condone crystalline.pricing nullifiers,…

Perhaps that other people would end up paying for it.

I have been following your blog since Feb. 2006 and my husband and I were actually one of those that listened to your advice. We put a large down payment on our home and hope to have the house paid off soon. Thanks for all of your advice.

KC, Texas

And this was actually one of the first blogs to begin talking about the housing bubble in detail. (Along with patrick’s site)

I wanted to commend you on having the forsight and prescience to speak of this issue at the same time that dipshits like David Lereah were touting their latest ponzi scheme book on CNBS. And to no one’s surprise, you were proven right.

So despite the absences, I still look forward to your posts. I hope you continue to keep us informed and entertained as time goes on.

You misunderstood me. I’m on your side! I think it’s nuts for Barrons to be calling a bottom now — it’s boostering is what it is.

We’re close to a total shutdown of mortgage markets. I’m on the west side of L.A. — remarkably, things haven’t really dropped here yet. Maybe 10 percent. Maybe. Not like the 50 percent drop in the Antelope Valley that I read about in the L.A. Times.

I think if you remove the bottom of a house of cards, it’s pretty hard for the top level to survive, so it’s only a matter of time before L.A. gets slammed, but you won’t hear that from my neighbors, who are convinced “it won’t happen here.” I see things continuing to get worse through 2011 or 2012 as the re-set wave runs its course. And by then we could be looking at such serious inflation from all these bailouts that we could easily be back to 10 percent interest rates, or worse. Our economy might be more resilient than Japan’s — as I believe it to be — but that doesn’t mean other factors won’t lead us into a 20 year recession/depression like they’ve had. As Shiller likes to point out, real estate prices in Japan fell fifty percent, and stayed down fifty percent for a generation. People have spent their whole lives paying off a Tokyo apartment that is worth half what it was when they bought it.

That could be us. Might not be. But might.

So, if you want to have an intellegent conversation, what does Laing base his opinion on?

Is he quoting Case Shiller? Does he know anything about Alt A or Option Arm loans? Does he see employment improving? Are people’s incomes rising?

With IndyMac, Freddie and Fannie tanking. Personally, don’t see it.

Bottom’s Up: This Real-Estate Rout May Be Short-Lived by Jonathan R. Laing

This real-estate rout has been more painful than prior ones, but it may be shorter-lived. Indeed, there are early signs of recovery.

I guess you didn’t see today’s Barrons:

>

SoCalMtgGuy — is Barrons right? Is this thing almost over? I don’t see how it can be with all the prime re-sets still to come but…

The voices calling for a bottom in real estate prices are becoming fainter by the day.

So, yes. On to next “Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds” (Charles Mackay). Always look forward to reading your posts. So, please Sir, may I have some more?