Ben, Baby Take a Bow!
Let's All Give A Nod of Respect for Ben Jones, Father of the best Bubble Blog on the Blogosphere: The Housing Bubble Blog
Newsweek's Kathy Jones, sat down for a little Q&A with Ben....
"The fall of 2004 was no time for real-estate pessimists. In red-hot markets like California, prices in some communities spiked 50 percent higher than the previous year; multiple-bid offers were common on homes and cries of "they're not making any more land," fueled a property-buying frenzy."
"But something about the mania just didn't sit right with Ben Jones. The Texas native learned a hard lesson in the 1980s, when the savings and loan scandal hit and real estate slumped just as he was preparing for a career in the property market. "I jumped in at the worst possible time," the 42-year-old recalled from his home in Sedona, Arizona."
"That experience, coupled with a background in corporate accounting, made him wary of highflying markets, so when he saw housing appreciations rocket up and mortgage-lending restrictions sink low, Jones decided that this was a housing bubble, and he was going to warn his friends. ..."
Read the Rest....
posted by Athena @ 2:58 PM
7 Comments:
It had to happen, of course. The ridiculous excesses became so transparent to many. So, Ben is voicing what so many people know/think about this dangerous market.
athena -
You should take a bow, too, with the work you've done here!
You are so sweet! Thank you. But like Ben, I get my best ideas from stealing them from posters like you.
;-)
Athena
Athena,
Any idea who the sonoma flippers are?- my hunch is that most of them are realtors, which of course will be a double whammy for them when this whole ponzi sceme collapses- what with "deliberated equity" and job loss. Plus of course the resultant recession will be hard for no entry qualification "professions" such as realtors.
Ah well, I guess it couldn't happen to a nicer set of folks.
You know... from my anecdotal survey... (in no particular order)
1. real estate agents
2. mortgage brokers
3. contsruction/contractors
4. people who believed the "you can't lose" proposition and leveraged their equity from homes they bought pre-bubble.
5. Out of town flippers who are charmed by the area and believe it is the new sausalito.
6. complete amateurs that ran in at the very top excited and eager, bright eyed and bushy tailed to be the greatest fools.
Athena, I second your list. Those are the ones I've seen flipping around
Athena,your list looks about right to me.i will say that the people i know in the biz that are(were) the most arrogant are also the biggest flippers.i have to admit a certain enjoyment in watching them eat it.many of them called me a fool to my face last year for saying i was not comfortable with the degree of risk involved in real estate.i will continue to refrain from saying "i told you so",dentistry is expensive.
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