$100$ DownPayments………… and your iPhone too !!

http://www.zerohedge.com/news/got-hundred-bucks-buy-home-or-virtually-anything-else-using-2000x-non-recourse-leverage

 

“ ”HUD’s $100 down payment incentive program can also be applied to an FHA 203k loan, which can be used to fund repairs and renovations on the home. The 203k program allows buyers to finance both the mortgage and additional money for rehabilitation needs with a single government-insured loan.” Said otherwise, a $100 downpayment gives one unlimited degrees of freedom how to spend non-recourse, massively levered capital, and courtesy of money’s fungibility, to even fund, shhh, the occasional iPhone.”

Banks’ New Answer to Housing Crisis: Bulldozers

Banks have a new remedy to America’s ailing housing market: Bulldozers.

There are nearly 1.7 million homes in the U.S. in some state of foreclosure. Banks already own some of these homes and will soon have repossessed many more. Many housing economists worry that near constant stream of home sales from banks could keep housing prices down for years to come. But what if some of those homes never hit the market.

Increasingly, it appears banks are turning to demolition teams instead of realtors to rid them of their least valuable repossessed homes. Last month, Bank of America announced plans to demolish 100 foreclosed homes in the Cleveland area. The land is then going to be donated back to the local government authorities. BofA says the recent donations in Cleveland are part of a larger plan to rid itself of its least saleable properties, many of which, according to a company spokesperson, are worth less than $10,000. BofA has already donated 100 homes in Detroit and 150 in Chicago, and may add as many as nine more cities by the end of the year.

http://news.yahoo.com/bulldoze-way-foreclose-102000063.html

Zillow: US Housing Market Continues to Declien

“Home values fell three percent in the first quarter of this year, marking a pace of decline not seen since 2008 when the housing recession was at its worst,” the group says. “Home values fell one percent between February and March and 8.2 percent from March 2010. The cumulative decline in home values since the market peak is now 29.5 percent .

Full article: http://www.theblaze.com/stories/these-charts-show-how-dismal-the-housing-market-really-is-again/

Barney Frank’s Campaign In Combat-Mode

     Barney Frank has had to loan his campaign $200K. His opponent has closed the gap in the polls, and Charlie Cook is now calling the race between Frank and Sean Bielat “leaning Democrat” instead of solidly Democrat. So the colorful Congressman has had to go into combat-mode:

Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Mass.) is so freaked out over his boyfriend’s behavior and his own election troubles that he’s attempting to be nice to people, according to a columnist at the very liberal Boston Globe.

When Frank’s boyfriend Jim Ready was caught on tape heckling Frank’s Republican challenger Sean Bielat, Globe columnist Brian McGrory reports he phoned the liberal icon to ask if he condoned Ready’s behavior. (h/t Ace of Spades)

From the Globe report:

When I called Frank yesterday to ask if he condones his partner goading and mocking an opponent, he told me that “Jimmy’’ is a talented amateur photographer putting together a photo essay of the campaign.

When I asked if Frank planned to apologize for Ready’s behavior, Frank said: “Jim should have broken it off and not responded. But Bielat shouldn’t have initiated the conversation. I don’t see what was inappropriate about taking his picture.’’

I’ll mark that down as a no.

A few moments later, my phone rang again. It was Frank, adding, “Jim’s new to political campaigning. He takes it more personally than someone who’s used to it.”

After we hung up, Frank called again, saying, “You know, he calls me dude. I didn’t realize that was troubling people. He calls all sorts of people dude.”

There’s a larger point to all of this. For the last three decades, the political establishments in Boston and Washington have excused Frank’s consistently obnoxious behavior as Barney being Barney. Maybe they’ve done it because he was unique as an openly gay congressman. Maybe it was out of deference for the way he unapologetically and effectively carried the flag for the most liberal of causes. Maybe it was out of fear that he’d train his quick wit and substantial intellect against anyone who happened in his path.

What a difference a year makes.

for the rst of the story and videos: http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=39515

Bank of America sets up Outreach Offices in Nevada

Classic case of why Gov. and big business coziness is bad for “we the people.” 

Where’s Florida’s ‘outreach center?”   Where’s Ohio’s?  Obviously Reid scratched BoA’s back and now BoA is scratching Dirty Harry’s back.

http://www.marketwatch.com/story/bank-of-america-opens-outreach-center-in-henderson-setting-appointments-with-financially-troubled-nevada-homeowners-2010-06-01?reflink=MW_news_stmp

““Bank of America made a commitment to me and the people of Nevada that it would start doing more to help struggling homeowners in our state,” said Reid. “While this is one step of many in its commitment, it demonstrates that Bank of America is working in good faith to keep its promise and I appreciate that.”

Obama’s Bank Fee Plan to “Get Our Money Back”

     Sometimes, I know that I can be alittle slow. Sometimes, it takes awhile for things to sink in. But as of yet, even more than a week after he has said it, I am still not understanding the concept that Obama is putting forth to assess the banks  that received TARP funds, to recoup “our money”

     “Riddle me this” OBatman— The banks that the White House wants to charge a fee to, as a means of recouping the TARP funds used to bail the banks out, HAVE ALREADY REPAID THE TARP FUNDS, with INTEREST!! So now, they must pay a penalty on top of that, and the White House is appalled that the banks say that the fee expense will be passed on to the consumer. NEWSFLASH– that is the nature of business; the costs of business are part of the pricing model… basic simple Economics 101.

        Now, as anyone who has received a mortgage loan knows, there is usually an”origination fee” for the loan, i.e. a fee to give you the loan. IF there was to be such a thing in the TARP funds, the banks should have been told that upfront.

      Additionally, several TARP recipients and other bailout programs are not a part of the mix. GM and Chrysler have not repaid TARP funds, but are not going to be assessed a fee. I believe that I heard that Wells Fargo is not on the list either. Sounds like politics, not business. I am sure that we will hear a lot f villainization of Wall Street in the State of the Union address. Obama tried to get the crowd in Ohio to chant “we want our money back” to show that the people are angry with Wall Street.

      From those I have spoken with, the anger is not at Wall Street. After all, during the good years, no one complained about the “bonus” propgrams or executive salaries. The anger is with the bureaucrats in DC and New York. Barney Frank, Bill Clinton, barack Obama as a community organizer, Maxine Waters are all responsible for  the legislation that forced the banks to give loans that they basically should not have done. Questions were raised over the years about Fannie and Freddie, and Barney & Maxine protected them. Bush is demonized for the mortgage bubble, but the Bush White House tried on several occasions to question some of the policies that were leading us toward this disaster. The SEC was aware of the deriviatives that were being created by the brokerage houses using the mortgages, and they were aware of the AIG insurance on the plans, but they were asleep at the wheel.

      The anger on main street is not at Wall Street wholly and solely, but lies far more on the side of the Capitol…. Wall Street is merely the “distraction” that the Obama team is using to continue to demoralize our economy.