0
0

What does this tell us about housing now?


 invite response                
2009 Jun 24, 12:50pm   1,754 views  4 comments

by mdovell   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

Meet Bob Johnson

http://people.forbes.com/profile/robert-l-johnson/50107

He's a director of KB Home as well as Lowes...so where does he see money to be made?

http://www.hulu.com/watch/78364/cnbc-originals-dollars-and-danger-africa-the-final-investing-frontier

Go to about 30:30 in the movie...

Liberia?

Look I totally understand that he might feel more of a need for Africa to develop. Outside of Oprah I think he's the richest African American in the USA. But think about this on the other perspective in terms of a return.

This means he's will to invest in a place that was in civil war for decades...instead of rough areas of the USA.

I'm not saying that the people there are bad but what is it saying if he wants to invest there OVER other places

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Second_Liberian_Civil_War

 

So instead of say maybe investing in things here (light rail, green technology etc) he wants to build resorts where there was war not that long ago.

#housing

Comments 1 - 4 of 4        Search these comments

1   Tude   2009 Jun 25, 2:02am  

It's not about "need" or helping people, it's about MONEY and ROI! Fixing the inner cities of America will cost more, that means less profit. Buying up land for nothing with cheap labor costs could net a much bigger profit.

2   FNWGMOBDVZXDNW   2009 Jun 25, 3:39am  

Money doesn't grow on trees. It's sitting in oil wells and ore concentrates around the world. We have already pumped out most of our oil and gotten rich off of it. Now, the Libya's are milking their cash cow. I don't mind US companies making money on projects in places with natural resources.

TPB, you can have an electric car if you want one, and you won't have to pay for big company marketing, corporate excess, and legacy expenses. You can take an older donor car, and pay about $5K for electric components & batteries. If you want to spend 12K or so, you can get the donor car and a kit with everything needed to drop in with no fuss. In LA, it is even easier. There is at least one shop that is producing cars or converting your car. I think it takes a week or two for them to do the conversion once you set up your appointment. Those types of kits would be good for short range (50miles or so).

A word about batteries. A taxi fleet in San Francisco put 300K miles on a fleet of ford escape hybrids with no battery issues at all over a period of about 3 years. Batteries do have a hard time with irregular use/disuse over long time periods. I think that a home brew electric with cheap batteries would make a killer daily driver over short distances.

3   Misstrial   2009 Jun 25, 3:47am  

egriffing:

Do you know how the DMV will process/tax these converted cars?

Will these cars be exempt from Smog Check like a Prius?

Thanks....

4   FNWGMOBDVZXDNW   2009 Jun 25, 8:37am  

There is some info on registering at wikipedia:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_vehicle_conversion#Registration_of_converted_and_newly_constructed_vehicles

It looks like it might be a bit of a pain to do in California. However, once registered as an electric only vehicle, it is exempt from a smog check. It is apparently unjustifiably hard to register as E only, as the computer systems require a workaround involving an individual in Sacramento to do something in concert with someone at the local DMV. Also, non-commercial E vehicles do not have to pay a road use tax. In some states, they may even qualify for an incentive. Commercial E vehicles do have to pay a hefty road use tax.

TPB, I agree that our auto giants should be doing this on their own. My point, though, is that if a consumer wants one, they are not a lazy ass, and they can do without a brand new rolling status symbol, then they can have an electric car for pretty cheap. If lots of people do this on their own or with a local small shop, then the message will be heard.

As for the DIY aspect, the components are off the shelf. There are kits with professional links to hook up an off the shelf motor directly to the clutch of several donor cars. If you want a particular car, then you have to have a link piece machined. If you don't want to DIY, then there are shops that can do all the work for you.

Please register to comment:

api   best comments   contact   latest images   memes   one year ago   random   suggestions