What Happened In 2005 Wasn’t Real In Florida
The Naples News reports from Florida. “The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area was once again named — for the second month in a row — as having the highest foreclosure rate in the nation, according to RealtyTrac. Not only are properties being left vacant with trash, weeds, debris and worse, but parties responsible for abating the nuisance cannot be found at times. No one remains living at the residential address. ‘We’re trying to track them down,’ said Bonita Springs code enforcement supervisor Chris Campbell.”
“‘On the books, the old owner is still responsible,’ Campbell said. ‘They’ve walked away. They say ‘I don’t care, what’s a lien going to do?’”
“‘We don’t get the response we used to,’ he said about owners abiding by a notice to remedy the problem. ‘For the most part, they kind of walk away and the banks won’t touch it until the foreclosure. That process is taking longer because of the amount of foreclosures. They’re through the roof.’”
“‘We’re going through due process,’ Campbell said. ‘It’s like the old saying: ‘You can lead them to water but you can’t make them drink.’ There’s no one there to take them to the water.’”
“Campbell related how one property owner walked away, leaving a potential hazard behind. ‘We had one guy being foreclosed on and the fence company just installed the fence,’ Campbell said. ‘The owner didn’t pay the company so they repo-ed their fence, and there’s a pool half-built. They didn’t finish it because they didn’t get paid.’”
“Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Keith Day said most of the homes in the Bonita Springs area are older, and that many of the newer homes are the ones in foreclosure. ‘In Cape Coral and Lehigh Acres, those are usually the ones being foreclosed upon,’ he said. ‘A lot of these places going into foreclosure are owned by banks.’”
“There were 289 homes and condos sold last month in the Naples area, down from 304 a year ago, according to a Naples Area Board of Realtors report released Monday. There were 12,377 homes on the market as of February, and the largest group of homes were the 4,447 listed at less than $300,000.”
“Overall, median sales prices for single-family homes dropped $33,000 since last year to $406,000 last month. For condos, the median price dropped $57,000 to $293,000. “Decreasing prices reflect a return to ‘realistic prices,’ said Arlene Carozza, NABOR president.”
“‘When people see prices dropping, what they’re seeing are the people who hadn’t really come to Jesus yet,’ said Realtor Marlene Graham. ‘If people really are sincere about trying to sell, then they have to be sincere about their price.’”
“When Carozza talked about looking into a crystal ball at the future of the market, she was cautious. ‘You just don’t know really know what’s going to happen,’ she said. ‘But if we haven’t hit bottom yet I think we are close to it. What wasn’t real was what happened in 2005.’”
The Herald Tribune. “Horizon Realty’s broker-owner Matt Augustyniak says he has devised a new plan for ‘desperate home sellers.’”
“‘The threat of foreclosure causes an enormous amount of distress, but we are here to help,’ Augustyniak said. ‘Sellers were forced to vacate their property early because they felt they wouldn’t be able to get a rental if their credit got any worse.’”
“Horizon’s ‘Short Sale Investor Program’ consists of investors who are willing to buy the homes and allow the sellers to then lease the property for up to two years for a ‘reasonable amount of rent.’”
“‘Everybody wins and the desperate sellers don’t have to incur additional moving expenses,’ Augustyniak said.”
“Sue Wolverton, regional senior VP of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate’s Sarasota Bay Division, said interest from home buyers is rising. ‘For savvy home buyers, opportunity is not just knocking,’ Wolverton said. ‘It is kicking down the door.’”
The Sun Sentinel. “Recognizing a dire need, North Lauderdale officials want to venture into real estate. They want to seek money from charities to buy the city’s many foreclosed properties, fix them and sell them at cost, rescuing them from blight.”
“Something needs to happen, said Commissioner Rich Moyle. ‘We need to be on top of this thing before it gets away from us,’ Moyle said. ‘We need to keep North Lauderdale in good standing in the real estate community.’”
“About 22 percent of the North Lauderdale homes sold in 2007 went through foreclosure — the highest percentage of any city in Broward County, according to a company that reports on real estate sales.”
“‘We approach these foundations and ask them to help us to buy these foreclosures so we can keep them from becoming blighted,’ Moyle said. ‘We could go on the property, fix it, resell it — not for profit, for cost — and get people into a home with a good mortgage. A sane type [of] mortgage, not an insane type.’”
“Trying to find money from charities is crucial now because officials think the city is spending too much in-house time and money from its general fund to clean private property.”
“‘We’re really trying to get more things done,’ said Vice Mayor John Cangemi. ‘It’s a serious problem here in Florida. Everybody is feeling it, but we’re feeling it the worst.’”
The Orlando Sentinel. “John Artimovich and his sons spent about three years building a palace of a home. What looks like a bed-and-breakfast inn transplanted from the Swiss Alps is lined with ridged-teak floors and dotted with details such as European wrought iron, stair treads cut from raw cypress and a sculptured-tin ceiling.”
“But Artimovich said a souring real-estate market left him, like many others, without a buyer. So he decided on another idea: to raffle off the 4,570-square-foot house.”
“‘Hundreds of people came through here,’ Artimovich said. But even after a change in real-estate agents, he said, he had no luck. ‘The market prevails.’”
“Artimovich and his son Michael filed papers to start a nonprofit charity, Sons of Toil. The goal is to raise enough money through $100 ticket contributions to pay for the house, and to fund, among other causes, an apprenticeship program for budding and out-of-work trade workers.”
“Artimovich will face challenges. Across the country, house raffles that have started with good intentions have ended up in disappointment for the raffle holders and their donors.”
“‘A lot of times, they just go on forever,’ said Mary Stimmel, regulatory-program administrator at the state Division of Consumer Services. ‘They just never end because they don’t get enough money to pay back the lender.’”
“In 2006, a house raffle in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif., was postponed indefinitely after a local cultural center failed to sell the necessary 15,000 tickets it needed to give away a $1 million house. Some participants received cash prizes, but nearly 10,000 were left in limbo.”
“Artimovich must collect as many contributions as he can through Sept. 30, the cutoff date for his Oct. 14 drawing. He said he’s confident he will and that the raffle will go as planned.”
“‘It’s gonna go through no matter what,’ he said. ‘That house will exchange hands with the winner regardless of the contributions.’”
“Inheriting the home will come with expenses. Assuming the house has a fair-market value of $1 million, the winner would have to pay up to $350,000 in income taxes and more than $17,000 in property taxes.”
“While state law doesn’t allow charities to require contributions for tickets, Artimovich said he needs a minimum of 16,000 $100 ticket donations to comfortably turn over prizes, clear debt and fund charitable programs.”
“Artimovich said he plans to hold cookouts for visitors to the house from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays through the summer. ‘You’re going on guts and you’re going on hope,’ he said. ‘There is no failure.’”
It sounds like things are getting kinda kooky in Florida. Charities to buy empty houses? Raffles, and ‘desperate seller’ programs?
BTW, the Naples press didn’t put two and two together, but:
‘The Cape Coral-Fort Myers area was once again named — for the second month in a row — as having the highest foreclosure rate in the nation…There were 289 homes and condos sold last month in the Naples area, down from 304 a year ago, according to a Naples Area Board of Realtors report released Monday. There were 12,377 homes on the market as of February.’
It’s a fair guess that many more houses were foreclosed than sold. And the code guy said even the foreclosures are being dragged out.
Ben
Do you have anything on the Miami area in the past week or two?
I really really want to email a link to a very delusional person who beamingly insisted “but but Miami is doing really well. The market is coming back and it is hot. People are coming from Europe and Canada and just snapping up places”
How on earth the head of the realtor’s group in northern Michigan would “know” that is beyond me. The guy has never lived or worked south of Indianapolis!
There have been reports about foreign investment in Miami lately. Most of what I have seen had to do more with the declining value of the dollar coupled with falling real estate prices, making prices here more attactive to foreigners, rather than Miami having a general comeback.
Even there, you have to wonder: why? If you’re going to hold a non-productive or negative-cash-flow asset for a number of years, waiting for its price to return and a compounding when the dollar rises, why not buy some raw land some where - at least you don’t have to insure it or watch it deteriorate.
If the prices are not at least 100x rent (70-80X would be a lot better), or unless these “investors” are relatively rich and always wanted a vacation home that will drain their resources, why do they want to throw money away on such an albatross unless the market has proven to be past bottom and rising?
miami is a blood bath. investment from overseas knows what is going on. their banks are getting a beat down too. all during the bubble, people down here claimed that people from other countries are going make south florida different than everywhere else. too bad, most people i meet from europe and canada dont want to touch the usa until bush is out of the way.
“Your future is in Florida, the fair white goddess of states.”
Why would anyone buy in Miami? It sucks! Full of crime and illegals! Add in the hurricanes and miserably hot, humid weather and I would never want to live there. If I had a fortune, I would buy somewhere in the north Georgia or east Tennessee mountains once house prices bottom, that is.
I think most of the Miami properties being bought by foreigners are oceanfront or oceanviews for…as they say…50 cents on the dollar. I don’t think any of the other crap is selling.
They are not selling for 50 cents on the dollar yet. The owners owe to much and they are listing at mortgage values that are way above market. Their only option is to foreclose, but the 5 million and up market didn’t go up as much as the 300k market.
As for the weather, actually it is 74 now and no humidity here. I spend summers in virginia but it is just as hot.
I would never want to live there. You mean, you don’t like Florida?
Many people don’t like Florida and is why they are leaving. I am now hearing that everyone wants to live in north Georgia, Tennessee and the Carolinas and are paying top dollar. That explains why Florida is starting to become cheaper than those other states!
74 degrees sucks! I like it around 60!
It’s a fair guess that many more houses were foreclosed than sold.
The numbers did show that foreclosures and sales were very close to each other. However, with the National Association of Realtors putting out false information to fool the public into believing property values will double in ten years, there seems to be an uptick in knife catchers.
Thoses knife catchers who believe the NAR’s advertisments will end up losing money when they find out that the NAR lied to them again!
I wouldn’t be surprised if some houses get foreclosed on 2, 3, 4, 5+ times as each knifecatcher stands in line to be the next FB. Once the market bottoms out, then the foreclosures will ease up as there is no more “equity” to be lost.
Don’t forget the new term: chainsaw catchers.
“Sue Wolverton, regional senior VP of Coldwell Banker Residential Real Estate’s Sarasota Bay Division, said interest from home buyers is rising. ‘For savvy home buyers, opportunity is not just knocking,’ Wolverton said. ‘It is kicking down the door.’”
“Savvy”. That word just annoys the snot out of me. No one who buys a house right now in FLA is anything close to “savvy”. It’s unstable here, VERY unstable. Until things more or less bottom, and neighborhoods become what they’re going to be, it’s NOT a good time to buy. Right now, there may be some bargains, but you don’t know what’s going to happen a couple of months from now or if you’ll get some creepy buyer or squatter or gangsta moving in next door to you.
“…it’s NOT a good time to buy.”
Unless of course you really enjoy holding the bag!
Take that $1M home in that above example. $17K year PROPERTY TAX. Add another 3K for HOA dues, 2K for landscaping, etc, and you’re up to $2000/month for a home you “own.”
Then look at what you can rent for $2000/month.
NOBODY with any brains will buy anything in Florida!
That’s why im leaving FL. Prices have come down nicely in some cities, especially Cape Coral but with all those foreclosures, prices will come down alot more!
If the other states won’t come down enough in price, people will move back to Florida. Wonder who will buy the vacent houses in other states then?
You forgot Homeowners/Hurricane/Flood insurance which would add about $7K more per year!
I thought about that when I saw the video of the new HGTV Dream Home contestant being informed about her win. She’s from Iowa- the house is in Florida. Cha ching.
Winning has its own issues… but I wouldn’t mind seeing what they are:-)
Good point. You’ve nailed the very reason I personally (along with everyone I care about) should be VERY apprehensive about taking the plunge right now. Especially when you see an area or neighborhood going in two seperate and distinct directions?
On one hand, there are attempts to do “upscale marketing” that’s getting a ‘little’ traction and on the other you’re seeing more rentals/vacancies. Since no one has any control as to where these communities will find their identity and purpose, best on the sidelines.
The other wild card is gas prices. Some distant bedroom communities may cease to have a purpose altogether. In spite of getting a substantial discount you could still find yourself regretting your choice.
Oh btw, I didn’t intend for that to come off as snooty. If your intent was to secure affordable shelter where you and the band could practice when you’re not working on your Hog, you could find yourself EQUALLY miserable as the newly invigorated HOA goes out of their way to make life uncomfortable for you.
Either way there’s no winning.
Not at all, the points you make deserve reiteration. The overall situation with our cities/suburbs/towns is more fluid than it has been in most everyone’s lifetime. The used housesellers just want the churn - they could care less what happens to the individual locales they leach off.
Is it possible that you will be able to get some of these properties by squating in them?
Many will have little to zero economic value because people will be unable to afford travel to the location. So, the property could be esentially free.
Not sure what you would do the property but it might be low cost shelter.
edgewaterjohn,
Well exactly. Out of one side of their mouth realtors are saying “This is a high-end community, just look at the amenities”
and out of the other? “You’re getting a steal! Unlike renting you can do what you want to the place!”
or
“It’ll make a great rental”
Whatever it takes to get the sale. Ahem, for TEN YEARS I tried to… “elevate” those around me by doing constant improvements and projects and was surrounded by “neighbors” that couldn’t have cared less. In fact by the time I bailed (2004) you would have sworn all but mine was a rental anyway!
I’m thinking houseboat.
James, I wouldn’t say Zero. But prices can fall to what retirees living on social security who don’t NEED to commute can pay.
RE: Some distant bedroom communities may cease to have a purpose altogether.
LOL-Peak oil pundit James Kunstler thinks this will pertain to 90% of American suburbs.
And I completely agree with him.
After all usable materials have been extracted from the structures, Some distant bedroom communities may cease to have a purpose altogether.
Sorry, but having spent the last few days in Chicago, I think the cores of all the older cities will empty out as the decay worsens. Except for the strip within two blocks of the lake, Chicago is UGLY and the decay shows.
Oh, yeah, forgot to mention, there’s something on the news right now about a proposal for another decrease in property taxes, to include business property, offset by a penny sales tax increase.
The idea is to eliminate the education/schools portion of the property tax in favor of the penny sales tax. Guess what the school administrators and teachers think of that? LMAO. Serves them right. Education sucks in Florida anyway, time they had to earn their pay.
“Education sucks in Florida anyway, time they had to earn their pay.”
Agreed, but you can’t blame the teachers for it. The blame goes right back to the state of FL. We need the arts and other electives to produce well rounded graduates, but instead get unfunded physical education mandates.
Who wants well rounded graduates? I’d wager that most schools in China and India do not spend any money on football or hockey.
Companies today want people who have to absolutely no interest outside of work. If you are well rounded, you might have something to do on the weekends besides work. Why do you think Bill Gates moved Microsoft to Seattle? Lots of rain outside and coffee make for productive employees.
Dude, productive workers and Microsoft? Ha! Have you ever worked there????? Clearly not…I have, 5 years now. Rain doesn’t really keep people in doors working, they are out anyway, just dressed for it.
“Companies today want people who have to absolutely no interest outside of work.”
I don’t think you know who you are talking to here, but I can assure you that employers want well rounded graduates. I can’t send someone with absolutely know idea how to handle other cultures to work at a European site. People who know nothing besides what a text book says can’t entertain clients or potential clients. Apparently you have no idea what corporate America really wants. To move from your cube to an office you’d better be well rounded!
I think that Skip meant cube farm dwellers. Corporate America wants them to work tons of unpaid overtime. And they are the overwhelming majority of CA’s employees.
That made me chuckle. It is not a matter of being well-rounded; it’s a matter of kissing butt and having the same interests and lifestyle (see marriage, kids, church, ideology) as those you want to emulate in the “office.” I have had an office and a cube and they both demanded mind-numbing corporate conformity. The independent home office is only way to travel, but alas, I don’t have silly framed course completion documents on my wall as would be demanded at an “office.” Sorry, but I don’t see why having a corporate”office” makes someone a more complete person.
“I think that Skip meant…”
I’ve really never heard a more ignorant comment in my life than Skip’s comment. Even the great Golden Arches wants people who can communicate with the customers. The more I think about it the more I want rant!
I don’t know much about India and China, but I do know the value that is placed on the arts in education in Japan and in Europe. Those are our competitors in the golbal marketplace…not India and China.
‘Rain doesn’t really keep people in doors working, they are out anyway, just dressed for it.’
Or even not dressed for it. Haw!
Truly, though, I am outside all the time, whatever my chosen attire or unattire. Rain refreshes me, and is good for the mushrooms growing out of the top of my head.
“That made me chuckle. It is not a matter of being well-rounded…”
It certainly is a matter of being well-rounded. You’re kidding yourself if you think that the corporate “bosses” are looking for little clones of themselves. The people most like me I’m least likely to get along with.
As far as education post-high school, you seem to have confused being well-rounded with having a degree. I’m sorry the world has made you feel this way. I’m not a proponent of higher education in its current form. Specialized training is all college should be. Instead it’s often a drinking binge carry over of high school. Give me someone with 15 years in the field or someone just out of a 4-year looniversity, I’m taking the 15 years of field experience. Give me 15 years in the field AND a degree from a non-traditional (but still requires coursework) university and I’m really going to look closely.
‘The people most like me I’m least likely to get along with.’
Perhaps because you’re…bad?
And don’t come kill me, either.
“Perhaps because you’re…bad?”
Maybe…I was given the name at a training class in honor of a pizza commercial.
I thought the initial comment meant that maybe, just maybe, public schools in the U.S. focus a wee bit too much on sports and not enough on books. Well, that’s how I interpreted it.
Anyway, I agree that we should eliminate sports from public schools. Kids need more work on their brains than on their butts. And I don’t care if most American kids turn into big, giant food blisters as long as they can read.
I’ve really never heard a more ignorant comment in my life than Skip’s comment. Even the great Golden Arches wants people who can communicate with the customers. The more I think about it the more I want rant!
Dude - I seem to remember Mickey D’s outsourcing their drive in to India.
In fact, has anyone called an corporate 800 number lately to talk to customer service that has not been routed to India or the Philippines? Try calling reservations at United and booking a flight to JFK. “JFK” - how do you spell that?
Face it, corporations consider communications with customers a waste of money and constantly go with the lowest outsourced bidder.
‘The people most like me I’m least likely to get along with.’
Perhaps because you’re…bad?
And don’t come kill me, either.
Florida to Seattle?
‘Florida to Seattle?’
Well, fran, I don’t know how bad this Bad Andy is, now do I? He could be up for a Crazy Evil Road Trip starting right now. He could have a whole bag of astronaut diapers waiting by the door this minute, and a chainsaw, some Cheetos, and a map to Olympia. It’s a small city, he could start alphabetically. Is what I fear. (If that’s your plan, Bad Andy, please start with the Olympia Master Builders office.)
Jeeze, fran, don’t you watch B movies late at night on cable? That’ll give you lots of alarming ideas.
Skip is correct. First emphasis on education is what the schools are for in India and China. The rest - your are on your own free time to try ‘other’ pursuits. Besides, it is not the quality but the cost of education that is a big factor here. Also learn to globalize instead of being a mental slave of Europe. If you love their art so much, why dont you move out there.
Well, he named himself BAD Andy, so you might have a point, although he could merely be bad in other ways rather than evil.
Still, astronaut diapers or no, that’s a LONG trip. I was in Seattle on 9/11, got the last rental car in a 40 mile radius and had to drive to Florida. He’d have to be Bad and ANGRY Andy.
Andy, you’d better let her know if you are going alphabetical so OG can move to Yakima.
Comment by Bad Andy
2008-03-18 09:43:43
“Perhaps because you’re…bad?”
Maybe…I was given the name at a training class in honor of a pizza commercial.’
Hooray! Does that mean that you’re NOT going to drive on over here to Washington state and kill me? Or does that mean you’re going to bring a pizza when you do?
I want Canadian bacon and extra olives, if so.
‘Andy, you’d better let her know if you are going alphabetical so OG can move to Yakima.’
Yes, that would be the polite thing to do, Andy.
And then I could be Yaki-gal! Hey, wait a minute…
“Hooray! Does that mean that you’re NOT going to drive on over here to Washington state and kill me? Or does that mean you’re going to bring a pizza when you do?”
I’d have to fly to Washington State, $3.35 per gallon is a little pricey and I understand it only gets worse as I get west.
boo hoo hoo. Have the principal lead the kids in calisthenics in the school yard for 45 minutes when school begins. Also, make 15 minutes of recess in AM and PM mandatory, and have Coach run around the ball field with each class once a week (stretch before and after to prevent injury). No special equip! If no ball field, WALK STUDENTS TO CLOSEST PUBLIC FIELD. Cost: zilch.
If principal won’t do it, fire him, cut pay by 50%. New principal will be on board. Funny how the more they pay these “valued” admins, the less they want to do!
Calisthenics are prevalent in Asia–NO reason we can’t do them here.
As a bonus, kids will be more awake for their first period classes.
Who wants well rounded graduates? I’d wager that most schools in China and India do not spend any money on football or hockey.
It is my understanding that in South Korea all students are taught Tae Kwon Do in school.
‘It is my understanding that in South Korea all students are taught Tae Kwon Do in school.’
Really? I bet that make recess exciting.
*Note to self: Do not start fights with South Korean students, even if they are short.
I’m still pondering this tae kwon do thing. When I was in college I taught art classes in summer for a pilot project summer school thing, teaching ‘at risk kids’ (aka. future heavily medicated inmates) the beauty and wonder of art. It was actually quite instructive, for them and for me. I also enjoyed the inservice where the instructors learned how to disarm and subdue children who were ‘acting up’ (aka. totally freaking out). I was the only girl instructor and luckily things never got too out of hand–art is a calming influence, evidently–but there were some exciting moments elsewhere.
I cannot even imagine the spectacle had any of those little crazies been trained little crazies. Yikes!
I took a karate course in college, just for fun. It wasn’t much fun.
‘It wasn’t much fun.’
But I bet you can kick a grizzly bear’s bum, now, right?
But I bet you could before that, too, is my intuition.
“It is my understanding that in South Korea all students are taught Tae Kwon Do in school.”
It’s more calisthenics than actual Tae Kwon Do. And kids get a choice of that, baseball, volleyball, basketball, etc.
‘It’s more calisthenics than actual Tae Kwon Do. And kids get a choice of that, baseball, volleyball, basketball, etc.’
So… then they can kick the vollyballs a*ss? Why’d anyone want to hurt an innocent little volleyball? That’s just mean. I don’t understand those crazy foreigners and their cruel ways.
My son dated a South Korean who came here to go to college, because her parents moved to the states. She did not have Tae Kwon Do, but she wanted him to teach her since he has a black belt in it. He’s caucasian and went to a regular old rural school. We sent him when he started acting out in 5th grade. It taught him discipline and respect, plus some self defense. He had kids in his Tae Kwon Do class that at one time or another got into fights. Guess what, they got stripped of all their belts and had to start over. It does not create problems in children, it actually helps solve them. Also it’s one heck of a workout.
Hmmm..is that going into the same file as the proposal last year that said, “no more property taxes.”
I guess the mad rush in the change of the market due to the recent tax change in Florida is having the “we need to do more affect.” What a joke!
When are the powers that be going to realize that the Florida market was like blowing up a giant balloon in slow motion that went “POP!”…You can’t put the balloon pieces back together again!
Well if your pols are anything like our pols, in the end you’ll probably wind up with both taxes - no decline in property taxes AND the penny sales tax increase. Any “decrease” will just fade into the abyss.
Yep, that’s a possibility, ej. On the other hand, one thing the pols seem to be aware of, oddly enough, is that you can’t squeeze blood from a stone. It also seems to be dawning that they’ve screwed the pooch here.
BTW, there ARE good teachers and I hate to see them get penalized. But, sheesh, in the Tampa area, it’s like one female teacher after another playing hide the salami with young boys. There was another one this past week. I know sex education is important, but this is ridiculous.
I have never understood this. Whenever I see news stories the women are usually good looking. They should have no trouble attracting men to satisfy their lusts. The only thing that I can think of is that its a control thing.
No, you’ve got it backwards. According to the NAWBLA press releases, it’s more about recovery time than control. When the recovery time is less than two minutes, control is not even an issue anymore. That’s why they’re willing to overlook the choking clouds of Axe body spray and the total lack of conversation and the little detail about its being statutory rape. You got your seasoned bullriders can last the whole 8 seconds, and then you got these indestructable kids that will get back on that horse six, eight times in a session. At the end of the day, the children stay in the saddle longer.
(Seriously: wherefore the confusion? Nobody was all, “WTF?” back when 50-year-old men were drooling over the Olson twins and 16-year-old Britney Spears. Why’s it such a frikkin mystery when it’s the other way around?)
Kandy Kane is a maniac. Keep it up!
Even though I’ll be 49 in a week, MY… recovery time is STILL ‘less’ than 2 minutes! Since I often pass for being younger than my real age I’m seriously thinking about enrolling in high school all over again!
This time I’ll have the sense to “skip the prom and hit on the mom!”
Sheesh.
It is equal oppportunity lechery. Guess those women are playing ‘catch up’ to the record of men who have had strong preferences for the young and nubile.
So it seems that some middle age women prefer younger men. I often see men with women 10 years their junior. Has it become more acceptable for 40 year old women to date 30 year old men or do they get ridiculated and even scorned?
I would be willing to date an older woman than my age of 26. I could easily satisfy her lust by handing her a box of chocolate(Godiva is a popular brand) she will devour it all up with a huge smile on her face. Then we can cuddle afterwards.
“…50-year-old men were drooling over the Olson twins and 16-year-old Britney Spears”
I genuinely hope to be good and buried when I turn 50, if the alternative is to be drooling over the Olson twins or Britney. Ew. Just had the shivers.
Eww. I second that. Those women are ugly and get uglier as they get older. Wouldn’t touch them with a 10 foot pole!
dinor
yer an inspiration for all of us over 30 crowd.
ann scott
agree with you 100% re “equal oppportunity lechery” you mentioned as long as everyone gets ” equal opportunity sentencing”. same jail time for all: no breaks for crying women.
(yeah, like THAT will ever happen in Florida, part of the southern code of “pertect the wimenfolk n chilrens at all cost” mentality but chain gang any man that dare so much as jaywalk.
ex: when was the last time you saw a female who violated visitation do jail time!? Exactly! Motherhood is a god given RIGHT/Fatherhood . . ? HA, merely a privilege, and if you disagree with my comment, you & anyone else are invited to come watch a kangeroo court spectacle on April 10th in Hillsborough County Court, while I try to present some facts about my case for a long overdue correction, but will non-the-less try to survive a beatdown from the FREE State Attorney representing my ex-wife, the (also female) hearing officer, not to mention the, yep, FEMALE court staff & child support enforcement out for blood. About the only exception to this trend is Judge Judy. Boy howdy does she cut through all the gender BS about women Vs. men and get down to what should be done in a fair manner. I love that woman!
So Ann, while I see yer point in many of yer comments, yer way off base if you think modern women aren’t getting massive payback to the men of today in any shape or form possible. especially in court.
Yeah, I went off on a tangent here but I’m weaving personal experience into my response to back-up what I say.)
that is all - for now
“Those women are ugly and get uglier as they get older.”
I hope you don’t ridiculate me for saying it, but that sentence seems to be a-provin’ of my point. I mean the part about “get uglier as they get older.” According to the TV, nobody over the age of 25 is good to look at and the people under the age of 20 are the very best to look at. Also according to the TV it’s great to own property on the beach. As we have seen, many people think the TV knows what it’s talking about. Those people might do what Jim Cramer tells them to do and lose all they money, or they might do what the ad that comes on after Jim Cramer tells them to do and run around after little saggy pants boys. Either way their lives are ruined. So the TV should have to play nothing but Ren & Stimpy episodes for a solid year. Then all anybody would want would be “Log!” and “Powdered Toast” and nobody would have any libido left.
I love this blog. Not only the depth of the threads, but also the sheer breadth. Economics. Precious metals. Fed policy. Banks. Investments. Housing. Trout. Joshua trees. Tae Kwon Do. Olson twins. Although, we could probably do without the Olson twins.
Then all anybody would want would be “Log!” and “Powdered Toast”.
That IS all I want. I think Powdered Toast Man is sexy. And he can fly!
The Olson twins (or at least the one that dresses like a bag lady) fancy themselves real estate investors, or so I read in the PEOPLE mag in my dentist’s office. So, I guess you could say the Olson twins are vaguely related to housing, somehow. Or maybe with that homeless look the coon-eyed, anorexic, necrophiliac-looking one has going on, maybe they’re related more to LACK of housing.
Where were all those hot, predatory female teachers when I was in High School? Most of my female teachers looked like Ben Franklin.
LOL
More taxes will only cause a greater number of people to leave FL and not look back. Retirees will just settle in southern Texas instead where $100k gets you a brand new brick middle class house of 1500 sf.
Happened to us in our county in Ohio. They had us vote on a sales tax that would replace millage on property taxes. Guess what they couldn’t live on the reduced rate so after having a 1/2% sales tax voted down 5 times, they just imposed it anyway. Welcome to democracy with the freedom to vote.
About 22 percent of the North Lauderdale homes sold in 2007 went through foreclosure — the highest percentage of any city in Broward County, according to a company that reports on real estate sales.”
Major Sub Prime Haven…
“Overall, median sales prices for single-family homes dropped $33,000 since last year to $406,000 last month. For condos, the median price dropped $57,000 to $293,000. “Decreasing prices reflect a return to ‘realistic prices,’ said Arlene Carozza, NABOR president.”
Since when can you call a median price of $406,000 realistic in Florida? I’m not familiar with the Naples market, but maybe the median is still propped by mysterious anti-gravity substances. Median claims to be $350,000 or so, yet you can buy so much more than an “average” home for that kind of money.
A $406,000 median is even more mysterious when coupled with the paucity of high-paying jobs to be found within a fifty mile radius. Perhaps now we are beginning to realize that a community of second or third homes for the super-rich does not scale well.
“Perhaps now we are beginning to realize that a community of second or third homes for the super-rich does not scale well.”
It does on the island of Palm Beach, but that area is very small and surrounded by housing that can support the service economy that Palm Beach requires. I can’t imagine how this works for a city the size of Naples.
Yeah — that was my thought, and you have completed it. Longboat Key would be another example where the idea has thrived for a time.
Naples has a different feel. Fewer year round residents and fewer of the “super rich.”
I keep hearing that Palm Beach Island is “different” and saw it in my newspaper. Don’t you think the rich would rather get 5 times more house/land for the same price elsewhere? What makes PB “special” that some other rich location can’t measure up? Ive visited PB several times and theres lots of little stores selling designer cloth and jewerly. I also see lots of royal palm trees and mansions. Big deal.
Old Money attracts Old Money.
Any area that has as tourism as its main business will be overpriced if the cost exceeds the income of 2 full-time service/retail employees who are the vast majority of permanent residents Since average wage would be $7-8 an hour that $31,200 doesn’t go to far in paying for housing.
Pretty soon all the tourists don’t have any waitreses to serve their lunch and the 2nd home people can’t find anyone to mow their lawns and do the maintanence,
Pretty soon all the tourists don’t have any waitreses to serve their lunch and the 2nd home people can’t find anyone to mow their lawns and do the maintanence Where has that ever happened?
I agree! I spent a lot of time traveling, including one week/month in central Florida. I know what Florida’s like, and what most people working in a hotel, etc, make (I’m a consultant for the entertainment/hospitality business).
Also, you need to offset the cost of the house by high property taxes, toll roads, and the need for most people to pay into an HOA, etc.
The median price of a home in Florida will keep falling. To at least $225k, so that a couple making 80K between them can afford it.
Even as recent ast 2003, you could get large homes for $400K, and easily get a home for $300K. Prices will easily fall below that level.
I don’t know if 225k is low enough. If you figure 225k, that’s a down payment of 20% so a loan for just about 204k. That comes out to about 1500 a month if they get a decent fixed rate, plus HOA $1200, insurance (assuming a “modest” 4k), and taxes (at least 7k).
That’s more than half of their take-home pay right there. At least.
I don’t know if 225k is low enough. If you figure 225k, that’s a down payment of 20% so a loan for just about 204k. That comes out to about 1500 a month if they get a decent fixed rate, plus HOA $1200, insurance (assuming a “modest” 4k), and taxes (at least 7k).
I don’t know if 225k is low enough. If you figure 225k, that’s a down payment of 20% so a loan for just about 204k. That comes out to about 1500 a month if they get a decent fixed rate, plus HOA $1200, insurance (assuming a “modest” 4k), and taxes (at least 7k).
(3rd attempt at posting, sorry if a dupe!)
I agree, and have thought the same thing many times. The carrying costs in FL are just SO high; prices are going to have fall even further then they would appear to need to (based on median incomes).
Add in the shifting tax environment, and I think we are going to see the prices really fall though the floor (as it becomes, and already is, very dangerous to invest in FL RE unless it’s your primary home).
Could it be possible for Florida to become cheaper than the other southeast states? I saw a REO in Palm Bay(central east FL) for $68/foot. This is as cheap as most of Georgia and Tennessee and not that far behind Texas at $45-60/foot depending on the house.
I just got a contract on my central Fl home. $5,000.00 less than what it appraised for in 2005. No HOA, ins $1050.00(2500 deductible), taxes $1400.00. New owner will pay about twice that with homestead exemption.
The median price of a home in Florida will keep falling. To at least $225k, so that a couple making 80K between them can afford it.
This is what still scares me about this economy. No family should depend on 2 people’s wages to afford a house. Too many unforeseen things can happen.
“When Carozza talked about looking into a crystal ball at the future of the market, she was cautious. ‘You just don’t know really know what’s going to happen,’ she said. ‘But if we haven’t hit bottom yet I think we are close to it. What wasn’t real was what happened in 2005.’”
What about what happened in 2003, and 2004?
That lady’s quote gave me a headache. Why do journalists even bother recording what used housesellers say at this point in the game?
They would get better quotes by taping a microphone to a dog’s butt.
Great Point! You don’t see reporters printing random opinions from, say, murderers unless they’re particularly notorious. Why is the opinion of some housing fraudster with a get-rich-quick fantasies any different?
The only thing at bottom is her IQ.
The first time I read that, I thought you said her IQ was in her bottom. Maybe she can see reality because she has her head up her a$$.
If the hat fits, wear it….
It feels like we should have one of those flipping calendar effects like in old movies…2005….2004….2003…2002…2001….
“Recognizing a dire need, North Lauderdale officials want to venture into real estate. They want to seek money from charities to buy the city’s many foreclosed properties, fix them and sell them at cost, rescuing them from blight.”
Florida sounds more and more like Detroit…
Get the wrecking ball ready~
And on deck, batting cleanup…….$1 HUD properties.
WWJD?
“‘When people see prices dropping, what they’re seeing are the people who hadn’t really come to Jesus yet,’ said Realtor Marlene Graham. ‘If people really are sincere about trying to sell, then they have to be sincere about their price.’”
Step #1 to being “sincere” about the price is for sellers not to laugh at ANY offer they are lucky enough to get.
I was thinking she was implying that Jesus was an out of work construction guy, from Mexico…
Jesus is a common enough first name-south of the border, but i’ve yet to meet a waspy American, so named.
Jeremiah Wright has another Jesus definition.
we need to ask Elton John where he got his “Levon” song inspiration when Jesus blows up balloons all day.
Why aren’t any news organizations picking up on this? Someone is going out on a limb here to say the bubble has burst, but noone seems to care.
http://biz.yahoo.com/prnews/080314/nyf036.html?.v=101
It came out Friday, but got buried by the Bear news.
“Homes are now affordable again,” Feldstein said. “Consumer psychology is the biggest remaining hurdle to recovery.”
That, along with a job, having a FICO above 725, being short in the market for the past 6 months and a ridiculously low price on what you want to buy….
Who really believes this? The majority of the resets have yet to happen. Incomes are declining. It’s deflated somehwat, but the bottom hasn’t hit yet IMO…
Because nobody is dumb enough to believe this crap. If you believe this, you probably are a Cramer-investor and dont know what in/de/stag flation means and never read about depression.
You ain’t seen anything yet.
I can’t wait for Hurricane season to kick in! Many brand-new Florida houses leak because of workmanship issues. Thousands of empty houses will become tear downs after getting water damage. Even a small amount of visible mold will scare away 100% of buyers when there’s another house for sale down the block without mold.
I hear alot of Floridians praying FOR a HURRICANE to blow away their 2 year plus for sale “short sale/foreclosure/underwater” home!
Florida is hurricane-prone, but ‘04-’05 was an anomaly, mainly due to unusually high water temps in the gulf. It is much easier for hurricanes to get into the gulf and form and strike W or NW Fla. than it is for one to make its way through all the mountainous island buffers to the south and east and strike Atlantic Florida, but Gulf hurricane intensity is heavily-determined by water temps, which are once again starting out not unusually warm this year.
I’ll go out on a limb and say nothing stronger than a Cat 3 for Fla. this year.
Another reason im leaving FL. Hurricane insurance is a ripoff, although I could self insure. But a hurricane can make life miserable, ive been in a few hurricanes before.
What???? You mean that you don’t like being in water up to your butt, snakes using your living room, power and all city services being out for weeks, attempting to get contractors to fix your house for the next 6 months and those are the good things.
“Horizon’s ‘Short Sale Investor Program’ consists of investors who are willing to buy the homes and allow the sellers to then lease the property for up to two years for a ‘reasonable amount of rent.’”
So I buy a house today and then for a year or two I carry it with a monthly cash loss. The tenants then move out and I spend money to fix up the mess they leave. But it’s OK because I’ll more than make up for the cash outflow with price appreciation in the hot, Florida residential market?
There’s no shortage of fools! Even in a declining market, it’s easy to talk certain professionals (esp. Dentists and Doctors) into hot new investments!
30 years ago I was told by several people I knew that MDs and DDSs were the biggest suckers for bad investments. I’m glad that some things don’t change.
By the way, dentists take offense at the expression “Dentists and Doctors.” Dentists are doctors of dentistry. Plus, many dental specialists regularly perform surgery (maxillo-facial surgeons, oral surgeons, and periodontists). The correct expression should be “Physicians and Dentists” which omits optometrists, vets, and podiatrists (who are also medical-type doctors).
Dentists get offended because no one calls them doctors? Most physicians I know call dentists “med-school dropouts”.
I heard that all through law school because there were so many cases where doctors were suing over business deals gone wrong. The explanation was that MDs figure they’re experts on everything and won’t do the homework.
The “drawings” and “contests” and “essays” have to stop. We got into the legal issues on our local blog and it’s sticky to say the least. You have to wonder how once mighty RE bulls must feel now that they’re reduced to these stunts and promotions to move (1) freaking house? So we’ve gone from:
We have 20% down, the payments are reasonable and it’s a short commute, to;
Our “old” home hasn’t sold yet but we wanted to “upgrade”, to;
We didn’t want to be priced out. It’s impossible to over pay for real estate, to;
Bidding wars, to;
“Free” Hummer/Beemer leases and big screens, to;
Price Reduced, to;
Motivated Seller, to;
Drawings and Contests,
but rather than admit just how pathetic this is they’d prefer to think of it as “creative marketing”.
I refuse to buy any “raffle” tickets. If it’s not a scam, the odds are way against you. And if you win, you lose a third of it to taxes and will have to sell the house way below cost. I figure the odds are better playing the lottery and it’s a donation to education regardless.
“John Artimovich and his sons spent about three years building a palace of a home. What looks like a bed-and-breakfast inn transplanted from the Swiss Alps is lined with ridged-teak floors and dotted with details such as European wrought iron, stair treads cut from raw cypress and a sculptured-tin ceiling.”
And also appointed with the latest American debt details…
This makes sense to me. Florida is known for its mountain ski resorts, after all.
The article has a picture of the house, which indeed would look nice in the Swiss Alps. In Florida, however, it looks like the product of a foolish homebuilder’s abnormal psychology. Why not try to get Disney World interested? It could be the stage for a “Sound of Music” production. Cue the Von Trapp family!
http://tinyurl.com/244enx
Years ago, when I was visiting my aunt, we decided to take a drive around the area. Since we weren’t too far from the Von Trapp family resort, we decided to drop in for a look.
My aunt said that the place almost went out of business a few years before. Seems that the movie was quite successful. And it brought more than a little green to the Von Trapps. But, alas, Maria just couldn’t handle a problem called the money…
Looks can be deceiving. The Swiss build their Alpine chalets to last centuries. One friend has a place that was built in mid 1600’s. I wonder how this builder’s Swiss palace will look 400 years from now?
Actually I’d love to get the plans for the place - I thought it looked impressive and unique. The Europeans, especially the Swiss and Germans, build homes to last. If it took them three years, odds are it’s a lot better built than those grotesque Garage Mahals littering suburbia.
Surprised they haven’t offered, “Will pay your insurance and taxes for the first two years!”
“Will pay your insurance and taxes for the first two years!”
This was quite common in the early part of the bust in Palm Beach County. When we were looking in 2006, sellers with the same wish prices were throwing everything but the kitchen sink in to make the sale…that is everything but the kitchen sink and a lower price.
As prices continue to retreat, games will also retreat. People are starting to understand that today’s buyers aren’t going to be fooled with free stuff that costs a fortune in the end.
Yeah I just got an email with houses in an area I’ve been watching. It said at full price the owners would throw in the front loading washer and dryer. No matter the POS is overpriced by about $80 a sq ft. Those machines must be gold plated.
Hey, throw in the granite countertop and we have a deal!
“Inheriting the home will come with expenses. Assuming the house has a fair-market value of $1 million, the winner would have to pay up to $350,000 in income taxes and more than $17,000 in property taxes.”
The winning of a house in a lottery is not an inheritance, it’s gambling revenue. You would think that newspaper reporters, who are professional writers, would know the meaning of the word “inheritance.” Traditionally, an inheritance was real property received through death outside of a will, while a device was real property received under terms of a will. This distinction has disappeared in common useage but still exists in the statutes of most states.
By the way, there’s no income tax liability for heirs. The tax basis at which you inherit is the market value at the time of the decedent’s death. The only exception to this rule that I know of is for tax-deferred vehicles such as regular IRAs. If you receive an IRA through a will or as an account beneficiary then the legacy is taxable income (which makes sense to me).
Thanks, Saved me typing all that.
The winner has to pay income tax on the house - plain old garden variety income tax.
I heard long ago that on game shows, the smart winners would request cost in lieu of cars, boats etc, even though they’d just get wholesale. Then they’d get dunned for tax out of that but at least the rest was free and clear with no surprises.
My dad says this young lady who won a $70k car in “deal or no deal” is probably going to have to sell the car for $50k in order to pay the IRS it’s $15k taxes. If she is smart, she would ask for cash in lieu of the car, if it costs the show $70k for the car, the show should give her around $65k cash. If she keeps the car, she will be $15k in debt meanwhile her car will depreciate rapidly and suck lots of gas.
This is why I still don’t own a car and it’s possible I may never. With peak oil and soaring gas costs, ill just walk, bike, bus or carpool.
A friend of a friend was given a new car by Oprah (remember that episode a few years ago when everyone in the audience got a free car?). I talked with her about it and she couldn’t believe she had to pay taxes on the car. And she couldn’t believe that Oprah wouldn’t pay the taxes for her.
Gee maybe she should just donate the car then she could write the taxes off. I am sure someone else would be grateful and not mind paying the taxes!
That’s a pretty good trick, carpooling without a car. If we all did that, there wouldn’t be an energy problem in this country.
“Inheriting the home will come with expenses. Assuming the house has a fair-market value of $1 million, the winner would have to pay up to $350,000 in income taxes and more than $17,000 in property taxes.”
Wow, not bad
360K for a 1 million dollar house, or uhm, $800K house, well, a $750K house, okay min a $600K house, well………………..
Its still a steal, I say. Get me one of those raffle tickets. I want to kinda, sorta win something for once in my life……
Congratulations, you win an alligator!
A bozo realtor/broker in the Daytona Beach area puts out a monthly newsletter that’s usually full of spin. According to him, the boomer wave is still going to bail Florida out.
http://www.castlecommentary.com/newsletters/march2008pg1.html
A chart on page 4 shows monthly sales of homes in the $400K and up range. The rate is getting back to historical averages; 2004-2006 was an anomaly. But with 10 sales in February, and 885 homes on the market, that’s currently a SEVEN YEAR supply!
You can see newsletters going back several years by substituting the month/year in the URL. Some months are abbreviated while others are fully spelled out. It’s fun to read the delusional history of the bubble from the REIC point of view.
Bill,
With only a 7 year supply they had best get building ASAP! (As if the “boomer myth” held that much truth to begin with?) Everyone assumed that every boomer would want to move to FL, PHX, LV, SD and built accordingly.
Yeah, those “cut and paste” newsletters are prepared in many cases by the local REIC shill so all the knucklehead local realtor has to do is plug in their name, etc. Marching orders, nothing more.
Am I the only guy that gets off on all these builder/contractors having to get real jobs? “Had to let go of the customized truck and cell phone”. Yeah I know, bummer dude.
Every Florida thread it amazes me how they can ignore multi-year inventories in every city.
Coworkers are in two groups:
1. Knife catchers
2. Fleeing (to lower cost of living areas)
Very few willing to wait.
Got Popcorn?
Neil
Don’t like Florida? Plenty of lower-cost housing in Michigan, Ohio, Kentucky, Iowa, Nebraska, etc. But, then agin, there’s the $400-plus monthly heating bills, state income taxes, etc. Maybe Fla. isn’t so bad after all…
“Plenty of lower-cost housing in Michigan…”
Between the state income tax and higher property tax in MI, I was better off in Florida all along.
Yup. And they just raised the income tax. My sister and brother in law (double dippers from state gov’t) just retired at 52 and moved to Ky. Kind of like you are taxing the people in the Gulag.
“And they just raised the income tax.”
It’s one of the worst tax and spend states I’ve ever seen. Only in MI can they “cut” the budget and spend more than the previous year.
Michigan sucks! Very high taxes will cancel out what youd save on a house. Ohio has pretty high taxes, but my friend loves that state due to it’s lax regulations regarding building a house. Yes he is going to build a house himself. Haven’t looked much into KY. Iowa is another good state with plenty of starter $50k houses. But NW Pennsylvania is cheaper with better weather. Nebraska sucks, I heard alot of the towns are overrun with illegals now. Oklahoma also sucks with it’s backwards laws. Texas is ok but not great. Best thing going is it’s $150k upper middle class 2500-3000 square foot luxury houses that would be half million in Florida.
My highest heating bill was $216 for 2000 sq ft. It’s our only utility since our house is all electric. However if I add our property and state income taxes, I’d bet we pay the same as FL property taxes.
Sorry forgot to say I’m from Ohio.
$400 a month heating bills?? As opposed to $400 a month cooling bills in Florida? While state income taxes generally suck, there are only a handful of states that don’t have them. Oh, and home insurance is much, much easier to come by if you don’t live in Florida. It’s much cheaper too.
Having lived for significant amounts of time in both Michigan and Florida, both have their pros and cons. Housing is cheaper in Michigan…and the property taxes seem more affordable than Florida right now. Of course $200,000 goes a lot farther in Mich…giving you a lot more house.
Of course for most people, it comes down to jobs and weather. Florida wins both of those hands down…of course that may change soon as Florida’s jobless numbers keep shooting upward.
The snowbirds and retirees can have Florida. I may move back to Florida after a while when/if nice big houses on acreage drops to under $100k and they aren’t this cheap in other southeast states. I would be looking at around 67% drop in today’s price to make Florida attractive.
Hmmm… you know, if we had decent jobs and reasonably priced, affordable houses, none of this would have happened. Amazing! I should be the next head of the Federal Reserve with my insight! Argh…
6-12 months before house prices drop another leg? I can hardly wait! Do you think it’s realistic to see houses in north Georgia or east Tennessee going for $100k courtesty of the bank begging you to buy it? I would like something nice, 4 bed, 2-3 bath, partial or full basement, 2 car garage and 2000-2500 square feet house on at least an acre(double lot?) of land for $100k. Right now they are around $250k. Theres no jobs within 2 hours commute and it’s mostly rural hills. Great peaceful setting which is what I want. NW Pennsylvania has that and decent prices. I would like to see those prices in other locations!
For those wondering, I am self employed, work at home over the internet selling high tech physical products via online store and ebay. Many people do their business that way. It pays better than most jobs in Florida and beats dealing with mean bosses anyday! And it lets me live anywhere!
“…beats dealing with mean bosses anyday!”
But what about “Bad” bosses as has been discussed above?
Wouldn’t the act of cooking visitors, be grounds for torture?
Or was that in the old America?
“Artimovich said he plans to hold cookouts for visitors to the house from 1 to 4 p.m. Saturdays through the summer. ‘You’re going on guts and you’re going on hope,’ he said. ‘There is no failure.’”
Fort Lauderdale, FL
..we use to call it “Fort Liquordale”
I suppose though that few places capture the “weaving on the road” title as do those small towns in New Mexico.
I was born in Miami–my grandfather moved there in the 1920s–and I come from a long line of teachers. Of course, the state has ridden the boom-and-bust cycle before. But what is happening now is appalling. The Jebster and his cronies tied the educational system to–yup–mortgage securities. Hard times ahead for hard-working people who never tried to game the system. Bushies, thy names are Hoover.
Do you mean the teachers’ pension system?
That is a horrible insult to the Hoover name. I suggest you read “The Forgotten Man”. Hoover was certainly not the best president, but he is nowhere near Bush-league.
At least in the Hoovervilles they lived in tents and weren’t pretentious. And they knew the value of a buck.
Now that has a nice ring to it. Hooverville….Look at all the amenities! No money down and you won’t have an ARM.
Bush currently speaking at JaxPort (Port of Jacksonville) touting free trade agreements, esp. the one with Colombia currently in front of Congress. Interesting to hear him pronounce Uribe, Caracas, Chavez, etc. - this guy can’t speak English but has an excellent Spanish accent.
““There were 289 homes and condos sold last month in the Naples area, down from 304 a year ago, according to a Naples Area Board of Realtors report released Monday. There were 12,377 homes on the market as of February,…”
“But if we haven’t hit bottom yet I think we are close to it. ”
12377 / 289 = 42.8
Yes indeed, we have hit bottom with a healthy 3 1/2 year supply. 99% of private sellers are still in complete denial about what’s going on in the market. Luckily we have a healthy supply of foreclosures and short sales that are at about 50% of bubble prices. I am looking at a nice Spanish mansion that last sold in 3/2006 for $830K. Offered today @ $425K. The problems are still taxes and insurance. For said property, insurance is $9000 and taxes are $16215. So your mortgage payment with 20% down is around $2000 while taxes and insurance add another $2000.
Not sure what will happen to the tax assesments over time. I’m not sure if they’ll come down. You jnow how it is once politicians got used to the money there’s no turning back.
over $4k a month carrying costs plus 20% down on a $425k house that will keep dropping in value. The assessed value is bogus. You could rent a such house for like $2500 a month. Another reason im leaving Florida for a non bubble location. Even with those 50% price drops, the property taxes is bogus!
That’s what I don’t get. Afford it or not I couldn’t stand to have to give the Government $400 or $500 a week to allow Me to live in my paid for House. How long do they think people will put up with this before there is a revolution.
“The owner didn’t pay the company so they repo-ed their fence, and there’s a pool half-built.”
Repo-ed their FENCE? You’re kidding me.
And how’s the half-built Casey Serin maintained green algae west nile pool coming along?