1. 
   Alicia says:
   June 2nd, 2009 at 7:21pm
   

   That’s great that the economy seems to be turning in Vegas, but since i am me… I have to comment on your economic commentary on Texas and the parallel drawn to Vegas.

   Vegas’ economic difficulties were due in large part to the real estate bubble that never materialized in Texas. Part of the reason for the real estate bubble was very liberal lending laws that are prohibited here. Texas came under great criticism for their “I’m my brother’s keeper” laws around home equity lending, but it turns out that it probably contributed greatly to saving our collective ass. So you throw in a market where prices for years seemed to do nothing but go up, combine it with loans so easy to get that in many instances you didn’t even have to prove your income, and pepper a healthy dose of greed not to mention ignorance of financial markets and you’ll get another bubble with the same subsequent pop.

   Any economic difficulties in Texas have far less to do with any real estate issues, in fact, prices here have seen less than a 5% decline. The rise in unemployment here has had more to do with Dallas having become more of a financial center. With the financial industry coming under pressure, it’s natural for there to be layoffs. As Obama changes his focus from laying the groundwork for double digit inflation to making sure we have substandard national health care, the financial industry will recover. Regardless, I don’t see the Texas economy taking anywhere near the hit that Vegas has taken.

   And that’s all I have to say about that.

2. 
   DanM says:
   June 2nd, 2009 at 7:28pm
   

   i am definitely not saying they are the same — the real estate situation is very different in Texas and Nevada, just like the casino biz is very different from the oil biz.

   i’m just saying from the standpoint of the common person on the ground … whether we’re talking cocktail waitresses or media buyers … the life language has changed (an eensy little bit) here (for the positive) … while when Texans talk about anything to do with money (which is pretty much everything), their banter (and willingness to spend) has moved in a negative direction.

3. 
   Alicia says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 1:17am
   

   …and I would argue that anything that could get an American to lean more to the side of saving rather than spending is a positive, given that Americans’ savings rate had actually dipped into the negative in 2007. Americans and the American investor are like the common street junkie needing the ever increasing fix. More consumption, more revenue, more earnings. Quarter over quarter, year over year. Instead of going to rehab and understanding that our addiction to the quick buck and the quick fix is the root of the problem, we’ve shifted the excess spending from the consumer to the government. Ultimately putting a band aid on a problem when we had a golden opportunity to re-learn a lesson as a nation that was forgotten after the shift of wealth out of the hands of those that lived through the depression. Sadly enough, we’ve now been reduced to sending our Secretary of the Treasury to the new superpower, China, to beg them to buy our debt… and getting laughed at (and rightly so) when we stated that the state of our economy is strong. Just like during WWI when the Europeans hadn’t realized that they were being eclipsed by us as the dominating world power… we, too, have lost that title. Unless we as a nation are prepared to stop acting like spoiled children that can’t take responsibility for our own bad decisions and start acting like grown ups with some semblance of restraint and self discipline, we will suffer the same fate. As a hedge, you might want learning your favorite Chinese dialect.

4. 
   DanM says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 2:06am
   

   Alicia, those are a lot of big words without a paragraf break.

5. 
   waldoworld says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 2:30am
   

   On a not-so-side note, I’m not seeing a big decline where I am. Houses in my neighborhood are actually seeing an increase in value (leading to a 9.68% increase in my property tax that I will have to protest). In addition, the poker room at Winstar has been posting a 15% increase steadily over LY. Even with the WSOP going on and lots of regs in Vegas the room is busier than ever (possibly subjective, but not uneducated viewpoint). People still want to gamboool, they just don’t want to travel to do it.

6. 
   DanM says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 2:34am
   

   See Waldo, now if only Texas legislators (and federal for that matter) could see what you have to say … clearly poker saves the economy.

7. 
   Alicia says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 10:23am
   

   sorry for my poor punctuation at 3 am

8. 
   Poker Shrink says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 12:08pm
   

   NPR radio interview yesterday: “Clark County financial institutions are not even marketing 80% or more of their foreclosed single family homes. There may be as much as an 8 year inventory of such properties.”

   Reality not prayerful hope should guide the investor.

9. 
   David Alexander says:
   June 3rd, 2009 at 7:44pm
   

   Alicia…

   the reason…

   Texas isn’t seeing as big a
   decline is that we had a
   pull back in 2001….
   Because of a change of laws..

   Killing contracts for deeds and
   then again in 2003 killing
   Lease Options…

   And I’m not sure where your
   5% figures came from…

   It’s declined alot more than that…
   It’s just not obvious yet..

   We simply have alot of real estate
   that has been held back by lenders
   and not hit our market yet…

   It will as summer hits and my guess
   is this winter will be a hard one
   for Texas…

   I’ve been buying and selling real
   estate as a principle for 13 years…

   Not to mention a bill that
   is trying to be passed by
   Barney Frank which will kill
   owner financing…

   That will cause investors
   to all but stop buying here
   in Texas…

   As holding for Rentals in Texas
   is a bad plan due to the high
   property taxes paid on Non-Owner
   occupied real estate which eat
   up all profits…

   I don’t have a crystal ball…
   But, my magic 8 ball says…

   Buckle your seat belts..

10. 
    David Alexander says:
    June 5th, 2009 at 1:47am
    

    Alicia…

    The Texas economy is intact because we
    had a pull back in 2001 when they changed the
    laws here regarding contract for deeds…

    And then again in 2003 when they basically made
    Lease Options illegal…

    Causing a slow down of a full blown bull market here…

    That said… builders kept building… and
    and lenders are holding foreclosed inventory
    off the market releasing it slowly….

    To control pricing… (sorta like the diamond guys)

    My guess when it hits… it will hurt pretty bad…

    But, I don’t have a crystal ball… only a magic 8 ball..
    and it says… “Be Cautious”..

    But, who knows…

11. 
    ItsOverJonny says:
    June 14th, 2009 at 6:57pm
    

    @Alicia – EPIC! Excellent Cliff’s Notes on the problem and how we have managed to “dodge” the rightful solution.

    @David – what is that shit, haiku? Perhaps it’s Iambic Pentameter – I can’t remember – I always had English class 1st or 2nd period, and I got high a LOT before school.

12. 
    Alicia says:
    June 14th, 2009 at 9:24pm
    

    Alicia loves Jonny long time

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