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If You Want To Hear Horror Stories, You Can Find Them

A report from the New York Post. “Looks like former MMA champion Ben Askren isn’t the only thing Jake Paul is knocking out. The multimillion-dollar California mansion that the controversial YouTube star bought in 2017 has been sold for $6.15 million. The Calabasas property sold for $775,000 less than what he paid for it in 2017. Factor in taxes, hefty real-estate-agent fees, renovations and four years of upkeep, and the total loss amount likely swells deep into seven-figure territory.”

From KGW 8 in Oregon. “Real estate experts say waiting for prices to come down is not likely to benefit potential home buyers. They suggest adjusting expectations, by searching for homes under budget and further away from city centers. Another option is to downsize in favor of a townhouse or condominium. ‘The downtown Portland condo market is the one place where it is actually a buyer’s market right now,’ said Shannon Janssen, a realtor with Coldwell-Banker BAIN in Portland.”

The Associated Press on Massachusetts. “Housing prices in the Boston-area have reached record levels. Condominium prices, by contrast, dipped slightly to $617,500, while condo listings increased by 30%, the Globe reports. The newspaper says there’s evidence the housing marking is starting to open up, as the number of newly listed single-family homes rose 8% and new condo listings jumped 48% in March.”

The Democrat and Chronicle in New York. “If you want to hear horror stories, you can find them all over social media. One example from Rochester. ‘My parents are in a money pit situation because they waived the inspection. A few months after moving in my dad went right through the kitchen floor due to rot. Owners had put down new laminate over the rotted floor to hide it. They got lucky no one fell through during the viewing. That was just the beginning. Porch is falling apart, HVAC is ancient, roof is leaky. It’s their own fault, but I would never waive an inspection.'”

“And this: ‘An agent (not ours) recommended that we empty out our 401k’s and wave (sic) all contingencies in order to make a cash offer on a house. We refuse to over-leverage ourselves, get deep under an overpriced home and risk our retirement for a pile of wood. We will not yield on inspection requirement no matter what, and you shouldn’t either if that’s important to you!'”

From Better Dwelling in Canada. “Canadian Real Estate Association (CREA) data shows new listings grew faster than sales in March. A massive amount of sales are actually being met with even more inventory these days. Record sales are due to pent-up and pulled-forward demand, but inventory isn’t. This leads to the possibility that inventory could run longer than sales.”

“New listings for Canadian real estate were some of the highest on record last month. Seasonally adjusted there were 86,212 new listings in March, up 7.45% from a month before. Unadjusted new listings reached 105,001, up 50.72% compared to the same month last year. This is an exceptional amount of inventory coming to market all at once. The number of new listings hitting the market was some of the highest ever seen. Seasonally adjusted new listings were a record high, as was the month-over-month growth.”

From My London on the UK. “Empty luxury apartments in the Olympic Park’s East Village are being let out through holiday rental websites and the flats are being used as ‘party pads’ with loud gatherings lasting until 5am. Residents of the East Village’s new luxury development, Victory Plaza, have reported feeling less secure in their homes and a sense of betrayal that flats are being let as holiday homes without their prior knowledge or consent.”

“Guy Baker, a resident of Victory Plaza’s luxury high rise Laurel Point, told MyLondon: ‘We’ve been here a year and a half, and early on we realised that we didn’t have any neighbours. Residents believe Get Living is listing empty apartments as holiday rentals due to the company being unable to find tenants for the apartments. After doing some research on the short term lets in an attempt to lobby Get Living to stop the scheme, Guy discovered it is charging guests less than tenants.”

“He pays £2,100 per month for his apartment and some of Get Living’s Airbnb properties, listed under the username Olympic Village, are priced at just £63 per night. He said: ‘When you take into account that they’ve got to pay the bills, got to pay for cleaning, they’re actually charging these people renting for short stays less per night than they charge long term tenants. It seems to me, and to others, that they’re struggling to let these apartments and they’re looking for another income stream.”

The Daily Maverick. “Residential property landlords in South Africa are in a real bind. The days of passing annual inflation-beating rental increases of between 6%-10% are long gone as the financial situation of tenants/consumers has deteriorated during the Covid-19 pandemic. Landlords are increasingly forced to compromise: either pass on rental increases and risk losing good paying tenants or drop rental prices and hang on to tenants (even though monthly utility costs are rising by double digits).”

“The number of buy-to-let properties that remain empty rose sharply from 7.47% in the first quarter of 2020 to 12.91% by the final quarter of 2020, according to TPN. Vacancies are more apparent in the affordable rental market (rental of less than R3,000 a month), where TPN’s vacancy figure is 16%. Meanwhile, in a rental category that is considered a ‘sweet spot’ for buy-to-let investors — the R7,000 to R12,000 a month — vacancies are just above 10%.”

“The vacancies could worsen due to record low interest rates. Marcél du Toit, CEO of Leadhome, said low interest rates are pushing more investors to purchase buy-to-let properties. ‘This means there will be more supply of properties in the market while demand from tenants might remain muted,’ he said.”

From Free Malaysia Today. “In 2013, several Singaporeans were shuttled to a development project in Johor Bahru. They were given five-star treatment, a prelude to their five-star living once the project was completed. Because prices were a fraction of what they would have to pay in Singapore, John (not his real name) bought the RM1.6 million high-rise project. When he received his keys in 2017, his condominium had become a serviced apartment.”

“‘The developer said all 44 blocks are now located on commercial land,’ he said in a phone interview. There were various issues regarding the unit. He had contracted to buy a unit with a covered balcony. But when he received his keys, he found that there was no covered balcony but only open sky, because the developer had removed one level of car park. That purchase had become John’s Achilles heel, and he was embroiled in a long legal tussle.”

“Today, Johor has the largest stock of unsold completed residential and serviced apartment units in the country. Known as overhang, the National Property Information Centre (Napic) said Johor has 7,030 unsold completed housing comprising both landed and condominiums, and a staggering 16,442 units of serviced apartments worth a total RM5.48 billion and RM14.97 billion, respectively. Combined, it is RM20.45 billion, or half of the country’s total overhang value of RM40.80 billion.”

“Over the past decade, Malaysia has overbuilt virtually all segments of the property market, from housing to malls, office space and industrial units. Because serviced apartments are built on commercial land, they are categorised as commercial property. What is mind-boggling is the fact that serviced apartments, a relatively new type of commercial development, only entered the property scene in 2011/2012.”

“This was at the height of the property cycle which popped in 2014 when the Developers’ Interest Bearing Schemes (DIBs) were banned by the government in order to weed out speculation. As for John, the other Singaporeans and Chinese nationals who bought into that development, the travel ban as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic and the flood of serviced apartments in Johor sitting vacant may be something they never signed up for.”

“‘Most of the units are not occupied. Most of the buyers are Singaporeans and Chinese nationals. The last time, I went there about a year ago, about 20% of my block was occupied,’ John said.”

From ABC News in Australia. “Despite house prices rising at their fastest pace in 32 years, apartments in Australia’s most oversupplied cities aren’t getting as much love from buyers. In some areas, unit prices have tumbled in the past year and still haven’t recovered from their COVID-19 slump — with Sydney and Melbourne the worst hit capitals.”

“Buyer’s agent Catherine Cashmore says the main problem with apartments, particularly in her home city (Melbourne) is simply oversupply. There are ‘too many apartments’ and ‘not enough people renting them’ — which has led to lower rents and waning interest from investors, she said. ‘Apartments are not a good investment if you’re searching for capital growth. The newer ones, especially, see their prices go backwards — before you see any appreciation at all.'”

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This Post Has 117 Comments

  1. ‘Because prices were a fraction of what they would have to pay in Singapore, John (not his real name) bought the RM1.6 million high-rise project’

    He he…

  2. ‘The Calabasas property sold for $775,000 less than what he paid for it in 2017. Factor in taxes, hefty real-estate-agent fees, renovations and four years of upkeep, and the total loss amount likely swells deep into seven-figure territory’

    Red hotcakes dammit!

    1. “…the total loss amount likely swells deep into seven-figure territory…”

      Yet another show biz / sports celebrity who can’t pass basic math.

      But I’m sure he had some great parties.

      1. Still probably makes more in one year than most will earn in a lifetime, for throwing a ball or pretending to be someone.

    2. In my general nabe:
      46 agent listings.
      36 of them are pending.

      Condos: cold.
      Celebrity manse: cold.
      Suburban SFH: Red hotcakes, dammit!

          3. Look up house on shillow. Note list price, note pending price 4-5 days later, they are the same. There are a couple examples of pending being a little higher than list, where the seller likely listed low and got a bidding war. And — okay — I found one house where the price dropped 2%.

            And no Mafi sweets, you’re not going to trick me into providing doxi-data.

          4. Note list price, note pending price 4-5 days later, they are the same.

            I can only think of one time I’ve seen a pending price change from listing price. It’s the closing price that matters.

          5. I can only think of one time I’ve seen a pending price change from listing price. It’s the closing price that matters

            The listing for the land we just purchased was updated when it was pending for the amount significantly (25%) below asking we paid. I was surprised by that, TBH

        1. Agree on the HOA. I wanted an older house: closer in, better built, no HOA.
          For the vax: “my body my choice.” Agree.
          For masks: Can’t agree. If you can spread a disease to someone else, it’s not only your body; it’s another person’s body too. However, give it a few months until everyone can get a vax on any given day. At that point, someone not getting vaccine becomes their body their choice, and the masks can come off.

          2. The masks don’t work.

            It’s starting to look like the vax don’t work either.

            Future generations will look upon us as idiots.

          5. What do you mean “the vaccine doesn’t work?” Israel progressed from 8500 cases/day to 150 cases/day in three months. They are now removing masks — albeit with vaccine passes — and cases haven’t gone back up yet.

            I read the “mask doesn’t work” paper and it sounded like a bunch of speculation to me.

          6. Left Ohio,
            You do realize people are dying from this? Fauci isn’t much good, but the masks do work.

          7. Israel progressed from 8500 cases/day to 150 cases/day in three months.

            Correlation is not causation. Virus dying out naturally or Ministry of Health ordering vaccinated people not be tested would show the same.

          8. the masks do work.

            Not according to the CDC study put out a couple of weeks ago. 1% difference between masked areas and not masked areas. Not statistically significant.

          9. in three months.

            Exactly the pattern everywhere during this epidemic. Doesn’t demonstrate the vax did anything.

            Check out the nursing home infection last month in Kentucky, post “vaccination”.

            Daily death counts in the US have gradually declined, with the same curve that they went up in the fall, despite our massive vax rollout. Just not seeing any signs at all yet.

            It remains that this is a government made crisis, and they can turn it off any day they want to if they stop intentionally abusing the PCR test method.

          10. If you can spread a disease to someone else, it’s not only your body; it’s another person’s body too.

            Do you wear a mask whenever you might have a cold? The flu? Do you avoid sharing drinks or kissing nieces/nephews if you have herpes/get cold sores?

            All kinds of ways to share diseases that people don’t freak out about like this

          12. Covid was the 3rd leading cause of death in 2020. Think of it – a communicable disease that didn’t start killing in earnest till March, was the 3rd leading cause of death in the US.

            Masks work. HIV virus doesn’t float free, its transmission vehicle is various bodily fluids. Similarly, SARS-cov-2 doesn’t float free, its transmission vehicle is airborne droplets of water/spittle/mucus. Masks stop those droplets, which are much larger than the virus. Ipso facto, masks stop transmission of the virus.

            Trump downplayed covid because he thought it would help his election chances. But he knew better, according to Bob Woodward. His actions in locking down indicate he knew better. When he got it, he wondered aloud whether he was going to die, like Stan Chera. Anyone else who downplays covid is at best misinformed.

          13. ‘Covid was the 3rd leading cause of death in 2020. Think of it’

            Another urine soaked mattress poster. There was no immunity. If the flu showed up for the first time in history, how many dead? Crickets cuz you have no idea. Oh so why did the Chinese close Wuhan to the rest of that country and let THOUSANDS fly out of the same airport all over the world?

            This was done to us. Biological war, like DC always tells us they are “protecting” us from. I’m not afraid, never have been. So, I’ll decide my health matters. And that’s not a request.

          14. according to Bob Woodward

            🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣😂🤣

            Mr. “This is worse than Watergate”

          15. Anyone else who downplays covid is at best misinformed.

            Anyone who believes the bull$h!t we’ve been fed the last year is an idiot.

          16. Neuromance:
            Anyone else who downplays covid is at best misinformed.

            Redpilled Redhead:
            Anyone who believes the bull$h!t we’ve been fed the last year is an idiot.

            Perhaps I was a bit harsh with the “misinformed” comment, but I was just thinking of The Nuge.

          17. Do you wear a mask whenever you might have a cold? The flu? Do you avoid sharing drinks or kissing nieces/nephews if you have herpes/get cold sores?
            All kinds of ways to share diseases that people don’t freak out about like this

            Colds are not deadly.
            Colds do not spread asymptomatically.
            Remember when we used to say “You’re sick, go home” and “stay away from me I have a cold?” That would be social distancing. Since colds spread through large droplets and surfaces, social distancing and avoiding surfaces is usually enough to prevent spread without wearing a mask.

            Herpes is not deadly but it is incurable. And YES, of course I couldn’t kiss a child if I had a cold sore.

            You must be an inconsiderate prick if you knowingly spread your diseases in the name of “freedom.”

          18. You must be an inconsiderate prick if you knowingly spread your diseases in the name of “freedom.”

            Dude, layoff the name calling and making assumptions about my behavior.

            If you read what I wrote, I simply pointed out that people didn’t/don’t freak out about people maybe getting others sick and demanding everyone wear a mask, stay away from them, etc for all kinds of other illnesses.

            Not sure how that warrants the name calling, but hey, you do you.

          19. The Nuge

            I had to look that up. That you think people who disagree with The Narrative as this guy tells me you watch way too much CNN and MSNBC.

          20. you watch way too much CNN and MSNBC

            Which would also account for you thinking Bob Woodward is a credible source.

          21. Redpilled Redhead: That you think people who disagree with The Narrative as this guy tells me you watch way too much CNN and MSNBC.

            That’s a wildly incorrect deduction: I’ve watched exactly zero minutes of CNN or MSNBC in the past 12 months.

            It is useful to step out of the echo chamber from time to time. Uncomfortable but worthwhile.

    4. Why do celebrities love purchasing multimillion dollar McMansions, only to offloas at a massive loss a couple of years later?

      Seems highly self destructive…

  3. ‘My parents are in a money pit situation because they waived the inspection. A few months after moving in my dad went right through the kitchen floor due to rot. Owners had put down new laminate over the rotted floor to hide it. They got lucky no one fell through during the viewing. That was just the beginning. Porch is falling apart, HVAC is ancient, roof is leaky. It’s their own fault’

    The winnah!

    ‘An agent (not ours) recommended that we empty out our 401k’s and wave (sic) all contingencies in order to make a cash offer on a house. We refuse to over-leverage ourselves, get deep under an overpriced home and risk our retirement for a pile of wood’

    That’s the spirit!

        1. “…but the mortgage endures….”

          That’s the great thing about mortgages, they are termite proof.

          1. “That’s the great thing about mortgages, they are termite proof.”

            – Mortgage = “death pledge.”
            – Non-recourse mortgage loan = house collateral only, but not your other assets, so better, but you’ll still lose the shack.
            – Overpaying is never a (good) option, but right now it’s a (popular) option for SFH due to FOMO…

          2. red pill economics

            Bullet points well taken.

            But if you are Mr. Banker, your bullet items are all good things!

          3. “Death Pledge” might have made sense when people were being dropped in their 40s from cholera and typhoid, or even in their 60s from smoking. But these days people can expect to live until they’re 80 at least. No way am I going to pay rising rent while my income falls. It’s a long game.

          4. No way am I going to pay rising rent while my income falls. It’s a long game.

            I see falling rents everywhere.

    2. ‘…risk our retirement for a pile of wood’

      Thanks to price appreciation during the bubble years, people have collective amnesia about how expensive it is to maintain a house to prevent it from becoming uninhabitable and crumbling into the ground. Once price appreciation either levels off or heads into reverse for a few years, those costs of ownership will bite harder.

      We keep reminding our landlord to check out the termite droppings we see on our front porch, but I guess he’s busy. A stitch in time saves nine…

      1. I have a client who, years ago, needed new paint and caulking on the exterior of their house. He’s a cheap bastard so he hasn’t done it. Now, the T1-11 siding is cupping and rotted on the entire west side of the house as well as along the base around most of the rest of the house.

        At this point, 25% of the house now needs new siding, and that was as of 3 years ago. At that time I told him what was happening was that the wall cavity was getting wet and not only ruining the insulation but leading to mold and dry rot. At this point in time, the west side of the house probably needs new mud sills. This is now a structural problem.

        This cheap bastard didn’t want to pay for caulking and paint. I’m wondering what the look on his face is going to be when the bid comes in for jacking up the house to replace the mud sill on the west side, some insulation, and maybe even some wall studs before doing the siding, paint and caulking.

        And the damage won’t stop unless it is addressed. This house is slowly becoming part of mother earth.

      2. “…Thanks to price appreciation during the bubble years, people have collective amnesia about how expensive it is to maintain a house to prevent it from becoming uninhabitable and crumbling into the ground…”

        It is very expensive to maintain a home. Here in SoCal (South Orange County) a big one is property taxes, followed by insurance, (which keeps going up yearly). “Little things” (like a roof replacement, can easily cost $40K+).

        What is interesting, is that you will *never* read about these issues in the MSM. The local media will make you believe that just living in SOC is like owning your own gold mine.

        Having signed checks to maintain a home here for the last 40+ years that [gold mine] notion couldn’t be farther from the truth.

        Yes, there has been price appreciation, but net-net your not going to get rich no matter what anyone says. A house is just a place to live, and nothing more.

        1. $4 per square foot of depreciation, year after year is one of those things nobody likes to talk about.

          1. “…$4 per square foot of depreciation…”

            Your mileage may vary, but if you think about it, the structure (separate from the underlying land) is actually a long term, slow motion consumable.

            No matter how well a structure is constructed, it will need maintenance and [eventually] replacement.

            Some areas are more problematic than others. Here in SoCal, if you happen to live within about a mile of the ocean, salt water spray corrosion to the structure can be significant. Almost like owning a landlocked boat.

        2. $40k for a roof? Geez, that is pricey. In North Texas, most people get their roofs replaced through insurance claims following hail storms. We had 2 big ones in 2019, a derecho in June and a tornado in Oct. The tornado passed right through North Dallas about 700 yards from my house, it was a miracle no one got killed. People who made repairs over the summer in 2019 had to do a whole new claim for the tornado damage. My procrastination paid off for once as I didn’t do repairs from the first storm until after the tornado.

          1. most people get their roofs replaced through insurance claims following hail storms

            Premiums must be high.

          2. Premiums – not as bad as you’d think. State Farm is the biggest insurer in this market. Their premiums are jacked for sure. I generally shop it once every 3 – 4 years. I’ve had 2 storm claims and one plumbing in the last 6 years or so. Never had an issue getting paid, generally pocket a couple grand per claim after everything is said and done.

    3. “in a money pit situation”

      Realtor, I have so much money left after “throwing money away on rent” every month that I don’t know where to throw it.

    4. You know…they deserve it all.

      Their reckless behavior not only destroyed themselves, it helped with the insane bubbles.

      Folks like this need to hurt and burn and go bankrupt so that the insanity stops.

        1. It hurts now. The stress these people are under just barely making ends meet is so enormous they’re constantly self-neducatung, their relationships are on the edgebc if it, and their jobs seem like a prison. They give up freedom for wealth and will eventually learn they enjoyed neither.

          But Mr Banker will be having a fine time.

    1. I’m sure there’s many a wife who wished she’d had the benefit of an pre-contract inspection. 🍆

      2. In these days of Grade F morality and tinder, both parties likely know what they are getting into. Including STDs along with the laminate floors or from them

    2. In the case of arranged marriages, family members on both sides are in charge of the inspection as well as the selection.

      Mail order brides seem more analogous to waved inspections…

      1. Even though arranged marriage isn’t a standard part of American culture, I heard a great first hand story once about the mother of a rich son (CEOs’ son) choosing his eventual bride and making introductions.

        Arranged marriage happens, even here…

      2. Mail order brides seem more analogous to waved inspections…

        Not entirely true. There is a thorough inspection of all that matters: birth certificates and bank accounts.

        1. In the case of my former inlaw’s family tree, the mail bride came with children, so functionality was proven.

    2. “…Calif. couple buys dream home but previous tenant won’t leave…”

      This is the Naples area of Long Beach. (Near Belmont Shore).

      Pretty nice area if you know how to deal with traffic and lack of parking.

      Didn’t it even occur to the buyers to include a stipulation in their sales contract that the (in place) tenants must be removed prior to close of escrow?

      How is it possible that people can enter into multi-million dollar purchases and not even perform basic due diligence?

      1. “…how to deal with traffic and lack of parking.”

        Such as hit-and-run accidents or broken car windows? (Two of my daughter’s recent LB street parking experiences…)

  7. ‘This is an exceptional amount of inventory coming to market all at once. The number of new listings hitting the market was some of the highest ever seen’

    Wa happened to my shortage Canadia? We actually saw these statistics recently in the Globe and Mail. Fooked!

    Don’t look now Boston:

    ‘Condominium prices, by contrast, dipped slightly to $617,500, while condo listings increased by 30%, the Globe reports. The newspaper says there’s evidence the housing marking is starting to open up, as the number of newly listed single-family homes rose 8% and new condo listings jumped 48% in March’

    Boston airboxes are off over 20% but the Globe will never admit it. Similarly:

    ‘In some areas, unit prices have tumbled in the past year…with Sydney and Melbourne the worst hit capitals’

    This REIC rag says prices down 8% or so. But yesterday we read specific examples of airbox “owners” taking a 30-40% a$$ pounding on purchases 10 years ago or longer. It’s propaganda.

    1. “This REIC rag says prices down 8% or so. But yesterday we read specific examples of airbox “owners” taking a 30-40% a$$ pounding on purchases 10 years ago or longer. It’s propaganda.”

      “It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it.” – Upton Sinclair

      1. I saw in the local rag that there is a new down payments assistance program starting in my little burg.

        It’s always band-aids. No one in the media ever, ever admits that the problem is that prices are too high and wages are too low. Or that prices are too high because of lending and government policies.

        The answers are always band-aids: Habitat builds a few houses and delivers them, with great fanfare, to the lucky winners of a lottery. They create down payment assistance programs (never mind how they can afford the monthly nut and other carrying costs). Etc.

        1. I’m convinced the reason for the global housing bubble has been low interest rates. It’s the common factor. Houses are bought with debt. Low priced debt = higher priced houses, leading to a price appreciation, leading to people treating them like investments and holding on to them instead of selling. I’ve got some links I’d like to post shortly which support this. It seems to me low interest rates are the match that light the fire. As long as interest rates stay low, and there’s a good narrative to support the market, prices go up.

          Interest rates continuously at the lower bound, whatever that may be will continue to add fuel. A pop up stalls the market but then another downdraft invigorates it like a bellows.

          I wonder if there are any limits.

          The GSEs are a factor in the US, and there are a myriad programs here and there to boost house prices. But at the core, it’s interest rates, seems to me.

          1. It’s the fed.gov guarantees.

            In a normal market with fundamentals low interest rates imply low risk of default, e.g., a 20% or more down payment and great credit scores. Neither are present today. The Constitution needs another amendment to prevent the strip-mining of the country.

          2. “But at the core, it’s interest rates, seems to me.”

            It’s a cancer that continually feeds on itself until it kills economies, as governments, corporations, and households alike cannot risk the moral hazard incentive created by a protracted period of low risk premiums to create massive, unrepayable debt buildups.

            Next come the central banker efforts to continually suppress rates through a protracted series of extraordinary measures, which only serve to encourage further debt buildup. Low rates were not enough to sustain a never-ending boom, so central bankers eventually used bond purchases to drive rates to the deep side of negative for the first time in the history of financial market manipulation. Top government officials and central bankers have begun proposing and implementing backdoor solutions to the debt buildup problem their policies have created, such as using electronic printing press money to move MBS onto the central bank balance sheet, or instituting debt jubilees to relieve large classes of borrowers from their repayment obligations.

            The economic rot left behind by the careless investments the low rate regime encouraged doesn’t magically disappear when the debt is erased. Exhibit A: Check out all those luxury airboxes in the sky which aren’t selling like hotcakes…

    2. banks have so many exceptions for those in the know. ScotiaBank #3 bank in Canada. It would be interesting to know what ‘pilot’ programs that Chase, WellsFargo and others have for their wealth customers.


      Typically the maximum mortgage a household can service is calculated using debt service ratios. There are two ratios — the gross debt service (GDS) and total debt service (TDS). A borrower’s monthly payments need to be lower than both of these ratios.

      The GDS is the maximum income that can be used to pay for a mortgage. This includes the principal, interest, taxes, and heat (PITH). If you’re buying a condo, you also need to typically add half your maintenance fees as well. Most lenders cap the GDS at 35% of income, meaning payments need to be under this level.
      …
      Scotiabank is the first bank to launch a pilot to increase leverage post-update. As of April 12, 2021, the bank has launched a hush-hush pilot program that raises the TDS to 50%, with no specified GDS. An agent explained this means they’ll approve the GDS on a case-by-case basis, up to the TDS. As long as it fits within the risk profile for the lender.

      The pilot is for branches in B.C., Ontario, and Quebec, and applies to ideal mortgage borrowers. The application’s uninsured bureau risk indicator (BRI) must be A-rated. There can only be two borrowers on the application, and their combined income needs to be over $120,000 per year. The automated system will pre-determine if the borrower fits these low-risk criteria.

      Don’t bother looking for the details of the program on their website. The program is conducted in the strangest way I’ve ever witnessed. Customer service wouldn’t acknowledge its existence by phone. Only hinting if the branch said it existed, it definitely does exist. I could almost hear the wink through the phone.

  8. ‘Residential property landlords in South Africa are in a real bind. The days of passing annual inflation-beating rental increases of between 6%-10% are long gone’

    Yeah, long gone as in 2014.

    1. That’s perhaps one of the most remarkable things about this insane everything bubble. Blow-off tops catch massive bids and go bigger and bigger.

  12. “Another option is to downsize in favor of a townhouse or condominium.”

    I feel an ulcer coming on when I think about ever living in a multi-occupant dwelling again…not to mention paying $$$ to get into one.

  13. While pursued for passing counterfeit dollars, Saint George ate the fentanyl he was in possession of. 1000x more powerful than heroin. Enough to kill a dozen people.

    Is there a question as to cause of death?

    1. It didn’t matter. A sacrifice had to be made to appease the mob. In the old days, they would just throw a virgin into a volcano.

      1. they would just throw a virgin into a volcano

        Makes me think of the movie “Apocalypto”

      2. “A sacrifice had to be made to appease the mob.”

        Exactly!

        And they serve-up someone who risks his life every day serving on the front-lines of the Great Society they created.

        Worst of all is seeing dull, long-face Democrats like John Kerry and Maxine Waters smiling in response to the verdict.

  15. Cap Gains going up Bitc&hes. Biden needs to redistribute to his peeps. Inflate these houses and then make them pay

  16. From the Colorado Sun:

    Man accused in Boulder King Soopers shooting faces 43 new counts, including allegations he had large-capacity magazine

    That’s unpossible! Those are banned in the Centennial State!

    Also, what’s the point of the 43 extra charges? Shouldn’t he be getting life without parole for all the murder charges? Why waste taxpayers dollars on the other charges?

    1. “Why waste taxpayers dollars on the other charges?”

      Those junior prosecutors have to cut their teeth too.

  18. Boise, ID House Prices Crash 56% MOM As Broke Speculators Rush The Exit Door

    movoto dot com/id/83702/market-trends/

    As one desperate speculator confided, “I am completely broke. I had to sell my plasma to afford a U-Haul truck to move back to Cali.”

    1. Predictions:
      These first 100 apartments will likely succeed, since they will be given to the least bad of the homeless.
      The rest of the apartments will be trashed and there will likely be ODs every day.
      If the housing has no-drug policies, most of the homeless will either refuse the housing or be kicked out.
      LA will become a magnet for the homeless from the entire country… and for people who pretend to be homeless because they want free stuff, and those apartments are nicer than what they’re paying for now.

      1. “LA will become a magnet for the homeless from the entire country…”

        The most accurate predictions are those which have already occurred, but are not yet known to everybody.

    1. The Financial Times
      US Inflation
      Investors plough money into US inflation-protected bond funds
      Tips funds enjoy 29 consecutive weeks of inflows amid expectations of rising prices
      Colby Smith in New York yesterday

      Funds that hold inflation-protected bonds are enjoying their longest streak of inflows in more than a decade, as investors gird themselves for an increase in consumer prices as the US economy recovers.

      Another $1.2bn flowed into funds that buy US Treasury Inflation-Protected Securities, or Tips, in the week ended Wednesday, according to data provider EPFR — the 29th consecutive week of net inflows. That took the total for the year to date to $14.4bn.

      The current run of inflows is the longest such stretch since the aftermath of the global financial crisis, when Tips funds recorded uninterrupted growth from December 2008 to early 2010.
      …

  23. So, in California they are going to mandate that you have to have a vaccine if you go to s State College. They are saying this mandate will take place once the FDA approves the Vaccines which is expected.

    So that means the FDA plans on approving these vaccines, even when you haven’t had the usual time testing associated with a vaccine. So, they are going to take this roll out and approve it as if it had the usual time test of at least 7 years.
    And I hear a bunch of Drs saying they really don’t know what short or long term effects will be. And the Pharmacy Companies are already making the booster shots they are planning on pushing.

    Some are predicting that more lock downs will occur based on the surge mutant strain theory.
    My State is starting to open up to some degree, but how long will that last before lock downs again.

    And all these numbers being based on the PCR test that they know isn’t accurate.

    1. once the FDA approves the Vaccines which is expected

      New VAERS reports:

      5mo baby died from thrombotic thrombocytopenic purpura (TTP) after mom got second dose of Pfizer vaccine. Report notes no new exposures aside from mother’s vaccination. Brutal. Mom will feel guilty every day for the rest of her life.

      15yo had heart attack after Moderna vaccine. Report submitted by PICU attending.

  25. Forget Government protecting you anymore because Government has been merged with these Entities that should be tried for crimes against humanity, a insurrection against Government by the people with all the Constitutional Protections.

    People like Bill Gates, Soros and, Klaus Schwab are freaks that are power hungry psychopaths . In spite of populations making Bill Gates so wealthy because they bought his hackable computer system, now this creep wants to jab you, and dictate what you eat , and cram Climate Change fraud down your throat, as he buys up farm land in the USA. Centralized power in these freaks hands that brings some Great Reset not voted on or wanted.
    All psychopaths , if you listen to what they are saying. Reject, reject, reject, reject.

    1. People like Bill Gates, Soros and, Klaus Schwab are freaks that are power hungry psychopaths

      Keep in mind that these monsters want you to die so as to stop crowding their world.

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