I
Igor The Terrible
Guest
"The economy is strong and getting stronger". Yup, great job there
Dubya; it sure is. ...And by the time 2020 rolls along, the United
States of Asia's economy will really be turning heads....and
stomachs...etc....
I told you people time and again this economy is BULLSHIT from the
word go. This economy became a third world power house (and still
declining) right under your noses and never saw it coming. We export
more raw materials than we do products. What are you going to do when
this dries up? Import raw materials and try and resell them for a
profit? To.............whom?
Who would have dreamed the folks in motor city were going to wake up
one day only to realize that the car their driveway would end up being
worth more than their home?
Like I said, the American Nightmare is alive and well--as it should
be. If you think things are bad now; the turkey has yet to come home
to roost.
Does anyone out there still think there shouldn't be exams given prior
to voting in order to weed out the idiots so to keep them the hell out
of voting booths?
Houses cheaper than cars in Detroit By Kevin Krolicki
Mon Mar 19, 11:48 AM ET
DETROIT (Reuters) - With bidding stalled on some of the least
desirable residences in Detroit's collapsing housing market, even the
fast-talking auctioneer was feeling the stress.
"Folks, the ground underneath the house goes with it. You do know
that, right?" he offered.
After selling house after house in the Motor City for less than the
$29,000 it costs to buy the average new car, the auctioneer tried a
new line: "The lumber in the house is worth more than that!"
As Detroit reels from job losses in the U.S. auto industry, the
depressed city has emerged as a boomtown in one area: foreclosed
property.
It also stands as a case study in the economic pain from a housing
bust as analysts consider whether a developing crisis in mortgages to
high-risk borrowers will trigger a slowdown in the broader U.S.
economy.
The rising cost of mortgage financing for Detroit borrowers with weak
credit has added to the downdraft from a slumping local economy to
send home values plunging faster than many investors anticipated a few
months ago.
At a weekend sale of about 300 Detroit-area houses by Texas-based
auction firm Hudson & Marshall, the mood was marked more by fear than
greed.
"These people are investors and they know the difficulty of finding
financing. They know the difficulty of finding good tenants. They're
cautious," said realtor Stanley Wegrzynowicz, who attended the
auction.
HOW LOW IS LOW?
The city, which has lost more than half its population in the past 30
years and struggled with rising crime, failing schools and other
social problems, largely missed out on the housing boom that swept
much of the country in recent years.
Prices have gained less than 2 percent per year in the five years
since 2001, when the auto industry entered a renewed slump.
Steve Izairi, 32, who re-financed his own house in suburban Dearborn
and sold his restaurant to begin buying rental properties in Detroit
two years, was concerned that houses he thought were bargains at
$70,000 two years ago were now selling for just $35,000.
At least 16 Detroit houses up for sale on Sunday sold for $30,000 or
less.
A boarded-up bungalow on the city's west side brought $1,300. A four-
bedroom house near the original Motown recording studio sold for
$7,000.
"You can't buy a used car for that," said Izairi. "It's a gamble, and
you have to wonder how low it's going to get."
Detroit, where unemployment runs near 14 percent and a third of the
population lives in poverty, leads the nation in new foreclosure
filings, according to tracking service RealtyTrac.
With large swaths of the city now abandoned, banks are reclaiming and
reselling Detroit homes from buyers who can no longer afford payments
at seven times the national rate.
Michigan was the only state to see home prices fall in 2006. The
national average price rose almost 6 percent but prices slipped 0.4
percent here, according to a federal study.
The state's jobless rate of 7.1 percent in January was also the second
highest in the nation, behind only Mississippi.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU BUY FOR $1 MILLION?
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was greeted with applause when he announced
last week that two condominiums in the city's revitalizing downtown
sold for over $1 million each.
But investors, including some from out of state, proved far more
cautious at Sunday's auction.
In the most spirited bidding of the day, a sprawling, four-bedroom
mansion from Detroit's boom days with an ornate stone entrance fetched
just $135,000.
Dave Webb, principal at Hudson & Marshall, said Michigan had become a
"heavy volume" market for his auction firm in recent years, although
bigger-money deals were waiting in California, a market he said was
ready for the first such auctions of repossessed property in years.
"These people that are buying have got to look at holding on for five
to seven years," he said. "The key is holding power."
Even with the steep discounts on Detroit-area properties, some buyers
handed over their deposits with a wince.
"I'm not sure it's congratulations," said Kirk Neal, a 55-year-old
auto body shop worker who bought a ranch in the suburb of Oak Park for
$34,000. "My wife is going to kill me."
Realtor Ron Walraven had a three-bedroom house in the suburb of
Bloomfield Hills that had listed for $525,000 sell for just $130,000
at the auction.
"Once we've seen the last person leave Michigan, then I think we'll be
able to say we've seen the bottom," he said.
Dubya; it sure is. ...And by the time 2020 rolls along, the United
States of Asia's economy will really be turning heads....and
stomachs...etc....
I told you people time and again this economy is BULLSHIT from the
word go. This economy became a third world power house (and still
declining) right under your noses and never saw it coming. We export
more raw materials than we do products. What are you going to do when
this dries up? Import raw materials and try and resell them for a
profit? To.............whom?
Who would have dreamed the folks in motor city were going to wake up
one day only to realize that the car their driveway would end up being
worth more than their home?
Like I said, the American Nightmare is alive and well--as it should
be. If you think things are bad now; the turkey has yet to come home
to roost.
Does anyone out there still think there shouldn't be exams given prior
to voting in order to weed out the idiots so to keep them the hell out
of voting booths?
Houses cheaper than cars in Detroit By Kevin Krolicki
Mon Mar 19, 11:48 AM ET
DETROIT (Reuters) - With bidding stalled on some of the least
desirable residences in Detroit's collapsing housing market, even the
fast-talking auctioneer was feeling the stress.
"Folks, the ground underneath the house goes with it. You do know
that, right?" he offered.
After selling house after house in the Motor City for less than the
$29,000 it costs to buy the average new car, the auctioneer tried a
new line: "The lumber in the house is worth more than that!"
As Detroit reels from job losses in the U.S. auto industry, the
depressed city has emerged as a boomtown in one area: foreclosed
property.
It also stands as a case study in the economic pain from a housing
bust as analysts consider whether a developing crisis in mortgages to
high-risk borrowers will trigger a slowdown in the broader U.S.
economy.
The rising cost of mortgage financing for Detroit borrowers with weak
credit has added to the downdraft from a slumping local economy to
send home values plunging faster than many investors anticipated a few
months ago.
At a weekend sale of about 300 Detroit-area houses by Texas-based
auction firm Hudson & Marshall, the mood was marked more by fear than
greed.
"These people are investors and they know the difficulty of finding
financing. They know the difficulty of finding good tenants. They're
cautious," said realtor Stanley Wegrzynowicz, who attended the
auction.
HOW LOW IS LOW?
The city, which has lost more than half its population in the past 30
years and struggled with rising crime, failing schools and other
social problems, largely missed out on the housing boom that swept
much of the country in recent years.
Prices have gained less than 2 percent per year in the five years
since 2001, when the auto industry entered a renewed slump.
Steve Izairi, 32, who re-financed his own house in suburban Dearborn
and sold his restaurant to begin buying rental properties in Detroit
two years, was concerned that houses he thought were bargains at
$70,000 two years ago were now selling for just $35,000.
At least 16 Detroit houses up for sale on Sunday sold for $30,000 or
less.
A boarded-up bungalow on the city's west side brought $1,300. A four-
bedroom house near the original Motown recording studio sold for
$7,000.
"You can't buy a used car for that," said Izairi. "It's a gamble, and
you have to wonder how low it's going to get."
Detroit, where unemployment runs near 14 percent and a third of the
population lives in poverty, leads the nation in new foreclosure
filings, according to tracking service RealtyTrac.
With large swaths of the city now abandoned, banks are reclaiming and
reselling Detroit homes from buyers who can no longer afford payments
at seven times the national rate.
Michigan was the only state to see home prices fall in 2006. The
national average price rose almost 6 percent but prices slipped 0.4
percent here, according to a federal study.
The state's jobless rate of 7.1 percent in January was also the second
highest in the nation, behind only Mississippi.
HOW MUCH CAN YOU BUY FOR $1 MILLION?
Mayor Kwame Kilpatrick was greeted with applause when he announced
last week that two condominiums in the city's revitalizing downtown
sold for over $1 million each.
But investors, including some from out of state, proved far more
cautious at Sunday's auction.
In the most spirited bidding of the day, a sprawling, four-bedroom
mansion from Detroit's boom days with an ornate stone entrance fetched
just $135,000.
Dave Webb, principal at Hudson & Marshall, said Michigan had become a
"heavy volume" market for his auction firm in recent years, although
bigger-money deals were waiting in California, a market he said was
ready for the first such auctions of repossessed property in years.
"These people that are buying have got to look at holding on for five
to seven years," he said. "The key is holding power."
Even with the steep discounts on Detroit-area properties, some buyers
handed over their deposits with a wince.
"I'm not sure it's congratulations," said Kirk Neal, a 55-year-old
auto body shop worker who bought a ranch in the suburb of Oak Park for
$34,000. "My wife is going to kill me."
Realtor Ron Walraven had a three-bedroom house in the suburb of
Bloomfield Hills that had listed for $525,000 sell for just $130,000
at the auction.
"Once we've seen the last person leave Michigan, then I think we'll be
able to say we've seen the bottom," he said.