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Of Course, I Feel Sad — I Got Nothing From All Of This

A report from the Motley Fool. “When my friend Jane (not her real name) and her husband set out to buy a home five years ago, they weren’t dealing with the same challenging housing market conditions buyers are grappling with now. Initially, Jane made a point to call her decision a smart one. But she’s since changed her tune in a very big way. Jane’s logic in stretching her budget to buy her home was simple. The way she saw it, it’s important to be happy with your home because you live there every day. But the problem is this: Jane doesn’t really get to enjoy her life in general because money is so tight and she’s constantly worried about it. She spends so much on mortgage payments, property taxes, and maintenance that she and her husband have little money left over to travel, socialize, and do the things they enjoy.”

“Also, because their housing payments are so expensive, they can’t outsource all of their maintenance. But since it’s a larger home, it means they’re constantly spending their free time doing work on it to keep it in decent condition. So not only are they missing out on the things they want, they’re missing out on precious downtime. All told, Jane clearly regrets her decision despite defending it at first. And she’s stuck in her home because she doesn’t want to give up her affordable mortgage rate. But once rates come down, she’s planning to sell. So clearly, she’s learned her lesson.”

KTVU in California. “San Mateo County had the highest median in the Bay Area, at $1,950,000, with prices remaining about the same from a year ago. But home prices dropped in most other Bay Area counties including Marin, which saw a nearly 12% decline last month from a year ago, placing the median in August at $1,475,000. San Francisco experienced a month-over-month increase of nearly 8%, but saw a decline of more than 3.5% from the previous year, for a median of $1,576,000 last month.”

“Home sales continued to decline across the state, with the Bay Area seeing a more than 18% drop from a year ago. The Central Valley was the only region to see a bigger decline in sales, down 19%. All nine of the Bay Area’s counties saw sales fall, with Marin marking the both the greatest year-to-year and month-to-month decline in the region, a 36% and 24% drop respectively. San Francisco also saw a significant decrease, with sales falling more than 22% in August compared to a year ago. ‘A reacceleration of interest rates since April, combined with tight housing inventory pushed down California home sales to a seven-month low in August,’ said C.A.R. Chief Economist Jordan Levine.”

The Real Deal. “The profound downturn in New York home sales has left few in the industry unscathed, but the pain is most acute in certain parts of the city’s market. Developers who have been holding out for a better economic environment before launching sales for their product may be forced by their loan terms to list this fall. And projects where units that have lingered on the market may be forced to offer price cuts. ‘[Developers] have pre-payment milestones with their lenders,’ said Corcoran’s Ryan Kaplan. ‘They can’t kick the can down the road any longer.'”

“Kaplan pointed to the last available penthouse at One Clinton Street in Brooklyn Heights, unit 37A, which recently sold to his client for $8 million. The original asking price was $10.2 million. ‘If something’s on the market for too long, it’s like the last picked piece of fruit at the supermarket: Even if there’s nothing wrong with it, you’re going to ask, ‘Why did everyone pick through the produce section and leave that behind?’ said Kaplan.”

Bisnow New York. “The loan on a mostly empty New York office building that Blackstone handed back to its lender last year is set to be marketed and sold off. Blackstone stopped making payments in March 2022 on the $308M CMBS loan backing 1740 Broadway, a 26-story office tower a block from Carnegie Hall, one of the first instances this cycle of an owner giving up on a major building. Blackstone bought the 621K SF tower from Vornado Realty Trust in 2014 for $605M. A recent appraisal put the building value at $175M, or 28.9% of what Blackstone paid in 2014.”

The Tennessean. “The rental market pendulum in the greater Nashville region is swinging back in favor of the renter. Over the past 12 months, rents are down about 0.8% in the Nashville region, leaving luxury-brand landlords more willing to offer new tenants discounts and other concessions — as much as four months free rent. ‘It’s a better move to have somebody living in that space who can totally afford to pay the rent in month three, four or five,’ said Joel Sanders of Apartment Insiders.”

“A temporary glut of housing delivered in late 2022 and into 2023 is partly the reason for the dip in rental-rate growth, said Bruce McClenny of MRI Software’s ApartmentData.com. He also said renters are moving out of cities in favor of the suburbs. In Middle Tennessee, residents are increasingly choosing to live in Gallatin, Spring Hill, La Vergne and other booming counties surrounding Nashville. ‘What we’re seeing now is negative rent growth,’ McClenny said. Nevertheless, the rental market in downtown Nashville is still growing, with 6,000 new units under construction and many more planned.”

“The bottom line for landlords, Sanders explained, is getting a tenant signed to a lease as quickly as possible. Vacancy comes at a huge cost. ‘You know what your loss is,’ Sanders said. ‘You can stitch up the wound a little bit. You know how much you had to give away to secure that lease.’ According to ApartmentData.com estimates, nearly one out of four units in the city (24%) offer rent concessions, with an average cost decrease of 6.6%. Specials are concentrated in Class A or luxury housing. Estimates show 43% of Class A housing offers some kind of concession, with an average discount of just over two months free. ‘Residents in Nashville are not interested in being nickeled and dimed,’ Sanders said. ‘With all this luxury product, people still want a good deal.'”

The Vancouver Sun. “Most Canadians, according to polls, are willing to see house prices to drop so people squeezed out of ownership, particularly young adults, can obtain some shelter security. But, despite politicians’ endless rhetoric about fighting for ‘affordable’ housing, they don’t really want home values to drop. There are several reasons why this is the case. Ron Butler, a mortgage broker, says, ‘No politician alive wants to be associated with the concept that a voter would buy a home and the politician would want it to be worth less than what the voter paid for it. That would be political suicide.’ Canadians love real estate because ‘they love the wealth, mainly tax free, it has created for the last 20 years,’ said Butler, even while he firmly believes price reductions are necessary to restore ‘housing fairness.'”

Durham Region in Canada. “The Township of Brock has recorded an 18 per cent year-over-year drop in its monthly average selling price for a range of housing types, plummeting from last year’s $950,624 to $867,550. Regional Market Housing Report of Durham Region Association of Realtors (DRAR) for August 2023 showed that the 18 per cent price drop was the highest among Durham municipalities, with Uxbridge being the lowest at eight per cent.”

The Evening Standard in the UK. “After a string of interest rate hikes and with the cost-of-living-crisis still biting, homeowners across the capital have had to reduce their price expectations. But the impact this has had at the top end of the market is well illustrated by the whopping £4 million that has been lopped off the cost of a Georgian mansion in Hampstead Village this summer. Listed in June at £22 million, the Grade II-listed nine-bedroom home was reduced to £18 million at the start of September. That represents an 18 per cent cut in three months, well beyond the four per cent drop recently reported in house prices across the capital in the year to August. Indeed with that kind of saving you could buy an entire large family house in a desirable part of London with the money left.”

The NL Times. “Despite ambitious plans to build more homes, housing construction in the Amsterdam Metropolitan Area is in freefall. The number of construction permits granted in the first half of this year fell significantly compared to previous years, and the number of newly-built homes delivered is also decreasing, according to a report by platform Nul20 based on figures from Statistics Netherlands (CBS). The CBS figures on construction permits may not always be reliable in absolute terms and may also be erratic per quarter, Nul20 pointed out. ‘But the trend is undeniably very negative.'”

“According to Haarlem alderman Floor Roduner, the fact that things are looking worse, not better, six months after the Housing Deal has two leading causes. ‘The construction market has really deteriorated, mainly due to interest rate increases and expensive raw materials. Projects that were financially complete are now in trouble. In addition, the Cabinet has collapsed. The Housing Deal stands or falls with honoring mutual agreements and discussing extra money. And, for example, the solving of the nitrogen problem has come to a standstill.'”

News.com.au in Australia. “Marooned customers of a collapsed NSW granny flat builder have spoken out as their bills for unfinished work soar into the hundreds of thousands. In August, news.com.au reported that NSW-based Rescon Builders Pty Ltd, trading as Rescon Granny Flats, went into voluntary administration at the end of June with over $3.9 million in claims against it. On Monday night, some of the 50 affected customers spoke out. Peter Reeve, a 67-year-old bus driver preparing for retirement, came forward to share his story. Mr Reeve claims he has invested his retirement savings in a granny flat project, hoping to secure his financial future without relying on government support.”

“‘My plan was never to be a burden on society. That was my plan,’ he said. He now faces additional costs of $95,000 for another builder to complete the project. ‘I’m too old to get a loan. I’ve got to find $90,000, which will mean I’ll have no super left and not a lot else,’ Mr Reeve told ACA. Michael Roet, who inherited his mother’s home in southwestern Sydney and sought to build a granny flat to alleviate financial pressure, also grapples with the fallout. Quoted $138,000, Roet has paid $131,000, and last saw a builder in March. He said his attempts to contact Rescon Builders were met with silence, saying, ‘They would never answer any phone calls or reply to emails.'”

The Malaysia Mail. “Almost four-fifths of victims of a major housing and property scam are Sarawakians, says Malaysia International Humanitarian Organisation (MHO) secretary-general Datuk Hishamuddin Hashim. According to him, his team has received 80 complaints from individuals who are registered with MHO, but it is also made known that some 500 people have invested into deals offered by a company which promised high returns in the forms of dividends and real-estate assets. ‘Almost 400 (victims) are in Sarawak, with some in Kedah, and in Johor. The majority of the victims are people living in the rural areas. Based on the complaints, this company offers home construction packages, as well as design and renovation services. Such sweet deals lured many people into investing. These scams have caused the victims to suffer big losses, including their life savings,’ he told reporters'”

“One of the victims met at the Sarawak police contingent headquarters said he had invested almost RM300,000 into the said company, meant for deal in which the company would build a house on his land. ‘I was drawn to that scheme, as it seemed to offer a reasonable cost. I thought the company was legit, judging from how professional its reps had presented themselves,’ said the complainant, who is from Miri. Another victim, a 57-year-old woman from Katibas, said she lost her entire life savings amounting to RM32,000 to the scam. ‘I got to know about this scheme from a woman and decided to invest because the house price offered was quite affordable. I did not suspect anything as I trusted the woman’s image. But later, I realised that it was a scam. At first, I was in complete denial, refusing to accept that I had been scammed. I was in under trauma for three months. I used my life savings to invest. For rural people like me, that’s a huge amount of money. Of course, I feel sad — I got nothing from all of this,’ she said.”

South China Morning Post. “PGIM Real Estate has invested US$400 million in the housing rental markets in Hong Kong, mainland China and Australia, as the US asset manager sees huge growth in these segments and opportunities to snap up assets at deep discounts amid a challenging business environment. In mainland China, for example, the median house prices in major cities were about 30 times the average annual household income. The current uncertainty in the property market in the world’s second-largest economy is also spurring the growth rate in the rental market to high single digits, said Benett Theseira, head of Asia-Pacific, at PGIM Real Estate. The turmoil is also spurring asset owners to offer properties at a 20 per cent to 30 per cent discount in some cases. ‘Discounts are not uncommon,’ Theseira said.”

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Almost All Will Be Lost

A report from the LA Daily News in California. "Rampant housing inflation means the federal…

This Post Has 124 Comments

  1. ‘leaving luxury-brand landlords more willing to offer new tenants discounts and other concessions — as much as four months free rent. ‘It’s a better move to have somebody living in that space who can totally afford to pay the rent in month three, four or five’

    How do those 5% cap rates look now Joel?

    1. who the hell is lending to Germany who’s official inflation rate is like 9% (so in reality double that) and rapidly deindustrializing (cuz globull warming) at 2.74% for 10 years???????

      The decimal is in the wrong place. Maybe, maybe at 27% i might be willing ot risk it for 10 years.

    1. “What we have seen in the elections in the United States, in the Brexit vote, this anger of people against globalization and against the elites. If you look what is happening in the United States… you have this anti-system movement. What we are seeing is a revolution against the system. It’s dismantling the system.”

      This clown needs to swing from a noose. Day Of The Rope is coming, globalist filth ☠️

    1. The CDC wants your trust back: It’ll ‘take time to rebuild.’ (9/16/2023):

      “Her trust tour, which has several more stops in the works, comes as the Biden administration begins its latest Covid-19 vaccine push and at a time when her agency faces scrutiny over its decisions and messaging during the pandemic. She is contending with a public that has, for the most part, moved beyond Covid and growing vaccine skepticism fueled by some presidential candidates and public health officials.

      Cohen called efforts to undercut vaccine uptake “unfounded and, frankly, dangerous.”

      “I want to make sure folks know, particularly in Florida, that vaccination remains a safe way in terms of protecting against severe disease, hospitalization and death,” she said. “It’s important for Americans to get these shots.”

      She wrote an op-ed on Thursday, extolling Covid vaccines and sharing that her husband and two young daughters would soon get the shot.
      “A part of trust building is making sure people know I wouldn’t recommend something for the American people I wouldn’t recommend to my own family”

      https://www.politico.com/news/2023/09/16/cdc-director-public-trust-00116348

      Trust?

      After the events of the last 3-1/2 years, this clown expects people to “trust” the government about anything related to health care and their phony TheScience™ what a joke.

      Covid vaccines are poison.

      2. two young daughters would soon get the shot

        Even if the jab worked, which it doesn’t, they don’t need it. So to virtual signal she is exposing her daughters to heart issues, clots, aneurysms, etc. Unless of course she is lying and her family isn’t getting the jab at all.

      3. “Trust?”

        “After the events of the last 3-1/2 years, this clown expects people to “trust” the government about anything related to health care and their phony TheScience™ what a joke.“

        +1

        – F the CDC, NIH, Brandon and his entire administration, Congress for not representing Americans, and the horses they ride in on.

        – The scam-demic was only an excuse for a globalist power grab and a gigantic wealth transfer from the middle class to the 1%. Wake up America! 🇺🇸

        – Hot civil war coming soon to a country near you.

        2. Any trust I may have had in the healthscare system and the government is permanently gone, never to return so long as I live.

      4. “unfounded and, frankly, dangerous”

        They keep using that word. I don’t think it means what they think it means. Here’s a handy guide to help out:
        Allowing bums and junkies to drop death powder on a playground: dangerous.
        Kids not getting a COVID shot: not dangerous.

        And memo to the CDC: Nobody is going to buy your stupid “trust tour,” no doubt brought to us by Pfizer. You’re out to sell vaccines at $100/pop, no more, no less. But don’t worry, I still trust the you for reporting food recalls.

        1. These babies and children being brought back from deaths’ door with narcan aren’t going to live normal lives.

  7. All told, Jane clearly regrets her decision despite defending it at first.

    Stupid should hurt, Jane. Otherwise fools would never learn.

    1. And she’s piling more stupid on the initial stupid. She gonna wait to sell until the rates drop. Even if they do drop, by that time your house will likely be worth less than you paid for it. Give up the stupid, ingrained belief that you have to be a homeowner Jane. Sell your house now and go find yourself a place to rent. Pay off all your debt, and if you have some left over, invest it in some of that 5% yield that’s floating around today (and that will likely go up). His is how you remedy the stupid Jane.

      1. But then she can’t paint the walls ‘vomit green’ in her rental. How is that truly living. It’s obviously not. /sarcasm

        Mario.

  8. But home prices dropped in most other Bay Area counties including Marin, which saw a nearly 12% decline last month from a year ago, placing the median in August at $1,475,000.

    Is that a lot?

  9. Blackstone bought the 621K SF tower from Vornado Realty Trust in 2014 for $605M. A recent appraisal put the building value at $175M, or 28.9% of what Blackstone paid in 2014.”

    It was only Yellen Bux.

  10. Mr Reeve claims he has invested his retirement savings in a granny flat project, hoping to secure his financial future without relying on government support.”

    Houses are for living in, not “securing your financial future.” The caterwauling of these defrauded housing speculators is music to my ears.

  12. In mainland China, for example, the median house prices in major cities were about 30 times the average annual household income.

    Seems sustainable.

    1. Forget stealing KIAs and Hyundais, this is where the money is at. I’ll bet these cars end up shipped to the 3rd World

      2. Way back when I was in the rest/bar biz, my partner and I were talking to two Dominican guys who said they were going down to the DR for the weekend. My partner wished them a good time, and then said, “Hey, while you’re down there, say hello to my car.” The two 🤣 big time, sure 👍🏻

  15. “…She [Jane] spends so much on mortgage payments, property taxes, and maintenance that she and her husband have little money left over to travel, socialize, and do the things they enjoy…”

    Hello Jane

    Welcome to the world of holding costs.

    If you had been an HBB reader, you would of noted that its readers have been warning about the danger of excessive holding costs for about the last decade or so…

    If you feel like traveling and live in SoCal, try driving over to the LaBrea Tar Pits and imagine your stuck in all that tar and can’t get out. That’s pretty much describes your current situation. Have a nice day.

    1. “But once rates come down, she’s planning to sell. So clearly, she’s learned her lesson.”

      She hasn’t learned sh*t. But she has been listening to the deceptive rhetoric that rates will be back to 3% soon. Do some research Jane. Those rates were a historical anomaly.

    2. try driving over to the LaBrea Tar Pits and imagine your stuck in all that tar and can’t get out.
      I can visualize the analogy. Very well put

  16. I want to apologize for the comment I made yesterday about fentanyl being a choice.I was on a conference call and did not read the story and it’s entirety.Also 1 of my formal squadron mates that became a pastor years ago just lost his son to drug overdose last weekend.So it was fresh on my mind.I got it called out by Oxide and rightfully so. I’m not a good mutitasker.

    Another note…they did find the jet. Still don’t know anything…..the only thing that would warrant a ejection at altitude would be onboard fire….imo.

    2. Hi, no worries. I’ve made some mistakes here too. 😎

      I suspect that the people looking for that jet are the same guys looking for whoever dropped that dime bag in the White House.

  17. Denver Mayor Mike Johnston’s proposed 2024 budget aims to revitalize downtown (9/18/2023):

    “Vibrant, affordable and safe are the goals of Mayor Mike Johnston’s 2024 budget proposal. The mayor has identified five priorities, which are an affordable Denver, safe neighborhoods, revitalizing downtown, making Denver more environmentally friendly, and housing for everyone.

    Mayor Johnston said downtown Denver has one of the highest commercial vacancy rates in the country. The proposed budget invests $58 million in downtown revitalization.

    “We know that a vibrant city starts with a vibrant downtown,” Johnston said at a press conference where he outlined the proposal.

    https://www.denver7.com/news/local-news/denver-mayor-mike-johnstons-proposed-2024-budget-aims-to-revitalize-downtown

    Vibrant?

    A few blocks from where I am now, at I-70 and Washington Street, behind the McDonald’s and gas station is an open air drug market where fentanyl and meth (and tranq dope!) are for sale. Zero consequences.

    1. By the end of Johnston’s first term downtown Dumver will be a war zone. It won’t be safe to attend events at the Buell or Boetcher Hall.

  18. Salon dot com defends groomers:

    “In the past few years, anti-trans groups have been threatening children’s health centers offering gender-affirming care across the country. A series of bomb threats called in at Boston Children’s Hospital ultimately caused the facility to temporarily shut down. Other threats were reported at Children’s National Hospital in D.C., Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and Akron Children’s Hospital outside of Cleveland, Ohio.”

    Children’s health centers?

    “In Texas, the climate has gotten so toxic that some gender-affirming healthcare providers are leaving the state. Nationally, health centers are removing personal identification information from their websites to protect providers from physical violence.

    “Direct threats against clinics providing gender-affirming care and LGBTQMAP care in general have been increasing in the last two years,” Keuroghlian told Salon in a phone interview.”

    No link provided. When you buy a house, your property taxes are paying to promote this in the public schools.

  19. MarketWatch (9/19/2023):

    “Oil prices charted fresh highs for the year on Tuesday, as traders weighed up supply constraints, while Chevron CEO Mike Wirth predicted prices will return to $100 a barrel.

    Wirth acknowledged that oil at $100 could cause a “drag” on the U.S. and global economies, as some market observers are fearing.”

    https://www.marketwatch.com/story/chevron-ceo-predicts-crude-will-return-to-100-a-barrel-as-prices-set-fresh-highs-d2519d27?mod=home-page

    A drag?

    How’s that $4 gas working out for all of you? Must be one of those Build Back Better kind of things.

    1. qnd Buffet is the biggest sharholder of Occidental petro

      Berkshire Hathaway, Inc 224,129,192 Jun 29, 2023 25.33% 14,821,662,851

    2. It’s working out great for all our oil companies and related services. They don’t know what to do with the money. We are at record levels of oil production….you won’t hear that in the news. We are the largest oil producing country in the world.

      1. I didn’t believe you so I Duckduckgoed the answer and you are correct, we are at record levels of production and we are the largest producer.

        This seems totally incoherent from Biden’s and the energy Dept’s perspective. They seem to hate oil; unless there isn’t much Biden can do about it with these old leases. I don’t know, the Biden admin is so screwy and incomprehensible, all I can figure is that they hate America is their reason for everything they do.

        1. They love money. All you need to understand about this administration is if they are for something, they are getting paid to be for it. Every decision they make was paid for in advance.

  20. “Vacancy comes at a huge cost”

    I’ve talked to so many wanna be RE investors through the years and almost none of them factor this into penciling out potential income properties. I try to explain that you have to factor in at least 10% vacancy rate into the numbers, or least a month vacant per year. But really, that’s low. It should be more like 20% vacancy rate especially if you’re charging the higher amount on your rental. The chances of it being vacant goes up. So when your penciling it out you take your your monthly rental amount and reduce it by 20%. If it’s $2000, then you reduce 20% to $1600. And from that number you begin to deduct all your costs to see if it’s a good investment. But few do this. They just assume it will be rented 100% of the time. That’s a recipe for disaster.

    1. “But few do this. They just assume it will be rented 100% of the time. That’s a recipe for disaster.”

      – Math is hard.
      – NOI. Expenses getting ridiculous now.
      – Tenants can be difficult to evict; can literally destroy property.
      – 5% or lower cap. rates. 🤡
      – Interest rates are returning to historical levels. Free $ period is over. Inflation is bad. RE now a bad investment. People now have to again work for a living. Recent buyers likely BK, but they don’t know it yet, in my view.
      – I’ll take the risk-free return of T bills @ >5% thank you.

    2. Years ago, when negotiating price with our property manager, I mentioned that the place had been empty for four months. We had turned it down initially, not thinking much of the house. He said, “What has that got to do with it?” Hoo-kay, then 🙄 After a bit more dickering, I got my (slight) reduction.

  21. “But since it’s a larger home, it means they’re constantly spending their free time doing work on it to keep it in decent condition.”

    I have never understood this, and you see this a lot in this country. My wife and I never had kids. And at one point in our life we had the larger home. But in short order we realized the idiocy of it. The only reason for someone like us to do that is status and ego. To heck with that. Live in something nice and simple and spend all that extra money on LIVING!

  22. A reader sent these in:

    “Is there any good reason to believe that inflation hits low-income households especially hard?” – Paul Krugman, December 11, 2021

    https://twitter.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1688982537115406340

    For @Paulkrugman, and frankly many other well-off pundits – an embarrassing number of them academic economists, billionaires, and reporters – to constantly mock & downplay the severe impact of a constantly rising cost of living on the vast majority of Americans, is despicable.

    https://twitter.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1703477146302525568

    “Goethe wisely said, “in the general throng, many a fool receives decorations and titles.” – Stefan Zweig

    https://twitter.com/RudyHavenstein/status/1702008023038968287

    If you have a:
    $10K 🚙
    $1M net worth
    People think you’re broke.
    But if you have a:
    $80K 🚗
    $10K net worth
    People think you’re rich.

    https://twitter.com/GuyDealership/status/1703396820561350854

    Tiff Macklem, Governor of the Bank of Canada – July 15, 2020
    “If you’ve got a mortgage, or if you’re considering to make a major purchase, or you’re a business and you’re considering making an investment, you can be confident that interest rates will be low for a long time.”

    https://twitter.com/CanadaRecord/status/1283433161414922241

    Recession? What recession? Everything is fine.🔥

    Debt defaults by US companies surged 176% in the first eight months of 2023 from the year-earlier period, S&P data shows, as high interest rates push more businesses into financial distress.
    As many as 69 firms missed debt payments during the January-August stretch, up from 25 in the same period of 2022.
    The media and entertainment industry was the most affected, with a sixfold jump in defaults.

    https://twitter.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1703462226965692578

    Where investors have put their cash this year (hint: not stocks)

    https://twitter.com/GunjanJS/status/1702725560160387459

    Oh look… NAHB bounce was transitory…am shocked… and it does lead UR… double shocked…

    https://twitter.com/INArteCarloDoss/status/1703773916651536855

    Good Morning from Germany, where more air is escaping from the real estate bubble. Europace House Price Index for existing homes crashed by 2% in August, and has now lost 16% from the top in Apr2022. Only the index for newly built homes has remained unch, this is due to the low level of new construction activity.

    https://twitter.com/Schuldensuehner/status/1704025913468309883

    1. “constantly mock & downplay the severe impact of a constantly rising cost of living on the vast majority of Americans”

      ^soft, soft hands. Soft city boy hands, never done a day of actual work their entire lives.

      1. Biden fundraiser on Broadway (thoroughly representative of Muricans living in the heartland & their concerns). Tells the Soy & future cat ladies that Trump & MAGA Republicans are a mortal threat to “Our Democracy,” meaning, the oligarchy’s mobocracy of easily manipulated low information entitlement voters. And the soft hands clap daintily.

        Man, some days the zombie apocalypse can’t come soon enough.

        https://nypost.com/2023/09/19/biden-tells-broadway-stars-hes-running-to-defeat-trump-despite-age-concerns-i-know-it-more-than-anyone/

  23. “If you have a:
    $10K 🚙
    $1M net worth
    People think you’re broke.
    But if you have a:
    $80K 🚗
    $10K net worth
    People think you’re rich.”

    The American dream = The illusion of wealth.

    1. “…The American dream = The illusion of wealth…”

      Welcome to our instant gratification society.

      People spending money that they don’t have on things they don’t need to impress people they don’t know.

      When you get right down to it, Madison Ave has done a genius job of convincing Joe Average that you will be a nobody, will never have any friends, will never enjoy life, and will never get laid unless you buy all the latest junk.

    2. When you have no car payments you have tons of spare cash at your disposal. You can save it, spend it on leisure, etc.

    3. “$80K 🚗
      $10K net worth”

      Reminds me of a first year apprentice who wanted to trade in his Honda Civic for and F-350. I told him you will be paying for your own gas for at least the next 3-1/2 years.

    4. by that metric I’m a zillionaire as all of my vehicles were manufactured in the 1990’s. even the 1993 Toyota Itasca RV.

      (I like to joke that they were all made “last century”.
      aaaOOOGAH! 23 skidoo. Where’s my white scarf & goggles, Mabel ? going out for a spin in the jalopy.)

      * they’re all well maintained, reliable & presentable Toyota’s. go figure.

      2. yes ,toyota seems to be the only car made , that runs till the wheels drop off…..The rest are all plastic ,and sensors , and made to fall apart as soon as the warrenty is off…..

        4. Years ago fuel injection along with the air mass sensor arrived, which meant a cleaner burning engine at any given elevation, which was a significant improvement over the carburetor. Then more recently, the introduction of variable valve timing arrived, which meant a broad power band making it easier for the average person to operate their car more efficiently without thinking about it. Lots of unburnt fuel went out the exhaust pipe back in the 70s.

    1. What is sad is this realtor thinks interest rate is at all time high. I guess he is either too young or too dumb to know how high it was in the 80’s.

      1. He and his ilk really are expecting rates to come back down.

        The huge income must have been ego swelling. Instead of thinking “this is an anomaly, I should save every penny I make” he thought the fat times would never end and that he should pile on the debt.

        1. The Fed created $4.5 trillion out of thin air and pumped it into the financial system during the scamdemic. Inflation and interest rates are only going higher, thanks to the Keynesian fraudsters at the Fed.

          2. Try explaining that to a used house seller and you will get a blank stare. He most likely still has no clue as to what happened. He figures that if he “toughs it out” that the easy commissions will soon be back.

    2. What I find fascinating about that video is the dude is so ho-hum. No shame. Just matter of fact. 30 years would someone announced to the world that they got two of their cars repossessed?

    3. I wonder which of his highly leveraged investment properties is next. Followed by his own home. This dude should be circling the wagons, but my bet is he will let the bleeding out continue until he’s toast. Hope you got some family to live with pal.

    1. So they’re toast at that margin. They have 75k above previous purchase price which goes poof once you deduct realtor commission, title/escrow and holding costs. Most people don’t realize they’re underwater way before they think they are.

  26. Platinum on a tear. 73% of the world’s platinum group metals are mined in South Africa, which is circling the drain. Most of the rest comes from Russia, where, well, you know….

    For me, trading my increasingly debauched Yellen Bux for physical precious metals is a no-brainer.

    https://www.apmex.com/platinum-price

    1. So the BRICS control platinum production. I’m old enough to remember when the “West” unconditionally supported post apartheid South Africa, pumping money into it the way we now send cash to Ukraine: South Africa could not fail. Then one day the West just stopped caring and South Africa ceased being our poster child for racial justice and next thing you know the ANC is all cozy with Russia and China.

      1. But the west still cares enough about South Africa to oppose any dreams of a breakaway Boer state to avoid extermination…

  28. My wife couldn’t sleep last night and came across a Barbara Corcoran post on IG. She just had to show me though she knew it would raise my BP. If any of your friends listen to this dumb beach just ask them to google what this shill said before the last bubble. Here’s a quote from here from March of ‘05, which is a time period very close to where we are now.

    “Of course there’s no bubble. I think we’re just getting started. But I don’t expect anyone to believe me. There are so many more buyers than there are homes to sell. Bidding and overbidding are the norm of the day. So it’s going to take a lot to slow this market. Even if it does — which I don’t see the signs of — it will still slow down slowly. That’s not what a bubble does.

    I think the bubble theory is nothing more than an intellectual expression of people’s typical worry that good times can’t last forever. When your marriage is going well, you worry there’s a problem on the horizon. I think it’s more psychological than fact.”

    2. Here’s what she said on Today in ‘07….

      “I think the worst is behind us. You should know that, right now, prices are at their lowest point, in my belief.”

      And yet NBC still loves this con artist.

    1. re ipsa

      So what happens to the gooberment supermarkets after they are looted? How many times can the city restock them before they run out of money?

      1. So what happens to the gooberment supermarkets
        Yeah, a person who ran the Chicago school system is exactly NOT who I would want in charge of my food supply.
        On the bright side, some people in Chicago could be losing a lot of weight in the near future, and that may not be a bad thing.
        Again, he helped ran the school system, you want him responsible for YOUR Food?? WTF?

  30. ‘She spends so much on mortgage payments, property taxes, and maintenance that she and her husband have little money left over to travel, socialize, and do the things they enjoy’

    You can’t do those things nor eat if you want to be a winnah! Jane.

  31. ‘Residents in Nashville are not interested in being nickeled and dimed,’ Sanders said. ‘With all this luxury product, people still want a good deal’

    That’s the spirit Joel!

  32. ‘No politician alive wants to be associated with the concept that a voter would buy a home and the politician would want it to be worth less than what the voter paid for it. That would be political suicide.’ Canadians love real estate because ‘they love the wealth, mainly tax free, it has created for the last 20 years’

    ‘Durham Region in Canada. “The Township of Brock has recorded an 18 per cent year-over-year drop in its monthly average selling price for a range of housing types, plummeting from last year’s $950,624 to $867,550’

    See Ron, no politician needed. Mean old mister gravity did it for ya!

      1. “This is a false flag deal BTW.”

        No doubt with the initial reporting going around the world several times before the lie is admitted when nobody will notice.

    2. The NYT blaming Ukraine for anything seems quite odd.

      I hope it’s a sign of a sea change in this bloody mess.

  35. ‘Indeed with that kind of saving you could buy an entire large family house in a desirable part of London with the money left’

    Two fer one, Georgian mansions for everyone!

  38. Exclusive: American Citizen Journalist Sitting in Ukraine Prison, State Dept. Confirms, as Biden Begs for Billions More to Protect Ukrainian ‘Freedom’

    KURT ZINDULKA and KRISTINA WONG
    19 Sep 2023

    While lawmakers on Capitol Hill in Washington D.C. debate sending billions more in military aid to Ukraine, an American citizen journalist, Gonzalo Lira, is languishing in a Ukrainian prison on allegations of spreading Russian propaganda, throwing into question the status of free speech in the supposed democracy the Biden administration argues is worthy of more taxpayer dollars.

    https://www.breitbart.com/europe/2023/09/19/exclusive-american-citizen-journalist-sitting-in-ukraine-prison-state-dept-confirms-as-biden-begs-for-billions-more-to-protect-ukraine-freedom/

    1. the supposed democracy

      Scott Ritter talked about Lira’s last message. He thought it was so weird that Lira must not have actually been on the loose. Ritter was around that time banned on youbetube. Yeah, we’re all about free speech.

  39. “Also, because their housing payments are so expensive, they can’t outsource all of their maintenance. But since it’s a larger home, it means they’re constantly spending their free time doing work on it to keep it in decent condition. So not only are they missing out on the things they want, they’re missing out on precious downtime.”

    Jane is a victim of her own purchase decision.

    “All told, Jane clearly regrets her decision despite defending it at first. And she’s stuck in her home because she doesn’t want to give up her affordable mortgage rate.”

    Jane clearly got stucco.

    “But once rates come down, she’s planning to sell. So clearly, she’s learned her lesson.”

    When mortgage rates come down, it will quite possibly be due to a recession. The last several times this happened, buyers disappeared, homeowners went into foreclosure when they lost their jobs and couldn’t pay their mortgages, and prices CR8Red.

    Maybe this time is different? Or maybe Jane will remain stucco for a long time.

    2. When mortgage rates come down, it will quite possibly be due to a recession.

      Most people cheering the former disregard the latter.

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