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A Softer Market Environment With Abundant Inventory, Slower Sales And In Quite A Few Cases, Reduced Prices

A report from the Real Deal on Florida. “The real estate wing of New York investment firm Axonic Capital paid $37.3 million in a bulk purchase of 170 units of a 310-unit fractured Doral condo complex. As a fractured condo project, only some of the individual units were sold by the initial developer. A Lennar affiliate had paid $67.9 million for the complex in 2006. In 2014, TIM paid Lennar $45 million for 204 units of the complex. In 2016, Cushman & Wakefield marketed the units and said it could sell them for more than $50 million.”

The New York Post. “Musician Azealia Banks is leaving California for Miami. It was revealed that the modest 2,348-square-foot house in Woodland Hills, California, sold in a non-judicial foreclosure for $845,000 to an unknown buyer in November, according to the ‘bankruptcy sale’ listing posted on Realtor.com, which describes the home as a ‘fixer-upper.’ Banks bought the home in March 2016 for $850,000, but didn’t appear to be happy with her purchase — she listed the house only one month later.”

The Los Altos Town Crier in California. “In January 2019, Ahmad Javid received an email from an escrow officer asking him to reconvey, or release, Dutchints Development LLC from a $2.7 million loan Javid had made toward the development of a home in Los Altos Hills. The reason, the escrow officer explained, was that Dutchints’ managing director, Vahe Tashjian, was refinancing and securing a new lender. The officer promised to put Javid’s deed of trust, containing the $2.7 million owed, back on the property afterward so that his money would still be secured.”

“The partnership, which began in 2017, was going well. The houses were being flipped. The Javids were being paid back. They even convinced their daughter, Dr. Roya Javid, to join in – she loaned Dutchints $1.8 million toward the development of a Los Altos home in November 2018. A few months prior, Tashjian had made his biggest splash yet, purchasing a 77,000-square-foot property at 5150 El Camino Real for $48 million with a dream of turning it into a high-density, residential development.”

“‘Between lenders stopping loans, investors stopping investments and tenants unable to pay rents, our capital sources dried up immediately, jeopardizing our projects,’ Tashjian said. ‘As a result, we did have some hiccups in payments early on, and have been working with parties to make good.’ Some investors claim they are in the dark, despite repeatedly raising concerns directly to Tashjian and asking for financial records, worried that they are racking up large losses.”

“The property next door that Dutchints was supposed to turn into a public park – one of the city’s conditions for the development – was put under a Notice of Trustee Sale last October and one investor said in recent weeks that it was in ‘serious foreclosure.’ Tashjian admitted that Dutchints took losses on ‘almost every project we sold’ after the pandemic began. Many tenants couldn’t afford rent, he added, and investors who were ‘fearful of the unknown’ speared an exit of ‘viable projects.'”

The Mercury News in California. “A loan default has jolted a portion of a Santa Clara project developed by Sanjeev Acharya and Silicon Sage Builders, a fresh complication for the real estate executive who is accused of fraud by U.S. regulators. The commercial component of Madison Park, a mixed-use development on El Camino Real, faces a mortgage default, foreclosure, and seizure by the property’s lender, according to Santa Clara County public records filed on Jan. 11.”

“The SEC has accused Silicon Sage Builders and Acharya of a series of fraudulent actions over a period of roughly four years beginning in 2016, according to a complaint that the regulators filed on Dec. 21. The SEC claimed that the fraud might have impacted an estimated 250 people who invested a combined $119.2 million in the company’s projects.”

“In a Dec. 28 court filing, Silicon Sage stated that coronavirus-linked woes have spawned a cash squeeze for Bay Area properties that Silicon Sage owns. ‘Defendants currently face a liquidity crisis caused in part and worsened by a global pandemic,’ Silicon Sage and Acharya said in the court papers.”

The Aspen Times in Colorado. “The fate of a 75-unit low-income housing project proposed in the mid-Roaring Fork Valley is in doubt because of litigation filed by neighboring property owners. The housing arm of the Denver Catholic Archdiocese proposed the project on an unbuilt portion of a midvalley subdivision called Willits Bend. The review by Eagle County abruptly stopped last fall and last month the development application was withdrawn.”

“In essence, the 11 owners of Willits Bend units contend Robert Tobias, representing Willits Bend LLC, is pulling a bait-and-switch: he sold them property under a specific premise and now he’s trying to alter the development approvals to allow for the low-income housing. Tobias said he is simply responding to market forces. The approvals were granted 13 years ago by Eagle County, he said. But after the 2008 recession, demand fell flat for the type of development that Willits Bend offered. ‘Things change,’ he said. And in his view, the low-income housing project was the perfect adaptation.”

From Seattle PI in Washington. “The citywide Seattle condo median sales prices dipped to $466,500 in December reflecting a one-month and year-over-year decrease of 6.7% and 4.3% respectively. We had 72% more Seattle condo listings for sale than we had last December. Contemplating the already completed (but not listed units) and pre-sale opportunities from a number of new construction condo buildings, the true inventory is considerably higher. With those in mind, Seattle should technically be in a buyer’s market.”

“Condo dense areas such as downtown, Belltown and Capitol Hill exhibited a softer market environment with abundant inventory, slower sales and in quite a few cases, reduced prices.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “Robert Hogue, senior economist at Royal Bank of Canada, estimates that active listings in the GTA condo market soared 159 per cent in December from December, 2019. In the central 416 area code, that figure is closer to 172 per cent, he says. Mr. Hogue points out that the downturn in the rental market has prompted many condo investors to sell. The swollen inventory gives buyers more bargaining power.”

“The former Four Seasons at 155 Yorkville Ave allowed short-term rentals, which were popular with out-of-town visitors. But owners face intense competition now: currently, there are 55 units listed for lease in the building and 24 for sale. Only nine sales have taken place in the high-rise since July, says Andre Kutyan, a real estate agent. ‘There is 16 months of inventory in that building,’ at the recent pace of sales, he says.”

“Mr. Kutyan points to another studio apartment in the King Edward Private Residences at 22 Leader Lane, which he took on after it was listed with an asking price of $579,000 by another agent in August. After a couple of price reductions failed to find a buyer, the seller brought in Mr. Kutyan, who suggested an asking price below $400,000. The owner resisted, so Mr. Kutyan set an asking price of $429,000. After about one month, the owner agreed to cut the price to $399,000. After 36 days at that price, the buyer struck a deal for $395,000 just before Christmas. The price of $850-per-square-foot is approximately 32-per-cent below the amounts above $1,200 per-square-foot that the same units were fetching in the first quarter of 2020, he says.”

“‘All of a sudden, we got a ton of interest,’ he says. ‘They were all investors. They think that we’ve hit the bottom already.'”

From Letting Agent Today on the UK. “A rental market snapshot says the UK-wide lettings picture is dragged down by Greater London’s excess of supply, and by the exodus of renters. It insists this national picture is ‘dragged down by an exodus-induced average rent drop of 16.9 per cent in Greater London.’ ‘Greater London continues to indicate an oversupply in properties available to rent (up 37 per cent year-on-year). This worrying situation is already weighing heavy on the capital’s buy to let sales market and is likely to be exacerbated by the latest national lockdown,’ warns Home.”

“Doug Shephard, director of Home, says: ‘Oversupply is more acute in the London lettings market. Consequently, rents are collapsing in the more central London boroughs, slashed by landlords desperate to avoid painful void periods. This situation is undermining the fundamentals of the central London sales market, since ultimately it is the yield on property that underpins its capital value. Landlords in prime locations such as Westminster, Hammersmith & Fulham, Kensington & Chelsea and Islington have dropped asking rents by 34, 29, 28 and 25 per cent respectively. These are unprecedented falls and, judging by the continuing rate of decline, rents in central London are unlikely to stabilise anytime soon.”

From Kenyans. “Tenants living in Kileleshwa are currently enjoying the upper hand in negotiations as landlords have been forced to lower rent due to low occupancy. Speaking to Kenyans.co.ke, a tenant residing in the area revealed that she was able to negotiate her rent down by Ksh20,000.”

“‘I used to pay Ksh75,000 for my 2-bedroomed apartment but we came to an understanding with my landlord who agreed to bring it down to Ksh55,000. Last year, almost 50% of my neighbors moved out due to the pandemic and tough economic constraints that followed. With most of the houses vacant for months, I saw this as an opportunity to renegotiate,’ she explained.”

“Around Kileleshwa as one makes their way towards Yaya Center, it is impossible not to notice a staggering number of vacant apartments. Kenyans online went on to accuse landlords in the area of creating an illusion of occupancy by having curtains set up in empty apartments.”

From ABC News in Australia. “Sydney and Melbourne were the worst cities to be a landlord in 2020, according to the latest rental market figures. In the week ending January 4, the average weekly rent for a Melbourne apartment had plunged (-8.7pc) to $376.90 compared to where it was the year before. Weekly house rents in Melbourne also fell sharply (-4.8pc) to $511.70 over the past year. ‘It’s clear Sydney and Melbourne apartment investors were the losers of 2020, with rents and prices falling,’ SQM managing director Louis Christopher said.”

The Khmer Times in Cambodia. “The Kingdom’s construction and property sectors have been on a slump for most of 2020. The usual foreign clientele, looking to develop and/or buy luxury properties for more attractive costs, have dwindled in the past year causing high-end projects to stall, drop prices, and even rethink marketing strategies. Cambodia’s property sector is still not out of the woods almost a year later. According to Realestate.com.kh’s Market Trends, median sale prices for residential properties in Phnom Penh ended the year with up to 30% lower median sale prices.”

From Bloomberg. “In just five years, Hong Kong property tycoon Pan Sutong has gone from ranking among Asia’s wealthiest people to having his company’s flagship skyscraper seized by creditors chasing more than US$1 billion (S$1.3 billion) of debt.”

“It is a swift fall from grace for Mr Pan, 57, who was Asia’s fourth-richest man in 2015 with a net worth of US$27 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. But after shares of his Goldin Financial Holdings plunged and with most of his properties locked up as collateral for loans, he has fallen off the list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people.”

“He transitioned to property investing in 2008, a few years into a red-hot boom that would mint numerous fortunes in Hong Kong and make it one of the world’s most expensive real estate markets. Mr Pan now joins other investors in the city who over-extended themselves during the boom. Mr Tang Shing-bor, a veteran investor known as the ‘Shop King’ for his vast holdings of retail properties, is seeking to sell billions of dollars of real estate. A group of investors who paid US$5.2 billion for The Center in the world’s most-expensive office deal, have been unable to flip floors as the market ground to a halt last year.”

“Mr Pan moved from manufacturing consumer electronics such as mobile phones and MP3 players to property in 2008, when he renamed his electronics firm Goldin Properties Holding and purchased a listed company, christening it Goldin Financial. In late 2019, Goldin Financial failed to raise a loan partly to fund development of the site, the people said. The firm later sold the plot for about HK$3.5 billion, less than half what it had paid in 2018.”

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This Post Has 111 Comments

  1. ‘I used to pay Ksh75,000 for my 2-bedroomed apartment but we came to an understanding with my landlord who agreed to bring it down to Ksh55,000. Last year, almost 50% of my neighbors moved out due to the pandemic and tough economic constraints that followed. With most of the houses vacant for months, I saw this as an opportunity to renegotiate’

    That’s the spirit!

    1. the scary thing it was not just Seattle, DFW, LA where there was a huge surge of ‘luxury’ apartments being built.

      It happened in Kenya as well (luxury means something a little different – but not much). Even smaller towns. There were luxury apartments built 2 miles from the border of the biggest slum in Nairobi.

      1. That’s what central bank funny money does. They should have been raising rates many, many years ago. It was once said that it was the central bank’s duty to take away the punch bowl as the party was just getting started. Instead they started spiking it and backing it up with endless free refills.

  3. Wa with all the foreclosures and fraud and butt hurt “investors” in California? It’s almost like the gold rush fell out years ago!

    ‘Contemplating the already completed (but not listed units) and pre-sale opportunities from a number of new construction condo buildings, the true inventory is considerably higher’

    Open discussion of market manipulation: check!

  5. ‘The price of $850-per-square-foot is approximately 32-per-cent below the amounts above $1,200 per-square-foot that the same units were fetching in the first quarter of 2020′

    It was cheaper than renting…

    ‘All of a sudden, we got a ton of interest…They were all investors. They think that we’ve hit the bottom already’

    Did you tell them there are anywhere from 20k-50k new units on the way Andre? I didn’t think so. Oh well, the market needs knife catchers.

  6. ‘a cash squeeze for Bay Area properties that Silicon Sage owns. ‘Defendants currently face a liquidity crisis’

    Again, this is a credit event. Note they were pretty much broke well before the CCP virus.

  7. From the last link:

    ‘The sale will put Goldin Financial in the unenviable position of going from landlord to tenant as the building housing its headquarters passes from its ownership, a move that mirrors Mr Pan’s own decline in fortunes’

    1. The firm later sold the plot for about HK$3.5 billion, less than half what it had paid in 2018.”

      And the Infamous (and not possible) 1/2 off has been achieved again.

  9. “…“It is a swift fall from grace for Mr Pan…”

    “…Mr. Pan moved from manufacturing consumer electronics such as mobile phones and MP3 players to property in 2008…”

    In other words, Mr. Pan went from manufacturing something of actual value to attempting to manufacture [profits] out of thin air.

    Its been attempted before, and always with the same result.

    Wile E. Coyote vs. Gravity

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wRSHzenjiNA

    1. In other words, Mr. Pan went from manufacturing something of actual value to attempting to manufacture [profits] out of thin air.

      Reminds me of a company I worked at in the late 90s in Colorado. They were growing at 6-8% per year making real things that real companies needed. But they saw those companies out in CA growing at 20% and wanted in on that action badly. So they diverted resources away from their core competency to try to get some of that sweet sweet low hanging fruit. As soon as things turned down in 2000 they ended up being acquired by a customer/competitor and their entire campus that used to include onsite medical and dental and daycare no longer exists. That whole community now pays the price of the loss due to that decision. All that remains is empty streets with strange tech-related names that lead to nowhere.

        1. Of course. I didn’t bother mentioning it since I figured you were the only one who would know or care.

          1. The last bits of StorageTek that live on in Big Red are withering away. The HW group in general is doing OK, as many on prem customers are ordering more HW than was anticipated a few years ago, except for the old StorageTek stuff.

            A few years ago Phillips Oil was set to buy the old StorageTek campus. There was a lot of excitement, the usual expectation of hundreds or even thousands of high paying jobs coming to town. Then after a while, Phillips quietly cancelled the purchase. IIRC, there was talk later of redeveloping the campus into some sort of retail/residential mix.

          2. The last bits of StorageTek that live on in Big Red are withering away.

            Of all my old coworkers that haven’t retired yet, almost all that remained were laid off last year.

          3. Brue now owns the land and were blaming the Louisville city council for some of the problems.

            —
            “The property, which Brue and partners have dubbed Redtail Ridge, was dealt a setback in October when medical device manufacturing giant Medtronic backed out plans to build a $133 million corporate campus there. The company cited delays and uncertainty after the Louisville City Council refused to approve Brue Baukol’s master development plans for the site at the time. Medtronic is now looking at neighboring Lafayette.”

            https://gethomedenver.com/denver-developer-buys-former-storagetek-campus-in-louisville/

          4. Ah, so Phillips did buy it. I wonder why they shelved their plans to build a campus there? I never heard a reason given.

          5. Of all my old coworkers that haven’t retired yet, almost all that remained were laid off last year.

            That’s what I have heard through the grapevine, that almost no StorageTek folks are left, and that BRM was their only campus (no ST in SCA that I know of)

          6. redeveloping the campus into some sort of retail/residential mix.

            I’ve seen this in the DC area too. They knock down the building that has the jobs and build slum-flats and some bougie stores. So what jobs are the people in the slum-flats supposed to work? UBI, I guess.

          8. I have worked at a few jobs with PowderHorns and numerous other STK libraries.

            Cool. I was never in tape. It was my first real engineering job and I was doing diagnostic code on Iceberg, which is the big refrigerator sized RAID box they OEMed to IBM because Shark wasn’t ready yet and made money hand over fist while IBM was selling it. IIRC correctly their stock doubled twice in about two years…about 97-98. As soon as Shark came online everything tanked and I took the voluntary layoff in 99. Partly because I was mad that new grad salaries were going up so fast that the new hires were making significantly more than me and my manager promised me the moon and ended up giving me a 6% raise. I got an instant 33% more by changing jobs that year.

        2. StorageTek made a very good product.

          At my former company we gave them consideration when sourcing a NAS disk cluster storage array.

          IIRC, the hardware we evaluated was excellent, it was the [3rd party] support organization that was sketchy.

          (We ran a 24×7 shop)

          1. StorageTek made a very good product.

            They did. Storage seems to be one of those “tough” businesses to be in. I know people who work at NetApp, and much like StorageTek, NetApp is a layoff roller coaster.

          2. I know people who work at NetApp

            Of those people at Netapp/Solidfire, a few of them are old STK people as well. I was one of the people who jumped to Mylex in 99 during the STK voluntary layoff and a few came with me. We went from Mylex to IBM to LSI/Engenio prior to being bought by Netapp. I got laid off on the transition to Netapp and got into drive test capital equipment.

          3. Unfortunately the usage pattern changed on the industry. Cheaper physical storage (with several copies) are now the standard in the cloud.

      2. Back in the 1980’s I worked for a few smaller sized aerospace companies like Wavecom and Amplica. The goal then was build the business, buy the buildings you’re in, sell the business and collect rent for the rest of your life on the buildings and be rich without the hassle of working and testing, manufacturing, etc. Amgen helped there buying everything in sight but that growth is ended in Newbury Park CA. I think it went to FL and beyond…

        I see so many empty buildings now I just have to wonder …

  10. “The fate of a 75-unit low-income housing project proposed in the mid-Roaring Fork Valley is in doubt because of litigation filed by neighboring property owners.

    wha? But Aspen is lousy with high-net-worth libtards. How could they not jump at the chance to show some compassion in their own backyards?

  11. But after shares of his Goldin Financial Holdings plunged and with most of his properties locked up as collateral for loans, he has fallen off the list of the world’s 500 wealthiest people.”

    Gosh, I sure hope the evaporation of trillions in Yellen Bux valuations isn’t impairing the underlying collateral on those massive loans these speculators took out. Because then we’ll start hearing about “credit events” though Shirley these will be one off, isolated occurrences as the wise stewards of our global financial system have matters well in hand.

  12. Low income housing in Aspen?

    I’ve been in the weekday morning traffic jam on CO 82 from Glenwood Springs going into Aspen before. All the contractors, landscapers, restaurant employees etc in an endless line of stopped traffic heading up the valley.

    Hunter S. Thompson was right about that place when he ran (and narrowly lost) for Sheriff of Pitkin County fifty years ago.

  13. It appears that Disqus — they run comment sections on websites — has joined the big tech purge. I don’t like going to breit, but for me it’s the only news site atm I can go to without running into intolerable dreck every other word. Anyway, comments at breit are being delayed and deleted. Looks like disqus added in some blanket flag words that threw all the comments into manual moderation, and the breit mods can’t remove the flags and are stuck manual moderating. They are working on it.

    1. What is the end game of all of this? Where is the finish line?

      Continuing the discussion from yesterday’s thread, I will reiterate that we have to stop generating revenue, any revenue, for big tech and all other globalist corporate media.

      Related topic, Tim Pool is getting a lot more downvotes and negative comments on Bitchute since last week. People go to Bitchute to watch Styxhexenhammer, not Beanie Boy. Tim Pool will do anything to stay on YouTube, because he is a sellout.

      1. What is the end game of all of this? Where is the finish line?

        Universal compliance and obedience. Being forced to ghost because if you don’t, you could get yourself into trouble and lose everything.

        Let’s not forget that these jerks (the Fed) can print money and can finance any organization we try to boycott. Sure, in principle I won’t give them my money, but they don’t need it. Netflix had millions of cancellations, yet they seem unperturbed.

        The globalists will make sure that their propaganda outlets continue to work without interruptions.

      2. “we have to stop generating revenue, any revenue, for big tech and all other globalist corporate media.”

        I don’t think these businesses care about losing users or money. The right political outlook grants them access to alternative revenue streams – loans, bailouts, buyouts, bubble stock valuations, reporting tricks that go unscrutinized.

        How many users on Facebook are bots? How many views on Youtube and clicks on Google ads are fake? Why wouldn’t they just fake up a few more to make up for the real users they lose?

        Boycotts may work in capitalism, but under Bubble Communism profits don’t matter and neither do customers. Heck, forget boycotts, a lot of these platforms and businesses are actively trying to chase us away.

        Losing 80 million customers may not make a dent in leftist globalist businesses – they’d probably thank us for doing their work for them. But gaining 80 million customers would make a huge difference to independent businesses who still have to operate under capitalism. Maybe a better use of time is to research and lift up businesses that appreciate us and need our help.

        1. Oops, posted without refreshing beforehand, only to realize I just made the exact same point that In Colorado made first. Hat tip to you, IC!

    2. Twitter Public Policy
      Ahead of the Ugandan election, we’re hearing reports that Internet service providers are being ordered to block social media and messaging apps.

      We strongly condemn internet shutdowns – they are hugely harmful, violate basic human rights and the principles of the #OpenInternet.
      11:22 AM · Jan 12, 2021

      https://twitter.com/Policy/status/1349059275461685250

      1. Andrew Torba, Gab CEO — Gab’s Response To The ADL and CNN (1/13/21):

        “The ADL should be calling for an investigation into Facebook, where the protests were actually organized. Gab is great for a lot of things, but it’s not a utility for organizing events. Facebook, on the other hand, has a dedicated Events feature and there were many Event pages organizing the Jan 6th protests on their platform and several massive Facebook Groups as well.

        Facebook has billions of users, up until last week our site only had about 1.5m users (although this is rapidly growing now by millions.) Facebook is also home to Facebook Messenger, which according to data is by far the largest distributor of child pornography on the internet. Funny how the ADL doesn’t seem to care about that.

        The ADL has NO POWER over Gab which is why they hate us. It’s that simple. There is absolutely nothing they can say or do to get us to censor opinions they don’t like. The ADL has no other way to deplatform Gab after successfully pressuring hosting providers, payment processors and more over the years to stop us from building the home of free speech online.

        So now the ADL is lobbying the US government to remove us from the internet. We will never bend to their demands and we will never censor legal, 1A-protected speech that hurts the ADL’s feelings. Ever. Jesus is King.”

        https://news.gab.com/2021/01/13/gabs-response-to-the-adl-and-cnn/

  14. A comment on the Austin foreclosure yesterday:

    ‘pic #8 a shower stall with 2 heads’

    This reminds me that most fishing lures are mean to to snag buyers, not fish.

  15. https://www.zdnet.com/article/dropbox-will-lay-off-315-employees-coo-to-step-down/

    Not all tech companies are rolling in dough. Beside Saleforce in SF, alot of tech companies are not making profits. And the cost is high in SF. First, the wfh to save money on office spaces. Second, come the layoffs. Finally, and hopefully the bankruptcy. Trees do not grow to the sky. Unfortunately, this will just make Google Drive, MS Onedrive, and Apple iCloud stronger. But f**k them all.

    1. Most of those zombie tech firms never had a viable business model to begin with. I’ve worked at a few over the years. Everything is fun and dandy until the seed money starts to run out. Of course, we all kept an eye on things, and it was easy to tell that the music was going to stop, as parties at the office suddenly stopped, and getting a needed piece of hardware was like pulling teeth. When that happened, people would start moving on to the next fun place. Only the hangers on would get laid off, usually when the firm would suddenly shut down. Some would not even get their final paycheck as there was no money left at all.

    2. qt, there was a link on this blog to a video of people talking about how startups get funding – very insightful. Basically the Series A,B,C,D funding from venture capital firms just want them to grow users (no matter how unprofitable). The only ones making money are FB, GOOG and AMZN – other than the initial investors

  16. This is a pearl clutching article:

    “A Cave Creek man is reeling after a souvenir shop owner pulled a gun on him—all because he was wearing a mask.

    The man didn’t notice the sign in the entrance forbidding masks and that declared, “This virus was a weapon used by the Democrats to steal an election!”

    Upon entry, the man said Teeslanger’s owner, Scott Cerkoney, told him to leave. Cerkoney got in the face of the victim, who did the same to the shop owner. The man said Cerkoney then pulled a gun on him, demanding he leave, as confirmed by statements from witnesses and in the Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office report.

    Cerkoney refused to talk to The Foothills Focus about the store’s “no-mask” mandate or the recent incident. However, he said in a Facebook video that he doesn’t allow masked customers because “of what we’ve seen happening with looting and violence and rioting. Generally, it’s pretty hard to tell who the good people are and the bad people are when you have a mask on.” He said the COVID-19 death rate is “.0008%,” anyway.

    Teeslanger is located in Prickly Pear Plaza and sells a variety of souvenirs, including politically themed T-shirts with phrases like “Take your COVID-19 and shove it…” and “Votes Don’t Matter,” as well as “MAGA” merchandise. Outside of the store is a replica of President-elect Joe Biden’s head on a pole that guests can punch.”

    https://www.thefoothillsfocus.com/city_news/no-mask-policy-breeds-anger-at-teeslanger/article_30c9608c-552c-11eb-aac0-cb9ef8a34536.html

    1. More bedwetting from the Associated Press — Defiance of virus dining bans grows as restaurants flounder (1/13/2021):

      “Health officials in Oregon and other states with bans say they are necessary because people can’t wear masks when they eat, are in close proximity in smaller and often poorly ventilated spaces, and are prone to talk more loudly in a crowded dining room — all known contributors to viral spread. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lists indoor dining as a “particularly high-risk” activity.

      But even as coronavirus deaths soar, a growing number of restaurants in states across the country are reopening in defiance of strict COVID-19 rules that have shut them down for indoor dining for weeks, or even months. Restaurants can serve people outside or offer carry-out, but winter weather has crippled revenues from patio dining.

      In Oregon, an organized effort to get businesses to reopen for indoor service starting Jan. 1 has been championed by several mayors, who formed a group to raise legal defense funds in anticipation of a court fight. Similar revolts in Michigan, Pennsylvania, California and Washington state have also gained traction, with the rule-breakers saying their industry has been unfairly singled out while other businesses, like big box stores and airlines, continue operating.

      The states with the strictest dining rules are led by Democratic governors and the protests have consequently attracted the support of right-wing groups that, in some cases, have stationed armed individuals at business entrances and organized protests on behalf of owners.”

      https://apnews.com/article/business-kate-brown-coronavirus-pandemic-oregon-portland-5d72f54a399f028b82aa18f8cde83a10

  18. Off topic, but…
    For years I’ve seen little curbside signs saying. “Houses wanted. Cash buyers…”. Obviously these are flippers.
    Sign of the times now…..I saw a FB Marketplace ad the other day “We buy mobile homes, cash buyers”.
    I’ve seen plenty of instances where folks are giving away an older mobile home, just to get it off their newly purchased rural or outlying subdivision area land. And I’ve seen some older mobile homes for sale, refreshed with the standard wood-grain vinyl plank flooring and new paint inside, all in shades of grays. Crappy 1980s wallpaper painted over.
    Then there’s the 10′ x 16′ shed made into a “tiny house” asking $65k. No land incl.
    The New Normal is here.
    (Located in North TX, 50 miles west of Ft Worth)

  19. Fake Impeachment of Trump again, not based on any valid
    case. IMHO..
    This is tragic that Trump is being nonstop persecuted by this fake Government.
    To corrupted for Trump to reverse these takeovers that had already taken place .
    They aren’t going to bust these Vipers for their violations of oath and betrayal of American Citizens. Fat chance Government by the people will be allowed and we move into some kind of dictorship.
    Of course their target is white Americans because they would be the most resistant to this takeover.
    Who knows how many elections they haven’t rigged on the State and Federal level for how long.
    So, who rules you is obvious now . Don’t know what this will lead to, but it isn’t going to be Government by the People.

    1. it isn’t going to be Government by the People.

      Government by the People is exactly what it is going to be.

      1. “Government by the People is exactly what it is going to be.”

        The wise Yachtsman is correct! Trump is still going to be your president and the US will be governed by the people. Military operations are well underway and you will see historic happenings in the days to come. The fed and other central banks will be dismantled. Fiat funny money no more. Judy Shelton on deck.
        God bless DJT and God bless America!

        1. I got a feeling it’s not going to be that easy. Also that we will have to carry some weight, not just sit back and wish.

    2. Disney is now withholding campaign funding to anyone who objected to the certification. I’m sure other companies are withholding campaign funding to anyone who votes against impeachment or conviction. Anyone who says hey-wait-a-minute is getting the whi supr treatment. You can’t even sue because the judges are also getting threatened. Is there anything left?

  20. Apt rents are dropping. Condos are being listed in larger numbers and sales prices are dropping especially downtown. Detached houses are being listed less and sales prices are rising (12% Y/Y in King County).

    Auto car sales dropped 15% to levels last seen in the ’70s. But the avg car price just went over $40K.

    Not only is this a ‘K’ recovery, but it is turning into a ‘K’ economy.

    —-
    From Seattle PI in Washington. “The citywide Seattle condo median sales prices dipped to $466,500 in December reflecting a one-month and year-over-year decrease of 6.7% and 4.3% respectively. We had 72% more Seattle condo listings for sale than we had last December. Contemplating the already completed (but not listed units) and pre-sale opportunities from a number of new construction condo buildings, the true inventory is considerably higher. With those in mind, Seattle should technically be in a buyer’s market.”

    “Condo dense areas such as downtown, Belltown and Capitol Hill exhibited a softer market environment with abundant inventory, slower sales and in quite a few cases, reduced prices.”

      1. Speaking of cars and those who live in the lower part of the K, they will have a hard time finding beaters in the future, as I expect more modern cars, which are chock full of electronics which are expensive to repair, to start having expensive and hard to fix issues as they get older.

        1. modern cars, which are chock full of electronics which are expensive to repair

          This has been true for quite a while now. Turns out most of those electronics are for features (including emissions compliance) that those trying to keep beaters on the road don’t care much about. In the end, if there’s any way to get it to squirt fuel and make spark it can still be used as a beater. If you can’t legally license it there are ways around that. The middle class worries about things that lower classes don’t need to worry so much about.

          1. “modern cars, which are chock full of electronics which are expensive to repair”

            I remember asking my father in the early 70s why the cars and trucks he bought had hand crank roll up windows and not electric like most of my friends parents cars had.

            His response…

            “Electric windows are just something else to break.”

            He passed away in 2004 and I can’t imagine what he would have to say about the computers, cameras and sensors with cars and trucks wrapped around them that are being sold today.

          2. “computers, cameras and sensors with cars and trucks wrapped around them that are being sold today”

            I like that.

            I’ve never paid more than $12,000 to purchase a vehicle.

          3. just something else to break

            Not only that, I have fixed a couple broken crank mechanisms in the way past. Electric windows, not so much.

          4. Most cars now come with auto closing windows, where you don’t have to hold the switch to close the window. That has to add some complexity.

    2. But the avg car price just went over $40K.

      Most of which are leased. A 5 year loan for a $40K car is about $700 a month. Plus taxes and insurance. Not many can afford that, yet you see them all over the road … especially in lines at food banks.

      There is usually a hobo begging for money at the exit of the supermarket parking lot. Sometimes I wonder if he has more cash on him than the people who drive by him in their SUVs.

      1. Jeep Wrangler Rubicon 3.0L Turbocharged Diesel 4×4 Off-Road Performance SUV – Only $62k
        *better hurry!

        1. 2021 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon

          10 miles
          Dealer Price
          $76,246

          There were almost 100 Rubicons on the local cars dot com. The cheapest one was $44K

          1. Brogrammers are rock crawling with interior climate control, front and rear GoPro cameras and ventilated synthetic leather seats!

      2. Our area has a ton of median-walkers, as we call them. Luckily, we don’t seem to have any tent cities or sidewalkvilles.

  22. Nothing about Trump/Voters agenda was insurrection. It was rather a objection to a takeover of Government by Entities that aren’t suppose to rule. How much can people take, so they elected Trump the outsider.
    Really, they have done everything to that man in terms of fake attacks.
    They have used Medical Cartel to control the sheep and make it easier to rig the election and God knows what else is to come.
    So it isn’t capitalism, it isn’t even exactly Commie either.
    It’s More like Globalist Monopoly control with them picking winners and losers .

  23. “In January 2019, Ahmad Javid received an email from an escrow officer asking him to reconvey, or release, Dutchints Development LLC from a $2.7 million loan Javid had made toward the development of a home in Los Altos Hills. The reason, the escrow officer explained, was that Dutchints’ managing director, Vahe Tashjian, was refinancing and securing a new lender. The officer promised to put Javid’s deed of trust, containing the $2.7 million owed, back on the property afterward so that his money would still be secured.”

    Maybe I’m missing something. This looks like they are removing Javid’s loan from the property so that it will appear that Dutchints doesn’t owe as much money, and can therefore qualify for other loans/rates. Um. isn’t that illegal?

  25. Shock Video: Woman Suffers Convulsions Following Covid Vaccine

    by Adan Salazar
    January 13th 2021, 1:58 pm

    “This is what the Pfizer covid19 vaccine has done to my Mom,” a Louisiana man named Brant Griner described in a post Sunday, going on to urge others to reconsider taking the vaccine.

    Despite being approved by the FDA, reports over the past few weeks have described vaccine recipients experiencing serious adverse reactions ranging from headaches and dizziness to seizures and bells palsy.

    https://www.infowars.com/

  26. Shakira is the latest superstar singer-songwriter to sell her publishing catalog. The Colombian star has sold 100% of her music publishing rights, including publishing and writer’s share of income, to Hipgnosis Songs Fund Limited, the company announced Wednesday (Jan. 13).

    The sale comprises Shakira’s entire catalogue of 145 songs, including her stake in global smashes like “Wherever, Whenever” and “Hips Don’t Lie.” The latter song was originally titled, “Hips Don’t Lie, But Realtors Do” before her record company made it shorten it for commercial reasons.

  28. With those in mind, Seattle should technically be in a buyer’s market.”

    Sure, if you wish to buy into a commie-malgoverned dystopia that views shacks as large illiquid assets that are low-hanging fruit for the tax man.

  30. “Doug Shephard, director of Home, says: ‘Oversupply is more acute in the London lettings market. Consequently, rents are collapsing in the more central London boroughs, slashed by landlords desperate to avoid painful void periods. This situation is undermining the fundamentals of the central London sales market, since ultimately it is the yield on property that underpins its capital value.

    Sharia patrols and no-go zones will fix this.

  32. If you thought the NAR couldn’t get any more unsavory, think again.

    https://www.realclearinvestigations.com/articles/2021/01/08/realtor_groups_big_move_to_ban_sales-agent_hate_speech_in_private_247_126671.html

    In what some consider one of the most far-reaching social policy moves in the corporate world, the National Association of Realtors, called the nation’s largest trade organization, has revised its professional ethics code to ban “hate speech and harassing speech” by its 1.4 million members.

    The sweeping prohibition applies to association members 24/7, covering all communication, private and professional, written and spoken, online and off. Punishment could top out at a maximum fine of $15,000 and expulsion from the organization.

  33. Interesting article about the developer Dutchints. One of the houses they got foreclosed on in Los Altos was my wife’s grandmas which they bought a few years ago and then tried unsuccessfully to flip for over twice the the purchase price. The design they do is super stale with all black wood chips .

  35. Now they’re trying to cancel Rep. Boebert, claiming that she instigated the Capitol raid.

    If only these cracker jack reporters had put in 1/10 the effort into uncovering who was instigating the mostly peaceful riots last summer …

    2. I thought we outlawed this guilty-until-proven-innocent stuff with the Magna Carta. I’m waiting for the judicial system to wake up here. There are probably hundreds of libel cases pending.

    1. Protesters attacked the car of Belgium’s king in Brussels on Wednesday as they rallied over the death of a black man who was arrested by police for breaking the country’s coronavirus curfew, The Daily Mail reported.

      The King is no doubt a figurehead, and did not order the lock down. That said, I’m sure Belgium’s vibrants want him gone.

  38. Just saw in the news that at least 20% of unemployment claims in Colorado are fraudulent.

    It’s a grifter’s world.

    1. I’m sure it’s difficult to get help to those near the bottom of the proverbial food chain. They’re always moving (skipping), their vital documents are often folded-up in their back pocket, kids from daddies (plural), etc., so fraudulent submissions should be expected. However, that graft will likely hit main street rather than some off-shore bank account.

      1. From what I have heard, here in the Centennial State you get a debit card that only works at US Bank ATMs. I also understand that an SS# is required to file, so the grifters have obtained tens of thousands of them.

        And because of the urgency to get benefits out, debit cards have been sent out even though employers are flagging the claims as false. I wonder if this is an inside job.

  39. If you thought the last Impeachment of Trump was bogus, the second impeachment is not valid in the slightest.
    Nancy Pelosi is a model for Abuse of Power by Congress for harassment of the Executive Branch.
    I believe the 2018 election was rigged to put Pelosi back into power, to stop the Trump agenda and Impeach, impeach, impeach.
    It’s all so contrived and treasonous. She can do anything she wants if she has Majority votes in Congress.
    So, everything fake to stop the Trump movement to Make America Great Again, as a outsider to the Deep Swamp of a treasonous body of Politicians on both sides.

    Fake everything now, with first Amendment taken and censorship of anything but the fake news. Lockdowns of Citizens using Medical Scam to destroy rights so Monopolies rule.
    They are guilty of a takeover, not Trump/Voters who where the resistance to it.

      1. Right, like impeachment means anything anymore.
        Trumped up charges against Trump. Oh but they get to provoke nonstop to attack innocent Citizens with lawlessness.
        The left is going to find out one day what useful idiots they were and that they were played like a cheap violin.

  40. Really, about 75% of Washington DC Vipers need to be voted out, and term limits need to be enacted.
    Something has to be done about the money in Politics because it gives a major advantage to Big Money Entities.
    But, I’m just dreaming because I don’t know if they won’t continue to rig elections.
    If 75%of the States got together they could vote for or overturn anything, but what if they rig that attempt.
    Since they just took full power in Washington DC who is going to correct the voting machines?
    Under Biden they will vote for 16 year olds can vote, criminals in jail, ilegals, add States to Union, Change electoral college, etc . This will stack the deck. This will mess up the check and balance and a couple of populated States like New York and California will rule the entire Nation. The Founding system was not designed to do that.
    So, along with stacking the Supreme Court the new power grab will insure that they are the power forever.

    1. insure that they are the power forever

      Only one thing is needed to stop that. Honest elections. So how do we somehow get enough people to want that and focus on that? That doesn’t involve guns?

      1. Thoughts

        Become involved in your local election process…

        Become knowledgeable about your local and state candidates and support those who want clean elections…

        Support Conservative honest candidates in neighboring states financially…

        Ask your representatives what they are doing to clean up the election process…

        Donate to pro Constitution news sites like Sound of Hope…

        1. Ask your representatives what they are doing to clean up the election process…

          And when they say that there’s nothing to clean up? Because that’s what they’re going to say. Nothing to see here, move along, citizen.

          1. that’s what they’re going to say

            It is important that we not give up, not sit down and not be quiet.

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