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Stay Tuned For More Price-Cut-A-Palooza

A report from Danielle DiMartino Booth at Bloomberg. “The Covid-19 pandemic has unleashed numerous unexpected economic consequences. One that has turned out to be good for the economy but could end up being disastrous is the boom in mortgage refinancings. Just like with the last financial crisis, there are signs that the surge in U.S. consumers seeking to take advantage of ever lower borrowing costs are being aided by relaxed lending standards.”

“The Mortgage Bankers Association’s refinancing index soared in March to its highest level since 2012, and remains more than 40% above its level this time a year ago despite about 13 million Americans being out of work and relying on weekly unemployment jobless benefits from the government.”

“All this activity is being aided by a relatively new innovation called the automated appraisal waiver from Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. As the name suggests, the waiver means a homeowner who meets certain requirements does not need to obtain an appraisal in order to take out a new mortgage. The result has been nothing short of breathless. The two firms account for an estimated 80% of all conventional refinancings and 90% of all ‘cash out’ refinancings, according to data compiled by the American Enterprise Institute, or AEI.”

“The jump in cash out refinancings represents a 66% increase in the space of seven months thanks in part to automated underwriting. Readers may recall that in the years leading up to the last housing bust, Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac automated income documentation. While that sped up the loan process, which seemed essential at the time given the magnitude of application volumes, it also proved to be a system that could be gamed. There were no safeguards against submitting multiple applications until the income provided finally qualified in the automated system. In the end, ‘no documentation’ often suited best. We know how that ended.”

“Appraisal waivers have been key in supercharging the latest refinancing activity, according to Edward Pinto, the director of the AEI’s Housing Center and who was Fannie Mae’s chief credit officer in the 1980s. He conceived one of the first automated pricing models in the early 1990’s.”

“Here’s what he says: ‘I’m a big fan of automation,’ Pinto said in a recent conversation. ‘But the one I designed was for a bank, which retained the risk of the mortgage. With Fannie and Freddie, it’s the taxpayer who assumes the risk, so their only incentive is to push volumes and share as high as possible. We saw how dangerous this was with the GSEs’ automated underwriting systems in the ’00 years. My fear is that appraisal waivers will repeat the same pro-cyclical mistake.'”

“The average equity extraction on a cash out refinancing these days exceeds $60,000, and more homeowners will be enticed to extract equity with every uptick in home prices. The latest data from Redfin shows median home prices have reached record highs and are up 13% over the last year. That helped propel aggregate cash withdrawal volumes to about $100 billion in the past six months based on AEI calculations. And even with refinancing volumes up more than 200% over the same period in the last year, the mortgage analytics firm Black Knight figures nearly 20 million homeowners are still eligible to refinance their mortgages.”

From Realtor.com. “Millions of U.S. homeowners are behind on their mortgage payments and struggling to hang on to their abodes. First-time, minority, and lower-income homeowners are among those most at risk of losing their homes. About 17.4% of the roughly 8 million Federal Housing Administration mortgages, primarily made to these more vulnerable borrowers, were delinquent in August. Roughly 11.2% of FHA loans were seriously delinquent.”

“Put another way, that means about 1.4 million households are in danger of losing their homes if they can’t begin making their mortgage payments again in the near future. FHA loans cater to borrowers who often have lower credit scores and higher debt loads. These loans, whose required down payments are as low as 3.5% in many instances, made up about 15% of all mortgages in 2019.”

“In the Atlanta metro, more than 53,000 FHA loans are delinquent. (Metros include the main city and surrounding towns, suburbs, and smaller urban areas.) FHA loans make up about 21.2% of all mortgages in the Atlanta area. The Houston metropolitan area had the second-highest number of delinquent FHA loans. It was followed by Chicago; Washington, DC; Dallas; Riverside, CA; Baltimore; San Antonio, TX; Orlando, FL; and Tampa, FL.”

“If there is another rash of foreclosures in a particular neighborhood, it can spiral quickly, lowering property values for homeowners who never missed a payment.”

From the Houston Chronicle in Texas. “More than 1 million homeowners are at least 30 days behind on their mortgage payments despite aid from the CARES Act, a sign that the law meant to ease financial stress and ward off foreclosures has let many fall through the cracks, data from Black Knight shows. Misconceptions, a lack of awareness and, in Houston, bad experiences with mortgage relief programs in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey have led to the pitfall, say housing counselors.”

“The majority of the homeowners who have fallen behind on their mortgage payments likely fall into that category — 680,000, or 62 percent, are federally backed, according to Black Knight. ‘So many families, after Hurricane Harvey, fell victim to some practices where they were not aware (that) at the end of the deferral period, all of those dollars became due,’ said Kathy Payton, chief executive of Fifth Ward Community Redevelopment, which offers free housing counseling. ‘So some families are distrustful of the lending environment. They think it’s set up for failure.'”

From WCNC in North Carolina. “‘We’ve never seen a housing market so emotional,’ said David Hoffman of the David Hoffman Group. Hoffman just launched his own real estate brokerage in the Marvin area. The big question is, are we in an odd bubble? When COVID-19 breaks, will the bubble burst and reality set in? A sellers’ market can quickly turn the other way. ‘If you are going to sell in the next five years, think about selling now, protect that equity because I think in the next two years, we might have a pretty large fall. Data tells me prices have more than doubled in the last 10 years, both the median and the mean, and they have outpaced wages and salaries, so I expect a fall,’ said Hoffman.”

The Daily Republic in California. “Q: My husband and I read your column every week. Now we need help. We have four young children at home. My husband is the sole provider and is the manager of an upscale restaurant in Napa. When the novel coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown happened in March the restaurant closed and he, along with everyone else, was laid off. So he hasn’t worked for seven months. When the unemployment checks included the extra $600 per week we were doing OK. But now, putting food on the table and paying our electric bill is about the best we can do. As a result, our house is going into foreclosure. We desperately want to save our home. With no income, save for unemployment, we don’t even know who would rent to us. Are there any programs out there to either help us save our home or at least help get us into another house?”

“A: When you said you ‘need help’ and then explained you had four small children, I was sure your email had been misaddressed. But as I read, I saw that your plight is undoubtedly one that I will be hearing more and more as time goes on. Most of the programs that have been put in place by the federal, state and local governments seem to focus on protecting renters. Your average working-class homeowner has been mostly left out of the equation.”

“Back in March, Gov. Gavin Newsom reached an agreement with California’s ‘major banks’ that essentially delayed many foreclosure actions in the state. This was an agreement, not a law. While many banks seem to be continuing to recognize the agreement, they aren’t being compelled to do so. If a government entity wants to come in and just tell a mortgage holder, ‘Hi there, Mr. Bank. We have a new law that says you can no longer collect the money that Mrs. Homeowner owes you nor can you foreclose on the property that you thought was security for the loan you made,’ there would be a race to the courthouse by every bank in the country.”

“Telling a bank they can’t foreclose on their security if they don’t get paid is clearly a taking. So instead, moratoriums are issued. They do a couple of things. First, they broadcast to the public that politicians are looking out for them, and to the banks that the government will not look kindly at the future at your bank if you ignore our moratorium.”

“Second, they don’t forgive any amount of money, including fees and interest, that the homeowner owes to the bank. If they did, the government would have to cover your mortgage payment for you. So the government steps lightly, trying to walk a fine line between public perception and the federal courthouse. My advice is that you immediately contact your lender (or lenders if you have more than one mortgage).”

The Orange County Register in California. “Elaine Rock hasn’t raised rents on her tenants for the last seven years. But after California mandated statewide rent control limiting rent increases for certain owner categories earlier this year, she increased rents roughly 5% on each tenant in her El Segundo fourplex. Rock said she felt it was necessary as investors tend to value properties based on income generation.”

“On the heels of COVID-19 and subsequent eviction moratoriums, Rock received word that occupants of one unit were struggling financially with job losses. Another tenant was retiring and could no longer afford the rent. In total, three of her four tenants were having issues paying their rent. Assembly Bill 3088, which passed the California Legislature, was signed Aug. 31 by Gov. Gavin Newsom. The bill extends a statewide eviction moratorium to Jan. 31, 2021, requiring tenants to pay at least 25% of their rent Sept. 1 through Jan. 1, and mandating landlords provide tenants a notice of their rights under the temporary law.”

“This new bill puts many landlords in a precarious position. It’s estimated some 30% of tenants are not paying their rent, according to a survey by Apartment List. A U.S. Census Bureau survey showed 20% of Southern California tenants reported being behind on rent in August while statewide, 15% said they were late in August. At no time will a landlord be able to kick out the tenant for past due collections (even after the coronavirus crisis ends), so long as the tenant abides by the latest rules.”

“Rock requested and received a mortgage payment forbearance from her lender for her fourplex, presumably under the Cares Act, which allows borrowers in good standing to delay thieir payments. Fortunately for Rock, her tenants left or are leaving cooperatively and voluntarily, so she won’t lose income.”

“There are 8 million independent U.S. landlords, according to the Urban Institute. How many of them are already at risk of loan default or foreclosure because they are stuck without rent? The U.S. lost 22 million jobs to the pandemic and has recovered nearly half. In California, more than 8.8 workers have filed for unemployment benefits since lockdowns began in mid-March. When it comes to your economic well-being and managing your rental property, hope for a vaccine or cure for COVID-19. But plan for the worst as we just don’t know how long this pandemic and all of its financial and emotional angst is going to last.”

“Here are my tips for hard-pressed landlords stuck without rental income: 1) Ask your lender for a mortgage payment forbearance, payment modification, and to add any deferred payments on the back of the mortgage as needed. 2) Refinance property you own to pull cash-out and/or reduce your monthly overhead as mortgage rates are at historic lows. 3) Apply for a private or hard money loan if you get turned down for an institutional mortgage. 4) Borrow money from your stock funds, retirement asset accounts, family or friends in order to temporarily make due. 5) Sell your property; it’s better than potentially losing it to loan default or foreclosure.”

“6) File Chapter 13 reorganization bankruptcy to better manage your bills. 7) Sell some goods: Think eBay or any other online sales websites as you might have a treasure-trove of personal or household items that someone else might pay for handsomely. 8) Barter with your tenants for his or her craft or business in exchange for rent.”

“Also, Mike Flood, Research Institute of Housing America’s senior vice president, brilliantly suggested landlords can support tenants (and themselves) through various rental assistance programs like HUD Section 8 or block grants. The National Low Income Housing Coalition has an information-rich interactive online map of COVID-19 Emergency Rental Assistance Programs.”

From Coeur d’Alene Press in Idaho. “The changing of the seasons offer opportunities to refresh, restart and/or try new things. It might also be an opportunity to save a little money on the real estate market. No matter the time of year, price drops can occur on homes that sit on the market for several weeks. Autumn can add a bit more urgency, especially for sellers who listed in the summer and want the process to end before the end of the calendar year.”

“Numerous price drops aren’t necessarily indicative of a slowdown in the market, either. In general, we know the North Idaho market remains strong and that prices continue to steadily climb. That’s all the more reason to consider taking advantage of the occasional outliers.”

“This week we’re traveling to Hayden, which is always extremely desirable to many types of buyers. The price-cut-a-palooza in Hayden this week focuses in town with some tempting recent price drops (keeping in mind that some of these may have already attracted a pending offer). We start with two homes west of Highway 95 and just off Hayden Avenue. A three-bedroom, two-bathroom home with just over 1,700 square feet, appealing backyard space and located on a cul-de-sac just slashed $10,000 earlier this month to come in at $339,000. A few blocks west and near Broadmoore Park is a four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home with almost 1,700 square feet, and large backyard space priced at $425,000, down $17,000.”

“A bit north, just off Miles Avenue is a four-bedroom, two-bathroom home with more than 1,800 square feet and a three-car garage built in 2009 with an especially-appealing patio setup priced at $434,000, down $9,000 earlier this week. Meanwhile, a three-bedroom condo with more than 1,600 square feet near Orchard Avenue offers spacious, low maintenance living for $395,000, a drop of $12,000 from last month.”

“East of Finucane Park in Loch Haven Hills are a couple of higher-end homes with recent price cuts. A four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home with almost 2,500 square feet, gorgeous landscaping and a spacious deck with hot tub comes in at $629,000, down by $20,000 earlier this week. A four-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom home with 2,100-plus square feet in the same neighborhood offers equally appealing backyard space and updates throughout the home at $569,000, down $29,000 recently. Stay tuned for more price-cut-a-palooza.”

The New York Post on Florida. “Legendary real estate marketing guru Louise Sunshine bought a $3 million Miami condo during the height of the pandemic. She also snagged a discount, since the property was most recently on the market for $3.39 million. It was a reprieve for Sunshine. This year, TRD reported, she lost about $2 million selling a duplex penthouse in Miami Beach’s Grand Venetian development that had been on and off the market since 2015.”

“‘Moving during the coronavirus is the most impossible task I’ve ever undertaken,’ Sunshine. She wasn’t planning on buying again, but, as she told TRD, ‘it was just bothering me that I could possibly purchase for the same cost per month that I was paying for the rental.'”

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This Post Has 109 Comments

  1. ‘the waiver means a homeowner who meets certain requirements does not need to obtain an appraisal in order to take out a new mortgage’

    I’ve known about this for a few week because I get notices from AEI. I encourage you to sign up, it’s free. Somewhere around 40% of loans are being made without appraisals. It’s important to remember that refi’s are not arms length transactions. The lenders, often fly by night crooks (cough MBA) have no incentive to do anything but hit the numbers and stick yer money in their wallet.

    So here’s yer subprime, along with the millions of low down FHA in default. It’s already a gotdam disaster.

    1. “There is NO sub-prime. We are beyond that. Loans have never been so stringent.”

      –fools in hbb

  2. ‘it was just bothering me that I could possibly purchase for the same cost per month that I was paying for the rental’

    What an idiot.

  3. ‘Telling a bank they can’t foreclose on their security if they don’t get paid is clearly a taking. So instead, moratoriums are issued. They do a couple of things. First, they broadcast to the public that politicians are looking out for them, and to the banks that the government will not look kindly at the future at your bank if you ignore our moratorium’

    ‘Second, they don’t forgive any amount of money, including fees and interest, that the homeowner owes to the bank. If they did, the government would have to cover your mortgage payment for you. So the government steps lightly, trying to walk a fine line between public perception and the federal courthouse’

    It’s all just a game. The guberment doesn’t have any money. They can only keep the lights on by borrowing billion$ every week.

    1. At the end of COVID-19, how many homeowners who stopped making payments under forbearance will be able to keep their homes, and how will the refinancings work?

      1. I predict untold millions of debt junkies living in houses for free for years – the same as last time, while the prudent get punished. In hindsight, I wish I would have loaded up on a shack back in 2012.

  4. ‘Sell some goods: Think eBay or any other online sales websites…Barter with your tenants for his or her craft or business in exchange for rent’

    They left out ‘steal a sharpie and put some pathetic message on discarded cardboard and head for a busy median.’

    How do those 5% cap rates look now?

    1. ‘Sell some goods: Think eBay or any other online sales websites…’

      I’m thinking of the $830,000 price tag (Zestimate) homes the landlords in our hood own to rent them out.

      5% × $830,000 / 12 = $3458.

      Rent Zestimate is $3400 (round figure)

      What share of $3400 a month can be covered on an ongoing or even one-time basis by auctioning off the junk a part-time landlord has lying around their home on eBay?

  5. ‘now, putting food on the table and paying our electric bill is about the best we can do. As a result, our house is going into foreclosure. We desperately want to save our home. With no income, save for unemployment, we don’t even know who would rent to us. Are there any programs out there to either help us save our home or at least help get us into another house?’

    Another broke-a$$ FB Californian with their hand out. And notice that paying the mortgage isn’t very high on the list.

    ‘at least help get us into another house’

    1. Someone who should have been renting. How much does a “restaurant manager” get paid? Can one afford a house in Napa Valley?

      And what are the odds they voted for Gov. Lockdown? Given that they aren’t talking about leaving the state, I think it’s quite likely that the pull the D lever every time.

      1. ” four small children”

        … and Napa ain’t cheap. It’s almost as if they expect some imaginary supreme being to look out for them.

  6. ‘Numerous price drops aren’t necessarily indicative of a slowdown in the market, either. In general, we know the North Idaho market remains strong and that prices continue to steadily climb’

    Click!

  7. With Fannie and Freddie, it’s the taxpayer who assumes the risk, so their only incentive is to push volumes and share as high as possible.

    I hope post-collapse tribunals will deal out summary justice for these scum.

  8. First-time, minority, and lower-income homeowners are among those most at risk of losing their homes.

    Precisely the cohort that never should’ve been given loans in the first place, since they were manifestly non-creditworthy.

  9. In the 2000s, I believe, many of those cash out refis went to pay for the casino gambling boom.

    https://larrylittlefield.wordpress.com/2018/09/24/the-just-enough-rope-to-hang-themselves-economy/

    Free markets! Get the government out of my pillage of the stupid! Now we need a bailout!

    OK, so where is it going now? Not to vacations. Not to Applebees. Not to trips to the mall. Certainly not to paying for the kids education — let them borrow for that.

    I think it’s going to Draft Kings and the stock market. Right, bros? Correlation is not causation, but correlation there is.

    2. In the past, I viewed the stupid with pity. In recent years, I came to view them as dangerous. I am starting to come around to the idea that they are an easily monetizable resource. I may start a cult.

  10. ‘increased rents roughly 5% on each tenant in her El Segundo fourplex. Rock said she felt it was necessary as investors tend to value properties based on income generation’

    On that:

    ‘The bill extends a statewide eviction moratorium to Jan. 31, 2021, requiring tenants to pay at least 25% of their rent Sept. 1 through Jan. 1…It’s estimated some 30% of tenants are not paying their rent, according to a survey by Apartment List. A U.S. Census Bureau survey showed 20% of Southern California tenants reported being behind on rent in August while statewide, 15% said they were late in August’

    So given that these shacks and airboxes are “valued” by rents, what are they worth if 25% is all they can collect?

    1. “30% of tenants are not paying their rent”

      They should confiscate their autos/iphone/ipads and other purchases barring food items.

        2. Ox, they need to move to where a bus route is, any medium size city even 50,000 peeps have a usable bus system….maybe that’s my upbringing in southern CT, we would take a train to Grand Central and back in the day they were open 24 hours so we could get a 2am 3am train back home after a concert.

      2. “They should confiscate their autos/iphone/ipads and other purchases barring food items.”

        Don’t limit your thinking. Consider adding such items as marketable body parts.

        And then if one of the family members happens to be a smoking hot teen age daughter … well, let’s just think of this as a plus.

        😁

  13. “I’m a big fan of automation,” Pinto said in a recent conversation. “But the one I designed was for a bank, which retained the risk of the mortgage. With Fannie and Freddie, it’s the taxpayer who assumes the risk, so their only incentive is to push volumes and share as high as possible. We saw how dangerous this was with the GSEs’ automated underwriting systems in the ’00 years. My fear is that appraisal waivers will repeat the same pro-cyclical mistake.”

    Ah, the music …

    “With Fannie and Freddie, it’s the taxpayer who assumes the risk, so their only incentive is to push volumes and share as high as possible.”

    I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.

    😁

    1. The scary part is that avg equity ext is $60K. OK if they are paying off high interest obligations – or something well thought out.

      You know that many will just spend this extraction on other things – cars, furniture etc.

      ——-
      “The average equity extraction on a cash out refinancing these days exceeds $60,000, and more homeowners will be enticed to extract equity with every uptick in home prices. The latest data from Redfin shows median home prices have reached record highs and are up 13% over the last year. That helped propel aggregate cash withdrawal volumes to about $100 billion in the past six months based on AEI calculations.

      1. Borrow real money against an imaginary ‘wealth’ and spend the money on what?

        There is no cure for stupidity….except for bailouts.

    2. for a bank, which retained the risk of the mortgage

      That was in the early 90s, Ed. IIRC, nowadays banks and originators retain NONE of the loan. 100% of the loans are sold up the food chain. Indeed, when Dodd-Frank threatened to require mortgage bankers to retain even 5% of a risky loan — remember “credit risk retention? — there was massive hue and cry from every realtor and bank in the country. As a result, the rule was watered down.

      1. “… nowadays banks and originators retain NONE of the loan.”

        Only the hefty fees associated with initiating the loan. Those DEFINITELY gets retained.

        😁

  14. The average equity extraction on a cash out refinancing these days exceeds $60,000

    Well, that explains all those shiny new cars lined up at the food banks

    1. “The average equity extraction on a cash out refinancing these days exceeds $60,000”

      The fun part of this is the equity that is extracted is generated by the behavior of total strangers who most likely have somehow gotten access to money that belonged to so somebody else who then often enter into bidding wars with other strangers who also have gained access to money that belongs to somembody else.

      Since it is usually the highest bidder (and possibly the greatest fool) that gets the house this means it is the highest bidder (and greatest fool) who is the one who magically creates equity wealth for all the strangers who just happen to live in the same neighborhood, using money that he most likely does not have.

      IMO this entire system of equity wealth creation is quite stupid, but, nevertheless, there it is.

      1. My grammar sucks. The only explanation and excuse I have to offer is the high degree of orgasmic excitement I am pleased to experience whenever I think of all the easy-money fees I am destined to receive from all of this refinance equity extraction activity.

  15. “Q: My husband and I read your column every week. Now we need help. We have four young children at home. My husband is the sole provider and is the manager of an upscale restaurant in Napa. When the novel coronavirus pandemic and the lockdown happened in March the restaurant closed and he, along with everyone else, was laid off. So he hasn’t worked for seven months.”

    https://youtu.be/sXNZJX_xM2I

    A. Since my old man who along with my mom raised five kids is no longer with us, I will have to give you his answer.

    You have four young children and your husband hasn’t worked in seven months? Well you tell your husband to get his lazy @ss out the GD door and find a job right now! Not tomorrow, not next week, right now! Lockdown happened in March? Then find a job that is exempt or move where there isn’t a lockdown! I don’t give a damn if he has to shovel sh#t! By the way, when he gets home from whatever job he finds you had better find a part time job, you have four kids to take care of. Now get your dead @sses in motion and start taking care of your kids.

    PS

    If you had a family, you were working, doing the best you could and had hit a bad stretch, my father would gladly help. He did it for our family and quite a few people outside our family. People who had fires in their home, unexpected medical expenses (back when people paid them) furnace went out in winter, loss of a family member etc. But he had a very low opinion of those who could help themselves and refused to do so.

    1. “So he hasn’t worked for seven months.”

      Vote for democrats, you will be fine.
      –Typical answer in MSM

    2. “unexpected medical expen$es (back when people paid them)”

      Iffin’ ya fell off yer tricycle & scraped yer flesh, it was “Bactine” & bandaids in Irvine, CA circa 1971

      Now, it’$ a 911 call, Fire truck EMT arrival & tran$port, Univer$ity Ho$pital emergency admi$$ion, x3 nurse$ $taff + trainee, GP, pediatrician, $pecialist, & financial aid repre$entative.

      All with no li$ted $ervices price$ or negotiation’$. Perhap$, iffin’ yer fortunate, they might “validate” yer parking $tub!

      1. “Iffin’ ya fell off yer tricycle & scraped yer flesh, it was “Bactine” & bandaids in Irvine, CA circa 197”

        Funny you should mention 1971, because it was right in that time frame that my cousin, the son of my father’s brother who had passed away, dislocated his elbow. Evidently neither Bactine or bandaids took care of it because there were unpaid medical bills that the old man took care of. However I see your point, a dislocated elbow must have cost a tiny fraction of what it does today. Not to mention that nobody was blamed or sued over where it happened.

  16. “The average equity extraction on a cash out refinancing these days exceeds $60,000, and more homeowners will be enticed to extract equity with every uptick in home price$. ” … + … “even with refinancing volumes up more than 200% over the same period in the last year, the mortgage analytics firm Black Knight figures nearly 20 million homeowners are still eligible to refinance their mortgages.”,

    Good mornin’ Mr. Banker, ☕ between your employment elation$ & thee.deeth.👾.hoax.casualties, it rather ea$y to gue$$ how $oon the $helter.$hack.mania.debacle$ reach$ critcal.den$itie$.

    ( i.e., the point at which the Debacle’$ gravitational pull becomes so great as to make e$cape impo$$ible!) … Imminent!

    & off to the river eye go 🛶 🍺 🎣 …

    1. Your posts are as difficult to read as the loan documents that I offer up to my ignorant customers (who generally won’t read them anyway). But what I think you are saying is that you believe my existance as a banker is vital in keeping our (stupid) consumer-based economy humming along and you, on behalf of all HBBers, want to thank me for my efforts and will support any and all future governmental sponsored financial bail-out efforts that may be necessary to allow me to enjoy the lifestyle I have been enjoying up until this time.

      1. “want to thank me for my efforts and will support any and all future governmental $ponsored financial bail-out$ efforts that may be nece$$ary.”

        Well, just so know, that IRS tax form que$tion, the one where they a$ks you to “donate” $3 to the U$ Presidential election$ fund, eye decline$ it, with “Con$tancy”.

        Reckon ya might say my per$onal contribution$ to yer future employment endeavor$ is gonna 🐝 rather, “minimali$tic”.

        Stay.Safe.out.there! …

      2. I agree that his posts are difficult to read. As a result, I abandoned trying read them long ago.

        Sometimes people are too clever for their own good, and I think that applies here.

        1. I don’t get the purposeful obusfacting language (or is it an attempt to be humorous?) Even teenagers do not use that many emojis.

          1. Maybe he do something useful for once like get a job typing stuff into slow Joe’s teleprompter and the level of bizarre would be about the same. Can’t wait for the debate!

      1. 🙂

        That movie was funnier than hell and like Animal House could never have been made in the politically correct world we live in today.

        1. I recently watched “Blazing Saddles” with my 15-year-old daughter. She thought it was brilliant, and of course commented that it could never be made or shown today. When her and her sister were much younger, they LOVED the original version of Song of the South. Hate to think of how insipid and PC most “entertainment” is going to be in the years to come.

          1. I just went back and watched it.

            OMG is that funny. 🙂

            Now I’m going yo have to figure out how to text that to a bunch of friends and people I work with.

            Thanks for posting and telling me where it was.

          2. Alright, I’ve watched it like 3 times.

            Now I keep replaying it right after Tucker Carlson says…

            We’re not going to sit here and listen to you bad mouth the United States of America, Gentlemen!

            and looking at Alex Jones raising his arms in D Day’s place with Sean Hannity, Greg Gutfeld, Ted Cruz, Donald Trump Jr. etc. yelling… Yeah!!! standing up and walking out. Oh and the look on Pelosi’s face while they’re walking out is worth more than she wants to bail out the Blue State’s pension plans.

            Too funny

  20. Hey Jonesy…. Have you considered a live stream of falling housing prices across the top of your blog? Kinda like a stock ticker applet thingy… but with falling housing prices.

    1. That’s a great idea, though I may have to kick you in the jimmies for calling Ben “Jonesy.” I’d like to see a meter that captures the decibel levels of the unhinged shrieks coming out of Hollywood and the usual Pedo enclaves at Trump’s nomination of a Supreme Court justice who openly proclaims her love for America and the Constitution. The triggering is going to be epic.

      2. Honest question: When is the last time that a die-hard lib on the Court will be replaced by a conservative? That’s why the Dems are so frightened. It’s not a like-for-like replacement.

  21. As usual, not a peep on condemnation from the Democrats when one of their unhinged BLM enforcers rammed her car into a group of Trump supporters, seriously injuring two of them. Of note, the Trump supporters were legally and peacefully occupying a parking lot, NOT interfering with public roadways and accosting motorists like the DNC’s BLM-Antifa darlings.

    https://www.dailywire.com/news/pro-blm-activist-allegedly-rams-car-into-trump-supporters-charged-with-attempted-murder

  22. Even if the California moratorium abates, there’s still this:

    “Following an Executive Order by President Trump, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is using its authority to temporarily halt evictions through the end of 2020 in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19.”

    … so I guess if you’re an American landlord, you’re the one chosen to provide the stimulus. Cali landlords better be hoping the eviction moratorium expires before the banks decide not to honor the foreclosure agreement with Gov. Hairdo.

    1. Hippies going to the right thanks to dem crime

      Why I left California (and ain’t ever going back)
      https://m.youtube.com/watch?v

      Comments are interesting too. Seems lots of people are fleeing the golden State and it isn’t just republicans/traditional conservatives

  23. These late September football free Sundays are a whole new world for me. Think I’ll go over to Home Cheepo and pick up some white spray paint for the screen door handle I had to order in black because it was the only color with the correct dimensions SWISCO had.

    1. Just talked to a friend of mine. She was a football fan and now she’s tired of sports too. She won’t even watch college football now. I myself, I could skip the anthem, but the entire telecast is just too hard to watch now. Maybe in a couple years I’ll try to go to a college game at the stadium, but it holds little interest for me now.

      1. I cant wait till next year when their paychecks will be cut in half or more for taking a knee and telling the fans to go home and play with your kids.

  24. Yeah. Maybe us white guys should go out and riot on Sundays…..Maybe throw a brick through a stained glass windows.

  26. “One that has turned out to be good for the economy…”

    In the sense that digging a much deeper debt crater* enabled a short term flow of dumb borrowed money to prop up asset prices far above their fundamental values.

    “…but could end up being disastrous is the boom in mortgage refinancings.”

    Think future bailouts funded by Unlimited Quantitative Easing.

        2. “Mind-boggling that lenders can refinance without a current appraisal or income verification.”

          Not mind-boggling if the lenders don’t have to keep the loans.

          1. What is fun is something that goes like this:

            Joe Schmuck takes out a hefty loan that requires him to pay out a hefty rate of interest for the next thirty years or so. The originator of the loan collects a fee then sells the loan to Fannie Mae or Freddie Mac or whomever. The loan is for thirty years thus doing the math will inform the buyer what amount of money he should expect to receive over these thirty years given the signed-up-for interest rate.

            But then something happens: Interest rates go down, the borrower refinances, the buyer of the loan gets paid back well before the thirty years are up, and the lender of the new loan gets to collect another fee.

            There are two winners here and one loser:

            The borrower gets a win because the cost of servicing his refinanced loan is lower.

            The lender gets a win because he gets to collect a fee.

            The buyer of the loan does not get a win because the amount of money he expected to receive for the next thirty years comes to a halt. He may enjoy the fact that he got his principle paid back to him when the refinancing is complete but he will not enjoy the fact that he will not get to buy another juicy loan with the returned principle because interest rates on such loans are down everywhere.

            The buyer of the loan originally bought the loan at a premium because interest rates were high at the time. Now that interest rates are down also down is the premium, hence the buyer of the loan will suffer a loss. If this buyer is a Freddy or a Fanny or a Ginnie or whomever then it just may be the taxpayers that will make good on this loss.

            A note to the free lunch crowd: There is no free lunch.

          2. If real estate prices are rising a money lender who is slick can visit each of his clients, say, once a year and do an equity cash-out. If interest rates are down at the same time then he can also do a refinance. This will be wonderful for the money lender due to the fees, seemingly wonderful to the borrower, and a lot less than wonderful to whomever it is that ends up with the loan.

            An individual who has the opportunity to end up with the loans can tell the borrower to pound sand but a Government Sponsored Entity may not be given that choice in that there often exists legislation that forces the GSEs to purchase these loans.

            As I said many times before, bankers rule. When it is in the interest for bankers to get involved in such loans they generally go to the head of the line. When it is in the interest of bankers to walk away from such loans they get to walk away. Not so for the GSEs.

            Once again: I like it, I love it, I want some more of it.

  28. “WILL THE BOOM GO BUST?”

    Do headlines like these always herald the arrival of booms that already have gone bust?

      1. the Sunday dead tree edition of the San Diego Union Tribune business section about massive overbuilding of downtown high rise luxury condos in the homeless zone (behind paywall). Enjoy your COVID-19 sharing opportunities in the elevator you need to ride in order to access your unit.

  29. This is getting downright embarrassing. Granted, the social parasites and criminals who make up the core constituency for Joe Biden can’t be bothered attending rallies where there’s nothing to loot, but still…the lack of popular enthusiasm for Senile Joe means the Democrats are going to have to resort to massive voter fraud to get him elected.

    https://www.thegatewaypundit.com/2020/09/momentum-trump-not-even-race-trump-240000-attendees-rallies-bidens-84-since-labor-day/

  31. Ibram Kendi: ‘Too Many White People’ Believe They Can’t Be Racist if They Adopt Black Children

    ROBERT KRAYCHIK
    26 Sep 2020

    Ibram X. Kendi, director of Boston University’s Center for Antiracist Research, wrote on Saturday that white people who adopt black children may be “racist,” joining a growing group of Democrats and leftists commenting on Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s Haitian son and daughter.

    Kendi wrote on social media: “Some White colonizers ‘adopted” Black children. They ‘civilized’ these ‘savage’ children in the ‘superior’ ways of White people, while using them as props in their lifelong pictures of denial, while cutting the biological parents of these children out of the picture of humanity.”

    Kendi expressed support for expansion of the Supreme Court, known as court packing, if Barrett is confirmed as a Supreme Court justice.

    “White supremacy” and “white privilege” are widespread phenomena in American society, Kendi regularly declares.

    Kendi, author of Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America and How to Be an Antiracist, was recently a featured guest on Oprah Winfrey’s eponymous Apple TV series. Winfrey praised Kendi’s derision of America as a nation pathologized by racism primarily targeting black people.

    Beyond Oprah Winfrey, Kendi’s narratives have been promoted by technology company CEOs like Jack Dorsey and left-wing media.

    https://www.breitbart.com/politics/2020/09/26/ibram-kendi-adopting-black-children-racist-white-colonizer/

    1. LEFTIST HISTORIAN: AMY CONEY BARRETT IS A “WHITE COLONIZER” FOR ADOPTING BLACK CHILDREN

      Chris Menahan | Information Liberation –
      SEPTEMBER 27, 2020

      Race hustler Ibram X Kendi (born Henry Rogers), who recently got a $10 million grant from Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, on Saturday attacked Supreme Court nominee Amy Coney Barrett as a “white colonizer” for adopting two Haitian children.

      Kendi is paid by fabulously wealthy white people to tell moderately wealthy white people why middle class and poor white people are the world’s top oppressors — as opposed to folks like Jeff Bezos who promotes Kendi’s book on the front page of Amazon and Jeffrey Goldberg who prints Kendi’s columns in The Atlantic.

      “Some White colonizers ‘adopted’ Black children,” Kendi said on Twitter after it became clear Barrett was President Trump’s pick for the Supreme Court. “They ‘civilized’ these ‘savage’ children in the ‘superior’ ways of White people, while using them as props in their lifelong pictures of denial, while cutting the biological parents of these children out of the picture of humanity.”

      After people pointed out the picture he shared was not of Barrett but instead her sister Carrie, he said it doesn’t matter (facts never do).

      “And whether this is Barrett or not is not the point,” Kendi said. “It is a belief too many White people have: if they have or adopt a child of color, then they can’t be racist.”

      He continued: “I’m challenging the idea that White parents of kids of color are inherently ‘not racist’ and the bots completely change what I’m saying to ‘White parents of kids of color are inherently racist.’ These live and fake bots are good at their propaganda. Let’s not argue with them.”

      https://www.infowars.com/leftist-historian-amy-coney-barrett-is-a-white-colonizer-for-adopting-black-children/

      2. Kendi is paid by fabulously wealthy white people to tell moderately wealthy white people why middle class and poor white people are the world’s top oppressors — as opposed to folks like Jeff Bezos who promotes Kendi’s book on the front page of Amazon and Jeffrey Goldberg who prints Kendi’s columns in The Atlantic.”

        Fabulous wealth thinks by deflecting the anger they can keep their wealth from being confiscated ?

  34. ‘So some families are distrustful of the lending environment. They think it’s set up for failure.’

    With 3.5% and lower downpayment mortgages doled out like candy to enable subprime borrowers to purchase homes at prices that require monthly payments at historically high shares of income, the lending environment is set up for failure.

    And the federally guaranteed, securitized lending backed by Unlimited Quantitative Easing bailouts as needed massively incentivizes shoddy lending by sheilding lenders from the consequences of making loans that are unlikely to ever be repaid.

  35. By turning cash into trash, has the Fed inadvertently set the stage for a dollar rally on deflationary pressure?

    1. Market Extra
      You can ‘turn cash into anything,’ says big investor on why he’s putting more of it on the sidelines
      Published: Sept. 26, 2020 at 9:48 a.m. ET
      By Joy Wiltermuth
      Early voting? Equity and high-yield bond funds see biggest weekly outflows since March
      US dollar bills.
      Getty Images

      Jason Brady, CEO of Thornburg Investment Management, knows that sitting on the sidelines can be unpopular.

      “Cash is very much maligned in the context of providing yield. It costs money to hold cash. I understand people’s reluctance,” Brady said, adding that’s also one reason why the Federal Reserve “makes cash earn zero, is so that people don’t own it.”

      Even so, Brady thinks the time is ripe to put more cash on the sidelines as volatility in the U.S. stockmarket picks up, as Congress drags its feet on providing additional fiscal stimulus, and as rancor in Washington intensifies ahead of the Nov. 3. elections.

      “You can turn cash into anything,” he told MarketWatch. “But you can’t turn anything into cash.”
      …

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