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You could buy a home in Whitehall or Coosaw Creek, North Charleston for considerably a lot less money and still be living in a sub division that matches everything that Mt Pleasant offers apart from location. You are 20 minutes from Daniel Island, 30 minutes from Downtown Charleston.
I find the comment regarding Realtors who have sold homes to clients which have decreased in value in the last two years quite interesting. I suspect that the vast majority if not almost all Realtors who have sold a large number of homes the past few years would have represented some clients who would fall into that category. Most economists and real estate "experts" much more experienced than CMR and I failed to foresee the unusual set of economic and real estate market conditions we have experienced the past few years. I think this is also true of most if not the mast majority of financial advisors who recommeded that their clients purchase different types of equities the past few years. It is quite easy to take a contrarian view on almost everything, including the real estate market, and be right some of the time. I think it is a little unfair to infer that any Realtor or for that matter financial advisor who represented a client in the purcahse of an asset that subsequently lost value should necessarily be looked at in a negative light. Even though Realtors like financial advisors learn from experience,I don't think any member of either profession can guarantee that their clients will make money on a financial or real estate investment. I think it is important to understand that it is not up to a Realtor to recommend or not recommend that their client purchase a home, not necessarily a particular home, because they feel that they can predict the upturn or downturn of the market. From the comments of CMR it would appear that he/she believes that a Realtor is obligated to provide financial advise to their clients, ie to buy or to rent. I and I suspect the National Association of Realtors would recommend against giving such advise.
I find the comment regarding Realtors who have sold homes to clients which have decreased in value in the last two years quite interesting. I suspect that the vast majority if not almost all Realtors who have sold a large number of homes the past few years would have represented some clients who would fall into that category. Most economists and real estate "experts" much more experienced than CMR and I failed to foresee the unusual set of economic and real estate market conditions we have experienced the past few years. I think this is also true of most if not the mast majority of financial advisors who recommeded that their clients purchase different types of equities the past few years. It is quite easy to take a contrarian view on almost everything, including the real estate market, and be right some of the time. I think it is a little unfair to infer that any Realtor or for that matter financial advisor who represented a client in the purcahse of an asset that subsequently lost value should necessarily be looked at in a negative light. Even though Realtors like financial advisors learn from experience,I don't think any member of either profession can guarantee that their clients will make money on a financial or real estate investment. I think it is important to understand that it is not up to a Realtor to recommend or not recommend that their client purchase a home, not necessarily a particular home, because they feel that they can predict the upturn or downturn of the market. From the comments of CMR it would appear that he/she believes that a Realtor is obligated to provide financial advise to their clients, ie to buy or to rent. I and I suspect the National Association of Realtors would recommend against giving such advise.
USC Joe,
You are exactly right that most "experts" missed the housing debacle. Not sure how they are more experienced than me because most do not have my background which includeds real estate, finance, investments and appraisals along with an expertise in trend analysis. Am I supposed to apologize that I have worked my ass off to gain the knowledge I have in order to help the others avoid financial mistakes?
The reason financial advisors and realtors missed the downturn is they operate in the same business platform which is commission and fees and few understand risk management. Many in these professions do not learn how to hedge or protect their clients from losing money in the markets and are nothing more than order takers. They have no skill and are merely salespeople. How would I know? I work both in the securiities and real estate industry.
I am not looking at anyone who sold a depreciating asset in a negative light. My point is have you learned your lesson and what are you changing as a real estate professional to add value to your client. If you are still running around selling overpriced homes you have learned nothing. You are nothing more than an order taker and you offer zero value to your client. You are hurting your client's retirement strategy. How would you like it if I sold you a home that puts you upside down?
Yes, you are correct I expect more from a realtor to being a fiduciary to their clients instead of just a salesperson. This is a major reason why the industry is looked upon like used car salespeople. You are witnessing a paradign shift in how the real estate market flows and you refuse to change. It is insanity to keep doing things the same way. It is not difficult for the realtor to work with a mortgage broker and make sure the cleint is not buying more house than they can afford. Unfortunately, the way the model works is the more expensive the home the bigger the commission.
I frankly do NOT give a rip what the NAR says. They are directly responsible for spinning data and getting it wrong the past couple of years. David Lareah, the Former Economist for the NAR, has already admitted in public he was directly influenced by the NAR to cheerlead and be more optimistic than the numbers actually reflected on the market. I call that outright fraud and misleading the public.
You need to quit drinking the NAR Kool Aid and rethink the how the market has changed. What are you getting paid 3% for anyway? This post just demonstrates your stubborness and refusal to learn from your mistakes in the past. You would be surprised how much better a realtor you could be if you stepped outside of the box and learned a little risk management for your clients sake.
In conclusion, it blows my mind you even make these posts in public. I am pushing for all realtors to raise their standards. Why is that so difficult to handle?
I would love to hear from all prospective buyers out there.
1. Do you want your realtor to continue selling you overpriced homes with no regard for potential loss in equity because they are too lazy to learn new techniques and skills.
or
2. Would you like your realtor to improve their education and attitude to help you avoid costly investment mistakes while you make one of the most important and expensive decisions of your life.
This is what I love about America, we blame others for our own mistakes. Was there corruption during the bubble....sure. Do I blame a real estate agent for selling a depreciated home....no.
An agent is not a prophet and cannot predict the future. All they should be expected to do is provide a good analysis and recommendation for a home in a snapshot of time. Expecting them to provide long term analysis (+6 months) is unreasonable. Even if they did, why would you believe it. Nobody has got it right so far anyway.
You are talking about homes that sold in 2006, over 3 years ago. Do you really think it is reasonable for the real estate agent to say "don't buy this house now, wait until 2010"??? All they can reasonably do is say "right now the trend is homes are selling for 5% less than listing. you should try for that." If the home falls more than 5%, well, that's the fault of the buyer.
I think a buyer has to be aware. It isn't up to an agent to tell you when to buy or not. When you go buy a car is the salesperson suppose to tell you -- you lose money buying a brand new car...etc. You should do your own homework.
USC Joe,
You are exactly right that most "experts" missed the housing debacle. Not sure how they are more experienced than me because most do not have my background which includeds real estate, finance, investments and appraisals along with an expertise in trend analysis. Am I supposed to apologize that I have worked my ass off to gain the knowledge I have in order to help the others avoid financial mistakes?
The reason financial advisors and realtors missed the downturn is they operate in the same business platform which is commission and fees and few understand risk management. Many in these professions do not learn how to hedge or protect their clients from losing money in the markets and are nothing more than order takers. They have no skill and are merely salespeople. How would I know? I work both in the securiities and real estate industry.
I am not looking at anyone who sold a depreciating asset in a negative light. My point is have you learned your lesson and what are you changing as a real estate professional to add value to your client. If you are still running around selling overpriced homes you have learned nothing. You are nothing more than an order taker and you offer zero value to your client. You are hurting your client's retirement strategy. How would you like it if I sold you a home that puts you upside down?
Yes, you are correct I expect more from a realtor to being a fiduciary to their clients instead of just a salesperson. This is a major reason why the industry is looked upon like used car salespeople. You are witnessing a paradign shift in how the real estate market flows and you refuse to change. It is insanity to keep doing things the same way. It is not difficult for the realtor to work with a mortgage broker and make sure the cleint is not buying more house than they can afford. Unfortunately, the way the model works is the more expensive the home the bigger the commission.
I frankly do NOT give a rip what the NAR says. They are directly responsible for spinning data and getting it wrong the past couple of years. David Lareah, the Former Economist for the NAR, has already admitted in public he was directly influenced by the NAR to cheerlead and be more optimistic than the numbers actually reflected on the market. I call that outright fraud and misleading the public.
You need to quit drinking the NAR Kool Aid and rethink the how the market has changed. What are you getting paid 3% for anyway? This post just demonstrates your stubborness and refusal to learn from your mistakes in the past. You would be surprised how much better a realtor you could be if you stepped outside of the box and learned a little risk management for your clients sake.
In conclusion, it blows my mind you even make these posts in public. I am pushing for all realtors to raise their standards. Why is that so difficult to handle?
I would love to hear from all prospective buyers out there.
1. Do you want your realtor to continue selling you overpriced homes with no regard for potential loss in equity because they are too lazy to learn new techniques and skills.
or
2. Would you like your realtor to improve their education and attitude to help you avoid costly investment mistakes while you make one of the most important and expensive decisions of your life.
Have a nice day!
You mention that you have a background in real estate, finance, investments and appraisals, along with an expertise in trend analysis and have more knowledge about medium and long term economic trends than those professional who did not see the decline of the housing market and did not predict it's severity. Quite a broad statement. Could you tell us whether you have a real estate license in the state of south Carolina, are you a Realtor, hold any professional real estate designations, what financial designations you may hold, the number of clients you have represented in a real estate transactions the past three years and some of the clients you currently represent in providing financial advice ? You stated that "Many in these professions(financial advisors and Realtors) do not learn how to hedge or protect their clients from losing money in the markets and are nothing more than order takers. They have no skill and are merely salespeople." If you think that most Realtors and professional advisors such as certified financial planners are nothing other than "order takers", you apparently have had little contact with or knowledge of either. If you suggest that a Realtor start to provide financial guidance to their clients, I hope that you would also suggest that they be prepared for potential legal and licensing problems. If you have so much knowledge about homes and communities in the Charleston area, it would be nice to see some posts related to such matters in this forum. It is obvious that you do not care for the National Association of Realtors. I am not familiar with David Lareah, but I suspect that few if any of our forum members have heard of him or purchased their current home based on comments by him or any representative of the NAR. If he committed fraud as you stated, might not that constitute a civil or criminal violation and open him up to civil or criminal litigation. I and I think most of us learn from our past mistakes. However, I cannot recall any instance when I mislead a client into purchasing a home nor ever stated or inferred that a home is meant to be an investment. To the contrary, I go out of my way to point out the potential negatives in a home and community that could affect it's marketability and general appel down the road. To state that I have not learned from my mistakes and am stubborn, cannot be supported by the facts nor to my knowledge in anything that I have said on this forum. When you ask what does a Realtor do to earn 3% shows that you have little understanding of the duties and value of a Realtor. First of all, the co-brokerage commission is often less than 3%. Second, the Realtor rarely earns 3% and often only about 1 1/2% of contacts that go to closing. The vast majority of a Realtors time results in hours of work and money spent without earning a dime. Unfortunatley the belief that a Realtor is overpaid everytime they go to the closing table is a wide misconception by the average person and apparently by someone such as yourself who expresses such an in debth knowledge of the real estate industry. The phrasing of the two questions that you have posted to potential buyers are similar to many of the questions asked in political poles.Certainly slanted towards receiving the answer that the polster is looking for.
I am not familiar with David Lareah, but I suspect that few if any of our forum members have heard of him or purchased their current home based on comments by him or any representative of the NAR. If he committed fraud as you stated, might not that constitute a civil or criminal violation and open him up to civil or criminal litigation. I and I think most of us learn from our past mistakes.
I'm surprised. You really don't know who David LeReah is? He is basically the poster boy for the real estate bubble. He was the Chief Economist for the NAR. They call him the "Baghdad Bob of Real Estate." As far as unscrupulous scum goes, he is right up there with Madoff.
But forget that, all you really need to know is that in February 2005, he wrote an awkwardly-titled book, Are You Missing the Real Estate Boom?: The Boom Will Not Bust and Why Property Values Will Continue to Climb Through the End of the Decade - And How to Profit From Them
I'm surprised. You really don't know who David LeReah is? He used to be the Chief Economist for the NAR. They call him the "Baghdad Bob of Real Estate." As far as unscrupulous scum goes, he is right up there with Madoff.
Madoff is under house arrest. I wonder why this is not the case for Mr. Lereah.
You mention that you have a background in real estate, finance, investments and appraisals, along with an expertise in trend analysis and have more knowledge about medium and long term economic trends than those professional who did not see the decline of the housing market and did not predict it's severity. Quite a broad statement. Could you tell use whether you have a real estate license in the state of south Carolina, are you a Realtor, hold any professional real estate designations, what financial designations you may hold, the number of clients you have represented in a real estate transactions the past three years and some of the clients you currently represent in providing financial advice ? You stated that "Many in these professions(financial advisors and Realtors) do not learn how to hedge or protect their clients from losing money in the markets and are nothing more than order takers. They have no skill and are merely salespeople." If you think that most Realtors and professional advisors such as certified financial planners are nothing other than "order takers", you apparently have had little contact with or knowledge of either. If you suggest that a Realtor start to provide financial guidance to their clients, I hope that you would also suggest that they be prepared for potential legal and licensing problems. If you have so much knowledge about homes and communities in the Charleston area, it would be nice to see some posts related to such matters in this forum. It is obvious that you do not care for the National Association of Realtors. I am not familiar with David Lareah, but I suspect that few if any of our forum members have heard of him or purchased their current home based on comments by him or any representative of the NAR. If he committed fraud as you stated, might not that constitute a civil or criminal violation and open him up to civil or criminal litigation. I and I think most of us learn from our past mistakes. However, I cannot recall any instance when I mislead a client into purchasing a home nor ever stated or inferred that a home is meant to be an investment. To the contrary, I go out of my way to point out the potential negatives in a home and community that could affect it's marketability and general appel down the road. To state that I have not learned from my mistakes and am stubborn, cannot be supported by the facts nor to my knowledge in anything that I have said on this forum. When you ask what does a Realtor do to earn 3% shows that you have little understanding of the duties and value of a Realtor. First of all, the co-brokerage commission is often less than 3%. Second, the Realtor rarely earns 3% and often only about 1 1/2% of contacts that go to closing. The vast majority of a Realtors time results in hours of work and money spent without earning a dime. Unfortunatley the belief that a Realtor is overpaid everytime they go to the closing table is a wide misconception by the average person and apparently by someone such as yourself who expresses such an in debth knowledge of the real estate industry. The phrasing of the two questions that you have posted to potential buyers are similar to many of the questions asked in political poles.Certainly slanted towards receiving the answer that the polster is looking for.
You think I some kind of poser on this forum?
First you can go to my website where this all documented and I have tracked the Chas real estate market the past 2.5 years after left the appraisal industry. The website is on my profile but not allowed to post in this message. I did predict the severity of the market decline and it is documented on my website and in the Post & Courier since 2006. Do you read the newspaper?
Anyone who has hired me to buy the past couple of years has been renting as the market drops. I could have referred them to an agent to buy but in most cases were looking to buy in MP which is in most cases was grossly overpriced. My clients are happier than pigs in ________. We try to follow the strategy of buy low sell high. You should learn it.
Background
Series 7, 63, 65 (Used to work for Wachovia Private Client Grp and Raymond James)
SC Real Estate License
Former Appraiser and have taken some Appraisal Institute courses
CCIM Candidate (Taken CI 101)
Lecturer on real estate at Citadel MBA Real Estate Class and CofC Carter School of Real Estate. Actually lectured a college class yesterday.
Specialize in Housing Market Analysis for hedge funds, builders, developers, banks and private investors
(I did the market analysis on The Cigar Factory plus numerous projects and subdivisons around Charleston)
Currently consult one of the largest pensions in the world on real estate, private equity and equities
Technical analysis learned from OTJT and Dorsey Wright & Associates
Have developed trend analysis indicators for real estate that learned on Wall St. that now used by many appraisers around the country.
I do not represent buyers or sellers and only refer biz on real estate transactions when a transaction makes sense for the buyer. Why? I do not want to be a real estate agent, do not have the time and work with a different clientele in my business.
USC Joe all you do is constantly challenge every statement I ever make on this board. I am not your enemy and actually work with many Realtors who want to learn. All you do is ever make excuses. I am not asking you to be a Financial Advisor but rather learn new techniques that add value to the transaction that keeps your client from making investment mistakes. You are allowed to work with the individual buyer's Financial Advisor, CPA or CFP. That helps insure everyone is on the same page.
Lareah probably should be prosecuted along with many on Wall St who never will. Why? I have no idea. I guess white collar criime pays.
Now that i have answered your questions what have you done to improve your skills as a realtor in what is a declining market in many areas of Charleston?
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