John T. Reed’s news blog

"Investor Sprawl Resisted" is the page 2 jump headline to a story about some homeowners associations trying to pass rules that make it harder for corporations to buy homes for the purpose of renting them out. 1. Generally, that takes a 2/3 vote. My HOA has never gotten 2/3 except once to stop a billionaire from building a home the size of a country club. And his lawyers intimidated the HOA board into capitulating on that. 2. The word "sprawl" is a dysphemism---opposite of a euphemism. Euphemisms and dysphemisms have no separate definition from the neutral word. They are dishonest...

WSJ headline is “Russia launches Offensive in East.” . By what right? He is murdering Ukrainians and getting so many of his own people killed that he is too embarrassed to say how many. . How can any nation abstain from condemning this? How can 83% of Russians support this? I know he controls the state media but 300,000 young Russians have left Russia because I'd the war. There are too many communications channels now for Putin to prevent people from knowing the truth. . Putin is pure evil and defeating him is the only option.

I just got suspended again from Facebook. I pushed the why button and they talked about a ban from a couple of months ago—for which they suspended me then. Around that time, FB announced that they changed their algorithm so people discussing the Ukraine war, as I was, would no longer be suspended..So I have no idea what the current suspension is about. The posts above are the ones. I expect my readers will not see any problem either.

James Mackintosh has a WSJ column today that says “get used to inflation.” I submit that the recent Venezuelan experience wt inflation reveals quite clearly that Mackintosh has no idea what he is talking about. . The average adult there lost 24 pounds from inability to find food. High inflation combined with price controls means empty store shelves. Since 2014, at least 5.6 million Venezuelans—more than 18 percent of the population—have fled the hunger, crime, violence, and collapse of public services that have destroyed that nation. . Getting used to it is NOT an option. . Mackintosh also speaks of...

It is common among very young novice real estate investors to seek as an end point the ability to stop work and just live off the cash flow from their empire of duplexes and other residential rental properties. This is get-rich-quick guru nonsense. . 1. Owning rental properties is a job. I calculate it takes 3.6 hours per unit per month to manage them. At about the 40 units level, that is a full-time job. 2. The cash flow, if you have it, comes from your equity being about 50% of more of the value of the property, not from...