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LCHorn

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Posts posted by LCHorn

  1. 10 minutes ago, texasdago said:

    Was curious after looking at those numbers and looked up Houston.  Here's what they listed in August 2023...

    Along with the 30 billion gallons of water lost in 2022, the city lost another 9 billion gallons from January to April 2023, according to the latest data. Some months, Houston lost of over 20 percent of its total water supply

    It's an economic loss in the sense that's treated water, but isn't that just helping recharge underground aquifers and preventing more subsidence loss?

  2. @Brisketexan This might be several years old but didn’t you post something about visiting with a tax protest attorney and they explained process a bit, or maybe said something about land value vs improvement value not important?  
     

    I feel like the post made the point that for value purposes, TCAD didn’t really distinguish between land or improvements and kind of moved around the values of each in a way that didn’t always make sense (but also that protesting based on those changes didn’t appear effective).  

  3. 19 minutes ago, irishtexan said:

    That being said, buying that building for $3m after sinking $200k just to cover day-to-day operations at a struggling dive bar doesn't seem like a prudent investment.

    “We’re currently losing money but want to take on $2.4m in debt, please give us money for down-payment.”  
     

    These people are running a business?!?

    In other news, Los Comales on 7th shut down.  I haven’t been there in seven or eight years but it was a good “I can’t think of someplace better” choice in the neighborhood.

  4. 13 minutes ago, ChickenSandwich said:

    PG makes sense. If they can get that position locked, FVV would be an enticing trade piece for contenders with only 2 yrs remaining (midseason trade). 

    I had the same thought but I think it's a rare point that doesn't need a few years of grooming and that's perhaps misaligned with our window (particularly if the selection is a miss).  I'd rather trade for a Kyle Lowry type once Van Fleet is a FA. 

  5. 8 minutes ago, Fud said:

    Risacher also makes sense

    But yeah spacing while being able to defend should be the priority, at any position. That or drafting for pure upside, but I'm not sure if that exists in this draft

    Risacher is going to take minutes Thompson and Eason.  While the scouting report suggests he'll shoot better than both (both now and going forward), they need developmental time and both appear to have superior attributes in other areas (to Risacher).  Smith can also play the three in big line-ups (and if he's not going to grow into a 4/5, this might be his best position even if he's mostly a 4 on the Rockets), so while you may prefer to draft for best player available, I'd have to really a player to want to add bodies at the position with the most depth already. 

  6. On 3/1/2024 at 9:26 AM, Pam Cummings said:

    Count me as a fan of Mama Betty's. Really good salsa.

    Just by chance we were on Parmer yesterday evening so I could give it a try.  It was good, very strong tortilla game and drinks were well priced.  

    I didn’t prefer their chips or salsa (the chips were fine, reminiscent of Julio’s) but were no worse than average.

     

     

  7. 4 hours ago, HornOnTheBayou said:

    Haven't seen the movie, but the book is incredible. But I worry that the movie would lean too heavy into the "torture porn" part of the story and not focus on the philosophical/religious aspects which make the book so good.

    I think that’s deliberate-the book goes to great pains at explaining the Japanese belief in THIS life as one part of a cycle and that death is not permanent.  
     

    The show, by contrast, stays in Blackthorne’s perspective by treating life and death in the Western perspective, i.e., when you die you to heaven or you do not, but either way your time is her is done. 

  8. 10 hours ago, naija said:

    Anna Sawai should, at the very least, be nominated for some awards.

    She is amazing.  I had read that the show-runners upgraded the role of the female characters from the book and I’ve been waiting to see it.  
     

    This episode was her showcase and she killed.  

    8 hours ago, Speedtrucker said:

    Also separate question, how many of yall that like this show have seen Scorsese’s movie Silence?

    I really liked it (it’s not a pleasant watch so hard to love), but more importantly I think about it fairly often.  Think of it like Scorcese’s Schindler’s List-it’s meaningful, certain parts of it will capture you forever, but you won’t be doing a rewatch for fun during the holidays.  

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  9. 5 minutes ago, David Dennison said:

    Does this team get back to .500 and if so, when do we think that happens? Before the break? After?

     

    I think the construct of the team means they'll be streaky--it wouldn't surprise me for them to get back to .500 and then go on a losing streak and drop back down again. 

  10. 30 minutes ago, TreatyOak said:

    Questions for the professionals. 

    My neighbor priced his home last year at $4.25M. My business partner, (who is a real estate agent on the side), says it's worth around $2.5M. He pulled it down after 3/4 of a year and has it back on at $3.95.

    • How dangerous is it to overvalue the price of your home when selling? 
    • Do buyers really care how long a house has been on the market? 
    • Does it help you to pull a house that's been on the market for a long time, then re-list it? 
    • Is it wise to try to hold out for some really wealthy person who doesn't care about price to fall In love with it?

    Thanks,

     

    Sounds very much like you're "asking for a friend" 😉

    Dangerous?  Over-valued?  Nobody knows anything, it's like Hollywood and making movies.  That's for the market to decide, particularly for a high value property that might have unique features that might not be known to your business partner.  Obviously the danger is that you don't get an offer at asking but it's not like that's inherently problematic for finding the present market value. 

    Most realtors will defer to under-valuing a property because it undoubtedly makes it easier to sell and it'll create traffic.  This may or may not maximize sales price (this is one reason a realtor is better than an owner for having a strategy on this).  Every property is different and market conditions matter.  If I was trying to sell something at $500K, for example, I'd probably a lot more flexible on list because there's tons of buyers in that price range (relatively) and I might have better luck trying to encourage a multiple offer scenario.

    If, by contrast, I wanted to sell something at $4.2m then maybe I'm more concerned with the perception of exclusivity.  Maybe I keep it off MLS, let agents know they can call it a pocket listing.  It'll still get out there but I only need one buyer who agrees with me on the value and that's a high enough price that most buyers would be looking for something special (and might feel entitled to it).  For example, paying $200 a sq ft premium for a recently remodeled house rather than doing it themselves and saving the money but incurring the hassle. 

    Historically there's a prejudice against properties on the market for an extended period but I think that's gone away.  It might have previously meant the house had problems, the sellers are inflexible (or assholes), realtor incompetent, etc., but there's been so much price/demand volatility (hell, just life volatility) post Covid I really don't think a good buyer's agent declines to show a house because it's been listed for 90 days.  As far as pulling it back and then re-listing, who knows?  Agents see that, it's not like it's a way to truly re-introduce something "as new". 

    Is it wise to hold out for a wealthy person?  That depends on how urgently the proceeds might be needed.  

     

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  11. 2 hours ago, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Would be great if Allred would, you know,  campaign.

    If his stump speech doesn’t improve from “Back when I played in the NFL,” then maybe it’s better to keep him off the trail.  At least in DC he can claim he’s working.  

  12. I’ve finally got an arbitration hearing scheduled for May for my 2023 value, so this hits close to home.  
     

    Tax value is up 30% over the past two years and the ARB three person panel declined to reduce my land appraisal value because “it would inequitable”, i.e., market data doesn’t support the value increase but if they reduce mine it might be unfair to my neighbors.  
     

    I would be happy to vote for whoever promises to follow the law on it, which states that market value prevails.

  13. 38 minutes ago, Vermin said:

    You have to be brain dead to think recruits give a shit about the 1960s. Georgia and Alabama typically win the recruiting title.

    No one has claimed that.  They do care about what their parents or grandparents might think, however, and if Texas or OU is offering the same benefit in NIL dollars and mom feels better about OU, then it’s not simply a matter of historical success.

    Let’s not forget that Baylor has signed lots of guys that could play at Texas for no better reason than their parents perception a Baptist school would be a better place for their boy to matriculate, regardless of their terrible reputation for hiding rape and murder elsewhere.  

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  14. 33 minutes ago, statsman said:

    Eeeeeehhhhh,…would it shock you to learn that the idea that OU was advanced and enlightened on race relations, much more than Texas, is largely a myth?

    I’m wasn’t trying to recount the history, however accurately you might have described it.  What matters is the perception amongst some African American families that OU opened a door closed to them in Austin, and UT still needs to overcome that perception 50 years later. 

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  15. On 4/15/2024 at 8:21 AM, Bozo_Casanova said:

    Sure, it is hypothetically possible that one or more individual Democrat candidates could win a statewide race with a very strong campaign. That’s just hero ball, and can happen at any time. It’s not a strategy.

    I’m repeating myself from other threads but I disagree with this part-I think the hero ball strategy is the most viable to rebuild the state party.  Basically, you need a Beto who can win and use that success for a state party takeover.  Then you use that to leverage change (or just recruit) at the purple district/county level.  Places like the panhandle, Midland/Odessa/Tyler aren’t there yet (if ever) and contesting those races are a misuse of resources.
     

    Ezra Klein writes about this all the time but this also needs to coincide with a change in the conversation away from the protection of civil rights to basic management competency, a little like Andy Beshear has done.  

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  16. 13 hours ago, Thetexashammer said:

    Last time I looked, the VA removed maximum limits on its loans. They had been around $450k. I am still having trouble believeing I can do a million dollar VA loan, but holy shit if I can it's gonna be awesome.

    I’ve originated several of these and they are indeed AWESOME.  Even better if you are eligible to have your funding fee waved.  
     

    Of note, I’ve not seen an investor (the entities to which we sell the loans on the secondary market) willing to go above $1.5m on the loan side (so effectively that’s the max loan amount), and bear in mind these loans are particularly valuable in an improving rate environment because of how cheap and easy they are to refinance for a lower rate.


    Its such a great option that when I talk to veteran borrowers we spend a good bit of time mapping out their long term purchase plans-if you have $200k of your housing benefit locked up on an investment property you won’t be able to take advantage of this because you need your full benefit available to go $0 down at prices exceeding the conforming loan limit.  In other words, if you are a boot Lt or lance corporal buying a first home in Killeen, it might be prudent to wait to use your VA home loan benefit and use a different loan for an early career purchase (if the intention is to hold onto the property).

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  17. Is there another thread for this?  At any rate, finally saw it and it was…fine.  It has very little of the charm and mystery inherent in the original.  It might be a mine that’s just tapped out, or the idea of little girls doing profane things just seems less transgressive in 2024.

    What’s disappointing is David Gordon Green is a pretty smart dude and would presumably have those same thoughts, so seeing something from him so predictable was disappointing.  

    Aaron Burr himself, Leslie Odom, Jr., is great as usual.  Ann Dowd and Ellen Burstyn are wasted and not given much of a character to play.

  18. 8 minutes ago, UpperWestside said:

    Europe is the most bloodied continent in recorded history on the planet that also suffers from perpetual war. They are not the topic here.

    I'm not sure what point you're trying to make.  Do you think we shouldn't be arming the Ukrainians? 

    The middle east isn't exceptional.  We should support other nations or people when our interests align and remove support when they don't. 

  19. Adding on to @Macklemore, but Iran had established diplomatic and military relationship with Israel and was a non-shooting ally against the Arabs.  In fact, it was so strong that even when he was deposed, the Israelis and the Iranian elites continued the relationship through the Iraq war before Khomeini more firmly established his theocracy at the head of the government (bear in mind this means the Israelis were selling US supplied arms to Iran while we sold weapons to Iraq). 

    I don't mean to pick on you @UpperWestside, but when people describe the middle east conflicts are perpetual and immutable, it makes it sound like they are somehow distinct from those in the West.  I think part of the perception is it's a place with 2000 years of preserved written history so we just know a lot more about it.  There's been huge swaths of time when there was relative peace and I don't think the region appears all that more given to violence than Europe or the new world up to WW2. 

    The whole "death to Israel" shit is Khomeini and is because of his rivalry with the Saudi's for religious legitimacy. 

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  20. 13 hours ago, closetohumping said:

    Austin market has taken the biggest dip

    I agree that it has but that’s on sales price, not so much on value.

    If you have a $700k loan and bought in 2019 you likely have a 3% or better rate and  there’s just no way you’re going to spend twice that (plus more on taxes) to upgrade unless you REALLY need to.  

    Removing these transactions has skewed the sales price numbers.  Appraisers are still finding comps at higher prices, they just have to do more legwork and can’t depend on 5 recent sales in a 1 miles radius.

    1 hour ago, Wulaw Horn said:

    3) the best comp for a house generally is the purchase price of that house- it’s likely as you mentioned appraiser will err on the side of the borrower

    This was very well put, but it’s not purely out of deference to the buyer or so they don’t get yelled at-it’s because we are depending on the market to fundamentally answer this question of value and the price reached is the best evidence of it.  

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  21. I think it’s pretty clear the whole “we’ve got intelligence on what you’re about to do” is to act as a deterrent.  
     

    I think I’m done fucking around with Iran.  The revolution has burnt itself out and they are essentially Russia but with more religion and melanin.  They’ll persist as an autocratic petrostate trying to export insurgencies as long as we allow it.  

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  22. 9 minutes ago, tx 3 putt said:

    Astros Starters:

    1. Verlander - IL
    2. Valdez - IL
    3. Javier (1.10 ERA)
    4. McCullers - IL
    5. Garcia - IL
    6. Urquidy - IL
    7. Brown (16.43 ERA)
    8. France (8.16 ERA as of 3 IP)
    9. Blanco (0.00 ERA)
    10. Bielak (Long guy now)
    11. Arrighetti (1 ML start, 21.00 ERA)

    Not to pick on you but this is the kind of thing that points out our bullshit.  #1 has been healthy for one season out of the last three, 4 isn’t expected back until after the all-star break and isn’t reliable regardless, 5 isn’t expected back until after the all-star break and he’s still trying to establish himself, 6 was a spring training injury but before Montgomery signed (and has done nothing to think he’s an adequate replacement for a 1-3 starter). Everyone below that is varying degrees of risk but certainly not dependable for a WS contender.

     

    The problem isn’t the injuries, the problem is the plan for mitigating the performance loss was fucking regarded.

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