THIS S**T JUST GOT REAL IN SCARSDALE!

Currently, the rich getting their respective asses handed them is prevalent theme in this economy. The New York Times most recent article on the woes of the riches of New York which has gotten alto of play on Gothamist and Gawker.




It has gotten to the point that the rich are now dealing with like normal which is consume enormous quantities of alcohol and food.

The drop in wealth has also exposed other personal problems, like bad marriages. Money — which bought jewelry or extravagant vacations — helped smooth over many of these difficulties, said Kenneth Mueller, a psychotherapist in the East Village who works with many Wall Street bankers and real estate developers. Now, he said, his clients “catastrophize” smaller bonuses or shriveling stock portfolios. “You have to remind them that there’s something that has always been there,” he said. “All the money helped mask the anxiety.”
The very wealthy can’t hide anything from their nutritionists and personal trainers, because they see the weight gain. Heather Bauer, a dietitian who works with many Wall Street executives who pay $600 to $800 a month for her services, says her clients have been eating and drinking more in the last six months. She sees results of this indulging each time they step on a scale, and in their journals that record what they’ve eaten.

The part I found most amusing was this

Other wealthy clients are cutting luxuries that they think their friends and relatives won’t notice, according to Mr. Del Gatto of Circa. At Circa’s midtown offices, he said, the seven consultation rooms have been busy with customers selling their precious gems. Some older couples, he said, are selling estate jewelry to help support their children who have lost Wall Street jobs. Bankers are paring down their collections of Patek Philippe watches. Wives from Greenwich and Scarsdale are selling 2-carat to 35-carat single-stone diamond rings. One recent client explained to Mr. Del Gatto that she was selling $2 million in diamonds she rarely wore, because her friends wouldn’t notice that they were gone.

Which brings me to Scarsdale. As everyone knows Scarsdale is probably one of the most prominent areas of Westchester. The taxes alone could make Donald Trump drop a load in his pants.

I have been hearing chatter about Scarsdale for the last 3 years that houses for sale are still lying dormant with nervous sellers on the sidelines waiting for a Christmas miracle. Unfortunately the information that I have been hearing has been purely anecdotal. And of the course official sources, like the town newspaper have put out the party line that everything is honky dory.

That is until now.





For the last couple of months I have been utilizing Hot Pads Foreclosures maps which has been quite useful. In a nutshell it uses color to determine the amount of foreclosures that are occurring in a region. If your blue your good and red your dead. It works just like the Homeland Security Threat levels.

Scarsdale for the last couple of months has been in the dark blue, which is pretty good but in my opinion for an area as wealthy as Scarsdale it should be ice cold. So yesterday, after reading the article on the woes of the rich, I did another foreclosure search and my jaw hit the ground.

SCARSDALE IS NOW GREEN! Yes. It has always been environmentally conscious but besides that. According to the foreclosure map, foreclosures are starting to rise. That is absolutely unheard in a town of this nature. But it appears the rich are not getting richer but are getting hammered along with the rest of the proletariat.

I knew this was going to get bad, but I didn’t think it was going hit these areas. So it appears there are some people in Scarsdale that are hocking their jewelry to pay for their mortgages, that is until they can sell. That is if that ever happens.

Ron Stenger: Homebuilder of few words.

This is an email I received from Barry of the Big Picture. NSFW for language.

What a charming gentleman:


Ron Stenger: Builder, Real Estate Sales, Class Act
Posted by Barry Ritholtz on Sunday, June 01, 2008 | 10:06 AM


Every now and then, I get a surprising email from a reader.

Here's today's special insight, from Ron Stenger, a reader in the home building andrealty sales field, written in response to our prior post on foreclosures.

Take it away, Ron:

From: ronstenger@att.blackberry.net
Subject: Re: The Big Picture
Date: June 1, 2008 7:54:00 AM EDT
To: The big picture
Reply-To: ronstenger@att.blackberry.net


Fuck u


Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

-----Original Message-----
From: The Big Picture
Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 18:08:59
To: ron@stengerhomes.com
Subject: RSS The Big Picture

The Big Picture



Mortgage Delinquencies Accelerating
Posted: 31 May 2008 11:30 AM CDT

The mortgage crisis is bad and getting worse. The latest evidence suggests that any bottom in real estate is some ways off in the future: "Newly delinquent mortgage borrowers outnumbered people who caught up on their overdue payments by two to one last month, a sign that nationwide efforts to help homeowners avoid default may be failing.

SNIP





Thanks for the feedback, Ron. I've seen pictures of the homes you build/sell, and I would have expected nothing less from you.

Given your class, leadership and professionalism, one is left to wonder how the home building and real estate industries ever ran into problems in the first place . . .



For more information, contact:

Ron Stenger Companies
5051 S. National Ave.
Springfield, MO 65810
(417) 889-4300
Fax (417) 889-0889
email@ronstenger.com

Let's give Ron a big hand

Beyond disbelief, disgrace and tragedy

SERIOUSLY! WHAT THE F**K?

This absolutely f**king outrageous this collapsed even occurred. According to Curbed these a**holes have had a string of violations.



One comment on Curbed pretty much summed up why this happened.

The clock is ticking on a recession and these developers have put big dollars and extreme pressure for these construction companies to rush. The construction companies are working illegal hours, cutting corners, doing everything possible to get the extra money for finishing ahead of schedule. The developers don't want to be stuck without a chair in the recession musical chairs, so we have to pay." [BREAKING: Crane Collapse on the Upper East Side]

This is just unacceptable. After what happened last time, the Bloomberg administration should have taken every measure to prevent this type of tragedy. I love Bloomberg. I really do. But at this point he should declare a lock down on all development sites with cranes and do a full body cavity search on all of these sites. Even the ones without violations. If these developers end up going belly up. F**k em. This is the business they chose and this is a risk they need to accept.



Meet Kimbo Slice.

Kimbo Slice is currently an MMA fighter who started out literally on the streets.

WARNING NSFW FOR LANGUAGE AND VIOLENCE!


As you can see he is no joke. He gained a reputation on the street fighting circuit then ended up going professional. The smartest thing he did was hook up with Bas Rutten and so far that training has paid off. Which brings me to this.

There is a group of people who started sparring in Union Square calling themselves the Union Square Spartans.



Here is a link to their fights.

I have to admit it is fun to watch however these "fighters" are nowhere near the level of Kimbo Slice let alone any serious martial artist.

Some of you are going to call me out, saying that I am not "hardcore" or that I should "man up" and see if I have what it takes. My response to that is simply NO. Sparring is an integral part of any martial arts program. If your objective is to be able to defend yourself then you need not only how to hit but to take a hit. You also need to handle the adrenaline dump that comes from the fight or flight response. This is where sparring comes in.

But it should be done in a controlled environment where the proper equipment is utilized which includes a cup, mouthpiece, head gear and gloves. Sparring should be done in a ring or a padded area. The participants should not only be skilled in their respective arts and be able to utilize control but they should also be skilled in break falls because they are going to be hitting the ground alot. That is why I would never be so foolish to purposely put myself in that type of situation.

That is why I would never participate in this type of contest because there are too many variables. One wrong move in the concrete arena means a broken bone, tooth and if you fall on that surface, you might be looking at a concussion. Also the last place you want to grapple on is concrete.

For those fighting enthusiasts who say that sparring in a controlled environment is for p***ies and that sparring on the street is the only way to prepare you for a street fight should read this site.

Go to a boxing gym, dojang, dojo, kwoon, MMA gym where you can learn how to do this properly from professionals. There is nothing wrong with martial artists working out in a park, but the way these individuals are conducting themselves is problematic.

From a real estate perspective, this type of activity is not something that raises property values. For instance, what if people begin to bet on these fights? What if another party challenges the Union Square Spartans? An out of control sparring match on a hot summer day can lead to a world of hurt for everyone, especially near a crowd of innocent people.

It appears that the activities have caught the attention of the NYPD because now they have required them to get a permit to spar. Which is highly unlikely, so now they have gone to Tompkins Square Park. That is probably a better place to spart because they at least have soft ground to land on.

Harvey Korman: You will be missed.

Make the Angels laugh!

Fear

You can discover what your enemy fears most by observing the means he uses to frighten you.

Eric Hoffer

Greetings good people. I hope you all enjoyed your weekend. And what a great way to start the summer with some more real estate chaos.


New York Times has published a detailed story on the Tishman Speyer crackdown on violators of rent stabilization laws. Its not pretty.

Tishman Speyer has hired an army of lawyers and private investigators on tenants who are targeting abusers of the rent stabilization system. The problem is that alot of innocent tenants are caught in the cross fire.Here are two quotes that are of interest.

Tenants and their lawyers say they do not doubt that in some cases in which tenants gave up their apartments, the tenants had been abusing the rent-stabilization system. But they also believe that many of them were legitimate tenants who wanted to avoid, or were intimidated by, a potential legal battle with their landlord.

Referring to Tishman Speyer, Mr. Fishman, Ms. Shapiro’s lawyer, said, “They realize that a certain percentage of tenants will get this notice and simply pack, because they’re afraid.”

The objective of this pogrom is simple. Get the rent stabilized tenants out and replace them so you can charge market rates for the rent. But it begs two questions. Why is Tishman acting in this manner? Does it really make sense to do that in a market where New York City economy is getting eviscerated? Rent stabilized tenant or not, you need a cashflow if you are a landlord. And if you have a vacant apartment then you are not getting any cashflow no matter how much rent you are charging. The second question is Tishman really doing this?

I speculate that Tishman is in the process of preparing for a sale in the future. Yes. I know they just bouught Stuy town but I suspect the reason why they are going through with this pogrom is to beef up their balance sheets and to also make it more attractive to potential buyers.

Or it could be they need more money and that by clearing out the rent stabilized flotsam they could get a better loan.

It is a risky manuver because these tenants could ban together and file a class action suit. Or worse. Intiate a rent strike. Then Stuy town will never get these people out.

And another surprise is that more Wall Street jobs have been wiped out.

May 27 (Bloomberg) -- It's as if the entire workforce at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley vanished in less than a year.

From Tokyo to London to New York, financial companies announced plans to shed more than 83,000 jobs since last July as revenue and compensation pools evaporated, according to figures compiled by Bloomberg. The dismissals range from 90 jobs, or 0.1 percent of the total, at London-based HBOS Plc to about 9,160 jobs, or 66 percent of the workforce, at New York-based Bear Stearns Cos., which is being acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

The cuts add up to 3.3 percent of employees at the 28 firms eliminating positions. That's significantly less than the market slump from 2000 to 2003, when 17 percent of banking and securities jobs in New York were wiped out, data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics show. Given the record-breaking losses of the past year -- banks and brokers have taken $383 billion of writedowns and credit losses -- some economic forecasters and industry veterans expect the number of dismissals to increase.

``My guess is there's probably more to come,'' said Sanford ``Sandy'' Weill, chairman emeritus of Citigroup Inc., who worked on Wall Street for 53 years, in a May 21 interview. ``I think this is tougher'' than the last market decline, Weill, 75, said.

New York-based Citigroup, the biggest U.S. bank by assets, has announced 15,900 job cuts worldwide, about 4 percent of its employees.

The big surprise is that this appears to be just the beginning of something bigger and scarier.

``My guess is there's probably more to come,'' said Sanford ``Sandy'' Weill, chairman emeritus of Citigroup Inc., who worked on Wall Street for 53 years, in a May 21 interview. ``I think this is tougher'' than the last market decline, Weill, 75, said.

Since reading The True Believer, I have become quite an avid reader of his work. He has knack for being able to cut the social that holds up the meat of society.

Hoffer's quote about fear definitely applies to these two articles. It appears these Masters of the Universe are simply laying down the hammer in their respective domains. Their minions scampering away to find cover, running past the carcasses of the unlucky ones.

But remember, tables can turn on these Masters of the Universe. Remember, they are doing all of these things to deal with their desperate times. We are all scared.

New Bern NC High School

New Bern High School was recently mentioned in a recent Sports Illustrated Magazine as the top high school athletic program in North Carolina. After making it to the state finals for 3 out of the last 4 years New Bern finally won the state championship with a herculean effort against a team that had won 7 straight championships. Just a few weeks ago New Bern also won the state championship in track and field. This was the 3rd year in a row that the track team won the championship.In addition, the girls remained undefeated in the Coastal Conference for the 14th consecutive season. The baseball team, basketball team, and wrestling teams consistently have successful teams. No doubt,these are all worthy accomplishments.

Now that New Bern has their athletic program in high gear, I think it is time to gear up the academic programs. New Bern High lags behind the other high schools in Craven County as well as much of the state. There is no reason why academics should not be stressed as much, or more, than sports. Few if any of our athletes will ever make it to the professional level whereas almost all of our students could go to college if they apply themselves to their studies.

Roll Call: The Reality Check

Reality for this family began when the camera crew left and the bills started piling up.


Folks. Reality shows are not reality as this recent article about Extreme Makeover has indicated.

Extreme Home for sale

By MARLISA KEYES
Staff writer
Hebert can’t afford upkeep nor time for maintenance

SANDPOINT — Eric Hebert’s Extreme Home Makeover home is for sale.

Although grateful to the community for building the home, Hebert said owning it is more than he can manage time-wise and financially as he raises his late sister’s 11-year-old twins, Keely and Tyler.

His personal priorities changed four years ago and his primary concern is raising two children, Hebert said.

“It’s a little too much for the three of us,” he said.

Hebert is concerned that community residents who helped build his home in November 2006 will think he is selling it to make a profit.

“I’m not doing it (selling) to make a profit. I’m doing it not to lose money,” he said. “I just hope people understand the reality of it.”

Upkeep on the 3,678-square-foot challenge also is difficult. Hebert, who is single, works full-time and spends most evenings taking the kids to baseball and soccer practice. He said wants to enjoy his time with his niece and nephew. The cost to maintain the home is expensive and Hebert is worried about the economy, the price of gas and the cost of food.

Since moving into the new home, Hebert said his bills have tripled. This winter his electrical bill for forced air heating was no less than $300 a month, in addition to him paying for propane, Hebert said.

Sullivan Homes co-owner Lori Sullivan said she understands Hebert’s plight, calling him a great guy. Sullivan Homes was the primary contractor on the project. A number of other contractors from Bonner County and the Spokane area also helped, along with hundreds of local volunteers.

“Home ownership is tough for a lot of people all over the country right now,” Sullivan said.

She does not regret her involvement with building Hebert’s home, she said.

“It’s too bad it’s a burden for him,” Sullivan said. “We’re sad for Eric.”

When his subterranean home was replaced by the existing structure, Hebert was working in construction. However, he was given the opportunity to work at a sales job on 100 -ercent commission.

That did not work out and Hebert went back to his old job in construction. It has been humbling to discover that some things in life just do not work out, Hebert said.

“It took awhile for that reality to set in,” he said.

Hebert would not trade the Extreme Home Makeover experience for anything. He believes it has changed his life and the children’s for the better, citing their opportunity to travel to Washington, D.C., and lobby the American Heart Association, the chance to meet so many caring people in the community and to own a nice home.

Hebert also is realistic and knows there will be some “I told you so’s,” from people who questioned whether he could make his new situation work.

He doubts he will ever live in a home as nice as the one in which he is currently living, but he also does not see a home like the first poorly-built structure that put him on Extreme Home Makeover’s radar in his future either.

The 3,678-square-foot house and the one-acre property it sits on are listed for sale for $529,000 with Jim Watkins of Tomlinson’s Sandpoint Sotheby Realty. Hebert also owns another two acres adjacent to the home and has listed that property for $160,000.

Bonner County has appraised the house at $552,244 and the acreage at $125,000, according to the Bonner County Assessor’s office.

Although Hebert is hopeful someone will buy the property by the end of this summer, he also knows selling it may be a challenge given that there are 48 other homes for sale in the county within the same price range.

Hebert said he loves the home’s layout and its private Baldy Road location, but after six months of thinking about what to do, he said he had to be realistic and put the home up for sale.

The three-bedroom home is spectacular inside and out. It includes three bedrooms, three and a half baths, a bonus room, an office, a master bedroom with access to a deck that includes a fireplace and hot tub.

Two large windows in the two-story great room overlook a tree farm. The floors are covered with hardwood and slate.

Hebert spent six months thinking about whether the decision would be good for the kids who already have lost their mother who died of heart disease.

Fortunately, the kids understand his decision and are “resilient,” he said.

Although Keely’s room and its adjoining bathroom are plush, it is difficult for her to keep the room clean. They spent last weekend cleaning her room to prepare for showing buyers. However, Hebert did not have time to put away the vacuum cleaner and it sits in the middle of the upstairs hallway floor.

The dining room is rarely used — Hebert refers to it as the poker room and a light dust layer covers most surfaces.

Hebert is unsure what he will do once his home sells. He may stay in the area because he has a lot of friends here as well as an aunt and uncle in Kootenai with whom he is close. However, he also has friends in Montana.

“One thing at a time,” he said. “But I like it (Sandpoint). It’s a great place to raise kids.

”

It was a nice gesture on part of the show, however it jutt goes to show that the designers were more interested in building a showcase of a home instead of building home that suited the needs of the Mr. Hebert's household. Of course Mr. Hebert's timing could not be worse.

And it looks like even politicians are now getting in on the foreclosure act.

Update: Congresswoman denies foreclosure report

Update: California Rep. Laura Richardson today denied a published report that her $535,000 Sacramento home had slipped into foreclosure, saying she had renegotiated her loan to keep the home.

The house "... is not in foreclosure and has NOT been seized by the bank," Richardson, a Democrat from Long Beach, said in a statement. "I have worked with my lender to complete a loan modification and have renegotiated the terms of the agreement -- with no special provisions." (Richardson's entire statement is at the bottom of this article).

In other words she got a workout. However it still does not inspire alot of confidence in her constituents that someone that they elected nearly lost her home.