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"Real Financial Heroes" needed in CA!


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2007 May 10, 9:30am   25,381 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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7   HARM   2007 May 10, 10:08am  

I am attempting to go for the FB Grand-Slam:

A custom RV with solid gold diamond-studded rims & spinners, that comes equipped with a speedboat & self-contained launch ramp and enough 60" plasmas & X-Boxes for every passenger. It should also have its own built-in plastic surgery clinic & rent-a-doc, for whenever the random desire for a quick Botox or "enhancement" happens to strike you.

8   e   2007 May 10, 10:09am  

Scrap that! I do not want sushi bidding wars. The restaurants are already overcrowded.

Have you been to the place in Sunnyvale on Champs-Elysees - er El Camino Real - called "Chocolate Sushi"?

9   GammaRaze   2007 May 10, 10:38am  

Don't worry uncle HARM, I am sure our overlords at the governments will make us all pay for this downturn, one way or another, all in the name of compassion.

From each according to his means, to each according to his needs. Remember?

10   OO   2007 May 10, 12:12pm  

I am looking forward to a fire sale of LX470. Will it happen soon? Or should I bite the bullet now?

Any chance that 400h will be on fire sale soon from the FBs? Or FBs are highly unlikely to go for hybrids?

11   Peter P   2007 May 10, 12:31pm  

Have you been to the place in Sunnyvale on Champs-Elysees - er El Camino Real - called “Chocolate Sushi”?

I have been to the previous restaurant in the same location.

12   surfer-x   2007 May 10, 12:32pm  

A custom RV with solid gold diamond-studded rims & spinners

fucking rookie, they are called, "sprewells" after that sprewell chap who choked his basketball coach

13   Peter P   2007 May 10, 12:32pm  

I am looking forward to a fire sale of LX470. Will it happen soon? Or should I bite the bullet now?

Quite possibly. The LX570 is coming out soon.

14   Peter P   2007 May 10, 12:34pm  

There are only a few places with consistently good fish.

One way to tell is the type of wasabi they give you. The "real" (fresh) one is rather grainy.

15   surfer-x   2007 May 10, 12:35pm  

Actual conversation as relayed by FFF (Faggy French Friend*)

"I'll just buy my Mothers house**, put 180K into it and rent it out"

the rent won't even cover 1/3 of the mortgage

are you ready? ok wait for it......

"I'll put a large down payment"

ahhhh WWRD?***

*But aren't they all?

Why did all those French people die a few years back during the heat wave?

Because you can't wave a white flag at the sun.

**House is in ventura and is "original" as in hasn't had fuck all done to it since ahhh 1930 or so.

***What would Randy do?

16   surfer-x   2007 May 10, 12:40pm  

Sprewells on a Wheelchair

quite possibly the greatest band name ever.

17   surfer-x   2007 May 10, 1:04pm  

Wang and Chen?

To bad it wasn't Wang and Chung.

18   skibum   2007 May 10, 3:03pm  

To bad it wasn’t Wang and Chung.

surfer-x,
I kid you not - I once met a couple named Poon and Tang. Needless to say, they never hyphenated their name when they got married...

19   azrob   2007 May 10, 3:26pm  

Poon and tang are thai nicknames... not last names!

20   skibum   2007 May 10, 3:31pm  

Poon and tang are thai nicknames… not last names!

Who ever said they were Thai? They are Chinese.

21   surfer-x   2007 May 10, 3:35pm  

oh fuck me, sweet baby jeebus, tell me you are kidding.

22   OO   2007 May 10, 3:44pm  

don't tell me that the woman is called Fanny, Fanny Poon-Tang.

23   OO   2007 May 10, 3:45pm  

Poon is a Chinese last name spelt the Hong Kong way, Tang is a Chinese last name spelt the Taiwan or mainland Chinese way.

24   SP   2007 May 10, 5:00pm  

HA HA said
Couple Pleads Guilty to Insider Trading
NEW YORK (AP) — A married couple, both lawyers, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and securities fraud Thursday in what was described as one of the biggest insider-trading operations since the 1980s, a $15 million scam that reached into some of the nation’s top financial firms.

The couple received $9,000 in kickbacks for inside tips that generated more than $600,000 in illegal profits, Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrew Fish said.

How the fuck did they get caught on small potatoes like that? The story behind this, about what dumbass stunt got them to spring the trap, that would be really entertaining.

And the Tang-Poon wedding invitation, that is one heck of a collectible.
SP

25   HARM   2007 May 10, 5:24pm  

"Sprewells" it is then. My "gangsta's" a bit rusty.

26   Serpentor   2007 May 10, 5:48pm  

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

I have a single female friend who just bought a fancy new car and remodeled kitchen with a HELOC. She is a true american hero. (she also has a housemate to help pay down the mortgage)

27   surfer-x   2007 May 10, 6:56pm  

I went to buy some Uni tonight but was over bid by a waddling boomer with a amex black card.

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.

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