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Crewleader
Crewleader's Journal
Crewleader's Journal
August 31, 2014
August 31, 2014
Sacred Land
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Patos Island, one of Washington's San Juan Islands, is part of a thousand-acre national monument created last year by President Barack Obama. Wilderness, a higher form of land protection, covers 350 acres of the San Juans
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/
Photo of the Day
August 31, 2014
Sacred Land
Photograph by Michael Melford, National Geographic
Patos Island, one of Washington's San Juan Islands, is part of a thousand-acre national monument created last year by President Barack Obama. Wilderness, a higher form of land protection, covers 350 acres of the San Juans
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/
August 30, 2014
You can smell the end of the summer real estate season as some drunk sellers are pulling properties off the market since they are unable to obtain their ridiculous prices. Funny how expectations work. Some sellers drink the Kool-Aid and suddenly think their home is worth some optimistic appraisal or what a manic market will pay. You even see this in the real estate ads where sellers try to throw in their best curveball on what otherwise is a glorified closet. But hey, prices will only go up so buy with all the confidence in the world and never mind the carrying costs, opportunity costs, or other factors that make buying a more intricate process. The fall housing market always slows down. Now, with foreclosures making a smaller portion of sales, we should expect to see a bit more seasonal changes. However, I just love seeing some of the old neighborhoods where old properties are being sold as if they were newly built quality homes. We are seeing this in places like Pasadena for example. Let us go shopping in Santa Monica and see what we can get with $900,000.
The Republic of Santa Monica and L.A. County
L.A. County is the most populated county in the state of California. More than 10,000,000 people call this area home. The majority of households rent. Yes, that other four letter word. And this trend has only grown since the housing bubble popped. If you want to buy in today’s market, expect to find tight inventory and sellers high on believing that real estate is somehow some golden ticket to prosperity. Even with inventory rising and prices stalling out, people are still on the real estate meth of 2013. The 1,000,000 foreclosures since the crisis hit in the state seem to now be a distant memory. Flippers are out in fashion and cable producers are trying each and every way to figure out how they can repackage the idea of selling a piece of shelter. These aren’t people creating ground breaking companies, scientific breakthroughs, or reshaping our economy. No, basically handing over a home which is essentially shelter to another person and skimming cash off in the process. That is probably why the allure remains for real estate. Everyone can understand it. Everyone can understand the process of prices going up. It doesn’t take a genius to understand a house has a roof, bathrooms, rooms, kitchen, and living room. With a few cable shows under your belt, you suddenly are an expert on recessed lighting, hardwood floors, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. You learn about staging, the plastic surgery of home sales. In other words, real estate is the bread and circus for the public. Good luck trying to get the public to understand derivatives, options, high frequency trading, or how the bond market works. For a public that doesn’t know Ben Bernanke from Ben Hur, it is understandable how people can get swept up in the winds of mania. Real estate is tangible and not complicated. Yet to make it seem like a no brainer (which it was for a couple of generations) is now out the window especially in high priced markets.
L.A. County continues to grow but at a much slower pace:
Things are slowing down and most of the recent household growth has been in the form of renters. You also have adult kids moving in with their Taco Tuesday loving baby boomer parents since they don’t have the money to pay higher rents, let alone venture out to purchase a home. Mom and dad brought you up in Santa Monica so now you want to live there. You want something modest and something that allows you to be as “successful” as your parents since they bought in Santa Monica as well. Take a look at this beauty:
727 Marine St, Santa Monica, CA 90405
2 beds, 1 bath, 730 square feet
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/socal-real-estate-fall-selling-season-santa-monica-housing-rents/
Dr. Housing Bubble 08/30/2014
Enter in the fall housing market: Shopping in Santa Monica with a $900,000 budget. Expectations running high before the fall season hits.You can smell the end of the summer real estate season as some drunk sellers are pulling properties off the market since they are unable to obtain their ridiculous prices. Funny how expectations work. Some sellers drink the Kool-Aid and suddenly think their home is worth some optimistic appraisal or what a manic market will pay. You even see this in the real estate ads where sellers try to throw in their best curveball on what otherwise is a glorified closet. But hey, prices will only go up so buy with all the confidence in the world and never mind the carrying costs, opportunity costs, or other factors that make buying a more intricate process. The fall housing market always slows down. Now, with foreclosures making a smaller portion of sales, we should expect to see a bit more seasonal changes. However, I just love seeing some of the old neighborhoods where old properties are being sold as if they were newly built quality homes. We are seeing this in places like Pasadena for example. Let us go shopping in Santa Monica and see what we can get with $900,000.
The Republic of Santa Monica and L.A. County
L.A. County is the most populated county in the state of California. More than 10,000,000 people call this area home. The majority of households rent. Yes, that other four letter word. And this trend has only grown since the housing bubble popped. If you want to buy in today’s market, expect to find tight inventory and sellers high on believing that real estate is somehow some golden ticket to prosperity. Even with inventory rising and prices stalling out, people are still on the real estate meth of 2013. The 1,000,000 foreclosures since the crisis hit in the state seem to now be a distant memory. Flippers are out in fashion and cable producers are trying each and every way to figure out how they can repackage the idea of selling a piece of shelter. These aren’t people creating ground breaking companies, scientific breakthroughs, or reshaping our economy. No, basically handing over a home which is essentially shelter to another person and skimming cash off in the process. That is probably why the allure remains for real estate. Everyone can understand it. Everyone can understand the process of prices going up. It doesn’t take a genius to understand a house has a roof, bathrooms, rooms, kitchen, and living room. With a few cable shows under your belt, you suddenly are an expert on recessed lighting, hardwood floors, granite countertops, and stainless steel appliances. You learn about staging, the plastic surgery of home sales. In other words, real estate is the bread and circus for the public. Good luck trying to get the public to understand derivatives, options, high frequency trading, or how the bond market works. For a public that doesn’t know Ben Bernanke from Ben Hur, it is understandable how people can get swept up in the winds of mania. Real estate is tangible and not complicated. Yet to make it seem like a no brainer (which it was for a couple of generations) is now out the window especially in high priced markets.
L.A. County continues to grow but at a much slower pace:
Things are slowing down and most of the recent household growth has been in the form of renters. You also have adult kids moving in with their Taco Tuesday loving baby boomer parents since they don’t have the money to pay higher rents, let alone venture out to purchase a home. Mom and dad brought you up in Santa Monica so now you want to live there. You want something modest and something that allows you to be as “successful” as your parents since they bought in Santa Monica as well. Take a look at this beauty:
727 Marine St, Santa Monica, CA 90405
2 beds, 1 bath, 730 square feet
http://www.doctorhousingbubble.com/socal-real-estate-fall-selling-season-santa-monica-housing-rents/
August 30, 2014
August 30, 2014
Tip of the Iguana
Photograph by Lorenzo Mittiga, National Geographic Your Shot
Not quite as threatening as some sea monsters, a spiny-backed iguana floats by photographer Lorenzo Mittiga in the Bonaire Caves of the Dutch Caribbean.
"There I was, fully equipped with my camera, its underwater housing, and a wide-angle lens, preparing for the final setting of the sun, when a friend interrupted my solitude," writes Mittiga, a member of our Your Shot community. “He had dived into the water above my head and was swimming around the entrance of the cave, as if to say 'hello' to me.”
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/
Photo of the Day
August 30, 2014
Tip of the Iguana
Photograph by Lorenzo Mittiga, National Geographic Your Shot
Not quite as threatening as some sea monsters, a spiny-backed iguana floats by photographer Lorenzo Mittiga in the Bonaire Caves of the Dutch Caribbean.
"There I was, fully equipped with my camera, its underwater housing, and a wide-angle lens, preparing for the final setting of the sun, when a friend interrupted my solitude," writes Mittiga, a member of our Your Shot community. “He had dived into the water above my head and was swimming around the entrance of the cave, as if to say 'hello' to me.”
http://photography.nationalgeographic.com/photography/photo-of-the-day/
August 30, 2014
Ole and Swen are Back
Ole and Sven were drinking buddies who worked as aircraft mechanics in Minneapolis and one day the airport was fogged in and they
were stuck in the hangar with nothing to do.
Ole said, "I vish ve had somethin ta drink!"
Sven says, "Me too. Y'know, I hear ya can drink dat jet fuel and get a buzz. Ya vanna try it?"
So they pour themselves a couple of glasses of high octane hooch and got completely smashed.
Next morning Ole woke up and is surprised at how good he feels. In fact he feels GREAT! NO hangover! NO bad side effects. Nothing!
The phone rang. It was Sven who asks "How iss you feelin dis mornin?"
Ole says, "I feel great. How bout you?"
Sven says, "I feel great, too. Ya don't have no hangover?"
Ole says, "No dat jet fuel iss great stuff -- no hangover, nothin. Ve oughta do dis more often."
Sven agreed."Yeah, vell, but dere's yust vun ting."
Ole asked, "Vat's dat?"
Sven questioned, "Haff you farted yet?"
Ole stopped to think. "No "
"Vell, DON'T, 'cause I'm in Iowa 
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