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They Saw What Was Happening In The Gold Rush And Now They’re Realizing, Oh, Big Mistake

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “When Lindsay Mader put her house up for sale earlier this year, she braced herself. For the past two years, an influx of remote workers to Austin meant for-sale homes were in high demand. The result was a frenzy. Then, everything changed. ‘The weeks just kept passing by and we were like, ‘What is going on?’ Mader said. The weeks turned into months. So Mader and her realtor did something virtually unheard of in Austin real estate until recently: they lowered the price. Then they lowered it again. ‘It seemed with each time that we lowered it, we just weren’t getting that much attention, and that was really scary,’ Mader said. In late September Mader and her husband finally got an offer. It was $100,000 below the original asking price. Worried they wouldn’t get another shot, Mader and her husband decided to sell.”

“For nearly two years, it felt like Austin’s housing market had no ceiling. ‘It’s almost like everybody drank 10 shots of espresso because we were going so fast,’ said Socar Chatmon-Thomas, a realtor and broker in the Austin area. ‘Everybody forgets the average appreciation for housing per year is between 5 to 8%. That’s it. Buying a condo for $250,000 and being able to sell it the next year for $375,000. That’s not normal. [Our] market is just resetting from the wild, wild, crazy days of 2020 and 2021.'”

“Sonja Przulj loves her two-bedroom, two-bath condominium in Miami. She paid $285,000 for the corner unit in September 2021 after renting in the building for years. Przulj, 39, purchased at the height of the pandemic, when she was working nonstop as a nurse. ‘It seemed like it was meant to be,’ she says. ‘But the thrill was very short-lived.’ That’s because less than a year later, Przulj, who lives in the condo with her husband and their five-year-old son, was hit with a $145,000 special assessment by the condo association to pay for repairs in the aging building. ‘It’s an earth-shattering number,’ she says. And one she can’t afford to pay. ‘There is no way myself, or probably half the building, can come up with that money,’ Przulj says. ‘I risked it all by buying this unit, and I have nowhere to go with my family.'”

“For the first time since homeowners were forced out of their faulty constructed condominiums, the District Council held a hearing to discuss what they call the ‘debacle’ surrounding the River East at Grandview Condos. In August 2021, dozens of families were forced to evacuate their homes in the development on Talbert Street Southeast due to structural defects including cracks in the walls and plumbing leaks. The 46-unit complex in the heart of Anacostia was completed in 2017 by the developer Stanton View, LLC. who received $6 million in District subsidies to build through the District’s Housing Production Trust Fund. ‘I thought this was safe. A year, two years later you start seeing cracks,’ first-time homeowner Terri Wright told WUSA9. She says her ‘American dream’ came crashing down when she noticed the flaws in her unit.”

“Regina Haire says that in nine months she will be back in limbo telling WUSA9, ‘I own a home, and I am homeless.’ The condominium developer has since filed for bankruptcy, but the River East at Grandview homeowners have been left with uninhabitable units and a mortgage. ‘I need this mortgage removed from my credit so I can at least qualify for something. Right now I have a preapproval, but it’s subject to this loan being paid off,’ Haire said.”

“San Jose-based lender Avidbank has sold a newly built Mission Bay condominium complex that it foreclosed in August, The Real Deal has learned. The bank offloaded the asset, located at 603 Tennessee Street, in a $14 million deal, property records show. The transaction comes just months after Sol Properties, the previous owner of the 24-unit complex, surrendered the asset. According to an August deed that conveyed ownership to Avidbank, the unpaid debt on the condominium complex had grown to $15.4 million. Sol Properties secured the original $12.4 million loan on the asset in June 2018. The property is a six-story, 24,000-square-foot building that has sat empty despite construction finishing more than two years ago, according to a previous report from the San Francisco Chronicle.”

“‘It’s a very unfortunate state of affairs, and they’re far from the only developer that’s having problems due to San Francisco policies mixed with federal policies impacting the market,’ Alexander Kolovyansky, the listing agent for the property, previously told the San Francisco Standard. The deal adds to the churn of distressed assets in San Francisco. In August, Ballast Investments won an auction for $800 million in residential loans backed by 2,149 San Francisco apartment units. The properties were previously owned by Veritas Investments, one of the city’s largest landlords. Earlier this month, CrossHarbor Capital Partners acquired 55 New Montgomery Street, a 100,200-square-foot SoMa office building, through a foreclosure auction.”

“The Toronto area’s rocky fall real estate market is seeing sellers become more determined as the end of the year approaches. Buyers are unpredictable: Some properties sell in one day while others languish. Pritesh Parekh, a real estate agent with Century 21 Legacy Ltd., believes November may bring more price cuts from sellers who do not want to have their property remain on the market through the end of the year. ‘October was a month when I saw many, many price reductions.’ Those who had already bought another property were often motivated to accept less than their original asking price. ‘It comes down to, what is your appetite to continue to hold the property?'”

“In many cases with the recently-completed towers, builders sold the units preconstruction for $1,300 per square foot or higher. Some of the developers have remaining inventory to sell, says Luke Dalinda, a real estate agent with Royal LePage Real Estate Services. ‘Condo developers with leftover inventory are falling on their own sword.’ Mr. Dalinda points out that the trend toward larger houses with home offices and backyard pools that fuelled the market in the early years of the pandemic impelled buyers to enter intense bidding wars. ‘Especially in 2021, they paid a real premium,’ he says. Many long-time homeowners are reading economic forecasts, he says, and they figure they will fetch a higher price now than in a year or two.”

“Higher interest rates, combined with stricter regulations, have some Canadians beginning to second-guess the wisdom of investing in a short-term rental property. Deana Steele says she has never seen as many condo and vacation homes for sale as there are in Kelowna, B.C., right now. The founder of Keys to Kelowna Properties Inc., a luxury vacation rental management agency, said the lake-front city’s real estate market is currently ‘saturated’ by properties zoned for short-term rental use. Some of the sellers are people who bought not that long ago and are already trying to get out.”

“‘We had all these first-timers flood the market — they were late adopters,’ said Steele. ‘They thought they were going to make a mint because they saw what was happening in the gold rush. And now they’re realizing, ‘Oh, big mistake.’ As more and more people tried to get in on the action, the balance shifted. By the summer of this year, Steele said, the number of Airbnb and similar listings in the city was outstripping demand. As the glut of short-term rentals grew, nightly average occupancy rates fell, and so did the amount of revenue investors could generate. ‘Our occupancy just bombed, just because of the number of new listings,’ Steele said. ‘So now those who aren’t seasoned investors, or aren’t interested in subsidizing their property, are looking to sell.'”

“The number of people falling behind on their mortgage payments rose sharply over the summer months, figures from the banking sector show. Rising interest rates have put pressure on homeowners, with 87,930 in arrears said UK Finance, up 18% compared with July to September last year. Among landlords, the number in arrears doubled in a year. One 79-year-old homeowner, who did not want to be named, told the BBC he had cut back on other costs as much as he could, but was only able to pay part of his mortgage bill each month. ‘The anxiety is affecting my health,’ he said, claiming that he had received slow responses when highlighting the issue to his lender.”

“Donna Draper, a relationship manager at the Nationwide Building Society, has been among the call handlers hearing the concerns of struggling customers. Sometimes people just need to know that you understand the pressures they have been facing, she said. ‘The most difficult calls are probably those where people feel their money worries are so bad they don’t want to live any more. I often wish people would just – before you get to that stage and feel that way – pick up the phone and ask for help.'”

“Customers of a collapsed building firm have been left fuming after airing out their concerns to the master franchisor months ago but being turned away. Last Friday, news.com.au reported that Western Australia-based RPH Australia Pty Ltd with the trading name GJ Gardner Perth West had gone into liquidation. The exact amount of its liabilities remains unknown but 18 homeowners have been impacted from the company’s demise. Justin, who has made $160,000 in progress payments to the Perth West business to date, said he could tell his building company was on the brink of collapse after a year of his construction site sitting untouched. He raised his concerns with the head office but was told there was nothing to worry about. ‘They assured us it was in the best financial position it could be, and five months later, (it) crashed,’ he lamented.”

“What he also found infuriating was an admission from the GJ head office that they were aware of their Perth West franchisee’s struggles for 18 months, even though they denied this to him when he tried to find out more information. ‘It’s honestly been an absolute nightmare,’ Justin said. He added that he ‘relied’ on the GJ Gardner name to have his dream home built but this ended up counting for nothing.”

“Kate, in her 30s, has also criticised the head office’s handling of the debacle as her $394,000 dream home hangs in the balance. ‘We were promised the build would be done by Christmas,’ the mum-of-two said. They were living with a family friend while they waited for their home’s completion but ‘outstayed’ their welcome amid the long delays. They now live in a ‘shoebox’ and their rent has increased by $100 a week with no end in sight. ‘If they (the GJ head office) have been aware of this for 18 months, it’s quite disappointing,’ she said. ‘We signed up, (were) sold the dream. (It) ended up being lies and broken promises.'”

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This Post Has 72 Comments

  1. ‘The bank offloaded the asset, located at 603 Tennessee Street, in a $14 million deal, property records show. The transaction comes just months after Sol Properties, the previous owner of the 24-unit complex, surrendered the asset’

    Second time in a week we see a tower get foreclosed twice without being occupied. Nice work guys!

  2. ‘Especially in 2021, they paid a real premium,’ he says. Many long-time homeowners are reading economic forecasts, he says, and they figure they will fetch a higher price now than in a year or two’

    Those were my winnahs! Luke, wa happened?

  4. Taxpayer funded National Public Radio promotes censorship.

    Why the fight to counter false election claims may be harder in 2024 (11/10/2023):

    “Experts say a campaign of legal and political pressure from the right has cast efforts to combat rumors and conspiracy theories as censorship. And as a result, they say, the tools and partnerships that tried to flag and tamp down on falsehoods in recent election cycles have been scaled back or dismantled. That’s even as threats loom from foreign governments and artificial intelligence, and as former President Donald Trump, who still falsely claims to have won the 2020 contest, is likely to use the same tactics again as he pursues the White House in 2024.”

    https://www.npr.org/2023/11/10/1211929764/election-false-claims-social-media-cisa-trump

    “Experts” = these people have zero legitimate credentials in anything, their titles, their alleged jobs, are all phony.

    And the biggest “misinformation” is that Joe Biden won the 2020 election, which he did not.

    1. “Experts say a campaign of legal and political pressure from the right has cast efforts to combat rumors and conspiracy theories as censorship.

      Not that I’m keeping track, but the “conspiracy theorists” are up about 37-0 over the past 3 years.

      1. “Video Banned On All Platform In 2020 to install the usurper president Biden”
        \\
        – Factual, objective “news” and information has effectively moved off of the MSM platforms. Only State propaganda remains. Many are slowly becoming aware of this.
        – Banana republic. Am I wrong?
        – The 2020 election was stolen.
        \\
        https://node-3.2000mules.com/
        2000 Mules
        DINESH D’SOUZA
        2022 FILM
        \\
        – Covid has moved from pandemic to endemic. Covid boosters are unnecessary and can have serious adverse side effects on vital organs of the brain, heart, and lungs. Financial benefit to big pharma and an instrument of State control and power only. Clinical trials demonstrating safety and efficacy? Apparently people are waking up to this as only 7% of U.S. adults have taken it.
        \\
        https://rwmalonemd.substack.com/p/sars-cov-2-variant-hv1-obsolete-boosters
        SARS-CoV-2 Variant HV.1; Obsolete Boosters
        No evidence that current boosters are “safe and effective” against dominant HV.1 variant
        Robert W Malone MD, MS
        Nov 4, 2023
        \\
        “A government big enough to give you everything you want, is big enough to take away everything you have.” – Thomas Jefferson

        “I predict future happiness for Americans if they can prevent the government from wasting the labors of the people under the pretense of taking care of them.” – Thomas Jefferson

        “I hope we once again have reminded people that man is not free unless government is limited. There’s a clear cause and effect here that is as neat and predictable as a law of physics: As government expands, liberty contracts.” – Ronald Reagan

  5. “For nearly two years, it felt like Austin’s housing market had no ceiling. ‘It’s almost like everybody drank 10 shots of espresso because we were going so fast,’ said Socar Chatmon-Thomas, a realtor and broker in the Austin area.

    That wasn’t espresso. It was Kool-Aid. Welcome to REIC Jonestown.

  7. ‘They thought they were going to make a mint because they saw what was happening in the gold rush. And now they’re realizing, ‘Oh, big mistake.’

    I love the smell of burning housing speculators in the morning. It smells like…VICTORY!

  8. Rising interest rates have put pressure on homeowners, with 87,930 in arrears said UK Finance, up 18% compared with July to September last year.

    Is that a lot?

  9. By the summer of this year, Steele said, the number of Airbnb and similar listings in the city was outstripping demand. As the glut of short-term rentals grew, nightly average occupancy rates fell, and so did the amount of revenue investors could generate.

    Die, speculator scum.

  10. ‘The anxiety is affecting my health,’ he said, claiming that he had received slow responses when highlighting the issue to his lender.”

    Yer banks aren’t philanthropic organizations, FBs.

  11. “Everybody forgets the average appreciation for housing per year is between 5 to 8%”

    I ran an online appreciation calculator on the house I bought in 2010 and sold in 2022 and my average annual appreciation was 4%. But in 2012 (when last bubble bottomed), my house value was $25K less than I had bought it for. So I changed the numbers in the calculator and from 2012 to 2022 the appreciation was 6%. That said, I feel like 5-8% seems high…

    1. “Everybody forgets the average appreciation for housing per year is between 5 to 8%”

      Until it isn’t.

    2. “Everybody forgets the average appreciation for housing per year is between 5 to 8%”

      It sounds like the stock market!

  14. “Przulj, who lives in the condo with her husband and their five-year-old son, was hit with a $145,000 special assessment by the condo association to pay for repairs in the aging building. ‘ ”

    It was still cheaper than renting!!

    1. That $145K assessment is their share. But “their share” could vastly increase if a sizable percentage of their fellow condo dwellers can’t or won’t pay such a steep assessment. Which makes the financial situation of the rest of the residents untenable.

      1. “…That $145K assessment is their share…”

        Always wondered what percent of these “special assessments” are actually kickbacks to suppliers / contractors.

    1. Can’t even wrap my head around the staff required to clean, maintain, guard such a monstrosity.

      Just the property tax [with house(s)] will pencil out to about $1.5mm/year.

      The only folks that I can think of who would consider such a property are the same ones who think WeWork is a vision of the future.

    1. Financial Times
      US banks
      Jamie Dimon is selling his stock. These Wall Street bankers are doing the same
      The FT rounds up the US bank executives cashing in their shares
      David Solomon, Jamie Dimon and James Gorman
      Patrick Temple-West, Joshua Franklin and Stephen Gandel in New York yesterday

      When JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon starts unloading his $1.2bn of stock next year, the Wall Street titan — who has never previously sold stock — will join a parade of top bankers who have cashed in some of their holdings.

      Dimon’s refusal to sell harks back to the era when his early mentor, Sandy Weill, dominated Wall Street and instigated a “blood oath” that required his management team to hold their shares until they left. JPMorgan itself has previously trumpeted the fact that Dimon had “not sold a single share of JPMorgan Chase common stock”.

      Breaking that holding streak with the sale of 1mn shares, worth about $140mn, will catapult Dimon to the top of the table for stock sales by current US bank executives, a Financial Times analysis of data from VerityData, S&P Capital IQ and regulatory filings shows — even if other top bankers have proved far more willing to sell than the boss of America’s biggest bank.
      …

      1. An alternative explanation: these kindly fellows are willingly foregoing big profits to give the retail investor muppets the opportunity to improve their station in life.

        I slay me….

      1. Peerless prognosticator Yellen the Felon has assured us there will be no new financial crisis “in our time.” So, we good.

    3. “The Impending Recession…”

      Thanks for that URL. I extracted the audio so family and friends could listen to it like a podcast.

    1. “But Ms Stewart suffered a devastating stroke resulting from a extremely rare but incredibly dangerous complication from the AstraZeneca Covid vaccine”

      Define “extremely rare.”

      1. We only hear of this when it happens to a celebrity. When it happens to one of the little people it’s crickets.

        I suspect that one of the reasons there is a shortage of menial labor is because a lot of people are now too feeble to work. The two people I know who had heart troubles had to quit working. But even a mild stroke is enough to keep one from stocking shelves or flipping burgers.

        2. Karl Denniger’s numbers and analysis says about 6% of the population to be severely affected. So thudded/dead, seriously injured/unable to work, etc

          That’s 1 in 15 people.

          That’s gonna leave a mark on the economy

  20. My my my ……..

    The Director of the DC Department of Buildings, Brian Hanlon, testified that the self-inspection by the structural engineer contributed to the faulty build. He assured that since then, his agency has issued several changes to strengthen the checks and balances involved in this procedure.

  22. Salon (via Archive) — Is Biden taking climate change seriously? Here’s why some experts want him to declare an emergency (11/10/2023):

    “And, of course, there is the possibility of declaring a national climate emergency.

    “President Biden has said that climate change is the existential threat to humanity,” Golden-Krasner explained. “He should follow the next logical step and declare a climate emergency, which would unlock his full toolbox to address the threat. If he declares a national climate emergency, Biden can reinstate the ban on crude oil exports that was in place for decades before being repealed in 2015. He can also invoke the International Emergency Economic Powers Act to limit exports of coal and petroleum products as well as billions of private dollars that fund fossil fuel projects oversees.”

    https://archive.ph/Bb1jq

    Just in time to steal another election.

    All warmists are like a watermelon, green on the outside, red on the inside.

  23. It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “For nearly two years, it felt like Austin’s housing market had no ceiling. ‘It’s almost like everybody drank 10 shots of espresso because we were going so fast,’ said Socar Chatmon-Thomas, a realtor and broker in the Austin area. ‘Everybody forgets the average appreciation for housing per year is between 5 to 8%. That’s it. Buying a condo for $250,000 and being able to sell it the next year for $375,000. That’s not normal. [Our] market is just resetting from the wild, wild, crazy days of 2020 and 2021.’”

    – Well, what’d we get for all of the artificial stimulus following the GFC in 2008-2009 and especially after the CCP virus pandemic?

    – We got an enormous, artificial, but temporary boost to the economy; giant asset bubbles in virtually every asset class, including housing and stonks. Now however, due to the withdrawl of said artificial stimulus, and by their temporary nature, are (inconveniently) bursting.

    – We got more wealth and income inequality, partly due to the Cantillion effect, where the newly printed $ went to the elites closest to it, while later, everyone else got the ensuing inflation. We got further shrinkage of the middle class.

    – We got a lot of (inevitable) inflation; many everyday things once affordable, are now unaffordable for many.

    – Since all of this stimulus was paid for by printed and borrowed $, we got a lot of new debt in both the public and private sector. The Fed “balance” sheet is now just under $8T. Consumer credit card debt now over $1T, mostly due to said high inflation.

    – We got higher interest rates, which weigh on the cost of servicing all of that debt.

    – We got massive speculation and fraud in said asset classes.

    – We got POTUS Brandon, since election rules, protections and safeguards were (temporarily) removed, enabling election fraud with the excuse of authoritarian lockdowns needed to protect Americans from a minor respiratory virus. Never let a good crisis go to waste.

    – We got an expansion of guberment and a commensurate reduction in personal freedoms.

    – We got a general decline of the work ethic, as guberment paid people not to work (stimmy checks), and a weakening of the rule of law via rent, mortgage, student loan, etc. deferrals and moratoria during the pandemic. This wasn’t due directly to the pandemic, but rather the guberment response to the pandemic.

    – Essentially, everything is worse, thanks to said artificial stimulus and interventions. This will become more apparent over time as stimulus is withdrawn and deferrals and moratoria end. Take away the debt-fueled stimulus and there’s little organic economic growth. Am I wrong?

    “The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, ‘I’m from the government and I’m here to help.’ ”- Ronald Reagan – 40th president of US (1911 – 2004)  

  24. Bank of Canada warns of ‘New Normal’ of ‘Higher Rates’, Shrugs off Real Estate
    Mark Mitchell – Mortgage Broker London Ontario

    Nov 9, 2023

    Bank of Canada Deputy Governor Carolyn Rogers warned of a ‘New Normal’ on interest rates, while shrugging off the effects on Canada’s real estate market, during a Q&A in Vancouver.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iFL1eAU3rKo

    8:42.

  26. Should the National Association of Realtors be broken up in the interest of reintroducing competition to the US housing market?

    1. ‘Rigged’: Federal court awards $1.8B in damages after major realtor firms found guilty of conspiring to inflate commissions on home sales — and it turns out that was just the beginning
      The realtor association is once again in the legal spotlight after a landmark guilty ruling.
      We adhere to strict standards of editorial integrity to help you make decisions with confidence. Please be aware that some (or all) products and services linked in this article are from our sponsors.
      By Bethan Moorcraft
      Nov. 10, 2023

      The National Association of Realtors’ (NAR) legal woes have gone from bad to worse.

      A new federal class-action lawsuit has been filed in South Carolina, alleging the NAR and prominent real estate brokerage firm Keller Williams Realty colluded to artificially inflate agent commission rates, increasing costs for home sellers in the state.

      The lawsuit, filed on Nov. 6, seeks class-action status for all home sellers in South Carolina who used a listing broker affiliated with Keller Williams and listed their home on one of the NAR’s Multiple Listing Services (MLS) since November 2019.

      It follows hot on the heels of a landmark ruling in Missouri, which found the NAR and some of the nation’s largest real estate brokerages — including HomeServices of America (owned by Berkshire Hathaway (BRK-A)) and two of its subsidiaries, and Keller Williams Realty — guilty of conspiring to keep commissions artificially high.

      In the Missouri case, the federal court awarded $1.8 billion in damages, which could be tripled to more than $5.3 billion, according to Reuters, if the realtors are found to have breached U.S. antitrust law.
      …
      https://moneywise.com/news/top-stories/federal-court-awards-nearly-2-billion-in-damages-after-realtors-found-guilty-of-conspiring-to-inflate-commissions-on-home-sales

  27. looks like this guy bought what the MSM and the democrats were selling.

    HCSO
    @HCSOSheriff

    𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆: 𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐏𝐇𝐈𝐂 𝐕𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐎

    #teamHCSO is releasing surveillance and body camera footage from today’s ambush of two deputies in Brandon. Both deputies are currently at Tampa General Hospital undergoing surgery for critical injuries.

    “Corporal Brito and Deputy… Show more

    https://x.com/HCSOSheriff/status/1722697622979236313?s=20

    1. According to Chronister, a man, later identified as Ralph Bouzy, 28, intentionally ambushed deputies with his car, intending to kill them.

      Two deputies responded to a call in Brandon at around 7:44 a.m. after a woman said her son was in a mental health crisis at their home.

      Deputies arrived at the Heather Lakes subdivision where Bouzy and his mother lived. The first two arriving deputies found the son sitting in a running car and tried to de-escalate the situation, but Bouzy refused to roll down the window and left the scene in the car.

      Chronister said Bouzy then returned to the scene, where two other deputies had arrived, at a high rate of speed. He accelerated into them and struck two of the deputies, where they were standing about 10 feet from their cars.

      The instructors always said, “Stay frosty out there!”

  28. ‘It seemed with each time that we lowered it, we just weren’t getting that much attention, and that was really scary,’ Mader said. In late September Mader and her husband finally got an offer. It was $100,000 below the original asking price. Worried they wouldn’t get another shot, Mader and her husband decided to sell’

    The fear was strong in Lindsay.

    1. At least they were wise enough to not chase the market down. I’m sure family and friends are telling them that they gave it away. But a year or two from now they will be counting their lucky stars that they unloaded that alligator when they still could.

  29. ‘Buying a condo for $250,000 and being able to sell it the next year for $375,000. That’s not normal. [Our] market is just resetting from the wild, wild, crazy days of 2020 and 2021’

    Wasn’t that a great time Socar, you were a prisoner of the state, but shack prices go boom!

    1. Makes one wonder just how many people would agree to a near permanent state of lockdown (say 15 minutes cities) in exchange for equity that they can’t really use?

    2. What else would you expect from an authoritarian regime?! As a reminder, Ds and RINOs align with them.

  31. ‘It’s an earth-shattering number,’ she says. And one she can’t afford to pay. ‘There is no way myself, or probably half the building, can come up with that money,’ Przulj says. ‘I risked it all by buying this unit, and I have nowhere to go with my family’

    Sonja every one of yer pie holes is having expensive food stuffed in it excessively, from a winnahs! stance. I would suggest no food, but that does seem to be falling out of favor.

  32. ‘Condo developers with leftover inventory are falling on their own sword’

    Think about it this way Luke. Yes, the developer took an a$$pounding on the last few. But the sword just went up the arses of recent buyers in the form of comps.

  33. ‘the lake-front city’s real estate market is currently ‘saturated’ by properties zoned for short-term rental use. Some of the sellers are people who bought not that long ago and are already trying to get out.”

    “‘We had all these first-timers flood the market — they were late adopters,’ said Steele. ‘They thought they were going to make a mint because they saw what was happening in the gold rush. And now they’re realizing, ‘Oh, big mistake.’ As more and more people tried to get in on the action, the balance shifted. By the summer of this year, Steele said, the number of Airbnb and similar listings in the city was outstripping demand. As the glut of short-term rentals grew, nightly average occupancy rates fell, and so did the amount of revenue investors could generate. ‘Our occupancy just bombed, just because of the number of new listings,’ Steele said. ‘So now those who aren’t seasoned investors, or aren’t interested in subsidizing their property, are looking to sell.’

    I’ve posted some version of this for 18 years.

    1. Everyone wants to be a suave laid back “investor” with an ample passive income, even though they don’t have two nickels of their own to rub together.

      Working is for the little people.

      1. Working is for the little people.
        I was flying yesterday and as I was waiting for the plane I couldn’t help to over hear this guy bragging about his AirBNB and how you can never lose money on it, then complaining that his Mom just sold her home and how dumb she was for selling when she could… He then left to board the plane still talking and I overheard him still still talking as I walked past him on the plane.
        I am sure he’s gonna be an AirBNB millionaire.

  34. ‘the lake-front city’s real estate market is currently ‘saturated’ by properties zoned for short-term rental use. Some of the sellers are people who bought not that long ago and are already trying to get out’

    There’s no barrier to entry.

  35. ‘The most difficult calls are probably those where people feel their money worries are so bad they don’t want to live any more’

    They are just striving to be winnahs! Donna.

    1. How hard is it to file for BK in Britain? Sure, they’ll probably lose the shanty, but they were going to lose it anyway.

  36. ‘‘We signed up, (were) sold the dream. (It) ended up being lies and broken promises’

    We appreciate a concise summary of yer a$$ pounding at the HBB Kate.

  37. When Monk starts dancing to your solo, you must be doing well
    Sharp Eleven Music
    11 months ago

    How would you play with Thelonious Monk watching over your shoulder? Charlie Rouse knows that feeling, and he thrives on it! What a great and expressive blues solo on Bolivar Blues, Charlie Rouse shows how accents and rhythm can have a huge influence as well.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gi7QYccnKpE

    3 minutes.

  38. Fox Business
    ECONOMY Published November 9, 2023 1:20pm EST
    California middle-class families hit with $26K cost-of-living penalty: report
    40% of Californians are considering moving out of state, according to the Transparency Foundation
    Comments
    By Daniella Genovese FOXBusiness

    Families, business owners react to the cost of living climbing
    Small business owners Aaron Bergh and Teresa Bowman, and mom of four Amber Bergeron, discuss the economic strain that’s impacting their livelihoods.

    Middle-class families in California are getting slammed with an “unreasonable” cost-of-living-penalty for simply residing in the Golden State, according to a new report.

    According to data from the Transparency Foundation’s Cost of California Report, a typical middle-class family of three earning $130,000 a year faces a financial burden of more than $26,000 because of higher living expenses.

    The nonpartisan group’s report compares costs such as housing, utilities, food, gas, child care and health care, in every major household budget category between California and national averages.
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