Residential Markets ‘Nosedive’ In DC Region
A housing bubble report from northern Virginia. “Grave concerns for the future of Falls Church’s City Center project are being voiced at the highest levels of City Hall, the News-Press has learned, given the precipitous collapse of the residential condominium market throughout the Washington D.C. region and the nation.”
“Land assembly and development prospects have run into serious roadblocks, as the combination of the high prices being asked for the land and the sudden downturn in the condo market has everyone involved giving pause. While critics complained that the area would become a ‘condo canyon,’ it was argued by developers and City officials that only construction of 1,000 to 1,500 high end residential condominiums in the commercially-zoned area would make it financially viable, overall.”
“However, the condo market, and the residential real estate market generally, began to cool off over the course of last summer, and began to nosedive in the fall. One developer told the News-Press that with the glut in the condo market now, prospective buyers are weighing other factors more carefully.”
“Realtors in Harrisonburg and Rockingham County sold 113 homes in March, down 14.4 percent from the same period in 2005, when 132 homes were sold. Data from the Virginia Association of Realtors also show that year-to-date sales of 276 homes have flattened to 1.5 percent growth over last year’s first quarter total of 272.”
“Real estate agents are seeing some reductions in market prices. ‘That doesn’t mean people are not getting what the house is worth,’ (broker) Michael Pugh said. ‘It means maybe they priced it too high to begin with and were expecting a windfall.’”
The Baltimore Sun. “The housing market in the Baltimore area showed broad signs of cooling in April, the first month of the crucial spring selling season, according to sales data released yesterday.”
“Year-over-year price appreciation dipped to its lowest rate in more than two years, and the average price actually fell in one county. Sales volume sagged more than 13 percent. Homes took longer to sell everywhere but in the city, and the number of homes on the market more than doubled compared with April 2005.”
“In Carroll, the average sales price dipped 2.76 percent, the first decline in any jurisdiction since 2002. In Howard County, the number of homes listed for sale jumped to 1,381, from 562 in April a year earlier.”
“Real estate agents blamed sellers who want last year’s prices in this year’s market. ‘It’s not as much a seller’s market, and buyers are beginning to negotiate prices,’ (agent) said Melvina Brown in Howard County. ‘Buyers are not coming in over the asking price; they’re coming in either at the asking price or negotiating on the price.’”
“Brown said one of her sellers got an offer on a Columbia townhouse just four days after it was listed but turned down the contract because it offered less than full price. Two more contracts have come in since that were not as good, she said. ‘We’re waiting now, and the seller is willing to make concessions,’ she said. ‘We’ve offered some money toward the closing costs but left the price the same, but we may have to look at reducing the price.’”
“‘The housing boom is over,’ said Celia Chen, director of housing economics for Moody’s. ‘We’re seeing the down side of the housing cycle.’”
No s— Sherlock!!! I live off of Leesburg at West St and there are TWO huge condo projects down Leesburg past Burger King and they start at 600k - 900k and the one across the street is still being dug out and was supposed to be finished this summer!!! What a joke this place has become!
you mean you can’t afford 600k on a nurses salary? well i guess you’ll just have to get a second job at crate & barrel. kidding, of course.
what’s the impact on emergency response when all the EMTs, police, etc have to live in WVA? scenario: it just dumped 2′ of snow causing power outages, guess who can’t make the drive into NOVA to assist w/ humanitarian response? and i couldn’t be more AGAINST govt subsidies for county employees’ housing costs.
I agree!! So, we’re all renting closer by, sacrificing the modern conveniences - 2 baths, etc. so we don’t have to drive 100 miles~ although, I’m an ICU nurse and we have a few on our unit who drive many miles - one from WV!!! Quality of life they say!!
Thought you had said you were a lawyer or paralegal, a few months ago.
the difference between some of these suburban developments and those in DC is that in DC there is always the rental option because the rental market is so strong. in Falls Church its harder to find someone who wants to rent, unlike say Columbia Heights in DC
http://www.dcbubble.blogspot.com
DC is different!!!!! Give it a rest. Your comments are beyond tiresome.
Hey DCBubbleButt, MRIS numbers are out for April… YOY average sales price in DC is NEGATIVE and median is barely holding on to positive… still want to try and convince us that the DC market is strong?
http://www.mris.com/reports/stats/route.cfm
Average Sold Price: $ 531,158 (4-2005) $ 536,336 (4-2006)
- 0.97 %
Median Sold Price: $ 425,000 (4-2005) $ 414,450 (4-2006)2.55 %
Total Units Sold: 652(2005) 790(2006) - 17.47 %
Average Days on Market: 53(2005) 36(2006) 47.22 %
The only differences between anything inside the beltway is neighborhood attractions, schools, and taxes. They are all essentially tied to the same job market. It’s a pretty easy commute from Falls Church as it is from Columbia heights. Unless you are in Penn quarter or the Capitol, many government jobs will require a metro transfer. If you can find a place close to one of the metro stops in Falls Church you’ve knocked a few minutes off the commute. This isn’t Lorton or Leesburg.
“Brown said one of her sellers got an offer on a Columbia townhouse just four days after it was listed but turned down the contract because it offered less than full price. Two more contracts have come in since that were not as good, she said. ‘We’re waiting now, and the seller is willing to make concessions,’ she said. ‘We’ve offered some money toward the closing costs but left the price the same, but we may have to look at reducing the price.’”
Pigs get slaughtered.
Greed killed the pig…..
save the manure…..
That is still very common around here in Balto. This Sun article is the first whiff many people in Balto have heard of a slowdown unless they frequent these blogs. We have one paper and it sucks, and every story about RE, when there is one, has been rosy and full of realtor spin, until now. While it still has it’s spin, it’s pretty much laying it out there. But compare this one story that really just regurgitates numbers, just like I did on my blog, to the WaPo shoving the slowdown down readers’ throats almost every week. There are sellers listing their homes for 15% more than comps from the previous month. I have a thread at the Sun’s “Talk” board under the Opinion section, and you should see some of the posts:
“Why do appear to be glad that the housing market has hit some bumps.
You recently posted a similar piece on local housing market problems.
A decline in the housing market is not good news for most folks. Employment takes a hit, tax revenues suffer and people lives can be disrupted by being unable to sell their house to meet life style changes.
Some people are under the mistaken belief that house prices will fall drastically and they will suddenly be able to find low cost housing. That is not going to happen.
As I explained earlier, people have mortgages. They will not be able to sell the property for less then they owe on it. Then you must add the realtors cost.
There may be a few individuals who can bring cash to the table to sell their house, that is extremely rare.” or
“Real estate is a limited commodity. Treating it by the rules of supply and demand as a product isn’t the brightest idea. In the long run it always increases in price unless it washes away (as some small islands and shoreline have).”
This is a fun discussion…
Not sure why I understand why condos are so expensive? 600K? For an apartment? complete with HOA fees?
How far is this from DC or whatever?
Smack in the middle of Falls Church on Hwy 7 (Leesburg Pike/Broad St) right off of hwy 66 exit! And who knows how much HOA fees!
Falls Church is very commutable to D.C. About 20 minutes on 66 with no traffic.
And about an hour with traffic.
Falls church is inside the beltway. If the nation hadn’t given land back to Virginia on the other side of the Potomac it would be DC. It’s the fifth subway stop into Wirginia
No arlington county used to be DC way back when. Falls Church city was never part of DC as it is just across the line in Fairfax county. You cannot drive on I-66 inside the beltway during rush hour unless you have a carpool as it is HOV-2. So most people that live in Falls Church suffer through Rt. 50 traffic that has stoplights and is pretty slow.
also Rt. 7 traffic sucks,, most convenient way is metro although none of the condos mentioned here are close to walkable distance to the metro
also Rt. 7 traffic sucks,, most convenient way is metro although none of the condos mentioned here are even close to walkable distance
Aren’t they talking about stuff on Broad (rt7)? I thought that followed the Arlington/Fairfax county line. I just moved here and it still amazes me how independant all the little communities want to be. I still think of everything encircled by 495 one big city with lots of neighborhoods regardless of where the river runs.
Off topic this thread, but on topic the housing bubble.
The normal reaction for years to the Fed raising rates did not happen this time. The precious metals are making new highs. As I posted yesterday, they are not going up, the US$ is going down. The US$ is not stronger after the Fed hike and it’s quite over sold and ready to rally.
Longer term interest rates are trying to break out to new highs today, we shall see if they close at new highs. The FB’s are going to get higher rates no matter what BB & his manipulation crew do.
You’re not kidding. Today is one of those “sell the U.S.” days. Bonds? Sell. The Dollar? Sell. Stocks? Sell. Haven’t seen one of these in a while, a long while. Basically, the global capital markets think Gentle Ben is out of his league.
exactly, the euro and the other fiat papers are going down with the dollar.
Finally the market is making some sense … the banksters have been printing +/- 10% more dollars, euro’s and yen every year for a long time, and now the chicken are coming home to roost.
but we are not there yet, longterm rates need to rise above 6% for a real trend change. And in Europe, longterm rates are still extremely close to their four-century lows; policy is still as loose as it can be.
Goede Middag Nhz:
I bought some swiss francs as a hedge about 1 1/2 years ago, what is your take on their situation.
The rate hikes are not fast enough. Inflation is accelerating faster than the rate hikes, so they are still inflationary. For Gold and foreign currencies to react to the rate hikes the FED needs to get more agressive. You can see this in the banana republics where inflation is 120% and the short term interest rate is 50%. If you’re creating money too fast interest rates alone can’t compensate for it.
Dollar Slide Poses a Currency Conundrum:
…Finance Minister Alexei Kudrin said Wednesday that he expected large trading partners such as China and India to include rubles in their own foreign currency reserves, but the more pressing problem for the Finance Ministry is what to do with its own $226 billion in international reserves, most of which is in dollars and euros.
In the last month, the dollar has dropped 2.5 percent against the ruble, and since December the greenback has slid almost 7 percent, representing a drop of several billion dollars in the value of the Russian foreign currency reserves, in ruble terms.
The Moscow Times May 11, 2006
http://tinyurl.com/gwevt
When Russia doesn’t want to own dollars, its time to panic.
And when other countries want to own rubles over dollars, that’s time to panic too.
Every foreign investor knows the dollar lost 75% from around 360 yen/dollar in 1970 to less than 90 yen/dollar in early 80’s.
On a list of over 50 Nasdaq/NYSE stocks I track, the only one that is not dropping today is BIDU, China’s equivalent of GOOG.
It’s obvious that the dollar will likely drop as much as last time and many people are already dumping US assets.
Canadian Press
Published: Thursday, May 11, 2006
….In addition, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke’s public statements point in this direction. He has stated that the Federal Reserve caused the great depression of the 1930s and he would not let that happen again.
Obviously, when the deficit problem turns into a crisis, the Federal Reserve will print money and keep interest rates on the low side in order to keep the economic wheels turning, even if it means higher inflation.
If you are sitting in the United States, you may conclude this is the right thing to do. But if you are anywhere else, you would be asking yourself why you should continue to hold U.S.-dollar assets if their fate is a further loss of value.
http://tinyurl.com/ztbam
From the same article:
“Markets become more sensitive when there is a lack of information,” said Yevgeny Gavrilenkov, chief economist at Troika Dialog. “Eventually everything that they attempt to hide will be known. If there is an unexpected change, the market could be surprised.”
Is that a comment on M3 numbers?
if dollar breaks 0.78 euro..look out..heebie-jeebies.
What’s significant about .78 as opposed to any other level?
I don’t think that will happen, Tricky Trichet will make sure that the euro is gets just as worthless as the US dollar.
currently 1.2848 = .7783
http://tinyurl.com/d9rcs
Daily FX
Well, I remember it was consistently $1.30-1.35 per EUR winter 04/05, which would be around .75 the other way. I got to where I automatically translated 100 EUR as $135. The last few months, we’ve been spoiled to $1.20/EUR.
Time to rethink my arithmetic shortcut, again.
Sigh.
/paid in dollars, pays in EUR
While “DC” couldn’t be further from my neck of the woods I’m still quite pleased to see it crash with this much velocity. I doubt seriously that Melvina Brown or 90% of the other newly minted realtors have any experience with anything other than a raging bull market. With all of the coverage that the bubble has rec’d there really is no excuse not to accept the first offer. The two succeeding offers were likely much lower. Those too were declined. Will Ms. Brown be held accountable for her actions? Will there be legions of lawyers coming out of the woodwork “hanging out their shingle” in the promise of getting back FB’s “retirement”. God, I sure hope so. The attorneys know that the RE firms are coming off the biggest bull run in human history. If you’re gonna hit ‘em, now would be the time!
Will there be legions of lawyers coming out of the woodwork “hanging out their shingle” in the promise of getting back FB’s “retirement”.
All it’s gonna take is one smart lawyer to put together the racketeering game of collusion between lender and real estate agent in insuring that a rubber stamp, number hitter appraiser would be assigned the appraisal in order make their deal work.
Oh, you don’t won’t Mr. F…he’s too conservative…(said in Suzanne’s whining and cajoling voice…)
“Conservative” appraiser, my azz…”Conservative” in lender language to only mean the guy knew his biz and couldn’t be bought.
With no autonomy in the appraisal process, the borrowers were f*cked before they even signed the final papers.
Interesting thing about condo HOA fees. I used to own a condo in Pasadena, California (and now rent, hence my handle) and whenever I looked at the financial statements of where the fees went, a large part of it went to reserves and expenses for other people, such as consultants, gardener, property management, and financial advisors. Things like common electricity (outside lights), water, and insurance were surprisingly small and inexpensive.
The problem lies in lawsuits and liability. Every HOA board member doesn’t want to get sued, so they have to respond to every little nit-pick request that any individual homeowner requests. Think you saw a mouse? You must hire a pest-control company to “check it out”. “Checking it out” - $200. The pest control company decides he can make a bundle since, hey, it’s a committee of people who are too scared to be thought of doing nothing, since a rouge mouse might have the plague and will kill everyone. So of course, the pest control place is motivated to write something that covers their ass like “you *might* have a mouse. Better set traps/spray poisin *just in case*.” So the HOA has to do it. Because saying no is perceived to be more expensive and risky.
So HOAs tend to be the biggest suckers for high priced consultants. Nobody price compares and shops around because, well, if you choose a cheaper pest control place, or a cheaper financial auditor to check your books, and *whoa*, they screw up, you can be held liable. (Not really, but HOA board members are so paranoid they tend to believe it.) Also, most HOA board members are not likely to shop around because the cost savings are minimal to them *personally* - this cost is spread out among everyone.
So while it’s ludicrous to think that you can pay $1000/month, it’s not unheard of that this kind of thing could happen. BTW, I used to live in a 11 unit complex and our HOA fees were $205/month. I’d say $60/month were actually used for real expenses, the rest was “fluff”.
Soaking HOAs is big business. We had a tiny, *tiny* patch of grass in front of our complex, and a small rosebush, and we paid a gardener $300 a month for his services. Seriously, the guy spent a total of 10 minutes at our place maybe once every 3 weeks. I’ve owned houses that had yards 10 times that big and we never paid that much.
*That* is the problem HOAs. They are not evil, they are simply inefficient by design and by lack of a source of self-motivation to keep costs contained. And when the members are mostly investors, well you can *bet* nobody is motivated to check the costs carefully.
Well said , exactly the way it works .
Hear hear! My wife and I own a condo in a 7-unit building, and while I’d like to think there’s less “fluff” with our HOA, I’m still sure there is a lot. The gardeners, for example - small patch of grass and some leaf blowing twice a month… granted, we pay much less, like $75/month… but when I offerred to do it myself, the HOA members were not up for that. Liability issues! Or what if I was out of town? Or didn’t want to do it?
I can only guess at how inefficient HOAs with hundreds of units must be…
We have a multi million dollar insurance policy on our playground too.
I’ve said this before, but a developer I know told me that there’s more money in managing the HOA’s for his developments than actually developing and selling the properties. Before he gets “outvoted” by those pesky homeowners, he sets up a management company, landscaping company, and home repair business with very attractive long term contracts with the HOA.
Eye opener. ALways wondered about this dreaded HOA thing, as have been renting all the time. Will watch out for this! Thanks
Eye opener. ALways wondered about this dreaded HOA thing, as have been renting all the time. Will watch out for this! Thanks
You mean, like the government? Public money is easy to piss away.
Anyway back to HOAs, my experience is that elevators are mucho expensive. They break down quite regularly and take quite some $$$ to fix.
Amen! When I first came to NoVA, I was checking out a new townhouse style condio near Fairlakes. They wanted me to pay $200 a month for HOA fees. I explained to them that I had just come from a 3000+ sqft house with a 7000 sqft yard in the midwest, and I never came close to spending $2400 in maintenance and upkeep (e.g. yard work, roof repair). I told them where they could stuff their HOA and bought a fee-simple (i.e. I’m responsible for everything) instead. I think I’ve spent $300 in maintenance every year, and the $60/m HOA fee for maintaining the roads and greenspaces in reasonable.
I’m glad that one of the non-negotiable conditions that I had when I was looking in ‘99 was NO HOA. Somebody once said that having a HOA was like working in a company where the board of directors was made up of the popular clique in High School.
“The housing market in the Baltimore area showed broad signs of cooling in April”
Cooling is a euphamism. The media should use terms like declining.
David
http://bubblemeter.blogspot.com
The feds require a huge RE inventory to house NSA staff. Criminal eavesdropping is far deeper than anyone imagined.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2006-05-10-nsa_x.htm
Dude:
Layoff the politics. This is a housing bubble blog.
The choices are incompetence on the Republican side and incoherence on the Democrat part.
Do you want to get hung or shot?
Can’t resist. Should, but can’t. I’d rather have a shot and pretend like I’m hung.
lmao.
I know it’s probably a streach, but property rights are a big part of the value of property. If you don’t think you’re secure in your property why would you streach so hard to pay for it? Part of property value is the stability and honesty of the governments that “protect” it. There is a small, but growing group of people who are starting to bail on the US in order to preserve their wealth and standard of living.
“There is a small, but growing group of people who are starting to bail on the US in order to preserve their wealth and standard of living.”
I was wondering after the Warren Buffet statement last week if there’d be more than a small group. Not to mention the ever-growing list of countries making ongoing comments about the risk in our economy and the need to divest! BTW, hoz GREAT LINK above from the Moscow Times. Although I couldn’t get the thought out of my head, that sh*t!, we’re f*$#@d.
“There is a small, but growing group of people who are starting to bail on the US in order to preserve their wealth and standard of living.”
You don’t think the financial looters are gonna be hangin’ around ready to be guillotined when it all comes crashing do you??? They’ll be in their gated compounds offshore ala Robert Vesco, laughin’ and drinkin’, and sayin’ it’s a great time to be alive!!
Lingus, you need to start a political activism blog! You need a place to vent that stuff.
I’m a paid hack by anti-corruptican interests.;)
Lingus, please save this stuff for a more appropriate forum. I’m like-minded on this issue but this is not the place.
The NSA isn’t near Falls Church. That’s the far side of town in MD. Some people would say same-difference, but there’s more condos being built in NoVA than in PG County. PG County has a lot more townhomes and SFHs.
“You can’t go back a year and say, ‘This sold for $290,000, let’s price ours at $300,000,’” Edelman said. “If it sold for $290,000 a month ago, then you need to list it in that range.”
Sounds like year-over-year comparisons aren’t so relevant after all. Then again, once 3Q-06 data comes out, year-over-year will be trending down too.
Two interesting points regarding Fairfax City and County, neighbors to Falls Church:
1) I was in the Fairfax County Courthouse this morning, went by land records, stopped and did a double-take. Normally the Fairfax County land records looks like one of the smaller pits on the NYSE with title abstractors running about, every terminal occupied, cell phones going, lines for recording, etc. Today… nothing. I got my document recorded in five minutes. There were, perhaps, eight people in the main document room. I asked the clerks whether something special was happening, they said it had been a “little slow.” I asked “like this all week?” All I got in return was a shushing noise. Another clerk volunteered “Well, it’s the middle of the month.” Let me tell you, I’ve been there in the middle of the month many times, and it has never - ever - been this slow, not even in August, not since 1993 or ‘94. If there isn’t any title work being done, there aren’t any settlements going forward. I bet the title companies are just howling. So are the settlement attorneys, mortgage brokers, home inspectors, everybody affiliated with the processes.
The activity in the land records room seems to me to be a leading indicator. Low activity there means whatever this month’s numbers were, next month will be lower.
2) Fairfax City has some 1,000 to 1,200 or so condominiums on the board now - not that they’ve told the general public or anything. There are about 100 to 150 due at the post office project, abother 400-500 slated for Courthouse Plaza, about 500 or so planned to go in on Route 50. There are probably more of which I am not aware. This particular administration has spent more time in “secret” session than any of the prior councils did combined.
All of this is planned with no road improvements (I don’t count fouling up downtown with two-way traffic in unbelievable twists to be an “improvement” nor do I think that removing all of the available parking is a stroke of genius). Anyway, Fairfax Ridge has been trying to list condos for $290,000 about two miles away. They had to drop to $260,000.00, and they still have their signs and flyers up. The projected prices for the downtown Fairfax condos? $400-$500,000.00. Good luck, folks, and thanks for turning Fairfax City into the new White Elephant preserve.
Great post…
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http://www.fcta.org and fight back !
KIA - That is priceless, thanks.
Pasadena Renter said: “Soaking HOAs is big business.”
As a former owner in a condo building , I can verify that. And you didn’t even mention the problems with dishonest/scamming members of the condo board. Condo boards are very attractive to thieves, both insiders AND outsiders.
Yeah, I guess I was lucky in that we had absolutely none of that. I honestly believe we had a group hard-working, honest, HOA board members. They were very careful, but even they are human. Why put your own neck on the line to save a few bucks when you can pass the “slightly higher” cost on? Eventually, all those “pay the roof repair guy a little more”, “pay the gardener a little more”, “pay the property management company a little more” add up to a *lot* more. I can’t even begin to imagine what would have happened if someone had taken off with our reserves, or did silly things like “borrowing” from it. I’ve heard that happens.
OT: Yahoo/ABC News has an interesting video about a homeowner “Heidi” who had to leave her home (forecoslosed? Can’t tell) because her adjustable rates reset. The new rates made her mortgage too much. There are many more such stories to come …
http://www.yahoo.com/s/306941
WillM;…When you put a face on it instead of reading about it it has a little more inpact don’t ya think ?? Excellent Link….
“… and selling your home should be something you consider if you are having trouble making your monthly payment.” Does the ABC News really have to hand hold people into obvious decisions like this? D’oh.
I added up April’s dollar volume sales (got stats at http://www.mris.com) from the Northern VA counties listed at http://www.virginiamls.com (basically, the major VA suburbs of D.C.). The difference between April of this year and April of last year:
- $522,570,255
I also added up from January to April, 2006. Dollar volume is down by $1.2 billion in Northern VA so far this year.
Realtors did earned $72 million LESS. The effect will follow downstream. They will be pushing sellers to sell their home, so that they can KEEP THEIR earning at similar level.
Things are working in reverse. I only hope it does not bring down the US economy. That is my worry as I see things going down the other way so fast.
Why is dollar falling so fast. Or Gold at $720. That is inherently going to lead to inflation. China has kept the exchange rate same, that makes different kind of Imbalance problem with China. And when China let it currency rise, dollar will fall further?
All can that only mena one thing, for the same item we will need more amount of dollar. (less for housing? Wage will grow? that is inflationary?)
We do not want the russia , china to beat us down any way. We and Our children will live here…
Anyhbody can help with a clear understanding what is happening and where we are going.
Thanks
“Why is dollar falling so fast. Or Gold at $720. That is inherently going to lead to inflation.”
Those things don’t lead to inflation, they are the very definition of inflation.
Very useful data. Thanks!
The best craigslist posting yet???
http://phoenix.craigslist.org/rfs/158541949.html
My favorite quotes from the add are
“I am a Realtor, and a creative investor myself.”
“not because Im an idiot or because I didnt know what I was doing”
I’ve got 9homes in foreclosure, offering them all for a steal….
Reply to: hous-158541949@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-05-07, 7:27PM MST
***update: have had literally hundreds of respones today (all sorts) but nobody with cash money yet, so I will post again**
ok here’s the deal:
I am a real estate investor and I have 9 properties that are in foreclosure right now. The auction date for all is June 6 or 9th. there are 1st and 2nds position lenders on all of them. both lenders are somewhat flexible. the 2nd appears to have no interest in curing the 1st lein default. they are both mainly trying to capture their principle investment back, not too concerned about the interest that has accrued or legal fees. I am growing tired of the literally 100s of letters, cards, emails, and phone calls, voicemails with people that “think they can solve my problems” and “want to help” or “just want a meeting” or “want to list my house with them”. I am a Realtor, and a creative investor myself. I am in this situation due to partnership issues/problems, not because Im an idiot or because I didnt know what I was doing. Frankly Im just looking to pick up a few bucks here to move on to to the next project with, and get on with my life. simply put, time is very, very short. at this point I would like to give one person, an investor that can actually follow thru, QUITCLAIM DEEDS to all of these properties along with addresses and lender phone numbers and they can have a blast with it. all properties to one person, maybe all of these work out for them, maybe only a few do. I am sure they can profit to the tune of 30-50,000 on at least one of these, let alone make something on all of the rest of them. In exchange I would like $2,500 CASH per property, $22,500 cash total, at the time I hand over or file a quitclaim. there is equity in all of these properties, some more than others. several are brand new, never been lived in. what-do-ya-say????
here’s how this would work: you email me your interest, I email you back a list of the properties, you do your own research and due diligence i.e. public records, driveby the properties, comp them out, whatever you need to do, then you email me back a “yes” or “no”. we meet, we trade $$cash money$$ for notarized quitclaims to these properties. I am not open to cherry picking only the good deals, showing any of these properties, meetings, assignments, long escrows, phone calls, a thousand questions, listing agreements, etc. I am offering quitclaim deeds to all of these properties for $$$CASH$$$. THATS MY DEAL!
thanks for reading my post and good luck to you
“I am in this situation due to partnership issues/problems, not because Im an idiot or because I didnt know what I was doing.”
Priceless.
Wow…. So let me get this straight. He’s got 1st and 2nd liens on all 9 properties which most likely means he’s got no skin in the game by using 80/20s (probably IO) on all of them. He doesn’t want to be left holding this 800lb-gorilla-of-a-bag, so he is trying to dump all of them on to some G-as-in-GIGANTIC GF, wants $2500 for each property in cash for the priviledge of dumping these on you, and doesn’t want to deal with “a thousand questions”, “meetings”, “long escrows”…. and on top of that still has his pride by blaming his “partners” by claiming he is “not an idiot” and “knows what he is doing”?!?!?! WTF?!?!?! I normally do not wish ill-will on anyone, but in this case, I hope this guy goes down in flames. Very hot, very permanent flames.
That’s hysterical!!! …..or was it for real????
Its for real.
I heard about it on an investing forum and the poster said that he had looked at the property tax rolls and this guy owns all 9.
OT:
A Nation of Buffetts
At least there’s one business where the United States is still better than China.
“Perhaps the most important economic conundrum today is this one: the persistence of relatively low interest rates despite global growth, signs of inflation, and a gigantic and rising U.S. current-account deficit ($804.1 billion in 2005).
“Economists have been trying hard to explain it. Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke posited a savings glut—excess savings around the globe have lowered interest rates universally, including in the United States. By voraciously borrowing and spending, America is doing the world a favor by providing a safe home for foreigners’ surplus capital. Business Week economics editor Michael Mandel has argued that the huge trade deficit is largely imaginary. Foreigners lend us money on favorable terms, he wrote in a much-discussed cover story, because the U.S. economy has such a great ability to generate returns from “dark matter”—intangible assets like brands, patents, knowledge, and business models. (The thesis receives a nice academic treatment in this paper by Ricardo Hausmann and Federico Sturzenegger of Harvard.)
“Now Stephen King (a London-based economist at the bank HSBC, not the writer) has come up with an even more satisfying new argument. The much-lamented trade imbalances, he argues, are an entirely predictable and acceptable outcome of comparative advantage—specifically America’s skill at managing money.”
Now Stephen King (a London-based economist at the bank HSBC, not the writer) has come up with an even more satisfying new argument. The much-lamented trade imbalances, he argues, are an entirely predictable and acceptable outcome of comparative advantage—specifically America’s skill at managing money.””
“specifically America’s skill at managing money.”
LOL! Almost spat on the keyboard!
This is another one of those crackpot theories which _educated_ economists come up with during manias, like Dow 36000. This theory has been debated for a few months in economic circles now - and goes by the name of “DARK MATTER” (lol)
Here is a true economist - Brad Setser - who calls this bull as bull
Quote
“First, I want to show the US hasn’t operated as a financial intermediary selling what Hausmann and Sturzenegger call insurance services to the world. Hausmann and Sturzenegger think the US sells the world safe US debt, uses the proceeds to buy higher yielding foreign debt and pockets the difference. It is a nice story, but not one that matches the data – as I will show.”
Brad is that rare economist who demystifies a lot of the mumbo-jumbo associated with international economics - always worth a good read.
The Craigslist post was already removed. Can you drop a copy of what it says so we can further make fun of it?
Here is the copy. Enjoy From my browser cache
Reply to: hous-158541949@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-05-07, 7:27PM MST
***update: have had literally hundreds of respones today (all sorts) but nobody with cash money yet, so I will post again**
ok here’s the deal:
I am a real estate investor and I have 9 properties that are in foreclosure right now. The auction date for all is June 6 or 9th. there are 1st and 2nds position lenders on all of them. both lenders are somewhat flexible. the 2nd appears to have no interest in curing the 1st lein default. they are both mainly trying to capture their principle investment back, not too concerned about the interest that has accrued or legal fees. I am growing tired of the literally 100s of letters, cards, emails, and phone calls, voicemails with people that “think they can solve my problems” and “want to help” or “just want a meeting” or “want to list my house with them”. I am a Realtor, and a creative investor myself. I am in this situation due to partnership issues/problems, not because Im an idiot or because I didnt know what I was doing. Frankly Im just looking to pick up a few bucks here to move on to to the next project with, and get on with my life. simply put, time is very, very short. at this point I would like to give one person, an investor that can actually follow thru, QUITCLAIM DEEDS to all of these properties along with addresses and lender phone numbers and they can have a blast with it. all properties to one person, maybe all of these work out for them, maybe only a few do. I am sure they can profit to the tune of 30-50,000 on at least one of these, let alone make something on all of the rest of them. In exchange I would like $2,500 CASH per property, $22,500 cash total, at the time I hand over or file a quitclaim. there is equity in all of these properties, some more than others. several are brand new, never been lived in. what-do-ya-say????
here’s how this would work: you email me your interest, I email you back a list of the properties, you do your own research and due diligence i.e. public records, driveby the properties, comp them out, whatever you need to do, then you email me back a “yes” or “no”. we meet, we trade $$cash money$$ for notarized quitclaims to these properties. I am not open to cherry picking only the good deals, showing any of these properties, meetings, assignments, long escrows, phone calls, a thousand questions, listing agreements, etc. I am offering quitclaim deeds to all of these properties for $$$CASH$$$. THATS MY DEAL!
thanks for reading my post and good luck to you
* this is in or around phoenix, scottsdale
* no — it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
158541949
Here is the copy (from my browser cache) . Enjoy
Reply to: hous-158541949@craigslist.org
Date: 2006-05-07, 7:27PM MST
***update: have had literally hundreds of respones today (all sorts) but nobody with cash money yet, so I will post again**
ok here’s the deal:
I am a real estate investor and I have 9 properties that are in foreclosure right now. The auction date for all is June 6 or 9th. there are 1st and 2nds position lenders on all of them. both lenders are somewhat flexible. the 2nd appears to have no interest in curing the 1st lein default. they are both mainly trying to capture their principle investment back, not too concerned about the interest that has accrued or legal fees. I am growing tired of the literally 100s of letters, cards, emails, and phone calls, voicemails with people that “think they can solve my problems” and “want to help” or “just want a meeting” or “want to list my house with them”. I am a Realtor, and a creative investor myself. I am in this situation due to partnership issues/problems, not because Im an idiot or because I didnt know what I was doing. Frankly Im just looking to pick up a few bucks here to move on to to the next project with, and get on with my life. simply put, time is very, very short. at this point I would like to give one person, an investor that can actually follow thru, QUITCLAIM DEEDS to all of these properties along with addresses and lender phone numbers and they can have a blast with it. all properties to one person, maybe all of these work out for them, maybe only a few do. I am sure they can profit to the tune of 30-50,000 on at least one of these, let alone make something on all of the rest of them. In exchange I would like $2,500 CASH per property, $22,500 cash total, at the time I hand over or file a quitclaim. there is equity in all of these properties, some more than others. several are brand new, never been lived in. what-do-ya-say????
here’s how this would work: you email me your interest, I email you back a list of the properties, you do your own research and due diligence i.e. public records, driveby the properties, comp them out, whatever you need to do, then you email me back a “yes” or “no”. we meet, we trade $$cash money$$ for notarized quitclaims to these properties. I am not open to cherry picking only the good deals, showing any of these properties, meetings, assignments, long escrows, phone calls, a thousand questions, listing agreements, etc. I am offering quitclaim deeds to all of these properties for $$$CASH$$$. THATS MY DEAL!
thanks for reading my post and good luck to you
* this is in or around phoenix, scottsdale
* no — it’s NOT ok to contact this poster with services or other commercial interests
158541949
specifically America’s skill at managing money.
Which would you rather be? A HELOC’d, max out CC, 2 Hummer payments, Best Buy CC at 24% for plasma TV, sub-zero fridge, home theatre, etc, Sears, Penneys, boat payments, owe IRS backtaxes AVERAGE JOE HOMEDEBTOR
or typical Japanese (substitute many other folks) who makes savings a first priority and eschews debt?
Tough choice!!
Which BANK would you rather have your savings in? The bank that lends to the hummer heloc guy, or the one that lends money to Toyota to develop hybrid diesel technology.
Which bank would you rather have your savings in, the one that has to write off all its bad loans quarterly or the one that still has paper written in 1980 that has been in default for 10 years, that you stopped collections on because it would cause the borrower to lose face. Toyota isn’t the one borrowing borrowing money. Besides Hummer HELOC guy has been paying you 20% annually for the last 6 years (guy never reads the fine print).
Not to forget - Joe Homedebtor just got his pinkslip from AOL
Tough questions. This country will not worry about JOE FORECLOSURE losing face. They will just throw him out to the curb and let the home turn into a squatter zone when they can’t resell it.
I picked up the hardcopy FCNP today at Trader Joes. This is the front page headline and it certainly should have some impact when you see “Nosedive in Residential Condo Market” in large font……
I nearly rented a place at the Broadway on route 7. They are very nice condos. I think they cost in the high $300s pre-construction in 2003. They did not rent very easily and the price was under $2000 a month.
I am very interested in the Palladium in McLean which is by the same developer but much higher priced and supposedly was over subscribed but the county records show the developer still owning many units. Supposedly they should have closed in November. Lots on the market and many for rent, typically $3-4,000 or more a month.