Standing Out In The Midst Of Multiple Offers
A report from the Center for Public Integrity. “The National Association of Realtors, a major outside spender in the election, reported $500,000 in television ads supporting Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., in his quest to be elected in California’s 30th District. In May, the National Association of Realtors spent more than $709,000 ensuring Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., won his primary in California’s 31st District, as the Center for Public Integrity previously reported. Miller is the founder of a homebuilding company and oversees the real estate industry as a member of the House Financial Services Committee. Sherman also sits on that committee.”
“Both of these committees deal with issues of interest to realtors, including disaster insurance and Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.”
The Orange County Register in California. “On Nov. 8, Real estate broker Gary Thomas, 68, will be elevated to the highest office in realty, taking the oath as the 2013 president of the National Association of Realtors. He will be the first NAR president from Orange County in at least 84 years. But others say Thomas is unfit to lead the nation’s foremost real estate group because he filed for personal and corporate bankruptcy in the past 17 months, walking away from millions of dollars in debts.”
“In late 2008, RE/MAX sued Thomas for failing to pay more than $1.7 million in fees and dues owed under his franchise agreement. He settled out of court for $1.2 million. Court records show several lawsuits filed by landlords accusing Altera of failing to pay rent. In January 2011, an Altera Real Estate agent sued Thomas, accusing him of failing to pay $128,000 in commissions she had earned from the sale of five homes. When she asked for payment, Thomas told her Altera had used her commissions to cover operating expenses, the lawsuit said.”
“Fifteen days after the agent sued, Thomas’ corporation filed for bankruptcy. He filed for personal bankruptcy this past June. The combined personal and corporate debts from the two bankruptcies totaled $13.2 million, while the combined assets totaled $1.7 million. Thomas’ creditors likely will get pennies on the dollar when the bankruptcies are completed.”
“Supporters counter that you can’t blame a Realtor for misfortunes suffered in the worst real estate crash in 70 years. ‘Has he had some unfortunate situations? Like all of us, yes,’ said former NAR President Dick Gaylord of Long Beach. ‘But I don’t think anyone thinks he’s anything but competent, hardworking and honest.’”
The Signal. “The Federal Housing Authority recently backed off on some of the agency’s restrictive rules that experts said were hurting the real estate market’s recovery and hampering the selling and buying of condominiums. Many local association complexes, however, don’t understand that qualifying their complex for FHA financing will mean an increase in owner-occupied units and fewer renters, said Kathy Salisbury with Triple D Realty.”
“‘You get a decline in prices in a heavily tenant-occupied complex due to lack of affordable financing,’ she said. ‘FHA financing would tremendously help the condo and townhome market and you would begin to see recovery within those complexes with true pride of ownership from owner-occupants.’”
The Burbank Leader. “Forty-eight homes were sold last month, a nearly 23% increase from 37 during the same time last year, according to statistics compiled by the Burbank Assn. of Realtors. However, the number of houses on the market dropped to 122 last month, a 38% drop from the 198 in August 2011. The median price also edged down slightly to $497,000 from $500,000. Elena Hubbell, a Realtor with Dilbeck Realtors in Burbank, said the number of short sales and foreclosures entering the market is remaining steady and probably won’t decline any time soon. However, distressed homes, while getting multiple offers, are keeping median prices from rising.”
“Hubbell, who is on the board of directors of the Burbank Assn. of Realtors, said she tells potential buyers that now is the time to make an offer due to low prices and interest rates. However, because of the competitiveness of the local market — especially with standard sales — she cautions them to at least meet the asking price or go a little higher so they’ll stand out in the midst of multiple offers. ‘You don’t assume you can get it cheaper,’ she said.”
The Glendale News Press. “Significantly more single-family homes and condominiums sold in Glendale last month compared to August 2011, but the number of homes on the market continues to dwindle, which may be driving up median prices for condos and higher-end properties, according to the latest real estate figures. Rick Barnes, a broker with Real Estate One in Glendale, said the housing inventory continues to dry up. ‘I don’t remember it being this tight,’ said Barnes, who has been in the real estate business for 30 years.”
“He said that as median home prices edged up this spring, banks started releasing more short sales onto the market, driving prices back down. Homes valued at more than a $1 million are actually selling for much less, which masks the true median price for mid-range homes, said Barnes, who is president-elect of the Glendale Assn. of Realtors. Barnes said there are still a lot of investors snatching up short sales and good deals by paying cash. However, he added that some of the those investors are actually taking out loans from other investors, fixing up the home — sometimes with poor quality and non-permitted materials — and selling it to pay back the loan and make a healthy profit.”
“‘It’s really an unusual market,’ Barnes said.”
The Bakersfield Californian. “In Bakersfield-Delano, 44.9 percent, or 66,424, of all residential properties with a mortgage had negative equity as of the second quarter of the year compared with 46.8 percent, or 69,179 properties, in the first quarter, according to CoreLogic. Another 5.4 percent were in ‘near negative equity,’ the company said.”
“The region’s huge number of upside-down home loans is one of the factors contributing to a super-low inventory of homes for sale locally, said Scott Tobias, president of the Bakersfield Association of Realtors. ‘There just aren’t enough homes on the shelf,’ he said. ‘It makes it difficult not only to buy, but also to negotiate.’”
“The situation has ramifications beyond the housing market. Prior to the real estate crash, homeowners frequently tapped equity to obtain money to start or expand a business. Small businesses are a major source of new jobs. ‘Now, not only have the lenders tightened up lending standards, but basically the collateral source disappeared, so it’s kind of a double whammy,’ said Kelly Bearden, director of Cal State Bakersfield’s Small Business Development Center.”
The San Gabriel Valley News. “Unemployment rates declined throughout Southern California last month and the Inland Empire led the way with a drop of nearly half a percentage point. No one would deny that things appear to moving in the right direction. But many cities in the Inland Empire still have alarmingly high jobless rates.”
“‘L.A. County is looking a little bit better,’ said Jordan Levine, an economist and director of economic research for Beacon Economics in Los Angeles. ‘We’re in our 14th month of year-over-year increases in home sales in California, and that’s starting to give way to home price appreciation.’”
The Victor Valley Daily Press. “Around 2,000 Victor Valley residents turned out for the High Desert Regional Job Fair Wednesday at the San Bernardino Fairgrounds, with lines stretching around a quarter of a mile out the door and into the parking lot. Forty-eight employers with a total of 841 job openings took part in the event, according to Brad Gates, one of the coordinators.”
“California’s official unemployment rate is 11.2 percent. But when those who have given up hope of finding work are included, California’s jobless rate is 20.3 percent — comparable to the Great Depression, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics.”
The Desert Dispatch. “Barstow resident Vincent Hernandez spends at least five hours every day hunting for a job in retail management. Hernandez has been searching for full-time work since May. He volunteers at the nonprofit organization Desert Manna, where he assists Barstow’s unemployed with their job search. ‘I have 10 years of retail management experience and if I can’t even get a job in fast food. It just shows that it is a bad economy,’ he said.”
From KFSN-TV. “Hundreds of people come to Merced County’s Worknet office each week for help finding jobs, education, and training. That includes Kendall Ross, who lost his manufacturing position when Arvin Sango closed its Merced auto parts plant in 2010. He’s now packing produce to make ends meet. ‘Yeah, right now I’m making minimum wage, and it’s like a crazy schedule,’ Ross said.”
“But he and other job seekers are happy to hear the county’s unemployment rate is dropping. It’s down to 15.9 percent, a one point one percent decrease from the same time last year.”
The Oakland Tribune. “The Bay Area resumed its role in August as the strongest job creator for the Golden State, state labor officials reported Friday. Bay Area employers added 6,100 jobs, which was 51 percent of the 12,000 jobs added statewide, according to the state’s Employment Development Department. The Bay Area’s employment surge appears poised to persist, primarily because businesses that wish to avoid hiring more workers are using technology tools to increase productivity, economists said.”
“‘Bay Area companies supply the software, communications tools, hardware, social networking and Internet products and services that employers demand,’ said Jordan Levine, an economist with Beacon.”
The Central Valley Business Times. “High unemployment, high poverty rates and a lack of workers to take unskilled agricultural jobs are combining to throttle any hope of an economic recovery for the Central Valley, says a report by Bill Watkins, executive director of the California Lutheran University Center for Economic Research & Forecasting. ‘Employers throughout California complain of a lack of qualified workers when the employers do have job openings. Safety-net policies contribute,’ he says. ‘California, with about 12 percent of the United States population has over 30 percent of the United States’ welfare recipients.’”
“Mr. Watkins says there are other contributing causes as well, especially education. ‘California, in spite of the vast sums spent on education, has bad educational outcomes. Huge numbers never graduate from high school. Even larger numbers graduate, but are unequipped to be productive workers,’ he says.”
“He also says too many skilled workers are leaving California. ‘California has had negative net domestic migration for two decades now, and the people who have left are not losers unable to compete in California. Instead, they are the ones with the most to gain from a rapidly growing and dynamic economy. If they are not in tech, they can’t find a rapidly growing dynamic economy in California. So, they go where they can find it,’ he says. ‘Everyone that leaves takes a bit of California’s future with them.’”
“But others say Thomas is unfit to lead the nation’s foremost real estate group because he filed for personal and corporate bankruptcy in the past 17 months, walking away from millions of dollars in debts.”
Sounds perfectly qualified to me!
“Mr. Watkins says there are other contributing causes as well, especially education. ‘California, in spite of the vast sums spent on education, has bad educational outcomes. Huge numbers never graduate from high school. Even larger numbers graduate, but are unequipped to be productive workers,’ he says.”
Sounds like California is winning the race to the bottom.
“He also says too many skilled workers are leaving California. ‘California has had negative net domestic migration for two decades now, and the people who have left are not losers unable to compete in California. Instead, they are the ones with the most to gain from a rapidly growing and dynamic economy. If they are not in tech, they can’t find a rapidly growing dynamic economy in California. So, they go where they can find it,’ he says. ‘Everyone that leaves takes a bit of California’s future with them.’”
Give me a fawking break. This state’s liberal whack jobs are chasing away their productive work force, leaving behind a dependency class. Level the playing field in favor of people who are neither independently wealthy nor destitute, and the work producers will return.
I’m in tech, and I fled because of taxes and cost of living. You can do tech anywhere.
You can do tech anywhere.
Anecdote: A few weeks ago an old boss from my HP days tried to recruit me to come back to San Diego to work for his new employer. When I offered to telecommute I was shot down. They wanted people in the office.
A know a handful of people who telecommute 100%, but it seems that most people still drive into the office, even if its a just a few days a week. And most of those offices are in high cost of living areas.
This is why I’m self employed. You don’t need an office, or a boss.
You just need customers, and they can be the toughest boss of all.
They don’t make you come into the office very often, though.
In my last FT job, I was a copywriter. Which meant that my job could have been done via a laptop from the summit of Mount Lemmon. (It’s that big one just north of the Tucson city limits.)
But no-o-o-o. I had to be in the office every day.
For what purpose, I’m still mystified. And I quit that job 18 years ago yesterday.
I like the pond half way up. Crystal Lake?
Near as I can tell, the average office is structured much like a baboon troupe, complete with dominance rituals. When the big purple butt baboon can’t easily thump on his inferiors, it makes him uneasy.
I like the pond half way up. Crystal Lake?
That would be Rose Canyon Lake.
We’re just monkeys with cars.
Rose Canyon, right! Beautiful. Thanks to WPA for the road!
AmazingRuss’ comment is closer to the truth. A higher reality (other than management insecurities) is that telecommuting is a benefit, hence tends to be reserved for management to make use of. Stay at home and claim you’re working? That’s right up the elitist’s alley. So we end up with worker bees commuting, regardless of how their job can telecommute, while the managers get plenty of time off. At least that’s how it worked in Massachusetts tech companies in the 1990s.
And then there’s an even larger truth: If your worker-bee job can be done at home, it can be done in Hyderabad just as easily, and much cheaper to boot. The only eminently telecommutable job that will never be offshored, is “corporate executive”.
The only eminently telecommutable job that will never be offshored, is “corporate executive”.
At least until the company goes out of business due to competition from an executive in Chindia that now has all the IP and trained workers needed to take over that market segment.
what is scary is now with remote desktop access, people use tech from India for $5 an hr.
Same results in most cases.
Time to learn to weld.
+1. Be careful what you wish for, techies.
I’m happy to be doing things that are difficult to do from home.
‘Level the playing field in favor of people who are neither independently wealthy nor destitute, and the work producers will return’
A couple of things:
‘Level the playing field’
This is probably what the people running California think they are doing.
‘the work producers will return’
I’ve mentioned before that Arizona is home to a lot of former Californians. Of those I’ve talked with, not one has expressed a desire to return, under any circumstances. And Arizona isn’t paradise. Even if they do go back, what will they do to make a living?
‘The number of people unemployed in California fell by 27,000 in August to a little more than 1.9 million. But that was in part due to people giving up on active job searches. The total labor force shrunk by about 66,000 people.’
‘Porterville’s jobless rate in August was 13.8%, down from the 14.5% recorded in July. Lindsay’s jobless rate was 18.3%, also an improvement. Other local jobless rates: Ducor, 23.1; East Porterville, 20.8; Poplar, 18.2; Springville, 14.2; Strathmore, 21.5; Terra Bella, 38.3; and Woodville, 15.2. Visalia’s’ jobless rate was 9.4% and Tulare 12.9%.’
‘The unemployment rate in Imperial County dropped in August, down to 29.9 percent, according to data released today by the state’s Employment Development Department.’
I’ve mentioned before that Arizona is home to a lot of former Californians. Of those I’ve talked with, not one has expressed a desire to return, under any circumstances. And Arizona isn’t paradise. Even if they do go back, what will they do to make a living?
I see the same thing down here in Tucson, Ben. A lot of of former CA people who wouldn’t move back there on a bet.
Not that Tucson is perfect. Heck, it frequently reminds me of Stupidville.
But it’s still not CA. Thank gawd.
Don’t confuse the valley with the coast in CA.
Smart, successful people make it to the coast…. or at least their parents did well.
No better place on the planet, than San Luis Obispo or Santa Barbara.
88 in SLO today. Usually 76 all yr.
No better place on the planet, than San Luis Obispo ??
I second that….Our favorite destination….
Do you want to bring back the smog? Enron?
Regulations are good, when you have crony-capitalism.
From the first link:
‘The National Association of Realtors is the primary trade group representing realtors and is also a powerful lobbying group. In 2011, it spent more than $22 million on lobbying, according to the Center for Responsive Politics. This election cycle, the PAC has spent $1.2 million on independent campaign expenditures, and the super PAC has spent $2.5 million. This makes the Realtors’ outside spending comparable to the National Rifle Association.’
I dunno.
Who is more guilty?
a) Nation Association of Housing Whores
or;
b) The elected scumbags who accept their “contributions”
Answer: WE are the most guilty, since we sign the mortgage documents that promise to repay what’s essentially unpayable debt over our intermittently-employed lifetimes. WE are the most guilty since we suffer the greatest delusions.
The National Association of Realtors, a major outside spender in the election, reported $500,000 in television ads supporting Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., in his quest to be elected in California’s 30th District. In May, the National Association of Realtors spent more than $709,000 ensuring Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., won his primary in California’s 31st District, as the Center for Public Integrity previously reported.
If that isn’t proof that we need to dump our two party system, I don’t know what is.
We had three parties with Perot.
We got 8 years of Clinton.
It was still a two party system. Perot had no chance of winning.
He was leading in the polls for months until he went nuts with his stories of the CIA going after his family.
He still won around 20% of the vote.
And we all got Clinton for 8 years who NEVER WON a majority of the votes in his elections.
I think that Perot initially captivated a disillusioned electorate, that is until they got to see him in the limelight. He came across as a crank and that did scare voters away. Too bad we didn’t listen, he was right on the money about offshoring jobs.
I think he definitely gave the duopoly a good scare. I would say that today rather than being disillusioned that the electorate is highly polarized. Instead of recognizing that both parties stink, we’re stuck in a less filling/tastes great infinite loop.
I liked Perot (and voted for him) even though he got a bit flaky. He seemed honest and seemed like he actually did care more about the country than his political career.
I think our current polarization is due to the lack of something else for the disillusioned to cling to in numbers that count. I like Paul, but the USA would have to be hurting a lot worse before the middle would flock to him or someone like him. Perot didn’t seem so extreme.
Perot would have made a good Tea Partier.
Perhaps he was the first one.
With the two parties we’ve got now, we’ve had 80 years of decline.
There’s something you might not have thought about:
‘aside from these personal failings, Mitt Romney’s campaign is uniquely suited to collapse before a well-financed and relentless assault from the President and his supporters. While the Republicans rail against Obamacare as a step toward “socialism,” Romney is himself on record as having supported the very same “individual mandate” so abhorred by the GOP. As the former governor of a very liberal state, Romney wouldn’t have lasted long as a “severe conservative” – unless such “severity” now means issuing a proclamation of “Gay Youth Pride Day” and supporting tax-funded abortion on demand.’
‘When it comes to foreign policy, what is striking are the similarities rather than the much-touted differences between the two: in spite of Romney’s rather unconvincing sallies at the President over Obama’s supposed “weakness,” when it comes to specifics it’s hard to see where Romneyism ends and Obamaism begins.’
‘Romney isn’t so much a serious candidate for the presidency as he is a national joke: his record as a “flip-flopper,” his inability to project anything remotely resembling sincerity, and his Richie Rich persona have all combined to turn him into a human piñata for both liberals and conservatives to pick apart. Which leads us back to the question I asked at the beginning: is the GOP deliberately throwing this election?’
And it is why you never see a Romney bumper sticker.
Conservatives do not trust him given his record. He was/is an obama lite with gun control added in for good measure.
They give luke warm support only because he is NOT obama on the HOPE that he will bring some sanity back to the POTUS.
‘as Josh Romney wrapped up, with an admonition to choose the preferred slate of Mitt Romney delegates, the crowd exploded with competing boos and cheers, cutting him short. State party chairman Tom Morrissey begged for everyone to stay respectful.’
“Maybe it’s going to take getting behind somebody we weren’t so excited about. … What I want is to save this country, and we’ve gotta do it together. None of us gets everything we want,” Morrissey said’
The freedom party seems to be under the thumb.
And it is why you never see a Romney bumper sticker.
A few Romney yard signs have popped up on the golf course facing houses on our street, but no bumper stickers. Of course, I can’t imagine anyone defiling their BMW or Landrover with a bumper sticker
I think they are throwing it, just like the last one. They’ve been enjoying complaining about the trainwreck they helped create too much to take responsibility for it.
It might even be their new long term strategy. Cause an economic catastrophe that enriches their cronies, then pull back and let the democrats take the blame for it. Once the economy is fattened up for harvest, take power by blaming the democrats for all the pain in between, take power, and cause an economic catastrophe that enriches their cronies….
You would have a point if the democrats actually did anything EXCEPT make the problem worse.
Not one banker in jail
$5 Trillion in deficit spending
Real unemployment at 14%
Bankers STILL being bailed out
Housing bubble re-inflated
More jobs going overseas
Bigger and bigger government
More foreign wars
Gas prices at all time highs
Government spending and government deficits at all time highs
The symptoms of a deliberately sabotaged economy. Not that I think the democrats wouldn’t have done it, they just didn’t think of it first.
If the party bosses of both parties were answering to the exact same monied interests, we’d be where we are. Feel free to convince me otherwise.
We got 8 years of Clinton ??
Yeah….Those terrible balanced budget, no interventionist war years…What happened after that….
Yes, good thing he didn’t want any interventionist war when they offered him Osama Bin Laden on a platter. I think instead he launched a few million dollar missiles at some tents in the desert. Too busy enjoying the “perks” of the white house to lead.
I think Newt and the congess had a lot to say about the balanced budgets.
I think Newt and the congess had a lot to say about the balanced budgets ??
Well then why didn’t Bush & the republican controlled congress do the same my friend ??
I remember those years here on the HBB.
Liberals and democrats screaming about $250 billion deficits.
Now - those are the “good old days” with obama $1 Trillion deficits. And you hear nothing from the liberals.
Well then why didn’t Bush & the republican controlled congress do the same my friend ??
I thought we were talking about Clinton - not Bush. Clinton was president during the dot.com boom. Lots of money everywhere. The stock market crashed almost the day he left office - then 9/11(possibly as a result of Clinton’s neglect). Saftey of the country became more important that domestic policies. Clinton is way over rated if you ask me.
with obama $1 Trillion deficits ??
Deficits that are paying for what ?? Who signed TARP ?? Who started two interventionist unfunded wars while at the same time cut taxes ?? So, Bush throws a neocon party but leaves the Bill for the next guy….Nice…
I thought we were talking about Clinton - not Bush ??
Your the one that did the name dropping with Newt and congress…I just asked you why when you had total control you guys did not run a surplus ??
Saftey of the country became more important that domestic policies ??
Thats neocon speak for “be afraid”……”Want to fight them over there instead of over here”….Bunch of neocon crap…
ahhh…. the clinton years….
When I vote I see several different parties - usually half a dozen - fielding candidates for president and maybe governor or US senator. No one makes me vote R or D.
But the common “wisdom” is that by voting outside the duopoly, you are “throwing your vote away”.
So? The parties are there, trying to get support. Are voters being suppressed by the “common wisdom”?
To a degree, yes. Never underestimate the power of the herd to persuade.
The NAR are #5 on the all time donors list and give about 50/50 to dem/rep. #1, #2 and #4 are public unions that give 99% to democrats.
Top All-Time Donors, 1989-2012
http://www.opensecrets.org/orgs/list.php?order=A
A report from the Center for Public Integrity. “The National Association of Realtors, a major outside spender in the election, reported $500,000 in television ads supporting Rep. Brad Sherman, D-Calif., in his quest to be elected in California’s 30th District. In May, the National Association of Realtors spent more than $709,000 ensuring Rep. Gary Miller, R-Calif., won his primary in California’s 31st District, as the Center for Public Integrity previously reported. Miller is the founder of a homebuilding company and oversees the real estate industry as a member of the House Financial Services Committee. Sherman also sits on that committee.”
There’s so much curious stuff going on in California. Maybe I’m the only one who wonders why? With an unemployment rate around great depression levels, these Californians are still eager to pay even more for a house; even out bidding each other!
‘In tracking signs of a recovering home market, more homes are selling in the Santa Clarita Valley than in most any other period in the past five years despite a record low inventory. And median prices of single-family homes are up. 96.2 percent of all homes listed for sale in August 2012 sold. In August 2007, only 30.1 percent of all homes listed actually sold. Following the August trends, only 52.9 percent of the list homes sold in August 2008; 79.9 percent sold in 2009 — the year when the state and federal home buying tax incentives were put in place; 56.7 percent sold in 2010; and 76.3 percent sold in 2011.’
‘We’re hitting a point in the market where the limited inventory, particularly the falling percentage of bank-owned properties listed, are limiting choices for today’s growing number of buyers,” said Erika Kauzlarich-Bird, president of SRAR’s Santa Clarita Valley Division. More than a third of all homes sold — nearly 35 percent — were reported as sold by owners who have equity in their homes, up from July, data show. “A decline in foreclosures, while reducing inventory, ultimately is healthy and leads to a rise in traditional equity sales,” she said. “Yet nearly a third of current owners still owe more than their homes are worth, making it difficult for them to list for sale, thus contributing to the dwindling inventory.”
“We continue to see a strong demand for housing throughout the Santa Clarita Valley,” said Jim Link, SRAR’s chief executive officer. “But the local market, like most of California, is hindered by virtually no inventory, which translates into multiple offers on much of what is for sale.”
‘LeFrancis Arnold, the Realtors association president, said there’s a dwindling supply of existing homes on the market, with the current inventory down more than 30 percent from last year. “Inventory levels are at the lowest levels we’ve seen in seven years, and we are starting to see the supply shortage conditions having a negative impact on sales in the Central Valley and the Inland Empire,” he said.’
“Inventory is a big problem,” said Ryan Sherman, an agent with Sherman & Associates in Lodi. He reported Monday that there were only 109 residential properties listed for sale in the Lodi area, compared with 193 Lodi homes sold and moving through escrow. “It’s the first time since ‘06 that sales and pending sales have far outreached active properties,” Sherman said. Part of the problem, he said, is a slow trickle of foreclosure properties entering the market.’
“For whatever reason, there seems to be some reluctance by the large banks to release the foreclosure properties,” he said.’
What a time bomb buying a house in California.
The state is bankrupt. They are already hinting to a federal bailout. They will raise any and all taxes to the sky. The public unions will not be touched. Illegal immigrants will not be touched. Homeowners and those with jobs will have a big bulls eye painted on them for ever increasing taxes.
California has high unemployment and some of the highest taxes in America. Anyone who buys a house today will have the property taxes reassessed so there is no prop 13 savings for them. They will pay “full market” value in property taxes.
These buyers are all hoping for massive appreciation. Another roll of the dice made possible by $5 Trillion on obama deficits.
“full market” value for property taxes is still only about 1.1% of purchase price.
A $250k home (absent any special assessments) will have property taxes of about $2,750 per year.
Per Prop 13, this $2,750 per year can only grow by 2% annually.
CA may have high income and sales taxes, but you can’t say they have high property taxes.
A nothing special, average SFH in or around any major city in any kind of decent hood in CA is going to run $700,000+.
Property taxes are 1.15% or at least $7,500/year.
And yes - you are going to have special assessments. And more and more of them in the future as cities and the state go bankrupt.
Special Assessment us used when necessary to pay off any voter-approved general obligation bonds or other indebtedness, special assessments, or direct levies.
So plan on at least $10,000/year in property taxes for a nothing house on a postage stamp lot. Now add in the HIGHEST state taxes in the union.
The problem is not high property tax rates. It is high home prices.
And you’re right, you will have special assessments. Mine increase my property tax bill by maybe about 5% (meaning 1% becomes 1.05%).
It’s the bonds and Mello Roos that will get you, not the special assessments.
If you can afford $700,000, you should be able to afford the $10k per year. If you can’t afford $700k, why bother talking about the property taxes?
What would the taxes on a $700k home be in NY? 3 times as much? 4 times?
The problem is not high property tax rates, it’s high home prices.
it’s high home prices ??
Propped up with lowest interest rates in our history…Rates are going up someday…Tax favored deductions are on the radar in D/C….IMO, its difficult to make the case that, at the minimum, they can continue up from here…
My question is this: How much are the low interest rates actually propping up home prices by virtue of giving homebuyers more purchasing power?
Intuition would say “quite a bit”. However, we saw data on this board this past week that 2 of 4.4 million home sales in 2011 were all cash.
In the markets where you are familiar, how many stories are you hearing of buyers who want to buy with a mortgage getting outbid by all-cash buyers?
A woman in our office has a son who would like to buy a modest house in Sunnyvale (I think she said his budget was sub-$500k). However, he is being told to not bother making offers unless he has cash to close.
I think if home prices are being propped up by the ZIRP policy of the Fed, it is more likely because the ZIRP policy is pushing investors into buying homes for yield at today’s prices than because buyers are accessing ultra-cheap debt that is making their incomes sufficient to purchase at today’s prices.
“we saw data on this board this past week that 2 of 4.4 million home sales in 2011 were all cash.”
You know the majority of these cash sales were bulk sales that shifted off one balance sheet and onto another.
Are you weaving another web my friend?
I don’t know what’s going on right but I talked to a mortgage broker who told me money was drying up and it is hard to get a mortgage through. He thinks it has something to do with the election coming up. Maybe it is just the all cash deals so no mortgage needed.
The rental my SIL is renting has fell through three times and is in escrow again. The LL asked them if they could be out in two days; they told LL 60 days upon written notice. The wife then called my SIL’s day and screamed at him even though the dad didn’t sign the lease.
I keep hearing conflicting stories on availability of debt.
I’ve refinanced twice in 2012. The first time took forever because the bank was slammed. Second time was faster, but it was a different bank.
I know a guy who is buying/leasing homes, and then putting about 50-60% financing on after they are leased. It takes him forever to get the financing done. The reason given to him is that money purchase loans get pushed to the front of the line at the bank (as they have a fixed timeframe by which to close), so he keeps getting pushed back.
So, from what I’m seeing first and second-hand is that banks are busy lending money.
However, what is less clear to me is how tight credit standards are. This is especially the case since in both cases I describe above, credit scores/loan to value are not in question.
In other words, does “drying up” mean banks are out of money (which my experience would contradict)? Or does “drying up” mean banks are stingy to whom they lend (and getting stingier), with appraisals perhaps being part of the problem?
The latter would be yet another reason why the Fed ZIRP policy is having little direct effect on home prices. What good are low rates to spur demand if a buyer cannot access them?
A nothing special, average SFH in or around any major city in any kind of decent hood in CA is going to run $700,000+.
Not true, our old house in Escondido (a San Diego suburb) lists on Zillow for 292K:
http://www.zillow.com/homedetails/1123-Symphony-Pl-Escondido-CA-92029/16701333_zpid/
“You know the majority of these cash sales were bulk sales that shifted off one balance sheet and onto another.”
I do not “know” this. What is your point? When I bought, the house was shifted to my balance sheet from the prior owner’s balance sheet.
My only guess (and I’m not trying to put words in your mouth), is that you believe a large number of these sales to be between related parties, and thus not arms-length transactions (and should thus be disregarded). If that is your point, do you have a link to support this assertion?
Otherwise, why does it matter if the sale is BofA selling in bulk to a group like Colony for cash? The point is that a group like Colony is buying for cash at the reported prices (regardless of whether it is one at a time, or in bulk).
“So, from what I’m seeing first and second-hand is that banks are busy lending money.”
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kTkpMfVJkpA/UBiXB3HcXiI/AAAAAAAAOjU/6vyXMJudiHM/s1600/MBAJuly312012.jpg
Hmmm… really? “Busy lending money”? Uh huh. Yet apps are 60% lower so just how busy are they?
First hand experience too? Like your construction management and estimating experience?
It seems when you get caught misrepresenting the truth, you spin your web of lies more rapidly. Quit while you’re ahead.
by virtue of giving homebuyers more purchasing power ??
IMO, No question about it…..
2 of 4.4 million home sales in 2011 were all cash ??
Remove all the short ale and foreclosures and it would be a entirely different number…Someday the market will clear and when it does the cash buyers will clear with them…
However, he is being told to not bother making offers unless he has cash to close ??
I suggest he get pre-approved for a loan only subject to an appraisal and seek a new realtor to help him find a house…
is pushing investors into buying homes for yield at today’s prices ?
Run the math (all the math)…There is no “yield”…
me money was drying up ??
I think they are awash in cash….
it is hard to get a mortgage through ??
You betcha….First, the majority of the sources for loans are all gone which forces all the borrowers down the same pipeline… Second, staffs are cut back to the bone so processing takes much longer…Lastly, and probably most important, is the tolerance for error or worse “misrepresentation” is zero…You might say that every T is crossed and I dotted besides the fact that your credit needs to be clean…
What kind of a house will 250k buy in California?
This kind of stuff is shocking to me:
‘California, with about 12 percent of the United States population has over 30 percent of the United States’ welfare recipients’
(Note that Watkins used to be a big bubble booster). So 30% of welfare recipients, 20% unemployment, millions of underwater loans, expensive houses, and…
‘the Bay Area’s employment surge appears poised to persist, primarily because businesses that wish to avoid hiring more workers are using technology tools’
Talk about digging the hole deeper! Where do I sign up?
The median home price in CA is $300k.
Most of these inexpensive homes are a long commute from major job centers.
The push of cheaper housing is east from the coasts.
I’m not saying it’s wonderful here, but the problems here are high home prices, not high property taxes.
CA has expensive areas on the coast and white trash like Fresno, Bakersfield, Riverside….
$250k buys a big McMansion on a small lot in Riverside.
See Temecula, for the best area for the money. As cheap as Kansas city, 45 mins to world class surf.
‘California, with about 12 percent of the United States population has over 30 percent of the United States’ welfare recipients’
That statement makes me curious about what share of the U.S. homeless resides in California. I’m guessing it’s over 30 percent, based on the favorable weather, plus first-hand observations of homeless populations in Berkeley, San Francisco, San Diego, etc. We went to see the Padre’s game on Saturday night, and saw the largest number of homeless people out on the street that I have witnessed since we moved here over seven years ago.
Obviously efforts to artificially support the value of San Diego real estate ‘investments’ doesn’t work well for decreasing the homeless population, as even people with decent jobs and steady incomes can’t afford to buy houses here.
Trekula? ugh, just shoot me.
nicer than 75% of the cities in the USA. Sure, it is not Santa Barbara, but it does have sunshine and wineries.
what area is nicer for the same low cost?
“They are already hinting to a federal bailout.”
Sources, please?
I fully expect to be called a liar on this, but I’ll repeat what I’ve said before:
1. Prop 13 allows many retirees to continue to live in the houses in which they raised their families–this reduces retirement downsizing as compared to other states;
2. CA has done a terrible job keeping up with population growth when it comes to building places for people to live. In the 90’s, CA added about 4 million people, but only built 1 million housing units. The 00’s were better, but still didn’t keep up with population growth; Don’t believe it? Look at:
a. CA vacancy rate (per the census as of Q2 was 5.3% for rental stock, and 1.8% for owner occupied);
b. The number of people per housing unit is second highest in the country (Utah was higher last I did the math);
3. It is more and more difficult to get land entitled for housing development–municipalities are out of control, and the State isn’t helping, meaning that #2 is likely to continue; and
4. The combination of structural supply shortages and Prop 13 allow landlords to pay low property taxes, which allows them to charge lower rents than newer, nicer properties, keep their properties in poor repair, but continue to keep them full of tenants. People who live in this housing stock want to live in better digs;
All of this over time has led to higher priced homes, and therefore a shade over 50% home ownership rate.
Ask yourself who is unemployed? Lower wage earners, or higher? Largely it is the less skilled folks. More than most states, these guys are renters in CA. The buyers of homes are folks who make more money (less unemployment at these wage levels), and are fed up with crappy rental housing.
If municipalities could get out of their own way, and would allow CA to build more housing, you would find CA’s housing market to begin to resemble other places. Until then, CA will not act as you might otherwise expect based on headline unemployment rates, etc.
We can talk about withholding of inventory from banks, but as I’ve noted before, the total amount of distressed housing continues to fall in CA (non-current loan rate is falling, as is REO). IMHO, the structural supply shortage is far more important that the near-term inventory situation.
If municipalities could get out of their own way, and would allow CA to build more housing ??
And its getting worse and more expensive everyday….
He reported Monday that there were only 109 residential properties listed for sale in the Lodi area ??
We have less than half that many with twice the population in the center of hi wage, low unemployment and 3% interest rates…Guess whats happened to prices…
“There’s so much curious stuff going on in California. Maybe I’m the only one who wonders why? With an unemployment rate around great depression levels, these Californians are still eager to pay even more for a house; even out bidding each other!”
Glad you understand the source of my obsessive fascination with California housing insanity. I note that my colleague at work was finally able to sell the family home for $1.3M+ — about $500K below what they first attempted to sell for last summer.
I am nonetheless impressed that anybody can sell a home for north of $1M in such a depressed economy!
I can attest to the crazy housing market in Mountain View, CA.
Houses are getting 10 offers and going for over $100,000 over asking.
All I want is a house in our current school district that we can pay off before we retire. Looks like that won’t be happening
The obama war on savers and affordable housing continues…
Like obama started this. Its always somebody else’s fault with you, isn’t it?
Tommy started this and got away with it so I can do it too!
It is only FAIR!
The logic of 4 year olds.
Remember when the POTUS was a leader?
And obama wants ANOTHER term based on his record.
And obama wants ANOTHER term based on his record ??
Tell your party to offer a better alternative then…Problem is, you can’t…The neo’s run the party now…
Don’t forget where Mountain View is located. Hint: It’s not Fresno.
As fo rthe War on Savers, it’s the Federal Reserve who’s behind ZIRP.
Mt. View is off the charts…Its beyond crazy…I guess thats what happens when you have Google,Apple & Facebook within a few miles of each other…
The entire valley is nuts. But for some reason that’s where techies want to be.
That’s where the people who pay for the hiring want to be, anyway. I’m sure it and NYC are both great places to live if you’re rich.
That’s where the people who pay for the hiring want to be, anyway ??
Bingo…….And it trickles down from there….
Zillow has interesting charts on this stuff:
Sale-to-List ratio (over 1 means homes are on average selling for more than asking, under means on average they are selling for less than asking). San Jose Metro is now at 1.01 (on average homes are selling for more than asking).
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/CA-home-value/r_9/#metric=mt%3D44%26dt%3D1%26tp%3D6%26rt%3D14%26r%3D9%252C394806%252C395057%252C395025%26el%3D0
Also interesting and related to the sale dynamic are:
Listings with Price Cut
Average % Price Cut
You can see where this data was a couple of years ago, and where it is today.
Sold in past year -5.1 %Y-o-Y
Median sale price / sq. ft, $ 193, -0.3 %Y-o-Y
ya pimp.
And your point? We were talking about Mountain View, for which I was using San Jose as a proxy…perhaps I should have just shared Zillow’s Mountain View data.
http://www.zillow.com/local-info/CA-Mountain-View-home-value/r_32999/
Your point?
Perhaps you should disclose to the reading public why you’re misrepresenting the truth about housing.
My point was to show the data behind the original poster’s original assertion, that the market in Mountain View, CA is crazy.
That is all.
California started out as a colony of fortune hunters and it has remained so to a large extent over the years. Southern California in particular is full of white trash who have come out looking for an easier ride than they had back in Alabama or some other state in Crackerstan. When it doesn’t work out they leave, as many did in the early nineties…But many white Americans go there for awhile and then feel the pull of home and move “back east”. It seems as though many people go there, but do not make it their permanent home.
Of course the story with Arizona has much to do with home equity nickel millionaires moving to the the land of cheap houses. Not like Arizona is overflowing with high quality employment.
Back to California though. There are always large numbers moving in and out, with the balance shifting with the economy’s vagaries which often seem amplified in California. But the long term trend is more come than leave and of course we have the non-whites with their high birth-rates. Not like it’s likely to shrink in population in the years to come.
No one said the population is shrinking.
California is losing those who work, create jobs and are productive.
They are gaining those who live off the state.
They are almost at the tipping point. And are bankrupt.
I would hate to own a house there when that point is reached.
I would hate to own a house there ??
Cali is a pretty big state….Where is “there” ??
Exactly. Silicon Valley isn’t Fresno.
Exactly. Silicon Valley isn’t Fresno.
I think that’s a faulty logic. You are saying that companies won’t move, people won’t move another 20, 50 or 100 miles.
Nothing stays the same forever.
You are saying that companies won’t move ??
Well sure they will….Its the people inside the companies that don’t want to move particularly the executives…
Glad we won’t be stuck helping to pay the tab on these crazy loans.
The Poway deal gets fishier
By Felix Salmon
September 26, 2012
Remember Poway, and the exorbitant interest costs it was paying on its debt? At first glance, those costs were so huge because of the way the deal was structured: there were no interest or principal payments before 2033, and the final payments weren’t due until 2051.
In reality, however, there was something else going on as well: while Poway claimed to have only borrowed $105 million, they were lying about that: in fact, they borrowed $126 million, taking a $21 million kickback on top of the $105 million they were ostensibly borrowing.
As such, in reality they’re “only” paying $855 million of interest on a $126 million principal amount, rather than the $876 million of interest on $105 million in principal that we originally thought. But this is not a good thing. In fact, Will Carless — who’s been pushing this story hard, and has done a huge amount of work in reporting and explaining it — makes a very persuasive case that it’s illegal.
After all, the whole point of pushing the repayment dates back to 2033 and beyond was that Poway had already maxed out everything it was allowed to borrow before that. “When voters allow a school district to issue bonds,” Carless explains, “they set what appears to be a strict dollar limit on how much can be borrowed”. But somehow, that cap on the amount the district can borrow does not seem to be well defined. Somewhere along the way, definitions got fuzzy.
It should be pretty simple, this question of how much someone has borrowed: you just look at how much money they received when they did the borrowing. And to determine how much interest they’re paying, you take all the money they repay, and subtract that initial amount.
But Poway isn’t doing that. Instead, it’s defining the amount that it’s borrowing as the face value on the bonds. Set a bond with a low face value, and you get to borrow much more than face value, without going over the borrowing limit set by voters.
And that’s exactly what Poway did. By artificially jacking up the interest rate on the bonds — and the longest-dated bond, remember, had an interest rate of a whopping 7.2% — Poway managed sell the bonds at a substantial premium to par. That action, according to a formal letter filed by the California attorney general’s office, was not legal. The AG’s office didn’t prosecute Poway, on the grounds that doing so would cause Poway to incur substantial litigation costs. But it explicitly said that Poway’s behavior was unlawful, and that if this kind of thing became a habit, then it might indeed end up being prosecuted.
What’s more, if Poway sold these bonds at 120 cents on the dollar, there’s no way it could buy them back at 105 cents or less, as I suggested a few weeks ago: unwinding this deal is going to be expensive. Not $850 million expensive, of course, but tens of millions of dollars all the same. I was going on the fact that Bondview shows the bonds trading at about 101 cents on the dollar, but there might be something weird going on there.
In any case, the more we learn about this Poway bond, the smellier it gets. And of course officials aren’t talking:
“The simple fact is that [Poway Unified] did not borrow any more funds than those approved by the voters,” Superintendent John Collins wrote in an email on August 29.
Collins wouldn’t elaborate on this position. He and the Poway school board did not respond to several requests for interviews. Nor did Poway officials agree to interviews with their legal or financial staff.
…
It seems as though many people go there [to CA], but do not make it their permanent home.
Same here in AZ. We have a lot of population churn. For every three people moving in, two people leave.
Same here. I think that a lot of people are wandering around, searching for an Eldorado that has already been offshored. We get tons of newcomers in our little burg, who use the computers at the public library (the library had to triple the size of the computer lab due to the heavy demand) to search for jobs on Craigslist. Most find zilch and move on. Oh, there is free WiFi at the library too, but apparently the migrants don’t have their own laptops.
Another big user group (though a distant second) of the library PC’s: LDS missionaries.
Another big user group (though a distant second) of the library PC’s: LDS missionaries.
These days they’re allowed to check their email from home every so often…
“Supporters counter that you can’t blame a Realtor for misfortunes suffered in the worst real estate crash in 70 years. ‘Has he had some unfortunate situations? Like all of us, yes,’ said former NAR President Dick Gaylord of Long Beach. ‘But I don’t think anyone thinks he’s anything but competent, hardworking and honest.’”
Dick Gaylord?
Is that his porn name?
‘But I don’t think anyone thinks he’s anything but competent, hardworking and honest.’”
Yeah…. at least not in your fawkin’ corrupt realtor echo chamber…..
I’m surprised no one commented on Kathy Salisbury with “Triple D Realty”