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You’d Be Surprised What You Can Negotiate Down Right Now

A report from KCRA in California. “Buyers and sellers across the Sacramento region are bracing themselves as interest rates peak after years of relief. ‘The housing market has been completely bananas for the beginning of the year, unreal price growth and really over the past month or so we’ve seen the market begin to change temperature,’ said Sacramento appraiser and housing analyst, Ryan Lundquist. ‘Instead of seeing multiple offers, five, six, or above, we’re getting a couple offers,’ said local realtor, Ahrash Zamanian.”

From NBC San Diego in California. “Dan and Brady work together as the president and vice-president of Brookeshire Real Estate. They say some relief could be in sight: As interest rates have gone up, they predict the number of people looking to buy should go down.  ‘There’s a bit more opportunities for buyers now,’ Dan said. ‘It’s still a seller’s market … but the pendulum is starting to swing just a little bit.'”

The Real Deal on New York. “Multifamily investors and developers piled into a stately Midtown building Thursday to try to make sense of their turbulent industry. Everyone at the conference had ideas for those roadblocks, but none had an elixir for their biggest problem of all: The multifamily development tax break Affordable New York, better known as 421a, expires June 15. ‘It’s been a very healthy market over the last 12 to 18 months,’ said Martin Nussbaum, co-founder and principal of Slate Property Group. ‘That has now come to a stop.'”

From Bisnow. “Investors in an Austin, Texas, luxury student housing building will likely get a payout from developer Nelson Partners Student Housing after a lawsuit threatened to topple the company’s student housing venture altogether. The developer has now agreed to a settlement in Texas state court that includes a liquidation plan with a $50M payout to investors, which Nelson Partners could fund by selling off other properties. If the plan is approved, Nelson Partners will have 18 months to raise money to pay back its investors.”

“Complexes run by Nelson Partners all over the country, including Skyloft, have been plagued by complaints of poor living conditions including faulty air conditioning, elevators not working, malfunctioning fire alarms and disconnected utilities. Complaints led some investors to compare Nelson to a ‘Ponzi-like’ scheme, according to court filings. A group of more than 200 individual investors, including engineers, doctors, teachers and lawyers, sued the developer’s owner, Patrick Nelson, for $75M last year in an attempt to get their money back.”

From NBC Connecticut. “With multiple bids, buyers are waving inspections and many houses are going for way over asking price, but there can be a hidden price of rushing to buy. Some Connecticut homeowners say they paid a price for not knowing more about their future homes. Just ask the Favreaus, of Bristol, who longed to retire in Connecticut. But they say their new forever home has quickly turned into a nightmare. ‘We had family coming over for the Fourth of July and then the septic comes spewing into the basement,’ Pat Favreau said.”

“Favreau and her husband Mike trusted what they said they were told – that the house had a three-year-old septic system and a disclosure that said no septic problems. ‘So we said, ‘Well, all right, it’s three years old,’ so we didn’t do the septic inspection and that’s where it all kind of went down the tubes,’ Mike said. ‘I guess we just took it on faith that they were telling us the truth.'”

From Slate. “Dear Pay Dirt, I have made a terrible mistake and I don’t know what to do about it. I just bought a house that’s now falling down around me. I got a conventional loan with 20% down. The seller did not report any major structural issues during closing, but I have discovered that the house is splitting in two. It started out as a single-wide mobile home but it has so many additions that it looks like a brick-and-mortar home. There’s an inch-wide crack in the floor, and the roof is buckling in the same spot. The subflooring needs to be replaced. The doors don’t latch, and the floors aren’t level. The heat pump just died, too.”

“My real estate agent did not recommend a home inspection. He was a stranger to me, but told me that he was my friend, and when I wanted to back out of the sale, he strongly urged me ‘as a friend’ to go through with it. This house needs at least $30,000 in repairs just to keep it from falling down. I paid $180,000 for it. It seems to me like the seller should have reported the obvious defects and the realtor should have pushed for a home inspection at the very least. However, I am an adult and I should have been more observant and less excited when I toured the house.”

“I realize that you can’t give me legal advice, but I just don’t know where to go from here. I have contacted five attorneys but nobody wants the case, so maybe I don’t have one. Do I try to sell it and cut my losses, or fix it up? Unlike the previous seller, if I did sell, I would be required to report the structural defects, so I suppose I’m going to have to fix it and live with it. Do I have any other options? —A Big, Huge Whoops.”

From Fortune. “As data trickles in for April, it’s becoming clear that the historically hot housing market has flipped trajectories. It’s now in cooling mode. ‘The red-hot housing market’s days are numbered. While I don’t anticipate a collapse á la the Great Recession, rising mortgage rates and inventory are sure to cool what has been an unprecedented time for the U.S. housing market,’ says Ralph McLaughlin, chief economist at Kukun, a real estate data and analytics company.This softening is by design. The Federal Reserve is done watching inflation run away.”

From Global News. “The apparent cooling in Canada’s housing market is leaving many buyers and sellers alike confused about how to price and bid on homes in the normally fervent spring market, real estate brokers say. Those who spoke to Global News said the new market is resulting in negotiation power swinging back into the hands of buyers in many cases. Nasma Ali, broker of One Group Real Estate in Toronto, said the difference between the mid-winter market — before the Bank of Canada started hiking interest rates — and today is ‘day and night.'”

“This pricing change didn’t happen overnight, though. Ali said she saw a gradual drop in the number of people coming by showings, and a slow dawning on sellers that their home might not be able to generate the buzz it used to when the market was hotter. They started accepting offers that were based on, say, what a nearby home on the street last went for instead of waiting to see what they could get on offer night. The result was that prices stayed elevated for longer until buyers started waking up to the actual market conditions.”

“Pritesh Parekh, a Toronto realtor with Century 21, told Global News that the cooling housing market has fundamentally changed how buyers should be understanding list prices. When it comes to 90 per cent of homes on the market, ‘you’d be surprised what you can negotiate down’ right now, she said. ‘In this market, this is when you 100 per cent can negotiate,’ Ali said. In Toronto, she’s seen conditions added to sales for inspections, financing and even escape clauses — conditions that could allow a buyer or seller to back out of the deal.”

This Is Money in the UK. “House sales are stalling across the country as a surge of down-valuations pours cold water on the red-hot property market. Brokers say they are now seeing lenders apply the brakes and increasingly down-value homes by tens of thousands of pounds. This means banks and building societies do not believe a property is worth the price agreed so reduce the amount they are willing to lend. Experts warn that this could be the first indication the post-pandemic property boom is coming to an end.”

“Emma Jones,owner of Alder Rose Mortgage Services, claims around a fifth of her clients are now being told their property is worth less than the asking price. ‘We have seen around twice as many down-valuations in the past few months as we were previously,’ she says. ‘It suggests lenders are being more cautious. And it is something we are seeing across the board and with holiday lets as well.’”

From Stuff New Zealand. “The number of properties for sale in the Wellington region increased by a ‘staggering’ 90% in April when compared to the same time last year, according to the latest Trade Me Property Price Index. Trade Me Property sales director, Gavin Lloyd, said along with the capital, every other region apart from the West Coast had an annual jump in supply. ‘Some of the largest increases were seen in the Manawatū/Whanganui (up 86%) and Hawke’s Bay (up 85%) regions,’ he said.”

“Nationwide, Lloyd said the number of properties for sale on the site jumped by 39% in April, the largest annual percentage increase on record. ‘This follows the previous all-time high 32% year-on-year increase we saw in March,’ Lloyd said. Prior to the pandemic, Lloyd said the market supply would usually begin to cool off for winter, but it was not the case any more. ‘As a result, in some regions we’re starting to see the property market enter a stalemate situation where buyers simply aren’t willing to pay the price sellers are asking, and they’re at a standstill.'”

The South China Morning Post. “The Hong Kong villa of a Kaisa Group Holding executive has been offered for sale at a discount by receivers, joining a growing group of mainland Chinese developers who are selling their assets at distressed prices amid the debt crunch and stagnation in China’s property market. The two-storey villa, spread over 3,953 square feet (367 square metres) is valued at between HK$260 million and HK$280 million, or a discount of up to 26 per cent compared with its HK$350 million (US$44.6 million) purchase price in 2017.”

“An office building at 28 Austin Avenue near Hung Hom was put on the market by receivers for an indicative price of HK$200 million, said Lau of Midland. The original owner, a mainland Chinese investor with the surname Jin, bought it via a company for HK$212 million in 2012. The property has been mortgaged repeatedly over the past few years. ‘This is often the case – if some property appreciates, owners borrow money from financial institutions to buy other things,’ said Lau.”

From Swarajya Mag. “An Indian trader recently sent an import enquiry to his contacts in China. The Chinese were known for their aggressive follow-ups. However, this time it was different. Not only the response was lukewarm but there seemed to be a loss of appetite. ‘This is a new China,’ the Indian remarked.”

The Korea Times. “The crash that some had been warning about happened. TerraUSD (UST), a stablecoin, imploded over a period of a few days. TerraUSD was pegged 1:1 to the U.S. dollar through an algorithmic smarts that linked its value to a sister cryptocurrency called Luna, which crashed to $0.40 on May 12th; on May 5th, Luna was worth $87. Do Kwon, the founder of TerraUSD has gone from a hero to a dud at lightning speed. Coindesk excerpted an article from The Node on May 11 titled, ‘Do Kwon Is the Elizabeth Holmes of Crypto.’ Ouch. Basically, it argues that Kwon is either an intentional scam artist or a self-delusional crypto prophet who believed in his own hype.”

“The sense of betrayal is keener in Korea since Kwon was a hometown boy done good. A Stanford grad with stints as a software engineer in Microsoft and Apple, Kwon had a resume that was ideally suited to the Korean narrative of success worship. To be fair, Kwon wasn’t a crypto darling limited to just Korea. He was lauded as one of the youngest and most influential voices in decentralized finance (DeFi) by reputable members of the press throughout the world.”

“After the crash, however, Kwon went from Korea’s Musk to Korea’s Holmes. Conspiracy theories abound, with some even accusing Kwon of making an early escape because he knew what was going to happen and leaving the investors holding the bag. Of course, the question becomes, what now? What happens to the believers when their gods and faith come crashing down?”

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This Post Has 118 Comments

  1. ‘Complaints led some investors to compare Nelson to a ‘Ponzi-like’ scheme, according to court filings. A group of more than 200 individual investors, including engineers, doctors, teachers and lawyers, sued the developer’s owner, Patrick Nelson, for $75M last year in an attempt to get their money back’

    Recession proof!

  2. ‘‘We had family coming over for the Fourth of July and then the septic comes spewing into the basement’

    I hate it when that happens Pat, but it was cheaper than renting.

    1. ‘Well, all right, it’s three years old,’ so we didn’t do the septic inspection and that’s where it all kind of went down the tubes,’

      Well it didn’t go down the tubes. That the problem Pat, your swimming in your own sh!t because you’re a dimwit.

  4. ‘I got a conventional loan with 20% down. The seller did not report any major structural issues during closing, but I have discovered that the house is splitting in two. It started out as a single-wide mobile home but it has so many additions that it looks like a brick-and-mortar home. There’s an inch-wide crack in the floor, and the roof is buckling in the same spot. The subflooring needs to be replaced. The doors don’t latch, and the floors aren’t level. The heat pump just died, too’

    ‘My real estate agent did not recommend a home inspection.’

    When I see these things, I wonder just how did you get a conventional loan?

    2. A conventional mortgage loan is one that is not guaranteed or insured by the a government agency.

      I bought my “stick built” spec shack with a conforming loan.

      1. A conventional mortgage loan is one that is not guaranteed or insured by the a government agency.
        Most likely it was/will be sold to Fannie or Freddie so they are essentially sold as Govt. guaranteed loans.
        But not they are not FHA or VA or rural housing which are direct govt. loan programs.

    3. Another red flag:

      “It started out as a single-wide mobile home but it has so many additions that it looks like a brick-and-mortar home.”

      How, or why, would one put an addition on a single-wide? I’m sure it’s possible, but it would be ugly AF. And you don’t need an inspector to know that a cracked floor and buckling ceiling throw a dwelling into the “teardown” column pretty fast.

      1. Discovery would probably discover that Big Whoops signed a bunch of fine print without reading it first, absolving the agents of all guilt.

      2. “Discovery would be fun on this one.”

        Depositions will be far more entertaining.

      3. More agents need to be sued.

        A YT realtor, Scott Walters, called the suing lawyers shady. Hello, Pot!

  5. ‘We have seen around twice as many down-valuations in the past few months as we were previously,’ she says. ‘It suggests lenders are being more cautious. And it is something we are seeing across the board and with holiday lets as well’

    This article mentions collapsing related deals, which is what’s happening in K-da too.

    1. Also collapsing deals:

      ‘. The property has been mortgaged repeatedly over the past few years. ‘This is often the case – if some property appreciates, owners borrow money from financial institutions to buy other things’

      ‘Not only the response was lukewarm but there seemed to be a loss of appetite. ‘This is a new China’

      I’m starting to think what’s going on in China is more than their typical roll over.

  6. “Just ask the Favreaus, of Bristol, who longed to retire in Connecticut.”

    Why would I ask the Favreaus anything, they didn’t even know Connecticut was a place to escape from not retire to.

    1. No need to ask their party affiliation. The complete absence of common sense or accountability tells all.

  7. ‘we’ve seen the market begin to change temperature…Instead of seeing multiple offers, five, six, or above, we’re getting a couple offers’

    For a beach shack? Oh, there is no beach. What exactly is there in Sacramento? North of Bakersfield?

    2. “What exactly is there in Sacramento? North of Bakersfield?”

      Lots of drought induced fallowed farmland.

    3. Technically I think it’s northeast of Bakersfield. Both of them are in the Central Valley, far from the beach.

      1. Northeast of Bakersfield would put it East of Lake Tahoe. Its bearing relative to Bakersfield isn’t very relative since it is hundreds of miles North of Bakersfield.

    1. ‘The supply of single-family houses for sale in metro Phoenix is up 70% from a year ago!’

      – 70%! Like mushrooms popping up after a rainstorm! It’s magic!
      – Phoenix is one of the epicenters of housing bubble 2.0 metros in the U.S.
      – The false RE narrative of “housing shortage” or “lack of inventory” was “inaccurate.”
      – “Investors” held onto their 1st and 2nd (and 3rd) properties because the Fed made house prices levitate by dropping mortgage rates to essentially free $. Why sell, when prices only go up? This “magically” reduced inventory and contributed to the supply/demand imbalance along with FOMO rising prices.
      – But now rates are rising, prices are falling, as would be expected, and “investors” are selling to capture their “gains.” “Suddenly” and “unexpectedly,” inventory is “magically” rising, and fast!
      – Harry Potter indeed!
      – Inventory rises, then sales decline, then prices fall. Rinse and repeat. Housing bubble 1.0, like “1984” was supposed to be a warning and not a “how-to” manual…
      – Enjoyed the boom? 🙂 Now enjoy the bust… 🙁

  9. ‘Do Kwon Is the Elizabeth Holmes of Crypto’

    And like Beth, this guy is a screwball. Remember the 21 YO who lost $100 M pesos recently?

  10. “Investors in an Austin, Texas, luxury student housing building will likely get a payout from developer Nelson Partners Student Housing after a lawsuit threatened to topple the company’s student housing venture altogether.

    “Luxury student housing”: a concept only viable in a world awash in Yellen Bux confetti money.

  11. A group of more than 200 individual investors, including engineers, doctors, teachers and lawyers, sued the developer’s owner, Patrick Nelson, for $75M last year in an attempt to get their money back.”

    Color yer money gone, baggies.

  12. “Favreau and her husband Mike trusted what they said they were told – that the house had a three-year-old septic system and a disclosure that said no septic problems. ‘So we said, ‘Well, all right, it’s three years old,’ so we didn’t do the septic inspection and that’s where it all kind of went down the tubes,’ Mike said. ‘I guess we just took it on faith that they were telling us the truth.’”

    The stupid, it burns.

  13. It seems to me like the seller should have reported the obvious defects and the realtor should have pushed for a home inspection at the very least. However, I am an adult and I should have been more observant and less excited when I toured the house.”

    Caveat emptor, moron. Idiots like you are what drove the housing bubble to insane valuations, so your looming insolvency is the price of sanity returning to the market and greed-fueled stupidity getting its comeuppance.

  14. I have contacted five attorneys but nobody wants the case, so maybe I don’t have one.

    Society should sue your parents for bringing such a mental defective into a world already overstocked with imbeciles.

  15. ‘In this market, this is when you 100 per cent can negotiate,’ Ali said.

    Or you can just sit out the craziness on the sidelines & wait until Housing Bubble 2.0 goes the way of its predecessor.

    1. I think the idea of the FDIC, or other types of insurance plans, is that you set up the insurance *before* losses occur, not after.

    2. cites FDIC

      The primary feature of crypto coins is that government is not involved. You got what you paid for.

  18. Luxury Student housing

    “…plagued by complaints of poor living conditions including faulty air conditioning, elevators not working, malfunctioning fire alarms and disconnected utilities…”

    Now that’s luxury!!

    But we all need to look at the bright side: They did have free beer on Fridays.

    Move over WeWork and crypto, we have an even bigger scam for you.

    1. “Luxury Student housing”

      There’s one of these Luxury Student places across the street from my daughter’s flat, and they were doing fine until the COVID crisis hit causing the University to abandon in-person classes.

  19. Re: The Federal Reserve is done watching inflation run away.

    And is now closing the barn door . . .

    1. Just checked my zip (89121). Some listings have “Accepting Backup Offers” where you usually see “Pending” or “New 24 Hours”.

  22. Here come the cascading defaults. Heckova job, corrupt elites & criminal central bankers.

    Sri Lanka stumbles towards first default on foreign debt amid economic crisis, social

    https://english.alarabiya.net/business/economy/2022/05/16/Sri-Lanka-stumbles-towards-first-default-on-foreign-debt-amid-economic-crisis-social

    Sri Lanka is sliding inexorably into default as the grace period on two unpaid foreign bonds nears an end, the latest blow to a country rattled by economic pain and social unrest.

    The island nation could be formally declared in default if it fails to make an interest payment to bondholders before Wednesday, when the 30-day grace period for missed coupons on dollar bonds ends. That would mark its first default.

  23. I’m not new here, but my name is new. Thanks again, Ben, for giving us this discussion platform.

    Have a great day!

  24. How it started. How it’s going.

    – How it started (1)…

    1)
    http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/11/03/AR2010110307372.html

    What the Fed did and why: supporting the recovery and sustaining price stability
    By Ben S. Bernanke
    Thursday, November 4, 2010

    “The FOMC intends to buy an additional $600 billion of longer-term Treasury securities by mid-2011 and will continue to reinvest repayments of principal on its holdings of securities, as it has been doing since August.”

    “This approach eased financial conditions in the past and, so far, looks to be effective again. Stock prices rose and long-term interest rates fell when investors began to anticipate the most recent action. Easier financial conditions will promote economic growth. For example, lower mortgage rates will make housing more affordable and allow more homeowners to refinance. Lower corporate bond rates will encourage investment. And higher stock prices will boost consumer wealth and help increase confidence, which can also spur spending. Increased spending will lead to higher incomes and profits that, in a virtuous circle, will further support economic expansion.”

    How it started (2)…

    2)
    https://www.federalreserve.gov/mediacenter/files/fomcpresconf20120913.pdf
    September 13, 2012 Chairman Bernanke’s Press Conference FINAL
    Transcript of Chairman Bernanke’s Press Conference September 13, 2012
    CHAIRMAN BERNANKE.

    “As you know, the Federal Reserve conducts monetary policy under a dual mandate from Congress to promote maximum employment and price stability.”

    “The Federal Reserve is fully committed to both sides of its mandate—to price stability as well as to maximum employment—and it has both the tools and the will to act at the appropriate time to avoid any emerging threat to price stability.”

    CHAIRMAN BERNANKE. “Well we are—this is a Main Street policy, because what we’re about here is trying to get jobs going. We are trying to create more employment, we are trying to meet our maximum employment mandate, so that’s the objective. Our tools involve—I mean, the tools we have involve affecting financial asset prices, and that’s—those are the tools of monetary policy. There are a number of different channels—mortgage rates, I mentioned other interest rates, corporate bond rates, but also the prices of various assets, like, for example, the prices of homes. To the extent that home prices begin to rise, consumers will feel wealthier, they’ll feel more disposed to spend. If house prices are rising, people may be more willing to buy homes because they think that they’ll, you know, make a better return on that purchase. So house prices is one vehicle. Stock prices—many people own stocks directly or indirectly. The issue here is whether or not improving asset prices generally will make people more willing to spend.”

    – How it’s going (3)…

    3)
    https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/16/bernanke-says-the-feds-slow-response-to-inflation-was-a-mistake.html?utm_term=Autofeed&utm_medium=Social&utm_content=Main&utm_source=Twitter#Echobox=1652701153

    Economy
    Bernanke says the Fed’s slow response to inflation ‘was a mistake’
    Published Mon, May 16 20227:35 AM EDT
    Jeff Cox
    Jeff Cox@jeff.cox.7528
    @JeffCoxCNBCcom

    “Key Points”

    “Former Fed Chairman Ben Bernanke said the central bank erred in waiting to address inflation.”

    ““One of the reasons was that they wanted not to shock the market,” he told CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin.”

    “Bernanke spoke a day ahead of his latest book release, which addresses Fed policy moves during the 21st century.”

    “Bernanke, who guided the Fed through the financial crisis that exploded in 2008 and presided over unprecedented monetary policy expansion, told CNBC that the issue of when action should have been taken to tame inflation is “complicated.””

    “Bernanke said he understands why the Powell Fed waited.”

    ““One of the reasons was that they wanted not to shock the [stock] market,” he said. “Jay Powell was on my board during the Taper Tantrum in 2013, which was a very unpleasant experience. He wanted to avoid that kind of thing by giving people as much warning as possible. And so that gradualism was one of several reasons why the Fed didn’t respond more quickly to the inflationary pressure in the middle of 2021.””

    “In late summer of 2020, the Fed changed its policy framework to indicate that it would allow inflation to run hotter than normal in the interest of assuring a complete and inclusive jobs recovery.”

    – Executive summary: The Fed has been supporting housing and stonks since 2010. That’s 12 years folks. This has been artificial growth and “prosperity” fueled by debt and money printing. If this was the correct course of action after the (Fed-induced) GFC, then it should have been withdrawn years ago as the economy regained its footing and growth again became organic. However, that didn’t happen.

    – Any centrally-planned, command-and-control committee or political body trying to run anything at all, including something as dynamic and complex as the U.S. economy is doomed to fail. The Fed is unelected and unaccountable. They have legions of PhD economists (approx. 1000 PhD economists alone and many more thousands of other employees at high pay and benefits), and yet, as they’ve stated above, housing and stonks drove their policy instead of the stated “dual mandate.” No accountability. They should all be fired and the Fed shut down. Needs to happen ASAP. They’ve failed, as expected by their interventionist policies. It’s too late to prevent the coming recession/depression as “The Everything Bubble” bursts, but the Fed needs to be held accountable.

    – Enjoyed the boom? Now enjoy the bust. Courtesy of your friends at the Fed and Government.

    1. https://twitter.com/hussmanjp/status/1526231422993842177?cxt=HHwWgoCyyZLZoa4qAAAA
      John P. Hussman, Ph.D. @hussmanjp

      “Having experienced the damage that asset price bubbles can cause, we must be especially vigilant in ensuring that the recent experiences are not repeated.” – Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve Chair, January 3, 2010
      Quote Tweet
      zerohedge @zerohedge
      · 4h
      “It Was A Mistake” – Bernanke Says Fed’s Fear Of ‘Shocking’ The Market Delayed Tightening Move https://zerohedge.com/markets/it-was-mistake-bernanke-says-feds-fear-shocking-market-delayed-tightening-move
      10:01 AM · May 16, 2022·Twitter Web App

    2. nice job on the clips RPE,
      I saw some of the CNBC interview clips – it should be scary for many folks. In the nicest language possible he tried to explain how off badly the current fed misunderstood the situation. They were blinded by the corona-porn worst case warnings – and kept the low rates and kept the QE.

      Amazing that ‘masters of the universe’ could be influenced by the hype.

      ““One of the reasons was that they wanted not to shock the [stock] market,” he said. “Jay Powell was on my board during the Taper Tantrum in 2013, which was a very unpleasant experience. He wanted to avoid that kind of thing by giving people as much warning as possible. And so that gradualism was one of several reasons why the Fed didn’t respond more quickly to the inflationary pressure in the middle of 2021.””

      “In late summer of 2020, the Fed changed its policy framework to indicate that it would allow inflation to run hotter than normal in the interest of assuring a complete and inclusive jobs recovery.”

      1. ‘the Taper Tantrum in 2013, which was a very unpleasant experience. He wanted to avoid that kind of thing by giving people as much warning as possible. And so that gradualism was one of several reasons why the Fed didn’t respond more quickly to the inflationary pressure’

        You can’t make an omelet without sittin on yer a$$.

        “Kids, they raise themselves” – Homer Simpson.

      2. Don’t give them so much credit b, they weren’t blinded by events they were blinded by the fact that most (if not all) of the board had massive positions they were trading and were getting rich. Unfortunately, they get to keep their ill gotten gains and everyone is fine with it. Maybe when enough people are bankrupted there will be calls to make their trade positions public. The fed has carefully tried to hush it up and make it go away. A couple of those guys should become synonymous with moral hazard.

    3. Bernanke should be near the front of the line for execution. We don’t need his kind around anymore.

  25. How’s that “Build Back Better” workin’ out for ya, parents of infants?

    ‘It’s pure panic’: Florida parents of twins spent more than 4 hours driving to find baby formula

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/its-pure-panic-florida-parents-of-twins-spent-more-than-4-hours-driving-to-find-baby-formula-11652485825?mod=mw_latestnews

    Amid a nationwide shortage of baby formula, President Joe Biden says ‘there’s nothing more urgent we’re working on.’

    1. More idiots from New York who thought everything in Florida would be perfect. lol

    2. when it was starting a shortage of cat food months ago, i went to at least 12 stores and bought probably 200 cans he likes fancy feast…..except for the fish stuff…..but then he loves tuna fish and water from the can ………

    1. Not to worry. Price declines can never occur here in the good ole USA, land of the free and the home of “Real estate always goes up.”

  27. ‘The housing market has been completely bananas for the beginning of the year, unreal price growth…,’

    The housing market typically exhibits such behavior leading up to a massive dump that leaves recent buyers underwater and crying in their beers.

    2. Major indices are having a relatively quiet day, up/down wiggles.
      Metals are having small wiggles, nothing new.
      Crytpo is having its usual 5% blood face-wash (not a full bath).
      Don’t look now, but oil has been creeping up slowly.

    3. How many “investors” and passive-income earners pledged their stonk holdings to buy rentals? I think we’ll find out if this market continues to tank.

    1. Chewing on a piece of grass
      Walking down the road
      Tell me, how long you gonna stay here, Joe?

      1. ppsf is meaningless unless you’re estimating and bidding work. Houses aren’t bought and sold by the square foot. They depreciate too rapidly and are simply a commodity after they’re constructed.

        The good news is prices fell 27%…… and cratering fast! If measured by average versus median they’re down 31%.

        Laguna Hills, CA Housing Prices Crater 27% YOY As Mortgage Defaults Blanket Orange County

        https://www.movoto.com/laguna-hills-ca/market-trends/

        As one Orange County broker explained, “I had a sale in January of last year for $780k. That same house sold last week for $425k. That’s a helluva beating right there.”

  34. “My real estate agent did not recommend a home inspection. He was a stranger to me, but told me that he was my friend, and when I wanted to back out of the sale, he strongly urged me ‘as a friend’ to go through with it. This house needs at least $30,000 in repairs just to keep it from falling down. I paid $180,000 for it. It seems to me like the seller should have reported the obvious defects and the realtor should have pushed for a home inspection at the very least. However, I am an adult and I should have been more observant and less excited when I toured the house.”

    That was your first mistake. Believing that. Your second mistake was FOMO!

  35. New game show

    Ask The Favreaus

    1) Realtors are?

    2) True or False?

    You should pass on the inspection and trust the Home sellers when they tell you the house you are buying has a three-year-old septic system with no problems.

    3) It is not the best time to have family over for the Fourth of July when…

    A: You have plenty of hamburgers and hotdogs.

    B: You have a volleyball net and a Horseshoe Court set up in your backyard.

    C: You have plenty of cold beer and soda.

    D: The septic comes spewing into the basement.

    1. I’m kinda curious why there would be a septic opening in the basement. Overflow? Better than the kitchen?

      2. The house I grew up in was in Connecticut, and it had a sewer cleanout in the basement but it was never opened and never spewed anything so our Fourth of July gatherings came off flawlessly. At least as far as raw sewage making an appearance anyway.

  36. Interesting article on Carvana. What continues to amaze me is that
    well paid wall street analysts, could not do basic math to understand the business – or were they also blinded by hype. Wait until the national average of gas goes from $4.50 (national average today) to > $5.

    Its stock price has marched this year as well, just in the wrong direction for investors. Within six months, Carvana has gone from Wall Street’s preferred used car retailer poised to capitalize on a robust market to trading like a volatile meme stock amid cost-cutting measures and layoffs.

    The fall from grace for the Arizona-based used car retailer, including a nearly 90% decline in its stock price since November, resulted from a mix of changing market conditions as well as self-inflicted wounds. Many traditional dealers continue to report record or near-record results, shining further light on Carvana’s problems.

    Carvana grew exponentially during the coronavirus pandemic, as shoppers shifted to online purchasing rather than visiting a dealership, with the promise of hassle-free selling and purchasing of used vehicles at a customer’s home. But analysts are concerned about the company’s liquidity, increasing debt and growth, which this year is expected to be its slowest since becoming a public company in 2017.

    https://www.cnbc.com/2022/05/16/how-carvana-went-from-a-wall-street-top-pick-to-meme-stock-trading.html

      2. Scotty said…”why is the market for used cars so high? Where do most folks go to get used car values? Kelly blue book .com right? Well guess who bought kbb? That’s right, autotrader . Com. And how did autotrader . Com make $$$? They sold used cars.”

        https://youtu.be/yUwx3TEJuAs

        1. I found my daughter’s Honda on Autotrader, a private party listing just prior to the price escalation.

          1. I sold my old VW on autotrader back in the day too…I’m unaware of them buying+selling, vs just being a listing service

      3. Also ask what he thinks about buying used cars from a dealership. You are much better off buying a used car from a private party vs. a dealership.

  37. Conflict Of Interest? Obama-Appointed Russiagate Judge Married To Lisa Page’s Lawyer, Knew Sussmann

    by Zero Hedge
    May 16th 2022, 11:50 am

    As the trial against Clinton campaign lawyer Michael Sussmann begins, questions have emerged over the judge’s apparent conflicts of interest.

    In additional to having been “professional acquaintances” with the defendant, US District Judge Christopher “Casey” Cooper, an Obama appointee (who was on Obama’s transition team), is married to lawyer Amy Jeffress who’s representing key ‘Russiagate’ figure Lisa Page in her lawsuit against the FBI. Jeffress also served as a top aide to former Attorney General Eric Holder, while current Attorney General Merrick Garland presided over the 1999 wedding of Cooper and Jeffress.

    https://www.infowars.com/

  38. I thought y’all might like to see a graph of how listing inventory is spiking in Washington state … it was quite a dramatic change last week. The graph is for house/SFH, but similar spike also appeared on condos and townhomes. Also, the phenomenon was similar across three counties: King County (Seattle metro), Snohomish County (to the north, Everett area) and Pierce County (to the south, Tacoma area)

    https://twitter.com/coqumragep279/status/1526209970009612288

    1. I’ll call your greedy Boomer and raise you a virtue signaling Millennial AND a Gen Z Zir named Zo^9@tard.

  39. OK, I’m gobsmacked. A shanty down the street that went on the market about 3 weeks ago with an asking price of 850K just closed for 900K.

    I was convinced that some sawing and slashing would be in order when it was listed. Apparently not.

    2. I would hazard a prediction that this lucky winning bidder at $900k will grow to relish their success. “Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!”

    3. I hear that. Broomfield area and saw a sign go up Saturday. Stopped by today to get my mail and it’s already under contract. I don’t get it either. Most listings I’m seeing round these parts are better of $300k some $400k above what they were bought for less than three years ago. Are the buyers under the assumption that in three more years they’ll sell their 3000 sq ft home bought today on a 5000 sq ft lot for $1.6 million?

    4. There’s still boatloads of dumb borrowed money out there snapping up anything that comes onto the market in a heartbeat at a premium to wherever they listed it. Maybe inflation will eventually make them look smart, but a glance at the inverted yield curve suggests otherwise.

      1. I really thought that the 5%+ interest rates would have put an end to the madness.

  41. Maggie Peterson Mancuso was beloved for her role as Charlene Darling of the musical Darling family on “The Andy Griffith Show.”

    Died: Sunday, May 15, 2022.

    Andy Griffith – Darlings – There Is A Time

    3,168,520 views Aug 16, 2006

    The Darlings are in town visiting and Charlene sings her signature song.

    https://youtu.be/iQtXEb7C30o

  42. ‘It’s still a seller’s market … but the pendulum is starting to swing just a little bit.’

    Don’t let that weight swinging at the bottom of the cable knock you upside the head.

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