Weekly News Round-Up
My pick of the day, purely for its title, is The Map of Misery. I am not completely sure what this map is intended to show, other than California is in the shit, and not much is happening in the Midwest. I searched and searched the Business Week web site to try and find a corresponding story, but had no luck. If anyone can find more information on this Map of Misery, please feel free to point out my incompetence as a web surfer and leave a comment.
A runner-up for best title: “The Great Fall: Here Comes the Humpty Dumpty Economy.” Written by Alan Abelson for Barron’s, the best thing about this article is not the title but Abelson’s writing style and wit. One example: “But even folks who rent or live in the balmy reaches of Florida or Arizona or Southern California and are mercifully not burdened with $4-a-gallon-based heating bills to warm their cozy tepees mope around looking like their beloved grandmother passed from this vale of tears and plumb forgot to include them in her will. We’re happy to report, after painstaking investigation, the old bird is chirpy as ever and the only deaths in those mournful families are of the dogs in their stock portfolios, which, of course, is very sad, but somehow doesn’t quite earn the sobriquet of tragedy. Anyway, they should find solace in the knowledge that granny, who’s edging toward 100, has her nest egg salted away in FDIC-insured savings accounts.” Writing like this kinda takes the sting out of the topic, doesn’t it?
Sadly, we are seeing more and more articles about homeowners throwing in the towel and walking away from their homes. USA Today reports “Mortgage Lenders See More Borrowers Give Up”, while the Sacramento Bee published “More Homeowners Are Just Walking Away from Their Mortgages.” In the first article, lenders seem surprised that some mortgagees are not even trying to restructure their mortgages before resorting to the extreme. The downside to this, as pointed out in the Bee, is that foreclosure will damage (and effect for a long time) a person’s credit rating. While frustration exists, the patience to work out a new payment plan or participate in a short sell is to everyone’s advantage: the homeowner, the lender, and the community in which they reside (by minimizing lowball sales of foreclosed homes).
Mother Jones, known for their “Smart, fearless journalism” published a great article by Nomi Prins in the March/April issue of their magazine, “Subprime Lending’s Smartest Guys in the Room.” Good information, good background, and an overall view of where we came from and what has happened. Short, sweet, to the point, with some interesting commentary from readers.
For a good chuckle, head on over to the Housing Bubble Hall of Shame. This genius blog is written by Tyrone, a mysterious accountant who ferrets out those who should be shot for their participation (or lack thereof) in the current housing debacle.
Over on Redfin’s corporate web site there is a new post titled “Typical Is Boring, But When Selling a Home, Effective.” Ellie Wilkinson writes about the wisdom of sellers offering a higher commission to buyer’s agents. There is a pre-conceived notion on the part of many that a higher commission will result in a quicker sale at a higher price. Well, they’ve run the numbers and have a definitive result. Do you think it’s true? Head on over and find out, it may save you a dollar or two.
And our own David Gordon did a post recently on the fact that there are “More Foreclosure Sales than Resales in California.” Kind of scary, isn’t it? We can only hope that February sales statistics will be an improvement.
