At 4:00 today I’ll be joining Dustin and the Rain City Guide crew for a live podcast sort of thing that they’re calling Rain City Radio.
You can join in on the conversation via chat or call-in by g…
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From Atlanta Fed President Dennis Lockhart: Remarks on Economic Slowdown, Market Fallout, and the Path to Financial Recovery. Here is his conclusion: My base case forecast for the economy involves a stronger-than-expected first half of 2008 with growth of 1 to 2 percent but not much pickup in the second half. The drag of high energy costs, continuing financial market stress, and a still-declining…
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This one comes out of left field: A $10.5 million listing in Malibu with a 7.5% commission, including 5% for the buyer’s agent. From Michael Gardner’s Malibu Real Estate blog:
"Most agents go into a listing appointment hoping for a 6% commission
but will often get the contract signed at 5%. In areas like Malibu and
other expensive communities, it’s not unusual for the commission to be
4% on homes that are $6,000,000 or more. This home on Broad Beach not
only offers an exclusive address right on the sand but a…
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The North County Times reports from California. “There is no way to put a good spin on foreclosures, said Temecula City Councilwoman Maryann Edwards on Monday, but at least the city can keep track of abandoned homes. The Temecula City Council last week adopted an ordinance that aims to diminish the negative effects neighborhoods experience because of foreclosed properties.”
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Press Release: Starbucks Increases Number of U.S. Company-Operated Store Closures as Part of Transformation Strategy Starbucks has announced … a decision to close approximately 600 underperforming company-operated stores in the U.S. market.
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Starbucks now expects to open fewer than 200 new U.S. company-operated stores in fiscal 2009. In April Starbucks had announced plans to expand by about…
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Oh, I’m sorry, didn’t mean to disturb you. I see you’re on your way to Wal-Mart again to buy more cheap Chinese crap. Hey, that’s a nice “USA - Love it or Leave It” bumper sticker you have there on your Toyota. Oh, I see you have a flag pin on your lapel too. Nice touch….
Original Source: housingpanic.blogspot.com
Bank of America’s acquisition of Countrywide Financial is expected to take place today, which means Angelo Mozilo is retiring. From the Wall Street Journal:Angelo Mozilo, slated to step down as chief executive of Countrywide Financial Corp. on Tuesday, is departing with a devalued reputation partly because he stayed too long and at times ran the publicly traded mortgage lender as if it were his own company….
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From Fortune Magazine:Eli Broad, the billionaire investor and KB Home (KBH) founder, says we’re in the worst recession since World War II, and that a housing market recovery is years away. In an interview with Bloomberg, Broad also said that the banking industry may need to raise even more money to protect against bad loans — a grim prediction for an industry that has already posted about $400 billion in accounting losses….
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From the WSJ: Auto Makers Report Slump in June U.S. Sales 36% [Sales] plunge at Chrysler …
Chrysler’s sales slumped to 117,457 from 183,347, with car sales tumbling 49% to 29,858 and truck sales decreasing 30% to 87,599. Honda outsold Chrysler by far: Honda Motor … was the lone bright spot last month with sales up 1.1% to 142,539, a record June for the auto maker….
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Can you lose money by investing in Malibu real estate?
Yes, you can, and lots of it, according to Michael Hiltzik’s worthwhile yarn this morning d…
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Can you lose money by investing in Malibu real estate?
Yes, you can, and lots of it, according to Michael Hiltzik’s worthwhile yarn this morning d…
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She’s So High — Tal Bachman
Many people fueled the market rally with a frenzy of fear buying. Fear
of being priced out of the market, and fear of missing the great
profits to be made through home ownership. Those who wanted to
participate became the stereotypical “bitter renters.” These
people were bitter because they believed the nonsense of kool aid
intoxication, and they believed that they missed their chance. Of course, over the last year,
many of these people got their chance and became knife catchers.
Today’s featured song encapsulates the feelings people had toward
houses and those who owned them — they were so high above them. The
bitter renters were jealous and felt unworthy. Little did they know…
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The most popular adjective in real estate listings is (to amplify on my headline) “great” in Miami; “large” in Dallas, Orange County, Calif., and San Francisco; and “new” in Boston, Chicago, San Jose, St. Louis, and Washington.
“Nice” is used almost exclusively for houses selling for $250,000, while “gourmet” is saved for homes costing $1 million and up. Oh, and “beautiful” is used most often in Miami.
These are some of the results of a survey of real estate listings by R…
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Bloomberg News has a nice news-feature today on the sidewalk-eating headache that is the ficus tree: "The bill is coming due for Los
Angeles, decades after ficus trees were planted to supply shade
for a city bathed in sunshine almost year-round. The thrusting roots of mature ficus are tearing up
sidewalks, triggering complaints and lawsuits."
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Time again already for another inbox-clearing story roundup.
First up, the Seattle City Council is apparently in a development-regulating mood lately. Not only are they tackling the ugly townhome issue, now they’re g…
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From Bloomberg: Manhattan Office Vacancy Rates Climb to Two-Year High Manhattan’s office vacancy rate rose to its highest level since 2006 in the second quarter as financial firms, beset by losses, fired workers and reduced their office space, real estate brokerage Cushman & Wakefield Inc. said.
Vacancies in the most expensive U.S. office market rose to 7.1 percent from 5.3 percent a year…
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Posted By:Diana OlickSo what do you do if you’re a developer and the credit crunch is keeping your potential customers away? Well, how about giving buyers the loan yourself! That’s precisely what the developers of a posh Harlem condo building are doing. 
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