As a service to American Home Mortgage's former workers, and especially our out-of-work realtor and Desperate Homedebtor readers, this EXCLUSIVE HousingPANIC interview with Ed over at ramenramenramen:
HP: You're blog is wildly popular with ramen-eating-realtors looking for new ideas. Did you ever think ramen interest would soar while housing prices crashed?
RAMEN: Haha, I would've never linked ramen interest with housing prices, but now that you've written about it, I guess it makes sense. But besides the cheapie billion-packs-for-a-dollar kinds of ramen, there're also a lot of "upscale"instant ramen, usually found in Japanese/Asian stores that sell for $3 to over $5 bucks a bowl!
HP: Some realtors don't care about flavor, they just need the cheapest ramen they can find. What do you recommend?
RAMEN: The best choices are probably the familiar Top Ramen http://www.nissinfoods.com/topramen/ and Maruchan, which doesn't appear to have an English web site, but I know they have a large factory in Southern California because I happen to pass by it often! I think even Wal-Mart has their own private label brand of instant noodles. Other places to buy cheap instant noodles is in Chinese, Vietnamese, or Korean supermarkets.
Another web site that might be fun for your "ramen-eating-realtor" readers is "the Official Ramen Homepage" http://www.mattfischer.com/ramen/ which has tons of creative recipes using instant noodles. You can save money *and* have a good meal at the same time!
HP: For the realtor that does (pigs fly) sell a house, and wants to splurge on a ramen-feast, what tips could you offer?
RAMEN: If you go to a Japanese supermarket, you'll often find a good selection of "bowl" noodles (instant noodles in a styrofoam bowl. These are really popular in Japan, and some of them are really fancy. There are even bowl noodles modeled after the ramen in popular ramen houses across Japan!
Here's and old favorite http://www.ramenramenramen.net/2005/02/07/ramen-rating-15/ As you can see, some of these bowl ramen come with lots of ingredients, and even meat!
The meat in this bowl ramen was particularly good (and thick too! some bowl ramen have paper-thin slices of meat): http://www.ramenramenramen.net/?p=13
I just tried this one a few weeks ago. The list of ingredients is almost gourmet and ranges from green onions, ginger, and bamboo, to judas ear mushrooms! http://www.ramenramenramen.net/2007/07/13/ramen-rating-seabura-tonkotsu-ramen/
Or better yet, I recommend everyone who enjoys noodles to patronize a local ramen house. If all you've ever had was instant ramen, you'll be amazed at the difference!
HP: I see you sell a "ramen lapel pin" - do you think realtors will be allowed to wear this along with their Century21 or Re/Max lapel pins?
I don't see why not! Who knows, it might even be a good conversation starter that'll lead to a sale!
RAMEN: Haha, I would've never linked ramen interest with housing prices, but now that you've written about it, I guess it makes sense. But besides the cheapie billion-packs-for-a-dollar kinds of ramen, there're also a lot of "upscale"instant ramen, usually found in Japanese/Asian stores that sell for $3 to over $5 bucks a bowl!
HP: Some realtors don't care about flavor, they just need the cheapest ramen they can find. What do you recommend?
RAMEN: The best choices are probably the familiar Top Ramen http://www.nissinfoods.com/topramen/ and Maruchan, which doesn't appear to have an English web site, but I know they have a large factory in Southern California because I happen to pass by it often! I think even Wal-Mart has their own private label brand of instant noodles. Other places to buy cheap instant noodles is in Chinese, Vietnamese, or Korean supermarkets.
Another web site that might be fun for your "ramen-eating-realtor" readers is "the Official Ramen Homepage" http://www.mattfischer.com/ramen/ which has tons of creative recipes using instant noodles. You can save money *and* have a good meal at the same time!
HP: For the realtor that does (pigs fly) sell a house, and wants to splurge on a ramen-feast, what tips could you offer?
RAMEN: If you go to a Japanese supermarket, you'll often find a good selection of "bowl" noodles (instant noodles in a styrofoam bowl. These are really popular in Japan, and some of them are really fancy. There are even bowl noodles modeled after the ramen in popular ramen houses across Japan!
Here's and old favorite http://www.ramenramenramen.net/2005/02/07/ramen-rating-15/ As you can see, some of these bowl ramen come with lots of ingredients, and even meat!
The meat in this bowl ramen was particularly good (and thick too! some bowl ramen have paper-thin slices of meat): http://www.ramenramenramen.net/?p=13
I just tried this one a few weeks ago. The list of ingredients is almost gourmet and ranges from green onions, ginger, and bamboo, to judas ear mushrooms! http://www.ramenramenramen.net/2007/07/13/ramen-rating-seabura-tonkotsu-ramen/
Or better yet, I recommend everyone who enjoys noodles to patronize a local ramen house. If all you've ever had was instant ramen, you'll be amazed at the difference!
HP: I see you sell a "ramen lapel pin" - do you think realtors will be allowed to wear this along with their Century21 or Re/Max lapel pins?
I don't see why not! Who knows, it might even be a good conversation starter that'll lead to a sale!
18 comments:
LOL! Kieth you crack me up!
Speaking of Ramen. Ok, this is going to be slightly off topic.
Isn't it funny how Mattel has managed to foist off the blame for lead painted toys to China? Sure China built them, but isn't Mattel ultimately responsible for selling them?
This kind of arrogance is going to be the cause of much soon-to-arrive pain in the U.S. Just watch what happens when th yuan, the currency of the "dey took ar jobs" Chinese gets floated against the dollar and even Walmart becomes too expensive.
y'all wont believe this, we got a REALTOR here in CA with NAMED ramen!!!
http://tinyurl.com/2yxuar
for reals! oh how i wanna see a pic, i bet he's skinny.
The website says hes an attorney also, so watchit! he'll sue. nothing worse than a skinny starving REALTTORNEY™ after you.
Hi!
Keith - I am your fan from Japan.
Please don't downgrade our Ramen by feeding it to monkeys in your RE zoo.
Here we have speciality Ramen Noodle shops where you can see several Mercedes Benz parked, apparently the choice of the well heeled.
Pointing out that the housing market is vastly overpriced is an OK thing to do, but you should remember that their are about 7000 people/families who at the end of this week, will not know where the next pay check will be coming from.
If the housing market truly goes into a bear market, it will take other industries with it, and if it does, you will more likely get America, becoming either a fascist state, or a socialist state.
Keith, you should stick to blogging about the housing market, and avoid taking delight in others misfortune,
I think it is beneath you, and makes people ignore the message you are trying to get across.
Ok, here, this post has the content that I would pass on to "DOPES" as advice in terms of a source of nourishment s/he can afford after all this plays itself out.
@amigueser
You see the problem with the economy IS the lending machine. Why is houseing 300% overpriced?! THEN LENDING MACHINE! Half the state of CA works in the REIC securizing junk loans which ran prices thru the stratosphere.
Sooooo we need at least 60% of the REIC jobs to GO AWAY FOREVER in order to get back to a stable affordable economy. And housing has to crash so a regular joe can buy a house and have money left over to buy a ford 150. get it?
When the lending arm is outta control due to low interest rates and people seeking better returns its a EFFING DISASTER. I'm sure all the unemployed had ok jobs before they became 150k a year subprime mortgage brokers. Now they can go back to those jobs.
Glee shall be taken at the return of affordability and this means many many many job losses in the parasitic REIC.
You cannot have a economy based on refinancing each others homes every year and selling them to each other for ever higher prices. thats ponzi. wake up to the ponzi people!
Keith, thanks for the investigative journalism!
BUY FARMLAND!
I'm a general lurker...I rarely feel that I've got much, if anything, to contribute, but amiguaser, you've really only received a partial response.
First off, you're right, there will be some real people who suffer due to the job losses...the trouble is, a lot of us feel that many of those people are nothing but 'rent capturing' transaction parasites...they aren't really adding any value in our economy, just skimming a percentage of our money. I say this and the following as an investor, so spare me lectures about the importance of a smooth-running financial system to allow the wonders of 'capitalism'.
We just came very close to a fascist state - genocidal authoritarianism ISN'T the hallmark of fascism - goverment of by and for corporations is. The "ownership society" was all about that...the "privatization" of government is all about that - making sure that the money flows (money velocity) run through 'private entities' instead of 'bureaurocracies' where those private entities can enjoy monopoly control of the market segment, avoiding any real competition and skimming a percentage all the time.
Of course, in reality, it's debt serfdom to an economic aristocracy...just like the Fuedal Lords who really owned the land the peasants worked and took a percentage of the crop in return for 'allowing' the peasants to work the Lord's land, we don't own our homes - the banks do...well, at least those of 'us' stupid enough to have 100% financing...and all the time we 'own' them, we pledge to give a percentage of our income to the Lords (MBS holders) in exchange for living in their property.
Yes, there is a good chance Social Democracy will come here...with any luck this crash will prompt the kind of economic/political realignment that the depression did and result in a level playing field coalition. If we had anything like due dilligence standards enforcement, our country wouldn't be facing the economic clusterf*ck we are now. The pain to 'real families' wouldn't be materializing. We probably wouldn't have had the 'privatized profits' of the past six-seven years, but we also wouldn't be socializing the losses as we're about to. What has happened is the mugging of main street by the investor class, and ordinary joes - from Pension Fund beneficiaries through 'bitter renters' through the over-extended will be paying the bill for the likes of Angel Mozillo.
I'm sorry if your parasite job just vanished...what is it free market types are talking about? We have to face the harsh economic realities and workers have to be flexible? Start bending (over) buddy!
Scott
The Onion needs to pick this up. One of the best interviews ever!
What I put on my Ramen Noodles:
http://tinyurl.com/25n9n8
Available at!!
http://tinyurl.com/nlysx
This thread brings to mind a recipe from those long-gone college days!
------------------
Tips for the realtor:
Here’s a way to improve your daily dinner. Boil an egg, then slice it up and put it in a bowl. Chop up a green onion and put it in the bowl. Sprinkle some hot pepper flakes over it all. Add a spoonful of mayonnaise.
Boil ramen noodles, mix in flavor packet, then pour into bowl and mix well. Eat, close your eyes, and dream of 2005. Enjoy!
(Flopped flippers may also want to try this recipe.)
- Mammoth
you realy should work in advertizing..as Ive bought 90 times more ramen in the last years after reading these articles than I had bought in the last 25 years... but im not buying a house that im almost in desperate financial need of, guess one can see an obviously good deal and fair value
Dude I think you have officially gone insane.
We should all email this to Greg Swann
You should try Grits; its cheaper even than Ramen if you get it straight from the source. I live near a water-powered grist mill, and I can get enough grits to last me six months for $1.00.
You soak them overnight like beans, and then you boil em and you can add eggs, sausages, cheese, or just salt and pepper if you have no money like I don't.
I admit... When I lost my house in the crash of 1991 in California, I was in the habit of eating dry Ramen and discarding the flavor packet.
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