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I Bought A F**king House, And Now That Is Where All My Money Goes, Every Single Cent

A report from the Tampa Bay Times in Florida. “Real estate markets across the country are still trying to find their footing in the aftermath of the the COVID-fueled home-buying frenzy of 2021 and 2022 said Michael Wyckoff, a global real estate advisor with Engel & Völkers in Madeira Beach. ‘We’re in this weird sort of no man’s land,’ he said. ‘Sellers are still on a little bit of a power trip because the market has been so strong in the past few years.’ This month, the number of active listings increased 77.6% year-over-year, which means there are more options for buyers to choose from. Homes are no longer being snapped up by cash buyers within hours of listing. Wyckoff said people with second homes and investors are likely driving this uptick in inventory. ‘With the cost of maintaining and insuring a home going up, a lot of those people are deciding it makes more sense to sell.'”

From WFLA. “According to Realtor.com, the percent of homes that have dropped their prices is up from 12.7% in May 2023 to 16.6% in May 2024. The report also found that 46 of the top 50 metros in the United States saw share of price reductions rise compared to the previous year. Realtor.com listed three cities that saw considerable drops in prices: Tampa, Florida; Jacksonville, Florida; and Charlotte, North Carolina. The report stated that 28.6% of homes in Tampa saw price reductions, which is an increase of 10.9 percentage points compared to 2023. Jacksonville fell right behind with 27.3% percent of homes reducing prices, a 10.2 percentage point increase, and Charlotte came in third with 19.4% of homes lowering their prices, an 8.3 percentage point increase.”

The Boston Globe. “In one year, Fannie Mae’s secret blacklist of condo developments nearly doubled, and part of that surge can be attributed to the rising cost of insurance premiums. In Massachusetts alone, the number of blacklisted properties more than tripled. Other New England states also saw an increase. Homeowner’s associations and condo boards still aren’t being told they are on the list. Most find out only when unit owners list their properties and the deals fall through because Fannie Mae excludes them from their low-cost loans. ‘What we’re seeing is not only are condo owners paying their mortgage, they also paying the monthly fees,’ said Jake Marcus, a partner at law firm Allcock Marcus. ‘There is also a lot construction defect litigation. Now there are attorneys’ fees required to get off the blacklist, higher insurance premiums, and having to have a robust reserve fund at your association. Then there can be special assessments on top of the annual budget, where costs are also rising. It’s not everyone, but in a lot of cases, we see condo owners who are basically saying, ‘This is becoming unaffordable and I need to find something else.’”

Signal Cleveland in Ohio.”While scrolling through a Facebook group in 2017, a Swedish woman named Lena Jalke-Fehrm learned about a real estate opportunity in Cleveland. A company called Solid Capital Group said Swedes could buy American houses and generate ‘passiv inkomst:’ passive income, a reliable stream of rent payments from halfway around the world. Jalke-Fehrm was interested. Later, she met with two women from the company in her kitchen. It was a ‘lovely conversation,’ she said. She and her husband bought five Cleveland houses for a total of $271,500, records show. Nearly two years after buying her first house, Jalke-Fehrm felt that she wasn’t getting answers from the property management overseas. So she visited Cleveland and woke up from the dream.”

“By 2023, Solid Capital Group was finished. The company had applied for liquidation in Sweden. In court, the company did not mount a defense, a court judgment said. But there was no money for the investors to win. Despite these disappointments, Jalke-Fehrm still believes in the dream that she had grasped at years before: The ‘win-win’ of providing rental units to tenants thousands of miles away in the United States. ‘I also won’t shame myself for being a victim, because I still think it was a really good business idea,’ she said. ‘If it had worked, it would have been wonderful.'”

The Baltimore Banner in Maryland. “A new lawsuit alleges that a now-defunct Lutherville title company collected about $1.1 million for real estate transactions arranged by ABC Capital that never took place. More than a year after it shut down, Castle Title hasn’t accounted for what happened to the money, according to the lawsuit. ABC Capital, a Philadelphia-based company, first came under fire for not following through on renting or renovating scores of homes in distressed areas of Baltimore that it sold to out-of-state and foreign investors. Some lawsuits have called the operation a Ponzi scheme. Thomas Valkenet, an attorney who has filed a slew of other civil cases against Castle Title and ABC Capital, said the legal process has so far been slow, and that Castle has not accounted for the funds that he says belong to his clients. ‘They give the same stock response: We don’t know, and we’ve been doing an investigation for the last year. And therefore, we can’t tell you if we have your money. It’s maddening,’ Valkenet said.”

The San Francisco Chronicle in California. “In an effort to rev up San Francisco’s housing production engine, Supervisor Ahsha Safaí is introducing legislation that would cut the city’s transfer tax in half for projects that are financed, at least in part, by union pension funds. The proposed legislation comes at a time when much of the city’s housing pipeline is largely frozen, with tens of thousands of units approved but not financeable. San Francisco’s building trades union has about 800 members out of work, but the number would be higher were it not for the fact that some workers are being sent to San Mateo and Contra Costa counties, according to Rudy Gonzalez, secretary-general of the San Francisco Building Trades.”

The Houston Chronicle in Texas. “Vero Sade, a Houston-based multifamily developer, said it will begin work this summer on a 310-unit apartment complex in Rosenberg. Plans for the five-building project emerge as the market works through an oversupply that has led to falling rents and occupancies across the Houston region. Developers responded to record demand for apartments during the pandemic with a slate of new projects starting in 2021, said Bruce McClenny, an industry principal at MRI ApartmentData. As projects were completed, supply began to outpace demand in 2023, even though Houston continued to add jobs and population. ‘That small suburban market really got hit with a lot of new product,’ McClenny said. ‘This is something we’re seeing pretty much across all of Houston, Texas and the Sunbelt.’ Occupancy rates in the Richmond-Rosenberg submarket have fallen to 83% from 88% in May 2023.”

The Real Deal on New York. “Developers whose Staten Island hotel project went bankrupt are accusing their lender of a loan-to-own scheme. Unless the courts intervene, they could lose their personal residences. The developers’ LLC, Richmond Hospitality, is in Chapter 11, after lender Shaughnessy Capital stopped funding the loan for the 80-key development and ginned up a default to ‘reap millions’ in penalty interest and other fees, according to a lawsuit filed last week. The investors had to put up $6 million in additional collateral using their personal homes to secure the line of credit. ‘Shaughnessy intended it to fail and never had the financial ability to fund the entire project,’ the suit alleges.”

Global News in Canada. “The Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating a fire that destroyed a home in Hamilton Township, just north of Cobourg early Saturday. Northumberland OPP say around 12:20 a.m., emergency crews responded to a house fire reported at the corner of Leach Road and Rose Rose. They found the home engulfed in flames. OPP say no injuries were reported and said the home ‘sustained substantial damage.’ The cause of the fire remains under investigation. A real estate sign outside of the home had said there was an open house planned later that day. The three-bedroom home on 40 acres of land is listed at $1.5 million, according to the real estate agency.”

The Globe and Mail. “Slate Office REIT has defaulted on $158-million worth of debt, complicating management’s restructuring plan that involved selling off properties to generate cash for debt repayment. To deal with its $1.175-billion debt load, including mortgages, the company announced plans last year to sell 40 per cent of its assets. Although Slate owned office properties in Canada and the United States, it derived the bulk of its operating income from the Greater Toronto Area and Atlantic Canada. Rental demand for its properties has not returned to prepandemic levels, and interest rates remain elevated in order to combat inflation. Slate has a sizable exposure to variable-rate mortgages, which means its interest costs continue to eat up cash flow.”

“To save cash, Slate cut its monthly distribution by 70 per cent in early 2023, and later halted it altogether in addition to putting assets up for sale. However, the company could not move quickly enough and on Tuesday Slate announced that it will not make cash interest payments on three series of convertible debentures, which are a form of debt. Slate’s publicly traded units have been battered and are now down 94 per cent over the past five years because investors have worried that a debt restructuring could wipe out their equity value.”

From WION. “Owners of the famous Trianon building in Frankfurt have filed for insolvency. This comes as the biggest economy in Europe reels with a severe property crisis. Germany’s property sector contributes a fifth of the country’s total output but has faced the test of high borrowing costs and dried real estate financing since mid-2022. Major developers have gone bankrupt in recent times, echoing the need for government intervention. In the first quarter of 2024, prices declined 5.7 per cent year-on-year. This marks the sixth consecutive quarter of decline in both cities & rural regions. The housing construction backlog, apartments that have been approved but not yet built, has fallen for the first time since 2008.”

News.com.au in Australia. “A young homeowner has revealed that buying a house in your twenties isn’t all it is cracked up to be. In fact, the Aussie dream could come at the cost of getting a tan on your European holiday. Danielle Anstey, 26, posted on social media that she would rather be overseas and avoiding Australia’s winter than stuck at home making her mortgage repayments. ‘I want to be tanning my cheeks in Europe! But a year ago, I bought a f**king house, and now that is where all my money goes,’ she said. ‘Every single cent.'”

“In 2023, Ms Anstey bought a two-bedroom townhouse with no backyard with her partner in Melbourne’s north. This was a huge achievement but also cost her the emergency and holiday funds she had saved up. She said her savings were ‘completely wiped out’ because buying a home has so many hidden costs. ‘There is so many costs people don’t think of also. Such as the rates, solicitors/conveyancer fees, and the cost of filling your home once you purchase it,’ she told news.com.au.”

“Buying a home and clearing out your savings in the process isn’t unusual in Australia. Comparison website Finder has found that 29 per cent of homeowners have less than $1000 in their bank accounts, equivalent to 957,000 people with very limited funds to fall back on. Online people were split on if Ms Antsey’s situation warranted sympathy. ‘Nah, girl. You are winning,’ someone else said. ‘Smartest decision you’ll ever make. You literally make money just by living in it now and in the future. Houses are the best investment you can buy into, there’s a reason it’s stood the test of time,’ one said. ‘I pay $41k a year on my mortgage. Then still have to provide for my family. Australia is a joke,’ another claimed.”

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This Post Has 89 Comments

    1. I swear they did that same scam in the Soprano’s and I KNOW they did it in 08 in Detroit. Some people just never learn.

      1. I KNOW they did it in 08 in Detroit.
        I think I recall reading about that as well.
        Buy a house for $8,000 in Detroit, what could go wrong?

        1. Remember the story about the guy from California buying cheap houses in Detroit? His quote was “I feel like I am cruising along shovelling diamonds into he bed of my pickup”. Wonder how that worked out for him?

  2. ‘In an effort to rev up San Francisco’s housing production engine, Supervisor Ahsha Safaí is introducing legislation that would cut the city’s transfer tax in half for projects that are financed, at least in part, by union pension funds. The proposed legislation comes at a time when much of the city’s housing pipeline is largely frozen, with tens of thousands of units approved but not financeable’

    But all time high? They are doing this cuz tax revenue is sinking like a turd in a well.

    ‘San Francisco’s building trades union has about 800 members out of work, but the number would be higher were it not for the fact that some workers are being sent to San Mateo and Contra Costa counties’

    Wa happened to my worker shortage?

    1. But all time high? They are doing this cuz tax revenue is sinking like a turd in a well.

      Just think about it. San Francisco was once a top choice convention destination, which generated plenty of hotel and sales taxes. That is all but gone. Even Oracle has moved it’s long running OracleWorld convention to Las Vegas.

      Regular retail is collapsing, taking even more sales tax with it.

      And on top of that property values are dropping, and with them property taxes.

      I’m sure Mayor London Breed was confident that the cash gusher would be steady, regardless of her destructive policies, after all she wanted to pay “reparations” even though there had never been slavery in California.. Now she has to layoff municipal workers as budgets are collapsing and San Francisco is turning into a Detroit.

      1. In other news, Hilton just announced that it will be permanently closing it’s Ookland airport location in August. Too much crime. Rumors have it the airport itself wants to flee too.

        In S.F. many of the iconic restaurants that survived the great depression are now closed. One of them closed just shy of it’s 100th year. This time really is different.

    2. They are doing this cuz tax revenue is sinking like a turd in a well.
      I can’t see how any of the “major” cities will be able to continue to pay the bills without making major cuts somewhere. I’d love to see and he$$, even work on generating the forecasts/proformas.

  4. ‘Homeowner’s associations and condo boards still aren’t being told they are on the list. Most find out only when unit owners list their properties and the deals fall through because Fannie Mae excludes them from their low-cost loans’

    This is also a pretty good article. And I’m glad guberment is subsidizing those expensive airbox loans. Until they bail that is, then yer fooked.

    1. The book, “Cadillac Desert,” explained how Senators from the Midwest states got the federal government to commit to perpetual funding for levies along the Mississippi river valley in order to mitigate flooding, which would enable the construction of homes, schools, strip malls, hospitals, etc. Select construction companies (kickbacks, nepotism, etc.?) received generous regular annual funding for levy maintenance. Now climate change, e.g., storms that bring an inch of rain every 15-min, are destroying those levies and dams leaving insurance companies’ reserves depleted.

      1. That’s a great book, highly recommended to read, esp if you live in the western US.

        Less likely about “climate change” than complete lack of infrastructure maintenance, repair and replacement.

        1. Some are predicticting that unless we change course and turn away from the insanity, that we might even lose indoor plumbing.

        2. We are still waiting to have an honest conversation regarding building houses in known flood plains or lush regions of ample vegetation that are prone to fire danger.

  5. ‘To deal with its $1.175-billion debt load, including mortgages, the company announced plans last year to sell 40 per cent of its assets…Slate has a sizable exposure to variable-rate mortgages, which means its interest costs continue to eat up cash flow’

    We got another rate dater.

  6. Pensacola, FL – Anecdotal Observations

    Locally, we have rising inventory of both new and older homes. Additionally, some price reductions are occurring, just not fast enough. Many properties have been on the market 60 days or more. Existing home sellers are having a difficult time competing with new home builders due to the concessions and interest rate buy downs being offered – per a local realtor. Many out of town speculators rushed into the area and snatched up shacks in rough neighborhoods, spent good money on rehabbing, and now can’t sell them for a profit. The current climate resembles the early years of the 1.0 bubble when buyers were aware of the turning tide and sellers were still swimming naked and in denial. I wish I knew how this story ends. However, this time is different – the bubble is much bigger.

    1. “The current climate resembles the early years of the 1.0 [housing] bubble when buyers were aware of the turning tide and sellers were still swimming naked and in denial. I wish I knew how this story ends. However, this time is different – the bubble is much bigger.”

      \\

      – In my view, that’s correct. The Federal .gov, incl. their enabling Central Bank, the Fed, (https://www.federalreserve.gov/) set policy to establish yet another bubble after the previous GFC/Housing Bubble 1.0 of 2008-09, and the Dot-com bubble of 2000, both of which they also created. The current asset bubble, “The Everything Bubble”, aka “The Central Bank Bubble” is “The Mother of All Bubbles” (MOAB), which includes stonks, corp. bonds, RRE (housing) again, and CRE, among other asset classes. The Fed claims to never see bubbles, even though that’s been policy for years now.

      – Our duly elected feckless Congresspersons for the most part have abdicated their fiscal responsibility (see reckless Federal deficit spending), and certainly don’t exert any control over the Fed, as they’re supposed to, as per the Federal Reserve Act. Congress is largely unaccountable now. It’s taxation without representation all over again.

      – The Fed has always been an unelected and unaccountable .gov entity, without audits, oversight, checks and balances, or any other controls.

      “And remember, where you have a concentration of power in a few hands, all too frequently men with the mentality of gangsters get control. History has proven that. All power corrupts; absolute power corrupts absolutely.” – Lord Acton

      – This is the 3rd significant serial asset bubble in 25 odd years, and yes the largest, so far. This is because the U.S. economy requires constantly growing debt for growth, an unsustainable construct, with the end game of sovereign default looming large and dead ahead.

      – Asset bubbles always burst and result in economic pain for the many.

      – Few understand this, or seem to care. Consequences may be delayed, but can’t be avoided.

      \\

      “No man is happy without a delusion of some kind. Delusions are as necessary to our happiness as realities.” ~ Christian Nevell Bovee, 1820-1904, American Author, Lawyer

      Denial ain’t just a river in Egypt. – Mark Twain

      “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson

      The duck test: “If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, it’s a duck!” – Robin Cook, Crisis

      “You can ignore reality, but you can’t ignore the consequences of reality.”  – Ayn Rand

      “Sooner or later everyone sits down to a banquet of consequences.” – Robert Louis Stevenson

      1. “Everyone has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.” – Mike Tyson

        I used to do “planning” at a TBTF bank. This is One of my favorite quotes of all time. Oh, and yeah, sometimes we got punched in the mouth pretty hard.

  7. ‘There is also a lot construction defect litigation.

    Imagine if corrupt or incompetent inspectors were held criminally and civilly liable for signing off on defect-ridden shacks & condos.

    2. oh don’t worry, no government inspectors are ever going to lose their jobs. Heck no government employee is ever going to lose their job, no matter how incompetent. We must of course, protect these highly valuable government employees.

      /sarc

  8. Nearly two years after buying her first house, Jalke-Fehrm felt that she wasn’t getting answers from the property management overseas. So she visited Cleveland and woke up from the dream.”

    Housing speculators getting fleeced is always a feel-good story, but when the speculator scum are halfway around the globe but are meddling in the U.S. real estate market, it’s even more satisfying.

  9. ABC Capital, a Philadelphia-based company, first came under fire for not following through on renting or renovating scores of homes in distressed areas of Baltimore that it sold to out-of-state and foreign investors.

    I loves me a good “housing speculator scum getting fleeced” story the first thing in the morning.

  10. “According to Realtor.com, the percent of homes that have dropped their prices is up from 12.7% in May 2023 to 16.6% in May 2024.

    Get to sawin’ and slashin’ like you mean it, greedheads. Your delusional wish price doesn’t reflect current market realities.

    1. Springs has long been a boom and bust town. There was a time when tech firms set up shop there: HP, IBM, WorldCom, etc. They grew like weeds, then they had mass layoffs. The only boom this last time was the bubble and low mortgage rates. I know a few people in Springs who commute to Dumver for work.

      1. “There was a time when tech firms set up shop there: HP, IBM, WorldCom, etc. They grew like weeds, then they had mass layoffs.”

        Offshoring benefitted shareholders, but left communities and its workers economically destitute.

  12. Occupancy rates in the Richmond-Rosenberg submarket have fallen to 83% from 88% in May 2023.”

    I’m no economics major like AOC, but doesn’t an 83% occupancy rate mean a negative ROI?

  13. This was a huge achievement but also cost her the emergency and holiday funds she had saved up.

    How was this a “huge achievement,” REIC shills?

  14. ‘Smartest decision you’ll ever make. You literally make money just by living in it now and in the future. Houses are the best investment you can buy into, there’s a reason it’s stood the test of time,’ one said.

    Watching idiots like this getting a reality check is going to be schadenfreude at its most sublime.

  15. Globalist scum media keeps professing “shock” at inflation data – which grossly understates the true rate of inflation as central bank debasement of the currency shows no sign of abating. At what point will the central bankers’ asset bubbles & Ponzi markets implode under the weight of their own debt, fraud, and mark-to-fantasy accounting?

    https://www.news.com.au/finance/markets/australian-markets/asx200-tumbles-after-shock-inflation-data/news-story/575c2c716b2de6f976a70e8a80a2ea07

  16. I posted this yesterday but I was wrong.

    There were no scratch marks, only bite marks because her hands were tied behind her back for the 2 hours the animals assaulted her before strangling her to death and throwing her 12 year old body in the water.

    jeff the Denier
    June 25, 2024 at 6:49 pm

    Just heard that 12 year old girl fought those illegal Venezuelan skum bags for 2 hours leaving bite marks and scratch marks on them while they recorded the rape before strangling her to death and throwing her body in the water.

    Can anyone tell me why Mayorkas and the rest of his “the border is secure” pals should not be tried as accessory to this and other similar crimes?

  17. the Swiss idiot’s financial stupidity in Cleveland will soon be a Netflix movie, complete w/monotone dubbed English & wooden robotic actors, set in a sleek, dark, techno dystopian future.

    Netflix synopsis: A heartwarming, coming of age comedy with a surprise twist.

    starring Nicholas Cage, J-Lo, Johnny 5 (YES! He’s still alive!) and that Asian actress who’s in every gottdamn flick made in the past 10 years!

  18. Gov. Gavin Newsom used his State of the State address on Tuesday to boost President Joe Biden ahead of Thursday’s pivotal presidential debate, comparing Donald Trump’s version of the Republican Party to the rise of fascism prior to World War II and offering Democrats’ ideals as “an antidote to the poisonous populism of the right.”

    Nowhere in Newsom’s speech — which was prerecorded and posted online to his social media channels in a departure from decades of tradition — did he mention Trump or Biden by name. But he used some of Trump’s most incendiary statements to offer a dark contrast of the choice facing Americans in November, comparing it to the eve of World War II when “fascism spread its hate and destruction throughout Europe.”

    “When they speak of immigrants poisoning American blood, and of mass deportations and detention camps, this is the language of destruction — of 1939,” Newsom said.

    https://news.yahoo.com/news/newsom-defends-progressive-values-says-180010965.html

      1. Vote like California, become California.

        Some local examples: the disappearance of public restrooms. This is what happens in a low trust society, where fentanyl and meth are effectively decriminalized.

        King Soopers has armed guards stationed at the door during all open hours. They weren’t there five years ago.

        Wal-Mart now keeps all underwear and socks locked up. That wasn’t necessary five years ago.

        Criminal invader Venezuelans on every corner with the squeegees. They weren’t there two years ago.

        Seeing people passed out on the sidewalk or bus stop bench in the middle of the day is the New Normal.

        The City / County of Denver voted 79.55% for this in the 2020 election, and those were actual votes from actual voters.

        And confronted with this total failure, they’ll only VOTE HARDER for more of it. They can’t not vote for it.

    2. “But he used some of Trump’s most incendiary statements to offer a dark contrast of the choice facing Americans in November, comparing it to the eve of World War II when “fascism spread its hate and destruction throughout Europe.”

      \\

      – So gruesome Newsom meant like this? This speech was somehow memory-holed because “shut up!”

      https://palmer.house.gov/media-center/press-releases/palmer-condemns-president-bidens-divisive-political-speech

      Palmer Condemns President Biden’s Divisive Political Speech

      September 2, 2022
      Press Release
      Washington, D.C. – Following President Biden’s divisive political speech on Thursday night , Rep. Gary Palmer (AL-06) released the following statement:

      “If history properly reflects President Biden’s political address to the nation, it will be viewed as one of the most disturbingly divisive speeches from the mouth of an American President. There is no doubt that our nation is deeply and dangerously divided, perhaps more so than any time since the Civil War. In designating people who truly want a more secure and prosperous future for themselves and their children as threats to our democracy, President Biden literally divided our nation even further. His speech will only serve to incite suspicion and fear between neighbors, coworkers and even among members of the same family simply because they voted for a candidate the far-Left Democrats loathe and fear.”

      – Image link here, but image also in the article.

      https://palmer.house.gov/sites/evo-subsites/palmer.house.gov/files/styles/evo_featured_image/public/evo-media-image/Joe%20Biden.jpeg?h=9608f496&itok=vdWuLkNv

      – Sieg heil! or something…

      \\

      Bonus article here. Spot on, IMHO. (Smart) people seem to keep leaving the “Golden State” for as yet unknown and mysterious reasons…

      https://www.foxnews.com/media/adam-carolla-says-leaving-horrible-california-pans-sociopathic-newsom

      Adam Carolla says he’s leaving ‘horrible’ California, pans ‘sociopathic’ Newsom: ‘Slippery eel of nothingness’

      The comedian called the governor a ‘narcissistic empty bag’ on Sage Steele’s podcast

      By Joseph A. Wulfsohn Fox News
      Published June 24, 2024 10:26pm EDT

      Comedian and podcast host Adam Carolla said he’s joining the exodus from California and took some parting shots at “sociopathic” Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom.

    3. When they speak of immigrants poisoning American blood, and of mass deportations and detention camps, this is the language of destruction — of 1939

      I’m pretty sure “immigrants poisoning American blood” is yet another hoax. As for detention camps, I only remember Democrats wanting to throw the unvaccinated in them. So Newsom’s statements are a combination of lies and projection.

      1. “the unvaccinated”

        Late 2021 into 2022, the rhetoric about the Purebloods wasn’t far from that in Germany in the 1930’s.

        Never forgive. Never forget.

  19. Comedian Adam Corolla says he is leaving the Golden State, lobbing plenty of criticism for government leadership and ordinary Californians in his potential wake.

    “I have to leave,” the author and radio personality said recently on “The Sage Steele Show” podcast. “I don’t even know where I’m going. This isn’t me cheating on you for another woman. This is, ‘I hate you so much. I’m moving into a motel room and not dating for six years.'”

    Carolla said he has stuck around in the sunshine thus far because his twins still have to finish high school, but noted, “I will be attending their high school graduation in a U-Haul.” (He recently sold his La Cañada Flintridge home to Dodgers star Shohei Ohtani.)

    According to the former “Loveline” host, California’s issues with crime, homelessness and housing are “self-imposed,” with Gov. Gavin Newsom to blame.

    “He says nothing,” Carolla said. “He’s a sociopathic, narcissistic empty bag. And we vote for this guy. He says nothing!”

    Corolla also had choice words for the Californians who continue to vote for the governor, whom he characterized as a “slippery eel of nothingness.”

    “It’s like ride or die with Gavin Newsom. And it’s like, can you just admit you made a mistake and try something else? And it’s like, no, we cannot,” he said.

    “He’s a narcissistic 10-cent head buffoon and nobody knows it … people in California are too dumb to realize who he is.”

    City leadership also didn’t escape Carolla’s ire: He insisted that Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass won her election only because she’s a “woman of color” and that the “competent” Rick Caruso was rejected by voters for being “old,” “white” and “rich.”

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/adam-carolla-wants-californians-dumb-205513967.html

  20. Canada’s Conservative Party won a special election in a district in central Toronto, dealing a substantial blow to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau’s Liberal Party ahead of a national vote expected next year.

    “This changes everything for the Liberals and for the PM,” Scott Reid, a onetime aide to former Prime Minister Paul Martin, said on the social media platform X. “If St. Paul’s is unsafe, there is no such thing as safe.”

    The loss is likely to raise the pressure on the embattled prime minister to step aside before the next election. The Liberals have consistently won big in Canada’s largest city, helping the party hold power since 2015. But Poilievre’s Conservatives hold a double-digit lead in polling, and would be on track to win a majority government if those numbers were to hold up in a national vote.

    The next election is scheduled to take place by October 2025, but the date can be moved.

    For the Conservatives, the win is a sign that Poilievre can compete in urban districts they had long assumed were too liberal-leaning for them.

    “There’s been so much talk about how Poilievre couldn’t appeal to these areas, because he’s too conservative, too angry, or whatever other reason,” said Ginny Roth, a partner at Crestview Strategy and a former adviser to Poilievre. “Turns out, that’s not true.”

    Monday’s results showed the Conservatives received about 2,000 more votes in St. Paul’s than in the 2021 election, while the number of Liberal supporters plummeted. “This isn’t just about the Liberals losing, it’s also about the Conservatives winning,” said Roth.

    https://ca.news.yahoo.com/canada-conservatives-win-liberal-stronghold-105934269.html

  21. The shocking result in the Toronto-St. Paul’s by-election leaves the Liberals with only one question: should they lose the next election with Justin Trudeau as leader, or should they lose it led by someone else?

    After an excruciatingly slow vote count over Monday night and into Tuesday morning, Conservative candidate Don Stewart snatched from the Liberals what used to be one of their safest seats, a riding in the heart of the Grit bastion of downtown Toronto, a riding that had withstood the tsunami of 2011, when veteran Liberal MP Carolyn Bennett held on even as the Liberals nationally suffered the worst result in the history of the party, being reduced to third place in the House of Commons.

    To lose St. Paul’s means the Liberals are at risk of an even worse fate in the next election. The message is stark: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau simply must stand down and let someone else lead the party, which now confronts electoral oblivion.

    Except….

    A new poll this week from the Angus Reid Institute asked respondents whether they would be more or less inclined to vote for a number of potential replacements for Mr. Trudeau, including Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland, former Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney and Foreign Affairs Minister Mélanie Joly. In a head-to-head comparison, respondents on balance said every candidate mentioned would make them even less likely to support the Liberals.

    There is no comfort for the Grits anywhere. They are deeply unpopular from sea to sea to sea, including in the urban cores that were once their final refuge. Taxes are too high, growth too low, interest rates too steep, mortgages and rent too burdensome.

    It doesn’t matter who leads them. The Canadian electorate wants them gone.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/opinion/article-regardless-of-leader-the-liberals-are-at-risk-of-a-worse-fate-after/

    1. It doesn’t matter who leads them. The Canadian electorate wants them gone.

      Keep in mind that the “conservative” party in Canada is a lot like the conservative parties in Europe: they’re still a bunch of socialists.

  22. Nearly half of the 124 people arrested by Ontario’s carjacking task force were out on bail, police say, with many being released again after their latest arrest.

    The Provincial Carjacking Joint Task Force, which operated from September 2023 until March, saw 124 arrests made and 749 criminal charges laid, police said.

    “This joint task force exemplifies the commitment of the Greater Toronto Area law enforcement to disrupt the networks behind violent auto thefts, and highlights the crucial role of collaboration in tackling issues that affect all of our communities,” said deputy Toronto police chief Robert Johnson at a press conference Tuesday.

    “However, law enforcement is just one part of the solution. It’s really concerning that 44 per cent of those arrested were out on bail at the time of their arrest, and 61 per cent were subsequently released on bail yet again.”

    Johnson later noted that 36 of the 124 people arrested — around 29 per cent — were young offenders, with 47 per cent of them reoffenders.

    “So those young offenders who were arrested for car thefts were already before the courts on previous charges,” he said.

    Of the 36 young offenders arrested, 26 were released on bail again, he said.

    “The stats are rather staggering,” he said.

    Johnson said that it’s a “complicated issue” as to why minors may commit car thefts, with one possible reason being the “low risk, high payoff.”

    “There’s a lot of money to be made,” he noted, and said some criminals target young people who may want to make money.

    “The lack of potential consequences might be a driving factor as well. And frankly our court system, rightly so, gives gives people second chances, and sometimes third and fourth chances. …

    “Thankfully in this country, people are given a second chance. But when it’s when it’s multiple times, it is frustrating, for sure.”

    The task force resulted in 177 stolen vehicles being recovered, valued at more than $10 million. Eight guns were also seized.

    https://www.msn.com/en-ca/news/canada/nearly-half-of-124-arrested-by-ontario-carjacking-task-force-were-on-bail-police/ar-BB1oSc3R

    1. The lack of potential consequences might be a driving factor as well.

      Might?

      What is so hard about understanding that slaps on the wrist are not a disincentive against committing crimes?

  23. An anti-green backlash in 2024’s global election-supercycle is already taking a toll on environmental, social and governance-focused assets, with an ultimate test still to come in the US presidential vote. Investors have pared exposure to sectors including renewable energy and electric cars as candidates in some of the dozens of nations holding polls this year have raised concerns over the costs and speed of efforts to curb emissions.

    A shift to clean energy “is just not going to be a straight line like maybe we all hoped for,” said Sarah Norris, head of ESG equities and manager of the Global Impact Equity strategy at abrdn plc, which has trimmed some holdings in renewable project developers.

    A Solactive European Renewables gauge has dropped about 4% since this month’s European Parliament election — which saw support slump for Green candidates.

    Government debt has tumbled in France with Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Rally leading polls ahead of a June 30 vote in France, and development bank SFIL SA postponed a green bond sale.

    In the US, a backlash against green principles and positioning for a potential new Donald Trump presidency have contributed to a surge in liquidations of exchange-traded funds aligned with ESG goals, and seen the largest-ever quarterly outflows from products tied to the theme.

    Bets by hedge funds against the $2.2 billion iShares Global Clean Energy ETF, a flagship renewables fund, have risen to the highest in a year, short interest data compiled by Bloomberg shows. Investors are weighing both green pushback and higher-for-longer interest rates. The ETF has declined more than 22% in the past 12 months, compared with a 26% gain in the S&P 500 Index.

    Investors are considering the impact of any potential new move by Trump to withdraw the US from the Paris Agreement on global warming, or to ease environmental regulations.

    https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/nervous-investors-tear-esg-playbooks-000000660.html

  24. Gov. Maura Healey has sent a team of state officials to the southern border to discuss the lack of shelter space in Massachusetts, as record numbers of migrants continue to arrive in Boston.

    Record numbers of immigrant families continue to arrive in Boston and the state’s family shelter system is at capacity. The goal of the trip is to connect with U.S. Customs and Border Protection officials and non-governmental organizations and families “to educate them about the lack of shelter availability in Massachusetts,” the governor’s office said in a statement Tuesday.

    “This trip is an important opportunity to meet with families arriving in the U.S. and the organizations that work with them at the border to make sure they have accurate information about the lack of shelter space in Massachusetts,” Emergency Assistance Director General Scott Rice said in a statement. “It is essential that we get the word out that our shelters are full so that families can plan accordingly to make sure they have a safe place to go.”

    The team is visiting the San Antonio Airport, Centro de Bienvenida/San Antonio Migrant Resource Center and Shelter, Ursula Processing Facility in McAllen, Hidalgo Port of Entry, and Brownsville Migrant Welcome Center, officials said. San Antonio, McAllen, Hidalgo and Brownsville are the most common points of entry for families that later arrive in Massachusetts.

    Last year, Healey announced the system reached capacity at 7,500 families.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/other/our-shelters-are-full-healey-sends-bay-state-officials-to-southern-border-amid-migrant-crisis/ar-BB1oRlP8

    1. ‘San Antonio, McAllen, Hidalgo and Brownsville’

      This is hilarious and stupid at the same time. They probably see that many ‘families’ come and go every month, for decades. You gotta go to Venezuela, Vietnam, Africa or China. And they still won’t listen to yer dumba$$. They want the free cheese!

      1. They want the free cheese!

        And this is the thing no one wants to talk about. People in those countries want to come here and join the Free Sh!t Army. They say they want to work, and maybe they do, but they want the free cheese.

        As the saying goes: an open border and the welfare state are incompatible.

        1. Some of them will get a low paying job. But the guberment will spend way more than that on food, housing, medical care, education, more crime/traffic accidents, free phones and credit card.

    2. San Antonio, McAllen, Hidalgo and Brownsville are the most common points of entry for families that later arrive in Massachusetts.

      Last time I checked San Antonio was hundreds of miles from the border. Laredo is where they would enter before moving onto San Antonio.

  25. Joe Biden’s America.

    Biden admin official pressured medical experts to nix age limit guidelines for transgender surgery (6/25/2024):

    “A top Biden administration health official successfully pressured an international group of medical experts to do away with age limit guidelines for transgender procedures, including gender-changing surgery, for minors, an unsealed court document shows.

    Adm. RICHARD Levine (we’re using his real name), the assistant secretary for health at the Department of Health and Human Services, feared that the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s late 2021 draft guidelines would make it difficult for American transgender youth to obtain access to the procedures, according to email excerpts between WPATH members included in an Alabama court filing.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/biden-admin-official-pressured-medical-experts-to-nix-age-limit-guidelines-for-transgender-surgery-court-doc/ar-BB1oTOUd

    It’s in the Old Testament of the Bible, and the specific term is abomination.

    1. Related article.

      Evan McMullin’s right-hand man was arrested for soliciting sex from a teenage boy—he’s also got Lincoln Project ties (6/24/2024):

      “You might not recognize the name “Joel Searby,” and really, who could blame you? Searby is just another run-of-the-mill GOP strategist, working tirelessly behind the scenes to prop up establishment politicians at a time when the old GOP guard is being rebuked at a breathtaking rate. To show just how off-base and clueless this Searby guy is, he was the “chief strategist” for none other than Evan McMullin—a former CIA spook and staunch Trump-hater who made a tiny splash with his cringe-worthy flop of a presidential run in 2016.

      Now, it’s come to light that Mr. Searby, the self-proclaimed “family man” and establishment “strategy guy,” has been arrested in Florida for allegedly soliciting sex with a teenage boy, and the evidence the cops have on this guy is extremely damning.

      Also, it probably won’t shock you to learn that Mr. Searby was connected to the Lincoln Project, yet another cluster of has-been GOP strategists with Stage 5 TDS.

      The Lincoln Project fell off its high horse after one of the founding members, John Weaver, who was a John McCain/John Kasich campaign “genius,” faced accusations of soliciting young men. It seems like a pattern is emerging among these so-called establishment types. Back in 2023, Joel Searby took to Substack to pen a “Dear Diary-style” blog detailing his quest to scout an alternative candidate in 2016. In his piece, he astonishingly labels the now-disgraced Lincoln Project as “brave.”

      We’d be curious to know what Evan McMullin thinks about his sidekick’s arrest. After all, he was so “disgusted” by Trump’s Access Hollywood tape, even calling Trump “inhuman.” Someone should shove a microphone and camera in Evan’s face and ask him just how “human” Mr. Searby is. Sadly, since we have a regime-run media, don’t expect them to call out one of their own. This story, like all others that paint the uniparty in a bad light, will simply disappear down a deep black hole.”

      https://revolver.news/2024/06/evan-mcmullin-right-hand-man-arrested-soliciting-sex-from-teenage-boy-also-lincoln-project-ties/

      And in related news, Adam Kinzinger just endorsed the Unelected Occupant.

      “They’re not sending their best”

  26. Of course they have to give up on Florida, they couldn’t get away with the mass amount of cheating it would take to win the state. You need cities like Detroit, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Cleveland for that.

    Biden Campaign Scrambles After Chairwoman Gives Up Florida

    HANNAH KNUDSEN
    26 Jun 2024

    O’Malley Dillon made waves after admitting on a podcast that the Biden campaign has essentially given up on Florida and its 30 electoral votes come November.

    https://www.breitbart.com/2024-election/2024/06/26/biden-campaign-scrambles-after-chairwoman-gives-up-florida/

  27. Dumb question of the day: If US housing for sale inventories have been too low for several years running, isn’t sharply increasing inventories a helpful development?

  29. Wall Street Silver
    @WallStreetSilv

    “The cost of living in Canada is sick”

    “There is no more cost of living, there is only cost of surviving”

    “I don’t know what to do, I’m working 3 jobs, I’m a single mother”

    “I can’t afford to live here anymore”

    “Groceries are astronomically priced right now”

    🚨🚨🚨
    3:21 PM · Feb 21, 2024
    ·
    https://x.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1760399415322321015

    1. Listening to this young Canadian woman combined with a story I posted I believe yesterday showing Canadien police arresting a conservative speaker for no apparent reason and putting travel restrictions on him so he could not make his next two speaking engagements or return home tells me that Canada is a little further down the road to their Military Marxist takeover of their citizens than we are here in the States. Perhaps it’s because of the Second Amendment?

      Paraphrased from Glenda(the good witch) telling Dorothy do not give up the Ruby slippers.

      Keep tight (hold) of them, their magic must be very powerful, or (they) wouldn’t want them so badly!

      1. Tommy Robinson Arrested in Canada After Giving Address on Free Speech

        KURT ZINDULKA’
        25 Jun 2024

        English political activist Tommy Robinson was arrested on Monday evening in Canada after delivering an address in Calgary on the importance of free speech following which around 10 plain-clothed under-cover police officers detained him.

        https://x.com/TRobinsonNewEra/status/1805494090056056980

        Ezra Levant 🍁🚛
        @ezralevant

        TOMMY ROBINSON HAS BEEN RELEASED! But he must turn in his passport, remain in southern Alberta, and he cannot leave Canada!

        Tomorrow we work on fixing that.

        https://x.com/ezralevant/status/1805497078400901400

  30. Wall Street Silver
    @WallStreetSilv

    “What is going on with the prices of food in Canada?!”

    “I am completely freaked out for what’s to come in Canada with the food prices”

    “I was about to walk into the grocery store and this woman stops me and she said do you have extra change for food?”

    “I said I’m so sorry I don’t carry change and I went inside and had to buy her something”

    “I decide to buy her a loaf of bread”

    “$7.49 for a loaf of bread and this bread was on special …”

    “This is outrageous”

    “I can’t imagine how families are going to survive”

    🚨🚨🚨
    0:07 / 0:48
    10:18 PM · Mar 27, 2024

    https://x.com/WallStreetSilv/status/1773172905913839997

    1. “$7.49 for a loaf of bread and this bread was on special …”

      They can’t send Trudeau and his bolsheviks packing fast enough.

    2. “What is going on with the prices of food in Canada?!”

      I haven’t seen any “Maybelline Girls” in the homeless camps on social media. This concerned blonde is a hottie, so we probably won’t see her experiencing food insecurity.

  31. ‘Wyckoff said people with second homes and investors are likely driving this uptick in inventory. ‘With the cost of maintaining and insuring a home going up, a lot of those people are deciding it makes more sense to sell’

    And you reassured them that they always could sell Mike.

  32. ‘There is also a lot construction defect litigation. Now there are attorneys’ fees required to get off the blacklist, higher insurance premiums, and having to have a robust reserve fund at your association. Then there can be special assessments on top of the annual budget, where costs are also rising. It’s not everyone, but in a lot of cases, we see condo owners who are basically saying, ‘This is becoming unaffordable and I need to find something else’

    This commie urban living thing is not holding up to the test Jake. When you give the keys to a bunch of half interested people, you get poor decisions. That much is clear. And those poor decisions persist until they become insurmountable problems. Because (here we go, it’s always some unexpected circumstance) people got old, need to downsize just when all those bad decisions come knocking on the door. I love a perfect storm in real estate!

  33. ‘In court, the company did not mount a defense, a court judgment said. But there was no money for the investors to win. Despite these disappointments, Jalke-Fehrm still believes in the dream that she had grasped at years before: The ‘win-win’ of providing rental units to tenants thousands of miles away in the United States. ‘I also won’t shame myself for being a victim, because I still think it was a really good business idea,’ she said. ‘If it had worked, it would have been wonderful’

    Lena here may be shy a few marbles. But she’s right about the victim thing. Take yer losses like a woman!

  35. ‘an attorney who has filed a slew of other civil cases against Castle Title and ABC Capital, said the legal process has so far been slow, and that Castle has not accounted for the funds that he says belong to his clients. ‘They give the same stock response: We don’t know, and we’ve been doing an investigation for the last year. And therefore, we can’t tell you if we have your money. It’s maddening’

    They spent yer money Tom.

  36. ‘Developers responded to record demand for apartments during the pandemic with a slate of new projects starting in 2021, said Bruce McClenny, an industry principal at MRI ApartmentData. As projects were completed, supply began to outpace demand in 2023, even though Houston continued to add jobs and population. ‘That small suburban market really got hit with a lot of new product,’ McClenny said. ‘This is something we’re seeing pretty much across all of Houston, Texas and the Sunbelt’

    Announcing a 300 unit airbox when yer already oversupplied. It will be OK Bruce cuz of solid lending.

  37. ‘The Office of the Fire Marshal is investigating a fire that destroyed a home in Hamilton Township, just north of Cobourg early Saturday. Northumberland OPP say around 12:20 a.m…They found the home engulfed in flames…A real estate sign outside of the home had said there was an open house planned later that day’

    It’s a soft landing Tiff.

  38. ‘Owners of the famous Trianon building in Frankfurt have filed for insolvency. This comes as the biggest economy in Europe reels with a severe property crisis. Germany’s property sector contributes a fifth of the country’s total output but has faced the test of high borrowing costs and dried real estate financing since mid-2022. Major developers have gone bankrupt in recent times, echoing the need for government intervention’

    Bunch of commies in Germany too.

  39. ‘Danielle Anstey, 26, posted on social media that she would rather be overseas and avoiding Australia’s winter than stuck at home making her mortgage repayments. ‘I want to be tanning my cheeks in Europe! But a year ago, I bought a f**king house, and now that is where all my money goes,’ she said. ‘Every single cent’

    This is another example of how social media is where people showcase their stupidity. Just two days ago she was making a horses a$$ out of herself and now she’s back at it.

  40. Condo Buyers Facing No Win Situation (GTA Condo Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate

    41 minutes ago TORONTO

    In this episode we take a look at the current GTA Condo Markets – Toronto, York Region & Peel Region for week ending June 19, 2024. We also discuss the current state of the condo market and how difficult it’s become for many involved.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=moPZ9ncnktU

    14:47.

  41. MP Has A MELTDOWN Thanks To ‎@PierrePoilievre Today

    MCGA

    1 hour ago #FreeCanada #MCGA

    Marc Miller, Liberal Mp and Immigration Minister of Canada is hounded by media today to the point where he cracks!

    0:00 ie Dont Ask Uncomfortable Questions
    0:20 What Is Your Advice To Trudeau
    1:59 Why Keep Trudeau
    2:19 Compares Pierre To A WWF Heel
    3:18 How Can You Appeal To Voters You Insult
    3:35 Calls Pierre A Fake And BS

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

    5 minutes.

  43. An ego that just won’t quit – as much as we want him to.

    The Celtic Canuck

    49 minutes ago

    Trudeau refuses to take the hint, and the liberals abject failure doesn’t seem to be curbing their enthusiasm in the slightest. As much as we reject them – they just keep going. Like some demonic energizer bunny hell-bent on destruction. Sometimes it feels like we’re just along for a very painful ride – but the end is nigh. Thank God !

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lFMHye4DiM

    5:17.

    1. Real Estate Map Shows Cities With Worst Housing Shortages
      Austin Housing Market Rocked as New Home Prices Slashed Up to 30%
      Published Jun 26, 2024 at 6:49 AM EDT
      Updated Jun 26, 2024 at 7:26 AM EDT
      Current Time 0:58
      Duration 1:06
      By Giulia Carbonaro
      US News Reporter

      The former pandemic boomtown of Austin, Texas, is still seeing sellers slashing the asking price on their homes by as much as 30 percent, with the city yet to fully recover from the aggressive blow it was dealt in recent years.

      A newly built, three-bedroom, three-bathroom single-family home in New York Avenue, Austin, was listed for sale on Zillow on Monday, June 24, for $899,000—over $400,000 less than it was sold for in August 2023. The house, which has a total interior livable area of 1,494 square feet, was built last year.

      The listing’s description said that the property has been “priced to sell,” adding that there are “new projects in the pipeline” and “investors say ‘sell it’.” According to the sellers, the property is the “best value in East Austin for this price.”

      The staggering price cut on the New York Avenue property shows that the frenzied days of homebuying in Austin are definitely over, and sellers now have to meet reluctant buyers halfway. The Austin housing market was one of the hottest in the nation during the pandemic years, with growing demand leading to skyrocketing prices.
      …
      https://www.newsweek.com/austin-housing-market-rocked-new-home-prices-slashed-30-1917497

  45. Senator Bill Hagerty
    @SenatorHagerty

    If an outstanding Secretary of State’s Office like we have in Tennessee has identified and is taking action on 14,375 potential non-citizens who may have registered to vote, imagine what Blue State officials aren’t doing or won’t do.

    From tennessean.com
    4:10 PM · Jun 26, 2024

    https://x.com/SenatorHagerty/status/1806057577077166268

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