Elder Abuse

Most of the time I just delete shit like this. Then, unsurprisingly I get another text.

What chat? Why do I feel like I’m being targeted?

HomeVestors, the self-proclaimed “largest homebuyer in the United States,” goes to great lengths to distinguish itself from the hedge funds and YouTube gurus that have taken over large swaths of the real estate investment market. The company says it helps homeowners out of jams — ugly houses and ugly situations — improving lives and communities by taking on properties no one else would buy. Part of that mission is a promise not to take advantage of anyone who doesn’t understand the true value of their home, even as franchisees pursue rock-bottom prices…HomeVestors cautions its franchisees never to take advantage of sellers who are unable to understand negotiations. But by the time he left that evening, Evans had a contract to buy the house for roughly two-thirds its value, signed in Casanova’s shaky script.

The Ugly Truth Behind “We Buy Ugly Houses” — https://www.propublica.org/article/ugly-truth-behind-we-buy-ugly-houses

Full disclosure – I have no clue who sent me these text messages and the source may not be HomeVestors.

Please read then share the entire article. You can’t be too safe nowadays.

The more I think about this form of elder abuse the angrier I get. Then again, maybe I did have a conversation about a different property.

This text message was for a property I don’t own.

Scary Charts 04.11.23

Per the Economic Policy Institute, wages in 2021 “rose fastest for the top 1% of earners (up 9.4%) and top 0.1% (up 18.5%), while those in the bottom 90% saw their real earnings fall 0.2% between 2020 and 2021.”

I Would Love to Have Enough Time and Money to Go to an Office to Work All Day — https://slate.com/business/2023/03/steven-rattner-new-york-times-remote-work-commute-child-care.html

The source article is about WFH vs RTO (work from home vs return to office) and is worth reading.

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth”

“Everybody has a plan until they get punched in the mouth.”

Mike Tyson

The drop in the volume of employment in a given sector always has a ripple effect in the national economy. The loss of so many high-paying jobs in a short time will be a dent in the coffers of Los Angeles County and for New York state in the short term. Michele Evermore, senior policy analyst for the Washington, D.C.-based National Employment Law Project, says it hits at a time when other industries are undergoing similar sweeping realignments with huge human toll.

“Nobody’s got a plan for how to transition these massive sectors of the workforce into a different thing,” Evermore says.

Hollywood Grapples With Mass Layoffs as the Biz Redefines Itself for Streaming Future — https://variety.com/2020/tv/news/hollywood-layoffs-streaming-future-1234838650/

I sat for a few minutes thinking about what to write next when Charlie Hunter popped into my head. Hunter titled one of his albums with the Tyson quote.

Which was then followed by some great advice from Charlie on his strategy for success and survival in the years to come.

Don’t wait until you get punched in the mouth to make your Plan B. And while you’re at it you might want to come up with a Plan C as well.