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A Lot Of Sellers Are Still Expecting 2021 Prices

It’s Friday desk clearing time for this blogger. “‘I’ve already called the Realtor,’ said Cindy Phillips. ‘It’s the fear of the storm. Are we going to have a home after? What are we going to do if we don’t? We’re getting too old to be in Florida.’ Three hurricanes is too much. I can’t do it anymore.’ Several of her neighbors homes’ roofs had been ripped open, with pink insulation littering the small community located north of downtown Sarasota. The Phillips’ home only had some minor damage, if you overlooked the awning that had previously been torn away by a gust during Hurricane Helene last month. While most Jet Park Mobile Home residents in Palmetto are snowbirds, the park has been Mike Mitchell’s home year-round for the past decade. ‘I was struck by the sadness of seeing all the dreams of a lot of people vanish,’ Mitchell said.”

“Listed on Zillow is a stunning home on Anna Maria Island, on the coast of Manatee County in Florida. On Oct. 2, after Hurricane Helene made landfall, the price was slashed by $699,000 to $1.5 million. The description reads: ‘LARGE Price Reduction—SOLD AS IS—Seller attended to IMMEDIATELY After Hurricane Helene … Up to 36 inches drywall removed throughout entire house, dehumidifiers and fans started immediately and running 24 hours, hardwood floors and vapor barriers removed, all lower cabinets removed, all doors removed, all appliances and furniture removed, dried and sanitized (anti-fungal spray throughout entire house).'”

“So the question remains, would you buy it? For more people the answer is—not a chance. Florida is hurricane prone. We’ve always known this, but it could be impacting home sales in its coastal metropolitan areas. In West Palm Beach, pending home sales nose-dived almost 18%, the greatest decline experienced in any of the 50 most populous metropolitan areas. Then there’s Tampa, which saw pending home sales drop 15.5%. In Miami, pending home sales fell close to 15%. ‘That’s due partly to Hurricane Helene, but coastal Florida’s housing market has been slowing over the last several months as insurance and HOA [homeowners association] costs surge due to the increasing prevalence of climate disasters,’ the analysis stated. In July in Tampa, the number of condos for sale rose around 57% from a year earlier; prices, however, dropped 5%, a separate Redfin analysis found. The same was happening in Fort Lauderdale, Jacksonville, Miami, and Orlando.”

“The New Orleans Metropolitan Association of Realtors (NOMAR) hosted its annual Forecast Symposium. A major theme this year was Louisiana’s ongoing insurance crisis, which is severely affecting home sales and affordability. Those prices have made it very tough for some realtors to sell homes. That means less money is coming in. ‘To be honest, I used to do real estate full-time. I do not do it full-time anymore because it’s just too hard. I have a family as well. So, I can’t put everything on these deals happening, because I need them to happen. If they don’t happen, then my clients aren’t happy and then family isn’t happy,’ said Misty Frye of Frye & Melancon Realty in New Orleans.”

“Misty Frye has been an agent for 17 years and says the cost associated with a buying home in Louisiana can often put potential buyers on an emotional roller coaster. ‘People can be tearful, they’re upset. They think they’re getting to the finish line and then something comes up and it’s like, oh no, you can’t do it, the insurance blew it out of the water,’ Frye said.”

“For Eli Valdez, 2019 was a ‘very happy time,’ he said. He had become a first-time homeowner and gotten married. But not long after buying his first home in Windsor Park, a neighborhood in North Las Vegas, Valdez said things ‘just started to go wrong.’ The door to Valdez’s home had to be replaced because it wasn’t fitting correctly in the doorway. And sitting in his living room, Valdez said he could see that his house had become slanted. Barbara Carter, a resident of the historically Black neighborhood, said she and her husband bought their house in 1966. ‘We had dreams, plans that this is something that we would leave to our children. But now this dream is dead,’ Carter said in a public comment made in a meeting Thursday of the state’s Interim Finance Committee.”

“In Great Falls, several million-dollar homes have been lingering on the market for months, a stark contrast to the demand for affordable housing. As of August 2024, the median home price in the area was just over $300,000, reflecting a 3.3% drop since last year. ‘We’re seeing a lot of people coming to Montana for a different lifestyle, including retirees and military veterans,’ said Lynn Kenyon, broker and owner of Live In MT Real Estate. ‘Montana, especially areas like Great Falls, is still relatively affordable compared to places like Whitefish and Bozeman, which have become more like California in terms of cost. Sellers are in control right now. They often prefer buyers who don’t have to sell another property first.'”

“Boston homeowners face a 28% surge in their tax bills if the Massachusetts legislature fails to sign off on a proposal to temporarily raise commercial rates before the end of next month, Mayor Michelle Wu said. The city is particularly vulnerable to the nationwide slump in office demand because of its heavy reliance on property tax revenue and state restrictions on its ability to tap other funding sources. Commercial property values in Boston have fallen 7% in the current fiscal year, reflecting high vacancy rates in older and lower-quality office buildings amid the persistence of pandemic-era remote and hybrid work policies, Wu said. She said her proposal to temporarily increase the city’s rate ceiling for commercial properties relative to residential levies is meant to ease some of the sticker shock for homeowners and smooth out their bills. ‘When there are shifts and swings within either residential or commercial values, that can have a big impact,’ Wu said. ‘We want the environment to be predictable for residents and for businesses.’ The Boston office market is stabilizing, albeit at an elevated total vacancy rate of about 23%, according to third quarter data from Colliers.”

“What became Marin County’s largest tent encampment sparked city officials to pass sweeping limitations on encampments and led to a heated, yearlong legal battle between the city and its homeless residents. But on Thursday, city officials were finally disbanding the encampment, known as Camp Integrity. While some of the encampment’s residents will be forced to pick up their belongings and set up camp elsewhere, dozens have been offered a different alternative: a spot in the city’s new sanctioned camping area. A San Francisco Coalition on Homelessness 2020 survey found that more than half of respondents prefer a ‘legal camp with amenities’ over existing shelter options — experts say they have real downsides. Margot Kushel, director of UCSF’s Benioff Homelessness and Housing Initiative, said they ‘tend to be extraordinarily expensive without producing very good outcomes.'”

“That was the case for San Francisco. The city opened six sanctioned camping sites during the pandemic but found they were expensive to operate and unable to provide ‘the level of service and support needed for a successful shelter-type operation,’ according to Emily Cohen, spokesperson for San Francisco’s Department of Homelessness and Supportive Housing. San Francisco was paying more than $61,000 per tent per year — 2½ times the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco at that time. The city closed the last of its six sites in the spring 2023. In San Rafael, officials have allocated $2.2 million — or about $44,000 per tent — in state grants to operate the new sanctioned camp for a maximum of 18 months.”

“‘I am not going to let San Diego County turn into Los Angeles or San Francisco,’ former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer said in an interview. ‘Why are people leaving San Francisco? Because of the homelessness and all the crimes going on. Los Angeles is not the LA that I remember as a kid growing up. That’s why people are getting so angry.’ Long a coastal hub for tourism, biotech and defense contracting, San Diego’s woes mirror those unfolding across the state: There isn’t enough housing, homelessness is spiraling out of control and daily expenses from gas to groceries are becoming prohibitively expensive. Faulconer contends there’s been too much talk and too little action, particularly since he left his old job in 2020.”

“‘This is a f*cking disaster,’ Faulconer said on a recent afternoon, as he navigated a shanty town along the San Diego River by foot. Plywood structures and large piles of garbage surrounded the former mayor, who in a span of 10 minutes dropped five more F-bombs, as if to convey he knows that his genial reputation won’t get the job done. He walked over to another pile of junk and pronounced the mess a serious health emergency. ‘I did not allow this kind of garbage to happen. We cleaned up the whole river,’ said Faulconer, 57.”

“When Bruno Santos bought his three-bedroom condominium in northwest London last October, he wasn’t expecting to see an increase in his condo fees or to have to pay a reserve fund top-up payment. He is now considering selling. In less than a year, Santos’s monthly condo fees, also known as maintenance fees, increased by over 36 per cent. The fees first went from $399 to $499 a month when he moved in. Then in June, they climbed again to $545. The review also found the condo corporation’s reserve fund was too low. Board members sent a letter to all 14 units telling homeowners they needed to pay a $5,000 ‘Special Assessment’ fee on Oct. 1 to replenish the reserve fund.”

“‘They didn’t ask any homeowners about it,’ said Santos. ‘It’s not easy for anyone to have $5,000.’ Santos said he asked the board members if there was a payment plan option, but was declined. ‘Can I pay in five months $1,000 each month or something like that, they say no. You have to pay $5,000 by October, no matter what happens,’ he said. He said the situation has him considering moving out when his mortgage is up for renewal in a few years. ‘I don’t want to deal with this kind of situation in the future.'”

“395 Carlton St., Toronto. Asking price: $2,399,000 (June, 2024). Selling price: $2.3-million (July, 2024). Days on the market: 21. Agent Richard Silver sold a row house across from Riverdale Farm for $2.1-million three years ago without much trouble. This summer, in a changed market, he braced himself for a more drawn-out affair for its attached neighbour – this slightly larger, four-bedroom house at the end of the row. ‘I sold the house next door in a faster, COVID 2021 market, and it sold for a very high price and very quickly with multiple offers,’ said Mr. Silver, ‘but it’s different now.’ This seller wanted to wait as long as necessary for the right buyer, but was fortunate that an offer came through in three weeks. ‘We were quite active, when a lot on the market was not, because of pricing,’ said Mr. Silver. ‘A lot of sellers are still expecting 2021 prices.'”

“Spring has sprung, but green shoots of growth remain scarce across New Zealand Aotearoa’s housing market – for the time being. QV operations manager James Wilson said high levels of stock for sale on the market today were also having a dampening effect on prices. ‘Generally speaking, those who are in a position to purchase still have a raft of different options to choose from right now, especially within the main centres. So there isn’t so much pressure on prices currently, with more than enough houses for sale to meet the current level of demand. The cost of borrowing still remains relatively high, the cost of living is restrictive, and there are significant worries about job security – especially in Wellington.'”

“Employees of failed builder Imagine Building Concepts are angry and shocked by the company going into voluntary administration and disappointed at the absence of owners Tim and Sarah Staines. One staff member with a mortgage and planning a wedding said the news came as a kick in the guts. ‘We didn’t even find out from the owner but a third party, which was pretty, pretty shit,’ he said. ‘A few of the workers have families, and some of them just recently had their second child. I just feel for all the subcontractors working on our sites, and then they’re just not going to see any of that cash.’ The staff member was optimistic that with the high demand for skilled labour in the Canberra building industry, he and his colleagues should be able to find new jobs.”

“The Chinese government’s flurry of stimulus measures has upended the country’s stock markets. It has also brought potential home buyers back into the marketplace. Still, conversations with prospective home buyers suggest that uncertainty over Beijing’s policy direction has left many otherwise keen buyers with a sense of hesitancy, a reflection of the scar tissue that has built up after three years of falling prices and developer defaults. Price controls have also kept home prices from correcting to a level that would bring in potential buyers, economists say, prolonging the sluggishness in the market.”

“‘The minimum down payment and interest rates are indeed lower than before, but home prices are still too high,’ said a house hunter surnamed Zhang, who visited a property showroom with her husband in southwestern Beijing during the long holiday. Zhang, who works in Beijing’s Daxing district, was weighing an apartment unit by state-owned China Resources Land priced at around 50,000 yuan a square meter, equivalent to roughly $650 a square foot—more than 10 times the going rate in her hometown in the central Chinese province of Henan. ‘We’re not rushing into buying right now. After all, it would drain the savings of both our families,’ Zhang said. ‘I hope the government can eventually guide home prices down further.'”

Related Posts

Prices Singing A Sad Tune

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wgZJ8YQsCd8 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0iP7USGaaUI https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2aoyjVCEic https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EYp8f7dGxdo

This Post Has 108 Comments

  1. ‘When Bruno Santos bought his three-bedroom condominium in northwest London last October, he wasn’t expecting to see an increase in his condo fees or to have to pay a reserve fund top-up payment. He is now considering selling’

    Bruno lives in London, Ontario, in K-da. He also shows that HBB Pitfalls of Commie Urban Living™ are not just in Florida.

  2. ‘San Francisco was paying more than $61,000 per tent per year — 2½ times the median rent for a one-bedroom apartment in San Francisco at that time’

    And you wonder why there are so many tents.

    1. “…$61,000 per tent per year…”

      Can even begin to wrap my head around how is it possible to spend $61,000 per tent / year. That’s over $160 / day !!

      I am not an accountant, but common sense would indicate there is some major corruption \ kickbacks \ overcharging going on with this one.

      Of course, corruption and incompetence is the norm throughout the Homeless Industrial Complex.

      1. Follow up:

        Never once have I seen (at least in the LA / Orange County) metro area, any kind of ‘investigative journalism’ by the MSM as to who / what / when / why literally billions of dollars are actually spent to ‘support’ the homeless.

        The Homeless Industrial Complex has just go to be one of the most lucrative rackets on planet earth.

        1. Not only was the money spent completely wasted, it’s made life worse for everybody, increased the number of bums, crime, ODs. I can’t think of one single positive thing that was accomplished.

          Let’s remember when this madness really ramped up: minor respiratory illness. Mass formation psychosis was a planned event and this was part of it.

  4. Florida is hurricane prone. We’ve always known this, but it could be impacting home sales in its coastal metropolitan areas. In West Palm Beach, pending home sales nose-dived almost 18%, the greatest decline experienced in any of the 50 most populous metropolitan areas.

    “There’s never been a better time to buy in Florida.” — Every Florida realtor

      1. The hard reality of Florida real estate is that the [property] insurance market has been turned on its head.

        Will property insurance [if attainable] premiums go to infinity or will owners just self insure and hope for the best?

        1. I have several colleagues in Clownifornia. From what they are telling me their insurance costs, home and auto, are already at onerous levels. We got raises this year, and many tell me that increased insurance costs ate up their raises.

          Insurance costs are also on the rise here in my little burg. Fortunately no one has stopped doing business here, so with a little shopping around I was able to avoid any increases this year. But doing that is a chore.

          1. Not hard to imagine that in the near future, insurance [and other holding costs] will become a larger factor than mortgage interest rates when calculating the affordability of a new home.

          2. “…their insurance costs, home and auto, are already at onerous levels.”

            Someone has to pay for the losses in Paradise, CA. In the golden state, we’re all in this together!

  5. So, I can’t put everything on these deals happening, because I need them to happen.

    “I would strongly advise against buying in today’s market,” said no realtor ever.

    2. How many times has King Obama publically acknowledged that his mother is White?

      And that his African ancestry in America extends only to the 20th century, meaning no “blood in the soil” so to say.

      He ain’t your “brother” never was.

  7. U.S. banks are as dependent on liquidity from the drug trade as our junkies are dependent on meth and fentanyl. The globalist-subverted DoJ’s idea of “justice” is tax-deductible fines equivalent to a fraction of the banks’ ill-gotten profits from laundering money for Mexican drug cartels, with no bank officials facing criminal prosecution or perp walks, ever. #OurDemocracy in action.

    https://www.borderlandbeat.com/2024/10/td-bank-fined-record-3-billion-for.html

    1. Oakland, CA is former repo turf. The vibrancy there is out of control, e.g., out of wedlock births from multiple fathers are the norm, and young men become thugs before their 18th birthday. Even the side streets sparkle with broken glass, and billboards everywhere depict celebrity style blacks with lean white women in cocktail attire enjoying expensive cars, food and drink. A 60-passenger bus crash might produce several hundred feigning injuries for the news cameras. Yes, some neighborhoods and the east foothills are beautiful, but otherwise Oakland is the 䊊hole of the San Francisco Bay Area.

  10. That article about the North Vegas homes (that are falling apart due to the ground failing) is ridiculous. Why is the government paying for new houses to be built? Much less even paying for the old? It wasn’t caused by anything government did, it’s just a function of the earth? Why is Big Daddy gov’t supposed ot solve every problem? It’s like the low income version of those houses in california that subject to landslides. Why is this the government’s problem? Unless they caused it (not true in either of these cases)

    so doomed.

    1. Why is this the government’s problem? Unless they caused it (not true in either of these cases)

      Perhaps this is the answer:

      Barbara Carter, a resident of the historically Black neighborhood

      So the gooberment will spend even more money it doesn’t have. The next round of consumer inflation that is coming next year is going to be bone crushing.

  11. A reader sent these in:

    Hard to believe, but just a few decades ago, one spouse could stay home while the other worked as a high school teacher—and that was enough to buy a house, raise a family, and retire. Now, the American dream feels like nothing more than a cruel joke.

    https://x.com/ibie43/status/1843698250899173446

    One unique thing I’ve noticed about American politics is that there used to be a large subset of politicians that would run on (or at least pretend to care about) deficits & national debt.

    IE: Tea Party days etc…

    That no longer exists.

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1844150025288548704

    The Fed’s worst nightmare has begun:

    1. Core CPI inflation rises to 3.3%, the first increase since March 2023

    2. 258,000 people filed for unemployment this week, above expectations of 230,000

    Once the September jobs report is revised sharply lower, it will reveal the Fed’s nightmare situation.

    Rising inflation with rising unemployment.

    https://x.com/KobeissiLetter/status/1844356705812984123

    Initial jobless claims came in at 258k (forecast 230k, previous 225k).

    Despite some of the narratives I’m seeing, a lot of states not affected by Hurricane Helene had significant increases in claims. 👇🏼

    https://x.com/MauiBoyMacro/status/1844392561173201020

    The City of Chicago cancels 2 months of police academy classes, orders city department layoff lists to cut additional $75M from budget due to whopping $1BN shortfall

    https://x.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1844390002958155921

    “More American households now have dogs than children”

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1844386792184902078

    ⬇️Sale of a nearly 1 million-square-foot Manhattan office building once worth $332M.. sold for $8.5M

    https://x.com/dailyjobcuts/status/1844375329584054298

    💰 NYC seeking 14,000 hotel rooms to shelter migrants through 2025 — as housing costs set to surpass $2.3B

    https://x.com/dailyjobcuts/status/1844371453824881016

    The Interest Expense on US Public Debt rose to a record $1.13 trillion over the last 12 months, more than doubling over the past two years. At the current pace it will soon be the largest line item in the Federal budget, surpassing Social Security.

    https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1844464911138816344

    Auto insurance rates in the US have increased by 52% over the past 3 years. That’s the biggest 3-year spike since 1975-78.

    https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1844363889305321970

    The most absurd number in CPI?

    According to the US Government, the cost of health insurance has declined 33% over the last 2 years and 11% over the last 5 years…

    https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1844366857060614610

    The average interest rate on US credit card balances has moved up to 21.8%. With data going back to 1994, that’s the highest rate we’ve ever seen.

    https://x.com/charliebilello/status/1843666539968696730

    Lowest home sales in Austin this year in 20 years.

    Sales rock bottom & inventory up & up in Texas.

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1844502309684060198

    Literally Every House In Florida Is For Sale!

    https://x.com/ReaperCapital/status/1844387368805204329

    I coded a bot that sends offers to these homes at 40% of list.

    Link in profile use code Strongbags at checkout for 25% off

    https://x.com/thetradingbro/status/1844470686955565420

    Nearly 40% of all affordable housing awards Larry Hogan approved as governor went to listed clients of his real estate firm, from which he did not divest. Hogan is the first governor in MD history to have made millions of dollars while in office.

    https://x.com/EricCortellessa/status/1844360586634953066

    We did it! 🥳

    Shout out to the predatory lenders, policymakers, & their supporters. We couldn’t have done it without you!

    🇨🇦 hit a record high for income inequality only 4 years after hitting a low. Just one bad finance minister reversed a whole generation of progress.

    https://x.com/StephenPunwasi/status/1844538185814028541

    Investors are following the governments lead and doubling down on this bubble.

    What everyone seems to be forgetting is that Ponzi schemes need NEW entrants to function, without FTB the whole thing collapses.

    https://x.com/igetredpilled/status/1844047336810664382

    Ontario just saw the lowest number of homes sold in a September in 14 years.

    Volume now down 59% from 2020.

    But ya, rate cuts.🤘

    https://x.com/igetredpilled/status/1843760838857109786

    The Sad Reality Of Average Canadians Finances: Insolvencies Are GROWING

    We will see these numbers grow & for the first time in several years Homeowners are becoming Insolvent

    Throughout the rising RE Market till 2022 we never saw that

    https://x.com/ronmortgageguy/status/1844452132839358848

    2005 —> 1.6% of single-family housing starts were built-to-rent

    2023 —> 9.5% of single-family housing starts were built-to-rent

    https://x.com/ResidentialClub/status/1844385927747285420

    Condo inventory growing as sellers anticipate demand rebound: Re/Max report” 😂😂😂

    More like, condo inventory growing as sellers get financially stretched

    https://x.com/mortimer_1/status/1844011522168910124

    Vancouver B.C. has the most horrific drug scene I have ever witnessed in North America. Discovery Institute and We Heart Seattle teamed up to learn more about what’s fueling this hell on earth. So called “safe consumption sites” and non-profits giving away drug supplies like candy have trapped addicts in a vicious cycle. We did not see a single agency intentionally offering detox or treatment to anyone on the streets. This is failed public policy in action.

    https://x.com/choeshow/status/1843665196302381482

    “The house on the lot was partially demolished without a permit in July 2015. The owner, who is also a developer with an excavation and demolition company, used the property to store excavated materials and construction debris”

    https://x.com/mortimer_1/status/1843466181061329150

    “64% of employers are considering leaving the province [British Columbia] and taking their business to another jurisdiction” 🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️🤷‍♂️

    https://x.com/mortimer_1/status/1842733641673454055

    Craziest police chase ever

    https://x.com/ClownWorld_/status/1844556539266466222

    1. One unique thing I’ve noticed about American politics is that there used to be a large subset of politicians that would run on (or at least pretend to care about) deficits & national debt.

      When too many people are counting on a government check coming their way, promising to reduce spending and deficits is campaign poison.

      1. When too many people are counting on a government check coming their way, promising to reduce spending and deficits is campaign poison.

        If you can’t beat ’em, join ’em!

    2. “More American households now have dogs than children”

      Makes sense. You can eat dogs. We need to stop pointing our finger at the Haitians and realize they’re on to something. Let’s face it, with what’s coming it’s gonna suck to be a pet.

    3. “the American dream feels like nothing more than a cruel joke”

      Paul Krugman muh best economy ever.

    4. “Hard to believe, but just a few decades ago, one spouse could stay home while the other worked as a high school teacher—and that was enough to buy a house, raise a family, and retire.”

      And then the middle-east unraveled.

      1. In 1971, Richard Nixon took the U.S. off the gold standard, allowing the Federal Reserve to vastly ramp up its fiat currency fraud. By all measures, the standard of living for middle and working class Americans has been in a terminal decline ever since the dollar was no longer backed by anything of intrinsic value.

        1. Do you think that before 1971 you could walk into a bank and exchange your paper notes for gold coin?

  12. Donald Trump and his top allies quickly jumped on a hotter-than-expected inflation report Thursday to slam the Biden-Harris administration, the Federal Reserve, and central bank chairman Jerome Powell.

    “The fact is that the Federal Reserve brought the interest rates down a little too quickly,” former President Donald Trump said Thursday afternoon during an appearance at the Detroit Economic Club.

    “It was too big a cut and everyone knows that was a political maneuver that they tried to do before the election,” he added.

    https://www.aol.com/finance/too-big-cut-trump-allies-185521894.html

    1. Trump refuses to call out the Fed for its debasement of the currency – the #1 cause of the “cost of living crisis” and unaffordable housing.

      1. When I think of him, and some of the people he has brought onboard: RFKJr, Gabbard, Musk, I have to laugh at the “far right” label attached to them.

        Far right? These people are 1990’s-2000’s Democrats. It’s disappointing, but better than 2020’s Democrats.

  13. Executive pleads guilty to stealing millions from babies fund in Virginia, feds say

    A former executive pleaded guilty to stealing millions from an injured babies benefit program that he worked for and using it on a plethora of personal expenses, federal prosecutors said.

    In August, John Hunter Raines, 38, was accused of stealing more than $4.8 million from the program. Now, he’s pleaded guilty to mail fraud and money laundering offenses, according to an Oct. 8 news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Virginia.

    “My client takes full responsibility for his actions and will continue to seek treatment for the addictions that contributed to his offenses,” Raines’ attorney, William Mann, told McClatchy News.

    According to court documents, Raines was the chief financial officer and deputy director of the Virginia Birth-Related Neurological Injury Compensation Program. The program gives money to families of infants who are developmentally or cognitively disabled due to brain or spinal cord injuries from the birth process.

    Raines oversaw and had access to the company’s bank account, debit card and approximately $650 million in investments in 2023, investigators said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/personalfinance/executive-pleads-guilty-to-stealing-millions-from-babies-fund-in-virginia-feds-say/ar-AA1s2lB8

    1. “According to records, Raines used the stolen money to make payments on his personal loans — including a mortgage and student loans — purchase eight luxury golf carts and pay for travel in a private jet and limousine services. He also used the program’s money to gamble and purchase cryptocurrency, American Gold Eagle Bullion coins and a 100-ounce silver bar, records show.”

      At least he didn’t waste it. 🙂

  14. Indonesia arrests a suspect wanted by China for running a $14 billion investment scam

    Indonesia’s immigration officers on the tourist island of Bali have arrested a Chinese suspect sought by Beijing for helping run over $14 billion investment scam to clients in China, officials said Thursday.

    The 39-year-old man, identified only by his initial, LQ, was arrested on Oct. 1, when an immigration auto-gate in Bali’s Ngurah Rai international airport denied him departure for Singapore.

    The biometric data in the computer registry at the airport identified him as a suspect wanted by Beijing, which led to his arrest, according to Silmy Karim, the immigration chief at Indonesia’s law and human rights ministry. He had been listed on an Interpol warrant since late September.

    The man was named as a suspect by Beijing, which requested the Red Notice from Interpol, after he allegedly collected more than 100 billion Chinese Yuan ($14 billion) from more than 50,000 people in a Ponzi scheme.

    https://www.msn.com/en-gb/news/world/indonesia-arrests-a-suspect-wanted-by-china-for-running-a-14-billion-investment-scam/ar-AA1s1U6H

    1. The 39-year-old man, identified only by his initial, LQ, was arrested on Oct. 1, when an immigration auto-gate in Bali’s Ngurah Rai international airport denied him departure for Singapore.

      Someone is going to end up shot in the back of his head.

  15. The most striking thing about U.S. Attorney-General Merrick Garland’s takedown of Toronto-Dominion Bank on Thursday wasn’t the criminal conviction, the massive US$3.09-billion in penalties or the freeze on future growth in the U.S. market.

    The shocking element of Mr. Garland’s press-conference critique was the TD employee e-mails he read aloud. They spoke to a culture that is going to haunt the bank as incoming chief executive officer Raymond Chun and his team try to win back clients, boost profits and restore the lustre of a bank that’s historically boasted a premium stock market valuation.

    Time after time, year after year, TD branch staff, managers and compliance officials joked about laundering money for drug dealers. In three separate e-mails that Mr. Garland read aloud at the press conference, TD employees’ reaction to suspicious activity, such as customers dropping off $1-million in cash and withdrawing the same day in cheques, was to send a note ending with LOL – laugh out loud – to colleagues.

    “In one instance a compliance employee asked a manager what ‘the bad guys’ thought about the bank. The manager replied: ‘Lol. Easy target,’ ” Mr. Garland said.

    When bankers consistently tack “LOL” to e-mails and texts about working with criminals, there is a serious problem.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-td-banks-lol-culture-reverses-two-generations-of-southward-expansion/

    1. The best part is these employees had to attend annual training courses about red flags and how to report them.

      2. The best part is these employees had to attend annual training courses about red flags and how to report them.
        You are so right. Lots of those stupid training courses although the last couple of years I worked all the training was online and not in a class.

    2. So, just like Hollywood and every government thing,

      they all knew,
      no one cared and
      nothing happened to anyone.

  16. Logansport officials say immigrant population growth is unsustainable

    Logansport is a rural city 78 miles north of Indianapolis known for its diverse, urban population of 18,000 people. People from at least 28 countries call Logansport home with at least 27 languages spoken. The influx of new people coming to the city has some government officials speaking out believing the current growth is not sustainable.

    Cass County Health Department Administrator Serenity Alter told the Cass County Commissioners during their September meeting that new students are coming to Logansport Schools in large numbers.

    “A lot of them are coming unaccompanied,” Alter said.

    Alter sits in meetings with the new children enrolled in the school district and hears directly from the children as they describe their journey to the city.

    “They fly from Haiti to Nicaragua, to Mexico, and then to the state they are flying to in the US,” she said. “Some have not seen their parents in seven years. It’s an eye-opener.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/logansport-officials-say-immigrant-population-growth-is-unsustainable/ar-AA1s1sJj

    1. That this is happening in flyover small towns all over the country gives credence to the notion that 20 million plus have invaded the country. And they are still coming, in caravan after caravan. The Mexican government is busing many from the Guatemalan border to the US border. An endless torrent.

      I don’t have high hopes for Trump to accomplish much if he manages to beat the steal, but if there is one thing I hope he does is to send as many back to where they came from. Some say it isn’t possible to send them all back. That’s fine, half of them would be a good start.

      “They fly from Haiti to Nicaragua, to Mexico, and then to the state they are flying to in the US,” she said. “Some have not seen their parents in seven years. It’s an eye-opener.”

      To me this reeks of trafficking. These kids were not on their own for seven years. No freaking way. That this is happening right under our noses is a disgrace.

  17. Left-wing California district attorney under recall quietly drops 1,000 criminal cases

    Hundreds of people arrested on suspicion of misdemeanor crimes in one California county, including a person who had a blood alcohol level three times the legal limit when he slammed into three parked cars, will walk free after prosecutors failed to file their charges on time, according to a new report.

    Alameda County District Attorney Pamela Price, who is facing a recall next month, acknowledged a backlog of cases that need review but blamed the problem on the previous administration. Her predecessor, Nancy O’Malley, denied the allegations.

    The suspects in the cases were all issued citations or arrested by police officers who filed their reports on time to the district attorney’s office for review. Price’s office prosecutors had a year to decide whether to file misdemeanor charges. In felony cases, the district attorney’s office is typically given three years.

    A majority of the cases dropped came from crime-ridden Oakland. The city is in the middle of one of its most turbulent times in decades, fueled by a mayor, Sheng Thao, who is also being recalled by voters frustrated over crime, corruption, and a reluctance to hold lawbreakers accountable.

    Sgt. Huy Nguyen, president of the Oakland Police Officers’ Association, called the number of cases dropped troubling.

    “The challenge is that when there’s zero consequences, people continue to see how much they can get away with,” Nguyen said.

    The Oakland Police Officers’ Association has repeatedly demanded Thao resign from her post, saying the city has become an “international embarrassment” under her leadership.

    He also accused Thao of making Oakland “a more dangerous place.”

    https://www.washingtonexaminer.com/news/crime/3184482/california-county-drops-1000-criminal-cases/

    1. “Pamela Y. Price (born 1957) is an American attorney serving as the District Attorney of Alameda County, California, since January 2023. A member of the Democratic Party, she is the first African-American woman to hold the office.” —wiki

  18. Prisoners use kettle filaments to burn holes in windows for drone drug deliveries

    Prisoners have used kettle filaments to burn holes in windows and receive drug deliveries by drone at a jail housing some of Britain’s most dangerous criminals.

    Charlie Taylor, the chief inspector of prisons, said prisoners at HMP Manchester had managed to burn through newly-fitted windows that were supposedly secure in order to allow deliveries that contributed to a “catastrophically high” level of illicit drugs in the prison.

    Mr Taylor added that organised crime gangs were targeting the lucrative drugs market within the prison, and nearly four in 10 inmates (39 per cent) were testing positive for illicit substances.

    He warned that the drugs were fuelling the highest rates of violence in any men’s jail in England and Wales.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/world/prisoners-use-kettle-filaments-to-burn-holes-in-windows-for-drone-drug-deliveries/ar-AA1s2c48

  19. With full shelters, Mass. covers out-of-state travel costs. How popular, and how costly, is the program?

    For more than a year, Massachusetts officials have been struggling to handle the combined effects of a housing affordability crisis and a surge of migrants in need of shelter. As the state’s emergency shelter system has filled up, Gov. Maura Healey’s administration has set up additional overflow sites, implemented shelter stay limits, pleaded with federal officials for more resources, and sought to communicate a message of “we’re full” to migrants thinking of coming to Massachusetts.

    Officials have also tried another tactic: covering the travel expenses of those who have somewhere else to go. Through the state’s reticketing program, the Healey administration will book and pay for flights and bus tickets for newly-arrived families that have the option of staying with friends or family in other states. Now, officials are releasing new details on how widespread the program has been and what it has cost the state so far.

    Since March, 65 total families have opted into the reticketing program, according to the Executive Office of Housing and Livable Communities. In early July, The Boston Globe reported that only 18 families had been reticketed at that time. The administration was distributing notices to families arriving at “welcome centers” around the state, advertising the reticketing program and telling people that they would no longer be allowed to stay inside Logan Airport.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/with-full-shelters-mass-covers-out-of-state-travel-costs-how-popular-and-how-costly-is-the-program/ar-AA1s2Sqe

  20. Divine intervention hasn’t saved Nicheliving, it was divine pragmatism

    Speaking to long-suffering Nicheliving customers on Friday after the backroom deal the Cook government struck with the company following a fortnight of negotiations, their mood is a mix of jubilation and frustration.

    Jubilation because they are finally free from a company that greedily bit off far more than it could chew when $45,000 worth of state and federal COVID-19 stimulus grants turbocharged the housing market.

    Frustration because the company that promised them the world and delivered them devastation gets to wash its hands of the mess.

    Some customers were on the brink of homelessness. Most were paying Perth’s sky-high rents while also paying interest rate-inflated mortgages on their unbuilt homes.

    Some moved overseas while some have been forced to live wherever they can – like Kathy Ellis whose teenage children have finished their remaining years at school living in a caravan.

    All this while their half-built houses sat idle for years, growing mould and collecting rubbish. It’s been torture, and they deserve to move into their homes as soon as possible.

    It is galling that Nicheliving director Ronnie Michel-Elhaj claimed to this masthead last week that his company had $100 million in assets to draw on and yet the state still decided to slug taxpayers.

    With about 200 unfinished homes each eligible for a payout of up to $200,000, this deal could cost taxpayers up to $40 million.

    It is unlikely every customer will need the entire $200,000, but the figure will end up in the tens of millions. It’s enough for any mild-mannered taxpayer to take the Lord’s name in vain.

    Michel-Elhaj told me last week the company wanted to focus on being a land developer anyway, so a ban will have little effect.

    He blames the government for overstimulating the market during COVID which left his company and other builders exposed during COVID.

    There is some blame to share.

    https://www.msn.com/en-au/news/australia/divine-intervention-hasn-t-saved-nicheliving-it-was-divine-pragmatism/ar-AA1s4EXT

  21. Former President Barack Obama on Thursday had a blunt message to Black men: get behind Vice President Harris and get out to vote.

    Obama made a surprise stop at a Pittsburgh campaign field office ahead of a rally in the city — where his party has been working hard to make gains in a race where polls show a razor-thin race between Harris and former President Donald Trump.

    Recent polls show Trump has made inroads with Black male voters. Obama, the first Black president, said he wanted to “speak some truths” about that.

    “My understanding, based on reports I’m getting from campaigns and communities, is that we have not yet seen the same kinds of energy and turnout in all quarters of our neighborhoods and communities as we saw when I was running,” he said.

    That lack of enthusiasm for Harris, he said, “seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.”

    He chided voters who were voting for Trump or not casting a vote at all.

    “And you are thinking about sitting out?” he said. “Part of it makes me think — and I’m speaking to men directly — part of it makes me think that, well, you just aren’t feeling the idea of having a woman as president, and you’re coming up with other alternatives and other reasons for that.”

    https://www.boisestatepublicradio.org/2024-10-10/obama-in-blunt-terms-tells-black-men-to-get-over-their-reluctance-to-support-harris

  22. That lack of enthusiasm for Harris, he said, “seems to be more pronounced with the brothers.”

    Maybe because Harris is a globalist puppet who will “govern” for the exclusive benefit of the .1%, like Biden and Obama.

    1. just my opinion, but I’m thinking it’s because most black men might prefer to have a smart & responsible black women as the President of the U.S. of A. like Condoleezza Rice, instead of the current embarrassment who reminds them of a spoiled ho-bag sorority party girl doorknob, where everyone got a turn.

      how the hell that vapid idiot passed the CA bar exam is beyond me.
      esteemed blog member RedPillRH: any thoughts ?

        1. She graduated in 1989. According to the New York Post, Harris’ relationship with Brown began in 1994 and ended sometime in 1995.

  23. These children that are being transported to America and then placed into communities all need to be educated. Unfortunately, they are being taught in their native tongue and not basic English. These children are essentially being condemned to a second-class life if they are not taught conversational English. I understand that they all want to be brain surgeons and heart surgeons, but if they cannot converse with their patients, all is lost. Better to utilize the language courses that are being used at the military language schools to instruct our service members for rapid immersion into foreign language skills. The taxpayers are going to pay for their education, and I would rather see these children being held back one year until they can at least hold a conservation with their educators than only use the education system to prepare them for a broom-pusher or ditch-digger job. This all started with the President who stated HE was going to fundamentally change America, and his plan is coming to fruitarian.

    1. How about we just send them home to their families? I’m getting fed up with all of this Camp of the Saints nonsense. If invaders know that instead of getting free money that they will instead be sent home, then maybe they will stop coming.

  27. Its not because Harris is a women or is black that more and more people are rejecting her.

    Its because she flip flops, she won’t answer questions, she didn’t win normal primaries, she named a weirdo Walz for VP, and nobody knows what this person would do given the highest job as President.
    She refuses to be accountable for the last 4 years of Biden and her destructive policies such ,as the Border Invasion , mandated vaccines and all the other insane policies and acts.. and escalating Wars.
    She was the most left radical voter in Senate and her 2020 bid for President, 4 years as radical as VP, yet we are to believe she is a centrist politically.

    All her lectures on “equity”, making everyone equal, as if she isn’t a radical communist.
    I actually think she is just a One World Order shill/puppet, that’s is a treasonous to US con artist.
    What a miscalculation for the Powers that Be to pick this Harris/Walz for President and V.P . Its a putting lipstick on a Pig like I have never seen before, that even fake news can’t overcome.

    Come on, the majority does not have confidence in those 2 clowns Harris/Walz to lead the Country, or whoever is behind these creeps being the puppeteers.

  28. Also, is Walz having some military background suppose to make up for Harris having no military experience, at a time of global war escalation.

    They say that Presidents have their advisors on all matters, that makes up for anything they don’t know. But, Harris being Commander in Chief of all branches of US Military, makes me the most uneasy that I have ever been. She, could make decisions on weapons of mass destruction… oh no
    not that screwball.

    1. But, Harris being Commander in Chief of all branches of US Military, makes me the most uneasy that I have ever been.

      Comrade Kamala and her globalist puppetmasters are far more likely to unleash the U.S. military against American citizens – potential resisters to their attempts to usurp the Constitution and impose globalist diktats – than any foreign adversaries. However, today’s “woke” feminized DEI military is a far cry from the one I served in back in the day. Ever since the Clinton Administration, the white male demographic that has always supplied America’s warrior class has been exiting the U.S. military in droves, or refusing to join in the first place. If our “woke” military goes up against non-woke adversaries like China or Iran emboldened by our military being fatally weakened from within by “wokeness” and DEI “leadership,” it won’t end well for Team DEI.

  29. https://nitter.poast.org/Blackopstocks/status/1844174233339035830#m (1m37s video):

    BIDEN: “We’re controlling the weather? It’s beyond ridiculous. It’s gotta stop.”

    CIA Director: “Yes, we definitely can control the weather.”

    C-SPAN left scratching their head.

    https://nitter.poast.org/Blackopstocks/status/1844174233339035830#m:

    If they will bioengineer a virus and vaccine to control people, bet your ass they will engineer weather modification tech to push the climate change agenda

    Reminder: Our government imported and employed NAZI scientists via Operation Paperclip. It’s naive to think the mad scientists stopped their work. Research Project MKUltra.

    1. Latest polling indicates only 22 percent of the population trusts FedGov. Can’t for the life of me figure out why public trust has fallen to such lows.

    1. Fake news. Frozen Soup Larry, self-described NYC CRE expert, informed us that HBB predictions of 50% cratering in commercial or residential real estate were “pipe dreams.”

    1. The tell tale new car temporary tags have been conspicuously absent in my neighborhood this year.

      1. I’m seeing more cars riding around on donut spare tires. If people are too broke to replace flat tires, how will they be able to afford overpriced shacks or corporate rent gouging?

    2. “Meanwhile, car insurance costs skyrocketed 15% in the first half of 2024 to an average of $2,329, the most on record.”

      We have six vehicles (mostly older), four drivers (two under thirty and not married), and the annual family policy is now over $4k.

  35. ‘Listed on Zillow is a stunning home on Anna Maria Island, on the coast of Manatee County in Florida. On Oct. 2, after Hurricane Helene made landfall, the price was slashed by $699,000 to $1.5 million. The description reads: ‘LARGE Price Reduction—SOLD AS IS—Seller attended to IMMEDIATELY After Hurricane Helene … Up to 36 inches drywall removed throughout entire house, dehumidifiers and fans started immediately and running 24 hours, hardwood floors and vapor barriers removed, all lower cabinets removed, all doors removed, all appliances and furniture removed, dried and sanitized (anti-fungal spray throughout entire house)’

    That’s a good long list of stuff that could go wrong with yer DIY job seller. But it looks like yer giving it away to me.

  36. ‘To be honest, I used to do real estate full-time. I do not do it full-time anymore because it’s just too hard. I have a family as well. So, I can’t put everything on these deals happening, because I need them to happen. If they don’t happen, then my clients aren’t happy and then family isn’t happy…Frye has been an agent for 17 years and says the cost associated with a buying home in Louisiana can often put potential buyers on an emotional roller coaster. ‘People can be tearful, they’re upset. They think they’re getting to the finish line and then something comes up and it’s like, oh no, you can’t do it, the insurance blew it out of the water’

    Misty may be at the fook this sh$t stage.

  37. ‘For Eli Valdez, 2019 was a ‘very happy time,’ he said. He had become a first-time homeowner and gotten married. But not long after buying his first home in Windsor Park, a neighborhood in North Las Vegas, Valdez said things ‘just started to go wrong.’ The door to Valdez’s home had to be replaced because it wasn’t fitting correctly in the doorway. And sitting in his living room, Valdez said he could see that his house had become slanted’

    It’s still way cheaper than renting Eli.

    ‘The door to Valdez’s home had to be replaced because it wasn’t fitting correctly in the doorway’

    They had to re-cut it cuz it was so badly ‘slanted’.

    1. I think you got a chicken egg thing going there Eli.

      “The door to Valdez’s home had to be replaced because it wasn’t fitting correctly in the doorway. And sitting in his living room, Valdez said he could see that his house had become slanted’

  39. ‘Montana, especially areas like Great Falls, is still relatively affordable compared to places like Whitefish and Bozeman, which have become more like California in terms of cost. Sellers are in control right now. They often prefer buyers who don’t have to sell another property first’

    So the California appraisals are coming in low Lynn.

  40. ‘I sold the house next door in a faster, COVID 2021 market, and it sold for a very high price and very quickly with multiple offers…but it’s different now.’ This seller wanted to wait as long as necessary for the right buyer, but was fortunate that an offer came through in three weeks. ‘We were quite active, when a lot on the market was not, because of pricing…A lot of sellers are still expecting 2021 prices’

    Dick, yer industry constantly tells would-be-movers it’s to the moon Alice!

  41. ‘Generally speaking, those who are in a position to purchase still have a raft of different options to choose from right now, especially within the main centres. So there isn’t so much pressure on prices currently, with more than enough houses for sale to meet the current level of demand. The cost of borrowing still remains relatively high, the cost of living is restrictive, and there are significant worries about job security – especially in Wellington’

    You got a recession on yer hands Jim. That’s not good since yer loan to income was the highest in the world at the peak. 13 to 1.

  42. ‘equivalent to roughly $650 a square foot—more than 10 times the going rate in her hometown in the central Chinese province of Henan. ‘We’re not rushing into buying right now. After all, it would drain the savings of both our families,’ Zhang said. ‘I hope the government can eventually guide home prices down further’

    That’s the spirit Zhang! $650 a square foot, is that a lot?

  43. Don’t Fall For This Trap (Peel Region Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate

    1 hour ago MISSISSAUGA

    This episode shows the current Brampton, Mississauga, Ajax, Whitby, and Pickering Real Estate home prices and market trends for the week ending Oct 2, 2024. We also discuss the trap some people fall into when they accept all the in-house services that some agents offer. It’s important to ensure that the people hired to work for you, work for you and protect your interests.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PKL3UQMPpZw

    17:35.

  44. Catering to Non-English Speaking Kids Sends Education Costs Skyrocketing

    Warner Todd Huston
    11 Oct 2024

    The education budgets for America’s small towns and states are skyrocketing as the huge wave of of the Biden-Harris administration’s migrant children are diverted into American primary schools.

    As these migrants flood into public schools, administrators are shifting more budget dollars towards dealing with children who speak a dozen different languages, and some who have had little or no education in their home countries before they came to the U.S., and this shift of budget dollars necessarily takes resources away from native students.

    https://www.breitbart.com/education/2024/10/11/catering-to-non-english-speaking-kids-sends-education-costs-skyrocketing/

    1. Thieving invaders here to steal from everyone. The next generation will be paying and paying and paying, this is Biden’s loathsome legacy.

  45. Donald Trump Jr.
    @DonaldJTrumpJr

    OMG it never ends.

    Hodgetwins
    @hodgetwins
    ·
    Oct 10

    🚨BREAKING: Kamala Harris ordered the North Carolina National Guard to load disaster relief supplies onto a cargo plane just for a photo op with the intention of NEVER sending the supplies to storm victims

    This disqualifies her from running for office
    8:08 PM · Oct 10, 2024
    ·
    https://x.com/DonaldJTrumpJr/status/1844530449223209412

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