15 replies to this topic

[greenie]

This is so similar to 30s....

http://www.nbc-2.com...icle....&z=3&p=

[OEXCHAOS]

This is so similar to 30s....

http://www.nbc-2.com...icle....&z=3&p=

Greenie, this is not at all like the 30's. This is just scam artists exploiting amateur landlords (folks who have to rent property because they can't sell it).

Anyone who was ethically challenged to begin with, and who perhaps had bad credit and large fuzzy kiwis has to see this situation as the perfect opportunity to live large on somone else's buck.

It's pretty slick, if you think about it. There are tons of desperate amateurs who'll rent you a home for the promise of that $1500/month or whatever. A fast talker can probably get in there sans a deposit, make two months payments and then say there for another 10 months. Then find another mark. And, if they're con artists too, they can use the appearance of affluence to pull in more marks, and of course, moving away won't be a problem at that point.

When folks are down, there's always some parasites willing to kick them some more.

This isn't about desparate folks squatting, I'll warrant.

Mark

[selecto]

"This is so similar to 30s...."

Not until Roger starts packing for California...

[jawndissedi]

There are variants of this story all over the country -- and many of them are getting extensive coverage on local TV. This is significant because of the latent political risk that it engenders. If you've lived in the U.S. of A. all your life, political risk to the economy is largely outside your experience. Greenie's status as an outsider gives him a perspective on what's happening here that we myopic natives lack. Ignore him at your own risk.

[Rogerdodger]

Not until Roger starts packing for California...

NOPE. Too many relatives out there.

A few years ago, the Apartment business here was in a downward spiral.
You could actually move in for nothing down and free rent for a month.
You want to destroy a property fast?


I have met some of those desperate property owners.
They do no background checks or credit checks.
I will not rent to anyone who shows up with:
1. a moving van full of stuff
2. who must move in today
3. will take it "as is".

My wife is a close relative of Inspector Clouseau.
Amazing what she can find out online for free at the Oklahoma Criminal Case Search.

My number one tell is their previous rental history.
I also find it telling to just drop by their current address to "clarify some info on their application".
I learned that trick from a guy who managed a government housing project.
He had the nicest property of that type in the city.

Edited by Rogerdodger, 17 June 2007 - 12:43 PM.

[OEXCHAOS]

There are variants of this story all over the country -- and many of them are getting extensive coverage on local TV. This is significant because of the latent political risk that it engenders. If you've lived in the U.S. of A. all your life, political risk to the economy is largely outside your experience. Greenie's status as an outsider gives him a perspective on what's happening here that we myopic natives lack. Ignore him at your own risk.

I never, ever ignore greenie, except when he's angry with me.

I'm just clarifying the reality of what he's seeing. It might get much worse, but what we're seeing here is scam artists not economic disaster.

BTW, my read is that things are better than they look which could be very bad for the stock market. I've been proven right on this approach in the past. We need interest rates to ameliorate (or appear ready to ameliorate shortly) for the market do do well, IMO.

M

[fib_1618]

This is so similar to 30s....

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for" - John Lubbock

Fib

[greenie]

This is so similar to 30s....

"What we see depends mainly on what we look for" - John Lubbock

Fib

Certaily Fib. Here is what I am seeing in news from your town. No wonder modern Okies are not interested to come to California

Fighting the bite

Mosquitoes definitely love the housing slump for its rising numbers of neglected and abandoned swimming pools. But neighbors and real estate agents are fighting back as foreclosures rise and some homes sit empty.

In the past 33 days they've reported 363 algae-plagued swimming pools to the Sacramento-Yolo Mosquito and Vector Control District.

That's since a Bee story reported the district's efforts to recruit real estate agents to fight the tiny carrier of West Nile virus. Agents know neighborhoods and see the pools.

The district says 250 reports of slimy pools arrived within two days of the story. Typically, that's the monthly total.

http://www.sacbee.co...ory/223471.html

[Rogerdodger]

Why would anybody leave the Blue Whale for California?
Did you know it's located in Oklahoma's SEAPORT city of Catoosa? Yep!
"It is the furthest inland seaport in the United States, linked to the Arkansas River system all the way to Gulf of Mexico.
Located at the head of navigation for the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River Navigation System, the Port of offers year round, ice-free barge service with river flow levels controlled by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers. Located in a 2,000 acre industrial park and employing more than 2,500 people, the port ships manufactured goods and agricultural products from America’s heartland to the rest of the globe."

PS: We have our own mow skittas.

Edited by Rogerdodger, 17 June 2007 - 04:07 PM.

[fib_1618]

Certainly Fib. Here is what I am seeing in news from your town.

I would humbly suggest that you know your sources, and their biases, before coming to any kind of "logical" conclusion when it comes to these kind of things. Taking the pocket area "zip code" thread that you started on TW as an example, where anyone could point a finger at something and say "see?", but if you dug a little deeper, you found that there was a very good reason why this section of town made for a "good story" on the local news. We also know for a fact that bad news increases viewer ship as this feeds off the publics fear of things they can't control or don't understand, and this in turn increases the amount of money that advertisers will pay to promote their products for this same viewer. Business is business.

What I can tell you about things in the Sacramento area right now is that every 20th car I see on the road right now is new, and that homes "outside the zip code" are now turning in about 21 days, and selling within 2% of the asking price. So, right now, outside any preordained pockets of weakness, things appear to be stable, if not bottoming. And to be sure, everything rotates...where when the west is hot, the south is cold - and when the east is hot, the mid section is cold. It's just the way markets are.

What's really quite surprising in all of this is that there are so many web sites that present the actual figures involved in all areas of the economy that can be reviewed at any time without having the press tell YOU how you should feel or act, and why bright people like yourself don't take the time to track such information to begin with. Well, maybe you do, but since you have made it clear that you use USA Today (and other media outlets) as your guide in such matters, it might be better served to dig a little deeper before jumping into what could be the shallow end of the pool and hurting yourself.

Best
Fib