35 minutes. Hand the streets over to criminals, weaponized the system against anyone who pushes back. This is the left’s idea of justice.
Jared got what he wanted from her. And it wasn’t her P.
That was just the cost of doing business.
LAX says:
May 31, 2024 at 9:39 am
( )( )==D — oh daddy —
Please come home. Ohhhh Daddy. Mommy’s buried on the golf course
Ooooh daddy Jared thinks i’m boring….ooooh daddy.
When’s the grift start again!!??
Can’t wait till its every 10. Let it rip. Sooner it turns into a jungle the better.
TraitorJoe says:
May 31, 2024 at 9:48 am
I heard a crazy number on the radio last night. A car is stolen in nj roughly every 35 minutes. Hand the streets over to criminals, weaponized the system against anyone who pushes back. This is the left’s idea of justice.
Clot was right when he said Mogadishu-type gangs will be roaming the streets soon enough.
I heard a ten-minute quip of Danica Patrick on a podcast and she said she was never into politics. She was at some event with her sister and posted on s0cial media that she “loved this country” and was subsequently met with vicious attacks. That’s all she said and stated that she couldn’t believe some of the responses like… traitor, you’re disgusting, etc. She couldn’t understand it but now says she’s getting a bit more involved not by choice but necessity because she can’t believe how divided the country is.
They are either too lazy to help you when they catch your spouse committing crimes, or doing shite like this. Losers.
But there is an interesting tidbit in this story. Don’t send any pictures from your phone while overseas or you will be stuck in the long line while the PoPo reads the texts between you and your mistress. Hehe.
A 57-year-old former caseworker for the New Jersey Division of Child Protection and Permanency admitted collecting images of victims as young as toddlers being sexually abused, federal authorities said.
Collier was targeted because he’d apparently exchanged images on the phone while out of the country, investigators said.
Divided by income. Have’s vs Have nots.
Ran into some guys bragging about the 600 million dollar deal they made at the Coronado Hotel. Said they could have done better.
Probably shipped some jobs overseas, or put AI into use.
Fast Eddie says:
May 31, 2024 at 10:00 am
She couldn’t understand it but now says she’s getting a bit more involved not by choice but necessity because she can’t believe how divided the country is.
This is what happens when you eliminate the Middle Class.
That’s what greed does.
Where is the surprise?
Fast Eddie says:
May 31, 2024 at 10:00 am
Clot was right when he said Mogadishu-type gangs will be roaming the streets soon enough.
What matters doesn’t matter, anymore.
Fast Eddie says:
May 31, 2024 at 10:29 am
What matters doesn’t matter, anymore.
They are coming for your Chex Mix next. And your Numismatic gold coins you count in the basement you buy your trickle down Chex mix with.
Hehe.
A criminal conviction is a turnoff for any rational voter.
Very : Silly comment, missed my point.
Donald Trump’s salvos of fundraising emails, text messages and advertisements appear to have paid off, as his campaign just announced a record $34.8m in small-dollar donations following his conviction on felony business fraud charges.
A criminal conviction is a turnoff for any rational voter.
$35,000,000 donated to Trump in a six-hour period last night. 28% of the donations were from Independents who never donated to a political candidate before.
Joe Manchin just registered as an independent. Just fyi.
Very Stable Genius – Ya think voters will care??
Shades of 1992?
“On the verge of an expected victory in New Hampshire, Bill Clinton’s presidential campaign faced the biggest frenzy of 1992 when allegations arose of an extramarital affair with Arkansas state employee and cabaret singer Gennifer Flowers.
Revealing claims that no respectable news outlet had been able to substantiate, the Star, a trashy supermarket tabloid, “broke” the Flowers story on Jan. 23, 1992. Armed with ambiguously damning taped phone conversations and well compensated by the Star for her revelations, Flowers claimed a 12-year affair with Clinton.
During the next week, almost every legitimate news source would pick up the story in some form or another and the allegations would nearly torpedo the Clinton campaign. To counter the allegations, Clinton appeared on CBS’s “60 Minutes” with his wife immediately following the Super Bowl on Sunday, Jan. 26. With 50 million Americans tuned in, the Clintons tried to shake off the charges. In the end, with the help of a relatively weak Democratic candidate pool and the public’s focus on economic issues, Clinton was able to contain the damage caused by the Flowers frenzy and his presidential ship stayed afloat.
Six years later, in his deposition to lawyers representing former Arkansas state employee Paula Jones in her sexual harassment lawsuit against him, Clinton reportedly acknowledged for the first time in any known forum that he did have sexual relations with Flowers, saying it occurred just one time in 1977.”
Very Wrong Genius,
This is how it works. People don’t care if he is a criminal. They care if he puts money in their pockets.
Humans are self serving creatures.
Very Stable Genius says:
May 31, 2024 at 10:50 am
A criminal conviction is a turnoff for any rational voter.
Very: A political show trial is also a turn off to a rational voter.
‘Costco’s new finance chief today: “I also want to confirm the $1.50 hot dog price is safe,”‘ Meyersohn tweeted.
I can still afford to eat!!!! Sure every time you eat a hotdog it shaves 36 minutes off you life but for a buck fifity I can eat all week!
Those “Independents” were always Maga.
A rational voter won’t see benefit in a criminal conviction.
Fast Eddie says:
May 31, 2024 at 11:00 am
A criminal conviction is a turnoff for any rational voter.
$35,000,000 donated to Trump in a six-hour period last night. 28% of the donations were from Independents who never donated to a political candidate before.
It’s mostly maga who sides with trump
A rational voter sides with the rule of law
3b says:
May 31, 2024 at 11:21 am
Very: A political show trial is also a turn off to a rational voter.
“I think he was most likely guilty of what he did, paying off some skank to keep her mouth shut…”
Not at all illegal. In fact, stipulated, meaning it was openly acknowledged by the defense in court that they paid the skank to be quiet.
“So go after Biden now…Him and his son. Go for it.”
Dumbass move.
Trading 101, you don’t need (and shouldn’t try) to make back your losses where they occurred. Pick a different stock.
Plenty of states with Red governors where a creative local prosecutor can turn some pedestrian offense by a Pelosi, Schumer, et. al. into a State felony.
Remember boys, no politician is squeaky clean. Not one.
Release the hounds. Looking at you FL, TX, TN…
https://youtu.be/BeFahoMTNkI?si=aXmB665pGETDib3C
Release the Kraken!!
So this didn’t happen? 34 counts?
Why even bother paying her at all? This is America, land of the no fault divorce. As long as he wasn’t banging a kid or a sheep it doesn’t matter anyway.
He still would have won the election. Whoever told him to pay her gave him bad advise.
The former president was found guilty of falsifying his business records by saying the payment was for legal fees. Jurors listened to weeks of testimony and found him guilty under all 34 counts of fraud under campaign finance laws.
VSG,
How old were you when you were diagnosed with Asperger syndrome?
Asking for a friend.
Very: Whose rule of law? If Trump was found not guilty, would you still support the rule of law? It’s a bad precedent going forward for the country.
re: Why even bother paying her at all?
If you watched the “documentary” that aired on NBC, Stormy Daniels said it was to prevent her from being killed by Trump. Paper trail and all. I just want to point this out a again Stormy Daniels Lawyer Keith Davidson was given immunity for his testimony. This is the Lawyer who negotiated with Cohen for the NDA and the payment.
Extortion is a crime……Anyone here who does not think they were extorting Trump?
I am not saying he isn’t a POS….but the Prosecution went to great lengths here to get lawyers to testify when they themselves may have committed crimes.
Gary you should put your retirement portfolio in Truth Social stock,
You know.
Missed this one yesterday from Pravda..
Better stock up on Potassium iodide (KI) tablets, the Russians are making advances in their new front they opened towards Kharkiv. We must be worried…really worried.
“Biden to Allow Ukraine to Use U.S. Weapons to Strike Inside Russia”
President Biden, in a major shift pressed by his advisers and key allies, has authorized Ukraine to conduct limited strikes inside Russia with American-made weapons, opening what could well be a new chapter in the war for Ukraine, U.S. officials said on Thursday.
Mr. Biden’s decision appears to mark the first time that an American president has allowed limited military responses on artillery, missile bases and command centers inside the borders of a nuclear-armed adversary. White House officials insisted, however, that the authorization extended only to what they characterized as acts of self-defense, so that Ukraine could protect Kharkiv, its second-largest city, and the surrounding areas from missiles, glide bombs and artillery shells from just over the border.
“The president recently directed his team to ensure that Ukraine is able to use U.S.-supplied weapons for counter-fire purposes in the Kharkiv region so Ukraine can hit back against Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them,” a U.S. official said in a statement issued by the administration. “Our policy with respect to prohibiting the use of ATACMS or long-range strikes inside of Russia has not changed,” the statement continued, referring to an artillery system, provided to Ukraine, that has the capability to reach deep inside Russian territory.
The decision by Mr. Biden was reported earlier on Thursday by Politico.
American officials said that the change in policy went into effect on Thursday.”
“Though the White House cast the decision as a narrow one, allowing the Ukrainians to strike pre-emptively if they see evidence of preparations for an attack, or in response to a Russian barrage near Kharkiv, the implications are clearly much broader. Until now, Mr. Biden has flatly refused to let Ukraine use American-made weapons outside of Ukrainian borders, no matter what the provocation, saying that any attack on Russian territory risked violating his mandate to “avoid World War III.”
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/30/us/politics/biden-ukraine-russia-weapons.html?campaign_id=190&emc=edit_ufn_20240530&instance_id=124959&nl=from-the-times®i_id=117020188&segment_id=168276&te=1&user_id=d11cc732fc573f4baf6a603cce875e3c
“So this didn’t happen? 34 counts?…The former president was found guilty of falsifying his business records by saying the payment was for legal fees.”
Nobody knows…for the felony conviction you needed ‘falsifying business records’ in furtherance of another crime. That other crime was not tried by the DA. It was presumed, as Juice I believe has already posted, to be interfering with an election.
There were 11 checks for 11 invoices from Cohen with 11 corresponding personal checkbook entries. Those are 33 counts, no idea what the remaining one was.
Again, he paid these amounts from his personal – not business – accounts. His actual own individual account and a trust account in his name. After the election was over. That’s not in dispute. Nor is it in dispute that he executed an NDA – perfectly legal – with a person attempting to extort him.
The guy was found guilty essentially based upon the notation in the memo line for the checks in the software he used for his personal accounts lol.
THAT’S how fucked up this prosecution is….
Careful which emoji you use on Venmo, boys…
https://www.facebook.com/usatoday/posts/michael-cohen-presents-a-copy-of-a-check-mr-trump-wrote-from-his-personal-bank-a/10156858645950667/
https://www.npr.org/2024/05/30/g-s1-1848/trump-hush-money-trial-34-counts
Yeah, that price is offensive all right.
Jeep reveals all-electric Wagoneer S in EV offensive, starting at $72,000
Left – ” how fucked up this prosecution is”
Legal eagles have pointed to Judge Merchan’s own rulings in reference to the election interference. Judge Merchan had granted in part and denied in part Trump’s motion for a ‘Bill of Particulars’ laying out the specifics for the way the crime is charged.”
“Any two or more persons who conspire to promote or prevent the election of any person to a public office by unlawful means and which conspiracy is acted upon by one or more of the parties thereto, shall be guilty of a misdemeanor.
N.Y. Elec. Law § 17-152”
During closing arguments the prosecutor finally revealed the enigma, it was a federal election crime and then contradicted himself by claiming that it was a state crime.
There is more…. .It couldn’t be voters who were defrauded, they had already cast their ballots by the time the ‘legal expenses’ were booked after the election. Hillary won NY by a landslide too.
Plenty to Appeal. Again not saying Trump isn’t a POS……
Behind LA Times paywall – copy and pasted
They bought homes with the intention to refinance. Now they’re stuck – Los Angeles Times
Andrew Khouri
Steven and Katherine Wolf missed out on the ultra-low mortgage rates of the pandemic. By the time the couple secured solid jobs and could buy a home, borrowing costs more than doubled.
Rather than wait, the former renters jumped into home ownership in fall 2022. They also stretched, buying a Bakersfield home that carried an uncomfortable monthly payment.
Steven Wolf figured the pain would be fleeting. Within a year rates would drop enough to allow them to refinance and put hundreds of dollars back into their pockets.
That hasn’t happened and isn’t expected to soon. In fact, rates are higher.
“We did this with the expectation that we would only have to weather this high payment for a chunk of time,” the 37-year old English teacher said. “Now that chunk of time is looking like it might actually be permanent.”
Across the country, many buyers employed similar strategies since rates surged in 2022 — at times encouraged by real estate agents and mortgage brokers who earn a commission on each deal. The tactic could still work, but as interest rates stay higher for longer, some Americans express varying degrees of regret as their finances buckle.
A woman in Twinsburg, Ohio, said she’s taken a second job. A man in Oregon said putting money away for retirement is a “distant thought.”
Some said they’re now selling their home or will need to soon. Chelsea Bolinger purchased a house in Highland Ranch, Colo. The 35-year-old tech worker called the experience “horrible.”
“I only bought it because the loan company really pushed that interest rates were going to go down,” Bolinger said.
In Wolf’s case, he said his family’s monthly housing costs jumped nearly $1,500 when they ditched their second-floor apartment and bought a Bakersfield house for $421,000, in part because he and his wife wanted a yard for their two children.
Unable to knock down his monthly payment through refinancing, the family is making little progress paying off other debts and Wolf is working an extra period.
His wife, a speech language pathologist, has picked up weekend shifts she wouldn’t have if rates had dropped.
“That would have been more Saturdays together with the kids,” Wolf said.
In theory, the strategy Wolf and others employed is supposed to work like this.
Buy now — when rates are high and demand low — and you’ll easier snag a home than waiting until rates drop and reignite extreme bidding wars.
By acting now, a home’s purchase price will be lower. The monthly payment will be high, but that will go down once rates decline and you refinance.
As some say: Marry the house. Date the rate.
Steven and Katherine Wolf are stuck with an uncomfortable mortgage payment as interest rates haven’t dropped like they predicted.
Personal finance, of course, is complicated.
When refinancing, you pay loan fees and other closing costs, which can surpass several thousands of dollars. Consumers must weigh those upfront costs against any savings on the monthly payment.
Holden Lewis, a mortgage expert with NerdWallet, said it typically makes financial sense to refinance once rates drop at least three quarters of a percentage point from where you bought.
According to the Mortgage Bankers Assn., the average rate on a 30-year fixed mortgage should drop to 5.9% by the fourth quarter 2025, compared to 6.9% currently.
Buying now can be smart, but people should only do so if they are comfortable with the current payment, Lewis said. Expert predictions of falling rates have been proven wrong time and time again. Other home costs — like HOA fees and insurance — tend to go up.
Even if rates fall, there’s no guarantee you’ll save. Your credit score could drop and lenders will charge you more.
Amy Ramirez is among the many Americans who say they have no regrets.
She and her wife, Noelle, bought a home in Rancho Cucamonga in March. They can comfortably afford it and love the additional space compared to the property they sold in Los Angeles.
Ramirez isn’t expecting rates to drop soon and thinks buying when they did reduced the likelihood of bidding wars on their turnkey, four bedroom house with a swimming pool and mountain view.
“It is just great,” said Ramirez, who along with Noelle runs a s’mores shop in West Covina.
High mortgage rates aren’t only impacting consumers, but are slamming many in the real estate industry as transactions decline.
Some lenders have responded with “Buy Now, Refinance Later” programs that offer reduced refinance fees if you take out a mortgage with the company to buy a home, then use them to refinance in a certain period of time.
Lewis said consumers should check if the purchase mortgage in such a program carries higher fees or interest rates and also understand when it comes time to refinance, other lenders may offer lower rates that would save far more than any reduction in fees from the original lender.
As of now, experts said there’s little sign that the inability to refinance will cause a bust similar to the collapse of the 2000s housing bubble.
Then, rising mortgage rates and falling home prices prevented many Americans from executing their plan to refinance out of risky loans before monthly payments adjusted upward from initial teaser rates. Stuck with those high payments, people entered foreclosure en masse, causing home prices to plunge.
Now, home prices are rising and struggling borrowers can likely sell to pay off their mortgage.
Even if prices were to fall, today’s tighter underwriting standards mean people should be better equipped to afford their mortgages than last time, while lenders offer struggling borrowers more options to adjust payments so they don’t lose their home.
“You are going to get very few foreclosures,” said Laurie Goodman, founder of the Housing Finance Policy Center at the Urban Institute think tank. “You are not going to get into that vicious cycle.”
In hindsight, Wolf said he wished he sought advice from someone without a financial stake in his home purchase, because he didn’t understand how to properly calculate the risk that his loan officer’s prediction — rates below 6% by summer 2023 — wouldn’t come true.
“I’m not a financial professional,” Wolf said. “I am an English teacher.”
A spokesperson with Wolf’s mortgage company, PrimeLending, said the company could not comment on individual clients, but that it evaluates a borrower’s ability to repay based on current interest rates and that it “does not make guarantees” on how borrowing costs will change.
“The mortgage market is inherently unpredictable, and while we provide information based on current trends and expert analysis, these are not assurances,” the spokesperson, Mandy Jordan, said in an email.
Going forward, the Wolfs are looking to move to Baltimore after they received better job offers there.
Because their high monthly payment is more than they could rent their house out for, they’ve listed it for sale and don’t expect to get their down payment back.
The other day, Wolf said he spoke with his loan officer who encouraged him to buy right away in Baltimore so they don’t get priced out and gave a new prediction for when rates would drop.
He also offered to do their loan, according to Wolf.
Robert Deniro could be good President
Deniro cannot afford to stop acting. If anyone should hate the courts it is that guy, he is paying $1 million a year in alimony until the day he dies. He is 80 years old lol…
DeNiro is a brilliant actor. That’s about it.
Not me.
Extortion is a crime……Anyone here who does not think they were extorting Trump?
And Juice, you are right. This is what it is:
https://tinyurl.com/7jj9wdyd
If anyone should hate the courts it is that guy, he is paying $1 million a year in alimony until the day he dies.
Now that is extortion. Here is another example:
According to a new report, Dukes of Hazzard star John Schneider’s former wife has prevailed in a court action to seize the residuals he earns from his past acting endeavors to pay off nearly $2 million she says he owes in back support.
Or this:
Baumgartner initially requested $248,000 in monthly child support for their three children, and Anderle set a temporary monthly sum of $129,755 in July, only to later rule that Costner would actually be responsible for $63,209 in monthly child support payments. Costner is also solely responsible for the children’s health care, private school tuition, extracurricular activities and the couple’s oldest son’s car expenses.
Because their high monthly payment is more than they could rent their house out for, they’ve listed it for sale and don’t expect to get their down payment back.
This is by design. That down payment goes right into someone’s pocket.
All the chips are now in the center of the table. Two big arms are gonna wrap their arms around them and scoop the winnings into their pockets. The losers are going to have to tell their wives they are broke.
Gor my official NJ primary ballot.
Who is Terrisa Bukvinac under the Democratic Choice for President?
Warning don’t go to her website….some graphic pics of dead babies.
lol, nobody ever learns. It went from in 2006, “we bought at the sky high price thinking we could always sell for more”
Now it’s “we bought thinking we could refinance later”
Chipotle’s got an identity crisis on their hands with the skimping on the portions. I can’t eat there anymore. They did something to their food and it just doesn’t agree with me. But the reality is, they hired the Taco Bell CEO….don’t be surprised when he turns it into Taco Bell.
Juice,
The Russia Dilemma:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Incident_pit
To be fair Bakersfield isn’t exactly a hot housing market.
BRT,
San Diego has some great Mexican food places. Go visit LAX and have a meal together.
Pfffft. No thanks. I’ll stick with Ventura Co.
CEO Moynihan of BOA is worried about a consumer spending slowdown. Cut those rates now!!
Phoenix says:
May 31, 2024 at 12:06 pm
“So this didn’t happen? 34 counts?”
I’ve always had a soft spot for Phoenix, partly because he’s so ‘damaged’ and partly because he’s always been non-partisan — seeming to hate everyone equally. But I really thought he was better than auto-stooges like Unstable and lazy duds like ExLax, who happily fall for the ‘he was convicted of 34 felonies so he must be guilty of something’ nonsense.
Speaking of ExLax and Phoenix, it just dawned on me that Phoenix is what becomes of ExLax if (when???) his breadwinner wife leaves him.
Small: The fact he was found guilty on all 34 counts makes the conviction even more suspect in my view. They did not even have an issue with one of the charges?? It’s like they just voted guilty across the board. This conviction is a bad precedent going forward. I am surprised people no matter how much they hate Trump, can’t see this.
CMG went to crap after the food poisonings. Since dumb teenagers can’t be trained to wash their hands after they shit, or wear gloves when preparing food, they chose to centralize a lot of the food prep. So Guac, marinated meats, fajita vegetables, are all prepared at a centralized warehouse and then are shipped to each location. Sure, the meat is cooked in premises, but things like Guac and Salsa and vegetables suffer greatly when not prepared fresh. When Chipotles, reopened after the poisonings, the food clearly dropped in quality. I haven’t looked, but I would bet they had to add preservatives (many probably not natural) to avoid spoilage due to the time delay from the central warehouse to the restaurant. I know CMG like the back of my hand. Haven’t eaten there in ages because it sucks now, but it’a not stopping the younger set.
The Kracken is canceled as she lost her Law license for three years.
A political show trial is also a turn off to a rational voter.
Yet,
Next up the Hunter Biden trial!
What is not getting talked about is how bad Donnies defense was. It is hard to defend the guilty, but it looks like Donnie is the Jerry Jones of defendants. He decides how to run the football and is shocked by the loss.
Now, what ever happened to that nice guy John Edwards? What was he convicted of again?
SGC,
Happy? I don’t care about him any more than he cares about people like me. What I am happy about is the anger people feel when you see someone like Trump being convicted in a so called “Justice” system.
Trump isn’t some nice guy, some saint. So no, I don’t feel sorry- in fact, don’t feel anything for him. Guy gets 30M in donations 24 hrs after his conviction.
Fu cc er ain’t suffering. So no I don’t care about him. Oh, and how he screwed those people who bought units in his failed condo complex- yeah he didn’t give a rat’s azz about them, he was screwing the common man.
Is he better than Biden, sure. I said that. But he still sucks.
Oh, and I support myself. Plus do work that directly affects people. Didn’t and never had a “breadwinner” wife, I still make more than my ex does.
Unless she is turning tricks on the side, which I wouldn’t put past her. No proof of it though.
So they were bribed, paid off, threatened? Trump’s Million Dollar lawyers sucked?
Were the jurors ignorant?
I believe a jury trial is better than just having a judge decide.
But then again Mr Miu was convicted by a jury.
This case should probably have been tried in a more neutral location.
3b says:
May 31, 2024 at 3:39 pm
Small: The fact he was found guilty on all 34 counts makes the conviction even more suspect in my view.
LAX says:
May 31, 2024 at 1:51 pm
Pfffft. No thanks. I’ll stick with Ventura Co.
Is that where the Whyte people live? Guess some don’t like those Spanish speaking folks.
You no like me papa?
Hehe.
3:28 you suck buddy. Just a piss poor excuse for a human.
I guarantee i’d free you of your front teeth iffn you ever met me.
Liberals: The cost center of humanity
4:10 get some professional help asshole.
4:23
Talking to yourself?
File this under Amen Mitch!
https://x.com/Fly_Sistah/status/1796430269576274184
LAX – re: “i’d free you of your front teeth”
Light one up Francis!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=syV2LkGpQB0
Priceless, you have to watch to the end!
https://x.com/allinwithchris/status/1796705888348012747
Juice,
One of my favorite movie lines. Hehe.
Grim can you send these down to Eddie Ray (Nom) we know how much he loves his Teddy R!
https://x.com/SpiesVespers/status/1796706973939032347
There is only one front teeth quote!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA3pxVj4F7M
Number 34 FTW!
https://x.com/BidenHQ/status/1796702503247159793/photo/2
“With the 165 Billion we gave to Ukraine, we could have built six border walls to stop illegal immigrants from pouring across our southern border.
Could have fixed Flint’s water system 215 times over easily.
I like this one. Could have given every homeless vet $2 million.
Holy shi
Could have given 50 million to every family impacted by the Maui wildfires. And they got $700. They got $700 each.
We got to get our priorities straight, buddy.”
Watchdog groups have long believed that some lawmakers use that information to make money in the stock market. Now a loose alliance of traders, analysts and advocates is trying to let Americans mimic the trades elected officials make, offering tongue-in-cheek financial products — including one named for former House speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and another that refers to Sen. Ted Cruz (R-Tex.) — that track purchases and sales after lawmakers disclose them.
Because the trackers rely on lawmakers’ legally mandated (and delayed) disclosures, they don’t allow the average American to make identical, same-day trades.
Those delays likely cut into users’ returns. That’s not the point, tracker boosters say. Their goal is to shine a light on congressional stock trading.
But the rise of these platforms is an alarming sign of distrust constituents have for their elected representatives, said Delaney Marsco, the director of ethics at the Campaign Legal Center, a nonpartisan government watchdog group.
“A lot more people than we would like” believe lawmakers use information gained from their positions to “make significant gains to their stock portfolios,” Marsco said. “That’s incredibly damaging to the public’s trust.”
Pelosi. Hehe. Kickback Queen. Hehe.
According to Josephs, investors have so far routed some $130 million through Autopilot — $60 million of which has gone toward copying Pelosi, whose portfolio ranks as one of the app’s most popular, alongside Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett.
The Autopilot portfolio that mimics trades disclosed by Pelosi posted a 45 percent gain in 2023, above the S&P 500’s 24 percent gain that year.
So who was in here spouting that D’Sousa BS.
https://www.cnn.com/2024/05/31/media/salem-will-stop-distributing-2000-mules/index.html
CNN — Salem Media Group, the right-wing talk radio network owner, issued a public apology and said it would stop distributing a discredited 2020 election conspiracy theory film after a Georgia man wrongly accused of voter fraud sued the company for defamation.
The Georgia man, Mark Andrews, said in his 2022 lawsuit that “2000 Mules,” a film and book by far-right activist Dinesh D’Souza contained a string of bogus claims about the 2020 election, leading to threats of violence against him and his family.
Andrews said the film, which has been repeatedly promoted by Donald Trump and widely circulated in right-wing media as supposed proof that the 2020 election was stolen, had severely damaged his reputation.
There is always a tweet or a clip.
https://x.com/MarkHamill/status/1796629152210292878
Trump in 2016: “She shouldn’t be allowed to run…If she wins, it would create an unprecedented constitutional crisis. In that situation, we could very well have a sitting president under felony indictment and, ultimately, a criminal trial. It would grind government to a halt.”
Some actual humor for today. Non partisan. Lighten up, Francis.
https://x.com/Motabhai012/status/1796588327329780146
I just saw a pickup truck heading west on Watchung Avenue with a huge Fuck Biden flag hoisted off the rear. I’m sure the driver, who has decided to waste his Saturday wasting gas and surprising progressives thinks he is a true patriot.
The party of assholeism, now run by a convicted felon rolls on.
Or maybe he just hates Biden.
Plenty of reasons for that.
You don’t have to love Trump to hate Biden.
Agreed. But this was clearly a Trump patriot. The other truck decorations were a dead giveaway.
The prick is probably complaining about the strategic oil reserve too.
Former Georgia Lt. Gov. Geoff Duncan penned a message to his fellow Republicans: Stop normalizing Donald Trump by getting in line behind him.
The official said in an op-ed he plans to vote for Joe Biden in November, arguing, “It’s disappointing to watch an increasing number of Republicans fall in line behind former president Donald Trump. This includes some of his fiercest detractors, such as U.S. Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, New Hampshire Gov. Chris Sununu and former U.S. Attorney General Bill Barr, who raised eyebrows during a recent interview by vowing to support the ‘Republican ticket.’”
He added: “This mentality is dead wrong.”
Duncan argued for his fellow Republicans to support GOP candidates in the House and for U.S. Senate so that there can be checks and balances with another Biden administration. But said the GOP “will never rebuild until we move on from the Trump era.”
Lib
First Mondays flea market in Canton had a few vendors who sell mostly FJB and maga and trump merch.
Interestingly I hardly see any trump bumper stickers or flags anywhere in the DFW area. Saw tons in 2016 and not as much in 2020 and now I rarely see it.
Almost nothing here now either compared to 2020, except for his hard core followers. Then again, I can count the number of Biden/Harris signs/stickers I’ve seen on on one finger. And no, I don’t have one.
This election is going to be embarrassing.
Almost nothing here now either compared to 2020, except for his hard core followers.
Never mind the lawn signs, just look for the American flags. When you see American flags flying on residences and commercial buildings, they’re Trump supporters. Liberals don’t like American flags, it reminds them of their irrelevance.
6:45 did you attend college of any kind? I’d ask for a refund.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s running mate is making headlines Wednesday for all the wrong reasons.
Nicole Shanahan, the billionaire California lawyer and philanthropist, reportedly “partied with Silicon Valley’s elite and used recreational drugs including cocaine, ketamine and psychedelic mushrooms,” according to a new report from The New York Times.
The report also claims she split with her former husband, Sergey Brin, a founder of Google, after “she had a sexual encounter with Elon Musk in 2021.”
According to people interviewed by the Times, it was part of a pattern.
Shanahan’s first husband, tech investor Jeremy Kranz, “filed to annul the marriage 27 days after the wedding” after he discovered she had an affair only weeks before their wedding.
Shanahan has never held elected office. She leads Bia-Echo Foundation, an organization she founded to direct money toward issues including women’s reproductive science, criminal justice reform and environmental causes.
She’s deeply enmeshed in the Silicon Valley technology culture.
According to campaign finance records, Shanahan has long donated to Democratic candidates, including giving the maximum amount allowed to Kennedy when he was still pursuing that party’s nomination before switching to an independent bid in October.
She was a driving force and the primary donor behind a Super Bowl ad produced by a pro-Kennedy super PAC, American Values 2024, for which she contributed $4 million. In response to criticism following the ad’s release, the super PAC said its “idea, funding, and execution came primarily” from Shanahan.
The super PAC can accept unlimited funds but is legally barred from coordinating with Kennedy’s team.
But as a candidate for vice president, Shanahan can give unlimited sums to the campaign directly. That’s potentially a huge boost for Kennedy’s expensive push to get on the ballot in all 50 states, an endeavor he has said will cost $15 million and require collecting more than 1 million signatures.
6:45 seriously, you may be one of the dumbest white men in New Jersey.
8:38
Is that because you left?