[soundbreeze]

Originally Posted by kort677

like **** jagger sang
"you can't always get what you want but if you try sometimes you'll get what you need"

The reality is that you would like to move to the WPB area.

the question is are you willing to pay the price that the WPB area command?

It appears that homes in the WPB area are priced higher than your apparent price range.
Do you know that there are less desirable areas near WPB where you might be able to find a home in your price range but there will be trade offs that you'll have to accept.

Like it or not as a buyer you cannot force a seller to sell at a price that you like, if the seller wants to sell he'll lower his price to level where it will sell or he'll just carry the house until a buyer is willing to come closer to his price.

offering 200k on a house priced at 450k will rarely turn into a deal.

Good luck with your house hunt, good luck with your move and may all your dreams come true

LOL!

All I can gather so far from all these posts are.. "Canucks should stay in Canada". LOL!

[soundbreeze]

Originally Posted by Mike Peterson

Though that does seem like a rather personal attack on me and since you threatened earlier that if anyone posted any derogatory remarks towards you they would be reported to a moderator it also seems hypocritical.

Exactly! The followup posts are more like someone is taking it personally that the original post seems a little half baked. LOL!

[CJFlorida]

A few blurbs to update this thread. By the way, how many times are realtors going to keep calling market bottoms. Now is the time to buy???...oh sure, with record inventory and dropping prices!!:

The Miami Herald (broken link) reports from Florida. “South Florida’s housing market continued to deflate in November, with prices down, sales plunging, and buyers scarce and frugal, according to numbers released by the Florida Association of Realtors. Sales of existing single-family homes dropped 59 percent in Miami-Dade County compared to a year ago, and the weak demand pushed the median price down 4 percent.”

“Potential buyers still must consider how far the pricing retreat will go. Luis Aguiar opted not to wait. Last month he paid $327,000 for a four-bedroom house in Pembroke Pines that the sellers had bought for $485,000 one year ago. ‘I couldn’t pass that up,’ said Aguiar.”

“Tierney Foster, (an) agent in Bradenton, said most of the 70 properties her team has listed are ’screaming deals.’ She cited two listings in Manatee County that have never been lived in, both selling at sacrifice prices.”
“One in Lakewood Ranch’s Greenbrook Village is now on the market for $229,000, or $52,000 less than the owner paid in January 2006. Another in East Manatee, is on the market for $525,000, or $125,000 less than the owner paid in April. ‘We have such an amazing inventory,’ Foster said. ‘Because we’ve had so many foreclosures and such a steep drop in prices, this is now one of the best markets in the country to buy in.’”

The Palm Beach (broken link) Post. “Sales of existing single-family homes in Palm Beach County plunged last month to their lowest level on record - at least a 13-year low - as the once-vigorous housing boom continued to go bust, according to a Florida Association of Realtors report.”

“‘The only voice suggesting that conditions are going to improve is the realtor association,’ McCabe said. ‘It is the prediction of every home builder, mortgage lender and banking analyst that 2008 will be one of the flattest years, if not the worst year, for real estate in this country.’”
“In Palm Beach County, the supply of unsold homes - called ‘inventory’ in real estate-speak - has risen to astonishing levels as the housing boom continues to go bust.”
“‘Fifty-five months!’ McCabe said.” “Actually, there’s a 57-month supply - nearly five years - of single-family homes in Palm Beach County, based on the current pace of sales, according to Illustrated Properties Real Estate.”

The Orlando Sentinel. “Shannan Buttner knows that 2007 has been a record bad year for foreclosures in Lake County, because it has been a record good year for her.”
“Through the first 11 months of this year, banks and other lenders foreclosed on 1,812 properties in Lake County, more than double last year’s total, when 878 foreclosures were filed here, according to figures compiled by Lake County Clerk of Courts Neil Kelly.”

[Wild Style]

^^

the problem with Realtors is this. They are not economist, they are people who crammed for a test, passed and now have become professional home salesmen(women). They do not understand simple economic principles. The fact of the matter is, people can not AFFORD this crap. it isn't that people are sitting on the side lines, simply because they think they can get better deals. The fact is, if the average person(s) is making up to $25,000 or a little more in annual income and the house hold income is 65,000, guess what? They can't afford a 300,000 dollar home. Simple and sound economics says a house should be no more than three times the annual income of a household. Couple that with the fact that exotic loans are no longer available, that means people can no longer fund these absolutely stupid price points.

A lot of Realtors are going to be out of work soon and so will a lot of mortgage brokers. It sucks but it happens, people flooded the field and things just got out of hand. Let the market correct itself so we can get on with life. However, I should add if you think this is bad, wait until this stuff REALLY starts hitting really big cities like Chicago or NYC. I believe far more areas are worse off than what has been reported/stated. I think a lot of people have been misrepresenting facts for obvious reasons.

[crystalblue]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

^^

the problem with Realtors is this. They are not economist, they are people who crammed for a test, passed and now have become professional home salesmen(women). They do not understand simple economic principles. The fact of the matter is, people can not AFFORD this crap. it isn't that people are sitting on the side lines, simply because they think they can get better deals. The fact is, if the average person(s) is making up to $25,000 or a little more in annual income and the house hold income is 65,000, guess what? They can't afford a 300,000 dollar home. Simple and sound economics says a house should be no more than three times the annual income of a household. Couple that with the fact that exotic loans are no longer available, that means people can no longer fund these absolutely stupid price points.

A lot of Realtors are going to be out of work soon and so will a lot of mortgage brokers. It sucks but it happens, people flooded the field and things just got out of hand. Let the market correct itself so we can get on with life. However, I should add if you think this is bad, wait until this stuff REALLY starts hitting really big cities like Chicago or NYC. I believe far more areas are worse off than what has been reported/stated. I think a lot of people have been misrepresenting facts for obvious reasons.

Id agree, but I just dont know if people will sell and take the kinda loss thats needed.

if a home in miami sells for 400k, i dont think a seller will drop it to 270 to make it affordable. I think people are too stubborn.

Will be interesting to see how it all plays out...

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by crystalblue

Id agree, but I just dont know if people will sell and take the kinda loss thats needed.

if a home in miami sells for 400k, i dont think a seller will drop it to 270 to make it affordable. I think people are too stubborn.

Will be interesting to see how it all plays out...

The housing bubble blog has a great Florida thread today. This is going to get very, very ugly. Over the next 2-3 years we will see price drops that will shock many people.

Perhaps some people in your example won't drop their price from $400,000 to $270,000. But the foreclosed homes and people who have to sell will....and the drop could be even worse, like closer to $170,000.

[SKB]

Originally Posted by verobeach

My husband was a federal worker until he retired at age 57. I stopped working full time in the 70s. We sacrificed. And we did it in Massachusetts which is far more expensive than Florida. I'm sorry but if a buyer is not willing to make certain sacrifices, yet he's waiting for houses to fall so low that one falls in his lap, then this just isn't realistic.

I don't want a house to fall onto my lap, I just want to pay a fair price like you did in 2003. Is that honestly to much to ask for?

We have done a ton of sacrificing including having my husband serve a tour of duty in Iraq last year for six months and got shot at on numerous occasions.

I want a pre bubble price with a normal appreciation added in. I would think one would have to be a very unfair/greedy person to deny anyone that request.

[CJFlorida]

Originally Posted by SKB

I don't want a house to fall onto my lap, I just want to pay a fair price like you did in 2003. Is that honestly to much to ask for?

We have done a ton of sacrificing including having my husband serve a tour of duty in Iraq last year for six months and got shot at on numerous occasions.

I want a pre bubble price with a normal appreciation added in. I would think one would have to be a very unfair/greedy person to deny anyone that request.

I hear that. Please stay the course and be patient. Prices will fall below 2003 prices in Florida. They will probably fall below 2000 prices in many parts of the state.

Hang in there and do not buy in the next year as you will only be catching a falling knife. If you need reassurance, please read the housing bubble blog. They have new threads about Florida every other day and people post real world examples of how market conditions are in various parts of the state.

Those who are patient the next 18-24 months and keep their money in safe accounts will be rewarded with much lower housing prices. It has nothing to do with being fair or unfair to buyers or sellers. It is the brutal reality of the cycle, prices have to swing very low for a while to make up for the horrid excesses of the past 5 years.

[SKB]

Originally Posted by CJFlorida

I hear that. Please stay the course and be patient. Prices will fall below 2003 prices in Florida. They will probably fall below 2000 prices in many parts of the state.

Hang in there and do not buy in the next year as you will only be catching a falling knife. If you need reassurance, please read the housing bubble blog. They have new threads about Florida every other day and people post real world examples of how market conditions are in various parts of the state.

Those who are patient the next 18-24 months and keep their money in safe accounts will be rewarded with much lower housing prices. It has nothing to do with being fair or unfair to buyers or sellers. It is the brutal reality of the cycle, prices have to swing very low for a while to make up for the horrid excesses of the past 5 years.

I have been a faithful reader/contributor of HBB for two years now!! It is my daily reading like clockwork.
I just despise the greed involved in this thing. It reminds me of the people that I have read about that win the lottery and then blow it in a year or so. Easy come easy go.
People should have looked at their "appreciation" with a more skeptical and
guarded view, instead of borrowing from it with careless recklessness and abandonment. Perhaps some simple research on prior housing booms would have gone a long way to save a lot of tears and regret that so many are facing now that they are underwater on their homes. I guess they can sell off a lot of the crap they bought with their paper equity.

I was told of the sister to my g/f that for the last two years has been living off of MEW's as her income!! She bought the house in the 90's for 80,000 and now owes over 250,000, she is even now trying to get more money but the well has gone dry and she is now 90 days past due and will be a REO soon.
I have no sympathy for this, this lady didn't feel the need to work with all of that "free money". She is able bodied and would have been able to have a job if she wanted but thought why should I work when I am rich!!!!!!

[Mike Peterson]

Originally Posted by Wild Style

^^

the problem with Realtors is this. They are not economist, they are people who crammed for a test, passed and now have become professional home salesmen(women). They do not understand simple economic principles. The fact of the matter is, people can not AFFORD this crap. it isn't that people are sitting on the side lines, simply because they think they can get better deals. The fact is, if the average person(s) is making up to $25,000 or a little more in annual income and the house hold income is 65,000, guess what? They can't afford a 300,000 dollar home. Simple and sound economics says a house should be no more than three times the annual income of a household. Couple that with the fact that exotic loans are no longer available, that means people can no longer fund these absolutely stupid price points.

A lot of Realtors are going to be out of work soon and so will a lot of mortgage brokers. It sucks but it happens, people flooded the field and things just got out of hand. Let the market correct itself so we can get on with life. However, I should add if you think this is bad, wait until this stuff REALLY starts hitting really big cities like Chicago or NYC. I believe far more areas are worse off than what has been reported/stated. I think a lot of people have been misrepresenting facts for obvious reasons.

How nice of you to take 1 million people and give us all the same qualifications, education level, etc.
It statements such as this that in my eyes takes alot away from what else you may have to say, be it right or wrong.

Now to say someone making $65,000 a year can not afford a $300,000 home is just a ridiculous assumption with out knowing any other of the factors involved.

Also which exoctic loans do you speak of that are no longer available?
Lending standards have tightened up alot but it doesn't mean they are not available.