Rep. Laura Richardson, Part II

Laura Richardson, CA Representative

Guess who voted YES on the bailout?


Our very own Dirty Girl, Rep. Laura Richardson.

Vote tally, here.

STOP VOTING FOR HER, District #37 (L.A.).

Ashley Long, Part II

Ashley Long, Home Buyer / Knife Catcher
This was from an article featured on Jan 1, 2008, Ashley Long Part I. The average person was brainwashed during this bubble. They seemed incapable of thinking for themselves. Lets revisit to see if this buyer made the right decision.

This buyer thought...
“I got a pretty good deal. I know this is a low market and the house is worth more than that,” WRONG
and
“It’s the only time I’m going to be able to afford to buy in Sonoma County,” WRONG
and
“I can’t imagine it going down a lot lower, and eventually it has to come back up. I don’t want to gamble.” WRONG

Conclusion: FAIL

Here is Ms. Long's house:
7108 Hastings Pl Windsor, CA
4 beds, 3.0 baths, 2,032 sq ft
APN: 163-120-052-000
Sale History:
03/13/1998: $222,500
12/07/2007: $470,000

Lets see if her purchase and statements made sense. You can check the comps and properties for sale in this neighborhood. How about 210 Mali Ct: 2200 sqft for $370K. Check out that brown lawn. If it sells for $370K that is a 40% drop from the peak purchase price. What a joke. The sheeple need to start THINKING FOR THEMSELVES.

210 Mali Ct Sale History
08/06/2008: $415,840 * (bank taking it back)
03/30/2006: $629,000
03/10/1995: $225,000

What should Ms. Long do now?

Post your comments and let her and other knife catchers know.

MasterCard

MasterCard: Official Card of the Second Great Depression


Nation of Debt
The opening commercial makes me want to fu**in' puke.

Crazy Carnes'

Chandra & Michael Carnes, Loco House Buyers Debtors
(or Chaundra Carnes)
2008-09-23: Wow, just days later, their home is reduced in price another $60K. Desperation is setting in!!!

No Mas, Crazy Carnes'!!! No Mas!!! Looks like the family from the PBS video that prompted the creation of the Hall of Shame is back to wheeling and dealing houses. Although, I'm not sure they'll be able to find a greater fool to get them out of this mess. Could be the end of the road. If you haven't already, watch the PBS video, also available on YouTube. (NOW - PART 1)

Remember that buyers are also to blame for this bubble. With a household income of just over $100K, why would the Carnes' delve into no-interest loan for over $700K!! They can answer that question best:
Past Due and Pay Day
Michael runs production at a winery and Chaundra manages the office at an auto body shop. Together, they earn just over $100,000 a year.
Back in the days when 30 year fixed rate mortgages were the norm, the Carnes would've been advised to borrow about twice their annual salary - around $200,000. In this market, that old ratio of salary to loan seems positively quaint: the Carnes have borrowed $700,000 — seven times their yearly income.
CHANDRA CARNES: To have a 30 year loan almost seems like you're giving away too much of your money. If you have to take a loan out anyway, why not borrow the most you can borrow. You know if it helps you get the home that you really want to live in.
MICHAEL CARNES: With the value increasing the way, at the rate it is, why not get an interest-only loan to free up more spendable cash per month? And so we ran the numbers. And the guy says, "Yeah, it looks good." And we couldn't believe him. And so we did it. And here we are. And we're really happy. And like I said, we just barely made it. They told us that.
MICHAEL CARNES: In 10, 15 years, we'll have to be a little bit more conservative. But right now, we're living it up - have a house on a hill and we're very happy.
CHANDRA CARNES: You know, the only risk is if housing values go down. And I guess that's a risk we're willing to take. And I think a lot of other people are too. So we're not alone.

Sacrifice your future if it gets you what you want right now! And don't be afraid to do foolish things if "you're not alone." And would you believe they took some equity out of their home for decorating.
Why did the Carnes' risk their future on a $700K loan for a home? Cuz we wannit!!

---------- update: 11-12-2007 --------------
Looks like the Carnes' got lucky and found some bigger fools.
Found this on Zillow:
5903 Mountain Hawk Dr Santa Rosa CA 95409
Sale History:
02/25/2005: $951,000
09/17/2007: $925,000
153-580-003-000

Summarizing: The Carnes' were very, very lucky. They lost $25K on the price, and with their interest only loan, ended up renting that house for 2.5 years, also having to pay property taxes, upkeep, etc. They now live in a home (APN 161-410-040-000) at an assessed value of $280,698, however, the purchase price was $640,000. I love her comment above: "a 30 year loan almost seems like you're giving away too much of your money". How is paying rent on a $1M home any better? If her husband had any backbone, he'd 'smack that bitch up'.
1086 Elsbree Ln Windsor CA 95492
Zillow: 09/21/2007: $640,000

---------- update: 09-23-2008 --------------
Zillow: 1086 Elsbree Ln Windsor CA 95492
For Sale: $669,000 $659,000 $599,000 $540,000
Price Paid: $640,000
ZEstimate®: $552K
ZEstimate®: $545K (5/1/08)
ZEstimate®: $536K (9/19/08)
Tyrone-Est®: $335K

Looks as though the Crazy Carnes' are figuring out their house isn't worth what they paid. BWAHAHAHA

Listing site: Wine Country Dream (how apropos... Dream)

Other nearby houses for sale:
1026 Elsbree Ln, Windsor $599,000 (bigger lot, about same sqft for house) Taken off market
1032 Elsbree Ln, Windsor $749,500
1020 Lisa Ct, Windsor $649,000
1040 Elsbree Ln, Windsor $589,950 $559,950 $499,950
9950 Troon Ct, Windsor $974,500
317 Jessie Ct, Windsor $695,000

Richard Fuld

Richard Fuld, Destroyer of 158 Year Old Financial Instition, Lehman Brothers

$17,000 an Hour to destroy a company. Bravo, dumb-a**!

2008-09-17: $17,000 an Hour. No Success Required
Are you capable of taking a perfectly good 158-year-old company and turning it into dust? If so, then you may not be earning up to your full potential.

You should be raking it in like Richard Fuld, the longtime chief of Lehman Brothers. He took home nearly half-a-billion dollars in total compensation between 1993 and 2007.

Last year, Mr. Fuld earned about $45 million, according to the calculations of Equilar, an executive pay research company. That amounts to roughly $17,000 an hour to obliterate a firm.

Vijay Soni

Vijay Soni, Flipper/WaMu Customer

Successful realtor in the 1980s, but surrendered his license after being convicted of fraud in 2003. Now he's under investigation again.

Investigation Graphic

2008-09-19: Washington Mutual loaned millions to OC home flippers
In July 2007, Vijay and Supriti Soni of Corona del Mar paid $440,000 for a home at 2129 W. Civic Center Drive in Santa Ana.

Five weeks later, they resold the house to Javier Hernandez – the family gardener and handyman – for $660,000. That's a 50 percent gain in 38 days – at a time when real estate prices in Santa Ana were plunging.

Records show that Washington Mutual, America's largest savings and loan and one of its most precariously perched lending institutions, financed at least 43 mortgages worth $24.5 million on properties bought and sold by members of the Soni family since early 2007.

----------------

This is where our bailout dollars are going--thank you Housing Bubble and US Government.

Washington Mutual

Washington Mutual--WaMu, Subprime Lending Pioneer!

Not the only 'cockroach', says Peter Schiff.


Words/phrases used to describe WaMu:
'metastasizing'
'lethal damage'
'fundamental problems'

Who is going first: WaMu or Lehman?

2008-04-11: WaMu Estimates Cut by Goldman, Short Sale Recommended
April 11 (Bloomberg) -- Washington Mutual Inc.'s full-year loss will be wider than first estimated, according to Goldman Sachs Group Inc. analysts, who recommended selling the shares short.

Washington Mutual, the biggest U.S. savings and loan, may lose $3.30 a share this year, said Goldman Sachs analysts including New York-based James Fotheringham in a note to investors today. Goldman previously forecast a 2008 loss of $1 a share for the Seattle-based company.

2007-12-10: Mortgage Crisis Forces Big Cuts at WaMu
Mortgage Problems Force WaMu to Close Offices, Fire Workers and Drop Subprime Loans
SEATTLE (AP) -- Washington Mutual Inc., the nation's largest savings and loan, said Monday problems in the mortgage and credit markets are forcing it to close offices, lay off more than 3,000 workers and set aside up to $1.6 billion for loan losses in its fourth quarter.

2007-12-21: WaMu Says Cooperating with SEC on Home Appraisals
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Washington Mutual Inc (WM.N: Quote, Profile, Research) said on Thursday it is cooperating with a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission inquiry into the handling and reporting of mortgage loans that may have been based on inflated home appraisals.

"After spending a month and a half investigating these allegations, we can say with confidence that there has been no systematic effort by WaMu to inflate home appraisals. We take these allegations very seriously."

2008-04-08: Washington Mutual Gets $7 Billion Boost
Washington Mutual, the nation's largest savings and loan, said yesterday that it is getting a $7 billion cash injection from private investors to help shore up its financial position as it continues to weather losses from U.S. subprime mortgages.
------
Company Philosophy:
We constantly ask ourselves, do our products and services save time, save money and reduce hassles for our customers?

Perhaps they should have asked themselves if there was any chance that borrowers would pay back these ridiculous "loan products".

2008-09-10: Carnage continues for Washington Mutual
Washington Mutual shares plummeted to a 17-year low on Wednesday, hammered by investors who fear its metastasizing home loans could inflict lethal damage.

"They are a company with fundamental problems that is getting the worst of the brunt of the market," said Jaime Peters, an analyst with Morningstar in Chicago. "That is scary because finance is all about confidence."

The worst-case scenario would be WaMu failing - or coming to the brink, if Uncle Sam swooped to the rescue a la Bear Stearns. A collapse of the nation's largest S&L would be devastating. But Peters and others said they don't think the situation is that dire yet.

----- FAIL -----
2008-09-15: S&P Lowers WaMu Credit Rating to Junk
Washington Mutual Inc. ... had its credit rating cut to junk by Standard & Poor's because of the deteriorating housing market.

Lehman Brothers

Lehman Brothers
May as well add these bums to the Hall of Shame®.

Lehman, an innovator in global finance, serves the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals worldwide. Founded in 1850, Lehman Brothers maintains leadership positions in equity and fixed income sales, trading and research, investment banking, private investment management, asset management and private equity. The Firm is headquartered in New York, with regional headquarters in London and Tokyo, and operates in a network of offices around the world.

Courtesy of Calculated Risk... Lehman, More Problems

2008-06-10: Lehman's Property Bets Are Coming Back to Bite
The stunning $2.8 billion second-quarter loss Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. announced Monday stemmed in part from two big real-estate investments made at high prices near the top of the market that are coming back to bite the investment bank.

2008-08-15: Lehman faces fight to shed real estate assets
Lehman's near-term fate depends in large part on whether it can attract buyers for the assets and securities in its commercial real estate portfolio, valued at $40bn at the end of May.

2008-08-18: Lehman Faces Another Loss
With the end of the New York company's fiscal third quarter less than two weeks away, some analysts are girding for a loss of $1.8 billion or more, instead of the modest profit they previously expected. If the dour projections come true, Lehman's losses since the start of March would total at least $4.5 billion -- or more than the firm churned out in profit during fiscal 2007.

2008-08-28: Lehman Eliminating as Many as 1,000 Jobs
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc., the investment bank that's trying to shed mortgage assets and raise capital, is poised to eliminate as many as 1,000 jobs, or about 4 percent of its workforce, in the fourth round of cuts at the firm this year, people familiar with the matter said.

This is fu**ing embarrasing!
2008-09-09: Lehman Shares Fall After Talks With Korean Bank End
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. fell a record 45 percent in New York trading after talks about a capital infusion from Korea Development Bank ended. The Wall Street firm is continuing to negotiate with other potential investors, a person briefed on the matter said.

The Korean bank is one of several companies that Lehman, the fourth-largest U.S. securities firm, has been in discussions with in recent weeks, said the person, who declined to name the other potential bidders. The New York-based bank is also continuing talks with private-equity firms interested in buying its asset-management business, the person said.

Bill Gross

Bill Gross, CIO, PIMCO
I guess it goes like this:
- Bet heavily on mortgage-backed securities
- When things get bad, demand that the government protect your bad bet

Calculated Risk:
2007-06-26: BONG HiTS 4 BILL GROSS!

2008-04-04: Bill Gross on a Bailout (CNBC video)

2008-04-10: Ticker Guy 'Savaging' Bill Gross (YouTube Video)

2008-04-10: Pimco's Gross Holds Most Mortgage Debt Since 2000
April 10 (Bloomberg) -- Pacific Investment Management Co.'s Bill Gross lifted holdings of mortgage debt in the world's largest bond fund to the highest since 2000, while putting on the biggest bet against government debt since at least the same year.

The $125.1 billion Pimco Total Return Fund had 59 percent of assets in mortgage debt in March, up from 52 percent the prior month and 23 percent in March 2007, according to data on the Newport Beach, California-based firm's Web site. The fund's cash position dropped to 32 percent, the lowest since July 2006, from 34 percent in February.

2008-09-04: Bond Fund Manager Demands Bailout to Support His Profits
Bond manager Bill Gross wants to spread the bailout wealth. Gross says in a commentary posted on the Pimco Web site Thursday that the government must “open up the balance sheet of the U.S. Treasury” to support Fannie Mae (FNM), Freddie Mac (FRE) and, in a new twist, “Mom and Pop on Main Street U.S.A.” as well.

Gross has previously said he believes the Treasury will have to assist Fannie and Freddie in any efforts to raise new capital. His Pimco Total Return bond fund has major positions in mortgage-backed bonds issued by the government-sponsored enterprises, so it’s no surprise that he sees it that way. But now he’s calling on Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson to use federal funds to buy more housing-related assets, in the name of preventing asset-price deflation from spiraling out of control.

Gross writes that the government should be more aggressively issuing subsidized home loans and creating funds to buy distressed properties, to help inject cash into U.S. households and slow the plunge in home prices. He writes that federal assistance is required because the deleveraging sweeping the financial sector has moved from asset liquidiation to debt liquidation - a process, he writes, that “can turn a campfire into a forest fire, a mild asset bear market into a destructive financial tsunami.”

Bill,... FU** You!!
2008-09-07: Pimco’s Gross sees Fannie/Freddie rescue limiting housing losses
Bond guru Bill Gross at Pimco, who’s Newport Beach trading team has come as close as anybody in calling the housing debacle, says that the government rescue of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac should shave housing losses.

Gross, whose company manages $800 billion in fixed-income assets, says it’s too to early to call a bottom to a horrific housing debacle that’s shaved 15 percent or more off home values nationwide — losses that led to Fannie and Freddie’s downfall.

Karen Trainer

Karen Trainer, Failed House Debtor
And then the sheeple decided it didn't make "financial sense" and walked away. Walk, sheeple, walk.

(hat tip to Housing Panic)
2008-07-29: America's house price time bomb
In May 2006, at the height of the housing boom, Karen Trainer bought a $500,000 apartment in California - with money borrowed from her bank.

By this year, Karen still owed $500,000 on her mortgage, but her apartment was worth $200,000 less.

So she was deep in negative equity and, to make matters worse, the interest rate on her loan was about to increase.

"I thought 'this is crazy'," Ms Trainer says. "It just does not make financial sense."

As a successful professional, Karen could comfortably have managed the higher mortgage payments her bank demanded.

Instead, she decided to stop her mortgage payments altogether and let her bank repossess her apartment.

Her credit record will be badly damaged by the decision, but Ms Trainer expects this to recover soon.

"Generally speaking, within 5 years you are about back where you were, so my husband and I decided we'll take the hit and live with it."

Citicorp

2008-08-18: Home Equity Frenzy Was a Bank Ad Come True
“Live Richly.”

That catchy slogan, dreamed up by the Fallon Worldwide advertising agency, was pitched in 1999 to executives at Citicorp who were looking for a way to lure Americans to financial products like home equity loans. But some in the room did not like it. They worried the phrase would encourage people to live exorbitantly, says Stephen A. Cone, a top Citi marketer at the time.

Still, “Live Richly” won out. The advertising campaign, which cost some $1 billion from 2001 to 2006, urged people to lighten up about money and helped persuade hundreds of thousands of Citi customers to take out home equity loans — that is, to borrow against their homes. As one of the ads proclaimed: “There’s got to be at least $25,000 hidden in your house. We can help you find it.”

Many experts say the ads encouraged Americans to go deeper into debt.

Live Richly Showcase

Citi History 101:
2001-03-19: Is Citi Bleeding Its Weakest Borrowers?
With its $30 billion purchase of Associates First Capital Corp. last year, Citigroup cemented its position as the country's largest subprime lender--catering to those who don't qualify for normal bank loans.

CitiFinancial's Web site advertises a debt-consolidation loan featuring a customer endorsement--"I now can afford so much more than I thought possible," says Spencer L. of Worcester, Mass. A sample worksheet shows that Spencer can take out a $20,000 home-equity loan to consolidate his bills, pay off credit cards, and reap $310.57 in "monthly savings." The fine print notes that Spencer will pay that back in 120 months at a 13.49% interest rate. But nowhere on the Web site does it say that it would cost $36,500 to pay off starting debts of $17,000.

Citi said it's proud of the progress it has made and that it has the best practices in the industry. Nonetheless, debt-consolidation loans rarely save consumers money in the long run. True, they are usually tax-savers, but such loans mostly lower monthly payments by heaping on long-term debt. And many subprime borrowers quickly ramp up credit-card debt--starting the cycle all over again.

“Live Richly.”

Walmart

From Communist China Star:

To Mark of the Beast:

Walmart fed off the housing bubble, stoking the consumeristic fires that this country now feeds off. But what happens when there is no money pouring in from that sweet home "equity"? People will have to rely on income from their jobs. But where did their jobs go? Yep; straight to China thanks to these 'sumina bi***es'!

BTW, that new logo is also the Kurt Vonnegut anus.

And now this... (thanks, tom12008)
2008-08-04: Wal-Mart Denies Pressuring Workers To Vote GOP
Wal-Mart is denying reports that company officials encouraged store managers to "vote Republican" in November. Company officials are said to be concerned that a Democratic victory would make it easier for employees to unionize. Labor unions say the meetings amount to intimidation.

JP Morgan

JP Morgan Chase Disgrace , Banking, Banking, and Banking
So many shameful acts, so little time...

2008-03-27: Zippy Cheats & Tricks (Calculated Risk)

2008-04-01: JPMorgan memo shows dirty tricks of mortgage trade
NEW YORK (Reuters) — An internal JPMorgan Chase (JPM) memo titled "Zippy Cheats & Tricks" offers a peek into just the sort of dubious lending tactics that underpinned the housing market's deepening downward spiral.

Originally obtained by reporters at The Oregonian newspaper, which published a story Thursday, the memo offers step-by-step instructions on how to beef up mortgage applicants' stated incomes in order to help them qualify for home loans.

1. Make sure you input all income in base income. DO NOT break it down by overtime, commissions or bonus.
2. If your borrower is getting a gift, add it to a bank account along with the rest of the assets. Be sure to remove any mention of gift funds.
3. If you do not get (the desired results), try resubmitting with slightly higher income. Inch it up $500 to see if you can get the findings you want. Do the same for assets."
JPMorgan says that these were the wayward actions of a rogue employee who has since been fired, and by no means represent company policy.

"Clearly it's nothing that we condone," said Tom Kelly, a spokesman for JPMorgan Chase. "As soon as we learned about it, we stopped it."

Still, in the context of a broader housing debacle, the memo does provide some clues into just what lengths bankers went to push loans through the system.

Over the past six months, rising defaults on home loans have not only battered the mortgage sector, threatening recession, but also sent the banking industry into a tailspin.

Many large banks repackaged mortgages and held them on their balance sheets as complex derivatives securities, essentially bonds backed by other types of loans.

These developments have many politicians in Washington, including Democratic presidential hopefuls Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama, calling for greater regulatory oversight.
The conclusion of the JPMorgan memo, written in bright purple letters, certainly hints at a credit system gone awry: "It's super easy! Give it a try!" it reads. "If you get stuck, call me ... I am happy to help!"

2008-08-12: JPMorgan has $1.5 bln in Q3 mortgage asset losses
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co (NYSE:JPM - News) said it has racked up $1.5 billion of losses so far this quarter on mortgage-linked assets, reflecting deepening turmoil in credit markets.

Shares of the third-largest U.S. bank by assets fell 9.5 percent, as investors grew increasingly disappointed with a bank that had largely sidestepped the worst of the credit crunch, and analysts cut their profit estimates.

America For Sale

8-10-2008: LOST SOVEREIGNITY: OIL-RICH FUND EYEING FORECLOSED US HOMES
There's a new land grab starting in America.

One sovereign fund, said to have earmarked $29 billion to purchase foreclosed residential real estate, recently hired a West Coast mortgage broker and is starting to search for bargains, The Post has learned.

The search, which is being carried out, in part, by Field Check Group mortgage consultant Mark Hanson, who was retained by the broker, Steve Iversen, is concentrating on single- and multi-family REO (real estate owned) homes, or homes that have already been taken over by the mortgagee.

Charles Peabody

Charles Peabody, Portales Partners, LLC
Inflation--not a problem. Increasing unemployment--not a problem. We have stability in California house prices!!

2008-08-01: California hints at bottom to housing slump

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - California's battered homes market may be hitting bottom, suggesting a national housing recovery may follow, veteran banking analyst Charles Peabody said on Friday, citing a rebound in home sales as renters become owners.

"The key is to try to get some stability in the price of homes, which appears to be happening in California," Peabody, of the independent research firm Portales Partners, told Reuters by phone on Friday.

Bush to the Rescue

George W. Bush, President of the USA
Remeber G-Dubs homeownership plan...
A Home Of Your Own:Expanding Opportunities for All Americans
From the executive summary:
- Aggressively developing new mortgage products so that conventional market alternatives are available to combat the predatory loan products that are disproportionately targeted to minorities;
- Creating new mortgage products to meet the unique needs of recent immigrants

Ahhhh, yes, the American dream. But wait,... what happened???
Bush offers help to troubled homeowners
U.S. at risk of recession from housing

2007-12-05: Bush set to unveil plan to battle mortgage crisis
2007-12-05: Subprime Rate Five-Year Fix

Pass the Dutchie on the left hand side
It a gonna burn, give me music make me jump and prance
It a go done, give me the music make me rock in the dance

2008-07-26: Bush: Wall Street has 'hangover'


Bush: We want everybody in America to own their own home

Christian Dunn

Christian Dunn, Baltimore Realtor
Here's another delusional realtor, unwilling to accept the stark reality that the REIC over the past few years was a farce; it was built on loose lending practices and fraud by all parties involved. He gets the induction nod for his shameless comment against a Baltimore Sun reporter who was simply reporting facts.
Dunn Bio

Did 2008 "prove to be the year of the wise homebuyer" in Baltimore, yet?

2008-07-25: The Real Estate Wonk

Comment at Baltimore Sun Blog:
Please report on the local housing market. Baltimore is not South Florida... Baltimore has a bright future.... and YES, I am tired of your grim news.

Jamie, your reporting is lack luster and poor. It rarely if ever shows the true picture of Baltimore Real Eatate and the economy. I dare you to go to South Florida or the big Bubble states and try to compare those econmies to ours. You would be a fool to even try. Baltimore does not reley on $6 an hour jobs, or retirees - O'M has made sure of that... 20 somethings get out of college and can expect $40+k a year jobs, that does not happen in Florida or Arizona.
YES, we are tired of the you and L.M. repoting bad news. It often seems like you had a bad experience and report it as such. Baltimore is not a bad place, I don't care if you grew up in the 'burbs and have negative predisposition towards this city and if you are a "know it all." This town is going to make it with or without you.

Sorry to be a b**ch. But you and the unfriendly folk need to go back to the 'burbs. If you can't appreciate history, progression, environmental sound ways to lives, strong communities, than piss off. Yes, we are tired of it! It is a bore.

On the other hand you could stand strong and report on the good news... 1st of all we have more newly weds and parents in the city who pay high taxes and would like to stay but can't because of all the BS the Sun reports!
----
How many men say, "Sorry to be a bitch?" WTF!

Here is a comment from Chrissy's Blog:
In Baltimore 2008 will prove to be the year of the wise homebuyer, by 2009 we will begin to see a streak of prosperity that has not been seen in the city for decades.

Chrissy on The Media:
The media is full of S**t! From my experience these so called experts know very little and make broad generalizations. The local reporters clearly don't live in the city and use statistics that only takes me seconds (literally) to find. The Sun is the worst at relaying any information of value. When I speak with other Realtors we don't B.S. each other. Here is what we all agree on:
1. It is a good time to buy
2. The media will not tell you to buy until it is too late
3. We all have postive feelings on the Baltimore economy and development

None of us understand why buyers aren't buying. In truth it is dumbfounding us all.

This guy is still deeply drinking the Kool-Aid. Gee, realtors that have "positive feelings" on the economy. Good enough for me--I'll take the $700,000 condo, 0% down with the Option ARM. And what about, "it is dumbfounding us all". What is difficult to understand? Easy money is gone. They're no longer giving $700,000 loans to Strawberry pickers.

Henry 'Hank' Paulson

Hank Paulson, U.S. Treasury Secretary
The housing bubble was created by greed, foolishness, and stupidity, yet here comes the government attempting to keep the bubble from deflating using more stupidity.

"Where will the money come from?"


2007-11-30: Hank to the rescue! (courtesy Motley Fool)
Hank Paulson's latest plan to protect homebuyers from their own mistakes is simple: Lenders extend those teaser rates for a few years. It's a win-win, right? What's the harm, especially when there's no bill to pay? You just reset those interest rates to low levels, and everything will be fine, right?

By rescuing greedy and naive borrowers from their mistakes, our government encourages others to take big, stupid, bankruptcy-inducing risks, secure in the knowledge that the government will bail them out when times get rough. That means trillions of dollars in capital will be ill-invested yet again, something that's much less likely to happen when speculators are made to suffer the consequences of their behavior.

Timothy Kingcade

Timothy Kingcade, Foreclosure Lawyer Extraodinaire
They purchased houses they could not afford. They helped prop up the housing market and grow the housing bubble. They HELOC'd their way to a higher standard of living. But what do they do when faced with foreclosure and eviction?... They hire the lawyers to save delay the day--moving day, that is! What the hell; extract every last free dime you can get from the deflating housing bubble.

Audio: Tim Says

2008-07-18: Foreclosure defense buys homeowners time
Homeowners facing foreclosure are hiring lawyers to defend them in court against their lenders, during which time they can stay in their homes without paying a cent.

Although the chances of ultimately keeping a foreclosed home are slim, for $1,500 to $3,000 some lawyers are offering to defend borrowers in court, causing the wheels of justice to turn more slowly.

Duking it out can add months and sometimes years to a foreclosure process that in Florida already takes an average of seven months to complete. Homeowners can use the extra time to save for a move, sell the house or mull other options.

Investors can continue collecting rent from tenants, recouping at least some of their losses.

''I hold the banks to their burden of proof in court,'' Kingcade said. ''Of course justice isn't doled out in a day. It takes sometimes six, eight to 12 months for that to happen,'' Kingcade said.

Tobin Smith

Tobin Smith, Changewave Research

Listen to this guy! Spin it, pump it, and whitewash it to the bitter end.
He keeps saying:
"We have to inject some capital." - - - Capital from where, jackass???

Asked from where, he says:
"But the capital can come back."
Huh? From where???

And these gems,
"We're in a normal economic maelstrom." Huh?!
"If you're making the bet that the American homeowner is going south... that's a bet I'm not going to take, because they're not going to do that." Huh?!
-------- FAIL!! --------
Schiff 9, Realtors/Analysts 0