Escape From Pianosa

I was almost disappointed to find my mystery tenant had moved on to greener pastures. I even brought my camera for the people who wouldn’t believe me when I say there was a bum living in my back yard. Alas, his timing was impeccable as the girl demanded a tour of the back. It’s so cute she said, yes, I thought you could even live here if you wanted…

I went to the city to get my scooter out of the back shed in my house in Baltimore.. And I notice that everything smells like shit… And I look around… And there’s blankets on the ground, in my little back yard. Yes, there’s a bum living there. A freaking bum living in my back yard. No wonder the house isn’t selling.

But this pales in comparison to the woman in my rental house who, after notifying me 2 months ago that she’s leaving, decides that in fact she wants to stay. Only she doesn’t tell me until two days before another family is scheduled to move in, and one week before I sell the house to another investor.

It pales in comparison because unlike the bum, who I can evict by moving his blankets and bicycle into the alley, I have to hire a lawyer to get the woman out. It’s my property, she has no right to be there, yet legally I’m forbidden from removing her. Tell me how that makes sense. If a stranger breaks into your house you can kick ‘em out at gunpoint. I don’t see how this is any different.

1. The Federal Reserve and its role in the housing bubble. Artificially low interest rates create excessive demand for long-term assets (like real estate), until the inflationary pressure spreads to other sectors, driving rates back up, causing a painful “readjustment” in long-term asset prices. Like my house. That was appraised at $236,000 in January 2006 and now refuses to sell at $199,500. Via the Austrian Economists.
I blame myself, as well as the Fed for the mess I’m in now. Which leads me to wonder if people who are partial to a philosophy of individual responsibility will be more likely to mis-attribute their failure or success to their own actions, even if they are the victims of luck, circumstance, or bad Fed policy.

2. Tyler Cowen on the development of social conventions such as tapping your foot to signal your interest in gay escapades with your stall neighbor. Seriously, what bold pioneer was the first to initiate such behavior and how is it codified? Or is there a secret gay planning committee that governs the conventions of sexual solicitation? I favor a spontaneous order explanation.

I’m selling my rental property in East Baltimore–great time to sell, right?

So I was showing it last night to another investor and as we were walking to our cars we heard pop pop pop pop pop. Hey were those gunshots? Yeah, I think so. Funny because I hear that all the time in Baltimore, just random popping–I always thought they were fireworks. A woman unrolled a window above us and said “get used to it, mmm hmm.” We didn’t see anyone running, or police sirens or anything. Target practice?

Huh? Apparently the state of Arizona doesn’t want Zillow.com competing with its home appraisers:

Since its inception, the popular real estate appraisal website Zillow has been attacked by those in the realty profession, since it has the potential to break up the monopoly that brokers and agents have on real estate information. Now the state of Arizona has issued a cease & deist against the site, because it delivers home price estimates without having appraiser license in the state of Arizona. This is nothing more than a baldfaced attempt to protect members of a certain profession against a new service that might undercut their profits.

I’m not really a fan of Zillow; I don’t believe that their estimates can be trusted. In a free market, I think the appraisers win out–can you imagine a bank saying “oh don’t worry about the appraisal, we’ll just grab the Zestimate!” Well maybe on a government-guaranteed loan…

Still, this is an asinine use of state power and obviously designed to protect a few people with licenses vs. the millions of Arizonans who may purchase homes some day. What’s next? eBay outlawed for competing with local retailers? Gmail banned for competing with the local telephone companies?

For a libertarian analysis of the housing bubble, check out this podcast. Mark Thornton’s conclusion? The bubble is not nearing the end, and it’s all the fault of the federal reserve.

I’m not a very good real estate blogger, am I?

The sun reports. No word yet on whether the state will also approve laws banning the unjust seizure of homes for unpaid property taxes, an archaic and unfair practice that goes back to the early days of Maryland.

‘Quick take’ takes a hit.’

Regular readers will know that I am generally ‘pro-development.’ I favor growth, especially for Baltimore City, which has grappled with population loss and urban blight for 30 some years now. More specifically, I’m in favor of land-owners having the right to do what they want with their own private property. Good design and good urban aesthetics are important and should be a part of the equation, but not to the point of squelching growth or trampling property rights.

Now, the so-called practice of ‘taking’ land from private owners and giving it to developers or other private entities is another story. Let’s be honest—the word ‘taking’ is little more than a euphemism for theft, as in “we’re taking your land and there’s nothing you can do about it.”

The quote of the day comes from San Francisco mayor, Gavin Newsom:

“I’m not going to moralize it, but I don’t think this is the appropriate place” for a porn film studio, says the mayor, who recently admitted to having an affair with his re-election campaign manager’s wife.

Here’s more from the WSJ (RR) on the unintended consequences of San Francisco’s zoning laws.

A recent report by the Downtown Partnership of Baltimore shows positive signs for job and population growth in downtown Baltimore.