Category Archives: Politics

Step away for a minute and the world goes to shit

Posted on March 15, 2020 by grim

Seems I picked a fine time to stop blogging. Markets in turmoil, global pandemic, potential real estate catastrophe looming. Couple of folks reached out to me over the past few days about opening the blog back up again. Totally get … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Unrest | 225 Comments

SALT Cap not long for this world?

Posted on December 22, 2019 by grim

From CNBC: House passes bill to lift $10,000 cap on state and local tax deductions The Democratic-controlled House passed a bill on Thursday that would do away with the $10,000 limit on the itemized deduction for state and local taxes … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 46 Comments

What could possibly go wrong?

Posted on November 14, 2019 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Murphy pushes taxpayer-funded bank for N.J. No state has done that in a century.  Gov. Phil Murphy on Wednesday took the first steps to make New Jersey the first state in a century to open a state-owned bank. … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Where's the Beef? | 116 Comments

Democrats lose NJ

Posted on November 7, 2019 by grim

From the Star Ledger: How Gov. Murphy helped Republicans win Assemblyman Jon Bramnick, the Republican leader, says he is grateful that Gov. Phil Murphy engaged so heavily in this week’s election because it helped Republicans like him win close races. “Did Murphy … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes, Unrest | 144 Comments

The Trump Effect

Posted on October 21, 2019 by grim

From CNBC: Robert Shiller: Recession likely years away due to bullish Trump effect Nobel-prize winning economist Robert Shiller believes a recession may be years away due to a bullish Trump effect in the market. According to the Yale University professor, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, National Real Estate, Politics | 15 Comments

Hey New Jersey – Here’s what Trump did to your home values

Posted on October 10, 2019 by grim

From ProPublica: Trump’s Trillion-Dollar Hit to Homeowners

Posted in Economics, National Real Estate, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 45 Comments

Murphy blows it

Posted on September 26, 2019 by grim

From the Star Ledger: N.J. public worker pension investments fall short  New Jersey’s government-worker pension fund investments fell short in the fiscal year that ended in June. The pension fund returned 6.27 percent, trailing the 7.5 percent the pension system assumes it … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 20 Comments

Fewer options for rent controlled areas

Posted on September 16, 2019 by grim

From HousingWire: Trump’s housing-finance plan aims to curb GSE lending in areas with rent control Buckle your seatbelts, California. You may be in for another showdown with the Trump administration. You too, New York and Oregon. When Treasury released its housing finance … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Mortgages, National Real Estate, Politics, Unrest | 84 Comments

Why NJ is f*cked

Posted on September 10, 2019 by grim

From the Star Ledger: N.J. is facing a $1.2B public-worker pension time bomb In the waning days of his administration, Gov. Chris Christie left his successor Phil Murphy a parting gift, of sorts. For years, New Jersey had assumed its public pension fund would … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Politics, Property Taxes, Unrest | 85 Comments

Will Murphy own this?

Posted on August 16, 2019 by grim

From InsiderNJ: GSI Analysis: NJ’s Workforce and Revenue Results Are True Indicators of the State of Our Economy “While a declining unemployment rate is good news, our workforce remaining below 2008 levels is one sign there’s more than meets the … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 42 Comments

We are so f&cked

Posted on August 8, 2019 by grim

From NJ Spotlight: AS MURPHY TAKES BOW FOR RECORD LOW UNEMPLOYMENT, CRITICS FEAR FUTURE SHOCK How much have Gov. Phil Murphy’s policies to do with the state’s unemployment rate, which recently dropped to the lowest level on record? A whole … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Employment, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 42 Comments

No impact?

Posted on August 5, 2019 by grim

From NJ1015: NO MELTDOWN: NJ HOME VALUES RISE, DESPITE FEARS OF TAX LAW When federal tax law was changed a year and a half ago, alarms were rung by the real-estate industry warning it would be a gut punch to … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 247 Comments

To hell with local rule?

Posted on July 23, 2019 by grim

Important enough to make the main page, from Curbed: Cory Booker and Elizabeth Warren want to force cities to adopt YIMBY policies. Can they? The state of Oregon has effectively banned single-family zoning. Minneapolis upzoned nearly the entire city, 75 percent of … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, New Development, Politics | 71 Comments

Murphy bribes voters to get his millionaire tax

Posted on June 20, 2019 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Is a one-time $125 property tax credit really worth that much? Well, it would be a good start, Murphy insists. Admittedly, a one-time $125 property tax credit for two million residents of the state with the … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 89 Comments

Burn it all down

Posted on June 18, 2019 by grim

From the Philly Inquirer: N.J. task force: Norcross-linked firms benefited from behind-the-scenes lobbying A special task force appointed by New Jersey’s governor to investigate the state’s multibillion-dollar tax-credit programs released an extensive report Monday evening, finding that two powerful brothers – lawyer … Continue reading →

Posted in New Development, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics | 91 Comments