This Is A Tsunami, And It’s Getting Worse
The Tampa Tribune reports from Florida. “Median home prices in the Tampa metropolitan area which includes Clearwater and St. Petersburg, fell to $180,800. That is more than $40,000 less than the median price in the year-ago period, $222,700, the National Association of Realtors said. The Tampa Bay area wasn’t the hardest-hit region in Florida. The median price dropped 19.3 percent in the Miami metropolitan area, and the Cape Coral-Fort Myers area saw a 33.1 percent median price decline in the quarter.”
“As reported in the Tribune on Thursday, Florida now ranks third in the rate of foreclosures nationwide.”
The News Press. “The median price of a Realtor-assisted existing home sale fell 28 percent in Lee County to $196,400 from $273,500 a year earlier, according to a separate report released by the Florida Association of Realtors.”
“For condominiums, the price fell 10 percent from $246,900 to $222,600.”
“Lee County led the nation in the rate of foreclosures in July, according to RealtyTrac. A record 2,467 foreclosures filed during July in the county, which is more than seven times the national average.”
“Florida single-family homes were off 16 percent in price from $241,200 to $203,000 while sales were off 6 percent from 37,407 to 35,178. Condominiums were off 16 percent from $215,300 to $181,100 while sales fell 10 percent from 12,585 to 11,343, according to the state report.”
“Raul Gramajo of Lehigh Acres, has been living in the United States for 14 years and in Lehigh Acres for the last three years. He has been unemployed for six months and it is beginning to affect his home payments.”
“‘We’ve called the bank, but they don’t want to help us. I was a construction worker and the type of work I did is long gone,’ said Gramajo.”
“After 17 years working for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Donna Tomassoni of Lehigh Acres, has worked about three jobs and began a professional organizing business, but has been unemployed since the beginning of the year.”
“‘I have sent about 250 resumes since January or February,’ she said. ‘It is very frustrating. It seems like there are a lot of jobs out there that I am qualified for, but I don’t get any answers back.’”
“Tomassoni, who owns a home, said she has run out of savings money, retirement money, and has managed to pay her home, but is not on time on credit card bills, had to seek help to pay her electric bill, and is now getting food through the SHARE program, which gives food to low-income families.”
“She is getting some unemployment money, and also just got on food stamps.”
“‘This is so hard. I have always been self supportive and I have never been in this kind of debt,’ she said. ‘What worries me is can I gain all that back and do I have enough years for that earning power? Will I be able to live to do the things I wanted to do?’”
“She is starting to look for jobs in other states, but worries about having to sell her home, which has been on the market for six months and no one has come to see it.”
“‘I’m not even looking here anymore,’ she said. ‘It is so frustrating to know that you are doing the right things and not getting any response.’”
The Herald Tribune. “Could the new $3.15 million special assessment at the Renaissance in downtown Sarasota be a case of ‘no pain, no gain?’ The special assessment approved by the Renaissance’s condo board aims to fix once and for all the water intrusion problems at the building.”
“About $2.7 million will go for the repair costs and the balance for legal and engineering fees associated with the continuing lawsuit against the developer, contractor and a host of subcontractors over who is to blame for the leaks.”
“The average assessment, based on square footage, is nearly $13,000 — payable in six monthly installments beginning July 15. ‘We’re not happy about spending the money, that’s for sure,’ said Terry Owen, who has owned a one-bedroom condo at the Renaissance since early 2002. ‘But we’re excited that we’re going to finally get it done.’”
“Of course, for those who are indeed forced to sell, the assessment is not a welcome development. As of last week, there were about 40 units listed for sale in the Renaissance, according to the Sarasota MLS. They ranged in price from the $200,000s all the way up to the $900,000s.”
“One center bayfront unit on the fourth floor had just been put on the market, listed for barely a week — and already the asking price had dropped from $549,000 to $509,000.”
“On the opposite end of the spectrum, one of the Renaissance’s penthouse units has been sitting on the market for more than 560 days, according to the MLS. The asking price is currently $799,000, down about $200,000 from where it started.”
“The residents really in a pickle are those who cannot afford to pay the special assessment charges to begin with. ‘When you’re talking $13,000, or even nine or ten thousand dollars, that’s a lot of money to come up with, especially if you’re younger and don’t have a large bank account,’ said Matt Orr, an agent who specializes in downtown Sarasota.”
“‘If they are already underwater, or struggling to pay the mortgage, this might be something that puts them over the edge,’ Orr said.”
“He said one resident had already called him after receiving her assessment letter. She wanted to put her condo on the market, looking to get out. ‘She said she just couldn’t afford that kind of assessment, that it didn’t make sense financially for her to stay,’ Orr said.”
“A wave of residents putting their condos on the market — likely at reduced prices to attract buyers quickly — is the last thing the Renaissance condo association, or the owners intending to wait this out, want to see happen.”
“‘We’re going to organize people and tell those looking to sell, don’t just give it away,’ Owen said.”
“The number of foreclosure filings spiked in Manatee and Charlotte counties in July. Manatee filings rose 74 percent from June, while Charlotte County filings rose 59 percent. Sarasota County had almost no increase — just three more filings than in the month before.”
“‘Sarasota had been a foreclosure leader, mostly because of North Port,’ said Dennis Black, a Port Charlotte real estate consultant. ‘Those people were the first to walk away from their homes when the market blew up. Now the numbers seem to indicate that the wave is moving into secondary counties.’”
“‘What we’re seeing is the housing bubble moving through the court system,’ said Sarasota banking consultant Tramm Hudson. ‘It’s a natural progression. When borrowers are not able to get current, banks have no choice but to foreclose. We may see a few more quarters of this before banks are able to work through it all.’”
The Palm Beach Post. “During the region’s historic housing boom, home ownership was a can’t-miss way to build wealth. How quickly things have changed. Most area homeowners who jumped on the housing bandwagon during 2005, 2006 and 2007 owe more than their homes are worth, according to Zillow.”
“Fully 76.2 percent of homes bought in 2006 in Palm Beach, Broward and Miami-Dade counties are now worth less than the balance on the mortgages, the study says. In the Treasure Coast, a whopping 80.5 percent of borrowers who bought homes in 2006 are upside down.”
“‘It’s pretty startling,’ Zillow spokeswoman Amy Bohutinsky said. ‘This is what leads to foreclosures.’”
“Selling now nearly guarantees a loss for those who bought during the boom. In South Florida, 29.2 percent of homes sold during the second quarter of this year fetched less than the seller had paid, Zillow found. In the Treasure Coast, 36.2 percent of homes sold in April, May and June created a loss for the seller.”
“‘I’m not surprised by that,’ Neal Taslitz, a foreclosure attorney in West Palm Beach, said of Zillow’s numbers. ‘This is a tsunami, and it’s getting worse.’”
“Even cautious borrowers are feeling the squeeze, said mortgage banker Bill Davis, head of Private Funding Specialists in Palm Beach Gardens. ‘This has gone from subprime to prime,’ Davis said. ‘People with 700 credit scores are getting crushed. Those are the ones who break your heart, because they’ve done everything right.’”
“Davis offers this example: Say you paid $400,000 for a home in 2006 and made a down payment of 10 percent - a hefty sum in those days of loose lending standards. Today, though, the home might be worth only $325,000 - significantly less than your $360,000 mortgage.”
“If you want to sell your home, you’ll have to write a check to the lender. Many homeowners have little choice but to go into foreclosure, Davis said.”
“Scott Agran, president of Lang Realty of Boca Raton, agreed that the market has been in a deep downturn, but he predicted that home values will come back strong.”
“‘We’ve been in free-fall since 2005,’ Agran said. ‘We’re back to 2002 pricing. This is a tremendous buying opportunity.’”
“Unemployment stats released today by the Florida Agency for Workforce Innovation show the jobless rate in Palm Beach County has doubled since the boom.”
“‘The nucleus of all this is housing,’ said Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida. ‘It was the thing that was driving the economy to huge heights when the market was raging. Now, it’s the flip side. The thing that was powering the economy is now pulling it down.’”
“Many workers who were making good money in real estate and lending have taken lower-paying jobs in other industries, said Tom Capolino of staffing firm Today’s Office Professionals in West Palm Beach.”
“Real estate agents and loan officers who were making $80,000 to $90,000 during the boom now are accepting office jobs for $45,000 to $50,000.”
“‘They’re settling for administrative assistant positions and clerical positions,’ Capolino said. ‘They understand that they have to accept less.’”
From TC Palm. “Foreclosure rates continued to escalate across the Treasure Coast in July, according to a RealtyTrac report. ‘I think more properties will be hitting the market at discounted prices because there’s a lot more (foreclosures) in the pipeline at the banks,’ said Brad Hunter, director of West Palm Beach-based Metrostudy. ‘The trend still seems to be going upward, there’s little evidence that one can point to that this is a high point.’”
The News Journal. “Court filings related to foreclosures totaled 1,524 in Volusia and Flagler counties in July, more than double filings in July 2007.”
“‘Wow,’ said Nancy Dance, president of the Daytona Beach Area Association of Realtors. ‘A high number of foreclosures bring down home prices. When there are many bank-owned homes in an area, that usually brings down the value of all the homes and lowers what buyers are willing to pay.’”
The Daily Breeze. “The Cape Coral-Fort Myers metro area had a higher foreclosure rate than any other U.S. metro area during the month of July, according to Realty Trac.”
“‘I think it’s a dire result of the speculators market we went through in ‘03 and ‘04 and the refinancing that a lot of people did in ‘05,’ Gloria Tate of Raso Realty said.”
‘Tate, a former Cape Coral city council member, said many speculators in the local real estate market were caught by a rapid decline in property values. ‘There were a lot of investors that bought lots to build a spec house and thought it would be sold before it was finished,’ she said.”
“Gary Tasman, executive director of the real estate company Cushman & Wakefield’s Southwest Florida office, blamed the high foreclosure rate on loose credit in the subprime mortgage market in addition to speculators.”
“‘We knew there were excesses in the market over the last couple of years. This is the end product of lending money to people who weren’t properly qualified,’ Tasman said.”
“Speculators and other homebuyers now find themselves ‘upside-down’ in their homes, thanks to the fall out from the subprime mortgage crisis and sluggish economy. Many of those people are walking away from the house rather than sticking with it through what Tate calls a ‘market correction.’”
“Despite the foreclosure rate, Cape Coral homes are still selling, but at much lower prices than during the housing boom in the middle of the decade, Tate said.”
“‘They are selling, but for much less. The $100,000 home was selling at $200,000 to $250,000 before. But that’s OK, it’s a market correction,’ Tate said.”
After Flatlantis gets flooded, due to climate change, how will Realtors there cope with new listing wordage?
Dive-In condition?
Never vacuum again!
?
central a/c
central vac
..central waterfall…
Someone should compile a list of condo complex horror stories and publish then in a book called, “why not to buy a condo”.
I have found with several “condo” (in Australian, “unit”) purchases and near-misses over the years, the ones to avoid are the self-managed Body Corporates in 6-pack or 9-pack unit blocks.
These are inevitably run by retired busy-bodies who never tire of exerting “authority” over everyone else, and can be clearly identified by a plethora of warning signs, e.g. “No noise after 2:00 p.m.”.
Not 2 o’clock in the morning, no, we are talking snooze-time for the coffin-cheaters at 2 o’clock in the afternoon, who have managed to pass the resolution for this (unlawful - but hey, who cares?) by-law at the most recent AGM.
These people are usually the most dispicable, aggressive old farts you would never hope to have to deal with - unfortunately, they consider the Body Corporate to be their own private feifdom.
Ghastly. My rule of thumb - if you see stupid signs everywhere on Body Corporate common property, don’t walk, RUN! This goes for tenants and investors, as well as those who wish to be residents.
Sorry if Aussie terms are different to those in the USA - from what I can see on this and other blogs, the terminology may differ slightly, but the tenure concepts are identical.
The real story about unemployment is not the silly grist for the mill the government puts out, numberwise, but the idea that nobody can find work, despite their qualifications…
________________________________________
“After 17 years working for the Lee County Sheriff’s Office, Donna Tomassoni of Lehigh Acres, has worked about three jobs and began a professional organizing business, but has been unemployed since the beginning of the year.”
“‘I have sent about 250 resumes since January or February,’ she said. ‘It is very frustrating. It seems like there are a lot of jobs out there that I am qualified for, but I don’t get any answers back.’”
‘professional organizing business’
wtf is that?
“‘We’re going to organize people and tell those looking to sell, don’t just give it away,’ Owen said.”
Our Meeting is Tonight at 8 p.m. at the local Sarasota Poor-house..PICK ONE
Yeah, good luck with that. Now suddenly the eager participants of the wondorus “ownership society” suddenly issue an appeal for solidarity???
‘professional organizing business’
house keeping?
Not sure if it the same thing. But i recently ran into someone that helps small businesses get organized. They clean up the files, match actuals to the budget etc. Basically, office help for very unorganized small businesses.
Quite well paid if measured by hours worked
RE: professional organizing business’
Counseling idiots on what type of closet organizers they need.
It probably has to do with the sheer volume of other applicants all submitting for the same job.
I saw the same thing during the dot-com crash. My company would list an available position and we would get inundated with resumes, regardless of whether the person was qualified for the job or not. That’s the miracle of the Internet - you can now email-blast your resume to 50,000 job openings at once, so everyone does. It makes having to pick through the stack a ridiculous chore.
I am sorry but that doesn’t really sound any like any type of qualification that has high barrier of entry. In this type of economy, you have to have a job or rather a career that has a high barrier of entry in order to do well.
“Real estate agents and loan officers who were making $80,000 to $90,000 during the boom now are accepting office jobs for $45,000 to $50,000.”
…if they are lucky enough to get hired…
“Real estate agents and loan officers who were making $80,000 to $90,000 during the boom now are accepting office jobs for $45,000 to $50,000.”
“‘They’re settling for administrative assistant positions and clerical positions,’ Capolino said. ‘They understand that they have to accept less.’”
Sorry but the truth is these types of jobs pay no where near the referenced 45-50K
Florida pays in sunshine and smiles so, you are looking more like 24,900 per year.
I am lucky in my field to be making 50,000 per year but anyone we hire in our call center is making 10.00 per hour.
Florida pays in sunshine and smiles so, you are looking more like 24,900 per year.
I am lucky in my field to be making 50,000 per year but anyone we hire in our call center is making 10.00 per hour.
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would that be with or without benefits?
SKB, you’re right on - the $45k - $50k numbers are b.s. and that goes for more places than just FL.
They make it sound like $50k jobs fall from the trees - well - if they did then we probably wouldn’t even be in this mess to begin with. I know, I know, many posters here make gazillions of dollars a year, but for the average schmoe $50k is still a big freaking deal.
When I started my first job as a computer programmer coming out from college with a bachelor in C.S my annual salary was $25,000, working 6 days a week, 10 to 12 hours a day at Garden Ridge Pottery I.T center. I stayed at that job for a year before getting another job that paid $30,000 a year, put still staying at Garden Ridge to do night shift weekend for them on Friday night, Saturday night, and Wednesday evening for $15.00 an hour with no benefit whatsoever. I work 70 to 80 hours a week on those two jobs for three years and 3 months before leaving Garden Ridge part time job to take a breather.
Job is not easy to find. Well, maybe “easy to find” if you are into Real-Estate thing (… sarcasm…)
Most of these “office jobs” pay at best $30,000 per year–with perhaps a 401k and a health savings account thrown in.
The median household income in the US is roughly $50,000 per year. How can “office jobs” be paying $45,000-$50,000 per year?
An even better question–particularly for all the knife-catchers trying to pick up “bargains” in financial stocks–is how far will the median existing home price drop? The median existing home price is now $206,000–4.1 times median household income.
Keep the popcorn popping,
Red Baron
Isn’t the tradition measure 3:1 home price-to-income? Thus 25% more to go…. unless we overshoot. Then lookout.
“‘We’ve been in free-fall since 2005,’ Agran said. ‘We’re back to 2002 pricing. This is a tremendous buying opportunity.’”
Would TOTALLY agree with this statement were it true in my neck of the woods. However, as an example: 3BR, 1BA, 1000 sq. ft. ranchers with 1/4 acre or less properties in a neighborhood I’d like to live in sold in 2002 for $150,000 give or take. They are listing now at an average of $235,000. Not even CLOSE to 2002 prices! How much longer will (can?) this insanity continue?
“‘We’ve been in free-fall since 2005,’ Agran said. ‘We’re back to 2002 pricing. This is a tremendous buying opportunity.’”
——————————————————————–
Anybody can buy a house but not everybody can pay for a house. and how can this be a tremendous buying opportunity with $10 an hour call center jobs? the chinese have a name for “free trade” and it’s called suckers.
health care staffing jobs are ever increasing. Physicians, nurses, lab clinic workers, and so on. Most of that cannot be outsourced. Demand is driving up wages in those areas…to somewhere above your $10 per hour figure.
RE: health care staffing jobs are ever increasing
Yeah, on third shift for the morning bed pan emptying duties
Damn hd74man ,your cracking me up with all your posts today .
Very funny. But I work for a staffing company with 19,165 contracting professionals as of 2007. Most of them in all areas of health care, including lab support, clinical research, engineering life sciences, nursing, physicians, therapy, respiratory care, diagnostic imaging in local markets across the United States, medical business office, health information management, biotechnology, pharmaceutical, medical device development, and surgical services. My company also supplies staffing for IT, software and hardware engineering, telecommunications, networks and such. Most of this stuff is in the U.S. although the company places people in Australia, New Zealand, and the Netherlands too.
More than bedpans, I’m quite sure. Latest earnings reports beat expectations.
Oh yeah and to make hd74man happy I will state that none of us earns more than $2.00 But then of course, that is false. Sorry hd74man.
Health care is about the only thing left standing in the US private sector economy. It will be interesting to see the US will fare with its economy resting mostly on health care.
The three main pillars of the US private sector economy had been finance, health care, and housing. Now finance and housing are in big trouble. The US obviously has industrial, materials, and technology companies, but most of their footprint is offshore. The only things that are here are the profits, the top management, and high-level business services functions (e.g. legal, finance, etc.).
The problem with health care is that most of the jobs in it are not high-paying. It will be interesting to see how the US fares with its private sector economy centered on health care.
Keep the popcorn popping,
Red Baron
How much of the health care sector of the economy is really private? Who pays for the health care of teachers and other government employees? Who pays for the health care of those over 65? Who pays for those who cannot pay?
RE: How much of the health care sector of the economy is really private? Who pays for the health care of teachers and other government employees? Who pays for the health care of those over 65? Who pays for those who cannot pay?
Have you been keeping track of the annual increases of your health insurance premiums?
I think mine has averaged around 20% (one year it was a whopping 49%!) for like the last 6 six years.
Government employees don’t give a ratz azz, because the majority of them pay nothing or a top of 20% for their coverage.
And who’s got the Cadillac of coverages?
TA DA!…US postal workers! Champions of the coming half buck stamp!
But pay it no heed.
Ego-centric boomers will demand to live to 100 in the manner to which they are acustomed and will collapse the whole system.
How much of American industry is private?
To me it does not matter. America is not a capitalist society but we like to label our economy as capitalist. It’s a mixed economy, lots of federal, state, and local employees, some doing good, some doing bad. Some are even libertarians (I was a federal employee for 11 years).
It would be nice to have far less government control of the economy. It could put me out of work, but I’d find something else to do anyway. But we are not at that point yet. I voted Libertarian every election except in 2004 since I was old enough to vote in 1978 and held a minor political office many years ago as a Libertarian. I did my part to promote liberty.
Funny thing is although the U.S. likes to call it a capitalist economy and is not, the Chinese leaders like to call their economy Marxist, but practice much more capitalism than the U.S.
Faith, n. Belief without evidence in what is told by one who speaks without knowledge, of things without parallel.
Ambrose Bierce
“‘The nucleus of all this is housing,’ said Sean Snaith, an economist at the University of Central Florida. ‘It was the thing that was driving the economy to huge heights when the market was raging. Now, it’s the flip side. The thing that was powering the economy is now pulling it down.’”
BBbbbbut I thought, housing was too small a part of the overall economy to have this sort of impact. It’s a very good thing that valuations were justified and that a bubble didn’t exist, other-wise it be a really far fall from the permanent plateau.
“‘It was the thing that was driving the economy to huge heights when the market was raging. Now, it’s the flip side. The thing that was powering the economy is now pulling it down’”
Stated another way: The money supply greatly expanded during this drive of the economy to new heights when the market was raging. Now, it’s the flip side. The contraction of the money supply via writeoffs is now pulling the economy down.
These economists have been caught flat footed. They can’t come up with forward looking solutions to save their lives. The true wonder is that even in 2008 someone is actually paying them to keep restating the obvious.
the oblivious stating the obvious..
be afraid, very afraid…
The economics profession is having a collective shoe shine boy moment about now. The shoe-shine boys are ‘experts’ like Snaith who have now got religion but were only a couple of years ago telling the world that all is well.
That’s the truth. And things are moving so fast now that any difference that ever existed between an economist and a fortuneteller has been obviated.
It also amazes me that Meredith Whitney now can move the markets, because when I was saying some of the same things, I couldn’t even move my relatives or co-workers.
‘no brain, no pain’
“Could the new $3.15 million special assessment at the Renaissance in downtown Sarasota be a case of ‘no pain, no gain?’ The special assessment approved by the Renaissance’s condo board aims to fix once and for all the water intrusion problems at the building.”
..more like water on the brain..
‘no brain, know pain’
“Scott Agran, president of Lang Realty of Boca Raton, agreed that the market has been in a deep downturn, but he predicted that home values will come back strong.”
“‘We’ve been in free-fall since 2005,’ Agran said. ‘We’re back to 2002 pricing. This is a tremendous buying opportunity.’
Wow Scott, that is a such a quaint way of thinking from within that Blackhole you’re in or is that just your little empty stomach rumbling again ?
There is something peculiar about the metaphor of a “tsunami” that is “getting worse.” How much worse can things get then having a one hundred thirty foot high wall of ocean water engulfing everything in its path? I suppose one could also have a devastating volcanic explosion beforehand.
RE: How much worse can things get then having a one hundred thirty foot high wall of ocean water engulfing everything in its path
How about a wall of raw sewage bubblin’ down the street ’cause the pipes have all rotted away.
Glad I don’t hang my hat in Birmingham county, Ala-bam-y
http://www.boston.com/news/nation/articles/2008/08/16/alabama_county_faces_biggest_us_municipal_bankruptcy
The undertow of a tsunami creates a vicious problem of its own.
This is a little out of date, but I always enjoy Cagan’s analytical presentations…
November 16, 2006
A RIPPLE, NOT A TIDAL WAVE:
Foreclosure Prevalence and
Foreclosure Discount (Caution: .pdf file link)
Christopher L. Cagan, Ph.D.
Director of Research and Analytics
First American Real Estate Solutions
Looking at the graph I keep pinned to my bulletin board, I see the timing of this presentation was perfectly aligned with the very instant that San Diego County NODs shot up like a rocket.
Let them eat ‘upside-down’ Cake…
==========================================
“Speculators and other homebuyers now find themselves ‘upside-down’ in their homes, thanks to the fall out from the subprime mortgage crisis and sluggish economy. Many of those people are walking away from the house rather than sticking with it through what Tate calls a ‘market correction.’”
Let them eat ‘upside-down’ Cake……..at the Toilet Buffet.
I know a Gila teen, a bit rusty but still sharp.
where did all the money DIS A pear too !! ????
Wealth is NOT distroyed, it is transferred.
A bought a house from B for 1 million, taking on a LOAN - no doc and defaults, so someone has to reposess the house and sell it for 500.000.
tuff luck for him, but where is that first 1 million
that B got, as the house was payed for.
There has got to be a LOT o f money SOMEwhere !!!
FIND IT…..
“There has got to be a LOT of money SOMEwhere!!!”
A lot of the borrowed money is deemed uncollectable by the lenders thus it is written off and taken as hits against the lender’s balance sheet reserves.
The hits against the lender’s reserves is immediate, the removal of money circulating through the economy less so. It takes time for money to move from one person to another and it will continue to do so until it hits a lender who needs to keep hold of the money in order to replenish his depleted reserves.
Thus, just as a lender acted to put money into circulation it is the underwater lender who will act to take money out of circulation.
RE: There has got to be a LOT o f money SOMEwhere !!!
Those who sold into the bubble from distant equity positions founded, from say the 40’s onward, made a fookin’ boatload as long as they sat on the ownership sidelines after cashing out.
They are the ones who took off to the punchpowl while the musical chair music was still playing.
I think many are so astounded by the timing and dimensions of their windfall they are not saying much to anyone other than their accountants.
However, it would be interesting to know how many there are out there.
hd74man reply; You can count me in as one of those who sold into the peak…..sold more than $550k in 2H05…. held out for nearly 2 years, and finally moved to a different state….Paid cash, and kept a nice little nest egg to enjoy for a couple of years…..Truth of the matter, it wasn’t easy on the wife or myself, but I know she’s got her dream home now, and she’s loving it…PS..The money is in gold and silver
All money is represented as some form of somebody elses debt….Just look on a banks balance sheet, and you see, assets, and liabilities….So, when somebody doesn’t pay their debt [the banks assets], that money just goes to money heaven….disappears!!!!….In other words…..”IF” everybody paid off their debts….there wouldn’t be any money left…..gone!!! woosh!!!! Then we could just barter…..You know, like trade wifes, or something ….Then prostituion would again be legal, because there would be no money involved….
I was out for a couple of beers last night and the place I go to is just down the street so as not to spend too much time running the gauntlet.
It is a J6pack place and a number of the patrons are in the contracting business. Gloom is the word but they are all praying this hurricane is a biggy for the FEMA money and all the repairs. Damn sad state of affairs.
I picked up one of my kid’s friends today from their house. They are being foreclosed. While I was there, I notice the next door neighbor’s grass about a foot high,ripped screens, etc. Turns out they walked away two months ago. The friends then tell me two house on the next street are being foreclosed on this month too.
So, in a two block radius, four houses foreclosed on or abandoned.
There’s still about a 4 YEAR visible supply of inventory. This doesn’t include the FSBO, REO, and rentals. There are NO sales now. The only ones that are moving are the foreclosures,and they are not moving.
Deflation is here. Why buy a depreciating albatross?
But we are at the bottom……….right……………..
“Scott Agran, president of Lang Realty of Boca Raton, agreed that the market has been in a deep downturn, but he predicted that home values will come back strong.”
His predictions are incorrect as realestate prices in thsi area and many areas of Florida will stay flat for many years to come. Scott predicts values will come back strong, but he has no basis to back his predictions! Scott Agran, your cheerleading days are over so put down your pom poms and face reality.
‘We’re back to 2002 pricing. This is a tremendous buying opportunity.’”
But Scott, property values are going to drop to 2000 levels by next year making this a lousy time to buy.
Buy now Scott or be foreever priced out of the Florida realestate market! Oh, and don’t forget Scott, Florida is not making anymore land and thousands are moving to Florida everyday.
Just one problem Scott, the thousands moving to Florida everyday are now moving out of Florida by the thousands.
Asking prices are still to high. The only deals out there are foreclosures.