Politicians offering bizarre comments about housing, a major company shifting its headquarters out of California and a radioactive contaminated school for sale. From the wild and wooly world of real estate, here are our Hits and Misses for the week of July 29-Aug. 2.
Miss: What is She Talking About? Vice President Kamala Harris made her very first reference to housing since Democrats installed her as their presidential candidate, albeit in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it comment. During a rally speech in Georgia on Wednesday, Harris stated, “We will take on corporate landlords and cap unfair rent increases.” Uh, why didn’t Harris take on these “corporate landlords” during for the past three-and-a-half years while she was the number two person in the Biden White House? And why is she waiting until 2025 to achieve these goals?
Miss: What is He Talking About? On the flip side, former President Donald Trump also made a rare reference to housing in a Fox News interview when he offered this strategy to help address homeownership affordability challenges: “I say very simply: vote for Trump. Interest rates are coming down. Energy is coming down. You’re going to be able to buy a home again.” Okay, presidents don’t directly impact interest rates and energy costs are not distorting housing prices, but never mind – the real groaner came when Trump was asked about President Biden’s plans for rent caps. His response: “Once you do that, you end up in a depression. We’ll end up in a depression like in 1929.” Really?
Miss: Why is Anyone Listening to What She’s Saying? Massachusetts’ Sen. Elizabeth Warren seems to have one-upped Harris and Trump for odd talk. After today’s dismal jobs data was released – unemployment is up as the US economy added 114,000 jobs, far below expectations, while the May and June job numbers were revised downward – Warren took to X to demand Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell “cancel his summer vacation and cut rates now — not wait 6 weeks.” Oh, is that how things work? Earlier in the week, Warren offered a bloated and wholly unrealistic $550 billion home building plan to be financed by raising estate taxes – or as Warren claimed, “It’s all paid for by getting America’s wealthiest families to chip in.” Okay, sure.
Miss: Is This Really the Problem? Have we run out of silly political talk? To quote the great Ron Popeil: But wait, there’s more! New York City Mayor Eric Adams bemoaned what he considered to be “Not In My Backyard” (NIMBY) opposition to new affordable housing in his city, adding the criticism is fueled by the belief the new housing would benefit “single Black men.” Adams complained, “This is not the Deep South of 1950. Jim Crowism can’t exist in our city. Every part of this city must have an obligation to build more housing.” Thanks to reckless talk like this, it is no surprise that Adams is facing a rising number of potential opponents from within his own Democratic Party ahead of the city’s 2025 mayoral election.
Hit: Goodbye, California! We don’t have any silly quotes from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, but his leadership was called into question today as Chevron, whose roots in the Golden State goes back to the 1870s, announced it is relocating its California headquarters to Houston. Chairman and CEO Mike Wirth made it clear why the company is bringing its corporate offices to Texas, declaring: “We believe California has a number of policies that raise costs, that hurt consumers, that discourage investment and ultimately we think that’s not good for the economy in California and for consumers.” This is a big hit for pro-business Texas and yet another reminder of Newsom’s chronic mismanagement of his state.
Miss: Not a Bargain. An Ohio school that was closed five years ago after radioactive contamination was confirmed on its property is going up for auction in a few weeks – with the radioactive contamination still intact. Zahn’s Corner Middle School in Pike County was found to have uranium in dust samples collected from inside the school, but the property was never remediated because the U.S. Department of Energy insisted the radioactivity on the site was “due to naturally occurring radionuclides” – never mind that the uranium found its way into the school from the nearby Portsmouth Gaseous Diffusion Plant, which was used to enrich uranium for use in nuclear weaponry. The property is scheduled to be auctioned on Aug. 17 with a minimum bid of $275,000, with the auction company adding that potential buyers could transform the school into “a training center, offices, medical, sales, or manufacturing,” We’ll sit that auction out, thank you.
Phil Hall is editor of Weekly Real Estate News. He can be reached at [email protected].
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Spot On evaluation of the crazies
What is crazy about wanting to assist the majority of our population to either rent a decent home or buy one? I am a Realtor for 40 years this year in a rather affluent seaside community; but as usual it is a story of Two Cities; one side has much more than enough and the other; not so much. Finding someone who is under age 55, with maybe a child or two and forbid a dog or family pet of some sort a place they can afford to live is an unending challenge here. Unless you have around $1800 to 2500 per month to spend on housing; meaning you need just to step up to the plate and take a swing———-nearly or more than $6,000, first, last and security; must have a credit score of at least 720 and no felonies, no recent bankruptcy, med. bills may buy you some sympathy–or not! Now saying you have all that, finding that special home where they are ONLY asking around $2,000 will be the next hurdle. Did I mention that average pay for a working person in this southern town is maybe $12 an hour; with no one really wanting you for more than 30 hours so they don’t have to pay insurance or offer any days off for illness, etc.—start your trusty calculator; what does it tell you? Reckless, and crazy now? Let us remember who established programs to assist with home ownership. If you don’t know; here is the official Republican platform on homelessness:
The Republican plan will streamline shelter construction, protect faith-based organizations that provide shelter and fund local government efforts to increase shelter capacity. Big Whoop! No sir———-we need real programs to get people into their own home, and yes, I have worked on two Habitat for Humanity home builds; which is both faith based and equity enhanced for those who help build others home after they get theirs; but Fannie Mae and Freddie and VA loans have helped many thousands to reach a place where they can begin to build their own foundation of wealth; we need more of it and if churches want to provide temporary help; great; but this is not a permanent answer—-teach a man to fish; he won’t go hungry rather than just keep giving him fish; teach people HOW to own their own home is the answer with a leg up with the help of government programs to qualify them and assist.
Regardless of all of this political nonsense and posturing, at the end of the day, both sides of the aisle have not come forward with comprehensive or even feasible plans to address the ongoing critical and growing housing shortage in the United States. Unless we do, the homeless population will grow and economic disparity will also. This will be true in the blue states and the red states. It is time for us to stop screwing around and act like America, in the America, I grew up in, was kind and compassionate, considerate and its comments and interested in consensus solutions.