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A Warped, Flipped, Manipulated Mess Of Financialization

An editorial by Aaron Layman in the Denton Record Chronicle in Texas. “Home sales in Denton took a big dive in December. Some Denton-area home sellers have had to do something unusual during the past several months to get offers — lower their asking prices. As you go up the price bands, more listings are seeing price reductions.”

“We are nearly a decade past the last major recession, and things are looking a bit sketchy once again. A number of real estate agents and housing pundits have been caught off guard with the recent downturn. Those who are surprised by recent developments with the housing market have likely been buying into the mainstream industry and media spin that this time is different. It is different in a sense — but not in a good way.”

“The Federal Reserve, along with the coordinated efforts of other central banks, has spent the better part of 10 years reinflating asset prices to cover up the consequences of the last housing bust.”

“Many Denton-area homeowners are likely wondering what comes next. The truth is that nobody really knows. The real estate market, including Denton, has become a warped, flipped, manipulated mess of financialization. There are no easy solutions to cure a patient who has become addicted to artificially low rates and trillions of dollars in central bank liquidity.”

“The good news is that more-affordable markets like Denton will likely weather the next correction better than many DFW submarkets. Denton is still sitting on a small supply of homes. You can be thankful you aren’t one of the recent homeowners in Frisco, where average prices plummeted 12 percent in December amid a glut of luxury homes.”

“If you are a prospective homebuyer or seller, be wary of pundits who claim that the softness in the housing market is just a temporary blip on a return to ‘normal.’ Normal was thrown out the window after the recession, and we have all been relegated to speculator status. As the Federal Reserve tries to ‘normalize’ its massive balance sheet and raise interest rates, the housing market could become even more volatile.”

“One thing that should be crystal clear is that the Dallas-Fort Worth area is still dealing with artificially inflated real estate prices. The unfortunate reality is that much of the growth we saw in the DFW area during the last boom was not organic. This will likely become more evident as the longer market cycle plays out. If we learned anything from the last housing crisis, it’s that people tend to have short memories.”

From Bloomberg. “In the years since the financial crisis, global cities like London, Hong Kong and New York appeared to defy housing-market cycles, thanks to a concentration of financial jobs and the self-fulfilling belief that they offered investors a safe haven. Now every release of data seems to turn those assumptions on their head.”

“In Manhattan, the median condo price dipped below US$1 million for the first time in three years. Hong Kong home values endured their longest losing streak since 2008, while prices in outer London neighborhoods fell for the first time since 2011. Sydney home owners are grappling with the worst real estate slump since the 1980s.”

“In the US, developers that focused on affluent buyers came out of the Great Recession with comparatively strong credit, said Daryl Fairweather, chief economist at Redfin Corp. The result has been a glut of million-dollar condos accumulating in major markets, while scarce supply drove prices higher on more-modest homes. Now US markets are softening as buyers blink at high prices and rising interest rates and volatile equity markets exacerbate affordability concerns.”

From Mansion Global. “The palatial Bel Air spec home that once reigned as the most expensive listing in the U.S. when it was asking a quarter of a billion dollars, will return to the market for a full $100 million less. The four-story glass block that developer Bruce Makowsky built and fitted with opulent flourishes, is now available for $150 million, the developer said in a statement on Monday.”

“It’s the second time he’s cut the price on the spec home, marketed as the developer’s ‘greatest masterpiece,’ which was last asking $188 million.”

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  2. ‘A number of real estate agents and housing pundits have been caught off guard with the recent downturn. Those who are surprised by recent developments with the housing market have likely been buying into the mainstream industry and media spin’

    I like this Aaron Layman. I have been saying for years the most important things will turn out to be the actions taken by governments/central banks after 2008:

    ‘The real estate market, including Denton, has become a warped, flipped, manipulated mess of financialization. There are no easy solutions to cure a patient who has become addicted to artificially low rates and trillions of dollars in central bank liquidity’

    And I agree nobody can know what’s going to happen because this has never happened before – in human history. Yes, Bernanke and his reckless counterparts just decided, all on their own with no public involvement, to flood the world with many trillions of fake monies. And now we all get to see how bad it gets.

    1. “… flood the world with many trillions of fake monies.”

      Bahahahaha … in some circles this is thought of as “creating wealth”.

      Only on a planet populated by hordes of dummies could this incredibly stupid idea be sold to the masses.

      1. If money is made available to ignorant pukes to bid up prices of houses then the most ignorant puke will submit the highest bid thus the most ignorant puke will land the house.

        Since price equals value in the stupid world of real estate the values of the comps rises as the price of the house that was sold rises. This means the most ignorant of the ignorant pukes in effect “creates wealth” for all the people who just happen to live in the comps. For example: If the most ignorant of the ignorant puke commits to paying ten thousand dollars more for a house than his fellow ignorant pukes then – presto! – he instantly creates ten thousand dollars of equity wealth for for all of his neighbors, all of the comps. If there happens to be, say, 100 comps then – presto! – this ignorant puke magically created ONE MILLION DOLLARS of equity wealth.

        Oh, and I used the term “commits to paying” instead of just the word “paying” because this what he does: He COMMITS to paying instead of just paying.

        So, why does he do this? Why does he commit to paying instead of just paying? The answer is: BECAUSE HE DOES NOT HAVE THE MONEY! The most ignorant of the ignorant pukes commits himself to paying the highest price for a house and in the process creates enormous amounts of equity wealth for his neighbors and he does all of this using money that he does not have.

        And this behavior is considered in some circles, probably most circles, to be a wonderous thing.

        IMO the entire planet is populated by vast hoardes of totally dumbed-down ignorant pukes.

        2. “For example: If the most ignorant of the ignorant puke commits to paying ten thousand dollars more for a house than his fellow ignorant pukes then – presto! – he instantly creates ten thousand dollars of equity wealth for for all of his neighbors, all of the comps. If there happens to be, say, 100 comps then – presto!”

          well when you put it like that… yes this is a great example of how the housing mania has created excesses of fake wealth and shot home values to the moon. as you call them, “ignorant pukes”, do not want to believe that this could be true as their “wealth” depends on it. easy come easy go right!

        3. “… presto! – he instantly creates ten thousand dollars of equity wealth for for all of his neighbors, all of the comps…”

          Quite a scam, similar in concept to the Federal Reserve Fractional Banking System [1], but the granularity is to the neighborhood level instead of the national level.

          Now that your neighbor has $10K in fake “equity wealth” he spends it via a HELOC.

          The HELOC, in turn, is backed by more fake money created by the Fraction Banking System.

          An *almost* perpetual wealth creation motion machine.

          The only real throttle on this near nuclear meltdown is that industry can’t make enough over-priced consumer junk fast enough.

          And, guess what guys? All of us who choose not to participate get to underwrite the loses.

          [1] https://www.investopedia.com/terms/f/fractionalreservebanking.asp

    2. Ben, your HBB and Aaron Layman’s are the only 2 I know of that are providing accurate commentary on current RRE situation and root cause. Central banks such as the Fed are attempting to run a centrally planned, command economy. Read socialism. This has never worked, but provides too many opportunities for graft and corruption by the oligarchs. End the Fed. BTW, it’s not different this time. Use 2008-09 as a reference.

      1. Are lending standards as shoddy? Back in the day you heard on these very pages about “strawberry pickers” qualifying for 800k loans, you heard about 120% cash out refi’s, negative-am loans, bubble payments and so on and so forth. Prices have had an extreme run-up but I don’t thing the lending standards are as poor as last time.

        1. John, you got to think outside your MSM and real estate thinking box. Income wages are stagnant or barely keeping up with inflation….how can house prices shoot up 100% while income at 7-15%??? There are some exceptions, for example, tech workers income has gone up a lot but do you live in the bay area? Do you know how much housing cost here? While Chinese money launders pour money into the market, that flow has slowdown a lot. Now housing prices must be support by income and it aint looking good for YALL

          1. “…how can house prices shoot up 100% while income at 7-15%???”

            1. Low interest rates

            2. Federally insured, high-risk lending (e.g. low- or no-downpayment and high percentage of income mortgages)

            3. Aggressively high conforming loan limits

          3. I do live in the Bay area, I do know how much houses here cost. Per Zillow the monthly nut for my house would be triple what I pay. since I bought (combination of increased rates and increased “price”) this is in 7 years I find that insane.

            Prices are coming down here for sure again per Zillow (I know everyone hates it) my condo is down 10% from the peak. Couple of units in the complex are for sale and just… siting 8 months ago they would transact in weeks.

            I don’t think the driver this time was shoddy lending at least to the extent of the last time. Around here there was lots of Chinese demand, realtors literally banging on your door to get your listing. That is gone. Chinese capital controls have reduced the outflow from China.

            If I was looking for a place to live, I would be a renter for at least a couple of more years.

          4. Chinese capital controls have reduced the outflow from China.

            If they still want to get it out they can. They are much less motivated now.

        2. Are lending standards as shoddy?

          It doesn’t matter. Last time people with good credit bailed. It has to do with price. If you were underwater multiples of your annual income it usually would make sense to throw the keys up on the roof and bail.

      2. In response to the Fed’s QE program: The phrase, kicking the can down the road, seems a bit insufficient. Maybe rolling the snowball down the road is better.

    3. ‘There are no easy solutions to cure a patient who has become addicted to artificially low rates and trillions of dollars in central bank liquidity’

      Especially when the drug dealer persistently fails to follow through on announced plans to stop supplying drugs to the junkies.

      1. The re-bubbling of the stawk market is a sight to behold. I don’t understand how the Fed could possibly not raise rates as the gigantic bubble continues to grow and grow.

  3. ‘You can be thankful you aren’t one of the recent homeowners in Frisco, where average prices plummeted 12 percent in December amid a glut of luxury homes’

    I check the inter-tubes everyday for Frisco and Dallas, and I never saw the Dallas Morning News mention this. Part of that “mainstream industry and media spin” no doubt.

  5. ‘In the years since the financial crisis, global cities like London, Hong Kong and New York appeared to defy housing-market cycles, thanks to a concentration of financial jobs and the self-fulfilling belief that they offered investors a safe haven. Now every release of data seems to turn those assumptions on their head’

    You know, Bloomberg does some good reporting. But London has been swirling the bowl for years as has New York and Miami Beach. What we are seeing here is historic: the really big media is being forced to acknowledge what we have know for many moons. The housing bubble is global, and it has popped. I guess when Sydney and Hong Kong crashed, they had no choice but to cover it.

  6. ‘The palatial Bel Air spec home that once reigned as the most expensive listing in the U.S. when it was asking a quarter of a billion dollars, will return to the market for a full $100 million less’

    This was the poster child for the luxury shack bubble. And that bubble popped around 2016.

    1. That’s a 40% reduction in the wishing price. And there’s no guarantee that anyone wants to step up to pay $150 million for anything at a point of market collapse.

      1. I wonder what it cost to build? When does it slip from not making my wishing price, to making a decent return, to breaking even, to losing my shirt?

        1. Unknown to Bitcoin true believers, the price consumers are willing to pay for something only depends on production costs to the degree that higher quality costs more to provide. But it nonetheless would be interesting to know how much money was spent in preparation to market the property at $250 million.

          1. “Russia Is Considering a $hift to Bitcoin$ to Limit the Impact$ of U.$. Sanction$”
            Kevin Kelleher|Fortune| January 14, 2019

            All$ eye know$ it what eye reads in the digital new$papers!

          2. Organized crime operations, such as the Russian government, are likely to keep demand for crypto at a high level. However, without checking, I am imagining that the sanctions apply at the trade level, which suggests that foreign exchange is a factor. I’m missing how Bitcoin or other crypto would work better than rubles to address this issue.

          3. Well Professor, Russkie$ Bitcon$ (like wall$ $treet Derivative’$) are backstopped bye nuclear weapon$ of ma$$ De$truction!

      2. The only one making out with this little piece of heaven is the LA county tax collector. In LA, just the property tax will be around $2mm/year.

        I can’t even begin to wrap my head around other holding costs, such as insurance, general maintenance, upkeep, staff payroll, etc.

        A “home” that large will require a staff just to be able to open the front door and sweep out the bugs and spider webs.

        IMO, a friggin’ nightmare

        1. But, but, but, … livin’ just down the $treets, ya get to maybees attend a meeting/$oi·rée with this fella & his loverly wife!

          $oi·rée |[swäˈrā] |NOUN

          an evening party or gathering, typically in a private hou$e, for conver$ation or mu$ic.

          synonym$:
          $ocial gathering · gathering · $ocial occa$ion · $ocial event · $ocial function · function · get-together · celebration · reunion · fe$tivity · jamboree · reception · at-home · soirée · social · dance · ball · ceilidh · frolic · carou$al · carou$e · fete · hoedown · shower · bake · cookout · levee · keg party · corroboree · ba$hment · luau · tertulia · $imcha · ba$h · $hindig · $hindy · rave · blowout · beer-up · di$co · do · $hebang · bop · hop · whoopee · after-party · rave-up · thra$h · knee$-up · beanfea$t · beano · bunfight · jolly · lig · hooley · crack · bla$t · wingding · kegger · $hivoo · rage · ding · jollo · rort · jol · $quash · $queeze · ding-dong

          https://i.amz.mshcdn.com/HEtDVnYonFzsD4vOYoVhdfwPIdA=/950×534/filters:quality(90)/https%3A//blueprint-api-production.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/card/image/651720/c2c9cb9d-9fcb-4908-a11b-db341bc32cff.jpg

          1. Ha! Jeff Bezo’s soon to be ‘ex will fit right in.

            Guess I will have to hide my bottles of 2 buck chuck.

  7. “Some Denton-area home sellers have had to do something unusual during the past several months to get offers — lower their asking prices. As you go up the price bands, more listings are seeing price reductions.”

    It’s that supply-and-demand concept rearing its head again in the real world. The supply of houses doesn’t change nearly as fast as demand drops off at the point of bubble collapse. So the suppliers (aka wannabe home sellers) face a Hobson’s choice of lowering their reservation price to the new, lower equilibrium market value, or never selling.

  8. What’s the flip side of growing recession fears that result in plummeting long-term Treasury yields and curtailment of the Fed’s punchbowl removal program?

    A big short-term spike in housing demand.

    Markets
    Business
    CNBC TV
    Top Stories
    Real Estate
    Homebuilder sentiment turns higher in January after mortgage rates drop
    Published an hour ago Updated 11 min ago
    Diana Olick
    Key Points
    – Builder sentiment rose 2 points to 58 in January on a monthly index from the National Association of Home Builders.
    – This came after two months of sharp drops in sentiment to the lowest level in more than two years.
    – Current sales conditions rose 2 points to 63. Sales expectations over the next six months increased 3 points to 64, and buyer traffic through new home models rose 1 point to 44.

    The downturn in mortgage interest rates that began in November finally has homebuilders feeling better.

    Builder sentiment rose 2 points to 58 in January on a monthly index from the National Association of Home Builders. This came after two months of sharp drops in sentiment to the lowest level in more than two years. The index stood at 72 last January. Anything above 50 is considered positive.

    “The gradual decline in mortgage rates in recent weeks helped to sustain builder sentiment,” said NAHB Chairman Randy Noel. “Low unemployment, solid job growth and favorable demographics should support housing demand in the coming months.”
    …

      1. “Among those people who do find houses to buy or a reason to take out a different mortgage, more are using “non-banks” like Quicken Loans and LoanDepot than old-fashioned deposit-taking institutions. As of the end of last year, 59% of all mortgages were made by non-banks, according to Urban Institute data.”

        Non-banks. Now just what is it that constitutes a “non-bank”? Perhaps we should ask Wikipedia …

        “A non-banking financial institution (NBFI) or non-bank financial company (NBFC) is a financial institution that does not have a full banking license or is not supervised by a national or international banking regulatory agency.”

        Well, now, that’s, er, comforting. Moving on …

        “NBFI facilitate bank-related financial services, such as investment, risk pooling, contractual savings, and market brokering. Examples of these include insurance firms, pawn shops, cashier’s check issuers, check cashing locations, payday lending, currency exchanges, and microloan organizations.”

        “… pawn shops, cashier’s check issuers, check cashing locations, payday lending, currency exchanges, and microloan organizations.”

        😁

        Okay, what else does Wikipedia have to say? Oh, there’s this …

        “Alan Greenspan has identified the role of NBFIs in strengthening an economy, …”

        “… Alan Greenspan …” “… strengthing an economy …”

        😁

        “… as they provide ‘multiple alternatives to transform an economy’s savings into capital investment which act as backup facilities should the primary form of intermediation fail.'”

        I love this blog.

        😁

        1. “A non-banking financial institution (NBFI) or non-bank financial company (NBFC) is a financial institution that does not have a full banking license or is not supervised by a national or international banking regulatory agency.”

          Sounds like a great way to avoid having to follow those pesky banking laws. And if investment banks help finance these nonbank lenders, then they can profit by the scheme.

        2. So non-banks … “provide ‘multiple alternatives to transform an economy’s savings into capital investment which act as backup facilities should the primary form of intermediation fail.’”

          “Intermediation”. My, such an impressive word. Let’s go to Wikipedia once again …

          “Intermediation involves the ‘matching’ of lenders with savings to borrowers who need money by an agent or third party, such as a bank.”

          So, as of the end of last year, 59% of all mortgages were made by non-banks, according to Urban Institute data. And Alan Greenspan says these non-banks strengthen an economy because they provide multiple alternatives to transform an economy’s savings into capital investment which act as backup facilities should the primary form of intermediation fail. The primary form of intermediation that fails, in this case, are the banks – fails in the sense that they will not or can not float the mortages loans as they used to do and so ..

          (ta da)

          … the non-banks pick up the slack – 59% of the slack as of the end of last year, the year that real estate prices appear to have peaked out, peaked out due to peak prices committed to paying by people who could not get money from banks so instead resorted to getting money from non-banks.

          Stay tuned.

  9. Are you buying stocks into the China stimulus rally?

    FastFT US equities
    Wall Street rises aided by financials, China stimulus
    Mamta Badkar 5 minutes ago

    Wall Street was off its highs by late morning but was eyeing its second consecutive daily rise on Wednesday, boosted by strong bank results and additional Chinese stimulus.

    The S&P 500, which had been up as much as 0.5 per cent, gave up some of those gains to trade 0.3 per cent higher at 2,618.39. Financials led the way with a 1.8 per cent rise followed by materials, which were up 0.7 per cent. Meanwhile consumer staples were at the bottom of the barrel with a 0.7 per cent decline.

    The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.4 per cent to 24,158.69, while the Nasdaq Composite was up 0.3 per cent to 7,045.38.
    …

    1. Economics
      China’s Growth Machine No Longer Looks Unstoppable
      The debt-powered stimulus the country used to steer through the Great Recession is starting to look like a drag.
      By Noah Smith
      January 15, 2019, 2:30 PM PST
      China’s rust belt. Photographer: Lam Yik Fei/Getty Images AsiaPac

      China’s economy is slowing. The downturn may be the result of recent events — the trade war with the U.S., or retrenchment in China’s real estate and infrastructure sectors. But it may also be the latest manifestation of a trend that began a decade ago. And it may signal that China’s entire system of authoritarian state capitalism is less effective than many had believed.
      …

      1. “China’s entire $ystem of authoritarian $tate capitali$m is le$$ effective than many had believed.”

        It doesn’t take an act of CONgre$$ to build a National People$ Repubic Hwy Route 66, (it’ll have 5x the traffic load & bee 5x le$$ expen$ive)
        Go Te$la!

    2. It’s a hair-of-the-dog on steroids.

      fastFT Chinese economy
      China injects record $84bn to boost economy and avoid cash squeeze
      Central bank acts on growth fears and higher lunar new year cash demand
      Gabriel Wildau in Shanghai yesterday

      China’s central bank injected a record Rmb570bn ($84bn) into the country’s banking system via open market operations on Wednesday in the latest effort to boost liquidity and promote increased lending to a slowing economy.

      Credit and money-supply data released on Tuesday showed that lending through both bank and non-bank channels remained sluggish in December, despite a series of monetary and fiscal easing measures in recent months. These included cutting banks’ required reserve ratio earlier this month, a measure that will eventually inject a net Rmb800bn into the banking system.

      “Beijing is becoming increasingly worried as the growth slowdown rapidly worsens. The PBoC has ramped up its monetary easing,” Ting Lu, chief China economist at Nomura in Hong Kong, said in a note. “Chinese banks are also under pressure to ramp up lending to support Beijing’s call to support growth.”
      …

        1. Why has China’s currency not hyperinflated?

          Why hasn’t ours? In both cases I think all that extra money was sequestered in houses. And nobody calls it inflation unless you see it in salaries.

          1. Risk assets have certainly inflated alot, and it appears that central banks are determined to keep them inflated.

          2. sequestered in houses

            I think it leaked out, created a lot of completely wasteful jobs and pushed up the price of all sorts of stuff from oil to rice.

          4. Chinbabwe’s money printing is off the charts. No country is diluting their currency in such fashion. It’s why China has almost single-handedly run up real estate prices across the globe.

  11. Just a new data point from my industry…4Q Y/Y hard drive/SSD shipments were down for everyone. -10% to -30% depending on the company. We hired a bunch last year and have zero plans of hiring this year. I’d say we’ve already been in a recession for about a quarter or so…it’ll be interesting to see when they officially call it.

      1. The flip side of recessions:

        Warren Buffett said he did not like recessions but he did like the prices they create.

        FWIW, and all of that.

          1. ” …nothing accelerate$ the economy and create$ job$ … “.

            eye’ll forward$ that $entiment to dtrump$ economic tax advi$ers …

        2. No one live$ forever + He’ll might have to borrow$ $everal of Mc$crooge Duck$ wheelbarrow$ to “take.it.with.him”

          Time is his $ide, ye$iti$! (Rolling$tones)

      1. I can’t believe how much my stock HODLings have gone up since Christmas Eve. Something is rotten in the state of Denmark.

  12. Why are houses in Denton, TX listed for $245K+ for a 3/2 middle class brick rancher? Are there really the $80K household incomes to support this?

    1. You should check out some podunk towns on the west coast. $399k list price with median incomes less than $40k.

      1. “That’s good news for fish, which were all scheduled to be gone by 2050 due to human con$umption.”

        jesus.of.the.city.of.Bethlehem, has a fix for that i$$ue, ($top & ask any dtrump voting Evangelical$)

          2. “What a contrast between Herod’s gruesome dinner party and the meal that Jesus provides for the five thousand! Herod’s party is characterized by opulence—Jesus’ meal by bread, the most basic of foods. Herod’s party is characterized by hatred—Jesus’ meal by compassion. The host at Herod’s party is a petty tyrant whose concern is his own power and well-being. The host at Jesus’ meal is a compassionate savior whose concern is the well-being of those who have come to see him. Herod’s party ends in death—Jesus’ meal sustains life. The contrast could not be more deliberate or complete.”
            From the SermonWriter

    2. 😀 That article is a keeper, I’ll add it to my collection, thanks.

      “The effects of climate change were first noticed 30 years ago…” Yep, and AFAIK none of the 30-year predictions have come true.

      BTW, I remember someone making a similar statement, that humans only had about 10 years left. IIRC that was in the late 80s. 😀

      1. Whale$ look like fi$h, but … “$ave.thee.whale$!!!” did knot start until the 70’$ … (don’t asks me how’s eye nose)

  15. Will this new Blackstone behemoth fund be too-big-to-fail (i.e. large enough to qualify for taxpayer-provided bailouts in the next real estate crash)?

    Funds
    Blackstone Property Fund to Set Record
    The U.S. firm is about to finish raising the largest-ever real-estate fund
    By Peter Grant
    Updated: January 16, 2019 5:15 p.m. GMT

    Blackstone Group LP is about to finish raising the largest-ever real-estate fund, which at $20 billion will amplify the investment firm’s influence over prices paid for major office towers, shopping centers and hotels around the world.

    The $20 billion that Blackstone has raised from U.S. and overseas pension funds, foreign governments and wealthy individuals is more than twice as large as any fund ever raised by a competitor, according to data firm Preqin.

    The fund is expected to close in the first quarter of 2019 for all but some of its smaller retail investors, according to people familiar with the matter.

    The record size reflects both the New York firm’s history of double-digit returns and a herd effect, where pension-fund managers and other big investors tend to favor the same brand names with established track records.

    Blackstone’s actual buying power with the new fund is closer to $60 billion. That is because its real-estate funds typically uses $2 of debt for every dollar of equity, say people familiar with firm’s strategy. That $60 billion is more than the total value of all the commercial property purchased New York, Chicago and San Francisco in the first 11 months of 2018, according to Real Capital Analytics.

    “They can buy private companies and they can buy [entire companies listed] on the New York Stock Exchange,” said Steve Sakwa, an analyst with the financial firm Evercore ISI.
    …

    1. “The $20 billion that Black$tone has rai$ed from U.$. and oversea$ pen$ion fund$, foreign government$ and wealthy individual$ is more than twice as large as any fund ever raised by a competitor …”of

      “”give to Cae$ar what belong$ to Cae$ar …”

      “That is becau$e its real-e$tate fund$ typically u$es $2 of debt$ for every dollar$ of equity …”

    2. What we’ve experienced over the course of the past 12 years after banker bailouts is the biggest land grab in the history of the world. The rich punked the entire world.

      1. That was just phase one. I expect them to keep trying it until it stops working. Buckle up…phase two is just beginning.

  16. Lower your price always a familiar RE cry if you want to sell.
    Ever ask a RE agent to lower there commission the shock on their face, the horror of it all, reduce the holy grail 6% to 7 %?

    1. ” …ask a RE agent to lower there commi$$ion … ”

      That truly would bee a National Cri$i$!!!

      cri·sis
      [ˈkrīsis] / NOUN
      a time of inten$e difficulty, trouble, or danger.

      “the current economic cri$i$”

      synonym$:
      cata$trophe · calamity · catacly$m · emergency · di$aster · predicament · plight · me$$ · dilemma · quandary · $etback · rever$e · rever$al · upheaval · drama · trouble · dire $traits · hard time$ · hard$hip · adver$ity · extremity · distre$$ · difficulty · fix · pickle · jam · $tew · $crape · bind · hole · $ticky $ituation · hot water$ · hell · hell on earth · ha$$le · stre$$

    2. Lowering the price also proportionally reduces the commission, but it also reduces time on the market, including realtor time to show the home and try to sell it. Also, a lower commission beats no commission!

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