Ron Stenger: Home Builder, Real Estate Sales, Class Act

Every now and then, I get a surprising email from a reader.

Here’s today’s special insight, from Ron Stenger, a Missouri Big Picture reader in the home building and realty sales field, written in response to our prior post on prime foreclosures.

Take it away, Ron:

From:     ronstenger@att.blackberry.net
Subject:  Re: The Big Picture
Date:     June 1, 2008 7:54:00 AM EDT
To:        The big picture
Reply-To:   ronstenger@att.blackberry.net

Fuck u

Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T

—–Original Message—–
From: The Big Picture
Date: Sat, 31 May 2008 18:08:59
To:  ron@stengerhomes.com
Subject: RSS The Big Picture

The Big Picture <http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/>

<http://bigpicture.typepad.com/comments/>

Mortgage Delinquencies Accelerating <http://feeds.feedburner.com/~r/TheBigPicture/~3/301925490/mortgage-delinq.html>
Posted: 31 May 2008 11:30 AM CDT

The mortgage crisis is bad and getting worse. The latest evidence suggests that any bottom in real estate is some ways off in the future: "Newly delinquent mortgage borrowers outnumbered people who caught up on their overdue payments by two to one last month, a sign that nationwide efforts to help homeowners avoid default may be failing. 

SNIP

Thanks for the feedback, Ron. I’ve seen pictures of the homes you build/sell, and I would have expected  nothing less from you.

Given your  class, leadership and professionalism, one is left to wonder how the home building and real estate industries ever ran into problems in the first place . . .

For more information, contact:

Ron Stenger Companies
5051 S. National Ave.
Springfield, MO 65810
(417) 889-4300
Fax (417) 889-0889
email@ronstenger.com

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What's been said:

Discussions found on the web:
  1. Barry Ritholtz commented on Jun 1

    Ron,

    Thank you for your comments — they were quite insightful — so much so that I decided to share them with everyone I know . . .

  2. ricobird commented on Jun 1

    BR, now that’s funny! Class guy, eh? I take it, that he doesn’t want the truth.

  3. brewtown commented on Jun 1

    Another builder so far underwater he probably needs scuba gear. I would be cranky too.

  4. MiTurn commented on Jun 1

    Touché

  5. Bob Abouey commented on Jun 1

    Barry, thanks for posting that. Looking at the hideous mcmansions people like Ron builds always makes me feel that much better about my small NY apt.

    Bob

  6. Bob Abouey commented on Jun 1

    Cool, googling “Ron Stenger” already has the Big Picture post as the fifth link, wonder if it can make #1 by then end of the day.

  7. Chief Tomahawk commented on Jun 1

    Just when one thinks what great advancements have come along in technology, the same zeroes keep showing up. We need more heroes, Ron, not zeroes!

  8. j commented on Jun 1

    Ron is a CHIMP

  9. you can’t make this up. commented on Jun 1

    The ultimate irony?/paradox?/oxymoron? of the limitless information of the internet:

    all the information on the internet is useless if you only want the information that reinforces your own world view.

  10. Mel commented on Jun 1

    Barry,

    Has Bernanke ever emailed you?

  11. buddervish commented on Jun 1

    Contrast this guy’s angry wailing with the measured and mature realism of K&B’s Eli Broad in recent interviews.

  12. sunsetbeachguy commented on Jun 1

    I like your style Barry!

    Daylight is the best disinfectant.

  13. Marcus Aurelius commented on Jun 1

    Ron is entitled to wealth – without effort or responsibility, and regardless of the economic realities of the wider world.

    He’s a builder, for god’s sake. One of the chosen. We should be thanking him for providing shelter to his fellow Americans. We should be sending him all of our spare change so he can remain a self-made man.

    As the President would say, “Ron is workin’ hard, and everybody knows, workin’ hard is hard work.”

    Thank you, Ron Stenger. America would not be what it is without your help.

  14. teraflop commented on Jun 1

    I saw that earlier this morning, googled it and didn’t come up with much. But figured that someone would be looking into it. Nice job, BR.

    Maybe some horse-racing will give him some class: http://www.aikenstandard.com/peachbelt/0512local-poloponyforweb

    Or maybe it’s a formula we don’t understand. Give the guy some credit, it’s likely all he’s getting these days.

  15. anonymouse commented on Jun 1

    I think you should take down his contact information. While the man is, shall we say, an ass-hat, publishing contact info is a tacit invitation to web-vigilantism.

    While it might be justified if he’d actually harmed someone rather than just insulted you, in this case it’s going too far.

    Imagine if the shoe were on the other foot, say if you wrote something disparaging about PETA, and then your workplace, or worse home, were inundated with obnoxious or threatening phone calls.

    I know you haven’t encouraged anyone to do that, but your blog has a very broad readership and as the saying goes, “With great power comes great responsibility.”

    ~~~

    BR: Its on his website — besides, TBP readers are smarter than that . . . but I will de-emphasize it by turning it a lighter shade of greyscale.

  16. innerdaemon commented on Jun 1

    I guess he must have a lot of free time on his hands these days to make good use of his Blackberry!

    Sent from the web interface to Typepad.

  17. Mr. Flibble commented on Jun 1

    I think you should take down his contact information.

    I’d agree…if we were talking about his private home address.

    What you call “web-vigilantism” some may call “accountability.” The difference is the legality: vigilantism is taking the law into one’s own hands. Nowhere do I see Barry condoning or promoting vigilantism.

    A business owner who sends abusive emails–under his own name no less–should understand that actions do have consequences.

  18. alexd commented on Jun 1

    Ever notice how builders name their projects after what they destroy?

    Scenic lake, pleasent fields etc.

  19. tradeking13 commented on Jun 1

    “Sent via BlackBerry from bankruptcy court”

  20. Lux commented on Jun 1

    Bwahahahaha! Way to stick it to him, Barry!

  21. Mark commented on Jun 1

    That is classic! Ron got pwned!

  22. bg commented on Jun 1

    “I think you should take down his contact information.”

    Can’t agree. The guy more or less sent a “letter to the editor” on company letterhead. With all the time Barry spends providing interesting, quality perspectives, the last thing he needs is mindless insults. If Ron was wise he’d humbly apologize in the comments and to BR personally.

  23. engineer al commented on Jun 1

    Hey, it’s Springfield. Gateway to Branson.

    It was only yesterday Ron was sitting on the front porch of the log cabin, scratching his Redbone Coonhound behind the ears and sippin’ moonshine from a mason jar.

    To be more Ozarks proper, he might have said … F**k U, U damn Yankee.

  24. J. Bridges commented on Jun 1

    I don’t know guys…I think BR has given this D-bag the greatest gift of publicity a Springfield, MO home builder is ever going to get.

    If Mr. Stenger actually lives in Springfield, let alone in one of his over-priced, putrid shtboxes, that’s enough karmic payback right there.

    Anyone else interested in finding a bank and creating some custom CDS to short Stenger Enterprises Credit Q?

  25. engineer al commented on Jun 1

    Perhaps this is part of the problem in Springfield …

    “For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.0 males. The median income for a household in the city was $29,563, and the median income for a family was $38,114. The per capita income for the city was $17,711. About 9.9% of families and 15.9% of the population were below the poverty line …”

    Or, maybe that’s why Ron’s building “gated communities”?

    On the bright side, it sounds like a good place to pick up chicks.

  26. J.Bridges commented on Jun 1

    I should clarify my harshness a bit. My words come not from simply an elitist jerk, but an elitist jerk whose maternal grandparents chose (yes, chose) to retire to Southwest Missouri.

    Needless to say, my family is still a mite bitter about our wonderful summer excursions to the Bible Belt.

  27. Graffiti Grammarian commented on Jun 1

    Beautiful! All of us should try to hold people accountable for what they say and do, on blogs and in the real world…otherwise they play us all for suckers.

    Push back, Barry, don’t let him roll over you. That’s what the mainstream media does and it’s why they’ve lost everybody’s respect.

    Don’t take down his info.

  28. Stuart commented on Jun 1

    And with both barrels. Well done Barry. Well done indeed.

  29. bluestatedon commented on Jun 1

    What’s bizarre is why Stenger reacted with a F* you in the first place. All BR was doing was commenting on the rate of delinquent mortgages based on the data available; he was not commenting on Stenger or the building industry in general. All I can conclude is that Stenger is one of those people who hate unpleasant information, and more tellingly, hate people like BR who communicate it. He’d fit in nicely with the current Administration.

  30. Estragon commented on Jun 1

    bluestatedon,

    Could FU be Mr. Stenger’s alma mater?

    In my experience, most successful realtors appear to have a masters.

  31. VennData commented on Jun 1

    And you wonder about the cauldron where the emotional ingredients for financial bubbles are brewed?

    Also, this email response shows the sort of puerile emotion that the politicians can tap into. Think “Southern Strategy.” Think “Swiftboating.” Think “Where was Obama during the Vietnam war?!” Uh… in grade school.

    It’s a great service to have this sort of thing revealed in all its crass, pejorative manifestation(s).

  32. peter commented on Jun 1

    Wonder if that’s the same thing Bruce Toll’s been saying to the third of his customer’s who’ve been canceling out of the same nouveau riche resource hungry “homes” he builds…

  33. Alan Davis commented on Jun 1

    Great post. Lots of anger going around these days. Some builders cashed out and left, contractors, cities and customers holding the bag. In my area there are half built nieghborhoods all over, weeds growing where the houses were supposed to go.

    This is going to get bad folks, do something about our economy; go to:

    http://www.AmericansForJobsAndEnergy.org

  34. Henry commented on Jun 1

    Yes, Ron’s comment was stupid. But I’m confused about why people are dissing his mcmansions. Some of them actually look quite nice, but from the comments you’d think they were Jersey outhouses. Am I missing something?

  35. Will commented on Jun 1

    Classic!
    hilarious… thanks for that one Barry

    PS
    Hello – subscriber for 1 1/2 years, no finance background and have learned a lot. Great blog, and thanks for it.

    Will

  36. Gail commented on Jun 1

    Barry,

    I believe Vice President Cheney is fond of the same phrase as a rejoinder when he can’t come up with anything worthwhile.

    Doesn’t make me think any better of either of them.

  37. Ron commented on Jun 1

    I am suing you for posting my confidential contact information and defamation.

    The server will serve you with court documents this week at:

    300 Park Avenue, 17th floor
    New York, New York 10022

    Is it your correct legal address for service?

  38. Mr. Flibble commented on Jun 1

    I am suing you for posting my confidential contact information and defamation.

    Hahahaha!

    Dude, save the money. You’re going to need it for ramen.

  39. Ron2 commented on Jun 1

    I AM SUING BARRY.

    I am the real Ron Stenger. The guy above is just pretending to be me!

    I would not be so lame and stupid to post such a statement as the one above on a public forum, right?

    Barry, would you please be so kind to pass me the IP address of that guy, so that I can sue him too?

    thx,

    Ron

  40. m3 commented on Jun 1

    ooooooooooooooh, ron’s gonna sue

    ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooh

  41. noah commented on Jun 1

    what are you suing for, publicizing a stupid response to a discussion on what is really going on out there?

    In what way did he defame your business? Hey, you cant take it, then do what the NAR leaders do, get your own PR department and spin the data to reflect your business interests.

  42. Gail commented on Jun 1

    The real Ron Stenger might post a comment that threatened to sue, I suppose, if he hoped it would slow down the number of less than favourable posts about him. The fewer posts, the fewer hits in Google, the less bad publicity.

    If the real Ron Stenger did post that comment, the ultimate goal would probably be to get the entire page removed from the internet, without the costs involved in an actual lawsuit.

  43. Andy Tabbo commented on Jun 1

    His homes do look unappealing. Very garish, over the top, unpleasing on the eye.

    -At

  44. Ronthejerk commented on Jun 1

    Come on Ron, be a man and just own up to your emotional GenX email rant. You are such a baby.

  45. ron3 commented on Jun 1

    No, I’M the REAL RON and I’m suing EVERYONE who has posted comments here. You think I’m joking? I’ll be back later, but right now I have to hit Roubini’s blog and threaten a suit there, then I’m unloading on MISH…

    Luskin warned me about you guys, next time I’m listening – that guy’s always right!

  46. michange commented on Jun 1

    Ron, if you don’t sue me, I’ll give you the URLs of Financialsense, CalculatedRisk, WallStreetExaminer, DealBreaker, FTAlphaville, and MortgageImplode.

    They all should experience your mighty liguistic retaliation, and a first-of-its-kind reverse class action…

    And, yep, don’t forget to sue the new President after Jan.1st! Because he should sue you, and all your Ponzidumb colleagues anyway!

  47. John commented on Jun 1

    HA!! I’m working this weekend, decided to take a break and read your blog (I always enjoy it). This entry made me laugh. That’s always a good thing.

  48. eminem commented on Jun 1

    Will the real Ron Stenger please stand up?

  49. Ron4 commented on Jun 1

    [standing]

  50. wunsacon commented on Jun 1

    How can we be sure that email address wasn’t spoofed?

  51. Bob A commented on Jun 1

    Oh Ron’s just in a drunk stupor because the bank’s just towed away his Escalade.

    Bummer Ron

  52. Don commented on Jun 1

    Engineer Al,
    I think the large number of Colleges in Springfield might skew the per capita income number a bit.

    Just sayin’

  53. Douglas Watts commented on Jun 1

    If it’s any consolation Ron, the Home Despot in Augusta, Maine is selling 2x4x8s for $2.15 cents each. You can always build custom-made garden sheds with kidney-shaped toad pools with teeny weeny diving boards.

  54. Mich(^IXIC1881) commented on Jun 1

    So what have we learned today? That one should not drunk-text.
    This internet thing is dangerous, dangerous I tell ya!

  55. E commented on Jun 1

    First time I’ve ever read a Big Picture blog post and said “Oh no he di’int!” twice.

  56. John commented on Jun 1

    Perfect Candidate for Dickipedia!

  57. engineer al commented on Jun 1

    “… the large number of Colleges in Springfield …”

    Including the old Southwest Missouri State University, 4 or 5 Baptist colleges, a couple of nursing schools and three schools of cosmetology. Among others. Baptists, nurses and hair dressers: a wild, wicked combination.

    Springfield, MO is nice country. It is, after all, the home of Bass Pro Shops. I don’t see anything but humor in “gated communities”. Who are they so scared of? It’s Springfield!!

    And I don’t understand why “Ron” would reply to a feedburner service I assume he signed up for with a “FU”. Maybe he just had a bad day. Springfield had some nasty storms last night. I’m 200 miles away and I could see the lightning all the way over here.

  58. rexl commented on Jun 2

    this guy ron is a sleaze, and if he does get any worse perhaps he would even qualify for a job on Wall Street.

  59. Kontorhotel commented on Jun 2

    This is by FAR the best blog i have ever read.. great reply.. shows who the pro is.
    PS.. Ron S…come on… get real.. not real estate..

  60. wtf commented on Jun 2

    Barry,

    Love your blog, love your insight, love your politics. 100% agree this guys a knob and deserves what he is getting.

    However, for whatever it might be worth, I think your post should have stayed in the draft folder. Bad style.

    Very, very Michelle Malkin of you.

    Hate to put you in the same camp, but thats how she rolls…

    wtf

  61. john commented on Jun 2

    Perfect example of how communication & democracy works in MOron land.

  62. dave54 commented on Jun 2

    The Wall Street Journal(6/2/08):

    Like the 5 stages of grief, there seem to be five stages to…acceptance of the economy’s fate…The first stage was denial when an incipient credit meltdown and the biggest housing-market swoon since the Depression…still in this phase, gamely arguing that a housing collapse is nothing much to worry about…The second stage is anger…

  63. Mr. Flibble commented on Jun 2

    Very, very Michelle Malkin of you.

    Nope. Malkin would report the home address and the names of the kids. Stenger’s address is already up for the world to see on the Internets.

    Nice try. Thanks for playing.

  64. John commented on Jun 2

    I’m falling over myself with laughter. If you had to invent a self parody like Ron Stenger it would be hard. Even the name is humorous. I sense a replacement for Ben Steinery who himself becomes more of a self parody everyday. I wonder if Ron believes in intelligent design. Keep up the good work BR puncturing these twits. Now when are you going to let some air out of Larry Kudlow.

  65. Portland Refugee commented on Jun 2

    Genius Barry. Genius.
    (From a comedic stand point…..let’s not get ahead of ourselves)

    Incidentally, I may have seen Ron on “Fat Old White Guys Gone Wild”.

  66. Francois commented on Jun 2

    “Very, very Michelle Malkin of you.

    Nope. Malkin would report the home address and the names of the kids.”

    Not only that, she would lie, disparage, insult and go waaaaay over the top, like in the infamous Dunkin Donuts ad with Rachelle Ray.

    One just can’t find a more zealous apostle of the Fuckwadism than her.

    There is nothing about Malkin that reincarnation couldn’t cure.

  67. Terence Burns commented on Jun 2

    Classy! So Ron Stenger thinks Barry Ritholtz is responsible for the falling housing market?

    Blaming The Big Picture – and others who correctly called this mess while it was still abuilding – is like accusing the guy who alerts you your house is on fire of being an arsonist!

    If idiots like Stenger want to know who’s to blame, all they have to do is look in a mirror.

  68. DC in ME commented on Jun 2

    This is what happens when rednecks get internet access. Probably spends most of his time online surfing farm porn, hence the quality business he runs.

  69. MONGO commented on Jun 2

    “Farm porn”?

    The mind reels.

  70. no_bear commented on Jun 2

    Whoa, hold up on the redneck comments — I’m a transplanted redneck in East Texas, even pulled a guy out of the mud today with my tractor.

    These housing guys are (1) severely retarded, (2) WAY optimistic that the glass that is empty appears overflowing, or MOST LIKELY (3) liars and thieves.

    And you wonder how the NAR keeps spewing their monthly bile. So sad.

  71. adam commented on Jun 3

    Hi.

    First I wanted to write a few words to Ron. Then I had a better idea – I added him to a spam list. I hope he will enjoy a few hundred mails a day.

    Adam

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