Biden's House Deal

Less than 24 hours after Barack Obama announced Joe Biden as his running mate, Biden began attacking McCain for the numerous homes that he, er, his wife owns.

Deal

"Well, ladies and gentlemen, that's not a worry John McCain has to worry about," Biden said. "It's a pretty hard experience. He'll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables to sit at."

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While John McCain might have a tough time deciding what house to occupy, Biden doesn't have that problem. Big mouth Joe owns only one house; actually make that one big house, valued at over .2 million and measuring over 6,000 square feet. However, it appears that Biden got a sweet deal on the home from a local supporter.

It started in 1996 when Biden decided it was time to dump his old million dollar home and buy a new million dollar home, remember Biden isn't wealthy; the Washington Post estimates his net worth at just a tick over 0,000. A scandal arose out of the sale when it was revealed that an executive, John Cochran, of the Delaware credit card company MBNA purchased the home for .2 million, upwards of twice as much as it was really worth; making it appear Cochran gave Biden some extra cash.

What has been glossed over was Biden's home purchase in 1996.

According to New Castle County property information, the lot that Biden owns now was originally purchased in 1979. The couple who bought it paid 0,000, a good chunk of change in the 70's. They eventually sold it in 1991 for 0,000, over 0,000 less than it should have sold for just at the rate of inflation (assuming it didn't lose value), to Keith Stoltz. It would appear that the house/lot (it's unclear as to what Stoltz purchased) lost value of those 12 years, which makes sense because Stoltz is a real estate developer.

Stoltz is one of the many family members who own the Stoltz Companies, which operates several real estate businesses. Keith Stoltz was the chairman of the real estate management sector.

Taken at face value, it's not abnormal for Stoltz to have purchased the lot. Assuming the home was gone or not well taken care of, his company would have purchased it, fixed it up and then resold it for a profit.

Only they didn't.

For starters Stoltz personally bought the property, and held onto it for five years. In 1996 he finally sold it, to Delaware Senator Joe Biden, for 0,000, the exact same price he purchased it for five years prior. Just at the rate of inflation the price should have been 9,000.

Why would a real estate manager buy a property, hold onto it for five years, and then sell it without even marking it up for the rate of inflation?

The exact answer to that question remains to be seen, however the connection between the Stoltz family and Biden is clearly visible.

The Stoltz family is a very large contributor to the senatorial campaigns of Biden. The first donation came from Jack Stoltz, who ran the families real estate brokerage company, in 1994. He donated ,000. As a matter of fact by the time Biden bought the house in 1996 the Stoltz family had already donated ,500 to Biden's campaign. And a mere month after Biden bought the house he got a donation check from Keith Stotlz for 5. All told the Stoltz family has donated ,200 to the campaigns of Biden.

It's unclear whether or not Biden repaid Stoltz for the favor of selling him a house that Stoltz eventually lost money on, but I wouldn't doubt if Stoltz saw some of the .2 million Biden got for his previous home.

If Senator Biden labels McCain as out-of-touch because his wife owns seven homes, they Biden would be out of touch because not everyone is lucky enough to know a real estate manager who can get you a sweet deal on your home.

Biden said it best himself, "Ladies and gentlemen, your kitchen table is like mine. You sit there at night after you put the kids to bed and you talk, you talk about what you need. You talk about how much you are worried about being able to pay the bills."

I can assure you, Biden's kitchen table is not like yours; his sits in house that he got for a deal, on four acres, in upscale Wilmington, Delaware.

I certainly wouldn't call that "in touch."

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