All Forum Posts by: Chris Martin

Quote from @Ken M.:

Quote from @Mark Cruse:

Quote from @Ken M.:

Quote from @Mark Cruse:

Quote from @Ken M.:

Quote from @Mark Cruse:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mark Cruse:

Quote from @Jay Hinrichs:

Quote from @Mark Cruse:

I'm not sure how many are being laid off in the DMV but depending on how many, how could it not lead to a barrage of negative impacts? This region is heavily drenched with federal employees. Aside from multiple people slipping into anxiety, misery and depression, it can clearly lead to a substantial degree of foreclosures. With a very high costs are so many are stretched to the limit. Knocking their livelihood out from under them with no notice is not only demonic and cruel, but t creates chaos. 

Are they not getting a severance package .. I seem to think i read that .. And layoffs happen in the private sector all the time.. I mean look at Intel.. my daughter works or did work there for 22 years .. and then poof they layoff 15k employees .. how is this any different.. If these folks have skills and work ethic they will end up employeed start a business or some other Venture. My Daughter got head hunted and never missed a day.. She actually got a HUGE promotion on the  Intel spin off division that left Intel.. But Yes if you come to work one day and your pay stops that day with no severance and have to go on unemployment ( if they are allowed unemployment) and food stamps and whatever other social programs while they get new jobs ? 

 Not sure where you heard any notion of severance package. Many are not even sure if they will get paid anything. The IRS employees who signed up were told they can't leave until May.  I don't know all the dynamics with your daughter so I can't compare. No one knows what will happen in the DC region, but applying logic and observing past trends, if a significant number lose their jobs with zero notice, it most likely will trigger foreclosures. DC is very expensive and so many of these workers live check to check even though they make decent money. That is reality. I hope it doesn't but clearly it could be the case. I believe there will be major market decline due to other things, but I hope not. 

from what I have read and of course Media bias is slanted one way or the other.. Those that are in their probationary period  IE not yet fully vested if they are not signed on then they are terminated just like anyone else would be if working in the private sector.  Then those with tenure but choose not to go to the office can take the buyout which includes the severance. 
I mean companies layoff folks all the time.. why is this any different especially with how un efficient government is.. I mean I work with these folks I understand the difference between private sector and govmit employees.. My bank a few years back was bought by a bigger bank and same thing happened to alot of the employees .. One day without even knowing the bank was for sale.. the next day they are notified the bank sold and the new bank is bringing in their own people.  Its just the risk people take when they work for any other company other than themselves.. WE see it on BP all the time..  Folks talking about how much they hate their job I am sure their employers would love to know their real feelings. Will see how it all shakes out.  I also wonder how this is going to affect Section 8  you know those with 100% vouchers that basically never work or will never work.. I can see govmit making a condition that tvhey must try to get employment at least. 

 There is no severance of any kind period. I have an idea which news slant you are listening to in order to hear something like that LOL.  In firing people on probation, it tends to play out much different under normal circumstances.  I have never heard of mass firings done in the most chaotic and incompetent way. People are being fired for sport as though it's some pleasurable reality show game. People are devastated with some on the verge of suicide. Thousands of people are having their lives all out destroyed, and a cult is cheering their leaders as though it's some Olympic game in the Roman Coliseum.  People have relocated from across the nation for some of these positions and have nowhere to go or nothing to do. People have mortgages, kids in college, caring for elderly parents or kids with special needs/ Many of them now have no idea what life is brining for them in the near future. This is funny and cool to one side until members of that side get impacted. This is what's happening now. For them, it's not some nonchalant that's how it goes element. Most only assumed it applied to a specific demographic of society so it would be seen as more humorous or acceptable. Al in all, its relative. Either you feel its ok and no big deal or you recognize the pure degrees of despicable disgust.  There has already been one suicide of a grade school little girl due to some of this demonic madness. I don't know what else to say. Overall, it's a very great chance of there being mass foreclosures and like I said, I would not be surprised of the market having devastating down turns. I hope not. 

"On Wednesday, a federal judge ruled in favor of the Trump Administration by restoring the president’s offer of an 8-month buyout for all federal employees if they agree to resign."

"Due to the delays in the program’s expiration date as a result of the legal challenges, over 75,000 federal workers were able to accept the offer."

 i know this. Is there a point you are making? 

Hmmm, you said "there is no severance of any kind period" and that just isn't true.

You should be happy anybody is even reading tribble like that. ;-) (Tribbles are a fictional alien species in the Star Trek universe)

 If you all are going to repeat or believe whatever hannity tells you, you should understand what you are repeating. They were given a choice; either sign up for fork in the road in a few days which is a resignation, or risk getting fired. The only thing they get is their pay for a few months while they are not working. They get paid until September (if you believe that). If that is your description of a severance package its really nothing more I can say. For the IRS people who signed it, they were told they can't leave until May so their so-called severance packages are very limited. Also, the government is not even funded so most think they won't get paid for that time anyway. The king will just say "my bad, we have no more money". Again, the one side thinks it's funny until it hits them. Those right-wing legislators are catching hell in their districts, so we shall see. If WMAL told you there is something else which you deem a severance, they are lying. You are talking to someone here on te ground who is directly looking at what is going on and knows the people impacted. 

When you say "Also, the government is not even funded" I guess you don't realize we are still on Biden's budget until Sept 30 2025. Federal Budgets go From Oct 1 to Sep 30 of the following year. Trump's doesn't begin until Sept 30, 2025.

I understand you have your strong biases and have Trump Derangement Syndrome, for reasons I don't understand,

but I though you should know about the USA's fiscal year, so you can at least make a coherent argument. You're welcome. 

Ug. 

The CR is due shortly. CR stands for Continuing Resolution. Let me quote the second paragraph: 

When Congress and the president fail to agree on and pass one or more of the regular appropriations bills, a continuing resolution can be passed instead. A continuing resolution continues the pre-existing appropriations at the same levels as the previous fiscal year (or with minor modifications) for a set amount of time.[1] Continuing resolutions typically provide funding at a rate or formula based on the previous year's funding.[3]

If you scroll down to 2025, you'll see the government is funded through 3/14/2025. 

The government is effectively shut down now so it's just a matter of who is paid/retained. 

This post is just to clarify my (and other) prior posts. 

The Newsweek story (link above) based its facts on RedFin data, specifically for the DC market in January when most of the government RIF news was speculation. The dailymail story (link above) referenced the "Kobeissi Letter" on X, which literally cut/pasted from the same RedFin data. The RedFin data shows a lot less "closed sales" (458) compared to Russell's info graphic (939.) The discrepancy probably is related to county vs. city metrics, and that may or may not be significant. Given that I believe Russell is (IMHO) the recognized authority in the DC area, I tend to believe his data over RedFin. Note that RedFin shows Y/Y January 2025 price declines of 9.71% for all housing but increases of 2.8% in single-family homes. RedFin shows -7.5% Y/Y for townhouses and -11.3% Y/Y for condos, both of which have much smaller transaction values and therefore, IMHO, make the 2.2% January 2025 (overall) price increase in Russell's info graphic more plausible. 

My brother was a White House PIF under the first trump administration. He owned property in San Jose but in DC he rented for 3+ years. Most administration officials rent when they move to DC because they know they may be there for 4-years or a lot less. Possibly just one (or a few) Scaramucci.  Ha. It happens (more frequently with trump) 

DC is a land for renters, specifically geared for an influx of administration appointees and staff. So the premise "prices are dropping rather substantially in Washington D.C. related to layoffs." lacks merit in my 'blink' (think the book 'blink' - I am old) moment. See chart below. 

My guess is upon big terminations is there will be a lot of leases terminating early (?) and the only question in my mind is if the landlords will be able to re-rent quickly or if there will be some kind of a 'black swan' event when rentals in DC become completely unaffordable/unattractive. My guess: unlikely. DC is always in demand. Until democracy and the US collapses, DC housing will stay in demand. 

Note: I am an outsider with no investment in DC and no doge in the fight;) 

Not necessarily. I've done (and others have too) seller financing where little or no cash is involved at closing. I've also assumed VA loans where little cash was used (seller had low/no equity). Basically, the seller signs the deed and walks away.

Probably better to post in the Buying & Selling Real Estate Forum.

Without details, hard to answer the question. Post with more detail, in the above forum, and hopefully you'll get some rational responses. 

Advice? Buy if the numbers work. There are always opportunities in buying real estate, businesses, companies, etc., as long as you know (or think you know) what you are in for. There are risks too, when buying condemned and burned-out houses because you may not be able to control the environment where these properties exist. Weigh the pros and cons. Good luck. 

The short answer is 'no.' If you are buying from HUD, you will be contractually obligated to occupy the home for 12 months. These policies have been in place for decades. Here are some details, from a non-HUD site and from HUD. 

Government property sales, for the moment at least, distinguish between OO (Owner Occupant) and NOO (NON-Owner Occupant). President Musk may change this at any time.

Maybe. It depends where you are. The industry is quite fractured and developers are mostly regional. There are exceptions for very large projects where national players like MasTec (who bought IEA, one of the largest solar and wind installers in the US), exist. I suggest you start with developers in your local area (your county and neighboring counties level) because they would be your most likely partner or parcel buyer. 

Wow! The fastest I've seen personally is a few days, with a reinsurance policy through Metro Title (they were on Glenwood Ave in Raleigh, but I think they moved.) The deal was a long time ago and it was a quick-close, pre-foreclosure, all cash deal. The paralegal was good at interfacing with title and trustee companies. For those properties with HOAs, the HOA was usually the PITA.

@Barre Gambling I am curious... in your opinion, is our area in central NC underserved outside of the Raleigh-Cary-Durham MSAs? Specifically, where are the opportunities and how do you spot them? In rural areas where I am, like northern Johnston County or northern Harnett County, I don't think there are many laundromats relative to the population. What are the metrics for determining site selection? In the self storage market, they have ratios based on population to determine demand. Does the same metric hold true for laundromats?