There. That should take care of it.
Seriously everyone, elevate your game. I realize it's the wild wild west of the internet, but let's all try to learn something here, and learn something from each other.
No, HP's not a left wing tree hugging loony. No, HP's not a right wing hate-filled neocon. No, HP didn't lose any money on gold.
Yes, HP thinks realtors should go away. Yes, HP thinks the bubble has popped and the housing industry is crashing. Yes, HP thinks illegals Mexicans should be deported. Yes, HP thinks we should get the F out of Iraq. Yes, HP thinks the US's fiscal house is a house of cards. And yes, HP thinks Bush is incompetent, Hillary is a joke and the system is corrupt.
I call it like I see it and make my argument. Anyone who uses name calling or swears as their main argument shows their lack of intelligence.
Make your case, keep it clean, add to the discussion, and have some fun on this blog.
June 27, 2006
New HousingPanic rule: Only smart people allowed to comment
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13 comments:
Yep - first comes the swelling of illegals on street corners...then the yards sales...then the crime. Couple the housing crash with 12% inflation - add in $4.00 gas - and wammo -
Got Bullets??
Thanks Keith for reminding people to be civil in their dialogues. I know that those who refuse to identify themself "anonymous" seem to be the most vicious toward any comments that don't fall into their limited span of expectations.
As a new Austinite I concur with the comments by Twib. As in all things you can be right and wrong at the same time (ask any married man). Here in Austin things are on an upswing after five years of stagnation, hopefully a model of what will happen in places like Phoenix or Miami. The market here corrected itself and now things are growing again. The only thing that can improve the economy here in Texas would be tax reform to reduce the regressive taxation of property. Then the government better tighten the requirements to purchase a home and do away with 100% loans (though I guess a person with cash should have options to invest elsewhere) and restrict equity extraction (no more 100-125% extractions, people need to maintain that 80/20 or pay mortgage insurance).
In all economic models there are winners and losers. Inflation or deflation, those who understand the markets, win. For those who prefer "gold" what they really prefer is a constant value so when people start recognizing true cost then bubbles might end. As for gas prices? Even at $3 a gallon gas is cheaper adjusted for inflation than it was in the 70s.
As I mentioned before on this site, my parent's paid $17,000 for a house in 1962 and it the cost per sq ft adjusted for inflation would be over $160 a sq foot today (they live in the bay area). So for a person to buy my parent's house at $800 a sq foot...for a fifty year old track home isn't buying value, but here in Austin you can buy a nice home, quality built for $100 a sq ft or less so home prices have remained pretty constant in "real dollar" terms. You need to buy to live not to get rich or flip. You buy a shelter over your head, fix a price for 30 years (or 15 or what ever meets your financial plans) and that makes good sense versus renting where costs go up. My parent's mortgage in 1962 was $120 a month, and like all things (cars, bread, etc you can almost ad that extra zero for an equivalent cost ....a $2,000 car is $20,000, a 25c loaf of bread is $2.50etc) They never refinanced their house so for 30 years they paid $125 a month to live in a neighborhood where today the homes sell for over a mil. Tell me renting would be better long term?
Just don't overpay. If people look at value, don't bid up houses in frenzies to buy (sorry you don't pay $300,000 for a house valued at $250,000 just because you want it and think someone else will do the same)
Save your money, make a large down payment, look at inflation adjusted costs to make sure you aren't buying in a bubble market and houses become homes instead of a get rich quick scheme.
Keith I too am a ficial conservative and social liberal and agree with you on most points. I've been mocked for reading your site by some "anonymous" bloggers because I don't always buy into their doom and gloom apocolyptic views. I read your site to get a pulse on other communities where I don't live. I read your site for the articles you post that I might not read in my local paper or the NY Times or the Economist. I like hearing other point of views to help me plan my course of actions with my investments. Bloggers tend to have their ear to the ground and hear the heards long before those looking at the horizon for dust so I think your site offers some good clues to what MAY happen.
You'd be the first to disclaim any investment advise gathered from this site or people may come back to sue you if you were wrong and they lost money selling out of fear or such (just like many are now trying to sue becaue they got sucked up in bubble frenzies around the country). You got to look at your own situation and what makes sense for you.
If you are single, renting may make sense as a 1bdr even in pricey cities can be a lot more affordable than buying and the free cash can be invested or saved. If a person is a professional with four kids, he may not want to rent a three or four bedroom place where the cost ends up more than his mortgage unless he needs/desires flexibility to move at a moments notice.
Not everyone bought a house in the last five years at inflated prices, not everyone is mortgaged to the hilt, not everyone has extracted every penny of equity, etc so one shoe doesn't fit all and a housing crunch doesn't affect everyone the same. Even during the Great Depression 70% worked, 30% unemployed. If you worked things were good.
Chevies is easy to steal.
Hope your new rule works Keith.
Your articles are a nice concise wrap-up of what happened that day.
Your pictures are entertaining as heck.
Your commentary is spot on.
But too many whacko posters brings the blog down, to be sure.
So good luck with the new request.
rdub9000,
Nope, I don't have your car. Probably at the chop shop right now though. I just happen to know that Chevies are prime targets for thieves because even a dedicated moron can steal 'em. Hondas are bad about getting stolen here of late also but I think that has more to do with popularity than the ease in jacking them. Hope your insurance pays off for the loss.
So Rush Limpbone may be headed for some
"hard" time. Oh Letterman and Leno are
going to have months of fun with this
twit.
debt is wealth...Gating has no effect on crime if the gatekeeper or someone within the community is the criminal. There were plenty of robberries in a gated ind complex I worked at and the gate watchman never saw " nuttin" even though it was the only access to that site. As for residential areas, I heard of one where some lowlife teenager of a resident was stealing stereos and GPS systems out of parked cars.
chupa mi verga
"I am not sure what you have against mexicans, but who is going to pick our fruit and veggies, carve your meat, clean your hotel room, cut your lawn, build your house, carry your couch into your mcmansion, keep your restaraunt clean?"
Why, all the LEGAL immigrants, especially the refugees, who we've been welcoming into our country, of course.
We have a large refugee population where I live, and they do not appreciate competing with illegals for jobs. They feel they have had it hard enough with being forced to flee their country, only to come here and find employers preferring to hire illegals who won't complain or assert their rights.
We can also rely on our country's perpetual supply of low-skilled, minimally-educated, low-IQ citizens who will never be capable of holding anything better. Not to knock average citizens here, I'm describing the mentally below-average, who will always make up a significant percentage of our population. Those folks used to be able to eke out a living as janitors, warehouse workers, laborers, and the like - jobs that are now going to illegals. So do you want to have these folks making a living through welfare - or working?
hey! lovet his blog!
Well at least as foxwoodlief (and yes that includes my last name) allows me to own up to my posts. What about you? You lump yourself into a pot with how many other anonymous posters? If you said you were Joeblow then every time you choose to blast someone everyone who reads knows it is the same person commenting. Own up to your posts so we know which ones are yours. At least those who call themselves paintblot, panicearly, or foxwoodlief have an identity that follows them throughout their posts so one knows where they are coming from. Own up to your comments with a consistent identity that we can pin on you.
Hey, you have a great blog here! You really are very talented and deserve an honest compliment, congratulations! I'm definitely going to bookmark you!
I have a home business career site/blog. It successfully covers home business career related stuff.
Come and check it out if you get time, Scott.
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