November 22, 2006

The Epic US Housing Meltdown hits Oprah today - now the REAL panic starts


Gonna be panicked housewives all over America today.

"Biggest one month drop in the last 40 years!"

"Incentives to lure buyers - trips, cars, cash back.. crazy things I've never seen before"

Watch her and her "stager" try to help a "desperate" debt-ridden couple sell their dead inventory in California in the middle of an epic housing collapse. A really, truly sad story, being repeated all over America today.

Thanks frothy for posting to youtube. Here's part 1 of 5.

59 comments:

Markus Arelius said...

And this hits keep on comin' in the Southern California (Orange County) housing market:

http://blogs.ocregister.com/lansner/

If it's not on Oprah, then it's probably time to grab the "oh shit"-bar on this wild bubble ride!"

Anonymous said...

Hard to achieve shaudenfreud on account of the ladies brain tumor.
Yet it's hilarious that they expect a gf to come along and pay off their debt. Oprah didn't need to send her fruity interior decorator to sell that house, the owners just need to lower the price. As far as their debt is concerned, don't people pay off debt with income created by labor anymore or do they just wait for someone to borrow more money than they did to pay them off.

Anonymous said...

laughing my ass off all the way through this Oprah "piece". I love it!

Anonymous said...

ncbb,

"don't people pay off debt with income created by labor anymore or do they just wait for someone to borrow more money than they did to pay them off. "

-----

Yep, everybody believes they've earned "equity" on their house these days just by phantom appreciation, and they act like they've actually "earned" it. It's ridiculous. What by george have they done to "earn" it?

I also have had everyone I've talked to over the last 2 years tell me that it's stupid to save up for a down payment, which was you know what people have done for only the last 100 years or so, so it would then really blow their mind when I would tell them I'm not only saving for a down payment, I'm saving for the next few years so that my down payment will be more on the order of 50% or I can buy with straight cash.

Then I tell them that I'm earning equity right now, without even owning my house yet, and they really look confused. It's just that my equity is being stored in gold bars for the time being instead of an overpriced house.

What a stupid country we have sometimes.

Anonymous said...

The sad fact is that many baby boomers were counting on there home equity to retire. They could end up with very little except social security and maybe a little profit depending on how greedy they were in mortgaging there future. Once they wake up (thank you Oprah) to this fact I believe we will see many more homes on the market and unless prices start dropping big time we could very well see the mother of all crashes.
Save! Save! Save!

foxwoodlief said...

If when everyone is talking about flipping you know the market is a bubble then isn't the reverse true that when everyone starts talking about a bubble it isn't?

Anonymous said...

ok, I believe we can say with complete confidence now that the bubble was a bubble and it is now in full bloom with the main stream media and not just the subject matter of bloggers living on the finges of society... can we all agree on that point? (not the regulars at this blog, just newbies) If it's on OPRAH now, count on the emotional hysteria to escalate given the audience - no slight intended ladies but thems the facts. Let the fear mongering begin!

Does the collective psychology and public mood move the market or does the market move the collective psychology and public mood? Bad real estate, bad, bad, bad real estate!!

Smug Bastard

Anonymous said...

They could end up with very little except social security and maybe a little profit depending on how greedy they were in mortgaging there future.

-----

Don't feel too bad because these people have to option to move to Mexico, Costa Rica, a/o Guatemala and survive alright on SS payments alone. When our time comes, SS will be reduced to 60-70% of today's payout and places like Costa Rica will be too expensive for less than the well off because US based savings and assets will go down, relative to the rest of today's emerging markets. Feel more sorry for your own retirement and your children's generation when they find that 80% of the good jobs are in the Pacific Rim then North America.

Anonymous said...

Not in this case foxwoodlief, the truth is just being realized, the housing bubble excists. Oprahs bearish show may be remembered as the bubbles day of reckoning.

Anonymous said...

Anon Wednesday, November 22, 2006 10:33:12 PM

Shhh, don't tell the baby boomers about Costa Rica, please.

Anonymous said...

No comment.

I can't stand Oprah, and only managed to get :38 into the clip.

What a pompous, egotistical bee-yotch!

Anonymous said...

Looks like they've already dropped the price $10,000 since the show aired.

http://www.annleungrealty.com/home.asp

http://matrix.gsbrmls.net/Matrix/Listings/SDASHDAV687/MyOfficeActives.mls

Anonymous said...

600K for a 2br townhome? One they bought 2 years ago for $400K?????

Have they tried lowering the price to 500K yet?

Has mr. quit-my-job-to-stay-at-home-dad-to-start-my-own-business ever thought of GETTING A JOB????? He should know what one is, as he apparently had one before. Hmmm, what to do, a) take a job, don't get to see my kids much, but they have a place to sleep and food to eat, or b) stay at home, spend lots of time playing with the kids, don't look for a job, have no money to buy food for kids, lose house, end up homeless . . .

And did you see that mucked-up laminate floor in front of the dishwasher--people, don't be stupid, don't put particle-board-based flooring with joints in it in the kitchen or bathroom WHERE IT WILL GET WET. Napoleon Dynamite sez: DUHHHH!

It's official, people, I hereby declare common sense dead and buried.

I foresee these people living in an RV in a year or two. Down by the river . . .

It is really sad about the mom's brain tumor--nothing at all funny about that, and that alone could cause serious issues for any family, esp. one w/o health insurance (as I suspect is the case here).

Anonymous said...

well, hecky darn pookster. that's tooooo bad you can't unload that townhouse for more money and keep putting out the the kiddie videos...you better think about lowering that price now because it's going to be hard to turn tricks with no hair!


hahahahahahahahahhahahah

Anonymous said...

:esp. one w/o health insurance (as I suspect is the case here).

I suspect that now that it's been detected, meaning the tumour, they're no longer qualified to be covered under most plans in states where there isn't mandatory coverage for its residents by law, regardless of health history. In other words, if any procedures are needed, they're essentially bankrupt w/o any recourse.

blogger said...

think about the dinner table conversations tonight

"Honey, I told you we shouldn't have spent $1 Million on this condo, with an interest only no down liars loan!"

"You stupid fool - how many "investment condos" do we own now? How screwed are we"

And of course...

"Suzanne researched it!"

Anonymous said...

Oprah should do a follow up show next year entitled "Who caused this crazy bubble".
Her guests could include Casey Serin, some illegal immigrants, crackheads, and other non qualified buyers. Hopefully she could even get a live interview via satelite link with the charming David Lereah.

Anonymous said...

SHE ACTUALLY SAID SHE REALIZED THAT THEY CAN RENT FOR HALF OF WHAT THEIR MORTGAGE PAYMENT IS...

WTF? FINALLY...

It's like having a rich uncle helping you pay your housing costs... It's good to be a renter...

Bill said...

Him being a little long on cash.."which is starting to look like toilet paper" any suggestions other than the obvious as to a place to dump it?

anyway the toilet paper comment sticks!

I feel a major bottoming out is coming within the next 3 months, not sure yet and hate to make predictions,but that lame duck status is looking very non investment like, for our Foreign Money Whores.

http://tinyurl.com/yffyfp

Bill said...

Make that "Dollar Whores"..my bad!

Anonymous said...

I was renting just a few blocks away until a few months ago for about $1.30/sqft/mo, the new fb will be paying well over $2

decent area, close to shops and beach, (not walking distance however) no street parking, fairly densely populated with lot of townhomes, condos, worth nowhere near 3k/mo in my opinion

Anonymous said...

I do not understand why this couple appears to be so troubled over their house not selling. A simple way out exists for them to get rid of their mortgage burden. If they bought the home for $450K then they should put it up on the market for $450K NOT $600K. If the payments are eating them alive then lower the price until it sells!!! What we are really seeing is greed in disguise-- masquerading as a poor helpless oppressed victim. The couple wants $150K for doing nothing to improve the place. I have great simpathy for the wife and children (and hope that all goes well with their health and financial future) but this is so typical of the endemic attitude within the U.S. People believe they DESERVE to be handed large sums of cash for doing nothing but owning a home(or virtually nothing after the makeover is finished). This mentality is not only destroying the couples financial well being but its also destroying this country. If sellers have any wisdom at all they will sell quickly before the noose completely tightens around their neck and its too late. A tremendous crash is imminent. I blame the real estate professionals for brain washing the American public that house prices only go up. I hope they will be held liable for their trickery along with the corrupt mortgage lenders.

http://financialjudo.blogspot.com/ said...

I was really disappointed in the show. It started out great. But then just turned into a makeover show about staging your house. They put an additional $10,000(!) into this house to make it look better including replaing the carpet. The only problem is that this couple (and the many many others who are in the same position) was in absolutely no financial position to do these kind of improvements themselves. Plus they wanted $650k for a fracking townhome!!! Insanity still rules, we have such a long, long way to go.

Anonymous said...

I think the idea here is by selling the house at $600K, they eliminate their debts which tells me that they own $150K in addition to the mortgage on a $450K unit. Hmm... and why did this guy quit his steady "paycheck" job for, other then burning a hole in his line of credit?

I don't about you but most couples I know of w/ two kids have two jobs, where perhaps one parent's the so-called self-employed (ala entreprenuer), and the other, with a steady corporate or health care type of position where there's a consistent pay period every two weeks (or month). It's seldom that you hear of a single earner running a hair brained scheme of a company with a wife and kids unless it's a consulting opt w/ an established base of paying customers. This crew is commonly known as a stupid couple with no clue as to how the world operates. I suspect they'll be homeless in short order.

Anonymous said...

But Suzanne said that the child's video was a great idea!

Anonymous said...

Keith,
You are off the hook for creating the bubble.
Congrats.

Anonymous said...

PREEEEE POSSSTEROUSSSS!

These people are crying poor mouth? They bought it a few years ago for in the $400k range...and now it is "low" at the low $600K range? F&$%*#King MANIACAL.....

To the lady with the brain tumor: Smarten up and sell the place...you are going down the tubes...can't you figure that out???

Anonymous said...

Doesn't seem like anyone who watched the show in her viewing audience got the message that the bubble has burst.

Here are the comments on the message board on the show's website.

I weep.

http://tinyurl.com/yd79xa

Anonymous said...

why don't you send suzanne and kendra? maybe they both can sell the townhouse in days.

Anonymous said...

borka said:

"i feel a major bottoming out...in 3 months..."

as long as you see prices in 500k up, it hasn't bottom out yet.

i see it happening in 2009-10.

Anonymous said...

To anon 2:11, I read about 3 pages into the responses, and wow, pathetic......I was starting to think all these bubble blogs I read like a mental patient were starting to sound all the same... but jeeeeeezz.. I am so glad I agreee with the bubble/crash/financial distress side of the argument....and have planned accordingly.

Only thing left to do is watch, far as Im concerned

robert said...

Check out the DOM. As of this posting it reads 11. In the video, sounds like they had it on the market for months.

http://matrix.gsbrmls.net/Matrix/Listings/SDASHDAV687/MyOfficeActives.mls

Oh well. $10K in upgrades, National T.V.(I doubt many sellers have Oprah to bail them out), open house, lots of lookers.

Still no buyer.

robert said...

Make that link:

http://www.annleungrealty.com

Anonymous said...

Oprah used to be on Baltimore television years ago when she was nobody. Couldn't stand her then, can't stand her now. Complete no-talent back then with the emotional output as a dead fish. I could never understand how she got so rich and famous.
As for this couple, they want to sell, easy, stop being stupid and greedy, stop trying to get something for nothing and LOWER THE DAMN PRICE!! I almost fell off the chair when she came out with that "rent for one half of our mortgage" statement!

Jim said...

Wife extremely ill; check. Multiple offspring; check. House with mortgage; check. Full time steady job with health insurance; for what? I'm starting a kids video company and then we are going to Disney!

WTF people, get a clue. The wife putting herself under even more stress on top of her illness should do her health wonders.

Anonymous said...

Oh my f'ing heart is bleeding you greedy bastards. What about the poor idiot who pays 650K and then get foreclosed on. Do you give a shit about that poor bastard Oprah?

Anonymous said...

did she get this tumor before they realized the house would not sell or after?
Is that what we call greed now, a tumor?
Is that tumor preventing them from lowering the price?
Does the husband have a tumor too?

Bill said...

I ment a bottoming out in the markets IE: Hedge,not housing

Anonymous said...

will they take #359,000?

thats what its worth

Anonymous said...

Why do people think they have an entitlement to make money?

How said real estate never goes down?

Alan Greenspan is a fucking pos.

Bill said...

will they take #359,000?

thats what its worth

---------

Worth is a oxymoron it is only worth as much as the other person is willing to pay for it.

Paul E. Math said...

I smell bullsh*t. I want to see the medical records. Brain tumors don't just 'go away' because you think positive. I'm not saying for sure that these people are liars but it sure seemed like it.

Even if they are not lying about the brain tumor this show still turned my stomach. It seems as obvious to me as it does to everyone else on this thread: lower the price and your dump will sell. But then Oprah would have had to think up a real issue to analyze and discuss on her banal, empty, sacharine show.

Anonymous said...

Any of you bar partrons heard the saying "Go ugly early". It means grab what you can before you are left with nothing.

Anonymous said...

Someone needs to log in and set this couple straight!
I'd do it but I tend to be too long-winded and brash.

I love to see their responce as to why someone else should pay off their credit cards by overpaying for their Sh*t box!

Someone needs to point out to them WHY IN THE F*CK someone would want to pay so much when they so aptly pointed out is is half the cost to rent.

UGHHHH!!!

Anonymous said...

OK, I posted on there under tulip4u title: you are but one of many....

Anonymous said...

hi american cousins

Mr T from the UNITED KINGDOM here

i guess we re 6 months behind you guys! Interesting to see whats happening, as this house price crash is comming to the UK

House prices are really expensive over here - you have to borrow 5 to 7 times your annual wage for a flat (you call a apartment) or a tiny house.

A lot of people are taking out INTEREST ONLY MORTGAGES, and are failing to look at the prospect the capital will never be paid off.

The average house is about £200,000, which is about $380,000 in your money. Thats alot - we think house prices here are the most expensive in the world!!!

This is really having a bad affect on our social culture. A whole generation of young adults have been unable to buy their own property for years. We are getting mass emigration - some 1000 brits are leaving every day for a better life. The average age for a first time buyer is something like 35 years old - thats terrible.

We have a lot of youngers discontent with the situation - alot of them are causing the anti-social behaviour we see on the streets; there s just no future in the UK. Rents are high too - where i live in the south of England - rents are £550 per month for a one bed flat and i only earn £1100 after tax. Its a gutting situation.

There is a cult following and preparing for this house price correction -

www.housepricecrash.co.uk

and

www.globalhousepricecrash.com


We welcome your comments, and what is exactly happening over there!

Anonymous said...

MR T here again

if you go to www.rightmove.co.uk

and search in chelsea (in london) for a house

you can see just how crazy house prices have got.

A million pounds - or something like 1.9 million of your greenbacks wont get you much

Anonymous said...

THis si truly unbelievable. They expect people to be sorry for them when they expect 20% appreciation per year. Disgusting!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

To UK anon, my analysis of England from another thread...

The entire UK's economy is the London financial services industry.
From a fundamentals pov, England hasn't produced anything since the fall of the Empire cerca 1965-1972.

So in a way, London's like NYC but without a country like the USA adjoining it. And if American corporations don't get their acts together soon, then the US will also go the way of England but at least there's some twenty years left of productive value in the States.

So, when there are other chic/happening cities like Amsterdam, Paris, or Milan for rich, globe trotting bankers/oil men/movie stars, why would they buy up 90-100% of the UK's properties just to help out the average Briton with an ARM? I think those posh places in Chelsea are already accounted for and the country's RE has only one way to go... down.

---

"I hear the russians are especially interested in converting their wealth into UK assets so that when the government tries to steal the money back, it'll be overseas."

The only UK assets are RE, Pound Sterling, and Hedge fund shares/equity. So there's a limit to the diversification going on over there unless the foreigners are going to buy all of the UK.

------

"Russians and saudis are buying UK PROPERTY - houses. don't forget that asset class"

Well, condos in NYC are also a million dollars per unit so it's one of those chic cities where rich people buy places, however, unlike NY, London is the only economy for the whole of the UK. If anything, RE in England is the South Sea bubble all over again except that this time, there's no USA to emigrate to for the average Briton like three centuries ago, whereas the US, still has a military-industrial research complex, raw materials (esp coal), biopharma, foodstuffs, etc so the collapse of America's service sector wouldn't destroy the country, it'll spawn a painful one or two decade bear market (ala depression) whereas England's toast if their hedge funds go belly up or the rich ex-Soviets start to look at Amsterdam or Copenhagen for places to buy. And to be frank with you, if I were rich, I'd much rather hang out in those places over England.

-----

"When the global economy melts down or world war breaks out, the question is where will you want to be? In London or Jerusalem? In Seattle or Damascus?"


When did banana republics vs real nations become the highlight of the issue?

If anything, Ottawa Canada is the safest place in the world and its real estate is the most affordable for a modern, developed, beautiful city by a river. The difference between Ottawa and London is that London serves a dual nature of being a hedge fund center (a.k.a. UK's NYC) and in a developed first world nation away from places like Russia or Syria.

So when a place is oversold, real estate in New York City, Vancouver, or London, it becomes another phenomena of overvalued parcels of land and units where the expectation is that the rich are going to soak up everything, keeping the average middle class person asset wealthy via the creation of a localized wealth effect. That's a bubble zone. A rich oil man can buy one or two units in London to meet with his broker, a mansion (or two) in Ottawa a/o Oslo for his multi-acre landed estate, and a basket of currencies including the pound, loonie, usd, euro, corona, and a pile of gold/silver all over the US, Canada, Australia, Germany, and England and the chances are that he'll retain his wealth even if there's an overthrow of his govt in Bahrain. Simultaneously, he's hedged his bet because not all major cities are going to implode 1990s Tokyo-style so his private RE holdings are nicely diversified to hold up during market downturns. I mean a lot of multi-millionaires got roasted because they'd bought hotels in Toyko in the 1980s thinking that they'd retain their RE equity, not to find themselves in an illiquid position costing them ten years later.

-----


::They say the wealth of the top .01% has increased 600% in 20 years. Has your paycheck? At that increase I guess 20% appreciation a year say in London sounds like a bargain buy.

Yes, I agree with the localization of the wealth effect and for that exact reason, Manhattan apartments average 1 million dollars per unit. But now think about this... the rich can only make money if they have an asset class that's of value to a certain number of people. So, when people find that living in NYC is too expensive for the *average* blue chip professional, earning $400K/yr, then that crowd, the upwardly mobile but not too rich gang loses interest in a region and moves into cheaper locales in New Jersey, Putnam, Rockland, and Nassau counties in NY state and then even offices, which handle the transactions for the wealthier clients, move there as well, once the body count reaches critical mass. And this is pretty much what happened to Tokyo, during the 80s, as all kinds of rich people started buying downtown properties at prices equivalent to owning entire city centers in places like Boston, Houston, and Philly. Well, at that point in time, the well off manager salarymen (~$400K/yr) at Japan Inc moved 2 hrs away and the entire city of Tokyo became one speculative region for land/units via rich RE players (including organized crime bosses). The rest is history. And the problem is that that's the issue, there are only so many Malibus, Hamptons, etc out there for the top 0.001%. The other top 0.5% also need places to live in and it's this crowd which keeps RE alive in happening regions.

------

Someone else concurs:

"And the problem is that that's the issue, there are only so many Malibus, Hamptons, etc out there for the top 0.001%. The other top 0.5% also need places to live in and it's this crowd which keeps RE alive in happening regions."

Yep, high end enclaves are pretty much scoped out in much of the world. There are practically no "perfect" private beach castles in Tahiti, available for the average Japanese, European, or North American nowadays. Those places have already been bought out by millionaires or resort conglomerates which is why French Polynesia is one of the most expensive Pacific Island regions in the world.

In order for real estate to maintain an upward holding pattern in London, Sydney, NYC, or Los Angeles, the upwardly mobile professionals need to feel like they can afford to be a part of the action to generate the volume needed to create a real estate market or otherwise, we get a Tahiti situation where there are billionaire recluses and tourists hotels but no professional class buying places to live in.

Anonymous said...

IDJITS!

Anonymous said...

The listing is shown as "pending".

Don't forget the idiot factor! Some woman will cajole her husband into buying the $hitbox just for the cache that "Eeeeeeee! It was featured on Oprah. I want it honey... I have to have it!...and besides, Suzanne (and Oprah and Cutie Pie Nate) researhed it"

WE ARE DOOMED

Anonymous said...

Now it's serious!

When it hits Oprah....it's serious!!!

Anonymous said...

I'm glad I found all of you smart, smart people to tell me that everyone else is stupid.

Okay, so you cynics are smarter than everyone else. You're right. The housing market is going to collapse.

Now what? The satisfaction of being right might carry you for a few hours. Then maybe you'll start to feel a little sympathy for the stupid peons who are suffering as a result of trying to find some way to make it.

After the schauenfraude, what next?

Anonymous said...

hmmm... what to do what to do? Here's an idea, buy a foreclosure for 50% of what it is listed at today with a large down payment, enjoy a low monthly p/i payment (if any) press the local taxing authority to reassess the property taxes due based on lower valuation. Live cheap with less stress while your neighbors bust a gut maintaining their status quo. That is what comes after the schadenfreude.

Anonymous said...

Gee, it sounds like the schadenfreude that just keeps on giving!

Anonymous said...

You said - "I'm glad I found all of you smart, smart people to tell me that everyone else is stupid.......You're right. The housing market is going to collapse.....maybe you'll start to feel a little sympathy for the stupid peons who are suffering as a result of trying to find some way to make it."

I for one, and I believe most posters here feel some sympathy for the unfortunate ones that are just trying to do their best to try to make it.

That sympathy is tempered, however, to the degree that the particular homedebtor became caught up in the greed and "I'm ENTITLED to a big profit just for owning and/or living in a house for a of couple years" mentality.

As for the members of the Real Estate and Easy Lending Industrial Complex.
ZERO SYMPATHY and UNAPOLOGETIC DELIGHT at your pain.

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Anonymous said...

Kind of goofy if you ask me, do you really think this way?

Look at my signature.