August 25, 2007

HP message to the realtors of America - Find new work. Move on. It's over. And good luck out there.

The hundreds of thousands of realtors who are no longer making any money won't show up in the government unemployment report, just like the millions of unemployed illegals no longer building homes. But they're still jobless, still unable to earn a living, and it's just gonna get worse.

So HP has a message to the realtors of America - quit being a realtor. Quit paying dues to your corrupt and incompetent masters at the NAR. Quit lying, deceiving and spinning. Quit. And move on.

Mortgage Lending Crisis Puts the Squeeze on Realtors

The National Association of Realtors expects a 4 percent drop in membership this year, the first decline in a decade.

Many Bay Area real estate agents are feeling the squeeze. When the housing market was hot, some people abandoned their jobs to get a real estate license.

"I do the real estate five days a week and then I work part-time three nights a week at a department store," said Crystal Carreno, who got into the Vallejo market three years ago.

American Canyon realtor Erin Heeley said it wasn’t long ago when the city was considered the fastest growing in the Bay Area. She never used to see more than 35 homes on the market at a time, but the glut of foreclosures has now pushed inventory to over 170.

"The sad thing is I also have lender friends and title and escrow friends who have lost their jobs that are out looking for full-time jobs," said Heeley.

Things are tough even on the pricier Peninsula, where realtor Mike Karamitas sold his software consulting company four years ago after the bottom dropped out of the tech market, only to find another bubble bursting in housing.

"I know there's people in our office who are really really in trouble. I'm in trouble. I'm almost living hand to mouth. Some months it's very lean," he said.

California expects to see a 7 percent drop in realtors this year.

35 comments:

Paul E. Math said...

"The sad thing is I also have lender friends and title and escrow friends who have lost their jobs that are out looking for full-time jobs,"

Talk about a lack of perspective.

How about all the honest, hard-working people who couldn't afford to own a home because the parasites in the real estate industry, on wall st. and at the fed had inflated the price of homes? Was that not sad? Or was that funny as long as you were getting an easy paycheck for doing absolutely nothing of material value?

Anonymous said...

Serves the bastards right. They've been screwing people over left and right and now its time for just desserts. I firmly believe in the mantra "You F-- me, I F-- you 10x over"

Anonymous said...

Hey soon-to-be-unemployeed realtors:

Blowback's a BITCH aint it?

snicker.

Anonymous said...

Don't forget our good buddies at the IRS! Yes, it WAS FUNNY when you could sell a prospect on the notion that all/most of his/her profits would be TAX FREE!

Mike Karamitas?

Meet Lucy Blanco!

Lack of perspective? Try Poster Boy for momentum players! No one will miss you.

DinOR

Anonymous said...

it will be more like a 100% drop in realtors nationwide!!!!

Anonymous said...

F EM

Anonymous said...

KWEEFER you say that they wont show up in unemployment numbers. True. But they also didn't show up in employment numbers during the boom. Evens out. Employment was much better in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2006 than was reported, never heard you socialists complain about it then.

Anonymous said...

Jealousy of successful people and class warfare is so ugly. Boo hoo Wall St baddies made money. Boo hoo brokers made money. Boo hoo realtors made money. Boo hoo builders made money. Everyone made money but you and you also lived in a 1 bedroom shack while everyone else pimped it up in a McMansion.

It was so unfair. So you will now vote for Hillary so she can give you what you DESERVE and make the world fair again.

You people are absolutely pathetic.

Anonymous said...

FOR THE RECORD, THE HOME SALES DATA WHICH CAME OUT THE OTHER DAY WAS FROM BEFORE THE CREDIT MARKET BLOWUP. LOOK FOR NEXT MONTH'S #S TO BE TERRIBLE, AND WALL STREET, KNOWING THEY'RE COMING, WILL SELLOFF BIG.

Anonymous said...

I also have a friend who worked
25+ years as a construction supervisor - and he is now laid off.

The entire housing industry has become disgrace, and is now falling apart because there is little value there - throughout the entire industry.

"The sad thing is I also have lender friends and title and escrow friends who have lost their jobs that are out looking for full-time jobs,"

Talk about a lack of perspective.

How about all the honest, hard-working people who couldn't afford to own a home because the parasites in the real estate industry, on wall st. and at the fed had inflated the price of homes? Was that not sad? Or was that funny as long as you were getting an easy paycheck for doing absolutely nothing of material value?

Frank R said...

The few realtors I know back in Arizona are finally getting a clue and realizing it's time to find a new career.

Anonymous said...

America is the land of plenty for all, and Paulson says the overall economy is strong. I am sure these hardworking intelligent people will have multiple job offers making six figure salaries.

Anonymous said...

And the pawn shops runneth over...

“Meanwhile, the back rooms of area pawnshops are filling up with saws, drills and other tools and equipment pawned by displaced workers in the construction trades. ‘We’re being swamped, to the point that we’ve pretty much stopped taking it,’ said James Sewell, co-owner of Goldcoast Pawn & Jewelry in Sarasota. ‘It’s gotten really bad in the last four to five months.’”

“Sewell said many of the former construction workers tell him they are leaving the Sunshine State. The unemployment situation combined with rising taxes and property insurance premiums has made Southwest Florida unlivable for many, Sewell said. ‘It’s gotten to be like California, but without the wages.’”

Unknown said...

Here is a good suggestion: head to Montana or Wyoming. I guess they are really short on workers there.

http://tinyurl.com/2h46k5

Sadly, I am not sure how well those mortgage types will fit in, lol.

Unknown said...

Parasites? We all feed off of the same table, even you - whether you realize it or not. Housing prices appreciate when:
(1) the demand is there
(2) the money is there

There's nothing parasitic about the business of real estate - although a few predators make it appear that way when the news media reports it.

I've been in business almost 40 years and have never seen a group of professionals more dedicated to ethical practice than Realtors.

Remember, I said as a group - most are generous and work very hard to protect their clients. A few are scoundrels and should be driven into the sea (for sure, the sea would find a way to send them ashore again), but they are few.

I've often wondered what kind of character is so negative and critical that they must attack anything and everything. Now that's the definition of a parasite.

Anonymous said...

"I do the real estate five days a week and then I work part-time three nights a week at a department store," said Crystal Carreno, who got into the Vallejo market three years ago.

Crystal, eh? That's good stripper name. Word to the wise, honey, I bet you could make almost as much mopping up dollar bills at the local gentleman's club as you did as a real estate clerk...

Anonymous said...

"because the parasites in the real estate industry, on wall st. and at the fed had inflated the price of homes?"

True they are the scummy opportunists. The enabler was your friend and mine Alan the Maestro..........puuuf....MAESTRO!!
Maestro of WHAT?!!!!

Anonymous said...

ken said...
Parasites? We all feed off of the same table, even you - whether you realize it or not. Housing prices appreciate when:
(1) the demand is there
(2) the money is there

There's nothing parasitic about the business of real estate - although a few predators make it appear that way when the news media reports it.

I've been in business almost 40 years and have never seen a group of professionals more dedicated to ethical practice than Realtors.

Remember, I said as a group - most are generous and work very hard to protect their clients. A few are scoundrels and should be driven into the sea (for sure, the sea would find a way to send them ashore again), but they are few.

I've often wondered what kind of character is so negative and critical that they must attack anything and everything. Now that's the definition of a parasite.

August 26, 2007 3:12 AM
------------
OMG, LOL!!!! Thank goodness I finished my coffee before reading this one or I would have sprayed it all over my keyboard through my nose!!! Get real loser, it was all about quick easy chumping of suckers for the last 5 years and the gravy train has stopped. Now go get me an order of fries.

Anonymous said...

Seriously Agree--
Gotta blame Greenspan on this one, for EVER allowing money to get so cheap, and for the BUSH Administration, for allowing this commission-driven industry to run wild, completely un-regulated.

GEEEEEE....What the hell did they think was going to happen? What a freakin' end-ending nightmare.

Anonymous said...

There's lots of work in the oil and gas fields from Alberta, Canada all the way down to West Texas. The pay is around $60K per year.

Anonymous said...

Contstruction tradesmen will eventually get work in the last drilling frenzy on the planet during the twilight of Peak Oil.

Of course on the big projects (which are in oceans or overseas) they'll be competing with imported desperate bodies from Pakistan, Phillipines, Vietnam, China, Indonesia and all sorts of other poor and exceedingly overpopulated places. Working in all-male poor "dorms" in company towns.

Maybe Wyoming & Montana has some jobs for gas drilling left.

But those moussed and pinky-ring mortgage brokers? The few with a work ethic might go back to being bartenders. The rest will mooch off their girlfriends in retail and cheat on them.

Anonymous said...

I've been in business almost 40 years and have never seen a group of professionals more dedicated to ethical practice than Realtors.

Ah, I see. You must be a mortgage broker, or a Congressman.

Anonymous said...

I've been in business almost 40 years and have never seen a group of professionals more dedicated to ethical practice than Realtors.

I've been in business almost 40 years and have never seen a group of professionals more dedicated to ethical practice than used car sales people [or insert your own punchline here].

Anonymous said...

I've often wondered what kind of character is so negative and critical that they must attack anything and everything. Now that's the definition of a parasite.

I have nothing against any particular Realtor BUT I do have issue with Realtors as a group. Here is my short list.

(1) Antitrust - If Realtors provide such value (and are not parasites as you contend), why break antitrust laws as the DOJ has apparently found? The sacred 6% commission is a scam. Let there be competition. The free market should decide what, if any, commissions should be paid to Realtors.

(2) Conflict of Interests - When you go buy a car, you know the sales person will tell you whatever to make a sale. Realtors are the same but they pretend/lull naive persons into thinking that they are "helping" them buy a house. Any industry where the conflict of interest is so blatant can't be trusted in my opinion.

(3) Mortgage and Appraisal Fraud - Don't tell me that Realtors didn't know about the rampant RE fraud that has been the basis of this bubble. Realtors were at the epicenter cheering on the fraud (if not taking a leading role).

(4) Corrupt Lobbying - Realtors have literally bought and further corrupted congress. Tell me what other industry enjoys so many pork? Everything from mortgage tax deductions to free capitol gains. Have you ever considered the opportunity cost for this skewed tax policy? We are literally reducing capital investments by billions if not trillions of dollars and redirecting it to some flipper to install granite counter tops. We might be losing out to our competitive edge to China but hey, I got granite counter tops that the Federal Government (i.e. tax payers) is subsidizing.

(5) Lying / Telling Falsehoods - Best time to buy? RE never goes down? You kidding me? How many lives have been ruined (or will be ruined) because of this garbage propaganda? How many first time home buyers have been priced out of the market because of this bs?

To sum it up, no, I do not respect your profession and agree that it is parasitic.

Anonymous said...

$1 Double Cheeseburgers always do well in housing slumps.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Jealousy of successful people and class warfare is so ugly. Boo hoo Wall St baddies made money. Boo hoo brokers made money. Boo hoo realtors made money. Boo hoo builders made money. Everyone made money but you and you also lived in a 1 bedroom shack while everyone else pimped it up in a McMansion.

It was so unfair. So you will now vote for Hillary so she can give you what you DESERVE and make the world fair again.

You people are absolutely pathetic.

August 25, 2007 6:16 PM
-------------
None of the groups you cited earned/made a dime. They skirted the law and scammed alot of people and none of them earned/made squat!! FYI, you as a taxpayer will pay for all the money that you think these groups "earned/made" so I am quite sure that when you get that bill in the mail you'll be singing a different tune!!

Markus Arelius said...

Keith, I'd like for you to please acknowledge to realtor readers the toilets at O'Hare also need perpetual cleaning. Thank you.

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
Seriously Agree--
Gotta blame Greenspan on this one, for EVER allowing money to get so cheap, and for the BUSH Administration, for allowing this commission-driven industry to run wild, completely un-regulated.

GEEEEEE....What the hell did they think was going to happen? What a freakin' end-ending nightmare.

August 26, 2007 2:34 PM

===========================

Yes, this was a f#ckup for the ages. And the sad thing is, the risk was gobbled up by our allies in the world and all of those who aspired to be like us. Now the rest of the world is coming to thr realization of having a handful of sh*t (you know, from the old saying "a wish in one hand and a handful of sh*t in the other- open your eyes and see which is there...")

Anti-Americanism will grow like the plague. Our leadership void will give a "new world disorder" (remember just a few years ago Bush 1 was talking about a "new world order"? My how fast that was squandered!)

The really odd thing is Bush 2 loves Isreal. Yet how are we supposed to defend it if we're f-ing broke & have no world stature?????

Anonymous said...

One poster says that others here are "jealous of successful people". I can’t speak for anyone but myself. I’ve never found myself to be jealous of frauds and hucksters. I believe that many who dealt with these “successful people” will be calling for their individual heads in the years to come. So, please do tell “successful poster”, are these the type of individuals we should all be admiring and attempting to emulate? The “man” (sarcasm off now) featured on the youtube video is the reason the Almighty created tar and feathers. Poetic justice would require that he be neighbors with one of his clients who just happened to be a cop, or better still, that being like a dealer hooked on his own junk, he financed his own home with one of the asshat financing schemes he peddles. Even better still, he “hooked up” his mother who lives next door and now both are in regular, day to day, eye ball to eye ball contact with each other – that would be priceless and bring balance to the universe in my opinion. I’m not sure which would be worse - to be neighbors with a cop who I fleeced or to be neighbors with my mother who I fleeced. Which do you think, "successful poster"?

Smug Bastard

Anonymous said...

I heard that the Bush Administration is hiring people to defend Halliburton and other GOP cronies in Iraq.

Talking about cronies, Bernanke just injected another 10 billion of your money into the market to bailout the Republican bankers from Wall Street, and to fake that the American economy is tip-top.

They call democrats socialists, while transferring trillions of taxpayer money to bailout Republican bankers who were gambling with housing. Not only that, they act like are against taxes but create so much deficit and debt that it's the same as taxing people to the wazoo. Someone is gonna have to pay for all these congames they pull, like the war, the housing bubble, etc. Guess who's going to pay? But don't worry, because the GOP is "against taxes". And the sheeple believes it.

Let it go folks, it's the socializing of finance created by GOP. They gamble with borrowed money and when crap hits the fan, these bastards come running to get the taxpayer money while calling everybody else socialists. The Republican way.

And they are not done with your wallet yet, so keep spinning that hamster wheel hard so the GOP can transfer all to their pockets.

I hope the sheeple wake up one day (I seriously doubt) and stop voting with their feet. Now go back to suck on Chinese toys bought at Wal-Mart.

Anonymous said...

"I've been in business almost 40 years and have never seen a group of professionals more dedicated to ethical practice than Realtors.


Gee, thanks for the Diet Coke through nose moment. Funniest thing I heard today.

TM said...

How about all the honest, hard-working people who couldn't afford to own a home because the parasites in the real estate industry, on wall st. and at the fed had inflated the price of homes?

Real estate clerks and Wall Street turds merely collected the money that fools threw at them. Did they force people to wait in line for condos or to get into bidding wars with each other? No, the ultimate fault lies with the foolishness and gullibility of the American consumer.

This is not to absolve the Fed, NAR and all the rest. I'm just saying that American consumers bought into this without hesitation, and collectively shouted down those who tried to warn them of the dangers. Don't forget add them to your list of culprits.

Anonymous said...

"It was so unfair. So you will now vote for Hillary so she can give you what you DESERVE and make the world fair again.

You people are absolutely pathetic."

Uh - Hillary wants a housing bailout, which guarantees no one here is going to vote for her (including me, a former Democrat). Your paranoid delusions of being surrounded by communists are pretty funny though.

WE WILL BURY YOU!

Anonymous said...

No, the ultimate fault lies with the foolishness and gullibility of the American consumer.

Same could be said about the American voter

Paul E. Math said...

Seems like some people understood what I was trying to say and some people didn't. No, I sure as hell was not advocating voting for Hillary or anyone else (GOP or Dem) who advocates any form of bailout. I think a bailout is worse than what Michael Vick did to those dogs.

I stand by what I said. But tm is right that consumers are equally culpable for failing to apply a little healthy skepticism when lead into a toxic mortgage. However, I think homeownership is healthy, natural and fulfilling for many and this was denied them by inflated prices.

And I'll repeat: Realtors are scum. Just look at your deceptive advertising and your leadership. 'Nuff said.