Now Is An Amazing Time
I suggested the following topic and link. “How about a once and for all, HBB battle royale over used house salespeople? Are they as bad as some here say? Just some rotten apples; an industry too corrupt to be worth salvaging? Or a group of professionals that help people navigate a complex process? “Charlie Young, president and CEO of ERA Real Estate, was in Brevard County this past week. While here, he and Barbara Keller, owner of ERA Showcase on Merritt Island, met with FLORIDA TODAY to talk about the housing boom and bust, lessons learned and what’s next.”
“Q: The criticism I hear most often about Realtors is that they always seem to say, ‘Now is a great time to buy a home,’ no matter the circumstances. How do you respond to that?’ ‘Keller: I ask people to prove it. We should be able to stand behind any of our opinions and statements with facts that support that opinion. I think if all of us would start asking for that from people we are working with in any industry, it would uplift what’s happening.”
“Young: It is always the best time to buy a home when it’s right for you. You can’t time the market in real estate. The right time to put your home on the market or the right time to buy a home is when it is the right time for your personal needs. It happens to be a really affordable time to buy a home. That oftentimes gets translated into, ‘It’s a great time to buy.’ Historically, it is a very affordable time to buy, but if you don’t need a house today, I wouldn’t buy a house.”
One reader said, “They always give a reason why it’s always a good time to a house, even if that often turns out to be wrong. They had no shortage of reasons to buy a house in 05/06/07 when doing so was financial suicide. This purposeful disinformation (lying) wasn’t from just a few rogue agents, but was at the core of this industry. I don’t see how the relatively smaller number of good agents can purge this industry of most of the bad players.”
Another reply, “You can believe that the agents mostly knew better and were all lying for their commission, or you can believe, like I do, that they were caught up in the mania as well. It’s in their financial best interest to get people to believe.. but that doesn’t mean they don’t believe themselves.
Of course, if you ask a realtor to explain why they think it’s a good time to buy we all know exactly what you’ll hear.
“not making any more land”
“population growth”
“real estate always goes up (in the long term)” *cough*
“interest rates at all time lows”
“renting is throwing money away”
“you can paint the walls”
None of them will have done the financial research to back up their claims.”
One added, “You people have developed a culture of stupidity and doubletalk for yourselves that you just don’t know when to STFU. It’s time now. Keep your @$%ing clueless *OPINIONS* to yourselves for EVERYONES benefit. Your corrupt culture that YOU created has completely enveloped all of you and you’re to o#@$%ing blind, arrogant, self-entitled and greedy to see it.”
To which was said, “It’s great to see you have moved past the anger phase of the housing bubble stages of grief.”
The Press Register. “Fairhope rated as Alabama’s most expensive housing market in a new Coldwell Banker Real Estate national survey of 2,300 markets. That typical house in Fairhope was listed at $272,966, according to the survey. The least expensive market was Albertville in Marshall County, where the average list price was $114,900, according to the 2011 Home Listings Report.”
“‘We’re selling more houses under $200,000 than anything else,’ said Charles Hayes of Coldwell Banker Charles Hayes Real Estate in Mobile. ‘A lot of these are first-time buyers because they have nothing to sell and it’s a great time to buy.’”
The Union Leader. “Q: My wife and I have been renting for a long time while trying to save money to buy a home, but we’ve been reading something about 20 percent home mortgage down-payments becoming mandatory. What does this mean to people like us?”
“A: Once again our government is working its magic to rebuild a strong real estate market, and one potential change has a lot of professionals in the industry, especially Realtors, concerned. There is talk of a proposal to increase the minimum residential down payment requirement to 20 percent. That cannot have a positive effect on ‘The American Dream’ that is still trying to get back on its feet from major economic body blows.”
“How much more difficult will it become when a first-time buyer has to come up with 20 percent of the sales price? It will take the average person years (and years) to save up the minimum of what they will need. We could well be planting the seeds of an entire generation of renters who never quite manage to save enough to buy a place of their own or worse, be creating a market in which foreign investors and parties with purely commercial interests are the only ones able to afford a home — ‘The Global Dream?’ Clearly, a better course is to help make ‘The American Dream’ an attainable goal again, which not only benefits the home buyer, but our entire American economy.”
“For more information about buying or selling a home, visit www.gmnbr.org as your Realtor resource.”
The Lodi News Sentinel. “Ilyce Glink of CBSMoneyWatch.com wrote a recent article titled ‘5 New Rules of Real Estate,’ In the 20-odd years that she has been writing about real estate, there has never been a better time to buy a home.”
“There’s no reason you shouldn’t buy a home now and take advantage of super-low prices, historically low mortgage interest rates, and a significant supply of homes on the market. But to be successful in today’s real estate market, you need to understand that the game has changed. R.I.P. to the big pricing jumps of the past. If you want to buy a house, you have to have enough income to support the mortgage. Now that every borrower has to have a job and some sort of down payment, and the only basic loan types available are 30-year and 15-year fixed-rate mortgages, you won’t be able to leverage up with your mortgage, and housing prices should remain far more steady. In short — buy now, but don’t expect a huge pop in home prices. It isn’t going to happen.”
“Sure, there are amazing short sales and foreclosures out there. To find them, you’ll have to hire a great Realtor who really knows what he or she is doing and can help you navigate a tricky and frustrating negotiation cycle.”
“Somewhere along the way, ordinary civilians got the idea that there were massive profits to be made in real estate, if only they could flip the properties fast enough. The problem with that strategy became apparent when the real estate market crashed. But now is an amazing time to buy investment property. Purchase a foreclosure or two (or up to 10, if you can find the financing), and focus on how much income you can get each month.”
My Fox Tampa Bay. “Last month, prices reached their lowest level since the housing bubble burst in 2006. They’ve been driven down by foreclosures. U.S. home prices keep falling down, down, down. It’s driving many sellers underwater on their loan straight into foreclosure. However, that misfortune has a silver lining for buyers looking for a deal.”
“After years of renting, Travis Hubbard is ready to buy his first home, but not just any home. He’s one of many home buyers interested in foreclosed properties. ‘We get walk ins at the office every day. We get phone calls, ‘I want to see a foreclosure. I want to see a foreclosure,’ said Remax marketing specialist Sue Benson.”
“So the next time you see a foreclosure sign, you should know that it’s quite possibly a great deal and most definitely changing the prices in the housing market. ‘There’s also so much competition now with regular sellers because they have to compete with those foreclosures. So they have to lower their prices to come in to the game,’ Benson said.”
“Lower prices are a trend in the housing market right now. What’s great for buyers can lead sellers toward the financial catastrophe of foreclosure. Realtors advise you to not fear double-dip-recession headlines. Instead be creative in how you market your home. ‘Don’t take the double dip and go ‘Oh my gosh I can’t buy a house.’ I’m not going to sell right now. Use it as a positive thing,’ Benson said.”
The News & Observer. “Although Donna Roberts’ Cary house is for sale, she was not among the hundreds of Triangle homeowners who participated in a nationwide open house event over the weekend. Instead, she used the weekend to scope out the competition, touring homes in her Lochmere neighborhood that are priced similarly to her own.”
“Roberts’ house has been on the market since late March. Initially listed for $825,000, the house is now at $779,000 after two price reductions and just four showings. Fearing further discounts, the neighbors on her cul-de-sac are now upset at her for selling. ‘It’s tough now,’ Roberts said. ‘But housing prices could go down even further. There’s no good time to sell right now, unfortunately.’”
“‘It’s a great time to buy, but it’s a horrible time to sell,’ said Graham Smith. ‘You’re afraid of losing your shirt on your home.’”
“Smith, along with his wife and two daughters, was looking at homes for his sister, who is relocating to Raleigh from Pennsylvania. The Smiths, who own a home in North Raleigh, eventually want to move to a house with a larger yard. But they’ve watched nervously as the house next door has sat on the market since January drawing little interest. ‘We’ll ride it out for a while,’ he said. ‘We’re scared.’”
“Now that their four children are out of the house, Bill and Karen King of Cary want to downsize to a townhouse that will require less maintenance. They held an open house Saturday for the house in Lochmere that they’ve owned for 16 years. One person dropped by.’
“Since listing the house May 2, the Kings have cut the price from $440,000 to $429,000. The couple have a price below which they won’t go, but they’re also realists, Bill King said.”
“Hugh and Laurie Guy are among those homeowners who have seen both sides of today’s market. At the end of the month, the Guys are expected to close the sale of their house in Fuquay-Varina and the purchase a new home in Cary’s Lochmere neighborhood. The Guys will lose money on theFuquay-Varina house, which they bought 15 months ago. But they’re also getting the Cary house, which is 600 square feet larger, for a discount. ‘It’s such a buyer’s market,’ Hugh Guy said.”
