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Legion, we have fantastic lighting. We have a lamppost perpetually on all night. I was shocked they would pick our house instead of a more deserted area.
Biffy – A position of confidentiality must be maintained (unless someone’s going to die if the info is held back.) If she’d heard it via a grape vine that would be one thing but to’ve learned it because of her job she owes it to her boss to stay mum.
the UFT acts like other professional groups not just like union. All professional groups protect their own and consequences are not always the best. Cops, lawyers, MDs, CPAs, real estate agents, CEO’s, etc. And business groups protect their own too.
“I have nothing but contempt for the UFT and its recent efforts to block education reform in NYS. Even a pro-union guy like Joe Klein of Time magazine wrote of his diddain for this union.” -Benson
Wanna talk about waste and corruption? These charter schools have FOUR principles. You know what that means? FOUR sets of secretaries, deans, asst. priciples…
The anti-union, anti-worker, pro-corporate agenda demands more managers and executive and insists on more output (work) for less pay and benefits for the workers. This model cannot be sustained in a modern, western society with a socially mobile lower middle class.
Charter schools cost twice as much to run due to the redundancy of the administrative positions. Also, their effectiveness is questionable given the fact they must be applied to and can cherry-pick the better students.
Don’t listen to guys like Benson and DIBS when it comes to unions. They want slave labor so they can get maximum return on their investment. Very un-American if you ask me.
They didn’t appear to be teens. It was hard to tell what was going on. Everyone is bundled up because of the cold and it was dark out. They could have been in their 20s, 30s, mid-30s, I don’t know. I wouldn’t call it gay on gay violence either. I don’t know if they were punching the guy, knocking his head on the ground, knifing him — I could not tell. I was mostly listening, not viewing. It seemed to continue for a long time after my neighbor pulled up. I heard one of the men say “You’re lucky I saved your life.” I don’t know if they all walked away or what.
The gym teacher was wrong, but on the other hand Snooki is obnoxious as all hell. He still should be punished and the media frenzy over it certainly helped make her a “celeb.” Ugh. Charge him for that too.
No Help in Sight, More Homeowners Walk Away
by David Streitfeld
Monday, February 1, 2010
NY Times
In 2006, Benjamin Koellmann bought a condominium in Miami Beach. By his calculation, it will be about the year 2025 before he can sell his modest home for what he paid. Or maybe 2040. [ROTFLMMFAO!!!]
“People like me are beginning to feel like suckers,†Mr. Koellmann said. “Why not let it go in default and rent a better place for less?â€
After three years of plunging real estate values, after the bailouts of the bankers and the revival of their million-dollar bonuses, after the Obama administration’s loan modificationplan raised the expectations of many but satisfied only a few, a large group of distressed homeowners is wondering the same thing.
New research suggests that when a home’s value falls below 75 percent of the amount owed on the mortgage, the owner starts to think hard about walking away, even if he or she has the money to keep paying.
In a situation without precedent in the modern era, millions of Americans are in this bleak position. Whether, or how, to help them is one of the biggest questions the Obama administration confronts as it seeks a housing policy that would contribute to the economic recovery.
“We haven’t yet found a way of dealing with this that would, we think, be practical on a large scale,†the assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability, Herbert M. Allison Jr., said in a recent briefing.
The number of Americans who owed more than their homes were worth was virtually nil when the real estate collapse began in mid-2006, but by the third quarter of 2009, an estimated 4.5 million homeowners had reached the critical threshold, with their home’s value dropping below 75 percent of the mortgage balance.
They are stretched, aggrieved and restless. With figures released last week showing that the real estate market was stalling again, their numbers are now projected to climb to a peak of 5.1 million by June — about 10 percent of all Americans with mortgages.
“We’re now at the point of maximum vulnerability,†said Sam Khater, a senior economist with First American CoreLogic, the firm that conducted the recent research. “People’s emotional attachment to their property is melting into the air.â€
Suggestions that people would be wise to renege on their home loans are at least a couple of years old, but they are turning into a full-throated barrage. Bloggers were quick to note recently that landlords of an 11,000-unit residential complex in Manhattan showed no hesitation, or shame, in walking away from their deeply underwater investment.
“Since the beginning of December, I’ve advised 60 people to walk away,†said Steve Walsh, a mortgage broker in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Everyone has lost hope. They don’t qualify for modifications, and being on the hamster wheel of paying for a property that is not worth it gets so old.â€
Mr. Walsh is taking his own advice, recently defaulting on a rental property he owns. “The sun will come up tomorrow,†he said.
The difference between letting your house go to foreclosure because you are out of money and purposefully defaulting on a mortgage to save money can be murky. But a growing body of research indicates that significant numbers of borrowers are declining to live under what some waggishly call “house arrest.â€
Using credit bureau data, consultants at Oliver Wyman calculated how many borrowers went straight from being current on their mortgage to default, rather than making spotty payments. They also weeded out owners having trouble paying other bills. Their estimate was that about 17 percent of owners defaulting in 2008, or 588,000 people, chose that option as a strategic calculation.
Some experts argue that walking away from mortgages is more discussed than done. People hate moving; their children attend the neighborhood school; they do not want to think of themselves as skipping out on a debt. Doubters cite a Federal Reserve study using historical data from Massachusetts that concludes there were relatively few walk-aways during the 1991 bust.
The United States Treasury falls into the skeptical camp.
“The overwhelming bulk of people who have negative equity stay in their homes and keep paying,†said Michael S. Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions.
It would cost about $745 billion, slightly more than the size of the original 2008 bank bailout, to restore all underwater borrowers to the point where they were breaking even, according to First American.
Using government money to do that would be seen as unfair by many taxpayers, Mr. Barr said. On the other hand, doing nothing about underwater mortgages could encourage more walk-aways, dealing another blow to a fragile economy.
“It’s not an easy area,†he said.
Walking away — also called “jingle mail,†[ROTFLMMFAO!!!] because of the notion that homeowners just mail their keys to the bank, setting off foreclosure proceedings — began in the Southwest during the 1980s oil collapse, though it has never been clear how widespread it was.
In the current bust, lenders first noticed something strange after real estate prices had fallen about 10 percent.
An executive with Wachovia, one of the country’s biggest and most aggressive lenders, said during a conference call in January 2008 that the bank was bewildered by customers who had “the capacity to pay, but have basically just decided not to.†(Wachovia failed nine months later and was bought by Wells Fargo.
do you know most of that story was actually made up? while the social theory about such a thing IS true, there was a whole bunch debunked about the actual circumstances and people involved… it was on some true crime documentary on one of those obscure cable channels awhile back.
personally tho, i abide by the rule of the hood and wouldnt snitch because you could be hit next.
so you would only need 10K for a deposit on one of those? can the 8K welfare that the government is giving to first time home buyers go towards that?
*rob*
Posted by: Butterfly at February 3, 2010 10:24 AM
Rob, gov’t is giving 8K tax deduction AFTER you buy the place, NOT 8K cash into your pocket. Completely different and yes you would be eligible for it but you first have to cough up 10K downpayment and have good credit to get a mortgage and show that you can pay your maintenance plus mortgage to the coop board. Sorry but that’s reality. No need to bitch about it but coops want responsible shareholders in the building.
AND you get anywhere from 40K-50K to get one of those “marriages” going but you will likely be caught because they not only visit you these days but they also test you with questions like “Does your partner snore?” or “which side of the bed do you and she/he sleep on?”. They pretty much find questions that you would only know the answer to if you live together. I was offered this arrangement a bunch of times and denied it every time cause its a Federal crime and I might go to jail and might even get my citizenship taken away from me as I was not born here and that’s just way too much to lose for me for 40-50K. I am not a risk taker.
Legion, we have fantastic lighting. We have a lamppost perpetually on all night. I was shocked they would pick our house instead of a more deserted area.
Biffy – A position of confidentiality must be maintained (unless someone’s going to die if the info is held back.) If she’d heard it via a grape vine that would be one thing but to’ve learned it because of her job she owes it to her boss to stay mum.
the UFT acts like other professional groups not just like union. All professional groups protect their own and consequences are not always the best. Cops, lawyers, MDs, CPAs, real estate agents, CEO’s, etc. And business groups protect their own too.
“I have nothing but contempt for the UFT and its recent efforts to block education reform in NYS. Even a pro-union guy like Joe Klein of Time magazine wrote of his diddain for this union.” -Benson
Wanna talk about waste and corruption? These charter schools have FOUR principles. You know what that means? FOUR sets of secretaries, deans, asst. priciples…
The anti-union, anti-worker, pro-corporate agenda demands more managers and executive and insists on more output (work) for less pay and benefits for the workers. This model cannot be sustained in a modern, western society with a socially mobile lower middle class.
Charter schools cost twice as much to run due to the redundancy of the administrative positions. Also, their effectiveness is questionable given the fact they must be applied to and can cherry-pick the better students.
Don’t listen to guys like Benson and DIBS when it comes to unions. They want slave labor so they can get maximum return on their investment. Very un-American if you ask me.
They didn’t appear to be teens. It was hard to tell what was going on. Everyone is bundled up because of the cold and it was dark out. They could have been in their 20s, 30s, mid-30s, I don’t know. I wouldn’t call it gay on gay violence either. I don’t know if they were punching the guy, knocking his head on the ground, knifing him — I could not tell. I was mostly listening, not viewing. It seemed to continue for a long time after my neighbor pulled up. I heard one of the men say “You’re lucky I saved your life.” I don’t know if they all walked away or what.
Mopar- call 911.
The gym teacher was wrong, but on the other hand Snooki is obnoxious as all hell. He still should be punished and the media frenzy over it certainly helped make her a “celeb.” Ugh. Charge him for that too.
Walking away is now popular culture…
No Help in Sight, More Homeowners Walk Away
by David Streitfeld
Monday, February 1, 2010
NY Times
In 2006, Benjamin Koellmann bought a condominium in Miami Beach. By his calculation, it will be about the year 2025 before he can sell his modest home for what he paid. Or maybe 2040. [ROTFLMMFAO!!!]
“People like me are beginning to feel like suckers,†Mr. Koellmann said. “Why not let it go in default and rent a better place for less?â€
After three years of plunging real estate values, after the bailouts of the bankers and the revival of their million-dollar bonuses, after the Obama administration’s loan modificationplan raised the expectations of many but satisfied only a few, a large group of distressed homeowners is wondering the same thing.
New research suggests that when a home’s value falls below 75 percent of the amount owed on the mortgage, the owner starts to think hard about walking away, even if he or she has the money to keep paying.
In a situation without precedent in the modern era, millions of Americans are in this bleak position. Whether, or how, to help them is one of the biggest questions the Obama administration confronts as it seeks a housing policy that would contribute to the economic recovery.
“We haven’t yet found a way of dealing with this that would, we think, be practical on a large scale,†the assistant Treasury secretary for financial stability, Herbert M. Allison Jr., said in a recent briefing.
The number of Americans who owed more than their homes were worth was virtually nil when the real estate collapse began in mid-2006, but by the third quarter of 2009, an estimated 4.5 million homeowners had reached the critical threshold, with their home’s value dropping below 75 percent of the mortgage balance.
They are stretched, aggrieved and restless. With figures released last week showing that the real estate market was stalling again, their numbers are now projected to climb to a peak of 5.1 million by June — about 10 percent of all Americans with mortgages.
“We’re now at the point of maximum vulnerability,†said Sam Khater, a senior economist with First American CoreLogic, the firm that conducted the recent research. “People’s emotional attachment to their property is melting into the air.â€
Suggestions that people would be wise to renege on their home loans are at least a couple of years old, but they are turning into a full-throated barrage. Bloggers were quick to note recently that landlords of an 11,000-unit residential complex in Manhattan showed no hesitation, or shame, in walking away from their deeply underwater investment.
“Since the beginning of December, I’ve advised 60 people to walk away,†said Steve Walsh, a mortgage broker in Scottsdale, Ariz. “Everyone has lost hope. They don’t qualify for modifications, and being on the hamster wheel of paying for a property that is not worth it gets so old.â€
Mr. Walsh is taking his own advice, recently defaulting on a rental property he owns. “The sun will come up tomorrow,†he said.
The difference between letting your house go to foreclosure because you are out of money and purposefully defaulting on a mortgage to save money can be murky. But a growing body of research indicates that significant numbers of borrowers are declining to live under what some waggishly call “house arrest.â€
Using credit bureau data, consultants at Oliver Wyman calculated how many borrowers went straight from being current on their mortgage to default, rather than making spotty payments. They also weeded out owners having trouble paying other bills. Their estimate was that about 17 percent of owners defaulting in 2008, or 588,000 people, chose that option as a strategic calculation.
Some experts argue that walking away from mortgages is more discussed than done. People hate moving; their children attend the neighborhood school; they do not want to think of themselves as skipping out on a debt. Doubters cite a Federal Reserve study using historical data from Massachusetts that concludes there were relatively few walk-aways during the 1991 bust.
The United States Treasury falls into the skeptical camp.
“The overwhelming bulk of people who have negative equity stay in their homes and keep paying,†said Michael S. Barr, assistant Treasury secretary for financial institutions.
It would cost about $745 billion, slightly more than the size of the original 2008 bank bailout, to restore all underwater borrowers to the point where they were breaking even, according to First American.
Using government money to do that would be seen as unfair by many taxpayers, Mr. Barr said. On the other hand, doing nothing about underwater mortgages could encourage more walk-aways, dealing another blow to a fragile economy.
“It’s not an easy area,†he said.
Walking away — also called “jingle mail,†[ROTFLMMFAO!!!] because of the notion that homeowners just mail their keys to the bank, setting off foreclosure proceedings — began in the Southwest during the 1980s oil collapse, though it has never been clear how widespread it was.
In the current bust, lenders first noticed something strange after real estate prices had fallen about 10 percent.
An executive with Wachovia, one of the country’s biggest and most aggressive lenders, said during a conference call in January 2008 that the bank was bewildered by customers who had “the capacity to pay, but have basically just decided not to.†(Wachovia failed nine months later and was bought by Wells Fargo.
Is Rockport publicly traded?
***Bid half off peak comps***
quote:
**Kitty Genovese**
do you know most of that story was actually made up? while the social theory about such a thing IS true, there was a whole bunch debunked about the actual circumstances and people involved… it was on some true crime documentary on one of those obscure cable channels awhile back.
personally tho, i abide by the rule of the hood and wouldnt snitch because you could be hit next.
*rob*
so you would only need 10K for a deposit on one of those? can the 8K welfare that the government is giving to first time home buyers go towards that?
*rob*
Posted by: Butterfly at February 3, 2010 10:24 AM
Rob, gov’t is giving 8K tax deduction AFTER you buy the place, NOT 8K cash into your pocket. Completely different and yes you would be eligible for it but you first have to cough up 10K downpayment and have good credit to get a mortgage and show that you can pay your maintenance plus mortgage to the coop board. Sorry but that’s reality. No need to bitch about it but coops want responsible shareholders in the building.
AND you get anywhere from 40K-50K to get one of those “marriages” going but you will likely be caught because they not only visit you these days but they also test you with questions like “Does your partner snore?” or “which side of the bed do you and she/he sleep on?”. They pretty much find questions that you would only know the answer to if you live together. I was offered this arrangement a bunch of times and denied it every time cause its a Federal crime and I might go to jail and might even get my citizenship taken away from me as I was not born here and that’s just way too much to lose for me for 40-50K. I am not a risk taker.