Comments on: Monday Open Thread (2009-04-27)

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 17:13:13 +0000

RE: Kary L. Krismer @ 12 - Yeah, you know it's nothing new, I know it's nothing new, but there are a lot of people that didn't, and still don't, understand that.

Reply - Kary L. Krismer @ 12<\/a> - Yeah, you know it\'s nothing new, I know it\'s nothing new, but there are a lot of people that didn\'t, and still don\'t, understand that.',''); return false;">Quote

By: Kary L. Krismer

Kary L. Krismer — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:09:31 +0000

RE: Joel @ 11 - Well again, that's nothing new. Environmental issues go bask to at least the 80s. Mold at least the 90s. Crack manufacturing at least this decade.And beyond that, when I lived on First Hill there were what at one day were probably upscale houses built in the early 1900s that didn't get saved.

Reply - Joel @ 11<\/a> - Well again, that\'s nothing new. Environmental issues go bask to at least the 80s. Mold at least the 90s. Crack manufacturing at least this decade. \r\n\r\nAnd beyond that, when I lived on First Hill there were what at one day were probably upscale houses built in the early 1900s that didn\'t get saved.',''); return false;">Quote

By: Joel

Joel — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 02:30:20 +0000

It used to be that if you compared the housing bubble to the internet bubble you were dismissed by "Houses aren't stocks. Home values can't go to zero because they have a utility." Turns out that not only can they go to zero, they can go negative.

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By: TJ_98370

TJ_98370 — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:08:24 +0000

Ben Jones Housing Bubble Blog quotes Seattle PI about Robert Schiller’s visit to SPU and other articles pertaining to the Pacific Northwest. The comments to this posting are worth reading also IMO.
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Contagions of Excitement
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Reply – Contagions of Excitement<\/a>\r\n.',''); return false;">Quote

By: Kary L. Krismer

Kary L. Krismer — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:00:52 +0000

RE: Scotsman @ 7 - I didn't watch the Youtube thing (my computer doesn't have speakers), but I just did a piece over in P-I land about damaged property--in this case freeze damage leading to water damage and likely mold. Anyway, I can easily see many situations where a property would have negative value. You used to see that years ago with environmental contamination. But mold could do it, and if you had an area with very low values, just about anything could do it.

Reply - Scotsman @ 7<\/a> - I didn\'t watch the Youtube thing (my computer doesn\'t have speakers), but I just did a piece over in P-I land about damaged property--in this case freeze damage leading to water damage and likely mold. Anyway, I can easily see many situations where a property would have negative value. You used to see that years ago with environmental contamination. But mold could do it, and if you had an area with very low values, just about anything could do it.',''); return false;">Quote

By: One Eyed Man

One Eyed Man — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 22:14:42 +0000

RE: Scotsman @ 7 -I certainly wouldn't argue that Seattle is special Scotsman, but I might be tempted to argue that SoCal is. They've always done a lot of crap there that I couldn't believe. And the camera shot made it look like such a garden spot too. Whose loan committee approved the money to build there? What do you name a development like that? Maybe Bleached Bones Vista, or Dead Snake Estates? Of course there was a view of the mountains in the back ground. I wonder if that's where you had to go to get your water. What a mess. i wonder if they even allowed anyone to come in and salvage all the salvagable materials like windows and fixtures. I doubt anyone would have paid for the rights, but it would have been a nice thing to do maybe give the stuff to Habitat for Humanity or something.

Reply - Scotsman @ 7<\/a> - \r\n\r\nI certainly wouldn\'t argue that Seattle is special Scotsman, but I might be tempted to argue that SoCal is. They\'ve always done a lot of crap there that I couldn\'t believe. And the camera shot made it look like such a garden spot too. Whose loan committee approved the money to build there? What do you name a development like that? Maybe Bleached Bones Vista, or Dead Snake Estates? Of course there was a view of the mountains in the back ground. I wonder if that\'s where you had to go to get your water. What a mess. i wonder if they even allowed anyone to come in and salvage all the salvagable materials like windows and fixtures. I doubt anyone would have paid for the rights, but it would have been a nice thing to do maybe give the stuff to Habitat for Humanity or something.',''); return false;">Quote

By: Scotsman

Scotsman — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 21:06:20 +0000

SoCal banks destroying foreclosed homes to control costs. It can't happen here though- Seattle is special...http://www.youtube.com/user/visionvictory?blend=1&ob=4

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By: Kary L. Krismer

Kary L. Krismer — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 15:26:21 +0000

By Hugh Dominic @ 5:

RE: seattlerenter @ 3 - For the record I am hoping that it is a minor outbreak - hoping for house prices to fall is not the same as hoping for a pandemic to make house prices fall faster - they are falling fast enough....

The way things are going, with housing getting hit by what's almost a perfect storm, it almost seems inevitable that this will be a major event. I saw on MSNBC, I think, that there were actually three such events in the 20th Century, the last being 1957, and the worst being 1913 or some such thing.BTW, besides housing and travel, I think a lot of things would be affected. Cars would be very hard hit with large population losses, especially if those losses hit the wage earning years. The thing interesting about these events is different influenzas hit different age groups, and so far this does seem to be one that hits middle aged people.

Reply - Hugh Dominic @ 5<\/a>:

RE:<\/b> seattlerenter @ 3<\/a> - For the record I am hoping that it is a minor outbreak - hoping for house prices to fall is not the same as hoping for a pandemic to make house prices fall faster - they are falling fast enough....<\/blockquote>\r\n\r\nThe way things are going, with housing getting hit by what\'s almost a perfect storm, it almost seems inevitable that this will be a major event. I saw on MSNBC, I think, that there were actually three such events in the 20th Century, the last being 1957, and the worst being 1913 or some such thing.\r\n\r\nBTW, besides housing and travel, I think a lot of things would be affected. Cars would be very hard hit with large population losses, especially if those losses hit the wage earning years. The thing interesting about these events is different influenzas hit different age groups, and so far this does seem to be one that hits middle aged people.',''); return false;">Quote

By: Hugh Dominic

Hugh Dominic — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 03:05:57 +0000
RE: seattlerenter @ 3 - I certainly would put any major transaction on hold until I figured out whether this was a minor outbreak of a new type of flu or the beggining of a major pandemic....time will tell.I do think that if it is a major pandemic, in addition to the human suffering (deaths, illness etc.) there could be severe economic repercussions as travel and trade grind to a halt.Not a pretty scenario, and not one I would buy a house in.For the record I am hoping that it is a minor outbreak - hoping for house prices to fall is not the same as hoping for a pandemic to make house prices fall faster - they are falling fast enough....
Reply - seattlerenter @ 3<\/a> - \r\nI certainly would put any major transaction on hold until I figured out whether this was a minor outbreak of a new type of flu or the beggining of a major pandemic....time will tell.\r\n\r\nI do think that if it is a major pandemic, in addition to the human suffering (deaths, illness etc.) there could be severe economic repercussions as travel and trade grind to a halt.\r\n\r\nNot a pretty scenario, and not one I would buy a house in.\r\n\r\nFor the record I am hoping that it is a minor outbreak - hoping for house prices to fall is not the same as hoping for a pandemic to make house prices fall faster - they are falling fast enough....',''); return false;">Quote

By: Acerun

Acerun — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:44:16 +0000
Lets all make some $ off of this mess.Coming soon to a casino, errrr, investment account near you!Leveraged funds based on the Case-Shiller index.http://debtsofanation.blogspot.com/2009/04/debts-of-spenders-3x-levered-housing.html
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By: seattlerenter

seattlerenter — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 20:12:15 +0000
So are people getting worried about this pandemic, my sons school called to ask about a runny nose, never happened before. Could this be the blackswan people have been refering to?
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By: One Eyed Man

One Eyed Man — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 13:36:10 +0000
RE: Scotsman @ 1 - World going to hell? Based upon the events you list I think any remaining members of the Lesser Seattle Movement might beg to differ. Maybe I'll be able to afford a water front place when I retire after all.
Reply - Scotsman @ 1<\/a> -\r\nWorld going to hell? Based upon the events you list I think any remaining members of the Lesser Seattle Movement might beg to differ. Maybe I\'ll be able to afford a water front place when I retire after all.',''); return false;">Quote

By: Scotsman

Scotsman — Mon, 27 Apr 2009 07:39:36 +0000
Unbelievable. While I've been away from my computer for the last four days the whole world has gone to hell. I come home to discover I'm most likely going to die from swine flu in my foreclosed Seattle home while Boeing loads up the last vans before moving out.You guys are lucky I'm typically more of a home-body. ;-)
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