Local Market Observations!
What do you see in your housing market this weekend? Resetting loans? Builder incentives? “Pennsylvania home builder, Keystone Custom Homes, is offering potential buyers the chance to, ‘Live free for a year. Really.’”
“The advertisers for Keystone might have thought they needed the ‘Really’ to convince skeptical buyers, but nowadays, incentives like this are not surprising.”
“‘It’s definitely a challenging time to be building homes,’ says Keystone president Jeff Rutt. ‘Probably one of the biggest hurdles that I’ve seen here locally and just from what I’ve seen nationally, is buyer sentiment.’”
Slower construction? “The number of housing permits issued statewide during the first half of the year plummeted 18 percent compared with the first half of 2006, the state Department of Economic and Community Development said Friday.”
“‘It’s obviously slowed down a bit,’ said Jonathan Shweky, owner of Shweky Developers in Wallingford. ‘A lot of this talk of the bubble bursting has been going on since last year. A lot of builders pulled back, in the sense of not overbuilding.’”
“Home buyers are taking their time when deciding whether and when to purchase a house, scared by reports of a nationwide housing market downturn, he said. But Connecticut’s housing market has not been overbuilt like those in California, Nevada and other states, he said.”
Failed development? “In a one-two punch, an attorney representing Laughlin Ranch announced it has filed for bankruptcy. Out of 12,500 acres, approximately 1,200 acres of Laughlin Ranch have been developed. Most of Laughlin Ranch has been incorporated into the Bullhead City limits, increasing the area of the city by one-third.”
Slowing home sales? “Local realtors say although Alaska doesn’t always follow national trends, the market is not where it was one year ago, and inventory is the highest it’s been in seven years. Sales of existing homes dropped in June for the fourth month in a row, the slowest sales pace since November 2002.”
“Ingrid Thomas has had her home listed on the market for 14 months, waiting for a buyer that has not yet appeared. ‘It has been extremely frustrating because we left already, seven months ago, and the house is still on the market. We don’t know why it hasn’t sold,’ Thomas said.”
“And the Thomases are not alone in the waiting game.”
“‘They’re on the market longer because there are so many on the market and there’s only so many buyers to absorb that number of houses,’ said realtor Beth Simpson.”
“Anchorage Home Builders Association President Eric Schach said builders are reacting to the slowing market. ‘The levels of building were unsustainable from 2003 to 2006 and now Anchorage is just in a self-correction mode,’ Schach said.”
“Realtors say the most important thing sellers can do is to be prepared to get the price where the market is. Simpson says too many sellers think ‘”their house is worth more than the next door neighbor’s.’”
It’s great to get some news from Alaska again. I encourage the Alaskans who read here to give us an update on what you are seeing, since not much info gets down to the lower 48.
Here in Juneau, inventory continues to build. My personal benchmark is a query I run against RE/Max’s website. Residential properties now number 217 vs around 130 last December or so. It has risen steadily all year to this point. The median asking price seems to be just under $300K, for which you can get a SFR, 3/2 1500-1700 square feet.
Sales data is not available in AK, so I can’t compare listing/selling for most sales. However, the Assist-to-Sell site does show listing/selling for closed sales, and I note that most of these sold for less than listing price, some for full list, none above list. My unscientific take is that prices are mostly stagnant. Also, there’s a lot of high-end inventory that isn’t moving very fast.
Help! My fb neighbor is having a garage sale right now where he’s selling doors, fixtures, air conditioner, etc. out of a house he owes $300k on and walking away from. Is there a way to stop this madness?
Where is this?
Lenexa is a suburb of Kansas City. Nice area.
I’m surprised to see foreclosures in Johnson County, Kansas. People there have the attitude that they are second only to Orange County, California. Nice to see this bubble is getting established in flyover country.
Kansas = OC? uhhh, are there nice parts of Kansas? I’ve been there… I’ve not seen them.
Lenexa is a very nice older 80s suburb of KC. The place you are probably thinking of is Olathe, which is the newer, 90s suburb filled with McMansions and average dolts driving SUVs and drinking Starbucks.
Oops, I meant to add Overland Park as well. Lenexa is kind of old, but Overland Park and Olathe is the ritzy, yuppie areas of the city.
Those areas of KC are about as nice as it gets. After living there, it makes you wonder why anyone would pay the exorborant prices for crapboxes on the coast, let alone the Inland Empire.
And to Tedk: NoVA/DC sucks ass. Quality of life is craptacular here. I’d much rather live in Overland Park/Lenexa/Olathe/Lawrence etc. Universities are better, schools are better, traffic and pollution is non-existent, a better work ethic (compare to “Southern efficiency and Northern hospitality” of DC/NoVA), and far more culture than DC/NoVA.
I would like to add central MD, namely the BWI corridor, to the list of places that suck. Now, we DO have a nice state park system in Maryland, and there are jobs that pay well, though often not well enough for the high cost of living. In addition, we have pollution, high taxes, an insane, one-party state government, and a wonderful mix of corrupt rich people pressing up from the south (DC) and criminals oozing from the pit to the north (Baltimore). Talk about “living!” Argh!
I was in Lenexa two weeks ago. What is with all of the “For Rent” signs? Geez, they were everywhere in Lenexa and Overland Park. Have people capitulated already?
I was in OP recently as well. Saw lots of for sale signs. Out of grins and giggles, we stopped at a smallish home. We sat out front guessing the price. My husband guessed 90K and I guessed 130K which I still thought would be too much for the little old house in the okay neighborhood. It was listed for 160K.
pshawwwwwwwwwww!
I was in Overland Park last summer and looked around to check why it is ranked 6th best place to live by CNN/Money. It is a good place in general, quiet–crime is low and it is growing. It reminded me of the Town of Markham to the north of Toronto, Canada. It is in Johnson County and a few schools are excellent. But KC as a whole can’t come anywhere close to cities like DC/NoVA, Toronto, NYC, etc. in terms of the schools, universities, access to quality medical care, employment opportunities, etc. If one is quite healthy and is looking for a quiet but growing place to settle down and work in a location that is located near the geographical center of the US, then OP is quite good. The salaries in technology companies in the area are quite good.
The only problem is that the people in Overland Park, Olathe, and Lawrence are some of the snobbiest people I’ve ever met. Who would have thought in Kansas? But it’s true. Then again, the per capita income in Johnson county Kansas is almost as much as in Orange county, California, but prices are 1/4 as much.
I’ll disagree on the medical care portion TedK, Topeka has a top 50 heart surgery center (my father has had surgery there) and KU med school is in Kansas City. Is it NYC or LA good? Maybe not, but more than adequate.
Regarding Kansas schools:
Rank among state universities, Kansas State University:
#1 in all-time Truman scholars
#1 in all-time Goldwater scholars
#2 in Rhodes scholars since 1986
#3 in Marshall scholars since 1986
#5 in all-time Udall scholars
Rank among all universities total of Rhodes, Marshall, Truman, Goldwater, and Udall scholars since 1986
1. Harvard
2. Yale
3. Princeton
4. Stanford
5. Duke
6. Brown
7. Kansas State
8. Chicago
9. Cornell
10. MIT
I’ve lived on both coasts and a few spots in-between. I hope to make it back to the KC area someday.
Quick, stock up. Buy the counter tops, the stainless steel appliances, the outside and inside HVAC units… all the light fixtures, and stash them away. Then buy an unfinished house in a year or so from a distressed builder, and reassemble!
Buy them and sell them back to the bank
LOL.
OK, this reminds me of the ad that Jeffrey Dahlmer’s landlord placed for his apartment:
“Apartment for rent. Roommates included. Some assembly required.”
Isn’t this illegal? Doesn’t the loan require all the fixtures to stay at the address or something like that?
He’s just doing some major remodeling, but unfortunately, he will run out of money before he can purchase new units. Can’t he just tell the bank “ooops”.
That’s what the bank manager will tell the bank examiner when they review the loan:
Bank examiner: “you lent HOW MUCH to this guy?”
Bank manager: “Ooops!”
They arested people in Ohio for felony theft when they tried to do that to their houses. They spent some serious jail time and had to pay to have the fixtures reinstalled.
Take pictures and mail to the lender, whom you can locate off the public records
What a crook, he doesn’t own that, the bank does, I bet he did 100% financing and now feels he is entitled selling the banks property before they kick him to the curb.
I may be wrong, but I think he “owns” it, but it’s pledged as collateral to the bank…the guy is renting money from the bank with the house (including fixtures) as collateral.
I could be wrong…
Still a slimy thing to do, but quite inventive…as someone else has asked, “how much copper pipe is there in a McMansion?”
wow, some people are SHAMELESS…..
Be a good neighbor and help him load the stuff into his customer’s cars…
Sounds like a good time top pick up some stuff. Bring cash.
Why cash? Just promise your neighbor you’ll pay him…
All of the things you mentioned, including the a/c if it’s not a window unit, are “fixtures” and I’d be very surprised if Kansas law said otherwise. Fixtures are the equivalent of an engine or original wheels on your car. If your car were repossessed and you had removed the engine, you’d be in a heap of trouble. I’d look at this as grand theft and if it were my neighbor I’d at least report it to the police department and perhaps an outfit like the local board of realtors — it’s in their interest (and yours) that this not happen, so they should know who to tell. Of course, if you know who the lender is, I’d call them immediately.
There is a legal concept called “loss mitigation” — misstrial probably knows a lot more than I do about it — that might also come to play. That assumes the lender would file an insurance claim to offset some of the loss — the mitigation part requires an interested party to protect the asset to the best of their ability. It applies frequently in condos here in Florida, where the condo association has a legal obligation to get off their butts and prevent further damage after a storm, rather than dither about a solution while property becomes ruined.
Not being familiar with Kansas law and not seeing the Residential Purchase Agreement or the Loan Agreement, I would say that to call the police would be the call of the Lender.
Best thing would be to call the Lender and inform an official that you have witnessed this suspicious activity. If you took photos that would be good; pass these onto the Lender to give to their attorney(s).
They would then take things from there (such as talking to the DA).
~Misstrial
What’s mad about it ?
The San Dieog MLS (zip realty) is up to 22,700 this morning, and I now see “foreclosed” signs up around town. . .seems like a new “bank owned foreclosure” company is in business with an 800 number. . .they have the signs posted all over town - this type of “advertising” will change attitudes quickly.
“Your search has returned the first 200 of 20043 homes”
Click on “Edit this search”, then select SFRs+Condos if that is what you want to count. (You are getting some extras for land and multi-family dwellings.)
But maybe your number is closer to the truth or even low after adding in FSBOs, REO w/green swimming pools, pending foreclosures and all the vacant never-lived-in new home inventory around San Diego…
“Property Type:
Single Family
Condo/Townhouse
Land
Multi-Family”
How many houses were listed at this time in the past few years?
If memory serves, there were less than 3000 used homes listed on the MLS at the cyclical low in Spring 2004 (just over three short years ago!)…
Memory only serves reasonably well…
All-time low inventory: 2,301 homes, March 2004.
Previous Record high inventory: 19,250 homes, July 1995.
http://bubbletracking.blogspot.com/2007/01/tracking-san-diego.html
(20,000 / 2301 - 1) X 100%= 769% increase in San Diego MLS inventory of used homes for sale since March 2004.
You gonna fault the guy for being off only a few thousand?
PHX market stable with about 54,000 houses in MLS for Maricopa county. In my zip, houses for sale in MLS are actually down
300K+ 300-250 250-200 200-150 -150K total
5/10/2007 20 34 52 20 1 127
5/17/2007 20 39 52 22 3 136
5/24/2007 21 39 56 22 3 141
6/1/2007 22 47 62 20 3 154
6/7/2007 22 48 59 17 4 150
6/14/2007 23 47 59 19 4 152
6/28/2007 22 39 68 22 3 154
7/5/2007 26 39 68 27 2 162
7/13/2007 24 41 67 31 4 167
7/27/2007 23 42 61 24 3 153
Oh, selling about 25 a month, so 6 months supply on the market. Much better than PHX metro which is still sitting at 11 months’ supply.
11 month supply? Thats nothing, we have a 4.5 year supply and more and move coming on the market every day.
What county/state? This show keeps gettin’ better and better.
Got diversified assets.
Our local paper says that everything is okay here!
http://content.hamptonroads.com/story.cfm?story=129298&ran=209452
Hampton Roads home sales slower, but far from dire.
I posted a huge comment, packed with about every character possible. I notice they are singling out detached homes in the article. I questioned if the attached (townhome/condo) market is dead. Also, $433,247 average sales price. Average salary in Virginia Beach is around $60K, and much less in the other 6 cities surrounding it.
The Pilot (at least online) has been absolutely silent for a while regarding real estate. This is a pretty large metro market, 1.6 million people or more if I recall.
wait till the military budget gets hacked
deduct one carrier group and pow, right in the kisser
Troops coming home = recession
OKAY, WHICH ONE OF YOU IS GOING AROUND STAPLING A 12 PAGE ESSAY DATED JULY 19, 2007 ABOUT “HOW FEDERAL REGULATORS, LENDERS AND WALL STREET CREATED AMERICA’S HOUSING CRISIS” TO TELEPHONE POLLS ALONG MAIN STREET IN SANTA MONICA?? Good essay, I might add, it has all the Alan Greenspan quotes we’ve goofed on in the past.
That’s funny.
It says it was written by Michael D. Larson of Weiss Research Inc., and submitted to the Federal Reserve Board on July 19, 2007.
ML posts here sometimes. Usually on Florida threads.
Goofed on? Do you read Jack Kerouack too?
Or listen to R.E.M. (”Man on the Moon”)
“Hey Andy, are you goofing on Elvis? Hey baby, are we losing touch?”
Always thought it was “.. groovin on Elvis”
.. guess I better ease-up on the hookah.
No, but I listen to Howard Stern.
Ken Kesey had a book called “Sometimes a Great Notion”. Could be a subtitle for the Housing Bubble.
Found it online:
http://www.moneyandmarkets.com/press.asp?rls_id=856&cat_id=6&
Has a PDF link on there… maybe I need to find a LaserJet 4 and a staple gun myself.
No, I have a great idea. You know how they have those info tubes below the For Sale signs in front of houses? Stick the essay in the info tubes.
ROFL.
I think it’s a nice testament to the tremendously high quality of many of Ben’s posters that “our” Mike Larson can write a piece that will be read seriously by the top-level folks at the Federal Reserve.
“so many” vs “many” reads better.
With the Easter Bunny, ummm, I mean the Spring Selling Season failing to show up, quite a few sellers are thinking of taking their houses off the market “and just renting them out until the market comes back”.
No problem to wait a while. When I lived in Tennessee in the 90s, I worked with a woman who’d bought a condo in Boston at the top of the market in the 80s. She was renting and waiting (and losing a few thousand a year) for the entire time I was at that job — 7 years.
So that’s how it happened again. Everyone who got hosed in the 1980s got fed up and moved to Tennessee, replaced by a new set of suckers.
22151 Zillow has me up 8k
more gov spending from you, to us in the DC area
Although there are many government workers in the DC area, 85% of them work outside the DC area. And the more I study companies, the more I realize many would not be profitable without sales to the government.
“Outside of the military and quasi-governmental agencies such as the U.S. Postal Service, the federal government has 1.85 million civilian employees, Stier said. They comprise more than 2,400 job categories, with 85 percent of them located outside Washington, D.C.”
http://www.innovations.harvard.edu/news/48581.html
In fact, if I recall correctly, someone on this board makes a living using the government satellites. I forget who that was..hmmmm
Evil gov. parasites! Bad, bad, bad! Ok,let see eliminate the military, customs, US marshalls, FAA, Close museums, public health including center for disease control,national park service.
Yes by golly! The dawn of a better age. Oh, an outsource all the GPS sat. to China! Oh yes, the FBI and IRS. Who needs them. And NASA, what a waste, and NOAA.
Do you have, like, a whole refrigerator full of red herrings or something?
Actually I’m just an old red.
Government is evil : YOU are the government : We the people is evil.
A collegue’s Dad has had a business or building or renovating homes and selling them for years and years. This is in Hudson County, NJ, right across the river from Manhattan. He recently finshed a house, and got a buyer no problem, with 100 percent financing.
Then the deal fell through. And he hasn’t been able to sell it since. It won’t kill him, he’s got plenty socked away and can afford to sell at a loss, or convert to a rental, if he has to. But there is your market.
Of course in Manhattan, prices continue to skyrocket, and everyone knows it’s different. But last I checked the Hudson was a mile wide river, not a 3,000 mile wide ocean.
NY Times RE section a few weeks back. supposedly people are moving back to the city from the burbs. when you add up the cost of housing, taxes, gas, $250+ a month train train, tolls, and the 60-120 minute commute times NJ is so expensive that a lot of people are moving back to NYC. RE may be more expensive at first, but when you add in everything else it’s about the same cost or the extra cost is worth it to people to get home earlier from work.
Update from Loudoun County Virginia:
I know this area well, as I used to jog by them several times a week.
http://tinyurl.com/2ld57m
Here’s a quick price history to set things up:
The block on Center St. sold new for $170-$180k in 2000.
The block on Beachall sold new for $160-$170k in 1999.
[Beachall is the block of townhomes immediately to the north -- i.e. in their back yard -- of the ones on Center St.].
Five items of note:
1) Sale prices peaked summer 2005 - spring 2006, with prices ranging from $430-495k. The prices more than doubled in 5 years!
2) Notice all of the recent (2007) sales are in the range of $368k-$385k (some had cashback to the buyer that isn’t shown on Zillow). Also, 42992 Center doesn’t show up yet on Zillow, but the tax records show it was sold for $337k on 6/1 (Zillow’s cutoff seems to be 5/30/07). I believe all of these units are pretty much identical in square footage, but the Beachall units have a different floor plan than the Center St. units.
3) 43015 Beachall was bought in Nov. 2005 by a flipper for $454k. It was put on the market in Fall 2006 for $500k. During the listing period (12/06-5/07), the neighbors sold for $368k! The place is now REO/short sale and listed for $405k (IIRC).
4) Click on any of the recent sales. Zillow Zestimates them at $415-447k. Recent sales are $337-$385k!
5) 43009 was bought in Jan 2005 for $400k, and put on the market Sept 2005 for $500k. It never sold and became a rental unit. The owners live in Wisconsin.
I posted this in the Weekend Topic thread on Friday, but it is really more of a local market observation, so I moved it to this thread.
“When Banks Compete, You Win”, particularly in Northern California these days:
Countrywide and Wells Fargo are chasing each other down on two REOs on the same street in Sacramento:
House A: Purchase price, $684,000 in April 2006. Countrywide 80% first, 10% second. Foreclosed April 2007
House B: Purchase price, $679,000 in April 2006. Wells Fargo 80% first, 10% second ($611,000).
Wells started the REO asking price at $640,000 (wishing price?) for these 3200 SF houses. One month later, they dropped the price to $590,000. Countrywide then forecloses and puts the exact same model on the market for $499,000. Oops, there goes the neighborhood! Wells drops their asking to $479,900. Countrywide matches at $479,900! I believe this will go on until these houses get into the $300k range. $100/SF is coming back.
Now, in defense against the banks, the HB is dumping his leftover inventory ASAP. 2600 SF homes that sold for $530,000 6 months ago are getting dumped on the market and closing at $375,000 today ($145/SF).
It is such a beautiful sight. “When banks compete, you win.”
I love this post. “When banks compete, you win”–yup, that because “people are smart” says Ditech.
More like, “when banks choke on their stupid loans, you win”.
Yeah. The “people are smart” ditech ad is the latest here in NY. I don’t know whether to $hit or go blind when I hear it.
Ditech’s latest p.r. slogan is a pip…..People aren’t smart….a good deal of them are dumb or just plain mendacious unless a stick is levelled across the nose occasionally…..witness the growth of gambling “industry”, booze, dope in all forms and now zero down/adjustable rate mortgages on over inflated, badly built housing.
Somewhere in Maryland:
Have some relatives with very high credit scores, estimate them to be probably 750-800 at least, that built a McMansion. They rolled some equity out of a previous house, but blew it on upgrades building this new one.
It was just recently finished but Countrywide has been making big loans on it for the last four years as they used it as an ATM. Cars, school tuition etc. Even if something wasn’t finished in the house, basement walls etc, the appraiser would mark it as completed with some encouragement that “this is gonna be done with this loan.” The appraiser has been giving appraisals for 1.2 million. Their loans are for around 850k.
These relatives that make around 80k per year finally ran out of re-fi and credit card dough recently to even make the minimum payments on the interest only and probably negative amortization ARM’s that Countrywide has been giving them.
Knowing that they can’t keep this huge house that costs around $600 per month for electricity alone, they bought another that they can’t afford either, from another guy bailing out because he couldn’t afford it. The couple didn’t even have hardly any furniture. This home was listed for around 550k, but they got Countrywide to give them 600k for the loan. 100% financing. They make 80k per year and they now have 1.4 million in loans from Countrywide. God knows what they have on credit cards, which they wallets full of.
After purchasing the new house, they put the original McMansion on the market. Mind you, this is the house that’s been getting 1.2 million appraisals. They list it for 970k. Nada, nothing, no bites. A few weeks later they cut the price to 900k. Again, nothing but real estate agents at the open house. Another couple weeks, wham, another 50k price cut, because they have no money for house payments. It’s now at 850k. Still no traffic and no prospective buyers, and their steady borrowing money to make the payments they cannot make any longer.
These are the kind of folks that will bring Countrywide down! How many of them are out there?
Scary. Hope there are bagholders like that near me.
There are 1000’s of them out there. However, if Countrywide sold the loan to your pension fund, you will take the hit, not Countrywide. Everyone in the country will eat some of the loss in this fiasco. Sure, the lenders are getting hurt, but the Greater Fools are the buyers of the RMBS pools.
In Northern California, the Kook Aid was very strong. Countrywide has a lot of loans with balances that are 120-130% of value. Subtract the cost of foreclosing and selling and you have a bigger mess.
“Kook Aid was very strong”
Love that, even better than “Kool-Aid”.
Side point, will Kraft foods (the makers of “Kool-Aid”) come to view the use of the term “Kool-Aid” as Hormel viewed the use of the term “Spam”? As in “dang, why did they have to start using our product name to mean *that*?”
Well, Kraft could try suing the Rev. Jim Jones, but I doubt there’s much there to collect.
“dang, why did they have to start using our product name to mean *that*?”
Yet another market failure, Huh? There oughtta be a law…
LOL
Reverend Jones didn’t use Kool-Aid–He used the cheaper version called Flavor-Aide.
“Pennsylvania home builder, Keystone Custom Homes, is offering potential buyers the chance to, “Live free for a year. Really.” ”
My guess is that you have to go through the Builder’s loan operation to get this “live free for a year, really”. They add a year’s worth of payments into your loan, then they sell the loan off to the secondary market. The bulder gets another house sold, the builders loan operation rakes in fees, and the investors see (phantom) payments from the home buyer for a year. After a year, when the builder’s loan operation no longer has the obligation of buying back the loan if the homeowner defaults, the buyer defaults becasue the really couldn’t afford the house anyways, and the investors are stuck with the loan and the house.
Really good move on the part of the builder, the builder’s loan operation, and even the home buyer (live in the house free for a year).
For the investor in mortgages…not so much.
“Live Free then Die”.
I seeing a dead market in my neighborhood . Some sellers just took their house off the market and other sellers are slowly lowering the price . One RE agent told me that they had alot of people that wanted to buy but they couldn’t sell their house . Finally talked to a seller in the neighborhood that told me they might need a short sale ,(this was the one flipper that purchased by 100% financing ).My understanding is that this seller has other property at 50% LTV as well as a hefty bank account . I just wonder why the bank would allow a short sale when this party has that many assets to bring to the table .
Well, if it’s Countrywide, they will say that they agree to a short sale, then, when it gets close to closing, they will ask for more $ from the seller. TRUST ME. This will inevitably delay closing, whilst the credit of the seller gets smacked, and possibly disinterest the buyer to the point that they throw up their hands in disgust.
Here on the Olympic Peninsula of Western Washington State, zip98382, Sequim, Wa. We sold at the top by luck in 2005. Right now listings are waaaaay up & sales down. RE Agents say fewer people coming to the area which is a retirement community. Of course sellers want 2005 prices so transactions are down. When will prices break? I believe the buyers will win, but it will take time.
Chris
Yesterday, in the Menifee area. Corner of Scott Road and Antelope. Busy intersection with 2 dirt corners, improvements not complete to get on freeway so it backs way up. 1 dirt corner has an ez-up shade on it with Tarbell signs stuck in the ground all around, SUV with tarbell signs on it, 2 realtywhores sitting there with banner that reads get local home repo information here. Looked like a rich kid lemonaide stand. Oh Yea, almost forgot, its a great time to buy !! NOT
Will the NYC market ever come down or it immune to price reductions due to the wealth in the city?
Is that sarcasm?
I just swallowed an entire beer can reading this post. It is going to be a b-tch passing that can through my system. I may be unavailable for a while.
Oh by the way.
- 45 John Street
- 59 John Street
- NYDistrict
- 145 Hudson Street
- Be@William
- 200 Hudson Street
This is just a sampling of awful developments I have seen in this city. I did not include anything on Broad Street or over near the Westside Highway. It is going to be uglier than Rosie ODonnell in a thong.
“This is just a sampling of awful developments I have seen in this city. I did not include anything on Broad Street or over near the Westside Highway. It is going to be uglier than Rosie ODonnell in a thong.”
Or Donald Trump.
In a thong, that is…
ROFLMAO!!!
http://newyork.craigslist.org/que/rfs/381505051.html
maybe when they realise that they have to be delusion to think someone will pay a million $ for a house in Astoria worth $400,000 at best.
What you may not notice about this listing is that it is set up illegally to be a 3 family. That is how everyone makes it. Rent = 1200 + 1600, leaving you still with the 4000 mortgage. Then DOB hears about it and you get a $5000 Civil Penalty and the tenants stop paying rent for 2 years….
i’m in queens
abandon all hope except for buying in bushwick or jamaica and hoping for gentrification. if you rent wait until the burbs crash. if you own a co-op hold out and buy a house in the burbs in a few years or move a few states over down south.
most co-ops have rules where they won’t let you finance more than 80% to 90% of the value so it’s not like everywhere else that you can buy with monopoly money
Hey, “GS”, don’t use GS, we already call GetStucco that, because we are too lazy to type!
Another story from around here (Cali Central coast)…
The semi-rich professionals (presumably Doctors, Lawyers, etc.), along with retiring people from LA and San Fran are what are supposed to be keeping prices up here forever.
Well, now I know of 3 cancer docs that are renting (2 are recent transplants). Time was, about 2-3 years ago a Doctor would buy before even selling their previous residence…now we have docs renting, getting the “lay of the land”, and taking their sweet time to buy…some times a LONG time.
I know three doctors (and their families) who are renting in Valley Village/Sherman Oaks, and one who got fed up and moved to Las Vegas.
I also know one who bought a 3 and 2 crappy little stucco box on a lousy street, a surgeon no less. Being a doctor isn’t what it used to be. Tons of money for granite counter tops and stainless steel appliances, but somehow no one has money to spend on health insurance or medical care, that’s supposed to be free don’t you know. How many of the “40 million uninsured” the Democrats talk about somehow have money for all the latest toys to sweeten their living situations. From the way my supposedly poor tenants live, a whole lot I think.
“From the way my supposedly poor tenants live, a whole lot I think.”
So, are you a section 8 landlord?
I don’t take section 8 anymore, too much bureaucracy and ungrateful, overly demanding tenants.
Almost nothing is worse than entitlement tenants. But I have also learned to watch out for spoiled rich brats. Talk about ungrateful and overly demanding…
Hey, at least when you buy granite counters, you have something to show for your money. Insurance is a huge gamble these days. My father was denied life saving cancer treatment and had to spend 30K of his own money on lawyers to get the insurance co. to pay up. That’s a whole lot of granite.
You didn’t get the memo? You just described the 2007 American Dream.
Besides, insurance is more expensive than housing
donchaknow? I pay out several hundred a moth for insurance whether I use it or not. Talk about ponzi schemes.
How many of the “40 million uninsured” the Democrats talk about somehow have money
Ask and ye shall recieve
http://tinyurl.com/2qo288
Don’t you think granite countertops are now officially… over? If I could, I would short granite countertops.
Arroyo, my gramps retired to the Cal central coast to a trailer (with a view of the ocean - in Cayucos) about 30 years ago. I’ll bet the lot rent there is now a couple of grand per month. He was a train conductor for the UPRR. So much for the average guy being able to retire in California anymore.
Starting to see more and more short sales in N AZ.
Some personal observations from the Phoenix front:
Co-worker #1 bought a house in Surprise in 2005. She paid $239 for it. Her brother, who was sharing the mortgage payment, moved out and she decided to put it on the market since she didn’t want to assume the entire payment and was tired of the hour + commute into downtown PHX. She initially wanted to list the house at $379, but even her realtor thought that was insane and got her to list it at $329, which I told her was still insane. I gave her the usual lecture about how in normal times one LOST money if one sold a house within two years of buying it, that she was never going to get that in this market, and she should list it at $279 and might just get a small bidding war going. After three months on the market, including three open houses with a total attendance of two people, she decided to rent it out. I BEGGED her to dump the thing, told her to look around at the hundreds of unoccupied spec houses baking in the desert out there that were essentially her competition, but I kept getting blank stares. So she’s renting it out until the market “comes back” next spring. She’s a friend, and I feel bad for her, but you can’t live people’s lives for them, so I just shut up about it. Fortunately, her rent is covering the mortgage and her HOA, and she seems to have found a responsible tenant. Her realtor is acting as the rental agent, collecting money, handling maintenance requests, etc. I’m afraid that next year she may find the value of the house to be below what she paid for it, but there you are.
Co-worker #2 built a new house west of Buckeye by the White Tanks. For those who don’t know Phoenix, this is an absolutely CRUSHING commute into downtown. You could probably get to the California border from there quicker than you could downtown PHX in rush hour. He owned a house and small acreage in north Scottsdale, and did everything wrong by HELOCing it to get the money to build his new house in the west valley. Last fall he was beaming beause “the bank says my house is worth $600!” I told him that was all well and good, but unless the bank was willing to buy it for that it was only worth what somebody would pay. Blank stare. I gave him the usual “we’re on the verge of a crash” lecture, but he was adamant that that could never happen, because real estate goes up etc. etc. you know the drill. Fast forward to last week. We’re having lunch, and he’s in serious financial straits. No offers on the Scottsdale house, save one for well under what he “needs” where the buyer also wanted him to carry back a second because he couldn’t get financing for the full amount (apparently the house is no longer “worth” $600). He’s smart enough to realize that if the bank won’t provide financing he shouldn’t either, especially since he’d end up with nothing in the very likely case of a defaulting buyer. He’s now sorry he built the new place, doesn’t like it much, doesn’t like the commute, and within two months will be out of cash (which I assume was whatever was leftover from the HELOC on the Scottsdale house). He saw his options as taking out another HELOC somehow, dipping into his IRA, or moving back to the Scottsdale house and renting out the one in the west valley. Of those I suggested option 3, since the other two are financially disastrous, but I doubt that he’ll find a renter at what he needs. What IS it about otherwise intelligent people that causes them to shed 50 IQ points when it comes to financial and real estate transactions? I like this person, he’s an otherwise smart guy, and I do feel sorry for him, but honestly, SELL YOUR FIRST HOUSE BEFORE YOU BUILD YOUR NEXT HOUSE!!!! What’s so hard about that–just go rent something for 9 months. In the outer reaches of the valley there are places offering incentives, free rent, etc.–if he’d done that he would have been fine. Oh well, I decided long ago just to be a good listener when people like this start unloading (I’ve become a master of the sympathetic nod).
Me, I finally moved out of my Chandler apartment to a house in Tempe, which cut my nearly hour long commute into downtown down to 20 minutes and saves me about 500 miles a month given the driving I do for my normal activities. Landlord is a nice enough guy, but also your classic clueless “investor.” He mentioned that my rent wasn’t covering his mortgage. “Oh,” I replied, leaving off the “gee it was kind of stupid of you not to sit down with a calculator and see if the place would cash flow before you bought it” part. It’s an investment for his kid’s college education, said investment probably bleeding cash at the rate of $5000/year (not counting the new stove he just bought me).
And finally, my boss, who last year when I complained about the high price of housing, told me that I should buy and just consider the appreciation I missed out on as a “lost opportunity,” told me yesterday that I’d do really well if I waited another year or two to buy a house. Finally, he gets it.
“I’ve become a master of the sympathetic nod”
Bingo, a survival tactic for bubblistas at parties.
“Bingo, a survival tactic for bubblistas at parties. ”
I usually get asked to leave. Must try this.
“He saw his options as taking out another HELOC somehow, dipping into his IRA, or moving back to the Scottsdale house and renting out the one in the west valley. Of those I suggested option 3, since the other two are financially disastrous, but I doubt that he’ll find a renter at what he needs.”
Talon,
This is exactly why it takes so long for the housing market to get to the bottom. We have so many wishful thinkers willing to toss more good money after bad. In 1990 the market topped mid year. Yet maximum foreclosures did not occur unitl 1996. All the FB’s had to be bled dry. It is a shame.
We will not see maximum foreclosures until 2010-2011. If you look at the rate resets, a good number go out 5 years. When those people look to refi, their houses will be financed at 125% of value. The loans will not just “reset”, but rather “recast”, since the neg am factors will kick in. Higher loan balances, higher interest rates, and a 25 year fully amortizing loan at 125% of the house value. You will see a whole other wave of foreclosures. No one, even with an 800 FICO would take that deal.
The bottom will be long, low and wide.
Talon,
great post! That’s why I am still waiting for the other shoe to drop in Scottsdale. Lots of koolaid here. Most of the homes have wishing prices of $1.2 or so, but are only worth about $375,000 on a good day (as based upon household incomes around here). Lots of people are getting ready to get screwed…
Driving through Murrieta yesterday, 2 mid size commercial projects were completely shut down. Gates locked, no trucks, no equipment or workers. The project on Margarita around Harveston looked to be almost complete except for the parking lot, sidewalks etc. but looked like a ghost town. The other on the corner of Murrieta Hot Springs Road and Margarita had buildings standing with rough framing only, partial off sites work complete, no parking lot just a lot of started construction with nothing being worked on. Same thing, gates locked, one backhoe and transport truck on job and they were left sitting as you would leave them for quitting time. Not a soul around. Commercial is as overbuilt as housing is, it is just not getting the headlines like housing, yet. I work for most of the public builders and quite a few of the smaller privately held builders and it is way worse in the real word than the headlines would lead you to believe. There is already been so much damage done to so many people in the industry and they are so far under water that they cannot recover without large hits / BK protection. Just a matter of time. Oh Yea, its a great time to buy !!! Ha Ha Ha
“Commercial is as overbuilt as housing is, it is just not getting the headlines like housing, yet”
The REITs are getting hammered…I guess that commercial isn’t so different after all:
http://finance.yahoo.com/q/bc?s=VNQ&t=6m&l=on&z=m&q=l&c=
In Santa Clara, CA, even a few years ago about 1/3 of commercial bldgs were empty even as more was being built. Although the economy here is currently fairly strong, we lost hundreds of thousands of jobs during the tech bust, and the jobs have not come back full force. Consequently, I’d say about 1/4 of commercial bldgs are still vacant, but that is an eyeball guesstimate only.
even as more WERE being built…
Abandoned homes in Chandler Arizona
“Increasing numbers of newer Chandler homes are being abandoned by cash-strapped owners, leaving weeds, green pools and headaches for neighbors and city officials.
“It’s scaring me,” neighborhood services Sgt. Greg Carr said of the trend. “We’re trying to figure out how we can approach this, who do we call when homeowners walk away and we can’t find them?”"
http://www.azcentral.com/news/articles/0728cr-foreclosed0728.html
“The former owners sold the house for double what they paid, but the new owners got divorced and left.”
They even left their Dalmatian in the backyard,” he said. “We have the dog now.”
Divorce and abandonded pets. Didn’t someone predict both of these?
Yes, I also predicted suicides as the darker side of the bubble (but I can’t take credit for the abandoned pet prediction)
Hartford, CT:
Slowdown, for sure, but GFs are still buying, but at reduced prices.
We were not quite as bubbly as Fairfield and shoreline, so possibly won’t get hit as hard. Building STILL going on. Sales of 500-900k houses STILL occurring. Ridiculous because only upper, upper mgmt of the insurance companies here can actually afford these homes. How many people is this? Maybe 200.
So that means to me that they either have some serious downpayments or they are still writing toxic loans.
MBA
Bozeman, Montana observation of one development gone bad.
The Village Downtown is a project fill with promise of great returns for developer and their financier. This fabulous promise was envisioned approximately three to four years ago. What happened is perhaps one of the most tragic real estate venture Bozemanites has ever witness. The Village Downtown plans for 14 eastern style townhouses located at the entranceway, and four five-stories apartment lofts each with approximately 43 units. Thus far almost all townhouses are either finished or “ready for move-in” state, and one partially completed loft building. Casual drive-by inspection suggests that three townhouse units and at least three loft units are occupied totaling six occupants. For sale signs are posted in at least 11 townhouse units, and no signs are found near the lofts. The second loft building is perhaps 50% complete. A year ago, the deposit for entry was steep, an idea unique to Bozeman, but nevertheless normal elsewhere. Starting at $45K deposit (non-refundable) one can buy into an 867 sqft. 1-bedroom loft. Approximately, $75K was needed for a typical 3-bedroom loft (1672 sqft). Price were set starting at $299K for a 1-bedroom facing the highway/Bridger Range, and goes as high as $1.2M for a penthouse loft (~3700 sqft.) facing the city on the fifth floor. Lofts facing the city were more desirable as the developer price suggest. The 14 townhouses were either 2 or 3 bedrooms with equivalent numbers of baths ranges in size from 2300 sqft to 3700 sqft. Asking prices were from the high $500K to $850K. These are the facts that span the time between Spring 06’ to the Summer of 07’, known to me when I was considering buying into a 1-bedroom loft in the Spring of 06’. An interesting tip bit, Greg Lemond (once famous cyclist) I believe brought one of these unit.
Spring of 2007, has seen little movement in sales and Prudential Realty seems to do little to promote it, and now Sotheby has jumped into the mix. Have they given up? Virtually all lofts in the first building and nearly all townhouses are currently listed in the local MLS. Most asking price remained where it was originally sold to speculators. It is becoming common to see speculator walking away from a large deposit. Like most properties in Bozeman, I believe sellers are pricing theirs to sit. I have no information on the terms of the deposit for the 2nd building, but I suspect that it has not change much from the 1st building term and condition. I think this because the developer had too much capital in this project or worst; they have their heads buried in the sand still. Occupancy rate remains the same, where approximate 3 to 6 lofts are occupied out of 43 units in the 1st building. The 2nd 43 units are coming perhaps as early as this winter. The same is true of the 14 townhouses where only 3 to 6 residents are seen living in their houses. Residents of The Village Downtown perhaps are in the running for the loneliness neighbor award for the city of Bozeman. Sellers/speculators still have not move their asking price suggesting that their big deposit plays a significant role in their reluctant to lowering their price.
In my opinion, the future doesn’t bode well for this project. Consider that these east coast style lofts and townhouses are in Montana; it makes absolutely no sense to build city style houses in Big Sky country where a buffalo ranch is the next town over. A quick hike up to Baldy (8600 ft, Bridger range) and look down, one will see that the Gallatin Valley is vast and mostly undeveloped, yet a 14000 sqft. lot is being listed for $235K (south side on Graf St.). The developer has Californians and east coast people in mind when they envisioned this project. The dream of rich outsiders coming in and gobbling up real estate is all too common and tragic for many “native” westerners. If no out of state people are willing to buy these houses, the price must drop significantly for even the upper tier earners of Bozeman to even consider. I think local developers are drinking much stronger and more potent form of kool-aid.
Cinch
Cinch — thanks for the post — gives a nice understanding of your market. I really, really wish I could tolerate cold weather so that I could look around in the Bitterroot Valley. Mind you, “plenty cold enough” for me is Atlanta or Gatlinburg.
Montana cold is not bad, I assure you. I grew up in Cincinnati, and I think winter there is worse (think humidity). There are a lot of people here from Wisconsin and Minnesota, and they all say that the winter here is much better. If you love the outdoors and winter sports (skiing etc.) western Montana is up there on the list. What is bad here is a lack of good jobs. There is a trade off to everything I suppose.
Cinch
Chip, soon you will have plenty to look at in the Bitterroot. Building continues — lots of very high end homes. You might want to read “Collapse” before you buy, though. Can’t remember the author’s name, but he starts out his long story of civilizational collapse from Easter Island to Rome etc etc with the story of how the water and other natural resources of the Bitterroot are being squandered in the name of reckless development. Profiling the folks who live in the Bitterroot and are in total denial about what is happening was his way of getting into the minds of people who lived in all of those other collapsed civilizations.
Thanks to both of you — but I’m a major cold wimp — 1″ of snow more than twice a year would keep me away, as would any extended periods of below-32 degrees during the day. It must be awesome there for those who can tolerate the temperatures, though. I think even North Carolina would be too cold for me on a 12-month basis, and I can’t afford a second home.
Sounds like a good squatter opportunity. The natives probably wouldn’t expect it, and might be slow to confront you and take the legal steps to boot you.
…or they might just place that “boot” where it would do the most good–I’m pretty sure that attempting to assert “squatters rights” in Bozeman, Montana would be a REAL revelation …
Hubby had a death in the family last week (they weren’t close), so we spent some time in Belmont, home of Mitt Romney.
Hubby’s father has lived in the same house for 45 years. The house at the end of Hubby’s father’s street has had a “for sale” sign on it for at least a year. Last week, the “for sale” sign was no the ground, and a “for rent” sign” was hanging where the old ign had been.
During the bus ride back home, I noticed a lot of houses with “for rent” signs hanging where a “for sale” sign would be.
I’ve started reading the legal notices in the Boston Globe. Every day, there are at least 10 announcements for auctions “due to breach of said mortgage.” Most of the mortgages were taken out in 2005 and 2006.
Drove by the building sites for these today. Cool idea but they claim to be “affordable.”
http://www.casestudyhomes.com
Apparently, “affordable” is $580K for a 2700 square foot house. But wait! There’ s no bubble in Dallas.
My exercise route takes me through Lake View Golf and Country Club in Washington where folks “live the life.” Lately I’ve noticed that FOR SALE signs are popping up like weeds. I always thought that these folks with a third or fourth garage door for the golf cart would be more established than the spec-home neighborhoods.
NW Washington state here. Tracking a house in a nice neighborhood that is newer but has kind of weird layout, it went on the market spring/summer 2005 for $800k. It went into escrow after a month or two, so I have to assume they got an offer they found palatable at the time. The house then fell out of escrow and went back on the market at the original price. Stayed there for quite a while then finally went down to 780k, then down to $750k. Then seller gets a new realtor and prices at $700k, over a year later it is still on the market and priced at $650k. I looked it up on the county assessors site the other day, it finally sold a couple of months ago, after nearly 2 years on the market, for $575k.
Was in Gig Harbor, WA, visiting the MIL today, and it seemed as if every other house was for sale, both on her hood and in the picturesque little town itself. I would not like to be selling something there right now.
Spent a week in Bradenton (FL). Relative to my previous trips there, every 1-2 months, the change that I noticed the most was the seemingly large increase in the number of commercial properties for sale or rent, particularly on Cortez but also on Manatee. Seemed like lots of Mom & Pops going under, unless they’re just relocating to some new shopping area that I’m not aware of.
Chip- I can concur with you on that. All throughout the Sarasota-Bradenton area there are a huge amount of commercial vacancies. Not but a couple months ago, the local media was touting how commercial was still “hot” even though residential was in the toilet. Commercial is going to get killed since they thought people were actually living in all the houses bought up in ‘04-’06…..LOL.
In Santa Clara, CA, near the heart of Silicon Valley, I’ve seen lots of houses for sale, as well as (to my surprise) many “Sold” and “Sale Pending” signs. However, for the first time yesterday, I saw a sign that previously said “Sale Pending” change to “Open Saturday and Sunday”. One sign does not a trend make, but it is possible that was at least one sale that didn’t go through because of more stringent lending stds. I’ll keep an eye on this trend.
I haven’t seen this posted yet, forgive me if I’m mistaken.
Despite Milder Market, Affordable Homes Hard to Find Washington Post, Saturday July 28, 2007
This quote sums it up well: “Campos, 32, is an example of the kind of resident local and county officials hope to keep and lure to the area: young, hip and urban. He also appears to be typical of a group being priced out of its housing market.”
I have seen the website for EYA’s “artist’s community” in Hyattsville — what am I missing? Rt. 1 in Hyattsville is a depressingly crappy area. Who is going to buy 400k-600k houses there? It’s not particularly convenient, not attractive, crime-ridden, etc. Sure, it might become a bohemian artists’ enclave - if the housing were affordable.
I think there are still a lot of people living large on credit in the DC area. The asking prices for houses and condos are still sky-high. I am starting to see noticeable price declines in my old zip code in PG county.
Condos in the 400-600 range sit empty all up and down Rockville pike. I think the panic phase is right around the corner here.
I’ve rented the same crappy little house near a major university (UCF) for 11 years now. Had a roommate for the first 6 yrs, now I live alone. Spent a while after college paying off heavy debts from student loans, medical bills and a period of unemployment. Now I’m saving a chunk every month for retirement.
The area has declined in the last year. I think the native English speaking residents are now below 50%, and this is almost entirely a rental community. Very transient — used to be seasonal college students, now I couldn’t even begin to guess. It’s summer, so the area is empty and there are the usual for-rent signs everywhere in preparation for the fall semester. I’d say 30% of the homes are empty tonight.
The unit two doors away just sprouted a for-sale sign. They’re asking $219k.
My rent is $650 per month. The houses are identical. I’m not seeing any reason to buy yet…
Rick
All friends who are “trying to sell” their houses are in complete denial. It is so sad.
All have got their homes on the market for one quarter to one third more than comparable (and in some cases, much nicer!) homes that are just around the corner, within blocks. It is so sad.
One party is confident a miracle buyer will come along and cluelessy buy their house. Another has resigned to renting it out if it doesn’t sell (presumably until prices recover?).
These are people who have owned for years and are not profligate spenders/debtors. They have plenty of equity and could reduce prices right now and sell for a tidy sum.
They do not *need* the extra 100- 300 K that they are asking for. They DO need to sell their homes so that they can get on with their lives (all want to move to other locales).
I just don’t understand the depth of denial. They’re screwing up their lives when they could be making a tidy profit.
I understand denial of reality to a point, but when denial starts to bite you, what’s wrong with waking up and doing what needs to be done? For your own good? I don’t get it.
It’s called greed.
I’m planning to walk across the street later today to check out the open house for a “just-listed” condo. The building was finished about a year ago and I haven’t seen much in the way of flipping or quick selling.
This particular unit is all of 790 sq feet (not mentioned in the post card I got - but that darn internet is just so full of info!), the buyer paid $300,000 last year (and surprisingly put 20% down). Less than a full year later he is asking $335,000. The post card shows a very nice view from the balcony (22nd floor), but it won’t last - an office tower was announced recently to fill a surface parking lot a few blocks away. It will block the entire view - I’m curious to see if the Realtor admits this.
Based on my rent next door, this unit is probably worth somewhere in the range of $215,000-$240,000. I’m going to keep watching this one to see how the sale turns out. This is a neighborhood where you have no need for a car and can actually walk into the Loop for work, so it continues to grow. However, aside from this building the focus has been more on “high-end” rental towers (30-50 floors each).
I live in 60610 and walk to work. Used to post here a lot, too.
My rent (1BR, good west view) is going up from 960 to 1000 next month. I didn’t bother to negotiate this year; I’m still 10-15% below market. If anything I would have preferred 999 just to keep it three digits.
Anyway, prices are coming down slowly, but we’re still 30-40% overpriced relative to rents. I see new buildings are still advertising “1BRs starting at 590k” or whatever… 2-3x over market and 3-4x over fair carrying cost. Whatever.
What you say about new construction blocking views is a good point. This is happening especially to Marina City. You (generic) may think your condo is different and special and immune because of zoning laws or height restrictions or whatever, but remember this is Chicago. As long as you have enough money and know the right alderman you can build anything as high as you want. Only people with east views on Lake Shore Drive are safe.
Pass — nice to see you posting again. I share your thoughts about views, applied to rural settings. Looked at a house on 5 acres in the Deep South. Would not have bought it without the available surrounding 25 acres, which included a very safe margin downhill in the direction of the view. Knew a fellow who had a free lake view and was convinced a buyer of the intervening lot would not build a McMansion. Wrong. A corner lot (diagonal house) deal I would make if the price were to drop sufficiently (won’t happen) is that I be able to buy the vacant lot next to it, so I can either leave it in trees and hopefully convince the guy on the other side of it to buy half so we can split it forever.
Checking back in afterwards…
The place was decent but felt smaller than my current apartment (despite being 150 sq ft larger). I still don’t understand why developers didn’t care enough to make a small unit livable. Definitely not going to buy even at my previous estimated value. Slow elevators too.
Anyway, I just wanted to respond - there are a lot of buildings in this city with protected views. The idea of selling air rights took hold here, and there are plenty of condominium associations that have been forward thinking enough to buy the air rights on nearby properties, whose owners at the time never had any plans for anything tall and felt the offers were just free money.
It’s a lot harder to do these days - we’ve been in a 2nd coming of the skyscraper for the last 7 years or so. Every property owner now understands the value of the air above their building.
Anecdotal and slighlty OT. I’m in LA, was at the Grove last night and, well, consumers around here don’t appear to be tapping out yet. The place was *mobbed*. Was really kinda surprised…
Also, I use Melissa Data to track sales in certain zip codes. One, 90048, has been averaging between 10-25 sales per month for the last couple years. things seemed to be slowing down recently. The average monthly selling price back to about ‘04 was between 880k - 1.24 million, mostly the higher end of that range. Anyway… so far this month, 43 sales! Market must be up right? Average sale price this month… 676k.
Weird… anyway… try it for your zip code…
https://www.melissadata.com/lists/ezlists/ezhomeowners.aspx
I tried it for Santa Monica (90402, 90403, 90404, 90405). Sales are down significantly, but prices are not. Actually I was amazed at how many sales are closing at these prices and in this environment.
I wonder if some big condo developer just capitulated in 90048, or if this is actually a sign of more general progress in West Hollywood. Based on the Melissa numbers, it looks to me like the west side has a fair way to go before reality sets in.
Western Colorado is starting to tank. When I contacted the local hospice yest. to donate some furniture from my dad’s estate, their comment was, “You sold a house? Congrats. We don’t know anyone who’s been able to sell their house.”
Ironically, we were supposed to close last Friday, but the buyer’s mortgage company has put everything on hold, even though their loan is approved. Shooting for Tuesday of this week. Not holding my breath, thinking of Plan B, which may be to do an owner carry if all doesn’t go.
Dang. So close.
Selling a house is like doing surgery - close just don’t cut it.
Hang in there lost….hopefully you’ll be done soon!
Where in Western CO? Junction? There is a place down the street from my sis there, that has been for sale for over a year. The bozo parks his gargantuan boat (on the trailer) right in front of the sign. Ya can’t see the damned thing. Hell, you can barely see the house. He hopes to sell by divine miracle, apparently.
KB homes sign twirler reads open until 10:00 pm at Beaumont development.
I’m exploring a potential work opportunity in Omaha, NE. Are there any posters familiar with that area, that can provide some ground truth regarding the good, the bad, and the ugly?
Don’t know about job opportunities, but the SAC Museum in Bellevue is excellent.
Sammy, I’m in Omaha / Council Bluffs. What info do you need? I can tell you (for the most part) what areas are good and bad, pricewise, crimewise, etc.
Yeah, this comment was meant to go here.
“Know what? Yahoo me if you want @ cfent80. “
Hmm, let’s see, shooting from the hip.
Avoid Dundee. Snobby area, covers about 50th to 65th, and probably Howard north to Western. Way overpriced. The pseudo-intellectual section of town. So named for Dundee Presbyterian Church. Straddles Dodge just east of UNO.
A lot of people will tout “Disctrict 66″, which denotes an old school district (OPS is supposedly restructuring right now). This is a gargantuan area just west of “Dundee”. There are some very, very nice and quiet areas, with South 90th street being the most popular, though it is also the most congested. Beautiful neighborhood just south of Dodge at about 78th. Regency is the original ritzy area of town, and there is old money there, and it is also considered D66.
There is also a very nice neighborhood just north of the Westroads Mall, Bloomfield Hills, and another across 102nd street from it, that I can’t remember the name of. Other very nice pockets here and there, I can fill you in whenever. Maybe tip you on traffic patterns if you want to avoid a commute, etc. BTW, you MUST LEARN THE SUICIDE LANE ON DODGE. I can explain in detail at another time.
You can find ver nice homes to rent in all of these areas, and they are NOT vynyl villages. If you want to do the young thing, rent a loft in the Old Market. Most places are fairly reasonable, and every single fricking building has a laundry facility (I know this because I looked into opening a laundromat in the area - bust). Also, for downtown, the Brandeis building is bankrupt, don’t look to rent (let alone buy) anything in it. You could probably find a flipper in trouble to rent an apt/condo from in the JUST renovated Paxton.
Many areas to avoid, such as, Bellevue (yes, pretty much all of it except for way south on HWY 370). Avoid all of north Omaha (meaning east of 40th, north of Dodge, including “Venice”). West Council Bluffs is a total avoidance zone too, but you can find really, really nice areas in the east end.
Just email me and we can shoot back and forth. Might be more efficient.
cfent80 on the good ‘ol yahoo.
Know what? Yahoo me if you want @ cfent80.