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From Buydowns, Buydowns, Buydowns To OK—Wait A Second Here

A report from WWAY in North Carolina. “After Tropical Storm Debby two months ago, Jeff Wells and Jana Passe discovered water leaking from the roof into their condo at Topsail Dunes Villas on New River Inlet Road. The HOA told the couple the roof was patched, but water continued to leak into their condo. ‘The HOA told the couple their homeowner’s insurance—not the HOA’s—would need to cover the roof repairs, despite roof maintenance being the HOA’s responsibility. ‘They were trying to pawn it off on us,’ Wells said. After the HOA filed with their insurance, the claim was denied due to lack of maintenance on the roof. The HOA appealed the decision, but the claim was met with another denial. Wells and Passe said the HOA then refused to repair the roof unless the couple takes them to court, a move that Wells thinks is calculated.”

“‘They’re hoping that we’re going to run out of money, or they’re going to make us so miserable that we’ll just walk away. Who can walk away from $300,000? That’s our life’s investment,’ Wells explained. ‘Even if we had money, and we decided to foot the bill and renovate it, we can’t because there’s still water coming in and nobody is doing anything about it,’ Passe added. Wells and Passe said their condo is currently unlivable because of toxic mold. They were told the condo will need to be gutted from floor to ceiling to make it safe again. ‘We’ve paid out of pocket our entire life savings and then we started selling stuff that really, we just had to come up with cash. You shouldn’t have to live like this,’ Wells said.”

From NBC News. “Bridgette Bello thought she’d taken proper precautions to protect against Florida’s notorious hurricanes, having purchased flood insurance as well as a separate hurricane-specific policy, in addition to her regular homeowners coverage. Yet nearly two weeks after Helene hit — and even before Milton had arrived — what Bello, 54, describes as an insurance ‘nightmare’ has only begun. She said she already faces delays and denials on her damage claims. ‘We did everything we were supposed to do,’ said Bello, who lives near the barrier-island Madeira Beach community outside of Tampa.”

“Patti Drew’s home in Punta Gorda, on Florida’s southwest coast, flooded during both Helene and Milton. Her daughter-in-law, Deborah, said Drew, 81, didn’t even have regular homeowners insurance — a decision she shares with approximately 1 in 6 residents in surrounding Charlotte County. With only a fixed income to live on, Drew is hoping a GoFundMe page that Deborah has set up will provide some relief. ‘I’m heartbroken. I don’t know what else to say,’ said Drew. ‘I mean, we can’t do anything about it.'”

Fast Company. “Among the nation’s 250 largest metro areas, 57 markets had active housing inventory in September 2024 that was higher than in September 2019. Of those 57 markets, 41 have seen home prices fall at least somewhat since their 2022 peak. Despite Austin’s months of housing inventory only reaching a high of 4.8 as of August 2024, house prices have already dropped by 19.8% from their 2022 peak in Austin.”

Dallas Morning News in Texas. “Dallas-Fort Worth home builders reported a slightly slower third quarter this year. Finished vacant housing inventory moved higher last quarter, reaching a cycle high of 10,269. That’s year-over-year growth of more than 2,000 units, a 24.7% increase. ‘Without question, the increase of finished, unsold inventory is directly correlated to the increased competition and challenging affordability issues in the market,’ said Cassie Gibson, executive vice president at Residential Strategies. ‘Builders are focused today on closing out unsold inventory to make room for new inventory in the spring of 2025. In this environment, builders are dealing with tighter profit margins due to the increasing need for discounts and incentives.'”

Wall Street Journal. “Home builders might have to turn to other strategies in addition to buydowns, such as further price reductions, said Rick Palacios Jr., director of research at John Burns Research & Consulting. ‘The playbook for home builders is going to have to slowly shift, at least from our perspective, from buydowns, buydowns, buydowns to OK—wait a second here,’ he said. ‘It’s going to be a tougher market.’ Around three-quarters of builders recently used rate buydowns that covered entire 30-year mortgages, according to a September survey conducted by John Burns. ‘I’d call it a time of transition,’ said Tom Hennessy, CEO at Colorado Springs, Colo.-based Challenger Homes, which has leaned on rate buydowns in recent years.”

From Fox 5. “Daniel Snyder, former owner of the Washington Commanders, is facing challenges selling two of his multimillion-dollar estates in the D.C. area. A new report in The Washington Post states that despite a thriving ultra-luxury real estate market, neither property has attracted buyers. However, after repeated price cuts, the Potomac mansion remains unsold. In March, the Snyders donated the property at 11900 River Road to the American Cancer Society. In May, the charity relisted the home for $34.9 million, yet no buyers emerged. By September 23, the price was reduced again to $29.9 million. Snyder’s Fairfax County property, located on part of George Washington’s original Mt. Vernon estate, remains on the market for $60 million, but its steep price, at over $3,700 per square foot, has also deterred buyers.”

San Francisco Chronicle. “Humboldt County, with its mountain peaks, cannabis and redwood trees, can feel like a fog-shrouded oasis in California. That reputation prompted the LA Times to crown the two cities the best places to retire in the state. Ted Pease, the editor of Senior News, a monthly newspaper published by the Humboldt Senior Resource Center, agreed, telling SFGATE that framing Humboldt County as a ‘retirement oasis’ is majorly flawed because ‘health care here is extremely problematic.’ Despite the county’s four hospitals, Pease said, ‘almost everyone has to travel to the Bay Area for medical treatment,’ which is a five-hour drive at minimum, given the need to travel through the Coast Ranges. Marci Pigg, who’s worked with her husband as a real estate agent in the Humboldt County area for nearly 30 years said the average home on the Eureka and Arcata market requires the income of two working adults, which for locals can prove challenging in the county’s economic environment. ‘The cannabis industry has pretty much dried up. You don’t see many logging trucks anymore,’ Pigg noted.”

The Real Deal on New York. “Rupert Murdoch’s penthouse at One Madison has finally found a buyer. The 7,000-square-foot abode at 23 East 22nd Street entered contract last week with a last asking price of $29 million, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report on properties asking $4 million or more. The move comes after the asking price hovered roughly $15 million below what he paid for it in 2014. The media magnate’s triplex has drifted on and off the market since March 2022, when he listed it for $62 million. Of the 28 contracts, 19 were for condos, six were for co-ops and three were for townhouses. The homes’ combined asking price was $307 million, which works out to an average price of $11 million and a median of $10 million. The typical home spent 469 days on the market and received a 17 percent discount.”

The Hamilton Spectator in Canada. “The residents of the Court Drive subdivision of Paris are angry. Like their neighbours at the Mile Hill subdivision down the road, they say they were blindsided over three condo developments proposed between the two neighbourhoods. ‘And the community blew up at that because they didn’t want their 10-year-old riding a bus for an hour and a half,’ Cameron Stone told The Spectator. Stone and his wife bought one of the first new builds in the Mile Hill subdivision through a small developer in 2018. Their developer and others ended up selling to Hamilton’s Losani Homes, which was also building homes in the area. Now, it feels like ‘the big city developer coming in and bullying the small town,’ he said. Residents like Pavinder Tut, who bought in Court Drive two years ago, said they were misinformed over what their neighbourhood would look like. ‘Homeowners were sold on the notion of this private, ravine-facing lot. For us, this was done in poor faith,’ Tut told councillors.”

The Telegraph in the UK. “When Ian Cooper invested in his first buy-to-let property it seemed like a solid, safe way of funding his retirement. Twelve years on he ruefully admits that the experiment has failed. ‘I would have been better off if I had just put the money in an Isa,’ he says. Cooper and his wife currently own two rental houses close to their home in Beeston, Nottingham. They are also the accidental landlords of their former family home in nearby Wollaton, which they have rented out since earlier this year after failing to find a buyer for it. Over the summer, landlords across the country have been voting with their feet and putting their rental properties on the market.”

“For Ryan Mitchell, the prospect of a hike in CGT was the cherry on the cake that ended his career as an accidental landlord. Things started to go wrong after a new tenant, having split up with their partner, stopped paying the £675 per month rent. The neighbours complained about their erratic behaviour, the property was being damaged, and eventually he launched eviction proceedings. He reclaimed the property at the end of last year, and with the prospect of higher CGT on the horizon, decided to sell up. ‘Even before the election the writing was on the wall,’ says Mitchell. ‘The finances of the country are poor, there is going to need to be a tax raid somewhere, and the Government is not going to lose many voters by attacking landlords.'”

From IOL. “South Africans are enduring the effects of a sustained period of rising costs and increased debt payments which in turn have put them under severe financial pressure, for many homeowners, this pressure has seen them being unable to keep up with their monthly home loan repayments. ‘It’s not just entry level homeowners that are struggling to balance the increased cost of debt in the current environment,’ said Herschel Jawitz, CEO of Jawitz Properties. ‘We’ve increasingly listed homes to be sold by distressed sellers in more affluent areas which have typically been immune to this kind of repayment shock. Property prices in most parts of the country are under pressure, which means it’s not a great time to sell if you are under pressure to sell in a short period of time.'”

Yahoo News on Australia. “A tradie who inspects housing sites for a living has lifted the lid on the ‘wild west’ practices that he claims are common within the construction industry, saying the issue is a ‘can of worms’ that homeowners unknowingly take the brunt of. Building inspector Russell McCarthy attended a housing site in Perth last week for an independent inspection and found the primary beam at the centre of the house frame had absolutely no fixings to secure it. Instead, it was simply placed against the brickwork while it supported many struts jutting out to make the roof. And, the entire frame itself was also off-centre. In the past five years, McCarthy said he has not inspected one new build that was ‘defect-free’ — despite it being a part of his everyday job.”

“This lack of compliance has given rise to ‘shoddy workmanship’ that can sting homeowners down the track, as most insurance companies don’t cover the dodgy work of tradesmen. ‘In the case where it’s identified, insurance will walk away every single time as they don’t cover non-compliant work,’ he said. ‘Clients don’t trust builders and it’s fair enough.'”

From Bloomberg. “China’s latest bout of stimulus may help stabilize the country’s property crisis but investors should position for the end of the economy’s boom years, says the investment chief of Australia’s largest pension fund. ‘The big boom times in China growth are gone,’ Mark Delaney, Chief Investment Officer of AustralianSuper, which manages more than A$341 billion ($229 billion), said at a Bloomberg event in Sydney on Tuesday. ‘The authorities have been really k”een to try and keep house prices steady,” Delaney said. The support measures are about trying to ensure the property slump ‘doesn’t feed back heavily into consumer spending and start that negative cycle you’ve seen in other housing busts.'”

“Housing slumps in other countries have taken ‘decades to work their way through,’ Delaney said, citing AustralianSuper analysis of crises with similar characteristics, such as Japan in the 1990s. ‘Governments all try and stabilize it, but you need to really work off the structural oversupply,’ he said. ‘So I think that’s really going to be a pretty pronounced impact upon China.'”

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This Post Has 141 Comments

  3. Are you a member of a middle class household worried about the cost burden of home ownership?

    I have a simple solution for you:
    Just don’t buy!

    1. Middle-class homeowners are increasingly squeezed by housing costs
      One in 4 middle-income new homeowners — twice as many as a decade before — are buying into cost-burdened situations.

      A “Sold” sign in front of a home.
      A “sold” sign in front of a California home. More than 67% of middle-class new homebuyers in the state moved into situations in which their housing costs exceeded 30% of their incomes. Among all new homeowners there, the figure was 44%.David Paul Morris / Bloomberg via Getty Images

      Oct. 14, 2024, 5:00 AM EDT
      By Jasmine Cui

      The share of middle-class Americans who are buying wallet-squeezing homes has more than doubled in the previous 10 years.

      Almost 30% of middle-class homeowners bought homes with monthly payments costing more than 30% of their income in 2022, an NBC News analysis of Census Bureau data found. That’s more than twice the share from 2013, with experts warning it leaves many households with less money for groceries and emergencies and less able to get ahead in the future.

      That “cost-burdened” benchmark — in which a household devotes over 30% of income to housing costs — is a widely used measure of affordability for both homeownership and renting. The Census Bureau measures housing costs against it, and the Department of Housing and Urban Development has used it for decades.
      …
      https://www.nbcnews.com/data-graphics/middle-class-new-homeowners-cost-burdened-house-poor-rcna163853

      1. “More than 67% of middle-class new homebuyers in the state moved into situations in which their housing costs exceeded 30% of their incomes. ”

        Would you rather be a smart renter or a dumb owner?

        1. And their 2 to 3 auto loans equaled the amount of their mortgages. So now you’re at 60% with just autos and home.

        1. Dang, 7 bucks? I found a website, starbucks-menu-with-prices dot com. And sure enough, as of this month, the fancier lattes were $6.95.

          Heh, I see the skinny trashy girls (in cut off tops) sipping these sugar bombs at the mall. Yeah, that’ll work until you’re about 35. Then watch that thigh gap fill in.

          3. The skinny girls sipping the sugar bombs appear to be in high school.

            Which makes me think that there is a definite bifurcation in how people handle sugar and, increasingly, seed oils. It seems that some girls can handle those HFCS and oils well when they’re young, even if they get chunky 20+ years later. But there are other girls just can’t metabolize it well, and they are obese by the time they are teens.

        2. “…$7 coffee…”

          Who in their right mind would pay $7 bucks for a coffee, even if the shop was swarming with hot chicks?

          For years, a $20 bill was my *weekly* lunch budget. If I wanted coffee I would just sip the free stuff at the office.

          2. A while back I was at a stop light and it gave me a chance to glance at the drive-up line. This young gal gets a tray load, venti coffee and all the treats. But looking at her car she’s got a blown out passenger window that now has got one those cardboard and duct tape acting as a window things going on. I’ll bet ya this little Betty probably drops over $200 for coffee but can’t afford to fix a car window. That pretty much sums up how idiotic people are these days.

          3. “For years, a $20 bill was my *weekly* lunch budget.”

            A twenty used to get me through Friday night, e.g., gas, fast food, drive-in theater, etc., and still have a buck or two in the morning.

  4. Nearly total. Is that a lot?

    For the vast majority of affected residents, the financial loss from the storms will be nearly total. That’s because flooding caused much of the property damage — and most homeowners insurance policies do not cover any flood impact.
    In the areas of Florida most affected by the storms, no more than 25% of residents had separate flood insurance prior to the storms hitting, according to an NBC News analysis of U.S. government data. Flood insurance coverage was significantly lower in regions of lower Appalachia affected by Helene.

  5. ‘Around three-quarters of builders recently used rate buydowns that covered entire 30-year mortgages, according to a September survey conducted by John Burns’

    They were just doing 1 to 3 year buydowns. That must be expensive!

    1. Rate buydowns seem like an obvious ploy to hide falling market values. Why not just lower the price?

      1. Probably (and this is just a SWAG) Like commerical real estate that sits empty for years, they have deals with the banks that the house is “worth” 500k for example and if they lower the price to 450k it breaks their loan covenants and it’s all due. But if there expenses are a little higher this year (cuz they bought all those rate buydowns, which has to be bucks) then the loan stays open and they can continue to do business.

        kicking the can down the road to avoid price discovery.

        After 08 there were tons of banks who wouldn’t foreclose on houses even though they were not being paid and way underwater. It’s because the loan was for (example) 500k and they could carry it as a non-performing loan for 500k. But if they foreclosed and sold it for say 300k then they would have to recognize the 200k loss. I bet ti’s still true today.

        2. That was because at that time the in place good accounting rule was in force called “mark to market”. As soon as the bust was evident this rule was suspended and still is as far as I know.

          1. I remember that day well. The FASB suspended mark to market and the stock market took off and never looked back.

        3. But if they foreclosed and sold it for say 300k then they would have to recognize the 200k loss. I bet ti’s still true today.
          Yes you have to take the write down but that can be a good thing. In good times I worked for a company where we took say a $200K write down the loan and then sell and only lose $50K. Instant “gain” of $150K. Done on a decent scale, Instant income smoothing. We had 3 years straight where we made money on our foreclosures. Thing of beauty!!!!

  6. Lakeside and Rubicon get 75% discount on Oakland office tower

    Joint venture acquires 15-story building and a parking garage for $30M

    Affiliates of the locally based Lakeside and San Francisco-based Rubicon took ownership through a deed-in-lieu of foreclosure of the 279,700-square-foot building and 370-slot parking garage at 180 Grand Avenue, the San Francisco Business Times reported.

    In August, the investors bought a troubled $95 million loan tied to the property, between Uptown and Adams Point, for $30.2 million, or $108 per square foot. The lender was not disclosed. At the time, Rubicon was not linked to the purchase.

    https://therealdeal.com/sanfrancisco/2024/10/14/lakeside-and-rubicon-pay-30m-for-oakland-office-tower/

    1. That’s right by Lake Merritt, which is a nice area. During lunch, the hearty workers can walk around the lake on its paved urban trail. However, it’s been decades since I’ve been around there, but I can’t imagine it turning into Mogadishu.

  7. Single-family home sales fell again in September along Florida’s First Coast while home prices crept up for the month.

    The Northeast Florida Association of Realtors (NEFAR) issued its monthly analysis of the six-county region, and the housing market remains sluggish in the area. There were 1,526 closed home sales for Northeast Florida in September. That’s an 11.4% decrease from September 2023. Numbers are down from August by 17.7%, when there were 1,777 closed sales. That August number was an 8% drop from the number of homes sold in July.

    Duval County, the Northeast Florida county with the highest population, also struggled. There were 753 home sales in September for Jacksonville’s home county. That figure is down by 18.2% from the August figure and is a 14.6% decrease from September 2023. Duval County also saw a wild jump in homes for sale, with 3,664 listed in the active inventory. That’s a 90.2% spike compared to September 2023 and a 7.5% increase compared to August.

    https://floridapolitics.com/archives/701432-home-sales-drop-in-september-among-northeast-florida-counties/

  8. Trump objects to UN agenda of flooding United States and Canada with 600 million migrants and illegals.

    Tell me where are they going to sleep, where are they going to work? With AI destroying 50% of the jobs in the next 10 years, that would make a unsustainable situation, wouldn’t it.

    All these ” UN Sustainable Earth Agenda” plans don’t make sense one bit. That would be a lot of useless eaters needing welfare from the Governments.
    This Globalist Cult has a unsustainable Narrative, and they are sticking to it.
    Reduce co2 carbon emissions to zero by 2050. Are these Great Narratives and the purported solutions
    not deranged, insane, and just plain fraud.
    This is the biggest power grab in history, to enslave the inhabitants of earth under a power grid of forced compliance. These Powers are dangerous and no doubt psychopaths and genocidal murderers.

    You will own nothing and eat bugs, but you will be happy. Doesn’t sound like happiness to me. It sounds sadistic and deranged. It looks like war launched by these Entities against billions of people using ridiculous narratives that they want to censor any dispute to.
    Unreal.

    2. that would make a unsustainable situation

      That is the plan: flood the first world with semi-illiterate, unemployable and hostile invaders. Wait for the collapse. Usher in a new tyrannical government. Cull the herd.

      1. 300+ million guns in the hands of U.S. civilians would like to have a word.

        See also: former Yugoslavia.

        2. 300+ million guns in the hands of U.S. civilians

          It is likely that the forces of evil will lose should a civil war break out. But they have come too far to back down now. They want all the marbles. This won’t be the case of letting a RINO “win”, which means that their plunder would continue. Jeb! isn’t the GOP candidate.

          1. America is so mentally unstable….both main races…both political parties….75% would shooting in all directions….killing for no reason and the other 20% will off themselves. The remaining 5% will try to restore peace and hope we don’t get invaded. One of the founding fathers said we would only fail within….looking around at the idiots in this country I believe it.

          2. I don’t see a civil war breaking out unless the globalists overplay their hand by ordering their Democrat-Bolshevik Quislings to confiscate firearms from potential resisters (but not their darlings in the criminal element).

  9. Isn’t it interesting that the biggest Monopolies and Elites under the WEF are going to be part of the power structure under the One World Order. They get to keep their “Stakeholder Capitalism” and own all the resources, while humanity owns nothing.
    Klaus Schwab said , “Who owns technology controls the World.”
    I keep saying this is the Rockefeller Monopoly model on how to destroy any competition and get all the marbles.
    Under pure Communism theory the Government would own all resources and means of production , and distribute each according to its ability and each according to its need.
    But, Monopolies and Rich Elites and other partners aren’t about to give up their stake in resources and own nothing and eat bugs. So , Stakeholder Capitalism is facism on steroids . Monopolies/Elites partnering with global Governments to enslave humanity, control all resources and consumption. That’s the end game of these demonic nuts.
    And they don’t mind saying what their vision of the Globe is.

    1. It is painfully clear that they want to cull the herd. The biggest factor here will be collapsing birthrates, which have been engineered via economic and social policies.

      Even countries like Mexico have fallen below the replacement rate, which is not surprising as they elected a Marxist, feminist as president. The Mexican leftist press is only concerned when the country’s women are harmed by lawlessness (femicidios). When a dude is kidnapped and murdered, no one seems to care. Visit Mexico at your own risk.

      1. Falling birth rates are happening everywhere….Korea is leading the way. 125 years ago you had kids that were farm hands…..then gens later it was to make your parents and grandparents happy….but then both spouses had to work….then people like me and my wife of 30 years realized you don’t have to have kids. I believe that’s what has happened in a nut shell. We have no regrets, none.

        1. “We have no regrets, none.”

          Deciding to not have children within a marriage is a decision that typically depends on her education and career path. An emotional flip-flop could result in her deep hatred of you.

          2. Money and education was never a factor…we both own successful businesses. We kept delaying having kids and then we both said…I don’t want to do it. A lot of people I know are not having kids…and I mean very high income earners.

          4. The movie “Idiocracy” was a comedy satire at the time of release but has changed importance to now it has become a documentary of where the US has been heading. Very high income earners who contribute zero to succeeding generations.

        2. but then both spouses had to work

          As I said, social and economic policies, and as you said this is happening everywhere.

          This is the easy way to cull the herd, though it requires patience.

          As medically assisted suicide becomes the norm around the globe I expect there will be enormous pressure on oldsters to end their lives prematurely. They will be shamed and guilted for being “parasites”, and as pension systems become strained their benefits will be curtailed past a certain age. Not a problem if you have a nice nest egg; but most people won’t.

      2. Visit Mexico at your own risk.
        Nomad Capitalist is always saying “Come to Mexico”, but I am with you.
        No way I would ever go to Mexico.

        1. There is a youtube blogger (QRoo Paul) who offered tips on how to retire in Mexico. He lived in the Cancun area. At one point he was thinking of opening a brew pub there. As he did the numbers he found out that he would have to pay a hefty amount of protection money (derecho de piso). which meant he would make no profit. He cancelled his plans, and then sold his condo and moved back to the US. The dude was a retired cop.

  10. Two adjacent headlines on CNN’s website today:

    Boeing’s crisis is getting worse. Now it’s borrowing tens of billions of dollars

    Two of America’s most prominent Black business leaders have a warning for companies abandoning DEI

    The second article is behind a paywall, but I found this on X:

    Ken Frazier and Ken Chenault, two of America’s most prominent black business leaders, warn that companies abandoning DEI will miss out on “hidden talent”

    So you have to hire a ton of deadwood to find a few diamonds in the rough? Isn’t this approach part of Boeing’s troubles?

  12. A reader sent these in:

    The era of global liquidity fueled super rallies.
    The ones that go on and on and on with hardly any 2 way price discovery until they eventually barf all over themselves.

    Dow Jones Global Index monthly chart.

    https://x.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1845827147677507597

    We’re witnessing a total breakdown in asset class correlations.
    Dollar ripping, yields ripping, $SPX ripping.
    The gap ever widening. $TNX & $USD vs $SPX (inverted):

    https://x.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1845830200090603574

    Why does the market keep going up?
    Cause they keep buying it.
    Why do they keep buying it?
    Cause it keeps going up.

    https://x.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1845817971542778100

    $SPY on track for the lowest volume print in a regular session during the month of October since before the year 2000.

    https://x.com/market_sleuth/status/1845910724872147114

    “Should we be afraid that AIs will soon grow so powerful that they pose a hazard to us? “You’re going to have to pardon my French, but that’s complete B.S.”

    https://x.com/NorthmanTrader/status/1845454246512079011

    Home Improvement Retailer True Value Files for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy in Delaware, Announces Sale Plan to Rival

    https://x.com/MacroEdgeRes/status/1845811707152576624

    Illinois is considering a 3% tax on millionaires to solve the state’s property tax problems, per BI.

    https://x.com/unusual_whales/status/1845856339534254108

    Builder newsletter headline

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1845852661666443638

    A major warning sign for Airbnb.

    TN just recorded it’s largest decline in Hotel Tax revenue since COVID.

    https://x.com/ethanflynncpa/status/1845805721482334487

    Tough labor market conditions continue. Add in H1Bs & 10 million new laborers to the competition pool & it’s brutal for American workers.

    https://x.com/DonMiami3/status/1845647695383298140

    Say it together…all at once…

    https://x.com/GayBearRes/status/1845861202762625255

    1. “Add in H1Bs & 10 million new laborers to the competition pool & it’s brutal for American workers”

      You are being replaced.

    2. From the last reader….
      “My realtor now is telling me buyers are holding out
      until after the election. Any truth to that?”

      The immediate response to a statement like that should be, “Based on what?” or “What makes say that?” And if they begin their answer by saying, “They say”, ask them who the hell “they” are. But people don’t ask questions like that because they want to believe the lie.

      1. People do NOT want to hear the truth.

        Even when they ask for the truth, it’s not what they want to hear. What they want to hear is confirmation of their choices.

        1. “What they want to hear is confirmation of their choices.”

          It’s also known as, “confirmation bias.”

  13. Lagos: Two-storey building collapses in Orile Iganmu

    The building, which collapsed in Amusu Street, led to people scampering in different directions for safety.

    The catastrophic incident was disclosed by X users on Monday.

    As at the time of filing this report, the Lagos State government is yet to react to the incident.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/autos/other/lagos-two-storey-building-collapses-in-orile-iganmu/ar-AA1seAK7

    Here’s a short video of the collapse:

    Few minutes ago, A 2 storey building in Oriole iganmu got tired of standing on the mandate and decided to rest 😫😫

    https://x.com/DaJONz1/status/1845765156011118973

    1. The building, which collapsed in Amusu Street, led to people scampering in different directions for safety.

      If I ever find myself in a collapsing building, I won’t be “scampering.” I’ll be bolting like Ted Kennedy from a submerged car.

  14. We live in the age of kayfabe capitalism

    “My real name is Joe, and I’ve been living with leukemia for 11 years . . . and unfortunately it’s back.”

    Roman Reigns, an imposing pro wrestler, stood in the middle of the ring in front of thousands of fans and a packed arena. The crowd fell to a hush as he spoke.

    Roman Reigns’s real name is Leati Joseph (Joe) Anoaʻi, and at the time he was the reigning World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) Universal Champion. His run of 1,316 days was the fourth-longest world title reign in WWE history. “And because the leukemia is back, I cannot fulfill my role, I can’t be that fighting champion, and I’m going to have to relinquish the Universal championship,” Joe announced.

    Moments of authenticity like this, which break the fourth wall, are so rare in championship wrestling that there is a special term for it: breaking “kayfabe.” Kayfabe is the illusion of rivalry. It is what all of pro wrestling is built on: invented characters and storylines, fake rivals engaged in fabricated feuds and staged events that are portrayed as real. Everything down to the last detail of a match and a wrestling season is highly scripted. All wrestling fans know this. It is part of the suspension of reality that we all indulge in when we go to movies or any form of escapist storytelling.

    It’s a perfect metaphor for markets today. Many companies have become experts in the illusion of rivalry. They pretend to compete, but it’s all an act. Monopolists and oligopolists are kayfabe geniuses.

    The illusion of competition can happen in multiple ways. The biggest way firms pretend to compete is by engaging in aggressive mergers and acquisition campaigns, acquiring as many companies as they can. This is a form of lazy growth. Instead of investing in research and development, employee training, or more natural expansion methods, firms simply buy growth instead of building it.

    Aswath Damodoran, a professor at New York University’s Stern School of Business, put it this way: “I firmly believe that acquisitions are an addiction, that once companies start to grow through acquisitions, they cannot stop. Everything about the [mergers and acquisition] process has all the hallmarks of an addiction.”

    Companies will often retain the brands of companies they acquire to maintain the illusion that multiple companies are competing for your dollars, but they’re all owned by the same parent company.

    Take the global eyewear monopolist, EssilorLuxottica. When you walk into a Sunglass Hut at the mall and see dozens of brands for sale, you may think that by choosing Ray-Ban over Gucci, you’re supporting one company over another. But in reality, every pair of sunglasses in the store is owned by one company: EssilorLuxottica. Over the last 20 years, the company has gone on an acquisition spree, buying up more than 250 companies, earning it the moniker Big Lens. Last year, EssilorLuxottica added Moncler and Jimmy Choo to its collection of over 150 brands worldwide. And it also owns the Canadian eyewear retailer Clearly, despite the website boasting that it is “Proudly Canadian for twenty-plus years.”

    But what has made EssilorLuxottica a true eyewear behemoth is that it doesn’t only own nearly all glasses brands, but it also owns the retail stores that sell them, including Sunglass Hut. The firm has aggressively acquired retail stores to distribute their eyewear and now owns more than 18,000 stores.

    The company is a product of a 2018 merger between Essilor (the world’s largest lens manufacturer) and Luxottica (the top frame manufacturer globally). In 2018, Essilor controlled more than half of the world’s prescription lens market. It is astounding that antitrust regulators approved the merger, as it gave the firm unparalleled monopoly power over lens manufacturing and distribution worldwide.

    Controlling the entire process from manufacturing to distribution is known as vertical integration, and EssilorLuxottica has perfected it, profiting massively. Their 2024 company report brags that since the 2018 merger was approved, the firm has increased its revenue by 57 per cent to 25.4 billion euros. Its net income, the amount it earns after accounting for all expenses, rose by even more: 66 per cent.

    The merger has clearly been great for shareholders, but not so much for consumers who are paying more and more for glasses every year. Glasses can have a 1,000-per-cent markup, meaning that while it costs just a few dollars to manufacture glasses, they are often sold for hundreds of dollars. E. Dean Butler, the founder of LensCrafters, which was acquired by EssilorLuxottica in 1995, called this “a complete rip-off.”

    The rise of private-label retail products, coupled with decades of mergers and acquisitions that have consolidated industries while retaining distinct brand names, are two ways in which companies create an illusion of rivalry.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/business/commentary/article-we-live-in-the-age-of-kayfabe-capitalism/

  15. After Pfizer’s coronavirus vaccine success, CEO targeted for revenue slump

    The threat to Bourla’s tenure has been launched by Starboard Value, a hedge fund that has taken a $1 billion stake in Pfizer, The Wall Street Journal first reported, seeking unspecified changes. Pfizer’s stock has lost about half of its value since peaking in 2021.

    Flush with cash from its coronavirus success, Pfizer went on a buying spree, shelling out more than $60 billion to expand into therapies for immune diseases, migraines, sickle cell disease and respiratory syncytial virus. The centerpiece purchase was the $43 billion acquisition of Seagen, a cancer company with a precision-missile-like approach to targeting tumors.

    But then the world moved on from coronavirus faster than Pfizer had anticipated, company executives have said, with fewer people opting to get its vaccine. The company’s revenue went into free fall, sinking to $58.5 billion in 2023, and its share price followed suit. Bourla didn’t receive a cash bonus that year, and his compensation, valued at $21.6 million, was a 35 percent pay cut from the previous year.

    Bourla acknowledged in a May interview with The Washington Post that “we missed big-time our internal projections” for coronavirus.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/after-pfizer-s-coronavirus-vaccine-success-ceo-targeted-for-revenue-slump/ar-AA1semi1

    1. “Flush with cash from its coronavirus success”

      Success = Big Government welfare in the form of “vaccine mandates” and the suppression of Ivermectin.

      It’s a medical genocide, and CEO Albert Bourla (not a Christian, in case you forgot) needs to hang ☠️

    2. They were “projecting” that 100 million people would get boosted every year, not anticipating that COVID would quickly become so mild that the vaccine is not worth the risk.

      COVID’s sudden evolution from Delta to Omicron was one of my early-2020s black swans. Another was Elon buying Twitter. I’ve recently added a third: DJT turning his head to look at an immigration chart at a rally.

      1. not anticipating that COVID would quickly become so mild that the vaccine is not worth the risk

        It was never worth the risk

        1. ‘It is often said that the exact phrase “First do no harm” (Latin: Primum non nocere) is a part of the original Hippocratic oath. Although the phrase does not appear in the AD 245 version of the oath, similar intentions are vowed by, “I will abstain from all intentional wrong-doing and harm”. The phrase primum non nocere is believed to date from the 17th century.’

          ‘Another equivalent phrase is found in Epidemics, Book I, of the Hippocratic school: “Practice two things in your dealings with disease: either help or do not harm the patient”.[7] The exact phrase is believed to have originated with the 19th-century English surgeon Thomas Inman.[8.’

        2. not anticipating that COVID would quickly become so mild that the vaccine is not worth the risk

          The scamdemic was never about public health.

          1. “The scamdemic was never about public health”

            Never was.

            Here in Colorado, destroy every small business, let the following all stay open:

            Wal-Mart
            Fast food drive thru’s
            Liquor stores
            Weed dispensaries

            But close all the gyms. The building I lived in at the time closed its excercise room. That tells you everything.

            They try to pull this sh*t again, hunt them down and kill them all

      3. COVID would quickly become so mild that the vaccine is not worth the risk.
        That is exactly what a hiking buddy of mine with a PHD in Virology said would happen: To Paraphase “Covid is a non event. It will be gone in 5 years.”

  16. Completely Motorbikes dealership chain enters administration: new buyer sought

    Completely Motoring Limited, the company behind multi-franchise motorcycle dealership chain Completely Motorbikes have confirmed that they have entered administration alongside Thunder Road Motorcycles Limited in Bridgend, and John Wilkins (Motor Engineers) Limited.

    Announced in a social media post on Friday, October 11, the joint administrators are now urging anyone interested in purchasing the £70 million turnover group to come forward – with the two- and four-wheeled businesses collectively employing 165 people and housing over 1500 bikes across 21 showrooms.

    Fears for the future of the business began to bubble up online on Friday, October 4, when the wider group closed for a stock audit. Prior to last Friday’s announcement, a company spokesperson had confirmed to MCN that the company had filed a notice of intent to enter administration.

    The ongoing financial process will now be managed by a team from accounting and advisory firm, Azets, alongside Xeinadin Corporate Recovery Limited – with both appointed to the position on Thursday, October 10.

    “The group has encountered financial difficulties after a poor summer sales period,” Joint Administrator Jonathan Amor of Azets said. “As a result, the group has been placed into administration to protect it. We are exploring sale options with interested parties.

    “We have received several expressions of interest, and we urge any other parties to make contact as soon as possible, with a view to securing a future for the group and saving as much of the business, and as many jobs, as possible.”

    Brands involved with the Completely group include Aprilia, CCM, Ducati, Honda, Indian Motorcycle, Kawasaki, Triumph, Suzuki, Vespa, and more.

    https://www.motorcyclenews.com/news/2024/october/completely-motorbikes-administration/

    1. That sounds a brit or assie company….but they are hurting here too. I love a huge part of my life in the moto world…strictly for fun not business and I can see things are not so good. Ktm…which is under Pierre mobility is struggling and laying off. Same in the side by side, boating and rv world. so much business was pulled forward during the covid welfare years.

  17. Putting The Pandemic Behind It, San Jose Goes All-In On Its Downtown

    Downtowns across the country are facing an existential reset after the shock of the pandemic and its yearslong ripple effects. In San Jose, city leaders are going all-in on their downtown, offering business incentives and focusing on safety, cleanliness and boosting local retailers.

    Through these efforts, San Jose is hoping not just to seize a chance to reimagine itself in a new normal but also to build back its downtown office and retail markets, which were poised for big change in the years leading up to the pandemic.

    Groundwerx cleaning and safety ambassadors hit the streets daily to provide tree trimming and care, homeless assistance, business development and street life projects such as wall murals, crosswalk decor and decorative lighting.

    Among the new businesses taking advantage of the efforts is Migi Cera Candles, which opened in a storefront in Moment DTSJ, a collective of stores owned by local artisans in San Pedro Square.

    “I didn’t know that making candles in my kitchen would turn into this,” Migi Cera owner Marcelina Castro told Bisnow.

    https://www.bisnow.com/san-francisco/news/economic-development/putting-the-pandemic-far-behind-it-san-jose-goes-all-in-on-its-downtown-126284

      1. How about Scrapbooking stores?

        Remember those?

        Candles, ‘Wanna be a Pirate?’, Scrapbooking, ‘Party like its 1999’ stores.

        Yeah, the economy is in darn good shape.

        Where do we invest?

          1. First time I ever read about a ‘present wrapping room’ was TV producer Aaron Spelling’s home. [1]

            This house is so large you could have squatters move in and you wouldn’t even know that they were there, unless someone in your maintenance staff tripped over them or they started to burn the place down.

            Imagine the holding costs on this monster

            [1] From Wiki:
            In 1988, Spelling bought the 6-acre (2.4 ha) property of Bing Crosby’s former Los Angeles house. He demolished the property and built a 123-room home on the lot in 1991. Known as “The Manor”, it has 56,500 square feet (5,250 m2) of floor space and as of 2006 was the largest single-family home in Los Angeles. Spelling’s widow Candy listed the home for sale in 2008 for $150 million. Heiress Petra Ecclestone ultimately purchased the property for $85 million in 2011 through a brokered agreement that was developed by Brandon Davis, the brother of Jason Davis and grandson of wealthy industrialist Marvin Davis.

      3. There is no way you can sell enough candles to cover commercial space rent and utilities in HCOL area like San Jose.
        None
        either it’s a plaything for some rich bored housewife or it’s money laundering.

        1. “…or it’s money laundering….”

          I’ll go with money laundering.

          For decades, there have been some very suspicious storefronts selling not exactly mainstream household nicknacks along Pacific Coast Hwy in Corona Del Mar (small beachfront town between Newport and Laguna).

          Those storefronts are high dollar rent expensive.

          Just got to be money laundering. 99% sure.

  18. As Harris makes case for presidency, her record as prosecutor draws fresh scrutiny

    When Kamala Harris famously refused to seek the death penalty against a young gang member accused of killing a cop two decades ago, she said then that her opposition to capital punishment was well-reasoned and absolute.

    Even under pressure from the late Democratic Sen. Dianne Feinstein, who received a standing ovation when she called for the death penalty at the officer’s funeral, Harris, then 39, stood strong.

    “For those who want this defendant put to death, let me say simply that there can be no exception to principle,” she wrote in an opinion piece published in the San Francisco Chronicle in 2004, shortly after being elected the city’s first female district attorney.

    “I gave my word to the people of San Francisco that I oppose the death penalty,” Harris wrote, “and I will honor that commitment despite the strong emotions evoked by this case.”

    Just four years later, however, Harris pushed aside her long-held opposition to capital punishment when she announced plans to run for attorney general of California. She vowed that, if elected, she would “enforce the death penalty as the law dictates.”

    Her critics have seized on these and other perceived contradictions as evidence that she’s a flip-flopping politician – “a chameleon” as Republican vice presidential nominee Sen. JD Vance has repeatedly called her. But Harris’ supporters see her as an opened-minded leader unafraid to change her thinking when persuaded by evidence.

    Asked about some of her shifting stances in a CNN interview in August, Harris said, “my values have not changed.”

    One of Harris’ boldest moves as district attorney was to launch a program aimed at preventing young people from ending up in jail or prison by making sure they stayed in school.

    “I believe a child going without an education is tantamount to a crime,” she said in a speech at San Francisco’s Commonwealth Club in 2010. “So I decided I was going to start prosecuting parents for truancy.”

    “This was a little controversial in San Francisco,” she said, laughing, “and frankly my staff went bananas.”

    She wrote in an op-ed around that time that she had “prosecuted 20 parents of young children for truancy” and that the crime carried a potential sentence of up to a year in jail.

    Another parent caught up in the May 2011 truancy sweep in Orange County said she was a single mom working two jobs to support her five kids.

    Following her arrest, during which a photo of her in handcuffs was publicized in local media, she said she lost one of her jobs working as a line cook at a restaurant and her family was shunned by the community.

    “There has to be another way,” she said. “It’s inhumane.”

    Harris, who for years had advocated on behalf of prosecutors getting involved in truancy cases, has since expressed regret about the “unintended consequence” of parents being prosecuted and jailed, “because that was never the intention.”

    But Alice Haddadin questioned those statements from Harris. “I don’t think you can consider that an unintended consequence because she created the law,” she told CNN.

    In 2015, following the widespread civil unrest in the wake of the police killing of Brown in Ferguson, Missouri the previous summer, Harris began requiring special agents working for the state Department of Justice to wear body cameras when on duty.

    Harris, however, declined to support a bill that would have imposed statewide regulations impacting throughout the Golden State.

    Harris balked at the aim of the proposed law, warning against a “one-size-fits-all” regulation.

    Her cautious stance on the issue frustrated many advocates of criminal justice reform, including those who expressed support for Harris on other issues.

    Another area that has drawn scrutiny was Harris’ apparent resistance to using the broad powers of the AG’s office to conduct independent probes into fatal police shootings.

    As AG, Harris declined to support a 2015 bill by Democratic Assemblyman Kevin McCarty from Sacramento that would have required the state to conduct such probes, as opposed to county prosecutors who may appear biased due to their close working relationship with local police.

    “The African American and civil rights community have been disappointed that (Harris) hasn’t come out stronger on this,” McCarty, a member of California’s Legislative Black Caucus, told the Los Angeles Times in 2016.

    Speaking to colleagues on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Harris asked for their support in passing a new federal law, one that would help ensure independent oversight in cases in which local prosecutors have a perceived or real conflict of interest with investigating the officers in question.

    “As a former prosecutor,” she said, “I know that independent investigations into police misconduct are imperative.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/as-harris-makes-case-for-presidency-her-record-as-prosecutor-draws-fresh-scrutiny/ar-AA1sc53S

    1. Just four years later, however, Harris pushed aside her long-held opposition to capital punishment when she announced plans to run for attorney general of California. She vowed that, if elected, she would “enforce the death penalty as the law dictates.”

      She’s a wind sock

  19. I came across these links from earlier this year. Finland has closed its border with Russia, due to the dangers of “instrumentalised” migration.

    https://valtioneuvosto.fi/en/situation-at-finlands-eastern-border
    https://intermin.fi/en/current-issues/situation-at-the-eastern-border

    Excerpt:

    According to the Finnish authorities, the situation at the eastern border involves facilitated instrumentalised entry. Our goal is to put a stop to this phenomenon and return to normal.

    Putting an end to this phenomenon will reduce the risks associated with the economic exploitation of potential applicants for international protection and the threat to their life and health.

  20. Kamala Harris Is Courting Nevada Latinos. But She Hasn’t Closed The Deal.

    Nevada has the distinction of being the only one of the four battleground states in the Sun Belt where Harris has even a marginal polling lead over former President Donald Trump.

    Latino voters, who made up about 1 in 5 of the state’s eligible voters in 2020, have been a critical part of Democrats’ steady takeover of Nevada politics since the days of the late Senate Democratic leader Harry Reid. Democrats made a point of investing in Latino voter registration in the state following their loss in the 2004 presidential election, and have carried the Battle Born State with Latino help in every presidential election since.

    For Harris to keep the party’s streak going, however, she likely must meet or exceed President Joe Biden’s 61% share of the Nevada Latino vote from 2020. She could also stand to increase Latino turnout, which clocked in at just under 51% in 2020, compared with 77% among the state’s more Republican-leaning white voters.

    But, as in other states where Trump has made inroads with Latino voters, some new polling suggests Harris is in trouble with this critical voting bloc in Nevada. Nevada Latinos favor Harris over Trump 56% to 40%, according to a Suffolk University poll conducted in late September and early October. Much of Harris’s vulnerability is with Latino men: Among Latino men in Nevada, Trump leads Harris 50% to 44%.

    Those numbers track with a New York Times/Siena College poll out Sunday showing Harris with the support of 56% of the Latino vote nationwide, compared with estimates that Biden won the vote of 62% of that group in 2020, and Hillary Clinton had 68% in 2016. At the same time.

    Notwithstanding Harris’ outreach, Latino voters’ frustration with the economic tumult of the past four years appears to be the main culprit for Harris’ closer-than-hoped-for lead with Latinos in Nevada. Even as recent polling shows Harris narrowing Trump’s advantage on the economy nationally, evidence points to discontent over inflation helping Trump in Nevada in general, and among Nevada Latinos in particular.

    In Nevada, where the economy is so dependent on the tourism and gaming industries, the economic fallout from the COVID-19 pandemic was especially severe. In 2022, a year when all Nevada Democrats in federal office were re-elected, then-Gov. Steve Sisolak (D) lost his job, in part over his role in closing down businesses during the pandemic for public health reasons.

    That pain still lingers. The state’s unemployment rate and median household income still have not quite returned to their pre-pandemic levels.

    “The magic number in Nevada has always been in the high 30s or 40s for a Republican campaign,” said Chris Roman, a Trump supporter and former Spanish-language TV executive in Nevada who now informally advises candidates from both parties.

    “You still hear: ‘I was better off under Trump. I had more money, more buying power. I felt safer. I had hopes, dreams, and aspirations. I was able to buy a house. I had multiple job offers,’” Roman said. “The economic reasoning and rationale overcomes exceptions to personality.”

    As for Trump’s advantage among Latino men, in particular, Roman added a cultural explanation rooted in machismo. “A lot of guys like that he’s a tough guy. They love that this guy’s got cojones. This guy is strong. This guy’s a man,” Roman said.

    The Harris campaign might be looking at polling that suggests traditional border enforcement is as much a priority for Latino voters as it is for the overall electorate. In fact, per the Times/Siena College national poll, 9% of Latinos supporting Harris “strongly support” building a wall on the U.S.-Mexico border, and another 10% “somewhat support” the policy.

    Leo Murrieta, director of Make the Road Nevada, the state’s largest progressive Latine rights group, has been disappointed in Harris for focusing so much on border enforcement without much discussion of her plans to help undocumented immigrants, a shift from 2016 and 2020 when Democrats more frequently talked about pathways to citizenship for undocumented immigrants.

    “Democrats are horrible on the issue of immigration, so they’ve stopped talking about it, and they should, because they’re horrible on immigration,” he said.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/kamala-harris-is-courting-nevada-latinos-but-she-hasn-t-closed-the-deal/ar-AA1seD42

  21. True Value files for bankruptcy after 75 years, blames weak housing market for plunging sales

    “After a thorough evaluation of strategic alternatives, we determined that the sale of our business was the path forward to maximize value and best serve our retail partners and other stakeholders into the future,” True Value CEO Chris Kempa said in a statement.

    Like other hardware companies, True Value fell victim to a weak housing market, the company said in bankruptcy court filings.

    As the housing market stalled because of high mortgage rates, there was less need for lumber and building materials.

    Home Depot and Lowe’s have also struggled to bounce back from the consumer slowdown. Instead, discount retailers like Target and Walmart prevailed as cash-strapped customers searched for cheap deals.

    Since new home owners typically buy fresh furniture — beds, couches, tables and chairs — homeware sales slumped, too.

    Home furnishing retailers Big Lots and LL Flooring announced in September they had filed for bankruptcy as sales plummeted.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/companies/true-value-files-for-bankruptcy-after-75-years-blames-weak-housing-market-for-plunging-sales/ar-AA1sghTi

    1. “…True Value files for bankruptcy after 75 years…”

      Didn’t help that True Value (and other big box stores) joined into the race to the bottom by selling cheap Chinese junk.

      1. I often found that True Value had items the big box stores lacked. Not sure that is still the case. That said, the local True Value has a nice selection of firearms and ammo. Try buying that at Home Despot.

    3. Bubbles make you go broke.

      Ironically, ACON’s motto is “Creating Value Driven By Dislocation”. One of my business mottos was “Choose your business partners carefully”‘

  22. Owner of troubled Aurora apartments says gangs assaulted its representative

    The company released surveillance video which it says shows one of its representatives being assaulted after he refused to accept a bribe at the Whispering Pines complex at the end of 2023.

    “I think they were trying to kill me. I don’t know how I got out, but I got out,” that representative told FOX31 in a telephone interview.

    The city of Aurora has already shut down one of CBZ’s complexes and is threatening to take over others like the one at Dallas Street and East 12th Avenue where a group of men was seen carrying guns on security cameras.

    MSU Assistant Real Estate Professor Jeff Peshut explained what a “receiver” does.

    “Well, they really step into the shoes of the owner. They make ownership decisions subject to the order of the court. But they make ownership decisions in what they view is the best interest of the property and therefore the best interest of the lender,” Peshut said.

    Peshut said receiverships almost always precede foreclosures.

    The organization said residents, as of Oct. 11, still lacked water and electricity, and had entire floors with no lights, no heating or air conditioning along with an infestation problem.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/owner-of-troubled-aurora-apartments-says-gangs-assaulted-its-representative/ar-AA1sgUl8

    1. It’s OK, because foreign gangs have only taken over a few complexes.

      This is what the Dems are doing to America.

  23. Office vacancy levels soar to record highs in biggest Bay Area markets

    The Bay Area’s three primary office markets, haunted by empty buildings, have reached forbidding new milestones of record-high vacancy levels, according to a grim new report.

    Silicon Valley, which roughly equates to Santa Clara County; downtown Oakland; and San Francisco all hit record-high office vacancy rates in the most recent three-month period, JLL, a commercial real estate firm, reported in separate surveys of those markets.

    Here are the details for each market in the third quarter:

    — San Francisco, which is locked in what numerous experts believe is an economic “doom loop”, posted a third-quarter vacancy rate of 34.5%.

    — Downtown Oakland’s office vacancy rate was 29.1%.

    — Silicon Valley reported an office vacancy level of 22%.

    In all three instances, the vacancy levels rocketed to record highs, according to JLL researchers for each market.

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/office-vacancy-levels-soar-to-record-highs-in-biggest-bay-area-markets/ar-AA1s0M5Y

  24. JD Vance said that Harris is going to give 25k down payment assistance to illegals, under some kind of a first time homeowners program.

    So, if Harris gets elected, fast forward 2 years to foreclosures and maybe a 50% drop in value. Than give 25k to illegals to be the replacement .

    I can’t remember in my life just giving hard core cash for home ownership.Maybe lower interest rate loans or government back loans, or Vet loans, or no down-payment loans .
    But, this is bribery, or worse it’s shoring up replacement illegals.
    And with Monopolies and Rich Elites wanting replacement of US Citizens, the replacements will be the illegals for the available jobs.
    Federal taxes used to shore up your replacement.
    Don’t know how Harris will also pay for child care, and all the other handouts promised.
    I think Harris said she will tax the rich, but you know that isn’t going to happen.

    1. I think Harris said she will tax the rich, but you know that isn’t going to happen.

      That would mean she would have to pay more taxes. Not gonna happen.

    2. The $25K down payment assistance is for “first generation” buyers, not first time buyers. In other words, if your parents bought a house, then no $25K for you.

      Of course, the parents of these Millenials and GenZ were Boomers or older GenX, and 30 years ago, almost everyone could afford to buy a house.

      So the only first-generation home buyers would be either people who had renter(poor) parents, or immigrants, mostly illegal.

      1. Haven’t we been through this before? What if your parents owned a house in another country, is that Ok? What if it was a condo? And even within the US, how on earth are you supposed to prove that your parents never owned a house? Do the parents just sign an affidavit? What if they’re not alive any more? And what if you were adopted?

        1. I suspect that this promise, much like universal student loan forgiveness, will never come to pass. It is just another campaign stunt.

          1. It is just another campaign stunt.
            i can’t imagine the Courts would say that it was constitutional. But then, I am not a lawyer so what do I know.

        2. just sign an affidavit

          I was looking at this as I filled out my ballot yesterday. It seems that the only thing keeping voters honest is the statement “under of penalty of perjury I’m who I say I am and I’m not going to vote anywhere else, or I’ll pay a $1K fine.”

          Yeah, BS. You think oaths mean ANYthing to these migrant criminals? Long ago — maybe up until 1995 or so, we largely policed ourselves because we were nice. Now, the attitude is “try and stop me.” We aren’t set up to handle this.

          1. maybe up until 1995 or so, we largely policed ourselves because we were nice. Now, the attitude is “try and stop me.”
            IIRC, About the time when Clinton lied under oath with no consequences from his action.
            I don’t blame him for Monica, he$$ if I were married to Hillary I’d probably do the same thing. It’s the lie under oath that annoys me.

      2. So the only first-generation home buyers would be either people who had renter(poor) parents, or immigrants, mostly illegal.

        One million legal immigrants come annually. It is impossible to prove what your parents did or did not own in a foreign country.

  25. Ok, American journal just said Harris is promising 20k in forgivable business loans, for Black’s.
    Bribery to get the male black vote.
    And Gov is also suppose to rescue certain minority groups in disasters first, because that’s equity.
    You would think all these programs would go against the Civil Rights laws, constitutional protections, 14th amendment, etc.

    1. I saw a hurricane Helene meme: and American is trapped on the roof of their home as a military helicopter approaches. As it hovers over the house it lowers its gantry. Instead of rescuing the stranded Americans, the chopper disgorges a throng of invaders onto their rooftop.

    2. Ok, American journal just said Harris is promising 20k in forgivable business loans, for Black’s.

      I’m sure the recipients will have to submit a detailed business plan to get the money. And it won’t get spent on hookers and blow. /sarc

    3. They are clearly unconstitutional. All you need is one white guy to apply, be rejected on basis of race, and boom, the whole thing blows up.

      Why are Special K’s programs just cash? $25K for housing, $10K for student loans, $20K for businesses, $6K per baby… this reminds me of those old cartoons of a fat-cat politician riding down the streets, throwing pennies out the back of a convertible to the poor children.

      1. All you need is one white guy to apply, be rejected on basis of race, and boom, the whole thing blows up.
        According to my brothers DNA, I am 3% African. Do I get the $20K?
        I would seriously think about applying. I have blond hair (what’s left) and deep blue eyes.

  26. ‘We’ve paid out of pocket our entire life savings and then we started selling stuff that really, we just had to come up with cash. You shouldn’t have to live like this,’ Wells said.”

    I don’t live like this. Throwing away money on rent seems like a better alternative, all things considered.

    1. financial chicanery will only make the financial reckoning day that much more cataclysmic when it can no longer be deferred

      But the people in charge hope that day will come after they are gone.

      1. But the people in charge hope that day will come after they are gone.
        That’s what the Condo owners in FL hoped for too.

  28. The move comes after the asking price hovered roughly $15 million below what he paid for it in 2014.

    It was only Yellen Bux.

  29. The typical home spent 469 days on the market and received a 17 percent discount.”

    Hangry realtors might be disinclined to waste their time and marketing resources on greedheads who cling to their delusional wish prices month after month.

  30. ‘The finances of the country are poor, there is going to need to be a tax raid somewhere, and the Government is not going to lose many voters by attacking landlords.’”

    Gosh, being a real estate mogul wanna-be isn’t all it’s cracked up to be.

  31. In the past five years, McCarthy said he has not inspected one new build that was ‘defect-free’ — despite it being a part of his everyday job.”

    And yet idiots massively overpay for such defect-riddled edifices. Truly you can’t fix stupid.

  34. ‘discovered water leaking from the roof into their condo at Topsail Dunes Villas on New River Inlet Road. The HOA told the couple the roof was patched, but water continued to leak into their condo. ‘The HOA told the couple their homeowner’s insurance—not the HOA’s—would need to cover the roof repairs, despite roof maintenance being the HOA’s responsibility. ‘They were trying to pawn it off on us’…’They’re hoping that we’re going to run out of money, or they’re going to make us so miserable that we’ll just walk away. Who can walk away from $300,000? That’s our life’s investment’…‘Even if we had money, and we decided to foot the bill and renovate it, we can’t because there’s still water coming in and nobody is doing anything about it,’ Passe added. Wells and Passe said their condo is currently unlivable because of toxic mold. They were told the condo will need to be gutted from floor to ceiling to make it safe again. ‘We’ve paid out of pocket our entire life savings and then we started selling stuff that really, we just had to come up with cash. You shouldn’t have to live like this’

    That’s a whole boat load of HBB Pitfalls of Commie Urban Living™ there Jeff and Jana, thanks fer yer contribution.

  35. ‘Bello thought she’d taken proper precautions to protect against Florida’s notorious hurricanes, having purchased flood insurance as well as a separate hurricane-specific policy, in addition to her regular homeowners coverage. Yet nearly two weeks after Helene hit — and even before Milton had arrived — what Bello, 54, describes as an insurance ‘nightmare’ has only begun. She said she already faces delays and denials on her damage claims. ‘We did everything we were supposed to do’

    It’s surprising how many loanowners are surprised by the shack and airbox insurance scam Bridgette. It doesn’t work if they have to pay out. That’s my observation.

  36. ‘Despite Austin’s months of housing inventory only reaching a high of 4.8 as of August 2024, house prices have already dropped by 19.8% from their 2022 peak in Austin’

    IIRC even at the months inventory peak during the recent slaughter, it was around six months. Which is UHS balanced. So loanowners took a 20% a$$ pounding in a sellers market, according to UHS.

  37. ‘The playbook for home builders is going to have to slowly shift, at least from our perspective, from buydowns, buydowns, buydowns to OK—wait a second here…It’s going to be a tougher market’…‘I’d call it a time of transition’

    What Tom and Rick are saying is it’s time to undercut recent buyers.

  38. ‘despite a thriving ultra-luxury real estate market, neither property has attracted buyers. However, after repeated price cuts, the Potomac mansion remains unsold. In March, the Snyders donated the property at 11900 River Road to the American Cancer Society. In May, the charity relisted the home for $34.9 million, yet no buyers emerged. By September 23, the price was reduced again to $29.9 million. Snyder’s Fairfax County property, located on part of George Washington’s original Mt. Vernon estate, remains on the market for $60 million, but its steep price, at over $3,700 per square foot, has also deterred buyers’

    Dan gave it away. And the charity can’t give it away.

  39. ‘Pigg, who’s worked with her husband as a real estate agent in the Humboldt County area for nearly 30 years said the average home on the Eureka and Arcata market requires the income of two working adults, which for locals can prove challenging in the county’s economic environment. ‘The cannabis industry has pretty much dried up. You don’t see many logging trucks anymore’

    And you got the highest foreclosure rate in California Marci.

  40. ‘Murdoch’s penthouse at One Madison has finally found a buyer. The 7,000-square-foot abode at 23 East 22nd Street entered contract last week with a last asking price of $29 million, according to Olshan Realty’s weekly report on properties asking $4 million or more. The move comes after the asking price hovered roughly $15 million below what he paid for it in 2014. The media magnate’s triplex has drifted on and off the market since March 2022’

    You got schlonged Rupert.

  41. ‘For Ryan Mitchell, the prospect of a hike in CGT was the cherry on the cake that ended his career as an accidental landlord. Things started to go wrong after a new tenant, having split up with their partner, stopped paying the £675 per month rent. The neighbours complained about their erratic behaviour, the property was being damaged, and eventually he launched eviction proceedings. He reclaimed the property at the end of last year, and with the prospect of higher CGT on the horizon, decided to sell up. ‘Even before the election the writing was on the wall,’ says Mitchell. ‘The finances of the country are poor, there is going to need to be a tax raid somewhere, and the Government is not going to lose many voters by attacking landlords’

    Ryan is short sighted and therefore not a winnah! Guberment guarantees sweet equity with shack gambling.

  42. ‘Tut, who bought in Court Drive two years ago, said they were misinformed over what their neighbourhood would look like. ‘Homeowners were sold on the notion of this private, ravine-facing lot. For us, this was done in poor faith’

    My thanks for the ever growing Pitfalls of Commie Urban Living™ Pavinder.

  43. ‘It’s not just entry level homeowners that are struggling to balance the increased cost of debt in the current environment…We’ve increasingly listed homes to be sold by distressed sellers in more affluent areas which have typically been immune to this kind of repayment shock. Property prices in most parts of the country are under pressure, which means it’s not a great time to sell if you are under pressure to sell in a short period of time’

    It is interesting how often the worst time to buy is when there is more to sell Herschel.

  44. A Hard Pill To Swallow (Toronto Real Estate Market Update)

    Team Sessa Real Estate

    1 hour ago TORONTO

    In this episode we look at the current Toronto Real Estate Market specifically the detached home prices and market trends for the week ending Oct 9, 2024. We also discuss how some people have the right idea of wanting to increase income and reduce expenses but when the time comes, get very afraid to make sacrifices in order to make it work.

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iGa8-15pfBU

    18 minutes.

    1. Martha Raddatz is one bitter angry leftist who is perfectly happy to let low life U.S. citizens deal with Venezuelan gangs and murders while she sits in her very safe hood in her $2 million house with her highly paid NPR husband.

  47. FEMA Spent A Fortune on Migrants, Ignored Disaster Relief Deficit

    by Patrick Howley | Patrick Reports
    October 15th, 2024 4:10 PM

    The Biden-Harris administration’s Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) spent hundreds of millions of dollars feeding and sheltering illegal immigrants before Hurricane Helene while they ignored an inspector general report warning them that their Disaster Relief Fund had a multi-billion dollar deficit due to misplaced funds. Government records show that FEMA gave lavish amounts of money to Catholic Charities, which specializes in carrying out the demographic replacement of Americans by illegal immigrants.

    FEMA’s “Shelter and Services Program” had more than half a billion dollars to throw around this fiscal year. Meanwhile, suffering Americans see their homes and lives devastated in the aftermath of Hurricanes Helene and Milton.

    FEMA describes the program thusly: “In Fiscal Year 2024, Congress appropriated $650,000,000 for SSP. SSP provides financial support to non-federal entities to provide sheltering and related activities to noncitizen migrants following their release from the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). The intent is to support CBP in the safe, orderly, and humane release of non-citizen migrants from short-term holding facilities.”

    FEMA records show the massive amounts of money doled out to migrant-serving groups like Catholic Charities.

    Various cities and counties and numerous Catholic Charities chapters received funding for migrant “shelter and services” during fiscal year 2024, which ended on September 30. “Catholic Charities Archdiocese of San Antonio, Inc.” got an allocation from FEMA for $10.877226 million, while “Catholic Charities, Diocese of San Diego” got a $19.592554 million handout. Other recipients include the Salvation Army and chapters of the United Way.

    https://www.infowars.com/posts/fema-spent-a-fortune-on-migrants-ignored-disaster-relief-deficit

    1. FEMA Spent A Fortune on Migrants, Ignored Disaster Relief Deficit

      As MWR mentioned above, since there are no consequences, they will do whatever they feel like doing, including lying under oath.

  49. I tend to think that the opposite of what I think is going happen, will actually happen. And I am never wrong about that.

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