TX's most neon red county: Collin County hits new record for foreclosures

[rainbow4321]

Good going Collin County..looks like going 75% for chimp a few months ago was not the smartest thing to do..people here don't connect dots well..lay-offs, out-sourcing are started to add up again.


http://www.zwire.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=13990548&BRD=1426&PAG=461&dept_id=528208&rfi=6


Only a month after watching its numbers drop, Collin County has set a new quarterly record for homes headed for foreclosure.

For months, Collin County - and Denton, Dallas and Tarrant counties - have battled unemployment, bad loans and other factors feeding the foreclosure cycle. Shuttered residences provide outward evidence of a battered economy

With the most homes posted in a single quarter since the late 1980s, Collin County finds itself once again riding a foreclosure roller coaster. About 296 homes are headed for March auction, only a month after county numbers dropped 22 percent from those in January.

About 348 homes were posted that month, compared to 296 this time. Meanwhile, March numbers have surged 15 percent compared to March 2004 and 9 percent compared to last month. "If you look at this time a year ago, being up 15 percent - now, that's meaningful in that we have not made a significant decline on a year-to-date basis," said Roddy

[saltpoint]

1. Sheeeeee - it! How 'bout them tax cuts?!

Freedom's on the march!

[sendero]

2. This is very near where I live...

... and this is a direct result of the dot.com bust.

In Richardson, a suburb that connects to Dallas and Plano, an area developed in the 90s that came to be called Telecom Corridor.

Just about every major player in the telecom business moved there and built huge facilities. They hired thousands of computer programmers, because telecom is mostly a software business.

When the dot.com bust happened, these companies layed of half their workforce. The damage is still rippling through the economy.

Although I wasn't working in telecom at the time, this affected my software business in a big way. I don't program computers for a living any more.

If this economy had recovered in a normal cycle, we'd all be pretty much back to normal now. But it hasn't and it isn't, because there is a moron running the show.

And yes, I live near Plano and I have a strong dislike for it. It is the epitome of what is wrong with America. It is virtually full of MEpublicans.

[tanyev]

4. Hi, sendero!

My husband works for Nortel and is fortunately a survivor of the purge, but there is now a constant concern in the back of our minds that he could be next. What's really annoying is that he is constantly complaining about the quality of all the work that they outsource. He is usually the one that has to go in and fix it with a deadline hanging over him.

But we're very thankful he still has a job.

[sendero]

6. I'm..

... glad he's survived - he's probably going to be ok it seems like the cuts are over, for now.

Yes, companies are already finding out that you get what you pay for in terms of software development. Getting good coding done is never easy, and the problem is that the quality of the work a third party performs is very difficult to assess. A lot of these guys get their money and they are long gone before the buyer figures out the code is crap.

I did software development for 18 years, most of that time out of my home office. At companies, a perennial problem was managing quality, I can only imagine how difficult it must be when you are dealing with folks all over the place :) In a company environment, small close-knit teams always produced the best work in my experience.

I wish I had a few hundred thousand $$$ - I'd go buy some of those foreclosed houses :)

[Boomer]

25. Same story here

>> Getting good coding done is never easy, and the problem is that the quality of the work a third party performs is very difficult to assess. <<

I work for a software development company, and for the last few months we've been trying to use short-term contract labor (in the US) for spikes in our production schedule. The experience has pretty much proved that using coders who aren't acutally on the premises is very risky. Over and over again, we've ended paying the outsourced programmer for work that is so shoddy that we have to throw it out and start all over again.

[Skittles]

11. I feel exactly how your husband does

I have to deal with the fallout of the quality of the outsourced work - and it ain't pretty. Plus in this industry you know your job can be outsourced anytime.

[Skittles]

10. yes but there is the occasional anomaly

SKITTLES LIVES IN PLANO! :hi:

[sendero]

17. Absolutely..

... present company excluded.

Even the reddest counties are a little purple. :)

[rainbow4321]

14. EDS is still outsourcing...

Friend of mine here in Plano said that the goal of the employees at EDS is to have like 40% of their dept. outsourced..anything less then that and the whole dept is looked at for the next round of layoffs/ dept. shutdowns...at one point she told me how the company will fly people in from another country, have a local worker train them, and then that local worker or his/her co-worker is then let go from the company cuz the person who flew in then goes home and takes the job with them!!
5 gas stations within 2 miles of my house have shut down, every small business owner store up near our Albertson's changes hands at least every 6 months <except for that damn Starbucks that took over the "This Can't Be Yogurt" store that we loved---grrrr>. I've started finding non-chain restaurants to frequent when we go out to eat...poor mom and pop places don't stand a chance around here, might as well help them out--and their food is soo much better, anyway!
Collin County's new solution is to have a hospital on every street corner..so now we have 3 or 4 half empty hospitals instead of 1 or 2 full ones. Not really adding to the economy, just shuffling what little money there is into different parts of the county.

[tanyev]

3. You get what you vote for.

I live in Collin County, and I can't wait to tell that to somebody.

I noticed even before the election when I went walking in my neighborhood that it was kind of hard to spot the Bush-Cheney signs because of all the red, white and blue For Sale signs. Maybe they're all living in their huge SUVs with the "W" on the back.

[rainbow4321]

15. Best yard ad sign I saw up near our school ...

that reflected how bad things are here...back pre-Black Tuesday a house had a chimp-cheney campaign yard sign and right behind it was a yard sign with: "No Health Insurance? Call 972-xxx-xxxx". Hmmmmmm.

Hey, did you all hear how some guy had a 4 ft by 4 ft chimp sign on his yard fence (in Nov 2004) along Parker Rd and it, um, "caught fire"...his neighbor had to grab a fire extinguisher and go over and put it out..the sign AND the fence. Not condoning, JUST sharing :evilgrin: :evilgrin: :evilgrin:

[hatrack]

5. Reminds me of recent coverage in the Kansas City Star

They've had a number of articles about how the newly-minted Gov. Skippy (Matt Blunt-R) and the Puke Legislature are cutting off Medicaid for more than 80,000 and reducing it for another 40,000 of the poorest people in Missouri. Now, if you make more than (I believe) $4,300 per year as an individual, you'll be ineligible for what Medicaid services remain. This is in addition to big cuts in mental health, rehab and other medical services.

One couple, parents of a handicapped child said that they voted for Blunt, but had no idea that "vital social services", like extended medical and education services for their daughter, would be reduced.

In another article, another retired couple, both with severe medical problems requiring in-home care, are going to lose that in-home care. Their medical bennies from Medicaid are all that keeps them afloat and living independently, and they're about to go bye-bye. And yes, they both voted for Blunt, but said that losing their medical coverage "was like a kick in the teeth."

Amazing how people can vote for the self-proclaimed Party of Smaller Government, and then act all hurt and surprised when the government becomes smaller. Oh, but I forgot, it was all about "moral values", wasn't it? :eyes:

[smoogatz]

7. You gotta wonder

How long before the lightbulb flickers on for these people? How long can you distract them with the three Gs before they figure out that they're getting screwed--without so much as a reach-around?

[Skittles]

8. I live in Collin County

you should see the size of the houses around here - they are ugly, HUGE, and 6 inches from each other

[sendero]

23. Yes..

... the land of McMansions.

Another catalyst for this sad situation is that too many people just go nuts when they buy a house. They buy into an idea that has only been a good idea a few years out of the last 3 decades, when there is rampant inflation and you'd better buy all the house you can possibly afford - and let inflation build your equity.

New lax lending requirements make it possible to move into a nice big house and have thousands and thousand of negative equity on day one.

So many people just assume that they should still be buying "all the house they can afford", and no doubt some of the reason for that is "getting past the Jones's". But when you stretch yourself out like that you are really vulnerable to any hiccup in your earnings.

Younger folks out there - buy the house that you NEED. Maybe with a little room to grow. Because there is no bigger albatross around your financial neck than owning a house with negative equity.

[F.Gordon]

9. So much for that whole "ownership society" thing

From the CFED the State of Texas receives a "F" for Performance in their state grading system. Also, a few very negative national rankings that the State of Texas can be proud of :sarcasm:....

42 Greenhouse Gas Emissions
43 Involuntary Part-Time Employment
43 Income from Dividends, Interest and Rent
44 Loans to Small Businesses
45 Unemployment Rate
45 Average Annual Pay Growth
45 Poverty Rate
45 Homeownership Rate
45 Per Capita Energy Consumption
46 Crime Rate
47 Income Distribution
48 Employer Health Coverage
48 Working Poor
48 Voting Rate
48 Renewable Energy
48 High School Completion
49 Teen Pregnancy
50 Uninsured Low Income Children
50 High School Attainment

You Bush* backers just go ahead and keep supporting this fucking idiot and the rest of the clueless GOP gang, ya hear?

It's so ironic that the State of Texas is a poster child against everything that Bush* says is "good" about this country. Oh well, keep voting Republican, ya hear?

[mhr]

12. 112,000 North Dallas Telecom Workers Lost Their Jobs In 2001 And 2002

Cingular purchased AT&T wireless last year = more local layoffs.

Southwestern Bell purchased AT&T long distance this year = more local layoffs.

North Dallas was pretty much defined by Telecom for many years.

Most of those high-tech jobs are gone for good.

I don't feel sorry for the Freepers and Fundies of North Dallas that voted for Amerika's Hitler in Chief!

Disclaimer: Ex-telecom worker in North Dallas - Unemployed for 59 months - Did not vote for Bush

[Wright Patman]

13. So that whole damned county

was paved over in the last few decades only to become full of ghost towns and subdivisions now?

Well, the good news is that trees wouldn't grow there to begin with and so no old-growth forests had to be leveled.

[rainbow4321]

20. If Kay Bailey decides to run for gov...

someone needs to throw the Collin County stats up in her face, seeing as how this IS her backyard....so what exactly HAS she done to stop the job/home/outsource loss here??
She and Perry are coming here to have a fundraiser later this month along w/ Coulter what's-her-face. Guess they want to collect money from those county supporters who still have a home?? Maybe they can help pitch tent camps for the rest of the residents who don't.

[tanyev]

22. I sent her an email with the offensive

quote Ann Coulter had on her website on at Christmas:
"To The People Of Islam: Just think: If we'd invaded your countries, killed your leaders and converted you to Christianity YOU'D ALL BE OPENING CHRISTMAS PRESENTS RIGHT ABOUT NOW! Merry Christmas." - http://www.anncoulter.com/ (since removed) December 22-December 29, 2004.

I reminded Senator KBH that she has a lot of Muslim constituents here in North Texas that probably were not too amused with that greeting. I suspect she'll still attend the fundraiser, though.

[rainbow4321]

24. Her area's demographics are changing....she may want to avoid hatemongers

I read this in the DMN last night..Plano school officials are freaking out and pretty much insulting the growing non-white student population here. Automatically saying that the district's test scores are going to plummet cuz Plano schools are no longer going to stay with a white majority. KBH may want to take note before she starts to hang with racial hate mongers.
As you read how our population is changing, a thing to know is that the district took it upon itself to totally eliminate the district's social worker dept..the group of people that closely followed the disadvantaged, high risk kids <low income, etc...>. They worked w/ kids who were on the verge of dropping out, had high truancy rates, etc.. So when I read the quotes from the school officials in this article, I know they are full of shit. If they were so worried about the new demographics they would have left the social worker dept alone and cut the budget elsewhere...


http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/news/city/collin/stories/022005dncconudemos.31255.html


As the district's Asian and Hispanic enrollment continues to balloon, the population of white students is projected to dip below 50 percent within the next five years, according to recently released projections. Students from poorer families, who are often the hardest to teach, are the district's fastest growing group.

In Plano, where the perception lingers that schools are full of rich white kids, the district is grappling with reality, and searching for ways to hold on to its academic reputation while its student body changes.

The district has traditionally prided itself for giving schools equal access to equipment and resources, such as the number of computers per classroom. But schools with higher percentages of economically disadvantaged students need more resources to bring them up to the level of other students, Mr. Webb said.

"I interpret this to be somewhat of a change in philosophy," he said. "We're going to take our limited resources and put them where they need to go close the achievement gap. ... It wasn't necessary 10 years ago because pretty much a homogenous set of students."

[tanyev]

26. Bright side--

This means that five years from now many of the uber-Republicans will have fled in their Hummers to points farther north, and I won't find Plano such an annoying place to live. :)

[katinmn]

16. They may go homeless, but at least gays can't marry

[PurityOfEssence]

18. and we get to stomp some mooslims.

I'm gonna make my narrow belief system the only one acceptable even if I have to live in a cardboard box for the rest of my days.

[rainbow4321]

19. And that cardboard box will have a huge W sticker on it

You are not far off.... a radio news report described some Collin County residents as being pretty pissed off that a local mosque was a polling booth back in Nov. One of them said it just didn't seem "right" having to go into a mosque to vote...personally, it didn't seem RIGHT to me when I heard one county polling booth was stationed in Collin County's Diebold/ES&S office in McKinney!!! Guess the workers justed wanted to be able to go fuck with the machines on their lunchbreak???

[katinmn]

21. a polling place at a Diebold/E&S office? pretty convenient

they sure are bold little effers, aren't they?