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What Turned Out To Be A Disastrous Investment For Many People

A report from the Wall Street Journal. “A gauge of U.S. home building and approvals for new projects declined in March, continuing a recent weak stretch for new housing construction. Single-family building has held near the highest levels since before the most recent recession, while multifamily construction eased because of a glut of apartment properties in certain metro areas.”

The Seattle Times in Washington. “For a while it looked like developers might have been too aggressive with all those new units: Vacancy rates had been rising, recently reaching their highest point since the recession. Building owners struggling to fill up tons of new units all at the same time resorted to offering concessions like a free month’s rent or thousands of dollars in gift cards. The supply-and-demand equation flipped so suddenly that Seattle rents went from soaring at the fastest rate in the country to among the slowest.”

“Now, generally speaking, apartments in Seattle are filling up nearly the same rate as they are opening. The most notable change is in the downtown Seattle core — the region’s busiest construction market — which had a whopping 26% of apartments sitting empty at this point a year ago, skewed by all the new buildings; now, it’s down to 12%. On the other end, South Lake Union just got a wave of new units, and has seen its share of empty units rise from 14% a year ago to 17% now, the highest rate in the region.”

“The new figures offer fresh insight into the years-long, multibillion-dollar experiment being waged by developers as they build more apartments in the city of Seattle this decade than in the previous half-century combined. Will enough renters eventually materialize to fill them, or will the city have a skyline of empty ghost apartments? We still don’t know for sure — because it can take years for new buildings to fill up, and a lot of them haven’t even opened yet.”

The Washington Post. “Liz is hardly the only example of residential anthropomorphism to hit the market in the recent years. Amid a crowded field of rooftop pools and 24-hour concierge services and doggy spas, developers in Washington and beyond are turning to cutesy human names to help their swanky apartment buildings and condos seem not only livable, but relatable — and many are picking names that match those of the millennials they want to attract.”

“In the late 1990s and early 2000s, high-end apartments and condos began pouring onto the market, says Amy Groff, the National Apartment Association’s senior vice president of industry operations, and the branded building was reborn. To project luxury and stand out now, she says, ‘You have to get kind of creative with the names.'”

The Buffalo News in New York. “A bitter battle between McGuire Development Co. and a former partner has ended with the company taking over the site of a long-stalled $200 million development of retail and housing on the edge of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus. McGuire late Friday seized control of the 11-acre Pilgrim Village, which is home to low-income townhouses, after developer Mark H. Trammell defaulted on more than $12 million in loans, company officials said.”

“McGuire’s takeover leaves the future of the apartments uncertain. For now, McGuire executives said, a non-profit company will continue managing the 66-unit property while McGuire decides how best to redevelop the site. In a physical sign of that so-far-untapped promise, piles of dirt and debris left over after five buildings were torn down two years ago sit just across the street from Kaleida Health’s gleaming Gates Vascular Institute.”

From Globe St. on Florida. “Today, we look at why multifamily developers in South Florida are increasingly looking to incorporate a short-term rental strategy to diversify their portfolio and mitigate risks with vacancy and turn to CorpHousing Group managing partner Brian Ferdinand to share his thoughts on this trend.”

“Globest.com: Why are short-term rental operators targeting oversaturated condo markets, creating a long-term solution for developers? Ferdinand: We are finding that this is being concentrated primarily in markets that have an oversupply of product.”

From Crain’s Chicago Business in Illinois. “A Miami real estate firm has taken control of the Raffaello Hotel, ending what turned out to be a disastrous investment for many people who bought hotel rooms in the Streeterville property during the last boom. Maxwelle Real Estate Group recently acquired about 140 rooms in the 175-room boutique hotel at 201 E. Delaware Place and plans a major renovation of the property, said the firm’s Chicago-based attorney Michael Delrahim.”

“Maxwelle bought the rooms individually because the Raffaello is a so-called condo-hotel. Rather than one investor owning the entire hotel, dozens of investors owned one or more rooms in the Raffaello, much like they would a residential condominium, using the rooms or renting them out. Condo-hotels were a big but short-lived fad in downtown Chicago, but they never lived up to the hype of their promoters, a group that included Donald Trump. Today, the Raffaello and Trump International Hotel & Tower are the only two Chicago condo-hotel properties.”

“It has been a rough ride for many investors in both. Some who bought units in the Raffaello lost them to foreclosure. Many other investors sold their rooms to Maxwelle for huge losses. An investor that bought one room on the hotel’s eighth floor for $287,000 in 2006 sold it to Maxwelle in February for $150,000, a 48 percent decline, according to Cook County property records.”

“After taking over the Raffaello’s common and commercial space last year, Maxwelle tried to persuade the hotel’s investors to back a major renovation of its rooms as well. But many investors balked at the idea, wary of putting good money after bad. They told Maxwelle that they’d be willing to sell their units instead, leading to the recent bulk sale.”

“‘There’s a time to hold ‘em and a time to fold ‘em,’ said Norman Lieber, who sold three units in the hotel to Maxwelle. ‘It was time to fold ‘em.'”

“Lieber said he would have had to invest about $100,000 per room under Maxwelle’s renovation plan, and he didn’t see himself getting that money back anytime soon. Like many kinds of real estate, units in condo-hotels plunged in value after the crash. Making matters worse, few banks would provide mortgages to condo-hotel investors, depressing investor demand for them, Lieber said.”

“‘It got to the point where the only people who could purchase the units were cash buyers,’ he said. ‘And at that point, you’ve eliminated 80 percent of buyers.'”

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This Post Has 69 Comments

  1. More apartment foreclosures. And there’s this:

    ‘Creditors of the NoMad Hotel have hired JLL to market the property in a Uniform Commercial Code, or UCC, foreclosure sale, according to sources familiar with the auction.’

    ‘SEE ALSO: NoMad Hotel Ownership Failed to Pay $140M in Debt Last Year Amid Lawsuits’

    ‘An auction initiated by the mezzanine lender on the hotel, Colony Financial, will take place on June 6 and is set to sell off the full ownership interest in the property to the highest bidder.’

    ‘UCC foreclosures, which have become more frequent lately, allow borrowers to enforce their rights in floundering debt deals in a speedier timeline than judicial foreclosures.’

    ‘The NoMad Hotel, at 1170 Broadway at the corner of West 28th Street, was conceived by hotelier Andrew Zobler and his Sydell Group along with Make It Nice, a partnership between entrepreneur William Guidara and chef Daniel Humm. The pair also run a NoMad Hotel in Los Angeles.’

    ‘The auction announcement comes as a surprise as there’d been no outward sign of distress at the hotel. The property made a splash when it opened in 2012 because it represented the second high-concept lodging to open in the neighborhood immediately north of Madison Square Park, joining an earlier comer, The Ace Hotel, as pioneering operations in what had been a relatively forsaken sliver of Midtown South.’

    ‘All signs had pointed to a robust operation. A reviewer writing in The New York Times said of the New York hotel: “The NoMad stands out for its bohemian glamour, from the laser-sharp but friendly service to the opulent yet intimate interior.” A buzzy restaurant on the building’s ground floor—called The NoMad—hosted Barack Obama, then the president, shortly after it opened.’

    ‘Financiers showed no apparent concern. In November 2015, Colony provided a $35 million mezzanine loan to the owners, Sydell Group and Make It Nice, sources said, in conjunction with a $105 million package from Bank of America to refinance previous construction debt from Deutsche Bank, according to city records. Bank of America also provided a $25 million gap mortgage in the deal.’

    ‘Representatives for the hotel’s owners, for JLL and for Colony did not immediately respond to inquiries about the reason for the foreclosure. But the NoMad is not the only prominent hotel in the area north of Madison Square Park to have suffered significant setbacks in the last year.’

    ‘Last summer, the Flatiron Hotel, at 9 West 26th Street near Broadway, filed for bankruptcy after apparent mismanagement led to legal and financial woes. And in February, one of the restaurants at the Ace Hotel, John Dory Oyster Bar, closed after an owner of the company who ran it, Ken Friedman, was accused of sexual harassment. The Ace Hotel’s operating company also sued Friedman’s restaurant company, which he co-headed with chef April Bloomfield, for improper financial reporting.’

    ‘Only last year, Toby Moskovits narrowly escaped a UCC foreclosure on her multifamily property at 564 St. John’s place in Crown Heights, Brooklyn after the remedy was pursued by mezzanine lender Benefit Street Partners. Moskovits refinanced the debt on the property with a loan from Arbor Commercial Mortgage, as first reported by Commercial Observer’.

    ‘Colony has seen trouble crop up on another major hotel for which it was the lender as well. In August 2018, it took back the keys to a 500-room Hilton Hotel against which it had lent $75 million in Dallas, according to the Dallas Morning News.’

    https://commercialobserver.com/2019/04/nomad-foreclosure-jll/

    1. And in February, one of the restaurants at the Ace Hotel, John Dory Oyster Bar, closed after an owner of the company who ran it, Ken Friedman, was accused of sexual harassment.

      The sexual harassment payout lottery is going to bankrupt thousands of restaurants.

  2. ‘Now, generally speaking, apartments in Seattle are filling up nearly the same rate as they are opening.’

    Yeah, let em move in for free and give em a gift card, I can fill as many apartments as you want.

    ‘On the other end, South Lake Union just got a wave of new units, and has seen its share of empty units rise from 14% a year ago to 17% now, the highest rate in the region’

    These guys are losing money hand over fist. Undercutting older apartments, more stress. I saw this coming years ago, without any resources. Yet these “experts” are still floundering.

    ‘Why are short-term rental operators targeting oversaturated condo markets, creating a long-term solution for developers? Ferdinand: We are finding that this is being concentrated primarily in markets that have an oversupply of product’

  3. For folks who are using the JoshuaTree extension: looks like there’s been an issue with replies not getting threaded/nested correctly since the blog software updated recently.

    I’ve uploaded a patched version(4.9.3) that should fix things. Sorry about the issue!

    And for those not using the JoshuaTree to make reading/following/contributing to this blog easier, check it out:

    For Firefox
    For Chrome

        1. Comments now nest, but highlighted material does not copy over to the comment.

          Yep, unfortunately that was the trade-off I had to make to get the nesting fix out ASAP. Something changed in the blog software I have to reverse-engineer to figure out how to get everything working again 100%. This seemed like the right trade-off to make for the time being.

          1. ‘Something changed in the blog software’

            I upgraded the wordpress software last night. The system puts this nag at the top of every page. I don’t like to upgrade when everything’s working well, but they kinda bug you about missing one. My last blog had missed 128 upgrades by the time I switched to the new blog. Let me know if it’s a big problem and I’ll pass on future upgrades.

          2. Let me know if it’s a big problem and I’ll pass on future upgrades

            Thanks Ben, but I’m sure I’ll get it sorted, and it’s probably most important for you to keep up to date on updates, esp for security!

        2. Comments now nest, but highlighted material does not copy over to the comment. Just FYI

          All fixed now, btw, in v4.9.4.

  4. Rising interest rates + new tax laws + QE unwind + Mel Watt retiring = end of the housing bubble v2.0

    1. IMO, most people focus on the wrong things. For instance, the WSJ mentions a glut of apartments. And the other day we read about how almost none of California apartments cash flow, meaning they are bleeding money.

      Now this is at the same time that rents have never been higher as a percentage of renters income, and have never been higher in dollar terms. Yet they have a glut of new airboxes. The low interest rates caused this carnage. Not high rates. So while everyone concentrates on higher rates, it’s excess money creation and yield chasing that’s resulted in so much deflation.

      ‘Senior living is in a period of tremendous change and upheaval. Providers must accept this and get creative if they are to survive and thrive, five senior living executives said this week at the Argentum conference in San Antonio. Prevailing wage rates are rising quickly, and at the same time a glut of new supply in some markets is adding to worker shortages while also suppressing occupancy.’

      ‘The financial roadblocks go beyond margin pressure due to eroding occupancy and rising labor costs, but are stemming from the capital structures and types of financial partnerships common in the industry. One problem that Hsiao singled out: triple-net leases that have providers “drowning” in rent obligations.’

      ‘The good news is that there is no shortage of capital in senior living, and investors are entering the space as returns in hospitality, retail and other sectors have diminished, Hsiao noted.’

      https://seniorhousingnews.com/2019/04/17/senior-living-must-scrap-old-playbooks-as-change-sweeps-industry/

      Even as they acknowledge a glut and oversupply, there’s “capital” pouring in.

        1. Good thing those evil nonbank lenders are out of the picture today!

          “…the basic problems were too much risky leverage, too much runnable short-term financing, and the migration of too much risk to shadow banks where regulation was negligible and the Fed’s emergency safety net was inaccessible. There were also too many major firms that were too big and interconnected to fail without threatening the stability of the system, and the explosion of opaque mortgage-backed derivatives had turned the health of the of the housing market into a potential vector for panic. Meanwhile, America’s regulatory bureaucracy was fragmented and outdated, with no one responsible for monitoring and addressing systemic risks”.

          1. Oops…I stand corrected.

            Non-Bank Lender CEO on Why Companies Like His Could Cause Next Crisis
            April 15, 2019, 2:46PM

            In an opinion piece published by MarketWatch, the president of the nation’s third largest non-bank lender says institutions such as his could find themselves in a tough situation should liquidity dry up. So tough, in fact, it could endanger the entire financial system.

            Sanjiv Das, CEO of Caliber Home Loans, says rising home prices which have made owning a home less affordable has also made life difficult for mortgage lenders. Originations have fallen, and after lenders reduce costs then “they are faced with the decision of whether to lower margins or credit standards.

            A “race to the bottom” such as occurred before the housing crisis isn’t the only danger Das sees. Another is liquidity risk, the inability of a firm to meet short-term financial obligations such as a payroll. This risk is particularly acute in the housing sector because non-bank lenders originate more than 50 percent of home loans compared to 9 percent in 2009 and account for 45 percent of servicing.
            …

    2. We can expect the most Herculean of efforts to keep housing prices inflated. If housing prices fell to historical norms of 3-4x median income, housing prices in California would have to fall by about 30-40%. This would be the equivalent of a neutron bomb detonating on the economy. Everyone in the state would be filing to have their property taxes reduced. Every municipality in the state would go bankrupt. Pension funds would get obliterated. Those who have been conscientiously saving and avoiding unnecessary financial risk should prepare for a QE shafting the damage from which no reconstructive surgeon will be able to repair.

        1. California has historically had a higher ratio than the heartland (around 6 instead of 2.2 or so in Wisconsin). But recent levels approaching or exceeding 10 are at historically unprecedented (before 1997) bubble levels.

          1. In 1966 when I moved to my present location, I made $810 per month and bought a 6 year old 1400 square foot home in newly developed subdivision on an 8,000 square foot lot with all amenities 3 br 21/2 bath with basement room Redwood siding and shake roof,, a spec home on a hillside with a view. Good contractor, and paid 525,000 for it. At that time there were 4 houses listed for sale in the paper, and I bought house from owner as soon as I walked into the front door.
            I was a senior appraiser for the State of California an saw what good construction it was. LOL

          2. “In 1966….I made $810 per month and bought a 6 year old 1400 square foot home….and paid 525,000 for it…..”

            Something is seriously jacked up with this math.

        2. Better to just consult the data rather than rely on opinions. In 1970, the median home price in CA was 24,640$ and the US median income was 8734$ for a home price income ratio of less than 3:1. In 1985, the median home price in CA was ~100k$ and the CA median income was ~26k$ for home price to income ratio of a bit less than 4:1. In 2000, the median CA home price was ~195k$ and the median CA income was ~47k$ ratio of ~4.1:1.

          Home price to income ratio since 1970.
          https://www.longtermtrends.net/home-price-median-annual-income-ratio/

          California home prices 1970-2005
          http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/what-should-a-california-home-cost-price-and-income-ratios-various-market-ratios-to-determine-real-estate-valuation/

          Historic median income
          https://www.multpl.com/us-median-income/table/by-year

          California median household income
          https://fred.stlouisfed.org/series/MEHOINUSCAA646N

          The median household income in 1970 was about 47k$

          2. John,

            Consult the data. There you go.

            Your first link is not useful. The Case Shiller index is same house repeat-sales price index. It is not the median home price at all, nor the average. I’m sure you have a point, but it is lost in all the apples and oranges.

          3. No it is not the case Schiller price index, it is the case Schiller ratio index. Those are two different charts. Anyway, I can’t make it anymore clear what the data is historically. The ratio is 3-4:1 and CA did not vary significantly from this ratio until the last bubble. That’s just the data. If you can find data that contradicts this conclusion please post.

          4. If the chart confuses you, you can read the first sentence of the caption for the chart which reads:

            “Historically a house in the US cost around 3 to 4 times the median annual income.”

          5. Nixon taking the U.S. off the gold standard in 1971 set the stage for the Fed to dramatically ramp up the scale and scope of its monetary swindles against the 99%, especially the destruction of the proles purchasing power due to the Fed’s debasement of the currency. Then the globalists offshored our manufacturing base and living wage jobs to China, Mexico, etc., while Wall Street’s financialization of everything enabled the systematic looting of Main Street and the concentration of wealth and political power in the hands of a corrupt and venal .1% in the financial sector.

            God only knows what kind of future the oligarchy has in store for our children.

    3. Is CYA time at hand?

      The Financial Times
      US financial regulation
      US non-bank mortgage lenders come under scrutiny
      Government wants to know more about companies as concerns rise about gaps on regulatory system
      Sam Fleming in Washington and Joe Rennison in New York April 9, 2019

      US mortgage companies operating outside the banking system are facing intensified oversight by the federal government after their role in American housing finance ballooned, raising concern about gaps in the regulatory system.

      Ginnie Mae, a US government agency that guarantees payments on $2tn of US mortgage-backed securities (MBS), is advancing proposals that would require non-bank mortgage lenders to compile “living wills” — documents which dictate how to keep their operations running if they get into trouble.

      The agency is also planning to disclose more details about new stress tests it has been working on to gauge mortgage companies’ resilience to shocks.

      Maren Kasper, acting president of Ginnie Mae, said the agency was acting “akin to a regulator”, because the rules that govern non-banks are fragmented among state agencies.

      “There is no federal safety and soundness regulator for non-banks. Today the way the system is designed the taxpayer exposure sits with Ginnie Mae, and so it’s Ginnie Mae’s responsibility to protect that,” said Ms Kasper.
      …

  5. City workers embark on sidewalk clean-up around Denver Rescue Mission to address health concerns:

    “Danica Lee, director of public health inspections for Denver’s Department of Public Health and Environment, said that for a week or less the area around the mission at 22nd and Lawrence would be closed day and night except for people passing through or lining up for services. It’s a corner of Denver that draws both people seeking aid from the mission and nearby nonprofits and, at night and on weekends, people seeking relaxation at pubs and restaurants.

    Public Health’s Lee said possible “biohazards” in the area included human waste and discarded drug paraphernalia. Denver Fire Department staff was on hand because propane tanks have been discovered during similar cleanups.

    “You never know what you might find out here,” Lee said.

    She said that people living in homelessness in other cities in the state have been hit by outbreaks of hepatitis A. The liver ailment is caused by a virus usually spread in food or drinks contaminated by small amounts of feces from an infected person. Lee said her department has been trying to be proactive about hepatitis A and other diseases associated with poor hygiene conditions.”

    https://denverite.com/2019/04/18/city-workers-embark-on-sidewalk-clean-up-around-denver-rescue-mission-to-address-health-concerns/

    Come for the weed (today is 4/20), stay for the hepatitis A.

      1. I used to think I knew what liberal meant:

        ‘That Mueller laid this all out in exhaustive detail again demonstrates that his investigative purview extended well beyond that of an ordinary prosecutor: he was expected not just to determine whether certain actions were criminally chargeable, but to put forth a coherent narrative of all relevant accusations pertaining to the Trump-Russia collusion theory. Contrary to the groundless objections raised by some, no external forces that we can glean inhibited him from carrying out this task. And his conclusions were devastating for ‘collusion’ profiteers.’

        ‘Some Democrats apparently feel that Mueller’s finding of no conspiracy or coordination simply indicates that he failed to pursue relevant leads, but that stupendously misrepresents his report to the point of absurdity. Not only did Mueller aggressively pursue innumerable leads, he pursued some which were at most tangential, and had long fermented in speculative anti-Trump corners of the internet. All bases, as far as we can tell, were covered. So for the collusion proponents to persist in affirming their theory – which now more resembles an article of religious faith than a political or legal position – is downright comical. As if they somehow deduced evidence of collusion that Mueller’s intensive 22-month investigation failed to uncover. It just shows that these sad, angry people are committed to digging themselves deeper and deeper into a hole of paranoia and desperation.’

        https://spectator.us/robert-mueller-avenue-collusion-myth/

        1. Does the report actually weigh in on whether “collusion” occurred? (Just curious…haven’t read it.)

          2. I’ve heard that countless times in the MSM. Which is weird, asmy understandingis that collusionisn’t even a crime. So why all the hair on fire over collusion?

          3. ‘Co-host Whoopi Goldberg discussed the situation surrounding Covington Catholic High School student Nick Sandmann and his classmates, who were vilified on social media for harassing a Native American man until additional footage proved the MAGA-hat wearing kids weren’t the aggressors.’

            “So many people admitted they made snap judgments before these other facts came in,” Goldberg said. “Is it that, we just instantly say ‘that’s what it is,’ based on what we see in that moment and then have to walk stuff back when it turns out we’re wrong. Why is that? Why do we keep making the same mistake?”

            “Behar, who has made headlines on a regular basis with scolding anti-Trump opinions, confessed an open secret among much of the mainstream media. “Because we’re desperate to get Trump out of office,” Behar said. After the crowd laughed, Behar added “that’s why.”

            ‘Goldberg asked what Behar’s comment has to do with rushing to judgment. “I think that that’s the reason. I think the press jumps the gun a lot because we… have so much circumstantial evidence against this guy that we’re basically hoping that, you know, Cohen’s got the goods,” Behar said. “It’s wishful thinking.”

            ‘Last month, Behar declared on Thursday that then-outgoing Sen. Orrin Hatch “maybe” should be sent to prison for not speaking out against President Trump. She has also recently apologized after saying “God forbid” Trump lives another 20 years.’

            https://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/joy-behar-media-jumped-gun-on-covington-video-because-were-desperate-to-get-trump-out-of-office

          5. “Fake news?”

            Yes: 1) It’s Politico. 2) The DOJ/FBI investigate and prosecute, not exonerate. 3) Exoneration demands that one proves the non-existence of something in place of providing adequate evidence for the existence of that something. It’s a twisted standard of proof.

        2. Remember when liberals were supposed to be against unscrupulous authorities running roughshod over the rights of the accused and not giving a damn about due process?

          Once the former radicals of ’68 got into positions of power, they became far more fascist and repressive than anything Nixon could’ve conjured up.

          1. Remember when people used to say, “It’s a free country”?Nobody says that anymore. Food for thought.

          3. French yellow vest cuties sing a satirical song about “The good guys, the bad guys” – with the so-called “good guys” being “successful hippies” – ’60s radicals who having infiltrated and subverted the institutions of governance, became globalists who were far more corrupt, out of touch, and repressive than the administrations they rioted against back in the ’60s.

            https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cBiHJxGxz1g&feature=youtu.be

  6. “A gauge of U.S. home building and approvals for new projects declined in March, continuing a recent weak stretch for new housing construction.”

    Saw that on the front page of the dead tree WSJ edition.

    Later in the article: “‘This lackluster March report is a surprise, with housing starts still not regaining the momentum expected from low interest rates, a strong labor market, and other bullish economic signals,’ said Zillow economic analyst Matthew Speakman.”

    Groupthinkers gonna groupthink.

    1. A surprise! There’s over 3,000 new empty shacks in Orange County. Over 6,000 in greater Dallas. There are canyons of empty luxury airboxes in New York City and Miami Beach.

  7. Who’d’ve thunk banning immigration would throw a wrench into the home building industry?

    Home sales will be stymied in 2019 by high prices and “underbuilding”
    Grant Thornton chief economist says housing market will “tread water”
    April 19, 2019
    Kathleen Howley

    A shortage of entry-level homes will stymie the housing market this year, nullifying much of the impact of lower mortgage rates, according to a forecast by Diane Swonk, Grant Thornton chief economist.

    The dearth of affordable homes is a hangover from the Great Recession, made worse by the current high costs of construction and shortage of cheap labor, said Swonk, a longtime advisor to the Federal Reserve Board and a former member of both the White House’s Council of Economic Advisers and the Congressional Budget Office.

    “The escalating costs of materials have triggered production cuts; recent tariffs on imported materials, like lumber from Canada, have also pushed up costs at the same time that labor shortages have intensified,” Swonk wrote in her report. “The cheap labor – immigrants – that once made new housing affordable has all but disappeared.”
    …

      1. We probably should discriminate in favor of admitting immigrants who will contribute something to our economy.

        1. Bite your tongue, PB. Each Immigrant dependency voter brings Nancy Pelosi and the DNC closer to their long-cherished goal of a permanent Democrat supermajority and the unfettered “redistribution of the wealth” from the productive to the Gimme Dats. Therefore millions of Central American illegal aliens will be welcomed with open arms, then resettled in the red states.

          1. Reply to your earlier comment: “Remember when people used to say, “It’s a free country”? Nobody says that anymore. Food for thought.”

            Ain’t that the truth. I keep telling my daughter (born ’92) – you don’t understand – things didn’t used to be like this.

          3. There’s a reasonable chance that immigrants will high-value skills will lean right.

            Funny how that works.

  8. “There’s over 3,000 new empty shacks in Orange County.”

    How did the Zilldo spokesdude possibly miss all the empty houses that dot the American landscape?

  10. Because “educated” millennials love enriching Mr. Banker.

    Less Than 25% Of College Graduates Can Answer These 4 Simple Money Questions:

    1. Interest accumulation
    2. Effects of payment behavior on credit cost
    3. Impact of repayment term on cost of credit
    4. Interest terminology

    https://www.zerohedge.com/news/2019-04-19/less-25-college-graduates-can-answer-4-simple-money-questions

    LOLZ I bought my “new” car six months ago for $12,000 with 77,000 miles on it, this despite after “throwing money away on rent” every month I have so much money that I don’t know where to throw it.

  12. “… neutron bomb detonating on the economy….”

    Not to mention secondary effects such as insurance companies not selling over-inflated H/O and fire (replacement value) contracts.

    Subtract out all the home improvement big box stores and contractors installing granite counter tops…

    1. “And, if it turns out that Binney is right, we’ll need to apologize to Russia, and then decide whom to send to prison for the rest of their miserable prevaricating lives.”

      I think the list may be quite long.

    2. Why is Seth Rich’s family so adamant that his murder wasn’t a hit by the DNC? Are politics more important to these people than their own son’s life? Reminds me of Mollie Tibbetts’ family.

  15. came across this recognized as the leading source of breaking news and up-to-date information for the housing and mortgage professional, DSNews.com, the counterpart to DS News magazine, has positioned itself at the forefront of an evolving industry. Providing site visitors with a powerful insider’s edge since 2006, DSNews.com is firmly positioned as the principal provider of relevant news for the default servicing sector. Through the wide range of innovative resources available on the site, visitors have access to tools that can keep them informed and educated about the latest news and insights impacting default servicing professionals. https://dsnews.com/

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