Buyer beware. Seller too.

One of the principals at Exclusive Timeshare Sales has called back after I left messages yesterday asking to speak about a California archeologist who was trying to sell her $24,000 timeshare near Disneyland, and how a representative of Exclusive’s Tacoma office had called asking for $2,500 up front to assist the sale.

Alan Peterson called to explain.

It was one of the oddest conversations I’ve had in years.

Peterson said timeshares are “not something I would ever buy, but our business is to sell them,” he said.

“Timeshares right now are a piece of junk,” he continued. “Anyone interested in buying one should take a long, long look.”

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More than 13 percent of American homeowners with a mortgage have fallen behind on their payments or are in foreclosure, according to an Associated Press story today.

The record-high numbers were released this morning by the Mortgage Bankers Association, and are being driven by borrowers with traditional fixed-rate mortgages rather than the shady subprime loans with adjustable rates that kicked off the mortgage crisis.

As of June, more than 4 percent of all borrowers were in foreclosure, while about 9 percent had missed at least one payment.

The worst of the trouble is still concentrated in California, Nevada, Arizona and Florida, which accounted for 44 percent of new foreclosures in the country. Nearly 12 percent of all loans in Florida were in foreclosure, the highest in the country, followed by Nevada at 9 percent.

Loan delinquencies among borrowers with prime, fixed-rate mortgages grew from the first quarter to the second in all 50 states, with the biggest jumps in Wisconsin, Illinois, Utah and West Virginia.

In Washington in the second quarter, 5.82 percent of all home loans were at least 30 days overdue, according to the survey, and 2.47 percent of loans were in foreclosure.

Issaquah's Costco Wholesale opened its first warehouse store in Australia this week.

The opening was major event in Melbourne's Docklands.

Here's a report from Australia that describes the rush on the opening day:

US retail giant Costco opens Docklands store

Daniella Miletic
August 17, 2009

If you build it, will they come? It's a question that has been on the mind of Costco's Australian head, Patrick Noone, for the past three years.

This morning he woke at 3am, nervous about the opening of Australia's first store and whether anyone would turn up. "This is such a big investment, and such a big project, that you are on pins and needles up until the last moment thinking that no one is going to come and when people turn up it is a very exciting moment," he says.

They did come - and many of the new Costco faithful woke up before Noone in order to do it.

The US retailer's keenly anticipated opening at Melbourne's Docklands for the budget-conscious attracted a crowd of 300, all clutching super-sized trolleys and ready to shop in bulk.

First in line were friends Helen Leighton, Kaylene Johnson and Josephine Gauchi of St Albans who arrived at 4.45am stocked with a thermal of coffee, biscuits and fruit.

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Boeing and its partner MillenWorks are running a version of a new tactical military vehicle in a 1,000-mile race today and Friday through the Nevada backcountry.

The race vehicle is a derivative of the Helo Transportable Vehicle (HTTV) that Boeing and MillenWorks have designed for military reconnaisance and utility missions.

The jeep-like vehicle is designed to be small enough to transport to remote sites by aircraft including Boeing's V-22 tilt-rotor aircraft.

The race, the "Vegas to Reno: The Long Way" will test the vehicle's mettle in crossing rugged territory at high speeds.

"We're confident tha our team's vehicle has the speed, maneuverability and durability needed to endure in this challenging and unforgiving desert terrain," said Jerry McElwee, vice president of Tactical Wheeled Vehicles for Boeing Combat Systems.

Yes, that's my drink. Almost every day. I no longer feel that pretentious about ordering it, though I would say it is indeed a "hard-to-make" beverage.

The Associated Press reports that Starbucks Corp. is raising prices on certain harder-to-make beverages — and cutting the costs for simpler ones like a plain cup of coffee.

It's unclear if it's happening locally, yet. But my pretentious latte doesn't appear to be affected.

Here's AP's story:

The price hikes, on average between 10 and 15 cents and as much as 30 cents, went into effect Thursday.

“This is as a part of our comprehensive approach to providing the value while balancing our business responsibilities,” said spokeswoman Valerie O’Neil.

The increases will be added to “complex” drinks, like the company’s frothy blended frappuccino.

More basic beverages — the latte and plain coffee, among others — will see prices decreased by 5 to 15 cents.

Still, more prices will increase under the plan than will be lowered or remain the same.

Starbucks won’t say how many cities were affected by Thursday’s increase but said the price hikes will eventually roll out nationwide in the coming months.

Officials at the Seattle-based coffee giant said prices will vary by region to cover higher labor and material costs.

Starbucks shares rose 10 cents to $19.22 in trading Thursday.