March 06, 2008

HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the Day


Know anyone that's lost their job due to the housing crash?




70 comments:

Anonymous said...

Year three people in the last week, look for that lag in unemployment numbers in the coming week(s).

Anonymous said...

Fredericksburg, VA about 50 mi. south of D.C., many people have lost jobs. Much talk about how slow business has become. Homes down in value 10+%. According to MLS, we have a 20 month supply of resale homes available.

Anonymous said...

yep.. it is sad.. none of my buddies were realtors or in finance.. but did contract work

Anonymous said...

Can't find much help at the Home Depot lately

Bill said...

I could name 5 as I sit here...and one of them ( former construction worker) is now making Sandwiches for half of what he was making at a local sub-shop....and the others...are collecting unemployment...as the only skill they have was construction.

Anonymous said...

More strippers on the night shift these days

Anonymous said...

No, no one yet, everyone that I hang out with are military officers and there is no slow down. We are getting extra cash to stay in this stable line of work. Oh the other guys who got out to work in the private area, are most likely wishing that they stayed in. Best of luck, because we are all going to feel this slowdown!

Anonymous said...

"Can't find much help at the Home Depot lately"

----------------------

I Hate Home Depot!!! (a/k/a Homely Despot)

I can never find help at the Homely Despot; it is a huge warehouse with nary a soul to be found working who is not already helping 3 customers at once. I can never get any help finding where things are.

And God forbid I need some advice on what to buy, or how to make a repair. The women and pimply-faced teenagers working at Homely Despot have NO helpful advice for me.

Not to mention, their hardware department puffs a major meat log. They never have any specialty hardware, and the hardware that they do have is all mixed up in different bins, never where it belongs because the illegal aliens and various other life's losers go through the hardware and put it in disarray. After this has happened, the store is too understaffed to get anyone to take an hour or two at the end of the day to go straighten out the bins.

If you want actual help and advice from someone who knows what they're talking about, go to your local hardware store. The friendly middle-aged man behind the counter will be happy to help you, can give you knowledgable advice, has time for you, knows where everything in the store is, whether or not they have what you're looking for, and if not, where you can get it. He also never needs to call some idiotic manager on a walkie-talkie for help because he is too much of a braindead moron to help you himself. None of these things are true of the Homely Despot.

I hate the Homely Despot because it has driven so many decent, smaller hardware stores out of business that it's almost impossible to avoid going there. However, I have defied the odds, having completely boycotted both Homely Despot and Lowes for a year and a half. I will never go to either of those places again. No matter what.

If the Homely Despot goes out of business, that will be the best thing to happen from the housing crash.

Anonymous said...

Home Depot cutting 300 jobs at headquarters

Money – ATLANTA (Reuters) - Retailer Home Depot Inc. on Wednesday said it would cut 300 jobs at its Atlanta headquarters, or about 5.6 percent of the location's total staff, as it shifts resources to invest in store improvements.

Anonymous said...

Er, how about me...

Anonymous said...

IS anyone benefiting from this downturn

Anonymous said...

I could name 5 as I sit here...and one of them ( former construction worker) is now making Sandwiches for half of what he was making at a local sub-shop
Yeah, you're sure sitting there, you fat ugly renting bastard stuffing your face with greasy burgers. Go get a f*cking job so you can afford a down payment.

Anonymous said...

Two people in the last three months. So far no cuts in my division but there should be some because business has slowed. They are cutting some benefits across the board and trying to cap expenses. It concerns me a bit, but it just encourages me to start looking. I survived the dot.com bubble -- I'll probably just find a job in the next bubble.

Anonymous said...

I work in a management company that runs strip malls and apartments. Our tennants are sometimes out of work cause they do construction. I feel bad for them cause they just want to work to live and raise their families. NOT to get rich quick like the a**holes that created the bubble.

Anonymous said...

Yes of course. Contruction, various REIC, and alot of high end retail such as (new) auto sales, furniture, ect. I haven't confirmed this yet, but a teacher freind of mine told me that Arnold is considering a bill that would terminate some teachers.

A better question might be, "do you know anyone who has lost their job and is living entirely off of refinancing money?"

Anonymous said...

More jobs gone each day,

but hey,

Feb Wal-mart sales surge 2.6%!

That includes American Idol dolls (made in China)up 27%, 12-pack of Hostess Twinkees up 9% and a new line of cardboard-style coffee tables and moving/storage boxes up 16%.

Bush, Fox news and the republican regime say this is proof that the American economy is growing at a brisk pace. Bush was dancing from the great news.

Panic In Detroit

Anonymous said...

No, no one yet, everyone that I hang out with are military officers and there is no slow down. We are getting extra cash to stay in this stable line of work.

LOL, of course not dude, it's cradle to grave socialism for you guys!!

Anonymous said...

Friend is relo'ing and putting his house up for sale in Chicago (Good Luck) and taking a job in Louisville, Ky. He is a welder/tradesman and the union hall has been dry to the bone in regards to jobs. Most contrators in the area are using less expensive non-union labor, if any at all. Union hall staff told him to hold on until spring, but he said its never been this bad in the winter off season.

On the house I told him to price his place very low from the beginning and not to believe the FMV #s & realtwhores. He is optimistic that it will sell because he bought pre-bubble and can be very flexible on price and still cover his mortgage. I told him ot compare & price it relative to foreclosure pricing to insure it goes.

Anonymous said...

Actually - no (or not yet).

And I know quite a few realtors, bankers, Merrill Lynch type folks (they ARE worried through)...

Bill said...

Oh Keith your going to love this one:

http://yournewreality.blogspot.com/2008/03/bushco.html

Unknown said...

Friend of a friend lost a construction supervisor job in San Diego.

Anonymous said...

My sister, sister in law, neighbors, clients, other random people.

It is brutal here in So Cal.

Frank R said...

Yes, several people in Phoenix/Scottsdale who've had to move out of state to find new employment.

Anonymous said...

YEAH!!! ME.

I used to be a security guard for a construction company. It was the perfect college job, i sat there, made money and did my homework at the same time. If it only could have lasted one more year.....


Oh well.

Anonymous said...

One of my close friends was a finance manager at one of the local banks... She was laid off in January. My sister was laid off from her job as a sales & catering manager at a local resort in December, she works at Starbucks now... My aunt is a code enforcement officer for the city, is within weeks of being laid off (budget cuts)... I'm a treasury analyst at a small telco, and we have about six weeks of free cash left, and are unable to secure another line of credit... I would say the crap is just about to hit the fan here in Florida...

Anonymous said...

I THINK THAT'S THE WRONG QUESTION...

YOU SHOULD BE ASKING: "DO YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO LOST THEIR RETIREMENT BECAUSE THEIR MCMANSION VALUE FELL OFF A CLIFF, OR THEY RAIDED THEIR 401K TO BUY IT, AND CAN NEVER QUIT WORKING BECAUSE OF THAT BAD DECISION???"

BOOOOOYAAAAAA!!!!

DOPES!!!

Anonymous said...

My cousin in Colorado did, just before Christmas, the REIC has no soul!

Paige Turner said...

RE: Know anyone that's lost their job due to the housing crash?

Yes, and none of them are Realtwhores.

As a compliment to our current theme, here's a little horror story I came across this morning:

"States, cities, towns, villages and counties go bankrupt by the thousands. Fire and police will be laid-off or fired. Muni-bonds default as there's no tax income for interest payments. Homeless people multiply by the millions and food banks and welfare agencies are overrun with unfilled demands. Crime skyrockets as big city gangs run rampant without an effective police force. Urban fires will be more common and utilities are shut-off by the thousands for non-payment. The federal government will install martial law, capital controls, and close banks for a spell while the armed forces are overrun with applicants by those needing food and a bed. Many cities become uninhabitable due to crime, disease and neglect."

If you are unable to face reality, whatever you do, don't READ THIS!!!

V.L.

Anonymous said...

.

I work with a lot of excavators that have very little or nothing to do!


.

Anonymous said...

.


Home Depot Hmmm...

Everytime I go, I know I'm on my own.

I usually can find someone for help, but their useless,

Kids, young girls, or old men or just people that wouldn't know what end of a hammer to swing!

Asking for blind help at HD can be dangerous or costly or both!

Anonymous said...

Know of former mortgage broker in Phoenix/Scottsdale now working as deli clerk at Fry's supermarket, (Kroger's), slicing the bologna... I said thin, please!
BAWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!

AndrewHac said...

HoooooRaaaaayyyyy !!!

The time is drawing near for the fat-ass, beer-gut, frenchfried-brain Americano...

""" His judgement comes. And that right soon... """

Yes:::
+ Joe6Pack is not making $25.00/hour anymore putting door on a shitty Ford Expedition on a Worker-Union protected salary. He is out-of-work, no more unemployment benefit, no more outhouse-piece-of-excrement shack equity, no piggy bank to draw from...
+ JaneZinfandel is not making $25.00/hour filling out loan application for the dumb-ass Americano whom wants to purchase a dog house for $500K. Jane-DooDoo is now making $8.00/hour, if she can find any work at all in the land of the Snapper Turtle, doing the cafe-leche at StarBuck...
+ Now with the oil price hitting a 150 Americano dollar a barrel, that big-ass SUV of Joe and Jane is a good candidate for a chicken coop to raise the chicken in. Or better yet, it can be converted to a Snapper Turtle pond to raise some good succulent reptiles for roasting purpose.

So, are we there yet ? How long is it gonna be till the time the Americano will be toasted as a grilled snapper turtle all roasting nicely, juice dripping, fat sputtering, smoke-filled aromatically with that grilled reptile smell over a bed of white hot charcoal ?

Multiple choice PASS/FAIL for the good old Americano:

Question: What goes good with grilled Snapper Turtle ?
A) Chinese Soy Sauce with a dash of spicy yellow mustard ?
B) Good old Jap wasabe that shoots the sinus feeling up your ass ?
C) The companero Mejicano jalapeno mixed with guacamole ?
D) The patriotic, loving Americano to death, tabasco sauce ?
E) All of the above.

Anonymous said...

The auto lending industry is getting crushed. I know of several companies that either closed multiple branches, laid off or fired hundreds of staff, or simply are calling it quits. This is a direct result of the housing crash.


I know of at least 50 people, including me, that are not out of a job. Every week I get a call from someone that another office is closing. Their are no replacement jobs for those being displaced. There are very few high paying jobs around. Often, there are 40 applying for one open position at 30-40% lower pay.

The scary thing about this is, IMHO, 2008 is going to be worse than 2007.

Anonymous said...

What was the unemployment numbers today?

Anonymous said...

Mortgage brokers and Realtors are selfemployed. If they don't contribute to unemployment , they can't collect. They either have to get a "real" job or go on welfare. I don't know id Section 8 will subsidize a McMansion but it doesn't hurt to ask.

http://www.hud.gov/progdesc/voucher.cfm

Anonymous said...

Not from the housing crash per se; i.e. they were not employed by any housing related sector.

But I do know 3 people who were layed off as a consequence of the slowdown that IS attributed to the housing problems.

Anonymous said...

Here in South Florida, a friend of mine who works in a government position said the number of applications for low-level jobs has increased almost 300% in recent months.

Mortgage brokers, real estate agents, and anyone in construction (big part of Florida jobs) are usually considered independent contractors, so you won't see those number show up in the unemployment stats. But they are still people who need work, whether or not they are "out of a job", technically speaking.

Anonymous said...

Greg Swann isn't making any money does that count as laid off?

Anonymous said...

Yep. Guy across the street used to work in construction.

Anonymous said...

F*ck Home Depot. I never buy anything there and counsel others to do the same. Why?

Beacuse they allow the illegal alien felon invader messycans loiter and beg in their parking lots causing all manner of trouble.

In a society with a LEGITIMATE government, this lower than sh*t riff-raff would have systematically been rounded up and sent back home to beanerville after getting a pox tatooed on their forehead in red so as to alert border officers to shoot to kill on sight...

America Sucks.

Land of the indentured (NOT Free)and the cowardly (certainly NOT Brave).

Frank R said...

"So, are we there yet ? How long is it gonna be till the time the Americano will be toasted as a grilled snapper turtle all roasting nicely, juice dripping, fat sputtering, smoke-filled aromatically with that grilled reptile smell over a bed of white hot charcoal ?"

You mean like Europeans, who are daily ass-raped on taxes, fees, gas, food, and have to fly to the U.S. just to get decent healthcare?

Americanos have a long way to go before they start looking like fat, lazy, "give me my month-long government guaranteed paid vacations and free healthcare" chain-smoking, binge-drinking, ignorant Europoeans.

Frank R said...

One of our friends was forced to move to San Diego just to find a job after the Scottsdale real estate lawyer she worked for went bust.

Yep, even the lawyers are going broke in Scottsdale.

Anonymous said...

Anonopussy said:
No, no one yet, everyone that I hang out with are military officers and there is no slow down. We are getting extra cash to stay in this stable line of work. Oh the other guys who got out to work in the private area, are most likely wishing that they stayed in.
-----------------------------------
Yeah..the military careerists, the biggest bunch of government welfare moochers in existence.
The same lazy incompetents and cowards focused on promotions and benefits who are getting their asses kicked by Arab teenagers in the Middle East.
Court martial and furlough these tin soldier Rambos.

Anonymous said...

frank@scootsdalesucks said:
One of our friends was forced to move to San Diego just to find a job after the Scottsdale real estate lawyer she worked for went bust.
***************************
Exactly. Just like you went packing to Newport Beach because you couldn't
cut it in Scottsdale, the US capital of easy money for underachievers.

Anonymous said...

Maybe the government could use all the unemployed building industry workers to reshape our energy policy. Have them build nuclear power and desalineation plants. I'm talking about the literate American citizens, not those Mestizos. The only part of FDR's Raw Deal that was worth a damn was the building of the dams and roads.

Anonymous said...

Petro industry engineers are in high demand. You have to be somewhat intelligent and pretty good in math. That rules out 99% of the shysters from the REIC

Anonymous said...

"Yep, even the lawyers are going broke in Scottsdale."

There are way too many lawyers in this country.

tater said...

Yeah, I know a few people who have either lost jobs or have slowed down, big time. That really sucks.

But here's some GOOD news for you all. A guy who I know said that a bunch of illegals were renting some apartments in the same building. They said "We have no work". They up and skee-daddled with nary a notice. Oh well, I guess they made enough money from stupid-ass builders that they didn't need their apartment security deposits.

It is GREAT news to me when these illegals lose jobs. I hope the scummy-ass builders that was hiring them bite the dust, too.

Frank R said...

"Exactly. Just like you went packing to Newport Beach because you couldn't cut it in Scottsdale, the US capital of easy money for underachievers."

Ahh, my favorite argument, that I moved to the wealthiest zip code in America because I "couldn't afford" Scottsdale.

LOL

Anonymous said...

Me. Twice. Soon to be a third time. It's awesome. I hate residential development right now.

Anonymous said...

My brother's in-law does commercial RE in NYC. Did not lose his job, but went from burning candle at both ends to a trickle, and is a bit concerned.
This is downtown New York, fer crying out loud. Commerce center of the universe! BTW - this was back around Christmas, don't know the latest.

Anonymous said...

Multiple choice PASS/FAIL for the good old Americano:

Question: What goes good with grilled Snapper Turtle ?
A) Chinese Soy Sauce with a dash of spicy yellow mustard ?
B) Good old Jap wasabe that shoots the sinus feeling up your ass ?
C) The companero Mejicano jalapeno mixed with guacamole ?
D) The patriotic, loving Americano to death, tabasco sauce ?
E) All of the above.


I say E) All of the above

Anonymous said...

VP of a major builder doing consulting work

REIC ` one is delivering pizza's doing pretty well actually another is working in a jewlry store at a mall.

Malls will become dinosaurs's.

Anonymous said...

Frank@Scottsdalesucks said...
You mean like Europeans, who are daily ass-raped on taxes, fees, gas, food, and have to fly to the U.S. just to get decent healthcare
--------------

Are you serious? decent healthcare? Then Why do you have so many damn Indian doctors in the US? WTF! And is nursing synonymous with Pilipinos? You got 3rd worlders running your health care.

then you said: Americanos have a long way to go before they start looking like fat, lazy, "give me my month-long government guaranteed paid vacations and free healthcare" chain-smoking, binge-drinking, ignorant Europoeans.
-----------------
What's wrong with vacations? What are you, a Nazi, you like to work people to death. I'll bet you are a NAZI!
Life was meant to be enjoyed DUMB ASS.

And for your information, Americans are by FAR the most OBESE people on this planet, the home of the fatburger, and the Snapper turtle!

Anonymous said...

I'm currently hiring for a position and I'd say 1 out of 15 resumes (all submitted electronically) has some sort of recent estate or RE related job.

My right hand makes a bee-line over to the Delete button for those ones...

Anonymous said...

Nobody yet, and according to the local media the recession is going to skip over Hawaii. Have to wonder which moron pulled that prediction out of his okole, since our economy is based on tourism and it's a given that a nationwide recession will mean fewer vacations for everyone.

Anonymous said...

"Yep, even the lawyers are going broke in Scottsdale."

You kidding me? I am a lawyer and times could not be better. When the shit hits the fan, there is more work (more litigation, bankruptcies, etc.). Of course when times are good, it is great for lawyers (M&A, draft CDO's, etc.).

There is a reason why people hate lawyers. We win every time.

Anonymous said...

Here in Lake County, west of Orlando Fl, thousands of Mexican construction workers have disappeared, most likely having returned to Mexico. The NAFTA buses that brought them here have vanished as well as the jalisco joints that sold tacos to them. The bright spot is these illegals aren't collecting unemployment so they dont drain our state fund. And they are forced to move.

The bad news is the wife and I went furniture shopping (super deals out there) and in the three stores we visited, the sales ranks were decimated. The owners/managers are selling in these stores now. Mall parking lots half empty on Thursdays and the PF Changs I went to dinner tonite was 2/3 empty. I wonder where these basic service industry people now get jobs, even the Mexicans can't find.

These times are like 1991-1992 around here - pretty bleak except then you could afford to own a house (ok a trailer) on minimum wage. Today it take three wage earners to afford a house.

Anonymous said...

I'm currently hiring for a position and I'd say 1 out of 15 resumes (all submitted electronically) has some sort of recent estate or RE related job.

My right hand makes a bee-line over to the Delete button for those ones...

------------------------

Hello, I am an unemployed construction manager which is obviously tied to RE. Does that get an immediate delete stroke also?

One more question; What is the salary of this employment position. If not 200k or more, I will be forced to hit the delete button.

Anonymous said...

When are is this blog going to ban Blowfly (Blowhole is more like it), the King of all Trolls, who needs to be beaten, sodomized and burned alive?

Lost Cause said...

Home Depot always has plenty of everything, except in the size that I want.

Anonymous said...

Can't say I have. And I was in Florida, and one of my friends' husbands is a contractor who has even hired another guy to help out (quality guys can still get some work, the marginal ones are hurting bad).

Anonymous said...

Andrew Hac, you are pretty funny and are a great regular on these forums, but the term "Jap" is considered a "slur."

Anonymous said...

This is hitting the low end very quickly. I was getting a haircut a while back, and asked the girl how their business is. She said they used to have 30 per day (4 people working) and 60 on Saturday. Now they have 7 per day and 30 on Saturday. No tips and very little cash. That means working Monday-Friday for $18 a day...what do 'ya think?!

Steady cutbacks in hourly staff at all the auto dealers, pay cuts for all the managers, commissions canceled for counter and body shop staff, salesmen on short hours or let go. The lowest paid, again, are hit the worst. More than one have told me they are going back to Mexico, to leave the debt behind. Transportable assets (not even paid off) are flowing across the border, southbound.

Ford dealers are turning in the keys, and closing their doors... even a few Chevy stores. Repos are sky high, what with the typical payment on a large pickup at $750+ and the construction job dried up. Many repos on genx cars, typically low mileage. They trash them, out of anger, before recovery....some nearly total loss. BTW, don't see that on the pickups repo'd from immigrant construction workers...who have some honor.

These people are mostly renters, suffering for (or with) the fate of the homeowners. There will be no move-up homebuyers for years to come and there are no roots under the tree. The true value of any home for sale may be nothing more than the value of a lottery ticket. Once in a while, somebody wins...all the rest are SOL.

Mitesh Damania said...

Please, no more snapping turtle posts.

Anonymous said...

2 guys i hunt with are carpenters and one is layed off while the other works 3 days a week. these guys are scared !
i don't think they thought it would end.
i see the old, cripled guys at the on ramp with the sign "will work for food".
i think home improvement will be downrite cheap in the coming years. especially for those w/ gold.

Frank R said...

"There is a reason why people hate lawyers. We win every time."

Only in two situations:

1. A plaintiff has money to pay you fees.
2. A defendant has assets that can be seized.

Unfortunately, in Scottsdale today, none of the above apply. Oh yeah and 1 in 100 Scottsdale residents are lawyers so business is VERY thin right now.

Frank R said...

Anon 12:26, your post shows how truly ignorant you really are. I'm guessing your U.S. green card was denied and now you're furious about it.

Go back to your whisky bottle and leave us alone.

Anonymous said...

Home Depot... We just got one here in Guam and everyone is loving it. Those smaller hardware stores that you all are defending were ripping us off for years. Whiny complainers...

Anonymous said...

"Asking for blind help at HD can be dangerous or costly or both!"

Funny you should mention it. Not long ago, as I was trying to find the right hardware from a messy set of bins at HD, I was almost "hit" by a blind Home Depot worker.

She was using a cane, and hit my legs so I realized she was there just as she realized I was, and we narrowly avoided falling into each other.

This is not a parody: they literally had a blind HD worker walking through the aisles. I would have thought this wasn't permitted for safety reasons but apparently PC trumps everything.