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"Real Financial Heroes" needed in CA!


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2007 May 10, 9:30am   25,264 views  246 comments

by HARM   ➕follow (0)   💰tip   ignore  

Housing woes to continue, expert says
Economist says downturn could weaken state's financial future
Contra Costa Times 05/10/2007

“The malaise in California home building will hound the state for a while longer, a top state government economist told an East Bay gathering Wednesday. Even worse, California is particularly vulnerable to ripple effects because the state depends on housing and home building for a greater share of its economic activity than other regions, said Howard Roth, chief economist with the state’s Department of Finance.”

“‘I see no signs that the housing downturn will abate any time soon,’ he said during an interview after his speech.”

“...Roth warned that the weakness could be even more severe based on the first-quarter home building activity. ‘To keep us out of recession, we need for consumers to continue to spend through the rest of 2007,’ Roth said.”

Have YOU been doing your part for Clownifornia's economy? How many bidding wars have you "won" lately? How many plasmas, boats, RVs or spousal "enhancements" have you bought with the house ATM this year? None?!? Why do you hate Amerika...?

Do we really need to make renting and saving a criminal offense? Enough already --stop your whining and get out and start spending, dammit!!

Uncle HARM

#housing

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28   surfer-x   2007 May 10, 7:08pm  

El HARM-O

7/7/07 good for you and Mrs HARM?

29   DinOR   2007 May 10, 11:40pm  

Ha-Ha,

They had been discussing that case over at Registered Rep for the last few weeks and most of the comments were right in line with SP's. It must come under, wtf?

30   Michael Holliday   2007 May 11, 12:03am  

surfer-x Says:

Wang and Chen?

To bad it wasn’t Wang and Chung.
_____

As in, "Everybody have fun tonight: everybody Wang Chung tonight!"

Ha, ha!

Haven't heard that song in years (thank god!)...

31   Peter P   2007 May 11, 12:58am  

chocolate sushi… it used to be something else but closed down. It was too fancy for sunnyvale.

Too fancy? LOL.

What about Sawa sushi, which costs at least 5 times more? (The substance is way more than 5 times though, so the value is much better.)

32   DinOR   2007 May 11, 1:35am  

Peter P,

Is there any significant about....

7/7/07 ?

I mean other than HARM and X getting outrageously tanked?

33   Brent   2007 May 11, 2:08am  

Peter P-

You found real wasabi at restaurants in the USA? I've ordered from Pacific Farms, which had rather puny rhizomes compared with Tsukiji. Every now and then I've seen rhizomes at Japanese markets, but I'd pretty much given up hope for real sushi outside Japan. I'm open to recommendations!

34   LowlySmartRenter   2007 May 11, 3:00am  

Contra Costa is particularly suspectible. Saw a presentation by a Union Bank economist at the Livermore Chamber of Commerce Economic Development meeting (sorry, no link, community tv ain't digitized) in which he illustrated that the only growing job sector in the county is construction. He also broke it down by residential and commercial. Commercial construction is the only leading job creator in the county right now .

He failed to make the logical conclusion that most of these construction workers cannot afford to buy the homes they're building.

Sorry, I'll have to bow out of the spending contest. I have to save up for the impending bail out. There's no good sushi out here anyway.

35   LowlySmartRenter   2007 May 11, 3:03am  

suspectible s/b susceptible

36   Peter P   2007 May 11, 3:43am  

Peter P,

Is there any significant about….

7/7/07 ?

I will check the star chart. Perhaps it will be a day of great enlightenment.

37   Peter P   2007 May 11, 3:48am  

You found real wasabi at restaurants in the USA?

Where do you live? Can you send me a e-mail? My wife does not allow me to discuss our favorite Japanese restaurant on the blog anymore.

If you feel like eating lots of goof fish, Sawa sushi in Sunnyvale is a good choice. But they pretty much only have raw fish and nothing else. They have no menu and no prices. It is all up to the chef.

They will give you so much fish that you do not want to see sushi for at least two weeks. The quality is good though.

38   Peter P   2007 May 11, 3:49am  

Still, USA is not Japan. The fish is never exactly the same.

39   EBGuy   2007 May 11, 4:16am  

When I posted Kathleen Pender's article yesterday, I did leave out the choicest part. Now this guy is definitely trying to do his part. I nominate him for (almost) real financial hero of the week.
Daniel Y. of San Francisco has a question that's on the mind of many homeowners these days. Daniel wants to sell his condo and move into a bigger one in a nicer neighborhood. He figures the price he could get would pay off his first mortgage, but not a $50,000 home equity line of credit he took out last year to repay credit card debt.
Daniel says the shortfall could be $10,000 to $30,000 and wants to know what would happen if he didn't pay it.

Non-recourse is starting to go "Main Street", and people are getting creative... I love Amerika.

40   HARM   2007 May 11, 4:26am  

El HARM-O
7/7/07 good for you and Mrs HARM?

Si, señor.
For the rest of you: this is the tentative date for SoCAL Blog Party III.

41   Peter T   2007 May 11, 5:37am  

>> Daniel wants to sell his condo and move into a bigger one in a nicer neighborhood. He figures the price he could get would pay off his first mortgage, but not a $50,000 home equity line of credit he took out last year to repay credit card debt. Daniel says the shortfall could be $10,000 to $30,000 and wants to know what would happen if he didn’t pay it.

EBGuy:
> Non-recourse is starting to go “Main Street”, and people are getting creative… I love Amerika.

HELOCs are still recourse, of course, and will remain so. Daniel better puts the debt back on his credit card, if he wants the deal. But you're right, too: The question alone tells of an immoral mind.

42   DinOR   2007 May 11, 5:55am  

"The question alone tells of an immoral mind"

Yeah, wazzup? Doesn't sound like "A Real Financial Hero" to me! Should any of us be surprised? Evidently the very mindset that allows one to get a NINJA loan is the same one that allows you to walk away from it. But just the fact that he's considering selling and moving to a bigger unit in a nicer area means he should at least be given "side-kick status". Not a "real" hero, more like Tonto or Robin (The Boy Wonder).

43   EBGuy   2007 May 11, 6:41am  

But just the fact that he’s considering selling and moving to a bigger unit in a nicer area means he should at least be given “side-kick status”.

And, quite possibly, he has inspired a 100% ARM holder in a subdivision where similar houses are now selling for $100k less to "upgrade" and then drop the less desirable home (mortgage).
Heck I am even giving consideration to a spec-u-vestment for the two year capital gains exemption if they are still writing 100% option ARMs. Well, maybe I'll wait to see if the Mortgage Cancellation Tax Relief Act of 2007 becomes law -- no reason to ruin one's credit if it doesn't work out. :-)

44   DinOR   2007 May 11, 7:40am  

What are the 2 things you need to run a scam in Florida?

1. Phone

2. Air conditioner

45   Carl in Berkeley   2007 May 11, 8:43am  

Daniel Y. of San Francisco has fugging balls of fugging steel to even ask that fugging question.

I, too, would like to move to a 'nicer place' in a 'nicer neighborhood' and have someone pay me $30K to do so. I would also like a three-way with Jessicas Biel and Alba.

46   Allah   2007 May 11, 8:57am  

Licensed real estate agent complaining about the high prices

Housing prices are outrageous!!! Especially for what they look like inside!!!!!

I really can't get over the prices some people are daring to ask for their homes in Nassau county!!!! I say Nassau because that is where I am concentrating.

There's horrid wallpaper in every room, bathrooms and kitchens need to be completely redone and the houses look like "schlockhouses".

And they're asking $550-599K!!!!!!!!

This makes me want to either stay in my house which looks 10x better or list it for $700k!!!!!!

I just can't get over how DH and I take so much pride in our home and just because we want to move to a bigger house we will either have to fork over $700K or start from scratch again on fixing it up.

OK rant over.

47   Peter P   2007 May 11, 9:12am  

For the rest of you: this is the tentative date for SoCAL Blog Party III.

Blog Party III? For marketing purpose perhaps you should call it Blog Party 777.

48   Claire   2007 May 11, 9:21am  

Here's a new one in a rental property -
"(covered through your low $40 monthly HOA dues)" - not only are they asking for a lot of rent, but they want you to pay the HOA fees as well!

49   Peter P   2007 May 11, 9:24am  

Uncle HARM, some candy please?

50   HARM   2007 May 11, 9:54am  

@Peter P,

;-) Nice catch, and all 7's --very lucky. Funny, I didn't notice that.

51   Glen   2007 May 11, 10:18am  

Maybe it is one of those cases where they are only prosecuting the crime they can prove (even though many more crimes were probably committed).

52   Serpentor   2007 May 11, 1:48pm  

sawa sushi is excellent, I think my favorite is still Ebisu in SF. Reasonable price but great quality.

WW: I can't tell if you are a Troll or just ignorant. Tracking prices in a small area hardly makes you an expert.

53   Serpentor   2007 May 11, 1:49pm  

sawa sushi is excellent, I think my favorite is still Ebisu in SF. Reasonable price but great quality.

WW: I can’t tell if you are a Troll or just ignorant. Tracking prices in a small area for one year hardly makes you an expert.

54   Ed S   2007 May 11, 1:51pm  

WealthyWoman,

Appreciate your insight and concern. Could you provide the following:

1) List of houses that you've been trying to purchase but failed
2) Original list price
3) Selling price
4) MLS number
5) Any other date that you deem pertinent

Thanks

55   Ed S   2007 May 11, 1:52pm  

- date
+ data

56   Brand165   2007 May 11, 2:01pm  

Dammit, you guys made Big Brother undergo a gender change? For shame. Although, well... it is San Fran, after all.

Wealthy Woman, I keep bidding on foreclosures, but they're going for 125%+ of the asking price with multiple bids. How's the sunny walk playing poker with the Confused guys of Marina?

57   Brand165   2007 May 11, 2:03pm  

Carl Says: I would also like a three-way with Jessicas Biel and Alba.

I would take just Biel. No need to be greedy when the quality is that high.

58   e   2007 May 11, 2:05pm  

Where do you live? Can you send me a e-mail? My wife does not allow me to discuss our favorite Japanese restaurant on the blog anymore.

Why's that?

59   Malcolm   2007 May 11, 3:14pm  

I hope to be able to make it. It will be fun to meet all of you in person.

PeterP we're going to be up your way tomorrow. If you and you wife are free for dinner you can send an email to Malcolm.Shaw@Cox.net.

60   Malcolm   2007 May 11, 3:19pm  

no period after the .net

61   Malcolm   2007 May 11, 3:27pm  

WealthyWoman:

If I may ask, why is it that you are in such a hurry to buy?

62   ozajh   2007 May 11, 3:34pm  

serpentor,

Reasons why "WealthyWoman" is a troll and not just ignorant.

1. The statement "the market is in a frenzy" is just a straight lie, when you consider every statistical report from the likes of Dataquick etc. is saying the exact opposite. Heck, even CAR is reporting a slow market.
2. "You guys should seriously wake up from denial." Right, let's denigrate the regulars on our very first post. Without. as BAN points out above, providing a single piece of hard evidence for why they are wrong.

(OK, I will admit it's just possible she's an incredibly crass MOTU who is talking about a vanishingly small top-end submarket with her condescending "areas ... that people want to live". Still not someone I'm interested in conversing with.)

63   Malcolm   2007 May 11, 3:45pm  

It is funny to have someone say people here are in denial, especailly when the majority of us aren't even in the Bay area. I too am suspicious but I try to give the person the benefit of the doubt until I know for sure. It sure has been a long time since I've seen anyone dispute the bubble bursting.

64   azrob   2007 May 11, 3:48pm  

i have spent several months in mainland china, and met hundreds of people... never heard Tang or poon back to a "nin gui shing?" ever...

65   e   2007 May 11, 4:25pm  

i have spent several months in mainland china, and met hundreds of people… never heard Tang or poon back to a “nin gui shing?” ever…

Did you miss the part where it was pointed out that the last name Poon is mostly found in Hong Kong?

66   SP   2007 May 11, 5:15pm  

never heard Tang or Poon back to a “nin gui shing?” ever…

I have seen both of those last names on the cubicles around campus, but my mind never made a connection between them until this thread.

SP

67   SP   2007 May 11, 5:21pm  

A nice anecdote from dinner with some friends tonight - one of them is selling his house on the market. His agent from Boldwell-Canker has been pressuring him to 'expect to make concessions' (i.e. prepare to offer non-cash incentives) if he wants to sell at all, and to lower his desired asking price if he wants to sell quickly. This is in the heart of the 'Frickin Fortress'.

It looks like if you are trying to sell the damn house, the realtwhores sing you a different tune.

SP

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