Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I think those sites go off tax records which don't take the appraisal into account. From my understanding tax value and market value are 2 different things. If you want to know what your property is worth go onto carolinahome.com and click on community data and search for recently sold properties in your area. If you want to know what your home is worth, hire a real estate appraiser.
This is the biggest copout as realtors never admit they were part of the problem.....
See that little line that I bolded up there? Thats exactly why I say what I say....
Just because someone "qualified" for a loan doesn't mean they could afford it (ie people who had liar loans or made 30K/year and qualified for a 400k mortgage)...I've argured this w/realtors for 3 yrs now on this board and you guys still don't get it or want to admit it...you're so brainwashed (still) by the almighty commission dollar that you can't be objective....
so sad that there are very few objective realtors out there....
C'mon, Jack, this isn't really fair. It's not the realtors' responsibility to be financial advisors to folks. They are they to find and broker a deal that meets the buyers needs/desires. Period.
The responsibility falls to all the idiot home buyers. You know what, when I bought my first house (in 2000) I "qualified" for $165K mortgage. How much was the house I bought? $105K. Did I *want* a more expensive/bigger/nicer house? Sure. I was responsible enough to look at the monthly payment and realize I couldn't, in reality, afford that much of a mortgage.
I didn't expect my realtor to sit down with me and go over my household budget, hold my hand and say: "You know, sweetheart, you really can't afford to spend that much." That's my responsibility, and mine alone.
This is the biggest copout as realtors never admit they were part of the problem.....
See that little line that I bolded up there? Thats exactly why I say what I say....
Just because someone "qualified" for a loan doesn't mean they could afford it (ie people who had liar loans or made 30K/year and qualified for a 400k mortgage)...I've argured this w/realtors for 3 yrs now on this board and you guys still don't get it or want to admit it...you're so brainwashed (still) by the almighty commission dollar that you can't be objective....
so sad that there are very few objective realtors out there....
You know better CJ... any salesperson is going to try and close the deal - period. Any position that is 100% reliant on commissions cannot be objective because they have to make a living themselves. I know you're not really surprised by this.
So many realtors act high and mighty about "clients first" and all the jazz, like they're some type of philanthropist. It's especially prevalent on these boards - hang out over in the RE forum for a while. You'd think these people are independently wealthly and don't need any money… Until someone suggests something like a reduced commission - then the true colors come out.
The reality is that the house buying process is set-up completely backwards if the client came first. They clearly don't and it's buyer beware more then ever.
I do not consider it "buyer beware". It is more a matter of buyers needing to really do their homework before they make that jump into home-ownership. Ultimately, it is the buyer's responsibility to know how the whole process works. It is incumbent upon the buyer to know things like: what is the amount of a mortgage payment that they can realisitically afford? What other potential costs are involved and can they pay them? What will need to go into maintaining the house, etc.
A buyer who is well-educated and knows their stuff before ever even looking at houses is much less likely to get shafted.
Mikey - are you saying that the onus shouldn't fall to the buyer to be educated and responsible?
Quote:
Originally Posted by Tober138
I do not consider it "buyer beware". It is more a matter of buyers needing to really do their homework before they make that jump into home-ownership. Ultimately, it is the buyer's responsibility to know how the whole process works. It is incumbent upon the buyer to know things like: what is the amount of a mortgage payment that they can realisitically afford? What other potential costs are involved and can they pay them? What will need to go into maintaining the house, etc.
A buyer who is well-educated and knows their stuff before ever even looking at houses is much less likely to get shafted.
I completely agree it's the buyer's responsibility more then ever because realtors are hurting in this climate, too... They need to make a living and with sales so bad it's a time to look out for yourself more then ever.
EDUCATE YOURSELVES people! This is the single biggest purchase you're ever likely to make. If that doesn't justify protecting yourself as much as possible, I certainly don't know what would.
I am over tired of all the folks that blame the buyers for this mess and claim they KNEW 5 years ago where things were headed. Especially in Charlotte which had a softer market than many areas of the country.
So you don't think the buyers are the ones who are ultimately at fault?
I'd be interested to hear your reasons why.
I'm not in the mood to go through past posts and list all the reasons,
But if you think that BUYERS hoodwinked lenders into making questionable loans and creating questionable loan products, that were then bundled and sold to other investors/lending institutions...
How the lowly buyer pushed big business into creating such a the products and bundling the loans and selling this new products to other big investors I just don't know.
Poop rolls downhill and that's exactly what this argument is doing.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
