Sunday, October 04, 2009

Wrightwood Burning


ABC 7 here.

Rim of the World coverage here.

LA Times.

Ghoulish comment. Mmmmm, smells like cheap houses.

47 comments:

sm_landlord said...

Ah, the smell of roast canyon, first thing in the morning.

Rob Dawg said...

Good one. I was also going to mention the First federal news. As if they'll find new capital.

sm_landlord said...

First Federal's loan portfolio is not all bad, and should be worth something to the right buyer at the right price. Management is delusional, however, if they haven't already purchased their retirement condos in Los Cabos. ;-)

Rob Dawg said...

http://abclocal.go.com/kabc/livenow?id=7047223

Agantx said...

That's a great pic of a wild fire. I read that for the most part, wild fires are bad as far as people are concerned. For example, they can do a lot of damage to people's property and even kill people if they are not careful or simply unlucky. But that doesn't mean wild fires are 100% bad. They can be beneficial when nature is concerned. For example, some plant seeds are able to germinate and begin growing only after exposure to a fire from a wildfire. I bet many people don't know this little fun fact about wildfires... ;)

PS: If any of you are curious to find out why it's hard for people who stutter to talk to new people, come visit my blog because I wrote a post about it.

Bill in NC said...

Masonry structure, metal roof, ground cleared for 75 feet around the home.

Fire no problem.

H Simpson said...

Been MIA for several months as Homey has been pretty sick, but finally on the mend.

In catching up, here are a couple of tidbits.

Your favortie East coast condo project has fallen on hard times. Surprise?? I think not.

They auctioned them off for 70% off. Quite the haircut.

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/natick/articles/2009/09/10/developer_resorts_to_auction_for_natick_luxury_condos/


Wife was busy looking at nice cars being sold in the Inland Empire via the Internet when she found exactly what she was yearning for in the next town for half it's value. Saves flying cross country to put up a creampuff.
Perfect ragtop and carfax showed the unit has been pampered since the couple picked it up in Sweden for a jaunt of europe before shipping it across the pond.
I bring it up because:
1. We are starting to see desperation sales on the East coast. The misery is spreading. Lots of roadside material with signs saying "Moving, everything is free" .
2. When we backchecked the phone number in the ad, we found it was a recent McMansion on a ridge with the million dollar views. Looks like the some folks are not quite as well off as their mortgage broker told them they were..


Asst D/A charged for taking on multiple home mortgages.

http://unionleader.com/article.aspx?headline=Ex-prosecutor+admits+%24600k+mortgage+scam&articleId=85fb9745-931a-4d53-8ebb-08907a66bc90

How long until the West coast gets though the backlog and charges Casey?


Teacher died unexpectedly 3 weeks ago. No problem getting a replacement in the middle of the school year. With all the cuts at the town and city level, there were over 300 applications for the 1 position. Things are still headed downward.

h.

H Simpson said...

and another Natick condo meltdown story

http://www.myfoxboston.com/dpp/news/local/natick_collection_condos_auctioned_off_100409#

Peripheral Visionary said...

Re: Bill, the best protection against wildfires is simply not to build in fire-vulnerable areas. Take a look at the old settlements in the West, and you'll find compact towns surrounded by irrigated fields in the valley bottoms. There's a reason they didn't build up on the mountainsides in the trees and brush.

Re: The economy, still feels like business-as-usual here in DC. There are signs of the recession, but you have to travel a bit, to the empty office buildings on the Dulles corridor and the empty homes in the far suburbs, to see them. Within the Beltway, it simply doesn't feel all that different from five years ago. If you're wondering why the politicians don't seem to get it, it's because the recession hasn't come home to Washington yet.

TJandTheBear said...

Within the Beltway, it simply doesn't feel all that different from five years ago.




Until a T auction fails it won't be.

Gawd I can't wait.

Rob Dawg said...

A credit crisis for any level of government is going to cascade default to every level in zero time.

Pleather Murse said...

Robust Oregon Real Estate Market Poisoned by Fraud

"People have tried to bribe me. I've been threatened, both verbally and with a gun," real estate appraiser Richard Hagar tells me, recounting the heady days of the Pacific Northwest's housing boom, when unscrupulous loan originators in places like Bend, Oregon would aggressively demand his work confirm a dictated appraisal value, often many tens of thousands above the actual market value. In Hagar's view, "This recession we're in was triggered by loan fraud. That's the end of it."

Real estate and mortgage fraud can manifest in various forms, but the particular variety that significantly infected the market in Bend involved mortgage brokers pressuring appraisers to overvalue properties for sale. According to Hagar, in the early 2000s he first started hearing from his law enforcement contacts about this kind of problem popping up with increasing frequency in Bend. The corruption seemed to grow a little more pervasive with each passing year, until 2004 when it accelerated rapidly. "The definition of market value is a matter of federal law," he says. "If appraisers had been following that definition throughout this growth, we would not have created the problems we now see."

"It's almost unheard of for an appraisal to 'make value,'" Hagar asserts, but throughout the housing boom in Bend, that seemed to be the norm. For the Bend appraisers, "They'd have an order coming in with a 'minimum value needed,' and if you couldn't make the value, the mortgage broker would just go down the street. He wouldn't hire you again, or wouldn't pay you." In Hagar's view, "Almost all the bubble is related to them."

http://tinyurl.com/yeozrrh

wagga said...

California is crumbling!
It's a disaster!

Jean ValJean said...

Let the rate increases begin.

Australia on Tuesday became the first Group of 20 country to raise interest rates since the start of the financial crisis, breaking the ice for other relatively healthy economies to follow suit.

The surprise move -- which came earlier than markets expected -- is a signal that the great global monetary loosening is beginning to reverse.

Australia's rate increase "is a game changer," says Sanjay Mathur, economist at RBS in Singapore. "No central bank wanted to be seen as the ugly duckling and be the first. Now that they've done it, theoretically it paves the way for tightening by other central banks."

The Reserve Bank of Australia raised its main interest-rate target one-quarter of a point to 3.25%. Reserve Bank Governor Glenn Stevens indicated in a statement accompanying the policy decision that the rate rise may be the first of a series.

Analysts had figured Australia would be first to raise rates. It avoided recession thanks to a relatively strong banking system, a quick fiscal stimulus and strong Chinese demand for its commodities. But they expected it to happen later in the year.

Central banks have welcomed the boom in asset prices during the past six months. They hope wealth effects lift growth. But they might not welcome the real message investors are sending: expect inflation, and a lot of it.

The Reserve Bank thought this was the time, as positive economic news in Australia flowed in. "The risk of serious economic contraction in Australia now having passed, the board's view is that it is now prudent to begin gradually lessening the stimulus provided by monetary policy," Mr. Stevens said.

The next country on many lists for a rate increase is South Korea. It has enjoyed one of the fastest rebounding economies in the world and has already seen a sharp upturn in property prices and the value of its currency, the won. The Bank of Korea's interest-rate board meets Friday. It is expected to hold rates steady at that meeting, citing still fragile economic conditions. But a debate has developed among policy makers in Korea over when to move higher, and the Australian announcement could give those supporting a rate increase political cover.

Mr. Mathur of RBS and other economists Tuesday used Australia's signal to move up their forecasts for Korea to raise its target interest rate later this year rather than sometime in the first quarter of 2010. Other countries expected to tighten monetary policy beginning early next year include Indonesia, Taiwan, India and China. Analysts are also watching New Zealand and Norway. Though Israel became the first country to raise rates in August, its relatively small economy limited the move's significance.

Investors pushed the Australian dollar higher Tuesday, attracted by the higher interest rate. By midafternoon in Asia, the Australian dollar traded as high as 88.64 U.S. cents, up 1.02%. The Australian currency is already up 25% so far this year against the dollar.

Jean ValJean said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
wagga said...

Brad Pitt has commissioned a floating house for the Big Easy.

Perhaps this would be a good idea for RiverBottom?

Lou Minatti said...

Wagga, that concept is interesting but I am not sure the floating house would "float fast enough" before it was swamped. When those levees broke it was pretty quick. I would think that plumbing and other utilities would serve as an anchor if the waters rushed in too quickly.

Bob said...

Why mess around with a floating house when you can live in a floating nation?

Charter citizenships available now!

w said...

Hey Rob, could median home prices in Ventura County rebound? I see houses in the higher end dropping their prices $200,000-300,000 and quickly going contingent. I am curious if they are mostly bank owned.

No movement on La Loma though, huh?

Rob Dawg said...

The floating house was beyond stupid. Don't live where it floods. Duh!

Same goes for Riverpark. The recent flood map revision did exactly what I said 10 years ago. It said buildings in a flood plain might get flooded.

w,
Yes! Housing medians in VenCo are sure to rise for a bit. The insane low end frenzy and the mid level capitulation are both working towards higher medians. Low end jobs are being carpet bombed. Ir will most certainly push VenCo out of the top tier back down to second city status eventually.

H Simpson said...

looks like cali is going to have lots of space to store illegals

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-fi-hotels-foreclosure7-2009oct07,0,744154.story

h.

Pleather Murse said...

Nothing wrong with a floating house ... if it's a house BOAT!

(rim shot)

H Simpson said...

be sure to catch 1st story on ABC's nightline.

Tonight is Orange County mansion meltdown.

Mr. Outspoken said...

H,

With all the hotels going back to the banks it is the perfect opportunity for a "savvy operator" to swoop in with a low-ball offer, potentially combining it with favorable owner financing (owner=bank) then walk out with a trophy property. They even had one on Grand Cayman [Island] back to the bank. I smell opportunity. It's not a fart!

wagga said...

Totally off topic:

At 3:15 am. tomorrow, left coast time, I (and a few million of my closest friends) will have exclusive use of the 88" 'scope in Hawaii to observe moon bombing.

DirectTV NASA channel is 283.

Lost Cause said...

Showers in the forecast -- up to two inches of rain in the mountains.

wagga said...

The Dawg is away & the mice are at play. So:

Race fans at Australia's big race face terrible privations.

Not to worry. The faithful drive up the mountain the week before with shovels & uh... slabbies.

Pleather Murse said...

Re: Moon bombing

Hell yeah ... it's ON, stinking Lunarites (sp?). So many craters for Al Qaeda to hide in but I have faith in our space troops. We gotta win this one. Eff you, Moon!

Property Flopper said...

Did you feel that? The earth seems to have stopped moving. Birds are flying upside down, rain is falling in the desert, peace has broken out in the middle east, etc.

None of that is nearly as unbelievable as what was posted on Steve Serin's website... he alleges that Casey got a job.

I must still be asleep and dreaming - the world isn't that strange of a place (and what idiot would hire loser-boy anyhow?)

Lou Minatti said...

Is Rob at the body shop again having some work done?

I am buying a house. Somebody talk me out of it.

w said...

Chix dig a man with a house.

Besides, it's a good time to get highly leveraged.

Jim the Realtor said...

Agree with w; Lou, it's FHA or nothing.

Dawg, can you shine some light on the last gasp of the governator?

Especially with them quoting Mark Twain: “Whiskey is for drinking; water is for fighting over”

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/13/us/13calif.html?hp

Lou Minatti said...

Holy crap, Jim the Realtor addressed me. You are a housing bubble legend. Your videos are the best.

My parents asked me to buy their house and they are financing. It would be cool for my son to have my old bedroom. I just need to find a buyer for my current house. My bet: A nice Mexican family would do well here.

Lou Minatti said...

But no chickens.

TJandTheBear said...

Holy crap, Jim the Realtor addressed me.

ROLFMAO!!!

Dawg, I second Jim -- we're way overdue for some reports on Cali budget politics.

w said...

I for one am offended by your anti-chicken sentiments.

w said...

Rob has some high class blog cruisers tonight...Jim, Lou, tj. next thing CR will stop by.

Maybe they just want some cheesecake for dessert.

Jim the Realtor said...

Thanks Lou, and I appreciate you not mentioning how many stop signs I blow through, which apparently is the take-away for about half of the commenters.

Come on Dawg, can you just give us a little 'cake then? One pic?

Jim the Realtor said...

BREAKING NEWS:

This just in!!!

Obama wins the Heisman Trophy after watching a college football game!!!

Jean ValJean said...

And here I thought he was a shoo-in for an Emmy for his performance playing "The President of the United States of America".

Rob Dawg said...

Jeez. i hit a dry spell and the commentariat goes ballistic.

Chicago and Tri-Met and Metrolink are all planning huge transit fare increases. The California Crisis watch is about to be reactivated. JtR is getting all bullish. Casey is employed?

Unknown said...

Casey is employed?

It's a dirty job, but someone needs to man the glory holes.

TJandTheBear said...

BREAKING NEWS:

LOL!!!

Jim, you *know* you couldn't get away with that on your blog! ;-)

Jim the Realtor said...

LOL!!!

Jim, you *know* you couldn't get away with that on your blog! ;-)


They don't let me get away with a "California stop"!

w said...

Jim, just for fun you have got to put a six pack in your lap and drive around with a can in your hand. Pull it out of view once in a while, maybe belch once.

H Simpson said...

Casey disappears, as does Dawg
Coincidence????

Hey Jim
I see in your videos that SoCal has been resupplied with more KoolAid to drink judging by those prices.

I also notice you have abandoned the truck for a spiffy new rig.
You going Uptown on us??

h.

TJandTheBear said...

H Simpson,

Nah, Jim's had the silver ghost for a while. The truck is for his stealth runs, but it seems as though lately he doesn't trust it after it stranded him a short while back.