Here’s a good summary of Obama’s proposed foreclosure rescue plan from our friends over at Calculated Risk. This plan rewards those homebuyers who speculated with excessive leverage. I think this is a mistake. Another problem with Part 2 is that this lowers the interest rate for borrowers far underwater, but other than the $1,000 per…
Category: News
News, current events, etc.
February 26 Community Forum on the Future of Journalism
The following is a blatantly-copied press release for an upcoming community event that I am (very loosely) involved in the organization of. Download the event flyer here (pdf), and spread the news to anyone you know that is interested in the future of journalism in Seattle (and elsewhere). Obviously I give the traditional fish wrap…
Friday Link Roundup: Slow Sales, Foreclosures, Deceptive Stats
Got a bunch of things to share with everybody that have built up over the past week, so let’s just get right into it. First up, a couple of stories that take a look at the big picture local numbers… Aubrey Cohen, Seattle P-I: Washington sees nation’s largest drop in sales Patricia Murphy, KUOW: Bad…
$15k Tax Credit On the Chopping Block
It looks like the $15,000 homebuyer tax credit may not make it into the final “stimulus” plan after all… From the AP: Working to accommodate the new, lower overall limit of the bill, negotiators effectively wiped out a Senate-passed provision for a new $15,000 tax credit to defray the cost of buying a home, these…
Calculated Risk on the $15k Homebuyer Tax Credit
I’m sure many real estate agents out there are throwing parties and dancing in the streets with the Senate passage of the so-called stimulus that includes a $15,000 tax credit for home buyers. The idea is that somehow this will magically rescue the housing market and (presumably) reverse the fall of home prices. Personally, I’m…