Saturday, July 07, 2007

Sheehan, the shady land baron, and
non-biased media personalities

Oh my... where to even start on this little juicy tidbit... So many side threads!
Let's see... Cindy Sheehan buys a 5 acre patch of dirt next to Bush's Crawford Ranch for $52K last year - using gov't insurance benefit monies as a result of her son's death.
Facts: le femme Sheehan held the property for a year, then put the property on the market for $87K. That's close to 6 percent equity on a raw piece of dirt in the Texas market that is the 3rd highest in the nation for the subprime foreclosure decline. In other words.... considering the local market... Ms. Sheehan was a greedy land baron with a high price tag in a stressed market area.
Taking into realistic stride that I believe a seller has every right to offer a property for sale for a price (even an outrageous one) they choose, all that remains is finding a buyer dumb enough (caveat emptor) to bite on the asking price, and a real estate agent willing to help the buyer step into a pile of financial manure.
Well... don't know about the real estate agent aid, but Sheehan found one emotions-over-common-sense buyer who willingly ignored sage financial advice. A "smart, sassy" (authors description, not mine...) California anchor woman, Bree Walker.
Well DO forgive me if I can't agree with the writer's assessment of Bree on just about any account. Watched her for years, and spent most of my time tuning out and to other local news anchors. Chrisma of a long time buried bone. Sassy... hardly. And with this purchase, definitely not registering on the "smart" thermometer.
To each their own on opinions INRE Bree appeal. But overall, from my personal exposure of her past work, I'd take what this writer says with a grain of salt.
Why the oh-so-stupid financial move on Walker's part? Bree considers Cindy's little profit patch "hallowed ground" and, despite all reasonable financial advice as to the real value of the land, "got "literally sick to my stomach" at the thought that it might fall into the hands of Bush supporters.".
Now there's an example of an unbiased news anchor/journalist, eh?
So what we have here is a cutthroat seller, masquerading as a "love the one you're with" activist, who found a willing and duped buyer. Sheehan couldn't have known in advance who the buyer would be when she put the property on the market. She was merely looking for a high net cash return.
In our current world of mortgage subprime fraud claims and predatory real estate practices, Sheehan proves she not only that she fits right in, she downright shines as a new-age carpetbagger. She took money from the gov't for her son's death, and parlayed a cool $35K gross profit in a mere 12 months time frame amidst a correcting, declining market by preying on the emotions of one of those "unbiased" media types.
Ain't America and capitalism grand? Nothing like it anywhere.... And what's the reality in the scheme of things? Who owns that patch of dirt won't mean whit to the neighbor... Dubya or not. They'll pay taxes to Texas, and sit on an overpriced piece of dirt for years. The only one "teaching a lesson" is the marketplace to a very stupid buyer, and the press for exposing Sheehan as a money grabbing real estate entrepreneur using her son's blood money for profit.
But on a personal character level... well... I've said it before, and I'll say it again. Humans.... feh.

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