The Words ‘Price Reduction’ Are Almost Standard In Florida
The Herald Tribune reports from Florida. “John Rankin remembers the day the owner at 2214 Sonoma Drive skipped town. ‘He packed up his truck one day, and drove away,’ said Rankin, president of the Mission Estates homeowners association in Venice. ‘Then he just never came back.’ That was nearly a year ago. As weeks and then months went by, the property fell into disrepair.”
“After press time last week, nearly a year after the property was first abandoned, the foreclosure case finally went to court. While Rankin said he is hopeful the association will receive its back assessments, there is no guarantee these days that that will happen.”
“‘If you get enough of these vacant units, those monies from assessments aren’t coming in, and what do you do when you get a shortfall?’ said Community Association Leadership Lobby director David Muller. ‘You still have to pay the management and the maintenance crews.’”
“According to the CALL survey, of those Southwest Florida associations that did take steps to make up for the revenue being lost, many did engage in legal action to force a mortgage lender to pay (40 percent). But just as popular was increasing the monthly maintenance fees for all other residents (32 percent), and increasing special assessment fees for everyone (38 percent).”
“In other words, it seems the likely scenario for most residents is that their own fees will be raised to make up for the delinquency of others who have gone into foreclosure. Muller said those extra fees can wind up creating a cascading effect.”
“‘Especially the folks there on a fixed income, they might not be able to make ends meet,’ he said. ‘Those folks who are already struggling to make their payments now face increases, and they might not make it and wind up in foreclosure themselves. And so it snowballs from there.’”
National Public Radio. “On a recent Saturday morning, real estate agent Marc Joseph and his staff drove about a dozen people through the streets of Cape Coral. For three hours, they visited nearly a dozen bank-owned properties, many of which had been marked down more than 50 percent.”
“A four-bedroom, three-bathroom house with an in-ground pool that last sold for $741,500 in March 2006; it’s on the market now for $369,900. A three-bedroom ranch house on a freshwater canal selling for $143,500, having been sold just 17 months ago for $316,800.”
“Fishkind and Associates estimates that Lee County has a three- to five-year inventory of unsold homes. As a result, homes can now be bought for well under the replacement cost, Joseph says. ‘There is a lot of inventory on the market, and there’s a lot more coming,’ Joseph says.”
“When condominiums went on the market at the gleaming new development of Cape Harbour in Cape Coral, Fla., a few years ago, so many people wanted to buy that the owners had to sell them by lottery. The fact that the towers hadn’t been built yet was viewed as a minor concern.”
“By the time the tower was finished, the real estate boom had ended, and today many of those same condos are unsold or in foreclosure, says real estate agent and resident Robin Speronis.”
“As prices have fallen back to earth, owners have increasingly found themselves owing more than their properties are worth, and are walking away from them, helping to create a backlog of more than 19,000 unsold homes — about six times as many as two years ago.”
“Marcus Netto has to work two jobs to pay the mortgage, maintenance and taxes on the two Fort Myers properties he owns; he also has a time-share in Orlando. But he has to dip into savings to cover his expenses.”
“‘I got almost $4,000 every month (in costs),’ says Netto. ‘That’s a lot of money for me. I don’t make that.’”
The Miami Herald. “Harriet and Paul Fass, both 65 and hoping to soon retire, aren’t rich. Even so, the Wilton Manors couple cobbled together $100,000 to invest in the financing of a private housing development in Florida City, in the midst of the region’s real estate boom.”
“Now the Fasses, and some four dozen other investors, are facing the prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some families’ entire life savings could be wiped out. The investors had bought into a lie.”
“A Florida City public official had guaranteed, in writing, to bail out the project if it stumbled. ‘It sounded safer than the stock market,’ Harriet Fass said of the real estate deal.”
From CBS 4.com. “Forbes Magazine has come out with a list of the top ten worst-selling housing markets in the U.S. And it’s probably no surprise to you that Miami tops the list. Housing prices are coming down fast.”
“The words ‘price reduction’ are almost standard with any sign in a yard today, making it nearly impossible to judge what is a good deal, especially when you see how much prices are dropping. At the peak of our market in 2004 home values rose on average $1,000 a week. So far this year we’re in a nosedive, prices dropping $1250 a week.”
“‘It went so fast and, so crazily, that I think it has to,’ said Hazel Goldman. ‘You know anything that goes up has to come down.’”
“Goldman, a realtor, blames credit for the steady drop in price. Banks now demand 20 to 30 percent down. ‘Unfortunately as much as the young people can afford the payments, which is a struggle, but more and more people can, it’s hard for them to come up with the down payment,’ Goldman.”
“Blythe Mandelbaum couldn’t pass up a sweet deal: $150,000 off the 2007 price tag. ‘We got a lot for our money. We’re in the right school district. I’m very happy. I know prices are still coming down but I don’t know if I would have been as lucky.’”
“And while some jumping in, most are staying out, and in a sense making money, $1250 a week.”
From TC Palm. “James Perham had called his rented Peninsula Lane house home for eight months when a bank representative showed up on his doorstep two weeks ago and told him he was trespassing.”
“Perham didn’t know the man he was paying had allowed the house to go into foreclosure in April 2007 — before getting a renter. Perham’s landlord didn’t own the house. The bank did.”
“‘I have a feeling that it’s going to start happening quite a bit there because of the current state of the market,’ said Brad Hunter, director of Metrostudy. ‘A lot of people bought homes at the peak and can’t afford their mortgage payments now. … They’re getting in over their heads, and they’re not communicating to their renters what the true situation is.’”
“In St. Lucie County, 549 homes entered some stage of foreclosure last month, up from 370 in March 2007, according to RealtyTrac. Martin County had 160 homes entering a stage of foreclosure last month compared with only 38 in March 2007, while Indian River County had 153 homes entering foreclosure last month, up from 58 a year earlier.”
“Anyone looking to lease or buy should hire an attorney or contact a legal aide before signing papers or handing over any security money or rent, said Billy Moss, a commercial real estate agent in Vero Beach.”
“‘Leases are a very delicate situation,’ Moss said. ‘I would never sign a lease unless an attorney was involved.’”
“When his landlord wanted only cash, Perham thought it was a little odd. But when the neighbors had good things to say about him, Perham decided the man was OK and handed over his $3,100 deposit. ‘It was a nice house, the guy lived across (from) the canal,’ Perham said. ‘I didn’t question anything.’” “And then, more than $12,000 in rent later, came the bank officer.”
“Perham found another private home to rent — this time in Port St. Lucie — and will move in May 1. His rent has been cut in half. ‘But believe me, I went through the court system and checked everything, checked to make sure everything’s been paid,’ Perham said. ‘I’m going to do it from now on.’”
The Orlando Sentinel. “Mired in confusion over mortgage and title situations, some homeowners are taking drastic steps to simplify their lives — including walking away from their homes.”
“As housing values fall and credit woes rise, more Central Florida consumers are turning to a process that lenders, credit counselors and foreclosure experts advise against. But even they understand why it can be appealing to homeowners.”
“‘If you’re in good standing, you might as well talk to the wall,’ said Orlando attorney Rick Franzblau, who handles foreclosure cases. ‘Until you stop paying, they won’t even talk to you.’”
“Elizabeth Levensohn walked away from her Mount Dora home about six months ago and says it was the best thing she has ever done. She bought the house for just more than $100,000 a little more than two years ago.”
“‘It was the only house I could afford,’ Levensohn said.”
“At the time, it seemed like a good decision. She thought she’d be able to pay the mortgage on her salary as a school director at an Orlando church. Commuting wasn’t that expensive. The cottage was less than 700 square feet, just enough room for Levensohn and her daughter.”
“Within a year, she knew it was the biggest mistake of her life. When she and Isabella were down to eating ramen and beans and rice, she knew something had to give.”
“She decided to walk away from the house and let it go into foreclosure. Now she rents an apartment and lives a car-free — and, she said, relatively stress-free — life in Orlando.”
‘‘It went so fast and, so crazily, that I think it has to,’ said Hazel Goldman. ‘You know anything that goes up has to come down.’
‘Goldman, a realtor, blames credit for the steady drop in price.’
Which is it UHS, credit or fast and crazy price increases?
How about blaming credit for the crazy run-up?? Moron.. It’s not like credit was not available before the bubble, it just had STANDARDS to qualify for it.
We are heading back to normal, not the other way around. Credit was the PROBLEM before, not the problem now. Now it’s just the way that it should be.
I’m waiting for the day that someone actually blames affordability for the drop in home prices. I wonder if that day will ever come?
“I’m waiting for the day that someone actually blames affordability for the drop in home prices.”
I blame Global Warming.
From the Herald Tribune article, what the heck’s that thing he’s standing under in the picture?
You’re right! Everyone suddenly realized that the weather in the main bubble areas (FL, AZ, CA) is going to get too hot to live, so they’re fleeing the warm regions and right along the coasts. Prices in MN and ND must be surging, right?
A local TV station is doing a serious on Affordable Housing trolling for subsidies, of course, when I think we may come by it naturally in a couple years. Anyway, the first segment was announced solemnly as explaining Just What IS “Affordable” Housing? I’ve heard others ask the question too, like it’s a bi mystery that must be thoroughly investigated and adjudicated by a panel of experts. Just shows how far detached we’ve become from the whole concept of what is affordable per income.
Affordable housing to a TV station is tomorrow’s slum.
“Elizabeth Levensohn walked away from her Mount Dora home about six months ago and says it was the best thing she has ever done. She bought the house for just more than $100,000 a little more than two years ago.”
“‘It was the only house I could AFFORD,’ Levensohn said.”
“You keep using that word. I do not think it means, what you think it means.” Inigo Montoya, Princess Bride
How is Mt. Dora a suburb of Orlando? She was probably commuting in a SUV as well.
Did you see her pic. She was spending the mort. money on tatoos ,cheetos,and marlboros’ …How much lower must her rent be than on a 100K house ??
A church school director? I say she’s lying about her job. I may be judging a book by it’s cover, but it’s hard to imagine someone with that many tattoos would be allowed to manage a school and be around children. I just don’t see it.
Then you haven’t spent much time in Florida observing the locals.
A 30-fixed at 6% is ~$500/month give or take. She might be paying a higher interest rate. At 9% including taxes/insurance it could be upwards of $900/month. Rent for a decent 1 br is probably $650-700(?). Plus she saves $50 in gas. I don’t what sort of debt situation someone in her situation would have, but she appears to be within her means.
Maybe she HELOC’ed?
I think she’s standing in front of a jail.
By afford I suspect most FB’s mean “qualify for”.
There are vast numbers who believed the fact they qualified for the loan meant they could afford the loan.
You’re right. Most people have no idea what they can afford to buy. It seems like many simply spend whatever a lender will allow them to spend (auto finance company, home lender, credit card bank). For example look at the purchase of a car. People simply look at the monthly payment and decide whether it will fit into their budget. Of course they ignore maintenance (for my last car it averaged $100 per month) and tire replacement (for my last car it averaged $20 per month).
I think the reason that so few people, especially homeowners, save any money is that they ignore the expenses associated with certain assets. They put aside money every month as savings but during the year they have to fix the car, replace a water heater, replace an expensive air conditioner part, etc. As a result, their end-of-year savings account balance is the same as their beginning-of-year savings account balance.
Only thing that matters is the monthly payment - that’s how these yokels get sucked in. It’s only $XXX/month - we can swing that. When I went to buy my car I had to threaten to leave unless they told me the total price of the car cash instead of monthly payments. And, as usual, Cost of the car was different for cash and for financing.
The first car I bought, the sales man tried to talk me into a long loan term. I can’t remember the exact monthly amount, but it was something like “It’ll only cost you $125 a month!” On the plan they were proposing I figured that by the time the car was paid for I would have paid almost twice the original sales price and the car would only be worth $1500. I paid it off in about a year, because I didn’t like the idea of paying so much interest for something that could only go down in value.
But those payment plans explain why I see young guys in new sports cars or with tricked out cars –because they paying such small monthly payments for the next decade.
GH..you mean you have to “qualify” for a loan???..Gosh..back to the good ole days…
Problem was that there was a “anybody could qualify” stamp of the FB of yesterday!!
Amen to the “AFFORD” scams.
I’ve cringed when I heard these RE agents, bankers, lenders,cc companies “advise” these sheepile on what they could afford.
It’s like a Great White shark saying “let’s go swimming..and then we’ll do lunch”
What continues to amaze me is that no matter how much evidence there is, people continue to catch these falling knives. Comments like, “I got a great deal” and “I may never get so lucky again” blow my mind.
How can people walk into a sea of for sale, for rent, bank owned, foreclosures, vacant houses, historic inventory levels….and still pay 30-50% more than a house is worth??
Very easily, in fact a longtime friend of mine tried to do that very thing yesterday evening. A lot of folks it seems have an absolute and unshakable faith that RE won’t fall further and will “recover” quickly.
Where we see a Cat V hurricane others see a spring shower.
Yeah. The knife catcher talk/rationalization/denial speaks volumes. It is one of the primary reasons I assert that we are nowhere near the end of this. Not even close.
It is one of the primary reasons I assert that we are nowhere near the end of this. Not even close.
You are correct. I just looked at the S&P - Case-Shiller report and it clearly shows that we are not even close. For example, Tampa cost of living is much more expensive in terms of housing costs than Atlanta, but Atlanta has a much better and robust job market, whereas Tampa Bay is very limited in terms of jobs and actually has a negative job growth.
In those who are afflicted, irrational lust for riches can be, at best, only temporarily quenched.
“Goldman, a realtor, blames credit for the steady drop in price. Banks now demand 20 to 30 percent down. ‘Unfortunately as much as the young people can afford the payments, which is a struggle, but more and more people can, it’s hard for them to come up with the down payment,’ Goldman.”
Can anyone confirm that banks are requiring more than 20% down, I have not heard of this? Also, the hardship in putting together the down payment and the risk of losing that down payment is precisely what is needed to stabilize and get the markets back to normal equilibriums. And nothing could be further from the truth that too strict lending standards got us in the mess, the exact opposite is true.
“Can anyone confirm that banks are requiring more than 20% down, I have not heard of this?”
In certain condo developments you will need to put at least 20% down. Some lenders have decided to not lend on condos at all.
In the single family market I regularly see private mortgages around 5% down and FHA/VA in the 3% neighborhood.
Nappy headed HOA’s…
“In other words, it seems the likely scenario for most residents is that their own fees will be raised to make up for the delinquency of others who have gone into foreclosure. Muller said those extra fees can wind up creating a cascading effect.”
“‘Especially the folks there on a fixed income, they might not be able to make ends meet,’ he said. ‘Those folks who are already struggling to make their payments now face increases, and they might not make it and wind up in foreclosure themselves. And so it snowballs from there.’”
An aside question. Is there a site that tracks home sales (prices, etc.) besides zillow? In trying to track home prices, I’m finding that almost no homes are selling in my area? Are sites not reporting these figures anymore? Hmmm.
Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are controlling transmission. If we wish to make it louder, we will bring up the volume. If we wish to make it softer, we will tune it to a whisper. We will control the horizontal. We will control the vertical. We can roll the image, make it flutter. We can change the focus to a soft blur or sharpen it to crystal clarity.
ONE STEP BEYOND…………………..
Try this site. It gives you the 10 closest and most recent sales for whatever address you enter.
http://www.homes.com/Content/Sold-Homes-Prices.cfm
Thanks.
I think trulia.com has some more recent sales. At least in the area I was looking it did.
http://www.melissadata.com has home sales by ZIP code, and it goes way back. Very good resource.
“Your future is in Florida, fair white Goddess of states.” NOT!
I can’t be the only person scratching my head over naming a Florida subdivision “Mission Estates,” complete with a “Sonoma Drive.” That’s worse than the traditionally banal developer tactic of borrowing sobriquets from Tuscany.
In other news, I came close to renting a house last week — the deal fell through when the owner, who according to the public records has an ARM that adjusts in 2009, wouldn’t give me an option for a second year at the same rent.
Where can one find public mortgage information? I am considering renting a house as well.
In Hillsborough County, the County Clerk’s website will let you search mortgage records by last name.
That’s the tricky part of finding a place to rent - making sure the landlord will remain solvent and keep the property for a while. My wife sees properties both for sale and for rent - pretty stupid marketing on the part of the FB.
OT….
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Bush says Congress is blocking his proposals to deal with high gas prices and dragging its feet on legislation to make more student loans available and ease the mortgage crunch. Bush told a Rose Garden news conference Tuesday that it’s a “tough time for our economy.” He said Americans were “understandably anxious” about the economy. He also said, however, that “all they’re getting is delay” from Washington.
WHAT NONSENSE THIS IS! What magic does Mr. Bush think Congress can work to bail out cash-strapped college students or fix the mortgage disaster? Congress does not have five cents to give unless it 1/ takes it from taxpayers, or 2/ borrows it with the understanding it will be paid back by taxpayers at a later date.
yeah.. we can rest assured that this Congress is doing everything it can to repair GW’s failing economy..
GW is hardly to fault for the failing economy, nor is congress. Which is why they can’t fix it. (Together, they can’t even fix things they have actual control over). So instead, the slimeballs use the opportunity to spend more money and look for ways to keep banks afloat.
Basically, I think we’re headed down the exact same path as Japan 20 years ago and wee’re making the exact same mistakes we castigated them for.
Of course Bush is at fault.. didn’t you hear him tell us to “go shopping” to help the economy after 9-11?
I did.
Did he ever say “STOP SHOPPING!! You are drowning yourselves in debt to the degree the whole financial system may collapse!!” ?
I sure didn’t…
Jeeze.. get with it..
“Go shopping” doesn’t really consitute a command to borrow equity from a phantom inflated home value, in order to purchase junk.
Anyone who did so, and who was relying upon a command to “stop shopping” from the President,is either a complete and utter moron, or a Democrat.
WHAT NONSENSE THIS IS!
It’s called the blame game for the incompetence of the Bush administration regarding the economy.
could use the war money (debt) - to do some good - no more military debt would enhance the economy a lot - a whole lot less profit for wall street and for gas companies would do the rest and make banks responsible - the reality is - this has been good for the oil men and the war machine economy and halliburton - they don’t really care
hmm.. are you saying that the spoils of war should be distributed equally? ..or that war funds should be spent on social programs? .. or both?
“Marcus Netto has to work two jobs to pay the mortgage, maintenance and taxes on the two Fort Myers properties he owns; he also has a time-share in Orlando. But he has to dip into savings to cover his expenses. ‘I got almost $4,000 every month (in costs),’ says Netto. ‘That’s a lot of money for me. I don’t make that.’”
Sometimes when you Marcus to market, you have no Netto left.
It must take an awful lot of faith in ‘V’ shaped price recovery to dip into your savings to cover exepenses…before…an emergency strikes.
Why would someone that lives in Florida buy a time-share in Florida??
i’m wondering why anyone anywhere whould buy one..
“Marcus Netto has to work two jobs to pay the mortgage, maintenance and taxes on the two Fort Myers properties he owns; he also has a time-share in Orlando. But he has to dip into savings to cover his expenses.”
“‘I got almost $4,000 every month (in costs),’ says Netto. ‘That’s a lot of money for me. I don’t make that.’”
All i can say is: “Tough Sh#T.” You “bought” ‘em, you greedy pig, depriving a real home-buyer of an inexpensive place to live, so PAY UP. And KEEP PAYING the DEBT you agreed to pay.
Have a good time, pig!
Oink!
Amen! Seeing the stupid FBs who overpaid, thus running up prices for their more responsible betters, getting their financial heads handed to them is rewarding enough. But I feel nothing short of pure glee watching “investers” being eaten alive by their alligators. Only when the last of the speculative excesses get flushed from the system, will sanity return.
“Why would someone that lives in Florida buy a time-share in Florida??”
To trade. Might be a good time coming up to buy one, for those who like the idea. A buddy of mine bought two weeks at Christmastime in or next to Lake Buena Vista (Disney) during the 1970s tourism bust. He got them for $500 apiece because the owner wanted to walk away. He’s been able to trade them for the best properties in the world ever since.
If you want to stay inside the U.S., I think you can do better on E-Bay, since you then don’t have any annual fees to pay. Even if I wanted a timeshare, I’d never pay more than the transfer fee to get one.
All timeshares have annual maintenance fees. They typically cost thousands per year — far more that it would cost to rent a nice hotel room suite for the same time. To make matters worse, there is no protection from sudden massive increase in the annual maintenance fees.
There’s a reason why EBay is flooded with people selling their timeshares for $0.01 — they all want to get out of those annual fees. It doesn’t take long for these financial geniuses to realize that renting a hotel room is far cheaper, far less risky, and far less trouble (they even make you bed every morning at a hotel).
Besides, the term “timeshare” is very outdated. The Realtors® in Florida now refer to these wonderful investments as “fractional ownership” condominiums.
I should have clarified: it’s better to rent someone else’s timeshare, which is easy to do on EBay. They pay the annual fee and often will rent to you for less than that.
For Greenspan, Gold Once Glittered
Former Fed Chairman Paul Volcker said at a recent speech at the Economic Club of New York that the central bank’s recent actions raised political concerns about “the proper use and allocation of government power” and “embedded economic interests and lobbying.”
Volcker’s comments echoed Paul’s assertion that Fed policies favor the wealthy at the expense of the poor and middle class.
“The price increases that take place as a result of inflation do not occur all at once and to the same degree,” writes Paul. “Those who receive the new money first receive it before prices have yet risen. They enjoy a windfall. Meanwhile, as they spend the new money, and the next wave of recipients spend it, and so on, prices begin to rise throughout the economy — well before the new money has trickled down to most people.”
Paul’s anti-Fed stance strikes a populist tone, but his analysis echoes that of Greenspan’s own criticisms in the 1960s.
“In the absence of the gold standard, there is no way to protect savings from confiscation through inflation,” wrote Greenspan back then. “There is no safe store of value.
“This is the shabby secret of the welfare statists’ tirades against gold,” he adds. “Deficit spending is simply a scheme for the confiscation of wealth. Gold stands in the way of this insidious process. It stands as a protector of property rights.”
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10414187/1/for-greenspan-gold-once-glittered.html
Thanks
Deficits have exploded under GWB but I doubt he could be best described as a “welfare statist”.
Deficit spending and inflation are actually a sneeky way to move wealth from those who have relatively little control over their spending patterns to those who have a great deal of control.
If you have the time, knowledge and staff to track the right places to invest excess capital, you can make out in an inflationary environment. If you don’t (or don’t have investment capital), you’re screwed.
Deficit spending is also an outstanding way of preserving wealth. If you’re not paying taxes in high earnings, then you can invest the difference. On the other hand, you can always find a way to get someone else to pay the principal and interest down the road.
“‘If you get enough of these vacant units, those monies from assessments aren’t coming in, and what do you do when you get a shortfall?’ said Community Association Leadership Lobby director David Muller. ‘You still have to pay the management and the maintenance crews.’”
Hey Dave - how about cutting back the hours/staff, letting the landscaping get a little wilder, cutting back on other amenities, and asking the neighborhood to pitch in wherever possible.
You do need to keep the trash collected, I understand. And, if there’s a pool, you gotta pay the lifeguards and buy the chlorine. And you probably actually need to hire a little extra night-time security to look after the increase in vacant homes. But, other than that - it’s time to cut back on a bunch of HOA crap people don’t value anyways.
I’d go nuts if I had to pay for a lot of community landscaping and trash removal and donuts and coffee for the monthly HOA meetings. I realize my property taxes do the same thing for parks and trash and municipal services - but I’d be paying property taxes anyways in an HOA.
Not to mention property management pensions, medical insurance, the illegal landscape crew, and vandalism by over indulged McMansion teens. (Been there, done that.)
“A three-bedroom ranch house on a freshwater canal selling for $143,500, having been sold just 17 months ago for $316,800.”
A Cape Coral “freshwater canal” is just a big drainage ditch at the back of the property, attractive to mosquitos and alligators. There is no access to the Gulf or the ICW. What a joke.
For those guessing, ICW is the Intracoastal Waterway.
which is actually … on Florida’s EAST coast
And West, And the gulf coast.
Great - that fits into two of my main hobbies - getting bit by mosquitos and being constantly on the lookout for something that can kill you.
I love seeing those FL houses w/ pools surrounded by giant screens. Skeeters just must be miserable in some areas of Fl.
I’ve heard (via a public health official here in Tucson) that malaria is endemic in Florida.
The potential for any mosquito-borne illness certainly exists, but I’ve lived here fifteen years and have never heard or read of a single case, although the Google informs me that there were a handful of cases of unknown origin in Palm Beach County in 2003.
“…just a big drainage ditch at the back of the property…”
Yes, but in 2003, 2004, 2005, and into 2006 these were being advertised as “Florida Waterfront” and being purchased sight unseen by people and investment clubs from NY, NJ, MA, and the other northeastern states.
SUCKERS!
purchased sight unseen by people and investment clubs from NY, NJ, MA, and the other northeastern states.
Hey, don’t forget Jeff from SoCal.
Yes,
We have a long tradition of selling worthless swampland to the newcomers. How could they go wrong? After all, its FLORIDA, isn’t it?
There is a lot of slimy advertising about “lakefront” property in Florida when they are referring to retention ponds - what we used to call drainage ponds. If someone tells you they live on a lake, ask the name of the lake. If it doesn’t have a name on a real map (not just a developer’s map, then it isn’t a lake.
Though infrequent, even real lakes can be a problem, such as Lake Apopka where agricultural runoff killed everything in it.
“Fishkind and Associates estimates that Lee County has a three- to five-year inventory of unsold homes. As a result, homes can now be bought for well under the replacement cost, Joseph says. ‘There is a lot of inventory on the market, and there’s a lot more coming,’ Joseph says.”
Here is a problem many run into “replacement” cost..for many of these “great deal” buyers when it comes to getting homeowner’s insurance(and in Florida that is expensive) they are finding that WHAT they paid for the HOME has nothing to do with the cost of INSURING the home..The insurance companies go by what it cost to replace it not at the bargain price you bought it for..
That’s true in our case here. We paid far below replacement cost for the foreclosure we bought here in 2005. Fortunately we don’t have to worry about hurricanes, so a policy with replacement coverage (as calculated by our insurance company) costs about 0.3% of the coverage amount.
The houses are below replacement cost because there is no replacement demand, and probably never will be in a place like Cape Coral.
Because of high insurance costs, based partly on unrealistic replacement costs, prices will fall very low to compensate, eventually making Fla. properties attractive for cash buyers who (generally wisely) forego insurance, like in the old days. I’m thinking that in 12 months $60K cash might buy a 1000 sq ft 2/1 concrete block with carport in some walk-to-the-beach place like Ormond-by-the-Sea (currently 100-120K down from 150K). Ultra-cheap living - no insurance and virtually no taxes, due to homestead exemption.
Paul, That time is very near…I’ve seen 2 floreclosures already for 85K on Craiglist. One said bring an offer..any offer. 5 houses from the beach. I am tempted but at this rate figure i can save another 25% by years end at this rate…Next year..Who can say….incredible.
Mission acCOMPlished
“John Rankin remembers the day the owner at 2214 Sonoma Drive skipped town. ‘He packed up his truck one day, and drove away,’ said Rankin, president of the Mission Estates homeowners association in Venice. ‘Then he just never came back.’ That was nearly a year ago. As weeks and then months went by, the property fell into disrepair.”
“‘I got almost $4,000 every month (in costs),’ says Netto. ‘That’s a lot of money for me. I don’t make that.’”
I’m a victim!
Home prices will never fall!
Florida is running out of land!
Not is a great time to buy!
Excuses, excuses, excuses! What happened to proper business ethics and responsibility in the USA?
Oh, brother. You are playing my song. Last night, I went to a lecture with a couple of neighbors. As soon as the car left the neighborhood, I started in on one of my favorite themes: Why are so many of our neighbors so GD lazy that they can’t even drag their butts outside and pull their weeds?
Well, one of the other people in the car is president of my neighborhood association, and if you’re familiar with NAs, they don’t have the power to go after slob property owners the way HOAs do. To hear it from my NA prez, one neighbor (with three kids) can’t tend to the weeds in her rental property’s yard because she’s working three jobs.
“Well, put the kids to work!” was my reply. After all, I had to do a boatload of chores when I was growing up.
Then there was the gal who works evenings at a grocery store. That’s supposed to be her excuse for leaving her yard to the weeds. I might add that the previous owners were a young couple. Both of them worked, and they had quite the social life. But their yard was in tip-top condition at all times.
Needless to say, I didn’t buy the “she works at a store” excuse either.
‘“Well, put the kids to work!” was my reply. After all, I had to do a boatload of chores when I was growing up.’
I once I asked my husband if, when he was growing up, his parents had a yard man.
“No,” he said. “They had yard children.”
I’d hate to have you as a neighbour. Weeds are natural, and I am certainy not going to pull them to satisfy your neediness and insecurity regarding the look of your street.
Hate on me all you want, Foo, but here in Tucson, West Nile Virus is natural. And one of the favorite breeding grounds for WNV-carrying mosquitoes is tall weeds.
Dandelion greens are high in Vitamin C. My yard has a good crop of them this spring.
I figure if it’s green and you can walk on it barefoot it stays.
‘I figure if it’s green and you can walk on it barefoot it stays.’
You speak wisdom. I think so because I agree. Out here it’s mostly moss, and it is very pretty. I live in the forest; it’s SUPPOSED to look like that. If I wanted a bright green smooth postage stamp lawn with marching rows of color-coded petunias ringing it and two matching wee little Home Depot ornamental trees–hey, I’d go live in one a them craptastic DRWhoreton subdivisions.
That’s so awesome! You are a lucky gal . . . : )
If I ever start up a harem, Olympiagal, you’re in it.
“Harriet and Paul Fass, both 65 and hoping to soon retire, aren’t rich. Even so, the Wilton Manors couple cobbled together $100,000 to invest in the financing of a private housing development.. [snip].. The investors had bought into a lie.” [snip] .. ‘It sounded safer than the stock market,’
why is my mental picture of these two geezers straddling a big Harley and weaving in an out of traffic..
““A Florida City public official had guaranteed, in writing, to bail out the project if it stumbled. ”
If you believe that you believe anything. SUCKERS!!!
“Now the Fasses, and some four dozen other investors ‘$sses’, are facing the prospect of losing hundreds of thousands of dollars. Some families’ entire life savings could be wiped out. The investors had bought into a lie.”
Sorry Fasses about losing your as@%s ……butt thanks for a good laugh.
There must be a lot of people who think in simple rules of thumb, I guess: Real Estate - Always a Good Investment! Stock Market - Scary! Renting - Throwing Your Money Away! And so forth.
Read the comments. There’s an electrical sub who hasn’t been paid,and said the developer drove up in a Ferrari one day ,and a Hummer the next explaining he had no money to pay…Sounds like the CEO of countrywide, or David Lereah or any major homebuilder…I’ve got mine you suckers will have to get in line with the creditors if you need to get paid…
“Goldman, a realtor, blames credit for the steady drop in price.
I blame both as it takes both to make the deal work and the realtors had been in bed with the mortgage brokers, both of which put the preasure on the appraisers to inflate the appraisals of be forever blackballed by the industry and be put out of business.
Total Lack of business ethics by both groups along with criminal intent on some cases!
“Blythe Mandelbaum couldn’t pass up a sweet deal: $150,000 off the 2007 price tag. ‘We got a lot for our money. We’re in the right school district. I’m very happy.”
I don’t even remember what movie this is from but, “Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum!”
I think you are recalling On the Waterfront starring the Godfather..Marlon Brando……..exclaiming…Stella,Stella, Stella!!!
Later bemoaning………”I could have been a contender, instead of a bum, which is what I am.”
A great line for many of the houses alway go up….investors.
Stella,Stella, Stella!!! comes from A Streetcar Named Desire
is from Seinfeld - The English Patient episode…
“James Perham had called his rented Peninsula Lane house home for eight months when a bank representative showed up on his doorstep two weeks ago and told him he was trespassing.”
I live on a peninsula, and there is not one single lane or road or path or drive or method of conveyance called ‘Peninsula’ anything, anywhere out here. The waterfront roads and lanes are mostly a simple number or a simple name–unostentatious, see, and unnecessary, because you can SEE where it is with the eyeballs in your head. I would bet there is no peninsula thing anywhere within 50 miles of ‘Peninsula Lane’. Oh, I bet there’s no ‘lane’ either.
I know it’s a little ticky thing, and there’s plenty bigger stuff to get annoyed about, but it is like eating sticks of chalk for me when I drive by some gaspingly hideous excresence of a McMansion smushed together subdivision and read the name ‘Strawberry Farm Hills’ and see NO strawberries, NO Farm–at least not anymore–and NO hills. Why can’t they freakin’ call it like it is? ‘Hideous Over-graded Crapland Shoddyville’?
Now there’s a name.
Well, in fairness, a large percentage of the residents of Michigan of Florida do indeed live on a peninsula, without really trying. In Michigan, it’s even in the state motto: “Si quaeris peninsulam amoenam, circumspice” (If you seek a pleasant peninsula, look around you.) Isn’t that a pleasant little ditty,oly? And a little more genteel than Virginia’s “Sic Semper Tyrannis.”
Weeeelllll, okay, then, Paul in Jax. I will grudgingly admit that your geography lesson wins. I suppose those huge protuberances are technically ‘peninsulas’. My peninsula is quite small. You can drive across it, journeying from Totten inlet water to Eld inlet water in only 5 minutes, thereby quickly stealing oysters from either side. Interestingly, they taste different on each side.
My peninsula is quite small.
Thanks for sharing.
Mt. Pleasant, Michigan, may be pleasant but it’s about as flat as pancake. No “Mt.” there.
‘Hideous Over-graded Crapland Shoddyville’. I like that. HOCS for short.
Better yet, how about HOCS Pointe?
They name the roads after the things they destroyed to build the developments. As we drive merrily along, my husband and I tend to chant:
“Blueberry Lane!”
“Where the blueberries used to be!”
“Bear Run!”
“Where the bears used to be!”
Try it, when you’re driving with a friend. It’s more fun than slugbug.
When I’m driving with friends we argue over who gets to hold the gun.
Oh, and slugbug, too.
“Blythe Mandelbaum couldn’t pass up a sweet deal: $150,000 off the 2007 price tag. ‘We got a lot for our money. We’re in the right school district. I’m very happy.”
I don’t even remember what movie this is from but, “Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum! Mandelbaum!”
Seinfeld - the Lloyd Bridges episode
Damn! Thank you! That’s been gnawin’ in me craw all day.
Housing prices are collapsing, boyaa
link??? (LOL)
Regarding the 20-30% down, I have a colleague who was recently approved for a ~3x income loan with 10% down. His FICO is over 800 though.
Also, regarding renters getting booted by the bank. I have a feeling this is going to be me pretty soon. I currently rent from a major FB and my rent covers less than half her expenses. I have tried to search foreclosures through the miami dade county court of clerks http://www.miami-dadeclerk.com/dadecoc/ but I haven’t found anything where I can search for an actual address. Usually I am not that bad at finding things on the web but I am failing here. Any help would be appreciated.
You might go to the county courthouse. Usually they’ll give you a photocopy of recorded information for $0.25 - $1.00 a page. Less painful than getting booted with little or no notice.
This should help:
Start by going to the County Appraiser’s site and find the exact spelling of your landlord’s name:
http://www.miamidade.gov/proptax/home.asp?Searchby=address&Process=Search
Then go to the County Clerk’s record site and plug in the exact spelling of the name. Here’s the link to the recorder’s site:
http://www.miami-dadeclerk.com/public-records/pubsearch.asp
You should be able to find any public filings there.
sorry if this is a duplicate, I have only once been able to successfully post on this site
Regarding the 20-30% down, I have a colleague who was recently approved for a ~3x income loan with 10% down. His FICO is over 800 though.
Also, regarding renters getting booted by the bank. I have a feeling this is going to be me pretty soon. I currently rent from a major FB and my rent covers less than half her expenses. I have tried to search foreclosures through the miami dade county court of clerks http://www.miami-dadeclerk.com/dadecoc/ but I haven’t found anything where I can search for an actual address. Usually I am not that bad at finding things on the web but I am failing here. Any help would be appreciated.
My brother, a landlord with many years of experience in central florida is now starting to buy badly trashed out REOs that had had a peak price in the 250K range. He has been low balling the banks for months and they are starting to call him back. Just picked up two, one for 28K and one for 34K. His plan is to spend some sweat and about 25K to rehab each house and rent for $1000 to $1100 each…cash flow positive
Buyin’ time or Cryin’ time? Except for condos, I think sellers are in for a shock when their buyers, should they be so lucky as to have one, can’t get insurance except through Citizens and then back out. We are within a month or so of hurricane season. An article I read this month said that Tallahassee was changing some rules that would result in people who have Citizens for their wind insurance must also buy their other homeowner-related lines through Citizens as well - very expensive.
Previous post was intended to be separate, not a reply to Doug.
Doug - your brother could get screwed on property taxes if the appraiser doesn’t want to let go of the $250K “comp” valuation.
I’ve also noticed sizeable price adjustments on “crap” in the last few weeks. You can now buy 2Br/2Ba “condos” (apartment conversions) for $75K in working-class sections of Jax (Arlington). Unfortunately, I think landlords have to buy these with the idea that they have approximately zero residual value.
‘Unfortunately as much as the young people can afford the payments, which is a struggle, but more and more people can, it’s hard for them to come up with the down payment,’ Goldman.”
Is anything more nauseating than crocodile tears on a realtor? Boo frickin’ hoo - it doesn’t kill “young people” to live in apartments for a few years while they progress in their careers and save up for their first townhouse, and eventually a SFH, like my wife and I did over the past ten years. We scrimped, saved, did without, had friends over for cheap evenings of board games and moderately-priced wine, invested wisely, drove high-mileage, carefully maintained cars, and CAME UP WITH 20% DOWN! Victims we were not. Someone please trout-slap this Goldman guy.
The sign is standard. So are the signs “Short Sale” and “Will negotiate price” or “Must sell, Please” which are everywhere. Someone might as well jump on the bandwagon (I don’t have time) and crank up the “Commercial Real Estate Bubble Blog” as that is imploding now in Florida. At an ever increasing pace which will make the residential bubble look mild.
Gatorfan is correct. If you find your landlord is in foreclosure, this website has helpful information on what your options are.
A Tenant’s Guide to Foreclosure
(sorry if this is a repost - having trouble posting.)