August 08, 2007

From "do you want granite countertops with that" to "would you like fries with that" - oh, what a difference a housing crash makes


Mortgage brokers
Appraisers
realtors
Homebuilders
Illegal immigrant roofers
Title agents
Pottery Barn employees
Decorators
Bankers
Lenders
Home Depot workers
HGTV employees
Architects
Landscapers
Real estate school teachers
Construction workers
Plumbers
Fencers
Pavers
Newspaper advertising sales staffs
Investment bankers

Millions will now lose their jobs.

Millions.

Thank you Alan Greenspan, Bush, Congress, NAR, realtors and the rest. You really f*cked us. Hope it was worth it.

What he does see is a difficult road ahead for rest of this year as the subprime mortgage meltdown takes its toll. It claimed another direct victim this week with the failure of American Home Mortgage Investment, a company that until yesterday employed 7,000 people. Today, about 90 per cent of them are looking for other work.

The indirect impact of such job losses on the economy is just beginning. And it promises to be painful, as all bursting bubbles tend to be.

“We know that the unwinding of the subprime situation is still ahead of us, rather than behind us,” Mr. Chan said.

Sifting through the latest labour market numbers released yesterday, he noted the slower job growth, but warned “that the other shoe” has yet to drop. Translation: Expect big housing-related job losses to weigh down the economy

35 comments:

Agent #777 said...

Can I have my nightly FIRST with that?

Anonymous said...

At least you can wipe the transfats off your granite counter top. Once you eat the Mickey D's fries, it's too late to do anything about all the the fat and grease.

I hear heart surgery is more expensive in the ling run.

Anonymous said...

Now they can raise taxes to bail out Wall Street and the hedge funds.

Frank R said...

They may be tempted to take up the McJobs program, but remember, McDonalds will expect results so I'm not so sure the realtwhores can hack it there.

Anonymous said...

To quote Cramer back in 2006 "What bubble"?

Anonymous said...

Don't forget "home stagers" or "closet organizers" from your list of professions.

With so many people competing for McJobs there will be a decline in fast-food wages. At least maybe then we'll be able to get some English speaking employees at the drive through window.

Anonymous said...

It's okay...

The birth/death model will hedonically adjust us to full employment & everyone's making $1 million annually.

Anonymous said...

Oh please, most of these folks listed wouldn't have had jobs if not for the housing bubble in the first place. You can't have it both ways.

Anonymous said...

UMMM--You left out an important fact here--American Home Mortgage was NOT a Subprime Company, it was an Alt A Company.

Just an ominous sign of the next shoe to drop. This isn't a "Subprime problem" anymore at all-it's pretty much all mortgage companies but the top 5 or so. They too, are getting hit hard, they will just be the ones able to weather this tsunami.

Anonymous said...

Granite - SO 2005...

Anonymous said...

I need to have my kitchen redone. It'll be nice to have all the remodelers fighting for my business.

Mammoth said...

Um...with all those people out of work, don't you think they're going to reduce their spending and eat out less often?

Don't think that the fast food and service industries aren't going to take a hit from the coming economic slowdown as well.

Anonymous said...

Well, the world needs ditch diggers too! Oh wait, they'll be out of work as well!

waiting_for_the_fall said...

This is just a normal process of boom/bust.
During the dot com boom, everyone rushed to get tech jobs. During the housing boom, it was housing related jobs. 150 years ago, it was all about gold for the forty-niners.
Wherever there's jobs and money to be had, people will rush in.

Anonymous said...

Sorry to be a contrarian, but this HousingPanic is over.

Hoovervilles wont happen. The Fed govt wont allow it.

Expect the Fed Govt to bail out the home debtors by spending billions.

There will be no crisis, there will be litttle drama.

Just a very slow unwinding of property values and deflation and a dollar currency going down will be the tools.

Nothing dramatic. Just an acceleration of the trends already in place.

Dave said...

An area like Phoenix - with a significant portion of the workforce in construction/real estate related service industries will really take a hit...

ALAN DEE said...

As an appraiser i can say that business over the last two months has been zero. For appraisers with office spaces and high overhead months like this will put them out of business.

Anonymous said...

1:40 nailed it. Most of these folks were not making much money before the craziness.

Many will have problems since they started spending like they could make good money forever.

Anonymous said...

ah, mcdonald's french fries....what a inspiring picture. I don't know about the rest of you, but I , as an American am most proud of the fact that McDonalds is on the DOW. It is a real honor and a priviledge for me, to see them doing quite well and making everyone some fast money. Isnt it strange ladies and gentlemen? One of the foremost companies in the United States, serves up what can be called by many, subprime food? So now they are worldwide doing to others what they have done to us and our children, all for what? For profits and the bottom line of course. The Golden Arches serves up nothing but garbage and yet they are on the DOW. I find this amazing. It shows what we have become. Instead of a country full of major companies manufacturing good things for mankind, we have become a nation of hamburger cooks and war profiteers. Welcome to this land we call 21st century Amerika. Welcome my friends. This nation stinks. We have lost our way. We are dead ducks in the water and we don't even know it yet. God help us please.

Anonymous said...

>>> Anonymous said...

It's okay...

The birth/death model will hedonically adjust us to full employment & everyone's making $1 million annually.

August 08, 2007 12:36 PM <<<

que? even the wetbacks? what are you saying? soon we will have million dollar bills floating around? yikes? that is scarey.

Anonymous said...

people who work at mcdonalds do not know how to read. instead of english descriptions on various coke machines etc, they have pictures so the dumb blacks that work there can know what someone wants. Now don't get me wrong. these fine folks have received a excellent education at our public schools and when they were ready to get out, they go certificates of attendance. Isn't that special?

Anonymous said...

Don't forget software companies: developers, sales reps, managers, etc.

Companies that specialize in the mortage software market are in deep trouble. One I know of has already been through three rounds of layoffs.

Anonymous said...

Wealth is relative; the more poor people the better for me. For not expelling a certain ethnic group as Lincoln wanted, the US deserves what it's about to get.

benevolentstranger.blogspot.com said...

Illegals are living in a flipped house down the road from me. It is so blatently obvious because (1) who else is dumb enough to buy in this market and share it with a bunch of sweaty guys (2) any house unless you've been a part of MTV's CRIBS shouldn't have more than 4 cars/trucks (3) there is a bank of america down the road so they can use the new payroll cards without social security numbers and can even take out a new mortgage with a TIN. Maybe the illegals will save the housing market here?

Anonymous said...

No Hoovervilles, no unemployment any worse than we've seen in the recent past maybe 12%.
The people who lose their house shouldn't have owned one in the first place if they lost it to a rate adjustment. They'll just go back to renting.

Peripheral jobs lost will be replaced with some sorta horseshit like the workfare cases running airport security.

All I want is a little humility. I'm so tired of seeing $20k yearly workers driving Hummers.
Stupid ass who works downstairs from me makes $12 hour, her husband makes about $55k yearly. They have an $1100 truck payment! I'm so tired of 'equity as a lifestyle'. I'd rather go back to being angry about 'welfare as a lifestyle'.

Anonymous said...

Maybe DuPont,and Chevron can formulate a new oil to cook those fries in.Right about now they're pushing on a thin string.Gasoline projections didn't jive last year with the decreased demands,and oil use didn't keep up with the housing downturn ,and it's side effect of less carpeting ,and artificial granite countertops.
This year is worse,and the glut is building again in oil.Last year Iran had to lease 9 Supertankers to contain the glut,and Saudi scrambled to find storage,and the price of oil went crashing from near 80 to the low 60s,and is doing it again.
All we really need as a barometer of consumer confidence,spending,and disposable income is the price of GASOLINE.
Consumer spending,and disposable income are our true indicators of what the economy is doing,or may do.California usually has ridiculous prices for gasoline,but now the there are stations at 2.70 /gallon.The declines have been steep from 3.50/gallon,and thats not because the OIL Barrons decided to be nice,or that they managed to fix their stupid refineries.Crude gluts can be devestating to the oil Industry,Shipping,and refineries.Those leases by Saudi,and Iran cost billions in losses,and can send regions of the producers "home until further notice".
Maybe Halliburton can buy MikkyD's,and you can have a Big Mac,and some fries cooked in bio diesel served by a troll.

Anonymous said...

6:47:

Xanax works. Try it please. For your safety and mine.

Anonymous said...

You forgot!

NEW COMPANY TRUCK SALES are way DOWN because builders and contractors are NOT buying new trucks including the normal fleet sales that larger contractors purchase - as reported today on the cover of the Detroit News.

This means more auto-worker layoffs.

Anonymous said...

people who work at mcdonalds do not know how to read. instead of english descriptions on various coke machines etc, they have pictures so the dumb blacks that work there can know what someone wants.

When I worked at McD's my junior year in high school (1972) we had to write a ticket and add it up by hand. We could only ring the total into the cash register. I to this day do not understand why...
It was a contest to see who had the highest total at the end of the night, and who was most accurate.

Working the front then required quick math skills and a sharp mind. I worked with some of the best students, and it was fun. $1.60 an hour would buy lots of gas and Budweiser... and an occasional rubber.

Anonymous said...

Wealth is relative; the more poor people the better for me.

That's COLD. You must be a Repuglican.

Anonymous said...

you forgot Linen and Things, Levitz Furniture Store as well as all the others, people who sell electronics can't buy a 50 inch and fit it in the back of my station wagon/home. No towels, no sheets, no pictures for the walls, no carpet, no accessories, no pots and pans, no dishes. Yeah you are right this is going to be ugly. Also anonymous you can kiss my black ass. As a matter of fact most of the people who work at MCDonalds are others. So fuck you ass hole. Why don't you have some racist shit to say about them. You shit sucker. I hope since I am so stupid because I got a certificate of attendence I hope I screw your mail up and send it to Taiwan and it takes 6 months to get back and then they kill it. Yep this is one KKK site alright. Can't have a decent interaction without all those racist white people making sure they let you know they hate black people whether it is a part of the debate or not. IDIOT.

Anonymous said...

A lot of these franchise restaurants are gonna go under too. With mass unemployment, the glut of all these places in the exurbs will be sold. Years from now you'll see Taco Bell or KFC buildings that have been converted to some other business. Seriously, how many more restaurants, delis, nail salons & bagel stores can there be. We need to start producing something. Watch Cinderella Man for a preview of what's on the way. Got pan fried baloney?

Anonymous said...

Don't think that the fast food and service industries aren't going to take a hit from the coming economic slowdown as well.

August 08, 2007 3:46 PM


Yes, theyre sitting on million s of parcels of real estate. And dont you think they have used the fake real estate market to manipulate their balance sheet as well?
Woes is it to be a large QSR chain in this environment

Anonymous said...

Appraisers, contractors, realtors and small shop brokers won't be listed on the unemployment rolls. Illegal immigrants won'tbe either.

They were taken out of the unemployment count when they got their jobs, but they won't be added back in now that they lost work.

Anonymous said...

Shakster post -

LMAO. Gallon of unleaded in St. Louis stood at $2.52 this a.m.

Smug Bastard