thehousingbubble@gmail.com
Blog

Money Is Almost Free But Trying To Get It Is Another Thing

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “October brought a degree of reprieve from seemingly relentless price increases for Seattle-area home shoppers, as median prices in King County dipped slightly from September. The Seattle condo market, meanwhile, is ‘presenting a ‘buyer’s market’ opportunity … like we haven’t witnessed since the Great Recession,’ said Realogics Sotheby’s International Realty owner Dean Jones in an email. As condo dwellers upsize into homes, a flood of inventory is lingering for months on the market.”

“BELLTOWN, DOWNTOWN SEATTLE: October, 2020, Median price: $622,450, Change over the year: -14.7%. QUEEN ANNE, MAGNOLIA, October, 2020, Median price: $1,038,900, Change over the year: -12.3%.”

“This spring, Kevin Brunnock considered himself one of the city’s lucky brokers. He was working with a client who wanted to keep searching for a home despite the pandemic. If the right property came along, the client was ready to commit sight unseen. In June, they found such a place: a two-bedroom condo on the Upper West Side. Brunnock’s client made an offer within two days and went into contract on June 25 with a mortgage contingency. But that’s where the deal’s momentum died.”

“The sale didn’t close until Sept. 30 to allow for the mortgage lender to verify the buyer’s employment and pore over income and assets, double and triple checking statements, Brunnock explained. The financing took double the time the broker had expected. ‘We saw for the first time how much the banks were scrutinizing everything,’ said Brunnock, who works at R New York. ‘Covid has turned mortgage lending into a daunting process.'”

“Nationally, available housing credit has fallen nearly every month this year, indicating that homebuyers with lower credit are increasingly unable to secure home financing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Joseph Palermo, a mortgage loan officer at TD Bank, said he’s now reviewing bank statements and calling businesses to verify a borrower’s income and employment, something he never did or cared too much about before. ‘We’re not just taking the two-sentence letter from the accountant like we used to,’ he said.”

“Comparative sales for deals closed during the pandemic are beginning to roll in and, so far, they indicate property values have fallen since March, Palermo said. This means the leverage for loans issued based on pre-pandemic appraisals are now looking ‘a little squirrely,’ he said. ‘Banks are a little afraid that if the values keep coming down, then the leverage grows,’ he said.”

“That’s translating into banks wanting to get bad loans off their books, according to Mark Anderson, a partner at Anderson, Bowman & Zalewski who focuses on foreclosure defense. Starting in July, he began to see getting calls from bank attorneys offering to settle the long-running cases — some that dated as far back as the Great Recession. He would not elaborate on specific offers due to confidentiality agreements but said the number of offers is more than normal and the values on the table much lower than was originally discussed pre-Covid.’ ‘A bank’s offer is dependent on their valuation of a property,’ he explained in an email. ‘So it seems, despite what public figures may indicate, the banks are seeing darker times ahead.'”

“But as more and more borrowers are pushed to their limits, many have second thoughts. ‘Money is almost free but trying to get it is another thing,’ said Vickey Barron, a broker at Compass, who nearly gave up on refinancing her own property earlier this year. ‘You question, is it worth it?'”

“A short-term rental vacation host has filed a proposed class action lawsuit against Airbnb, alleging that the tech company violated its contract with hosts when the company offered full refunds to guests in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic in March. The lawsuit was filed by Anthony Farmer, an Airbnb host in Texas. Prior to the pandemic, Farmer relied on Airbnb as his primary source of income. Farmer used a strict cancellation policy that would have entitled him to at least a portion of a reservation booking if a guest needed to cancel. That was overridden by Airbnb’s extenuating cancelation policy.”

“Although $655 may not appear like a lot of money, he was counting on that money to pay his mortgage, utilities, homeowner association fee and other costs that come with running a short-term rental, Farmer said. ‘This is definitely impacting me during the pandemic,’ Farmer said. ‘I’m pissed about it. I’m angry, to be frank, and I’m sure that I’m not the only person impacted.'”

“Toronto’s real estate market fractured in October as buyers favoured suburban neighbourhoods and detached homes while sellers wanted out of downtown condos. The number of condos listed for sale this October was double the number of condos that hit the market in October 2019. ‘In past years — hot sellers’ markets — condos were selling in three to five days,’ said Freddy Mak, co-founder Ferrow Real Estate Inc. ‘You’re probably going to see listings in the 30- to 60- day sale cycles now, as opposed to three, five day cycles … I feel it’s almost a good problem to have as a buyer. It’s like having too many options.'”

“London landlords are feeling the full force of Covid-19 with many being forced to slash rents amid a glut of available properties. Rents in the capital fell for the seventh consecutive month in September, according to data from Hamptons International. Matt Hutchinson, communications director at SpareRoom, said it has seen staggering rental price falls in some areas of London. In Aldgate, landlords have cut their rental prices by 34 per cent whilst in Maida Vale and Paddington prices for spare rooms were reduced by 20 per cent on average, he explained.”

“The fall in London rental prices has been exacerbated by an over-supply of available rental properties, with 34 per cent more homes on the market than at the same time last year, according to Hamptons. Gary Hall, head of lettings at Knight Frank, said in some offices they now have up to 40 per cent more properties to try and let compared to any previous years. ‘Demand from tenants looking to rent properties hasn’t been the issue. ‘In terms of demand we’re actually back to the levels we were this time last year. It’s just been the oversupply.'”

“Rental housing platform Pararius said last month the rents being agreed between landlords and tenants for new contracts in the non rent-controlled sector have fallen for the first time in six years. The sharpest drop was in Eindhoven, where new rents are down just over 7%, taking the price of a 60 square metre flat to €824.40. In Amsterdam, new tenants are paying an average of €1,325.40 for the same size, a decline of almost 6% in the second quarter, Pararius said. The NVM put the difference in figures down to inclusion of more expensive furnished properties as landlords are forced out of the Airbnb by both new rules and the lack of tourists.”

“SA industry experts say the collapse of tourism due to the lockdown has led to thousands of empty Airbnb apartments being put back on the long-term rental market, which is placing huge pressure on rental growth and eroding buy-to-let returns. The biggest oversupply of rental properties is at the top end of the market: 14% of all properties for between R12,000 and R25,000 a month are standing empty. In the luxury rental market, for properties priced above R25,000 a month, vacancies are a whopping 23%.”

“Estate agents say this trend is especially evident in Say’s tourist epicentre of Cape Town, which is believed to have close to 20,000 Airbnb listings. Ross Levin, MD for Serf Atlantic Seaboard & City Bowl says the market has been ‘flooded’ with Airbnb apartments, which has placed pressure on rental rates all round. ‘Property owners will need to continue their compromise by offering lower rentals to fill units and mitigate losses,’ he says.”

“Although the overall property market is correcting itself, progress will be slow because of the huge overhang volume. Socio-Economic Research Centre executive director Lee Heng Guie says the overhang number continues to grow with every quarter. ‘The Covid-19 pandemic will add more pressure on the sector, further prolonging the slowdown, especially for the high-end units and those which are in excessive oversupply,’ said Lee.”

“SERC is the research arm of the Associated Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry of Malaysia. The overhang will take years to clear as it has been in existence for many years. So, it is crucial to plan current and future housing development properly and avoid adding to the already high unsold stock, he says.”

“Bargain hunters can expect bigger discounts on property in districts close to Hong Kong airport, as foreign pilots and flight attendants leave the city amid mass lay-offs at Cathay Pacific group. Anxious sellers have cut prices of flats in Tung Chung, the district closest to the airport. A foreign employee of Cathay Pacific, due to retire early next year, had to increase the discount on the flat to 8 per cent to clinch a sale, said Andy Chan, district sales manager at Centaline. The 518 sq ft flat at Le Bleu Deux in Tung Chung sold for HK$7.33 million, HK$650,000 lower than the asking price.”

“‘As the social sentiment is not very good, homeowners’ will not be too assertive and will be open to negotiations or even price cuts,’ said Simon Choi, district sales manager at Centaline Property Agency. In Tsing Yi Garden, prices of flats measuring 343 sq ft have dropped 18 per cent from HK$6 million at the peak of the market in the middle of last year to just HK$4.92 million this month, added Choi. ‘As family income reduces and [relative] mortgage burden increases, the entire Hong Kong will be affected, not just Tsing Yi,’ he said.”

“Rents in Tung Chung dropped 5 to 8 per cent last week amid the lay-offs, said Alfred Cheung, senior sales manager at Midland Realty. They are now about 25 per cent lower compared to the peak reached in the middle of last year, he added.”

“Property owners in a Pilbara town where mining boom-time real estate once rivalled Manhattan prices say they have been left out of pocket after being cornered into selling their homes through a government-sanctioned buyback scheme. Residents in Port Hedland’s West End claim they are being pushed out at bottom dollar to turn the historic heart of the town into a buffer zone for expanding mining export activity.”

“Many owners bought at the height of the mining boom, when a home in the dusty Pilbara town cost the same as a three-bedroom apartment overlooking Sydney Harbour. The economic bonanza of 2009-2012 was fuelled by the ‘Pilbara Cities’ campaign by the WA government to bring investment to the ‘Dubai of the Pilbara,’ which promised to boost the town’s population to 50,000 by 2035 through a raft of infrastructure projects.”

“But by 2019, the population of Port Hedland had stagnated at just 15,000 and most major infrastructure projects luring investors north had been swept under the rug. As workers left Port Hedland en masse, the median house price in town collapsed from $1.2 million in 2012 to $341,250 in 2019 – its lowest since 2004.”

“Port Hedland dentist Dr Roger Higgins funnelled millions of dollars into real estate under the premise the West End would become the next Darwin. Dr Higgins said he was never warned about dust, despite government reports from a year earlier flagging concerns. A decade later, he has lost millions in failed investments and now faces the prospect of having to sell the remainder of his assets for about half of what he paid for them.”

Related Posts
This Post Has 122 Comments

  1. ‘campaign by the WA government to bring investment to the ‘Dubai of the Pilbara’

    In a way they came pretty close as Dubai is crater town.

    ‘As workers left Port Hedland en masse, the median house price in town collapsed from $1.2 million in 2012 to $341,250 in 2019 – its lowest since 2004′

    Well it was cheaper than renting.

    “Port Hedland dentist Dr Roger Higgins funnelled millions of dollars into real estate under the premise the West End would become the next Darwin. Dr Higgins said he was never warned about dust, despite government reports from a year earlier flagging concerns. A decade later, he has lost millions in failed investments and now faces the prospect of having to sell the remainder of his assets for about half of what he paid for them’

    Two things Roger. One, dentists get paid too much. Two, easy come, easy go.

    1. Australia has recourse mortgages too!

      “he has lost millions in failed investments and now faces the prospect of having to sell the remainder of his assets for about half of what he paid for them’”

    2. 350,000 pesos to live in a dusty mining town in the middle of nowhere – is STILL TO HIGH

      “$341,250 in 2019 – its lowest since 2004′”

    3. Dr Higgins said he was never warned about dust, despite government reports from a year earlier flagging concerns.

      Seriously, Dr. Higgins? Did you expect the REIC sharpies who were peddling overpriced shacks and dreams of effortless riches were going to mention any negatives?

      In a time of universal fraud, unchecked and unpunished by corrupt/complicit regulators and policymakers, doing your own due diligence has never been more paramount.

      1. Like dude….

        Did you ever go there and stay a few days BEFORE you invested millions?

        ANY basic research?

        1. A couple we know bought a house in the Black Forest area north of Colorado Springs – wifey was agitating husband to pick a place so they wouldn’t have to house-hunt once they moved from Germany. So the place they bought sight unseen has a neighbor who raises coon hounds or some such breed, and their incessant high-decibel barking has been a huge bone of contention that is headed for legal action. I’ve never understood people who make such important investment decisions based on web site realtor descriptions.

          1. Almost all of Black Forest doesn’t have covenants or an HOA.
            The eastern part of Black Forest doesn’t even have zoning.

            You should always check out the property before buying but the hounds may only bay all night. If the property was too cheap and there are no covenants, buyer beware.

            When I purchased, I bought a house with covenants and a light handed HOA – $50/year. I did not want an HOA to decide when my house was painted too beige.

            However I read too many stories of people buying in areas with no covenants or HOAs where they were they were the only people in the are until the concrete mixing plant moved next door, the strip mining operation moved on the other side, and the neighbor across the street parked his fleet of dump trucks in plain view. Exaggeration but without any rules, anything goes.

            My point is that at a minimum, you can check covenants and restrictions before you buy a house without too much effort.

    4. “Dr Higgins said he was never warned about dust, despite government reports from a year earlier flagging concerns.”

      Hmm, due diligence? Ignore your teeth investments, and they’ll go away.

  2. ‘We saw for the first time how much the banks were scrutinizing everything,’ said Brunnock, who works at R New York. ‘Covid has turned mortgage lending into a daunting process.’”

    Yeah, that “daunting process” is called enforcing prudent lending standards, which have been all but abandoned during the run-up of Housing Bubble 2.0. The greed and recklessness of these lenders is going to cost middle class taxpayers dearly, as the coming bailouts are going to dwarf those of 2008/2009 when Biden was the parrot on Obama’s shoulder.

  3. “BELLTOWN, DOWNTOWN SEATTLE: October, 2020, Median price: $622,450, Change over the year: -14.7%. QUEEN ANNE, MAGNOLIA, October, 2020, Median price: $1,038,900, Change over the year: -12.3%.”

    Is that a lot?

  4. Joseph Palermo, a mortgage loan officer at TD Bank, said he’s now reviewing bank statements and calling businesses to verify a borrower’s income and employment, something he never did or cared too much about before.

    Wha? I thought the housing bulls on the HBB assured us loose lending was a thing of the past when they fed us their “it’s different now” spiels.

  5. ‘BELLTOWN, DOWNTOWN SEATTLE: October, 2020, Median price: $622,450, Change over the year: -14.7%. QUEEN ANNE, MAGNOLIA, October, 2020, Median price: $1,038,900, Change over the year: -12.3%’

    Note how dishonest this article is. These numbers come fromm the graphic, and gets mentioned now where in the piece, which practically ripples with to the moon Alice! horse-hockey. Here’s more:

    ‘SOUTHEAST SEATTLE, October, 2020, Median price: $693,000, Change over the year: -4.1%. BELLEVUE-WEST OF 405, October, 2020, Median price: $2,327,500, Change over the year: -5.5%.’

    And some of the areas down more than that don’t show up on the graphic for me, maybe some of you can get them, shaded by amount of crater.

  6. ‘Nationally, available housing credit has fallen nearly every month this year, indicating that homebuyers with lower credit are increasingly unable to secure home financing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association’

    This is a credit event.

    ‘Joseph Palermo, a mortgage loan officer at TD Bank, said he’s now reviewing bank statements and calling businesses to verify a borrower’s income and employment, something he never did or cared too much about before. ‘We’re not just taking the two-sentence letter from the accountant like we used to’

    But there’s no subprime.

    2. “This is a credit event.”

      Yep and whomever it is that mans the credit valve calls the shots. And that person happens to be me.

      I get to decide whether or not higher and higher real estate prices get financed or not thus it is I who gets to decide whether or not equity wealth will be magically conjured up or not thus it is I who decides whether the economy will boom or whether it will bust.

      Bankers rule, others drool.

  7. “Nationally, available housing credit has fallen nearly every month this year, indicating that homebuyers with lower credit are increasingly unable to secure home financing, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Joseph Palermo, a mortgage loan officer at TD Bank, said he’s now reviewing bank statements and calling businesses to verify a borrower’s income and employment, something he never did or cared too much about before. ‘We’re not just taking the two-sentence letter from the accountant like we used to,’ he said.”

    “Comparative sales for deals closed during the pandemic are beginning to roll in and, so far, they indicate property values have fallen since March, Palermo said. This means the leverage for loans issued based on pre-pandemic appraisals are now looking ‘a little squirrely,’ he said. ‘Banks are a little afraid that if the values keep coming down, then the leverage grows,’ he said.”

    These lending standards were all air tight I tell you.

  8. Starting in July, he began to see getting calls from bank attorneys offering to settle the long-running cases — some that dated as far back as the Great Recession. He would not elaborate on specific offers due to confidentiality agreements but said the number of offers is more than normal and the values on the table much lower than was originally discussed pre-Covid.’

    Oh dear. I expect our financial media will get right on a story this significant and ominous, as Shirley they would not want their viewers to made bad investment decisions. Pardon me while I scamper over and flip to CNBC on my TeeVee.

  9. “Although $655 may not appear like a lot of money, he was counting on that money to pay his mortgage, utilities, homeowner association fee and other costs that come with running a short-term rental, Farmer said. ‘This is definitely impacting me during the pandemic,’ Farmer said. ‘I’m pissed about it. I’m angry, to be frank, and I’m sure that I’m not the only person impacted.’”

    DIE SPECULATOR DIE

    “Toronto’s real estate market fractured in October as buyers favoured suburban neighbourhoods and detached homes while sellers wanted out of downtown condos. The number of condos listed for sale this October was double the number of condos that hit the market in October 2019. ‘In past years — hot sellers’ markets — condos were selling in three to five days,’ said Freddy Mak, co-founder Ferrow Real Estate Inc. ‘You’re probably going to see listings in the 30- to 60- day sale cycles now, as opposed to three, five day cycles … I feel it’s almost a good problem to have as a buyer. It’s like having too many options.’”

    Lets hope no one overpaid in these 3 to 5 day cycles. Good problem is seeing too many falling knifes?

    1. To be honest – Mr. Farmer had a strict cancelation policy.

      His “app” decided to disrupt his perfectly legal contract to win some political points.

      Kinda like the GM bankruptcy.

  10. Hey Redpilled Redhead, those 3 posts went into the trash file and I fished them out. Not sure why that happened, might be due to length or software brain-fart.

  11. ‘This is definitely impacting me during the pandemic,’ Farmer said. ‘I’m pissed about it. I’m angry, to be frank, and I’m sure that I’m not the only person impacted.’”

    If you read the AirBnB small print, Frank, it offers very specific recourse in such a scenario: Stamp your little feet!

  12. Back in the bad old days of 20% down and banks eating bad mortgages…

    I had to get a signed letter from my parents that they did not give me any money or were helping me when I was buying my first house.

    They also inspected all my bank accounts to make sure there were no large deposits in the last year.

    A year’s worth of pay stubs – and my tax records.

    And this was for a middle class house on a 1/4 acre.

    “The sale didn’t close until Sept. 30 to allow for the mortgage lender to verify the buyer’s employment and pore over income and assets, double and triple checking statements, Brunnock explained. The financing took double the time the broker had expected. ‘We saw for the first time how much the banks were scrutinizing everything,’ said Brunnock, who works at R New York. ‘Covid has turned mortgage lending into a daunting process.’”

    1. For me it was the same in 2012. Two years of W-2, I don’t remember if they wanted 1040, one year of bank statements (signed by a bank vice president), complete statement of investments (in a specific PDF format), 1/3 the down payment by check for earnest money, 2/3 wire check at the closing table. It took me at least a week to pull all that together.

      1. 2012 was like that and the reason home prices were lower. I bought a short sale in 2012 in Jan that dragged on for 6 months and had to resubmit all financials every month . Closed just before 4th of July.

        20% down 30 year

      2. Similar scrutiny when purchasing Casa Spiffy and even the Texas Monument to My Stupidity(tm) way back when. I expected that though, having briefly been in loan origination in the 90s.

        When we refi’d this summer though, it was clear that underwriting was in a panic over the coronavirus and the economy’s reaction. Several new covid related forms and declarations , and much more scrutiny. I had to provide records on one of my incomes sources (totally not needed to quality) going back to 2013, and twice they got all worried because I took a few months off of working.. you know.. when I had my knee replaced and was busy rehabbing it, even though they could see clearly that I got back to work at an even higher rate than prior…

  13. ‘As family income reduces and [relative] mortgage burden increases, the entire Hong Kong will be affected, not just Tsing Yi,’ he said.”

    Gosh, you mean imploding real estate bubbles can have a broader impact?

  14. At this point, MSM election coverage is futile and pointless. The election is in the hands of the courts and the electors. It doesn’t matter what the MSM’s “Decision Desks” call.

    1. From what I gather, legal challenges have been filed in states with Republican legislatures, which can direct their electors to vote contrary to the popular vote given sufficient doubt in the integrity of that vote.

      2. With the exception of Trump legally taking advantage of
        tax write offs that were put in place by the system to begin with, Trump was a unusual guy.

        Trump wasn’t a Globalist and he was talking 18 years ago about the China bad effect on America, as well as need for border Control.
        His father was a big Patiroit who had a lot of influence on him. Certainly not Commie in any way.
        Trump was a outsider to this highly corrupted DC Swamp.
        He is a fighter who had so many sleazy forces trying to take him out , but he survived.
        Than the bizarre Covid 19 unleashed from China , destroying the economy he was building, with the Dem blaming him for the deaths.
        Lock downs and looter rioters and fear mongering and suppression of news all designed to steal the election so mail in fraud with ballots steal the election.
        I don’t think that Trump can overcome this level of evil.
        Losing this leadership of Trump of the spineless Reb. party, will be a return to the Swamp.
        I predict that there will be massive bail outs in every realm that benefit the Monopolies, Globalist, money men , and undeserving States. The regular people will get little.
        The big Companies will pick up the market share on the destroying of small business.

        Or something strange might happen that I can’t predict.

        1. “…Trump was a unusual guy.”

          Back in the day, those who stood to lose the most from the Emancipation Proclamation said worse things, in Anthropological terms, about Abraham Lincoln even accusing Mary Todd Lincoln of sleeping with a troglodyte.

    3. There won’t be much for the courts to address. Biden’s numbers in PA, AZ, NV, and WI look like they’ll be strong enough to make arguing over a few straggling ballots moot.

    2. Not to mention as their neighbors condos go empty and non-paying, it increases the share on everyone remaining. This is the thing that has always hung me up when thinking about the idea of a condo – keeping your monthly fees reasonable depends on how everyone else is doing, and if things go south, the people who try to stick it out will get shafted the worst.

  17. Is it possible that a new election in the disputed States could be called in light of this voter fraud against Trump voters ?

    I’m thinking a recount of the fraudulent ballots wouldn’t suffice because your just recounting fraud. If they put wrong counts into a computer than that might be detectable .

    2. Fraud on this sort of scale requires significant planning. They’ll get away with it just like they did the impeachment sham. Nobody went to jail over that when dozens should have. It was treason at best – a political coup at its worst. There should be executions.

      1. I told you to quit bringing yer BS talking points to my blog, now yer through. I own this site, and you’ve been googled.

        “In Antrim County, ballots were counted for Democrats that were meant for Republicans causing a 6,000-vote swing against our candidates,” Michigan GOP Chairwoman Laura Cox said in a news conference Friday. “The county clerk came forward and said tabulating software glitched and caused a miscalculation of the votes.”

        ‘Cox added: “Since then, we have now discovered that 47 counties use this same software in the same capacity. Antrim County had to hand count all of the ballots, and these counties that use this software needs to closely examine their results for similar discrepancies.”

        “Antrim county had to hand-count all of the ballots,” Cox said. “And all these counties that use this software need to closely examine their results for similar discrepancies.”

        https://www.theepochtimes.com/gop-claims-software-error-switched-6000-republican-votes-to-democrat-used-in-47-michigan-counties_3568773.html?utm_source=news&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=breaking-2020-11-06-4

        So 6,000 votes for the President get logged as Biden votes, in one county. Up yers a$$-hole.

          3. ‘Detroit MI: Watcher Claims 100,000+ Votes Were Walked In During The Early Hours’

            Absolutely. President Trump had a massive lead in all of these states, and it was WIDENING when I went to bed. Then, under the cover of darkness, they dumped hundreds of thousands of ballots onto Biden’s count while Trump’s numbers went nowhere. This is so obviously fraudulent that even the most ignorant person could see it. That’s why I equate it to Kim Jong Il and his golf round where he shot 38 under par on 18 holes with 5 holes in one. It’s so laughably phony that nobody in their right mind would believe it.

      4. “What fraud? The election was surprisingly smooth all things considered.”

        Then Democrats should have no problem with complete transparency if there are any uncertainties or discrepancies, oh wait…

        The ballot counters and their muscle were blocking observers from doing their jobs in Democrat-controlled Philadelphia, even going against court orders. They were putting paper over windows, padlocking doors, making LEGAL observers stand 60 feet away and using their aides to stand in front of monitors.

        All counting and election processes should be completely transparent, but amoral Democrats don’t think so.

        1. When you can’t earn it, steal it. It’s the democrat party way.

          God Bless President Donald J. Trump and God Bless America!

          1. “It’s the democrat party way.”

            There’s a bumper-crop of RINOs too. We have one right here in our district, Rep. Dan Newhouse.

          2. Unfortunately, the time has come to choose between a RINO and a social credit system. Might want to drop the demeaning RINO moniker.

  18. ‘President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee (RNC) won a case (pdf) on Nov. 5 after the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania sided with them against Kathy Boockvar, the Democrat-appointed Secretary of State of Pennsylvania who has shown bias against Trump in the past.’

    ‘In their lawsuit filed in late Wednesday, Trump and the RNC claimed Boockvar broke the Help America Vote Act (HAVA) when she improperly extended the deadline for absentee and mail-in voters to provide any missing proof of identification from Nov. 9 to Nov. 12.’

    ‘On Thursday, the Commonwealth Court of Pennsylvania ruled in favor of the Trump campaign and has now enforced the proper statutory deadline and ordered that those ballots be segregated and not counted.’

    https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-campaign-rnc-wins-in-pennsylvania-voter-id-case_3567841.html

    1. The Epoch Times days are numbered. There’s no way the globalists and their captured media outlets can abide the presence of competitors who tell the truth and expose the lies, distortions, and omissions in The Narrative.

      Reading that Tweet thread is retch-inducing. All the Democrats like Crooked Hillary are sanctimoniously weighing in on how we must trust the integrity of the voting process, when each of them knows full well the degree to which their party has subverted our institutions of governance and the rule of law.

    2. I read that Democrats in Nevada are going door to door to try to fix ballot issues retroactively. This is why it’s taking so long to count – they are first trying to change whatever is the problem with the ballot. Of course none of that is happening on the Republican ballots. This whole thing is fraudulent.

    3. As Nevada election drags on, Democrats go door-to-door to help cure mail-in ballot issues

      Riley Sutton is exorcising what he calls his “patience demons.”

      Sutton is one of many Democrats throughout the state who is helping “cure” ballots that were not able to be counted for various reasons — invalid signatures or incorrect envelopes — to help ensure everyone’s ballot is counted in Nevada’s first mostly mail-in election.

      A thin margin separates the two presidential candidates in a state that could decide the presidency. As of Thursday afternoon, Democrat Joe Biden had a 11,400-vote lead over President Trump.

      Following a list of addresses provided to him by the Joe Biden campaign, Sutton has spent the past couple of days driving from house to house to let voters know there was a problem with their ballot. Not all of the houses he visits are registered Democrats — some are non-partisan.

      “I’ve got a lot of other things to do, but nothing else seems as important as this,” he said.

      https://www.rgj.com/story/news/politics/2020/11/05/nevada-election-results-democrats-ballot-issues-signatures-envelopes-washoe-county/6181986002/

    4. (Bloomberg) — Republicans in Northampton County, Pennsylvania, lost a court bid to block the local elections board from disclosing identities of voters whose invalid mail-in ballots were cancelled on Nov. 3.

      The Northampton election board provided the names to both the Democratic and Republican parties so they could alert the voters and suggest they vote in-person by provisional ballot.

      A judge dismissed the suit filed by the Republican committee, ruling it lacks merit. The ballots were canceled for reasons including failure to include a signature and absence of a required privacy envelope.

      Pennsylvania Republicans have filed several legal challenges over the potential counting of defective ballots. Another group of Republicans accused officials in Montgomery County, in the Democratic-leaning Philadelphia suburbs, of helping voters “cure” ballots that should considered invalid.

      The Democrat controlled areas are trashing the Republican ballots which are flawed, and “curing” the Democrat ballots. It’s just disgusting how this is allowed. And it’s right out in public.

      1. trashing the Republican ballots

        The Northampton election board provided the names to both the Democratic and Republican parties…

        Aren’t those contradictory?

  19. “Every revolution evaporates and leaves behind only the slime of a new bureaucracy.”
    ― Franz Kafka

  20. Newt Gingrich comments on Hannity interview:

    “First of all, under federal law, we should lock up the people who are breaking the law. To stop somebody from being an observer, you just broke federal law. Do you hide and put up papers so nobody can see what you are doing? You just broke federal law. You bring in ballots that aren’t real? You just broke federal law.

    I am sick and tired of corrupt left-wing democrats who believe that we are too timid and too easy to intimidate, and therefore let us just go out and steal it. That’s exactly — no one should have any doubt.

    You are watching an effort to steal the presidency of the United States. And this is not about Donald Trump. This is about the American people. The American people have the right in an honest election with honest legitimate ballots to pick their leader or are we now just sheep to be dominated by these high-tech businesses, the news media, and the various political machines? And are we are supposed to surrender? I think this is one of the great, this is a crisis in the American system comparable to Washington on Christmas Eve or comparable to Lincoln and Gettysburg. This is a genuine deep crisis of our survival.”

    NEWT GINGRICH

  21. The FBI and DoJ are investigating rampant Democrat (who else?) voter fraud. Rest assured, those intrepid FBI investigators will turn over every stone in their diligent efforts to uphold the rule of law and thwart Democrat attempts to steal the election.

    https://www.toptradeguru.com/rigged-elections/the-luzerne-county-pa-election-staff-is-currently-under-fbi-investigation-after-several-trump-ballots-were-thrown-out/

    The Luzerne County (PA) election staff is currently under FBI investigation after several ballots were mishandled and thrown out. Coincidentally, all the mishandled and tossed ballots were for President Trump. More cases are expected to be investigated across PA, GA, MI, and WI as tips flood the FBI and DOJ.

    1. That’s what they’re doing everywhere – destroying Republican ballots and “curing” Democrat ballots. That way, when there’s a recount, the Republican ballots don’t even exist. Every wonder why they’re covering windows? Because you can’t destroy ballots without being noticed.

  22. On Tuesday night, Joe Biden had no prayer of winning. He was behind in every state that mattered, and his deficits were growing. Then Joe Biden went “golfing,” and aced every single hole he played. Seem suspicious? Nah….

    1. Biden better not be over golfing and spending my tax dollars. DT rarely wasted his time on that BS.

    1. No curfew here in Colorado Springs. If the soy try to caper down here, they may find out in a hurry that unlike Denver, we don’t have a Bolshevik municipal administration or a Soros-backed DA. Not to mention, we just don’t like them, and if they start something, we’ll finish it.

    1. Funny how CNN and all the other MSM outlets automatically say Trump claims of voter fraud are baseless, without even pretending to act like actual investigative reporters and do some independent digging of their own to either confirm or refute the allegations.

    1. This is what I mean by this vicious hit squad that goes to punish any political decent. This is extortion and not exactly how difference of political opinion is handled in America. But they are anti American creeps wanting to turn us into a Commie shit hole,

    2. Yep, Boo Randy, the famous lists that creep dictators compose to get back at their political rivals and kill them.
      The clear mark of deranged people .

    3. Original tweet:

      ——————-
      @HariSevugan
      ·
      You better believe it. We just launched the Trump Accountability Project to make sure anyone who took a paycheck to help Trump undermine America is held responsible for what they did.
      ————–

      And a comment on the tweet:

      ——————–
      @JRubinBlogger
      Any R now promoting rejection of an election or calling to not to follow the will of voters or making baseless allegations of fraud should never serve in office, join a corporate board, find a faculty position or be accepted into “polite” society. We have a list.
      —————–

      NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING will undermine America more than prosecuting and convicting someone for such vague and subjective actions such as undermining America, making baseless allegations of fraud, and not following the will of the voters. I’m not sure that even the Ninth Circuit would allow such a farce.

  27. Someone said last night that the 2018 election was stolen also based on the Russian Hoax slander that allowed Pelosi to take back the House.

    I’m just saying talk about interference with elections by claiming for 21/2 years that the President was a Russian operative that was baseless.
    I just think about the veterans in graves that fought in all the wars, just to have government by the people usurped by creeps from within who are treasonous.

    1. No, I think that 2018 was legit. For one thing, you didn’t have the massive mail-in ballots. The Trump hate was running high at the time. And there weren’t any third party spoilers.

        1. I am referring to the vote itself. The ballots were filled out legitimately and counted legitimately. Of course, people vote choices are influenced by false info all the time, and that’s a separate issue.

          1. Like when all those 2018 house seats in California were won by Repubs but the dems just kept rounding up more and more dem votes until none of them won? If only I got a nickel every time you said something stupid.

            Methinks we’re eventually going to have another election, this time with voter id and strict controls. Leftys should have no problem with that right – everyone hates orange man and even MOAR will vote for pedo joe, right?

            Right? 😉

          2. The ballots were filled out legitimately and counted legitimately.

            I doubt it. Cheaters cheat. The 2018 midterms just weren’t as consequential as this election.

          3. If only I got a nickel every time you said something stupid.

            She’s not stupid. Some people, like my mother, are just more trusting of people than others. Law school and the legal profession cured me of that.

          5. Ok, I didn’t say the ballots were fraud. I said slander for 21/2 years that Trump colluded with Russians on fake news no doubt could sway votes. It’s interference of election by a swear that was baseless.

          6. house seats in California were won by Repubs but the dems just kept rounding up more and more dem votes

            This is typical in elections. If rural precincts report first, it will look like the republican is winning. Then the major cities will report, and Dem votes will catch up. This happened in Virginia in the Presidential election in 2016.*

            So how was 2018 different from what’s going on now? 2018 was an in-person election with few mail-in ballots. Almost all the votes had been cast in person throughout the day; all the votes were in the machines before counting started, with no way to add votes in later. The end count would have been the same regardless of who reported first.

            But in this 2020 election, drop-box and mail-in ballots showed up AFTER polls had closed; and it is not known whether these were legitimately dropped into boxes, or whether they were fraudulently manufactured and dumped at the polling place later. So Dems are racking up votes, and more votes, and more votes. In other words, the votes were NOT all in the machines when the counting started. That’s why 2020 looks so suspicious.

            —————–
            * It is likely there was no widespread fraud in 2016. First, there was little mail-in/drop-box balloting, so less potential for tampering. Secondly, the Dems were so sure that Hillary would win that they didn’t even think to rig. That’s how we got the liberal cry-fest. They didn’t think Trump would win, until he won. And by then it was too late to tamper with anything. The allegation is that this year, Dems were actually preparing in advance.

          7. Oh, and please do not call me stupid. I just spent 10 minutes mansplaining to you, in excruciating baby-step detail, a scenario in which an R can start off ahead –legitimately — only to see Dems catch up — legitimately. And that this legitimate scenario is was very likely in 2016 and 2018, but much less likely in 2018.

            I broke down a larger issue by separating the issue into parts in order to identify which parts are the real drivers, which takes a fair amount of critical thinking. In this case the driver is that mail-in and drop-box ballots are more susceptible to tampering, which is not news. The issue has been discussed ever since this pandemic arrived. 2018 had few mail in ballots, 2020 had about half.

            As for “trusting” of people, I don’t see how that’s relevant. I suppose you could argue that I trusted the 2016 and 2018 much more than 2020, simply because those two years didn’t have the main driver of fraud, which means fraud was less likely, which means the process was more trustworthy.

          8. ( I mean “much less likely in 2020.” It’s not easy to proofread long posts in this little text box.)

          9. The end count would have been the same regardless of who reported first.

            And just to nail this even deeper, note that last Tuesday, Biden and Trump were neck-and-neck in Texas. I think Biden even pulled ahead at some point. We even commented on it here, and someone said, “Don’t worry, the cities reported first, rural areas haven’t reported yet.” Sure enough, this time it was Trump who kept rounding up Rep votes until he won.

            So why aren’t you complaining that Trump cheated in Texas just because he caught up from behind? Because Texas did not allow widespread mail-in or drop box ballots, just the usual absentee ballots, thus removing the main driver of fraud. Voting-wise, Texas in 2020 was much like 2016 and 2018.

          11. Those 2018 House seats you speak of in California were lost in 2018 my current and last districts and those nearby. I live in the former heart of the Republican coastal areas of California, Orange County and San Diego. Both turned blue due to the Trump tax cuts.

            The SALT deduction is/was so important to this area of California I had neighbors losing $20,000 in tax breaks and these weren’t millionaires, its just coastal real estate here is wildly expensive people made decisions to buy based partly on tax savings. People were furious their representatives sold them out they threw them all out and switched D to get their tax breaks back.

            Since there is no hope of the Biden win having any meanigful impact on bringing back SALT deductibility I expect the 2022 midterms to swing Red once again. My current neck of the woods I haven’t seen so many Trump signs and flags everywhere.

    1. oxide,
      In answers to your questions about Texas race.

      The pattern in that race was a minor surge by Biden, than a overtaking by Trump.

      In Pennsylvania Trump was ahead by 700 thousand and in the middle of night next morning Bidens ahead with hardly any up votes for Trump. It’s just not how patterns work of flow of ballots. Even if Biden had advantage on mail and, it would come in. 60/40 not 99 Biden 1% Trump.

      1. ‘President Donald Trump’s reelection campaign will launch a lawsuit in Pennsylvania to challenge the mail-in ballots that have been counted without Republican poll watchers onsite. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s attorney announced Saturday the lawsuit during a press conference in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, with several Republican poll watchers who were prevented from entering the poll sites or the rights of poll-watching were blocked.’

        ‘A federal lawsuit will be filed on Monday in Pennsylvania and more expected in other states. “We’re going to file a federal lawsuit that will cover here [Philadelphia] and Pittsburgh, and we will have as many witnesses as the court needs. Right now, it could be as many as 90 witnesses,” Giuliani said.’

        ‘Several witnesses joined Giuliani during the press conference, all are local Philadelphia residents. Lisette Tarragano, one of the witnesses, said she was never allowed to enter the polling site along with other five to six Republican poll watchers. “I was never brought in. Actually, I never got past the first identification stage, they kept saying that mine as well as five or six other Republicans, their names hadn’t been entered into the system,” she said.’

        ‘Two other poll watchers, Darrell Brooks and Matt Silver said they were kept 15 to 20 feet away from the ballots. Silver also alleged that some unusual ballot boxes were witnessed inside the polling site. “There seem to be at least certain boxes seem to be in the same unusual pen, and seem to have very similar handwriting. Some boxes were normal, some boxes were like that,” he said.’

        https://www.theepochtimes.com/trump-campaign-to-challenge-mail-in-ballots-counted-without-republican-poll-watchers-in-battlefield-states_3569575.html

        1. Begs the question, why not let them in if it’s all on the up and up? They had a legal right to be there. Of course this could invalidate many thousands of ballots in multiple states!

          Gosh, I hope snowflakes didn’t prematurely get their hopes up only to find them…dashed!

          1. get their hopes up

            Speaking of getting hopes up; I get the very strong impression that Democrats think their problem was this one troublesome guy in the White House. It follows that everything will be OK in their world once they remove that one guy. The people that I talk to who think this way are ignoring their real problem. It’s me!

          3. The people that I talk to who think this way are ignoring their real problem. It’s me!

            I expect them to eventually figure that out. Then what happens?

    1. While I don’t disbelieve him, I can easily see the liberals dismissing this with “takes one to know one”-type responses. Of course, he’s an expert.

  31. Redpilled,
    I can relate to what your saying about the law. I composed a Brief to the High Court in California one time that got accepted.. You would never know it by the way I write now. I understand the insanity of the legal process .

  32. It’s been a couple weeks since I’ve had a chance to catch up on things here, much less post anything. Not because of the elections, but because I’ve been so swamped with work, and needed to do some extra things for my wife and kids – pretty much has had me offline except for essentials.

    From what I am hearing things are still nuts around King county, but the definite trend is ‘get the hell out of the city’. A couple acquaintances (who work at facebook) living over in cap hill where all the chaz/chop roll players are just closed on a place in the suburbs, and another has an offer in for a place in Sammamish is waiting to hear if their offer is accepted. Another relocated all the way out to Maple Valley to afford getting out of the People’s Republic of Seattleastan. So we see this distortion – prices down in the places people are fleeing from, and up in the places they are running to.

  33. AG Paxton: Limestone County social worker charged with 134 felony counts involving election fraud

    https://www.kxxv.com/news/local-news/ag-paxton-limestone-county-social-worker-charged-with-134-felony-counts-involving-election-fraud

    LIMESTONE COUNTY, TX — Attorney General Ken Paxton today announced that his Election Fraud Unit assisted the Limestone County Sheriff and District Attorney in charging Kelly Reagan Brunner, a social worker in the Mexia State Supported Living Center (SSLC), with 134 felony counts of purportedly acting as an agent and of election fraud.

    If convicted, Brunner faces up to 10 years in prison for these offenses.

  35. Ok, it’s not normal that Biden didn’t campaign much, and when he did crowds didn’t show up. Yet they are saying Biden got more votes than Obama.
    Than the fake polls making it look like this demented , corrupt Biden was in the lead by a landslide, which wasn’t true.
    Than Dem lawyers 90 days ahead of time went to change voting laws in key States, and than those are the States with fraud issues run by Dem poll operatives.
    It isn’t possible that in the night numbers come in only for Joe Biden because that’s not a normal mix of voter flow. Also , 90,% turn out is off the charts odd, when Trump was in the lead by a huge Margin.
    You, usually don’t get a win in Ohio and Florida and Texas than fail in these other States.
    Based on the unheard of amount of money put in by the Globalist to defeat Trump , it doesn’t compute how the numbers came out.
    The fact that Dem talking heads over a month ahead of time claimed it would like like Trump was winning but than Biden would win. Now how would you be able to make a prediction like that.
    The suppression of news on Biden Corruption found on computers and witness testimony, by big tech and Main stream news. This is evidence of Biden being a compromised candidate. This was racked off as Russian disinformation by MSN and suppressed quickly which is appalling, and really obstruction of Justice by the media.
    Really, could it be true that Americans would vote for taking away oil, raising taxes, open borders , Medicare for all, packing Courts, making everyone equal, etc etc.
    I think at best maybe 30% of the population has been brainwashed into the Commie agenda.
    So, the election does not reflect in disputed States clearly what Florida and Ohio win for Trump reflected.
    And why did lawyers for Biden only go for changing voting procedures in States that would create a pathway to win for Biden.
    Also you would of got a overwhelming loss of lseats in Senate and House by GOP had Biden actually won, the opposite took place.
    So, nothing adds up, deliberate blocking of GOP poll watchers etc.
    So, I say you actually need a re election in the five States in dispute. That would be the only fair way to do it, or check every ballot for fraud which would be time consuming.
    They are most likely going to get away with this election fraud .
    I remember in the 60s they were saying the mob rigged the election for JFK. The thing is regardless you never got the impression that JFK was anti American or Commie or treasonous to the USA. The difference now with a rigged election is it represents a entire change to Commie top down control.
    We were fighting the Commies in the 60’s, now we’re turning Commie.
    Americans want Communist China to control manufacturing and loss of USA job and people would vote against their own interest like that, just to make Globalist richer, I don’t think so.

  36. Ok, one thing that’s kinda alarming to me is that you have a couple generations of brainwashed younger people that think the ends justify the means, so fraud, looting, etc. is ok. It’s clearly a Commie taught method of bringing about the result by force rather than Democratic process.
    You hear these stooges talk and fraud is acceptable to them.
    I just heard they called Biden the President. Hard to believe when they have outstanding legal disputes.

    1. I just heard they called Biden the President.

      Can confirm MSDNC and Faux News. Who cares what they call/declare?!

      1. Redpilled,
        Your right that the media can’t call the election. No doubt this is to make it look like Trump is grasping at straws.

        If Fox is moving in the direction of CNN, and you only have a few people like Tucker Carlson left, I don’t know that I will watch any news. They are taking Michael Savage off the radio in Jan. He was a big voice.
        I mean who will be next.

        Very disturbing to me. keep feeling like I’m being gut punched.

        1. What matters:

          December 8 — States are expected to resolve controversies at least six days before the meeting of electors.

          December 14 — Electors meet in respective states to certify their votes for President and Vice President.

Comments are closed.