Companies go home-shopping around Metro area (Atlanta, Clayton: short sales, real estate market, foreclosed)

[tikigod311]

I work for a small version of one of these groups. We are not huge by any means, but it is run by investors from out of town. We have more money than the small single county players, but there are some much larger jerkwad investment groups that bid everything up almost to market value. They are insane.

I think we are doing some good for the housing market. We are taking surplus housing off the market. So now you don't have some vacant house down the street that is getting broken into and vandalized, creating a haven for unsavory characters.

I see this as a necessary step to correct the housing surplus. There are not enough buyers out there to take care of the surplus anytime soon. My company generally buys in neighborhoods on the southside that are not slums and wont be renting below market rate. I don't really want a rental house down the street from me, but right now, it is one of the best corrective forces in the market today.

[cittic10]

Originally Posted by FromGA

For these invesotrs -- if the area retains value, they could sell. If not, they could keep renting out the place. Probably that is the logic?

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Personally I don't think logic ever really enters the equation.

There are far better and safer investments out there than suburban atlanta real estate. These investors, many of which live in foreign countries , don't know what they're getting themselves into. They see cheap prices and a big, nice city but they fail to see how this market is different than Florida or southern california..

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Originally Posted by FromGA

Which area are you talking about?

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As TJL alluded to with the video, I was speaking metaphorically. What I meant was there is probably a price point where the speculator interest drops off a cliff. If someone was looking to sell their starter home and move to a more expensive property, this could be their chance. Assuming that supply of <$500k homes goes way down, thereby driving the cost up but meanwhile the prices of those >$500k homes are still stagnant. $500k just being an example.

Of course, if you take it literally, foreign buyers are having a field day with high rise condos in other states but that's not what I meant here.

Originally Posted by tikigod311

I see this as a necessary step to correct the housing surplus. There are not enough buyers out there to take care of the surplus anytime soon. My company generally buys in neighborhoods on the southside that are not slums and wont be renting below market rate. I don't really want a rental house down the street from me, but right now, it is one of the best corrective forces in the market today.

Well you can go on patting yourself on the back all you'd like, but all you're doing is contributing to a bubble & bust housing market. You're going to have to time your sales just right or you'll lose your chance (if you ever get one) and then we're back to looking at vacant homes again. Are you taking homes off the market? Yes. Will that help some people help to regain their negative equity? Perhaps in the short term.

[belleislerunner]

These type of scams are predicated on the belief that "real estate" will never lose value because you can never buy more land. One need only look at neighborhoods within Youngstown, Cleveland, Detroit etc that lured investors in with 60-140K homes that are now blocks of burned out homes/vacant fields. From dust it came and to dust it will return. It can happen anywhere if people/blocks/neighborhoods aren't careful. You can see areas off McDonough Blvd that are turning that way as a local example. Even the suburbs once they'd had 40 or so years to mature start looking worn down and reach a tipping point of either reinvestment by owners or decay by landlords.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by ATLTJL

Probably not good in the long run. When was the last time you ever heard of a bunch of renters making the neighborhood better?

But it is capitalism, so what can you do? Even though they can be very annoying at times, it's good to have an HOA that caps the number of rentals.

Due to the recession, a large number of current renters are displaced homeowners. They are mature, responsible adults who often treat their rental homes as their own. You may want to consider updating your stereotype.

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by cittic10

Renters seldom (never) add value to a property and rarely (never) maintain the property as well as an owner.

I have made it a point to improve every single rental home I've lived in. I professionally repainted every room in one house, replaced 1,000 square feet of flooring in another, and I've fenced in the back yard (at my own expense) in three rental homes so far. Yes, I've lost money doing this, but I like to live in nice places. I don't think I am alone.

As for maintenance, isn't that the owner's job?

[ATLTJL]

Yes, I've lost money doing this, but I like to live in nice places. I don't think I am alone.

I think you are. Or at least in an extreme minority.

I have never heard of a renter replacing flooring or building a fence at his own expense.

[tikigod311]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

Due to the recession, a large number of current renters are displaced homeowners. They are mature, responsible adults who often treat their rental homes as their own. You may want to consider updating your stereotype.

This is very true.

What bubble am I contributing too? Purchasing houses at a sharply discounted rate, renting them for two to five years, then selling them for very likely more than we paid at auction. We are buy very decent houses in good hoods for 25-40 k. Those prices will not be that low for long. These prices are well below any real value of the house. Once these generally displaced homeowners are ready to become owners again,there will be inventory for them to snatch up. Not to mention we also try out best to keep foreclosed occupied in the house and rent it back to them. Win- win baby.

Tell me how that isn't a wise investment. Tell me how that is a scam. Tell me how this will have such a negative effect in the long run.

[rzzz]

Originally Posted by researchnerd

I have made it a point to improve every single rental home I've lived in. I professionally repainted every room in one house, replaced 1,000 square feet of flooring in another, and I've fenced in the back yard (at my own expense) in three rental homes so far. Yes, I've lost money doing this, but I like to live in nice places. I don't think I am alone.

I think you are kind of alone.
Many (most?) rentals, if you paint it, you have to paint it back to look the way it did before when you move out, or you'll lose your deposit. I can't imagine explaining replaced flooring, or a fence. (!?)

[researchnerd]

Originally Posted by rzzz

I think you are kind of alone.
Many (most?) rentals, if you paint it, you have to paint it back to look the way it did before when you move out, or you'll lose your deposit. I can't imagine explaining replaced flooring, or a fence. (!?)

You don't explain it afterwards, you ask permission ahead of time. You might be surprised with what happens when you ask. In the best circumstances, renting is a partnership between renter and owner, and we've been pretty lucky so far.

When I painted all those rooms, the previous tenants had not asked before painting, and one of the bedrooms was bright orange (!), the living room was bright yellow, and the dining room bright red. The owners were delighted to have someone repaint in more neutral colors, and gave us a break on the rent for the materials cost. The wildest color I did was a subtle grayish purple in one of the bedrooms, and they were still fine with it.

I had the fences installed at my expense because I had two Greyhounds. Not having a fenced yard was a dealbreaker for us, so I negotiated it up front, before moving in. Every owner was fine with it because it increased their property value. We installed the tile floor ourselves because the carpet was 20 years old and disgusting, and the owner genuinely couldn't afford to replace it. It wasn't high-end imported tile or anything, but it was a huge improvement. If nothing else, paying things forward is always good for house karma.

I think part of my attitude comes from being a former homeowner -- when something needs to be done, you just do it. When it's someone else's house, you talk about it with them first and work out something that benefits both sides. To bring this back on topic...after all the waves of foreclosures, I think there are increasing numbers of renters out there like me, and people would do well not to make assumptions or pass judgment on others who rent instead of own their home.

Edit: If it sounds like I'm on a bit of a soapbox about this, it's true. I had a former neighbor -- in a really nice neighborhood -- talk down to me once "because you're just renters" and it became one of my pet peeves.

[ATLTJL]

What it really boils down to is perception. And perception is reality.

It sounds like you are an extraordinary renter, but it doesn't change the fact that many renters are not. Or if they are, the perception is that they aren't. Either way, having a ton of renters is going to affect property values.

I apologize for picking on you, researchnerd, because you're not like the worst offender about this, but I'm so sick of all the political correctness and anecdotal evidence used to try to prove points on this board. I mean, you couldn't even ask a question about sex offenders in a neighborhood without someone chiming in and saying something like, "So what, don't blame sex offenders! They made mistakes and have paid their debt to society. Some of my best friends are sex offenders and they are the best people on earth. The sex offender next door taught my grandmother how to read again after her stroke and my daughter how to ride a bike!"

Okay, fine, maybe all those perceptions are wrong. Try explaining to a mother of a 4 year old girl and 2 year old boy that living between two sex offenders will be just fine.

I'm sick of it. Anybody can find an exception to any truth and try to disprove things, but all it really does is showcase a single instance where the truth failed, nevermind the hundreds or thousands of instances where the truth held up.

Anyway, sorry to get on a soapbox about all that.