Double-Digit Doldrums In Florida
The News Journal reports from Florida. “The local housing market shuddered again in March as sales of previously occupied, single-family houses plunged 27 percent from a year earlier and the median price took a double-digit tumble, too. Worse, the declines in both sales volume and prices were from year-earlier levels that were already sharply down from historic highs. Together, the two years of decline made for eye-popping paper losses for local homeowners.”
“Nancy Dance, president of the Daytona Beach Area Association of Realtors, said buyers were still waiting, thinking that home prices will go even lower. ‘We are seeing an increase in the number of buyers out there,’ Dance said. ‘But the prices just haven’t hit home with them yet.’”
“She said that in years past one could expect sales to pick up after a presidential election. ‘But, this is not a typical year,’ she added.”
The Orlando Sentinel. “Last week, Orlando Regional Realtor Association President Steven Moreira spun the latest existing-home sales report as ‘moving in the right direction.’ But tell that to countless accidental landlords who have tried to sell their properties only to become so mired in this frustrating market that they eventually take down the ‘for sale’ sign and try to recover some of their monthly expenses by renting.”
“Pete Frias’s been through it. Twice. Frias, a Realtor in Washington, D.C., was one of many flip-happy buyers at the height of the housing frenzy who snatched up homes in hopes of turning quick and easy profits.”
“‘I’m a capitalist, and I understood that I took a risk,’ Frias told me. ‘Obviously, it backfired.’”
“One of his targets was an apartment-to-condo conversion unit in a Casselberry complex called Cabana Key. ‘That’s my worst one,’ he said, of his collection of properties that span to Austin, Texas, and St. George, Utah.”
“Frias closed on the unit for $136,400 in September 2005. He almost immediately put it back on the market priced in the $160,000s. No takers. After four or five months, he decided to find a renter and hired a property-management company.”
“For a little more than a year he took a loss on the property each month. When his tenant moved out he tried to sell again, this time priced in the $130,000s. ‘Not a single person walked through the door for six months,’ he said.”
“Now he’s back to leasing the unit, taking a loss of more than $500 each month. ‘I would sell it right now for less than I owe on it,’ he said. ‘I probably would be willing to bring money to the table.’”
“He’s just waiting for the right time, part of that invisible but lurking inventory that could pop up any time and prolong the buyer’s market in the Orlando area.”
“About two dozen people who have had their homes foreclosed upon protested at the Orange County Courthouse on Tuesday, saying a foreclosure task force appointed by Gov. Charlie Crist hasn’t gone far enough to help them or end predatory lending practices.”
“Chenet Dorcelus said he can no longer afford the increasing monthly payments on the Edgewood home he and his wife bought last year but, unbeknownst to him, the loan had a $25,000 penalty for paying it off early. ‘I can’t sell it,’ he said.”
“At Tuesday’s press event, William Moore talked about his parents refinancing their longtime Orlando home with an adjustable-rate loan in 2005. The payments have now doubled, and the couple can no longer keep up.”
“‘There loans are designed to fail,’ Moore said. ‘It’s like selling you a chair that you wouldn’t be able to sit in.’”
From TC Palm. “The Realtors association said Martin and St. Lucie existing single-family home prices continued to spiral down. They dropped 29 percent to a median $169,700 from $239,700 in March 2007. That’s the lowest figure since March 2004.”
“‘Remember when things ran up the market and things went nuts? Now we’re seeing an overreaction in the other direction with prices,’ said Scott Wingfield, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie. ‘No question, it’s a bad time for people that want to sell a home, have to sell a home or need to sell a home. But for those that buy today, I’ll bet the farm that in four, five or six years from now, they will have hit home runs.’”
“‘I believe we have reached a point where buyers can’t afford to sit on the sidelines any longer watching these fantastic deals pass them by,’ said Dave Derrenbacker, president of the Realtor Association of Martin County. ‘Prices have come down so far that it is not uncommon to see sale prices that mirror 2002 levels … buyers get a do-over and I think the smart ones are realizing that.’”
The Palm Beach Post. “Home prices fell again in Palm Beach County and the Treasure Coast in March, thwarting homeowners’ hopes that prices had hit bottom. Mike Dooley, former president of the Florida Association of Realtors… pointed to a home in Sewall’s Point that recently sold for $310,000 after trading for $595,000 during the boom. And a home in southern Martin County sold for $330,000 after last selling for $550,000.”
“Pessimists point to signs of more pain for the housing market. Thousands of foreclosures are poised to flood the market, pushing down prices, and a weakening economy has cast a cloud over sales.”
“‘Everybody out there is a fence-sitter,’ said John Burford, an economist at The International Bank of Miami. ‘And even if you want to buy, you’ll have a hard time getting credit. Historically, when you have a real big debt expansion that lasted as long as this one did, it usually takes a long time for it to adjust.’”
The Miami Herald. “South Florida’s real estate market is still in the double-digit doldrums compared to a year ago. In Miami-Dade, existing single-family homes sales in March were down 56 percent vs. a year ago.”
“Miami property owner Rafael Fortuny has spent the last year trying to unload six town homes. After slashing prices by $30,000, he has managed to sell four of them — the last one in October.”
“Fortuny says he hands out about 5,000 fliers a month hoping to stumble on a buyer willing to put down $270,000 for a three-bedroom, two-bathroom house. ‘This last weekend we had maybe 10 families look at the property,’ he said. ‘Usually we have, oh, zero. So things seem to be picking up.’”
“But even eager clients are finding it hard to get loans, he said.”
“South Florida’s figures mirrored statewide data. Florida’s Realtors sold 9,142 single-family homes in March — a 26 percent decrease from last year. The median home price was down 15 percent to $205,600.”
“Condo sales slid 24 percent vs. March 2007 to 3,145 units, and their median price dropped 20 percent to $176,600.”
“At the end of March there were 4.06 million homes for sale in the United States. At the current rate of sales, it would take about 10 months to churn through the existing inventory, the National Association of Realtors said. Fortuny hopes he doesn’t have to wait that long to shed his two properties. ‘This has been a nightmare,’ he said. ‘I am just dying to get out.’”
“At the Fountains of Tamarac, the condo association has no insurance, a couple of unit owners are cutting the community’s grass themselves, and 90 percent of the unit owners aren’t paying their maintenance fees. Even two banks, both of whom acquired their condos out of foreclosure, haven’t paid their dues.”
“Condo President Cesar Gonzalez views the start of hurricane season with dread. ‘We’re hurting really bad,’ he said. ‘I don’t know if I can handle the stress.’”
“At the Club at Brickell Bay, residents say they have seen everything from nonworking elevators to broken equipment in the gym to cutbacks in cable service.”
“Kelly Ladwig, treasurer of the Townhouses of Plantation, said her board recently doubled maintenance fees after taking over the association from the developer, who converted it from rentals to condominiums. ‘A lot of people bought here as investors, and they were not able to sell. We now have a high foreclosure rate/nonpayment rate,’ said Ladwig.”
“Even if unit owners can find a buyer, Ladwig said, some banks are looking at the association’s books and refusing to make the loans. This could also block condo owners who try to refinance their loans.”
“What’s worse is the problem can snowball: The higher maintenance fees can push even more unit owners into financial trouble, leading to even more foreclosures.”
“‘This is like an avalanche,’ said Jan Bergemann, president of a statewide group of condo owners. ‘More and more people don’t pay their dues, forcing other people to pay the cost. I don’t know the solution.’”
“Lewis Freeman, a Miami lawyer who works with financially distressed properties, said this problem is going to get worse.”
“‘I think it’s like hurricane warnings,’ Freeman said. ‘They tell you to get ready a couple months before. Get batteries and water. This is going to absolutely be a catastrophe. Nobody ever saw this coming. You look at what’s going to happen with these things: utter chaos.’”
The News Press. “Some 220 houses - almost all of them in Lehigh Acres - stand abandoned in Lee County as stark reminders of a derailed real estate market. A record 10,700 foreclosures last year are stark evidence of the market’s condition.”
“‘Juveniles are squatting in them. Criminals are squatting in them,’ said Lee County sheriff’s Capt. Ed Tamayo, who oversees Lehigh Acres.”
“In Lehigh, the houses are in various stages of construction. Some are eyesores with weeds and piles of dirt overtaking yards. Others are unsafe because of exposed construction materials. One property on North Richmond Avenue in Lehigh is a slab with pipes rising over the concrete. Erosion is undercutting the slab at one corner and at a second point along the front of the slab.”
“Other houses have tar paper on the roof but no shingles. No stucco has been applied to the concrete block walls. A house at 5204 Lee St. has gaps in the tar paper on the roof and an exposed septic tank and drain field.”
“Children broke into the home and left graffiti, said neighbor Andy Morris. Two doors of the boarded-up house were ajar recently. Houses in such condition can further erode property values in an already-depressed market, but Morris expects to live with the situation for awhile.”
“‘There are too many houses for sale out here,’ he said.”
The Herald Tribune. “Luxury home builder John Cannon Homes has taken to the other end of the spectrum by creating a small division to complete and sell homes that are unfinished because the buyers or builders walked away from the work site.”
“‘We’ve had some situations where customers have more or less said, ‘Here, bank, this didn’t work out for me,’ and they are turning their keys into the lender before construction is finished,’ founder John Cannon said.”
“‘It’s not only an interesting way to stay alive, it’s also a community service,’ said Mary Dougherty-Slapp, executive officer of the Home Builders Association of Manatee County. ‘I have one of these homes in my neighborhood, and it’s sad, because it’s a reminder of how bad things have gotten.’”
The Bradenton Herald. “The median sales price of existing homes in the Bradenton-Sarasota market fell more than $52,000 in March to $239,300, compared to the same month a year earlier.”
“Local agents all agree that there are plenty of well-priced homes on the market and those who are willing to hold onto their homes for five to seven years will see a return on their investment.”
“‘Traffic is good…but they are not buying,’ said Robert Drane of Re/Max Alliance Group.’Part of the problem here is what we defined as normal has changed. Real estate is a long-term purchase. It’s a five-year minimal investment if you want to ensure you’ll make money.’”
“‘The market will eventually come back to where it was,’ said Denny Delarco, manager of Wagner Realty’s El Conquistador office.”
The St Petersburg Times. “The latest home sales figures showed an interesting anomaly: While prices continue to plummet, the home sales decline in the Tampa Bay area was less than half the state average. What seems to be swaying the market is a rash of short sales.”
“Jim Knetsch of RE/MAX Realty Associates in Carrollwood said, ‘Some of the best bargains right now are short sales. In many of the communities in central Pasco, I’m guessing half the properties or more are truly in short sale territory.’”
“Knetsch is banking on further activity this spring, as lenders sign off on short sales rather than press their claims all the way to foreclosure court.”
“‘What people have to realize is that January and February were two of the slowest individual months since at least January 2003,’ Knetsch said. ‘Hopefully we’ve survived the worst of the market.’”
‘It’s a five-year minimal investment if you want to ensure you’ll make money….The market will eventually come back to where it was’
And some in the business wonder why people are angry at the industry.
One thing: as Tampa and the Treasure Coast show, the markets where banks, etc, are slashing prices are seeing the most movement. Big surprise. Cut your prices and head towards normal.
‘It’s a five-year minimal investment if you want to ensure you’ll make money….The market will eventually come back to where it was’
Try getting them to put that guarantee in writing.
Yeah, right. No.
That’s why we’re not buying. We plan on being here for 3 years max and then onto a new assignment for the Wife. The pressure for us to buy here is constant since we’re probably the only people in our income group in this tiny town who rent. Our landlord wants us to buy her badly built, 25% marked up, abortion of a garden home on a plot that’s only 10% larger than the house with an unfinished foundation next to it for $250,000 - not negotiable since “we can turn around and sell it right away for a $30,000 profit” - yeah, right. We will continue to resist all comers at all costs…
J,
Had more people shown your level of restraint we wouldn’t be in this mess. PB ( Pre-Bubble ) most folks on a new job, transfer or career change simply rented to see if a) the job worked out, b) decided whether or not they even like the area, or c) had sold their PREVIOUS home before slinging buy offers around!
We’d even read stories of husbands “flying out” to meet w/ realtors they’d only spoke w/ over the phone to submit an offer and get back to the airport! All part of what Ben describes as “artificial demand”. ( You know, before prices go even HIGHER! )
I’m not sure why, but it seems like lots of people who buy homes make really stupid decisions for something that’s meant to be lived in for 30 years or more. I used to visit the city_data web site, a relocation site for most metros. The NC, GA, TN, and other Southern state sites were full of people from NJ, NY, FL, trying to move there. A large number of them did exactly what you mentioned which was to fly down to an area they knew nothing about for a long weekend, find the house, buy it, and THEN sell the old one in NJ or wherever. It was even worse given that many had strong concerns about the religious element to the South. Yet here they came to buy in an area in which some didn’t even have job prospects or much of an idea of what it was like. Totally ridiculous. More than once, a person mentioned that renting was out of the question because they felt that renting first and having to move TWICE-oh god- was too difficult. When I mentioned that moving from a rental to a house would take maybe 1-2 weekends, they wern’t convinced.
Why are people in such a huge rush to make the most financial and lifestyle decision in their life? The stupidity was just aggravating, which is why I quit going there. I recently paid a visit after about a year away and the stupidity still exists except now many from “Up North” can’t sell their homes, so there they sit, trying to leave. Personally, I hope they get stuck up there. We don’t need anymore of them anyway.
We pay $1500 a month in rent, less than if we bought the place, if the numbers crunched and if we were staying for at least 5 years, we’d buy. It’s just a rational decision making process when it comes to buying. We are already looking at our next move within 1.5 -2 years. Regardless of the market, mobility alone is a huge advantage when it comes to career paths. My Wife is much younger than I and her career is climbing like a home sick angel - why throw obstacles in her path? The only thing I’m doing with the extra cash is socking it away for the Kid’s education. He wants to go to Auburn to major in Engineering, who am I to throw a wrench into the works when the country is so short of the discipline anyway? A home is where you make it IMHO…
RE: Personally, I hope they get stuck up there. We don’t need anymore of them anyway.
Interesting how in a global economy where the rest of the world is more than ready to pull the plug on Pax Americana;-yeah, screw you GI Joe and your former rebuilding $$$ billions from the Marshall Plan-Americans still detest each other.
That’s fine. Just don’t complain to the NAR when you find out you have been priced out forever.
ROTFLMAO!
“Priced out forever.”
Too funny. Unless you are serious. Then that’s just sad.
Nope. Wait…
it’s still funny as sh*t!
“At the end of March there were 4.06 million homes for sale in the United States. At the current rate of sales, it would take about 10 months to churn through the existing inventory, the National Association of Realtors said. Fortuny hopes he doesn’t have to wait that long to shed his two properties. ‘This has been a nightmare,’ he said. ‘I am just dying to get out.’
Kind of like owning a big twin engine gas guzzling YACHT…it SURE LOOKED GOOD..when you bought it
It would take 10 months to churn through the existing inventory. What NONE of these folks even hint at is what the inventory amount would be if all 10 month’s worth was sold. I venture that it would still be around 8 months’ inventory,and that only if vacant apartment inventory shot up. Everyone is already living somewhere. A few are with mom & dad, and some are in apartments, waiting for the time and means to buy a house, but everyone else either has to sell their occupied house in order to buy the vacant one, or they bought the vacant one and promptly vacated their first house, adding back to inventory.
And this doesn’t even address the probably-growing number of “Uh-oh” owners of second homes who want out.
If you can “turn around and sell it right away for a $30,000 profit”, then why doesn’t she?
I’m not too proud to turn down a free $30K. Heck, I’m not proud to turn down a free whisky either.
Heheh, good question, she’s been trying for more than a year now with no nibbles. Even in this tiny captive market you can still get a 2200 ft fairly new home with a huge fenced backyard for about $220,000 - still about 30% overpriced considering the median income, lack of jobs, and total stagnation of the economy (only people moving here are public assistance types getting into the new subsidized housing - most others have got to move away sinc there are no decent jobs.
numbers really need to go back to pre 2001. then call me!
Realtors need to go back to selling homes - a place to raise a family, a community with good schools, a place with lots of features and amenities. Over the last few years, houses have become investments not places to live. Now, if they want to revive the industry, they will have to stop selling investments.
This just in from Tucson: An Incorrect Usage Alert!
Worse than that Slim, realtors have completely “commandeered” the language! Formerly perfectly suitable words like “spacious” and “elegant” might as well spontaneously ignite upon the very paper they are being written on? It’s unfortunately spilled over into the selling of all the lame-@ss local festivals that now spoil and fill nearly, no EVERY weekend! Don’t get me started!
Right DinOR.
In Austin, perfectly nice public places, businesses, events, and actions (like biking to the park or walking to the coffeehouse) that from what I can see, perfectly ordinary people enjoy doing) are now “hip” and “trendy” (”trendy” is supposed to be good?). And you’re supposed to pay $300,000 to $1.5 million to be part of the fun.
“Districts” are given names - SoCo, SoLa, SoFi - that no one ever used before.
It wasn’t till I started looking at Craigslist recently that I realized that SoLa is South Lamar, the street I live near. I had thought that it was “So L.A.” because everywhere I saw SoLa, it was part of the replacement of things local and authentic with this homogenized pretentious banal dreck that the condo and McMansion developers are shoving down our throats.
And as to the “selling of”…
I had lunch at a local restaurant a few days ago. A Food Channel program was being taped, according to the hostperson. Waitperson said that the host of the show was some really rock-n-roll chef (waitperson probably doesn’t use the word hip anymore, because it reminds him of clueless RE salespeople) who features cool local eating places.
I made some joke about how everyone who watches should come to Austin, buy a condo, and have lunch at ******** Cafe. He said that he thought condo developments were behind the show.
They are not investments. Investments have a positive cash flow. In FL, even now, rents do not cover costs. Prices, taxes and ins. still make the FL market 30% overvalued. What realtors want and need are speculators. Hopefully those greedy bastards are long gone.
30% is conservative in many places and is always so at the higher price levels in Florida. There is no current-market-value $1M house or condo that today will command enough rent to make it a viable investment when the assumption is zero capital appreciation (much less a decline in value).
I agree, Florida prices have to drop much lower than 30% off the peak of 2005.
That is happening. There are some condos in St. Cloud, on 192 south of Orlando that have dropped from the 350’s to 169K. Still to high for the median, but getting there. That’s only one example. It looks like 2008 is the beginning of the price plummet.
There was a reference to the pig in the python and that’s where we are right now. We have to digest the glut and things will get back to “normal”…until the next “new economy” and speculative bubble.
Yes, and aint it funny when prices drop, sales go up.
Go figure.
I think a good number of the realtors(tm) bought the homes for investments themselves. They get first crack at the listings. Craigslist in our area (Hampton Roads) has never had a shortage of “Owner/Agent” homes listed.
Hey VA - whats going on there in the Norfolk area? I visited a friend that lives there about 2 years ago. She showed me condos/lofts under construction in the downtown area. Did those ever pan out? Those neighborhoods seemed kinda rough and not very “up and coming” at the time.
Roger H,
The sheer number of measures and regulatory ( yes I said regulatory ) changes that need to take place boggles the mind. I agree, sold as shelter first and as an “investment” a distant, distant second. Oh and about 1/3 as many realtors sharing that message!
After spending what I just spent on new siding and windows for my 30 year old house, I’d like to punch the eyebrows of those who say my home is an investment.
What that one condo association president said about feeling stressed going into another bad hurricane season…are they predicting it will be like 2005 this year?
Speaking of holding for five years, a family down the street (Seattle) bought new construction in October, 2007, for $605k. The house is now empty and for sale (don’t know why) initially listed for $650k then dropped to $635k last week. $30k price jump in six months is about 10%/year increase. But even with that $30k increase, after 6% RE sales commission and 1.28% sales excise tax, they will lose $16k on the deal. This doesn’t include mortgage payments on an empty house; those payments are not repaying much principle. They have to sell this thing for $652k just to break even, not including the wasted mortgage money! That implies an annual price increase of 15.5% just to not LOSE money. Do people even stop to figure this stuff out before they jump in?
I think alot of the investment clowns did a simple selling price - purchase price type of analysis. After all, if you waste your time on the ALL the details, and don’t move now (everyone say it together) you’ll get priced out forever.
I thought the WA state excise tax was 1.9%, at least that’s what they charged me. Maybe it varies locally?
Sorry, my mistake. The Seattle rate is 1.78%, which makes my example above even worse for the sellers.
That Seattle family has two stark choices, IMO: Lose a fair bit now and count it as a valuable life lesson, or lose a whole lot more later and count is as whatever they choose.
‘It’s a five-year minimal investment if you want to ensure you’ll make money….The market will eventually come back to where it was’
I hear this type of comment in every bubble which is used as a sales ploy towards the unsuspecting buyer. It simply has no merit whatsoever! In fact, during the dot com bust, people were told to hang on to their dot com stocks as the market would recover and keep going up. The NASDAQ high prior to the dot com bust was 5300 plus and today, nearly eight years later it is 2394 plus. The NASDAQ has not recovered even half way since it’s all time high!
One thing: as Tampa and the Treasure Coast show, the markets where banks, etc, are slashing prices are seeing the most movement. Big surprise. Cut your prices and head towards normal.
That is about all that is selling right now in the Tampa Bay area! However, there is the hidden inventory of those holding off for the higher prices by renting for less than they owe. My post on the NASDAQ explains that aspect.
“Nobody ever saw this coming”…
The constant refrain. Yeah, reality is just a big surprise.
Speaking of seeing things coming, did anyone else read the Other Voices column in Barron’s this week?
In the Eye of the Housing Hurricane predict much worse yet to come in FLA. Excerpts:
“But this is not the end of the hurricane; it’s still the eye. What the builders and agents neglect to report is that most of the traffic couldn’t qualify to buy a moped. Nor do they report rising rates of pending contracts that fail to close. And they don’t mention the damage being done by falling prices, which put more and more homeowners into negative-equity positions and make it more likely that more property gets pushed back to the lenders.”
“The reason the back half of the hurricane will be such a devastating wipeout: The failure of the lenders to address their issues with defaults is compounding the inventory problem to the point where we will see a tidal wave of inventory hit the market.”
The author of this piece is Mike Morgan, a real-estate broker in Stuart, Fla.
Yep, wave after wave of foreclosures…for the next 4 years at least. However, we may begin to bottom out in 2010 or 2011 if we get to 80x monthly rent (likely rent lower than now). In fact, when rents stabilize to the new inventory situation and the prices fall to 80x, there will be a bounce back up fairly quickly to 100x rent (quickly means 6-12 months of the true bottom). Then it’s a long road back. Many places won’t see 2005 values (in real terms) again this century or forever. Some high quality, scarce/rare highly desirable locations may see 2005 values again, perhaps by 2017-2020.
What the builders and agents neglect to report is that most of the traffic couldn’t qualify to buy a moped
awesome.
“‘There loans are designed to fail,’ Moore said. ‘It’s like selling you a chair that you wouldn’t be able to sit in.’”
Except for one thing. I would NOT buy that chair. Why did you BUY that chair?
Boy, no kidding! When this particular chair blows up in a majestic swirl of fire and doom, why–it’ll take your ass with it. And I mean that literally, as well as figuratively.
RE: ‘It’s like selling you a chair that you wouldn’t be able to sit in.’”
What a moronic analogy…like everybody buys a $500k starter “chair”.
The carnage continues. When will it end?
Equilibrium.
There is nothing, absolutely nothing, that can stop the laws of supply and demand from reasserting themselves in a market this large. The reports this week, nationally and especially from Florida and California should put to rest forever the idea that any public or private action can stop the correction. Just look at the numbers. We’re talking multi-$ trillions just in the US, and Europe is headed that way fast.
Commercial is next….IMO, the entire real estate industry has been poisoned to some degree or another due to pure speculation, over building and easy money….We are now starting to see the commercial legs wobble in the secondary markets…The very small retirement/tourists towns are on their death beds…Commercial loans are much harder to get in that the underwriting is entirely based on the quantity & quality of the income stream…The speculators (and current lien holders) are going to get their butts handed to them in these markets…
Speaking of CRE, NAR scum is doing radio advertisements for CRE. “We’re the experts” they claim. When their clueless listing agent can’t tell me what type roof or heating system is on a particular house they’ve listed, they expect me to believe they’re experts in CRE? CRE requires extensive knowledge of architecture, facilities management, contract law etc. Whatever business I do in the future, whether buying a house or commercial RE, excluding NAR from the transaction will be at the top of my priority list.
Experts. Yea right. I go to lots of open houses. Seems like every simple question is met with: Duh I dunno.
Having been a licensed broker and state certified appraiser for the past 15 years I have to say that Realtors in general are the biggest lot of dumbies I’ve ever encountered. The majority of them are totally clueless when it comes to facts about the property they are selling. It is truely frightening. The NAR is a joke. NEVER, I mean, NEVER take a Realtors word for fact. Do your own homework and fact finding.
Let’s hope. I bought a big SRS position way too early and loathe holding that type of instrument too long. I am under water at this point, but know that I have a huge upside as long as I can avoid counter-party default.
A travesty of a sham of a sham of a travesty of an auction took place here in New Smyrna Beach over the past weekend. The rented tent was packed with bidders. The free drinks and donuts were on tap to represent the generous nature of the seller who was offering such an incredible opportunity to buy in this unprecedented “Absolute Auction - All 40 units will be sold TODAY!!!” . These finely crafted (yeah, right) two and three bedroom townhomes were going to sell dirt-cheap to the lucky high bidders. Not Quite.
Bidding failed to go past 156k for the two bedroom unit and 176k for the 3br. The builder subsequently cancelled the auction and everybody left within 20 minutes. The bidding even included fake “internet” bids just to get it even that high. What a joke. The auctioneer kept holding up a 275k appraisal taken one week prior to amp up the bidding and was answered with deafening silence. I guess the builder (bank) will just have to choke on these condos.
Wherever the bottom is it is definitely not here. That is my regional report…
How many donuts and drinks were left after 20 minutes? I’d be willing to bet that they all disappeared.
Drinks and donuts? Not a good combination…..
A while back, went to strip club after working second shift…..after having a few beers, buddy sez “Try one of these……it’s a kamikaze…..”
8-9 Kamikazes later, (I can’t remember the exact number for some reason), roll into the house about 0400. I’m hungry….. Nothing to eat in the house, except a “Bear Claw”.
Why not????
Remember the scene in “Alien”, where you can see the creature moving in the guys chest before it burst out? Twenty minutes after eating the Bear Claw, that’s what my stomach is looking like……….went downhill from there.
Sorry not to have included this fact in my auction report. I know a guy who bought a 2br unit for 365k back in 06. Now a brand new one with ‘upgrades’ could not be given away for 150k at auction. That’s a crew-cut!
That’s a decapitation.
LOL. No, thats a decapitation
A crew cut? No way! It’s more like getting shaved by Sweeny Todd.
Did the ad say, “no reserve price?” Apparently not. “Absolute auction” apparently has been corrupted along with much of the English language, in a process usually referred to as “deconstruction.”
FWIW, if ever you see “absolute” in an ad that describes an auction and if you do not also see “no reserve price” as applies to all lots in the auction, I recommend you either put the ad in the recycle bin or ask the advertising office where to find in writing that there is no reserve. Gas is expensive. Not worth wasting it, even to see how misleading auctions operate. There will be a whole lotta no-reserve auctions coming soon, to a theater near you.
Pressboardbox, I have been looking at NSB area for awhile. I see foreclosures beachside by Ormond for under 90K. I figure this time next year they may be 50k at this rate.
“‘Nobody ever saw this coming.’” -Freeman, Miami lawyer
Oh, really? (Think Chester Rush in Four Rooms pronunciation.)
“‘Remember when things ran up the market and things went nuts? Now we’re seeing an overreaction in the other direction with prices,’ said Scott Wingfield, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie. ‘No question, it’s a bad time for people that want to sell a home, have to sell a home or need to sell a home. But for those that buy today, I’ll bet the farm that in four, five or six years from now, they will have hit home runs.’
Kirk to Enterprise…BEAM this Idiot Scotty UP. He has major reality Issues and is intentionally blowing Equity Vapors up the remaining Lemmings A$$ES.
Ha ha ! NewsFlash Scotty…More than a few RE agents drank their own Lime Koolaid Joyjuice and bet their own personal “farms”… and are LOSING their frigging A$$ES…Bigtime
We here about all these different sales tactics for desperate realtors/sellers/flippers/banks etc… I can’t wait to read the article about someone offering Buy One Get One Free or Two for the Price of One….
“He’s just waiting for the right time, part of that invisible but lurking inventory that could pop up any time and prolong the buyer’s market in the Orlando area.”
I suspect there are a lot of real estate bagholders out there. They’re like the people who bought CSCO for 70, or CIEN for 700 a share. Could play out like the stock market. When the bagholders finally can’t take any more loss and are desperate to get rid of their homes at any price -that might be the time to buy again.
CIEN never got to 700. It peaked a bit over 500. Now it’s around 4 (adjusting for the 7:1 reverse split).
I agree a lot of the speculators that people loath are using helocs of high prices CA homes to finance their real estate empire. As these get shutdown cash flow stops and these people are bled dry. I’m sure its already happening but you will soon see that each foreclosure in a former high value cali area results in several foreclosures throughout the nation. Few of these speculators actually had real cash money it was all leverage. Needless to say this is going to take these areas down fast causing a snowball.
Scott Wingfield, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie, says “…For those that buy today, I’ll bet the farm that in four, five or six years from now, they will have hit home runs.’”
You lose the farm. This market has a long way to go down before it goes up again.
And Dave Derrenbacker, president of the Realtor Association of Martin County: “I believe we have reached a point where buyers can’t afford to sit on the sidelines any longer watching these fantastic deals pass them by.” Another fool. Realtors will say ANYTHING, whether it reflects reality or not.
Those quotes ooze desperation. “I’ll bet”, “I believe” - yeah such personal opinions are great reasons to sign away decades of life and labor.
At this rate, by the fall they’ll be breaking into people’s bedrooms at random and forcing them to sign contracts.
More “Horizon Herding”.
“John I’ll bet that in four, five or six years from now you will be four, five or six years older” Pffftt. It’s another way of distracting the potential GF’s attention away from the debacle that is today’s reality. I can see the consumer wanting a new car every other year, but a home? This is the business model they’ve built their sales volumes ( and futures ) on. Well without the motivator of being able to turn a quick profit they need to push that expectation out.
“At this rate, by the fall they’ll be breaking into people’s bedrooms at random and forcing them to sign contracts.”
would not doubt that happening …hehe, maybe in the form of some new law requiring people to buy a new house every few years, like the Japanese pretty much have to buy a new car often to pass the very strict emisssion requirements.
(sure, I can understand & approve of the need to keep the air as clean as possible on a small island filled with autos, but the requirement to uprgrade cars by law is . . . interesting … and probably a good thing because most people won’t act in an altruistic manner unless forced. we’ll see what happens with America’s housing lobby, but you can “bet yer own farm” they wont go down without a nasty fight over taxpayer dollars, disguised as usual as ” good for the country “.)
Think about how much credibility, self-worth, and even income these people would gain if they took the Mike Morgan route and told the truth about Florida. Unless you’re a sociopath, at some level this kind of phony and predatory salesmanship has to be highly corrosive to the soul and will re-enact “Death of a Salesman” times one hundred.
Somebody once said on this blog that a realtor saying it’s a good time to buy is like a prostitute saying it’s a good time to #&%@.
“Think about how much credibility, self-worth, and even income these people would gain if they took the Mike Morgan route and told the truth about Florida.”
Snake they can’t for one simple but stupid reason; They bet everything they had(and the banks too) on the same lie they sold to others and leveraged up on the same overpriced junk.
florida pisses me off. this idea that we hit bottom, but inventory keeps rising? is it a bad joke? who do they think they are? impeach someone and end this madness. the next time i hear someone say it is a good time to buy, i am going to hit them with a V-8 bottle.
just had to vent.
Going postal?
Slightly off-topic, but postal employees in the Harrisburg, PA area have their own gun range up in the nearby mountains. Think that’s not the source of a few sick jokes?
I can recall being taken to the shooting range that DuPont owned and operated for its Wilmington (Delaware) area employees. I was in grade school, it was my first time on a range, and let’s just say that I found a pastime that I still enjoy.
Slim - I fired my first rifle shot right about 55 years ago. NRA-sponsored, boys and girls (without - !shock! - any discrimination between them) - my younger sister was there too and seemed to enjoy shooting as much as I did. No non-indoctrinated person can fail to enjoy hitting a target when shooting a .22. I state that categorically, which I do rarely on this blog.
Realtors need to be fiduciaries - there needs to a regulated industry with an oath and penatlies for non-compliance. This will end this baseless speculation parrot head talking moronic statement game they continue to espouse to the MSM.
On second thought, I doubt many realtors even understand fiduciary obligations and probably can’t pass an exam.
When I make it to Congress, I’ll sponsor a bill requiring an Introductory Economics course to graduate from high school. Many real-estate professionals (i.e. job hopping dingbats) continue to demonstrate they do not understand the theory of supply, demand, and how it relates to prices.
Dave’s home, er, I mean investment property is probably for sale.
‘Prices have come down so far that it is not uncommon to see sale prices that mirror 2002 levels … buyers get a do-over and I think the smart ones are realizing that.’
Buy NOW or be priced out forever AGAIN!
WT,
In my own fumbling way that’s exactly what I’ve been t-r-y-i-n-g to share over the last several days. LOL
My lustful, nay… insane desire to see the correction unfold with stock market-like haste was dreadfully misguided. Had it occured as quickly as many of us would have desired in 2004/2005 it would have left the door wide open for an immediate resumption of “the time of madness”. But with the memory of sweet, sweet commissions still lingering in realtors minds we’re bound to have to endure “the language” of a hasty recovery ( only this time without the aid of cheap/easy money ) oh and without the recovery. They have to be thinking that if the can just score one more greater fool it will keep them afloat until the “real” recovery gains traction?
Consider the stock market. In my view, the regression to the mean from 2000 isn’t done.
If it was done, the executives who sit on each other’s boards would not feel free to pay each other so much money while paying a 2% dividend yield. And then keep the high pay but cut the dividend and water down shareholder’s equity at the first sign of trouble. The fools keep buying.
WT,
Agreed and that’s a rant that lurkers could scroll through and wonder where it ends!? Again I’m beside myself with how realtors, after a decade of ever appreciating homes ( and easy commissions ) could possibly think there’s an immediate end in sight? I’ll further agree that other than reducing the “head count” of rank and file, ex-soccer mom realtors there’s been really no effort on the part of NAR/NAHB to “right-size” the industry? They STILL have huge advertising budgets, endless promotions, auctions and un-ending internet presence! When you factor in the MSM complicity it’s a huge juggernaut that’s resisting all natural market forces?
After the “Tech Wreck” discounter stock-trading firms quickly consolidated and WS’s ad budget withered almost immediately. Harvey Pitt was quickly installed to “restore order” and reforms were cattle prodded through. There’s a pretty strong consenus that ‘most’ RE markets peaked in late ‘05 and here in the 2nd qtr. of ‘08 we have had absolutely ZERO REIC reform?
It’s more a “scam market” than a “stock market.”
Now I never said that the SarBox and other reforms were the Holy Grail or anything more than appeasement but “something” was done and done rather quickly.
Read this over and over again:
Martha Stewart went to jail. Bernie Ebbers went to jail. Dennis Kozlowski went to jail. Jeff Skilling has been driven to the brink of insanity and Ken Lay is dead.
Who in the REIC Cartel (TM) has even been served with papers yet? It’s been almost 3 years ( just since the peak of the market ) and REIC misdeeds have been going back a LOT further yet NO ONE has seen the inside of a cell.
Not one reform has been anything more than casually discussed ( let alone enacted ) and rather than implement changes in the tax code to ensure this doesn’t happen again we’re in FACT being bombarded with even MORE generousity? Sorry, I don’t see any comparison from a regulatory enforcement standpoint.
I don’t think these people have every seen a bad time to buy. They wouldn’t be able to pay their bills if they did.
HUGE amount of homemade FSBO signs in my area (probably representative of 50% of inventory) that I am sure are not being counted in the published figures. Pretty much anything that is not for sale is for rent also. Just thought I would pass that on…
“(probably representative of 50% of inventory)”
I would say at peak you would have been correct. Now I figure it’s closer to 1/3 or so. Most of these people have nothing but time on their hands…whether they’ve owned forever or are just waiting for the bank to take it.
“At Tuesday’s press event, William Moore talked about his parents refinancing their longtime Orlando home with an adjustable-rate loan in 2005. The payments have now doubled, and the couple can no longer keep up.”
“‘There loans are designed to fail,’ Moore said. ‘It’s like selling you a chair that you wouldn’t be able to sit in.’”
Really..love that these people never looked at their loans..My favorite the MTA loan(Pick a payment..and the lowest payment adds to your principal balance each month until you hit a certain LTV and then comes the REAL payment amount due each month)..
Yesterday Bank of America announced that they will not be doing those MTA loans when they buy Countrywide..imagine all those people who have the loans and will want to refi in a year…more foreclosures to come..plus they will have to prove their income!
I wouldn’t buy right now in Florida..I think even better bargains to come in the next 6 months…
Mr. Moore, stop complaining and take like a man. It was you that didn’t read your loan documents. $25,000 is a HUGE number you can’t possibly overlook. or the 7%, 8%, 9%, 10% rate hikes that was stated in your loans. If you want a free helping hand, go to your nearest food shelter.
Actually it’s Mr Doucet who says he didn’t realize that he had a prepayment penalty.
IN less than five minutes I can find MR. Doucet’s loan document online, which includes the page titled “PREPAYMENT RIDER”. IT indicates that if the loan is paid off in less than 36 months there will be a penalty of 20% of the remaining loan amount.
I particularly like the part of the loan document, right above Mr. Doucet’s signature, where the rider says “NOTICE TO BORROWER. Do not sign this loan agreement before you read it.” And then it repeats that this loan has a prepayment penalty.
What a crock of BS MR. Doucet is trying to sell us. But like real estate in Florida, nobody’s buying.
ThereTheir loans are designed to fail… ??..not by a longshot.IMO, (almost) everyone involved read and fully understood the loans.. The loans were designed not for failure, but for a market where prices continued to rise.
As long as that one criteria was fulfilled, all other criteria were irrelevant and everyone made money..
The loans are designed to churn.
Climber,
BINGO!
“We can always re-fi by the time the loan re-sets and at that point you can decide whether you want to keep it, take MORE cash out and re-fi to a FRM or move up to an even bigger home”.
What’s that great line from Vin Diesel in the movie “Boiler Room”? “Should I send those trade confirmations to your country club or your mansion?”
“Very funny young man, but tell me something, why can’t I buy more?”
“Pessimists point to signs of more pain for the housing market. Thousands of foreclosures are poised to flood the market, pushing down prices, and a weakening economy has cast a cloud over sales.”
Count me in with that group. The median price that NAR and FAR loves so much is finally starting to slide. We’re now at $320,200 from $421,500. You can’t hide behind your silly median any more!
For fun you should take a look at the “hot” communities like Wellington and certain areas of Palm Beach Gardens in the MLS. Put in single family under $225,000 and see how many listings there are. $350,000 used to be the entry point for these locations! Once we see a median price around $200,000 and inventory down to about 6 months we might be done sliding downhill. Until then, just watch the bottom callers!
Andy, one house I have been watching in Mirasol was $800,000 in July 07, $700,000 in 12/07, and today it is advertised as a short sale at $525,000. However I wonder if the bank will agree considering the mortgage is $720,000. The bank has already started foreclosure proceeding. http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?zp=33418&mnp=31&mxp=30&bd=4&bth=6&typ=7&sid=361b53226f924483b1e380dbd10225ee&lid=1073485224&lsn=2&srcnt=21#Detail
Also, you have other sellers in Mirasol asking between $699,000 and $800,000 for the identical model. If the one for $525,000 the others will never sell.
–
“That’s the lowest figure since March 2004.”
Looks like parts of FL are following CA.
“But for those that buy today, I’ll bet the farm that in four, five or six years from now, they will have hit home runs.’”
Yeah, promise of the long-term. That is what stock promoters say all the time. T-Bills and T-bonds have put-performed S&P500 since July 1998. And they will continue to for years to come.
Jas
T-Bills and T-bonds have put-performed S&P500 since July 1998 I know, but that is pitiful.
Nice “cherry picking”.
I remember a while back some people here hypothesized that when prices start to become bargains not many people will step up to the plate due to all the other crap that will be going on. Not hard to see that today.
Will anyone really be considering buying a home when gas is over $4 and food prices (and shortages) are widespread?
I doubt it.
Rob,
Well… maybe a s-m-a-l-l-e-r home?
Now this is going to be musical chairs in reverse. Instead of “getting your hands on as much money as they’ll let you borrow” and signing on the dotted line for as big a palace as you can, people are already tripping over themselves to find the exit.
I look for boomer, self-styled web-site versions of “JustWalkAway” real soon. This time it won’t just be about your house. It will be about debt period.
I agree. Debt is the real killer this time around. But these big monster homes cost a fortune to heat and cool, so FB’s are facing a perfect storm from all directions.
“‘I believe we have reached a point where buyers can’t afford to sit on the sidelines any longer watching these fantastic deals pass them by,’ said Dave Derrenbacker, president of the Realtor Association of Martin County. ‘Prices have come down so far that it is not uncommon to see sale prices that mirror 2002 levels … buyers get a do-over and I think the smart ones are realizing that.’”
LIES, LIES, LIES. GAS PRICES ALONE IS KICKING BUTT. FORGET ABOUT BUYING HOUSES IN SOUTH FLORIDA. JUST CALL YOUR POLITICIANS AND DEMAND CHANGES.
“Pete Frias’s been through it. Twice. Frias, a Realtor in Washington, D.C., was one of many flip-happy buyers at the height of the housing frenzy who snatched up homes in hopes of turning quick and easy profits.”
“‘I’m a capitalist, and I understood that I took a risk,’ Frias told me. ‘Obviously, it backfired.’”
Can you be a capitalist if you have no capital? I’d call this fella a debtist. Leech on society maybe. Capitalist - no.
Al,
What’s further, and I lost a post on this earlier, is just how did it come to pass that realtors from DC were buying properties ( specuvestments ) in TX and even Utah!? How is it that so many speculators all seemed to converge on the same targets? How did such a clear consensus develop so quickly? Add that to the list of things about the bubble I’ll never understand.
I’ve assumed that specuvestors in general were chasing all over the country buying whatever. If a realtor starting feeling cold about their local market, a fellow realtor in another market would be quite willing to tell them “it’s still a great time to buy here.” If this did happen, it certainly would be elegant; leeches feeding off of leeches.
The power of the internet and globalization.
re: “The Club at Brickell Bay”. In February, I stayed at the Mandarin Oriental on Key Brickell for a week. My view was 180 degrees of downtown Miami and Brickell (one big multi-high rise skyline). See-through during the day, dark at night. No surprise that the whole house of cards is collapsing under non-payment of dues.
“‘I believe we have reached a point where buyers can’t afford to sit on the sidelines any longer watching these fantastic DEALS pass them by,’ said Dave Derrenbacker
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.” Inigo Montoya, Princess Bride
It isn’t a deal if you can’t afford it. If Ferrari dropped its MSRP’s 50% I still couldn’t buy one.
“If Ferrari dropped its MSRP’s 50% I still couldn’t buy one.”
If they dropped MSRP 50% I might be able to buy a used one in 5 years!
I’m headed to Florida tomorrow for a family reunion in South Miami (where I grew up). Will be interesting to hear the RE conversation. Sister lives in a condo…gotta wonder how that’s going…and one nephew lives in Orlando; another is in Tampa. If I hear anything interesting, I’ll report back next week.
Yes, yes, report. And take some photos, if you see any particularly gruesome ones.
‘if you see any particularly gruesome ones.’
I meant, of course, any particularly gruesome condos/subdivisions/rows and rows of vacant houses sort of thing there in South Miami. Photos of those. Not of ‘particularly gruesome’ relatives. I’m sure all your relatives are as pretty as violets.
I’ll have to tell them that, just so I can watch them slide out of their chairs laughing!
The mounting glut of unsold homes might be a bigger concern for economists. The housing inventory in March increased 1%, to 4.06 million homes available for sale. That represented a 9.9-month supply at the current sales pace (up from 9.6 months in February), the report said. In March last year, before the credit crunch gripped the nation, the market had 7.5 months of inventory.
“Given both that the inventory overhang increased a bit and that recessionary job losses could lead to more foreclosures, the outlook is not good at all,” said Anirvan Banerji, director of research for the Economic Cycle Research Institute. “It’s likely that we’ll see many more months of price declines.”
http://news.yahoo.com/s/bw/20080423/bs_bw/apr2008bw20080422439366;_ylt=AtHqD244TN1n_2F0c1u1Nsas0NUE
“‘What people have to realize is that January and February were two of the slowest individual months since at least January 2003,’ Knetsch said. ‘Hopefully we’ve survived the worst of the market.’”
Not even close. We’ll be close when I hear someone saying real estate will never be a good investment. All I hear now is people believing the next big bubble is around the corner so “buy now and cash out in 2010 for 30% gain”.
I don’t know if any of you remember me, but I had been renting on Clearwater Beach, Fl. for many years. The realtor warned the out-of-town owner not to raise the rent, but she didn’t listen. Guess what? My response was my 30day notice. When the owner was notified of my notice to move, she couldn’t understand why I didn’t come back with a counteroffer! lol Four months later and, i’m sure,a couple of thousand in refurbishing expenses, the condo is still vacant! The pleasures of living off the beach in a gorgeous, extremely well maintained and gated community are too numerous to state. My out-of-town landlord is thrilled that he has a renter who pays on time, and i’m thrilled that my $950/mo rent is 40% of his monthly mortgage payment and condominium fee. The unit was on the market for almost a year with no takers. I have 2 bedrooms, 2 1/2 baths, high ceilings with crown molding, stainless appliances, a conservation view from the lanai, and, of course, granite! My cable/internet bill is only $35/mo., and my electric is 1/2 of what it was on the beach.
It is far worse in the Tampa area than what the msm are telling you. If push came to shove, I think I could have gotten it for $900. It’s a renters dream come true and will be for many more years. When these $300k units are being offered at $130k, i’ll consider biting.
RE: $950/mo rent
$950 gets you a closet and common toilet here in Beantownland.
Over at the Palm Beach Post blog they are having a little discussion about median prices. There was one suggestion that median prices would fall to 2001 prices by the end of the year. One of the people who drive me insane asked if they really thought that we would see the median go from $320,200 to $149,600.
I said $200,000 earlier…but if 2001 was actually $149,600 then I say yes! I can only hope that prices get to 2001 that fast. As much fun as I’m having watching the crash, I am a homeowner. The sooner we get to the bottom the sooner we’ll go back to 3 to 5% year over year increases.
Andy, one house I have been watching in Mirasol was $800,000 in July 07, $700,000 in 12/07, and today it is advertised as a short sale at $525,000. However I wonder if the bank will agree considering the mortgage is $720,000. The bank has already started foreclosure proceeding. http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?zp=33418&mnp=31&mxp=30&bd=4&bth=6&typ=7&sid=361b53226f924483b1e380dbd10225ee
Also, you have other sellers in Mirasol asking between $699,000 and $800,000 for the identical model. If the one for $525,000 can’t sell, the others will never sell.
Plus to belong to the country club for a full golf membership is $120,000 iniation and $15,000 yearly dues. However, some of the sellers are using/giving their memberships as an enticement to purchase the house.
It is only going to get worse in my opinion.
“If the one for $525,000 can’t sell, the others will never sell.”
And that’s what is going to continue to happen. Unless the buyer can get in for less than rent, they’re holding out. I had one customer of mine who just bought. He was paying $1,095 in rent. Bought a foreclosure that sold in 2005 for $366,000 in 2008 for $155,000. That’s far less than 1/2 price, and for a nice newer 3/2/2 house too! Since I’m not involved in the sales or financing process, I can only guess that his costs to carry that $155K home are slightly lower than rent. 20% down puts the mortgage payment at $750 per month. Taxes would be $175 per month and his insurance adds $125. That adds up to $1,050 assuming he put 20% down. Will the price go down any more? Maybe. Does it make more sense than renting if my calculations are correct? If he’s going to stay there at least 10 years…definitely.
Prices could go down a bit more, but not much, unless rents fall too. I saw rents of 80% PITI in 1990 in Austin. That was the floor. The rents went down about 20%-25% from peak price too.
1985 - 80K 3-2 rented for $700-$750
1990 - 42K 3-2 rented for $500-$550 (same house).
“‘Remember when things ran up the market and things went nuts? Now we’re seeing an overreaction in the other direction with prices,’ said Scott Wingfield, president of the Realtors Association of St. Lucie. ‘No question, it’s a bad time for people that want to sell a home, have to sell a home or need to sell a home. But for those that buy today, I’ll bet the farm that in four, five or six years from now, they will have hit home runs.’”
Go ahead another realwhore rosey prediction. Most likely be wrong. kid of like the ratings agencies. All hype but no substance.
It’s not a good time to buy. prices still need to tank to affordable levels.
12/07, and today it is advertised as a short sale at $525,000. However I wonder if the bank will agree considering the mortgage is $720,000. The bank has already started foreclosure proceeding. http://www.realtor.com/search/listingdetail.aspx?zp=33418&mnp=31&mxp=30&bd=4&bth=6&typ=7&sid=361b53226f924483b1e380dbd10225ee&lid=1073485224&lsn=2&srcnt=21#Detail
Also, you have other sellers in Mirasol asking between $699,000 and $800,000 for the identical model. If the one for $525,000 can’t sell, the others will never sell.
Plus to belong to the country club for a full golf membership is $120,000 iniation and $15,000 yearly dues. However, some of the sellers are using/giving their memberships as an enticement to purchase the house.
It is only going to get worse in my opinion.
Michael F.
“Pete Frias’s been through it. Twice. Frias, a Realtor in Washington, D.C., was one of many flip-happy buyers at the height of the housing frenzy who snatched up homes in hopes of turning quick and easy profits.”
“‘I’m a capitalist, and I understood that I took a risk,’ Frias told me. ‘Obviously, it backfired.’”
“One of his targets was an apartment-to-condo conversion unit in a Casselberry complex called Cabana Key. ‘That’s my worst one,’ he said, of his collection of properties that span to Austin, Texas, and St. George, Utah.”
Wonder which hip, trendy condo flip-happy Frias is holding the bag on in Austin.
Drove past a curbside sign in Sanford (NE of Orlando) this afternoon:
Handyman Special
(for sale) $90,000
Worth $170,000
Folks’re kinda slow in Sanford. ‘Course, everything’s slow in Sanford.