Reaching The Dream Without Moving In California
A trio of reports from California. The Monterey Herald, “Speaking this week, Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist for the California Association of Realtors, painted a picture of a changing housing market, where for-sale homes linger, multiple bids no longer push prices skyward, and homeowners are more likely to hold onto what they have.”
“Last year was a milestone, with 480,000 homes sold in California at or above the $1 million mark. ‘Many in California have reached the dream of living in a million-dollar home without moving,’ said Appleton-Young.”
“Appleton-Young said Realtors can’t afford to misprice homes or to take on clients who aren’t serious about selling. ‘This is not the kind of market where we need excess inventory,’ she said.” “J.R. Rouse, Monterey County Association of Realtors past president, said it is still a good time for buyers to act. ‘When you look at the market as a whole, you can buy a lot more house for less than you could six months ago,’ he said.”
“Another chapter of the state’s real estate story, yet to come, is the fallout from an oversaturated market of real estate professionals. The road up to the Tehama Golf Club for the annual Realtors meeting spoke volumes; no shortage of Escalade, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Jaguar emblems, some BMWs.”
“But there’s already been fallout: 110 members have left since January, with more expected to follow as sales remain sluggish.”
The Fresno Bee. “Property in the Valley appears to be holding its value better than some other parts of the state, especially around the capital. Prices in parts of Sacramento and Placer counties fell from a year previously.”
“The median price in Placer County declined 2% from May 2005, with Auburn showing the sharpest drop; 8% to $439,000. In nearby Fair Oaks, values fell almost 16%. Joan Jolly, president of the Fresno Association of Realtors, said, ‘We’re just having a little air coming out of the balloon.’”
The Sacramento Bee. “Sacramento home shopper John Daniels said the thought of falling prices worries him less than buying a place at current prices that consume too much of his pay. ‘I kind of like to have golf weekends and things of that nature,’ he said, ‘and having to pay outlandish amounts for a mortgage, that’s what’s scaring me more than anything.’”
“Todd Cramer, who has been building homes since the 1960s, said the market has been fueled by years of risky borrowing. A slowdown, he said, would actually help bring prices in line with the typical buyers’ finances. ‘I think we’re at large risk here, but it’s good for Sacramento,’ Cramer said. ‘We need to see prices coming back down for our economy. I think it would be a good adjustment.’”
‘When you look at the market as a whole, you can buy a lot more house for less than you could six months ago,’ he said.”
_____________________________________________________
“a lot more house” = please define Mr. Realtor.
So are you saying prices have come down???
‘When you look at the market as a whole, you can buy a lot more house for less than you could six months ago,’ he said.”
And a whole lot LESS than you could six YEARS ago.
I suspect that RE agents are trying to get buyers to “trade up” to a nicer house, rather than ride the wave of house prices down.
yes, because whatever first-time home buyers that are out there are either 1) disgusted at how little they will get for their money (compared to just three years ago), or 2) unable to qualify at the steep starter prices.
It is much easier to encourage “trade ups” when equity gains are chugging along at double-digit rates YOY, than when prices are flat or falling…
There is also the problem of contingency on selling present house that will be a sure damper for trade-ups. In a slowing market the ‘no’ contingency offers should be a thing of the past (hopefully ?) anyone seeing this…
At some point in the cycle, higher priced homes will depreciate more than lower priced homes so there is an opening for the trade-up buyer. Say for example the higher priced home drops 40% and the lower priced homes drop 30%. The trade-up at that time in real $$$$ terms may actually be favorable?
Only if you’re paying cash. With the interest rate increases, prices will have to fall quite a bit more before the typical buyer can afford a whole lot more anything.
‘Many in California have reached the dream of living in a million-dollar home without moving,’ said Appleton-Young.”
I fell off the chair laughing! What a fantastic quote! It sums up the stupitidy of this incredible bubble in one line.
Yeah, When I thought of Million dollar home in the past I had visions of a vast estate with a butler, maid, and gardner. Now I think of a 4 bedroom fake stucco box on a postage stamp size lot with a crazy HOA fee and a bad commute to pay for it.
Try a 2-bedroom apartment on *no* lot with common walls on two sides, and maybe 10 feet of air space between your other neighbors on the other two sides. Asking $1.3 million right up the street from me.
Livin’ large, baby.
I’m sure it will be just a matter of time before stealtors begin advertising “million dollar views” in your average McMansion tract.
Yeah in one case I made a comment that you have to get back into the house to not be claustrophobic in the ‘backyard’ this is in Silicon Valley…
‘Many in California have reached the dream of living in a million-dollar home without moving,’ said Appleton-Young.”
What kind of crack is in this (now-cracking) bubble??!! Leslie, the DREAM (for anyone who actually had such a dream) was about a lifestyle, NOT about a price tag.
Excellent way to put it, Option!
Perhaps Leslie’s confusion has to do with the inherent conflict of interest between the home buyer and the realtor.
You see, for realtors, the dream really IS about the price tag.
so now it’s an honor and a privilege to have a $1,000,000.00 mortgage.
like pinnochio’s fun island, this dream is turning to something else for many fb’s.
I am disillusioned by the number of people who forget this part very conveniently when thinking about their net worth. Just add all the assets together, ignore the liabilities and call it done. LAY is pandering to precisely this demographic and it will work.
“I am disillusioned by the number of people who forget this part very conveniently when thinking about their net worth. Just add all the assets together, ignore the liabilities and call it done. LAY is pandering to precisely this demographic and it will work.”
On AOL message boards regarding real estate, I have been laughed at by the shills and self-proclaimed success stories in the real estate investment business on the very topic of net worth. They seem to count their real estate holdings, into their net worth. usually what they have in savings (non-retirement) and 401k or IRA is very miniscule, amounting to well under $100,000. I only laugh back. There is a lot to say about those who only invest in one thing (such as R.E.), and there is a lot to say about those who diversify. The former tend to be arrogant and the latter tend to be humble.
Just think of it! All those people out there now living the dream and not even being aware of it.
In the same house no less!!! They didn’t even have to move!!! Isn’t it wonderful!!! They get to LIVE LARGE in the same small house.
Truly, I can’t stop laughing at this!
Right. Some have seen their home’s value rise 10X or more, but that means nothing unless you sell (or want a huge HELOC monthly).
I was gonna say, my dream isn’t living in a million-dollar house, it’s living in a $250,000 house that someone though was worth a million in 2005. But y’all beat me to it.
My dream has been the ability to fly. I’m just waiting for someone to tell me I’m Superman.
“The median price in Placer County declined 2% from May 2005, with Auburn showing the sharpest drop; 8% to $439,000. In nearby Fair Oaks, values fell almost 16%. Joan Jolly, president of the Fresno Association of Realtors, said, ‘We’re just having a little air coming out of the balloon.’”
16% is hardly worth mentioning, geez, if I bought a house and lost 16% of its value I wouldn’t at all! Just a little breeze, thats all.
The City of West Sacramento lost 22% YoY, but that will not happen in Sacramento. Yeah right!!!!
‘We’re just having a little air coming out of the balloon.’
We’re just having a little gas coming out of your mouth.
hahahahaha!!!!
I’ve never understood why realtors like to use the balloon analogy (instead of a bubble) when describing corrections in the overpriced real estate market
Bubbles: Beautiful things that mesmerize and catch your glaze then disappear without a trace, almost like rainbows.
Balloons: Childs toys that:
- Can explode violently, or
- Shoot all over the room while deflating,
- Slowly lose air and become a saggy wrinkled mess that no one finds appealing
- Leave ugly non-biodegradable garbage once they’ve expired
Come to think of it, it seems like the balloon analogy is really much more apt, but perhaps not for the reason that realtors think.
I think they like the baloon analogy better because they can expand and contract, like markets. But once a bubble has popped, that suckers gone…until you blow another one of course.
Actually, the breeze was coming out of her ass. Joan farted.
“When you look at the market as a whole, you can buy a lot more house for less than you could six months ago,’ he said.”
Funny…. I think he will be saying this every month for the next several years, which of course, makes every one of those times the PERFECT time to buy a house.
More “perfect” than the last.
Oh, and regarding the quote yesterday about how glad the realtor is that YOY increases were around 8% because 8% is sustainable; I wonder if he also thinks the 30% declines in sales are sustainable.
This “spin” is completely false. It is NOT the case that we should expect appreciation to return to it’s long run average (more like 4%). An “average” or “sustainable” growth rate is the long run rate over a number of years. After a period of record growth, it only makes sense for prices to decline a large amount in order for the long run average to be maintained.
We’ve seen appreciation at 20% or more for a couple of years. Now, we should expect to see sizeable decpreciation.
Appreciation rates in Sacto have been at least 20-25% per year over the past six years–in general, values are up at least 150% over the period.
Whether RE associations are trying to convince the masses it’s a buyers market or a sellers market, chances are it’s probably not. By the time it’s a true buyers market these types won’t be heard from any longer.
“By the time it’s a true buyers market these types won’t be heard from any longer.”
Sorta like the hapless bulls who used to post here — LV Landlord, MA_Homeowner, many, many long wrong and long gone.
Don’t forget DC broker. Maybe he is Broke in DC now.
They have adds now by the California Association of Realtors. It’s on KDFC 102.1 classical music station if you live in the bay area. Maybe others too but that’s where I’ve heard it twice now since last night. I first heard in in a coffee shop, where they were talking about some 150k realtors who all hold to a “code of ethics”- at which point I started laughing out loud right there in public. Anyway, the ad is basically trying to talk sellers out of FSBOs.
Same ad agency used by Enron???
Mother Nature Deems Mansion too Tacky, Deals Fatal Blow to Owners Ego
http://www.wftv.com/news/9439357/detail.html
Yeah, that was right here. Windsong is a ‘hood and a half. Pretty much real mansions, with no “Mc” to them. It was an old estate in tightly-packed, high-end Winter Park. There are McMansions sprinkled throughout WP, to be sure, but this place has decent-size lots relative to their location, as best I recall — haven’t driven through in a year or more.
Joan Jolly, president of the Fresno Association of Realtors, said, ‘We’re just having a little air coming out of the balloon.’”
WTF is this supposed to mean? I mean really, do these people stay up late at night thinking of different ways of saying the same thing…that means absolutely nothing to anyone? I just don’t get it…
Joan “the joke” Jolly has just been nominated for the “idiot of the week” award with that asinine comment.
David Lereah’s talking points. See memo #356-7A. It’s a balloon, NOT a bubble, and it will hiss, not pop, d&m* it!
Maybe it’s a bubble inside a baloon. Trip on that, man!
It’s a bubble inside a balloon surrounded by a Zeppelin filled with hydrogen gas.
Reposting here cause it deals with California real estate
talked to my real estate agent last night about putting in 20% low-ball offers (in Redondo Beach)..and this is how the conversation basically went:
1) 10% of list price is now a no-brainer…its a good place to start the negogiation process..and with counter offers, expect to pay around 5 - 7% less the listed price.
2) Can go 15% below listed price is the seller is motivated..and with counter offers, expect to pay around 8 to 10% less than listed price. (keep in mind, seller motivated properites in Redondo Beach are usually $hit boxes or WAY overpriced.
3) As for 20% of listed properties..she said the market is slowing down but not to that level..thinks prices will not come down in that area…and blah blah blah..this is a great time to buy now blah blah blah..
BTW..all I could think about were how great her boobs were when she was talking about point #3. I meet her last weekend with my wife..and in talking to her for 15 mins in front of my wife..I DID NOT ONCE LOOK AT HER CHEST…NOT ONCE. The least she can do is put low ball offers for me.
Please forward a pic of her - or at least a link to her website (or her former website. Probably a strip club or a porn company). LOL
“BTW..all I could think about were how great her boobs were when she was talking about point #3.”
Did it look like a HELOC-funded boob job?
she said the market is slowing down but not to that level..thinks prices will not come down in that area…and blah blah blah..this is a great time to buy now blah blah blah..
She obviously has a short mamory.
sorry
DO NOT LET YOUR WIFE READ THIS BLOG OR YOU WILL GET LOW-BALLED IN ANOTHER WAY!
And this dude is in his 20s. Imagine if he were older. LOL
I was thinking the exact same thing.
Sunglasses, sunglasses…
Just tell her you were trying to see if she had a heart.
you guys crack me up, good job on “cleave”-ing through the BS Atrain.
that is “mirrored” sunglasses of course. Pilot style
Atrain:
It sounds to me like box # 2.
many are s..houses and 100% are over priced.
Did I get an A?
You know how to tell when a realtor is not telling the truth…?
Answer: Her fake boobs move…
Anyway, after looking at a property on zillow, we saw that a property was bought june 2005 and when the realtor was asked when it was sold last…she lied and said it has been a family home for 5-6 yrs. Blatant lie. Didnt have the courage to confront her b/c thought maybe zillow was off. Checked again and it was a blatant lie…
my father in law is trying to sell his place in rossmoor ca,he told me that inventory went from 15 in may ‘05,to 166 today…with 8 sales year to date.this is a nice retirement community in contra costa county,and usually buyers have paid cash for their homes,and they have sold quickly…for 30 years or more.i see very little coverage of the east bay area on the bubble blogs,and hope someone familiar with the area can comment…as someone who lived in oakland for may years i am particularly curious about the insane condo building there.
‘Many in California have reached the dream of living in a million-dollar home without moving,’ said Appleton-Young.”
Oh….my……god…..she can’t be serious. LAY truly needs to be locked up and tortured.
Here’s what a million dollar dream house in beautiful South Central Los Angeles looks like. This home is just 4 miles from the location (corner of Florence and Normandie) where Reginald Denny became a household name.
Without question a ‘dream’. Thanks Leslie!
http://tinyurl.com/fh7p9
For added fun, in the link take a close look at the pricing activity on the home over the past 2 weeks. Up a dollar….down a dollar….down another dollar….then up another dollar. Literally….DOLLAR!!!
Up a dollar….down a dollar….down another dollar….then up another dollar. Literally….DOLLAR!!!
——————-
I’ve seen this a number of times on Zip Realty. If they adjust the price, it shows up on searches as a change, so people will take a look at it again. Greed, pure greed, on that.
Bought 16 years ago for 150K… recent comps around 450K or so. *Relatively* speaking… this neighborhoods not *that* bad but… 1 MILLION $$$ ?!?! WTF?!?!
There is no such thing as a million dollar house with bars on the windows.
If that’s not a sign of a craptastic ‘hood then I don’t know what is.
Look at this beaut for $1M: Santa Barbara.
It’s been for sale since January (first as a FSBO, then relisted after 2 months.) Was bought in Aug 2004 for $875K. Fools.
It has like a 20-foot backyard, and the oak tree on the left is infested with oak moth worms. Fairly busy street for the neighborhood. The (nicer) places around the corner rent for a little over 2K/month.
And what a front yard! Wow, only a million.
I have two anecdotal stories in San Diego County:
1. A couple bought another house w/out selling. Their house is very beautiful, and exceptionally well upgraded, inside & out. The best of their model (and possibly the entire ‘hood). Their price, however, is WAY above anyone else’s.
They got an offer under their asking price, which they turned down. They are regretting that decision now, as no other offers have come in. (Sorry, don’t have timelines or know $ amt. of offer because this is second-hand.)
2. A couple (she’s a newish Realtor) who’ve been renting for years, about to capitulate and consider buying a condo. They have kids. The listing agent of a condo they looked at also happens to handle foreclosures. He told them not to buy right now, and that foreclosures are ramping up. They will be holding off until prices come down.
(Ethical question: is the agent a jerk, or not; he talked a family out of buying at the peak, but lost a potential customer for his client?)
Must proofread… In #1, they bought a house without selling their current one first, and are doing the HELOC-bridge loan thing.
Must proofread… In #1, they bought a house without selling their current one first, and are doing the HELOC-bridge loan thing. According to them, they cannot accept a lower price (their price is over $100K more than comparable listings), as they were counting on using that money for the DP on the second house. Typical FB move.
Hmm. I have been overhearing hints of this sort of thing in local banks. Generally can’t catch the whole story via my eavesdropping, though
Too freaking bad, isn’t it. I am counting on my AVNX stock to go to $50 a share and have put a down payment on my personal NYSE seat on that basis.
Idiots. Hope they lose both places.
He obviously acted in accordance with his conscience. This also confirms what I have suspected for some time. “Newish” real estate agents don’t know jack-squat. Many here on this blog try to warn people now is not the time to buy every day. If this couple had gone ahead with the purchase in spite of what he said then his hands would be clean. His client will have to find a buyer without ruining someone else’s life if he is going to be their agent. He might get fired by the client but at least he has some scruples.
I don’t agree. I don’t know how a real estate agent can represent the intersts of both the seller and the buyer in the first place, but if he accepted a listing from the seller he has no ethical grounds for discouraging a buyer. If he thinks no one should be buying at this time then he shouldn’t be accepting listings!
Perhaps he thinks prices are too high and they will come down, so what. I thought prices in San Diego were too high in ‘04. Prices still went up for a year.
The listing agent represents the seller. He can advise people that they shouldn’t buy because they can’t afford the property, and might be overextending themselves. I see nothing wrong with that. But to run off a buyer because he thinks a year from now prices will be lower is just not fair to the seller.
Exactly
They did a piece on the Central Coast housing market slow down on the local news last night. When they ran these sorts of pieces 2-3 months ago, they would always close it with an upbeat quote from a local realtor. This time, they talked about the increase in DOM and the increase in inventory compared to a year ago (underestimated this fairly significantly, according to my observations, but it is a large increase however you slice it), and then closed with a realtor saying that sellers who needed to sell were needing to reduce their prices. They did sneak in a semi-upbeat bit after this by returning to the anchor, who presented data on the YOY price changes for Santa Barbara and SLO counties (still up slightly in SLO YOY, although not looking so good if you extrapolate recent data out over the next 12 months, which of course they did not do). So we have reached the point here where it is getting nearly impossible to hide the changes in the market. It will be interesting to see what happens this fall.
If anyone is interested, LAY’s powerpoints from the Monterey County talk are available on the web. Lots of local detail, and a slide telling the assembled Realtors which web sites their marks are looking at. This blog was not on the list, surprise, surprise.
Powerpoint:
http://www.mcar.com/06-27-06MontereyCountyAOR.ppt
PDV Version (half the size):
http://www.mcar.com/06-27-06MontereyCountyAOR.pdf
Cheers to salinasron and others that are interested.
I Want My Bubble Back!
By Seth Jayson
The Motley Fool
The housing spin
There’s nothing funnier or more satisfying (for me, at least) than watching the National Association of Realtors (NAR) change its tune these days. The latest news release from this sunny-Jim industry group finally fesses up to its past fiction, but even when it admits the bubble’s going to pop, it can’t muster the courage to just come out and say it.
Nope, according to the news template the NAR released to the press on June 6, “The housing boom has ended, but sales at historically healthy levels will continue.”
Wow, sounds great! What about all those poor HGTV-addled suckers — oops, I mean investors — who’ve been buying property on interest-only ARMs with the hopes of flipping it for an easy profit?
Not to worry, folks — a flop in prices is good! Here’s why, according to the NAR. “Experiencing a slowing from a hot market is a good thing because we need a solid housing sector to provide an underlying base to the economy, and slower appreciation will help to preserve long-term affordability.”
I hope all those people out there who leveraged themselves up to their eyeballs with risky loans to get into the market are going to be greatly comforted by the “long-term affordability” their homes may offer the buyers of the future.
Who moved my bubble?
So, yeah, the NAR is full of it and will spin the numbers any way it can to keep up the pleasant fiction that all is well. But the cracks began to show in subsequent remarks from NAR “Chief Economist” David Lereah. The head outfit that ridiculed the idea of a housing bubble for years is now crying for Ben Bernanke to bring it back.
“But this is a time for the Fed to pause on rate hikes because we have some interest-sensitive housing markets that have become vulnerable,” Lereah said.
Allow me to translate:
Interest-sensitive housing markets = “Bubbles”
Vulnerable = “Ready to pop”
A more honest version of what I think he really means to say is: “Come on, Bennie! We need that cheap money! How else are we going to keep skinning 6% off all those marks out there? It’s not like they can really afford these prices without the easy credit and ARM gimmicks!”
And lest you think I’m being too harsh, that the NAR is a group that cares about things like homes and families, take a close look at the terms it uses to describe the current situation: “For most of the nation, this means future home price gains will be much closer to the normal returns we expect from housing,” said NAR President Thomas M. Stevens, who hails from one of the country’s most ridiculously bloated markets, Vienna, Va.
Price gains. Returns. These are people who want us all to believe in housing as an investment, and they just happen to take a cut on the deals. Of course, housing, over the long run, is not a good investment, except for a very savvy few. It’s a roof over your head that tends to keep pace with inflation, but not in a straight line. But if you can’t afford your place because you made a bad deal based on reports of the never-ending happy housing story, that cozy home could be a personal finance time-bomb waiting to explode.
Don’t be hatin’
The real problem here isn’t the NAR, of course. You have to expect these people to spin the facts for their industry, even if that means they’re putting their checkbook concerns ahead of yours, and even if it leaves them begging the Fed for an adherence to shortsighted economic policies that could send inflation spiking.
No, the real problem here is the uncritical press out there, which is all too happy to pepper every contrary indicator or bearish remark with an NAR official’s informed-sounding bubble denial. Never mind if what the NAR folks are saying doesnt seem to make sense (or contradicts what they said just a few months back). Hey, opposing viewpoints give the appearance of objectivity, and they’re an easy way of pretending to have looked for truth. It keeps your editor off your back, and if people out there get burned on account of your waffling reportage, no one can say they weren’t warned. Look, here’s the quote from the other guy!
It should have been completely obvious to anyone with a loan calculator and a glance at wage increases that those months of industry bubble denials were just wishful thinking.
The simple fact is that no one wants the party to end — not the Realtors, not the companies who make a mint on loans, like H&R Block or Freddie Mac, and certainly not the home builders like Pulte or Toll Brothers. But at least the homebuilders, who have shareholders to face, had the guts to come clean.
And let’s face it. I don’t think the average retailer out there, from Wal-Mart to Best Buy, relishes the thought of a consumer who can’t tap marshmallow equity to keep buying iPods and PowerAde. Nor will you see a celebration from a company like GM, which made a lot off mortgages and also benefited from the illusory equity wealth by selling high-ticket SUVs until a predictable spike in oil prices took the fun out of that party.
Foolish bottom line
Unfortunately, we live in an imperfect world. The information you get on housing is confusing, often inconclusive, and sometimes, I’d argue, downright crooked, woven into a complete fairy tale by people who want to convince you that no harm could ever come from partaking of transactions in which they have a financial interest. That’s why you need to be a Fool and do the math yourself.
Those home industry advertisements might feature kitties and puppies, blue skies and little girls with dimples frolicking in the home of your dreams, but the people putting together those ads measure their success by how many greenbacks they can extract from your wallet. The only person out there who’s really looking out for your financial well-being is you.
This might the be the best MSM piece dissecting the NAR and this bubble that I’ve read to date. I have a new hero and his name is Seth Jayson.
BRAVO!
Excellent article, thanks for posting Mo. This is the kind of analysis we should be seeing in the MSM. That second to last paragraph is a gem and should be wisdom ingrained into every High School student in this country, and not just as it pertains to housing, but to every financial or credit transaction they are presented with. We need a country of cynics and realists, too many kids are sheltered and pampered and enter their adulthood thinking the world is a cotton candy dreamland where they will be successful no matter what decisions they make.
He’s written a few columns on ‘hosing’ market, er, I mean housing market over the last few yrs…
That website is very popular…im sure that will make some heads turn.
“What we’re seeing in Sacramento right now is really an orderly slowdown in the market,” Milner said. “Prices have gone up so much faster than incomes, and incomes will have to catch up.”
Isn’t wage inflation what the fed is raising rates to fight?
Or, you know…prices will have to come down.
My buddy’s wife has a condo in Costa Mesa. Similiar units were selling for $350k last summer. She got her first offer for $245k after being on the market for months…hmmmm…
“Speaking this week, Leslie Appleton-Young, vice president and chief economist for the California Association of Realtors, painted a picture of a changing housing market, where for-sale homes linger, multiple bids no longer push prices skyward, and homeowners are more likely to hold onto what they have.”
BAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA
If I was to apply the same logic….
You mean to tell me when prices in early 90’s went down 35-45% the sellers (homeowners) are LESS likely to hold onto what they have.
Did you really mean to say that???
“The road up to the Tehama Golf Club for the annual Realtors meeting spoke volumes; no shortage of Escalade, Mercedes-Benz, Lexus and Jaguar emblems, some BMWs.”
In Dec 1999 Silicon Valley , we had lots of that too. By end of 2001 the owners drove up to the used car lot and handed over the keys and asked “How Much can I get?”
LOL! Soon I will be driving a realtors MB for half what he/she paid for …. Back to the Toyota for them LOL!
Just wait till you see the blood in the street… this is nothing….
Blood in the street, or Suzanne on the street corner. At least she’ll have more dignity in the oldest profession.
“Mother Nature Deems Mansion too Tacky, Deals Fatal Blow to Owners Ego”
I’ve heard of gas soaked rages in the corner, or faked electrical shorts, but LIGHTNING! How’d he do that??
Maybe an ungrounded lightning rod. Not too hard if you know what to do.
So this applies to people renting as well, does it?
‘Many in California have reached the dream of living in a million-dollar home without moving,’ said Appleton-Young.”
I wonder if that “dream” included bars in the windows and crack whores shambling by outside. Oh, and Leslie, I believe the dream is to OWN a nice house in a nice neighborhood, not merely live in one under a soul-crushing, insomnia-inducing mountain of debt.
‘Many in California have reached the dream of living in a million-dollar home without moving,’ said Appleton-Young.”
Absolute nonsense……Let’s not forget L.A-Y also gave us that other little gem a few months back.Remember the “liberating equity” foolishness she preached ?Complete BS…..
Although my house here in Chula Vista has not reached the million dollar level(625,000 at this time…probably lower this time next year!).It is not what I would have envisioned a 625,000 house would look like when I was younger.It’s a nice 4 bdr 2 ba 2000 sq.ft.typical stucco and tile roof sitting on a 7500 sq.ft.lot blt 2003.Nothing more nothing less.
However,our house will be paid off in Jan.2011 about 5 years from now.Unfortunately,my neighbors will probably never in their lifetime own a house free and clear.In our cul-de-sac of 12 houses,10 have done at least one cash out refi.Some of them have done multiple cash outs and nearly all of them have a Heloc as well.
Take a look at your own neighborhood and see just how many of your neighbors have done at least 1 cash out refi.It’s absolutely mind boggling the amount of new debt so many people have right now.
Unsustainable….no way all of these people will come away unscathed.To quote Jim Morrison “No one here gets out alive”.
Today one of our customers,a newer agent(licensed for 1 year…only been in the country for 3 years…Philippines) was telling my wife that she is very worried right now.She has 2 listings that are getting 0 offers and every one of her refi’s have not qualified due to appraisals being too low…..UH-OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH
The first wave of people trying to refi their resetting mtgs is under way.Small problem.Home prices have been basically flat(or lower in some cases) since late 2004.Also,those “liar loans”errrrrrrrrrr no doc no inc loans are much harder to qualify for now.
What concerns me now is the potential for some really unethical behavior by real estate agents/mtg brokers.A lot of these folks have not had a commission in some time,and they are as over leveraged as their “clients”.Not only that,they have no experience in a down market etc….
There are 5 real estate offices in our shopping complex.I’ve seen a lot of “dialing for dollars” lately,and some of these guys are really working the phones hard!
Soft landing…….Impossible.
40-50% in 5 years decline very possible
aguho