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February 19, 2009
Homeward BoundThat's right, dear readers, this displaced Californian is heading back to the Golden State. As such, I regret to inform you that this will be my last official Big Builder blog post. That's the bad news. The good news: John McManus, Sarah Yaussi, and I decided it would be a great idea if I punctuated my roadtrip with visits to various home builders and documented my progress along the way. I'll be snapping photos, shooting some video, and talking with several industry members to get a new perspective on the housing downturn. Be sure to keep an eye on Big Builder's Twitter updates for the full story as it unfolds, or you can follow me directly. The adventure kicks off a week from today on Thursday, Feb. 26. Wish me luck!... Posted By: lbrown | Time: 12:08:00 PM | Permalink and Comments (4 Total) February 17, 2009
Thank you, Captain ObviousZip Realty, are you kidding me? BusinessWeek's Hot Property reveals that good ol' Zip has determined that (brace yourselves...) women are in the driver's seat when it comes to home purchases. I'll pause while you recover from the shock of that breaking news...... Posted By: lbrown | Time: 1:36:00 PM | Permalink and Comments (0 Total) February 12, 2009
All's Fair in Love and TaxesThe Wall Street Journal has an interesting post on the potential effectiveness (or lack thereof) of the home buyer tax credit still being negotiated by Congress. But the comment thread is even more interesting... in a sad sort of way. Would WSJ's readers like a little more cheese with all that whine? Geez... Posted By: lbrown | Time: 11:16:00 AM | Permalink and Comments (0 Total) February 09, 2009
WaMu War StoriesBusinessWeek's Hot Property takes us to a website collecting stories from former Washington Mutual shareholders and employees, ostensibly to produce a movie that will reveal the truth behind the bank's failure—and raises the question of whether or not the FDIC used WaMu and Bear Stearns to bail out JPMorgan.... Posted By: lbrown | Time: 1:21:00 PM | Permalink and Comments (0 Total) February 05, 2009
To Buy or Not to Buy, Not Much of a QuestionThis seems like it should hardly come as a shock, but newsflash! from Seeking Alpha: Home prices have increased more rapidly than rents, it's significantly cheaper to rent than to buy (not even taking into account the costs of taxes and insurance (albeit also not factoring in the fact that mortgage interest is tax deductible, I'll give you that)). Conclusion: Financially, there is no motivation to buy a home aside from price appreciation. Thus, in a market where homes are depreciating in value (i.e. the current one (in fact, the Wall Street Journal reports that price declines accelerated in 4Q2008)), it is illogical to buy a home.... Posted By: lbrown | Time: 9:29:00 AM | Permalink and Comments (2 Total)
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