Real Estate News by Charles Feldman | September 16, 2009Worried about government run health insurance? Maybe you should be more concerned about the government run housing market!
For 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.”
Commentary by Brendan O'Brien | September 14, 2009
Researching the Washington, DC real estate market, I came upon some facts that shocked me. I started looking at federal government employment, knowing that the government is the biggest employer in the Washington Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
In fact, the federal government is the biggest employer in the country, with about 1.8 million civilian employees. While times get tougher for those of us who don’t work for the government, life for those in government continues to be pretty peachy. In fact, things have gotten a lot better over the last ten years.
The growing discrepancy between the government economy and the “real” economy is causing many problems, but one is a growing disconnect between the government mindset and the private industry mindset.
Many landlords are attracted to markets with a large institutional presence because they offer stability. Hospitals, universities and government agencies rarely make major cuts in employment, and they very rarely close. That means your prospective tenants are not likely to leave.
Joshua Dorkin
The Law of Unintended Consequences… OneWest, IndyMac and the FDIC
by Peter Giardini | February 18, 2010Most of you have probably seen this video regarding the “deal” that appears to have been struck by OneWest and the FDIC when OneWest purchased the assets of IndyMac last year. Once you view the video, read the comments and the FDIC rebuttal you have to wonder what is the Federal Government thinking when it injects itself so [...]