Buyers Acknowledge They’re Overpaying
A weekend topic on bubbly media reports. The Tyler Morning Telegraph in Texas. “It’s a seller’s market, as homes in Tyler and Smith County are being snapped up quickly and builders work hard to meet growing demand. It’s not Dallas yet — where demand has artificially increased asking prices — but East Texas is well out of the Great Recession, according to a new report from the Smith County Appraisal District. ‘It’s getting crazy now,’ Realtor Amy Montanye, of the Montanye Team, said.”
“‘I have a family I’m working with now, who are from California,’ she said. ‘They see our home prices and to them, those are cheap. So they’re excited. But it’s also frustrating, because the houses are going off the market so fast — as soon as I send them an email with some listings, asking which homes they want to look at, the home is off the market. It’s got an offer before my buyer even has a chance to look.’”
“But that’s just where a seller wants to be. ‘We have a listing in Flint, for example, that would normally sell for $95, $96 per square foot,’ Ms. Montanye said. ‘But the seller used to be in real estate, and she knows what the market is doing. And she knows her home is mint. So she’s asking more. And she’ll get it.’”
CNBC on Colorado. “When Christopher Simmons began shopping for a home in Denver six months ago, he had no idea the risk and the frustration it would take to get one. The 27-year-old had good credit and cash to put down, but that was not enough in this red-hot market. Finally, Simmons went under contract on a small home in a transitional neighborhood, but only after beating out five other bidders. He wrote a letter to the owners, describing how he had grown up in the neighborhood, and then he added a risky tactic.”
“‘I waived the inspection and the appraisal contingencies on all of the offers I made and on this one as well,’ said Simmons.”
“‘Prices are going crazy. Multiple offers, love letters, videos, all kinds of things to appeal to a seller in order to make yours stand above all the others,’ said Denver real estate agent Jill Schafer.”
From Dow Jones Newswire. “Buyers who are eager to purchase a home are also waiving rights that are standard in sales contracts, experts say. In addition to promising to plow ahead even if an appraisal values the house below the purchase price, buyers are agreeing to forego the option of dropping out if an inspection shows the need for costly repairs or if they are unable to get a mortgage. ‘We’re seeing strategies and situations that have never been experienced here, and I’ve been in the real-estate business since 1987,’ says Tim Davis, managing broker at Weichert Realtors Professionals in Denver.”
“If, for example, a buyer agrees to pay $400,000 for a house, but the appraised value is $380,000, the buyer could have to pay the seller an additional $20,000 out of pocket. In such situations, buyers essentially acknowledge that they’re overpaying. They believe ‘the house will increase in value so much that even if something is wrong with it [they] will still be fine,’ says Doug Miller, a real-estate attorney and executive director of Consumer Advocates in American Real Estate.”
“According to Metrostudy. housing starts of single-family detached homes were up about 15% in Denver and Atlanta in the first quarter, compared with the same period last year, for example. In Las Vegas, they are up more than 36%, says Metrostudy. If new homes are going up, patience could pay off. Chris Langan and his partner put their five-month house search in Atlanta on hold in April after the couple grew tired of looking at houses that cost more than they wanted to spend and more than they thought the homes were worth, he says.”
“‘When I see a lot of people going toward one thing–this mass frenzy–I like to step back and evaluate it,’ says Mr. Langan, 31, a sales consultant for a food distributor. He says they plan to rent for two years, by which point he expects the market to be calmer.”
The Tampa Bay Times in Florida. “Ask Realtors about Tampa Bay’s housing market these days and you’re apt to hear words like fantastic and tremendous. What you probably won’t hear, except in a whispered voice, is: bubble. Yet one research and consulting firm says a data-based analysis it conducted of the Tampa Bay metro area shows another bubble could be forming. ‘You’ve got to be very cautious,” says Hogan E. Copeland III, chairman of Smithfield & Wainwright in Ponta Vedra Beach. ‘You’ve got a lot of speculation in the market right now, a lot of flipping of homes.’”
“According to reports released Thursday, year-over-year sales of single family homes in Tampa Bay shot up 21.6 percent in April with average prices increasing 13.3 percent. That continued a months’ long streak of rising prices that has brought joy to Realtors and sellers.”
“A Tampa appraiser who works all over Florida’s West Coast sees cause for concern. ‘The sharp price rises in some areas is a little scary,’ says Joani Herndon, former chair of the Florida Real Estate Appraisal Board. Herndon says downtown St. Petersburg’s condo market is ‘on fire’ — five condos sold for more than $1 million in April alone — and that demand is hot, too, for newer homes near Tampa’s downtown.”
“‘In South Tampa, builders can’t find enough (vacant) lots so they’re sending people door-to-door to try to get folks who’ve lived in those homes for years to sell,’ Herndon said. ‘A perfect example — I grew up in Sunset Park and never, ever thought that lots not on the water would sell for tear-downs. Now they’re doing it all day long.”’
“In March, a builder paid $475,00 for Herndon’s childhome home and knocked it down. Now a 5,300 square foot house is rising on the lot at a price of $1.599 million. ‘It’s like what’s going on on Snell Isle,’ Herndon says of the upscale area near downtown St. Petersburg where five small homes on one street alone were torn down to make way for million dollar mansions.”
“Founded in 2007, Smithfield & Wainright bases its system on inflation-adjusted sales and rental data from the federal government and on replacement cost data from a private company, Marshall and Swift, that works closely with the construction industry. By focusing solely on rising prices during the boom, banks and investors ‘largely failed to question the intrinsic value of the real estate-linked assets in which they had a massive investment,’ the study said. ‘Perpetually increasing and non-sustainable real estate prices ultimately imploded, contributing to the near-collapse of the nation’s financial system in 2008.’”
Update: Crude Oil Sinks And Global Demand Plummets
http://www.marketwatch.com/investing/future/crude%20oil%20-%20electronic
DOOM AND GLOOM
Pick yourself up off the floor and cheer up Poet and remember…..Falling prices to dramatically lower and more affordable levels makes your wallet fatter and is what is necessary to accelerate the economy.
Conversely, rising prices of everything except wages is what is needed to crash consumption spending and precipitate perpetual economic collapse.
Stocks | Fri May 15, 2015 9:09pm IST
Related: US Markets, Regulatory News
US STOCKS-Wall St slips after weak economic data
* Industrial output falls for 5th straight month
* Consumer sentiment lowest since October
* El Pollo Loco, King Digital fall after results
* Netflix touches record-high after report of China entry
* Indexes down: Dow 0.1 pct, S&P 0.1 pct, Nasdaq 0.2 pct (Adds details, changes comment, updates prices)
By Tanya Agrawal
May 15 (Reuters) - U.S. shares were slightly lower on Friday as weak economic data pointed to a lack of momentum in the economy.
Industrial output slipped 0.3 percent, weighed down by a decline in production by mining companies and utilities. Economists had forecast a rise of 0.1 percent.
U.S. consumer sentiment also fell more than expected in May and was at the lowest level since October.
“I think April is shaping up to be a weak month for consumption but the economy is still growing,” said Ilya Feygin, managing director at WallachBeth Capital in New York.
“There is some concern about the first-quarter weakness spilling into the current quarter.”
Adding to the negative tone, economists cut their forecasts for U.S. economic growth in the second quarter and full year, and trimmed expectations for U.S. labor market gains.
The economy had slowed to a crawl in the first quarter, hit by weak oil prices, harsh weather and port disruptions.
…
Analyst: Housing Bubbles Rising”
http://hamptonroads.com/2015/05/analyst-housing-bubbles-rising-and-we-could-be-next
Seems the media is always a dollar short and a day late. It’s a means to cover their @ss.
US Housing Demand Plunges To 20 Year Low
http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-fqSztKilps8/VFlPKlr52JI/AAAAAAAAhKU/v5oS41S-y0s/s1600/MBANov52014.PNG
Jupiter, FL List Prices Sink 9% As Housing Demand Plummets Nationally
http://www.movoto.com/jupiter-fl/market-trends/
‘We’re seeing strategies and situations that have never been experienced here, and I’ve been in the real-estate business since 1987,’
The Echo Bubble has hereby surpassed Housing Bubble 1.0 in terms of buyer stupidity.
Same Bullshart stories. One big credit pump, bleating from the RE pimps notwithstanding.
Anyone who waives a home inspection is a moron. Why would a bank allow that anyway?
‘banks have started selling more foreclosed houses, a new report shows. For the second month in a row, the four-county Metro Orlando area experienced an increase in foreclosure sales. The increase of foreclosure sales comes as Central Florida’s supply of listings is so thin that it is almost half of what is considered a healthy market. And for sellers, median prices in the core market of Orange and Seminole counties are up about 85 percent from a trough of less than $95,000 in January 2011.’
‘Some people believe that maybe the banks have held back and are intentionally selling now. I’m not sure about that, but it is a very opportune time for banks to liquidate this inventory because of market conditions,’ said Daren Blomquist, VP of RealtyTrac.’
http://thehousingbubbleblog.com/?p=9030
“Why would a bank allow that anyway?”
Because the bank gets to collect fees.
And they’re not going to hold the mortgage either - they are going to sell it to some other bagholder. So it’s all good.
This is why, if I was king, I would mandate banks to hold a majority of the loans that they make - that way, they have a vested interest in making good loans. Even better if it is local banks in the same community. But I know, that is a pipe dream of yesteryear.
“I would mandate banks to hold a majority of the loans…”
Does the Fed count? It seems like they bought boatloads of MBS in the QE3 episode, which makes them de facto owner of a bevy of toxic mortgages.
Does burying MBS chock full of defaulted mortgages on the Fed’s balance sheet effectively detoxify the assets?
Banks are supposed to match savings with those who wish to borrow. If the borrowing builds value, like prudent business borrowing can, it’s good for the society. But nowadays banks lend to people who buy depreciating consumables, like cars or vacations, and lend money for speculation, as in real estate. Both of which can have detrimental impacts on society.
I’m always leery of government trying to micromanage personal interactions between consenting adults. But if those personal interactions have significant public costs (like pollution from a factory), then the government should be regulating that kind of interaction so that costs are not imposed on bystanders.
What’s the answer? Banks should not be able to hold consumer deposits hostage to their worst, most reckless lending decisions. Banks act as container entities which make profits linking saver to borrower when times are good, but impose costs on the depositor and taxpayer when they become too reckless.
So: To limit the damage from, and control by, institutions which can impose such massive public costs when they fail, a few principles should be in place:
1) Banks should have very significant reserve ratios. They want to “invest” - lend out, speculate with - every penny they get. This provides maximum income to the bank directors. Yet it also creates maximum risk for the taxpayer and depositor.
2) The individuals hiding behind the corporate construct must be prosecuted if they engage in reckless or criminal behavior. Imposing fines on the corporate construct, where executives already turn over every few years has no deterrent effect on the individuals manipulating the actions of the construct.
3) National economic policy should not be directed by a bank. It will naturally look at the nation and the world from a banker’s world view. It’s idea of peak efficiency is a country where the citizens are maxed out on debt - which they are. And a country where the taxpayer assumes the risk of banks - which we currently do. The country right now is in an economic position that a bank would want it to be in: Borrowing being pushed at every angle with low interest rates and government insurance of debt, and consumers maximally indebted or close to it.
4) Government insurance of debt further induces reckless behavior, further putting taxpayers at risk and further blowing debt-driven asset bubbles.
5) And of course, lenders without repayment risk. This is a piece of the puzzle because a bank can still generate a huge payoff to the top executives while retaining repayment risk for reckless lending. If the corporate contruct blows up, they’ve still made enough money so that neither they nor their children will have to work. But retaining repayment risk is a brake on at least some of that recklessness.
Any thoughts on feds man value?
75 cents on the $?
“…people who buy depreciating consumables, like cars or vacations,…”
Houses?
no inspections, CASH buyer…….bank is home free…
I can’t believe the way we are just jumping headlong into this rebubble. It’s freaking infuriating. Why can’t we just be normal again? That’s all I want; just to be normal.
It’s too late, the cat is out of the bag. The damage was done during the first bubble, and the behaviors were reinforced when Hanky Panky Paulson and friends bailed out the sinners, and then the Fed pumped prices right back up to send a message that real estate always goes back up, and high prices are the norm. Now the sheeple pile in again.
‘I have a family I’m working with now, who are from California,’ she said. ‘They see our home prices and to them, those are cheap. So they’re excited’
Wait til they spend a little time in Tyler.
Except the BBQ.
Had a prospective employer trying to lure me to Houston, carrying on about how cheap the houses are. Seemed flummoxed when I brought up the pollution, gridlock, crime, heat, humidity, and Jimbobs.
It’s cheap there for a reason. Nobody that can make it anywhere else wants to be there.
Soon to be cheaper, thanks to the 40% off sale on crude oil.
There’s some nice houses in Tyler. It’s an old town. It has the only level 1 trauma center in east texas, has a state university (UT tyler). The biggest issue is getting to a decent airport.
‘I waived the inspection and the appraisal contingencies on all of the offers I made and on this one as well,’ said Simmons…‘Prices are going crazy. Multiple offers, love letters, videos, all kinds of things to appeal to a seller’
Hey Mel, are you awake yet? Hey Janet, lookie here. This is something you might oughta see.
He waived this stuff on ALL the offers. 27 years old.
“He waived this stuff on ALL the offers. 27 years old.”
Tuition.
Tuition (endlessly) paid via the monthly-payment plan.
Also known as The Dotted Line Special.
Bahahahahahahahahahahahahaha
Dumb ‘em down, and profit.
Although the echo bubble isn’t as broadly participatory as its predecessor, a lot of what’s happening has a summer-of-2005 feel to it. I remember thinking that I’d never seen greed like that before. And then, three years later, so many pious and sheepish claims that we’d learned our lesson.
I know a guy who offered over asking on a foreclosed house because his realtor tricked him into thinking there were multiple offers. From the details he gave me, I could tell he was the only bidder, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him. I think he offered like $11k more than the asking price. He should have offered less than asking, not more. Now he spends his weekends fixing the house, except for the weekends when he works because he needs the overtime to pay the mortgage.
Lying about the existence of rival offers is a tried-and-true Realtor™ trick to scare the buyer into overpaying.
Why is there no mechanism to prevent this? I’m just shocked that these sorts of lies are acceptable, legal behavior within such a large industry. Seriously, isn’t it criminal fraud?
Seriously, isn’t it criminal fraud?
Technically, yes, that would be fraud; it meets all of the required elements…
Isn’t fraud legal in the real estate industry?
It is. Fraud part and parcel of housing sales.
“Fraud part and parcel…”
I guess it’s all good, so long as economic stimulus results.
I had one do that, back in 2012 when I was looking again. Told her, “well, they can have it, lets look at some of the other houses.”
I can still see her face fall…
That’s awesome. Can’t wait to use that line when and if* I ever again try to buy a place.
* Won’t do this unless the Echo Bubble ends before I am permanently out of the housing market.
‘Farmers are land investors too, but are we any good at it?’
‘Of course, farmers integrate their real estate into their production business, with land and buildings used for the growing of crops and production of livestock. Importantly, too, the asset value is used as collateral to secure financing.’
‘As well, farm real estate is often the main retirement fund.’
‘There is no question, too, that farmland has been an incredibly good investment in recent years. If you purchased farmland in Ontario for the average price of $3,000 per acre in 1994, that land would have been worth about $11,000 per acre by 2012, essentially quadrupling your initial investment.’
‘With these kinds of returns to ownership of farmland, how can there be any question about the value of investing in it? But with any investment, past performance is no guarantee of future returns. Instead we need to look to the fundamentals and at what gives land its value.’
‘Dr. Michael Langemeier at Purdue University urges caution: “We are already seeing weakness in the farmland market in the U.S.” If cash rents go down because of lower commodity prices, there will be an impact on land values, Langemeier says. In fact, Langemeier believes land values will go down faster and harder than rent.’
‘In the paper, “Farmland: Is It Currently Priced As An Attractive Investment?” which Langemeier co-wrote with Dr. Timothy Baker and Dr. Michael Boehlje, the researchers say P/rent over the past 50 years has averaged 18.2. This is relatively close to the average S&P 500 price/earnings ratio of 18.7 for the same time period. However, since 2004 the P/rent has been well above the average. Land prices peaked in August 2014 at 33 times rent.’
‘The authors also compared a running 10-year average of the S&P 500 P/E and the P/rent and found that this ratio (i.e. P/rent10) now exceeds the peak S&P P/E10 recorded during the dot-com stock bubble in the late 1990s. Their study concludes: “Land buyers beware… current farmland values are now extremely elevated in relationship to underlying economic fundamentals.”
http://www.country-guide.ca/2015/05/14/the-business-of-owning-farmland/46672/
‘Since 2010 it’s been good to be a farmer in Canada. The weather has largely cooperated, which has led to some terrific years. Crop yields were up each year from 2010-13, with 2013 yields being the highest ever. Last year’s harvest was down, but was still historically decent.’
‘Commodity prices have also been strong. The price of wheat has done well, spiking up to $9 per bushel in 2012. Currently it trades at US$5.25 per bushel, which is 50% more than a decade ago. Canola has also done well, and the price for beef is flirting with a 10-year high.’
‘As you’d expect, the price for farmland has soared. According to Farm Credit Canada, the price of land increased 14% in 2014, 22% in 2013, 19.5% in 2012, and 14.8% in 2011. Nationwide, farmland hasn’t had a negative year since 1993.’
‘The return during the last seven years has been nothing short of staggering. The value of Canadian farmland has surged more than 267% since the beginning of 2007, handily outperforming just about every other asset class.’
‘Successful farmers are flush with cash after years of nice crops. But even farmers who aren’t sitting on piles of retained earnings are still doing fine thanks to low interest rates bringing down the annual cost of buying land. Add all that to demand from foreign buyers, and we have a bonafide bull market. Even though it’s against the rules for non-Canadians to own more than a token amount of land, buyers are getting around that by using recent Canadian immigrants as proxy buyers.’
‘After the value of farmland has nearly tripled in less than a decade, I can’t help but think that the market may be overvalued. With investors in the sector being satisfied with sub-3% yields and a flood of money chasing the same small supply, this has the potential to end badly.’
http://www.fool.ca/2015/05/19/is-there-a-bubble-in-canadian-farmland/
US farmland prices fall for 18th month
“In Illinois, one of the lenders surveyed, Jeff Bonnett, president of Havana National Bank in Havana, said that “although it is very true that commodity prices are too low to support current year farm operations, the idea of plummeting farmland values has no merit in our area.
“The Creighton survey showed the Illinois farmland index overall at 42.9, well in negative territory.
“The Creighton survey also showed that a farm equipment-sales index fell to a record low of 12.5 this month, from 15.6 in April.
This is the index’s 22nd month below growth neutral.”
http://www.agrimoney.com/news/us-farmland-prices-fall-for-18th-month–8366.html
“A longstanding survey of US farmland prices highlighted the large variability in the market, even as it clocked values falling for an 18th successive month, hurt in part by the dent from the strong dollar to US export prospects. ”
“… hurt in part by the dent from the strong dollar to US exports prospects.”
(Danger: Red Flag Alert just ahead.)
I have a great idea! If we were to somehow weaken the dollar a bit then a lot of our problems would be … would be instantly and miraculously solved!
Corn has fallen 50% in USD terms and wheat is following at 40% off. So also with fuel and metals. This is just like the 2008 unwind, except for stocks and houses. So far.
“This is just like the 2008 unwind, except for stocks and houses. So far.”
Aren’t stocks and houses among the assets the central banking cartel targets for price stabilization?
“Aren’t stocks and houses among the assets the central banking cartel targets for price stabilization?”
If by stabilization you mean pumping up into insane bubbles, then yes.
“…pumping up into insane bubbles…”
Exactly.
The idea of plummeting values should automatically have merit in an area where prices have been falling for 18 months, should it not?
“Even though it’s against the rules for non-Canadians to own more than a token amount of land, buyers are getting around that by using recent Canadian immigrants as proxy buyers.”
_________________________/
LOL. No doubt the Canadian government is enthusiastically cracking down on this practice.
And I’m sure the recent Canadian immigrants are going to honestly fork over any profits from the land that they themselves own. After all, they surely have some sort of contract with the aliens that aren’t legally supposed to own that land. Lord knows the Canadian courts will be enforcing those contracts too.
‘In the paper, “Farmland: Is It Currently Priced As An Attractive Investment?” which Langemeier co-wrote with Dr. Timothy Baker and Dr. Michael Boehlje, the researchers say P/rent over the past 50 years has averaged 18.2. This is relatively close to the average S&P 500 price/earnings ratio of 18.7 for the same time period. However, since 2004 the P/rent has been well above the average. Land prices peaked in August 2014 at 33 times rent.’
All they need to complete a replay of the Dust Bowl is a prolonged drought in the Midwest to match the one underway in California.
I attended a family funeral last winter out in the Southern Illinois farm country, near where Abraham Lincoln practiced law. You could definitely sense an awareness among the elderly residents of the small farming community that the farmland bubble had turned them from relatively poor to wealthy landowners.
Have you ever wondered why the first three letters of funeral spell fun?
It’s the food, family visits, and comparing notes on real estate bubbles that make them at least bearable.
I can vouch for what is happening in south Tampa. I get stuff in my mailbox on a regular basis from builders promising “top dollar” and realtors probing our interest in selling.
It took a monumental, society-wide episode of amnesia, combined with unprecedented leadership failure at all levels, to reflate the bubble, but it’s happened, at least in some areas. It’s embarrassing, cynical, and deeply and destructively stupid.
We are a foolish people and we will get what we deserve.
Maybe they can keep it propped up forever this time…who knows?
I’m actually rooting for a bigger bubble. I want to see how big they can blow it. 10+ times income for housing? Let’s see at which point this sucker blows!
Urban areas with lots of jobs have always been in a housing bubble.
I recall the stat that 3/4 of the total mortgage-interest deduction claimed by dollars ($70 billion) is allocated in the top 4 urban areas of the United States. Think what that means.
If you want to stay in an urban zone where there are lots of jobs, then you will have to suffer under the heel of unaffordable housing… pretty much forever.
Not really. Not at all. Manhattan was always affordable until 1999. As was SF, LA, Seattle etc.
Sit tight while this thing falls apart and dump that gloom and doom.
HA said: Manhattan was always affordable until 1999
I remember. In my old neighborhood in Manhattan, I got my first apartment in 1980, which was was rent stabilized at $202 - not a big place, a large studio. The agent was laughing when he told me the rent. I think my great-aunt was paying about $169 for a one bedroom in the same area. Because of rent stabilization, we were paying very little and we envied people in trendier Greenwich Village who were paying less.
When the co-op craze started I bought it for $28K.
Even then, I thought it was a pain that I couldn’t just move when I wanted to, so I sublet (subletted?) it for many years.
I am a bit angsty now, being booted from my rental in Las Vegas, but I always liked that freedom.
I have mostly lived in urban areas with lots of jobs. I once lived in a semi-cow-town with almost no jobs. Oddly, the cow town was less affordable than the urban areas. I had a bull in my front yard one time, though. So maybe it was all worth it.
This is not true at all. Prior to the late 90’s, one could easily buy a house in a jobs center for 3.5 times income, oftentimes less.
Yep. I did so — twice. Second time (in the SF Bay Area) at under $100/sq ft.
‘In recent months, golf’s top officials have identified water as the biggest threat to the industry, particularly in California, where it has become more scarce and expensive. Courses across the state have tried to cut water use in recent years.’
‘At brunch in La Quinta, Sunny Butler nibbled at an omelet and considered playing a round later that afternoon. Part of the joy of living on the 18th hole of the Citrus Club in the Coachella Valley, Butler said, is the verdant landscape just beyond the back door.’
“We consider it part of our yard,” she said. And with membership dues and fees of about $1,500 a month, on top of the $30,000 initiation fee, “You sort of feel like you’re paying for the grounds and the greens, so if anybody starts to tamper with that — that’s a problem.”
‘The Citrus is one of 123 courses in the Coachella Valley, the resort destination that spans 45 miles from Palm Springs to Indio. Its golf courses suck up about 37 billion gallons of water annually. While other parts of drought-stricken California pray for rain to keep toilets flushing and salvage crisping crops, water here has been cheap and plentiful, thanks to a huge underground aquifer that allows course owners to soak fairways with enough water each year to fill about 56,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.’
Two letters the editor:
‘I got up early three days in a row during the week of May 11 and saw a lot of displaced people on Costa Mesa’s streets…They were all traveling the same streets where Costa Mesa has a tenement housing glut. It was still too early in the day for traffic to be backed up. That always happens in the middle of the day.’
‘It’s time to conduct a study of the occupancy levels of all the high-priced, three-story projects around town. It wouldn’t be hard to do. Most of them have on-site sales offices.’
‘Can Costa Mesa’s sewer system even handle all these pipe connections? Let the speculation end. Only with accurate occupancy figures can we know for sure what many of us already believe, that the City Council since 2011 has brought a glut of junk housing into Costa Mesa.’
The second:
‘Re. “Newport Beach moves to require steeper cuts in water use” (May 13): If City Council members think households are contributing to the water shortage, they should stop rubber-stamping every plan that developers come up with to pack more dwelling units into Newport Beach. They cannot in good faith tell residents there’s not enough water in the well while inviting thousands more people to drop their buckets in.’
Let it dry up and fall off.
‘The Citrus is one of 123 courses in the Coachella Valley, the resort destination that spans 45 miles from Palm Springs to Indio. Its golf courses suck up about 37 billion gallons of water annually. While other parts of drought-stricken California pray for rain to keep toilets flushing and salvage crisping crops, water here has been cheap and plentiful, thanks to a huge underground aquifer that allows course owners to soak fairways with enough water each year to fill about 56,000 Olympic-size swimming pools.’
For those of you who haven’t visited this part of the planet, it must be one of the hottest, driest substantially developed places on earth, located near sea level in the rain shadow of the two-mile high San Jacinto Mountains, within an hour’s drive south of Joshua Tree National Park.
This seems like an unlikely setting for 123 lush, verdant, well-watered golf courses! (Every time my wife nags me for using too much water washing the dishes or taking a shower, I remind her of the water demands of the ten or so golf courses within five miles of where we live; my water use doesn’t register on the same scale!)
Bless your wife for trying to do her part.
Saving a tree or two isn’t going to make much difference, given that the forest is burning down.
I wholeheartedly agree, but bless her for trying.
Saving a tree or two isn’t going to make much difference, given that the forest is burning down.
A friend of mine makes the same argument against conserving energy in any form. His total energy usage is miniscule compared to the aggregate of the surrounding community, so any delta he could cause is negligible. Does the same argument apply equally well here as it does to your water usage, in your opinion? If not, why not?
“…about $1,500 a month, on top of the $30,000 initiation fee…”
No gangsta issues around there.
“Its golf courses suck up about 37 billion gallons of water annually.”
That’s roughly 113,500-acre-ft, or 157-cfs running 24/7, which is not much considering a 45-mile span.
I’m priced out of San Diego but im toying with buying a place in tampa near my brother and sister. I know, I know. but i want a kitchen and a pretty home!
Lol
R u going to try to buy at the Echo Bubble peak price, or hold out until the next crash?
Bad move. As I recall, you’re a CA native. The problem with your idea is twofold. First, you will not ever be happy in FL, and you will want to, and likely return to CA. Second, you will have paid way too much for a FL house and will be upside down and unable to sell.
You’ll be priced out of here soon enough too, unless you buy in a sinkhole area.
A loud crash, then nothing: Sinkhole swallows Florida man
By Michael Pearson and John Zarrella CNN
Updated 6:03 AM ET, Tue March 5, 2013
Sinkhole house torn down; man entombed
The ground just swallowed him up.
A Florida man fell into a sinkhole that opened suddenly Thursday night beneath the bedroom of his suburban Tampa home, calling out to his brother for help as he fell, the brother said Friday.
“I ran toward my brother’s bedroom because I heard my brother scream,” Jeremy Bush told CNN’s “AC360.”
“Everything was gone. My brother’s bed, my brother’s dresser, my brother’s TV. My brother was gone.”
Bush frantically tried to rescue his brother, Jeff Bush, by standing in the hole and digging at the rubble with a shovel until police arrived and pulled him out, saying the floor was still collapsing.
“I couldn’t get him out. I tried so hard. I tried everything I could,” he said through tears. “I could swear I heard him calling out.”
Jeremy Bush and four other people, including a 2-year-old child, escaped from the blue, one-story 1970s-era home in Seffner, a Tampa suburb.
What began with hopes of rescue turned into a body recovery operation after monitoring equipment failed to detect any signs that Jeff Bush survived the fall into the hole, according the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office.
Rescuers still hadn’t gone into the hole — it’s too dangerous, Fire Chief Ron Rogers told reporters. Authorities say they worry the hole is still spreading and the house could collapse at any time.
“Until we know where it’s safe to bring the equipment, we really are just handicapped and paralyzed, and can’t really do a whole lot more than sit and wait. It’s a tough situation. It’s even tougher for the family,” Rogers said.
The sinkhole is about 20 feet to 30 feet across and may be 30 feet deep, said Bill Bracken, president of an engineering company assisting emergency workers. The hole was originally reported to be 100 feet across, but that is the diameter of the safety zone surrounding it, Bracken said.
“It started in the bedroom, and it has been expanding outward and it’s taking the house with it as it opens up,” he said.
…
‘It’s hard to find people here who are neutral about Airbnb. Judith Davis, 71, loves the short-term rental platform. A quintessential San Franciscan, she owns a memorabilia-filled Queen Anne Victorian in Noe Valley. She says she cannot make ends meet, let alone keep up with home repairs, on her $965 monthly Social Security check.’
‘For five years, she has rented out the lower level of her home on Airbnb for $125 a night, earning a whole lot more than when she had a full-time tenant. If the city enacts a proposed limit on the number of nights she can rent out her house, she said, “I will lose half my income. And it wasn’t that much to begin with.”
‘Two miles away, in West Portal, Libby Noronha, a 66-year-old federal government retiree, told me she is not a fan of Airbnb. Nor is she sympathetic to people like Davis, who have become the face of Airbnb’s campaign to fend off regulation. “The entire argument for Airbnb is the whining: ‘Oh, I can’t afford to stay here if I don’t rent out my rooms,’” she said. “What were these people doing before Airbnb?”
“The entire argument for Airbnb is the whining: ‘Oh, I can’t afford to stay here if I don’t rent out my rooms,’”
What is the argument against it? Don’t people who own homes have a legal right to take on boarders if they see fit? Is using AirBnB anything other than just a more efficient way to locate short term boarders?
“Buyers Acknowledge They’re Overpaying”
Hell I acknowledged that I overpaid 3 years ago at $190k and the same damn house (missing some upgrades) in this hood sold a couple of months ago for $280k.
Interesting. I didn’t know Jeff bought a house. Where was HA on this matter?
+1.
If memory serves the only one who got his panties in a wad was the artist formerly known as alpha sloth.
“the artist formerly known as alpha sloth”.
Now there’s a real beaut.
Oh, the fact that the previous owner had paid $380k in 2007 for this house that was sold pre-construction in 2003 for $220k and completed in 2005 may have had something to do with HA not giving me a hard time.
I still thought it should have been a $150k house, but 3 years ago after 8 years of renting from Deadbeat LLs I came to the realization that TPTB just weren’t going to let that happen in time for me and my family.
I couldn’t care less, honestly. If people want to buy houses, then they should buy houses. Sure, bubble buyers help fuel it, but they also get cut off at the knees.
Oh, the fact that the previous owner had paid $380k in 2007 for this house that was sold pre-construction in 2003 for $220k [...].
I still thought it should have been a $150k house,
Remind me: what did you pay again?
I’m with Guillotine on this point, though; different people buy for different reasons—in other words, their “utility function” for housing differs on certain variables that make it more or less useful to their specific situation. If it made sense for you to buy, even knowing that things may take another dump, I have no problem with it at all.
“Remind me: what did you pay again?”
“If it made sense for you to buy, even knowing that things may take another dump, I have no problem with it at all.”
Now I’m with Guillotine
“I couldn’t care less, honestly.”
He asked “Where was HA on this matter?”
HA knew I got most of what I was looking for in a house purchase.
CBS construction
Hip roof
Decent neighborhood
City water
No HOA
Jupiter Fl.
Reasonable price
It was damn hard to find 3 years ago and doesn’t exist today.
HA knew all of this, what I wanted and why, what I got, what I paid and what the people before me paid. I assume that is why he didn’t give me a rash of sh#t.
GuillotineRenovator asked and I answered, if you guys don’t like my answer…
“I couldn’t care less, honestly.”
PS
Not putting $1,700 a month in a Deadbeat LL’s pocket…
Priceless!
Wgaf what Jethro does with his stack o cash. We all got one. Point is that he’s not here price pimping. He can speak for himself but I dont think his entire future depends on grossly inflated housing prices.
CBS construction
Hip roof
Decent neighborhood
City water
No HOA
Jupiter Fl.
Reasonable price
Oh yeah, _now_ I remember!
Good list of requirements.
I cannot understand the Toronto realty market, because the properties that I know of on a first hand basis are actually going down in value - they have been listed but no sales. Although like sales did occur about two years ago. Condos that were once listed and selling for over 500 are now listed at 400 and not selling.
Yet, I know of some new developments that have sold out at full price in a matter of hours. At high prices.
Condos that were once listed and selling for over 500 are now listed at 400 and not selling.
Yikes, that is quite a change!! Thanks for sharing—a drop in transactions coupled with an increasing lack of liquidity is one of the first signs of a crash…
CRATER!!!
P Bear
Yes, I read your posts from yesterday concerning urban renewal. If professional management would have been in control of the economy for the last seven years do you really think that a trillion dollars would have been inefficiently wasted in poor government spending, and bloating the values of stocks and houses?
Can you imagine how much good that would have done for the roads of America? Employment?
Yes, it would have put the boots to inflation and the government’s deficit - but our lives would have been closer to normal today rather than waiting for the next shoe, of thousands to come, to drop.
Funny how the Fed said lending the government cheap money would help avoid deflation. We all should have realized that if the government wasn’t being forced to borrow on the open market competitively then there would be no pressure on interest rates.
They should reinstate mark to market yesterday.
There is a interesting petition going on regarding Real Estate in Vancouver https://www.change.org/p/premier-christy-clark-mayor-gregor-robertson-mayors-and-city-councillors-of-the-gvrd-restrict-foreign-investment-in-greater-vancouver-s-residential-real-estate-market
“Buyers Acknowledge They’re Overpaying”
Real estate investing tip for the ages:
Buy low, sell high.
http://nwzpaper.com/articleView?articleId=619
“According to the May 30th Zillow Home Value Index, US home prices are still 8.9% below the all-time high value set at the 2007 real estate market high.”
Caveat Emptor