Cherry Pickers, Scavengers, Hyenas And Bottom Feeders
The Sun News reports from South Carolina. “Grand Strand real estate sales continued seeing some of the steepest decreases in the state in March, according to an S.C. Association of Realtors report. All areas of the state saw declines compared with March 2007. On the Grand Strand, there was a 33.3 percent drop in sales. The only areas with bigger decreases were the Southern Midlands, with a 44.07 percent drop, and the Charleston area, with a 33.86 percent drop.”
“The declines are large here because short-term investors have shied away from real estate after getting burned when the market turned in 2006, said Coastal Carolinas Association of Realtors market analyst Tom Maeser.”
“‘Most investors these days are buying with long-term projections as opposed to short term,’ said Chris Price, broker in Myrtle Beach. ‘The flippers are out of the market.’”
“Price decreases on the Grand Strand were tame compared with the roughly 20 percent fall in the Hilton Head Island area and the 19 percent drop in Cherokee County.”
“‘Sellers are being more realistic in their pricing, Maeser said. ‘Prices are finally adjusting in the marketplace. They’re coming down.’”
“‘The big thing is we’re not seeing a lot of new home projects come out of the ground because there’s not a big demand, and they overbuilt,’ Maeser said.”
The State in South Carolina. “Home sales continued to weaken in the first quarter of the year in the Columbia area, dropping 11.5 percent compared to the same period last year, according to the S.C. Association of Realtors.”
“The drop comes on top of the first year-over-year decrease in home sales last year since 2000 in the Columbia area.”
“The real estate industry now is paying for some mortgage lenders’ loose standards in 2004, 2005 and 2006, said Ron Roe, CEO of Russell & Jeffcoat Realtors. ‘People that normally would have to save up money didn’t have to, so they were able to buy homes,’ Roe said. ‘We were actually borrowing buyers from the future.’”
“Statewide, home sales suffered, dropping 21.48 percent for the first quarter of 2008. Orangeburg, Calhoun and Bamberg counties fared worst, with a 44 percent drop.”
The Blackshear Times from Georgia. “While much of the nation’s housing markets are reeling from the economic downturn, Pierce County finds itself in a bit of a slowdown, too - but not due to a lack of people wanting to buy here.”
“Poor conditions elsewhere can squelch a home sale here. ‘About one-third of (agreements) are contingent on the buyer selling their home, and when those don’t sell, those contracts are lost,’ notes broker Carolyn Akins.”
“Developer Sonny Bowen and his wife are the proprietors of a retirement community under construction in Blackshear. Only a model home currently stands on the property, which Bowen began developing prior to the nation’s housing problem. He’s had one commitment - and would have many more if homeowners could pack up and leave on a whim.”
“‘If you count the people who’ve told me if they could sell their home, they would move, I’d have about 20 homes under construction,’ Bowen says.”
“Akins says there is a mix of new residents moving here from neighboring counties and those escaping tough housing markets in more populated areas. One state in particular hit hard by the housing crash, Florida, has already had its share of transplants seek life at a slower pace in South Georgia.”
“‘We still continue to benefit from people departing from Florida, where some have been forced out of the market,’ says associate broker Alta Bruce.”
“Although homes are still selling, it’s a slower process, realtors say. Potential buyers are being more patient - and a little picky - about what they choose with more homes available to browse. ‘People who are selling have to be aware it’s a different market and buyers may be asking for more concessions,’ Bruce says.”
The Star Banner from Florida. “Marion County sheriff’s deputies have arrested an 82-year-old man and charged him with threatening a process server with a gun when he received a foreclosure notice.”
“Robert McGuinness, of Black Diamond Process Service, told a sheriff’s deputy that he went to serve court papers on Frank W. Conard. McGuinness said Conard…pointed a handgun at him and said ‘You have two seconds to get off my property or you will go to the hospital.’”
“His boss, Ron Ragle, said said his employees have been threatened with knives and people have released dogs on them, but they never had someone pull a gun on them. ‘Foreclosures are going through the roof,’ Ragle said.”
“Ragle said they served 40 to 50 papers a month two years ago. Now, he said they serve more than 300 a month.”
The Tampa Tribune from Florida. “A new report on real estate prices shows Tampa’s decline was the steepest among Florida cities tracked during the quarter and was more than 15 percent over the past year.”
“The city has good company. Fort Lauderdale and Orlando, the two other Florida cities tracked, had slightly sharper yearlong price declines.”
“Much of the bad news is because of foreclosures and delinquencies, particularly with subprime loans, said Bob Visini, VP of LoanPerformance, which tracked the data. In the Tampa Bay metro area, 17 percent of existing loans are subprime loans, which have higher interest rates and are typically given to borrowers with credit problems, Visini said.”
“In January, 26.29 percent of those loans were at least 60 days late, compared with 9.34 percent at the same time last year, he said.”
“Meanwhile, conventional loans are in trouble, too. As of January, 2.88 percent of those loans were more than 60 days late. That’s more than double since January 2007 when 1.03 percent were delinquent for more than two months.”
“‘That may not sound like a lot, but it’s bad,’ Visini said.”
The Herald Tribune from Florida. “Price was the driving factor in the boosted sales in the Charlotte County-North Port market, where 268 homes changed hands in March, compared with 237 in the year-ago period, the Florida Association of Realtors reported.”
“The median sales price was $152,200 last month in the market, the lowest since February 2004’s $147,100.”
“‘Realtors are being a little more aggressive with their clients to stop chasing the curve,’ said Missy Becker, a Realtor for 23 years. ‘That’s what’s been clogging up the market.’”
“Like its southern neighbor, the Sarasota-Bradenton market hit a median sales price that had not been seen since early 2004. Its $239,300 median was the lowest price since $235,700 in April 2004.”
“There were 19 condominium sales for the first three months of this year, compared with 16 during the same period last year, The average price per square foot is still falling. It was $331 this year, compared with $414 last year, said John Van Zandt, an agent on Anna Maria Island.”
“Going forward, he predicts an increase in the number of sales but that values will remain low. ‘Sellers are having to make significant concessions to get buyers to sign,’ Van Zandt said. ‘We just have so much inventory, and buyers are cherry pickers. In fact, they are sometimes referred to as scavengers, hyenas and bottom feeders.’”
The Sun Sentinel from Florida. “That median price of an existing Broward County home last month was $311,400, down 16 percent from $372,400 in March 2007, the Florida Association of Realtors said.”
“Meanwhile, condominium prices continue to plummet in Broward. The median price of an existing condo last month was $137,000, a 30 percent drop from $195,500 a year ago.”
“‘With people who are reasonable, their places will sell,’ said Patti Seward, an agent in Broward and Palm Beach counties.”
“Seward’s client, Allison Perrine Cabaniss, recently paid $730,000 for a four-bedroom house in Boca Raton that she says easily would have fetched more than $1 million during the housing boom of 2000 to 2005. She turned around and knocked $109,000 off the price of her two-bedroom penthouse Boca condo, and it sold last month for $550,000.”
The Miami Herald from Florida. “The architects of a $37 million mortgage fraud scheme involving luxury condos on South Beach will be spending the next several years in jail for their crimes, a federal judge decided Thursday.”
“U.S. District Judge Jose E. Martinez sentenced former mortgage broker Richard Crowder II to 9 years imprisonment. Crowder, who owned America’s Best Mortgage Services, in Coconut Creek, was accused of luring buyers in a fraudulent no-money-down financing scheme to purchase 17 condos in Continuum on South Beach and at the Point of Aventura.”
“His accomplices, former title attorney Gary Mills, who owned Deerfield Beach-based Four Star Title, and former Wachovia loan officer, Karen Lynn Sullivan were sentenced to 46 months and 50 months, respectively. The defendants are scheduled to appear again in court on May 29 for a hearing to determine the restitution they must pay to the victims.”
“Mortgage fraud flourished during South Florida’s real estate boom, law enforcement officials have said, as rapidly rising property values and a frothy sales climate made it easy to mask crimes.”
“The slowdown has revealed the extent of the problem because criminals no longer can sell. The state ranks first in the nation in reports from lenders of suspected fraud, according to the Mortgage Asset Research Institute.”
The Voice of America. “As home prices soared in recent years, many in the Miami area used cheap so-called sub-prime mortgages to buy investment properties they could rent out to generate additional income. But when the housing bubble burst, many were left with mortgages with ballooning interest rates and properties with plunging values.”
“In Miami, the excitement of investing in real estate faded quickly for Sonya, who did not give her last name, because she is embarrassed by her financial troubles.”
“The Jamaican immigrant says she invested $40,000 in two homes in West Palm Beach when the real estate market was expanding. The properties were supposed to help pay for her upcoming retirement. But she ran into problems when the units failed to attract renters or buyers as the market turned sour.”
“After taking a $25,000 loan against her own home to make mortgage payments on the investment properties, she was still unable to prevent the bank from foreclosing on them.”
“‘Now I am facing foreclosure on the house I am living in,’ she said. ‘So on top of taking those two [rental properties], I am trying to see how I can keep the house that is over my head for over 14 years.’”
“The non-profit Neighborhood Housing Services helps delinquent borrowers navigate complex legal and financial procedures to avoid foreclosure. The group’s Jacquie Madera says many large banks are willing to negotiate with borrowers to help them stay in their homes, but she says some smaller banks are slower to respond.”
“‘Instead of doing a loan modification and giving the client a fixed-rate mortgage, they put them on a repayment plan,’ she explained. ‘That repayment plan is only for three months, and then what happens again? They are back in the same situation.’”
“Laborer Fernando Montenegro says he has little hope of saving his home and the house he bought for his daughter. The Nicaraguan immigrant says he had to stop making payments on the properties six months ago, because his wife and his daughter lost their jobs and his own income dropped.”
“He says has talked with the bank, but not to request an easier payment plan. Montenegro says he asked the bank to repossess the houses, because he does not believe his family can overcome its financial troubles.”
“Investor Julian Dominguez has been tracking foreclosures at the courthouse for more than 20 years, and says he has seen it all before. Dominguez says he sympathizes with homeowners facing foreclosure, but says many will land on their feet.”
“‘The news [media] goes to [report] ‘oh, they are losing their home.’ They are losing the property.’ When they go from that to a rental, they still have a home,’ he noted. ‘They are not on the street.’”
Contingency Contagion
“Poor conditions elsewhere can squelch a home sale here. ‘About one-third of (agreements) are contingent on the buyer selling their home, and when those don’t sell, those contracts are lost,’ notes broker Carolyn Akins.”
That one always cracks me up……..they got a ‘ton of buyers’ out there…..but they just can’t buy right now….riiiiight. Ah….excuse me Ms realestator…..that means you don’t have buyers out there…but you do have a ton of BS.
make them butlers for life> hope restitution happens in cash but…….
The Seinfeld Solution…..
“The real estate industry now is paying for some mortgage lenders’ loose standards in 2004, 2005 and 2006, said Ron Roe, CEO of Russell & Jeffcoat Realtors. ‘People that normally would have to save up money didn’t have to, so they were able to buy homes,’ Roe said. ‘We were actually borrowing buyers from the future.’”
This has got to be killing the “it’s different here crowd”
All the boomers, Yankees & Half-backs were going to save us!
The press here has been forced into printing stories like this and they hate it! I seriously hope this half-assed RE used house BS crowd down here ‘enjoy’ a slow painful bleed!
borrowing buyers from the future - Used to be a term one heard a lot in 2006. Too close to the truth to say these days, I guess. The market boosters should get used to the idea that just about everyone who can buy already has. And many have more than one house. Move ups don’t make a dent in the market really. IMO, the biggest long-term problem the US market faces is over-capacity.
–
“Borrowing buyers from the future” is what most promotions tend to do. 0%, zero down, neg-am, etc., all create future slack in demand. Greater the promotion worse the future slack in demand. The question is: let us say that at 50% drop in home prices we can clear the inventory to normal levels (6 months), what next? Wouldn’t most buyers and investors also get cleared?
I think that people under-estimate the consequences of over-building during 2004-06. It may take 5-7 years just to clear the excess inventory. I think that the demand is below the current rate of housing starts. That means that we have not yet started to clear the excess inventory.
Jas
With the recently built junk houses destined to fall apart the excess inventory may clear itself.
Poorly contructed homes will most likely be repaired by their owners… not simply abandoned to be torn down and removed from inventories.
“IMO, the biggest long-term problem the US market faces is over-capacity.”
What a freakin’ waste, too. I see half-occupied (and that “half” is optimistic) developments here in my area of Tampa Bay. Perfectly good ag land was taken out of service to build useless, crapbox developments no one really wants at this point. AND YET, Centex is building MORE and so are other developers. There’s articles about it in the local fishwraps every day. You’d think at this point the building would at least grind to a halt, BUT NOOOOO! It’s so depressing, I can’t stand it. And you should see the commercial developments going on. Completely insane.
And you should see the commercial developments going on. Completely insane.
Palmetto: You should see all of the empty office buildings, new ones up on SR54. Talking about overbuilding on commercial RE. By the way, you should post on the sptimes.com, blogs (un) real estate site. Loaded with RE shills who are in denial!
“Builders build, because lenders lend”…..that’s what my Dad always says……once the lenders wise up, the building will stop…..
I never thought that phrase was applicable to homebuyers, but the last 3-4 years have shown that, “Buyers bought (at inflated prices), because lenders lent (at ridiculous loan terms)”…..
JohnF,
Our dads must have hung out together? Here’s the difference, once builders are extended a line of credit they can’t WAIT to burn through it! There’s no holding back. It’ll be the big banks that get burned on res. mortgages but look for the smaller banks to get fuh-ried on the condos, office and retail development.
Palmetto, did you read the paper from earlier this week? Up in Oldsmar an eight-foot alligator broke into a woman’s condo — she peeked into the kitchen and there it was, probably in search of her pet cat. Crazy stuff!
RE: Up in Oldsmar an eight-foot alligator broke into a woman’s condo — she peeked into the kitchen and there it was, probably in search of her pet cat. Crazy stuff!
Now that’s what you really call-feedin’ the alligator!
“The market boosters should get used to the idea that just about everyone who can buy already has”.
I agree, and the ones that ‘own’ more than one house are compounding the situation. We are seeing a drop in asking prices now, but we have a long way to go. Local RE shills have stepped up the now is the ‘best’ time to buy commercials. They really have no other ammo and it’s starting to get laughable/pathetic.
I have to say that I have come around on the home-ownership stat–over last 10 years you hear that the national home-ownership rate has gone up, and I thought to myself, wow, that’s a good thing. But this whole crisis has convinced me that there truly is a limit to what is healthy. For better or for worse, there’s somewhere around 1/3 of people/families who should not be owning anything.
I’m totally with you. I’m a native Tennessean and I HATE visiting my parents now because Knoxville is starting to look like most other Southern cities: a big equity locust orgy. It isn’t that a dislike ‘Yankees’, but rather the whole notion that these people have zero interest in making economic contributions. Their whole attitude is “move somewhere ’simple’ and slower. That isn’t the type of people I want moving there. I’d much rather see people who have ambition, progressive ideas and so on. Not this whole sell a house and retire somewhere warm BS. Its even worse when some of these people have done this not once, but twice- from NJ to FL, then to TN and NC. Obviously it isn’t the cost of RE, but their spending habits that are more to blame. And to think that these are the people moving in. Screw them. The sooner FL prices fall and Northerners can’t sell the better.
We’ve become a country of migrant homeowners, I mean homeloaners. But hell, Thomas Friedman and other economists spread the gospel of being completly unhinged at all times to chase opportunity, everwhere. Not necessarily a bad thing… if you’re 25.
Preach it, Jetson!
This part of your comment sums up what’s wrong with the economy here in Tucson, not to mention the rest of the American Sun Belt:
“It isn’t that a dislike ‘Yankees’, but rather the whole notion that these people have zero interest in making economic contributions. Their whole attitude is “move somewhere ’simple’ and slower. That isn’t the type of people I want moving there. I’d much rather see people who have ambition, progressive ideas and so on.”
Yanqui go home!
RE: Yanqui go home!
As I said yesterday…Americans hating Americans.
However, I am not hypocrite, and I don’t exempt myself from the sentiment.
Because all those arrogant, “me-first” swine from the eastern seaboard cities and suburbs who all desert the shitholes they created to muck up to the rural north country with their urban, snotty, condescending attitudes can all go kiss my azz.
What a great country!
Yanqui go lose home?
Yeah, something I notice is the age of people moving here (Upstate SC). People are young here - tons of people in their 30’s and 40’s with kids. The Floridians relocating to the area look to be mid-60’s typically. That is an age at which many people from this area would move to the SC coast to retire.
A lot of the younger FL people moving here are really weird-looking compared to the typical Greenvillian, who is either white or black (and protestant). We’re not used to all these other hues, the guys with gold chains and big rings all over and the girls with uni-brows, mustaches and very hairy arms…
“big equity locust orgy” LOL!
Great observation, it must be like an “echo effect” as retirees become equity nomads f’ing up one formerly normal place after the other! Of course these new “target destinations” will have to jump through hoops to cater to their every whim and re-invent themselves only to find they’re left holding the bag as some place ‘else’ becomes more trendy ( lucrative ).
I got to chat w/the PODS guy when my last POD delivery was picked up. I asked him if he noticed any trends. He said there is a huge proportion of people he moves heading (from Syracuse) to the Carolinas. Just last week I heard one of our district’s new hires was stepping down to move there.
Personally, I don’t blame anyone from Syracuse moving to NC… or anywhere else for that matter. Their weather sucks in the winter. I myself hate cold weather and lived in Boston for a few years. Hated every second of October-early May. So the fact that people are moving from crowded, overpriced, freakin-ass cold climates to warmer, nicer, less crowded ones is no surprise and again- I’d sure as hell do the same if my parents had been stupid enough to live up there. But the speed in which these “nice warm areas” are getting turned into an extension of the East Coast is amazing and depressing.
I wonder- how many freakin’ people can NJ produce? These people are everywhere- CA, NC, AZ… must be some crappy state if it seems like half of them are living somewhere else.
Anyhow, sorry to anyone from up North. I don’t really dislike any of you, but seriously- the change that’s occurring to my area is ridiculous.
Welcome to our world, jetson boy. We California natives have been living through that particular hell for a couple of decades now. California used to be a great place to live and raise a family. Not so much anymore.
“I wonder- how many freakin’ people can NJ produce? ”
I do too jetson boy. I’ve started saying that if Atlanta keeps growing north (like it has been), soon they’ll all be back where they came from.
And I wonder why they have to move someplace pretty, and then try to make every bit as ugly, treeless, and squished together as NJ.
hey open a laser hair removal joint…Profit!
Presumably those retirees have to eat, clothe themselves and shop at the hardware store? Aren’t those the basis of supporting your local economy?
I also wonder if “these people” somehow have any less “ambition, progressive ideas and so on” than the people already living in these paradises–whose ancestors likely moved there from somewhere themselves only a generation or two ago. Amazing how all the problems are always somebody else’s fault . . .
The difference is that those who moved Southward generations ago had to come across on a 6 week long, often dangerous packet ship, have to deal with huge property owners who gouged them for rent and purchases( yes- specualtors were a problem back in the 1700’s too), the likely possibility of dealing with sometimes hostile Native Americans ( I don’t exactly blame them) Lack of access to medical facilities, and lack of close access to large metropolitan areas. Those people-including my ancestors- made hige sacrifices to move to the region they hail from- East TN.
These people from up North, FL,out West, and so on are NOTHING compared to these previous newcomers. They sell a house that went up in value. So basically, they did diddly-squat and are only coming down because they can take advantage of the (for now) cheaper prices. These same people would have never done so even a few years ago because I know for a fact that quite a few of them wouldn’t have been caught dead in the South because of the crap the media spews about the region, but now that they’re priced out or want to be carpetbaggers, well here they come in droves.
We need an old Soviet-style gubmint that can tell people where they can live and where they can’t. No one should be able to pursue their dream of living far from a city if they lived in a city most of their lives.
One way to get rid of them is to tell ‘em stories that dont go anywhere. Like the time we went over to Shelbyville during the war, I wore an onion on my belt….which was the style at the time…you couldnt get those white ones, you could only get those big yellow ones……………..now where was I……..oh yeah, the important thing was I was wearing an onion on my belt, which was the style at the time, you couldnt get those…
Here in NJ we beat the British then wupt Johnny Reb’s hide. Now we need to relax.
It’s that the rose is off the bloom as far as the “retirees are the goose that laid the golden egg” myth. Given this will be the most cash-strapped gen. of retirees EVER ( in spite of what you may read in Forbes or Money mag. ) they’ll more likely be b!tchin’ about getting their Sr. discount than throwing money around. Besides ( any Harry Dent fans out there? ) they are WAY past their peak consumption years!
Growing vibrant communities need young, working families. Period. Please to notice all of the dying and dead towns all throughout Iowa. Kids moved on, WWII Vet passed on and now the widows are too. Sad, but true.
That’s funny. I don’t remember any of them complaining back then. Care to reimburse your commsissions?
‘You have two seconds to get off my property or you will go to the hospital.’”
Annie get your gun.
Annie get your rice.
Except that it’s not his property. He hasn’t paid for it.
‘You have two seconds to get off my property or you will go to the hospital.’”
Bang Bang Bang, Halt, get off my property!
That’s how we do it in Texas!!
When I was reading that, I could hear the voice of Early Cuyler (Squidbillies).
You have two seconds to get off my property or you will go to the hospital.’”
click click…….dang….this here sucker is as empty as my bank account.
shoot first….foreclose later?
RE: Annie get your gun.
Annie get your rice.
When the WSJ starts talkin’ survivalist stuff-you know we’re in deep doo-doo.
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB120881517227532621.html
The always-annoying Jim Cramer was on the Today show this morning saying how paranoid all this is. Frankly, I don’t think it ever hurts to have some canned goods stocked away.
Along the lines of this, I saw our local ABC news crew at Sam’s Club on my drive home last night. I can only guess that they were doing coverage on the rice rationing.
Crazy times. I’m guessing about to get crazier…
That’s the thing. With prices soaring on food, why not have some sitting in the pantry? I estimate we have a 90 day supply of canned goods. Maybe we won’t need it. Even so, it is a hedge against inflation. And if we really do need it…
It’s cheap insurance if you ask me.
I saw that movie. Wasn’t it called “y2k” or something like that?
Not,
( thanks )
Yes, and they made a sequel called “Bird Flu Pandemic.”
Bill,
My wife grew up in the “51st. State” ( the Philippines ) and said that bird-flu stuff has been around for years. Even before mass production lines for poultry. It’s sad, people tighten their belt another notch and move on.
Hey…at 82 yrs old and into foreclosure..he should have shot him in the leg at least.
That should be good for 3 hots and a cot, free medical and dental and prision TV
Beats eating dog food and freezing to death like the old folks in the 1980’s recession. Hell, the old guy could take prision study courses and even get his Law Degree if he didn’t pass away 1st 
“‘The news [media] goes to [report] ‘oh, they are losing their home.’ They are losing the property.’ When they go from that to a rental, they still have a home,’ he noted. ‘They are not on the street.’”
Finally the media starts to publish the truth. Foreclosures are wonderful events that allow the former owners to be freed from their debt bondage and move on with their lives in a rental, while at the same time allowing prices to become affordable for responsible ppl wishing to own. It’s a win win scenario except for those that didnt due their due diligence in purchasing the loans. No more sob stories please, they dont hold any water.
“The real estate industry now is paying for some mortgage lenders’ loose standards in 2004, 2005 and 2006, said Ron Roe, CEO of Russell & Jeffcoat Realtors.
Ron must think that the mortgage brokers were the full force behind the problems and that the mortgage brokers were the ones who sold the properties to those who could not afford them.
Ron, you have failed to accept responsibility and you know damn well that it was the realtors and the mortgage brokers/banks that were involved in swindling the market so you could line your commision only pockets at the consumers expense!
Fuzzy,
Exactly. Actually “lending standards” got loose prior but I don’t want to get nit-picky. Also very interesting that the day late and a dollar short regulatory efforts are starting at the bottom? Richard Crowder, Gary Mills and Karen Lynn Sullivan are now ‘convicted’ scumbags ( before sentencing they were just ordinary scumbags ) but if this were the DEA these clowns are mules, not kingpins.
This is a VERY… different approach than the way securities fraud was prosecuted after the tech meltdown? Not that we’re not happy to see these @ssclown fraudsters going down but can someone please explain to me why we’re seeing this bottom up approach?
I wonder how many commissions he let pass because he was insistent about not letting a client get locked into a mortgage he did not feel they could afford. I am almost certain it is zero, and am equally confident that when one got cold feet he called them and explained how housing doubles every ten years and you can always refi. No worries.
get locked into a mortgage he did not feel they could afford
Or locking them into a profitable (for him) neg-am loan that the buyer could afford — for only two years.
the wife and I nearly bought in early ‘05. We could afford the home, but we knew in the back of our mind it wasn’t worth it then (and certainly wouldn’t be now). My wife called the RE agent to say “no more negotiations, we’re at an impasse, we’re walking.” and the agent refused. So I called her:
“You’re only at $7,000 difference. It isn’t that much!”
My reply: “If it is only $7,000, why don’t you pay the difference?”
She really played hardball, accusing us of wasting her time, when in reality we brought the listing to her and was the only place we looked at. She kept saying “Only $7,000″, and I kept saying, “If it is ONLY $7,000, why don’t you make up the difference?” She didn’t get it at all.
Looking back, she did us a huge favor: got us out of the market for six months, at which point we found this blog…
Yup, it’s like boob job doctors who don’t remind women that their silicon pouches are like tires, and need to be replaced every 10 years. Inflated dreams, meet cold cash.
I like my wife’s recent enhancements (aka The Twins) MUCH more than any tires I have ever bought (even Michelins). They also keep pace with “inflation” better than the savings account I had the cash in…
I couldn’t resist
“Ron, you have failed to accept responsibility and you know damn well that it was the realtors and the mortgage brokers/banks that were involved in swindling the market so you could line your commision only pockets at the consumers expense”!
Exactly, The whole bunch were/are in cahoots. I can’t tell you how times I have heard/read about mortgage loan ‘deals’ but only with their preferred lender. Rotten to the core and now they’ll be throwing each other over board.
wmbz,
I prefer “Standing in a circle and shooting”
“Investor Julian Dominguez has been tracking foreclosures at the courthouse for more than 20 years, and says he has seen it all before. Dominguez says he sympathizes with homeowners facing foreclosure, but says many will land on their feet.”
“‘The news [media] goes to [report] ‘oh, they are losing their home.’ They are losing the property.’ When they go from that to a rental, they still have a home,’ he noted. ‘They are not on the street.’”
_____________________________________________________________
When you get foreclosed on, you are most-often broke and your credit rating is a beyond dismal, but you’ll be ok.
Shake it off and get back in the game…
But, but, but, it’s not that they don’t have a house they “thought” they owned, anymore, but they can’t buy any more Stuff! that’s what really sucks…..
Marie: “I don’t care about losing all the money. It’s losing all the stuuuuuff.”
http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001613/
The Jerk!
They aren’t broke. They lived rent free for many months and saved up for their rental home.
–
“The Tampa Tribune from Florida. “A new report on real estate prices shows Tampa’s decline was the steepest among Florida cities tracked during the quarter and was more than 15 percent over the past year.”
Since July 2007 the price decline in Tampa metro, as per Radar Logic’s PPSF data, is at a steady 27-28% annual rate.
People will be looking at some very ugly numbers when they see YoY decline for Jun-Aug of 2008. The Case-Shiller numbers will be devastating with most metros showing more than 20% YoY decline by then.
Jas
The best way to describe how things feel here is by comparison to when a hurricane is offshore in the Gulf. Sometimes the barometric pressure will drop just enough so that the air feels eerily different.
And yet yesterday, WFLA Radio news (WFLA is part of the same company that owns the Tampa Tribune) had a headline story that the bottom had been reached and the real estate market was, happily, on its way back up. The local real estate organization’s talking head was ever so chipper and optimistic.
What wasn’t said . . .
Every time a lender “buys” back its own property at a fake auction using the spurious appraised-value “asking price” (so they don’t have to mark the real loss on the books), it gets reported as a sale (at the inflated price, no less), so of course the number of reported sales are up, at fantasy prices (the banks don’t actually have to pay themselves, do they?). But, if you take those out of the picture, is anybody buying? And what are the real prices real buyers are paying?
Every time a house sells in Hyde Park, the agent practically attaches a blimp, complete with rocket launchers, to the place to ballyhoo the event. If everything is so back-to-normal, why the circus? It’s like planting shills in the Beatle’s early audiences to scream and pretend to faint in order to cause mass hysteria. This appalling fraud might still work at Obama rallies, but I don’t think it’s going make overpriced houses sell faster, when few can afford them, fewer, still, want them, and almost nobody actually needs them.
“‘Realtors are being a little more aggressive with their clients to stop chasing the curve,’ said Missy Becker, a Realtor for 23 years. ‘That’s what’s been clogging up the market.’”
I would simply tell this realtor to go find some other client and bypass/fire her by getting my own realtors license and pay myself the commision to buy a house or buy it directly from the seller thus bypassing the realtors commision. Simply put, it’s cutting out the middle person (realtor).
“and buyers are cherry pickers. In fact, they are sometimes referred to as scavengers, hyenas and bottom feeders.’”
not true. I’m a vulture. How dare they call me a hyena.
I wonder why they don’t mention the disease that caused this epidemic. It’s the pathogens that cause the misery, the scavengers just help clean up the mess.
ADFD = Acquired Debt Foreclosure Disorder
ADPD = Acquired Debt Poverty Disorder
ADHD = Acquired Debt Homeless Disorder
What a disgusting quote from Mr. Van Zandt. It’s just business, deal with it. Comments like this, well, it never ceases to amaze me what money does to people. Swift was right, we truly are just Yahoos scrambling after the shiny trinket.
‘We just have so much inventory, and buyers are cherry pickers. In fact, they are sometimes referred to as scavengers, hyenas and bottom feeders.’”
And those parasites who “bought” no-money-down residential housing units in hopes of squeezing some free, easy money out of a legitimate home-buyer are called “INVESTORS”????
Give me a break!!
Those people are the predators, not the legitimate buyers who actually have their own money at stake.
40% of the market in 2006 were speculators.
Let’s call them leaches, blood-suckers, and vipers, a more apt description.
diogenes,
Agreed, can we PLEASE stop w/ the name calling already! There are two basic camps, momentum players and v-a-l-u-e players. It’s just that “Momentum players are like dogs that chase cars. They make a lot of noise, they attract a lot of attention but unfortunately… they don’t last that long”.
This is a very telling comment, as it shows how screwed up the thinking is of a lot of people.
Scavengers, hyenas and bottom feeders all play a critical role in nature. The clean up the mess, and only take what they absolutely need. Their actions almost always provide a benefit to the others.
In contrast to the flippers, Wall Street liars, and the other parasites, that created this mess in the first place. They added no value. In fact, they did an amazing amount of damage.
You can call me a scavengers, hyenas or bottom feeder any time.
Being called that by a sixpercenter is music to my ears
–
“That median price of an existing Broward County home last month was $311,400, down 16 percent…”
I lived briefly in Broward County in late 1985. 4+3 homes were listed for 109K and I was told that the prices were the same ten years before that. I can’t see why prices will not fall below $200K by 2009.
Jas
For anything not right on the coast, which would be about 95% of homes in Broward - yep I agree for sure (I lived near there in the early 90’s). $300k is still way overpriced, especially given the job market there.
and buyers are cherry pickers. In fact, they are sometimes referred to as scavengers, hyenas and bottom feeders.’”
He has it all wrong! They are sometimes referred to as cherry pickers, scavengers, hyenas, bottom feeders, fuzzy bears and financially smart people.
I’m certain the realtors with these type of comments towards their potential customers will lose the business of the financially sound and credit worthy consumer once they hear what the realtors are saying about their customers!
They can call me anything they want…..just don’t call me late for dinner……or a real good foreclosure sale…hehehehehe
Not financially smart, we call them knife catchers.
M_in_MA,
What’s worse ( as Ben does such a great job pointing out ) is not only were the ‘homes’ wildly over valued… the development was too! Look how many of these people that bought in ‘05 and ‘06 that *have kept current on their payments and HOA’s that are stuck in developments where, the pool *isn’t being built. The golf course *isn’t finished. There’s *isn’t a guard at their “guard gated” community! Hell, in a lot of cases there *isn’t even a gate!
So it’s not like they only got swindled on their home.
RE: The golf course *isn’t finished. There’s *isn’t a guard at their “guard gated” community! Hell, in a lot of cases there *isn’t even a gate!
When the price of a gallon of gaz reaches $8.00 per gallon or each person is limited to a 20 gallon ration, a lot of these out of the way developments better hope a commuter rail line gets finished or their neighborhood which quickly become an economically obsolete ghost town.
That is exactly how I feel. I read a story last month about a Pennsylvania couple who bought a big house in an exurb ninety minutes from the husband’s job, and about how their gasoline expenditures have doubled in the last few years. They don’t know it yet, but they’re dead.
“A new report on real estate prices shows Tampa’s decline was the steepest among Florida cities tracked during the “Much of the bad news is because of foreclosures and delinquencies, particularly with subprime loans, said Bob Visini, VP of LoanPerformance, which tracked the data…. more than 15 percent over the past year.”
Why is this “bad news”???
From my perspective, this is very good news. In fact, I hope to hear many more stories like this over the next 2 years.
Why is this “bad news”???
I agree diogenes (Tampa, Fl). You should read the comments on the St. Petersburg Times by the realtors. It’s located at sptimes.com, blogs, (un) Real estate. Very entertaining!
One would think that inventory would clear fairly rapidly given the increasing population of the the U.S. However, it actually won’t until the prices come way down. A higher population of poor people does not guarentee an influx of buyers (even though the real estate agents would love to think so).
I’ve heard some anecdotal evidence that Europeans are engaged in at least isolated buying in Jupiter / W. Palm Beach. The Euro spread plus the price decline makes it attractive, although I still don’t see a lot of turnover in for sale signs, so you have to question the source.
It’s just a matter of time before somebody delivers a process server’s last writes…
“Marion County sheriff’s deputies have arrested an 82-year-old man and charged him with threatening a process server with a gun when he received a foreclosure notice.”
“Robert McGuinness, of Black Diamond Process Service, told a sheriff’s deputy that he went to serve court papers on Frank W. Conard. McGuinness said Conard…pointed a handgun at him and said ‘You have two seconds to get off my property or you will go to the hospital.’”
As if there is some “magic” to telling the process server to go away, gun or no gun. Assuming that they don’t come out with the sheriff to serve the papers, the court will let them send the court papers regular mail if necessary and the next notice he will have is when the sheriff DOES come out with the papers to forcibly evict him after the judgment is entered.
When you are down to 6 bullets in a chambered weapon as your final assets, “magic” is it’s name.
Slightly off topic, but some on the ground observations from my neck of the woods.
So I’m out this morning looking at garage sales, because this is suppose to be the extended weekend for all the neighborhood sales around here. Well I don’t yard sale much - my only previous experience really was down in Houston where you could seriously bank, if you went to the right neighborhood. There were places we’d go to (nice 4,000-6,000 SQFT homes) where you could pick up furnature for $500 and it’d be a steal, because it would cost $5,000 new. Real classy brand name stuff built by real craftsmen.
So I’m looking around here in the upscale subdivisions around here in Kansas City (4,000-7,000 SQFT homes) and all I see is junk. I mean real garbage. Just cheap chinese plastic crap and $10 (new) Target pressboard furnature. These people living in mansions are obviously worse off than our family, even those we’re just lowly renters. The stuff these people are try to get money for is the stuff you’d see in low income housing (under $100,000) in Houston.
So it got me to thinking. Number one, these mansions here are just slapped together to appeal to people who think they are rich - just nasty pressboard siding for example. People who actually ARE rich would get a nicely constructed home by a custom builder. So these people are paying for the feeling of being rich, and are getting a big empty box, but poor construction. Number two, if they aren’t really rich (a deduction from their garage sale garbage) in the near future they will become acquainted with the foreclosure process.
It really was a big shock from my previous experience. I wish I had my camera with me ’cause words don’t do the junk I saw justice. There is no way these people could actually afford their homes going by the low quality of their belongings.
And they won’t be able to get out of their fix by selling, because all of these neighborhoods have numerous vacant completed houses that the builders have been unable to unload. And they’re still building. I think the crash is going to be even worse than I initially thought.
We got a new IKEA here in Salt Lake. The first week they were open, there were Escalades and Excursions backed up to the exit with people barrelling out with couches and beds and dressers. I bought my share of crap, but I am also living on the cheap and don’t plan on buying serious furniture until I own a home, which is worth furnishing. And to be fair, a lot of IKEA’s stuff is unique and quirky, and can’t be found anywhere else in town. But I have to say, I’m with you on this one. Those who allowed their mortgages to eat up 40%-60% of takehome pay, must cut corners elsewhere.
Check out EQ3 for quirky furniture that’s still pretty inexpensive, but not as crappy as IKEA’s.
At least they HAVE pressboard furniture. There is a neighborhood that I’ve driven past for 5-6 years where the smallest home is 5000 square feet, all houses with the obligatory BMW suv and Mercedes convertible in the driveway. If you drive by at night, at most of them you can see in (no drapes) and these huge rooms have NOTHING in them.
This year I was invited to a young relative’s house for New Year’s. She and husband were living in a carriage home, it was recently built and appointed with all the requisite McMansion doodaddery. The only furniture was in the TV room, where there was a plasma TV and a couch. Well, besides the kitchen table and chairs, computer desk, and mattresses on the floors in BRs.
What is the point of the Brazilian cherry floors, the granite countertops, the his and hers dressing rooms, if your place looks like a college frat house? These folks are living in the kinds of places that they make you do over on HGTV, they’re the BEFORE houses, not the AFTER houses. The AFTER houses are supposed to have Pottery Barn furniture and some nice generic prints on the walls.
“doodaddery” ?
Love it. I’m sure my relatives are tired of hiring me say “fru-fru”. Thanks phillygal! That aside, didn’t these people have any furniture BEFORE they moved in!? I mean ANY?
Reminds of the scene in Boiler Room where “the boys” are hanging around in an absolutely barren living room watching “Wall Street” reciting lines from the only couch in the room.
I guess they didn’t have furniture before moving in, and perhaps that could be explained away by their being a very young newlywed couple. However, they were sharing the house with husband’s mother, who helped them with DP. One has to really wonder what happened to her pre-McMansion furniture?
BTW the female half of the young couple just left the husband after only 2 and a quarter years of marriage.
phillygal,
Oh I’m sorry, I wasn’t trying to pick on relatives ( I can leave that to you
) but I just wonder about McMansion occupants in general. Was it that they were SO embarrassed about their “Early American Garage Sale” furniture they’d prefer nothing over that?
Reminds of many years ago when we rented a spec. house for $200 - 4500 sq. feet of absolutely beautiful home.
We had no furniture for it, couldn’t even fill the family room and what we had was truly shabby.
The kicker though was — we couldn’t afford the PGE bill!!
Yeah, I remember my first tour of a McMansion, about 15 years ago. Beyond the oh so grand entry, the living room was completely barren except for a patio chaise lounge. The bedrooms, just mattresses on the floor. Mind you, my friend had lived there for over 2 years. I half expected aluminium foil window coverings. Now that’s living large!
RE: I think the crash is going to be even worse than I initially thought.
Interesing post.
Gotta like the view from the man who is literally out on the street.
Maybe a few bubble head MSM reporters should maybe follow you around and learn something to report.
Hate to say it, but I’m kinda glad to hear about Myrtle Beach’s woes. Used to go there during my spring breaks. The Myrtle Beach officials, though, began making it clear that they didn’t want us college students around. It seemed like every time, we would end up passing the hat to raise money to get a buddy out of the Myrtle Beach jail. As far as I’m concerned, they can stick their “nice, clean” town where the sun don’t shine!
LOL, Ft. Liquordale did the same thing and their “family friendly” beach resort push didn’t work out so well. Now they want the Richie Riches. Good luck with that.
Kinda like the programs for recovering your virginity. Yeah. That makes sense.
I’m a little bit Hyena and a little bit Aardvark…
Hyenaardvark
Or you could be an ‘Aarena’. That’s pretty and spring-like sounding, too, whereas ‘hyenaardvark’ sounds like when someone drinks too much and then barfs off the deck onto, say, a hydrangea plant. Poor, poor hydrangea plant.
I thought it sounded like a famous only in Norway, arctic explorer from the 19th century.
Go bottom feeders!
When, in the not so near future, I decide to get back in and buy a house (on my terms), I will be offended if the sellers don’t call me names. I absolutely intend to be a scavenger, hyena, bottom feeder and i won’t settle for anything less.
If the seller isn’t crying at closing- you should have negotiated harder.
“and buyers are cherry pickers. In fact, they are sometimes referred to as scavengers, hyenas and bottom feeders.”
Yes, that’s me, a hyena. I will be laughing all the way when the time is right.
I prefer to let the FBs do all the work and I’ll come in and feed on the carcasses left behind. By the way, I also do my own hunting. Excuse me, me and my clan just smelled a live FB and will have some fun hunting this one down.
tip: dead man clothes on ebay
suits for $25
shoes $20
may smell like famaldyhide
Who loaned the dogs out?
“His boss, Ron Ragle, said said his employees have been threatened with knives and people have released dogs on them, but they never had someone pull a gun on them. ‘Foreclosures are going through the roof,’ Ragle said.”
Some websites for Ragle and his crew:
1. Dog Assault
2. Dog Bite Law
2. Dogs Bite
“You’re a…a… process server with a foreclosure notice…for me ?”
“Smithers”.. release the hounds,”
Charles Montgomery Burns
There just was a situation on the news where a sheriff and property manager evicting a tenant were both shot by the evictee. They are both in hospital, in serious condition. The deadbeat tenant is jailed.
This was in NJ.
An he was a tenant, not a FB!
I know, it must be a New Jersey thing.
(Didn’t someone upthread ask why there’s such an exodus from NJ?)
Who loaned the dogs out?
I just laughed. TY lad.
Who is packin’ and who ain’t?
“‘The news [media] goes to [report] ‘oh, they are losing their home.’ They are losing the property.’ When they go from that to a rental, they still have a home,’ he noted. ‘They are not on the street.’”
That’s the truth. I made this point to someone the other day who was invoking the story of the Prodigal Son. He had a good point, but he was implying that a bailout, while it makes people mad, is what the father of the Prodigal son would have done. I disagreed.
The prodigal’s pushover of a dad would have done what we’re doing right now. We live in a very forgiving society. If you foreclose on a home, you are not thrown in jail. The bank doesn’t garnish your wages for years afterward to recover its loss. You are not forbidden to EVER own a home again. You are also not homeless. You can rent a home quite easily and for less money than owning, quite often. Nobody even has to know. Same story with bankruptcy, except in those cases, you actually keep the clothes and boobs and crap that you bought on credit.
In either case, you’re off the hook for the cash you blew, free to roam the streets and use judgment to vote and hold a job. It goes down on the books and that’s the punishment you get. Oh, and then we wipe it off after a while and it’s like it never happened. I believe we are pretty damn good to our Prodigal Sons here in the USA.
Side note, can I just vent? Raise your hand if you are about to bleed from the ears before your head explodes, because everyone’s crying about “pain at the pump.” *raises hand*. The cost of housing hiking 40% (or more for some of you) stings a lot more than the extra $50-$100 I’m paying in gas and food every month. The victims in this case are those who want a place to live, to put down roots and settle in. And their cries weren’t heard because everyone else was too busy pounding their chests at the water cooler about how awesome they are for being undeservedly rich.
I guess your final minute as a buyer comes right before your first minute as an owner and your views instantly change from bearish to bullish. That’s unless you’re remarkably aware, like those on this blog who actually own. Props to you guys.
Hissy fit is over. Phew. Thanks pals.
Just realized it sounds like I’m dismissing the problem of ridiculous food and gas. I’m totally not. Hate and fury and bitter sarcasm to those too!
‘I guess your final minute as a buyer comes right before your first minute as an owner and your views instantly change from bearish to bullish. That’s unless you’re remarkably aware, like those on this blog who actually own. Props to you guys.’
Nope. I am as much of a bear as I was before I took on a mortgage and became a ‘home owner’. More so. Bear Squared. In fact, think of me as a gigantic bear, like a dancing circus bear, standing up on my hind feet and waving my paws majestically to the tinkling tinny calliope music, marching around in the sawdust while wearing one of those cute little red fez hats with a tassle and everything, is how much of a bear I am.
But, see, I thought of a house as a place to live in, and keep my books and beer and candy and shoes in. Not as a get-rich-quick-scheme. Also, I like forests and wetlands and this insane housing/lending bubble has been fairly bad for both of those things.
And now, if you’ll excuse me, I think I’ll go eat some cotton candy and follow it up with a clown and a few little kids.
I’m just one of those lazy ones that lays around and poses for National Geographic. Like the fat sloppy cousin of the fun spunky one that the circus steals (that’s you, Oly). I am the content and unbothered bear today that I fully plan to be after I buy someday.
I’ve told the last few realtors that I’ve loathesomely run into, right off the bat, that I’m not interested in discussing a home as an investment. I view it only as a home and the reason I even want to buy one is that I view it as long term. Utah is full of punk kids–my age and younger–running around with real estate licenses. When I say these things, it’s like “Does Not Compute.”
‘I’m just one of those lazy ones that lays around and poses for National Geographic.’
Yeah, them’s sexy. On the other hand, I just love hats, so it’s a toss-up.
‘Utah is full of punk kids–my age and younger–running around with real estate licenses.’
I bet they already have the suit and tie and serious expression, even, fresh from their mission. (I grew up in Utarrr, down south, red rocky area, long-prairie-dress-hair-in-a-bun fundamentalist town. But I will not start, because today is a beautiful day here. I’m going to remain tranquil. Watch!)
“Side note, can I just vent? Raise your hand if you are about to bleed from the ears before your head explodes, because everyone’s crying about “pain at the pump.” *raises hand*. The cost of housing hiking 40% (or more for some of you) stings a lot more than the extra $50-$100 I’m paying in gas and food every month.”
Oh am I right there with you on that one. I figure that I burn about 1,000 gallons of gas a year, which used to cost me about 3,000 bucks a year. This year it will be closer to 4,000 bucks, and that’s for someone who drives ALOT (I have to travel for work).
We all get in the huge hissy about gas going up 1K a month, but when a home goes up 50K a month, that’s a good thing? WTF? I always feel like smacking the taste out of someones mouth when they complain about gas prices; if you’re complaining about the extra 1-2K a year it costs you for gas, you can’t even CONSIDER buying a home. 1-2K a year in unexpected expenses would be shockingly low for a home..
In summary, gas up 1K a year = Global disaster
Homes up 50-100K a year = Good thing
??
And, don’t jump on and tell me that gas effects the price of everything; I know that, and you’re right, but what do you think housing does? When housing goes up, everything else goes up (probably more so then it does with gas prices).
Anyway, I’m there with you and totally agree, it’s a case of totally missing the big picture!
one is an asset and the other is a consumable.
Michael,
True. Even though I work at home and my “commute” will be 1/2 a block ( assuming they ever… get my new office completed ) it’s easy for me to be a natural target when I point this out. “Oh easy for YOU to say!”
Yet I don’t recall any of these same people passing the hat when I took like a 75% pay cut the 1st year? Hell, it’s been almost 5 years and I’m just NOW getting back to where I was back then! Not that I’m complaining, these are the choices I made. Back in 2002/3 I worked off the assumption that parking costs in Portland would eventually create the breaking point. To be sure they’ve escalated too, but I imagine it’s only a matter of time before “progressive” cities figure out a way to tax “non-resident commuters”?
I’m happy w/ the decisions I’ve made. Hell, I HAVE to be!
May I copy that and send it to Barney Frank?
Go nuts! It’s all yours.
I actually like Barney. Sure i disagree with him on this housing bailout proposals, but it is hard to blame him for trying to clean up a mess the Republicans in power created. Where the heck were these people when they should have been enforcing the regulations that were on the books? Oh right, they put lobbyists in charge to make sure the games would continue uninterrupted.
So go ahead and blame Dodd and Frank, but remember they are forced to deal with a problem they did not create. If you really don’t like handouts, bailouts, socialized government, and all the other crap, do us all a favor and exercise ADULT SUPERVISION of the markets next time.
Otherwise don’t be pissed about Barney or Dodd.
“Raise your hand if you are about to bleed from the ears before your head explodes, because everyone’s crying about “pain at the pump.” *raises hand*. The cost of housing hiking 40% (or more for some of you) stings a lot more than the extra $50-$100 I’m paying in gas and food every month.”
The rise in commodity prices (food/fuel) is just a symptom. TPTB are shifting their losses from the banks/lenders onto the public at large. They’re trying to prop up asset prices; by flooding the market with money- interest rates are ridiculously low, and cash is seeking safe havens; food and energy being two of the most obvious. The dollar is getting trashed. I *am* angry that purchasing power is being stolen from those who have saved, and given (through monetization) to banks, financial institutions, and indirectly, to foolish home debtors. Yes, I’m angry.
I definitely feel the pain of increased fuel and energy costs. However, it’s much easier for me to absorb these price increases than in other parts of the world where food/energy consume a much larger percentage of household budgets. Those folks should be, and are, getting even more angry. Just imagine being poor, and having the ability to feed your family eroded away so that a rich Wall Street banker could get a bigger bonus. How would you react?
My solution for pain-at-the-pump? I bought a cheap commuter car that gets >45mpg, and am making sure the motorcycles are up-to-date on all their maintenance.
You are correct SLC.
I was going on along renting for twelve hundred a month to live at the beach, magically the area exploded up to 2300.00 for rentals.
Even if homes and rents go down I still got burned on the increases in the standard of living. And that was before rice and gas.
‘Sellers are having to make significant concessions to get buyers to sign,’ Van Zandt said. ‘We just have so much inventory, and buyers are cherry pickers. In fact, they are sometimes referred to as scavengers, hyenas and bottom feeders.’”
Ooooh, the paaaainnnnn, just a’crushin my sensitive spirit here. I already own a mortgage, so can I still be a hyena? How about if I laugh like one sometimes? Come on! I wanna be one!
Hey, or maybe Mr. Van Zandty-Waanty is just a grouchy wittle
pouty-kins, with his wittle meanie-poo name-calling. Izzat righty-wighty? Is ickle winkums bitterrrrrr?
HAHAHAHA!
(Oh, look–there’s the hyena laugh again.)
“Hyenas found to be sociable and smart.”
International Herald Tribune (www.iht.com)
The lender, not the borrower, owns the mortgage.
Yes, he just lets you cut the grass to protect ‘his investment’ and allows you to THINK you “own” it.
Which, IIRC, was the point that the much-maligned Robert Kiyosaki was trying to make when he said that your house is not an asset on your personal balance sheet. Rather, it’s an asset for the holder of your mortgage.
Never heard of Kiyosaki, but I can see why he was much-maligned.
Home is asset on personal balance sheet and mortgage is the corresponding liability . . . equity is either positive or negative depending on how much you lie, are delusional and how F’d you are.
Mortgage is an asset for the lender, house is just the security.
Final thought on this . . . Asset owners are the ones required to pay property taxes and insurance.
Oh, blah, blah, you know what I mean.
Hows you all know that Oly’s not a banker??
Bankers aren’t that, um . . . funky, peculiar, wacky, imaginative, artsy, etc. as Olygal.
She is like a box of chocolates . . . you never know what you’re gonna get with her
Jamaica big mistake
“The Jamaican immigrant says she invested $40,000 in two homes in West Palm Beach when the real estate market was expanding. The properties were supposed to help pay for her upcoming retirement. But she ran into problems when the units failed to attract renters or buyers as the market turned sour.”
Hank Fishkind is at it again. Have at it –
http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/apr/24/housing-market-recovery-track-collier-slower-lee/
Renowned Florida economist Hank Fishkind spoke the words Naples Realtors and brokers wanted to hear. The housing markets hit bottom in Collier County and home prices aren’t going to drop anymore, he said Thursday in a talk organized by the Naples Area Board of Realtors.
CUE THE SEAL!!!
I mean, really, by this time the message is so contrived that it must sound like a band getting back together after twenty years so it can make money playing covers of itself.
According to Fishkind, the Fla. market bottomed 12 months ago:
http://www.floridarealtors.org/NewsAndEvents/n1-072607.cfm
RE: “His accomplices, former title attorney Gary Mills, who owned Deerfield Beach-based Four Star Title, and former Wachovia loan officer, Karen Lynn Sullivan were sentenced to 46 months and 50 months, respectively. The defendants are scheduled to appear again in court on May 29 for a hearing to determine the restitution they must pay to the victims.”
WTF is with these 46 and 50 month sentences in a minimum security
“hotel”?
These chucks should be doin’ a hard 10 Texas chain gang.
Aaah, well you see, its a white collar crime. All they did was hurt many, many people. Versus the drug addict, who hurts himself……..go figure.
potential buyer,
Well said. You could say the same of the CEO’s of these shyster outfits as well? The damage these clowns did pales in comparison. $37 mil? It would cover about a day’s int. at the rate they’re going. Good point.