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Charles Feldman

Commentary

U.S. Commercial Real Estate At Death’s Door; Next Shoe Ready To Drop

by Charles Feldman | November 3, 2009
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If there really is an economic recovery underway–no matter how weak–one sure thing that would kill it is a devastating collapse of the commercial real estate market.
And, I’m afraid, that is exactly what appears to be shaping up in the not very distant future.
A survey by the Real Estate Roundtable (which sounds like something out [...]

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Commentary

Real Estate Fiasco Seems To Foreclose On Critical Thinking

by Charles Feldman | October 28, 2009
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Think.
That is one word I grant you. But, sadly, something fewer and fewer people seem to be doing when it comes to critical analysis of the near term prospects for the real estate market in the U.S. (And, yes, I know the real estate “market” is a patchwork of many markets dotted across the foreclosed [...]

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Real Estate Market

Kennewick, The Stolen Salmon & Why Real Estate Is Booming There

by Charles Feldman | October 21, 2009

First of all, I should tell you that I do not have the faintest notion why those dudes stole the freaking salmon from a fish hatchery in Kennewick, Washington! I can only tell you that, according to the Kennewick website, the dude allegedly stole the entire salmon. Doesn’t say if he was hungry or trying to sell the fish on the black market (is there a black market for salmon???) or whether he was, perhaps, romantically involved in some way with the big fish. Look, we are talking about Kennewick, Washington, so anything pretty much goes.

Now what brought me to the official Kennewick website in the first place, you may ask? (That’s okay. If you didn’t ask it, I just did.)

I’ll get to that in a minute. But first…for those not familiar with Kennewick, Washington (and I’m guessing that’s like 99% of you, right?) it is a city of almost 66 thousand people (and an unknown number of salmon I’m guessing) that is about a three and a half hour drive from Seattle.

In the winter, the temperature rarely drops below 44 degrees and in the summer seldom climbs much above 88. Except when it does.

The city is in Benton County which fits very nicely into the southeastern portion of this northwestern state.

And, did I tell you that Forbes ranks it number two in job growth for the entire United States? (Suppose that could mean it has just added two new jobs!)

Now I am getting to the interesting part.

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Economy

Foreclosures Jump 5 Percent From Summer; Government Effort To Curtail Foreclosures Sinks Like Lead Duplex

by Charles Feldman | October 15, 2009

In my previous posting with the VERY long headline the other day, I challenged any and all to contradict me when I —and a Congressional oversight committee—concluded that the Obama administration’s attempt, thus far, to gain meaningful mortgage modifications has totally flopped.

In even less time than I thought would be the case, I have been proven sadly right: A new RealtyTrac report just out says that foreclosures are up a full 5 percent from summer to this fall…..meaning almost 940 thousand properties were impacted….

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Commentary

Foreclosure Mitigation Deemed A Flop: Congressional Panel Tells It Like It Is; Administration Plan Fizzles; Foreclosures Rise; More Expected; Don’t Expect Much More Government Help; Forget About The Banks Bailing YOU Out; Don’t Bother Rationalization; Treasury Strategy Derided As Not Long Term Solution; Did I Leave Anything Out???; No, I Didn’t!!

by Charles Feldman | October 14, 2009

Let’s stop beating around the bush….or, in this case, the Obama. The dismal results are in and there is NO question that the efforts, such as they are, of the Obama administration to effectively deal with the nation’s growing foreclosure problem amount to a failure.

Says who? Well, me, for one. But don’t take my word for it, just read the most recent report from the Congressional Oversight Panel which is charged with overseeing the administration’s efforts to cope with the foreclosure emergency.

Called “An Assessment of Foreclosure Mitigation Efforts after Six Months“–the panel report laments the “limited scope and scale of the Making Home Affordable” program……

And, it goes on to raise serious questions about whether any of the programs now in place will actually lead to permanent mortgage modifications for most or even many disperate homeowners.

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Commentary

First Time Home Owner Tax Credit Likely To Stay; But Current Homeowners Still Face Uncertain Future

by Charles Feldman | October 7, 2009

As the, so far, jobless recovery continues, the White House is reportedly hunkered down trying to figure out what to do next. Obama administration officials are taking note of programs that have worked and those that have not done as well.

Among the programs that apparently fall into the “success” column is the $8,000 tax credit for first time home buyers.

The tax credit for first timers was part of the $787 billion dollar stimulus program and is being credited with helping the real estate industry stage a modest comeback—at least among first time home buyers.

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Commentary

Attention Real Estate Investors: “Youth Magnet Cities” Are Pulling You In!!!

by Charles Feldman | October 1, 2009

Attention real estate investors: Want to know where the markets of tomorrow are? (And, who wouldn’t considering how terrible the markets of today are for the most part!)

Okay then….listen up: Follow the 20 something crowd!

Seems urban planners consider some cities to be “youth-magnet cities”-and these tend to change from one generation to the next.

The Wall Street Journal put together a panel of experts to come up with a list of the next youth-magnet towns and here is what they came up with:

Believe it or not, Washington, DC ranked number one!!!

If you guessed this might have something to do with Mr. Obama, you’d be right. Apparently, the experts feels that many 20 somethings will flock to D.C. because they think Obama is soooooooooooooooooo awesome, chill, cool, whatever—and also figure that there may actually be some jobs in government since there don’t seem to be many in the private sector.

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Commentary

The Dramatic Increase In Mortgage Fraud: SubPrime Crisis Brings Out The Worst In People; Would The Death Penalty Stop It?

by Charles Feldman | September 23, 2009

WASHINGTON - SEPTEMBER 16: Federal Bureau of ...If you harbored any notion that the current economic crisis would somehow bring out the best in people–as we all come together like one of those old, warm and fuzzy “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” commercials, I’m afraid I have some very bad news for you. Well, actually, the FBI has the bad news, but I will pass it along.

A few days ago, FBI director Robert Mueller told the Senate Judiciary Committee that mortgage fraud cases that are being investigated by his agency are up roughly 63% just from a year ago! That’s sixty-three percent!!!!!

“The scheme have evolved with the changing economy, targeting vulnerable individuals, victimizing them even as they are about to lose their homes, ” said Mueller, as quoted in a New York Daily News article.

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Real Estate News

The U.S. Run Housing Market: The Nation’s New Landlord

by Charles Feldman | September 16, 2009

Worried about government run health insurance? Maybe you should be more concerned about the government run housing market!

government owned mortgages real estateFor those of you who have lost track of where all our taxpayer dollars have gone as we bailout banks, brokerage houses, car companies, insurance companies…etc—-this sobering statistic courtesy of the New York Times may be a needed splash of chilled water on the face: “The government is financing 9 out of 10 new mortgages in the United States.”

That bears repeating……”The government (as in U.S.) is financing 9 out of 10 new mortgages in the United States.”

According to the Times account, ” Fannie (Mae) and Freddie (Mac) now buy or guarantee almost two-thirds of all new mortgages. The Federal Housing Administration guarantees another 25 percent.”

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Commentary

A “New World Order” May NOT Be Good For Real Estate Industry

by Charles Feldman | September 9, 2009

real estate bailout mortgageAn article out of the McClatchy Newspapers group caught my eye today…in particular some numbers that may not bode well for a robust real estate industry recovery any time soon.

Bailout and Regulation Nation

The article, about how a new financial world order has emerged out of the wreckage of the sub-prime mortgage fueled disaster that exploded one year ago this week, explains why it may take many years to climb back even half way up that economic ladder most of us fell down from last September.

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Commentary

Home Prices “Turn Corner;” While Light At End Of Real Estate Tunnel Blinds Us!

by Charles Feldman | September 4, 2009

What’s that ahead? Is it….a corner? Is it…..THE corner? Are we about to turn it?
God, I hate cliches. But such is the case with a freshly minted Reuters dispatch headlined : “U.S. home prices turning the corner, up in 2010.”

I’m not sure if this differs from earlier reports that we were seeing the light at the end of the tunnel?

Actually, I sort of wonder whether the corner we are about to turn is right before we enter the tunnel, at whose end there is said to now be a light, or directly after we leave the tunnel, in which case ,wouldn’t that light at the end of it make it damn hard to see the freaking corner we are supposed to be turning?

Ok…this might be an academic question…but someone needed to raise it and it might as well be me.

Now, back to that corner we are turning.

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Commentary

Who Can Turn The World On With Her Smile? Would You Believe, A Real Estate Agent?

by Charles Feldman | August 26, 2009

She’s smiling again.

Now, grant it, this might not seem like much to you, but, trust me, this could be the biggest sign to date that the real estate market is finally starting to turn around…if only a bit.

She, is a real estate agent who has been selling units in my Los Angeles building for maybe five or more years now.

In recent years, since the recession set in, her visits, with possible buyers in tow, became fewer and farther between.

And, when she did show up, the expression on her face made her look as if she had just drank a powerful laxative for breakfast. Yeah, that bad.

She apparently wasn’t selling….but neither was anyone else. How she managed to even go to work in the morning is beyond me?

And then things began to change . . .

In recent weeks, though, I could not help but notice that she suddenly seemed to have a fresh glow about her. Her smile was there again and it looked like she may have even had a coating of sparkle surgically applied to her perfect teeth.

If she weren’t a real estate agent, I would have thought her glow suggestive of….well…..you know….we’re all adults!

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Commentary

Is It A “U” or “V” Shaped Housing Recovery? Or, Is It Some Other Letter?

by Charles Feldman | August 19, 2009

This is the sort of crap (sorry, I meant to say something far more tame, but the only word that came to mind was crap! Will gladly take submissions for other words, though) that makes people get really upset (I had thought of a different word for “upset” but, in this case, was able to come up with the tamer word “upset” rather than pissed….ooops, sorry, didn’t mean to say that! Upset, is what I mean to say!) when they listen or read so-called experts riff on the economy.

In a Reuters story called “U.S. housing starts keep recovery hopes alive,” (which doesn’t really say anything, but makes a nifty headline to make fun of) one of these experts, a dude named Kurt Kari, is quoted as saying, “The economy is recovering, this is the turning of the corner. We will have positive growth this quarter, but not a lot of strength. It very much looks like a U-shaped recovery rather than V-shaped.”

What the hell does that mean? A U-shaped recovery rather than V-shaped? Why not a W-shaped recovery, which would combine the best of U and V?

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Real Estate

When Will We Get Real About How To Fix The Foreclosure Problem? Another Record Set!!

by Charles Feldman | August 16, 2009
LAS VEGAS - MARCH 07: Paul Shipin of Californ...
Image by Getty Images via Daylife

I wrote several months back that unless the courts are given the power to alter the terms of a mortgage–the way bankruptcy judges can alter just about everything else–the road to a real estate recovery would be long, bumpy and increasingly painful.

And, here’s the proof.

RealtyTrac reports that home foreclosures have set yet another record for the month of July—-As Reuters reports, this, even though there are reportedly federal and state programs out there that are supposed to bring relief to the home market.

Why do I say “reportedly?” Because, frankly, they really aren’t working all that well. Relatively few people have managed to get mortgage modifications and, when they do, it is almost always a modification of just the interest—which means, in the long run, they may end up actually being even more in debt to the bank.

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Commentary

Novel Notions To Kick the Real Estate Market Into High Gear

by Charles Feldman | August 5, 2009

Okay. I have waited long enough. I have sat back and watched as all those so-called “experts” came up with all sorts of schemes to save banks, car companies, brokerage houses, their own asses, space ships (maybe not space ships…but, hell, why not?) and democracy. It is about time I stepped in with my own schemes (I mean plans) to fix what is wrong with the entire housing/real estate market. I know this is bold of me, but someone has to do the dirty work and I figure it might as well be me!

Of course, I am not above stealing (I mean adopting) the programs of others for my own purposes. Does this make me a bad person? I think not! It may make me a politician, but not a bad person.

Cash for Stinkers

First, then—-we have cash for clunkers…why not cash for stinkers? All those homes on the verge of foreclosure

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