HousingPANIC - The Housing Bubble Blog with an Attitude Problem, 2005 - 2008: BUBBLETALK - Open thread to talk about the housing crash, mortgage meltdown, idiot realtors on commission and whatever else is on your mind

May 08, 2008

BUBBLETALK - Open thread to talk about the housing crash, mortgage meltdown, idiot realtors on commission and whatever else is on your mind

Fire away

314 comments:

1 – 200 of 314 Newer› Newest»

Anonymous said...: In 2005, I felt "pressured" to jump into the real estate craze and decided to buy a 1900 sq. ft house in San Diego for $610,000. I felt "pressured" because it seemed everyone was making money on their house while I was renting. Although I make $150,000 a year, I felt inadequate as a renter during that time.

The house owner was actually a real estate agent and was representing himself. The house was built only 2 years prior and is located in a good school district. The agent kept telling me that the house would be worth $750k in a couple of years.

But something told me that the house was not worth $610K. I already put a $6100 deposit into escrow for the purchase, but I was not happy about the purchasing my first house. So I wanted to feel a little better about the purchase and asked the seller for a measly $10,000 discount. He flat out denied. So I backed out of the deal.

3 years later, that house is now worth less than $500k. Boy, am I glad I never got that $10,000 discount.; April 16, 2008 12:39 AM
Anonymous said...: U.S. economy "getting worse": Feldstein
April 15, 2008 | Mark Noble

A U.S. recession that risks becoming the worst in 50 years is not the prediction 1,800 advisors wanted to hear from Martin Feldstein. But Feldstein, whose authority on U.S economic matters is matched by only a few, was not there to lift spirits, he was there to share what he observes, and for the short term, it doesn't look good.

"The situation is bad, getting worse and has the risk of being really bad," said Feldstein, a professor of economics at Harvard University and the CEO of the National Bureau of Economics. He was speaking to advisors attending the Mackenzie University roadshow in Toronto.

The National Bureau of Economics is the non-profit research organization that always officially declares when a recession occurs. Currently, there hasn't been enough period of decline to officially do so, but Feldstein said the U.S. is already in the thick of it, and right now it's only looking to get worse.

Feldstein is optimistic about the long-term prospects of the U.S. economy. He notes the declining dollar will greatly reduce the U.S.'s current account trading deficit with other countries.

But fundamental problems in the U.S. housing market and credit problems in the financial markets will create a prolonged recession that has a real possibility of lasting longer than the one experienced in the early 1980s.

Although not the sole reasons for the decline, the housing and financial markets will take time to work out.

He said that high loan/value ratios on U.S homes are likely to increase as housing prices fall at unprecedented rates. This means a greater proportion of U.S. homeowners will have negative equity in their homes. At the end of 2007, 15% of U.S. homeowners had a mortgage to value ratio on their home greater than 100%, meaning their mortgage were worth more than their homes. Feldstein estimates that this percentage will increase to 20% of homeowners.

Exacerbating the problem is many of the high-ratio mortgages had no recourse loans, so if the consumers default on their payments and vacate their homes, their lender are entitled only to repossess the home, and cannot seek other financial retribution.

Feldstein estimates that buyers will get over the social stigma of having their homes foreclosed and will start walking away, further eroding home prices and shaking confidence among the financial players, particularly those who have a stake in any syndicated investment vehicles with exposure to housing mortgages.

"Institutions are not buying securities and they are not making loans," he said.

The U.S. Federal Reserve has tried to alleviate this problem by establishing a $400 billion liquidity facility, but Feldstein said this is inadequate to deal with the sheer size of the problem. It is not removing risk off the balance sheets of lenders, but rather just including the Fed in the counterparty risk.

"Relative to the size of the market, $400 billion is very small," Feldstein said. "The mortgage market is more than $10 trillion."

Feldstein also warned of the U.S. economy having a new wrench thrown at it, which is a real likelihood of inflation. Traditionally recessions bring down inflation, but demand for commodities by emerging markets, particularly from China and India, will continue to increase even as the U.S. economy subsides. Feldstein noted that much of China and India's growth is being driven domestically, and is not heavily correlated to the U.S. economy.

Feldstein is worried that the Fed is not paying enough attention to fighting inflation because of its focus on solving the credit problems. He said this recession could be characterized by declining economic growth and rapidly rising prices.

"Inflation is rising — the last 12 months the consumer price index is up 4%. The producing price index is accelerating. The last three months it's up 6%," he said. "Recall the 1960s and 1970s. We had an inflation rate in the United States at just about 2% at the start of the 1960s. By the end of the 1970s, that number was over 12%.

One advisor asked Feldstein if he had any predictions about how bad the recession could get and whether clients should be worried. Feldstein said he didn't want to make any specific predictions.

"The risks I have predicted could lead to a severe recession. I hope they will turn out to be very pessimistic," he said. "They are significant enough that Washington ought to worry about them, and investors should worry about them. Risks look more serious than they did two months ago. So, go worry."; April 16, 2008 1:13 AM
bradinsb said...: To my surprise the market is still coming down I thought it would at least leveled off but its still going down. As a joke predicted the bottom to be 1998 prices and I just might be right. Get ready for a quick 10 cents gain in gas too.
This will be Bad very Bad.; April 16, 2008 1:46 AM
Anonymous said...: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080415/ap_on_re_as/china_cnn

seems someone else reads HP

He was speaking about the U.S. trade deficit with China when he said, according to the transcript, "We continue to import their junk with the lead paint on them and the poisoned pet food and export, you know, jobs to places where you can pay workers a dollar a month to turn out the stuff that we're buying from Wal-Mart."

roadkill; April 16, 2008 2:41 AM
Anonymous said...: It's hilarious how every regular on this board has a mid 6 figure job with a million dollars worth of gold in their safe and has perfectly timed every move in every market during the last 5 years.......uuhhhhh.......except for the one that really counted....that's right- the housing market. The idiots losing their homes right now are the people that made me rich. If I could guess, I would say that all of you liars will sit on your hands again just long enough to be left holding your dicks AGAIN, and then lying on this board about how perfectly you timed the market....PUSSIES

DirkDiggler; April 16, 2008 3:29 AM
Anonymous said...: Hey Keith, I am hearing reports that retail chain Linens & Things will probably file for bankruptcy by the end of the week. Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo analysts are calling for a 15% drop off in the equity markets.

I can imagine several states throughout the country are going to start having serious budget shortfalls due to severe drops in property taxes, sales taxes, and a huge increase in unemployment and welfare benefits.

CALIFORNIA YOU HAVENT SEEN ANYTHING YET!!!

An elementary school here in Riverside has now been scheduled to close in august and another will soon follow.

ICEMAN; April 16, 2008 4:18 AM
Anonymous said...: To the guy who posted this

houses in the middle of renovation, some just ran out of cash and could not finish the projects

Just because the bank are asking 25% below market value for their REO you be surprised what they are willing to take.

Even in the Cupertino Foothill Area of Silicon Valley

BEDS: 3 Baths: 1 Sqft: 1,066
Sold For: $13,500 (02/08/2008)
LAST SALE: $560,000 (02/03/2006)

BEDS: 3 Baths: 1 Sqft: 1,066
Sold For: $4,000 (01/24/2008)
LAST SALE: $615,000 (01/05/2007)

BEDS: 3 Baths: 1 Sqft: 960
Sold For: $11,000 (01/14/2008)
LAST SALE: $591,000 (05/22/2006)

BEDS: 3 Baths: 1 Sqft: 960
Sold For: $30,000 (03/06/2008)
LAST SALE: $610,000 (02/05/2007)

BEDS: 3 Baths: 2 Sqft: 1,409
Sold For: $5,500 (03/18/2008)
LAST SALE: $205,500 (05/19/2006)

BEDS: 3 Baths: 2 Sqft: 1,409
Sold For: $38,000 (03/05/2008)
LAST SALE: $1,025,000 (02/15/2007)

BEDS: 3 Baths: 3.5 Sqft: 1,657
Sold For: $5,500 (02/14/2008)
LAST SALE: $879,000 (02/24/2006)

BEDS: 4 Baths: 2 Sqft: 1,491
Sold For: $18,000 (02/15/2008)
LAST SALE: $449,500 (09/22/2003)

BEDS: 4 Baths: 2 Sqft: 1,412
Sold For: $25,500 (01/22/2008)
LAST SALE: $560,000 (11/15/2004)

BEDS: 4 Baths: 2.5 Sqft: 2,651
Sold For: $7,000 (02/14/2008)
LAST SALE: $995,000 (05/31/2006)

was this a joke ? or is it real and if so can you provide the links and why is this not on the news ????

also are these bank sales where you have to buy 20 properties at a time ?

or can the little guy come in and buy ?

thanks; April 16, 2008 4:51 AM
Anonymous said...: A federal regulator said yesterday that it has "significant supervisory concerns" about the conditions of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two government-sponsored housing finance companies that own or guarantee trillions of dollars of mortgages.

Both companies have suffered financially from the meltdown in the housing market and remain vulnerable to further declines, but Freddie Mac's problems run deeper, the regulator said.

Freddie Mac still has some ineffective internal controls, has invested in poorly underwritten loans and lacks "sufficient executive management depth," the Office of Federal Housing Enterprise Oversight said in an annual report to Congress.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/04/15/AR2008041502976.html?hpid=topnews; April 16, 2008 8:00 AM
Anonymous said...: Northeast Ohio faces grim realities of fiscal crisis

http://tinyurl.com/3qszj2

Municipalities in Northeast Ohio are in serious trouble as what one area mayor calls "a perfect storm" of fiscal crises sinks city workers' jobs, blows away amenities and threatens to swamp residents with new taxes and fees.

Elyria may close one of four fire stations and cut staffing to levels its fire chief has called perilous. It expects to spend almost 11 percent more than it takes in this year, burning up almost all of its $3.7 million reserve fund.

Cleveland Heights is eliminating some 50 jobs on top of the 47 positions it has abolished since 2002. Five police officers were laid off, with other cuts through attrition.

Income tax collections across the region have flattened as jobs evaporate and salaries and wages stagnate. Many cities are seeing or projecting declines in income tax revenue for the first time in decades.; April 16, 2008 12:41 PM
Anonymous said...: BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA

futures are surging, look for a 3% rally today

JPM Chase profit way above forecast

mortgage apps up

coke profits up huge

and here you idiots are talking about depressions and stock market crashes

here's some advice: get out of your mom's basement, stop reading comic books, get a job and for crying out loud stop spending all your time online.; April 16, 2008 12:59 PM
Anonymous said...: DirkDiggler is right on.

The guy in SD makes $150K and he's happy he didn't buy in 2005. Hey wise guy, why didn't you buy in 2002 and sell in 2005? You could have put $10K down and walked away with $500K profit, all tax free.

You all perfectly timed obscure stocks and made 300% gains. Yet you couldn't foresee the insane gains to be made in housing and rented during the greatest financial boom of all time.

And of course you all have these high paying $150K a year jobs, yet spend 24/7 surfing the web and posting articles from far flung web sites.; April 16, 2008 1:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Orange County Florida is starting to get some serious pot holes that aren't being repired.

They also announced recently they are laying a couple of hundred teachers.

Beignet; April 16, 2008 2:46 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous Anonymous said...

It's hilarious how every regular on this board...

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

Believe it or not, people who HAVE money are interested in such matters.

Trolls usually don't. It's sad, but true.

Enjoy that Big Mac, troll buddy. Give my regards to your fat, ugly wife.; April 16, 2008 4:06 PM
Anonymous said...: I just want to comment about the dopes buying equities right now. Amazing. The US is clearly going into deep depression, oil is at $114/b and company profits are going to get killed over the next two quarters.

When I look at my ticker and see the DOW up 150 points, I am just blown away that people would throw their money into equities now, when they're about to go over the edge of a cliff.

DOPES!; April 16, 2008 4:23 PM
Anonymous said...: You buy stocks in a recession dummy. Like everything else. You buy a house when everyone says buying a house is the worst thing you can do. You also buy stocks when everyone sells buying stocks is the worst thing you can do.

Best performing stocks I bought were tech stocks I bought in mid-2002. Everyone and their mother was saying tech stocks are a horrible investment. The world was coming to an end just like the world is coming to an end now. 5 years and more than quadrupling my money later I sold and laughed at the same people as they were buying in at the top of the bubble.

But you keep on buying 2% CDs and we'll talk in another 5 years.; April 16, 2008 5:44 PM
Anonymous said...: It's interesting that people think I'm lying about my $150K income. Let's see... no one knows who I am on this blog. Why should I waste my time and lie?

Anyways, I was not "bragging" that I timed the market perfectly by not buying in 2005. It would be ridiculous for me to brag about timing when I missed the initial 2001 buying craze in the first place.

My point is that buying homes should not be a vehicle for get-rich-quick schemes. Too many people suffer as a consequence.

This market is so far out-of-whack tied to those crazy ARM loans that will lead this economy into recession.; April 16, 2008 6:29 PM
Anonymous said...: OK, I'll bite too.

I'm a regular on this board under an alias.

I'm 30, I live in a large, bubblicious city and out of college I made $50K in 2002 and was ~$45K in debt (school loan, car loan, credit card, etc.)

I paid all of the debt off and worked my way up. Now I make $80K in a stable job and my wife pulls in around $45K.

I grew up w/o money. I've always wanted to buy a house, so I saved and worked to do it. As I saved the prices got crazier and crazier. When small houses in boring neighborhoods that had been starter homes for 100 yrs started going for $400K to 23 year old cell phone salesmen I said "how?"

So I started looking and I found HP.; April 16, 2008 7:47 PM
Anonymous said...: again to the guy who posted a 7k sale on a 500k house, a 13k k sale on a 900k house in cupertino, silicon valley CA as well as many others

Do you MAKE UP THE NUMBERS ?

WHERE IS YOUR PROOF ?

Please post where you got your info.

I have looked at the public records and no sales have been recorded.

I have cash in hand to buy !!!!!!!!

Thanks; April 16, 2008 7:58 PM
Anonymous said...: "It's interesting that people think I'm lying about my $150K income. Let's see... no one knows who I am on this blog. Why should I waste my time and lie?"

I'll go you one better. Why waste your time writing anything at all?

But back to your question, since you're getting defensive....
1) Because it sounds better when you say you walked away from a $500K house on a $150K salary than the $50K trailer you walked away from on a $15K salary.

2) Because it makes you feel better. People are known to lie about their earnings and net worth. Why? I don't know or care. It's just a fact.

3) You had this unexplained need to add 6 words to your post. Maybe some kind of blog comment word count contest? Seriously, it doesn't add anything to your post. So why DID you add it?

4) "I felt inadequate as a renter" aha! You are still stinging from that truth you experienced 3 years ago, aren't you? That alone would explain your need to point it out (if true) or exaggerate.; April 16, 2008 8:03 PM
Anonymous said...: I have bought equities, I continue to buy equities, and I will continue going forward.

Dollar-cost averaging. It works.; April 16, 2008 8:05 PM
Anonymous said...: You buy in recessions, yes you do, but the equity markets are not reflecting the recession just now. You buy when they have fallen another 15%.

Or, you could buy now and hold for "the long term". Keep in mind that, in inflation adjusted terms, the DOW is equal to where it was 8 years ago.

And, my CDs are paying 4.2%, thank you very much, and they're in New Zealand, Aussie-land and China PRC. I've divested of US-dollar assets until it stops dropping.; April 16, 2008 10:00 PM
Anonymous said...: IBM beats earnings

ebay beats earnings

JP morgan beats earnings

Coca-Cola beats earnings

Intel beats earnings

And yet you fools are still talking about depressions and crashes

Once again the prosperity train has left the stations and you fools are stuck on the platform; April 16, 2008 10:51 PM
Anonymous said...: "And, my CDs are paying 4.2%, thank you very much, "

Oh my!! 4.2% a year??!?!?! WOW!!

Dummy, nasdaq was up 3% just today and is up more than 10% since the January bottom.

Let's compare portfolios in 3 months. You stick with your 4.2% CDs, I'll stick with my 85% US equities, 10% bonds and 5% cash.

DOLTS
DOPES
MORONS
FOOLS; April 16, 2008 10:57 PM
Anonymous said...: You people are complete fools when you say JP Morgan beat earnings. Their earnings are down 50% from last year. They beat pessimistic forecasts of their earnings earnings by a slim margin. They had huge writedowns as well.

Idiots keep buying the stock though. I really shouldn't complain though, it's a great shorting opportunity.

And for all the dummies bragging about what stocks have done today, what have they done over the last 10 years? Do you think you can time the market? I shouldn't complain, I need the idiots on this board to keep buying so I can have something to short. It's so obvious corporate america is in deep trouble.; April 16, 2008 11:40 PM
Anonymous said...: uh 150k guy ?

$150k a year is poverty money, I would not go around bragging to the BIG DOGS that you only make 150k a year and you are at their level.

Why ?

Because they will trick you, steal your money and shat on you !!!!!

enjoy your ability to live better than the super poor and keep your big mouth shut or someone out there will put you in your place !!!!; April 16, 2008 11:43 PM
Anonymous said...: 2) Because it makes you feel better. People are known to lie about their earnings and net worth. Why? I don't know or care. It's just a fact.
------------------
Wow. Hello, dumb dumb. Listen to some logic - people lie to falsely improve their image. Don't you get it? There is no image to be had on this anonymous blog, you tool. If I was trying to make myself feel better by lying about my $150K income(which by the way still seems insufficient w/ a wife and 2 kids at home) on this blog where no one knows anyone else, I may as well have said I make $1.5 million a year. Please turn off your idiodic thought process.

By the way, I am not coming to this blog and posting to waste my time. I happen to find this site very informative about the current real estate market. I'm actually ready to buy a house now, but I'm waiting for the right time. This site is helping me decide when that "right time" is. I'm sure many other people use it for the same reason.; April 16, 2008 11:48 PM
Anonymous said...: Everyone listen Cleary. The REO auction are no deal yet. I am not sure why everyone is feeding into the propaganda. If you do not believe me go look for yourself. I guarantee you will leave empty handed and upset at the lies. It is all shill bidding and con games. No deals, just con men try to trick people into full price shill bids. GO and LOOK for yourselves and come back and report. YOU WILL BE DISAPPOINTED. Banks will fight for the highest prices to the END. All the other 50-70% discount report off of bubble prices is pure lies. Try Full price. Maybe 10%-15% discount. If not they just keep the property and re-auction later. I have been to 6 auctions now and will not waste my time for at least another year. Remember REDC is not an absolute auction so even if you win they still might not sell you the property. But most likely if you win you’re a sucker that bid after a bunch of shill bids to up to Market Value. Hudson Marshal has mostly lower class inventory. A couple nice properties once in a while. Problem is auctioneer keeps raising the price as no one bids. Trick. Sit in the front row if you don’t believe me and look back at the audience and tell me if you really see people raising the bid cards as auctioneer raises bids. You may be astonished at the fraud and lies at these snake gatherings.; April 17, 2008 1:47 AM
Anonymous said...: When it comes to looking for home that sold, Zillow is not the best site because it does not list everything.

But zillow does provides selected information on home that sold and you could sort by

Sold Within

Any
1 month
2 months
3 months
6 months
12 months

www.zillow.com.

There are many MLS Listing sites now days, but you will need to go to MLS listing site that sells pre-foreclosure and foreclosure as well.; April 17, 2008 2:55 AM
Anonymous said...: Zillow is actually very bad with providing recently sold information compare to many of the better mls listings sites.; April 17, 2008 3:13 AM
Anonymous said...: However, if you are a home sellers and you need positive news to help you sell your home then Zillow would be the site.

If you are a home buyers and you need positive news to help you get your bid price, then you will need to find some mls listings sites that are gear toward the home buyers.

Once your have found a good buyer mls listings site in your area start looking at the following:

1) recently sold home price
2) the price/square feet
3) asking price pattern in a given location

These three items will give you an feel if your area is in the

1) Beginning,
2) Middle, or
3) Ending

stage of the housing slump.

It will also tell you if your real estate agent is giving all of the information you need.

Do use these buyer mls listing sites to test your agent, because not all real estate agents will do their leg work for you.; April 17, 2008 4:19 AM
Anonymous said...: Just because some companies beat earnings doesn't mean our economy can't be going to hell!; April 17, 2008 6:47 AM
Anonymous said...: Don't forget the utility liens. Homeowner's association liens, tax liens, construction liens, city fines, etc.

http://www.investors.com/editorial/
IBDArticles.asp?artsec=27&issue=
20080410

"All of these lenders are acquiring more and more property in their REO section, and they're taking reserves for that," he said. "But then they'll use up all their reserves and have no money to lend."

Jim Richman, president of Richman & Associates, a real estate and debt restructuring firm in Glendale, Calif. predicts the federal government will eventually step in and force lenders to sell off these properties, spurring big losses.

"So there's going to be a future collapse of pricing that no one wants to talk about," he said.

Foreclosures are mounting. Some 2.04% of loans — the highest ever — are in the process, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association.

"They're adding to inventories, constraining the ability of home prices to rise," said Celia Chen, director of housing economics at Moody's Economy.com "It's going to keep housing prices depreciating for some time."

Foreclosed homes may have issues such as poor maintenance, missing appliances, and liens. A house may have so much damage that a lender may require a 150% reserve in the escrow for certain repair costs, Johnson says.

Would-be buyers can find repossessed homes at lender Web sites, at auctions and through conventional property listings. They're called "bank owned," "lender owned" or "REO" for "real estate owned."

Getting a loan can be tough.

"Realtors are used to 24 to 48 hours to finalize an offer, and with the banks it can take 24 to 48 days,"

Escrow can take 30 to 60 days, depending on how many parties are involved and their schedules.

Amid all the delays, setting a mortgage rate in stone can also be a challenge, since many lenders only offer 15-day rate locks. And Johnson says though lenders may drag their feet selling properties they own, many contracts carry steep per-day penalty fees, for every day the buyer exceeds an escrow closing date.; April 17, 2008 7:15 AM
Anonymous said...: Three stages of foreclosure.

Each has different rules.

Stage One: Pre-Foreclosure

This is where investors buy directly from homeowners in the early stages of default – before the bank repossesses the property.

Stage Two: Auction Sales

This is where the lender, or bank, forecloses on the home and attempts to sell it at auction.

Third Stage: Real Estate Owned Homes

When the bank is unable to sell their foreclosures at auction they enter the REO stage

Finding Foreclosed Homes

To find homes in any stage of foreclosure, buyers can visit their county courthouse, which maintains such documents as part of the public record.

Sites like RealtyTrac.com, foreclosuredeals.com and foreclosures.com also maintain a national database of foreclosure listings.

“This is a process that requires some work and requires some cash,” said Sharga. “It’s obviously not as easy as a traditional real estate transaction so buyers have to be diligent. It’s a numbers game at the end of the day.”

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24052530; April 17, 2008 7:26 AM
Anonymous said...: ForeclosureRadar the only website that tracks every California foreclosure with daily auction updates; today issued it's California Foreclosure Report.

March data indicates California's foreclosure crisis is accelerating and suggests that the normalization of the state's real estate market is still far from complete.

High-level findings include:

- Notices of Default - the first step in California's foreclosure process - jumped 14.3 percent during March, reaching a record high of 42,704.

These new entries into the foreclosure pipeline will produce a jump in foreclosure sales and bank owned (REO) properties for months to come.

- Notices of Trustee Sale, which are issued approximately 3 months following a Notice of Default, jumped 47.9 percent in March setting a record high of 27,571 filings.

- Foreclosure sales at auction declined 6.5 percent in March to 15,833 with a combined loan value of $6.87 Billion.

Lender inventories continue to swell as they failed to sell 97.7 percent of these properties despite offering an average discount of 21 percent off of loan value.

"Unfortunately, the foreclosure crisis in California is still deepening" said Sean O'Toole, founder of ForeclosureRadar.

"The record jump in defaults last December are just now showing up in early April foreclosure sales, and the new record level of defaults this month won't begin to appear at auction until July."

Continues O'Toole, "We see the housing pain in California continuing through the end of this year, as the market shakes off the effects of the credit mess and rampant overbuilding.

As devastating as this may be, we do think that the end result - greater housing affordability for the average Californian, using conventional loan products - will benefit consumers and the housing industry alike.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/prweb/
20080416/bs_prweb/prweb862844_1; April 17, 2008 7:43 AM
Anonymous said...: San Jose, CA
Beds: 4 Baths: 2 Sqft: 1,305
Sold For: $199,000 (02/28/2008)
Last Sales: $511,000 (08/09/2004)

Median Price of home still does not include the price of these kind of homes, because these home are considered anomalies.

However, when a large number of homes in an given area are being sold in this fashion then it should no longer be counted as an anomalies.

Especially when the asking price of so many other homes in the area have lost similar value and are now being sold by the lenders around $30,000 to $100,000 of the house shown above.

Lenders are trying to price them as high as possible, but they are running out of reserves.

These anomalies can include unusual document or transaction types, sales between possibly related parties, unusually high or low transaction prices, or other data irregularities that might indicate the transaction is not a full-value, arms-length transaction.; April 17, 2008 8:23 AM
Anonymous said...: Anon 4:06 said

"Trolls usually don't. It's sad, but true."

I'm a troll but you're posting "anon". BTW I may not be wealthy but at least I'm not a liar. Regards to your mom through the basement floor jerkoff.; April 17, 2008 8:50 AM
blogger said...: Good article on gold

http://www.dollarcollapse.com/iNP/view.asp?ID=64; April 17, 2008 10:13 AM
Anonymous said...: To all you renters in the west...enjoy the soaring rent this year.

Associated Press - April 17, 2008 3:43 AM ET

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - While it might not be the best time to own a home, a new report suggests renting isn't exactly a good option either.

Homeowners are fretting about the crumbling value of their houses, and a survey being released today shows renters in the West are having to write bigger checks to pay for their leases.

The average apartment rent through March rose from the previous year in all 19 major Western markets surveyed by the research firm RealFacts. The increases range from less than one percent in Reno, Nevada, to more than nine percent in the San Francisco Bay area and Salt Lake City.

I'll stick with my 15 year fixed mortgage which will rise 0% this year, 0% next year, 0% the year after that and so on. In 9 years it will be paid off and then my monthly cost of living will be about $250 for tax and maintenance.

DUMMIES
DOLTS
DOPES
FOOLS; April 17, 2008 12:46 PM
Anonymous said...: I have cash in hand to buy !!!!!!!!
Hello dip-shit moron hammering away on your decrepit 2002 desktop computer. You must mistake your dick in your hand with actual Cash. The 1BR shit-hole apartment close to the "NO GO ZONE" will be the home for the rest of your life. And I got other news for your retarded brain. Your little cushy IT job is going to disappear this year taken over by an idiot from China working for a buck a day. Time to move backy with mommy dickhead. Priced out of the market, jobless, a useless education, soon to be starving, no place to go? Look in the mirror imbecile!; April 17, 2008 5:55 PM
Anonymous said...: These realtors, mortgage bankers and fraudulent appraisers need to be convicted of HOME-ICIDE!; April 17, 2008 6:09 PM
brokersleaveyoubroke said...: Harley davidson is having a bad day today. Their last prediction was for 4 to 7 percent growth in 2008. They just revised that prediction to a 15 to 20 percent decline for 2008 and that's still probably optomistic. I guess toys that cost 30K or more are falling out of fashion.
Their finance unit took a big hit. It seems they would lend you up to 130% of the cost of the bike so you had some extra cash to pimp it out. You could walk into a Harley dealership without a dime in your pocket and walk out with a new 30K bike and 6 thousand cash in your pocket. No wonder they sold so many bikes. I would expect their loan default ratio to go ballistic very soon.; April 17, 2008 6:16 PM
Anonymous said...: Anonymous said...

San Jose, CA
Beds: 4 Baths: 2 Sqft: 1,305
Sold For: $199,000 (02/28/2008)
Last Sales: $511,000 (08/09/2004)

April 17, 2008 8:23 AM

HEY DICKHEAD I JUST GOT INTO A FIGHT WITH MY PARTNER

He thinks you are full of shit !!!!

I say otherwise, and now I am beginning to think you are full of shit, these properties do not come up on public record.

WHERE IS YOUR PROOF ?????

Or are you a retard making this shit up on the crapper in your moms basement ?

POST LINKS PLEASE OR STOP POSTING THIS BULLSHIT !!!!!; April 17, 2008 7:57 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey BLOWFLY

I do not have a IT job as a matter of fact I retired rich before the DOT COM BUST in the 1990's

I have cash and I am ready to buy but this other poster is starting to sound like bullshit, I have friends in the San Jose Govt (you get them when you are me) and they thought I was joking about these final sales in cupertino, san jose !!!!)

They all said one thing that made perfect sense.

If you could get a 1MM home for 13k, 500k home for 7k IT WOULD BE ALL OVER THE NEWS IN EVERY PAPER BLOG IN TOWN !!!!!

There would be miles and miles of buyers lined up !!!!!!

My computers are 2008 all duo
3.6ghz thank you very much, I get the latest models every year, that is what you can do when you are rich.; April 17, 2008 8:09 PM
Anonymous said...: Oh and BLOWFISH

I live in NY, LA and SF, 2 modern homes in LA and SF and a condo in a highrise in NY on park ave. I am far from living in a basement or a 1 bedroom apt.; April 17, 2008 8:11 PM
Anonymous said...: Anon April 16, 2008 11:48 PM:

You have no idea how gratifying it is to be called "dumb dumb" by some dum-dum.

Your problems lie solely with you, especially those beyond your inability to remember words you have been seeing your whole life.; April 17, 2008 8:20 PM
Anonymous said...: hey what do you know, stock markets up again today...keep investing in those 2% CDs

DOLTS
DOPES
LOSERS; April 17, 2008 8:44 PM
Anonymous said...: The FBs have been especially hateful in this new thread. Me thinks they are feeling the squeeze.; April 17, 2008 8:52 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow, there is a lot of vitriol from bullish homeowners on this board. You can spew venom all you want, but every economist in the world is on HP's side these days.

Yes, JP Morgan beat expected earnings (although the expectations had been radically low), and that's a good thing. But you are kidding yourself if you think that we are anywhere near the end of this tunnel. The DOW is at 12,600 right now. True, that's up about 500 points in the last couple of weeks (and a big chunk of that yesterday). But it's still down 1000 points since last fall. And we won't get back up to 13,500 anytime this year.; April 17, 2008 9:30 PM
Refuse to buy overpriced said...: Sharpe James convicted! Hooray!; April 17, 2008 10:46 PM
Anonymous said...: HPer's this is right up our alley.

http://www.predictify.com/

This company lets you predict the outcomes of events that happen in the future, and if you are accurate about the outcome you could get paid for it.

Beignet; April 18, 2008 12:19 AM
Anonymous said...: "brokersleaveyoubroke said...
Harley Davidson is having a bad day today..........I would expect their loan default ratio to go ballistic very soon."
============================
And at the height of the bubble, with all that housing ATM wealth making people feel rich, Harley dealerships would tell a cash-in-hand customer to go pound sand if he/she wasn't willing to go thru Harley's lending division/bank to finance the damn bike! Bad enough no discount or bargaining position for bringing full-purchase-price cash to the table, they wouldn't even sell you a hog, at all, unless you financed, whether you wanted to finance or not. I was with a friend when he found this out the hard way while shopping for his bike!

I don't wish for Harley to go under, but that company needs a major comeuppance! It’s a shame that any pain will be dumped onto the rank and file, while upper management will probably go unscathed.; April 18, 2008 2:38 AM
Anonymous said...: My favorite post of the day comes from anonymous (about 5 posts up): "hey what do you know, stock markets up again today...LOSERS"

You're right! The DOW is up 1.22 points! Hooray! Look, there's no recession! At least not down here underneath the sand.; April 18, 2008 4:36 AM
edd browne said...: I've become so cynical that I
had this impure thought:
Maybe realtors could be planting fake "Sold" signs to goose the market.

..... hmmm ....

..... nawww.; April 18, 2008 5:09 AM
Anonymous said...: Step by Step instruction.

1.) goto www.zillow.com

2.) type "San Jose, Ca" on the City box

3.) On the left hand side of page click on "Recently Sold" then click on 6 months.

4.) On the left hand side of page click on "Price"

5.) Type in a price of $350,000 in the "MAX" box

6.) Go to the Map and click on "+" until yellow symbol of houses start to show up in the map. These symbol will have the price next to it.

7.) Click on one of the yellow house symbol and a pop up will show with an address.

8.) Click on the house address and it will take you to a detail page of the house.

9.) Go down to chart and data and click on 10yr.

10.) This should show a history of the sale price of the house.

11.) Note not all "chart and data" will have sale history unless the house was sold within ten years.

12.) Compare the recent sold price with the historical sell price.

Have fun with your research.

Note all house will sell for less, but for those that do ask yourself the question why would anyone sell a house for 1/3 what they paid for it 2 to 4 years ago.

Remember Zillow is not the best site but it will serve the purpose.; April 18, 2008 6:34 AM
Anonymous said...: 1) Go to

http://realestate.yahoo.com/
California/San_Jose

2) Click on mls listings

You will see two price boxes
the one to the left is the min
the one to the right is the max

Type in $350,000 on the max box.
then click on Search.

3) once the "San Jose, CA Homes for Sale page" comes up click on the text "Price" with the arrow next to it. this will sort the page in ascending order base on price.

4) type some of these house address in zillow web page and check out the last price sale information.

If Zillow is not selling the same house on their site you might get to see the last price sale.

If Zillow the same house address you type in listed in their web page and the list price is less than the last price sale then the historical page give you an error message.; April 18, 2008 7:49 AM
Anonymous said...: What happened to having fun in life?

Everything is now about status.

Who gives a flying f-ck.

How much is my house worth? WHO THE F=UCK CARES.

All I know is that the higher some tax auditor says its worth the more the state wants to take from me in RE taxes.

And that is what this political homeowner bailout is really all about. You see, local and state gov't are in a panic over the drop off in tax revenue. This whole damn bubble thing was created by the FED/GOVT by refusing to crack down on fraud. Hell they even endorsed it. The answer to the social security crash was to break the back of the middle class using first the stock market bubble, then the RE bubble. They don't want to let RE defate because that only deflates their bloated tax revenues.

I have no idea whatsoever of what things are going to look like 2 year from now, but it seems that we are in for the hardest times of our lives and god help us if Matt Simmons is correct that we will see $300 oil by 2010-2012 (translation $9-$10/gal gas, and tripple what you now pay for food).; April 18, 2008 7:55 AM
Anonymous said...: 1) goto http://www.realtytrac.com

2) on the search Foreclosure by state map click on the state of California

3) Select California then select santa clara county then click on begin search.

4) Click on Bank Own Property then click on the amount to sort by ascending order.

5) Compare list price with last sale price on zillow.; April 18, 2008 8:09 AM
Anonymous said...: 1) Go to http://www.mlslistings.com/

2) on the City block click "view all"

3) on the left hand side select Santa Clara then click on "OK" button

4) on the City block click "view all" again

5) on the right side of the page click on Remove until only SJ-San Jose, Santa Clara is left then click on the "OK" button

6) The city box should have the text "SJ-San Jose"

7) click on the search button

8) click on list price to sort by ascending order.

9) compare list price with last sale price on zillow.; April 18, 2008 8:30 AM
Anonymous said...: Start learning how to use those mls listings sites listed, and more sites will be listed later.; April 18, 2008 8:41 AM
Anonymous said...: Throughout the country, businesses grappling with declining fortunes are cutting hours for those on their payrolls.

Self-employed people are suffering a drop in demand for their services, such as music lessons, catering and management consulting.

And growing numbers of people are settling for part-time work out of failure to secure a full-time position.

The erosion of the paycheck has become a stealth force driving the American economic downturn. Most of the attention has focused on the loss of jobs and the risk of layoffs. But the less-noticeable shrinking of hours and pay for millions of workers around the country appears to be a bigger contributor to the decline.

Though official unemployment has risen only modestly, to 5.1 percent, the winnowing of wages and working hours for those still employed has become a primary cause of distress, pushing many more Americans into a downward spiral, economists say.

Moreover, this slippage is a critical indicator that the nation may well be on the verge of a recession, if not already in one.

Drop in hours

Last month, the hours worked by those on American payrolls dropped, compared with six months earlier, according to an index maintained by the Labor Department. The last time the index moved into negative territory was February 2001, when the economy was on the doorstep of recession.

A similar slide emerged in August 1990, one month into what proved an even more severe downturn.

http://www.dallasnews.com/
sharedcontent/dws/bus/stories/
041808dnbuspaycheck.3bafcab.html; April 18, 2008 9:59 AM
Anonymous said...: Las Vegas, the housing bubble burst. I was stuck with my own houses, plus those I had bought as investments. I couldn’t pay off the mortgages based on my tips as bartender for the Mormon Tabernacle Choir. Soon the repro guys started asking for payment. Then demanding it. Then my kids started disappearing.

As Cousin Elmo and I were sorting food stamps, I said, “Maybe if Texas had retained the Homestead Law, we wouldn’t be in this pickle. So how do I get the government to bail me out, even though I flouted every rule of finance, ignored all the tell-tale signs and became blinded by greed?”

“That’s easy. Change your name to Bear Stearns.”

http://thefacts.com/story.
lasso?ewcd=581e83f220583af7; April 18, 2008 10:04 AM
Anonymous said...: Google blasts through earnings. This on top of Coke, Intel, IBM, JP Morgan who also had great quarters.

Another 2-3% rally coming today.

You all keep talking about depressions and crashes while making 2% on your CDs.

DOLTS
DOPES
FOOLS; April 18, 2008 12:00 PM
Anonymous said...: "The DOW is at 12,600 right now. True, that's up about 500 points in the last couple of weeks (and a big chunk of that yesterday). But it's still down 1000 points since last fall. And we won't get back up to 13,500 anytime this year."

Whatever you say. I recall HPers predicting DOW 7000 not too long ago. Admit you all fucked up. You started believing your own press clippings so to speak. It's not up 500. It's up almost 2000 from the 2008 low. Get your fact straight before making statements like that.

Housing is over as an issue. The bailout is a done deal. Foreclosures will essentially be a thing of the past by summer. You can face reality or you can keep dreaming about $20K houses in San Jose. No skin off my nose what you all do, it is however fun to watch you all spin away the good news.; April 18, 2008 12:08 PM
Anonymous said...: "I've become so cynical that I
had this impure thought:
Maybe realtors could be planting fake "Sold" signs to goose the market.

..... hmmm ....

..... nawww."

You aren't cynical you are just stupid.

Why would a realtor plant a sold sight on a house he has for sale? That sold sign says to a potential buyer, look elsewhere, this one
s no longer available. And why would the home seller go along with such a scheme when all it does is drive potential buyers away? Makes no sense at all.

You are in denial dude. Houses are selling. You can pretend otherwise if you want. Won't change what's happening.; April 18, 2008 12:53 PM
Anonymous said...: "It's up almost 2000 from the 2008 low. Get your fact straight before making statements like that."

Hunh??? WTF? get your facts straight bozo.; April 18, 2008 1:55 PM
TheHubs said...: Week in Review.

Last Friday, HPers celebrated a relatively bad day on the market led by GE underperforming. Various HPers took this to be yet another sign of the end of times and warned of 'Black Monday' to occur the following (now last) monday.

Here we are a week later, with the S&P up 2.5% this week going into today, with over 1.5% -additional- gain on the board in the opening hours.

Anyone want to call for Black Monday NEXT monday?

In other news, 2% CDs met analysts expectations and returned 0.04% this week. Mattress-stuffed USD broke even.; April 18, 2008 3:53 PM
Anonymous said...: I went to all of those links put in CA, Santa Clara, San Jose and there are no F**** homes sold for 7k, 13k, 55k in 2008

STOP POSTING BULLSHIT SOLD PRICES !!!!!

OR SHOW A F***ING REAL LINK

THANKY YOU; April 18, 2008 6:10 PM
Refuse to buy overpriced said...: Hey john,

Newsflash: HPers own stocks, were just not 100% in stocks and real estate, with debt, like you.

Thats why we don't demand the government intervention prop up real estate and stock prices.

Politically, we just want a market that is not rigged by Congress and the Federal Reserve.

In our personal finances, we choose to play it safe: avoid debt, save for a 20% downpayment before buying a house, don't borrow more than 2.5 X yearly income to buy a house, maybe even (gasp!) buy a little gold as an inflation hedge. None of us will probably ever face foreclosure.

And by the way, my personal sense of self esteem is not based on money. It is based on the mercy and grace shown to me by Jesus Christ. Read about the man you are naamed after, John the Baptist. He was poor by the world's standards, yet Jesus called him the greatest man who lived, before the advent of the Kingdom of Heaven.

So go ahead and flaunt your Wall Street wealth, it doesn't bother me.

But if your stooges in Congress and the Federal Reserve try to steal the small pile of money I have worked for and earned, with their housing price fix and inflation, know this: I will permanently lose all respect for Wall Street.; April 18, 2008 6:13 PM
The Builders said...: Yes, the value of that home dropped tremendously in the past two years or so but it will come back. While every market is different, the overall trends are fairly similar. Here in northern Nevada, housing prices skyrocketed during the period when demand was soaring as speculators played the market. Now the speculators are gone and the market is normalizing.

Are you still renting? I don’t know rental prices in your area but if you’re paying $2,000 per month in rent in ten years you will have thrown away $240,000. That’s almost a quarter of a million dollars that you could have paid toward your own mortgage rather than someone else’s!

It’s also around what you would have gained in value on your home. The historical average gain on the value of a home is about 5%. I’m no math genius but I figure if you paid $610k in 2005, in 2008 the value is at $500k and we assume the market goes back up in 2009. By 2018 your home would be worth about $814k. Ok, you didn’t flip a house and earn a million bucks in a year but are you looking for a get rich quick scheme or investing in a home? Getting place of your own instead of throwing your money away in rent. To me that’s the best thing about home ownership. It’s about owning your own future, it’s not a business.; April 18, 2008 6:45 PM
Anonymous said...: A year ago dow was at 12,800. Today it is at 12,875.

wow, what a crash!!; April 18, 2008 6:56 PM
Anonymous said...: I am watching something locally in my town that will tell me when it is getting much worse. I still see bottom rung income wage earners at offices, getting their car (10,000 dollar car and under)detailed by one of those guys that comes to you. When this stops and then moves to higher rung people than I will know.; April 18, 2008 7:29 PM
Anonymous said...: I am watching something locally in my town that will tell me when it is getting much worse. I still see bottom rung income wage earners at offices, getting their car (10,000 dollar car and under)detailed by one of those guys that comes to you. When this stops and then moves to higher rung people than I will know.; April 18, 2008 7:29 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey Keith dont know if you saw the advertisement Absolut vodka is running in Mexico... might want to at least bring attention to it.

http://www.boycottabsolut.com/; April 18, 2008 7:48 PM
Anonymous said...: "Why would a realtor plant a sold sight on a house he has for sale? That sold sign says to a potential buyer, look elsewhere, this one
s no longer available. And why would the home seller go along with such a scheme when all it does is drive potential buyers away? Makes no sense at all."

IMO your point about a seller not agreeing is the clincher. I could see a realtor trying to give the impression there was movement in the market, but a seller would freak.; April 18, 2008 8:14 PM
Anonymous said...: 1) go to www.mercurynews.com

2) Click on business

3) then select real estate below it

4) on the left side of page go down and look at the word "Transactions"

5) Select one of the "* Who sold what, publish date"

6) Noticed some houses published both "Recent sold price" and "Last sale price". The "Recent sold price" is on the left and if published the "Last sale price" is on the right.

7) Select a house that do not have Last sale price.

8) Do a search on zillow to find out the "Last sale price".

9) Did you noticed Zillow will have a KEY NOTE "*"

Transaction Not Included in Zestimate

This transaction was not used in computing the Zestimate for this house due to anomalies we detected with this transaction.

These anomalies can include unusual document or transaction types, sales between possibly related parties, unusually high or low transaction prices, or other data irregularities that might indicate the transaction is not a full-value, arms-length transaction.

10) Go back to step-6 and look for a house that has gone up 25% or more and repeat step-8

11) Notice that when the price is unusually high it does not have a KEY NOTE "*"

Does that mean Transaction is Included in Zestimate

12) So when a Transaction sold 20% less than the "Last Sale" then it is NOT Included in Zestimate - WHY.; April 18, 2008 8:21 PM
Anonymous said...: 1) Go to www.homepages.com

2) Look the word "Find Recently Sold Home"

3) In the City box type "San Jose"

4) Select "CA" in the ST box

5) Click on the "GO" button

6) Go to the Maximum Price: in Property Details: and select $350,000

7) Go to Sold Within: and select "6 months"

8) Click "View Homes" button

9) Go to Sort results by: and select "Price Ascending"

10) Go to Zillow and follow the steps of finding recently sold homes. Note some of the low priced homes are not generated by Zillow

11) However, You will find these home sold actively in Zillow by typing the individual address listed in www.homepages.com; April 18, 2008 8:39 PM
Anonymous said...: Remember the Real Estate information is highly regulated and information are not meant to be easy to find for none real estate professional.

These sites listed above could be deleting their information right now.

A good mls listing sites should have all of those information listed without an individual having to jump from one sites to another to find the information.

After selecting your location
a very good mls listings site should allow you to filter information by

1) "Price per Square Feet"
2) "Recently Listed"
3) "Lot Size range"
4) "Year Built range"
5) "Past sales" (All not select information)
6) "Type of property" (mobile home, condo, Single family, multi unit, Lot, etc)
7) "Number of beds and baths"
8) "Price Range"
9) "House Square Foot Range"
10) House actively (Pending, Active); April 18, 2008 8:56 PM
Anonymous said...: "Are you still renting? I don’t know rental prices in your area but if you’re paying $2,000 per month in rent in ten years you will have thrown away $240,000. That’s almost a quarter of a million dollars that you could have paid toward your own mortgage rather than someone else’s!"

I'm paying $1000/mo. rent for a great house for which the mortgage would be about $2800 a month. Ok, maybe $2300 pre-bubble. (That's not counting taxes, repairs, etc.). (By the way, no cares, all maintenance/repairs/renovations done for me in a jiffy). OK, I should give $1800/mo. more to the bank in interest (instead of saving/investing it) so that I'm not "throwing away" that $1000. Thanks for the advice.; April 18, 2008 11:29 PM
Anonymous said...: "BUSTED" by Ray Charles

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hCnDmKAWVX8

My bills are all due and the baby needs shoes and I'm busted

Cotton is down to a quarter a pound, but I'm busted

I got a cow that went dry and a hen that won't lay

A big stack of bills that gets bigger each day

The county's gonna haul my belongings away cause I'm busted.

I went to my brother to ask for a loan cause I was busted

I hate to beg like a dog without his bone, but I'm busted

My brother said there ain't a thing I can do,
My wife and my kids are all down with the flu,

And I was just thinking about calling on you 'cause I'm busted.

Well, I am no thief, but a man can go wrong when he's busted

The food that we canned last summer is gone and I'm busted

The fields are all bare and the cotton won't grow,

Me and my family got to pack up and go,

But I'll make a living, just where I don't know cause I'm busted.

I'm broke, no bread, I mean like nothing,

~~~~~~

Beignet; April 19, 2008 1:20 AM
Anonymous said...: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VQRtbLvw1sE&feature=related

I found a better version of "BUSTED" by Ray Charles.

Beignet

Keith please edit.; April 19, 2008 1:37 AM
Anonymous said...: Looks like revolution may be our only option.

The future is in plain view.

http://tinyurl.com/5w55uj

http://tinyurl.com/4ag4ty

John has a long mustash!; April 19, 2008 5:51 AM
Anonymous said...: QWEEFIE,

I noticed you have nothing on your blog about April 19th. Not a big deal or anything, just the day the US revolution started and all.

I'm sure you'll commemorate the day some Tibetan take a shit. Those dates are important.; April 19, 2008 3:33 PM
Anonymous said...: perma bears like perma bulls are right for a while, but then lose everything when the market turns.
this is what hp has become. irrational bear outlook on everything. nothing goes up forever, nothing goes down forever.; April 19, 2008 3:43 PM
E said...: Greenspan's Body Count hits 17.; April 19, 2008 3:51 PM
Anonymous said...: Canook lists house for $1. Since no one knows what the real value is:
http://tinyurl.com/4erzfz
via
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/04/18/dollar-house.html; April 19, 2008 4:07 PM
blogger said...: 20 people shot in Chicago last night around the city

http://cosmos.bcst.yahoo.com/up/player/popup/?rn=4226712&cl=7468720&src=news

Meanwhile, people in Europe think the US still the wild west, crime ridden out of control murder and mayhem everywhere.

Can't say I disagree after seeing stories like that

I think one person got stabbed in the entire country of England yesterday.; April 19, 2008 5:14 PM
Anonymous said...: Boy oh boy, Chicago needs to pass some common sense gun control laws to put a stop to this.

Oh wait, never mind it's already illegal to own a firearm in Chicago.....it must be those low lifes coming in from neighboring Indiana causing these problems.; April 19, 2008 5:39 PM
Mitesh Damania said...: You guys need to check out Mohammad Yunus and his latest book Creating a World Without Poverty: Social Business and the Future of Capitalism

His Grameen Bank (microfinance lender) has pulled 100 million+ people out of poverty, and that's just in Bangladesh! He talks about creating businesses that don't solely focus on a profit motive.

Grameen and Dannon(France) and some other big names have already started and succeeded many such ventures already.

Here's a preview:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kW-4gJmXy5M

Here is his full speech:
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3767694835385572767&q=Muhammad+Yunus&ei=nroJSMyBPaSK4wL7lJ2pBA; April 19, 2008 10:46 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey Keith,

These Crooks can cook the books and keep the stockmarket propped up for so long. The real results are being exposed on the streets of our country. The houses are piling up, job losses are mounting,
and retail stores cannot sustain poor business returns. The banks can play with their balance sheets and be bailed out by the fed but places like Levitz have to make money or close. There is no playing around, if business is faltering then money just flies out the window. I always thought the stockmarket was about healthy earnings reports not about a select few positive companies and lowering of interest rates. Wow what has happened to this country!!!

GOOGLE = RCA

To understand this study the great depression!

ICEMAN; April 20, 2008 5:50 AM
Anonymous said...: In a "click poll" in the Norwegian newspaper Nettavisen 700 of 1400 thougth that a the bubble/crash was just propaganda...

I've been telling people that Norwegian and US housing have basically moved together for 120 years, but people simply won't listen.; April 20, 2008 8:38 AM
Anonymous said...: Keith,
How about a prediction thread?
Best bets for post-election America (January 2009):
Dow
Median House Price
Price of Gas
Price of Milk
Fed Rate
Price of Gold
30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rate
Bankrupt Companies (name 3)
Euro
Whatever else...Save it and post it after the election.; April 20, 2008 5:29 PM
Lost Cause said...: Running on Empty --
Delinquent Auto Loans Are on the Rise as More Borrowers Drown in Debt

The credit meltdown continues. Since it is Sunday, this is the reason why Jesus got so mad at the money changers.; April 20, 2008 8:30 PM
Anonymous said...: • Mortgage interest rates can change quickly, pushing a home out of your budget in a matter of days. Check in periodically with lenders before making a bid to get an up-to-date estimate of monthly payments based on current rates.

• Include in your offer a requirement that the sales price be equal to or less than the appraised value as determined by the mortgage lender. Without such a contingency, a lender can require the buyer to make up the difference between the appraised value and the sales price.

• Do your research. Compare the price of the home you are interested in to the prices of similar homes on the market or recently sold. In areas where home prices have been falling quickly, some real estate agents recommend narrowing the data to the last three or four months instead of year-old sales that may be outdated.

• When figuring what to bid, look at dollars per square foot of comparable sales

• If you decide to bid significantly below the asking price, be prepared for rejection. A lowball offer could be flatly rejected by an annoyed seller or viewed as the starting volley in negotiations.

• Don't assume that because the price of a home has been reduced, there isn't more room for negotiations. Research prices in the area and compare the lowered price to recent sales.; April 20, 2008 10:25 PM
Anonymous said...: Since late 2006 251 major U.S. lending operations have "imploded"

http://ml-implode.com/; April 20, 2008 10:46 PM
Mitesh Damania said...: Muhammad Yunus on Colbert Report: The banks didn't know how to do business with the customer.

http://www.comedycentral.com/videos/index.jhtml?videoId=147380; April 20, 2008 11:31 PM
Anonymous said...: April 18th, 2008
Weak dollar costs U.S. economy its No. 1 spot

The U.S. economy lost the title of “world’s biggest” to the euro zone this week as the value of the dollar slumped in currency markets.

Taking the gross domestic product of both economies in 2007, the combined GDP of the 15 countries which use the euro overtook that of the United States when the European currency surged to a record high of more than $1.56 per euro.

“The curious outcome of breaching this latest milestone is that the size of the euro zone’s annual output has now exceeded that of the U.S.,” the economics department of Goldman Sachs, the Wall Street investment bank, said in a note to clients.

Of course, the “weak dollar” is not to blame…the weak dollar is just a signal, a symptom of the serious problems facing the U.S. economy: an overactive Federal Reserve, high corporate tax rates, too much litigation, counterproductive capital markets regulations, an overly complicated tax code, runaway borrowing and spending, and failing schools. The good news is that all of these problems are readily fixable, if our political class can transcend the special interests, and our economy is still among the most free and prosperous in the world.

Beignet; April 20, 2008 11:54 PM
Anonymous said...: From itulip

I am MAD as Hell

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dib2-HBsF08; April 21, 2008 12:23 AM
Anonymous said...: FUCKHEAD ANON

STOP WITH THE BULLSHIT POSTINGS

999k home sold for 55k

500k home sold for 13k

go back to disneyland and live your fantasies out there

DICKHEAD !!!!!!!; April 21, 2008 3:16 AM
Anonymous said...: I love HP, the more you guy's convince people to rent the more homes I can buy and fill as a great long term investment. Plus, with reo's, short sales, and foreclosures I am killing it! Keep up the good work! Oh, and Realtor is always capitalized as it is a registered trademark of MY association.; April 21, 2008 4:44 AM
Anonymous said...: Here is some MASSIVE monetary inflation coming down the road.

Though the "spin" could be comical, borrowing from the "houses" declined last week from 30 billion a day to 25 billion a day.
Showing that too much money can repair ANYTHING!!!!

THE WINDOW REMAINS OPEN FOR ALL AMOUNTS, AND ALMOST ALL COMERS.

Like the ice caps melting, I think the predictions of coming price increases are being grossly UNDERESTIMATED by EVERYONE.

Just look at the money creation, and THINK!!!

I wish CNBC would offer me a job!!!!; April 21, 2008 4:48 AM
Anonymous said...: Economic theory is leaping out of the textbook and into real life for people in their teens, 20s and 30s, who are experiencing inflation for the first time.

Julie Catan, 23, was used to her regular pizza special: two large pies delivered to her house for $20. But when she called recently to place an order, the restaurant owner told her she would get only one large pizza and a side salad for that price.

"Why is it so much money?" Catan, a college student in New York visiting her sister in Alexandria, Va., recalled asking. "What happened to the deal?"

The owner blamed it on inflation: Flour costs more, he said. Catan had to think back to remember the meaning of the word.

"I learned about it in social studies class -- I think it happened, like, during the Great Depression," she said recently, as she strolled down an Alexandria, Va., street with her friend Amy Mason, who has noticed prices rising as well.

"It's, like, $3.50 for a bagel, and it used to be $1.50," Mason said.

For two decades, Americans have been spared the pain of fast-rising prices. The Federal Reserve had effectively kept inflation at bay by carefully moderating the pace of lending, mainly by raising and lowering interest rates to speed or slow economic activity, but the patterns have been disrupted by easy credit, financial instability and surging demand for commodities on the global market.

http://www.detnews.com/
apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20080421/BIZ/804210342; April 21, 2008 6:37 AM
Anonymous said...: Bond investors anticipating faster inflation and the end of interest-rate cuts by the Federal Reserve are finding refuge in five-year Treasuries.

The highest yields relative to two-year notes since 2004 make five-year securities attractive at a time when the central bank is running out of room to lower borrowing costs.

Plus, they are less sensitive to changes in inflation expectations than longer-maturity debt, a benefit with oil above $110 a barrel and corn close to a record high.

http://www.bloomberg.com/
apps/news?pid=20601103
&sid=aZ1fZNwq7vcY; April 21, 2008 6:39 AM
Anonymous said...: "I love HP, the more you guy's convince people to rent the more homes I can buy and fill as a great long term investment. Plus, with reo's, short sales, and foreclosures I am killing it! Keep up the good work! Oh, and Realtor is always capitalized as it is a registered trademark of MY association"

Pile on a slumlord, anyone?; April 21, 2008 1:10 PM
Anonymous said...: So you're not posting my comments? What's the deal? A contrarian site that's unwilling to post slightly contrary points of view?; April 21, 2008 4:44 PM
Anonymous said...: "Oh, and Realtor is always capitalized as it is a registered trademark of MY association."

Not using proper case on realtor is my way of showing no respect for YOUR association. Or you.

I've been doing it for over 5 years now.; April 21, 2008 5:22 PM
Anonymous said...: 1)crash the housing market so we can buy a house to live in
2)raise the price of oil so we are forced to conserve
3)drop the value of the dollar so we only afford to buy our own products

its all good...; April 22, 2008 12:20 AM
Anonymous said...: Bwahahahahah!

youtube.com/watch?v=51SxmcaKJIw; April 22, 2008 1:18 AM
Anonymous said...: Predictions, good idea. We should all leave predictions. If we average them out I wonder how close they will be.

(January 2009):
Dow: 9,500
Median House Price: $170,000
Price of Gas: $4.20/gallon
Price of Milk: $4.00/gallon
Fed Rate: 1.00%
Price of Gold: $1200/ounce
30 Year Fixed Mortgage Rate: 6.8%
Bankrupt Companies (name 3):
1. Countrywide(Bank of America) duhhh
2. WaMu
3. The US of A

Euro: $1.70/Euro; April 22, 2008 1:36 AM
Anonymous said...: Piss Off Jack and Larry

Look at the picture of the roof

2102 Nottoway Ave San Jose CA 95116 3 beds, 1.0 baths, 1,066 sq ft

01/24/2008: $4,000 *
01/05/2007: $615,000

http://www.zillow.com/
Charts.htm?chartDuration=
5years&testAds=false&zpid=
19719651

21835 Corte Madera Ln Cupertino CA 95014 4 beds, 3.0 baths, 1,383 sq ft

03/05/2008: $38,000 *
02/15/2007: $1,025,000

http://www.zillow.com/
Charts.htm?chartDuration=
5years&testAds=false&zpid=
19626835

526 Columbia Ave San Jose CA 95126 1 beds, 1.0 baths, 1,120 sq ft

02/08/2008: $13,500 *
02/03/2006: $560,000

http://www.zillow.com/
Charts.htm?chartDuration=
5years&testAds=false&zpid=
19576683; April 22, 2008 2:56 AM
Anonymous said...: Foreclosure bus tour for agents and bargain hunters Some houses are shabby, others move-in ready

The seekers boarded the bus Saturday, questions on their minds and dollar signs in their eyes. Across the landscape of crashed dreams, they were hunting for treasures.
Possibilities abounded in South San Jose, where numerous "for sale" signs dot the lawns. Again and again the bus stopped at select houses where the tenants had left and foreclosure auctions failed, leaving lenders to repossess the homes.

Banks, explained the brokers and real estate agents who organized Saturday's tour of such "real estate owned" properties, or REOs, do not regard these wood and stucco buildings as places to sleep, dream and raise families. They consider them losses on their books - and need to sell them quickly, even if it's for tens of thousands - or more - below the so-called market price.

"You can make steal deals," advised broker Don Crozier, as he stood in front of the bus, microphone in hand, "even though it's already below market."

http://www.mercurynews.com/
ci_8090001; April 22, 2008 4:16 AM
Anonymous said...: Foreclosure bus tour for agents and bargain hunters

Some houses are shabby, others move-in ready

The seekers boarded the bus Saturday, questions on their minds and dollar signs in their eyes. Across the landscape of crashed dreams, they were hunting for treasures.

Possibilities abounded in South San Jose, where numerous "for sale" signs dot the lawns. Again and again the bus stopped at select houses where the tenants had left and foreclosure auctions failed, leaving lenders to repossess the homes.

Banks, explained the brokers and real estate agents who organized Saturday's tour of such "real estate owned" properties, or REOs, do not regard these wood and stucco buildings as places to sleep, dream and raise families.

They consider them losses on their books - and need to sell them quickly, even if it's for tens of thousands - or more - below the so-called market price.

"You can make steal deals," advised broker Don Crozier, as he stood in front of the bus, microphone in hand, "even though it's already below market."

http://www.mercurynews.com/
ci_8090001; April 22, 2008 4:18 AM
Tyrone said...: Peter Schiff on house ownership.

Peter Schiff on RE appreciation 4/16/2008.; April 22, 2008 5:43 AM
Anonymous said...: other trader

if you want a job at cnbc, start in the mailroom there like everyone else, I am sure in a few years they will offer you a real job; April 22, 2008 6:26 AM
Anonymous said...: Now I understand the panic but keep this in mind

The US is not Brazil, or a third world country, and there are coporations here that pay billions in taxes every year, even with the loopholes.

We are over 300 million strong, we have internet, credit cards, industries that did not exist in the 1920's

So I think the US as a whole will do okay, but I am staying in Manhattan, or BH, just in case of a crash as they are insulated from the chaos that may or may not be occuring in the next year.

I say we will have a very close call but at the last minute we will be okay.; April 22, 2008 6:36 AM
Anonymous said...: The Lowdown Report:

All signs are pointing towards a 2008 summer middle east war.

The PPT is working overtime to drive gold into the ground before the big firework show.

The demonization of Iran is in full force throughout western media. Mrs. Clinton's tough talk of using nukes helps prepare U.S. Citizens and the world for the planned use of nukes against IRAN.

The USD is set to collapse and will be allowed to after the false flag event involving Isreal kicks off the aforementioned firework show.

Look for major oil supply disruptions lasting at least the entire 2nd half and causing major shortages and related price spikes north of $450; until the U.S. can shutdown the IOB and re-stablize the greenback.

China continues to dump the USD ahead of the historical milemarker directally ahead.

The stage is set.; April 22, 2008 6:43 AM
Chris said...: Blowfly said...

I have cash in hand to buy !!!!!!!!
Hello dip-shit moron hammering away on your decrepit 2002 desktop computer. You must mistake your dick in your hand with actual Cash. The 1BR shit-hole apartment close to the "NO GO ZONE" will be the home for the rest of your life. And I got other news for your retarded brain.
___________________________________

LOL!

Blowfly how do you know that I have a 2002 desktop computer and that I own a 1 bedroom shithole condo?

That was so accurate you kind of scared me.

You are really good.; April 22, 2008 11:46 AM
Anonymous said...: Food Rationing has started in the US.

http://www2.nysun.com/article/74994

Customers allowed to buy limited amounts of rice in Costco in California flour and oil in MA.

Beignet; April 22, 2008 12:14 PM
Anonymous said...: well, ppl, there is hope : YOU WALK AWAY !!! (from the mortgage).

WWW.YOUWALKAWAY.COM

" Are you stressed out about your mortgage payments? Do you have little or no equity in your home? What if you could live payment-free for up to eight months and walk away without owing a penny?" - COOL

KEEP WALKING !!!; April 22, 2008 3:11 PM
Anonymous said...: Hi Keith,

i saw the video below at thehousingbubbleblog.com and since I know you're a big Ron Paul fan, I thought you'd be interested . . .

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iW5kOB1pmg

Media Caught Lying, Version 2

http://www.google.com/trends; April 22, 2008 4:00 PM
Anonymous said...: The trillion-dollar mortgage time bomb - Risks are rising that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac may need a government bailout that could cost far more than previous rescues, see under
http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/21/news/economy/fannie_freddie/index.htm?postversion=2008042105

If the government bails them out completely, that would mean DOLLAR PANIC (we ain't see nothing yet). If they don't, it would mean HOUSING PANIC. Thank you George W. Bush, Alan Greenspan, and all you homeowner ideologues in congress, a bipartisan group.

-- Among the nightmares lurking around the corner for the already battered housing and credit markets would be a meltdown at mortgage financing giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. (...)
S&P added that saving Fannie (FNM) and Freddie (FRE, Fortune 500) might cost so much that the federal government's AAA credit rating, the top possible rating, might even be at risk. If that was lost, then all federal government borrowing would become more expensive.; April 22, 2008 5:21 PM
Anonymous said...: Holy Sh*t!
Drudge Report says 'unexplained lights hover in sky over Florida and Phoenix!!'
Do you think they want to buy up some foreclosures?; April 22, 2008 5:41 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm still trying to stop the influential Lou Dobbs (CNN) from calling on government to bail out distressed homeowners, lately sending him this well-reasoned analysis by Thomas Sowell. I also sent Diana West, an occasional panelist on his show, an email shout-out for trying to persuade him on air that this is a matter of personal responsibility.

http://tinyurl.com/6y6dfn

"...making economic policies on the basis of human interest stories — which is what politicians increasingly do, especially in election years — has a big downside for those people who do not happen to be in the categories chosen to write human interest stories about.

The general thrust of human interest stories about people with economic problems, whether they are college students or people faced with mortgage foreclosures, is that the government ought to come to their rescue, presumably because the government has so much money and these individuals have so little.

Like most “deep pockets,” however, the government’s deep pockets come from vast numbers of people with much shallower pockets. In many cases, the average taxpayer has lower income than the people on whom the government lavishes its financial favors."; April 22, 2008 5:46 PM
Anonymous said...: For you folks who think renting is such a brilliant idea, read this:

http://tinyurl.com/5owf5f; April 22, 2008 5:58 PM
Anonymous said...: That was so accurate you kind of scared me. You are really good
You sir are not a gentleman and a scholar but an imbecile, hideous, lying trailer trash scumbag. Please vacate your chair in the public library from where you are commenting on this blog. Your asinine postings about your wet housing dreams and huge price drops are not only annoying they are also proof that you are a certifiable idiot, homeless mental retard and possibly indicate that you are an escapee of a mental institution. Started off as a renting dipshit in a 1BR single wide shit-hole; next began torching cockroaches with lighter fluid first for the fun of hearing them go POP, later to eat them; then burned down the f*cking trailer including the little cash you had from your job as busboy. How does it feel to read the hard naked truth about your life story? I don’t give a rats ass about your desktop computer or your shithole condo that exist in your skull, shit for brains delusional waterhead.; April 22, 2008 6:48 PM
Anonymous said...: Yo Keith, here's a headline from the Las Cruces newspaper,

"Local home values beat the street, First-quarter sales prices up over 2007"

Here's the punchline, buried way down deep in the article,

"OK, it's only an increase in value of 0.0054%, but it a positive number nonetheless."

You cannot make this stuff up.

You can imagine what the situation is really like. 60% of the houses for sale were built in the past 3 or 4 years. And there are more houses for sale than they will sell in years and years to come. Everyone jumped into the mini-boom here, bought houses for "investment". Now they are stuck.

The figure I find most interesting is that 60% of the houses for sale now were built in the past 3 or 4 years. We aren't Phoenix but we were infected with the same disease.; April 22, 2008 8:27 PM
Anonymous said...: Thought you'd like this fluff piece on the front on cnbc.com

It's unbelievable.

http://www.cnbc.com/id/24256107; April 22, 2008 9:18 PM
Anonymous said...: It's just that in difficult economic times, aliens (from outerspace) always show up. Think people see lights and stuff all the time, but the collective conscience is so full of fear and pain right now, that these occurances become a way to objectify and project it. But, I did think it was kind of funny that they showed up in the skies over florida and arizona....guess they will check out the foreclosures in california tonite...; April 22, 2008 10:05 PM
Anonymous said...: We should push for legislation to give current renters inexpensive purchase options if the house they occupy is being foreclosed upon.; April 22, 2008 10:14 PM
Anonymous said...: My favorite local pizza place just jacked up prices and put up a notice saying they were just compensating for the recent increases in wheat prices. They included a chart.

Commodities charts are now decorating the walls of pizza joints. Inflation is only 2% though, right Mr. Chairman?

Ironically the place is called 'Liberty' Pizza.; April 22, 2008 11:57 PM
Anonymous said...: Hey Keith,

Just thought I would let everyone know about PATRIOT NEWS HOUR on youtube. It is a radio show that gives pretty good info about all daily events (M-F)

Examples: Gold Manipulations, Food Crisis, Bank Insolvency, Fraud,
Housing, etc.

Its nice to see more outlets becoming available that speak the truth unlike MSM.

ICEMAN; April 23, 2008 2:56 AM
Anonymous said...: David Stienberg said...

Now I understand the panic but keep this in mind

We are over 300 million strong, we have internet, credit cards, industries that did not exist in the 1920's

And how is it that the internet and credit card industries will save us from another 1929 crash? What is it that these industries will be able to do to prevent economic collapse?

JaneZ; April 23, 2008 4:30 AM
Anonymous said...: Suze Orman didn't said it in these exact words but if she could of would she.

In today's market, don't be afraid to insult the seller

Have some fun, if you see a house you want and it's been on the market for some time, you have nothing to lose by going in and bidding 50% lower than the asking price.

Remind the seller that, 50% of something is better than 100% of nothing.

If the seller counter at a higher price, walk away and tell them that their plenty of other homes to choose from.; April 23, 2008 4:47 AM
Anonymous said...: HOMES FOR A $1 EACH

A lawsuit was filed against 36 lenders who were involved in 57 foreclosures that led to properties being abandoned and ultimately demolished by authorities.

$1 million in demolition work and another $1 million in nuisance costs -- from police patrols to boarding up buildings, to the social toll on communities.

"We have found homicide victims in these structures,"

"Dog fighting has taken place in these structures. Drug dealing has been conducted. Last year one of our fire fighters was critically injured, losing one of his legs from the knee down, fighting a fire at a vacant structure,".

"These properties are in a state of legal limbo,"

"Banks walk away. The homeowners are gone, and the property is still there."

The city also launched "Bank Day" in a housing courtroom to consolidate cases against lenders into one afternoon each month.

About 50 cases are pending, mostly against creditors accused of housing code violations -- from trash-strewn lawns to chipped paint and collapsing ceilings.

Some cities are developing land banks to buy and either demolish or repair distressed properties.

"Because of the foreclosure crisis we are seeing this incredible glut of inexpensive distressed houses being sold at pennies on the dollar,"

"The mortgage companies don't want to hold onto them so they are dumping them on the Internet at a rapid rate. People are buying them 15 to a 100 at a time,"

"One of the most significant parts of the land bank is stopping this cycle of abandonment."

http://cnt.today.reuters.com/
stocks/financeArticle.aspx?
type=topNews&storyID=10629+
25-Mar-2008+RTRS; April 23, 2008 5:07 AM
Anonymous said...: Yale University economist Robert Shiller, pioneer of the widely watched Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index, said there's a good chance housing prices will fall further than the 30 percent drop in the historic depression of the 1930s. Home prices nationwide already have dropped 15 percent since their peak in 2006, he said.

"I think there is a scenario that they could be down substantially more," Shiller said during a speech at the New Haven Lawn Club.

Shiller's Standard & Poor's/Case-Shiller home price index is considered a strong measure of home prices because it examines price changes of the same property over time, instead of calculating a median price of homes sold during the month.

Shiller, who admitted he has a reputation for being bearish, said real estate cycles typically take years to correct.

Home prices rose about 85 percent from 1997 to 2006 adjusted for inflation, the biggest national housing boom in U.S. history, Shiller said.

"Basically we're in uncharted territory," Shiller said. "It seems we have developed a speculative culture about housing that never existed on a national basis before."; April 23, 2008 5:14 AM
Anonymous said...: As of 1st Quarter 2008 the number of Notices of Default for all California is 113,676, who wants to call this the peak.

During the mid 1990s housing slump the number of Notices of Default peaked at 44,686 during 1Q 1996

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/
laland/2008/04/
california-fo-1.html

The number of California homes lost to foreclosure in the first quarter surged 327% from year-ago levels -- reaching an average of more than 500 foreclosures per day

-- DataQuick said in a report, warning that the widening foreclosure problem could "spread beyond the current categories of dicey mortgages, and into mainstream home loans."

DataQuick president Marshall Prentice: "The main factor behind this foreclosure surge remains the decline in home values.

Additionally, a lot of the 'loans-gone-wild' activity happened in late 2005 and 2006 and that's working its way through the system.

The big 'if' right now is whether or not the economy is in recession.

If it is, the foreclosure problem could spread beyond the current categories of dicey mortgages, and into mainstream home loans."; April 23, 2008 5:54 AM
Anonymous said...: Anon, I bought one of those airtight Boboli crusts a couple of weeks ago. I wonder if it's gone up?

Pizza crust mania, anyone? The Boboli as currency?; April 23, 2008 12:58 PM
Anonymous said...: http://www.reuters.com/article/
ousiv/idUSN2340419620080423; April 23, 2008 2:06 PM
Anonymous said...: anon 2:56

like I said stop posting the bullshit, all your links show are 2MM ++ homes

get a time machine and go back 30 years you may get your fantasy prices then.; April 23, 2008 2:14 PM
Miss Goldbug said...: NV builder Said:"Are you still renting? I don’t know rental prices in your area but if you’re paying $2,000 per month in rent in ten years you will have thrown away $240,000. That’s almost a quarter of a million dollars that you could have paid toward your own mortgage rather than someone else’s!"

Do you REALLY think so? Who would rent for the next 10 years, when house prices will crash 60% making it possible to purchase a house based on the revived 2x income standard?

You are really barking up the wrong tree here on Housing Panic.; April 23, 2008 3:55 PM
Anonymous said...: All you people are making life for landlords WONDERFUL with all your doom and gloom. Keep up the good work!

Let me explain. Here in Arizona - I know, ground zero - yada yada....The PROPERTY TAX is determined by the ASSESSED value of the home. SO, My homes that are fully rented, with good cash down, and I bought between 1998 and 2003 are going down in value. That is not a problem until I go to sell 10 years from now, when they will have appreciated anyway. The best rub though is that whatever you dolts want to say about RE, one fact remains - people need to live somewhere. SO that being said, the more folks walk away, the lower the taxes get, yet the higher my rents go because of more people having to, or wanting to rent. Also, since MY "risky mortgage" tracks to the treasury bond, my mortgage payment has progressively gone down as well. The best part is, that the extra rent I am charging is going in to stocks (going up) and to pay down the mortgages, so when the economy does improve and the short treasuries rise, my mortgage will stay low because of more principal, and less debt. Then in 10 years, not only will I get my return on my RE investment, my stocks will be up as well. Time my friends is what is on my side, and you HP'ers are just making it easier and quicker than I thought possible. So by all means, keep the doom and gloom coming, cuz it is all good over here in big bad speculator land. And for those people bitching about 4.00 gas coming and $120 barrel oil, quit bitching and buy stock in an oil driller or a solar company. Then when gas raises, you have your own subsidy paying for it. Same with food - until those idiots in Washington quit subsidizing Ethanol, at least enjoy a subsidy from Monsanto, Potash and Mosaic.

Just a little advise from someone who lived through this before (circa 1990 and 1975)and NEVER thinks in the short term....I have never met a rich market timer, but I know MANY VERY WEALTHY long term investors.; April 23, 2008 6:43 PM
Anonymous said...: http://www.cnbc.com/id/24276800

unbelievable. rice hoarding by your local walmart customers? you know, i am not actually surprised.; April 23, 2008 8:04 PM
Anonymous said...: NV builder Said:"Are you still renting? I don’t know rental prices in your area but if you’re paying $2,000 per month in rent in ten years you will have thrown away $240,000. That’s almost a quarter of a million dollars that you could have paid toward your own mortgage rather than someone else’s!"
---------------------------------

read what you just wrote and do the math.

in the first 10 years, on a 30yr amortized loan, you will own ~20% of the house (excluding the amount down). so, to come out even, you only need to wait until prices come down 20%.; April 24, 2008 1:15 AM
Roccman said...: Enjoy the dieoff !!!!!!; April 24, 2008 3:13 AM
Anonymous said...: Help pass the word, Keith ... sign the petition AGAINST the stupid homedebtor and idiotic lender bailout at: http://angryrenter.com/; April 24, 2008 3:41 AM
Anonymous said...: Jack,

Did you look at what Anonymous April 22, 2008 2:56 AM posted?

If you don't know how to use Zillow, then follow these simple instruction.

Type in the address then
click on the link of the house.

This will take you to a new page.

Go down the page to "Chart & Data" then click on the link "See all charts & data"

Then type in the "number" in the box where it say "Please type the numbers you see in the picture.*" that zillow provides.

And the Historical Sale information will be there.; April 24, 2008 3:57 AM
Anonymous said...: Blowfly said...

Hello dip-shit moron hammering away on your decrepit 2002 desktop computer. You must mistake your dick in your hand with actual Cash. The 1BR shit-hole apartment close to the "NO GO ZONE" will be the home for the rest of your life. And I got other news for your retarded brain. Your little cushy IT job is going to disappear this year taken over by an idiot from China working for a buck a day. Time to move backy with mommy dickhead. Priced out of the market, jobless, a useless education, soon to be starving, no place to go? Look in the mirror imbecile!

Don't know about who you are talking to, but my 'cushy' IT job is doing just fine. My company is flush with investment capital and bringing in new revenue and giving out big pay increases and hiring more people in every department right now. Meanwhile outsourcing to Asia is yesterdays news. I suspect you don't know much about the technology field except for what you read in the sensationalist media. Many IT jobs are in the defense sector and cannot be outsourced to non-US citizens, and many private firms are not comfortable with having third-world bottom of the barrel workers handle their sensitive data.

The assets I invest my money in (pretty much everything but real estate) are doing just fine too.

Meanwhile, your hate-filled post suggests things may not be going too rosy for you. You really hate us IT guys huh? Seems rather odd, my experience has been that we're generally nicer and more easy-going people than those in most professions. Serious question: What do you hate about us? You think our jobs are too easy or something? Bitter because you think we make too much money?? There are many high-paying professions out there, many of which do not even require a college degree... do you hate everyone who works for a living, or just everyone with an education??; April 24, 2008 5:05 AM
Anonymous said...: "Don't mistake short for long said...
All you people are making life for landlords WONDERFUL with all your doom and gloom. Keep up the good work! "

Shut up! Idiot!; April 24, 2008 5:34 AM
Anonymous said...: GE To Cut An Additional $1 Billion In Costs

General Electric CEO Jeff Immelt said the U.S. economy is the worst it has been since the burst of the dot-com bubble and that housing hasn't been in such dire straits since the Great Depression.

Less than two weeks after the conglomerate shocked investors with a profit warning and revealed its first-quarter earnings had unexpectedly fallen 6 percent, Immelt said things could get worse for the U.S. economy.

Immelt told shareholders at the company's annual meeting that because of current conditions, GE will increase its planned cost cutting from $2 billion to $3 billion.

"We are in the toughest economy since 2001 and the worst housing crisis since the Depression," Immelt said. "Banks have written off more than $250 billion. ... Days of easy credit have turned into months of no credit at all. While I am confident about the economy long term, we could see even more difficult times ahead."

http://www2.tbo.com/content/
2008/apr/24/bz-ge-to-cut-an-
additional-1-billion-in-costs/
?news-money; April 24, 2008 7:08 AM
Tyrone said...: CarPanic

Missed a car payment? Good luck starting the car
according to USA Today, subprime borrowers buying a car are required to have a little box mounted under the car's dashboard that forces them to make payments on time. A light on the box flashes when payments are due, and if the payment is not made on time, the box starts to beep until a four-digit code is punched in to reset the system. The only way to get this code is by making the payment, and if that payment is not made on time, the car won't start.

Apparently, customers hate them, while lenders love the little boxes because it lowers default rates. Sekurus, the company who sells these boxes, has sold over 250,000 at $250, and its competitors are looking at ways to make these payment enforcement devices more efficient. One company is selling wireless systems that sends text messages to the car, and another one is adding GPS functionality to the device to make it easy for lenders to repossess the car.

I know times are tough for everyone, but is this really necessary? Before you know it, we'll have these little boxes locking us out the house too. It's just crazy.

BWAHAHAHA; April 24, 2008 7:10 AM
Anonymous said...: ulte Homes Inc. said Wednesday its first-quarter loss widened after it took a hefty charge amid a worsening housing market.

The Bloomfield Hills, Mich., home builder says it lost $696.1 million, or $2.75 per share, in the first three months of the year. That compares with a loss of $85.7 million, or 34 cents per share, in the same period last year.

The latest quarter includes pretax charges of $663.6 million to write down the value of inventory and land on its books.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
article.cgi?f=/n/a/2008/04/23/
financial/f150621D33.DTL; April 24, 2008 7:19 AM
Anonymous said...: You gave them old comps from one to two years ago and convince them that they could sell their house at those high price if they list with you, but a month past by and all you get are people who bid 50% less then what you promised you could get them.

Then you tell them time is tough start lowering the asking price.

Now your time is up and they lost your trust, and pulling out the FOR SELL sign.

What do you think they will said to their friends and neighbors about you.

http://www.knva.com/Global/
story.asp?S=8214126&nav=
menu73_2_13_4

Some Homeowners Say 'No Sale' to Cold Market

Twice in the past two years, Matt and Christine Krol have put their Cave Creek, Ariz., house on the market.

And twice, without any serious bids, they have removed the "For Sale" sign and rented out the house with its new granite countertops and inviting swimming pool.

"We never wanted to be landlords," says Ms. Krol from Puerto Rico, where she has moved. "We would still sell it if it went along with the lease and tenants, and the market improved."

Across the country, sellers discouraged by the prices offered for their homes, or tired of watching people traipse through their bedrooms, are yanking their homes off the market.

While it's difficult to say how many houses this might be, housing experts believe the numbers are substantial.

The implications of this "shadow inventory" are widespread: the housing market may be slow to come back, affecting everything from when Americans retire to whether they can afford to move to find a new job.; April 24, 2008 7:34 AM
Anonymous said...: never_forget_y2k said... The assets I invest my money in
Do you think I really give a flying rats ass where you invest your non-existing money in? Maybe you wanted to say that “THE ASSES I INVEST MY MONEY IN”, was it a typo? Why in the world would I want to listen to what an imbecilic, asinine, retarded IT code monkey has to say? The best you can do is pick your nose and play with your boogers. I’ve never met anyone that works in MIS (Mad Idiotic Slave) that has a smidgeon of what one might call a personality or character. Usually these folks live in 1BR rental shitholes, wear clothes from the thrift shop and have a displeasing smell about them. So don’t talk to me brain-dead moron, I’m a successful entrepreneur and international star. You’re just a monkey banging on the keyboard. Once in a while you get lucky and something that makes sense may come out of it but not today jackass!; April 24, 2008 3:24 PM
Anonymous said...: Blowfly farted:
"Do you think I really give a flying rats ass where you invest your non-existing money in? Maybe you wanted to say that “THE ASSES I INVEST MY MONEY IN”, was it a typo? Why in the world would I want to listen to what an imbecilic, asinine, retarded IT code monkey has to say? The best you can do is pick your nose and play with your boogers. I’ve never met anyone that works in MIS (Mad Idiotic Slave) that has a smidgeon of what one might call a personality or character. Usually these folks live in 1BR rental shitholes, wear clothes from the thrift shop and have a displeasing smell about them. So don’t talk to me brain-dead moron, I’m a successful entrepreneur and international star. You’re just a monkey banging on the keyboard. Once in a while you get lucky and something that makes sense may come out of it but not today jackass!"

My, my... Look who's throwing a temper tantrum.

Blowfly, please stop posting here and get back to frying burgers. The adults in this forum have serious topics to discuss.; April 24, 2008 5:36 PM
Anonymous said...: never_forget_y2k:

"You really hate us IT guys huh? Seems rather odd, my experience has been that we're generally nicer and more easy-going people than those in most professions."

Have you actually worked in other professions? IT folks think they're something special. For instance: napping, playing games, etc. at work. When you ask an IT guy about it, they like to tell you developers are different. They do "deep technical dives", scribble all over marker boards exploring ideas, are wiped out by the end of the day, blah, blah.

No different from any other job that requires thinking. What's funny is that these kids think they deserve a nap and the carte blanche to throw mini-footballs around at work because they showed up for work. In sandals, at 11am.

I'd hate to see them try to engineer and design a 100-foot long automated product assembly conveyor system like I did at my first job. They'd demand a month-long paid leave of absence every other month, to "decompress".

Maybe at the internal/external support level people are nicer, because that's their job. Get some architects and senior developers in a room and the egos compete with any other industry I've worked in.; April 24, 2008 8:00 PM
Refuse to buy overpriced said...: The love of money can really warp a human being.

Want proof? Read "Blowfly"; April 25, 2008 12:20 AM
Anonymous said...: Ever wonder why the stock market keeps going up in the midst of all this deluge of bad news?

Here's why: The wealthiest 1% of Americans own 50% of all stocks. 60% of Americans don't count coz they only control 2.5% of the country's wealth... mere smithereens and leftovers!

The super rich look around to see where else they can bury that money, but all they see is huge sink holes. Their only hope left is in the stock market.

That's why they cling to the slightest ray of hope. From their perspective, bad news becomes good news and a good enough reason to buy, just because the news is faintly better than expected.

That's Einstein's Relativity at play in Wall Street, and it's likely going to keep driving the market up until the day all indexes and reports come out worse than anticipated...THEN THE BIG BANG OF THE CRASH WILL BE HEARD FROM NY TO LONDON TO PARIS TO TOKYO...; April 25, 2008 12:25 AM
Anonymous said...: "You really hate us IT guys huh? Seems rather odd, my experience has been that we're generally nicer and more easy-going people than those in most professions."

HA HA HA funniest things I've read today. IT workers are by far the most obnoxious people on earth. The higher up the chain you go the more true that is.

I minored in CS as at the time that was all the rage. I couldn't stand the "IT guys" then and can't stand them now.

The favorite part of my job is when I have to deal with some self-annointed expert. He( and it's alsmot always a he) assumes he can talk bullshit around me and I won't know. When I point blank call out his crap, the look on his face is priceless. 90% of the time I know more than what these goobers know and even after constantly being proven wrong, they still won't admit to it.

Nice people my ass.

The exceptions to this rule are IT consultants. They have people skills and can think critically, not just sit at a desk and code 8 hours a day. Sure they cost an arm and a leg. I'd rather pay $200 an hour for one of them than $200 for 5 in house FTEs who will surf the web for 1/2 the day and complain the other 1/2.; April 25, 2008 12:46 AM
Owner Earnings said...: "History doesn't repeat itself, but it rhymes." Mark Twain

"If past history was all there was to the game, the richest people would be librarians." Warren Buffett

With that said:

S&P 500 Close April 4th 2001: 1,103
S&P 500 Close May 21st 2001: 1,312
S&P 500 Close September 5th, 2001: 1,131

Patience short sellers, patience.; April 25, 2008 1:45 AM
STOP ROSEVILLE CRIME said...: I have to remind people about the other scams going on with this subprime mess. Jthink of the possibilities. People were taking their equity down to nothing, and probably overdrawing, then going out on expensive dinners, vacations, cruises, buying SUVs, boats, jet skies etc. Do you think any of that went back to the bank? I'm sure there were repos on the stuff the banks could track down and find but you can't repo a vacation, a cruise or phat dinner in the city. What about others who blew it on crazy stuff, or went and bought stocks and bonds?? What about having cash somewhere in a bank account? There's no rule or law that you actually have to pay it back to anyone. There's no debtors prisons. Many people just left their homes and walked away, or mailed their keys to the bank and said I'm not paying anymore. One of my friend's neighbors saw that the building next door was renting her same condo for cheaper than her mortgage so just rented that place and moved out of the other, no one was notified. Now there is an eviction notice on the door but she already left! And thanks to the govt, we're paying for it. Normally, if you left a debt unpaid and it was forgiven, you would be obligated to pay the taxes on the balance (1099), but NO, Bush signed a bill that forgave that tax liability. That's wrong.

BTW, if most of you knew or heard about Chris Thornburg, you would have voted from him instead. He's awesome and very well informed.; April 25, 2008 6:00 AM
Anonymous said...: "Here's why: The wealthiest 1% of Americans own 50% of all stocks. 60% of Americans don't count coz they only control 2.5% of the country's wealth... mere smithereens and leftovers!"

Got any sources for this? And the source cannot include any website that contains "ailylkos" in it.

If the top 1% did indeed own 50% of stocks, why would the market ever go down? You hypothesize that because 1% own 50% then, someohow, they control the price and the price never falls.

Guess the 1% went on vacation 2001-2002.

Iidot.; April 25, 2008 11:49 AM
Anonymous said...: I'd hate to see them try to engineer and design a 100-foot long automated product assembly conveyor system like I did at my first job. They'd demand a month-long paid leave of absence every other month, to "decompress".

I'm not an IT person, but I get tired of the IT worker bashing that goes on.

I'll guarantee you two things:

1) You weren't on any sort of overtime after the system was implemented -- those guys coming in at 11AM often stay until 4 or 5 AM the next morning to make sure things are up and running;

2) You have never had "the beeper" -- where you get a text message from an automated system and are on-call 24/7, including during your own vacation or honeymoon. When the beeper goes off, you drop everything and go to the office -- even at 3AM -- to fix whatever has gone wrong.

I'm tired of all the opinionated assholes who haven't walked a mile in someone else's shoes, who is willing to blast them for how they have it easy. You guys don't know shit from shinola, and I bet that if you were on call 24/7 with a "be in the office in 30 minutes" requirement, you'd need a month to "decompress" as well.; April 25, 2008 12:50 PM
Miss Goldbug said...: Here's an article from the SF Chronical about a San Leandro House that had no offers at $499,950 - then dropped the price to $229,950...who says prices won't go down 40%???!

When I find the exact location of this house, I'll post it here with the Zillow address for proof that smart sellers are reducing prices a lot more to sell their house than the measely 10k reductions we have seen on the majority of homes currently listed on the market.

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/17/BU0G107BR5.DTL; April 25, 2008 2:57 PM
Anonymous said...: I'm tired of all the opinionated assholes who haven't walked a mile
Yes shit for brains, I haven’t walked a mile because I run 4 every day. Your fat obese ass could not walk a mile if dragged on a f*cking forklift. I’m sick and tired of hearing all that crapola from these retarded IT monkeys. They are worthless low life trailer trash scum, pieces of dog shit, mind masturbating and reading SQL while taking a dump on the can. So don’t tell me about the f*cking “beeper” moron. Please return to your rat infested 1BR shithole rental or is it a single wide trailer? Asinine imbeciles go f*ck yourself!!!; April 25, 2008 3:48 PM
Anonymous said...: "1) You weren't on any sort of overtime after the system was implemented -- those guys coming in at 11AM often stay until 4 or 5 AM the next morning to make sure things are up and running;"

This happens once or twice a year when a new system or new release is deployed. And that time is usually made up by extra vacation days. I know I've been there myself when I was a developer. I'd work insane hours leading up go live and then take a week off to make up for the extra time. Not a bad deal really. I'd rather work a couple of 80 hour weeks and take 2 weeks off in exchange wouldn't you?

2) You have never had "the beeper" -- where you get a text message from an automated system and are on-call 24/7, including during your own vacation or honeymoon. When the beeper goes off, you drop everything and go to the office -- even at 3AM -- to fix whatever has gone wrong.

And you get paid for that on-call time. 99% of the time someone is on call nothing happens and yet they get paid. Again I know since I spent a couple of years in a position where I was on call. I got paid for being on call. And yeah I had to take the beeper with me everywhere I went but I'd get a call once or twice a month during off hours. And even then it was usually something minor that I could fix remotely. It was the easiest money I ever made. I volunteered to be on call because it was literally money for nothing.

And nobody but a complete idiot would agree to be on-call while on their vacation or honeymoon. It's not like there aren't other people who can cover for you for a week or two.

I no longer work in IT directly but I work with IT often. The one trait that is common among IT workers is the ability to complain and whine. No other profession - save maybe teachers - does it as well.; April 25, 2008 4:29 PM
Anonymous said...: anon April 25, 2008 12:50 PM:
"I'm not an IT person, but I get tired of the IT worker bashing that goes on.

I'll guarantee you two things:"

Let's go! I work in IT currently.
#1 - Right. I frequently work into the AM hours, and am always on time, at the office at 6AM.
#2 - I don't need the beeper. I run my own systems and are accountable for them. I remote until they hang, then I get driving.

I have walked 10 miles in both pairs of shoes I referred to. I don't talk out of my ass.

I have worked 9 years in IT with nothing more than a week off. The first year I had an uninterrupted vacation was just last year. No decompression needed - I'm not a pussy.

Do you have anything else you need to be corrected on?; April 25, 2008 5:00 PM
Anonymous said...: blowfly, if you think dragging your ass through four miles is something to brag about you must be pretty out of shape. I run nearly every day and consider 4 miles about the same as a day off. Go crank out a sub three hour marathon and get back to me.

I don't really have time to address the rest of you haters, but its unfortunate that your dissatisfaction with your own lives causes you to lash out at other people and judge them based on their occupation. I doubt this quality makes your personality or character very appealing either.; April 25, 2008 7:10 PM
Anonymous said...: This is the "Mad Magazine" of bubble blogs. I come here for comic relief.

Did you read the news, they are bulldozing homes in Youngstown Ohio?

http://money.cnn.com/2008/04/15/real_estate/Youngstown_plan_roadblock/?postversion=2008042418

God-forbid people should live in those empty homes, better they die in the streets, than to affect the property values.

The peasants are revolting!; April 25, 2008 7:31 PM
Anonymous said...: Sam's Club Rations Imported Rice

In the past few weeks, we've been hearing reports of rice troubles from abroad, set off by spikes in prices and concerns about shortages: India and Vietnam have put up export bans on rice; farmers in Asian countries are hoarding stocks; and the Philippine government is cracking down on everyone from distributors to fast food chains, hoping to avoid a nationwide panic.

But we're not feeling any of the fallout here in the United States, right? Think again. Citing "recent supply and demand trends," warehouse-retail giant Sam's Club announced today that it is restricting the number of 20-pound bags of imported rice customers can buy—to four bags at a time. The move follows similar actions by Costco Wholesale Corp., which imposed restrictions on purchases of rice at certain stores earlier this week.

Sam's Club is not restricting purchases of retail-size rice, however. Nor is Wal-Mart, Sam's Club's corporate owner, planning to impose any limits of its own.

http://www.usnews.com/blogs/
news-desk/2008/4/24/
sams-club-rations-imported
-rice.html; April 26, 2008 2:35 AM
Anonymous said...: Supply worries drive up Valley rice prices

The price of rice in the Valley has risen dramatically after speculation and supply problems on the global market have set the grain's value at record-breaking highs.

Valley shoppers who depend on rice as a staple are staggering from the rapid price spikes over the last months and some are even hoarding bags of rice as fears of a shortage rise. One store sold 300 large 20-pound bags of rice in just 30 minutes.

"Just recently I spent $30 to buy Jasmine rice, and that was a lot for me," said Vicki Donahue, a Chandler resident. "If prices keep rising, this is really going to hit the Asian community hard."

Relentless demand from developing countries and poor crop yields have pushed rice prices up, raising concerns of severe shortages of the staple food consumed by almost half the world's population. To protect their own citizens, major rice-producing countries such as China, Vietnam and India are exporting less rice, which had an effect similar to OPEC cutting back oil production. All those factors combined have caused prices to rise 70 percent this year alone.

"I know I can still afford to buy rice, but I know there are a lot of people who won't be able to very soon," said Patty Chan of Mesa.

Other Valley shoppers also said they would have to deal with high prices, though it could mean pinching pennies in other areas.

"Being Hispanic, rice has always been a staple of my diet, so I think I would still pay for it no matter what," said Tempe resident Angie Owens. "I might have to lower the quality that I buy, but I wouldn't stop eating it."

http://www.azcentral.com/business/
articles/2008/04/24/
20080424abrk-rice0424-ON.html; April 26, 2008 2:39 AM
Anonymous said...: The rice price increase is a result of a domino effect

Drought in Australia led to a severe decline in rice production that in turn led the world's largest rice exporters to restrict exports. That spurred higher rice prices and hoarding in Asian countries

Now in the United States, rice prices have skyrocketed.

Son Tran owns Le Cheval Vietnamese Restaurant in Oakland.

He said he's seen the price of rice go from $20 to $40 in a matter of weeks.

And Le Cheval's stockpiles are dwindling.

Add to that, the price of vegetables has gone up 50 percent, and some of Tran's regular customers aren't so regular anymore.

The empty tables are a new and troubling trend.

http://www.nbc11.com/
newsarchive/15953044/detail.html; April 26, 2008 2:46 AM
Anonymous said...: One child is now dying every five seconds from hunger-related causes, the U.N. says.

This week, Jossette Sheeran, executive director of the United Nations World Food Program, warned that 100 million people are being driven into poverty by a "silent tsunami" of world food prices that has sparked worldwide riots and caused untold deaths from hunger.

Triple-digit increases

The average cost of exported rice has shot up 300 percent in a year.

Every variety has seen enormous price increases - from Uncle Ben's long-grain rice to medium-grain rice like Calrose, the main variety grown in California's Central Valley.

But because the Bay Area has so many Southeast Asians, Indians, Chinese and Filipinos, it's the imported jasmine and basmati that are in the greatest demand.

http://origin.mercurynews.com/
news/ci_9036860; April 26, 2008 2:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Thailand, the world's biggest exporter, may even reduce sales after domestic rice prices surged sharply this year,'' said Hiroyuki Kikukawa, an analyst at IDO Securities in Tokyo.

Indonesia, the world's third-largest rice producer, will hold back surplus rice from export this year to bolster domestic stockpiles, President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said April 18.

China, Egypt, India and Vietnam have also cut rice exports.

The staple for half the world, which has more than doubled in a year, gained as much as 2.3 percent to $24.615 per 100 pounds on the Chicago Board of Trade.

The contract, trading at $24.215 at midday in London, touched a high of $24.67 April 18.

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/
news?pid=20601086&sid=
aopUI89_acWY&refer=news; April 26, 2008 2:57 AM
Anonymous said...: Are you really getting a rebate.

Think about It.

Where did the Federal Government get that money to give you that rebate.

Did they cut spending or raise new taxes, if the answer is no then where did the funds come from.

If they increased the federal deficit in order to give you the rebate, then don't that weaken the US Dollar.

Isn't the US Dollar the reserve currency of the World.

Aren't 70% of all commodities tied to the reserve currency of the World.

If the US Dollar weaken then don't that just increase the price basic goods like food and gas.

So if they gave you $600 and the price of basic good increased by the same amount what did you gain.

Net is still zero.

But once inflationary expectation sets in and the price of basic good stays high, will you get another rebate check next month to off set those cost.; April 26, 2008 3:10 AM
Anonymous said...: House price only goes up so the saying goes.

Were Hispanic and Asian home buyers speculators or innocent families being taken advantage of by the people who told them that house price only goes up.

Was there any follow up report on how many of these Hispanic and Asian home owners who taken the bait are taking a hit from higher interest rate from resetting ARM loan.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/
nation/2006-05-10-hispanic-
homeowners_x.htm

A DataQuick Information Systems analysis of deeds and county assessment data shows a dramatic rise in the number of Hispanic and Asian home buyers since 2000.

Hispanic surnames made up 14.6% of all home buyers' names, up from 10.3% five years earlier. "The Latino population is really integrating into the middle class — and rapidly," says John Karevoll, analyst at DataQuick, a San Diego real estate information company that scoured public records in 37 states that accounted for 91% of the USA's real estate activity.

Asians also are bigger players. Nguyen, a common Vietnamese name, moved from 23rd to 14th.; April 26, 2008 3:31 AM
Anonymous said...: Great article on the economics of the value of a house, clearly explained

http://tinyurl.com/6nhmok

Wonder if the punters will understand or will they think they are "giving it away" at those prices?; April 26, 2008 3:53 AM
Anonymous said...: Rice prices in Thailand, the world's top exporter, have surged to $US1,000 a tonne, feeding concerns about food security as far as the United States after export curbs by governments worldwide.

The surging price of food and fuel has sparked riots in Africa and Haiti and raised fears that millions of the world's poor will struggle to feed themselves.

After this week's over five per cent jump, rice prices stand nearly three times higher than the start of the year.

With no sign of the rally relenting, as traders expect more buyers to come into the market, government anxiety about social unrest from the soaring cost of Asia's staple will deepen.

Thailand's top exporters say the world is now set for an era of expensive food.

http://bowral.yourguide.com.au/
articles/1230823.html?src=
topstories; April 26, 2008 4:46 AM
Mitesh Damania said...: Don't be so uptight. Here's some humor to cheer you up: http://youtube.com/watch?v=JHEjRT1FJ70; April 26, 2008 5:05 AM
Anonymous said...: Did the Greater depression started on October or November of '07?; April 26, 2008 9:59 AM
Anonymous said...: Nice link, Rob.
Mugambo Guru explains why we are doomed.

HPers might want to scroll down to the entry "Trillions to go and no buyers".

Link:
http://tinyurl.com/5vy9mc; April 26, 2008 12:30 PM
Anonymous said...: Be careful about how much rice you hoard.

A lot of rice is contaminated with moth larve and rat turds.Extra protein.; April 26, 2008 1:19 PM
Anonymous said...: A large California land partnership involving one of the largest U.S. pension funds has received a notice of default on a $1 billion loan after failing to meet certain terms of its lenders.

LandSource Communities Development LLC, a partnership that involves the California Public Employees' Retirement System, received the default notice Tuesday, amid talks to restructure $1.24 billion of debt.

The partnership, which owns 15,000 acres in Southern California, had received an extension to meet its current loan terms, including a required payment, but the deadline expired on April 16.

The default notice applies to about $1 billlion of the total debt.

Partnerships such as LandSource were a common way to own and develop land during the housing boom.

They provided high returns to investors and lenders and a way for builders to keep highly leveraged land off their books.

But the ventures have run into trouble as the value of undeveloped land has plummeted and as demand for new homes has eroded.

MW Housing Partners, which includes Calpers, took a 68% financial stake in LandSource in early 2007 amid the slowing housing market.

Cerberus Capital Management's LNR Property Corp. unit has a 16% stake, and home builder Lennar Corp. has a 16% stake.

Lennar and LNR operate the management of LandSource. None of these equity partners is liable for the debt if LandSource defaults.

Calpers and Cerberus representatives declined to comment.

http://online.wsj.com/article/
SB120916479361446151.html?
mod=hpp_us_whats_news; April 26, 2008 7:54 PM
Anonymous said...: Fueling the pain. Four-dollar gas is here.

Motorists, station owners feel squeezed as gas prices top the $4 mark for the first time in the Valley.

The owner of the station, Rajdeep Singh, said he is just as frustrated as his customers.

"We're barely surviving," he said. "If I sell anything less than this, I'd be putting money out of my pocket."

Singh said the cost of the gas he buys from Chevron is so expensive, he's making the same profit he did when gas was 99 cents: about 4 or 5 cents a gallon.

Crude oil was responsible for much of the recent run-up.

The cost flirted with $120 a barrel Friday, after several world events, including warning shots fired at two boats in the Persian Gulf, a pipeline attack by a Nigerian militant group and a looming strike at a Scottish refinery.

Retailers, many of whom are not making money on gasoline right now, probably will resist passing the $4 mark as long as they can, Lenard said. He said shoppers are likely to switch stations if it's a penny cheaper, and "$4.01 is going to feel a whole lot more expensive than $3.99," he said.

Many stations in the Valley are holding prices at that $3.99 mark.

But Cain, the wholesaler and economics professor, said, "pretty much everybody is going to be forced to bite the bullet."

http://www.fresnobee.com/
263/story/554885.html#morephotos; April 26, 2008 8:07 PM
Anonymous said...: Look at the number of empty chairs at that Auctions.

http://media.sacbee.com/smedia/
2008/04/22/19/32-3B23AUCTION.
embedded.prod_affiliate.4.JPG

The homes belong to the banks now, and the lenders appear eager to make deals. "The banks are extremely realistic. They're extremely motivated" to sell, said Keith McLane., a division president at Real Estate Disposition Corp., the Irvine-based company running the show.

The banks can decline deals that don't meet their reserve price, McLane said, but it's rare that they don't get what they want – even though bidding can and does start below that reserve.

REDC would sell 165 homes on this day, many far below their original value. The company will sell more than 1,000 properties on its nine-day tour of Northern and Central California before it pulls up stakes May 5.

The market's in tough shape, Chris Chamberlain, REDC's executive vice president, said from a seat in the documentation room – a large tent at the rear of the hall where the deals are finalized.

The Sacramento area has taken more punishment than most. Only Southern California's Inland Empire and the San Diego area have had a worse time of it, Chamberlain said.

Most of the homes up for bid were in places like Lodi and Dixon, small towns where the mid-decade building boom took flight only to crash-land when the housing market nose-dived.; April 26, 2008 8:22 PM
Anonymous said...: What online home estimating sites do you like the most and why?

A) www.eppraisal.com

B) www.cyberhomes.com

C) www.zillow.com; April 26, 2008 9:08 PM
Anonymous said...: a.creampuff said...
-----------

Good God, buddy, don't get folks reading the Asia Times. It's the only truth out there.

You do realize you are mostly talking to Americans, don't you?

If they knew who Pepe Escobar was they would send him to Gitmo. Rush himself would insert the first Tabasco coated butt plug.

You Cannot Tell the Truth in the USA.

Look for Crown Victorias in your neighborhood. You're next, Kumar.

;); April 26, 2008 11:59 PM
Anonymous said...: Christopher Thornberg, a principal with Beacon Economics, says government intervention is not the answer.

"The problem has always been that people borrowed more money than they could afford to repay," he says.

In 2001, a buyer with a median income who purchased a median-priced home in Los Angeles County with a standard 30-year fixed-rate mortgage would have been spending 28 percent of gross income on loan payments, insurance and taxes.

By the end of 2006, a median-income buyer who purchased a median-priced home would have been spending 60 to 65 percent of gross income on housing, even though interest rates were lower in 2006 than in 2001.

Prices almost tripled in that time, he says, adding that the housing crisis won't end until prices come down enough to attract buyers.

"In all this discussion about all these poor people losing their homes, they never talk about people who didn't buy homes in this chaos. They said this is stupid, I'm not going to buy a house that is wildly overpriced. I'm going to wait until prices come down. The government ignores the prudent ones."

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
article.cgi?f=/c/a/2008/04/26/
BU7P10BUDM.DTL; April 27, 2008 6:39 AM
Anonymous said...: Remember around November 26, 2007 when the median price of a home was around $800,000 in Santa Clara.

How do people afford to stay in the 28 percent of gross income on loan payments, insurance and taxes

Let say interest rate was at 5.87% if combined gross income were $155,000 then the couple would need a $325,000 down payment on the $800,000 home.

However as of April 7 with the median price of resale home down to $688,000 in Santa Clara the same couple with a gross income of $155,000 only need $192,000 down payment to stay at 28 percent of gross income on loan payments, insurance and taxes

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/
article.cgi?file=/g/a/2008/04/
21/moneytales.DTL

A plumber I talked to on Market Street said he had no hang-ups about sharing his salary with me ($80,000) but preferred that I use only his first name. His name is Brian.

A journalist friend of mine who said his salary was about $75,000 last year observed that no one at his workplace talks about their pay. "It's astonishing that employees don't discuss what they make," he said. "The boss has that data set when negotiating with an employee, which puts the employee at a huge disadvantage."

I then enter my income for 2007, which — here comes the money shot — was about $35,529. I say "about" because my wife and I filed an extension this year, so I did a hasty calculation before tax day (and in preparation for this column); the figure is subject to revision by our tax guy, but it should be pretty close. My wife (also a freelance writer) guesses her adjusted gross income for 2007 will be about $70,000.

While we're in the spirit of disclosure, let me give you some more official figures, from 2005 and 2006. Our joint "adjusted gross income" was $112,493 and $85,947, respectively; in '05 I made about two-thirds of that total; in '06 my wife made about two-thirds of the total.; April 27, 2008 9:28 AM
Anonymous said...: The foreclosure 'discount': 45% in Glassell Park

I just finished putting together another collection of foreclosure listings for latimes.com, and it includes the house pictured at right. This one really tells a story. Details:

2117 W. Avenue 33, Los Angeles 90065. Built in 1922, three bedrooms, one bath, 978 square feet on a 2,500-square foot lot.

Prior peak sales price: Sold for $510,000 in February 2007.

Current listing price: $279,900.

Discount from peak sales price: 45.1%.

Agent's description: "Bank owned ... House sits high above street level ... Nice quiet Glassell Park street. Raised foundation, hardwood floors."

The Zillow "Zestimate" on this house is $420,000. It's going to sell for a lot less than that. I don't mention that as a knock on Zillow -- I happen to believe their estimates are about as good as computer-driven estimates can get. I mention it to demonstrate that prices are falling so rapidly in this neighborhood that there is no way for Zillow's computers to keep up.

The information that this house is worth somewhere around $280,000 is still unknown to Zillow's computers.

It is still unknown to DataQuick. It is a shoe waiting to drop on this street, where people -- making the same calculations Zillow's computer makes -- might still believe their homes are still worth in the low $400s, or the high $300s.

This is a meltdown happening before our eyes.

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/
laland/commentary/index.html; April 27, 2008 10:23 AM
Anonymous said...: Take action-- sign the Angry Renter petition; April 27, 2008 12:31 PM
Miss Goldbug said...: Sorry this post is so long...

Who said houses in NICE, older, established neighborhoods don't go forclosure?

Check out this address on Zillow - 595 Pala, 94577. Notice this house recently sold for $463,000. Now see the dollar sign in 2005 is at $780k? Zillow wont post this last sale price of $780... you have to really look for it...

Now, check out the house next door - on 719 Bancroft. This house sold at the same time for $430k, however, it too previously sold for $719, but again Zillow, wont show the past selling price, but amount shows as a $ instead.

How sneaky is that???

Check out the house for sale across the street -1095 Bancroft. It sold for around the same price just a few short years ago. Now, this guy is panicing and has his house up for sale with basically no gain, and will be in the hole because he will have to BRING money to closing to pay for agent commission and closing costs. Its sad, but this homeowner is going to lose his house.

It has to be obvious now that prices are falling by 40% here in the bay area. They will fall 40% before the bottom is reached.

I just wanted to say also, is this is one of the nicest neighborhoods in San Leandro called Estudillo Estates. I grew up in San Leandro and I always loved this area because all the homes are character homes of Spanish and tudor styles built in the early 1930's. Anyone would love to live in this area. These homes were re-selling like crazy over the last 5 years.

And, these two homes were forclosures, and both recently sold for 40% less than the last sale. This zillow address is proof that prices are falling, and falling hard.

Here is the proof that things will get much worse before they get better and the posters that say prices wont fall much are smoking crack.; April 27, 2008 4:27 PM
Tyrone said...: This was somewhat interesting. While at Zillow there was an ad (I think it was an ad) that said:
"Beware of mortgage lenders that are THUGS. Find company that cares." And it had a picture of Mozilo.
I clicked and it took me to a blog...
The Foreclosure War Room Is Now Open.; April 27, 2008 4:46 PM
Anonymous said...: In Depth: America's Worst-Selling Housing Markets

1. Miami, Fla.
2. Orlando, Fla.
3. Phoenix, Ariz.
4. Tampa, Fla.
5. Los Angeles, Calif.
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Chicago, Ill.
8. Baltimore, Md.
9. San Diego, Calif.
10. Denver, Colo.

http://www.forbes.com/2008/04/15/
homes-sales-worst-forbeslife-
cx_mw_0415realestate_slide_4.html?
thisSpeed=15000; April 27, 2008 8:32 PM
Anonymous said...: Hmm. I read the 'The Foreclosure War Room Is Now Open' Blog.

I feel for these people... but it seems they are just really angry with CountryWide for insisting that they honor their contact and pay what said they would.

Does CountryWide 'owe' them a reduced principal or interest rate? Is this is issue for the goverment or Rep Dodd?
Does this make CountryWide evil?

The 'hardship' that they mention putting them into this bind is that their mortgage rate increased.; April 27, 2008 8:39 PM
Anonymous said...: Quote of the day from two home builders interviewed by the WaPo:

Brokerage Barons See Washington Making a Slow Recovery

What do you think of bloggers who seem to root for an even bigger bust?

McEnearney: I'm not seeing that.

Foster: Good Lord. I'm not either. I'm hoping it's just a fringe bunch of nuts. Because, you know, I think that would be awful for the whole economy.; April 27, 2008 8:43 PM
Anonymous said...: Wow what a scam, go buy two or three home rented them out and foreclosure on them and still collect rent payment.

http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2008/
apr/26/30gtforeclosures-have-
rental-fraud-caseson-the/

James Perham had called his rented Peninsula Lane house home for eight months when a bank representative showed up on his doorstep two weeks ago and told him he was trespassing.

For eight months, the 35-year-old construction worker had paid $1,550 cash rent.

But Perham didn't know the man he was paying had allowed the house to go into foreclosure in April 2007 — before getting a renter. Perham's landlord didn't own the house.

The bank did.

As the housing crisis worsens, real estate experts and law enforcement officers expect more people to find themselves in Perham's position.

"Florida is No. 1 in the country for mortgage and real estate fraud, and we're only scratching the tip of the iceberg for the number of lawsuits and people that are going to be indicted," said Jack McCabe, chief executive officer of McCabe Research and Consulting, a real estate consulting firm in Deerfield Beach.

Perham said he will not pursue fraud charges against his former landlord.

"He doesn't have nothing," Perham said.; April 27, 2008 8:49 PM
Anonymous said...: It makes better sense to go on strike when gasoline price are at an all time high then when gasoline price is at a all time low.

http://www.virginmedia.com/money
/news/money-story.php?storyid=
24036277

Oil refinery workers on strike

Up to 1,200 workers have begun 48-hour strike action at a giant oil refinery in Scotland.

The Unite union members at the Grangemouth plant have walked off the job in protest over plans to end a final salary pension scheme for newcomers and other pension changes.

Around 65,000 tonnes of fuel will be shipped in from Europe to keep Scotland moving through the dispute.

The additional imports represent nearly ten days of normal supply, the Scottish Government said.

Operators Ineos have already shut down the plant - Scotland's main fuel supplier - in preparation for the strike.

Oil giant BP has turned off its Forties Pipeline, which delivers almost a third of the UK's daily oil output.

The pipeline brings in 700,000 barrels of oil a day from the North Sea to BP's Kinneil plant, which is powered from the Grangemouth site.; April 27, 2008 8:55 PM
Anonymous said...: MOTHER OF ALLEGED DRUG DEALER SENTENCED TO 2 YEARS IN MORTGAGE FRAUD SCHEME

Baltimore, Maryland - U.S. District Judge J. Frederick Motz sentenced Yolanda Crawley, age 59, of West Palm Beach, Florida today to two years in prison followed by five years of supervised release for wire fraud arising from a mortgage fraud scheme, announced United States Attorney for the District of Maryland Rod J. Rosenstein. Judge Motz also ordered Crawley to pay restitution of $200,000.

According to her guilty plea, from January 2005, continuing until December 2006, Crawley worked with David Lincoln, Rachel Donegan, and her son, Shawn Green to submit mortgage applications containing false representations about her income and employment, allowing her to secure loans for property at 10740 Versailles Boulevard, Wellington, Florida (valued at approximately $1,025,000); and 477 Pacific Grove Drive, Unit Three, West Palm Beach, Florida (valued at approximately $500,000).

Shawn Green, age 41, of Columbia, Maryland, is charged in a separate indictment with conspiracy to distribute cocaine from 1998 to 2007 and conspiracy to commit money laundering from 2004 to 2007. The indictment seeks forfeiture of $4 million, which is based on a minimum of 200 kilograms of cocaine at $20,000 per kilogram, and includes the properties in Baltimore and Florida involved in the fraud scheme.

http://www.tradingmarkets.com/
.site/news/Stock%20News/1443485/; April 27, 2008 9:00 PM
Anonymous said...: U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sentenced Richard Weldon Chowder II, owner of America's Best Mortgage Services in Coconut Creek, to nine years in prison; former title attorney Gary Mills, who owned Deerfield Beach-based Four Star Title, to 46 months; and former Wachovia loan officer Karen Lynn Sullivan to 50 months.

The U.S. attorney's office said Crowder recruited buyers for residential properties, including 17 luxury condos in South Beach, telling them he could obtain no-money-down financing for their purchases. He then would apply for equity lines of credit with Wachovia on their behalf.

To induce Wachovia to issue the credit, Crowder and Mills prepared fake HUD-1 settlement forms, stating the buyers already owned the properties and significantly understating the amount of the first mortgages on the properties. The fraudulent forms were then given to Sullivan, who used them to facilitate the credits.

That credit was used to make down payments on first mortgages for the same units, and was also filed with false information. The mortgages on the South Beach units totaled $37 million.

The defendants are scheduled to appear in court on May 29 for a hearing to determine the restitution they must pay to the victims.

http://southflorida.bizjournals.
com/southflorida/stories/2008/
04/21/daily53.html; April 27, 2008 9:03 PM
Anonymous said...: So what income will they use to pay their long time employees and make payment on their new construction equipments.

Sounds like there are going to be allot of new heavy equipment going to be auction off for penny to the dollars.

http://www.businessweek.com/
the_thread/hotproperty/archives/
2008/04/california_buil.html

California builders aren't building

Home production in California is grinding to a halt. The number of single-family home permits dropped 61% to 8,189 during the first quarter of this year compared to the same period in 2007, according to an April 15 report from the California Building Industry Association.

To put it in perspective, 35,329 single-family home permits were issued in california during the 1st quarter of 2005.

These days building new homes makes little sense with so many foreclosed homes competing for buyers. Builders are waiting for the market to turn around, said Alan Nevin, the builder group’s Chief Economist.

“It basically is a case where builders have more or less decided not to build,” Nevin said. “They are almost viewing this as being custom home builders to the extent that they almost won’t start a new home until somebody has bought it.”; April 27, 2008 9:12 PM
Anonymous said...: Debtors feeling the heat setting homes, cars on fire

Some folks celebrate their last home mortgage payment by setting fire to their loan agreement. Lately, people behind on their mortgages are simply setting fire to their homes.

In what appears to the latest symptom of the U.S. mortgage meltdown and credit crisis, insurers, law enforcement and state agencies nationwide have reported a jump in home and automobile fires in the past year set by owners unable to pay their debts. The numbers are small, but they’re leading the insurance industry to scrutinize more closely what seem to be routine blazes.

“We’ve seen a dramatic increase in this kind of fraud,” said Dan Bales, director of fraud investigations at Mercury Insurance. “People upside down on their house with variable interest-rate loans, or upside down on their cars, are pretty quick to burn their property right now.”

Last week, a Sacramento, Calif.-area couple was arrested on charges that they burned their Jeep and drove their Nissan pickup into a river, then filed fraudulent insurance claims. According to investigators, the wife admitted she was trying to escape her $600 monthly car payment.

Three weeks ago, police arrested a woman in Easley, S.C., and accused her of deliberately setting fire to her home just three days after the bank hung a foreclosure notice on her door. In January, an Omaha, Neb., man was charged with arranging to have his three-bedroom house burned down to avoid losing it to the bank.

The fires are keeping fraud investigators such as Anne Luce occupied. “I’m busier now than a one-armed paper hanger,” said Luce, who works on auto cases for Bristol West Insurance’s special-investigations unit. “What is happening is terrifically economically driven.”

These financially motivated fires are surprising some officials, because they come after a decadelong decline in overall arson rates nationwide. Few state or federal agencies categorize arson in terms of the financial status of liens on the property, making nationwide figures elusive. Still, areas of the country are showing a significant increase.

http://www.nashuatelegraph.com/
apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/
20080425/BUSINESS/698655687/
-1/BUSINESS02; April 27, 2008 9:17 PM