Real Estate and foreclosure thread
- Thread starter BackwardsEngineer
- Start date
Welcome to the Precious Metals Bug Forums
Welcome to the PMBug forums - a watering hole for folks interested in gold, silver, precious metals, sound money, investing, market and economic news, central bank monetary policies, politics and more. You can visit the forum page to see the list of forum nodes (categories/rooms) for topics.
Why not register an account and join the discussions? When you register an account and log in, you may enjoy additional benefits including no Google ads, market data/charts, access to trade/barter with the community and much more. Registering an account is free - you have nothing to lose!
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
Not news, just an interesting story I read.
Leif Jonasson just recently became a homeowner, but that's not all: he became a landlord, too. In less than a year, the 28-year-old mechanical engineer went from living in an apartment in St. Paul with roommates to buying a duplex in Minneapolis and renting out the bottom floor to a couple. “It made sense to me to have half of the mortgage be paid by somebody that was living in half of my house [with] a wall separating us,” Jonasson told Fortune.
It’s a new experience for him—to say the least. Since he lives there himself, he said, he has an even more vested interest in maintaining the home, and he’s learning a lot about that. “Whenever something goes wrong, it’s a little bit of a crash course and figuring out how to best solve it,” he said.
More:
28-year-old first-time homebuyer went from having roommates to being a landlord: ‘Whenever something goes wrong, it’s a little bit of a crash course’
Leif Jonasson just recently became a homeowner, but that's not all: he became a landlord, too. In less than a year, the 28-year-old mechanical engineer went from living in an apartment in St. Paul with roommates to buying a duplex in Minneapolis and renting out the bottom floor to a couple. “It made sense to me to have half of the mortgage be paid by somebody that was living in half of my house [with] a wall separating us,” Jonasson told Fortune.
It’s a new experience for him—to say the least. Since he lives there himself, he said, he has an even more vested interest in maintaining the home, and he’s learning a lot about that. “Whenever something goes wrong, it’s a little bit of a crash course and figuring out how to best solve it,” he said.
More:
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
Troubled property developer China Evergrande Group has been ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court on Monday due to its inability to convince the court of a viable plan to restructure its debt.
Evergrande, now considered the most indebted property developer in the world with around $300bn of debt, was told by Judge Linda Chan that “enough is enough” and that it “was appropriate for the court make a winding up order against the company.”
splash247.com
Evergrande, now considered the most indebted property developer in the world with around $300bn of debt, was told by Judge Linda Chan that “enough is enough” and that it “was appropriate for the court make a winding up order against the company.”
Evergrande to be liquidated - Splash247
Troubled property developer China Evergrande Group has been ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court on Monday due to its inability to convince the court of a viable plan to restructure its debt. Evergrande, now considered the most indebted property developer in the world with around $300bn of...
splash247.com
Troubled property developer China Evergrande Group has been ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court on Monday due to its inability to convince the court of a viable plan to restructure its debt.
Evergrande, now considered the most indebted property developer in the world with around $300bn of debt, was told by Judge Linda Chan that “enough is enough” and that it “was appropriate for the court make a winding up order against the company.”
Evergrande to be liquidated - Splash247
Troubled property developer China Evergrande Group has been ordered to liquidate by a Hong Kong court on Monday due to its inability to convince the court of a viable plan to restructure its debt. Evergrande, now considered the most indebted property developer in the world with around $300bn of...
The first domino has fallen...
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
Halifax forced to pay out after making customer ‘homeless’
Halifax made one of its own customers “homeless” after cancelled mortgage payments led to his home being wrongly repossessed.The bank has been ordered to pay out thousands in redress and legal fees after a mix up over a payment plan resulted in the homeowner being evicted and forced to live out of a hotel.
Following a ruling by the Financial Ombudsman, the national arbiter of financial disputes, the lender has been ordered to return the house to its owner – a 50-year-old medical professional.
The ombudsman heard the owner, who was not named, initially “thought he had been burgled” when he returned home having been away with work.
More:
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
We Found That Landlords Could Be Using Algorithms to Fix Rent Prices. Now Lawmakers Want to Make the Practice Illegal.
A group of senators are set to introduce legislation Tuesday that would make it illegal for landlords to use algorithms to artificially inflate the price of rent or reduce the supply of housing.The proposed law follows a ProPublica investigation that found software sold by Texas-based RealPage was collecting proprietary data from landlords and feeding it into an algorithm that recommended what rents they should charge. Legal experts said the arrangement could help landlords engage in cartel-like behavior if they used it to coordinate pricing.
More:
We Found That Landlords Could Be Using Algorithms to Fix Rent Prices. Now Lawmakers Want to Make the Practice Illegal.
After a ProPublica investigation, U.S. senators introduced a bill to curb “price fixing” linked to rent-setting software. “Setting prices with an algorithm is no different from doing it over cigars and whiskey in a private club,” said one sponsor.
We Found That Landlords Could Be Using Algorithms to Fix Rent Prices. Now Lawmakers Want to Make the Practice Illegal.
A group of senators are set to introduce legislation Tuesday that would make it illegal for landlords to use algorithms to artificially inflate the price of rent or reduce the supply of housing.
The proposed law follows a ProPublica investigation that found software sold by Texas-based RealPage was collecting proprietary data from landlords and feeding it into an algorithm that recommended what rents they should charge. Legal experts said the arrangement could help landlords engage in cartel-like behavior if they used it to coordinate pricing.
More:
We Found That Landlords Could Be Using Algorithms to Fix Rent Prices. Now Lawmakers Want to Make the Practice Illegal.
After a ProPublica investigation, U.S. senators introduced a bill to curb “price fixing” linked to rent-setting software. “Setting prices with an algorithm is no different from doing it over cigars and whiskey in a private club,” said one sponsor.www.propublica.org
Thats no different than Zillow spitting out its' Zestimates.
Or Tesla using an algo to figure out what to price its cars at.
Looks like cracks are starting to form in the dam:
More:
Federal Reserve Bank Philadelphia said:
Owner-Occupancy Fraud and Mortgage Performance
WP 23-01 – Occupancy fraud has been suggested as a contributor to the housing bubble. We show it was pervasive and remains present. Fraudulent investors accounted for an outsize share of defaults in the bust and pose a risk should prices decline.
www.philadelphiafed.org
The 47 page .PDF:
So they expect more credit deflation/destruction as residential real estate prices go down. Sounds like more stress for banks and MBS holders is imminent.
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
FWIW (dyodd)
All we keep hearing about is the soft landing and how the well the economy is doing, yet since the beginning of 2024 literally 100's of thousands of job cuts and layoffs have been announced and its barely even February. How is this a sign of a strong economy.
21:30
For those who prefer to read:
Bordenaro highlights the surge in layoffs, citing major players like Microsoft, eBay, Salesforce, and Google among those making significant staff reductions. The sheer magnitude of these job cuts, especially this early in the year, raises doubts about the widely touted narrative of economic prosperity.
While AI is often blamed for layoffs in the tech sector, Bordenaro emphasizes that the issue extends beyond technology companies. Major corporations like City Group and UPS are also facing substantial layoffs, challenging the assumption that only tech and AI industries are impacted.
More:
Layoffs RAMPANT in 2024 But Economy is GREAT...
Jan 31, 2024All we keep hearing about is the soft landing and how the well the economy is doing, yet since the beginning of 2024 literally 100's of thousands of job cuts and layoffs have been announced and its barely even February. How is this a sign of a strong economy.
21:30
For those who prefer to read:
Number of Layoffs Keep Rising Despite Booming Economy Claims – Does The Economy Flourish Only for the Elite?
In a recent video by real estate expert Michael Bordenaro, the apparent contradiction between a flourishing economy and widespread layoffs takes center stage. As reports of a robust economic landscape flood the news, Bordenaro points to the alarming trend of job cuts, questioning the true health of the nation’s economic pulse.Bordenaro highlights the surge in layoffs, citing major players like Microsoft, eBay, Salesforce, and Google among those making significant staff reductions. The sheer magnitude of these job cuts, especially this early in the year, raises doubts about the widely touted narrative of economic prosperity.
While AI is often blamed for layoffs in the tech sector, Bordenaro emphasizes that the issue extends beyond technology companies. Major corporations like City Group and UPS are also facing substantial layoffs, challenging the assumption that only tech and AI industries are impacted.
More:
Waay more than just buy-downs now. All you have to do is ask and the incentives are freely flowing now.
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
Why Americans Are Suddenly Losing Their Home Insurance
Feb 5, 2024Many homeowners in the U.S. are losing their home insurance policies. Major insurers like State Farm and Allstate are no longer offering new policies in California. State Farm attributes this to increased wildfire risk, inflation and other challenges in the region. Louisianan and Floridian homeowners are facing similar issues due to flood risk. Watch the video to learn more about why homeowners are receiving non-renewal notices and what that means for the U.S. real estate market.
13:11
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
1:47 Chapter 1: The insurance market
5:03 Chapter 2: Alternate options
9:14 Chapter 3: Pricing in climate risk
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
This is a bit different. Lotta pics of a house being moved before being taken by the Atlantic Ocean.
If you're on FB you can see a vid
If you're on FB you can see a vid
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
Treasury rolls out residential real estate transparency rules to combat money laundering
WASHINGTON (AP) — The Biden administration wants to make residential real estate transactions more transparent by unmasking the owners of certain all-cash purchases. It’s part of an ongoing effort to combat money laundering and the movement of dirty money through the American financial system.The Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network proposed a regulation on Wednesday that would require real estate professionals to report information to the agency about non-financed sales of residential real estate to legal entities, trusts and shell companies.
All-cash purchases of residential real estate are considered at high risk for money laundering. The rule would not require the reporting of sales to individuals.
More:
No obligation to rebuild.
Re: residential real estate transparency rules to combat money laundering
Yes, because money launderers find illiquid assets like real estate with title records to be an optimal vehicle for money laundering. This is just more war on cash bullshit laying the groundwork for a CBDC future.
Yes, because money launderers find illiquid assets like real estate with title records to be an optimal vehicle for money laundering. This is just more war on cash bullshit laying the groundwork for a CBDC future.
Last edited:
its my understanding ...that you can get a check for what the insurance co appraises the property for ......if that is not a number you are ok with you have to actually rebuild via contract to get replacement value
appraisal and replacement values can be quite different in the insurance world
and obviously you have to have a replacement value policy
appraisal and replacement values can be quite different in the insurance world
and obviously you have to have a replacement value policy
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
NYC developer Nir Meir facing charges as accomplices arraigned in $86M fraud scheme: DA
Developer Nir Meir, who dreamed of leaving his mark on the Manhattan skyline, is now facing serious jail time after authorities accused him Wednesday of running a multimillion-dollar fraud scheme.Meir — whose luxury real-estate company HFZ Capital Group collapsed amid plans to build $2 billion luxury towers near the High Line — was set to be extradited to New York after being arrested in Miami earlier this week.
Four of Meir’s alleged accomplices were arraigned Wednesday in Manhattan Supreme Court.
Roy Galifi, John Mingione and Kevin Stewart — executives with a construction company that worked with Meir — were accused of grand larceny, conspiracy and criminal possession of stolen property and falsifying business records, charges they denied.
More:
Yes, it comes from the fact that Market values really have little to do with the cost to build a home. Our market has often been depressed so it costs at least 15-20% more than what the market value would be. Hence, we have little to no spec homes. Just an idiot every once in awhile begging to be taught a lesson.
Some markets where you have bidding frenzies would be the opposite where markets values might be well above what you could build the house.
On the ground experience for a small to medium business. Banks are NOT lending which means the economy shrinks.
BackwardsEngineer
curmudgeon
Our market continues to soften, seller concessions are becoming standard practice to cover closing costs and some interest buy downs. They are desperately trying to hide the decline from showing on the top line but appraisers here are starting to see through the give aways albeit slowly as less volume means slower comp saturation. Still money to lend but it's possible they are hiding it in turn down rate as buyers are not qualifying here left and right.
We still have the nationals still building spec homes but at a slower pace and bare bones on options. The resale market is tough and getting tougher, sellers have been zombified by the zestimates and can't believe the difference to reality in realty... so they are stuck in their low interest loan current home. Changing would require much pain and less after the fact.
In the end this is the key. The guys with the money, no strike that, the ability to create money via the stroke of a pen control the markets. When banks get scared and stop lending it becomes a self-fulling snowball. It was the exact same story for that Lucky Lopez video. He could not find any bank to fund his 2 acre property and then the one bank they found pulled the program before they could find a property. He would have the money and credit but its not a standard loan and risk scares the heck out of bankers now.
BackwardsEngineer
curmudgeon
Hey Lance,
My experience has been forced rebuild unless insurer is willing to negotiate lump sum. Asked a friend in the fire restoration business and he says that is changing and now all sorts of mixed outcomes can be had depending on which carrier and varying by state and county of location. That sounded like a non answer but home insurance overall is a drastically changing business model, especially in the southeast. If I remember correctly you're somewhere near AV up in NC, so change will be coming your way as well. The hurricanes of the last couple of years, combined with out of control building material costs and limited quality contractor availability has made timely replacement value almost impossible to calculate. It is a HUGE issue and has led to untold losses to insurers from overages and lawsuits, many that won't be settled for years in the future. So actuarials have been working overtime reassessing risk to alter plans or leave markets that they can't stomach or finance major loss in.
One of the first changes was making the homeowner self insure normal minimal loss, they didn't actually announce this but just made the old fashioned 1000 to 2500 dollar incident deductible go away, replaced with a pretty much standard 2% of the top line policy value. Well say your dishwasher overflows and does 10k worth of damage, typical values running 400 to 600k but a prudent person may have a policy 25% over that to cover total loss rebuild making 2% deduct look like 10k to 15k. So home insurance has become major home incident/ catastrophic loss insurance.
The true devil in the details though is that homeowner/major incident/catastrophic loss insurance was never designed to protect you, although you do indeed pay for it, it was to cover the evil banker behind your loan. So when losses happen the insurance company immediately notifies the bank, who then gets involved to making sure the property is made whole. Often supervising the repairs to protect their interest. So in the case of true catastrophic loss, the correct answer on wether one has to rebuild is a combination of policy and insurer, local or state .gov, and the evil banker...
Final note... have you notice how they "Name" all storms, if someone farts upwind they quickly put a name on it as it changes the insurer liability, and can change rebuild specifications of local ordinances as pertains to wind...
Hope this helps...
That is/has been one immutable law... What happens Always comes down to what the bankers want.
i wonder if the "old fashioned" 1000-2500 deductables going away is a regional thing.........never heard of a percentage deductable here..........my old fashioned deductable is in the range you mention
BackwardsEngineer
curmudgeon
Thanks Ttazz, didn't realize they hadn't fully rolled it out, your area must have normal calculated risk. Feel certain it will spread as it greatly reduces insurer liability and volume of claims. Honestly, many people haven't comprehended the change and won't until they or a friend faces a big incident. Frankly, our area has risks from hurricane flooding and winds, but our normal small risk would be similar to other areas. So I would expect our top end exposure to be greater but low end about the same.
You would not believe what flood plain classified insurance runs here.. beachfront VE zoned can be six figures with a massive deductible.
- Messages
- 482
- Reaction score
- 655
- Points
- 218
I just got notified that Am Fam is doing this to me (Wisconsin). From $1,000 deductible to 1% deductible. Clever marketing because 1 sounds like less than 1,000. Most people will probably assume it isn't much of a change.
They also increased the replacement value of my house by 25% and of course, the premium.
one thing i do is....i state all my values ..ie ...house max value...out buildings max values.....max payout on farm equipment....etc ..... so i do not have to deal with insurance co raising values and premiums each year via values.... i am not sure why i am able to do that possibly because i am a hobby farm ....
my insurance agent is basicly a family member i will have to ask her on next visit about the deductable change as that is huge.......we use shelter insurance located in sw missouri
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
Nebraska lawmaker seeks to ban corporations from buying up single-family homes
A Nebraska lawmaker whose north Omaha district has struggled for years with a housing shortage is pushing a bill that, if passed, could make Nebraska the first in the country to forbid out-of-state hedge funds and other corporate entities from buying up single-family properties.Sen. Justin Wayne’s bill echoes legislative efforts in other states and in Congress to curtail corporate amassing of single-family homes, which critics say has helped cause the price of homes, rent and real estate taxes to soar in recent years. Wayne said that has been the case in his district, where an Ohio corporation has bought more than 150 single-family homes in recent years — often pushing out individual homebuyers with all-cash offers. The company then rents out the homes.
Experts say the scarcity of homes for purchase can be blamed on a multitude of factors, including sky-high mortgage interest rates and years of underbuilding modest homes.
More:
Nebraska lawmaker seeks to ban corporations from buying up single-family homes
A Nebraska lawmaker is pushing a bill to forbid out-of-state hedge funds and other corporate entities from buying up single-family properties. Sen.
apnews.com
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
Local news
www.inquirer.com
What’s grabbing our attention this week | Real Estate Newsletter
A blighted former office building on Chestnut Street could become apartments. And Philly developer Mo Rushdy, the new president of the Building Industry Association, has had a rapid political rise.
www.inquirer.com
Some quick tidbits in here. NOTE the brief thing on new home builder incentives. 50 Grand in upgrades and 20 Grand in buy downs. Guys the new home markets are collapsing.
Zillow is also playing BIG games with their data. It changes from day to day or computer or I don't even know. A suburb of the Twin Cities that I watch I was looking at the other day. It had mostly had "low" inventory. In fact, this week I put in homes that were built before 2021 and only 22 listings or so came up. BUT then you type in built Only After 2023 and there were One THousand One Hundred plus listing. And today those are mostly gone and the number says 93. It's all fucking lies.
Zillow is also playing BIG games with their data. It changes from day to day or computer or I don't even know. A suburb of the Twin Cities that I watch I was looking at the other day. It had mostly had "low" inventory. In fact, this week I put in homes that were built before 2021 and only 22 listings or so came up. BUT then you type in built Only After 2023 and there were One THousand One Hundred plus listing. And today those are mostly gone and the number says 93. It's all fucking lies.
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
When Property Owners Lose the Right to Exclude, the Whole Economy Suffers
In March 2020, the City of Seattle imposed the first in a series of emergency orders responding to the threat of COVID-19. The orders prohibited landlords from evicting tenants for nonpayment, expired leases, or any other reason unless the tenant presented “an imminent threat to the health or safety of neighbors, the landlord, or the tenant’s or landlord’s household members.”Under the Fifth and Fourteenth Amendments, states cannot take private property for public use without providing just compensation. A group of rental property owners in Seattle sued the city, arguing that the moratoriums amounted to uncompensated takings. Each of the owners rented out property covered by the moratoriums, and each lost the right to control their own property as a result of the orders.
But the US Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit rejected the owners’ takings claims, based on its interpretation of the Supreme Court case Yee v. City of Escondido (1992). According to the Ninth Circuit, Yee held that the government can change the terms and duration of a tenant’s lease without compensating a landlord, so long as the landlord originally opened the property to the tenant voluntarily.
Now the owners are asking the Supreme Court to take their case, and Cato has filed an amicus brief supporting their petition.
More:
- Messages
- 11,755
- Reaction score
- 2,568
- Points
- 238
A loophole got him a free New York hotel stay for five years. Then he claimed to own the building
A man who succeeded in using a New York City housing law to live rent-free in an iconic hotel has been charged with fraud after he claimed to own it.
apnews.com
Question for ya. I recently saw a video from the Realestate mindset and it looks like there is a bunch of new construction down there.
How many of these homes do you think actually get listed on your MLS? Is it customary to list all of them or perhaps they just list a few models and most agents know there are a bunch of more choices? Or perhaps they keep most of them closer to the belt, especially when things were going well, and that way they keep a little more control? Just trying to figure out some of the inventory data and who is playing what games.
BackwardsEngineer
curmudgeon
Yes, still have the large nationals building homes spec, not nearly as many as the last couple of years, but still homes going up and new subdivisions going in.
A few examples:
del webb I thing 800 total at build out https://www.delwebb.com/homes/south-carolina/charleston/charleston/del-webb-point-hope-211159
Khov https://www.khov.com/find-new-homes...eral&msclkid=696fcaa4baa3157fd07eaf781479cad6
horton https://www.drhorton.com/south-carolina/charleston
Toll brothers https://www.tollbrothers.com/luxury-homes/Charleston-SC
Crescent https://www.crescenthomes.net/
Notice how many new subdivisions listed under coming soon.. they all have inventory their trying to move.
On listing in mls, some companies list all even if just for comp purposes. Since prices have softened, some are skirting listing as our mls requires deals and buy downs to be called out on a separate line with specific percentages or dollar amounts stated. One new sales agent I know has led the region for a national with over 40 mil in sales each of the last 3 years, they have been moved to a townhome community and they'll be lucky to sell 6 mil this year... times are a changing.
A few examples:
del webb I thing 800 total at build out https://www.delwebb.com/homes/south-carolina/charleston/charleston/del-webb-point-hope-211159
Khov https://www.khov.com/find-new-homes...eral&msclkid=696fcaa4baa3157fd07eaf781479cad6
horton https://www.drhorton.com/south-carolina/charleston
Toll brothers https://www.tollbrothers.com/luxury-homes/Charleston-SC
Crescent https://www.crescenthomes.net/
Notice how many new subdivisions listed under coming soon.. they all have inventory their trying to move.
On listing in mls, some companies list all even if just for comp purposes. Since prices have softened, some are skirting listing as our mls requires deals and buy downs to be called out on a separate line with specific percentages or dollar amounts stated. One new sales agent I know has led the region for a national with over 40 mil in sales each of the last 3 years, they have been moved to a townhome community and they'll be lucky to sell 6 mil this year... times are a changing.
Do you have many or any, appraisers actually call you to find incentives and buydowns for those comparable sales? It seems to me that data is very hard to come by, accurately at least. I know many MLS's have that line but it seems many of them just play fast and loose with the rules. And you have no real obligation to tell an appraiser anything. Yet somehow we are supposed to Sherlock Homes any hidden incentives in the comps, let alone its hard enough when hiding things on the subject property.
Ouch, 40 million to 6 million... One thing is for sure, this industry is going to be very different in the future.