David Lereah - now even more pathetic
themessthatgreenspanmade.blogspot.com
Sunday, January 11, 2009
The saga of David Lereah, the former Chief Economist for the National Association of Realtors, is getting more and more interesting and, as might be expected, more and more pathetic.
Recall that last week, in a CNN/Money report, he essentially confessed to being a paid shill for the realtors' trade group and was the subject of ridicule here and elsewhere (Barry Ritholtz was not nearly as kind as Paul Kedrosky)
This week, in a story appearing in tomorrow's Wall Street Journal, he bares even more of his soul and the details that emerge raise the "creepy" factor by at least an order of magnitude.
(Note: The image above comes courtesy of the Marin Real Estate Bubble blog and, yes, just like his Wikipedia entry, the WSJ story mentions Baghdad Bob.)
Disturbing new revelations include the following:
the NAR won't return his phone calls (stop calling!)
he works out of a home office that doubles as an exercise room
he drives to McDonald's or Dunkin' Donuts everyday and eats in his car
Seriously. You have to wonder what he held back...
Mr. Lereah, who says he left NAR voluntarily, says he was pressured by executives to issue optimistic forecasts -- then was left to shoulder the blame when things went sour. "I was there for seven years doing everything they wanted me to," he said, looking out his window to his tree-filled yard in this Washington suburb. Mr. Lereah now works at home, trying to rebuild his career and saddled with a sagging portfolio of real-estate investments.
...
During the boom years, Mr. Lereah was eager to profit himself. He snapped up condos, including two in Washington in 2003 and 2004 and one each in Tampa, Richmond, Va., Alexandria, Va., and Naples, Fla. By 2006, he says, he owned six condos worth between $150,000 and $400,000 apiece.
...
In April 2007, Mr. Lereah left NAR, and after working about a year on a start-up venture, took some time off for a few months. He cruised around on his 29-foot sport-fishing boat and played golf at the country club. He eventually started consulting on the real-estate market again, this time to hedge funds and Japanese companies.
Mr. Lereah now works in a small upstairs office that doubles as an exercise room. He has started his own company, Reecon Advisors, that puts out a weekly newsletter on the housing market and provides consulting services. "I feel I have such a refreshing view now because I'm not representing any interests," says Mr. Lereah.
He charges $495 annually for the newsletter, and currently has fewer than 50 paying subscribers -- a number Mr. Lereah aims to increase to 1,500 by the end of this year.
"He's starting to make some money off it now, not much," says Mrs. Lereah. "We have an expensive lifestyle: a big house, a housekeeper once a week, college tuitions, the country club."
Mrs. Lereah, a CPA who also works at home, decided the only way she and her husband could work in the same house was if they pretended they were at outside offices. They communicate during the day by email and cellphone.
Well, one thing that appears to make a lot more sense now than it did a week ago is why anyone in Mr. Lereah's position would subject themselves to such public scrutiny again.
It should be clear from the above - there are newsletters to sell and there are bills to pay. As Mrs. Lereah notes, "they have an expensive lifestyle", not the least of which are all those mortgage payments.
Pathetic. Even more pathetic.
Posted by Tim at 9:19 PM
Labels: Financial Bubbles, Housing
11 comments:
Anonymous said...
Any publicity is good publicity. What are the odds he consulted with John Paulson, like Greenspan did????
January 12, 2009 5:41 AM
Ted S. said...
I wonder what his pitch is to potential clients when they ask him about these reports. Maybe he says, "Well I really wasn't telling the truth back then, but I am now". I think pathetic is the right word Tim.
January 12, 2009 7:58 AM
Tim said...
Wow. I didn't realize this was on the front page of the print edition until just a short time ago.
January 12, 2009 10:34 AM
Anonymous said...
Could you post a link to his newsletter subscription site?
I need some RE advice!!!!!
January 12, 2009 1:57 PM
Tim said...
Here you go: Reecon Advisory Report. It says:
"The Reecon Advisory Report is an independent source of news, insight and actionable intelligence on residential real estate."
January 12, 2009 2:20 PM
FRANK LL0SA Va Broker- BLOG.FranklyRealty.com said...
But that was then, this is now.
Now you should trust YUN.
Trust me, trust you, trust nobody.
Frank
Broker FranklyRealty.com
p.s. At least be believed his own BS and his portfolio tanked too.
January 12, 2009 10:16 PM
Anonymous said...
Mr. Diarrhea
So full of crap! So what happend to those people who believed him when he was with NAR. ( putting the good news). Where is self responsibility NOW! What about those people that listend.
I think its only fair for
Mr. Diarrhea to assume their mortgage. Dumb Schmuck!!!!!!!!
January 13, 2009 2:24 AM
Paul said...
How about a little empathy for this guy. I knew he was smoking us all along and made fun of him and what he said when he was "strong". Anybody that paid too much for RE was just not wise. When RE values disconnected from household incomes, we should have figured out the cost of "pride of ownership".
Now that he is weak: consider that he is being honest and transparent. What if he was your brother or son?
Hey! We are all just people. Give him a break!
January 13, 2009 2:33 AM
Anonymous said...
"What if he was your brother or son?"
If this rodent was my son, I would disown him.
January 13, 2009 7:34 AM
Anonymous said...
Give him a break, yea, right. The guy is a hustler. Someone start warming up the tar while I go fetch some goose feathers.
January 13, 2009 7:34 AM
Anonymous said...
What kind of car is he driving over to Mickey-D's? I doubt it's a beater - his dbag friends at the country club wearing the checkered pants would never have that.
Boo Hoo. |
