Posted on 03/23/2011 7:25:12 AM PDT by library user
LOL! Let me qualify that
If houses were $100 and in a place I’d ever consider owning a piece of or living near, I might buy 10 of them
I know there is big money in being a slum lord but I am a different kind of buyer, I never buy anything anywhere unless I would personally live there
The one area of the economy which has no inflation.
It’s crashing and burning, but hey, there ain’t no inflation there!
Absolutely right. Housing will find it’s natural bottom. We could have dropped all the way there 2 years ago but we merely delayed it. We can delay it longer but that just prolongs the pain.
We are in danger of following the Japanese model of delaying the pain through government intervention. Their economy has stagnated for 20 years. After all of their tinkering the Nikkei is down 75% from 1990.
Depends on how one looks at it. From the standpoint of most traditional telecom employees, it was a bad thing as tremendous disruption resulted.
If it is “too big to fail” it is also “ too big to rescue”.
Went With the Wind...........
What does actual value mean? Was someone else willing to pay $100K more for that property?
Bad. And largely pointless considering that AT&T has reacquired a lot of the "Baby Bells," except for Verizon, which was mostly GTE to begin with. The government should not exist to police the size of companies. Even in the Obama administration, which has taken a fond view of Section 2, the AT&T breakup wouldn't happen today. It's just not good policy.
Agreed. When was the last time the government prevented a merger? Whether it be the banks, airlines or media the last things they concern themselves with is competition, too big to fail and how will it benefit "we the people". Constitutional rights were bestowed upon "we the people", yet we've become the last and least consideration.
Eventually, housing prices have to normalize to what the average working person can afford to pay.
Happens with some frequency in the Obama administration. Consumers saddened.
Monthly service was five bucks, which meant just about everyone could have a phone, but long distance was nearly a buck a minute in a lot of instances. I can't imagine a monopoly creating the level of innovation that's going on in wireless communications.
bookmark for later read
Here’s an example which I hope shows what I mean.
Imagine that you are a loan officer for a Bank in the Weimar Republic.
There’s a house on Berlinstrasse worth 10,000 Marks, someone wants to live there and you are asked to offer a mortgage.
But it’s 1922, and people’s paychecks devalue so fast that they have to be paid in the morning so they can buy groceries. Also: the house is worth 10,000 Marks at midday, but 10,150 Marks at 6 pm.
No conceivable mortgage plan could keep up with this hyperinflation while maintaining value for the Bank.
The only realistic way to trade a house (or ANY good) during hyperinflation is for cash (or goods or services) on the nail.
Hope this was helpful.
And yet, Obama’s provisionary Muslim Government will try to spin this into somehow being a good thing and sure sign of continuing recovery. As we slide down this pile of crap Obama is visiting upon us, he and his minions will be telling us how nice the smell is.
And it’s not just new home sales — it’s across the board. It’s highly likely you’ll see more reports of that in the coming months. The housing market is in bad shape, and getting worse.
We’re in the mortgage business, and we haven’t taken an application in nearly three months. Business just stopped in January. Usually we do 3-4 loans a month during the slower months, but this time business didn’t just slow down, it stopped.
On top of that, we have Account Execs with our lenders frantically calling us, begging for business. In the eight years we’ve been in the industry we’ve never seen it like this. It’s bad — really bad.
Most business's would cut their losses in a similar situation, while as individuals, our upbringing tells us we have to keep our commitments.
If you decide the former, make certain you know all possible tax ramifications (if any), and to what extent a lender can pursue the debt in your particular state.
Either way, don't be concerned with what others may think. It's your decision and your decision alone.
... and I forgot to mention the important point.
Which is that without mortgages, most people simply cannot buy houses. They don’t have enough ready money. So the demand for houses drops and the (real) price of houses plummets.
But this is great for anyone with enough cash (or rather, enough precious metals). 200 oz of Gold will buy a great new house at any time - but during Hyperinflation, 200 oz of Silver might be enough.
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