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Politics : Foreign Affairs Discussion Group -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: jttmab who wrote (186127)	5/4/2006 11:13:44 AM
From: Hawkmoon	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

For one jttmab.. those 11,000 trailers are in HOPE, ARKANSAS, not New Orleans (why HOPE, ARKANSAS, one can only guess.. ;0) nationalcitynetwork.org house.gov Secondly, it is a stupid regulation that trailers cannot be emplaced in a flood plain, which is what New Orleans is.. But most of those regulations are LOCAL, not Federal (zoning, building.. and utilities requirements).. But I share your disgust over this BS.. They shouldn't be sitting in Hope, Arkansas (Why HOPE, of all places??.. Hmmm) If anything, they should be moved to existing trailerparks around the country, hooked up to the grid and sewage, and folks who were/are staying in Federally funded motels around the country, moved into them. But to be objective, I would like to believe that the person who was in charge of acquiring these trailers probably was more focused upon other kinds of disasters, such as earthquakes and tornadoes, than a Hurricane. But there still is no excuse for not setting them up SOMEWHERE and getting people out of expensive hotels. I think we can expect that the housing boom is for all practical purposes over. I won't predict a pop at least in the DC area. The question is not whether there will be a pop in the DC area, but whether home values will hope their present values.. I'm somewhat skeptical, given the prices I see around here ($800,000 townhomes where you're sharing a wall with a neighbor, and they have a very loud train passing by every night..). When I came back from overseas, I thought about buying a house.. But these prices are ridiculous.. Especially when I can go out to parts in the western or central US and purchase something almost as nice for under $200K. I have a friend who purchased a condo last November for a quarter mil.. The place is nicely outfitted with a nice kitchen, living room, and large bedroom.. But that's all it has.. ONE BEDROOM!! And the building it's located in was a former Apartment complex built back in the '40's or '50's.. All I can say is that I pray for her... And I try to keep my smiles and compliments flowing when I'm over there visiting, even though all I can think about is that she's going to likely see the value quartered, or possibly halved (it's not located in an area that's in high demand, except for access to 395). Condos are first properties to be sold in such a real-estate turndown... After all, why own an apartment that is losing value, when you can rent and avoid all the hassles and taxes that come with actually owning the property. I made the decision that I would rather pay rent than see the sale value of any newly purchased home decline, while my mortgage remained the same. Hawk

To: jttmab who wrote (186127)	5/4/2006 2:32:34 PM
From: geode00	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Wages haven't kept up with inflation since Dubyette came into office. The housing bubble has popped from what I can see. There have been articles for over a year in places like Denver and Michigan and (OMG) even Marin County about a housing slow down. They don't get much attention though. Some people have bought new homes in sunny areas but can't even get buyers to look at their older homes in snowy ones. They're carrying double mortgages which has got to hurt big time. A new home builder in Marin had to throw in perks like granite countertops for free in order to entice buyers. The bubble may be deflating slowly but, IMO, it's deflating. Even without a turndown in the economy, I can see all of those 750% of income (JEEPERS) interest only, negative amortization (JEEPERS) mortgages coming due with owners unable to flip them quickly enough. In a few years, the principle payments start coming due and someone at that much over income isn't going to be able to make the interest payments much less the principle. People are always hugely optimistic about housing but prices popped before and houses in California went begging for 1/3rd of their value in this boom. I remember LA going down 40% during the last bubble and friends considering leaving the keys to the bank since their mortgage was bigger than the market value of their home. Those mobile homes are yet another transfer of wealth from the hard working middle class American taxpayer to Republican cronies. It's theft and nothing more. The Dubyettes would love to buy them at premium prices (which they did) way above market and have them rot somewhere. They will then clamor for more of the same. It's not quite like blowing up FEMA trailers with bombs (see Iraq) but it's almost as good.

To: jttmab who wrote (186127)	5/4/2006 2:33:50 PM
From: geode00	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 281500

Wages haven't kept up with inflation since Dubyette came into office. The housing bubble has popped from what I can see. There have been articles for over a year in places like Denver and Michigan and (OMG) even Marin County about a housing slow down. They don't get much attention though. Some people have bought new homes in sunny areas but can't even get buyers to look at their older homes in snowy ones. They're carrying double mortgages which has got to hurt big time. A new home builder in Marin had to throw in perks like granite countertops for free in order to entice buyers. The bubble may be deflating slowly but, IMO, it's deflating. Even without a turndown in the economy, I can see all of those 750% of income (JEEPERS) interest only, negative amortization (JEEPERS) mortgages coming due with owners unable to flip them quickly enough. In a few years, the principle payments start coming due and someone at that much over income isn't going to be able to make the interest payments much less the principle without increasing wages. People are always hugely optimistic about housing but prices popped before and houses in California went begging for 1/3rd of their value in this boom. I remember LA going down 40% during the last bubble and friends considering leaving the keys to the bank since their mortgage was bigger than the market value of their home. Those mobile homes are yet another transfer of wealth from the hard working middle class American taxpayer to Republican cronies. It's theft and nothing more. The Dubyettes would love to buy them at premium prices (which they did) way above market and have them rot somewhere. They will then clamor for more of the same. It's not quite like blowing up FEMA trailers with bombs (see Iraq) but it's almost as good.