02-08-2009, 04:11 PM
Ah, sorry, Mike. I did not know that. I had no trouble registering but then again I'm a subscriber.
The article examines the boom-bust cycles of Florida real estate, and details how most of the counties and cities are dependent on real estate sales to function because there is no income tax. Therefore the state will listen to any developer with a plan, no matter how damaging, impulsive or wildly optimistic.
There are people living in Pasco County, near Tampa and Clearwater, in virtually deserted developments. The reporter goes to one development where a new family is shunned because it took advantage of a $100,000 discount (about 30 percent) to buy their house when everyone else bought at the top of the market.
The story shows that just about everyone in Florida is "in real estate," and bankers, notaries, secretaries, mechanics, clerks and government employees have brokers' or real estate licenses. One man talks about his secretary, who had a million invested on a $20,000 salary. Migrant farmworkers got into construction because it paid better. Since so much farmland has gone into development, now that real estate has gone bust there's little crop to pick.
He talks to several people who have gone bust. One family financed far more than they could afford on credit cards and HELOCs. They have moved from their house, which is up for foreclosure, to a 2-bedroom apartment. Their children share the other bedroom.
One woman is sitting in the garage of a home she's renting. She is selling her heirlooms and photo albums trying to stay afloat. Problem is the things she has to sell are valuable only to herself.
The story tells about a mobster who bought hundreds of houses with straw buyers. They visit a house in Tampa that was flipped and flipped again in a money laundering scheme. It went for more than 300K but is now going for about $35K if the buyer will pay cash.
The walkway line is from a real estate broker--"This is just a hiccup." Then he says it might be more than a hiccup, since it's gone global.
That's the gist, Mike--it's a well-written, detailed story. Well worth visiting the library for. You might also want to see if your library has an online subscription.
Black, you are tiresome.
The article examines the boom-bust cycles of Florida real estate, and details how most of the counties and cities are dependent on real estate sales to function because there is no income tax. Therefore the state will listen to any developer with a plan, no matter how damaging, impulsive or wildly optimistic.
There are people living in Pasco County, near Tampa and Clearwater, in virtually deserted developments. The reporter goes to one development where a new family is shunned because it took advantage of a $100,000 discount (about 30 percent) to buy their house when everyone else bought at the top of the market.
The story shows that just about everyone in Florida is "in real estate," and bankers, notaries, secretaries, mechanics, clerks and government employees have brokers' or real estate licenses. One man talks about his secretary, who had a million invested on a $20,000 salary. Migrant farmworkers got into construction because it paid better. Since so much farmland has gone into development, now that real estate has gone bust there's little crop to pick.
He talks to several people who have gone bust. One family financed far more than they could afford on credit cards and HELOCs. They have moved from their house, which is up for foreclosure, to a 2-bedroom apartment. Their children share the other bedroom.
One woman is sitting in the garage of a home she's renting. She is selling her heirlooms and photo albums trying to stay afloat. Problem is the things she has to sell are valuable only to herself.
The story tells about a mobster who bought hundreds of houses with straw buyers. They visit a house in Tampa that was flipped and flipped again in a money laundering scheme. It went for more than 300K but is now going for about $35K if the buyer will pay cash.
The walkway line is from a real estate broker--"This is just a hiccup." Then he says it might be more than a hiccup, since it's gone global.
That's the gist, Mike--it's a well-written, detailed story. Well worth visiting the library for. You might also want to see if your library has an online subscription.
Black, you are tiresome.