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My Investments Are To Make Money, Not Toss It To The Wind

A report from KTVB in Idaho. “Jeff Wills, president of the Boise Regional Realtors board, said that he’s heard of plenty of comparisons between Boise and other cities in the West. ‘I mean, I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say, ‘Oh, you know, this is Denver ten years ago; this is Salt Lake City, 15 years ago,’ Wills said. Dr. Darek Nalle, an economic expert at the University of Idaho, added that he doesn’t see a ceiling for the area’s housing market. ‘I know this is also about wages and affordability but frankly you have to follow the money and the money is flowing in from, by and large, out of state,’ Nalle said.”

From WFAA in Texas. “Dallas was one of five cities across the country that recorded its all-time highest gains over a 12-month period, the report stated. Becky Frey has been a real estate agent for more than 30 years and is telling buyers to offer basically whatever they can stomach. ‘I’m usually like, ‘When you wake up tomorrow morning and you didn’t go to that price and you didn’t get it, are you upset?’ Whatever that price is, go for it,’ she said.”

From Bisnow Houston in Texas. “The competition for well-situated land along transportation corridors has become so fierce in Houston that industrial developers are now paying anywhere from 30% to 50% more for land than just a few years ago, according to industry experts. Griffin Development Partners President David Hudson pointed to compressed cap rates and the widespread availability of capital as the reasons why land prices have increased so much.”

“‘If the capital wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be doing it. You wouldn’t be able to pay those kind of prices,’ Hudson said.”

From KGET in California. “If you want to buy a home in the Central Valley, experts say you may have to bid against as many as 30 other potential buyers. ‘That is starting bidding wars, to the point where they are usually offering anywhere from $5,000 to $20,000 above the appraised value of the home,’ said Gary Crabtree, a home appraiser. Bakersfield’s housing market is squeezing some buyers out, as the median home price has jumped nearly 20 percent since last year. Destinee Sims fears she may have to leave town as she struggles to find a new home.”

“‘You’ll get told you’re the only people to tour it, but now there’s a second offer and it’s more than double market value,’ said Sims. ‘How do you beat that?'”

The Los Angeles Times in California. “Two months after Eli Broad’s death, his Malibu home has sold for $51.65 million. Broad had been trying to unload the home for the last two years. He first sought $75 million in 2020 before trimming the tag to $67.5 million, then $62 million, and finally $58.5 million in April.”

From Hawaii News Now. “During the 2019 tourism boom, condominiums at the Trump International Tower in Waikiki sold for an average of about $1.7 million. Since then, average sales prices in the tower have fallen below $650,000 ― despite the hot housing market in the islands. ‘At the same time this year, the overall market ― just resorts ― went up 27%. So Houston, we have a problem,’ said real estate expert Ricky Cassiday.”

“Similar price drops have been documented at properties in other markets that bear the Trump name. Some Realtors privately blame the big value drop on the Tower’s hefty maintenance fees and restrictive rules on short-term rentals to tourists. But Cassiday said it is also because of the lack of Asian buyers during the pandemic. He said many of the original buyers who paid $700 million to buy the units in 2009 were from Japan, China and Korea. But they’re not buying now because they can’t travel here.”

From Bisnow South Florida. “Peter Dyga, CEO of Associated Builders and Contractors Florida East Coast chapter, said even though the collapse appears to be an extremely exceptional case with signs that pointed to problems, it will be natural for people to be worried about other buildings. ‘This could soften the condo market, especially in Surfside and South Florida where this tragedy has hit closer to home,’ Dyga said.”

“Howard Vogel, who specializes in condominium law, predicted that the tragedy will prompt owners at older coastal condos to sell their units to developers, who will pursue terminations of those structures, demolish them and build brand-new buildings.”

From Mortgage Broker News. “With the rate of homebuying in Canada cooling in recent weeks and house prices having declined nationally for two consecutive months, there’s been much conversation around the questions of whether bidding wars will die down and prices will continue moderating. The impact of that stress test hike has been felt perhaps most keenly among those looking to enter the housing market for the first time, with recent reports having catalogued the despair of first-time buyers at the prospect of further hurdles in the homebuying process.”

“Instead of further freezing those individuals out of the market, said Tracy Valko, principal mortgage broker and owner of the Kitchener, ON-based Valko Financial, the government should focus its attention on helping them realize their ambition of owning a home, with current property prices seemingly insurmountable for that segment of the population.”

“‘Think about it: the average detached house price, especially in my market, is $910,000,’ she said. ‘Say they have 10-15% down. Who wants a mortgage of over $700,000 when you’re 25 or 26 years old? Who can afford it? There are a lot of issues that the government has to look at. In fact, they probably need to increase the qualification amortization to 30 years on high-ratio mortgages because, otherwise, how are these people going to be able to afford them? That’s something they’re not even considering right now.'”

The Globe and Mail. “Is it really a master bedroom if you can take your clothes out of the closet without getting out of bed? Is it a den if only one person fits in it at a time? In the overheated real estate markets in some Canadians cities, particularly Vancouver and Toronto, the astronomical price per square foot has spurred some creativity when it comes to the condo sales pitch.”

“‘The newer places we’ve seen, because the square footage is more expensive, those master bedrooms were tiny. Very tiny. We thought ‘Can we fit our queen bed in here?’ says Justin Valente, 30, who along with his partner Natalie, has been hunting for a condo in Vancouver for more than a year. ‘I need to go see them. I take what they write at face-value. Details are definitely fudged a bit.'”

“Even toilets are turning up with the questionable choice of glass walls. ‘The layouts of a lot of the places you think, ‘I want to talk to the developer,’ Mr. Valente says with a wry laugh.”

The Urban Developer in Australia. “A third of properties sold in the City of Melbourne market during the last quarter made a loss, a trend the rest of the city bucked, according to Corelogic. More than 200 apartment sales in the City of Melbourne were sold at a loss last quarter, where the median hold period was 7.9 years and about 85 per cent were investor-owned.”

“Corelogic head of research Eliza Owen said Melbourne’s inner city remained a risky market. ‘For this region, investor sales may have been triggered by rental values falling more than 20 per cent during the year,’ Owen said. ‘In the three months to March, 16.8 per cent of units sold for a loss across Australia; almost two and a half times the rate of loss making house sales (6.8 per cent).”

From Asia One. “The Singapore private property market is on an uptrend , to the point where even new cooling measures are being considered. Despite all that, even in this supposedly strong seller’s market, some new launches are struggling. We recently talked about a possible oversupply in a prime area like Holland V when we compared between the seven new launches in the area. So it isn’t really a surprise to see that some have started to lower prices in later sales phases.”

“Holland V is a major lifestyle hub. It also has a large expatriate enclave and is close to the hotspot of One-North. Plus there is the rejuvenation of One Holland Village to look forward to. These condos were expected to be an easy sell; but a look at the numbers shows slow sales. Hyll on Holland is a freehold development, with 319 units. This development launched in October 2020, and Square Foot Research shows it has sold a mere nine units. Even then, we can see some of those later sales came after price cuts.”

“The former Tulip Garden was bought at a high of $907 million in a collective sale. With the estimated breakeven for Leedon Green at $2,500 psf, it does seem like the developer is keen to let go some of the units at a seeming loss to push the needle to the needed 30 per cent take up rate. The general consensus among realtors is ‘too much, too soon.’ There are currently seven new launches in Holland V fighting for attention: With just 302 units sold out of 1,490 units available, there is clearly a lot of options for buyers in the area. We also shouldn’t forget that there are many older, resale condos in the same vicinity.”

“It’s a little surprising that developers didn’t see this coming. During the 2017 en-bloc fever, Holland V was one of the hotspots. It was quite bold of developers to price high regardless; perhaps on confidence regarding the location. It hasn’t played out well for many of them though, and we expect slow sales to push prices down further.”

“For properties that come from the 2017 en-bloc fever, margins are already low. This was due to aggressive land bids from foreign developers, most of whom had deep pockets. Now the Additional Buyers Stamp Duty (ABSD) for developers is 30 per cent of the land price. However, if a developer can complete and sell the entire project in five years, they can obtain ABSD remission (25 per cent of the land price, with five per cent not being remissible). Given the already low margins on some of these projects, developers can’t afford to absorb ABSD losses as well. This could result in fire sales, such as what we saw with 38 Jervois in June 2020.”

From The National. “When Ellen Callis, a 68-year-old retired high school teacher from Phoenix, Arizona, first dipped her toes into the timeshare property market in August 2008, she was helping a colleague who was experiencing financial difficulties. After investing in a second property in 2013, Ms Callis now says she has buyer’s remorse – she is one of a growing number of timeshare owners desperate to quit burdensome contracts that extract hefty fees even when properties are unavailable to use.”

“‘I am loath to add up how much I lost overall,’ Ms Callis tells The National. ‘Neither was an investment; my investments are to make money, not toss it to the wind. I purchased pipe dreams of spending good times with family or friends, not investments.'”

“Ms Callis paid her former colleague about $3,000 for the timeshare property at the Wyndham Vacation Resort in the town of Flagstaff. In 2013, Ms Callis invested in a second timeshare property in the picturesque city of Sedona, Arizona, after attending an information breakfast hosted by Wyndham. Ms Callis bought both timeshares sight unseen.”

“‘Sedona seemed like an attractive place to enjoy a vacation, especially during the autumn apple-picking season,’ she says. Ms Callis is one of an estimated 10 million Americans who own timeshares in an industry that dates back to the early 1960s. The self-catering timeshare concept started in Switzerland in 1963. ‘The bills kept coming; I had never been to the Sedona timeshare and I only was able to use the Flagstaff property in ‘my week’ once.’ Despite not being able to use the properties, Ms Callis was being charged monthly maintenance fees of between $100 and $200 for each timeshare.”

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  1. ‘If the capital wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be doing it. You wouldn’t be able to pay those kind of prices’

    Ahem…

    ‘sold for an average of about $1.7 million. Since then, average sales prices in the tower have fallen below $650,000 ― despite the hot housing market in the islands. ‘At the same time this year, the overall market ― just resorts ― went up 27%. So Houston, we have a problem’

    Coming to a red hotcake near you.

      1. Fathers, teach your children to throw rocks at realtors any time they ooze into your neighborhood. This is your parental and societal duty.

    2. “If the capital wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be doing it. You wouldn’t be able to pay those kind of prices’”.

      Yep, and I am the guy that controls the money valve. I get to decide what prices you will pay and what prices you will not pay. And I get to do this by using money that I do not have.

      If I am in a good mood I just might allow you to indenture yourself to me for thirty years.

      Oh wait, now the current fad has extended itself to forty years! Love it! Think of it: Today a totally dumbed-down ignorant puke will WILLINGLY sign a dotted line that commits himself to send to me each and every month HUGE chunks of his paycheck for the next forty years. Bahahahaha … and he will make this stupid decision because some other totally dumbed-down ignorant puke has also succumbed to the ever-powerful emotion of FOMO and launched himself into a bidding war against him.

      Think of it! Two totally dumbed-down ignorant pukes, each one allowed access to money they do not have by a banker who has access to money he does not have. What does one suppose will happen to prices? What will happen to the (choke) “values” of the comps? How much (choke choke) “wealth” will be created by the insane FOMO-driven behavior of these two totally dumbed-down ignorant pukes? Bahahahahahaha … only Mr. Banker has the answer to that because it is Mr. Banker who controls the money valve.

      For the next forty years a banker life will be good, extremely good. Not so for the puke.

      God’s Plan.

  2. ‘Say they have 10-15% down. Who wants a mortgage of over $700,000 when you’re 25 or 26 years old? Who can afford it? There are a lot of issues that the government has to look at. In fact, they probably need to increase the qualification amortization to 30 years on high-ratio mortgages because, otherwise, how are these people going to be able to afford them? That’s something they’re not even considering right now’

    Don’t look now wrong way Tracy, but guberment and central banks are about to break it off in yer a$$.

  3. ‘Sedona seemed like an attractive place to enjoy a vacation, especially during the autumn apple-picking season’

    I used to live there Ellen, and they are probably still laughing on that one

    1. A little background. In olden times settlers (story goes) planted apples in Oak Creek Canyon. Some of which still produce, and eager tourists pay actual money to have the privilege to pluck said apples. Never mind you could buy much cheaper apples in town. Probably better apples too. And those settlers trees died long ago. But the real con there is real estate. There’s not much to do after dark, but Oprah has a shack! or did, I don’t keep up with it anymore.

      The hustle and bustle is primarily time shares (and jeeps). Some of these people make serious bucks. Take a look at foreclosures in those two counties. Lots of folks stop paying. What I didn’t know until I read the article above is there is an entire industry of scam companies that supposedly get you out of timeshares! Genius, shear them coming in and out.

      2. “Ms Callis paid her former colleague about $3,000 for the timeshare property at the Wyndham Vacation Resort in the town of Flagstaff, 240 kilometres from her home and best known as the training base for Apollo 11 astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, Michael Collins and Charles Duke before they landed on the Moon in 1969.”

        Bahahahaha … she bought her timeshare at a place that was used as a training base for the landing on the moon because that was the best place for NASA to train its astronauts because that was the place on earth that looked most like the moon.

        1. Clone her, and send the clones to me.

          “In 2013, Ms Callis invested in a second timeshare property in the picturesque city of Sedona, Arizona, after attending an information breakfast hosted by Wyndham. Ms Callis bought both timeshares sight unseen.”

          1. “…Clone her, and send the clones to me…”

            The timeshare / condo scam will have reached its Zenith when we start seeing listings for time shares in Area 51.

        2. I lived there for many years and never heard about astro-nots. There is some weird, large US naval setup west of town, maybe that’s where they were.

      3. “get you out of timeshares!”

        My younger, dumber self bought a timeshare. It was relatively small compared to other horror stories I’d heard about, but I wanted out almost immediately.

        Almost went with one of these outfits until I dug into the bowels of the timeshare’s website to find that I could relinquish ownership for a fraction of the cost. Seems they’d rather not deal with a lawsuit and offered a better option for both parties, all things considered.

    2. $100/month maintenance fee — $1200/year.
      She has “her week,” i.e. 6 nights/year?
      I bet $200 will buy you a night in a pretty nice hotel.

      I have extensive experience picking apples. You can pick more apples than you need in under 15 minutes.

      1. more apples than you need

        Not for me. I need at least 20 gallons of cider.

        52 x $1200 for “maintenance”? Must be some classy digs.

      2. “I have extensive experience picking apples.”

        The orchards around Wenatchee, WA produce some of the country’s best apples due to the hot days and rapid 40-degree temperature drop in the evening prior to harvest. Those cool evenings give them their crisp firmness and size.

  4. The Supreme Court as currently constituted exists solely to provide a veneer of legitimacy and rubber stamp for the globalists’ capture of our institutions of governance, the oligarchy’s financial plunder of the 99 percent, gub’mint overreach, and Democrat-Bolshevik electoral fraud.

    Supreme Court declines to stop federal moratorium on evictions

    https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/supreme-court/supreme-court-declines-stop-federal-moratorium-evictions-n1272677

    The U.S. Supreme Court on Tuesday declined to end the federal government’s temporary ban on evictions, which now is scheduled to expire in July.

    The high court ruled 5-4. Justice Brett Kavanaugh wrote that he thought the ban was illegal, but he noted that it is scheduled to expire soon.

    What does the Constitution have to say on the subject of contract law?

    Article I, Section 10, Clause 1:

    No State shall enter into any Treaty, Alliance, or Confederation; grant Letters of Marque and Reprisal; coin Money; emit Bills of Credit; make any Thing but gold and silver Coin a Tender in Payment of Debts; pass any Bill of Attainder, ex post facto Law, or Law impairing the Obligation of Contracts, or grant any Title of Nobility.

    1. So much for the Constitution. Where does it say in Article 1 Section 10 Clause 1 that the High Court can make exception because something illegal is going to expire soon.

      No question about it this is giving Government the right to supersede the Constitution. Not a good sign at all.

    2. “or Law”

      Was a law actually passed for the moratorium? If not, maybe that’s how the defense weasels out of it.

      ie – “Article I, Section 10, Clause 1 doesn’t apply because we never created a law, we just mandated it.”

      Insidious are the dislocations this created.

  5. Dr. Darek Nalle, an economic expert at the University of Idaho, added that he doesn’t see a ceiling for the area’s housing market.

    Who signs your paycheck, “Dr.” Nalle?

    1. “It is difficult to get a man to understand something, when his salary depends on his not understanding it.”

      ― Upton Sinclair, I, Candidate for Governor: And How I Got Licked

    2. Experts have the luxury of pontificating at other’s expense and without recourse since they’re “practicing.”

  6. Becky Frey has been a real estate agent for more than 30 years and is telling buyers to offer basically whatever they can stomach. ‘I’m usually like, ‘When you wake up tomorrow morning and you didn’t go to that price and you didn’t get it, are you upset?’ Whatever that price is, go for it,’ she said.”

    Realtors are sociopathic liars who have no qualms about setting up FBs for their own personal financial Waterloo. Is this your idea of fiduciary duty to your “clients,” Becky?

    1. “‘You’ll get told you’re the only people to tour it, but now there’s a second offer and it’s more than double market value,’ said Sims. ‘How do you beat that?’”

      “how do you beat that?”

      one word answer: I’ll take “Transparency” for 500, Alex. (RIP)

  7. “‘If the capital wasn’t there, you wouldn’t be doing it. You wouldn’t be able to pay those kind of prices,’ Hudson said.”

    More speculative malinvestment enabled by the Keynesian fraudsters at the Fed and their deranged money printing.

  8. In the overheated real estate markets in some Canadians cities, particularly Vancouver and Toronto, the astronomical price per square foot has spurred some creativity when it comes to the condo sales pitch.”

    What this globalist fish wrap is really saying is that realtors are liars.

  10. Are self-driving cars safe? Highway regulator orders industry to cough up the data

    ‘The order states that the reported crash data will be available to the public, although companies can make a confidentiality claim for certain details, such as which version of its automated system was in use.’

    “Nobody should push back on this,” Princeton’s Kornhauser said. “We don’t know what we don’t know, we don’t know what works and doesn’t work, and this allows us to begin to know that.”

    https://www.latimes.com/business/story/2021-06-29/nhtsa-adas-crash-data

    2. The narrative has quietly shifted from self driving to electric. That said, I still think that it’s hilarious that it takes up to 40 minutes to “rapid charge” a car the costs $40,000 and your range (after a rapid charge) is in the low 200 mile range. My less than $40K car has a 500 mile range and I can fill up the tank in just a few minutes.

      1. Citizen! Your lack of regard for Mother Gaia, and indifference to the revealed wisdom of St. Greta, will be duly noted when reviewing your social credit score and prioritizing placement in the gulag.

      2. ” self driving to electric”

        The same reason we don’t hear about ‘drone’ delivery. It was all the rage not long ago. Now nothing.

        Bamboozle with BS is the defacto business model.

        1. “drone delivery”

          PULL !!

          haha. but w/current ammo situation I wouldn’t worry so much. after a couple of months
          I reckon them good ‘ol boys will save the ammo for carpetbaggers, critters n’ such.

  11. Portland, OR Housing Prices Crater 22% As US Homeowners Slip Deeper Underwater

    https://www.movoto.com/or/97214/market-trends/

    As one national broker explained, “Remember folks… current asking prices of resale housing is 350% higher than long term trend and double construction costs. Now prices are falling.”

  12. ‘‘It’s turmoil’: Why the global bike shortage isn’t ending soon’

    ‘Supply chains are under stress. That’s especially the case for bicycles, a booming industry in the pandemic’

    ‘Makers of bike components “can’t suddenly start making twice as many parts as they did the year before. It takes time for them to gear up,” said Jake Heilbron, the B.C.-based co-founder of Kona Bicycle Co. “And of course, they have to be concerned that at some point, this massive gold rush is going to slow down.”

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/article-its-turmoil-why-the-global-bike-shortage-wont-end-soon/

  13. “Becky Frey has been a real estate agent for more than 30 years and is telling buyers to offer basically whatever they can stomach.”

    Bahahahaha … and how much of your soul you can sell to the lender.

    “‘I’m usually like, ‘When you wake up tomorrow morning and you didn’t go to that price and you didn’t get it, are you upset?’ Whatever that price is, go for it,’ she said.”

    Bahahahahahahaha … don’t allow common sense to interfere with probably the largest financial decision you will ever make in your lifetime. Submit to the seductive emotion of FOMO and JUST DO IT!

    Bahahahahaha … A nation of dummies.

  14. “‘You’ll get told you’re the only people to tour it, but now there’s a second offer and it’s more than double market value,’ said Sims. ‘How do you beat that?’

    Let’s see that offer Mr. Lying Realtor. It doesn’t exist and what you’re doing is a crime.

    1. I have to say… 30-40K over list is very common in the zip codes I monitor. I thought it was an interesting pattern.

      “Interesting.”

      1. When you combine rampant stupidity with huge amounts of borrowed money you end up with interesting patterns.

        Or sumtin’

  15. Tom Brady Jokes About Failed Bitcoin ‘Laser Eyes’ As Cryptocurrency Value Plummets

    ‘It all started when noted crypto investor and educator Jason “Yano” Yanowitz tagged Brady in a tweet. Yano encouraged Brady, who was rumored to be investing in Bitcoin, to include “laser eyes” in his profile picture.’

    ‘When he made the switch to his avatar, the price sat near $56,245. Now, on June 28th, it sits near $34,655, according to Coin Metrics.’

    ‘Yano joked with Brady on Monday, tweeting at the quarterback, “Yo @TomBrady, laser eyes off my man,” in reference to the dip. Brady replied, acknowledging that his laser eyes did not work.’

    https://brobible.com/sports/article/tom-brady-crypto-bitcoin-laser-eyes/

      1. “Critics of Bitcoin say it has no intrinsic value, but defenders … well, actually … a lot of its defenders agree. Which might make you nervous if you’re sitting on a big investment in Bitcoin or considering wading in for the first time.

        “Johns Hopkins University economist Steven Hanke tweeted Feb. 20, ‘Just remember—Bitcoin is no more than a highly speculative asset with a fundamental value of ZERO!’ This is a common criticism. On March 8, American Enterprise Institute visiting fellow Jim Harper responded to Hanke with a blog post that essentially said, yeah, that’s true, but no other asset has any fundamental value, either.”

        This Jim Harper guy is an idiot.

        2. Each of my several acoustic guitars has an intrinsic value considerably higher than one Bitcoin, and is a lot more affordable, despite being made of wood.

        3. Women can wear gold to show how successful they and their mates are. I don’t think that can be underestimated.

          Can’t wear a cryptocurrency, be it bitcoin, ethereum, doge, or one of the other 5000 cryptocurrencies.

          Gold can be stolen but not destroyed (even diamonds burn, gold only melts).

    3. “Tom Brady”

      Once the celebrity entertainment industry personalities pile in to an investment class, you can stick a fork in it.

      1. I think it was just the other day we were saying that the billionaires weren’t enough to pump up the crypto anymore and that they needed to find another celebrity sucker. I guess Brady was the next mark, but it looks like his bubble is somewhat … deflated. BTC down and then flat today.

  16. The 2020 election was stolen.

    Joe Biden will never be the legitimately elected president of the United States.

  18. Wa? But the globalist media and globalist Quislings of the Republicrat duopoly assured me that the integrity of our electoral system, especially in deeply corrupt majority-minority Democrat-controlled urban centers, was never in dispute. This is my shocked face.

    New York’s Vote-Counting Fiasco Turns Mayoral Race Upside Down

    https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-06-30/new-york-s-vote-counting-fiasco-turns-mayoral-race-upside-down?srnd=premium&sref=ibr3A0ff

    New York City election officials thrust the race for the next mayor into turmoil Tuesday after erroneously counting test ballots alongside election night results, producing about 135,000 “dummy ballots” that skewed results of the city’s first major test of a new ranked-choice voting system.

    The major blunder forced the Board of Elections to retract preliminary results it had posted hours earlier. The board promised to republish corrected results Wednesday that will show whether Brooklyn Borough President Eric Adams will maintain his lead over former Sanitation Commissioner Kathryn Garcia and civil rights lawyer Maya Wiley.

    1. The east bay that included Oakland was my former Repo turf. While certainly a rough place it’s still much better off than cities like Baltimore, Detroit or Pittsburgh.

      1. rms

        I checked with the superintendent on the job (single family) we are currently doing on Palm Beach. It has 6 Auger piles drilled to 25 or 50 feet which was predetermined by the engineer. If they hit something hard before that depth they have to drill for 5 minutes, if at that point they don’t go through it is poured the cage is dropped in and tied off at the ground.

        The superintendent on the job I spoke of where the owner complained to me about the expense of drilling down died several years ago so I won’t be having an answer to that anytime in the near future.

        1. When you get the chance try searching, “dissolution of limestone.” It’s a common Geotechnical Engineering issue regarding subsidence.

    1. I certainly am ok with that. Never owned any, don’t want any, never will buy any.

      I’m good!

  21. A winning marketing technique deployed by those working on commission’s would look something like this:

    “‘You’ll get told you’re the only people to tour it, but now there’s a second offer and it’s more than double market value,’ said Sims. ‘How do you beat that?’”

    More than double market value translates to more than double the commission for the realtor. Plus it fires up the ever-poweful emotion of FOMO within the psyche of the ignorant puke who feels – FEELS! – he has JUST GOTTA buy that house.

    A real gotcha moment.

    1. Note: The lying realtor realizes a one time positive jolt to his wealth accumulation when he successfully persuades his mark to Just Do It. A one time jolt and he is out of the picture.

      The lender also gets to enjoy a one time jolt in the form of a lending fee PLUS he gets to enjoy monthly wealth accumulation jolts each and every month for the duration of the loan. If it is worked right (and if the mark is dumb enough) the lifespan of the loan may very well extend past the lifespan of the lender which means the lender will enjoy the fruits of the mark’s labor for his entire life.

      So, who is it that works and who is it that reaps? The realtor works to land the mark, the mark works because he is a mark, and the lender … the lender does what?

      The lender opens up for business and the realtor brings the mark in for some dotted line signing and – presto! – the deed is done. The realtor then goes searching for another mark, the mark goes back to work, and the lender goes to the beach.

  22. Lumber prices dive more than 40% in June, biggest monthly drop on record
    https://www.cnbc.com/2021/06/30/lumber-prices-dive-more-than-40percent-in-june-biggest-monthly-drop-on-record.html

    (snip)

    The great lumber bubble of 2021 has popped.

    After a jaw-dropping rally this spring, lumber prices have come back down to earth as supply increased, speculative trading action cooled and homebuilding demand eased. Lumber futures have tanked 42% in June alone, on pace for its worst month on record back to 1978. The building commodity is down more than 13% in 2021, headed for the first negative first half since 2015.

    At its peak on May 7, lumber prices hit an all-time high of $1,670.50 per thousand board feet, which was over six times higher than its pandemic low in April 2020.

    (snip)

    “This drop suggests that the cause of that inflation—the mismatch of supply and demand—will not last forever,” said Brad McMillan, CIO at Commonwealth Financial Network. “As suppliers across industries get their acts together, those shortages will fade, along with the inflation. That looks to be happening for lumber now and will happen for other inputs later.”

    1. More hanging man candlesticks the past few sessions, foreshadowing another massive drop as buyers have mostly disappeared, but sellers are plentiful.

    2. Not long ago, REIC shills were telling the world that high lumber prices were driving up housing prices in the U.S.

      Does it work in reverse? Will cratering lumber prices spill over into housing?

      1. Real Estate
        Home prices surged in April at a ‘truly extraordinary’ rate, S&P Case-Shiller says
        Published Tue, Jun 29 2021 9:00 AM EDT
        Updated Tue, Jun 29 2021 1:49 PM EDT
        Diana Olick
        Key Points
        — “April’s performance was truly extraordinary,” said Craig Lazzara, managing director and global head of index investment strategy at S&P Dow Jones Indices.
        — Home prices in April saw an annual gain of 14.6%, up from a 13.3% increase in March, according to the S&P CoreLogic Case-Shiller National Home Price Index.
        — Among larger cities covered by the index, the 10-city composite was up 14.4% year over year, up from 12.9% the previous month. The 20-city composite was 14.9% higher, up from 13.4% in March.
        …

    3. “…on pace for its worst month on record back to 1978.”

      That’s pretty interesting.

      My vague recollection of the late 70s into the early 80s was that inflation was running amok until Big Paul Volcker stamped it out with an unprecedented series of rate hikes to double-digit levels in the early 80s.

      This suggests that the commodities price bubble already was collapsing of its own weight before Volcker further crushed it.

  23. ‘$1.7 million…fallen below $650,000’

    Is that a lot?

    ‘he said many of the original buyers who paid $700 million to buy the units in 2009’

    That is a lot!

    ‘were from Japan, China and Korea’

    The winnahs!

    1. Every bubble collapse has its bagholder victims. It’s best if they are primarily foreign investors, as that will reduce the political pressure for victim bailouts.

  24. ‘predicted that the tragedy will prompt owners at older coastal condos to sell their units to developers, who will pursue terminations of those structures, demolish them’

    Yer fooked if you “own” one of these airboxes. They aren’t going to pay much just to tear them down. I did mention Miami sits at sea level, and the salt air blows warm and sticky.

    ‘and build brand-new buildings’

    I demonstrated these things are almost empty at night. Where do all the people downtown go at night? I don’t know but they don’t live downtown.

    2. Downtown San Diego condos are the same way: Lights go off at dusk, just like in the olden days.

  25. I am so sick of the Narratives, which represents the invading Entities Creeds that supersede the Constitution and the laws of the land, by traitors.

    The Military — invaded
    White House Invaded
    High Court/Judicial system —invaded
    Congress/Senate—–invaded
    Media ——-Invaded and censored
    Borders ——-+:+++++under invasion
    Medical system ——invaded and captured
    First and second amendment —under attack
    Economic systems———-rigged
    Education System ——-captured
    Elections —- criminally rigged

    Has there ever been a circumstance in which the majority population would not be entitled to combat and take back a invasion/Innsurrection of the Constitutional Republic of US !

    These systems do not represent the Majority Population, but is the One World Order Globalist Monopolies with their Foreign alliances in the takeover.

    The Covid Medical Tyranny fraud is being used as a weapon of mass destruction and Marshal law under the illusion of a medical emergency. Your not lockdowned and masked based on any credible medical Science.
    Delta is coming soon to a area near you, Fauci already saying put the useless masks back on.

    I would submit that this insane Innsurrection, that they have been planning for years , did not get Majority approval or vote, and its obvious why US Citizens in the Majority don’t want ” You will eat bugs, have nothing , and be happy.”

    Real Estate , forget about it. Real estate is on as firm a foundation as the collapsed Condo in Florida. This is what corruption produces, and that be total collapse.

    1. Here’s L.A. County, a supposed “hot spot” for the Delta Variant:
      http://publichealth.lacounty.gov/media/Coronavirus/data/index.htm#graph-deaths

      Deaths are essentially at zero now–unless people start dropping dead in great numbers, Fraud-Xi is going to have a hard time selling this Delta Variant is worse than Ebola shtick. Even so, the L.A. County Health Dept director is strongly encouraging people to start wearing masks again indoors.

      It’s all about control and power. L.A. is back to normal and nobody is listening to the Health Dept anymore.

      1. “wearing masks again indoors”

        Tomorrow is the first of July and people in Denver are still wearing masks while driving alone or walking on the sidewalk alone. California = Clown World.

  26. The Bidens, like the Obamas and Clintons before them, are no slouches when it comes to amassing huge fortunes through influence-peddling and presiding over a government-for-hire.

    EXCLUSIVE: Joe Biden entertained Hunter’s Mexican billionaire business associates in the vice president’s office in 2014 and even flew with his son to Mexico City on Air Force 2 so Hunter could attend meetings over a ‘flippin gigantic’ deal

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9678005/Joe-Biden-entertained-Hunters-billionaire-business-associates-vice-presidents-office.html

    Joe Biden entertained his son’s business associates in the vice president’s office, including Mexican billionaires Carlos Slim and Miguel Alemán Velasco.

    The then-vice president also flew Hunter and his partner Jeff Cooper on Air Force 2 to Mexico City in 2016 where Hunter arranged to meet Alemán’s son for meetings over a ‘flippin gigantic’ business deal.

    1. Police used to deploy “bait cars” with poly carbonate window partially lowered and the bait (SLR camera) on the front seat. When triggered, the unbreakable window would roll-up tight, holding the perp!

  28. BLM Rioter Who Smashed Car Window in a Toddler’s Face Avoids Jail After Lawyer Says it Was an “Emotional Time”

    by Paul Joseph Watson
    June 30th 2021, 9:02 am

    A Black Lives Matter rioter who smashed a car window in a 1-year-old child’s face has avoided prison after his lawyer argued that it was a “very emotional time” for the culprit.

    A video from the incident, which occurred in Fredericksburg VA during last year’s George Floyd riots, shows a BLM mob surrounding the vehicle before Victor Miles II smashes the glass which shatters all over the child in the back seat.

    The clip appears to show Miles deliberately targeting the toddler.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/blm-rioter-who-smashed-car-window-in-a-toddlers-face-avoids-jail-after-lawyer-says-it-was-an-emotional-time/

    1. …it was a “very emotional time” for the culprit.

      Would that defense have worked in the deep South?

      1. The HBB remembers when Barry Soetero said “if I had a son, he’d look like Trayvon.”

        “They’re not sending their best…

  29. Here is the current Case Shiller chart, up to February 2021, not even including April’s amazing numbers: https://i.imgur.com/upGMs2d.png

    This is right off of Dr. Shiller’s site at Yale.

    I noticed that after every runup, there is some kind of pullback, even after the huge persistent runup after World War II. During and after WWII, interest rates were low and the 30 year mortgage, if I’m reading this correctly, was first introduced for new contruction in 1948 and for existing construction in 1954. (this link is quite informative about housing finance historically and what the implications are going forward. The AEI debunks a myth that long-duration, low-down loans helped increase the homeownership rate, and that what they did do was cause 1 in 8 buyers to lose their homes to foreclosure as a result)

    Going forward, I guess there could be a post-WWII scenario, or this could be like every runup after the end-WWII-runup.

    1. The above link is not without some humor …

      “Its ‘new mortgage system [was designed to provide]] a straight, broad highway to debt-free ownership, [The goal being] ‘the possession of a home, free and clear of all debt at the earliest possible date, should be the goal of every American family.’

      “debt-free ownership” … bahahahahahaha. Yeah, right.

      Today’s modern totally dumbed-down home buying ignorant puke has been successfully conditioned to BELIEVE and to FEEL that (gasp!) debt-free home ownership is something that should be avoided AT ALL COSTS. Allowing debt equity to (gasp!) ACCUMULATE instead of being borrowed against and spent (friverously spent if at all possible) is seen as an affront and possible threat to our (stupid) consumer-based debt-driven economy.

      1. Allowing debt equity to (gasp!) ACCUMULATE instead of being borrowed against and spent (friverously spent if at all possible) is seen as an affront and possible threat to our (stupid) consumer-based debt-driven economy.

        Mr. Banker you’re kind of complicit. You refer to it as “cashing out your equity” instead of calling it a loan. It’s diabolically brilliant.

        I’d always been puzzled at why the economic elite insist that debt brings prosperity and finally figured it out I think: it does bring prosperity – for them, not the debtors. I just wasn’t thinking sociopathically enough. Rookie mistake.

        1. “You refer to it as “cashing out your equity” instead of calling it a loan.”

          I use what works.

          “It’s diabolically brilliant.”

          Thank you.

    2. FYI, two more views of that data. The data from 1890 to 1952 was reported once a year. 1953 to 2021 was reported 12 times a year, so that’s why it doesn’t look like the common view Case Shiller charts. Those I guess had annual averages from 1953 to present calculated. Both views are informative I think:

      Real house price index: https://i.imgur.com/K0ZdNrM.png
      Nominal house price index: https://i.imgur.com/0XveGbz.png
      Classical view with population, etc: https://i.imgur.com/upGMs2d.png

      My crystal ball is still cloudy.

      1. My crystal ball

        You shouldn’t need a crystal ball to see what is right in front of you. Just sayin.

        Something missing from your analysis appears to be family income.

        1. Social Security administration posts individual median and average income going back to 1991. I don’t want to put this in moderation, but if you copy and paste this “[add the www] .ssa.gov/oact/cola/central.html”, it will go to that page. As of 2021, median individual income was 34K.

      2. The real price chart suggests no stable long-term predictable pattern, but rather three distinct regimes (dates are approximate):

        1) 1890-1945: Slide into Great Depression and WWII-led recovery

        2) 1946-1971: Post WWII price stability under Bretton-Woods agreement

        3) 1972-present: Post Bretton-Woods unhingement

        It’s too early in the day to elaborate. I’ll just mention briefly that I am currently helping my maths protege understand the stability of linear systems as related to the eigenvalues of the system matrix. The post-1972 experience is captured by the case of a complex eigenvalue whose real part is greater than 0, which results in explosive cyclic instability.

        1. As far as what the currently evolving part of the chart will look like:

          * 5 percent down is the median down payment, per those monthly charts put out by the Urban Institute.

          * In a zero interest environment, real estate is an appreciating asset. There are people who have purchased expecting appreciation, and also people who have bought 2nd homes or moved into a new primary residence and held onto a second home thinking that rent plus appreciation will generate a profit. If prices flatten for some reason, I think you’ll see some of those folks try to sell.

          * FOMO will end if prices flatten.

          * Eventually there’s some satiation of the buyer. I know there’s always more population but the frenzy will likely dissipate.

          * People getting back to work, not spending their days browsing housing websites.

          For those reasons I think the chart will look more like the GFD bubble (both real and nominal) rather than the post WWII flattening and long slow decline.

    3. Months ago I posted here my suspicion that the housing boom was being fueled by PPP loan fraud. I didn’t have any evidence at the time but it just seemed like the only plausible explanation. I’d wager this is just the tip of the iceberg…or just the crust of the “red hot cakes” in HBB terminology. These are just some of the more egregious violators who have been caught but 1000s of others undoubtedly padded their claims to skim off enough income to buy property.

      https://abc7.com/ppp-fraud-houston-covid-funds-scam-business-owners-bought-luxury-cars-with-loans-ladonna-wiggins/10385500/

      https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/texas-man-pleads-guilty-24-million-covid-relief-fraud-scheme

      https://www.bizjournals.com/philadelphia/news/2021/06/15/devron-brown-charged-in-ppp-fraud.html

      https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2021/02/05/ppp-fraud-florida-man-accused-buying-mansion-luxury-cars/4405543001/

      https://losangeles.cbslocal.com/2021/06/29/encino-brothers-wives-guilty-fraudulent-covid-19-relief-loan-scheme-18-million-spent-luxury-homes-jewelry-harley-davidson/

      https://www.nytimes.com/2021/05/10/us/ppp-loan-sports-cars.html

      https://www.jdsupra.com/legalnews/update-the-growing-wave-of-ppp-loan-4854683/

      https://www.fox6now.com/news/ppp-loan-fraud-schemes-defendants-charged

    1. The interesting thing to me about that chart is just how linear the price slide is. You’d thing the second derivative might eventually turn negative, as HODLers bail in increasing numbers…a kind of “law of economic gravity” phenomenon. Perhaps dips buyers are helping to cushion the pace of decline?

      A question to ponder, based on experience a year ago with oil futures: Can lumber futures ever tip negative? Unless that linear pace of decline reverses soon, we could have a case before summer ends.

  32. In Bill Cosby’s first public statement since having his sentence for rape overturned on a technicality, the former “America’s Dad” declared that “Realtors are liars.”

  33. “The whole aim of practical politics is to keep the populace alarmed (and hence clamorous to be led to safety) by an endless series of hobgoblins, most of them imaginary.”

    ― H.L. Mencken

    White supremacist-connected domestic terrorism is possible over July 4th weekend, DHS warns after ‘monitoring online chatter’

    https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-9741697/Homeland-Security-warns-domestic-terror-threats-violence-Fourth-July-approaches.html

    The Department of Homeland Security said it will be on ‘heightened alert’ this July 4th weekend for white supremacists looking to exploit states’ rollback of COVID-19restrictions and attack a range of possible targets, officials told DailyMail.com.

    The warning comes as officials say they’ve been monitoring a spike in online chatter that could indicate white supremacist-motivated attacks.

      2. Can they be a little more specific where those white terrorists are going to strike ,so I make sure I’m not shopping or something innocent.

  34. Scarsdale, NY Housing Prices Crater 17% YOY As Toxic Rot Sets In On New York City Suburbs

    https://www.movoto.com/scarsdale-ny/market-trends/

    As one national broker conceded, “We’ve been scraping the bottom of the buyer barrel for 15 years or more. Why do you think mortgage defaults are 600% higher than long term trend?”

  35. Listening to a historian last night give a lecture on Stalin. But, he got me thinking about this idea of Power.
    Something can obtain power, but can they maintain power. His point was that Stalin took power, and was able to maintain it for 30 years until his death.
    So the power grab going on today in the US has a major weakness in maintaining power, and that is that it has not captured the minds and souls of the majority population.
    They corrupted government and agencies , censored the news, rigged the election, 24/7 insane fraudulent narratives, fear mongering, but they never really captured the Majority populations mind and soul .What they are selling isn’t very inspiring to say the least.
    So, when you want true believers for a cause, ” You will eat bugs, have nothing, and like it”, while they jab you all the time, isn’t exactly that inspiring.

    So, the ability to maintain power and advance in that power is not very likely. You have to offer some kind of Utopia better World , which they don’t. Just having fraudulent narratives ends up falling on deft ears eventually. Eventually people grow weary of being in fear of a invisible little virus that isn’t a risk to 99.5% of population.
    Eventually the racism theme, Climate change, lets kill the white race and burn the American flag loses its appeal, except for a small percentage.
    Crime out of control , eventually gets annoying and threatening.
    Biden Administration is building the fake narrative of discrimination and attack on the white race. This creation of a enemy is to create a enemy for the True Believers to fight, isolate and kill. And the absurdity of it is your talking about what, 200 million that would fall in that category?
    So this is a overly ambiguous creation of a enemy by these Entities that want a One World order of Monopoly rule.
    And the joke is for most part all these power mongers are White. Biden , the White corrupt demented racist attacking the White race is absurd.
    A bunch of invisible false enemy creation from bugs to the white race to the point of absurdity.
    So, in spite of any power grab for the moment, it doesn’t have lasting power to maintain it.
    The leaders and Government agencies overtaken isn’t enough, especially when what they offer isn’t very attractive , even to minorities.
    This Entities that criminally rigged the election have shown their true colors, which aren’t very attractive or sane if anything threatening.
    People in general want a better life, not the lessor life they offer of being locked downed and masked and jabbed all the time over a minor virus threat.
    Do other races really believe that getting rid of the White race is going to make their life better, and can they trust Entities that even promote this narrative that nuts.?
    Gates, Schwab, and Soros aren’t offering a better World. Maybe they think what they are offering is good, but good for who?
    Just saying, it can’t last because it doesn’t offer better. That’s why Communism usually fails because its not better than regulated capitalism, freedoms , rule of law, and protection of the individual. Just saying.

    1. “Something can obtain power, but can they maintain power.”

      When Israel captured Jerusalem and the West Bank in 1967 they quickly discovered that they couldn’t afford the military expense to defend and maintain their victorious spoils. This expense combined with the Vietnam war, and the U.S. had to print dollars to keep the books balanced. In 1972, the dollar-gold linkage was severed, and the U.S. standard of living began its inexorable descent.

        1. The people were not that keen on the Vietnam War. The US getting set up to be the Police Dog of the World after World War II was unfortunate.
          Like George Washington always said that political parties were bad and so was Foreign entanglement.

        2. I visited Vietnam in 2008.

          While nominally communist, on the streets of the cities is found one of the most robust microcapitalistic economies on the planet.

          Like religion, capitalism is part of the natural state of human existence, and is hard to contain.

  36. What the Innsurrection in US offers isn’t inspiring.

    A 24/7 repeat of fraud and censorship, that’s self serving to One World Globalist Monopolies Dictorship isn’t anything that improves the lives of the Majority.
    This is the fatal flaw in the mad hatter masterminds of the current power grab. There isn’t even the promise of a better life. Its all about taking away freedom, resources, lifestyles, private property rights, medical tyranny, Marshall law lockdowns, destruction of jobs, you name it. Higher taxes for some kind of notion of Commie redistributed wealth by a corrupted Gov distribution up to the Globalist, with all their looting schemes and rigged markets.
    So, they rigged the election to continue their hijacking of the US.
    But they don’t have sustainable because they are against the people, they hate the people, and deep down the people know they are the enemy.
    Basically, the new Regime is marketing insanity, Biden appears as a demented and corrupt old Puppet that takes hypocrisy to a new level.
    Trying to sell that the World revolves around the Medical Monopoly of this obvious medical fraud isn’t going to fly as time goes on .
    The racism theme is already getting to insane to be credible.
    The one thing about untested Communist theory in Russia in around 1919 is that in terms of theory it sounded good. Everybody being equal and all production shared and dispersed by Gov. It turned out to be a murderous forced slaughter, but Stalin was the kind of Dictorship that was willing to do that. Being successful in winning World War 11 at all costs by Stalin was also a feather in his cap.
    Some say that Stalin had more Power than any one man ever had , but after he died, Communism fell in Russia.
    In terms of evil dictorship, is Biden or Harris or Pelosi anything but a joke. Just saying . Is Gates, Soros and Klaus Schwab convincing characters , or rather obvious self serving psychopaths, not offering a better world.

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