rilla state

another financial debacle brought on by hubris and greed and shysters with absolutely no morals of any kind whatsoever---poor kevin---i hope he hasn't been caught up in all of this but i wouldn't be surprised if he has---at one point he had two properties in ft. lauderdale and something wierd going on with a 400k house in vegas----last i heard he still had the duplex in lauderdale, but i'm not even sure of where he's living right now except he's still in vegas---he sold the house he was in when i was out there three or four years ago----i'm still glad that i sold sinclair when i did---not quite as glad that i bought 1308 when i did, although still plenty glad---

Sept. 10, 2007 issue - Walking through the gated community of Black Mountain Vista on a hill in Henderson, Nev., Thomas Blanchard offers a guided tour of real-estate woe. A row of stucco duplexes that recently sold for as much as $500,000 sit empty. "That's a repo," the real-estate agent says as he stands in front of 678 Solitude Point Avenue. Then he points to the adjacent houses, where yellow patches blot the spartan lawns and phone books lie on front porches, their covers bleached from weeks under the desert sun. "No. 680, repo; 684, repo. Those two at the end, repo."

Three years ago, this Las Vegas suburb was teeming with modern-day prospectors armed with low-interest mortgages, all hoping to strike it rich in real estate. Now, what started with the subprime-mortgage mess and subsequent credit crunch are turning communities like Black Mountain Vista into luxury ghost towns. Buyers who got in over their heads are being forced to abandon their homes, leaving behind empty McMansions on the California coast and see-through condominium towers on Miami Beach. Real estate is turning into a money pit, sapping the fortunes of home buyers, hedge-fund managers and house painters alike. The really bad news? This is only the beginning.