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It Comes Down To Simple Math, By Walking Away I Am Saving Money

A report from Fox Business. “Sunny skies aren’t shining across America’s real estate market just yet, according to one of the nation’s top experts. ‘No one wants to move and [there are] fewer houses to choose from at higher rates. So it’s difficult for homebuyers,’ Corcoran Group founder Barbara Corcoran said. What’s more, the real estate expert doesn’t believe home prices will come down anytime soon. ‘I don’t think it’s in the nature of sellers to be realistic, honestly. Their house is always worth more,’ Corcoran argued.”

The Business Monthly. “Hundreds of federal workers from throughout the central Maryland region crammed the Smith Theater at Howard Community College on Feb. 4 to discuss uncertainty regarding their jobs and financial security in the wake of an unprecedented and allegedly unlawful buyout offered by the Trump administration.The comments expressed by 28 of the evening’s anonymous speakers follow below, edited for brevity. ‘I recently got into the federal space, just five months in, and it’s devastating. I quit my good job in the private sector because I thought I would have some kind of job security and insurance. One of my family members is not very well and needs surgery in the next couple of months. I’ve been crying and thinking about so many things like how will I pay my mortgage, how will I maintain health insurance.'”

“‘I’m not a federal employee, but I have worked in international development. My company is Maryland-based and has furloughed or laid off, at this point, about 75% of our staff. I am one of the lucky ones, I was furloughed last Thursday, my colleagues are being laid off. I am not at all confident that my company can survive this. I’m not at all confident that I will get my job back. I don’t know how we’re going to pay for our mortgage.'”

The Ledger in Florida. “Karina Sloan came to the United States at age 19 and has remained here for 37 years, serves as an unofficial Venezuelan leader for Polk County. She expressed dismay at Trump’s decision to revoke TPS for Venezuelans. Sloan said she has been hearing from local Venezuelans living under TPS protections, many of whom are now ‘panicking.’ ‘I have some friends that have been here probably close to 10 years, and the paperwork (for political asylum) has not gone through,’ Sloan said. ‘They had the permit to work, but the whole process was stuck. So then when TPS came in, they filed for that one too — in case the one didn’t go, then the other will kick in. So now they don’t know where they are. And these are people that have bought houses here, bought businesses here.'”

Florida Realtors. “Is Florida’s housing sector on the cusp of transitioning to a buyer’s market? The answer could be yes, especially in some local areas, according to Florida Realtors® Chief Economist Dr. Brad O’Connor. ‘If we go by the general rule of thumb that five to six months of supply is a balanced market, single-family homes ended 2024 still just barely in a seller’s market at 4.7 months of supply, while condos and townhouses are now firmly in buyer’s market territory, at 8.2 months’ supply,’ O’Connor said. ‘Multiple factors were responsible for the underperformance of this category throughout the year, including concerns about insurance coverage and reserve requirement compliance giving some prospective buyers cold feet. The result was the lowest number of condo and townhouse sales we’ve seen for any year in Florida since 2010.'”

“Year-over-year growth in new listings of condos and townhouses slowed in the second half of 2024, especially when compared to the first half of the year, he said, noting that because of the surge of new listings that occurred in the early months of 2024, the annual count of new condo and townhouse listings came in more than 11% higher than 2023’s count. ‘That increase is not much larger than the 9.5% increase we saw for single-family homes, though, and it suggests that the narrative of panicked condo owners across the state scrambling to sell in the face of the new state-mandated reserve requirements has been a bit overblown,’ O’Connor said. ‘We do think the requirements are having an impact on the market, but this impact is being felt more so on the buyer side than on the seller side.'”

From KMPH. “The FOX 26 News Team continues to look at home insurance rates in California, as the state was seeing significant rate hikes especially over the last five years. Joel Preheim, a victim and survivor of the Creek Fire said the following, ‘They actually issued a check. They actually told us that they had closed my account and that we were settled. Things like that…they’re trying to force you to take it basically.’ A year after he bought it in 2019, he says he was dropped by his insurance company, so he had to jump on the fair plan. It’s been five years after the devastating fire. He and his wife are still, rebuilding. He says dealing with his insurance company was a nightmare. ‘It’s just not fun…it takes a lot to continue to fight to get your money. It does,’ he said.”

“Preheim said his insurance company adjuster, ‘…basically lowballed us. They offered us money for the house that we obviously didn’t think we could get rebuilt for that money. And so, I kept after them for more money and up to our limit. We finally came to an agreement, and we got our money recovered and full about 2 and 1/2 years later.’ He says the company switched his adjustor six times during that wait. ‘If I wasn’t retired dealing with this process, I have no idea if I would have been able to spend the time to get recovered. It’s an awful lot of emails and there’s a lot of phone calls that you make and a lot of wait periods you have to go through.'”

ABC 7 in California. “ABC7 On Your Side is helping you in the recovery process following the devastating Eaton and Palisades Fires. Some people who lost their homes are already dealing with a lot of red tape as they make plans to rebuild, especially when it comes to insurance and mortgage providers. Here’s why homeowners who receive money from their insurance provider could face delays from their lenders. Like so many others, not much is left of Christopher Antola’s home in Pacific Palisades. He said it appears the roof caught fire and everything collapsed. Antola wants to rebuild and was pleasantly surprised when his insurance company sent him a check right away. As is customary, the check was made out to him and to his lender.”

“The lender said that before it endorses the check, Antola has to submit a number of documents. ‘The documents included a signed building contract, contractor number, contractor license number, basically all the things that are impossible to have at this day and age after a wildfire,’ said Antola. ‘I explained that it could take years for me to have those pieces of paper to which they responded, ‘Okay, then, you know, the check will just sit in escrow for a period of time.’ ‘It is normal for a lender to hold onto an insurance check, refuse to endorse it over, until they get some assurance that the homeowner does intend to replace that destroyed the asset, otherwise, they’re kind of holding the bag,’ said Amy Bach with United Policyholders.”

“‘That type of response is irrational and illogical, and frankly, deprives people of the money they might need to contract with architects, structural engineers, the things that are necessary before you get a contractor,’ said Antola. Antola hopes to work it out with his lender, but he fears it’s going to delay him for a long time. ‘The mortgage contract that I have with them is similar to every other mortgage contract on the planet, and what they’re doing is not against the law, but doesn’t make it right,’ said Antola.”

Bisnow on Texas. “There has been far more action than money in Houston’s office investment sales market over the past 12 months, but those trends could be on the brink of syncing. 2024 office sales were in line with historical averages, while the dollar volume was down significantly, thanks to plummeting property values, according to Marty Hogan, managing director in the Houston office of JLL Capital Marketing Americas. ‘The largest office building that we sold last year was $47M,’ Hogan said. ‘That’s really small in the office world when you have these 1M SF towers all over the place.'”

“‘In 2024, it was only about 10% or 15% of the transactions [that] were directly lender-driven, and about half were voluntary sales from institutions,’ Hogan said. Institutions might divest office assets for several reasons, including having an overallocation to office and redemption queues for funds, he said. In some situations, sales came from developers building an office building, leasing it up to stabilization, then selling it. ‘They go, ‘Well, we’re not really in the business of owning this thing long-term. It may not be the best time … and we understand that the value is down, but it’s time to sell,’ Hogan said.”

“More lender-driven sales should enter the picture and boost volume this year, he said. Lender-driven sales in JLL’s pipeline sit at between 50% and 60% of transactions, rather than the 10% to 15% the brokerage had been seeing, he said. That could be because lenders are no longer kicking the can down the road, owners are realizing they owe more than a building is worth and are reluctant to invest more in it, and a broader recovery from pandemic softness, he said.”

The Globe and Mail in Canada. “During the real estate frenzy in late 2020, Joe Baradziej decided to buy a $2.195-million preconstruction condo in his tree-lined neighbourhood of Leaside in midtown Toronto. He provided the developer with a deposit of $439,000, the equivalent of 20 per cent of the purchase price. When the building was nearing completion last fall, Mr. Baradziej got the property appraised in order to secure a mortgage. Documents viewed by The Globe and Mail show the appraisal came in at $1.6-million – 27 per cent below his purchase and sales agreement, a legally binding contract with the developer. Lenders will only provide a mortgage based on the appraised value, so Mr. Baradziej was on the hook to bridge the $595,000 gap. He could not sell the rights to his contract, also known as an assignment sale, until the developer sold 90 per cent of all the building’s units, a common practice in the industry.”

“Because the condo market is in the gutter, Mr. Baradziej did not want to risk refinancing his current home to make up the shortfall. In the end, he decided to forgo his deposit. ‘It comes down to simple math,’ he said. ‘By me walking away, I am saving money.’ According to documents viewed by The Globe, the developer, Gairloch, sent him an e-mail saying it had partnered with Royal Bank of Canada to offer a so-called blanket appraisal, which would allow buyers such as Mr. Barardziej to secure mortgages for their units by having the bank appraise the unit at the original contracted price. Mr. Baradziej declined. ‘I wasn’t financially comfortable to take a mortgage out against a value I know isn’t real,’ he said. ‘I won’t do it.'”

“The mismatch in value is not just occurring in the luxury segment of the preconstruction condo market. Appraisers say they are seeing it in all types of buildings. For example, a one-bedroom 535-square foot condo in Toronto sold for $850,000 in January, 2020. The building at 55 Charles St. East was completed in 2024 and when the unit was appraised, it was valued at just $700,000, according to brokers. Damian Guiducci, a veteran appraiser, calls the current problems across the preconstruction housing market a byproduct of an insane period that led to record sales during the pandemic. ‘Buying a preconstruction condo was such a safe thing to do,’ said Mr. Guiducci, director of business development for Home Value Inc. Appraisal, whose team appraised dozens of preconstruction condos in the Toronto region last year. ‘Now things have hit the wall and these are the repercussions.'”

From ABC News. “House prices never fall very much in Australia. Even in the recessions of 1982 and 1991 they only fell 6.2 per cent, and in the past 50 years the national median price has only fallen more than 10 per cent once — 10.2 per cent after the APRA crackdown on lending to property investors in 2017, which says a lot. In total, there have been eight housing downturns since 1980 averaging 6.7 per cent, including the current one. Housing is the market that never crashes, it only gently subsides. No wonder it’s beloved as an investment asset.”

Domain News in Australia. “House values have fallen by up to six figures in pockets of regional NSW too far-flung to commute to Sydney for work, as higher interest rates limit how much money potential buyers can borrow. The median house value in Beechwood, outside Port Macquarie, fell $104,000 last year (10.8 per cent) to about $860,000, CoreLogic figures show. In Springvale, an outer suburb of Wagga Wagga, values fell almost $99,000 (9.6 per cent) to a median $934,000. In Gobbagombalin, on the other side of town, values fell 9.7 per cent. Elsewhere in the Riverina, values dropped in Gundagai (9.2 per cent) and South Gundagai (11.8 per cent). The deepest fall in percentage terms was in Coolah in the central west, down 16 per cent to a relatively affordable median house value below $239,000.”

“In Gundagai, Ray White Tumut’s Shaun Ryan said higher interest rates have prompted some owners to sell up. ‘There’s still a demand for properties but interest rates have forced people to sell. We’ve found people are offloading their investment properties,’ he said. ‘I would say there are far more properties than buyers but sales are OK. Properties are taking far longer to sell.'”

News.com.au in Australia. “The boss of a collapsed building company may have transferred $2.5 million to its boss as a ‘director’s loan’ in the months before the business went bust, according to the liquidator left to wade through the mess. That figure is more than the total money owed to creditors. Victorian construction firm Area Projects Pty Ltd went bust last year after being in business for almost three decades specialising in new homes, townhouses and renovations. Customers had been trying to get out of their contracts as projects stalled, calling the situation ‘horrendous,’ but they didn’t know the full extent of the problems until a liquidator’s report, lodged with the corporate watchdog ASIC, laid it all bare.”

“The liquidation report claims the construction firm’s books and records had not been ‘accurately maintained’ and were therefore not reliable. When the liquidator dug more, he wrote he discovered a ‘pattern’ where customer deposits would be ‘immediately’ transferred out of the business as soon as they were received, to a number of other bank accounts. More than a year since the report, homeowners owed money are still in limbo, with several still engaged in court hearings trying to find a way to recoup their losses.”

“One customer news.com.au spoke to on the condition of anonymity said they had signed a contract in 2018 and they are still hundreds of thousands out of pocket over the ordeal. ‘He walked away into the sunset,’ this homeowner told news.com.au. ‘You can see all the carnage. It’s horrendous.'”

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This Post Has 132 Comments

  1. ‘‘They had the permit to work, but the whole process was stuck. So then when TPS came in, they filed for that one too — in case the one didn’t go, then the other will kick in. So now they don’t know where they are. And these are people that have bought houses here’

    That’s some sound lending right there.

      1. One Tik-Tocker said that ICE came to her majority-Mexican building, and now half of the work vehicles (white vans?) are gone. If the owners were yanked out of country, where did the vehicles go? Were they impounded? And the houses, do the banks take them back?

        1. If they were renting it’s possible the landlord will keep whatever possessions were left behind. As for vehicles, who knows? Maybe they were impounded and sold at an auction. Not sure what happens with unsold real estate. Perhaps the lender forecloses and the deported get any net proceeds after it’s sold?

          1. Perhaps the lender forecloses and the deported get any net proceeds after it’s sold?
            I would think it would take 120 days DQ before the lender could foreclose giving time to find a buyer or to be a foreign “investor” and rent it out. But I could be wrong.

  2. ‘More lender-driven sales should enter the picture and boost volume this year, he said. Lender-driven sales in JLL’s pipeline sit at between 50% and 60% of transactions, rather than the 10% to 15% the brokerage had been seeing, he said. That could be because lenders are no longer kicking the can down the road, owners are realizing they owe more than a building is worth’

    Yer saying it’s gonna get worser Marty?

  3. ‘I recently got into the federal space, just five months in, and it’s devastating. I quit my good job in the private sector because I thought I would have some kind of job security and insurance. One of my family members is not very well and needs surgery in the next couple of months. I’ve been crying and thinking about so many things like how will I pay my mortgage, how will I maintain health insurance’

    ‘I’m not a federal employee, but I have worked in international development. My company is Maryland-based and has furloughed or laid off, at this point, about 75% of our staff. I am one of the lucky ones, I was furloughed last Thursday, my colleagues are being laid off. I am not at all confident that my company can survive this. I’m not at all confident that I will get my job back. I don’t know how we’re going to pay for our mortgage’

    Long time readers may remember a poster called taxpayer who said the DC area would never fall cuz guberment jobs.

    Eat yer crows taxpayer.

    1. “I am not at all confident that my company can survive this. I’m not at all confident that I will get my job back.”

      As a federal contractor, you better be able to sing the “Battle Hymn of the Republic” or whistle “Dixie” with equal enthusiasm!

      1. Several years ago, one of my former co-workers retired and then went to a contractor to double-dip. We still chat. Last summer, he tried to convince me to vote blue, saying that my job might be at stake. He was kinda snide about it. I told him that contractors are more in danger because it’s a lot easier to cut off a federal contract than to fire a full FedGov employee. He didn’t like that. But, he still thinks that Butler was staged, so, I don’t really care, Margaret.

        1. But, he still thinks that Butler was staged,
          Serious TDS.
          How could anyone think it was staged? You can see, what I believe, and other people do as well, is the bullet on a video.

    3. How will I pay my mortgage?

      Presumably, you should have enough equity to at least break even on the transaction. Then with your emergency fund, you can move to an apartment or move to a low-cost state, and get by until you find another job.

      Maryland is really being upended by all this.

  4. “Corcoran Group founder Barbara Corcoran said”

    Research everything this bag said and wrote leading up to ‘08 and even after. How she has any credibility at all still blows my mind.

    1. Although it is worth noting that she has changed her tune. She is now proclaiming prices will hold steady when just a few months ago she was all prices will go to the moon in ‘25.

  5. ** Florida Realtors. “Is Florida’s housing sector on the cusp of transitioning to a buyer’s market? The answer could be yes, especially in some local areas, according to Florida Realtors® Chief Economist Dr. Brad ” . . . blah blah blah
    ” . . of supply is a balanced market, single-family homes ended 2024 still just barely in a seller’s market at 4.7 months” . . . more blah blah
    ” . . . while condos and townhouses are now firmly in buyer’s market territory, at 8.2 months’ supply,’ O’Connor said. ‘Multiple factors were responsible ” . . bloggity blah.

    ie. I don’t even have to read the entire comment from this self serving housing industry mouthpiece to know what it says; a lot of Kamala-style double-talk nothing!

    Brad: pull your thumb outta yer azz
    – go outside
    – stick said thumb in the air
    – see which way wind is blowing
    – jump on relevant bandwagon.
    – bloviate endlessly on “new” perspective.
    the end

  7. Hundreds of federal workers from throughout the central Maryland region crammed the Smith Theater at Howard Community College on Feb. 4 to discuss uncertainty regarding their jobs and financial security in the wake of an unprecedented and allegedly unlawful buyout offered by the Trump administration

    No one is forcing anyone to accept a buyout. How are they unlawful?

    1. This is the argument: The Fork buyout guarantees normal bi-weekly pay until the end of September. However, the current status is that Congress will not have money after mid-March. Therefore, it might be unlawful to guarantee payments to Forkers beyond that. In addition, some lawyers are arguing that workers were told that they can “go on their dream vacation” or whatever.

      These arguments will NOT hold up in any kind of non-biased court. If I read the the FAQ from OPM correctly, Forkers get paid like any FedGov. If there’s a shutdown, they get furloughed and back pay like anyone else. As for taking vacay, well, basically Forkers are agreeing that every day is paid vacation day until September 30. You get the vacation time, not a free hotel stay.

      That said, the Fork option is actually pretty bad. The only FedGovs who might benefit from this are people who already have another job lined up. Anyone who is eligible for retirement should just retire on their own timeline. Also remember that FedGov’s DON’T have to come back to the office, despite what people say. Most FedGovs are working from home per their union agreements.

      One thing I have not heard about yet is what will happen if Elon begins actual Reductions in Force. RIFs go by priority, so newer employees are RIFfed first. And formal RIFs can carry a severance pay.. and I mean *massive* severance pay, depending on how long you’ve been at FedGov. I think that’s why many people aren’t taking the Fork option. It’s actually better to wait until you’re RIFfed, and collect that sweet severance pay.

        1. From the OPM guide: “The use of VERA is an option for increasing voluntary attrition in agencies that are undergoing substantial organizational change (e.g., reduction in force, reorganization, reshaping, delayering).”

          From what I read, it appears that VERA was never used very often, and only then by one or two agencies at a time who ran into budget troubles. Since this is a government-wide re-org, OPM appears to be approving VERA for almost all agencies.

          For reference, you can take VERA if:
          1. You are age 50 and have 20+ years service — OR — you have 25+ years service at any age.
          2. Your agency allows you to take VERA. Agencies can exclude some positions.

          2. OPM is the Office of Personnel Management.

            Federal retirees are much cheaper than employees, so VERA is not a bad option.

          3. Federal retirees are much cheaper than employees, so VERA is not a bad option.
            As I understand it, the VERA person can usually continue on in their same position (sometimes under contract) at the same pay level or even higher.
            You know it is a “critical position to the safety and welfare of the citizens”.

      2. That said, the Fork option is actually pretty bad.

        It’s better than what private sector, non union buyouts are. Heck, most firms don’t even offer buyouts, they just lay you off (here’s your one month severance)

        1. a month?
          pfft for most it’s either 60 days cuz of the notice required (WARN?) or it’s here’s your 2 weeks pay, Bob the security guard will walk you out.

          2. “…Bob the security guard will walk you out.”

            That happened to a former girlfriend shortly after the Berlin Wall “fell” near Brandenburg Gate. No warning, none of the employee’s ID badges worked, so they stood in the parking lot until two security guards gave you a box, and walked you to your desk to retrieve your personal items. They did get a wonderful severance package and six months of medical insurance.

      3. The big one, that’s still coming is that unions were allowed in the FedGov by EO, ( Executive Order 10988 is a United States presidential executive order issued by President John F. Kennedy on January 17, 1962 that granted federal employees the right to collective bargaining.)

        Which means that Trump can just pull it
        it’s coming

        1. hmmmm… I searched “Congress law allowing federal unions.”
          Here is Google AI [paraphrase]:

          ————-
          President John F. Kennedy’s Executive Order 10988 in 1962 allowed federal employees to form, join, or assist labor organizations.

          Other laws that affect the rights of federal employees to unionize include:
          Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act
          This bill would … allow public employees to bargain collectively.

          Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize (PRO) Act
          This bipartisan bill would protect workers’ right to join unions…

          National Labor Relations Act (NLRA) [which created the National Labor Relations Board NRLB]
          This federal law gives employees the right to form or join unions…

          Other bills that have been introduced:
          Legislation introduced by Senator Mazie Hirono and Representative Cartwright
          The Public Service Freedom to Negotiate Act of 2021
          ——————-

          Of the five items, three are bills and one is an EO. The only actual law is the NLRA. From the NLRB Q&A: “The law does not cover government employees, agricultural laborers, independent contractors, and supervisors.”

          Hoo boy. I’m no labor lawyer, but unless the AI missed something, there seem to be no other governing laws. Is this true that 47 can wipe out these public unions instantly? Seems so.

          Recall the five-year w@h deal that Social Security and their union signed in December. Biden himself signed it, likely to stick it to 47. DJT signed a memo trying to invalidate the agreement. Not sure if that memo is valid?
          The news stories all say that 47 can’t set aside those union agreements, but what if he sets aside the unions themselves? He would definitely do it, out of spite. This is going to be another legal battle…

  8. I’m not a federal employee, but I have worked in international development. My company is Maryland-based and has furloughed or laid off, at this point, about 75% of our staff.

    That’s what happens when the magic free money spigot gets shut off.

    1. Lots of woe in that article. This one is interesting:
      ——
      ““I’m going to beg all of you to get better at messaging. This is a national security issue, why isn’t that on the front page or the NBC Nightly News? If we don’t provide this aid to countries, China will step in and provide it for us, and they will ask them for a base in that country in return for that aid. We need to hire PR firms. We need to hire Hollywood writers. We need to get better at messaging.””
      ——

      I don’t see China stepping in and being magnanimous. Also, 47 himself said (on AF One) that the good parts of USAID will still continue at State, under Rubio. As for Hollywood writers… heh. The same Hollywood writers who skewered Han, emasculated Luke, and introduced Admiral Gender Studies? Hollywood is part of what got you into this mess.

    1. Fed nears QT crossroads as ‘excess liquidity’ evaporates
      By Jamie McGeever
      February 9, 2025 11:29 PM PST
      Updated 8 hours ago
      Federal Reserve Board Building in Washington
      The exterior of the Marriner S. Eccles Federal Reserve Board Building is seen in Washington, D.C., U.S., June 14, 2022. REUTERS/Sarah Silbiger/File Photo Purchase Licensing Rights

      ORLANDO, Florida, Feb 7 (Reuters) – A key measure of excess liquidity in the financial system is evaporating rapidly. Once it disappears, further reduction of the Federal Reserve’s balance sheet – ‘quantitative tightening’ – could trigger a potentially worrying decline in bank reserves.

      Federal Reserve Chair Jerome Powell has long insisted that the central bank’s balance sheet management runs in the background to, and has no bearing on, monetary policy. Few could argue with that. Since 2022, the Fed has shrunk its balance sheet by more than $2 trillion, as it has raised interest rates, held them steady, and begun to cut them.

      Well, it’s happened before, so it’s not new.

      But this twin-track approach may be put to the test now that excess liquidity in the banking system has almost completely dried up.

      The Fed’s overnight reserve repo (RRP) facility has dropped to $78 billion, a fraction of the $2.55 trillion peak in December 2022. This may not seem like a cause for concern. Indeed, Fed Governor Christopher Waller, widely regarded as one of the most influential Fed policymakers, previously referred to RRP funds as “excess liquidity that financial market participants do not want.”

      That may be true, but once there is no excess liquidity sloshing around the system, liquidity drained by QT will have to come from bank reserves, the cash banks keep on hand at the Fed that oils the wheels of interbank lending and underpins confidence in the financial system.

      Reserves are still plentiful. Public comments by Powell and other Fed officials, and the New York Fed’s ‘Reserve Demand Elasticity’ reserves tracking tool, all show reserves remain “abundant,” still above the amorphous “ample” sweet spot that Fed officials target.

      Bank reserves currently stand at $3.2 trillion. That’s more than double the $1.4 trillion that sparked the market turmoil in September 2019, when liquidity fears sparked by falling reserves caused overnight repo rates to shoot up. The Fed abruptly stopped its QT program and began expanding its balance sheet again.
      …
      https://www.reuters.com/markets/us/fed-nears-qt-crossroads-excess-liquidity-evaporates-mcgeever-2025-02-07/

    1. Bond market experts expect yields to continue higher
      Uncertainty set to keep upward pressure on fixed income investments.
      FEB 10, 2025
      By Bloomberg
      by Michael Mackenzie and Ye Xie

      To US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent, the yield on 10-year government debt is the key gauge for President Donald Trump’s goal of getting lower interest rates.

      Three weeks into his second term, though, there’s little expectation they will come sliding down much more anytime soon.

      Yields drifted upward again Friday after the monthly jobs report showed that businesses expanded payrolls in January at a solid pace and earnings rose faster than expected.
      …
      https://www.investmentnews.com/fixed-income/bond-market-experts-expect-yields-to-continue-higher/259242

    2. Today’s Mortgage Rates | Inflation Fears Drive Mortgage Rates Higher
      Written by Molly Grace; edited by Libby Kane
      Feb 10, 2025, 3:00 AM PT

      – Mortgage rates for February 10, 2025, are around 6.60%.

      – Uncertainty around how President Trump’s policies will impact the economy has kept rates elevated.

      – In the near term, borrowers should expect mortgage rates to remain near their current levels.

      After briefly dipping into the mid-6% range last week, mortgage rates have inched back up in the last few days.

      Though rates were initially forecast to drop this year, shifting expectations around inflation and future Federal Reserve rate cuts have made it more likely that mortgage rates will remain elevated, at least in the near term.
      …
      https://www.businessinsider.com/todays-mortgage-rates-sunday-10-2025-2

  11. “‘I don’t think it’s in the nature of sellers to be realistic, honestly. Their house is always worth more,’ Corcoran argued.”

    Sellers can ask ten times the current market value if they want. But if there are no buyers at that price, they are SOL.

  12. Preheim said his insurance company adjuster, ‘…basically lowballed us. They offered us money for the house that we obviously didn’t think we could get rebuilt for that money

    My policy spells out in black and white how much they will cough up to rebuild the house if it is destroyed.

    If my neighborhood is ever destroyed by a wildfire I think I would take whatever the net proceeds are and move away, which would be easy as there would be nothing to pack or move. If someone offers to buy the charred lot, I would entertain offers.

    1. Isn’t that what Gavin is salivating over?

      If masses of residents take the money and run, the land will be offered to conglomerates — via brown envelopes of proper thickness, of course — to buy for pennies on the dollar. Then they could luxury homes or condos or anything, while also offering the usual affordable option housing, to be built by other builders — via brown envelopes of proper thickness, of course.

      There’s a possible foil to this. DJT offered to waive all the federal permits so that homeowners could start to rebuild quickly. Can he yank those waivers?

      1. “…and will be offered to conglomerates — via brown envelopes…”

        From what I have read, there is a big push to also demand rezoning for “affordable housing” (code for homeless / drug shelters) to be built right in the middle of Palisades.

        So let us get this straight. You work you whole life to buy a nice property in Los Angeles (Palisades) , get burnt out largely due to government incompetency, then that same government wants to bring in and support (free cheese) those individuals who already have destroyed what’s left of the other half of the city?

        What are we missing?

        2. “…built right in the middle of Palisades.”

          I’ve wondered about that rest home located up there on the hill that needed evacuation, that’s two or three people per uncooperative patient and a vehicle to carry six or eight at a time in their wheelchairs. It looked like a real mess.

      2. Isn’t that what Gavin is salivating over?

        The other option is to rebuild in a destroyed neighborhood, possibly surrounded by burnt out houses for years and years, hoping that the neighborhood will eventually recover its former glory. From what I have read there has been little progress rebuilding after the Marshall fire near Boulder, and that was three years ago.

        1. That’s cuz, just like California, Boulder County (where Louisville/marshall is) freaking sucks. Power hungry bureaucrats from hell.

          Of course they all choose to live there, so…………..not really feeling sorry.

  13. “During the real estate frenzy in late 2020, Joe Baradziej decided to buy a $2.195-million preconstruction condo in his tree-lined neighbourhood of Leaside in midtown Toronto. He provided the developer with a deposit of $439,000, the equivalent of 20 per cent of the purchase price.”

    It was still cheaper than renting!

  14. There are more to the story for the FUD in Toronto. Greedy SOB got what he deserved

    “When Mr. Baradziej decided to buy the Leaside unit, he thought it could be an investment or his primary residence if he sold the condo he is currently living in.

    His preconstruction condo was tentatively due to be ready for occupancy by September, 2022, according to documents viewed by The Globe, but the date was set back by about two years. During that period, the Bank of Canada aggressively hiked interest rates, the real estate market slowed, mortgage rates shot up and demand plummeted for preconstruction condos.

    He was told he could start occupying his condo in August, 2024, while Gairloch continued to work on the building. As per industry practice, he was required to pay an occupancy fee, which includes a portion of the condo’s maintenance expenses, property taxes and the interest on the unpaid balance of the purchase price. That amounted to $13,000 per month given that Mr. Baradjiez’s purchase balance was $1.756-million.

    Mr. Baradziej paid the $13,000 once, then stopped paying, defaulting on his contract and losing his $439,000 deposit.”

    Does that figure include principal or just interest?

  15. Taylor Swift booed by some fans at Super Bowl as Donald Trump adds to pile-on

    Taylor Swift is no stranger to being booed at NFL games, but it is not every day the US president joins in on the pile-on.

    There wasn’t much to cheer about as the Chiefs went down to the Philadelphia Eagles 40-22.

    But things were already off to a sour star for Swift when she copped some boos from the crowd.

    When the cameras cut to Swift and her image was broadcast on the jumbotron, a wave of boos rumbled throughout the stadium.

    Still on screen, Swift could be seen making a side-eye to her friend and fellow musician Ice Spice.

    She smiles — arguably somewhat nervously — as the camera stays on her and even flashes her name on screen. After 10 long seconds, the camera finally moves on.

    Mr Trump posted two videos without a caption: one of himself and his daughter Ivanka drawing cheers from the crowd, and the other the video of Swift being booed.

    He then reposted a comment from another user saying the difference in reception meant “the world is healing”.

    Hours later, the US president was back online with another jab.

    “The only one that had a tougher night than the Kansas City Chiefs was Taylor Swift,” Mr Trump wrote.

    “She got BOOED out of the Stadium,” he added, which is incorrect.

    He ended his post by declaring: “MAGA is very unforgiving!”

    https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-10/taylor-swift-booed-at-super-bowl-donald-trump-joins-in/104918936

    1. “Taylor Swift is no stranger to being booed at NFL games, but it is not every day the US president joins in on the pile-on.”

      She owes the president a lap dance.

  16. Trump administration orders Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop work

    The Trump administration has ordered the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau to stop nearly all its work, effectively shutting down an agency that was created to protect consumers after the 2008 financial crisis and subprime mortgage-lending scandal.

    Russell Vought, the newly installed director of the Office of Management and Budget, directed the CFPB, in a Saturday night email confirmed by the Associated Press, to stop work on proposed rules, to suspend the effective dates on any rules that were finalized but not yet effective, and to stop investigative work and not begin any new investigations. The agency has been a target of conservatives since President Barack Obama pushed to include it in the 2010 financial reform legislation that followed the 2007-2008 financial crisis.

    Since the CFPB is a creation of Congress, it would require a separate act of Congress to formally eliminate it. But the head of the agency has discretion over what enforcement actions to take, if any.

    Yet Elon Musk commented, “CFPB RIP” on social media site X on Friday. And the CFPB homepage on the Internet was down Sunday, replaced by a message reading “page not found.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/markets/trump-administration-orders-consumer-financial-protection-bureau-to-stop-work/ar-AA1yHIBA

  17. Musk charges on with new targets in sight and Trump’s blessing

    Employees of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau were abruptly told Sunday afternoon that the watchdog’s Washington, DC, headquarters will be closed this week and they should work remotely, a day after Trump’s budget chief, Russell Vought, took over as acting director and told staff to stop fighting financial abuse.

    The agency, which has long been in GOP sights, seems to be following a similar path to doom as the US Agency for International Development, which has saved millions of lives around the world and promoted democracy for decades, but that Musk has eviscerated. On Sunday, Trump called USAID “crazy” and “a big scam.”

    Homeland Security Secretary Kristi Noem told CNN’s Dana Bash that she’d back Trump and Musk closing the Federal Emergency Management Agency, which falls under her authority, even though its role is mandated by law. “I would say, yes, get rid of FEMA the way it exists today,” Noem said on “State of the Union,” adding that the funds normally used for FEMA should just be sent to state and local authorities after disasters.

    This would represent a significant political risk for Trump, who suggested “getting rid of FEMA” when touring North Carolina flood damage last month.

    Noem also insisted she had no problem with Musk burrowing deep into the DHS, which she insisted needed to be downsized. Her interview included a remarkable exchange, underscoring the SpaceX boss’ immense power.

    Noem was asked whether she was OK with Musk — a private citizen who is not confirmed by Congress — accessing private data about disaster victims, as reported by The Washington Post. “The president has authorized him to have access to that,” Noem said. “And you feel comfortable with that?” Bash asked. Noem replied: “Absolutely … We can’t trust our government anymore.”

    National security adviser Mike Waltz, a former member of Congress who has supported USAID in the past, justified Musk’s move in shuttering many of the agency’s programs, which critics say will offer US adversaries such as Russia and China a chance to fill the vacuum in the developing world.

    He told NBC’s “Meet the Press” that the mission of USAID was worthy when it “is aligned with US objectives, and US objectives meet the president’s objectives as a commander in chief.” He added: “But that is not the case. Many of these senior aid officials have their own agenda, have gone in their own direction.”

    House Judiciary Committee Chair Jim Jordan, meanwhile, told Manu Raju on CNN’s “Inside Politics” that Trump was doing exactly what he was elected to do. “No one wants to defend the waste, fraud and abuse, so they attack the guy who’s exposing all the waste, fraud and ridiculous things we’re spending money on,” the Ohio Republican said of Musk. And referring to Trump, Jordan added: “Frankly, 77 million people knew he was going to do this, and they voted for him on Election Day because of this.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/musk-charges-on-with-new-targets-in-sight-and-trump-s-blessing/ar-AA1yISJ3

    1. US Agency for International Development, which has saved millions of lives around the world and promoted democracy for decades
      Millions of lives?? How do they calculate that number?
      Using Paul Krugman? Liberal double speak to avoid inspection.

      1. US Agency for International Development, which has saved millions of lives
        From what I recall of the events, (it’s been a while)Haiti could have used a few of the Clinton Wedding and House funds at the time to save/make a few lives better.

      2. What? Sure USAID has saved millions of lives. Just like a modified gene therapy (quaxxine). They are both quite safe and very effective.
        I don’t know who wrote that article, but i’m sure they will be an unemployed journalist in the not too distant future.
        –Geezer

  18. Canadian aid workers warn ‘catastrophic’ USAID halt puts Ottawa’s projects in limbo

    Canada’s aid sector is bracing for cataclysmic suffering worldwide, and is asking Ottawa to help fill gaps as Washington winds down the U.S. Agency for International Development.

    Numerous Canadian projects are in limbo as the world’s largest aid funder freezes funding to multilateral programs, and it’s unclear what will happen to millions of dollars Ottawa had sent to USAID for programming.

    The aid coalition Cooperation Canada says millions of people are being abruptly cut off from life-saving supplies.

    “The impact of this is catastrophic, for thousands and likely millions of people around the world,” said the group’s head Kate Higgins. “It forces Canada and Canadians to think about what sort of country we want to be.”

    Cooperation Canada represents dozens of Canadian non-profits working in international development and humanitarian assistance, many of whom run projects that run off of systems operated by USAID, or United Nations agencies that have significant U.S. funding.

    “Many of those will need to shut down,” Higgins said of Canadian programs. “Critical partners, that are part of the implementation of those projects, are shutting their doors,” she said.

    https://www.theglobeandmail.com/politics/article-canadian-aid-workers-warn-catastrophic-usaid-halt-puts-ottawas/

    1. Canadian aid workers warn ‘catastrophic’ USAID halt puts Ottawa’s projects in limbo

      Is there anyone we weren’t funding?

  19. Trump: We’re making our country larger, we’re making our country stronger. And in the case of Canada—if this should happen—I don’t know how they can do it without us. Because without the U.S., Canada really doesn’t have a country.

    They do almost all of their business with us, and if we say we want our cars to be made in Detroit, with a stroke of a pen, I can make that happen. And other things, in addition to that, would not allow Canada to be a viable country.

    https://x.com/Acyn/status/1888760312578425305

    1. When he first floated making Canada a state, I think he was kidding. He doesn’t sound like he’s kidding anymore. I don’t think it’s going to happen though. Vance wants to win.

        1. The real interest is further north, e.g., the Northwest Territories and Yukon. It’s about China and the Arctic Pact.

  20. San Diego is getting new detox beds for homeless residents as California eyes loosening Housing First rules

    The second level of the Paul Mirabile Center in downtown San Diego is in the final months of a renovation that will turn the longtime homeless shelter into a detox and sober-living space. “We’re trying to fill in any cracks,” said Mary Jo Scarpitti, clinic director at Father Joe’s Villages. “It just takes a little crack for somebody to fall through.”

    Her statement works literally and figuratively as homelessness organizations around the region increasingly invest in addiction treatment.

    A city committee in Escondido recently gave initial approval for Interfaith Community Services to increase its detox bed total from 10 to 32. The County of San Diego moved more than a year ago to find housing for an estimated 100 homeless people who were already in treatment and the state Legislature is again considering whether taxpayer dollars may be used to fund beds that require residents to abstain from alcohol and drugs.

    The latter would be a significant shift for California. The current rules generally say facilities funded by cities or the state must be “low barrier,” meaning people can get a spot even if they struggle with addiction, although drinking and drug use may be banned on site.

    “This is a no brainer,” said Assemblymember Matt Haney, a Democrat from San Francisco. Having people who want to get clean sleep near those who don’t “is like forcing somebody who’s trying to get off alcohol to live in a bar.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/money/realestate/san-diego-is-getting-new-detox-beds-for-homeless-residents-as-california-eyes-loosening-housing-first-rules/ar-AA1yHerI

    1. A city committee in Escondido recently gave initial approval for Interfaith Community Services to increase its detox bed total from 10 to 32.

      I was once involved with that group, decades ago. I volunteered in their soup kitchen, once a month. I often donated large cans of coffee or sacks of sugar I bought at Costco, as often they had no coffee to offer their bum clientele, and I felt sorry for them.

      I wonder how they fund their detox center, which didn’t exist back in the day. I suspect the guberment funding is the lion’s share.

  21. Bay Area counties sue Trump administration over cutting federal funding for sanctuary cities

    San Francisco and Santa Clara Counties are teaming up to sue the Trump Administration.

    The two counties say the president’s recently signed order cutting federal funding for so called sanctuary cities and counties violates federal and state law.

    One neighbor heard about the legal action, but said they don’t believe the country should be spending so much money on deportation.

    “You know, because they came here and they should be able to be here,” the neighbor expressed.

    https://kyma.com/decision-2024/california-politics/2025/02/09/bay-area-counties-sue-trump-administration-over-cutting-federal-funding-for-sanctuary-cities/

    1. “You know, because they came here and they should be able to be here”

      Neighbor, how does NO sound?

      1. How many is too many?

        10 million? 20 million? 50M? 100M? 200M? 500M? 1 billion?

        They can’t seem to come up with a “no vacancy” number.

        1. There is no limit.

          It is, and has always been, about replacing Whitey. Who, last I checked is about 15% of the global population.

          Southern Poverty Law Center and Anti Defamation League, consider yourselves #Noticed and #Named.

  22. They had tickets. A flight number. An arrival time. Then Trump’s executive order changed everything.

    The website for Welcome Corps, a new program established in 2023 that connects Americans with refugees across the globe who need resettlement assistance in the United States, offers even less information.

    “In accordance with the executive order, ‘Realigning the United States Refugee Admissions Program,’ refugee travel to the United States and all U.S. Refugee Admissions Program refugee case processing activities are suspended until further notice,” a yellow warning on the website reads. “This includes intake of new applications for the Welcome Corps, as well as processing of all active or previously submitted applications.”

    Those “active or previously submitted applications” include Amouna’s brother, sister-in-law, nephew and mother, who, before President Donald Trump assumed office on Jan. 20, had plans to relocate from Syria, by way of Egypt, and reconnect with Amouna’s family at the Boise Airport next week.

    They had plane tickets. A flight number. An arrival time. Amouna’s 24-year-old son, Abdullah, had saved money from his job as a semi-truck driver to secure an apartment for the extended family members and paid for their security deposit and several months rent.

    They had a light of hope that their time apart – nearly five years – was finally coming to an end.

    But the executive order, signed by Trump on his first day in office, suspends the U.S. Refugee Admissions Program “until such time as the further entry into the United States of refugees aligns with the interests of the United States” – leaving families like Amouna’s in painful limbo.

    Since Welcome Corps started in 2023, 87 private sponsor groups applied to be a part of the program in Idaho, and 30 refugees have resettled in the Gem State through Welcome Corps sponsors. There are 16 refugees that have been matched with sponsor groups to resettle here that are impacted by the executive order’s pause in refugee resettlement.

    “Basically, they were shocked,” Abdullah told me in their cozy Boise apartment on Monday. “That’s the short word for it. It’s sad for them, because they were planning. I would be so sad if I were them because I did get the opportunity to come here. … But then it was just cancelled one day. They’re miserable now.”

    https://news.yahoo.com/news/had-tickets-flight-number-arrival-190728790.html

    1. Once Abdullah naturalizes (say in 5 years) he can their sponsor his extended family, who will then be able to get into a looooong waiting list, as in years or even decades long, because everyone wants to come here, even though we are all beeguts, raysis, whiite supremos in the USA.

    3. Also from the article:

      they had already ended their lease with their landlord in Egypt and sold most of their belongings. Their furniture. Their car. Their material life as they knew it.

      So they had already escaped Syria as refugees, and had been living in Egypt long enough to get an apartment, a car, and a “material life.” They don’t sound like refugees in dire straits.

      That said, years ago, Americans would have welcomed this family. Many of our productive citizens are refugees who come to the US through refugee camps (I’m thinking southeast Asia), and their now-adult children contribute a great deal to America. I think this family probably would have done OK in the US. But, Biden opened the floodgates to freeloaders and criminals, and soured the American people to any immigration at all, and the price will be paid.

      1. They don’t sound like refugees in dire straits.

        None of them are. The are economic migrants, who are hoping to join the Free Sh!t Army

  23. Houston ICE arrests Mexico native deported 3 times, with violent criminal history

    HOUSTON – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Harris County Sheriff’s Office arrested a 3-time previously deported criminal alien on Feb. 5 wanted in Harris County, Texas, for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury.

    David Gonzalez-Martinez, 52, was arrested during routine daily operations in Houston and booked into the Harris County Jail.

    Following his arrest, ICE lodged an immigration detainer with the jail requesting to be notified in the event Gonzalez is going to be released back into the community.

    Gonzalez has illegally entered the U.S. at least four times and was previously removed to Mexico by U.S. immigration officials in Sept. 2001, July 2008, and April 2015. While in the U.S. illegally, he has been convicted of several criminal offenses, including voluntary manslaughter, aggravated assault with a weapon, possession of marijuana, and illegal re-entry.

    “Immigration detainers are one of the most indispensable resources in the ICE officer’s toolbox,” said ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations Houston Field Office Director Bret Bradford. “They enable our officers to take direct custody of criminal aliens in the safe confines of the jail, which enhances the safety of everyone involved, and helps to eliminate unnecessary spending that would otherwise be required to go out and search for them in the community.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/crime/general/houston-ice-arrests-mexico-native-deported-3-times-with-violent-criminal-history/ar-AA1yKKcr

        2. They’re already filing lawsuits against Gitmo. I don’t know what the legal basis for this is. IIUC, these criminals have already had their due process, and they can be held in any federal government facility. Gitmo is US soil, right? And they won’t be there forever, just until Claudia takes him back.

          1. Gitmo is US soil, right?

            No, we rent it from Cuba. It was originally a strategic naval coaling station. There is no end date in the rent contract.

  24. ‘Violent criminals’ from Mexico, Honduras arrested in San Antonio ICE investigation

    SAN ANTONIO, Texas – U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations, and law enforcement in San Antonio have conducted routine, daily enforcement actions in South Texas that began during the week of Jan. 22.

    Here is what ICE HSI San Antonio officials have released about the four most violent criminals:

    A 35-old Mexican male convicted of drug trafficking and prior deportation, is now facing re-entry after deportation charges. He remains in federal custody.

    A 37-year- old Honduran male and MS-13 member, convicted of felony fraud and felony weapon offenses remains in federal custody pending his removal from the United States.

    A 53-year-old Mexican male who was convicted of aggravated assault causing bodily injury and possession of a controlled substance. The criminal was previously removed and is now facing re-entry after deportation charges. He remains in federal custody.

    A 30-year-old Honduran male convicted for DWI, forgery and re-entry after deportation, remains in federal custody pending his removal from the United States.

    “HSI San Antonio remains steadfast in its mission to apprehend individuals who pose a significant threat to public safety,” said HSI San Antonio Special Agent in Charge Craig Larrabee. “The arrest of these individuals who have flagrantly violated immigration laws and are actively involved in criminal enterprise, is a vital step in strengthening and protecting our communities and the country’s borders.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/crime/violent-criminals-from-mexico-honduras-arrested-in-san-antonio-ice-investigation/ar-AA1yL6jr

  25. ‘You’re being detained’: Woman recounts brother’s arrest in Utah by immigration officials

    MAGNA, Utah (KSL.com) — Luis Angel Colon had just dropped his son off at Copper Hills Elementary School in Magna when the federal agent pulled him over.

    After entering the school and leaving his son, Colon “got in his truck. They let him drive off like three or four houses down and they pulled him over and arrested him there,” said his sister Ale Jaimes, who also lives in Magna. “He stopped and they said, ‘Luis Angel Colon,’ and then they just said, ‘You’re being detained.’”

    Jaimes, for her part, worries in particular about the fate of her nephew, Luis Jr. She has been vocal about her brother’s case in a bid to drum up support via a GoFundMe campaign in providing for the Utah-born boy and, if possible, preventing the separation of him and his dad as the specter of deportation looms.

    “It’s not like (Colon is) going to be deported to China. He’s going back to Mexico, which is where he was born. My parents are over there. I have other siblings over there, so it’s not a whole bad situation. I’m worried because of my nephew,” said Jaimes, who was born in California and is a U.S. citizen. She has family members who live on both sides of the U.S.-Mexico border, and her grandmother, a dual national, goes back and forth between the countries.

    Colon, 38, crossed the border from Mexico into the United States around 2004 and has lived in the country for about 21 years, 18 of them in Utah. He has a string of misdemeanor traffic offenses on his record dating to 2008, according to online Utah court records. In 2021, he pleaded guilty to lewdness involving a child, a class B misdemeanor, for having sex with a woman while his daughter was present, according to court documents. Jaimes said the girl, now living with her mother in another state, opened the door on her father while he was with his girlfriend at the time, surprising them. In 2023, he pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor count of driving under the influence of alcohol and received a sentence of two days in jail and 30 days of home confinement, court records show.

    Whatever the case, many have clamored for the deportation of those here illegally, an issue that helped propel Trump to his second term as president. Jaimes isn’t quite sure how she’d answer them. “I don’t even know what to say, to be honest. I just don’t because they’re not all the same situations, unfortunately,” she said. “If … this is not affecting you directly and you don’t have nothing nice to say, don’t say anything.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/you-re-being-detained-woman-recounts-brother-s-arrest-in-utah-by-immigration-officials/ar-AA1yI365

    1. “In 2021, he pleaded guilty to lewdness involving a child”

      Muh Resistance this is what you are defending.

        1. What if the sister’s story is true, that it was the daughter who walked in on them? Doesn’t that happen all the time?

  26. Trump has made it clear that his administration is against illegal immigration in order to favour those who enter the country legally.

    But illegal immigration isn’t a new issue. Obama expelled nearly 3 million migrants, George W Bush deported 2 million, while Trump expelled 1.19 million migrants during his four years as president.

    “They don’t know what to do. Many people are in limbo because they have no immigration documents, no money, no jobs, and they don’t know the city,” said Gladys Cañas, president of the Asociación Ayúdanos a Triunfar, which provides humanitarian assistance to migrants on the border in Tamaulipas.

    Yet even in the face of desperation, hope persists, and thousands of people crowd the other side of the wall with the dream of gaining access to the US.

    “Don’t risk your lives,” Cañas tells a group planning to swim across the Rio Bravo river that separates the two countries where at least 1,107 migrants have drowned since 2017.

    With a tired voice and teary-eyed, a young anonymous immigrant assures us at the border that he wants to “fight for as long as I can, until another door or window opens, and work (in the US)”.

    He is not the only one who refuses to give up on his idea of entering the country. “I would like to work here, live here … buy a house to live here”, says another.

    But their optimistic dreams contrast with harsh scenes of disillusionment.

    “Every day you hear desperate cries, people crying. The situation they find themselves in on this border of Matamoros, Tamaulipas, is one of tears … They don’t really have a plan B,” Cañas explained.

    https://www.msn.com/en-my/news/other/a-wave-of-solidarity-helps-migrants-at-the-us-border-don-t-risk-your-lives/ar-AA1yIVUg

    1. They don’t really have a plan B

      They can go home, perhaps MexPrez Claudia can provide a bus ticket and a sack lunch to the Guatemala border

    2. “But illegal immigration isn’t a new issue. Obama expelled nearly 3 million migrants, George W Bush deported 2 million, while Trump expelled 1.19 million migrants during his four years as president.”

      Jimmy Carter and Stansfield Turner forced many special forces combat vets out of the military. Don’t let the door slap ‘ya!

      1. Obama expelled nearly 3 million

        Those are beginners numbers. Border Czar Homer is gonna show you guys how it’s done.

        1. Obama expelled nearly 3 million
          Anyone who complains before the number exceeds 3MM is a hypocrite because I do not recall anyone calling Obama a r@cist/f@scist/xenophobe when he deported the 3MM.

      2. I think an analysis of how these different administration deportation numbers are calculated might be illuminating.

  27. Latino group calls for boycott of Coca-Cola, Walmart and more over deportations

    SAN DIEGO (Border Report) — Videos on social media are circulating showing some Latinos rejecting or turning away from American products in response to mass deportations taking place around the country.

    One video shows a family about to have dinner together when a young man emphatically tells his mother “how could you do that when Coca-Cola is turning its back on Mexicans.”

    In response, the mom takes a large bottle of Coke and pours its contents down the drain.

    This is part of an effort by a group called Freeze Latino Movement to boycott American companies while poking fun of the ongoing deportations launched by the Trump administration and Immigration and Customs Enforcement, or ICE.

    The activists say this is “their way of turning their backs on United States companies” asking consumers not to spend their money on American corporations.

    On its website, the Freeze Latino Movement exhorts “Latinos and Latinas stop spending money. Hold the line. We can all collectively make a big impact by simply holding and not spending our money.”

    The following are companies targeted in its boycott:

    Coca-Cola
    Walmart
    McDonald’s
    Starbucks
    Costco
    Subway
    Pizza Hut
    Home Depot
    Tesla
    KFC
    Domino’s

    Freeze Latino Movement is asking consumers to substitute American-made products with those made in Mexico or in Latin America.

    https://www.newsnationnow.com/business/latino-group-calls-for-boycott-of-coca-cola-walmart-and-more-over-deportations/

    1. The activists say this is “their way of turning their backs on United States companies” asking consumers not to spend their money on American corporations.

      They can do one better, they can go home. That’ll teach those multinationals.

    2. Hold the line. We can all collectively make a big impact by simply holding and not spending our money

      So they’re going to shop at other grocery chains. There’s a reason they shop at WalMart: they know it’s cheaper than Kroger or Safeway. Plus WalMart does a better job of catering to their preferences.

      1. It’s not like they are using THEIR money
        it’s all EBT or WIC or whatever other program using other people’s money.

    3. Latino group calls for boycott of Coca-Cola, Walmart and more over deportations
      IIRC 55% of the Hispanic men voted for Trump, (based on exit polling) so how does this boycott make any sense?

      1. I do not think the Hispanic men who voted (legally that is) for anyone was likely to be deported as they were citizens (or legal depending what state they were in).

  28. After the big loss, what’s next? An open letter to the Democratic Party

    We lost the presidential race and the Senate and failed to win back the House last year because we have been consistently losing white, Black, Hispanic and Asian middle-class voters over the past 25 years. This is an open wound which is bleeding profusely and if not addressed, could be the death of the patient. The loss in 2024 was not simply about Joe Biden’s late departure from the Democratic field. We had an opportunity during the primary campaign (when we ignored Rep. Dean Phillips’ warnings) to voice our concerns about Biden’s age or to remind him that we voted for him in 2020 to defeat Donald Trump and serve one term.

    Democrats need to find ways to reduce bureaucracy, increase opportunities for home ownership and build affordable middle-class housing. We need to pioneer and announce new programs that grab the attention and support of angry and frustrated voters. If California finds ways to quickly rebuild housing in Los Angeles after this winter’s devastating fires, we need to replicate this nationwide. Voters ultimately picked their presidential candidate in 2024 based on two choices: 1) Keep things the same. 2) Blow things up. Harris was too often identified with the first position, even claiming that Trump wanted to go too far with his promises to “tear down the Department of Education.” Trump, of course, advocated the second position. There should have been a third choice: Big Change! We did not convey a message of fresh and viable economic change for working people. Nor did we stake out bold ideas for young voters, who increasingly voted Republican.

    Blue-collar voters in the heartland states (don’t call it the Rust Belt) have seen their jobs disappear due to trade, technology and globalization. You hear repeatedly from workers who once had good jobs in a steel plant or highly-paid jobs assembling cars that their lives are now virtually over. They recall being 35 years old and making great money but now, perhaps, they must work as Uber drivers, and make half their previous salary. They will tell you their children have “no future” in getting good jobs or achieving the American Dream. This is a wrenching gut-punch to the soul. Democrats need to be the working-class voice of frustration and their hammer for change.

    We Democrats lost in 2024 because too many voters had the impression that we cared more about telling them to buy an expensive electric car than helping them repair their 10-year-old pickup. In October, I knocked on a door in Pittsburgh where a voter informed me that “Democrats want to ban my fracking job, tell me what kind of car to buy and rename my local school.” He went on to say, “I don’t have the luxury to care about all that other stuff when I don’t have a decent job and I can’t afford the future for my family.”

    https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/politics/after-the-big-loss-whats-next-an-open-letter-to-the-democratic-party/ar-AA1yH2mi

    2. We did not convey a message of fresh and viable economic change for working people.

      Of course you did! You promised to replace us with foreigners!

  29. Have you considered clutching those pearls HARDER?

    New York Times (via Archive) — How Charlie Kirk Became the Youth Whisperer of the American Right (2/10/2025):

    “Kirk’s proximity to Trump is especially notable when you consider that he has never held office, worked in the White House or held a campaign staff position. He draws his value elsewhere. Kirk is the head of Turning Point USA, the nation’s pre-eminent conservative youth organization, which he started when he was 18. It has chapters at more than 850 colleges that register students to vote, bring conservative speakers to campus and organize a nationwide network of right-wing student-government leaders. Turning Point’s half dozen or so annual events, featuring the biggest names on the right from Trump on down, are slick productions that draw enormous crowds.

    But perhaps most important is that Kirk’s dominant voice, via his podcast and his ubiquity on social media, has earned him credibility among conservatives as a die-hard Trump devotee.

    During the Trump years, Kirk’s two nonprofit entities, Turning Point USA and the political-action organization Turning Point Action, have grown from a total revenue of $4.3 million in 2016 to $92.4 million in 2023, a vast majority of it from donations.

    Trump, in turn, has come to view Kirk as one of his closest allies. Kirk visited Mar-a-Lago in early February 2021, during the ex-president’s nadir, and was photographed smiling alongside him. Four years later, at the president-elect’s golf-club party, Trump singled out Kirk for praise. “Charlie Kirk, what he’s done with the young people,” he said in a video I obtained.

    I asked a major donor to both Trump and Turning Point, Doug Deason, the president of a family investment management firm, how Kirk had achieved such prominence at so young an age. “People see him,” Deason replied, “and they just want to help, because he has the best of intentions and the abilities that none of us have seen in one person.” Deason expressed awe for Kirk’s oratorical prowess, for his “genius-level intelligence,” for his expertise in history and the Bible and for his acute political instincts. “Trump won,” he said. “But would he have won it without Charlie? I don’t know.”

    https://archive.ph/Kk1e1

  33. ‘What’s more, the real estate expert doesn’t believe home prices will come down anytime soon. ‘I don’t think it’s in the nature of sellers to be realistic, honestly. Their house is always worth more’

    Yer right Babs, the herd is startled. Make them feel better is a safe play.

  34. ‘The lender said that before it endorses the check, Antola has to submit a number of documents. ‘The documents included a signed building contract, contractor number, contractor license number, basically all the things that are impossible to have at this day and age after a wildfire,’ said Antola. ‘I explained that it could take years for me to have those pieces of paper to which they responded, ‘Okay, then, you know, the check will just sit in escrow for a period of time.’ ‘It is normal for a lender to hold onto an insurance check, refuse to endorse it over, until they get some assurance that the homeowner does intend to replace that destroyed the asset, otherwise, they’re kind of holding the bag’

    Chris, Amy, insurance doesn’t work if they have to pay out.

  35. ‘If we go by the general rule of thumb that five to six months of supply is a balanced market, single-family homes ended 2024 still just barely in a seller’s market at 4.7 months of supply, while condos and townhouses are now firmly in buyer’s market territory, at 8.2 months’ supply’

    So yer entire sh$thole of a state is a buyers market fer airboxes Brad. Wa happened to my shortage?

  36. ‘Buying a preconstruction condo was such a safe thing to do…whose team appraised dozens of preconstruction condos in the Toronto region last year. ‘Now things have hit the wall and these are the repercussions’

    Two things here Damian. It is common in manias for there to be a wide spread belief that prices can only go up. Second it is actually common practice for appraisers to go along with speculative behavior and even cite it as a reason for ever higher appraisals. I’m talking about Boston airboxes.

  37. ‘He walked away into the sunset,’ this homeowner told news.com.au. ‘You can see all the carnage. It’s horrendous’

    It was still way cheaper than renting homeowner.

    1. “Chris, Amy, insurance doesn’t work if they have to pay out.”

      You’re bringing to mind my dad’s long-term care insurance policy. By the last few years of his life, he was fully disabled. But due to technicalities in the fine print of his policy, we never recovered a dime of the $40K in premiums he paid in. I felt like the money he paid in premiums went to pay insurance company attorneys whose job it was to deny claims payments. Bassturds….

    1. Economics
      Robert Kiyosaki Warns Market Crash Escalating—’Greater Depression’ Could Wipe out Millions
      Robert Kiyosaki Warns Market Crash Escalating—’Greater Depression’ Could Wipe out Millions
      By Kevin Helms
      Sun Feb 9 20:30:3 EST 2025

      Markets are crashing, and the world may be heading into a “Greater Depression,” warns Robert Kiyosaki, predicting mass unemployment and financial turmoil.
      …
      https://news.bitcoin.com/robert-kiyosaki-warns-market-crash-escalating-greater-depression-could-wipe-out-millions/

  40. Well, here comes the same ilk of liberal judges that are open for business as Democratic refugee shelters to being shopped in the same manner as Trump 1.0.
    It seems a single federal judge in some Democratic stronghold has the power to stop a Presidential EO across the nation. I am not sure how or why this began but:
    “Order in the court ’cause here come da judge, here comes da judge!”

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