Who can afford to live here? My daughter better hope her parents die young, so she can inherit a house.
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Goldy – What are you doing to prepare her? Here’s an idea for all of you. Help your children develop marketable skills where they can make shitload of money. Teach them that they need to invest in themselves. I saw a bumper sticker once that said “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance”. I’m always amazed by people who refuse to invest in themselves and then bitch about how bad their life is.
A high school education is free (except for incidental expenses). All ya gotta do is show up and do the work. After high school, there are many fine universities in this state that are 80% subsidized by the taxpayers.
So if yer chirrens end up unable to live comfortably, the blame falls on YOU for failing to prepare them.
Goldy–
This is the unwanted consequence of so-called “Smart Growth” and other LEFTIST PINHEADED ideas that require “excessive, costly regulations and bureaucracies’. It is also the predictable consequence when bureaucrats are allowed endless public funds to “vision, re-vison, and re-re-vision”…plan, re-plan and re-re-plan etc.
The cost of permits, impact fees and other hidden costs have become extremely outrageous…all adding to the cost of a house. Housing is also as simple as Supply & Demand.
The good news is there is a lot of speculation in the housing market. I own a bunch of rentals. When I sell them off, if I need to, to fund our retirement…others will have a chance to buy. Also, many of us have multiple homes these days. If the economy takes a downturn….maybe we won’t.
Current Rental Rates DO NOT support the current housing prices. I have a $500,000 home I rent out for $1800/month. Let’s assume a 6% interest rate and apply it to that $500,000 (doesn’t matter if there is a mortgage or not). Assuming 6% value of money…interest only is $30,000/yr or $2500/mo. Add to that $4800/yr. or $400/mo. property taxes, $100/month insurance and say $300/month maintence & physical depreciation. That adds up to $3300/month!!! So I’m getting $1800/month…while costing myself $3300/month. You also have to consider Income Tax impacts….however, the bottom-line is the only way this formula makes sense is if I anticipate continued accelerated Real Estate Inflation. Is that going to happen??? Time will tell….I doubt it. That’s why we recently sold one house.
Nice post cyn, you only shouted one time. I agree that the buildup of fees is a big part (maybe too big a part) of housing costs. But I am not sure its all set by supply and demand anymore. A lot of it is set by mortgage rates.
House values (fair market value)in part are set by local rental pricing. Rental pricing is NOT supply and demand by any means. Rental pricing is set, as you showed so well by the mortgage rates, and can not go down during a housing glut. Thats a big part of why so many areas have empty units right now, even though Seattle has more empty rental units than have been there in the last decade, pricing on them is staying the same.
That artifically keep market value high.
bill–
We own a number of houses that are rented out….and believe it or not, we are actually RENTING the house we live in. Crazy?? Not really. We got a very good deal, cool house….and we anticipate moving in less than 2 years.
I do think rental rates will ultimately impact prices. I have other friends that have plenty of money, own houses but are also renting due to convenience, short-term need and cost. It really does seem crazy but……
We are also going to retire out of state. So many people have bought up houses in advance of retirement because they are afraid there will be nothing when the time comes. We want to be snowbirds but may want to try a variety of towns the next 10 years rather than commit and get stuck if the bubble bursts.
I don’t mind spending $2500/month for a very nice place in Tuscon for a couple of months that is furnished and all costs included. Think about it. We have been programmed to own where we live.
Housing prices are not universally high across the country. There are plenty of places where you can buy a home for under 100K. A relative just bought a large house on a large lot with river frontage in the Chicago area for slightly over 200K.
What’s happening is the heartland is emptying of people. For several decades now there has been a mass migration to the coasts. More than half of America’s population now lives in coastal counties! In areas like L.A., San Francisco, and Seattle that have limited space for growth the population influx is driving up housing prices. On the flip side, homes can be bought for a song in places that are losing population and jobs.
The basic cause of Seattle’s exploding home prices besides population influx is geography. Seattle is trapped between two bodies of water, and its eastern suburbs are sandwiched into a narrow strip of land between water and mountains. There just isn’t anywhere for an outward-growing metropolis to go.
Seattle does have low density compared to other cities, and much of the new construction is taking place on subdivided lots within the urban growth area. The region has enacted growth management and land use policies that trade off some buildable space for environmental quality and avoiding the pitfalls of random sprawl. However, its questionable whether loosening land use regulations would bring long-term housing price relief — just as building more freeways brings more traffic, building more housing brings more people, so you never get ahead of the game. In any case, the primary limitation on future growth in the housing supply will not be the availability of land but rather water supplies, i.e., the Puget Sound metropolis will run out of water sources before it runs out of land. The water crisis is not far away; in fact, it’s almost upon us.
Rents are determined by supply and demand. An empty rental unit earns nothing but the owner has the same costs. This puts pressure on rental owners to lower rents until they get a taker. Few landlords can afford to sit on empty properties for long periods. Hardly anything wipes out a landlord’s profits quicker than vacancy. On the other hand, when rental supply is tight relative to demand and landlords can command higher rents, this puts pressure on renters to buy housing. The initial cost usually is higher than rent but buyers lock in their housing cost whereas renters are at the mercy of rent inflation.
Housing costs have always been a huge problem for young people. In early adulthood, there is a mismatch between expenses and income, because under our economic and social system earning power and asset ownership tend to come in the middle and later years of life. The fate of most young people is indebtedness and large interest payments from small incomes. It has never been different during my lifetime.
Housing prices in a given geographical area are largely a function of the local job market and income structure. Seattle is an area with many high incomes, consequently the population here has the means to bid housing prices into a high range, and buyers need high incomes to be competitive in the Seattle market. A family earning $50,000 a year has limited choices, and is excluded from suburban single family home ownership. Seattle is not a pleasant experience for households earning less than six-figure incomes, precisely because this city has so many households earning over six figures.
I don’t think one must be an uncritical apologist for Washington’s Growth Management Act to recognize that “smart growth” will save everybody money in the long run over unregulated sprawl.
Mr. Cynical, did it ever occur to you that somebody is going to have to pay to build and maintain all of those new sewer lines, schools, roads and other infrastructure your developer pals want to built in all the wrong places? If you are such a big advocate of efficient government, why shouldn’t we get the biggest bang for our infrastructure buck by clustering development rather than sprawling so far out into rural areas that the per-unit costs skyrocket?
Please note that we are not just talking about one-time investments. It takes money to maintain infrastructure so that the quality of life of a community doesn’t deteriorate. All one has to do is look at decaying “inner-ring suburbs” in eastern cities to see how expensive it can be to keep poorly planned development from turning into slums.
Beyond that, there is the sticky question of who should pay for development. Should it be the senior citizen on a fixed income who has lived in her Seattle home for 20 years and hopes to die there? A central principle of more robust forms of smart growth is that “growth should pay for growth.” Impact fees and whatnot are designed to at least partially distribute the costs of growth onto those who most benefit from it: Developers and people who buy new homes. Since you’re such a big fan of “user fees,” what’s wrong with that?
From my perspective, the biggest problem with Seattle housing prices right now is the mass psychosis of a speculative bubble. What is particularly distressing is that the run-up in Seattle home prices is spilling over into adjacent counties. When Seattleites look farther and farther away for housing (e.g., Mason, Lewis and Thurston counties), that can price locals out of the market . . . and increase freeway gridlock.
Cynical @2,
You do yourself a disservice with slavish devotion to free market fiddle-faddle. So… it’s LA’s “smart growth” regulations that have made it one of the most expensive real estate markets in the nation?
Hey, I make a post with virtually no editorializing, which could have been used as a springboard for a rational discussion on our skyrocketing housing prices and its consequences, and you use it as an opportunity for partisan propagandizing.
Goldy–
You are an idiot. The LEFTIST PINHEADS have abused basic, sound growth principles (some of which green thumb has laid out) and used them to set up monsterous bureaucracies which are designed to micro-manage way too many aspects of our lives.
LA has a fairly appealing climate. Criticizing the abuse of “smart growth” principles by LEFTIST PINHEADS is a big part of the problems we face today in an open and free society.
Look what happened in Oregon when the “Smart growth LEFTIST PINHEADS” went way to far in abusing individual property rights..Ref 37. Now they are really fucked.
All I’m saying is you have to have “balance”. Allowing LEFTIST PINHEADED Planners to apply their views of life as they draw huge government salaries will not solve the growth problems. THese LEFTIST PINHEADS have tunnel vision and truly believe the future of the world is dependent upon them….and them alone. This has nothing to do with partisanship Goldy Shitferbrains…it has to do with an observation of an abuse of power by bureaucrats. GMA has been ABUSED in many areas Goldy. Who is the Hearings Board?? Appointees (not elected) making LEGAL LAND USE DECISIONS…..not following the law but making it up as they go. Why would you have an ecologist on the Hearings Board Goldy??? It is there job to make legal interpretations!
Wake-up dumbass. Your daughters future ain’t so bright.
Goldy,
Actually, the first six posts made sense, even allowing for the fiddle-faddle. At some point, the market for real estate will decline, even in LA. I recall reading something from a market fund guru (I am not inclined to follow too much advice from such individuals) who stated in unequivocal terms regarding monetary investments – “If people are talking real estate, buy stocks. If people are talking stocks, buy real estate.”
Sure does seem like lots of folks are talking real estate, eh?
As to affordability, MTR @1 is correct, the onus is on you to help shape the interests of your child towards those areas that will grant her the best opportunity to earn a living wage.
Or, if you prefer, she can just wait for you to croak…
I don’t think the Seattle market is being driven by speculation. What characterizes this market right now is a low number of listings — there aren’t many sellers. Perhaps prices are on feeding on themselves by encouraging potential sellers to wait for even higher prices, as no one wants to sell halfway up. However, I doubt this is a big factor. Most sellers can’t “time” the market. Most people sell their homes because of job relocation or health or other compulsory reasons. Even those upgrading usually have to sell their existing home to swing the deal. In these cases, the timing of the purchase drives the selling activity, not the other way around.
Seattle has always been a “stair step” market. That is, prices stay flat for 10 years, then go straight up for a couple years, then plateau for another 10 years. These cycles occur like clockwork. What really happens in this town is what looks like a price sprial is really just “catch up” after a period of price stagnation.
For example, my wife and I bought our present home in the “hot” market of 1990 and had to pay top dollar for it. Due to circumstances, we couldn’t time our purchase to a buyer’s market, and had to buy in a seller’s market. Then the market cooled off, and for the next 10 years, appreciation was little or nothing. Today, our house is worth about 50% more than we paid for it. All of that appreciation occurred in the last 5 years. But when you prorate it over our 15 years of ownership, that’s only 3% a year. Adjust for inflation, and we’ve made nothing. Our capital gain, in real terms, is zero.
That partly explains why there are so few homes on the market. Many people who bought within the last 15 years do not have a big profit in their homes even at today’s prices. If my wife and I moved, we couldn’t upgrade. At best, we could afford a house comparable to the one we have now. So we would incur selling costs, closing costs at both ends, and moving expenses for nothing. In short, we have no incentive to sell.
The windfalls were made by my parents’ generation. These are the folks who bought houses for $15,000 and 30 years later sold for 15 times what they paid. For me to realize the appreciation they did, my house would have to sell 15 yeats from now for almost $3 million. Right now it’s barely worth a tenth that much.
Reply to 8
Where’s this “monstrous bureaucracy” you’re talking about, Cynical? If you’re talking about King County, I only see a thinly staffed agency that checks building plans against applicable codes, issues permits, and conducts inspections to make sure people don’t kill themselves or others by throwing up unsound construction or putting in dangerous wiring.
The Leftist Pinheads still control the Universities, Cynical. Even now we are fomenting revolution against you and all the other LITTLE EICHMANNS. You guys were incensed about the fascist label at first, so try on LITTLE EICHMANN for size.
Interesting comment
Ward ChurchillHarry Poon…If you’re talking about King County, I only see a thinly staffed agency that checks building plans against applicable codes, issues permits, and conducts inspections to make sure people don’t kill themselves
King County also makes sure that if anybody does kill themselves that they keep their voter registration.
11
I like your post, Harry. I really do. :D
Roger Rabbit@10–
Yeah right. KingCo has a montrous number of planners and planner consultants. They use plenty of “consultants” so they can pretend they haven’t increased FTE’s.
Harry Poon@11–
Anyone who would call themselves Harry Poon is only a threat to themselves. I can just picture your sorry pimpley ass sitting in front of the computer switching between HorsesAss and hardcore porn you freakazoid! You have those Coke-bottle glasses with black frames and chronic post-nasal drip loser.
Roger Moronabbit–
Planning departments are seperate from building departments that supposedly exist to actually ISSUE building permits. The Permit Departments are kept thinnly staffed to slow-roll permits. The money is illegally shuffled to Long-Range Planning…that blackhole of Bureaucracy!
You guys were incensed about the fascist label at first
No not really. We understand why lefties call us fascists, it because they are out of power and no one listens to them. Most righties take it as a badge of honor that they are called a fascist by a lefty. Most of all it is a sign that you are telling the truth.
LITTLE EICHMANN……..
The Russian sub crew has been rescued alive.
Comment on 9
Since when are government salaries “huge?” I’ll tell you what a “huge” salary is — Mike McGavick made $10 million a year as CEO of Safeco. Now that’s a “huge” salary.
Although Growth Management Hearings Board members are appointed (by the Governor), many were formerly elected officials, typically mayors or county commissioners.
As for “balance” Cynical, we HAVE balance. It’s not our fault that your idea of “balance” is somewhere to the right of right.
17
Wanna give us some hard #s Cyn?
18
Uh-huh. I live in a fairly good sized municipality and our planning department has a staff of one guy.
19
No Doofus, the reason we call you “fascists” is because (drum roll) … well, because … you are fascists.
You know RR, you are correct about Seattle, or KC for that matter, not being a pleasant experience for those making less than 6 figures. Which is why I am always appaled when Conservatives rant about teachers earning too much, and bitching when the go on strike for better contracts.
And no, I am not a teacher.
Donnageddon@26
Teacher get pretty good pay for a part time job.
While I generally support teachers, and certainly support unions, there are a couple of teensy weensy little details about certain teacher strikes that I feel compelled to comment upon.
1. Sometimes it seems as though some of the senior teachers making 65K a year are more concerned about their own raises than they are about beginning teachers making 32K a year.
2. Teachers in poor districts making low salaries seem not to go on strike as much as teachers in more affluent districts making the best salaries in the state. I mean, when was the last time you heard about a teacher strike in Ephrata?
3. For many years, the Legislature had an unfortunate habit of punishing state employees for not going on strike by taking money away from them and giving it to teachers as a reward for going on strike.
I think I’ll stop there.
This should be fun… moonbats and others ref Donna @ 26… how much money “should” teachers make? And while we’re at it, let look at some others? How much should a lifesaving doctor make? How much should a dirtbag family wrecking divorce attorney make? How much should the CEO of S&P 500 corp make? How much should an engineer make? How much should a retail clerk make?
I can’t wait to read responses. If you can, please explain how you came up with your numbers.
Mark–
I can’t wait to hear “THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DONNAGEDDON”. You know, if we just allow Donnageddon to micro-manage all of our lives and make all of our decisions for us…things will be Utopian-like!! Donnageddon can be the BAGWHAN of Seattle. All knowing. Just give Donnageddon all your money and all decision-making authority, sit back and enjoy life in “THE WORLD ACCORDING TO DONNAGEDDON”. It will actually be more like WAYNE’S WORLD.
Donnageddon can be the Income POLICEMAN!! If you make even a nickel more than Donnageddon’s standard, Donnageddon will be on your Ass like Barney Fife!!
I was also wondering… would moonbats place limit on the total amount of money that one is allowed to accumulate? If so, what would the dollar figure be and why?
Mark–
These LEFTIST PINHEADS seem to have way too much time on their hands. Rather than do productive projects, they are stuck in a zone that only allows them to fuck with the lives of others.
These LEFTIST PINHEADS live in a world of jealousy and envy. They are desperate to have “the good life” with minimal work and risk. It will probably take about 1,000 LEFTIST PINHEADS to answer your simple question Mark. They will create task forces of sub-committees of non-profits with government grants. And the answer $5 million later will be: WE DON’T KNOW…but we recommend additional costly studies be done.
Well, it started out pretty civil and interesting.
Suppose the age, size, neighborhood, view, and so on have an influence on price? How about the demand? Isn’t Pugetopolis increasing in population via net in-migration? “The average person moves every 7 years” has been quoted for years.
In the early ’70’s Boeing had more workers than it needed and housing prices fell. “Queen Ann view, $100K”.
If building costs are $100/sf (just to keep the math simple), and a suitable lot ready for construction (all utilities in place) costs $100,000 (substitute your own figure), how much does a house cost? Add something for the builder’s profit.
But somehow we all cope.
27
Whatever the market will bear, Mark. Isn’t that your philosophy?
30
Hmmm … how much “should” a telemarketer make? A crooked mortgage broker? A CEO whose company is losing money? A burglar who’s the best in his business? Gonna be fun to watch you sink in the quicksand of value judgments …
30 (continued)
“Rather than do productive projects, they are stuck in a zone that only allows them to fuck with the lives of others.”
Isn’t that exactly what you RIGHTY PINHEADS are doing in Iraq?
r cyn is a little eichmann
Wabbit @ 33 – There ya go. We got us a crooked mortgage broker datapoint. Former DEMOCRAT Seattle mayor Norm Rice made $490,000 per year to screw up the Federal Home Bank of Seattle. In addition, he was given $373,000 to leave and another $60,000 per year in retirement. Sheesh, you can hire TEN TEACHERS for a year for that much.
PI has article on 7/2/05 with all the details.
Reply to 31
Terry, it works like this. Let’s say the Seattle area has 500,000 homes and at any given time 5,000 are on the market. (I’m just picking these numbers out of a hat.) Let’s say those homes sell for a median price of $400,000.
What’s happening is 1% of the housing stock is selling to the highest bidder. Does that mean median value of the entire housing stock is $400,000? Noooooooo … because if everyone tried to sell their house for what the highest bidder at the moment would pay … well, they couldn’t. Only the first buyer would pay $400,000. Each successive buyer would pay a bit less. After all but the last house was sold, the last seller to sell might find the last buyer able and willing to pay only $40,000.
But if 5,000 houses out of 500,000 sell for $400,000, the tax assessor assumes all 500,000 houses are worth $400,000. Cute, eh? I think you can see where this is going.
Many “millionaires” aren’t. Maybe on paper, or valuing their assets according to what they paid for them, but in reality your assets are worth only what you can sell them for, after deducting selling expenses. Your $400,000 house, sold in a buyer’s market and after subtracting work orders and selling costs, might bring only $275,000. The classic car you lovingly restored for $20,000 might sell for $8,000. Your wife’s $100,000 figurine collection might have a market value of $7,500. The cash value of a real estate contract you’re holding may be 40% of its nominal value. And so on.
A lot of the appreciation in the cash value of houses over time is simply monetary inflation. True appreciation is a result of the market as a whole rising because of housing supply shortage, population influx, etc., or perhaps a house appreciates because of increased demand for the neighborhood it’s located in, or it has some attribute that is suddenly in demand (such as proximity to a new freeway). Or sometimes values go up (temporarily) because buyers miscalculate …
Roger the Economist–
So if you understand all this….how come you claim poverty?
Mr. Cyn-Irr @ 28 “You know, if we just allow Donnageddon to micro-manage all of our lives and make all of our decisions for us…things will be Utopian-like!!”
I am glad you finally recognize the obvious. But to quote a recent dictator.
“You know this would be a heck of a lot easier if this were a dictatorship. As long as I am the Dictator”
Donnageddon–
You are a dick-tater all right!
Don*****don@26: Are you a hair dresser?
38
Who said I was poor?
You wanna see poor? Here’s poor: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/wor.....675379.stm
PuddyBud @ 41, I have never dressed a hair in my life!
Roger Rabbit@43–
So precisely what are you doing about it???
Cynical: Rupert Q. Wabbit is sending $353 a year. That’s the 1997 charitable threshold set by Al Gore. BTW Rupert, how much did you send to the Tsunami victims last December/January? And yes Rupert I have been to Africa and seen the really poor. We have good friends who minister to the poor everyday in Africa.
Don*****don, well that’s two donk professions we can eliminate!
Yes, RUFUS, I imagine a Repug would never be a teacher. I mean, what could they possibly teach other than deviant psychology.
@ 48 RUFUS should be Puddy Bud.
I know Right Thinking Teachers. They are the most gracious people and get high marks from student evaluations. They are the antithesis of Headless Loocy types and they are proud of their educational institutions unlike the Headless one, whom to this day has not fessed up to where it attended college or university. They dislike the WEA and how their union dues are illegally used to support MoonBat activities in WA State. It’s okay Loocy if it was DeVry, or Phoenix. Maybe it was Liberty University and if the HA lefty faithful found out you would be outed?
Roger at 37:
Pretty impressive post.
If all properties were simultaneously posted, havoc would ensue, but if a rolling 1% or 2% were constantly on the market, there would be order, whether up or down.
If the “move every 7 years” meme is right each year there would be a bit over 14% of the properties changing hands. Time-on-market, or velocity, determine how much is on the market at any one time, but something in the range of 1% to 3% is probably about right for a normal market. The low end is a Seller’s Market, the high end and higher is a Buyer’s Market. Of course, there are other significant factors also at work.
Right now, a lot of people have to be feeling quite prosperous and confident to be actively paying the prices quoted. Probably the single best indicator of an active and vibrant and growing economy.
Do you suppose Goldy’s daughter’s best hope is a prolonged recession? Naw, a superior upbringing, good education and marketable personality and skill set are the keys, together with a stable personal family situation.
In keeping with the theme of HA, a bit of snark needs to be included.
What happens if the “bubble” aborts? Will the pro-choice forces rush in? What if the “bubble” is carried to term? Will the pro-life (market) forces rush in? Will Growth Management be expanded to restrict choice? Is gasoline a drug? Is your purpose in life to serve as a bad example to others? Is Stephan really that evil and mis-informed, and why did Goldy try to be friendly? Are there other expressions commonly used in the English language that would allow Goldy to express rage and frustration and still be considered for talk radio?
Terry J–
That thar is good stuff…I don’t care who y’ar!
Reply to 45
Voting for Democrats.
51
“Do you suppose Goldy’s daughter’s best hope is a prolonged recession? Naw, a superior upbringing, good education and marketable personality and skill set are the keys, together with a stable personal family situation.”
A large dollop of luck helps, too. So does being white. And male. An inheritance never hurts. Neither does a rich grandfather or uncle.
Please spare me all this self-righteous right-wing crap about how people get rich from “hard work.” The fastest way to get rich is to be dishonest. Embezzling skills are more far valuable than janitorial, chicken skinning, or dishwashing skills. But I’ve never met an embezzler who worked as hard as the janitors, chicken skinners, and dishwashers I’ve known.
Got news for ya Wabbit – Hard work IS the ONLY way to get rich. That’s how I did it. I have what are known as “marketable skills”. My employer pays me shitloads of money because I can do things that most people can’t do and don’t even understand.
Of course, you can inherit your money like Ted The Swimmer, or marry it like John Kerry, but most of us work for it. Or you can be a loser moonbat and complain about how unfair life is and being a gd POS “victim” and then demand that others cover up for the wreck you’ve made of your life through your own stupid choices.
51 (continued)
“What happens if the ‘bubble’ aborts? Will the pro-choice forces rush in?”
There is no “bubble.” Not in Seattle, anyway. After interest rates go up and it becomes a buyer’s market, prices will stagnant or possibly retrench by 5%, but they will not go back to the 1995 levels they were stuck at before the current runup started.
“What if the ‘bubble’ is carried to term? Will the pro-life (market) forces rush in?”
Not sure what you mean. Money has rushed into real estate, partly because of cheap credit, partly because of disenchantment with the stock market, partly for other reasons. When all the available money has been spent the market will fall back into sleepy mode again.
“Will Growth Management be expanded to restrict choice?”
Growth management has never been used to restrict choice, and never will be, unless by choice you’re referring to letting cows shit in salmon streams and letting developers pave over the Cascade foothills. My neighbor can’t legally store dynamite in his garage 10 feet from my house; I guess you could call that restricted choice.
“Is gasoline a drug?”
Yes.
“Is your purpose in life to serve as a bad example to others?”
No.
“Is Stephan really that evil and mis-informed,”
“Evil” is your choice of words, not mine, but my broad answer to your general question is yes.
“and why did Goldy try to be friendly?”
Because he’s a liberal?
“Are there other expressions commonly used in the English language that would allow Goldy to express rage and frustration and still be considered for talk radio?”
Bob Novak is experimenting with that. I’ll get back to you when I learn the result.
55
“Got news for ya Wabbit – Hard work IS the ONLY way to get rich.”
Uh-huh … so I’m to believe Nelson Rockefeller, Teddy Kennedy, John Kerry, Richard Mellon Scaife, George W. Bush, et al., all started out with nothing? And got where they are by sweeping floors, skinning chickens, or washing dishes?
I’m to believe that Kenny Lay and Bernie Ebbers earned their mega-millions?
I’m to believe nobody every (1) inherits, (2) marries, or (3) steals a shitload of money?
“That’s how I did it. I have what are known as ‘marketable skills’. My employer pays me shitloads of money because I can do things that most people can’t do and don’t even understand.”
Goody for you. It’s great to be able to hold other people’s pocketbooks for ransom. I have a plumber friend who has a bad back, skinned knuckles, and dirty hands, lives in a small house and drives an old car, but I need him more than I need you.
Well, now you’ve got my curiosity aroused. What are your “marketable skills?” Did you go to a gigolo academy?
Mary Carey has “marketable skills” too — she makes a shitload of money by sucking dicks. She’s a Republican, and she’s running for something. Exactly what remains to be seen. http://thereal7.tripod.com/
Of course, it’s a hell of a lot easier to make a shitload of money if somebody gives you a shitload of capital — like your dad, or granddad, or rich uncle. It doesn’t hurt to get your expenses paid through an Ivy League college. It helps to be white, too. And male.
Now I’m really curious. What, exactly, are YOUR marketable skills?
Cynical and Rossi are slumlords. They seem to do okay dollar-wise. What do you do, design nuclear weapons? Sell encyclopedias to elderly widows? Invent new types of worthless derivatives? Rig the corn futures market?
Or do you suck dicks in the movies?
Wabbit – It’s pretty technical stuff. You couldn’t possibly understand.
Mark The Redneck @ 55 “My employer pays me shitloads of money because I can do things that most people can’t do and don’t even understand.”
You must have an impressive list of Johns from the various Republican Conventions. Good For you Mark Red! But always insist on a condom!
Mark Redneck @ 63 “It’s pretty technical stuff. You couldn’t possibly understand.”
The Dirty Sanchez?
“It’s pretty technical stuff. You couldn’t possibly understand.” This is typically understood as code for “I’m full of shit and actually drive a bus for a living.” We can say one thing for sure, his boss doesn’t pay him for his knowledge of carbon dating.
Mr Cynical annd Puddybud are LITTLE EICHMANNS who have never actually read anything by Ward Churchill; they’ve only read what their jackbooted MASTERS have told them what to believe. It gives them a huge case of MORNING WOOD to be told what to do and think.
How in the hell did a thread on high costs of housing get degraded to Little Eichmanns?
(shakes head)
Because Harry is a real Poon with his Eichmanns line. He has nothing else to add. What an ass! I wonder if Hairy PoonTang is another name for Headless Loocy.
Roger Rabbit is Harry Poon.
Roger Rabbit ask Don/Alan/thatPrick/Priscilla/Dubyasux/93 other identities