Terri Campbell

Terri Campbell, Eastern Investment Advisors

Terri on Peter Schiff's housing and economy predictions...

"I disagree with his assumptions, and also his conclusion, obviously."
Campbell: There is no evidence of a nearing recession.
-------- FAIL!! --------
Schiff 8, Realtors/Analysts 0

September 18, 2007

Deven Traboscia

Deven Traboscia, Realtor/Cougar
AKA 'Trabosh'
She gives new meaning to the word Realtwhore.

But perhaps she is just clarifying the meaning.


2008-06-26: Local home for sale includes wife
The 42-year-old real estate agent, tired of struggling on her own, came up with a package deal to auction off her Palm Beach Gardens home and herself on both eBay and Craigslist.

In the ad, Traboscia writes:
"If you want to live the never ending dream and experience the real love, life and the romance you have always felt was a fairytale then this is the vibrant outstanding woman of your dreams! To sweep this European Loving Lady off her feet send in your application right now."

2008-06-27: Single mom selling Fla. home and heart on Internet
After a year of trying to sell her four-bedroom home and eight years of singledom, Deven Trabosh is offering her South Florida home and a shot at marrying her on the Internet.

"I figured let's combine the ad because I'm looking for love and I'm looking to sell the house," said Trabosh, a Barbie-esque blonde who teeters around the nearly 2,000 square-foot house in patent leather heels.

"Marry a Princess Lost in America," Trabosh wrote in the ads she posted on eBay and Craigslist last week. She describes a life of romance and travel and a home decorated with vaulted ceilings, upgraded tile and a soaking tub in a gated community with a pool and tennis courts.

Miguel Romero

Miguel Romero, real estate agent, insurance dealer, income tax preparer and credit repair specialist, ???; employee (or not?) of Home Building Wealth

"The most important thing about HBW is the ability to help more families with the different companies we represent. Next is the ability to help new associates make more money right away (you help a family, you help yourself). Last is having the experienced Leadership helping us to achieve our goals. In this way I can help myself and my family like no other way on this earth!"

2008-06-14: Families say real estate agent led them into crisis
VISTA ---- Working as a real estate agent, insurance dealer, income tax preparer and credit repair specialist, Miguel Romero has helped Latinos buy 122 homes since 2004, becoming one of his firm's best salesmen.

But his customers have not been so fortunate ---- at least 75 of the homes Romero sold have fallen into foreclosure. The company caters almost exclusively to Spanish-speaking customers.

Romero's sales practices, and the stories of some clients, provide a window into industry excesses that analysts say contributed to the region's foreclosure crisis:

69 percent of Romero's sales and 33 percent of his agents' have resulted in foreclosure or short sale.

"That's not an accident, that's a set-up," said Yamila Ayad, a San Marcos mortgage broker and a member of several nonprofits dedicated to helping families face foreclosure.

Robert Kleinhenz

Robert Kleinhenz , Dep. Chief Economist for C.A.R.
What good is a Jumbo loan if you CANNOT afford a $500K+ house in the first place? These idiots think that putting more money into the hands of consumers is the answer. That is what created the Housing Bubble--too much money given to people that didn't have the income to cover the loans.

Probably -and- Pretty Much -- I feel confident in his analysis, don't you?

The suffering in Ventura County is OVER!! HURRAY!! Thank you CAR! (see 6-26-08)
(hat tip, Michael)

2007-12-21: Median home price in L.A. County, state off 12%
Article Last Updated: 12/21/2007 08:58:23 PM PST
Robert Kleinhenz, the association's deputy chief economist, attributed the price declines to potential buyers having trouble obtaining jumbo loans. These are typically used to buy houses costing more than $417,000, the amount that will be purchased by mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.

However, Kleinhenz expects prices to level off soon, both locally and statewide.
And when the credit issue is resolved, he said, the state's median should again rise above $500,000.
----
2008-05-24: Home sales offer hope to some
The last time Ventura County saw a year-over-year improvement in home sales was in September 2005, said Robert Kleinhenz, deputy chief economist for CAR.

It was a very slight improvement — 0.5 percent — but an improvement nonetheless.
The median price decline from $691,710 a year ago to $496,530 in April was the sharpest drop on record, Kleinhenz said.


Things just might be headed back toward a normal market as homes become more affordable and sales start to reflect the typical ramping up toward the summer months, Kleinhenz said.

"We probably have pretty much dug out of the worst of what we have seen in the market during the worst of the credit crunch," he said.

2008-06-26: Home slump near bottom, CAR says
The darkest days of home sales and credit crunch are behind Ventura County, said Robert Kleinhenz, an economist with the California Association of Realtors.

"I think we're very close to the bottom," Kleinhenz said.

"Fortunately, despite these kind of adjustments in price and sales, we've still got a fairly sound economy," Kleinhenz said.

Senator Chris Dodd

Chris Dodd, Senator, Connecticut (D)
Ok, he's not the only politician that benefitted from the Housing Bubble, but he's beating the bailout drum loudly enough to deserve his own spot in the Hall of Shame®. In the end, they will all be inducted.

2008-06-21: Dodd Bailout

2008-06-16: House Republican Wants Hearings On Lawmakers' Mortgages
Dodd and Conrad have denied that they knew they were receiving any preferential treatment, and Conrad has agreed to donate the $10,700 in savings afforded by his lower interest rate.

Gary Watts

Gary Watts, Mission Viejo Realtor
I'll have what this guy is having. Watts Site

Article 12: REALTORS® shall be careful at all times to present a true picture in their advertising and representations to the public.

And now... the worst apology ever. (see 2008-06-23)

2005-05-15: High hopes for housing

2005-12-01: Why the Housing Bubble is Bogus
(Alternate title: Why Gary Watts should STFU)

2007-02-06: Watts forecasts 7% gain in O.C. house prices
Although his 2006 forecast was overly optimistic, Watts remains confident that local house prices this year will increase 7 percent and that condo prices will go up about 4 percent.

"This will be, I think, a pivotal year," Watts said in a telephone interview. "If the housing correction is behind us, we'll be in pretty good shape. We've weathered the worst."

2008-01-04: Realtor Watts eyes pent-up housing demand
Eyeball: What’s your outlook for the O.C. housing market?
Gary: My forecast for 2007 appears to have been too rosy! ... I was surprised by the financial crisis – especially since subprime makes up only 5% of the entire loan market while the Alt-A market (better than sub-prime but less than prime) makes up only 8%. 2008 could be a surprising year.

Eyeball: Chances we’ll see a bottom in 2008?
Gary: The first question I ask my Realtor audience is: “how many of you have qualified buyers waiting to buy?” Almost everyone’s hand shoots up immediately. This is called pent-up demand. As soon as the “fence-sitting” buyers begin to believe the bottom is near, they will once again enter the housing market. Not in a big way, but a way that will show a beginning trend towards a normal market.

Eyeball: What might be the housing surprise we’ll be talking about a year from now?
Gary: The media reporting stories of how the 2008 buyers made a great buy in the Southern California real estate market! (This, I assume, will come after the stories about the 30%+ drops in price.)

Apologies with excuses. Fu** you, Gary.
2008-06-23: Real estate booster apologizes for misreading crystal ball
“Here it is, four decades of forecasting, and I couldn’t believe I got it wrong,” Watts said after delivering his 2008 Mid-Year Economic Report to the Orange County Association of Realtors in Irvine. Watts blamed his misdiagnosis on a failure to account for Wall Street’s impact on the mortgage market.

“I apologize for not knowing what Wall Street did to our mortgages,” Watts told about 360 attendees during the associations annual membership meeting at the Irvine Marriott. “I had no idea how Wall Street restructured these loans.”

2006-08-13: Gary Watts and the Incredible Logic Shrinking Machine

La Vida Loca

Wanted:
Rafael Santiago, Angel Armendariz, and Lucette Montane

Do you still think your downtown San Diego condo is worth a fortune? Not likely.
Do you still think your downtown San Diego condo is worth what you paid? Not likely.

2008-06-20: More than 400 indicted in nationwide crackdown
Six people from a downtown San Diego real estate firm are among more than 400 real estate insiders who have been swept up in a massive, nationwide crackdown on mortgage fraud.

In one case, a condo in Park Loft downtown was listed for sale in May 2006 for $845,000 to $925,000. Later, the price was raised, and it sold for $1.1 million. The buyer got a $1.1 million loan. CFS handled the loan and represented the buyer. The seller paid $174,000 to two CFS agents.

Also named in the complaint are Rafael Santiago, 39, of Riverside; and Angel Armendariz, 27, and Lucette Montane, 25, both of Chula Vista. They are fugitives, Alexander said.

BE AFRAID!

Mortgage brokers, realtors, appraisers, lenders, buyers,... BE AFRAID.

Maybe you're next!

2008-06-19: Hundreds swept up in mortgage fraud arrests
WASHINGTON - More than 400 real estate industry players have been indicted since March — including dozens over the last two days — in a Justice Department crackdown on incidents of mortgage fraud nationwide that have contributed to the country's housing crisis.

The most common type of mortgage fraud was misstatement of income or assets, followed by forged documents, inflated appraisals and misrepresentation of a buyer's intent to occupy a property as a primary residence.

Rep. Laura Richardson

Laura Richardson, CA Representative
Nobody is immune from the lure of the housing ponzi scheme. Not even our elected officials.

And she was a Realtor? Why does this NOT surprise me. (hat tip Tom)
2008-07-01: Would you believe: Laura Richardson -- Realtor?

Oh, my! Now this! She's a very dirty girl!
2008-06-16: Rep. Richardson failed to disclose loan from strip club owner
The latest on the triple-default, single-foreclosure Democratic congresswoman from Long Beach: "Rep. Laura Richardson initially failed to disclose economic interests -- including a loan from a strip club owner -- when she served on the Long Beach City Council, public records show," the Long Beach Press-Telegram reports.

From the Press-Telegram: the loan in question was for $20,000, in 2000, and came from a family trust controlled by Jerry Westlund, who owns the Fantasy Castle strip club in Signal Hill and 13 other strip clubs in seven states. Two years later, Richardson -- who had not yet disclosed the loan -- voted with the council to place Westlund's father on the city's board of examiners. She eventually disclosed the loan in 2004.

2008-05-24: A Congressional Speculator?
(Calculated Risk)

2008-05-23: Housing woes mount for Rep. Laura Richardson
Rep. Laura Richardson, who lost her Sacramento home in a recent foreclosure auction, has also defaulted on properties in Long Beach and San Pedro, records show.

Richardson, D-Long Beach, was able to bring her payments up to date on the Long Beach home relatively quickly, but the San Pedro property lingered in the foreclosure process for almost eight months, and still has a pending auction date.

In her first interview since the news broke Tuesday that her Sacramento home had been foreclosed, Richardson blamed the foreclosure on a miscommunication by her lender. She offered no apologies for failing to make payments on three separate homes and expressed no regret for failing to pay nearly $9,000 in property taxes.

New Jersey NAR

Drew Fishman, Jarrod C. Grasso, and the New Jersey NAR

Since they were so eager to talk up those positive stats, what should these monkeys say now? How about...

"The states housing market is dead."

"Like most of the nation, the New Jersey housing market totally sucks."

"This is further evidence that is one huge mo**er fu**in' housing bubble."

"The New Jersey housing market will continue to perform poorly."

2008-05-18: Home sales up 4 percent in New Jersey
Sales volume of existing single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops in the first quarter of 2008 increased 4 percent from the same period last year, indicating New Jersey continues to defy national real estate trends.

"Unlike most of the nation, the New Jersey housing market remains stable," said Drew Fishman, CRS, 2008 New Jersey Association of Realtors (NJAR) president. "Nationally, total sales for single-family homes, condominiums and co-ops dropped by 22 percent from the previous year, while New Jersey was one of three states to show an increase. This is just further evidence that New Jersey does not follow national real estate trends."

"New Jersey's housing market continually outperforms other areas of the country," said Jarrod C. Grasso, RCE, NJAR executive vice president. "The Garden State's proximity to New York City and Philadelphia, its extensive transportation infrastructure and many other positive market forces contribute to the state's healthy real estate market."

2008-06-14: VINDICATION - NJ Q1 Home Sales down 30%
Email sent to Jeff Otteau on May 14th:
from James Bednar
to Jeffrey Otteau
date Wed, May 14, 2008 at 11:54 AM
subject First Quarter Otteau Report

Jeffrey,
I’m trying to reconcile the Q1 Otteau Reports with the Q1 EHS data released by the NAR yesterday.

According to the data you publish, first quarter sales in NJ were down by double digit percentages, see below:
(see original article for data...VINDICATION - NJ Q1 Home Sales down 30%)

2008-06-14: NJ home sales plunged 30 percent in first quarter
When the National Association of Realtors issued its first-quarter report on the health of the housing market last month, New Jersey was singled out as one of only three states that saw the volume of home sales increase during the first three months of the year.

On Friday, the Realtors' group issued a huge correction, saying that instead of a slight increase, New Jersey's housing market actually saw a 30 percent drop in home sales during the first quarter compared with the same period last year.

"It happened in the crunching of the numbers," said NAR spokesman Lucien Salvant. "It was just a mistake and we owned up to it."

As it turns out, only 114,100 homes were sold across the state during the first quarter - nearly a third less than the 163,000 sales recorded in the first three months of 2007.

Jeffrey Otteau, president of the East Brunswick research firm Otteau Valuation Group, said he suspected the NAR's original numbers were out of whack when they were issued May 13.

2008-06-13: NAR revises housing numbers
The National Association of Realtors has just issued a whopper of a correction, saying that instead of a slight increase, New Jersey's housing market actually saw a 30 percent drop in home sales in the first quar­ter compared to last year.

2008-06-14: NAR Corrected: NJ Q1 Home Sales down 30%
(discussion at Calculated Risk)

Steve Rodgers

Steve Rodgers, CEO of Prudential California Realty
An optimistic Realtor...
how surprising. He might be taking his queues from Steve Thomas.

2008-06-07: housing to be healthy by ’09’s end

OC Register: When will the housing market hit bottom, and when will it get back to the peak?

Rodgers: Many forecasters are saying that we are at the bottom now, and I would agree with that assessment. I would say that by the end of Q2 2008, we will have bottomed out and will have started to recover. The bell curve will start to come back up somewhere in that time period — timing dependant on ZIP code, city, county, etc.

I foresee that by Q1 2009, the market will have improved a good deal. It will still be somewhat rocky in various areas, but it will be healthier overall. By the end of 2009 we will have a truly healthy market — no longer rocky; it will be fully stable and equitable for both buyers and sellers.

Eve Mazzarella

Eve Mazzarella & Steven Grimm, Mortgage Fraudsters and Award Winning Realtor
Specialties: Foreclosures & Short Sales


Class of 2007! Bravo, realtor.org!
Under 30 Profile

2008-03-13: FBI News Release
* Mazzarella and Grimm recruited individuals (straw buyers) to make offers to purchase homes in Las Vegas at substantially above the seller's asking price. Once the purchase was negotiated, the straw buyers applied for mortgages from financial institutions. Mazzarella and Grimm placed, or caused to be placed, false information regarding the straw buyers' places of employment, income and assets on the mortgage loan applications in order to ensure that the straw buyers could qualify for the loans.

2008-03-14: Las Vegas couple face federal charges
LAS VEGAS - A Las Vegas real estate broker and her husband are facing federal charges they made millions of dollars orchestrating a mortgage fraud scheme.

U.S. Attorney for Nevada Gregory Brower says Eve Mazzarella, 30, and her husband, Steven Grimm, 45, were indicted Wednesday on bank fraud, money laundering and aiding and abetting charges.

The government alleges Mazzarella and Grimm bought more than 200 properties at inflated values using limited liability companies and more than 400 straw buyers to make purchase offers.

The couple allegedly controlled transactions worth more than $100 million. They allegedly defaulted on mortgage payments on many of the loans, causing at least 118 properties to be sold in foreclosure.

2008-06-03: Las Vegas called 'mortgage fraud ground zero'
Prosecutors have charged Eve Mazzarella, 30, and Steven Grimm, 45, with bank fraud, alleging the two caused banks to make more than $107 million in dubious loans and netted a profit of at least $15 million. Both defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges. A trial has been scheduled for October.

AND... she's honored at realtor.org BWAHAHAHA

Realtor.org: Under 30 Profile: EVE MAZZARELLA

(hat tip to Housing Doom)

Jesus and Lilia Garcia

Jesus and Lilia Garcia, tiny-Trump™
Buyers/investors/speculators played their role in the bubble. $535K house on $65K income and equity from another house? Do the math.

2008-05-30: Lose Homes, Pay More Tax
Some of the biggest losers in the real estate slump are not purchasers of mansions they could not afford. They are buyers of second homes — or third ones, for that matter — who are sitting on a tax time bomb.

Two years ago, Lilia Garcia and her husband, Jesus, bought their dream house in Linden, Calif., for $535,000 and financed it in part by taking out a bigger loan backed by their previous house in nearby Stockton. They decided to hang onto the Stockton house and rent it out, believing that it would more than pay for itself and could be sold years in the future to help pay for college for their two children.

“We wanted to make it an investment,” Ms. Garcia said. “I should’ve sold it.” But the Garcias, who earn about $65,000 a year, fell behind on their payments after their tenant moved out and the interest rate on their mortgage rose, bringing their monthly payments on the rental home to nearly $2,700 a month, from less than $1,000. They view foreclosure as inevitable; they have not paid the mortgages on either house for months and now rent a home in Linden.

J. Scott Bovitz, a bankruptcy lawyer in Los Angeles, says the problem is widespread. “I’ve seen people not just buying properties to live in, they’re buying properties to become mini-Donald Trumps.”
(that's tiny-Trump™, J.Scott)

HP Tied in Blog Contest

Real Estate Blog Contest — Leaderboard

5/27/08, 11:29PM PDT

Shortly after this screenshot, HP took the lead.

Leslie Appleton-Young

Leslie Appleton-Young, Chief "Economist", California Assoc of Realtors
She looks like a total ding-dong. When she opens her mouth and speaks, she confirms it.

December 2005: Bursting of price bubble not in view
"Despite rising interest rates, a growing for-sale inventory and a slowing sales pace, the county's shortage of housing will prevent prices from dropping steeply, speakers asserted. "It's Economics 101," said Leslie Appleton-Young, chief economist for the California Association of Realtors. "It's demand and supply." Addressing the statewide economy, Appleton-Young forecast "a slight decline in home sales" for California in 2006. Many established homeowners have cashed out rising equity and now lack the funds to trade up to larger homes, she said. "We are going to see people staying in their homes longer." (LOL Cashed out equity and they are "staying in their homes longer." LOL You better ask Yvonne, Lela, Nancy, Kim, and John about that. Jane Hong, a bankruptcy attorney, had this to say about HELOCs, "It's a great way to lose your house," said Hong.)

February 2007: Bay Area housing strongest in state
Overall, sales of existing homes will decline 7 percent across California this year, Appleton-Young told local business leaders Thursday at the annual North Bay Economic Outlook Conference in Rohnert Park. But the downturn is tapering off, she said, compared to last year's 23 percent decline in sales."The worst is over," she said.

October 2007: Realtor economist ‘apologizes’

Ding-dong, she's baaaaaack!
2008-01-16: Economist predicts more housing woes
Leslie Appleton-Young, senior vice president and chief economist of the California Association of Realtors, blamed the credit crunch and buyer reluctance for a negative housing outlook for 2008.
"I think we are just about, if not already at, the bottom," she said. "It's not going to get much lower than that."

"You're dealing with buyers now who are waiting until the end of the market downturn," she said. (Uhhhh... Leslie, you're dealing with buyers that cannot AFFORD the PRICES!)

2008-02-25: C.A.R. reports sales decrease 29.8 percent
“The slight increase in sales predates the president's signing of an economic stimulus package including a temporary increase in the conforming loan limit, but that much needed reform could give the market some momentum,” said C.A.R. Vice President and Chief Economist Leslie Appleton-Young. “Let's hope congress and the president see fit to make the higher loan limit permanent.” (Ok, so when people have incomes of $70K/year, a loan limit of $700K helps them, how? Affordability has to return.)

2008-05-24: Home sales offer hope to some
"Significant price declines are spurring home sales to bargain hunters and first-time buyers at the middle- and low-end of the market," Leslie Appleton-Young, CAR's vice president and chief economist, said in a statement. (So middle and low-end buyers can service $400-500K mortgage debt? I don't think so.)

Shawn Forgaard

Shawn Forgaard, House Investor
You wanna know something... I don't think he'll come away from this "wiser". Hey, Shawn, you just pissed away $800K in stock options, what are you going to do next?

Repeat after me: the average person should not invest in real estate.


2008-05-11: California man losing nine homes in mortgage mess
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A California man who has defaulted on nine homes and expects banks to foreclose on all of them, forcing him into bankruptcy, says he now considers it a mistake to have invested in the real estate market.

Shawn Forgaard, a 37-year-old software company project manager, bought one home for his family to live in and nine more as investments. He stands to lose all the investment houses in the mortgage meltdown but says he has come away wiser from the experience.

"Everyone stumbles. I'm not going to hide or run or live in denial, or with regrets," Forgaard told Reuters in an interview. "On the surface it looks like total devastation but it's just the opposite. I'm confident our lives will be much, much richer as a result."

Forgaard bought a house in Santa Cruz, about 60 miles (100 km) south of San Francisco, in 2000. Four years later, using $800,000 in stock options, he began snapping up investment properties, putting 10 percent to 40 percent down on negative amortization loans -- in which payments do not cover the interest so that a borrower's balance grows over time.

Experts say speculators like Forgaard, who count on real estate values to keep rising to pay off their debt, play a risky game and doubly so when they use neg-am loans.

"You are essentially betting the house on the strength of the housing market and if you're that leveraged in debt and the market goes down, you're going to lose your shirt," said Austin King, director of the community organizer ACORN's Financial Justice Center.

"To do it eight or nine times over is eight or nine times as foolish as just doing it once," he said.

Blanche Evans

Blanche Evans, Realty Times
Well, finally time to add Blanche to the Hall of Shame®. She has truly earned her spot, here.

Hat tip to Housing Doom.

2008-05-06: Why Buy Now? Media Is Wrong About Housing Slump
Why buy a house now? You’ve been getting bad information. Here’s why.

The financial press is worried that they might have gone too far — paralyzing the nation into recession by piling on housing. So they’re finally beginning to question the indexes where they get their data, and whether the news is really as bad as it seems. Slowly but surely, headlines are changing from ‘Don’t Buy A Home Now’ to ‘Is It Time To Buy?’

We said it here first on Realty Times — that consumers aren’t getting the full story. Indexes [sic] can be misleading because of the locations, prices, types of housing, and rates of increase they track.

2006-09-24: A Soothing Voice Amid the Market’s Chicken Littles
But Blanche Evans, the author of “Bubbles, Booms, and Busts: Make Money in Any Real Estate Market” (McGraw-Hill, 2006), isn’t buying it. She sees the current slump as more of a breather, as well as a chance for buyers and sellers to “reposition” themselves to take advantage of the long-term upward trend in housing prices.

In other words, she contends there is money to be made in real estate even if prices head south for a while.

Ms. Evans, who is also the editor of Realty Times (realtytimes.com), an online real estate news service based in Dallas, says the current slump has mainly forced a lot of quick-money speculators out of the housing market. “In the normal market people are still buying and selling homes,” she said. “The market is not crashing; the fundamentals and incentives are still extremely good for everyone else.”

“This is all about improving your position,” Ms. Evans said. “When things are bad, they’re not bad for everybody; they may not be bad for you. That’s when you should improve your position. Buy, sell or hold. It’s a poker game.”

David Lereah

David Lereah, ex-chief economist of NAR
Was the chief spokesman of the NAR and is responsible for hyping the housing market with comments such as: "If you paid your mortgage off, it means you probably did not manage your funds efficiently over the years. It's as if you had 500,000 dollar bills stuffed in your mattress."

Dr. Housing Bubble has a good summary of this character:
2007-08-17: Greater Expectations: Quotes and Psychology of a Modern Day Housing Bull.
Wikipedia_David_Lereah
Truly a perfect fool for the job.

2008-05-06: Latest from Dr. Housing Bubble

2008-05-06: It’s Going to Get Worse
Economist David Lereah was once the housing market's biggest cheerleader. Now he says the bust isn't near over, and home prices still have a long way to fall.
"We're not at the bottom," he says. "[People] want it to be near the bottom, but we're not there yet. The leading indicators are still very bad. Pending home sales are still in bad shape. Mortgage applications are low … There's still supply out there in abundance … This thing is going to get worse before it gets better."

Bertrand Family

Kristin and Mike Bertrand, Home ATM / House-debtors

The pattern repeats... HELOC your way to a better lifestyle, months or years later, hand over the keys.

They say they are "casualties of a faltering economy". I say they got caught with their hands in the cookie jar. Refinanced "a few times". Repeat those words... "a few times." Two words for them: 'Risk management'.

They might want to invite the Moises to the party. They're going to need some help, soon.

Here's a video of lovely Ventura: Foreclosures

2008-04-04: Local couple starts a group
Caught in the downturn
Kristin and Mike Bertrand say they were not casualties of the mortgage crisis, but of a faltering economy. When the couple purchased a home in 2001, their combined income was more than $140,000. They determined their mortgage, then around $360,000, was affordable.

But they refinanced a few times, taking out equity to pay for bills. It compensated for a reduction in income, tens of thousands of dollars in loan fees and for upgrades.
Mike Bertrand, who builds and markets Web sites, has had job changes and had been out of work since February. He started a new job in mid-April with an annual salary of $62,500 — not nearly enough to afford the $4,200 monthly payment on a new mortgage.

He admitted that if they hadn't refinanced, there is a chance the family could have stayed in the house.

Donald Luskin

Don Luskin, so-called CIO Trend Macrolytics /Propagandist
Enemy of Freedom? You decide.

Ironically, this guy has his blog, titled...
Chronicle of the Conspiracy:
Join us as we discover, document, expose and challenge the bad people, the bad institutions and the bad ideas that stand in the way of wealth creation -- and show you how to fight back!

2006-09-22: Economic Mythology
Yet many investors seem to believe that the consumer has only been spending because of gains in real estate during the so-called "housing bubble" of the last three years. They believe that when the value of your home rises, you experience a "wealth effect" — you are willing to spend more money, simply because your house is worth more. Economists have studied the "wealth effect" in depth. Based on these studies, most economic models say that when the value of your house goes up by $100, you are willing to spend an additional $3 every year.

So how big is the "wealth effect" for housing? According to data from the Federal Reserve, the value of real estate held by households grew by $1.7 trillion over the last four quarters. Three percent of that is $50 billion.

So out of the $555 billion in spending growth over the last four quarters, the housing "wealth effect" explains only $50 billion. But what needs explaining in the first place? Simple income growth already explains all but $5 billion of the spending gains.
So who needs a housing "wealth effect?"

Another often-heard reason for doom-and-gloom about the consumer is high energy prices. Is that story any more true than the one about the housing wealth effect? Nope.

2006-12-15: All the Data Point to More Rate Hikes
But the forces of pessimism that have fought against this current economic expansion from the day it began have seized on the housing slump as yet another of their reasons to foretell disaster. What else has it been over the last five years of growth: war, scandals, hurricanes, energy prices, outsourcing, deficits, you name it. All wrong, then and now.

2006-12-29: Pundits Misread Bonds in '06
Except that the economy just refuses to act anything like the bond market is supposedly predicting. Even the worst-performing sector of the economy — residential real estate — gives every sign of stabilizing. While a supposed "housing crash" is going on, homebuilding stocks have been steadily rallying for the last five months. I think real GDP in the fourth quarter of this year will come in about 3% — and that meets anyone's definition of a strong economy.

2007-07-27: Market Correction
If you're looking to buy, the so-called collapse of the so-called housing bubble is great news. Your dream home just went on sale! Attention all you Kmart shoppers.

2008-05-04: Housing Near Bottom?
I'm not here to tell you that home prices are at absolute bottom this very moment. But I can argue pretty persuasively that they might be. Or that they are close.

2008-05-04: Mish Rebuttal to Previous Moronic Article

Big shout out to 'msaghirmd'.
http://www.youtube.com/user/msaghirmd

Don Luskin - Propagandist


Tribute to Peter Schiff
Listen to Luskin at 2:55. This guy is insane.
"Billions of peasants around the world are willing to work in poorly lit and poorly ventilated factories just to get our paper money, because it's that precious."