This give a whole new meaning to the term "underwater."
http://www.zillowblog.com/under-lake-jocassee-is-attakulla-lodge-still-intact/2009/02/
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The credit crisis explained by Jonathan Jarvis
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I encourage everyone to contact their representative to express your own opinion, whatever those may be. Find out who your representative is here: http://www.legislature.ca.gov/port-zipsearch.html
The following is copy of an open letter that I sent to my representatives.
Dear State Representative:
I am writing to express my deep disappointment that the State Legislature has not yet come to an agreement on the State budget.
I do understand that the State budget is a large and complex issue that should not be taken lightly. I feel that I have been abandoned by the California State Government. The State Legislature should be required to be locked in session until the State budget has been resolved.
I am watching intently and waiting for a resolution. My expectation is that the entire Legislature, yourself included, will take the necessary steps and come to an agreement on the State budget and not play the blame game. Instead, you will work with your colleges to come to a decision and a State budget resolution that moves the State and the lives of the 33.8 million Californians forward.
Unless decisive and final action is taken soon, I will have to conclude that the you and the other members of the California Legislature do not have the ability to govern the Great State of California efficiently and effectively and are not worthy of re-election.
I hope and pray that you and other members of the California State Legislature will be able to prove to me that this is still the Golden State and not just a painted brick of lead.
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The National Bureau of Economic Research (NBER) has announced that December of 2007 has the peak of economic activity. This confirms what many already felt. I recall talking with my Brother-in-law in just prior to New Years Eve in December of 2007 about this. I told him that despite the fact that it had not been announced that we were in a recession, we were in a recession.
Calculated Risk has been using December 2007 as the beginning of the recession for some time now in his research.
From NBER: Determination of the December 2007 Peak in Economic Activity
The Business Cycle Dating Committee of the National Bureau of Economic Research met by conference call on Friday, November 28. The committee maintains a chronology of the beginning and ending dates (months and quarters) of U.S. recessions. The committee determined that a peak in economic activity occurred in the U.S. economy in December 2007. The peak marks the end of the expansion that began in November 2001 and the beginning of a recession. The expansion lasted 73 months; the previous expansion of the 1990s lasted 120 months.So there it is. We have been in recession for one year now. The only question remaining now is how long will it take for the contraction to end.
A recession is a significant decline in economic activity spread across the economy, lasting more than a few months, normally visible in production, employment, real income, and other indicators. A recession begins when the economy reaches a peak of activity and ends when the economy reaches its trough. Between trough and peak, the economy is in an expansion.
...
The committee determined that the decline in economic activity in 2008 met the standard for a recession, as set forth in the second paragraph of this document. All evidence other than the ambiguous movements of the quarterly product-side measure of domestic production confirmed that conclusion. Many of these indicators, including monthly data on the largest component of GDP, consumption, have declined sharply in recent months.
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It is with great sadness that I learn that Tanta, and influential voice on the mortgage crisis, died early morning on November 30, in Columbus, Ohio.
I never had the opportunity to meet her, but read much of her postings. She taught many with her words and wisdom. She will be missed.
Calculated Risk will be announcing a charity of Doris' soon if you would like to contribute. Please visit Calculated Risk for more information.
From Calculated Risk:
My dear friend and co-blogger Doris “Tanta” Dungey passed away early this morning. I would like to express my deepest condolences to her family and friends.
From The New York Times:
Thanks in large part to Tanta’s contributions, Calculated Risk became a crucial source of prescient analysis as the housing market at first faltered, then collapsed and finally spawned a full-blown credit crisis.
Tanta used her extensive knowledge of the loan industry to comment, castigate and above all instruct. Her fans ranged from the Nobel laureate Paul Krugman, an Op-Ed columnist for The New York Times who cited her in his blog, to analysts at the Federal Reserve, who cited her in a paper on “Understanding the Securitization of Subprime Mortgage Credit.”
She wrote under a pseudonym because she hoped some day to go back to work in the mortgage industry, and the increasing renown of Tanta in that world might have precluded that. Tanta was Ms. Dungey’s longtime family nickname, Ms. Stickelmaier said.
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Most homes sold in Southern California today are foreclosures. According to recent report from DataQuick, Southland home sales up, prices down; foreclosures now half the market, 50% of home sales in Southern California are foreclosures.
Prices are down and sales activity is up. That doesn't mean finding a home is a walk in the park. Finding a decent home among the chaff is a challenge.
Purchasing a foreclosure can be a great way to purchase a home. However, it can be very daunting as witnessed by Peter Y. Hong in his report in the Times.
Peter witnessed first hand what many Buyers and Agents are experiencing in the market today. Among what Peter experienced, here is what else you can expect to find when searching for that perfect home.
Listing agents that won't allow any showings. Listing agents that won't submit an offer. Loans that fall out despite pre-approval status. Sellers (aka banks) that take weeks or even months to accept an offer. Listing agents that flatly refuse to review an offer unless the Buyer agrees to "cross-qualify with the sellers lender" and provide the most intimate of financial details prior to submitting an offer. Buyer's Agents that steal the keys from properties to prevent other agents from showing the property.
Here is probably the best of them. Listing agents that are selling homes as owner occupied "Short Sales" that are no longer owned by the seller. The bank foreclosed on the property and took it from the owner. Within days of the foreclosure, the seller hires an agent to sell the property. The agent took the listing from the seller despite the fact that they don't own it. They just want to expose listings in hopes of getting clients. In most other areas of business they call this deceptive advertising.
Want to destroy your credit score? Try "pre-qualifying" with a dozen lenders over the period of a couple of months. This is what listing agents of REO properties expect you to do. They "require" you to "cross-qualify" with their special loan officer or your offer will not be submitted.
What to do if you are in the market for a foreclosed home? Be patient and persistent. If you continue to present offers you will find the right home with the right seller. Eventually you will persevere and have that home you have been looking for. In the mean time, do everything possible to increase the strength of your buying position by saving as much cash as you can.
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Timing the real estate market is notoriously difficult. Generally the peaks and valleys are known 3-6 months after they have occurred. If you want to buy a home and you have the cash, now is the time to look. However, don't just settle for anything, find the good deal.
I was poking around on the MLS and decided to look for the best deal I could find. To make it easy and a bit less subjective, I am using the Price per Square foot as the yard stick. Certainly this does not a deal make, but serves as a good benchmark.
So using the using the bang for the buck theory, what can you find in North Fontana? I did a search for homes in the 92336 area code that were within the Etiwanda School District boundaries. I found only 2 homes that are under the $100/sq. ft. price range. One of them was an REO and the other was a short-sale. Since the majority of short-sales never happen, I am going to have to give the title to the REO.
At just $95/sq. ft. this 3683 sqft home is the best value. It has been on the market for over 408 days as of this writing. The previous owner paid $405,500 for this home and then took more than $450,000 out of the home. The bank took it over for $448,510.
While the price per sqft is a good deal, the sticker price can be difficult for some buyers to look at. The bank has owned this home since April of 2007. The home was first listed at $504,900. Amazingly it did not sell. (That is sarcasm).
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