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There Are Many Opportunistic Buyers Who Are Going To Price Gouge

A report from the Chicago Tribune in Illinois. “‘We definitely had a slowdown,’ said Megan McCleary, a real estate broker with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices in Hinsdale. ‘Normally, I would have five buyers at this time,’ said Debi Myslicki, a real estate broker who owns Myslicki Real Estate in La Grange. ‘Currently, I have only two buyers who are actively looking.'”

“But the current decline doesn’t compare to what it was like during the recession in 2008. ‘Sellers aren’t giving away their homes now,’ said Lina Shah, a real estate broker for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Oak Brook. Inventory is low. ‘Fewer people are putting their homes on the market at the moment and they’re not taking any offer they get.'”

“‘Where it’s really down now is for houses over $800,000,’ said Laura Marquardt of Coldwell Banker Realty in Clarendon Hills.”

From WFAA in Texas. “This is usually the season when houses flood the real estate market. But many potential sellers may be holding off on listing their homes because of their own financial uncertainties, their concerns that the market may be too disrupted to fetch a good price. We spoke with realtor and broker Joe Atkins, of Joe Atkins Realty, who has held leadership positions with MetroTex. With unemployment soaring and wage losses commonplace in the era of COVID-19, lenders may be more concerned than ever about your finances as you go through the loan application process. Many are now requiring things like 20% down, a credit score of at least 700 and that you have six months worth of mortgage payments saved up in reserves.”

“‘What if you have issues with people and their employment going forward and they can’t make their payments? Banks are in the business of lending. They are not in the business of holding homes. So, they are making their guidelines stricter,’ Atkins said.”

The Orange County Register in California. “A routine report released Tuesday, April 28, paints a picture of a housing market that might have been, but thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, is no more. ‘We started with an absolute bang, absolute gangbusters. All my listings sold with multiple offers,’ said Holly Danna, an agent with Douglas Elliman in Manhattan Beach. ‘Then with the pandemic, it kind of changed everything. It stopped everyone dead in their tracks.'”

“Agent Noe Blanco described a series of obstacles that surfaced in the past month mainly due to increased mortgage finance standards. Non-traditional mortgages have vanished, minimum FICO scores have gone up and lender appraisals appear to be lower than in past months, he said. ‘Deals are closing, but it’s taking longer,’ said Blanco, an agent who handles transactions in L.A. County and the Inland Empire. Blanco, who works from home to avoid the virus because his wife is eight-months pregnant, has yet to sell a home since the lockdown began.”

“Danna said she is advising her clients not to drop their prices. ‘Sellers have to dig their heels in and hold on because there are many opportunistic buyers who are going to price gouge,’ she said.”

From NBC 10 Boston in Massachusetts. “If you can’t afford to pay your rent right now in Massachusetts, you don’t have to worry about getting kicked out of your apartment during the ongoing state emergency. That’s because state lawmakers hit the pause button on evictions for non-payment during the coronavirus pandemic. But property owners, especially smaller landlords, tell NBC10 Boston the law is putting them in financial limbo. ‘I’m feeling a lot of uncertainty,’ said Jocelyn Topolski, who owns a rental condo on the Cape. ‘I have to say the anxiety factor is big.'”

“Topolski told NBC10 Boston her tenant did not send a check for April’s rent. And she doesn’t know how long she’ll be without that cash flow. ‘Landlords still have to pay taxes, property insurance, an HOA, and perhaps a mortgage. All those expenses go on,’ she said.”

“Doug Quattrochi is executive director of MassLandlords, a nonprofit trade association with about 1,800 members across the state. He described the legislation as ‘one-sided.’ The organization recently put out a survey to members and said 22% responded they don’t know how they will pay their bills. Some said they plan to exit the housing business.”

The Miami Herald in Florida. “Statistics show that the majority of the 55,000 South Florida renters who were already living paycheck to paycheck when the coronavirus outbreak took their jobs managed to pay at least a portion of their April rent. But as the next due date of May 1 approaches, and the state’s overloaded unemployment system struggles to keep up with snowballing demand for help, renters and their landlords are bracing for another round of financial scrambling.”

“‘Getting by the first month was easy, because people will do whatever they can to keep a roof over their heads,’ said Enrique Teran, co-founder of Avanti Way Realty and CEO of Propfolio Management, which manages two million square feet of residential properties around South Florida for private landlords. ‘But unemployment has increased dramatically. I’m expecting a decrease of 10-15 percent of payments, bringing us down to a 78 percent collection rate. This is like being in the middle of the longest hurricane we’ve ever experienced in Miami. We don’t know how this rental market is going to recover.'”

“Christopher Zoller, a broker associate with Berkshire Hathaway EWM Realty, also moonlights as a landlord, renting out 12 properties around Miami-Dade County. All of his tenants were able to pay their rent on April 1, and only one asked for a discount. ‘My advice to landlords is to be kind and sympathetic, but make sure you are taking care of your business. We rely on these rent payments to pay our mortgages. The worst thing that can happen is you have a vacant property sitting on the market with no income at all. So what’s the better option: collecting 40 or 50 percent of the rent now, or collecting nothing at all?'”

From National Public Radio. “Airbnb has lost considerable appeal as the pandemic courses its way through the world, paralyzing travel. Josep Navas Masip, 44, took some time off his job as a college Spanish professor to pursue a master’s degree, leaning on his Airbnb rentals in South Philadelphia to pay the bills. He even purchased a neighbor’s home with the goal of doubling his $2,000-per-month Airbnb income. That was just before the pandemic struck.”

“‘In the middle of the renovation, the coronavirus crisis hit,’ he said. ‘I had to cancel my renovations, and I had to tell the contractor to stop working.'”

“Navas Masip now wonders whether he should rent out the house he just bought, or even put it up for sale.Airbnb has set aside $250 million to help hosts. But the money covers about 25% of their cancellation fees, which is a fraction of what they used to make. Airbnb also offers $5,000 grants to high-volume hosts but, under the rules, a host needs to have used the platform for at least a year. Navas Masip’s time on Airbnb is just shy of that, so he does not qualify.”

“‘I have, now, two mortgages. I don’t have any income,’ Navas Masip said. ‘And I don’t know when I’m going to be able to start doing Airbnb again. So I’m thinking about maybe taking a loan from a family member or start talking to a bank.'”

“Janice Honeycut, 57, said she and her husband thought they’d ‘recession-proofed’ their retirement before the pandemic came along. They have 100 acres of land nestled right along the Appalachian Trail in eastern Tennessee. In addition to her Airbnb, she and her husband run an organic farm, a camp ground and a massage-therapy business.”

“Like more than half of Airbnb hosts, the money she made from her listings was a primary source of income. No longer. ‘Every single one of them, we now realize, was dependent on hospitality,’ she said.”

The Real Deal on New York. “Short-term rentals in a luxury high-rise — what could go wrong? Try ‘nightmarish living conditions’ ranging from armed robbery to harassment, according to a lawsuit by two tenants at 20 Broad Street in the Financial District. In a 54-page complaint filed Monday in New York, the disgruntled tenants at Metroloft Management’s office-to-residential conversion detailed a myriad of grievances that they largely pinned on Sonder, a hospitality startup that occupies the first eight floors.”

“‘Sonder is the worst kind of nightmare neighbor one could imagine,’ the complaint said. ‘It showed up unexpected and uninvited, trashed the place and the neighborhood, and now refuses to leave.'”

“In the complaint, the tenants claimed neither Metroloft nor a leasing agent from Bold New York told them Sonder operated in the building. Upon moving in, the complaint said, they found ‘unfinished’ conditions including no gas or hot water in the kitchen. But they alleged the bigger issue was the security threat posed by guests of Sonder, which is valued at more than $1 billion after raising more than $400 million from investors.”

“‘While Sonder is venture-capital backed and has raised several hundred million dollars to date, its business model betrays a total lack of accountability to, or concern for, the communities in which it operates,’ the complaint states. ‘Sonder’s guests cause a disproportionate number of issues, including but not limited to drug use, drug dealing, theft, harassment, armed robbery, and assault, all of which have occurred in the building in just under a year.'”

“In November, the complaint said, six armed men walked in the front door, rode the elevator to the ninth floor, crashed a Sonder party and ‘viciously beat one of the attendees’ with a gun before leaving the same way they came.”

“The incident stoked fear among residents given that building staff with a special key fob can enter any residence. According to the complaint, building representatives occasionally used their fobs without permission and in some cases entered apartments ‘when residents were engaged in extremely private and sensitive moments without clothes.'”

The Bend Bulletin in Oregon. “With thousands of vacation rentals and second houses in Central Oregon sitting vacant during the COVID-19 pandemic, Sunriver Police Chief Cory Darling has his officers on alert for squatters and burglars. ‘We have a lot of empty homes here in Sunriver, which makes us a prime target for people coming in and wanting to do burglaries, or to live the life in Sunriver and stay in a nice home for a while,’ he said.”

“On April 1, the Deschutes County Commission approved an order prohibiting short-term rental stays to help slow the spread of COVID-19. The order, which ends May 15, applies to Sunriver and Black Butte Ranch, though not the cities of Bend, Redmond, Sisters and La Pine. Darling thinks people these days are more interested in squatting than stealing, but often, people who break into houses are also willing to steal from them.”

“Police believe this is the case for Shawn Michael Schmaltz, who was caught after allegedly breaking into two Sunriver condos April 18. And for Deanne Claire Young and David Manzenko, who were arrested Thursday by Sunriver Police after allegedly squatting briefly in a home on Whistling Swan Lane. Schmaltz, 32, of Vancouver, Washington, was charged with two counts of first-degree burglary and one count of second-degree theft. Young, 30, of Hawaii, and Manzenko, 28, of Sacramento, California, were charged with first-degree burglary.”

“Randy Parmele, who was checking on the Whistling Swan Lane home for its owner, said Young and Manzenko didn’t trash the house, but when he discovered them there, they seemed quite comfortable. ‘They were cooking a meal and partying, playing music real loud,’ Parmele said. ‘They had just made themselves at home.'”

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This Post Has 135 Comments

  1. ‘Sellers aren’t giving away their homes now…they’re not taking any offer they get’

    Good to know Lina. I’ll check back when you go hungry.

    1. https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/pending-home-sales-tank-nearly-21percent-in-march-but-realtors-claim-prices-will-hold-up.html

      “In fact, due to the ongoing housing shortage, home prices are likely to squeeze out a gain in 2020 to a new record high,” he added, projecting that the national median home price will increase 1.3% for the year, with some local market variations and more weakness on the upper end of the market.

      Bay Area prices are getting killed. So is rent. This is like only 6 weeks. I’m looking at the history of some rentals and they are below 2018 or 2017 asking prices. Of course, start-ups and unicorns are getting annihilated.

      https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/lyft-lays-off-17percent-of-workforce-furloughs-hundreds-more.html

      1. “Of course, start-ups and unicorns are getting annihilated.”

        – I think the Si Valley phrase “unicorns” sums up the whole “not making money/WeWork “business” model. The unicorn is a mythical beast after all. Remember, people die in fairy tales.

        – Just more Federal Reserve fiat money going to money heaven. I’m so old, I remember when a business was supposed to be profitable, and not be some fishing lure for a buyout down the road with no profits, but a great (BS) story…

        – How is this different than Elizabeth Holmes and Theranos?

        – BTW, I think Boeing (BA) is the poster child for the current economic conditions and for those leading up to them. It was having serious engineering and financial problems before the pandemic; stock buybacks and other nonproductive financial engineering out the wazoo. Real aerospace engineering, not so much. I’m sure they’re in line if not already receiving funds for government (aka taxpayer) bailouts. Moral hazard out the wazoo too!

        2. Actually Boeing did issue new bonds today to fund their business and the bond offering was significantly oversubscribed. Hopefully they issue junk bonds instead of asking for a taxpayer bailout.

          United Airlines issued more common stock to pay for their business operations. Oh the humanity! The shareholders had to have their shares diluted!

          The only good news about these obscene, wreck less share buybacks these corporations have engaged in is that now they can resell those shares and raise more capital.

    2. how come it is not opportunistic on the way up? Hang tough sellers – it wont drop by more than 25% by next spring
      —–
      “Danna said she is advising her clients not to drop their prices. ‘Sellers have to dig their heels in and hold on because there are many opportunistic buyers who are going to price gouge,’ she said.”

          1. Same difference. They are all flying off the shelves (ask a used home seller if you don’t believe me) so there’s no inventory.

        2. That was my first thought as well — the cash is going the wrong way.

          Unless, of course, this is yet another layer of entitlement on the part of realtors and sellers clinging to unrealistic asking prices.

      2. Danna said she is advising her clients not to drop their prices.

        It’s great that Danna doesn’t need income and can wait for the right deal no matter how long it takes. I wonder if her clients can say the same thing?

      3. I too thought the use of price gouge referring to the demand side as being a bit strange and most likely supports the fact that she is not the sharpest tool in the shed.

        As our wise blog-owner Ben Jones said “You enjoyed the boom and now you can enjoy the bust”.

  2. ‘I have, now, two mortgages. I don’t have any income’

    Looks like, now, you’re fooked Navas.

    1. what makes a 44 year old college prof (presumably making good $s) take unwaranteed risks? Or perhaps he was given a tip that it was fool proof.

      i would love to understand in these stories if there was a realtor providing advice.

      1. “what makes a 44 year old college prof (presumably making good $s) take unwaranteed risks?”

        – BC the cattle prod of the Federal Reserve’s financial repression policies screwed and is continuing to screw savers and virtually any financially prudent or conservative person. Think those on fixed income, retirees, pensioners, and now even avg. Jane and Joe Americans. Needed to “reach for yield” BS. Combine this with the globalists labor and wage arbitrage (i.e. jobs outsourced), and there’s almost no way to earn a living wage. Enter financial engineering. This shell game has led to income and wealth inequality and growing populism and will lead to civil unrest this time, since economic conditions were already poor leading up to the popping of “The Everything Bubble”, which was only accelerated by the CCP virus pandemic. Interesting times indeed.

        2. Years ago we owned GNMA bonds that would pay monthly interest of 7.75%. Now we are earning 2% on GNMA bonds. Financial Repression it is; wise you are.

        3. The ultra-low interest rate environment has enticed people to make dumb investments using leverage. Stupid is as stupid does. Also he says he’s earning a master’s degree to be a professor? I thought you had to have a master’s degree as a minimum requirement to even be an instructor except in the case of my college instructor who was a CPA and had a bachelor’s degree. His professional certification substituted for a master’s degree.

      2. “what makes a 44 year old college prof (presumably making good $s) take unwaranteed risks?”

        I personally know a couple college professors with tenure around that age (47, 51). Like many other professions, for profs at many schools it’s not the secure profession that it once used to be. Tenure != lifetime security and especially retirements and benefits (like health) have been gutted.

        – BC the cattle prod of the Federal Reserve’s financial repression policies screwed and is continuing to screw savers and virtually any financially prudent or conservative person. Think those on fixed income, retirees, pensioners, and now even avg. Jane and Joe Americans.

        Exactly, and it show no signs of stopping.

      3. what makes a 44 year old college prof (presumably making good $s) take unwaranteed risks?

        The difference between living a comfortable middle class lifestyle vs. having more. A Camry vs. a high end Audi. More trips to Europe, better hotels, better restaurants. A vacation home.

        In other words: greed.

      4. I have a PH.D on my team who can’t figure out how to share a webex screen without significan’t hand holding. Extremely sharp where needed, however.

          2. My junior high school English teacher had a PhD. His memorable explanation of the levels of academic achievement went as follows:

            BS = Bull $h!t
            MS = More of the $ame
            PhD = Pile it higher and deeper

      5. He took some time off to get a masters’ degree … in what? Does he not have a masters’ degree? Or is he trying to get into another field?

    3. Zerohedge has a story today on the Airbnb trainwreck. Money quote:

      AirDNA has determined that a third of Airbnb’s US hosts have one property. Another third have two and 24 properties and get ready for this: a third have more than 24.

      If true, dooms’ a coming.

      1. Sounds like at least a 50% wipeout of Airbnb hosts is baked into the cake at this point. I wonder how many total properties that is? Maybe the Fed should just buy Zillow and Airbnb and get some synergy going by buying up all the Airbnb properties at their Zestimated values and listing them with Zillow for as long as it takes to avoid taking a paper loss. We wouldn’t want them messing up the value of the bank’s collateral due to something nobody could have seen coming.

        1. I tried to find that number myself and one site said 66K but that seems light to me. I could see it easily being 10x that.

          1. Shocking. Where’s that barf emoji?

            I think this is important to watch, because these companies are the perfect way for the Fed to start buying houses under the table to support prices.

          3. In this event, can we march on Washington with nothing but the barf emoji on our signs? The million barf march? 🤮🤮🤮 If Airbnb is saved but the small-town cafe and hair salon are not, there’s going to be a revolution.

      2. Sounds like the chronic housing inventory shortage in destination cities is soon to end.

      3. AirBnB superhosts buying anything in sight.
        Chinese buying anything in sight.
        Subprime loans in full-force.

        Just read an article that predicts -1.0% home price declines in 2020

        1. Since prices are sticky on the way down, -1.0% might be realistic for 2020, seeing as volume is so low and forbearance will kick the can down the road until at least the fall.

          2021, on the other hand…

  3. ‘The organization recently put out a survey to members and said 22% responded they don’t know how they will pay their bills. Some said they plan to exit the housing business’

    They can always sell, right Doug?

    DONG!

    1. No way – Danna in the previous news article said not to drop prices that encourage the opportunists

  5. ‘Non-traditional mortgages have vanished, minimum FICO scores have gone up and lender appraisals appear to be lower than in past months… lenders may be more concerned than ever about your finances as you go through the loan application process. Many are now requiring things like 20% down, a credit score of at least 700 and that you have six months worth of mortgage payments saved up in reserves’

    ‘lender appraisals appear to be lower than in past months’

    Wa? This would mean prices are down! The six months reserve thing is new. The risk layering continues to be stripped off day after day.

    1. Unlike the last bust, I am flush with cash. I will be buying things I like at a discount quite soon.

    2. 6 months reserves… Hmmmm. You see that in investment loans but not owner occupied SFH. If that becomes widespread that will take a serious bite out of demand as more are knocked out of the eligible FB pool.

      1. When I bought in 2012, I don’t think I could have coughed up 20% down and six months of payments all at once without cutting things extremely close or dipping into retirement. And that was a relatively low price 3x income house, conservative by post-2000 standards.

        If they institute those requirements, then nobody will be buying houses except BlackRock and the Fed. Who are the dying boomers going to sell to?

        1. those requirements, then nobody will be buying houses

          House prices can go down to meet the available money. I’ve seen more than a few places over the years where house prices fell to $5K. A mining town when the mine shut down (Yellow Dog). A foundry town (Bessimer in Grove City). If $5K is all people will offer, that will be the price.

          When this boomer dies, selling the house for what the market will bear will not be my problem.

      2. In this situation you have to ask yourself, “Under what conditions would I take hundreds of thousands of dollars from my own hard-earned savings and lend it to somebody to buy a shack?”

  7. “…used their fobs without permission and in some cases entered apartments ‘when residents were engaged in extremely private and sensitive moments without clothes…’”

    Hi! My name is George, George Orwell. Don’t mind me, continue on. I’ll be checking back from time to time. Let me know if you need anything. Cheers!

    1. Alexa has been doing that for years, and the sheeple pay her (and her creepy oligarch creators) no mind.

  8. “The Orange County Register in California. “A routine report released Tuesday, April 28, paints a picture of a housing market that might have been, but thanks to the coronavirus outbreak, is no more.”

    – Stick a fork in it. Housing market 2020+ (read housing bubble 2.0 already popped, it’s just more apparent now).

    “Holly Danna, an agent with Douglas Elliman in Manhattan Beach. ‘Then with the pandemic, it kind of changed everything. It stopped everyone dead in their tracks.’”

    – Might want to consider a different phrasing on that… Don’t want to scare away potential buyers with that death thing.

    “Danna said she is advising her clients not to drop their prices. ‘Sellers have to dig their heels in and hold on because there are many opportunistic buyers who are going to price gouge,’ she said.”

    – Let’s see,
    a) Suddenly, high unemployment
    b) Suddenly, (much) tighter lending standards
    c) Suddenly, STRs (aka Airbnb, etc.) with no income and needing an out, will try the LTR path, but many will likely be forced to sell, since LTR income is much less vs. STR income.
    d) Suddenly, consumer sentiment about purchasing big ticket items is in the crapper.
    e) Suddenly, pending home sales (PHS), a leading housing indicator are also in the crapper. NHS too.
    f) All of this (and more), in spite of record low mortgage rates and the peak selling season
    – and yet, we get this kind of advice from a Realtor…

    – Finally, “joke of the day” article from Diana O. Hope springs eternal.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2020/04/29/pending-home-sales-tank-nearly-21percent-in-march-but-realtors-claim-prices-will-hold-up.html

    Pending home sales tank nearly 21% in March, but Realtors claim prices will hold up

    Published Wed, Apr 29 202010:00 AM EDTUpdated Moments Ago
    Diana Olick

    Signed contracts to buy existing homes, referred to as pending home sales, fell 20.8% compared with February and were 16.3% lower annually, according to the National Association of Realtors.

    “The housing market is temporarily grappling with the coronavirus-induced shutdown, which pulled down new listings and new contracts,” said Lawrence Yun, NAR’s chief economist.

    The average rate on the 30-year fixed mortgage fell to a new low of 3.43% last week, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association

    “The spring season will still be anemic, though, and even potential pent-up demand released in the fall will not be able to make up for the losses.”

    “Yun is now predicting total home sales for 2020 will be 14% lower annually. He does not, however, predict big losses for home values.”

    “In fact, due to the ongoing housing shortage, home prices are likely to squeeze out a gain in 2020 to a new record high,” he added,…”

    1. holy deity … is this really economic analysis from NAR

      ——
      “Yun is now predicting total home sales for 2020 will be 14% lower annually. He does not, however, predict big losses for home values.”

      “In fact, due to the ongoing housing shortage, home prices are likely to squeeze out a gain in 2020 to a new record high,” he added,…”

      1. NAR/REIC COVID-19 Mantra:
        – Sales are down, but not prices
        – Sellers aren’t going to just give it away!

    2. “He does not, however, predict big losses for home values.”

      He’s right. Home *values* will go up. Home prices, on the other hand, will not.

      1. wow – that is brilliant analysis of the NAR analysis. Or you are channeling Statler and Waldorf from the Muppets.

  10. “Danna said she is advising her clients not to drop their prices. ‘Sellers have to dig their heels in and hold on because there are many opportunistic buyers who are going to price gouge,’ she said.”

    Well, it was a good thing Dana saved all those commissions from the bidding wars sales. Wait, there wasn’t any? You lie? You’re fooked Dana

    1. “…hold on because there are many opportunistic buyers who are going to price gouge…”

      So, Holly Danna, are you telling us that there were no opportunistic, price gouging, greedy sellers and especially realtors on the way up???

  11. “But the current decline doesn’t compare to what it was like during the recession in 2008.”

    That was over a decade ago and people have short memories. Prices dip 5% and there’s an attitude of “better buy those steep discounts now.”

    In my neighborhood in Portland, equity locusts just bought a house for $15K over asking for the highest priced (by $50K) house here…in a declining market. (the other 2 properties for sale haven’t got a buyer in sight) These people either have a lot of money or a lot of debt. Escalade in the driveway tells me it’s debt. I mean, who buys Escalades?

    Portland: where California money comes to die.

    1. Oh, forgot to add, on top of that they also have put in about $25-30K in “improvements” per the contractor who I struck up a conversation with. I’ve been in this place and based on the pics of the other properties it already had the most up-to-date finishes.

    2. i am following some blogs and FB groups on Oahu condos.

      The amount of folks just itching to jump in for a ‘once-lifetime’ opportunity is beyond belief

      1. I have to wonder if there is a group of people that are fearing inflation/hyperinflation and are feeling something akin to a panic need to convert their cash/helicopter bucks/cheap debt into some sort of “hard asset”.

        1. I think they have valued concerns. I cant believe how much as already came of the helicopter and I dont think they are done.

          1. “I cant believe how much as already came of the helicopter and I dont think they are done.”

            This stimulus program is mainly window dressing to keep the herd from freaking out (propping up confidence). On the other hand, the stimulus money they’re throwing at institutions from a debt defaulting perspective is like trying to fill the grand canyon with tea cups.

      2. …. and the fraudsters and criminals(realtors, inspectors, appraisers, mortgage brokers) are right there ready to scalp the fools.

    3. I mean, who buys Escalades?

      That’s a funny point. I wonder how many Escalades have been bought with cash? Other than the occasional poor ignorant kid that just struck it not-poor I can’t imagine anyone with that kind of money wanting one.

        1. “for certain demographics”

          I travel(ed) a bit to the South Bay area of California for business the past 5 years. It’s got “San Jose bungalow with security screen door and multiple SUVs in the driveway” written all over it.

      2. An Escalade is an overpriced Chevy Tahoe, which is itself an overpriced SUV. But if you want one, I bet there will be plenty getting repossessed and sold at auctions soon.

    1. “…5,400 out of 27,000 employees…?”

      Uber HQ is in downtown SF.

      I’m sure those highly paid 5,400 laid off will instantly jump into the over the top SF R/E market and gladly pay $2-$3m for a 50 year old crap shack.

      S/F Realtors: Now is your big chance!

    2. Uber supposedly had a division working on autonomous cars. Still, I can’t imagine it employing more than a few hundred people.

      1. A lot of that autonomous division was in Pittsburgh…they’ve been trying to recruit me for a number of years.

  14. “‘While Sonder is venture-capital backed and has raised several hundred million dollars to date, its business model betrays a total lack of accountability to, or concern for, the communities in which it operates,’ the complaint states. ‘Sonder’s guests cause a disproportionate number of issues, including but not limited to drug use, drug dealing, theft, harassment, armed robbery, and assault, all of which have occurred in the building in just under a year.’”

    Sounds like what NYC landlords did in SRO hotels in the 1980s, to get long time tenants out. Is Sonder’s other business buying luxury condos at fire sale prices, and then removing its transient renters and selling at higher prices?

  15. So as these people are getting run over by the corvid steamroller, who is actually making money. Will tourists and business travelers go back to hotel chains, to bed-and-breakfasts, to RVs…. Or will everyone staycation for the next 2 years

    ———
    “Like more than half of Airbnb hosts, the money she made from her listings was a primary source of income. No longer. ‘Every single one of them, we now realize, was dependent on hospitality,’ she said.”

    1. Illusion$, Delusion$ … Repre$$ion$ Dece$$ion$ … the xaoh.deeth.👾.munche$.&.munche$.$tealthly.progre$$ively.uncea$ingly.invi$ibly towards its ultimate de$tiny!

      +

      $ynchronized Global $lowing is a $ocial.media digital di$tributional di$informational myth!

      Coming $oon!:
      Long.live.$oft.landing$!

    2. “Like more than half of Airbnb hosts, the money she made from her listings was a primary source of income. No longer. ‘Every single one of them, we now realize, was dependent on hospitality,’ she said.”

      I remember when we decided we were going to be a service economy instead of a manufacturing economy. So how’s that working out?

      1. Yep, we’re all getting “serviced” by the fed reserve and the greedheads like these air(bnb)heads chasing a piece of cheese. . .

        1. The 0.1% strategy for decades has been to avoid referendums. They already know they’ll get an answer they don’t want. So they avoid asking the question. And that’s how we got Trump and almost got Sanders.

          1. how we got Trump and almost got Sanders.

            The way things are headed, we’ll get worse divides before we get better.

          2. The way things are headed, we’ll get worse divides before we get better.

            Agreed. If it continues someday lefties will look back fondly on Trump the way they currently are wishing they could return to the days of W.

  16. ‘Currently, I have only two buyers who are actively looking.’”

    Those are looky-loos, Megan. Not to be confused with buyers.

  17. ‘Sellers aren’t giving away their homes now,’ said Lina Shah, a real estate broker for Coldwell Banker Residential Brokerage Oak Brook. Inventory is low. ‘Fewer people are putting their homes on the market at the moment and they’re not taking any offer they get.’”

    I’ve got all the time in the world, greedheads. You don’t.

  18. Banks are in the business of lending. They are not in the business of holding homes. So, they are making their guidelines stricter,’ Atkins said.”

    Too little, too late, Atkins. When FBs start walking away en masse from their underwater shacks, then the banks, as they slide into insolvency while holding a portfolio of rapidly depreciating shacks, are going to have plenty of time to rue the day they lowered their lending standards.

    1. the banks, as they slide into insolvency while holding a portfolio of rapidly depreciating shacks, are going to have plenty of time to rue the day they lowered their lending standards

      Like they did last time?

  19. ‘We started with an absolute bang, absolute gangbusters. All my listings sold with multiple offers,’ said Holly Danna, an agent with Douglas Elliman in Manhattan Beach.

    Those idiot FBs are getting banged, all right. Good and hard.

  20. “Danna said she is advising her clients not to drop their prices. ‘Sellers have to dig their heels in and hold on because there are many opportunistic buyers who are going to price gouge,’ she said.”

    You stick to your guns, greedheads. Any day now our debt-fueled “growth” will resume its permanently upward trajectory as the FedBux flow like a mighty river. Or maybe the can-kicking just died in the arse.

    1. “Or maybe the can-kicking just died in the arse.”

      It seems if the ‘rona won’t do it, nothing short of a real bring out your dead or Red Dawn scenario will.

  21. That’s because state lawmakers hit the pause button on evictions for non-payment during the coronavirus pandemic.

    The implications of governments arbitrarily overturning contract law are far reaching, but most ‘Muricans lack the intelligence to see the unintended consequences that are going to result from this government overreach.

    1. His long public absence does seem to give credence to the rumors that the Crazy Fat Kid might be dead, and the power struggle to be his successor isn’t over yet. If so, was there a coup? Or did he die of natural causes?

    2. Do you think it is possible that over.weight obese North Koreans can have the same cardiac/heart issues as over.weight obese North Americans suffer from on a yearly basis?

      Where’$ Dennis Rodman 🏀 bye the way?

        1. Queen Fat Bottomed Girls underrated lyrics 🙂

          Hey, listen here
          Now I got mortgages and homes
          I got stiffness in the bones
          Ain’t no beauty queens in this locality (I tell you)
          Oh, but I still get my pleasure
          Still got my greatest treasure
          Heap big woman you done made a big man of me

          https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qBk8MnT-Tvk

          1. How did he blow his millions of earnings?

            Not to suggest that celebrity athletes aren’t among the world’s leading experts at making a small fortune, by starting with a large fortune and spending it like a drunken sailor…

      4. Kim has co-morbidities for sure. And he doesn’t need to hide out 100%. He can still address his people via video. Which he hasn’t done.

          1. An interesting study for anyone who had access to a newspaper archive (even Google if you were sufficiently skilled) would be to document the frequency of Baby Face Kim sightings in the media. He seems like the type who traditionally has appeared in the news every other day or more since assuming the mantle of power. One might track his frequency of news coverage over time and see if there is a recent break in the structure of the distribution of time intervals between sightings.

  23. The organization recently put out a survey to members and said 22% responded they don’t know how they will pay their bills. Some said they plan to exit the housing business.”

    Good riddance. You’ve had renters over the barrel for the past 11 years. Now it’s your turn to squeal.

  24. “‘I have, now, two mortgages. I don’t have any income,’ Navas Masip said. ‘And I don’t know when I’m going to be able to start doing Airbnb again. So I’m thinking about maybe taking a loan from a family member or start talking to a bank.’”

    Navas Masip: “Sir, I have no mortgages and no income. I here to ask about a loan.”

    Mr. Banker: BWHAHHAAHAHAHAAAAA!! Beat it, loser.

  25. ‘Every single one of them, we now realize, was dependent on hospitality,’ she said.”

    It’s a pretty inhospitable world out there, these days. Better start sawin’ and slashin’ and divest yourself of those alligators.

  26. “‘While Sonder is venture-capital backed and has raised several hundred million dollars to date, its business model betrays a total lack of accountability to, or concern for, the communities in which it operates,’ the complaint states. ‘

    Like most vulture funds, they were astute enough to pay off the Democrats and thus could break the law with impunity.

  27. “Christopher Zoller, a broker associate with Berkshire Hathaway EWM Realty, also moonlights as a landlord, renting out 12 properties around Miami-Dade County.”

    Anyone else think that this stinks to high heaven with conflict of interest?

  30. Hey 👀, thee.xaoh.non.deeth👾.killa.germ$ have been vanqui$hed bye 🔫 🛸 🤫 … 💪📈📈📈🚀👆👏🎉🎆🎇🍷 🚫 $tocks in thee 🚽fear$! … 🐝 Free to 🎳, attend NASCAR 🏁, go share a 🌭 @ ⚾ 🏟️ … hurry, hurry, enjoy!

    (You think what these folk$ are doing might $pread?)

    BUSINE$$ NEW$ / APRIL 29, 2020

    Indian$ venture into U.$. stock$ as market$ $lump at home.

    Reuters / By Ahirup Roy

    MUMBAI (Reuters) – More Indian investor$ are turning to U.S. stocks to e$cape tumbling market$ at home and pick up expo$ure to global technology giant$ that are ri$ing through the coronaviru$-led market turmoil$.

    With more mom-and-pop investors chasing overseas stock investments that were until now a hobby of the wealthy, brokers that help investors navigate these trades through India’s highly restrictive cross-border investment rules are thriving.

    Vested Finance, an investment firm that helps Indians buy or sell U.S. stocks, opened 4,000 new accounts in March, double that in February. The company usually sees a 30% rise in account openings each month.

    Mehta, 45, bought more shares last month as widespread restrictions around the world to limit the spread of coronavirus sent markets tumbling.

    “I jumped at the opportunity and increased my holdings more than four-fold,” Mehta told Reuters. As markets recover from the pandemic, he wants U.S. stocks to be a fifth of his portfolio, up from 5% now.

    “What’s interesting about U.S. stocks is that you not only get exposure to the United States but also to the world, as many companies have global operations but are listed there,” said Viram Shah, co-founder and CEO of Vested Finance.

    While most retail investors are interested in high profile brands such as Facebook, Google and Netflix, Shah said, some have sought $ectors such as cannabi$ and gene-editing CRIS$PR technology that are not available in India.

    1. Thing$ my eye$ wa$ “expo$ed” to on that data $heet:

      52W High (-80.05%)

      Perf Quarter. (-81.78%)
      Perf Half Year (-77.46%)
      Perf Year (-63.07%)

      Perf YTD (-75.17%)

      Their Future$ look 🌞 🎉 …

  32. OK. the crating hasn’t even started and the stock market is back to 25K DOW.

    WTF… can the FED really stop the deflation in houses???… Come on, damn it. I want lower prices for everybody and all those airbnb geniuses fawked.

    1. They will be fawked…but the Fed will be buying houses, and mostly sitting on them very soon.

      Bonds
      MBS
      Junk Bonds
      ETFs
      .
      .
      .
      Real Estate

      1. Does the Fed’s charter really permit it to HODL residential real estate?

        If they did this, would they be responsible for HODLing costs?

        1. Does the Fed’s charter really permit it to HODL residential real estate?

          Does it matter any more? They’ll do what they want and disguise it as necessary. Seems to me we’re getting to the end of any disguises being needed at all, though. Now people are grateful when they take overpriced assets off our hands. Who cares where the money comes from?

  33. My family and I will NOT be traveling this year or the next. we’ll just take short one day trips. Airbnb thanks but no thanks!! although it was a good deal in Rome las year.

    Sep 2019 I took my family of 3 to western Europe (France, Spain & Italy) for 20 days. I spent around $2500 bucks out of pocket mostly for food and activities. I paid most of it with miles and points. Meanwhile, my co-worker dropped $6500 for a 6-day trip to Cancun for 3, just before I left for Europe… My other co-worker dropped 8K on a trip to Hawaii for 4. Jeez… people drop cash like it grows on trees like apples.

    Anyway, I have like 1 Million miles and points that will not be used for the next 18 months.

    1. I was planning a summer vacation to Florida and Indiana this year. It’s cancelled. I had a business trip to DC in May but it was postponed to August and I’m 99% sure it will be cancelled too. I had plan on an International business trip to Spain in October. Most likely this will be cancelled. At this point, it’s better to play it safe.

      1. I’m planning a camping trip to the Great Smokies in May and 1 or 2 trips to northern lower Michigan in June, July or August. If those aren’t possible I’ll pitch my tent in my back yard.

  37. will it be harder for owners in default to stay in their homes?
    is the 5 year “shelter in place” and stiff the bank over?

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