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The Buyers Are Trying – Let’s See How Desperate They Are

A report from NBC News. “By the time many homeowners realize they need flood insurance, it’s too late. And for tens of thousands in North Carolina and across the Southeast, it’s too late. Only about 2% of residences in the 100 counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene-related power outages were protected by flood insurance, according to an NBC News analysis. ‘The horror stories I hear are the people whose houses were flooded out. [They] don’t have an NFIP policy, don’t have a Neptune policy, and their homeowners insurance will not cover the risk of flooding,’ said Trevor Burgess, the CEO of Neptune Flood, who lives in St. Petersburg, Florida. ‘These people are just left with a complete loss.'”

WPTV in Florida. “Lake Clarke Gardens condominium residents reached out to WPTV worried that expensive condominium assessment fees may be too much for them to afford. ‘It’s a dream to live here. It’s very nice, very quiet but lately, we’re all really worried about the situation,’ resident Arturo Duharte said. Located near Lake Worth Beach, the community is for seniors age 55 and older, many of who are on a fixed income. Duharte said his fees have nearly doubled as his condo complies with state assessment deadlines. ‘How will that impact you?’ asked WPTV reporter Joel Lopez. ‘I can’t pay that, I have to leave, [live on] the streets, sleep in the car,’ Duharte said. ‘I don’t know what I’ll do.'”

The Los Angeles Times in California. “After weeks of residents begging for outside help with landslide damage in the Palos Verdes Peninsula, some assistance is finally on the way. The city will distribute up to $10,000 to families most directly affected by the land movement and the shutoffs, estimated to be about 280 homes in Rancho Palos Verdes. Many residents, though, have said they are facing costs closer to $100,000 from the last few weeks’ events, which left them scrambling to fortify homes’ foundations, switch to off-grid solar energy and convert natural gas lines to propane. ‘These residents are going through hell and, up until now, they have shouldered the financial burden of this landslide entirely on their own,’ Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement. ‘$10,000 may not be enough to cover the costs of what these homeowners are facing, but I think it is important to get them this help.'”

“‘The county of Los Angeles is the only [one] that has helped us at all,’ Councilmember David Bradley said Tuesday night. ‘The city cannot continue to fund everything because we will be broke.’ In the absence of outside help, city officials are trying to find ways to respond to the growing emergency despite mounting expenses — ideally, before the rainy season. Rain and runoff are known to exacerbate and accelerate the land movement, as groundwater drives the geologic shifting. ‘We just need to stop the darn thing from moving,’ Mayor John Cruikshank said. ‘This is a nightmare.'”

The New York Post on California. “A San Francisco Bay Area influencer has warned that buying a house in the woods, however beautiful it may be, is a complete headache to maintain. Laureise Livingston and her husband bought their charming 100-year-old home two years ago. It was a dream come true—until they realized their roommates were rodents and beetles that were infesting the house. ‘Just a PSA about buying a house in a wooded area: Just don’t,’ Livingston says in a video. She detailed those issues in the video: ‘Rodents, bugs, and beetles’ have not only been a problem, they’ve been ‘eating us alive financially.'”

“‘We finally finish the rats, we’re finally done with the rats, and we say, ‘ahh no more issues,’ and then boom, Terminix gives us a call,’ she says. ‘So they come on over, and the good news is: no termites,’ Livingston says. ‘You have wood-boring beetles. My fiancé and I never heard of them. So, we asked, ‘What’s a wood-boring beetle?’ They say, ‘Well, they’re basically just as bad as termites. They bite through the wood and lay little larvae in the wood. And then the eggs hatch. And then, those little eggies that are no longer little eggies anymore, then go and bite into the wood until the wood is all f—ed up in your house. So we said, ‘That doesn’t sound like a good thing. How do we fix it?’ The two decided to get the home treated for $4,500.”

From Bisnow. “Pension fund Bayerische Versorgungskammer, after being named as a defendant in a lawsuit against developer Michael Shvo, is under fire in the Bavarian State Parliament for its real estate investments. BVK, Germany’s largest pension fund, has been one of the top German investors in American real estate over the past few years as part of a push in global investment that began in 2015. By 2021, more than half of BVK’s real estate investments were outside of Germany, while the fund continued to emphasize ‘a need for growth in the real estate portfolio in the USA,’ it wrote in its 2021 annual report.”

“That growth has included investments in projects developed by Shvo and backed by Deutsche Finance, which manages investments for several German funds. BVK put pensioners’ money into Shvo projects like the Coca-Cola Building on Fifth Avenue in Manhattan and the Transamerica Pyramid in San Francisco. BVK’s funds are also invested in other Shvo projects, including a luxury condo redevelopment of The Raleigh in Miami Beach. ‘According to media reports, the Bavarian Ministry of the Interior’s supreme authority Versorgungskammer (BVK) invested high three-digit million amounts directly or indirectly in luxury real estate in the USA, which was developed by a convicted tax evader,’ Bavarian Parliament officials said in a letter obtained by Bisnow and translated into English. ‘High losses are looming, forcing those responsible at BVK to explain themselves.'”

“German banks have also raised red flags over their exposure to U.S. real estate. In the first quarter, Aareal Bank announced it would cut or restructure about $550M of loans with exposure to the overseas market. Deutsche Bank is similarly looking to sell $1B in U.S. CRE loans. Deutsche Pfandbriefbank said it is planning for additional losses due to ‘the greatest real estate crisis since the financial crisis.'”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “Some shafts of light have started to break through the air of gloom that has been hanging over Toronto’s condo segment in recent months. Languishing condo units have been finding buyers, says Christopher Bibby, broker with Re/Max Hallmark Bibby Group Realty, but the action is inconsistent. In some cases, a unit will sit for 60, 90 or 120 days, then suddenly sell with more than one offer. ‘On others we’re still not even getting showings,’ he says. Mr. Bibby says one cohort of buyers is testing the water in the condo segment with lowball bids. ‘The buyers are trying – let’s see how desperate they are,’ he says. ‘I think they assume everyone needs to sell or why else would they be on the market?'”

“In other instances, the sellers have bought another property and they need to sell a condo unit in order to close the deal. ‘If you need it sold in 30 days and you have no backup plan, you absolutely have to take what people are willing to give you,’ says Mr. Bibby. Luke Dalinda, real estate agent with Royal LePage Real Estate Services, is urging sellers to hold firm to their prices. The buyers Mr. Dalinda sees circulating these days are looking for usable layouts, he says. ‘Smaller ‘shoebox’ condos, on the other hand, will continue to struggle due to their unusable layouts, cheap finishes and shoddy construction,’ he says.”

CTV News in Canada. “Customers paid for tiny homes but are dealing with huge headaches after a Calgary company told them they are going out of business. ‘It’s been a really stressful situation,’ Amanda Webb said. Webb paid $166,000 to builder ZeroSquared for a tiny home, which was supposed to be ready in 60 days. That was a year ago and it’s still not done. Now, the seven-year-old company says it’s closing shop and giving customers a week to pick up their unfinished homes. ‘They got my $166,000 right from the start and I believe they might have used that for other builds before mine and, you know, it’s frustrating,’ Webb said.”

“Lianne Haberman of Ontario is grateful for the help but is scrambling to salvage her investment. ‘$200,000-plus without a home and now having to get more money to either finish the home or sell as-is is a terrible position to be in,’ she said. Both Haberman and Webb say rent and storage costs have stacked up since both were supposed to be living in their homes months ago. ‘I mean, it’s been super stressful being in this situation of not having somewhere to live and having to pay rent because I’m already having to pay for this house. They received the entire amount on purchase,’ Webb said. Both homeowners say they got financing to pay the entire amount before the homes were built and are warning others not to do the same.”

Daily Mail Australia. “An Aussie building company has gone into liquidation after racking up almost $1.5million in debt- leaving customers in the lurch waiting for faulty builds to be rectified. Melbourne-based company Argyle Building Services was placed into administration on August 23 owing $1,474,932 to 55 creditors. At the time of its collapse, Argyle had been building a major project in Williamstown which consisted of eight townhouses, a commercial shop and an apartment. Argyle director, Sam Salloum, blamed ‘numerous unpaid invoices’ from developers who similarly became insolvent for his company’s collapse. Mr Salloum claimed that developers ‘simply refused to pay’ the debts which exceeded $2million. ‘In a nutshell, whatever could’ve gone wrong, did go wrong,’ he told the Herald Sun.”

News.com.au in Australia. “One Queensland tradie is airing out his industry’s laundry in a confessional series online and has uncovered some unbelievable acts. Kyle Romaior, 31, is a fully licensed electrician who has worked in the industry for years and has heard many stories on sites. Two months ago, the 31-year-old created an anonymous confession box on a construction site to see what tradies submitted. It was a success, and now, tradies can anonymously submit the wildest things they’ve done or seen at work online, and the results are staggering. One tradie admitted that after a client refused to let him use the bathroom, he retaliated by saving his poo and incorporating it in the renovation. ‘I double-bagged it. Threw it in the wall with the insulation and sheeted over it,’ he confessed.”

“Horrifyingly, a renderer admitted that when he was working on a site where there was no bathroom for miles, he defecated into a bucket and then mixed his poo with concrete and used it to finish off the walls. ‘I got on with the job, and now every time I drive past that house, I think they have literal sh*t built into their walls,’ he revealed.”

The Washington Post. “China’s legions of casual traders are stoked — and a little scared — to see what happens next in the country’s massive stock market rally. China’s equity markets are notoriously fickle, in part because they are dominated by casual retail investors, who account for about two-thirds of trading activity. Many of these traders have watched their savings shrink dramatically during the downturn, and they are already growing nervous that the recent uptick won’t last. Eric Lin, who was recently laid off from a real-estate-consulting job in Beijing, took advantage of the recent rally — which he called a ‘water buffalo’ market — by selling all his Shanghai and Shenzhen shares to pay off his mortgage.”

“‘When I saw the big rise, I sold the next day, fearing that it would fall immediately,’ the 36-year-old said. ‘I don’t have any faith in the Chinese stock market … Whether it is the housing market or the stock market, problems still exist, and I’m still pessimistic about the short- and medium-term outlook.'”

“The huge volumes of trading — around $369 billion in shares bought and sold on Monday — has drawn comparisons to an even bigger rally in 2015, when valuations hit their highest level on record. Then, similarly frenzied trading, stoked in part by Chinese state media, ended soon afterward with a rout that wiped out a third of the Shanghai market’s value in a month. So far, evidence of a deeper turnaround is mixed. The number of trips taken over the holiday is expected to reach 1.94 billion, only 0.7 percent above 2023, according to official data. But extreme budgeting remains common among travelers. On Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram, users compete in money-saving challenges, such as aiming to spend no more than $70 dollars on food for October.”

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This Post Has 119 Comments

  2. ‘On Xiaohongshu, China’s answer to Instagram, users compete in money-saving challenges, such as aiming to spend no more than $70 dollars on food for October’

    People who insist on eating are not going to be winnahs!

    1. $70 for food ?! that’s luxury livin’ for rich folk!!!
      hell, I survived on $25 a month back in the late 70’s/early 80’s coming out of Nor Cal rural economic hardtimes:
      Ramen & bulk hot chocolate. yessir. also sold plasma $20 a week. (bonus $5 for repeat donors. now THAT’LL put a pep in yer step)
      still have the manhole-cover-sized IV scars inside each arm to prove it.

      * flash forward a million years to when I need the occasional blood draw & the tech gets a little antsy about discomfort, I reassure her/him “absolutely no problem!”
      those tiny needles compared to the large gauge hoovers at the plasma clinics are like Mick Dundee “That’s not a needle: THIS is a NEEDLE!!” HaHa

      $70. pshaw. go on with yerself, now boyo. piker !

      1. Ramen is rich people food.

        A bag of noodles and a bottle of chicken bouillon is enough for the real OGs.

  3. ‘Only about 2% of residences in the 100 counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene-related power outages were protected by flood insurance, according to an NBC News analysis. ‘The horror stories I hear are the people whose houses were flooded out. [They] don’t have an NFIP policy, don’t have a Neptune policy, and their homeowners insurance will not cover the risk of flooding…These people are just left with a complete loss’

    That’s some sound lending right there.

    1. ‘Only about 2% of residences in the 100 counties hit hardest by Hurricane Helene-related power outages were protected by flood insurance,
      I lived and owned a home in NC and never even thought about flood insurance. If I lived near a river or large lake I would have considered it but, otherwise, it’s not even a consideration.

      1. Betcha the reinsurance firms like Berkshire Hathaway have fancy escape clauses in their policies too.

        * The Berkshire Hathaway Reinsurance Division provides treaty and limited facultative reinsurance to other property/casualty insurers and reinsurers. Berkshire is one of the world’s leading providers of catastrophe excess of loss reinsurance.

      2. Pretty typically vehicle insurance (comprehensive) DOES pay for flood damage (they almost always total the car, hidden damage, also why you don’t want to buy used /salvage title cars from a flooded area).

        Liability doesn’t of course

  4. These residents are going through hell and, up until now, they have shouldered the financial burden of this landslide entirely on their own,’ Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement.

    So there’s this Bible verse about a foolish man who built his house on foundations of sand. Spoiler alert: it didn’t end well.

    1. “These residents are going through hell and, up until now, they have shouldered the financial burden of this landslide entirely on their own,’ Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement.”

      The county and state have been paying for deep well, water pumping for several years to remove heavy precipitation from the soil upstream of the slide area in order to halt (or slow) the slide’s movement. These are expensive programs.

      1. The county and state have been paying for deep well, water pumping for several years to remove heavy precipitation from the soil upstream of the slide area in order to halt (or slow) the slide’s movement. These are expensive programs.
        Wow, that is interesting.

        What do they do with the water?

        2. “What do they do with the water?”

          Also realize that most of these homes had septic systems, so there’s another 200 to 300 gallons per day per house contributing to the slide problem. If it wasn’t “view property” it would have never been dotted with houses.

      2. i don’t understand why this isn’t a house insurance issue? I don’t see why it’s a city/county issue. If your house is unlivable (and it’s not flooded) then shouldn’t house insurance cover that? They “total” the house, condemn it, give you a check and bulldoze it.

        That’s what the city/county is going to do sooner or later. Money isn’t unlimited.

    2. Palos Verdes is beautiful, but the entitlement here is disgusting.

      Heck, some of the old-rich up there pay something like $1,000 per year in property taxes if they bought in the 70s. They do not deserve a bail-out.

  5. ‘The city cannot continue to fund everything because we will be broke.’

    RPV is lousy with high-net-worth libtards, mostly lily white Boomers. This is what we call a teachable moment on why solid foundations matter.

    1. “RPV is lousy with high-net-worth libtards…”

      They nibble Biscotti, listen to NPR and walk on the balls of their feet!

  6. ‘By 2021, more than half of BVK’s real estate investments were outside of Germany, while the fund continued to emphasize ‘a need for growth in the real estate portfolio in the USA,’ it wrote in its 2021 annual report’

    Talk about bad timing. Offices in San Francisco, Manhattan and Florida condos.

  7. ‘We just need to stop the darn thing from moving,’ Mayor John Cruikshank said. ‘This is a nightmare.’”

    Geologic shifts have been a thing in RPV since at least the late 1950s, becoming a lot worse since at least the late 1970s according to family members who used to live in RPV but fled CA a few years ago. Imagine the hubris of saying you need to stop the ground from moving since ‘tards built their shacks there in defiance of nature and common sense.

    1. ‘These residents are going through hell and, up until now, they have shouldered the financial burden of this landslide entirely on their own,’ Los Angeles County Supervisor Janice Hahn said in a statement. ‘$10,000 may not be enough to cover the costs of what these homeowners are facing, but I think it is important to get them this help.’”
      Once again, the key to “happiness” is “Other People’s money.”
      Never fails, that is always the answer.

      1. Janice Hahn
        Member of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors

        “…Janice Hahn said in a statement. ‘$10,000 may not be enough…”

        Translation: $10,000 should be enough to buy your vote the next time I come up for election. Thank you. Janice.

  8. that expensive condominium assessment fees may be too much for them to afford. ‘It’s a dream to live here. It’s very nice, very quiet but lately, we’re all really worried about the situation,’
    You were living way above your means. Looks like the can has been kicked about as far as it can be kicked in FL.
    Values fall about 60-70% and I may buy a winter place.

    2. The other day, Ben posted a snippet about a FL condo building. It was a tiny ~35-unit building on a tiny piece of land right on the intracoastal waterway, built in 1947, probably for early-adopter snowbirds. I figured those residents were hosed because the plot of land, while in a good location, seemed too small to build anything luxury on.

      This Lake Clarke Gardens is different. It’s a pretty big complex of 1971-built garden-style condos 3 miles from the ocean. Per Zillow, they cost $90-$150K. Condo fees must have doubled from ~$500/mo, because the fee is now $900/mo. It’s a big piece of land and too far from the water. I don’t think any luxury developer would want it. IMO the residents are just as hosed. They’ll need to pony up.

    3. “Values fall about 60-70% and I may buy a winter place.”

      I wouldn’t touch a FL condo without a credible audit of the condo’s home owner association.

  9. “Deutsche Bank is similarly looking to sell $1B in U.S. CRE loans. Deutsche Pfandbriefbank said it is planning for additional losses due to ‘the greatest real estate crisis since the financial crisis.’”

    Greatest largely unreported real estate crisis in history?

    2. The fed will likely make the lenders whole again, at par. Then they’ll sell these buildings for a dime on the dollar to the usual suspects with a zero down, 2% loan. Like the comedian said, “They want it all, and you know what? They’ll get it!”

  11. ‘Smaller ‘shoebox’ condos, on the other hand, will continue to struggle due to their unusable layouts, cheap finishes and shoddy construction,’ he says.”

    “Shoebox” condos were only viable speculative “investments” in a world awash with central bank funny money. Now that the chickens are coming home to roost, the FOMO lemmings who signed on Mr. Banker’s line which is dotted for such properties are well & truly buggered.

  12. ‘They got my $166,000 right from the start and I believe they might have used that for other builds before mine and, you know, it’s frustrating,’ Webb said.”

    You’re not without recourse, Amanda. You can always stamp your little feet.

  13. Mr. Bibby says one cohort of buyers is testing the water in the condo segment with lowball bids. ‘The buyers are trying – let’s see how desperate they are,’ he says.

    That’s the spirit! Kick ’em while they’re down!

  14. They received the entire amount on purchase,’ Webb said. Both homeowners say they got financing to pay the entire amount before the homes were built and are warning others not to do the same.”

    The stupid, it burns.

  15. For trustworthy analysis of Jack Smith’s unsealed 165-page redacted motion re presidential immunity, I recommend https://nitter.poast.org/JeffClarkUS. From conversations between Jeff Clark and Steve Bannon, I believe Jeff Clark is on DJT’s short list for US Attorney General.

    2. So, short version, is this gonna sink DJT like leftist X is drooling over, or is it more of the same-old same-old?

      Today’s video from Rasmussin Reports on YT is pretty good. They polled voters about where they get their news. Most telling finding: Of those people who most watch MSNBC, the biggest issue in this election was “saving our democracy.” Hmmm, I wonder where they got that idea..

        1. Good summation from https://nitter.poast.org/ElenaMarie1000/status/1841801696567332891#m:

          The media is presenting Jack Smith’s unsealed filing as “new evidence,” as if it is objective fact. In reality it is one side’s volley in the midst of a battle, and should not be viewed as objective “evidence” until Trump has exercised his 6th Amendment right to confront his accusers and lob his own volleys back. Have you ever heard gossip about someone, only to have that person present their side and the matter suddenly looked much different? That’s what’s going on here, except these corrupt liars want you to hear the damning gossip before you vote, and the rebuttal after the election is over.

          1. I don’t think it’s going to move any votes. By now, everyone has an opinion on 2020/J6 and they aren’t going to change it. There are bigger events to pay attention to. There’s war in the Middle East and flooding aftermath in Appalachia.

            The longshoreman strike might hit harder than we think too. Oil is up over $3 bbl which is going to raise gas prices just in time for the election.

          2. By now, everyone has an opinion on 2020/J6 and they aren’t going to change it.

            I was seeing calls for DJT to withdraw from the election over this ridiculousness.

          3. They also think that Vance didn’t answer the J6 question because he was afraid that DJT “would throw him overboard.” Yo, Vance was locked in like the day he was chosen at the RNC convention. His name is on the ballot that’s on my kitchen table right now. Silly nonces.

  16. How can you have this much mayhem right before the election.
    They are reporting more potential pandemics also.
    And this timing on the longshoremen strike is suspicious.
    Add to this escalation of
    World War, and it’s just overwhelming.
    Biden/Harris administration has been a joke , that has affected the US in the most negative ways in every realm.
    And add to everything that they want to prevent parents from protecting their children from transgenger intervention by gov.

    1. The longshoreman strike has Special K between a rock and a hard place. If she lets them strike, then prices, including for gas, go up just in time for the election. If she tries to intervene, she will lose the longshoreman’s union.

    2. And this timing on the longshoremen strike is suspicious.
      If this doesn’t get solved and people stop getting their “bananas” (seems to be the go to example) Harris could lose some votes.
      One commentator suggested that Biden didn’t mandate a 60 day required cooling off arbitration because he is still p$ssed at being run out of town and is trying to hurt Harris.

          3. All on Twitter/X

            Elon Musk: How many people in music & entertainment knew about this?

            Azealia Banks: BITCH YOU KNEW ABOUT IT DIDDY IS ONE OF YOUR INVESTORS AND U WAS CHILLIN WITH GHISLANE HO

            Aubrey O’Day: ..ask your friends, they will tell you.

  17. The Fed can’t print oil. If geopolitical tensions heat up in the Middle East, prices at the pump are going to rise just in time for the elections, which will make it harder for the Biden-Harris regime & the Fed to keep lying about the true rate of inflation as the “cost of living crisis” bites deeper. Got gold? Got silver?

    https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/@CL.1

  18. I pray that i will never see nor hear anything about this woman again, when this ‘election’ is over. But i prayed that about Cankles also. A sad sad situation…and it’s getting more absurd.

      1. A sad sad situation…and it’s getting more absurd.

        Elton John reference from “Sorry Seems to Be the Hardest Word.”

    2. I wouldn’t worry. Cankles had a lot more IQ points, power, and ambition going in.

      As for Special K, I’m debating whether she even wants to go through with this. Look at her lackluster efforts in NC. Presidentin’ is hard werk and I think she knows she’s not up to it.

      1. She won’t be Presidentin’ anymore than Joe is, but I agree she’s not even up for what he’s had to do.

  21. Mayor Mike Johnston cut funding for the Denver Basic Income Project, an experimental program that provides no-strings-attached cash to unhoused people in the city. Over 800 people experiencing homelessness have received unconditional cash payments of up to $1,000 a month from the more than $10.5 million directed toward the program since its 2021 launch.

    The “limited results” from the one-year report weren’t compelling enough to make room for the project in an already historically slim spending plan, according to the mayor’s office.

    “Unfortunately, the data … did not show a statistically significant difference in homelessness resolution between the groups that received large cash transfers and those who did not,” Johnston’s spokesperson, Jordan Fuja, told Axios Denver in a statement.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/denver-s-mayor-pulls-support-for-basic-income-program-sparking-protests/ar-AA1rDmzr

    1. “Unfortunately, the data … did not show a statistically significant difference in homelessness resolution between the groups that received large cash transfers and those who did not,
      But did the group getting the money do statistically significantly more and better drugs than those not getting the money?

    2. Note to self: continue NOT generating sales tax revenue for the City of Denver.

      Sadly, I had to buy some #3 wire this week from a supply house in Denver for a side job, Home Depot doesn’t stock #3.

  22. Africa roads among world’s deadliest despite few cars

    Africa has the fewest roads and cars of any region, and yet the largest ratio of vehicle deaths, caused by the usual suspects — unsafe habits, speeding and drinking — but also poor infrastructure, scant rescuers and old cars.

    As everywhere, speed, alcohol and not wearing a seat belt or helmet are among the main causes of death and injury, say experts.

    But in Africa, where there are 620 traffic deaths every day, these problems are compounded by bad roads, outdated vehicles, minimal prosecutions and a shortage of emergency services.

    A recent World Health Organisation report found that Africa surpassed the rest of the world, including Southeast Asia — which recorded the most road deaths — with a record ratio of 19.5 people killed per 100,000 inhabitants in 2021.

    Home to only around four percent of the world’s automobiles, Africa accounted for 19 percent of road deaths last year. “What is worrying is the upward trend in Africa,” said Jean Todt, a former head of the International Automobile Federation and now the United Nations(UN) special envoy for road safety.

    The continent is the only region where road deaths increased between 2010 and 2021 — up 17 percent to 226,100. The spike was seen in more than half of Africa’s countries (28 out of 54).

    The biggest victims are pedestrians, accounting for a third of fatalities due to a lack of adequate pavements, compared to 21 percent worldwide.

    A transport ministry spokesperson in Senegal told AFP that faulty brakes and worn tires were common — and often deadly. “The dilapidated state of vehicles is a major factor in the lack of safety,” the spokesperson said.

    The West African country introduced a raft of new rules after a head-on crash between two night buses in January 2023 killed 40 people. “But most have never been implemented,” the ministry spokesperson admitted.

    Some rules, such as a ban on loading luggage on the roof of buses, which could unbalance the vehicle, were fiercely opposed by operators. It does not help that drivers can often get a licence with only perfunctory lessons and testing — often avoided altogether with a bribe.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/africa-roads-among-worlds-deadliest-despite-few-cars/ar-AA1rz0Pp

  24. Car makers slash EV prices, suspend production and extend petrol model availability as electric demand wanes

    The global downturn in sales of EVs has been triggered by a cocktail of diverging policies on green incentives, range and charge anxiety among drivers and the fact prices haven’t come down as much as experts had forecast.

    As such, 2024 has been awash with a wave of U-turns by legacy car firms in response to a lower-than-expected appetite for electric vehicles.

    Analysis of EV registrations across Europe in August showed the largest annual decline in more than seven years following what has been dubbed a ‘spectacular’ collapse in sales in Germany and France.

    According to JATO Dynamics’ data for 28 European markets, a total of 125,070 EV units were registered in the eighth month of the year, marking a 36 per cent fall in year-on-year sales – the biggest deceleration recorded since January 2017.

    Felipe Munoz, a global analyst at the company, said the motor industry is braced to face further challenges in the coming months as buyers are ‘still grappling with the pressure to make the switch to electric, and EVs continue to be more expensive than already-pricey combustion engine cars’.

    He added: ‘Appetite for EVs among consumers is quickly diminishing. There are many factors contributing to this, including the lack of clarity around incentives, high prices and concerns around the low residual value of EVs.’

    https://www.msn.com/en-in/autos/news/car-makers-slash-ev-prices-suspend-production-and-extend-petrol-model-availability-as-electric-demand-wanes/ar-AA1rCxyI

  25. Stellantis CEO Carlos Tavares on Thursday left the door open for possible cuts to its dividend and share buybacks next year and brushed off problems with its U.S. business that led to a major profit warning this week as a “small operational error”.

    Shares in the owner of the Chrysler, Jeep, Fiat, Citroen and Peugeot brands have tumbled more than 55% since March, the worst performance among European autos stocks and slashing 47 billion euros ($52 billion) off the company’s valuation.

    Kevin Thozet, a member of the investment committee at asset manager Carmignac, said European automakers were “falling like autumn leaves”, with Stellantis’ profit warning meaning a zero operating margin in the second half of this year.

    “This is a real blow to the investment thesis, as it could put the generous dividend at risk and will very likely imply saying ‘bye bye’ to buybacks,” Thozet said in a note.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/stellantis-shares-drop-over-2-102111360.html

  26. Uber, Lyft drivers use Teslas as makeshift robotaxis, raising safety concerns

    A self-driving Tesla carrying a passenger for Uber rammed into an SUV at an intersection in suburban Las Vegas in April, an accident that sparked new concerns that a growing stable of self-styled “robotaxis” is exploiting a regulatory gray area in U.S. cities, putting lives at risk.

    Tesla CEO Elon Musk aims to show off plans for a robotaxi, or self-driving car used for ride-hailing services, on Oct. 10, and he has long contemplated a Tesla-run taxi network of autonomous vehicles owned by individuals.

    Do-it-yourself versions, however, are already proliferating, according to 11 ride-hail drivers who use Tesla’s Full Self-Driving (FSD) software. Many say the software, which costs $99 per month, has limitations, but that they use it because it helps reduce drivers’ stress and therefore allows them to work longer hours and earn more money.

    Reuters is first to report about the Las Vegas accident and a related inquiry by federal safety officials, and of the broad use by ride-hail drivers of Tesla autonomous software.

    The other driver in the April 10 Las Vegas accident, who was taken to the hospital, was faulted for failing to yield the right of way, according to the police report. The Las Vegas Tesla driver, Justin Yoon, said on YouTube the Tesla software failed to slow his vehicle even after the SUV emerged from a blind spot created by another vehicle.

    The Tesla on FSD navigated the vehicle at 46 mph (74 kph) and did not initially register a sport-utility vehicle crossing the road in front of Yoon. At the last moment, Yoon took control and turned the car into a deflected hit, the footage shows.

    “It’s not perfect, it’ll make mistakes, it will probably continue to make mistakes,” Yoon said in a post-crash video. Yoon and his passenger suffered minor injuries and the car was totaled, he said.

    https://finance.yahoo.com/news/uber-lyft-drivers-teslas-makeshift-100426489.html

    1. Waymo is quickly becoming a dangerous proposition. What they don’t tell you is you are locked in when the ride starts and if certain people want to stop your car all they have to do is stand around it. Currently they are just tagging the car as you sit there helpless but soon they will be breaking out the windows and making demands. As one viewer noted, this sh!t is gonna happen waymo.

      Women surrounded:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yilJPJwg3AA

      Longer view of dude with lap dog trying to play it cool:
      https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3raBGyOV8Lg

      It’s pretty clear where this is headed; window smash and robbery. The Waymo will conveniently remain stopped for your safety. 🙂

  27. Late payments to nonprofits hamper California’s fight against homelessness

    California’s homeless service providers have a problem: They aren’t getting paid on time, and it’s making it even harder for them to get people off the street.

    Nonprofits that provide everything from shelter beds, to counseling for homeless residents, to affordable housing, say they regularly are kept waiting weeks, if not months, for the city, county and state funding they rely on. That means they’re struggling to pay their employees, make rent payments for their clients, and, in some cases, even keep the lights on. Some are turning down new projects despite the massive need for services in their communities. Others are borrowing to stay afloat, ending up paying tens of thousands of dollars each month in interest — money they would rather spend on helping homeless Californians. It’s hampering the state’s efforts to solve what is arguably its biggest problem: Nearly 186,000 people have nowhere to call home.

    Why are nonprofits missing millions of dollars? It’s the kind of problem that’s a hallmark of bureaucracy.

    When a city opens a new shelter or housing program, it lacks the capacity to run the program itself, so it contracts with a nonprofit that has expertise working with unhoused clients. The nonprofits who provide these services told CalMatters that because city officials are trying to move quickly, they sometimes set up the program and start providing services immediately — even before a formal contract is signed. The nonprofit can’t get reimbursed for the services it’s already provided until that contract is finalized, which can take months.

    But even when a contract is drawn up right away, it generally requires the nonprofit to start work before getting paid, and then send an invoice to the city asking for reimbursement. That process can get bogged down in delays at multiple levels.

    First, drafting invoices is onerous and time-consuming, requiring the nonprofit to account for every penny spent. Next, the city or county has to go over each invoice with a fine-tooth comb, which can take weeks or months. Finding any problems means the process starts over.

    Delays also crop up when the city is waiting for state funding to pay its contracts.

    Santa Cruz County usually pays its invoices within two to four weeks, said Robert Ratner, director of Housing for Health for the county. But if there’s a problem with the invoice, payment could be delayed another month.

    Multiple nonprofits CalMatters spoke with said they’ve had to take out high-interest loans to fill the gaps while they’re waiting for government funds. The People Concern, which provides homeless services in Los Angeles County, is paying $63,000 a month in interest on its lines of credit. The nonprofit will never get that money back, even when its government checks come in.

    “That’s $63,000 a month we should just be burning, because we can’t be compensated for it,” said CEO John Maceri.

    Funding delays also are hampering Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass’ signature effort to get Angelenos off the streets. Through the program dubbed Inside Safe, the city contracts with nonprofits to move people from encampments into hotels.

    PATH was one of the nonprofits that jumped at the chance to participate, back when the program first launched in 2022. But lately, CEO Jennifer Hark Dietz is more wary. As of last month, the city owed her organization close to $7 million for its work on Inside Safe. The city, under recent pressure from local nonprofits to speed up its reimbursements, paid off some of that last week. But it still owes PATH $1.18 million for work done in June, Dietz said.

    Now, to avoid over-extending her organization, she’s having to make hard choices. She’s started refusing when the city asks her to take on new Inside Safe locations before a contract is in place.

    Sometimes, the state government is to blame for these delays. In April, Gov. Gavin Newsom awarded his latest round of grants through the Encampment Resolution Fund, a program that doles out state money to help cities and counties clear encampments and move camp occupants indoors. Marin County, which won an $18 million grant, was told to expect the contract in July, said Gary Naja-Riese, director of the county’s Whole Person Care and Homelessness Division. Instead, the document kept getting delayed, and now it’s been five months and no one has yet to see a penny. The state finally sent out the contracts last month, but it’s unclear when the money will come through.

    That’s created a big headache in Santa Barbara County. The county won a nearly $8 million grant to clear 21 vehicle encampments, and it contracted with nonprofit New Beginnings to do the work of connecting with people living in cars and RVs, offering them services and moving them into housing. New Beginnings got straight to work as soon as its contract with the county was signed in June, and so far has moved at least 23 people into shelter and another six into permanent housing. They couldn’t afford to wait: the grant has a strict timeline, requiring recipients to spend half the money by June 30, 2025, or risk losing it.

    But New Beginnings has yet to be paid for that work. The nonprofit has had to borrow money — $350,000 so far, at a 9.5% interest rate — to make ends meet in the meantime, said Executive Director Kristine Schwarz. She’s worried borrowing too much more will plunge her organization into a hole it can’t get out of. So she’s pulling back on the services she offers. That means she’s leaving people on the street because she can’t afford a hotel room for them, she said.

    “I can’t just continue to spend money without any idea of when we’re going to get reimbursed,” Schwarz said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/late-payments-to-nonprofits-hamper-california-s-fight-against-homelessness/ar-AA1rxlcF

    1. ^ The Homeless Industrial Complex.

      The organizations may be non profit, but their employees aren’t working for free.

      1. “…but their employees aren’t working for free….”

        From KFI 640AM radio a few weeks back.

        Fun Factoid: Of the top 10 ‘non-profit’ homeless organizations in the Los Angeles area, the average CEO salary is north of $800K.

        I’m sure handing out water bottles, taking surveys and writing reports must take some super rare management skills.

        Another Thursday, another scam.

    2. Late payment news? Did you hear about the BrOakland A’s ballpark? The africans have already missed their first payment! The city is supposed to immediately start cutting services but the ‘brother in charge’ claims they will make the payment this week if the city will just agree to postpone all other payments until next June. I’m sure it will be fine.

        1. Sports coliseums have always been a sore spot on public budgets when the bonds issued for these projects go into default leaving the general public liable for the difference.

  28. Another homeless encampment has been set up on Notre-Dame Street East, and it is growing bigger each day. The tent city is similar to the one that appeared during the pandemic and was taken down by the City of Montreal for safety reasons.

    Now, nearby residents say they are upset by the homeless presence, but few blame the campers for the situation. “They live there, and once temperature drops, some will die,” said a man who is upset at the city’s lack of action.

    In a statement, the City of Montreal said, “We have teams in the field trying to direct these people towards appropriate resources (…) But the only solution is the construction of more housing units.” Moreover, the city said it needs more financing from the province to deal with the issue.

    https://montreal.ctvnews.ca/homeless-encampment-grows-on-notre-dame-street-prompting-concern-and-calls-for-action-1.7060370

  29. The first and only radio debate featuring British Columbia’s party leaders ahead of the election saw them joust over affordability, health care and the opioid crisis, while trying to undermine each other’s credibility to form the next provincial government.

    Wednesday’s debate on Vancouver radio station CKNW brought NDP Leader David Eby, B.C. Conservative Leader John Rustad and Green Party Leader Sonia Furstenau into the same room for the first time on the campaign trail ahead of the Oct. 19 vote.

    The fractious and freewheeling hour-long debate hosted by Mike Smyth was conducted with open microphones, and the leaders frequently spoke over each other.

    Rustad said his party would “go after the source” of gun and gang violence by preventing weapons from entering B.C. through its ports.

    “Look, we have a premier who actually wrote the book entitled ‘how to sue the police,'” Rustad said, referring to The Arrest Handbook, a legal guidebook co-authored by Eby for the Pivot Legal Society before entering politics. “You cannot take his advice on how to tackle crime.”

    Furstenau said during the debate that her own party was putting forward “serious candidates,” and that “there is a problem with candidates in the Conservative slate.”

    She said the province needed people who did not use “Twitter and conspiracy theories” to guide their thinking.

    When discussion turned to the opioid crisis, Rustad said the NDP’s policies of “safe supply and decriminalization have failed,” and the B.C. Conservatives would bring a “common-sense approach” to the issue.

    He said safe consumption sites would be turned into “recovery intake sites,” and that under Eby the government had become “one of the biggest drug dealers in the province.”

    https://bc.ctvnews.ca/b-c-party-leaders-tussle-over-affordability-conspiracy-theories-in-radio-debate-1.7059177

  30. Crackdown On Unlicensed Cannabis Shops Triggers Alarm For Landlords

    D.C.’s new era of cannabis regulation is here, and that means the days are numbered for a retail market that has operated in a gray area for the past decade.

    After opening up the regulated cannabis market last year — lifting the cap on medical licenses and allowing anyone over 21 to self-certify for a medical card — city officials are moving ahead to deal with the nearly 100 unlicensed cannabis retailers that remain open.

    And if their landlords don’t take action to remove the illegal shops, they may be held accountable.

    Following legislation the D.C. Council passed in January, the Alcoholic Beverage and Cannabis Administration can now issue fines of more than $10K to property owners with unlicensed cannabis tenants.

    The agency has ramped up its enforcement of cannabis retailers and their landlords after the council passed emergency legislation in July clarifying ABCA’s authority to conduct inspections and gave the agency “clear statutory authority” to close businesses and seize contraband cannabis.

    On Tuesday, the council unanimously voted to make both those pieces of legislation permanent.

    “To be able to look at what is going to motivate people to follow the law and get into compliance and get into licensure, you’ve got to understand that the landlords have skin in this game too,” Ward 6 Councilmember Charles Allen, who introduced the January bill, told Bisnow.

    The crackdown is also a matter of safety. With the unregulated market, there is no oversight determining where the product comes from or what is in it.

    “We’ve had cannabis seized laced with fentanyl. Like, this is dangerous stuff,” Allen said. “And so for people who do want to consume, we’ve got a tested and a trusted marketplace in the legal cannabis businesses, and that’s where people should be going.”

    https://www.bisnow.com/washington-dc/news/cannabis/crackdown-on-unlicensed-cannabis-shops-sounds-alarm-for-landlords-126137

  31. South Bay family searches for answers after mother is killed in Mexico

    A South Bay family is grieving the loss of their loved one who they say was murdered during a trip to Mexico.

    The family of 41-year-old Erica Gamino, a divorced mother of five who grew up in San Jose, said when she left on a trip to Tijuana with her boyfriend in early August, it would turn out to be the last time they ever saw her.

    Gamino’s ex-husband called her family and told them he had identified her badly decomposed body, which was found along a road, and added he was told by police she had an apparent gunshot wound. Tijuana police said the boyfriend may also be a victim.

    Albert Gamino, Erica’s bother, said his family has spent most of the past month trying to find out more. Daniel Hoang, Erica’s cousin, said family members have gone back and forth to Mexico and can’t do much more. “Based on the embassy told us to do this, do this, do this, and we never have any answers, any clue,” he said. “It’s just, at this point, just bring her back home for her kids and for us.”

    Albert agreed. “I don’t think anything down there in Tijuana is gonna get solved. I really don’t,” he said. “Me and her kids have come to the realization that we don’t expect anything to come from Tijuana but her to be brought home.”

    https://www.nbcbayarea.com/news/local/south-bay/south-bay-family-mother-killed-mexico/3669694/

      1. Their new red diaper baby president was sworn in two days ago. She yammers about how her government will hire more people and will increase transfer payments. Ask her about the current state of lawlessness and you get crickets.

        There is an ongoing scandal that her predecessor has ignored. 43 teaching schools students were mass murdered near a town called Ayotzinapan in 2014. After ten years there are still no official suspects and the investigation has gone cold. The only thing unusual about this incident and its outcome was the number of victims.

        1. ** “There is an ongoing scandal that her predecessor has ignored. 43 teaching schools students were mass murdered near a town called Ayotzinapan in 2014. After ten years there are still no official suspects and the investigation has gone cold. The only thing unusual about this incident and its outcome was the number of victims.”

          Geez, absolutely horrific. . . oh say hun, what’s on Netflix? anymore of those thirsty Seekers of Blind Love ?! Cobra Kai do or die!?
          how ’bout more “Heartwarming Stories” . . . or mild mannered secret govt. assassins . . . and please oh please find us one of those deceptively titled “family movies” that switches the plot over after 20 minutes to reveal it’s REALLY about coming of age gay love, hoping that gosh darnnit middle america if you just give ’em a chance you’ll finally come around w/good story.

          wait, hold on, someone’s ON MY LAWN! GET MY SHOTGUN!!

          1. those deceptively titled “family movies” that switches the plot over after 20 minutes to reveal it’s REALLY about coming of age gay love

            This is why I don’t have subscriptions to Netflix, Hulu, HBOMax or any of the other streamers. There is simply nothing new that is worth watching. And it doesn’t matter how badly all the new stuff bombs (cough, The Acolyte) , they just keep making more.

            Swinging back to the previous subject, Mexico is descending into a state of lawlessness that is simply shocking. The cartels and organized crime rule most of the country, and the politicians in Mexico City pretend they are in charge, but they can’t even keep the highways leading out of Mexico City safe from hijackers and bandits, not even the toll roads.

  32. Opinion The Happy-Face Killer

    I’m inclined to trust my terrible instincts. Vance won, Walz lost. It’s hard not to feel buyer’s remorse on Kamala Harris’ behalf at this point. The other finalist to be her running mate was Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, a forceful speaker and a man with obvious appeal in a must-win state that’s currently dead even at 48.2 percent, if you can believe it. Walz hasn’t done Harris any harm but he hasn’t added much to the ticket either; even his television appearances, which put him on the political map during the VP audition process, have dried up. She should have picked Shapiro.

    Walz wasn’t the story on Tuesday night, though. Vance was, as he managed to achieve something very difficult: He made his party look … not “good,” exactly, but competent. Sober. Even decent. He put a happy face on Trumpism.

    On Tuesday we saw the “suburbs-whisperer” at last. “Anyone who feared that Trump 2.0 would be a mad ride into authoritarian chaos could listen to Vance’s soft-spoken policy pitch and feel reassured that there’d be some sweetness amid all the bitterness,” I wrote last month, imagining how Vance in “good cop” mode might help the ticket. That’s the Vance we got at the debate—very demure, very mindful, to borrow a meme of recent vintage.

    I imagined nationalist intellectuals and the “reformicons” of yesteryear watching intently on Tuesday, their eyes aglow, as Vance realized their vision of Trumpism without Trump and populist policy without populist culture. Here at last was a man from their own class, of their own educated sensibility, making a calm, measured case for the MAGA agenda without the demagogic histrionics that unfailingly accompany it. Even some Democrats were cheered: “I Have Seen the Republican Future—and It’s Less Terrible Than Trump,” Damon Linker announced afterward.

    If you squinted hard while watching, you could imagine Vance expanding Trump’s coalition in 2028, offering populist red meat to keep the base happy with a patina of intellectualism that might entice wayward college graduates into returning to the GOP. Or, if you were feeling really good, you might convince yourself that J.D.’s latest incarnation as a Trump bootlicker extraordinaire is just another way station on his political journey and that “the real Vance” will emerge once he’s free from his patron’s influence.

    In 2028, with Trump retired, J.D. 5.0 might reinvent himself as the sort of populist-conservative fusion candidate of whom right-wing intellectuals dream and which Ron DeSantis tried but failed this year to be. Perhaps the toxic, juvenile race-baiting about Haitian pet-eaters will be quietly retired and replaced by more respectable passions like whether, ackshually, tariffs are good.

    Respectable Trumpism: As of Tuesday night, that’s Vance’s political “brand.”

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/happy-face-killer-214937222.html

    1. ** “She should have picked Shapiro.”

      You say Shapiro
      I say Sha-pyro
      You say Joe Potato
      I say Joe Po-tahto
      Shapiro, Sha-pyro
      Potato, Po-tahto
      Let’s call the whole thing off!

      (apologies to George & Ira G.)

  33. A reader sent these in:

    Folks really don’t understand how much of the housing affordability crisis lies at the feet of the Federal Reserve…it’s not a coincidence or accident, it’s an ongoing choice. (Oops…updated and reposted this chart with fully updated median home sales prices…).

    https://x.com/Econimica/status/1841704693598454220

    The real joke is central banks printing money like it’s a Dora the Explorer coloring book, then feigning surprise at the mess they’ve created. Who’s the real clown?

    https://x.com/ColdsireSetup/status/1841588369383686577

    The Bank of England is warning about a global asset bubble after implementing QE, which helped create inflation and asset bubbles.

    What is the final punchline? Taxpayers in the UK are on the hook for BILLIONS for QE. Comedians would have a heyday if they understood this stuff.

    https://x.com/GoldTelegraph_/status/1841449036265484617

    Wrong answers only: How did he get caught?

    https://x.com/GayBearRes/status/1841648626147164265

    Unemployment rates rose in 81% of metropolitan areas Y/Y in Aug, while payrolls increased in only 15% of metro areas; growth in the labor market continues to be confined to only a small number of geographical locations w/ all net job growth being part-time work:

    https://x.com/RealEJAntoni/status/1841491014407586209

    In 2007, out of 54 economists, only 2 expected a recession.

    On average they projected the economy would grow 2.1% from Q4 2007 to the end of 2008.

    As we know 2007-2009 ended up in the most severe recession since the Great Depression of the 1930s

    https://x.com/GlobalMktObserv/status/1841636786839191580

    “🇨🇦 banks face growing risk of collapse as digital-age bank runs loom.”

    https://x.com/ShaziGoalie/status/1841608617524441475

    🇨🇦 should pay attention to Toronto rn.

    – money laundering in TO & Van. Who cares? Not your problem.

    – easy laundering led gangs to expand into car thefts. Not your prob.

    – criminals captured TO & now try to kill its cops. They’re ready to expand & that WILL be your problem.

    https://x.com/StephenPunwasi/status/1841629461885706365

    73% OF AMAZON EMPLOYEES ARE CONSIDERED QUITTING IN RESPONSE TO AMAZON SAYING THAT THEY WILL HAVE TO START WORKING FROM THE OFFICE 5 DAYS A WEEK PER FORBES

    https://x.com/gurgavin/status/1841514039135863287

    Downward revisions in jobs data are now the most prevalent since the 2008 Financial Crisis:

    16 out of the last 19 jobs reports have been revised downward.

    This year alone, 6 out of the last 7 reports have been revised lower by a total of 372,000 jobs.

    To put this into perspective, in 2007 and 2008 we saw downward revisions in 17 out of 24 monthly jobs reports.

    If the current streak continues, this will exceed the frequency of revisions seen in one of the most severe recessions in modern history.

    https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1841559200935116911

    REI faces challenges with revenue softening and a $311M loss in 2023. The co-op must generate $1.5B in the last 18 weeks of 2024 to break even.

    https://x.com/dedkatbouns/status/1841487763696463983

    California home sellers are now allowing buyers to back out of deals due to the state’s worsening insurance crisis.

    https://x.com/dedkatbouns/status/1841485542657306980

    “🇨🇦 Consumer Debt Bomb is Ticking”

    134,466 insolvencies in 12 months, and it’s only getting worse.

    https://x.com/ShaziGoalie/status/1841588808401268876

    🚨🚨BRAMPTON, CANADA

    HAD THE LARGEST PERCENTAGE OF FOREIGN BORN RESIDENTS

    OF ANY CITY, IN THE ENTIRE WORLD….. in 2021.

    2025 census is gonna be an eye-opener for many.

    https://x.com/Tablesalt13/status/1841204443343372449

    Active housing inventory for sale, by September

    Sep. 2017 -> 1,308,607
    Sep. 2018 -> 1,301,922
    Sep. 2019 -> 1,224,868
    Sep. 2020 -> 749,395
    Sep. 2021 -> 578,070
    Sep. 2022 -> 731,496
    Sep. 2023 -> 702,430
    Sep. 2024 -> 940,980

    https://x.com/ResidentialClub/status/1841870742859772363

    An 10-story office building in Portland recently sold for ~$3.3M or a shocking $33 per sq ft!

    The seller acquired the building for $10M in 2018 and reportedly spent ~$30M renovating the 100k SF building

    https://x.com/TripleNetInvest/status/1841835490561151090

    Ladies and gentlemen: I present to you the largest and dumbest illiquid market in the world.

    https://x.com/GayBearRes/status/1841823294120394820

    1. “Unemployment rates rose in 81% of metropolitan areas Y/Y in Aug”

      Paul Krugman muh best economy ever.

  34. October surprise breaking news.

    “A federal judge will let expire a temporary restraining order against the Biden administration’s sweeping new student loan forgiveness plan, which could deliver relief to tens of millions of Americans.

    The ruling means President Joe Biden may move forward with his administration’s student loan forgiveness plan, just weeks before the November election.”

    https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/03/student-loan-forgiveness-plan-goes-ahead-biden.html

    So I’ll be getting a refund check, right?

  35. Feds say there’s no money left to respond to hurricanes — after FEMA spent $640M on migrants

    By Steven Nelson
    Published Oct. 3, 2024, 1:35 p.m. ET

    WASHINGTON — Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas set off outrage Wednesday when he told reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “does not have the funds” to see Americans through the rest of this Atlantic hurricane season — after draining his department’s emergency kitty this year to address the migrant crisis.

    “We are meeting the immediate needs with the money that we have,” Mayorkas said during a press gaggle on Air Force One en route to tour damage from Hurricane Helene in South and North Carolina.

    “We are expecting another hurricane hitting,” he added. “We do not have the funds. FEMA does not have the funds to make it through the season and what — what is imminent.”

    https://nypost.com/2024/10/03/us-news/feds-say-theres-no-money-left-to-respond-to-hurricanes-after-fema-used-640-9m-this-year-on-migrants/

    1. America Last

      Greg Price
      @greg_price11

      Lets check in on our government:

      Biden announced a new $2.4B aid package to Ukraine last week while Kamala announced today that victims of Hurricane Helene will get a mere $750.

      Oh, and FEMA doesn’t have enough money to make it through hurricane season yet spent $640M on illegal aliens.

      9:17 PM · Oct 2, 2024
      ·
      https://x.com/greg_price11/status/1841648660335218852

    2. “…Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas set off outrage Wednesday when he told reporters that the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) “does not have the funds…”

      What?, Me Worry?
      Out of Money?
      We will just print up some more.

      Nothing to see here, ladies and gentlemen.
      Move along now, its getting close to my quitin’ time.

  36. How Real Americans Celebrate Halloween

    Hickok45 Clips

    29 minutes ago

    Original Upload: • Pumpkin Shoot ( Giant pumpkin)
    ————————————————————————– Yes, this channel is created and managed by Hickok45 and John, mainly John. The video clips on this channel are segments of videos taken from videos originally posted on the Hickok45 YouTube channel. John always includes a link to the original video from which the clip is taken.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-BPclHXqqE

    1:46.

  38. ‘How will that impact you?’ asked WPTV reporter Joel Lopez. ‘I can’t pay that, I have to leave, [live on] the streets, sleep in the car,’ Duharte said. ‘I don’t know what I’ll do’

    UHS says you can always sell Arturo.

  39. ‘Many residents, though, have said they are facing costs closer to $100,000 from the last few weeks’ events, which left them scrambling to fortify homes’ foundations, switch to off-grid solar energy and convert natural gas lines to propane. ‘These residents are going through hell and, up until now, they have shouldered the financial burden of this landslide entirely on their own’

    It’s still way cheaper than renting Janice.

  40. ‘It’s been a really stressful situation’…Webb paid $166,000 to builder ZeroSquared for a tiny home, which was supposed to be ready in 60 days. That was a year ago and it’s still not done. Now, the seven-year-old company says it’s closing shop and giving customers a week to pick up their unfinished homes. ‘They got my $166,000 right from the start and I believe they might have used that for other builds before mine and, you know, it’s frustrating’

    Have you heard of robbing Peter to pay Paul Amanda? Yer the last Peter.

  41. ‘gone into liquidation after racking up almost $1.5million in debt- leaving customers in the lurch waiting for faulty builds to be rectified. Melbourne-based company Argyle Building Services was placed into administration on August 23 owing $1,474,932 to 55 creditors…Salloum, blamed ‘numerous unpaid invoices’ from developers who similarly became insolvent for his company’s collapse. Mr Salloum claimed that developers ‘simply refused to pay’ the debts which exceeded $2million. ‘In a nutshell, whatever could’ve gone wrong, did go wrong’

    This is a point I’d like to make here Sam, if I may. Yes, cascading defaults are common in the shack biz. That’s what yer describing. I will note that for a year and a half the Australian media (cough)™ has consistently said it was to the moon Alice! While thousands of companies and FBs like you went under. How could it be red hotcakes with all these shacks builders taking a sh$t and FB stories galore?

    They were a lion Sam. It’s been crater for a long time now and Australian media (cough)™ are now are announcing that multiple times a day.

  42. ‘One tradie admitted that after a client refused to let him use the bathroom, he retaliated by saving his poo and incorporating it in the renovation. ‘I double-bagged it. Threw it in the wall with the insulation and sheeted over it,’ he confessed’

    ‘Horrifyingly, a renderer admitted that when he was working on a site where there was no bathroom for miles, he defecated into a bucket and then mixed his poo with concrete and used it to finish off the walls. ‘I got on with the job, and now every time I drive past that house, I think they have literal sh*t built into their walls’

    It’s a Klassy with a K business.

  43. ‘The huge volumes of trading — around $369 billion in shares bought and sold on Monday — has drawn comparisons to an even bigger rally in 2015, when valuations hit their highest level on record. Then, similarly frenzied trading, stoked in part by Chinese state media, ended soon afterward with a rout that wiped out a third of the Shanghai market’s value in a month’

    I think it was in 2016 and Xitler ginned up a Garlic bubble that convinced me this was not a serious country. There have been so many contrived bubbles besides the housing mania: which is the most epic of all! They had a commodities bubble where cotton went insane on speculative futures markets and immediately crashed, just to mention one. Stampeding people into stocks, then bonds. All guberment/media contrived and widely reported in the US media at the time. They don’t scrutinize Chine like that now, which is interesting.

    But the garlic bubble was the final straw. It was just too silly.

  44. Homeowners Shielded From Tough Reality (York Region Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate

    12 minutes ago VAUGHAN

    In this episode, we look at the current Vaughan Home Prices, Richmond Hill Home Prices & Markham Home Prices and real estate market trends for the week ending Sept 25, 2024. We also discuss the reality that many homeowners are in right now, where they might be facing financial difficulties, but support from someone else might be keeping them away from the real trouble that could arise.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqseCGlT1Sw

    12 minutes.

  45. Was there a time during the GFC when banks stopped lending for mortgages? If so, where are we relatively?

    1. A case can be made that they mostly stopped funding mortgages during the GFC because the majority of the market was taken over by government guarantees through Freddie and Fannie etc. A case can also be made that they never really got back in because the market is still dominated by government guarantees. The banks rarely hold any of the residential loans, in fact, during the scamdemic the ‘federal reserve’ bought up 4 trillion in mortgage backed securities and continues to hold them on their books. Their refusal to sell any is one of the main reasons prices are staying so high when they should be falling. The market has become extremely contrived. The big question is what is it going to take to get their boot off our necks? Can this go on indefinitely? Stay tuned…

      1. I appreciate the reminder. MBSs are the real problem. Perhaps I should have asked if liquidity ever dried up during the GFC.

    1. The thing that gets me is that the Tories were all onboard with the green insanity. The short lived Truss government lifted the ban on fracking, and as soon as her fellow Tories replaced her with Sunak the fracking ban was reinstated. With friend like that, who needs enemies?

  47. Jacques Offenbach – Barcarolle from The Tales of Hoffmann, Belle nuit, ô nuit d’amour

    Akademia Filmu i Telewizji

    10 years ago

    Polish Nationwide Music Schools’ Symphonic Orchestras Competition 2014

    Julia Pietrusewicz – soprano
    Katarzyna Radon – mezzo-soprano
    Artur Wrobel – conductor
    Symphony Orchestra of the Ryszard Bukowski Secondary Music School in Wroclaw

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R-MbbebSQjQ

    5 minutes.

  48. On X, formerly Twitter, Vance shared:

    ‘Given the current low inventory of affordable housing, the inflow of new immigrants to some geographic areas could result in upward pressure on rents.’”

  49. James O’Keefe
    @JamesOKeefeIII

    BREAKING:
    @MSNBC Producer Admits MSNBC Is ‘Doing All They Can to Help’ the Harris Campaign

    During an undercover date with an OMG journalist, Basel Hamdan (
    @BaselYHamdan), a writer and producer for MSNBC’s show “Ayman,” (
    @AymanMSNBC) was asked what the network has done to assist the Kamala Harris campaign. Hamdan revealed on hidden camera that “what her [Harris’s] message of the day is, is their message of the day,” as MSNBC actively pushes Harris’s narrative to help her win. He admitted that MSNBC is doing “all they can to help,” Harris get elected, with the network operating as an extension of the campaign. He went on to say, “MSNBC is indistinguishable from the party,” further highlighting their partisan agenda.

    In discussing the relationships between the MSNBC hosts and Democratic politicians, Hamdan reveals, ”The anchor and the politician are just in total agreement about everything.” He adds, “If you watch an interview with a Democratic politician, they just finish each other’s sentences.”

    Hamdan also didn’t shy away from criticizing the network’s audience, stating, “They’ve made their viewers dumber over the years,” and explaining that MSNBC is “too cozy with Democratic politicians.”

    @AymanM @MSNBCPR @KamalaHarris @VP @KamalaHQ

    2:59 / 11:46
    5:56 PM · Oct 3, 2024

    https://x.com/JamesOKeefeIII/status/1841960488403423691

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