The Frustration is getting deeper! This home must sell!

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by JimKing

Do you ever get tired of fiddling around the truth?? Everyone knows the appraisal is just a game. I have friends who are appraisers. The realtor and the lending agency has them on speed dial. They want work, they make the appraisal 'right'.

Every single person I know who has decided to put in a contract on a house had the appraiser recommended by the realtor. The appraisers played right along with inflating the market.

Give us a break. The more you post, the creepier the real estate industry becomes for all to see on this forum.

Please. I have read many of Mike's posts and he knows his stuff. I don't recall if he is a loan officer with a real estate license or what, but he knows more about the fiancing end than any agent.

FYI-Jim the lender orders the appraisals not the agent. The only time I ask an agent for an appraiser referral is if I am working way out of town and I don't know one in the area.

To the father of the appraiser...the appraisers need a copy of the contract. They need to know the sales price, the closing date, inspect whether it is an arm's length transaction and note whether there are any seller paid costs or not. All of this info goes into the report!

To Magellan, I think you are mixing seller paids with cash back at closing. It is completely legal to increase the sales prices and have the seller pay the closing costs and prepaid items up to the percentage allowed by the particular loan program (generally up to 3% or 6%). What is illegal fraud is to allow the seller to give cash back under the table.

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by TimtheGuy

Please. I have read many of Mike's posts and he knows his stuff. I don't recall if he is a loan officer with a real estate license or what, but he knows more about the fiancing end than any agent.

FYI-Jim the lender orders the appraisals not the agent. The only time I ask an agent for an appraiser referral is if I am working way out of town and I don't know one in the area.

To the father of the appraiser...the appraisers need a copy of the contract. They need to know the sales price, the closing date, inspect whether it is an arm's length transaction and note whether there are any seller paid costs or not. All of this info goes into the report!

To Magellan, I think you are mixing seller paids with cash back at closing. It is completely legal to increase the sales prices and have the seller pay the closing costs and prepaid items up to the percentage allowed by the particular loan program (generally up to 3% or 6%). What is illegal fraud is to allow the seller to give cash back under the table.

I think it is common knowledge that real estate agents, appraisers, and lenders all conspired to inflate the bubble. One cannot exist without the others.

The system is corrupt. The board of realtors provides the stats that people base their purchasing decisions on. The days on the market can be reset with ease, just by adjusting the listing a little. The median sale price can be falsified by not deducting incentives given to the buyers.

Every realtor I have ever met has offered home inspector and lender recommendations. This is a fine line between a service and collusion. Many people grow to trust their realtor and then use the lenders they recommend. The lenders hire the appraisers who inflated the value of the houses. It is all very shady and unlike most other businesses.

The realtor makes no money, the home inspector won't get work, the lenders won't get people pushed their way, and the appraisers won't get work if they don't all play along. The sale has to go through, the higher the better, for anyone to make any money. The people there to 'protect' the consumer have a strong incentive not too.

This bad system has been further exposed by all the foreclosures.

Several state attorney general's are preparing lawsuits against the lending industry. They have case after case of appraisers who say they were told to inflate the appraisals or not get the work.

New York State has already filed their lawsuit.

New York Sues WaMu and its Appraisers

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by CJFlorida

I think it is common knowledge that real estate agents, appraisers, and lenders all conspired to inflate the bubble. One cannot exist without the others.

The system is corrupt. The board of realtors provides the stats that people base their purchasing decisions on. The days on the market can be reset with ease, just by adjusting the listing a little. The median sale price can be falsified by not deducting incentives given to the buyers.

Every realtor I have ever met has offered home inspector and lender recommendations. This is a fine line between a service and collusion. Many people grow to trust their realtor and then use the lenders they recommend. The lenders hire the appraisers who inflated the value of the houses. It is all very shady and unlike most other businesses.

The realtor makes no money, the home inspector won't get work, the lenders won't get people pushed their way, and the appraisers won't get work if they don't all play along. The sale has to go through, the higher the better, for anyone to make any money. The people there to 'protect' the consumer have a strong incentive not too.

This bad system has been further exposed by all the foreclosures.

Several state attorney general's are preparing lawsuits against the lending industry. They have case after case of appraisers
New York State has already filed their lawsuit.

New York Sues WaMu and its Appraisers

Ya, the bubble was derived from conspiracy...please. I am pretty sure market forces had FAR more to do with the "bubble" than any cockamamie conspiracy.

"One cannot exist without the other"...I don't work with any agents yet I have funded hundreds of mortgages. Wonder how that happened. I also only work with sound appraisers who are good at what they do.

w.r.t. the board of realtors & the NAR...consumers have to realize that these are major sales oriented orginizations and you have to take what they say with a grain of salt (or a truckload of salt depending on your personal degree of pessimism/optomism).

[LewLew]

Originally Posted by lisalisa4444

As I sit here holding my own open house I have read many post's on people that have sold. Here is the deal. Almost 4 years ago we purchased our home in Sarasota Florida for 350K. We put about 80K in updates to the place, we never planned to sell. We listed the home with a realtor 4 months ago at 495K. We ended up firing him due to his lack of effort. We hired a well known agent who has done a great job. This agent has had the listing for two months. She has done everything and more that she said she would. While we have had a few showings we have not had the action we had hoped so ended up doing a second price reduction to 449K. All of the comments on the home have been great. Everyone seems to like it. One couple got a "better deal" and the other said they loved it but it was too small for them. The home is 2,000 sf. Its a 3/2. Wood floors, granite counters, cherry cabinets and the works. It is in a very desirable area of Sarasota, you can walk, jog or bike to the beach. It is a very private area tucked away.
My husband's buisness has currently been sold and we need to sell this house in order to move (Jupiter Fl).
I decided to hold my own open house just because I wanted to see for myself what the deal is. BUT I HAVENT EVEN HAD A BODY THROUGH THE DOOR! We really can't afford to reduce it again with everything we have into it.
I need advice, comments, anything!

I hate to say it, but I have to agree with everyone's post. It is not a market to make money, and sometimes not even break even. Unfortunately, the real estate market is always hit or miss. When you upgrade a home, you must do it for your benefit of enjoying the home, not the bottom line in your wallet. All of Florida was so inflated over the past 5 years, that most people bought at a price their home should never have been at in the first place. That is the unfortunate truth. Now, buyers are savvy, and aren't going to overspend. Most people will buy something that costs less, and do their own updating. Truly, you might need to forgo the money you put in it, and just get your other money out. We had the same thing happen to us. We bought a home for 340K, put down 100K (thus, the mortgage was only 240k), however, when we needed to sell it 2 years later, after putting in LOADS of new items (can't even begin to tell you how much), we were only able to sell it for 320K...20K less than we bought it for, and then the loss of another 20K in realtor commissions. However, we took our money back, and ran. We then bought in this down market, and immediately made back the loss in instant equity in our current home. That might be what you have to do as well. Good luck whatever the outcome.

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by TimtheGuy

Ya, the bubble was derived from conspiracy...please. I am pretty sure market forces had FAR more to do with the "bubble" than any cockamamie conspiracy.

"One cannot exist without the other"...I don't work with any agents yet I have funded hundreds of mortgages. Wonder how that happened. I also only work with sound appraisers who are good at what they do.

w.r.t. the board of realtors & the NAR...consumers have to realize that these are major sales oriented orginizations and you have to take what they say with a grain of salt (or a truckload of salt depending on your personal degree of pessimism/optomism).

There were no market forces that suddenly appeared in 2000. Look at a chart of home price increases in US history. Until 2000, with a few post war binges of troops coming home and buying, it was a steady slope...until 2000.

The "market forces" were historically low interest rates by Greenspan, super lax lending standards, and phony appraisals. Incomes stayed flat, yet housing prices rose by 100% in some markets. That has nothing to do with any fundamentals or market forces.

The NAR provides the stats such as days on market and sale prices. The consumer is forced to use these values.

It is a corrupt system, pure and simple.

[TimtheGuy]

Originally Posted by CJFlorida

There were no market forces that suddenly appeared in 2000. Look at a chart of home price increases in US history. Until 2000, with a few post war binges of troops coming home and buying, it was a steady slope...until 2000.

The "market forces" were historically low interest rates by Greenspan, super lax lending standards, and phony appraisals. Incomes stayed flat, yet housing prices rose by 100% in some markets. That has nothing to do with any fundamentals or market forces.

The NAR provides the stats such as days on market and sale prices. The consumer is forced to use these values.

It is a corrupt system, pure and simple.

The way things happened it was the "perfect storm".

So, is it still corrupt and the conspiracy is still going or what??
Rates are still low, lending standards are still lax by many standards and appraisals are being highly scrutinized.

ps-The consumer is not forced to use or do anything. They all have their own brains.

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by TimtheGuy

The way things happened it was the "perfect storm".

So, is it still corrupt and the conspiracy is still going or what??
Rates are still low, lending standards are still lax by many standards and appraisals are being highly scrutinized.

ps-The consumer is not forced to use or do anything. They all have their own brains.

Wow, I did not know people who denied what the real estate industry pulled from 2000-2005 still existed.

Anyway, have a great day.

[JSnFla]

if u bought this house for 350k in 2003 you would be very very lucky to sell it for that today....i'd say more like 325k and u might sell it today.

[MINNIEMEME]

I agree CJForida