[bsrsharma]

Another hint: If an inspection reveals rewiring for large Amperage (heavy gauge wires), get a proper electrician to check out circuits & circuit breakers are OK (for domestic currents). You don’t want a short circuit in your toaster NOT to set off the circuit breaker and cause a fire. Many of the weed growers & Meth cookers need high currents for their “Job”.

[bsrsharma]

Stan,

Do you have more info on the 150K drop?

Does the list contain repeated price drops? If so, it will be interesting to see any 100K drops. I have a hunch that 100K+ drop in 30- days may indicate desperation (the Wile E Coyote moment).

[bsrsharma]

Rustico: How can the illegals be on non-credit adult ed?

– Don’t they need a SSN?
– They should speak/read/write enough English for the ed to be useful. Do many illegals fit that?
– Most illegals come to work; where is the luxury of time to go to school?
– It must be one generous employer to send those folks to school/pay tuition and what assurance the guy will work for the employer. If the guy was a laborer making $8 and becomes a plumber and can make $25, why would he hang on with the employer?
– If it is non-credit, usually there is no state support. It is paid for by the student/sponsor.

Refugees are a completely different group. Firstly, they are entirely legal; then they have a sponsor to bring them over. Since the government knows they are refugees when bringing them in, there is no sense in begrudging some helping hand to make useful citizens out of them. If I go to a shelter and bring a pet with issues, it may cost me (in vets fees) more than the pet I already have. But I accept that risk when I decide to adopt it.

[bsrsharma]

From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ameriquest_Mortgage

On August 31, 2007, Citigroup completed its acquisition of its wholesale origination lending unit Argent Mortgage, its servicing unit AMC Mortgage Services and shut down its retail lending unit Ameriquest Mortgage.

On August 31, 2007, ACC Capital Holdings announced that it was closing Ameriquest by no longer taking loans and selling its loan servicing unit to Citigroup.

[bsrsharma]

system has a lot of holes for abuse. It needs reform.

The welfare reform act of 1996 has cleaned up most of the loopholes. The ones people notice are food stamps & use of medical care. But in many instances, there is a minor U.S.born child that is legally entitled to these basic safety-net services. The impact of illegal immigration is usually felt in overcrowded schools, emergency rooms and uninsured/unlicensed drivers, high density of occupation of houses etc., These are due to low wages paid by exploitative employers rather than any desire by illegals to live poorly. The real criminals are abusive employers who exploit the poverty of illegals. But most of the society's anger gets projected at the migrants rather than the systemic abusers.

[bsrsharma]

As a U.S. citizen, I can apply for P.R. for my in-laws, who are in their 70ies. Being over 65, once they get P.R., they pretty much can get welfare and all health benefits

Some info on legal immigration: Most legal immigration needs a sponsor. Since you are talking about in-laws, you can't sponsor them. A Citizen can sponsor parents, minor children, brothers & sisters. If your wife is a US Citizen, she can sponsor for her parents. Sponsoring requires executing a legally binding, "Affidavit of Support", wherein, the sponsor agrees to pay for all expenses of immigrant for 5 years. Now, if they are indigent after 5 years, they can probably apply for SSI/Medical-Medicaid etc., But it is definitely not "get off the boat/aircraft, rush to welfare office" scenario that is sometimes portrayed. I do know many illegals use food stamps, that is because they have minor dependent children, most likely born here in US.

[bsrsharma]

sdr,

2.1M for a 2500 sqft penthouse in little Italy? I haven’t been there much; but it felt very ordinary and even a bit run down. { honestly, felt like Oceanside or Escondido }

[bsrsharma]

I second FLUs feelings about used tubs. I feel they are a bit too intimate to buy used.

Besides, I think they are a luxury. Why bother if you can’t pay cash for a new one?

[bsrsharma]

Can any one explain these huge price differentials for adjacent units?

425 W Beech St #1701 10/28/2005 $1,500,000
425 W Beech St #1702 10/18/2005 $750,000
425 W Beech St #1704 10/17/2005 $750,000
425 W Beech St #1705 12/23/2004 $2,100,000
425 W Beech St #1706 8/8/2005 $845,000
425 W Beech St #1707 8/23/2005 $825,000

I have a suspicion: these are probably drug/crime involved. A million $ doesn’t mean much for a upper level narco trafficker. Like me buying tomatoes whether a buck or 2 per lb.

[bsrsharma]

Will you and your family get hurt?

I read about this sometime back: A guy who had bought a nice car for less at an auction in US drove across the border and was re-entering from Mexico. I think a customs dog smelled the tires, he was stopped, the car was stripped and for reasons I don't remember, he ended up in Mexican jail. Pretty horrible experience for an innocent guy; of course he lost his car too, since it became 'evidence' (and was probably pretty badly cut up anyway).

[bsrsharma]

This is not advice; just a recollection.

When we bought our home in 1993 in San Diego County, it was a pretty down market and the house was on the market for a long time. The owners had bought another house and wanted to earn some money by renting this one. They rented it for some time and it didn’t work out well (he stopped paying and was evicted). When we moved in, after a week or so, I observed some large thrash bags stowed at the top in the garage filled with what appeared to be dry leaves. Further inspection revealed it was ‘grass’. I was a little scared and didn’t know what to do. Finally, I just tied it all up and disposed off in the trash. My wild guess is, it was atleast a few thousand $ street value.

Later on, our neighbor revealed that the “renter” was growing pot in the garage and also on the deck. The garage was wired up with pretty high grade (at least 20 amps) wiring, better than rest of the home!

For many years after we bought, we used to get letters (for the renter) from various police/sheriffs departments about impounds/seizures of cars etc., At first we were a little apprehensive, but nothing untoward ever happened.

[bsrsharma]

tax consequences

I used to worry about this everytime there was an earthquake! The best answer seems to be:

http://www.irs.gov/taxtopics/tc515.html

Topic 515 – Casualty, Disaster, and Theft Losses

Casualty losses can result from the destruction of, or damage to your property from any sudden, unexpected, and unusual event such as a flood, hurricane, tornado, fire, earthquake or even volcanic eruption.

If your property is not completely destroyed or stolen, or if it is personal-use property, determine your loss from a casualty by first figuring the decrease in fair market value of your property as a result of the casualty event. To do this, you must determine the fair market value of your property both immediately before and immediately after the casualty. An appraisal is the best way to make this determination. Compare the decrease in fair market value with your adjusted basis in the property. The adjusted basis is usually the cost of the property plus or minus certain adjustments. From the smaller of these two amounts, subtract any insurance or other reimbursement you receive or expect to receive. The result is your loss from the casualty. For more information about the basis of property, refer to Topic 703, or refer to Publication 551, Basis of Assets.

If your business or income-producing property is completely destroyed or stolen, the decrease in fair market value is not considered . Your loss is the adjusted basis of the property, minus any salvage value and any insurance or other reimbursement you receive or expect to receive.

If the property was held by you for personal use, you must further reduce your loss by $100. This $100 reduction for losses of personal-use property applies to each casualty or theft event that occurred during the year. The total of all your casualty and theft losses of personal-use property must be further reduced by 10% of your adjusted gross income.

In figuring your loss, do not consider the loss of future profits or income due to the casualty.

For more information regarding casualty losses of personal-use property and how to deduct them, refer to Topic 507 and Publication 547, Casualties, Disasters, and Thefts.

Casualty losses are generally deductible only in the year the casualty occurred. However, if you have a deductible loss from a disaster in a Presidentially declared disaster area, you can choose to deduct that loss on your tax return for the year immediately preceding the year of the casualty. If you have already filed your return for the preceding year, the loss may be claimed in the preceding year by filing an amended return, ( Form 1040X (PDF) for Individuals or Form 1120X (PDF) for Corporations).

Generally, you must make the choice to use the preceding year by the due date of the current year's return, without extensions.

For Example:

The election to deduct a 2005 disaster loss on your 2004 return must be made on or before the due date (without extensions) of the 2005 return.

You can revoke this choice within 90 days after making it by returning to the IRS any refund or credit you received from making the choice. If you revoke your choice before receiving a refund, you must return the refund within 30 days after receiving it for the revocation to be effective.

Generally, you can choose to postpone reporting gain due to insurance proceeds that exceed your basis in property destroyed or damaged by a casualty if you purchase replacement property or repair the damage within two years. If your main home, or any of its contents, is damaged or destroyed as a result of a disaster in a Presidentially declared disaster area, do not report any gain due to insurance proceeds you receive for unscheduled personal property, such as damaged furniture, that was part of the contents of your home. You can choose to postpone gain from any other insurance proceeds received for your main home or its contents if you purchase replacement property within four years after the close of the first tax year in which any gain is realized. For this purpose, insurance proceeds received for the home or its contents are treated as being received for a single item of property, and any replacement property you purchase that is similar or related in service or use to your home or its contents is treated as similar or related in service or use to that single item of property. You must recognize gain to the extent that the insurance proceeds are more than the cost of your replacement property. Renters qualify to choose relief under these rules if the rented residence is their main home.

If your home is located in a Presidentially declared disaster area and your state or local government orders you to tear it down or move it because it is no longer safe to live in, the resulting loss in value is treated as a casualty loss from a disaster. Figure your loss in the same way as any other casualty loss of personal-use property. This order must be issued within 120 days after the area is declared a disaster area.

If your loss deduction is more than your income, you may have a net operating loss. You do not have to be in business to have a net operating loss from a casualty. For more information, refer to Publication 536, Net Operating Losses.

Casualty losses are claimed on Form 4684 (PDF), Casualties and Thefts. Section A is used for personal–use property and Section B is used for business or income-producing property. If personal-use property was destroyed or stolen, you may wish to refer to Publication 584, Casualty, Disaster, and Theft Loss Workbook, to help you catalog your property. If the property was business or income-producing property, refer to Publication 584B (PDF), Business Casualty, Disaster, and Theft Loss Workbook.

The IRS may postpone for up to one year certain tax deadlines of taxpayers who are affected by a Presidentially declared disaster. The tax deadlines the IRS may postpone include those for filing income, estate, gift, generation-skipping transfer, certain excise, and employment tax returns, paying taxes associated with those returns, and making contributions to a traditional IRA or Roth IRA.

If the IRS postpones the due date for filing your return and for paying your tax and you are affected by a Presidentially declared disaster area, the IRS may abate the interest on underpaid tax that would otherwise accrue for the period of the postponement.

 

 

[bsrsharma]

There is no macroeconomic analysis

Obviously we differ. I consider the author's clear exposition on the meaning and significance of fiat currency very helpful for a lay reader. People should never forget that paper currency, today, is based strictly on confidence. Anything that disturbs or hurts it means implied devaluation, even if it doesn't show up in the charts. If you use accounting language, the Goodwill of US $ has gone from a positive value to negative. That will show its impact slowly as the world's Central Banks diversify their reserve holdings and more and more international contracts are written in non US $.

[bsrsharma]

I think a variant of this “treasure hunt” would be interesting too. Instead of looking at the price drops, consider the velocity of fall. $100K per 30 days seems like a good indicator of economic/psychological depression. The La Costa and Escondido homes fall in that group. A rise in these “Escape Velocity” homes is probably a good indicator/predictor of price collapse.

[bsrsharma]

I cannot accept this information because their doctrine needs the collapse of society and government in order for their predictions to come true.

Scepticism is good; but when I read the article, there is remarkably little doctrinaire stuff and generally good macroeconomic analysis. I did not see any mention of religious beliefs or dogma. It is no different from an article in Christian Science Monitor (a good general newspaper, in spite of unusual title)

[Author]

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