property

Fannie Mae record profit: How long until it pays back bailout money?

"The firm, along with a sibling corporation named Freddie Mac, is at the heart of a US mortgage market that imploded during the financial crisis. The two firms received some of the biggest taxpayer bailouts in 2008. But now, as housing markets are recovering, so are their fortunes. Fannie Mae has drawn some $116 billion in financial support from the US Treasury since the firm was taken over in a federal conservatorship in 2008. Some $35.6 billion of that has, in effect, been paid back through dividend payments to the Treasury since 2009. Executives at Fannie and Freddie are touting the role they’ve played in buoying the housing market since the recession ended." Continue reading →

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“3% Down” Mortgages: They’re Back!

"With the Federal Reserve System buying half a trillion dollars worth of Fannie Mae and Freddy Mac IOUs a year, the mortgage market is flooded with newly created money. Lenders are now offering 3% down payment mortgages. Why, it’s 2006, back from the grave. There is a problem here: the number of mortgage applications has remained flat for three years. So, the recovery is nowhere near a bubble. Not enough people can qualify for loans. The rates are great, but only if you qualify. The time to buy an income-producing rental home is sooner rather than later. But don’t pay retail. Shop." Continue reading →

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Obama Administration Wants to Subsidize Banks to Make More Dodgy Loans

"The Obama Administration is proposing to once again put the economy at risk by subsidizing banks to give mortgages to people with poor credit. Even though we’re still dealing with the economic and fiscal damage caused by the last episode of government housing subsidies! Brings to mind the famous saying from George Santayana that, 'Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.' But what’s especially amazing – and distressing – about this latest scheme is that 'the past' was only a couple of years ago." Continue reading →

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NYC Apartment Rental Market; A Shoebox for $2,000 per Month

"I moved to NYC in February of 2011 and found a studio in the East Village for $1,550. A year later the landlord and I agreed to a 4 month lease at $1,650. After 4 months I had not found a new place so signed a one year lease with the hope of moving out and subletting. The new amount was for $1,725. I moved out a month later. She quickly found a new tenant willing to pay $1,900. Let me again state that this is a studio apartment. The room is 11’x13’ with a kitchen and bathroom attached that combined are 10’x7’. The term ‘shoebox’ would be generous. This is a SMALL apartment that is going for nearly $2,000 dollars! In two years the rent increased by 22%." Continue reading →

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Former heart surgeon sues Jackson County, sheriff over false arrest, land seizure

"A former Pascagoula heart surgeon, whose 2009 charges of growing marijuana at his farm were dismissed, has filed a federal lawsuit against Jackson County Sheriff Mike Byrd, the Jackson County Board of Supervisors and the Narcotics Task Force of Jackson County alleging civil, constitutional and human rights violations. Filed in U.S. District Court in Gulfport, the lawsuit says David Bruce Allen was the victim of false arrest, false imprisonment for more than a year, slander and libel, assault and battery, emotional distress and irreparable loss of his property and reputation." Continue reading →

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What Happens After the Housing Bubble Reflates?

"This Forbes analysis is actually a fairly sophisticated analysis on how realtors decide whether houses are a good buy or not. The article concludes that houses may be cheap to buy given current conditions. Now, the larger question begins to percolate: Are houses cheap because of fundamental economic factors or for monetary reasons? After all, if central banks print lots of money – as they have been – then people are making more money. There will surely be a housing bubble given the rashness of central banking actions. Whether the dollar itself will survive upcoming monetary events is the larger – and even more serious – question." Continue reading →

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Why the Government Is Desperately Trying to Inflate a New Housing Bubble

"Many people claim the Federal government and Federal Reserve are trying to inflate a new housing bubble to trigger a new 'wealth effect,' i.e. people seeing their home equity rising once again will feel encouraged to borrow and blow money like they did in 2001-2008. But if we look at current income (down) and debt levels (still high), there is little hope for a renewed wealth effect from housing. That leaves us with this conclusion: The Federal government and Federal Reserve are trying to inflate another housing bubble to save the 'too big to fail' banks from a richly deserved day of reckoning." Continue reading →

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Man Lists Home for Sale in Terms of Bitcoins

"Taylor More is selling his family's bungalow with an asking price of $405,000 (that's Canadian dollars) or 5,521 Bitcoins. He would rather have the Bitcoins. The two bedroom room and one bath bungalow in Alberta, Canada, sits on 2.9 acres of land along the Crowsnest River. That part of the deal is easy to understand. Why More wants Bitcoins isn't. 'I just really believe in them and once I read my first article about them, I was hooked,' said More, who is 22 and said he used to be a currency trader. 'I can take control of my own money, I don't have to worry about the government stepping in and taking it and freezing my account.'" Continue reading →

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Housing: Addicted to Fiat Money

"We are told that the housing recovery is strong. Then why is the best-performing new home building stock losing money? The Federal Reserve is buying about $40 billion worth of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac bonds every month in order to sustain the present housing recovery. How is this market going to be sustained when the Federal Reserve finally stops creating half a trillion dollars a year worth of fiat money in order to goose the housing market? This is clearly the most manipulated market in the history of the United States. Bernanke and his associates have decided that it is the Federal Reserve’s job is to subsidize housing in the United States." Continue reading →

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Feds Give Up Trying to Seize a Motel Based on Drug Offenses by a Few Guests

"Today the U.S. Attorney's Office in Boston said it will not appeal a ruling that blocked the federal government's attempt to seize and sell a family-owned motel in Tewksbury, Massachusetts, based on drug offenses committed by a tiny fraction of the people who stayed there. The government conceded that the owner, Russell Caswell, did not participate in those crimes and was not aware of them at the time, but it argued that he was 'willfully blind' to them." Continue reading →

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