May 4, 2009

With all this talk about bailing out "homeowners", I think it's important to remind everyone what was REALLY going on in 2006. One word: Strippers.

If someone wants to do a fascinating study, give us a compare house price falls to the number of strip clubs per capita.

Miami, Vegas, Phoenix, Tampa, LA - all the sleazy cities known for strip clubs were the ones with the greatest housing speculation, and the greatest crashes. And, of course, lots of strippers and DJ's looking to make a killing buying or selling homes.

This is a serious point. Call it the StripperHousingFactor. Most strip clubs = biggest home price crashes. And probably the biggest gains in NAR membership 2002 - 2006. Tells you all you need to know.

From Forbes, March 2006:


The Last Speculators

Condo flippers in south Florida will tell you that they are sure, real sure, that they will sell out at a profit.

Robert Jenkins, 30, found religion, quit his job as a disc jockey at a strip club and, in 2003, began speculating on real estate in hot-hot south Florida. He borrowed heavily and flipped 19 houses in Fort Lauderdale, reaping profits of $750 to $71,000 on each property and plowing two-thirds of his $300,000 in profits into still more homes.

He now owns seven, worth $2.5 million and doubts a crash will happen. He vows to keep flipping, even if it does.

15 comments:

Guberville Smack said...

Bailout programs are not designed to bailout speculators of the type in this article. As far as I know, to qualify for any of the bailouts you can only own a single home and be living in it, and you can never have taken out a home equity loan.
Also, most people in the bubble states (Cali, NV, Florida, AZ) who still have enough equity in the home bought before 2003. Most who bought later than 2003 in these places will probably have to walk away anyway.

Most flippers will be filing bankruptsy. I have talked to several lawyers here in Vegas, and they have plenty of bankrupties giving them job security.

Anonymous said...

Strippers , donuts , and guns

Anonymous said...

obammmy gimme a lap dance

Anonymous said...

Has Mozilo ever owned a strip club?

I see a mafia connection...

Anonymous said...

IS IT TRUE THAT THE GOVERNMENT...AKA THE PEOPLE, SPENT 90 PERCENT THE VALUE OF EVERY MORTGAGE TO BAIL OUT THE BANKS, AND YET BANK SHAREHOLDERS STILL LOST MORE THAN 50 TO 90 PERCENT OF THEIR SHARE VALUE AND HAD THEIR DIVIDENDS CUT TO SHREDS?.....WHERES THE MONEY?

hp fan said...

Strip clubs all over Texas and the biggest oil and gas boom in history yet house prices there rose maybe 10-20% above trend...

Strip clubs had nothing to do with the housing bubble.

Proximity to casinos was the biggest factor. There are no casinos in Texas, but dozens of new casinos in California, Arizona, and Florida.

Anonymous said...

there is a report today on pending sales that says the real estate bottom is here....guess i better buy that 35,000 2 bedroom and not worry about the 10 thousand profit the 15 year resident is making

Anonymous said...

Actually, I bet the strip clubs were there BEFORE the housing bubble.

So, perhaps the causation is, strip clubs CAUSE HIGH HOUSE PRICES, and the number of strip clubs may fall now that housing prices are falling.

Too bad.

That would mean that the government, if they want to prop up high house prices, should start providing bailout money from taxpayers to keep the stripper club industry booming.

Yay! Perhaps I can help by paying my income tax next year in all $1 bills?

Seriously though, this confusion between CORRELATION and CAUSATION and confusion about the DIRECTION OF THE CAUSAL ARROW is usually a serious flaw in REPUBLICAN thinking. Did this strippers=houses idea come from a Republican?

Back to the joke realm, my favorite of this ilk is the idea that lack of Carribean pirates was the cause of global warming:

http://www.seanbonner.com/blog/archives/001857.php

Of course, with the rise of the Somalian pirates, we've been hearing less about global warming in the last few months, so maybe there's something to this one...?????

Out at the peak said...

My sister's best friend was a stripper and she had to quit last year because the competition got insane. When she'd do week long Vegas trips before, she would clear several thousand. The last time she went, she only made $300 after expenses while working even harder. (She is still just as attractive.)

She said the other strippers no longer help each other out and the club handlers are mean and demand even a larger cut.

She is now doing event planning, but she's making a lot less money of course.

Anonymous said...

"found religion"

What religion, other than Satanism, says that it is ok to knowingly fuck over your fellow man?

Fuck him.

No time no talent said...

Out at the Peak said, "She is now doing event planning..."

"Event Planning?" Is that what the kids are calling the next step on a stripper's career path these days?

OBAMMY GIVE ME SINGLES!!!!!!!!!

Somebody with time and talent should do an ad for the NAS-the National Association of Strippors.

Antichristian not anti-Christ said...

"Anonymous said...

"found religion"

What religion, other than Satanism, says that it is ok to knowingly fuck over your fellow man?

Fuck him."

Have you seen the way your average born again christian treats people who have not been "saved?"

At least Satan in the myth buys your soul. These so called christians make you pay for the privilege of having your soul crushed.

i've had it said...

For the last five days I've been in Orange County and LA. I checked out some areas for sightseeing purposes and this is what I saw for housing:

1) In Newport Beach, particularly Corona Del Mar (which is right on the beach) it seemed like every other home was For Sale. I mean, tons of properties are on the market in Corona Del Mar. Those people must be so under water at this point it probably wouldn't matter if their homes just slipped right into the Pacific Ocean!

2) I drove around Bel Air, Brentwood, and Beverly Hills. All of these areas are on a fire sale. Open houses are everywhere. I can't tell you how many multi-million dollar houses are up for sale. I stopped into two of them in Brentwood to see what $6 million and $3 million would buy and I can tell you something: these properties are still over-priced. The one for $6 million was built in 2005 ( a tear down and on a street with very modest/small homes) and had some nice touches but there's no way in hell it's worth that kind of money...no way! The other one for $3 million was nice too but just not worth it...not even close.

I can't tell you how many homes were on sale -- a shitload. the only people I really saw in the houses were people like me: tourists who wanted to see what all the fuss is about in those communities. No one was there seriously looking at those places except for one family I saw at the $3 million home.

Anyway, it was my first time back to LA in a long time and I must say that city -- if you can call it that -- is not nice. It's really not a city. I don't know what you call it, but it's not a city. Also, now I know why people complain about the traffic - it's oppressive; and the drivers -- they suck. Every lane of the highway is the fast lane...people pass on right all the time, as if it were the far left lane. I almost got into five accidents because of this.

On the brighter side, I had a nice, hip dinner at the Mondrian Hotel and found a great spot for breakfast and lunch at a place called Dukes in Malibu.

Pay Lay Ale said...

"What religion, other than Satanism, says that it is ok to knowingly fuck over your fellow man?"

Mormonism, Islam, Amwayism, Scientology...

Unknown said...

I miss these stories. They make me feel so warm and fuzzy.

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