March 30, 2008

HousingPANIC Stupid Question of the Day


What American city is full of the most scum?

1) Miami / South Beach
2) Las Vegas
3) Phoenix / Scottsdale
4) Los Angeles / Orange County
5) _______

(Funny how the scum to housing bubble market correlation is so high, eh? Wonder why that is... )

54 comments:

Biz said...

If I only get one choice...I am going to have to be creative and go with a town that nobody has heard of, but yet it's name captures 100% of the west coast scum. Cal Nev Ari, NV (it is a real town). It is so appropriate as it is the ultimate border town in the new Southwest Ghetto...it is between LA/Vegas/Phoenix. It would be a great place to relocate the 9th Circuit Court for the upcoming trials. (just joking - nobody is going to jail for this mess)

Anonymous said...

Gotta be LA, the land of the grande puto esse vatos locos!!!

Anonymous said...

What American city has the most REALTORS? Theres your answer

Anonymous said...

Greg Swann's Phoenix

Anonymous said...

HOUSTON

Home of Halliburton/KBR plus tons of petrolium firms that have made a killing from blood money.

That aside, in 05 this town saw in influx of 250,000 people from NOLA which included the worst of the worst hardcore gangsters, drug dealers, crooks, etc. We also have a soaring illegal immigrant population and a criminal local govt. that panders to them.

The idiot yuppies have redeveloped downtown and pushed out the former ghetto residents so the crime can come to once good areas. All that and somg, humidity, sprawl, traffic, etc...

Oh, and lots of political polarization. Idiot liberals that think Obama is JFK come back to earth and right wing whackos that think Jesus is still telling Bush what to do.

Anonymous said...

San Francisco. Median single family home price is $850,000. Median family annual income is $55K. And all those liberal home debtors there think they're so progressive because they drink $8 lattes and live in $500,000 dorm rooms overlooking the downtown skyline.

Anonymous said...

Washington D.C.

Anonymous said...

Can we choose more than one?

And how exactly, is scum defined?

Having Klan neighbors in Georgia? Gangsta neighbors in Watts?

Anonymous said...

Scum did mortgage fraud and those cities were already full of scum so they had the most fraud and the biggest price bubbles

Las Vegas gets my vote

Anonymous said...

5) America

Anonymous said...

Where-ever those girls in the previous video are currently residing...but I confess that I enjoyed watching them shake that good thing.
Do I need help?

Anonymous said...

Crawford, Tex-ass.

Anonymous said...

TAMPA has some total scum bags.

Anonymous said...

D.C. by far.

New York a close second. Then L.A.

Those other cities are parodying true evil; without understanding its true power.

consultant said...

A lot of potential candidates. From your list I would say Miami. Nice views, but the place has always felt dangerous to me. People are always on the make with some kind of con job.

Anonymous said...

I totally agree with Consultant. I go to South Beach once a year and try to never leave the hotel or the beach. By the end of the trip I normally get bored and walk up the Lincoln Rd. shopping plaza. The strip is lined with losers in expensive designer clothes that they can't really afford. They all look desperate to figure out their next scam.

I then run back to the hotel and stay there.

Ain't buying their nonsense said...

There is no “scum” per say, merely pockets of “froth residual” left festering in flabby folds overhanging the sun belted waists of glorious gluttonous financial innovators who had trod bravely forth laying claim to virgin territories in the “new economy” frontier only to be sucker punched by Adam Smith’s left jab. I’ve called in Helicopter Ben to mount a counter attack… –Alan Greedspam

Anonymous said...

start thinking positive. a city like miami will prosper again as a rick playground, infact southbeach is still very busy and booming off tourists. the scum cities are where you are going to find bargains, buy them, and get rich

Anonymous said...

Come on folks, this is a no-brainer...Hands down, the all-time triple crown winner is Scottsdale,AZ.
The biggest repository and concentration of low-life scum in America. Phoenix gesta top ranking also.

While its easy to define scum as lower class criminal elements and those with ghetto values, but real scum, in my opinion, are people who consider themselves superior to everybody else and flaunt it.
This scummy behavior is the Scottsdale lifestyle, a bunch of financially overstretched phonies living beyond their means,in fake houses, driving leased imports, physically-enhanced via surgery, while looking down on everybody else. All this on the housing ponzi scheme of easy money which is collapsing around them.

You gotta see it to believe it.
An American Freak show.

Anonymous said...

5. Pennsylvania Ave. Washington D.C.

Anonymous said...

PS. As for Scottsdale..

I've read comments here by frank@scottsdale......as others have, and can personally attest that everything posted about Scottsdale is true after living and working here for a dozen years.
I have no connection to him, but if you want a great on the money picture of Scottsdale, check out his site.
Just google: scottsdale sucks.

Anonymous said...

scottsdale az...

Anonymous said...

New York because that is where the Wall Street crowd lives and they are responsible for the pending depression or hyperinflationary blow off. The Pols in DC are just their thralls

Anonymous said...

>>>This scummy behavior is the Scottsdale lifestyle, a bunch of financially overstretched phonies living beyond their means,in fake houses, driving leased imports, physically-enhanced via surgery, while looking down on everybody else. All this on the housing ponzi scheme of easy money which is collapsing around them.<<<

As a Phoenix resident I have to agree.

I'm in the north valley living among all the Scottsdale wanna-be thugs. A lovely drive yesterday down T-Bird was eye opening. House after house for sale, some having been on the market for 6 months or more, not budging on their asking price. Some with high priced vehicles out front with "For Sale" written in shoe polish on the windshield. Open house signs everywhere. BANK REO open house signs littering the "magic zip code" area of Phoenix (PHX schools but mailing addy has a Scottsdale zip code).

I then drove through the high dollar end of my subdivision (borders the "magic zip code" but with an honest PHX mailing addy) to check out an interesting foreclosure I found on MLS. There were numerous homes within the 1 block area with "For Sale" signs out front. One agent was in front of a house that boasted a "For Sale" sign plastered with her picture. It was overgrown with weeds. She had her cell phone to her ear in one hand while her other gloved hand was picking weeds gingerly, all the while dressed in a skirted Ross suit with her Lexus SUV in the driveway. I laughed my ass off. The foreclosure I spied was 5 or so houses down listed at just under $225K, while her mess of a house (smaller house & much smaller lot) is listed at $300K. At the height of the frenzy, these places were selling at $400K - $500K or more. And it's still not bottomed out here, no matter what Greg Swann likes to think.

It is entertaining to watch this clusterfuck happen before my eyes, while I rent my modest 3/2/2 in the "po" end of town. I'm just waiting for the wave to come crashing down among these idiots that think they are better than everyone living to the west of them. When I can buy in the magic zip code at my current rental price I might finally give in. By then the trash will be foreclosed on and gone.

Anonymous said...

Helena, Montana.

Yep, small town America is just as full of greedy, grasping, lying, fraudulent scum as the big cities.

I like living here, I really do. But after moving here two years ago and house-hunting since then, I've learned the following.

1. Every grandmother in town has a real estate license and is trying to screw you in between small talk of the cold weather and her grandchild's sniffles.

2. The every Wednesday "broker's open house" is the chance for local agents and brokers to snap up the good deals so they can flip them for a 25% profit.

3. Everybody thinks their tacky, run-down, 70's ranch is now worth $300K.

4. Trailers on 4 acres of useless scrub go for $250K

5. Builders won't even talk to you unless you are ready to spend $400k, exclusive of the $150k they want you to spend on a 7,000 square foot lot.

6. The only information you can find out about the market is from the realtor guild because purchase prices are not published and are confidential.

7. Every realtor will tell you that the market here is different and it is a great time to buy (even though most of these grannies remember the last boom bust cycles in the 90's and the 80's when it is was like the Great Depression here in Helena).

8. Lots that were GIVEN AWAY in the 90's because they were literally considered un-buildable are now on the market for $100K.

9. 30-something builders want you to pay $150K for the RIGHT to build a condo, then spend $500K on that condo.

10. For god's sake, this is Helena Montana, where the best restaurant in town is a Macaroni Grill that opened up in December, and fine shopping is a toss up between Walmart and Ross.

People here think their farts don't stink and they shit gold bricks. And don't get me started on how they ask more than retail for 3 year old used cars.

Ugh!

Anonymous said...

Forget L.A. -- just Orange County. All OC, all the time. As they say of (at least) one scumbag loanshark who is based in OC: if you have a pulse and can sign your name, he'll loan you money.

Anonymous said...

I even tapped my Easy Button from Staples for that one.

Miami and South Beach. The only other place that you'll find more douchebags, criminals, whores, and bitchy gays is in the current administration.

Anonymous said...

You're forgetting
NYC and DC

Anonymous said...

San Franfreako with their smug retarded pompous ass liberals in their $2M shacks that are a whopping 800sf

Lost Cause said...

Well, in OC the poor white trash is not so poor.

Anonymous said...

.

Well, it's hard to know every city but, I live in San Diego and have since '72.

I think anyplace where you have a group who think they are entitled to something, you have a problem, (i.e. Chicago, L.A., Detroit, Miami...)

But these newer boom towns area with exponential growth such as Scottsdale, Orange County (Cotto), Vegas are raising a new bunch of Assholes to the likes of that which we've never seen!

Totally self serving and indulgent, arrogant, hedonistic, vapid ,....wait til they turn 30!


.

Anonymous said...

To this day I am so embarrassed seeing old photos of myself from about 1974 in a leisure suit!!
Now remember that was the style (albeit a bad one) at the time!
Hey, I was only 14 at the time, but today those pic's haunt me.

I can't imagine the way these younger people dress today, what will it will be like in future years, when they look back at old photos!

The hats on sideways, underwear on dispaly, along with plenty 'o Ass crack, the 'Bling', baggy pants to the extreme, and the tatoos whats that all about?

But I think they are so stupid Now that they will still think they were Way Cool!

The sheer arrogance of this up and coming bunch is scary!

Not to mention every white kid wants 'street cred', so they watch MTV, BET, WB and learn to talk like total street trash....and think their Cool!

The Future looks a little Bleak doesn't it?



.

Anonymous said...

If you haven't been to Miami, you haven't seen nothing yet.

You're lucky if you make it out of the car rental places around the airport without being shot by Obama's base.

Then, as you get into traffic, you'll see the most uneducated and reckless drivers in the world. They will cut you off all the time, throw the car at you, pull a gun, tailgate, stop the freeway to chat on the cell, don't use any signals, drag race. It's one of the most dangerous traffics I've ever experienced. And I'm a globetrotter.

Good luck with your belongings at hotel rooms, and never lose sight of your luggage while checking in at the Hotel lobby. Oh, and when you use your credit card around, chances are it's being scanned so it can be sold to organized crime in South America or Russia.

See that gorgeous girl flirting with you at the bar or nightclub? She'll take you to the hotel room, drug your drink, and rob you clean with her partner waiting outside. Or she'll give you VD or Hepatitis C, after charging you $400 per hour.

Wanna go for a romantic stroll on South Beach after the nightclub? Don't. The criminals will follow you and punch you in the face to steal your wallet and jewelry while you're on the ground knocked-out.

Every sector is filled with thieves: Dentists, mechanics, contractors, realtors, etc. Dentists will do unnecessary work on your mouth just to make a payment on their condo flips. Their favorite scam is coming up with a inexistent infection that requires expensive procedure.

The waitresses and bartenders will drop drinks on you intentionally, for any reason. The gay waiters are always pissed off. Imagine what they do to your food and drinks back there. It's much worse than Paris!

Miami is not a place for amateurs. Stay away.

Anonymous said...

hey Keith,
On your 'scumbag' list it's time to add NYC. People here are freaking out about losing their jobs. The banks are dropping people like flies but releasing info to the press in dribs/drabs (1,000 here and 2,000 people there etc).
Combine that with the auction rate security freeze-up (no market, no value, no liquidity).

They're afraid to 'mark to market' because there are zero bids.

Long Island (2.8 million people in Nassau/Suffolk) finally realized that 1/3 of their recent mortgages are under water big time.

People are driving recklessly, drinking more, shooting their neighbors more, driving less ($4 gas).

Watch for massive unemployment in the next six months up here, (oh yeah, if you want to drive it'll cost you $20 roundtrip on the bridge toll).

FUNNOMINAL

Anonymous said...

Boston, MA

Big Dig corruption. Ghastly cost of living in an old city full of rats, no parking, bad weather, deteriorating buildings, extreme liberalism (hell, I can be liberal, but not at the cost of victimizing victims and freeing repeat child molesters over and over and over and over again).

Yeah, Boston

Home of the bean and the fraud.

For some god-awful reason it has some of the highest housing costs in the nation.

People are leaving almost as quickly as Detroit though, yet it won't budge on lowering expensive housing.

I must have missed something. (scratching his head)

Old, currupt blue blood money and freebies to the poor.

Not a good place at all for the middle class.

Anonymous said...

Not to mention every white kid wants 'street cred', so they watch MTV, BET, WB and learn to talk like total street trash....and think their Cool!

Do you mean the Obama base who's picking your next president? Don't forget the $10k handbag celebs who rent islands for $30k per day with the money you give to them.

I'm boycotting every celebrity who's endorsing Obama. I won't buy one product endorsed or sold by them.

Many idiots still buy their music (horrible), movies, clothing, and ring tones so rappers, who not too long ago were selling crack and shooting each other, can blow the money with $2k per bottle Cristal at clubs, park 7 exotic cars in the garage, fund expensive ho's, etc.

The Hollywood celebs, bunch of arrogant snobs, like to blow the money you give to them in $30k dresses, $200k blood diamonds from Africa, $10k handbags, $3k massages.

These are the people pushing Obama down your throats and making those cute videos on youtube. Be a sheep and follow them.

Anonymous said...

Yikes...reading this might be the most depressing thing I've done all day. And the sad thing is, all of it is true. Is there any city, just ONE city, where there are normal, happy people who make a decent living and are not trying to scam people? Our country is screwed.

Anonymous said...

Greg Swann moved from Las Vegas to Phoenix

The definition of scum is Swann

Anonymous said...

Is there any city, just ONE city, where there are normal, happy people who make a decent living and are not trying to scam people?

You could try flyover country. That's where I am right now (Iowa), and it's relatively free of the REIC. Shit, they actually make things and grow things here....and sell them overseas, no less.

I know, the sushi sucks, but you can't have everything.

Anonymous said...

Interesting topic: can't say i've been there recently but from what i can tell it's PHOENIX. It sounds like most of the losers in the country have migrated there.

Was in South Beach this past weekend; was in the area for business and took a few days of r&r in SoBe. As one poster said, it does have a lot of scummy people around but you can find decent folks if you can afford the right hotels (maybe the poster can't afford them?)...I probably saw more than my fair share of scum bags because of some winter music event going on there... many weirdo's around but no one seemed to be harmful or crazy. Cops were out in force so maybe that kept things more stable. I must say, there was tons of tits and ass all over...never saw so much in my life before...simply amazing.

agree with the poster about boston being a horrible place to live since i used to live there myself. it's full of vicious, militant liberals and totally over-priced. all the girls dress like lesbians and the guys dress like they're still freshmen in college; this is true for all ages.

and it's overpriced...housing and parking. i parked my car in boston's prudential center parking lot for 2+ hours and it cost me $26 on a Saturday afternoon! that's worse than anywhere in Manhattan, including mid-town where you can park for $13 on the weekend. boston is not good or sophisticated enough to be charging that type of parking fee.

to the boston poster: get out while you can, like so many of us have done the past five to ten years. massachusetts is dying under the destructiveness of liberalism, like so many other societies and civilizations have in the past.

since i live in a decent part of manhattan i can tell you the people here are pretty nice, contrary to what some other posters said. very friendly, educated, and sophisticated. (ok; so there are a lot of venal finance folks here but there are a lot of others here who don't work in that industry and even those that i know who do work in it are nice). despite its expensiveness, manhattan is a great place; and while it's liberal, it's not vicious or militant or "in your face" like boston is...and the girls don't dress like lesbians.

now if only the housing crash would come full force here soon!

Anonymous said...

MOST DECENT CITIES IN AMERICA...

Austin,TX

Marfa,Tx

Burlington,VT

Bangor,Maine

Santa Fe and Taos,NM

Barstow,CA

Palo Alto,CA

Lawrence and Wichita,KS

Anonymous said...

The black residents of 'ghettoes' have far more dignity and class than the white residents of middle and upper middle class 'suburbia'.

As a white male paralegal, I do alot of pro-bono work in the so-called 'underprivileged' parts of town, and it never ceases to amaze me how white suburan residents have the most trashiest/classless behavior.

I see more 'bling' attitude and 'hos' in the white suburbs than in the black neighborhoods!

WHAT DOES THAT TELL YOU AMERICA?

Anonymous said...

It has got to be Washington DC. And the number one address is 1600 Pennsylvania. Every other city is just doing what they were allowed to do. Read the rules written by the politicians,(deliberately put in) find the loop holes and then drive a mack truck through them. Makes sense to me.

Anonymous said...

"Yikes...reading this might be the most depressing thing I've done all day. And the sad thing is, all of it is true. Is there any city, just ONE city, where there are normal..."

How would you know anything is true? You don't even know that things are the same everywhere you go. It's your attitude that sucks. Yes, people try to screw people everywhere. And the more people that live in an area, the more frequently you'll run into them. Go hang yourself already.

Anonymous said...

Anywhere there's palm trees, year round sunshine, and nice weather, you're likely to find a surplus of shallow, intellectually dull people with no loyalty to friends and family, and no muscle for adversity.

"You bleached your hair and you pawned your skis
And you sold out for the sake of the palm tree scene.
Head south head south.
Head south, head south."

Anonymous said...

Yes, a depressing series of posts.

Nothing can be done, there will not be an end to the mess for too long to foresee.
All the arrogant, entitled, and generally useless eaters will squawk for all manners of bailouts, which will be provided, as even more restrictions and circumvention of constitutional provisions are implemented.

In the mean time:

Their: belonging to them
They're: they are.

Anonymous said...

Salt Lake City Metro Area

Provo/Orem/Utah County, Utah

Saint George, Utah

Similar to what I've heard about Scottsdale but with an extra helping of HYPOCRISY as these humble christians screw their neighbors and then attribute their spoils to God BLESSING them.

Anonymous said...

What? Nobody cites scumbag capital of California, Orange County (a.k.a. "The Orange Curtain."

Douchebag wannabe yuppies with 24 year old sons living at home working at Starbucks trying to get a realtor's license, or if they are meatheads, a contractor's license or something. And yes, there are truly rich Newport beach high powered business-types with trophy wives in their cookie cutter McMansions. Yes, these folks are $900,000 in the hole but who cares? Even Newport Beach attorneys file bankruptcy (see Sheriff Carona case). OC is certainly in the top 10 for scumbags.

Anonymous said...

As one poster said, it does have a lot of scummy people around but you can find decent folks if you can afford the right hotels (maybe the poster can't afford them?)

Uh, excuse me New Yorker wannabe. You can't even afford to buy a home in NY but you're bragging here about hotels on stinky South Beach? Do you even know that hotels in Miami never make 5 stars? They try every year and fail.

One of the reasons Miami is a dump is because of all the douchebags from NY and NJ who either buy a cheap weekend package online to fake rich to their friends, or move to Florida to become a homedebtor and do scams.

Anonymous said...

Frank = Wanda

Anonymous said...

Your Hometown,USA....Sooner than you think!!!

Anonymous said...

Anonymous said...
San Francisco. Median single family home price is $850,000. Median family annual income is $55K. And all those liberal home debtors there think they're so progressive because they drink $8 lattes and live in $500,000 dorm rooms overlooking the downtown skyline.

March 30, 2008 7:00 AM

Actually, it's $84,500. Take your "conservative" (I'm assuming) comments back to wherever and keep voting for your cronies in Washington to bail out Wall St. Know what your talking about before you spout off!

https://www.efanniemae.com/sf/refmaterials/hudmedinc/hudincomeresults.jsp?STATE=CA&choice=msa&CITY=san+francisco&FormsButton1=Search

Sacramento has the most Scum, home to AMERIQUEST PORTFOLIO RETENTION!!

Anonymous said...

For any of you who might doubt my Miami pick (i.e., the New Yorker wannabe), read this common daily occurrence in that cesspool:

Back in 2002, Romero Martinez had his drivers' license suspended for five years for driving under the influence.

Two years later, the Davie resident was arrested for driving with a suspended license and drunken driving after he hit another vehicle, according to state records.

But on Saturday, authorities said Martinez took reckless driving to a stunning new level.

The Florida Highway Patrol says Martinez, 34, who lives on the 3000 block of SW 57th Avenue, was driving his Toyota pick up eastbound on I-595 at 7:30 p.m. near Hiatus Road when he cut off and struck another vehicle. His truck slammed into a guardrail, and flipped over, sending his seven children, who were riding in his open pickup, sprawled on the highway. Amazingly, all seven -- aged 4 to 13 -- escaped with minor injuries.

Martinez had no license, no insurance, and was not wearing a seatbelt, authorities said.

''It was pretty unbelieveable,'' said FHP spokesman Sgt. Mark Wysocky. Martinez faces seven counts of child abuse as it is illegal to have anyone ride in the open bed of a pick up truck on a highway.

The occupants of the vehicle he hit were not injured, police said.

Martinez was treated for minor injuries at Broward General Hospital. His front seat passenger, Lauro Garcia, 43, was treated for serious injuries.

Martinez was taken to Broward County's main jail. He was released from jail Monday morning, according to a spokeswoman from the Broward Sheriff's Office.

Frank R said...

Ok I've been in NYC for the past week so I'm way late here. Anyway, my top pick is NOT Scottsdale, but San Francisco. If there's one place I've been to that I just can't stand, it's SF. For the insane price there you get lots of crime, dirt, horrible weather, totally wacko liberals, etc etc. Can it get any worse?

On Scottsdale, everything that was posted here is true. There are only 3 kinds of people who refute what myself and those who agree with me have to say about Scottsdale:

1. People who have never lived there
2. Those who are Scottsdale phonies themselves
3. Those who've lived in Arizona all their lives, and with no perspective, assume that every other state must have similar areas

Believe me, you have not seen anything until you've seen Scottsdale. The scum there makes LA look like a down-to-earth midwestern small town.