Phoenix real estate and reality

by philg

Top of my reading list here in Phoenix is The Greatest Trade Ever, about many of the folks who profited from the inability of Phoenicians to pay their subprime mortgages. The value of a house here is down about 50 percent from the peak (chart). Being a tourist in town, one does wonder why investors thought that the citizens of Phoenix were sufficiently educated and clever to earn enough to pay off such expensive houses. Here’s a sampling of the local labor force:

  • waiter at $300/night Montelucia resort could not pronounce “pinot noir” and knew less than nothing about the food that was being prepared in the kitchen
  • waiter at $300/night Arizona Biltmore brought bone-dry Cobb salad to the table with no dressing and no bread
  • waitress at a Mexican restaurant decided that two water glasses would be adequate for a party of six (we can’t blame the Mexican schools for this one; she was about as white-bread an American as can fit into a pair of mule-sized blue jeans)
  • Enterprise rental car agency delivered car with liquid spilled coffee in cupholders and various other parts of the interior

The incompetence of the average worker here ended up being inspiring. If people like this can have jobs, the U.S. economy can’t be doing that badly. On the other hand, I wouldn’t be relying on them to make mortgage payments.

7 thoughts on “Phoenix real estate and reality”

  1. I think the problem is these $300/night resort restaurants. You got to go to the little family-owned Mexican taquerías. That’s where the good stuff is. At least if Phoenix is like Mexico and California and Denver and other places I’ve been with Mexican food. They’re not all good, but the good ones are *really* good. http://www.flickr.com/photos/69272069@N00/3534829125/

  2. To be fair, I believe there used to be an Arizona state law/regulation that required water glasses not to be served unless explicitly requested by the customer.

    reinharden

  4. Melpews are ubiquitous ( a “melpew” is a store employee whose vocabulary is “Melpew?”, and who knows that they will never be given a raise to keep costs down ) – the real question is where are the fire-breathing maitre d’ of yesteryear? Hint – they’ve been replaced by “trainees” being paid less than minimum wage and whose “tips” are siphoned into the corporate boardroom along with everything else.

    http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/investigations/2009/09/greedy-hilton-take-more-servic.html

  5. Try living in a country where there is no tipping like me (Australia). You’ll see that the USA has some of the best service in the world. When I come home to the USA, I feel almost guilty because of the gushing subservience of service staff. It’s atypical when compared with the rest of the western world.

  6. Ryan: At least as far as the waiters were concerned, I think that they were trying their hardest and doing their best. The problem was not one of motivation, but one of ability, and in a globalized economy people with limited abilities tend not to earn enough to make payments on a $700,000 mortgage.

  7. As economic indicators go, I prefer the Inverse McDonald’s Competency Index.

    That is, the default McDonald’s staffer should be a high-school kid (during appropriate hours) or a near-high-school graduate. In such cases, McD’s training procedures should ensure that service is just about competent.

    If your order is taken by a friendly 35 year old who appears to be paying attention, the local economy is in terrible shape. Service will be as good as McD’s management allows. Said employee is vastly overqualified and should be working elsewhere.

    If your order is taken by someone who looks and acts as though they might have a serious substance abuse problem each pay-day, the economy is in fine shape.

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