A big thank you to VERSUS, who give us a chance to laugh at the "Doom" and sent us this video:  

From Minyanville today- a great quote ofnthe current "crisis":  [Thanks L!] Unlike many, I have never thought that the U.S.’ current crisis was a “subprime” crisis, or even a more-broad mortgage crisis. No, to me, this has been and will continue to be an evolving consumer consumption crisis which started with the largest and most leveraged consumer asset (housing) and the weakest population of consumers (subprime borrowers). But I think it’s important to recognize that with each passing day, as credit is tightened and unemployment grows, more and more asset classes and population groups will be affected. And you need…
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In spite of government efforts to reduce the foreclosure rate in the U.S., the percentage of Americans going into foreclosure is accelerating: [Thanks G!] April 29 (Bloomberg) — U.S. foreclosure filings more than doubled in the first quarter as payments rose for subprime adjustable mortgages and falling home prices left property owners unable to sell or refinance without losing money. Almost 650,000 properties were in some stage of foreclosure during the quarter, or 1 in every 194 U.S. households, Irvine, California-based RealtyTrac Inc., a seller of foreclosure data, said today in a statement. The number was 112 percent above a…
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Thinking of buying a nice investment property in this "buyer’s market"?  Financing that dream "flip" just got tougher: [Thanks L!] Major lenders and mortgage insurers are turning off the money spigot for investors who want to buy rental houses or condos with minimal downpayments. The most dramatic cutback takes effect next week, when giant mortgage insurer United Guaranty — a subsidiary of AIG International, the world’s biggest underwriter — says it will stop covering loans to investors in any of the thousands of Zip codes from coast to coast that it defines as "declining" real estate markets. The ban includes…
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It’s Monday, and we’re hearing a number of opinions on the credit crisis.  Is in nearing the end, or only the beginning? Here’s the opinion of a number of industry sources:

As we look at the "Vacantvilles"- those communities at the far reaches of the metro areas- where foreclosures and walk-aways number more than sales, it’s hard not to wonder, "What will become of all these empty homes if buyers don’t show?"  Perhaps it’s possible to see their future by looking at Youngstown, OH: YOUNGSTOWN, Ohio (CNNMoney.com) — Youngstown, Ohio, has seen its population shrink by more than half over the past 40 years, leaving behind huge swaths of empty homes, streets and neighborhoods. Now, in a radical move, the city – which has suffered since the steel industry left town…
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Well, I suppose desperate times, call for desperate measures….. [Hat tip L!] In February, throngs of people gathered at a $100,000 poolside party in Miami, downing Roberto Cavalli vodka, sampling food from local restaurants and dancing to a DJ blasting hip-hop and house music. Nearly 1,000 more people showed up than expected, sending the hosts scrambling to provide extra booze and triggering noise complaints from neighbors. It wasn’t a wedding or a birthday bash. The swanky event — designed with a film theme, with a red carpet and a giant movie screen — was hosted by the Related Group, a…
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The "Ideas" thread has gotten pretty long, [Sometime I'll get around to starting a new one.] so when I get a good comment like this on it, I think it’s worth a post.  hpylori2 asks: I would love ideas from the group…I (my wife included)made a huge mistake and moved to Miami December of 2006 and bought a house.  We hated it and moved back to Denver (I would prvide more sordid details about the whole process but it would serve no purpose)…Given the housing slump, I cannot sell the house and I cannot afford to continue paying my mortgage…what…
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Thanks to Luke Mullins of U.S. News and World report for letting us know about a little slip over at Lending Tree.com.  From a letter issued by Lending Tree: April 21, 2008 Dear LendingTree Customer: We want you to know that some loan request forms our customers sent to LendingTree may have been seen by lenders without our consent. These lenders then used the forms to market their own mortgage loans to our customers. While we don’t believe that the forms were used for any other purpose, we want you to know what happened and what we did to correct…
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Housing woes have not only caused lenders to fail and foreclosures to mount, but apparently have impacted the coffee market as well: Starbucks Corp said on Wednesday it was the latest victim of the U.S. mortgage meltdown. Blaming hard-hit housing markets of California and Florida for slowing sales, the coffee shop chain slashed its quarterly and 2008 profit forecast below Wall Street targets and said it faced the "weakest economic environment" in its history. The company’s shares tumbled 12 percent on the news, which came four months after company founder Howard Schultz returned as chief executive with a mandate to…
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As you may recall from last month’s installment of "How the NAR Spins", [I mean turns] Yun was gleefully celebrating a 2.9% month-to-month increase while ignoring the year-over-year 24% drop in home sales.  Yun said last month: We’re not expecting a notable gain in existing-home sales until the second half of this year, but the improvement is another sign that the market is stabilizing.  Buyers taking advantage of higher loan limits for both FHA and conventional mortgages will unleash some pent-up demand.  As inventories are drawn down, prices in many markets should go positive later this year. Fast forward to…
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Another goodie from L’s daily spam- A builder willing to pay for agent’s gas, just to get them to come out and see the community: This isn’t a unique offer- builders have been offering these for awhile.  It tells you something about the community though- it’s EXPENSIVE to get there and back. [Vistancia is 37 miles from downtown Phoenix. per Mapquest] According to a recent study by AAA, it costs an average of 54.1 cents/mile to operate a car.  If you live in Vistancia and work in downtown Phoenix, it will cost you $40/day just to get to work and…
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Good luck to the Chandler, AZ police when they try to sort this one out: [Thanks L!] Chandler police arrested two men driving a U-haul filled with furniture stolen from model homes after the men say they were duped into believing they were buying the items from a homeowner facing foreclosure. A neighbor near the model homes near Queen Creek and Cooper roads saw the men loading furniture into a truck Saturday evening, became suspicious and called police. After police pulled over the U-haul, Phillip Martinez of Chandler and Frank Valenzuela of Mesa were separated by officers but each told…
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R.L Brown, a local housing analyst, is not allowing a lack of evidence to deter him from declaring a probable "bottom" in the Phoenix new home market: The Phoenix Housing Market Letter released Monday suggests that the worst might be over for new homebuilders in the region, but acknowledges that the subprime mortgage fallout and foreclosure epidemic will taint the overall housing market for months, if not years, to come. As stated in the report authored by local housing consultant R.L. Brown, "We think that the evidence is building that we are seeing the bottom of the new home market…
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It’s always interesting checking my inbox- I’m never quite sure what will pop up in the course of the day.  Yesterday I received an unusual request- this time from the folks at MTV:   I’m currently researching a new round of episodes for MTV’s long-running series, True Life. The series, if you’re unfamiliar, employs first-person narrative storytelling to provide a window into the lives of young Americans. To date, the series has explored topics as complex as living with a disorder such as autism or obsessive-compulsive disorder; living in extreme poverty; and being deployed to and returning from military service…
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