Category Archives: Politics

Wealthy screw everything up again

Posted on July 18, 2012 by grim

From the IB Times: Wealthy Homeowners Threaten Housing Recovery As the U.S. housing industry begins to sputter with signs of life, wealthy homeowners face a different kind of problem: selling their posh condos, villas, and waterfront properties before the onset … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Housing Recovery, National Real Estate, Politics | 271 Comments

Friday Open Discussion and Legal Review

Posted on June 29, 2012 by grim

From Bloomberg: Eminent Domain Is Bad Ploy for Underwater Mortgages Officials in San Bernardino County, California, believe they have figured out a clever way to solve the county’s, and possibly the nation’s, housing problems. Detailed by a Cornell University professor, … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, Mortgages, Politics | 204 Comments

Tax cuts increases in our future

Posted on June 19, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: A remarkable thing happened in Trenton last week: Democrats outmaneuvered Gov. Chris Christie for the first time ever, effectively killing his crazy plan to cut taxes. And then another remarkable thing happened: The most voluble and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 179 Comments

Tax Showdown Approaches

Posted on June 14, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: North Dakota’s no-property-tax dream is infectious As New Jersey homeowners fall asleep tonight, maybe they’ll dream of North Dakota. It’s possible that the folks in Fargo will wake up this morning as the first state to … Continue reading →

Posted in Employment, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 118 Comments

NJ Schools – Worth Every Penny!

Posted on June 11, 2012 by grim

From the Daily Journal: N.J. high school more expensive than Harvard Kevin Kusion’s journey through high school was normal in almost every way, except for what taxpayers spent to educate him. The cost for his last year of high school: … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 228 Comments

The perks of campaign contribution

Posted on May 22, 2012 by grim

I’d be more surprised if this wasn’t going on everywhere. Will they be charging the contributors as well? Probably not, I’m sure they had no idea this was going on. Time for an investigation in NJ? From Bloomberg: L.A. Appraiser … Continue reading →

Posted in National Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 134 Comments

Farmland Assessment Fix – Does it go far enough?

Posted on May 19, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Bill to stop ‘fake farmers’ from getting large property tax discounts passes N.J. Senate panel A Senate panel has approved a bill to make it tougher for property owners to qualify for large property tax discounts … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 64 Comments

April Revenue #’s Gone Missing

Posted on May 15, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: N.J. Treasury delays release of April revenue figures without explanation A joint news conference between Gov. Chris Christie and Senate President Stephen Sweeney wasn’t the only thing that didn’t go off as scheduled today in Trenton. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 112 Comments

Income or Property Tax Cut – Which would you prefer?

Posted on April 17, 2012 by grim

Editorial on NJ Property Taxes from the Philly Inquirer: N.J. needs property-tax relief, not income The one thing that seems to get otherwise rational New Jersey residents to foam at the mouth is the state’s punishing property-tax system. Property owners … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 168 Comments

Appeal 2012!

Posted on March 26, 2012 by grim

From the Record: North Jersey homeowners seek lower tax assessments (Hat tip Gary) Watching their property taxes rise as the value of their 82-year-old house dropped, Nora and Pat Sfarra of Teaneck decided to appeal their tax assessment last year. … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 82 Comments

Fast tracking abandoned homes

Posted on March 19, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: Housing, banking advocates hail measure to speed foreclosures of abandoned homes A piece of state legislation that looks to turn foreclosed homes into affordable housing also contains a little-noted provision that banking and housing experts say … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, Politics | 156 Comments

Property taxes cuts too expensive to afford

Posted on March 12, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: N.J. can’t afford tax cuts proposed by either party It’s party time in Trenton, where we now have a menu of tax-cut plans to choose from — one from Gov. Chris Christie, one from the Senate … Continue reading →

Posted in New Jersey Real Estate, Politics, Property Taxes | 251 Comments

Do you have an FHA originated before June, 2009?

Posted on March 6, 2012 by grim

You are in luck. From the WSJ: White House Cuts Refinance Fees The U.S. government will cut fees on federally insured mortgages that have prevented some borrowers from refinancing their home loans at ultra-low interest rates, the latest in a … Continue reading →

Posted in Mortgages, Politics, Risky Lending | 24 Comments

Seller’s Market Buyer’s Market Renters Market! (and a squatter’s market too)

Posted on February 24, 2012 by grim

A Two-Parter from Bloomberg (Hat tip Chi!): Why Renters Rule U.S. Housing Market (Part 1): A. Gary Shilling The collapse in housing and the 33 percent plunge in house prices since 2006 are favoring renting over homeownership. This trend will … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, Politics, Risky Lending | 164 Comments

Making the unaffordable affordable

Posted on February 15, 2012 by grim

From the Star Ledger: N.J. Dems outline proposal allowing towns to turn foreclosed homes into affordable housing Two senior Democrats today outlined a measure to let municipalities and a state corporation buy foreclosed homes and offer them to low- and … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Foreclosures, Housing Recovery, Politics | 125 Comments