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Strategies & Market Trends : The Residential Real Estate Crash Index -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Wowzer who wrote (233692)	12/18/2009 1:57:45 PM
From: Lazarus	Respond to of 306849

YES! I see the same thing... Shopping center parking lots JAMMED PACKED. Cognitive dissonance???????????????????

To: Wowzer who wrote (233692)	12/18/2009 2:09:31 PM
From: Smiling Bob	Respond to of 306849

Watch for the New Year's hangover. Even if things "improved" due to all the money created around, inflation and taxes will kill the thrill. You know any municipality that's not cutting services and staff? 75% off signs have become the normal store display. What's "on sale" is primarily discretionary crap Consumers are still buying, but spending as little as possible when they do. I experience and see the reluctance to spend every day firsthand as customers choose to use their time searching endlessly for low prices on any piece of crap they can find "that will get them by" and consider shopping on craigslist for used furniture vs buying new. And we're in a very affluent part of town. Restaurants are the guilty pleasure being indulged in. Olive Garden competes on price. Other than a brief reprieve in some commodities, grocery costs are reaching Japanese proportions.

To: Wowzer who wrote (233692)	12/18/2009 10:02:40 PM
From: MulhollandDrive	Respond to of 306849

anyone hiring where you are? people tend to forget that the number of people in foreclosure or pre-foreclosure suddenly have a LOT of extra income each month....the smarter ones are saving it, but there are plenty that are living it up while they can eating out, buying flat panel tv's, even taking trips..... until you see job creation, this is merely a lull in the wealth destruction.. i'm one of unusual ones, i'm actually spending money on a kitchen remodel....i spent about 3 hours with my designer this afternoon and she told me business is bad for all of her suppliers, bad for her company, and that almost all of the contractors are begging for work almost every single day there are granite guys doing work out of their basements and garages CHEAP having been laid off i still see a lot of activity but few places i've been are 'packed' was just in atlanta last weekend and we didn't have to wait even a bit for a popular italian restaurant...that's true pretty much every where i go....never have to wait....even the apple store here (while generally 'busy' most of the time)has plenty of help available to serve...no wait time there either... went to one of major malls here and had no problem finding a parking place outside of nordstrom....which was just so/so with customers, as usual, it felt like more salespeople hovering around than customers... all in all, i would say things appear 'less than normal' for christmas foot traffic-wise, and i think we'll see disappointing sales (though not necessarily the bottom falling out.....don't forget the stealth stimulus of mortgage non-payment) oh also....saw quite a few 'homeless' in atlanta on street corners holding signs....some could be scammers, but who knows, the point is i saw beggars on major street corners in areas where i've never seen them before....

To: Wowzer who wrote (233692)	12/22/2009 10:04:32 AM
From: John Vosilla	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

'You guys need to get out a little. I get on this thread and read about how the world is ending no one can afford anything so then I go out expecting great deals and empty stores only to find my self fighting for a damn park and waiting in lines. Went to Olive Garden last Tuesday (don't ask) at 6pm...there was a 1 1/2 hour wait!! What the hell I thought we were all sitting at home or under an under pass.' True and airlines are packed too. Yes real estate and related bick ticket items are in depression, major purchases are being held off and we are probably in an 'L' for the next year or two but everybody has known this for a long time. I did my permabear thing for well over four years on housing and it's impact on society. Now I find myself counseling not only the bubblehead real estate investors from the bubble who are now broke but also the tea party crowd and housing permabears still here... Timing is everything and opportunities are greatest in down times but hey there is always SRS, gold and guns for those who think otherwise.