MSM Lies of the week

Gee wiz, guess the housing crash is over. The NAR was right all along, now is a great time to buy afer all.

Some headlines over the past wee.

Homebuilder Wieland 'upbeat' amid housing downturn

Upbeat eh? The company laid off 59 executives. One of his $350M condo project has been suspended for lack of sales. So what is he so upbeat about?

But a new promotion offering price discounts up to $100,000 and a lifetime structural warranty on Wieland houses produced 89 sales for the company between Jan. 25 and Feb. 3, twice the number of homes the company sold in the same period last year, according to Wieland officials.

That provided a welcome cash infusion of $50 million for the homebuilder, which is currently marketing 30 communities with more than 400 unsold homes around the metro area. And the surge in cash flow has recharged Wieland's confidence that his company can withstand the anemic sales expected to continue

Ahh OK. So you lose money on all your sales, but you make it up on volume. OK, that's a good reason to be upbeat I suppose. Oh and note to the 86 suckers...err new home "owners", you just fooked yourself. Had you waited another 6 months that $100K would be $150K.

When pets.com fell by 15%, lots of "smart"people bought it thinking they were getting a steal. And the CEO of pets.com was saying he was upbeat about the future. When it pets.com fell another 50% really "smart" people were buying thinking they just got the deal of a lifetime. And the CEO was upbeat despite some challenges. You all know what happened to pets.com. Today's home buyers are the pets.com shareholders during the early .com bust.

Nice to see the MSM being objective. I wonder how much money Wieland pays the AJC every year in ad fees? Nah, no conflict of interest there. Keep spinning MSM and tell us all how now is a great time to buy....just like you told us a year and 2 years ago.

New Buckhead Condo Bucks Trend

Borders doesn't envision starting any new projects in Atlanta for the next two years, concentrating instead on selling his current projects to capacity. Despite holding several well-placed parcels in Buckhead, Midtown and the Perimeter area, Borders said Novare will defer any new projects here until the market recovers.

"In general, across the Atlanta market, we and others across town will not put a shovel in the ground anytime soon," he said.

Sales, Borders said, are slow but steady at Novare projects now under construction or recently opened. The Atlantic, Novare's next upmarket property in Atlantic Station, is 30 percent sold, Borders said. Viewpoint, a Midtown property aimed at Novare's prime 25-to-35 year old market, is also 30 percent sold and slated for completion this summer.

First off since when do 25 year olds qualify as upmarket customers? Aside from the odd .com millionaire here and there, 25 year olds do not buy $500K condos. Well they did in 2005 when anyone could get a $500K loan by having a pulse. Not any more. The 25 year old target...the same one with the 5-series lease, the $500 jeans and the $600 iPhone....is gone. Dakota and Madison are so indebted they can barely afford their $5 Starbucks coffee.

And uhm I ain't no real estate expert or nuthin, but when a condo is 30% sold with a few months to go until completion, it doesn't look so good.

And uhm again, no expert or nuthin, but why not put a shovel into the ground for the next 2 years? If things are so wonderful, you'd think they'd be building more condos. Lots of 25-35 year olds out there just begging to spend $500K on a studio apartment or so you say.

These are kinds of questions a journalist would ask. Unfortunately no journalists work at the AJC. No journalists work anywhere in the MSM anymore. So-called journalists only reprint press releases from the NAR, builders, mortgage brokers, etc. And which is why ignoring everything they say is to your advantage.

No amount of spin from the MSM or NAR can change the reality that the great Housing Ponzi Scheme of 2001-2006 has died. We are now in the Great Housing Crash of 2007-20??. The NAR and MSM can wish it all away. The government can come up with plan after plan to help home "owners". Instead of the Great Housing Crash lasting a year or two, it will last many years. Instead of ripping the band aid off in one motion, we are ripping it off bit by bit and causing more and more pain in the process.