‘Vigilantes’ Pulling Down For-Sale Signs In Phoenix
The Arizona Republic reports from Phoenix. “Scottsdale Coldwell Banke Branch Manager Earlene Nelson invited me to hear some of her agents’ firsthand housing market experiences. Valley home buyers are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see when the market is going to level off. Most open houses are drawing only a few lookers, and those who do show up aren’t serious enough to bring real estate agents.”
“Neighborhood ‘vigilantes’ are pulling down ‘for sale’ signs because they are tired of having so many lookers cruise their streets and turn around in their driveways.”
“New homes on the Valley’s fringes, particularly in Pinal County, are selling with big discounts. Buyers are asking some sellers to cut prices by $50,000 to $75,000. Some sellers say they are motivated but realistic about how they are pricing their homes. Most prospective home buyers are just ‘kicking the tires’ on Valley houses.”
“Trends are changing daily, as are buyers’ and sellers’ minds. But what most agents are wondering is when and if the Valley’s housing market has finished its cooldown and when it will start climbing again.”
“At a time when overall sales are plummeting, Surprise’s home values have nonetheless been rising so far this year.The number of local home sales declined from 4,154 last year to 1,951 so far this year. ‘We’ve had a huge increase in supply, so you would think we’d have a decline in prices in Surprise.’ Realtor Mike Holloway said.”
The Daily Courier from Prescott. “(Mortgage brokers) Jerry Sell and Theresa Baca have both noticed a change in the loan options buyers are seeking from 2005. ‘Last year we saw tons of the interest-only products,’ Baca said. ‘We saw lots of California buyers coming in wanting to get into investment properties with little or no money down.’”
“Baca said young buyers are having problems affording homes that have appreciated. ‘There is so many young families trying to buy and the prices have gone up to a level where they are having trouble with the payments,’ she said.”
“Sell said he is leery of interest-only loans because of the risk involved. ‘I don’t advocate those,’ he said. ‘I feel those have the potential to get somebody in trouble in future years.’”
“Sell explained that the glut of homes in the tri-city area means that a hard winter is likely. He said rates will stay down and sellers will have more realistic views about their property and adjust their asking prices accordingly.”
‘The number of local home sales declined from 4,154 last year to 1,951 so far this year. ‘We’ve had a huge increase in supply, so you would think we’d have a decline in prices in Surprise.’ Realtor Mike Holloway said.’
You almost certainly have had a decline. Keep watching that median Mike!
The question of whether median numbers give an accurate portrayal of the marketplace has been debated here. But these Surprise numbers are really amusing. I live in Surprise and follow things pretty closely. I have seen many new spec houses unloaded at huge discounts compared to a year ago. And while resale house wishing prices are all over the map, there are plenty of houses with 10% to 15% reductions from the peak price that have sat for many months.
I suppose that if the reporters and their sources continue to use the same formulas to gauge market conditions, then the true picture will eventually be revealed.
And shouldn’t the term vigilante be reserved for more interesting cases? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bernhard_Goetz
they should be happy there are ANY buyers around that this point. If they are driving around, they could be lookyloos, but it appears there is some interest…
wow…
Or maybe it’s the GWatts school of market manipulation in action? Too many signs! Don’t ruin the comps!
possibly… yes, it could be an intrusion of sorts. But if it were me, I would rather have people buying now (still inflated) than 3 years from now when the ppty is in complete deterioration….. Talk about ruining comps. They just need to suck it up.
It is like trying to cork Niagara Falls. Kinda pathetic, if you really think about it.
Fully agree. I laugh whenever I hear someone say it is a buyer’s market. Prices are still COMPLETELY infated. The only problem is that the growth in prices this year has not kept up with the greed levels of those who trying to selling.
“Don’t ruin the comps!”
Good point! Oh man this is going to get ugly as prices pass the soft landing phase and get into unrealized loses for current owners.
- Most prospective home buyers are just ‘kicking the tires’ on Valley houses.
- “Neighborhood ‘vigilantes’ are pulling down ‘for sale’ signs…
Finally! You just knew that it was coming! ‘Vigilantes’
“Finally! You just knew that it was coming! ‘Vigilantes’
More like Luddites…. and will share the same fate.
Why don’t we use the word , ‘terrorists’? The surprise will be when that word is used to describe buyers who low ball the over priced stale listings.
Pismo -
I was reading Wall Street Journal’s Real Estate discussion group a month back. There is a guy calling many bears as anti-real estate anti-american terrorists trying to undermine the US economy. Read for yourself… the guy goes by the name of Happy.
http://discussions.realestatejournal.com/RealEstateJournal%20Discussions/1
Well I am bearish on Real Estate and most stocks. This is a first. I’m therefore anti-American and a terrorist? Good grief! Maybe overbidding so that young people could not afford an 80/20 loan on a house is what should be anti-American! Greedy sellers!
Here is a beauty….
http://www.realtor.com/FindHome/HomeListing.asp?snum=1&locallnk=yes&frm=bymap&mnbed=0&mnbath=0&mnprice=0&mxprice=99999999&js=off&pgnum=1&fid=so&stype=&mnsqft=&mls=xmls&areaid=80637&poe=realtor&ct=Campbell&st=CA&sbint=&vtsort=&sorttype=&typ=1&x=59&y=8&sid=07343FAC76D0C&snumxlid=1060477393&lnksrc=00001
Oh that’s rich.
Well, it’s 1/1 750sf, but at least it’s — NINETY YEARS OLD.
togoplease,
Zillow shows that shack as only 396 sf. (!)
At the asking price of $550,000, the insane buyer would pay a whopping $1,388 per square foot!!!!!
Campbell is nice, but….come on. Anyone know how this price/sf compares to say Manhatten, SF, or Honolulu?
My mother lives in Chandler in a recently completed development. Their HOA just initiated a new rule last month: no “for sale” or “for rent” signs allowed on any property. There were getting to be … quite a lot of them.
That one will end up discarded or in court quickly enough. Existing owners are grandfathered.
People who bought into a deed-restricted community with a HOA “private government” deserve what they get. They’re part of the problem. I will NEVER live in one.
A HOA can create any rules they want as long as the abide by thier articles of incorporation and bylaw, according to my understanding. And that can include banning for sale signs on the property, as long as they do not discriminate based on age, religion, sex, etc. .. you know… the protected anti-discrimination factors.
Perhaps someone can correct me, if this is incorrect. And if so, please provide supporting information.
The Covenant, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&Rs) of the HOA established by the developer take priority over the by-laws and are difficult to change, usually requiring the approval of 2/3 of the homeowners.
A friend of mine has worked for years for a property management company, and she vows that she will never buy a home in an HOA.
Maybe they’re like me, and they go to open houses on their sunday afternoon stroll for free snacks and refreshments!
“Neighborhood ‘vigilantes’ are pulling down ‘for sale’ signs”
Hey you guys in Phoenix cut that out!
Went to some open houses in Pismo Friday am. Got a breakfast burrito, won a starbucks coffee card, watched the golf channel, then got a croisant sandwich and some cookies. Still not the top of the bubble; no barbeque or tri-tip and french roll with sides of coleslaw and barbeque beans yet.
LOL . Thats what I’m holding out for .
My parents had an open house two weekends ago in st. george. The only people that showed up were the neighbors for free brats and slaw.
Actually, I think everyone should drive around looking at properties and showing basically NO interest.
After all, since we did not buy last year, we are all “PRICE OUT FOREVER”.
In fact, I think this would make a good bumper sticker to put on your car as you drive around the neighborhoods. “PRICE OUT FOREVER”>
NO pointing in looking, my Realtor ™ told me I would never be able to afford a house here, so I have completely quit looking.
“There is so many young families trying to buy” said Theresa Baca (the highly literate RE agent)
She then went on to say “Dem dar people had bedder start buying homes real soon befoe dey git priced out”……
“Trends are changing daily, as are buyers’ and sellers’ minds. But what most agents are wondering is when and if the Valley’s housing market has finished its cooldown and when it will start climbing again.”
Right…
Evidently the overall IQ in this country crashed somewhere in the last decade or so. Unbelievable this ship of fools….
While it’s unfortunate for young families, the fact that Californian speculators were buying in the Prescott area means some serious defaults are coming. And using I/O no less!
Ben, Prescott has kinda off the AZ bubble radar…but it’s as bad as Pinal county….and per capita, worse than Phx. And what truly is shocking (to me) is the extraordinary number of vacant land listings…for years the mantra has been because we are surrounded by USFS, land was rare and hard to buy. But the number of land listings almost equal the number of residential…which is fast approaching 3000.
Land sales are down 63% from Q1 06. The 8 pending sales are a median decline of 49% from Q1 06. Almost nothing is selling. BTW, there’s a ‘fire sale’ going on in Oak Creek.
Actually Ms Baca is a loan broker, not an agent. She is perceived, rightfully so, as one of the most (if not the only) honest loan people in Prescott… Read the quotes again. She is actually warning people about the market now.
Ok….I know when it is time to “eat crow”. You are correct. Just having a little fun with bad grammer.
But I stand by me 2nd comment. We are a country of ostrich.
Yum….this baked crow sure is good. Just cooked it on the PHX pavement.
Evidently the overall IQ in this country crashed somewhere in the last decade or so. Unbelievable this ship of fools….
——————————
I was thinking this exact same thing when reading the comment about “prices taking off again.” God, please help us if this is any indication of typical human intelligence.
What amazes me is that the “big” run up in Arizona went from mid 2004 to mid 2005 (I know the bubble started earlier), and now all of the sudden everyone just expects these astronomical price increases. It’s like the “normal” market in the preceding years never existed. I guess the average American’s memory continues to get shorter.
A guy here who brodcasts over local channal …
said the same on Silicon Valley RE market.. we will be in a “sellers market no time at all”
Typical RE propaganda… You can tell this guy has no clue about finance or economics. He keeps saying people home values are not going down.
http://www.letstalkrealestate.com/abouttheshow.htm
Overall IQ in this country is led by the quick headlines on CNN and the likes of the news media that seem to influence so many people in this country that do not have the ability to process information on their own. This inability is bred into us by the liberal school boards that set the information our children are able to recieve and process. If we were really able to teach children to challange,sort and rationalize common sense we would not have these runaway asset blips that we seem to have every ten years or so. Our society is so disconnected by enertainment,marketing,politics and a variety of distractions that it is any wonder people can think on their own.
“This inability is bred into us by the liberal school boards that set the information our children are able to recieve.”
“Our society is so disconnected by enertainment,marketing,politics and a variety of distractions.”
Liberal school boards? You may want to re-think your position on the first statement here. Is information restriction–especially in the media really liberal driven? Who wins by churning out clueless, consuming automatons? Liberals? The middle class? I suspect educational and other forms of information restriction and control for gain is controlled by folks leaning toward the conservative camp and those much higher up the economic ladder. Chompsky makes a pretty lucid assertion in respect to this topic.
Just my .02
DOC
Your liberal school board apparently did not require you to learn to spell. It is “challenge”.
1- Valley home buyers are sitting on the sidelines waiting to see when the market is going to level off
2- But what most agents are wondering is when and if the Valley’s housing market has finished its cooldown and when it will start climbing again.”
Perhaps while they are waiting for prices go up they can refinance their home one last time and just enough to purchase a new labor day sale truck having 72 monthly payments. Then when their last payment is due in 2012 prices will be going up again so they can buy refinance once again for a new truck.
I’m with you, Ben. I can think of a lot more compelling motivations to rip out ‘for sale’ signs than some peeved neighbor trying to discourage open house traffic–which is reportedly very low right now, anyway. More likely, desperate real estate agents are ripping out all the neighborhood’s signs before their own open house or an appointment with a prospective buyer.
(Yes, on occasion I am an enthusiastic conspiracy-theorist.)
Exactly! There are two reasons for sign attacks.
1. Angry neighbors trying to hold on to their perceived gains. Can’t have the Joneses wrecking their retirement plans!
2. Competing open houses and agents.
Another thought just occured to me as well (my mind sometimes works faster than my fingers)…election signs are all over the place and there have been more than a few people smacking them down…real estate signs go down too. I’ve seen corners devoid of signs when just the day before there were numerous election and RE signs there.
You were right Catherine; first time I’ve seen ‘glut’ used regarding Prescott.
glut…soon to be followed by…gut.
For anyone who has the time and wants to be amazed. Do a search just on Avondale AZ in the above $200K range. You’ll get 81 pages of houses, start flipping (sorry!)through the pages and make a mental note of development names repeating like “Coldwater Springs”. These developments are literally saturated with for sale signs from flippers. Faced with a sea of for sale signs wouldn’t a prospective buyer mentally think “Houston, we have a problem” ? . Tearing down signs is a sure sign of desperation from sellers trying to draw attention to their own property. And easier to practice on an empty house also.
It’s probably homeowners, not R-E agents ripping out the signs. They use “traffic” as an excuse, but what they’re really doing is some crazy attempt to slow down sales to keep their “values” up.
Don’t forget, these people want to think of themselves as “rich” based on some imagined worth on their home (forgetting about the fact that they have ZERO equity in it!) It’s all about “preserving home values”. That’s all people in these planned communites ever talk about, and that’s why they don’t allow “ugly” things like basketball hoops, American Flags, and real-estate signs.
Just wait until the neighboring McMansion is partitioned into multifamily dwellings, chock full of recent arrivals from south of the border. I have nothing against our amigos from the south, but having two or more families in one neighboring McMansion could go much further than a low-priced sale towards screwing up the comps.
full hour on broadcast tv pitching local condos- that ain’t cheap
Our neighborhood isn’t the kind of place where real estate signs are routinely torn down. However, some of our youthful spray painters (who are practitioners of the Ancient Art of Graffiti) wouldn’t be above applying their own special touch to long-standing signs.
I’ve also noticed a cosmetic flip up the street that had a flyer holder attached to the sign. I’m saying “had” because said holder has been laying on the ground for, oh, about a week now. (Sounds like that real estate agent is REALLY on the ball, eh?)
What a shame. People are missing the valuable opportunity to find out that this one-of-a-kind property (when you see the paint job, you’ll understand what I mean) has had a $9,000 price reduction.
There is a house down the street from us…pink and purple.
Oh how I love that house! (NOT)
For some reason, many Northern Nevadan’s love the obnoxious colors.
Anybody who paints their house those shockingly bright hues of pink, purple, or blue is a prime candidate for a court-ordered sterilization.
This is a good reason to never intentionally piss off your neighbor. The moment the for sale sign goes up in your yard he paints his house neon yellow with green trim (maybe using water soluble paint that washes off with the first strong rain). Then everyone visiting your house will avoid buying because of the perceived crackpot next door. He could cost you six months of extra selling pain, maybe more. Just nasty.
“Anybody who paints their house those shockingly bright hues of pink, purple, or blue is a prime candidate for a court-ordered sterilization.”
HOAs were made for people like you. I’d much rather have neighbors with interesting homes than live in a sea of identical stucco boxes.
I will love to read about the sob stories of these ‘now homeless’ specufloppers from California that just couldn’t wait to blow the last nickel of equity, or loan that some financial institution was dumb enough to give them money for.
“specufloppers” too funny, is that an original?
“what most agents are wondering is when and IF the Valley’s housing market has finished its cooldown”
I think the IF says it all.
Finished? We’re just getting started!!
Somehow I don’t think “excessive traffic” is what has the “vigilantes” peeved.
Yeah, I wonder if these “vigilantes” wear face masks and are packin’.
The rest of us are “packin”. When it get’s real ugly, all of the liberal flippers will be wishing that they listened to the NRA instead of the NAR!
LOL. NRA instead of NAR. Good one.
card carrying member here.
This DIY Rail Gun pistol with auto reloader might come in handy when the crap hits the fan, and you want to protect yourself and your family
Maybe it was the “Minutemen” tearing the signs down. Remember, Bush told Vicente Fox that they were the “vigellantes”. You heard it from the “decider” hisself.
I don’t know about the sign vigilantes, but the rest of us are “packin”, I can tell you that. When things get really ugly, all of those cry baby liberal flippers are going to wish they listened to the NRA instead of the NAR! Imagine how bad it would be if the GOP wasn’t running the country.
Honestly, I don’t think it makes a damn bit of difference who’s in power. If the Republicans are still in charge when the full scope of the mess becomes clear, we’ll see some cleverly named act to bail out the banks for the good of the economy. If the Democrats have taken over, there will be a totally different cleverly named act to bail out homeowners for the good of the economy. Gee golly, I’m so glad we get the choice between two separate and distinct parties that I could just burst!
“…all of those cry baby liberal flippers are going to wish they listened to the NRA instead of the NAR! Imagine how bad it would be if the GOP wasn’t running the country.”
Not for long. Run along now and finish masturbating to your nude Rush Limpballs poster.
Running the country into the ground, you mean?
I’m trying to decide if this is a joke or not, and I can’t tell if it’s clever sarcasm or… well… someone who doesn’t get out much.
Speaking of changing psychology, has anyone else noticed a change in tone of several companies’ tv commercials lately? Maybe this is just an example of “seeing what you look for”, but I have noticed in the last few weeks a couple of new ad campaigns that made me think, “They’re desperate.”
Example #1: One of the home improvement companies (either Lowe’s or Home Despot) is now running very aggressive “tug the heart strings” commercials. The dad is fixing the pipes under the sink. The son comes to see if he can help and is told “no”. He walks away dragging his stuffed animal and moping; the sad/tender music swells and we watch the dad reconsider. He seems to thinks, “Home improvement skills should be passed from father to son, and here is such an opportunity!” So he calls his son back to the kitchen to grab a tool and help. Awww, how touching. Fade to logo of company trying to manipulate your emotions.
Example #2: BestBuy is rolling out a new “we pledge to help you [buy a ridiculous plasma tv]” campaign that is weirdly serious. Quite a change from their previous carefree ad campaign which featured dancing best buy employees, trippy kaleidiscope visuals, and techno music. “Life’s a party!” just became “Life is filled with worry, but you can trust us.”
Example #3: Someone else (txchick?) pointed out that JC Penney has long skirts and conservative fashions in their most recent catalog.
For an amused zeitgeist observer like myself, these are the sorts of superficial indicators that flash “Recession! Recession! Recession!” in big neon lights.
Also in todays newspaper adds Home Depot was offering “incentives ” or points for purchases to win prizes like a brand new kitchen .Has Home Depot been talking to the builders .
The ‘SUZANNE’ Ads by C-21 worked so well, everyone is jumping on the bandwagon!
I’ve noticed a big difference in the traffic at Home Depot. I went into the store on saturday to get some painters tape and there were hardly any other shoppers. I thought Labor Day weekend is when everybody did home improvement projects.
Think about how overbuilt Home Depot and Lowe’s are around the country — they are going to easily be able to consolidate stores regionally by shutting down slower locations. More jobs lost.
perhaps that will be a benefit to neighborhood hardware stores, that might not be the lowest prices, but offer convenience in time savings, and cost of fuel and expense of driving a car or truck the longer distance to get to a regional home depot.
crash,
Your comment reminded me of something. Last year around November 2005, I was offered a Woody’s Hot Dog Cart located at the entrance of a Lowe’s. The price was about 70k. Profits were about 50k or so. I don’t remember all the details, but what I do remember is that the primary reason I didn’t buy was that when the housing market tanked, so would the foot traffic at home improvement stores.
I guess, this is just another, “Thanks Ben.”
I wonder if people buying such businesses may include something in the contract that guarantees a certain amount of foot traffic for a specified amount of time, say 3 years or so. And that a certain amount of the purchase price for the business would be put into an interest baring escrow account, of which as each year rolls along, portions held in reserve would be paid to the seller. And if traffic declines, which can be corroborated by the stores gross sales as an indicator, then a formula can be devised in which the buyer gets a refund of a certain amount, based on the level of decline in business.
That could be a kind of insurance that the business has at least a certain number of years of profitability. And if not, they get some refunds.
Los,
Everything is negotiable. However, that is the sort of clause that only works during a recession. Today, it would be hard to come by. However, there are other ways to avoid it. First is obviously research. However, a forensic accountant is very helpful. They crawl up that business and find all the lies. And believe me business sellers love creative accounting. They also try to sell businesses based on pro forma accounting, which is nothing more than saying, “this business is not really worth the price, but with your hard work it might be some day and I’d like you to pay me that amount although I’ve not earned it.”
Putting money into an escrow account is not realistic IMO, but you can achive the same effect by having the seller finance 50% and put a clause in the contract that adjusts the debt amount in the event of foot traffic problems, or any other problems for that matter. This will weed out the liars. If they know they are fudging the numbers, they will not finance, and they certainly will not agree to performance clauses.
However, I would avoid either scenario. If a business is so risky that I need to test it, I won’t buy it. Either I don’t understand it and going into it would only be gambling, or I have a real concern about its viability and that itself should kill the deal. Business is risky enough without an albatross hanging around its neck.
I was in Costco, in Fountain Valley, CA today.
Low and behold what book was featured prominently.
Susan Sanka’s The Not So Big House.
Sign of the times?
Sorry, meant to post this in the thread about milestones.
“Neighborhood ‘vigilantes’ are pulling down ‘for sale’ signs…”
We now know how David Lereah and his family have been spending their Labor Day weekend.
This is nothing new. People are reduced to child-like behavior durinig these times. Even when times are good they are colluding on price. I see that all of the time (especially) in Florida.
A vacant home burned down in Tampa a week ago during “remodelling.”
I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again, “Smoke ‘em if you got ‘em!”
I guess I came up with Specuvestor - I didn’t think I was creating a new term.
On the SF Chronicle website (sfgate.com), there was a Google ad for the housing bubble. So, even that one is finally caving in.
lol… that is funny..
we If nothing else, we got a whole bunch of new words for the dictionary, as a result of this housing bubble.
specuflipper
specuvester
flipper
specuflopper
Are there any more out there?
“fool” is one syllable, and works fine for me.
“Most open houses are drawing only a few lookers, and those who do show up aren’t serious enough to bring real estate agents.”
I suggest just going for the free food until at least summer 2007.
“Neighborhood ‘vigilantes’ are pulling down ‘for sale’ signs because they are tired of having so many lookers cruise their streets and turn around in their driveways.”
That is a great way to help keep your neighbor-sellers from screwing up the comps!
Sometimes (not lately) I would take a picture of a comp and the owner would come running out of the house and since they owner is to stupid to understand what I am doing I would wave to them and floor it leaving rubber. The life of an appraiser is not fun. Stop screwing up the comps like the Red Sox ruined my Summa.
The recent comps are showing depreciation, but the mortgage industry will tell me right over the phone don’t use them could you use the one that closed 5 months 29 days ago that sold for (fill in the blank).. The whole industry needs a overhaul..
Oh, this does give me agita.
The whole comp thing has got to be put to rest. Where I live, it takes six months for the average citizen to see sales. It should be illegal to use a comp more than a few weeks old. Do you know that I walk around and chat up people on walks to get the real deal? “Hey old lady, want some candy? I’ve got carmel creams!!!..what did they sell for, those people next door? ”
Just ranting.
this is possibly OT.
I was reading website article about the Portland real estate market. The writer claimed that although houses are staying on the market much longer than they were last year, the ones that do sell are selling quick.
And it was here, that it was discussed, the amount of time homes take to sell statistics are worthless. That is because, the stats do not incorporate that the hous may have been serially listed several times, without being sold. And it does not incorporate those days, in previous listings into the sales number of day it took to sell.
Thanks for the insight. HonestAppraiser…
only lasts so long wait till a few banks go under.wamu anyone.
few banks going under will hit only the investors.
when dozens or hundreds of banks suffer, then we [taxpayers] get involved….
http://www.ditech.com/purchase/calculators/appraisal/form.do
Thanks, HonestAppraiser. What do you do when the house is listed at a lower price than the appraisal? Just assume the listing agent knows the comps have dropped?
As long as the appraisal justifies the sales price or higher, No one really cares. It’s only when the appraised value is lower when everyone along the chain gets up at arms. To this day I have never got a call from a borrower thanking me for doing a good job and saving them from buying something that was overpriced, not a little but a lot.
We are @ labor day and it’s been a slow year for me.. Winter is gonna be dead..
Some people remove signs, just because they are ugly and illegal. (And it’s fun to honk off the flippers.)
http://www.causs.org
http://www.uglylitter.com
You have to be careful though with some Realtor and builder signs that are put up on weekends. They may have a permit allowing the signs to be out.
But signs are almost always illegal in highway medians or nailed to poles.
I think most signs placed on sidewalks or on public grassy areas are definitely illegal. It is just that in many cases, nobody enforces anything.
I think it could technically be considered littering public space.
And in todays world, with concern about terrorism, and unattended objects left in public space, it may be even more of a problem to leave signs, flags, etc, unattended, in a public space.
Today I saw a house ad in the AZ Republic ( I think Gilbert area) “Labor Day Sale” House was going to be priced at 399K until Sept 15th. OMG, what next………….
I just found out - numerous HOA’s restrict “for sale” of “for rent” signs. Especially in condo’s.
I know — late to the party again!
Communist bastards!
Looks like a lot more signs will be going up.
As the old real estate saying goes………the more signs that go up …….the more prices come down.
http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20060903.whousing0903/BNStory/Business/home
“One buyer recently threatened to walk away from a signed contract on a $1.6-million house unless the seller took $100,000 off the price to reflect the drop in value since the deal was struck. The seller quickly buckled, fearing the house might be worth even less if put back on the market today.”
This is a joke… so what are you going to do when the market price drops another 100K in a month and another 100K each month after that.
This gives a whole new meaning to “timing the market” …
Jim said:”HOAs were made for people like you. I’d much rather have neighbors with interesting homes than live in a sea of identical stucco boxes”.
I dont know, I kinda like HOA’s for this reason…in our neighborhood, someone just painted their house lemon-lemon yellow-the brightest yellow I have ever seen…get this-to match their bright yellow VWBug! Well someone told the HOA, and now there is a calmer TAN paint sample on the garage…waiting for approval I guess.
Sometimes people have no taste, style or just get something for free and slap it on their house without any regards to how it will look outside the 1×1″ sample chip!
Friends of ours selling house in North Scottsdale…two price reductions already,(4 months on market).Yesterday realtor had Open House from 11am to 3pm…NOBODY showed up. Zero, nada, zilch.
During open house the selling couple was parked at a Starbucks with my wife…wife says she’s noticed the despair factor creeping in… my advice: cut price immediatelly by another 20-25% if you really want to sell and get outta this shithole.
ITS OVER here in Phoenix metro.
They can’t cut the price another 25%. People have no cash. Their selling price must leave enough to cover all the transaction costs plus pay off the mortgage. Once prices sink below that level, its jingle mail time!
Test for Ben!