Damn, reading Seth is like reading HP. Actually, reading Seth is reading HP, word for word in many cases. Come on Seth - if you're gonna lift 100% of our stuff, at least hat-tip us.
But hey, this HP-inspired rant kicks serious ass. realtor ass. And the NAR is the most disrespected and discredited professional organization in America today. Deservedly so.
Desperate Realtors Applaud Bailout
This didn't take long. The National Association of Realtors (NAR) -- you know, the trade group that spends millions lobbying our legislatures in order to ensure those fat, 6% cuts on residential housing sales -- is in favor of President Bush's proposed housing bailout
By bum-rushing buyers into bidding wars in hot markets (I saw one from the inside, once) and issuing positive spin to gullible mainstream media outlets, the Realtors could create a self-fulfilling prophecy, for a while.
But now the roof is on fire, as all of those exotic mortgages threaten to toast the NAR's crop of gullible buyers. Unfortunately for them, an inevitable result of the NAR's getting people to bid up houses and buy with zilch down payments is that far fewer homes and buyers qualify for FHA assistance.
Do these yahoos still not realize why housing is tanking? It's precisely because the loans that many Realtors jawboned people into taking were too big and had too little equity.
If the NAR gets its way, the people of the U.S. who didn't go out and spend irresponsibly during this housing bubble will be tasked with stepping in to guarantee the bad loans of those who did, spurred by the 6-percenters at the NAR
This kind of shameless, pecuniary self-interest should surprise no one. After all, it's tone-deaf real-estate agents who came up with the infamous "Suzanne" advertisement that now serves as the poster child for the triumph of greed, duplicity, and bullying over old-fashioned financial reason.
That the greedy and thoroughly discredited NAR supports these bailout measures ought to be the final proof that they are not in the public interest
15 comments:
have any of you heard of "leasehold" homes? it sounds like you purchase a manufactured home on rental property, sort of like a fancier version of a trailer park. is this a good idea or just another way to try to trick people into thinking they own something? also, why are these lumped in under single family homes, when they should be under manufactured homes. it wastes a lot of time trying to weed these things out. any insight on this would be much appreciated.
Leasehold means you own the bricks and mortar of the property, but not the land it's on.
Condos are a good example of leasehold.
oh whatever...
Keith,
If this was reversed, wouldn't you get in trouble for lifting someone else's article?
NAR Ethics and Sales Example #204
2005:
Look, I know the house is listed at $189,900 ($37,400 higher than what it should be at $152,600) but it's only $489 a month!!! Thats cheaper than renting!
Why rent when you can own?
And hey, in just a few short years, this house will be worth $219,000!! It's a solid investment, theres no way you can loose on this deal! Real estate values always goes up!
All I need is $100 down, your current mailing address and it's all yours! I'll schedule the closing for next week. By the way, do you like my gold watch?
2007:
Its now worth only $135,900.
This American family lost $54,000. (so far)
Any questions? Now bend over. It's gonna get worse!
Dude, Seth Jayson lit them up! He just used the NAR! Love that guy. Seldom have I read a better thrashing of the NAR and the mortgage bailout.
Linking to articles like that, this is why I love this blog. This made my day.
We link to articles and give the author credit
Seth reads HP and then writes what we said without giving us credit
That's called plagiarism. HP deserves at least a hat-tip
Although it's nice to see someone in the MSM give publicity to our cause, and I like his column. My beef is that he doesn't have original stuff and gets 100% of what he says from HP
This was blatant. TOTAL HP insight and commentary
Wow, it was almost like reading something Keith posted. Of course, if the NAR sued him, Seth would probably say it was just something he read on HP. But, in defense of Seth, several blogs say pretty much the same thing about the NAR. Still, he should give some mention of the blogs he reads.
Seth Jayson....another renting baffoon.
budvar-
I thought of condos in the sense of an "undivided co-ownership where the owners own a percentage of the entire property but have exclusive possession of a specific part of the property and joint possession of other parts of the property" (wiki), but you are right, it looks like there are "leasehold"/"ground rent" forms of condos too.
I guess people can get into RV park type situations with condos and homes. I wonder how popular "leasehold"/"ground rent" forms of condos and homes are in the US? I find the advertising I've come across misleading and time consuming.
on a side note, I found this in wiki: "The legal counsel for the project, Keith B. Romney is also credited with authoring the Utah Condominium act of 1960. Romney also played an advisory role in the creation of condominium legislation with every other legislature in the U.S. Business Week hailed Romney as the "Father of Condominiums"." wonder if there is any relation to Mitt?
Keith, you may have a point about Seth, I don't know for sure. HP didn't invent criticism of the housing bubble. You can't patent criticism of the housing bubble, even if you're the best at it.
Sure, Seth could stand to tip his hat to you and mention you in his article(s). But you have to admit that this article is extremely well-written. And he broadens the audience of the message.
So the main point should be that we're all in this together. As long as this mortgage bailout is stopped and real estate prices come back to normal, I don't care who gets the credit.
The message is more important than the messenger.
Seems like he also read up on his Dr. Housing Bubble:
"So given that the Fed Chairman didn’t see this coming even as early as May of this year, do you have confidence that these other yahoo politicians have the right policy decision in mind?"
9-2-2007
"They can jawbone all they want with Pollyanna projections and we’ll keep on showing how overpriced and absurd this market is and why foreclosures are exponentially growing."
8-31-2007
Nice to see someone going after the NAR like this!
Naturally, they have got to back up a government bailout - it's good for our business.
Personally I hate the idea - these folks made their bed, let them now sleep in it. Sure a bailout would be good for business, but it's just not the right thing to do. My business is and will thrive even in this market. I've seen some sellers short their loans - in one case for the third time (they are in their late 30's). They don't learn, it's just a way of life for some people, they expect to get an expensive house, then have someone else pay for it. Then there are the "investors", and people who cashed out all their equity to buy toys, or worse to buy equities on margin in order to "maximize their cashflow". There are a few honest people who got bad advice, but there was way too much money grabbing going on, and a bailout would be a great way to reward these folks. All the prudent investors will be paying for the greed of the rest.
BTW, still lots of 100% cash-back to buyer financing going on. Prices are actually dropping more than the stats report due to the cash back loans to buyers that artifically inflate prices...
Seth Jayson mentioned HP a few months ago on CAPS as a blog he loves, and it's how I found you. So he HAS done hat-tips in the past, just FWIW.
If it really bugs you, go over there and ask him for the hat-tip. He is (in myopinion) a straight-shooter and isn't afraid to upset a few apple carts. I think he'll treat you fairly.
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