Just a Rant

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

First and formost, I don't want this to turn political. Obama is our President and he has proposed a plan that we all have to try and make work like it or not, agree with it or not. We all know that I close banks. Track record with the $$ from the TARP fund is not good to say the least. The Treasury Department has done an absolutely piss poor job of explaining this, and it reflects all the zigzagging. I think they've lost some of their nerve and tap danced around the purpose, saying, "well, we want to see increased lending." That's bull****. Bank capital is not loaned out directly. Most bank lending is funded through deposits and borrowings. I think that a very legitimate use for the TARP capital is for stronger banks to basically take out the weak players, particularly so they can get a realistic write-down of the problem assets in the acquired institution and feel confident that the merged institution is well capitalized. There was a problem in the RTC with a tax glitch called "goodwill" that we would need to avoid and it involved tax laws. There is a risk growing banks "to big to fail" and that is another problem. I'm leaving AIG out of this discussion for a reason, they are a topic in and of themselves and I don't want to get into that. I was then and still am now against the $$ going to the banks, this is not a problem that you can buy your way out of it is a market problem that the market has to correct. It did it with no invested $$ in the 80's and early 90's when the RTC alone closed more than 1,000 S&L's. I was involved with that as well. I did a lot of banks back then also. The market corrected itself and the the "Business Cycle" has repeated itself albeit on a different scale today. If my predictions are right, the infusion of $$ into a sick market is not healing the market, it is only postponing the agony of what has to take place. The problem in the 80's was very self-contained compared to today. It was a question of what to do with the institutions. The RTC was basically an undertaker. It didn

 

[Luke Musto2]

Toxic,

WELL SAID! I couldnt agree more and its royally pissing me off. Those banks who were overexposed in the CDS market ought to fail..



Im caught in the same housing predicament.. Bought a house I could and can still afford at the top of the market..But its not nearly worth what I paid for it.. Had a 100K credit line that was reduced last week to 29K because of the evaporation of equity in my home..



Luke

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Good Rant Tox!



But, do any of the decisions made by our guvment in the last twenty years benefit the little man?

Of course when we bought our house in 95', the loan company said we were approved for $200K....I asked,"who's gonna pay for it"? I can't.......

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Well, I'll say this, it was a wake up call for my wife!! With all the traveling I have been doing ($$), she has had contractors out looking at this and looking at that, all the while I've been telling her that now is not the time for home improvements. We need to do some maintenance..period. The appraiser told her flat out he was sorry but the value was going to be low due to the comps. He justified it by saying that if he had to go to court he has to be able to back up the value. I look at that 2 ways. First an appraisal is an OPINION of value backed up with comps. Second, there are other factors that go into an appraisal OTHER than comps, thus the OPINION. He flat out said ours was the nicest, cleanest house he had seen in a long while. She got a reality check nonetheless!!



There is one upside to this little senerio.....when my property taxes come due on a super inflated 3 year old assessed value not adjusted to MARKET VALUE, I'm gonna march my fat arse right down to the assessors office with a brand new spankin low ball appraisal in hand and get my taxes lowered. Our county is dreading the new assessments because of the market. They reassess every 4 years and they hire the company to do it. Well, not this time fellas!! I will have my appraisal in hand!!



TOXIC

 

[TOMMY RICH]

Hope it workks out Tox....luckily my taxes have been steady since 95'.

 

[Chris F.]

I just got our county appraisal the other day. I find it hard to believe our value has gone up 5% the last two years:angry: They say we are still growing here in western Kansas but it is a bunch of bs. I tried to fight it a few years back when we re-financed, I had a new appraisal and they said the houses thy used as comparisons were different. :angry: Chris F.

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Exactly Chris, why do you think that appraisers are given the MAI designation? M-ade A-s I-nstructed.:lol::lol:



No bashing to all you appraisers out there, you've got a tough job and both sides breathing down your neck. The S&L crisis in the 80's could have been derailed by a lot of things, one of the biggest was in the appraisal field. If the appraisers had done their job the S&L's would have been limited on their losses.



TOXIC

 

[Texas Transplant]

Tox - thanks for the rant and the information. Always nice to get a more realistic view of the inner workings.



While some of the 'talking heads' do try to make some sense of things, I always ask myself this:



'Are they also trying to sell something?'. If the answer is yes, I generally try and take their advice with a grain of salt.



I'd love to be there, when you have that conversation with the Tax Assessor's office!



Tex

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Oh, they have an appeal process and hearing when assessments come out and you as the homeowner have to be able to document your basis for value but it is like pulling teeth to get it lowered. Most won't pay for an appraisal to "possibly" get their taxes lowered. Worst part is that since the County gooberment hires the appraisal firm to do the assesments you know they are motivated to go higher which equals more tax $$ for the County. They are already planning for the drop by trying to double the tax rate anyway:angry:



TOXIC

 

[Tim Koepp]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dl..._W0QQfclZ4QQfnuZ1QQfsopZ1QQkeywordZbarackQ20o

 

[Bill McElroy]

LOL...that's great!!

 

[Scott Hammer TOXIC]

Worst part is now I get to screw my neighbors, because if they go to sell, my house is a comp and at a lowball appraised value as well. I also get royally screwed myself because even though the appraiser said the house was worth a lot more than he could appraise it at, nobody will able to get financed at the real value because the appraisal will come in low. They would have to have a lot of upfront cash. This just sucks eggs all the way around.



TOXIC