A few tidbits to look at while finishing my taxes:N.B. Some may require registration to see the full article.
Housing: Homeowners Losing Equity Lines
The Housing ATM is closed.
Land Use, Planning: The Next Slum?
Typical Pro-Urbanist wishful thinking. "The results were bracing: Nelson forecasts a likely surplus of 22 million large-lot homes (houses built on a sixth of an acre or more) by 2025—that’s roughly 40 percent of the large-lot homes in existence today."
Nonprofit buys foreclosed homes
17 comments:
First? Almost half an hour after the post? Wow, it's slow here today. ;)
Hey, we have W2's...
Can't really call first because not first.. but might as well since no one else did..
First Murst Foremost but not Moist...
Just for old times sake..
"Typical Pro-Urbanist wishful thinking."
Yeh, I subscribe to Atlantic & saw that article. The mag's editorial slant is very pro-planning; they're big fans of Richard Florida (my favorite--where the smart folks live). The premise that there is a demo shift back to urban centers lately has become unquestioned, despite being false.
OT, but does Casey work there ???
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gk4wBhEIdtWWF7hvr9C3Jl7pZ1XQD8UVNMKG0
Enzyte Maker Found Guilty of Fraud
2 days ago
CINCINNATI (AP) — A federal court jury on Friday found the owner of a company that sells "male enhancement" tablets and other herbal supplements guilty of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, bank fraud and money laundering.
Steve Warshak, whose conviction was reported Friday by The Cincinnati Enquirer, is founder and president of Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals, which distributes Enzyte and a number of products alleged to boost energy, manage weight, reduce memory loss and aid restful sleep.
Television ads for Enzyte feature "Smiling Bob," a goofy, grinning man whose life gets much better after he uses the product, which allegedly boosted his sexual performance.
Warshak, 40, could face more than 20 years in prison and his company could have to forfeit tens of millions of dollars.
Messages seeking comment from Warshak's Boston attorney Martin Weinberg and Assistant U.S. Attorney Anne Porter were left at their offices Friday night.
Prosecutors claimed customers were bilked out of $100 million through a series of deceptive ads, manipulated credit card transactions and the company's refusal to accept returns or cancel orders. They said unauthorized credit card charges generated thousands of complaints over unordered products.
Warshak's mother, Harriett Warshak, also was convicted of conspiracy, bank fraud and money laundering.
The government also alleged the defendants obstructed investigations by two federal agencies.
Some former employees, including relatives of Warshak, pleaded guilty to other charges and cooperated with prosecutors. They testified that the company created fictitious doctors to endorse the pills, fabricated a customer-satisfaction survey and made up numbers to back claims about Enzyte's effectiveness.
Defense lawyers characterized that testimony as tainted because it was forced by the threat of prosecution.
The defense contended in the trial that Berkeley suffered from customer service that didn't keep pace with the company's rapid growth from a one-person startup in 2001 to 1,500 employees in 2004.
Weinberg also had told jurors that Berkeley had been targeted by the government in "a relentless criminal investigation."
On the Net:
Berkeley Premium Nutraceuticals: http://www.berkeleylife.com
Lex:
You may prefer the deadtree version, but you may also be interested to know that the Atlantic magazine is now available for free online (as of a couple of weeks ago, I believe).
NR
I thought Rob would find that article sooner or later!
You can dismiss the Urbanist tendencies all you want, but the evidence I'm seeing is confirming some of the article's points. Prices are falling much faster in the far suburbs than closer in to the city center, and there continues to be a premium for many urban neighborhoods.
Granted, the article does overstate the case for Reston (which I have dubbed REOston), which is badly overbuilt and not half as desirable a place to live as they make it sound. But even so, the "hot" areas right now are Dupont Circle (old urban), the Courthouse-Ballston corridor (new urban), Alexandria (old urban), and (supposedly, I have my doubts) Shirlington (new urban.)
Areas not doing well, on the other hand, are Columbia Pike (mixed urban/suburban) and the notorious Prince George's County (suburban.) Draw your own conclusions.
And I am definitely seeing evidence of homes, even in highly desirable neighborhoods, being converted into apartments. I have doubts about new homes being converted to apartments en masse, but many of the existing homes could go the way of the triple deckers. The Southwest, in particular, has WAY too many high-end homes; California, Nevada, Arizona, Utah are all saddled with huge inventories of $500k++ homes, where there simply are not enough buyers for what is available. Nobody is going to sit on an empty home year after year, they will find a use for them, and the larger homes will make for ready conversion into apartments.
For those who live in high-end neighborhoods, better start checking those zoning ordinances and attending municipal government meetings, or you could be getting a lot of new neighbors.
Rob,
I agree it is not the end of the suburb but for the New Jerseyans who moved to NC for the bigger house and quality of life it is an interesting article. I have read about the region abit lately and it sounds pretty scary down there. That said, thanks for putting it up I don't know if it is because I sent it to you or if you found it on your own. BTW, a bit of disclosure here, Nelson was an ex-professor of mine and is Co-Director of the Metropolitan Institute at V Tech with my BiL.
PV,
I agree with your DC Metro assessments. Reston is a sterile place yet it is better than the other high density suburbs around them. BTW the ice skating rink is tiny. As for the urban areas holding value that has tended to be quite true here in the northeast.
Good comments all. Sometimes my positon gets defined by my opponents rather than what i say. this is one such case. I keep claiming the exurbs will not suffer disproportionately and they will react faster. The places that will suffer the most are those places with the most and the most recent and the more expensive development. NC/triangle has the benefits of inexpensive development policies and relative strength of employment and decent infrastructure.
Reston is the 2008 version of Boston's 128 implosion.
Interestingly I've softened on New Urbanism in the post bubble era. The past subsidies will be forgotten and the price premium will disappear leaving a quality product with niche appeal. Just at drastically lower prices which is a heck of a lot better than drastically lower prices and a gutted community.
Carl Cole moving to Ventura to sell real estate...he is now your problem Dawg. :)
http://www.bakersfield.com/hourly_news/story/373594.html
Itsallgoood, Bakersfield Bubble. Cole will probably get hit by a golf ball or something.
Nope, see the new post.
Obviously, the author never had the pleasure of maintaining a plaster-and-lath, pre-WWII home.
I still remember when the sole cast-iron drainpipe for the second floor ruptured in the wall of our formal living room.
It took weeks to finish the repair, but fortunately a previous owner had added a full bath on the ground floor (originally, only a tiny half-bath)
Not to mention features missing from recent houses, such as a lack of closets in the bedrooms, miniscule kitchens, and no place for a washer/dryer.
And I'd LOVE to see a cite for his claim that drywall is load-bearing!
"Many recently built houses take what structural integrity they have from drywall—their thin wooden frames are too flimsy to hold the houses up."
And how exactly does he think the house stands up before they put the drywall on?
This is what Bill and Ogg are talking about:
This future is not likely to wear well on suburban housing. Many of the inner-city neighborhoods that began their decline in the 1960s consisted of sturdily built, turn-of-the-century row houses, tough enough to withstand being broken up into apartments, and requiring relatively little upkeep. By comparison, modern suburban houses, even high-end McMansions, are cheaply built. Hollow doors and wallboard are less durable than solid-oak doors and lath-and-plaster walls. The plywood floors that lurk under wood veneers or carpeting tend to break up and warp as the glue that holds the wood together dries out; asphalt-shingle roofs typically need replacing after 10 years. Many recently built houses take what structural integrity they have from drywall—their thin wooden frames are too flimsy to hold the houses up.
Absolute ignorance of the subject. Lathe and plaster exists only because drywall was not available. I'd rather risk dry cleaning the Shroud of Turin before ripping into L&P for a repair.
What kind of freak thinks a solid oak doors are a good thing? Understand I hate hollow core but that's not the same thing as this idjits avocating raping the environment and squandering energy and resources just so bathroom flatuence sounds are muffled less effeciteley than with MDF veneered structural foam core blanks for 1/5th the price.
Anybody know if there's truth to the bit about plywood failing when the glue dries out? I've seen houses built with what were essentially plywood I-beams for floor joists, which was touted as a big advance at the time (lighter, cheaper, stronger).
I are only a dumm ingineer but they haven't used moisture active glue for decades. Plywood is bonded by a heat activated process. Oh and bonded is not te same a glued but I'm not the person to sak about the differences.
Rob,
I agree with the L&P arguement. I had a house that required extensive renovation to walls. In one area we didnot even have lathe it was a mud thrown on brick nogging and wood framing. And that was the more "modern" part of the house from the 1870's. The old part of the house was post and beam construction with 8"by 12" beams going in diagonals.
As for flimsy, when a strong wind blew, the wall would hit me while I was sleeping. Needless to say I would wake up. Not that it was a bad thing, these houses will last for hundreds of years when taken care of but the movement of the house is a bit unnerving.
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